Marc Comtois
Every once in a while–usually somewhere within a long screed extolling the virtues of a more socialistic America–the rhetorical point has been brought up that politically Democratic states pay more taxes than politically Republican states (who, by extension, benefit by getting more tax dallars). Well, the Tax Foundation has done some deep digging and has…
Editorializing about the “Charitable Conundrum,” the ProJo provides this bit of evidence that some Democrats may (finally!) be learning about basic economic principles: The opening years of the 21st Century have not been happy ones for many nonprofits in Rhode Island. High taxes have driven many rich people away from the state, for at least…
{N.B. Here at Anchor Rising, we watch (or TiVo) the local Sunday morning shows so you don’t have to. Here is a transcript of this morning’s Channel 12 Newsmakers, hosted by Steve Aveson and also features Ian Donnis of the Providence Phoenix (who has a little more, here). I’ve offered a few (very few) comments…
Sounds to me like there may be a few nervous lawmakers up on the Hill: Shudders, dread, curiosity — and what several lawmakers called sadness — permeated the State House yesterday amid warnings by the state’s top federal prosecutor that the John Celona influence-peddling scandal had already spawned “active” corruption investigations against seven other politicians…
It was clear to me that in his piece on “Civic Conservatism” that Fonte was emphasizing civic conservatism (or American Patriotism or American Nationalism) as a “glue” that both holds the various types of conservatism together and can serve as an appealing ideological template with which to sway many independent or (ironically) non-ideological voters. As…
The Governor has just releases his State budget proposal for next year. Scott Mayerowitz of the ProJo chose to highlight the “several accounting tricks, one-time sources of revenue and other gimmicks to balance his tax and spending plan,” (sheesh, no in-story editorializing there, Scott) and glossed over one major source of cuts (state workers). Ray…
Kate Brewster, executive director of the Poverty Institute at Rhode Island College: “This is not a State of the State,” Brewster said, “but a state of denial. There was no mention of thousands of working families who are struggling with stagnant wages and skyrocketing costs of living.” Hmmm. From the Governor’s State of the State…
I’d heard of the Medieval Warm Period (for a good, sensible analysis, I’d recommend “The Global Warming Two-Step” by William Tucker), but the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum was a new one to me until I received an unbidden issue of Inside Smithsonian Research in the mail the other day. In it was an article on how…
John Fonte at NRO: I am a civic conservative, a “civ-con.” At the level of highest principle civic conservatism emphasizes the Unum in E Pluribus Unum and puts American national cohesion over any group interest. The intellectual origins of civic conservatism can be traced to George Washington’s Farewell Address. Citizens by birth or choice, of…
Economist Larry Kudlow sites a story from the NY Times, which includes this bit: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday that union membership fell by 326,000 in 2006, to 15.4 million workers, bringing the percentage of employees in unions to 12 percent, down from 12.5 percent in 2005. Those figures are down from 20…