Marc Comtois

After Criticism, Ship Naming Reverts to Tradition

By Marc Comtois | February 17, 2012 |

A quick follow-up to my post last week on how Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has a high batting average when it comes to departing from naval ship naming conventions: apparently the complaints worked. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, under fire from Congress and veterans for naming ships after fellow Democrats and social activists, plans…

About the Cranston Banner

By Marc Comtois | February 17, 2012 |

Regarding the Cranston banner, well, it’s pretty much all been said, so I won’t divert too much time into it. Suffice to say, it’s obvious that the decision to pursue an appeal was heavily affected by the current fiscal crisis in the City of Cranston. Would they have gone ahead if Cranston had more money?…

Teacher Evaluation: If not Value-added, then what?

By Marc Comtois | February 17, 2012 |

While Education reformer Rick Hess thinks “would-be reformers [are] getting waaaay ahead of themselves” when it comes to implementing “primitive systems to measure everything they can, or to validate everything else (observations, student feedback, etc.)” under the mantle of value-added analysis, he also doesn’t dismiss it out of hand as a way to evaluate teachers.…

Jobless and Taking the “Disability Option”

By Marc Comtois | February 16, 2012 |

Glenn Reynolds points to a Republican Study Committee graphic that asks, “Where Are the Jobs?“. The above chart shows the “labor force participation rate.” This statistic represents the share of working-age Americans who are either employed or unemployed but looking for work. It is not a pretty picture. Only 63.7% of working-age Americans are currently…

Port Developments

By Marc Comtois | February 15, 2012 |

I think it’s good news (and about freakin’ time!) that there is movement in the Legislature–specifically a commission headed up by Jamestown Rep. Deborah Ruggiero–to develop Quonset/Davisville as a short sea shipping port. Imagine: taking advantage of our geography and greatest natural resource for possible economic gain! There are some hurdles (‘allo Guvnah!) The commission…

Rahe: Catholic Church Reaping What it Helped Sow

By Marc Comtois | February 13, 2012 |

With the ongoing controversy between the Obama Administration and religious institutions–particularly the Catholic Church–as to whether the health care plans offered by the institutions should cover items they deem inconsistent with their religious tenets (ie; contraception, etc.), Paul Rahe writes that the support given to various progressive causes by the institution of the Catholic Church,…

In Honoring Giffords Mabus’ Flouts Navy Ship Naming Conventions Again

By Marc Comtois | February 10, 2012 |

Since President Obama took office, his Navy Secretary, Ray Mabus has been, shall we say flexible in following the conventions of Navy ship naming that have been set down. He has strayed tradition enough to have prompted a review of ship-naming policy. And he has done it again. Now Mabus has named a new vessel…

Economic Magnetism? Providence Has The Single Ladies

By Marc Comtois | February 10, 2012 |

Maybe those of us trying to convince our politicians to attract business and people to our state are taking the wrong tack. Instead of using fiscal-centric arguments, how about this: According to Men’sHealth, Providence is the 25th best city to find the SINGLE LADIES. The best city in New England? #2 overall Portland, Maine (ahem,…

Bureaucracy Bottles Up Harbor Maintenance

By Marc Comtois | February 9, 2012 |

While we continue to hear about money we don’t have being spent on bad loans to green economy darlings like Solyndra and Fisker, it turns out that there is cash sitting there waiting to be spent on good old fashioned things like our waterfronts and waterways. In the latest Federal Transportation bill (h/t), which is…

Farmer Explains Why Tax Rates Matter

By Marc Comtois | February 9, 2012 |

In the debate about higher tax rates for “the rich”, Missouri farmer Blake Hurst thinks something is being overlooked. It’s obvious that the Obama administration does not believe that tax rates on investment are a factor in investment decisions, or that marginal rates on real income affect how hard and how much people work….In all…