Marc Comtois
Offered entirely tongue in cheek…I think…….Anyway, it looks like Governor Patrick is going to propose a series of tax hikes that could end up making Rhode Island look good in comparison (shhhhh, don’t tell anyone!): According to Boston.com, Patrick listed possible revenue sources including: Raising the gas tax from 21 cents to 51 cents per…
We’ve talked about the problems inherent in “big government” around here for, well, ever. More government means more taxes (ie; “revenue”), more regulations and more of government trying to pick winners and losers. Rhode Island is a perfect example. Despite the myriad problems in our state, our politicians don’t like dealing with the root causes.…
Cranston’s Olivia Culpo is Miss Universe!
in the wake of the Newtown, CT massacre, URI History Professor Erik Loomis is getting national attention (h/t) for his tweets calling the National Rifle Association terrorists and other rational, academic thoughts (your tax dollars at work, Rhode Island!). As reported at Campus Reform: “[I] want Wayne LaPierre’s head on a stick,” Erik Loomis, a…
Dog bites man, I know, but national publications constantly touting how bad this state is does have an effect. That being said, if recent election results are any indication, Rhode Islanders–well, at least those who stick around–just don’t really care. Rhode Island ranks No. 49 this year, down one spot from 2011. Rhode Island has…
Joel Kotkin at Forbes: With their enthusiastic backing of President Obama and the Democratic Party on Election Day, the bluest parts of America may have embraced a program utterly at odds with their economic self-interest….Any move to raise taxes on the rich — defined as households making over $250,000 annually — strikes directly at the…
As Michael Barone points out, historically, no matter the tax rate, tax receipts have almost never eclipsed 20% of GDP. The only time they did (20.5%) was in 2000 just before the dotcom bubble burst. Here’s the chart: Source: Economic Report of the President 2012, Appendix B, Table B-79, p. 412. As Barone explains: In…
Gary Alexander, Secretary of Public Welfare, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ~ “The single mom is better off earnings gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income & benefits than to earn gross income of $69,000 with net income and benefits of $57,045.” (h/t) Is it any wonder people have made the economic choice to be…
Michael Barone writes: In “Mismatch,” law professor Richard Sander and journalist Stuart Taylor…[tell] a story of good intentions gone terribly awry. Sander and Taylor document beyond disagreement how university admissions offices’ racial quotas and preferences systematically put black and Hispanic students in schools where they are far less well-prepared than others. As a result, they…
