Basic Government Functions
My post concerning the Warwick Beacon’s look into Warwick firefighter pay/contracts has generated some commentary regarding the RIPEC report (mentioned in Russell Moore’s story) that found: On average, [a RIPEC] report showed that Rhode Islanders spend about $6.24 on fire services for every $1,000 of personal income, or just under double the national average of…
Mike, of Assigned Reading, laments that union old-liners and their allies have taken the opportunity of hard times to smash positive education reforms: Hope High School in Providence has been a beacon in Rhode Island school reform. It was undoubtedly the worst school in the state just five or six years ago. But with RIDE…
Because — honestly — I’d love to see a successful and commuter- and visitor-friendly public transportation system in Rhode Island, it was encouraging to read the headline, “Public transit is en route to bright, diverse future,” above the following first paragraph: After a near-collapse, public transit in Rhode Island is making a dramatic turnaround, with…
For those interested in the continuing debate about the relation between taxpayer mobility and tax-rates, Los Angeles Times op-ed contributor William Voegeli adds another analysis based on multi-state Census data…One way to assess how Americans feel about the different tax and benefit packages the states offer is by examining internal U.S. migration patterns. Between April…
Mark Steyn tells a tale of two bridges: A few weeks back I mentioned a couple of bridges in a neighboring town of mine, both on dirt roads serving maybe a dozen houses. Bridge A: The town was prevailed upon to apply for some state/town 80/20 funding plan, which morphed under the stimulus into some…
The Associated Press is reporting that Rhode Island is one of several states that’s been using money from fees on cell-phones, nominally intended to support 911 service, to plug holes in its yearly operating budget…Oregon, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Tennessee are among the states that have dipped into their 911 money recently. New York…
Brian Bishop takes up the appropriate call to government when it comes to economic development: just get out of the way. The last thing we need is a government-run Chamber of Commerce, a retread bureaucracy of fortune tellers picking winning businesses or sectors that will be offered state loans and regulatory absolutions. Rather, we should…
It seems to me that Frank Rizzo’s reasoning in deciding that government-run broadband Internet is a bad idea applies pretty much across the board for possible government actions beyond a limited set of activities: At the heart of the problem is this: The economics simply didn’t work [in Philadelphia]. To come close to breaking even,…
Maintaining infrastructure is one of the basic tasks appropriate to government, but for that very reason — its clear importance — politicians in the state of Rhode Island tend to seek money for it independently, as a sort of deliberate afterthought. Rhode Islanders’ ultimately don’t want any bridges to collapse, and if they don’t get…
I know and trust Lieutenant Michael Morse of the Providence Fire Department, and he certainly makes some persuasive points on minimum manning: From my seat I witness Providence’s manpower used beyond the breaking point daily. Day after day, we are forced to tap resources from surrounding communities to answer 911 calls. Crews from Cranston, East…
