Economy

Well, That Settles It; Tax the Rich

By Justin Katz | April 4, 2009 |

My fellow right-wingers, I suppose we must rearrange our thinking. The governor of New York has spoken with some rich people, and they have assured him that they will not leave the state as a result. Clearly, taxation has no effect on the domestic decisions that wealthy families make. I apologize if there’s a nagging…

Our Best Minds Must Be in Government

By Justin Katz | March 30, 2009 |

Yeah, we could discuss the rights of a governing entity that is spending billions of dollars to prop up a specific company, but that would slide past the real question of political philosophy that makes this such a frightening proposition, no matter which step we highlight as the one in the wrong direction: The Obama…

Gotta Take a Dollar to Give a Dollar

By Justin Katz | March 29, 2009 |

Tom Sgouros has penned another missive explaining why Rhode Island’s fiscal conservatism has spelled its doom, and why more progressive spending and a bigger state government is the solution. I know. I know. Such are the indications that, though we all breathe the same air, we live in the different realities of our preconceptions. One…

Right on the Bailout Nation

By Justin Katz | March 27, 2009 |

Already talking about his next run against Rep. Jim Langevin, Mark Zaccaria is pitch perfect on the AIG mess, as far as I’m concerned: “I don’t anticipate that all of the stimulus money will be effectively used,” he said. Zaccaria said he is not opposed in principle to such federal pump-priming measures to invigorate an…

A Consistent Stand from the Right Perspective

By Justin Katz | March 27, 2009 |

W. Edward Massey reminds us that conservative free-marketism doesn’t really dictate was can or cannot be put into a contract by one of the parties creating it — salary caps are a perfectly legitimate item for negotiation — as long as the agreement is mutually agreeable and considered binding. The possibility of changing the rules…

The End of the Labor Line

By Justin Katz | March 24, 2009 |

One can’t help but see France as an example of the future several steps down a path toward which Rhode Island (and to some degree the United States) seems sometimes to threaten to take. This sentence captures the total absurdity of the mindset: More than 1 million people marched in France yesterday to demand that…

“Lou Dobbs Tonight” Highlights (sort of) Rhode Island

By Monique Chartier | March 23, 2009 |

Ten percent unemployment and Forty Sixth worst business tax climate. Can there be a connection …? Embedded video from CNN Video

Tying Workers to Their Employers

By Justin Katz | March 21, 2009 |

The other day, a coworker and I had a discussion — while we worked, of course — about the many ways the law seems intended to lash us to our employers, in turn providing them with a measure of protection from competition. If they go out on their own, carpenters in Rhode Island must register…

Saturday night laughs

By Donald B. Hawthorne | March 7, 2009 |

Isn’t this just wonderful? Obama Car Czars To Visit Detroit To Learn About Industry President Barack Obama’s chief auto advisers, Ronald Bloom and Steven Rattner, plan a one-day trip to Detroit next week to meet with executives at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, people familiar with the matter said… The trip follows two weeks…

UPDATED: Is Obama clueless or are his actions intentional?

By Donald B. Hawthorne | March 7, 2009 |

UPDATED: Roger Kimball: I was having lunch yesterday with a prominent critic of the Spender in Chief, and he raised a possibility that many of us have entertained over the past several weeks: that Obama is simply out of his depth: that he hasn’t a clue about what makes the economy tick and his talk…