Under the Government’s Wing

A water drop and ripples

Why would an “objective” newspaper downplay its own findings?

By Justin Katz | February 25, 2025 |

Here’s the Providence Journal headline:  “Numbers show RI undocumented immigrants a small slice of those getting benefits. What we know.” Here’s one of the shocking facts that journalist Katherine Gregg did the work to uncover: Medicaid payments on behalf of those without Social Security numbers totaled $55.4 million last year, including the $16,106,050 paid for…

The RI State House in the middle of a plantation

You know whom our government serves by what it measures.

By Justin Katz | February 20, 2025 |

A widely applicable truism about organizations — whether businesses or public schools — that systems prioritize that which they measure.  The folly of this principle came to mind while reviewing the Division of Statewide Planning’s still-new Social Equity Data Platform.  What you see, there, is a map of Rhode Island with some shaded overlays of…

The RI State House in the middle of a plantation

Politics This Week: Trump’s Threat to the Government Plantation

By Justin Katz | January 28, 2025 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the danger to the RI establishment’s business model with the incoming Trump administration.

A politician's photo-op with a corpse

Politics This Week: RI Pols, the Saviors at Every Funeral

By Justin Katz | January 14, 2025 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz talk about RI politicians’ attempts to spin reality.

A group of preppy guys prepare to brawl in an alley

Politics This Week: The Familiar Face of Battling Corruptions

By Justin Katz | December 23, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz observe the competing (but very similar) factions of corruption in RI.

Men shake hands in a dark alley

Freedom has no noncompete with propaganda.

By Justin Katz | May 23, 2024 |

Many people would likely see it as an obscure topic reported in a minor venue, but Christian Winthrop’s recent article in The Newport Buzz about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) move against noncompete agreements hits three distinct notes that fire me up. The first is that it is unambiguous propaganda: In a landmark decision aimed…

A prison warden hides his keys behind his back during a fire

Days of Reckoning for the Salt of RI’s Earth

By Justin Katz | April 11, 2024 |

The point can’t be stressed enough that Rhode Islanders should understand the Washington Bridge debacle as a representative lesson on our state government.  For that reason, not the least, Mark Patinkin’s conversations with local affected business owners is an article to print and review periodically in the future.  Restauranteurs and venue owners bought and built…

A water drop and ripples

Strange how nobody seems to care about the FAFSA debacle.

By Justin Katz | April 9, 2024 |

Joe Biden abusing the authority of his office to buy votes by transferring student loan debt to other Americans is back in the news, and it reminds me that I haven’t seen any mainstream coverage of a disaster facing just about every college-bound family in the United States this year: If, like me, you have…

A water drop and ripples

One reason to fear government control of healthcare is the reluctance to reevaluate.

By Justin Katz | April 2, 2024 |

Rich Weinstein’s quip, here, exposes a deadly serious problem with the progressive style of governance: Rhode Island jumped into ObamaCare with both feet, and not only are our hospitals struggling, but people are having a terrible time finding primary care doctors.  Maybe those two things are cause-and-effect, maybe they’re loosely related, or maybe there’s no…

A killer clown's shadow falls on Main Street

Politics This Week: When the Clowns Control

By Justin Katz | March 26, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz review the latest way government officials and journalists put our state on the wrong track.