Written

A water drop and ripples

Ken Block is telling Democrats the story they want to hear.

By Justin Katz | April 10, 2024 |

I don’t doubt Ken is being honest about his findings, or lack thereof, from his voter fraud review in 2020, but from the very first, I’ve though he’s was overstating his scope and the extent to which his investigation was conclusive.  Very plainly put, “I did not find evidence” is not the same as “there…

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

Rhode Islanders don’t want the public transportation statists want them to want.

By Justin Katz | April 5, 2024 |

For an academic project not long ago I reviewed data on RIPTA bus routes, including surveys of riders of every line in the system, so the unstated assumption of Antonia Noori Farzan’s recent Providence Journal article on the subject jumped out at me.  The headline is, “What’s it like to rely on RIPTA to get…

A water drop and ripples

Government economic statistics are starting to feel like the work of zombies.

By Justin Katz | April 4, 2024 |

Some months, it surprises me to find economists still putting out regular analyses of government employment statistics.  Perhaps I’m too jaded, but I’ve completely lost confidence in the data. I used to have my monthly jobs review posts for both the Ocean State Current and the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, but during the two…

A water drop and ripples

Opposition to school choice is meant to control teachers, too.

By Justin Katz | April 4, 2024 |

Here’s a good addendum to my post, yesterday, about progressives’ response to discipline policies in charter schools: Those who oppose school choice are also limiting the options for teachers.  They’re only about control.  They want to make sure teachers can’t get out of the pension system, and they want to make sure children can’t get…

Leader of an angry mob accuses his reflection.

Reflecting on Rhode Island’s Robbers

By Michael Chippendale | April 3, 2024 |

Representative Michael Chippendale directs Rhode Islanders’ attention to the party responsible for the Ocean State’s condition.

A water drop and ripples

Why do progressives want people to lack self control?

By Justin Katz | April 3, 2024 |

These sentiments from two prominent Rhode Island progressives are worth noting: “Harmful practices.”  “Punish children.”  They’re talking about demerits for things like being late or unprepared for class. Notice that they don’t care whether these policies could help some children.  Either in their arrogance they think they know better or in their malice they want to…

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 water drop and ripples

Notice that McKee’s snafu attempt to meet with businesses in East Providence failed because he didn’t want to cross the bridge.

By Justin Katz | April 1, 2024 |

This incident, highlighted by John DePetro, is a few weeks old, at this point, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.  Democrat Governor Dan McKee and Democrat East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva were supposed to meet with businesses affected by the Washington Bridge closure.  DaSilva has been adamant that people should not avoid his city out of…

A water drop and ripples

Every datapoint has become a political Rorschach test.

By Justin Katz | April 1, 2024 |

I agree with Mickey Kaus, here: Under President Trump, our dip was shallower than the comparison countries in the chart, and the economy was roaring back by the time Biden took office. If anything’s notable, it’s how hard Biden put the brakes on within months of being in office, with continued slowing in improvement thereafter. …