By Chris Powell Racial preferences in hiring used to be considered unfair because they treated people as members of groups rather than as individuals. This unfairness was euphemized as “affirmative action” and for a few decades the U.S. Supreme Court maintained an ambiguous stance on it. But recently the court took the forthright position thatContinue reading “Lamont subverts competence in state government’s hiring”
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Ousting Biden, Democrats show Trump isn’t the only liar
By Chris Powell Forgive Democratic leaders for what seems like their hypocrisy, their overthrowing their presumptive nominee for president, the incumbent, Joe Biden, who won the party’s primaries, and replacing him instantly with Vice President Kamala Harris, who didn’t have to earn support for the nomination from the party’s ordinary members. It’s no big dealContinue reading “Ousting Biden, Democrats show Trump isn’t the only liar”
Block housing development and your taxes may go up
By Chris Powell Blame for rising property taxes in Connecticut may be shared more broadly than most people think. It’s not just the fault of elected officials who yield to the demands of special interests, particularly the demands of government employee unions for higher wages and benefits. Property taxes are determined in large part byContinue reading “Block housing development and your taxes may go up”
Democrats get rid of Biden to save themselves, not the country
By CHRIS POWELL A historian as much as a politician, Winston Churchill foresaw the outcome of events like those of the Democratic Party’s last few weeks. “The loyalties which center upon No. 1 are enormous,” Churchill wrote. “If he trips, he must be sustained. If he makes mistakes, they must be covered. If he sleeps,Continue reading “Democrats get rid of Biden to save themselves, not the country”
Municipalities should be posting their most interesting records
By Chris Powell Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo is sore at people who, he says, make lots of requests for access to town records under Connecticut’s freedom-of-information law. “Some people are abusing the system,” Camillo says, and requesting town records “has been weaponized and we’re getting harassed.” So his administration has begun posting on Greenwich’s internetContinue reading “Municipalities should be posting their most interesting records”
Dodging a bullet frees Trump to become civil and serious
By Chris Powell Responding to the attempt to assassinate his Republican challenger, Donald Trump, and the hatefulness that has infected national politics, President Biden told the nation Sunday, “It’s time to cool it down.” It would be good if Trump expressed a similar thought this week as he accepts the Republican National Convention’s presidential nominationContinue reading “Dodging a bullet frees Trump to become civil and serious”
Connecticut’s higher education won’t recover until it gives more value
By CHRIS POWELL Connecticut’s four regional state universities and its 12 community colleges are looking enviously at Massachusetts, which, after spending a lot more money, seems to be reversing the decline in enrollment at its own public institutions of higher education following nine down years. One technique used by Massachusetts has been to make attendanceContinue reading “Connecticut’s higher education won’t recover until it gives more value”
Extending medical insurance rewards illegal immigration
By Chris Powell Connecticut’s nullification of federal immigration law proceeded this month as state government extended its welfare system’s medical insurance to illegal immigrant children by three years, from 12 and under to 15 and under. The children being added will be able to keep their state coverage until they turn 19 — and maybe,Continue reading “Extending medical insurance rewards illegal immigration”
By rewarding racism bunk, Connecticut will get more of it
By CHRIS POWELL Last year former state Public Health Commissioner Renee D. Coleman-Mitchell, who is Black, induced the Lamont administration to pay her $200,000 to settle her lawsuit charging that her firing by the governor three years earlier was racist. Now former Chief Public Defender TaShun Bowden-Lewis, who is also Black, is suing for damagesContinue reading “By rewarding racism bunk, Connecticut will get more of it”
Mansions don’t foil housing and taxing them won’t build it
By Chris Powell Apparently you don’t have to do much thinking to run a “think tank” in Washington, or at least not a liberal “think tank.” The Connecticut Mirror reports that two such “think tanks” — the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy — have produced a study concludingContinue reading “Mansions don’t foil housing and taxing them won’t build it”
Chris Powell column 