Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Schools in Connecticut aren’t doing as well as they once did teaching reading, math, and the other academic basics, but they seem to be finding more time to address sexual subjects. The latest examples come from an elementary school in Granby and a middle school in Southington, where Pride Month videos wereContinue reading “Schools needn’t evoke sex to get students to behave”

By Chris Powell Connecticut should laugh at the pious assertion by the U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and others upon the indictment of former President Trump for misappropriating classified government documents — the assertion that no one is above the law. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith said, “We have one set ofContinue reading “Many are above the law; and another underclass day”

By Chris Powell Congratulations to state Rep. Holly Cheeseman for exploding a spectacular hypocrisy of state government arising from its long subservience to the government employee unions. Last week the state House of Representatives was debating legislation that would conceal from the public the home addresses of nearly every state and municipal government employee. ThisContinue reading “Why can’t public inspect what state gives unions?”

By Chris Powell With the adoption of a new state budget this week, cuts in the state’s personal income tax are on the way. “This is not a temporary tax cut,” Governor Lamont says. “It is designed to be sustainable for years to come.” Permanent  tax cuts? The governor was silly to suggest it. ConnecticutContinue reading “Connecticut’s new budget won’t touch top problems”

By Chris Powell Fresh out of high school this writer got a newspaper job the old-fashioned way: His parents knew somebody — Neil Ellis, a real-estate developer with an interest in public life and politics. That job wasn’t so great — smelting lead in a furnace and moulding it into bars for linotype machines —Continue reading “The owner who made sure his newspaper was never scared”

By Chris Powell Liberal Democrats in the General Assembly are warning that a “budget crisis” will descend on Connecticut in the next year or two because state government has gotten too economical, hamstrung by the state “spending cap” and “fiscal guardrails” imposed in recent years in response to chronic budget deficits. In the liberal DemocraticContinue reading “Connecticut has no ‘budget crisis,’ just bad spending priorities”

By Chris Powell Having thought itself virtuous for exonerating the residents of the Connecticut colony who were mistaken for witches and hanged 400 years ago, and being confident that a state budget will be devised any day now, the General Assembly turned to another urgent issue: Whether state government forms that require people to identifyContinue reading “When is gender ID needed? And Democrats betray workers”

By Chris Powell As street riots recently exploded around the state, shockingly beyond the ability or willingness of police to suppress them, the General Assembly began enacting Governor Lamont’s new gun control legislation, which is more likely to impede the law-abiding from protecting themselves than to impede rioters and other criminals. Among its oblivious provisions,Continue reading “Gun control and voting rights bills are just empty poses”

By Chris Powell Maybe the state should applaud the plan announced the other day by state Comptroller Sean Scanlon and leaders in the General Assembly to restore the solvency of the Connecticut Municipal Employees Retirement System. The system is run by state government and 107 of the state’s 169 towns participate in it to someContinue reading “Government worker pensions should be ended gradually”

By Chris Powell While residents of Hartford’s North End kept complaining about the longstanding sewage overflows in their neighborhood and four women were struck by a hit-and-run driver nearby, Governor Lamont discovered what the city really needs: the return of a big-league hockey team like the long-lost Whalers. So the governor said he planned toContinue reading “Lamont revives hockey myth; and is more cash being overlooked?”