Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Exclusive zoning in the suburbs is getting all the blame for Connecticut’s severe shortage of housing, and Governor Lamont and the General Assembly are being bitterly criticized for not doing much about it during the recent legislative session. But troublesome as exclusive zoning is for driving up the cost of housing andContinue reading “Connecticut’s housing shortage goes beyond exclusive zoning”

By Chris Powell Despite the hysteria it has provoked, last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision purportedly prohibiting racial favoritism in college admissions — euphemized as “affirmative action” — probably will make little practical difference. From the beginning of its consideration of racial favoritism in admissions, in the case of California v. Bakke in 1978, theContinue reading “College diversity will survive but remain only skin-deep”

By Chris Powell Few people will complain about the new contract just awarded by the University of Connecticut to its men’s basketball coach, Dan Hurley, who is fresh off a national championship. With a six-year package worth $32.1 million in salary, or about $5.33 million a year, Hurley will become Connecticut’s highest-paid state government employeeContinue reading “Basketball coach’s salary isn’t the one to question”

By Chris Powell Since Lowell P. Weicker Jr. won five out of six major elections in Connecticut as a Republican or former Republican while the state drifted more Democratic, his political talent can’t be denied. But with his death this week at age 92, it may be argued how much better the state and theContinue reading “Weicker’s biggest legacy was saving the government class”

By Chris Powell Like the rest of the country, Connecticut is full of people who can’t afford their bills from hospitals. These people may have medical insurance with high deductibles or have exhausted their coverage because of chronic ailments. While nobody is going to prison for medical debt, it can impair credit records and holdContinue reading “Medical debt doesn’t vanish; and graffiti causes hysteria”

By Chris Powell As they descended toward their target 2½ miles under the North Atlantic, the five people aboard the OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel Titan were, at least superficially, aware of the risks they were taking for a close look at the wreck of RMS Titanic. They apparently had been compelled to provide a waiverContinue reading “Wretched excess in the deep; and Ellsberg lesson endures”

By Chris Powell Democrats seem more afraid than Republicans of the potential third-party presidential ticket being contemplated by former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman’s No Labels organization. The Democrats apparently believe that people who three years ago supported their nominee, President Biden, are more susceptible to a third-party candidate than people who supported former President DonaldContinue reading “Insurgency could be formula for rescuing the Democrats”

By Chris Powell With the enthusiastic assistance of news organizations, same-sex marriage was euphemized as “marriage equality.” Now sex-change therapy is being euphemized as “gender-affirming care.” And at the National Safer Communities Summit last Friday at the University of Hartford, at which President Biden spoke, gun control was euphemized as “gun safety,” as if theContinue reading “Until poverty is eliminated, only prison stops gun crime”

By Chris Powell With about 34,000 of its residents employed in the aerospace industry, Connecticut has good reason to be represented at the Paris Air Show this week, so Governor Lamont aims to be there with a delegation of state officials and business leaders. “Our goal,” the governor says, “is to get more products thatContinue reading “Business or junket in Paris? And another bad conviction”

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”