Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Prompting suspicion that he seeks to follow in his father’s footsteps, state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford — son of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, formerly Connecticut’s attorney general — proposes amending the state law that purports to require the attorney general to have 10 years of experience in the “active practice” of law.Continue reading “Let all run for attorney general; and renaming the river is groveling”

By Chris Powell Hardly a week passes without revealing more evidence that poverty is worsening in Connecticut. As an emergency measure, all public school students in Connecticut are now eligible for free or discounted school lunches for the current school year. But this month it was reported that the number of students who would qualifyContinue reading “Teacher raises always fail to reduce poverty in Connecticut”

By Chris Powell Anyone of a certain age who reflects upon Connecticut’s housing policy might be reminded of a Rube Goldberg contraption. Goldberg was the cartoonist of the last century who became famous for drawing imaginary devices that performed simple tasks in ridiculously complicated and inefficient ways. Inadvertently honoring Goldberg, Connecticut lets municipal zoning preventContinue reading “Connecticut’s housing policy is a Rube Goldberg contraption”

By Chris Powell Connecticut U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, has picked up the politically correct mantra that racism is a “public health crisis” in the United States. She has joined U.S. Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-California, in introducing a resolution that would have the House of Representatives declare that the country’s public health system is full ofContinue reading “Hayes pretends health crisis is racism when it’s poverty”

By Chris Powell Before voting on the huge increase in appropriations being sought by the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, state legislators should watch the video taken of the dozens of students and their friends who on March 2 invaded the Student Center at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain to prevent the showing of aContinue reading “Fascism triumphs at Central; and Senate Democrats get sleazy”

By Chris Powell Rent-control legislation advocated by the “Cap the Rent” campaign of “democratic socialists” has failed in a General Assembly committee, which is good, since a basic question about the proposal was never answered. That is: Why was the capping campaign limited to rental housing? For the prices of many other necessities of lifeContinue reading “Theft isn’t so ‘democratic’; and where’s the oversight?”

By Chris Powell With a state constitutional amendment last November, Connecticut voters approved early voting in principle, but practice will be complicated and the details have been left to the General Assembly. Fortunately the new secretary of the state, Stephanie Thomas, has proposed sensible answers to the major questions. — How long should the periodContinue reading “Early voting won’t be simple to put into practice quickly”

By Chris Powell Exclusive zoning may not be the only reason that little inexpensive rental housing is being built or renovated in Connecticut. Anyone interested in the housing issue would do well to read the fascinating report about a day in housing court published March 5 in The Day of New London. It was written by journalismContinue reading “Why would anyone build lower-rent apartments in Connecticut?”

By Chris Powell Many sad stories were told a few weeks ago at a hearing of the General Assembly’s Human Services Committee on legislation to provide free state government medical insurance to illegal immigrants under 26 years old. There was testimony about young people and children going without normal treatment for painful illnesses and brokenContinue reading “Free medical insurance bill is about illegal immigration”

By Chris Powell Despite its devotion to political correctness and everything “woke,” could government in Connecticut actually be approaching relevance when it comes to gun crime and crime generally? That was the implication the other day as Governor Lamont, the mayors of Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, and Waterbury, and police chiefs gathered at the stateContinue reading “Put away chronic offenders, rehabilitate disturbed parolees”