Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Has a Connecticut teacher union ever declared that the compensation and working conditions of its members are wonderful and need no improvement? Probably not. So more than a few grains of salt should be sprinkled on the last week’s report from the Connecticut Education Association, whose October survey of more than 5,600Continue reading “More money still won’t solve Connecticut’s school woes”

By Chris Powell Most serious crime in Connecticut occurs in the cities and most of its victims are members of racial and ethnic minorities. Last week in Hartford two men were shot on Buckingham Street and survived, but two other men, young brothers, were shot and killed in an apartment on Barker Street. So ConnecticutContinue reading “NAACP masks its irrelevance with hysteria about nooses”

By Chris Powell Connecticut state government lately has tried to increase the accountability of police officers, equipping more of them with dashboard and body cameras, establishing the office of inspector general to investigate police use of force, and diminishing the immunity of officers from lawsuits for actions on duty. But strangely state government has doneContinue reading “More accountability is needed from chronic criminals too”

By Chris Powell Connecticut last week was told to expect a 50% increase in electricity prices this winter and supposedly there is nothing to be done about it — except to rail against the electric utilities, though they are no longer responsible for power prices. Twenty-four years ago state government took the electric utilities outContinue reading “Electricity price increases invite politicians to try getting real”

By Chris Powell New Haven’s Board of Education last week awarded its teacher union a contract with raises so substantial that the union president, Leslie Blatteau of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, called them “life changing.” The award seemed premature and even backwards. For the contract’s total cost had not yet been fully calculated,Continue reading “‘Life-changing’ teacher contract won’t do much for education”

By Chris Powell Connecticut this week saw still another indication that its public higher education is overpriced. To encourage applicants the University of Connecticut and three of the four regional state universities — Southern, Western, and Eastern — waived application fees for a day. Central Connecticut State University waived the fees for two weeks. OfContinue reading “Higher education is overpriced but politics prohibits reform”

By Chris Powell One explanation offered for the failure of the Republican campaign in Connecticut’s state election rings hollow: that the Republicans are good complainers but don’t offer solutions. Maybe, but even if so, this hardly explains the election’s results. For given the great advantages they had everywhere in the country — like inflation, openContinue reading “Where are the Democrats’ solutions? And Hayes can’t take the heat”

By Chris Powell On the Friday before the state election, Governor Lamont and state Attorney General William Tong seized the last opportunity of their campaigns to show that most of Connecticut politics is empty posturing without relevance to daily life — indeed, to show that some of Connecticut politics is even a [ITALICS] denial [ENDContinue reading “Like segregationists of old, Tong raps outside agitators”

By Chris Powell With the Democratic sweep in this week’s election, Connecticut remains pretty much a one-party state, which promises excess and even corruption more than good government. Changing the situation requires trying to understand what contributed to the election results. Of course the controversies over former President Donald Trump and abortion were especially bigContinue reading “Can competition in politics ever return to Connecticut?”

By Chris Powell Nearly everyone in Connecticut purports to agree that the state needs more low-cost housing — just not wherever such housing happens to be proposed. The right place for low-cost housing is almost always someplace else. Opposition to low-cost housing is easy to understand if not always justified. Low-cost housing is associated withContinue reading “At zoning board hearings, put faces on housing need”