Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Another day, another study finding that Connecticut state employees are paid so much better than private-sector workers. The latest study was done by a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Andrew Biggs, who holds a doctoral degree from the London School of Economics. Biggs’ conclusion matches that of similar studies inContinue reading “Connecticut pays high price to satisfy state employees”

By Chris Powell Connecticut may be paying the Sikorsky helicopter division of military contractor Lockheed Martin as much as $250 million to keep its facilities in the state for the next 20 years — an average of more than $12 million per year — if the company gets major new helicopter contracts from the U.S.Continue reading “Bar military contractors from accepting corporate welfare”

By Chris Powell Everybody in state government seems to love this tax-cutting stuff — first the temporary suspension of Connecticut’s 25-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax, and then a week of lifting the sales tax on most clothing purchases. The public will love it too. But how happy will everybody be on July 1, as the election campaignsContinue reading “Cutting state taxes and revenue might revive true liberalism”

By Chris Powell Even as state government purports to be rolling in money, much of it emergency aid from the federal government, Connecticut is trailing the country in still another economic measure: income growth. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis says personal income grew nationally by 7.4% last year but in Connecticut by only 5.8%.Continue reading “Jobless benefits for strikers herald more decline for state”

By Chris Powell Renovating the state’s child-protection agency isn’t the only issue Connecticut has just taken 32 years to resolve in court. The same amount of time has just elapsed with the resolution of the Sheff v. O’Neill lawsuit over de-facto racial segregation in Hartford’s schools. The child-protection case plodded along in federal court whileContinue reading “Evading vote on Sheff case, legislature fails democracy”

By Chris Powell President Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court to fulfill a campaign promise to give the court its first Black woman. But this week Jackson told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she can’t define “woman” because “I’m not a biologist.” So how could the president have been so sureContinue reading “Evasive nominee flunks test for which Biden chose her”

By Chris Powell Success and failure alike were marked last week as Governor Lamont visited Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families. The governor congratulated the department for being on the verge of release from federal court supervision, which began in December 1989. The department has hired more social workers, reduced to about 15 the numberContinue reading “DCF is fixed in only 32 years; and a disaster in education”

By Chris Powell Judging from the poses being struck by Governor Lamont and state legislators of both parties, Connecticut might think that happy days are here again in what just happens to be a gubernatorial election year. Among other things the governor and legislators are plotting property tax relief, increasing the earned income tax credit,Continue reading “Debt grows to buy elections; and Rep. Fiorello evades with nastiness”

By Chris Powell For many years the case for raising the pay of Connecticut state legislators has been solid in principle. Their base annual salary is $28,000. Representatives get another $4,500 and senators $5,500 annually for expenses they don’t have to document. There is a mileage allowance. Legislators may get a few thousand dollars moreContinue reading “Why better legislative pay might not change anything”

By Chris Powell Maybe the best that could be said about Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy after his speech to the Senate last week is that he is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unwitting tool. Murphy scorned assertions that producing more oil and natural gas in the United States is necessary for the country’s energy independenceContinue reading “Murphy’s stance helps Putin; Blumenthal just shrugs at banks”