Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Some small good things were done by the session of the General Assembly just concluded, but the best things about the session may have been what it didn’t do. That is, it did not raise taxes much — mainly on heavy trucks — and thus did not disadvantage Connecticut more relative toContinue reading “That ‘transformational’ budget won’t change much at all”

By Chris Powell Misconceived when it began 20 years ago, the American expedition to Afghanistan is being misunderstood as it comes to its predictable end in failure and the benighted country returns to the theocratic fascism of the Taliban. The transition will be horrible, and Americans should be outraged — first of all at themselves.Continue reading “If Afghans want freedom, they’ll have to fight for it”

By Chris Powell Now that the General Assembly, without any research, just a lot of pious posturing, has passed legislation declaring that racism is the cause of the health disparities between the races in Connecticut, legislators should look at what has been happening right under their noses for months. When the campaign to vaccinate peopleContinue reading “Connecticut’s vaccination history disproves race mongering”

By Chris Powell While the General Assembly has never been known for political courage, the racial obsession that lately has been taking over there should have prompted some legislators to talk back to it by now. For it has gotten ridiculous — and dangerous. The much-touted legislation declaring racism rather than poverty to be aContinue reading “Connecticut has too much ‘cultural humility’ already”

By Chris Powell Maybe last year’s presidential election wasn’t stolen, but it raised fair questions about the integrity of voting procedures, and this may have given Connecticut Democrats hints about making election fraud easier here. The Democratic scheme is included in legislation proposed by Secretary of the State Denise Merrill and being hustled through theContinue reading “Don’t hide voter database; and lock up chronic criminals”

By Chris Powell Nearly everyone wanted Tribune Publishing Co. to be purchased by someone other than Alden Global Capital, since the hedge fund is seen as an “asset stripper.” Indeed, months before acquiring the shares of Tribune it didn’t already own, Alden had managed the neat trick of stripping the Hartford Courant of its ownContinue reading “Is that infamous hedge fund stripping or saving newspapers?”

By Chris Powell Congratulations may be in order for the University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees for discovering, upon the abrupt resignation of Thomas C. Katsouleas after less than two years on the job, that the university doesn’t really need its own president. For last week the board announced that Andrew Agwunobi, chief executive ofContinue reading “Can UConn really economize? And social promotion wins again”

By Chris Powell Like the rest of the country, Connecticut is full of racial disparities. With legislation declaring racism a “public health crisis,” the General Assembly is formally determining that racism is the cause of most of these disparities. But advocates of the legislation, like advocates of the similar declarations made by a score ofContinue reading “Where’s Connecticut’s racism? Not where anyone’s looking”

By Chris Powell All the noose-shaped ropes that keep being found at the unfinished Amazon warehouse in Windsor are starting to seem less like the plot for which the Hartford chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hopes — a plot to lynch Blacks — than a game of cat andContinue reading “A big reward in nooses case but none in murders nearby”

By Chris Powell What is the public interest in unionizing government employees as they now are unionized in Connecticut? The public interest in allowing private-sector workers to unionize is obvious. Without organized labor’s countervailing force, big private business interests can gain control over communities, states, and sometimes the whole country. But the government is notContinue reading “Democrats also try subversion; and ‘socialism’ epithet says nothing”