Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell What should the legislation now making another appearance in the General Assembly be called: “aid in dying” or “assisted suicide”? It depends which side you’re on. “Aid in dying” makes it sound a lot nicer, just as “pro-choice” has become the euphemism for “pro-abortion” or, more fairly, “pro-abortion rights.” Meanwhile there isContinue reading “Other Connecticut policies kill far more than assisted suicide might”

By Chris Powell As hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants rain down on Connecticut’s schools, a potentially decisive experiment in education is beginning. Bright markers should be placed on the current measures of every school system’s performance and revisited often from now on to determine if the money makes any difference. The HartfordContinue reading “Will the bonanza for schools ever cause students to learn?”

By Chris Powell Democrats in Congress, including Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, are excited about the chance of enacting a federal law to require background checks for all gun purchases and transfers. Republicans in the Senate long have been the obstacle to this but they have lost their majority, and Democrats in theContinue reading “The real gun problem is poverty and ‘clean slate’ won’t help”

By Chris Powell New Haven is clamoring at the state Capitol for a bailout, if not as big as Hartford’s three years ago. But the leaders of the General Assembly’s Democratic majority, including New Haven state Sen. Martin M. Looney, the Senate president pro tem, are asking only: How much do you want? Looney andContinue reading “New Haven wants a bailout with no questions asked”

By Chris Powell Congratulations to one of Connecticut’s forever members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of New Haven, for teaching the country a wonderful political science lesson. Having ascended to the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee, DeLauro has just revived the infamous practice of putting “earmarks” in the federal budget — requirementsContinue reading “DeLauro and her chief of state show what ‘public service’ means”

By Chris Powell Does Connecticut really want to be a conspirator in financial market rigging? That’s the question raised by the data center development legislation just approved by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Lamont. The legislation will exempt data centers from sales tax on the transactions they process and commit the state notContinue reading “State government should avoid the market-rigging business with data centers”

By Chris Powell Gambling and intoxicating drugs mainly transfer wealth from the many to the few and the poor to the rich, so it is sad that state government is striving to get into the business of sports betting, internet gambling, and marijuana dealing. That’s how hungry state government always is for more money. EvenContinue reading “Gambling expansion plan could be worse, or better”

By Chris Powell By a 3-2 vote, Connecticut’s Commission on Compensation of Elected State Officials has recommended small raises, a bit more than 1%, for state legislators and the top state elected officials — the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, secretary of the state, and comptroller. There’s good reason for such raises. The salaryContinue reading “Legislators are scared of raises; and Democrats mock women”

By Chris Powell Legislation can’t be right when its premise is wrong, and a big premise of the proposals to legalize recreational marijuana in Connecticut is wrong. That is, the proposals presume that racial minorities deserve special reparations for the damage the “war on drugs” has done to them. So the proposals would give preferenceContinue reading “Marijuana bill has false premise; and let New Haven devour Yale”

By Chris Powell Nice guy that he was, Joseph D. Duffey, who died last week at age 88, was not a terribly adept politician. He was not outgoing or a glad-hander but a soft-spoken Protestant clergyman. But from 1967 to 1970 he was the most courageous participant in Connecticut politics, and more than anyone elseContinue reading “How insurgent Joe Duffey changed Connecticut’s politics”