Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Chris Powell While it’s good that former President Donald Trump now has some official competition for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 — former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was Trump’s ambassador to the United Nation — the problem is likely to be that Trump will have [ITALICS] too much [END ITALICS] competition forContinue reading “Ranked-choice voting is more urgent; and Kiner’s Rule curses state”

By Chris Powell Assuming the accuracy of a recent opinion poll commissioned by various social-justice groups, Connecticut should have no trouble solving its housing shortage. The poll claims that most state residents agree that state government should override municipal zoning that restricts housing construction, penalize towns that fail to allow a full range of housing,Continue reading “Policies that create poverty worsen housing shortage too”

By Chris Powell For what seems like the first time in living memory, a governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, has pushed back a little against the arrogance of the University of Connecticut. Maybe the pushback won’t last long, especially if one of the university’s basketball teams wins the national tournament in a few weeks andContinue reading “For one brief, shining moment, a governor confronts UConn”

By Chris Powell Public education in Connecticut — education that is accountable to the public — would be diminished by legislation introduced by four Democratic members of the state House of Representatives. Bill 6192 would exempt from disclosure under the state’s right-to-know law “any communication between a teacher and a student regarding sensitive subjects, suchContinue reading “Hiding teacher misconduct and betraying school integration”

By Chris Powell Lincoln wrote that government should do what the people can’t do for themselves at all or very well. By that standard Connecticut state government’s program to provide paid leave for private-sector workers should be eliminated, doubly so because, as Connecticut Public reported the other day, a third of program applicants are being deniedContinue reading “Paid leave plan is a ripoff; and why kids skip school”

By Chris Powell Legislation has been proposed in the General Assembly to diminish the use of police in Connecticut’s schools, and some of its supporters suggested the other day at the state Capitol that the presence of police in schools actually [ITALICS] causes [END ITALICS] crime — that if the police weren’t there, students wouldn’t be arrested.Continue reading “Don’t want cops in school? Then find kids some parents”

By Chris Powell Reducing state income tax rates a year from now, raising state spending by only 5.3% over two years, and preventing state government from spending all the money it can get its hands on, thereby forcing state government to save during good years, Governor Lamont’s state budget proposal is far more conservative thanContinue reading “Governor’s many new subsidies suggest worsening poverty”

By Chris Powell Nothing this year is likely to illustrate the enduring corruption of politics and government in Connecticut as well as last week’s crowded six-hour hearing of the General Assembly’s General Law Committee about whether supermarkets should be allowed to sell wine, in addition to the beer they already sell. The hearing’s focus wasContinue reading “Supermarket wine bill shows enduring political corruption”

By Chris Powell For a long time Connecticut has been spending billions of dollars each year on elementary and high school education, and now that the annual cost exceeds $9 billion, the leaders of the Democratic majority in the state Senate announced last week that their top priority of the new legislative session will beContinue reading “Where school money goes really isn’t such a mystery”

By Chris Powell Connecticut is losing population and business again but its elected officials are as busy as ever deploring the awful things happening elsewhere in the country, and they may be thankful for the distraction. In recent days mass shootings in California and murderous misconduct by police in Tennessee have prompted Connecticut’s leaders toContinue reading “Distance makes outrage easy for Connecticut’s posturing pols”