By CHRIS POWELL Frank Capra’s 1946 film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” to be broadcast again Christmas Eve at 8 p.m. by NBC television, is loved most for its personal message of discovery at Christmas: that its hero’s life has been, unbeknownst to him, crucial to his family, friends, community, and even his country. Immigration lawContinue reading “It’s a wonderful life, and a political one”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Immigration law enforcement can succeed without cruelty
By CHRIS POWELL Democratic U.S. senators, led by Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, the ranking minority member of the Senate’s Permanent Committee on Investigations, held a hearing at the Capitol the other day to publicize mistakes and misconduct by federal immigration agents, particularly their arrests of U.S. citizens and their excessive use of force. The testimony, asContinue reading “Immigration law enforcement can succeed without cruelty”
Don’t ask government employees if state should raise taxes
By CHRIS POWELL According to state Sen. Jan Hochadel, D-Meriden, Connecticut shouldn’t be afraid of taxing the wealthy more. Hartford hints at best way to solve housing shortage More ‘public benefits’ bunk; and the big liability machine A big payday for child neglect? And not all cruelty is Trump’s In a newspaper essay last week Hochadel citedContinue reading “Don’t ask government employees if state should raise taxes”
Hartford hints at best way to solve housing shortage
By CHRIS POWELL State government and Hartford city government have figured out the easiest way to solve Connecticut’s desperate shortage of inexpensive housing. They just haven’t quite realized that they have figured it out. More ‘public benefits’ bunk; and the big liability machine A big payday for child neglect? And not all cruelty is Trump’sContinue reading “Hartford hints at best way to solve housing shortage”
More ‘public benefits’ bunk; and the big liability machine
By CHRIS POWELL Hiding the costs of government social welfare programs in customer electric bills — the long-running scandal of Connecticut’s “public benefits” charges — is bad enough. But the other day Marc E. Fitch of the Yankee Institute’s Connecticut Inside Investigator disclosed that one “public benefits” charge has allowed the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to payContinue reading “More ‘public benefits’ bunk; and the big liability machine”
A big payday for child neglect? And not all cruelty is Trump’s
By CHRIS POWELL Everyone has heard the story about the boy who murdered his parents and then asked the court for leniency because he had become an orphan. Connecticut now has a case that goes one better. If ‘public benefits’ require deception, get rid of them Blumenthal chastises merchants who are more honest than heContinue reading “A big payday for child neglect? And not all cruelty is Trump’s”
If ‘public benefits’ require deception, get rid of them
By CHRIS POWELL Misconduct by its recently disgraced and departed chairwoman, Marissa Gillett, has Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on the defensive. Past utility rate decisions have been put in legal jeopardy, utility companies are getting angry and aggressive, Gillett’s Democratic allies in the General Assembly have been discredited for their complicity with her powerContinue reading “If ‘public benefits’ require deception, get rid of them”
Blumenthal chastises merchants who are more honest than he is
By CHRIS POWELL What would the holidays be in Connecticut without U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal warning his constituents about the perils of the season — dangerous toys, fraudulent business practices, Republicans, and the like? (Poking the Russian bear on its own doorstep has yet to make the senator’s list.) There’s plenty of guilt by associationContinue reading “Blumenthal chastises merchants who are more honest than he is”
There’s plenty of guilt by association to go around in Connecticut
By CHRIS POWELL Connecticut’s Democratic state chairman, Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, thinks he has discovered the decisive disqualification for the two declared candidates for next year’s Republican nomination for governor — Greenwich state Sen. Ryan Fazio and former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart — and presumably for any Republican seeking elective office in Connecticut. GetContinue reading “There’s plenty of guilt by association to go around in Connecticut”
Get real about speed limits and student suspensions
By CHRIS POWELL As most drivers in Connecticut have noticed, for a few years now the state’s highways have seemed full of homicidal maniacs, like the one who was arrested last week by a state trooper for going 127 miles per hour on the limited-access portion of Route 6 in Mansfield, nearly double the speedContinue reading “Get real about speed limits and student suspensions”
Chris Powell column 