Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Chris Powell Higher education prattles about academic freedom but a recent poll of college students across the country supports the suspicion that higher education is becoming political indoctrination working against the country’s most basic liberty, freedom of speech. The poll, conducted by the market-research organization College Pulse, claims to have surveyed more than 37,000Continue reading “Do colleges in Connecticut make students totalitarians?”

By Chris Powell Strange that most of the clamor about electric rates in Connecticut is directed at the state’s electric utilities and so little at state government. For the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the state’s leading electric company, Eversource, agree that 15-20% of the typical Connecticut electricity customer’s monthly bill doesn’t pay for electricContinue reading “Hidden Connecticut sales tax on electric bills may be 20%”

By Chris Powell Frogs have gotten a bad reputation from the story about their supposed failure to jump out of a pot of water if its temperature is slowly raised to boiling, eventually killing them. For the story was meant as a metaphor to mock the tendency of people to accept gradually worsening conditions untilContinue reading “Trouble with schools and kids hints at Connecticut’s future”

By Chris Powell While billions in federal “rescue” money are raining down on state government and municipal governments and Connecticut’s members of Congress bestow new grants almost every day, a report from Connecticut Public Radio last week suggested that a glaring problem is still being overlooked. The report found that there is a desperate shortageContinue reading “‘Rescue’ money isn’t raining on special-education kids”

By Chris Powell An argument being made for extending Governor Lamont’s emergency powers to deal with the virus epidemic is that this would be more efficient than involving the General Assembly and enacting ordinary legislation instead of proclaiming emergency orders. But efficiency is only the old rationale for totalitarianism, and history doesn’t support it soContinue reading “Democracy won a world war and can handle Connecticut’s epidemic”

By Chris Powell Having just been appointed president of Huxley College in the Marx Brothers’ 1932 movie “Horse Feathers,” Groucho’s Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff quickly diagnoses the institution’s failure. “The trouble is,” he tells the faculty, “we’re neglecting football for education.” Lately the same might be said about the University of Connecticut, whose football programContinue reading “Groucho knew how to solve UConn’s football problem”

By Chris Powell While he tries to be a moderate Democratic governor and indeed is more moderate than his predecessor, Ned Lamont still feels obliged to make regular obeisance to his party’s left wing, which constitutes a majority of the party’s activists. So last week the governor posted on his social media channels a minute-longContinue reading “Lamont’s appeal on abortion won’t lure Texas businesses”

By Chris Powell Governor Lamont seems inclined to ask the General Assembly to extend his emergency powers again to deal with the virus epidemic when they expire at the end of the month. The governor’s request likely would be for another 90 days. The legislature should decline. For starters, while the epidemic continues and isContinue reading “Since epidemic is permanent, governor’s emergency powers should end”

By Chris Powell Responding to the new law in Texas sharply restricting abortion, Connecticut Democratic State Chair Nancy DiNardo last week tried to rile up the party’s base. “Connecticut,” she said, “will never allow the activist Supreme Court to strip away reproductive rights from the women of our state.” The Texas law is bizarre, ifContinue reading “Not all constitutional rights are secure in Connecticut”

By Chris Powell Technically the University of Connecticut is a public institution, but as the Connecticut Mirror noted last week, you wouldn’t know it from following the university’s Board of Trustees. For the board’s meetings are almost always routine and dull, with the board flying through its agenda with little discussion and disagreement. State Sen.Continue reading “Managing UConn in secret; and race-baiting young kids”