Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Chris Powell President Biden’s new education secretary, Miguel Cardona, lately Connecticut’s education commissioner, says he will give priority to the issue of college loan debt. About 45 million U.S. residents, nearly 14 percent of the population, owe an estimated $1.7 trillion in college loans, with the average debt believed to be about $38,000. PeopleContinue reading “Student loan debt problem is the vanity of college itself”

By Chris Powell Addressing an internet meeting of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association a week ago, Governor Lamont made the most remarkable statement of his two years in office. “I have no interest in broad-based tax increases,” Lamont said. “Every governor, Republican or Democrat since, or including, Lowell Weicker has done that and itContinue reading “What did Governor Lamont mean by failure of tax increases?”

By Chris Powell Nearly everyone in Connecticut knows that its capital city, Hartford, is a mess, and that its largest city, Bridgeport, is too. Yet for saying so about Hartford in an essay in The Wall Street Journal on New Year’s Day, former gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski continues to generate outrage from news organizations andContinue reading “No one dares to answer for disaster of state’s cities”

By Chris Powell At least President Biden has some sense of his high office, knows how to behave in public, and unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump, is not likely to become a cosmic embarrassment on account of his demeanor. No, Biden’s embarrassments will be matters of policy and hypocrisy, as with the cosmic hypocrisy ofContinue reading “Biden’s cosmic hypocrisy; and UConn Health’s ironic advertising”

By Chris Powell In his farewell address 60 years ago President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against what he called “unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” Since he was a military hero, perhaps only Eisenhower could give such a warning during the Cold War without risking denunciation as a communist. But Eisenhower’sContinue reading “Military-industrial complex is OK with Connecticut’s delegation”

By Chris Powell As he skips the inauguration of his successor and shuffles off to his resort in Florida, has Donald Trump destroyed the Republican Party? Some political observers think so and of course Democrats hope so. Trump’s petulant and even seditious exit from office did him no credit. But then he did not doContinue reading “Democrats may make sure Republican Party survives”

By Chris Powell Last week this column examined the government pension racket in Connecticut through the example of the “retirement” of New Haven Police Chief Tony Reyes, who is only 49 and is giving up his city salary of $170,000 to become police chief at Quinnipiac University in adjacent Hamden. Since New Haven City HallContinue reading “Police chief’s premature pension is $117,000; and a new hidden tax is coming”

By Chris Powell Maybe President Trump’s greatest talent has been to bring out the worst in nearly everyone — not just his supporters, some of whom ransacked the Capitol the other day to stop Congress from formalizing the result of the presidential election, but also his opponents, whose own betrayal of decency has provided manyContinue reading “Trump brings out the worst everywhere, including Yale”

By Chris Powell Everyone agrees that Tony Reyes has been a great police chief in New Haven, having been appointed in March 2019 after nearly two decades of rising through the ranks of the police department. But the city will lose him in a few weeks as he becomes police chief at Quinnipiac University nextContinue reading “New Haven police chief ‘retires’ at 49 to pension bonanza”

By Chris Powell Does any state do more posturing against racism than Connecticut does only to get such meager results? A week ago West Haven’s City Council joined the 19 other municipalities in the state that have declared racism a public health emergency. Tolland’s Town Council is being asked to do the same. But whoContinue reading “Connecticut is just posturing when it calls poverty racism”