Folks on Wall Street appear to think themselves the archetypes of professional workers. I'm not so sure.
In Middletown, Town Council some members are suggesting a 0% budget increase, given the economic plight of residents, in Tiverton, we're having to fight to keep the tax increase at 4.39%, as opposed to officials' preferred 9%. Tells you something about the leadership of each town.
In Oklahoma, the legislature has overridden a gubernatorial veto in order to require pregnant women to hear detailed descriptions of their preborn children before aborting them; in Rhode Island, a few House committee members kill legislation that would merely require the availability of generic information and a twenty-four-hour wait.
The U.S. illegal immigration problem comes down to disagreement about whether our nation can distinguish between citizens, legal immigrants, and illegal immigrants.
The government puts the taxpayers on the hook for risky investments and then turns laments that fact as somebody else's fault. We really need to shrink government authority.
Monique Chartier called in to the Matt Allen show for Anchor Rising, last night.
Last night, I liveblogged from the Tiverton Budget Committee's public hearing on its financial town meeting docket... at least the first two and a half hours.
It looks like even Rhode Island might be crossing an objective center line in politics, from left to right.
The Rhode Island GOP is hosting some sessions to help candidates navigate their undertaking. Right-leaning reformers should see the party as a facilitating ally, not a cult that they must resist joining.
If deregulation wasn't the problem, then it seems unlikely that further regulation should be the solution.
I liveblogged tonight's peculiar Tiverton School Committee meeting. (Hint: It was a setup.)
The question never asked, during the debate leading up to the passage to the next stage in federal usurpation of the healthcare industry was whether we'd end up with salt police. We might.
How can government manage the fishing industry when it's managing healthcare? Or vice versa.
Should government switch from taxing to subsidizing unhealthy behavior? Doing so would certainly buy a permanent voting block for expanding services.
As I summarize on Anchor Rising, Tiverton politics are continuing to prove a lesson in government, including false documents, personal attacks, witch hunts for whistle blowers, and silencing of public debate.
Reducing school budgets by the amount that officials give away to labor? Good idea.
P.J. O'Rourke laments the invidious rule of "A" students. He ought to distinguish between types of "A" students.
Once again: If Rhode Islanders can't get labor unions under control in their own backyards, they won't be able to do it at the state level.
Green legislation in the tiny state of Rhode Island has the air of futility in the shadow of volcanic eruptions and massive solar flares. Perhaps we've more pressing matters about which to worry.
I've posted video of the Tiverton Town Council's April 12 discussion about sending an "inquiry" to the state about exceeding the tax cap.
Amity Shlaes notes that the right immigration policy could help resolve our Social Security problems. I'd say there are a great many problems the right immigration policy could solve.
Rhode Island investment advisers with links to powerful people in the State House? Not exactly surprising.
Budget watchers of Rhode Island should keep in mind the fact that school districts should still be expecting federal "stimulus" dollars for this coming budget year.
Reading the story of Cain and Abel, again, reveals, again, how much Cain's predicament and temperament are ours.
Addressing an omission of the Sakonnet Times, I've posted a letter to the editor by Tiverton Budget Committee Chairman Jeff Caron.
At least we're now admitting that the healthcare legislation won't decrease costs. Now begins the regular adjustment of the costs upwards, and the declining quality of life in the United States.
What to make of a gubernatorial candidate who insists that his appearance on a talk show in his role as General Treasurer include no other guests except other candidates for governor?
Tiverton is facing tax increases ranging from 4.5% to 15%, but you won't believe the tax increase being proposed in Central Falls in the same breath as mentions of municipal bankruptcy.
Bishop Thomas Tobin made the right move insisting that Catholic organizations must stand for the principles of the Catholic faith.
Apparently, 55% of Rhode Island legislators are drawing, or will draw, the public pensions on which they vote. I suggest that the guiding principle of reform ought to be making it easier to fill the role of legislator.
A subtly distressing aspect of government encroachment on religious charities' rights and activities is that religious individuals and organizations have advocated for the steps that have led to this point.
The socialist government in Spain has taken the step of introducing bestiality as a possibility to third graders. The question: How nigh is the end?
Foreclosures are up, year-over-year, in Rhode Island and nationally. The key to stopping the slide is allowing the economy to create jobs.
Yesterday, I was one of three members of Tiverton Citizens for Change to appear on the Richard Urban Show. Video is available on the TCC Web site.
The recording of my call in to the Matt Allen Show, last night, to talk about my interview with Education Commissioner Deborah Gist is up on Anchor Rising.
If science fiction strives to apply real science to fictional situations, it still has to address the question of God.
A RI Public Expenditure Council study has found what many of us already knew to be the case when it comes to education: Rhode Island pays a lot but doesn't get value for its money.
RI Education Commissioner Deborah Gist was good enough to set aside some time, yesterday, to converse with me about various matters, broad and specific. The video is online..
Providence Journal columnist Ed Fitzpatrick thinks the healthcare legislation will surely do more good than the Iraq War. I disagree.
The debate continues about whether, and how firmly, our economy is entering a recovery. I don't see reason to be optimistic.
Somehow, left-wing and right-wing concepts of government manage to coexist for some commenters.
Is the Rhode Island government "centrist" or liberal? Oh, come on.
On Anchor Rising, I offer more thoughts about tax-related goings on in Tiverton.
There's been some question, about town, concerning the method by which town officials could request a "letter of inquiry" about exceeding the state-imposed cap on tax increases if the official budget, as it stands, is in fact below the cap. The answer, apparently, is that they'll just rewrite the documents as if the budget were something else.
The "national day of prayer" could disappear, as far as I'm concerned, but it is a bit unsettling that people would actually organize to bring about that disappearance through the judiciary.
Much is made of Rhode Island's "quality of life." But all the interesting day trips in the world add no quality to a life of scraping by.
Congressman Jim Langevin (D, RI) wants to skirt objections to human cloning just beyond the boundaries of the techniques that he wants to permit. Somehow, that doesn't seem very democratic.
As Rhode Island chases the second round of federal Race to the Top funding, we can be sure that union comfort is a sign of derailed reform.
What is one to make of jarring statements of alignment with the RI Tea Party from legislators who've been centrally part of the problem?
In Indiana, Catholic schools are transitioning to status as charter schools, requiring them to shed their religious identities. That's the wrong way to preserve the institutions.
The path toward government takeover of student loans points the way for healthcare.
The race card has become a broad shield for the president and is apparently deeply held common wisdom among the news media. Not surprisingly, they're missing the real storyline.
I'm posting photos that Andrew Morse has sent me from the Tax Day Tea Party in Providence.
Apparently not intimidated by the role that government backing played in the housing boom and collapse, the RI General Assembly looks likely to create such a dynamic for business loans in the state. As Republican Rep. Bob Watson suggests, the General Assembly is looking to become a "favor factory."
The State of Rhode Island has long been pretending that expecting an 8.25% return on pension investments was reasonable, and RIGOP Chairman Gio Cicione is right to note that there should be consequences when politicians are detrimentally wrong.
I've posted audio of Anchor Rising contributor Monique Chartier's appearance on the Matt Allen show, last night, in which the two discuss AR's posts related to the supplemental budget.
The actual date of the Tiverton financial town meeting, currently scheduled for May 8, is still up in the air, pending political maneuvering that has little to do with it.
Somehow, I just can't get myself interested in the RI General Assembly's supplemental budget. It's a question of whether it was "not enough" or "completely wrong."
Somehow, cost of living adjustments in Rhode Island's public-sector pensions seem an emblem of the state's problems.
Shouldn't government preserve its basic functions, first of all? In reality, infrastructure seems such an easy thing to squeeze.
I've reported from outside a very short School Committee meeting. Coincidentally, the conversation stopped the moment I walked in the room.
A look at the RI Tea Party has convinced Ed Achorn that the movement of which it is a part is the reawakening of the great American middle.
Obamacare taxes on tanning salon services have drawn an op-ed response from Michael Morse. Best get used to this sort of thing; Americans' health is now a matter of interstate commerce.
Newport Daily News columnist Joe Baker responded to my reaction to his last-week essay, and what he didn't mention is the story.
Its being Monday night, I'm liveblogging the Tiverton Town Council Meeting.
So, Steve Laffey has said, once again, that he's not running for office. Funny how that can be surprising every time he restates it.
Larry Kudlow warns conservatives not to talk down the economy for political reasons, because it's actually indicating that a boom is coming. I agree, but note Kudlow's worry that the boom actually represents investors cashing out before things turn even more sour.
I can't help but think that my observation of governance techniques in Tiverton apply on a broader scale, at higher levels of government. Despair all who enter, here.
I've posted the video from the latest Tiverton School Committee meeting, at which the elected officials voted to request more than the law allows from the town. (Although, they obviously don't see things that way.)
Mark Shea sees an Obama administration policy to assassinate at least one American citizen as a logical extension of the Bush administration's enhanced interrogation techniques. I think one can certainly point to lines that ought to separate the two policies.
I've posted the complete video of last Monday's special Town Council meeting regarding the upcoming budget.
A recent Dilbert cartoon captured a lamentable dynamic of the modern workplace.
Along with some of my fellow active taxpayers, in Tiverton, I've been digging for the actual revenue amounts of the local school district. Now that we've got them, it's clear that this year's budget battle is mainly over whether residents should make up for a decrease in funds that they didn't even know about before because they were "restricted."
As the Obama Era drags on, advocates for big government continue to cite Europe as an exemplar of the government-citizen compact at work. The problem is that the world needs a United States.
In addition to some general considerations, I've noticed that the RI General Assembly's supplemental budget might possibly include a provision that actually allows cities and towns to reduce their payments for education in a given budget cycle. I'm skeptical that it'll actually become law.
Not surprisingly, given my brand of conservatism, I see procedural similarities between how the Catholic Church should develop over time and how the United States should do the same.
On Wednesday's Matt Allen Show, Andrew Morse talked about some references to the 10th Amendment of the Constitution that are politically very different.
It's taken a few hours of research and discussion, but I think I've figured out how the Tiverton School Committee is attempting to fleece the residents with distortion of the law and financial smoke and mirrors.
A political cartoon by Jim Bush says it all for many Rhode Islanders' post-deluge hopes.
Mandates for healthcare coverage are beginning to look like a tax that gives politicians all of the benefits of spending other people's money to do good deeds and none of the backlash against taking the money in the first place. Few people will realize that such things are to blame when they can no longer afford health insurance or even basic services are expensive and time consuming.
Is this what happens when you mix labor unions with charter schools with elected office?
The Big Government types in Rhode Island are meticulous about avoiding the phrase "tax increase, but it's what they're looking for, and it would only make matters worse.
Looking at some budget numbers for Tiverton, I really don't see how we "radical" tax hawks are being unreasonable.
I was apparently mistaken about the guy with the objectionable sign at the 10th Amendment rally.
With Ed Achorn, I wonder whether the Great Flood of Rhode Island will provide an adequate example for residents of the state of the potential for devastation when government focuses for too long on the wrong things.
It seems as if a majority of the people involved with town government, in Tiverton, wish to run things with cost as, at best, a secondary consideration. Fortunately, some residents are beginning to speak out and act in opposition.
The critical political question has now become whether Americans will stay motivated to change the shape of their government. I think the chances are good, at least that we'll be more easily roused, henceforth.
I'm liveblogging from the Tiverton School Committee meeting... if it ever actually starts.
Obviously, my inclination is to err on the side of creativity, but there is a danger to making it too central of a priority.
Signs of things to come with the economy and healthcare are not as rosy as some would like to believe.
A national controversy within the Republican National Committee has resulted in the resignation of Rhode Island son Ken McKay.
Currently, in the Tiverton town hall, they're looking for a 9% tax increase, one way or another, by taxing cars or by taxing homes. I'm liveblogging.
I'm sussing out what appears to me to be an attempt at subverting the RI Tea Party's image, trying to identify the perpetrator.
Frankly, I'm seeing federal movements toward education reform (i.e., Race to the Top) as a mechanism for thwarting the reforms that conservatives believe should be implemented.
Controversy has once again found the University of Rhode Island campus, this time concerning the appearance of a pro-life, traditional-marriage-supporting Christian minister as a speaker at a privately funded university event. One would think that URI is a religious institution, itself.
An unscheduled self-introduction from General Assembly Candidate Michael Grossi wraps up my video from Wednesday's Rhode Island Voter Coalition forum.
This Easter, a few threads related to life and religion have come together for me.
The third installment of video from Wednesday's Rhode Island Voter Coalition Meet the Candidates Forum covers the candidates for the 2nd Congressional district and includes some heated exchanges with the audience.
The second batch of videos from Wednesday's Rhode Island Voter Coalition Meet the Candidate event covers the lieutenant governor race with the one candidate who was able to make it, anti-candidate (if you will) Robert Healey. Certainly entertaining and edifying.
I've posted video of the General Assembly candidates' segment of Wednesday night's RI Voter Coalition Meet the Candidates event in North Kingstown.
Andrew Breitbart has been highlighting the Alynski-style activities of the national Democrats. I see indications large and small.
Apparently, some folks who investigate such things think Tiverton has an underage drinking problem. Not surprisingly, my suggestions have more to do with improving the town, generally, rather than trying to increase information and change attitudes as the first step.
Everybody's proclaiming the gas savings that higher fuel efficiency standards will create. I'm not so sure that will come to pass.
Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D, RI) apparently doesn't see the difference between taxpayer dollars and the President's private resources for flood relief.
Ed Achorn is worried that government officials' apparent belief that they can borrow money endlessly puts our civilization at risk. I agree.
Modern Western society has long been attempting to maintain the rewards of its religious tradition without submitting to the restraints. The result will either be recrudescence or deterioration.
I've posted more video from Monday night's special Tiverton Town Council meeting.
An advisory panel that won't advise is suggestive of political gamesmanship on revamping RI's unemployment system.
It appears to be the case that the dividing line in local budget politics is between those who wish to reform priorities and those who wish to find more money to make the problems go away.
Spring is clearly here, and none too soon, but we should remember that our beliefs should prepare us for good times and bad.
The California Supreme Court has ruled that employers can still test for pot use, even though the drug is legal for medical purposes. I could go either way on this one.
I made this week's Wednesday call to the Matt Allen Show to discuss Twitter and some general government implications of Rhode Island's devastating flooding.
Why, do you suppose, would the local daily newspaper allow itself to be little more than a stenographer for incumbent elected officials?
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