Marc Comtois
The Pew Center on the States is out with an “update” (PDF) on public employee retiree pension and health care benefit debt owed by the states (h/t ProJo). They provide three ratings for the two categories: Solid Performer, Needs Improvement and Serious Concerns. Despite giving Rhode Island (report here) positive marks for addressing it’s pension…
One meme that some are attempting to make take hold (including the President; “the public sector isn’t fine”) is that the high unemployment we’re seeing is in large part because of the loss of public-sector jobs and especially at the local level:See that little dip in public sector employment? That right there’s you’re problem. But,…
Fredrick C. Harris is a Professor of Political Science and the Director of Columbia University’s Center on African-American Politics and Society. In the world of academia, his racial/political bona fides are beyond reproach. so when he proposes that our first African-American President hasn’t adequately addressed racial inequality, it’s worth a read. In his Price of…
Ted Nesi posted an interesting graphic from the Tax Foundation that shows that: Rhode Island posted the 18th-fastest growth in high-income taxpayers between 1999 and 2009. While the total number of Rhode Island taxpayers grew by just 4% during that period, the number with adjusted gross incomes above $200,000 jumped 63%, for a net gain…
Congratulations to Cranston’s Olivia Culpo, Miss Rhode Island is now Miss USA!
Last week, Tom Sgouros at RI Future wrote a piece explaining how President Obama hadn’t really grown government that much; that there wasn’t a “spending binge.” To support his claim, he posted a chart from a piece written by Rex Nutting. The problem was that the Nutting piece has been completely taken apart by the…
In a recent story, the ProJo reported about the so-called “skills gap” in Rhode Island. Only 41 percent of the adults in Rhode Island have college degrees. The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce predicts that by 2018, 63 percent of jobs will require at least some postsecondary education. Setting aside that there is…
The local efforts by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity to shine a light on the pension mess have brought national attention: A locally published interview with a member of the national pension task force, assembled by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, has caused a stir in Warwick, puzzling the Mayor,…
Curt Schilling’s interview with the ProJo is a must read because it provides insight from another angle into the 38 Studios mess. Thus far, to paraphrase what seems to be the current Rhody Conventional Wisdom, Schilling (along with “Caaarcheeeri”) made a backroom deal to fleece the state of millions and both have pocketed the dough…
Yes, East Greenwich has economic advantages that Central Falls doesn’t have. It also has parents, teachers and a community that is involved in the school. These are all reasons for why East Greenwich High School has been ranked as the best high school in the state and one of the top schools in the nation.…