Marc Comtois
I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign. I keep hearing that soundbite on WPRO this morning. It sounded strange to me that President Obama chose to frame his disapproval of Rep. Anthony Weiner’s actions in just that way. It doesn’t seem, well, Presidential to project oneself into that sort of…
…if it’s a recovery at all…it’s a “Jobs lost” one. Only 58.4 percent of Americans are employed, the fewest since the 1980s. Corporations have recouped 100 percent of profits lost in the recession. GDP has regained its pre-recession level with 7.3 million fewer workers. I think baby-boomers leaving the workforce at least partially accounts for…
Looking at RIPEC’s state budget projections, Ted Nesi explains how a “budget on autopilot” is untenable no matter what the entity–towns, cities, states, the country. You can also read “autopilot” to mean “assumptions.” Yet, the assumptions built into these budgets–3% raises, increase in program costs, etc.–aren’t even enough to cover the rate of growth, which…
Apparently RI legislators haven’t gotten updated or correct numbers when it comes to the income limits for offering RIte Care (Medicaid* in RI). The information, presented at a public hearing on Monday, portrayed Rhode Island as more generous in its RIte Care benefits than either of its neighboring states, Connecticut and Massachusetts, citing information from…
Richard Vedder, an economics at Ohio University, explains that one way to cut college tuition costs would be to ask professors to, you know, teach more. In a study for the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, Christopher Matgouranis, Jonathan Robe and I concluded that tuition fees at the flagship campus of the University of…
As mentioned previously, I’ve had a book in the works. Not political; history (and ancient at that!). It’s now out. Buy a copy today! Thanks!
As mentioned last week, Warwick saw a re-run of last year’s budget debate and now has a re-run of last year’s budget: flat-funded schools but an increase in city-side spending = property tax increases AND (new and improved!) the (re)imposition of the car tax. The council approved a budget of about $273.8 million and a…
I heard it again this morning–on the WPRO morning show, this time–probably in relation the ProJo’s latest in their pension series on “how we got here” regarding the pension mess (“They Just Broke the City“). Yes, we know we messed up in the past, goes the refrain, but what can we do to make it…
For good reason, it’s easy to focus on the bad around here. But there are positive signs every now and then. As reported by WPRO, TACO, Inc. has gone ahead and broken ground on a new expansion: the “Innovation and Development Center”. Obviously John Hazen White Jr., owner of TACO, is confident the budgeted costs…
Unemployment is reported as having gone up to 9.1% in May. It’s actually worse: Since November, the number of Americans counted as employed has grown by 765,000, to just shy of 139 million. The nation has been creating jobs every month as the economy recovers. The economy added 244,000 jobs in April. But the number…