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AboutThe Rhode Island Policy Reporter is an independent news source that specializes in the technical issues of public policy that matter so much to all our lives, but that also tend not to be reported very well or even at all. The publication is owned and operated by Tom Sgouros, who has written all the text you'll find on this site, except for the articles with actual bylines. Responsibility: Tom Sgouros
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Tue, 25 Sep 2007
For those who are wondering about the source of the fake statistic that says RI raised its taxes higher last year than any other state, it's in a report available to National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) members at the ncsl.org.
The issue is that NCSL researchers counted as a new tax a tax that's been on our books for a dozen years or so. But for reasons that elude rational explanation, every year, the legislature passes it with a one-year expiration. Optimism, I guess. So it's not at all a new tax (and was even trimmed slightly this past session), but NCSL counts it as a new tax.
You can find the report right here, too, for free. Enjoy.
Update: The NCSL is upset that their report is being circulated for free, so have demanded that I retract it from the web site. For the moment, the link above won't work. However, I will be submitting a request that they allow me to display a representative segment that will allow readers to see that it was, indeed, their report that was the source of this stupid statistic.
Further update: No dice on reproducing even a part of the offending report, so go pay them their fee if you want to see their error instead of hearing me describe it. They also request that I clarify that they only charge a fee if you're not a legislator or staff. The rest of us who care about how the business of our state is conducted have to pay. If you're really curious, write me and I'll describe it to you. Read more here.
23:37 - 25 Sep 2007 [/y7/se]
Wed, 19 Sep 2007
Does the movement of people from one town to another cause property
taxes to go up? Here's a chart of growth in Middletown and
Portsmouth, two towns right next to each other, on the same island.
They are the same size, and have the same tax rate (roughly), but
fiscal politics is brutal in Portsmouth, and the town teeters on the
edge of fiscal crisis. Middletown had a crisis a few years ago, but
now has one of the highest bond ratings in the state.
The two towns are now growing at the same rate, but for one of them, that's a relief to be growing after some years of shrinking. For the other, it's a disaster because they aren't growing at the explosive rate of years past.
There's more on the topic in issue 25.
21:58 - 19 Sep 2007 [/y7/se]
Thu, 06 Sep 2007
Bureaucracy creeps, enrollment drops
A recent Projo article documents how increasing the qualification requirement paperwork for RIte Care (Rhode Island Medicaid) has resulted in an "unprecedented" drop in people in the program. They've gone from 119,000 people to 111,000 since January 2005. Those missing 8,000 people were not all people who didn't "deserve" to be served by the program. Some of them were people who would qualify, but who weren't up to the challenge of providing all the necessary paperwork -- birth certificates, four pay-stubs to verify income -- and so on.
I wrote a while back about the welfare bureaucracy and the insane fear that someone, somewhere, will take advantage of the system to get benefits for which they are not entitled. To be clear, this is a bad thing, and to be avoided, but when the cost of avoiding it is that people who need help also get cut off the rolls, then there is something seriously wrong with the system. Read more here.
12:06 - 06 Sep 2007 [/y7/se]
Wed, 05 Sep 2007
Do you want to know why we're in Iraq now? Read here.
The Daily Howler is right that this is the story that refuses to be told. You'll see it in the link above, but it won't resonate or echo anywhere, and so you won't hear it until the next time someone publishes a story about press misconduct.
Trying to figure out what to do about this isn't easy. Heaven knows my answer isn't so effective. But it is pretty clear that nothing will happen so long as people don't mention it.
13:19 - 05 Sep 2007 [/y7/se]
From Bill Maher (via Cheers and jeers):
And finally, New Rule: If you were surprised that the Chinese don't care about toy safety, then the child who needs protecting is you. Over the last couple of months, American consumers have been learning a shocking lesson about supply and demand: if you demand products that don't cost anything, people will make them out of poison, mud and shit...
They're the Chinese. They don't care if your precious little Britney sucks a little lead. Because in China, their kids aren't playing with the toys. They're the ones in the factory all day making them.
Now, I know you're saying, "But, Bill, I don't have time to ponder whether these $12 jeans are the product of child labor. I just know I'm an American on a budget and our lifestyle is a blessed one. And I want to look nice while I'm standing in line for my iPhone."
But, there is something to be said for thinking about why these bargains are such bargains. Wal-Mart is the most American thing in the universe, but all it sells is crap from China. Wal-Mart wouldn't exist without the American consumers' endless thirst for the cheapest stuff China has to offer. Like $30 DVD players and Jackie Chan. Yeah, you're right, it was a great movie.
Anyway...in America, there is nothing more sacred than a bargain... And Jackie Chan. And that even includes the war. Yeah, there's too much lead in the kids' toys, but not nearly enough on the Humvees in Iraq. "Let's have a war and cut taxes; what could go wrong?" "Let's give mortgages to the homeless. Sounds like a plan." "Let's buy toys from a Communist police state. You just know they'll put in a little extra love."
Speaking of which, you know why today's modern Chinese capitalist puts lead in the paint that goes on toys? Because it makes colors brighter. You've got to love America, a country that's literally being killed by the stuff that makes objects shiny.
09:24 - 05 Sep 2007 [/y7/se]
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