Saying the quiet part out loud. Increased spending, and commitments for future spending, are tax increases.

1) Making another RI govt agency LESS accountable to the public is foolish (other than as a sop to a small constituency) 2) The statement isn’t even coherent. As if the heads of DOT, HHS, DEM, etc are NOT politically appointed?

The crickets you hear is the RI gubernatorial candidate publicly calling for elimination of lifetime judges. (I would say “in RI”, but no other state has lifetime judges.) This is a layup position to gain public support. However, it would lose the insiders vying for spoils.

Would the press please ask her to commit to debating all candidates on the ballot at least three times at least one week before early voting, if she continues beyond the primary.

It would be wonderful to file taxes online, directly, and with ease. Unfortunately, the tax code is insanely complicated. It only grows more so. Since Elizabeth Warren loves to talk “2 percent”, emphasizing its simplicity, how about a simple flat 20% tax. No deductions, credits, etc.

Norway is reversing its mistaken 2016 decision to give every student an iPad, which damaged education immediately. Many countries are going back to books and handwriting. I hope many American schools will go back to analog next September, and let's see if that works for us too:

Good political move. The message: “See, I was right.”

Astonish the state, Joe Shekarchi: publicly state that it would be inappropriate for any sitting legislator, particularly Speaker, to apply for a court position. (Despite chitter-chat and hand-waving, “ethical” and “honor” are not determined by majority vote, polls, or pols.)

“People love to say that the lieutenant governor does nothing,” she said on this week’s Newsmakers, “but everybody wants to be lieutenant governor. So I guess there’s work to be done.” Or, there’s newfound appreciation for the lottery ticket that the LG position can be.

Spikes in Boston Marathon finishing times every half hour beginning at 3hrs

“State and city governments are subsidizing development within a single neighborhood, with no tangible benefits for the rest of the city or state.”

In speaking about ‘Brown University Health’, formerly Lifespan, President Paxson says “we don’t own the health system, we don’t own the health system.” Can’t have it both ways. Your name is on it + You get enormous benefits + You take credit for the good = You own it.

#1 McKee and Foulkes and #2 Block. RI’s 2026 Governor’s race will be a version of a Loser’s Game. That’s where the outcome is decided by a loser (not using the term pejoratively). Unless there’s a major field change, the 2026 race will be decided by the Republican nominee.

“data from seven years of outcomes at NYU revealed similar performance in medical school and early residency in three-year compared to four-year graduates.” So what does change outcomes? How much time in school is necessary? For that matter, how much residency time?

This is pretty wild: A 2025 Goldman Sachs report found that 40% of people earning $500,000+ per year say they’re living paycheck to paycheck.

Given the heated competition for the lottery ticket race (get the Governor seat and immediate incumbency advantage), wonder if media folks will ask each Governor candidate to pledge to serve their entire term if elected?

Interesting that the overwhelming top two — grades and SATs — are what the data say are the best predictors of college success. SATs are better predictors at the tails of the distributions.

Likely correct. The politics is simpler: election year, tougher primary, teachers unions are huge factor in primaries, they vehemently oppose charters, McKee is actually a good politician.

"Only 30% of the federal government’s $1.7 trillion student-loan portfolio is currently being repaid." "Some 55% of borrowers who received mortgage relief in 2024 fell behind again on payments within one year" wsj.com/opinion/the-cr…

More than 1 of every 10 of the 18,000 International Olympiad medalists went to MIT.