What's this? A Book!
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Tue, 27 Nov 2007
Curious how our state budget follies fit into the big picture? Do you know that we haven't had a real federal budget for quite a while? The president won't sign off on anything, so we continue with "Continuing Resolutions" which are de facto federal spending cuts. (Except for the war.)
Here's a summary.
17:03 - 27 Nov 2007 [/y7/no] link
Mon, 26 Nov 2007
What you didn't know about welfare.
[From the Woonsocket Call and Pawtucket Times, etc.]
The Governor made it clear last week that he wants to include discussions about welfare in the debates over the state budget crisis, again. Fair enough, I suppose. No budget item is sacred. But let's make sure we know the facts first.
How much don't you know about welfare? Like many people you might have heard that Rhode Island is a "welfare magnet," attracting welfare recipients from other states by our lax rules. Did you know that the actual data show exactly the opposite?
23:08 - 26 Nov 2007 [/y7/cols] link
Sun, 25 Nov 2007
Read here.
Especially read the James Fallows link you'll find there.
16:23 - 25 Nov 2007 [/y7/no] link
Wed, 21 Nov 2007
Have you seen "conservapedia"? This is a wikipedia for conservatives who feel somehow that wikipedia's definitions are warped by the godless mass. Herein a list of the most-viewed pages in this fine work. (via Atrios)
07:31 - 21 Nov 2007 [/y7/no] link
Sat, 17 Nov 2007
Getting serious about state spending
[Appeared first in the Woonsocket Call, Pawtucket Times, etc.]
When you talk with people for any length about the state budget, unions are bound to come up. When you talk with people for any length about unions in the state, the Brotherhood of Corrections Officers is bound to come up.
In many ways,the Brotherhood is among the more militant of the state's public employee unions. Plus, a crowd of prison guards is just a teensy bit more imposing than a crowd of teachers, so they get press. They have been in the news over the last few years for helping prevent the establishment of halfway houses in Rhode Island and for contracted work rules that force the extensive use of overtime at the state prisons. As a result, few people find it surprising that, after accounting for inflation, we spend 160% more on the state prisons now than we did 20 years ago.
But what might be a surprise is that 160% is just about the increase we've seen in the number of inmates since then: from 1528 in 1988 to 3937 in September, about 95% of capacity. The number of people on probation and parole is up 170%, from 10,000 to 27,000. That is, after inflation, we spend about the same per prisoner now as we did 20 years ago. The real problem is that we have a lot more prisoners.
23:21 - 17 Nov 2007 [/y7/cols] link
Sun, 11 Nov 2007
Taxes are taxes, until you ask who pays them.
[Appeared last week in the Woonsocket Call, Pawtucket Times and other RIMG papers.]
Are taxes just taxes? Does it matter when the state cuts the income tax and towns raise the property tax? As a matter of fact it makes a world of difference, and here's why: Like the federal income tax, the Rhode Island income tax rate gets higher as you earn more income. People who earn very little pay a very small fraction of their income in tax, while people who earn a lot pay a greater fraction. In Rhode Island now, the Greens who earn $50,000 a year will pay about 2% of their income in tax. The Browns earn around $200,000, so pay tax at around 7% most years.
22:31 - 11 Nov 2007 [/y7/cols] link
Sat, 10 Nov 2007
As the dollar continues its tumble, here's something to keep it falling: oil. Oil is still priced in dollars, so it remains one of the important reasons why other countries want dollars. But it's also a way in which the US bleeds money out to oil-producing states, like Venezuela and Iran, not to mention Saudi Arabia. Because the two effects push in opposite directions, the net effect on the dollar's value isn't clear. But the effect on the net wealth of our country vs. the oil-producing states is very clear.
15:35 - 10 Nov 2007 [/y7/no] link
Fri, 09 Nov 2007
We hear a lot from the Tax Foundation, a group in DC whose goal is essentially to lobby against all taxes, whatever they pay for. They publish rankings of the state tax burdens every year, and Rhode Island's ranking on their lists is a source of concern for state lawmakers, who use it as a blunt instrument to beat about the head and shoulders of anyone who suggests that one possible reason for our state budget crisis is all the money we've given away recently.
I've written too much about the Tax Foundation and their bizarre methodology. But here (via Pat Crowley at RI Future) is a much more systematic and thorough takedown of their statistical work.
People who rely on data like this should be laughed out of any position of responsibility they hold.
17:37 - 09 Nov 2007 [/y7/no] link
Wed, 07 Nov 2007
The state budget: choosing a crisis
[Appeared last week in the Woonsocket Call, Pawtucket Times, etc.]
In 2006, when the legislature passed its tax cap for rich people (also known as the alternative ``flat'' tax), they did it without saying what services would be cut to pay for it. The way the tax cut game is usually played, the cut has to be phased in over several years, leaving. the harsh spending decisions to some future legislature. Naturally we're all supposed to pretend not to notice how cowardly it is to propose a tax cut without saying what will be sacrificed to pay for it. Are you in favor of lower taxes? Put that way, who isn't? Where it becomes hard is after we understand what we're giving up.
06:46 - 07 Nov 2007 [/y7/cols] link
Mon, 05 Nov 2007
Wondering about the subprime market?
A very clear (and funny) explanation of what constitutes a "Structured Investment Vehicle" and the subprime mess can be found here.
15:59 - 05 Nov 2007 [/y7/no] link
How long will the dollar last?
Another huge loss to overseas investors from dollar-denominated investments. At this rate, the dollar won't remain the world's reserve currency for much longer. And the Fed has shown it will respond to the domestic economy's need for lower interest rates, rather than the high interest rates needed to keep dollars attractive, so bond investment yields aren't going anywhere. If you lived in another country, why would you want dollars?
09:31 - 05 Nov 2007 [/y7/no] link
Thu, 01 Nov 2007
Is out. Apologies for the long delay.
- Adding police where there isn't crime, losing police where they're needed: fighting crime in Rhode Island
- Estimating the true cost of the alternative "flat" tax cut for the rich.
- IRS coverup -- income statistics are no longer being provided.
- Review of Against Prediction by Bernard Harcourt, about the dangers of using profiling to fight crime.
Didn't you mean to subscribe?
10:05 - 01 Nov 2007 [/y7/no] link
Presidential Health Care Plans
Want to get an idea of how candidate health care plans actually compare? The National Journal circulated a survey among several health care policy types, and presents a compilation of their comments about the various plans in this article.
I'm not sure it is wise to dignify a couple of the Republican plans with the company they keep (Giuliani's "plan", for example, should be embarrassing -- see comments in issue 27), but it is useful to see them all lined up like this.
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(A funny book you should own)
