A Clean Slate for Rhode Island

The new promotional link in the AR Headlines section will bring you to the Web site of the RIGOP's Clean Slate initiative, which seeks to support Republican and independent candidates for public office, specifically the General Assembly, in Rhode Island. The pictures that cycle on the screen include many regular Anchor Rising readers, so we first of all thank them for putting forward the effort.

As RIGOP Chairman Gio Cicione said at a press conference, Monday:

"Too often, voters feel powerless to fix what ails Rhode Island. Too often we are faced with indistinguishable choices at the ballot box. Too often, we vote for a name we recognize because we don't have any better reason at hand.

"This year will be different. This year voters will be presented with a clear choice," he said."So we stand here today, advocating for a peaceful overthrow of the system," he said. "The system is out of balance, the leaders lie to the people with no repercussions, and the state continues a downward spiral."

Given the extremity of Rhode Island's economic problems, it is astonishing that the legislature has taken such baby steps — minimal tweaks to pensions, a numbers game with taxes — in the direction that we all know to be necessary. That isn't going to change unless the actual people who make up that body change first.