November 13, 2010
An Administration in Review
Conservative Rhode Islanders haven't been shy about criticizing Governor Don Carcieri. His tendency to spin the state's financial health in a positive light has been tinny on the ear. The Deepwater Wind process has been a travesty. I'm even very suspicious of the recent revamping of the state's tax code. But the governor's recent op-ed does serve to remind that Carcieri's done quite a bit of good — certainly quite a bit of better than what might otherwise have been expected:
Today state government is leaner, more frugal and more accountable to the taxpayers than it was eight years ago. We have enacted Separation of Powers; cleaned up Resource Recovery and Beacon Mutual; reduced the number of state employees by over 2,000; implemented state employee pension- and health-insurance reforms; rooted out government waste, and instituted scores of efficiencies over the years. Combined, these measures have saved taxpayers nearly $1 billion.
Granted, the measures have clearly not been enough, but there's only so much that a governor can do, in this state. I guarantee we'll look back fondly on our minor spats with Carcieri once Linc Chafee gets to work.
Carcieri has been a very good governor through some pretty tough times in this state and history will treat him well.
His legacy will also be enhanced by the doddering putz to follow in that office.
Speaking of doddering putz', check out Gio Ciccione's dog and pony act on Newsmakers. He's angling for a judgeship isn't he?? Embarrassing!
http://www.wpri.com/subindex/on_air/newsmakers
It's amazing how quickly the state of the State has improved seemingly out of nowhere according to soon to be former Governor Carcieri. The last time the Governor thought that things were this peachy was when he was campaigning on his record against Lt. Governor Fogarty four years ago. This makes me think that there's a possibility he thinks he may want to make another run at elected office in say two years. It does him no good at all to describe the State he ran for 8 years in the way it is routinely characterized here at AR.
"You have 49 other states from which to choose. RI is not the best of them."
-commentor Dan who Justin profiled and wrote that "It's difficult to argue with much of what Dan writes".
RI has a choice over the direction of its destiny. Will it eventually choose a courageous path or simply continue with the status quo as the state hurtles toward the cliff?- Don Hawthorne
That was a couple of days ago. Don lives out of state so WTF does he know.
"All that being said, I guess, given the ProJo editors premise, Rhode Islanders aren't hypocritical because we get a lot of stimulus--whether per capita or per square mile--and we continue to vote for those who brought it in. And can you imagine what our economy would be like without it? I wonder why the ProJo editors didn't point that out..."
...That's Marc a couple of days ago.
Those were all written in the last few days. I'm sure there's a treasure trove of gloomy pronouncements about the State's health just in the last few weeks with charts and graphs to boot.
Posted by: Phil at November 14, 2010 11:12 AMOnce again, Phil attempts to impress the girls with his sophisticated sarcasm, but fails to make even a single point.
Posted by: BobN at November 14, 2010 3:23 PMBobN
Thanks. Phil thinks the point scored. Those that write these posts Phil cited are not answering because they choose to try to ignore rather than refute. So it also calls into question the smug assertion by Justin that he is an ideolouge and not a partisan. Where is the willingness to have a civil conversation? You should take your own advice and stick to the topic of this post instead of inartfully trying to attack the commenter known as Phil.
-The Good Phil
Posted by: Philp at November 15, 2010 6:41 PMPhil,
I can only speak for myself, but to that extent, I can suggest that a lack of response to you has much less to do with trembling fear of your insightfulness than a daily struggle to make ends meet and keep a family on track.
Although, if you pledge to help Anchor Rising fund a full-time position, I can tell you that responding to reader comments will become a whole lot easier over the next year.
Posted by: Justin Katz at November 15, 2010 7:08 PMNo one stepped up to refute Phil. Justin is too busy, but just partisan enough to comment obliquely.
BobN apparently has no idea what sarcasm is; I find none in Phil's remarks. Maybe BobN can inform us as to where Phil's questions and comments are sarcastic. Oh, sarcastic master, I sit at your feet and await enlightening words from you. Now that was sarcastic.
OldTimeLefty
OldTimeLefty
You're right. I don't give a fig (newton) for anything BobN writes.
Justin
Good Luck with your fundraising. With the many charities and causes that now exhaust my availables resources I regret that I am not in a position to help you.