Jim Haldeman, Marine Corps Veteran, Iraq War Veteran, American Airlines Pilot, former PTA President, husband, and father, will again run as a Republican for State Representative in Rhode Island’s 35th district for the seat currently held by Democrat John Patrick Shanley. Having seen Rhode Island politics up close in his first campaign, Jim is a natural person to ask about the challenges created by Rhode Island’s sometimes frustrating economic and political habits. I posed the question last evening, during the Super-Tuesday results party hosted by the Haldeman campaign…
Anchor Rising: The feeling that the Rhode Island legislature has brought the state to the brink of fiscal collapse seems to be spreading. On the other hand, having run for State Rep before, you know that RI seems to love its incumbents. What’s the hope for a real change this time around?
Jim Haldeman: There’s going to be a change when I get elected from District 35. We’ve got a great support group here in the district and from the state party, from the Governor all the way down. The shot across the bow was Steve Coaty’s election from Newport. People are starting to get an understanding that we’ve got to start thinking differently here in Rhode Island, that we’ve got to change the one-party system.
AR: And after you get elected?
JH: It is no big secret that we need to change the tax rates. We need to stay competitive with our neighboring states. Governor Carcieri has been trying to wine and dine businesses in the math and science and engineering fields to try to get them to move to Rhode Island, but it’s not that big of a deal to get them here. Actually, it’s simple, but the General Assembly is making it hard.
Businesses should like it here in Rhode Island. They’d be able to ally themselves with our great colleges and universities. And that would encourage the kids who are graduating to stay here in Rhode Island. But right now, they have to bug out, because there’s nothing to stay for but state jobs. That’s the bottom line. Massachusetts has got the jobs. Connecticut has got the jobs. Rhode Island doesn’t. So where do you think our young people are going to go?
It’s a sad state of affairs and the General Assembly should be especially ashamed of themselves for trying to confuse the issue with their fuzzy math. The solution is as easy as reducing the sales tax rate, reducing the corporate tax rate, allowing businesses to come into Rhode Island. Do that and voila, you’ve just taken care of a $600 million deficit. It’s that easy. It really is.