Carroll Andrew Morse

Happy Easter!

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 8, 2012 |

(Art created by Donut Diva)

Fish on Fridays

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 6, 2012 |

Nothing symbolizes the supposed arbitrariness of religion to those predisposed towards skepticism towards religious belief more than does the Catholic practice of eating fish on Fridays during the season of Lent. I’ll admit to having asked myself, especially on Good Friday, what connection there is between fish and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And then…

Governor Chafee Questions Higher Education Costs

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 5, 2012 |

The Projo‘s Gina Macris reports today that Governor Lincoln Chafee is not happy with the management of public education finance in Rhode Island…The Board of Governors for Higher Education should have known better than to negotiate 3 percent compounded raises at the public colleges for the next three years, when other state employees, taxpayers, and…

Notes on Senator Ciccone’s Demotion

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 4, 2012 |

1. By now, you’ve probably heard one of the media reports on Rhode Island State Senator Frank Ciccone being removed from/giving up (more on the slash in point 4) his Chairmanship of the Senate Government Oversight Committee and his membership on the Senate Finance Committee. He kept his assignment as Vice-Chairman of the Labor Committee.…

Loughlin Resigns from Hinckley Campaign

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 4, 2012 |

John E. Mulligan of the Projo is reporting that John Loughlin has resigned as the campaign spokesman for GOP Senate Candidate Barry Hinckley…John J. Loughlin II has resigned as spokesman for Republican Barry Hinckley’s Senate campaign, after taking responsibility for an erroneous charge leveled against a tax proposal by Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.The “erroneous charge”…

Coming up in Committee: Nineteen Sets of Bills Scheduled to be Heard by the RI General Assembly, April 3 – April 5, Part 2

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 2, 2012 |

8. H7592: Creates a board called the “East Bay Energy Consortium”, with members selected by East Bay town councils and granted the power, amongst others, “to fix, charge and collect rents, fees, rates, and charges for the use of any project or the electricity generated or delivered thereby and to make assessments and impose reasonable…

Coming up in Committee: Nineteen Sets of Bills Scheduled to be Heard by the RI General Assembly, April 3 – April 5, Part 1

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 2, 2012 |

Local Impact: Barrington, Middletown/Newport, Pawtucket, 2 3 4, North Providence, Portsmouth, Providence, Warren 2. 19. A potpourri of bills illustrating that no matter what the top issues of the day are in the State of Rhode Island, no subject is too small to escape the General Assembly’s attention…H7791: From the official description: “This act would…

Does Lincoln Chafee Support David Cicilline for Congress and, if He Does, is it Actually News?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | March 30, 2012 |

Chris Fierro, District Director for Rhode Island First District Congressman David Cicilline, tweeted this following a Cicilline fundraiser held last night…Leaving a fantastic event for @davidcicilline — strong support; full room with @Angel_Taveras @LincolnChafee @GinaRaimondo and many more!Mayor Taveras and Treasurer Raimondo were mentioned in earlier news reports (WRNI’s Ian Donnis, WPRI’s Ted Nesi) as…

Civically Valuable Performance Art Courtesy of the Supreme Court

By Carroll Andrew Morse | March 29, 2012 |

During Tuesday’s oral arguments over Obamacare, Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer apparently teamed up to pay tribute to the old adage, attributed to Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain amongst others, that it is “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt”. Justice Thomas…

Coming up in Committee: Thirteen Sets of Bills Scheduled to be Heard by the RI General Assembly, March 27 – March 29

By Carroll Andrew Morse | March 26, 2012 |

Local Impact: Bristol, Coventry 2 , Pawtucket 2 3, Providence, Warwick (at least that’s where I suspect, based on the sponsors), Westerly, West Greenwich 2. 13. S2752: Opens the William M. Davies vocational technical school and the Metropolitan Career and Technical School to all students in Rhode Island, on a permanent basis (S Education; Wed,…