Engaged Citizen

President Obama’s Press Conference

By Engaged Citizen | March 24, 2009 |

Listen live on WPRO. Comment here. (In case anyone else has been ranting at a radio or television for the last 27 minutes …)

Harriet Lloyd: News Not Fit to Print or Newsmakers Not Fit to Cover?

By Engaged Citizen | March 24, 2009 |

Amidst much wailing and gnashing of teeth, national and local newspapers bemoan dwindling readership and diminishing profits, with many closing their doors, unable to make ends meet. While the demise of the Fourth Estate is a shame, it is hardly a shocker. When a business consistently misdirects its marketing, it must expect to pay dire…

Ken Block: “Moderate” Is Not Another Word for “Republican”

By Engaged Citizen | March 19, 2009 |

Travis Rowley, Chairman of the Rhode Island Young Republicans, in a recent posting discussing the Ocean State 38 on the Ocean State Republican blog, purposely and inaccurately attempts to link the Moderate Party of Rhode Island to efforts to rehabilitate the RI GOP. In his post, Travis attempts to show that the RI GOP has…

William Felkner: Is the State Labor Relations Board biased? You betcha!

By Engaged Citizen | March 19, 2009 |

The dispute between the East Providence School Committee and the East Providence Teachers’ Union has focused attention of the Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board (SLRB), a largely obscure administrative body that referees disputes between management and labor. What little public information is available regarding the Board and its operations has caused taxpayers to be…

Geoff Cook: Why I Need a Citizen’s Voice

By Engaged Citizen | March 9, 2009 |

[This Engaged Citizen post by Geoff Cook originally appeared on October 16, 2008. To Geoff and the five hundred other people becoming naturalized citizens this morning at Veterans Memorial Auditorium: Congratulations and welcome to America.] In a strange twist of coincidence, Tuesday, October 14, I went to ICE in Providence to take my citizenship exam.…

Ken Block: A Painful Lesson in Rhode Island Health Insurance

By Engaged Citizen | March 9, 2009 |

My dermatologist dumped me this past Monday. I was fairly new to her practice. Due to too many sunburns as a youngster, I need to see a dermatologist every three months. My previous dermatologist of many years had left the state, leaving me scrambling to find a doc who could take me right away. Many…

Robert Cushman: Unfunded Liabilities, Warwick’s “Subprime” Crisis

By Engaged Citizen | March 8, 2009 |

A few years ago, the dream of owning a home and planning for a comfortable retirement wasn’t just a promise–it was guaranteed. A growing economy was fueling a new “ownership society”. We were told to invest, take a chance, buy a home, and don’t worry about the risk it will all work out. What happened?…

Mark Zaccaria: Money, Politics, and PR Legerdemain in the Public Sector, Part 2

By Engaged Citizen | February 25, 2009 |

Mark Zaccaria concludes his response to Bruce Bartlett’s postulates on the relationship between deficits, monetary policy, interest rates with some specific economic suggestions of his own… Raise Interest Rates: Money is like water, in that if you want it to flow you have to tilt the table. With effective rates at zero there is no…

Mark Zaccaria: Money, Politics, and PR Legerdemain in the Public Sector, Part 1

By Engaged Citizen | February 24, 2009 |

North Kingstown’s Mark Zaccaria, active small businessman and Republican Party Second District Congressional Candidate in 2008, has taken up the challenge of expounding upon Bruce Bartlett’s basic view of why deficit spending is needed now. Mr. Bartlett has said that…I do not believe that budget deficits are inherently stimulative. However, when we are in a…

Travis Rowley: No Country for Black Individualism

By Engaged Citizen | February 23, 2009 |

The Coen Brothers’ 2007 film No Country For Old Men revolves around the tale of several young men engaged in a violent race for a satchel of cash. Tommy Lee Jones plays an aging sheriff investigating the depressing trail of bloodshed, markings that inform the old man that the customs and morals that guided his…