Marc Comtois
Some proponents of having the Electoral College replaced by a National Popular Vote to elect the President write: In today’s climate of partisan polarization, the current system shuts out most of the country from meaningful participation by turning naturally “purple” states into simple “red” and “blue.” The result is a declining number of Americans who…
Despite the fact that prostitution can occur behind closed doors in Rhode Island, prostitution actually is illegal in the state. AG Lynch and many others have long sought to close that loophole. But, somehow, for some reason, they continue to meet with opposition. Rep. Joanne M. Giannini, D-Cranston has done yeoman’s work in presenting a…
Many were surprised when Common Cause of Rhode Island flipped on the question of Voter Initiative and became an opponent. That happened under Phillip West, but Common Cause, under new executive director Christine Lopes, still opposes Voter Initiative. In this, they share a position with the state Association of Fire Fighters, the AFL-CIO, National Education…
Scott MacKay’s immigration piece in the Sunday ProJo was a good piece of historical writing. However, and inevitably, it will be used by some as proof for their arguments in the contemporary illegal immigrant debate. Namely that the U.S. has “historically” allowed all immigrants, whether illegal or not. My first thought after reading the piece…
Justin jumped in ahead of me on this one (hey, it happens with us non-coordinating bloggers). Here’s a little more background. NY Times columnist David Brooks ($ required) started it off, and Andrew Sullivan, Ross Douthat and Jonah Goldberg have all weighed in thus far. The acute argument being had is between Sullivan and Douthat/Brooks.…
Both of these proposed election reforms seem like “no-brainers,” don’t they? Well, maybe not to everyone…(via ProJo’s Michael P. McKinney) Requiring voters to provide identification at the polls is either a needed safeguard against recent voter fraud or a way to disenfranchise minorities, the poor, elderly, disabled and the homeless from exercising their right to…
David Frum makes some interesting points. First, about the resurrection about the ERA: Back in the 1970s, ERA was defeated by a grassroots organizing campaign led by Phyllis Schlafly. Schlafly deployed many arguments against the ERA, and one of the most effective was that ERA would authorize same-sex marriage. At the time, this argument drove…
…the Democratic Party brings you (drumroll please)………………………………. The Equal Rights Amendment!!! Liberal Democrats in the Senate and House plan to resume “the fight for women’s equality” on Tuesday, when they reintroduce the Women’s Equality Amendment. Sens. Ted Kennedy (Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, both of New York, plan…
This snippet from the ProJo’s Robert Whitcomb got me thinking: This past Sunday’s Boston Herald detailed, in a story by Phil Restuccia, a growing movement of consumers and local businesspeople called Local First. This national group has organized 17,000 businesses around the country into 50 groups promoting their services directly to local shoppers, appealing to…
The new Democratic Congress really is changing the way things are done in Washington, aren’t they? I’ll leave it up to the reader to define “change” (h/t) in John Fund’s story: Democrats promised reform and instituted “a moratorium” on all earmarks until the system was cleaned up. Now the appropriations committees are privately accepting pork-barrel…