Marc Comtois

Democrats and Labor Leaders Quash Workers’ Rights

By Marc Comtois | February 28, 2007 |

According to GOP Minority Whip John Boehner: Under the guise of “protecting” workers, a bill by House Democrats would strip American workers of the right to choose — freely and anonymously — whether to unionize. The misleadingly titled Employee Free Choice Act offers neither freedom nor choice, and will leave workers open to ugly union…

Iraq: Americans DO Want to Win, so Dems Backtrack

By Marc Comtois | February 27, 2007 |

Yesterday, I asked if Americans had patience to see the war in Iraq through. Maybe they do, at least according to a poll published last week (which I missed): “The survey shows Americans want to win in Iraq, and that they understand Iraq is the central point in the war against terrorism and they can…

Do Aldroids Dream of Inconvenient Hypocrisy?

By Marc Comtois | February 26, 2007 |

Ya know, do they really have to make it so easy? (via Instapundit): Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy. Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area…

Iraq: Do Americans Have Patience?

By Marc Comtois | February 26, 2007 |

As Andrew’s post highlighting the reporting of Rocco Dippo shows, the real story, “the view from the ground,” is different than what we regular Americans are getting from the mainstream press. But that really is no excuse. As Mitch Lewis writes: We cannot make decisions about this war based on fatigue, anxiety or self-interest. The…

’60’s Era Campus Free Speechniks: Fought the Old Boss, became the New Boss

By Marc Comtois | February 22, 2007 |

What happens when young co-eds “fight the power” and win a loosening of on-campus speech codes? Why, they seek to reimpose them when they become “the power.” As Greg Lukianoff and Will Creeley of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) explain in a campus free speech expose in today’s Providence Phoenix (Via N4N):…

The Morality of Capitalism

By Marc Comtois | February 17, 2007 |

Well, sometimes the self-generated posting just doesn’t come easily, which describes my state over the last few days. So, that’s when we bloggers revert to the excerpt-other-people’s-writing-and-compile-and-synthesize tactic. (Well, it’s better than nothing). I recently read this piece from Richard Karlgaard on Forbe’s web site in which he wrote: Money (profit) is a tool. It…

Watching the Senate: Recapturing Charitable Giving

By Marc Comtois | February 13, 2007 |

On the face of it, the concurrent efforts of Senate Majority Leader Paiva-Weed (PDF) and House Speaker Gordon Fox (PDF) to promote charitable giving by ex-pat Rhode Islanders is a good bit of pragmatic lawmaking: The legislation would prevent the state from considering a person’s charitable donations as evidence when determining for tax purposes whether…

Governor Endorses Cicione for RI GOP Chair

By Marc Comtois | February 13, 2007 |

Ian Donnis posted on his Not for Nothing blog yesterday that Governor Carcieri has endorsed Giovanni Cicione to be the next RI GOP Chair. According to Donnis: Cicione, a 36-year-old Barrington lawyer and GOP activist, told me this morning that he met with the governor about two weeks ago “and he’s expressed his support for…

Trying to Blunt the Impact of “Special-interest solons”

By Marc Comtois | February 12, 2007 |

I thought it worth noting the item “Special-interest solons” from today’s Political Scene column in the ProJo: [Rep. Douglas W.] Gablinske [D-Bristol]…recently asked the state Ethics Commission to address this question: “how full-time union employees, who are also legislators, are able to promote union interests through legislation.” In a letter to the commission, Gablinske said…

Watching the Senate: Election Reform

By Marc Comtois | February 11, 2007 |

The Senate appears to be willing to tackle a couple issues that certainly seem to foster political corruption. S 0283, proposed by Senators Gibbs, Bates, Cote, Blais, and Breene, would amend the currently defined procedure for voting: Each person desiring to vote shall, before receiving his or her ballot, state his or her name and…