Marc Comtois

Why Rhode Island Passed Voter ID: Or, Who is ‘El Macho’?

By Marc Comtois | February 8, 2012 |

Simon Van Zuylen-Wood–Brown grad and writer for the liberal New Republic–has written a piece trying to explain how “blue” Rhode Island has joined “red” states in passing a Voter ID law. His first instinct is that it’s about race. The perpetrators are all Hispanic and the accusers are mostly not. This underlines what is most…

New Education Funding Formula Contributes to Increases in State Aid

By Marc Comtois | February 7, 2012 |

Dan McGowan at GoLocalProv has a story on how Governor Chafee’s budget sends more money to the cities and towns. A GoLocalProv review of the Governor’s budget plan shows Barrington, East Greenwich, Lincoln, Cranston, Scituate and North Providence will all receive at least 16 percent bumps in aid, with Barrington and East Greenwich – two…

Have a Super Day!

By Marc Comtois | February 5, 2012 |

Let’s face it, the big news story around here has to do with football. So, despite the fact that some knucklehead on the NY Football Giants website team thought they had already won, the game is in fact tonight. There are plenty of football storylines, but to a lot of people, it will be about…

RE: Voter Fraud in Florida

By Marc Comtois | February 3, 2012 |

As Patrick points out, while, apparently, voter fraud happens in Florida, it can’t happen here….right? Breitbart has more: A local Florida station invented an unprecedented way to check for voter fraud: jury excusal forms. NBC2 compiled a list of jury excusals based on not being a citizen of the United States and compared it to…

Achievement First, Paying Twice?

By Marc Comtois | February 2, 2012 |

The application by Achievement First to open a new charter school (a Mayoral Academy) in Providence is up for approval before the Board of Regents today. In an effort to promote this application, RI-CAN has been rolling out “7 Facts in 7 Days” on their website. Whether you approve, oppose–or are pre-disposed to either–one fact…

Providence on the Brink of Bankruptcy

By Marc Comtois | February 2, 2012 |

As Andrew mentioned, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras held a press conference this morning and painted a grim picture for Providence unless some remedies are found to close the budget gap. Ian Donnis summarizes – Taveras says the city is pursuing an expedited state Supreme Court review of Super Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter’s decision barring the…

(Re)State of the Union

By Marc Comtois | January 25, 2012 |

I mean, really….it doesn’t even seem like he’s trying anymore. Rehashing the same tired lines, delivered at an 8th grade reading level. It just reinforces the perception that President Obama likes the idea of being President much more than actually doing the job. Good thing the GOP has such a strong field of candidates….

The Cultural Divide Explains the Economic One

By Marc Comtois | January 24, 2012 |

Saturday’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting piece about “The New American Divide“: People are starting to notice the great divide. The tea party sees the aloofness in a political elite that thinks it knows best and orders the rest of America to fall in line. The Occupy movement sees it in an economic elite…

RE: Life Before Entitlement – Historical Perspective

By Marc Comtois | January 18, 2012 |

The article to which Justin referred discusses the mutual aid societies that cropped up during the late 19th and early 20th century to deal with poverty and other social issues. Historian Walter Trattner, author of From Poor Law to Welfare State, was quoted in the article: Those in need. . . looked first to family,…

Daily Show on Harrop’s Hypocrisy

By Marc Comtois | January 13, 2012 |

Last August I took ProJo columnist Froma Harrop to task for being hypocritical because she called Tea Partiers “terrorists” while at the same time being the Chair of the National Conference of Editorial Writers that oversees the Civility Project. Now, as Ted Nesi posts, the Daily Show tries to square the circle with comedic results.…