Marc Comtois

The Bankruptcy Option

By Marc Comtois | November 9, 2010 |

Given the long political, economic, electoral, etc. track record of this state, many believe that the only solution to fixing Rhode Island lay in bankruptcy. Well, if that is indeed a solution, then this post by Richard Epstein is concisely informative on the topic. Epstein explains the how’s and why’s, but then concludes that bankruptcy…

Take the Money and Run: Or, This here’s a Story about Ralphy-Pete and Gina-Liz…*

By Marc Comtois | November 9, 2010 |

I will give credit to Governor-elect Chafee for having the good political sense of declining his statutory raise and putting the funds towards government employee recognition awards. (Producer Kara on the Helen Glover Show likened it to the Dundies given by the boss on The Office, Michael Scott. The “Chafees”?). So far, he’s the only…

Smokers for Fiscal Health

By Marc Comtois | November 8, 2010 |

The ProJo reports that the percentage of smokers in Rhode Island has gone from 22.4% of the population in 1999 to 15.1% in 2009. They identify this downward trend as coincidental to the indoor smoking ban and ever-increasing cigarette taxes. Imagine: increased taxes can act as a disincentive. Of course, if Rhode Islanders truly had…

Meet the New Boss…er…it is the Old Boss!

By Marc Comtois | November 3, 2010 |

The famous quote from Strother Martin in Cool Hand Luke also comes to mind: What we’ve got here is… failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach. So you get what we had here last [night], which is the way he wants it… well, he gets it. I don’t like it any more than…

Dirtiest Campaign Ever? Thus has it always been claimed….

By Marc Comtois | October 29, 2010 |

Thanks to the folks at Reason.com for reminding people that political campaigns have been dirty for quite some time (say, a couple hundred years, at least).

RI Reformers Split on Governor

By Marc Comtois | October 29, 2010 |

RISC is buying what Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio is selling and have endorsed him for Governor over Republican John Robitaille. Their reasoning: RISC wants to acknowledge that Republican John Robitaille, who is a friend and member of RISC has run a very competent and credible campaign- -and yes, as of this writing- -is running…

Rift in the Democratic Party

By Marc Comtois | October 28, 2010 |

This post–“An Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh“–from “Hillbuzz”, a pro-Hillary Clinton blog, is starting to get some play. The writer, Kevin DuJan, explains that, while a lot of Hillary Clinton supporters hold a grudge over the 2008 Democratic Party nomination process, that isn’t the only reason that they are intent on getting back at Obama…

ProJo PolitiFlacks for Cicilline

By Marc Comtois | October 28, 2010 |

Oh, it sounds so good, doesn’t it? PolitiFact will fact check politicians to see what is true and not. But, as we’ve been pointing out here and there, PolitiFact can be used as another vehicle to slant political news coverage, albeit under the guise of “fair and balanced” fact checking. Justin has already explained how…

Robitaille Rising?

By Marc Comtois | October 22, 2010 |

Scott McKay’s was the first report I saw about the Republican Governor’s pumping a few hundred thousand dollars into the RI Governor’s race on behalf of John Robitaille. Washington political sources who are in the advertising buying side of political consulting say the RGA is preparing a major last-minute push on behalf of Robitaille. Which…

Warwick School Committee Chair Calls for End of School Committee

By Marc Comtois | October 20, 2010 |

Testifying before the Warwick Charter Review Commission, current Warwick School Committee Chairman Christopher Friel has come to the conclusion that the Warwick School Committee has outlived its usefulness and should be integrated into city government. Traditionally, school committees were responsible for establishing curriculum and adopting educational standards and policies within their respective communities. The school…