Marc Comtois

Expiring Tax Cuts=Tax Increases

By Marc Comtois | July 8, 2010 |

Unless Congress and President Obama take action, the so-called Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of the year. Despite the rhetoric, it ain’t just “the rich” who will be affected, folks. Here are a couple of the expiring cuts that will affect us “working class” people. 1) The tax brackets will go up…

July 5th Observances From Bristol

By Marc Comtois | July 6, 2010 |

The family and I braved the crowds and the heat and took in the Bristol 4th (sic 5th) of July Parade. We arrived early (7:30-ish), staked our claim near the beginning of the route and hung out. Some observations: 1) As far as politicians, the earliest bird was AG candidate Joe Fernandez (D). General Treasurer…

Kansas Tries Grouping Kids by Ability, not Age

By Marc Comtois | July 6, 2010 |

Seems like an idea worth trying: Instead of simply moving kids from one grade to the next as they get older, schools are grouping students by ability. Once they master a subject, they move up a level. This practice has been around for decades, but was generally used on a smaller scale, in individual grades,…

Steele’s Afghanistan Hackery

By Marc Comtois | July 2, 2010 |

Look, I know that for the first time in eons, a GOP chair visited the state and threw the RI GOP some red meat and there was much rejoicing. But it looks like he’s engaging in some purely disingenuous political hackery here: Keep in mind again, federal candidates, this was a war of Obama’s choosing.…

Warwick Teachers Union Balks at Talks

By Marc Comtois | July 1, 2010 |

The Warwick Teachers Union (WTU) leadership continues to look for and (surprise) find reasons to not meet with the Warwick School Committee to help resolve the district’s $8.9 million budget deficit. As reported by Russel Moore in the Warwick Beacon, the School Administration had proposed to consolidate and eliminate some department head positions in the…

ProJo Editors: Confused on Gambling

By Marc Comtois | June 30, 2010 |

Ian Donnis points to the ProJo editorial pushing for an override of the Governor’s veto of the most recent Casino ballot question and reminds us that, not so long ago, the ProJo was decidedly anti-casino. Ian puts the change in the ProJo’s stance towards gambling at around 2006 and some digging in the AR archives…

Legislative Grants, “An Extra Perk or two….”

By Marc Comtois | June 30, 2010 |

The ProJo highlighted the RI General Assembly’s “Legislative Grant Program” (nee earmarks or the “rub-n-tug), focusing on the legislators (mostly State Rep’s) who believe it’s essentially a political spoils system. As reported by the ProJo’s Randall Edgar, Rep. Karen MacBeth (D-Cumberland) is one of those questioning the “process”: Testifying before the House Finance Committee this…

Change, We Fear Change

By Marc Comtois | June 24, 2010 |

People hear what they want to. Or maybe what they expect to, based on their preconceptions. This was proven again to me recently. I had quickly skimmed the ProJo story about Education Commissioner Deborah Gist’s visit to the John J. Moran Medium Security Facility to meet the inmates receiving their GEDs. Later, I heard through…

RI Governor 2010 – Immigration Reference Chart

By Marc Comtois | June 24, 2010 |

Based on Andrew’s reporting as well as the ProJo and the GoLocalProv accounts, here is a quick reference chart detailing the 2010 RI Gubonatorial candidates’ stance on four key Immigration related issues: Governor Carcieri’s 2008 Executive Order, E-Verify, in-state college tuition for the illegal/undocumented, and the Arizona Immigration law. Issue Chafee Lynch Giroux* Caprio Block**…

World Cup

By Marc Comtois | June 23, 2010 |

I’m a soccer guy. I play and coach, follow the sport and needless to say I’m really into the World Cup. But I’m not a soccer proselytizer: I won’t force it on you, but don’t tell me I’m stupid for liking it. To each his own, right? This year’s U.S. Men’s Team has a different…