Monique Chartier

From “Excellent Financial Condition” to Receivership-Ready in Three Short Months: Mayor Cicilline, Is it Possible that you Lied About and Covered Up the Financial Condition of Providence?

By Monique Chartier | March 20, 2011 |

In predictable fashion, PolitiFarce has jumped into the matter of David Cicilline’s self-serving, gross misstatements about Providence’s financial condition by examining the former mayor’s statement about a minor, tangential matter. (With this approach to current events coverage, if a dragon were laying waste to a town, the news team would rush in and provide extensive…

Latest Court Activity in the John Leidecker Cases (Yes, Cases)

By Monique Chartier | March 17, 2011 |

Clicking on this RI Judiciary link (“Adult Criminal Information Database”), choosing “Search by Defendant Name/Business Name”, clicking “Accept” at the bottom and then entering “Leidecker” in the “LAST NAME” field brings up two files/cases, both pertaining to John Leidecker. (Mr. Leidecker was arrested in late November and charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly impersonating former…

Fifth Highest State & Local Tax Burden: The Sacrifice isn’t Really Shared If One Party Is Already Disproportionately “Sharing”

By Monique Chartier | March 17, 2011 |

With difficulty, I’m going to disregard the spectacle of the governor attempting to sell his proposed $176 million sales tax hike as a remake of Rhode Island into a “tax haven” and just focus on one critical data point. Governor Chafee has balanced his proposed budget with, on the one hand, suggested “cuts” that seem…

In Point of Fact, Not Much Good Comes of Losing An Hour

By Monique Chartier | March 13, 2011 |

… like we did last night when we “sprang forward” at 2 am. The most interesting item in this John J. Miller column of six years ago is that re-setting clocks one hour ahead every year is not beneficial even to the party commonly cited as its impetus: farmers. … but when the first DST…

Quoth the Meter, “Neverwrong”: Once Rated, “The Truth” Cannot be Corrected

By Monique Chartier | March 13, 2011 |

So, yesterday, in addition to highlighting a much needed new website, PolitiFact Bias, and announcing A.R.’s excellent new subject category, Justin revealed that, at the ProJo, a sort of Truth Board is in charge of determining PolitiFact “Truth”-O-Meter ratings participates in the selection of statements for the “Truth”-O-Meter as well as the determination of its…

A Non-Waiving Waiver of ObamaCare

By Monique Chartier | March 12, 2011 |

One of the biggest flaws of the federal government’s healthcare take-over reform law is its usurpation of the authority and power of the states via a serious overreach of the Commerce Clause. Possibly in anticipation of a Supreme overturning of the law on this particular basis, the Obama administration has now issued guidelines for states…

National Solidarity, Forever (and Blind) – Coming to Providence

By Monique Chartier | March 10, 2011 |

GoLocalProv reports exclusively. The American Federation of Teachers is poised to unroll a $1 million to $2 million ad campaign to fight Providence Mayor Angel Taveras over the mass terminations of city teachers, sources tell GoLocalProv. The substantial media buy could escalate a standoff that has already seized the national spotlight, making Rhode Island one…

Buddy C to ABC6: Chafee Will Tap O’Donnell

By Monique Chartier | March 6, 2011 |

ABC6 reported the following “Breaking News” item shortly after noon today. Assuming this to be true, what do we know about Marshal O’Donnell? United States Marshal Steven O’Donnell will be named the next head of the Rhode Island State Police. ABC6 Chief Political Analyst Buddy Cianci says the announcement will occur this week. O’Donnell, formerly…

Cover-Up Collusion by the Fourth Estate? ProJo Endorsed David Cicilline Three Days AFTER the Release of the Internal Auditor’s Report

By Monique Chartier | March 6, 2011 |

In an excellent post at Legal Insurrection entitled “What Did Former Providence Mayor David Cicilline (D-RI) Know, And When Did He Know It?”, William Jacobson points out, among other interesting items, that David Cicilline was endorsed by the Providence Journal. One’s initial reaction is, sure, they endorsed him; he was the Dem candidate. And this…

Another Question for David Cicilline on the Category 5: Why Did You Refuse to Give Your Own Internal Auditor Access to Operating Figures, Compelling Him, Incredibly, to Resort to FOIA Requests?

By Monique Chartier | March 6, 2011 |

Yes, for six months, David Cicilline, you willfully withheld from the City’s Internal Auditor financial documents. Yes, James Lombardi – an auditor for the City of Providence, not some meddling outsider – had to file a public information request under the state’s open records law (!) in order to obtain from your administration the documents…