Monique Chartier

Mr. Sweetheart Mortgage Will not Seek Reelection

By Monique Chartier | January 6, 2010 |

From the Wall Street Journal today. The departure of [Senator Chris] Dodd, first elected to the Senate in 1980, carried the most symbolic value because of his seniority and his close association with the financial system bailout and other economic policies. He has drawn criticism for backing a measure that allowed the embattled insurance giant…

Really? Health Care is an Inalienable Right?

By Monique Chartier | January 4, 2010 |

Glenn Beck this morning dissected remarks that Senator Tom Harkin made following upon the passage of a health care reform bill in the Senate. [Emphasis added in both quotes.] What this bill does is we finally take that step. As our leader said earlier, we take that step from healthcare as a privilege to healthcare…

Global Warming Proponents: Not So Much Adhering to the Scientific Method as Choosing from an Evidence Buffet

By Monique Chartier | January 3, 2010 |

What better time than the end of a snowy January day eleven years and counting into a global cooling trend to examine the latest global warming panic mongering? Global alarm over climate change and its effects has risen manifold after the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Since then, many of…

Give Some of Those New Airline Safety Regs a Short Half-Life

By Monique Chartier | December 27, 2009 |

The TSA has announced new safety measures, both pre-flight and on-board, in the wake of the attempted on-board bombing of the Amsterdam to Detroit flight. While they apply only to international flights bound for the US, some domestic airlines have also implemented them. ID checks, searches, pat-downs, canine and machine sniffers before the flight? Go…

Whitehouse’s Infamous Remarks: A Proposed Tee-Shirt

By Monique Chartier | December 26, 2009 |

Governor Carcieri’s reaction Tuesday on FOX Business, principally to the price that states will pay for health care reform but also to the federal largesse that would soon ensure its passage in the Senate, inspires it. … You said it very well. I mean, this looks like Let’s make a Deal. I don’t know what…

Promotions and the Like

By Monique Chartier | December 23, 2009 |

Because I’ve gotten tripped up by this a couple of times myself recently, we’re all getting a quick refresher course. Following are ways to promote your business, your ideas, your candidacy, your event on the “premier conservative webblog in the state of Rhode Island”. (Hey, I’m just quoting someone else.) Sidebar Ad $30 per week…

How Would a 3% Cut in Pay Affect the Nationwide Salary Ranking of Rhode Island Teachers?

By Monique Chartier | December 20, 2009 |

To help cities and towns close budget gaps which might crop up in part by a proposed reduction in state aid, Governor Carcieri has suggested that municipalities around Rhode Island negotiate a 3% reduction in teacher salaries. Carcieri said he wants teachers to make the same sacrifice state workers are making. He wants every district…

Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed: “No one is Talking About Raising Taxes” (Other than the Governor)

By Monique Chartier | December 17, 2009 |

Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed appeared on the John DePetro Show this morning to interpret for WPRO listeners the supplemental budget that Governor Carcieri proposed in an alternate universe. Possibly John can prevail upon her to return another day and comment on the supplemental budget proposed by the Governor in this continuum. As you know, the…

Supplemental Budget: Not Just Cuts, Tools Also

By Monique Chartier | December 16, 2009 |

In today’s Pawtucket Times, Jim Baron points out that Governor Carcieri’s proposed (the Governor proposes, the General Assembly disposes) supplemental budget does not just reduce monies to cities and towns but would also provide a counterbalance; namely, relief from unfunded state mandates. Carcieri’s proposal also resuscitates several initiatives to allow cities and towns to cut…

A Constituent Speaks out on Kennedy’s Studied Indifference to Illegal Immigration

By Monique Chartier | December 13, 2009 |

In today’s Providence Journal, Deloris Issler of Cranston enumerates the ways that Congressman Patrick Kennedy poorly serves his district and the state with his views on illegal immigration and opposition to e-verify. To this, I would only add, without snideness or rancor, that the Congressman does not enhance his image in the area of intelligence…