Monique Chartier

Speaker Murphy’s Best of Rhode Island

By Monique Chartier | July 28, 2009 |

House Speaker William Murphy, filling in today 10-21 for Buddy Cianci on WPRO, will not be taking calls, at least for the first couple of hours. Instead, he has indicated a desire to focus on some of the good things in and about Rhode Island. Here, then, is the running list. Let me know if…

The Difference Between a Handout and a Share in a Common Resource

By Monique Chartier | July 27, 2009 |

… is pretty obvious and substantial, actually. About Sarah Palin’s resignation, David Frum has made this observation. Sarah Palin’s most notable achievement as governor of Alaska was to increase the payout from the state’s energy tax take by $1200 per resident. Isn’t it odd then that she would use her farewell address to warn against…

Rhode Island Ballot Access: Generally and Specifically

By Monique Chartier | July 26, 2009 |

Add ballot inaccessibility to the list of Rhode Island’s dubious distinctions. With its requirement that a new party collect signatures from 5% of registered voters, Rhode Island is in a four way tie for dead last in this category. [Insert the well known list of Rhode Island’s problems directly attributable to poor managment.] But with…

Democracy in Action: The Moderate Party Collects Signatures

By Monique Chartier | July 26, 2009 |

Following upon the court ruling [Press Release PDF] in May that extended the timeframe for collecting the nearly 25,000 signatures needed to gain official recognition as a political party in Rhode Island, the Moderate Party has wasted no time buckling down to the task. Below, Max Bradshaw and Jack Crook collect signatures at the Stop…

Caruolo Law: Clarifying What it Does and Does Not

By Monique Chartier | July 25, 2009 |

Rhode Island General Law Title 16, Chapter 16-2, Section 16-2-21.4 Does > Permits school committees to sue their city/town for failing to fully fund their budget. the school committee shall have the right to seek additional appropriations by bringing an action in the superior court > Requires a financial and performance audit in the event…

Pole Dancing Minors: Wrong Kind of Economic Development, Wrong Kind of Publicity

By Monique Chartier | July 24, 2009 |

John DePetro observed Monday that certain members of the General Assembly are not inclined to close this legal loophole because its continued existence might increase Rhode Island’s convention business. (Wouldn’t it be far preferable on a number of levels to draw business here with an economically friendly climate instead of via our children?) Those legislators…

A Drastic Step in Detroit

By Monique Chartier | July 23, 2009 |

And we’re not talking about another auto bailout. From today’s Detroit News. About 2,600 Detroit Public Schools teachers and staff will have to reapply for their jobs by Friday or face losing their positions under a massive shakeup that has union leaders crying foul. Forty-one schools will be “reconstituted” and all staff positions among them…

Two Conflicting Laws, One Reality: the Caruolo Line is Drawn

By Monique Chartier | July 21, 2009 |

The Woonsocket City Council confronted two starkly conflicting fiscal developments at last night’s meeting. The first was the news that come November, a company would be relocating out of Woonsocket and taking with it the wages and taxes of two hundred and fifty jobs. The second was a verbal report from the City Solicitor, Robert…

Health Care Reform: A Roundup of the Bad and the Ugly (Sorry, very little “Good” to be Found)

By Monique Chartier | July 19, 2009 |

A defect to suit every taste. – Contrary to representations by the Obama administration, the proposed reform would increase not “Reduce long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government”. – Funding to come at the expense of Medicare; i.e., care of our seniors. In fact, the Philadelphia Inquirer, not exactly a radical right…

Question for Our Congressional Delegation: What is the Revenue Source for All of this Spending?

By Monique Chartier | July 19, 2009 |

On Thursday, our delegation unanimously applauded the legislative progress being made on the nationalization …er, the reform of our healthcare system. In the last eight months, two Congresses and two Presidents have spent the following sums. TARP (bank bailout): $700 billion pledged; $200 billion distributed of which $66 billion has been repaid. Bailout of AIG:…