Monique Chartier

A Roman Role Model for Rhode Island?

By Monique Chartier | November 16, 2008 |

As much for public-spiritedness of governing philosophy as for aspiration of tenure, the leadership of our citizen legislature might do worse than emulate this fellow.

Hitchens: Next Stop – Back Down to Earth

By Monique Chartier | November 15, 2008 |

In view of his grumpiness with both candidates, if you jumped into Christopher Hitchens’ post-election column randomly and missed that one crucial sentence, you’d have no idea who he voted for. It was Senator Obama. But Hitchens has some choice words about inflated expectations of the President-Elect which have been raised by a fawning media…

Who Should Pump the Oil?

By Monique Chartier | November 15, 2008 |

In view of the consideration that President-Elect Obama is giving to the reinstatement via Presidential Executive Order of the recently lifted ban on certain domestic oil drilling, let us go back a month or so to an editorial by Tom Ward of the Valley Breeze [no longer available on line] which raised an interesting point.…

Public Money is Not a Personal Matter

By Monique Chartier | November 12, 2008 |

If, indeed, the referenced law is being correctly interpreted and executed, it needs to change. Any information pertaining to the dispensation of tax dollars cannot be withheld from those who supply those dollars. The Carcieri administration is refusing to disclose the number of unused vacation and sick days it awarded recent state retirees who, in…

Secretary of State’s Electoral Initiative: Too Much and Too Little – Part Three

By Monique Chartier | November 9, 2008 |

Early Voting/Multi-Day Voting – Oh, No And here is where the Secretary of State gets a little carried away. He announced this component October 21 on WPRO’s John DePetro Show (podcast no longer available). Citing thirty one other states who engage in some form of the practice, Part of our 2009 legislation package, we will…

Secretary of State’s Electoral Initiative: Too Much and Too Little – Part Two

By Monique Chartier | November 9, 2008 |

Voter Identification – Yes The Secretary of State’s electoral initiative includes a requirement for all voters to show a picture identification when voting. On the one hand, it is good news, indeed, that this critical measure has been proposed by the Secretary of State. It stops cold not one but two significant election frauds: voting…

Secretary of State’s Electoral Initiative: Too Much and Too Little – Part One

By Monique Chartier | November 9, 2008 |

Marc’s two thorough analyses of straight party voting last Tuesday is a good cue to break the bad news that the legislative package to be introduced in January by Rhode Island’s Secretary of State – one of the guardians of our electoral process – does not include elimination of the straight party lever. (That does…

This Carp Public Service Announcement Brought to You by Several Over-Eager FM Radio Stations

By Monique Chartier | November 9, 2008 |

It is way too early to be playing Christmas music. Thank you. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program of slightly more substantive issues and discussions.

The Next Senate President?

By Monique Chartier | November 6, 2008 |

Following upon the defeat of Joseph Montalbano by Edward O’Neill (I) of Lincoln, rumors are flying that Senate Majority Leader Teresa Paiva-Weed (D), she who denied the will of a substantial majority in the House and the Senate by killing the e-verify legislation during the last two General Assembly sessions, is slated to be the…

The Incredible, Shrinking Pension Fund

By Monique Chartier | November 6, 2008 |

In an October 11 (Saturday, ahem) ProJo article by Katherine Gregg, … the treasurer’s office acknowledged that the state’s pension fund has lost 25 percent of its value since the beginning of the year, dropping from $8.4 billion to $6.3 billion. LTE writer George Lavoie points out, however, that Katherine Gregg used the wrong benchmark…