Infrastructure

A mechanic stares down a destroyed machine

Politics This Week: The Era of Mismanagement

By Justin Katz | December 4, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz challenge the common wisdom in RI government, media, and higher education.

A water drop and ripples

RI still has the worst roads. What happened to RhodeWorks?

By Justin Katz | October 3, 2023 |

Remember when then-Governor Gina Raimondo (a Democrat, if that needs saying) insisted we needed truck tolls to fund her RhodeWorks program to finally fix the state’s infrastructure?  Well… As with the state’s pension system — which the state went right back to reamortizing as soon as Raimondo left her treasurer role — she’s a master…

1 plus 1 equals 3 with young man on smartphone in background.

Politics This Week: Education and Agendas

By Justin Katz | April 18, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz walk through how the effects of today’s education, or lack thereof, are trickling through all facets of society.

Providence, Rhode Island, USA park and skyline.

Politics This Week: Blame, Budgets, and Bailouts

By Justin Katz | April 3, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz walk through the latest comedies in Rhode Island politics and discuss the characters who have been stealing the spotlight.

Shady businessman with contract

Politics This Week: State Vulnerability to the Virtual Con

By Justin Katz | March 20, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz examine the ways an excessive purview and incompetence leave Rhode Island politicians and bureaucrats vulnerable to scams and other bad decisions.

Toll Verdict – RI Highway Spending Sixth Highest BEFORE Truck Tolls

By Monique Chartier | September 21, 2022 |

“Permanently enjoined” – in a methodical, 90+ page ruling, federal district court Judge William Smith has turned thumbs down on Rhode Island’s truck-only tolls, noting that they are discriminatory, that they do not “fairly approximate use of the facilities” and that they violate the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Click here for an…

A water drop and ripples

It is a good reminder on Labor Day, though.

By Justin Katz | September 5, 2022 |

Today the most prominent themes among the flotsam on RI Twitter are hagiographic tweets about labor unions and reports about failing infrastructure in the Providence area with respect to water management.  Folks, thank the unions for the flooding, because the expense they’ve imposed on infrastructure in Rhode Island is largely to blame.  Ignoring this reality…

A water drop and ripples

Just to head off the inevitable commentary…

By Justin Katz | September 5, 2022 |

… if you see people citing the strange flash flooding in the Providence area and Rt. 95 as evidence of “climate change,” ask them whether the blame mightn’t more reasonably land on government officials’ poor management of the infrastructure under their authority.

RI State House over caution tape

As goes the state, so goes the State House.

By Justin Katz | April 4, 2022 |

One bit of trivia that marks a step on road to full assimilation into the Ocean State when one learns it is that the State House dome is the fourth largest self-supporting marble dome on the planet.  The list goes St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Minnesota State Capitol, the Taj Mahal, then Rhode Island’s…

A water drop and ripples

Why is RI consistently one of the worst states for driving?

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2022 |

It doesn’t make much sense to me.  We’ve got a small state that isn’t terrible for traffic, despite being densely populated.  You’d think local authorities could keep the roads in order. But there it is:  According to WalletHub, the Ocean State is the second-worst state for drivers in the country, after Hawaii. Cost of Ownership &…