National Politics

How Long Do They Get To Stay?

By Patrick Laverty | October 21, 2011 |

How long do the Occupy Providence protesters get to stay in the park with tents up, food kitchens cooking, medical tents operating? How long until the city tells them that it’s time to go, they had their time for protesting and now they’re done? Of course, whenever that comes, they’ll all claim that their constitutional…

Even if it’s Amazing, It’s not fair, so I hate everything

By Marc Comtois | October 10, 2011 |

Trying to figure out this Occupy thing? Right now, this seems to explain it the best (h/t):Remember this bit by Louis CK (thanks for reminding me, Will)? Protest song! …a sultan and student both have iPhone 4s…it’s not fair Overall, much of the logic seems to go something like this (h/t): ADDENDUM: I put this…

Well, When You Put It That Way

By Justin Katz | September 17, 2011 |

Mark Steyn may be the perfect columnist for his times, because one really needs a flair for humor of the absurd to comment appropriately on the absurdity of modern Western governance: The estimated cost of the non-bill is just shy of half a trillion dollars. Gosh, it seems like only yesterday that Washington was in…

Two Republican Victories in Congress

By Patrick Laverty | September 14, 2011 |

The Republicans won two US House seats by special election yesterday, in Nevada and New York. In Nevada, Republican Mark Amodel won the seat replacing Dean Heller who was appointed to replace John Ensign. The Nevada win wasn’t unexpected as that district has never elected a Democrat in its history, but a 22-point victory was…

Who Pays for Past Mistakes

By Marc Comtois | September 7, 2011 |

Generational warfare: It’s bound to happen here in Rhode Island with the pension crisis. It’s also happening nationally on the budget deficit debate with the new Super Congressional panel set to convene. Education Policy wonk Rick Hess offers his perspective: You’re either with the kids or with those rushing to the ramparts to defend retiree…

Toning Down the Rhetoric?

By Patrick Laverty | September 7, 2011 |

On Monday, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, Jr, urged labor to “win the war” on the Tea Party, told the President “we are your army” and “let’s take these son of a ****** out” amid cheers from the crowd. Just your usual Teamster rally? Not exactly, not when the President then follows those words with a…

Whitehouse/Langevin Profiting From Wall Street Banks

By Patrick Laverty | September 6, 2011 |

If you read things from the progressive caucus and others who follow it closely, big business, big banks and Wall Street firms are the devil. You can also read about some of their darlings like Sheldon Whitehouse and the now-near-untouchable Jim Langevin. However today, GoLocalProv.com has a front page article on the worth of Rhode…

A Bad Economy Is in the Democrats’ Favor Structurally

By Justin Katz | September 4, 2011 |

William Jacobson makes an interesting point regarding the intersection of the economy and electoral politics: Workers giving up hope, thereby keeping the unemployment rate artificially low, is keeping Obama’s reelection hopes alive. If the headlines screamed that unemployment was 11.4%, even I might begin to believe [that the U.S.A. would not give Obama a second…

Fairness Doctrine Signs Off. But Does the Senior Senator from Massachusetts Approve?

By Monique Chartier | August 25, 2011 |

The Fairness Doctrine has been deep sixed by President Obama’s FCC. Bravo. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the decision to eliminate the Fairness Doctrine was part of a larger mandate proposed by the Obama administration to ease regulatory burdens by getting rid of duplicative or outdated measures. Ever since reading about this rare bit…

Wisconsin

By Marc Comtois | August 10, 2011 |

In case you missed it in Wisconsin After tens of millions of dollars spent by outside interest groups, dozens of attack ads and exhaustive get-out-the-vote efforts, Democrats on Tuesday fell short of their goal of taking control of the state Senate and stopping the agenda of Gov. Scott Walker. Republicans won four of six recall…