Rhode Island Politics

Embrace Your Inner Underfunded Pension!

By Carroll Andrew Morse | December 1, 2008 |

According to RI Future contributor Pat Crowley, if your pension plan is underfunded don’t think of it as a bug, think of it as a feature…An unfunded liability may in fact enhance the security of the plan because it requires more caution, therefore, more long term thinking.I wonder if progressives will apply this line of…

Dictating Your Behavior: Specific and Target Action; Changing Theirs: We’ll Get to That

By Justin Katz | November 27, 2008 |

Let’s just say that Elizabeth Roberts’s efforts to increase economic activity in Rhode Island aren’t very inspiring, not the least because they begin on the wrong side of the equation: WITH RHODE ISLAND’S economy in recession, joblessness approaching double digits and our small businesses bearing the brunt of the downturn, we all have a role…

The Waves of Objection

By Justin Katz | November 24, 2008 |

Travis Rowley has an op-ed in today’s Providence Journal responding to Bill Lynch’s attempt to redirect blame for Rhode Island’s economic collapse from his astonishingly dominant political party. Rowley makes one point that is critical to understanding the state’s predicament: There is not a conservative reform that a Republican governor can recommend without causing the…

The Straight Ticket Conversation

By Justin Katz | November 20, 2008 |

Marc took the air with Matt Allen, last night and talked straight ticket voting. Stream by clicking here, or download it.

Out of the Hole

By Justin Katz | November 20, 2008 |

I’m a little delayed in posting it, but during last week’s Anchor Rising spot on the Matt Allen Show, Andrew explained just how daunting is the problem of bringing the Rhode Island government within its budget. Stream by clicking here, or download it.

RE: Matt Allen Show – Straight Party

By Marc Comtois | November 19, 2008 |

As a follow-up to my appearance on Matt Allen tonight, I thought it worthwhile to provide a link to VotersUnite.org, which I mentioned to Matt. As I said, they indicate that there are only 15 states that provide the straight-party option, though there are some caveats. For instance: [1] North Carolina: A straight party vote…

Coincidence or Nepotism? Senator Steve Alves’ Job-A-Rama

By Monique Chartier | November 19, 2008 |

[Yesterday, the Governor settled an ethics complaint about the hiring of his niece-in-law. My post below first appeared on June 1, shortly after the ethics complaint was filed.] Under my post “I Am Your Father’s Brother’s Nephew’s Cousin’s Former Roommate” about Turn To 10’s Bill Rappleye “uncovering” the hiring of the Governor’s niece-in-law, commenter Citizen…

RE: Further to the Future of the GOP

By Marc Comtois | November 19, 2008 |

Brendan Miniter of the WSJ: Several years ago Christie Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and EPA administrator, wrote a book called “It’s My Party Too.” She used that treatise to argue for the party to abandon its conservative roots. Even after two serious GOP drubbings at the polls, she has found no takers.…

Most Agree: Straight Party Option is Bad

By Marc Comtois | November 18, 2008 |

The ProJo’s Ed Achorn used some of my data in his latest column in which he explains why the straight-party vote option in the Rhode Island is a stumbling block towards a two-party state. This scheme…gets pernicious…farther down the ballot, in legislative races with lesser-known candidates. Minus the straight-ticket option, many voters who are ignorant…

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…