Rhode Island Politics
It’s kinda big news when the brother of the Mayor of Providence pleads guilty to corruption, no? Lawyers John M. Cicilline, the brother of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, and Joseph A. Bevilacqua Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston this morning along with former legal assistant Lisa Torres to charges involving a $150,000…
Steve Peoples (like the rest of us) is looking for hints concerning the makeup of the Budget that will be revealed next week. Here’s the quick version of Peoples’ report. House Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino doesn’t want to go the one-time fix route, but isn’t going to shut the door completely. Senate Finance…
Hear Marc’s scream of frustration last night on the Matt Allen show, streamed by clicking here (or download). Really, what can be said about a handful of citizens requesting that their and our taxes to be raised?
Cranston Rep. Charlene Lima was just on John DePetro’s show and in a wide-ranging conversation offered up a couple nuggets. First, she admitted that both sides were at fault for not working together to fix the budget mess and chalked it up to “politics.” Gee, ya think? She also is hearing that 90% of budget…
All of you who (for whatever inexplicable reason) found yourselves at the movie theater watching Sex and the City, tonight, can listen to Matt Allen’s Violent Roundtable featuring Rep. John Loughlin, Senator Leonidas Raptakis, and me here. Two notes from the scene: 1. Sen. Raptakis didn’t answer my question about from where the money is…
Cranston Mayor Michael Napolitano has announced he will not run for a second term. I’m in with the commenters over at Kmareka who say that they are surprised, but not shocked by the news. There never seemed to be any long-term vision in Mayor Napolitano’s plans that would be a top-priority for him to see…
There’s something emblematic about states’ attempts to tweak homeland security programs in order to apply federal dollars to tangential matters: More openly than at any time since the Sept. 11 attacks, state and local authorities have begun to complain that the federal financing for domestic security is being too closely tied to combating potential terrorist…
The likelihood that Rhode Island will move in the right direction over the next few years will become increasingly apparent as the election season ramps up. If the right kinds of candidates run, and if they can get some traction, then perhaps (just perhaps) the worst can be avoided. One candidate to watch will be…
A small clarification for the Chair of the RI Democrat Party who today on the Dan Yorke Show suggested that Governor Carcieri should have sought an opinion from the Ethics Commission before hiring the niece by marriage of his wife by marriage: if the Governor had done so six years ago, they would have approved…
Timothy Williamson (D-West Warwick) — one of the two RI House members to vote against a legislator copay — let slip some of the behind-the-scenes politics: “Don’t start clapping yourself on the back too hard, you may break your hand,” Williamson said. “The Senate is already telling you they are not going to pass this.…