Rhode Island Politics
Having recently stood, almost alone, against fascist attempts to mandate no-fee gift certificates, I couldn’t help but chuckle — or, more accurately, to “pffft!” — as I filled out my car registration renewal today: Since when, I guess, has a meddling oligarchy thought it worth the time to meddle with itself? (Dirty-minded readers need not…
There’s surely an explanation for this that would have merit in less strapped times, but as far as I can see, it’s difficult to justify given current circumstances: Steve Kass, a former radio talk-show host and governor’s director of communications, is now the spokesman for the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. At $126,541, Kass will…
There may be a bit of the old chicken and egg between the push for renewable energy and the Rhode Island government’s lust for power. Whatever the case, when one sees Senate President Joseph Montalbano’s name attached to a legislative initiative claiming to “spur economic development” by “sparking” environmentally friendly energy development, a game of…
Of course, it’s always more pleasant to have surpluses, rather than use them, which is a question that the Newport school department is facing: Last week, Supt. John Ambrogi proposed hiking school spending 2.12 percent next year to $38.5 million. But the budget would require the city to increase its education appropriation by 5 percent,…
And another columnist turns her attention to the odd disconnectedness of Rhode Island budgetary practices, this time Lifebeat-section writer Rita Lussier: Not that I had time for any of this. I didn’t and I don’t. But I decided to carve out an hour or so to try to learn something while I stood there at…
In her post this afternoon, Monique didn’t quote my favorite unionist quotations in that article about the governor’s proposal to require presigning public hearings on public contracts (emphasis added): “I’m halfway decent at reading tea leaves and I’m pretty clear that this budget article is about putting pressure on public officials not to give decent,…
The opinion page of the February 21, 2008 edition of the East Greenwich Pendulum carried a letter from the co-presidents of the East Greenwich Educational Association, the local branch of the NEA teachers’ union, in which they wrote (not available on-line) the following under the heading of “Teachers union heads seeking ‘balance’ in contract”- We,…
Governor Donald Carcieri has proposed that cities and towns hold public hearings on the terms of labor contracts before committing to them. Governor Carcieri wants to force municipalities to hold public hearings to review tentative labor agreements before they are finalized, a move that union officials yesterday said would lead to harassment and unnecessary political…
Last evening, The Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University hosted a panel on the Rhode Island budget crisis, moderated by Professor Darrell West. Four panelists presented their perspectives on where the problems are and what needs to be done…Gary Sasse (Director of the Rhode Island Department of Revenue) classified the Rhode Island budget…
For any national folks out there searching for an explanation of Hillary’s Clinton victory in Rhode Island, forget about all of the identity politics stuff that the analysts are trying to foist on you. Here’s all you need to know, starting with some wisdom from Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online…The Clinton team reinforced the…