Rhode Island Politics
I crack on them enough, but this time I’m sending kudos the ProJo’s way for their story–and the research made available–on the cost to Rhode Islanders for running our state, city and town governments. Rhode Islanders paid their city and town employees more than $1.6 billion in 2006, a Providence Journal analysis of municipal employee…
Part 2 of Kenneth Payne’s series on the evolution of political corruption in Rhode Island is worth a read (emphasis added): The forms of government were familiar. For those in control, the system worked. The Yankee establishment held the reins of power. The State House was an expression of that power — political and economic.…
My first reaction to Steve Peoples’ story, yesterday, about legislation to expedite rules changes in light of fiscal emergency was that the day we listen to the Poverty Institute’s Linda Katz on the topic of “the way to run a business” is the day we ought to listen to her on the topic of “the…
East Providence’s Silver Spring Elementary School parent teacher club ought to make its letters available to citizens for use in other municipalities: [Club president Tracy] McCaughey and others met with City Manager Richard Brown and Schools Supt. Jacqueline Forbes earlier this month. The city leaders allegedly confirmed one or more school closings is a “very…
If the published letters in the Providence Journal are at all representative of the volume that the editors receive, regular Rhode Islanders — the true “voiceless” of the state — are beginning to speak up. Here’s Bruce Lang of Newport: … the best way to improve economic development in Rhode Island can be summed up…
Amazingly, I’m still getting accused of being a Chafee supporter — this despite my having voted for Laffey in the primaries and Whitehouse in the general, just to get rid of the guy. Granted, I had my reservations about Laffey, mainly because I thought it unwise to export his proclivities and skillset to the national…
Dan Yorke was livid, yesterday, about attempts by General Assembly leaders to grease the legislative chute for the next budget. From the relevant Providence Journal story: Although [House Majority Leader Gordon] Fox [D, Providence] withdrew one provision, the rule changes scheduled for House Rules Committee review following this afternoon’s House session will contain several proposals…
Blogging about Darrel West’s latest poll yesterday, I mentioned that the Clinton/Obama race would probably get the major play. This morning, I see that both the ProJo and Ian at the Phoenix have taken that line and extended it to reporting on the approval ratings of various public officials as well as the right track/wrong…
Darrell West is out with his latest poll. The headline grabber is apparently that Hillary is slightly ahead of Obama with the March primary coming up. Yeah, ok. However, the most interesting and important question is the last (emphasis added for those proposals that met with majority support): The state faces a substantial deficit in…
Maybe it’s my irredeemable conservatism, but something about the news that the Providence-Newport ferry will be giving its swansong rides this year doesn’t quite make sense to me: The state’s popular high-speed ferry from Providence to Newport, a breezy way to see the Bay from one end to the other, will end this fall, Rhode…