Rhode Island Politics
Conventional wisdom holds that voters don’t pay much attention to city council endorsements. Here is an endorsement worth paying attention to: Jim Haldeman, candidate for State Representative in Rhode Island’s 35th district (South Kingstown), has received expressions of support from the city council and the mayor of Fallujah — as in Fallujah, Iraq. Here’s a…
Thomas K. Jones of West Warwick–who lives across the street from Harrah’s proposed casino sight–has done some research and discovered that Harrah’s has entered a competitive bidding process before. The difference in dollar figures is staggering. I am not a legislator with legislative staffers and researchers at my disposal. Yet it took me all of…
It’s not really news when those of us on the conservative side of things think Patrick Kennedy should bow out in light of his most recent shenanigans. Nor is it news when his Democrat enablers praise him for his “bravery” and endorse him for another Congressional run. What is news is when a liberal like…
In the world of blogging, this whole Patrick Kennedy fiasco certainly qualifies as “low hanging fruit.” CNN is reporting that Kennedy is going to enter rehab while the Congressman’s spokesperson says it’s going to be a “significant personal statement.” Meanwhile, we await Congressman Kennedy’s remarks. Liveblogging Kennedy: He realized this past Christmas he was addicted…
“We live in a world where capitalism rules and competition.” So said West Warwick’s Timothy Williamson during yesterday’s House casino hearing. Of course, he was only talking about the small, local, mom-and-pop restaurants and entertainment establishments that would have to duke it out with a casino. Because, you see, Rep. Williamson’s love for the free-market…
As I mentioned earlier, Beacon Board members George Nee and Henry Boeniger are trying to prevent Governor Carcieri from removing them from the board. As luck would have it for Nee and Boeniger, their appeal is being heard by pro-labor (according to Dan Yorke, though Andrew would characterize him as a bit more radical) Judge…
Andrew has written about state education aid to Rhode Island towns. He has also written how Mayor Cicilline of Providence thinks $188 million or $6,772/student is not enough state aid, aid largely paid for by the rest of us in the state to fund the ongoing non-performance of his city’s schools. The Mayor’s brazen attitude…
The first two parts (part 1, part 2) focused on the how-we-got-here part of the Beacon Mutual story. This part will focus on the where-we-are and the what-we-should-do. 1. Without unnecessarily disparaging Beacon Mutual�s initial generation of leadership, it must be understood that the creation of Beacon Mutual was not the most important part of…
The key event in the transformation of Beacon Mutual from the Rhode Island’s workers’ compensation insurer of last resort to a virtual monopoly occurred in 1996. That year, the state legislature acted to block private workers’ compensation insurers from returning to Rhode Island. (For part 1 of the story, click here.) In the early 1990s,…
The story of how Beacon Mutual began is a familiar one — Rhode Island paying too much into a broken, unsustainable system, in this case, the workers’ compensation system. At the start of the 1990s, there were about eight private insurers providing workers’ compensation insurance to Rhode Island, the largest being Liberty Mutual with about…