Rhode Island Politics

Governor Carcieri says his adminstration will focus on 4 areas… 1. Innovation based on science and technology. 2. Improved education of young people in math and science. 3. Reducing the tax burden of government, by controlling spending. 4. Maintaining the quality of life that makes people want to live in RI.

Ed Achorn expounds on how Rep. Williamson’s proposed Casino Amendment will undermine Separation of Powers: Representative Williamson seeks to amend the Rhode Island Constitution by writing in a specific tax rate for Harrah’s — the first time that a special deal crafted for a corporation would be part of the state’s constitution. In other states…

As West Warwick Rep. Tim Williamson continues to flog the twice-shot casino horse here in Rhode Island, an editorial by Thomas Grey–national field director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling–in today’s ProJo points out that the recent Abramoff scandal occurred because of influence peddling done by Indian casinos. Thus, the unsurprising conclusion is that–in…

First things first: I’m not a big proponent of state-sponsored gambling. I understand it can be fun for the participant, but I think that the revenue generated by gambling proceeds give a false sense of security to our politicians. Have a potential revenue shortfall? Let’s not cut spending, let’s increase gambling! We can argue over…

Representative Bruce Long’s discomfort when the U.S. Senate primary race came up during his East Bay GOP Breakfast introduction of Mayor Steve Laffey spoke volumes. It might go too far to speculate about an underlying fear that a primary will alert Rhode Islanders to the fact that they have erroneously elected a Republican. Whatever the…

Although I smirked at the bit-too-genuine surprise that he expressed regarding the credibility with which Anchor Rising is treated, I left the East Bay GOP Breakfast impressed with Bill Harsch. In constructing his message as he campaigns to become Rhode Island’s attorney general, Harsch has hit upon the core idea that Rhode Islanders need to…

Sometimes I think that writers on social or political matters have an obligation not to participate in the processes or events of which they write. It is much more difficult, for example, to speak ill of a player whom one likes personally, or through whom one wishes to gain advantage. And surely both analysis and…