Rhode Island Politics

How would you Close the State Budget Gap?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 15, 2005 |

In today’s Projo, Scott Mayerowitz reports on Rhode Island’s projected $60,000,000 budget shortfall. The leadership of the legislature is ducking for cover when the subject of closing the budget gap comes up…Both [State Senator Steven] Alves and [State Representative Stephen] Costantino said it was up to [Governor Donald] Carcieri to propose cuts first. The governor…

Storm Clouds Brewing on the Horizon

By | November 14, 2005 | Comments Off on Storm Clouds Brewing on the Horizon

What a delight to read Andrew’s posting about freedom of speech bursting forth in the town of Coventry! And what concern all of us should have as we read his posting about potential government regulations which seek to squash the fundamental American right to speak our minds. Here are some earlier postings on this important…

Levesque: Early Warning or Something Else?

By Marc Comtois | November 9, 2005 |

It has been revealed by J. Michael Levesque that he himself had broached the topic of “infidelities” with the Governor earlier this year. It seems the timing was…convenient, to say the least: Levesque said he personally told the governor, during a private meeting eight or nine months ago, “that I had been hearing talk on…

Are Terrell Owens and Guy Dufault Related?

By | November 9, 2005 |

Andrew points out that Guy Dufault’s so-called apology to Governor Carcieri wasn’t really an apology. As the Governor himself said, “[Dufault] only apologized for inadvertently allowing his plans to smear me and my family to become public.” Yesterday also brought us Philadelphia Eagle wide receiver Terrell Owens’ “apology statement:” I fight for what I think…

Guy Dufault: Consistently Acting Against the Interests of Rhode Island Citizens

By | November 8, 2005 | Comments Off on Guy Dufault: Consistently Acting Against the Interests of Rhode Island Citizens

Andrew has pointed out the latest very troubling actions and words of Guy Dufault in the postings entitled Another Crisis in West Warwick? and Carcieri Unafraid of Dufault’s Stuff. No one should be confused: Dufault’s behavior on behalf of the public employee unions and gambling interests – and to the detriment of the working families…

Roger Begin and the Appearance of Corruption

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 1, 2005 |

Which member of the state Board of Elections made this statement about the BOE case concerning Republican advertisements during the 2002 election…“I made the decision summarily on my own that, no, the proposed settlement terms that the governor and the Republican Party were suggesting were entirely inappropriate and unacceptable to me as the complainant and…

Begin v. Carcieri: The Failure of Campaign Finance Reform

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 27, 2005 | Comments Off on Begin v. Carcieri: The Failure of Campaign Finance Reform

The Board of Elections investigation into the funding of Donald Carcieri’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign advertising continues. According to the subhead of Scott Mayerowitz’s story in today’s Projo, Elections Board Chairman Roger N. Begin says special prosecutor H. Reed Witherby will have the power to subpoena records and to compel testimony.The news, of course, is that…

Scott Avedisian to Run for Mayor of Warwick

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 25, 2005 |

I just came from Scott Avedisian’s very well-attended big announcement. Citing his record of building up budget surpluses, helping to stimulate $400M in private development, helping to make Warwick the 20th safest city in the nation, and working with non-profits on health care and human services issues, and saying that the Mayor’s office is the…

Raising the Bar: Expecting Greatness From Our Political Leaders

By | October 5, 2005 |

In a comment to a previous posting, Will writes: …what’s important here is the need to address the substance of the problems mentioned herein, and not just attack the messenger. Ignoring problems doesn’t make them go away. All it usually does is lead to greater problems down the road. That comment directly relates to the…

RIGOP Dissension II: Further Illumination

By Marc Comtois | October 4, 2005 |

I noted earlier that there was some dissension in the RIGOP as two local GOP committees had called for RIGOP leader Patricia Morgan to step down. Well, the comments to the original post have provided further illumination and are worth highlighting. First to comment was the anonymous “Robert,” who had some unkind things to say…