Rhode Island Politics
As Justin wrote last week, none of us were really surprised that “independent” lawyer Joseph Tarantino sided with the Legislature on whether their members could legally stay on the Lotto Commission given that Separation of Powers had been passed. (He said “Yes”). Now, it has been reported that Tarantino managed to profit financially, too. The…
In his commentary in the Providence Journal, which Don mentions in the previous post, Rhode Island College student Bill Felkner does the single most important thing for government reform: Let’s draw a straight line: The school teaches the “perspective”; graduates get jobs at the state Department of Human Services and the Poverty Institute; the DHS…
Apart from catharsis, the griping of the previous post raises a point worth considering. It’s important that individuals and groups are stepping forward across Rhode Island to spur the state in a better direction, and it’s great that we’re beginning (slowly) to find and work with each other. It’s also important for everybody from unknown…
This posting continues a periodic series on Rhode Island politics and taxation (I, II, III, IV, V). If you want to read another sordid tale about Rhode Island politics, check out Ed Achorn’s latest editorial in the ProJo. Here are a few excerpts: The people who led the fight against a constitutional convention in Rhode…
This posting continues a periodic series on Rhode Island politics and taxation, building on four previous postings (I, II, III, IV). Governor Carcieri issued his State of the State Address on January 18. The following excerpts from that speech highlight the structural problems we face in this state: A good government lives within its means…
According to a story in Sunday’s ProJo by Katherine Gregg Out of last year’s political scandals came a law that is shedding new light on the financial ties between some of the state’s part-time, $12,285-a-year lawmakers and major corporate and union players at the State House. In the first batch of filings made last week,…
This posting continues a periodic series on Rhode Island politics and taxation, building on three previous postings (I, II, III). My town of East Greenwich has an increasingly ugly dispute between School Committee officials and teachers’ union officials. The dispute has been highlighted in local newspaper articles (here, here, here, here, here). Comments by National…
In a post titled “The Road to Fiefdom,” Paul Musgrave (referring to this article at City Journal) has broadened some specific observations regarding NY City politics into the national scope. As such, I’d venture that his remarks can be just as aptly applied to our own little Blue State. The article focuses largely on the…
A previous posting highlighted how the coarsening of our public debate in America has resulted from the use of extreme language that only seeks to intimidate, not to persuade. Subsequently, there was the usual talk after the election about how the conservative winners should “moderate” their views, a code word suggesting that capitulating on key…
William Harris of Barrington proves that I’m not alone in seeing a bit of nitpicking in the ethics charges against Governor Carcieri: A more cynical analysis might conclude that it is an example of a state body hounding the governor to accomplish partisan objectives. While I support the goals of ethics reform, I believe it…
