Rhode Island Politics

RI State House over caution tape

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Progressives Without Answers

By Justin Katz | May 19, 2021 |

For this week’s conversation, John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss Rhode Island progressives’ inability to come up with solutions for problems that their policies have created.

Rep. Christopher Blazejewski

GoLocal on the House Majority Leader’s lack of interest in minority issues is an example for news media.

By Justin Katz | May 12, 2021 |

If journalism were really about holding the powerful accountable and approaching them with a skeptical eye, we’d see a lot more stories like this one, in which the GoLocal Prov News Team reported the difficulty that the minority women who make up the pro-charter-school group Stop the Wait RI have been having getting any response from…

Mike Stenhouse and Tara Levasseur on In the Dugout 05/11/21

Freedom requires its beneficiaries to stand up for it.

By Justin Katz | May 12, 2021 |

Several of the topics on Mike Stenhouse’s In the Dugout show, yesterday, had that theme, whether it was state GOP Chair Sue Cienki talking about Governor Dan McKee’s insult to the opposition party, talk about a Worldwide Freedom Rally in RI, or arrests of COVID-lockdown-resisting Christians in Canada.

BLM protest on Federal Hill

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not All Rhode Islanders Are Equal

By Justin Katz | May 10, 2021 |

The weekly conversation about politics between John DePetro and Justin Katz finds a common theme of some Rhode Islanders’ mattering more than others.

Dan McKee gets vaccinated

Gov. McKee wants you to know that you’re deplorable.

By Justin Katz | May 10, 2021 |

  The 199,922 Rhode Islanders who voted for President Trump (and probably tens of thousands more who supported him but did not vote) have good cause to wonder whether the governor of the State of Rhode Island cares about their lives and interests. When Dan McKee found out that somebody hosting a fundraiser for him,…

Kamala Harris disembarks from Air Force 2 in RI

Under RI’s Act on Climate, can I sue Kamala Harris for her strange visit to Rhode Island?

By Justin Katz | May 6, 2021 |

A photo that Governor Dan McKee posted on his Facebook page, shown as the featured image for this post, caught my eye.  That’s an awfully big plane to carry one person hundreds of miles for tarmac handshakes with VIPs, a photo op with some local professionals, and a quick run to a neighborhood bookstore.  How…

Immigrant crossing sign with Discover Beautiful RI sign

Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Most Important Residents

By Justin Katz | May 3, 2021 |

The weekly conversation about politics between John DePetro and Justin Katz digs into the trends and hidden meanings behind politics and policy in Rhode Island, raising the question of whether it’s all about replacing Rhode Islanders with immigrants.

Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung

People are noticing that Fenton-Fung has proven a far-left progressive.

By Justin Katz | April 30, 2021 |

The Cranston Herald has published a (shall we say) strongly worded letter by resident Suzanne Downing noting (as I did a few months ago) that Republican state representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung is not voting as one would expect a Republican to do: As a resident of District 15 in Cranston I was happy to support Barbara Ann…

Cash under a medical mask

The question is the value add.

By Justin Katz | April 19, 2021 |

I’m working my way through the HBO television series, The Wire, and just finished season two.  It doesn’t give much away to explain that the plot revolves around a dock-worker-union head’s quest to use revenue from smuggling to pay off city politicians so that they’ll include a dredging project in their budget.  It’s purely a transactional…

Zambarano Hospital deteriorating

What about the mental health of RI government?

By Justin Katz | April 19, 2021 |

One way of looking at Governor Dan McKee’s decision to hold off on implementing his predecessor’s plans for the state-run Zambarano psychiatric hospital is as a battle of union interests.  Raimondo’s plan to spend $65 million (initial asking price) for a new facility would have made construction unions happy, whereas McKee’s move serves the service…