Rhode Island Politics
Even putting aside the inevitable corruption and fingers on the scale with the latest redistricting commission — which will help in determining which constituencies are grouped together for the purpose of electing government officials — the membership strikes me as having a conspicuous narrowness of geographic coverage: Rep. Stephen Ucci, Johnston Rep. Grace Diaz, Providence…
Rhode Island had to have a speculative wind project. The General Assembly and former Governor Don Carcieri effectively castrated the regulatory body that oversees energy policy and forced through the Deepwater Wind agreement that will raise energy costs for all Rhode Islanders in order to guarantee the company profits. Of course, those who use more…
(With apologies to Marc for breaking in with this time-sensitive announcement.) I’ve noticed that in the last couple of years, when members of our Congressional delegation hold a public event, little effort is made by their office to publicize in advance such availability. Accordingly, in a small effort to pick up the slack, below is…
In a letter to the Providence Journal that doesn’t appear to be online, Karin Gorman expresses a feeling that many of us share: Things became heated [at a recent Operation Clean Government event] when state Rep. Larry Valencia, former president of [the organization], suggested that everyone needs to come to the table to solve the…
Following upon The Incident, Rep Jon Brien declined various invitations to appear on talk radio. Since then, however, he spoke to the Valley Breeze – exclusively, it appears. In the aftermath of an altercation between the secretary of the National Education Association of Rhode Island and Democratic state Rep. Jon Brien on Wednesday, the Woonsocket…
The RI GOP has been criticized for years (including by me) for not getting its act together and for in-fighting that has undermined its already small base in this blue, blue state. Yes, there are legitimate ideological and political differences amongst the ranks and leadership of any political party. Chafee v. Laffey is perhaps the…
Kudos to Bob Plain, WPRO’s Digital Reporter. He was quick on his feet and got the near dust-up yesterday between Rep Jon Brien and Louis Rainone, Secretary of the NEA-RI, on tape … er, digital media, as both were exiting the John Leidecker trial proceedings. What amused me (perhaps unduly so) about the incident was…
Sometimes, when assessing the political field based on available information, a commentator rightly worries that he presumes too much. And sometimes the politicians are quick to add evidence that he does not. For example, in the midst of early bantering in the RIGOP primary for the first-district Congressional race, over early support for John Loughlin…
No doubt, all but the most underdog victors of high-profile political campaigns will have similar lists of interested campaign donors (and whether they are evil sneaks or righteous activists is mainly a matter of perspective), but it’s always good to know whose calls Governor Chafee is likely to take: They included: Democratic Sen. Frank Ciccone…
Hal Meyer, Citizen Critic and former Rhode Island resident, has compiled an excellent website, RI Democrats, outlining the all of the damage that seventy years of a Democrat super-majority has inflicted on the state. Below is a selection of the evidence that he presents. My view is that, from now on, every voter should be…