Rhode Island Politics

Laffey Leaves

By Marc Comtois | August 30, 2010 |

Well, it’s old news now, but Steve Laffey and family have up and moved to Colorado. In May — a month after he canceled a Tea Party speaking engagement in Rhode Island — Laffey paid $2 million for a four-bedroom home in Fort Collins. An MLS listing states that the house was sold on May…

Robert Healey, On the Diffusion of his Lieutenant Governor’s Platform

By Carroll Andrew Morse | August 23, 2010 |

At Saturday’s Tenth Amendment rally at the Rhode Island Statehouse, I had the chance to interview Robert Healey on a number of different subjects. The crassly-political subject was his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor. I asked Mr. Healey about what he thought of the fact that both Republican candidate Heidi Rogers and Democratic candidate Jeremy Kapstein…

Power Politics Illustrated

By Marc Comtois | August 22, 2010 |

In a recent column having to do with Warwick GOP infighting, former Democrat City Council and School Committee Chair Bob Cushman explained the machinations that go on at the party level amongst the power brokers in Warwick. [Councilman Steve] Colantuano in 2006 ran and was defeated in the Democrat primary by me. In 2008, he…

Heads Up, EDC, Looks Like You’ll Have a Visitor at Tomorrow’s Meeting (Though the Gov Tried to Dissuade Him)

By Monique Chartier | August 22, 2010 |

On Thursday, Governor Carcieri’s office released the two page letter in which he declines a request by former Senator Chafee’s to meet with the EDC board to express his objection to the process by which a $75 million state loan guarantee was given to 38 Studios. In response to your request to meet with the…

In Action: Queen Weed and Her Highly Selective Hearing

By Monique Chartier | August 18, 2010 |

Good job, Operation Clean Government. Operation Clean Government (OCG) has posted a video on YouTube of the June 1st Senate session when Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed and Majority Leader Daniel Connors used “bully tactics” to squash a floor vote on a controversial bill sponsored by Senator Marc Cote, (D), Woonsocket and cosponsored by 18 members…

A Clean Slate for Rhode Island

By Justin Katz | August 17, 2010 |

The new promotional link in the AR Headlines section will bring you to the Web site of the RIGOP’s Clean Slate initiative, which seeks to support Republican and independent candidates for public office, specifically the General Assembly, in Rhode Island. The pictures that cycle on the screen include many regular Anchor Rising readers, so we…

Hey, If Former Senate President Irons Had Held Up a Bank, the Jurisdiction of the Criminal Court Would Have Been Contingent upon His Holding Office, Too

By Monique Chartier | August 16, 2010 |

Kudos to Katherine Gregg at the Providence Journal for uncovering this, which she broke a couple of hours ago. Former Senate President William V. Irons took $25,385 out of his long-running campaign account to pay legal bills he amassed while fighting ethics charges that resulted in the Rhode Island Supreme Court decision last year that…

Brown Poll

By Marc Comtois | August 6, 2010 |

In the latest Brown U. Poll, Frank Caprio has, for the first time, taken a small lead over Lincoln Chafee in the race for governor (though it’s a statistical dead heat). If the general election for governor were held today, 27.9 percent of people would vote for Caprio, and 26.5 percent would support Chafee. These…

When Government Shouldn’t Operate as a Business

By Justin Katz | August 6, 2010 |

Amid examples of failed loan guarantees, Providence Journal reporter Bruce Landis interviews Gary Sasse about the 38 Studios deal, in which a videogame company has $75 million in backing from the state of Rhode Island: If the company doesn’t pay, Sasse pointed out, “The taxpayers of the state would be on the hook.” “You’re playing…

A Pat on the Back for the Undeserving

By Justin Katz | August 4, 2010 |

I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that somebody is willing to cheerlead Rhode Island’s governing class. Here’s Donna Cupelo, admiral of the Rhode Island Commodores, a group of “top business and civic leaders”: There was something different about this year’s legislative session, several Rhode Island Commodores said after attending an upbeat bill-signing ceremony with speeches…