Rhode Island Politics

The Departure from Rhode Island of the John Galts Can be Reversed

By Monique Chartier | April 7, 2010 |

Under Justin’s post “Do You Know This Guy?”, BobN points out Why would anyone have a problem with the [Ayn] Rand signs? They are neither in poor taste nor dishonest. The condition of Rhode Island’s finances, economy, and urban society does resemble the one described in Atlas Shrugged in a number of disturbing ways. Indeed.…

Washing Out the Apathy

By Justin Katz | April 7, 2010 |

In a related way to that in which the healthcare debate has galvanized public action, Ed Achorn wonders whether the flooding of Rhode Island will bring people to the conclusion that I mentioned on last week’s Matt Allen show: The impact would not have been as terrible had our government been concentrating on the things…

Oversized, Photogenic Grant Checks or Some Flood Relief for Constituents?

By Monique Chartier | April 6, 2010 |

This will be an interesting conundrum. [From a press release.] State Representatives John Loughlin (R-Tiverton, Little Compton, Portsmouth) and Jon Brien (D-Woonsocket) today announced that they will be introducing legislation to provide tax relief to Rhode Islanders affected by the devastating March floods. The proposed tax credit would provide a one-time, per family $2,000 state…

Status Report on RI Gov’t: Beaux Arts But No Budget

By Monique Chartier | April 5, 2010 |

The temptation to contrast this RFP by the State of Rhode Island [PDF] RFP # 7323535 GENERAL DESCRIPTION The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) requires a fiscal agent to administer the timely payment of honoraria, fees and travel expenses, under the direction of the State Arts Council. with this report by the…

Will Disaster money become another “one-time fix”?

By Marc Comtois | April 1, 2010 |

I’ve heard chatter about how, perversely, the flood disaster here in Rhode Island could turn out to be some sort of blessing. Why? Because the Federal Disaster Area tag brings with it Federal dollars that can be used to rebuild infrastructure damaged in the storm. And whereas Bastiat’s parable of the Broken Window certainly applies…

Of Twitter and Governing Water

By Justin Katz | April 1, 2010 |

Matt and I talked Twitter and flooding on last night’s Matt Allen Show as I was en route to the Voter Coalition meeting. Stream by clicking here, or download it.

Some Non-10th Amendment Questions, to the Candidates at the 10th Amendment Rally

By Carroll Andrew Morse | March 30, 2010 |

More from some of the candidates who attended Saturday’s 10th Amendment Rally held at the Rhode Island Statehouse, in response to a few questions not directly related to the 10th-Amendment…Mark Zaccaria, candidate for Congress in Rhode Island’s Second District, answered a question about his reaction to Congressman James Langevin’s vote on the Democratic healthcare bill…“Mr.…

Feeding the Beast: General Assembly Looks to Take a Bite Out of Non-Profits

By Marc Comtois | March 25, 2010 |

“Desperate times call for desperate measures”, right? So now we learn that the RI General Assembly is looking at taxing non-profits to earn more “revenue.” The method will be via suspension of the tax-exempt status by removing the sales tax waiver that non-profits receive (the GA isn’t considering property taxes or taxing donations…yet). According to…

Politics at Night

By Justin Katz | March 25, 2010 |

On last night’s Matt Allen Show, Marc and Matt discussed various topics including the multiple candidates for representation of the second Congressional district The frequent question is why Republicans don’t run for General Assembly seats, rather than crowd onto the ticket for higher offices. I’m beginning to think that it may be less a matter…

Fox’s Missing Adjective

By Justin Katz | March 23, 2010 |

A quick observation from another article about RI House Speaker Gordon Fox (D, Providence): Thirty eight years later, the new speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives is a bit more reserved in his choice of words — but not much — when he talks about gambling, taxes, public employee pensions and the difficulty…