Rhode Island Politics
As it happens, I spent more than a few moments pondering the statutory language in which Moderate Party founder Ken Block found a campaign financing loophole: 17-25-10.1 Political contributions – Limitations. – (a) No person, other than the candidate to his or her own campaign, nor any political action committee shall make a contribution or…
Extended excerpts transcribed from Justin’s recording of the remarks of East Providence School Committee Chairman Anthony Carcieri at the EPGOP Fall Fundraiser last Thursday. Most state senators are not so tactless or ill-advised as to attend a council meeting of the municipality that they represent and berate that body for attempting to budget responsibly. This,…
That’s a question that Rhode Islanders must be asking themselves almost on a daily basis. It’s not just that the November Revenue Estimating Conference set the baseline for the current year’s budget deficit at $200 million. It’s not just that, but for one-time fixes, the state government would have run deficits for several years even…
One doesn’t have to know the specifics to be taken aback by this dirt-bag move from State Senator Daniel DaPonte (D, East Providence) (emphasis added): Larisa has cost the city money, DaPonte said, by creating “monumental parks” named after the mayor’s mother. And, DaPonte continued, Councilman Robert Cusack has cost the city “hundreds of thousands…
Anchor Rising is well represented at tonight’s fundraiser in East Providence, as are the familiar faces of the RI right-wing, and Republicans, too. About 50 people here. Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian had to be elsewhere and spoke first: State GOP Chairman Gio Cicione went next: Gio noted that he was glad to finally be able…
I guess we now know why the Moderate Party’s coffers are about as full as the RI GOPs. Ken Block has managed to bait the sharks thanks to his own situational ethics. The Warwick Beacon editorializes: Moderate Party founder Ken Block has tried to get around campaign finance laws by funneling money to his fledgling…
This piece was originally published in abbreviated form (PDF) in the November 2009 issue of Providence Monthly magazine. Amidst the banquet of public power in Rhode Island, the term-limited governor stands mainly as a jester for activists to mock and insiders to blame. When their excess begets indigestion, angry lips shout his name. When indigestion…
We are now broaching a topic about which I know almost nothing. But certain aspects of this situation sound familiar. The bond rating agency Moody’s Investors Service announced on Monday it has lowered its outlook for Connecticut’s general obligation bonds from stable to negative. At the same time, the agency said it held its rating…
Concise and clear as it is, Matt Jerzyk’s Providence Monthly piece (PDF) brings into relief an inconsistency in the narrative of the local left: Conservatives are quick to blame the majority Democratic General Assembly for most of Rhode Island’s ills, but that’s not fair or accurate. First, many of the so-called Democrats in the General…
Anchor Rising’s Justin Katz and Matt Jerzyk (former proprietor of RI Future) were asked by the Providence Monthly to handicap the presumed 2010 Rhode Island gubernatorial candidates. But there was a twist: Justin took a look at the Dems (and Chafee) and Matt looked at the GOP (and Chafee). Matt has helpfully provided links to…