Rhode Island Politics
There was an air of exasperation as Monique and Matt Allen discussed tax breaks for political supporters and threats from teachers. On a separate issue, hope remains that the General Assembly will pass E-Verify. Stream by clicking here, or download it.
Dan Yorke was all over the ProJo expose on potential RI Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg and her husband, super-lobbyist Robert Goldberg. Mr. Goldberg has his hands in so many cookie jars that it would seem impossible for potential Chief Justice Goldberg to be able to rule on any number of potential cases…
Sympathy is in order for the state’s lawmakers, although not of the exculpatory kind. It must seem to them that, no matter what they do, the economic dirt keeps falling in on them in the economic hole that they’ve dug: Rhode Island government’s budget deficits have grown by $200 million over the last six months,…
Self-described newcomer to local politics, Brian Gough, has a letter on the Sakonnet Times Web site criticizing reformers’ efforts. Individuals’ understanding of the appropriate actions of elected representatives, particularly those in leadership roles, may vary, and differences of opinion aren’t necessarily worth the expenditure of much heat. But Mr. Gough’s snap assessment of the sides…
… pointing out that the RI Supreme Court 1.) has messed up 2.) by skipping past grounds to exonerate William Irons. The attorney general argues the high court need not take up the constitutional question at all, that the Ethics Commission itself issued an advisory opinion that gave Irons the OK to cast legislative votes…
Two General Assembly press releases from yesterday provide examples of the deceptively simple actions to which our state government is prone that are strangling to business and economic environment. The first comes from Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed (D – Jamestown, Newport): Rhode Island law prohibits health insurance companies from adjusting the premiums charged to…
Andrew briefed the audience of the Matt Allen show last night on the nature of Rhode Island taxes and fees, along with some notes on the bungling beginning of Lincoln Chafee’s gubernatorial run. Stream by clicking here, or download it.
Picking up from the end of the previous string of audio, the following audio is as described on Anchor Rising’s live blogging of Operation Clean Government’s spring forum: WPRO’s Dan Yorke asks how leaders can accomplish a major change in Rhode Island: stream, download (57sec) URI economics professor Leonard Lardaro suggests that we have to…
The following audio continues where the related post left off, in keeping with Anchor Rising’s live blogging of Operation Clean Government’s spring forum: WPRO’s Dan Yorke asked where the side that’s supposed to counterbalance special interests has been, to some confusion over whether he means elected representatives or voters, with short responses from General Treasurer…
As some have already noted in Anchor Rising’s play-by-play, some significant and interesting things were said at Operation Clean Government’s spring forum. Last night, I posted audio of Governor Carcieri’s unscheduled speech; thereafter, the panel took the stage: OCG President Arthur “Chuck” Barton introduces the panel, points out some significant people in the audience, and…