RI Political Corruption

Men in suits at a restaurant

Politics This Week: Politicians at Lunch

By Justin Katz | June 23, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz talk about the latest political news.

Clown face in a pinball machine

Politics This Week: Telling Philly Exploits

By Justin Katz | June 17, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz check in on the latest developments in RI politics.

A shadowy man on the phone

Politics This Week: A Culture of Extortion

By Justin Katz | June 13, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss top political stories in Rhode Island.

Blue dragon of Roger Williams Park Carousel

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Insider Job-Go-Round

By Justin Katz | February 20, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz check in on the insider operations of the RI State House, bureaucracy, and media.

Posters on a city wall

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Poster Children in RI Politics

By Justin Katz | February 15, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz go over the characters and controversies of state government in Rhode Island.

Vilhelm Pedersen illustration of Hans Christian Anderson's The Emperor's New Clothes

Are you represented in the Rhode Island House?

By Justin Katz | December 20, 2022 |

Although the core political story in Rhode Island is inevitably Democrat, this isn’t a partisan post.  The one detail I recall from Amity Shlaes’s book, Coolidge, that detracted from the 30th President’s story was an anecdote from when he was the Republican president of the Massachusetts Senate.  A lobbyist persuaded him to go one way on…

A man picks a path in the woods

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Incentives Gone Wrong

By Justin Katz | August 23, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the ways in which Rhode Island politics encourage or discourage candidates.

A behind the back cash bribe

Politics This Week with John DePetro: A Boughten Government

By Justin Katz | August 2, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz comment as the Rhode Island campaign season heats up.

A water drop and ripples

Don’t forget that legislative grants are still out there.

By Justin Katz | July 26, 2022 |

Rhode Island provides an excellent case study in how corruption works.  Elections aren’t stolen at the ballot box (except as a last resort).  Rather, corruption rigs the game at every opportunity — buying and coercing votes so that they don’t have to be stolen or manufactured.  The only way to stop this is to get…

Fingers crossed

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Rhode Island Insiders Come to a Con-Census

By Justin Katz | May 23, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss manipulation of the Census numbers (and the population) and whether RI’s electoral system can be trusted.