RI Political Corruption
Mainly on government’s bad incentives: bad housing spending in Providence, unlearnable spending lessons for the governor, stimulus corruption, and Medicaid reform. Continue reading the Ocean State Current…
3:27 p.m. After a quick zip across from the WPRO studios in East Providence, I’m in the Board of Elections hearing room awaiting the board’s vote on withholding phone and email information from voter registrations on an emergency basis. See Andrew Morse’s background report for details. I’d wager that the attendance is not usually so…
This ruling is worth highlighting before it slips in the vast mire of news about Rhode Island’s fatally ill civic structure: The state-appointed receiver running Central Falls can go after Mayor Charles D. Moreau and the City Council to recoup legal fees spent defending the receivership law from Moreau’s unsuccessful state Supreme Court challenge, a…
I wanted to go to last night’s Publick Occurrences event, but after around 10 hours of motivational speeches and get-rich sales pitches, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Part of the problem is my suspicion that the game is already set, and like those sales pitches, everything being said right now is just…
Have you spotted the line of argument that members of the General Assembly have devised for explaining why legislators who benefit from public-sector pensions are free to vote to changes to the system? Here’s retired NEA member and recently elected representative from East Providence (whose pension comes in at $54,512, annually): Echoed Duffy Messier: “Everyone…
Mangeek’s comment to my post about the very Rhode Island background of the prospective head of hte 195 commission is just too appropriate not to reproduce for additional commentary: “when Kane’s father was a principal of a Providence elementary school” I had the pleasure of attending that school during Principal Kane’s tenure. He was an…
Even putting aside the inevitable corruption and fingers on the scale with the latest redistricting commission — which will help in determining which constituencies are grouped together for the purpose of electing government officials — the membership strikes me as having a conspicuous narrowness of geographic coverage: Rep. Stephen Ucci, Johnston Rep. Grace Diaz, Providence…
Monique’s already expressed a justified skepticism about this: Former firefighter John Sauro remains permanently and totally disabled from doing his job in the Fire Department, an orthopedic surgeon has concluded after a special examination. But the surgeon recommended additional tests to confirm his finding. The report by Dr. Anthony DeLuise Jr. was submitted Wednesday to…
In a moving letter (that does not appear to be online), small-business-owner David Durfee of North Scituate tells of his historical need to work harder to “overcome the obstacles created by the General Assembly” but expresses gratitude for having been able to be nearby for his father during his final days. He goes on: It…
We’ve all made such mistakes as the Internet allows… replying too quickly for rationality to assert itself, sending mail to the wrong person, accidentally forwarding a conversation thread to parties with whom we shouldn’t share them. When RI AFL-CIO President George Nee accidentally replied to an email by Providence Journal columnist Ed Achorn that he…
