March 31, 2012 – RI Future

March 31, 2012April 15, 2012

Obama Plugs Whitehouse’s ‘Buffett Rule’ Bill

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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s “Buffett Rule” bill got a big boost today as President Obama, long a fan of the proposal, focused his weekly address on the legislation that would prevent millionaires from shielding their earnings from income taxes.

“Now, some people call this class warfare,” Obama said. “But I think asking a billionaire to pay at least the same tax rate as his secretary is just common sense. We don’t envy success in this country. We aspire to it. But we also believe that anyone who does well for themselves should do their fair share in return, so that more people have the opportunity to get ahead – not just a few.

“So every Member of Congress is going to go on record. And if they vote to keep giving tax breaks to people like me – tax breaks our country can’t afford – then they’re going to have to explain to you where that money comes from.”

Here’s the , and here’s the video:

The Senate is slated to vote on, or at least talk about, the Buffett Rule on April 16, symbolically the day before income tax filings are due. Sen. Jack Reed, and 12 others, have signed onto the bill.

Also called the Paying your Fair Share Act, Whitehouse’s office said it will: “ensure that multi-million-dollar earners pay at least a 30 percent effective tax rate. It would apply only to taxpayers with income over $1 million – including capital gains and dividends. Taxpayers earning over $2 million would be subject to a 30% minimum federal tax rate. The tax would be phased in for incomes between $1 million and $2 million, with those taxpayers paying a portion of the extra tax required to get them to a 30% effective tax rate,” according to a recent release from Senator Whitehouse’s office.

Here’s what Whitehouse told me about it when we spoke at a recent community supper in East Greenwich:

Whitehouse will be hosting a roundtable discussion on the Buffett Rule in Cranston on Tuesday. He’ll be joined by “CCAP Executive Director Joanne McGunagle and Rhode Islanders from Cranston, Providence, and Woonsocket,” according to a release. “at the Comprehensive Community Action Program’s (CCAP) headquarters in Cranston.”

March 31, 2012March 31, 2012

The Chafee Endorsement Matters For Cicilline

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The big political news of the yesterday was Governor Lincoln Chafee’s endorsement of U.S. Representative David Cicilline for Congress in 2012. First, Chris Fierro of Mr. Cicilline’s office tweeted last night that Gov. Chafee attended a fundraiser for the incumbent representative. Then the Governor’s office confirmed as much in this statement.

There’s a danger of reading too much into this, but it appears to be a good sign for both Mr. Cicilline and Gov. Chafee. It definitely hurts the campaign of Mr. Cicilline’s challenger Brendan Doherty, who could’ve bolstered his argument of being an acceptable Republican for Rhode Island by winning Gov. Chafee’s endorsement, Rhode Island’s last federal delegation Republican (it’s unlikely Mr. Doherty ever sought the Governor’s endorsement). But with no non-Democratic statewide officeholders left to endorse him, Mr. Doherty will have to rely on obscure RIGOP apparatchiks, conservative media, and the nationally-despised national Republican Party.

Mr. Cicilline won’t be overly-bolstered by this endorsement. As Mr. Nesi points out, the Governor and the Congressman are the two most disliked politicians in Rhode Island right now (of those politicians included on polls). If this was two years ago, such an endorsement might’ve shored up Mr. Cicilline’s progressive supporters, which it will somewhat help to do now. But Governor Chafee is not the same as Candidate Chafee, and his low poll numbers are likely due to a collapse in support from the labor-progressive coalition that propelled him into office in 2010. It does mean that potential Democratic primary opponent Anthony Gemma is increasingly isolated in Rhode Island’s political landscape.

I think Gov. Chafee actually benefits the most from this endorsement. There’s no doubt that the Governor has been pulling reliable duty as a Democratic Party workhorse; co-chairing President Barack Obama’s re-election committee, endorsing Senator Sheldon Whitehouse who ousted him from office, appearing with Providence mayor Angel Taveras, and now this. If the Governor makes the switch from Independent to Democrat, he might might be able to get more cooperation from the General Assembly in time for 2014, perhaps preside over a few legislative successes and stay in the limelight by virtue of party affiliation.

His fortunes are tied to those of the state’s of course, and Democrats might prefer that the Governor remains apart; setting up what could be an easy pick-up for current Treasurer Gina Raimondo without the risk of an unpopular candidate harming any down-ticket party members.

March 31, 2012March 31, 2012

Bottled Water Purchases Dehydrate R.I.’s Budget

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Bottles and cans and just clap your hands ... or don't. The General Assembly spends more than $50,000 on bottled water and soda annually. (Tim Faulkner/ecoRI News)

Bottled water is big business in the United States. How big? Well, according to a report by the Beverage Marketing Corporation, U.S. consumers chugged 8.6 billion gallons of bottled water in 2008, representing nearly 29 percent of the liquid beverage market and exceeding sales of all other beverages except carbonated soft drinks.

You might expect ecoRI News to report on the outrageous environmental costs of depleted aquifers and plastic waste associated with the bottled water industry, or even the ridiculous retail markup on a product that most consider a human right, but this story is centered on the indubitable waste of taxpayer dollars on bottled water in Rhode Island.

In the past few years, sales of bottled water have declined slightly, but bottled water still remains the second largest selling pre-packaged beverage in the country. This recent dip in sales can be partially attributed to the decline of the economy and partially to increased awareness of the environmental costs of bottling this important resource. Nielsen Scantrack data, as of December 2011, estimated the average cost of a gallon of bottled water at $1.47. The same volume of water from the tap, at current U.S. average rates, costs 0.15 cents, or less than two-tenths of a penny.

According to information from the state’s open government portal, Rhode Island state agencies spent more than $110,000 in taxpayer dollars on bottled water in fiscal 2011. At the aforementioned average rate of $1.47 per gallon that amounts to slightly less than 75,000 gallons of bottled water.

The actual rate for public drinking water in Providence — where the largest percentage of government agencies are based — is about 0.46 cents a gallon. At that rate, 75,000 gallons of water would cost $345. At literally any rate, using tap water would have eliminated about 98 percent of that $110,000 bottled water expenditure.

These purchases seem to fly even further into the face of common sense given that as recently as 2009 Providence’s public drinking water was rated second best in the nation for taste and lack of contaminants by the Environmental Working Group.

In fact, given the state’s crumbling water infrastructure and the contamination of the public water supply by lead pipes and galvanic corrosion in some of the oldest pipes in the nation, any tax dollars spent on bottled water, rather than on improvements to our public drinking water systems, seem extravagant.

The General Assembly contracts with Coca-Cola to provide not only Dasani brand bottled water, which is simply filtered tap water, but soft drinks, as well. In fiscal 2011, the legislature spent more than $42,000 on Coke-brand beverages — about $18,000 of which was for glorified tap water and the remainder was spent on cans of soda laden with high-fructose corn syrup and artificial colorings.

The General Assembly, which is only in session for six months out of the year, also contracted with theCulliganwater company and DS Waters for coolers and water amounting to more than $8,700, bringing the grand total of bottled water and cooler expenditures at the Statehouse to nearly $27,000.

Even if you don’t begrudge your tax dollars being spent on astronomical markups on a natural resource — or on your local senator and representative’s soft drink habits — there are companies in Rhode Island that could provide these overpriced products and services.

The Ocean State is home to two spring water bottlers — Crystal Springin Middletown and Girard Springin North Providence. Both have assured ecoRI News that they have the capacity to provide bottled water to every state agency at nearly the same cost as Poland Spring. The state even promotes an underutilized buy local campaign.

The General Assembly’s spending on soft drinks is even more mind boggling, considering that in 2004 the legislature saw fit to deem Yacht ClubSoda as “Rhode Island’s Official Soda.”

While the General Assembly is freezing cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), state lawmakers are downing plenty of out-of-state cola and marked-up bottled water. If the economy is forcing citizens to tighten their purse strings and forego raises, there’s no reason state government shouldn’t do the same. Plus, there are better ways — both environmentally and financially — to rehydrate lawmakers and staffers without buying them water in a throwaway plastic bottle with a massive carbon footprint.

… read the full story AND leave your comments on ecoRI News.