May 2012 – RI Future

May 31, 2012June 1, 2012

Budget Bill Restores Previous Cuts, Adds Sales Taxes

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It’s been called the year of restoration, in part because this year’s proposed budget will restore cuts made last year to programs for the developmentally disabled and low-income dental insurance.

The “education funding formula will be fully funded for the second straight year,” House Finance Committee Chairman Helio Melo said, noting that $22 million is appropriated in the proposal.

The House’s proposal is $156.4 million more than the governor’s proposal and almost $400 million more than last year’s enacted budget.

Increases will be paid for by Chafee’s proposed luxury clothing tax, but instead of kicking in at articles that cost more than $175 as the governor proposed the House budget calls for taxing items that cost more than $250. This tax is expected to raise about $5.9 million. The governor’s proposal would have raised more than $11 million. A $.04 per pack cigarette tax is also called for and would raise an estimated $1.8 million.

Melo there will be $9.6 million for the developmentally disabled programs in this year’s budget, about half of which will come from the federal government in matching funds. Last year, $24 million was cut which resulted in some program cuts and pay cuts for low wage workers.

May 31, 2012May 31, 2012

Creative Sector of RI Economy Is Growing

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Sure, unemployment is still high in Rhode Island and the state has roughly 280 less jobs in the video game sector, but it’s not all bad news out there in the local economy. In fact the “creative sector” of the economy grew by 6 percent last year, according to a study by the RI Citizens for the Arts.

The creative sector – which includes performing and visual arts, museums, film, radio, and TV, design and publishing and arts schools and services – added 770 jobs between 2011 and 2012, according to the report and 460 new businesses were created, for a 16 percent growth.

Since 2007, the creative sector has added 52 percent more businesses and overall job growth has grown by 13 percent.

“Anecdotally, we’ve long understood the creative industries as a strong and resilient sector, and a significant asset to RI’s economy,” said Libby Slader, the chairwoman of RI CFA who owns an interior design firm. “With these compiled figures, we now also have concrete evidence. This is truly a solid basis for more growth and makes for a wise investment in our state. In addition to providing core industry jobs, the creative sector feeds innovation and entrepreneurship.

According to the release, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed agrees. In a statement provided by RI CFA, she said:

“Rhode Island’s creative industries play an important role in building and sustaining a strong economy. This annual report reinforces the importance of this vital sector to our overall economic health. Jobs are being created in the arts-related businesses, which are important to tourism and broader economic development efforts.”

May 31, 2012May 31, 2012

RI Progress Report: Legislative Leadership and 38 Studios

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With regard to 38 Studios, the media has pointed its finger at Curt schilling, Keith Stokes, (Thanks) Don Carcieri, Linc Chafee and Gina Raimondo … but Dan McGowan is the first reporter to point towards legislative leadership. I asked Chafee about this yesterday: if the he wants all the EDC board members who supported the 38 Studios deal to step down, what have his conversations been like with House Speaker Gordon Fox, who also supported it. Being budget season, Chafee said, they haven’t had that discussion yet.

Just in case you thought the real estate crash was behind us, Ted Nesi reminds us that a third of homeowners in Providence and Kent County are still underwater on their mortgages.

Most obvious headline of the day: “R.I. seen trailing national recovery”

Scott MacKay pens a piece about the Projo’s love affair with Gina Raimondo … her office has often accused me of giving the treasurer bad press, and I’ve always countered that so glowing has most of the media coverage been about Raimondo that they may have lost touch with the difference between fair press and bad press.

Here’s the NY Times’ coverage of the “tentative” deal between Providence and its labor unions … By the way, a Times columnist is tentatively working on a piece about Woonsocket. Stay tuned…

If you look at what the Projo has been reporting the past few days and what we have been, at least we are both hearing the same stuff … whether any of it is true or not, remains to be seen.

May 30, 2012May 31, 2012

Clothing, Cigarette Taxes Considered for Budget

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With the proposed budget expected to restore some funds cut last year, several revenue sources first identified in Gov. Chafee’s budget proposal may be used to pay for them.

House Finance Committee Chairman Helio Melo, who has been tight-lipped about the budget he has been crafting with staff for the last several weeks, said, “Revenues are always a good way to pay for expenditures.”

He added, “We’re still working on it.”

But lawmakers from both the House and Senate said ideas being strongly considered include: a new tax on expensive clothing, an increase in the cigarette tax and a tax amnesty proposal. All three proposals were first identified in Chafee’s budget proposal released much earlier this year.

The proposed tobacco tax increase of $.04 per tax could generate more than $4 million, according to Chafee’s budget. A tax amnesty is when people who owe back taxes are allowed to pay their delinquent bills without penalty.

Chafee proposed the tax on high-end clothing kick in at any item over $175 and is expected to generate more than $11 million. The House is inclined to start the tax at $175 or $200. Senators would rather see it start higher; one mentioned $250.

After a meeting with Speaker Gordon Fox late in the day Wednesday, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed said a clothing tax would benefit big box stores that could avoid paying it. She also said it would take away Rhode Island’s competitive advatage over Massachusetts, which already taxes clothing more expensive than $175.

“Whatever we do in the budget on any area of revenue needs to maintain our competitive advantage,” she said. “It’s important that we remain competitive with our neighbors in Massachusetts.”

May 30, 2012May 30, 2012

Governor Should Appoint Brian Hull to EDC Board

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It was good timing for me that former RI Future owner Brian Hull had to focus on finishing his studies at Harvard University earlier this year, giving me an opportunity to take over this site from him. Now it’s good timing for Rhode Island.

Hull just graduated from Harvard’s prestigious Kennedy School of Government with a Masters Degree in Public Policy focusing on economic development and social and urban policy and he would make an excellent and logical appointment to the state Economic Development Board.

In the wake of the 38 Studios fallout, there are currently as many as five vacancies on the EDC board. Instead of filling all those slots with the same type of local business leaders that typically inhabit the seats at the EDC table, Gov. Chafee should consider naming at least one person – and probably more – who understands economic development from a systematic perspective.

“The structure of the RIEDC lacks a presence of a theoretical understanding of economic development planning and that’s something I could bring to the table,” Hull told me, when I told him about my idea for this post the other day. “Rather than looking for the next best ‘deal’ which is how things are currently done, RIEDC really needs to focus on the larger picture of the state’s economy in relation to the region, play on its assets and strengths, and think about a long-term growth strategy that targets resources in focused way.”

Hull, who lives in Providence with his wife and plans to stay in the home they own, tried to get a job in economic development in Rhode Island. Instead, he landed a job as a senior policy analyst with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a Boston-based “nonprofit research and strategy organization and the leading authority on U.S. inner city economies and the businesses that thrive there.”

While he’ll be working with cities all across the country, he’s also looking for a way to stay involved with economic development here in Rhode Island, too.

I asked Hull what kind of experience he has successfully implementing economic development plans, and he sent me this list:

Rethinking Workforce Development for Providence’s Labor Force: A skills gap analysis for Providence’s labor force, review of the workforce development system servicing Providence residents, and a comprehensive actionable list of recommendations and implementation procedures to modify the current training system in order to improve service delivery, achieve better employment outcomes for Providence residents, and better engage low-income and low-literacy populations in job training programs to facilitate their employment.

City of Worcester Economic Development Plan: Formulate an economic development plan for the City of Worcester by undertaking four-part strategic assessment of the local economy to understand its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for leveraging additional economic development through a baseline analysis, development agenda, strategic focus on key areas, and detailed research and analysis. The report (1) identifies key economic development opportunities and challenges in Worcester, (2) offers a strategy of proactive change to overcome those challenges and capitalize on opportunities, and (3) provides first steps to prioritize, target, and implement the strategy. The strategy synthesizes a variety of economic development approaches, and is rooted in Worcester’s context – inherent assets, established partnerships, existing business support capacity, and common goals for the City’s future.

City of Miami Transportation and Logistics Business Cluster Analysis: This report analyzes on the competitiveness of Miami’s transportation and logistics cluster, with a focus on marine transportation, by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the Port of Miami in relation to other ports in the state, in the country, and in the world. It also recommends specific changes to ensure that the Port of Miami retains and grows its current market share in the transportation of high-value added goods and the global cruise industry.

New Orleans Broad Street Four Corners: This report proposes a strategic partnership in New Orleans, LA between Broad Community Connections, a nonprofit that focuses on revitalizing a section of the Broad Street corridor, and the Crescent City Community Land Trust, a new land trust in New Orleans that will focus on commercial and residential redevelopment. As part of the analysis, we examined current models of community land trusts in the United States that have experience with commercial properties.

Typically, people are appointed to the Economic Development Corporation’s board because they have been successful in business. Hull has been successful in economic development. The two are not the same thing. We ought to have people who have succeeded in business on that board, but we ought to also have people who have succeeded in economic development.

Hull has done both, having also run a successful photography shop, more akin to the kind of businesses that are the back bone of the Ocean State, for 15 years before going to Harvard.

If you agree that Hull should be appointed to the EDC board, tweet this article to @LincolnChafee or send the governor’s office an email: governor@governor.ri.gov.

May 30, 2012May 30, 2012

RI Progress Report: Marijuana Decriminalization, Brien Defends ALEC, Doherty Distances Self From Norquist

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Two legislative committees last night passed a bill that would make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana punishable by a ticket rather than potential jail time. The bills now head the floors of the Senate and the House. Decriminalization of marijuana makes a lot of sense as it would save taxpayers money and resources without any real downsides.

Rep. Jon Brien, a conservative Democrat from Woonsocket who is also a member of ALEC’s board of directors, has a letter to the editor about how the conservative group has been treated in the media as of late. He writes, “The attacks on the American Legislative Exchange Council have grown louder over the past few months, and even more so over the past few weeks. The real reason ALEC is under attack is because liberal front groups are attempting to completely silence our organization. This was never about the way we operate or a few pieces of legislation. It’s about the fact that they vehemently disagree with our free-market, limited-government principles.”

We applaud Republican congressional candidate Brendan Doherty’s decision not to sign Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge but suspect it has more to do with running for office in generally-liberal Rhode Island than it does with his ideas on how to fund government.

Telling headline of the day: “Over 50% of Dropouts Come From Just 12 RI Schools”

Equally telling lede: “The Providence schools are not meeting the needs of its English-language learners, even though they make up 15 percent of the district’s 22,000 students.”

Why isn’t the national media covering Florida’s attempts to purge registered voters from its books?

Rest in peace, Doc Watson.

May 29, 2012May 30, 2012

House Democrats Offer Clues About Budget

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As House Democrats emerged from a closed-door caucus on Tuesday afternoon concerning the budget proposal, a picture began to develop of what might be included in the annual spending bill which will be released Thursday.

“There’s probably not going to be tax increases,” said Frank Ferri, a progressive Democrat from Warwick.

But he and other lawmakers said restoring funds cut last year for the developmentally disabled, DCYF and to nursing homes are being considered. One House member said in the closed-door caucus this year’s budget proposal was referred to as “the year of restoration.”

The big debate of this year’s budget meeting could be $2.6 million the governor’s office requested as part of the final settlement with Central Falls retirees. Part of the deal receiver Bob Flanders negotiated with the retirees called for the General Assembly to contribute to their retirement costs.

“My concern is it could be a slippery slope,” said Jamestown Democrat Deb Ruggerio. Several legislators told me they worry that it could set a precedent for other struggling communities to ask the state to appropriate funds as part of a deal with pensioners.

House Democrats also hope to include more money for public education, a Chafee initiative, to help expedite the new school funding formula. “It’s been a priority of the governor’s since Day One,” said Director of Administration Richard Licht.

It doesn’t seem like it will be funded by an increase in the meals tax, as was proposed by Chafee. “I’d say that’s dead,” one legislator told me after the caucus meeting.

Public transportation supporters made a big push for more operational money this year, but it seems, if anything, there will only be money for new buses.

Finance Committee Chairman Helio Melo, who has been logging long hours as of late putting together the budget proposal with staff, said this year’s bottom line will be helped by a one-time windfall from this year’s Poweball winners, which will inject an additional $15 million into state coffers for the next fiscal year.

The House Finance Committee will consider the budget on Thursday at the rise of the House. A summary of the proposal will be released earlier in the day.

May 29, 2012May 29, 2012

Gina, Chafee Also at Odds on Muni Pension Bills

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38 Studios isn’t the only matter of public policy that Gov. Chafee and Treasurer Gina Raimondo disagree about. There’s also the governor’s hotly-debated municipal pension reform proposal that Raimondo has given the cold shoulder to publicly.

While she said much of her work has been behind the scenes, and with municipal finance directors rather than mayors, twice Raimondo dodged the question when I asked her on Friday if she endorsed the governor’s pension proposal. On my third try, she said:

“Here’s what I would say: I certainly endorse the concept of giving municipalities more tools to help them do their work. This particular legislation is making its way through the legislative process, and this is like a legal hornets’ nest. The General Assembly, they are going to have to figure out the legal issues and the language to try and do that.”

Chafee, for his part, wishes Raimondo would have use her pension cred to help his municipal reform efforts this session. In fact, he told me he wanted her to fight harder for them during last year’s special session devoted to pension reform.

“We had a special session, with total focus on pension reform,” he said. “What are we waiting for? It’s time we get some energy behind this important area moving the state forward.”

Legislative leadership didn’t want the municipal reforms in the landmark reform bill last year. Chafee fought for it to be included and Raimondo not so much.

When pressed, she said the it won’t withstand a court challenge.

“Listen, if we could have figured out a constitutional, financially sound way to pass a statute that reformed these independent pension plans last year we would have done it. I wish we could have, I really do but there is no solution like that.”

She added, “We have to respect collective bargaining.”

It’s a fair point, and one that organized labor certainly agrees with. Pat Crowley of the NEA-RI has described the governor’s municipal package as, “Wisconsin heavy, not even Wisconsin light.” The bill would freeze annual raises for communities with underfunded pension plans, lower disability pensions and prevent cities and towns from offering more generous benefits than the state plan.

But details aside, with both municipal and statewide pension reform efforts, inevitable lawsuits will hinge on whether or not a contract has been broken, and if so if a financial catastrophe can be averted by doing so. A ruling last fall said that state workers have an implied contract with the state.

“That was a summary judgment so it remains to be seen,” said Raimondo. “We’ll see where it goes.”

Another theory is that Raimondo doesn’t want to anger municipal unions, which could prove critical if she runs for governor in 2014.

She vehemently ruled out politics playing into her decision not to endorse the governor’s municipal package, saying, “No, of course not. That’s not how I think about it.”

But she wasn’t so adamant when I asked her if she was, in fact, thinking of running for governor.

“Never rule anything out,” she said, “but I’m not thinking about it.”

Meanwhile, the next governor won’t be chosen for another two years and the first lawsuits over pension reform won’t be filed until the July or perhaps January, depending on when the reforms first affect workers and retirees.

But it’s the final few days of the legislative session and Chafee’s municipal aid package, including the municipal pension reform proposal, rests in the hands of the House Finance Committee. The Committee heard the bills earlier in the session and held them for further study. It would need to vote them out in the coming days in order for them to take effect this year.

May 29, 2012May 29, 2012

No Reckoning: The RI Corruption Video Game

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This morning, former Red Sox Pitcher Curt Schilling blamed the State of Rhode Island for the failure of his video game company. According to the Providence Journal, he blamed the state for not giving him more tax breaks. Additionally, the Journal reported, Schilling has lost “33 pounds in the past 45 days, which he calls a ‘surreal’ stretch.'”

What follows is an exercise in satire….

The State of Rhode Island is pleased to announce the creation of a new state-sponsored video game company, “Thirsty-Ate Studios.”

“After years of complaining about job creation and fiscal woes,” said Governor Lincoln Chafee, “we are finally investing tax payer dollars in something valuable—pixels!”

The new Massive Multiplayer Online game, which is based on the State’s trademarked “Little Rhody Corruption System,” (patent pending) offers every Rhode Islander a chance to earn as good a wage as a World of Warcraft gold farmer in China.

“Now, we can finally say that we are educating our children for the jobs of the future,” said Education Commissioner Deborah Gist. “Video game playing is profitable, and we’re going to be rolling out a new curriculum in the fall teaching every student that video game playing, like reading, is hard work. Of course there will be rigorous testing conducted every three days just to make sure that our teachers are doing their jobs.”

The Department of Education will be purchasing thousands of used and obsolete video game consoles at full price from the Extraordinary Rendition training division of Halliburton, a security company owned by former Vice President Dick Cheney.

According to former EDC director Keith Stokes, the new official state video game will be named, “No Reckoning—Escape from Responsibility.”

“Each player will become an elected official, whose goal will be to collect special interest funding and distribute perks, no-show jobs, and state contracts,” Stokes said. “Bonus points can be earned by making random speeches in ‘obfuscation’ mode and by kissing babies.”

The game will include the following stand-alone App modules:

Legislative Blockus: Senators and representatives vie to stall important bills from coming to the floor, and then force them through a vote at the last moment with as many hidden clauses as possible.
The Ferdinand St. Germain Running of the Pork: Intrepid politicians chase lobbyists in the shape of greased pigs through State House halls in search of a payoff.
The Ed DiPrete Dumpster Diving: where contestants search through trash bins for bags of cash.
The Vincent “Buddy” Cianci Pentathalon: including a burning log roll, marinara cook-off, creepy crony collection contest, RICO smackdown, and finally a free-for-all radio talk show comedy slam.
The David Cicilline Pass the Buck: A digital version of hot political potato. Whoever is the mayor when the timer goes off loses all credibility points.
The Joe Mollicone Bank Run: Get all your money out of the country before the credit unions collapse.
The Joseph Paolino Real Estate Swap: Like Monopoly. Collect as much property as you can in downtown. Keep it unoccupied so that the property taxes stay low. Wait until the government knocks down the highway to make it “prime waterfront” then collect your payoff.
The Donald Carcieri Ostrich Hide and Seek: You play a large preening flightless bird. Sqwaack loudly and give away millions of taxpayer dollars while complaining that poor people aren’t doing their fair share. Then bury your head in the sand and don’t say a peep. Maybe no one will notice.

While many of these modules are still in development, one current favorite is the Department of Motor Vehicle Paperwork Maze. Find your way to the only open office, get in line to get a number, and then see how many bureaucrats it takes before you are allowed to leave. There is no time limit.

“I’m really keen on that one,” said Governor Chafee. “Of course I usually ride my horse or get a lift in my chauffeured limo, but if I ever went to a bar and they asked me for my driver’s license, it would be a bit embarrassing to say that I never got one.”

In related news, former Red Sox Pitcher Curt Schilling has hit number one with his new bestseller, “How to Win the World Series, Bilk the Government for Millions, and Lose 33 pounds in 45 days.”

Mark Binder is an author and professional liar. His latest novella, “The Buddha Who Wore Keds” is available for Kindle at: http://amzn.to/buddha_kindle

May 29, 2012May 30, 2012

Tax Equity Still A Question for Impending Budget Bill

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rite rally — Sen. Josh Miller and Rep. Maria Cimini, sponsors of a bill that would raise taxes on the richest 2 percent of Rhode Islanders.

One of the key ingredients in this year’s impending proposed budget from the House Finance Committee will be how to pay for existing services that have already been cut to the bone in recent years.

There’s the governor’s proposed 1 or 2 percent meals tax increase, which would raise some $20 to $40 million for education. There’s also Rep. Edith Ajello’s proposed soda tax, which would net another $40 million in revenue.

But the most talked-about revenue-increasing mechanism debated this year has been increasing income taxes on Rhode Island’s richest residents. The Miller-Cimini bill would raise state income tax rate on Rhode Islanders who make more than $250,000 a year from 5.99 percent to 9.99 percent, but the percentage would drop with every one percentage point decrease in the unemployment rate. Rep. Larry Valencia’s proposal would make a similar increases without being tied to unemployment.

House Speaker Gordon Fox, who pushed for tax cuts for the wealthy as majority leader when former Gov. Don Carcieri first proposed the idea, doesn’t want to touch the tax rate this year, but Majority Whip Patrick O’Neil has signed onto the Miller-Cimini bill. Fox has told lawmakers he doesn’t want a floor amendment on a tax increase during the budget debate.

Some speculate that a compromise put forward by local fiscal guru Gary Sasse of raising the rate slightly and earmark those additional funds to economic development.

“I don’t think anyone in this room could really defend the difference between 5.9 and 6.2 percent among certain levels of income,” he told the House Finance Committee on April 24. “My conclusion is there’s some room to make a modest increase to the top rate.”

Whatever happens, Rhode Islanders for Tax Equity, a group made up of community activists and organized labor, knows well this is the time of year the bill is being scrutinized the most. So they’ve flooded the marketplace of ideas with advertisements. In addition to buying space with RI Future, the group also put together a radio ad and this TV spot:

The TV ad was only seen on ABC6, though … that’s because WJAR and WPRI didn’t air the ad. WPRI didn’t, according to a source familiar with production of the spot, because it prominently features their news staff. WJAR, the source said, didn’t because it prominently features WPRI’s news staff. Sales reps for both companies could not be reached for comment.

May 29, 2012May 29, 2012

RI Progress Report: Schilling Speaks, Woonsocket Asks for State Help, Senator Kerry’s Yacht Back in Newport

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The Providence Journal wins the exclusive first interview with Curt Schilling … and guess what: 38 Studios’ collapse wasn’t his fault, it was Chafee’s fault for scaring away investors by telling the public that the company didn’t have any money. If only Chafee could have scared away the state from investing way back when….

And, finally, an editorial on 38 Studios from the ProJo.

It seems as if smaller companies that received small loan guarantees from the state are faring much better than did 38 Studios and its huge $75 million loan guarantee, reports PBN.

Meanwhile, the spat between Gov. Chafee and Gina Raimondo continued on Friday with Chafee telling me Raimondo was the only general officer not to make it to a briefing on 38 Studios. Joy Fox, a spokesperson for Raimondo, told Ted Nesi that the treasurer didn’t know about the meeting but a spokesperson for the governor said she worked with Raimondo’s office on scheduling the meeting.

Not confident the General Assembly will approve a supplemental tax increase, the Woonsocket City Council asked the state to appoint a budget commission on Sunday night … something tells us this story is about to make much bigger headlines. Stay tuned.

John Kerry’s controversial yacht was back in Newport recently, according to the Boston Herald … but no word on whether Rhode Island gave the Massachusetts senator a loan guarantee to dock it here.

Picking up on Tom Sgouros’ theme from last week that conservatives aren’t necessarily fiscally responsible, Paul Krugman calls Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Chris Christie “fake deficit hawks.”

May 28, 2012November 19, 2012

Memorializing My Fallen Comrades, a Reflection

Memorial Day. There must be millions of blogs, newspaper articles, documentaries, and cable specials being produced this weekend to bring attention to some aspect of the military’s dead. I’d say, if one American spends 10 minutes this weekend watching an ABC special on American service members who have died in Afghanistan, that’s a win for consciousness raising. But as John Farmer recently wrote in The Star Ledger, Memorial Day isn’t what it used to be.

Contrary to John, I’m not interested in parades and fan fare celebrating the heroics of our fallen warriors. Nor would I be satisfied with Americans just observing a moment of silence. I think there’s more to Memorial Day than even I have contemplated in the past. So what will I be reflecting on today?

Ronald Reagan once said at the Moscow State University (1988), “Freedom is the right to question and change the established ways of doing things.” President Reagan rightly draws our attention to the theme of freedom. For it is in the name of freedom, we are told, that women and men in uniform die. It is also in the name of freedom, that we are challenged to question this line of thinking.

Oh, how we glamorize violence as patriotic. Ask most who have worn the uniform and they would much rather have their fallen comrades alive than celebrated as patriotic. And yet we all grasp to make meaning of these deaths in some assessable way. We want to attribute it to some higher cause, some transcendent mission that we can point to and say, yes, that is why my son is dead; that is why my niece is buried in Arlington; yes, that’s why my children will never know how much their father loved them. The truth may be that defending our freedom isn’t what folks in Afghanistan or Iraq died for and there may not be a comforting way to make meaning of their death. If that is the case, what do we do with our grief, our confusion?

I say let us celebrate their willingness to sacrifice their life for country. I believe the courage to do that, to put one’s life on the line for a fellow soldier or Marine is honorable. They have earned our praise. Yet, let us also challenge the idea that death, war, and violence are just a part of life. Let us challenge the idea that we will always have to send young fathers and mothers off to die in foreign countries. Let us honor the fallen by being critical citizens. Let us celebrate Memorial Day by questioning the policies that force our fellow Americans into combat. Let us, above all else, reflect on how we are to enhance the life of all people, preserve it, not destroy it. This is what I will be meditating on throughout these hours of memorial.

Today, weep for those we have lost. Today, connect with someone who remembers the precious moments of a fallen Marine’s life before and during their military service. Today, question the meaning of their sacrifice. And please, for the love of all things sacred, don’t just be a mindless consumer and treat this holiday like another weekend for great sales!

Greg Matos is a former Marine Sergeant and author of “Shattered Glass: The Story of a Marine Embassy Guard.” He is the recipient of the Bronze Star with Combat Valor and Department of State’s Award for Heroism. Visit: GregMatos.com.

May 28, 2012May 28, 2012

Libertarianism and the Efficiency of Free Markets

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There are two intellectual positions with which I have serious problems.

The first is the whole idea that markets are efficient; the second is libertarianism as a legitimate school of thought.

First, markets, since some of libertarianism (from what I can gather) is based on the idea that markets should be utterly unfettered (I paraphrase).

Found this interesting:

http://www.bostonreview.net/BR37.3/ndf_michael_j_sandel_markets_morals.php

It’s a discussion on whether all things should be subject to free markets. What’s the answer?

These are directions that the article doesn’t go. Markets are supposed to be the most efficient way to allocate scarce resources. So, do they always work optimally? Do they always work?

Here’s a scarce resource: admission to elite colleges, like Harvard. Should this not be left to the market to allocate these positions? The highest bidder gets in? If not, why not? If not, isn’t this an admission that free markets may not always be the best means of allocation?

Here’s another: selling organs. There is a case to be made that people should be able to sell a kidney. OK, not sure I agree, but I admit that disallowing this is possibly nanny-state meddling. So, for the sake of argument. let’s say that we should allow the sale of organs.

Now, kidneys are certainly a scarce resource. So, rather than give someone a set fee for their kidney ($100k + medical expenses, let’s say), why not let the donor sell it in an open auction? Like on eBay. Except maybe a site dedicated to organ sales, called, oh, Organs-r-Us?

Is this OK? If the donor can sell it, why not get what s/he can for it? Isn’t that efficient? How is buying a kidney on the market different from selling it for gain? And if you’re going to gain, why not let the market set the price?

If markets are efficient, why would this be wrong? Better yet, how can it be wrong?

Discuss.

May 27, 2012May 28, 2012

Venture Capitalism: Bain of the Stationery Market

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Before 1986, did you use office supplies? Did you buy ribbons for your typewriter, pencils, carbon paper, and blotter paper? Did you buy floppy disks, plotter pens, and printer paper? Or did you just find them on the street?

I ask because I keep reading that Mitt Romney created 90,000 jobs by helping Tom Stemberg found Staples, the office supply giant. But it seems that only 90,000 people work at Staples now, so how does that make sense that they created 90,000 jobs?

Maybe I’m not being clear. I very clearly remember the delightful E.L. Freeman, Stationer’s, on Weybosset Street in Providence. I loved the bins of pens, the shelves that went up to the ceiling, and the way the guys who worked there knew pretty much everything I wanted to know about what was available and what it was good for. When I didn’t have time to go all the way downtown, there was a smaller stationer’s on Thayer Street, at the lower end, and another up on Hope.

These places are all gone now, gone the way of the carbon paper they sold, casualties in the price war that Staples won. Staples was a stupendously successful investment for Bain Capital, but it was successful precisely because it upended the status quo of stationery retail. The jobs those little stores provided for the people who ran them and worked in them are also gone with that carbon paper. So shouldn’t the number of jobs Staples “created” be the net, not the gross? Certainly Staples created jobs for itself, but didn’t it also cause some jobs to be lost?

The Census Bureau has an answer. In 1987, retail and wholesale merchants of stationery and office furniture employed 175,055 people. In 2007, they employed 213,653. So apparently the industry added only 38,598 jobs between Staples being founded and 2007.

And, of course, the nation’s population grew during that time. If we account for that, it appears that we might have about 4,000 more jobs now if Staples had never been invented. And the jobs that remain aren’t as good. Payrolls in these trade sectors ran about $19,700 per employee in 1987. As of 2007, the number is $26,500, about one-third less after correcting for inflation. In other words, Census data implies that the introduction of big-box retail in the stationery sector cost us jobs and made the remaining jobs worse. No wonder Republicans in Congress are attempting to slash the Census Bureau’s budget.

This is, of course, the way our economy works, the “creative destruction” Joseph Schumpeter was so fond of. I liked Freeman’s, but Staples is certainly less expensive. You can think that’s a tragedy for workers or you can think it a boon to consumers. I don’t have to express an opinion about that to know that it’s dishonest to ignore what really happened to the stationery market when I’m counting jobs.

And here’s the real conflict between being successful at business and being successful at government. In business, you’re only responsible for your team, while in government you’re responsible for everyone. Staples doesn’t have to account for the Freeman employees who lost their jobs. To them, 90,000 new jobs is a clear win, and they are free to ignore the losers. But those people who lost their jobs don’t disappear. The accounting for the nation as a whole is a very different thing and has to account for both the winners and losers.

I don’t know about you, but I am mightily tired of hearing people who became rich in business touting their experience as if it’s relevant to running a nation or a state. I don’t want a president or a governor who measures jobs gained and ignores jobs lost. I don’t want someone who focuses on job “creators” and ignores the workers and consumers who make their businesses go. I don’t want someone looking for profit for a small minority of the population, and I don’t want a deal-maker if that excludes the rest of us from consideration. I want a government that sees the whole picture and acts with the greater good in mind.

May 26, 2012May 29, 2012

RI Needs to Learn from Mistakes of 38 Studios Deal

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To the 379 people who just lost their jobs, I want to say something that no one responsible for this turn of events is going to say: I’m sorry. I doubt that will make you feel better, but I think it needs to be said, by someone. You moved yourself and your families down here, you put your work into an artistic endeavor, and I’m glad you work in an industry that is so good as to reach out to you immediately (although I hear that unless you work for Valve, your work hours are crazy). I wish you luck, and I hope you create great things in the future.

That said, the politics behind this whole thing has been atrocious. It was championed by both the former Gov. Carcieri and House Speaker Gordon Fox, which despite their different partisan labels, found some common ground in it. It displays that there is now a reckless disregard for the very real impact of the decisions that happen in the State House on the people of Rhode Island.

Everyone with an iota of power who is involved in the direction of this state needs to spend the summer discussing what’s happened over the last two years, what failed, what worked, and what needs to be done. I don’t care if you want to kill each other at the end, as long as it makes you more effective. The citizens of Rhode Island are more important than your feelings, and they deserve better.

To the officers of the General Assembly, please remember these cheery facts: in 20 years, people will have difficultly remembering your names. In 40 years, only historians doing research will. Your personal prestige needs to be subsumed into the idea that you need to make the best decision for the state.

No one should want you to fail. No matter your political affiliation, the issue is that you need to be the best you can be. And right now, you’re not. I don’t have the answers, and I can’t tell you how to do your jobs (though I think doing them full-time and for reasonable pay wouldn’t be a bad idea).

There was a lot riding on 38 Studios that shouldn’t have been. But this deal was opposed by the people of Rhode Island, and the more I compare the polls to the actions of our government, the more I wonder whether Smith Hill just lives in a different state.

May 25, 2012May 25, 2012

Paiva Weed Pushes for Reversing Cuts to Disabled

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Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed said she is pushing for restoring funds to programs for the developmentally disabled in this year’s budget.

“From an overall policy perspective we believe decisions in last year’s budget resulted in a negative impact on the community,” she said. “The senate has consistently made restoration of funding for the developmentally disabled a priority.”

Last year, funding for the developmentally disabled were cut by $24 million. Only about $12 million was cut from the state budget; the other half comes in federal matching funds.

Paiva Weed said Senate Finance Committee Chair Daniel DaPonte and House Finance Committee Chair Helio Melo, both East Providence Democrats, are working together to see how much of the approximately $12 million in local cuts can be restored.

“At this point finance chairs have been negotiating,” she said. “Hopefully they will resolve it all soon.”

During the last week or so, the finance committee chairs, among others, have been busy putting together the budget proposal behind closed doors. When I caught Melo opening the door of his office (after his secretary told me he wasn’t in there) he was tight-lipped about what might be in the much-anticipated proposal. “We are looking at it,” he said. “We are looking at everything.”

As a result of the cuts last year, programs were scaled back, even though they weren’t supposed to be, and several hundred low-income wage earners had their hours cut.

House Finance Committee member Rep. Larry Valencia, a progressive Democrat from Richmond, said, “It’s important to see what we can do about reversing the cuts from last year,” he said, noting that pay cuts to low-wage employees has a significant effect on the state’s economy.

Sen. Lou DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat who is the deputy chair of both the finance committee and the human services committee, is also pushing for funds to be reinstated.

“We need to see how to move needle from where it was last year,” he said. “The cuts last year went much too far.”

Advocates for what’s known as DD funding were successful this session at drawing attention to the cuts. The biggest crowd at the State House this session was for a rally to raise awareness to the cuts – it drew close to a 1,000 people I would estimate. And several labor unions affected by the wage cuts either staged one-day strikes earlier in the session.

May 25, 2012May 28, 2012

President Obama and the Imaginary Spending Binge

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Recently, I did something I shouldn’t have done, and I’d like to confess here.

Someone I don’t know wrote me a nice note about some things I have written and some banking issues I’m working on (more on this someday). In the process of the note, he described himself as moderate Republican, “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.” This, it turns out, is one of my buttons because it implies that usually liberals aren’t fiscally conservative.

The idea that liberals are spendthrift is little more than an insult that has stuck over time due to incessant repetition rather than evidence. It wasn’t liberals who brought our nation to the brink of financial ruin in 2008. It wasn’t liberals who doubled Rhode Island’s debt 2003-2009 for no good reason. It wasn’t liberals who created the fiscal crisis that has bankrupted one Rhode Island city and threatens several more. In all of these cases, it was either soi-disant fiscal conservatives or crony insiders who did all of it and I, for one, am completely sick of having to feel apologetic about my policy preferences. Medicaid is a money-saving program, as is welfare, early childhood education programs, environmental protection, and a lot more like those. The fact is that every progressive I’ve ever had a policy conversation with should be described as fiscally conservative, and yet the stereotypes persist, due to lazy reporters and politicians who benefit by perpetuating it.

So I was pleased to notice this article yesterday that pointed out the grim reality. You know that Obama spending binge you read about, when he came charging into office with a mandate and a Democratic Congress? Never happened. The article points out that on an annualized basis, spending under Obama is up about 0.4% per year. Of course it’s true that the 2009 fiscal year included Obama’s stimulus package, even though he took office part way through that year, with the budget already passed. But even if you count the stimulus, spending is up 1.4% per year under this president. Compare that to 7.3% per year in Bush’s first term, and 8.1% per year in his second.

The article has a great bar chart comparing the fiscal records of the last few Presidents. Because I think he’s unjustly maligned, I checked out Carter’s numbers, too, and after adjusting for inflation, spending increased less under his administration than under Reagan’s.

Why is the federal deficit such a huge problem? Because of tax and spending decisions made under George W. Bush. Why are cities and towns in Rhode Island either bankrupt or flirting with it? Because of spending decisions made under Don Carcieri. Obviously Congress and the General Assembly have had a lot to do with this, too, but it wasn’t liberals in Congress who voted for the Bush tax cuts, the Medicare drug benefit, or even the Iraq War resolution. And it wasn’t liberals who doubled the state’s debt (mostly without voter approval), loaned $75 million to Curt Schilling, and came up with all the different tax cuts for rich people passed over the past 15 years. Some liberal members of the General Assembly cast votes for budgets containing those tax cuts, but that’s the way this Assembly is run, and many have supported floor amendments to the budget to overcome those cuts. (Of course the current Speaker of the House has been known to describe himself as liberal, but the public record hardly supports that, and I notice he’s stopped doing that, at least to the reporters whose work I read.)

Is there spending I support that isn’t getting done? Of course there is. I support actually doing maintenance on our assets — because it’s cheaper than not doing it. I support health care reform — because it’s cheaper. I support early childhood education — because it’s cheaper. I support a cleaner environment — because it’s cheaper. I support taxing enough so our governments don’t require short-term borrowing — because it’s cheaper. Get the picture?

Obviously this isn’t the only reason to spend money. Helping support the poor and disabled is not necessarily cheaper than letting them die on the streets, but bodies lying about would damage the feng shui of our cities. Government has a role in counter-cyclical spending, to keep the economy moving during a downturn. You actually can make cost-benefit arguments about both of these, but they rest on shakier numbers, so why not just go with the alleviating human suffering angle? Parks and beaches are cool, historically the arts have never thrived without government patronage, and I wouldn’t try to justify the Smithsonian on cost/benefit grounds, either. But overall the picture of spendthrift liberals is little more than a libel, perpetuated because fulfills some rough conceptual framework, and because some people imagine that being fiscally conservative means you don’t have to pay for stuff.

Which is all to say that I apologize to my correspondent for snapping at him for what was otherwise a perfectly pleasant note.

May 25, 2012May 25, 2012

Anti-Choice Zealots Hold Medical Bill Hostage

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Right now there is no statute regarding the licensing of genetic counselors in Rhode Island, opening the door for those without appropriate training and codes of ethics to exploit and potentially harm patients. Fifteen states have licensure laws, and seventeen more have bills in consideration or preparing to be introduced.

On Wednesday, a Senate subcommittee discussed a bill that could make Rhode Island the 16th state to permit counselors to give advice about their potential medical future based on what can be gleaned from their genes.

Rhode Island’s bill was crafted by Senators Perry, Nesselbush, Sosnowski, Miller and Pichardo. It is a fine bill and has the complete approval of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. Genetic Counselors from Rhode Island are keen to see the bill passed, as it speaks to their professionalism and commitment to proper patient care. Passage of such a bill should be an easy slam dunk, as it will prevent patients from being victimized by the unscrupulous and the improperly educated.

So of course this bill can’t be passed by our General Assembly. Why? Because anti-abortion rights activists have stymied the bill for years. Let that sink in. For years versions of this bill have been advanced, only to be continually sidelined by activists like Barth E. Bracy, Executive Director of Rhode Island Right to Life, who said, in 2010:

Genetic counseling can be used for good or for evil, in the same way that fire can be used to cook food or burn down a house. Insofar as genetic counseling can be used in order to enhance and sustain human life and well being, it is a good thing. And we agree that the State of Rhode Island has an interest in regulating the practice of genetic counseling… Our primary concern regarding the Genetic Counseling Licensure Act is to include at least some conscience protection for genetic counselors who do not accept abortion as a valid treatment option in cases where some disability or undesired trait is possible, probable, or even present in an unborn child.

The position statement of the National Society of Genetic Counselors is quite clear on the issue of reproductive freedom:

REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM: NSGC supports the right of all individuals and couples to make reproductive choices. These include using information from genetic counseling and/or testing to decide whether to pursue a pregnancy, to utilize assisted reproductive technologies, to prepare for the birth and future needs of their offspring, to make an adoption plan, or to end a pregnancy. NSGC firmly believes that reproductive decisions should be made in the context of unbiased and comprehensive information, free from discrimination or coercion.

As a result of this conflict between the medical professionals of the NSGC and the anti-abortion zealots represented by Bracy, a so-called conscience amendment was added to the bill:

5-86-8. Counseling concerning abortion.- Nothing in this chapter may be construed to require any genetic counselor to participate in counseling with respect to abortion, nor shall licensing of any genetic counselor be contingent upon participation in such counseling with respect to abortion, and the refusal of the genetic counselor to participate in such counseling with respect to abortion shall not form the basis for any claim of damages on account of the refusal or for any disciplinary or recriminatory action against the genetic counselor, provided that the genetic counselor clearly informs the patient, in a manner consistent with ethical standards… that he or she will not participate in counseling with respect to abortion and offers to give the patient a list of licensed councilors in the state. The genetic counselor’s disclosure of non-participation and offer of a list of other licensed genetic counselors shall be made at the start of the counseling relationship and at other appropriate times, if any, based on the genetic counselor’s professional judgement.

Steve Brown, Executive Director of the Rhode Island ACLU, noted, in a letter to Senator Perry that this amendment:

…Would allow genetic counselors to refuse to counsel “with respect to abortion,” a counselor could potentially use this as an opening to, for example, withhold information about potential fetal abnormalities from women who are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant. A counselor could, by omission, mislead a patient about her options when serious fetal abnormalities are detected late in the pregnancy. A counselor could even suggest that no other options are available, but so long as the counseling was otherwise “consistent with ethical standards,” the amendment could appear to immunize the counselor from any state regulation or sanction.

In other words, it seems that the bill to license genetic counselors, with this amendment intact, would do nothing to assure the public that genetic counselors are professionals bound by a code of professional ethics to serve the best interests of their patients, because the bill will contain a loophole that will allow potential licensed genetic counselors to place their own consciences above that of their patients rights and needs. As a result, the ACLU proposed small modifications to the language, but these modifications could not win the support of Bracy’s RIRTL.

Speaking at the subcommittee meeting Wednesday evening, Benjamin Brown, a 4th year medical student speaking on behalf of Medical Students for Choice, put it quite well:

What concerns me here is that you have heard from the genetic councilors in the room that it is not within their code of ethics not to discuss abortion. And you have heard from other people speaking today that that is a professional requirement. So why would it be necessary to include this language about not talking about abortion if people are going to be acting within their code of ethics of their profession which states that they must discuss abortion? So to me this language makes no sense, it has nothing to do with professional regulation, and it has nothing to do with the professional standard practice of the profession of genetic counseling. It has to do with the fact that there are people who want to restrict access to abortion. This language has no purpose except to give an anti-choice genetic councilor room to hide behind a legal excuse for not providing information about abortion when the code of professional ethics says that you should have given that information, they can say, “Well, but I practice in Rhode Island.” [emphasis mine]

We should be clear at this point: The genetic counselors in Rhode Island would greatly prefer a clean version of this bill bill, one without the amendment, but so desperate are they to get some sort of licensing structure approved that they are willing to make a deal with the devil. They are willing to take the bill with the amendment. But what they might not realize is the precedent they are setting here. Paula Hodges, of Planned Parenthood, said it well:

There is a broader concern … that with the approval of such an amendment this committee will have all but formalized the practice of allowing legislation regarding liscensure in the medical field to be held hostage until the wishes of those opposed to abortion are considered and incorporated into the bill’s language.
…
We know that the Rhode Island ACLU has offered specially crafted improvements to this language which has not been adopted. Regardless, should this committee approve this amendment, with or without improvements, we head down a path where we all meet in these hearings, year after year, as each type of profession seeks to routinely improve or expand its scope of practice. The irrelevant demands of abortion opponents will need to be placated year after year.

The genetic counselors of Rhode Island are just following their code of ethics in capitulating to the unreasonable and irrelevant demands of anti-choice zealots like Barth Bracy and RIRTL. They are seeking to protect the interests of their patients at any cost, counting on their national group’s code of ethics to carry them through the ethical morass created by the amendment. Right now all fourteen people covered under this bill are pro-choice, but what of the future? What is to prevent someone who is anti-choice from becoming licensed and withholding information that would serve the best interests of their patients? In the amended bill, nothing prevents this.

Senator Nesselbush early on pointed out that the language in the bill is specifically crafted for those who are not pro-choice. Is it really necessary in our society to start crafting two sets of laws, those that cater to the whims of the religious, and those that serve the rest of us? With all the trumped up fear mongering being spread about such nonsense as Sharia law in America, why are we unable to make the small cognitive leap to the emergence of a two-tiered justice system respecting conservative Christian values?

Further, since when has the General Assembly had any luck crafting these last minute conscience clauses to their bills? Those who remember the much less than satisfactory civil unions bill of last year may recall that any rights such a bill ostensibly granted were seriously undercut by the Corvese amendment, which in some cases may have taken away rights enjoyed by committed same-sex couples who had gone to the trouble of establishing durable powers of attorney for each other. This genetic counseling licensure bill with the amendment included may have a similar effect of establishing a short term gain but a long term loss in the quality of the counselors licensed as anti-choice advocates move into the field, perhaps to work at one of the many fake pregnancy counseling centers that exist only to trick women into not realizing all their health care options.

When a group of bright, committed medical professionals, with the full support of the medical establishment, presents itself to the legislature and asks for legislation that will serve to protect the integrity of their profession and the health of their patients, the legislature needs to listen to them, and not to anti-choice cranks who care nothing for the health and safety of anyone save for the the unborn.

This bill should be passed, immediately and without any amendments.

But don’t hold your breath.

May 25, 2012May 25, 2012

RI Progress Report: 38 Studios, Woonsocket Race To Bankruptcy

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38 Studios laid off all of its employees yesterday … I guess Curt Schilling and Linc Chafee will be completing Copernicus by themselves.

Speaking of going bankrupt, Woonsocket’s supplemental tax increase failed to win approval in the House yesterday afternoon after Rep. Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, a Woonsocket Democrat, stymied its passage. “The end came suddenly, with a sharp bang of Speaker Gordon Fox’s gavel cutting off discussion with resounding finality on a parliamentary maneuver by Baldelli-Hunt to send the bill back to committee,” wrote Jim Baron of the Woonsocket Call.

Barrington did indeed back off its idea to offer a limited number of out-of-town students to attend the high-achieving local schools if the could afford to pay tuition, as we reported yesterday.

This is something Rhode Island should work on changing: the state ranks 12th from the worst in the nation in terms of being bicycle friendly.

5 Ways The Facebook IPO Teaches Us About How Wall Street Games The System

Paul Krugman: “…overall business productivity in America grew faster in the postwar generation, an era in which banks were tightly regulated and private equity barely existed, than it has since our political system decided that greed was good.”

A great story by the Associated Press on CEO pay and how to compare those outrageous salaries compare to the rest of us.

Rest in peace, Scott Nixon, a much-heralded professor of Oceanography at URI. According to Provost Donald H. DeHayes, he “was a world leader in the study of how coastal and estuarine ecosystems work, initially using Narragansett Bay as his laboratory and employing mesocosms to measure respiration and production at a community level. While his findings helped define our understanding of marine ecosystems locally, Scott applied his knowledge at broader scales, too, exploring marine ecosystems around the world, comparing and contrasting them to shape a global view that he then used to challenge himself to think in new ways and to challenge the scientific dogma of the times.”

May 24, 2012May 24, 2012

Occupy Americans Elect

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Last week, Americans Elect, the not-a-political-party political party which achieved party status in Rhode Island, announced that it was ending its nomination process for President and Vice President of the United States. American Elect attempted to use an online nominating process to run a third-party ticket for the White House. Unfortunately, beyond its long process for determining delegates, it was also largely established by hedge fund managers closely tied to Wall Street and its interests. Indeed, some of its most vocal supporters (such as Thomas Friedman of the New York Times) basically were advocating for a “centrist” president; someone who wouldn’t be mean to Wall Street, yet would also be socially liberal.

Now that the dream of electing a not-Barack Obama is over, it’s time that Rhode Islanders considered what it means for us. There are twelve people registered as Americans Elect voters as of March 29th in Rhode Island. And despite the fact that it was almost entirely focused on electing a president, it still counts as a political party for local purposes. Let’s occupy it.

I don’t want to rehash arguments about Occupy Providence that I’ve already made, so I’ll just say this. Camping in Burnside Park was not the same as occupying a piece of Wall Street. But Americans Elect is a piece of Wall Street, created and funded by Wall Streeters. Could there be a sweeter victory than taking it over and turning it against its creators?

Affecting change requires a political program. If you’re looking for more diversity in Rhode Island’s politics, Americans Elect essentially blew a bus-sized hole in the two-party system. A completely undefined political party, one with no real pre-determined identity (beyond the wishes of its funders). All that is required is that someone drive the bus through. Rhode Island’s political dissidents should consider the possibility here: register as an Americans Elect candidate for state senator or representative.

An occupied Americans Elect could become Rhode Island’s version of the Pirate Party. To have any chance of survival, it would have to be. It would have to fill a missing gap in Rhode Island politics; in this case, adopting the Pirate Party’s message of radical governmental transparency with the demand for social justice. Both demands are present within Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots.

One of the most interesting things about Occupy Wall Street was the way it was so highly public in its process. While maintaining that openness was a struggle from the beginning for Occupy Providence, it would’ve provided a nice counterpoint to the General Assembly, which will soon begin its deliberations over how the budget will be shaped behind closed doors. Taking over Americans Elect, and making its reformation be highly open and accessible would lend strength to the takeover as both a protest movement, and a reform movement.

No party can force a voter to disaffiliate, according to Rob Rock at the Secretary of State’s office. So far, I can’t find anything within Title 17 (Elections) of Rhode Island state law that says that a party can block a candidate affiliated with their party from running under the party’s banner. I suppose the party’s state committee could raise an objection to the candidate’s nomination papers, but it’s unclear whether that would be enough. At time of writing, the Board of Elections has not responded to my queries.

However, it’s unclear to me whether Americans Elect even has a state committee to create bylaws for the party. It once had a Northeast Regional Director, former Operations Director of the Moderate Party Kathryn Cantwell, the Brown grad student who is now an unpaid intern in Governor Chafee’s communications office. Ms. Cantwell is no longer with Americans Elect. Between the lack of a regional director and the unsuccessful end of its nomination process, I believe now is the time to strike.

This shouldn’t even be an “Occupy Thing”, this should be a pissed-off people thing. I’ve been down on the movement before, and one of its big problems is a failure to realize that politics is important. You can’t always affect change by throwing stones and waving flags outside of the halls of power. What that can do is create a siege mentality among those inside, that the forces outside can’t be bargained with, and must be waited out.

Alternatively, political action not only paints a movement as one willing to engage in government, it also deprives the opponents of said movement a place from which to attack. Every seat that’s seized from a conservative Democrat or Republican, or a so-called “pragmatic” politician in favor of the status quo, is a seat that can be used to push for change and apply political pressure more directly.

Failure to engage in politics is a failure to engage in autonomy. One of the large reasons Pirate Parties have been successful in parts of Europe is that rather than merely protest the heavy-handedness of their governments’ crackdowns on internet piracy, they followed those protests up with a political vehicle.

Americans Elect is a vehicle without a driver, the keys in the ignition, and the door unlocked. All we have to do is get behind the wheel and put our foot on the gas.

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