September 12, 2012 – RI Future

September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Jon Brien: Personal Friend and Political Adversary

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

baldelli hunt brien — Reps Lisa Baldelli-Hunt and Jon Brien explain to reporters at the State House why they didn’t support a property tax increase for Woonsocket. (Photo by Bob Plain)

I’m probably the only progressive in Rhode Island who didn’t break out in celebration upon learning that ultra-conservative Woonsocket state Rep. Jon Brien had been knocked out of his State House seat in Tuesday’s primary.

Not that progressives don’t have good reason to celebrate his political demise; they do. Though Brien calls himself a Democrat, in practice he’s one of the most conservative members of the General Assembly. On socially issues he falls to the right of even his Republican colleagues and on fiscal policy he’s simply draconian. He’s both a Catholic, and an Ayn Rand acolyte – a toxic combination to the left.

He refers to himself as the “godfather of voter ID in Rhode Island,” but he might be best known for being on the board of directors of ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a shadowy, business-backed political operation that pairs corporate leaders with state legislators to write and hopefully export conservative legislation.

He also attracted a lot of attention when he and his cohort Rep. Lisa Baldelli-Hunt killed a property-tax bill that was supported by both the mayor and city council – not to mention almost every member of the legislative and executive branches of government.

I’ll always remember him as the guy who almost got into a fight in an elevator with a union official, being as that was our first proper introduction to each other.

As you can see, there are no shortage of reasons for progressives and liberals (and even maybe middle-of-the-road moderates) to fear and/or detest his radically conservative agenda.

Me, on the other hand, the aforementioned fiascoes can also be seen as a list of many of my favorite stories to report over the last year or so. Jon Brien was like job security for me, I could always count on him necessitating some editorial coverage. I feel a little bit like an account who just lost tax season. Seriously, he’s driven a lot of traffic to RI Future. Our readers love to hate him and I truly enjoy reporting and writing about him.

But none of that is why I didn’t celebrate when I heard he lost his reelection bid.

I genuinely like Jon Brien, and consider him a friend. In fact, as I’ve mentioned before, my dad was once married to his cousin, so in a way, we’re family!

For those who don’t know Jon Brien, in addition to being a right-wing ideologue, he’s also funny and personable and thoughtful. He can also be crude and irascible and pompous. With the notable exception of the right-wing ideologue part, all that sounds a lot like me, if I do say so myself.

And furthermore, he very rarely dodged an interview, which goes a long way with me. Not just because it makes my job easier, but also because I like when people stand up for what they believe in and Jon Brien certainly did a lot of that.

That said, I think his politics and his policy proposals are generally bad for Rhode Island and I think Woonsocket will be better served with someone different in office.

So here’s hoping my friend Jon Brien finds that silver lining in his electoral defeat … but here’s also hoping it leads him far away from the public sector.

September 12, 2012September 15, 2012

XL Pipeline- Insane Jobs Program

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Watching the primary debates one thing is pretty clear, in an election that is supposed to be about the economy, neither party is serious about holding Wall Street accountable for taking down the world economy, defending labor in America or changing our trade policies. So what is left to get the economy going? Both Democrat Langevin and Republican Riley agree, the solution is building the XL Keystone pipeline. As Einstein famously mused, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. In this case the result is deadly.

I strongly oppose the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would pump corrosive toxic sludge called tar oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, exacerbating the climate change caused by burning fossil fuels and accelerating sea level rise. In Matunuck where I live, we have already been forced to make the difficult decision of whether to build expensive protective walls that only delay the day of reckoning while diverting the erosion to other areas or whether to abandon the coastal road and the homes and businesses along it. Whether it’s erosion, or flooding, or both, every city and town in the state is paying the price of climate change, and the pipeline would only make the cost go up.

Republican Michael Riley enthusiastically endorses the building of the pipeline and Congressman Langevin, who acknowledges that Global Warming is real and manmade still somehow supports the pipeline as long as the US gets some of the oil and it goes through a “safe” route. Riley’s and Langevin’s positions demonstrate an understanding of neither the extraction, transport, and refinement of tar sands oil, nor the gravity of our climate problem.

Leading environmentalist Bill McKibben, whose group 350.org encircled the White House in an act of civil disobedience to stop the pipeline, was blunt in response.

“No one should be running for office on the promise of building the Keystone pipeline, not when our top federal climatologist says burning the carbon in those Canadian tar sands would mean “game over for the climate,” and not when the couple of thousand jobs it would create are vastly outnumbered by the good jobs that will be created when we make the real transition to renewable energy. I know the Koch Brothers want the pipeline, and I know they’re really rich, but that’s not a good enough reason.”

The environment is just one example of where I differ from my rivals, and the other points in the platform along with other issues of concern were discussed in a question and answer session following my press conference on Thursday, the 13th.

Let’s get America’s economy and democracy back on track in a sane way. You can check out the way I answered the questions posed to candidates on the WJAR primary debates by clicking on this link. Contrast Abel’s responses to the CD2 primary debate questions with other candidates here.

At the presser in my campaign headquarters, 166 Atwood Ave. in Cranston I talked about these issues, the economy and a real green jobs program; along with taking Washington DC “off the auction block” (as Dennis Kucinich puts it) and the ongoing attack on our civil liberties that congressman Langevin just voted for this week with the extension of the FISA court exception (video to follow).

September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Not About the Money in Chicago Teacher’s Strike

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

“Chicago isn’t seeing its teachers as greedy. They’re seeing them as a vanguard in the struggle against what might happen to the rest of the middle class next if they don’t speak up,” according to Alternet.

Since Rahm Emanuel’s election in the spring of 2011, Chicago’s teachers have been marginalized by a mayor obsessed with displaying to the universe his “toughness” — toughness with the working-class people that make the city tick; toughness with the protesters standing up to say “no”; but never, ever toughness with the vested interests, including anti-union charter school advocates, who poured $12 million into his coffers to elect him mayor (his closet competitor raised $2.5 million)–Rick Perlstein

The Chicago teacher union took a bold step. It was not an easy thing to do, but a necessary move to preserve public schools in Chicago. The cry of the opposition is “It hurts the children.”

Analyze that statement truthfully. Who is really hurting and who really stands to gain in this conflict? Rahm Emanuel is the mayor and he, of course stands to gain in this. He wants to tear down the public school system. Why? It can be all summed up with one word: PROFIT.

The propaganda that schools are failing is put out by the reformers like Gates, Walton, Michelle Rhee, Klein, Eli Broad and billionaire Bloomberg. What do they all have in common? Big money and no education credentials. Tell me what teaching experience and degrees do they have to push their free enterprise school agenda? None.

Their credentials seems to be the big money earned from their free enterprise, big business ways and they want to institute this way of thinking into public education. They have bamboozled the public into thinking education has gone by the wayside. And how did they do this? By investing their money into programs like using high stakes testing tied to Race to Top and by buying politicians into this way of thinking so they can pass their agenda of vouchers, charters, (investors make profits as they dig into public education city budgets that taxpayers pay into) online schools, and privatization. Why not use that money and invest into the poverty of children instead?

This fight in Chicago is a fight to keep the children stabilized in their public schools. Under Emanuel, crime rates have soared among the young people. So rather than work with the teachers and parents with good sound effective and tested programs Rahm Emanuel sees $$$ signs with vouchers, charters and for profit schools vwith no proven studies showing they work… no evidence or research to prove they are better…

Mayor Emanuel, with his rich friends, talk about return on investment as the billionaires (Gates particularly) pull the strings. They focus on “school choice” over civil rights and fighting poverty one of the major causes of poor school achievement. They insist on closing schools rather than improving them. (One doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel..too costly, just improve the spokes…
but new schools mean more profits for these so called “reformers”)

Don’t think for a moment this politician actually is thinking of the children. This Democrat could have prevented this situation but instead he joined with teacher vilifying Republicans like Chris Christie, Rep Gov Walker of Wisconsin, Republican Bloomberg, and others in bullying the work of teachers.
This blog by Jonathan Pelto is one I recommend. Put away your biases and prejudices for a while and see the propaganda and lies for what they really are…
Thank you.

Conservatives and Education Reformers: When in doubt, make sh*t up

The verbal assault on teachers has reached a fevered pitch as conservatives and “education reformers push to make it look like the Chicago Teacher Strike is about money and the demands of greedy teachers and their greedy unions, rather than the fact that Chicago teachers are actually standing up to the “education reform” industry and the politicians that support it.

Yesterday, Leonie Haimson, a leader of Parents Across America, the country’s primary public education parent group, was on CNBC.

In typical fashion, as Haimson laid out the facts about what is going on in Chicago, Larry Kudlow, the commentator asking the questions, was literally left screaming that they only fact that mattered was that “only 15 percent of fourth graders” in the Chicago public schools can read.

Of course, such a claim is completely false, but facts never seem of importance to the right-wing or those who claim to be dedicated to “reforming” education.

Yesterday also saw a Heritage Foundation talking head telling the media that the Chicago Teachers Union was demanding a “30 percent pay increase,” even though only 15 percent of the children in Chicago’s public schools can read and only 56 percent of the students graduate.

Again, the statement is completely false. Salary is not an issue- both sides agree that raises are warranted – someone needs to tell the Heritage Foundation fool the truth!!!

It turns out the right-wing talking points are coming from the right-wing Heartland Foundation and the right-wing National Review.

For what it is worth, Illinois’ state standardized test scores show that 62 percent of Chicago’s fourth graders meet or exceed the goal in reading and the number of students, at or above goal, in math, science and reading has been increasing.

For the full post go to: http://jonathanpelto.com/2012/09/12/conservatives-and-education-reformers-when-in-doubt-make-sht-up/

September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

VIDEO: Cicilline Trounces Gemma; Doherty Is Next

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

As was widely predicted, Congressman David Cicilline handily beat his primary challenger and now moves on to face conservative Republican Brendan Doherty in the general election.

Cicilline not only defeated Anthony Gemma, he destroyed him. He garnered 60 percent of the vote and Gemma got just 30 percent. In fact, Cicilline beat Gemma by more votes than Gemma beat Chris Young by, who scored 8 percent.

Here’s the video of Cicilline’s victory speech:

September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Primaries Prove Fruitful for Progressive Agenda

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

While there was no landslide for liberal State House candidates, Tuesday’s primary still proved to be a big victory for the progressive agenda.

Gayle Goldin easily beat charter school advocate Maryellen Butke in one of the most ballyhooed contests of the primary. Goldin’s victory ensures that Rhoda Perry’s former seat will stay in the hands of a true progressive.

West Warwick’s Adam Satchell, a supporter of marriage equality, collective bargaining rights and renewable energy, was another big win. He beat Michael Pigna, a foe of gay marriage, by a healthy margin.

But even more important is who lost. Woonsocket’s Jon Brien, an ALEC board member and one of the most conservative members of the General Assembly, fell to local firefighter Stephen Casey. While Casey could prove to be a good progressive, Brien was a sworn enemy of left and the legislature gets demonstrably more liberal with his absence.

While both Lauara Pisaturo, of Warwick, and Bob DaSilva, of East Providence, lost, they both had strong showings and only lost to powerful incumbents by a total of of less than 300 votes. That doesn’t speak well for Michael McCaffrey or Dan DaPonte, who beat them, both who are committee chairmen and are in the good graces of leadership. Their votes may not change on marriage equality because of the nail-biting victories (though DaPonte was on the fence) others may swing once they see that even powerful incumbents can be vulnerable.

It wasn’t a great night for House leadership either. Peter Petrarca, the House Deputy Majority Leader, lost to Greg Costantino. And even more significantly, Rep. Spencer Dickinson, a fiscal progressive from South Kingstown, beat Kathy Fogarty, the chosen candidate of House Speaker Gordon Fox.

Popular progressives like Art Handy, Chris Blazejewski and Grace Diaz all won by comfortable margins.

But the primary wasn’t without it’s defeats for progressives as well. Gus Uht lost to conservative Karen MacBeth; Libby Kimzey lost to John Lombardi; and Frank Lombardi beat Gene Dyszlewski.