April 18, 2016 – RI Future

April 18, 2016May 14, 2016

Julie Casimiro will again challenge Doreen Costa for NK House seat

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Democrat Julie Casimiro is again challenging Republican Rep. Doreen Costa for the District 31 House seat in North Kingstown, RI Future has learned.

Casimiro lost to Costa in 2014 53.1 percent to 46.8 percent.

“Running again was not part of my plan as my family commitments have been exhausting, but the groundswell of support for me to do so has been absolutely overwhelming, from within the district and throughout the state,” she said in a news release. “It’s hard to say no during a presidential election year!”

Casimiro added, ““I am running on a platform of respectable values and a desire to serve my constituents for what’s important to them – creating jobs, improving the economy,” she said in the press release. We need to do things differently in order to move Rhode Island forward…the status quo is not going to cut it!”

In 2014, Casimiro took 2242 votes and Costa won 2547 – a difference of 352 votes.

While Costa, a very conservative tea party Republican is close with Democratic Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello, Casimiro’s press release says she has the endorsement of the Democratic Party. The speaker of the House has great influence with the Democratic Party in Rhode Island.

In 2014, as was reported by RI Future, Casimiro won the endorsement of the Republican Town Council President Liz Dolan, who said at the time, “I have not been impressed with Doreen’s record. “We need to bring this party back to where it is more moderate.” But the North Kingstown Fire Fighters union endorsed Costa, saying, “We looked at who has been in our corner.”

According to her press release: “Casimiro has experience in both the private and non-profit sectors. She has been married to her husband, Richard, for 32 years. She has held several leadership positions on various boards and committees and earned a BS in Marketing from Providence College. She is a graduate of Leadership Rhode Island’s class of 2008 and newly appointed 2nd Vice Chair of the North Kingstown Democratic Town Committee.”

Costa was a guiding force behind the Exeter recall election and mocking then-Governor Linc Chafee for using the term holiday tree instead of Christmas tree. In 2014, she told RI Future she was less conservative than people think. “People have me as this extremist and I find that very offensive,” she said. “I’m not as to the right as people think I am.”

Update: I reached out on Twitter to North Kingstown fire fighters to find out of they would again endorse Costa. In a direct message, that they said I could publish: “@NK_Fire has been burnt by politicians, both local and statewide in the past from both parties. Therefore, we have chose not to be politically active at this point.”

April 18, 2016May 3, 2016

Banners dropped at RI Office of Energy Resources opposing power plant

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Two large banners were dropped from the fourth floor of the Rhode Island Department of Administration Building outside the offices of the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER), to protest Commissioner Marion Gold’s support of the fracked-gas and diesel fuel power plant planned for Burrillville by Invenergy.

One banner read, “All That Glitters is Not Gold” and another “No New Power Plant”. The group began a sit-in at OER office, demanding that Dr. Gold revoke her support of the power plant project and pledge to meet with Burrillville residents.

“For five months we have been trying to schedule a meeting with Dr. Gold to no avail. Enough is enough.“ said Kathy Martley a Burrillville resident who participated in the sit-in and one of the founders of BASE (Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion). “We need our State’s energy leaders to stop supporting fossil fuel projects”.

After being ordered by the Capitol Police to roll up and remove the banners, Dr. Gold emerged from her offices, initially saying that she did not have time to meet with the small group because the Federal Energy Secretary Moniz, in town to deliver a lecture at Brown University.

Gold then reconsidered and offered the group ten minutes, which turned into 15. Kathy Martley and others explained their objections to the plant. Nick Katkevich, of FANG, (Fighting Against Natural Gas) asked Gold to reconsider her support for the plant. Gold indicated that she is waiting “for the process to play out” before making a decision about the plant, but Katkevich countered that in the past she has supported the plant.

Gold also wouldn’t say she supported the plant, adopting a curiously neutral position, given her past support.

“The power plant is bad for Burrillville, bad for Rhode Island and will impact the most vulnerable communities around the world by contributing to global climate change. We are asking Dr. Gold to do the right thing and revoke her support of this project,” said Sally Mendzela of North Providence in a statement.

In a statement the group added, “According to the region’s utility regulators, this power plant is not necessary to meet demand. Rhode Islanders should be weary of Invenergy’s false claims. They are not concerned about what’s best for Rhode Island, only what’s best for their own profits.”

You can watch the meeting with Marion Gold in the video below.

April 18, 2016April 21, 2016

Video: Saturday’s State House rally for Bernie Sanders

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Several hundred people rallied on the State House South Lawn Saturday to speak out on why we need Bernie Sanders to be our next president. Basically rough and ready raw footage to archive this exciting event where people are taking part in getting a President for the People elected- Bernie Sanders. Join the political revolution. The images at the beginning of each video are courtesy of Nicholas Delmonico.

Rhode Island state legislators Rep. Aaron Regunberg, of Providence, and Sen. Jim Sheehan, of North Kingstown, were previously covered here. You can watch the rest of the rally below.

It began with a march from Kennedy Plaza, where volunteers could sign up to canvass and phone bank to get the vote out for the April 26th primary.

Tracy Hart reads her poem saying goodbye to the old ways and hello to the new called “Care Enough to Act.” c.2016 Tracy Hart.

Lauren Niedel, a leading organizer both for Bernie’s campaign here in Rhode Island as well as the RI Progressive Democrats, calls out the troops to canvass and phone bank. She deemed Rhode Island “is Bernie country now!”

Former state Department of Health director Dr. Michael Fine couldn’t be there, but a message from him for the rally about why we need a single-payer health care system was.

Sandy Pliskin played poetry and music inspired by Bernie Sanders. In the tradition of sometime Rhode Islander Pete Seeger, he played a banjo.

Carolyn Colton-supports Bernie because of his positions on college debt and education.For a teacher, artist and activist on the cycle of Student Debt it is stressful for young teachers with crushing loans and low pay face knowing that this will be in the future of the students who they are teaching unless something changes in a major way.

Abel Collins-South Kingstown Town Council President Abel Collins spoke on the environment. Abel supports Bernie because he understand the issues and the solutions. He notes Hillary Clinton as Sec. of State promoted fracking world wide and now the methane released by fracking and the expansion of natural gas has wiped out the gains that all of the build out of renewables would have provided.

Jared Moffet, aLegalize Marijuana Activist, supports Bernie because he is right to want to End War on Drugs which has failed too solve the problem but created a country with the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Linda Ujifusa, lawyer and activist, supports Bernie because she feels he understands the immigrant experience recounting the internment of her Japanese-American parents during WW2. “I’m here today to prove that all Bernie supporters are not white, or young,” she said.

Dr. Mark Ryan supports Bernie because he wants Single Payer. Mark recounts a story about a patient who died because she could not afford the treatment he prescribed.

Ricky North, a Libertarian For Bernie because he can bring people together and attract people who would not ordinarily support Democrats.

Nikki Vanasse from South County for Bernie Sanders – supports Bernie because is is “a dream come true that we have someone representing us with love and compassion” for our people and the world, noting his visit to Pope Francis.

Laura Perez, candidate for State Representative, supports Bernie because we live one of the most powerful country in the world and we still don’t have free public education and college, and living wage for all and Bernie will work for this. Let’s send work for Bernie and send a message to the RI Statehouse.

I spoke about racial justice. An important reason that I support Bernie is that we need a president with activist roots who participated in civil disobedience to stand up against injustice. I believe that Sanders will work with the community to uproot systemic racism and plant one that recognizes the value and equality of all races.

The Black Out Drum Line led a Community Celebration while people sign up and get information on Democratic Socialism and building a Fossil Free RI.

Tony Hempher from the Bank Tellers Union talked about why bank tellers are supporting Bernie’s economic justice platform pointing out their poor pay and job security.

For What It’s Worth: Full Circle – Time for a political revolution

Colorful and hysterical- the Anti- War and Pro-Environment activist singers the Raging Grannies sing take offs on popular folk songs with humorous lyrics on important issues.

Music for the Revolution while people sign up fro shifts to canvas signups.

April 18, 2016

Sanders’ Wall Street plan is ‘incoherent’ says Barney Frank

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Former Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank was in Providence Monday morning campaigning for Hillary Clinton in the form of an interview with RI Treasurer Seth Magaziner. The Congressperson was the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007-2011 and the Frank half of the Dodd-Frank Act, a major reform of the financial industry signed into law under Obama.

Frank says that the United States is trapped in a vicious cycle: People have lost confidence in a government that responds to their needs, so they elect anti-government candidates who produce a government that is even worse than before. Frank believes that the only way out of this is to elect Hillary Clinton as president.

Bernie Sanders, says Frank, is being too critical of anything that falls short of his own lofty ideals. Frank thinks this is a mistake and strongly disagrees with this way of thinking.

“Almost every representative committed to progressive change is for Hillary Clinton,” says Frank, including the entire congressional LGBT caucus and every member of the Black caucus, save one. This isn’t because they are part of the “establishment” says Frank, but because they are committed to progressive change.

2016-04-18 Barney Frank 02 — Seth Magaziner and Barney Frank

“If you tell people it’s either revolution or nothing worth fighting for,” says Frank, “you open up the not-voting behavior.”

As for taking money from Wall Street, Franks says that Sander’s idea that politicians taking money from businesses they want to change cannot be counted on “goes against every person I’ve ever served with.”

Frank then went into his experiences passing Dodd-Frank, which reversed 12 years of a Republican-controlled Congress loosening the regulations that controlled Wall Street. He noted Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed’s contributions to that process.

Sander’s promise to break up the big banks makes no sense to Frank. The problem “isn’t that institutions are too big, it’s that they had more debt than they could handle.”

Frank says that he helped pass legislation to prevent too much indebtedness. “AIG couldn’t happen today,” he says. He helped to outlaw sub-prime loans and increased the companies on-hand capitol.

“General Electric got out of the financial business because of these laws,” says Frank.

Under Frank’s legislation, regulators can look at a company’s holdings and in the event that it looks dangerous, can order divestment. Clinton’s plan to regulate Wall St would lower the bar for divestment, giving her enhanced authority to order divestment.

In contrast, says Frank, Sanders isn’t coherent on this issue. “How can you say something is too big if you don’t know what size it should be?” asks Frank.

“Hillary,” says Frank, “understands how it all works.”

Clinton’s tax policy was also touched upon. As President she wants to tax high frequency stock trades and tax hedge funds as income. Frank objects to Sander’s “McCarthy-ite suggestion that she’s soft on these issues because of the money she accepts.”

Clinton will increase taxes on people making more than $1 million and especially those who make more than $5 million, says Frank.

When asked about health care, Frank was not in favor of introducing single-payer system, at least not quickly. “People need to be shown how this can be done,” said Frank. “I think Sanders will be a disaster [on health care],” says Frank, “People are not ready to have a tax increase to pay for universal health care.”

Clinton will crack down on big pharma pricing, prevent tax dodging of companies incorporating overseas and expand health care, says Frank.

Frank, who was among the first openly gay members of Congress, ended with some words on LGBT rights. “Though Sanders has always voted the right way on LGBT issues there is near unanimous support in the LGBT community for Hillary,” he said.

Clinton’s Supreme Court picks, Frank said, will help reverse the Hobby Lobby decision and uphold legislation, like the kind being worked on by RI Representative David Cicilline, to prevent private action discrimination against LGBT people.

One final note: Frank did say that if Sanders wins the nomination, “Of course I’ll campaign for him.”

April 18, 2016April 18, 2016

Man on the street video: Who is RI voting for, Bernie or Hillary?

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With no recent public polling about the April 26 Democratic presidential primary election in the Ocean State, Rhode Islanders don’t really know if we will vote for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. So I spent the weekend traveling the state and asking the question.

I asked 23 people between a beach in Narragansett and a housing project in Pawtucket, with stops at several grocery and hardware stores in between. Each is included on the video below. For comparison, the Brown Taubman Center poll asks just more than 400 Rhode Islanders to get a more scientific estimate.

48 percent said Bernie Sanders, 22 percent said Hillary Clinton and 30 percent were undecided or plan to vote for neither of them.

More on the primary: