Samuel G. Howard
Governor Chafee On RI: ‘We’ve Hit Rock Bottom’
In an Economist article entitled “Bankruptcy in Rhode Island“, Governor Lincoln Chafee is quoted as saying “We’ve hit rock bottom in this state”. And, frankly, I don’t know how to take it. The article is about the municipal budget problems that are cropping up across the Rhode Island. Essentially, as we well know, Rhode Island is [...]
North Carolina Votes for Marriage Inequality
So Amendment One in North Carolina passed via voter referendum, and it passed overwhelmingly. Simply put, Amendment One criminalizes love. Not only does it add a ban on the rights of homosexuals to marry (already illegal in North Carolina) to their state constitution, it bans the existence of civil unions between even straight couples. It passed [...]
RI ‘Trailing Behind’ On Evaluating Tax Incentives
According to a bill being heard today (H7723/H7724) introduced by Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D–Narragansett, South Kingstown), Rhode Island spends over $1.6 billion on tax incentives. These are the various credits, deductions, exclusions and exemptions that most citizens enjoy. They range all over the place, but tax incentives usually tend to favor the well-off rather than those [...]
![Elections in Europe: Watch Out Austerity [Update]](http://www.rifuture.org/wp-content/uploads/paris-150x150.jpg)
Elections in Europe: Watch Out Austerity [Update]
Today, Europeans will go to the polls in three countries; France, Greece, and Serbia. Legislative elections are taking place in Greece and Serbia, and presidential elections are taking place in France and Serbia. Austerity is expected to be the big loser here, and the people responsible for austerity will be the ones taking the brunt [...]
Homeless Bill of Rights Passes State Senate
Taking a “historic step” forward according to advocates, the Rhode Island Senate voted 33-2 to pass Senate Bill 2052, a.k.a. the Homeless Bill of Rights. The law provides homeless people with protections against discrimination based on their housing status, preventing them from being told to move along if they enter libraries or sit on park [...]
Lawmakers Briefed on Plan to End Homelessness
As marchers gathered for their May Day march on the west side of Providence to protest unfair economic conditions, a crowd of over thirty people, nine of whom were sitting legislators, listened to a briefing in the Rhode Island Senate lounge on the state’s Plan to End Homelessness, known as Opening Doors Rhode Island. The [...]
The Not-So-Curious Divide
A few days ago, David Scharfenberg of the Phoenix wrote a blog post entitled “The Curious Divide” noticing the distinct difference between Rhode Island’s liberal federal delegation and its state legislature, which skews moderate (and as one reader has pointed out, significantly to the right of most Democratic state legislatures, with some Democrats more conservative than some [...]
Millennials Will Be the Optimistic Generation
The Great Recession, spiraling debt crises, suicidal austerity, roads falling apart, the war on women, Wall Street bailouts, anti-immigrant sentiment, greater political power to religious zealots, global warming, etc., etc. I look at these and think; I can’t wait for the future. That’s because I’m a Millennial, and in case you don’t know, despite having [...]
Political Parties Should Invite Voters into Process
In case you hadn’t heard, 3% of potential voters turned out in Rhode Island’s presidential primary on April 24th. Rhode Island runs open primaries, where unaffiliated voters can temporarily affiliate on primary day with the party of their choice, so virtually every voter but those registered as Moderates had the ability to vote. The two [...]
Electoral Abstinence: Choosing None of the Above
Thousands of Rhode Islanders went to work today (or looked for work) instead of to the polls. Maybe they were going to vote, but then decided they just wanted to go home. Or maybe they didn’t like the candidates. Or maybe they just didn’t know where their local polling place was. They’ll all be counted [...]
Roots of Progress: Colonial Regulators as Early Occupy
I’ve struggled attempting to write this part, which is both the most relevant and most obscure part of this series, as well as being the last. I’ve based this largely on the work of William Hogeland, including his excellent Founding Finance series of articles (which have been moved due to a site redesign; if you [...]
Middle Class, Lift RI Rally for Income Tax Equity
A group of dedicated activists made the case for the tax equity bills in the General Assembly on Tax Day. Standing in front of the now-abandoned Network RI, LIFT (Lasting Investment Through Fair Taxes) RI assembled speakers from a variety of backgrounds to demonstrate the need for taking the steps necessary to prevent brutal cuts [...]
Defending American Schools from ‘Reformers’
It was interesting to me to learn about the article by Paul Farhi in the American Journalism Review called “Flunking the Test“, which blows apart typical reporting on education as essentially taking so-called “reformers” views at face value. Mr. Farhi points out that not only is the idea of an “crisis in education” false, (recalling arguments advanced [...]
Poor Portents in Prospect Park for Anthony Gemma
Having attended Anthony Gemma’s news statement in Providence’s Prospect Terrace Park, I’ll say this right off the bat: I went expecting a more polished candidate than appeared in 2010. I was disappointed. Let’s get to the big part of it right away: fleeing the conference almost as soon as he was done. By 6:21 pm [...]
See Gemma Run
Dark clouds hung over Providence’s Prospect Terrace Park as businessman Anthony Gemma, lately of Mediapeel, said, in a roughly 15 minute speech, that he would bring “change” and “new ideas,” while redefining what service meant for the office of U.S. Congressman. While the congressional hopeful spoke, supporters looked on, and a quartet picnicked despite [...]
RI Pols Are Overhyping Fundraising Prowess
Perhaps I should be amazed and shocked by the “extraordinary” fundraising numbers that Barry Hinckley put up recently: over $300,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2012. I’m sure Mr. Hinckley’s campaign would like me to be. They certainly don’t want me to focus on the nearly ten times as much sitting U.S. [...]
Rebuilding RI’s Economy Via a Single-Payer System
It’s time to liberate capital. Of course, the General Assembly won’t do that, because we’re committed to one simple principle right now: austerity. Cut budgets, cut taxes on the rich, and watch the middle class flee the state while the impoverished remain behind. See, we were facing a pension crisis and we had to tackle that. [...]
Cassie Tharinger Returns Cider to Rhode Island
Hard cider was once the Drink of Americans. Every farm produced it. John Adams drank a tankard of it every morning. Children drank a drink called ciderkin. And the famous apples of the Johnny Appleseed legend? Apples intended to be turned into hard cider. Even Prohibition, which utilized the destruction of apple trees as a symbol [...]
A Possible Progressive Flameout in CD1 Race
The line I’ve been toting is that Congressman David Cicilline isn’t as beatable as his approval ratings suggest. First off, I doubt that his approval ratings are low because of his time in Congress, where’s he’s been a reliable progressive vote (as he was always going to be). What seems to be the zeitgeist is [...]
The Chafee Endorsement Matters For Cicilline
The big political news of the yesterday was Governor Lincoln Chafee’s endorsement of U.S. Representative David Cicilline for Congress in 2012. First, Chris Fierro of Mr. Cicilline’s office tweeted last night that Gov. Chafee attended a fundraiser for the incumbent representative. Then the Governor’s office confirmed as much in this statement. There’s a danger of [...]
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