Haven Brothers: Legacy of the American Diner Movie
If you live in Providence, there are certain landmarks you learn about almost immediately. The Superman Building located in the heart of Kennedy Plaza, the statue of Roger Williams overlooking the city from College Hill, and of course, Haven Brothers situated each day next to City Hall. When the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities [...]
RI CEO Paywatch
The AFL-CIO released its annual Executive Paywatch website for 2011 yesterday and it shows that the average CEO in American makes 380 times what the average worker earns. In 1980, the ratio was a much more reasonable 42 times as much. Similarly, it also shows that in 2009 – 2010, the average income of the [...]
Cicilline Bill Would Target Rampant Oil Speculation
Congressman David Cicilline introduced a bill today that would curb rampant speculation in the oil markets, which would both drive down the price at the pump and put the petroleum economy back in line with the laws of supply and demand, he said. “If you look at what has happened in the market, production is [...]
Most Rhode Islanders Want Payday Loans Reformed
More than 3/4 of Rhode Island wants the General Assembly to reform payday lending, according to a Public Policy Polling survey. And, according to Rep. Frank Ferri, sponsor of a bill that would reign in interest rates on such loans from 260 percent down to 36, so does a vast majority of the legislators. “Now [...]
Learning to Love Taxes
Instead of bemoaning Tax Day, we ought to celebrate it as a national holiday. It’s the day we chip in to pay for the services we all rely on to live our lives. After all, who among us doesn’t benefit from taxes? Anyone who drives certainly does. Anyone who likes to spend a hot summer [...]
Raimondo, Taveras Support Payday Lending Reform
Treasurer Gina Raimondo and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras have joined the calls for payday lending reform efforts, and both will participate in a roundtable discussion on the issue. “The time has come to protect Rhode Islanders from the economic threat of predatory lending,” Raimondo wrote to the Senate committee that recently took up a bill [...]
Gov. Chafee Makes Case for Muni Relief; Unions Retort
Governor Chafee, testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, made his plea for his legislative package aimed at helping cities and towns stave off the impacts of the sustained recession and steep state cuts by his predecessor to local municipalities. The legislation would allow the cities hit hardest by these untimely events and actions – Providence, [...]
Allan Tear, Soren Ryherd Honored By RI Foundation
The Rhode Island Foundation honored the winners and finalists of its first even Innovation Fellowships at an event at the Superman Building Wednesday night. Winners Soren Ryherd, who plans to leverage the power of the internet to help small businesses fill vacant storefronts in Providence and elsewehere, and Allan Tear plans to do for arts [...]
Banks at Fault for Many Multi-Family Foreclosures
Rep. Jeremiah O’Grady thinks banks bear the responsibility for some of the multi-family rental properties that blight Rhode Island’s urban areas because they have been foreclosed upon. To articulate his point, he used as an example 63 Kossuth St. in Olneyville, a property he knows well because his company, Olneyville Housing Corp. is restoring the [...]
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. [...]
Cicilline Calls for House Passage of Buffett Rule Bill
Congressman David Cicilline has joined the Buffett Rule movement, calling on Speaker John Boehner to pass the House version of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s Paying A Fair Share Legislation. “Under current tax laws, working men and women may be asked to pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than wealthy individuals, many of whom [...]
Tedx Conference Comes to Providence on April 15
TedxProvidence co-founders, Tino Chow (left) and Peter Haas (right). Tedx is coming to Providence on April 15. I recently met with one of its co-founders, Peter Haas, to discuss the upcoming event. What is TEDX? TEDx is an independently organized TED style event operated under a license from TED. According to TED: “TEDx was created [...]
Secretaries Shouldn’t Pay More Than Millionaires
What’s wrong with our tax structure in Rhode Island? If you’re part of the 98% of Rhode Islanders making under $250,000 a year you’re paying your fair share and more. So why does the General Assembly say we don’t have the revenue to invest in affordable housing for all Rhode Islanders, making college affordable, or school [...]
Bill Would Cut Payday Loan APR from 260% to 36%
Two weeks ago a House committee heard some compelling testimony on a bill that would curb exorbitant interest rates on so-called “payday loans.” Today it’s the Senate’s turn, as the Corporations Committee will discuss Sen. Juan Pichardo’s version of the legislation. And according to a press release, Pichardo seems pretty confident the bill will become [...]
RIPEC Report: State Cuts Strangled Struggling Cities
A new report from the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council confirms an idea that RI Future has been reporting on for a month now, namely that state cuts to cities and towns are a big factor in the state’s struggling cities inabilities to balance their budgets. Since 2008, says the report, state aid to cities [...]
Cicilline Comes Out Strong Against GOP Budget Bill
On the Huffington Post and on the House floor, Congressman David Cicilline has come out strong against the House GOP budget proposal. Today, after voting against it yesterday, he penned an op/ed for the Huffington Post today critical of the bill writing, “less than a year after a similar proposal was defeated, the House Republican [...]
Basic Oil Economics or No More Jed Clampetts
Today’s Morning Joe program on MSNBC featured a typically brain-dead discussion of oil prices. I’ll summarize… Joe Scarborough: We’re producing more oil, but the price is still high. That’s un-possible! Time Mag’s Richard Stengel: I know. Can you believe it? What’s missing from this discussion – and all the blather we’ve heard and will hear [...]
Struggling Cities Also Have Highest Foreclosure Rate
Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Woonsocket are not only four of the most “highly distressed” cities in the state in terms of municipal budgets, they also have the highest percentage of foreclosures, according to a new report from HousingWorks RI. Central Falls has the highest percentage of its housing stock lost to foreclosure since 2009 [...]
Dear RI: Where’s the Work?
For those who have never had a day of unemployment that they did not choose, there are no words which can describe the state. For those who, like me, have, you know the feelings. You know the self-loathing, the worthlessness, the despondence, the anger. But most of all, the fear. There is a special terror [...]
Dooley Takes Issue with Op/Ed on Tuition Increases
It isn’t often that an editorial is so off-the-mark as to warrant news coverage, but such is evidently the case with the Projo’s take on tuition increases from Saturday morning. In an article in today’s Journal about a Q&A session with URI president David Dooley, Gina Macris writes: “He spoke at length about the ‘great [...]
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