Politics – Page 2

June 26, 2016June 27, 2016

Green Party filing papers today to put Jill Stein on the ballot

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The Green Party of Rhode Island, founded in March 1992 and one of the oldest Green Parties in the United States, will be visiting the Secretary of State’s office on June 27, 2016 so to submit their party’s candidate, expected to be Dr. Jill Stein, to be placed on the ballot in this coming election for President of the United States. Four long-time Greens, Glen Bennett of Warwick, Greg Gerritt of Providence, Kathleen Rourke of Providence, and Nick Schmader of Warwick, will be declaring themselves to be Electors to the Electoral College if the Green Party candidate for President wins the vote in Rhode Island this November.

Glen Bennett, who will be going to his first Green Party nominating convention this summer, noted “I am excited to start petitioning and we have seen an influx of volunteers as the time approaches to begin the effort. Dr. Jill Stein seeks to heal the ailing politics of the United States and is inspiring voters with a message of ecological healing, justice, and an economy that works in our communities, not just for the 1%.”

Dr. Stein, a native of Chicago who hails from Lexington, MA, has over a quarter-century experience in the medical field and is co-founder of the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities. She has previously run for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010, State Representative in 2004, Secretary of State in 2006, and was a candidate in the 2012 presidential election. She is currently, with Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, bringing lawsuit under anti-trust laws against the Commission on Presidential Debates. Stein is currently already appearing on the ballot in 21 states and in the District of Columbia. According to Rhode Island state law, all those who desire to appear on the ballot must submit a petition with signatures to the Secretary of State to appear on the November ballot by September 9 at 4 pm. In May the Rhode Island Green Party nominated Dr. Stein out of a selection of candidates that were made available.

“I’m real excited and we’re looking to start petitioning here in Rhode Island very soon. We’re getting a constant stream of new volunteers. A lot of people who were supporting Bernie [Sanders] are starting to look at Jill very seriously. There was a national conference and it was all about Bernie but, as soon as you got outside of the main auditorium, into any of the little discussion groups, there was a lot of people talking about Jill! I think this is going to be a very interesting year politically and the Greens really have the opportunity to do something different,” says Gerritt, who previously ran for Mayor of Providence as a Green. “Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, is running at about 7% in recent polls and Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate, is running about 11% in some polls. That is huge! Between the two of them, they’re equal to Ross Perot in the election!”

In a June ABC News/Washington Post poll, 70% of Americans viewed Donald Trump unfavorably and 55% viewed Hillary Clinton unfavorably. “More and more Rhode Islanders are rejecting the most unpopular and untrustworthy big party candidates for president ever,” says Gerritt.

In a May Data Targeting poll, 55% of Americans said they would favor an independent challenger to Clinton and Trump. It is obvious that a serious crisis of leadership has occurred within the two-party system. “The Republicans really have to wake up and change,” says Gerritt. “There is something wrong with the political philosophy of the party that controls Congress. So they have to implode! Of course the Democrats aren’t doing much better! They’re basically saying to all of their energized base ‘uh, go away or get co-opted‘ and this year people really have a place to go. Jill has done this before so she knows how to run a campaign and she’s got a great campaign on the ground.”

For more information or to get involved in the Stein petition drive or other Green Party efforts, email StateCommittee@rigreens.org.

[From a press release]

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016

Greg Gerritt on why you should #VoteGreen2016

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Most observers today are of the opinion that, while Bernie Sanders ran an admirable campaign and certainly mobilized a mass of people, it is obvious after the California primary that the senator from Vermont is not going to win the nomination. In response, the voices in the progressive media, such as Juan Gonzalez at Democracy Now! radio, are saying that a vote for Clinton is necessary.

But not all the democratic socialists in the room are ready to give up on the revolution and settle for lesser evils. On June 17, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s campaign issued a public letter, signed by Kshama Sawant of the Seattle City Council, Chris Hedges of Truth Dig, Professor Emeritus Richard Wolff of UMass Amherst, Marc Lamont Hill of Morehouse College and The Huffington Post, Medea Benjamin of the peace group Code Pink, and many others urging Sanders supporters to “keep the revolution going”.

The letter said “Jill Stein’s Power to the People agenda reflects many of the domestic policies of the Sanders campaign – income equality, climate justice, free public higher education, Medicare for All, immigrant rights, racial justice and an end to mass incarceration. In other areas, Stein goes much further than Sanders, calling for the cancellation of student debt, full public financing of elections, and the creation of public banks. Her rapid transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030 makes wars for oil obsolete, enabling a 50% cut in the dangerously bloated military budget which has made us less safe, not more safe. Stein offers a foreign policy based on international law and human rights, not economic and military domination that has proven so catastrophic.”

There have recently been some major events that have created fantastic results for the Greens. The Stein campaign just passed a major benchmark that qualified them in April for federal matching funds, a major first. Then, a case decision in Georgia upended a historic gerrymandering law that had effectively prevented third party candidates from getting on the ballot for decades. Stein is now on the ballot in 21 states and petition drives across the country will soon start to collect signatures in many more states, including Rhode Island. Finally, the lawsuit filed by the Greens and Libertarians against the Commission on Presidential Debates based on anti-trust laws is making its way through the courts and could be ruled on in time to impact the presidential race. In international news, Alexander Van der Bellen won the Austrian presidency in a close race against a far-right opponent, a first in European history.

The collapse of the Republican Party seems almost imminent, with political columnist Thomas Friedman recently writing of the need for a “Grand New Party” and strategist Mary Matalin publicly declaring herself a member of the Libertarian Party. Whether a complimentary schism might occur within the Democrats depends very much on how local Sanders supporters feel about signing a petition to put Stein on the ballot.

Greg Gerritt of the Rhode Island Green Party is helping lead the petition drive in the Ocean State once it begins on June 27. We sat down for a conversation wherein he described Green positions on local issues, how Stein’s Green New Deal would put cranes in the air across the state while retraining the workforce to work in a variety of sustainable fields of labor, and even talked about the myth of Ralph Nader causing Al Gore to lose key votes in 2000 that inadvertently elected George W. Bush.

Why vote Green in 2016: “If you really believe in the things that Bernie’s talking about like peace, justice, an economy that works for community, end fracking, stopping climate change, you’re never going to get there from the Democratic Party. You’re never going to get there from the Republican Party. The Green Party is the only party that has been consistent on these issues for a long time with the views that actually move us forward, that actually deal with climate change, that help communities prepare and get us to zero carbon emissions faster. It’s clear that climate issue is going faster and faster all the time and you have to do something right then to stop it!”

“Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, is running at about 7% in recent polls and Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate, is running about 11% in some polls. That is huge! Between the two of them, they’re equal to Ross Perot in the election!”

“The Republicans really have to wake up and change because when your candidate basically insults the fastest-growing segment of the population, when your core base is dying at younger and younger ages because the economy and their society has made them so crazy that they are killing themselves in record numbers, when life expectancies are going down, you know there is something wrong with the political philosophy of the party that controls Congress. They’re essentially killing people in their own country. So they have to implode!”

“Of course the Democrats aren’t doing much better! They’re basically saying to all of their energized base ‘uh, go away or get co-opted‘ and this year people really have a place to go. Jill has done this before so she knows how to run a campaign and she’s got a great campaign on the ground. We’re getting on the ballot almost everywhere and it’s really going to be interesting to see what happens. So I’m real excited and we’re looking to start petitioning here in Rhode Island very soon. We’re getting a constant stream of new volunteers. A lot of people who were supporting Bernie are starting to look at Jill very seriously. There was a national conference and it was all about Bernie but, as soon as you got outside of the main auditorium, into any of the little discussion groups, there was a lot of people talking about Jill! I think this is going to be a very interesting year politically and the Greens really have the opportunity to do something different. The Democrats keep blaming us but when they come up with Hillary, they can’t blame us anymore.”

On the state subsidizing the Pawtucket Red Sox: “[My own personal opinion is] they should never get taxpayer monies!”

On the fracked gas power plant in Burrillville: “A number of us have gone to rallies, we have spoken at rallies, we have testified at hearings… We have been very active. We’ve actually been active enough to help organize resistance to pipelines up and down the corridors because this problem with these power plants isn’t just ours, we’ve got to fight in our own neighborhood for democracy and for clean energy but we are trying to help everyone along the pipeline routes to get themselves organized as well.”

On transitioning to a pro-union green economy: “Already there are more people working in renewable energy than in fossil fuels. It’s time for us to make that complete transition. So instead of building things that the communities don’t want and that bad for them, the construction unions are going to have to figure out they need to build things that communities want that are good for them. And they’re going to have to start questioning this total obedience to the corporate order as to what they will build. They need to start working with communities better. We can make this entire transition. The number of solar jobs is going up fast, the number of wind-powered jobs is going up fast, we get this wind field up off of Block Island and that’s supposed to be done this year. Next year you start thinking about the big field out in the North Atlantic. They’re just going to start building these things and these construction unions could have more work there than building things that communities don’t want… Rhode Island needs to grow 20x as much food as it does now. Twenty times! Two thousand percent more! California is not going to be able to supply it, the midwest is not going to be able to supply it, we are going to have to grow 20x as much food!… How you going to do that without creating a whole heck of a lot of jobs?”

For more information or to get involved in the Stein petition drive or other Green Party efforts, email StateCommittee@rigreens.org.

If you like my reporting, please consider contributing to my Patreon!

June 21, 2016

RI legislators not returning illegal campaign donations

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Despite the NRA paying a record fine for making illegal campaign donations to Rhode Island politicians, to date, not one current office holder in the state has seen fit to return the money.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) was fined by the RI Board of Elections for funneling illegal donations to RI politicians, including House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President M Teresa Paiva-Weed. One estimate puts the total amount of contributions at over $160,000, over a 10 year period from 2004 to 2014. Due to the detective work of Sam Bell, executive director of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America, the NRA was fined $63,000 and the NRA’s Rhode Island PAC was formally dissolved.

Technically, any money received by any candidate in Rhode Island that comes from the NRA Political Victory Fund PAC before January 2014 was illegal. That doesn’t mean that it’s a crime to keep the money after the fact, and it’s likely that the politicians did not know that the campaign donations were illegal before Bell made his case.

That said, the bottom line is that the money these politicians accepted from the NRA is tainted, and the influence this money has on our General Assembly can be felt acutely when observing the legislature in action.

Are you still wondering why our General Assembly can’t seem to pass common sense gun control legislation?

Between 2004 and 2014, House Speaker Nick Mattiello received $2,975 from the NRA. All these donations appear to be illegal, tainted contributions. The Speaker has kept every penny. Seventeen other representatives have also taken thousands of dollars.

Joseph McNamara is the head of the RI Democratic Party, the same party whose national platform calls for banning assault weapons and strengthening gun laws to prevent violence. McNamara accepted $700 in illegal NRA contributions over the years.

During the same 10 year period, Senate President M Teresa Paiva-Weed has accepted, and kept, what appears to be $6,075 in illegal contributions from the NRA. Seventeen other senators took illegal NRA cash, including Senate Majority Leader Domenic Ruggerio, who raked in $3350 and Senate Judiciary Chair Michael McCaffrey, whose committee handles every bill about guns that comes to the Senate, to the tune of$3500.

Rep Jan Malik, who was recently challenged by his primary opponent Jason Knight to return his illegal donations, took $1075. On the last day of the most recent legislative session, Rep Malik voted for a House bill that would have made it easier to get concealed carry permits in RI before changing his vote after the fact.

I went through the campaign finance reports available here, and carefully made a list of all incumbents who have accepted NRA money between 2004 and 2014.

Here’s the list:

In addition to Representatives and Senators, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin has accepted $1150 in illegal donations.

Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F   03/30/2004   $200.00
Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F   03/07/2006   $250.00
Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F   04/27/2007   $200.00
Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F   12/31/2009   $200.00
Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F   03/04/2009   $300.00

Former Speaker of the House, William Murphy, now a lobbyist, raked in a series of illegal NRA contributions. He now rakes in even more as a lobbyist for gun interests.

Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J   02/05/2004   $500.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J   02/05/2004   $500.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J   04/14/2006   $350.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J   04/27/2007   $1,000.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J   03/31/2005   $875.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J   02/22/2009   $1,000.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J   01/31/2008   $1,000.00

Representative   MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS   11/05/2006   $250.00
Representative   MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS   04/27/2007   $150.00
Representative   MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS   04/01/2008   $150.00
Representative   MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS   07/06/2010   $450.00
Representative   MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS   04/04/2011   $450.00
Representative   MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS   06/06/2012   $450.00
Representative   MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS   02/13/2013   $800.00
Representative   MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS   05/28/2009   $225.00

Representative   CARNEVALE, JOHN M   06/05/2010   $200.00
Representative   CARNEVALE, JOHN M   04/12/2011   $200.00
Representative   CHIPPENDALE, MICHAEL W   10/15/2012   $500.00
Representative   CORVESE, ARTHUR J   05/08/2004   $300.00
Representative   CORVESE, ARTHUR J   05/16/2005   $300.00
Representative   CORVESE, ARTHUR J   07/11/2006   $300.00
Representative   COSTA, DOREEN MARIE   10/15/2012   $500.00
Representative   DESIMONE, JOHN J   07/08/2004   $150.00
Representative   FELLELA, DEBORAH A   08/20/2006   $250.00
Representative   FELLELA, DEBORAH A   04/27/2007   $100.00
Representative   FELLELA, DEBORAH A   01/12/2010   $150.00
Representative   FELLELA, DEBORAH A   04/12/2011   $200.00
Representative   JACQUARD, ROBERT B   07/19/2004   $300.00
Representative   JACQUARD, ROBERT B   10/20/2004   $500.00
Representative   JACQUARD, ROBERT B   10/12/2006   $350.00
Representative   JACQUARD, ROBERT B   04/12/2011   $200.00
Representative   KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK   07/19/2004   $400.00
Representative   KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK   08/02/2006   $400.00
Representative   KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK   06/11/2009   $400.00
Representative   KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK   06/05/2010   $375.00
Representative   KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK   04/12/2011   $375.00
Representative   LIMA, CHARLENE       04/06/2004   $300.00
Representative   MACBETH, KAREN       11/01/2009   $100.00
Representative   MACBETH, KAREN       05/27/2010   $200.00
Representative   MACBETH, KAREN       12/08/2011   $200.00
Representative   MALIK, JAN       08/18/2004   $200.00
Representative   MALIK, JAN       11/19/2004   $250.00
Representative   MALIK, JAN       06/29/2005   $225.00
Representative   MALIK, JAN       09/06/2006   $300.00
Representative   MALIK, JAN       06/05/2010   $300.00
Representative   MCNAMARA, JOSEPH   05/26/2004   $200.00
Representative   MCNAMARA, JOSEPH   05/25/2005   $300.00
Representative   MCNAMARA, JOSEPH   06/16/2011   $200.00
Representative   MELO, HELIO       03/10/2010   $225.00
Representative   MELO, HELIO       04/12/2011   $200.00
Representative   NEWBERRY, BRIAN C   11/03/2006   $300.00
Representative   NEWBERRY, BRIAN C   05/29/2009   $150.00
Representative   NEWBERRY, BRIAN C   02/24/2010   $150.00
Representative   NEWBERRY, BRIAN C   06/29/2011   $200.00
Representative   NEWBERRY, BRIAN C   04/15/2013   $250.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   04/02/2004   $100.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   04/05/2004   $500.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   04/06/2004   $200.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   04/07/2004   $100.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   04/22/2004   $150.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   06/29/2005   $200.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   06/15/2006   $300.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   07/24/2007   $300.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   05/17/2008   $300.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   05/29/2009   $300.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   06/05/2010   $300.00
Representative   TRILLO, JOSEPH A   04/12/2011   $200.00
Representative   UCCI, STEPHEN R       11/19/2004   $500.00
Representative   UCCI, STEPHEN R       08/21/2006   $250.00
Representative   UCCI, STEPHEN R       11/02/2006   $200.00
Representative   UCCI, STEPHEN R       07/27/2007   $300.00
Representative   UCCI, STEPHEN R       06/29/2009   $200.00
Representative   UCCI, STEPHEN R       06/29/2009   $200.00
Representative   UCCI, STEPHEN R       06/25/2011   $200.00
Representative   UCCI, STEPHEN R       06/15/2010   $200.00
Representative   WINFIELD, THOMAS J   08/22/2004   $200.00
Representative   WINFIELD, THOMAS J   06/15/2006   $200.00
Representative   WINFIELD, THOMAS J   11/06/2006   $90.00
Representative   WINFIELD, THOMAS J   08/10/2007   $225.00

Senator   PAIVA WEED, M TERESA   02/24/2011   $1,000.00
Senator   PAIVA WEED, M TERESA   02/02/2012   $1,000.00
Senator   PAIVA WEED, M TERESA   08/12/2013   $800.00
Senator   PAIVA WEED, M TERESA   04/22/2004   $375.00
Senator   PAIVA WEED, M TERESA   05/14/2007   $500.00
Senator   PAIVA WEED, M TERESA   05/17/2008   $400.00
Senator   PAIVA WEED, M TERESA   02/11/2009   $1,000.00
Senator   PAIVA WEED, M TERESA   02/24/2010   $1,000.00

Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   07/10/2004   $150.00
Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   05/25/2005   $225.00
Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   06/21/2006   $300.00
Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   11/03/2006   $300.00
Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   05/07/2007   $300.00
Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   04/15/2008   $300.00
Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   06/03/2009   $300.00
Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   06/12/2010   $300.00
Senator   CICCONE III, FRANK A   06/21/2013   $400.00
Senator   COTE, MARC A       03/23/2004   $200.00
Senator   COTE, MARC A       05/16/2005   $200.00
Senator   COTE, MARC A       06/15/2006   $200.00
Senator   COTE, MARC A       04/16/2008   $200.00
Senator   COTE, MARC A       04/06/2010   $200.00
Senator   DAPONTE, DANIEL       02/24/2010   $200.00
Senator   DAPONTE, DANIEL       04/12/2011   $200.00
Senator   DOYLE II, JAMES E   06/17/2006   $150.00
Senator   DOYLE II, JAMES E   03/31/2008   $300.00
Senator   FELAG JR, WALTER S   07/04/2004   $200.00
Senator   FELAG JR, WALTER S   09/01/2006   $300.00
Senator   FELAG JR, WALTER S   06/15/2008   $300.00
Senator   FELAG JR, WALTER S   03/03/2010   $300.00
Senator   FELAG JR, WALTER S   04/12/2011   $300.00
Senator   FOGARTY, PAUL W       05/13/2004   $100.00
Senator   FOGARTY, PAUL W       07/01/2005   $150.00
Senator   FOGARTY, PAUL W       09/21/2007   $150.00
Senator   FOGARTY, PAUL W       01/10/2008   $150.00
Senator   FOGARTY, PAUL W       06/11/2009   $200.00
Senator   GALLO, HANNA M       06/01/2004   $150.00
Senator   GALLO, HANNA M       05/24/2005   $150.00
Senator   GALLO, HANNA M       05/17/2008   $150.00
Senator   GALLO, HANNA M       08/05/2009   $200.00
Senator   GALLO, HANNA M       04/28/2011   $200.00
Senator   GALLO, HANNA M       04/12/2011   $200.00
Senator   GOODWIN, MARYELLEN   08/16/2004   $150.00
Senator   GOODWIN, MARYELLEN   07/09/2010   $200.00
Senator   GOODWIN, MARYELLEN   05/13/2011   $200.00
Senator   LYNCH PRATA, ERIN P   06/08/2009   $200.00
Senator   LYNCH PRATA, ERIN P   06/10/2010   $200.00
Senator   LYNCH PRATA, ERIN P   04/12/2011   $200.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   07/21/2004   $500.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   07/21/2005   $750.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   08/06/2006   $750.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   08/07/2007   $750.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   06/24/2008   $750.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   06/05/2009   $750.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   06/15/2010   $750.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   05/20/2011   $750.00
Senator   MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J   06/28/2013   $400.00
Senator   PICARD, ROGER A       07/19/2004   $200.00
Senator   PICARD, ROGER A       08/03/2005   $200.00
Senator   PICARD, ROGER A       05/15/2006   $250.00
Senator   PICARD, ROGER A       06/20/2009   $300.00
Senator   PICARD, ROGER A       06/12/2010   $150.00
Senator   RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P   05/10/2006   $300.00
Senator   RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P   07/24/2007   $300.00
Senator   RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P   06/30/2008   $300.00
Senator   RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P   02/26/2013   $250.00
Senator   RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P   07/19/2004   $300.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   05/19/2004   $300.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   05/25/2005   $300.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   05/10/2006   $300.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   04/27/2007   $300.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   05/17/2008   $300.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   02/21/2013   $500.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   05/29/2009   $300.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   02/24/2011   $450.00
Senator   RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J   02/08/2012   $500.00
Senator   SERPA, PATRICIA A   07/01/2009   $150.00
Senator   SERPA, PATRICIA A   06/05/2010   $150.00
Senator   SERPA, PATRICIA A   07/18/2011   $200.00
Senator   SERPA, PATRICIA A   03/30/2013   $250.00
Senator   SHEEHAN, JAMES C   05/04/2004   $150.00
Senator   SHEEHAN, JAMES C   07/08/2005   $150.00
Senator   SHEEHAN, JAMES C   07/24/2007   $100.00
Senator   SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN   07/28/2004   $200.00
Senator   SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN   10/18/2004   $100.00
Senator   SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN   04/08/2008   $200.00
Senator   SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN   03/02/2010   $200.00
Senator   SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN   06/16/2011   $200.00
Senator   WALASKA, WILLIAM A   04/26/2004   $300.00
Senator   WALASKA, WILLIAM A   04/05/2005   $300.00
Senator   WALASKA, WILLIAM A   09/01/2006   $300.00
Senator   WALASKA, WILLIAM A   05/02/2007   $300.00
Senator   WALASKA, WILLIAM A   05/17/2008   $300.00
Senator   WALASKA, WILLIAM A   06/07/2009   $300.00
Senator   WALASKA, WILLIAM A   06/05/2010   $300.00
Senator   WALASKA, WILLIAM A   04/12/2011   $300.00

RI HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE   04/29/2004   $300.00
RI HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE   09/15/2005   $300.00
RI HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE   04/06/2006   $200.00

SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE 04/21/2004 $625.00
SENATE DEMOCRATS 2004 PAC 08/16/2004 $600.00

June 20, 2016

Passage of ethics reform is great news for Rhode Island

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This past week the General Assembly finally passed legislation to give the Ethics Commission jurisdiction over the General Assembly.

That means, come Nov. 8, when you go to vote, there will be a question on your ballot asking you if you want to amend the state constitution to hold your legislators fully accountable to the state Code of Ethics.

Ethics reform was not just a bill, but a journey. While it has taken us six long and arduous years to get ethics reform written into law, I am very pleased that the day has finally arrived.

In a 2009 Supreme Court decision, members of the General Assembly were effectively rendered immune to Ethics Commission jurisdiction and the state Code of Ethics for conduct within their core legislative duties. At that time, the court decided that the Ethics Commission passage was in contradiction to a clause in the constitution guaranteeing legislators free “speech in debate.”

So, the constitution had to be changed.

The six-year work to return the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission over the General Assembly was initiated by my dear friend, the late Sen. Michael Lenihan. Mike knew that integrity matters both personally and publicly. Our government needs to possess integrity in the eyes of the public. People need to have confidence that their government works for them, not just the well-connected.

Humans are imperfect beings. As James Madison famously wrote in the Federalist Papers, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

We all need rules to check our behavior as well as a mechanism to hold persons accountable for unethical behavior. Re-instituting the state Code of Ethics over members of the General Assembly will encourage members to listen to the better angels of their nature, whose voices remind us all that the nobility of public service resides in placing the common good above self-interest. When lawmakers do this, we are at our best in making a real difference in the lives of others.

This ethics amendment is a good and sound measure. I firmly believe that it will help us restore a modicum of the peoples’ trust in their elected assemblymen and women. In light of recent events, this amendment could not come at a better time.

There will always be the bad actor — the lawmaker with a reckless disregard for the law who perverts the system he or she is sworn to uphold. And no question — when that lawmaker is rooted out, he or she should be shown the same amount of regard that they showed the people of Rhode Island. But since we’re judged by the company we keep, every time it happens, it casts a pall over those who are doing the job honestly and forthrightly.

And that’s why this amendment is so important. It will ensure that someone else — an independent Ethics Commission — will be keeping a close watch on lawmakers, helping to make sure that lawmakers act in the best interest of the public. With that assurance in place, the public can have increased confidence that the members of the General Assembly will address the challenges that lie ahead with a renewed focus on the common good.

Once again, I’d like to thank the people who made this possible, the Senate and House leadership and all my legislative colleagues. And I, of course, urge everyone to vote yes on the ethics amendment on November 8.

June 16, 2016June 18, 2016

Mia Ackerman’s bill: hot air from Tel Aviv

Mia Ackerman is doing the bidding of our local branch of the Israel lobby by promoting a bill, H7736, that is engineered to scuttle the efforts of those who would like to boycott Israel.

Anyone who is still apologizing for Israel following the recent pograms in Gaza, Bibi Netanyahu spiting the most powerful schwartze in the world by speaking to Congress last year as a cheap dig at the Iran nuclear deal, and the recent declarations by mainstream Israeli political and military figures that the polity is lurching towards fascism is either totally deluded by hasbara, the Israeli brand of propaganda that has hypnotized America for three decades, a neoconservative, or three degrees below Hannibal Lecter in terms of taste and morality. Whereabouts Mia Ackerman falls on that line is yet to be discerned, mostly because I find her gaudy red, white and blue accoutrements while doing the dirty work of a foreign government so bourgeois, particularly when I am funding it as a taxpayer.

Let us just get it out of the way at the outset, the new anti-BDS bloviating is just one in a long line of nonsense efforts by the Israelis to distract people from discussion of what the rest of planet earth has been saying for literally half a century about how awful they are to the Palestinians. Last year’s fashion was the Iran deal, before that it was the “new anti-Semitism”, and before that it was the plight of Soviet Jewry. These days the Lobby is in quite a bind due to the fact that the quasi-fascist political player that is an actual threat to minorities, the Donald, is bankrolled by that Gargamel impersonator Sheldon Adelson, the Israeli newspaper magnate and casino king. OOPS!

Here are the comments delivered by Steve Brown of the Rhode Island ACLU this week:

The ACLU certainly appreciates the state’s interest in not conducting business with entities that engage in discriminatory activities prohibited by law. However, we are deeply concerned about the breadth of the language in this bill, which goes far beyond state objections to entering into contracts with businesses that, for example, discriminate in their individual hiring practices based on an applicant’s person’s race, religion or other protected status. By focusing on discrimination against “public entities” of foreign states, this bill instead potentially chills the legitimate free speech activities of contractors.
This legislation bars most businesses from receiving a state contract if they are engaged in a “boycott of any person, firm or entity based in or doing business with a jurisdiction with whom the state can enjoy open trade, and/or the boycott of any public agencies, entities or instrumentalities of the jurisdiction with whom the state can enjoy open trade.” With certain exceptions, a boycott is defined as refusing “to deal with a person, firm or entity, or a public entity of a foreign state, when the action is based on race, color, religion, gender, or nationality of the targeted person, firm, entity or public entity of a foreign state.”
We wish to note a few important underlying premises that form the foundation for our position in opposition to this legislation. First, as noted above, we believe the state clearly has a legitimate interest in requiring contractors to abide by employment-related anti-discrimination laws. At the same time, boycotts “to bring about political, social, and economic change” through speech, assembly and petition are unquestionably protected by the First Amendment. NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co, 458 U.S. 911 (1982). In addition, the government generally cannot punish contractors based on their political beliefs, associations and activities. See, e.g., O’Hare Truck Service v. City of Northlake, 518 U.S. 712 (1996); Agency For International Development v. Alliance For Open Society International, Inc, 520 U.S. ___ (2013).
The concern we have with this legislation is its attempt to bar doing business with contractors who boycott “public agencies” or “public entities of a foreign state.” It is unclear to us how one discriminates against a “public entity of a foreign state” based on its race, religion, nationality, etc. For example, was a decision to boycott South African goods during apartheid an inappropriate boycott based on “nationality”? By failing to make any clear distinction between a boycott based on a foreign entity’s policies and one based specifically on the race or nationality of the entity’s inhabitants, this legislation could have a chilling effect on legitimate, constitutionally protected politically-motivated boycotts. Contractors unwilling to risk the loss of business with the state could easily fear that a broad reading of this law could disqualify them if they engage in policy-related boycotts with a foreign entity, and thus improperly discourage them from doing so.
For these reasons, the ACLU of Rhode Island opposes H-7736.

Nonetheless, I do have a level of critique of the BDS organization while totally supporting well-devised boycotts of Israel. As a tactic, it is perfectly acceptable, boycotting buses worked fine for Martin Luther King so I see them as good enough for me.

But the BDS organization is flawed for two very simple reasons.

The first is one of targeting. For those who are unclear, America’s economy is symbiotic with Israel in a fashion unlike any other. For example, any person who is on Medicaid via the Affordable Care Act is required to take generic prescription medications, that is an industrial norm that defines the entire medical system.

And pray tell where might these low-cost generics be engineered? Israel!

Now BDS has previously targeted things like the Soda Stream company, who were producing their wares in the Occupied Territories, and that was effective. But it was also able to put low-wage Palestinian laborers out of work, something documented by Jaime Stern-Weiner previously. It is one thing to stop buying a seltzer carbonator and have a flat drink. It is another thing entirely to hurt your own pocket book and privilege when you take on an industrial complex that sends not just money but capital into the pockets of Israelis. This is not meant to diminish the BDS activists, they are wonderful people, but if you want to really impact Israel it means impacting yourself just as badly, our economies are inter-connected in a way that South Africa never was.

The second is ideological. The BDS organization intentionally has a platform that calls for a single-state solution that would essentially mean Israel ceases to exist. Leaving aside the moral identity issues therein, just consider the implications of this from a logistical police standpoint.

The consequences for the Palestinians are dire. When one recognizes that a single state would be aligned with the West and its neoliberal financial structures whereas an independent Palestinian state would be able to ally with China, which is known to create much more amenable loan and finance packages via the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS network, you can quickly envision the ethnic cleansing of Palestine transitioning from an overt form, demonstrated vividly by home demolitions, to covert forms, such as via gentrification of historic Palestinian neighborhoods.

Right now we as taxpayers are the major enablers of the Occupation. We send millions of dollars to Israel yearly to subsidize their illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. We can and should demand this cease to occur. The International Court of Justice, the United Nations, and the whole of the international community, including the European Union and Russia, have desired to see the settlements cease getting American support. The international consensus is based around a two-state settlement based on the pre-June 1967 borders, nothing more or less. Even Iran supports this and has publicly said so in the UN! Unfortunately the Palestinian Authority is politically neutered and unable to raise support for a movement to oppose the annexation wall.

The other most immediate site of agitation is the demand that the illegal, immoral, depraved, and sickening blockade of Gaza be lifted immediately, zero modifiers. Everyone from the EU to the UN to Bernie Sanders has said this is a non-negotiable and must occur as soon as humanly possible. Every sane human being who has been to Gaza since Operation Protective Edge has said that it is a complete disaster zone still due to the blockade, no reconstruction has been done. Mothers are literally being forced to give their children poisoned water to drink. The protest banners write themselves at this point. Unlike the West Bank, there is a potential international and domestic political movement that would be able to achieve that victory.

I am very aware that there are readers who might be still ensnared by hasbara and be prone to protests about “Hamas rockets” (they are described by Dr. Finkelstein as firecrackers) or something like that. I would highly commend to them the new documentary film The Occupation of the American Mind, produced by Media Education Foundation, which features a plethora of anti-Occupation Jewish journalists and activists who thoroughly defenestrate all the nonsense in a fashion that would only fail to convince a Clinton.

Let’s end the identity games, the blasphemy against the God of three religions, and the depravity of these crimes against a people who were getting victimized by colonialism when my great-grandfather was an infant a century ago!

June 15, 2016June 15, 2016

Can we Christians examine our political sins?

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“Darkness cannot drive out
darkness; only light can do
that. Hate cannot drive out
hate; only love can do that.”
Dr. Martin Luther King

After 400 years of terror, isn’t it time for all Christians to speak out against ‘Radical Christian Extremism?’

Slavery was terrorism: Plantations were concentration camps. The Native American genocide was terrorism: The Trail of Tears was a death march. Hangings by slave patrols and the Ku Klux Klan were terrorism: These murders—often perpetrated or approved by white ‘Christians’—were intended to grieve, horrify and intimidate blacks.

Virtually all who committed these acts of terrorism claimed they were Christians.

This radical Christian extremism persists. Militant Christians still verbally and physically attack gays and blacks, Muslims and immigrants. They justify their hate by appealing to Jesus and the Bible.

Actually, the word ‘Christian’ may not apply to any who perpetrate these horrors. Should terrorists be called radical ‘Christian’ extremists? Their claims of following the tenets of Christianity are wholly false. More than a billion Christians should not be smeared by those committing acts of terrorism. Their crimes are perversions of Christianity.

The same is true of radical ‘Muslim’ extremists. Their claims of following the tenets of Islam are wholly false. More than a billion Muslims should not be smeared by those committing such acts. Their crimes are perversions of Islam.

Many Republican leaders, especially Donald Trump, disagree—along with many voters in the base of the Republican party. Why? Must all Muslims bear responsibility for those claiming acts of terrorism are a legitimate expression of Islam?

This political blame is based on fear and hatred. These are not Christian motives. As stated in I John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out all fear.” Also, Jesus insisted Christians must love, not hate, their enemies. He modeled this love throughout his life and even during his crucifixion.

We must contend with our fears: our fears of blacks; our fears of gays; our fears of Muslims; our fears of immigrants. Unchallenged fears result in misplaced rage and scapegoating of ‘the other.’ This leads to verbal attacks and violence against hated groups.

Racism and homophobia are repulsive. Islamophobia and xenophobia are abhorrent.

Insisting all Americans oppose Muslim immigration or be castigated as purveyors of politically correctness is obscene. Yes, we must seek to be correct—politically and morally—but we can only do so, as the Apostle Paul states, by “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).

What is the truth? Muslims are our neighbors. Muslims are soldiers serving our country. Muslims are patriotic citizens. And Muslims are no more deserving of prejudice than Christians.

What does love require? We must treat the vast majority of Muslims as neighbors, not enemies. We must respond with compassion to the extraordinary hardships of refugees, including Muslims. We must see Muslims as human beings—people who have far more in common with us than differences.

Love also requires those of us judging others must first judge ourselves. Jesus was explicit: Before taking the speck out of our neighbor’s eye, we must remove the log from our own eye.

Those using a broad brush to paint all Muslims with the taint of terrorism imagine falsehoods. Let’s reject our biases and diligently seek truth.

Moreover, let’s ask to what degree our Christian community is responsible for historic acts of terrorism which executed and enslaved millions. Orlando, San Bernardino, Paris and even 9-11 are horrific singular acts of terror. Contrast these with the multitudes of ‘Christian’ atrocities spanning centuries.

Does evil and apathy prevail among American Christians? Could it be that we Christians really do need to account for the log in our eye?

We can choose to scapegoat those having nothing to do with perpetrating terror attacks. Or we can conscientiously oppose such evil massacres, come together, foster unity, and overcome our fears and hatred by speaking the truth in love.

June 12, 2016

RI Democrats elect delegates, give nods to Sanders supporters

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RI Democratic Party Chair Joseph McNamara opens the RI Democratic State Convention

There were two things every speaker at yesterday’s Rhode Island State Democratic Convention mentioned in their remarks: the horrific attack in Orlando and the importance of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Nearly 200 members of the RI State Democratic Committee, elected officials, pledged delegates, delegate candidates, and several dozen Bernie supporters gathered at the Rhode Island Shriners Hall in Cranston for a two-hour session at which the main items of business were the endorsement of congressional candidates and the election of at-large delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

The meeting began with a moment of silence for the victims and their families, and many of the speakers lamented the lack of progress in common-sense gun safety legislation. And while Bernie’s supporters may not have gotten everything they hoped for from the agenda (a resolution to require the 2020 superdelegate votes to mirror the popular vote was referred to the platform committee), the influence of Sanders’ message was front and center in the proceedings.

Describing the core principle of the Democratic Party, RI’s senior Senator Jack Reed told the group, “It is not sufficient that those with the most get more; it is necessary that *everyone* gets a chance. And no one has articulated this principle more than Bernie.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse acknowledged everyone who had worked on Sanders’ campaign, “You’ve done a marvelous job at bringing Bernie’s voice — which I’ve heard in the Senate for a decade — [to Rhode Island]. I applaud and I appreciate you.”

Both Rhode Island’s congressional incumbents were endorsed unanimously by the committee, and both Rep. David Cicilline (CD1) and Rep. Jim Langevin (CD2) highlighted the Sanders campaign in their remarks. Cicilline thanked Sanders for “raising issues we have to address — if we don’t, we do that at peril to our party and peril to our country.” Langevin thanked Sanders for his “powerful, important message,” and said that through the primary contest, Clinton and Sanders “made each other and our party better and stronger.”

The main business of the convention was electing delegates (those note elected directly in April’s primary). In Party Leader and Elected Official (PL and EO) delegates, Sanders got two, Sen. Josh Miller and Sen. James Sheehan, and Clinton one, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea. Both received three at-large delegates: For Sanders, Rep. Wilbur Jennings, Lauren Niedel-Gresh (a leader of his campaign here in RI), and Linda Ujifusa. Elected as delegates for Clinton were Teresa Paiva Weed, Mark S. Weiner and Sabina Matos. (Alternates for Sanders and Clinton were Capri C. Catanzaro and Mayor James Diossa, respectively.)

Edna O’Neill Mattson and Frank Montanaro, Sr. were elected as the National Committeewoman and Committeeman. They join the governor, the congressional delegation and party Chair Joseph McNamara and Vice Chair Grace Diaz in the role of unpledged delegates.

Rounding out the delegation are those elected in April: For Sanders, Roland C. Gauvin, Laura Perez, Walter M. Conklin, Amanda Montgomery, Jeanine Calkin, John D. Hamilton, Maggie A Kain, and Todd W. Ellison; for Clinton, Claiborne Pell, Myrth York, Joseph R. Paolino, III, Deborah Ruggiero, Eva Mancuso, Patrick T. Fogarty, and L. Susan Weiner.

Appointed to the DNC’s standing committees were two Sanders delegates — Aaron Regunberg to Rules and Hilary Stookey to Credentials — and one Clinton delegate Joseph R. Paolino Jr. to Platform.

While it is the usual practice that the RI Speaker of the House chairs the delegation (indeed, Speaker Nick Mattiello was elected to the role) in another nod to Bernie, the position of Vice-Chair will be filled by Sanders delegate John D. Hamilton.

In addition to the motion to apportion superdelegate votes, the state committee also heard a resolution, based on the party’s environmental platform, to take a position on the Burrrilville power plant. It was referred to the planning committee.

While some Bernie supporters clearly hoped for more concrete takeaways yesterday, those elected as delegates expressed eagerness to have impact at the DNC. Linda Ujifusa, who had been a leader in organizing for Sanders in the East Bay, said she was “excited and honored” to be headed to Philadelphia. “I hope to be able to help Sen. Sanders policies gain acceptance at the Convention.”

June 10, 2016

Speaker explains reasoning behind Youth Pride RI funding cuts

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Many worthwhile organizations doing important work found out that they had lost their grants when the budget was unveiled. Among those is Youth Pride Inc. (YPI). Having lost their Community Service Grant, the group now faces a $50 thousand shortfall. YPI is the only group in Rhode Island that specifically serves the needs of LGBTQ youth in the state.

YPI has sent an email to supporters, asking them to contact their legislators in the hope of having these funds restored.

We are asking our supporters to let the state know how valuable and important Youth Pride Inc.’s work with LGBTQQ youth is to our state and community. Let them know we are the only organization providing support and advocacy for LGBTQ youth in the state! Let them know that these youth need our organization!

“Please reach out to the Speaker of the House and Senate President immediately in support of YPI and the vital work that we do for LGBTQQ youth in Rhode Island TODAY. The Senate President can be contacted at: 401-222-6655 and the Speaker of the House can be reached at: 401-222-2466. Please reach out to your Representative as well.”

At yesterday’s House Budget briefing, I asked Speaker Nicholas Mattiello about the cuts to the program. He said that YPI serves a “very worthwhile purpose” but added, “Those services, needs, potentially are being serviced elsewhere.”

In the case of YPI, the Speaker said that he had heard the suggestion that, “guidance counselors in the school are in fact providing [these services]. Not specifically [for LGBTQ youth] but it’s something that is being addressed through other means.”

Given the range of services and programs YPI provides that specifically cater to the needs of LGBTQ youth in Rhode Island, it’s unlikely that guidance counselors are filling that need or have the time and ability to do so. That said, Mattiello, added towards the end of his statements, “We’ll take a look at [YPI] and we’ll see if it’s unique enough to fund.”

Representative Joseph Almeida entered the Budget Briefing late and asked about other worthwhile groups that have been denied funding, including the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) which has provided employment training and placement opportunities since 2010 and the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence which works to reduce homicides and support victims of violence.

“It’s like all the poor people got cut, cut, cut,” said Almeida, who said afterwards that he was speaking from his heart, “Can’t you take money from Crossroads and give to people who really need it teaching peace in the streets and teaching people how to get jobs? I mean Crossraods? What? What do they do?”

Crossroads RI received $300,000 in the budget.

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016

Rep Keable disputes Burrillville Town Attorney accusation that he brought Invenergy to town

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A video showing Burrillville Town Council Attorney Oleg Nikolyszyn telling a resident that Rep Cale Keable is responsible for bringing the Invenergy power plant to the town has surfaced. In the video, Nikolyszyn says, in reference to the power plant, “Why don’t you ask Mr. Keable why he proposed this whole project in the first place? It was his idea.”

Keable calls the accusation “ludicrous.”

Nikolyszyn’s statement, if true, would seriously rewrite the history of the circumstances under which Invenergy decided upon Burrillville as the location for a fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant. I reached out to Representative Cale Keable and asked about Nikolyszyn’s accusation. Keable denied Nikolyszyn’s version of events. His full statement is compelling reading and helps to fill some holes in the timeline of Invenergy’s interest in our state:

Solicitor Oleg Nikolyszyn and others’ suggestion that I directed Invenergy to Burrillville is ludicrous and an obvious example of political “hot potato.” Mr. Nikolyszyn, who was appointed by the Republican majority on the council, should concentrate on providing legal advice to the town council instead of engaging in petty, partisan finger pointing on behalf of its Republican members and town manager, Mike Wood. Mike Wood and the town council have faced the town’s disgust at their actions and now they desperately seek a way to make their problem mine. I know my friends and neighbors in Burrillville will see this obvious political tactic for what it is. Unlike others, I know my people are smart, intelligent people, capable — and deserving of — self-determination.

“When, after listening to the people of Burrillville, I made the decision to oppose siting of a massive, oil and gas burning power plant in Pascoag, people immediately told me that power plant proponents would find a way to attack me. After all, there is a lot of money at stake. So this obvious and desperate attempt at political character assassination, just as the people seek redress in the General Assembly — which is exactly what several members of the town council instructed them to do — does not surprise me in the least. Even the casual observer should be suspicious of the timing of Mr. Nikolyszyn’s statement.

“It is well known in Burrillville that our town manager, Mike Wood, intimidates anyone that steps out of line, including town council members and town employees. As the whole town has seen, Mike Wood now has them toeing the Invenergy line. I, however, refuse to live in fear of Mike Wood’s intimidation tactics. Obviously, that has made me a target. I will not allow his bullying to stop me from representing my friends and neighbors as best I can. If that means I can never win another election, then so be it. My only question for the town council is: “why have you not joined Sen. Fogarty and I in opposing Mike Wood’s power plant?”

“The Invenergy proposal and forthcoming tax treaty should be about one thing — what the people of Burrillville want for themselves. Now, more than ever, I believe putting the power plant’s tax treaty before the voters is the only way to ensure our voice is heard and Burrillville’s best interests met. Those in favor of a tax treaty can vote for it. Those opposed will have their day at the polls.

“In the winter of 2014/2015 (either late December or January), Invenergy’s attorney — who I know and respect from the legal community and from the State House — asked me to attend a meeting in Burrillville with the town manager, whom the attorney did not yet know, his client, and the town planner to discuss a possible development in Burrillville. Such an informational meeting is in not in any way out of the ordinary and I always try to assist my town with whatever needs that they might have. I attended the meeting and learned of Invenergy’s proposal for the first time. Invenergy’s plans had obviously been completely planned out before I was ever brought in the loop. Again, the meeting was certainly not to ask my permission or anything of the like as Mr. Nikolyszyn would seem to suggest, it was informational. The only thing that is curious about this meeting is the fact that apparently it was some time before Mike Wood — who heard the same information I did coming out of that meeting — bothered to inform the town council, who are nominally his boss. This should not be surprising to those who understand Burrillville politics.

Cale Keable

“Throughout 2015 and into early 2016, I had a neutral stance on the merits of the project and attempted to assist the town manager and town council in any way they asked. During that time, I was asked to submit legislation to help Mike Wood’s power plant and had several conversations in that regard. However, as the fact that the will of the people differed significantly from Mike Wood’s became clear to me, I did not submit legislation to help the power plant. I suppose that like many, I did not fully grasp the threat to our town at that time.

“However, in March of 2016, as Sen. Fogarty and I spoke to at first dozens and then hundreds of Burrillville residents, I became convinced that Mike Wood’s power plant would hurt our town. I therefore made the decision to publicly oppose the power plant in a letter to the Siting Board on April 7, 2016. I would hope that Mike Wood, the town council, and the council’s staff stop their attacks against me in a transparent attempt to lay their problem at my feet. Instead, I hope they stand up against the plant and for our people. At a minimum, I hope they at least be intellectually honest and acknowledge the fact that they want Mike Wood’s power plant and will do anything to make sure it gets built, if that is their position.”

June 9, 2016

Protecting freedom to boycott oppression

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In February 2016, Representative Mia Ackerman introduced a bill H7736 “An Act Relating to Anti-Discrimination in State Contracts.” On its surface, this legislation seems to be an attempt to prevent the State of Rhode Island from entering into contracts with businesses that engage in discrimination based on “race, color, religion, gender, or nationality” —a position that appears respectable and moral.

But in reality, it is eminently clear that this bill is an effort to thwart the legitimate and constitutional rights of individuals and private companies to use the historic, legal, and non-violent practice of boycotts. There is a growing movement of conscience to use boycotts as a peaceful strategy against the human rights violations imposed by Israel against the Palestinian people. This House Bill as proposed would itself discriminate against those have taken a principled stance for justice and international principles of human rights. The negative chilling effect this legislation would have on the free and just expression of conscience runs counter to the very spirit, practice and legacy of the State of Rhode Island and its founder Roger Williams.

Boycotts have long played a significant role in U.S. history as evidenced prominently by the civil-rights movement and the anti-apartheid South African divestment movement. The Supreme Court itself has ruled that boycotts “to effect political, social, and economic change” are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. There is a growing movement to use boycotts as a strategy against the human rights violations imposed by Israel against Palestinians in Israel and the occupied Palestine territories.

Detractors claim that calls for the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) of companies that are involved in human-rights violations in Israel and the occupied West Bank are anti-Semitic and aimed at bringing about the eradication of Israel. BDS is not a challenge to Judaism or Jewish people, it is a non-violent tactic targeting Israeli policy of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza; thousands of Jewish citizens in the United States support BDS. Importantly, the BDS movement does not target individuals based on their Israeli nationality; it targets Israeli institutions and other companies doing business in Israel and within the illegal West Bank settlements—strictly because of their complicity in human-rights violations. Such calls for boycott are based on deep concerns for human dignity, human rights and international law and are indeed intended to effect peaceful and positive “social and political change.”

As the Rhode Island chapter of the national organization Jewish Voice for Peace, we strongly oppose this bill in our state house. Jewish Voice for Peace membership includes both Jewish and allied members that are inspired by Jewish tradition to work together for peace, social justice, and human rights.

As an organization of Jews and allied friends, Jewish Voice for Peace Rhode Island supports BDS as a non-violent and legal means to apply economic and political pressure on the Israeli government to end the unjust system of occupation and to comply with international law, giving due rights to Palestinians and to Arab citizens of Israel. We believe that these tactics need to be protected from attempts to curtail them through legislative measures like H7736 and strongly urge House Speaker Mattiello and other members of the legislature to prevent passage of this bill.

June 7, 2016

Ethics complaint filed against Rep Bill O’Brien

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Sam Bell, state coordinator of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America (RIPDA), filed an ethics complaint against Representative William O’Brien (District 54) last week. Bell alleges that when O’Brien ran for office in 2009 and 2011, he failed to file his first two required financial disclosure statements. Candidates are required to file financial disclosure statement for the preceding year.

A conservative Democrat from North Providence, Bill O’Brien was found to have plagiarized large portions of his website. Currently, O’Brien is facing a primary challenge from Democrat Bill Deware, a progressive and labor activist.

“Financial disclosure forms are vitally important,” said Bell in a statement, “Without them, we have no idea where politicians receive their income. Given that the [Raymond] Gallison scandal seems to be related to lawmakers’ income, tracking where politicians make their money is especially important.”

June 5, 2016June 5, 2016

Imam Farid Ansari on the death of Muhammad Ali

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The Champ is gone.

On June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali, considered by many to be the greatest boxer to ever step into the ring, died in Arizona at age 74 following a long battle with Parkinson’s contracted from head trauma sustained in his career. Since his retirement in the early 1980’s, Ali had shied away from the public eye while living a quiet life of prayer. He would occasionally appear in the public spotlight, such as at the opening of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games where he was the final person to carry the torch, but his privacy was highly-valued and respected by a press and public who knew he wished to be remembered for what he had been.

And what he had been was simply akin to a super-nova, that brightest stage in the life of stars that lights up the sky in a fashion that makes all others pale in comparison.

There had been black boxing stars before Ali, such as Joe Louis, and some that had also courted controversy, such as Jack Johnson. But neither of them nor any others ever dared before or since to reach for the modern day legendary status that Ali seemed to walk into with an ease and grace that infuriated the white supremacist civilization he lived and died in. If his onetime friend had been “our own black shining Prince,” to quote Ossie Davis, then Ali was the grandest Knight in the court, slaying dragons on the canvas and off with such a flourish that J.R.R. Tolkien would be unable to do his story justice.

Born Cassius Clay, he became a major sports figure before he met the radical black preacher who had been born Malcolm Little but changed his name to Malcolm X. Attracted to each other by their outright pride in being black, the minister brought the boxer into the fold of the Nation of Islam, a religious community that had existed as a kind of storefront sect, blending mainstream Islam with black nationalism, under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad.

The Nation of Islam ended up becoming a major force in the history of African American life almost by accident. Its basic theological coordinates were grounded in a territory that was extremely problematic on the face of it, including a set of stories about the origin of the African and the European races that would befuddle many and earned denunciations as heresy from the worldwide Muslim religious polity.

Yet this syncretic religion, almost despite itself, was able to step into a void and tell African men and women that they were people of inherent value and dignity, a people whose origins and lot in life signified not decrepitude, as white supremacy would have them believe, but a kind of prophetic beauty on the level of Christ. Through a series of ceremonies and rituals not found in mainstream Sunni or Shia Islam, it taught people who had been trained from birth to hate themselves that they not only could but should repudiate white supremacy as a culture and ideology with a militancy akin to Caesar’s crossing the Rubicon. Not since the best days of the NAACP and the Communist Party a generation earlier had there been such an insurgency challenging racism in our society.

Clay’s conversion to the Nation was a major publicity coup at the time, showing the world that the faith could attract major sport superstars. But it was also simultaneous with a series of developments that would ultimately lead to the murder of the man who brought him into the fold. Malcolm X had been the stage persona that elevated the group into the mainstream discourse almost totally because of his charisma and style. The American government knew that he posed a threat to them, epitomized by his call to lodge a complaint at the United Nations against the United States for human rights abuses of people of color that would try to impose South African-style sanctions on the superpower, a cause he gained support for from many post-colonial states in Africa and Latin America. This was simply unacceptable and so the federal government targeted him with their COINTEL-PRO efforts.

They created a schism between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad, based around the elder man’s sexual proclivities. Then they sowed confusion and discord by planting advantageous news stories and sending forged letters to the different parties so to further the divide and inflame the ranks to homicidal rage. Now named Muhammad Ali by his new faith, he defended the religion against the alleged heretic Malcolm but in later years deeply regretted his decisions. After the death of Elijah Muhammad, he and many of his coreligionists followed Elijah Muhammad’s son into mainstream Islam while Louis Farrakhan, for reasons that are outside of the scope of this discussion, chose to keep the Nation alive.

Imam Farid Ansari is one such African American whose religious path followed this same trajectory. He leads the Muslim American Da’wah Center of Rhode Island and kindly granted me an interview providing a set of insights about what it meant to live through such times.

“He had a lot of influence and…on my own life when he converted as well as being a member of the Nation of Islam. In fact he became a minister,” said Ansari.

“Even today, when I speak to people, they oftentimes, as an African American convert to Islam, many people assume that we’re still identified as the Nation of Islam. I know that being characterized as ‘black Muslims’ back then…was to try to denigrate the growth of the Islamic religion in the African American community. But, having said that, I do believe, because of the racialization of the teachings of the Nation of Islam, and the fact that there was a strong identity with blackness, so to speak, that name black Muslims caught on and now, today, after the passing of Elijah Muhammad, that transition to the mainstream of Islam under the leadership of Imam W.D. Muhammad, who basically put aside a lot of the racialized teachings because it didn’t have any place in the actual religion of Islam. In fact Islam prohibits that kind of attitude towards one another in terms of superiority of white over black or black over white. And under the leadership of Imam W.D. Muhammad he enforced that and he brought the community away from that racialized version of Islam that was introduced by his father Elijah Muhammad. Essentially, the difference being the Nation of Islam’s teachings were really characterized by a lot of the racial differences… I wouldn’t say that was at the core of it but, because of the American experience, it did sort of affect the initial growth of Islam here in America under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad. But thank God that his son brought us into the community of al-Islam, the mainstream of Islam.”

“Part of the mythology and the teachings of the Nation of Islam was to emphasize that we were brought here to America as slaves. And part of that experience was really demonstrated in the current broadcast of Roots and previously, when Alex Haley first came out with Roots, it did show you the kind of brutal treatment that was imposed upon the Africans when they initially came here and a lot of the original names that were given, that Africans had, the culture, the language, the religion, was torn away from many of the slaves and that’s history, that in fact did happen. And the slaves were identified with their masters as property, so a lot of the names that were imposed upon the Africans were not in fact the names that were identifiable to a particular tribe, a particular people, and therefore that was emphasized in the Nation of Islam. So in order to sort of evolve from that experience Elijah Muhammad taught as part of his teachings that the names that we had were imposed upon us by the slave master. And until the transition to Islam, we would no longer be identified by our slave master names. And so that is why he said everyone would be X.”

“Muhammad Ali had a lot of foresight and he looked ahead.”

“He will probably remain an enigma in death as well as in life.”

Click the Player Below to Listen to More of This Interview!

Other columns written by the mainstream press are going to emphasize his multiple victories inside the ring and so to reiterate that which is being said seems rather useless. Yet few will talk about how our tax dollars funded the targeting of all of the members of the Nation of Islam by those we designated the arbiters of law and order.

But that is the essential topic to talk about for a simple reason, it cuts to the core of how bright this super-nova truly shined. To leave it out is to in fact discredit him entirely and make his glory seem cheap. We must emphasize how deeply he and his coreligionists terrified the government and its various functionaries. We must explain that it was both Democrats and Republicans, Kennedys and Nixons, who cowered in fear of this man for the power he so humbly wielded. We must give the COINTEL-PRO narrative a level of primacy for it reveals the true measure of the man.

This is a narrative that is so feared that books that have precise and exact bibliographical citations of the primary source documents, the actual FBI and CIA memos about the Nation of Islam, are relegated to the margins while reams of nonsense, such as the detestable Manning Marable biography of Malcolm that traffics in tabloid rumor and pornographic insinuations, are made to seem as the seminal histories of this episode in African American culture. That is how truly terrified white supremacy is still of the Nation of Islam even all these years after the deaths of its major leaders.

Islam is a religion that repudiates notions of individuals being ontologically differentiated from others, embracing a humanist universalism unlike the Catholic Church that says priests, bishops, and popes experience transformation of their being upon ordination. This is part of why it is so demonized by the Christian right and perverted by the monarchs of various states in the Middle East.

Yet I doubt many would call it heresy to say that Muhammad Ali will be remembered for all history by a simple honorific, the Greatest.

May 31, 2016May 31, 2016

Nicholas Delmenico challenges Pat Serpa in House District 27

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Nicholas Delmenico announced his candidacy today for State Representative in House District 27 – Coventry/West Warwick/Warwick.

“I was born here, I grew up here, and I started my business here. I care about this community,” said Delmenico, who works in the film and television industry. “I am tired of standing on the sidelines as time and again we watch our politicians tangled up in another scandal while working families find it harder and harder to get by. At this point our state is known more for corruption than anything else. This is unacceptable. We can and must do better. I am running for State Representative because it is time we take back our state government from insiders and special interests.”

Delmenico went on to paint a progressive vision for the future. “We need a government that is transparent and forward thinking. A government that works to confront our economic challenges smartly. A government that invests in its communities and its people, instead of just pushing more corporate welfare. A government that welcomes ethics reform and opposing views rather than seeing them as an attack.”

Delmenico continued, “Instead of confronting the problems facing our community and our state, the State House just seems to continue to play games. Trapped up in the echo chamber, the ‘solutions’ they push seem built for another reality. You have to ask, who are they listening to? Because it obviously isn’t the people.”

“The tipping point for me to run was when the House Oversight Committee cancelled the hearings regarding 38 Studios and decided to look the other way, leaving us in the dark and footing the bill for millions. Rhode Islanders deserve better than this. Our community deserves better than this. We need someone who works to represent us. I promise to be that person and I promise to never forget that I work for you.”

Delmenico, a Leadership Rhode Island alumnus, was one of the Providence Business News 40 Under Forty in 2014. He owns a film production company based in West Warwick, attended Coventry High School, and lives on Trafford Park Drive in the Tiogue area of Coventry.

[From a press release]

May 28, 2016May 28, 2016

Libertarian and Green presidential primary developments

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Over the last weekend, two local third parties had the opportunity to hear from their presidential candidates and showcase these candidates to a wider public. The Green Party of Rhode Island held their spring meeting to cast their nominations for a variety of candidates while Pat Ford and Tony Jones of The Coalition Radio Show fielded a call from Gov. Gary Johnson, their preference in the Libertarian Party.

The Green meeting took place at Warwick Public Library and was composed of under 20 people. However, these were veteran members who are a dedicated cadre, ready to build their party and take on new members. But what impressed me most was the presence of quite a few Bernie Sanders supporters who are deeply involved in his campaign and very interested in going Green if Clinton is the Democratic Party nominee, including one school committee member and Sanders campaign activist Aaron Jaehnig. These are folks who are totally disgusted with the Democrats and refuse to be shepherded to the Secretary’s campaign, something that goes far beyond the Jackson-Kucinich-Dean debacles. The key moment was when Jill Stein addressed the Party via web video, including in her comments high praise for the residents of Burrillville.

Though comments were heard from other candidates, the Greens chose to cast all their support behind Stein and support her nomination at their forthcoming convention.

Over on the radio, Johnson delivered the following pitch for his candidacy after having recently picked up former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld as a running mate. I personally am uncertain of Johnson and worry that the GOP, by having figures like Mary Matalin register as Libertarians, could hijack this effort, turning him into an atypical neoliberal with some libertine tinge to his character. But nonetheless there is potential developing for the Libertarians in the wake of Trump, who Johnson repudiated in a fashion I found reassuring. Ford called him an old-fashioned Liberal, which is technically true. However, the problem I have with Libertarians remains the fact that they refuse to acknowledge that global capitalism functions in a macro form of the old cartel systems, with the financial institutions (Goldman Sachs, Citi, et. al.) taking the role of the controlling family. Corporate capitalism is simply a machine that turns governments against their citizens. Markets, meaning the series of business transactions that take place between a vegetable grower and his customer at a farmer’s market, are one thing and I totally support them being freed from overbearing and unfair taxation that is not placed against the big guys in the same manner, but Libertarians need to create a bit of distinction between Farmer Joe and General Electric.

The Greens and Libertarians have, on a national level, been engaged in a lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates, the duopoly-owned outfit that took the control of presidential debates from the League of Women Voters and turned the affair into the political equivalent of a Kenny G concert. Also recently there have been discussions amongst various third-partiers of creating Vote Pacts so to build their bases. These developments could be called the augury of a new united front from below that could fundamentally change our democracy.

The united front from below is an old Communist tactic wherein they formed coalitions with Liberals and Social Democrats to take on fascism in Europe. The Libertarians are the actual Liberals in our society while the Greens are the genuine Social Democrats. This coalition could hypothetically extend beyond the election. For example, if you ask a Libertarian small business owner if they hate Wal-Mart, you get an affirmative, something you also get from pro-union Greens. This could serve as the basis for a boycott movement that could assert a level of economic democracy going far beyond the marking of a ballot, especially in the Ocean State, where all one must say is “Ann and Hope” to win public support. The boycott demands would be simple, Wal-Mart must allow a union drive in their stores. That would of course lead to them closing up ASAP, meaning local businesses would see a huge level of growth.

And such a development would be a massive benefit for the masses, far beyond any candidate’s election.

May 19, 2016May 20, 2016

Nevada Caucus: What really happened inside

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The caucus in Nevada has been an messy affair from the beginning. Being new to the caucus process, there has been any number of irregularities and confusion, and none of this has been helped by the corporate media “dog race” coverage. Instead the media has tried in earnest to make the Bernie Sanders campaign the equivalent of Donald Trump. The coverage of the alleged violence inside of the convention is no exception. Cell phone video of the supposed chair throwing by a Sanders supporter shows that not only was there no chair ever thrown, rather fellow supporters peacefully took the the chair away and then hugged the enraged person who had lost his cool. I got it off of Twitter and anyone media outlet looking for the real story could have reported it correctly too.

RT this! NO chair throwing at #nvdemconvention – guy picks chair up, puts it down, they HUG it out. #TeamBernieNV pic.twitter.com/mBZmEeg1T5

— Jenn Dize 👩🏻‍💻Bit.ly/RickSnyderFlint (@JennElizabethJ) May 17, 2016

Here former Ohio Senator Nina Turner is interviewed by Ed Shultz https://youtu.be/OYaR4X2KDmk who was there and has said repeatedly that there was no violence on the part of the Sanders supporters. They go into the spin the media and the Clinton surrogates in California are trying to distort the record. It is definitely worth watching.

Instead the corporate media blew this out of proportion and tied this incident into reports of death threats to the chair and vandalism at the party HQ. None of this was instigated or sanctioned by the Sanders campus, and Bernie himself this issue the statement on this.

However, in keeping with their drumbeat of the inevitable coronation of Clinton, this served the media narrative as a useful distraction from the fact that Sanders won his first closed primary in Oregon and Hillary squeaked by at the last minute in Kentucky state that she had one by a wide margin against Obama.

Democracy Now reported it this way.

“Bernie Sanders’ victory in Oregon comes amid tensions with the Democratic Party after Sanders supporters erupted into protest Saturday at the Nevada convention. They say rules were abruptly changed and 64 Sanders supporters were wrongly denied delegate status. Clinton ultimately won 20 pledged delegates to Sanders’ 15. The state party chair, Roberta Lange, said she received death threats, while state party headquarters were vandalized. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid urged Sanders to condemn the behavior of some of his supporters, saying he faced a “test of leadership.” In a statement, Sanders rejected violence, and noted that during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into his campaign office in the state, and his staff’s housing complex was broken into and ransacked. He also accused Nevada Democratic leadership of “[using] its power to prevent a fair and transparent process” at the conventions on Saturday.”

It is worth noting that inside the caucus they had a policeline guarding the stage which gave the appearance that it was not a transparent process and was intimidating. The tone of favoritism toward Clinton has been set by by the DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She has always been close to Hillary Clinton and has tried to limited debates as well as a number of other things to give Hillary the full advantage. Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver has complained vociferously about this.

There is a lesson to be learned here. When you are inside any party convention, everything you do will be held as an example of the campaign and it will be used by the media to tell the story that they want to tell. It is a good lesson for the the State Convention in RI convention which is coming up in June.

Also, for any delegates going to the Democratic National which will be contested as the neither candidate will have the number of pledge delegates needed so it will be up to the superdelegates to tip the scale’s. Not everyone inside of the Democratic Party has been pleased about the way Debbie Wasserman Schultz has manipulated the election and many of them made it clear that they didn’t want to be the one deciding the election.

Footnote: For anyone interested in the wonky details of what went on in Nevada here is a good explanation,

https://johnlaurits.com/2016/05/15/what-happened-at-the-nevada-democratic-state-convention/

May 12, 2016May 12, 2016

Goldman Sachs buys office, staff at CCRI

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The “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity” is ensconced at the Community College of Rhode Island.

Goldman Sachs, the too-big-too-fail Wall Street bank that crashed the American economy in 2008, has funded two state employees through its partnership with Governor Gina Raimondo on its 10,000 Small Businesses RI program. They share an office at CCRI’s Knight Campus in Warwick.

Goldman’s 10,000 Small Businesses program offers classes, coaching and loans to small businesses. The investment bank has offered the program in other parts of the country but this is the first time is has partnered with a state government.

The office is in the Center for Workforce and Community Engagement on the 4th floor, with the high school equivalency test, English as Second Language offices. Contrary to a GoLocalProv report, the Goldman program will not move into space on the first floor being vacated by a Providence Center daycare program, according to Alix Ogden, chief of staff to new CCRI President Meghan Hughes. But Ogden did say 10,000 Small Businesses will soon expand on the fourth floor.

The employees work for the state – they have “@ccri.edu” email addresses and receive state paychecks. But the money for their paychecks is funded from a grant from the Goldman Sachs Foundation, Ogden said.

Executive Director Karina Holyoak Wood declined to comment. She initially agreed to be interviewed on Monday but didn’t keep the appointment. She formally declined to comment on Thursday after stalling for several days. Holyoak Wood, who previously worked for Tobacco Free RI, was hired in March and is paid $85,000 a year. A second employee was hired in April for $45,000 annually. Three more employees are expected to be hired this year and will earn approximately $50,000 each, Ogden said.

The five employees are responsible for organizing and administering the program that will serve up to 40 small business owners. Ogden said participants are referred to as “scholars.” The first class – or “cohort” as t is called – starts in September. Ogden said 100 people have applied. There are additional classes slated for 2017. Rhode Island School of Design will be involved in some way, said Ogden, but the program is not sure exactly how yet.

“We’re talking to RISD about how they will be included,” Ogden said. “They will have a role.”

The 10,000 Small Businesses RI program is funded by a grant from the Goldman Sachs Foundation, Ogden said. It is a one year $1 million grant that can be renewed four times, Ogden said. She anticipates Goldman Sachs will fund the program for all five years. Ogden said she did not have a detailed breakdown of how the $1 million grant will be spent.

“I’m focused on that I think this will be such a good thing for Rhode Island,” she said.

May 12, 2016May 12, 2016

It’s time for Kevin Jackson to resign

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It’s time for Providence City Councillor Kevin Jackson to resign. Jackson represents Ward 3, on the East Side where I live. He has been plagued by scandal and bad choices for years, and barely won his last election against write-in candidate Marcus Mitchell.

I reluctantly voted for Jackson over Mitchell because of Mitchell’s past association with US Senator Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania. Mitchell claimed the mantle of progressive, but I couldn’t trust him, and there was little time to properly vet him. What little I knew about Mitchell didn’t thrill me. In 2005, Mitchell, then a registered Republican, was Senator Rick Santorum’s Director of Community & Economic Development in Pennsylvania. Santorum represents everything I find ugly in a politician.

Santorum once compared Obamacare to apartheid in a tribute speech to Nelson Mandela. Santorum is anti LGBTQ rights at best, a raving homophobe at worst. He’s not only anti-abortion, he’s against your right to use contraception. He supported the privatization of Social Security. He called climate change “junk science.”

Did I allow my completely reasonable disdain for Santorum to cloud my judgement regarding Mitchell? Perhaps. But given what I knew about Santorum and what little I knew about Mitchell, I made the best choice I could.

I voted for Jackson. I don’t regret making what I consider to be the best choice in a bad situation…

…but it’s time for Jackson to resign.

Jackson has done some good things as a city councilor in the last year, including fighting against fiscally irresponsible Tax Stabilization Agreements (TSAs). Some of the most recent TSAs, supported by Mayor Elorza, would have functioned as little more than cash giveaways to connected realtors.

This is all for the good, but I think voters in Ward 3 could do a lot better than Jackson in an open election.

Buddy Cianci is dead, and the culture of casual corruption he represents should have died with him. Jackson backed Cianci when the former Mayor made his quixotic bid at a return to power. I found Jackson’s support of Cianci embarrassing.

Ward 3 could vote for a candidate that both looks after our interests and doesn’t play fast and loose with his campaign cash. We could vote for a candidate that has not been accused of embezzlement. We could vote for a candidate that does not embarrass us but instead represents us.

It’s time for Jackson to resign.

May 10, 2016

Grim Wisdom Podcast #11

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Hello RI Future! Here’s a podcast I recorded recently with Sam Bell. I’ve been doing this weekly for a few months now and have finally caved to public pressure to make it available here to all of you! I hope you enjoy it! New podcasts will be up every week. Just so you know, the overarching theme of the podcast is that we’re going to give you insights into the nature of existence that will depress you. As it happens, we seem to spend a lot of time talking about RI politics, because it’s such an insightful and depressing topic. Set your expectations accordingly…

May 9, 2016May 10, 2016

Safer Rhodes Coalition visits Mattiello’s parish advocating for driver’s licenses

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On Sunday, just days after celebrating Rhode Island’s independence, community members, students and undocumented workers part of the Coalition for Safer Rhodes went to the Mother’s Day service at Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s Immaculate Conception Parish to reiterate the support of Bishop Tobin regarding House Bill 7610. The legislation would allow undocumented workers to obtain a limited driver’s license.

“Our Holy Father reminds us that he himself is the son of a immigrant family, and he has urged American’s to welcome immigrants into our midst.” –Bishop Tobin

Undocumented labor, faith and the student community called on parishioners of the parish and Speaker Mattiello to recognize the need for limited licenses for the undocumented community, and the need for the General Assembly to pass H7610. Flowers were delivered to all parishioners who are mothers as a sign of solidarity among every Rhode Island family, and as a wish that every family live in security and freedom.

From an RI Jobs with Justice press release

May 9, 2016May 9, 2016

Why Democrats are as much to blame as GOP for Donald Trump

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Every night the “experts” on cable news explain how the Republican Party has failed to stop the unanticipated rise of Donald Trump. Everything on the excuse spectrum from simple ignorance to absolute culpability.

They claim that the establishment Republicans did not take Trump seriously. His candidacy was looked at by many as an over the top public relations stunt, an attempt to sell more books and remain relevant in the field of popular culture. His rivals failed to attack him early and often enough. The media gave him an astronomical amount of coverage. Perhaps the most practical explanation for the rise of Donald Trump, is the complete failure of the Republican party establishment to recognize the level of anger in their own party.

Some in the Republican base have undoubtedly pledged themselves to the dangerously extreme, fact-free movement fueled by the rise of right wing media. They truly believe that President Obama was born in Kenya, or that climate change was invented by the Chinese in order to ruin the United States economy. It is no coincidence after all, that many listeners of Alex Jones have been represented at Trump’s rallies across the country.

But what about your college educated neighbor, the one who almost exclusively votes Democrat and the last person you would expect to support a candidate like Donald Trump? We have all, at some point during this exhausting primary process, been completely shocked when one of our otherwise sensible friends or co-workers admits he or she has jumped on the Trump bandwagon. After all, isn’t he a know-nothing bigot that stands for everything that the great United States of America is not?

Yes. But those criticisms ignore the most important point of the entire nominating process in 2016. Trump is not one of them. He is not one of the politicians that has continued to worship at the church of “trickle down economics” long after it has been debunked. He has not continuously supported global trade agreements written by powerful corporations that provide a select few of the world’s elites with the large majority of resources leaving billions to compete for the scraps. He was not in a government that allowed millions of jobs to go oversees and he was not in charge when Wall Street nearly wrecked the global economy with corrupt and illegal behavior, only to be bailed out using tax payer money. So while it is more than probable that he is everything his critics describe him as, in the eyes of a Trump supporter one all important fact remains. He is not one of them.

Democrats have become one of them, too.

For the better part of three decades, the Democratic party has undergone a complete ideological shift. The Party of F.D.R that championed the labor movement of the 20^th Century has, for the most part, abandoned the millions of people it once regarding as its core constituency. It has been hijacked by a band of intellectual elitists and self proclaimed experts. It is a party that has come to worship education and status, and dismisses anyone who is not part of the exclusive club.

The ideology of professionalism, as author Thomas Frank has labeled it, has become the very essence of a party that was once represented by a president who famously said he welcomed Wall Street’s hatred. Instead, today’s Democratic Party is represented by presidential candidates that are far more more likely to welcome Wall Street’s money than its hatred.

The most consequential period of economic deregulation in modern history took place during the Clinton Administration. By 2008, Senator Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to out-raise his Republican rivals on Wall Street. The promise of “hope and change” was quickly rescinded when President Obama appointed infamous members of the financial industry to vital cabinet positions early in his presidency. By 2010, most of the passion and excitement produced by candidate Obama was a distant memory to most liberals. Hilary Clinton refuses to release the transcripts of her Wall Street speeches for which she was paid a grotesque amount of money.

In a recent speech in Indiana, Bernie Sanders appropriately asked hose side are we on. “Are we on the side of working people or big money interests? Do we stand with the elderly, the sick and the poor or do we stand with Wall Street speculators and the insurance companies?” A profound question that would not have been considered 30 years ago and until recently had been completely ignored.

Both parties have discarded the working majority of this country, and Donald Trump has mistakenly become the candidate for many blue collar citizens left to fend for themselves. He took full advantage of the vacuum left created when Democrats ceased representing the people. Trump’s ascendancy has been inevitable for decades. And for millions of desperate Americans, desperate times call for desperate measures.

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