Progress Report: 38 Studios Scoop; Localvore Recipes; Banksters vs. Liz Warren; Thanks, ALEC and Earned Media
It’s amazing some of the things we’re willing to believe … Jesus was born to a virgin, Thomas Jefferson thought all men were created equal, Reaganomics works and, the perhaps the biggest doozie of them all, that Rhode Island did its due diligence in assessing the 38 Studios deal. For anyone still hanging onto that [...]
Progress Report: Homeless Families ‘Flood’ RI; Israel v. Palestinians; Caramadre as Robin Hood; Driver’s Licenses
The number of Rhode Island families that have stayed in homeless shelters so far this year has increased by more than 30 percent, reports the Providence Journal this morning. If that isn’t startling enough, some 60 percent of the families staying in shelters aren’t even unemployed. That’s right, they have jobs but still can’t afford [...]
Progress Report: RI Tops Region in Food Insecurity; Pension Compromise Talk; Roger Williams and Thanksgiving
We’re now the number one state in New England for food insecurity, reports the ProJo this morning. 15 percent of households in the state can’t afford the food it needs. This is a crisis of epic proportions that goes largely unaddressed because the influential class doesn’t tend to know many people that are affected by [...]
Progress Report: Legalized Pot’s Economic Benefits; John Loughlin and the Future of the GOP; Rabies on Prudence
It’s interesting to note that the potential piece of 2013 legislation that has garnered the most media attention since the election isn’t tax equity, marriage equality or pay day lending reform … it’s marijuana legalization. At least it’s the only bill to get front page ProJo coverage so far (though I think that story’s lede [...]
Progress Report: Tax Fairness; the End of Reaganomics; Free Market Lesson for Mike Riley; Curating the News
If Obamacare’s survival was the biggest policy victory of the election, a close second has to be tax equity. In his first post-election presser, Obama said yesterday the nation needs to ask the richest 2 percent of the population to pony up a few more tax dollars if we’re to avoid a fiscal disaster. Congressional [...]
Progress Report: Why Public TV Matters; Public Cars for Legislators; Woonsocket School Committee; Climate Change
Remember way back in the days when we feared Mitt Romney might become president and, if he did, he would cut public funding to PBS? Well Rhode Island already beat Romney to this nightmare scenario for liberals … WSBE Ch.36 is being transitioned off the state payroll beginning this month, reports Bill Rappleye of WJAR, [...]
Progress Report: For, and Against, Fox; Patch on Walmart; Warren for Banking; Belcourt Castle and Karen Silkwood
There’s an interesting – and small – mix of conservatives, moderates and populists who seemingly aren’t supporting Gordon Fox’s effort to be re-elected speaker of the House. His detractors from the left – Reps Scott Guthrie of Coventry and Spencer Dickinson of South Kingstown – have a disdain for pension cuts in common. Guthrie may [...]
Progress Report: Tax Capacity and Our Failing Cities; Chafee Speculation; Ucci and Blazejewski; Stripped Bass; Burnside
Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, most agree that Rhode Island’s biggest concern should be the failing finances of our urban communities. GoLocal reports this morning in a piece on which local communities have the highest tax rates: “Some of the most dramatic increases are in urban communities facing financial distress. They [...]
Progress Report: Election Day! Dixville Notch Results In; Baited Breath in CD1; Obama Enjoys 92% Chance of Victory
The votes are already coming in … up in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, traditionally the first town in America to report its results, Obama and Romney have battled to a draw among the 10 voters there. Let’s hope the David Cicilline fares better in the 1st District than Obama did in Dixville, though it could [...]
Progress Report: Defining Moment in Cicilline, Doherty; Ugliest Campaigns; What EG Is Debating; Guy Fawkes Day
A defining moment of the David Cicilline v. Brendan Doherty campaign was captured by Phil Marcelo of the Providence Journal this weekend … both candidates were in a South Providence fruit store when a Cicilline “Spanish-speaking emissary,” according to Marcelo, said of Doherty, “He shouldn’t be in this neighborhood. He talks about undocumented immigrants posing [...]
Progress Report: State of Local Media; At Last, Three-Way Debate; Energy Politics; Dems on Doherty Gets Little Press
Every progressive – indeed every Rhode Islander, if not all Americans! – owe it to themselves to spend some time reading Providence Monthly’s awesome feature on the state of journalism in Rhode Island. The magazine put together a group of the best and brightest reporters we’ve got here in the Ocean State who kicked around [...]
Progress Report: Gordon Fox Gets Kicked; Gina’s Coffers; Comparing Pay Grades; Pirate Party, Lawrence Lessig
Gordon Fox’s reelection battle has become one of the most watched contests in Rhode Island, and Ian Donnis yesterday busted out what I think is the best local campaign journalism of the year summarizing his race against Mark Binder. “Fewer than 9,000 voters will decide one of Rhode Island’s most important elections on November 6,” [...]
Progress Report, Halloween/Post-Sandy Edition: Cicilline, Doherty Neck and Neck; Pols Without Power, Ocean Mist
It seems in David Cicilline’s struggle to retain his seat in Congress that it will all come down to the so-called ‘get out the vote’ efforts, or the boots on the ground in the final few days of the campaign, according to a new WPRI poll that shows Cicilline with a 1 point lead over [...]
Progress Report: Hurricane Sandy Edition; Debate Schedule; Paving URI for Parking Lot; 10 Best Gaffs
While the wind is honking early this semi-stormy morning, the significant weather from Hurricane Sandy will be the when the moon tide high hits later tonight. The full moon high tide typically causes a little flooding all over the Ocean State; couple that with the wall of water a hurricane pushes along and we’ve got [...]
Progress Report: Pension Politics; Transparency’s Liberal Bias; ProJo for Sheldon; Meatloaf for Mitt; Microwaves
The Atlantic may think Gina Raimondo is a brave thinker for slashing the retirement security of state workers, but it seems to me the political popularity of pension reform is waning … consider this page A1 quote in today’s Projo on Cranston Mayor Allan Fung’s attempts to cut local pension benefits: “This problem was created [...]
Progress Report: Ugly Campaign Olympics; Brien Down to Last Strike, ProJo for Warren; NEA-RI to NK: We Bat Last
I’m starting to get the feeling that Brendan Doherty doesn’t even want to serve in Congress. If he did, he’d probably audition for the job a just little bit rather than just trying to convince voters to reject incumbent David Cicilline. This campaign has become ridiculously negative, and their debates remind me of when my [...]
Progress Report: Whitehouse Stands with Middle Class; Romney Plan Would Hurt RI; SNL on Undecided Voters
While Senator Sheldon Whitehouse stood with the middle class, saying social security and Medicare must be preserved, Barry Hinckley stood with, well, Grover Norquist, saying he wouldn’t consider any tweaks to our tax code until the whole thing gets revamped. The two candidates for Senate had no shortage of differences in their first debate last [...]
Progress Report: Horses and Bayonets for the Win; Profiles in Candidacy; Alexion Gets Tax Break, Amount Unknown
Good news, Democrats … Obama easily won the rubber match debate last night. And as a bonus, the president’s foreign policy poise coupled with Romney’s obvious lack of similar acumen will likely become a talking point for liberals and conservatives alike during the final 14 days. “Obama succeeded because he conveyed his unique view of [...]
Progress Report: Langevin Moves Left; Legislative Grants; Quid Pro Quo or Campaign Finance Law; POTUS debate
Jim Langevin may not be the most progressive member of Congress, but he could be a whole lot less liberal too. John Mulligan, the Providence Journal’s Washington corresponden,t sums up Langevin’s place on the political spectrum well in this graph: “…he has built a voting record that makes him solidly liberal on most issues by [...]
Progress Report: Elastic Rhode Island; Mark Schwager, Typical Candidate; More Binder v. Fox; Kerr on Grinding
Rhode Island, says New York Times number-crunching blog FiveThirtyEight, is the most politically elastic state, meaning that “a large swatch of its electorate are persuadable voters unaligned with either political party.”In a separate piece on political elasticity Nate Silver describes elastic states as “those which have a lot of swing voters — that is, voters [...]
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