Local conservatives are trying to deflect blame for their wounded warrior former Gov. Don Carcieri by wondering aloud just what current Gov. Linc Chafee has done to rectify the situation with the loan to 38 Studios that he campaigned against. Well, he made sure such a big gamble would never be made again, for one.
Call it the Crony Capitalism Protection Reform.
In April of 2011 the governor proposed and the EDC board approved a modification to the loan guaranty program capping it at $10 million per project.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our state’s economy, and providing them with easier access to working capital is critical to the strengthening of our economy the creation of new jobs for Rhode Islanders,” Chafee said, according to an EDC press release after the change was made.
In other words, as he said at Friday’s press conference, “Never, never. Not on my watch.”
Even Keith Stokes, the former EDC director who resigned over the 38 Studios debacle, said the change would make the program more “effective.” According to the same press release, he said:
“By modifying the Job Creation Guaranty Program to enhance SBA loan guarantees, we can strengthen the program’s effectiveness and make it possible for private lenders to provide greater access to financing for small businesses.”
I’m not sure which conservatives are trying to get Carcieri off the hook. Can you name a couple?
Or how about we rewrite your first paragraph, but make it just as accurate:
“Local progressives are trying to deflect blame for their hero, Speaker Gordon Fox by wondering aloud just what current Gov. Linc Chafee has done to rectify the situation with the loan to 38 Studios that he campaigned against. Well, he made sure such a big gamble would never be made again, for one. Gordon Fox on the other hand? Hasn’t done much.”
There’s plenty of blame to go around here. Carcieri, Stokes, Steven Constantino, Helio Melo, Fox, the members of the General Assembly. Let’s give each their just due.
G. Gordon Fox is as much a hero to Progressives as Herman Cain is to a civil rights activist. On the other hand, G. Gordon and his co-conspirator T-Weed are very much heroes to the neo-liberal Crony Capitalists community. (aka small government, education reformers)
As I’ve pointed out multiple times already, the “local conservative” crowd, at least on Anchor Rising and other RI political blogs, has been united in opposition to the 38 Studios loan from the outset. RIFuture cannot say the same about its own contributors and progressive commenters, a number of whom were supportive of the loan, and one of whom actually worked for the EDC at the time and went out of his way to justify the loan on this blog.
Who is denying that Carcieri played a significant part in getting this deal passed? Who are these unnamed “local conservatives” supposedly sweeping that fact under the rug? Anchor Rising contributors have been very open about Carcieri’s role in the deal and have publicly criticized him for it.
I really don’t like how this is being turned into a partisan issue on this blog to score political points against Republicans, and how all progressive/Democratic/labor involvement is being whitewashed from the (virtual) history books. Let’s be honest about the many parties at fault and have a serious discussion about the proper role the EDC going forward.
“Who is denying that Carcieri played a significant part in getting this deal passed?”
It’s quite clear that other blog is busy deflecting blame (notably you changed what Bob said in asking your question).
I count three separate blog posts on AnchorRising that mention Carcieri and Stokes as partially responsible for the 38 Studios deal. At least three have acknowledged that Chafee was opposed to the deal and giving 38 Studios additional money.
I count seven separate blog posts on RIFuture that seemingly exclusively blame Carcieri and Stokes for the 38 Studios deal and NOT A SINGLE POST that acknowledges that even a single Democrat or progressive in the state was responsible for or supportive of the deal.
So which blog is deflecting blame and whitewashing recent history?
OK HERE IS A SINGLE POST.
Just about all of the “Democrats” in the General Assembly were just as guilty as The Don Carcieri. He gave the orders, they followed.
Post a link, please? I can’t find that quote.
Oh, I see. You’re posting it now. I thought you were quoting from somewhere. If even one of the blog contributors here acknowledged any Democratic/progressive involvement whatsoever (and there was plenty), then I would be really impressed.
Why do you think commenters on blogs are important? Or in any way constitutive or even representative of a community?
I don’t come to RI Future to get reporting on what commenters on other blogs are saying. I come here to get a sense of what people who actually have agency in government are doing.
Sure, it’s funny to see you get all in a huff because Bob is ignoring anonymous posters of no importance, but it’s also troubling: how could anyone be petty enough to think that it’s important to cover the comments sections of blogs as if they were news?
What are you even thinking about?
If you are referring to my post, I was talking about blog contributors, i.e. authors affiliated with the blog, not commenters.
“I was talking about blog contributors, i.e. authors affiliated with the blog, not commenters.” RTW
“RIFuture cannot say the same about its own contributors and progressive commenters” RTW
I see, we’re referring to different posts. My point that this blog hasn’t acknowledged that anyone was responsible for the loan besides two Republicans was directed at RIFuture contributors. My other comment about contributors and commenters was to counter the “local conservatives” statement Bob made, which could be anybody.
Thanks for the -1 rating. I appreciate it.
“My other comment about contributors and commenters was to counter the “local conservatives””
Yes. And that is sheer narcissism. Commenters on blogs do not constitute a community or represent one.
“Thanks for the -1 rating.”
Are you suggesting that you hacked into RI Future to discover who downvotes particular posts?
Actually the -1 was compliments of me as you consistently spend your time muddying the issues with your nonsensical off-topic post which are borderline stalking of RTW. At first it was amusing but now you’ve become boor.
Sorry, misread the comment. The -1 is for Turbo the Boor.
You’re the guy every right-winger wants on his team.
First I don’t believe you have one conservative trying to deflect blame from Governor Carcieri. Second every liberal in House of Representative is also to blame – along with Governor Carcieri. Bottom line is the Governor in this State has no power to make decisions alone and our best in that nice white building on Smith street passed it to allow the deal to go thru. Bob Plain is a socialist that sees no reason to blame the problems we have in this state on his friends at the house. This was everyone every idiot that represents us that made these deals. Pure & Simple.
Turbo, you don’t see Bob’s strawman? He said “local conservatives” but didn’t name any and instead just ignores the commenters who ask “who?”
It’s also interesting to see here that the people rating the comments can’t even follow their own rules, just as they did pre-Bob Plain:
“Rule #9, comment ratings are for trolls, and are not to be used against people with opinions you disagree with. They play an important role in the community self-moderating itself. Use the ratings appropriately.”
It seems that all the -1 ratings are because someone disagrees with them, not because they’re trolls. If that’s how ratings are going to be used, then they’ve been made useless on a site.
Defending an obvious troll comment will also earn you a thumbs down rating.
Where’s my troll defense? I said that Bob is making a strawman argument because he referred to “local conservatives” but hasn’t named any, and that’s defending a troll?
Alias, I know you’d be much happier with no dissent on the comment boards, but guess what, it leads to the RIF of about six months ago. Ghost town. If that’s what you want again, go for it buddy. But I think that’s exactly why Bob is asking you to not do it. He understands that as well and he’s at least somewhat depending on the success of RIF.
Lastly, the person who did write that Bob is a socialist did not participate in trolling. It might be a comment that you disagree with but the comment was at least on topic. Trolling is when something is inflammatory and off-topic like if I commented with something like “Yeah, but what about Dominic Ruggerio getting busted for DWI a few weeks ago? Huh?”
That’s trolling. On-topic comments that you disagree with are not.
I disagree slightly on that point because I think it has more to do with intent. If somebody posts a comment solely for the purpose of disrupting a conversation, I think that qualifies as trolling regardless of whether it is technically on topic or not.
Urban Dictionary provides a similar definition: “One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.”
So Rmoreira’s comment is borderline trolling because it appears to be intended mostly to inflame rather than engage in substantive discussion. Some reasonable attempt at an explanation of why Bob Plain is a “socialist” could drag it into clear territory, but as it stands now, it’s a bit over the line. Turbo is the best example of a troll on this site – he is clearly just trying to destroy every thread he participates in and provoke pointless arguments most of the time.
Patrick brings up a good point … Let’s use the ratings to id trolls rather than id posts we like or don’t like.
When someone says that “Bob Plain is a socialist blah blah blah” that is trolling and the comment will be given a thumbs down.
A nice sentiment, but it will inevitably be abused because there is no incentive to use it the way it is intended. It’s like that early Simpsons episode where everyone is shocking each other in therapy, and Turbo is Maggie mashing all of the buttons.
I see it used appropriately all the time!
I see thumbs down used inappropriately all the time as well. It’s always just been a joke on this blog - a side game for the actual trolls to war with other commenters. The blog should just get rid of it.
This was a bigger concern on the old platform where low ranked comments resulted in the comment being hidden. Now it’s just a number (and an indication that some actually read the comment).
That was a good system.
Bob, still no word on who these “local conservatives” are that you were thinking of when you wrote it? I’m assuming you had a couple specific people in mind when you wrote this. Who were they? DePetro? Yorke? Matt Allen? Contributors at Anchor Rising? Ed Achorn? I can’t think of many others that you could be thinking of. Care to share who?
Imagine if two of the Anchor Rising contributors and some of the commenters there had been supportive of the 38 Studios loan on that blog. Suppose one of them actually worked for the EDC as a consultant. Can you imagine how much abuse that blog would be taking from progressives right now?
Don’t expect an answer to your question and don’t expect any accountability or consistency here on this topic. Expect a lot more of the “Carcieri did this all by himself with no Democratic or progressive support” narrative (there have already been EIGHT posts here to that effect).
Supporting the deal years after it was done hardly seems that significant. In fact, I’d say with $75 million of our money invested that’s probably the smart move. At the time of the actual debate in 2010 the posts were 100% against. No one posted anything in support.
But, hey, we progressives had such sway over Carcieri. Clearly it was us!
I disagree. Support for bad policies deserves recognition and accountability even when it occurs after the fact. It’s relevant because it affects the credibility of the advocates and has the potential to affect future policy decisions by coloring the debate.
Exactly. That’s why I think it is important to remember the role republicans played in the second great depression. Deregulation, tax breaks for the wealthy, powerful elite. In Rhode Island, especially in light of the Shilling, the policies of the Carcieri administration, very much in line with the national right-wing Republican agenda, needs to be examined and evaluated. Sure, a bunch of Democrats in the GA went along. But the assumptions, ideas, policies that led to this mess are all Carcieri’s.
“Sure, a bunch of Democrats in the GA went along.”
That’s great. Just like they didn’t matter. Good one. I can’t stop laughing. Almost forgot to ask. Hyperbole much?
“Sure, a bunch of Democrats in the GA went along”
Not just *a bunch*; damn near all of them supported this corporate welfare scheme.