Progress Report: Making Sense of CNBC Report, Education Funding in Woonsocket, Hard Knock Life in Middletown

Get ready for the conservative barrage that because Rhode Island ranked as the least business-friendly state we should adjust policy to appease the good editors at CNBC. But before we do, take a look at what CNBC says are the top two states in which to business – Texas and Utah – and the bottom two – Rhode Island and Hawaii. Where would you rather move your business to?

By the way, every northeastern state finished in the bottom half of this list. Conversely, Rhode Island was the only northeastern state not to finish in the top 10 for education.

Speaking of public education, RIDE’s own Jason P. Becker has a great post today filling in for Ted Nesi titled: “Woonsocket, not the state, failed to fund city schools.” He writes that because the state has increased education aid to schools there and the city has decreased funding that it’s Woonsocket’s fault it doesn’t have enough money. If only government were so simple … for at least the past three years, Woonsocket has raised property taxes very close to as much as the state allowed, and during that same period Woonsocket lost out on some $12 million it expected in state aid. I would argue the question is not did the state do more than Woonsocket, the question is did either do enough.

The Projo’s story on a Middletown group home with more than 400 at-risk kids living there that was closed due to conditions the state felt were “not suitable for the children” reads like something out of Dickens, or Annie.

Maryellen Butke’s campaign for state senator has a new advocate: Donna Perry, who is both the executive director of the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition and John DePetro’s sister. I bet she won’t be bragging about that endosement as she door knocks on the East Side.

Nice to see an op/ed by CD-2 congressional candidate Abel Collins on the Journal editorial page today. Some inspiring words: “The biggest obstacle to change is not money, it is cynicism. Did we really fight for nearly two centuries to get access to the ballot box for all just to decide now that voting doesn’t accomplish anything? How would Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, or Thomas Dorr judge the lack of political participation that has come to characterize the U.S.?”

Awesome headline of the day: “House Republicans Spend 89 Hours Trying To Take Away Health Coverage From 30 Million Americans”

CNBC might not like Rhode Island, but Gold Digest does!