RI Progress Report: Gemma, GOP visits and Gist

As Anthony Gemma prepares to ramp up his primary campaign against David Cicilline, election experts handicap his path to victory. We’d like to know why Democrats should vote for an abortion-deploring, trickle down economist? Answer: they shouldn’t. We’d prefer Gemma run as a independent as we’re not really sure what it is that makes him a Democrat.

Speaking of Republicans, it seems Rhode Island can expect visits from both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum before the presidential primary on April 24.

Management and labor alike should appreciate Education Commissioner Deborah Gist’s efforts to eliminate the “redundancies” in the teacher evaluation process, which some principals said was taking as long as 20 hours per teacher.

Once you factor in the politics of what’s practical, it seems Obama’s budget proposal would actually reduce the deficit more than the House GOP version. Here’s more on this phenomenon.

Not a good trend for Rhode Island: “Concentrated poverty is becoming more concentrated.”

Seems the U.S. has been training Iranian opposition forces in the Nevada desert. If history is any indicator, look for these same guys to be our sworn enemies in the future.

Michael Riley, a Republican, officially launches his campaign for Congress, seeking to unseat Jim Langevin.

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