Poem: ‘Meditation On The Economy’
John Kenneth Galbraith, were he here and breathing, would probably be biting his nails with worry. This week we learned that the economy contracted for the first time since 2009. In words reminiscent of what was said in the midst of the Great Depression, economic commentators have said it’s just a one off event in [...]
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, [...]
Debate Confirms: Collins Best Congress Candidate
Following Abel Collins’ televised debate last Friday, where he clearly bested both Rep. James Langevin and GOP challenger Michael Riley, it’s more apparent than ever that Collins is the best candidate for progressives—perhaps the only candidate—in the 2nd Congressional District. He’s a genuine peace and environmental advocate who’s determined to get big money out of congressional [...]
Vote For an Independent, Spoilers Are a Myth
“It’s hard to spoil something that is already spoiled” Abel Collins uttered these words on a recent edition of RIPR’s Political Roundtable, and they ring truer today than at any other time in our history. The “spoiler” argument by the lever-voting Democrats in Rhode Island is patently false, and this is an attempt to disabuse [...]
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 [...]
Abel Collins for Congress
For progressives living in the Second Congressional District, there’s no tougher choice on this year’s ballot than deciding whom to vote for in the race between Jim Langevin and Abel Collins. Both are sufficiently liberal to warrant your support, but they represent opposite extremes of the left side of the of the state’s political spectrum, [...]
Happy Food Day, RI
If there was any relationship between what really matters in life and what stuff costs, farming would be far be the most lucrative industry to be in. But of course no such relationship exists between how much we need a commodity and how much we’re willing to pay for it. Farmers, by extension, end up [...]
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 [...]
Collins’ Own Email Poll Shows Different Results
Either independent congressional candidate Abel Collins is doing better than previous polls predicted, or how well he is doing is in the eye – or methodology – of the pollster asking the question. The Collins campaign would have you believe the former. It released an email-based poll conducted by CCRI political science professor Eric Siegel [...]
Abel Collins Responds to WPRI Debate Questions
At long last, the Abel Collins campaign sent me the YouTube code for his response to the questions posed WPRI posed to the other two CD2 candidates in the Tuesday night debate that he was excluded from. It’s only 20 minutes long, and if you’re a voter in the Second Congressional District or a fan [...]
Brown Poll: Good News For Progressive Candidates
There’s a lot of good news for progressive candidates for Congress in Brown’s new poll that came out today. The biggest is probably that Abel Collins, an independent running for the second congressional district, garnered high enough support to be included in WJAR’s debate. Collins campaign manager Dave Fisher said he “absolutely” thought his candidate [...]
Collins Didn’t Debate But Showed Voters His Style
Abel Collins would have been a great addition to WPRI’s CD2 debate last night, but how he handled his exclusion also gives voters a good glimpse as to how he might govern. He organized a fantastic grassroots effort to petition the station to change its mind and include him on the stage. He also came [...]
Collins to Participate in Debate, Via RI Future
Congressional candidate Abel Collins will be participating in the CD2 debate tonight. Well, sort of. The Collins campaign will either livestream their candidates responses to the debate questions immediately after WPRI’s portion ends at 8 p.m. or it will release a You Tube video of their responses to the questions later that evening. Either way, [...]
WJAR: Collins Can Debate Depending on Poll Results
Depending on the results of a new Brown University poll expected next week, WJAR News Director says it’s likely congressional candidate Abel Collins will be invited to debate the other two candidates for the the second congressional district seat. “I suspect he will pass our criteria and be invited to our debate,” said WJAR Channel [...]
Langevin: Collins Should be Allowed in TV Debates
In contrast to WPRI, Congressman Jim Langevin thinks his campaign competitor Abel Collins should be allowed to participate in the televised debates, he told me in an interview today. “All three of us should be debating,” Langevin said. “The voters on election day are going to be confronted with three options. If they aren’t hearing [...]
Candidate Abel Collins Snubbed from TV Debates
Independent congressional candidate Abel Collins may have little chance of beating incumbent Jim Langevin. But then again, Mike Riley, the Republican candidate doesn’t have much of a chance either. So that can’t be the reason two of the TV networks – WPRI and WJAR – have decided to snub Collins from their CD2 debates. Maybe [...]
Green Party of RI Endorses Abel Collins in CD2
The Green Party of Rhode Island has endorsed environmentalist and public transportation advocate Abel Collins in the contest to represent the 2nd congressional district of Rhode Island. In a press release sent out by the Green Party this morning, Collins said his is “proud to be the peace candidate in the race, and proud to [...]
Whither the Ron Paul Voter
Did you hear about how Ron Paul was snubbed at the Republican National Convention? (snubbed video) Ron Paul has said he won’t be running for President again, or Congress for that matter. Whatever his imperfections, I will miss the guy, and I’m not alone. The question is what will become of his many followers. It’s safe [...]
An Independent Take on Gemmapalooza
First, I’ll admit that I didn’t watch the press conference yesterday. I have seen plenty of the media aftermath though. The impression I get is that candidate Gemma’s accusations of voter fraud are being swept under the rug, and the whole affair is being framed as a media stunt. Even if it was only designed as [...]
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