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 it.
To that end, kudos to these Providence College students who helped deliver leftover cafeteria food to some of the most needy people in our community.
Scott MacKay, who knows how local politics works as well as any Rhode Islander, suggests its time for the state and labor unions to strike a deal on pension reform … letting the legal system work it out, he argues is potentially very expensive and at the least very risky for taxpayers. Plus, Providence and Mayor Taveras has shown that this is a far better option politically, as well.
Speaking of pension reform, not one of the 17 state legislators who voted against it lost in the election for doing so, reports GoLocal.
And back to RIPR for a moment … Ian Donnis seems irked that I’m still irked that WPRI kept Abel Collins out of a televised debate! Interestingly, I actually think WPRI did Collins an electoral favor by snubbing him – he got more earned media by not being included than he would have had he debated, which wasn’t his strong suit as a candidate in the first place. That said, I don’t think affect on outcome is the standard by which media organizations should determine who should and should not be included in debates. I think it should be based on what potential voters should know about their options … news coverage doesn’t exist for candidates to benefit from, it exists for consumers to learn from.
The Boston Globe reports America owes Thanksgiving to Rhode Island’s own Roger Williams, not the Puritans who are often giving the credit.
Whose at fault for Hostess filing for bankruptcy? Labor, which didn’t agree to an 8 percent pay cut, or the CEO who took a 80 percent pay increase before asking employees to make a sacrifice? Either way, that’s no way to come to the negotiating table.