karen macbeth – RI Future

April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

Rep Coughlin: Democrats ‘pandering’ on marriage equality

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Representative David Coughlin, who represents District 60 in Pawtucket, ran unopposed during his first election, becoming a state rep with just 725 votes during the 2014 Democratic primary. As a first year legislator he has been a reliable vote for Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s agenda. Coughlin voted for the truck tolls, Tiverton gambling and the subpar minimum wage increases passed last year.

So it was with some surprise that I received an email from a reader containing a screenshot of a Facebook post from Coughlin that seemed to indicate a willingness on his part to break ranks with the Democratic Party over marriage equality. Coughlin’s District 60 predecessor, Elaine Coderre, was a co-sponsor of the marriage equality legislation that ultimately became Rhode Island law.

Coughlin shared a link to a Washington Post piece entitled, “Republican National Committee reaffirms its opposition to same-sex marriage” and wrote:

My recollection is my Democratic Party barely squeezed out a majority of the popular vote last November. If the leadership keeps pandering on this issue they may find a conservative element of the party changes allegiances giving the Republicans a very solid majority next time around.”

Coughlin’s post seems to indicate that the Democratic Party position on marriage equality is “pandering” and that conservative Democrats might bolt the party over this issue and become Republicans.

I emailed Coughlin and House Communications Director Larry Berman for clarification. I wanted to know if Coughlin considered himself part of the “conservative element” of the Democratic Party and if he supports marriage equality. One also wonders if Coughlin would be willing to change allegiances and switch to the Republican Party, as did Representative Karen MacBeth last week, over this or other conservative social issues. His Facebook post seems to indicate that he might.

Coughlin and Berman declined to respond to my emails.

June 19, 2014June 20, 2014

FBI or ransomware? You be the judge

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Lost in the aftermath of the budget was this gem (start at around 2:54; for fun, pay attention to Reps. Shekarchi and Morin reactions) from last Friday’s House debate over Budget Article 1. In it, Rep. Karen MacBeth claims that the FBI temporarily seized control of her home computer for reasons unknown.

Now, I’m not a seasoned law enforcement professional, but given a lot of ink has been spilled over the ability of government to monitor Internet activity without much oversight, it seemed suspicious that the FBI would notify someone if they were hacking a computer. It seems to me that if you’re looking for documentation of wrongdoing, you’d get a warrant or request it from a possibly cooperative source like MacBeth. And if you didn’t want MacBeth or anyone to know, you’d get permission to do it secretly.

So I did what I usually do in cases like this, I searched “the FBI has taken over my computer” online. And I found this little piece of malware (more specifically, ransomware) known as “Reveton” or “the Moneypak Virus” from a number of articles from one to two years ago. Basically, it’s something you accidentally download from either a bad website or email and then locks your computer until you pay. The ransomware poses as the FBI, or if you’re in another country, that nation’s police or cybersecurity force. The genuine FBI has been warning people about this virus for a while.

Now, the details of Rep. MacBeth’s encounter with someone claiming to be the FBI hacking her computer doesn’t quite match up with what’s described in the above links, and from her summation of the events, we don’t get a detailed picture of what happened. Perhaps it really was the FBI. Or perhaps, (and in my view, more likely) this was an iteration of the older piece of malware; since it’s shown to be pretty adaptable.

If it’s the latter, I hope the Speaker asks himself why he made her House Oversight Chair. Frankly, I’d look for a healthy level of skepticism on the part of the Oversight Committee Chair.

P.S. A number of articles note that this virus could be stopped by having up-to-date antivirus software. If you’re a cheapskate like me, there are plenty of free alternatives. And yes, Mac users, that means you too! You get viruses as well, so protect yourself before you wreck yourself.

September 6, 2012September 7, 2012

Uht Campaign Complains Valley Breeze Is Biased

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It’s hard enough to run against an incumbent but Gus Uht, a progressive running to represent Cumberland in the state legislature against conservative Karen MacBeth, feels like he’s running against the local newspaper too.

His campaign says the Valley Breeze has not only displayed an editorial bias against him, but has also not run advertisements in the paper and online that he paid for.

“I would like to think it’s not deliberate,” said Robin Dionne, who is managing Uht’s campaign for him. “If it were an isolated incident I would think it was an oversight.”

She said Uht paid a premium price for his ad to appear on page 2 of the paper three times but it only appeared there once. Uht’s campaign paid 25 percent more for the ad so that it would be on page 2 of the Valley Breeze but instead was on page 18. Instead, his opponent’s ad was on page 2. There were also instances of his ad not appearing online, which was part of what they paid for.

“It was an oversight by the person involved,” said Valley Breeze publisher Tom Ward. He said Uht’s campaign was refunded money for the oversight.

Dionne said the campaign would have preferred the ad to the refund.

She also said the paper has shown an editorial bias towards MacBeth.

“I would say they definitely aren’t acting as an impartial news source,” Dionne said. As evidence, she offered this article from August 15, and this one published today.

Today’s article describes Uht’s campaign as “offering what may be the most unusual of candidate qualifications” while MacBeth is described as “touting a strong record on pro-business votes.”

Valley Breeze editor Marcia Green said she did “everything I could” to be fair to both candidates. Publisher Tom Ward said it is the paper’s policy to be neutral.

“There are no politics involved,” he said. “We do all we can to be as fair as possible. We knock ourselves out to be right down the middle. I’m a conservative guy, but if you think I play it that way with my business, I just don’t.”

Dionne also said the Valley Breeze has run more press releases from MacBeth than it has from Uht. Earlier today, she said there was no press release online this week from Uht but there was one from MacBeth. Green, the editor, said there was a press release online. Dionne said it was uploaded after the Valley Breeze was contacted by me for this story.

Both Uht and MacBeth are squaring off in the Democrat primary but are vastly different as candidates. Uht is campaigning on a progressive platform of income tax fairness and jobs. MacBeth calls herself a fiscal conservative but she is best known for being one of the most conservative members of the General Assembly when it comes to a woman’s right to an abortion. She sponsors the annual bill that would require women to have an ultrasound performed prior to an abortion.

August 14, 2012

Gus Uht: Why I Am Running for Office

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gusuht — Gus Uht, of Cumberland, is challenging Rep. Karen MacBeth, known for her opposition to abortion, in a Democratic primary for a seat in the House of Representatives.

I have decided to run for State Representative in District 52 (Cumberland) because our community deserves real representation at the State House. I will be an effective member of the General Assembly, and will spend time talking to my constituents in order to ensure that their concerns and ideas are heard.

My wife Laurette and I fell in love with Cumberland and Rhode Island when we first moved here 20 years ago. Being a computer engineering professor at URI, I am committed to seeing higher education thrive throughout the state, as well as the growth of the high-tech community in Providence and elsewhere.

It has been less than thrilling to see the state go through its seemingly never-ending fiscal crises. There are many difficulties in the state related to jobs, education and taxes – I call it a JET-focus. While taxes are cut for the wealthy, state aid to higher education has dropped, forcing the state colleges to raise tuition and eliminate qualified faculty positions. Even in-state students have difficulty making ends meet. The $75 million cost of the 38 Studios dilemma is now a burden for taxpayers, and small businesses and other high-tech start-ups wonder where the capital went and why some of it didn’t come to them. Marriage equality is still up in the air, women’s rights are under constant threat, and the DEM struggles to keep the environment safe from over-development.

While we all want to encourage entrepreneurship, start-ups could take years to generate a significant number of new jobs in a fiscally-sound way. I will work to encourage and expand existing targeted skills training in order to fill jobs now. We must also protect those who are currently employed. State/worker contracts have been unilaterally broken without need, without negotiations in good faith, and without justice.

Rhode Island’s tax structure desperately needs revisiting, and many of the taxes are unfairly distributed. The lost tax revenue due to specialized tax breaks is astonishing. Our seniors are caught between rising real estate taxes and their fixed incomes. I will work toward a more equitable tax code for our citizens.

Every year ill-informed legislation threatens women’s rights and their health. Government and politicians must not be involved in the private medical decisions of any citizen. Instead of putting people into one category or another, we need to respect the real-life decisions all of us face everyday. Civil liberties are fundamental, and should not be compromised.

While we need more jobs in this state and thus want new businesses to grow, it must not be at the expense of the environment. For example, the water quality in the Pawtucket Reservoir system is constantly threatened with nearby unsuitable land development. I will work for statewide zoning ordinances to protect our drinking water and other precious resources.

With problem-solving abilities I have honed over several decades, I will bring a different approach to the General Assembly. I will base decisions on solid data and analysis, while making sure people are helped, not hurt.

I love Rhode Island, and I want to see it and its people thrive. I respectfully ask for your vote on September 11th in the Democratic primary. The District 52 House race will be decided in the Primary; only Democrats are in the race.

To learn more about my thoughts on the issues or to volunteer on the campaign, please visit www.votegusuht.org. You can also take a look at my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. Feel free to contact me at info@votegusuht.org or call (401) 787-1313.

March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

RI Progress Report: How To Avoid School Suspensions

It turns out the easiest way to avoid discipline at local high schools is to be white. Non-white students at urban Rhode Island high schools are more likely to get in trouble than their white counterparts, reports RINPR’s Elizabeth Harrison, even as they make up a much smaller percentage of the student body.

In Cranston, for example, black students racked up more than half of the school expulsions while accounting for just 4 percent of the school’s population. And in Pawtucket, Hispanic students accounted for 2/3 of the in-school suspensions even though they make up just a quarter of the student body.

— Speaking of Cranston, the school custodians there recently agreed to a 15 percent pay cut. The move will save about $660,000 a year. Meanwhile, the school committee there spent about a quarter as much just to defend the prayer banner, a battle they had to know they would eventually lose.

— How has Citizens United changed presidential politics? Already in the 2012 campaign outside groups have spent twice as much as they did in the 2008 presidential campaign.

— File this one under solutions to things that aren’t problems: A bill sponsored by Rep. Karen MacBeth, D-Cumberland, would mandate that any driver involved in an accident that causes serious injury to submit to a drug and alcohol test. Even if the police didn’t suspect they were drinking or using drugs.

— Homeless people being used as wifi hotspots at SXSW? That’s worse than we treat the homeless people here in Rhode Island. By the way, one of our contributors, Reza Clifton, will be blogging from the Austin, TX music and think tank expo all week long. Read her dispatches here.

— Classic Rhode Island logic: we hated the idea of having a casino when the Narragansett Indian Tribe thought of it. But as soon as Massachusetts puts a casino plan into action we move ahead with a similar one, but leave the Narragansetts out of the equation. Now the Tribe is suing the state. At least Don Carcieri won’t be sending any state troopers down to Charlestown to settle the dispute…

March 5, 2012March 5, 2012

RI Mulls Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Requirement

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You might think that legislation requiring a woman to have an ultrasound before an abortion is something that would only happen in Virginia or Texas. Well, you’d be wrong. In fact, such a bill has been put forward for the last several years in the General Assembly.

You also might think, if you are a regular reader of the New York Times, that Rhode Island’s version of the bill is equally as invasive as the one that just passed in Texas or the original one that was put forward in Virginia that caused such a commotion around the country.

Well, you’d be wrong again.

“Alabama, Kentucky, Rhode Island and Mississippi are also considering Texas-style legislation bordering on state-sanctioned rape,” wrote Nick Kristof in The Times this weekend.

“Absolutely not,” said the sponsor of Rhode Island’s bill, Karen MacBeth, D-Cumberland, when asked if this was an accurate account of her bill.

Her bill, rather, would require a non-vaginal ultrasound. MacBeth said she informed The Times of their error.

Even without being what Kristof called “state sanctioned rape,” Planned Parenthood of Southern New England thinks the bill is a legislative overreach.

“Politicians forcing doctors to use an ultrasound for political – and not medical – reasons is the very definition of government intrusion,” Paula Hodges, the group’s Rhode Island director, said. “Rhode Island lawmakers should not be interfering with personal, private medical decisions that should be best left to women and families and their doctors.”

MacBeth, who describes herself as being “very pro life” said she has sponsored the bill for the last three sessions since Rep. Arthur “Doc” Corvese, D- Providence, asked her to sponsor it for him when she took office. The bill has not made it out of committee since then, she said.