langevin – Page 2

December 10, 2013December 10, 2013

Langevin celebrates tax free art at Shady Lea Mill

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Rhode Island is the lowest tax state in the country … when it comes to art.

We’re the only state in the nation that exempts artistic creations from sales tax. Not unlike in 1996 when we became the first state in the nation to create local tax free art districts in Providence. As of December 1, products like paintings, prints, pictures, sculptures, self-published books, plays, movies and even dances can all be bought and sold anywhere in the Ocean State without the burden giving the government a cut. (And no, you can’t claim your investment fund or new swimming pool is a work of art; artists who want to qualify for the exemption need to apply with the state.)

While such businesses aren’t the type tax foes typically fight for, they are no doubt an important driver in the Ocean State’s economy. There are between 8,000 and 10,000 independent artists in Rhode Island, local arts organizations employ more than 5,000 people and arts related businesses employ 13,000 people in Rhode Island, according to this report commissioned by Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed. And the arts industry isn’t going anywhere; in fact the creative sector grew by 6 percent in 2012, following a seven year growth trend.

This weekend, Congressman Jim Langevin came to the 16th annual open studios weekend at the Shady Lea Mill in North Kingstown to see firsthand how this slice of the economy works.

“Small business is truly the foundation of the Rhode Island economy, and lifting the tax on products created by local artists is a boon for business and our state’s economy,” Langevin said. “I hope this boost will help arts-based businesses continue to thrive and grow in the Ocean State.”

The Shady Lea Mill is one of the great quirky and clandestine economic engines in the Ocean State. There are more than 40 artists, artisans, crafters and other various small businesses located in this old mill on the Mattatuxet River, just downstream of Silver Springs and upstream from Gilbert Stuart’s birthplace. As I told the Congressman this weekend, that’s got to be one of the densest clusters of economic development in South County!

reisert family — Lynn Reisert took over the Shady Lea Mill when her legendary dad, Andy, passed away in 2006.

An old-timer by the name of Ambrose Reisert manufactured staples here until Bostitch bought him out in the 1980’s. A few years later a local painter Luke Randall asked if he could set up a studio in the mill, and several other artists followed suit. Today, there are painters, woodworkers, glass blowers, guitar makers, t-shirt designers, soap makers and even an arborist who is starting a forest ecology school. Not to mention this blog!

Reisert had initially wanted to start an assisted living center in the mill, but zoning and the nearby wetlands wouldn’t allow for it. It could easily be argued that an artists colony is better for the economy than an old folks home, so take that those who say environmental regulations stifle business!

Read this recent Wall Street Journal article for more on why old mills are a key lynchpin in Rhode Island’s strategy to slash sales tax on art. Here’s the lede: “Rhode Island, aiming to build on the success of some of its old industrial towns that have reinvented themselves as artists’ enclaves, has become the first U.S. state to stop collecting sales tax on original and limited-edition art sold there.”

Perhaps the best-known small business in the Mill these days is The Shady Lea Guitar Company – where you can make your own acoustic guitar! Ironically, this business is owned by Dan Collins, brother of Lanevin’s one-time primary opponent Abel Collins. Only in RI…

Shady Lea Guitars makes custom string instruments right here in Rhode Island.

Langevin also stopped by the RI Future newsroom and said he’d be glad to come back to join Mark Grey and I to record a podcast after the holidays. If and when anybody comes on the podcast, I’ll be happy to show you around the mill … where you can shop sales tax free!

September 3, 2013September 3, 2013

To: RI congressional delegation Re: Syria

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You have been given a rare opportunity in a time of crisis to thoughtfully direct the United States before military force has been applied. Since the Vietnam War, Presidents have usurped the responsibility of Congress to declare war. It is a welcome challenge that you face.

That the Assad government in Syria has crossed a line by using chemical weapons against its own population seems to be little in doubt.

If there was a clear and clean target—a weapons dump or a political assassination—that would erase the danger and the perpetrator, I suspect that the President would have moved ahead without seeking your advice and approval. Recent years have, as you know, demonstrated the uncertainty and indecisiveness of Congress in supporting this President.

Therefore the use of force will be symbolic, using our military power to spank the criminals who are brutally killing their own population.

But will dropping bombs demonstrate that deploying chemical weapons is wrong, or will it just replace an unauthorized weapon of mass destruction with its legally sanctioned cousin?

Furthermore, an almost unilateral response by the United States seems unlikely to do more than increase the damage both in the Middle East and back here. If there is one lesson that we could learn from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is that modern wars do not have clean and clear endings.

We have gotten into the habit of pitting our munitions and soldiers against repressive regimes and terrorist-supporting governments at great expense, loss of life, and with only partial success.

In the 21^st century, military action with or without a clearly defined goal produces instability in the war zone, and redirects waves of terrorist resentment against all parties involved.

In short, the war machine will shift from Afghanistan to Syria. The terrorists will have more cannon fodder, the US will remain the enemy, and the eventual results we produce will be unstable and out of our hands.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the “war on terror” have cost us our children’s education. They have cost us our roads. They have cost us our privacy. They have enticed our soldiers to torture and our government to renditions, assassination-like drone strikes, and imprisonments without trial.

Given the rock and the hard place, how shall you vote?

Congress is neither nimble enough nor designed to make foreign policy.

Congress does have the power to declare war. Or not. Despite the inclination for this Congress to actually accomplish something, doing is not always better than deliberately doing nothing.

You can demonstrate the power of representative democracy—not by abandoning an injured foreign population but by drawing limits against the use of power in the name of peace.

Sirs, as a voter, a citizen and an American, I ask you to vote against the unilateral use of military force in Syria.

August 22, 2013

Progressive Dems deliver letters to congressmen

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Each month, members of the Progressive Democrats of America across the country drop letters at the offices of our national representatives. Here is the letter we are delivering to our Representatives this month. This is the Cicilline letter. The main difference in the Langevin letter is that Langevin did not support the Amash-Conyers amendment.

Right-wing state legislators in states like North Carolina, Texas, and Rhode Island are launching an unprecedented assault on the right to vote. It is time to take a stand and protect the most fundamental right of our democracy. At the same time, we remain in a severe jobs crisis because of conservative austerity policies. We must restore growth.

Thank you for signing onto Rep. Lewis’s H.R. 12: The Voter Empowerment Act, which would simplify and modernize the voting process, offering equal access for every citizen. In the spirit of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., we call on you to mark the 50th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom by cosponsoring, speaking out, and supporting the following legislation:

H.J. Res. 44: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right to vote.

H.J. Res. 43 Removing the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Training Act, H.R. 1000.

H.R. 1579: The Inclusive Prosperity Act, a stronger version of the Harkin-DeFazio compromise bill you have cosponsored. Without a large number of Democrats endorsing a fully robust financial speculation tax, the compromise effort runs the risk of being watered down even further.

We would like as well to thank you for supporting the Amash-Conyers amendment to stop the indiscriminate tapping of phone calls and collection of emails from millions of Americans. We are very pleased that you recognize that this type of surveillance weakens our most fundamental right to privacy while doing nothing to enhance the overall security of this country.*

Finally, we join with the George Wiley Center to thank you most sincerely for fighting to maintain the SNAP program, and we ask that you provide us with the names and contact information for your staffers responsible for all of these issues.

*In the Langevin letter, this paragraph reads: “We would also like to thank you for holding a town hall meeting where we and other constituents could explain our concerns with your vote against the Amash-Conyers amendment. This amendment would have stopped the indiscriminate tapping of phone calls and collection of emails from millions of Americans.”

August 14, 2013August 15, 2013

Langevin defends NSA vote, open-minded on Glass-Steagall

Give Congressman Jim Langevin credit: he withstood some passionate and intense questioning from his constituency last night, especially surrounding his recent vote against the Amash Ammendment which would have curbed the NSA’s ability to spy on American citizens.

Defending this vote last night lead Langevin to bring up the recently revealed “fact” that 54 foreign and domestic terror plots have been foiled thanks to the NSA monitoring our phone calls, with the caveat that most of these plots are state secrets, and the details cannot be revealed.

Most in the crowd were unwilling to accept this attitude of “trust us, this is for your own good” and steadily insisted on greater transparency. Langevin countered that he feels that there is a difficult line to be walked between Fourth Ammendment privacy rights and keeping us safe from terrorists. At one point Langevin unwisely brought up 9/11 as the kind of terror plot that might have been averted by the NSA’s new powers, (an idea the New York times called “laughable”) and was called on this by Catherine Orloff of Providence and Rod Driver of Richmond.

It was Rod Driver who made the point that Edward Snowden, who revealed the NSA spying, has been branded a traitor and faces serious jail time if he returns to the US, yet NSA chief James Clapper, who lied under oath to Congress, still has his job (and as of yesterday will be investigating his own potential malfeasance.) Langevin was too quick to make excuses for Clapper’s lies, which was disturbing.

Langevin noncommittal on Glass-Steagall

Langevin was asked questions on a diverse range of issues, including jobs and education, but the other issue that became contentious was Langevin’s noncommittal stance on reinstating Glass-Steagall which would restore the wall between commercial banks and security firms. Langevin has not ruled out supporting reinstatement, but is maintaining a “wait and see” stance, hoping other reforms, like the new Consumer Protection Agency, will be enough to restore and protect the economy.

Just as the NSA spying controversy has brought together unlikely allies on the political right and left calling for reform, so has the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall brought together groups as diverse as the Progressive Democrats and the LaRouche PAC.

It was a tough crowd for the Congressman, arguably the most conservative member of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation, but the evening was civil and presented no big surprises or shifts in policy.

August 13, 2013August 13, 2013

Progressives ‘confront’ Langevin tonight at town hall

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Progressives will “confront” Congressman Jim Langevin at a town hall meeting he is hosting in Cranston tonight at 6:30 for his support of the NSA spying on Americans.

“It’s time for him to hear from his constituents,” said David Segal, a former Rhode Island state representative who is the executive director of Demand Progress, a nationally-known advocacy group that supports civil liberties and internet freedom. The Rhode Island Progressive Democrats and other left-leaning groups are also planning on attending the town hall.

“The tide has turned: Americans are no longer willing to sacrifice their constitutionally enshrined civil liberties,” Segal said in a statement released this morning, “Yet Rep. Langevin steadfastly supports the monitoring of nearly every American under these secret programs, instituted under a secret process, justified by a secret interpretation of the Patriot Act.”

In a post on this site on July 25, Segal thanked his former opponent David Cicilline for supporting legislation that would “curtail the NSA’s regime of domestic surveillance,” he wrote. “Meanwhile, Rep. Langevin took a disappointing vote, as activists came up just short of overwhelming the efforts of the NSA, White House, and others to continue collecting Americans phone records and other data.”

Many progressive Democrats and civil libertarians are extremely upset with Langevin for not supporting what is known as the Amash Amendment, legislation sponsored by Rep. Justin Amash, R-Michigan, that if passed would have stopped the “National Security Agency’s secret collection of hundreds of millions of Americans’ phone records,” according to the AP.

In response to his vote, Langevin said in a statement “…while I respect the deeply-held convictions of those who disagree, I could not support the Amash Amendment. This amendment would have undermined a valuable intelligence collection tool that was initiated in 2001 and reauthorized by Congress multiple times with bipartisan support, most recently in 2011.”

Langevin is a moderately-liberal Democrat who has been moving to the left in recent years. He has long showed a progressive streak on economic issues and has shifted to the left on social issues, such as abortion and same sex marriage. Cyber-security has been an important issue to Langevin.

July 25, 2013July 28, 2013

Langevin okays domestic spying; Cicilline opposes

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Kudos to Rep. Cicilline for his vote in support of Justin Amash’s (R-MI) amendment to curtail the NSA’s regime of domestic surveillance. Meanwhile, Rep. Langevin took a disappointing vote, as activists came up just short of overwhelming the efforts of the NSA, White House, and others to continue collecting Americans phone records and other data.

We lost on a 205-217 vote — while losing Rep. Langevin and several other Democrats, including a handful who’d purport to be progressive.

Demand Progress substantially coordinated these efforts, connecting activists with relevant Hill staff and driving in tens of thousands of constituent calls and emails to Congress over the last few days.

There’s coverage of our work in the Guardian, Huffington Post, Mashable, Vice, The Christian Science Monitor, and many other outlets.

Lots to say about what went down, but it’s worth highlighting the disgusting rhetoric of Dem leadership — accusing all Americans of being potential terrorists in their memo whipping Dems to vote against the amendment. (My emphasis):

Amash/Conyers/Mulvaney/Polis/Massie Amendment – Bars the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act (as codified by Section 501 of FISA) to collect records, including telephone call records, that pertain to persons who may be in communication with terrorist groups but are not already subject to an investigation under Section 215

Meanwhile, the White House issued a (non-ironic) statement decrying the lack of open deliberation about the Amash amendment — which would’ve reined in a system of laws that were built via case law developed in a system of secret courts.

Today’s showing was extraordinary — and while we came up short, we’ve made our point loud and clear, and we’re going to win this fight in not too long.

May 26, 2013May 27, 2013

Congressman Cicilline stands with Sen. Warren

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Elizabeth Warren made waves recently when she introduced the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, which would offer students the same low interest rate the Federal Reserve offers big banks through the discount window, currently around 0.75%. This strong proposal highlights one of the most destructive, anti-capitalist practices of our government.

The Fed, which is partially owned and controlled by the banks, has been offering those very banks very low interest loans. Even though the abyss of private sector debt crippling ordinary consumers remains the primary force holding down aggregate demand, the Fed has refused to take more aggressive action to lower the real interest rates ordinary Americans pay on that debt. Warren’s bill would change that.

The sort of populist message that made the Democratic party the electoral juggernaut it once was, this bill has garnered considerable support from red state Democrats. Of the seven Senate cosponsors, four hail from states that voted for Romney and McCain. What these Senators see in Elizabeth Warren’s brand is that old-school FDR Democratic party, that pro-growth Democratic party that once swept to victory in today’s red states by catastrophic margins. Economic populism made the party great. If we return to it, we will be great again.

That is why it is so important that David Cicilline signed on as a cosponsor of the House version of Warren’s bill. It is a vote of confidence in the true vision of the party. Congressman Cicilline deserves to be recognized for his strong stance on this issue. You can give him a call to thank him here:

David Cicilline: (202)-225-4911

Unfortunately, Langevin, Reed, and Whitehouse have yet to sign onto Warren’s bill. Each of them has a good record on financial issues and should be winnable. If you’d like to see them join Elizabeth Warren, you can give them a call here:

Jim Langevin: (202) 225-2735

Jack Reed: (202) 224-4642

Sheldon Whitehouse: (202) 224-2921

A key ally of Warren on the banking committee, Jack Reed has introduced a compromise bill that keeps the interest rate on student loans from doubling but doesn’t push to lower them. Compromise is important. But it should never be your opening offer. Without a bold progressive proposal like Warren’s, Reed’s compromise will be seen as what the Democrats want. It will be the place Republicans start bargaining from. So the best thing Senator Reed can do to protect his bill is cosponsor Senator Warren’s.

April 1, 2013April 1, 2013

RI Supports Fred Ross Sr. For Presidential Medal

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Google may be taking flack from the conservative blogoshpere for honoring Cesar Chavez on Easter, but no such criticism from this site for Rhode Island’s congressional delegation’s collective decision to support the man who mentored Chavez.

All four members of the delegation have signed onto letters asking President Obama to award Fred Ross Sr. a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“For nearly half a century, Fred educated, agitated and inspired people of all races and backgrounds to overcome fear, despair and cynicism. He was a pioneer who fought for racial and economic justice,” reads a letter that Congressman David Cicilline and Jim Langevin signed onto along with 60 other members of the House. Here’s a copy of the letter Senators Reed and Whitehouse sent to the president.

Ross is best known for mentoring Cesar Chavez and Delores Huerta. But he’s also a real-life connection between the “Grapes of Wrath” and the grape boycott by the United Farm Workers. In the 1930’s, Ross ran the Arvin Migratory Labor Camp in Central California – the government-run unemployment camp made famous by Steinbeck’s classic novel as the alternative to oppressive private sector camps where the Joad family and others suffered. Then, in the 1960’s he was instrumental in helping Chavez and Huerta organize a nation-wide grape boycott that led to better working conditions for migrant farm laborers.

ABC News has a great profile on Ross and his legacy, with this photo gallery.

March 21, 2013March 21, 2013

In Budget Vote, Cicilline Betrays Progressives

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As I predicted on Tuesday, Congressman Cicilline voted against the Progressive Caucus’s budget on Wednesday. For a vice chair of the Progressive Caucus, this is a major break—especially after Rhode Island progressives have made it very clear they do not want Cicilline to abandon House progressives.

This is a tough vote for Rhode Island progressives to swallow. The progressive community threw our all into getting Cicilline reelected. We are his base. We chose not to attack him on previous votes where he has betrayed the progressive agenda because we thought it might damage him. David Segal, a progressive who ran against Cicilline in 2010, opted not to run in 2012. But he refuses to stand up for progressive values.

In a statement posted to RI Future in response to my post on Tuesday, Cicilline spokesman Rich Luchette argued that “it is absurd to suggest that David is anything other than %100 committed to protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits.” Cicilline did sign a letter specifically opposing such cuts in a sequestration deal, but only in a sequestration deal. However, the concern I raised was not that he would support such cuts in a sequestration deal but that he would support them in a grand bargain deal. The letter Cicilline signed would not bar him from supporting those cuts in a grand bargain deal. The letter he refused to sign would.

This is not a difficult issue. If Cicilline believes his position has been misrepresented by his actions, all he has to do is sign the Grayson-Takano letter pledging never cut Social Security, Medicaid, or Medicare. If he continues to refuse to sign it, his position will be clear.

Similarly, if Cicilline opposes sequestration, all he has to do is cosponsor the Cancel the Sequester Act. The mainstream Democratic plan, which Cicilline supports, replaces sequestration with more acceptable austerity that has no chance of passage. It cedes the ideological ground that we must be doing austerity in a jobs crisis, a battle Democrats will never win. Had Democrats supported repealing the sequester, the debate would have been between Republicans who support the sequester and Democrats who oppose it. Instead, it is between Democrats who want a Democratic version of the sequester and Republicans who want a Republican version of the sequester.

One doesn’t have to be a very active observer of politics to know that Democrats and Republicans would not come together on a sequester plan even vaguely acceptable to liberals. When Democrats refused to call for a repeal of the sequester, it ensured the sequester would happen. If Cicilline persists in opposing repealing the sequester, his position will be clear: He prioritizes deficit reduction over jobs.

On Tuesday, I predicted Cicilline would abandon the Progressive Caucus and oppose the Caucus’s budget. Yesterday, he proved me right. This is about as clear a sign as you could imagine that Cicilline does not stand with progressives on economic issues. If he had felt at all conflicted, he could have, like Jim Langevin, at least chosen not to vote one way or the other. This vote indicates that he may soon be contemplating an exit from the Caucus. Again, if he sees this concern as unwarranted, all he has to do is pledge he will never leave the Progressive Caucus.

Let us be clear, progressives are not going to vote against Cicilline in the general election. We are not going to vote for a conservative primary challenger. The question is whether we will continue to pour our limited resources into a candidate who does not stand up for our values—instead of state and local candidates who do.

This is not an idle concern. During the 2012 election, for instance, members of the Progressive Democrats knocked on more than 3,000 doors for Cicilline in East Providence. Had we instead been canvassing for Bob DaSilva (who lost by less than 2%), Bob DaSilva almost certainly would have won.

If Cicilline would like to see his base work for him instead of on General Assembly races, he has some explaining to do. I encourage him to begin that process by defending his vote on RI Future.

March 8, 2013

Delegation Supports Think Progress’ Wish List

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Rhode Island’s entire congressional delegation supports Think Progress‘ new wish list of progressive policy proposals to get passed.

Gone from the list is the Violence Against Women Act, which Obama signed into law yesterday … thanks Sens. Reed and Whitehouse and Congressmen Cicilline and Langevin, for supporting it!

Here’s the newly revised list, in case you didn’t get this in your inbox last night:

Raising the Minimum Wage: In his State of the Union speech, the president called for the minimum wage to be raised to $9.00 an hour. And just this week, two leading progressives, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), introduced legislation to raise it to $10.00 per hour. A poll out yesterday found that 71 percent of Americans back raising the minimum wage to $9.00.

Universal Background Checks for Gun Purchases: The Senate Judiciary Committee is working on gun violence prevention legislation as we speak and is expected to advance a universal background check bill to the full Senate as soon as tomorrow. This is a no brainer. Not only would this be the most effective policy to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, it’s supported by nearly everyone. The most recent poll, out just today, finds that 88 percent support universal background checks — including 85 percent of gun-owning households. Other polls have shown support of over 90 percent.

Additional Revenues to Reduce the Deficit: A whopping 76 percent of Americans agree with the president that we need a balanced approach to reduce our deficit, one that includes both spending cuts and additional tax revenues. Just 19 percent back the Republican view that we should reduce the deficit through spending cuts alone.

Job-Creating Infrastructure Investments: A majority of Americans support making investments to repair and replace our deteriorating national infrastructure — investments that could create hundreds of thousands of jobs. In fact, investmenting in our roads, bridges, airports, and other infrastructure was the most popular job creation policy. Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans have repeatedly voted down such proposals in recent years, citing their unwillingness to finance them using tax hikes on the wealthy and corporate special interests like Big Oil.

Pathway to Earned Citizenship: A pathway to earned citizenship is an integral part of reforming our broken immigration system and bringing the 11 MILLION undocumented immigrants already here out of the shadows. Even 60 percent of Republicans support a pathway to earned citizenship, which receives the support of 70 percent of all Americans.

Expanding the Medicaid Program: Two-thirds of Americans favor the part of ObamaCare that calls for expanding the Medicaid program. in order to insure millions of lower-income Americans. The Supreme Court made the expansion voluntary and, thankfully, even many conservative Republican governors are coming around and now support expanding the program in their states.

Marriage Equality: Support for full marriage equality is now a mainstream, majority view. A study out today found that opposition to marriage equality is now concentrated “among a few narrow demographic groups.”

Universal Access to Birth Control: ObamaCare requires health insurers to offer birth control at no additional cost, a policy supported by 70 percent of Americans. This policy is also supported by a majority of Catholics despite continuing opposition by Catholic bishops.

Expanded Early Childhood Education: In his State of the Union speech, the president proposed universal pre-kindergarten for every four year-old and a significant expansion of other early childhood education programs. Unsurprisingly, two-thirds of Americans support making these kind of vital investments in our children — investments which come with significant returns.

BOTTOM LINE: Support for progressive ideas and values isn’t limited to Democrats or the left side of the political spectrum. Most progressive policies enjoy broad, bipartisan support and are simply mainstream views held by a majority of Americans. By contrast, conservatives are clinging to an ideology and views that are seen as extreme and out of touch by a majority of Americans.

October 19, 2012October 19, 2012

Progress Report: Elastic Rhode Island; Mark Schwager, Typical Candidate; More Binder v. Fox; Kerr on Grinding

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fivethirtyeight-1015-RImain-blog480 — Graphic courtesy of FiveThirtyEight.

Rhode Island, says New York Times number-crunching blog FiveThirtyEight, is the most politically elastic state, meaning that “a large swatch of its electorate are persuadable voters unaligned with either political party.”In a separate piece on political elasticity Nate Silver describes elastic states as “those which have a lot of swing voters — that is, voters who could plausibly vote for either party’s candidate.”

It’s one of the reasons, FiveThirtyEight reports, that we elect a lot of Democrats to the General Assembly and a lot of Republicans to the governor’s office. (We haven’t had a Democratic governor in almost 20 years!)

But it’s also one of the reasons why our hugely-Democratic legislature generally passes some pretty conservative legislation … Just consider our landmark pension reform law that conservatives around the country are so fond of, or our new voter ID law – we’re the only blue state in the country to have one!

Speaking of State House races … only in East Greenwich (okay, and also Barrington and Greenwich, Conn.) is an upper-middle-class, fiscally-conservative/socially-liberal, white, male professional “not your typical General Assembly candidate” because he is a doctor rather than a lawyer or a businessman! EG needs to diversify like Central Falls needs tax dollars; the difference is one deficiency is debilitating and the other is easy ignore.

The reality is, because of the aforementioned attributes, Dr. Mark Schwager couldn’t be a more demographically typical state legislator. He’s also the best candidate in a three-way race to replace Bob Watson (the outgoing fiscally-conservative/socially-liberal, white, male professional from Agrestic … er, I mean East Greenwich). Schwager’s medical experience would serve the state well on Smith Hill and, even more importantly, he possesses impeccable character – an increasingly rare quality in politicians in particular but also people in general…

…And speaking of upper-middle-class, white East Greenwich professionals with impeccable character, EG owes a huge thank you to Patch Editor Elizabeth McNamara, who covers her community as well as any other reporter in Rhode Island.

Mark Binder says Gordon Fox is for sale. A serious allegation. Now that the ProJo put it on the front page, they ought to go out and ferret out the truth. Grab that list from Binder, call and ask everyone on it what their expectation was for their donation and then let us know what they say.

“Like Lazarus, Cicilline appears to have risen from the ranks of the political dead,” Cook Political Report on the Congressman’s comeback, according to Ted Nesi.

Bob Kerr on grinding: “Come on, people, June and Ward Cleaver left the building a long time ago.”

I’m with Mike Riley on this one … Jim Langevin should have done the WPRO debate with him and Abel Collins.

And here’s another instance of me agreeing with a conservative on a fiscal matter.

October 9, 2012

Collins to Participate in Debate, Via RI Future

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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, you’ll be able to watch Collins participate in the CD2 debate on RI Future.

WPRI, which made an editorial decision to exclude Collins from its debate, taped the event earlier today. Collins has a rally planned at the station today at 5:30 to deliver a petition with more than 1,100 signatures asking for him to be included.

“I am disappointed that this debate was recorded earlier today, and we we’re not given the chance to deliver our petition to station management before the debate started, but it has been clear to us that WPRI/ FOX Providence never intended to have us on the stage next to our opponents,” Collins said in an email. “We will have our say and we will make our case to the voters in Rhode Island’s Second district.”

Campaign Manager Dave Fisher added, “It gives one pause that this debate is the only one in the series that was pre-recorded. It seems that the station management knew for some time that there would be public backlash to the exclusion of Abel from this debate. This entire process has been an affront to our democratic principles.”

Fisher added, “If Langevin and Riley had any integrity whatsoever, they would have boycotted the debate.”

Langevin did say he wanted Collins to participate in the debate.

September 13, 2012September 13, 2012

Progress Report: Cicilline vs. Doherty, or Policy vs. Smear; Two Democratic Parties; Tax Cuts Don’t Stimulate, Tobin

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downtown from providence river — Downtown Providence from the Providence River. (Photo by Bob Plain)

The new best political narrative in Rhode Island is also the biggest battle for progressives: Congressman David Cicilline’s reelection battle against Brendan Doherty. Cicilline is among the most liberal legislators from the Northeast and Doherty would be one of the most conservative. That’s the case Democrats will be making these next 54 days, while Republicans will run more of a smear campaign. While the local mainstream media will probably care more about the character issues, we’re betting voters will care more about policy.

We don’t often find opportunity to write this sentence but here goes: there’s truth to what Donna Perry writes in GoLocalProv this morning about their being two very different factions of the Democratic Party at the State House. The blue dog Dems support tax cuts to the rich and retirement benefit cuts for the working class, marriage inequality and voter ID laws, while the progressive wing doesn’t. Which one sounds more like the traditional Democratic Party to you?

Speaking of tax cuts for the wealthy, a new study shows they don’t stimulate growth. Then again, Rhode Island is another study that depicts this trend…

One of the reasons Rhode Island has Democrats that skew to the right is we allow people who are completely out-of-touch with mainstream values like Bishop Tobin to define them.

But the Green Party will be on the Rhode Island ballot this November. This will help David Cicilline and progressives.

Providence Schools Superintendent Susan Lusi is encouraging all the city’s public schools to become charters; so far nine have taken her up on the offer.

Anti-America protests in Egypt, Libya and now Yemen, too.

Today in 1971, the Attica prison riot comes to an end after inmates held guards hostage for four days in a failed attempt to negotiate for more humane living conditions.

May 1, 2012May 1, 2012

RI Progress Report: Taveras, Homelessness, Class Warfare

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Happy May Day. Find out what’s happening locally here and across the country here. Learn about the history of the holiday here.

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras will announce a deal with Brown today for more in lieu of tax money and last night his office announced that Lifespan would be giving the city $800,000 a year. That, and the City Council passed his pension overhaul last night. Not a bad run for the Mayor, says Ian Donnis.

“We get tired of announcing this is the worst year for homelessness ever.”

House Republicans would kick nearly 300,000 poor children out of the school lunch program and 1.5 million people off of food stamps to protect tax cuts to the rich. Of course there is class warfare going on … an op/ed in today’s Providence Journal rightly puts the blame for it on the GOP.

So far, the General Assembly has passed no new environmental bills this legislative session.

Congressman Jim Langevin joins the calls for keeping student loan interest rates low.

We could have told you this long ago but we’re glad a panel from Parliament now agrees that Rupert Murdoch is unfit to lead a multinational media company.

This page may be updated throughout the day. Click HERE for an archive of the RI Progress Report.

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