News, Weather and Classifieds for Southern New England
Interestingly, we all seem to agree that delegating pension reform to then-treasurer-now-Governor Gina Raimondo served the reform effort well but didn’t serve Chafee well. This is, for some odd reason, known as a loss in politics.
]]>Nostalgia aside, it’s hard to resist the allure of watching the next generation play in downtown Providence. I could take the train up from Wickford, stop downtown for dinner and then watch the sunset on the water from the cheap seats while young adults play a kids game, vying for spots in my memories. It sounds idyllic, and very easy to confuse with economic development.
Rhode Island’s economic needs really have very little to do with where the Red Sox AAA affiliate will play their future home games. That privilege goes to Mr. James Skeffington and the new PawSox ownership group. At the end of the day, those very successful businessmen will be locating the team where they can make the most money – and that has much more to do with where I’d like to watch a baseball game than what’s best for the state’s economy.
]]>Blaming organized labor for getting rid of Gist is like blaming vaccines for getting rid of the measles. There’s always a few that think the solution to a problem is a bigger problem than the problem.
As Brien, a Woonsocket native, a lawyer and a parent, blames teachers and their unions, his hometown school district sued Gist and the state for not ensuring an adequate education. Meanwhile, during Gist’s tenure in Rhode Island, the graduation rate in Woonsocket dropped 6 percent – from 64 percent of high school seniors in 2009 to 58 percent of high school seniors in 2013.
]]>“Don’t underestimate the importance of the Democratic primary,” said Bell in closing. “We’re going to have a fresh face and someone who can beat Cianci.”
]]>“In a given circumstance, perhaps they should” form a union, Katz said and said the way they have been treated is “garbage from [employers].”
Katz deserves a lot of credit for this admission. Richard MacAdams, one of the board members for the vehemently anti-union political advocacy group he works for, is also on the chief legal counsel for the Procaccianti Group. I respect Katz for speaking his truth on this issue for the same reasons I respect the fired Hilton Providence workers for speaking theirs.
But, as per every episode, we also had some disagreement. Katz would prefer the invisible hand of the free market create better working conditions for the Hilton employees.
“What I don’t like the union union debate the way it sets it up unions have power to counteract business power,” he said. “If a company isn’t valuing its workers then that’s a problem with the company and we have to create an economic environment in which they suffer for that.”
In theory, everyone agrees I suppose. But from a practical point of view, unfettered capitalism simply doesn’t have an effective way to compel a multinational holdings company to pay poor people a living wage without workers organizing and making a stink about it.
]]>This week we debated whether Obamacare is working (guess who suggested this topic!) and Katz articulates well where we agree on health care policy:
“What government is there to do is to say if you need help this is what these programs are set up to do,” he said. “If you need help this is a place you can go to find help.”
But he thinks the government-funded advertisements are going too far. I don’t. Especially given that conservatives like Katz are actively trying to subterfuge the program with their own ads and commercials. But leaving that aside, austerity by way of information asymmetry is a truly perverse political assertion.
Me: “I honestly think it’s unconscionable to try to keep that information from people. That’s not a cool way to save money.
Justin: “Taking people’s money to give it away to people who didn’t know they needed it is not conscionable.”
Watch the video to hear how loud Katz bangs on the table as he talks!
]]>But one quick clarification first, Katz says “guns are not designed to be used in crime.” True, but they are designed to cause violence. And that’s why the sale of them should help prevent violence.
News, Weather and Classifieds for Southern New England
But back to the interesting philosophical divide though: Katz says the intent of taxes is to infringe. I think he’s wrong about that. And my great fear is that he knows it, but he is going on TV and the internet and purposefully lying about this as a means to an end: to convince the public to shrink government. (More likely is that he’s just become so entrenched in his cause that he’s not able to see the other side of the coin clearly.)
At the end, he explains how he thinks government works: “This is the problem with government and progressive policies in general. You’re not saying hey this is a good thing, let’s feed people, let’s get people jobs, let’s protect people from guns. You’re saying this is my priority I’m going to take your money and give it people I know and trust to do things I want done. That’s not the way the country is supposed to work.”
Progressives certainly are saying the first part that. Our government is too but it can defend itself (if it wants to). As for the latter part of his statement, he’s just got his pronoun wrong. Here’s the corrected quote of how our government actually works:
“We are going to take our money and give it to people we known and trust to do the things we want done.”
]]>I do think the tea party has an outsized influence on state politics and public debate. (They have their own radio station, for crying out loud!) I also think Rhode Island gave austerity a pretty fair shake and it hasn’t served us very well.
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