In a surprising move that really shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows him, Gov Chafee has decided to take the Jason Pleau case all the way to the US Supreme Court, if they will hear it. While talk radio, and even the Pleau family, may not agree with this decision, taking a case to the SCOTUS is not about either politics or individuals – it’s about interpreting the law, and in this case the relationship between states and the federal government. We love the way this case has right wing talk radio hosts arguing against state’s rights … so much for the conservative principles of our on air personalities. Chafee, on the other hand, has such principles in spades, and often to his political detriment.
By the way, the New York Times editorial board, far superior constitutional scholars than this state’s on air shock jocks, argues Chafee has a strong case in a piece titled Rhode Island’s Principled Stand.
With state budget season just around the corner (legislators are starting to talk about how certain bills are serving as tea leaves for the impending spending proposal) Ted Nesi posts on the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities guidelines for state budget during a down economy. Many good ideas in there.
The line of the day comes from Linda Borg, of the Projo, who writes: “Now you can buy a Barrington education.” (Though you always could, if you could afford real estate there) Her article is about how the town with the best test scores in the state will now allow a small amount of students to pay tuition to go to school there. This will prove to be disastrous public policy for Rhode Island. Instead of allowing the affluent to pay for a top tier public education, the state should step in to ensure that all students get a good education regardless of how much money their parent’s home costs.
Like Senator Reed, Anthony Gemma now supports marriage equality, too. Even more so than Reed, Gemma’s announcement reeks of political opportunism -he’s a socially conservative Catholic who happens to be running against an openly gay incumbent. But we enjoyed his statement: “This is not a question of being a liberal, a progressive, or a conservative.” Well, yes it is, but as the old saying goes, where you stand depends on where you sit.