This belief has always borne little relation to reality. Guns are a rare issue where we have decent Rhode Island polling. According to well-regarded national pollster PPP, the people of Rhode Island favor an assault weapons ban by a 37-point margin—ten points more than Obama carried this state by. Although Obama lost two state House seats, he lost them by less than ten points, and he won every single state Senate seat. Most likely, every single member of the General Assembly represents a district that supports an assault weapons ban.
Taken in November, a Projo/WPRI poll paints the same picture. By an extremely narrow margin, even Ocean State Republicans are more likely to say our gun laws do not go far enough than go too far. When Independents and Democrats are included, “not far enough” beats “go too far” by a much larger margin of 35 points. Given that the pollster, Fleming and Associates, is notoriously conservative, these numbers are probably soft. (They missed the race between David Cicilline and Brendan Doherty by 11 points.)
Because the real election for most seats in Rhode Island is the Democratic primary, these numbers heavily underestimate just how politically silly it is to oppose gun safety legislation. Among Democrats, support for an assault weapons ban is an absolutely brutal 86%-9%. By a nearly identical margin of 87%-8%, Rhode Island Democrats are more likely to trust Barack Obama on guns than the NRA. Yet the entire top Democratic leadership of the General Assembly—House Speaker Gordon Fox, Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed, House Majority Leader Nick Mattiello, and Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio—each took thousands of dollars from the NRA. (The NRA’s Rhode Island PAC recently shut down in response to a campaign finance complaint I filed.)
Despite all the evidence, the conventional wisdom on Smith Hill is still that there is a political price to be paid for supporting reform. Probably because the gun people are so loud, far too many Democrats still doggedly believe that their districts oppose reform. The people of Exeter proved them wrong.
Exeter is hardly favorably turf for gun safety advocates. Obama only won the town by six points. As one of the most rural parts of the state, one might think it would have a relatively high rate of gun ownership. This was an off-cycle election, where the NRA’s famed organizing muscle would play to the best advantage. And most importantly, this was a general election not dominated by the more liberal Democratic primary electorate. Yet we still won convincingly. Exeter voters defeated the recall 63%-37%.
If we can win on the gun issue in a general election in Exeter, we should be able to easily win on this issue in a Democratic primary in, say, Warwick. Senator Michael McCaffrey, take notice.
]]>Over 800,000 Walmart “associates” work for wages that keep them well below the poverty line. Walmart, like many other national retail and fast food corporations, encourages their employees to make up their wage gap by applying for public assistance, meaning that taxpayers to help subsidize these corporations through SNAP and other government assistance programs. The money Walmart saves in underpaying their employees is used, as part of a vicious cycle, to directly lobby Congress to pass laws that benefit Walmart, at the expense of everyone else.
Walmart made $17 billion in profit last year, but it is estimated that each 300-employee Walmart superstore coasts taxpayers about $1,000,000 in public assistance programs. With 4,135 stores in the United States, and more opening seemingly every week, well, you do the math.
What is clear is that Walmart could more than afford to pay it’s employees a living wage, not raise prices by so much as a penny and still make billions in profits.
In addition to advocating for fair wages, the protesters also wanted to remind shoppers that shopping locally, at small businesses, is better for our local economy. Occupy Providence calls this a Solidarity Economy, and the concept is simple: “By refusing to shop at Walmart and shopping locally, Rhode Islanders’ money can stay here in Rhode Island, growing our local economy with better jobs that can help feed and support Rhode Island families.”
Absent from today’s protest were any current Walmart employees. Given that current employee protesters across the country may face harassment and arrest, never mind the prospect of losing out on wages, desirable shifts or even their jobs, this is not surprising. One man, a Rhode Island College student and former Walmart employee, did arrive at the protest. Not only did he agree with all the goals of the protesters, he assured those in attendance that every Walmart employee he knows feels the same way.
The employees at Walmart know they are getting a raw deal, and if they had options, they would take them. Unfortunately, the game is rigged against them, and its up to all of us to change the rules.
]]>“As far as we are aware, the Board of Elections has yet to issue a formal ruling, but we view this move as confirmation of the seriousness of the violations we have alleged,” Bell said in an email. “We hope that the Board will issue appropriate fines after a thorough and complete investigation.”
According to records, the NRA Political Victory Fund dissolved on September 26. In September the RI Progressive Democrats filed a complaint alleging that the local NRA PAC is lying on campaign disclosure forms when it claims to have received at least 1,500 donations of $100 or less.
Ric Thonton, who oversees campaign finance matters for the Board of Elections, said he could neither confirm nor comment on investigations. But he did say, “the dissolution of a PAC does not prevent it from being investigated.”
Rhode Island isn’t known as a hotbed of gun rights, but it has been a hotbed of gun politics lately. Republicans were embarrassed for raffling off an assault rifle at a gun club fundraiser and Exeter Town Councilors are facing a recall election for outsourcing handgun permitting to the state police. Meanwhile, both Providence and the state are divesting from investments in guns.
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It’s one small road trip for fans of MLK and equality, and hopefully the beginning of a longer journey for the Providence NAACP and the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, who – whether working collaboratively or not – are united in wanting to see King’s dream become a reality in Rhode Island and elsewhere.
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