Bill Rappleye, Jon Brien and I discuss on NBC10 Wingmen:
Correction on my part: Jon Brien isn’t a nativist for calling undocumented immigrants “illegals” – he’s committing a nativist act.
Debating a proposed gas-fired power plant in Burrillville, Jon Brien says the United States will never ween itself off fossil fuels. I say he would have discouraged the Wright brothers from trying to fly on this week’s segment of NBC 10 Wingmen.
Sheldon Whitehouse was Bill Rappleye’s guest, who said it would be wrong to say he supports the proposed fossil fuel power plant. More on this later, if I can get the video from NBC10.
]]>Brien was all over the place, and having a tough time coming to terms with his “small government except for abortion” views. Guess what John Brien? You sound pro-choice.
RI Future’s Bob Plain just had to let Brien talk to win the day.
Bob and Bill Rappleye spend most of the episode getting Brien back onto the subject.
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There’s so much to criticize about the 38 Studios disaster. The concentrated power of the speaker of the House. The unwillingness of rank and file legislators, a supposedly very pro-business Republican governor and some of the most respected local business leaders of this generation to challenge – or even question – that power. Michael Corso’s business model. The list is long.
Bill Rappleye, Jon Brien and I chose to discuss on NBC10 Wingmen the future of economic development in the wake of the worst investment the Ocean State will hopefully ever make.
I say state’s need to ween themselves off the practice of paying businesses to relocate or stay in place. To my mind, this is a legal form of extortion that businesses use to increase their profit margin at the expense of the rest of society. Jon and Bill both think the idea of ending tax breaks is inconceivable, but I counter that CVS’s decision to stop selling tobacco products is evidence that big business is starting to learn that social justice and a moral compass have value in the marketplace as well.
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We set out to talk about the GOP debate. But Jon Brien, Bill Rappleye and I ended up discussing the angst that American’s are feeling about our political system on this week’s NBC10 Wingmen episode.
I contend that at least some of that angst is the result of talking heads, operatives, politicians and – yes, Donald Trump – misleading the American people about the issues.
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Governor Gina Raimondo would like to expand the Commerce Corporation and shrink Medicaid. Perhaps only in Rhode Island is such a political actor also a Democrat.
To her credit, she also seems committed to raising the minimum wage and increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit. But she’s not really using any of her enormous political capital – gained through hurting unions, mind you – on anything aligned with the national Democratic agenda of tackling income inequality and ending poverty. This is traditionally how left-leaning thinkers would focus on jobs and the economy.
This is why conservatives like Jon Brien tend to support her and progressives like me tend not to.
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What’s so bad about Medicaid consuming 30 percent of the state budget? Caring for anyone is expensive, and the indigent are certainly no exception. My question is how did we reduce the care and welfare of our most vulnerable neighbors down to a mere 30 percent of overall state spending.
And what’s so bad about having the second highest Medicaid enrolee costs in the country? Don’t we want the enrollees to enjoy good benefits? If so, and I think that’s a major league if, wouldn’t the more actionable number be the cost per resident, or per taxpayer? In total Medicaid spending, RI is the 13th lowest in the nation.
Putting aside the proposed Medicaid cuts and potential efficiencies, which Bill Rappleye discusses with Health Secretary Elizabeth Roberts, Jon Brien and I debate how Rhode Island debated reinventing Medicaid on the most recent edition of NBC10 Wingmen:
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