Are you sick of living in an anointed dictatorship?

Every year the General Assembly rolls out some boneheaded decisions that we get to live with. This year “The Most Powerful Politician in the State” lost control of the wheel, declaring that the General Assembly had reached a “point of no return” and had to stay up all night blindly passing bills.

Why our legislators put up with giving up their power, swearing fealty and kissing the ring of anyone is beyond my ken.

Here’s a brief look at some of the foolishness…

$7.8 million in tax breaks for Ocean State Job Lot

The short version: because of the impending and yet unimplemented because there’s an election coming truck toll tax that will put a blight of gantries across our state, we taxpayers just gave Job Lot a whole bunch of money to stay put. This includes a $3.2 million job creation package over 10 years that gives Job Lot $7,500/year per new employee hired. Tat works out to $625/month per employee per job that we’re paying to create jobs. Whoo hoo! Let’s grow the economy. By the way, with a population of about 1 million, that means we’re each paying $7 to Job Lot, whether we shop there or not.

Beach Pass Cost Cuts

Who doesn’t like going to the beach and spending less money? Me—if the money from the beach passes was going to make sure that the beaches were kept pristine and beautiful, and to pay the life guards and crews. Yes, it’s nice to pay only $30 as a resident, but the fact that the law doesn’t take effect immediately means that the DEM had to come up with a whole “Season Pass Credit” refund procedure.

Even worse, we lowered the seasonal beach pass for out of state folk from $120 to $60 and the daily rate for tourists dropped from $28 to $14. Really? You mean that having tourists pay less to go to our awesome beaches is a good thing? Anyone who’d rather save $14 than go to East Matunuck deserves a beach vacation in Connecticut. Are we trying to curry favor with the cheapskate tourists?

$100,000 to Protect Mattiello’s Interests

Yes, $100,000 of our tax dollars are going to fight an ACLU Lawsuit which argues that prisoners at the ACI shouldn’t count as voters in Mattiello’s district, because they can’t vote there. In other words, our Anointed Dictator, who has amassed a huge campaign war chest because he’s such a great guy, actually needs fewer votes to get elected than every other legislator in the state.

Providence to Newport Ferry… Starting… NOW!

All of a sudden it seems that there’s going to be a Providence to Newport Ferry. This year. Starting  July 1 the 45-60 minute trip will cost $10 each way and $20 round trip. This is very, very cool.

What’s a little bit odd, in my opinion, is that we’re taking $500,000 in funding from the US Department of Transportation, passing it through the RI DOT, and paying the Seastreak company to run the service. Are any profits from the service (and its bar) rolling back into to the state coffers? According to the Providence Journal, the state hasn’t set any ridership targets, so we won’t know if it’s successful or not.

In a state that’s trying to promote tourism, having this information out and available when tourists began making plans in say February or even June would have been a nifty idea. The website wasn’t even up last week, but now it says that there’s going to be “Complimentary shuttle bus service between the Providence train station, convention center, downtown, and the Providence to Newport ferry terminal.” Also, the last ferry leaves Providence at 6pm or Newport at 7:15, so nobody’s going to be staying for dinner…

It’s a nice idea, but the last-minute execution could be cooler. Or warmer.

Halloween, Providence

It was supposed to be an ordinary film shoot. Ordinary, that is, if you’re filming the third installment of a horror movie franchise. The corridors were already prepped with squibs and blood bags. The climactic chase through the Rhode Island State House’s rotunda was choreographed. The cast and crew were just waiting for the director to shout, “Action.”

Then, a tour group of elementary school kids, costumed for Halloween wandered into the set, and all hell broke loose.

Anarchy in the Legislature

Why the Rhode Island General Assembly agreed to rent the historic State House to the producers of The Purge 3 is anyone’s guess. Perhaps the theme of the movie, 12 hours when all laws are suspended, appealed to the sense of humor of a body whose House Speakers regularly resign in disgrace. Perhaps it was a way to pay off part of the 38 Studios debt. Perhaps no one thought to tell them that it was both disrespectful and tacky to allow Hollywood to film a bloodbath there.

Certainly no one could predict that the combination of a fictional premise, a Halloween tour, and a disgruntled ex-union employee would create a real-life horrorshow.

At seven o’clock, a group of twenty-seven children and parents were leaving the offices of House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello.

Approximately seven minutes earlier, a retired teacher who had moonlighted as both a firefighter and police officer took position at the top of the stairs with a sign that read, “Give me back my pension”.

The film makers were supposed to wait until eight o’clock to start.

“The light was perfect,” said one crew member. “It was coming in through a window, and we knew that it would look great.”

Someone shouted, “Action!”

Then the madness began. Smoke. Explosions. Masked actors armed with fake guns mingled with terrified masked children.

And an ex-cop/teacher/firefighter didn’t know that they were supposed to be filming a movie.

“I don’t know how he got that gun in here,” said one of the State Capitol security guards. “Maybe it was one of those new plastic ones.”

The retiree opened fire, trying to protect the children. Several extras on the set realized that the ammunition was live, and reloaded their magazines with real bullets. Meanwhile the Capitol Police drew their own weapons and began returning fire.

In fifteen minutes, while cameras rolled, reality and fiction merged.

When it was over, bystanders said that it was a miracle no one was seriously injured. There were several arrests, and police herded the panicked children and their parents to safety.

The only casualty was the self-respect of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The dream of Roger Williams, lay bloodied on the floor.

The Purge 3 will be released in July 2016.

Keeping in mind that the speaker is not elected to his office by the citizens, but anointed by his peers, it is disturbing to read the news blips that report “progress” in the negotiations around a new PawSox stadium.

As we all know, the team, which has lost 80 of the 129 games it’s played (as of this writing), made a pitch to take over prime state-owned real estate in downtown Providence.

Claiming that McCoy Stadium, which was also subsidized by the citizens, was beyond repair, the Sox asked for an audacious blend of tax breaks, zoning variances and a huge subsidy—or else they might be forced leave Rhode Island.

This blend of corporate welfare and blackmail was greeted with loud disdain by voters on both sides of the (lopsided) aisle.

In short, the Sox struck out, and most of us went on vacation—although not on a paid junket to Durham —glad to see the end of the deal.

Now, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello claims to be “very close” to an agreement—even though terms have not been publicly announced.

Really? Simply by making this announcement, Mattiello has lost an edge as a negotiator. So already, I can predict that no matter how much the terms of this “deal” have changed, it will still be sweet for the Sox.

The land that the speaker and the Sox want to blight is currently designated as open for space stormwater mitigation and parkland for citizens and taxpayers to enjoy.

The politicians are afraid that if they don’t “do something” then they will be excoriated for “losing the Sox” and faulted for not creating jobs.

But if it is bulldozed through the legislature, what will a stadium really offer Rhode Island? A short-term construction boom, a handful of seasonal minimum wage part time jobs, a seasonal sports and entertainment complex on prime real estate in the heart of the city, decreased parkland, increased traffic congestion and parking challenges on game days, and tax dollars funneled to a for-profit organization.

How is it possible that Mattiello and his happy team of yes-men-and-women forgot the last time that Rhode Island subsidized a baseball player’s dream?

It’s time to call game over at 38 Stadium on account of faulty rainmaking.

“This will be a world-class capture and processing facility,” said House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello. “First came the Jewelry District, then the Knowledge District, then the BioMed district, then the ProvSox Stadium, and now we’re getting ready to break ground on the Magical Thinking District.”

The unicorns were first mentioned in an earth-shattering front page Providence Journal story, “Have you seen Providence’s missing unicorn?” While on the surface it seems plausible that the so-called missing unicorns are part of a nation-wide arts project, the truth is much darker.

“It’s a corral,” said a secret informant who preferred to be known as Deep Horn. “They’re planning on rounding up these unicorns and using them for medical experimentation. If you see a unicorn, don’t call that number! You’ll be consigning these beautiful creatures to a brief life of captivity, torture and ultimately vivisection!”

“Unicorns don’t exist, they’re like pensions,” said Governor Gina Raimondo, dismissing the allegations. “And if they did exist, then they would be a natural resource, like park land, that we can use to exploit and create jobs. Jobs for people! Jobs I say!”

“When businesses benefit, everyone benefits,” said Mike Stenhouse, who seems to be mentioned in every edition of the Providence Journal these days. “When we take $40 million from taxpayers and help corporations create new products using unicorn horns, that’s money that we can’t be spending on doing frivolous things like reducing classroom size or paying for preschools.”

“I used to shoe horses,” said former Governor and possible White House candidate Lincoln Chafee. “I’d love to shoe a unicorn! But I’ve got about as much chance of doing that as I have in a presidential primary.”

Our goal could be to intentionally make our small state an expensive place to do business in, but make it worth every penny.

For every dollar in taxes paid, our citizens would reap benefits. The purpose of commerce is to support the people, not the reverse.

How could this come about?

It begins with the governor, speaker and senate president declaring that no longer will our state subsidize and pander to business.

Instead, we will insist that corporations, like citizens, contribute to the well being of our communities.

No longer will we bribe businesses with cash and tax cuts. Our government will take its share and use it wisely.

Money will be spent on those things that Government can do well, when it is not gasping for cash: improve the roads, build statewide infrastructures, contribute to the education of its citizens, protect our environment, and provide for public safety.

Our polity cannot predict or gamble on the industries of the future. Likewise, we must not allow ourselves to be cowed into beggardom by greedy national and international corporations.

We are a small and lovely state in a prime location on the East Coast. We have the wealth of the sea at our doorstep. Because of past failures, we are severely undervalued, yet those of us who have lived here for a long time know that this truly is a marvelous place, a home to live in for an entire life.

Of course there are problems in our body politic. No human system is perfect, but it is insane to funnel millions from taxpayers into for-profit businesses, or to cut taxes for large corporations to “encourage growth” or “attract jobs”. The wealthy have learned that the threat of scarcity prods politicians to fork over money from citizens. Failures are rarely blamed on the businesses, which have banked their gold, but on the politicians.

Rhode Island will never thrive if we depend on companies that require payoffs and “incentives.” It is illegal for a United States citizen to pay bribes in other countries, but here in Rhode Island campaign contributions and bills that grease a bottom line are considered legal and even necessary.

It is no longer acceptable.

The spigot from gambling is about to thin as more casinos open nearby. We cannot afford to give a single dollar to underwrite someone else’s profit margin. Our government is notoriously bad at picking “winners.”

We must begin tooting our horn, not in our own backyard, but around the world. We have natural beauty, localized industry, centers of higher education, a diverse population, and restaurants and arts that are world-class. No more government handouts for businesses. No more racing to the bottom to underbid our wealthy neighbors.

We will point to our resources: citizens who are eager for work, a coastline that inspires, deep water ports, real estate that is reasonably priced, and a long history of innovation in design, education, manufacturing and reinvention.

We will loudly disavow the efforts of the one percent to leach off the work of the average citizen, while simultaneously nullifying the powers of government to improve the common lot.

Our state can willingly offer companies an easier path to regulation and licensing, modification to roads, worker-training schemes in community colleges. We can rebuild our urban schools so that companies can feel comfortable knowing that their workers can accept reasonable wages and send their children to public schools.

We can acknowledge the shifts that climate change and global warming are likely to bring, and plan future building and growth carefully.

These changes will not see a quick stampede of business toward our shores.

Given our history of corruption, it will take time for them to believe. During that time, our government will have no choice but to learn to do more with less, to increase efficiency and eliminate redundancy and waste. We must continue to protect those who have little, and resist the idea that poverty is sin and an inescapable trap. We must teach our children for their benefit, not for the profit of an increasingly corporate education industry. We can encourage our existing small businesses to grow with confidence knowing that they’re getting the same fair treatment as the giants.

We only need to stop begging and bribing and change our philosophy.

Our new slogan could simply be, “Rhode Island: you want to be here.”

Now we must work to make it so.

©2015 by Mark Binder
393 Morris Avenue
Providence, RI 02906
(401) 272-8707
mark@markbinder.com

I really wanted to write a satire, but I just can’t get any more absurd than entire tax-payer-subsidy of a baseball stadium downtown.

A bunch of rich white guys bought some baseball cards… er baseball slaves… er a baseball team… and they want us to cover their costs so they can take their clients and grandkids to a game.

Let’s just look at the facts behind a few assertions.

The team is taking a risk building it’s 38 Studios Stadium… Bullshit!

“We shouldn’t be taxed on something we put the money into,”
— James Skeffington owner of the In-Our-PocketSox

Really, James? Why not? Isn’t risk what private ownership is all about? You’re not taking any risk. You want…

• $4 million a year in kickbacks. (offset by a theoretical $2 million in tax revenue)
• a 30 year tax-free lease at $1/year on prime land in the center of Providence. Wait…. 30 years? No property taxes for Providence… Isn’t the team already threatening to welch on a tax-free lease in Pawtucket?
• The option to buy the land at fair market value after the lease expires. Hmmm. Let’s think about this. 30 years from now, after everything’s developed. They’ll argue that they have to pay to tear down the stadium to develop that piece of land, so… it’s not worth that much. And if they ditch again, guess who foots the bill for deconstruction?
• Has anyone mentioned the “naming rights” to this stadium? I can see a big jewelry  company kicking in a few million dollars… Who gets this cash?

What risk are you taking? Fronting the money knowing that you’re going to get paid? I’ll tell you what… You promise to pay me $4 million a year, and I’ll give you $2 million a year. I promise!

Economic benefits for owners… And no one else

• Yes. People will get paid for construction.
• And politicians will get campaign contributions and photo-ops
• But raise your hands folks… how many of you have ever made a special trip to a minor-league ball game? Haven’t people been doing that at a lovely stadium in Pawtucket for years now? How much economic impact has that had? (Answer: NOT MUCH outside of Pawtucket)
• On February 21, The Providence Journal ran an article headlined, “Minor league baseball: Squeezed by low pay” Here’s a quote from the article, “It would be difficult to spin the numbers in any way that suggests minor-league baseball players earn minimum wage.”
• On April 17, that same paper ran an article, “Playing for free at McCoy Stadium rankles some bands” The PawSox are too cheap to pay bands to play. Hotdogs and soda? And they have to provide their own sound systems? Really?

If we don’t give them the money then the land will be empty and Rhode Island will go bankrupt…

• As I recall, this public land was supposed to be a public park. It wasn’t supposed to be the economic savior of the entire State.
• While empty land generates no revenue, it costs little to maintain and remains open for a real opportunity in the future.
• Future uses for the land could be:
  • Taxable
  • A benefit to the public
  • Open more than a few hours a day.
  • Useable in the winter time (which is fairly long…)
  • Useable without the permission of a private corporation.
  • Etc.

If we don’t bribe the team now, then there are plenty of other cities that will…

Bye bye. Good luck. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Starting next week, the new name will be “The State of Alex and Ani and Providence Plantations.” The Department of Motor Vehicles will be issuing new license plates with a choice of four collectible bangles, including Quahog-Contentness, Coffee-Milk Celebration, and Anchor of Hope.

“I don’t think of this as a bailout,” said Raimondo. “It’s an investment opportunity, with a little bit of bling!”

Although the exact terms of the deal remain classified as a “business secret,” Raimondo assured the public, “This is a very sweet deal. They’ve purchased all our debt in exchange for the right to collect tolls, raise taxes, teach color and chakra theory in schools, and require people to assemble jewelry in exchange for their unemployment benefits.”

In an early morning ceremony at the State House, House Speaker Nicholas Matiello, and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed were each presented with empty charm necklaces with plenty of room for contributions from lobbyists and special interests. “We are looking forward to jerking the governor’s chain,” said Mattiello.

“Historically, Rhode Island was the costume jewelry capital of the world,” explained Brown University Professor Dr. I.M. Fulaship. “Now the costume jewelry has retaken the capital and the entire state.”

Not all schools even know about the form. There was confusion at the front offices of several schools. At one, I was told, the guidance department hadn’t heard anything about an opt-out program. Another administrator said that they would “talk to the parent and find out why… and then contact my supervisor.”

At other schools, workers were specifically told NOT to publicize it. However, in order to make sure that all the paperwork is handled, they were told to have parents sign the forms to release their children. While I understand the CYA attitude, keeping the forms secret is yet another signal that there is something seriously wrong with the testing industry. If nothing else, the form is designed to slow and intimidate parents who might otherwise opt-out.

PARCC testing will be running for five days between 85 and 120 minutes per day at the Middle School level. Not only does this eat up at least 7.5 teaching hours. Additionally, the lengths of each tests are irregular, making planning and logistics nearly unmanageable.

At Classical High School, although only ninth and tenth graders will be taking the PARCC tests, eleventh and twelfth graders have a late arrival time of 10:30, losing each of those students a total of 10 hours of class time. Hope and Mt. Pleasant High Schools will be operating on a regular schedule.

In a YouTube video, Lori B. McEwen, Ph.D., Chief of Instruction, Leadership and Equity for PPSD said that PARCC was important for students to graduate college-ready. She also said that parents will be informed about the testing schedule. As a parent with students in the schools, I haven’t received information in a timely or useable fashion.

Yes, there are fundamental problems with public education, and demonizing standardized testing isn’t going to solve them.

However the diversion of millions of Rhode Island tax dollars to private companies combined with the abusive amount of time spent on testing students leads me to believe that it is our duty as parents and citizens to oppose them.

Civil disobedience is simple, even though Providence made it more challenging.

As it says in the form itself, “…I have the fundamental and legal right to direct the upbringing and education of my child.”

Print this out and send in with your child tomorrow. –> CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Gordon Fox is guilty, and I’m not surprised. I’m the guy who ran against the former Rhode Island speaker of the House in 2012. From the first days of our campaign, I pointed to the corruption that seems endemic in Rhode Island’s political structure.

At the time, nobody seemed to believe me. They denied it was happening. They made excuses. They said that it was just the way things are.

Many politicians who are still in office turned out to support Fox. They campaigned for him. They walked with him. They stood in front of the polls on Election Day and told voters to vote for him. They felt at the time that the status quo was better than advocating change.

The media were also complicit. During the campaign, I was faulted again and again for not being a serious politician. I was belittled for keeping my campaign grassroots and not raising a war chest. They dismissed the pay-to-play connections we drew between campaign contributions from the auto body industry and votes cast.

Our very own RI Future said that Fox was “by no means a dark force or a dirty politician. … On the contrary, he’s a good man trying to succeed in an often cutthroat business.”  RIPR’s Scott MacKay bluntly opined, “…anyone who believes that Binder can get nearly as much done for the capital city as Fox,  arguably the state’s most powerful politician, must believe that elephants can fly.” The pigs started flying when Fox resigned in March of 2013.

And nothing much has changed. Campaigns are still decided, by and large, by who raises the most money. Campaign contributions buy political influence in Rhode Island. Licenses are granted, tax breaks are given and issues are decided when you give contributions to the right politicians.

During the 2012 campaign, Gordon Fox lied. He lied to the press. He lied to the voters. Now he’s admitted his guilt.

He’s confessed to stealing more than $100,000 from his campaign fund, filing fraudulent tax returns, and taking a bribe for a liquor license. If you or I were charged with these offences, we would be facing decades in federal prison. Instead, he’s copped a plea in exchange for three years — one year per charge. It doesn’t seem sufficient.

In Rhode Island, voters have a bad habit of keeping people around who don’t deserve it. We brush away fault and blame, and shrug because “It’s the ways the system works.”

The system still doesn’t work for citizens and taxpayers. Since being anointed as speaker, Nicholas Mattiello has collected more than $100,000 in campaign contributions, even though he ran unopposed in the last election. Do those dollars really buy nothing?

When will this change? How will this change?

The General Assembly could police itself. It could eject members who accept campaign contributions that influence their votes. It could end the practice of late night back room deals. It could enact ethics and campaign finance reform.

We could create a smaller full-time legislature that pays members a living wage so they don’t have to be wealthy or take bribes to survive.

Will they? Probably not.

The next election is in 20 months. We need citizens to start running today for these jobs on the promise of these changes. It’s time to stop voting for the devil we know and instead look for people who are honest and true.

During a televised debate, Gordon Fox accused me of telling tall tales. I didn’t. He was the liar.

 Keep that in mind the next time you see an “amateur” taking on a pro.

– Mark Binder, Providence, March 2015

See Fox Lie…

]]> https://www.rifuture.org/dont-be-fooled-again/feed/ 2 https://www.rifuture.org/the-providence-wetsox/ https://www.rifuture.org/the-providence-wetsox/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2015 00:15:55 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=45854 Continue reading "The Providence WetSox"