In The Dugout: DOH Whistleblower On Media Lockout
Mike Stenhouse brings Lisa Camuso back on the show to talk about how pervasively the Rhode Island media is ignoring her story of problems at the state Department of Health.
The COVID Story’s Focus Isn’t Where It Should Be for a Free People
The narratives around COVID-19 may make for an easier and more-fun story to write, but they aren’t what we should demand as a free and independent people… unless that’s not what we are anymore.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Muted Independence
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for July 6, included talk about:
- Phase 3
- Lack of budget
- The secret consultant
- Nursing home problems
- Not a real Bristol parade
- RI schools’ future
- Lt. Gov. McKee tries an online petition
I’ll be on again Monday, July 13, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Raining Consultants
Politics This Week with John DePetro: In Hopes of a Backlash
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for June 22, included talk about:
- Columbus comes down
- “Providence Plantations” gets covered up
- Rhode Island races to watch
- Stanton shows the journalists’ condescension
I’ll be on again Monday, July 6, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Whistleblower HR Meeting Just the Start
Department of Health employee Lisa Camuso provides an update after her Wednesday meeting with Dept. of Health and Dept. of Administration officials related to her appearance on In the Dugout with Mike Stenhouse.
DOH “Whistle-Blower” Summoned to Ominous HR Meeting
An RI Department of Health employee fears retaliation as she’s ordered to attend a meeting with multiple state officials after going public with concerns about nursing home oversight during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Retroactive Blessing for Local Dictatorship
Part of the explanation for why new legislation retroactively blesses anything local chief executives have done to change their budget processes can be found in the East Bay.
Session-Winding Chaos
In the Dugout: John Cianci, Veterans Advocate Raises Alarm Bells About RI DOH
About “Defunding the Police” in Rhode Island…
Without commenting on the substance of any particular policy proposal, it can be noted that, in the state of Rhode Island, the number of sworn officers on a police force is frequently determined by the police union contract. This seems to be the case in Providence, according to a Projo article by Mark Reynolds…
The tentative agreement with the Providence lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police also includes some new language on staffing levels. The language basically requires the city to maintain a staffing level of at least 435 positions. If staffing falls below that level, the city would compensate officers with additional sick days.
So whatever “defund the police” means in a Rhode Island context, will it mean that the local police union has to directly approve any major policy and budgeting shifts covered by their contract, or will the powers-that-be in Rhode Island come around to challenging the idea that major public policy changes can be vetoed by an organization not democratically selected by the people?
And if it is the latter, will there be an explanation of why police unions are different from other public-sector unions?
It has been argued in this space that allowing union contracts to be a major constraint on state and municipal government decision-making creates a democratic accountability problem, but many Rhode Island leaders were content to ignore this, when they could pretend the issues were mostly fiscal and could be reduced to choices between cuts to existing programs and tax-increases. Well, the issues around policing that government must address right now are much bigger than fiscal ones, and the problems of dealing with them with less-than-democratic governing structures can no longer be ignored.
A Week Later, Still Inclined to Dissolve the Ethics Commission
A suggestion to dissolve the Ethics Commission has not faded after a week of consideration.
Final Nail in RI’s Ethics Coffin
After this morning’s whiplash from the Ethics Commission regarding an obvious revolving door setup of a state senator to the state’s highest court, perhaps it’s time to disband the agency.
In the Dugout: Explosive Nursing Home & COVID-19 Claims by RI DOH Whistleblower
How the State Should Address Its Budget Challenges
A short new report from the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity suggests that Rhode Island can take its current setback as an opportunity to plan for a better future.
Age Differences in Effects and Treatments and Games with Models, 5/28/20
COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates are revealing when looked at by age group, especially with respect to government’s approach to the crisis.
Coming Out of the COVID Shadows
The (possibly related) stories about disproportionate COVID-19 cases among Hispanics and COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes fall in a range of topics about which we’re not allowed to have straightforward discussions, and that’s a dangerous problem.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Pockets of Rebellion
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for May 18, included talk about:
- Providence College kids rebel
- The Catholic bishop sends the governor a message
- Narragansett Town Council considers resistance
- Justice Flanders signals a challenge
- Rally-goers take up the call
- A delay of Phase 2 reopening
- The teachers’ union flexes in Tiverton
I’ll be on again Monday, May 25, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
We Want Our Summer Back!
For many Rhode Islanders, summer is our defining time of year; it’s the plug that recharges our batteries and motivates us to make it through another year in our challenging state. The governor needs to know what that is worth to you.
The Top Story You’re Not Hearing About
In the Dugout: Grace Morgan of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Management Follies
In the Dugout: RI DEM Head’s Scheme for Revenue in “Climate Change” Lawsuit
Daily Frustration and Update, 4/29/20
Daily Update, 4/28/20
Daily Update, 4/27/20
In the Dugout Talking COVID-19
Is the cure worse than the disease? Research Director Justin Katz of the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity joins CEO Stenhouse on in “In The Dugout” to discuss the coronavirus crisis in RI. Katz is also the managing editor of the Ocean State Current, an he offers an analysis of the data of Governor Gina Raimondo’s data.
Deeper into the Model That Started It All
Looked at more closely, the Imperial College epidemiological model whose frightening projections set our current reaction in motion
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Decision Time!
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 13, included talk about:
- The governor’s handling of the virus crisis
- The silence from everybody else
- The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity’s suggestions
- The decisions facing the governor and the people of RI
I’ll be on again Monday, April 20, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Social Distancing Between States: RI Arrests Massachusetts Golfers
Welcome to the world of social distancing. As a person-to-person strategy to slow a contagion, it’s absolutely reasonable, but it’s starting to sound like an ominous act by government to tear us apart.
Meet three golfers trying to walk the line between their state of Massachusetts, which closed golf courses, and the neighboring state of Rhode Island, which closed the state to outsiders who can’t quarantine for 14 days:
An Attleboro man and his two golfing partners are being charged with playing a round in Rhode Island in violation of a ban on people coming into the state for nonwork-related reasons. …
They were apprehended at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, where police say the men changed cars to drive to the course in a vehicle with Rhode Island license plates.
Taunton and Attleboro, where the men are from, are part of the regular lives of Rhode Islanders. The quarantine restrictions don’t apply to Rhode Islanders who travel across the border or to people heading in either direction for work. In this case, the three of them came to Rhode Island to give a local business some money and to walk around a giant outdoor lawn for a few hours.
Perhaps in our current environment this outcome is a matter for reasonable debate (although some would surely say no debate is allowed and I’m wrong), but this seems to me to be an indication that we’re beyond the reasonable line.