Topics
City/Town Government
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
TCI Is More Intrusive Government That RI Doesn’t Need
The Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) is just another big-government attempt to manipulate the people.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Insiders Take Us All for a Ride
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 15, included talk about:
- RI bumbles another high-tech signup
- The state slides on another national ranking
- McKee & teacher jabs
- The gameshow search for a lieutenant
- The pot is almost ready
I’ll be on again Monday, March 22, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Civil Rights
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Rhody Reporter: Axe the Act – H5445
The Rhody Reporter is flabbergasted at the scope of a wildly progressive bill just passed by the RI legislature. It would cede all legislative and executive prerogative on RI carbon emissions to an unelected state commission. Mark Zaccaria explains en route to asking everyone to call the governor and beg for a veto!
Turning Government Schools into Left-Wing Advocacy Shops
The brand of “civics education” being pushed at the state and federal levels would undermine representative government across Rhode Island and the country.
Congress
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Closing Out the Year
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for December 28, included talk about:
- The Guv’s house as the new protest spot
- A whittled down RI Congressional delegation
- 2020 winners and losers
- Things to watch for in 2021
I’ll be on again Monday, January 4, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Absence of Competition… Sleaze
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for October 7, included talk about:
- The petty sleaziness behind the Jeff Britt trial
- Taking stock in Congressional races
- A turning point in COVID dictatorship
I’ll be on again Monday, October 12, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Theater of Courts and Corona
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for September 21, included talk about:
- Progressive protesters seek Senate shutdown
- COVID crackdown at Providence College
- Mail ballot application apprehension
- No bother with budget before election
- Fenton-Fung fields Mattiello’s obvious flaws
I’ll be on again Monday, September 28, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Culture & Family
URI’s Unsafe Intellectual Environment
Contrasting official statements from URI concerning controversies with its professors show a clear radical shift at the institution, and raise questions about whether Rhode Island parents can be confident in the safety and well-being of their children should they attend.
Tell Governor McKee To Veto Rhode Island’s Version Of The Green New Deal!
Take action now! Add your voice to the many thousands who have asked Governor Dan McKee to live up to his promises as an advocate for the small business community, to take decisive action to relieve businesses of excessive green mandates and to ensure our state’s long-term viability by VETOING Rhode Island’s Green New Deal.
Say NO to Radical Energy Scheme Rocketing Through The General Assembly
A full on assault against the average Rhode Island family is rocketing through the General Assembly. The Ocean State is quickly moving to put our own version of the Green New Deal into law. We need you to take action immediately to voice your opposition to it, before it is too late. Click here now to say NO to this far-left radical scheme from the land of make-believe.
This, along with the TCI Gas Tax, will paralyze our state. As we struggle to recover from the pandemic, it should be inconceivable that state lawmakers would choose NOW to consider an additional 30-40 cents per gallon gas tax increase or impose a radical, prohibitively expensive energy scheme.
Yet, the price of gasoline could soon rise (even more than it already has) if a new stealth carbon-tax scheme – the TCI Gas Tax – is implemented … a move that would necessarily increase costs on families and business, driving more people out of our state. The House of Representatives will vote on House Bill 5445 this Tuesday. This version of the state’s green new deal has already passed the RI Senate.
Even if you have contacted lawmakers already, we need you to take action again to oppose RI’s Green New Deal: Click here to contact lawmakers to say NO to the TCI Gas Tax and H5445, Rhode Island’s Green New Deal!
The simple form, once completed, will automatically send an email to the Governor and to legislative leaders telling them to reject the regional gasoline cap-and-trade scheme and RI’s Green New Deal.
Tell them today that you stand against these radical energy schemes. Thank you for taking action, and remember that your voice counts.
Economy
No Cost Projections or Means Identified to Achieve Rhode Island’s Green New Deal
The innocently named “2021 Act on Climate”, H5445, has been ominously rocketing through the General Assembly. It passed the full House on March 23 and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on it this afternoon. If it passes, it will have cleared the General Assembly and presumably be sent straight on to Governor Daniel McKee for his action within seven (ten?) days.
Informally dubbed “Rhode Island’s Green New Deal”, H5445 would mandate the reduction to zero by 2050 of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island – a goal that could only be accomplished by eliminating the use of all fossil fuels and transitioning entirely to renewable energy sources, wind and solar; i.e., from reliable, reasonably priced energy sources to intermittent, exorbitantly expensive ones. More about it here, including why the effective date of substantial implementation would be 2026, not thirty long years from now.
But perhaps we are missing something. Have proponents of the bill answered the critically important question about cost of implementation?
Tell Governor McKee To Veto Rhode Island’s Version Of The Green New Deal!
Take action now! Add your voice to the many thousands who have asked Governor Dan McKee to live up to his promises as an advocate for the small business community, to take decisive action to relieve businesses of excessive green mandates and to ensure our state’s long-term viability by VETOING Rhode Island’s Green New Deal.
Rhody Reporter: Axe the Act – H5445
The Rhody Reporter is flabbergasted at the scope of a wildly progressive bill just passed by the RI legislature. It would cede all legislative and executive prerogative on RI carbon emissions to an unelected state commission. Mark Zaccaria explains en route to asking everyone to call the governor and beg for a veto!
Education
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
URI’s Unsafe Intellectual Environment
Contrasting official statements from URI concerning controversies with its professors show a clear radical shift at the institution, and raise questions about whether Rhode Island parents can be confident in the safety and well-being of their children should they attend.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Energy & Environment
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
No Cost Projections or Means Identified to Achieve Rhode Island’s Green New Deal
The innocently named “2021 Act on Climate”, H5445, has been ominously rocketing through the General Assembly. It passed the full House on March 23 and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on it this afternoon. If it passes, it will have cleared the General Assembly and presumably be sent straight on to Governor Daniel McKee for his action within seven (ten?) days.
Informally dubbed “Rhode Island’s Green New Deal”, H5445 would mandate the reduction to zero by 2050 of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island – a goal that could only be accomplished by eliminating the use of all fossil fuels and transitioning entirely to renewable energy sources, wind and solar; i.e., from reliable, reasonably priced energy sources to intermittent, exorbitantly expensive ones. More about it here, including why the effective date of substantial implementation would be 2026, not thirty long years from now.
But perhaps we are missing something. Have proponents of the bill answered the critically important question about cost of implementation?
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Gambling
RI Craps Shoot
Political Monday with John DePetro: Many Forms of Political Performance Art
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for December 9, included talk about:
- Cicilline v. Trump
- Energy protesters at the State House
- Empty Wexford
- Sports gambling lawsuit goes forward
- Truck toll lawsuit goes forward
- The Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) tax
Political Monday with John DePetro: Hints of a Constitutional Crisis
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for November 18, included talk about:
- Raimondo fundraising as governance
- The governor sues the General Assembly
- Municipalities sue the state government
- Protestors’ liberal-meeting interruptions
- Cranston seeks investigation of another department
General Assembly
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
No Cost Projections or Means Identified to Achieve Rhode Island’s Green New Deal
The innocently named “2021 Act on Climate”, H5445, has been ominously rocketing through the General Assembly. It passed the full House on March 23 and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on it this afternoon. If it passes, it will have cleared the General Assembly and presumably be sent straight on to Governor Daniel McKee for his action within seven (ten?) days.
Informally dubbed “Rhode Island’s Green New Deal”, H5445 would mandate the reduction to zero by 2050 of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island – a goal that could only be accomplished by eliminating the use of all fossil fuels and transitioning entirely to renewable energy sources, wind and solar; i.e., from reliable, reasonably priced energy sources to intermittent, exorbitantly expensive ones. More about it here, including why the effective date of substantial implementation would be 2026, not thirty long years from now.
But perhaps we are missing something. Have proponents of the bill answered the critically important question about cost of implementation?
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Government
Rhody Reporter: Bad Planning Guarantees a Bad Outcome
Medical professional Diana Lozowski dissects some of the missed opportunities that delivered the Ocean State to its current position in the cage match between Rhode Island and the pandemic. Fear not, though, there is light at the end of this tunnel.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Rhody Reporter: Political Pawns in the Great Game
Are Rhode Island’s most vulnerable citizens being used as the rope in a tug-o-war between the administration and the U.S. District Court? Many in the Department of Developmental Disabilities think so just now. The Rhody Reporter explains that what appears to be an internal budget battle is actually part of a compliance question with a consent decree agreed to by the state seven years ago. Confused? You can get the details in just three minutes by watching this segment of the Rhody Reporter.
Governor
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
No Cost Projections or Means Identified to Achieve Rhode Island’s Green New Deal
The innocently named “2021 Act on Climate”, H5445, has been ominously rocketing through the General Assembly. It passed the full House on March 23 and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on it this afternoon. If it passes, it will have cleared the General Assembly and presumably be sent straight on to Governor Daniel McKee for his action within seven (ten?) days.
Informally dubbed “Rhode Island’s Green New Deal”, H5445 would mandate the reduction to zero by 2050 of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island – a goal that could only be accomplished by eliminating the use of all fossil fuels and transitioning entirely to renewable energy sources, wind and solar; i.e., from reliable, reasonably priced energy sources to intermittent, exorbitantly expensive ones. More about it here, including why the effective date of substantial implementation would be 2026, not thirty long years from now.
But perhaps we are missing something. Have proponents of the bill answered the critically important question about cost of implementation?
Rhody Reporter: Bad Planning Guarantees a Bad Outcome
Medical professional Diana Lozowski dissects some of the missed opportunities that delivered the Ocean State to its current position in the cage match between Rhode Island and the pandemic. Fear not, though, there is light at the end of this tunnel.
Healthcare
Rhody Reporter: Bad Planning Guarantees a Bad Outcome
Medical professional Diana Lozowski dissects some of the missed opportunities that delivered the Ocean State to its current position in the cage match between Rhode Island and the pandemic. Fear not, though, there is light at the end of this tunnel.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Rhody Reporter: Political Pawns in the Great Game
Are Rhode Island’s most vulnerable citizens being used as the rope in a tug-o-war between the administration and the U.S. District Court? Many in the Department of Developmental Disabilities think so just now. The Rhody Reporter explains that what appears to be an internal budget battle is actually part of a compliance question with a consent decree agreed to by the state seven years ago. Confused? You can get the details in just three minutes by watching this segment of the Rhody Reporter.
History
Christopher Reed: Memories on Veterans Day
Veterans Day this year brought back memories of Christopher Reed’s time in the service.
Let’s Not Overdo the RI History Revisionism
Ever since Rhode Island Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello invited accusations of ignorance by questioning whether there had ever been slavery in the Ocean State, the pendulum has been swinging the other way.
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.
Immigration
Work-from-Home Globalization
As technology brings the benefits of globalization down to the individual level, will it mean greater opportunity for work-life balance, or the democratization of war?
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.
2019 Census: States Change Their Populations
States, like Rhode Island, that can’t compete for domestic residents seem to be back-filling their populations with new immigrants from other countries.
Infrastructure
A Name for the Approach: Weaponized Government Failure
A new term highlights the reality that what is good for the community might not be good for the people who wish to govern that community.
No on All Bond Questions But Especially on the Black Hole, #4
Sixth highest spending per mile for some of the country’s worst infrastructure. If money were going to solve the state’s infrastructure issues, they would have been fixed long before now. No on Bond Question #4.
Rhody Reporter: March Referenda
What’s so special about March 2nd? That’s the date of a Special Election in Rhode Island. Its only questions – seven of them – are for the approval of a wide spectrum of bond authority so more than six hundred million dollars worth of deficit spending can be undertaken. Mark Zaccaria says NO! You should, too.
Legislation
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Tell Governor McKee To Veto Rhode Island’s Version Of The Green New Deal!
Take action now! Add your voice to the many thousands who have asked Governor Dan McKee to live up to his promises as an advocate for the small business community, to take decisive action to relieve businesses of excessive green mandates and to ensure our state’s long-term viability by VETOING Rhode Island’s Green New Deal.
Media
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Bad Bills and Employment Theater
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 22, included talk about:
- Bad environmental legislation
- Bad firearms legislation
- Bad voting legislation
- A telling Newsmakers interview
- No confidence in the teachers’ union
- A phony lieutenant governor top 10
I’ll be on again Monday, March 29, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Insiders Take Us All for a Ride
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 15, included talk about:
- RI bumbles another high-tech signup
- The state slides on another national ranking
- McKee & teacher jabs
- The gameshow search for a lieutenant
- The pot is almost ready
I’ll be on again Monday, March 22, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Musings & Announcements
Center Calls on McKee to Withdraw R.I. from Raimondo’s TCI Gas Tax Scheme
The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity calls on the newly sworn-in Governor of Rhode Island, Daniel McKee, to officially withdraw the Ocean State from the regional gasoline cap-and-trade scheme, known as the Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI).
“For years as Lieutenant Governor, Dan McKee expressed verbal support for the small business community. Now is the time for the Governor to take action and to separate himself from his predecessor’s anti-business policies. The Governor should immediately put to rest any notion that his administration will impose a job-killing, budget-destroying gasoline tax on businesses and families who are struggling to recover from the pandemic,” commented Mike Stenhouse, the Center’s CEO. “Today, our Center calls on the Governor to take executive action to formally withdraw Rhode Island from the TCI compact.”
In December, former Governor Gina Raimondo signed-on Rhode Island, just one of three states to do so, to the TCI Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU). Implementation of TCI would lead to a significant increase in automobile and diesel gasoline prices, while also systematically limiting regional supplies of vehicle fuel.
In calling on Governor McKee to eschew the costly TCI gas tax, the Center points to research and polling that shows why TCI is poor public policy:
- Rhode Islanders are not “bad guys” that should be punished for driving their vehicles, as one gov’t official in Mass. expressed
- The regressive TCI gas tax would disproportionately harm low-income families
- The high economic costs and job losses would further hamper our state’s faltering economy, with virtually no environmental benefit in return
- An overwhelming majority of polled Ocean Staters do not support TCI, once they understand the high costs
- A TCI gas tax would make our state even less competitive, by weakening our already worst-in-the-nation business climate
Later this week, the Center will announce a public campaign to petition the Governor and state legislative leaders to reject the TCI compact.
More information about the proposed TCI gas tax can be found on the Center’s TCI webpage: RIFreedom.org/NoTCItax. The Center is one of over two-dozen organizations in the northeast working cooperatively to defeat TCI in their respective states.
[This is a public statement released by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity today.]
Christopher Reed: Memories on Veterans Day
Veterans Day this year brought back memories of Christopher Reed’s time in the service.
My Message of Hope During This Coronavirus Crisis
During these times that “try men’s and women’s souls” and that are causing such upheaval in our lives, we are all left to wonder how we will cope. I pray for your health and for the safety of everyone in your family.
May I also offer why I am personally hopeful and confident that America and Rhode Island will weather the Coronavirus crisis. In our hearts and minds, we must hold true to the core American values that were the basis for the founding of our nation and for its unprecedented prosperity… our true north.
National Security
Charles Callanan: The Chinese Problem, Part Two
The world will demand (and deserves) accountability from the coronavirus’s country of origin, China, but imposing a cost will bring the global community into a perilous dance.
Charles Callanan: Something Missing in East Greenwich on Veterans Day
The public events during East Greenwich’s Veterans Day activities did not match the reverence remembered from childhood or that the day deserves.
Media Language and a Virtue-Signaling Lie
A small example of political “news” can illustrate the language by which journalists promote partisan and ideological positions.
On a Lighter Note
Last Impressions #51: Rebels Needed
Governor Raimondo and her merry band of magic Appointees focus on the true danger in Rhode Island — not roudy rioters carrying signs that threaten to burn down the country, but college kids who aren’t voluntarily living as if in an open-air prison.
What’s in… What’s out… #WaterFire,#Sharks, #TwinRiver, and more. 8/16/19
A run-down of items in Rhode Island political news for the week.
Proud of my Dad’s Big-League, Historic Anniversary
This week, let’s have a change of pace. Instead, I’d like to share something personal with you.
I’d like you to know how PROUD I AM OF MY DAD.
Pensions
Rhody Reporter: Seth Running
Diana Lozowski offers the opinion that RI General Treasurer Seth Magaziner is already running his 2022 campaign. Her only question is, “Running for What?”
If “Misinformation” is the New Standard, Rhode Island’s General Treasurer Must Step Down Immediately
This morning on the WPRO Morning News with Gene Valicenti – link to audio – General Treasurer Seth Magaziner elaborated on his call for Rhode Island Representative Justin Price to resign from the House of Representatives for spreading misinformation, saying
When elected officials use their platforms to spread (mis)information, to spread lies, they have to be called out for it.”
And
…as elected officials, we should be held to a higher standard …
Interesting. Alright, check out this analysis from August, 2018 by Mike Riley.
In assessing the effort to keep the PawSox in Rhode Island, it is important to review the role of General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. The state treasurer was asked to analyze the costs and opine on affordability, as would be expected with a large borrowing like this. Mr. Magaziner opined in October 2017 and in June 2018 as numbers changed along with the terms of the deal and then opined again recently, finally giving a nod to the deal.
But what everyone needs to know is that $350 million dollars in debt for Pawtucket’s other post-employment benefits (OPEB) for former employees was not used in his analysis. This is more than twice the city’s pension debt! In fact, it was purposely left out by Magaziner. Including OPEB debt would obviously have made the City of Pawtucket’s borrowing look dangerous and ill-conceived. … This $350 million is so significant and overwhelming, it would be irresponsible for any treasurer to think Pawtucket absorbing new debt was a good idea.
Well, that’s an eye-opener. Nice work by Mike Riley catching that serious piece of misinformation by General Treasurer Magaziner. Ultimately, the PawSox left Rhode Island and these ill-conceived, unaffordable bonds were never issued. But that was very much despite this substantive misinformation that Treasurer Magaziner issued about Pawtucket’s financial condition.
Now, it is absurd to call on an elected official to step down due to a statement of misinformation; in part, because it falls into a broader category of free speech and, in part, because about three quarters of all elected officials in the country would instantly have to step down. (I heard that; stop cheering!).
But that is the position of General Treasurer Seth Magaziner.
I do agree with him when he says, as he did this morning, that “As Americans, we all have a duty to speak up when we see people in positions of authority spreading misinformation” and that elected officials “should use our platforms responsibly”. Via this post, accordingly, I am fulfilling that duty. Specifically, I am calling out Mr. Magaziner for a piece of misinformation that is especially egregious because he communicated it in his capacity as the state’s General Treasurer in an analysis about a major financial decision facing a municipality and the state.
Clearly, Mr. Magaziner did not use his platform as General Treasurer responsibly by including misinformation in this important analysis. Now, I myself am not calling on him to resign as the state’s General Treasurer for this. But by his own standard, he must do so immediately. Referring once again to Mr. Magaziner’s own words on WPRO this morning, elected officials have a duty to tell people the truth, to be honest. He failed notably to do so.
Rhody Reporter: Bad Management
Mark Zaccaria compares the ways in which RI government has managed the state, up to the possibility of a special election for debt while awaiting a federal bailout, and calls it what it is.
Political Theory
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Rhody Reporter: Axe the Act – H5445
The Rhody Reporter is flabbergasted at the scope of a wildly progressive bill just passed by the RI legislature. It would cede all legislative and executive prerogative on RI carbon emissions to an unelected state commission. Mark Zaccaria explains en route to asking everyone to call the governor and beg for a veto!
A Name for the Approach: Weaponized Government Failure
A new term highlights the reality that what is good for the community might not be good for the people who wish to govern that community.
Politics
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Rhody Reporter: Buddy Cianci Rides Again
Mark Zaccaria delivers an homage to the late, great Prince of Providence. The occasion for this is the release of a particularly kitschy offer by the Buddy Cianci Foundation. Zaccaria riffs on the Great Once but comes around to admiring the man as a character, if not always admiring his character.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Regulation
No Cost Projections or Means Identified to Achieve Rhode Island’s Green New Deal
The innocently named “2021 Act on Climate”, H5445, has been ominously rocketing through the General Assembly. It passed the full House on March 23 and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on it this afternoon. If it passes, it will have cleared the General Assembly and presumably be sent straight on to Governor Daniel McKee for his action within seven (ten?) days.
Informally dubbed “Rhode Island’s Green New Deal”, H5445 would mandate the reduction to zero by 2050 of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island – a goal that could only be accomplished by eliminating the use of all fossil fuels and transitioning entirely to renewable energy sources, wind and solar; i.e., from reliable, reasonably priced energy sources to intermittent, exorbitantly expensive ones. More about it here, including why the effective date of substantial implementation would be 2026, not thirty long years from now.
But perhaps we are missing something. Have proponents of the bill answered the critically important question about cost of implementation?
Tell Governor McKee To Veto Rhode Island’s Version Of The Green New Deal!
Take action now! Add your voice to the many thousands who have asked Governor Dan McKee to live up to his promises as an advocate for the small business community, to take decisive action to relieve businesses of excessive green mandates and to ensure our state’s long-term viability by VETOING Rhode Island’s Green New Deal.
Say NO to Radical Energy Scheme Rocketing Through The General Assembly
A full on assault against the average Rhode Island family is rocketing through the General Assembly. The Ocean State is quickly moving to put our own version of the Green New Deal into law. We need you to take action immediately to voice your opposition to it, before it is too late. Click here now to say NO to this far-left radical scheme from the land of make-believe.
This, along with the TCI Gas Tax, will paralyze our state. As we struggle to recover from the pandemic, it should be inconceivable that state lawmakers would choose NOW to consider an additional 30-40 cents per gallon gas tax increase or impose a radical, prohibitively expensive energy scheme.
Yet, the price of gasoline could soon rise (even more than it already has) if a new stealth carbon-tax scheme – the TCI Gas Tax – is implemented … a move that would necessarily increase costs on families and business, driving more people out of our state. The House of Representatives will vote on House Bill 5445 this Tuesday. This version of the state’s green new deal has already passed the RI Senate.
Even if you have contacted lawmakers already, we need you to take action again to oppose RI’s Green New Deal: Click here to contact lawmakers to say NO to the TCI Gas Tax and H5445, Rhode Island’s Green New Deal!
The simple form, once completed, will automatically send an email to the Governor and to legislative leaders telling them to reject the regional gasoline cap-and-trade scheme and RI’s Green New Deal.
Tell them today that you stand against these radical energy schemes. Thank you for taking action, and remember that your voice counts.
Science
No Cost Projections or Means Identified to Achieve Rhode Island’s Green New Deal
The innocently named “2021 Act on Climate”, H5445, has been ominously rocketing through the General Assembly. It passed the full House on March 23 and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on it this afternoon. If it passes, it will have cleared the General Assembly and presumably be sent straight on to Governor Daniel McKee for his action within seven (ten?) days.
Informally dubbed “Rhode Island’s Green New Deal”, H5445 would mandate the reduction to zero by 2050 of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island – a goal that could only be accomplished by eliminating the use of all fossil fuels and transitioning entirely to renewable energy sources, wind and solar; i.e., from reliable, reasonably priced energy sources to intermittent, exorbitantly expensive ones. More about it here, including why the effective date of substantial implementation would be 2026, not thirty long years from now.
But perhaps we are missing something. Have proponents of the bill answered the critically important question about cost of implementation?
Tell Governor McKee To Veto Rhode Island’s Version Of The Green New Deal!
Take action now! Add your voice to the many thousands who have asked Governor Dan McKee to live up to his promises as an advocate for the small business community, to take decisive action to relieve businesses of excessive green mandates and to ensure our state’s long-term viability by VETOING Rhode Island’s Green New Deal.
House Vote Tuesday – Would Inflict Extremest Global Warming Measure on RI
On Tuesday, the Rhode Island House will be voting on H5445A. It would mandate the reduction to zero of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island. While the deadline in the bill is 2050, the real deadline is five years from now, at which point, the lawsuits can start. From the bill:
The Rhode Island attorney general, any Rhode Island resident and any Rhode Island corporation, company, organization, nonprofit or other Rhode Island legal entity or organization registered with the Rhode Island secretary of state may bring a civil action to enforce this chapter.
Click here, courtesy UpriseRI, for the case in favor of the bill.
Nowhere in that article or anywhere has there been offered any science or evidence that this most drastic of measures would have any impact whatsoever on global warming nor has there been remotely adequate disclosure about the ludicrous cost of bringing it about (converting every house and building in the state to electric-only heating and AC) or the impact on our power supply of changing the grid over from a reliable, constant fuel source to an unreliable, intermittent one (routine rolling blackouts) while simultaneously adding enormous demand to it or the impact (sky-rocket) on residents’ and businesses’ electric bills of being compelled to purchase power only from renewable energy sources.
In the presumably deliberate absence of this information, accordingly, combined with our observation of the experience of other states who converted even a small portion of their grid to renewables, we can assume the worst on all of those fronts.
If you, like so many of us, do not think this is a good idea, feel free to share your concerns with your state representative before Tuesday.
Sports
Political Monday with John DePetro: Many Forms of Political Performance Art
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for December 9, included talk about:
- Cicilline v. Trump
- Energy protesters at the State House
- Empty Wexford
- Sports gambling lawsuit goes forward
- Truck toll lawsuit goes forward
- The Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) tax
Political Monday with John DePetro: Shaking Up the Personalities
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for December 4, included talk about:
- The return of Laffey (?)
- RI’s suffocating labor unions
- Progressive tricks with statistics
- Getting a kick out of soccer stadiums
- Smiley’s pay-cut stepping stone
Correcting Higher Education as a Funding Mechanism for Nonsense
If URI’s anti-Brady professor were expressing the ideological opposite views, we know how the school would be reacting, so maybe it should flip the script.
Taxation
Tell Governor McKee To Veto Rhode Island’s Version Of The Green New Deal!
Take action now! Add your voice to the many thousands who have asked Governor Dan McKee to live up to his promises as an advocate for the small business community, to take decisive action to relieve businesses of excessive green mandates and to ensure our state’s long-term viability by VETOING Rhode Island’s Green New Deal.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Bad Bills and Employment Theater
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 22, included talk about:
- Bad environmental legislation
- Bad firearms legislation
- Bad voting legislation
- A telling Newsmakers interview
- No confidence in the teachers’ union
- A phony lieutenant governor top 10
I’ll be on again Monday, March 29, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
TCI Is More Intrusive Government That RI Doesn’t Need
The Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) is just another big-government attempt to manipulate the people.
Unions
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
- Still waiting on the LG
- McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
- The big-money RI Foundation
- The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
- Voting bills
- Providence schools still in a lurch
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
- The Lt. Gov. final 5
- Climate change politics
- Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
- Cranston’s new far-left Republican
- Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
- Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Bad Bills and Employment Theater
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 22, included talk about:
- Bad environmental legislation
- Bad firearms legislation
- Bad voting legislation
- A telling Newsmakers interview
- No confidence in the teachers’ union
- A phony lieutenant governor top 10
I’ll be on again Monday, March 29, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Welfare
Apparent Unemployment Insurance Letters Sent to Mississippi
Apparent unemployment insurance correspondence from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT) sent to an address in Mississippi joins the list of examples of problems handling the government program.
Priorities During the Great Loosening
The desire to open up the economy isn’t selfish or reckless; it’s humanitarian.
The Independent Man Needs YOU: Consider This Call To Civic Action
Is it time for you to get involved… to save our state? If we are ever going to change the policies that are driving away families and crippling businesses, the sad truth, my friend, is that we are going to have to change the players.
Rhode Island’s political class is so beholden to so many special interest groups and agendas, that they are paralyzed when it comes to considering common-sense, pro-growth policy reforms.