Last week, Brett Smiley announced his candidacy for Providence’s mayor and came out with a mind-boggling idea. Let’s tax gun owners to pay for non-violence programs. Again, we’re going to punish the law-abiding to pay for the ones causing the problem. The ones causing the violence problems are not the ones who will be paying […]
We’ve already gone over the “If you like your plan, you can keep it” promise and seen how hundreds of thousands of cancellation notices have gone out to people. The notices are going out because the new health care law has requirements for health care coverage and many plans don’t meet these requirements. The insurance […]
Today, RI Republican Chairman Mark Smiley has an OpEd in the Journal telling us what the RI Republican party is about. Its focus is on freedom. He went into detail about how it was the Republican party who worked to free the slaves. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and it is widely believed that Lincoln […]
We’ve seen the battles between Fox News and NBC as they effectively act as the PR wing for the right and left. But what does it mean when one of them breaks ranks and writes an article that could have just as easily come from the other side? NBC News did a little digging and tells us what many of us already knew. President Obama has not been telling us the truth about the Unaffordable Care Act.
Gallup released a poll today talking about how Republicans have sunk to a new low in the favorability ratings. Now, I hate to be one of those people who simply “blame the media” for everything. At its heart, every individual and every group needs to take some accountability for its own failures and shortcomings. However, […]
According to an article in today’s Providence Journal, former RI State Treasurer and former candidate for Governor is going to run for Treasurer again. The immediate thought that I have is that he already was the state’s treasurer. Additionally, when he was running for Governor, he was questioned about the health of the state’s pension […]
“Nobody said they were the brightest generation.” Wow. I guess Bill Maher doesn’t realize that if not for these veterans, he’d be doing political stand-up comedy in German. (Warning: Maher uses the F word in the video) Nice job by one of the voices of the progressives. We’ve seen lately where some of our friends […]
Governor Chafee says he’s all for stronger gun laws and claims we need changes every time there is a mass shooting. But RI doesn’t submit records of people with mental health issues to the national background check registry. Why hasn’t Chafee done anything about this? Yet another time when he’s all sound bites and no action?
In any standoff, doesn’t it take two to tango? And if you think it’s ridiculous to hold up the debt ceiling in order to get changes to the Affordable Care Act, let me ask this. If the Republicans simply approved the debt ceiling increase and then minutes later said, “Ok, let’s talk about changes to ACA now” what do you think would be the reaction from the Democrats? Yep, crickets. I hate horse-trading as much as anyone else but unfortunately, this is how it works.
The NCAA handed down a one half of one game suspension for current Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel for taking money for autographs. However, they have a bit of a history with giving out much longer suspensions for lesser offenses. It’s time to shut down the NCAA.
I’ve been trying to figure out if we have any state leadership here in RI. When we have a Governor who gets embroiled in what to call an evergreen adorned in lights in December and a General Assembly who is more concerned about what appetizer they want to endorse, I’m trying to figure out if they have any ability to lead. Apparently, some states have it figured out.
The Rhode Island unemployment rate went in the wrong direction again in July as did the number of jobs in the state. What did our General Assembly do this past session to fix this years-old problem?
Again in Providence, it seems that police want to go after a symptom and not the cause. In 2002, then-mayor Cianci closed down two downtown Providence pizza places because drunk rowdies assaulted a police officer outside the establishments. At that time, Cianci recommended that the businesses be closed down due to the behavior of people outside, on the sidewalk. Sure, makes sense, right?
And in other news, the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Representative Michael Marcello is going to begin investigating what happened with the state’s credit union crisis, the burning of the Gaspee and the Dorr Rebellion. Hey, why not? I mean, we shouldn’t be rushing into these things.
Addendum: I wrote this post back on April 22, talking about how our society likes to glamorize the worst criminals. I just thought I’d bring it back up again…
Every year at the end of the General Assembly session, we see late nights and Representatives getting a little hot under the collar, both literally and figuratively. For some reason, our legislature thinks it’s a good idea to hold all the important bills until the last minute when everyone is tired and just want to go home.
The sky is falling! 22 year olds are leaving college with $27,000 of debt and now they’ll have to pay 6.8% in interest on it! For a career path they chose. Can we stop with the hysteria and look at the bigger picture. They have plenty of time to pay it off and look at the long-term benefits.
Banning dog bans. Is that really the best use of our General Assembly’s time? Is the whole economy fixed? Are we just chugging right along now with low unemployment and high wages, similar to South Dakota? Nope. We’re worried about banning dog bans. And will this open up liability for the state?
Chafee switching to the Democratic party and what that means for Taveras and Raimondo.
State Representative Lisa Baldelli-Hunt announces her candidacy for mayor of Woonsocket against incumbent Leo Fontaine and Green party member David Fisher.
Video of security personnel emptying a suburban home of its residents in order, ostensibly, to search for the fugitive terrorist in Boston raises questions about the nation’s slide away from the Constitution.