Justin and Bob Plain pick favorites in some primaries and argue about pensions and government labor unions.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the morality and economics of funding art through the government.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the notion of a municipal income tax in Providence
Justin and Bob Plain talk transportation infrastructure funding.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the first Republican and Democrat gubernatorial debates on Channel 10, WJAR, with some emphasis on the illegal immigration crisis.
After his campaign announcement, Republican Senatorial candidate Mark Zaccaria answered questions posed by Anchor Rising on the subjects of:
The guiding principle and vision of American foreign policy.
Where to go on Obamacare, from where we now are.
The institutional way to deal with executive overreach.
The gulf between the elites and the people, on illegal immigration.
Mark Zaccaria: “[Y]our taxes, your food and your housing costs are all up as a result of what the Federal Government has done, and Jack Reed has voted yes for every single one of those increases, certainly during the last couple of terms. I contend that Rhode Islanders are ready to vote no, and it’s about high time.
But they have to have a choice to be able to do that, to be able to vote for better monetary policy, or smaller government that costs less, so that it takes less money out of your pockets. You have to have that alternative on the ballot. I hope to be the face of that message to the hard-working, tax-paying men and women of Rhode Island during this campaign.
There is another way, folks. We can do that. And I will be making that point, to anyone who will listen to me, every day between now and the fourth of November…you don’t have to vote for the guy you voted for last time. In fact, it might be better if you voted for somebody new.”
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision and the underlying issues of freedom and health care.
In their passing, Harry Staley and Robert Hayden leave behind an explanation and an example for civic participation.
Andrew and Samuel Bell discuss the Cianci effect in the Providence mayoral campaign.
Erik Brown thought he had found help with his healthcare bill. Instead, he found himself trapped in a nightmare at the exchange.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the General Assembly’s budget and whether all money in a society belongs to the government, so that letting people keep it is the same as giving it away.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss closing down HealthSource RI and using the federally run version.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the appropriate role of government in branding and promoting tourism in Rhode Island.
Justin and Bob Plain take up the question of to pay or not to pay the 38 Studios bonds.
Justin and Bob Plain talk about standardized testing and whether school committees have a right to sue for more money from other communities.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the relative weight of free-market solutions versus regulation.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the relevance of climate change in a tiny, economically struggling state like Rhode Island.
On NBC 10 Wingmen, Bob Plain and I discussed the General Assembly’s entry into the Central Coventry Fire District controversy; in this post, I add some points that I should have inserted into the segment.
Justin and Bob Plain talk about the pay differential between men and women.
Both GOP candidates, Ken Block and Allan Fung have appeared on WPRI’s Newsmakers. Here’s both videos. Enjoy!
Friday’s discussion on Wingmen was about the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity’s Spotlight on Spending report.
Steven Brown of the RI Chapter of the ACLU: “The votes that voters get to choose across the country are on some of the most divisive, controversial, social, ideological issues there are; abortion, gay rights, same-sex marriage, anti-immigrant. We are deluding ourselves if we think we can hold a convention and not have those issues come to the fore….What’s troubling about that is that we are talking about individual rights that should not be subject to majoritarian control. You’ll hear about all of the safeguards that are in place; first you have to elect the delegates, and then the convention has to vote to approve an amendment, then it’s up to the voters to approve or reject it….They aren’t safeguards, when you’re talking about minority rights”.
Professor Jared Goldstein: “On a basic level, the concern that we’ll have a runaway convention, or that they’ll pass recommendations that are contrary to our fundamental rights is really a point of view that expresses simple, profound distrust of the people, that is, we can’t trust the people the enact legislation that will help us because they may take away our constitutional rights….Don’t we want the people to decide these fundamental questions about what our society is like?…If the answer is no, then who do we trust? Do we just want the judges to decide what our rights are? What are they basing them on?”
John Marion of Common Cause Rhode Island: “The question [of whether to have a convention] has come before the voters three times since the 1974 changes to the constitution. In 1984 it passed, it got 53.8% of the votes. In 1994 it was defeated, and only received 40.5% of the votes. And in 2004, the most recent time it was on the ballot, it received 48% of the votes.
What are its chances this time?…The only thing we have to go on is a January 2013 poll by Public Policy Polling, where they did, I believe, a sample of roughly 500 Rhode Islanders, and it came up with 40% of Rhode Islanders supporting, 25% opposing, and 35% undecided.”
Professor Robert Williams: “Some people think that the state constitutions are too easy to change, and therefore aren’t really constitutional. Some people think that state constitutions are too long, they’re too detailed….What these people are doing are comparing state constitutions to the model that all of us know, which is the United States Constitution. I want to suggest that that’s a big mistake, and as you go forward and try to determine whether to have a convention to look at your state constitution, and if you do have a convention, look at what functions and qualities a state constitution has in contrast to the US Constitution….They’re different from the United States Constitution and they ought to be different”.
Professor Alan Tarr: “Most of us revere the US Constitution….Most of us feel we couldn’t do a very good job improving on [the Founders’] handiwork. But somehow, we don’t feel the same reverence, the same attachment to our state constitutions….What we really have are two different constitutional traditions. At the national level, we value stability and continuity. At the state level, we value change and experimentation. The reflects a conflict of views, if you will, at the very point of the founding”.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss the new speaker of the Rhode Island House.
Justin and Bob Plain talk unionization and hotel workers and whether the economy should be about balancing business power with union power or about making sure that all workers have value as human beings that they can leverage on their own behalf.
Justin and Bob Plain review the failure of HealthSource RI to accurately predict its results and discuss whether it’s government’s role to find people in order to give them things they didn’t know they needed.
Justin and Bob Plain discuss legislation to force utilities to maintain customer service centers within the state, and Bob illustrates that applying economics really isn’t a priority for the Left.
Ocean State Current-Anchor Rising contacted the office of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras with regard to the prospect of the City of Providence giving a city building (246 Prairie Avenue) to a private organization …