The full list of RI legislators declining salary increases, Justin suggests, only emphasizes the failure of the General Assembly to address the state’s real problems.
The grammatical debate over President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” remark risks trivializing the core dispute, which Justin sees as definitional for our times.
Justin writes live from a Rhode Island Board of Elections meeting.
Rhode Island’s voter ID law provides some protection against one-sided enforcement from the Obama administration of the National Voter Registration Act.
Rhode Island’s political lopsidedness helped to put the state at the vanguard of voter ID legislation across the country.
Justin appears on Rhode Island Public Radio’s Political Roundtable to discuss the Supreme Court’s ObamaCare ruling.
Complete video from the Stephen Hopkins Center’s panel on “Unwinding 38 Studios.”
Justin writes live from the Stephen Hopkins Center’s panel discussion on the 38 Studios deal and its aftermath.
Still over-tired from the General Assembly’s final night in session, Justin draws some lessons from the experience.
Justin muses about the inappropriateness of honorifics in American politics… especially in Rhode Island.
Justin whiles away the evening writing from the State House floor (campaign finance) and House Environment and Natural Resources Committee hearing (EBEC).
Channel 10’s Bill Rappleye interviews Justin about hidden profits from tax credit programs.
Addressing city’s pension shortfall, Woonsocket budget commission faces another $7 million annual deficit, addressing $46 million gap over five years.
Justin writes live from the House Floor session and Committee on Judiciary. Woonsocket. Campaign finance.
Part 2 of The Current’s long-running review of population and employment data assesses population, employment, and income trends across the cities and towns to develop a sense of how communities are shifting.
The Current’s long-running review of population and employment data can lead to better understanding of who is being affected by public policy in Rhode Island and how. Part 1 reviews how the cities and towns compare right now.
Using a police windfall award to (possibly) eliminate pension problems may seem like common sense, but when the dynamics of government are considered, Justin suggests rationality goes in the other direction.
President Obama’s staff has been promoting his agenda on the biographical pages of previous presidents.
A bill by Sen. Crowley and the Dept. of Revenue would allow cities and towns to use the state oversight process to move retirees into the state-run MERS pension system.
In keeping with past experience, Kauffman/Thumbtack study finds RI to be dead last in the nation for small business friendliness.
Justin liveblogs from a Tiverton School Committee that promises controversy over tactics used while advocating for particular budgets.
The New York Times’ claim that President Obama has shrunk government shrivels under examination.
Empirical data related to the ideology of state-level legislators suggests that, yes, Rhode Island is very liberal.
In some circles, local ties to ALEC have been hot news this week, but Justin isn’t sure that the complaint against the group is really what it’s being articulated
The Providence Journal publishes an entire article about him without letting on that John Edwards is a Democrat, much less that he was almost vice president on that party’s ticket.
The House Finance committee hears a variety of tax proposals, mainly concentrating on taxing “the rich”; Justin writes live.
Inflated assumptions for pension system rates of return mean that the budget that Providence Mayor Angel Taveras unveiled this evening (and all current RI budgets) amounts to an accounting trick to disguise future tax increases and pension cuts.
The Current’s full “Video on the Go” from Congressman Ron Paul’s campaign appearance at the University of Rhode Island.
Operating in RI government is like following directions based on where things used to be; Justin says outsiders are disadvantaged and vulnerable.