Johnston mayoral candidate Peter Filippi presents the Ocean State Current with copies of the mailings that have been send to his home. Filippi is convinced that is opponent, Joseph Polisena, the incumbent Democratic mayor, is at least partly responsible. Polisena denies the allegations.
The Republican mayoral candidate in Johnston says he’s being pushed out of the race; others say he’s raising legitimate question about union benefits.
Observing the VP debate from within; flight from a failing region; surprising beneficiaries of a government bailout; a fable.
Economic development options, from all-government to government-dominated; the heartless-to-caring axis in politics; Southern New Englanders’ “independence”; solidarity between Romney and his garbage man; the media coup d’etat.
Bob Plain’s petit four of class warfare; CA’s bid for more pension fund dollars; a martial metaphor for regionalization; a downturn for the never-recovered; Coulter v. View mention of RI.
The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity’s General Assembly Freedom Index shifts the good-government-advocate spotlight, with some results that run across the grain of public perception.
Believing the political worst of priests; spinning bad SAT results; the skill of being trainable; the strange market valuation in Unionland.
Days off from retirement in Cranston; the conspiracy of low interest rates; sympathy with the Satanic Verses; the gas mandate; and the weaponized media.
Chafee shows his bond cards, Chicago exposes a metric discord, Rhode Island misses the skills-gap/business-cost lesson, QE3 misses the inflation nebula, and college majors miss the mark.
Ted Nesi’s heralding of union organizers as “smart” captains of their political teams gives context for considering Rhode Island’s deep, deep problems.
RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity CEO Mike Stenhouse notes the successes and failures of “Make It Happen RI,” with concern that the latter will prove to dominate.
Being right about district 1 messaging; PolitiFact prepares for the election; what’s a charter; being right about quantitative easing, First Amendment; and Bob Dylan says what he means.
Madness overseas and at home, lunacy in the Fed, the disconcerting growth of government, and the performance art of public-sector negotiations.
No deep theme, today, but bad British commentary, union priorities, stimulus as wishlist, the fame of Dinesh, and a response to Dan Yorke’s Congressional District 1 analysis.
Chicago teacher strike exposes communities’ strategies for working around government.
The topics of hope and hopelessness pervaded this weekend’s readings, from absurd labor rules in schools, to the likely outcome of Make It Happen, to Spencer Dickinson’s insider view, and then to Sandra Fluke.
Having done little reading while participating in the RI Foundation’s Make It Happen RI conference, Justin uses his end-of-day column for reflection.
The Chariho school district is the latest to test boundaries in search of budgetary relief from the teachers’ union machine.
The North Kingstown janitor controversy provides the latest evidence that taxpayers pay a substantial premium for the workers on their payroll, compared with the private sector.
The latest national unfunded pension liability estimate of $4.6 trillion ought to spark conversation about the meaning (and value) of risk.
An attempt to consider whether Treasurer Gina Raimondo’s investment assumptions are reasonable leads to deeper (frightening) considerations.
With Education Commissioner Deborah Gist recommending that the charter expire for one of Rhode Island’s charter school specifically on the grounds of its math scores, the question arises whether private-sector methods and non-union teachers might underperform their public-school peers. Comparing several charter high schools in RI shows that the lesson may be the opposite.
A Gallup poll finding American confidence in public schools at an all-time low also points to a disconnect between Americans’ opinions of various institutions and the priorities of government.
A New York Times mention of Woonsocket’s problems has the state buzzing; Justin suggests that everybody should look a little more deeply into the heart of Rhode Island’s problems.
Under the radar, the state government of Rhode Island has gradually been reversing the workforce reduction achieved during Governor Carcieri’s second term.
Although enrollment is down in almost every Rhode Island city and town, expenditures have continued to grow at several times the rate of inflation.
NEA Executive Director Robert Walsh may disagree with findings of deteriorating opinions of teachers’ unions, but technology and events of recent years suggest reevaluation may be in order.
Teacher unionization may work in smaller, less-diverse systems, but that’s proof that those systems are different, not that the United States should match them.
Addressing city’s pension shortfall, Woonsocket budget commission faces another $7 million annual deficit, addressing $46 million gap over five years.