On February 15^th, Governor Chafee presented his final State of the State address with the typical absence of bold ideas we have come to expect from this administration, whose rhetoric continues to be that of more interest in attacking the messenger than solving problems.

In a rather stunning display of audacity, Governor Chafee scorned the Tea Party by name while underscoring his pride in the direction Rhode Island is heading and what his administration has accomplished in the last three years.

The Rhode Island Tea Parties would like to highlight just a couple of these so-called “accomplishments” based on cold, hard facts, and not mere rhetoric:

• In its annual “Top States for Business” rankings CNBC ranked Rhode Island 50^th of 50 states on how appealing the state is to start or grow a business.
• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Rhode Island ended 2013 ranked last in the nation, with the highest unemployment (9.3%)

While Governor Chafee and other political insiders of the Ocean State attempt to blame their failures on those of us who fight for equality under the law and freedom, Cox Communications announced it will cut nearly 250 jobs.  It is painfully clear that it’s more cost effective to offer the members of the entire call center in West Warwick, fully 18% of the Cox employees in Rhode Island, a “robust severance package with an extension of benefits” than it is to continue to operate in our state according to Jennifer Bramley, vice president of government and public affairs.  It seems of little concern to many of our leaders given their complete dearth of any meaningful action except the use of force while liberty minded Americans with real solutions that will improve the quality of life for all Rhode Islanders, are undermined.

It’s nearly incomprehensible that Rhode Island has become so hostile to businesses that the huge expense of extending benefits, including sizable severances to so many people and reorganizing operations, is worth the effort.

Governor Chafee will be leaving office next January with a legacy of failure and the credibility of a leader who prefers to blame those failures on others.  Members of the Rhode Island Tea Parties hope that Ocean State citizens are as disgusted with the mismanagement of our state as they would be with any organization or authority with such ineffective leadership.

For far too long, Rhode Islanders have tolerated gross incompetence.  Governor Chafee and the rest of the leadership should be held accountable for their mismanagement of our economy.  They should also give their sincerest apology to those moms and dads who now must find work and make ends meet with so few jobs available.  We have 234 additional people with similar skill sets competing for nearly the same yet sparsely available jobs.

Make no mistake; our loss of freedoms continues to result in an ever-growing lack of opportunity for the good people who seek no more than the ability to work for it.  By their version of leadership, Governor Chafee and the other members of the Rhode Island political class consistently display that they are clearly not the answer to our problems.  With this sort of administration, more jobs will be lost and more families in Rhode Island will go without the opportunity to grow and prosper in the world that we knew when we were young.

Only people who hold the principles on which our country was founded — those of liberty, justice, and equality under the law — possess the ability to solve our problems.

 

Mike Puyana is a a lobbyist for the Rhode Island Tea Party.