Even if I didn’t work for the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, I’d suggest that the organization shouldn’t be alone in this call

“For eight years, progressive-left politicians have told us that the ‘new normal’ for economic growth would be limited to the 2% range,” said Mike Stenhouse, the Center’s CEO. “And for years, our Center and other free-market advocates argued that major tax and regulatory reductions would reverse this course and lead to rapid economic growth; meaning more money and prosperity for families. After today’s 4.1% GDP growth report, there can no longer be any doubt that we were right.”

The Center has repeatedly challenged state lawmakers to #WalkAway from the leftist polices that have kept our Ocean State in the bottom-six on many broad national indexes, including the CNBC business climate, the Family Prosperity Index, and the Jobs & Opportunity Index.

[box type=”tick” style=”rounded”]Please consider a voluntary, tax-deductible subscription to keep the Current growing and free.[/box]

Over the past 18 months, the optimism and growth resulting from the implementation of pro-business and conservative policies at the federal level stand in stark contrast to the stagnation we experienced from liberal and progressive policies: Unemployment rates among virtually all demographic groups are at or near all time lows; personal incomes are rising; and manufacturing jobs that the the left told us were extinct are roaring back by the hundreds of thousands.

We can amplify these results in Rhode Island if we adopt similar polices. However, the Center is concerned that no gubernatorial candidate is providing the bold vision and leadership to achieve this goal. Instead, some candidates offer timid prescriptions, while others seek to take our state backward with failed progressive-socialist schemes.

The Center also challenges voters to demand that candidates clearly articulate their core philosophies: “Are they in favor of rowing our state’s boat with the successful national tide … or against it? Are they for more freedom & unbounded opportunity for prosperity … or are they for more government-control and limited expectations,” suggested Stenhouse.

There is absolutely no reason Rhode Island couldn’t be at the lead of the nation in both rankings and results.  No reason, that is, other than our willingness to let political insiders and left-wing ideologues force absurd destructive policies on our state’s economy, which is to say on our own livelihoods.