Gemma Criticizes Schilling Deal
Thursday, July 29, 2010
“I am dismayed by the Curt Schilling deal. I believe that that $75 million could have helped more businesses,” Gemma said, during a press conference in which he discussed his plans for Social Security. “Every politician comes up to the microphone and talks about small business as the backbone of our state and yet they have helped another possible big business at the risk of taxpayers.”
Gemma, the former president of Gem Plumbing and Heating, said the money could have been better used if it was spread out among businesses. “I assure you that if you were to come up to many small companies and give them small deals, incrementally, you could have probably created one or two or three thousand jobs in Rhode Island,” Gemma said.
Schilling, on the other hand, is expected to create a total of 450 new jobs in Rhode Island over a three-year period, according to the EDC.
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Comments:
Henry Thompson
2:44am on Thursday, July 29, 2010
450 jobs sounds pretty good. I'm not sure that his "assurance," based on no actual facts, really compares to real jobs.
William Richter
2:48am on Thursday, July 29, 2010
I think it's a publicity stunt. I don't see how he can really talk politics as the head of a large plumbing business and a media firm...
R. Parsons
10:10am on Thursday, July 29, 2010
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And I'm not sure, Mr. Richter, how Billy Lynch can talk "outsider" politics as the man who, for 12 years, was the ULTIMATE political insider ("insider" = "hack") without whom David Cicilline could not have worked his black magic.
And I'm even less sure how David Cicilline can talk politics of any variety after having "led" Providence to economic and educational ruin -- all on the watch of his party chairman, Billy Lynch.
The Richter scale, methinks, needs to be seriously recalibrated.
William Richter
12:21pm on Thursday, July 29, 2010
Parsons, who sounds a lot more like an irritated conservative than a fact-oriented critic seems to miss the point. That post was regarding Gemma's consistent inconsistency and clear lack of touch with issues...as we've seen with our "outsider, business oriented" governor, this can be a huge liability to the working families of RI. We cannot risk putting this kind of person in power- Someone who has stated many times that RI is like a multi-billion dollar corporation and who sticks his picture on trucks and buses to get elected. No politician who has had to deal with difficult issues has a squeaky clean record, but that doesn't mean we should support a political adolescent.
R. Parsons
1:48pm on Thursday, July 29, 2010
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Richter, you state your opinion as thought it were established fact.
While Cicilline was lying his way through the debate and presiding over the economic ruin of the city he allegedly led ... while Lynch was hacking it up as the ultimate insider ... Anthony Gemma was creating jobs, running a business honorably and effectively, giving of his time and money to charitable foundations, and otherwise acting with ethically and with dignity.
You would excoriate Mr. Gemma for viewing Rhode Island as a multi-billion dollar corporation. Based on the manners in which Mr. Gemma has conducted his own business affairs, I am reminded of a passage from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." The words of Marley's ghost neatly describe, I would submit, how Mr. Gemma would run the "business" that is Rhode Island:
"Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
William Richter
1:54pm on Thursday, July 29, 2010
Haha, very whimsical, the guys a novice, end of story. I don't know if you're his PR guy but for future reference, the Dickens thing is cute but that kind of hot air means nothing in the real world.
R. Parsons
2:24pm on Thursday, July 29, 2010
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"Novice"?
How about "political outsider" of the variety who will reinvent and reinvigorate public service rather than give us more of the same self-service as epitomized by Cicilline and Lynch?
How about "newcomer" who will restore citizen-driven government to our state and our nation rather than give us the "do as I say" matra epitomized by Cicilline and Lynch?
"Hot air"? As a rabid acolyte of the politicians who have brought this state and this nation to the brinks of disaster, you certainly qualify as an expert.
Or at least a fan.
From the Left,
RP