Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in RI Politics?

Friday, October 21, 2011

Dan McGowan, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

Who’s Hot

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Gina Raimondo -> The General Treasurer did exactly what she was supposed to do in drafting a piece of legislation that will help get the state’s pension fund back on track. Raimondo emphasized keeping politics out of the issue, but now it’s out of her hands and into the hands of the dealmakers at the State House.

Allan Fung & Angel Taveras -> Kudos to these two mayors for voicing their frustration over the municipal portion of the pension bill. Politically, it’s not the smartest move to call for COLAs to also be frozen for police and firefighters, but Fung and Taveras seem to realize that it might be the only way to bail some of these cities and towns out of a devastating fiscal situation.

David Cicilline -> The Congressman introduced legislation that would prevent banks from imposing fees for using a debit card this week, a move that is sure to earn him some good grace in the state. Unfortunately the banks have so much influence in Washington that it’s difficult to believe they won’t get their way.

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Merrill Sherman -> It sounds like the BankRI CEO is getting closer and closer to running against Congressman Cicilline in the Democratic primary. If she wants to scare the party, she should throw a lot of her money (say, $2 million) into the race up front. Then she’ll force Democratic donors to make difficult decisions moving forward.

Rene Menard -> The State Rep. wants the General Assembly to hire an actuary as it moves forward with the pension legislation. This is a no-brainer. The worst thing state lawmakers could do is perform surgery on the bill without actually getting the numbers to back it up.

Paul Jabour -> The State Senator representing Federal Hill is calling for more police in that neighborhood in the wake of a recent shooting. He’s right. It seems as though an awful lot of crime takes place on the Hill and not enough is being done about it.

Rochelle Lee and Carmen Castillo -> The two front runners in that Ward 9 City Council special election next week have received an equal amount of quality endorsements. Lee has the backing of deceased Councilman Miguel Luna’s family and State Sen. Juan Pichardo while Castillio has the SEIU, Rep. Grace Diaz and at least two current Council members in her corner.

Occupy Providence -> They’ve turned Burnside Park into a scene straight out of Lord of the Flies, but the Occupy movement remains in full force nearly a week into its time in Providence. Last Saturday, the group had more than 1,200 people marching. It will be interesting to see what happens this week.

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Who’s Not

Governor Chafee -> Everyone knew the unions would be upset with the pension bill, but now even the cities and towns the Governor talked so much about helping are unhappy as well. It might not be all his fault, but if you talk to people in Providence or Cranston, they’ll tell you they feel let down by Chafee.

Jim Langevin -> The Congressman was rightly called out this week for a misleading statement about identity theft disproportionately affecting foster children. While the legislation he proposed (it is now law) to cut down on identity theft was a great idea, it is safe to say nobody really knows if his statement is actually true.

Rhode Island’s Economy -> All signs point to another recession heading toward Rhode Island, if it isn’t here already. The latest numbers show the state lost jobs again despite a slight drop in unemployment. Too many people are falling out of the workforce right now and the recovery appears to be taking a step in the wrong direction.

Ruth Simmons -> Brown’s outgoing President reaffirmed the University’s opposition to having ROTC on campus this week. The University wasn’t wrong for banning to program in the first place, but now that Vietnam is over and “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” has been repealed, it’s time to bring it back.

Hasbro -> This hasn’t hit Rhode Island yet, but the company recently announced plans to temporarily cut 180 jobs in Massachusetts. The jobs will disappear for at least the rest of the year. Nothing like the world’s top toymaker becoming a Grinch as we enter the holiday season.

Michele Bachmann -> For someone who had so much success in the Iowa straw poll and was once the darling of the Republican primary, Congresswoman Bachmann did not have a very successful fundraising quarter and has quickly become irrelevant during debates. It will be interesting to see if she’ll eventually drop out and endorse another candidate.

Boston Red Sox -> Fans certainly needed to drink heavily watching these guys play in September, but who knew the players also needed to drink as they tanked down the stretch?

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