Different Day, Same Political Stories
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
I told you self preservation would win out in the debt ceiling ‘crisis’ and sure enough Reid and his Republican counterparts reached a deal over the weekend. Perhaps all we need to reach compromise in Congress is the threat of rioting in the streets. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a number that could text every American’s cell phone with this message: “Congress is about to screw us, get your pickets ready!!” and in five minutes you’d start to see people congregating in urban areas with a look like someone just canceled their favorite TV show. Who knows? That might be just what we need to keep our Congressmen focused on solving problems instead of worrying about who comes out looking like the better party. And in this case, does either party look like a ‘winner’? I don’t think so.
Central Falls files for bankruptcy. Yawn…
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut the averted government fiscal crisis is not the topic of this column. Should we talk about Central Falls filing for bankruptcy? Well, I doubt any of us are shocked by that news. The only “shocking” aspect of that story is Mayor Charles Moreau stating “I don’t take any blame for [Central Falls’ bankruptcy filing]…I don’t.” It’s “shocking” and not shocking because how many times have we seen and heard politicians dismiss blame for every and anything but be first in line to take credit for anything positive.
No, let’s not focus on Central Falls…there will be many more trying months ahead for the city, residents, and union members who will be awaking to the economic realities the rest of have been living in the last several years.
In a close one, Loughlin wins 2012 Congressional primary
Well, what about the Loughlin-Doherty tete-a-tete last week. I’m going to make a bold prediction today and say that despite the insurmountable money lead Doherty has, Loughlin will eek out a victory. Why? There are few reasons. One, I believe there will be a significant battle over open primaries next year. You may recall that the GOP was fighting over this last year as many in the party felt that primaries were being tainted and in some cases materially influenced by Democrats rushing the beaches, as it were, and voting in the GOP primaries. So some have argued that Republicans should close the primary and only registered Republicans can vote in them. Interesting tidbit, Doherty probably would have been ineligible to vote in the primaries until the last couple of years had that been the case. And for some of you diehard Republicans you’re thinking, “Don you’re making my point.” As such, I think Ken Mckay is going to deal with a vocal group seeking to close the primaries and I’d give their chances of winning a 50/50 split. If the primaries close, Loughlin wins.
Another reason for a Loughlin victory is that despite being horribly underfunded in 2010, he came close to beating a two-term mayor who still had his popularity mostly intact. I can’t recall a Republican Congressional candidate that close to winning for some time. Rhode Island voters like staying power and when they see Loughlin coming back for the second go-around, they’ll want to give him a shot. Heck, he’s serving overseas right now. Not that Doherty’s public service is at issue, but Loughlin simply outshines him in this area and has been here before.
Make no mistake, if Doherty does get by Loughlin, I think he trounces Cicilline provided he can come off a little more personable than some of the stories I have read. Again, voters in Rhode Island like for their politicians to make them feel like they are the most important citizen that politician has come across ever. Cicilline understands this – that’s why he ran those senior ads last fall. Made me queasy because I knew what he was doing, but it’s effective. Doherty is a political novice and he’s going to need to be more polished to defeat Cicilline. But, I think he’s a tougher matchup for Cicilline than Loughlin, honestly.
Warwick School School Committee sues the city. Come on, man!!
I’ve talked about the Loughlin-Doherty race too much in this column and the Warwick School Department is suing the city over funding. Please roll your eyes with me. Can I just say this? One of the more odd realities of our political world is seeing one government agency suing another. But what’s worse, ultimately no matter which side wins, you and I foot the bill. Can you say property tax increase?
Arghh.
You know, I’m too frustrated with our educational system to really focus on this today. Moving on…
Sgouros is not in touch with the economy
Tom always seems to elicit a response out of me. But his musings on our current unemployment rates (I don’t need to tell you how bad it is) by taking a detour and making sure he gets in a few shots at Republicans during the debt ceiling crisis is nothing new. Indeed, there’s not much new to his analysis on our unemployment. He points to policy differences, and not taxes (thought most people think “tax” and “policy” go hand in hand, but maybe that’s just me) are the root cause to the success or failure within different communities.
Wow, that’s insightful. As I write this, I’m squished between a guy who looks like he’d give Mike Tyson a run for his money and a woman who looks like she should have had her baby two or three months ago. What do we all have in common? We’re riding a train to Boston to go to work. As sad as the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) is, they know that to keep the economy humming they need to continue to provide services. Maybe Sgouros would agree with me on this but RIPTA would be well served to become half as competent as the MBTA. Indeed, Massachusetts is investing in Rhode Island to take as much talent out of Rhode Island as possible. The commuter rail now goes to TF Green and it’s looking to move even further South. Tom, that’s not the fault of the evil Republicans…it’s people making sound business decisions.
In Rhode Island we need to attract businesses. That reduces your unemployment rate, it’ll reduce your rate of foreclosures, it will even solve world hunger. Ok, maybe not the last one but you get my drift. You have to move on from retread talking points, and if you want to use Massachusetts as the comparison, they are investing in their economic future. The problem we’ve had in Rhode Island is no one willing to make tough decisions for fear of losing political power. We need someone with the ability to do that all else be damned.
At least we now have football?
Looks like my column is almost over and I never really focused on any one thing. Too many things going on and not enough space to write my thoughts. I hope I’m not becoming cynical in my old(er) age but my trust in elected officials to do the right thing is at an all time low. My faith in the public to ensure their officials do the right thing is nearly nonexistent. I feel we’ve become apathetic to it all; numb to the lies we’ve been told.
Maybe I’m wrong, but 2012 will tell us a lot. Will we choose the same or something different…But then again, is different ever really different. Remember CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN? That’s a distant memory. Sigh.
Having sufficiently bummed out myself regarding our current political affairs, let me leave you with this – the Red Sox are in first place and football is back on! That’s something positive, right?
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Don Roach is a proud father of three living in Cranston. He can be reached at [email protected]
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