Ken Block is running for governor again. This time as an independent.

Yeah, just what Rhode Island needs. Right.

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

A Barrington software engineer who searched for voter fraud on behalf of the Trump campaign — and found none — is making his third attempt to run for the governor’s office.

This time, Ken Block is running as an independent candidate.

“My flavor of politics doesn’t align well with either political party,” Block, 60, said in a phone interview. “Political parties by definition imply a healthy dose of partisanship — I am a problem solver, a manager, and the problems that Rhode Island suffers from aren’t problems that partisanship can address.”

Block unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010 as the Moderate Party’s candidate — a party he founded. He finished fourth with 6.5 % of the vote in the general election. He ran again as a Republican in 2014, losing the GOP primary to then-Cranston Mayor Allan Fung by 10 percentage points.

He announced his campaign in a post on X last Thursday.

Ruckus at RIPTA

Senate President calls for resignation of RIPTA CEO

By Steve Ahlquist, UpRiseRI

Fung and Avedisian (Cranston Herald)

At 5:30pm on a Friday, Rhode Island Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (Democrat, District 4, North Providence) released a statement calling for Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) CEO Scott Avidisian to step down and is submitting legislation to put the agency under the control of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and its Director, Peter Alviti.

“RIPTA has been plagued by enduring challenges that have only grown more severe over the years.,” said the Senate President in his statement. “Despite federal funding that presented an unprecedented opportunity to make necessary reforms, there has been no change in direction. Foreseeable challenges, such as a driver shortage at the start of the school year, were left unaddressed until there was a crisis. There have been unacceptable management gaffes, such as the granting a no-bid lobbying contract to a political ally, apparently without the Board’s knowledge. No meaningful plan to confront the agency’s fiscal challenges has been presented to the General Assembly, and we are again faced with putting band aids on a gaping wound.

“A quality, well-functioning public transit system is vital to the people of our state and our economy. It is time for wholesale reform at RIPTA.

“The time has come to place the agency under the auspices of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, and I will be submitting legislation to that effect. I am asking that CEO Scott Avedisian step down immediately, and that the governor conduct a national search for someone with expertise in transit to head Rhode Island’s public transit office, under this new structure.

“Finally, I have asked Chairman Mark McKenney (Democrat, District 30, Warwick) to convene the Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics & Oversight to conduct an oversight hearing of the agency. “

RIPTA Boardmember Patrick Crowley, who is also the Secretary-Treasurer of the RI AFLCIO, tweeted his support for the Senate President’s ideas.

Transportation advocates, like Rhode Island Transit Riders, however, are wary about putting RIPTA under Director Alviti, calling the Director “car-centric,” citing his history of not truly engaging with the public on transportation matters, and not taking climate concerns seriously. 

Christian Rosalund published an oped in Uprise RI, calling on the Senate to not re-confirm Director Alviti for another term running RIDOT, but given the Senate President’s enthusiastic support and his ironclad grip on the chamber, that re-confirmation is all but assured.

Scott Avidisian had spent early Friday at GrowSmart RI‘s Transit-Oriented Development forum where he was introduced by GrowSmarts’ Executive Director Scott Wolf as a”long time champion of community revitalization and expanding forms of transportation choices for all Rhode Islanders.” Wolf added that under Avidisian RIPTA has been a model on how state agencies “can and should engage with the public and with stakeholders.”

At that same GrowSmart forum Rhode Island’s Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi expressed friendship and support for Avidisian, saying that the being the CEO of RIPTA is “not an easy job. Everybody wants service, nobody wants to pay for it. Everybody wants free RIPTA. There’s no free. It may be free for the people who ride it but it still costs the rest of us taxpayers [Editor’s Note: Bus riders are also RI taxpayers]. Avidisian has done a good job, as best as he can. We’re going to continue to give Scott the resources he needs. We will continue to look at ways to be smart and productive regarding affordable housing, transit-oriented housing… they are not separate issues. They can all co-exist.”

Shekarchi’s comments, of course, were made hours before the Senate President issued his press release.

There is a lot at stake, and the timing of the Senate President’s statement is telling. The federal government just passed the largest investment in public transportation and infrastructure in decades, and the head of RIPTA will be instrumental in determining how those funds are spent. Whoever controls these funds will shape the course of transportation in Rhode Island for generations to come.

This is the response RIPTA issued defending Avedisian:

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Stankiewicz leaves as Charlestown Town Administrator

Did he resign or was he fired? Who cares?

By Will Collette

Stonewall Stankiewicz is gone

To no one’s surprise, Charlestown’s Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz’s “resignation” was accepted by the Town Council last Monday. His effective departure date is February 13 – exactly 10 years from the day he was hired – but using leave time, he is leaving immediately. Because his end date falls on his 10^th anniversary, he becomes fully vested in the state pension system.

There was a parade of Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) people who came to the microphone to sing his praises and to rail against those who felt Stankiewicz was not the perfect town CEO.

Westerly Sun reporter Ryan Blessing summed it up this way:

“On Monday, his supporters scolded the council and reminded the public that under Stankiewicz, the town enjoyed low property tax rates, a harmonious Town Hall and expanded open space lands….’He is the best town administrator we've ever had,’ Planning Commission Chairwoman Ruth Platner said.

Of course, the CCA loves him – he was their perfect servant. Plus, he knows where all the bodies are buried since he helped bury them. But the reality of Stankiewicz’s tenure was far different then the glowing picture painted by the CCA.

First, Stankiewicz politicized the office. Shortly after he was hired, he told me to my face that “I work for the CCA” not the people of the town. And during his ten years, he carried out the CCA’s wishes, punished their enemies and helped to cover up their mistakes. He generally imposed a pay-to-play system that put non-CCA residents at the bottom of the town’s priority list.

Last November, voters busted up the CCA's control of the Town Council, leaving only Susan Cooper to wave the CCA flag. With the defeat of the CCA council majority, Stankiewicz lost his protection.

Second, Stankiewicz screwed up the money. The most important responsibility of a Town Administrator is to oversee the budget and town finances to ensure maximum accuracy and probity. Yet just in the past several months, we’ve learned about:

•        The “$3 million ‘oopsie’” where money was “misplaced” leading to the town adopting a budget and spending money it thought it had in its unassigned fund balance.
•        Annual payroll overpayments in most of the past 10 years because the payroll was based on the false assumption that every year contains 260 workdays. The fix is ludicrously simple: count the number of workdays at the beginning of each fiscal year. Instead, Stankiewicz attacked the whistleblower who revealed this flaw, which is also clearly evident in the town records.
•        Very negative findings about Charlestown’s ranking among RI’s 39 cities and towns for money management from the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC). The most glaring issue was that Charlestown’s administrative costs are double the state average and six times higher than Cumberland which has the lowest administrative cost in the state.

Our tax rate may be low, but Stankiewicz had nothing to do with it. Wealthy transplants bought waterfront properties at bloated prices. That jacked up our Grand List and kept the tax rate low. If Stankiewicz had done his job better, our taxes would be even lower because it’s the taxpayers who paid hundreds of thousands for his screw-ups.

Here's a typical response to an open records request.
Not only do you get NOTHING, you also get
charged for it.

Third, Stankiewicz dropped an Iron Curtain over the town. Under Stankiewicz, it became almost impossible to get full access to public records, as he found new and obscure exemptions in the state Access to Public Records Act (APRA) to ratchet up denials of information requests. I have frequently reprinted pictures of documents I received from the town regarding various suspicious land deals with the entire contents blacked out.

When blackouts didn’t suffice, Stankiewicz ordered exorbitant and frankly extortionate charges to provide documents. I was effectively shut out when I refused to pay hundreds of dollars for documents I knew would be almost entirely blacked out.

Unless you were a CCA supporter, chances are you would receive the same treatment.

Fourth, the claim that Stankiewicz created a “harmonious Town Hall” is patently ridiculous. Stankiewicz created an atmosphere of fear and paranoia.

He also insulted his own staff by telling the Providence Journal that his staff “lacked the bandwidth” to effectively plan and use federal American Rescue Plan Act funding leading Charlestown to hire Congressional candidate Allan Fung to “consult.” Ironically, Fung stated publicly that, like other Republicans, he opposed the American Rescue Plan, though he was willing to make money from it.

There were two big problems with Stankiewicz’s ProJo quote. First, it was Stankiewicz’s job to build and supervise a staff that can manage government grants, not to make snarky public complaints about them in the Providence Journal. Second, there are, in fact, town staff who routinely manage federal funding and apparently do so well.

Finally, the claim that Stankiewicz was responsible for “expanded open space lands” is misplaced praise. His role was to wield his APRA magic to cover up records about shady open space land deals pulled off by Planning Commissar Ruth Platner. He allowed Platner’s minion, Town Planner Jane Weidman, to knowingly submit phony appraisals that led to purchases of land for prices far above their assessed value.

I don’t know what’s next for Stankiewicz. According to the Sun article, he’s 65 years old and made an offhand remark during the Monday meeting that he has “a few years left” before he retires. Sources tell me is on the list of applicants to fill Jamestown’s vacant town manager position.

He never bothered to move to Charlestown, instead buying a house in Stoughton, MA two years after he was hired. That’s a 140-mile roundtrip commute through some of the worst traffic in the Northeast.

If it was me and if I cared enough to give him advice, I’d say retire and write your memoirs.

Recounts and mail ins will determine final election outcome

One local race hangs in the balance.

By Will Collette

This is the Board of Election's timeline for
determining the final election results

Let me begin by declaring that political polls are bullshit. It has been a long time since our very expensive habit of polling to predict the outcome of elections has panned out.

I think the problems include pollsters’ inability to reach a truly representative sample given the radical shift most Americans have made to using their cellphones exclusively. Those of us who still have landlines get polled so intensively that it is tempting (at least it is to me) to just make up answers.

This year, there was supposed to be a devasting Red Wave that would sweep Republicans into control of Congress, including the election of Allan Fung. We won’t know who controls Congress for some time but we do know Fung blew his chance. 

Rhode Island Blue Tsunami

We were supposed to see big gains for the GOP in the General Assembly and perhaps several upsets among the state’s general officers. James Diossa was supposed to be in trouble in his bid for General Treasurer and the GOP thought maybe they could pull off upsets by beating Dan McKee for Governor and Sabrina Matos for Lieutenant Governor.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

The state GOP got crushed. Allan Fung is now 0 for 3 in his efforts to win an office bigger than Cranston mayor. Stick a fork in him - he's done.

The GOP did not increase its General Assembly power in part due to two Charlestown women: Tina Spears and Victoria Gu, who flipped House 36 and Senate 38 from red to Blue.

The final count will be in accordance with the Board of Election schedule posted in the upper left.

There’s one local seat that could be affected: House 39 where Democrat Megan Cotter of Exeter is four votes ahead of radical insurrectionist Trumplican Justin Price of Richmond.

Four votes.

If Megan’s lead holds, that will be another seat flipped for the Democrats. 

Filippi cliff-hanger on Block Island

Another nail-biter of some local interest is Block Island’s Town Council race. Steve Filippi, Blake “Flip” Filippi’s brother and owner of controversial Ballard’s Inn, ran unopposed as an independent for one of three open seats. Democrat Martha Bell also ran, receiving 509 votes to Filippi’s 92.

By the way, Steve Filippi was co-plaintiff with his mother suing Blake Filippi and his other brother Paul in the family feud litigation, Filippi v. Filippi.

But here’s the surprise: even though Martha Bell and Steve Filippi were the only candidates on the ballot running for 3 seats, more Block Island voters voted for write-in candidates than for Bell and Filippi combined.

The current tally is: Write-ins 1051, Martha Bell 509 and Steve Filippi 92. The Board of Canvassers will have to comb through the write-in votes, applying the state’s stringent requirement that the write-in names must be complete and accurate. Only then will Block Island know who is on their Town Council.

While Martha Bell’s win seems assured, Filippi’s does not, depending on how the review of the write-in votes turns out.

Fung tightens his bond with Congressional extremists

Allan Fung Accepts More Campaign Cash from Right-Wing Extremist Elise Stefanik

Fung's campaign is heavily funded by Republican
Congressional leadership who delivered THIS
record which Fung is expected to follow.

Republican Allan Fung reported new campaign contributions from Republican National Committee Chair Elise Stefanik, one of Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters who the Albany Times Unions just described as “too toxic for Congress and American politics.” 

Elise Stefanik rose through Republican leadership by taking on extreme right-wing stances like advocating for a national abortion ban, voting to overturn the 2020 election, and continuing to claim the Presidential election was stolen.

Stefanik joins other election deniers in support of Trump including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise, and Budget Chairman Jason Smith— all of whom recently campaigned for Allan Fung.  

“Allan Fung continues to align himself with the extreme, right-wing leadership that wants to see Donald Trump back in the White House in 2024,” said Communications Director Patricia Socarras.

“Elise Stefanik and the other national Republicans supporting Fung’s campaign are pushing an agenda that cuts Social Security, allows big oil and big pharma to make runaway profits on the backs of hardworking people, takes away women’s right to choose and that goes against the values of Rhode Islanders. That’s why on November 8th, voters will reject him.” 

Supporters are encouraged to learn more about Fung’s extreme record at FactsAboutFung.com and to follow Magaziner’s campaign on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Phony Fung

 

Allan Fung Continues to Pal Around with Extremist, Election Deniers

He takes their money and embraces their radical ideas 

Allan Fung continues to pal around with extremist election deniers like Steve Scalise, who is holding a fundraiser for him in Boston. 

Allan Fung has happily accepted $41,000 from GOP members of Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 election, and the New York Times revealed, he accepted an additional $25,000 from Antonio Raposa who was at the Jan. 6th insurrection.  

Scalise is one of the architects of Kevin McCarthy’s Commitment to America agenda, which puts Social Security on the chopping block, ends Medicare as we know it, and creates a nationwide abortion ban. 

Image credit to The Japan Times

"Whether it's Steve Scalise holding a fundraiser for Allan Fung, the $41,000 he took from insurrectionists who tried to overturn the 2020 election, or the $25,000 he raised from Raposa - what's clear is that Allan Fung cares more about lining his campaign pockets than he does about standing up for our democracy. We are calling on Fung to return the $66,000 dollars he accepted from insurrectionists,” said Communications Director Patricia Socarras.

This is the third election-denying House Republican Allan Fung has flown in to campaign for him. The others include Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Budget Committee Ranking Member Jason Smith (R-MO).  

Supporters are encouraged to learn more about Fung’s extreme record at FactsAboutFung.com and to follow Magaziner’s campaign on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

$2 million in dirty oil money funding Fung campaign

Magaziner calls on Fung to return campaign contributions from billion dollar oil companies  

The Magaziner for Congress campaign called on Allan Fung to denounce the nearly $2 million big oil companies are spending to support his campaign while price gouging working Rhode Islanders at the gas pump.  

“The big oil companies are supporting Allan Fung because they know Fung and the Republicans will do nothing to stop them from overcharging working Rhode Islanders for gas and heating oil,” said Communications Director Patricia Socarras. 

“Rhode Islanders cannot trust that Allan Fung will be looking out for them when his campaign is being funded by the big oil companies. Fung should denounce these contributions immediately.” 

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a dark money Super PAC directed by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, has accepted millions of dollars from Chevron, the American Petroleum Institute, and Occidental Petroleum Institute– some of the same big oil companies that have already made more than $150 billion in profits this year while Rhode Islanders are paying record prices at the gas pump. 

The Republican Congressional Leadership Fund has spent $2 million of big oil money to elect Fung. 

In contrast, Magaziner supports legislation co-sponsored by all current members of the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation, that would crack down on oil company price gouging by requiring big oil companies earning record profits to return some of that money to consumers.  

The proposal is estimated to provide every Rhode Islander between $240 and $375 in annual relief at today’s prices.

The 'Big Lie' GOP Has Some Midterm Whoppers Up Its Sleeve

They involve crime, inflation, and taxes.

ROBERT REICH at robertreich.substack.com

It's not just the Big Lie.

 Republicans are telling three other lies they hope will swing the midterms.

They involve crime, inflation, and taxes. 

Here are the GOP's claims, followed by the facts.

1. They claim crime is rising because Democrats have been "soft" on crime.

Rubbish. Rising crime rates are due to the proliferation of guns, which Republicans refuse to control.

While violent crime rose 28 percent from 2019 to 2020, gun homicides rose 35 percent. States that have weakened gun laws have seen gun crime surge. Clearly, a major driver of the national increase in violence is the easy availability of guns.

The violence can't be explained by any of the Republican talking points about "soft on crime" Democrats.

Lack of police funding? No. On average, all cities—whether run by Democrats or Republicans—saw an increase in police funding in 2022.

Criminal justice reforms? No. Wherever bail reforms have been implemented, re-arrest rates remain stable. Data shows no connection between the policies of progressive prosecutors and changes in crime rates.

In fact, crime is rising faster in Republican, Trump-supporting states. In 2020, per capita murder rates were 40 percent higher in states won by Trump than in those won by Joe Biden.

Republican policies have made it easier for people to get and carry guns. Republicans are lying about the real cause of rising crime to protect some of their biggest supporters, big gun manufacturers and the NRA.

2. Republicans claim that inflation is due to Biden's spending, and wage increases.

Baloney. Biden's spending can't be causing our current inflation because inflation has broken out everywhere around the world, often at much higher rates than in the US. 

Besides, heavy spending by the US government began in 2020, before the Biden administration, in order to protect Americans and the economy from the ravages of COVID-19—and it was necessary.

Wages can't be pushing inflation because wages have been increasing at a slower pace than prices—leaving most workers worse off.  

The major cause of the current inflation is the global post-pandemic shortage of all sorts of things, coupled with Putin's war in Ukraine and China's lockdowns.

The biggest domestic culprit for America's current inflation is big corporations that are using inflation as an excuse for raising prices above their own cost increases, resulting in the highest profit margins since 1950—while consumers are paying through the nose.

The biggest domestic cause of inflation is corporate power. Republicans are lying about this to protect their big corporate patrons.

3. Republicans say Democrats voted to hire an army of IRS agents who will audit and harass the middle class.

McCarthy is bankrolling Allan Fung's campaign for
RI House District 2 against Seth Magaziner

Wrong. The IRS won't be going after the middle class. It will be going after ultra-wealthy tax cheats.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in July, provides funding to begin to get IRS staffing back to what it was before 2010, after which Republicans cut staff by roughly 30 percent, despite increases since then in the number of Americans filing tax returns.

The extra staff are needed to prevent high-end tax evasion, which is more difficult to root out (the ultra-wealthy hire squads of accountants and tax attorneys to hide their taxable incomes). It's estimated that the richest 1 percent are hiding more than 20 percent of their earnings from the IRS.

The Treasury Department and the IRS have made it clear that audit rates for households earning $400,000 or under will remain same.

Republicans are lying about what the IRS will do with the new funding to protect their ultra-wealthy patrons.

None of these three lies is as brazen and damaging as Trump's Big Lie. But they're all being used by Republican candidates in these last weeks before the midterms. 

Know the truth and share it. 

© 2021 robertreich.substack.com

Robert Reich, is the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include:  "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.

This is the platform Allan Fung will follow

 

Fung has already tapped Charlestown for cash

Fung lines his pockets for giving advice on a program he opposes  

Compiled by Will Collette 

Last April, I reported that GOP Congressional candidate Allan Fung had been given an open-ended contract by the town of Charlestown to give the town advice on how to spend its share of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money EVEN THOUGH Fung opposed the legislation. 

Charlestown’s share is $2.3 million. 

He charged Charlestown $250 an hour for that advice that, from what I saw, wasn’t all that useful. To me, it seemed more like a pay-off from the right-leaning Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) Town Council majority. It also seemed to me like tacit support for his candidacy.

That's not honest or ethical - and it's on the CCA.

We now know that Fung’s deal with Charlestown was not unique. For a guy who really hates APRA, he sure made a lot of money from it. 

The Boston Globe revealed Allan Fung personally profited from a $145,000 contract paid for by American Rescue Plan funds even though during Tuesday’s debate he criticized the use of those same funds to help middle-class families and small businesses struggling to keep up with the cost of living. 

“It’s rich that Allan Fung personally benefited from the same rescue plan funds he now says he opposed,” Communications Director Patricia Socarras.

“Allan Fung was against using stimulus funding to help small businesses stay afloat and help Rhode Islanders heat their homes, but had no problem pocketing stimulus funds for himself while also supporting tax breaks for billionaires.  That is yet another example of how Allan Fung is not looking out for the interests of working people.” 

ARPA funds were used to help Rhode Islanders keep their small businesses afloat, heat their homes, and address the housing crisis and chronic homelessness. Without the ARPA funding, cities like Cranston would not be able to balance their budgets after serious loss in revenue and new costs prompted by the pandemic. ARPA funding was also used to invest $60 million into Quonset, a critical economic engine for the state.

Supporters are encouraged to learn more about Fung’s extreme record at FactsAboutFung.com and to follow Magaziner’s campaign on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Magaziner Endorsed by Planned Parenthood

Fung Endorsed by Extreme Anti-Abortion Group

Dueling Endorsements Highlight Stark Contrast on Central Issue in Race 

By Mike Luckovich

As Planned Parenthood endorsed General Treasurer and congressional candidate Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island Right to Life, which opposes abortion rights even in cases of rape or incest,  endorsed Republican opponent Allan Fung in the race to represent the second congressional district. 

 

“Anti-abortion politicians celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade and if they take over Congress, they could go as far as passing a national abortion ban that would take away reproductive rights for millions,” said Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Alexis McGill Johnson. 

“There is a very clear choice in this election between Seth Magaziner, a champion for reproductive rights who will fight for Rhode Island women, and Allan Fung, who opposed codifying Roe v. Wade into Rhode Island law and will vote to embolden extremists determined to take our country backward.”

 

This latest endorsement builds on Allan Fung’s long track record of refusing to stand for abortion rights for Rhode Island women.

 

• Fung opposed the passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act that codified Roe v. Wade into Rhode Island law. [Boston Globe, 5/3/22]
• Fung has very recently stated that a woman’s right to choose is a “state’s rights” issue, opening the door to extreme abortion bans like those in Indiana and Ohio. [WPRI, 5/11/12]
• Fung has pledged to vote for Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to be Speaker of the House, even as McCarthy has pledged to pass a national abortion ban if Republicans take control of Congress.

 Seth Magaziner has a long and consistent record of protecting women’s rights. He was a strong supporter of the Reproductive Privacy Act that was passed in 2019. 

“I am honored to receive the endorsement of Planned Parenthood in this race and I look forward to being an advocate for Rhode Island women in Congress,” said General Treasurer and congressional candidate Seth Magaziner. “Republicans in Washington are trying to turn back the clock on fundamental rights, but together we can ensure that women are protected.”

 

Those looking to learn more about the campaign are encouraged to visit sethmagaziner.com and to follow Magaziner’s campaign on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Shady money behind Allan Fung

Magaziner calls on Fung to reject campaign money from Putin-linked Russian oligarch and from white collar criminal 

Leonard Blavatnik, Russian oligarch and Fung donor

The Magaziner for Congress campaign called on Allan Fung to return maximum donations he received from Leonard Blavatnik, a Russian oil oligarch, and Lewis Stahl, who was imprisoned for evading taxes on $21 million of business income. 

“If it wasn’t bad enough that Allan Fung has been funding his campaign from some of the most extreme MAGA Republicans in the country, he is now also accepting from a Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin and a known tax cheat who just served a federal prison sentence for evading taxes on $21 million of income,” said Communications Director Patricia Socarras. 

“Rhode Islanders cannot trust that Allan Fung will be looking out for them when he is cozying up to sleazy billionaires and tax cheats. He should reject these contributions immediately.” 

Leonard Blavatnik, who made a $2,900 campaign contribution to Allan Fung, and made billions through a shady Kremlin-backed oil deal personally negotiated by Vladirmir Putin and his associates. 

Lewis Stahl, imprisoned for tax cheating
and Fung donor

The 2013 deal orchestrated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and now Rosneft Chair Igor Sechin, Blavatnik reaped an estimated $7 billion from the sale of the oil company TNK-BP to the state-owned Rosneft conglomerate.   

Allan Fung also accepted a $5,800 campaign contribution from Lewis Stahl, a white-collar criminal who was sent to prison for evading taxes on $21 million of business income. 

Earlier this year, Allan Fung said he would vote against legislation that would increase the Internal Revenue Service’s tax enforcement of white collar criminals like Stahl.  

This comes as the U.S. Treasury Department estimated the cost of tax evasion among the top 1 percent of taxpayers exceeds $160 billion annually, part of a ‘tax gap’ between taxes owed and those collected estimated at more than $7 trillion over a decade.

What happens if the Republicans win. Seriously.

 

Would Fung vote to raise drug prices? Of course he would

Fung's loyalty to would-be Speaker Kevin McCarthy will cost Rhode Islanders 

As a result of Allan Fung’s commitment to Kevin McCarthy, Rhode Islanders would soon see drug prices increase again under the extreme “Commitment to America” agenda Fung would enable. 

The “Commitment to America” plan released by McCarthy and his House Republicans allies last week would undermine the Affordable Care Act and repeal portions of the Inflation Reduction Act that lowered the cost of prescription drugs. 

This is consistent with Allan Fung’s opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act, and his advocacy for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which helped 75,000 Rhode Islanders get the health insurance they need.  

“Allan Fung’s commitment to House Republican Leader McCarthy means drug prices will shoot back up and Big Pharma gets another billion-dollar handout under McCarthy's ‘Commitment to America’ agenda,” said Communications Director Patricia Socarras. 

“This would be a disaster for Rhode Islanders who depend on these medications and deserve access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. McCarthy is committed to an extreme agenda that hurts seniors and working people and Allan Fung will only enable McCarthy.”   

In stark contrast, Magaziner supported the Inflation Reduction Acct, which lowers costs for working people by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices from drug companies for the first time, caps out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2,000, caps the price of insulin, expands American energy production, and reduces the federal deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. 

The popular Inflation Reduction Act was passed without a single Republican vote. Fung also vowed not to support the Act, as a former insurance industry lobbyist who sided with the drug and insurance companies over working Rhode Islanders. 

A vote for Fung is a vote to cut Social Security and Medicare

Fung’s Commitment to McCarthy Means Cuts to Social Security and Medicare

Here's Fung taking a dump on Medicare

As a result of Allan Fung’s commitment to Kevin McCarthy, 230,000 Rhode Islanders are at risk of having their Social Security and Medicare benefits cut. 

Allan Fung has repeatedly said that his first vote in Congress would be to make Kevin McCarthy the Speaker of the House. McCarthy co authored a book that called for the end of guaranteed Medicare and the privatization of Social Security. House Republicans also recently released an extreme budget proposal, Blueprint to Save America, which proposed cutting America’s social safety net and raising the age requirement to receive full Social Security benefits. 

“Allan Fung’s commitment to McCarthy is dangerous for Rhode Islanders,” said Communications Director Patricia Socarras. “Republicans in Congress have been scheming to cut these vital programs for years, and Seth Magaziner is determined to stop them. McCarthy is committed to an extreme agenda that hurts seniors and working people and Allan Fung is committed to Kevin McCarthy.” 

In stark contrast, Magaziner received the endorsement of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the nation’s leading advocacy group that fights to protect Social Security and Medicare. 

Magaziner has proposed expanding Social Security and Medicare benefits, not cutting them, and supported legislation passed Congress last month to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug costs for seniors. 

Allan Fung stated that he opposed the bill to lower drug costs under Medicare. 

Fung endorsed by Tea Party (remember them?)

Allan Fung is extreme right-wing favorite

 

McCarthy’s SuperPAC Continues Lying to Rhode Islanders

Don't believe the lies about Fung's tax record

Washington DC Republicans continue lying to Rhode Island voters in their latest ad, failing to recognize that General Treasurer Seth Magaziner has pledged to oppose any tax increase for families making less than $400,000 a year while GOP candidate Allan Fung hiked taxes ten times during tenure in Cranston, costing the average Cranston taxpayer $1,300 per year in increased taxes.  

“Allan Fung and National Republicans are sticking to the MAGA playbook, lying to voters with no regard for the truth,” said Communications Director Patricia Socarras. 

“Allan Fung is the only candidate in this race with a long and painful record of raising taxes. As voters learn more about the disastrous Republican agenda– cutting Social Security and Medicare, passing a national abortion ban, and paving the way for the return of Donald Trump– Rhode Islanders will call Fung’s bluff and reject him in November.”

 

As part of their national reelection strategy, House Republicans have falsely claimed the Inflation Reduction Act raises taxes on families making less than $75,000, a claim that has been debunked by fact-checkers, and even by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnel. [See background below]

“As former Treasury Secretaries of both Democratic and Republican Administrations, we support the Inflation Reduction Act which is financed by prudent tax policy that will collect more from top-earners and large corporations. Taxes due or paid will not increase for any family making less than $400,000/year. And the extra taxes levied on corporations do not reflect increases in the corporate tax rate, but rather the reclaiming of revenue lost to tax avoidance and provisions benefitting the most affluent.” [Department of the Treasury August 3, 2022]

“In recent days, critics of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have used a misleading and incomplete analysis to claim that the breakthrough legislation would be a “tax increase on everyone.” … However, this simply is not true. The IRA closes tax loopholes exploited by large corporations that currently pay little or no tax and by wealthy investment fund managers. It also cracks down on tax dodging, especially by the wealthy, which currently accounts for the largest share of unpaid taxes. Contrary to critics’ claims, the IRA does not raise taxes on individuals earning less than $400,000 or on any but the largest and most profitable corporations.” [Center for American Progress, August 2, 22]

 

The Joint Committee on Taxation analysis Republicans cite when making their claims does not incorporate the tax savings that low and middle-income people will be getting from the IRA extending the tax credit on health insurance premiums. 

 

Treasurer Magaziner supports the Inflation Reduction Acct, which does not raise taxes on families making less than $400,00 per year, because the Inflation Reduction Act lowers costs for working people by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices from drug companies for the first time, caps out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2,000, caps the price of insulin, expands American energy production, and reduces the federal deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. 

The wildly popular Inflation Reduction Act passed without a single Republican vote. Fung also vowed not to support the Act, as a former insurance industry lobbyist who sided with the drug and insurance companies over working Rhode Islanders. 

 

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Contact:

Patricia Socarras, Director of Communications and External Affairs

401.236.4966 | patricia@sethmagaziner.com 

 

Background on Inflation Reduction Act impact on Taxes and Inflation: 

• [Fact Check, Scott Overstates Tax Increases in Inflation Reduction Act 8/11/22]
• [Forbes, Will the Inflation Reduction Act Increase Your Taxes?, 8/16/22] 
• [Tax Policy Center, TaxVox: Federal Budget and Economy, 8/11/22] 
• [New York Times, Democrats Plan to Fight Inflation May Lower Costs Over Time, 7/28/22] 
• [126 Economists, Letter to Congressional Leadership, 8/2/22]  

Fung Tax Increase Background: 

 

• 2003: Councilman Fung voted in favor of a supplemental property tax increase and a property tax increase in the FY 2004 budget. [Cranston City Council, Minutes, 1/31/03] and [Cranston City Council, Minutes, 5/14/03]
• 2004: Councilman Fung voted for an increase in property tax in FY 2005 budget. [Cranston City Council, Minutes, 5/6/04]
• 2009: Mayor Fung’s proposed budget included a property tax increase for FY 2010. [The Providence Journal, 4/1/09]
• 2010: Mayor Fung proposed a supplemental car tax and a FY 2011 budget with property tax increase. [The Providence Journal, 4/2/10] and [Providence Journal, 6/16/10]
• 2011: Mayor Fung’s proposed FY 2012 budget included a property tax increase. [The Providence Journal, 4/1/11]
• 2015: Mayor Fung’s proposed FY 2016 budget included a property tax increase. [Cranston Patch, 4/1/15]
• 2017: Mayor Fung’s proposed FY 2018 budget included a property tax increase. [Cranston Herald, 5/5/17]
• 2019: Property Tax Rates Increased 2.4% in Budget Fung Allowed. [Providence Journal, 5/19/19]
• 2019: Fung Had Proposed 2% Property Tax Increase in Own Budget.  [Providence Journal, 4/2/19]