VIDEOS: Hot primary race for General Treasurer

But the choice is pretty simple

By Will Collette

The Rhode Island Democratic State Convention will take place on Sunday, June 22. My wife Cathy and I are both State Committee members so both of us will be there and voting for the candidates our town committee, the Charlestown Democrats, have endorsed.

For General Treasurer, we like Seth Magaziner because he has a record of success as an investor and fresh ideas for how to get Rhode Island’s economy growing again. Plus, we think he’s a helluva guy. 

South County residents can find that out for themselves this Saturday when he comes to the Charlestown Gallery for a fund-raiser party being hosted by friends and supporters. Please bring your checkbook.

As if all of Seth’s positive qualities weren’t enough, Cathy and I would still be voting for him at the State Convention because he is, in our opinion, the only actual Democrat among the three candidates running for the state party endorsement.

His two opponents are former General Treasurer and failed candidate for Governor Frank Caprio and former RI Auditor General Ernie Almonte. Neither Caprio nor Almonte are real Democrats, and I don’t simply mean they aren’t our particular brand of Democrat, which is the progressive variety. Nor are they qualified to be General Treasurer.

The campaign so far, Part 2

A scorecard on the state races

By Will Collette

Click here for Part 1.

Every statewide office in Rhode Island, except perhaps Attorney General, will get a new occupant after the November 2014 election which is now just one year away.

This is a rare occurrence brought about by two officials who are term-limited from running for re-election (Lieutenant Governor Liz Roberts and Secretary of State Ralph Mollis). 

In addition, Governor Lincoln Chafee (D) read the tea leaves and the poll numbers and declared he will not run again. 

And our Wall Street land shark, General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, hopes to parlay her millions in donations from her hedge fund and Wall Street cronies into becoming Rhode Island’s first woman governor.

Each state office, except the Attorney General, has more than one Democrat who hopes to win the primary to run as the Democratic candidate in 2014.

Here is a run-down of who’s in so far, along with their latest fund-raising numbers and, SPOILER ALERT, some of my snarky, far-from-unbiased commentary.

Selfish and Foolish

Don Carcieri’s 38 Studios Silence: Selfish and Foolish

By Bob Plain in RIFuture.org

It turns out even Republicans are miffed at Don Carcieri for hiding from the media when one of his signature decisions as governor blew up in the face of Rhode Island.

“Former Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s long silence on the 38 Studios bankruptcy wound up putting fellow Rhode Island Republicans on the spot this week at Mitt Romney’s nominating convention,” wrote correspondent John Mulligan in the August 31 ProJo.

Game over?

Carcieri’s folly may cost RI taxpayers $112.6 million. QUICK – let’s cut public worker pensions!

Zap! Take that, Rhode Island taxpayers!

By Will Collette

The media is all abuzz over the apparent crisis former Red Sox pitcher and uber-conservative business dude Curt Schilling is having with his video game company, 38 Studios. It looks like the company is just about ready to crash and burn

One of the last acts of former Governor Donald Carcieri before he left office was to finangle a deal (a con job, actually), where he folded a deal for Rhode Island taxpayers to provide Schilling with a $75 million loan guarantee into a larger bill to provide help to Rhode Island businesses.

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain were right
By Will Collette

Charlestown: not the sharpest pencil in the pencil box. According to a new report ranking the intelligence and educational attainment in American cities and towns, Rhode Island doesn't do so well. Among cities with 100,000 or more people, Providence ranks #155 out of 269 cities. In the ranking of 10,450 small towns, we had several Rhode Island small towns who made the rankings. Our best was Kingstown ranked at #375. Wakefield/Peacedale came in at #704, Melville at #1,216; Greenville at #1,254; Hope Valley at #1,873; Cumberland Hill at #2,135; Ashaway at #2,967; Harrisville at #3,406; and Tiverton at #3,955. Charlestown did not make the list. Harrisville?

Class War and Fair Taxes

Blame Ronald Reagan. The Gipper popularized the idea that all taxes are evil and sold us “Supply-Side Economics,” the idea that the more we slash taxes for the rich, the better off we’ll all be. Trickle-Down Economics, called “voodoo economics” by George Bush I, became political gospel. At the state level too, the watchword for any politician who wanted to stay in office was CUT.

After a 30-year tax cutting orgy, taxes in general – especially for the top brackets – are at record lows. Yet, while trickle-down worked great for the rich, it didn’t work very well for anyone else. It didn't pump up the economy but did bankrupt government at every level, leaving us naked and vulnerable when the economy turned bad.

Charlestown is a very liberal - even progressive - town

For the past several election cycles, Charlestown voters generally voted for the most liberal or progressive candidates.

In 2010, Charlestown Democrats supported Patrick Lynch over Frank Caprio for Governor and the late Joe Fernandez over Peter Kilmartin for Attorney General.

In the general election, when Republican John Robitaille swept most of South County, Charlestown went comfortably for Chafee. Charlestown has overwhelming voted for Donna Walsh for state rep over Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA)-backed Matt McHugh in 2008 and the Moderate Party candidate in 2010.

Charlestown’s 16 point margin for Democrat Larry Valencia helped him eke out a razor-thin victory in House District 39. Of course, in 2008, Charlestown went overwhelming for President Obama.