Her Satanic Majesty, Queen of the Damned, Princess of Darkness, The Whore of Babylon, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton hasn’t been doing so well in the polls recently — so she’s started running a new television ad in Texas which has been getting quite a lot of attention nationally. Say what you will about the ad, but it’s certainly a great use of free media by her campaign.

The ad clearly emphasizes Hillary’s national security credentials, while discrediting those of her opponent, without mentioning him by name. It seems to be aimed toward the “security mom” segment of the population. Some have compared it to the infamous “Daisy Ad” that President Johnson ran [once] against Sen. Barry Goldwater just before the 1964 election.

However, I think it’s far more reminiscent of President Reagan’s “Bear in the Woods” ad from 1984, which is widely considered one of the most effective campaign ads ever (The “Bear” represented the security threat to the USA from the Soviet Union).

There is a bear in the woods. For some people the bear is easy to see. Others don’t see it at all. Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it’s vicious and dangerous. Since no one can really be sure who is right, isn’t it smart to be as strong as the bear? If there is a bear….

Rhode Island’s largest conservative organization (and sponsor of this blog), the RHODE ISLAND REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY, will hold its next monthly meeting on Thursday, March 13th, 2008. This is a change from our previously scheduled date of March 6th. We apologize for any inconvenience. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 P.M. in the Banquet Room at Bickford’s Family Restaurant on Jefferson Blvd. in Warwick (Exit 15, off Rt. 95).

The RIRA is the Rhode Island affiliate of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, a thoughtful national organization of GOP conservatives working to grow and strengthen the Republican Party in the tradition of President Ronald Reagan. This is a dinner meeting, and if you want to eat, you pay for your own meal. Any like-minded conservative Republican is welcome to attend.

For more information, please contact RIRA President Ray McKay at president [at] ri-ra [dot] org or (401) 487-2514 or NFRA Northeast Region Vice President Will Ricci at NEVP [at] ri-ra [dot] org or visit the RIRA web site at http://www.ri-ra.org.

Newport This Week interviewed several young voters from Salve Regina University to get their opinions on the upcoming presidential primary elections.

I found some of the remarks by several College Democrats to be most interesting. Could this spell trouble for Sen. Obama with the wider electorate in November [if he is the Democrat presidential nominee]?

NEWPORT – Danielle Brazil leans back with a pensive but active gaze. She’s carefully weighing her thoughts; considering her options. Like many Rhode Island voters, Ms. Brazil, a Salve Regina University junior and president of the campus chapter of the College Democrats, plans to vote in next Tuesday’s presidential primary. And like many Rhode Island voters, she’s currently forming her thoughts on each of the candidates…

Ms. Brazil, who began the primary season supporting Delaware Sen. Joe Biden still sports a Biden for President sticker on the back of her car. However, with her preferred candidate long since departed from the race, like many young women, she has thrown her support to Hillary Clinton. “It really just comes down to experience,” she said.

Asked if there was any way that she would vote for a Republican, Brazil responded “Yes.”

“If Obama - without Hillary - gets the ticket, I would vote for McCain” she said.

Meeting in a group of other Salve Regina students, Brazil’s sentiments were shared by several of her classmates at an interview on Monday.

Salve student and Clinton supporter Nicole Warren agreed. Saying that her first choice would be for a Hillary Clinton, Wesley Clark ticket, Warren joined with Brazil in pledging her support for McCain should Obama be the nominee.

“I actually plan on voting for McCain,” Warren, a Massachusetts resident, said. “I believe Obama is all words and no substance.”…

The New York Times had a decent, uplifting story for a change: Louisiana Governor [Bobby Jindal] Pierces Business as Usual

If there’s hope for Louisiana, certainly there’s (at least theoretical) hope for Rhode Island – which has been called “the Louisiana of the North.”

Gov. Don Carcieri has been making a valiant effort, but he’s just one man in a relatively powerless office. He’s more like a general with only a handful of troops; his strategic and tactical options are limited.

Rhode Island is poised on the precipice of fiscal and economic collapse. Even if the Democrat General Assembly holds the line on tax increases (unlikely), that just means that Rhode Island will still be ranked in the bottom 5 states for “business climate.” We will continue to export college graduates seeking economic opportunity and importing welfare recipients seeking dependency opportunity.

Add in to the mix the coming public sector fiscal collapse attributable to several BILLION dollars worth of unfunded pension liabilities and the ever-insatiable appetites of the welfare industry, fueled by an ever-growing dependency population (or, as Teresa Paiva-Weed allegedly referred to her support of efforts to unionize the welfare-daycare workers: “we’re building a constituency here”).

Add in to the mix “Operation Dollar Bill” – merely the latest of illustration of the “business as usual” culture of corruption within the Rhode Island Democratic Party (and NO visible reform faction within it), and you get…

The potential for major Republican gains – even majority status! - IF the party will decide within itself to function as an opposition party rather than an appeasing “go along to get along” party that effectively mirrors the Democrats, albeit “moderating” some of their excesses.

Note that in a Republican wipe-out year – and despite the unions’ best efforts to elect their puppet Fogarty, the “fighter” Don Carcieri was left standing; indicating that Rhode Islanders are hungry for politician(s) willing to take on the Democrat special interest hegemony – but are far less enthusiastic about “me too” Republicans functioning as watered-down Democrats. Contrast Don Carcieri’s victory with thirty-plus years of “moderate” Republican Party decline in Rhode Island and the direction the Party should take becomes incontrovertible.

(RedState) …As we all know by now, Obama comes equipped with many innate gifts that make him the most appealing and pop culturally significant Democratic candidate since John F. Kennedy. As recently as six months ago, I believed it was impossible for anyone other than McCain to have any hope of beating the young Illinois Senator. Yet the primary results led me to reevaluate my opinion, and I now believe that Obama presents not just an inherently flawed candidacy, but a kamikaze leftist candidate, whose out-of-step views will not last the duration of a general election without full exposure, and whose mawkish storytelling can’t carry him to the White House without some serious good fortune.

Read on, then, for the Top Ten reasons Republicans should not be afraid of Obama in a general election:

1. No McGovern has ever won

2. Latinos

3. New map is better for McCain

4. Veterans

5. Single issues matter this time

6. Weakness among typical Democrat voting blocs

7. The New Southern Strategy

8. The Experience Gap

9. The ‘Barack Obama is my shiny new bicycle’

10. Even if he wins, it’s still not over

Read the full story at RedState for a detailed explanation of the “Top Ten” list.

There was a short post over at National Review Online, entitled “An Odd Pledge From Obama,” which asks: “Why is Barack Obama boasting that as president, he will ’slow the development of future combat systems?’ ”

That question was in response to this video of Senator Obama below (get used to seeing it) — which got us thinking about Rhode Island’s own erratic Obamaniac, Patrick “Patches” Kennedy…

Rhode Island’s First Congressional District depends upon advanced defense research by major employers such as Raytheon and numerous subcontractors who perform work for the Naval Underwater Warfare Center, which is itself a major employer in Rhode Island. In fact, these entities are the closest thing Rhode Island has to a ‘tech industry.’

Well, Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is vowing to decimate the programs upon which those Rhode Island employers depend; not to mention hobbling our nation’s military technological edge.

So guess who First Congressional District Congressman Patrick Kennedy is supporting? You guessed it, Senator Obama.

Obama wants change all right – changing Rhode Island’s defense workers from standing in research labs and production lines to standing in unemployment lines. And Patrick Kennedy is standing, too – for Obama.

“Patrick Kennedy – not only a menace on Rhode Island’s roads, but a menace to Rhode Islanders’ jobs as well!”

The following commentary by RIGOP Chair Gio Cicone appeared in the Wednesday edition of The Providence Journal. Gio is right on point. My question is: so what are WE Republicans going to do about it?

ON THE FEB. 10 Commentary pages, House Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino laid out what he calls a “New Economic Vision for Rhode Island.” If that is what passes for vision at the General Assembly, we are in more trouble than I thought.

And before you write off my response as partisan criticism, let me tell you why I think I know something about this topic. For eight years, I was responsible for policy development for the Economic Development Corporation. For three of those years, I was an EDC employee, working on the front lines with many other good people trying to attract businesses to this state, and retain and grow the ones that were here. I testified before Costantino’s Finance Committee dozens of times.

Eventually, however, I realized that the economic development strategies of this state were never intended to grow the economy. Instead, they were simply the ultimate source of political handouts, insider trading, and corporate welfare.

After a decade of advocating for the average Rhode Island business, digging into the fine details of the laws that affect our economy, and watching the results of the frequent “new great idea” or “structural reorganization” for economic growth, I understood that we have nothing but a quasi-legitimized system of stealing from the poor and giving to the rich — and only a select few of the rich, at that.

When one state tries to outsmart the rest by targeting a particular industry or company, it is trying to do something even Wall Street can’t do consistently. We’ve created special deals for software companies, investment companies, call centers, and many more, and still we are in the tank. We excel at addressing the symptom, not the cause, of our economic woes. (Of course, the cure is great for the companies that took the handout — they always feel better).

Now our legislative leaders want more of the same, and, unfortunately, they want to do this on the backs of the small businesses that make up the core of our economy. What they fail to understand — or intentionally ignore — is that only broad-based strategies help the economy, and that targeted strategies only help the politicians and the corporate welfare queens.

We are in “tax hell” because our rates are too high. We can’t lower them because, after all the special deals are accounted for, only the little guy pays full freight. Alas, there are too many hands in the cookie jar for the legislators to seriously consider fixing this. Even if they know better, they prove repeatedly that they are just political cowards, more afraid of losing elections than hurting the economy. Read the rest of this entry »

The following is in response to this lovely Pat Crowley post on Rhode Island’s Future, which is reprinted below – with enhancements. Pat’s words are in italic text, with our responses in bold text.

Update: Since this story was first published, a highly placed Carcieri administration official called me and informed me that the connection between the Providence Journal and the Education Partnership is that Deputy Editorial Page Editor Ed Achorn and Education Partnership President Valerie Forti are married. I placed a call to Forti to ask her to confirm or deny this but she never returned the call. I also emailed Ed Achorn to confirm or deny and never heard back. I also emailed Robert Whitcomb at the Journal, who acknowledged the email but didn’t respond to question of what is the connection.

If it is true, then I think the Journal needs to come right out and make it clear what the connection is. Why? Simply fair play. Whenever I or someone else from the NEARI has a piece in the paper, they always make it very clear what my connection is to the organization. And right they should – I am NOT an unbiased commentator. Shouldn’t the same hold true for Ed Achorn?

Ah, Pat. There’s a difference between being married to someone and being employed by a company or institution. Ms. Forti has had pieces appear in the ProJo, and it always states that she’s with the Education Partnership. On the other hand, Mr. Achorn writes opinion pieces – which aren’t presented as objective reporting.

If you’re really concerned about marital relationships creating conflicts of interest, how about the NEARI lining up and supporting legislation prohibiting people who are married to public school teachers from serving on school committees – since those committees negotiate the contracts under which their spouses will be paid!

Original Post: The Providence Journal should come clean and explain publicly if there is any “special relationship” between it’s editorial page and the Education Partnership. The complete lack of transparency on this issue makes editorials like the one that appeared yesterday (”Schools Industrial Model” , February 18th, 2008) a farce. Here are some other flaws in the editorial:

• Comparing teachers to the “average worker” is misleading. A more accurate comparison would be to compare them to workers with bachelors and masters degrees. When this is done, teachers face a 10% wage penalty.

Gee, Pat, I guess this means that you and your union have failed your members, in spite of the massive dues they pay you every year! Thanks for admitting it – can’t wait to see the confession in the next issue of the NEARI newsletter!

Seriously, most workers work at least an eight hour day, not the 6-6.5 of public school teachers. Most don’t get 20 paid sick days a year. Nor paid Fall break / Christmas Break / Winter Break. Oh, and did I mention being paid during the summer off? Oh, and let us not forget cash value of the gold plated health and dental plans, many with almost no teacher contribution – that’s a good $12-15k a year right there!

You might want to check out the recent Manhattan Institute study that compared teacher salaries with workers of comparable education. Teachers made more, and that was just salary not including benefits and the present value of pensions.

• Teacher contracts are specifically NOT built on the industrial model. The State law was written in the mid 1960’s while the federal law was written 30 years prior in the midst of the depression. The federal law had been revised quite dramatically in 1947 with the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act and again in 1959 with passage of the Landrum-Griffin Act. By the time Rhode Island gave teachers the right to organize, all of the “industrial” nature of the original Wagner Act had been striped away. Just one example- the federal law protects the right to strike while the State law does not. Teachers in Rhode Island have had to rely on court cases, not law, to protect their rights.

C’mon, Pat. Public school teachers are glorified widget makers – an industrial model. Seniority and tenure and uniform pay scales instead of merit pay are the hallmarks of interchangeable assembly line workers, not professionals.

There is no “right to strike” – it’s not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution - there is statutory permission to do so. As you well know, this has never stopped NEARI from calling strikes anyway. We guess that you’d consider that more evidence of teacher “professionalism.” Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Retirement, Millie! We’ll miss you!*

EAST PROVIDENCE — She pressed for school uniforms and brought healthier food choices to the city’s students.She helped save the high school’s clock tower and likely holds the record of least meetings missed.

Yet she was also on the board when the current, controversial teacher’s contract was accepted. And several people have also repeatedly accused her of nepotism.

Nonetheless, after 44 years working for and with the city’s school system, School Committee Chairwoman Mildred (Sousa) Morris will not seek reelection at the conclusion of this term this year.

The 73-year-old made the announcement during last night’s meeting. She said the decision was made previously, but the official announcement came one week after fellow committee members voted to give up city-paid health insurance. She was one of two members receiving it.

“It has become evident that fewer and fewer citizens are interested in seeking public office, especially for School Committee,” she read from a statement. “This current committee has experienced two in-term resignations. My notice now is intended to give the community at large, ample opportunity to consider running for this office.” …

“I don’t presume to tell you that I never made a mistake in my 12 years of elective office,” she also said. “I humbly realize that I am human and I hope that I showed the ability to listen well and react to public input. My greatest satisfaction comes from my commitment to Townie Pride. These words are not just an empty saying for me. The pursuit of pride in all that I do for our schools has, and always will, be my source of motivation.”

She finished her statement with, “Our schools have come a long way through decades of changing state and federal guidelines and mandates, and yet, we have more to do. I will remain as active as ever until my term expires [in] December and I will leave office with my head held high, proud to have served this city, and with my Townie Pride intact.”…

*From your pals on the East Providence Republican City Committee!

[Source: The Providence Journal]

Below is a short video from the “Huckabee for President” presidential campaign rally which was held on Monday night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick. The event was put on with only about two days notice and went off without any problems.

Gov. Huckabee was joined on stage with the band to one side (he started out the rally by playing the bass guiter). His wife Janet and Providence GOP Chair Dave Talan were on the other side of the stage. Dave did a great job helping to coordinate everything. Roughly 500 people turned out for the event. Thanks to Tash for the video recommendation.

I like conspiracies (hence the “theme” of this website). The following conspiracy “theory” (if I may temporarily debase that word), has got to truly rank as one of the most convoluted and illogical that I’ve ever read anywhere.

The following comments are from the great BobbyO (better known as Bobby Oliveira) over at the RI Future blog, in response some blah, blah nonsense. I’m actually going to try to answer some of his inquiries, because I’m a tad bored. My comments follow his in the [brackets]:

What is the connection between the ED. Partnership and RISC?
What is the connection between RISC and the Rhode Island Shoreline Coalition, also calling itself RISC?

[ED and RISC have no formal relationship that I'm aware of, but share similar viewpoints and occasionally membership. ED is focused solely on education issues. The Rhode Island Shoreline Coaliton renamed itself the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition last year, which goes by the acronym RISC. The send out the RISC-Y Business newsletters. They are the same exact organization.]

What is the connection between the other RISC and that crazy think tank run by Felkner, Wyagnd (sic), and oh yes, Sue Carcieri?

[RISC and OSPRI have no formal relationship, but share some membership. Again, they have different focuses. Many people who are on boards of directors, are often on more than one of them. That doesn't necessarily denote interconnectedness. Sue couldn't comment, as she's at an Opus Dei meeting. ]

What is the connection between the crazy think tank and the Haldeman candidacy?

[There isn't one. Haldeman is very self-supporting, and he's going to win!]

What is the connection between that candidacy and anchorrising?

[Other than AR having interviewed Jim Haldeman recently, as Andrew attended one of Jim's events -- absolutely none. By the way Bobby, we are very aware of the interesting e-mail you sent to AR.]

What is the connection between anchorrising and the East Providence Republican Committee?

[I, also known as "Will," am a member of the EPGOP, and I also like to comment regularly on AR. That's it.]

What is the connection between the East Providence Republican Committee and OCG?

[There isn't one. However, I personally happen to be a member of both orgs, as are some of the EPGOP membership. In Rhode Island, many Republicans like "good government."]

What is the connection between OCG and ED Achorn?

[Not aware of any. Oh, "ED"... that's a kind of joke. Zzz.]

What is the connection between Ed Achorn and the Ed Partnership?

[Other than sharing two letters of the alphabet, I believe that Ed Achorn and Valerie Forti have dated, and may still be dating, but are not married.]

By the way, most of these organizations share Boards of Director Members. You would figure with a scheme like this to get around the election laws, they’d win more. Please notice that no where did I say there was a connection to the RIGOP which seems to be in the wilderness. Nice job, Gio.

[Duh. Like most people, we try not to put all of our eggs in one basket. We also have interests outside of politics (try it out). The RIGOP has other concerns. While we're on the subject, should we bring up WorkingRI perhaps? Yes, I think we might.]

Of course, since we’re all involved in a vast right wing conspiracy, everything you just read above could be disinformation. Have a nice day.

Do you know how your State and Local tax dollars are being spent?
Do you realize that you really do have a say?

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!

We want your ideas on how to stop the budget crisis.

Change – It Starts Here. Be part of the solution.

On Thursday, February 28, 2008, at 7:00 PM, join the Portsmouth Republican Town Committee for an evening of stimulating debate and commentary from other voters just like you, who can no longer can tolerate the “Status Quo”.

The panel is scheduled to include:

Governor Donald L. Carcieri
House Republican Leader Bob Watson
Former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey
State Representatives John Loughlin and Steve Coaty
State Senator June Gibbs
Portsmouth Town Councilman Peter McIntyre
Portsmouth School Committee members Jamie Heaney and Mike Buddemeyer
2008 State Senate Candidate Dr. Chris Ottiano

Portsmouth Senior Center
110 Bristol Ferry Road
Portsmouth, RI

This event is FREE of charge. Coffee and desserts will be served.

Contacts:

Frank Oliveira, Chair
frankoliveira375 [at] verizon [dot] net

Chris Ottiano, Vice Chair
raylisachris [at] yahoo [dot] com

Lynda Adams-Robitaille, Secretary
lyndaadams [at] cox [dot] net

You can also e-mail your questions in advance to:
GOP [at] PortsmouthRepublicans [dot] com.

There’s a pretty good, totally scathing, and very well-researched article over at the new local 1772 Society blog entitled, “Lincoln Chafee’s Contribution to the Decline of the RIGOP.” It points out in oh so many ways, THE BLATANTLY OBVIOUS. In a very humorous way, they methodically come to the conclusion that Linc Chafee was never one of us — not even close — and never really could have been.

Thank God, whatever Linc was for the torturous period of time when he was “with us” (cough, cough), he isn’t it anymore! Whatever he is now, let us hope that it can be someone else’s problem to deal with going forward; not ours.

…Where [the] father was smart, strong, brave, principled, educated, over-achieving, decided, loyal, well-spoken, and trustworthy, [the] son was weak, under-achieving, under-qualified, indecisive, stammering, spoiled, aloof, dull, and completely without the political scruples of loyalty and hard work by which his father achieved their combined power. It’s not that Lincoln Chafee was a complete failure as a Senator, which he assuredly was, but the way in which he failed that assaults all sensibilities. He failed because he was, in truth, completely uncomfortable in his own skin, in his own station, and in this opinion, he never wished to be anywhere but back on that farm in Canada shoeing horses. His failure was his lack of strength to do what he wanted, not what his father wanted. It is the classic story of strong fathers with weak sons…the story of countless royal families, wealthy dynasties, et cetera, over the course of history.

Lincoln Chafee’s decision to enter and advance in politics was one he made without any consideration for his party, either on the local, state, or national levels, and without any consideration for a policy platform, a legacy for his office or his state, and with no regard for his supporters and constituents back home. He simultaneously had no direction, no vision, no particular goals, no promises to keep, and no immediate challenge to his seat. After winning in 2000, he surely knew he would face Democratic challengers in the future, but was probably assured that his relatively liberal leanings in combination with incumbency would mean that he’d be “an untouchable.” He comported himself in precisely the way that a gifted seat in the United States Senate would suggest: he did whatever he felt like doing, voted without regard for anything but his own “feelings,” spat in the face of the party that elected him repeatedly, ignored the teachings and actions of a man who was not only a father, but a professional and political predecessor, and just generally sat on the sidelines of the chamber, hemming and hawing like a stuttering, lisping wimp. Meek and mild, completely without passion or the ability to communicate or articulate himself, he must have been quite the sorry sight in a chamber of the 100 most powerful, intelligent, egotistic and bombastic men in the entire world…

Press Release from the Office of the Governor:

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Carcieri v. Kempthorne

The United States Supreme Court today announced that it will review the Secretary of the Interior’s ability to take land into federal trust for Indian tribes. Carcieri v. Kempthorne – a case being watched by states across the country – challenges the federal government’s power to divest Rhode Island of its sovereignty over land within its borders in the face of two Congressional acts limiting that power.

The High Court will hear the Governor, the State of Rhode Island and the Town of Charlestown’s appeal from a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that the Secretary of the Interior’s power to take land into federal trust for Indians, and thereby divest the state of its jurisdiction, is virtually unlimited.

“I’m extremely gratified that the Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to hear our argument in this case of national importance,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri. “This is great news for the people of Rhode Island and an important step for every state facing similar issues. For too long, the legitimate concerns of states in the federal land-to-trust process have been ignored. It is simply not acceptable for any state to be stripped of its sovereignty over land within its borders by mid-level bureaucrats in Washington.”

The Governor also noted that 16 other states, voicing similar concerns over the Secretary’s fee-to-trust powers, had filed a friend of the court brief urging the Supreme Court to take up the case.

I just couldn’t resist. Thanks, HRC!

With a week to go until the Texas and Ohio primaries, stressed Clinton staffers circulated a photo over the weekend of a “dressed” Barack Obama.

The photo, taken in 2006, shows the Democrat frontrunner fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya.

The senator was on a five-country tour of Africa.

“Wouldn’t we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?” questioned one campaign staffer, in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.

In December, the campaign asked one of its volunteer county coordinators in Iowa to step down after the person forwarded an e-mail falsely stating that Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe quickly accused the Clinton campaign Monday of ’shameful offensive fear-mongering’ for circulating the snap.

Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams responds: “If Barack Obama’s campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed.”

[Source: Drudge Report]

PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS PART III

There is a widespread conception within the public sector that the benefit package that was in place on the day of hire can never be altered or changed … except upward. If pay scales were likewise never changed from the date of hire, then perhaps this conception would have some merit; but of course we know that is not true. Further, anyone who labors in the private sector finds laughable the proposition that benefit packages can never be reduced.

Yes many in the public sector have counted on that fat pension throughout their careers, even relied upon the prospect of getting it. And there is some moral suasion backing that concept - for there does seem to be some injustice to changing the rules of the game vis-à-vis someone who has put in 15 or 20 years in reliance on an existing system.

But here in Rhode Island there are additional considerations that reduce, if not negate, that moral suasion. Consider the following:

The vast majority of us - having reached an agreement with another party - consider our word to be our bond and feel obliged to fulfill our end of the agreement (and properly so). Similarly, parties to a written contract can resort to the court system to enforce the contract if one of the parties does not keep its agreement; again properly so.

But imagine if we had engaged an agent to represent our interests and to negotiate on our behalf. Imagine as well that the other party had either bribed our agent, or had threatened / coerced the agent, so that the agent no longer really represented our interests, but those of the other party. In such cases courts will rightly refuse to enforce a contract, or amend it so that it reflects terms that would have been arrived at had the agent not been compromised.

Well, our elected representatives are our agents; yet as we in Rhode Island are painfully aware, the Democrat General Assembly has been compromised by public-sector unions. Those unions have not limited themselves to exercising Constitutional rights to express opinions or petition government, but instead have hijacked the process by de facto bribery via campaign donations and in-kind support … as well as coercion - threatening to and/or actually sponsoring primary candidates to unseat incumbents who don’t toe the public-sector union line. And so our elected officials that have set the parameters of the “pension benefit” have not been truly representing the interests of their constituents, but have been compromised in favor of the public-sector unions. Read the rest of this entry »

HUCKABEE FOR PRESIDENT

More on MIKE HUCKABEE in RHODE ISLAND on MONDAY

Former Arkansas Governor MIKE HUCKABEE brings his campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination to Rhode Island on MONDAY, February 25th.

There will be a huge rally at 6:00 P.M. at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. (Doors will open at 5:00 P.M.). Following the rally, which is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, Huckabee will meet and greet attendees for about a half-hour. (Talk to him; take your picture with him; etc.)

There will be a news media availability a half-hour before the rally, at 5:30 P.M., in the Crowne Plaza.

Gov. Huckabee will visit the Community Prep School in South Providence at 2:00 P.M. This is a highly successful private school, serving poor minority children, which has served as a model for education reform.

Huckabee will arrive from New York, via plane, in the late morning. He will be on the Buddy Cianci radio talk show (630 WPRO) around 12:30 P.M. or 1:00 P.M. He will be in studio, if travel arrangements permit. (otherwise by phone).

He will attempt to be on the John DePetro show (630 WPRO) in the morning via phone from New York. (He will be on 2 national TV shows in the morning: Fox News at 8:15 A.M., and MSNBC at 8:34 A.M.).

The rest of his day is still being planned, but will probably involve meeting local news media people.

Gov. Huckabee will then fly to Ohio, probably late that evening.

Contacts:

Dave Talan 401-941-3662 DaveTalan [at] aol [dot] com
Alice Stewart 501-324-2008 Alice [dot] Stewart [at] explorehuckabee [dot] com

Before anyone asks again, he’s not leaving [at least not yet]! Gov. Mike Huckabee made a guest appearance on the February 23rd episode of Saturday Night Live.

Gov. Huckabee will be visiting Rhode Island on Monday night at 6:00 P.M.