There are a lot of radio talk shows in RI, but not many of the hosts are willing to put their proverbial money where their mouths are. Not so on The Coalition.

This week, I offered testimony to the RI House Judiciary Committee on the draconian "highway blocking" bill sponsored by former police officer (no surprise),  black man (surprise), and current state Rep. Raymond Hull. You can read my take on the bill, and GoLocalProv.com columnist Russ Moore's support for the bill here.

Super huge thanks to Steve Ahlquist and Bob Plain at RIFuture for picking up CapitolTV's slack on this one.

Beginning on June 1st, 2015, the bridge that spans the Blackstone River on the Cumberland/ Lincoln /Woonsocket border will have a new name. After a nearly 10-year study, the Rhode Island Dept. of Transportation has decided to rename what is now known as the Woonsocket Industrial Highway.

"We felt that it was time for the road to have a name that made sense, both geographically and descriptively," said some failed journalist who now does PR for the DOT, "we had over 5 ideas when we started out 10 years ago, and we've finally picked a winner."

The 27 intrepid souls on the naming commission weathered the storms of adversity, and in a mere decade, finally ferreted out a winner. Soon, Rhode Islanders will be telling folks to take exit 9b off of 295 to Route 99, now known as 'CVS Escape Route.' 
 
"In the end, it was a pretty easy decision," noted one commission member, "The other submissions seemed to be written in by 8-year old boys. Names like 'The Hershey Highway', and 'Route 69- Heh,heh, heh...'

(Before anyone gets their shorts in a knot, this post is what's commonly referred to as satire. -Dave)

In a less than surprising move, the six member Rhode Island House Republican caucus called it quits, immediately following today's session. All six disaffiliated as Republicans, and registered as Democrats. The caucus has struggled to survive in recent years due to things like the master lever, intellectual and moral bankruptcy, and complete lack of any bearing on anything remotely resembling reality due to overexposure to FOX News.

In a very small ceremony in the House Lounge, all of the House Republicans officially recanted their mantra of 'Corporations Uber Alles,' and officially signed on the dotted line becoming, for some of them, everything that they hate in the world. Emotions were mixed as the group ate the stale crostini and sipped the half empty champagne glasses left by the bacchanalian Democratic feast that took place in the lounge just prior to the session. 

Doreen Costa seemed to be in a good spirits. When asked about her buoyant mood, Costa exclaimed, "Just a vote for the new Speaker got me a vice-chair. I'm betting I get something pretty big for switching parties. Ooh, maybe a judgeship!" After an infuriating 5 minutes of trying to explain to Ms. Costa that she wasn't a lawyer so, therefore, could never be a judge, she responded, "Well, now that I'm a Democrat, I just have to know a guy."

One Senate member of the Little Party that Couldn't seemed relieved. Former Senate Minority Whippersnapper, Nick Kettle said, "This is a huge weight off my shoulders, y'know? I can finally be like the other kids in my age group and vote Democrat." He was the sole GOP defector in the Senate.

Republicans have been labeled by some as a party that has a palpable undercurrent of bigotry and sexism. Experts chalk this perception up to an evolutionary advance that allows human beings to see through a thin layer of horseshit with barely a perfunctory glance.

"It's hard to be a minority these days," Mike Chippendale offered, "As Republicans, we feel we know what it's like to be discriminated against because of the way we were born. We need to overcome discrimination on the basis of color, sex, or religion, and start to build a society that discriminates only along tax brackets."

Joe Trillo seemed to be entranced in a a dewy-eyed reminiscence. At 71, he's the elder of the recently dissolved caucus. Joe is no stranger to the Democratic party, though they haven't seen one another in quite some time. I checked his pulse and asked for his thoughts on the wholesale abandonment of the House Caucus.

"When I was younger, in my 20's and 30's, I voted almost exclusively for Democrats," he said, "but as I got older, and started to do well and raise a family, I thought, 'Fuck it! I got mine and I don't want to share." He then rambled on and on about where the dump used to be in relation to "the dog track," and asked If anyone had seen his pills.

Rhode Island has a long tradition of fiscally conservative and socially moderate republicans. The names Ron Machtley, Claudine Schneider, and John Chafee come to mind. Even current Senator, and Attorney General hopeful, Dawson Hodgson falls into this category. My question is, “What happened to these types of republicans?”

The Republican Party in the U.S. has taken an unwarranted hard right turn since the inception of the Tea Party. While it seemed that the R.I. Repubs had rejected this all-or-nothing approach to governance, I see more and more influence of a stridently vocal minority in shaping the policy decisions and opinions of Rhode Island’s smallest party.

Let's take Rep. Doreen Costa who, during the shakeup in leadership in the RI House, said she was backing Rep. Nicholas Mattiello simply because, "He's not a Progressive." 

Is this the new face of the RI republicans? Can they be counted on to eschew bipartisanship over perceived ideological differences? Is that what Rhode Island needs right now? Moreover, do her constituents feel represented by this stance?

I thought that the Republicans in the RI House were dead set on breaking the existing power structure. As a matter of fact, I wrote a piece on Rhode Island's most liberal blog championing the House Repubs quest to do so (and caught a ton of shit for it!) writing, "Sorry, RI F***** readers, House Democrats came down on the wrong side of open government and public notice on this one."

Recently, in what I thought was an effort to build some bipartisanship in RI, I asked - via Twitter - the RI Tea Party and #TCOTs (get on Twitter, fascinating stuff) to give their opinion on the recent McCutcheon v. FEC Supreme Court ruling. The ruling basically furthered the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling and reinforced the 1976 ruling in Buckley v. Valeo.

In short, these decisions confirm that corporations are people, and that spending money equals free speech.

The traditional RI Republican balks at these concepts, and yet the current crop of so-called conservatives had nothing but praise for the ruling.

Justin Katz (via Twitter) Good. Restricting money in politics only sends it further into the shadows.

Question: Sends money or politics further into the shadows? Is either good for the populace?

RI Tea Party (via Twitter) Corps are not machines they are ppl w/the same rights as everyone else

Question: If corporations are people,  do self-defense or stand your ground laws apply, and why are they not prosecuted for murder, collusion, negligence, etc.?

Mike Stenhouse (Chair of RI Repubs, via Twitter) Unions, individ's, & corps treated the same. Free speech trumps all

Question: Why are they not treated the same? Individuals get prosecuted for crimes, unions get vilified for (gasp!) asking to be paid fairly and retire in some level of comfort. Corporations get a slap on the wrist and a "Keep up the good work, you job creator, you," for any infraction on the public health or well being. It is ABSURD!

Corporations have proven, time and time again, that the unregulated market DOES NOT WORK. Look at the investigation of General Motors, where for the cost of 57 cents per vehicle, the company kept from recalling hundreds of thousands of cars for ten years. The lack of recall caused at least 13 deaths, but they are not being prosecuted for murder, or even negligent homicide.

If you want to treat corporations like people, let's prosecute them in the same manner. Republicans should enforce the same moral imperatives on corporations as they do on people.