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Rhode Island suffers from an extraordinarily difficult set
of problems centered on our finances, schools and ethics. The
root cause of most of these problems is politics. Our
politicians lack the motivation and fortitude to seriously
address crushing economic issues like state spending, pension reform
and our tax structure.
When a problem is political in nature, the only solution to
that problem that will work is a political solution.
Many attempts have been made and continue to be made to
address Rhode Island's troubles. Advocacy groups lobby
legislators for change and collect signatures in support
of efforts like Voter Initiative. Bills are introduced in the
Legislature to bring change. Letters and emails of support are
sent to legislators begging for change to be made in our
state. Motivated individuals come to the State House to
testify in Committee on behalf of bills looking for change.
Voters are asked to vote on non-binding ballot referenda to solicit
the voting public's opinion on a specific issue.
All of the above efforts have yielded very little real change,
and the change that has come has come excruciatingly
slowly.
- Our politicians disregard mandates from the voters as with
Separation of Powers.
- Our politicians dismiss signatures from over 20,000 Rhode
Islanders in support of Voter Initiative.
- Our legislative committees table legislation prior to taking
public testimony, avoiding publicly voting against bills that are
effectively killed by forever trapping them in committee.
- Our legislature develops budgets under the utmost secrecy,
with input from just a few members of the legislature.
These are the symptoms of a political system gone awry.
Our politicians are acting as if they are no longer accountable to
the public.
A political problem requires a political solution. Only
by voting in new members to our General Assembly can we bring
balance to the legislature and bring an end to our era of political
dysfunction.
Moderate Party on TV this weekend
Channel 10's Jim Taricani and Bill Rappleye interview Ken Block
on NBC's News Conference, airing this Sunday morning at
either 6:30am or 7:30am (NBC 10's website has the show airing at
6:30am, while the Cox channel guide has the show airing at
7:30am). This show will be streamed off of the NBC 10 website
in the near future. Click here for the News
Conference streaming web site.
Operation Clean Government's State of the State show
features John Carlevale interviewing Ken Block. We discuss the
Moderate Party's struggle to gain state recognition and how viewers
can volunteer to help out with the effort. This show will be
streamed off of the OCG website in the near future. Click here for the State of the
State streaming web site. Broadcast times are as
follows: Lawsuit status
Depositions in the court case were held this past
Tuesday. My deposition lasted close to three hours.
I was expecting a far more uncomfortable experience than what
actually transpired.
MPRI attorneys deposed Jan Ruggiero from the
Secretary of State's office, who will be testifying in court on the
established procedures that the State will be following when the
MPRI executes our signature petition drive.
Our next step in the court case will be the actual trial.
The Court is now working on the schedule. We are hopeful that
the case will be heard within the next 6 weeks or so.
Volunteer
Now that our trial date is coming close, we need to plan for
the possibility that we can begin to collect signatures soon.
Now that spring time has come to Rhode Island, please consider
getting some nice exercise by helping us collect the thousands upon
thousands of signatures required to gain State recognition as a
party. Please send an email to: volunteer@moderate-ri.org if you are interested in
becoming a 'circulator' for the Moderate Party of Rhode Island's
signature petition drive.
As always, any financial help is always welcome and
appreciated. Donations to the Moderate Party of Rhode Island
Political Action Committee can be made here
More to come soon. | 