Over the next thirty days, the RIGOP will select a new leader. We must all remain focused, energized, and be 100% supportive of the new leader whomever it may be. Ken’s moving on is but a bump in the road which the RIGOP will weather just fine.

I look forward to continue working with the RIGOP on issues of building an effective Party, an army of candidates, and addressing the issues that face us all in the State of Rhode Island, from taxes to illegal immigration to pension reform, to an out of control General Assembly, and as we all know, the list goes on.

Conservatively yours,

Raymond T. McKay
President, RIRA

Dear members of the RI Republican State Central Committee:

It is as a recently retired member of the Rhode Island General Assembly, and not as your Republican National Committeewoman, that I write this letter to you.

First, I will not be with you to vote on November 16th at the upcoming meeting of the RI Republican State Central Committee. We have two young grandchildren living abroad and it is our tradition to spend the week of each child’s birthday with the family wherever they may be. Tickets were purchased months before dates of the State Central Committee meetings were known and as luck would have it, I will return from London late on the evening of the 16th, just missing the vote by hours. It would not be fair to change the date because others would be inconvenienced. Our bylaws also are silent on proxy voting. The RNC allows proxy voting, but members must travel thousands of miles to many of the meeting venues and voting could be problematic without proxies.

Since I will not be present to talk with you individually, I wanted to take this opportunity now to again voice my support for a closed primary. Through two elections for District Clerk, two elections for District Moderator, and through five elections as State Representative, I would not have been successful were it not for the support and votes which I received at the polls from Republicans, Democrats, and the unaffiliated. All votes were welcomed and appreciated in the November elections where all registered voters were able to vote for the candidate of their choice.

However, I was the Republican candidate endorsed by the Scituate Republican Town Committee, and following redistricting and downsizing, also by the Cranston Republican City Committee. Republicans and Republicans alone chose the candidate. Although I was fortunate not to have had a primary – if one were needed – I would have wanted actual registered Republicans, not those who choose to both affiliate and disaffiliate in the same hour – the “60 second wonders” mentioned by Dave Talan – holding the pen in the voting booth on primary day.

Whatever the outcome, Republicans would have chosen the Republican candidate and that is as it should be.

Wish I could be with you on the 16th.

Respectfully,

Carol A. Mumford

My biggest concern is having our Party’s Primaries hijacked by Democrats and people who do not wish us well, and who do not even intend to vote for the GOP candidate in the November election.

If you were at the last R.I. GOP meeting in October, you recall that I talked about people who voted in, and decided, our last hotly-contested Primary in 2006. I had sent E-Mails to about 1,000 new Republicans, who voted in that Primary, and who had filled out their E-Mail address on their voter registration card. I welcomed them to the Republican Party. The response I received was appalling.

Usually, when I send out E-Mails like this, I get replies expressing delight that the Republican Party is alive and well, and asking to hear more from the R.I. GOP. But this time, I received HUNDREDS of angry replies, from people outraged that anyone would think they were a Republican.

Like the man who said that the time between when he voted in the GOP Primary, and when he immediately filled out a disaffiliation paper, was “THE WORST 30 SECONDS OF MY LIFE”.

Or the person who wrote “You are sadly mistaken. I am NOT a Republican voter. The Republican Party has abandoned America. Shame on you.”

Or the man who replied, “I will vote for Democrats and support them financially. I’ll vote for Sheldon Whitehouse simply because he is a Democrat.”

Or the woman who said, “I am not a Republican Voter. I am outraged at this tactic of the Republican Party. Take me off your mailing list.”

Or the Cranston resident who wrote, “I am a Democrat. I only voted in the last 2 Primary elections as Republican to vote against Laffey.”

I certainly do not want to discourage any Republican-leaning citizen from voting in a GOP Primary, and from voting for Republicans in November. But I do not want to see our Party’s candidates chosen by Democrats, who want bad things to happen to us. Based on my personal observations, I believe this is the greater danger.

And so, I urge you to vote to APPROVE the resolution at Wednesday’s meeting.

Regards,

DAVE TALAN
DaveTalan [at] aol [dot] com

…The NFRA calls itself the “Republican wing of the Republican Party.” When the GOP decides to cave in to the left, the NFRA is there to remind everyone the benefit of standing on conservative principles.

The head of the NFRA is Rod Martin, and his organization has chapters throughout the United States from Rhode Island to Hawaii. In Rhode Island, the Republican Assembly often has larger gatherings at meetings than the GOP itself.

The convention was a successful showcase of rising stars in the GOP…

READ MORE: The Washington Times Communities

The crux of the problem [for the Rhode Island Republican Party] at present is that “unaffiliated” voters can affiliate and vote as “Republicans” on the same day as the Republican Party Primary. They can then immediately disaffiliate from the party — and they usually do just that. Based on analysis of previous elections, there is little likelihood of those voters [intentionally] remaining party members after the primary election. Remember, the only legal purpose of a primary election is to choose the party’s candidates to represent it in the general election. It is not supposed to be about “party building” or anything of the sort. Quite clearly, it has not been about party building over the past several decades, as our party registration numbers have decreased in Rhode Island. Coming from a life-long Republican, I can honestly say that there really is not a logical reason at present why anyone not truly committed to the ideals or principles of the Republican Party should want to remain on the rolls of the party here; if they get can have all the benefits of participation, without any of the responsibilities of membership.

The specific amendment to the RIGOP Bylaws which was officially read on Monday night [at the meeting of the Rhode Island Republican State Central Committee] would require primary voters to become affiliated with the Republican Party 90 days before a primary election in order to vote in the Republican primary. This is actually the very same rule which already applies to Democrats who want to become “unaffiliated” for the specific purpose of voting in the Republican Primary (cough, Linc Chafee, cough). That would mean that they would need to know that they are going to vote in the Republican primary about two weeks before the official filing deadline for candidates  in June, not after they already know the field. We don’t think that’s a whole lot to ask of our voters, and especially of our “Republican” candidates.

We [the proponents of this amendment] believe that if this change is passed on November 16th, that there would be far less chance of last-minute, highly organized efforts by Democrats and their organized labor allies to manipulate low turnout primary races. Despite what some in the media would have you believe, we are not nearly as worried about the “big” races (like a certain Congressional race which shall remain nameless), but more about R.I. General Assembly and municipal-level races, where the results in party primaries are often decided by a handful of votes. We have had multiple and repeated organized efforts to “bump off” viable GOP candidates at the primary level. Regardless as to whether their efforts actually succeed (depending on how one defines that), it costs good Republican candidates time, money, and labor that could be better spent elsewhere identifying likely voters. We should not intentionally leave ourselves so vulnerable to outside manipulation.

The primary benefit (bad pun) to the Republican Party of changing the current party rules would be to let us know who is truly eligible and likely to vote in the primary before it occurs, so that we can better target our limited resources towards “likely primary voters” for that specific purpose. We realistically cannot target over half the state’s voters for a primary. Secondly, we believe that this move would actually encourage unaffiliated voters to “make the switch” and register with the Republican Party and help increase party registration over time, especially if they know they have to in order to participate in the primary selection process. It would clearly be up to the party to educate voters of this change, if and when it is approved. The party has suffered from bad “P.R.” in the past. That does not mean it has to in the future. The threat that this would be a “bad P.R. move” is laughable on its face. If we have the right message and the right candidates, people should actually want to be “party members” for more than 90 seconds. We don’t need “hit and run” voters without allegiance to the party choosing our candidates.

P.S. Before you ask… there is ample U.S. Supreme Court precedent which backs up the premise that political parties have the fundamental, constitutional “freedom of association” and the right to determine their own rules for for choosing candidates… or even whether to have primaries at all. We are quite certain that we have the law on our side. The question would really need to be asked, if the amendment is approved, and the secretary of state did choose to challenge it, why he would waste taxpayer funds to do that?

Sen.Tassoni says Mr Dionne and I need to get our facts straight. I am up for that challenge.

Mr Dionne said the senator’s sponsorship and support of Binding Arbitration was based on his past relationship with labor unions. The senator’s  answer was that he’s no longer employed by a union. Correct. But that does not change the fact that he was in the past as Mr Dionne stated. Not to mention his newspaper’s (http://www.commongroundnews.net) advertisements are at least half for unions, affiliated organizations or businesses owned by fellow democrat politicians. While the senator is no longer a public union employee, he  is clearly in good standing with the public sector union political action committees. In the 2nd quarter of this non-election year he received over $2500 in public sector PAC donations. (http://www.ricampaignfinance.com/RIPublic/Filings.aspx)

Moving on to the Binding Arbitration Bill (S0794   http://www.rilin.state.ri.us//BillText11/SenateText11/S0794A.pdf )and the Senate votes on it on June 29th. (The Senate Journal http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/journals11/senatejournals11/SJournal6-28.pdf). Sen.Tassoni sponsored the bill. If it is a conflict to vote for a bill, how can it not be to sponsor it?

There were 7 votes related to the bill. 5 amendments,  a motion to move the final vote to June 30th and the actual vote on the bill. Sen.Tassoni recorded no vote on the first 6 votes and finally abstained on the 7th. Final total 6 walks, 1 abstention.

Is binding arbitration bad for Smithfield and North Smithfield? I am not an expert so I’ll defer to the elected municipal officials. Of the 21 elected municipal officials (Smithfield 5 council, 5 school committee; N. Smithfield 5 council, 5 school committee, 1 administrator), 15 are listed in opposition at the RI Coalition Against Binding Arbitration website (www.ricaba.org). The rest have not answered, yet. The opposed includes the 3 members of the democratic majority on the Smithfield School Committee.

Clearly the municipal officials in the 22nd senate district  think this idea is a bad one. From the national media it appears states are not enacting this idea right now. Most are running away from it. 

Yes, sometimes our General Assembly members should recuse themselves. Sen.Tassoni has sponsored hundreds of bills in his time in the RI Senate. He generally makes the top 5 in the number of senate bill filled every year. Researching how many time he has recused himself since his election is not an easy task. However, I would bet the number can be counted on 2 hands.

Recusing oneself from an issue should include not submitting bills on the subject, not voting on the subject and not advocating for the subject. About a third of the senator’s letter was singing the praises of the binding arbitration bill he submitted. Score 1 out of 3 on recusing.

Phil Hirons, Jr.

Chair, Smithfield Republican Town Committee

Vice President, RIRA

“I could really use the job right now,” said one applicant. “Even at age 27, my college loans from four years at Duke are still pretty hefty.” Another applicant said, “It seems like a good job. You know, one of those errand-boy jobs. I have a degree in political science, so I’m sure I can handle all the stress. Plus, I’ll be saving the taxpayers some money.” Another promising member of the Young Republicans said, “I feel like I have a decent shot at getting the job. I’m a hard worker, and I graduated with a 3.7 GPA from URI. I can make a pretty good cup of coffee, too.”

Chairman of the RI Young Republicans Travis Rowley elaborated on the situation, “When word got out about Iannazzi’s outrageous salary, I began receiving dozens of resumes from the Young Republican membership, asking me to forward them to Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed on their behalf.”

Young Republican board member Patrick Sweeney spoke practically about the situation: “It seems that there are dozens of Young Republicans who are unemployed, well qualified, and more affordable to the taxpayers.” Sweeney gathered information from www.salary.com regarding comparative salaries in Providence. He discovered that an Office Services Assistant on average makes $37,559, and an Executive Assistant makes on average $52,998. “If you average those two salaries together, that’s $45,287. And that’s basically what our members are willing to work for,” Sweeney stated.

“Government jobs should always go to the lowest bidder among qualified applicants,” Rowley explained. “So this is a no-brainer. Sen. Ruggerio and Sen. Paiva-Weed will have to reconsider Iannazzi’s hiring.”

When asked about the fact that Stephen Iannazzi is the son of Donald Iannazzi, the business manager for Local 1033 (an affiliate of the Laborers International Union), Rowley expressed only slight concern. “We realize that Senator Ruggerio’s 30-year-old son, Charles, works as a lawyer for a union that sustains the Democrats’ political power in Rhode Island. But all of our applicants have college degrees, and are willing to work for much less money.” Rowley added, “There are also a lot of Young Republicans with law degrees, who will be applying for Charles Ruggerio’s job as well. This is a good week for us.”

Regarding political influence, Sweeney said, “It’s true, very few of our members have fathers who are politically connected labor leaders. But if you look at some of their resumes, it’s clear that plenty of our applicants have some pretty solid credentials in that respect as well.”

Sifting through stacks of resumes it’s evident that Sweeney is correct. Not only do all of the applicants have college degrees from various schools, but many of the resumes make assertions such as “My dad knows your dad” and “My dad voted for your brother’s wife.” Others boast of job qualifications such as “My dad hired your son, so you should hire me.” And perhaps the most convincing qualification found among stacks of resumes was “My grand-pappy was a member of Local 1033.”

“Our membership isn’t naive,” Rowley explained. “Most of them have lived in Rhode Island their entire lives. So they know what type of qualifications State House employers look for. The ‘Family and Labor Connections’ portion of their resumes may have been beefed up a bit before they were submitted.”

Press Release: RI Young Republicans

“Our goal is to travel the country with a film production crew and speak with regular Americans as well as politicians, policy experts, and prominent business people on a variety of topics such as trade, China, taxes, energy policy, defense, and balancing the budget, and to ultimately share real solutions for fixing America now, while there is still time,” said Mr. Laffey, a former RI elected official, president of a major investment banking firm, and author of Primary Mistake.

Laffey stated, “The political elites from both parties have destroyed our country financially. Since 1971 and the closing of the ‘Gold Window’ by President Nixon, America has not settled its accounts. By using its status as both the world’s reserve currency and the world’s military superpower, America has put off the day of reckoning. The financial shenanigans in the USA have grown, along with the power of the financial and political elite, to a point that it threatens our freedom, our financial future, and just maybe the freedom of the free world. Our goal is to show solutions to these issues and how they should be addressed immediately.”

Please direct media inquires to: Field Producer Colleen Conley at colleen [at] the989project [dot] com

Source: Press Release
“Fixing America”: The Movie
Steve Laffey, Fort Collins, CO

“During the redistricting, he bit the bullet. He took an area that was unknown to him and, ultimately, he ended up paying the utmost sacrifice.” –Sen. Ruggerio

No. The utmost sacrifice is giving your life for your community or country. Magistrate Montalbano clearly spent enough time in the senate for this political plum.

The list of people “At Montalbano’s side” speaks volumes.

I’m proud we have 5 senators who refused to whoop and applaud this travesty.

Sen. Nicholas Kettle, R-Coventry

Sem. Bethany Moura, R-Cumberland

Sen. Michael J. Pinga, D-West Warwick

Sen. Glenford Shibley, R-Coventry

Sen. Edward O’Neill, I-Lincoln

(*Sen. Francis T. Maher, Jr., R-Exeter would have voted against as well, but is home recovering from surgery).

Noticeably absent from this list

Sen. Dennis Algiere, R-Westerly, Minority Leader

Sen. Dawson Hodgson, R-North Kingston

Sen. David Bates, R-Barrington

Sen. Christopher Ottiano, R-Portsmouth

Phil Hirons, Jr.
Vice President, RI Republican Assembly