The Rhode Island Republican Assembly PAC will be hosting a “Conservative Comedy Night” Fundraiser, featuring “Conservative Liberal Jewish” Californian Comedian ERIC GOLUB on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 21st, 2011.
The fundraiser will be held at the Manville Sportsmen’s Rod & Gun Club, at 250 High Street, in Manville (Lincoln), RI 02838. Check-in begins at 6:30 PM. The dinner show will begin at 7:00 PM.
In addition to our featured comedian, we will also be “lightly roasting” the following local politicos: John Robitaille, Rep. Doreen Costa, Rep. Mike Chippendale, Rep. Dan Gordon, and Sen. Beth Moura.
There will be a great Italian buffet dinner featuring roasted chicken, pasta, salad, and dessert, with a cash bar. The cost to attend this fun event is only $35.00 per person or $60.00 per couple. As May 21st is Armed Forces Day, we will be recognizing U.S. Military Veterans. Veterans can attend for $30.00 each.
Your RSVP in advance would be appreciated for planning purposes. Funds generated from this event will be used to support local conservative Republican candidates. Please make checks payable to “RIRA-PAC.” To reserve your tickets today, please mail your request and personal check to:
RIRA-PAC, c/o Raymond McKay, 19 Bakers Creek Road, Warwick, RI 02886.
You may also pay for your tickets by credit card using the drop-down menu at http://ri-ra.org/comedynight/ or by sending funds directly through PayPal to: paypal [at] rirapac [dot] org.
For any inquiries, please contact RIRA President Raymond T. McKay at (401) 487-2514 or by e-mail at: president [at] ri-ra [dot] org.
THE LINCOLN REPUBLICAN TOWN COMMITTEE
I’ll match my facts against Sen. Tassoni anytime, anywhere.
In the 7/21/2011 Observer (http://breezepapers.com/2011/07/20/observer/tassoni-says-gop-boss-hirons-should-get-his-facts-straight) the senator takes some liberties with the truth concerning statements made earlier by John Dionne and myself. Below is my response to the Observer.
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