No end in sight to Carcieri’s cuts
SINCE 2002, Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri has carried out an ever-escalating and relentless assault on the working people of his state.
In 2008, Carcieri issued an executive order that turned all state law enforcement agents into Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The ensuing street harassment, combined with workplace raids, has displaced families, sent people to prison just for working, and spread fear throughout Rhode Island's Latino community.
He has cut virtually all state funding to cities and towns. He has virtually eliminated "Rite Care" (health care to low-income children). He has nearly eliminated welfare to a larger extent than the Clinton administration did in 1996, during the worst economic recession in many decades. He drastically reduced funds for Head Start and forced hundreds of teachers to be laid off across the state.
Every semester, the tuition at state colleges has risen. Carcieri has passed budgets (with the help of the Democrats in the state legislature) that, every year, contain more layoffs and cuts to social services, while refusing to even consider raising taxes on any of the state’s wealthy. He repealed the estate tax with the help of the Democrats in the state legislature and instituted a flat tax option that benefits Rhode Island's 300 richest families.
The Democratic Party-controlled general assembly has consistently failed to offer any opposition to Carcieri's policies. At one point, the governor sent 17-year-olds to the state prison to "save money"--which actually ended up costing more money. Fortunately, that plan lasted only a few weeks. During Bush's first and only visit to the state, the governor smothered him with hugs and kisses.
Carcieri recently accepted an invitation as the keynote speaker at the ultra-conservative "Massachusetts Family Institute, "which opposes equal marriage rights, abortion rights, and universal health care. Recent polls show overwhelmingly support for equal marriage in Rhode Island, yet Carcieri, the Catholic Church and key Democrats are opposed, so we remain the only New England state that doesn't recognize this basic civil right. The speech will also be used to emphasize Carcieri's determination to not recognize equal marriage in the state.
On August 6, Carcieri--using the Department of Transportation--put up eviction and trespassing notices at Camp Runamuck and Camp Hope, two "tent cities" located under Providence-area bridges. Superior court Judge Lamphear upheld the state's eviction and several dozen homeless people are now being forced to move.
September 3 was the final straw. Carcieri had recently announced his latest executive order imposing 12 furlough days on all state workers. This attempt by Carcieri to force a 5 percent pay cut on state employees is the latest in a long series of assaults designed to smash AFSMCE, the state workers' union. In response to the union's lawsuit, a local judge has issued a temporary stay, pending arbitration.
In response to the judge's ruling, the governor immediately declared that at least 1,000 termination notices would be sent the following day to the most-recently hired state workers. One can imagine that more will come until the governor gets his way-- supposedly "saving money" to pay for a deficit that his office mysteriously keeps producing.
The Carcieri administration has until 2010 to further attack working people in this state and then they will choose which Democrat to elect (from among those who have failed to stop him, and often supported him). It is time for a party to arise that actually supports working-class people--one that would tax the rich, support universal health care and marriage equality and call for an end to stop wars in the Mideast, with the money being redirected toward community needs and education.
Greg Morse and Paul Hubbard, Providence, R.I.
