May 15, 2008
Governor Carcieri's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News to talk about his executive order cracking down on illegal immigration is being rescheduled by the program, the governor's office said today.
Carcieri's interview was scheduled to appear on the program hosted by Bill O'Reilly at 8 and 11 tonight, which will not happen, according to the governor's office. His schedule for today originally had the governor doing the segment between 5:15 p.m. and 6 p.m. for the airings later tonight.
No information was yet available on when the appearance will be scheduled.
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney
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May 14, 2008
Governor Carcieri is scheduled to be on the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News tomorrow night to talk about his executive order cracking down on illegal immigration.
The governor's office issued a news release saying Carcieri will tape a brief interview tomorrow with host Bill O’Reilly. The interview is expected to air at 8 and 11 p.m., according to the governor's office.
The announcement followed the release earlier this afternoon by the governor's office of a frequently-asked-questions answer sheet based on the controversial executive order, issued at the end of March.
The governor's office said the document is designed to answer questions about how the order is carried out. See the document here. The six-page FAQ sheet poses 26 questions followed by answers from the governor's office. The document is also offered in Spanish.
“As people have requested information about the executive order, we determined that a Frequently Asked Questions document might prove informative and helpful in dispelling misconceptions," Carcieri said in a statement. “I expect that the document will be constantly updated as new information becomes available and new questions or concerns come to light.”
Carcieri said he is setting up an advisory group to monitor how the order is carried out so there are no "unintended consequences" for immigrants here legally. Possible members' names are being gathered; a final slate will be presented to Carcieri within two weeks. The plan is for the panel to meet for the first time this summer.
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney
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The Rhode Island Reagan-Lincoln Day Dinner, part of an effort to raise money for the state's Republican candidates, is tonight.
Former Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey and local town committee leaders, members and guests will gather at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, 60 Rhodes Place, Cranston, at 6 p.m. There will be refreshments at the bar and food stations.
Among invited guests are Governor Carcieri, party leaders and all candidates for national committeeman and committeewoman, according to an e-mailed news release from the South Kingstown Republican Town Committee.
A news release says that for every $100 ticket each local GOP sells, the net proceeds will go directly in the local GOP bank account. So when a local GOP sells 50 tickets to the local community, $5,000 goes into that GOP bank account and $1,250 (based on $25 cost) of that money will be a check to Rhodes on the Pawtuxet for net proceeds of $3,750.
Laffey left office after a failed bid to unseat then-U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee in a 2006 Republican primary. The Journal has reported Laffey is thought to be readying for a potential run for governor in 2010.
Laffey and his wife have contributed to defray the event's cost "to maximize benefit to local GOP," the release notes.
The Journal's Political Scene column reported in late March that Laffey said he donated $1,000 to the Cranston GOP to arrange the venue for the fundraiser.
Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:09 PM | Permalink
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U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa, is scheduled to hold a news conference at noon today after meeting yesterday with former Patriots videotape assistant Matt Walsh.
Earlier in the day yesterday, Walsh met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who announced after yesterday's meeting that further sanctions against the Patriots over the Spygate controversy were unlikely.
Goodell said Walsh affirmed that he does not have, nor did he make, a tape of the St. Louis Rams’ final walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, in 2002.
Specter has helped keep the Spygate situation alive with comments critical of the league’s handling of the situation. Many have said, however, that his ties to Philadelphia-based Comcast, which is locked in a battle with the NFL over rights to the NFL Network, is driving him. Also, the Pats have had success in recent years over the league’s two Pennsylvania-based teams, the Eagles and the Steelers.
Specter was initially scheduled to hold a press conference yesterday.
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U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Aging Committee, is scheduled to attend a hearing this morning on Alzheimer’s disease, during which former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is expected to speak publicly for the first time about her husband’s struggles with the disease, according to the senator's office.
Witnesses are expected to provide an update on research and treatments, issues on early-onset diagnoses and the need for a comprehensive strategy as more Americans are diagnosed with the disease, according to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
The disease currently affects 5 million Americans, according to a committee press release.
Whitehouse is expected to testify but it's unclear when.
C-Span-3 plans to carry the hearing live.
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May 12, 2008
Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy hit the campaign trail over the weekend for presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The Rhode Island Democrat attended a voter registration rally in Providence for Senator Obama of Illinois Saturday morning, according to the congressman’s office.
Kennedy then flew into Charleston, W. Va., for an overnight visit in preparation for tomorrow’s Democratic primary there.
Kennedy, who endorsed Obama in January, addressed campaign volunteers in Charleston, attended a canvasser’s kick off in Buckhannon, and visited an Obama headquarters and call center in Elkins.
According to an Associated Press report, Obama expects Clinton to win tomorrow's primary in West Virginia, which has large numbers of working-class whites - a group that usually backs the former first lady - as well as a strong military tradition.
Obama used his visit to Charleston to combat critics' claims that he is not particularly patriotic or ready to be commander in chief, in part because he never served in the military, no longer wears a lapel flag pin and opposed the Iraq war from the start.
-- John E. Mulligan, Journal Washington bureau, with Associated Press reports
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Should the state be naming buildings after Rhode Islanders who haven’t yet breathed their last?
The critical question of above ground or below took on a life of its own on the House floor last week, with Majority Leader Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich, hardly able to keep a straight face as he argued against naming the new Kent County Court House after former Gov. Philip W. Noel, who is very much alive.
It wasn’t personal, he said. “I certainly believe there is a building in this state, possibly even this building that should be named after Governor Noel.”
But only in Rhode Island would it seem normal to name buildings after those who may visit or, more bizarre, work in them.
Rep. John Patrick Shanley Jr., D-South Kingstown, pointed out that however strange, the living monument is a bit of wacky tradition here. A courthouse, the airport terminal and a variety of other buildings all post names of live bodies.
At the University of Rhode Island alone, three buildings have been named after the living: former Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy has a residence hall named in his honor, as does the Wiley family, of which several members are still living. And just two or three weeks ago, the Assembly voted to name Independence Hall after retiring Provost Beverly Swan, who, Shanley says thankfully, is expected to be “breathing with [him]” when the building is dedicated this week.
So perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Assembly voted overwhelmingly to keep the Philip Noel Judicial Complex proposal, well, alive.
-- By Cynthia Needham and Scott MacKay
Journal staff writers
Posted by Pam Cotter at 9:19 AM | Permalink
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It was a tale of two Democratic parties Thursday night.
At Providence Prime restaurant, on Federal Hill, a group of party elite fundraisers and elected officials met for a private dinner with Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean. Huddling with Dean were Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, state General Treasurer Frank Caprio, fundraising activist Susan Weiner, former Providence Mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr., state AFL-CIO president Frank Montanaro, AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer George Nee, Edna O’Neill Mattson, the party’s national committeewoman, business leader Alan Hassenfeld and Richard Licht, the former lieutenant governor.
Dean, a former Vermont governor, exchanged greetings with old Rhode Island friends and then quickly retreated to the private dinner in the back of Prime, the restaurant favored by Bill Clinton when he is in town. The group was brought together by Mark Weiner, Clinton confidant and top party fundraiser. Dean was in town prospecting for campaign money for the fall campaign against Republicans.
The Federal Hill confab was a somewhat buttoned-down affair; across town, a comparatively raucous Democratic event was in full swing: a fundraiser for Rep. David Segal, D-Providence, who represents the Fox Point neighborhood, a slice of the city’s downtown and East Providence. Segal’s time, held at Nick-a-Nees, the celebrated tavern in the city’s Jewelry District, drew hundreds of young Democrats.
Nick-a-Nees is a studiously casual joint, known for its jukebox (Dylan, Sinatra, blues), dog-friendly atmosphere, Red Sox fans and bartenders who are on a first-name basis with all the regulars. Think Cheers with grit.
Shirts and ties were in the minority, but there were a few lobbyists and labor union types, including Bob Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, the teachers union; Bob Mauro, of Local 401 of the Service Employees International Union; Jim Cenerini, of the state AFL-CIO; and Lucie Burdick, president of the Rhode Island Alliance of Social Workers. Lobbyist Wally Gernt was also spied at the bar.
Providence Mayor Cicilline was the only politician to make the trip from the Dean event to Segal’s.
Two bands entertained: the brassy What Cheer Marching Brigade, and Trolley, an ensemble of Brown University students. Hundreds spilled into the Nick-a-Nee’s parking lot to listen to What Cheer and mingle on a rainless evening.
Continue reading "Howard Dean huddles with local Democrats"
Posted by Pam Cotter at 9:17 AM | Permalink
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The final days before Bertie Ahern stepped down last week after 11 years as Ireland’s prime minister were packed with last-minute activities.
Ahern made several trips to the United States, including one to Boston in which he bestowed $2 million on the John F. Kennedy Library.
But it was his trip to Washington that put Rhode Island in the spotlight.
House Speaker Murphy traveled to the nation’s capital to meet with Ahern and sit in on the statesman’s address to a joint session of Congress.
Murphy told Political Scene he was proud to be on hand for one of Ahern’s last official speeches. “Afterwards, I had the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Ahern in the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, along with Congressmen [James R.] Langevin and Patrick Kennedy and John Murphy of Home Loan Investment Bank.”
The speaker said he was also impressed by Ahern’s remarks about continuing the strong relationship between this country and Ireland.
In answer to Political Scene’s favorite question: no taxpayer money was used for Murphy’s one-day trip.
Posted by Pam Cotter at 9:16 AM | Permalink
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The celebration of the life of Tony Marcella continues this week with a fundraiser in Marcella’s honor.
Friends will gather Friday evening at Newport’s Ocean Cliff Hotel for music, hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction. Proceeds from the event will go to the ALS Foundation and the Marcella family.
Marcella, a lobbyist, former chief aide to Congressman Kennedy and former executive assistant to Rhode Island House Majority Leader Fox, died in March of complications from ALS. He was 43.
And for those of you who missed it last week …
Posted by Pam Cotter at 9:14 AM | Permalink
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John “J.R.” Pagliarini, dismissed in February by Governor Carcieri from his job as the governor’s deputy chief of staff, has landed at the state Office of Higher Education.
Jack Warner, the commissioner of higher education, confirmed that Pagliarini has a $115,000-a year job as associate commissioner of higher education. When he worked in Carcieri’s office, Pagliarini was paid $124,190.
After Pagliarini’s dismissal from Carcieri’s staff, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said Pagliarini would be leaving state government.
Pagliarini has a public employment history dating to the 1980s administration of Gov. Edward D. DiPrete and is well-known and well-liked in Republican circles in Rhode Island. He was the communications director for Lincoln D. Chafee when Chafee was mayor of Warwick.
After Chafee became a U.S. senator, Pagliarini worked as state director of his Rhode Island office. Pagliarini has also been a private-sector State House lobbyist.
Warner said he did not create a new job for Pagliarini; he is filling a vacant position. (Warner is a finalist for a job as chancellor of Pennsylvania’s state universities.)
Pagliarini does not have extensive higher-education experience, but Warner said he personally recruited him. “Nobody ordered me to take him,” Warner said in an interview. “I recruited him on my own initiative.”
Pagliarini is studying ways to make administrative functions at the state colleges and the University of Rhode Island more efficient, and he is formulating an action plan in the event of a flu pandemic at the state colleges.
smackay@projo.com
cneedham@projo.com
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May 8, 2008
John "J.R.'' Pagliarini, dimissed in February by Governor Carcieri from his job as the governor's deputy chief of staff, has landed at the state Office of Higher Education.
Jack Warner, commissioner of higher education, confirmed today that Pagliarini has a $115,000-a year state job as associate commissioner of higher education. When he worked at Carcieri's office, Pagliarini earned roughly $118,000 annually.
After his dismissal from Carcieri's staff, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said that Pagliarini would be leaving state government.
Pagliarini has has a history dating back to the 1980s administration of former Gov. Edward DiPrete and is well-known and well-liked in in Republican circles in Rhode Island. He was a top aide to Lincoln Chafee when Chafee was mayor of Warwick, where Pagliarini served as the mayor's communications director.
After Chafee became U.S. senator, Pagliarini worked as state director of Chafee's Rhode Island office. Pagliarini has also been a private sector State House lobbyist.
Warner said he did not create a new job for Pagliarini and that Pagliarini is filling a vacant position. Warner himself is a finalist for a job as chancellor of Pennsylvania's state universities.
Pagliarini does not have extensive higher education experience, but Warner said he personally recruited Pagliarini. "Nobody ordered me to take him,'' said Warner in an interview. ``I recruited him on my own initiative.''
Warner said Pagliarini is a talented person whom he has long been impressed with.
Among the projects Pagliarini is working on are studying ways to make administrative functions at the state colleges and the Univesity of Rhode Island more efficient and working on a plan for dealing with a flu pandemic at state colleges, should one break out.
Warner said colleges have been required by the federal government to put together ``a very complex pandemic flu plan'' and thet Pagliarini is working on "coordinating this process.''
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May 7, 2008
Just how thin is Governor Carcieri's political skin?
An April 22 letter the governor sent to Robert Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, the teachers' union, may provide a clue.
"It has come to my attention that Mr. Patrick Crowley, assistant executive director of the NEARI, has taken a strong position against my recent executive order on illegal immigration,;'' Carcieri wrote in a letter obtained by The Journal.
Referring to a position taken by Crowley, a frequent blogger on RIfuture.org, in an e-mail to a particular group, Carcieri reprises Crowley's criticism of the executive order:
"He (Crowley) states the governor of Rhode Island has committed the worst attack on immigrant's rights in at least a decade by issuing an executive order that targets undocumented immigrants and will affect every Rhode Islander.''
A copy of Crowley's e-mail was not available, but Crowley did not dispute its contents as described by the governor.
In his letter, Carcieri continues, "I would like to know if this is the official position of the National Education Association. Does Mr. Crowley speak for the NEA? I think it is shameful that a person of Mr. Crowley's position would inflame the debate and mischaracterize my executive order. I have made very effort to praise the accomplishments of legal immigrants and celebrate diversity in our state.
"From his position, I would have to assume that the NEA supports the hiring of illegal immigrants, believes it is proper for contractors to do business with the state to hire illegal immigrants and disagrees hat upon release of known illegal criminals from the ACI that we notify ICE. Am I correct in these assumptions?''
When contacted, Crowley said he was surprised that his comments so enraged Carcieri. ``I just couldn't believe it,'' said Crowley, noting that his position is similiar to one taken by some of the state's top religious leadwers, including the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, and the Rev. Donald Anderson, executive minister of the R.I. State Council of Churches.
NEA's Walsh replied to Carcieri, stating that Crowley's positions are his own. ``Pat does a lot of things,'' said Walsh, referring to Crowley's blogging and union activism as co-chairman of the state's Jobs With Justice group, which supports labor organizing among groups not traditionally well-represented in the labor movement, such as janitors.
The official spokesmen for the NEA on state issues are Walsh and NEA President Lawrence Purtil, Walsh said.
On immigration, the "NEA believes what the courts have ruled, which is that all children no matter where they come from are to be given access to public education without being stigmatized,'' said Walsh.
``I think the governor's letter speaks for itself','' said Jeff Neal, Carcieri's spokesman, when contacted.
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Although Sen. Barack Obama's near-miss in Indiana and his crushing victory in North Carolina have made Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's pursuit a majority of Democratic convention delegates increasingly implausible, Sen. Jack Reed is one uncommitted party leader who remains unwilling to push her to quit the presidential race.
The Rhode Island senior senator is a superdelegate, one of the unpledged party leaders who hold the key to a nominating majority that neither candidate appears able to attain by the close of the caucus and primary season on June 3.
"I have not put an internal deadline'' on endorsing a Democrat for president, Reed told an interviewer this morning, "but the reality is we can't go much past the middle of June.''
Reed reiterated his intent to let the remaining contests play out-- starting with next Tuesday's West Virginia primary.
A great factor, he said, "is who is best positioned to win in November. This is not about selecting a nominee, it is about selecting a president.''
Reed remains confident that after the remaining votes are cast, it won't take long for Democrats to unite behind a standard-bearer in the general election contest against Republican Sen. John McCain.
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island’s most prominent Clinton supporter, said he hopes she continues running, despite trailing in the race for delegates. “She’s entitled to fight on and I think she has a good message and I think the process is a good one.’’
But when asked what he’d tell Clinton if she called and reported she was mulling whether to stay in or pull out for the sake of party unity and possibly a chance to be vice president, Whitehouse said, “I’d probably tell her that she should do what’s in her heart.’’
He said she has put an enormous amount of work into a fight in which she has faced a hostile media environment and that she has been steeled by “operating in the toxic environment of Republican smear politics.‘’ Whitehouse declared, “I think she knows very well the position that she’s in and I trust her to make that decision.’’
Meanwhile, one of Obama’s best-known supporters, Lincoln Chafee, a former U.S. senator from Rhode Island and Republican-turned-independent, said he believes the Democratic race is over and can’t understand why Clinton doesn’t grasp the math of the competition for delegates.
As for Clinton setting off on a fresh round of campaigning today, a baffled Chafee asked, “What is the strategy? It eludes me.’’
-- John E. Mulligan, Journal Washington bureau, and M. Charles Bakst, Journal political columnist
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