Rhode Islanders can thank their “provinciality,” an “entitlement mentality” and an “inferiority complex” for their current economic woes and budget deficit, concluded an Operation Clean Government forum on Saturday morning.

Held at the Quonset ‘O’ Club in North Kingstown, about 150 people turned out to see 630 WPRO talk show host radio personality Dan Yorke grille a panel comprised of General Treasurer Frank Caprio, URI Economics Professor Leonard Lardaro, State Representative Elizabeth “Betty” Denigan (D-Pawtucket, East Providence), Department of Administration Director Gary Sasse and businessman John Hazen White Jr (who writes a bi-weekly guest column for the Beacon).

Despite the illustrious panel, Yorke was clearly the show’s star.

“It’s bad enough that on Saturday I don’t get to play golf but you make me drive through a golf course to get here? God Almighty, this better be good,” said Yorke.

Yorke did a yeoman’s job of forcing the panel to stay on topic and answer questions about the nature of Rhode Islanders, why they’ve gotten into an economic malaise and budget deficit and how to reform the government in such a way to protect taxpayers, in a direct manner. The personality didn’t hesitate to criticize the panel when they dodged questions or answered them indirectly and made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t going to settle for vagaries or politically correct answers.

“When you invite me to these kinds of things, you ought to know it’s not going to be polite,” Yorke said.

Yorke asked the panel to “diagnose” that which is ailing Rhode Island and causing its fiscal woes. He criticized would-be political leaders for failing to communicate their intentions and after some prodding, got the panel to agree.

“We have a message problem here in Rhode Island,” said Yorke.

Thanks to probing questions, the panel decried a lack of courage in Rhode Island among both elected officials and the people that elected them.

“There is a tremendous lack of courage here,” said Hazen White.

“And I’ll throw in another word that I know will get me in [trouble]. We’ve got a union problem.”

Caprio, when asked if he agreed said, “We’ve got a special interest problem.”

The treasurer suggested that taxpayers and business leaders are partially to blame for the state’s tax policies, thanks to their own inaction. Imagine, Caprio said, if the New England Patriots were scheduled to play another team that failed to show up. The Patriots, he said, would be ruthless in running up the score on their opponents.

The same is true for special interest groups in Rhode Island, as opposed to the non-active taxpayers.

“[Special interests] worked it every day in every district…and many times there was nobody there from the other side of the table,” said Caprio.

Yorke pressed Caprio on how, should he become governor, would deal with a legislature put into power by entrenched special interest groups.

“You dig in against them and say you need to go and do A, B and C,” said Caprio.

But what happens if that doesn’t work out, asked Yorke. Caprio responded by saying he would work against those legislators in order to elect people “who will solve the problem.”

Sasse, a rumored candidate for General Treasurer in 2010, when asked why Rhode Island went from a beacon of industry at the turn of the 20th century to a state severely lacking in economic development in the 21st, said that people have looked to the state to support them.

“We became an entitlement mentality state,” he said.

Sasse said that entitlements, which come at the expense of the taxpayers, have been vote getters.

“Those were political decisions,” he added.

Lardaro saluted Rhode Islanders for being hard working and caring but said they’re, “way too trusting of their leaders.”

“Rhode Islanders need to start demanding results,” he said.

Dennigan criticized the lack of transparency in government, saying although she’s on the House Finance Committee, she doesn’t know how $200 million to $300 million of state taxpayer money is spent annually on consultants fees.

Dennigan received an overwhelming number of boos from the audience after saying she needed to receive permission from House Leadership in order to attend the event.

“I give the leadership kudos for letting me be here,” said Dennigan to a chorus of boos.

A question and answer session followed after the panel discussion.

One woman, who didn’t say her name, complained that she routinely attends State House hearings with no success in seeing the bills she supports passed.

So Yorke asked her why she doesn’t run for office.

“So what do you do after you lose?” he asked, implying that she run for office.

“I don’t want to run for office until they clean it up,” she said.