LETTERS

One party rule

Posted 5/7/15

To the Editor:

The chickens have come home to roost! 

When Rhode Island voters fail to examine the credentials of candidates for public office, vote nearly exclusively by party (D in our …

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LETTERS

One party rule

Posted

To the Editor:

The chickens have come home to roost! 

When Rhode Island voters fail to examine the credentials of candidates for public office, vote nearly exclusively by party (D in our case), vote according to the dictates of their special interest group, or are egregiously apathetic, then we get Rhode Island style government.  That is one party rule. That is government more easily corrupted. That is when nearly 50 percent of the candidates for state office run unopposed.  That is government heavily influenced by special interest individuals or groups. 

Currently, there is highly charged debate on the relocation of the PawSox ball team to Providence from its home in Pawtucket with an outrageous $120 million hit to the taxpayers of the state. Rhode Islanders are more than concerned that “insiders”, special interest groups and individuals who make big donations to election or re-election campaigns will have their way on this issue. If that happens, trust in our elected leaders, already low, will sink into the abyss. Benjamin Franklin on the matter of trust made it clear when he said, “The success of any government rests on the general opinion of the goodness of that government as well as the wisdom and integrity of its governors.”

Unless there are definitive changes in our current practices, Rhode Islanders have slim chance of ever getting needed reforms such as voter initiative/referendum, term limits, or any other measure that rightfully returns power to them even though candidates, and pointedly this governor, claim to be “of and for the people.”

Sam Parente

Cranston

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