What a joke this state is.  I'm not even going to get into Cicilline winning his race.  How in the world do the voters vote "Yes" to borrowing hundreds of millions in bonds with ridiculous interest rates?  We are buried in debt, yet it is crucial to borrow tens of millions to get a water treatment plant in?  Are these projects crucial right now?  If you had a $10,000 balance on your credit card, are you going to take a $5,000 line of credit to buy a new TV?  I would hope not.  People see "Oh clean water, that's nice." and vote it through.  "Oh let's fix the RIC!"  Little do people realize this comes with a cost to the tune of hundreds of millions in interest payback.  Projects like this need to be completed, but not at a time when we can't pay for our own budget!  Whatever happened to basic financial principles?  You don't spend $2 for every $1 you make.  America is transforming into such a fiscally backwards system.  

Only defensive move from all of this is to buckle up and make sure you have a good accountant.  The creative juices are going to have to be flowing to battle the inevitable  increase in taxes.

<---- Hey!

friar86 wrote: What a joke this state is.  I'm not even going to get into Cicilline winning his race.  How in the world do the voters vote "Yes" to borrowing hundreds of millions in bonds with ridiculous interest rates?  We are buried in debt, yet it is crucial to borrow tens of millions to get a water treatment plant in?  Are these projects crucial right now?  If you had a $10,000 balance on your credit card, are you going to take a $5,000 line of credit to buy a new TV?  I would hope not.  People see "Oh clean water, that's nice." and vote it through.  "Oh let's fix the RIC!"  Little do people realize this comes with a cost to the tune of hundreds of millions in interest payback.  Projects like this need to be completed, but not at a time when we can't pay for our own budget!  Whatever happened to basic financial principles?  You don't spend $2 for every $1 you make.  America is transforming into such a fiscally backwards system.  

Only defensive move from all of this is to buckle up and make sure you have a good accountant.  The creative juices are going to have to be flowing to battle the inevitable  increase in taxes.

It's not just this state. It's nationally and in every state. We reelect the same President and almost everyone in Congress (with an 11% approval rating) is going back. We get the government we deserve (and vote for).

I will admit, I voted yes on RIC. I think it is good to have great institutions of higher learning so kids want to stay home than go elsewhere.

That said, outside of the two casino bills (which I would assume would bring money to the state) I voted no on everything.

And while the Republican strategist guy on CNN last night did come off as condescending at times, he did make a good point early on.

He basically said something to the extent of "People want free stuff, many people get free stuff, and they will vote for the person who gives them the most free stuff." He also said if this was the 1980s Obama would have gotten destroyed because the mentality was to work hard for stuff back then.

I think to an extent that is very true, but I can at least say that because he wasn't as cracked out as Karl Rove was last night.

High interest rates? What were they? Muni bonds have ridiculously low rates right now, so I can't figure out how RI would pay high rates on small issues. RI does not have a big problem with debt service right now at all. It has a problem with pension liabilities that if the courts allow, is not as bad of a problem anymore. I am fine with new debt but pension reform better pass in the courts.

I'm pretty sure that was Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, RJ.

Are you insinuating that people backing Obama are more or less, looking for free stuff and handouts?

rjsuperfly66 wrote: I will admit, I voted yes on RIC. I think it is good to have great institutions of higher learning so kids want to stay home than go elsewhere.

That said, outside of the two casino bills (which I would assume would bring money to the state) I voted no on everything.

And while the Republican strategist guy on CNN last night did come off as condescending at times, he did make a good point early on.

He basically said something to the extent of "People want free stuff, many people get free stuff, and they will vote for the person who gives them the most free stuff." He also said if this was the 1980s Obama would have gotten destroyed because the mentality was to work hard for stuff back then.

I think to an extent that is very true, but I can at least say that because he wasn't as cracked out as Karl Rove was last night.

friarfan7 wrote: I'm pretty sure that was Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, RJ.

Are you insinuating that people backing Obama are more or less, looking for free stuff and handouts?

rjsuperfly66 wrote: I will admit, I voted yes on RIC. I think it is good to have great institutions of higher learning so kids want to stay home than go elsewhere.

That said, outside of the two casino bills (which I would assume would bring money to the state) I voted no on everything.

And while the Republican strategist guy on CNN last night did come off as condescending at times, he did make a good point early on.

He basically said something to the extent of "People want free stuff, many people get free stuff, and they will vote for the person who gives them the most free stuff." He also said if this was the 1980s Obama would have gotten destroyed because the mentality was to work hard for stuff back then.

I think to an extent that is very true, but I can at least say that because he wasn't as cracked out as Karl Rove was last night.

You are completely right thats my fault about Fox News that was definitely O'Reilly.

And I don't think all people want free stuff and handouts but one of the biggest reasons I think Obama carried Florida was because of the uncertainty of how Mitt Romney would change Medicare/Social Security/Welfare and other entitlement programs. But I do think people care about the bottom line, and that all doesn't mean handouts but it does mean a fair share of "free" things or cuts.

People never really took into account the snow birds who all moved back there within the past few weeks when doing there sampling back in July and August.

One of the Republicans somewhere made the point -- Romney and his team failed to put out a comphrensive plan in which people could see his picture and be able to celebrate it for positive change. There was way too much speculation about nearly everything.

They saw things, like myself, as being better with Obama because they knew what they were going to get with him.

I think investing in RIC is a good choice. You can say the state's in terrible shape and therefore you should do nothing, spend nothing, and let everything go in the toilet even more, but I don't think that's the best choice. RIC's facilities are pretty poor, they aren't sitting over there operating in a palace.

If you contually spend money you don't have, are you putting it on the fast track to the toilet?

Gillen4 wrote: I think investing in RIC is a good choice. You can say the state's in terrible shape and therefore you should do nothing, spend nothing, and let everything go in the toilet even more, but I don't think that's the best choice. RIC's facilities are pretty poor, they aren't sitting over there operating in a palace.

Social Security is not an entitlement. We pay for it.

RichardCoren wrote: Social Security is not an entitlement. We pay for it.

I didn't mean to make it seem like an entitlement, but there has definitely been concern on it running out, and each candidate needing to find a way to extend it. Inevitably, the concern has been how it affects one's bottom line, and what happens if they lessen it on current recipients. I think that plays huge in the older communities.

I'm not saying it is a bad thing that people look at "free" things or things of that nature for the record, but I do think it's factual that people look at how things affect their bottom line in terms of $$ and vote according to how that is affected.  We are all guilty of it to an extent. I definitely think there was almost too little interest on the miltary, foreigh affairs, etc. Libya almost died down recently, definitely wasn't a big enough deal. Why? I think that has to deal with $$. That's why the auto-bailout of 4 years was such a big bump.

all this $hit better be around for me too. and i want the argument to be "don't end medicare and social security as we know it"... still feel like it is the biggest ponzi scheme going for my generation.

and bipolar, funny you bring up pension reform, because that is exactly the reason i voted against all of these questions worth $200M. during the 80s and 90s, our government missed so many payments toward the pension and if this bill passes, my parents get screwed. they will only get COLAs in the best case scenario of $1k once every 5 years. my parents paid their 9.5% every paycheck, yet they get screwed. i do NOT agree with retroactive pension reform for current retirees.

Peeps, my father works for the state and he gets screwed, too. Unfortunately, the math doesn't work. They had to do something. If our federal government makes the same difficult decisions, a lot of people will get screwed, too. But the math jut doesn't add up. The city of Providence takes in 55 million a year but sends out 90 million and the fund only has 300 mill in it. There is simply no way to sustain it except by screwing the recipients, both present and future. RI is in the same situation. The pension cost was simply outrageous and making it impossible to put money anywhere else. I feel badly for the state workers who are getting screwed, but I saw Enron, Worldcom, and Lucent employees lose everything, so it might have hardened me.

You aren't going to build a strong economy in this state or in this country by ignoring higher education. If anything I think the state should be investing more into the RICs and CCRIs of the world. Skilled workforce is an absolutely huge issue and we aren't going to be very competitive or productive with facilities from the 60's.
 

friarfan7 wrote: If you contually spend money you don't have, are you putting it on the fast track to the toilet?

Gillen4 wrote: I think investing in RIC is a good choice. You can say the state's in terrible shape and therefore you should do nothing, spend nothing, and let everything go in the toilet even more, but I don't think that's the best choice. RIC's facilities are pretty poor, they aren't sitting over there operating in a palace.

On a $49.8 million RIC Bond we will pay $23.5 mill in interest.
On a $93 million veteran's bond we will pay $44mill in interest.
On a $19 mill clean water bond we will pay $9 mill in interest.

We are taking bonds that we fiscally can not pay back under our current models.  We need to fix the budget before we borrow more.  I'm fine with taking out a loan that we can pay for.  To pile up debt when we don't have the means to pay for our current fiscal obligations is not financially responsible.  

I guarantee many who voted for these issues didn't consider the ability and plans to repay these funds.  That is what is scary.  A lot of people don't care where the money comes from because many aren't contributing anyway.  

But the David Cicilline campaign gave us free pizza in the voting line!!  There must be more where that came from!!

Gillen4 wrote: You aren't going to build a strong economy in this state or in this country by ignoring higher education. If anything I think the state should be investing more into the RICs and CCRIs of the world. Skilled workforce is an absolutely huge issue and we aren't going to be very competitive or productive with facilities from the 60's.
 

friarfan7 wrote: If you contually spend money you don't have, are you putting it on the fast track to the toilet?

Gillen4 wrote: I think investing in RIC is a good choice. You can say the state's in terrible shape and therefore you should do nothing, spend nothing, and let everything go in the toilet even more, but I don't think that's the best choice. RIC's facilities are pretty poor, they aren't sitting over there operating in a palace.

This state doesn't need a skilled workforce right now because the state's current business climate is way too unattractive to bring in companies who will hire.  That is a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed.

86, the state does need a skilled workforce in order to attract businesses. 90% of businesses, when asked what they look for in terms of a move, say they want a workforce ready to go. Now, we have to do other things to make RI attractive, but ignoring higher ed is not a good move just because jobs aren't here now.

friar86 wrote:

This state doesn't need a skilled workforce right now because the state's current business climate is way too unattractive to bring in companies who will hire.  That is a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed.

It's a misnomer that there are zero jobs in Rhode Island. I just took a look at one of RI's largest employers, APC, to see if they are hiring. This was the first company I looked at. You'd be surprised at how many companies have a hard time finding qualified employees.

Job Title	Location	Req. #	Divison	Date Posted
Global Director of Trademark & Brand Protection Services	West Kingston	31587	Legal & Tax	11/06/2012
US-PRODUCT MKTG MGR.	North Billerica	31619	ITB	11/05/2012
Business Process Manager	West Kingston	30217	Schneider Electric	11/05/2012
Customer Response Team Representative	West Kingston	31589	Global Marketing	11/02/2012
Business Transformation Specialist	Raleigh	31286	Schneider Electric	10/29/2012
Business Analyst	West Kingston	30545	IPO	10/29/2012
Graphic Designer	West Kingston	31056	Global Marketing	10/19/2012
Email Marketing Specialist	West Kingston	31298	ITB	10/19/2012
PRM-Implementation/Deployment Manager	West Kingston	30978	Global Marketing	09/28/2012
Portal Solutions Manager	West Kingston	30977	Global Marketing	09/28/2012
Manager, Corporate Finance - Process & Control	West Kingston	30998	ITB	09/28/2012
Corporate Account Manager	West Kingston	30947	ITB	09/26/2012
Training Team Intern	West Kingston	30904	HR Shared Services	09/25/2012
Business Transformation Specialist	Raleigh	30824	Schneider Electric	09/21/2012
Customer Service Officer	West Kingston	30924	ITB	09/20/2012
Senior Marketing Manager, Global Strategic Alliances	West Kingston	30905	Global Marketing	09/19/2012
Global Director of Price Management	West Kingston	30861	ITB	09/18/2012
Finance Advanced Development Program- Multiple Positions	Palatine	30657	Finance Shared Services	09/17/2012
IBM Regional Account Manager	New York	30676	ITB	09/06/2012
Human Resources Intern (Location TBD)	Palatine	30596	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Sales Intern (Location TBD)	Palatine	30597	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Finance Intern (Location TBD)	Palatine	30598	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Marketing/Communications Intern (Location TBD)	Palatine	30599	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Computer Hardware Engineering Intern (Location TBD)	Palatine	30614	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Computer Software Engineering Intern (Location TBD)	Palatine	30616	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Electrical Engineering Intern (Location TBD)	Palatine	30617	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Manufacturing Engineer (Location TBD)	Palatine	30619	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Mechanical Engineering Intern (Location TBD)	Palatine	30621	Schneider Electric	08/29/2012
Technical Inside Sales Representative, Professional Development Program- Multiple Openings	West Kingston	30377	ITB	08/14/2012
Technical Support Engineer, Professional Development Program- Multiple Openings	West Kingston	30378	ITB	08/14/2012
Applications Development Officer	West Kingston	30006	IPO	08/10/2012
Applications Development Team Leader	West Kingston	30004	IPO	08/10/2012
Business Analyst	West Kingston	30002	IPO	08/10/2012
Business Analyst - Senior	West Kingston	30001	IPO	08/10/2012
Business Process Manager	Nashville	30223	Schneider Electric	08/01/2012
Sr. Financial Analyst FP&A Cost Controlling	West Kingston	29827	ITB	07/30/2012
FP&A Business Support SFA	West Kingston	29828	ITB	07/30/2012
Marketing Process Manager	West Kingston	29932	Global Marketing	07/26/2012
Infrastructure Architect	West Kingston	29313	IPO	05/25/2012
Financial Analyst/Sr. Accountant	West Kingston	28476	ITB	04/10/2012

RichardCoren wrote: It's not just this state. It's nationally and in every state. We reelect the same President and almost everyone in Congress (with an 11% approval rating) is going back. We get the government we deserve (and vote for).

Bingo.  Eigteen months of listening to election drivel and we are back in the same place.  It's become virtually impossible for incumbents to lose.  If not for Ross Perot screwing up George I chances in 92, you'd have to go back to Carter as the last time an incumbent lost.  Bush won easily in 2004, for crissakes.  And Congress is no different.  So does that mean at least two more years of the same thing?

Well, public higher education is one thing, and I agree that it should be kept affordable.

But, the state of RI poorly addresses the possibility of keeping a skilled labor force.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the city of Providence has one of the highest student per capita rates than any almost any other city in the country. So, it's not like there's a shortage of young, skilled people, especially when you factor in URI, Roger Williams, Bryant et al...

What initiatives has the city and state taken to put recent college grads to work in RI? This is a serious question, as I don't really know of any... 

RI has a young talented workforce at their disposal.  They can't or don't use it and its their economy that suffers.

Gillen4 wrote: You aren't going to build a strong economy in this state or in this country by ignoring higher education. If anything I think the state should be investing more into the RICs and CCRIs of the world. Skilled workforce is an absolutely huge issue and we aren't going to be very competitive or productive with facilities from the 60's.
 

friarfan7 wrote: If you contually spend money you don't have, are you putting it on the fast track to the toilet?

Gillen4 wrote: I think investing in RIC is a good choice. You can say the state's in terrible shape and therefore you should do nothing, spend nothing, and let everything go in the toilet even more, but I don't think that's the best choice. RIC's facilities are pretty poor, they aren't sitting over there operating in a palace.