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 Weekly Update For the week ending October 16, 2009 |
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Dear William,
"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government." ~ Thomas Jefferson
This week, the Hummel Report (which centers on a partnership between the Ocean State Policy Research Institute, investigative-journalist Jim Hummel, and Newstalk 630 WPRO & 99.7FM) released its first investigative report: "Million Dollar Mistake." The report focused on a Woonsocket police officer who has been on paid leave for nearly 13 years while in "injured on duty" status for "job-related hypertension." You can watch the full video at the Hummel Report. This is the first of weekly investigatory segments that will be released. Various media outlets have continued to cover the emergence of the Hummel Report.
In the president's message, OSPRI President Bill Felkner will discuss the public reaction to the Hummel Report and where we will go from here.
As mentioned the past few weeks, OSPRI took part in State Rep. John Loughlin's healthcare "town hall" forum on September 30th. EastBayRI.com released an article discussing the event; see below for more information.
The OSPRI blog has been revived, thanks to our Research Associate, Stephen Beale! He is a regular contributor to the blog, so check back often for great commentary on everything that is taking place in both our state and our country.
There remains a great deal of interest in the federal stimulus project, so please don't forget to visit our Rhode Island Stimulus Watch website (www.ristimulus.org) and cast your vote for the projects you feel are, or are not, critical at this time. This website was designed for you, the taxpayer, and we need your feedback!
Seven new documents were added to the RI Data website this week; all documents can be found by going to the Transparency Train. The RI Votes database is fully updated for the current legislative session: about 2000 bills were introduced in the House and Senate, and you can find them all through the RI Votes section of the Transparency Train.
As always, OSPRI continues to traverse the state in order to spread the word about our organization and the Transparency Project. We have spoken before neighborhood organizations, taxpayer groups, college students, and local public officials. If you are interested in having Mr. Felkner or one of our scholars and/or associates address your group, please contact us via phone (401-228-6691) or email (info@oceanstatepolicy.org).
Finally, if you have any questions about OSPRI or are interested in getting involved, don't hesitate to contact me!
Best regards,
Parker Lacoste
Assistant to the President |
| President's Message |
Dear Friends,
The Hummel Report released its first investigative story this week, the Million Dollar Mistake, about a police officer who has been "injured on duty" for nearly 13 years. But the real story, as seen by those on this side of the newscast, is the flood of story leads that have come in since we announced the project last week. Clearly, there is a market for exposing government waste and corruption.
A week before the first story ran, Hummel announced the project at 8:11 in the morning. By 8:16 there were 12 people who had sent him an email messages, every third email included a story lead. His only problem now is if he has enough staff to handle it all.
This outpour of support shouldn't be surprising. Waste and corruption have been endemic to our state for a long time. Ask anyone in the business community and they will tell you that it's not just the high taxes that keep businesses out of the state. Business needs to be able to trust their business partners, and because the state has so much influence in how a business is run, they are indeed partners. If a business can't trust the state, it's not going to do business with it.
So, that's why we decided to help the Hummel Report become a reality. Rhode Island is a target rich environment for waste and corruption. And finding it is as easy as reading an email.
I remember hearing an expression from a police officer, or perhaps it was on Dragnet, but the gist was that every crime has a witness. This is most certainly true when it comes to waste and corruption in government.
When a politician (or judge) gets a friend a job, some people at that employment location may know about it and most likely, people in the employee's personal life know too.
When a public sector worker spends his workday at a bar, at minimum, the bartender knows about it.
And when a business bribes a politician to receive a contract from the state, someone around the issue will know. Maybe it's just the person who didn't get the contract.
My point is that anyone out there who is taking or using public funds inappropriately knows it is only a matter of time before they are caught. And now that Hummel is back on the street, that time is coming much quicker than before.
That's why we are proud to help Jim in this endeavor and even more proud of the response from the public. It is crystal clear that Rhode Islanders have had enough and are standing up to make a change. I'm sure the bad guys have noticed this too.
I'm going to guess that Rolaids sales in Rhode Island will be at an all time high this year.
Onward and upward,
Bill Felkner
President and Founder
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| Coverage of Hummel Report |
As discussed above, the Hummel Report released its first investigative story yesterday, called "Million Dollar Mistake." A number of media outlets have continued to pick up the story:
Newspapers
Radio
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| OSPRI on EastBayRI.com |
As stated above, EastBayRI.com released an article this past week discussing last month's healthcare forum, at which OSPRI had several representatives answering questions from a large audience of concerned citizens. Here is an excerpt from the article:
TIVERTON - Representative John J. Loughlin III hosted a health care town meeting Wednesday night, Sept. 30 at Brantal's Restaurant on Crandall Road in Tiverton, that drew over 100 people...
...The occasion seemed entirely non-confrontational, lacking the spectacle that has flavored similar events elsewhere. No "union types" were in evidence (as some had said might be the case), there were no signs, posters, or placards, and there was no yelling or invective. The event was civil, as its host Rep. Loughlin commented to those remaining to the end, and we "didn't have a wave of crazies."
The three-person panel consisted of Joel Cooper, from the Cornerstone Group, and both William Felkner (the founder and CEO), and Brian Bishop (a researcher), from Ocean State Policy Research Institute (OSPRI).
Mr. Cooper, who said he has consulted on health insurance matters for over 350 corporations, was introduced as an expert on the insurance industry. Rep. Loughlin described the OSPRI as a "kind of conservative think tank."
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| OSPRI Blog the place to be! |
The OSPRI blog has been growing exponentially. Stephen Beale, OSPRI's new Research Associate, will be a regular contributor on the blog and already has some great posts, including this one:
Economic Stimulus for RI: 6 Jobs
October 16, 2009
"That headline is not a typo. The number of jobs that we know were created or saved in Rhode Island was exactly six, according to The Providence Journal. The corresponding amount of stimulus funding was $706,6728, which comes out to $1,177,788 per job. BUT it is important to note that this does not take into account stimulus funds channeled through state agencies..."
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| RI Stimulus Watch Update |
WE NEED YOUR VOTE!
The RI Stimulus website is designed to provide a venue for Rhode Islanders to give feedback on proposed stimulus projects. The site allows visitors to place comments, add descriptions, write reasons for or against the projects, and cast a vote. We tally the results and rank the projects as "most critical" and "least critical" depending on how you vote.
So, please visit the site ( www.ristimulus.org or www.ristimuluswatch.org) and let us know what you think about the projects in your backyard.
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| RI Data update |
This week 7 new monthly check registers and documents were uploaded to the RI Data section of the Transparency Train:
West Warwick Municipal Check Register Aug. 2009
South Kingstown Municipal Check Register Sept. 2009
South Kingstown School Check Register Sept. 2009
Richmond Municipal Check Register Aug. 2009
Little Compton School Check Register Aug. 2009
East Greenwich Municipal Check Register Sept. 2009
Bristol Municipal Check Register Aug. 2009
Click Here to find public documents.
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