By Bob Plain in
RIFuture.org
It should come as no
surprise to see former Governor Don Carcieri, the architect of the 38 Studios
fiasco, yucking it up at the Republican Convention even though he has yet to
answer questions about his role in state’s biggest economic blunder in a generation.
After
all, Carcieri always represented conservatives first and then Rhode Islanders
somewhere after that. We’re talking about a governor who gave more interviews
to WPRO shock jocks than the rest of the local media combined!
But, like Scott MacKay of RIPR, we were surprised that
Carcieri had the gall to be offering an economics lecture to President Obama.
Here’s how MacKay put it:
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| Curt Schilling gets "I love Don Carcieri" tattoo |
Well,
governor, what say you about a purported conservative Republican Rhode
Island governor who gambled with the taxpayers money, made the most
reckless crony capitalism economic development loan in the state’s
history (38 Studios, which is now bankrupt) and left the taxpayers hanging for
$100 million in loan guarantees. Then this very same governor leaves office,
goes into virtual hiding, refuses to answer to anybody to justify his actions
and finally turns up in Tampa at the Republican National Convention to lecture
the president on business.
The
reality is many of Rhode Island’s economic sore spots are Carcieri’s fault. 38
Studios is only the most obvious example. Another is the state’s epidemic of
failing cities. When Carcieri cut off state aid to the state’s poorest
communities he virtually guaranteed at least some of them would have no other
option than to go through an expensive reorganization.
As
governor, he also focused his energies on cutting the state payroll instead of
growing the state economy. And he fought really hard against obvious economic
development winners like a casino and a port at Quonset.
One
missed opportunity that few people recall is when Carcieri had the old
Jamestown Bridge demolished instead of turning it into what would have been one
of the most beautiful – and probably well-visited – bike paths in the world.
Environmentalists
and transportation advocates fought hard for the idea at the time, though the
local media largely ignored the idea. Imagine how many additional people who
visit and vacation in the Ocean State if they could ride their bikes from the
South County beaches, through scenic Saunderstown over Narragansett Bay and
right out to Beavertail and Fort Wetherill.
It’s
well worth noting that Carcieri had a beach house in Saunderstown – it’s his
legal address these days, though we get the feeling he spends more time at his
place in Florida than in Rhode Island – and many of the uber-affluent residents
on both sides of the bridge deplored the idea of sharing their slice of Rhode
Island with the masses.
The
best thing Carcieri probably did for Rhode Island is give us proof positive
that business acumen doesn’t translate to political acumen.
And now
here is campaigning for a businessman for president.
That
should be all the evidence Rhode Island and the nation needs to know that Mitt
Romney is the wrong guy to be president. After all, Carcieri has proven no more
effective at picking winners in politics than he has in the video game
business.
Bob Plain is the editor/publisher of Rhode Island's Future. Previously, he's
worked as a reporter for several different news organizations both in Rhode
Island and across the country.