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September 30, 2008

Dear Steve...

Justin Katz

Give the man his due, Bob Kerr had a good column on Sunday, written in the form of a sympathy letter to soon-to-be-ex-Senator Steve Alves:

I recall the letter now, Steve, because it seems you too are dealing with that same kind of heartbreaking end, that same abrupt dismissal from what seemed a rock solid lifetime of warm embraces and soothing intimacies.

I'm speaking, of course, of your time in the Rhode Island Senate. If there is anything stronger than the emotional lock of true love it is the emotional lock of the General Assembly. It wouldn't surprise me if someone slipped "till death do us part" into the oath of office up there on Smith Hill. It's that certain, that solid. Once elected, you move in. And you don't move out until you decide to move out. ...

But holy hot bread, Steve! This guy, this baker, comes along and gets serious. Didn't anyone talk to him? Didn’t anyone tell him that there’s a procedure to be followed here and it has nothing to do with the voting booth?

Comments

Not so fast.....

Alves' Election Appeal Update - Your taxes at work!

Quick update on the fiasco in the RI Supreme Court ....

All parties involved in Alves' appeal were supposed to have submitted their briefs / supporting documentation by 4:30 on Friday as Justice Robinson was going to review it over the weekend.

On Monday morning, the news is that there has been a change, it's now Justice Goldberg vice Robinson and she wanted a mtg of all the lawyers involved at the RI Supreme Court at 4PM.

Of note, Alves' attorney failed to provide a copy of the transcript / tape of Board of Elections' hearing as required by RI law. This alone should have been enough for her to deny his appeal.

Instead of denying Alves' appeal, Goldberg apparently wants all 5 members of the RISC to rule on this.

The full court will discuss this matter in closed chambers on Thursday 9 Oct.

Why is the court even considering intervening in an election?

Remember, according to the law, this is only supposed to cover what transpired since the election. It seems as though Alves now wants to raise any issue he possibly can even though that is not in accordance with RI law.

What is going on here?

This is a travesty

Alves' attorney didn’t even comply with RI law in submitting his appeal concerning the BOE hearing and now it seems that RI taxpayers are going to have to cover some of the cost of providing the information that Alves was required to submit.

How much are the taxpayers paying for this nonsense?

Don't we have a budget problem?

In the interim, the Board of Elections will begin printing the other ballots.

If the Court rules in Alves' favor, then the taxpayers would have to cover the cost of a new primary in November AFTER the General Election and another Election in December.

If I were a betting man, I'd say that they will grant him his request. Not based upon the law but because of political pressure....

They will find some excuse to defer to him but one has to ask if any other RI taxpayer would be accorded the same privileges that are being extended to Senator Alves.

And now for the latest. The Board of Elections will conduct another recount on Thursday 2 Oct.

There are a few questions though.

1. On whose authority?

2. What will be recounted?

3. If Goldberg issued a stay pending a review by the entire court, why is there another recount?

4. The law states that the appeal is to be based upon the evidence presented to date. Why is the BOE doing this?

Anyone really think that the RISC will not rule in Alves'favor?

Posted by: Aldo at September 30, 2008 6:33 PM

As corrupt a piece of crap as Alves is the reason he got beat was because he dared mouth the truth that defined benefit pensions are unsustainable.
With the current meltdown, the pension crisis is going to come to the fore in the next session.
The gig is about up.
Bob Walsh's "8%" return is about to be exposed as the biggest hoax since the Darwinist's Piltdown Man. The market was FLAT from 1929-1954. Yes, a "zero" percent return. Plug those numbers into the pension analysis Bob!

Posted by: Mike at September 30, 2008 7:26 PM

Mike,

You are 100% spot-on in your analysis. I find it amusing that nobody in the media has recognized the fact that Alves only got beat after his Paul-like conversion to fiscal responsibility.

Hello People: Pinga received the AFL-CIO endorsement!

Does anyone think that is a positive thing? I'd rather have Alves. He might have shaken down A. Duie Pyle, but at least he had the courage to stand up to the most corrput force in Rhode Island--the public employee unions!

It's nice to see karma catch up with Alves' arrogance, but we shouldn't be celebratnig the fact that unions have exerted their muscle once again.

Rasputin

Posted by: Rasputin at September 30, 2008 7:41 PM

Pinga is a wild card, but I'll take him over Alves.

Here's why:

http://AlvesSucks.com

Posted by: Citizen Critic at October 1, 2008 1:02 PM

Citizen Critic,

I'll take whomever the unions do not endorse. Their only goal is to suck the marrow from the bone of the public.

Rasputin

Posted by: Rasputin at October 1, 2008 2:40 PM