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April 26, 2011

H'mm, What's Steve Laffey Up To?

Monique Chartier

The following press release materialized in my in-box this afternoon.

With regard to the location - Fort Collins, CO - note that Colorado is the state to which the former Mayor of Cranston Steve Laffey and his family have relocated.

"Fixing America"

The Movie

Fort Collins, CO - April 26, 2011

Stephen P. Laffey and Stephen T. Skoly, in conjunction with The 989 Project, a film and video production company located in Rhode Island, announce a collaborative effort to produce a feature length documentary film entitled "Fixing America" (www.fixingamericamovie.com).

"Our goal is to travel the country with a film production crew and speak with regular Americans as well as politicians, policy experts, and prominent business people on a variety of topics such as trade, China, taxes, energy policy, defense, and balancing the budget, and to ultimately share real solutions for fixing America now, while there is still time," said Mr. Laffey, a former RI elected official, president of a major investment banking firm, and author of Primary Mistake.

Laffey stated, "The political elites from both parties have destroyed our country financially. Since 1971 and the closing of the 'Gold Window' by President Nixon, America has not settled its accounts. By using its status as both the world's reserve currency and the world's military superpower, America has put off the day of reckoning. The financial shenanigans in the USA have grown, along with the power of the financial and political elite, to a point that it threatens our freedom, our financial future, and just maybe the freedom of the free world. Our goal is to show solutions to these issues and how they should be addressed immediately."

Please direct media inquires to: Field Producer Colleen Conley at colleen@the989project.com


Comments

When he can't fix America, then where will he move to?

Posted by: Patrick at April 26, 2011 3:49 PM

There is nothing wrong with America that can't be traced to unconstitutional government meddling in society. Government is not the solution; government is the problem.

This is true from urban redevelopment to the destruction of the black family to the lucrative and violent illegal drug problem to the energy situation to de facto bankruptcy of federal, state and local governments to the declines in education results.

Posted by: BobN at April 26, 2011 4:36 PM

Patrick, if Rhode Island wanted to be fixed, he's still be here... and he'd be fixing it right now, as Governor.

Posted by: Douglas Farnum at April 26, 2011 5:04 PM

Douglas-

We've had this discussion before. If he wanted to change RI and wanted to truly be Governor, he'd have spent the previous years seeding the grass roots and building up his loyalists in the Assembly. Sure, he showed up at some fundraisers and donated money, but I would have expected something along the lines of a strong part chairman being the head cheerleader and strategist for every viable Assembly candidate. I didn't see it. I saw it as though he didn't set himself up to succeed.

Posted by: Patrick at April 26, 2011 7:55 PM

Why am I thinking of another movie...The Shining.

Posted by: Phil at April 26, 2011 8:35 PM

More like "one flew over the cuckoo's nest"

Posted by: Swazool at April 26, 2011 8:51 PM

Swazool

Does that make Collen Conley "Nurse Ratched"?

Posted by: Phil at April 26, 2011 9:01 PM

Doug Farnum sez,

"Patrick, if Rhode Island wanted to be fixed, he's still be here... and he'd be fixing it right now, as Governor."

Jeez that kool-aid hasn't run out yet?? I thought for sure after Laffey's lame attempt to have his minions change the rules in the middle of the game regarding open Republican primaries that you'd all finally see the light on this fraud. Guess not.
Sad to see such loyalty extended to someone so undeserving.

Posted by: Tim at April 27, 2011 7:15 AM

laffey is the Manny Ramirez of RI politics.
His political personality is so high maintenance that it's hardly worth chasing him around.

Posted by: joe bernstein at April 27, 2011 12:25 PM

Patrick, Tim, Swazool, Phil, Joe...

You all so transparently sum up the problem with Rhode Island... you're all about personalities and completely ignorant of the substance. If you gave your brains just a little push and put the hatred aside for a minute you'd realize Laffey did all he could to help Rhode Island and the RIGOP, but neither really wanted help. Neither really wanted to change. What do you guys ever have to say about his policies, his proposals. Lets hear your better ideas. An intelligent rebuttal deserves respect, but not the shallow name calling. He did a very smart thing for his family by moving to a place where people are polite and friendly and who love America.

He's doing a great thing now that will reach millions and have a positive, thoughtful impact. (Though it will go right over most Rhode Islanders heads).

One thing you'll never see Laffey do is call people names on a blog. He's got much more class than that.

Posted by: Douglas Farnum at April 27, 2011 1:38 PM

Douglas, I stand by my comments that he did not do enough. He should have either been the GOP chair or had one of his close confidants in that position. He should have put in the same effort to get Assembly candidates elected as he spent on his own election.

I think this is just a difference of opinion on how much more he could have done.

Posted by: Patrick at April 27, 2011 2:25 PM

I think it is funny that you say Laffy will not call people names on blogs. I remember reading some other person on this blog comment section comment about Laffy talking about homos. It didn't take long to find this......

In one column, Laffey said he has never seen a happy homosexual.
"This is not to say there aren't any; I simply haven't seen one in my lifetime. Maybe they are all in the closet," he wrote. "All the homosexuals I've seen are sickly and decrepit, their eyes devoid of life."

In another column he wrote that pop music was turning the children of America into sissies, and criticized the singer Boy George, referring to him as "it."

"It wears girl's clothes and puts on makeup," he wrote. "When I hear it sing, 'Do you really want to hurt me, do you really want to make me cry,' I say to myself, YES, I want to punch your lights out, pal, and break your ribs."

Posted by: Swazool at April 27, 2011 2:48 PM

Patrick,

No one has done more for Republican candidates than Steve Laffey. Pull campaign finance reports, no one has been more generous to GOP candidates.

No one campaigned and supported serious, solution-focused candidates than Steve Laffey. You don't just throw your hat in the ring and get Laffey's support. You have to earn it.

Finally, being state GOP chairman is not a stepping stone to fixing the huge issues the state is facing.

I was close enough to know he most certainly did everything he could, as man of honesty and integrity to gain support. He studied the issues and collected facts and data like no other candidate ever did and probably ever will. The powers that were in the State GOP simply did not want Laffey to be governor... and in-effect, did not want him to fix the state.

Posted by: Douglas Farnum at April 27, 2011 2:51 PM

Swazool, that stuff's about 30 years old and you just keep making it older.

Posted by: Douglas Farnum at April 27, 2011 2:53 PM

Laffey was very smart to get away from the ignorant peasants that inhabit this state. He and his family are far better off. Can anyone deny that?

Posted by: Mike Cappelli at April 27, 2011 5:42 PM

Douglas-Since you mentioned personality,that's one of laffey's main problems-he let his personality get ahead of his ideas,some of which were very good.
Hence,the Ramirez comparison-it wasn't a joke-Manny could really hit,but he was always tipping over the apple cart.
Laffey hooked up with uber-provocateur John Depetro and it became all about him.He wanted people to kowtow to him and "court"him in the political sense.
This is why the RNC supported a demented clown like Chafee in the Senate primary.It wasn't just RI Republicans who had misgivings about Laffey.

Posted by: joe bernstein at April 28, 2011 5:22 AM

Douglas and Mike Your right this State doesn't want help there where to many insiders in each party that want it to stay just the way it is. The good will all leave one at a time.... Best to you Steve Laffey for you are a true American and Best to you and Colleen on your Road Trip Moondrops II

Posted by: RON GALIPEAU at April 28, 2011 12:56 PM