Caprio: finance sector money doesn't influence me

UPDATE: Caprio slated for NPR.

PROVIDENCE 09/18/2008 Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank Caprio will be a featured guest this weekend on National Public Radio's (NPR) Weekend Edition radio program.

The NPR show is broadcast nationally and can be heard locally on Saturday between 8 A.M. and 11 A.M. on NPR affiliate WRNI 102.7-FM and 1290-AM. Weekend Edition can also be heard on WXNI 1230-AM in Westerly.

"Weekend Edition on NPR is one of the radio stations I listen to, so it's an honor to be asked to appear on that national program," said Treasurer Caprio. "NPR saw that Rhode Island continues to be pro-active in handling the turmoil on Wall Street and asked that we share some of our knowledge with their national listening audience."

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General Treasurer Frank Caprio, whose ample war chest includes thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from employees of banks and other financial institutions, downplayed the significance of the donations, saying that his job performance is not going to be affected by contributions of roughly $100 or $200. He made the statement this morning during a taping of WPRI/WNAC-TV's Newsmakers.

A scan of Caprio's campaign finance reports shows that he received a total of more than $7000 from employees of Bank Rhode Island, Bank of America, and Sovereign Bank in the last few years.

Along with such donations, Caprio In June 2007 received $250 from an employee of Russell Investment Group, which in July was hired by the Rhode Island State Investment Commission to help manage an $8.4 billion pension fund. I asked Caprio whether he saw any reason to return the contribution. Starting by saying that he does not accept campaign contributions from employees of his office, his answer implicitly indicated that he does not see any reason to return the $250.

Despite the continued bad news about the American financial crisis, costly bailouts, and high unemployment in Rhode Island, Caprio was very optimistic, repeatedly describing the US economy as the envy of the world. While the risk-taking of huge financial institutions is being put on the back of taxpayers, the fix is necessary, he says, to prevent even more severe economic problems.

Asked whether the root cause of the fiscal crisis is the economy's precarious reliance on the financial-insurance-real estate sector, and what can be done to bring more value, Caprio reiterated his view that the American economy remains a global model.

Of course, we had to ask the obligatory question about 2010. And yes, Caprio is still declining to explicitly say that he's running for governor.