PULL THIS LEVER
P+J always rant about how obscene the number of General Assembly members who run unopposed is every two years, due in various parts to a virtually nonexistent Republican Party in the state, voter apathy, and downright stupidity.
And perhaps it is just a logical extension of those factors that leads to people still pulling the straight party lever, an equally lazy, uninformed, and brain dead maneuver that still enjoys much more popularity in the Biggest Little than it should.
Again on the ball, the Other Paper's Political Scene pointed out that 21 percent of Vo Dilun voters opted for straight-ticket votes, including both Democrats and Republicans. P+J often argue both sides of that particular street, finding some truth in the fact that there is often little to distinguish many Dems from their GOP brethren, as well as noting that in this state, there is little in the views of many Democrats or Republicans that have anything to do with their parties' national agendas.
Ergo, why take anyone's party affiliation as a guarantee that they think along the same lines? If you're putting House Speaker "Blackjack Billy" Murphy in the same boat as Barack Obama, you need the old "check-up from the neck up."
It is easy to rail about the fact that quite obviously there will be no effort at Halitosis Hall with the current political landscape to remove the straight-ticket lever as a voter option. But in the long run, the eed-jits who keep their brains turned to "off" when they enter the polling place and kneejerk the party line are simply getting what they deserve in their representation.
PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
There was yet another statement from John Rupp, chairman of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, this week, suggesting that "service modifications" for RIPTA buses will eliminate only 2 percent of bus service, saving under a million dollars this fiscal year. With a (currently) $8 million deficit facing the agency, the question is, will the legislature come to the rescue?
If so — and there are minimal service cuts — your superior correspondents will be very interested in the actual details of the streamlined service proposal.
The BeloJo's Bruce Landis, reporting on Tuesday, quoted RIPTA assistant GM Mark Therrien, who floated a couple of the least offensive changes being considered. Therrien mentioned the #99 Prov/Pawt bus running every 12 minutes, rather than every 10 minutes, mid-days, and the #27 Manton Ave. running as frequently (roughly, every hour, rather than every half-hour) from 5-7 pm. Sounds okay, but how much money are we saving here? Doesn't sound like much.
The proof in the pudding will be if there's an attempt to suspend service to: outlying areas to the distant north or south of the state; severe cuts in service after 7 pm; modifications to such routes as the #8 Jefferson Blvd. bus that, in an earlier proposal, was slated for elimination; or other extreme alternatives, such as ending all #1 Eddy St. buses at the Providence/Cranston city line with no service after 7 pm.
P&J realize that RIPTA can't really tell us much when they don't know how much 'scarole they've got to work with, but the latest hints are thin gruel and give no sense of where the real pain will come from.
And, if you don't mind your superior correspondents tossing their two cents in (we will whether you like it or not) — if you must lay people off, how about maximizing cuts in the administrative offices, and minimizing drivers and mechanics getting the axe?
Send sonic reducers and Pulitzer-grade tips to p&j@phx.com.
