Perpetually at odds with the Democratic legislature and pushing further and further into his lame-duck period, Governor Carcieri rarely has an opportunity to claim a high-profile victory. But he gets that opportunity today, with members of a key state workers' union signing off on a cost-cutting deal that will impose a temporary pay cut in a bid to cover a portion of the state's budget shortfall.

This just in from the governor's office:

Governor Donald L. Carcieri will appear on several national television news programs today, including Fox Business News, Fox News Channel, CBS Evening News, as well as WJAR-TV 10. Below is a schedule of appearances and air times:

3:15 p.m. Fox Business News; Countdown to the Closing Bell with Liz Claman; Fox Business News can be seen locally on Cox Channel 122, Verizon FIOS Channel 117, and Direct TV Channel 359

A key House committee has voted unanimously to approve the nomination of state Supreme Court Justice Paul A. Suttell to the post of chief justice.

The 13-0 vote is no great surprise. Gov. Carcieri's nomination of the well-liked judge has engendered little opposition from the Democratic legislature, in a welcome break from the partisanship that has roiled Smith Hill for the better part of the last six years.

Governor Donald L. Carcieri, expected in some corners to name Supreme Court Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg the next chief justice, has instead named Justice Paul A. Suttell to the post. This just in from the governor's office:

Governor Donald L. Carcieri today announced that he has nominated Supreme Court Justice Paul A.

As Governor Carcieri prepares to tonight deliver his penultimate State of the State address, it's worth considering the governor's once-lauded communication skills -- and how they might have been deployed to greater effect.

As I wrote in 2006:

[A]lthough it seemed clear at the outset that Carcieri was going to project a more robust presence than the quietly effective Lincoln Almond, he has emerged, to the begrudging admiration of his partisan detractors, as Rhode Island’s version of the great communicator.

Jason DeParle, who has long covered the welfare beat at the NYT, had some interesting findings yesterday: that even with (or perhaps because of) a severe national economic crisis, "18 states cut their welfare rolls last year, and nationally the number of people receiving cash assistance remained at or near the lowest in more than 40 years."

Speaking of the runup to 2010, local PR impresario Dave Preston over the weekend had a look-back at Bruce Sundlun's accomplishment-laden tenure (cleaning up the credit union crisis, expanding the airport, reforming workers' comp) in the governor's office. The headline cited Sundlun as a "model of strong leadership."

Pat is wondering whether a directive by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel will stop Governor Caricier's global Medicaid waiver.

Meanwhile, the NYT -- which has a front-pager today looking at growing Medicaid costs in a number of states, has a sidebar on how Rhode Island is pursuing a different approach.

The bombast in East Providence this week seems like a taste of things to come, and this inclusion in the budget will pour more fuel on the fire.

From Ray Henry of the Providence AP, via the Boston Globe:

A budget plan that Governor Don Carcieri submitted this month to close a massive deficit includes a provision making it illegal for teachers to protest during contract negotiations by performing strictly to the terms of their contracts, for example, by refusing to host after-school clubs or chaperone school dances.

Pat has some breaking news:

A number of House Democrats are unhappy with the decision of Speaker Murphy to not take a vote today on the Medicaid Global Waiver proposed by Governor Carcieri. RIFUTURE has learned that certain Representatives are shopping around a letter to the Speaker demanding a vote be taken and others are planning on introducing a motion from the floor today.

Word of the Congressional delegation's expression of concern yesterday to Governor Carcieri -- first reported here -- blew up on TV and in today's ProJo.

Meanwhile, gov spokeswoman Amy Kempe got back to me late yesterday. Here's part of what she wrote in response to the delegation's concerns:

The Governor has offered to brief the delegation, here in RI or to fly to DC, on the waiver and has extended the offer for his staff to brief their staff.

Rhode Island's Congressional delegation has expressed its "deep concern" to Governor Carcieri about the possibly adverse impact of the federal Medicaid wavier, says US Representative Jim Langevin.

Speaking with me earlier today, Langevin says he "has been concerned with the lack of transparency and specifics about the whole plan."

Elsewhere in blogland . . .

Matt, following up on Grow Smart RI and today's ProJo, faults Governor Carcieri for being late to the stimulus party . . .

And Justin crunches some numbers to conclude that the gov was correct, in response to my query on Newsmakers, in saying middle class Rhode Islanders have not assumed a greater part of the tax burden in recent years.

UPDATE: The video is up here.

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Governor Carcieri visited with Tim White, Arlene Violet, and myself this afternoon to discuss his supplemental budget address and a few other odds and ends.

Some brief highlights from Newsmakers, which should hit the Web later today, and which will be broadcast Sunday, at 5:30 am on Channel 12, and at 10 on Fox Providence: