Dee DeQuattro: Pulse on Politics - 38 Days Later

Dee DeQuattro
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It has been five years since Rhode Island made the infamous 38 Studios loan deal, and we still get the pleasure of hearing about it everyday. It's great political fodder as politicians continue to point fingers toward every direction except toward themselves. 

Former Representative, now Attorney General, Peter Kilmartin is still answering to demands that he recuse himself from the criminal case, which he says he won’t because he had little to no involvement in the deal that ultimately left the state on the hook to pay back millions of dollars in loans. In his defense, he probably didn’t. When the 38 Studios loan was being formulated, Peter Kilmartin was hard at work on his Attorney General campaign.

Wrong Corso Action
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​By the way, the state settled with Michael Corso for $45,000. Great deal for Corso, who profited by more than a million dollars from the deal. He also grabbed a sweet check of over $230,000 as the company was on the brink of bankruptcy. They couldn’t afford to pay their loans, but they managed to pay Corso.

The World Wonder? or the Trump Casino?

Speaking of getting a sweet deal, Curt Schilling has not been deposed in the 38 Studios case. You would think he would have been one of the first on the deposition list. But I guess being a famous baseball player has its perks. One of the emails revealed that Schilling wanted 38 Studios to be like the quote-on-quote Taj Mahal. Priorities Curt, Priorities. Although, it seems Corso was one of his priorities since he was willing to cut Corso a check before paying his bills.

Nonetheless, we can expect 38 Studios to remain in the headlines for a while. Governor Raimondo, for her part, wants Rhode Islanders to stop comparing every business deal to 38 Studios so the state can get back on track. Well, what can we say, we are jaded.

Kilometers behind the pack

Speaking of Governors or former Governors… Lincoln Chafee has been invited to participate in the CNN & Facebook Democratic debate slated for Oct. 13. If anything we can expect that debate to be interesting. Here’s a drinking game: take a drink every time he mentions his opposition to the war in Iraq and take two drinks when he mentions the Warwick train station.

Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton was on Saturday Night Live over the weekend and the skit was cute and kind of funny in a let's-handle-her-with-kid-gloves kind of way. The appearance is probably one of many by her campaign to make her appeal to the common man.

An uncommon family

Former Representative Patrick Kennedy has released a memoir where he talks about his struggles with addiction and the pressure he was under to live up to his father’s expectations. The book not only offers some insight into Patrick’s personal experience but also sheds some light into Ted Kennedy’s life, including the Chappaquiddick incident.

No matter what you thought of Kennedy as a politician, the book seems to offer insight into his specific issues. It’s called “A Common Struggle” while there is nothing common about Kennedy’s struggle, he did deal with a common issue that many Americans face: addiction. Also, there are some quirky facts in the book, like it was commonplace for the Kennedy’s to gift each other signed autograph of themselves. Patrick’s relatives have publicly complained that the book paints Ted Kennedy in a bad light, but that’s what makes it honest. So kudos to Patrick for not viewing his family with rose colored glasses.

Because nothing could remind them more of their homes in war-torn Syria than Central Falls

Central Falls and resources is something you never expected to hear in the same sentence but now Mayor Diossa is rolling out the welcome wagon as he is opening the door to Syrian refugees. Diossa told WPRO that “we have the resources and the capacity as a country” to take in these refugees. Diossa is one of 18 mayors across the nation that said he is willing to take in the refugees. It looks like about 85,000 refugees will be coming to the U.S. next year alone.

Cigarettes don't cause cancer, people do

Lastly, Senators Reed and Whitehouse are among a group of lawmakers pushing to make the minimum age to buy cigarettes 21 instead of 18. Let’s see how big tobacco companies like this move, not to mention, states like Rhode Island that count on the sin tax on tobacco products to bring in tax revenue to Rhode Island.