Rhode Island May Lose Statehood – Massachussetts and Connecticut vye for tiny state
State on brink of financial disaster
With a budget gap of $168 million the state of Rhode Island is considering drastic measures, including selling itself to the highest bidder. It is estimated that next year’s budget gap will be a whopping $384 million. Right now Massachussetts and Connecticut are the front runners for obvious geographical reasons, however it is rumored that Hank Steinbrenner would love to add a piece of Red Sox nation to the “evil empire” that is the great New York Yankees. Massachusetts is chomping at the bit to acquire Rhode Island which would allow it to rightfully claim to be the first state to separate from Great Britain. Connecticut would make “Rhode Island” territory a legal gambling region based on the success of casinos in the state and envisions something more magnificent than Las Vegas.
To cut the budget the state will drop very important programs to needy children, state workers and the University of Rhode Island among other things. URI would take a hit of $12 million meaning that certain sports programs would be lost including men’s swimming, men’s tennis and field hockey. Gymnastics was already cut earlier in the year. Clearly the state does not care much for higher education and the students that attend Rhode Island universities. It is rumored that to solve next year’s budget gap, all roads in the state would have to be closed and that all sanitation services would have to be cut out. Who knows what else they will have to cut.
Politically, the loss of Rhode Island as an independent state could have an interesting retroactive effect on the Democratic Primaries. Hillary Clinton took the state by approximately 33,000 votes garnering 13 delegates to Barack Obama’s 8. However, Obama narrowly won Connecticut by a mere 15,000 votes taking 26 delegates to Clinton’s 22. Should Connecticut acquire Rhode Island, the combined state would be a Hillary Clinton state. As of now there are no comments from either candidates camps. Clearly there is a lot at stake here including the outcome of the Democratic primary and perhaps even who ends up winning the upcoming presidential election.
The state of Rhode Island is in a serious crisis. Tough decisions need to be made in order to balance the budget. Unfortunately this is a common problem in this country. Problems like these are caused by a lack of foresight and planning by reactive politicians who don’t have the intelligence and fortitude to do things before it is time to take out the giant scissors and make cuts to the welfare of citizens. The current cuts hamper education, the cornerstone of a healthy society which will have a much larger impact than the $12 million that will be saved today. With the way the state is being run, maybe the idea of selling Rhode Island to the highest bidder isn’t such a big joke afterall.
Let the state of Rhode Island and URI know that you won’t accept these cuts to education.
For articles related to this post check out:
URI Students Protest Sports Cuts at the Capitol
House committee clears cuts to close $168 million deficit
Four sports become victims of budget-cutting at URI
