Category: Government

The Myth of General Dynamics-Electric Boat and Its ‘Middle Class Jobs’

The author Joan Didion famously wrote, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”

In Rhode Island and Connecticut, we tell ourselves myths about Electric Boat in order to justify building war machines.

There are the obvious myths: that a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines costing upwards of $104-billion will be a force for peace in the world; that executives at parent company General Dynamics gobbling up millions of dollars in compensation each year on the taxpayer dime are “patriotic”; and that some other community will build these weapons systems anyway if Southern New England doesn’t—so why shouldn’t we?

The fourth myth, which might be the most rich, is that the top brass at General Dynamics-Electric Boat actually care about our community, that they’re people committed to providing us with “good middle class jobs,” the kind of “blue collar” work that still provides an income you can raise a family on. Continue reading The Myth of General Dynamics-Electric Boat and Its ‘Middle Class Jobs’

Bath Police Chief Says He Does Not ‘Characterize’ Peace Activists as Potential Terrorists

Michael Field, chief of police for Bath, Maine, clarified his position on activists who have staged protests at Navy contractor Bath Iron Works, in an email one day after a story published on this website reported his invoking of an exemption for anti-terrorism planning in denying a recent state Freedom of Access Act request.

“I do not characterize the protestors as terrorist,” Field wrote Tuesday. “Having said that, the planning and operational details that go into the events at BIW are more broad than just protestors.”

The Freedom of Access request sent to Field and his administrative assistant earlier this month sought “an opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of public records that show communications between the Bath Police Department and Bath Iron Works concerning policing of protests at the Bath Iron Works shipyard” over the past two years. Continue reading Bath Police Chief Says He Does Not ‘Characterize’ Peace Activists as Potential Terrorists

What Issues Take Priority and What Gets Shut Out on Sheldon Whitehouse’s Twitter Feed

In today’s world, tweets by members of Congress can tell you a lot: what they’re prioritizing, how they’re using their political capital, and the messages they want to get out to constituents, colleagues, and the media.

Because of all that, I decided recently to analyze Twitter feeds for the four members of Rhode Island’s Congressional Delegation using a social science research method called coding. Coding essentially means categorizing data to help you draw conclusions from the information you want to evaluate.

In the case of congressional tweets, I created topical areas—such as gun control, climate change, Russia, health care, immigration, and police reform—and tallied up the number of tweets that referenced each issue. Continue reading What Issues Take Priority and What Gets Shut Out on Sheldon Whitehouse’s Twitter Feed

Bath Police Chief Denies Freedom of Access Request, Citing Terrorism Exemption

Bath Police Chief Michael Field has denied a Maine Freedom of Access Act Request seeking communications between his police department and security personnel at Navy contractor Bath Iron Works regarding the policing of protests at the company’s shipyard.

Field cited an exemption in the law, which allows law enforcement authorities to block public access to documents related to the “purpose of preventing or preparing for acts of terrorism.”

“This is in response to your e-mail to me and my Administrative Assistant sent March 7, 2018 with regard to written communication between the Bath Police Department and the Bath Iron Works regarding policing of protests at the Shipyard, from January 1, 2016 to the present,” Field wrote in a letter to this reporter, dated March 12.

“The document relating to the planning and communications between the Bath Police Department and the Bath Iron Works were related to security planning and procedures and risk assessment,” he continued. “As such, these are not public records and are exempted under the provisions of 1 M.R.S. Section 402(3)(L).” Continue reading Bath Police Chief Denies Freedom of Access Request, Citing Terrorism Exemption

Despite State Law, Rhode Island Has Never Evaluated Its Business Tax Incentives

[NOTE: An audio version of this story aired on Rhode Island Public Radio.]

In 2013, Rhode Island lawmakers directed the state’s revenue department to analyze tax incentives created to spur economic development. The idea was to assess whether those incentives were actually working.

Linda Katz, co-founder and policy director of the non-profit Economic Progress Institute, was one of the people who supported the law.

“It’s the bang for the buck,” said Katz, whose organization advocates for policies that benefit lower-income Rhode Islanders. “We want to know if we’re giving away money in order to either attract a company here, keep a company here, try to ignite some activity, that we know that, at the end of getting that tax break, we’re actually better off than we were before the company got here.”

But there’s one key problem: the state has yet to produce a single evaluation required under the law. The first report was due last June. Continue reading Despite State Law, Rhode Island Has Never Evaluated Its Business Tax Incentives

Bruce Gagnon Is Right; Maine Has Been ‘Outsourced’ to Bath Iron Works

I’m skeptical of bold claims.

That’s why I wondered last week if peace activist Bruce Gagnon was indulging in a little hyperbole when he sent me an email alleging a local newspaper, the Maine legislature, and the city of Bath’s police department were all abdicating their duty to the public and instead doing the bidding of Navy contractor Bath Iron Works.

Gagnon is currently leading the campaign against a proposed $60-million tax credit to BIW, a builder of Navy destroyers and a subsidiary of defense industry behemoth General Dynamics.

“The Bath PD was outsourced to BIW/GD,” Gagnon’s email read, “the Times Record newspaper has been outsourced to BIW/GD, and the Maine state legislature has been outsourced to BIW/GD.”

But, after looking into each of these claims, I can’t say I disagree. Continue reading Bruce Gagnon Is Right; Maine Has Been ‘Outsourced’ to Bath Iron Works

Jingoism From the So-Called Left

[NOTE: A version of this opinion article was published on RIFuture.org.]

There are many people on the left who think “Russiagate” merits wall-to-wall news coverage and MSNBC’s near-singular focus.

I’m not one of them. In fact, I’m beginning to find the rhetoric coming out of the Democratic Party on Russia, with its comparisons to the deadly attacks of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, more than misplaced. They’re irresponsible and frightening. Continue reading Jingoism From the So-Called Left

Maine State Rep. Jennifer DeChant Sought Corporate ‘Talking Points’ to ‘Counter’ Activists

When faced last year with growing criticism over her plans to propose a $60-million tax deal to one of Maine’s largest private employers, state Rep. Jennifer DeChant turned to an apparently reliable ally: the very company she was advocating for.

“Jon- I am sure you have seen the Op Ed piece below,” DeChant said in a Dec. 4 email to Bath Iron Works attorney Jon Fitzgerald, following the publication that same day of a commentary in Portland’s Press Herald by peace activist Bruce Gagnon, titled, “General Dynamics has no business asking for more tax breaks.”

DeChant continued, “I am looking for some talking points to counter this.” She suggested they would be used in an upcoming meeting with constituents. Continue reading Maine State Rep. Jennifer DeChant Sought Corporate ‘Talking Points’ to ‘Counter’ Activists

General Dynamics CEO Calls Republican Tax Law a ‘Happy Event’

Top brass at defense contractor General Dynamics, owner of New England subsidiaries Bath Iron Works, and Electric Boat, say they are buoyed by the anticipated reduction in their company’s effective tax rate under the sweeping “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” pushed into law last month by Republican members of Congress and Pres. Donald Trump.

On an earnings call earlier this week, Chief Financial Officer Jason W. Aiken told analysts the company, based in Falls Church, Virg., will likely see its 2017 full year rate of 28.6 percent drop to 19 percent in 2018.

According to a transcript of the call available online, Chief Executive Officer Phebe N. Novakovic characterized the passage of the tax overhaul as “a happy event.” Continue reading General Dynamics CEO Calls Republican Tax Law a ‘Happy Event’

A Key Defense Player, Maine Sen. Susan Collins Has Financial Ties to Military Contractors

As a longtime member of the powerful Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has sat for years at the intersection of Pentagon policy-making and the business of the nation’s wealthiest and most well connected military contractors.

Along the way, she’s accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from those very companies, some of which, federal records show, her family held a personal financial stake in through her husband’s many and wide-ranging corporate stock investments.

Senate financial disclosure reports covering calendar years 2012 to 2016, the most recent year on record, show Collins’s husband, Thomas Daffron, has current or past share holdings in more than a dozen prominent defense contractors, including Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Honeywell, United Technologies, Harris Corporation, General Electric, and L3 Communications. Continue reading A Key Defense Player, Maine Sen. Susan Collins Has Financial Ties to Military Contractors