Support Tom Sgouros for Treasurer
Tom Sgouros, editor of RI Policy Reporter (RIPR), recently announced his candidacy for RI Treasurer in next year's election. The 48-year-old software engineer from North Kingston said his goals are to enhance fiscal management and revitalize the state's economy through innovation and local investment.
"Everyone I know is concerned about their own finances," Sgouros said in a statement posted on his Web site. "We rely on our elected leaders to be good stewards of our collective financial health -- responsible expenditures as well as careful investment and strict management of our debt. [..] I have researched and written about the state's finances for more than two decades and I know voters are concerned about building a better future for their children and grandchildren. I bring new ideas that are unconstrained by the day-to-day politics and tradeoffs we so often see in our government."
As a long-time reader of Sgouros's newsletter, I have been impressed by his analytic abilities, understanding of political realities, and sensitivity to the human impacts of abstract and thorny fiscal policy questions. The full text of back issues of RIPR are available for download on his site, and they are essential reading for understanding our state's economics.
I'm supporting him, and hope you'll consider doing the same. You can stop by his campaign web site to make a donation.
Resources:
Tom Sgouros for Treasurer
RI Policy Reporter
Comments
Wernerlll
Sun, 12/20/2009 - 6:16pm
Permalink
GOOD LUCK
Good Luck to Tom,
Moreover, I hope he gets to exercise some of his initiatives as described. However, while I hear some traditional approaches about "job creation" and in-state "venture capital" generation, I would like to see more targeting of services that the state engages in with little or no ROI or Metrics reported or demonstrated. The approach is to analyze those services with no value added that are best carried out by the private sector or specialist services, and enterprises in business to deliver best practices goods.
I never understood why utility workers need police escort at both ends of their work area, or why the state pays disabled workers first when a worker is insured through his employment, or why is the state complying with unfunded mandates that are inherently embedded in illegal immigration, etc., etc.
Governor Carcieri tried all sorts of job creation and tax incentive programs for naught (contractors took off or sold out). How do you create jobs when we do not generally make anything and have no market? Anyway, glad to see some energetic person trying their skill with traditional thinking. Tradition will not facilitate change when it is change that is forced on our state's citizenry by economic insecurity and Mother Nature itself.
Cheer,
Wernerlll