Guest MINDSETTER™ Jeffrey Girgenti: Why La Salle Took Down the Photo of Gina Raimondo
Jeffrey Girgenti, GoLocalProv Guest MINDSETTER™
Guest MINDSETTER™ Jeffrey Girgenti: Why La Salle Took Down the Photo of Gina Raimondo
Ms. Raimondo has come out in staunch support of the “pro-choice” side of the abortion discussion. Not only has she come out in support, she actively accepts funds and is even featured on Emily’s List, a political action committee (PAC) who’s mission is to “elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.” In addition to this endorsement, she has pledged to repeal a 1997 law that bans partial-abortions. Gina Raimondo’s relationship to the abortion discussion is not representative of La Salle Academy’s, or the Catholic faith.
Many say, “What is the big deal with keeping her picture up? They can just not support her, but keep her picture up.” I ask those people: what right does she have to be up on that wall? What right does she have, to be up on a wall of an institution whose values she does not represent? Does a businessman mount the communist hammer and sickle flag on his/her wall? No; and it is obvious as to why they don’t. Why can people not see the same principle in this situation? Is it because she is a woman, and “the war on women” is an especially attention-grabbing headline? Or maybe it is because the Catholic Church is involved, which is regularly the bud of many jokes in the media. Perhaps, it is a lack of the application of logic and principle.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLa Salle is a school with many bright, young people, many of whom are catholic. Suppose La Salle left the photo untouched; what would the students think, walking past her photo every day during the campaign, knowing her relationship to the abortion discussion? What would the generations of youth that come after, think? What would parents think when their kids go home to tell them that an abortion-supporting gubernatorial candidate is on a catholic institution’s wall of successful alumni? La Salle Academy could face serious negative backlash by keeping up her photo, including scrutiny from: parents resulting in a decline in admission, faculty and staff resulting in a shortage of instructors; they could even face consequences from the Diocese of Providence, which could include removal from the diocese. It could severely tarnish and ruin the great tradition and service La Salle Academy has provided the past 143 years.
So, why did La Salle Academy remove Gina Raimondo’s photo? La Salle Academy is a catholic institution, and their wall of successful alumni is a privilege of alumnus carrying La Salle’s values into their professional life. Gina Raimondo, being a person who aggressively supports abortion, does not represent these values. This is not an act of war on women, on the part of La Salle Academy. This is the act of war on freedom of speech and expression by people who lack logic and principle. It is aggression toward the catholic faith and a private institution, who can grant whoever they want, the privilege to be on their wall of successful alumni. She had no right to be on that wall, and La Salle Academy had every right to take her down from that wall.
Jeffrey Girgenti is a student of economics at Bryant University. He is an advocate of the Austrian School and free-market philosophy. A graduate of La Salle Academy in 2012, he spends his free time reading through his library of books, or working on business development. Further thoughts on political philosophy and economics can be found on his Twitter: @JeffArgento
10 Questions Gina Raimondo Has to Answer When Running for Governor
10. Money
Can she explain the amount of out of state money?
Most of the candidates for Governor need to answer the question, can they raise enough to be competitive? That is not a problem for Raimondo. She has proven to be the most skilled fundraiser, but her issue is justifying that the vast majority of the money is coming from out-of-state.
Raimondo will face a number of questions regarding who is really behind her campaign - the amount of out-of-state dollars is just one of the questions.
9. Pension Reform
Did she only reform certain pensions?
Raimondo rose to celebrity status because of her leadership on pension reform. Her efforts helped to stabilize the pension system, but the reform was hardly democratic.
Teachers took the vast majority of the hit, while major groups of pensioners escaped reform including the judges, state police and disability pensioners. Raimondo has some explaining to do.
8. Lack of Transparency
If she lacks transparency as Treasurer, what will it be like as Governor?
From her deepest critics to the media and even members of the retirement board, many have questioned her and her office's willingness to share information and provide the public insights into her management of the investment commission and the performance of the fund under her leadership.
Data which historically was easily accessed by the public and media is now locked behind the Raimondo wall. Often this raises serious questions and forces the media to seek the simplest information via FOIA requests.
7. Wall Street
Why is Wall Street spending so much money supporting Raimondo?
Raimondo is the queen of fundraising and so much of it derives from the major players on Wall Street.
6. Performance
Has Raimondo managed the pension fund competently?
The most important job of the General Treasurer might be the management of the state's retirement fund. The blockbuster investigative piece by Stephen Beale unveiled that the pension system under Raimondo lost $200 million.
While she may be able to blitz the airwaves with positive messages about her bio and her leadership in pension reform, her Democratic primary competitors and/or her GOP opponent in the General Election may be able to destroy her credibility by playing up her "mismanagement of the pension system."
5. Hedge Funds
Will Raimondo pay the price for shifting so much of the assets into Hedge Funds?
For the past six months, Raimondo has been under constant critique for shifting more than 20% of the State's retirement dollars into unregulated Hedge Funds. The critics has included forensic auditor/Forbes contributor Ted Siedle, Rolling Stones magazine's star reporter Matt Taibbi, former General Treasurer and candidate again, Frank Caprio, as well as many of the public unions. The combination of where she gets her campaign dollars, coupled with the shift in investment strategy and the under performance of the fund may all build into a snowball effect.
4. Connect to RIers
Educated at Yale and Harvard, a Rhode Scholar and a millionaire, can she connect to the average RIer?
Raimondo is a born and bred Rhode Islander, but for her adult life she has been educated at the best colleges in the world and living a professional life aligned with many of America's super rich associated with Wall Street. In her announcement she mentioned a number of times she was a mother, but did not mention that her husband is a partner at Mckinsey - and according to Forbes magazine probably takes home $2 million or so per year.
Raimondo talks a lot about her father losing his job when she was a child, but she has come a long way since then. She could come across as the ultimate RI success story or be perceived as an out of touch venture capitalist.
3. Siedle and Taibbi
Neither Ted Siedle or Matt Taibbi are going away - can she deflect their questions and charges?
In the past two months, both forensic auditor/Forbes columnist Ted Siedle and Rolling Stone's star reporter Matt Taibbi have raised serious issues about Raimondo's motivation and judgment.
As Taibbi wrote, "The dynamic young Rhodes scholar was allowing her state to be used as a test case for the rest of the country, at the behest of powerful out-of-state financiers with dreams of pushing pension reform down the throats of taxpayers and public workers from coast to coast."
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/looting-the-pension-funds-20130926#ixzz2o2bLhqKW
2. Is she a Democrat?
Will Taveras and Pell paint her to be too conservative?
Raimondo is simply hated by the teachers unions and others - big blocks of voters in the Democratic primary. Both Clay Pell and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras will tack to the left and may compete for the same voters allowing her to sneak through to the general. However, progressives and unions may decide to pick Pell over Taveras (who is struggling to raise money and whose track record in Providence may come under fire) and then Pell can take the left leaning primary.
1. SEC Investigation
Can Raimondo survive an SEC investigation?
Both Siedle and a state senator have written to the SEC calling for an investigation into the investment practices of Raimondo. A federal investigation would be at a minimum a black eye to the General Treasurer and an enforcement action might end a credible campaign. Timing may prove to be everything.
