Survey respondents pessimistic about R.I. economy
11:56 AM Thu, May 28, 2009 | Permalink
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Providence Journal photo / Bob Thayer
Tent cities for the homeless, like this one off South Water Street in Providence, have popped up around Rhode Island, a sign of the impacts of the prolonged recession.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A new Brown University survey has revealed deep skepticism among Rhode Islanders about the health of the state's economy. News headlines, have focused on the finding that 60 percent of respondents favor gay marriage. But the questions about the economy also yielded interesting results. Despite widespread support for President Obama, the Journal reported Thursday that "Rhode Island's jittery view of the economy has not changed much." The poll found that three of every four Rhode Islanders believe the economy is doing poorly and 23 percent say its condition is "not so good," together representing 98 percent of responses. In February, 82 percent of respondents in a Brown poll gave those answers. There are reasons for melancholy. The state's jobless rate hit 11.1 percent in April, the highest level in three decades. Many of those still with jobs have been forced to cut their hours, with participation in the state's WorkShare program, which provides unemployment payments to workers forced into a part-time schedule, exploding. The Current Conditions Index, a measure of the state's economic health, was at its lowest possible level in March. The downbeat view of the state's economy may also reflect the personal struggles of Rhode Islanders to keep afloat financially. Forty-two percent of Rhode Islanders classify their personal finances as "not so good" or "poor." Sixty-nine percent have a friend or family member who recently lost their job, up from 66 percent in February. Meanwhile, Rhode Islanders say they have not seen much help from the massive federal stimulus package, echoing complaints from Governor Carcieri about the pace of federal spending. In the Brown poll, 80 percent of respondents said the stimulus "hasn't made a difference" in their personal financial situation. 
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I was just reading this morning in USA Today that Rhode Island has received exactly $0 in stimulus funding. Seems to be working out rather well for us don't you think?
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Let's face it - one of the main reasons for all this pessimism is that our state is HORRIBLY MANAGED by our INEPT POLITICAL LEADERS. We need to get rid of every single incumbent and start over. A state bankruptcy might help too.
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The more money the state gets the more money they waiste. Where did all that money from the stimulus package go because I don't see any think getting done? I know that RI is still asking for more money & what every they don't get from the Feds they plan on getting it from us the taxpayers.
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What are WE going to do about homelessness and tent cities? (I include myself.) These folks did not choose to be in this situation, and what happens when it starts to freeze next fall?
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98%...that makes it nearly unanimous. And the General Assembly is still voting in raises for their cronies. Maybe this fall RI voters will wake up.
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the state is run mostly by lawyers and george nee.bankers should be running the general assembly not lawyers.
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The state has received next to nothing in Obama's stimulus funding program, but Obama is popular and RI keeps electing the same people to the General Assembly.
HELLO, RHODE ISLANDERS!! You're getting exactly what you deserve. After all, you voted for it...
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Whatever happened to the old saw, "You can live in your car, but you can't drive your house?"
In Providence, you can pitch a tent "wherever", but you can't park your car overnight on the street. Go figure!
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RI will never change. Crooked politicians, lawyers, judges, state pensions, union pensions and healthcare. The working people cannot afford all these "perks" given to state employees. RI will soon go bankrupt. Keep voting in all your cronies, and that;s what you get, NOTHING.
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