Liberal advocacy group People for the American Way (PFAW) is joining local union officials in criticizing Treasurer Gina Raimondo for accepting an award from the conservative Manhattan Institute for her work overhauling the state pension system. From PFAW:
Rhode Island Treasurer Gina Raimondo appeared at the Manhattan Institute on Thursday to receive
that organization’s Urban Innovator Award. Raimondo was being recognized for her
efforts to reform the state’s public pension plans. While Raimando is not the
first Democrat to receive the award, her appearance at the right-wing think tank
is likely to raise eyebrows back home because of what she said and where she
said it.
For instance, in response to a question from Charles Brunie –
a founder of Oppenheimer Capital and former chairman of the Manhattan Institute
– Raimondo seemed to indicate that
she’s open to privatizing, or selling outright, state assets. She also suggested
that, due to her private sector background, she outworks lawmakers and other public servants and employees at
the state house.
To be sure, the substance of Raimondo’s speech was the importance of core government services and the need to sustain
them financially for future generations. She highlighted Rhode Island’s pension
reforms as proof that government can work and closed by arguing that the debate
over whether government is too big should be supplanted by a debate over whether
government is effective. However, the venue for her speech raises
questions.
The Manhattan
Institute, perhaps best known as the “brain trust” of the Giuliani administration in New York, has a long history of
working to privatize, undermine, and cut public schools, social services, and
public transportation. These are the very services that Raimondo cited as
essential in her life and to all citizens of Rhode Island.
More broadly, the Manhattan Institute pushes a right-wing
agenda that is only partially obscured by the intellectual veneer it projects on
its work. Whether it’s equal rights for gays and lesbians, immigration reform,
equality between men and women, or affirmative action for minorities, the
Manhattan Institute is working against it. In fact, the think tank’s best known
“scholar” is Charles
Murray, co-author of the discredited Bell Curve, which claimed a
genetic link between race and IQ – e.g. blacks are genetically less intelligent
than whites.
It is unclear what Raimondo hoped to accomplish by accepting
the award. The motivations of the Manhattan Institute, however, are far less
opaque. Their aim is to cut government spending on social programs – not to make
it more effective – but rather to achieve their utopian free market vision of
society. Partnering with a Democrat like Raimondo enables them to put forward a
reasonable, bi-partisan face. The day after her speech, no less than the Wall
Street Journal editorial page – no fan of Democrats or government – heaped praise on the treasurer for leading the Rhode Island
“miracle.”
It's an interesting argument - public figures always have to be mindful of the company they keep. But the appearance seems unlikely to do any lasting damage to Raimondo, in no small part because the clips PFAW features seem less-than-incendiary:
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