Carcieri at the crossroads

As recently suggested here, the coming legislative session will be very important for Governor Carcieri and Rhode Island as a whole. The state continues to face projected budget deficits, and the revenue stream could take a big hit if Massachusetts goes forward with the establishment of three casinos.

Carcieri remained characteristically upbeat during a taping this morning of WPRI/WNAC TV's Newsmakers, but his ability to deliver remains open to question. When I asked why Rhode Island has been relegated to playing defense on the casino issue, the governor answered mainly by calling gambling a short-sighted form of economic development for Massachusetts and other states in the region.

Asked how Rhode Island will recover from the revenue hit if Massachusetts goes forward with casinos, Carcieri said the state needs to pursue other forms of economic development, and he was upbeat in describing various non-budget-related economic indicators. Yet Amgen -- one of the companies to which he pointed -- is cutting jobs, and it seems that we frequently hear about other job losses in Rhode Island, like this.

Carcieri has described his intention to go forward with cuts in the state workforce. Asked how he will overcome General Assembly opposition, he said he will talk with the legislature.

Bold steps are needed to improve Rhode Island's economy. Meanwhile, some of the pundits most sympathetic to the governor, like Edward Achorn and Dan Yorke, have been increasingly critical this year in their assessment of his performance.

While Carcieri has resisted the lame duck label, the clock is steadily ticking on his time in office. How he governs over the next year or so will go a long way in determing the effectiveness of his two terms.