Michael Costa ⚓️

Board Advisor, Investor. Former Prof of Finance, Civ Eng. “Laughter is like a windshield wiper. It doesn’t stop the rain, but it allows you to keep going.”

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

"I think all the time how grateful I am," Travis Roy, who became a quadriplegic at age 20. Be grateful.

[NBC 10 WJAR @NBC10]

Travis Roy, the Boston University hockey player who was paralyzed 11 seconds into his first college shift and went on to be a motivational speaker and advocate for spinal chord injury survivors, has died. He was 45. https://t.co/Do5lBauZiL

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

39 years ago, half the current US population wasn't born yet.
39 years before that Truman defeated Dewey

[Nancy Pelosi @SpeakerPelosi]

39 years ago today, I stood on the House Floor and took the oath to represent San Francisco in Congress for the first time.

There has been no greater official honor for me than to serve San Franciscans in the People’s House, and I am deeply grateful for their trust.

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

.@keithhoffmann is clearly the most talented current candidate for AG. He is not independent.

Sometimes, endorsements can matter.
Sometimes, endorsements don't matter.
Sometimes, endorsements can hurt.

[Peter Neronha @PFNeronha]

As Keith introduces himself to voters, the more his campaign takes off.

I’ve closely worked with him for seven years.

He is unquestionably the most talented, independent candidate in this race.

He uniquely understands what the Office can and must deliver for RI’ers today.

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

@AshleyKalus For most things, it's possible to find studies (even if pathetically poor) from advocates of both sides of an issue. Not so for Certificate of Need laws.

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

Spending requires income.
Spending for states comes from taxing.
Growing spending requires growing income.
Rhode Island lags on growing income.

[Rhode Island House of Representatives @RIHouseofReps]

@Globe_RI: @tanzister, a South Kingstown Democrat, said the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have passed legislation that will devastate Rhode Island’s budget in the coming years. And she said the millionaires tax is needed to ensure “that we would still be able to provide the bare minimum for individuals who need it the most in our state.”

Right now, one in three children in Rhode Island “are going hungry,” considered “food insecure,” Tanzi said.

“I urge my colleagues to support their constituents — the 80 percent, not the 1 percent, not the millionaires," she said. “I’m shocked that some of the people who represent the poorest communities in our state are standing up and shilling for the billionaires. It blows my mind.”

@EvanShanley1, a Warwick Democrat, said the millionaires tax is not a penalty meant to punish success. “It is an investment in the community that, in some measure, fosters the conditions for your business and your family to grow,” he said.

Shanley said the income gap between the richest and the majority of the state’s population is growing.

“That creates instability, because you end up with the majority of the population that has nothing to lose, despite the fact that they are working full-time and playing by the rules,” he said. “At the end of the day, the wealthiest among us have the most to lose if our society collapses.”

“This budget is an effort to address the concerns and struggles of everyday Rhode Islanders who need good schools, who need access to healthcare, who need to be able to pay their bills and who need to know that their government is honest and effective,” @CBlazejewski said in a statement. “It provides relief today while being fiscally responsible and putting our state in a better position in the years to come.”

Full story: https://t.co/HmlR6zlsBQ

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

@mattyglesias By political insider and careerist. Who can be surprised?

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

Presidential libraries began with the president-who-would-be-King, FDR.

Modern-day pyramids, "with one Congressman contending that 'only an egocentric megalomaniac would have the nerve to ask for such a measure'"
https://t.co/w1yNPKZOiT

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

“Self-evident” seems to have grown less so.

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

"The greatest sentence every written," as Walter Isaacson put it, laying out the rational prerequisites for morality, law, and government (notwithstanding the vague, deistic "creator"). This is what made America great: a nation conceived not in race, religion, or ethnicity, but in the ideals of the Enlightenment. https://t.co/AMACeWBtEk

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

Missed the congressman’s previous criticism of Cabinet Secs:

Health: Becerra (lawyer, career politician)
Energy: Granholm, Energy (lawyer, career politician)
Transportation: Buttigieg, (consultant)
Commerce: Raimondo (failed venture capitalist)

[Congressman Gabe Amo @RepGabeAmo]

Bill Pulte has no expertise in national security or intelligence operations.

His only qualification is loyalty to Donald Trump.

Politicizing the work of the intelligence community weakens our national security.

Pulte's appointment is dangerous and makes Americans less safe.

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

A lot can change in 80+ years

[Christopher Hale @ChristopherHale]

“If you think the world is selfish and rotten, go to the cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer overlooking Omaha Beach. See what one group of men did for another on D-Day, June 6th, 1944.” — Andy Rooney

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

Designed to be
- palatable and fun for consumer (kids)
- desirable to buyer (parents)

[Frank Luntz @FrankLuntz]

Tobacco giant Philip Morris acquired General Foods in 1985, when Lunchables was in development.

The cigarette maker relied on flavor technology and market research from tobacco to maximize the snack kit’s appeal to children.

https://t.co/TgavlBtQwS

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

Good example of the distinction between “progressive” and “liberal”. The later are unwilling to trample on anyone, no matter how villified.

[Edward Fitzpatrick @FitzProv]

“I urge my colleagues to support their constituents — the 80%, not the 1%," Rep. @tanzister said. “I’m shocked that some of the people who represent the poorest communities in our state are standing up and shilling for the billionaires. It blows my mind.”
https://t.co/wVOyjxxfYZ

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

"‘Larry is bigger, stronger, faster, and meaner than Luka Doncic. And if Luka is lighting these dudes up, it’d be a five-alarm fire what Larry would do.’"

[Boston Globe Sports @BGlobeSports]

Kevin McHale on how Larry Bird would dominate today’s NBA: ‘It’d be a five-alarm fire what Larry would do’ https://t.co/gxk7psg5YU

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

Currently in the lead in category: “Most News Time for a Nothing Issue.”

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

McKee is shrugging off his campaign's "sex yes" ad snafu, telling me today, "I don't think it's a big deal ... I'm glad we're still talking about the ad"

Foulkes senior adviser slams McKee team, saying mistake "shows what a clown show his campaign is" https://t.co/sBmiHEjyYc

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

@mattyglesias Nordic countries are basically flat tax countries with a big social state. Maybe that’s the required equilibrium.

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

@mattyglesias Poland's growth has been great for the country and the world. But catching up has always been easier -- not easy -- than continuing once at "rich" levels.

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

The not-campaign-spending campaign spending.

[Congressman Seth Magaziner @Rep_Magaziner]

I was proud to secure federal funding for the West Warwick Police to purchase new emergency vehicles to keep officers safe and improve emergency response times.

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

“Across the border in Massachusetts, reimbursement rates for primary care are 30% higher”

And K-12 spending is 20% higher. Similar for other things.

Knee-jerk response: pay more. Requires ability. Which requires a better economy (which is facilitated by better health and ed).

[Peter Neronha @PFNeronha]

Shocking!

Come on, RI’ers already know this.

What they’re waiting for is a plan to fix it

It’s pretty simple. Raise reimbursements - pay - for primary care docs. Eliminate 💯 of prior authorizations

Pay and treat them like the docs, that, eg, check your moles

It’s a start

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

Fealty to “party” is a large part of how we, Rhode Island and the Country, are where we are.

Transparency into tax returns is mostly an impediments to candidates with something to lose. It’s a big, fat distraction from transparency that matters: government itself.

[Aaron Guckian for RI @GuckianRI]

Ken Block demands transparency from everyone else but won’t release his own tax returns.

Not surprising. He’s changed parties more times than Rhode Islanders have hit potholes and rerouted around the Washington Bridge.

#RIPolitics

[Michael Costa ⚓️ @Costa24601]

Steve Frias lays it out.

If you hear someone say “he’s qualified” or “let’s see what ethics commission says,” it’s a tell. It means they don’t want to discuss the real issue, eligibility, which probably means they know it’s wrong.

[Providence Journal @projo]

Opinion: An unethical quest to be called 'your honor' | Opinion https://t.co/hTrB2fvAMK