Seven liberal groups call on Raimondo to return NYC award
January 13th, 2012 at 5:00 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
By Ted Nesi
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Seven liberal groups want Treasurer Gina Raimondo to return the award she accepted from a conservative think tank and to repudiate what they called its “offensive, ignorant and hurtful positions towards the LGBTQI community, women, minorities and our environment.”
Raimondo traveled to New York earlier this month to accept the Urban Innovator Award from the Manhattan Institute in recognition of her work on pensions. In a letter sent Wednesday and obtained by WPRI.com, the groups said Raimondo’s failure to repudiate the think tank would be “an implicit condoning of their bigotry.”
The seven groups – Clean Water Action, the Environmental Justice League, Hope United, Marriage Equality Rhode Island, the National Association of Social Workers, Ocean State Action and the Sierra Club – are all active in Rhode Island Democratic politics, and a split between them and Raimondo could pose a danger to her future political aspirations in the state.
“It is simply unacceptable to us as a coalition, or your constituents as a whole, for you to stand with or accept an award from a narrow-minded and hurtful organization,” they said.
Raimondo spokeswoman Joy Fox confirmed the treasurer received the letter, telling WPRI.com, “We are working on a response and hope to have it off to them at the beginning of next week.” The groups had asked Raimondo to reply “at your earliest convenience, preferably within the next 48 hours.”
Raimondo’s job approval was significantly lower among Democrats than the broader public in a Brown University poll last month. It was 52% among all voters but only 38% among Democrats. Gov. Lincoln Chafee was basically tied among Democrats at 39% approval, but far below Raimondo – 27% – among all voters.
The letter condemned Manhattan Institute scholars’ positions on topics including gay marriage, campus rape, racial profiling, wind power and fracking. ”We must ask if you or anyone in your office were aware that this organization published such venomous, racially-charged, anti-gay, anti-environment and anti-women positions,” they wrote.
“We are willing to accept that you were not, but that acceptance must accompany a proactive effort by you,” they continued. “Return the Manhattan Institute’s Urban Innovator Award and publicly condemn these harmful writings at your earliest convenience, preferably within the next 48 hours.”
The liberal advocacy group People for the American Way has also questioned Raimondo’s acceptance of the award. The treasurer’s “appearance at the right-wing think tank is likely to raise eyebrows back home because of what she said and where she said it,” Josh Glasstetter, the group’s research director, wrote Tuesday.
Tags: Clean Water Action, environmental justice league, gina raimondo, Hope United, manhattan institute, Marriage Equality Rhode Island, national association of social workers, ocean state action
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
Yes, yes, yes.
“Seven liberal groups want Treasurer Gina Raimondo to return the award she accepted from a conservative think tank and to repudiate what they called its “offensive, ignorant and hurtful positions towards the LGBTQI community, women, minorities and our environment.”
Raimondo traveled to New York earlier this month to accept the Urban Innovator Award from the Manhattan Institute in recognition of her work on pensions.”
As someone who opposes “gay marriage”, I have to laugh my arse off at this… the guy who heads the Manhattan Institute(Paul Singer) has a gay son and was probably the most instrumental person in getting gay marriage through in New York. These idiots have no idea WTF they’re talking about.
Is this the same Soren that writes for Golocal? Just asking….
“The letter condemned Manhattan Institute scholars’ positions on topics including gay marriage, campus rape, racial profiling, wind power and fracking. ”We must ask if you or anyone in your office were aware that this organization published such venomous, racially-charged, anti-gay, anti-environment and anti-women positions,” they wrote.”
What’s funny is that the “gay marriage”, “campus rape”, and “racial profiling” articles were written by women… are Heather MacDonald and Kay Hymowitz “anti-women”?
And anyone who reads Kay Hymowitz’s body of work and calls her a bigot should be slapped across the head.
Many women are anit women. When culture or brain washing happens, not is exempt. Why would you be surprised some women hold the sam attitude as the larger culture. That’s why change is so hard.
The simple and completely unambiguous math of the pension mess is an area that we should all be able to find common ground and agreement among people of diverse view points in all sorts of other areas. With our political system as generally broken and gridlocked as it is, it would be good if all of us could endeavor to find areas commonality rather than making uninformed kneejerk condemnations of supposed political enemies.
Perhaps a simple Google search would be in order before condemning Gina for accepting this award. Paul Singer, the Chairman of the Manhattan Institute, has been a very major donor to organizations supporting equal rights for gay and lesbian people and a primary political mover behind New York’s Gay Marriage law. Is that really who should be ridiculed and condemned by the “progressive” community?
The good work Gina has led in reforming our bankrupt state pension system is the one political action of the last decade that is most likely to enable the state to maintain spending on any of the priorities that “progressive” organizations care about. Rather than condemning Gina, all seven of these groups should be issuing her their own awards as well.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/16/big-gop-donors-join-gay-m_n_862441.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Singer_(businessman)
http://dealbreaker.com/2011/06/dan-loeb-steve-cohen-paul-singer-cliff-asness-legalize-gay-marriage-in-new-york/
http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/07/department-of-campaign-cash-ironies/
BTW, Fred, did you see what they said about wind energy? Seems rather ironic you are defending them based upon your chosen profession and what your own business sells.
Didn’t any read the stuff on the Manhattan Institute website? my Goodness…..who is on the treasurer’s staff? Really? The Date Rape Myth?
Wow. Now this is really classy.
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/wallstreetontrial/
I’m sure “progressive” women would be proud to be associated with this type of messaging.
Stand firm, Treasurer Raimondo. These folks have no right telling you what award you should or should not accept.
I admire your courage and leadership on pension reform. We need more leaders like you who achieve actual results, and if you stay strong on reform, you have my vote and the votes of thousands of others in future elections.
Progressivism 101: if someone (or some organization) takes a stand in opposition to your agenda — whatever the particular topic — characterize their stand a bigoted / discriminatory and the person (or organization) expressing it as “hateful” or “hate-monger.” Keep repeating the allegation until they back down.
Tom, you’ve distilled the “progressive” strategy to its essence. You might also mention this: Use emotion, not facts, when disagreeing with someone and sprinkle in terms like “racist” even if not remotely relevant.
Stand firm Gina! Together we will take the rest of the pension away from those greedy union porkers! I LOVED the video at the Manhatten Institute! It was fantastic to hear a Rhode Island politician talk about inventorying all of the wasted land and buildings that the state owns and selling them off to private investors to make MONEY!!!!!
Ramondo for Governor 2014!!!!!!
Hear those union piggies squeal!!!!!!
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[...] coalition of liberal groups criticized Raimondo earlier this month for accepting an award for her pension efforts from the Manhattan Institute, a [...]