Politics & Elections

Representative Joe Almeida: The latest Gaspee Project attack is absurd

Recently, the Gaspee Project has unfairly linked me to a number of Democrats. This attack falsely linked me to billionaire George Soros, United States Representative  Maxine Waters, United States Senator Bernie Sanders, and the SEIU. This attack is absurd. I am a small business owner trying to raise a family during these complicated times, as well as a humble member

Rhode Island News: Representative Joe Almeida: The latest Gaspee Project attack is absurd

November 1, 2018, 2:56 pm

By Joe Almeida

Recently, the Gaspee Project has unfairly linked me to a number of Democrats. This attack falsely linked me to billionaire George Soros, United States Representative  Maxine Waters, United States Senator Bernie Sanders, and the SEIU.

This attack is absurd. I am a small business owner trying to raise a family during these complicated times, as well as a humble member of our General Assembly. A person that imagines a world where there is no poverty; where a family doesn’t have to struggle to put food on the table; a place where students don’t have to be riddled with crippling debt just to pay for school.

This is the Rhode Island I am fighting for every day. I make a decision because it makes our community a better place, not because I am being coerced by some outside force. This shockingly false attack is disappointing and hurtful.

This Trump inspired attack is fitting considering my opponent ‘Independent’ Luis Vargas is funded and supported by various Republicans in Rhode Island such as Ken Block. These are the same people that want to gut programs that help the most vulnerable people in our society while showering tax cuts on the wealthy. It is unfortunate Vargas continues to deceive the voters he hopes to represent by masquerading as an ‘Independent’ when he is a Republican insider.

This coordinated attack by the Gaspee Project tries to make my ideas appear radical, but they aren’t. I am fighting for a living wage, universal health care, efficient public services, reasonable gun restrictions, and an infrastructure designed for the 21st century. These are all issues I hope the people in Providence will see as beneficial to our amazing community in contrast to Vargas’s Trumpish, grim vision; a vision based on intolerance, arrogance, and heartlessness.

The Gaspee Project’s latest attacks are a sign of desperation. It realizes it cannot beat me by comparing my platform to my opponents’. Instead, it hopes to perversely link me to individuals I have never associated with in a vain attempt to drag me through the mud.

The Gaspee Project’s attacks will not succeed! I will not be intimidated or silenced for fighting for the people in our community.