A Minute with Wil

Taxation is a powerful tool. Over the past 50 years, U.S. federal and state tax policies have redistributed $79 trillion from workers to the richest 1%.That’s $79 trillion of our money being taken from us and given to people who have more than enough.Rhode Island’s regressive tax system is an example of how it works. In our state, the lowest 20% of earners pay 13% of their income in property, sales, and income tax, and the top 1% only pay 9%.Which means that the people making the least can never get ahead and the people making the most have more money they can invest and use to grow their wealth.During the last half century, tax cuts have also depleted federal and state budgets, taking money away from public services and infrastructure—cutting service and leaving our roads, bridges, sewers, and electrical grid to decay and crumble.At this point, so much harm has been done that there’s no easy fix and the only true remedy is to start fresh with a new tax policy that has a singular focus on reversing and repairing the damage.Music: Skating Squirrels by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

I’m a public servant, and my campaign is about service. I’m also a worker, and this is a worker’s campaign.I’m not trying to raise millions of dollars to get people to vote for me. I don’t have that kind of influence.Instead, I’m talking to you about the very real things we can do to make life in Rhode Island livable again and asking you to share those things with the people you know.Music: Skating Squirrels by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Energy prices are climbing, and even without a war to disrupt oil and gas supplies, the cost of fossil fuels is going up.With a statewide, publicly-owned, clean energy utility that uses solar, wind, microgrids, and battery storage to generate, collect, and distribute power, we can bring down energy prices, create a new source of revenue for our state, keep the power on during storms and hurricanes, and finally, get serious about fighting climate change.Music: Skating Squirrels by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

In 2025, GoLocalProv looked into Helena Foulkes' connection to the opioid crisis.They reviewed lawsuits—including a major U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit—U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, press releases, media interviews, and more.And they found that:1) While Helena was president of CVS, the company made huge profits by illegally distributing opioids, and Helena was paid tens of millions of dollars from those earnings.2) CVS took big bonuses from opioid manufacturers to keep pushing opioids.3) Her family has deep connections to the family that started the opioid crisis.Read the GoLocalProv report:INVESTIGATION: Foulkes Made Tens of Millions at CVS While She Rode Profits From Opioid EpidemicFoulkes: Purdue Pharma “Lied to Us” - Actually It Paid Big Bonuses to CVS for Keeping Pills FlowingAll in The Family: Foulkes, Her Uncle Senator Chris Dodd, the Sacklers and Purdue PharmaMusic: Skating Squirrels by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Elderly men and women are dying in office.In the last six years, nine U.S. senators and representatives age 70 and above died from cancer, heart attacks, and other natural causes before they finished their terms.It seems that some people don’t know when to quit.In Rhode Island, we have our own elderly men who aren’t quitting: 74-year-old governor Dan McKee and 76-year-old U.S. senator Jack Reed.Music: Skating Squirrels by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

A Contract with Rhode Island is a plan to reform Rhode Island government and solve some of our state’s biggest problems. So, read it. Show it to your friends, family, and neighbors. Ask them to show it to their family and neighbors. And when enough of us see and understand what is possible, we can be the movement that changes our state.Read A Contract with Rhode IslandMusic: Skating Squirrels by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com