Cicilline: Caught by Time-Lapse Photography

Providence Mayor-turned-Congressman David Cicilline did nothing to Providence that any self-serving Democrat politician hasn't done for decades all across this state. The only difference is, Cicilline got caught faster.

Manipulating accounts and ledgers to escape the ugliness and unpopularity of tax hikes and service cuts is the typical way many politicians handle their finances. This is especially true if the politician is actively seeking higher office: find the most expedient way to settle the immediate budget problem under his watch, so he can move on to bigger and better things.

In Providence's case, the state funding cuts were so large, Cicilline's compensation for those losses had to be just as dramatic. The result: he utterly robbed the next mayor of any hope of finding even a little wiggle room. Within weeks of his inauguration, Mayor Angel Taveras fired every teacher and announced tax increases to fill this year's deficit. Cicilline's fiscal choices – the ones he insists make him "so very proud" – devastated the city's solvency.

Let us also not forget that, after stalling the fire fighters union for almost eight years – his entire mayoralty – Cicilline crafted one of the worst contract benefits – compounded cost of living adjustments (COLAs) – to rid himself once and for all of the embarrassing fire fighter protests at his fundraisers. Compounded COLAs will cost citizens millions more in tax dollars over the lives of the future retired fire fighters. But that outrageous betrayal of the taxpayer will come due in the future, when Cicilline's name will long be forgotten as the architect of his self-serving political decision. Or so Cicilline thought.

Like time-lapse photography, the time and distance between bad financial decisions for political expediency and the bill coming due and payable, was weeks, not years, as Cicilline hoped. Cicilline's treachery was exposed almost immediately after Taveras took office.

Yet, Cicilline vociferously defends his actions. After all, it's not his fault the city faced $50 million in cuts to state aid. That statement may be correct, but it is how Cicilline chose to handle the problem, and the fact that he hid the enormity of the impact of the cuts, that is so despicable. It is his angry defense and justification that he "protected the taxpayers of Providence" that is so reprehensible. The gossamer protection only lasted until he jumped out of the city fire into the alleged safety of Congress. Cicilline did nothing to fix the problems, he merely indentured the city into debt to hide them.

That is the essence of Democratic politics as usual – momentary expediency with payment due in the future, creative financial reporting now to look good, with the real problem bequeathed to some future administration. That's what Cicilline expected.

Instead, there is a direct and irrefutable line drawn between Cicilline's choices and Providence's devastating deficits and unavoidable tax increases.

Cicilline is so angry because the tried and tested tradition of deception and fiscal tricks of the generations of Democratic politicians before him, didn't work for him. Yes, Cicilline got caught by time-lapse photography.