Bob Kerr sends Sen. Stephen Alves his condolences for Mr. Alves’s recent loss in the Democratic primary to Michael Pinga (“The many ways of saying it’s over,” Sept. 29). Hopefully, Mr. Kerr will be able to pen many more such columns after Election Day this November.

Mr. Alves was part of the Democratic majority in the General Assembly that has ruled Rhode Island since 1935. And what do we have to show for this one-party dominance the past 70 years?

The state’s taxes — both personal and business — are so high that Rhode Islanders who can afford to move are leaving in droves, and new businesses are reluctant to locate here. College graduates are forced to move out of state to find decent-paying jobs. Per-capita spending on welfare, firefighting services and elementary/secondary education is among the highest in America. Spending on higher education and recreation and parks is low, and the condition of the state’s roads and bridges ranks dead last. Rhode Island’s unemployment rate is second only to Michigan’s. The state budget is structurally unsound with recurring deficits. The state’s three biggest pension plans, for teachers, state and municipal workers (police, firefighters and other city employees), are $5 billion under-funded.

The media, public-employee union bosses and Democratic Party love to blame Governor Carcieri (and now Wall Street) for Rhode Island’s dismal economic situation. But the governor really has little impact on Rhode Island’s economy. It is the General Assembly that controls state spending and taxation. It is the General Assembly that enacts pro-labor laws at the behest of the union bosses and at the expense of the taxpayer.

Not all Democrats in the General Assembly are to blame for the state’s malaise. Ask your state representative and senator what he or she has done for you, the taxpayer. Check the bills he or she has sponsored on the http://www.rhodeislandvotes.org or http://www.rilin.state.ri.us Web sites and vote accordingly.

If every eligible voter took the time to check what his or her representatives are doing at the State House, we could turn this state around in one day: Nov. 4.

ROBERT A. BENSON Jr.

Saunderstown