Is it plagiarism or borrowing? Democrats say Republican candidate for governor Tom Foley plagiarized his urban agenda he released on Wednesday, saying in a statement “it appears that they are plagiarized–word for word, sentence for sentence–from other sources.”
The Hartford Courant weighed in:
“Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley released an urban policy proposal Wednesday that contained wording identical to passages previously posted on Internet websites of public policy think tanks.”
“It’s not plagiarism to say that we should try it here in Connecticut,” Foley told Hearst Connecticut Media.
Foley acknowledged the Connecticut Policy Institute, a think tank he founded and bankrolled after he ran for governor in 2010 and lost, provided a blueprint for the plan.
“I founded the Connecticut Policy Institute, and I’ve said from the start that our urban policy agenda would be based on their work,” Foley said. “That’s not plagiarism. The Connecticut Policy Institute looks to work that other states have done where policy has worked.”
Foley announced his urban agenda in New Britain, declaring:
“Connecticut’s future is no better than the future of our cities and our cities are where good policy and effective government can make the most difference in people’s lives. It isn’t fair when over half of the children in our urban schools are not getting a decent education. There isn’t real opportunity when unemployment rates in our cities exceed, in some communities, 30 percent. We simply must and can do more.”
Dems claim Foley lifted his urban agenda from these sites:
www.ctpolicyinstitute.org/content/CPI_Education_Reform_White_Paper.pdf
news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2014/03/21/raft-bills-aim-make-louisiana-smart-crime
www.thepelicanpost.org/2014/03/19/how-louisiana-can-get-smart-on-crime/
More from the Courant:
In the following excerpts–from The Pelican Post’s article, and from Foley’s policy proposals–passages have been put in boldface to show similarities in wording:
–The Pelican Post: “There are a number of reasons for the dramatic growth of the state’s prison population over the past two decades, but one important factor is the rise of determinate sentencing laws. This has caused a growing number of non-violent offenders to serve long prison terms without an opportunity to be considered for parole. In many cases, these offenders serve time in prisons where the lack of training and educational options increases the likelihood that they will be released without any of the skills needed to play a productive role in society.”
–Foley’s policy proposal: “Incarceration rates have increased driven in part by the rise of stiffer sentencing guidelines. A growing number of offenders to serve long prison terms without an opportunity to be considered for parole. These offenders serve time in prisons where the lack of training and educational options increases the likelihood that they will be released without any of the skills needed to hold a job and build a crime-free future.”
–The Pelican Post: “Provisional Occupational Licenses: HB911 … allows certain ex-offenders to obtain a provisional, or probationary, occupational license if they are otherwise qualified. This bill will make it easier for qualified ex-offenders to rejoin the workforce.”
–Foley’s policy proposal: “I will promote provisional occupational licenses [that] would allow certain ex-offenders to obtain a provisional, or probationary, occupational license if they are otherwise qualified. This bill will make it easier for qualified ex-offenders to rejoin the workforce.”
From CT Mirror:
Foley’s plan also lifted sentences verbatim from a March 21, 2014 article in Heartland and a March 19, 2014 piece in the Pelican Post about crime initiatives in Louisiana. It focused on conservative states that are trying to reduce their incarceration rates.
Please listen (click on link below) to what this man said. I’ve pretty much heard countless of Connecticut/Bridgeport residents say exactly the same thing. Is this plagiarism or just borrowing (not the kind of borrowing–$750,000,000–Malloy did to cover the deficit)?
www .tomfoleyct.com/talking-tom/
If you cite your source, it is not plagiarism. In the CT Post article he identifies the sources of his position. He (his people) should be more careful to cite the sources up front, knowing the Democrats are watching him closely to discredit him.
I think if you cite your source after you are accused of plagiarism it is considered too little too late.
And what can we expect as governor? Some bold new initiatives or will we have to wait until we figure out what other states are doing (even if the problems are different) before deciding what we should do.
Looks like a solid, well-thought-out plan to me, no wonder the opposition is attacking the authorship and not the actual plan.
It looks like a solid, well-thought-out plan. Too bad it’s not Foley’s. It’s other people’s ideas pieced together like a poorly constructed jigsaw puzzle whose pieces don’t fit well and whose picture is distorted and incomprehensible.
Once again lacking details, lacking funding details based on hope; hoping people don’t see through it ’til after the elections.
The ghost of Machiavelli thinks those who choose Bob Walsh as their campaign manager have made a poor choice.
Local Eyes, have you heard the plan from the candidate whose campaign Bob Walsh is treasuring? Could it be they have taken what is theirs and not sharing with others? Did Musto come out to publicly support the winner of the Democratic primary? Maybe Bob Walsh should spend more time reaching out to Musto for his public support. I mean, didn’t Musto support all the great thing Dan Molloy wanted to do?
Who cares if it is or not? The guy wants a cap on auto tax! Go and get elected.
charlie,
If you remember, Malloy wanted to eliminate the car tax and finance it by giving less money to the cities. It was a lose-lose situation. And if as Foley is saying he will cap it and reimburse the cities for lost revenue, he can say that but until he is going to say how much money it represents and where is that money coming from, it’s all BS.
Talk is cheap. Where is the beef!
Make sure you DON’T approve any payments for any Moore campaign literature that do not contain specifics, “lacking details, lacking funding details.” I will be keeping my local eyes open for the Moore literature and base my decision using the logic and standards you suggest voters apply before making their decision.
Marilyn has been very consistent with where does the money come from. Let’s stop the corporate welfare. No million-dollar grants to billion-dollar hedge funds.
Don’t let the largest corporations in America cheat their workers out of decent benefits by handing out forms to apply for state assistance in medical coverage.
For someone so knowledgeable, you seem to have missed some of the handwriting on the wall.
What Bob Walsh calls “handwriting on the wall,” I call spray-painted graffiti.
Maybe part of Foley’s Folly on Urban Planning based on what has happened in Louisiana will be to remodel Bridgeport and make it a new New Orleans. Why not? Sounds good. No basis in fact. No means to finance. But we know city people are stupid and will believe anything Foley says.
Who really gives a rat’s ass (aside from the bloggers)?
Maybe where he gets his words doesn’t matter.