On Politics

The Young Democrats of Rhode Island are slapping the older Democrats in their party who run the Statehouse. In a statement, the Young Democrats take issue with the proposed state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 that won House Finance Committee approval.

While the group ``commended’’ the Assembly for adding money for the state’s school funding formula and restoring funding for developmentally disabled citizens, the Young Democrats skewered other budget priorities.

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the union representing Providence teachers to control  health insurance premiums paid by retired city teachers.

In an opinion authored by Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg, the court upheld a Superior Court decision that ruled that the union’s contract with the Providence School Board allowed the board to charge retired teachers more for health care premiums than active teachers.

It appears that New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a billionaire media mogul, has switched his affinity from Gov. Lincoln Chafee to RI General Treasurer Gina Raimondo in the 2014 Ocean State campaign for governor.

Moody's Investors Service isn't taking lightly debate about whether to pay back bonds issued to fund the state's investment in 38 Studios. The agency has downgraded the 38 Studios' bonds and warned Rhode Island of other possible action:

There’s an old chestnut in banking: If you owe the bank $10,000, the bank owns you. If you owe the bank $100 million, you own the bank.

That’s pretty much what has happened in Rhode Island state government’s quest to regulate the state-sponsored gambling emporiums at Newport Grand and at Twin River (aka Twin Rivahs in Vo Dilundese) in Lincoln.

Voters will still have to show identification to vote in Rhode Island -- but not a photo ID -- under a compromise ticketed for passage in the House of Representatives.

Welcome back to my weekly column. You can find me on Twitter. Let's head in.

Rhode Island and the rest of New England have become foreign territory for Republicans. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay explains why.

Just about every state in New England, and especially Rhode Island, could benefit from robust two-party political competition. Our state’s  General  Assembly has 113 members. Only 11 caucus with Republicans.

The long-sought trial of James "Whitey" Bulger in US District Court in Boston offers a great example of how Twitter can carry the drama of legal action to a far bigger audience. Tweets from a bevy of top crime reporters, including WPRI-TV's Tim White, have offered a minute-by-minute account of the scene as the former fugitive mobster faces justice.

House Minority Leader Brian Newberry believes debate over whether Rhode Island should pay back moral obligation bonds for 38 Studios explains why the House version of state budget has yet to emerge.