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R.I. hospitals should coordinate, not split themselves apart

Once the hard feelings of the recent failed hospital merger abate, we need to get back to work improving health-care delivery in Rhode Island. Competition works in much of the economy, but not so well in health care; not when you’re brought to the emergency room unconscious; not for complicated illnesses; not for people managing […]

The Supreme Court has become just another arm of the GOP

Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat, represents Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate. Politics is a team sport. We battle, and our courts are supposed to referee our disputes. But what if one team spent years and millions of dollars to capture the referees, so the refs could declare that team the winner whenever they fell short […]

On Kavanaugh and the FBI, time to investigate the investigation: Sen. Whitehouse

When I was a U.S. attorney, I worked closely with the FBI. When the FBI investigators were looking at something, what they wanted was information. The FBI is a machine for the acquisition and retention of information on cases. When the FBI began repelling and deflecting information in its investigation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged history of sexual misconduct last year, that was […]

‘Knick’-Picking: Why a Recent SCOTUS Ruling Signals a New Day

For years, back to when I argued the U.S. Supreme Court case Palazzolo v. Rhode Island as Rhode Island’s attorney general, big-money developers and regulated industries and the lawyer groups that front for them have been trying to turn the Constitution’s takings clause into a weapon against the government. The court’s decision in Knick v. Township of Scott just […]

Saving the oceans — one place where Congress can agree

Human beings have not always been good stewards of our oceans. We have overexploited their natural gifts, polluted their waves with garbage, acidified them with carbon dioxide, and threatened their shores with offshore drilling. Thankfully, there is bipartisan support in Washington to take action. We come from different regions, backgrounds, and political parties. Yet we […]

The Real Reason John Roberts Just Offered a Low-Stakes Win to Workers

You’d be forgiven if, like me, you did a double-take when the Supreme Court handed down an exceedingly rare victory for workers over corporate interests this month. In an 8–0 ruling (Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate), the court affirmed a lower-court decision holding that independent contractors who work in transportation may not be forced into mandatory […]

Why I am supporting the Medicare for All Act

Our health care system has come a long way under the Affordable Care Act. Rhode Island’s health insurance exchange is a national model and our uninsured rate is among the lowest in the country. Nonetheless, many Rhode Island families and small business owners spend far too much on health care. This challenge isn’t unique to […]

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