Justin Katz
When Elorza was mayor, it seemed embarrassing for him to take a public event as an opportunity to confront McKee, but his recent comments about public education in Providence, which formed the basis for the confrontation, suggest his emotions were well placed and genuine: “What we have now is a system that locks in place…
While the news cycle has definitely moved on from Michaels’s explanation of how crazy California has become, it’s worth pausing for an observation. By her own admission, she is and remains progressive. She’ll play along with a child’s gender dysphoria, for example, even if she thinks puberty blockers and schools’ lying to parents is beyond…
John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the areas in which state and national Democrats are able to succeed.
A few weeks ago, Republican state representative and candidate for U.S. Senate, Patricia Morgan, came under the local media searchlight for some errors in campaign finance. I don’t see anything particularly suspicious in the findings, but the story does give me an opportunity to restate my thoughts on campaign finance law. It’s just a way…
I’ll start with two arising from Ian Donnis’s recent article about the state’s approval of the sale of two hospitals “to an Atlanta-based nonprofit with no experience in managing hospitals.” The first question arises from the description of the institutions as “cash-strapped safety-net hospitals.” Rhode Island, among all states, dove right into the centralizing forces…
Which is: Why is our system not producing the type of leaders we need? With Governor Daniel McKee, Rhode Island is getting a distilled lesson in our nation’s problem in D.C. At the same time his administration is signing a contract to pay a premium to dismantle the Washington Bridge quickly, he can’t find a…
John DePetro and Justin Katz trace the political ripples of a rapidly declining Biden.
I don’t want to make too much of it, but something seems off to me about Bill Bartholomew’s crusade against Providence businesses’ commandeering parking spaces to use for use in their valet parking service. (I assume that means they’re the spaces right in front of the businesses, allowing cars to pull in and then be…
Democrat Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi made an interesting statement in passing on a recent episode of WPRI’s Newsmakers. The spectacle of the state’s top political official instructing a journalist about how to lobby is worth noting, but this is the particular comment I mean, immediately after the speaker referenced the Access to Public Records Act…
The explanation is worth a read in full: Maybe you’re not convinced. Perhaps you’re inclined to agree with former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who tweeted in May, “Hamas has nothing in common at all with liberal or progressive values.” If you think he has a point, look more closely at those protesting in…