Let’s Shine a Light on Big Money in Politics
The American people are making it clear that they’re fed up with a system that gives special treatment to special interests while middle-class families suffer. Everywhere they look, it’s the same story: a tax system that allows multimillion-dollar earners to pay a lower tax rate than a truck driver or janitor; a banking system that […]
Closing the Doughnut Hole Provides Relief to Rhode Island Seniors
In this tough economy, with seniors hit particularly hard, I’m thankful that a boost to Social Security income starts in January. I’m also thankful that last year’s health care reform law is providing some relief from the cost of prescription drugs, which continues to place a heavy burden on many retired Rhode Islanders. As I […]
Let’s have a straight deal for R.I. consumers of credit
With the holiday shopping season upon us, Rhode Islanders deserve to know that they are getting a straight deal from their credit-card company — that they will be able to buy that special gift for a child or loved one without being slammed by unfair interest rates. Unfortunately, right now, too many of the big […]
A plan to help R.I. businesses add jobs
With unemployment still near 11 percent in Rhode Island, job creation remains my number one priority in the U.S. Senate. I know too many families in our state are hurting. I’ve heard from so many Rhode Islanders about how this tough economy has affected them: families struggling to keep their homes, unemployed workers struggling to […]
Congress must keep promises to seniors
Since the start of the recession, seniors in Rhode Island have struggled to keep up with rising costs at the pharmacy, grocery store and gas pump. Making matters worse, they haven’t seen an increase in Social Security payments since 2009 — the longest such lack in decades. Seniors all over the state have told me […]
Cybersecurity needs complete plan
The Internet has nurtured a remarkable amount of innovation, commerce, freedom of expression and economic connectivity. But these great benefits are accompanied by an ever-growing number of serious cybersecurity threats. Cybercrime has put our country on the losing end of what could be the largest illicit transfer of wealth in world history. Whatever its form […]
Keeping Rhode Island Families in Their Homes
This has been a hard winter for many Rhode Island families: heavy snow and freezing temperatures; the lingering effects of the recession in double digit unemployment and budget shortfalls; and perhaps most cruelly in these winter months, foreclosures which cost many families their homes and blight surrounding neighborhoods. Nearly more than one in twelve Rhode […]
Seeking a fair deal for R.I. manufacturers
From the Old Slater Mill, in Pawtucket, to modern submarine production, at Quonset Point, the manufacturing sector has always been central to Rhode Island’s economy. Simply put, in the Ocean State, a strong manufacturing sector means a strong economy. Now, as we face our 21st month of double-digit unemployment, we must do more to revitalize […]
A plan to mend filibuster, not end it
Many Americans remember Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” standing at his desk on the Senate floor, mounting a filibuster — reading from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bible. “Democracy’s finest show,” Frank Capra has one character say, “the right to talk your head off … the American privilege of […]
Judicial activism
Once again, the first Monday in October has brought another term at the U.S. Supreme Court. And once again, the Court has taken up questions of constitutional and statutory law that deeply affect the lives of all Americans. As the new term proceeds, it’s a useful time to consider “judicial activism,” and what this charge […]
