Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has received plenty of ink - including a New York Times editorial page endorsement - for his "Buffett Rule" bill, named after the mega-rich investor Warren Buffett.

Buffett has argued that wealthy investors like him, who face a 15-percent tax under current law, should pay at the same rate as middle-class folk - roughly 30 percent.

From Greg Sargent at the Washington Post (I've fixed a coupla typos):

Picture this scenario. The Senate holds a high-profile vote on a proposal focused directly on implementing the Buffett Rule, one that would bring the current tax rate for millionaires paying lower rates on investments up to 30 percent. This, at at exactly the moment when the GOP is picking a nominee who is worth $250 million and is personally benefitting to an enormous degree from the current rate — one that’s lower than many middle class taxpayers pay.

The US Senate last week, in a vote that scrambled the usual partisan calculus, approved a controversial detainee policy - with Rhode Island Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse on a different side than you might expect.

The policy, which both senators voted for along with 15 of their Democratic colleagues and nearly every Republican in the chamber, would require the government to place suspected Al Qaeda figures, or members of allied groups, in military detention - even if arrested on American soil.

The Obama Administration dealt environmentalists a major blow last week when it announced it was blocking an important new air pollution rule that had come under fire from Republicans and business interests.

The administration said the nation couldn't afford the rule, which would lead to significant new costs for business, in tough economic times.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's campaign reports that he raised $780,000 in the second quarter of the year, leaving him with $2.2 million in cash on hand. It's a good figure for the incumbent, who is trying mightily to build an air of invincibility.

“It’s an incredible honor to represent Rhode Islanders in the Senate and I’m humbled by the support I’ve received from every corner of our Ocean State,” said Whitehouse, in a statement.

The high-stakes budget showdown in Washington, which has the Obama Administration and Congressional leaders working to cut a major deficit-reduction deal before the federal government hits the debt ceiling, has put Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in the spotlight. And it could have real implications for Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline's long-term political prospects.

As first reported in the Phoenix, Netroots Nation - an annual conference of influential liberal bloggers - will be coming to Providence next summer.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse made it official with an announcement at this year's Netroots Nation in Minneapolis over the weekend.

This is good for Providence: a small economic infusion, some election-year atttention, bold-faced names, and a little bump for a city attempting to build a reputation as a high-tech hub.

Attorney General Eric Holder is in town today, hosted by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. And a brief press conference at the Institutue for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence in Providence was, predictably, dominated by questions about medical marijuana.

U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha delivered a letter to Governor Chafee in late April threatening to prosecute operators of the three medical marijuana dispensaries, or "compassion centers," set to open in the coming months.

Sheldon Whitehouse must be smiling. Barry Hinckley, the Republican challenging Rhode Island's junior senator, is attacking the incumbent for voting against Congressman Paul Ryan's budget, which would - in Democratic parlance - "end Medicare as we know it."

From golocalprov:

Despite his support for Medicare and Social Security, Hinckley says Ryan’s proposed budget is a good starting point to getting the country back on firm financial footing.

A spokesman for David Cicilline says the freshman Congressman raised approximately $125,000 in the first quarter, and should finish with about $75,000 on hand.

The figure will, inevitably, be compared to the eye-popping $1 million-plus Senator Sheldon Whitehouse says he raised in the same period. And you can bet the gap will weigh heavily on the minds of figures like Brendan Doherty, who may be weighing a challenge against one of the two.

PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking enterprise that began at the St. Petersburg Times and has been franchised out to a number of news organizations across the country, has long been a target of conservatives who allege a liberal bias.

Little surprise, then, that the relatively new local version - operated by the Providence Journal - is facing a similar critique from local conservatives.

A new poll from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling has 50 percent of Rhode Islanders favoring same-sex marriage and 41 percent opposed. It's a good number for advocates. And the long-term picture is even better.

Young people overwhelmingly support gay marriage, according to the poll: 62 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are in favor and just 31 percent opposed.

The alleged $10 million kickback scandal involving a Rhode Island-based Navy official and defense contractor Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow (ASFT) has focused attention on campaign contributions offered up by ASFT to members of the Rhode Island Congressional delegation.

There is nothing to suggest anything untoward by members of the delegation.

Senator Jack Reed, who serves on the Appropriations Committee, is in line to become Rhode Island's first chairman of a Senate appropriations subcommitee since John Pastore. He's expected to head up the Interior, Environment, and related Agencies Subcommittee, with budget-writing power over the Environmental Protection Agency, national parks, and National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities.

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, two years away from his re-election battle, has engaged in a deliberate effort, of late, to signal his concern for the state's economic woes - an important effort for a senator whose high-profile battles, on torture and the like, aren't directly connected to his constituents' troubles.