The Ocean State Policy Research Institute has taken a lot of heat since it released its “Leaving Rhode Island” report last month, not only from its ideological opponents but also ostensibly nonpartisan outlets like PolitiFact Rhode Island and The Wall Street Journal’s Wealth Report.

This morning, OSPRI put out a newsletter defending its findings, which ended thus:

We stand firmly by our “Leaving Rhode Island” study. Today, OSPRI ISSUES A CHALLENGE to have a face-to-face public debate about the significance of our findings. We also wonder if there is anyone on the left brave enough to stand by their hit job.

Good idea – and you know they’re serious about it because THEY USED ALL-CAPS. In fact, it’s such a good idea that we already hosted exactly the debate OSPRI wants.

Last month, Tim White brought OSPRI founder Bill Felkner and Rhode Island Policy Reporter editor Tom Sgouros on “Newsmakers” to debate “Leaving Rhode Island.” And the debate was so interesting – and so heated – that we actually taped an extra Web-only segment of the show so the debate could continue.

Here’s the video with part one of the debate, from the second half of the actual “Newsmakers” broadcast:

And here’s part two of the debate, which only ran online: