CIA Cables Detail Its New Deputy Director’s Role in Torture Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Executive Branch 0 Comment “Gina Haspel, President Trump’s choice for the CIA’s number two position, was more deeply involved in the torture of Abu Zubaydah than has been publicly understood, according to newly available records and accounts by participants.”
Big Pharma Quietly Enlists Leading Professors to Justify $1,000-Per-Day Drugs Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Education, Pharma 0 Comment “As it readies for battle with President Trump over drug prices, the pharmaceutical industry is deploying economists and health care experts from the nation’s top universities. In scholarly articles, blogs and conferences, they lend their prestige to the lobbying blitz, without always disclosing their corporate ties.”
Autocracy: Rules for Survival Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Executive Branch, Russia 0 Comment “I have lived in autocracies most of my life, and have spent much of my career writing about Vladimir Putin’s Russia. I have learned a few rules for surviving in an autocracy and salvaging your sanity and self-respect. It might be worth considering them now.”
Kansas Supreme Court Orders Governor to Fund Public Schools Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Education, Taxes 0 Comment “The bad news keeps piling up for Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and his radical budget-cutting experiment. The state Supreme Court ruled that the Republican governor and state legislature had—yet again—failed to adequately fund public schools by hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The court ordered lawmakers to devise a plan that would meet constitutional standards by the end of June and mandated a new formula to increase government spending on the state’s public education system.”
White House Confirms Conversation with FBI About Trump and Russia Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Executive Branch, Russia 0 Comment “Reince Priebus, FBI director James Comey and deputy director Andrew McCabe had a conversation which appears to violate justice department rules.”
DHS Report Disputes Threat from Travel Ban Nations Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Executive Branch, Muslim Ban, Terrorism 0 Comment “Analysts at the Homeland Security Department’s intelligence arm found insufficient evidence that citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries included in President Donald Trump’s travel ban pose a terror threat to the United States.”
Why Kansas’ Fiscal Implosion Is Bad News for Trump Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Taxes 0 Comment “An ambitious effort by a Republican governor to drastically cut Kansas taxes is crumbling—and that’s a bad omen for Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress who are hoping to slash tax rates at the national level.”
The Trump Administration’s Not-So-Benign Neglect Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Executive Branch 0 Comment “While we’re watching the scandals du jour, the president and his top advisers are dismantling the federal government.”
Will the Trump Era Finally Kill Paul Ryan’s Wonkish Cred? Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Healthcare, Legislature 0 Comment “Ryan’s reputation has always been a complete fraud. He has consistently offered extreme versions of well-worn Republican proposals to take from the poor and give to the very wealthy. He has not even defended these proposals honestly. And nowhere is the gap between myth and reality more evident than when Ryan tries to defend the GOP’s position on health care.”
Trump’s Health-Care Nightmare Is Only Just Beginning, February 2017 Posted by Editor on March 5, 2017 in Healthcare 0 Comment “The cause of repeal has been dying a slow and painful death.”