“The U.S. Education Department has not approved any applications for student-loan forgiveness in cases of possible fraud since President Donald Trump took office, according to records sent to an Illinois senator.” More …
U.S. Conservatism Expands to Final Frontier: City Hall
“For decades, a well-funded conservative group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) , has helped state lawmakers across the U.S. write legislation to rein in unions, expand charter schools and lower taxes. Now, it’s expanding to the final frontier: normally nonpartisan city halls and county governments, which have become a bastion of liberal resistance to President Donald Trump.” More …
“We’ve got the White House on speed dial.” How Evangelicals Are Influencing Trump
“The evangelical community overwhelmingly backed the Republican in November’s election, and Trump has been quick to repay it. The president has signed an executive order on religious liberty and cut funding to overseas abortion providers. Now, it appears that the president is rewarding one of his most important support bases with a hotline to the White House and some of the most senior officials in the administration.” More …
Is the Catholic Church Turning On Trump? U.S. Bishops Slam Immigration RAISE Act Proposals as ‘Discriminatory’
“The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, Texas, criticized the RAISE Act introduced by two Republican senators on Thursday, the Catholic Herald reported. The proposed legislation—the full name of which is the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act—would cut immigration by 41 percent in its first year and by 50 percent over a 10-year-period, The Guardian reported.” More …
Are Employers Using Trump’s ICE to Intimidate Workers?
“Federal immigration agents have shown up twice at California labor dispute proceedings to apprehend undocumented workers, in what state officials believe may be cases of employer retaliation. The Labor Commissioner’s Office, the state’s labor enforcement arm, said that since November U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up at locations in Van Nuys and Santa Ana looking for workers who had brought claims against their employers.” More …
Look Past the “Small Business” Rhetoric to See Trump’s Actual Policies
“No matter how much the President and congressional Republicans invoke small businesses and typical workers in their sales pitch for their tax plans, their actual tax and budget policies would do little to help such businesses and workers — and could even hurt them.” More …
Australia’s Prime Minister Slowly Realizes Trump Is a Complete Idiot
“The transcript of Donald Trump’s discussion with Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull obtained by the Washington Post reveals many things, but the most significant may be that Trump in his private negotiations is every bit as mentally limited as he appears to be in public.” More …
There’s a Health Care Lesson for Republicans in the Shooting of Steve Scalise
“The GOP is attempting to expose millions of Americans to the kind of financial ruin that Steve Scalise has avoided—for now.” More …
The GOP Healthcare Bill Is So Bad That Senate Republicans Won’t Make Themselves Buy It
“Senate Republicans included a provision that exempts members of Congress and their staff from part of their latest health care plan. This exemption could have the effect of ensuring that members of Congress have coverage for a wider array of benefits than other Americans who purchase their own coverage.” More …
At Its Core, the Senate Health Bill Slashes Medicaid to Finance a Tax Cut for the Rich
“The GOP’s policy push is no longer about repealing Obamacare or even really trying to make its individual insurance markets, which they repeatedly criticize as ‘failing,’ work better. Instead, they are trying to ram through a Medicaid cut and tax cut bill into law, under the guise of calling it ‘Obamacare repeal.'” More …