Commentary Deborah Fisher, Tennessee Lookout If the video footage from the Tyre Nichols beating in Memphis tells us anything, it’s that we need to keep protecting the tools that allow public accountability for corruption. Two bills in the Legislature last year sought to reduce a citizen’s ability to view body …
Read More »Biden Administration Proposes New Rules to Expand Access to Birth Control Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Departments of Labor and the Treasury (Departments) proposed a rule to strengthen access to birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under the ACA, most plans are required to offer coverage of birth control with …
Read More »House Oversight Chair’s Agenda: Hunter Biden, COVID Origins, Classified Documents
Ashley Murray, Georgia Recorder House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer on Monday previewed his priorities for this Congress, which he says will include a heavy focus on the handling of classified documents, the origins of the COVID-19 virus, and what he described as possible “influence peddling” by Hunter …
Read More »President Biden To End COVID-19 Public Health Emergency In May
The two national emergency declarations dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic will end in May, President Joe Biden said Monday. The Biden administration will end both the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency on May 11, the White House informed Congress on Monday night. Doing so will have many effects, …
Read More »Florida GOP, Sheriffs, Pursue Permitless Carrying Of Firearms; Dems Call It Reckless, Dangerous
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Legislative Republicans have taken the first step toward allowing any adult Floridian without a criminal record to carry concealed weapons free of any need to take gun-safety classes or register with the state. They wouldn’t be allowed to openly pack handguns, as in the Wild West. …
Read More »National Dems Ready To OK New 2024 Primary Voting Calendar, Despite Uncertainty In Two States
Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder The full Democratic National Committee is set to vote in just days about a decision to ratify a new lineup of five states that would lead the nation in primary voting for Democratic presidential candidates in 2024. But approval of the new calendar at a meeting …
Read More »GOP Leaders in Some States Want to Add Abortion Ban Exceptions
With Tennessee’s so-called trigger law already on the books, the state enacted its abortion ban almost immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June. Yet even as anti-abortion legislators and advocates celebrated, they considered how much further they could go — perhaps by barring Tennesseans …
Read More »Investigation Reveals Top George Santos Donors ‘Don’t Seem to Exist’
Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams A pair of Mother Jones journalists revealed late Friday that more than a dozen people identified as top donors to GOP Congressman George Santos’ campaign who collectively account for over tens of thousands of dollars raised from individual donors in 2020 “don’t seem to exist.” That …
Read More »Record-Breaking Egg Profits Prompt Accusation Of Price Gouging
Claire Carlson, The Daily Yonder A farmer-advocacy organization says record-breaking increases in the price of eggs isn’t being caused by inflation or avian flu, as claimed by egg companies, but by price collusion among the nation’s top egg producers. In a letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last …
Read More »House Republicans Pass Bill Opening More Public Land To Development If Reserve Oil Is Tapped
Jacob Fischler, Idaho Capital Sun U.S. House Republicans passed a bill Friday to force the White House to make more federal land and waters available for oil and gas development if the president orders the withdrawal of more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The bill, passed 221-205, mostly along …
Read More »Protests Erupt Across US After Memphis Releases Video of Ex-Cops Beating Tyre Nichols
People took to the streets across the United States Friday night after the city of Memphis, Tennessee released videos of a January 7 traffic stop that led to five police officers being fired and charged with the murder of 29-year-old Black motorist Tyre Nichols. The Memphis-based Commercial Appeal reported that …
Read More »Man Who Assaulted Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick Sentenced To 80 Months In Prison
A man who joined supporters of former President Donald Trump in attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6. 2021 was sentenced Friday to 80 months in prison for using pepper spray to assault police officers, one of whom died a day after the siege. Julian Khater didn’t mention the death …
Read More »White House Launches New Push To Help States Remove Lead Pipes That Carry Drinking Water
Ashley Murray, Wisconsin Examiner The White House on Friday announced plans to speed up the use of infrastructure law funds to replace lead pipes in underserved communities, with a focus on Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin beginning this year. The four states, each led by Democratic governors, will be …
Read More »Democrats in Congress Condemn Biden Administration Expansion of Title 42
Ariana Figueroa, Georgia Recorder Nearly 80 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the White House expressing their “great concern” that the Biden administration is walking back on its promise to restore migrants’ access to asylum. In the letter, they also condemned the administration’s expansion of a controversial policy that immediately …
Read More »Rep. Adam Schiff Announces Bid For Feinstein’s US Senate Seat In California
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday announced he will run for California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s seat in 2024 — though the longtime congresswoman has not yet announced whether she will retire or seek reelection. Schiff, a prominent Democrat and former House Intelligence Committee chairman, is the latest in what is …
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