Art of the parse: Politicians finely split rhetorical hairs

In this March 2, 2017, photo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. Everyone splits rhetorical hairs from time to time, but politicians are especially adept at trying to dance their way out of a bind with carefully crafted explanations.

New Jersey set to hand over millions in tobacco cash

Gov. Chris Christie has dedicated his final year in office to addressing the opioid epidemic, but the state’s failure to spend on smoking cessation efforts when thousands of people still die annually from tobacco-related illnesses has drawn derision from advocates and public health officials. Instead of spending millions from a landmark 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry on smoking cessation efforts, New Jersey this year will begin repaying hundreds of millions of dollars to bondholders after converting the settlement money into $90 million to fill a budget hole in 2014.