Lessons from the African American Vote in Alabama

Dr. John E. Warren says that African Americans should be focused on "voter registration" and not candidate endorsements at this stage of the game. The African Americans who have convinced themselves that one vote doesn't matter, should take a very close look at what happened during the recent special election in Alabama.

Marc Thiessen: Trump should make vulnerable Democrats who opposed…

President Trump raised eyebrows when he invited Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to fly with him aboard Air Force One for a tax-reform rally in her home state of North Dakota earlier this year. For a vulnerable Democrat running for reelection in a deep-red state that Trump won by 36 points, appearing with the president was a political gift.

Cheers! Cider, Craft Beer Makers Get Trump Tax Cut in New Year

Makers of craft beer, artisanal spirits, hard cider and mead may lift their glasses a bit higher next year as the result of a little noticed provision in the sweeping tax overhaul the U.S. Congress passed this week. Tucked away in Part IX, sections 13801 through 13808, are sharply lowered excise taxes on a liquor cabinet full of alcoholic beverages made by small producers.

RBS to pay $125 million to settle California mortgage bond claims

The settlement announced on Friday by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was the latest by RBS aimed at resolving claims stemming from its sale of mortgage-backed securities, which were at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis. Becerra's office said those securities were typically backed by thousands of mortgage loans of varying quality in which the buyer relied on the assurance that those mortgages were carefully screened and were not overly risky.

This day in history, Dec. 23, 2017

On Dec. 23, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson, on his way home from a visit to Australia and Southeast Asia, held an unprecedented meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican; during the two-hour conference, Johnson asked the pope for help in bringing a peaceful end to the Vietnam War. In 1788, Maryland passed an act to cede an area "not exceeding ten miles square" for the seat of the national government; about two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.

Year in Review: The Return of Sheila Oliver

After a tumultuous period as Assembly speaker from 2010 to 2014, Sheila Oliver fell prey to the same New Jersey Democratic bosses who had orchestrated her rise. She was seen as too independent-minded and not enough of a team player during a heady time when Democrats were busy cutting all kinds of deals with Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Time for Trump’s ‘America First’ makeover of NPR, PBS

At the close of 2017, no less than seven prominent male hosts and editors of influential government-sponsored radio and television shows are out of work amid claims of sexual harassment. According to their accusers, the alleged Malevolent Seven are powerful pervs and creeps who've been running wild at NPR and PBS for decades, sponsored and subsidized by taxpayers and corporate donors.

Tran’s GOP win douses Democrats’ firepower

The recent election of Republican Dean Tran of Fitchburg to the Massachusetts state Senate was an embarrassing rebuke to the state's top Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Despite their opposition, Tran defeated Democrat Susan Chalifoux Zephir, a Leominster city councilor who had the support of the state's Democrat Party hierarchy, as well as Charlene DiCalogero of Berlin an unenrolled candidate Claire Freda.

LA Shelter System Animals Get Christmas Treat

Los Angeles shelter system animals got Christmas treats early last week with the help of some volunteers as part of the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation third annual Hope for the Holidays shelter feeding, People magazine reported . More than 1,000 dogs and cats in the L.A. Animal Services Shelter system received the freshly cooked meal of organic rice, beef and peas, turkey and lentils, and turkey and peas from Dec. 12-17, People noted.

Al Franken’s Final Speech on Senate Floor Addresses ‘War for Truth’

Al Franken said in his final floor speech in the U.S. Senate that "it feels like we are losing the war for truth" and took parting shots at President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, according to The Hill newspaper . Franken, the junior senator from Minnesota, resigned from Congress after numerous women accused him of forcibly kissing or groping them, The Hill said.

Train video: Crew not distracted by electronic devices before crash

Video from the cab of the Amtrak train that hurtled off the tracks in Washington, killing three people and injuring dozens, shows that the engineer did not appear to be using a cellphone or any other personal electronic device just before the derailment, federal investigators said Friday. The video and audio captured from a camera facing inside the cab also revealed that the engineer was heard commenting about the train's speed just before the train crashed while traveling more than double the posted 30 mph speed limit.

Hill pushes spy bill renewal to January, but a bitter debate still looms

Congress voted Thursday to give itself an extra three weeks to settle bitter differences over how to reauthorize one of the government's most prized foreign intelligence-gathering tools, but the last-minute move has done little to reconcile competing concerns about the need to maintain powerful spy capabilities and Americans' right to privacy. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are united over how to limit the authority to conduct foreign surveillance on U.S. soil, particularly when it comes to the question of when law enforcement officials can scour the collected surveillance for information about Americans.

Pelosi urges Ryan not to let House Russia probe shut down

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter Thursday to House Speaker Paul Ryan urging him not to allow the House Russia investigation to be shut down. Pelosi's letter says Democrats are "deeply concerned by the Majority's efforts to curtail the House Intelligence Committee investigation and its overall failure to address Russia's meddling in the 2016 election."

Ben Shapiro: Ill-Assimilated Muslims Are Contributing to the Rise of Anti-Semitism in Europe

As Ben Shapiro filled in for "The Glenn Beck Radio Program" on Friday, he raised a critical issue facing Jews in Europe that surprisingly made headlines in the left-leaning, mainstream media. The article Ben referenced on the program, " Anti-semitism is still alive in Germany as Jews face 'disturbing' discrimination ," delved into the evidence that, due to Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow nearly 1 million Muslim refugees into Germany, anti-Semitism from ill-assimilated Muslims is now contributing to disturbingly high rates of discrimination against Jews in Europe.

The Latest: Pelosi asks Ryan to extend Russia investigation

In this June 7, 2017, file photo, FBI acting director Andrew McCabe listens during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans and Democrats are scrambling in the final days of 2017 to establish an enduring narrative on multiple Russia investigations and the integrity of the investigators.