Missile defense and political unification

These days it is hard to keep track of who is fighting against whom in Washington, D.C. President Trump is taking jabs at the press, Congressional Republicans are fighting Congressional Democrats as well as Steve Bannon and insurgent GOP primary challengers, President Trump is fighting against everyone all the time, including the former GOP candidate for president and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. John McCain. While much of the "inside-the-beltway" fighting is simply background noise, the level of animosity between some Republican senators such as Sens. McCain and Flake and the president, has risen to a very worrisome level.

Conference addresses U.S. role in creating, solving current worldwide refugee crisis

Former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones, left, and Steven Feldstein, Frank and Bethine Church chair of public affairs at Boise State University and a former deputy assistant U.S. secretary of state, were among the speakers at the 34th annual Frank Church Conference at BSU on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 in Boise. BOISE - The United States has helped create the current worldwide refugee crisis, former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Jim Jones said Monday, and it needs to step up to help solve it.

Sen. John Thune: Why the GOP-Trump Tax Plan Works

'For low-income families who won't pay income tax under our plan, up to $1,000 of this new, larger child tax credit will be refundable' The American people have had a rough time over the past few years. Fifty percent of Americans consider themselves to be living paycheck to paycheck , while almost a third of voters say they are just $400 dollars away from a financial crisis.

Trump tweets that 401(k) tax incentives – safe’ in tax plan

President Donald Trump promised Monday there will be "no change" to tax incentives for the popular 401 retirement programs. The president appeared to be responding to a recent report in The New York Times that Republican lawmakers were considering limiting the amount workers could save in 401 retirement accounts.

Trump shoots down retirement limit to pay for GOP tax cuts

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., takes the escalator down as he returns to his office after appearing on the Senate floor with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to defend their bipartisan proposal for resuming federal subsidies to health insurers that President Donald Trump has blocked, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept.

Trump tweets that 401(k) contributions ‘safe’ in tax plan

President Donald Trump promised Monday there will be "no change" to tax incentives for the popular 401 retirement programs. The president appeared to be responding to a recent report in The New York Times that Republican lawmakers were considering limiting the amount workers could save in 401 retirement accounts.

Senate presses ahead on $36.5B disaster relief package Updated at

The Senate is pushing ahead on a $36.5 billion hurricane relief package that would give Puerto Rico a much-needed infusion of cash. The measure also would replenish rapidly dwindling emergency disaster accounts and provide $16 billion to permit the financially troubled federal flood insurance program to pay an influx of Harvey-related claims.

Trump and Kelly’s recent feuds have one thing in common

Racism is the Trump administration's magic wand, a device it uses, to great effect, to dazzle its base, whose own proud bigotry dispenses with the need for suspension of disbelief. In the face of controversies and criticism, Trump race-baits not just for cynical political reasons - though that's part of it - but because he, too, is deeply racist, so much that his presidency is basically a live-action revenge fantasy against the country's first black president.

Republicans keep taking White House nominees hostage and Trump keeps caving

Together, Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa, along with Deb Fischer of Nebraska, made Trump squeal last week. Grassley threatened to "hold up EPA nominees" if EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt reduced the federally-mandated biofuels quota.

Senate presses ahead on $36.5B disaster relief package

The Senate is pushing ahead on a $36.5 billion hurricane relief package that would give Puerto Rico a much-needed infusion of cash. The measure also would replenish rapidly dwindling emergency disaster accounts and provide $16 billion to permit the financially troubled federal flood insurance program to pay an influx of Harvey-related claims.

House to vote on non-nuclear Iran sanctions this week

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next week on new sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program and on Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, senior House Republicans said, seeking to take a tough line against Iran without immediately moving to undermine the international nuclear deal. "It is Congress' responsibility to work with the executive branch on a clear-eyed strategy to stop Iran's reckless behavior," Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the number two House Republican, and Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a joint statement.

Pence honors memory of Marines killed in 1983 Beirut bombing

Vice President Mike Pence on Monday honored the memory of 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, calling the three-decade-old attack the "opening salvo" in the war against terrorism. Pence and White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster paid tribute to the service members, including 220 Marines, on the anniversary of the deadly truck bombing during President Ronald Reagan's first term.