Leading Senate candidate in Ohio GOP primary mum on Moore

By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Republican U.S. Senate primary in Ohio that's barely registered with the public suddenly has a dividing line: Roy Moore. Josh Mandel, the 40-year-old state treasurer considered the front runner, declined to state a position on whether Moore should quit the Alabama Senate race if allegations of sexual misconduct with minors prove true.

Repeal and replace the tax code

Wouldn't it be nice to have a tax code that looked as though it had been designed on purpose? Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., uses charts to contest the Republican version of tax reform, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. Washington a The Republicans' tax bill would somewhat improve the existing revenue system that once caused Mitch Daniels to say: Wouldn't it be nice to have a tax code that looked as though it had been designed on purpose? Today's bill, which is 429 pages and is apt to grow, is an implausible instrument of simplification.

As harassment allegations surface at State Capitol, a culture is challenged

Just after taking office as a 25-year-old state representative in 2011, Carly Melin recalls running into a married state senator in the lobby of a St. Paul apartment building. He looked her up and down with "elevator eyes," Melin said, and made a sexually suggestive comment in the presence of another male lawmaker.

Editorial: A tax increase conservatives love

When Kansas families purchase groceries, they're paying a higher sales tax than anyone else in the country. According to the Tax Foundation, Kansas is one of seven states that taxes groceries at the same rate as other purchases - a particularly hefty burden considering our overall sales tax rate of 6.5 percent.

Bannon to speak in SC alongside GOP gubernatorial challenger

Steve Bannon, set to give a speech in Charleston, South Carolina, Friday night, will be introduced by a South Carolina GOP gubernatorial hopeful running against the Republican incumbent. Catherine Templeton is running to replace incumbent GOP Gov. Henry McMaster, whom Trump has endorsed and who will also be attending Friday's event, where Bannon will be honored with the Nathan Hale Patriot Award from the Citadel Republican Society.

Californians strongly oppose Trump – and 53% say state’s…

A year after his election, President Trump remains wildly unpopular in California, and the state's voters are split over whether members of Congress should work with him when possible, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll has found. The percentage of voters seeking cooperation overall - 47% - dropped somewhat when it came to Trump's immigration policies, which the state's Democratic officeholders have fought with legislation and lawsuits.

Senate Republicans unveil their own tax plan

Senate Republicans released their own version of a tax plan Thursday, and it varies just enough from the House's bill to set the two chambers up for a dramatic showdown over tax policy in upcoming weeks. The Senate tax bill includes more individual tax brackets than the House bill as well as fully repeals the state and local tax deduction, which has become a must-save item for moderate Republicans in the House.

Public Cynicism Enables Costly Political Hypocrisy

The political hypocrisy of crony capitalism - touting market capitalism while making taxpayers fund corporate welfare - is a rare and unfortunate case of bipartisan consensus. Republicans openly embrace it, but many Democrats also fall prey to government-guaranteed corporate capitalism when they believe it to be politically expedient.

GOP leaders bolt from Senate candidate Moore after sex claim

A month before Alabama's special election, Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore abruptly faced allegations Thursday of sexual misconduct with minors decades ago - and an immediate backlash from party leaders who demanded he quit the race if the accusations prove true. The instant fallout followed a Washington Post report in which an Alabama woman said that Moore, then a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Three other women interviewed by the Post said Moore, now 70, also approached them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18 and he was in his early 30s.

GOP sees political fortunes rise and fall with tax cuts

In this Nov. 8, 2017, photo, from left, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., speak informally on tax reform and the elections with reporters in the Senate Press Gallery at the Capitol in Washington. It's an article of faith among Republicans that the GOP's electoral fortunes next year hinge on whether they succeed in their longstanding dream to redraft the nation's complex, inefficient tax code.