Mall Brawls Lead to Bans for Teens Under 18

An upscale suburban Cleveland shopping mall where police broke up a post-Christmas melee with pepper spray joined other shopping complexes in Ohio and the U.S. on Friday in restricting children 17 and under from entering during certain weekend hours. Beachwood Place announced new rules this week that juveniles must be accompanied by a parent or an adult 21 years or older after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Republicans Can’t Just Pretend Obamacare Never Happened

If you confine yourself to the Congressional Record, you would assume that Republicans methodically followed their game plan to dismantle Obamacare in the first week of the new session. The Senate passed the first phase of their repeal bill under a process called reconciliation, a budget procedure that requires only a simple majority in the Senate, without opportunity for filibuster.

Under pressure, Schumer wants Democrats to focus on minority hiring – by using an NFL tool

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer talks to reporters after a weekly Senate Democrats' luncheon on Capitol Hill on June 7, 2016. The new Congress is the most diverse in history, with more minority lawmakers than ever before and a record 21 women in the U.S. Senate.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey Abruptly Leaves Trump Transition

In a short announcement this afternoon, former CIA Director James Woolsey took himself off the Trump transition team, effective immediately. In a statement first reported by CNN, Woolsey's spokesman announced, "Effective immediately, Ambassador Woolsey is no longer a Senior Adviser to President-elect Trump or the transition," The statement went on to say, "He wishes the President-elect and his Administration great success in their time in office."

Trump Adviser Roger Stone: CIA Director John Brennan Is A “Saudi Mole”

Longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone claimed that CIA Director John Brennan is a "mole" for the Saudi government and suggested that he be thrown in jail. Stone is a longtime friend and ally of President-elect Trump's with a decades-long history of employing political dirty tricks, and he regularly spouts violent, racist, and sexist rhetoric.

BBD in North Carolina

Because the federal government is funding 95 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion, Cooper called on hospitals to put assessments on themselves to generate the other 5 percent because they are "by far the largest beneficiaries" of any expansion. Cooper said he plans to file by Friday an amendment to North Carolina's Medicaid plan submitted to federal regulators to allow an expansion.

Bill O’Reilly Blames ‘Reverse McCarthyism’ For Entertainers…

Judging from the needle on Bill O'Reilly's Venom-O-Meter last night, his buddy Donald Trump must be deeply smarting from his inabilit y to find any A-list celebrities to perform at his inauguration. So, O'Reilly reacted just like any right-wing bully: by blaming others and in this case, coming up with new smears for those who don't want to support the least popular president-elect in recent history.

Trump Picks Corporate Lobbyist Robert Lighthizer to Head U.S. Trade Representative’s Office

Today, Donald Trump picked corporate lawyer Robert Lighthizer to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative, responsible for the day-to-day negotiation of new trade agreements. Trump's selection of Robert Lighthizer, a corporate lawyer and Republican political operative, to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative is another example of the revolving door between corporate lobby shops on K Street and the White House staff.

CCR and DRUM File Freedom of Information Request Regarding Muslim Registry

Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights and DRUM - South Asian Organizing Center sent Freedom of Information Act requests to multiple federal agencies seeking documents related to the federal National Security Entry-Exit Registration System . NSEERS required nonimmigrants who were citizens of designated countries - 24 out of 25 of which were majority Arab or Muslim - to submit to special registration and monitoring requirements while in the U.S. Critics say the program was discriminatory and abusive, and warned that its regulatory framework could easily facilitate president-elect Trump's proposed Muslim registry.

After Public Outrage, House Republicans Suspend Efforts to Gut Ethics Office

Note: Due to enormous public backlash, U.S. House Republican leaders today walked back an overreaching amendment passed behind closed doors that would have stripped the Office of Congressional Ethics of its independence and much of its power. The OCE, an independent ethics office, was set up in 2008 in the aftermath of numerous corruption scandals.

Climate Campaigners Announce New Major Mobilization to Resist Trump

Renewing the vision of the 2014 People's Climate March in New York City, campaigners hope "to show that our movement is just as ready to fight Trump's racism and hatred as we are the fossil fuel industry that's poisoning our future." Not willing to sit idle as Donald Trump and his cabinet take office and roll out an avowedly pro-fossil fuel , anti-regulation agenda , campaigners are preparing for a multi-faceted affront to the new administration.