House Speaker Paul Ryan says he’s not leaving Congress soon
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meets with reporters to answer questions on the tax bill and sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017.
Category Archives: US Politics
What Are The Two Health Bills Sen. Susan Collins Wants Congress To Act On?
Maine Sen. Susan Collins voted for the Senate GOP tax plan despite its repeal of the individual mandate because GOP leadership promised her a vote on her reinsurance bill, and a vote on legislation to restore some payments to insurers.
Farenthold to retire from House amid harassment accusations
Texas Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold won't seek re-election next year, two Republicans said Thursday, adding his name to the list of lawmakers leaving Congress amid sexual harassment allegations that have cost powerful men their jobs in politics, the arts and other businesses. The accusations against Farenthold first surfaced in 2014, when a former aide sued him over sexually suggestive comments and behavior and said she'd been fired after she complained.
Bank of America Names Maria Zuber to Board of Directors
Zuber, 59, currently serves as the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and the vice president for research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where she is responsible for research administration and policy. She chairs the National Science Board, having been appointed as a member by President Barack Obama in 2013.
Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Support ‘Zero Tolerance’ On Sexual Harassment
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and his wife Franni Bryson arrive at the U.S. Capitol Building on December 7, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Franken announced that he will be resigning in the coming weeks after being accused by several women of sexual harassment. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and his wife Franni Bryson arrive at the U.S. Capitol Building on December 7, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Franken announced that he will be resigning in the coming weeks after being accused by several women of sexual harassment.
Rubio’s demand to expand child tax credit threatens GOP’s slim margin on tax bill
The Republicans' razor-thin margin for driving their sweeping tax package through the Senate was thrown into jeopardy Thursday when GOP Sen. Marco Rubio declared he will vote against it unless negotiators expand the tax credit that low-income Americans can claim for their children. Rubio's potential defection complicates Republican leaders' goal of muscling the $1.5 trillion bill through Congress next week, handing President Donald Trump his first major legislative victory by Christmas.
Actually, Barbara Comstock Has Taken the Lead on Combatting Sexual Harassment
Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post took time recently to accuse Republicans, specifically Representative Barbara Comstock of Virginia and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina of sounding "altogether too complacent, too passive and too resigned" to Roy Moore's failed U.S. Senate candidacy. Moore, of course, spent the last several weeks giving conflicting answers in response to accusations that he is a child molester.
As sexual misconduct complaints loom, state Senate leader urges fellow Democrat step aside
California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, at podium, speaks to reporters during a news conference in his office at the state Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. De Leon ramped up pressure on his fellow Democrat, Sen. Tony Mendoza of Artesia, to take a leave of absence until an investigation of his alleged sexual misconduct ends.
Pelosi: Lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct should resign
The top House Democrat says a Nevada lawmaker should resign after a second woman accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi first said Rep. Ruben Kihuen should resign on Dec. 2, one day after a former staffer said Kihuen sexually harassed her during his congressional campaign in 2016.
Franken sacrifice a tactical move
The Minnesota Democrat's remarks on Thursday marked the culmination of exactly three weeks during which eight women -- half of them anonymous -- alleged sexual misconduct by the former "Saturday Night Live" star.
King: Bannon looks like ‘disheveled drunk’
Rep. Peter King, R-NY, is frustrated with the former Trump adviser, saying he looks like a 'disheveled drunk that wondered onto the political stage.' (Source: CNN)
Schumer pursuing legal options over fake harassment document
Sen. Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that he is "pursuing every legal path" against whoever circulated a forged document accusing him of sexual harassment. The media outlet Axios said it had contacted the former Schumer staffer, who said the charges were untrue and her signature had been forged.
Support from Conservative Freedom Caucus boosts tax bill
Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus said Thursday they support a sweeping tax package speeding toward votes in Congress next week, giving GOP leaders a boost from a key faction as they work to deliver a major legislative victory to President Donald Trump. "I think it's going to pass.
Joe Biden consoles daughter of cancer-stricken US senator John McCain
Former US vice-president Joe Biden has consoled the daughter of Republican senator John McCain after she began crying while discussing her father's battle with brain cancer on the chat show The View. Meghan McCain, a panellist on the program, told Mr Biden she hadn't been able to finish reading his new memoir, which centres on the 2015 death of his son Beau Biden from an aggressive tumour called glioblastoma - doctors diagnosed Senator McCain with the same type of tumour in July .
GOP Tax Plan Keeps Green Energy, Electric Car Subsidies
The House and Senate agreed Thursday to scrap a proposal eliminating a large tax credit the electric vehicle market and other green energy companies rely on to keep the fledgling industry afloat. Lawmakers spared a $7,500 electric-vehicle tax credit and a wind production tax credit that Republicans nixed to balance out the hefty tax bill, according to a Bloomberg report Thursday.
Reaction continues after Doug Jones’ victory in AL’s Senate race
Tuesday, Doug Jones became the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama since Richard Shelby in 1992. Jones defeated his Republican opponent, Roy Moore, in Alabama's special Senate election.
Our Opinion: The right path
If you take out a loan to buy a car that turns out to be a lemon, do you stop making payments to the bank? Some do, deciding their vehicles were such bad deals that letting the lender repossess them may be the best way out of a bad situation. About 95,000 people who took out student loans to attend for-profit institutions of higher learning are asking that the federal government forgive their debts because the schools defrauded them.
Sheriff: Facebook post led search for lawmaker
A Republican state legislator in Kentucky facing sexual assault allegations has died in an apparent suicide.
Today’s stories
The French interior ministry says a school bus and a regional train have collided in southern France, killing four children and critically injuring seven other people on the bus, the French interior ministry said 21st Century Fox says it will continue to pursue its 11.7 billion takeover offer for Sky, even though Disney is buying a large part of the company owned by Rupert Murdoch's family The developer that wanted to build three new skyscrapers, one 80 stories tall, off the downtown lakefront has been told no by the neighborhood alderman.
Absurd
Congress seldom admits to making mistakes, unless lawmakers learn they can squeeze a few extra dollars out of taxpayers by doing so.