Day: January 6, 2017

Republicans face early stumbling blocks on Obamacare repeal

Republicans are unanimous in their desire to “repeal and replace” President Barack Obama’s signature health care law — but they are already flirting with not having the 50 votes needed to pass the bill in the Senate. Republicans have 52 seats in the Senate, meaning they can only afford to lose three members of their caucus before they cannot pass legislation without Democratic votes.

The twin tragedies of Syria and Myanmar

A heart-wrenching photograph of the lifeless body of a 16-month old boy, washed up on the shore of the Naf river, was recently published on CNN. The headline read, “‘The Rohingya Alan Kurdi’: Will the world take notice now?” The name of the boy in the picture is Mohammed Shohayet, a Rohingya refugee, who drowned along with his mother, uncle and three-year-old brother.

Obama challenges GOP to spell out Obamacare alternative

President Barack Obama challenged Republicans on Friday to spell out their plan for replacing his signature health law, insisting he’s open to new ideas, but casting doubt on what his political rivals can muster. “If it works, I’m for it,” Obama said during an interview with Vox, adding he would only support a Republican plan if it contains the protections that he included in the Affordable Care Act, such as barring insurance companies from withholding coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions.

Suspect in Idaho murder refuses extradition from New York

The Idaho Statesman reports that Bruce A. Marchant was arrested at a New York City Veterans Affairs hospital in December after Boise detectives conducted interviews in the death of Boise State University student Sierra Bush. Criminal suspects cannot be moved from one state to another without an extradition hearing unless they waive that right.

Final farewell to two Hollywood icons: Debbie Reynolds and daughter …

Now Obama’s building a wall! Workers put the finishing touches to a brick barrier around $5million DC mansion where Barack, Michelle and Sasha will live after leaving the White House Liberal heckler who accosted Ivanka Trump on a JetBlue flight hides his face from a reporter at his Brooklyn home as he’s seen for the first time since he hurled abuse at her Scientology lawyer goes on national TV to slam Leah Remini for show that led to death threats against their leader David Miscavige More Hillary Clinton emails surface – and show how anti-gay Sharia law ruler The Sultan of Brunei treated Bill ‘like part of his family’ Russian election-year cyber attacks fall-out is a ‘witch hunt’ orchestrated by Democrats, says Trump as he asks Congress to investigate leak of top-secret hacking intelligence report EXCLUSIVE: Angelina Jolie accuses Brad Pitt of ‘publicly impugning’ her character in new … (more)

Editorials from around New England

Republican congressmen made a troubling move on Monday, voting in a private meeting to severely weaken the House’s independent ethics panel one day before the new GOP-led Congress was set to get to work. Republicans sought to make the non-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics subject to oversight by the House Ethics Committee, which is run by lawmakers, the very people the Office of Congressional Ethics is meant to police.

France ‘not planning’ UNSC resolution

France is not secretly planning a UN Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a major conference in Paris this month, the president of the French Senate said Thursday. Gerard Larcher said he was not aware of any country working on a resolution to put before the Council between the January 15 meeting and the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president on January 20. Speaking to the press in Jerusalem at the end of a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Larcher said that many Israeli interlocutors had expressed fear France would try to translate the outcome of the conference into a UN resolution.

Lawmaker removes Capitol Hill art with pig in police uniform

A California lawmaker has removed a painting that showed a pig in a police uniform, one of hundreds of artworks on display at the Capitol and sponsored by a member of Congress. Joe Kasper, a spokesman for Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, says the lawmaker unscrewed the artwork from the display and returned it to the office of Missouri Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay.

APNewsBreak: L.L. Bean heiress in trouble over pro-Trump PAC

L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean is in hot water with the Federal Election Commission over a political action committee she created to support Republican President-elect Donald Trump. According to a Wednesday letter obtained by The Associated Press, federal regulators say Bean’s Making America Great Again LLC was limited to individual contributions of $5,000 in a single year- and Bean contributed $60,000.

80 refugees to be accommodated in Roscommon hotel

There has been a mixed reaction to the news that 80 refugees will be located at a hotel in Ballaghaderreen in Co Roscommon. Several local people have criticised the Department of Justice, saying there was no consultation with the local community and no information until the announcement yesterday.

The Trump era begins

President Obama plans a valedictory for next week, and, as he promised, he’s continuing to work until the end. Last week, for example, he designated two new national monuments in Utah and Nevada .

Serendipitous Jobs, Trade Data Help Canada Shake Off Doldrums

A worker walks past a machine that sorts lumber into grades and sizes at a mill in Thunder Bay, Canada, Ontario. stock market , evidence is beginning to mount the commodity producing nation is emerging from a lingering slump, after struggling through a cocktail of hurt that included Data released Friday showed the country recorded its best half-year of job gains since 2007.

Cops didn’t like a student painting hanging in the U.S. Capitol. So a congressman took it down.

An acrylic painting, right, by high school student David Pulphus is on display on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday. The painting by Pulphus, which is reported to depict Ferguson, Mo., in a chaotic scene with people marching and police officers that appear to be pigs, was chosen by Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. as part of the annual U.S. Congressional Art Competition.

Joe Biden tells Donald Trump to “grow up”

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden speaks at the First Ministers’ and National Indigenous Leaders’ meeting in Ottawa, on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. Biden dismissed Trump’s complaint on Twitter about how the Obama administration has handled the transition.

Why is Donald Trump resisting the Russian hack findings? Michael Flynn may hold the answer

Trump doesn’t want to know about Russia. The unhinged alt-right views of Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon may be why In anticipation of the release of a report commissioned by President Obama, the top brass of the United States intelligence community appeared before Congress on Thursday to testify that the Russian government interfered in the election campaign last year.

Morning Digest: Hillary Clinton unexpectedly won three Texas House seats held by Republicans

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.But according… a- Pres-by-CD : We arrive in Texas for our project to calculate the 2016 presidential results for all 435 congressional districts nationwide. You can find our complete data set here , which we’re updating continuously as the precinct-level election returns we need for our calculations become available.

Hate-Crime Charges Filed in Attack on Mentally Disabled Man in Chicago

Family spokesman David Boyd and others hold a news conference Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, in Crystal Lake, Ill., after an 18-year-old man was assaulted in Chicago earlier this week. Four people were charged with hate crimes Thursday in connection with a video broadcast live on Facebook that showed a mentally disabled white man being beaten and taunted, threatened with a knife and forced to drink from a toilet.

Trump on Border Wall: Mexico Will Pay Us Back

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday tweeted that Mexico will reimburse American taxpayers for a new border wall and that U.S. money spent will be for the “sake of speed.” The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall , will be paid back by Mexico later! His tweet came as top aides consider a plan to ask Congress to ensure money is available in U.S. coffers for the wall, but to rely on existing law that already authorizes fencing and other technology along the southern border.

House rebukes United Nations

The House overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan measure Thursday that rebukes the United Nations for criticizing Israeli settlements as Republicans used the debate to accuse President Barack Obama of turning his back on the Jewish state. Lawmakers voted 342-80 for the non-binding resolution that declares unwavering support for Israel and insists that the United States reject any future U.N. actions that are similarly “one-sided and anti-Israel.”

Classified report on hacking going to Trump

The nation’s top intelligence officials are making their most detailed and persuasive case yet to President-elect Donald Trump that Russia interfered in this year’s U.S. political process. The officials – Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey – are preparing to point to multiple motives for Moscow’s alleged meddling as they brief Trump on their classified report Friday in New York.

COMMENTARY: Hypocrisy behind Julian Assange’s hero turn

Donald Trump’s, Sarah Palin’s and Sean Hannity’s embrace of Julian Assange – who has made a career of illegally obtaining and releasing documents damaging to American interests – is not just a puzzling policy shift. It is the triumph of ideology over, well, every other principle or commitment.

Seven-Year-Old Saves Baby Sister’s Life After Stray Bullet Strikes Family’s Car

The proposal unveiled Thursday se… – First lady Michelle Obama will give her final remarks as first lady Friday at an event recognizing the 2017 School Counselor of the Year.School Counselor … — The Pentagon on Thursday announced four more detainees from Guantanamo Bay will be transferred to Saudi Arabia, leaving just 55 detainees in the pris… A series of priorities USDA should focus on after outgoing USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack leaves office are detailed in an exit memo, released January 5. Vilsack, whose last day … Lincoln, Neb.

U.S. Transfers Four Guantanamo Detainees To Saudi Arabia, Says More Likely

Four Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay arrived in Saudi Arabia on January 5, news agencies reported, with the White House saying additional transfers are likely before President Barack Obama leaves office later this month. Reuters and AFP reported that the detainees arrived at a Riyadh airport after being released from the U.S. naval base in Cuba that Obama vowed to close when he came into office.

Poll: Most Americans Say Don’t Repeal Obamacare Without A Replacement

An overwhelming majority of people disapprove of Republican lawmakers’ plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act without having a ready replacement for the health care law, according to a poll released Friday. And judging by the letter-writing and lobbying in the first week of the new Congressional session, many health care and business groups agree.