Category: Law

The Latest: Mattis promises military that’s ‘ready to fight’

Defense Secretary James Mattis is telling military personnel and their families that his actions are aimed at making sure “our military is ready to fight today and in the future.” Mattis said in a statement Friday evening that he recognizes that “no nation is secure without friends” and is pledging to “work with the State Department to strengthen” the nation’s alliances.

The Latest: Protesters say police used rubber projectiles

Protesters and an Associated Press photographer say police fired rubber projectiles at them during demonstrations against President Donald Trump in downtown Washington. An AP photographer says he was hit three times by projectiles – once on his left shin and twice on his right – while covering demonstrations Friday.

Republican Governors Worried About Obamacare Repeal

On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, nearly a dozen Republican state executives traveled to Capitol Hill to share with GOP senators their concerns about the impact repealing the health care law would have on the poorest beneficiaries in their states. More than a dozen Republican governors accepted, to varying degrees, federal funds offered under the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid coverage in their states.

Blame insurers, not Obamacare

Blame insurers, not Obamacare The recent op-ed by Congressman Scott Perry misleads your readership on the effects of the Affordable Care Act. Check out this story on ydr.com: http://on-ydr.co/2jDAkLh The recent op-ed by Congressman Scott Perry seriously misleads your readership on the effects of the Affordable Care Act and the Republican plan to repeal it.

California withdraws immigrant health care request

California officials on Wednesday withdrew their request to sell unsubsidized insurance policies to people who can’t prove they’re legally in the United States after learning the decision would fall to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Calling the decision “the first California casualty of the Trump presidency,” Sen. Ricardo Lara said he doesn’t trust the incoming administration to protect people’s privacy and health.

Chicago cop faces murder charges in off-duty shooting

A Chicago police officer was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the killing of a man while the officer was off duty, police said. Lowell Houser, 57, allegedly got into an argument with a man who was moving into a home on Chicago’s Northwest Side on January 2. The argument escalated, and Houser allegedly fired multiple shots at the man, Jose Nieves, killing him.

Trump EPA pick pledges more cooperation with industry

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator-designate Scott Pruitt, left, is welcomed on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., prior to testifying at his confirmation hearing before the committee. Our team will redo any room but a bathroom or kitchen.

These courageous HIV advocates will lead the way against Trump in 2017

Donald J. Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress are a threat to everything HIV advocates have been fighting for during the last thirty years, and that includes access to healthcare, bans on insurance companies using HIV as reason to deny coverage, HIV prevention programs like PrEP, and the dignity with which we treat those who are most vulnerable to HIV infection. This new political reality is reflected in the 2017 list of HIV Advocates to Watch from Queerty health writer Mark King’s blog My Fabulous Disease .

Pointed questions await Trumpa s pick for health secretary

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press WASHINGTON – With coverage for millions of people at stake, Rep. Tom Price is facing pointed questions about President-elect Donald Trump’s health policies – and his own investments in health care companies – from senators considering his selection as health secretary.

EPA critic Scott Pruitt faces Senate panel in bid to lead agency

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, the man President-elect Donald Trump wants to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, will ask a select group of senators Wednesday to allow him to lead an agency he has spent much of his career trying to dismantle. Environmental activists call Pruitt dangerous and Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will look to put his views of science and climate change on trial.

Pruitt OK’d as EPA chief over environmentalists’ objections

Over the strong objections of environmental groups, the Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, giving President Donald Trump an eager partner to fulfill his campaign pledge to increase the use of planet-warming fossil fuels. In six years as Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits challenging EPA regulations that included limits on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Obamacare more popular than ever before, poll finds, even as GOP plans to repeal it

A new poll suggests President Barack Obama’s besieged health care plan is more popular than it’s ever been, even as congressional Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump prepare to dismantle it. The poll finds 45 percent of respondents think that the Affordable Care Act is a good idea, the highest percentage since the NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll began asking the question in April 2009.

CBO: 18 million more Americans would be uninsured under 2016 GOP repeal

Insurance premiums would soar and some 18 million Americans would lose health coverage if Republicans partially repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law without a replacement, Congress’ nonpartisan budget office estimated Tuesday. The Congressional Budget Office analyzed a GOP 2016 repeal measure, which Republicans have cited as a starting point for their 2017 drive to dismantle and replace Obama’s health overhaul.

Fear spurs support for health law as Republicans work to repeal it

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., at podium, cheers health care workers to save the Affordable Care Act across the country outside LAC+USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017. The rally was one of many being staged across the country in advance of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump has promised to repeal and replace the health care law, and the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday passed a measure taking the first steps to dismantle it.

Sheriff’s office often gets leeway with funds, budget

When it comes to asking for money beyond their budget, a department head’s best bet is to be with the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office. Or at least that’s how some members of the commissioners court feel, acknowledging leniency is given to the sheriff’s office because residents want to keep the crime rate down.

Trump vows ‘insurance for everybody’ in Obamacare replacement plan

Protesters demonstrating support for the Affordable Care Act hold signs and chant in the lobby of Trump International Hotel & Tower at Columbus Circle in New York, Jan. 15, 2017. [Demetrius Freeman President-elect Donald Trump said in a weekend interview that he is nearing completion of a plan to replace President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law with the goal of “insurance for everybody,” while also vowing to force drug companies to negotiate directly with the government on prices in Medicare and Medicaid.

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Charlotte-area supporters of the Affordable Care Act gathered Sunday to speak up for what they called a life-saving law and to speak out against ongoing efforts by the Republican Congress and the president-elect to gut, repeal and eventually replace it. “We stand together today to raise the conscience of the nation and our elected representatives,” Margie Storch of Health Care Justice-North Carolina told about 150 people at the “Save Our Health Care” rally at Marshall Park.

Trump vows – insurance for everybody’ in replacing Obamacare

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., January 11, 2017. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump aims to replace Obamacare with a plan that would envisage “insurance for everybody,” he said in an interview with the Washington Post published on Sunday night.

ACA rally draws large crowd to Bowie State

Hundreds of people crowded into the ballroom of the Bowie State University student center on Sunday to signal their support for the Affordable Care Act , part of a “national day of action” that brought similar rallies to cities around the country. More people showed up to the Bowie rally than the ballroom at Bowie State could hold.

Diana DeGette, Dems urge supporters to fight repeal of Obamacare

People hold signs and cheer during a rally in the packed auditorium of the Laborers International Union of North America Local 720 offices on Jan. 15, 2017 in Denver. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette and other Democratic state and federal lawmakers rallied Obamacare supporters Sunday, urging them to fight against repeal of the law and promising to protect it from Republicans bent on scrapping it.

Republicans in Minn. Legislature, following Trump, take aim at cities’ immigration policies

President-elect Donald Trump swept to the White House promising to clamp down on illegal immigration and so-called “sanctuary cities” like Minneapolis and St. Paul whose leaders vow not to act as local immigration enforcers. Republicans around the country – including the newly empowered GOP majorities in the Minnesota Legislature – have followed suit, threatening to withhold government aid from cities that decline to work with federal immigration authorities, and represent themselves as safe havens against deportation.

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Thousands of people are showing up for a rally in suburban Detroit where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will speak in support of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. It is one of several rallies around the country by Democrats ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Rand Paul discusses Obamacare replacement plans

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday unveiled the broad strokes of his Obamacare replacement package, a measure he again said Republicans must pass “on the same day as we do repeal.” “We’ve had six years to complain and we have complained – I’ve been one of those complaining about Obamacare,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

Rand Paul previews Obamacare replacement plan

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday unveiled the broad strokes of his Obamacare replacement package, a measure he again said Republicans must pass “on the same day as we do repeal.” “We’ve had six years to complain and we have complained — I’ve been one of those complaining about Obamacare,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

Warren Embraces Her Role As Democratic Foil To Trump

Elizabeth Warren is embracing her role as a top Democratic foil to Republican President-elect Donald Trump. The Massachusetts senator penned a scathing 16-page critique of Trump’s education secretary nominee, Betsy DeVos; grilled his pick for housing secretary Ben Carson; and co-sponsored legislation requiring the president to disclose and divest potential financial conflicts of interest.

Read the book behind the a Hidden Figuresa movie

The Fresno County Library’s Bookshelf column shares suggestions for books, music, and other items, and provides information about library programs. “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians who Helped Win the Space Race,” by Margot Lee Shetterly.

National View: Economic brinkmanship

On March 4, 1933, at the bottom of the worst financial and economic crisis to afflict the United States since the Civil War, Franklin D. Roosevelt took office as president. Two days later, Roosevelt acted to stanch the collapse by suspending gold payments, imposing a four-day “bank holiday” and arranging emergency assistance for banks when they reopened.

Wolf faces tough second-half fight

For about 45 minutes, the scene at Highlands Hospital on Friday looked like a textbook illustration on how government should work. There was Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in a conference room, flanked by three local Republican state legislators, listening to doctors, local officials, and a grieving mother discuss how to address the plague of opioid abuse.

Jeff Sadow: Medicaid expansion becomes an obsession

If you agree with the agenda of Medicaid reformers taking power in Washington, Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards and his intemperate chief health bureaucrat say you’re the bad guy. With a mixture of conceit and high dudgeon, Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Rebekah Gee declared efforts to repeal Medicaid expansion “irresponsible, inhumane and ill-advised.”

Sewell voices opposition to Obamacare repeal efforts

With a near party-line 227-198 House vote, Congress gave final approval Friday to a budget that will ease passage of a still-unwritten bill replacing President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul with a GOP edition. The budget – the Senate approved it Thursday – bars Democratic senators from blocking that future legislation with a filibuster.

Federal judge rules on Crown Hill North Woods case

Jane Magnus-Stinson, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, has denied the request from the Indiana Forest Alliance and plaintiffs to halt the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs’ columbaria project at Crown Hill Cemetery’s North Woods.