Category: Law

Analysis: Tax cut push comes as budget projected to tighten

After commanding the legislative agenda for six years, Republicans say now is the time to finally enact a major tax cut for Michigan residents. GOP lawmakers pushing to gradually repeal the 4.25 percent personal income tax will confront some stark realities – namely, future budget pressures created by the Legislature itself.

Congress approves budget

Ascendant Republicans drove a budget through Congress on Friday that gives them an early but critical victory in their crusade to scrap President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

Report says Chicago police violated civil rights for years

The Justice Department on Friday laid bare years of civil rights violations by Chicago police, blasting the nation’s second-largest department for using excessive force that included shooting at people who did not pose a threat and using stun guns on others only because they refused to follow commands. The report was issued after a yearlong investigation sparked by the 2014 death of a black teenager who was shot 16 times by a white officer.

Personalized IRS letters nudge uninsured to get coverage

If you haven’t signed up for health insurance, you may soon be getting a not-too-subtle nudge from the taxman. The IRS is sending personalized letters to millions of taxpayers who might be uninsured, reminding them that they could be on the hook for hundreds of dollars in fines under the federal health care law if they don’t sign up soon.

Takata will plead guilty, pay $1B in airbag coverup

Takata Corp. has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal charge and will pay $1 billion in fines and restitution for a years-long scheme to conceal a deadly defect in its automotive air bag inflators, federal prosecutors announced Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. At least 11 people have been killed by the inflators in the U.S. and 16 worldwide.

SEC’s Power to Recoup Illegal Profits Draws High Court Scrutiny

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to rule on the scope of a favorite tool used by securities regulators to recoup money from people found to have violated federal laws. The court said it will decide whether the Securities and Exchange Commission is bound by a five-year statute of limitations when it seeks “disgorgement,” or the return of illegal profits.

The little-known ethics director who took on Trump

It was already a frantic day in the Donald Trump presidential transition: The incoming president had attacked a reporter at a circus-like press conference, and a series of Cabinet confirmation hearings were producing fireworks. Walter M. Shaub, the director of the previously obscure Office of Government Ethics, was speaking at the staid Brookings Institution, and he lit into the incoming president for his plan to separate himself from his business empire.

Five reasons why the Justice Department watchdog is probing the Clinton case

An announcement Thursday that Michael Horowitz, inspector general for the Department of Justice, would lead a far-reaching probe into how officials at the Justice Department and the FBI handled an investigation into Hillary Clinton ‘s emails resurrected a controversy that many Democrats had blamed for the loss of their candidate in the presidential race. The year-long criminal investigation of Clinton’s private email network – and whether it compromised classified information from her tenure at the State Department – rankled Republicans and Democrats alike, both in the perfunctory way agents pursued it and the public way the FBI director closed it.

The Comforting Convictions of Obama’s Farewell Speech

Watching President Barack Obama’s soaring 2008 Democratic National Convention speech in Denver, I never imagined the kind of turmoil his presidency would incite. Almost everything has changed in the subsequent years, and yet his farewell speech to the nation was brimming with the same brand of haughty lecturing.

States – Including West Virginia – Face Questions About Billionaire Leaders

Some of the conflict-of-interest issues swirling around President-elect Donald Trump in Washington are playing out on a smaller scale in West Virginia, where the richest man in the state – an Appalachian coal baron with real estate, resort and farm holdings, too – is about to be sworn in as governor. Democratic Gov.-elect Jim Justice, like Trump, has refused to shed his holdings, giving assurances he can be trusted to act honorably.

In EPA rebuke, judge orders quick evaluation on coal jobs

A judge has ordered federal regulators to quickly evaluate how many power plant and coal mining jobs are lost because of air pollution regulations. McCarthy had responded to the judge’s previous order in a lawsuit brought against her by Murray Energy Corp. that the EPA must start doing an analysis that it hadn’t done in decades.

Pruitt an Unacceptable Choice, Ohio Scientists Tell Sen. Portman

Scientists, engineers and health professionals in Ohio have delivered a letter today to Sen. Rob Portman’s office expressing their strong opposition to President-elect Trump’s nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency , Scott Pruitt. Portman, a Republican, will be a key vote on whether the closely-divided Senate puts Pruitt in charge of the EPA, an agency he has repeatedly tried to undermine as Oklahoma attorney general.

The Latest: No last-ditch appeals for condemned Texas inmate

The attorney for a Texas death row inmate set to die Wednesday evening says she plans no last-minute appeals to try to put off the execution. Hilary Sheard says she’s “alarmed and troubled” that during the entire appeals process in recent weeks only one judge on the nine-member Texas Court of Criminal Appeals acknowledged injustice in the case of condemned killer Christopher Wilkins.

Bill on tallying up regulation costs wins U.S. financial industry backing

Financial lobbyists on Tuesday applauded a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to review the costs of rules before putting them into force, which is part of a broader push from Republicans to reform regulation. The legislation, introduced by Missouri Republican Ann Wagner, the newly minted chair of the financial services oversight subcommittee, is expected to go to the floor of the House on Thursday for a vote.

Courtesy: Springfield Police Department

Robertson County sits bordered by multiple counties and the state of Kentucky. That proximity to larger towns and counties lead to some dangerous and violent criminals using the rural communities in the county as a place to not only hideout, but run criminal enterprises.

The Latest: Reaction split on proposed California budget

Republican state lawmakers are optimistic about Gov. Jerry Brown’s fiscally restrained budget, while Democrats want more spending on social welfare programs. Brown is proposing more than $3 billion in cuts as California faces uncertainty about federal funding under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump .

Paul Ryan surrenders on healthcare repeal: goal now is to repeal/replace ‘concurrently’

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.But according… That whole repeal immediately, replace later thing-not going so well for Republicans. Paul Ryan admitted as much Tuesday morning, writes The Hill: “It is our goal to bring it all together concurrently,” Ryan told reporters after meeting with House Republicans behind closed doors.

Volkswagen Executive Arrested for Alleged Role in Emissions a Conspiracya

Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt was arrested by the FBI on Saturday for his alleged role in the company’s suspected “scheme” to cheat emissions standards, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday. Schmidt, who led the automaker’s U.S. environmental regulatory compliance office from 2012 to 2015, allegedly conspired with other VW employees to defraud the federal government – and American consumers – by concealing the installation of a device designed to cheat emissions tests.

D.C. officials vow to fight for uninsured if Obamacare repeal passes

D.C. officials have vowed not to leave the city’s most vulnerable residents without health insurance if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act, despite the possibility of a $623 million shortfall for health care in the District. As the chairman of the D.C. Council’s newly formed Health Committee, Vincent Gray is uniquely positioned to take the lead in dealing with the aftermath of a dismantled ACA in the District.

Former Volkswagen Exec Charged With Conspiracy To Defraud US

Oliver Schmidt, who used to serve as the top emissions compliance manager for Volkswagen AG in the U.S., was arrested by the FBI on Saturday, charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States over the company’s diesel emissions cheating scandal. The former executive will appear U.S. District Court in Miami on Monday afternoon.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth Slams Jeff Sessions’ Disability Rights Record

A day before Sen. Jeff Sessions’ Senate confirmation hearing to be Donald Trump’s attorney general, newly elected Sen. Tammy Duckworth on Monday expressed concern about his fitness for the post. Duckworth, a veteran who lost her legs in the Iraq War , questioned Trump’s selection of Sessions, when the Americans With Disabilities Act already appears to be under attack.

First on CNN: Matthew Shepard’s mother blasts Trump AG pick…

The mother of Matthew Shepard is urging senators to oppose Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination to become President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general, citing his opposition to hate crimes legislation. In a report issued by the Human Rights Campaign, Judy Shepard – whose son Matthew was beaten and left to die in Wyoming in 1998 in a crime motivated by anti-gay sentiment – blasted Sessions for opposing the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2009.

Senate Democrats To Hold Late-Night Talkathon Against Obamacare Repeal

There’s little doubt that Republicans are going to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but Democrats want to make it as politically damaging for them as possible. On Monday night, Senate Democrats plan to stay up late, delivering floor speeches and Facebook Live broadcasts attacking the Republicans’ drive to dismantle President Barack Obama’s signature health care law .

Cooper Makes a Colossal Blunder

Roy Cooper spent his last few weeks as governor-elect of North Carolina attacking the state legislature for encroaching on the separation of powers, weakening the rule of law, subverting the will of the voters, and hurrying new policies through too quickly, without adequate discussion or consultation. Roy Cooper then spent his initial few days as governor of North Carolina doing precisely what he’d accused the legislature of doing – and giving himself an unnecessary black eye.

Cooper Makes a Colossal Blunder

Roy Cooper spent his last few weeks as governor-elect of North Carolina attacking the state legislature for encroaching on the separation of powers, weakening the rule of law, subverting the will of the voters, and hurrying new policies through too quickly, without adequate discussion or consultation. Roy Cooper then spent his initial few days as governor of North Carolina doing precisely what he’d accused the legislature of doing – and giving himself an unnecessary black eye.

US Senate to act on Obamacare repeal

The US Senate will take its first steps toward repealing President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare reform act by the end of the week, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says. “There ought not to be a great gap” between repealing the act and replacing it and that Republicans would be “replacing it rapidly after repealing it,” McConnell told US network CBS.

The Wall Street Journal: McConnell says GOP will have new health plan soon after Obamacare repeal

Congress will quickly devise a new health-insurance system after moving to repeal the Obama administration’s signature health-care law in coming days, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday, despite growing questions within the Republican Party over the GOP’s strategy. “We will be replacing it rapidly after repealing it,” the Kentucky Republican said Sunday on CBS.