Not so predictable

A year ago, I wrote a prediction column for 2016 full of myself and greatly detailed scenarios. I was so proud of my concocted narratives that I encouraged readers to clip or save the column to their desktops for later reference.

Musical chairs

There they go again, this state’s congressmen, ’round and ’round they go, and where they’ll stop nobody knows. For it’s time again for members of the U.S. House of Representatives to choose new offices or stay where they are.

Charade: Over.

Governor Greg Abbott has vowed to sign a bill if it passes through the Texas Legislature next session. The bills come after two faithless electors in this month’s Electoral College vote in the Texas State Capitol refused to vote for the state’s winner.

Minnesota delegation braces for President Trump

Jason Lewis, seen here with campaign volunteers, ran as an outsider like Donald Trump, and he shares the new president’s desire to shake things up. ST. PAUL – The Republican-led Congress returns to work next week as Washington prepares for a presidential changeover like no other.

Next 25 Articles

Cybersecurity expert Jonathan Petit claims that it’s possible to confuse a self-driving car with just $43 and a laser pointer, according to a report from Business Insider. “Today’s self-driving cars rely on spinning sensors called lidar that can cost more than $10,000 each.

Congress must act on voting rights

President-elect Donald Trump greets Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s picks for attorney general, during a thank you rally in Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Dec. 17 in Mobile, Alabama. In Sessions, Trump has found an ally to curtail minority voting rights.

Kellyanne Conway’s husband on short list for top US lawyer job

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway says his supporters feel betrayed that Mitt Romney, a vocal Trump critic, is being considered for secretary of state. George Conway, a corporate attorney who is married to one of President-elect Donald Trump’s senior advisers, is on the shortlist of candidates to be nominated as US solicitor general, two sources familiar with the process told CNN.

Next 25 Articles

Charles Krauthammer harshly criticized President Barack Obama during a panel discussion on Fox News Thursday evening. The conservative pundit called Obama’s new executive order raising sanctions against Russia for its government’s alleged role in influencing the 2016 election “anti-democratic” before chastising POTUS for seeking to “lock in” Trump to a fractured Oval Office.

Disabled ABLE to save for future

When David Morgan and Abby Braithewaite want to put away money for their 6-year-old son Corwin’s future, it’s easy. “If he gets the same $50 check from his grandmother or his aunt on the East Coast it can just go into an account for him,” said Morgan, 43. “Nobody’s going to show up and ask him how much money is in it.

Mexican man charged with rape had 19 deportations, removals

This undated photo provided by the Geary County Detention Center In Junction City, Kan., shows Tomas Martinez-Maldonado. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that Martinez-Maldonado a Mexican national accused of raping a 13-year-old girl on a Greyhound bus that traveled through Kansas had been deported 10 times and voluntarily removed from the U.S. nine times since 2003.

paul Ryan Aims to Prevent Dem Gun Control – Sit-In’

House Speaker Paul Ryan is considering a fine of $2,500 for U.S. representatives who use recording devices on the floor of the House. In the event of a violation, the House sergeant-at-arms would hand down the fine, the goal being to take away the social media appeal of a “sit-in” by effectively blocking such a protest from outside view.

Trump on Putina s response to U.S. sanctions: a I always knew he was very smarta

After President Barack Obama on Thursday announced retaliatory measures against the Russian government for what the U.S. has concluded were efforts to interfere in the election, President-elect Donald Trump’s response was terse and dismissive, saying it was time to “move on to bigger and better things.” But after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he would not respond in kind to the U.S. actions – preferring to wait until the new administration takes office – Trump weighed in with high praise.

Mexican man charged with rape had 19 deportations, removals

This undated photo provided by the Geary County Detention Center In Junction City, Kan., shows Tomas Martinez-Maldonado. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that Martinez-Maldonado a Mexican national accused of raping a 13-year-old girl on a Greyhound bus that traveled through Kansas had been deported 10 times and voluntarily removed from the U.S. nine times since 2003.

House Dems Promise War Over Paul Ryan’s Proposal

U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi applauds as Rep. John Lewis waves to supporters along with House Democrats after their sit-in over gun-control law on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas House Democrats are prepared to go to war over a new rule proposed by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, according to a letter sent to Ryan late Thursday.

Is Middle East Instability An Opportunity To Apply Leverage?

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter launches mortar shells towards Zummar, controlled by Islamic State , near Mosul September 15, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah – RTR46B59 As I have written , even without ISIS, the Middle East, the epicenter of radical Islam, is a complex political-military environment dominated by the Sunni-Shia religious conflict, but influenced by ethnic aspirations, tribal rivalries, regional hegemony, superpower competition and ever-shifting allegiances.

US levels sanctions against Russia over election hacking

This image provided by the FBI shows the wanted poster for Evgeniy Bogachev. In a sweeping response to election hacking, President Barack Obama sanctioned Russian intelligence services and their top officials, kicked out 35 Russian officials and shuttered two Russian-owned compounds in the U.S. It was the strongest action the Obama administration has taken to date to retaliate for a cyberattack.

A convoy of vehicles with diplomatic plates drives

Sanctions and the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United States in response to attempts to influence the U.S. presidential election are a rare physical response to ongoing and growing cyber conflicts between nations. Sanctions mark rare window into cyberwar Sanctions and the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United States in response to attempts to influence the U.S. presidential election are a rare physical response to ongoing and growing cyber conflicts between nations.

With Trump’s victory, GOP hopes to overhaul Medicaid

In this Jan. 13, 2015 file photo, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left, joined by Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., heads to a meeting of House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington. When President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, Republicans will have the opportunity to do something they have desired for years – overhaul Medicaid, the program that provides health care to millions of lower-income and disabled Americans.

Tribes get say in land management but worry about Trump

In this July 14, 2016, file photo, the Newspaper Rock featuring a rock panel of petroglyphs in the Indian Creek Area is shown to U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell near Monticello, Utah, during a tour to meet with proponents and opponents to the “Bears Ears” monument proposal. President Barack Obama on Wednesday, Dec. 28, designated two new national monuments in Utah and Nevada.

Final step of Indiana income tax cut effective Jan. 1

Indiana’s personal income tax rate will drop slightly beginning New Year’s Day, completing a phased-in reduction that’s half of the 10 percent cut Republican Gov. Mike Pence pushed during his 2012 campaign. The state income tax rate will become 3.23 percent for 2017, down from the 3.3 percent rate that’s been in place the past two years.

US considers mining limits in West to save sage grouse

The Obama administration offered five possible plans Thursday for limiting mining on federal land in the West to protect the vulnerable greater sage grouse, but it isn’t saying which it prefers. The options range from banning new mining activity on approximately 15,000 square miles for up to 20 years to imposing no additional restrictions on mine locations.

Predictions: DeWine-Rosenberger Gov. Ticket, Householder Returns To House Speaker

Governor John Kasich, who is being dubbed by some statehouse insiders these days as “John Who?” still has two years left in his term, but with the clout Majority Caucus Republicans will yield next year in the House and Senate, his last biennial budget could be dead on arrival, and any bills sent to him that he chooses to veto can be easily over ridden if Republican will is strong enough.

Obama retaliates against Russia for election hacking

Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, right, looks at US Sen. John McCain centre left, during a press conference, Wednesday in Riga, Latvia, while Lindsey Graham, R-SC., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., stand in the background. Russia can expect hard-hitting sanctions from United States lawmakers if an investigation proves that Moscow interfered in the presidential election, a U.S. senator said Wednesday during a visit to Latvia.

Rep. Franks: Sanctions Based on ‘Leaks,’ Obama Acting ‘Hypocritically’

Congress has not yet been briefed on whether Russia interfered in the presidential election, and it’s a “little premature” to come to conclusions that lead to President Barack Obama’s sanctions against Russia, Rep. Trent Franks said Thursday, and he finds it hypocritical that Obama is making such accusations. “What we’re hearing is information leaked from the intelligence community, primarily from the Barack Obama administration apparatus,” the Arizona Republican, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC Thursday afternoon.

What the UNSC resolution means for the US and Israel

The United Nations Security Council on Friday passed a resolution condemning Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The United States abstained on the resolution, allowing it to pass, rather than vetoing it — as it usually does with resolutions it sees as overly critical of Israel.

What the UNSC resolution means for the US and Israel

The United Nations Security Council on Friday passed a resolution condemning Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The United States abstained on the resolution, allowing it to pass, rather than vetoing it — as it usually does with resolutions it sees as overly critical of Israel.