Roll Call – by Kate Ackley

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer kicked off the first hearing of the new Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress with a plea for a return of something from the past: earmarks.

The Maryland Democrat was the first among 30 lawmakers who offered ideas Tuesday to the temporary and bipartisan panel, which has been charged with making recommendations about how to update Congress for the modern era.  Continue reading “‘Dead billionaires’ and a tech Peace Corps? Lawmakers float ideas to fix Congress”

New York Times

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Cuba and Russia on Monday of propping up President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela in the Trump administration’s most explicit argument yet that his government is a dictatorial regime kept alive by two American adversaries.

Mr. Pompeo’s comments came amid a devastating power outage that has plunged many of Venezuela’s most populous areas into darkness, spoiling food in a nation where little is available.

Continue reading “Pompeo Accuses Cuba and Russia of Propping Up Venezuelan Ruler”

NBC News – by Steve Benen

“I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” Donald Trump declared in 2015. “Every other Republican’s going to cut, and even if they wouldn’t, they don’t know what to do because they don’t know where the money is. I do. I do.”

It became a staple of his entire national candidacy: no matter what, Americans could count on him to champion these social-insurance programs.  Continue reading “It’s not just Medicare: Trump budget eyes Social Security cuts, too”

Axios

Generation Z has a more positive view of the word “socialism” than previous generations, and — along with millennials — are more likely to embrace socialistic policies and principles than past generations, according to a new Harris Poll given exclusively to Axios.

Continue reading “Poll: Young Americans are embracing socialism”

Daily Mail

The doomed Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed killing all 157 on board yesterday ‘had smoke pouring from the rear’ before coming down ‘with a loud boom’, a witness has said.

Gebeyehu Fikadu said he saw flight ET302 ‘swerving and dipping’ while ‘luggage and clothes came burning down’ when it crashed within minutes of take-off from Addis Ababa yesterday morning.  Continue reading “Ethiopian air crash: Airlines ground Boeing 737 Max 8 jets”

American Trucker – by Neil Abt

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) said it strongly opposes congressional efforts to lower the minimum age requirement for truckers engaged in interstate commerce.

In late February, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate and House reintroduced the DRIVE-Safe Act, giving drivers under the age of 21 a faster path to interstate trucking.  Continue reading “OOIDA rails against DRIVE-Safe Act, calls shortage a ‘myth’”

Daily Republic

LOS ANGELES — As record rains have poured down on California’s coasts, sending thousands of gallons of runoff into the ocean and dumping debris and trash onto the beaches, dozens of sickened marine mammals have been turning up along the state’s shores this winter.

Rescues of unhealthy seals and sea lions have nearly tripled for this time of year in Orange County, according to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, which this week took in its 41st pinniped since the year began.   Continue reading “Sick marine mammals turning up on California beaches in droves”

Daily Mail

The federal judge overseeing Paul Manafort’s sentencing handed down a sentence of just 47 months after the former Trump campaign chair pleaded for leniency from his wheelchair but did not express remorse.

The four-year sentence is well below what prosecutors were seeking – and years below what top prosecutors and litigators had been predicting.   Continue reading “Paul Manafort gets just 47 MONTHS in jail for tax and bank fraud”

Yahoo News

A Pennsylvania billboard has sparked an outcry and accusations of racism — but the man who put it up insists that he’s simply trying to strike up a “conversation” about race.

As Pittsburgh’s WPXI reports, the controversial digital billboard stands on Route 422 outside Worthington, Pa. Its changing screen features multiple messages. One reads “whites have rights,” while another features a photo of actor Jussie Smollett, who is being investigated for an alleged hate crime hoax.   Continue reading “‘Whites have rights’: Outrage over billboard attacking Jussie Smollett and Rep. John Lewis”

Daily Mail

Dollar Tree Inc has announced plans to close 390 Family Dollar stores after reporting losses of $2.3 billion.

The company announced the plans as it wrote off $2.7 billion, or nearly a third of the value of the struggling discount chain it bought for $9 billion four years ago.    Continue reading “Dollar Tree to close nearly 400 Family Dollar stores after reporting losses of $2.3 billion”

Fox Business

Italy Opens a New Window. announced it is handing out free money as it rolls out the “citizens’ income” program designed to alleviate poverty.

Under the basic income for all program, the unemployed or individuals making less than $10,000 a year will be eligible to receive 780 euros ($882) from the Italian government. In exchange, recipients must enroll in job-training and job-search programs, and if they turn down more than two jobs, they risk losing their benefits completely.   Continue reading “Democrats eye universal basic income for US”