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The Mississippi state government has started a process that will see the Confederate battle emblem removed from the state’s flag.

Breaking: House passed it with the two-thirds majority it required. It got immediate release, meaning Senate could take it up as soon as they want.

The latest: https://t.co/Jgcddn3i34 #msleg https://t.co/rKwKGkMmWt

The legislature has been deadlocked for days as it considers a new state flag. The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it.
If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it. pic.twitter.com/bf3vyzuObt

The Winston-Salem Journal reports on a disturbing development in the Bubba Wallace story. Wallace, Nascar’s only black driver, led a successful campaign to rid the stock-car racing series of the Confederate flag. Last week, a noose was found in his team’s garage although a subsequent investigation found the rope had been there since last fall, and Wallace was not the subject of a hate crime. Here’s what the Associated Press has to say on the latest development:

A North Carolina racetrack has lost some partnerships after its owner advertised “Bubba Rope” for sale online days after Nascar said a noose had been found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the top series’ only Black driver.

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Texas congressman’s retirement points to a tough 2020 for House Republicans

Rep. Bill Flores became the fifth Texas Republican this term to announce he will not seek reelection as a growing number of longtime GOP incumbents heading for the exits in 2020. While his solidly Republican district is not as likely to flip as several other districts are, the decision could indicate a lack of optimism about his party’s chances of regaining a majority in the next Congress.

Flores was first elected in the 2010 Republican landslide as part of the new majority. H...

Austin shows how cities in conservative states can move forward on climate action

AUSTIN, TEXAS — This month, the capital of Texas threw its support behind the Green New Deal resolution, a bold proposal that aims to tackle both climate change and social inequities in one fell swoop. In supporting the resolution, lawmakers and advocates hope Austin can lead the way for other cities in Republican-controlled states to chart their own path.

Turning the symbolism of supporting the Green New Deal into concrete action will take significant work, however, even as t...

Trump’s Justice Department doesn’t understand that four is less than five

There is literally no rule more basic to U.S. litigation than the rule of five. The Supreme Court has nine seats. It takes a majority to decide a case. A decision joined by five or more justices is a binding interpretation of the law that controls all other court decisions. An opinion dissenting from such a decision is just someone’s views.

And yet, a pair of briefs filed Wednesday evening by a team of anti-Obamacare lawyers — including one filed by the Trump Justice Dep...

What will happen if the Trump administration wins the lawsuit to repeal Obamacare?

Nearly every U.S. resident would be impacted in some way if the Trump administration gets its way and the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) is invalidated in court.

Susan Lyon of California, for example, is deeply concerned for her husband and business partner who has Parkinson’s disease. Without the ACA, she suspects her insurance would charge a lot more because of her husband’s pre-existing condition. She purchases health insurance through the ACA’s Small Business Healt...

Trump administration pushes to completely gut Obamacare in dramatic escalation

Government shifts from previous aim to strike down parts of the ACA, endangering healthcare for millions of Americans

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The Trump administration now believes that the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down, a major shift in the federal government’s position and one that could endanger health coverage for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions.

In a letter on Monday night, the justice department said it is n...