Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s visit to a small town south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, less than three weeks before a special election, is drawing scrutiny to determine whether the official trip was really an opportunity to throw his support behind the Republican hoping to fill the open congressional seat.
Several politicians were on hand for the February event in East Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, reportedly organized to announce how much funding Pennsylvania will receive in abandoned...
ThinkProgress
In last minute push, Donald Trump Jr. campaigns for Rick Saccone ahead of special election
CANONSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA — It was a sweet afternoon in Western, Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump Jr. visited Sarris Candies with Republican House candidate Rick Saccone in tow.
Like Friday night’s rally that was also purportedly for Saccone, the afternoon was really all about Trump, who toured the store and factory, snapping selfies with workers and tasting chocolates while Saccone occasionally politely encouraged shoppers to cast a vote for him in Tuesday’s special election.<...
Meet Missouri’s far-right frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination
A few weeks back, the Kansas City Star published excerpts from a December speech, made by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R), in which he blamed human trafficking on the sexual revolution of the 1960s. His dubious take on history, made at a Missouri Renewal Project event featuring a who’s who of theocrats, Islamophobes, and anti-LGBTQ extremists, became national news because Hawley is currently the frontrunner for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill this N...
Meet Missouri’s far-right frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination
A few weeks back, the Kansas City Star published excerpts from a December speech, made by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R), in which he blamed human trafficking on the sexual revolution of the 1960s. His dubious take on history, made at a Missouri Renewal Project event featuring a who’s who of theocrats, Islamophobes, and anti-LGBTQ extremists, became national news because Hawley is currently the frontrunner for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill this N...
Grassroots women, guns, and organized labor: How Conor Lamb plans to win in Trump country
MOON TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA — If you’re wondering who Conor Lamb is, United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts offers this summary: a “God-fearing, union-supporting, gun-owning, job-protecting, pension-defending, social-security-believing, healthcare-greeting, sending-drug-dealers-to-jail Democrat.”
At a Sunday afternoon rally at the Greene County Fairgrounds, Roberts was on hand to generate enthusiasm for Lamb, who’s running in the special elec...
Grassroots women, guns, and organized labor: How Conor Lamb plans to win in Trump country
MOON TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA — If you’re wondering who Conor Lamb is, United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts offers this summary: a “God-fearing, union-supporting, gun-owning, job-protecting, pension-defending, social-security-believing, healthcare-greeting, sending-drug-dealers-to-jail Democrat.”
At a Sunday afternoon rally at the Greene County Fairgrounds, Roberts was on hand to generate enthusiasm for Lamb, who’s running in the special elec...
Trump’s hastily passed tax law is error-riddled
After years of dishonestly whining that the Affordable Care Act was written in secret and rushed through Congress with insufficient debate, Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration cobbled together their tax legislation in December and rushed it through Congress. Now, it appears, America is paying the price for their shoddy work.
Desperate to pass the bill — which contained massive tax cuts for President Trump and the very rich, and tax increases for many poor an...
Mental health providers are failing bisexual patients
Last fall, I made an appointment with a new psychiatrist, hoping to explore my options for more effective treatment for my lifelong struggle with depression and anxiety. Life under the Trump regime has taken a harsh toll on me as an openly queer/bisexual woman, and like so many of my friends and fellow advocates from various social justice movements and marginalized communities, my regular regimen of antidepressants and self-care simply isn’t cutting it anymore.
Having been to this ...
Surprise! The Trump administration just admitted it has to follow Obamacare
In an unexpected development, the Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) on Thursday reluctantly conceding that Obamacare “remains the law and we have a duty to enforce and uphold the law.”
The letter, from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, informs Idaho that insurers will not be allowed to sell illegal plans within that state which threatened to destabilize Idaho’s insurance markets...
West Virginia teachers went back to school after getting 5 percent raise
The West Virginia teachers strike ended on Wednesday after the governor and the leaders of the House and Senate reached a deal on its ninth school day. It lasted longer than the 1990 statewide teachers strike.
West Virginia teachers, whose pay ranks 48th in the country by some estimates and who have gone without pay raises for several years, secured a 5 percent raise. That 5 percent raise also extended to all state employees.
Renita Benson, a remedial reading teacher, told th...