Republican Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian paid Seb Gorka a $5,000 ‘speaking fee’

February 9, 2018 News

Nevada Republican Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian paid Sebastian Gorka, the former deputy assistant to President Donald Trump with highly questionable credentials and alleged Nazi ties, $5,000 to hang out with him last December.

According to FEC filings first reported on by the Washington Examiner, Tarkanian paid Gorka $5,000 for a one-time “speaking fee,” in December. Such a payment is highly unusual.

According to the Examiner, “A search of FEC records for...

DHS reportedly weighing rules targeting immigrants who use public benefits

February 8, 2018 News, politics

The Trump administration is reportedly considering making it harder for immigrants who use public assistance to become permanent residents, Reuters reported on Thursday. It’s the latest move in a line of actions meant to crack down on documented immigration, in addition to targeting undocumented immigrants.

According to a proposal obtained by the outlet, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is set to propose new rules allowing immigration officers to scrutinize and consid...

White House policy could cost Planned Parenthood $100 million in international funding

February 8, 2018 health, News, planned-parenthood, politics, World

A rule revived by the Trump administration gutting funding for organizations that perform or promote abortions abroad could cost Planned Parenthood around $100 million in funding, according to analysis by the New York Times. It’s the latest indication that White House efforts to hinder reproductive justice work are hitting the well-known non-profit health organization.

According to a State Department report on Tuesday, four organizations working internationally (along with doz...

Here’s the pricetag Senate Dems are charging Mitch McConnell to leave DACA out of the budget deal

February 7, 2018 Donald Trump, mitch-mcconnell, News, politics, Senate

In exchange for leaving out a key program protecting about 800,000 undocumented immigrants, Senate Democrats have pried several billion dollars in funding increases for other domestic policy priorities out of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

A document circulating among House Democrats and outside ally groups like NDD United labels the total haul of the deal as “a $131 billion increase for non-defense programs.” That figure is calculated based on how spending leve...

The Trump administration wants to allow states to impose lifetime coverage limits on Medicaid

February 6, 2018 health care, medicaid, News, Trump administration

The Trump administration is taking aim at Medicaid yet again, specifically with lifetime coverage limits, according to a McClatchy report Monday evening.

Just weeks after unveiling guidance that will allow states to impose Medicaid work requirements, Trump’s Health and Human Services agency is reportedly attempting to limit the number of months adults have access to the safety net program. The cap, if approved, would be the first of its kind in Medicaid’s history.

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West Virginia’s billionaire governor pushes for barriers to welfare and Medicaid

February 6, 2018 health, medicaid, News

Months after rejecting a Kentucky-style work requirement for Medicaid in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice now seems to be moving in the opposite direction — with assistance from the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) ally and an affiliate of the Koch-funded State Policy Network.

The apparent switch is nothing new for Justice, who made a leap into politics when he ran for governor of West Virginia as a Democrat ...

Republican who voted to repeal Obamacare draws challenge from cancer survivor

February 5, 2018 congress, health care, News, politics

An Arkansas state legislator who survived cancer announced Monday that he’s running for Congress, hoping to take down his district’s current Republican representative, who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Clarke Tucker, a Democrat, told ThinkProgress Monday that his own experience with bladder cancer last year helped him realize just how real the consequences of repealing the ACA would be.

“Thankfully, I had access to great health care, but it ...

Trump couldn’t be more wrong in his tweet on Britain’s health care protests

February 5, 2018 Donald Trump, health care, News, politics

President Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday to criticize Britain’s health care system, and in the process, attacked a goal that many other industrialized democracies share: universal coverage.

The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working. Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!

— Donal...

Illinois gubernatorial candidate unleashes hateful ad attacking trans people

February 5, 2018 lgbtq, News, transgender

Illinois state Rep. Jeanne Ives (R) is challenging incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) in the upcoming gubernatorial primary, attacking him from the right. Her campaign’s latest ad, however, does so by taking aim at various groups, including teachers, transgender people, and young feminists.

An actor portraying a mockery of a transgender woman thanks Rauner “for signing legislation that lets me use the girls’ bathroom,” even though the bill referenced on screen ...

An actual Nazi is poised to be a Republican nominee for Congress

February 5, 2018 News

Arthur Jones — a Holocaust denier, anti-Semite, and white supremacist — is about to become the Republican nominee for a U.S. congressional seat in Illinois.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Jones is the only GOP candidate running in the heavily Democratic 3rd Congressional District, which represents parts of Chicago and it’s outer lying suburbs.

Jones’ campaign website has images of the former head of the American Nazi Party speaking at KKK events ...