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Sam Knight - page 21

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

Impending Trump Dakota Access Easement is Illegal, Standing Rock Sioux Say

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said that it is “ready to fight” the Trump administration’s push to finish the Dakota Access Pipeline, after US Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) announced that plans are moving forward. Hoeven said Tuesday evening that Acting Army Secretary Robert Speer has directed the Army Corps of Engineers “to proceed with easement needed to complete” the oil pipeline. Officials from Standing Rock responded, claiming any such move would be illegal, with an internal review of the project underway. “The Army Corps lacks… Keep Reading

Latest Data Shows Union Numbers, Membership Rate Fell During Obama Years

Annual statistics released Thursday by the Department of Labor show that the national rate of union membership dropped by 1.6 percentage points over the course of the Obama presidency. The percentage of US workers belonging to unions was 10.7 in 2016, down from 11.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. Union membership rate either dropped or remained stagnant every year under President Obama, eroding from 12.3 percent in 2009. The absolute quantity of union members, too, was down under President Obama. In 2009, there were 15.3… Keep Reading

Senate Setback for Move to Give FBI More Warrantless Spying Powers

Congress is backing off from a push to grant the Federal Bureau of Investigations more warrantless surveillance powers. Lawmakers had been attempting to use the annual intelligence policy bill to allow the FBI to obtain more sensitive digital information from Americans, using only a subpoena. That effort, however, has been abandoned, this year, according to a recently published Senate Intelligence Committee report on the legislation. “This expansion of government surveillance authorities was both far-reaching and intrusive, potentially covering records related to Americans’ email exchanges as well… Keep Reading

Trump Pick to Oversee White House Veto Threats Once Called Social Security and Medicaid “Unconstitutional”

President Donald Trump’s choice to be a top budget adviser once voted as a state senator to declare Social Security and Medicaid unconstitutional. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) backed the failed amendment in 2009, casting Trump’s promises to never cut the two programs into serious disrepute. Mulvaney was named by Trump to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, an arm of the White House that churns out reports and declarations about policy. OMB is the arm of the Executive Branch that issues Presidential veto… Keep Reading

Trump E.P.A. Pick Won’t Rule Out Deciding on Anti-Regulation Lawsuits He Helped File

Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refused to commit to withdrawing from ongoing lawsuits against the EPA that he himself helped file as Oklahoma Attorney General. Scott Pruitt said Wednesday he would decide to withdraw from agency matters, only after consulting EPA ethics officials. Pruitt also recognized that the added layer of bureaucracy was unnecessary, when deciding that conflicts of interest require his withdrawal from agency matters. “Clearly, there is discretion to recuse,” he told Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), during his confirmation hearing… Keep Reading

Trump Aide Claims U.S .Would Win Trade War with China, as Beijing Eyes Europe

The stage is being set for a global trade war after the inauguration of Donald Trump; one centered around–but not limited to–China and the United States. Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci said Tuesday that Washington would best Beijing, in any kind of battle. Scaramucci made the remarks, in a bid to assuage elite investors’ concerns about the President-elect, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “What are they going to do, [are] they going to move against our move for fairness?” he asked rhetorically, according… Keep Reading

Thirteen Dems Join GOP to Kill Sanders Resolution on Canadian Drug Imports

Twelve Republicans and thirteen Democrats crossed party lines in a 52-46 vote against prodding Congress toward examining the allowance of pharmaceutical imports from Canada. The non-binding resolution failed last night amid a series of regular procedural considerations–a so-called “vote-a-rama.” Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) sponsored the measure. The move was a blow for those seeking to ensure access to healthcare, as the Senate also approved of a resolution orienting Congress toward a repeal of Obamacare, in a 51-48 vote. Notable Democratic defections… Keep Reading

Trump Secretary of State Pick Compares Muslim Brotherhood to Al-Qaeda

Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State hit out at the Muslim Brotherhood in the opening statement that he delivered on Wednesday to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. At the onset of his confirmation hearing, Rex Tillerson called the group “an agent for radical Islam like al-Qaeda…and certain elements within Iran.” The assessment raises the possibility that the Trump administration will not eschew the sort of Islamophobia and authoritarianism that Trump himself promoted during the presidential campaign. Republican advisers and lawmakers have, in recent years,… Keep Reading

Trump’s Top Prosecutor Sessions Considers Pushing Christian Fundamentalist Laws

Amid the confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s choice to be the next Attorney General, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) bemoaned how critics on the left were characterizing the selection. Hatch said that the nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), was not too far on the right to merit consideration. He then got Sessions to commit to the possibility of enforcing anti-obscenity laws with renewed vigor. “It was part of the Department of Justice for a long time and I would consider that,” Sessions said, when asked by… Keep Reading

DOJ Warns Problems Remain at for-Profit Prison that Hosted 2012 Riot, as Trump Looks Set to Boost Corporate Prison Industry

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog said Tuesday that a privately-run federal prison in Mississippi is still plagued by the same systemic problems that preceded a deadly riot at the site in May 2012. An investigation published by the agency’s Inspector General concluded that the Natchez-based facility, run by a company now called CoreCivic, has neglected to address the prisons’s shortcomings, since the incident. “Four years after the riot, we were deeply concerned to find that the facility was plagued by the same significant deficiencies in… Keep Reading

If Dodd-Frank Survives Trump, Wells Fargo Might Not: Scandal-Plagued Bank Fails Second “Living Will” Test

Wells Fargo has been temporarily banned by federal regulators from establishing foreign branches and acquiring non-bank entities. The troubled Wall Street behemoth was slapped with the penalties under the Dodd-Frank Act, for failing to submit adequate bankruptcy resolution plans–for the second time this year. If Wells does not produce sufficient plans by the end of March 2017, the ban will be extended and the bank will be subject to caps on its non-bank and broker-deal assets—limiting the firm to the amount it owned at the… Keep Reading

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