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Sam Knight - page 63

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

Obama Releases Hold on Military Aid to Gen. Sisi as Egypt Considers Yemen Invasion

President Obama is loosening restrictions on $1.3 billion in annual military aid to the junta government in Egypt as reports circulate that Cairo is preparing to target Iranian-backed forces in a ground invasion of Yemen. The White House is lifting a hold on heavy weaponry, including a prohibition on fighter jets and tanks, in place since 2013, when Egypt’s incumbent leader, Gen. Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, overthrew the country’s only democratically elected leader, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The White House has not declared Egypt compliant with human… Keep Reading

Bureau of Prisons Demanded Whistleblower Work in Jail Cell

A special prosecutor has stopped retaliation against a whistleblower committed directly under the nose of the Justice Department’s internal watchdog. The US Office of Special Counsel announced Tuesday morning that in November it spared Bureau of Prison privatization field administrator Linda Thomas from being forced to work in a converted prison cell after she internally raised concerns about BOP operations. By the middle of last year, Thomas had spoken to the Justice Department Office of Inspector General to alert it about “an alleged abuse of management… Keep Reading

Unanimous Consent “Vote-a-rama” Roll Calls Hint at Path Forward for 114th Congress

The Senate completed an annual series of symbolic “Vote-a-rama” budget roll calls early Friday morning, giving hints at reforms and policy tweaks that could pass the 114th Congress. Out of the 58 “deficit neutral reserve fund” legislative placeholder amendments attached to the budget, senators approved of five by unanimous consent. Voting on the amendments started Tuesday. The purely domestic measures to pass the sideshow without opposition were Federal Water Pollution Control Act tweaks proposed by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), a bill aimed at strengthening veterans’ healthcare… Keep Reading

Senate Republicans Symbolically Defy Leaders on Paid Sick Leave

The Senate bucked majority leadership on Thursday to pass a symbolic vote in favor of paid sick days. In defiance of Senate Budget Committee chair Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Republicans joined Democrats to to approve of the resolution 61-39. The amendment to establish a “deficit neutral reserve fund” for paid sick time, proposed by Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), came amid an annual theatric series of budget resolutions—the creatively named “Vote-a-rama.” Politico described the yearly string of votes as a… Keep Reading

“Better to be an Enemy of the United States”: McCain Rages At Limited U.S. Support for Saudi Attack on Yemen

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday bemoaned the lack of US involvement in planning and assisting Saudi Arabia’s newly-launched military campaign in Yemen. The head of the Armed Services Committee claimed that the fundamentalist government’s last-minute outreach to Washington about the attack on Iranian-backed groups “authenticates” the theory that “some people think it’s better to be an enemy of the United States than a friend.” McCain made the remarks while chairing a hearing, in a back-and-forth with Gen. Lloyd Austin, the leader of US Central Command. “Isn’t… Keep Reading

GOP Stops Warren Effort to Pass Student Debt Relief with Budget

Republicans foiled a bid led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to attach student debt relief to a budget resolution, in a Wednesday vote that was split strictly along party lines. The amendment would have permitted students who opened lines of credits backed by the Treasury Department to refinance debt at lower interest rates. It would have also been paid for by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. “The cost of the amendment is fully offset by requiring millionaires to pay at least a 30 percent… Keep Reading

In Move to Butter Up Congress, Afghan President Flips “Graveyard of Empires” Metaphor on its Head

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani attempted to ingratiate himself to US officials on Wednesday by flipping the “Graveyard of Empires” metaphor—a succinct reminder that global powers have often found themselves bogged down in military campaigns in Afghanistan to the point of collapse. During a Wednesday address to a joint session of Congress, Ghani said that the US is on the domestic side of the foreign invasion dynamic; that the government in Kabul—installed by Washington in 2001—and American troops are in a joint grassroots fight against outside… Keep Reading

Keep Watching The Skies: Pentagon Official Calls for Better Outer Space Intelligence

After Edward Snowden’s disclosures publicly revealed the existence of a vast array of US spying methods and programs, one could be forgiven for thinking there aren’t more media for American intelligence services to tap. But some officials at the Pentagon are pointing out, and lamenting, the lack of American eyes and ears on the final frontier. Admiral Cecil Haney, leader of US Strategic Command, on Tuesday urged the Pentagon to develop a more advanced intelligence program to monitor activity in outer space. The head of… Keep Reading

Ted Cruz Set to Appear Alongside “Professional Hate Monger” in New Hampshire

A prominent Muslim civil rights group is calling on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to cancel his scheduled appearance this week alongside a man widely decried as a bigot. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Tuesday said the newly-announced Republican presidential candidate risks doing damage to his reputation by speaking alongside Robert Spencer, an author and director of the blog “Jihad Watch.” “If Senator Cruz believes that he can campaign for president while sharing center stage with a professional hate monger like Robert Spencer,… Keep Reading

Post-Tea Party Washington Dysfunction A Reason to Privatize, Says House G.O.P. Committee Chair

The complete dysfunction in Washington caused by conservatives’ obstinate approach to federal debt is a reason to sell part of the government itself to corporate interests, a Republican committee chair said Tuesday. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said that “a governance and financing structure that is broken beyond repair” should force the Federal Aviation Administration to privatize part of the nation’s air traffic control system. The appeal to sell off management of the system, Shuster said, does not result from “an indictment… Keep Reading

Chuck Grassley Faces More Pressure on Sentencing Reform Holdout

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) found himself on Tuesday facing off with another high profile opponent of his stubborn resistance to sentencing reform, as the President’s Deputy Attorney General nominee praised legislation held up by Grassley in committee. Sally Yates lauded the bill, citing her work experience as a US Attorney in Atlanta on a Justice Department pilot program. “I believe that the Smarter Sentencing Act, if passed, will make our country much safer,” she noted at a hearing that was more about… Keep Reading

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