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Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

U.S. Military No Longer Cool With Narcotics Labs in Afghanistan, Bombs Them

The US Commander in Afghanistan announced several airstrikes on Sunday against opium production facilities, marking a shift in the Pentagon’s approach toward the booming illicit drug industry in the country. Army Gen. John Nicholson reported that roughly ten opium laboratories in the Northern Helmand province were destroyed in the barrage. The purported aim of the strikes was to cut off Taliban insurgents’ revenue streams. The Washington Post noted the assault was the “first significant use” of new authorities President Trump bestowed upon the Pentagon, giving military… Keep Reading

Corporate Tax Cut Bill Clears House

A massive overhaul of the US tax code that showers benefits on business owners and high income earners passed out of the House of Representatives on Thursday. The measure was approved mostly along party lines in a 227-205 vote, shortly after President Donald Trump arrived on Capitol Hill for a meeting with Republican lawmakers. Not a single Democrat supported the bill. Thirteen Republicans voted against it. During debate over the legislation, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accused her colleagues on the other side of… Keep Reading

Inspectors General Face Fewer Roadblocks Under Trump, Actually

Government watchdogs testified before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday and reported something unexpected: their jobs have gotten easier during the Trump era. Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz told lawmakers on Wednesday that a years-long standoff over access to records has thawed thanks to legislation signed into law in the waning days of the Obama administration. “The IG community’s ability to continue its important work was greatly enhanced by the passage of the IG Empowerment Act,” Horowitz testified. The legislation upended a DOJ Office… Keep Reading

Leahy Accuses White House of Acting like a “Paranoid Totalitarian Government” on Cuba

Under new restrictions announced by the Trump administration, US travelers to Cuba will now have to be escorted by a certified tour guide who will prevent them from patronizing scores of restaurants and hotels on the island. The regulations unveiled on Wednesday, further chip away at diplomatic ties to Havana forged by President Obama. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking member of the State Department Appropriations subcommittee, described the move as “reminiscent of the Cold War and what one would expect of a paranoid totalitarian government.” The… Keep Reading

Trump’s Medicaid Chief Endorses Work Requirement Schemes

States that want to force Medicaid recipients to get a job before qualifying for healthcare have an ally in the Trump administration, according to remarks made on Tuesday by the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Speaking to the National Association of Medicaid Directors, Seema Verma gave a nod to the several states across the country that had hoped to enact Medicaid work requirements only to be shot down by the Obama administration. “Those days are over,” Verma said in prepared… Keep Reading

Watchdog: Medicare Services Drastically Underestimating Opioid Risks Among Seniors

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) called out the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) for not properly gauging the threat of opioid abuse by the elderly. More than 727,000 individuals in the Medicare Prescription Drug program are at risk of opioid addiction, according to some government measures, yet CMS estimated that the at-risk population was only a sliver of that, according to a GAO report released Monday, GAO blamed insufficient data collection at CMS for that massive gap in oversight. “Without expanding and enhancing its data collection… Keep Reading

GOP Tax Plan Drops, Revealing Big League Breaks for Multinational Corporations, Millionaires, and Billionaires

House Republicans introduced a $1.5 trillion tax cut proposal on Thursday that would drastically reduce current obligations for some of the wealthiest individuals and firms in the country. The so-called Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which has received an endorsement from President Trump, includes tax reductions for most Americans. But benefits fall heaviest on entities at the higher end of the wealth spectrum. Pre-deduction corporate tax rates would be permanently slashed from 35 percent to 20 percent. Other types of businesses, like partnerships and S-corps,… Keep Reading

In Wake of NYC Attack, Trump Moves to Shut Down Immigration, Reboot Gitmo

President Trump seized on Tuesday’s truck attack in New York City to propose sweeping immigration reforms, and floated the idea of putting new inmates in Guantanamo Bay. Ahead of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump spoke briefly to reporters about the assault in lower Manhattan, which left 8 people dead and injured more than a dozen. The President described the suspect in custody, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, as an “animal,” and hit out at the program Saipov reportedly used in 2010 to come to the US, from Uzbekistan. Trump stated… Keep Reading

US Military Now Classifying Key Data About Afghan Army Strength

An oversight office charged with keeping tabs on reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan reported this week that the Pentagon is withholding from the public critical information about the US mission in the war-torn country. In a quarterly report released on Monday, The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said that certain data about the Afghan army and police was, for the first time, shielded from public view. “The newly classified or restricted data include important measures of Afghan National Defense and Security Force (ANDSF) performance… Keep Reading

Trump’s Transgender Troop Ban Halted in Court

A federal judge ruled that President Trump’s executive order barring military service by openly transgender individuals likely violates the constitution. The order came down on Monday from a District Court in Washington. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked implementation of the President’s directive, which was first issued via a series of tweets in July. Plaintiffs against the administration included transgender individuals currently serving in the military who argued their career, family, and in some cases, medical care were put in jeopardy by the ban. They had argued… Keep Reading

Climate Change Poised to Kill People, Break Industries, and Budgets, GAO Warns

The US government has incurred hundreds of billions of dollars in costs associated with climate change, and damages will increase significantly in the future, according to a new watchdog report. In a study published Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) attempted to measure, for the first time, the economic and budgeting consequences of rising temperatures and extreme weather phenomenon. It found staggering cost increases over the next century in several economic sectors, including healthcare, which could take a half trillion-dollar hit due to more heat-related… Keep Reading

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