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Sam Sacks - page 50

Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

Lawmakers on Dynamic Scoring: A “Holy Grail” for Voodoo Tax Cut Economics

Number crunchers on Capitol Hill have taken a new approach to scoring legislation—one that’s likely being abused to justify more tax cuts, Democrats charged on Tuesday during a contentious hearing. The back-and-forth over how to properly estimate the cost of proposed laws occurred within the irregularly-assembled bicameral Joint Economic Committee, where Ranking Member Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) accused Republicans of using “smoke and mirrors to institutionalize ideology.” “The dynamic scoring rule serves only one purpose, it helps Republicans reach their Holy Grail, rigging the rules so… Keep Reading

Middle Class Economics? Homeownership Reaches New Historic Low

The rate of homeownership in the United States fell last quarter to the lowest it has been in decades, continuing a trend that has caused financial regulators noticeable anxiety. The Census Bureau said Tuesday that only 63.5 percent of Americans owned homes in the second quarter of 2015, on a seasonally-adjusted basis. The proportion is down from 63.8 percent in the first quarter, and has now fallen for seven consecutive quarters, by a total of 1.5 percentage points. The seasonally-adjusted rate had not dipped below 63.7… Keep Reading

Inspectors General Unite Against Security State Secrecy

A controversial legal opinion from the Department of Justice has inspectors general across multiple agencies concerned that their independence has been eroded. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General released a statement on Monday, showing solidarity with DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowtiz, following a recent decision by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to withhold certain documents from internal watchdogs. “OLC’s memorandum includes troubling language suggesting that other provisions of law may justify agencies withholding other information needed to conduct vigorous… Keep Reading

White House Focuses on Practicality—Not Morality—Of Lifting Military’s Transgender Service Ban

As the Pentagon embarks on studying its ban on transgender service people, the White House declined to offer a full-throated defense of transgender rights, and instead focused on procedure. Asked directly during Thursday’s press briefing if the president believes that transgender people have a right to serve in the military, press secretary Josh Earnest said that he “welcomed the decision” by the Defense Department to conduct a review of current policy, but stopped short of affirming equal treatment. “The key here is implementing them,” Earnest… Keep Reading

Rep. Conyers Alleges Broken Promises As House GOP Readies “Sanctuary Cities” Legislation

On the same day that the House is scheduled to vote on legislation that would cut federal funding to cities accused of providing a safe-haven to undocumented immigrants, a Judiciary subcommittee debated the same issue, prompting the top Democrat on the panel to accuse Republican leadership of running around standard procedure. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) called it “unfortunate” that Thursday’s hearing, titled “Sanctuary Cities: a Threat to Public Safety,” was scheduled “only a few hours” ahead of votes on a Republican-backed bill that would require… Keep Reading

Relinquishing Control Of Gitmo Still A Non-Starter In US-Cuba Talks

President Obama might be running out of time to fulfill a 2008 campaign promise to close the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay. One thing he’s not in any rush to do, however, is give control of the land that Gitmo sits on back to Cuba. “We’ve been clear that we’re not at this stage at all interested in changing the nature of our understanding and our arrangements on Guantanamo,” US National Security Advisor Susan Rice told reporters Wednesday. She was responding to comments made by… Keep Reading

“A Shameful Record!” California Dem Laments Scarce Internet Access for Native Americans

The lack of broadband access in to rural areas and tribal lands briefly took center stage on Capitol Hill Wednesday, as Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) described the struggles of Americans on the wrong side of the digital divide. “We’re 24th in the world,” Rep. Eshoo said during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, referring to a United Nations study on high-speed connectivity. “I think that a good part of that number is a representation of Native Americans in reservations in our country,” she added,… Keep Reading

Drones, War On Terror A Boon For Pentagon’s Unregulated Satellite Contractors

Far-flung War on Terror operations and the drone program they spawned led to a unique type of illicit waste, as the Pentagon scrambled throughout the past 14 years to acquire satellite communications technology. Offering a new analysis of a long-running problem in the wake of 9/11, the Government Accountability Office this week published a report detailing how the Defense Department’s many agencies have individually sought to satisfy their growing demand for SATCOM capabilities in the private sector—a violation of federal regulations. The GAO specifically cited… Keep Reading

District Sentinel Radio Episode 6: Hawks vs. Diplomats

On the heels of a nuclear agreement with Iran, foreign policy journalist and contributor to The Nation, Ali Gharib, is on air to talk reaction to it here in the United States and in Iran. Also, the 2 Sams talk the future of The District Sentinel.   Keep Reading

Special Forces Facing No End to “Unprecedented Levels Of Stress” in War on Terror

The decade-and-a-half long war on terror is taking a significant toll on the nation’s best-trained soldiers and the Pentagon doesn’t have any plans to relieve them, a new government study concluded. The number of Special Operations Forces (SOF) deployed weekly has more than doubled since 2001, adding pressure to an already difficult job, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO cited testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in May by special forces commander Gen. Joseph L. Votel,… Keep Reading

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