LABOR, ECONOMY & THE CLIMATE - page 12

A member of the Presidential Cabinet claimed that millions will lose healthcare coverage under Republican reform proposals due to “individual choice.” Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta made the assertion on Tuesday, when asked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) about the intention of Republicans’ healthcare plan. “We are asking how we can go forward as a nation with a bill that respects individual choice,” Acosta said before a Senate appropriations subcommittee. “Insurance is really important to people,” Murphy replied. “Do you think that the purpose of healthcare… Keep Reading

Only hours after it was revealed to the public, the Senate health care bill received a critical blow from the Republican Party’s right-flank, with four GOP Senators stating they won’t support it. The opposition among Republicans all but assures that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) expedited timeline to pass the legislation won’t work out. It also puts GOP plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in doubt. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is leading the opposition, alongside Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee… Keep Reading

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) painted internal criticism of her leadership as coming from the Republican Party. Pelosi made the characterization on Thursday amid a defense of her position, when asked by reporters about her future in the wake of recent special election losses. “I don’t think that any party should allow the opposite party to choose their leaders,” she said “I don’t think members of our party should pick up the line of the Republicans,” Pelosi also stated. “And that’s what my members… Keep Reading

President Trump’s top trade negotiator won’t seek to reject mechanisms in trade deals that offer legal recourse only to investors and multinational corporations. Robert Lighthizer said that the administration “would not commit that we’re going to get rid of” investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) panels, when asked on Wednesday by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “There is a negotiating objective, as I understand it, that we’re going to strengthen ISDS,” the US Trade Representative told Brown, possibly referring to negotiation authority legislation passed by Congress in… Keep Reading

The man charged with stewarding the nation’s public lands was called before a Senate panel on Tuesday, where he attempted to defend the Trump administration’s call for massive cuts to his own Interior Department, particularly programs for Native Americans. Secretary Ryan Zinke went to the mat for the White House’s austerity blueprint, despite receiving a stream of criticism from members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, over how the blueprint hits indigenous Americans particularly hard. Sen. Catherine Cortez Mastro (D-Nev.) grilled the Secretary over… Keep Reading

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is staking out this week as the time to obstruct Republicans’ still-secret health care legislation. Speaking to reporters, a Democratic aide revealed that beginning Monday night, Democrats would withhold consent on nearly every GOP request in the Senate. That tactic could slow down Senate business, including committee work. “If Republicans won’t relent and debate their healthcare bill in the open for the American people to see, then they shouldn’t expect business as usual in the Senate,” Sen. Schumer said.… Keep Reading

A case for Ronald Reagan conservatism, it wasn’t. The Republican head of a congressional panel offered substantive ideological criticism of President Trump’s proposal to privatize the US air traffic control system. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), chair of the House appropriations subcommittee on transportation, said on Thursday that he was concerned the Trump administration is working to establish an unaccountable “corporate monopoly.” “I’m concerned that the proposal would reduce or even eliminate, frankly, the public’s voice in something as critical as our national air traffic controller,” Diaz-Balart said.… Keep Reading

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving to further delay implementation of a rule that would limit the release of methane—a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to the warming of the planet. In a notice of proposed rulemaking set to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, the agency is seeking to grant fossil fuel drilling industries a two-year reprieve from complying with the regulation. The two-year delay would likely be followed by an action to completely eliminate the rule. Approved in 2016 by… Keep Reading

President Trump applied more pressure on an already rushed and secretive effort to pass a repeal of the Affordable Care Act before the Fourth of July recess. During a White House meeting Tuesday with a group of Senate Republicans, the President was asked what his timetable was for signing a new healthcare bill. “As soon as we can do it,” Trump responded. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has already set-up a fast track for a repeal bill. Last week he invoked Rule 14, which… Keep Reading

As Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin has significant influence over how tax policy is crafted and enforced. But he doesn’t think that sway should be used to ask for more contributions from modern day aristocrats. “The super-rich have plenty of gimmicks so that they don’t need to pay the estate tax,” Mnuchin said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing. He was asked by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) about Trump’s plans to fully abolish the tax. Mnuchin had hit out against the estate tax just beforehand, when asked… Keep Reading

Maryland and Washington, DC sued President Donald Trump on Monday, charging the Commander in Chief with improperly accepting foreign payments and gifts in violation of the US Constitution. Attorneys General in DC and Maryland–Karl Racine and Brian Frosh–brought the suit. It marks the first time ever that government bodies have sued a sitting President for betraying the Emoluments Clause. The plaintiffs allege that, despite handing off the Trump Organization to his sons two be managed, Trump is still very much involved in its operations, and, therefore, receiving… Keep Reading