Friday, July 14, 2017
Hannity to Senate GOP on ObamaCare repeal: 'Get this thing over the finish line'
Fox News' Sean Hannity took aim
Thursday night at Republican senators who expressed skepticism of or
opposition to the revised health care measure that would repeal and
replace ObamaCare.
"You made us a promise, the
American people, for seven years. You guaranteed you’d end ObamaCare,"
the "Hannity" host said. "You assured all of us you would develop a
health care bill that actually worked for the American people. Stop your
whining, roll up your sleeves, get to work, put your egos aside, get it
done."
"You were elected to lead, make tough decisions,"
Hannity added. "Get this thing over the finish line and do it for the
American people ... They didn’t elect you to capitulate and whine and
complain and fall down on your face."In a blistering mini-monologue, Hannity singled out Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine, both of whom had criticized the bill in recent days. Collins went so far as to promise that she would vote against a motion to bring the bill to the Senate floor for debate.
"These are the same pathetic, weak Republicans, spineless Republican senators [who] vowed to completely repeal and replace ObamaCare," Hannity noted. "They said, 'give us the House in 2010,' 'give us the Senate in 2014,' 'give us the presidency in 2016, we’ll get this done.'"
"If you can’t replace it, then do what you said," he added. "Repeal it! You have no excuses left."
Trump travel ban: Hawaii judge expands list of relatives exempted from order
IDIOT |
A federal judge in Hawaii on Thursday expanded the
list of “bona fide” family relationships needed by people seeking new
visas from six majority Muslim countries to avoid President Trump’s
travel ban.
U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson
ordered the U.S. not to enforce the travel ban on grandparents,
grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces,
nephews and cousins of people in the U.S.
"Common sense, for instance, dictates that close
family members be defined to include grandparents," Watson said in his
ruling. "Indeed grandparents are the epitome of close family members."The travel ban affects those trying to enter the U.S. from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen.
Hawaii Attorney General Douglas S. Chin applauded the ruling late Thursday, saying the court makes it clear that the administration “may not ignore the scope of the partial travel ban as it sees fit.”
"Family members have been separated and real people have suffered enough,” he said.
Last month, the Supreme Court exempted visa applicants from the ban if they could prove a “bona fide” relationship with a U.S. citizen or entity. The White House had previously said the ban would not apply to citizens of six countries with a parent, spouse, fiancĂ©, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or sibling already in the U.S.
Hawaii said grandparents, uncles and aunts and other close relatives should also be exempted. The state asked Watson, who blocked the president's revised travel ban in March, to clarify that those family members are also exempt from the ban.
Watson rejected Hawaii's request, saying the state should go to the U.S. Supreme Court since it was seeking to clarify that court's requirement of a "bona fide relationship."
Hawaii appealed Watson's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the court said Watson's ruling was not appealable under federal judicial laws. The 9th Circuit, however, said Watson had the authority to interpret the Supreme Court's order and block any violation of it. Hawaii then renewed its last week request with Watson in a different form.
"Because plaintiffs now seek such injunctive relief, the court reaches the merits of their request, consistent with the Ninth Circuit's guidance," Watson wrote.
Pres. Trump Grants Afghan Girls Robotics Team Visas
Teenagers from the Afghanistan Robotic House, a private training institute, practice in Herat, Afghanistan. (AHMAD SEIR/AP) |
President Donald Trump stepped in and granted a group of Afghan girls visas so they can compete in an international robotics competition next week.
The teenagers were denied access to the U.S. under the president’s executive order on travel after making multiple trips to their country’s capital depsite the dangers of the war-torn region.
The State Department worked with Homeland Security on this specific case.
Once the issue reached the president, he urged a reversal of the initial decision to deny the girls temporary access to the U.S.
Officials say the administration could not be prouder of these young female scientists.
Another team from Gambia is also being granted visas to attend the event put on by an organization know as First Global.
Senate Republicans Release Latest Health Care Draft
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington Thursday, July 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) |
Senate republicans release the latest version of their health care bill, including several key changes in hopes of garnering party support.
The bill includes a revision from Senator Ted Cruz, allowing insurers to offer cheaper “bare-bones” policies.
In order to do so, insurance companies would have to sell at least one plan that meets Obamacare rules, but then could sell plans that do not meet current health care regulations.
Additionally, the new version keeps some of Obamacare’s taxes, increases funding for the opioid crisis, and would allow people to use tax credits on catastrophic health plans.
It also increases funding for states in order to bring down premiums.
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Chinese trade with North Korea jumped more than 10 percent in first half of year, official says
China’s trade with sanctions-riddled North Korea increased more than 10 percent in the first half of the year from last year, a Chinese official said Wednesday.
China’s customs spokesman Huang Songping said China’s trade with North Korea rose by 10.5 percent to $2.55 billion in the first six months of 2017. While imports from North Korea dropped 13.2 percent to $880 million in the period, exports to North Korea rose 29.1 percent to $1.67 billion, Huang said.
"As neighbors, China and North Korea maintain normal business and trade exchanges," he said.Huang also said the exports were driven by textile products and other traditional goods not on the U.N. embargo list.
Being its largest ally, Beijing has been under pressure from the U.S. to do more to rein in North Korea, according to Reuters.
President Trump denounced China’s trade with North Korea last week, saying it grew almost 40 percent in the first quarter and questioned how much it was doing to help counter the growing threat from Pyongyang.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that recent unsealed court filings show that the White House is ready to constrict cash flow to North Korea. The Justice Department pointed to “offshore U.S. dollar accounts” associated with a handful of companies linked to Chinese national Chi Yungpeng.
The Justice Department said the Chi’s network hid transactions which helped fund North Korea’s military and arms programs, the newspaper reported. While the network is not under U.S. sanctions, analysts believe can be cutoff the same way a separate Chinese firm last year.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is also said to be preparing to unilaterally tighten sanctions on North Korea.
The U.S. circulated a draft resolution that would impose new sanctions on North Korea following its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, two U.N. diplomats told the Associated Press on Monday.
The resolution has been circulated to China, as well as the three other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – Russia, Britain and France, the diplomats said.
Sanders draws Democratic challenger tired of his 'Robin Hood shtick'
Bernie Sanders’ enduring popularity across Vermont for decades has scared off political challengers, but the independent senator is facing competition in his 2018 reelection bid from a Democrat who thinks his “Robin Hood shtick” must end.
“It’s shamefully arrogant when you’re more interested in being a celebrity than honoring your progressive agenda,” challenger Jon Svitavsky told Fox News. “This wonderful, political ‘I am Robin Hood shtick’ can only last for so long.”
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An advocate for the homeless who claims to have some name recognition in the state, Svitavsky not only questions the sitting senator's commitment to Vermont voters but argues he used and undermined the Democratic Party for his 2016 presidential bid.
'He’s not a Democrat. That was a joke.'Svitavsky contends Sanders joined Democrats to seek their nomination, then damaged frontrunner Hillary Clinton enough to give then-candidate Donald Trump the edge in the general election -- only to once again become an independent.
- Jon Svitavsky, on Sanders' White House bid
He also suggests an FBI investigation into a commercial real estate loan orchestrated by the senator’s wife, Jane Sanders, has left Sanders vulnerable.
While his curmudgeonly manner has long alienated Capitol Hill colleagues, Sanders, a self-styled champion of the poor and middle class, continues to be immensely popular among voters.
A Morning Consult survey released Tuesday showed him with the highest approval rating among all 100 senators, 75 percent, based on interviews with registered voters in their respective states.
However, the poll was conducted from early April to mid-June, largely before reports of the loan started attracting national attention.
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There also have been unsubstantiated allegations that Sanders, now seeking a third Senate term, used his political office to either get the loan approved or at least OK’d swiftly.
The senator, in various interviews, has called such claims an "absolute lie" while describing the criticism of his wife as "pathetic" and political.
The self-described democratic socialist also has more than $3.8 million cash on hand in Senate accounts, according to OpenSecrets.org., which only adds to Svitavsky’s complications.
Svitavsky hopes to win the state’s Democratic primary and challenge Sanders in the general election.
In an interview Tuesday, he sounded undeterred by Sanders’ popularity and war chest, saying that his decades-long efforts in opening homeless shelters across the state has given him standing among voters.
“I think that resonates,” he said. “And I’m not unknown here. People might say I don’t have political experience but not that I’m insincere. … I’m far more liberal than Bernie, far more committed to making things happen.”
Svitavsky says he's getting strong grassroots support from across the state and country -- including a call from a guy who used to play with folk-singing legend Pete Seeger.
The Sanders campaign has declined to comment on Svitavsky’s bid.
Before Sanders was elected to the Senate in 2006, he served 19 years in the House and eight as mayor of Burlington. He was reelected to the Senate in 2012 with 71 percent of the vote, as proof of his political strength.
There has been no indication that the 75-year-old Sanders intends to retire before next year. And one source close to his 2016 presidential campaign recently told Fox News he wants to run for president again in 2020.
Right now, Sanders is still among the leading voices for national Democrats, even taking the spotlight from Democrat National Committee Chairman Tom Perez during a recent, multi-state tour that attempted to bridge the party’s lingering Clinton-Sanders divide.
“He’s not a Democrat. That was a joke,” said Svitavsky, who argues the Democratic Party was outfoxed by Sanders but is now coming to its senses. Svitavsky cannot officially file to run until next spring.
Sanders and his White House bid captured the political interests of tens of millions of voters -- particularly younger Americans -- with promises of a free college education, universal health care and legalized marijuana.
However, Svitavsky largely dismissed those promises as unrealistic because they would be too expensive for taxpayers, even if Congress approved them.
“This cannot go on forever,” he said.
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