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Author: Mary Chastain

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Mary Chastain

Mary is the resident libertarian. She covers stories in every vertical, but her favorite thing to do is take on the media. She saw its bias against the right when she was a socialist.

Mary loves the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks, tennis, cats, Oxford comma, Diet Coke, and needlework.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 25, 2018 53 Comments
Fox News has reported that the DOJ inspector general has announced that they have located the missing text messages:
Text messages from a critical five-month period between Trump-bashing FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who both served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, have been located, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz has told Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
*This is a breaking story. MORE TO COME.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 24, 2018 36 Comments
Text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page came to light last month due to the anti-Trump rhetoric involved. Now the FBI claims that the department "failed to preserve" five months of text messages between them. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) have sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to demand answers over the missing text messages between Strzok and Page.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 24, 2018 38 Comments
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) needs to snap back into reality. Look, the Democrats do not have control of Congress and Donald Trump is our president and it looks like Schumer still isn't ready to accept the fact that he doesn't have power. Even after he failed with the government shutdown he thinks he has negotiating power when he decided to take wall funding off the table. Trump reminded "Cryin' Chuck Schumer" that in order to receive protections for DACA, a bill must have funding for a wall.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 23, 2018 27 Comments
There have been many times when I thought the Senate was getting too big for its britches, often forgetting that they are the second chamber and not the end all, be all of everything in the government. Basic civics teaches us that everything starts in the House of Representatives. The Senate has received a lot of backlash, especially the Democrats, due to a deal to stop the government shutdown. Now the House has added to the criticism, with House Democrats claiming that the Senate has screwed them with the deal and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise stating that the lawmakers are not bound by the deal.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 22, 2018 52 Comments
The Senate Democrats have reached a deal with the GOP majority to re-open the government after three days of a shutdown. From Politico:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) agreed to end the shutdown and fund the government through Feb. 8 while continuing to negotiate on immigration and spending matters. Without a broader deal, the Senate would take up legislation to protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants who are losing legal protections, as long as the government remains open.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 17, 2018 20 Comments
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina has told the state officials must redraw the congressional lines by next week after officials asked for a delay. Judges James Wynn, William Osteen, and W. Earl Britt explained in their ruling that officials "have failed to meet their 'heavy burden' in seeking extraordinary relief' of staying this Court's order."

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 15, 2018 17 Comments
Amazingly, we all didn't die when the FCC voted to rollback the net neutrality rules implemented during President Barack Obama's administration. Those who desperately want those regulations in place have not stopped fighting. Now they have chosen to place pressure on the states to save net neutrality.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 13, 2018 44 Comments
President Donald Trump may receive some competition for most tweet-happy politician! Apparently emoji-filled tweets aren't enough for Chelsea Manning because she has filed papers to run for the Senate in Maryland. From The Washington Post:
Chelsea Manning, the transgender former Army private who was convicted of passing sensitive government documents to Wikileaks, has filed to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, according to federal election filings.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 12, 2018 60 Comments
The Republican field for Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake's Senate continues to grow as Rep. Martha McSally has officially joined the race. She joins former controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Arizona State Senator Kelli Ward.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 12, 2018 30 Comments
What the heck was wrong with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday? I planned to write up one set of comments, but I'm glad I didn't because another set of comments came up today that received criticism from her #2 in the House. These comments included slamming the companies that have used their savings from the tax reform bill to give raises and bonuses to their employees. Then she criticized the fact that five white guys have started to work on a DACA bill and asked if they wanted to open a hamburger stand, which Minority Steny Hoyer (D-MD) called offensive.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 12, 2018 6 Comments
Politico has reported that President Donald Trump has decided to extend the Iran nuclear deal. He stated, though, this will be his last waiver "unless the deal is strengthened by Congress and European allies." Politico continued:
Trump faced a Friday deadline to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran the U.S suspended as part of a 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated with Tehran by the Obama administration and five other nations.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 11, 2018 40 Comments
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has introduced a bill that would provide legal status for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, funds for a border wall, and immigration reforms. Goodlatte, along with Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Raul Labrador (R-ID), and Martha McSally (R-AZ), provided details in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal:
A priority of our legislation is to increase the security of the southern border. Our bill would provide $30 billion to build a wall, to invest in new technology, and to improve, modernize and expand ports of entry. It would add boots on the ground: an additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents and 5,000 Customs and Border Protection officers. It would provide for the construction of additional ports of entry and a full implementation of the biometric entry-exit system, while authorizing the National Guard to provide aviation and intelligence support.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 10, 2018 7 Comments
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced that the regime has squashed the uprising that took place the last few weeks. The protests left 22 people dead and 3,700 arrested. Remember, people used social media and the internet to tell the world about the protests since Iran doesn't have a free press and the regime told state media not to report on it. To stop them, the regime shut down the internet. Yes, that helped them cut off access for the world to see the protests, but it also wrecked havoc on those who did not even participate.
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