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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 December 31, 2017 9 Comments
Protests have grown strong in Iran these past three days, reminiscent of the 2009 Green Movement, as people have grown tired of the ruling regime's oppression. From The Wall Street Journal:
Antigovernment demonstrations broke out for a third day across Iran on Saturday, extending some of the country’s most widespread street protests in nearly a decade, with protesters demanding an end to the Islamic Republic regime and the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Video shot from inside Iran and shared with The Wall Street Journal suggest large rallies at dozens of cities across the country.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 29, 2017 69 Comments
The Democrats hope to push through legislation to protect those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, but President Donald Trump made it known today that will not happen unless there is funding for a wall and changes to our immigration system.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 29, 2017 0 Comments
On Thursday night, a fire raged through a building in the Bronx, which killed 12 people, including four children. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city's deadliest fire in more than a quarter-century likely started because of children playing with a stove in a first floor apartment.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 28, 2017 10 Comments
Yesterday I blogged about the joyless and humorless fans of failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton after they went off the rails because Vanity Fair had the audacity to suggest their saint give up politics and maybe pick up knitting. Unfortunately, Vanity Fair has caved and apologized for the video. Of course President Donald Trump didn't miss the opportunity to attack the publication on Twitter.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 26, 2017 8 Comments
The Democrats honestly believe they can take back the House of Representatives in 2018 despite needing 25 seats. Who knows if that will happen, but it's a possibility they could put a dent into the GOP majority. After all, back in October, the Cook Political Report (CPR) changed ratings in 12 districts, showing vulnerability for the GOP. Earlier today I blogged about Politico's list of top Senate races to watch. The publication did the same for the House and chose 10 of the important battles.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 26, 2017 15 Comments
Last Thursday, the United Nations (UN) voted to condemn America's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and decision to move its embassy to the city. Professor Jacobson pointed out in a follow up post that the vote gave President Donald Trump to turn that loss into a win with money. The UN loves to crap on America, even though we host the UN and contribute a ton of money into the organization that has basically become useless. That is exactly what Trump has done: $285 million budget cut to the UN. There may be more cuts to come, too.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 26, 2017 61 Comments
The GOP now only holds a one seat majority in the Senate since Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore, who faced numerous sexual misconduct allegations, in the Alabama Senate special election. That loss made the 2018 elections even more crucial for the GOP. Is it possible for the party to keep or even add to their majority? Or will Democrats pounce and take over? Politico listed these races as the ones to watch in the new year.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 23, 2017 18 Comments
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has decided to retire by March as he has come under fire from Republicans in Congress due to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russia. McCabe took over the FBI after Trump fired James Comey in May, but he has surfaced in the news recently after he supposedly appeared in anti-Trump texts between two FBI employees. He spent seven hours in front of the House Intelligence Committee earlier this week, frustrating Republicans with his non-answers.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 22, 2017 10 Comments
The United Nations Security Council unanimously has imposed new sanctions on North Korea. Yes, unanimously, which means North Korea's allies China and Russia even voted yes. From Bloomberg:
Specifically, the new resolution cuts deliveries of products including diesel and kerosene by almost 90 percent, to the equivalent of 500,000 barrels per year starting Jan. 1. In September, the council had already demanded imports to be cut to 2 million barrels from 4.5 million barrels. The new resolution would also cap crude imports at current levels of about 4 million barrels annually.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 22, 2017 31 Comments
The House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) grilled FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for seven hours over the dossier published against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and the FBI's investigation into then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server. Unfortunately, he could not give them much information and actually contradicted testimony of former witnesses, which has led the committee to issue new subpoenas.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 22, 2017 14 Comments
President Donald Trump will sign the tax bill before he leaves for his Christmas vacation. At the last minute, Trump allowed in pool reporters. Trump will also sign the continuing resolution that will keep the government afloat through January 19.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 21, 2017 7 Comments
USA Today has dropped another article on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as the publication continues its investigation into the department. This investigation discovered that a VA policy has allowed hospitals to hire health care providers with revoked licenses, but it's illegal to do so thanks to a 1999 law:
The VA issued national guidelines in 2002 giving local hospitals discretion to hire clinicians after “prior consideration of all relevant facts surrounding” any revocations and as long as they still had a license in one state. But a federal law passed in 1999 bars the VA from employing any health care worker whose license has been yanked by any state.
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