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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 19, 2017 5 Comments
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has overseen what he aimed for his entire political career: passage of a tax reform bill. The Senate will vote on it tonight and if it goes through, it will land on President Donald Trump's desk. If he signs it then the GOP will have its first major agenda victory of 2017 after failed attempts to repeal Obamacare. This bill includes language to repeal the Obamacare individual mandate. But it looks like the House will have to revote on Wednesday since Democrats said three provisions in the bill violate Senate rules.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 19, 2017 20 Comments
The Senate Banking Committee has rejected President Donald Trump's nominee Scott Garrett to run the US Export-Import (EX-IM) Bank after two Republicans defected. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Sen. Mark Rounds (R-SD) sided with the Democrats, which has the bank that "boosts financing for U.S. exports by large and small companies" without a leader.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 18, 2017 12 Comments
The White House has unveiled President Donald Trump's national security strategy. It has four main points: Protect America, promote our prosperity, preserve peace through strength, and advance our influence. But one of the biggest points is the return of using "jihadist" and "Sharia," language President Barack Obama's administration tried to avoid.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 18, 2017 33 Comments
Anyone else saw this coming? Yeah, me too. After a seventh female accused Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) of sexual misconduct, Democrat senators finally called for him to resign. The number skyrocketed after word got out that he would resign. On December 7, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) announced he would resign from the Senate after numerous females accused him of sexual misconduct. He didn't give an exact date, just said in the coming weeks. Now four senators have urged Franken to reconsider, including some who called for him to step down.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 17, 2017 7 Comments
As we all know, it's hard to receive information from North Korea, which leads experts to view photos that include dictator Kim Jong Un's most inner circle. That circle once included Vice Marshall Hwang Pyong So, once viewed as the hermit kingdom's "second most powerful figure." Reuters reported Hwang as missing in November, as South Korea's National Intelligence Service said the dictator had him "'punished' for having an 'impure' attitude" about Kim.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 17, 2017 32 Comments
As Venezuela collapses, stories have leaked out about the hunger in the country. But the one thing the socialist government has guarded the most are the malnutrition deaths, especially children. We all know it's happening, but the details remain dark. The New York Times investigated the effects of Venezuela's collapse on children and it's heartbreaking. It will make you cry, but the world needs to know this is going on. Children with severe malnutrition overwhelm emergency rooms across the nation since there is hardly any food.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 15, 2017 11 Comments
The drama is almost over as the Republicans have unveiled their tax bill. They are also closer to victory since Sen. Bob Corker (TN) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) have decided to back the bill, leaving the Senate with only two undecided Republicans. From The New York Times:
On Friday, as Republicans released details about the final bill, it became clear that the agreement would provide deep and longstanding tax cuts for businesses, while providingslightly more generous tax breaks to low- and middle-income Americans byreducing some benefits for higher earners.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 15, 2017 5 Comments
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), both of which said they would vote on the tax bill, have both come out as a yes for the bill only a hours before its scheduled to come out. The GOP now has zero senators declaring a no on the vote, but there are still a few undecided.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 15, 2017 24 Comments
Top Republicans in Congress continue to scrutinize the anti-President Donald Trump texts between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The two officials were romantically involved and worked on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. He kicked Strzok off the team over the summer due to these texts. But a specific text caught the eye of the top Republicans. In this one, it mentions an "insurance policy" against Trump's presidency and a man named Andy, which they have assumed means FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 14, 2017 19 Comments
The GOP's vision of passing a tax bill in the Senate is slowing fading as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has threatened to vote no on it unless the bill expands the child tax credit. From The Washington Post:
“I understand that this is a process of give and take, especially when there’s only a couple of us fighting for it, the leverage is lessened,” Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thursday in the Senate. “But given all the other changes made in the tax code leading into it, I can’t in good conscience support it unless we are able to increase [the child tax credit], and there’s ways to do it and we’ll be very reasonable about it.”
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