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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 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.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 21, 2017 28 Comments
According to NBC News, Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors have started to ask FBI agents to hand over information on the infamous Uranium One deal that took place in 2010. President Barack Obama's administration allowed Russia's state atomic energy company Rosatom to purchase US uranium mining facilities. Evidence has surfaced that some of those involved donated millions to the Clinton Foundation. Who was secretary of state at the time? None other than failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 21, 2017 36 Comments
On Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump held a news conference on the White House lawn to celebrate the tax bill's passage through Congress. A group of GOP lawmakers joined him, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). Scott had a place right next to the president, which led HuffPo contributor Andy Ostroy to call him a prop used by Trump. Scott replied back that he helped write the bill and gather support for the bill. In other words, Scott's hard work is one reason why it passed.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 20, 2017 45 Comments
Federal Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who is accused of leading a standoff against the government in 2014. The trial includes his sons Ryan and Ammon and Montana militia leader Ryan Payne. Navarro "tentatively set a new trial date for February" and said that the prosecutors "willfully withheld critical and 'potentially exculpatory" evidence from the defense."
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