Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Author: Mary Chastain

Profile photo

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 May 05, 2017 4 Comments
The U.S. economy received a huge boost in April after it added 211,000 jobs and unemployment dropped to 4.4%. That's the lowest unemployment number since May 2007. From Fox News:
In an encouraging sign, the number of part-time workers who'd prefer full-time jobs has reached a nine-year low. That trend suggests that many employers are meeting rising customer demand by shifting part-timers to full-time work. During much of the economic recovery, the number of part-timers remained unusually high, one reason why steady job growth failed to produce sharp gains in pay or consumer spending.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 05, 2017 16 Comments
Earlier this week, Puerto Rico, an American territory, sought "bankruptcy" protection after years of economic downfalls and facing $123 billion in bond and pension debts. So why did it take over two years for the island to address these problems? First off, it's not exactly bankruptcy since Puerto Rico is only a territory and the island cannot receive the same Chapter 9 protections like the states. Second, it was not until last year that Congress passed the Puerto Rico Debt Relief Bill:
The legislation would create a federal oversight board, appointed by Washington, with power to restructure Puerto Rico's unmanageable debt load.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 04, 2017 5 Comments
The Pentagon has stated that it wants to extend the ban on offshore drilling in the eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico only a day after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to expand offshore drilling. A.M. Kurta, the Pentagon's under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, stressed to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) "that military training and related exercises in the eastern Gulf, which borders Florida, necessitate a continuation of Congress's ban on drilling." The Defense Department has made it known over the years that while "there may be areas of potential oil and gas work in the Atlantic," officials believe the drilling "may not be compatible with defense operations and interests."

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 03, 2017 22 Comments
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy did the unthinkable for a Democrat: He admitted taxing the rich does not work. The state has witnessed "two high-end tax hikes in the past six years." So the wealthy in Connecticut have done what any sane person would choose to do: LEAVE. Now the state faces a $2.2 billion deficit as income state revenue continues to collapse. WTNH reported:
It’s happening because the state of Connecticut depends too much on its wealthy residents, and wealthy residents are leaving, and the ones that are staying are making less, or are not taking their profits from the stock market until they see what happens in Washington.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 02, 2017 20 Comments
President Donald Trump wants to push through his agenda no matter what it takes. On Tuesday, he proved that when he tweeted out that the Senate change the rules to eliminate the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster when it comes to a spending bill. The GOP in the Senate have put down their foot and gave the president a short answer: NO.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 01, 2017 5 Comments
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has announced his department wants to make a few changes to the school lunch programs that former First Lady Michelle Obama pushed through. The Wall Street Journal reported:
Schools, which receive federal funding for meal programs, won’t have to meet certain guidelines for whole grain, sodium and milk. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the decision comes after years of feedback from schools and food-service experts, who have faced challenges meeting meal regulations; and from students, some of whom have complained that the meals aren’t appetizing.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 01, 2017 19 Comments
On early Monday morning, the U.S. Appeals Court decided not to rehear a challenge to its decision to uphold the net neutrality rules, known as Title II, from former President Barack Obama. Its decision comes right after FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made it known he will continue with his plan to roll back these net neutrality rules. Obama's rules do not allow broadband users to slow or block "rivals' content." Netflix and Apple enjoy Obama's rules, but AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast cannot stand them because those companies want "to slow or even block the transmission of disfavored content."

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 28, 2017 40 Comments
Democrats in some blue states do not like that President Donald Trump's tax plan includes eliminating the ability to deduct state and local taxes. Just a thought...maybe the states should not tax their citizens so much? Instead, they complain about the burden placed on the citizens from the federal government. From The Wall Street Journal:
At the center of the fight is New York, home of Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohn and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, who says killing or scaling back the break would be “devastating for middle-class families in New York and elsewhere.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 28, 2017 19 Comments
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has faced scandal after scandal, some of which caused veterans to die while waiting for care. There was even a dentist putting veterans at risk for HIV. But the VA has also punished those who blow the whistle on VA wrong doings. President Trump took a step in the right direction to fix these problems when he signed an executive order that creates the "Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection" at the VA.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 27, 2017 24 Comments
The Washington Post and ABC ran a poll that asked people about the information that comes from President Donald Trump and the media. Unfortunately for the media, the poll shows how little trust the public has in the media. From WaPo:
The media says President Trump makes claims that aren’t true. Trump says the media produces fake news. And in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, at least half of Americans say both Trump and the media “regularly” disseminate false information. Nobody looks good in this survey.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 27, 2017 12 Comments
President Trump has signed an executive order to give Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos permission to start the process of moving education back to the local level. The New York Times reported:
The order requires Betsy DeVos, Mr. Trump’s education secretary, to review, modify and possibly repeal any regulations and guidelines that are not consistent with federal law.
Accessibility by WAH