Women in the United States are 16 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in any other developed nation. This is just one of the grim statistics that foregrounds the ominous connection that’s often seen between horrific mass shooting incidents and the episodes of domestic violence that are often found in […]
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s entry into the 2020 presidential campaign, where he will join 19 other Democrats seeking to take on an incumbent President Donald Trump, presumably brings this early part of the campaign season to a close. By all measures, which at this very early point in the campaign are virtually meaningless, Biden […]
A recent surge in activism, spurred in part by the popular Green New Deal, has made climate change a top issue for 2020 Democratic candidates and forced Republicans to reconsider their longstanding opposition to climate action. Speaking at a Texas banquet Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters that congressional Republicans hope to develop their […]
On Friday, President Donald Trump reiterated his belief that the white supremacist protesters that chanted a Nazi slogan while carrying torches through Charlottesville, Virginia, two summers ago were simply acting out of a sincere belief that the memory of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee needed to be preserved in the public square in statuary. It […]
President Donald Trump spoke with Fox News host Sean Hannity for 45 minutes Thursday evening about a number of topics, including the nearly two-year long Mueller probe and his campaign pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Much of the interview was an assortment of lies and misleading talking points. Hannity, who reportedly […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge sentenced Maria Butina to 18 months in jail Friday, with credit for time served, for conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian government. “The offense Ms. Butina has pled to was serious and jeopardized this country’s national security,” District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said as she […]
Thirteen states spent more than $200,000 screening federal-aid applicants for drugs last year. Only 338 people tested positive, according to data gathered by ThinkProgress. In total, the states required more than 260,000 people to submit to drug screening or testing as a condition of receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which provides cash assistance […]
President Donald Trump, who often boasts of firing his underlings and once approvingly quoted a fan calling him the “‘you’re fired’ president,” claimed on Friday that he couldn’t have possibly ordered the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller because, as a “student of history,” he was smart enough to know that firings are bad. Trump […]
From day one, the Trump administration has looked for ways to prop up money-losing nuclear power plants, which face increasing competition from cheap natural gas and renewable energy sources. At first, the main effort was a direct bailout — Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s failed plan to subsidize nuclear (and coal) power plants by raising consumer energy […]
An opinion handed down Wednesday by three Republican judges could chill the First Amendment rights of protesters — and potentially allow police to shut down political movements by filing lawsuits harassing movement leaders. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Doe v. McKesson effectively strips First Amendment protections from protest leaders who […]
When Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) presented her plan to cancel student loan debts and make public higher education free on Monday, it drew immediate criticism from two fronts. The first, led by right-wing commentators such as Ben Shapiro and Philip Klein, gamely attempted to frame the policy as a form of moral hazard. If we […]
A federal judge in Washington state temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s overhaul of the nation’s only federal family planning program. The Trump administration’s rule barred abortion providers from participating in the program, which is currently relied upon by four million people. U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian, an Obama appointee, issued a nationwide injunction from […]
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Democratic presidential candidate, has been facing a lot of criticism from conservative Christians due to his outspokenness about his own Christian faith and his experience as a married gay man. On Wednesday, Rev. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, […]
The Coast Guard lieutenant described by prosecutors as a “domestic terrorist,” who was “bent on committing acts dangerous to human life,” could be out on bail in time for his trial. Christopher Hasson was arrested by federal agents in February on gun and drug charges. According to prosecutors at the time, however, those charges were […]
