Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
An estimated 4,500 people have died since the first cases of Ebola were detected in West Africa, and according to the World Health Organization, the disease could reach 10,000 cases per week. >>> What the U.S. Must Do in West Africa to Stop Spread of Ebola There — And to Help Make Sure It Doesn't…
One of the largest health care providers in Texas can handle only about six Ebola cases at any given time using current medical protocols. "What if, God forbid, we saw 8,000, as in West Africa? They had no answer," says @SenTedCruz. The startling figure was revealed by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in a Texas Tribune…
In the run-up to the Nov. 4 midterm elections, the courts have weighed in on voting rules, both supporting and rebuking efforts by Republican state governments to prevent fraud. The Supreme Court last week upheld a North Carolina voting law that bars same-day registration and doesn’t allow the counting of votes cast in the wrong…
The nation’s top public health official told a House of Representatives panel today that the Obama administration has not ruled out restricting travel to and from West Africa to help keep Americans safe from Ebola. "We will consider any options to better protect Americans," says @DrFriedenCDC. "We will consider any options to better protect Americans,"…
Thirty members of Congress demanded today that the Department of Justice launch an “immediate investigation” into the agency’s own Operation Choke Point and those involved in creating and implementing the initiative against enterprises that are out of favor with the Obama administration. Led by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., the 30 lawmakers sent a letter to…
Rep. Michele Bachmann, a tea party favorite and former presidential candidate, has some advice for her colleagues as she prepares to retire at the end of this Congress. “I only have one lever in my life: Either go bold or don’t go at all,” said Bachmann, who promises to remain accessible after she leaves Washington….
The federal government is not the only source of corporate welfare. According to Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, “corporate welfare is a significant problem at the state level.” De Rugy writes that state governments often use “generous, targeted subsidy packages” to lure corporations to relocate….
A video has emerged of a pro-democracy protester being beaten in Hong Kong. In the video of a protest on Wednesday, a handcuffed man is dragged and beaten by six men who appear to be plainclothes Hong Kong police officers. The Los Angeles Times identifies the protestor in the video as Ken Tsang, “a member…
When it was time to take the stage at last night’s gubernatorial debate in Florida, only one candidate showed up. Democrat Charlie Crist appeared at his podium for several minutes while debate moderators bantered about Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s complaint that Crist had a fan installed under his podium, apparently a violation of debate rules….
HONOLULU – Middle school students who participated in a controversial sex education program in Hawaii were rewarded with gift cards from the University of Hawaii Center on Disability Studies. The gift cards, valued at between $10 and $20 each, were issued to 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds who participate in Pono Choices. About $52,200 of a…
Despite the outbreak of Ebola, it is still possible to get a visa from the three West African countries at the heart of the outbreak, and a key congressman is demanding to know why. “Once these individuals are issued a visa by the embassy, they are free to travel to the United States,” says @RepEdRoyce….
During the past decade, the Confucius Institute has established itself at nearly 500 universities and K-12 schools in the United States and about 500 others around the world. Now some professors are urging schools to break with the Chinese language and cultural nonprofit, charging it is a “propaganda” arm of the Chinese government. This year several high-profile…
Alan Leong, a leading pro-democracy legislator in Hong Kong, says he believes student protesters who flooded into the city over the past three weeks already have won — even if the government has given them nothing. “The occupy movement was started with a view to draw the attention of Hong Kong’s public for the need…
The second debate in the U.S. Senate race in Arkansas wasn’t short on jabs between the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Mark Pryor and his Republican challenger, Rep. Tom Cotton. In trying to hit Cotton on the federal student loan program last night, though, Pryor took a dig at his opponent’s own education. Cotton graduated from Harvard…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Just as St. Paul retailers began recovering from an average 30 percent loss in sales during the new $1 billion light rail line’s construction, dozens of businesses received a bill from the city’s Office of Financial Services for street improvements tied to the construction of the 11-mile-long line. “I think it…
President Obama and Gov. Bobby Jindal took a beating last night from Louisiana’s three leading U.S. Senate candidates. At their first debate, incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu, Republican challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy and Rob Maness, a retired Air Force veteran also running as a Republican, squared off over health care, Social Security and climate change. The…
Senate hopeful Alison Lundergan Grimes criticized Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell Monday night for his ties to “the Koch brothers.” But Grimes apparently doesn’t apologize for her own ties to big progressive donors through a network called the Democracy Alliance. In her debate with McConnell three weeks before Kentucky voters decide whether she should replace him…
Lost and missing government records are not isolated to one administration or political party. The list below includes 19 examples of public files that went missing, were withheld or lost and then found. It includes the most recent example of former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Raymond Maxwell’s account of Benghazi documents, which The Daily Signal revealed last…
A Tennessee woman has been jailed because of her overgrown yard. Karen Holloway was cited by Lenoir City during the summer when she started to struggle to keep up with her yard work because of what she called “personal, family issues.” “With my husband going to school and working full time, me with my job,…
NumbersUSA began a seven-figure, 10-state ad buy today that asks viewers whether Americans or “new immigrants” should get new jobs. The 30-second ad, running in states with competitive U.S. Senate races, says immigrants are finding work while longtime citizens or legal immigrants struggle to get jobs. “Should the jobs go to millions of Americans and legal…