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Disease Researchers Blame DOGE Cuts for Spiraling Cyclospora Outbreak

7 hours agoFar Left

Public health agencies are struggling to mount an effective response with less resources and fewer staff.

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Republicans trapped in 'high-stakes game of chicken' as candidate's campaign spirals

Raw Story

3 hours ago

Republicans trapped in 'high-stakes game of chicken' as candidate's campaign spirals

Scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is turning into the child nobody wants with two major campaign funders waiting for the other to step into the breach.The Republican Party's top spending committees are locked in a "high-stakes game of chicken" over Paxton's floundering Senate campaign—each hoping the other will kick in tens of millions needed to save his sinking candidacy."Somebody is going to have to spend big money," said Dan Eberhart, an oil executive fundraising for Paxton, told the Times. "We'll see who blinks."The calculus is brutal. Texas demands approximately $15 million weekly in super PAC advertising for a credible campaign—making it a resource drain compared to cheaper battlegrounds with equal strategic value. Republican strategists are increasingly questioning whether Paxton is worth the investment.According to the report, "Mr. Paxton finds himself in a unique situation among Senate candidates, according to interviews with a dozen Republicans with ties to his campaign. Republican donors still hold grudges from a bruising primary. The state, with its 18-plus television markets, is an epically expensive setting. And his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, has proved to be a particularly strong fund-raiser."Paxton is also being shunned by Washington campaign cash rainmakers."National Republican groups are slated to spend tens of millions of dollars this summer and fall in every other top-tier Senate race, including in some states that prominent handicappers think are not as competitive as Texas," the Times is reporting. "They even plan to spend more in noncompetitive Kansas. In most states, Republicans are expected to outspend Democrats — for instance in Ohio, where the G.O.P. commitment totals over $100 million."The Times notes that "the amount of Republican spending planned in Texas from now through Election Day, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm: $0."

Far Left

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"Tipping Point": Ex-CDC Official Links Cyclospora & Measles Outbreaks to Trump's Public Health Cuts

Democracy Now!

13 hours ago

"Tipping Point": Ex-CDC Official Links Cyclospora & Measles Outbreaks to Trump's Public Health Cuts

The United States is facing a number of major disease outbreaks, from foodborne cyclosporiasis to vaccine-preventable measles. We speak to the former chief medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Debra Houry. She resigned from her post one year ago in protest over political interference at the agency and the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who has overseen the slashing of billions of dollars in public health funding during the second Trump administration. “The U.S. is really at a tipping point, when you look at measles, whooping cough, all these vaccine-preventable diseases, as well, and the secretary is responsible for this,” says Houry. “Public health matters. When it works, you often don’t know, because you’re saving lives. But when you take it away, we see those consequences today.”

Far Left

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Trump pardons megadonor 'fraudster' who cut 'massive' campaign check: report

Raw Story

15 hours ago

Trump pardons megadonor 'fraudster' who cut 'massive' campaign check: report

President Donald Trump pardoned a Republican megadonor linked to a massive fraud scandal after he contributed to a high-stakes swing state campaign, according to a new report.Adam Kidan — who pleaded guilty in the lobbyist Jack Abramoff conspiracy case —received a pardon from Trump just days after making a $2,600 to Rep. Ryan MacKenzie's (R-PA) leadership PAC on June 30, NOTUS reported Wednesday."Trump traveled to Mackenzie’s eastern Pennsylvania district on June 23 to campaign with him," the report stated. "The president pardoned Kidan on July 3."Mackenzie’s office denied communication with Trump regarding the pardon but did not respond to question about whether the campaign would keep the cash, NOTUS reported. Neither the White House nor Kidan replied to requests for comment.But his Democratic challenger Bob Brooks's campaign told NOTUS they are livid as it fights to win a “toss-up” race, according to the report.“Three days after a convicted fraudster cut Ryan Mackenzie a massive campaign check, that same fraudster walked away with a presidential pardon," Brooks campaign manager Jenna Kaufman told NOTUS. "That is corruption in plain sight.”Kidan donated about $270,000 to Trump-affiliated committees during the 2024 election cycle and hosted fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago, according to the report.He pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and mail fraud in 2005."As part of his sentencing, Kidan and Abramoff were ordered to pay a total of $217 million in restitution," the report stated. "It’s unclear whether Kidan paid the full amount, and Trump’s pardon is likely to erase any remaining financial obligations."

Far Left

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Jeffries promises to reverse Medicaid cuts if Democrats take the House

Washington Examiner

Yesterday

Jeffries promises to reverse Medicaid cuts if Democrats take the House

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) pledged to rescind cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act subsidies if Democrats flip the House in November. Democrats have spent over a year criticizing cuts to Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the ACA-enhanced tax credit that expired late last year. “These […]

Center Right

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Panicked Trump allies at 'DEFCON1' over fears Iran war will spiral out of control: report

Raw Story

Yesterday

Panicked Trump allies at 'DEFCON1' over fears Iran war will spiral out of control: report

A crucial meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday has allies of President Donald Trump on edge that it could lead to an expansion of the unpopular war in Iran.Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the White House with a singular objective: convince Trump to escalate military operations against Iran, reports Politico. The Israeli Prime Minister, who reportedly helped incite the initial February attack along with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), is once again maneuvering to push the president toward a more aggressive and durable conflict.Trump's anti-interventionist America First base is bracing for impact after the "pivotal" meeting. Steve Bannon expressed their collective alarm: "Netanyahu has had twice as many visits to the White House in 18 months as Churchill had in all of World War II — with every one of them a disaster for America First."The Iran war has already dragged on for five months with no resolution in sight, the report notes. The U.S. and Iran briefly suspended tit-for-tat strikes over the weekend amid cautious hopes for a ceasefire. But Trump continues threatening "massive attacks," keeping the door wide open for renewed escalation.Netanyahu's seventh visit to the White House since Trump took office signals his desperation to lock in permanent war. America First allies fear this meeting could transform a temporary conflict into a years-long Middle East quagmire.According to the report, "The meeting comes as new polling shows that a growing share of the president’s base no longer believes the war is worth its economic costs. And Republicans are increasingly resigned to the fact that the war will likely still be hanging over voters in some form when they head to the polls in November."That led Curt Mills, executive director of American Conservative magazine, to describe the meeting as "DEFCON 1.""Netanyahu is going to argue for the essential logic of escalation," Mills explained. "If Trump is not willing to give the memorandum of understanding a chance and if Trump is not willing to walk away from the conflict entirely without a resolution—then I think we probably will escalate, and that's what we've been seeing these last couple of weeks."Trump's own allies acknowledge Netanyahu wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't push for military expansion. But that's precisely what terrifies them: Netanyahu will succeed, dragging Trump deeper into a conflict that's already hemorrhaging support within his base.

Far Left

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Musk Says He Got “Carried Away” With DOGE Cuts, Which Are Set to Kill Millions

Truthout

2 days ago

Musk Says He Got “Carried Away” With DOGE Cuts, Which Are Set to Kill Millions

Research last year found that, by 2030, DOGE cuts could kill 14 million, including 4.5 million children under 5.

Far Left

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Waltz blames Biden for depleted stockpiles, but says US military has ‘everything that it needs’

The Hill News

2 days ago

Waltz blames Biden for depleted stockpiles, but says US military has ‘everything that it needs’

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Sunday blamed former President Biden for the Pentagon being low on munitions but denied that the depletion is negatively impacting the war with Iran. “We have to take a step back here in that a lot of stockpiles were depleted not only from what we gave…

Center

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