Politics Now - USA

(CNN) "Want to hear the joke about insulin?" goes the bleak gag about America's drug prices. "You have to go to Canada to get it." But even that's not an option anymore. Pandemic travel restrictions have made Americans prisoners of their country. Even within North America, Mexico and Canada have closed thousands of miles of border to all but essential travel, roiling plans for vacation, work, and school. For cash-strapped Americans, it has also cut off access to medicines and healthcare services that they can't afford at home -- at a time when money is tighter than ever. Stephanie Boland's nine-year-old son was diagnosed with diabetes in December. Traveling to Canada to fill his insulin prescription took a half-day's drive from where they live in Brainerd, Minnesota, but it was worth it -- the purchase was a simple, over-the-counter affair. One pack of injection pens, which would last several months, cost less than a hundred dollars, she says, co...

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers asked President Donald Trump in a letter to "reconsider" his visit to Kenosha, saying he is concerned Trump's "presence will only hinder our healing." In a letter sent to the White House Sunday, Evers wrote that he was also concerned that an in-person visit from the president "will require a massive re-direction" of resources to support his visit "at a time when it is critical that we continue to remain focused on keeping the people of Kenosha safe and supporting the community's response." Last Sunday, a Kenosha police officer shot Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, several times in the back after officers initially responded to what the department described as a "domestic incident." A graphic video of the incident went viral, sparking statewide protests. Evers activated the National Guard in response on Monday. In a statement to Business Insider, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said Trump ...

Seldom has a more cynical or sordid thought been publicly expressed by such a senior White House aide. As Democratic nominee Joe Biden said, Trump is “rooting for more violence, not less,” because he views it as politically beneficial in his quest to scare White America into voting for him. You can see this horrifying spectacle unfolding over the past few days. On Thursday, in his acceptance speech, Trump castigated all of the “rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities.” On Friday, at a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Trump again calumniated protesters as “anarchists,” “rioters” and “looters.” On Saturday, a caravan of Trump supporters gathered outside Portland, Ore., and drove through the city, firing paintballs and pepper spray at bystanders. AD AD Before long, a battle broke out between the Trump supporters and Black Lives Matters supporters, with punches thrown and debris hurled. The Post reported: “Trump supporters in trucks were at one point blocke...

On Feb. 23, 2018, White House counsel Don McGahn sent a two-page memo to Chief of Staff John Kelly arguing that Jared Kushner's security clearance needed to be downgraded, the New York Times' Michael Schmidt reports in his forthcoming book, "Donald Trump v. The United States." Driving the news: Schmidt reports directly from the confidential McGahn memo for the first time, describing how Kelly had serious concerns about granting Kushner a top-secret clearance in response to a briefing he had received related to the routine FBI investigation into Kushner’s background. "The information you were briefed on one week ago and subsequently relayed to me, raises serious additional concerns about whether this individual ought to retain a top security clearance until such issues can be investigated and resolved," McGahn wrote in the memo to Kelly. The details of the highly sensitive intelligence that raised alarms with Kelly are not revealed in the McGahn memo or in Sc...

Top Democrats sharply criticized a senior House Republican on Sunday after he shared a video that included a clip apparently doctored to insert words into an activist's question to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden Joe BidenPelosi, Biden slam Scalise for doctored video that altered activist's words Wisconsin governor urges Trump not to visit Kenosha: 'I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing' Biden to campaign in Pennsylvania Monday, ask 'are you safe in Donald Trump's America?' MORE that were never actually said. Former Vice President Joe Biden (D), the 2020 Democratic nominee, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi, Biden slam Scalise for doctored video that altered activist's words Shutdown politics set to collide with coronavirus aid O'Rourke endorses Kennedy for Senate: 'A champion for the values we're most proud of' MORE (D-Calif.) called on House Minority Whip Steve Scalise Stephen (Steve) Joseph Scali...

“ ‘Do you wonder why America, in the first time in decades, has seen this level of violence? It’s you who have created this level of hate and division. It is you who have not found a way to say the names of Black people killed by police officers even as people in law enforcement have. And it’s you who claimed white supremacists are good people. Your campaign of fear is as anti-democratic as anything that you’ve done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country. You’ve tried to divide us more than any other figure in modern history. And now you want me to stop the violence that you helped create.’ ” That’s Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler unloading on President Donald Trump during a press conference Sunday after a man reported to be a member of a far-right group was shot and killed the night before as a caravan of Trump’s supporters clashed with Black Lives Matter protesters. “What America needs is for you to be stopped so we can come back together as one America while recognizing that...

Pompeo has failed to fill dozens of senior positions at the State Department, and hundreds of career diplomats have left or been driven out in political purges. Morale is at a historic low: In staff surveys, there has been a 34 percent increase between 2016 and 2019 in those who say the State Department’s senior leaders “did not maintain high levels of honesty and integrity.” Maybe that’s because Pompeo himself has defied legal mandates from Congress, skirted a law restricting arms sales to Saudi Arabia, tasked staffers with carrying out errands for himself and his wife, and fired the inspector general who was investigating his violations. Last week, Pompeo crossed yet another ethical line by speaking before the Republican National Convention, thereby disregarding the State Department’s explicit legal guidance against such appearances. The speech he delivered was weak and littered with false or simply ludicrous claims, such as that the recent diplomatic accord between Israel and the Un...