Trump said he would send the National Guard to Toronto and impose 50% tariffs on all Los Angeles products. AllGov reporter Sidney Finster suggested that perhaps Trump had confused the two cities. Because Toronto is in Canada, not the United States, Trump can’t send the National Guard there. And because Los Angeles is in the United States, Trump can’t impose tariffs on a U.S. city. Trump defended his position by saying, “I’m always right.”   read more

The appellate justices—in a unanimous ruling— ordered the case to be reheard in Schreier’s courtroom. The USDA can still argue for an exemption on other grounds, such as privacy or confidentiality. There are hundreds of thousands of vendors nationwide contracted with SNAP. And although 15% of them are made up of small convenience stores and markets, those retailers constitute 85% of the fraud perpetrated against the program.   read more

A portion of the report that recommended agents restrain from shooting rock throwers was redacted, according to The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). The think tank report said CBP should “train agents to de-escalate these encounters by taking cover, moving out of range and/or using less lethal weapons. Agents should not place themselves in positions where they have no alternatives to using deadly force.”   read more

Republicans embraced the law because it would curb government spending for flood costs. Democrats liked the bill because, they said, the reforms would reveal just how much climate change is impacting flood-prone areas. But a year and a half after Biggert-Waters was approved, many Democrats and Republicans want to delay, block or repeal many of its key provisions. Why? Money.   read more

The ruling means that lawyer Thomas Durkin will be able to examine secret authorizations from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that allowed the FBI to spy on Daoud. Until now, only the government and federal judges have been permitted to see a FISA application or material derived from one since Congress approved FISA in the 1978.   read more

Eighty-five percent of the injuries occurred to the youngest children—between newborn and age four. Most injuries (70%) occur from kids falling out of the carts, followed by collisions with carts, carts tipping over, and limbs getting trapped in a cart. Nearly 80% of all injuries involved the head.   read more

Martin P. Schweitzer, a commander with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, was caught sending emails to other generals about U.S. Representative Renee Ellmers (R-North Carolina), in which he said she was “smoking hot” and jokingly talked about explicit sexual acts he wanted to perform with her. Schweitzer’s anticipated promotion to major general is now on hold pending a formal review.   read more

Last decade, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 18 antibiotic additives for use in livestock and poultry despite their “high risk” to humans. These same additives would not be available today if they had been reviewed under current FDA guidelines, and yet the antibiotics are still on the market because the agency has not reconsidered its decisions from 2001 to 2010.   read more

While running the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from 2006 to 2011, Sheila Bair said the “revolving door,” which creates lucrative private sector opportunities for government officials after they leave office, should be closed to those who regulate banks. In her book she wrote, "There should be a lifetime ban on regulators working for financial institutions they have regulated.”   read more

Among those remotely watching the Periodic Review Board of Abdel Malik Wahab al Rahabi were members of the media and human rights organizations. The hearing took place at Guantánamo, while video of the proceedings was transmitted to a facility in Arlington, Virginia, for observers to view. Fifty-six other Yemeni prisoners already approved for transfer have remained at Guantánamo for more than four years after their release orders.   read more

The plaintiffs insisted they were entitled under the Fair Labor Standards Act (pdf) (FLSA) to overtime for putting on and taking off flame-retardant jackets, pants, hoods, hardhats, work gloves, leggings, special boots, safety glasses, earplugs and respirators. But the employer rejected the claim, saying nothing in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between U.S. Steel and the workers’ union mandated compensation for that time.   read more

Within many of those letters of cancellation, the insurance companies said the policyholders would be switched to a new plan unless they chose one and notified the insurers of their decision. Many people only read as far as the fact that their policy was canceled and didn’t notice the switch provision deeper in the letter they received. In many cases, though, the policyholders selected a new plan and still got signed up for a second one by their insurance company.   read more

America’s labor force has shrunk in size to a level not seen since the Carter administration in the late 1970s. The percentage of Americans employed or seeking employment, 63.3%, is now the lowest since 1978 (63.2%), according to data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   read more

In Florida, private firms can add as much as 40% in surcharges on top of the debt owed by probationers. In Illinois, the add-on fees can amount to 30% of the standing debt. Former law enforcement officials control this industry—at least in Georgia—having leveraged their connections into profitable contracts. “This is completely dominated by retired state probation people and wardens of state prisons,” Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.   read more

Arizona’s Republican U.S. senators have finally lifted a hold on most federal judicial nominees for their state—a delay that left one candidate waiting two and a half years for her confirmation. Rosemary Márquez, a private practice attorney from Tucson, was nominated for the federal bench by President Barack Obama in June 2011. She is expected to receive her confirmation hearing this week.   read more

Over the past five years, more than 50% of U.S. households receiving food stamps have been adults age 18 to 59. The Associated Press (AP) reports that multiple factors have caused more working-age adults to utilize food stamps (officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP). These factors include persistent high unemployment, stagnant wages and dwindling middle-income jobs.   read more

The last time lawmakers approved an increase in the minimum wage for waiters and waitresses was 1991: $2.13. That wage has stood since then, even though inflation has robbed nearly half its value. Today, the $2.13 is really more like $1.24. There are 3.3 million tipped workers nationwide, two million of whom are waiters and waitresses, whose median salary is $9.22 an hour including wage and tips.   read more