According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

“It is unconstitutional," said Republican Rep. Steve King, speaking of Obama's plan to grant amnesty to millions of immigrants. But that uproar in Congress stands in contrast to how lawmakers reacted 30 years ago when two Republican presidents took similar actions. In the 1980s Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush each granted amnesty to illegal immigrants without the help of Congress. “There was no political explosion then comparable to the one Republicans are threatening now,” wrote the AP.   read more

The emails that could be put at risk are those relevant to the agency's “rendition, detention and torture programs,” stated the groups' letter to the NARA. “[The policy's] implications are potentially vast," said Steve Aftergood. "[The] CIA has an unfortunate history of destroying valuable records, and NARA has had a hard time imposing discipline on the agency.” As an example, Professor Cox cited the CIA’s “infamous destruction” of the Guantanamo interrogation videotapes.   read more

Data compiled by the NRC revealed aggravated assault increased about 8% because of right-to-carry laws. Researchers say that estimate may be low, pointing out that different models show a 33% increase in firearm-related assaults following passage of those laws. Further, “the totality of the evidence...suggests that right-to-carry laws are associated with substantially higher rates” of aggravated assault, rape, robbery and murder.   read more

In very little time, Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) has proven himself a prodigious fundraiser with a knack for drawing large contributions from industries not known to bank heavily on Democrats. The freshman lawmaker during the 2013-2014 election cycle raised from Wall Street the most money of any member of Congress: $1.87 million. Booker also proved to be the top draw from real estate groups, Hollywood, tech industries, accountants, and pro-Israel organizations.   read more

In his lawsuit, plaintiff Kent Bernbeck objected to this provision claiming it resulted in giving more importance to rural voters at the expense of urban ones. U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon agreed with Bernbeck and found the requirement violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and equal protection clause. This was Bernbeck's third lawsuit in 17 years aimed at easing restrictions on the ballot petition process.   read more

The last president who was in office six years to veto as few bills as Obama was James Monroe, who vetoed one bill from 1817 to 1825. Even considering the Republican landslide this month, the GOP, the House and Senate would need a two-thirds majority to override a veto, and that’s not likely to happen.   read more

At one point during the Great Recession, the unemployment rate for men was as much as 2.6% higher than that of women. But beginning in September, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, men had a 5.9% unemployment rate while the women’s rate stood at 6.0%. The gap widened last month when the men’s rate fell to 5.6% while women’s unemployment was at 5.9%. Part of the reason for the switch is that construction jobs, concentrated among men, are starting to come back.   read more

The cost of fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been pegged at $8 million a day, according to the Department of Defense. President Barack Obama asked Congress for an additional $5.6 billion to combat ISIS. Defense News reported that most of this money will be used to train and equip Iraqi and Kurdish militaries, continue U.S. airstrikes and other air operations, and move troops and supplies through the region.   read more

The document argues that the nation’s largest organic farming industry wouldn’t be economically harmed by having to use pesticides because they could simply sell their product in the conventional food market. They would keep their official state organic certification, but couldn’t call themselves organic in the marketplace.   read more

Some APA members were displeased when the organization altered its ethics rules in 2002 to provide cover to psychologists working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and who participated in harsh interrogation sessions with detainees. Essentially, the change gave psychologists permission to ignore ethical concerns if ordered by the government to help extract information from al-Qaeda members.   read more

The systems electronically mimic a cell tower, enabling law enforcement to collect location and other information about calls. When used in a small plane, they pick up information about tens of thousands of calls in one flight. Those familiar with the program say sweeps are being approved by judges, but since the orders are sealed, it’s unclear whether the courts are aware of the breadth of the systems’ coverage.   read more

The drop saved $11.9 billion in healthcare costs, according to the March of Dimes. The uninsured rate for women fell from 20.1% to 19.8% and it’s likely to drop further with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. Smoking among women fell from 20.8% to 20.5%. Another cause of preterm births is the practice by some of medically unnecessary inductions or Caesarian sections, which have also fallen slightly from 8.1% to 8.0%.   read more

Seed companies Monsanto and Dow spent $8 million to try to defeat a proposal that would ban cultivation of genetically modified organisms in Maui County, Hawaii, in this month’s general election. The initiative passed anyway and now the seed companies are suing to prevent its enforcement. Monsanto and Dow unit Mycogen Seeds use acreage on the islands of Maui and Molokai, both part of Maui County, to research and develop new strains of genetically modified corn.   read more

She left federal service in 2003 to become a consultant for International Trade and Sustainability Services. She did some work for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and later came on board as a full-time employee of the organization as managing director for international policy. In 2011, Haverkamp was made director of EDF’s International Climate Program, remaining in that role until 2014, when she left to do consulting work and lecture in the law at George Washington University.   read more

On September 8, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Michele Thoren Bond, a career Foreign Service officer, to head the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. Bond has been leading that office since April 2014 on an acting basis. In 2010, Bond was named ambassador to Lesotho. She returned to the United States in December 2012 to take up the post of principal deputy assistant secretary of state for consular services, where she served until being named acting director.   read more

Lockheed Martin for years has been running one of the government’s most important nuclear research facilities, Sandia National Laboratories. Five years ago, its lucrative contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) was coming to an end, so Lockheed started to lobby officials to win an extension. That lobbying included using some of the money paid by DOE for Lockheed to run Sandia. Under federal law, this is a big no-no. But Lockheed did it anyway.   read more