Greene County Democrat

Category: Health

  • Newswire : Zohran Mamdani to be sworn in as New York City mayor by Sen. Bernie Sanders and AG Letitia James

    Zohran Mamdani with Senator Bernie Sanders

    By Ben Kamisar, HBCU News

    Incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will be sworn into office in January by state Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., his fellow democratic socialist.
    Sanders will oversee the mayor-elect’s ceremonial swearing-in at a New Year’s Day block party, while James will formally swear in Mamdani at midnight when his term officially begins.
    In a news release announcing the events, the transition noted that Sanders’ “unapologetic progressive values inspired Zohran to run for office in the first place.”
    “It is an honor to be sworn in by two leaders I have admired for years: Attorney General Tish James and Senator Bernie Sanders. Attorney General James has taken on powerful interests in her defense of New Yorkers and embodied the principle of equal justice before the law,” Mamdani said in a statement.
    “Senator Bernie Sanders laid the foundations for our movement with his steadfast commitment to the dignity of working people and his belief in a government that serves the many, not just the few. I can think of no better leaders to help usher in a new era for New York City,” Mamdani said.
    Mamdani, who beat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in last month’s election, is set to become mayor of the country’s largest city on Jan. 1 (and its first Muslim mayor). Mamdani campaigned with Sanders, as he electrified the same progressive electorate locally that the senator from Vermont activated in his two presidential bids.
    James was one of Mamdani’s most prominent endorsements from a state where many major Democrats tried to keep their distance from the progressive candidate. As the Democratic primary was conducted by ranked choice, which allowed voters to rank up to five candidates (in order of preference), James announced she was ranking Mamdani third on her ballot. In October, James spoke at a rally with Mamdani shortly after she was indicted on fraud charges tied to a mortgage loan (a federal judge later tossed that indictment).
    “He is a leader fighting for a better future for this city, and he, like me, knows what it’s like to be attacked, to be called names, to be threatened, to be harassed,” James said at the time.

  • Newswire Andrea Lucas, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) head wants White men to report DEI discrimination 

    Andrea Lucus

    Since becoming chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Andrea Lucas has shifted the agency’s focus to ending workplace DEI initiatives.
    By Joe Jurado, NewsOne

    According to AP, on Wednesday evening, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas wrote on X, “Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex? You may have a claim to recover money under federal civil rights laws,” on a video of herself. She referred people to a “DEI-related discrimination” fact sheet posted by the agency and urged affected workers to contact the agency “as soon as possible
    Black women are disproportionately affected by rising unemployment rates, but this is what the EEOC chooses to focus on.
    Only a few hours before Lucas posted, Vice President JD Vance posted an article he said “describes the evil of DEI and its consequences.” Lucas cosigned the post, writing, “Absolutely right @JDVance. And precisely because this widespread, systemic, unlawful discrimination primarily harmed white men, elites didn’t just turn a blind eye; they celebrated it. Absolutely unacceptable; unlawful; immoral.”
    White supremacy is such weak-ass behavior. How are you the superior race, but constantly being victimized by the races you deem lesser? Make it make sense, y’all. 
    Lucas was named as the EEOC chair in November. Trump appointed her to the EEOCin 2020 during his forst term and elevated her to chair in 2025. Under her direction, the agency has shifted focus to “rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination.” David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the NYU School of Law, told AP that Lucas’ post reveals a “fundamental misunderstanding of what DEI is.”
    “It’s really much more about creating a culture in which you get the most out of everyone who you’re bringing on board, where everyone experiences fairness and equal opportunity, including white men and members of other groups,” Glasgow added. The Meltzer Center tracks lawsuits that could affect DEI initiatives, and it’s found that while it has been used to discriminate in several isolated incident, there hasn’t been “any kind of systematic evidence that white men are being discriminated against.”
    Glasgow pointed out that CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are overwhelmingly white men, with white men still making up the majority of corporate leadership, state and federal legislators, and other notable fields. “If DEI has been this engine of discrimination against white men, I have to say it hasn’t really been doing a very good job at achieving that,” Glasgow said.
    Jenny Yang, a former EEOC chair, told AP that it was “unusual” and “problematic” that the agency is now prioritizing the civil rights of one group. “It suggests some sort of priority treatment,” Yang said. “That’s not something that sounds to me like equal opportunity for all.”
    She noted how, under Lucas, the agency has completely deprioritized workplace discrimination cases filed by transgender workers. “It worries me that a message is being sent that the EEOC only cares about some workers and not others,” Yang told AP. 
    It’s genuinely disheartening how much progress the Trump administration has managed to roll back in only a year. America has become far worse for Black, brown, and LGBTQ citizens, and the white folks who voted for this are still broke. So much winning.

  • Newswire : Parents now pay more for childcare than housing across the U.S.

    By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

    Childcare is draining American families with a force that has begun to rival housing costs, and new national analysis shows that in cities across the country, parents are paying more to care for their children than to keep a roof over their heads. Researchers at LendingTree found that infant care exceeds average rent in 11 of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, while childcare for two children exceeds rent in 85 cities across the country.

    The spike in expenses lands at a moment when the federal shutdown has blocked funding for 140 Head Start programs that serve 65,000 preschoolers. At least 20 programs have partially or fully closed, directly affecting nearly 10,000 children whose families now face soaring out-of-pocket Childcare costs with no federal support.
    Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst for LendingTree, called the price crush unavoidable for many families. “Spending almost $1,300 a month on Childcare is a massive burden for parents, but most families don’t have another choice,” Schulz stated. “They can’t stay home. They don’t have family or friends they can rely on for Childcare. They have no other option but to put up a ton of money each month for Childcare.”
    According to LendingTree, full-time infant care across the 100 largest metro areas averages $1,282 per month, compared with $1,716 for a two-bedroom rental. But in cities like Springfield, Massachusetts, parents now spend $1,996 on infant care compared with $1,734 for a two-bedroom apartment. That fifteen percent gap is the highest in the country. Milwaukee follows at nearly fifteen percent. Wichita, Omaha, Baltimore, Buffalo, Syracuse, Spokane, Minneapolis, Toledo, and Worcester also report infant care costs that outpace rent by significant margins.
    The financial blow becomes more punishing for households with two children. Families in Omaha are paying $2,891 a month for Childcare for an infant and a four-year-old, more than twice the city’s average monthly rent of $1,368. Milwaukee and Buffalo are close behind, with Childcare there also costing more than double the rent. Households in Springfield, Syracuse, Toledo, Spokane, Minneapolis, Wichita, and Rochester all face gaps of seventy percent or more between Childcare costs and rent.
    LendingTree notes that while the situation is severe in many regions, the pressure is also felt in cities where rent is extremely high. In Miami, San Jose, and San Francisco, rent still exceeds Childcare costs, but Childcare remains a heavy expense that continues to climb. Nationally, the price of Childcare increased more than thirty percent between 2020 and 2024, driven in part by shortages of early childhood educators and widespread Childcare deserts in rural and low-income regions.
    For many households, the federal shutdown has turned an already strained system into a breaking point. Without funding, Head Start programs in more than a dozen states have already halted classes or reduced hours. Advocates warn that families who lose subsidized early childhood education face few alternatives, especially in communities that already lack available Childcare slots.
    Schulz said families should brace for continued financial pressure. “High rent and Childcare costs create massive challenges for most young families,” he said. “However, to the degree possible, it is important to not fully ignore long-term goals like retirement and emergency savings.”

  • Newswire : U.S. Capitol unveils statue of teen civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns, taking Robert E. Lee’s spot

    A statue of Virginia civil rights activist Barbara Rose Johns, whose statue will replace one of Robert E. Lee as one of Virginia’s two statues on display at the Capitol, is unveiled Tuesday in Washington, D.C.Mark Schiefelbein / AP

    By The Associated Press
    The U.S. Capitol on Tuesday began displaying a statue of a teenaged Barbara Rose Johns as she protested poor conditions at her segregated Virginia high school, a pointed replacement for a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was removed several years ago.
    An unveiling ceremony of the statue representing Virginia in the Capitol took place in Emancipation Hall, featuring Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia’s congressional delegation and Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger.
    Johnson said more than 200 members of Johns’ family were on hand, listening on as the ceremony included renditions of “How Great Thou Art,” “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” and “Total Praise” performed by the Eastern Senior High School choir from Washington.
    “We are here to honor one of America’s true trailblazers, a woman who embodied the essence of the American spirit in her fight for liberty and justice and equal treatment under the law, the indomitable Barbara Rose Johns,” Johnson said.
    Johns was 16 years old in 1951 when she led a student strike for equal education at R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia. The students’ cause gained the support of NAACP lawyers, who filed a lawsuit that would become one of the five cases that the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed in Brown v. Board of Education. The high court’s landmark 1954 decision declared “separate but equal” public schools unconstitutional.
    Johns later married the Rev. William Powell and became Barbara Rose Johns Powell, raised five children and was a librarian in the Philadelphia Public Schools. She died at 56 in 1991.
    “She put God first in her life. She was brave, bold, determined, strong, wise, unselfish, warm and loving,” said Terry Harrison, one of her daughters.
    The statue shows the young Johns standing to the side of a lectern, holding a tattered book over her head. Its pedestal is engraved with the words, “Are we going to just accept these conditions, or are we going to do something about it?” It also features a quote from the Book of Isaiah: “And a little child shall lead them.”
    The statue replaces one of Lee that was removed in December 2020 from the Capitol, where it had represented Virginia for 111 years. The removal occurred during a time of renewed national attention over Confederate monuments after the death of George Floyd and was relocated to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
    “The Commonwealth of Virginia will now be properly represented by an actual patriot who embodied the principle of liberty and justice for all, and not a traitor who took up arms against the United States to preserve the brutal institution of chattel slavery,” Jeffries said at the ceremony
    Johns’ sister, Joan Johns Cobbs, read from a journal entry by Johns: “And then there were times I just prayed, ‘God, please grant us a new school, please let us have a warm place to stay where we won’t have to keep our coats on all day to stay warm. God, please help us. We are your children too.’”
    The Johns piece is part of the National Statuary Hall Collection at the Capitol, in which each state can contribute two statues. The other statue representing Virginia is of George Washington.
    National Statuary Hall displays 35 of the statues. Others are in the Crypt, the Hall of Columns and the Capitol Visitor Center. Johnson said the Johns statue will be placed in the Crypt.
    Former Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam had requested the removal of the Lee statue. In December 2020, a state commission recommended replacing Lee’s statue with a statue of Johns.
    The Johns statue, sculpted by Steven Weitzman of Maryland, received final approval from the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library in July.
    Johns is also featured in a sculpture at the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial outside the state Capitol in Richmond. The former high school is now a National Historic Landmark and museum.
    “It’s an incredibly profound moment, a moment to stand in a tar shack classroom with a hot potbelly stove as a heater, tar paper walls, shabby desks, right where 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns courageously organized her schoolmates and stood up to the lie — the lie was separate but equal,” Youngkin said of the museum.

  • Newswire : November Jobs Report shows rising unemployment and worsening outlook for Black workers

    Black worker leaving job with personal materials

    By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

    The U.S. labor market showed further signs of strain in November, with new federal data revealing rising unemployment, steep losses in government jobs, and worsening conditions for Black workers, particularly Black men, according to an analysis of the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report and a review by the National Women’s Law Center.

    Employers added 64,000 jobs nationwide in November, a modest gain following months of data disruptions caused by the federal government shutdown. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent, up from 4.4 percent in September, the last month for which a full labor force survey was completed. The increase places unemployment at its highest level in four years.
    Behind the headline figures, federal employment continued to fall sharply. Since January, when Donald Trump returned to office, federal payrolls have declined by 271,000 positions. The November report reveals continued reductions tied to deferred resignation programs and layoffs that accelerated earlier in the fall, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    The rise in unemployment has been uneven, with Black workers experiencing some of the most severe impacts. Black men ages 20 and older saw their unemployment rate jump from 6.6 percent in September to 7.5 percent in November. Black women ages 20 and older recorded an unemployment rate of 7.1 percent in November, slightly lower than September’s 7.5 percent but still higher than any other racial or ethnic group.
    Long-term unemployment has also become more pronounced for Black workers. Black women who are unemployed are typically out of work for 14.5 weeks, while Black men face average unemployment spells of 12.1 weeks. By comparison, white women experience unemployment lasting about 8.6 weeks, and white men about 9.6 weeks, according to the National Women’s Law Center’s review of federal labor data.
    The November report shows that overall job growth remains concentrated in a narrow set of sectors. Healthcare added more than 46,000 jobs, while construction employment rose by 28,000. Manufacturing lost 5,000 jobs, and transportation and warehousing shed nearly 18,000 positions. Leisure and hospitality also declined, reflecting broader weakness outside a handful of growth industries.
    Federal officials cautioned that November’s data carries higher-than-usual margins of error due to the shutdown-related survey delays. Even so, economists reviewing the report noted that revisions to late summer and early fall payrolls showed fewer jobs than initially reported, reinforcing signs of a cooling labor market.
    The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of people unemployed for more than six months rose to 1.9 million in November, up from 1.7 million a year earlier. Wage growth slowed to 3.5 percent over the past year, the weakest pace since before the pandemic, adding pressure on households facing elevated prices and limited job mobility.
    The National Women’s Law Center said it will continue monitoring labor market data by race, gender, and industry to assess how job losses and prolonged unemployment affect women and families as federal employment contracts and hiring remain subdued.

  • Greene County Commission assists ambulance service to meet expenses and keep operating

    At a special called meeting on Thursday, December 18, 2025, the Greene County Commission responded to an urgent request from the Greene County Emergency Medical Services (GEMS) for funds to pay bills, including payroll, to allow the county’s ambulance services to keep operating.
    Commission Chair Garria Spencer said, “We are responding to the Greene County Ambulance Service with an advance of $88,000 to meet back expenses. We expect GEMS to contact others, including, the county municipalities, the Sheriff, the Industrial Board, the volunteer fire departments and others for immediate support. Any money collected from other agencies should be paid to the County Commission, to reimburse for this advance. The advance will allow the ambulance service to continue operating while we seek a more permanent solution to its problems.”
    Vickie Colson, was recently chosen as Chair of the GEMS, when other members resigned. She informed the County Commission of the crisis financial problems and asked for assistance in continuing the vital work of the ambulance service in Greene County.
    Colson also informed the Commission that Chris Jones, GEMS current Executive Director, had submitted his resignation and that the board would be responsible for directing and supervising operations until a new director is found and can be placed in that position.
    Other surrounding rural counties including Sumter, Pickens and Hale have also had problems in maintaining ambulance services in a situation with isolated and aging rural populations, low reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid, and the general uncertainties of the future financial stability of rural health care, under the Trump budget cuts.
    In talking with Ms. Colson, it seems that the Greene County EMS is in need of more guaranteed revenue sources to subsidize operations and capital expenses, like maintaining and expanding the ambulance fleet. Beyond the County Commission, the municipalities, gaming, the fire departments and others will need to make annual guaranteed allocations for the ambulance services. Another possibility is to raise the advalorem milage property tax rate to support the ambulance service.
    The County Commission stepped up to the plate to assure the continuance of ambulance services in Greene County but all of us, residents of the county, businesses and industries, fire departments and others will need to stand firm in figuring a way forward for this vital and needed service.

  • Newswire : Sierra Club, HBCUs Outside train next generation of Black Outdoor Leaders

    Students participate in an outings training led by by Sierra Club and HBCUs Outside in Atlanta in 2025. Photo credit: Gerry James

    By Shawn White, HBCU News

    This fall marked the inaugural partnership between Sierra Club and HBCUs Outside, training 19 college students to become Sierra Club Chapter Outings leaders. With more than 5,000 chapter outings leaders nationwide, the partnership brings a new group of young Black leaders into the Sierra Club’s national network connecting thousands of people across the country to the outdoors.
    HBCUs Outside is a nonprofit providing students and faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities with the resources needed to build sustainable outdoor communities, lead outings, and engage with the outdoor industry.
    During the trainings, students completed the Sierra Club Chapter Outings Leader Course, which covered ethical leadership, risk management, best practices in outings planning, and strategies for building community led conservation and outdoor access movements. In partnership with Sierra Club Chapters, sessions took place in Georgia, Washington D.C., and North Carolina and drew students from Spelman College, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
    “The partnership between HBCUs and the Sierra Club centers on creating inclusive outdoor experiences for students. This year’s North Carolina training with A&T University students showcased shared curiosity, skill, and honest dialogue. Students brought outdoor expertise, asked deep questions, and remained engaged. Together, we addressed issues of safety, belonging, and comfort for Brown and Black people in outdoor spaces, especially when navigating a predominantly white outdoor industry and today’s political climate,” said Lornett Vestal, Senior Campaign Strategist with the Sierra Club’s Military Outdoors program. 
    “The forming of this partnership between the Sierra Club and HBCUs Outside has been one of the most fulfilling experiences during my time with the Sierra Club. Student participation in these trainings is just one step of their holistic journey to leading outings for their communities. I am honored to be part of it and look forward to being a network of support as they refine their practice and create meaningful experiences for their participants.” Marissa Llanes,  Chapter Outings Team Director

  • Newswire : Alabama students, professors appeal ruling in lawsuit challenging anti-DEI law

    Flowers on campus

    By Chance Phillips, Alabama Political Reporters

    On Monday, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union filed an appeal in a lawsuit challenging the anti DEI law SB129 on behalf of college students and instructors at Alabama’s public universities.
    In a press release, ACLU of Alabama Legal Director Alison Mollman called the appeal a “necessary next step to ensuring that the constitutional rights of all professors and students are protected in Alabama.”
    Filed last January, the lawsuit alleges that SB129 is an unconstitutional infringement on Alabamians’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
    “SB 129 unconstitutionally abridges the First Amendment right of the students to receive information and the right of the professors to disseminate ideas without undue imposition of governmental viewpoints,” the original complaint asserts. “SB 129 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it was enacted with intent to discriminate against Black professors and students, and those who ally with them.”
    APR reported earlier this year that documents submitted as evidence in the lawsuit showed professors concerned that their classes would be effectively banned by SB129 and describing a general “pall of distrust, anxiety, and fear.”
    “As a senior, I have watched our campus change overnight, as students are afraid to speak, opportunities for thoughtful engagement have disappeared, and students’ shared sense of belonging has eroded,” Sydney Testman, a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, stated. “With this appeal, we hope the courts will recognize the real and lasting damage that SB 129 has caused to me, my classmates, and my professors.”
    Before SB129 was enacted, Testman was the finance coordinator for UAB’s Social Justice Advocacy Council, which had received funding from the university that was terminated after UAB and other public universities closed their offices meant to encourage and help students who are members of minority groups.

    Signed by Governor Kay Ivey during the 2024 legislative session, SB129 formally prohibits state agencies and public universities from sponsoring diversity, equity and inclusion programs or requiring individuals to “personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to a divisive concept.”
    In August, a federal district court judge denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against SB129’s enforcement. He wrote that the University of Alabama Board of Trustees “clearly has an interest in regulating the type of classroom indoctrination forbidden by SB 129” and referred to the current Trump administration’s stance on “preferential treatment based on race.”
    Requesting the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit approve a preliminary injunction, the appeal filed earlier this week charges that the district court judge “committed an abuse of discretion” by ruling that the students and the Alabama NAACP lacked standing, which contributed to the denial of the request for an injunction.
    It also challenges claims that SB129 is not unconstitutionally vague and that professors’ speech affected by SB129 is not protected by the First Amendment.
    “The law continues to censor classrooms, restrict student expression, and disproportionately harm Black and LGBTQ+ students,” Legal Defense Fund Senior Counsel Antonio Ingram wrote. “We will continue to challenge SB 129 because every student in Alabama deserves an accurate, high-quality education free from discrimination, fear, or undue interference from politicians.”

  • Newswire : House Republicans leaders ditch vote on ACA funding cuts, all but ensuring healthcare premiums will rise

    By Sahil Kapur, Julie Tsirkin and Brennan Leach, HBCU News

    WASHINGTON — It’s official: House Speaker Mike Johnson says he won’t call a vote to extend enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, effectively guaranteeing they will expire at the end of this month.
    That means higher insurance premiums will go into effect for millions of Americans who get coverage through Obamacare next year.
    The speaker made the announcement Tuesday after a closed-door Republican caucus meeting, saying that leadership failed to reach a deal with centrist members to bring up an ACA amendment on a health care bill set for a vote on Wednesday.
    “There’s about a dozen members in the conference that are in these swing districts who are fighting hard to make sure they reduce costs for all of their constituents. And many of them did want to vote on this Obamacare Covid-era subsidy that Democrats created,” Johnson, R-La., told reporters. “We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve, and it just was not to be. We worked on it all the way through the weekend, in fact. And in the end there was not an agreement — it wasn’t made.”
    As Johnson’s office rolled out the bill Friday, GOP leadership aides said they were working with lawmakers on a path forward for a vote on an amendment to keep the ACA funds flowing.
    “I certainly appreciate the views and the opinions of every member of this conference,” Johnson said. “But I will tell you: One thing they will all join in unity on is voting for this bill that we’ve been discussing this morning.”
    The centrist Republicans who have been pushing for an ACA funding extension include Reps. Jen Kiggans of Virginia, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler of New York — all of whom represent competitive districts that could make or break the Republican majority in the 2026 midterms.
    “I am pissed for the American people. This is absolute bulls—, and it’s absurd,” Lawler said Tuesday. “Everybody has a responsibility to serve their district, to serve their constituents. You know what’s funny? Three-quarters of people on Obamacare are in states Donald Trump won. So maybe, just maybe, everybody should look at this and say, ‘How do we actually fix the health care system?’”
    He faulted the leaders of both parties on the issue.
    “You have two leaders that are not serious about solving this problem,” Lawler said, adding that it would be “idiotic” to not hold a vote on the expiring subsidies.
    Asked about Lawler’s criticism, Johnson called him “a very dear friend and a close colleague of mine.”
    But, he said, other Republicans come from different districts with “different priorities and ideas.” Many Republicans want the funds to expire on schedule.
    Another reason the talks broke down is that leaders told the centrist Republicans that they would need to find spending cuts to pay for an ACA funding extension, which is projected to cost about $35 billion per year. That’s a tall order, and one that went over poorly among those GOP members, particularly as party leaders are regularly willing to waive “pay-for” rules on policies they favor.
    Some Republicans who want to extend the subsidies have not ruled out signing onto a “discharge petition” by Democrats to end-run Johnson and force a vote on a clean three-year extension of ACA subsidies.
    “All options are on the table,” Lawler said.
    Asked if he’s open to signing the Democrats’ discharge petition, Fitzpatrick said, “We’ll talk about that after today.”
    The GOP divisions are likely to empower House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is insisting on a clean three-year extension with the support of all Democrats. Some Democrats have backed a shorter-term extension with some reforms to win GOP votes, but Jeffries is holding firm.
    “There are 214 Democrats who have signed a discharge petition that would force an up-or-down vote on extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits — to make sure that tens of millions of Americans don’t experience increased health insurance premiums that will prevent them from being able to go see a doctor when they need one,” Jeffries said Monday. “All we need are four House Republicans to join us.”
    Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who represents a solidly red district, said members like Lawler should remember that other Republicans also have bills they won’t put to a vote.
    “You can’t have everything every time,” Burchett said. “Even though he’s in a district that Kamala Harris won, we can’t just give all the committees and all the bills to the more liberal members of the party.”
    Even if a discharge petition secured the votes to pass, which is far from certain, it would take time to reach the House floor. That effectively guarantees it’ll be pushed into next year, with Republicans hoping to adjourn after this week.
    Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who was just re-elected to serve as House Freedom Caucus chairman for another year, said he isn’t worried about his colleagues signing a discharge petition or even passing a bill to extend ACA funds through the House.
    “It’s their right as a member to sign a discharge petition. I’m not afraid of a vote on a discharge petition. These will pass in the House, and then they’ll be killed over in the Senate,” Harris said. “The Senate’s already taken a position on extending the Affordable Care Act to enhance subsidies, and they rejected it.”
    Harris added that “it’s possible that we put a package together in January or February” dealing with health care, but he said it must be broader than just addressing ACA enrollees in order to secure his vote.
    Asked if he’s worried that moderate Republicans may sign onto Democrats’ discharge petition, Johnson told NBC News, “I don’t worry about anything.”

  • Newswire : A nation in free fall while the powerful feast:Trump calls affordability a ‘Con Job’

    By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

     

    There are seasons in this country when the struggle of ordinary Americans is not merely a condition but a kind of weather that settles over everything. It enters the grocery aisle, the overdue bill, the rent notice, and the long nights spent calculating how to get through the next week. The latest numbers show that this season has not passed. It has deepened.
    Private employers cut 32,000 jobs in November, according to ADP. Because the nation has been hemorrhaging jobs since President Trump took office, the administration has halted publishing the traditional monthly report. The ADP report revealed that small businesses suffered the heaviest losses. Establishments with fewer than 50 workers shed 120,000 positions, including 74,000 from companies with 20 to 49 workers. Larger firms added 90,000 jobs, widening the split between those rising and those falling.

    Meanwhile, wealth continues to climb for the few who already possess most of it. Federal Reserve data shows the top 1 percent now holds $52 trillion. The top 10 percent added $5 trillion in the second quarter alone. The bottom half gained only 6 percent over the past year, a number so small it fades beside the towering fortunes above it.
    “Less educated and poorer people tend to make worse mistakes,” John Campbell said to CBS News, while noting that the complexity of the system leaves many families lost before they even begin. Campbell, a Harvard University economist and coauthor of a book examining the country’s broken personal finance structure, pointed to a system built to confuse and punish those who lack time, training, or access.
    “Creditors are just breathing down their necks,” Carol Fox told Bloomberg News, while noting that rising borrowing costs, shrinking consumer spending, and trade battles under the current administration have left owners desperate. Fox serves as a court-appointed Subchapter V trustee in Southern Florida and has watched the crisis unfold case by case.
    During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump told those present that affordability “doesn’t mean anything to anybody.” He added that Democrats created a “con job” to mislead the public.
    However, more than $30 million in taxpayer funds reportedly have supported his golf travel. Reports show Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel have also made extensive use of private jets through government and political networks. The administration approved a $40 billion bailout of Argentina. The president’s wealthy donors recently gathered for a dinner celebrating his planned $300 million White House ballroom.
    During an appearance on CNBC, Mark Zandi, an economist, warned that the country could face serious economic threats. “We have learned that people make many mistakes,” Campbell added. “And particularly, sadly, less educated and poorer people tend to make worse mistakes.”