Attorney General Wants Tougher Sentences for Minor Crimes
Eye for an eye. Jeff Sessions, now Attorney General, wants to bring back draconian sentences for drug crimes. He previously helped stall efforts to trim mandatory minimum sentences. Sessions, a former Alabama attorney general and U.S. senator, is reversing Justice Department policy set under President Barack Obama. Former Attorney General Eric Holder wanted prosecutors to focus on the most serious crimes and the most violent offenders.
Healthcare cuts. Conservative Senate Republicans are weighing faster and steeper cuts to Medicaid that could drop millions of people from coverage and mark the biggest changes to the program in its 52-year history, reports The Wall Street Journal. The plan being pushed by lawmakers such as Mike Lee (R., Utah) is likely to face resistance from centrist GOP senators, but the push for more aggressive Medicaid cutbacks indicates that if a bill ultimately passes both chambers, it could significantly scale back the federal-state insurance program that covers 73 million low-income or disabled Americans.
Taking to the streets. A torch-wielding group protested Saturday night against plans to remove a Confederate monument in the hometown of the University of Virginia. The group rallied around the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, chanting “You will not replace us,” “Russia is our friend” and “Blood and soil.” The protesters included white nationalist Richard Spencer, who addressed an earlier rally that day: “We will not be replaced from this world. Whites have a future.” He posted a photo on his Twitter feed. Charlotteville’s mayor said the protests “hearken back to the days of the KKK.”
More golf. Trump spent Mother’s Day golfing. Again. Sunday was Trump’s 21st golf outing since being sworn it. Trump, the president who has bragged about grabbing women’s genitals and made it easier to sexually harass women, did put out a press release about Mother’s Day.
Disaster denied. Trump’s Federal Emergency Management Agency has rejected Oregon’s request for help because of floods and snow. FEMA also denied North Carolina 99% of the money it asked for after Hurricane Matthew and help for Pennsylvania after snow in March. Trump did approve a disaster declaration for Utah. FEMA’s budget could be cut by Trump who is more interested in persecuting undocumented immigrants to helping people in our country recover from disasters. Oregon, North Carolina and Pennsylvania also all have Democratic governors. Utah has a Republican.
