Unfortunately, there are millions of Americans that are suffering. And the republicans have learned that if you tell this growing group of downtrodden that you will solve their problems, they will vote for you, despite the mountains of evidence that demonstrate that the republican’s policies will hurt these people even more, and transfer gigantic sums of money from those with less to the very rich. In other words, the republicans depend on American’s stupidity.

A network of radical conservative think-tanks spanning all 50 states is planning direct marketing campaigns targeted personally at union members to encourage them to quit. The secret push, the group hopes, could cost unions up to a fifth of their 7 million members, lead to the loss of millions of dollars in income and undermine a cornerstone of the American middle-class.

The group is funded by such billionaire conservative donors as the Koch brothers and the Walton Family Foundation that stems from the Walmart fortune.

One might expect the administrator of the nation’s chief drug enforcement agency to be aware of at least some of the data that conclusively demonstrates that access to cannabis leads to decreases in opioid abuse.

But Patterson claimed ignorance of the studies, including the highly publicized study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finding that medical cannabis regulation is associated with declines in overall opioid-related mortality, including heroin overdose deaths.

Beginning with the Gingrich radicals who took over the House in 1994, the modern Republican party has been willing to exploit the constitution’s design flaws and the constitutional order’s reliance on informal understandings between political actors to sabotage the functioning of Congress, destroy the Obama presidency, and seize vastly more power than the American people would otherwise have granted it.

“The only way to solve the drug problem is through toughness,” Trump said in remarks he echoed on Monday. However, most experts agree that criminal penalties and “toughness” is not a way to solve drug problems. Recall the Nixon and Reagan administration’s War on Drugs, which were utter failures.

Heated debates over the safety – or lack thereof – of this popular pesticide have spanned the globe and sparked propaganda warfare with each side claiming the other has misrepresented the scientific record. Cancer victims allege Monsanto has “ghost” written research reviews, unduly influenced regulators and created front groups to falsely claim glyphosate safety. Monsanto, meanwhile, asserts multiple studies by international scientists are flawed and politically motivated, and says industry studies demonstrate the product is safe when used as intended.

For many Los Angeles politicians, getting into the hottest show in town was much easier. Instead of making them line up outside the theater, the Pantages came to them, offering each one a coveted pair of tickets to opening night. The theater is owned by the same company that heavily lobbied the city three years ago to keep a lucrative contract after a city commission recommended handing it to rival company Live Nation.

Congress has forgotten the “devastating impact of the financial crisis,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Tuesday as Republicans moved closer to relaxing banking regulations implemented after the financial crash of 2008.

Analysis of the Senate bill by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found it would increase the likelihood of a taxpayer-funded bailout of failed banks.

“I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself.”

This old wisecrack is credited to American late-night talk show host and comedian Johnny Carson. Sorry, Johnny, it may be funny, but you’ve got it wrong. Although giving up unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking and rich food will certainly improve your health, giving up sex will not.

George P Bush is the young, half-Hispanic, grandson of the 41st president, nephew of the 43rd and son of a former Florida governor.

When he was elected Texas land commissioner four years ago, that background gave him a significant advantage as a fledgling Republican candidate seemingly on a fast track to stardom. Now, with conservative politics turned on its head by Trumpism, Bush is facing a tough primary election that threatens to doom his political career – and with it, bring to a close his family’s 70-year political dynasty.

Trump has a history of shifting his positions in response to events or advice. Before he entered the political fray in earnest, he expressed support for a ban on assault weapons and “a slightly longer waiting period” to purchase a gun.

But during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump ran as an unabashedly pro-gun candidate, warning the NRA: “The only way to save our second amendment is to vote for a person that you all know named Donald Trump.”

Livestock raised for food in the US are dosed with five times as much antibiotic medicine as farm animals in other countries, a study revealed.

Higher use of antibiotics, particularly those that are critical for human health – the medicines “of last resort,” which the World Health Organization wants banned from use in animals – is associated with rising resistance to the drugs and the rapid evolution of “superbugs” that can kill or cause serious illness.

Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in late September of last year, and residents are still struggling to regain their footing. Many residents still struggle to find clean water. Medical care remains scarce as many hospitals limp toward becoming fully operational.

While work continues slowly on restoring power, the tremendous destruction has resulted in a cascade of further problems, including job losses, foreclosures, a decrease in neighborhood police presence and a resulting increase in violent crimes.