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Russia After Comey

Senate Intelligence Committee holds Russia hearing without Comey. CNN: "...acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe will now take the seat that was to be filled by Comey Thursday and will likely be the target of some probing by senators angry over how Comey was fired by Trump. The questions about connections between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives are burning hotter than ever."

Sen. McConnell resists calls for independent investigation of Russia election interference. Think Progress: "The claim that current investigations are more than sufficient is an old line for McConnell, who has spent months pushing back against the chorus of support for an independent commission outside the Republican-controlled standing committee structure. But his role in suppressing the allegations of Russian collusion goes even deeper than that.”

Making America Great

Why Trumponomics won’t make America great again. The Economist: "Mr. Trump’s plan for the economy... treats orthodoxy, accuracy and consistency as if they were simply to be negotiated away in a series of earth-shattering deals. Although Trumponomics could stoke a mini-boom, it, too, poses dangers to America and the world."

Why health repeal may still pass in the Senate. HuffPost: "Democrats may overestimate the level of disagreement between the two chambers. And if the last two months have proved anything, it’s that we’re underestimating the ability of Republicans to accept a flawed bill in the name of winning.

NJ Rep. Tom MacArthur takes a five-hour town hall beating. Daily Beast: The Republican congressman whose amendment was crucial to the American Health Care Act’s passage endured five hours of hostile questions from his New Jersey constituents Wednesday. “Health insurance as a for-profit is immoral!” Ginter screamed at the Republican congressman from just a few feet away, as police slowly inched toward him... He was concerned because his wife had recently recovered from breast cancer and he was worried it could return. He has two children with pre-existing conditions, he said, and he and his wife were worried about the possibility of him losing his job."

Our Freedoms?

This Mother's Day, Black Lives Matter activists will give 30 women their freedom. The Nation: "This week, black women in more than a dozen jails across the country will receive a Mother’s Day gift from the Black Lives Matter movement: their freedom. These women are among the 62 percent of people in jail who are there not because they’ve been convicted of a crime but because they can’t pay to get back to their lives as they await trial."

HHS Secretary Price commends WV police for arresting reporter. STAT: "Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price on Wednesday commended police in West Virginia for 'doing what they thought was appropriate' in arresting a journalist who shouted questions at him... 'That gentleman was not in a press conference,' he said. Heyman told reporters... he was simply doing his job, seeking to ask Price whether domestic violence would be considered a preexisting condition under the Trump administration’s proposed health care overhaul."

A new study shows voter-ID laws suppressed turnout of African-American and Democratic voters.The Nation: " According to federal court records, 300,000 registered voters, 9 percent of the electorate, lacked strict forms of voter ID in Wisconsin...  Wisconsin’s voter-ID law reduced turnout by 200,000 votes, according to the new analysis. Donald Trump won the state by only 22,748 votes."

More from OurFuture.org:

Trump ‘Signing’ Statement Risks Funding for All Tribal Housing. Mark Trahant: "The flurry that is the Trump Administration continues to impact Indian Country,,, The latest offering is a presidential signing statement that targets federal programs that serve American Indians, Alaska Natives, as well as those that fund historically black colleges. Because this statement is attached to the spending bill that just passed Congress, H.R. 244, it gives the Trump Administration legal cover to cancel grants and funding streams already in motion."

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