Politics

Last spring, at the dawn of the endless Democratic primary debates, it seemed as if presidential candidates couldn’t wait to endorse the idea of “Medicare for all.”It was a fine slogan, even if they didn’t agree on what it meant. Everyone likes Medicare; every Democrat wants to move toward universal health coverage. What could go wrong?Only this: Bernie Sanders had already written a detailed healthcare bill — and in it, Sanders laid claim to sole ownership of Medicare for all.Sanders’ version of national healthcare is expensive and ambitious. It would abolish private health insurance, cover much more than Medicare does now, and raise middle-class income taxes to pay for it. It’s hard to imagine Congress considering it. Advertisement Other candidates were hit with a predictable question: Do you support Sanders’ bill, including the abolition of private insurance?Elizabeth Warren boasted of having a plan for everything else, but she … [Read more...] about Elizabeth Warren’s pivot on ‘Medicare for all’ shows tricky politics of healthcare

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat told lawmakers on Wednesday that President Donald Trump expressly ordered him and others to help pressure Ukraine into investigating a political rival, providing some of the most significant testimony to date in a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry. U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland returns from a break to testify at a House Intelligence Committee hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee held its third day of public hearings in an impeachment inquiry examining President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, with three witnesses testifying on two panels. The proceedings began with U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Two other witnesses - Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russian, Ukrainian and … [Read more...] about ‘It will live forever in American political history’: reaction to Trump impeachment hearing

Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market has long been a stronghold of Likud, the rightwing party of Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. It is a bustling place of stalls stacked with wet fish, spices, nuts and tubs of olives. Last week Netanyahu visited the market’s lanes on an election campaign stop that was – bizarrely – unannounced even to the local media. One market figure who greeted Netanyahu in the past was, however, absent from the tour this time: Yaron Tzidkiyahu, the market’s “pickle king”, who runs two deli stands. A Likud party activist for 40 years, including as a member of its central committee, Tzidkiyahu had decided only a few days before that this year he was not voting for Netanyahu. This time he would vote for Netanyahu’s rightwing rival, Avigdor Lieberman. His decision to defect – which surprised even his family when he announced it at a Shabbat dinner – was not an isolated incident in a campaign … [Read more...] about Binyamin Netanyahu fights for political survival at Israeli general election

WASHINGTON — If you thought the political news was already intense, dizzying and historic, brace yourself for what's happening today. Beginning at 9:00 am ET on Capitol Hill, E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland testifies in the impeachment probe — the most highly anticipated public hearing yet in the proceedings. Then, at 2:30 pm ET, Laura Cooper of the Defense Department and David Hale of the State Department have their turns before the House Intelligence Committee's impeachment inquiry. And at 9:00 pm ET from Atlanta, 10 Democratic presidential candidates — Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Cory Booker and Tom Steyer - participate in the fifth round of Dem debates, this one hosted by MSNBC and the Washington Post. Phew. Sondland's testimony is significant because it comes after the State Department's David Holmes revealed behind closed-door testimony that he overheard a phone … [Read more...] about Get ready for a huge day in American politics

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro announced the release of an unspecified number of opposition prisoners on Thursday during his swearing in ceremony for a second term as president.who won Sunday's presidential election with more than 68 percent of the vote, said the release of people who had taken part in anti-government protests in recent years was part of a policy of "pacification" and "reconciliation." The government has imprisoned more than 300 people on charges of inciting violence during protests in 2014 and 2017 that left at least 160 people dead, according to Venezuelan Penal Forum, a rights group. Read more: Sanctions or diplomacy? Venezuela election divides EU lawmakers US sanctions 'do not intimidate me' Maduro's announcement followed a swearing in ceremony before the government-controlled Constituent Assembly, a body he created in July 2017 to side-step the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Venezuela on the brink The last straw In March 2017, violent protests … [Read more...] about Nicolas Maduro sworn in as Venezuelan leader, announces release of political prisoners