According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

Although the hospice benefit has been around for thirty years, explosive growth in hospice care began around the turn of the century—just as for-profit corporations began to get into the business. Between 2000 and 2012, Medicare payments for hospice care increased fivefold, from $2.9 billion to $15.1 billion annually, even as the share of hospices run for a profit doubled from 30% to 60%, says the The Washington Post. Payments in 2013 are expected to exceed $17 billion.   read more

Missouri, which started drug testing for welfare applicants this year, spent almost $500,000 over eight months to conduct 636 drug tests that identified only 20 people who tested positive out of 32,000 people who applied for assistance, a rate of 0.0625%. Nevertheless, the state of Kansas plans to spend nearly $1 million to implement a program next year. They might want to ask their neighbors in Missouri about that.   read more

Haley tried to justify her call for arrests by pointing to an emergency regulation by the state Budget and Control Board (which Haley chairs) that banned sleeping on Statehouse grounds. But the new rule made no reference to a 6 pm or any other curfew on protesting. Also, it was adopted after the arrests were made.   read more

To cover this expenditure, the town council led, by St. Lawrence, proposed that Ramapo commit to $16.5 million in long-term bonds. This arrangement, though, required voter approval. When the matter appeared on the local ballot, more than 70% of residents rejected it. But St. Lawrence was determined to get his stadium. So he convinced council members to invest in short-term bonds totaling $25 million—a move that didn’t require voters’ support.   read more

The United States consumes more than 50 tons of antibiotics a day—80% of which is not used for humans. Rather, about 40 tons goes to promote agricultural production, such as giving antibiotics to cattle and chickens. This practice has dire ramifications for human health, two experts warn, as the abundance of antibiotics in the food chain has resulted in drug-resistant bacteria that can leave people vulnerable to infections and other illnesses.   read more

The plan does not cover pre-existing conditions or certain preventative care, both requirements of the health law. The volunteers are apparently caught in a Catch-22: AmeriCorps argues that because they are technically not employees it does not have to offer them the “minimum essential coverage” needed to comply with the individual mandate, but as volunteers to work with the poor they are so badly paid they cannot afford better coverage.   read more

Entitled, “A Child is Born, a Son is Given,” the scene connects the death of Martin to the nativity. Referring to the story of Herod’s order to kill all male infants, an onsite plaque explains that even as Jesus was being born “other parents [were] in agony because their children had just been killed.”   read more

Once the market became saturated last decade with natural gas supplies, many drillers were confronted with falling prices and too many wells on their hands. So they started pulling out of the state, or going out of business altogether, leaving behind thousands of holes in the ground, as well as surrounding lands in need of cleanup and reclamation.   read more

Utah’s endeavor began eight years ago under then-Governor Jon Huntsman, a Republican. Housing First provides free apartments and full-time caseworkers for the homeless, with the expectation that putting a roof over someone will keep them healthier and less in need of ER visits. The program started with 17 homeless people, and eventually grew to include 2,000. Although the initiative cost money to pay for the apartments, the state calculated it would still come out ahead.   read more

Three residents of Mali sued Nestle USA in U.S. federal court in 2009 claiming they were forced as children to work without pay and were abused at Ivory Coast plantations that supplied Nestle with cocoa. In an amici curiae filed in support of the Malian workers, a group of international law scholars expressed concern that “by creating a law-free zone for corporations, the District Court has charted an unprecedented and unjustified course.”   read more

On a 4-2 vote, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down a provision that exempted fracking operations from local zoning laws, which would have forced local governments to allow drilling anywhere, including in areas zoned residential. The opinion by Chief Justice Ronald Castille finds that “by any responsible account the exploitation of the Marcellus Shale Formation will produce a detrimental effect on the environment, on the people, their children, and the future generations   read more

The $355 billion includes $136 billion to modernize and operate submarines, bombers and missiles that deliver warheads, $105 billion to run weapons labs, weapons and naval reactors, $56 billion for command and control systems, and $59 billion for unforeseen technical problems or mismanagement. CBO officials point out there are other, very costly programs that exist because of the nuclear weapons program, such as cleaning up shuttered nuclear fuel facilities.   read more

The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act (S. 162) would allocate $40 million for mental health courts, create more crisis intervention teams to work with law enforcement, and provide military veterans with better screening for mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and drug addiction. The measure would also help police academies better train cadets to effectively respond to mentally ill people.   read more

The Iraqi military will receive 75 Hellfire missiles from Washington. Costing nearly $70,000 a piece, the delivery represents an early Christmas gift for arms maker Lockheed Martin. The company also made out with the order to manufacture Aerostat surveillance balloons, three of which were provided to the Iraqi government by the Obama administration. The administration intends to ship 10 ScanEagle reconnaissance drones in March to Iraq. This shipment will mean more revenue for Boeing.   read more

Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson said Guantánamo resides outside “a theater of war,” which allows detainees there to enjoy certain legal rights in the U.S. judicial system. But with Bagram being part of the U.S. “war with a determined enemy,” prisoners at the base are considered enemy combatants, placing them in a different legal category. Not all of the appellants were captured in Afghanistan, however. Some were seized in Thailand, Iraq and Pakistan.   read more

DK Knitwear in Bangladesh, which makes Marine Corps shirts for sale at military stores. The sweatshop’s workforce is 30% children. Workers have been beaten for missing production quotas, and forced to work in a location with no fire alarm system, despite previous outbreaks of fire. The Georgie & Lou factory in Thailand, which makes clothing sold by the Smithsonian Institution. Workers there can lose 5% of their daily wages ($10) for any clothing they make that has flaws.   read more