By Charlotte Ehrlich
While he is celebrated for earning two Bronze Stars, Hegseth’s political and financial controversies have raised concerns ahead of his Senate confirmation.
By Janine Jackson
Janine Jackson interviewed the Sentencing Project’s Richard Mendel about coverage of youth crime for the December 20, 2024, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.
Janine Jackson: Some listeners may know the Sentencing Project for their work calling out racial disparities in sentencing associated with crack versus powder cocaine, and mandatory minimums. A recent project involves looking into another factor shaping public understanding and public policy around criminal justice—the news media. In this case, the focus is young people.
By Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his New York hush money case just days before his inauguration, making him the only past and future U.S. president with a criminal record.
Trump has faced four criminal prosecutions but the New York state case was the sole one that went to trial. A jury convicted him in May on 34 felonies for falsifying invoices, checks and ledger entries that amounted to a $130,000 reimbursement to his lawyer for paying off a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
By Kevin Hardy
The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour.
In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to significantly increase their minimum wages this year.
By Shauneen Miranda
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said during a wide-ranging press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday he wanted to see the country’s debt limit addressed while cutting spending and would not rule out military force to expand U.S. territory.
Trump, who will take office Jan. 20 after lawmakers breezily certified the election results Monday, continued to place blame on outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden for what he will be left with in his second term as he dives into an ambitious GOP agenda.
By Cayla Mihalovich
About 800 incarcerated firefighters are battling the unprecedented fires raging across Southern California, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. They join thousands of firefighting and emergency personnel who have been dispatched to respond to multiple fires throughout the Los Angeles area.
By Mitch Perry
A rising star for the Florida Democrats who has previously called Donald Trump a “threat to the planet” said he intends to work with the incoming administration on certain issues but he vows that he is prepared to oppose “horrible” measures that he fears will be coming out of the White House.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, who just started his second term in office and at 27 remains the youngest member of Congress (he turns 28 next week), told the Florida Phoenix “I’m going to continue to do what I’ve done the past two years.”
In summary
President-elect Donald Trump faulted California water policies for the devastating wildfires that are burning in Los Angeles County. The fires started because of fierce winds and extremely dry conditions.
The Los Angeles County wildfires triggered a rant from President-elect Donald Trump, who blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom for depriving Southern California of water. Trump today repeated a claim he has made in the past, that state efforts “to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt” have caused pain and hardship in California.
Data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show that 4,633,650 residents signed up for insurance coverage through the Marketplace by the end of 2024.
Nationally, CMS reports that 23.6 million people enrolled for 2025 coverage, including 3.2 million new consumers. Total enrollment is record-breaking, CMS said in a statement.
Four insurance companies and 12 health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are participating in the Florida Marketplace, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation website shows. HMO coverage is regional and people must live in the area an HMO is authorized to operate in to enroll in the managed care plan.
The Marketplace is a centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal the program but has offered no details.
“The Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace and reforms have proven to be successful and critically important for millions of Americans and their families,” Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a prepared statement. “Every American should have access to quality, affordable health care — and thanks to the ACA, they do. The Affordable Care Act now stands along with Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security as one of the most consequential social programs in the history of our nation.”
The CMS data does not show how many of the Florida consumers are new enrollees versus returning customers. But with 4,633,650 people enrolled, the data show that Florida leads the nation in enrollment. Rounding out the top three states for the most enrollment is Texas and California with 3,861,244 and 1,895,558 enrollees, respectively.
Open enrollment for 2025 health insurance coverage began Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15. Health insurance coverage took effect Jan. 1 for consumers who enrolled by Dec. 15. Health insurance coverage takes effect Feb. 1 for those who enroll by Jan. 15.
Although Republicans in Florida have not expanded Medicaid to lower-income childless adults as the ACA allows, the federal health law is popular with residents who annually have flocked to the marketplace for health coverage. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to repeal the ACA but has provided no details.
“Nearly 24 million people, a record number, have signed up for Marketplace coverage — and the Open Enrollment Period is not over yet. The Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace and reforms have proven to be successful and critically important for millions of Americans and their families,” said Becerra.
This article originally appeared in the Florida Phoenix on January 8th, 2025
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By Jake Johnson
"CEOs and billionaires want nothing more than to see workers divided, but we're standing here today with greater solidarity than ever to reach the 60 million Americans who say they'd join a union tomorrow if the laws allowed and to unrig our labor laws to guarantee every worker in America the basic right to organize on the job," AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement.
