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December 8, 2025
As affordability concerns mount, Hill Republicans are struggling to act
(Politico) Republicans want to put the economy at the center of their midterm message as they seek to protect their majorities in Congress. But as cost-of-living concerns mount across the political spectrum, the GOP is struggling to act decisively to address them. Already top Republicans acknowledge they haven’t done enough to sell the “one big, beautiful bill,” the party-line centerpiece of their economic agenda they enacted over the summer. Now internal divisions and the need for bipartisan support in the Senate are threatening any attempt to follow up on it.
Go to discussionDemocrats urge Pentagon to release video of strike on alleged drug boat
(The Guardian) US Democrats on Sunday pushed the Trump administration to release video of a second strike on an alleged drug boat incapacitated in the Caribbean, continuing to escalate pressure on the Pentagon amid accusations the attack was unlawful. Eleven people died in the 2 September attack, including two men killed in a follow-up strike as they reportedly clung to wreckage for an hour.
Go to discussionDuckworth: Second boat strike 'was essentially murder'
(The Hill) Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot and combat veteran, said the military operation that killed 11 alleged drug traffickers, including two initial survivors, in the Caribbean in early September was “essentially murder.” In a Sunday interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Duckworth pushed back on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comparison of the operation in the Caribbean to the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, where both Duckworth and Hegseth deployed.
Go to discussionTrump's Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
(ProPublica) In 1993, Trump signed a mortgage for a “Bermuda style” home in Palm Beach, Florida, pledging that it would be his principal residence. Just seven weeks later, he got another mortgage for a seven-bedroom, marble-floored neighboring property, attesting that it too would be his principal residence. In reality, Trump, then a New Yorker, does not appear to have ever lived in either home, let alone used them as a principal residence. Instead, the two houses, which are next to his historic Mar-a-Lago estate, were used as investment properties and rented out.
Go to discussionTrump Is Coming for Veterans' Disability Benefits
(American Prospect) On October 29, a disabled Navy veteran and blogger named Theresa Aldrich, who keeps other former service members informed about developments at the Department of Veterans Affairs, tuned in to what seemed to be a routine session of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. The hearing had an innocuous title, “Putting Veterans First,” and SVAC members invited a panel of witnesses to discuss the question “Is the Current VA Disability System Keeping Its Promise?” Instead, Aldrich discovered, it was a Republican response to a four-part series in The Washington Post, which accused veterans of bilking the taxpayer out of billions of dollars.
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Paramount Skydance launches hostile bid for WBD 'to finish what we started,' CEO Ellison tells CNBC
(CNBC) Paramount Skydance is launching a hostile bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery after it lost out to Netflix in a months-long bidding war for the legacy assets, the company said Monday. Paramount will go straight to WBD shareholders with an all-cash, $30-per-share offer. That’s the same bid WBD rejected last week, which Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said Monday never got a response from Warner Bros. Discovery.
Go to discussionAs farmers face trade wars and inflation, calls to mental health hotlines rise
(Nebraska Examiner) As farmers face historic headwinds and market hardships, calls to the national Farm Aid hotline and the Iowa Concern hotline — where farmers can get support in times of mental health crisis or need — are increasing. This fall, the Iowa Concern hotline saw four to five times the number of calls it had in the same months last year, said Tammy Jacobs, the hotline’s manager. The Farm Aid hotline is also seeing a change in the urgency of calls.
Go to discussionZohran Mamdani tells immigrant New Yorkers about their right not to comply with ICE
(AP) New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani posted a video to social media on Sunday explaining immigrants’ right to refuse to speak to or comply with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, days after federal agents carried out a raid in Manhattan. In the video, Mamdani vowed to protect the city’s 3 million immigrants, saying, “We can all stand up to ICE if you know your rights.”
Go to discussionUS Congress considers 'must-pass' defense policy bill that would top Trump's spending request
(Reuters) U.S. lawmakers on Sunday unveiled an annual defense policy bill authorizing a record $901 billion in national security spending next year, billions more than President Donald Trump's request, and provides $400 million in military assistance to Ukraine. The sweeping 3,000-page bill includes a 4% raise for enlisted troops but excludes a bipartisan effort to spur housing construction that some lawmakers had hoped to include in the final bill.
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