Republican Representative Steve King

Some House Republicans are threatening a government shutdown if funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border isn’t part of next year’s budget. But what if Mexico doesn’t pay for the wall like President Trump insists? One GOP member says that it’s okay, because it can come out of the pockets of poor people.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, told “CNN New Day” host Alisyn Camerota that America could pay for the wall by slashing the social safety net.

“I would find half of a billion of dollars of that right out of Planned Parenthood’s budget,” King said. “And the rest of it could come out of food stamps and the entitlements that are being spread out for people who have not worked in three generations.”

Camerota pressed King on the matter of letting Americans go hungry, “You want to take food from people who are on the lowest rung in terms of the nation’s safety net and their children, in terms of foot stamps — you’re happy to take money from them in order to give the $1.6 billion […]

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TRUMP APPROVAL RATINGS – MULTIPLE POLLS

GRADE
SAMPLE

ADJUSTED

JUL. 8-10
Gallup

1,500
A

JUL. 6-10
Ipsos

1,560
A

JUL. 6-10
Rasmussen Reports/Pulse Opinion Research

1,500
LV

JUL. 5-7
Gallup

1,500
A

JUL. 3-5
Rasmussen Reports/Pulse Opinion Research

1,500
LV

Source: 538

Carbon dioxide concentrations are heading towards values not seen in the past 200 million  years. The sun has also been gradually getting stronger over time. Put together, these facts mean the climate may be heading towards warmth not seen in the past half a billion years.

A lot has happened on Earth since 500,000,000BC – continents, oceans and mountain ranges have come and gone, and complex life has evolved and moved from the oceans onto the land and into the air. Most of these changes occur on very long timescales of millions of years or more. However, over the past 150 years global temperatures have increased by about 1℃, ice caps and glaciers have retreated, polar sea-ice has melted, and sea levels have risen.

Some will point out that Earth’s climate […]

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Douglas Fir Forest
Credit: Marshal Hedin/ Flickr

Groundbreaking ‘Carbon Majors’ research finds 100 active fossil fuel producers including ExxonMobil, Shell, BHP Billiton and Gazprom are linked to 71% of industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.

• Carbon Majors Database is the most comprehensive dataset of historic company greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ever compiled;
• 100 active fossil fuel producers are linked to 71% of global industrial greenhouse gases (GHGs) since 1988, the year in which human-induced climate change was officially recognized through the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC);
• Almost a third (32%) of historic emissions come from publicly listed investor-owned companies, 59% from state-owned companies, and 9% from private investment;
• Over half of global industrial emissions since 1988 can be traced to just 25 corporate and state producers;
• Fossil fuel companies and their products have released more emissions in the last 28 years than in the 237 years prior to 1988;
• Over half (52%) of all global industrial GHGs emitted since the start of the industrial revolution in 1751, have been traced to these 100 fossil fuel producers;
• Low carbon tipping point […]
  
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Republican Representative Mo Brooks of the 5th District of Alabama

As moderate Republican lawmakers move away from the Senate health care bill over concerns it doesn’t do enough to preserve insurance access, hardline conservatives are arguing it should be even more stringent — including Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks (R), who thinks universal health care is a non-starter but the wealthy should receive a tax cut.

Appearing on CNN Monday morning, Brooks, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, argued that health care for all is an unrealistic goal, while discussing the health care bill currently being reviewed by the Senate. According to the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, approximately 22 million Americans will lose their health insurance under the bill. That number has attracted outrage — but Brooks argued such reactions are overblown.

“I would love for every American to have a perfect health care system where we can deliver perfect care every time someone is ill, […]

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Pastor Ralph Drollinger

Ralph Drollinger, the minister who leads regular prayer and Bible study meetings with members of President Trump’s cabinet and members of Congress, says in his written Bible study guide for this month, “Do not be deceived by syncretistic, ‘prayer breakfasts:’ God only hears the prayers of leaders and citizens who are upright, who live righteously through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Drollinger’s claim is reminiscent of a notorious 1980 declaration by the then-head of the Southern Baptist Convention Bailey Smith, who told a Religious Right political gathering that it was “interesting” to him that political gatherings would “have a Protestant to pray and a Catholic to pray and then you have a Jew to pray.” Added Smith, “With all due respect to those dear people, my friend, God almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew. For how in the world can God hear the prayer of a man who says that Jesus Christ is not the true Messiah?”

Back to Drollinger’s recent Bible study guide, dated July 10, 2017:

Scripture is clear; those who are […]

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