Horrific detention center conditions expose Trump’s true immigration policy: unmitigated, unrelenting cruelty

  A year ago, America awoke to the shocking images of children being held in cages – children who had been stolen from their asylum-seeking parents at the border by an administration that had no plan to reunite them.

  Now, on the anniversary of that nightmare (June 26), the Trump administration is demonstrating again what seems to be a deliberate strategy of unmitigated, unrelenting cruelty toward people of color who dare to seek asylum in our country.

  Once again, children are at the center of this real-life horror show.

The anti-immigrant extremists in charge of the U.S. immigration system

  The anti-immigrant movement has increasingly gained influence over the past decade, reaching a high point during the Trump administration. Top administrative positions in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been filled by right-wing extremists, many with close ties to hate groups. As a result, anti-immigrant policies that used to be regarded as extreme have been normalized, and dehumanizing rhetoric toward immigrants has become rampant in mainstream media.

  The new wave of anti-immigrant extremists leading DHS is responsible for overseeing the nation’s entire immigration system, from adjudicating visa petitions and applications for citizenship and asylum to handling arrests and deportations. These extremists have also played a role in, or defended, policies that outrage many Americans, such as family separation, the increased use of ICE raids, and the disparagement of locations that have sanctuary policies.

The first Pride was a riot

  Police raids were frequent and expected among the gay bars in Greenwich Village in the late 1960s.

  In every state except Illinois, simply being gay was a crime. At the time, New York City was seen as a relatively safe haven for LGBTQ+ folks across the nation. But law enforcement routinely seized on state laws authorizing the arrest of anyone for “crimes against nature” or not wearing at least three articles of gender-appropriate clothing.

  The city even made it illegal for licensed bars to serve gay or gender-nonconforming people. The Mafia, seeing a profit in accommodating a shunned clientele, ran several bars that catered specifically to this guarded community. Such was Stonewall Inn.

Congress must do more to counter Trump administration’s assault on climate science

  Since taking office, President Donald Trump and his administration have threatened to dismantle the federal climate apparatus. Earlier this year, the White House released a budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 that repeats many of the cuts to federal climate science proposed in Trump’s previous fiscal year budgets. At some agencies, proposed cuts to climate science far outstrip proposed reductions to the agency overall; according to Center for American Progress analysis of the FY 2020 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Budget in Brief and the FY 2020 EPA budget justification, for instance, the Trump administration proposed an 11 percent cut to the U.S. Department of Energy’s overall budget but a 47 percent reduction in its climate science-related activities.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - State ethics law not tough enough for ole Rankin Fite

  Alabama Senator Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia) has been in the Alabama House and Alabama Senate for over 40 years. That is a record in Alabama history and definitely a record of longevity for any Jefferson County legislator. Senator Waggoner has had a significant impact on behalf of the folks in Jefferson County over his stellar career.

The simple solution to lower drug prices for all Americans

  Last month, 43 states and Puerto Rico sued drug companies for inflating prices by up to 1,000 percent from 2013 to 2015. The lawsuit alleges the unlawful practice of price fixing. But even without collusion, drug companies gouge patients and taxpayers for one simple reason: They legally can.

  The price hikes affected the cost of more than 100 generic drugs that treat cancer, diabetes, HIV, arthritis, and other conditions. Far from unusual, they are part of a pattern. Insulin, for example—a drug that treats diabetes—has existed since the 1920s. Between 2012 and 2016, the average price of insulin nearly doubled. This price gouging has led some patients to ration insulin doses, a matter of life and death.

White House "chills" on free speech

  Two weeks ago, the Office of the Special Counsel publicly recommended that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway be fired for repeatedly violating the Hatch Act, prompting many people to Google what the Hatch Act is (it’s a law that bars federal employees from engaging in political activity in the course of their work) and President Trump to give an interview to Fox News where he stated that, “[I]t looks to me like they’re trying to take away her right of free speech, and that’s not just fair.” (Last week, the president tweeted his support for a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw burning the American flag — an act the Supreme Court has repeatedly held to be a protected form of political expression — thus ending his streak as a First Amendment advocate.)

Minimum-wage workers have lost nearly a year’s salary to inflation

  America’s lowest-paid workers have lost nearly a full year’s pay since Congress last raised the federal minimum wage a decade ago. Every day, these workers’ losses continue to mount.

  Inflation has steadily eroded their pay, and as a result, a full-time, year-round worker earning $7.25 per hour will take an effective pay cut of $2,578 this year alone.* Over the past 10 years, lawmakers’ refusal to act has cost America’s lowest-paid workers a total of nearly $13,330—just shy of the $15,080 that a full-time worker earning $7.25 per hour takes home annually.

Background checks violate property rights

  In the early 1990s, I accompanied a friend and his 12-year-old son to a local gun show. My friend wished to purchase a .22 caliber rifle with which to teach his son to shoot safely and effectively. After much browsing, he found one at a reasonable price, one that suited both his needs and those of his son. The seller, a federally licensed firearms dealer, handed my friend an ATF Form 4473 to fill out. When my friend asked him why he had to fill out the form, the dealer answered that he could not purchase the weapon without doing so.

  At this point, I inserted myself into the conversation. I told the dealer that the restriction was not on my friend, who was free to purchase firearms without filling out anything, but upon him. As a dealer, he had accepted a license from the federal government to engage in the business of buying and selling firearms and was thus subject to the terms of that license. One of the terms was that he could not sell them to anyone who didn’t fill out the ATF Form 4473. In addition, the dealer has to keep the form on file for inspection by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF). The same is true for the background check; it is imposed on the dealer as a condition of his license.

Arresting a person for profanity often violates the First Amendment

  Law enforcement officials should not assume that uttering profanity rises to the level of unlawful disorderly conduct. That is a lesson from a recent decision from a federal appeals court involving an Arkansas man thrown in jail for yelling a two-word expletive at an officer.

  Eric Roshaun Thurairajah was driving on a five-lane highway in Fort Smith, Ark., when he saw a police officer pulling over a minivan on the opposite of the road. The minivan contained a woman and two young children.