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Just days after receiving brain surgery to remove a malignant tumor, Sen. John McCain (R-Az) returned to the senate in time to cast his vote killing the so-called "skinny" repeal of Obamacare. McCain joined fellow Republicans Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) to vote with all 48 Democrats for a 51-49 margin against the bill. The Senator cited "bipartisanship" as his primary motivation. "The original Obamacare legislation was enacted without a single Republican vote,: he pointed out. "For us to repeal any part of it without a single Democratic vote would only continue to spur rancor between the aisles...

A transgender ex-Navy surgeon says she will perform free gender-confirming surgery for the service members on her list who have been affected by Donald Trump's new ban on trans people serving in the military. "If the commander-in-chief won't take care of our veterans, our veterans will," Dr. Christine McGinn told CNN's Michael Smerconish on Saturday. McGinn's transition began in 2000, the same year she was named senior flight surgeon at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station, then the largest reserve base in the country. She was later nominated for flight surgeon of the year for the entire U.S. Navy. Today,...

HUBBARD, Ohio – An Ohio factory owner said Saturday that though she has blue-collar jobs available at her company, she struggles to fill positions because so many candidates fail drug tests. Regina Mitchell, a co-owner of Warren Fabricating & Machining in Hubbard, Ohio, told The New York Times this week that four out of 10 applicants otherwise qualified to be welders, machinists and crane operators will fail a routine drug test. In an interview Saturday with CNN’s Michael Smerconish, Mitchell said that her requirements for prospective workers were simple. “I need employees who are engaged in their work while here,...

Senator John McCain is precisely the poster boy for everything that's wrong on Capitol Hill. He campaigns one way to his constituents and "serves" the American people contrary to how he campaigned. His recent no-vote to repeal ObamaCare is the best illustration as to how many Republicans made repeated promises they apparently had no intention of keeping.

POLL: Why did John McCain vote against The Republican "repeal" of Obamamcare? To keep it from harming Americans Not sure To spite President Trump

When it comes to a Democrat Party that feeds off symbolism and emotion on behalf of the downtrodden, one would also think that here would be a golden opportunity to show their base just how committed they are to the alternative they've always wanted once Obamacare melted down leaving the American people no other alternative. Here was their golden opportunity to stand by their convictions, vote their conscience, act on their principles, etc. It didn't happen.

Paul Ryan couldn’t persuade him. Neither could Mike Pence. And in the end, President Donald Trump couldn’t reel in John McCain either. The president made a last-ditch effort, calling the Arizona senator and key holdout on the GOP’s Obamacare repeal measure, as the bill’s fate hung in the balance, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. After Pence had spent about 20 minutes working McCain, the senator went off the floor to speak with Trump by phone, those sources said.

Modernizing Medicine, the medical records firm that is already one of the fastest-growing tech companies in South Florida, announced an expansion Thursday that will create more than 800 new jobs in Boca Raton. Gov. Rick Scott, who announced the jobs at the company at an event Thursday, said every time he visits Modernizing Medicine, there are more employees. “There are not many companies growing as fast as Modernizing Medicine — in the world,” he said. The Boca Raton-based company, which developed an electronic medical records and data system for specialty physicians, already employs 550 people, including 400 in Florida.....

Earlier today, President Trump announced that the new Department of Defense policy on transgender was the old policy in effect before Obama’s Secretary of Defense Ash Carter ordered it changed.* Most hot button issues have a gestation period so the sudden appearance of transgenders in the military as a topic of discussion was as shock to just about everyone. Politic has an interesting story on how this all came to pass. Nearly two weeks ago, the House was debating the Defense Authorization Act. Included in the bill was an amendment that forbid Department of Defense from spending funds on “gender...

As one of my platoon sergeants used to say, this is from the mouth of the horse(ref Trump tweets at link). Holy Common Sense, Batman. Barely a week ago, the military put off a decision on allowing the enlistment/commissioning of people suffering from the mental illness called ‘gender dysphoria.’ As I pointed out, the premise was insane. The military will not allow a person with braces to serve on active duty and the ongoing medical attention needed to manage orthodontics is nothing compared to that needed by transgenders in the pre-op and post-op stages. As far as I can tell,...

Judge William Orrick levied a fine of $137,000 against David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) for violating his "gag" order in the case against them related to their undercover investigative report on Planned Parenthood (PP). Dalieden and the CMP produced a number of covertly recorded videos of PP officials engaging in illegal sales of aborted baby parts. "Mr. Daleiden may imagine himself a journalist going undercover to snare criminals," Orrick said. "However, he is not a recognized member of any established journalistic outlet—neither TV, radio, print nor electronic. He is, to all intents, just a private citizen...

The System raised its brutal fist for all to see in Britain today. But the System didn’t win because Baby Charlie’s earthly struggle completely illuminated all of its horror in 3-D. “The System” raised its brutal fist in the face of the world from Britain today. It conceded, not in words, but in action how the parents of Charlie Gard had run out of time to secure outside help in trying to keep their baby alive. The System proved its terrible might in demonstrating to a World On Watch how it is impossible for a vulnerable baby and his parents...

In the super-charged public debate on health care, many advocates are rightly calling attention to the importance of protecting the health needs of people with disabilities. But for many in Southwest Washington who are living with a disability — and for their families — having health insurance coverage is just one part of the struggle. Severe and chronic disabilities are often associated with a significant decline in earnings. For families with children who have disabilities, for example, parents are often forced to step back from work to care for their child — making it even more difficult to shoulder high...

Americans support Charlie Gard partly because his parents demonstrate the fortitude in the face of adversity that Americans have long admired in the British. Unfortunately for Charlie his doctors don't have that fortitude. The doctors prefer a white flag of surrender to a "stiff upper lip". If Charlie's parents had been in London during WWII they would have come out of the shelters between bombing raids and taken care of business. I don't know about his doctors. The decision by Charlie's parents to ask for American help repeats another British behavior. During the last century when "Mother England" needed help...

This week the “repeal and replace” health insurance bill crafted by the Republican leadership failed to garner enough support to be put to a vote. Rep. Tom Garret (R-VA), along with other Freedom Caucus members, said he will file a discharge petition that would put a clean repeal of Obamacare up for a House vote. “This is the same bill both the House and Senate passed that was vetoed by President Obama in 2015,” Garret said. “It would undo the conceit that the government is competent to dictate the health insurance choices every American must make. It will allow everyone...

AmbioPharm Inc., a peptide and biopharmaceutical manufacturing company in North Augusta, S.C., plans to expand its existing Aiken County operations. The extension is projected to bring $18 million of new capital investment and lead to the creation of 100 jobs over the next five years. Located at 1024 Dittman Court, AmbioPharm is near Interstate 520. The company will start constructing two additional freestanding buildings, totaling 50,000 square feet, and purchasing additional equipment. The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits related to this project. Third SC expansion AmbioPharm started its business in South Carolina 10 years ago by...

Woman brags she’s “raping the government” by gaming the welfare system [VIDEO] By Lexie King | July 19, 2017 | Comments A new viral video shows a “Brooklyn mother of 3” bragging about how she takes advantage of welfare programs so that she doesn’t have to work. She is “proudly raping the government,” as she puts it. This video is proof that at least some Americans take advantage of the system. As of 2016, the Department of Agriculture claimed that approximately 44 million Americans relied on food stamps. On May 23, the Trump administration released the White House budget which...

The box of prescription drugs had been forgotten in a back closet of a retail pharmacy for so long that some of the pills predated the 1969 moon landing. Most were 30 to 40 years past their expiration dates — possibly toxic, probably worthless. But to Lee Cantrell, who helps run the California Poison Control System, the cache was an opportunity to answer an enduring question about the actual shelf life of drugs: Could these drugs from the bell-bottom era still be potent? Cantrell called Roy Gerona, a University of California, San Francisco, researcher who specializes in analyzing chemicals. Gerona...

• Corning plans to "immediately" invest $500 million and create 1,000 new jobs in the United States making a new glass for medical products, CEO Wendell Weeks told CNBC. • The initiative is a collaboration with Merck and Pfizer and was announced at a "Made in America" event with President Donald Trump on Thursday. • It is part of a plan to invest $4 billion and create 4,000 new jobs, Weeks said. Corning plans to "immediately" invest $500 million and create 1,000 new American jobs making a new glass for medical products, its CEO told CNBC on Thursday. The initiative...

The Trump administration on Thursday announced it is pouring $500 million into the production of glass pharmaceutical packaging as part of the president's "Made in America" week. President Donald Trump met with representatives of Merck, Pfizer and Corning in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to announce the initiative. He said the investment would create nearly 1,000 jobs "quickly." "This initiative will bring a key industry to our shores that for too long has been dominated by foreign countries," he said. "We're moving more and more companies back into the United States, and they're doing more and more of...