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In a distressing reality check, the average American is in the throes of an unprecedented financial crisis, and the situation demands swift and decisive action. The stark numbers tell a harrowing tale: a staggering sixty percent of American families are on the brink, navigating the precarious path of living paycheck to paycheck. A record number are forced to take on second or even third jobs merely to stay afloat. The hidden tax of inflation is hitting hard, with the average American worker now burdened with an extra $4.97 per hour—effectively doubling their federal income tax. This is not a mere...

President Joe Biden on Wednesday struggled to explain why he delayed negotiating with House Republicans on raising the debt ceiling. Speaking at SUNY Westchester Community College in New York with a backdrop that resembled former President Donald Trump’s stage setting, Biden spoke about “why Congress must avoid default immediately,” even though negotiations were delayed on the brink of default.

The White House on Tuesday tried to clarify and walk back President Joe Biden’s repeated condemnation of Republicans who supported former President Donald Trump. “He’s been very clear when he’s talked about MAGA Republicans, Ultra MAGA Republicans. He’s talked about the leadership in the Republican Party,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during the daily briefing on Tuesday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre struggled Tuesday to respond to her past statements denying the results of an election — even as her boss President Joe Biden stated that “election deniers” posed a threat to democracy. “Look, I’m not going to go back to where we were or what happened in 2016, we’re going to focus on the here and now,” she said, when confronted with past statements on social media about President Donald Trump stealing the 2016 election and also Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

On Tuesday, a Florida judge informed two lawyers representing former President Donald Trump, neither of them licensed in the state, that they had bungled routine paperwork to take part in a suit filed after the FBI’s search this month of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and private club. Trump has projected his usual bravado, and raised millions of dollars online from outraged supporters, since federal agents descended on the property more than two weeks ago and carted off box loads of material including highly classified documents. But something is different this time — and the errant court filing offered a glimpse into...

Washington (CNN)Monica Lewinsky reflected on the mental health struggles she endured in the 1990s amid the scandal surrounding her affair with then-President Bill Clinton, detailing in a new interview the toll it took and how she has reclaimed her story in the years since. Lewinsky, a former White House intern, told CNN's David Axelrod on an episode of "The Axe Files" podcast released Thursday that the investigation into the scandal, which captured the nation's attention for years and eventually led to Clinton's impeachment, caused her to have suicidal ideations. "I just couldn't see a way out. And and I thought...

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon was once the poster child for limiting the spread of the coronavirus, after its Democratic governor imposed some of the nation’s strictest safety measures, including mask mandates indoors and outdoors, limits on gatherings and an order closing restaurants. But now the state is being hammered by the super-transmissible Delta variant, and hospitals are getting stretched to the breaking point. The intensive care unit at Salem Hospital in Oregon’s capital city is completely full, with 19 of the 30 beds occupied last week by COVID-19 patients, the youngest only 20 years old. It’s the same at a...

Former President Bill Clinton struggled to keep his mask on during President Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday and some on Twitter said the tiny covering, which had silver stars on it, looked like it was purchased from Claire’s. Photos and videos of the 74-year-old, who attended the inauguration with wife Hillary Clinton and appeared to fall asleep at one point, show his mask repeatedly slipping beneath his nose, and at other times, riding up and over his mouth toward his eyes as he tried to talk.

Beto O’Rourke (D) is struggling to garner support in his home state of Texas, with Joe Biden (D) maintaining his lead in the Lone Star State and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) taking a second-place position, according to a University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll released Wednesday. The poll, which surveyed 550 registered voters likely to vote in the Texas Democrat primary, was taken August 29 – September 8 and showed Democrat voters flocking to O’Rourke’s competitors.

Consider the plight of Shari Redstone, the daughter of the billionaire media mogul Sumner Redstone. Much of her family's fortune is tied to the ailing 92-year-old Mr. Redstone. He owns 80 percent and she owns 20 percent of National Amusements, the private business that controls two giant media companies -- Viacom and CBS. Upon Mr. Redstone's death, his interest passes to a trust with his grandchildren as beneficiaries. But Mr. Redstone hardly set the stage for an orderly transition. He stubbornly held on so long as executive chairman of both CBS and Viacom that shareholders began to question his ability...

As Jeb Bush heads to Texas on Sunday to rally top fundraisers along with his father and brother, former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the family’s vaunted financial network is mostly disengaged and splintered—and his campaign stock is falling. The one-time front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination is roughly tied for third place among GOP contenders in campaign cash and has fallen to fourth or fifth place in national polls, including the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey. His crowds are modest. He failed to dominate in either of the GOP debates, and million-dollar ad buys in...

Jeb Bush on Friday ordered across-the-board pay cuts to his struggling presidential campaign and warned staff that job functions would change. On a Friday conference call, top officials said resources would shift heavily to ballot access and voter contact. One person on the Friday morning staff call said they were left with the impression that "very few people will be left in Miami." Danny Diaz led the call. Sally Bradshaw also spoke. So did general counsel Megan Sowards. Although campaign officials insisted they're still in strong shape, the moves — combined with Bush's stagnant poll numbers, despite millions having been...

Russia’s leaders have continued to criticize the economic sanctions imposed by the West over their invasion of Ukraine, but the official complaints from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have recently taken a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tone. The sanctions, Lavrov and others suggest, won’t really hurt the Russian economy in the long term, but are damaging to international cooperation in general. Related Stories Moody's cuts Russia's sovereign rating by one notch to Baa2 MarketWatch Russia warns of ‘prolonged’ period of cold relations with U.S. Fortune [$$] Russia's Debt Downgraded The Wall Street Journal Russia's Investment Grade Status Teeters On Edge Following Moody's Downgrade Forbes...

Imagine you’re a red-state Democrat contemplating a run for Senate. Here’s what you’ve seen during the opening months of President Obama’s second term: A still-tepid economic recovery, a culturally polarizing agenda on immigration and guns, and fears of Obamacare’s possibly haphazard implementation. The White House’s uneven second-term start shows little sign of improving. Questions about what administration and State Department officials knew about the origins of last year’s deadly attack on a consulate in Benghazi have hounded them since last week’s congressional hearing. The explosive revelation Friday that the IRS targeted conservative non-profit outside groups seems certain to put Obama...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama struggled Tuesday to prevent wholesale defections by fellow Democrats that could sink the tax deal he worked out with Republicans — angry opposition that could subject millions of Americans to a big holiday-season tax increase. Many GOP lawmakers seemed ready to embrace the Obama-GOP compromise and declare victory. The question was whether enough Democrats would join them in support, especially in the House, where liberal resentment of the president's concessions on tax breaks for the wealthiest runs strong. Obama went on national TV to give a ringing defense of his compromise, declaring it the necessary...

President Barack Obama is getting a little personal about the sluggish economy, telling a Cleveland audience about his own family's struggles and hardships. Obama noted Wednesday that his grandfather served in World War II while his grandmother toiled in factories back home. He was raised by a single mother who put herself through school and got up before sunrise to help him with schoolwork. And, the president says, first lady Michelle Obama's father kept working in spite of suffering from multiple sclerosis that forced him to walk with crutches.

Man in Anchorage, Alaska captures mother rescuing baby bear from fishing net on video

SAN FELIX, Venezuela (Reuters) – Despite having some of the world's largest energy reserves, Venezuela is increasingly struggling to maintain basic electrical service, a growing challenge for leftist President Hugo Chavez. The OPEC nation has suffered three nationwide blackouts this year, and chronic power shortages have sparked protests from the western Andean highlands to San Felix, a city of mostly poor industrial workers in the sweltering south. Shoddy electrical service is now one of Venezuelans' top concerns, according to a recent poll, and may be a factor in elections next month for governors and mayors in which Chavez allies are...

~excerpt~ BETWEEN GROWING UP IN Rhode Island and later moving to New York, I've witnessed a lifetime of political corruption. It's part of the landscape, like barren trees in the winter and obese tourists in the summer. When an elected official vows to "clean up the capitol," I calmly wait for the headline that features his or her name followed by the words "under investigation." And so it is with New York Governor Elliot Spitzer. As Attorney General, Spitzer was known as the Sheriff of Wall Street, bringing down the wing tipped bad guys with a loaded subpoena and a...

The California Republican Party is struggling to get out of debt, creating a potential drag on voter registration and other party-building efforts in the midst of a heated campaign season, records showed Thursday. As of last week, the state GOP's main account had a balance of $3.2 million but $3.4 million in unpaid obligations. The party's federal account - used to finance activities that support congressional candidates - listed a balance of $34,000 but nearly $460,000 in debts, according to records filed last month. The shaky finances are due in large part to sluggish fundraising. The party collected $5.6 million...