Republicans are messing with a major source of American jobs

President Trump and congressional Republicans are taking aim at one of the strongest and most consistent sources of job growth in the U.S. economy -- health care.

The numbers tell the story.

Some 1.1 million jobs have been added in health care since 2014, when the Obamacare insurance exchanges started increasing access to care.

That's roughly as many jobs as were added at factories and construction sites combined over the same period, according to Labor Department statistics.

"Obamacare was a de facto jobs program, whether it was intended that way or not," said Sam Glick, a health care expert and partner at consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

more
http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/07/news/economy/health-care-jobs/index.html

Danziger!

Sunday's Doonesbury - Mean Tweets

Ryan pictured with man wearing repeal and go f--- yourself shirt

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) posed for a photo with a man wearing a shirt that said "Repeal and go f--- yourself."


The shirt is a quote from the podcast Pod Save America, which is hosted by former White House staffers during President Obama's time in office.

The podcast's hosts have been critical of the Republican healthcare reform plans and have characterized the bill as heartless.



http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/paul-ryan-poses-for-photo-with-man-wearing-repeal-and-go-fk-yourself-shirt/article/2622341

http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/332232-ryan-pictured-with-man-wearing-repeal-and-go-f-yourself-shirt

Weekend Toon Roundup 2 - The Rest

Trump







Comey




Prison and Race

Weekend Toon Roundup 1 - Trumpcared to Death

7 bounty hunters are accused of killing an innocent man

The seven bounty hunters went after the same target: A fugitive wanted for probation violation. They thought they found their man inside a Nissan.

When they tried to serve a warrant, that's when things escalated.

The case in Clarksville, Tennessee, is noteworthy for many reasons. The bounty hunters ended up shooting and killing an innocent man. And, more importantly, they broke the law when they did so.

more
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/05/us/bail-bondsmen-bounty-hunters-mistaken-identity-killing-trnd/index.html

Drug war still alive and well in Louisiana

Judge blasts 'ridiculous' 18-year sentence for marijuana

Associated Press
MICHAEL KUNZELMAN


BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Is 18 years in prison without the possibility of parole too harsh for a man arrested with 18 grams of marijuana? The Louisiana Supreme Court's chief justice thinks so, and she blasted her colleagues for upholding the punishment.

In a withering dissent Wednesday, Chief Justice Bernette Johnson called it "outrageous" and "ridiculous" that the state's highest court affirmed the lengthy prison sentence for such a small amount of marijuana — enough for at least 18 marijuana cigarettes.

A jury convicted Gary D. Howard of marijuana possession with intent to distribute and a Caddo Parish judge sentenced him as a habitual offender in 2014. Howard's previous convictions include possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in 2008.

Johnson questioned whether it was a mere coincidence — or an "arbitrary" decision — that Howard's sentence amounted to one year per gram of marijuana that police found during a 2013 search of his girlfriend's home in Shreveport.

more
https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-blasts-ridiculous-18-sentence-marijuana-155337465.html

New York City Has Another Record-Low Crime Month

April was the safest month in the history of New York City. Murders are down 13 percent compared to this time last year. Last month saw 20 homicides, versus 28 in April 2016. Overall, the city has seen a 5 percent decline in serious crime from last year — and New York had already achieved historically low crime in 2016.

NYPD officials attribute the most dramatic drops to “precision policing,” where cops identify crime patterns and investigate and target the key offenders. Police build strong cases over time with the goal of making meaningful arrests — quality over quantity — that more often lead to prosecution.

And as officials promoted New York as one of the safest big cities in America, they managed to quietly throw shade at the Trump administration. Last month, the Justice Department described New York City as “soft on crime” in a memo warning so-called “sanctuary cities” that they risked losing funding for failing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Attorney General Jeff Sessions somewhat walked back those comments, and a judge has halted the executive order that spurred the threat. But the letter burned because New York City has maintained its record-low crime, even as other cities have seen spikes in recent years (and whether that’s related to illegal immigration is a separate debate entirely). Yet, after last month’s stats, New York being “soft on crime” is what the White House might have, at one time, called an alternative fact.


http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/new-york-city-has-another-record-low-crime-month.html?mid=twitter_nymag

Toon: Trumpcare