• Police seek suspects in deadly birthday party shooting
  • Lawmakers launch inquires into U.S. boat strike
  • Nov. 29, 2025, 10:07 PM EST / Updated Nov. 30, 2025,…
  • Mark Kelly says troops ‘can tell’ what orders…

Be that!

contact@bethat.ne.com

 

Be That ! Menu   ≡ ╳
  • Home
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Contact Us
  • Politics Politics
☰

Be that!

Trump says Marjorie Taylor Greene 'has lost her way'

admin - Latest News - November 11, 2025
admin
15 views 6 secs 0 Comments



Trump says Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘has lost her way’



Source link

TAGS:
PREVIOUS
Nov. 11, 2025, 1:31 PM ESTBy Sahil KapurWASHINGTON — Senate Republicans say they’re open to extending a pot of Affordable Care Act funds that will expire at the end of the year — but only if Democrats acquiesce to stricter abortion restrictions on insurance plans.The demand presents a significant hurdle to reaching a bipartisan deal to extend ACA funding designed to avoid major premium hikes next year for more than 20 million Americans, as Democrats are adamant that existing abortion guardrails under Obamacare are sufficient.If the funds are not extended by the end of the year, some people insured under Obamacare could see their bills rise by thousands of dollars per month, raising concerns that millions will choose to go uninsured.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said there will be a negotiation about an extension after the government reopens. He said one condition will be stricter rules pertaining to the Hyde amendment, which bars federal funding from being used for abortion.Senate Democrats only got a ‘pink promise’ on health care subsidies, says House Democrat08:00To satisfy Democratic demands to comply with the Hyde amendment when the first law passed in 2010, Obamacare does not allow federal funds to cover abortions. Some states allow people insured under Obamacare to access abortion coverage using state or other funding. Republicans want to change that.“That’s what we’re going to negotiate,” Thune told reporters before the Senate passed the bill to end the government shutdown. “A one-year extension along the lines of what [Democrats] are suggesting, and without Hyde protections — there’s just not even, doesn’t even get close.”Thune’s demand for more stringent abortion limits on Obamacare money is backed by colleagues, including Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.C., an outspoken proponent of extending the ACA funds, as well as Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Mike Lee, R-Utah.Rounds warned that “you won’t get any” Republican votes to extend the money without more stringent abortion limitations.“That’s the message that we shared with a lot of our Democratic colleagues is you can’t do it under your existing framework, and you’re never going to get any Republican votes. Because we believe strongly taxpayer dollars should not go to fund abortions,” he said. “They have a different point of view, but it’s pretty clear that Republicans are solid on that particular issue.”But Democrats say there’s no way they’ll agree to that.Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., responded with a flat “no” when asked if there’s any way Democrats agree to stricter abortion limitations in order to extend the ACA funds.“It’s a nonstarter,” Shaheen told NBC News, pointing to existing guardrails on abortion funding built into the ACA. “It’s not an issue. We already dealt with that issue.”Other Democrats share her opposition to changing those rules.Behind the push is a pressure campaign by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an influential group fighting to ban abortion in the U.S., to condition Republican support for ACA funding on tougher abortion restrictions.“Since Democrat offers to pass a ‘clean’ extension of these ACA subsidies would extend funding of elective abortion coverage through Obamacare, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America strongly opposes and will score against any such offers — even for one year,” SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser told senators in a letter dated Nov. 7 and shared with NBC News. “A vote for this extension is a vote for abortion coverage. Votes will be scored, and double-weighted, in each member’s profile on SBA Pro-Life America’s National Pro-Life Scorecard.”Katie Keith, a Georgetown Law professor and founding director of its Center for Health Policy and the Law, said existing law bans any federal funds from flowing to abortion care through ACA plans, including the premium tax credits and cost-sharing reduction payments, consistent with the Hyde amendment.States have the option to create separate revenue streams where enrollees can pay a surcharge to gain abortion coverage through their plans. 25 states ban abortion coverage through ACA marketplaces entirely. The rest are split between requiring it through additional state funding or deferring to insurers.Still, even for states that allow ACA plans to cover abortion, “there are strict segregation requirements,” Keith said. “Since the law was enacted, no federal funds flow toward abortion care.”She said the same rule applies to Medicaid funding.“What critics of the current policy are arguing is they want Hyde plus-plus. This goes far beyond what Hyde requires,” she added. “It’s not about federal funds flowing toward the care, it’s about federal funds flowing toward coverage, even if it’s financed separately. … They want to knock out abortion coverage fully.”And if the SBA proposal becomes law, it would create a serious conflict with the dozen blue states that use their own funds to permit abortion coverage through the ACA marketplaces.“It could knock out federal subsidies for coverage altogether in those states if those funds cannot flow,” said Keith, who worked a stint in the Biden administration before returning to Georgetown.Daines, who sits on the Finance Committee that oversees health policy, said additional Hyde protections have “got to be in there, absolutely” — in any ACA deal.“We’ve got the language for it, the Hyde language,” he said. “Hyde has been a longstanding principle here of not allowing the federal taxpayers to be used for abortion.”Shaheen, a moderate Democrat who is not seeking re-election next year, is the author of a permanent ACA funding extension. She also helped craft the deal to reopen the government. She said she’s open to other reforms to the enhanced ACA tax credits, such as income-based limits, but going beyond existing abortion limitations is a red line.Other Democrats take a similar view.“I don’t think you’re going to get Democratic votes talking about abortion,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “But there are conversations you can have about the structure of the subsidies once you get into a negotiation. I’ve heard their concerns about income caps and no-premium plans.”Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said the GOP’s abortion demand seems like a smokescreen to disguise the party’s unwillingness to continue that money, which was first passed during the Covid pandemic in 2021 and extended the following year. The subsidies limit premiums to 8.5% of an enrollee’s income.“At that point, they’re just unserious about extending the ACA [funds],” he said. “Once they get into restrictions on abortion, everyone knows what that means. It means that they would like to say they’re for extending ACA, but that they don’t have the votes to do it right now.”Schatz indicated that President Donald Trump, who softened his position on abortion during the 2024 campaign and said it should be left up to states, can steer his party to a viable solution.“This is solved in 10 seconds if Donald Trump wants it solved,” Schatz said.Sahil KapurSahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.Frank Thorp V and Scott Wong contributed.
NEXT
Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleNov. 11, 2025, 2:04 PM ESTBy Jarrod BarryDorienne Smith recently bought her first home, a newly built townhouse in a development outside Columbus, Ohio. It wasn’t easy.Recent rent hikes pushed her to finally decide to own, kicking off a two-year search. She struggled to find a home in her $400,000 price range that didn’t require a lot of repairs and that was in an area she felt comfortable.At 40 years old, Smith only recently felt stable enough to finally buy a home. It took her getting a new job in human resources — plus taking out a loan against her 401(k) — before she felt she could afford to buy.“It’s harder for people, especially those younger than me, to maintain jobs that are going to get six figures or higher, which is really what you need in order to buy a house these days,” she said.Americans are waiting longer than ever to get into their first home. Many of them are held back by high interest rates, rising home prices and salaries that are barely keeping up with the cost of living. The median age for first-time homebuyers hit 40, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. That’s up from 38 in the prior year, and it’s the highest since the group began keeping records in 1981. First-time buyers also accounted for 21% of all buyers, which the association said is a “historic low.”Home affordability has been a source of pain for years, according to the NBC News Home Buyer Index, which measures the difficulty of buying a home. Policymakers have struggled to find solutions. President Donald Trump recently floated the idea of a 50-year mortgage as one way to bring down monthly payments of homebuyers. But critics have pushed back, arguing that 50-year mortgages, compared to standard 30-year mortgages, would do little to address home prices themselves, while leaving buyers in debt longer and spending more on loan interest.Rising costs of everything from rent and child care make it difficult for would-be buyers to save up for a home, said Jessica Lautz, vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors. Many younger people are also weighed down by expenses such as student loan debt, credit cards and car payments.“We’re continuing to see home prices grow, and with home price growth, we’re also seeing interest rates at a higher level, as well,” she said. “So, the overall housing affordability is difficult for a buyer to come in.”The median home price was more than $415,000 in September, according to the National Association of Realtors, up 2.3% from last year. Data from the group shows that prices for existing homes have jumped more than 33% nationwide since 2020.High mortgage rates have only added to the problem. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage has fluctuated between 6.60% and 6.80% for much of this year, and though it has fallen to around 6.25% in recent weeks, it’s still far higher than most Americans feel they can afford.“Because of interest rates being high, it’s caused a lot of homebuyers, who are your younger homebuyers, not to be able to afford places, just because the prices have been so high,” said Jeff Lichtenstein, a broker and president of Echo Fine Properties in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.Younger Americans are struggling to find the stability and savings necessary to buy homes. Many feel that wages have not kept up with costs of living, as stubborn inflation weighs on consumers. It can take some people years before they can save for the down payment or afford the nearly $2,200 per-month that the National Association of Realtors says is now the typical monthly mortgage payment.At the same time, college grads are carrying more student loan debt than ever, and taking longer to pay it off. The Education Data Initiative found that between 2010 and 2023, the average cost of a four-year degree ballooned 36%, and the average federal student loan debt is now more than $39,000, according to data from the Education Department.While Smith said she was fortunate to graduate with less than $20,000 in loans, she knows others who are struggling under the weight of college debt.“One of my friends has still over $60K in student debt,” she said in an email to NBC News. “I know several others who are carrying equally large amounts of student debt as well.”For most Americans, their house isn’t just a place to live — it’s an investment and an important nest egg. In 2022, the average homeowner had a net worth of about $396,000, 38 times that of a person who did not own a home. If newer buyers can’t get that starter home, Lautz cautioned, that could have knock-on effects for them and their children.“That means lower wealth building for themselves, but also the lower chance of having a generational transfer of wealth for their future generations, too,” she said.Jarrod BarryJarrod Barry is an intern with the NBC News Business Unit.
Related Post
October 3, 2025
Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 3, 2025, 9:22 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 3, 2025, 9:30 AM EDTBy Rebecca ShabadWASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Friday that it is putting $2.1 billion in funding for Chicago infrastructure projects on hold, the latest move to target Democratic-run cities during the government shutdown.The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, said in a post on X that the funding is for “specifically the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project.” He said it has been “put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”The Department of Transportation said the decision to pause the funding comes after it issued an interim final rule this week barring “race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants.” It said it sent letters on Friday to the Chicago Transit Authority to notify officials that the projects “are under administrative review to determine whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring.””The American people don’t care what race or gender construction workers, pipefitters, or electricians are. They just want these massive projects finally built quickly and efficiently,” the department said in its announcement. It added that the government shutdown “has negatively affected the Department’s staffing resources for carrying out this important analysis.””We urge Democrats in Congress to stop holding the federal government’s budget hostage so USDOT can get back to the important work of the American people,” the department’s release said.Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.President Donald Trump and administration officials warned that they planned to target programs favored by Democrats during the government shutdown. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on what cities the administration might be planning to target next, referring NBC News to the Office of Management and Budget for further information.The halt in Chicago rail project money comes after Vought announced on Wednesday, the first day of the government shutdown, that the administration was putting $18 billion for two infrastructure projects in New York City on hold. They include a new commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River and an expansion of the Second Avenue subway line. Freezing money for the projects stands to impact constituents of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who are leading the Democratic opposition in Congress to the Republican short-term government funding bills.Separately, the Department of Energy announced Thursday that it was terminating $7.56 billion in financial awards for 223 energy-related projects. Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee said that the funding targeted 16 Democratic-led states, including 108 congressional districts represented by Democrats and 28 represented by Republicans.Rebecca ShabadRebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.Jay Blackman contributed.
November 5, 2025
White House nears deal to lower costs for popular weight loss drugs
October 6, 2025
Pritzker slams Trump's deployment of National Guard
November 3, 2025
Nov. 3, 2025, 12:00 AM ESTBy Evan BushSome orcas have a taste for liver — specifically, the livers of great white sharks. Videos taken by scientists in Mexico reveal how the crafty whales manage to snag bites of the apex predators’ fatty organs. Researchers filmed two orca hunts in the Gulf of California — one in 2020 and another in 2022. They show the pods attacking young great white sharks by flipping them on their backsides to stun them, then slicing their sides open to extract their livers. The team published the findings of their video studies in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science on Monday. In one of the videos, all members of the pod share the pink liver fat while the rest of the shark’s body sinks into the ocean’s depths. During the hunt, a sea lion lurks, seemingly trying to sneak away with a free meal. But the orcas blow bubbles, apparently to deter the pest. Erick Higuera-Rivas, a marine biologist and documentarian who filmed the hunts from a boat nearby, said he didn’t immediately recognize the significance of the footage until he went to edit it.“I saw in the monitor that the shark had the liver hanging out on the side, already popped off. And a few minutes later, they came up with the liver in their mouth,” said Higuera Rivas, who coauthored the study. “I was surprised that it could be a great white. I was not believing it.”Heather Bowlby, a research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada who was not involved in the research, said the footage offered a compelling reminder that even top predators must watch their backs. “We’re so conditioned to thinking of white sharks as the top of the food chain,” she said. “It is always amazing to be reminded they are prey.” Higuera-Rivas and his fellow researchers said the hunts appear to be the work of the same group of orcas, which they’ve named the “Moctezuma pod.” The pod frequents the waters off of Baja California and only hunt elasmobranchs — sharks and whales. Higuera-Rivas has been following the pod for more than a decade and filming their behavior, and he’s observed how the whiles adapt their behavior to whatever species the group is targeting. The only prior evidence that orcas hunt great white sharks comes from South Africa, where they have been preying on the sharks for years and extracting their livers, leaving shark carcasses to wash up on the beach. Alison Towner, a marine biologist at Rhodes University who has studied the phenomenon in South Africa, said the behavior in Mexico is similar but not identical. The orcas in Mexico have been preying upon young sharks, whereas those in South Africa have primarily targeted adults. The orca groups likely learned the behavior independently, Towner said. “Seeing this behaviour in Mexico suggests that specific orca groups have developed their own strategies for hunting sharks,” she said via email. “The same organ is targeted, but the handling technique differs slightly from what we’ve documented in South Africa, which points to group-specific learning.” The new study shows that the orcas in Mexico have identified a weakness that makes great white sharks vulnerable. “When it flips the shark upside down, it forces the shark to get into the state that is called tonic immobility,” said Francesca Pancaldi, a coauthor of the study and a shark researcher at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas. “They freeze. It’s like a catatonic state. They just don’t do anything.” The liver is a fatty and nutritious organ that takes up about one-fourth of a sharks’ body, she added, which provides “a lot of energy.”Researchers in both South Africa and Mexico agreed that the behavior is not likely new for orcas. Rather, it’s new to scientists, who can now witness and document these hunts more easily because of improvements in drone technology. “I think it’s been going on for centuries. It’s just that it’s not easy to observe something like this,” Pancaldi said.It’s possible, though, that changes to the climate have increased the interaction between great white sharks and the Moctezuma pod, she added. “We actually are seeing more presence of great white sharks in the Gulf of California in the last 10 years,” Pancaldi said, adding that the species is responsive to changes in ocean temperatures during climate patterns like El Niño. In South Africa, scientists took notice of orca attacks on great white sharks about a decade ago, Towner said. The attacks sent the sharks fleeing from the normal spots where they feed, rest and reproduce, called aggregation grounds. “IRepeated predation has caused white sharks to abandon former core aggregation sites entirely,” Towner said. “Many sharks have likely moved offshore or into less monitored regions, which reshapes the coastal ecosystem.” After the sharks left their hangouts, populations of cape fur seal and sevengill sharks climbed. That subsequently caused a crash in those species’ main prey — like small fish and small sharks — according to research published in Frontiers in Marine Science earlier this year.Towner said just two adult male orcas, named Port and Starboard, have been behind repeated attacks on the white sharks in South Africa. The attacks have put pressure on great white sharks, which are slow to grow and reproduce, and it’s possible that could happen in Mexico, too, if the behavior becomes more frequent, she said. Evan BushEvan Bush is a science reporter for NBC News.
Comments are closed.
Scroll To Top
  • Home
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Contact Us
  • Politics
© Copyright 2025 - Be That ! . All Rights Reserved