slugsrbad wrote:Reports that US-backed forces (SDF) allowed ISIS to escape Raqqa unscathed/without a fight. Now the question is what the US knew.

JUburton wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:But in all seriousness that NRSC statement is even further than I'd go and is beyond unprecedented and holy shit

re: earlier this is the kinda shit im talkin about. and im glad to see it and that some republicans still have a moral compass.

The United States is providing de-facto cover for Islamic State units in Syria and only pretending to fight terrorism in the Middle East, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said the U.S. air force had tried to hinder Russian strikes on Islamic State militants around the Syrian town of Albu Kamal.

“These facts are conclusive evidence that the United States, while imitating an uncompromising fight against international terrorism for the global community, in fact provides cover for Islamic State units,” the defense ministry said.

He should not be a United States senator, no matter what it takes," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
And Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who's not seeking re-election after criticizing Trump, said he'd "vote for the Democrat" if he were an Alabaman and had to choose between Moore and Democrat Doug Jones.

slugsrbad wrote:http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-usa/russia-says-u-s-providing-cover-for-islamic-state-in-syria-idUSKBN1DE17E

The United States is providing de-facto cover for Islamic State units in Syria and only pretending to fight terrorism in the Middle East, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said the U.S. air force had tried to hinder Russian strikes on Islamic State militants around the Syrian town of Albu Kamal.

“These facts are conclusive evidence that the United States, while imitating an uncompromising fight against international terrorism for the global community, in fact provides cover for Islamic State units,” the defense ministry said.

pacino wrote:stop watching CNN, it fries your brain. they have these people on simply so you watch; it's not information.

SAN JUAN — The small energy outfit from Montana that won a $300 million contract to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s tattered power grid had few employees of its own, so it did what the Puerto Rican authorities could have done: It turned to Florida for workers.

For their trouble, the six electrical workers from Kissimmee are earning $42 an hour, plus overtime. The senior power linemen from Lakeland are earning $63 an hour working in Puerto Rico, the Florida utility said. Their 40 co-workers from Jacksonville, also linemen, are making up to $100 earning double time, public records show.

But the Montana company that hired the workers, Whitefish Energy Holdings, had a contract that allowed it to bill the Puerto Rican public power company, known as Prepa, $319 an hour for linemen, a rate that industry experts said was far above the norm even for emergency work — and almost 17 times the average salary of their counterparts in Puerto Rico.

The Whitefish case has already influenced Puerto Rico’s recovery: President Trump agreed to increase aid to the island — but only if the Puerto Rican government does a better job of estimating costs. “We have a lot of work to do when it comes to grant-monitoring at all levels of government,” Brock Long, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told Congress recently, vowing not to commit “one dollar” to the Whitefish deal.

The Whitefish contract has been particularly problematic.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing power restoration in Puerto Rico, did not hire Whitefish because its prices were more than double what the agency considered reasonable, according to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Jacksonville Electric Authority said it had billed Whitefish for additional overhead to cover things like administrative costs and insurance, bringing the bill to about half what Whitefish was charging Prepa. A spokeswoman for Jacksonville Electric said she was not concerned about the markup because Whitefish was also handling food and lodging. (However, Whitefish is also charging Prepa another $412 a day per worker for food and lodging.)

The Senate tax-writing committee began hammering out the details of its tax cut proposal on Monday. The House may vote on its bill as soon as Thursday. Here are the latest developments, updated throughout the day:

The chief House tax writer says he’s confident the chamber has enough Republican votes to pass its tax legislation this week.

There may be minor revisions to the bill, but that would be the extent of it, according to House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady.

A new study by Congress’s official tax scorekeeper suggests that in 2019, households earning $1 million a year or more would get an average tax cut of about $58,000, while those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 would see an average tax cut of about $688.