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Davis: VA reform should not punish veterans

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

When I served in Congress during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, reforming the Veterans Administration was a hot button issue. It still is.While my fellow Democrats and Republicans across the aisle worked hard to oversee and fund America’s second largest government agency only behind the Defense Department, it was a challenge to more effectively support 18 million veterans who served our nation proudly.Though I’m glad to see VA budgets increase to record levels over the past several years under both the Trump and Biden administrations, having served on the House Appropriations Committee, I know that simply allocating more dollars doesn’t necessarily yield better results.With America $31 trillion in debt and growing, government spending must be trimmed if the country is going to survive. Finding ways to do that are painful, yet essential.Yet the major VA reforms under discussion today are a nightmare for veterans and should be redirected into better ideas.The first is so-called “me...

Chris Perkins: Top players still available for Dolphins on Day 3 of NFL draft

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

The Dolphins have two draft picks on Saturday’s final day of the 2023 NFL draft — No. 197 of the sixth round and No. 238 of the seventh round.The Dolphins, who have four selections in this draft, didn’t have a first-round selection; their first two selections of the draft were in the second and third rounds.Here are some of the best players still available in the draft:Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio StateIt’s a surprise Jones (6 foot 8, 374 pounds), a right tackle, is still available. The Dolphins would likely have to trade up to acquire Jones, and while that’s not likely, it’s possible.Dalton Wagner, OT, ArkansasWagner (6-8, 320) is a right tackle with good size and length. He’d be a backup as a rookie and it’s not known if he can play left tackle.John Ojukwu, OT, Boise StateOjukwu (6-6, 309) has long arms and good strength. He might project as a guard, which gives him versatility.Will Mallory, TE, University of MiamiMallory (6-4, 239) can ru...

Chris Perkins: Dolphins drafted the best players available instead of filling needs. Stay tuned …

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

So, now the Dolphins are even more loaded at cornerback, a position they already had lots of talent, and they remain suspect at positions such as tight end, right tackle and left guard. This is the offshoot of the Dolphins selecting South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith with their second-round pick Friday night.You could say the same about the running back position after the Dolphins selected Texas A&M’s Devon Achane with their third-round pick.These selections were the so-called BPA — Best Player Available — as opposed to picking for need.Sometimes BPA is a welcome approach. On Friday, it was a head-scratcher — according to fans on social media.But not to the Dolphins. They’re clear and resolute in the reasons for their selections. They want talent, regardless of position.“You always try to position yourself [to] go into the draft to be able to take the best player, regardless of position,” coach Mike McDaniel said. “Sometimes you h...

Alabama’s Steen (Eagles), Battle (Bengals) go in third round, are St. Thomas Aquinas’ 34th and 35th NFL draft picks

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

Alabama’s Tyler Steen, a 6-foot-6, 321-pound tackle, was picked 65th by the defending NFC-champion Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 NFL draft on Friday night.Thirty selections later, Crimson Tide teammate Jordan Battle was snapped up at No. 95 by the Cincinnati Bengals.The pair of transactions gave Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas its 34th and 35th NFL draft picks.Steen, a tackle, finished off his college career with the Crimson Tide after starting off at Vanderbilt.Between the two SEC programs, he has experience at both right and left tackle. Steen started his college career playing defensive tackle for the Commodores, although he was an offensive line recruit at Aquinas.Battle had six interceptions and a national title in his four seasons for the Crimson Tide, he offers the size and speed to play safety at the next level. ()

Chicago White Sox continue their worst start since 1950, losing to the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

There was a brutal defensive mistake, a home run, a hit-by-pitch and an ejection — all in the first inning.There was a little bit of everything Friday at Guaranteed Rate Field — except a Chicago White Sox victory.The Sox dropped their ninth straight, losing 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays in front of 16,681. They are 13 games under .500 at 7-20. The Sox continued their worst start to a season since 1950, when they also were 7-20.The Rays went ahead in the ninth on a solo homer from Isaac Paredes against reliever Kendall Graveman.“It’s tough,” Graveman said. “I have to do my job tonight. Battled our tails off to get to that point. Team is fighting and didn’t think I necessarily executed bad. But he was better than me in that moment. Tip your hat to him. But at the end of the day this comes down to results.“I mean, it don’t matter about execution. You make a great pitch and not get the results you want, or you can make a terrible pitch a...

Editorial: With dismal record, Biden limps into re-election campaign

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

President Joe Biden formally announced his re-election bid this week. The nation reacted with a collective yawn.Biden’s four years have been marked by a cynicism unusual even in the hard-scrabble world of politics. He campaigned as a moderate Democrat, but he has governed as an acolyte of socialist Bernie Sanders. He ran four years ago as a healer who would unify a divided nation. Yet he has delivered entire speeches dedicated to demonizing his political opponents.Not since Jimmy Carter in 1980 has an incumbent president had such a dismal record on which to campaign.Inflation reached a 40-year high on Biden’s watch, imposing a punishing tax on the poor and middle class. It remains well in excess of recent norms. The White House economics team spent months dismissing the possibility of persistent rising prices despite being warned that massive spending bills could overheat the economy. Too many Americans sit on the sideline rather than enter the job market.Gasoline and energy prices ...

Dear Abby: Abuse survivor turns to food for comfort

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

Dear Abby: In many ways, I am blessed. I have an amazing family, a great husband and a well-paying job that I enjoy. My only problem is, I hate myself. I hide my pain with humor (I’m pretty funny). I have some childhood sexual abuse trauma and have had a lot of counseling. I’m hesitant to blame my current issues on something that happened so long ago, but why can’t I get my life together? I’m so happy now, so why is this dragging me down?I combat my inner pain, stress and hate by eating. I cannot stop. I have gained so much weight it is hard to do normal activities. I am tired, disgusted and ashamed of being so out of control. None of my clothes fit. Every social situation is unbelievably overwhelming. I have tried diet after diet. Some work, but nothing sticks long term. I have removed all the mirrors in my house so I won’t have to look at myself.My family and friends are amazing, loving and supportive. My world would be nothing without them. How can I...

Facing revolt, GOP spares ethanol in drive to cut spending

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are touting their debt limit package as a first step toward fiscal restraint, saying it’s past time for Congress to reduce the swelling deficits that they warn are threatening the fiscal health of the country. But when a group of Midwestern Republicans went marching this week into the office of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, it wasn’t spending cuts they wanted to talk about. They were on a mission to preserve billions of dollars in federal support for biofuels and ethanol.The bloc of lawmakers, with Iowa’s four Republicans at its core, forced McCarthy to make revisions to the legislation in the hours before it headed to a floor vote, even after the speaker had insisted changes were off the table. The concession amounted to a $38.6 billion carve-out to safeguard the incentives for biofuels, carbon capture projects and the ethanol industry, and helped the bill pass by a narrow 217-215 margin.The episode highlighted how, even as Republicans decr...

Zooey Zephyr row spotlights rise of GOP far-right caucuses

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The banishment of transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from Montana’s House floor has showcased the rising power of hard-line conservatives — organized under the banner of the State Freedom Caucus Network — who are currently leveraging divisive social issues to gain influence in 11 statehouses.In Montana, they led the charge to enshrine a ban on gender-affirming care for minors that the governor signed Friday. In South Carolina, they slowed the budget process this year with failed amendments to punish universities with diversity programs. And in Wyoming, they tried to make certain library books “crimes of obscenity.”Across the country with varying levels of success, the groups have followed the playbook of the House Freedom Caucus, an eight-year old alliance of GOP conservatives determined to pull Republicans in the U.S. Congress to the right.After debuting on the second anniversary of the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol, the Montana Freedom Caucus’ 21 ...

Georgia’s Kemp veers from Trump, but state GOP not moving on

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:28:21 GMT

BUFORD, Ga. (AP) — A slate of Georgia Republicans led by Gov. Brian Kemp handily won reelection last year over far-right primary opponents endorsed by Donald Trump and backed by the state party chairperson, showing the limits of the former president and his 2020 election lies in the critical swing state.Despite those stinging primary losses, the state GOP is showing little interest in moving on from Trump.Last weekend, Republicans in Georgia’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Savannah, elected as its chair Kandiss Taylor, a Kemp gubernatorial challenger who ran on a “Jesus Guns Babies” platform and denies the legitimacy of her primary defeat. In metro Atlanta’s 6th Congressional District, Republican activists considered a resolution rejecting the results of the 2020 election and declaring Democrat Joe Biden the “acting” president.“In many ways, the Georgia Republican Party is a train that has left Crazytown, and the governor is trying to present a scenario and ...