Political News

How DOGE’s Cuts To The IRS Threaten To Cost More Than DOGE Will Ever Save

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/10/2025 - 4:00am

How DOGE’s Cuts to the IRS Threaten to Cost More Than DOGE Will Ever Save

by Andy Kroll

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Dave Nershi was finalizing a report he’d worked on for months when an ominous email appeared in his inbox.

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State Public Incentive And Streetcar Project Fire Up Omaha Mayoral Race

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 7:00am

The Midtown Crossing redevelopment was among Omaha tax-increment financing-assisted projects reviewed by an accounting and advisory firm the city paid $20,000 to produce a report. This view looks west near 31st and Farnam Streets along the spine of the retail and residential area.
(Cindy Gonzalez / Nebraska Examiner)

OMAHA — Omaha’s use, or potential overuse, of a longstanding, Legislature-approved incentive to help revive blighted areas again fired up the mayor’s race in Nebraska’s largest city.

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That $5,000 Check From Elon Musk? Don’t Spend It Quite Yet.

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 5:00am

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, claims American taxpayers could receive a $5,000 refund from the federal government — despite no apparent support in Congress, which controls the nation’s purse strings.

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Trump Sees 'A Thirst' For His 'Gold Card' Visa Idea With $5 Million Potential Path To US Citizenship

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 4:00am

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he plans to start selling a “gold card” visa with a potential pathway to U.S. citizenship for $5 million, seeking to have that new initiative replace a 35-year-old visa program for investors.

“I happen to think it’ll sell like crazy. It’s a market,” Trump said. “But we’ll know very soon.”

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Trump Administration Says It's Cutting 90% Of USAID Foreign Aid Contracts

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 3:00am

Demonstrators protest against cuts to American foreign aid spending, including USAID and the PEPFAR program to combat HIV/AIDS, at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Washington.
(Mark Schiefelbein / AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said it is eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad.

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North Korea Appears To Have Sent More Troops To Russia To Back Its War Against Ukraine, Seoul Says

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 2:00am

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency said Thursday that North Korea appears to have sent additional troops to Russia, after its soldiers deployed on the Russian-Ukraine fronts suffered heavy casualties.

The National Intelligence Service said in a brief statement it was trying to determine exactly how many more troops North Korea has deployed to Russia.

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Pillen Visits Cruiser Of McAcy, State Trooper Who Died In Line Of Duty

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 02/24/2025 - 7:00am

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and First Lady Suzanne Pillen pay their respects at the cruiser of fallen Nebraska State Patrol trooper Kyle McAcy in the Troop A Headquarters parking lot in Omaha.
(Courtesy of the Governor’s Office)

OMAHA — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on Feb. 27 for the funeral of Nebraska State Patrol trooper Kyle McAcy, who died Monday while responding to a wreck along Interstate 80 between Ashland and Greenwood.

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Phone Silence — With Conditions — Can Enhance Learning

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 02/24/2025 - 6:00am

Even though it may be late to the party, the Nebraska Legislature is making the right call by advancing a bill banning student cellphone use at school. A number of school districts already curtail students’ phone time on campus.

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Trump’s Threats On Greenland, Gaza, Ukraine And Panama Revive Old-School US Imperialism Of Dominating Other Nations By Force, After Decades Of Nuclear Deterrence

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 02/24/2025 - 5:00am

Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP Photo)

Imperialist rhetoric is becoming a mark of President Donald Trump’s second term. From asserting that the U.S. will “take over” the Gaza Strip, Greenland and the Panama Canal to apparently siding with Russia in its war on Ukraine, Trump’s comments suggest a return to an old imperialist style of forcing foreign lands under American control.

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Kennedy Says Panel Will Examine Childhood Vaccine Schedule After Promising Not To Change It

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 02/24/2025 - 5:00am

WASHINGTON (AP) — To earn the vote he needed to become the nation's top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation's current vaccination schedule.