WASHINGTON — Politics in the exam room? A new study suggests patient care may vary depending on whether the doctor is a Democrat or a Republican — at least when it comes to some hot-button health issues like firearm safety. Health care has long drawn partisan political fights, like state laws surrounding abortion, or Florida’s [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A team of top scientists is telling world leaders to stop congratulating themselves on the Paris agreement to fight climate change because if more isn’t done, global temperatures will likely hit dangerous warming levels in about 35 years. Six scientists who were leaders in past international climate conferences joined with the Universal [...]
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are venting outrage over high prescription drug costs, but if Congress is looking for culprits, it might want to look in the mirror. Republican- and Democratic-controlled Congresses, and presidents of both parties, may have set the stage for the startling prices that have consumers on edge. In the last 13 years, Congress [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Janet Yellen’s Federal Reserve has demonstrated one of the core tenets of central banking: On the Fed panel that sets interest rates, some votes are more equal than others. The panel — the Federal Open Market Committee — voted Wednesday to keep rates unchanged, something it’s done for six straight meetings. What [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Modest income growth for most Americans, strikes by fast-food workers, and the rapid growth of low-paying jobs at the same time middle-income work shrinks have combined to make the minimum wage a top economic issue for the 2016 campaign. Millions could benefit: Raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to [...]
WASHINGTON — The oddest of Senate odd couples — California Democrat Barbara Boxer and Oklahoma Republican Jim Inhofe — have accomplished something highly unusual in this bitter election year: significant, bipartisan legislation on the environment that has become law. Boxer, a staunch liberal, calls climate change the “greatest challenge to hit the planet,” battles against [...]
WASHINGTON — Simon Tam has openly criticized the Washington Redskins team name as a racist slur that demeans Native Americans. But Tam and his Asian-American rock band, The Slants, have formed an unusual alliance with the NFL franchise as they both battle the U.S. government over trademark protection for names that some consider offensive. The [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Obama administration officials are previewing long-awaited guidance that attempts to bring self-driving cars to the nation’s roadways safely — without creating so many roadblocks that the technology can’t make it to market quickly. Traditional automakers and tech companies have been testing self-driving prototypes on public roads for several years, with a human [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — For Democrats lulled into apathy by the uninspiring presidential election, President Barack Obama is offering himself as motivation. He’s not just validating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or holding up his record as a reason for voters to keep the White House in his party’s hands. Obama wants his supporters to see anything [...]
WASHINGTON — Most Americans are willing to pay a little more each month to fight global warming — but only a tiny bit, according to a new poll. Still, environmental policy experts hail that as a hopeful sign. Seventy-one percent want the federal government to do something about global warming, including 6 percent who think [...]