United States | News & Politics

Last Spring, House bill sponsor Rep. Bryan Terry (R–Murfreesboro) claimed the law would help Tennessee recruit and retain physicians, according to Nashville Scene. That’s false. The state has seen a decline in OB-GYNs since Tennessee’s total abortion ban went into effect. Tennessee has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country and ranks among the worst for infant mortality. Combine that with the refusal to expand Medicaid and the lack of rural maternity care, and it’s no surprise Tennessee was named the worst state in the nation to live in, by a recentCNBC study.

And now, thanks to the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” 300,000 Tennesseans may lose health insurance, and nine rural hospitals across the state are at risk of closure. For communities already struggling to keep clinics and hospitals open and with new legal protections for any physician to deny healthcare to whoever they want based on their “lifestyle,” it’s hard to imagine the impact being, as Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) recently put it, “anything but beautiful.”

Last Spring, House bill sponsor Rep. Bryan Terry (R–Murfreesboro) claimed the law would help Tennessee recruit and retain physicians, according to Nashville Scene. That’s false. The state has seen a decline in OB-GYNs since Tennessee’s total abortion ban went into effect. Tennessee has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country and ranks among the worst for infant mortality. Combine that with the refusal to expand Medicaid and the lack of rural maternity care, and it’s no surprise Tennessee was named the worst state in the nation to live in, by a recentCNBC study.

And now, thanks to the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” 300,000 Tennesseans may lose health insurance, and nine rural hospitals across the state are at risk of closure. For communities already struggling to keep clinics and hospitals open and with new legal protections for any physician to deny healthcare to whoever they want based on their “lifestyle,” it’s hard to imagine the impact being, as Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) recently put it, “anything but beautiful.”

https://archive.ph/wip/7kgpn

Oct. 31, 2025, 5:02 a.m. ET Michelle Goldberg

Andy O’Brien, a former Democratic state legislator and newspaper editor, told me that outsiders didn’t fully understand how radicalizing the second Trump presidency has been for ordinary Democrats. Even senior citizens, he said, were becoming “fire-breathing leftists. They’re just pissed off.”

These voters understood that Platner had made mistakes, but they saw him as a fighter. “Five years ago, he would have been dead in the water, I think,” said O’Brien, who now works with the labor movement. “But this is such an unprecedented time. I think a lot of people really believe that we need somebody who can effectively fight against fascism.”

Maine is an overwhelmingly white state, but it’s not just white guys who feel this way. “We’re sticking by him,” said Safiya Khalid, a Somali American activist and former member of the Lewiston City Council.

After “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which counts Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara as executive producers, received a nearly 23-minute standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival premiere in September, filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania took a slew of meetings with potential North American distributors.

Executives praised the film, which follows the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s failed attempt to save Hind, a Palestinian child who was killed in Gaza in 2024 after being trapped in a car under Israeli fire.

But not a single major studio or streamer made an offer on the movie, the official Oscar submission of the Tunisian Culture Ministry, Ben Hania said.

“People never say, ‘I’m afraid to pick up a movie,’” Ben Hania said. “Maybe they are. I don’t know. They can’t openly talk about it, because it’s a shame to be afraid of talking about the killing of a child.”

Even fast-casual dining may be too much of a financial burden for younger generations.

Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright said young diners between the ages of 25 and 35 are cutting back on dining at the Mexican-inspired fast-casual chain. But these millennial and Gen Z customers are not snubbing Chipotle for other fast food spots; they’ve stopped dining out as frequently altogether.

“This group is facing several headwinds, including unemployment, increased student loan repayment, and slower real wage growth,” Boatwright told investors at the company’s earnings presentation on Wednesday. “We’re not losing them to the competition. We’re losing them to grocery and food at home.”

How the impossible makes his ascent possible

Stephen Miran isn’t auditioning to run the Federal Reserve. He’s auditioning to destroy it. Like so many in Trump’s sphere, Miran was selected for his ability to appear like he’s doing the right thing and making the tough choices. In reality, he exists to destroy the thing he’s spent his entire life trying to be a part of. Miran is a highly educated and competent analyst whose academic veneer and projection of empathy belie his craven desire for power and to eradicate the independence of the Fed and place it under directly authority and control of the president. And make no mistake, when Jerome Powell’s term is up, this is who will be in charge of the Fed.

“While holding the gun pointed at my face, [the federal agent] said ‘bang bang,’ followed by words I did not hear, then something like, ‘’you’re dead,’ then I heard clearly the word, ‘liberal,'” the veteran said, according to court documents.

https://archive.ph/POCZz

Omar Fateh, a democratic socialist, hopes to defeat Jacob Frey by focusing on affordability, wages and public safety

Rachel Leingang Thu 30 Oct 2025 07.00 EDT