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Progressives are beginning a new offensive on Capitol Hill: Taking on America’s staggering $88bn in medical debt. Headed up by the Bernie Sanders spinoff group Our Revolution, advocates around the country are gathering horror stories of instances where necessary procedures were blocked by insurance companies or, perhaps worse, approved with stipulations such as “out of network” classifications that can quickly (and often do) lead to lifesaving treatment becoming a financial death sentence. The group hosted a town hall led by executive director Joseph Geevhargese on Monday, where a number of Americans shared their own personal versions of ruin at the hands of medical debt collectors and hospital bills. Between 10 per cent and half of adult Americans are thought to carry medical debt in some form, with estimates widely varrying thanks to the complexities of tracking paid-off debts. Elizabeth McLaughlin, one woman who shared her account with participants of the town hall event on Monday, spoke about how treatment she received in 2017 has led to her taking on tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt as she placed utility bills and other basic needs like groceries on lines of credit rather than face medical debt collectors. “I pass it from one [card] to another, and in the meantime I’m just grateful that I’m employed, and insured, and I can keep making the payments,” she explained. Another woman, Kristin Noreen, explained that she even filed for bankruptcy, only for her debt to immediately begin climbing into the thousands again thanks to tax obligations and other costs. Her treatment bills rose past $1m dollars after she was struck by a car on her bicycle and suffered grievous injuries, including the amputation of her hand, and now she explains that she has little chance of ever climbing out of her personal debt trap — even after her insurance paid for all but $60,000 of the treatment cost, and $50,000 of the remaining debt was handled by a charitable donation. The remaining $10,000 was still more than enough, coupled with the cost of years of therapy she says is “barely” covered by her Affordable Care Act plan, to leave her in financial desolation. “I’m back up to $10,000 on credit cards and as of last month, I have another $3,000 in debt to the IRS for prioritising my care over my estimated taxes. I’ve been denied disability and I work part-time from home as much as I’m able to,” she explained, while noting that if her pay increases from her part-time work, she is legally required to pay it towards Affordable Care Act subsidies rather than her own debt. Mr Sanders, along with a colleague in the House, Ro Khanna, reportedly plan to introduce legislation in the coming weeks aimed at addressing the issue — along with a nationwide campaign aimed at pressuring vulnerable lawmakers to get on board. Among the legislation’s priorities will be halting “predatory” debt collection practices and going after price gouging in medical billing. And while the demands in their upcoming legislation are small in comparison to Mr Sanders’s long-held desire to overhaul America’s for-profit healthcare system into a single-payer system aimed at affordability and access, the efforts by progressives to highlight the tragic cases of Americans consumed by medical debt likely aid in the left’s work to popularise the idea of major reforms and changes to the structure of America’s health system. Mr Sanders called for the elimination of all medical debt in the spring of 2022 after three leading credit agencies announced that they would no longer track paid-off medical debts when calculating credit ratings for Americans. “‘Medical debt’ and ‘Medical bankruptcy’ are two phrases that should not exist in the United States of America,” the senator said at the time. “Removing 70 percent of past-due medical debt from credit reports is a step in the right direction, and much more needs to be done. We must cancel all medical debt.” Read More Deal or default? Biden, GOP must decide what's on the table Black voters backing Biden, but not with 2020 enthusiasm House Republicans pressure Biden as they vote to raise debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday’s meeting between him, other Congressional leaders and President Joe Biden had produced no forward progress on an agreement to stave off what economists say would be a catastrophic default on America’s sovereign debt. Mr McCarty, who has kept the House in recess for the last two weeks and for a majority of the days since he and Mr Biden last met on 1 February, told reporters outside the White House that Mr Biden and both Republican and Democratic leaders had merely reiterated the positions they held when the House Speaker and the President met 97 days before. “Nothing has changed since then ... everybody in this meeting reiterated the positions they were at. I didn't see any new movement,” he said. The California Republican’s last meeting came just a few weeks after he eked out enough votes to claim the Speaker’s gavel with support from extremist and white nationalist members of the House Republican Conference, many of whom demanded that he use the need to lift the government’s century-old statutory debt ceiling as leverage to force Mr Biden to roll back much of the legislative record he and Democrats accomplished over the prior two years. Since that February meeting, the White House and the House of Representatives have remained far apart on what is needed before legislation allowing the US to resume issuing new debt instruments can reach Mr Biden’s desk for his signature. For his part, the president’s view has remained consistent since the beginning of the year. Mr Biden has repeatedly said that Congress should pass a “clean” debt ceiling increase and negotiate on spending cuts desired for next fiscal year when Congress begins work on a budget. Mr McCarthy characterised Mr Biden’s insistence that the Congress lift the debt ceiling on its’ own and address the spending cuts Republicans covet during the regular budgeting process as intransigent even though Republicans have not introduced a budget proposal for the next fiscal year. He also accused Senate Majority Leader Check Schumer of trying to stymie negotiations so Congress would be left without a choice but to pass the “clean” debt ceiling increase desired by Democrats and Mr Biden. “Chuck's whole idea before was to take us to the brink and someone's going to have to break right. I don't want to play politics with this. I think this is too important,” said the Speaker, who suggested the only reason Mr Biden had called a meeting was because the GOP-led House had passed a bill to raise the debt limit while enacting drastic cuts to government programmes favoured by Democrats. That legislation, which passed the House with a bare majority of GOP votes last month, would provide just a year’s worth of relief coupled with spending provisions that slash non-defence spending by as much as 20 per cent. Among the programmes on the chopping block: President Joe Biden’s student debt relief initiative, as well as funding for new IRS personnel. The plan would also add new work requirements for adults on Medicaid, cap the growth of the federal government, and impose 2022 limits on discretionary spending. The White House said in response to the bill’s passage that Republicans were attempting to “strip away health care services for veterans, cut access to Meals on Wheels, eliminate health care coverage for millions of Americans and ship manufacturing jobs overseas”. While the House-passed bill is unlikely to go anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate, thus far Mr McConnell and Senate Republicans have backed up Mr McCarthy’s demand for Mr Biden to sign off on GOP-endorsed austerity measures in exchange for Republican votes to allow the US to continue paying its’ debts. Prominent GOP figures frequently claim that raising the statutory debt limit to enable the US to continue meeting financial obligations — a practice that was once routine under presidents of both parties and met no objections when it was done under Mr Biden’s predecessor — is akin to authorising new spending. That claim, however, is not how the debt limit works. Raising the debt limit does not increase or decrease the amount of money that is spent on programmes that have already been authorised by Congress and have had funds allocated to them in appropriations legislation. Experts say a failure to raise the debt limit would force the government to default on its debt and precipitate a worldwide financial crisis. The last time the US flirted with that disastrous outcome was 2011, when Republicans controlled the House and Democrats controlled the Senate and the White House. Mr Biden, then the vice president under Barack Obama, led the negotiations with congressional leaders that headed off a default, but not before the US had its credit rating decreased for the first time in history. That 2011 dispute ended with Republicans suffering a drop in their approval ratings and facing accusations of endangering the US economy for political reasons. It also came along with an unprecedented downgrade in America’s credit rating. Those same charges are being raised again now by the White House and the president’s allies in Congress, who are holding firm on Mr Biden’s call for a clean debt limit boost. Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that unless Congress acts, the US will by 1 June cease having the legal ability to issue debt instruments that allow the government to pay for spending already authorized and incurred. Despite attempts by reporters to get Mr McCarthy to guarantee that the US would not default, the House Speaker repeatedly refused to make such a promise.

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. broadly missed estimates for the first quarter as the space-tourism company plans commercial flights

Tucker Carlson says he will relaunch his show on Twitter because it is only remaining large free-speech platform.

By Valerie Volcovici and Leah Douglas WASHINGTON The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that countries should agree

Minnesota is on the verge of banning non-essential uses of “forever chemicals.”

(Reuters) -Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who was taken off the air by the network last month, said on

Tucker Carlson is bringing a “new version” of his influential political commentary programme to Twitter, the right-wing pundit announced in a video on Tuesday, following the anchor’s high-profile split with Fox News last month. In a video posted on his Twitter page, Mr Carlson said the social network was the “last” major media distribution channel that allowed free speech, while appearing to allude to his recent exit at Fox. “The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can,” he said in his announcement video. “There are always limits. And you know that if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it. It’s not a guess — it’s guaranteed.” The former Fox News anchor used the announcement to lash out at other media outlets, calling them purveyors of “thinly disguised propaganda.” “The news you consume is a lie, a lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind,” he added. The move means Mr Carlson will forgo at least $25m from Fox Corp related to a non-compete clause in his previous contract, Puck News reports. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.

The defence in the murder trial of “doomsday cult mom” Lori Vallow rested their case on Tuesday after calling without presenting any witnesses. Shortly after Idaho prosecutors rested the state’s case at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Ms Vallow’s attorney Jim Archibald told the court that after consulting with his client, he was ready to proceed with closing arguments. “After consulting with my client, we don’t believe the state has proven its case so the defence rests,” Mr Archibald said. Ms Vallow is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and her new husband Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy, 49. The state has called roughly 60 witnesses throughout the five weeks of the trial, while the defence called none, according to CourtTV, t This is a developing story ... check again for updates.

The defence in the trial of “doomsday cult mom” Lori Vallow at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, rested their case on Tuesday. Ms Vallow will not testify in the trial. Shortly after the prosecution rested its case, Ms Vallow’s attorney Jim Archibald told the court that after consulting with his client, “we don’t believe the state has proven its case so the defence rests.” According to CourtTV, the state called roughly 60 witnesses throughout the last five weeks of the trial, while the defence called none. The 49-year-old is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and her new husband Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy, 49. Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019. Read More Lori Vallow ignored stepsons’ pleas as she exchanged romantic texts with Chad Daybell after husband’s death Lori Vallow trial hears autopsy details that show Tammy Daybell was likely restrained during her murder Lori Vallow’s friend says she threatened to ‘cut up’ and bury her one month after children disappeared

The law enforcement officer who took down the mass shooter at the Allen Premium Outlets mall has broken his silence for the first time. Authorities have confirmed that the gunman who killed eight people and injured seven others had “neo-Nazi ideation” in a press conference on Tuesday. The gunman, identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, brought eight weapons with him to conduct the mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday (6 May). Garcia had three weapons on his person and five in his vehicle, according to Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas Department of Safety. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms determined all of the weapons were obtained legally. Eight people, including three young children, were killed in the shooting. Gruesome footage depicting the victims in the moments after the shooting circulated around Twitter over the weekend and into Monday, leaving social media users horrified. Garcia’s motive remains unknown but a social media profile, reviewed by The Independent, reveals that he stalked the mall in the weeks before the shooting to identify peak visitation times. Read More Nazi images, hateful rants and ‘Right Wing Death Squad’: A look at Texas gunman’s alleged far-right social media posts Two days, three attacks, 18 dead: Texas reels from horrifying weekend of violence Elementary school sisters are named among eight Texas mall shooting victims Mauricio Garcia: Everything we know about the Texas mall gunman who killed eight

A mom promoted a children's book on grief on local TV before being arrested for her husband's murder. Kouri Richins, 33, appeared on TV only last month to speak about her book Are You With Me? “My husband passed away unexpectedly last year. March 4 was a one-year anniversary for us, He was 39,” she said on ABC4. “It completely took us all by shock,” she added. “We have three little boys, ten, nine and six, and my kids and I kind of wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that we’ve experienced in the last year. I went on Amazon and Barnes and Noble to try to find something to help us cope at night, nights are the hardest. I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night and I couldn’t find anything that suited them, so I was like ‘let’s just write one’.” Ms Richins was arrested Monday for the March 2022 murder. She is accused of having poisoned her husband with fentanyl at their home in Kamas, Utah – a small town in the mountains close to Park City, according to the Associated Press. Prosecutors argue that Ms Richins made a late-night call to the authorities in March last year to say that her husband was “cold to the touch”. Ms Richins told police that she made her husband a mixed drink using vodka to supposedly celebrate a recent sale of a home before she left to help one of their three children to sleep in their bedroom. She claimed that when she returned, she found him unresponsive and called the emergency services. A medical examiner found that Eric Richins had five times the lethal amount of fentanyl in his system. Ms Richins has been charged with murder in addition to allegedly possessing GHB. It’s a narcolepsy drug often used recreationally, such as at dance clubs, the AP notes. The charges are based on the officers’ accounts of their interactions with Ms Richins as well as the account of an “unnamed acquaintance” who said they sold the fentanyl to Ms Richins. The charges come two months after Ms Richins appeared on local TV to speak about her picture book Are You With Me? – which she authored to help children after losing someone close to them. Ms Richins appeared on a segment called Good Things Utah, saying that the death of her husband was unexpected and describing how it adversely affected her and her three children – all boys. She said that grieving for children was about “making sure that their spirit is always alive in your home”. “It’s, you know, explaining to my kid just because he’s not present here with us physically, doesn’t mean his presence isn’t here with us,” she told the local TV station. A police search warrant states that Mr Richins died on 4 March 2022. The Richins family is notable in Summit County, according to KPCW. The Richins Building in Kimball Junction was named after one member of the family – Sheldon Richins. Members of Mr Richins’s family said not long after his death that they suspected his wife of having killed him. Warrants state that “he warned them that if anything happened to him, she was to blame”. One of Mr Richins’s sisters claimed that he called her a few years ago when he was in Greece on vacation. He claimed that one of the drinks his wife had given him had made him very ill. The sister claimed that Ms Richins had made an attempt to take her brother’s life. A warrant also states that Ms Richins was caught changing her husband’s life insurance policy to make herself the only beneficiary. On Valentine’s Day last year, less than a month before his death, Mr Richins had an allergic reaction after having dinner with his wife. He broke out in hives, was unable to breathe, and passed out after using taking Benadryl and using his son’s EpiPen. According to court filings, Ms Richins had bought fentanyl pills for $900 a few days before the dinner. She asked for another $900 not long before Mr Richins’s death. Before he died, Mr Richins changed the beneficiary of his will and his power of attorney from his wife to his sister. A warrant states that he thought his wife might “kill him for the money”. Warrants also state that Mr Richins was planning on divorcing his wife, but that proceedings had yet to start at the time of his death. Ms Richins published the book on 7 March of this year, telling KPCW a few weeks later that it’s “designed to offer comfort and solace to young minds”. Last month, she told KPCW that the book was inspired by her own kids’ questions. “You know, ‘Is dad with us?’” she said. “Because they’re going through the sadness of knowing that he’s not here, presently.” The Independent has reached out to Ms Richins’s attorney for comment. Read More She wrote book on husband's death; police say she killed him Who is Lori Vallow? The ‘doomsday cult mom’ on trial for her children’s murders Alex Cox, Tammy Daybell and Charles Vallow: Key players in the Lori Vallow trial