Politics and views in the United States.

The Supreme Court looks likely to expand presidential power over independent agencies, the Justice Department sues states to get voter registration data and legal aid groups struggle to keep staff amid increased ICE enforcement.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Now after just 10 months in office, I'm pleased to report that America is winning again.

Pennsylvania is prospering again.

And I will not rest until this Commonwealth is wealthier and stronger than ever before.

With his approval on the economy down sharply, President Donald Trump is using a trip to Pennsylvania to confront charges he's feeling struggling farmers and working families.

Trump had called affordability a "democratic hoax" and had said farmers would benefit, not suffer, from his trade wars.

The USDA is getting ready to roll out aid Trump is creating to offset farm losses connected to tariffs and falling exports.

But Ben Lilliston with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy says emergency payments don't fix low crop prices and rising input costs.

It doesn't address the underlying problems.

And really, the big one is increased costs.

And many of those costs are associated with these tariffs.

So higher prices for machinery, for crop inputs.

Advocates are worried about shortfalls in federal energy crisis assistance.

Community agencies say the demand for lye heap is surging as prices rise and winter intensifies.

Lynette Lowe with the Association of Community Ministries in Kentucky says many families struggle just to keep the lights and heat on.

We have almost 60,000 households just in metro Louisville who are experiencing that kind of burden.

They pay more than 10 percent of their income just to have utilities in their household.

Kentucky organizations are urging Governor Andy Beshear to issue a moratorium on utility shutoffs through March 2026.

With the administration backing away from climate action, attention is shifting to states.

Nolan Rutcheling with the Ohio Environmental Council says the state is making bipartisan progress, increasing renewables, modernizing the grid, and cutting costs for consumers.

I think Ohioans know this already, but we're in the midst of an affordability crisis in Ohio.

Costs are very, very high due to the fact that we aren't bringing enough power onto the grid to meet demand.

One recently passed law ends longstanding coal bailouts and prioritizes development on brownfields and former coal sites.

Christmas is coming early for thousands of families in Los Angeles, as LA County is erasing more than $350 million in medical debt through a partnership with a non-profit.

Undue medical debt buys past due accounts for pennies on the dollar, targeting people with little hope of paying.

Allison Sesso is the group's president.

There is no action an individual can take to buy this debt on their own, and there's nothing anybody has to do to get this relief.

They just have to receive a letter and know that that debt has been released and they're free and clear of it.

The National Institutes of Health says medical debt accounts for 4 in 10 consumer bankruptcies.

I'm Fara Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.