Category: National Issues

US gun violence ‘an international embarrassment,’ says Biden

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President Biden on Thursday decried the epidemic of gun violence in America as an “international embarrassment” as he rolled out a series of executive actions intended to address the issue.

“Nothing I’m about to recommend in any way impinges on the Second Amendment,” Biden said in the Rose Garden. “They’re phony arguments suggesting these are Second Amendment rights at stake with what we’re talking about. But no amendment, no amendment to the Constitution is absolute.”

“So the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things we’re recommending are contrary to the Constitution,” he added. “Gun violence in this country is an epidemic. And it’s an international embarrassment.” Continue reading.

The $50 billion race to save America’s renters from eviction

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With judges ruling against a federal eviction ban, pressure mounts on the Biden administration to distribute billions in aid to renters

The Biden administration again extended a federal moratorium on evictions last week, but conflicting court rulings on whether the ban is legal, plus the difficulty of rolling out nearly $50 billion in federal aid, mean the country’s reckoning with its eviction crisis may come sooner than expected.

The year-old federal moratorium — which has now been extended through June 30 — has probably kept hundreds of thousands or millions of people from being evicted from their apartments and homes. More than 10 million Americans are behind on rent, according to Moody’s, easily topping the 7 million who lost their homes to foreclosure in the 2008 housing bust.

Despite the unprecedented federal effort to protect tenants, landlords have been chipping away at the moratorium in court. Six lawsuits have made their way before federal judges — with three ruling in support of the ban and three calling it illegal. Continue reading.

Michigan Authorities Cite Sidney Powell’s Own Arguments In Disbarment Action

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Sidney Powell’s defense against a $1.3 billion lawsuit over her lies about voter fraud in the 2020 election could come back to bite her.

Powell, a lawyer who supported Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud and filed multiple failed lawsuits across the country seeking to overturn the 2020 election, is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation after she falsely accused the company of conspiring with a dead Venezuelan dictator to rig the election against Trump.

Back in March, Powell argued that Dominion’s lawsuit should be dismissed because “no reasonable person” would believe her lies about voting machine rigging. Continue reading.

McConnell in tricky spot with GOP, big biz

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a longtime ally of the business community, now finds himself in a tricky position of having to manage the GOP’s increasingly awkward relationship with corporate America. 

McConnell, in a major break from character, earlier this week slammed companies such as Major League Baseball, Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola for criticizing Georgia’s new election law, which President Biden called “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” 

The GOP leader called that a complete mischaracterization and has repeatedly pointed to a Washington Post analysis giving Biden “four Pinocchios” for “falsely” claiming Georgia’s statute ends voting hours earlier.  Continue reading.

New Poll: Biden Jobs Plan Favored By 73 Percent Of Voters

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The vast majority of Americans back President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan, according to a new poll from Data for Progress and the pro-infrastructure group Invest in America.

But that has not stopped congressional Republicans and their corporate funders from attacking the infrastructure plan.

The April survey of likely voters found 73 percent support the $2.25 trillion investment plan, compared to just 21 percent who oppose it. Even among Republicans, 57 percent said they back Biden’s proposal, while 38 percent oppose it. Continue reading.

Republicans aren’t even pretending to be interested in democracy anymore

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Republicans from all levels of government in this country have made little secret in recent years of the fact that their political power derives almost exclusively from a longstanding, and largely successful, effort to manipulate the electoral process to their exclusive benefit. Extreme partisan gerrymandering, voter suppression, allegations of electoral fraud — they’re all tools the GOP and its conservative allies use to maximize the “right” kind of votes (that is: people who vote for them) at the expense of, y’know, actual democracy.

But if the GOP’s semi-whispered reverence for restricted voting was a poorly kept secret before, the past few days have been like turning a dog whistle into a full blown bullhorn. We’ve gone from subliminal, to liminal, to super-liminal in record time. 

Speaking with WLOX last month, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, a Republican, claimed without evidence that the Biden administration is “basically employing all the federal agencies, universities, and colleges to register as many folks as they can via this automatic voter registration.” It’s possible Watson was talking about the Democrats’ For The People Act, which, while not a Biden administration bill, does indeed tackle automatic voter registration. Continue reading.

Trump-era grievances could get second life at Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court’s most conservative justices are signaling an interest in issues closely associated with former President Trump, from rules on social media platforms to how elections are governed. 

Justice Clarence Thomas this week opined on how Twitter might be more strictly regulated after it banned Trump from its platform and predicted the court would soon be called upon to address Big Tech’s “highly concentrated control” of speech.

He and fellow conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch also recently made clear their hope to address whether state officials and courts have the power to make changes to election rules after a number of states relaxed voting restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading.

Trump endorses Alabama’s Mo Brooks for Senate, a promoter of his false claims of a stolen election

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President Donald Trump made his first major foray into the 2022 battle for the Senate on Wednesday, endorsing Rep. Mo Brooks to succeed Sen. Richard C. Shelby in Alabama — a major boost for a candidate who has operated on the rightmost edge of the Republican Party and who emerged last year as one of the foremost promoters of Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.

Trump’s move could pose a dilemma for Senate Republican leaders who will have to choose whether they want to try to stop the ascension of the conservative firebrand or support his candidacy as part of their embrace of the former president’s brand of populism that increasingly defines the party.

“Few Republicans have as much COURAGE and FIGHT” as Brooks, Trump said in a statement issued through his Save America super PAC. “Mo is a great Conservative Republican leader, who will stand up for America First no matter what obstacles the Fake News Media, RINOs, or Socialist Democrats may place in his path.” Continue reading.

Phillips Renews Support for Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) announced the reintroduction of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA), bold legislation that would utilize market forces to combat climate change and incentivize the speedy transition to a clean energy economy. The bill earned 86 bipartisan co-sponsors in the previous Congress, and Rep. Phillips is an original co-sponsor. 

The bill creates a Carbon Dividend Trust Fund for the American people to encourage innovation, clean energy technologies, and market efficiencies that will reduce pollution and leave behind a healthier and more prosperous nation for future generations. It includes carbon fee exemptions for fuels used by the armed forces and agriculture, and it provides rebates to facilities that capture and sequester carbon.

The bill would decrease U.S. carbon emissions by 40% in the first twelve years and is revenue neutral, returning every cent raised from carbon fees back to American consumers in the form of monthly dividends. The EICDA positions the United States to meet the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 set by President Biden.

Continue reading “Phillips Renews Support for Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act”

Trump Organization taps criminal defense attorney as Manhattan prosecutors close in on business dealings

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On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that former President Donald Trump’s family business has retained Ronald Fischetti, a high-powered criminal defense lawyer, as New York prosecutors continue to investigate Trump’s finances.

“Mr. Fischetti, 84 years old, is a former law partner of Mark Pomerantz, the former federal prosecutor working on the investigation for the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Mr. Pomerantz was sworn in as a special assistant district attorney in February and is now on leave from law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP,” reported Corinne Ramey and Rebecca Davis O’Brien.

“Mr. Vance’s office has said it is investigating possible bank, tax or insurance fraud,” said the report. “Prosecutors have subpoenaed information from former President Donald Trump’s banks, lenders, an insurance broker and other parties, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported. They are examining financial transactions at Manhattan properties including Mr. Trump’s flagship Trump Tower; Seven Springs, an estate in Westchester, N.Y.; and a hotel in Chicago, The Journal reported.” Continue reading.