On Sunday, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio spoke with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Tapper brought up the outrageous story of Kate Cox, a Texas woman who is being forced (so far) to go through with a nonviable pregnancy that risks both her life and her future fertility. Vance claimed he didn’t “know the details of that story,” then attempted to word-salad his way out of things, saying, “We have to provide exceptions for the life of the mother, for rape and so forth.”
Tapper asked whether Vance’s brand-new plan for the Republican Party includes the right to birth control; after all, it is a tried-and-true way for people to make sure they don’t get pregnant in the first place. That led to this exchange:
Vance: Look, obviously, people need to be able to make those decisions. I don't think I know any Republican—at least not a Republican with a brain—that's trying to take those rights away from people. But I think it goes deeper than that.
Tapper: I mean, I could provide a list for you if you want.
Vance: Well, okay, not anybody I talk to, Jake. But, look, I think the more important question is—I talk to a lot of people, a lot of young families who want to have babies. They can't afford mortgages; they're terrified about health care expenses. We've got to answer those questions for people. We've got to have a role to play because, look, we have a real problem in this country.
Sen. J.D. Vance on Monday endorsed JR Majewski, a QAnon ally who was one of his party'svery worst nominees for any office in 2022, in his second campaign to take on Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in a red-leaning Ohio seat. Vance's move comes at a time when hard-right critics are trashing former state Rep. Craig Riedel, the party's ostensible frontrunner in the March Republican primary for Ohio's 9th District, for appearing to attack Donald Trump days before.
Majewskibeat Riedel 36-31 last year before losing to Kapturin a 57-43 landslide, and Republicans like then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and 7th District Rep. Max Miller backed Riedel's second try for this seat. However, far-right personality Charlie Kirk shared audio last week where Riedel ostensibly agreed when an unidentified person asked if he was "making it a point that you don't want Trump's endorsement."
"Donald Trump, he's a different person than me," Riedel is heard saying. "I don't like the way he communicates. I think he is arrogant. I don't like the way he calls people names. I just don't think that's very becoming of a president." When Riedel's questioner responded, "So it's safe to say you're not looking to support the guy's primary run," Riedel responded, "I'm with ya. We gotta … we need to go in a different direction." He also said he wasn't sure why Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wasn't doing better in his primary bid against Trump.
Kyle Downour, unit chair for United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-346, threw himself into consoling fellow union members after a fire and explosion killed two co-workers at the BP-Husky refinery in Oregon, Ohio, last year.
But Downour, overwhelmed and stretched thin, realized that he was the one who needed support when federal investigators carried out a painstaking inspection of the damaged facility and held follow-up meetings.
Fortunately, a representative of the USW’s Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Department arrived to help. He also took part in the walk-through and raised crucial issues, helping to launch the thorough investigation that ultimately held BP accountable for the tragedy.
Workers in numerous industries across the country need the same kind of trusted, reliable assistance in a crisis, and a proposed rule under consideration by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would help ensure that they get it.
The so-called “walkaround rule” would underscore workers’ right to have representatives of their choice—officials from their international union, for example—take part in OSHA inspections in the wake of safety complaints or incidents like the one at the Ohio refinery.
“It was all priceless,” Downour said of the help he and the membership received from the union’s HSE Department during the inspection and months-long investigation. “They were on top of something before I could even get to the point of thinking about it.”
Right now, some employers try to stop local unions from bringing in outside representatives for inspections.
These companies fear the added scrutiny. Even in the aftermath of severe injuries or fatalities, they care more about exercising control than leveraging all of the resources available to find out what failed and avert future calamities.
The walkaround rule would stop employers from trying to stack the deck. And it would give workers a stronger voice and greater confidence in inspections.
“You’re going to be able to hold employers accountable,” Downour said, summing up how workers feel when they’re adequately represented. “You’re going to be heard. You’re going to have your rights.”
The USW is among many unions and pro-worker groups supporting the walkaround rule. The proposal also has the support of leading members of Congress and of Jordan Barab, a former deputy assistant secretary at OSHA, who wrote that the rule would “help workers come home alive at the end of the day.”
A separate agency, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), already affords miners the right to decide who will represent them during inspections. OSHA’s walkaround rule would extend similar—and long overdue—protections to tens of millions more workers throughout the private sector. Both MSHA and OSHA are part of the Department of Labor.
In some cases, local unions need outside support because they have limited experience with OSHA or lack expertise with inspections or incident investigations.
Downour handled numerous safety issues at the refinery, now owned by Cenovus, during his many years as a Local 1-346 officer. He attended various HSE workshops and conferences. He interacted with OSHA and other safety agencies on multiple occasions since becoming active in the union.
But he still felt out of his depth given the enormity of the refinery incident and readily turned to the deep knowledge of the union’s HSE representatives. These experts not only assisted with similar inspections and investigations at other facilities over the years but helped to develop many of the nation’s workplace safety protocols.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Downour said, stressing that the HSE Department members were better positioned than he was to advance the investigation and safeguard workers’ rights.
OSHA ultimately cited BP for multiple safety violations and for failing to provide sufficient training to workers, who were attempting to address rising levels of liquid in a “fuel gas mix drum” when a vapor cloud ignited.
The agency also sent BP a Hazard Alert Letter in which it assailed the practice of rotating union members among various positions and suggested the company instead leave workers in a given job for longer periods, enabling them to build expertise. Downour credited the USW’s HSE Department with emphasizing the risks of job rotation.
That’s the kind of major contribution union representatives make all the time.
They serve as a “different set of eyes” and provide support for OSHA inspectors, who cannot possibly have exhaustive knowledge of every industry and workplace they investigate, explained Kerry Halter, president of USW Local 752L, which represents workers at Goodyear’s Cooper Tire plant in Texarkana, Ark.
One of Halter’s co-workers was killed on the job in July. In the aftermath of that tragedy, Halter said, he was grateful to have the assistance of an Ohio-based HSE representative from the USW who specializes in tire plants and provided the OSHA inspector with insights into industry-specific equipment and practices.
Halter said it makes no sense for corporations to oppose the walkaround rule when unions bring such knowledge and skill to investigations.
“Who doesn’t want their workers to be safe?” said Halter, noting employers even have self-serving reasons for building safer workplaces. “You have fewer injuries, you have less lost time. I think everybody wins.”
Downour recalls the relief he felt when the union HSE representatives arrived in Ohio to help him and other local union officers. Even more important, he recalled the strength that Local 1-346 members drew from the union’s commitment to them.
“They feel comforted, and they feel confident,” Downour said. “They know they’re supported. They know that the local is working with representatives who have their backs.”
David McCall is the International President of the United Steelworkers union.
Warning: The following blog contains foul language, adult situations, Last Night, The Transphobic Assholes passed a ban that bans Transgender girls and women from playing sports anywhere in the state. You are probably wondering why I called these Ohio State Qpublicans Two Faced Assholes. One of these Shitheads have the nerve to fake lament and sympathy for the very people they passed that stupid and unjust ban to hurt. These Dumbasses honestly think they are protecting women but they are really inflicting maximum pain on Transgender people to score Cheap Political Points. My response to them is that I am outraged at them for doing this and then pretending to fake compassion. In light of last night’s Ohio State Qpublican passed Transphobia laws. I am going to vote and support Democrats Three Times as Hard. I am also going to stick it to any Transphobic Qpublican next election by re-electing Joe Biden and vote Straight Democrat.
Organizers innine states are aiming to put abortion rights measures on the ballot next year, including presidential swing states like Nevada and Arizona, as well blue states such as New York that will be key to Democrats reclaiming the House majority.
Newly available turnout data suggests those measures could be "the most potent mobilizing force in politics," according to a thread posted by Democratic strategist and data analyst Tom Bonier, CEO ofTARA Group.
Bonier was sifting through individual turnout data from Ohio, where last month voters approved a measure codifying abortion rights by awhopping 13 points, 56.6% to 43.4%.
Miscarriage of a fetus more than halfway to term is one the most psychologically devastating events a woman can suffer. At any time, the trauma is extreme. At 21 weeks, the expectant mother could be weighing names. She may have picked out a crib and considered mobiles and other infant toys. She is likely imagining what it will be like to hold her newborn. Then her dreams are shattered.
Imagine all that. Then add to the traumatized woman's distress a charge of “felony abuse of a corpse”. That is how Ohio’s criminal justice system has treated Brittany Watts.
This unfortunate woman suffered a miscarriage at 21 weeks. And prosecutors are asking a grand jury to bring a felony indictment against her.
Watts's hospital saga
On September 19, Watts, then almost 22 weeks pregnant, was in intense pain and passing large clots of blood. Suspecting she was miscarrying, she went to the hospital. Doctors confirmed her fears. Although they could detect fetal cardiac activity, they told Watts her pregnancy was not viable.
Against medical advice, she left the hospital, telling the doctor she could “better process what was happening to her at home.”
The next day (September 20), Watts returned to the hospital. She expected the doctors to induce her to deliver her preterm pregnancy. Note: There was no legal bar to the procedure as abortion is legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy in Ohio and the state grants exceptions for abortions at any stage of pregnancy to protect the health or life of the mother.
However, Watts was denied timely care. For eight hours, doctors and officials debated the ethics of inducing labor for a woman who had been diagnosed with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), had no detectable amniotic fluid, was bleeding vaginally, and had advanced cervical dilation. Why?
The doctors wanted to practice medicine. One was particularly blunt about the urgency of getting on with it: “My recommendation, instead of waiting until mom is on death’s door before proceeding with treatment, [is] to deliver this baby” by inducing.
While the authorities dawdled, Watts, apparently frustrated and feeling God knows what other emotions, left. When the doctor returned to the hospital room to discuss the induction plan, her bed was empty.
The next day (September 21), Watts, still in pain and bleeding, returned to the hospital. She again left against medical advice after not being able to see her OB/GYN soon enough.
Watts’ miscarriage
The next morning (September 22), Watts suffered a miscarriage. The Washington Post reported:
"Watts was in her bathroom when she delivered a roughly 15-ounce fetus over the toilet. At the time, she said, she “didn’t know that at 5:48 a.m. [her] life would change forever.” The delivery left a mess of blood, stool, tissue and other bodily fluid, clogging the toilet. Watts scooped out what she believed was stopping the toilet and placed it outdoors, near the garage, cleaned the bathroom and showered, records show.
To maintain appearances to her mother, whom she had not told about the pregnancy, Watts drove to a hair appointment, said Traci Timko, Watts’s attorney. The hairdresser noticed Watts’s pale face and immediately called her mother to take her to the hospital."
The repercussions
No doubt some people will point the finger at Watts. They will question why she left the hospital three times before receiving treatment. They will demand to know why Watts did not dial 911 or otherwise notify authorities. They will call her behavior after the miscarriage odd. And they will deem her concealment of the pregnancy from her mother a sign of some nefarious thinking.
We can dismiss this flint-hearted reaction for four reasons.
One, nothing she did imperiled a life. Doctors had already ruled the fetus unviable.
Two, during times of mental trauma, we are all capable of acting in ways other people might criticize.
Three, Watts's choice not to tell her mother she was pregnant is irrelevant.
Four, no one in the Ohio criminal justice system is saying any of her behavior before the miscarriage or after she left the house is a crime.
Only her actions immediately after the miscarriage are in question. Here Ohio law is so fuzzy that charging Watts with a felony is legally suspect. And basic humanity demands that the authorities stick to the narrowest interpretation of the law.
The law lands like a boulder on Watts
I suspect the police, accustomed to seeing the worst in people, are playing gotcha with Watts. It seems that in her shock, she had left the dead fetus in the toilet and not put it outside with the other blood, stool, and tissue as she said. Should her misstatement be a felony?
Let me say again. Neither health-care workers nor law enforcement dispute that Watts’s pregnancy loss was natural. While the coroner’s report determined that the fetus was uninjured. Where is the abuse of a corpse?
Ohio law defines the crime thus: “No person, except as authorized by law, shall treat a human corpse in a way that would outrage reasonable community sensibilities.” The legislature originally passed the law as part of an anti-grave robbing measure. Not a factor here. Nor would anyone object to necrophilia, flesh-eating, and deliberate desecration as grounds for arrest.
Watts did none of that. And no one is suggesting that she had any intent to abuse a corpse. But now Watts faces a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
A Black and White issue?
So why are we here? Blame the Republican assault on women. Add to the mix the conservative mind’s inability to feel empathy. And last, wonder how much the fact that Watts is Black has thumbed the scales of justice.
The Ohio Supreme Court has dismissed the state’s challenge to a judge’s order that has blocked enforcement of Ohio'snear-ban on abortionsfor the past 14 months.
The ruling moves action in the case back to Hamilton County Common Pleas, where abortion clinics asked Judge Christian Jenkins this week to throw out the law following voters' decision to approve enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution.
Ohio was in the throes ofa bitter debate over abortion rightsthis fall when Brittany Watts, 21 weeks and 5 days pregnant, began passing thick blood clots.
The 33-year-old Watts, who had not shared the news of her pregnancy even with her family, made her first prenatal visit to a doctor's office behind Mercy Health-St. Joseph's Hospital in Warren, a working-class city about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland.
The doctor said that, while a fetal heartbeat was still present, Watts' water had broken prematurely and the fetus she was carrying would not survive. He advised heading to the hospital to have her labor induced, so she could have what amounted to an abortion to deliver the nonviable fetus. Otherwise, she would face “significant risk” of death, according to records of her case.
That was a Tuesday in September. What followed was a harrowing three days entailing: multiple trips to the hospital; Watts miscarrying into, and then flushing and plunging, a toilet at her home; a police investigation of those actions; and Watts, who is Black, being charged with abuse of a corpse.
That's a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
I was there when Columbine happened — less than ½ mile away at my girlfriend’s parent’s house when it was actively going down — we heard the sirens rushing by. My girlfriend had friends massacred — it was her neighboring highschool. Some of my friends even knew the damn killers. I worked at the psych hospital that night that brought classmates in talking about suicide, some covered in blood having seen their friends shot.
And THIS f’n “judge” assigns this piece of *$^#@ wannabe mass murderer a *$&#@ BOOK REPORT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
E-v-e-r-y s-i-n-g-l-e g-u-n p-o-r-n a-s-s-h-o-l-e that even THINKS about doing this needs a $*#&@^ LIFE sentence!
I am -so- done with ameriKKKa and this gun-porn, billy-badass, “I’m the punisher”, bullshit! These *(&^$#@ are the biggest bunch of scardy-cat, wannabe, wimps in the ^&*#(@ world!
Hollywood continues to glorify this horseshit myth of “I have a gun...I win everything...” becau$e, dollar$$ (and @$$holes keep lapping it up for some reason)… but I would have hoped at the very least that the folks working in the actual department(s) of “justice” would maybe have grown weary of seeing this play out again and again and again (maybe it’s job security)…. I would have thought that maybe, just possibly, police, their unions, judges, law clerks, bailiffs...ANYONE in this system...would have finally started to get tired of this same thing happening again, and again, and again, and again (559 and counting...only 2 weeks to go to get a couple more in) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2023]
WTF is wrong with these blind-ass pathetic adjudicators? I sure wish poor little Timmy McVeigh had been given that extra math homework… that would’a solved everything...
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a measure Friday that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors and transgender athletes’ participation in girls and women’s sports, in a break from members of his party who championed the legislation.
GOP lawmakers hold enough seats to override DeWine’s veto, but if or when they would do so was not immediately clear. Both within and between chambers, Republican legislators havenot been in lockstepthis year.
In a news conference Friday, DeWine said he had listened to people on both sides of the legislation who “truly believe their position best protects children.”
He found that the bill would affect a small number of Ohio children, “but for those children who face gender dysphoria and for their families, the consequences of this bill could not be more profound.”
“Ultimately, I believe this is about protecting human life,” he said, announcing his decision to veto the legislation.
“Now, while there are rare times in the law in other circumstances where the state overrules the medical decisions made by the parents, I can think of no examples where this is done where it is not only against the decision of the parent, but also against the medical judgement of the treating physician and against the judgement of the treating team of medical experts,” he said. “Therefore, I cannot sign this bill as it currently written.”
However, DeWine said he believed there were administrative actions that could address the main concerns of the bill and announced a three-prong approach.
He is directing agencies to ban surgery on those under 18 as part of gender affirming care. He said he believes it’s a “fallacy out there that this goes right to surgery.”
He agreed with the Legislature that there was no comprehensive data on those who receive gender affirming care, and will direct relevant agencies to report findings to the Legislature and public about minors and adults seeking care.
Lastly, DeWine said his administration will draft rules and restrictions to prevent “pop up clinics or fly by night operations” so families receive “adequate counseling” regarding gender-affirming care.
Hundreds of opponents testified against Ohio’s multifaceted measure when it was moving through the Legislature, including medical and mental health providers, education professionals, faith leaders, parents of transgender children and transgender individuals themselves.
They decried the legislation as cruel, life threatening to transgender youth and based on fearmongering rather than science.
The measure, which passed the Legislature earlier this month with only Republican support, would have prohibited Ohio minors from taking puberty blockers and undergoing other hormone therapies or receiving gender reassignment surgery that would further align them with their gender identity. It would, however, have allowed any minor who is an Ohio resident to continue treatment they are currently receiving.
DeWine’s veto departs from a nationwide trend toward passing such laws. Since 2021, more than 20 states have enacted laws restricting orbanning such treatments, despite them having been available in the United States for more than a decade and long endorsed bymajor medical associations.Most of those states face lawsuits, but courts have issued mixed rulings.
The bill also would have required public K-12 schools and universities to designate separate teams for male and female sexes, and explicitly banned transgender girls and women from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. Supporters argued that banning transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports maintains the integrity of those sports and ensures fairness.
At least 20 states have passed some version of a ban on transgender athletes playing on K-12 and collegiate sports teams statewide. Those bans would be upended by aregulation proposed by President Joe Biden’s administrationthat is set to be finalized early next year.
When you’re running as many cons as the Republican Party it’s hard for its intended victims – the poor and middle class – to keep up with them.
That’s why it’s important to look at two events in the news recently: Nikki Haley’s stupendous failure in answering a question about the cause of the Civil War, and the Ohio state legislature’s attack on transgender kids. Combined, they display the party’s hypocrisy, lies, hatred, and cowardice.
Let’s start with Haley. Here’s a short video of her at a town hall answering the question of what caused the Civil War
Haley throws out a lot of buzzwords and cliches, like “freedom,”“liberties,” and so on.
“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” she said. “I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. It was never meant to be all things to all people.”
Amazingly she never mentioned the actual cause of the Civil War: slavery. When the questioner followed up saying he was surprised by that, she played dumb, saying, “What do you want me to say about slavery?”
How about this, Nicki: Slavery was absolutely the cause of the Civil War. It laid the foundation for the racial inequality we see to this day. It’s a black mark on the history of our nation and should always be a reminder that we need to address important issues by being honest that they exist in the first place. And it starts by making sure our educational system teaches the truth about our history, not some sanitized version concocted by the Right to make whites feel good about themselves.
But she didn’t say that, although she did agree the next day that the war was about slavery. That’s because Haley is a political coward who’s so afraid of losing the MAGA vote, so frightened of angering the racist wing of her party, so terrified of turning away the idiots with their confederate flags who can’t admit the Civil War was an insurrection against our government by traitors from the South because they wanted the despicable ownership of African Americans slaves to continue and grow.
Haley is so weak that she can’t tell the truth when it’s staring her right in the face. It’s in the damn history books. Why in the hell would anyone think someone this pathetic could run an entire country?
But there’s another aspect of Haley’s comments we shouldn’t ignore: her calling for a limited role of government. You see, this is just another way to say the GOP’s small government lie. It’s a lie because it has nothing to do with freedom or liberty. It’s about cutting government programs and agencies, specifically the social safety net and regulations.
It’s really important to remember this: The ultimate goal of the Republican Party, what you see in just about every position it takes, is this: More money for the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class.
Haley simply wants what just about every Republican wants: Less spending to help people, less regulations, particularly in the fossil fuel and finance industries, leading to lower costs and more profits for these businesses, and lower taxes for the rich and corporations.
That’s it. Period.
***
Meanwhile in Ohio, the state legislature passed a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors. Up until now, Ohio has allowed this legitimate medical treatment. In fact, transgender youths living in states that have banned it have traveled to there for treatment, the Washington Post reported.
The law allows minors who are already receiving gender-affirming care to continue doing so, but prohibits the seeking of such treatment for others in the future.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the bill. He rightly said that “These are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by parents and should be informed by teams of doctors who are advising them.”
“This bill would impact a very small number of Ohio’s children. But for those children who face gender dysphoria, the consequences of this bill could not be more profound,” DeWine said. “Ultimately, I believe this is about protecting human life. Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived, would be dead today, if they had not received the treatment they received from one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals.”
Republicans, thanks to gerrymandering, have a supermajority in the legislature and could override DeWine’s veto. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gary Click, has called for an override.
Where do we start with the lies? How about with Click, who said the measure was not about “culture wars” but about “medical ethics.” That’s a blatant lie. This is all about culture wars. It’s all about ginning up support among so-called Christians for a party that’s so impotent legislatively that it has to relay on smoke and mirrors like this to cover its own failings and its pro-rich, anti-poor-and-middle-class, anti-environment agenda.
Even the title is a lie: the Saving Adolescents From Experimentation Act, or the SAFE Act. Experimentation? These aren’t experiments. These are accepted medical procedures.
But beyond the lies we see another of the GOP’s cons. What about their beloved freedoms? What about their cherished “parents’ rights?” Why, in their proclaimed world, should parents not be allowed to make critical medical decisions for their children?
Is it because it terrifies the Bible thumpers in their base who jump right to the sex stuff in there and skip over the love-thy-neighbor and judge-not-that-you-be-judged parts? To them it’s love thy neighbor, as long as he or she isn’t doing something in their bedroom that makes them uncomfortable. Or maybe, for some, piques their interest.
But one thing’s for sure, any country that elects leaders whose path to power is paved with lies, hypocrisy, racism, hatred, and corruption is also setting a path for itself: To the end of its rule of law, the end of its democracy, and the end of its greatness, albeit a greatness that’s been stained by its periodic falls from grace over the course of its history.
Almost half the states in the country have passed laws targeting transgender people, the Post reported. This is an all-out Republican war against the LGBTQ community, who they’ve demonized to play to the Christian hypocrites that make up a good part of their base.
So, the pro-life party again shows that it’s really pro-fetus, and after that if it has to screw you over to win elections, it’ll screw you over to win elections.
In November, we’ll see what kind of country we’re going to have. Of course, it will be up to the voters.
But one thing’s for sure, any country that elects leaders whose path to power is paved with lies, hypocrisy, racism, hatred, and corruption is also setting a path for itself: To the end of its rule of law, the end of its democracy, and the end of its greatness, albeit a greatness that’s been stained by its periodic falls from grace over the course of its history.
I don’t want to go down that path. I hope enough others don’t, either.
Candidate filing closed on Dec. 20 for Ohio's March 19 primary, which will feature a number of important races. Below, you'll find our summaries of all the top contenders in all the key contests.
If you're looking for lists of candidates, though, you'll have to do a little legwork. While the Ohio secretary of state's office has a list of candidates for the U.S. Senate and the state Supreme Court, anyone running for the U.S. House and the state legislature is required to file with the county that makes up the largest proportion of their district. The state doesn't compile this information, so you'll have to check out individual county websites, which are linked here.
•OH Supreme Court: Republicans hold a 4-3 majority in the Ohio Supreme Court, so for Democrats to flip control, they need to sweep the three seats that are up this year. All contests are statewide races where the candidates' party affiliations will be included on the ballot, but there are some important differences between them.
Debbie Jessika Mucarsel-Powell is an Ecuadorian-born American politician and academic administrator who served as a U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district from 2019 to 2021.
Katrina Christiansen embodies tenacity, translating convictions into actions. Her mission is unwavering: to empower North Dakotans with government resources for their success.
Colin Allred was born and raised in North Texas by a single mom who was a public school teacher. With the help of his family, community, and coaches, Colin was able to graduate from Baylor University, play in the NFL, become a civil rights lawyer, and serve his hometown in Congress.
Ruben Gallego is running for Senate to level the playing field for working families and ensure that all Arizonans have the same shot at the American Dream that he did.
The son of immigrants from Colombia and Mexico, Ruben was one of four kids raised by a single mother on a secretary’s salary. Growing up poor, he helped support his family by working as a janitor, a line cook, and at a meat-packing plant throughout high school. Despite his long hours, he earned a spot at Harvard University, where he again worked numerous odd jobs – including cleaning the bathrooms of his wealthier classmates – to pay his way through school.
Senator Sherrod Brown has spent his career fighting for the Dignity of Work – the idea that hard work should pay off for everyone, no matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of work you do. He has held nearly 500 roundtables across Ohio, because he believes the best ideas don’t come out of Washington – they come from conversations with Ohioans across our state.
Senator Jon Tester is a third-generation Montana farmer, a proud grandfather, and a former school teacher who has deep roots in hard work, responsibility and accountability.
These efforts come on the heels of two ballot measures last year where voters first rejected a GOP attempt to restrict direct democracy by requiring a 60% supermajority of voter support—instead of a simple majority—to pass future amendments. Rejecting that measure then enabled Ohioans to vote 57-43 to restore abortion-rights protections last fall.
This latest amendment would establish sweeping new protections for voting by deeming it a "fundamental right" and prohibit any policies, procedures, intimidation, or "any means whatsoever" that have the intent or effect of denying or unreasonably burdening the right to vote. It would also prohibit lawmakers from adding any voter qualifications not allowed by the amendment—including any that impose a "test, tax, charge, or expense" for voting—except for felony disenfranchisement, which currently applies only to people in prison.
The amendment would also make voting more accessible by easing voter-registration burdens. Eligible voters who do business with the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles would be automatically registered unless they choose to opt out via a subsequent mailing. Voters could also newly register and cast a ballot on the same day throughout the early-voting period or on Election Day, replacing Ohio's registration deadline of 30 days before Election Day, which is the earliest allowed under federal law.
Despite receiving enough signatures to appear on the ballot, a transgender woman has been disqualified from an Ohio House race because she omitted her previous name, raising concern that other transgender candidates nationwide may face similar barriers.
Vanessa Joy of was one of four transgender candidates running for state office in Ohio, largely in response to proposed restrictions of the rights of LGBTQ+ people. She was running as a Democrat in House District 50 — a heavily Republican district in Stark County, Ohio — against GOP candidate Matthew Kishman. Joy legally changed her name and birth certificate in 2022, which she says she provided to the Stark County Board of Elections for the March 19 primary race.
But as Joy found out Tuesday, a little-known 1990s state law says that a candidate must provide any name changes within the last five years to qualify for the ballot. Since the law is not currently listed on the candidate requirement guidelines on the Ohio Secretary of State's website, Joy didn't know it existed.
The new year did not start off as we expected. On January 2nd, an Obama-appointed federal judge ruled that True the Vote’s challenge of thousands of voters’ Right to Vote in the Senate runoff elections in Georgia did not violate the Voting Rights Act under SEC. 119(b)’s outlawing of voter suppression.
In a 145-page opinion, the judge, Steve C. Jones of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, wrote that the court “maintains its prior concerns” regarding how the group, True the Vote, sought to challenge voters’ eligibility. But he said that Fair Fight, the liberal voting rights group that brought the lawsuit against True the Vote, had failed to show that the efforts were illegal.
[...]
...the opinion is likely to encourage conservative activists hunting for voter fraud during the 2024 presidential election. Election officials and voting rights groups have expressed worries about these efforts, warning that an expanded campaign to challenge voters en masse could intimidate people away from the ballot box. True the Vote and similar groups, taking a cue from former President Donald J. Trump, have often spread false theories about election fraud.
[...]
Voting rights experts said the ruling could raise the bar of what constitutes voter intimidation under the Voting Rights Act, and said it was yet another court decision that chipped away at the protections in the landmark law.
True the Vote, the organization behind theelection conspiracy movie “2000 Mules,”announcedin December 2020 that it would challenge the eligibility of over 364,000 voters based on the NCOA registry. GOP MAGA activists who coordinated with True the Vote did in fact challenge 250,000 voters in 65 of the 159 counties. Local election boardsrejected the vast majorityof voter eligibilitychallenges out of hand.
Hope Springs from Field PAC, at the request of a lawyer connected to the lawsuit, matched the two lists to the voter file. 88% of the 364k was comprised of minority voters, primarily African-American. 79% of those who were actually challenged by Georgia voters were minority voters. “A unique provision of Georgia state law allows voters to challenge the eligibility of voters in their counties.”
During the voter intimidation trial, witnesses testified about how they had to “jump through the hoops,” felt confused or wondered whether they’d “get in trouble for voting.”
Which was, and continues to be, the point.
There’s little we, as the grassroots, can do about these really onerous voting laws Republicans enact in Red States. But there’s a lot that we can do in response to Voter Suppression actions like this. Hope Spring from Field counters these far-right efforts by including them in our walk lists when we are canvassing. We knock on the doors of voters who were thrown off the voter rolls by the Secretary of State and re-register them. We knock on the doors of voters included in the TTV purge lists to inform them they are on these lists, explain the aspects of the law that makes this weird possibility “legal,” and we make sure they understand that, if their Right to Vote gets challenged, in advance or on Election Day, there are remedies— and to not be afraid.
In the areas where TTV had been successful in recruiting challengers, we targeted precincts that had multiple voters on the lists, and set up Election Protection tables outside the polls so we could make sure that everyone understood their Rights to Vote.
Hope Springs Voter Protection observation table w/ NGE list
True the Vote also maintained it had also “recruited Navy SEALs to oversee polling places.” Now we did not run into any Navy SEALs (there are no SEALs teams based in Georgia) and we took this claim to be another attempt at intimidation. But we did have local law enforcement show up to “monitor” our Voter Protection tables.
But this is why maintaining on-going, PERSISTENT in-person voter contact is so important, especially in minority areas with histories of intimidation and voter suppression. And purge lists were central to our Voter Protection tables before the primaries. Every VP table we set up in Wisconsin and Georgia had a print-out (often, more than one) of local people who had been registered to vote who had been purged. And we did find family or neighbors who knew people on the lists and offered up information. At least one (perhaps two) voter brought the disenfranchised former voter back to the table.
Georgia has clearly been the worst example of this (between the Georgia SOS purge and the TTV-inspired challenges, more than half a million voters were targeted.)
Hope Springs from Field PACis knocking on doors in a grassroots-led effort to increase awareness of the fact that Democrats care about our voters and are working to protect their rights. We are thinking how to mitigate Voter Suppression efforts, get around them and make sure we have "super compliance," helping our voters meet the requirements and get out and vote. We are taking those efforts to the doors of the communities most effected (the intended targets or victims) of these new voter suppression laws.
Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
Hope Springs from Fieldwas started by former Obama Field Organizers because field was the cornerstone of our success. The approach we adopted was focused on listening, on connecting voters and their story to the candidate. Repeated face to face interactions are critical. And we are among those who believe that Democrats didn’t do as well in the 2020 Congressional races as expected because we didn’t knock on doors. We are returning to the old school basics: repeated contacts, repeated efforts to remind them of protocols, meeting them were they are. Mentoring those who need it (like first time and newly registered voters).
We’ve had success in our Voter Protection efforts. It starts by including these MAGA purge lists in our canvassing targets each week. Especially in Swing States that use the NCOA (National Change of Address) database, and these tend to be states where Republicans serve as their Secretary of State, we include targeted voters as part of our canvass universe. Walking turf that includes voters who have been removed (or about to be removed) from the voter rolls adds to our message thatDemocrats Care!and that we are doing something about the GOP’s heavy handedness. We have used this process in Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.
While we mark the names and addresses that were on the voter file removal list,we tell everyonewe talk to that we are canvassing because Republicans are trying to remove voters in the area. We learned to be inclusive in the messaging when we were doing the same thing in Wisconsin in 2011 and 2012. Making sure that every voter we talk to knows that this is part of why we are knocking on their doors reinforces our messaging, especially in the case of removals due to the National Change of Address database. It encourages people to talk about it to their neighbors, to ask themselves, am I still registered to vote? Are you?
When we did find voters who had been removed from the voter rolls, we not only registered them, we also created a “Wrongly Included” Report, documenting their residence at where the state claimed they no longer resided. These reports were defensive in nature, not only for the voter but also lawyers who might be able to use this documentation to defend voter rights and protections in the state.
Just as importantly, we found volunteers liked the idea of chasing down people who had been removed from the voter rolls, at least in the manner in which we conduct the search. Volunteers would come and specifically ask for the walk lists that included purged voters. I can’t explain why, and we didn’t create special lists; we simply marked it when there was a voter who had been purged from the rolls. But because we were telling everyone we talked to that we knew that there are people in their neighborhood who had been callously removed, neighbors were often willing to share what they knew. In one apartment complex, a voter was removed because his apartment number was not included in the database. More to the point, his number was included on his voting registration card, but just not on the state’s voter database. And it was hard for the voter and the volunteer not to jump to the conclusion that, “It’s because I’m Black, isn’t it?”
Last year, in Georgia (GA SOS released its new list of voters they removed in July), we found and re-registered — and thus returning — another1,116 voters to the rolls. Partly, this is the result of canvassing now in the Atlanta suburbs. One note (because i know someone will ask): Coffee County, which has become sort of infamous of late, was the only county among those where we have canvassed in Georgia that actually saw a reduction in the number of voters who were removed from its rolls in 2023 than in 2021. I find that weird.
In Ohio, where (in a much bigger state) the Secretary of State removed an eighth of the number that the Georgia SOS did, we only found 5 voters who were wrongly removed while we were knocking on doors. In Wisconsin, we found 31 voters (all African-American) and in North Carolina, we found 73 voters, many of whom were under the age of 25.
But we found that making these purge lists known, either to the Black Churches we were working with or at our Voter Protection tables, increased interest. Although we were (then and still are) pursuing a “super compliance” strategy, getting people engaged can be easier when they feel aggrieved. And we have found that by tracking down disenfranchised voters and then re-registering them with tracking information (including witnesses) makes it easier. I have seen reports of people who have been wrongly purged taking a couple of years to get back on the voter rolls by themselves.
These “Wrongly Included” reports and documentation were also included inour visits to localDistrict, State and County Attorneys as well as the Dep’t of Justice Civil Rights Division where we also delivered the Incident Reports we had collected. We wanted to make everyone aware that we suspect Republican poll watchers, especially of the Election Denier persuasion, might try to make an issue of people who voted who were included on the purge lists.
If i haven’t conveyed the point: we do this because Democrats don’t have to accept all the obstacles that Republicans put in the way of our voters, especially minority voters. There are things we can do about it, you know, besides the normal act of complaining. We include looking for removed voters in our walk lists because we find that most people — and, especially, most voters who were removed — don’t know about it. Most voters don’t even realize it can happen. Voter lists should be as accurate as possible, but using databases like the NCOA for purposes they were never designed for does not achieve this. And, like i pointed out above, these efforts reinforce the message that Democrats Deliver.
Hope Springs from Fieldemploys a rather traditional approach to GOTV (Get-Out-the-Vote), including election protection. That’s because we are a grassroots (in-person) voter-contact project attempting to reinstall “old fashioned” voter contact before Covid. 2020 was a year where Republicans rapidly advanced and Democrats regressed in the area of voter contact, especially in the area of Election Protection. 2024 will be different, and, as we have demonstrated in Georgia and Ohio, we learned from GOP advancements in the area of voter removal and suppression. Which is why returning to old-school voter contact is so important to continue (and not a replacement for the other areas of voter identification, motivation and mobilization).
Like everyone else, we are asking for your financial support for these vital efforts. If you are like me, you are inundated with requests. We don’t have any cute pets, or special treats, to offer up to encourage your support. Nor will we try to guilt you by telling you the threat is real, ongoing and getting more sophisticated. We are all getting tired of it.
But if you are able to contribute to our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please do. We need your help:
You can follow that link for our mailing address, as well (for those who would rather send us a check). Thank you for your support!This work depends on you!
An Ohio womanfacing a criminal chargefor her handling of a home miscarriage will not be charged, a grand jury decided Thursday.
The Trumbull County prosecutor’s office said grand jurors declined to return an indictment for abuse of a corpse against Brittany Watts, 34, of Warren, resolving a case that had sparked national attention for its implications for pregnant women as states across the country hash out new laws governingreproductive health care access.
The announcement came hours before her supporters planned a “We Stand With Brittany!” rally on Warren’s Courthouse Square.
A municipal judge had found probable cause to bind over Watts’ case. That was after city prosecutors said she miscarried, flushed and scooped out the toilet, then left the house, leaving the 22-week-old fetus lodged in the pipes. Her attorney told the judge Watts had no criminal record and was being “demonized for something that goes on every day.” An autopsy determined the fetus died in utero and identified “no recent injuries.”
Interesting @haleybemiller piece on Senate candidate Bernie Moreno’s car dealer days, including reporting on how he settled a bunch of overtime complaints before entering #OHSen. https://t.co/ZGbSRGeMGG
A Republican running inOhio's U.S. Senate racewas sued over a dozen times as the owner of a Massachusetts car dealership amid a broader fight over how businesses paid overtime to commissioned employees in the state.
The suits against businessman Bernie Moreno said he failed to properly pay salespeople overtime when he managed a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Burlington, about 13 miles northwest of Boston. A jury ordered Moreno to pay two employees more than $400,000 in one case, and 14 other cases were settled for an undisclosed amount by January 2023 − just months before Morenolaunched his second Senate bid.
Moreno is running against Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, in the GOP primary for the chance to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in November. The primary is March 19.
Moreno first entered the car industry in 2005, when he purchased a struggling Mercedes-Benz dealership in the Cleveland suburb of North Olmsted. He expanded that dealership into a multi-state franchise before pivoting to the world of blockchain technology.
Then came a series of court cases that would shake up Moreno's Burlington dealership. A former salesman sued Moreno and the company in 2017, saying he and other sales employees didn't get overtime when they worked more than 40 hours per week. The dealership allocated overtime wages to employees' base pay when calculating how much to give them based on commission.
That formula for handling overtime was standard practice for dealerships and allowed under federal law, as long as employees earned a certain amount. But in 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined the practice violated state law − which triggered 16 more lawsuits against Moreno and left employers across the state on the hook.
This Senate race is already looking like a true blue Progressive Populist who is an adamant fighter for workers (U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D. OH)), versus a wealthy MAGA Crypto Bro:
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Can Ohio's most prominent Democrat survive the reddening of the state? Don't count him out. @DanMcGraw1 on Sherrod Brown: https://t.co/gzBvPwO1Hf
COMPARE THESE ISSUES with the line of attack being developed against Brown by Bernie Moreno, the Republican primary candidate in the Ohio Senate race whose endorsement by Trump (along with Rep. Jim Jordan and Sen. J.D. Vance) makes him Brown’s likeliest opponent this fall. The issue Moreno thinks could sink Brown’s chances with Ohio voters is—wait for it—cryptocurrency regulation.
“A career politician like Sherrod Brown has absolutely no idea how digital currencies work and is the least qualified person possible to regulate the industry,” Moreno hassaid. A crypto booster, Moreno is branding himself as a tech-friendly, future-oriented leader;Politicoreports that he has even paid some of his business taxes using bitcoin. Brown is the chair of the Senate Banking Committee and a vehement critic of cryptocurrencies, whose instability and high risk make them attractive investment vehicles to people who have a taste for gambling—or whose financial situation is dire enough to push them to play the numbers. On Wednesday evening, the SEC finallyapproveda number of “spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds” (ETFs), which Reuters reports will allow individuals and institutions to invest in the currency “without directly holding it.” The decision provides the legitimization that crypto advocates have been seeking for the niche products; it also takes the issue out of Congress’s purview, and, therefore, Brown’s.
Given Moreno’s background and interests, it will likely remain a talking point during his 2024 campaign for Brown’s seat. But the fact that, of all things,thisis the first projectile he decided to lob in his political bombardment against the incumbent suggests that the state GOP is short on real ammunition to use on Brown. (It makes sense: What could they know about the man that the rest of Ohio’s voters don’t?) While there’s a lot of enthusiasm for crypto among the young, single, very-online men, it’s hard to imagine the issue meaning much to the older Ohioans whose support determines the outcomes of elections—unless, of course, they’ve beentaken in by scammers, in which case they’d like be very sympathetic to the senator’s critical position.
Sen.Sherrod Brown, one of the digital asset industry’s biggest critics and Washington roadblocks, is facing a tough reelection campaign that could make or break Democrats’ Senate majority. Thanks toan endorsement this weekby former President Donald Trump, he may well face a general election opponent who’s a major evangelist for crypto technology: GOP candidate Bernie Moreno.
As Senate Banking Committee chair, Brown has warned for years about the risks that crypto poses to consumers and the financial system. He’s one of thetoughest obstacles the crypto industryfaces in advancing legislation that would help give it regulatory credibility.
The looming clash is a sign of just how partisan the crypto debate is becoming in the run-up to the 2024 election, with key Democrats voicing skepticism of the industry and Republicans increasingly coalescing around friendly policies that would boost crypto firms. The stakes are high for crypto executives and investors, who are poised tospend more than $78 millionto influence upcoming races.
Trump hates State Senator Matt Dolan (R. OH) for not pushing the Big Lie and Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R. OH) royally fucked himself betting it all on Issue 1 that Moreno has now become the default choice for establishment Republicans:
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the third-highest ranking Senate Republican, backed Moreno on Tuesday and praised him as a candidate that will “help make America stronger and safer.” He plans to campaign with Moreno in Ohio before the primary.
This is Moreno’s third significant endorsement in recent weeks. Former President Donald Trump backed the former car dealer in December. Then the influential Club for Growththrewits support behind him in January.
Moreno is locked in a contentious three-way battle with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan. The winner of the March 19 primary will take on Sen. Sherrod Brown, one of the chamber’s most endangered Democratic incumbents.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is remaining neutral in the primary. Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has said he believes any of the three candidates could prevail against Brown.
Rep.Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has endorsedBernie Morenoin his state’s combative Republican Senate primary, signaling consolidation of support around former President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate inone of the biggest racesof 2024.
Jordan, a Trump loyalist and a leading figure on the political right in Ohio, announced his support for Moreno in a statement first shared with NBC News.
“Bernie is a true America First conservative, and will make us proud in the U.S. Senate,” Jordan said. “Our country needs common sense conservative fighters now more than ever. Bernie is a political outsider who has lived the American Dream. His perspective, his grit and his conservative values will serve Ohio well in the U.S. Senate.”
During a campaign event last November, LaRose made a video with Protect Women Ohio encouraging voters to rejectIssue 1, a ballot initiative made to enshrine reproductive rights into the state constitution. LaRose denounced out of state billionaires for allegedly using their financial influence in the election.
“You know, it’s extreme when people like George Soros and other out of state billionaires are trying to influence this election,” LaRose said.
On Jan. 5, LaRose made an appearance on the “Good Morning America” podcast where he downplayed his campaign’sfinancial strugglesand compared himself to the biblical characterDavid. LaRose also confirmed that his campaign received amassive financial boostfrom a $3 million donation to theLeadership for Ohio Fund, a super PAC founded by LaRose’s allies.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown raised $6.6 million in the last three months, according to numbers first shared with POLITICO, a huge sum which will be critical in his challenging reelection campaign.
And the three-term Democrat has $14.6 million on hand heading into what’s likely to be the toughest race of his career. He's a top target in the battle for the Senate majority, as his state has drifted right over the past decade and left him as the only statewide elected Democrat.
Brown will face the winner of a GOP primary featuring Secretary of State Frank LaRose, state Sen. Matt Dolan and businessman Bernie Moreno, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Dolan and Moreno have the ability to significantly self-fund their campaigns.
“Sherrod Brown is fighting for Ohio while his opponents fight for the title of largest self-funder — that’s why Sherrod continues to have the momentum in this race,” said campaign manager Rachel Petri.
“It will probably be the most expensive [race in the country] because interest groups all over the country are going to put millions of dollars in, that’s what they do to defeat people like me,” Brown said.
Fundamentally, Ohioans know that Brown is on their side, he said. Brown claimed that he would win his reelection campaign by doing his job and focusing on the dignity of work. He said that he has done this over the years by taking on interest groups and fighting for people.
As the debate between his potential challengers looms, Brown said he would keep his focus on work at the U.S. Capitol, which he said includes rail safety, trade agreements and holding Wall Street accountable.
“I’ll let the rich guys fight it out in the primary,” Brown said.
“Two of them are going to spend millions and millions of family money,” Brown said. “I don’t know if they made the money, I don’t know if their family did, I don’t know how many generations of wealth they’ve had. Let them do that, that’s what they’re going to do.”
The candidates that Brown is likely referring to are Moreno and Dolan. Moreno has criticized both Brown and his Republican opponents for growing up in elite or privileged lifestylesdespite previously commentingthat he himself came from “outsized privilege” and that his father’s family home was “so large that it was converted into the embassy for Germany.” Dolan’s background will be familiar to many, as his family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team.
Rap and country singer Jason “Jelly Roll” DeFord on Thursday told the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that a planeload worth of Americans die of drug overdoes each day, but America doesn’t seem to care because it bullies and shames drug addicts instead of dealing with the root of their problems.
“The sad news is that narrative is changing, too, because the statistics say that in all likelihood almost every person in this room has lost a friend, family member of colleague to the disease known as addiction,” DeFord told the committee chaired by Cleveland Democrat Sherrod Brown. “I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I’ve carried of people I love dearly.”
The Country Music Association New Artist of the Year told Brown’s committee he can’t vote because of his criminal convictions, including one for drug dealing, and doesn’t pay attention to politics. He said that makes him an ideal person to discuss an issue that transcends ideology. He said he wants to be part of the solution after being “the uneducated man in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew absolutely nothing about.”
He said he mistakenly believed selling drugs to be a “victimless crime” and realizes he was wrong now that he’s got a 15-year-old daughter whose mother is a drug addict. He described fentanyl as the worst drug he’s ever seen and said he wonders every day if he’ll have to tell his daughter his mother “became a part of the national statistic.”
He urged Congress to pass abill introduced by Brownthat aims to use financial sanctions to cut off the flow of drugs. TheFentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Actthat Brown introduced with the committee’s top Republican, South Carolina’s Tim Scott, would direct the Treasury Department to target, sanction, and block the financial assets of transnational criminal organizations, and those that launder money to facilitate illicit opioid trafficking. The Senate passed the bill but the U.S. House of Representatives hasn’t taken it up.
Everyone who has paid into Social Security should be able to receive the benefits they’ve earned when they retire, including our public service workers like teachers and first responders.
The Social Security Fairness Act will make sure they do.
Health, Democracy and Freedom are on the ballot next year and we need to get ready to flip Ohio Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Brown and his fellow Ohio Democrats campaigns:
Actor Ed O’Neill has played many roles. He was a losing presidential candidate on season six of “The West Wing,” only to eventually end up as vice president on the show. The anti-feminist, frustrated suburban shoe salesman Al Bundy, a former high school football star, O’Neill played on “Married … with Children” might have personified a future Trump voter. Not to mention his Jay Pritchett on “Modern Family,” who was supportive of his gay son and married to a Colombian immigrant, who would probably not be a MAGA cultist.
In real life, O’Neill campaigned for Barack Obama in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, in 2008, and spoke in support of Joe Biden at the virtual 2020 Ohio Democratic Party Convention. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that O’Neill considered it “a slap in the face” when Youngstown State University’s Board of Trustees chose the election-denying, Trump-supporting GOP Rep. Bill Johnson to become its new president.
I inadvertently fell asleep on the couch before writing my pithy opening tonight! So let’s just start with a smart, well-prepared, emotionally mature young girl:
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office presented 10-year-old Aneres Bellefont with a Life Saving Award on January 8 after she reported to police that she had located an unconscious adult male in a vehicle near the house she was in. She also located an unconscious adult female near the car.
“Aneres remained calm and gave precise locations of both subjects and continued to update our dispatchers with pertinent information until Law Enforcement and EMS arrived,” said HCSO.
Emergency responders gave both people Narcan.
“Aneres, you are a True Hero! Two adults are alive today because you courageously took control of the emergency situation you found yourself in. You did all of the right things! The Henry County Sheriff’s Office salutes you!”
And folks? Some drugs are too risky, don’t mess with them!
“I’m not a Democrat. Why did you knock on my door?!?”
2018 was the first time i talked to a voter who was testy that his house was on our walk list because he assumed we were only knocking on the doors of Democrats. This was before Hope Springs from Field PAC actually existed, but in a Congressional campaign that flipped a red seat to blue i canvassed with my kid. So my main thought at the time was that i was glad *i* drew this side of the street because i wouldn’t have wanted my kid to have dealt with his aggressive responses.
It does happen. It’s not typical, or even something we deal with every week. In the height of the Summer, Hope Springs volunteers can knock out 12 to 13 thousand doors on a Saturday, and still not get this kind of pushback. But it does happen.
The electorate is changing, and has been for awhile. Since 2008, the year Democrats ran on Hope and Change, Democratic party identification has declined and unaffiliated or independent identification has increased. Republican party identification has been in decline even longer, when there was a surge of support for the GOP after 9/11.
But returning to this gentleman who was insistent on understanding why he was on our walk list (there was no other voter listed for that home, it was just him), i explained that he was listed as a D (in Virginia, a state where there is no official party affiliation for a registered voter) because he had voted in the Democratic primary in 2016. And participation in a primary is a good way to be modeled as a Democrat. But he insisted he wasn’t a Democrat and i marked him down as a 4 (someone unlikely to support our candidate).
But in the years since (but especially since Obama alums began Hope Springs from Field), this kind of response — almost offense at being suggested that a voter was a Democrat because we knocked on their door — has increased. We knocked on 6,296,605 doors last year and, outside of Ohio, we saw instances of this kind of resistance (frustration?) in every state we organized. In Montana, it could be especially jarring; at one door you could find a voter who thanked you for knocking and the next door a voter who was confused because they were on the list.
Hope Springs organizers (the volunteers who cut the turf) target Democrats (as identified within VAN) and independents; the query eliminates all-Republican households. Canvassers recognize this pretty quickly because you hit one house, but bypass others. It’s really obvious when there are MAGA signs in front of the houses you are bypassing.
Political independents continue to constitute the largest political bloc in the U.S., with an average of 43% of U.S. adults identifying this way in 2023, tying the record high from 2014. Independent identification has been 40% or higher each year since 2011, except for the 2016 (39%) and 2020 (39%) presidential election years. Equal 27% shares of U.S. adults identify as Republicans and Democrats, with the Democratic figure marking a new low for that party in Gallup’s trend.
Gallup does “push” respondents to pick a party. Most voters lean one way or the other, and the electorate that is truly independent has long been considered to be around 7%. This is why GOTV (Get-Out-the-Vote) is so critical — and why Republicans have repeatedly tried to narrow the electorate in the states they control.
Hope Springs volunteers, though, express more concern about possibility knocking on the door of some MAGA voter than anything else. “And they aren’t all Republicans,” i can remember one volunteer advising (in Pennsylvania).
Not sure that there are many Democratic MAGA voters out there (still), but it is not something that has happened. No volunteer has reported having to deal with a MAGA supporter at their door. Yet. We feel like that is a victory for our targeting model, especially in states like Montana and Ohio.
National trend lines are interesting, no doubt, but not especially useful for what we are doing, which is to win in November, both in these Senate races and to win the Swing States in the Electoral College. And we do have state breakdowns, both in party affiliation and political ideology.
But before we move on, Gallup also asks about political ideology as well. They use the common terms accepted, which in this case is Liberal, Moderate and Conservative.
In addition to measuring their affiliation with either of the major political parties, Gallup asks Americans in each survey to describe their political views on a liberal to conservative spectrum. In 2023, on average, 36% of U.S. adults described their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate and 25% as liberal. Ideological identification has changed little in recent years; the latest figures essentially match the averages over the past 10 years.
From a longer-term perspective, the notable change has been the increase in liberal identification, which was under 20% from 1992 to 2000 and in 2002 and 2004. Both conservative and moderate identification have dipped slightly over the past two decades, but there has been a larger drop for moderates than conservatives since the trend began -- moderates were the biggest group from 1992 to 2002.
But this is the political environment we find ourselves in, it is the benchmark we start from, independent of the work Hope Springs volunteers have done in the last 3 years and independent of the current political machinations we see every day.
Hope Springs from Field PAChasbeen knocking on doors since 2021 in a grassroots-led effort to prepare the Electoral Battlegrounds in what has been called the First and Second Rounds of a traditional Five Round Canvass. We are taking those efforts to the doors of Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans.
Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up) and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
Hope Springs from Field PACunderstands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical. We believe that in-person voter contact that is interactive and volunteer-driven is key to success in 2024. But we need your help.
As i mentioned above, understanding the national trend lines is interesting in an academic sense but not very useful and the state and local level. Fortunately, we do have data at the state levels (here and here) that is helpful when we model the electorate to canvass. These are the breakdowns for the states where we canvassed last year:
Bright Yellow: Category High / Light Yellow: Category Low
When I initially looked at this data (at the beginning of the decade), Arizona was the high mark among these states (not including Montana) at 40%. You want to understand the effect that Trump has in his election nullification efforts, then look at Arizona’s decreasing percentage in Conservatives and increasing percentage among Moderates and Liberals (which was 19% 3 years ago).
Bright Yellow: Category High / Light Yellow: Category Low / Orange: Tie
“As Gallup has previously documented, the increase in liberal identification reflects big shifts in how Democrats describe their political views. Last year, 53% of Democrats identified as liberal, 35% as moderate and 11% as conservative. While similar to the level in 2022, the 53% liberal figure is up from 43% in 2013, 32% in 2003 and 25% in 1994 (the first year Gallup analyzed ideology by party identification).”
But what has most fascinated me is that our volunteers broadly reflect the Moderate to Liberal breakdowns we see in the state ideology survey. Except in Ohio (for the Abortion Referendums), we don’t really hear from volunteers who self-identify as Conservative. And the Ohio experience was really telling, because we had Republican Women who did identify as Conservative or Libertarian among our canvassing groups last year. For them, Abortion was a wedge issue that separated them from their “natural” (or pre-existing) inclinations. But i point that out because they weren’t silent or hidden; they would tell you, if you asked. A few even volunteered the information.
But people who have been following these posts from the beginning (during the first Georgia Senate Runoff) may have noticed that we stopped asking voters about their impressions of the Democratic Party. That data stopped being useful. It wasn’t giving us any predictive information — and depressed some of our volunteers who had stronger connections to the party than the voters they talked to did.
Swing States are swing states for a reason. So the data released by Gallup isn’t much of a surprise to those of us knocking on voter’s doors every weekend. But i reiterate: GOTV matters, in-person Voter Contact matters and the work that we do has proven to be decisive over the last three years. Field drives victories.
This year is even more important than ever. And we would appreciate your support.
If you are able to contribute to our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please do. We need your help:
You can follow that link for our mailing address, as well (for those who would rather send us a check). Thank you for your support!This work depends on you!
A year after fiery train derailment, Biden to visit East Palestine
The president will make his first visit to the Ohio city as long-term environmental concerns linger from last year's derailment.
The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, spilled toxic chemicals with unknown effects into the water, the ground and the air, prompting evacuations and a massive cleanup effort that's still underway today.
Now the Biden Administration is taking new steps to make sure train company Norfolk Southern remains accountable for the disaster.
In an executive order signed on Wednesday, the White House made arrangements to continue recovery efforts in East Palestine and surrounding areas, and to get the resources it needs from Norfolk Southern.
"It is critical that Norfolk Southern continue to be held fully accountable under the law for this disaster, and continue to provide resources to address the effects in East Palestine and surrounding communities," the order reads.
There’s a 4 minute 34 second video at this link which reviews what happened, with a promotion at the end for the special report Scripps News will be broadcasting tonight. (If you can’t get it on your TV, there are links at the website which should make it available over the internet and you can watch Scripps News live online.)
“Over the past 12 months, we have made significant progress in East Palestine. We’re keeping our promises, and we’ll continue to listen to the community and help the area recover and thrive,”NS said in a release.
“We’re now focused on our long-term initiatives to address health concerns, protect home values, and safeguard area drinking water. We’re also committed to the long-term economic development of the community.”
While Norfolk Southern is still dealing with the aftereffects of what happened in East Palestine and what the railroad did and didn't do that led to the derailment, a new complication has entered the picture: Activist Investors.
Jan 31 (Reuters) - An Ancora Holdings-led investor group has taken a roughly $1 billion stake in Norfolk Southern (NSC.N), opens new tab and nominated a majority slate of directors to the railroad operator's board in a bid to oust CEO Alan Shaw, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The director slate includes former Ohio Governor John Kasich and Sameh Fahmy, who was an executive at railroad operator Kansas City Southern, the report said on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
In the past few weeks, Norfolk Southern - among the top-five largest railroad operators in North America by revenue - has met with the group and the group's director nominees have raised a number of issues including how the firm handled a train derailment last year and what they view as Shaw's failure to hit operating targets, the report added.
...The post-derailment service problems also raised costs and hurt revenue as shippers diverted business to trucks and rival CSX. NS operations and service recovered late in the year, however, and its intermodal volume grew in the fourth quarter as the railroad delivered its best intermodal on-time performance in more than three years.
[Alan] Shaw, who became chief executive in May 2022, inherited a railroad with widespread crew shortages that led to significant and prolonged service problems. After a conductor hiring spree, NS operations recovered in late 2022.
And in December 2022 Shaw unveiled a long-term strategy called “a better way forward” that revolves around not furloughing train crews during downturns so that the railroad has the resources to capture volume and maintain service when freight volume recovers. Keeping train crews on the payroll during freight downturns would hurt the operating ratio over the short term, Shaw warned. But it would pay off in the long run, he said, by allowing the railroad to maintain service levels. That, in turn, would enable shippers to build more of their supply chains around the railroad, which would bring NS new traffic, higher revenue, and bigger profits.
Shaw is taking the heat for the consequences of actions taken by his predecessors that set up Norfolk Southern for the problems it is still dealing with. Shaw is moving away from the industry’s fixation on profits over all, as embodied in the railroad operating model Precision Scheduled Railroading.
It seeks to maximize revenue by reducing operating costs as much as possible. While it has been done in the name of efficiency, in practice it has meant cutting corners on safety, on workers, on maintenance, and service. Railroads are making higher profits on the freight they move — but overall freight loads are declining as shipper go elsewhere. It has been a disaster for rail shippers and trackside communities — as East Palestine knows. But Wall Street loves it because it produces record profits.
Until things fall apart.
The Scripps News report will be looking at where East Palestine is today, a year after the disaster. What will be of interest will be what it has to say about the state of the rail industry and what it could be doing that would better serve Main Street instead of Wall Street.
Last week a jury awarded E. Jean Carroll $83,000,000 $65,000 000 of which was punitive damages, in her second defamation civil case against Donald Trump. Her first interview was with Rachel Maddow on Monday. She talks openly, among other things, about how it felt to be in the same room with her abuser for the first time since her assault and how different her feelings were seeing him from her feelings beforehand: He is nothing. You don’t have to be afraid of him.
Before this exerpt, Maddow details Carroll’s remarkable career before Donald Trump raped her. She deserves every penny of those damages.
In this election year, when it seems the whole Republican party (with a few notable exceptions) has capitulated — where they will not pass a bill about the border that they demanded because Trump said it would be bad for his election — let us remember that he only gets his power from other people. That makes what is happening even more dangerous.
As always, this diary would not have been possible without the WoW crew, this week especially Angmar and mettle fatigue.
Scripps News has been following events at East Palestine with multiple reports ever since the catastrophic train wreck a year ago on February 3, 2023. (The list of reports at the link really cover the story in depth.) They have a followup report here with what things are like a year after the disaster.Here’s the promo for the report:
Feb. 3, 2023 lives in the hearts and minds of the people of East Palestine. A Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, causing a massive fire.
Days after the derailment, officials decided to vent and burn vinyl chloride from the wreck to avoid a potentially catastrophic explosion. The National Guard blocked roads to the area and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine urged residents to leave.
The mandatory evacuation was lifted after only three days. The governor's office said air quality samples showed safe readings, and Norfolk Southern started running trains again.
But residents were scared to breathe the air and drink the water. Families demanded independent testing on wells and relied on bottled water. Businesses struggled to stay afloat.
Scripps News visits East Palestine a year after the derailment to see what life is like now, and to share the lesson the community can teach all of America.
The show revisits the terrifying scene when multiple cars carrying dangerous chemicals derailed, and looks how it has affected the people of the town, the railroad, and the government response to the disaster. People are still suffering from trauma; some may never return to the town. Questions remain — including how much trust people now have in the answers they are being given about safety, what was done, what will be done.
There have been some changes. Supposedly, it’s now going to be a lot easier for first responders to deal with another derailment, get answers from the railroad, communicate with other responders, and have better access to training.
Norfolk Southern has spent millions cleaning up, hauling away contaminated soil, carrying out tests on air and water. They are confident things are safe, but not everyone is convinced. They also installed some big new detection equipment that scans passing trains in detail looking for problems.
There were Congressional hearings, even a bill that would have imposed new safety regulations and other measures. The bill has gone nowhere since then and may stand little chance of getting attention in an election year.
People are still buying bottled water, despite assurances about their wells.
The show barely touched on the railroad management model that set up the disaster, Precision Scheduled Railroading and its focus on the operating ratio to the exclusion of all else. (Details here.) The closest the report got to talking about it was a brief indirect mention that never talked about PSR by name, just some of the things it brought about like longer, more dangerous trains.
The previous executives of the railroad had gotten bonus payments for boosting Norfolk Southern’s profits via PSR (details here), but current CEO Alan Shaw has since shifted focus after the disaster (details here) to things like how good is on-time delivery, reportable accident rates, and reportable injury rates instead of how the operating ratio is measuring up. (This is at about 14 minutes into the report.)
...The culprit is a persistent failure to keep a sufficient cushion of crews on hand to ensure that a railroad can recover quickly from unexpected surges in traffic or extreme events like hurricanes, cold snaps, and wildfires. [AND avoid completely preventable disasters — xaxnar] And the reason railroads don’t keep that capacity buffer? The Cult of the Operating Ratio, as analyst Anthony B. Hatch callsWall Street’s hyperfocus on the key efficiency metric.
This short-term focus means railroads aim to keep costs at a bare minimum and reduce them every year — even if it jeopardizes service over the long term. Paterson notes that since gaining pricing power in 2004, railroads (except BNSF) have used a simple and wildly successful financial formula: Raise rates faster than costs and never mind volume growth. This pushed Class I operating ratios from the 80s to the 50s and ushered in a Golden Era for railroad investors.
The party is over. Investors still push for lower operating ratios, but there’s not much juice left to squeeze. If your operating ratio is 80, a 1-point improvement will boost your bottom line by 7%. Now with an operating ratio in the 50s, a 1-point improvement nets just a 3% rise in income, Paterson says.
emphasis added
This was written before East Palestine and doesn’t discuss the other consequences of relentless cost-cutting: reduced safety, the impact on employees, and the inability of railroads to invest in growth even though it would be in the public interest for many reasons. Wall Street’s focus on short term gains is all about extracting value, not creating it or sustaining it. Safety is just one of the things that gets sacrificed. It’s the same obsession that has led Boeing to lose its way.
President Biden is supposed to be visiting East Palestine sometime soon. He’s been getting a lot of attacks from right wing media and politicians for not visiting sooner. Reportedly arrangements are still being worked out. Here is the January 31, 2023 White House fact sheet about East Palestine.Here’s the opening paragraph:
One year ago, on February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, jeopardizing the community’s safety and sense of normalcy. Since the derailment, the Biden-Harris Administration has mobilized a comprehensive, whole-of-government response to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio, affected communities in Pennsylvania, and other impacted communities. In February, President Biden will travel to East Palestine, Ohio, to meet with residents impacted by the Norfolk Southern train derailment, discuss Federal support to the community, and hold Norfolk Southern accountable.
There’s a long list of actions taken to respond to the disaster and promises to continue to address the issues of East Palestine as well as the rail industry. When President Biden does go to East Palestine, it will be of interest to see how the visit is covered by the press and what President Biden will call for moving forward.
There is no question the rail industry in America needs serious attention. Even if you don’t have dangerous freight trains running past your house, or have no passenger rail service nearby, it’s still vital that all of us make sure the government is not leaving railroad operations to be set by a poorly self-regulating industry, the profit obsessions of Wall Street, and blind faith in market forces. It’s too big a chunk of the economy and a massive opportunity to get carbon out of transportation that’s getting ignored. We have to do better.
The yearlong civil war between two Republican factions in the Ohio House of Representatives entered an expensive new phase this month when the party's campaign arm, the Ohio House Republican Alliance, began what cleveland.com's Jeremy Pelzer reports is a $743,000 TV ad campaign to help six of Speaker Jason Stephens' supporters in the March 19 primary.
Stephens, who secured the top job last year with the support of the chamber's Democratic minority, is not one of the candidates that OHRA is advertising for, even though he has his own difficult intraparty fight ahead of him. State Senate President Matt Huffman, who is termed out of the upper chamber, wants to remain in the legislature by beating Stephens next month. The outcome could have major ramifications, as the Associated Press reported last fall that Huffman has his eye on claiming the speakership in 2025.
The current speaker, however, may be able to fend for himself without OHRA's help. Pelzer writes that recent campaign finance reports show that Stephens has turned around what had been a huge fundraising deficit. In the middle of last year, Huffman enjoyed a gigantic $863,000-to-$202,000 advantage in cash on hand, but now it's Stephens with a $760,000-to-$713,000 edge.
After Republicans gained seats in the 2022 midterms and secured a 67-32 supermajority in the lower chamber, hard-line state Rep. Derek Merrin seemed all but assured of becoming speaker last year after he won the support of the GOP caucus. Stephens and 21 other Republicans, though, unexpectedly joined with all of the Democrats to make Stephens speaker.
By 1774, the English colonies in North America were firmly established and the colonists, with a growing population bolstered by a steady stream of new arrivals from Europe, were seeking to obtain new lands for their farms. Obtain new lands, of course, meant intruding on lands which American Indians had used for thousands of years.
Rep. Matt Gaetz’s ongoing battle with almost everyone not named Donald Trump has added a new GOP congressman into the mix.
On Sunday, CNN published a story about the behind-the-scenes moves orchestrated by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Max Miller of Ohio in order to convince Donald Trump to endorse incumbent Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois, who also happens to be an election denier.
If there is any question whether or not the Florida congressman’s relentless attacks on his fellow GOP colleagues have left a bad taste in their mouths, Miller told CNN that Trump’s endorsement of Bost showed that “Matt [Gaetz] always finds himself on the wrong side of history. He wants more chaos. He has mommy and daddy issues to work out.” Fantastic stuff!
Gaetz responded by tweeting another news article, writing, “@RepMaxMiller says I have ‘mommy issues’ Does this seem like projection considering Max was accused of physically abusing his (much older) ex girlfriend?”
Over the past month, I’ve visited the wetlands along western Lake Erie in Ohio and Michigan. Temps have rocketed from single digit windchill in February to a sunny 63 this past weekend. My area of SE Michigan has seen daytime highs 30 degrees above average. It’s hard to fully enjoy the record warm days knowing that winter is far from done with us here, and the impact that cold will have on plants and animals fooled into thinking it’s spring.
THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS.
WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
Organizers say state officials have stretched their powers by stonewalling proposed ballot measures on abortion, voting rights, and government transparency.
When a coalition of voting rights activists in Ohio set out last December to introduce a new ballot initiative to expand voting access, they hardly anticipated that the thing to stop them would be a matter of word choice.
But that’s what Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost took issue with when he reviewed the proposal’s summary language and title, then called “Secure and Fair Elections.” Among other issues, Yost said the title “does not fairly or truthfully summarize or describe the actual content of the proposed amendment.”
So the group tried again, this time naming their measure “The Ohio Voters Bill of Rights.” Again, Yost rejected them, for the same issue, with the same explanation. After that, activists suedto try and certify their proposal—the first step on the long road toward putting the measure in front of voters on the ballot.
I know many only read the headline of a story and come away with an opinion…. but I hope you, dear reader, will go a little deeper than that.
Here’s the thing beyond the headline of this diary. Yes, there was a time when cutting Social Security would be a third-rail issue in politics, but with today’s GOP, that appears not to be the case.
Or is it?
I think we have gotten to the point where the whole world, and certainly a large chunk of Americans, are just numb to Trump and his MAGA base. But we shouldn’t confuse “numb” with “don’t care” because these are entirely different things.
Here’s what was reported on Raw Story today after Trump’s “appearance” on CNBC.
“So first of all, there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting,” Trump told CNBC's Joe Kernen (video below),NBC Newsreports. “And in terms of, also, the theft and the bad management of entitlements — tremendous bad management of entitlements — there’s tremendous amounts of things and numbers of things you can do.”
And
"A Trump campaign spokesman said he was referring only to 'cutting waste and fraud,' but did not provide additional policy details on how he’d go about that or how much can be saved," NBC News added. The campaign's statement would appear to be incongruent with Trump's "also" remark.
In one of the APR’s recently, there was a comment that eluded to Florida being “red” now and no longer a swing state. I posted a comment at the time about how sick and tired I am that the Democrats throw in the towel on states after we lose a cycle or two (looking at you as well Ohio).
WE CAN’T give up like that:
1. The majority of voters don't know cutting SS is a serious discussion in the GOP right now. In fact, I have heard people running focus groups say that more than a few votes blame Joe Biden for Dobbs because “he was the president at the time.” Don’t overlook just how out of touch most people are when it comes to things we assume they know.
2. We shouldn’t assume places like Florida and Ohio are out of reach because they are all MAGA. Instead, we should look for other reasons why we have lost them over the last few cycles.
In the case of Florida, I would put a lot of the issue on the doorstep of the state Democratic party ground game. And in both the example states of Florida and Ohio, I would say we have had a messaging problem more than a policy issue.
Run an ad in Florida featuring Trump’s voice talking about cutting Social Security and Medicare, then tell me about Florida being out of the Democrat's reach! Joe Biden did a lot for his chances in Ohio by showing up with the auto union; more of this standing up for blue-collar workers, please!
Anywho…. I really don’t think Trump is breaking as many political rules without consequences as many believe. Yes, people are numb to his bullshit, but that doesn’t mean they don’t care about it.
Many in the media and politicos like us here on DK have gotten to the point where we just throw up our hands at Trump’s latest outrage and say “it’s not going to matter to voters” but I firmly believe that’s the wrong way to look at it.
To me, Trump is like a guy who jumps out of an airplane then turns around and looks up at the sky saying “see, I am fine.” Sure, things look good from his viewpoint; it’s all blue sky for him, and that’s the viewpoint he wants the rest of us to see through as well when it comes to his campaign. But that doesn’t change the fact that things are going to get very messy when he inevitably does meet the ground.
Cutting Social Security and Medicare is most likely STILL a third rail for any politician, including Trump. People do still care; it's more that they just don't know the GOP's plans. It's our responsibility to let them know.
We need to stop giving up and start recognizing that Trump isn’t immune from political consequences. Trump is your grumpy uncle at Thanksgiving who spouts off about the latest conspiracy theory but isn't smart enough to realize it’s all made up. He is living in an echo chamber that believes the rest of the nation is like his MAGA crazies. Yet time and again, MAGA candidates go down to defeat. What more proof do we need that Trump is very vulnerable in 2024?
When voters find out that Trump is proud of overturning Roe v Wade, wants to put a 16 week abortion band in place nationally and wants to take away Social Security and Medicaid, I think we are going to see the laws of political physics smack him pretty hard.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking things are all blue sky for Trump and his reelection bid. That’s HIS viewpoint he is trying to sell the rest of us. In reality, the guy is in freefall, and the ground is approaching quickly.
Message, message, message. Ohio, Florida, Georga (yes, I have heard some Democrats say Georga is already going to Trump in ‘24), these are not lost states! We can and will win them again, it just requires us to see the world from a vantage point that doesn’t include Trump’s framing.
While both parties' presidential primaries have now been decided, the downballot primary season is just getting underway, with plenty to watch in two big Midwestern states. The main event is Ohio's volatile Republican primary to take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Both Donald Trump and Senate Democrats want the same candidate to advance—albeit for very different reasons. However, it's far from the only major contest on tap in the Buckeye State or in Illinois.
Below you'll find our guide to the key primaries to watch in both states. When it’s available, we'll tell you about any reliable polling that exists for each race, but if we don't mention any numbers, it means no recent surveys have been made public.
We'll be liveblogging all of these races at Daily Kos Elections on Tuesday night, starting when the first polls close at 7:30 PM ET. Join us for our complete coverage!
Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno won Ohio’s Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, just days after former President Donald Trump visited the state to boost his endorsed candidate in a three-way race that remained competitive to the end.
Moreno prevailed after a contentious and expensive fight against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Cleveland-area state Sen. Matt Dolan, whose relentless attacks may yet damage him headed into this fall. That’s when he’ll face off against three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a staple of Ohio politics who’s among the year’s most vulnerable Democrats.
The general election fight is expected to be at least as fierce in a state that has trended Republican in recent years. With Democrats holding a tenuous 51-49 voting majority in the Senate but defending more seats than Republicans, Brown’s seat is expected to be a top GOP target. He is the lone Democrat holding a non-judicial statewide office in Ohio, a state that has moved steadily to the right during the Trump era.
In a move that drew bipartisan rebukes, Senate Majority PAC, an independent group aligned with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, spent $2.7 million to elevate Moreno’s primary bid, with the idea that he would be the weakest against Brown this fall.
Brown is expected to make abortion rights a cornerstone of his campaign. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion, Ohioans strongly supported a state constitutional amendment last year to protect access to the procedure.
Moreno, a former luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur, weathered controversy late in the campaign.
The Associated Press reported last week that in 2008, someone with access to Moreno’s work email account created a profile on an adult website seeking “Men for 1-on-1 sex.” The AP could not definitively confirm that it was created by Moreno himself. Moreno’s lawyer said a former intern created the account and provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as “part of a juvenile prank.”
Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month, sparking frustration among senior Republican operatives about Moreno’s potential vulnerability in a general election, according to seven people who are directly familiar with conversations about how to address the matter. They requested anonymity to avoid running afoul of Trump and his allies.
Moreno, a native of Bogota, Colombia, who partially funded his own campaign, rode to victory after casting himself as a political outsider, who — like Trump — would go to Washington to shake things up. He and allied political action committees pilloried Dolan and LaRose as “career politicians.” He built his fortune in Cleveland in luxury auto sales and blockchain technology.
As LaRose struggled for a lane after failing to win Trump’s endorsement, Dolan worked to consolidate the party’s non-Trump faction in his corner in the runup to Election Day. He was helped in that effort with endorsements from Gov. Mike DeWine and former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, two of Ohio’s most prominent establishment Republicans.
LaRose, a former state senator and Green Beret elected twice statewide, raised more in grassroots donations of $200 or less than either of his rivals. He loaned himself $250,000, compared to $4.2 million Moreno loaned his own campaign and a whopping $9 million Dolan loaned to his.
When Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haleyexited the race earlier this month after Super Tuesday, Donald Trump effectively told her supporters to take a hike.
Shortly after her announcement, Trump bragged about trouncing her in a mistimed Truth Social post,adding, "At this point, I hope she stays in the 'race' and fights it out until the end!"
Many Haley supporters appear to have taken Trump literally, based on his lackluster performance in the latest Republican primaries.
Guest: Legal journalist Mark Joseph Stern on two ridiculous cases, increasing court dysfunction
Also: Primary, Special Election results from AZ, FL, IL, KS, OH, CA
And the Biden EPA's 'biggest climate move yet'...
From top to bottom, the Federal Judiciary, as evidenced several times this week alone and discussed in detail on today's BradCast, seems to be coming undone. [Audio link to full show follows below this summary.]
But, first up today, a quick review of Tuesday's Primary and Special Election results in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio and California. Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have already won enough delegates to clinch their respective party's nomination, but there are still a several interesting data points of notes to be gleaned from Tuesday's results.
Among them, Trump is consistently losing a far larger share of Republican votes than Biden is losing on the Democratic side. On Tuesday, for example, Biden's reported margin of victory in the states where he was on the ballot was anywhere from 74 to 88 points, while Trump's margin never cracked even 70 points, ranging from 59 to 67. In short, Biden seems to be far more popular among Democratic primary voters than Trump is among Republicans.
We've got other noteworthy tales of the tape today, along with Senate Primary results out of Ohio, where both Democrats and Donald Trump appear to be very happy that Trump-backed Bernie Morenowill be the GOP's nominee running against three-term progressive Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown in November. And, in California, Democrats are no doubt happy to see that nobody won more than 50% of the vote in the Special Election to fill the seat left vacant by ousted Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday. That means his seat in the closely divided U.S. House, which will almost certainly go to a Republican eventually, will remain empty until at least the Special Election runoff in May.
Also of note today, what the Washington Post is describing as the Biden Administration's "biggest climate move yet". Desi Doyen joins us to explain the EPA's new final rule that is set to increase the speed of the nation's transition to cleaner Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles; how rightwing media are already lying about the EPA's new rule; and how Republican states and the fossil fuel industry will soon be seeking out friendly judges in the federal judiciary to try and undermine the new rule and its billions of dollars in life-saving new vehicle emissions standards for the American people and the planet.
Then, speaking of friendly rightwing judges, two cases that came before the corrupted U.S. Supreme Court this week -- when, in fact, neither of them should have -- serve to highlight our increasingly brittle judicial system and how it is being gamed by the far-right.
We're joined today by Slate's great legal journalist, MARK JOSEPH STERN to discuss both cases and what they might tell us about a court system, and perhaps a U.S. Supreme Court, nearing a breaking point.
We originally invited Stern for today's show to discuss Monday's absurd case brought by Republican-run states falsely claiming the Biden Administration is somehow violating First Amendment free speech rights by forcing social media companies like Twitter and Facebook to take down posts they don't like regarding COVID, election fraud and more. Of course, the government is not doing that at all. Stern describes the case at Slate -- Murthy v. Missouri (originally Missouri v. Biden) -- as "brain-meltingly dumb", "asinine", and "what happens when a lawless judge and a terrible appeals court embrace the dopiest First Amendment claim you’ve ever heard out of pure spite toward a Democratic president."
The case should never have even made it out of the lowest District Court, but for a Trump-appointed judge who "completely butchered the record and, I think, willfully misrepresented a huge amount of communications between federal officials and social media companies," Stern tells me. "He would pluck individual little clauses from those emails, rearrange them to make it sound like coercion, and then use that to develop what is frankly a conspiracy theory that the federal government strong-armed these companies into silencing their users and censoring speech. It's just not true." (See this article for just some of the gobsmacking examples of ways in which U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty"butchered the record" by falsely representing the evidence record in his ruling.)
Making matters worse, the nation's most extreme appellate court, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, further butchered the record to accomplish what corrupt Supreme Court Justices Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch laughably described when the case came up to SCOTUS as "extensive findings of fact" that "showed the existence of ‘a coordinated campaign’ of unprecedented ‘magnitude orchestrated by federal officials that jeopardized a fundamental aspect of American life.'"
Monday's Oral Argument at SCOTUS, however, pulled the rug out from under pretty much all of that, as the phony allegations met skepticism from even the bulk of the Court's rightwingers. But before we could get to that case today, as previously planned, we had to get through the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals'other recent clown show (which the rightwingers on SCOTUS were happy to play along with last night): their attempt to allow Texas' new law that overturns a century of legal precedent and the U.S. Constitution itself to grant powers to state and local police that override federal immigration law, allowing them to arrest and deport suspected undocumented immigrants.
Stern unpacks the bizarre twists and turns the case has seen over the past 24 hours, and charges that the procedural nonsense from the 5th Circuit and subsequent acquiescence by SCOTUS simply "boggles the mind."
So, what might we learn from all of this -- and all that has come before it -- regarding corrupt Trump-appointed judges, a corrupt 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, a corrupt and increasingly volatile SCOTUS, and the rightwing judge shopping that exploits all of it? We discuss all of that and more with Stern who details "a kind of terrifying intramural war within the judiciary," as some of the courts are pushing back against an attempt by the U.S. Judicial Conference (headed up by Chief Justice Roberts) to rein in judge shopping, and, ultimately, how restoring confidence in the High Court itself may "all come down to what Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett want to do with the courts and want their legacy to be."
"Until they take a harder line here, it's going to remain just as broken as it looks," Stern asserts. "It's going to be even worse behind the scenes, based on what I'm hearing about how these judges' relationships are breaking down over this stuff -- and we're going to have different factions within the judiciary that are fighting for power, not unlike the Kremlin at the height of Soviet-era madness"...
While we post The BradCast here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they're available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at iTunes, Pandora, TuneIn, Google, Amazon or our native RSS feed!
Well, Trump got his candidate in Bernie Moreno (R. OH) on Tuesday, beating out both State Senator Matt Dolan (R. OH) and Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R. OH) in the primary. Trump really didn’t want Dolan to win because Dolan refused to push The Big Lie and was endorsed by Governor Mike DeWine (R. OH) and former U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R. OH). Hence, why Trump had to campaign for Moreno ahead of the primary to turn out the MAGA base for Moreno. Ohio has an open primary where Independents and Democrats could vote in the GOP primary. Dolan, DeWine and Portman would be considered “Moderate Republicans” now in the Trump party and Moreno has a message for them:
Bernie Moreno has spent his career and campaign putting himself first and would do the same if elected. Elections come down to whose side you’re on. I’ll always work for Ohio — and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon. pic.twitter.com/BxtIKr5bhs
Brown has also been delivering for the the people of Ohio:
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BREAKING: Today we secured a major new investment in Intel to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to America.
We wrote the CHIPS Act with Ohio in mind & fought every step of the way to make sure this investment came to our state. Today that effort pays off. pic.twitter.com/PSWdl8Q3RD
Sherrod Brown (D-inc) 45% (+3) Matt Dolan (R) 42% . Sherrod Brown (D-inc) 47% (+11) Bernie Moreno (R) 36% . Sherrod Brown (D-inc) 48% (+11) Frank LaRose (R) 37%
Sherrod Brown (D-inc) 39% (+5) Bernie Moreno (R) 34% . Sherrod Brown (D-inc) 39% (+6) Frank LaRose (R) 33% . Sherrod Brown (D-inc) 37% (+3) Matt Dolan (R) 34%
Health, Democracy and Freedom are on the ballot next year and we need to get ready to flip Ohio Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Brown and his fellow Ohio Democrats campaigns:
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell trolled House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan Thursday while discussing a “creepy” piece of anti-trans legislation titled the “Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.”
“I guess it's a good thing that some folks on the other side are now interested in what happens in a locker room, and we're not going to look the other way,” Swalwell snarked. “But this is something that is not a thing.”
The transphobic bill aims to define gender by using specific biological and physiological markers, so Swalwell proceeded to press the bill’s proponents to explain how they would be "enforcing this on-demand gender check."
When GOP Rep. Harriet Hageman, one of the bill’s sponsors, made the vague claim that individual organizations would handle the “inspection,” the California congressman denounced the mealy-mouthed transphobia that right-wing politicians wield as a weapon while doing nothing to promote healthier communities.
“Oh my gosh, are we talking about that? We’ve had like three elections since then,” he told CNN last week as he departed a meeting of the Republican conference in the Capitol. “The reality is, we’re gonna look to the future. The people in Ohio, what they care about is when they go to McDonald’s, they can’t afford French fries.”
Pressed to say yes or no if it was stolen, he didn’t answer directly, and entered the office of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
“This is not the topic I think people think about,” he said.
In January, Moreno’s campaign released a digital ad in which Moreno looked directly into the camera and said, “President Trump says the election was stolen, and he’s right.”
Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno released a new ad this week called “Truth,” but what it claims is false.
“President Trump says the election was stolen, and he’s right,” Moreno says to the camera.
The Justice Department and election officials have said there is no evidence the 2020 election was stolen. Audits and recounts have confirmed Joe Biden won the presidency fair and square.
But former President Donald Trump still insists otherwise; and several of the Republican U.S. Senate candidates in Ohio are supporting his baseless claim as they fight for his endorsement.
Moreno’s new ad is notable because it contradicts his tweets from November 2020.
“To my conservative friends: accept the results of 140m+ votes cast. Was it perfect, no…was it anywhere near enough to change the result, no. #ElectionIsOver #Unite,” Moreno wrote in a November 7, 2020 tweet.
That same day, he congratulated Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, in a separate tweet “for their hard fought victory.”
Moreno’s former GOP primary rival, Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R. OH), said it best about Moreno:
x
Extremist @BernieMoreno might have won the GOP primary in Ohio, but just this week his GOP colleague Frank LaRose claimed Ohioans couldn't trust Moreno with their vote. #OHSen. pic.twitter.com/19s8xT40m3
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) March 22, 2024
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose joined other GOP statewide officeholders Thursday in endorsing his former rival, Republican Senate nominee Bernie Moreno — after a bruising and expensive primary in which he repeatedlyattacked his rival as untrustworthy.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, LaRose said he joined the Senate race because he was concerned about the direction of the country and that he believes Moreno “has what it takes to bring real change to Washington and work with President Trump to make America great again.”
"We urgently need to change course," tweeted LaRose, who lost the former president'sendorsement to Moreno. "That starts by retiring Sherrod Brown and replacing the failed leadership in Washington." LaRose said he stands ready to help.
But beneath that image is trouble. On Monday, he had just received an endorsement from the 100,000-strong Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council, when a retired bricklayer, Jeff King, pulled him aside in a weathered union hall in Dayton.
Mr. Brown has had plenty of achievements to run on, Mr. King, who made the trip from his local in Cincinnati, told the senator. But, he asked, would workers in a blue-collar state that has twice handed Mr. Trump eight-percentage-point victories understand who should get the credit?
“That’s the mission,” Mr. Brown said, leaning in. “They don’t know enough.”
The party and its union allies have made the re-election of Ohio’s senior senator their highest priority —“the very top,” said Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the chairman of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s political committee.
The election could be breaking Mr. Brown’s way. With Mr. Trump’s endorsement — and a nudge from a Democratic super PAC — the Democrats’ preferred Republican opponent,Bernie Moreno, easily prevailedin the Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, handing the incumbenta foil with staggering wealth, little political experience and the imprimatur of a former president who could prompt some voters to split their tickets.
The next day, the Biden administration announcedan $8.5 billion deal to fund IntelCorporation’s semiconductor manufacturing, much of it destined for Ohio, courtesy of legislation that Mr. Brown helped secure. Because of Mr. Brown, that law,the Chips and Science Act, requires so-calledproject labor agreementsto be struck between management and union laborers before plant construction could begin. So 7,000 union tradesmen will be employed at the massive Intel complex outside of Columbus.
Finally, construction should begin around election time on along-sought replacement for the Brent Spence Bridge, linking Cincinnati to its suburbs in Kentucky. That, too, was delivered in part by Mr. Brown.
And Brown is out there reminding voters who he is:
x
I’ll always stand up to special interests and politicians of both parties that sell out workers. pic.twitter.com/UK6LPQvZXr
The Affordable Care Act became law 14 years ago and has been a lifeline for millions of Ohioans ever since.
As we celebrate that milestone, I remain committed to protecting Medicare, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and ensuring all children have access to healthcare.…
Health, Democracy and Freedom are on the ballot next year and we need to get ready to flip Ohio Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Brown and his fellow Ohio Democrats campaigns:
Sickly puppies are being bred and sold at exorbitant prices to working-class customers in Ohio, explosive new lawsuits and public records reveal. State officials have thus far refused to intervene with the ongoing animal cruelty and financial scam, marking a rare recent win for the president of Ohio’s state medical boardandthe state’s leading anti-abortion organization.
That there’s a direct link between dying puppies, a health oversight board, and the anti-choice movement is a prime example of Ohio’s notorious corruption and the cynicism of far-right politics.
At the center of the bizarre triangle is a conservative lobbyist named Mike Gonidakis. A close confidante of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, Gonidakis is the president of Ohio Right to Life and an anti-vaxxer serving histhird termon the state medical board, which he led as president during the height of the Covid pandemic. One of the state’s busiest influence peddlers, he splits his time lobbying for healthcare clients, emerging cannabis monopolies, and Petland, one of the nation’s largest pet store chains and the only one that still sells puppies.
Gonidakis focuses on government regulation for the Ohio-based company, which has assembled a long record of abusing the lax oversight laws that its anti-choice, pro-hydroxychloroquine man in Columbus has been central to getting through the legislature. When Grove City passed ordinances that barred pet stores from selling puppies in 2016, Gonidakis rallied Ohio Republicans topass a preemption lawthat nullified the ban and prevented other local governments from interfering with Petland’s right to peddle congenitally doomed dogs.
To ensure its passage, the bill waslarded upwith all kinds of other provisions, including a ban on beastiality, establishing the outer limits of Ohio Republicans’ tolerance for animal abuse.
Two years later, Gonidakis was able to intercede on a grassroots campaign to enact far more stringent rules via a ballot initiative by cajoling Republicans into passing a law that contained enough loopholes that the company’s animal cruelty could persist.
In January, three heartbroken and aggrieved dog ownersfiled lawsuitsagainst multiple Petland stores and the company’s corporate parent, alleging that Petland employees coerced them into purchasing dogs that were born with severe disabilities and diseases that caused them to suffer physical impairment, extreme pain, and unmanageable incontinence.
Last week, theCleveland Plain Dealerpublisheda follow-up report that found at least 36 similar cases of gravely ill puppies being sold to unsuspecting buyers since 2019. The Humane Society said it fielded over 100 complaints from dog owners dealing with such a nightmare situation that year alone.
When the paper asked reps for the state Attorney General and Agriculture Commissioner whether they planned to look into the epidemic, each responded that they “had no basis to mount an investigation.”
Many of the owners were forced to foot enormous veterinarian bills and watch in despair as their tiny canine companions writhed in pain and convulsed with sickness before dying.
In one case, a crestfallen owner was left with no choice but to euthanize her Jack Russell terrier puppy, which had been originally bred at a puppy mill despite Petland’s promise that it was from a more ethical, small-scale breeder. Others were all but paralyzed, their bodies underdeveloped and sight stolen by genetic deformities and diseases, all compounded by neglect.
The preemption law was such a success for his client that Gonidakis formed a 501(c)(4) with the diabolical name Citizens for Responsible Pet Ownership, which handed out campaign donations and sought to get laws protecting retail sales of puppies introduced and passed in other states.
In 2016, Arizona Gov. Doug Duceysignedwhat would soon become known as a “Petland bill” into law, tossing out anti-puppy mill ordinances in Phoenix and Tempe. Bills were also introduced in Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, and Florida, among other states, but none of them ultimately led to any signed law.
It wasn’t for lack of spending, either; GOP state Rep. Wilton Simpson, who introduced the bill in Florida,received $125,000 from Petlandalone. It was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who later learned to love pre-emption laws.
The sting of defeat followed Gonidakis home to Ohio last fall, when the state’s voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution. At least this “pro-life” Republican still gets to oversee the painful death of puppies, I guess.
P.S. This is adapted from my newsletter,Progress Report.The newsletter covers political and policy stories that the media ignores, exposes conservative bigots, and supports grassroots movements. It’s free and will never spam you, sell your email, or let campaigns email you for donations. Please considersubscribing — again, it’s free!
The effort to guarantee abortion access in Arizona has now surpassed the number of signatures it needs to qualify for the ballot—and the campaign said it will keep collecting signatures in order to ensure that Arizona voters will get to weigh in this year on whether abortion should be protected.
The Arizona for Abortion Access campaign announced on Tuesday that it has so far gathered more than 500,000 signatures, with three months left to go before the July deadline. The campaign, which is made up of several reproductive rights groups including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona and Reproductive Freedom for All Arizona, is spearheading a ballot initiative proposal, titled the Arizona Abortion Access Act, that would enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution.
Because the measure is a constitutional amendment, it must garner 383,923 verified voter signatures before it can be presented to voters in November.
Apologize for the scant diary but didn't see a post about this yet. Apparently OH state law requires confirmation of candidates well before the 2024 Dem convention.
Republicans in Ohio must think they are so clever.
According to Ohio law, there is an August 7 deadline “to certify a presidential candidate to this office.” But this year’s Democratic National Convention — where delegates officially select the party’s nominees for president and vice president — starts August 19.
Nevermind the dates of recent conventions, where both parties met after August 7 three of the past four cycles.
2020
Democratic National Convention, Aug 17-20
Republican National Convention, Aug 24-27
2016
Democratic National Convention, July 25-28
Republican National Convention, July 18-21
2012
Democratic National Convention, Sept 4-6
Republican National Convention, Aug 27
2008
Democratic National Convention, Aug 25-28
Republican National Convention, Sept 1-4
...legal counsel for Secretary of State Frank LaRose sought clarification for "an apparent conflict in Ohio law" between the Democratic National Committee's nominating process and the deadline by which the party's presidential nominee must be certified to the Secretary of State's office.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to convene on Aug. 19, which will take place more than a week after the Aug. 7 deadline to certify a presidential candidate in Ohio, the office flagged according to state code, which would create a problem for Biden's eligibility.
"I am left to conclude that the Democratic National Committee must either move up its nominating convention or the Ohio General Assembly must act by May 9, 2024 (90 days prior to a new law's effective date) to create an exception to this statutory requirement,"
Big media help Trump lie about his abortion position
Biden unveils new student loan debt relief for 30 million Americans...
The warnings came from safety experts, insurance companies and environmentalists. Years ago. So, of course, they were all ignored by both the then Republican Governor and big business, including Big Oil, who all got their way over safety concerns and the public interest, as discussed on today's BradCast. [Audio link to show posted below this summary.]
But first up, some other news of note...
Ohio's Republican Secretary of State informed Democrats on Friday that they must change the date of their party's national convention this summer or Joe Biden will not qualify to be on the state's 2024 ballot under state law. Or, of course, the state's GOP legislature could simply change the law, as they did in 2020 when the Republican National Convention was scheduled too late for Donald Trump to qualify for that year's ballot. But the state legislature will have to do so by May 9. Mark your calendars.
On Monday in Wisconsin, President Bidenunveiled yet another plan, this a very big one, to relieve hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt, this time for 30 million Americans after the corrupted U.S. Supreme Court, last year, blocked his original plan to do so for 40 million borrowers.
Also on Monday, Donald Trump released a rambling video on his social media cite purporting to be his new position on abortion rights. He takes credit for his SCOTUS majority overturning Roe v. Wade, but says nothing about whether he would sign a national abortion ban; have his FDA block the use of abortion medication; or allow his DoJ to block abortions entirely if he is re-elected this November. So, how did pretty much every single corporate mainstream media outlet headline the "news"? By falsely claiming that "Trump Says Abortion Law Should be Left to the States". But, of course, he didn't. And you wonder how it can be that so many Americans are so misinformed about the threat to the nation and world posed by Donald Trump? There's your answer.
Then, we're joined by investigative journalist HELEN SANTOROof The Lever, who has been digging deep into the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster ever since its deadly collapse two weeks ago, after being struck by a massive, 980-foot mega-container-ship in the Port of Baltimore.
We discuss two of her recent articles on the tragedy today, both of which underscore how corporate greed and industry lobbyists have been allowed to run roughshod over common sense, public safety, and corporate responsibility.
The first story, filed shortly after the tragedy which killed six bridge workers and has shut down all traffic in or out of one of the East Coast's largest shipping ports ever since, focuses on Maryland's Republican former Governor -- now U.S. Senate Candidate -- Larry Hogan, who ignored multiple, repeated warnings, year after year, in his continuing efforts to bring ever larger vessels into the Port. In doing so, he discounted safety warnings from an insurance giant and an international transit group, while accepting millions in federal funding from the Trump Administration to expand the port and push for still-larger cargo ships. Environmental groups also sounded the alarm about Hogan's efforts, as did a top state engineer as long ago as 1980, when he warned that the Key Bridge could not withstand such a crash, even by smaller vessels, without falling down.
"It seems very clear that [Hogan] really prioritized private interests again and again, wanting Maryland to be this point of business," Santoro explains. "And, it seems like, with prioritizing these private interests, the safety of the bridge was clearly not considered."
The second of Santoro's investigative articles that we discuss today focuses on the 173-year old federal Limitation of Liability Act which caps the amount that shipping companies may be held liable for in such disasters. It earned the nickname "The Titanic Law" back in 1912, when White Star Line, the British owner of the doomed ship, invoked the Act to pay no more than $430 for each of the more than 1,500 passengers who were lost in that fatal tragedy.
The Act has seen some small reforms over the years, but most attempts in recent years to finally modernize the 1851 law have been stymied by Congressional Republicans at the behest of lobbyists from Big Oil and other industries in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling that same year.
"It was pretty crazy going back and seeing that people have been complaining about this law since the Titanic crashed in 1912," Santoro tells me. "And yet the reforms have been, I would argue, pretty minimal, in terms of upping the amount that a company has to pay."
"Big Oil has really latched on to the Limitation of Liability Act to get themselves out of paying a lot of money for the Deepwater Horizon fiasco and other issues," she says. "There's a lot of industry funding and interest that is big on keeping damage control and the amount they're paying out for damages as low as possible."
Will Maryland's popular former Governor Hogan face accountability in his Senate race to fill the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin this fall for dismissing years of warnings about the very tragedy that has now befallen his state (and the national economy along with it)? Will Congress finally update the antiquated Titanic Law when they return this week, so that major corporations -- which, unlike in the 1850s, are well insured to cover the costs of such disasters -- can be held to real account for the damage they cause in the name of greater and greater profit? Those are just some of the many questions we discuss with Santoro on today's program...
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Tom Bixler and several hundred of his co-workers produced top-quality glassware at the Libbey Glass plant in Toledo, Ohio, over the years while keeping the aging equipment there operating through sheer grit.
They even set efficiency standards despite the steep odds and carried the company through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, all to ensure the sprawling manufacturing complex remained viable and a centerpiece of the local economy.
But while they’re rightly proud of all they’ve done to sustain the facility, Bixler and fellow members of the United Steelworkers (USW) know they need to continue innovating to build a more secure, sustainable future. They’re now embarking on a critical transformation of their plant that will not only safeguard Northwest Ohio’s glassmaking jobs for decades to come but help forge a new frontier in American manufacturing.
Bixler, president of USW Local 65T, joined U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur last week as they highlighted a federal grant award of up to $45.1 million that will enable the plant to install a pair of larger hybrid electric furnaces intended to boost efficiency, reduce pollution and expand employment.
The cutting-edge furnace technology—combining the advantages of oxygen fuel and electric melting to process the raw materials for glassmaking, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 60 percent—has the potential to set a new standard for the industry and revolutionize glass production nationwide.
And this commitment to the glass industry represents just one part of President Joe Biden’s initiative to grow the manufacturing economy with clean energy and union jobs. In all, his administration this month announced $6 billion for 33 decarbonization and modernization projects, deploying a range of new technology, in iron, steel, chemicals, refining, cement, pulp and paper, and other industries.
Historic union-backed legislation—the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act—will fund the grants.
Tom Bixler with Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk
“This is something that’s going to blaze a whole new trail,” said Bixler, a mold maker at Libbey for 41 years, who considers the federal grant, to be matched by the company, as Biden’s investment in workers who have worked so hard to preserve the plant and keep the community strong.
“The technology in the furnaces has not changed for eons,” explained Bixler, noting the 12 mold-makers in Local 65T work with members of USW Locals 59M and 700T, as well as co-workers in the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, to produce drinking glasses, stemware and mugs.
“We all work together to keep the plant operating and the glass flowing off the line with very antiquated equipment.”
He and other workers made sacrifices to bring Libbey through bankruptcy a few years ago. While the financial crisis temporarily jeopardized the century-old plant, Bixler said, the new grant and furnace innovation will help to ensure the facility’s survival “for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren and on down the line.”
The USW wrote a letter of support for Libbey’s grant application and now intends to help the company expand apprenticeship opportunities, ensuring good jobs for community members and dedicated union workers for the plant.
“One of the best things our country can do is to get back to having a union workforce in every aspect of the economy,” said Bixler, noting Biden awarded many of the grants to union-represented employers and start-ups pledging to respect workers’ labor rights. “The biggest thing is safety. We also get better paid for everything we do, compared to anybody non-union doing the same job.”
Among other grants to USW-represented employers, Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) awarded up to $500 million to National Cement Co. in Lebec, Calif., for pioneering the use of agricultural byproducts and other new technology to produce carbon-neutral cement.
It’s slated to provide Century Aluminum up to $500 million for the nation’s first new aluminum smelter in 45 years, a facility in the Ohio/Mississippi River basins that will greatly increase U.S. production capacity and create more than 1,000 USW-represented jobs.
And it awarded U.S. Pipe in Bessemer, Ala., up to $75.5 million to install electric induction melting furnaces that will not only reduce pollution but cut costs, add jobs and increase manufacturing capacity.
The investment in increased efficiency comes as the IIJA, the national infrastructure program, ramps up demand across the country for the kinds of water and sewer pipe that USW members produce at U.S. Pipe.
Together, the DOE and IIJA investments provide a foundation for the more-than-100-year-old company to remain a vital linchpin of numerous manufacturing supply chains as well as a driving economic force in Bessemer.
“Normally, if you get a job at U.S. Pipe, you retire from it,” said USW Local 2140 President Ron Woods, noting union contracts provide family-sustaining wages and other essentials that enable workers to live middle-class lives.
Woods anticipates that the new furnace will not only lead the company to hire more workers but give dozens of existing union members the opportunity to learn new skills and take on additional responsibilities.
“Naturally, they will get paid more. When you make more, you spend more. We have some new people here, and this will help them buy houses and cars,” Woods said, adding that new jobs and higher wages not only benefit local businesses but pay the taxes needed for strong schools and other amenities.
During his visit to Toledo, Turk observed that the grants will better position U.S. companies to compete in the global economy. That remark struck a chord with Bixler, who noted glassmakers continually face overseas threats.
“We’re looking forward to getting this grant and implementing this new technology, so we can preserve the future,” he said.
David McCall is the International President of the United Steelworkers union.
Fox 'News' hides AZ abortion ruling, then Hannity blames Dems
Liberal WI Justice to retire...
Desperate times, desperate measures and all that that entails on today's BradCast. Plus, we've got several pieces of long-overdue and wildly under-reported very good news as well. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]
Yes, Donald Trump's newly hand-picked RNC Chair Michael Whatleyreally did argue this week that America's enemies include Ukraine and charged that the President's "feckless leadership" encourages them to "meddle with our elections here." He also mentioned China and Iran as U.S. adversaries, but failed to say a word about Russia.
Gun safety advocates -- which is to say, the vast majority of Americans -- have been hoping for years to see the so-called "gun show loophole" to avoid background checks closed. Today, after a lengthy rule-making process by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) following passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022, President Biden and the Dept. of Justiceannounced they are finally doing it. "This is going to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and felons," said Biden in a statement today. His Attorney General, Merrick Garland, who signed off on the rule on Thursday, told reporters: "Under this regulation, it will not matter if guns are sold on the Internet, at a gun show or in a brick and mortar store. If you sell guns [you] must conduct background checks."
Last week it was Ohio's Republican Secretary of State, and now Alabama's is warning Democrats that he may not allow Joe Biden on the state's ballot this November because the Democratic National Convention falls several days after state ballot deadlines. Both Secretaries of State had previously opposed Trump's removal from the ballot in Colorado due to the state Supreme Court's finding that he violated the U.S. Constitution's "Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause". And both OH and AL allowed Donald Trump on their state's ballots in 2020 despite the Republican National Convention being convened after each state's statutory deadlines that year. Are Republicans really that desperate?
In 2022, Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis was disqualified from criminally investigating Georgia's Lt. Governor Burt Jones, who aided Trump's attempt to steal the Peach State's 2020 election as a "fake elector". Willis was blocked because she had hosted a fund-raiser for a political rival of Jones. Now, two years later, a former Republican D.A. in the state, Pete Skandalakis, who was tasked with naming an alternate prosecutor to probe Jones -- and sued for taking so long to do it -- has finally named a replacement. Himself.
The rightwing propagandists at Fox "News" are definitely getting desperate following the all-Republican Arizona Supreme Court's ruling this week that reinstates an 1864 territorial law mandating a near-total ban on abortion in the state. On Tuesday, the day the ruling was handed down, not one of the rightwing propaganda outlet's evening prime-time stars even discussed it on their shows. That day, the topic was discussed for just 12 minutes across three different Fox programs earlier in the day, as compared to more than two-hours each of coverage on both CNN and MSNBC that same day and night. The next day, on Wednesday, Sean Hannitydecided the 160-year old law should now be overturned and blamed the AZ Court's wildly unpopular decision -- and the predicament it offers to both women in the state and Republican candidates around the country -- on Arizona's Democratic Governor and Attorney General (who opposed the ruling.)
After the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history last year, resulting in liberals retaking a majority on Wisconsin's high court for the first time in 15 years, the longest serving member of its now-liberal majority, 73-year old Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, announced she will not run for another 10-year term next year as previously planned. Thursday's decision by the popular, longtime jurist offers a chance for rightwingers to retake control of the Court in the state's 2025 Spring election. They will have to defend seats on the Court in both 2026 and 2027 thereafter. So, if they don't win next year, they won't get another chance at winning back a majority until 2028. The stakes could hardly be higher.
Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report with more wildly under-reported good news on the Biden EPA's new rules to end deadly airborne pollution from chemical plants pollution and cancer-causing PFAS "forever chemicals" in our drinking water. It's about damn time. She's got still more good -- and not so good -- news in today's report as well...
While we post The BradCast here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they're available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at iTunes, Pandora, TuneIn, Google, Amazon or our native RSS feed!
Rep. Marcy Kaptur is one lucky lady. She was given a district that Trump won thanks to 2020 redistricting. This put her in peril, the sort of electoral danger that she had yet to face in her nearly 40 years of running for office.
Previously, Ohio’s 9th District was so safely Democrat that even though President Joe Biden lost the state in 2020, he carried the district – which stretched along the coast of Lake Erie from Cleveland to Toledo – by more than 15 points. Kaptur herself easily won reelection that year.
But redistricting shifted the lines, encompassing counties in the northwest part of the state, stretching to the Indiana border - creating a much more conservative 9th district that Donald Trump would have won– and making Kaptur’s 19th run for office much more competitive. Not since redistricting forced her into a primary against fellow incumbent Dennis Kucinich in 2012 has Kaptur faced such odds.
Majewski, the 2022 GOP nominee for northwest Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, lost to Kaptur by double-digits after news reports indicated that he lied about serving in combat in Afghanistan. His candidacy was a blow to House Republicans, who previously saw the district as one of their best pickup opportunities in 2022. To their chagrin, Majewski launched a comeback bid in 2023 only to drop out weeks later, citing his mother’s health. He later got back in the race.
Majewski came under fire again last month when he appeared on a podcast and called Special Olympics athletes “retarded.” He thenconfirmed to POLITICOon Tuesday that he was considering dropping out of the race once again and that he believed those comments could hurt him in a general election.
However, Majewski is NOT the nominee in 2024, State Rep. Derek Merrin is instead. That alone could spell trouble for Kaptur. The question is, will 2024 be a tougher race for her?
Like reading election-themed articles? I have started a massive series of them each Sunday morning! Make sure to follow#SaveTheMajorityandthe groupSave the Majoritysoyou don’t miss important races down the ballot!
Rep. Marcy Kaptur is one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the nation. She sits in a district Donald Trump won in 2020. That’s why I’ve included her in a group of 23 incumbents or open seat races we are defending. #SaveTheMajority Fund.
Subject to court approval, Norfolk Southern will pay $600m to the residents and businesses affected by the 3 Feb 2023 cataclysmic railroad derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Over one million gallons of hazardous materials and pollutants were released into the atmosphere, sickening inhabitants, first responders, and killing nearly 45,000 animals, mostly fish. Luckily no one in the city of 4,700 people was killed.
To prevent an explosion, a controlled burn of the chemicals was authorized, which released noxious black clouds blanketing the area. Inhabitants remain concerned about the long-term health ramifications caused by being exposed to a plethora of toxic particulates, as well as the safety of their potable water.
Ohio residents claim they were hit with a wave of headaches and nausea after the 3 Feb 2023 train derailment. “One boy’s eyes turned red as a tomato and he was coughing a lot before the family was evacuated to her parents’ home outside the evacuation zone. Another resident in northern Lima, about ten miles from the train derailment, left her six chickens to die days after the chemical fire started.” (Source of quotations and map: www.thehiu.com)
Norfolk Southern has not admitted to any liability or wrongdoing, but in 2023 agreed to compensate homeowners who were forced to sell their properties at under-market prices. In addition to the $600m settlement, Norfolk Southern has contributed the following:
$104 millionin community assistance toEast Palestineand the surrounding areas inOhioandPennsylvania, including$25 millionfor a regional safety training center,$25 millionin planned improvements toEast Palestine'scity park,$21 millionin direct payments to residents, and$9 millionto local first responders;
$4.3 millionto support upgrades to drinking water infrastructure;
$2 millionfor community-directed projects;
$500,000grant for economic development; and
Ongoing support to the community through the Family Assistance Center and programs such as the Interim Value Assurance Program.
In other transportation safety news, as of 2 April 2023 major freight railroads must now maintain two-person crews on most routes, an idea first proposed by President Obama during his administration.
For those who aren’t familiar with this bizarre little saga, the basic background is this: Ohio state law requires officials to certify the ballot 90 days before an election (which, in this case this year, is August 7th).
Although, as noted further down, actual enforcement of this law seems to have the consistency of a mood ring.
At issue, as reported earlier this month, is that the Democratic National Convention is being held on August 19th this year — 12 days after the deadline. As such, Frank LaRose, Ohio’s Secretary of State, told the Biden campaign that Biden may not be on the ballot unless they move up the convention — which would be logistically difficult, to put it mildly.
Now, this scenario could, of course, be easily resolved by Ohio Democrats provisionally certifying the President before August 7th — and the party’s attorney, Don McTigue, told the Attorney General’s office they would do exactly that, in a letter (Biden has already secured the delegates necessary after overwhelmingly winning the state primary with almost 90% of the vote).
But Attorney General Dave Yost's office says provisional approval won't work, nor can LaRose unilaterally change election deadlines….the law mandates the Democratic Party to actually certify its president and vice-president candidates on or before August 7, 2024," Julie M. Pfeiffer, an attorney on Yost's staff, told LaRose's legal counsel. "No alternative process is permitted."
To understand how insane this is, there has only been ONE timethat both parties have finished their leadership conventions before the deadline: in 2016. Apart from that, in the last *40 years*, at least one of the two parties has held their convention after the deadline — and in every single case, that state has either done a provisional certification or resolved it in their legislature, without debate.
So now that it’s been established that this is historically *nuts*, what’s the next move?
How about the legislature resolving it — you know, like they alreadydid, with no debate, in 2020 when BOTH Dems and the GOP had scheduled their conventions after the deadline. Seems like an easy fix, right?
Well, not so fast, apparently, as Dems in the Ohio legislature now say they’re “deferring to the DNC” on the matter — and Ohio Republicans are, of course, telling them to pound sand (again, despite the fact that they resolved the same issue in the legislature in 2020 — as did Washington, Oklahoma, Montana and Illinois).
So - what’s left?
A lawsuit?
Given that both Alabama and Washington have similar deadlines that the Dem convention is scheduled after, Alabama Republicans may very well end up pulling the same nonsense — although, so far, at least, there’s no sign of that — and Washington’s Secretary of State has already said they’d accept a provisional certification.
President Biden’s campaign is not signaling what their next step is — however, it’s quite clear what it would be, if this isn’t resolved.
Responding to Yost’s rejection of provisional certification, a Biden campaign official stated:
"Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states. State officials have the ability to grant provisional ballot access certification prior to the conclusion of presidential nominating conventions."
Yes, they certainly do; however, this response was made AFTER Democrats in the Ohio state legislature had already said they were leaving the solution up to the DNC (for now, at least) — and even with Republicans in the state legislature not likely to lift a bony little finger to help resolve it, it seems that, for the moment, the Biden campaign is still betting that they’ll be able to convince the legislature to pass the provisional certification.
If they’re unable to, the only option left is, well... a lot of lawyers.
NOTE: A question on this issue that a couple of members have raised is: can Biden be officially nominated *prior* to the convention, sans pomp & circumstance, with a team of officials in the room and a small ceremony in order to meet Ohio’s deadline? I haven’t seen that mentioned as an option in any of the articles on this or from the Biden campaign or the DNC; but perhaps it’s something that could be done and still be within the nominating rules and someone could clarify as to whether it’s a possibility.
A new abortion rights advocacy organization, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, officially launched its ballot initiative, which aims to enshrine abortion rights in Montana’s state constitution. If the petition drive succeeds, it will make abortion central to the 2024 campaign and likely give vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, a staunch abortion rights supporter, a boost.
“Abortion is a topic that’s become politicized and stigmatized, but in reality, we all love someone or are someone who’s had an abortion,” Martha Fuller, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, said during the official launch event. “We can no longer let politicians threaten access to the lifesaving, essential care that thousands of Montanans need and deserve. Montanans must act now to proactively secure our right to abortion.”
Also: 12 jurors now seated in Trump's NY criminal trial
NV Supreme Court approves ballot measure to protect 'reproductive freedoms'
OH Republicans still refusing to put Biden on the 2024 ballot...
You may be happy to know we don't begin today's BradCast with news about the disgraced former President. But you may be less happy about what we do lead with, especially if you own a home or a car or live on Planet Earth. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]
Among our many stories today...
Recently, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powellconfirmed that, thanks in no small part to our quickly worsening climate, insurance rates for cars and homes continue to skyrocket. Yes, manmade climate change is a key factor in slowing the decrease of inflation (which, of course, is just one reason Republicans would rather do nothing about it). As the frequency and intensity of weather-related disasters quickens (just ask the folks in New Orleans who were swamped with some 8 inches of rain in a matter of hours last week), the cost of insurance is spiking, becoming unaffordable for many and even unattainable in a number of coastal states. You may soon discover that your home is worth a lot less than you think, thanks to the climate crisis. We step through some of those grim details today, the trillions of dollars it is ALREADY costing Americans, and the even grimmer news about what is still to come unless and until we can end the burning of fossil fuels that is only beginning to wreak so much havoc across the entire globe.
We started reporting on this story last week, when it didn't seem like it could really be a story. Well, it's beginning, at least, to look more like it really could be a real story. Ohio's Republican Attorney General has now joined the state's Republican Sec. of State to say they will not allowJoe Biden on the state's ballot this November unless the Democratic Party certifies his candidacy before the state's statutory deadline of August 7. The Democratic National Convention, which is set to officially nominate the President, doesn't happen until August 19. When a similar situation occurred in 2020 -- which might have kept Donald Trump off the ballot -- the GOP state legislature simply changed the statutory deadline for that year. But now, because it's only Democrats whose convention isn't scheduled to take place until after OH's 90-day deadline before the November 5th election, Buckeye State Republicans seem to be suggesting they may actually not put Biden on the ballot...as impossible as that seems to believe. Let the lawsuits begin...
The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling that had blocked a broad, Constitutional "Reproductive Freedom" measure to protect prenatal care, abortion, vasectomies and infertility care from appearing on this November's ballot in the critical battle ground state. Supporters of the measure are celebrating today, but are also said to be gathering signatures for a second measure that will focus only on abortion rights for this year's ballot.
After two of seven previously-seated jurors were dismissed on Thursday morning in Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York, seven more were seated before the day was done. Barring any other dismissals, that fills out the 12 jurors that will be needed to begin the case proper, once six alternate jurors are chosen. The judge admonished the press for reporting enough details about jurors that one who asked to be removed this morning said that friends had been able to identify her from media reports. Also, after prosecutors earlier this week sought sanctions against Trump for three violations of his gag order, they cited another seven incidents since then. That issue will be heard next week. Opening Statements in the trial could begin as early as Monday if the case continues to move briskly forward.
Very exciting news is underway in the South this week, specifically in Tennessee, where workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga are now voting to unionize and join the United Auto Workers. Workers at the plant seem confident that the election will be successful. But that's just the first of 13 non-union automakers who are being targeted for unionization by the UAW since labor unions huge victories last year in strikes against GM, Ford and Stellantis (which now owns Jeep and Chrysler). Another election is likely to happen soon at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama, with 36 non-union plants targeted in all. If workers are successful in unionizing at both VW and Mercedes in the two southern states, according to one labor historian, it "would be nothing less than an earthquake" for the labor movement and its "biggest breakthrough in private-sector organizing in decades." It apparently has anti-labor Republicans worried. In a joint statement described by one expert as "unprecedented and shocking", six southern state governors, all Republican -- from Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas -- issued a joint statement on the day before voting began at VW, charging that "unionization would put our states' jobs in jeopardy."Kentucky's Democratic Governor, Andy Beshear, by contrast, announced last week that he was "proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder" with the UAW.
Finally, in case we didn't frighten you enough with our opening coverage of the catastrophic, climate change-fueled weather driving insurance rates through the roof, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report with much more to frighten you about. But she also has good news for workers as well, and bad news for the fossil fuel industry tools at Fox "News"...
While we post The BradCast here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they're available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at iTunes, Pandora, TuneIn, Google, Amazon or our native RSS feed!
