Avsnitt
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Mark Bland on the web, listen to The Q Show: http://theqnow.com/
@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Threads)
Sean Diller (no social)
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Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium
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SHOW NOTES
Quick Hits: Sign up to help restore abortion access in Missouri: https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/
T/F - The Arizona Abortion outcome was the event horizon for 2024 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/10/trump-arizona-abortion-ban?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Otherhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/13/democrats-abortion-voter-arizona-florida?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherMissouri petition going to November www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2024-04-11/missourians-likely-wont-vote-on-abortion-legalization-until-novemberYeah… Yeah! - AI training legislationhttps://thehill.com/homenews/house/4583318-schiff-unveils-ai-training-transparency-measure/?ref=platformer.newsNOTE: When Rachel is referring to "Amazon" and Perplexity AI she is using Amazon and Bezos interchangably Yeah…NOThe Catholic Church talking about human dignity - you know the ones with all The priests that got hidden even though people were fully aware they were moseying kids, they have thoughts on human dignity nowhttps://www.npr.org/2024/04/08/1243374931/vatican-sex-change-surrogacy-gender-theory-grave-threats-abortion
2024 Election EraBiden canceling more debt: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/12/student-loan-cancellations-7billion-bidenThen Goes To Wisconsin to toot that horn: https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/in-wisconsin-biden-underlines-plans-to-help-college-students-with-unsustainable-debts/Biden admin closing gunshownloopholehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/11/gun-show-internet-sale-mandatory-background-check
Trump’s “election integrity” paradox: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/12/trump-anti-mail-in-voting?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherBiden camps “connection” v. “convention” feelSmaller groups not rallyshttps://apnews.com/article/president-biden-election-small-events-652f2b2ebfc54dd92ff8a48688308a88
@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Threads)
Sean Diller (no social)
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Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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SOURCES:
The heartland collective - pro publica - arkansas advocate - indiana capitol chronicle - wisconsin examiner - missouri independent - cnn
Arkansas tries to hold private schools accountable while in Idaho public schools crumble
https://arkansasadvocate.com/2024/04/08/arkansas-groups-declare-neutrality-opposition-to-proposed-education-ballot-initiative/https://www.propublica.org/article/idaho-students-educators-show-us-effects-of-underfunded-schools
Wisconsin Gov. Evers Vetos Bill That Would Have rolled back labor laws for children
https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2024/04/08/evers-vetoes-bill-that-would-have-eliminated-work-permits-for-younger-teens/
Indiana DNR Identifies Wasting Disease In The Wild
https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/briefs/dnr-reports-first-ever-positive-case-of-deadly-chronic-wasting-disease-in-indiana/
Michigan Parents Held Accountable for child’s action in school shooting
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/james-jennifer-crumbley-sentencing-04-09-24/index.html
Water Wars Coming To Missouri?
https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/10/the-water-wars-are-coming-missouri-looks-to-limit-exports-from-rivers-lakes/@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Threads)
Sean Diller (no social)
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Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium
http://www.americanaquarium.com/
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I believe we had that… the lab grown meat outrage is culturalhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/09/us-states-republicans-banning-lab-grown-meat?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherTwo pack of I believe we had that…Biden reelect is so much bigger than any one issuehttps://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/09/energy-department-loans-biden-00150180Trump, champion of the Supreme Court who overturned Roe and previous endorser of national bans, continues to change stances on abortion in nakedly political moves that impress exactly no onehttps://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/08/trump-says-abortion-policy-should-be-left-to-the-states-backing-away-from-national-ban/He can think about his abortion messaging while in court though: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4582854-appeals-court-rejects-trumps-bid-to-delay-hush-money-trial-over-gag-order/MAGA Marge goes after MAGA Mike in the reality show no one asked for but everyone is watching: CONGRESS 2024https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4581611-johnson-gauntlet-greene-ouster-threat/
BE WELL
@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Threads)
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Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium
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SHOW NOTES
Quick Hits
Woke Meat and The Twitter media sinkhole (THC highlights)https://theheartlandcollective.com/news/Get last call episodes by signing up as a member, $5/month gets you access to most of our extras. Get signed up to enjoy last call episodes by going to THE HEARTLAND COLLECTIVE dot com clicking the signup button in the top right corner, or going directly to patreon and searching for the heartland collective. We appreciate your support and all of our patrons who help make our independent media network possible.
True or False 2024 will be seen as a “reset” election
County to County movement from Blue to Red: https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/04/swing-states-see-newcomers-as-americans-move-from-blue-to-red-counties/
Sean and Adam discussed Daily Yonder article in Friday’s flyover show
Yeah…No Nebraska’s (almost) unique electoral college set up is on the Trump team’s radar for nefarious reasons
https://www.semafor.com/article/04/05/2024/inside-the-battle-over-nebraskas-electoral-college-votes
Six months ago, Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Eric Underwood pitched Ronna McDaniel on a simple idea that could help the GOP win the presidency again.
Since 1991, Nebraska had split its electoral votes; two for the statewide winner, then three for the winner of each congressional district. Trump lost the Omaha-based 2nd district in 2020, and if the GOP lost it again in 2024 — even if it flipped Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia — it would lose the presidency by a single vote. There was a bill frozen in the state legislature that could change that, assigning all five electors to the statewide winner, if Republicans rescued it. Underwood’s question for the RNC chair and its legal counsel was: Would the national party help?
But wait… there’s more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/05/sources-say-trump-sought-to-directly-pressure-nebraska-state-senator-over-winner-take-all-proposal/
Sources say Trump sought to directly pressure Nebraska state senator over winner-take-all proposal
Yeah…Yeah
The Green Bank Funding from Biden Admin: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/04/biden-climate-green-bank
Related positive environmental news traced directly to Biden’s pen: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/06/indigenous-american-tribes-funding-manage-ocean-coasts?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
YDFS - Jon Stewart left apple show because he’s still Jon Stewart: https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/2/24118814/jon-stewart-apple-tv-plus-daily-show-lina-khan-interview
2024 Election Era
Biden camp raising money so fast it’s making the Obama 2008 efforts look cute and adorable: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/06/1243189101/biden-trump-campaign-moneyTrump team using 2020 election deniers in leadership; https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/01/republican-election-integrity-denier?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherTrump team is the District 5 hockey team and bad news bears but without the loveable goofball characters: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/06/trump-campaign-rnc-2024-electionTrump 2024 is a more disturbing creature, somehow: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/06/donald-trump-speech-analysis?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherBiden gets bid check from former GOP lawyer Conway: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/03/george-conway-biden-donation-fundraiser-campaignTrump’s media funding: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/03/trump-media-es-family-trust-2022-loans?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherTrump media shares continue to tank in a tangible example of what a second Trump admin means for America at large: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-media-stock-price-truth-social-djt/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nothing-in-markets-goes-without-saying-chart-of-the-week-120047479.html@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium
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No Labels has No Candidates and is No More | One Suit, Two Suit, Red Suit Defamation Suit Filed against Missouri Lawmakers | Wisconsin Voters Restrict Themselves | Iowa State Senate Favors Chemical Creators over Citizens | Missouri House Speaker Investigation Continues | Tennessee woman sues over abortion access | Kansas Newspaper Raid Investigation Wrapping Up
SOURCES: The Missouri Independent, KMBC news, Iowa Capital Dispatch, Kansas Reflector, St Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Guardian
SHOW NOTES
3 Missouri State Senators Suedhttps://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/04/three-missouri-state-senators-sued-for-defamation-over-posts-about-chiefs-parade-shooting/https://www.kmbc.com/article/olathe-kansas-man-wrongly-identified-as-chiefs-parade-shooter-sues-3-missouri-lawmakers/60388311Three Missouri Republicans – including one running for statewide office – are being sued for defamation over social media posts incorrectly identifying a Kansas man as an undocumented immigrant and the shooter at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory celebration.On Tuesday, Denton Loudermill of Olathe, Kansas, filed federal lawsuits against state Sens. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville, Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg and Nick Schroer of Defiance. Loudermill last week filed a similar complaint against U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee. The four lawsuits are almost identical in their allegations against, which involve the lawmakers using social media platforms to repost a photo of Loudermill in handcuffs shortly after the shooting. “The publication of the false representation that plaintiff was an ‘illegal alien’ and a ‘shooter’ was not made in good faith nor was it made by defendant with any legitimate interest in making or duty to make such assertions,” the lawsuit against Brattin states. Wisconsin Voters Vote To Limit Voting… No Seriouslyhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/04/wisconsin-amendments-harmful-voting-elections?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherWisconsin voters enshrined in the state constitution on Tuesday two amendments that election officials and voting rights advocates worry will hurt election administration in the state.The first bans election offices from accessing private grants – a source of revenue that election officials relied on in 2020 to run elections during the pandemic and have since used to stock voting equipment in polling places.During the 2020 elections, election offices across the country – already chronically underfunded – accessed grants from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a non-profit organization funded by Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta CEO, and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The grants were doled out with the explicit purpose of funding Covid-19 mitigation in polling places, and election offices used the money for things like personal protective equipment and to set up drive-through, contactless voting.
Iowa Senate Says “Suck It Up” to folks hurt by mega corporation chemicalshttps://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/04/02/iowa-senate-votes-to-limit-lawsuits-over-roundup-other-farm-and-lawn-chemicals/A bill that would partially shield the maker of a widely used agricultural and lawn herbicide from lawsuits over its health effects was adopted by the Iowa Senate on Tuesday.Senate File 2412 would protect Bayer against claims it failed to warn people about the potential health effects of Roundup so long as its product is labeled as required by federal regulators.The legislation would apply to all domestic producers of herbicides and pesticides, but eliminating the failure-to-warn claims is part of Bayer’s public strategy to “manage and mitigate the risks of Roundup litigation,” according to its website.The company hopes the U.S. Supreme Court decides that the claims are overruled by federal law, which the company predicts “could largely end the Roundup litigation.” But a federal appeals court rejected that argument in February.Bayer says about 167,000 lawsuits have been filed by people who claim their exposure to Roundup caused ailments such as cancer, often non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The herbicide has been used to kill weeds for about four decades. The litigation has cost the company billions of dollars.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said Roundup’s primary ingredient, glyphosate, is not likely to cause cancer in humans and that it poses no health risks “when used in accordance with its current label.” But in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”Missouri House Speaker Plocher, Now Candidate for Secretary of State, Narrows Focushttps://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/investigation-of-missouri-s-house-speaker-zeroes-in-on-lobbyist-aides-and-advisers/article_f77bc748-f203-11ee-8b90-d33ac8c58ed3.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterAn investigation of the leader of the Missouri House appears to be focused on his efforts to steer an $800,000 state contract to a software vendor.Meeting for the seventh time since launching a probe into House Speaker Dean Plocher, the House Ethics Committee was expected to take closed-door testimony Wednesday from a handful of aides and advisers.If Plocher appears, it would mark his second time before the bipartisan panel, which has hired an investigator to conduct interviews and help prepare a report outlining any findings.Among those on the schedule is Rod Jetton, whom Plocher hired as his chief of staff last year as the scandal was unfolding. Jetton told the Post-Dispatch Wednesday he was not sure what information the committee wanted from him.
Tennessee Woman Sues State Over Abortion Restrictionshttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/04/tennessee-abortion-ban?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherJanuary 2023, whenever Kathryn Archer took her young daughter out to the local playground in Nashville, Tennessee, strangers often noticed her visibly pregnant stomach and wanted to make small talk.“When are you due?” they would ask Archer. “Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?” “Oh, I bet your daughter’s so excited to be a big sister.”Archer did not know how to tell them the truth: in early January, Archer’s fetus had been diagnosed with several serious anomalies that made a miscarriage likely. If Archer did give birth, her baby could only be treated with surgeries and lifelong help – pain that Archer was unwilling to put a newborn through. Without those surgeries, which the infant might not survive, Archer’s baby would die shortly after birth.But due to Tennessee’s near-total abortion ban, Archer could not terminate her pregnancy in her home state and, instead, had to wait more than three weeks for an appointment at an out-of-state abortion clinic.“I don’t want to confide in a stranger that I’m having to get an abortion because my baby can’t survive outside of my womb and I can’t get the care that I need as soon as I need it,” Archer recalled thinking. “Those three weeks were really bizarre, challenging, painful – beyond what it needed to be.”Investigation Into Marion Co. Raid That Killed Former Publisher in Kansas Is Winding Uphttps://kansasreflector.com/2024/04/02/colorado-authorities-wrapping-up-investigation-into-marion-police-who-raided-kansas-newspaper/The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is nearly finished with its inquiry into potential criminal activity surrounding the raid on the Marion County Record last year and will turn over findings to special prosecutors later this month, state authorities said Tuesday.The announcement comes a day after the Marion County Record filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages for alleged violations of civil rights.Melissa Underwood, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, said Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson and Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett would determine whether to file criminal charges against journalists, law enforcement officers or anyone else.
@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium
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Trump’s takeover is now complete
RNC also reshaped for election issues not just money: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/01/republican-election-integrity-denier
As Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has cemented its hold on the Republican National Committee (RNC), alarms are being raised about the organization’s tapping of the fervent election denialist Christina Bobb to run an “election integrity” unit.
Bobb is a former Trump lawyer and ex-reporter for the far-right One America News Network, who gained prominence after Trump’s 2020 loss for promoting bogus fraud charges in Arizona, Wisconsin and elsewhere, and was part of Trump-backed efforts to substitute fake electors for ones that Joe Biden won in some states.
Read more
Bobb helped spread phoney voting fraud claims with Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and the former campaign operative Mike Roman, both of whom along with Trump and others face charges in Fulton county, Georgia, of conspiring to overturn Biden’s win there; Bobb was not charged.
Last year Bobb wrote Stealing Your Vote: The Inside Story of the 2020 Election and What It Means for 2024, a book that was chock full of baseless charges about 2020 election fraud.
Trump allies pro-white supremacy plans: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/01/trump-reverse-racism-civil-rights
Exit Polls show major issue for Trump: https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1765139166910713997?s=46&t=mukZUfs5M_R3E9tAHIu-GA
Anemic Campaign: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4568360-trump-rnc-tease-campaign-activity-uptick-but-offer-few-details/
RNC Socials Are Pure MAGA now: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/rnc-research-social-media-maga-rcna145622
100% all in on the border as THE issue for 2024: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/02/trump-biden-bloodbath-website-immigration
And now…Charlie Kirk. Fucking Moron.
https://www.threads.net/@bidenharrishq/post/C5RcLsrJbLw
@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium
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TALKIN’ POLITICS
Quick Hits
White House Moving On Art. Intelligence https://www.semafor.com/article/03/27/2024/white-house-orders-agencies-to-tap-chief-ai-officersSam Bankman-Fried is going to PRISON: https://www.semafor.com/article/03/28/2024/sbf-sentenced-to-25-years-in-ftx-fraud-caseTrue or False…Public Education attacks will be a sneaky factor in the erosion of GOP power in red states Missouri: https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/28/opposition-remains-for-sprawling-education-bill-expanding-missouri-private-school-tax-credits/Tennessee - going after a public HBCU: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/28/republican-lawmakers-vacate-full-tennessee-state-university-board/73124246007/
Yeah No…The Entire RFK, Jr. run, made worse now by his openly anti-IVF running mate who’s main qualification for being VP is that she financed RFK’s super bowl commercial, that he distanced himself from after it airedhttps://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/nicole-shanahan-rfk-jr-running-mate-ivf-1234996038/
Yeah… yeahWoman suing in Texas for being labeled as a murder suspect and spending time in jail after abortion ban kicked in post Dobbs https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/30/texas-woman-abortion-murder-suesBig OneAbortion pill has MAJORITY support as a medical option and majority support as mail delivery from Independents (and Dems, duh)https://www.axios.com/2024/03/29/abortion-pill-supreme-court-case-pollErin Hawley - Joshua’s wife - argued against mifepristone in SCOTUS this past week and got OWNEDhttps://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/politics/takeaways-from-the-supreme-court-arguments-over-the-abortion-drug-mifepristone/index.html#:~:text=The%20Comstock%20Act%20has%20not,criminal%20prohibitions%20on%20mailing%20drugsIn line with general feelings on birth control: https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/29/birth-control-poll-missouri-contraceptives/Alabama big win - centered around IVF - pretty hard to ignore2024 Election Coverage Era Trump team sets up GOP donations in a trickle down economics approach with Trump and his legal bills at the top: https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/trump-legal-fees-scam-rnc-republicans-know-itTrump serious problem? https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-has-a-big-problem-with-gop-votersRNC is big mad about Rona Romney-McDaniel being fired from MSNBC: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/28/rnc-nbc-convention-ronna-mcdaniel-00149620Polling: https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/nationalBiden’s big NYC fundraiser with Obama and Clinton must have been a huge success based on the NY POST coverage: https://nypost.com/2024/03/28/opinion/president-bidens-25m-fundraiser-with-annie-leibovitz-is-the-height-of-dem-elitism/Regular coverage; https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/29/pro-palestinian-protesters-interrupted-bidens-glitzy-new-york-fundraiser-00149706GOP has a problem with early and mail in voting: https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/03/28/trump-mail-early-voting-republicans/Interesting read - the polling, author makes the case that 2024 is the election about elections: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/2943777/2024-an-election-about-elections/https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/03/28/trump-mail-early-voting-republicans/Which leads to the question: What is election integrity? Is it Democrats worried that Trump and Republicans will cheat? Is it Republicans worried that Biden and Democrats will cheat? It appears to be both, in roughly equal force. Given that, it seems reasonable to expect both Biden and Trump to highlight it in their campaigns. In some ways, 2024 will be an election about elections
@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Fertilizer spill kills 750,000 fish | Missouri GOP wants to eliminate corporate income tax | Kansas Man Sues Tennessee GOP Congressman | Missouri legislature defunding STL? | Texas Immigration Law Back On ICE | Alabama Election Blowout Win… for a Democrat? | Missouri AG gets slammed
On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, March 29, 2024 - a Flyover Friday including:
Fertilizer spill kills hundreds of thousands of fishMissouri GOP cuts taxes… for corporationsKansas Man Sues Tennessee law makerMissouri legislature defunding STL?Texas Immigration Law Back On ICEAlabama Election Blowout Win… for a Democrat?Missouri AG gets slammedArizona state senator’s personal abortion appealMissouri GOP members tripping over each other to file for… Secretary of State?SOURCES: Missouri Independent; Lawdork.com; Kansas City Star; 1819 news; Democracy Now, associated press; St. Louis pos
Revisiting A story From last week: 750,000 fish have died in the fertilizer spill
https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/28/fertilizer-killed-more-than-750000-fish-iowa-missouri/
A fertilizer spill this month in southwest Iowa killed nearly all the fish in a 60-mile stretch of river with an estimated death toll of more than 750,000, according to Iowa and Missouri conservation officers.
That is the biggest fish kill in Iowa in at least a decade and the fifth-largest on record, according to state data.
And it could have been worse: Fish populations were likely smaller than normal when the spill happened because of cold water temperatures and low river flows.
“Thank goodness, in a way, it happened when it did,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ fisheries bureau. “But this is a big one. It’s a lot of river miles that have been impacted.”
Missouri GOP Tax Cuts To Phase Out Corporate Taxes
https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-house-again-votes-to-cut-corporate-income-taxes/
The bill sponsored by state Rep. Travis Smith of Dora would cut the tax rate, currently 4%, to 3% on Jan. 1 and make another one percentage point cut each year until the tax is eliminated in 2028.
“When you reduce the corporate income tax you are helping workers more than anything else because the corporation is not going to be paying those taxes,” Smith said. “They’re putting it back in improving their facilities and paying wages.”
The corporate income tax is paid by larger companies with many stockholders. A fiscal note for the bill estimates it would reduce state revenues by at least $884 million when fully implemented. The state collected $13.2 billion in general revenue in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The bill passed on a 100-50 vote with Republicans voting for it and Democrats opposed.
“We are one of the lowest corporate income tax states in the nation,” said state Rep. Joe Adams, a University City Democrat.
Legally, Adams noted, corporations are people with many of the same rights as humans.
“As people they should pay part of the freight for the operation of the government of this state,” Adams said.
Texas Immigration Law On ICE
https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-texas-sb4-stay-denial
Texas’s new immigration law creating Texas crimes of “illegal entry” and “reentry” and setting forth a process for removal of people convicted of those state laws will remain blocked for now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Tuesday night in a decision holding that Texas’s S.B. 4 is likely preempted by federal law on multiple grounds.
“The Texas laws at issue permit state authorities to prosecute an individual for being unlawfully present and remove individuals who are unlawfully present or removable, without any consultation or cooperation with the Attorney General of the United States,” Chief Judge Priscilla Richman, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the court’s 2-1 majority keeping S.B. 4 on hold.
it is the first ruling of substance analyzing S.B. 4 from an appeals court, which is good whenever courts take actions — but particularly when those rulings are affecting the enforcement of national and state laws. And, second, this is same panel of judges that will be hearing the merits of the S.B. 4 next week, meaning we have a fairly good idea that the same outcome will likely result from the full appeal.
The immediate question is whether Texas seeks further review, from the full Fifth Circuit en banc or from the U.S. Supreme Court, on its stay pending appeal request, or whether the parties wait for the April 3 arguments on Texas’s appeal of the preliminary injunction before taking any further action.
For now, though, Texas’s S.B. 4 remains blocked and will remain blocked for the duration of the Fifth Circuit appeal.
Republicans in Missouri Continue Going After St Louis
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/measure-targeting-st-louis-earnings-tax-passes-missouri-house-heads-to-senate/article_b0b9f348-ec59-11ee-9492-8b5dfe93499d.html
Kansas Man Sues lawmaker for comments after super bowl parade shooting
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article287072190.html
Denton Loudermill, a Johnson County resident, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas against U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, who last month shared a photo of Loudermill and erroneously wrote that one of the Kansas City shooters had been identified as an “illegal alien.” Burchett’s false post caused Loudermill to receive death threats, incur damages totaling more than $75,000, anxiety and loss of sleep, according to the lawsuit, which accuses Burchett of false light invasion of privacy. The lawsuit asks a judge to issue damages “to punish” Burchett or deter him and others from similar conduct in the future.
Missouri Budget Slashed, Without A Chance To Ask Why
https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/26/democrats-gripe-over-limited-time-for-debating-proposed-50-billion-missouri-budget/
The biggest fight Monday between Republicans and Democrats on the House Budget Committee as they finalized a spending plan for floor debate was over the time allotted to do the work, not any particular item in the $50.7 billion plan.
Throughout the daylong hearing, Democrats said state Rep. Cody Smith, the committee’s chairman, wasn’t allowing enough time to propose amendments or hear why he cut $2 billion from Gov. Mike Parson’s January budget proposal.
And to show their displeasure when the time came to vote, many Democrats voted “present” and state Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Manchester, invoked a little-used rule to force a reading of each roll call and how members voted as each of the 17 spending bills was completed.
Smith had no patience for that maneuver, and the committee voted to suspend the rule on “verifying the roll” to speed up its work.
Smith delivered his budget proposal to the committee on March 14 but declined that day to answer questions about his changes. On Monday, when the committee convened shortly after 10 a.m., Smith said he would allow four hours for discussing amendments.
Alabama Democrat Blows Out GOP Opponent
https://1819news.com/news/item/hd10-lands-62-powell-38-after-democrat-special-election-blowout-republicans-asking-what-happened
State Rep.-elect Marilyn Lands (D-Madison) won the special election for House District 10 on Tuesday, making her the first net-gain Democratic pick-up in the Alabama Legislature since 2002.
1819 News surveyed local and state Republicans, political consultants and elected officials to find out what they believe occurred and what they see for the future.
One prominent GOP official said that national Democrats had nationalized this small campaign around abortion to scare Republicans in other states and help them fundraise off the issue.
One complaint was that the Republican nominee, Teddy Powell, took too much of a moderate approach and said that if Republicans were to win in purple districts, they must run as full-on Republicans, just as Lands ran as a full-on Democrat — even more so in a special election where turnout is smaller and only the parties' most loyal show up to vote.
However, the consultants did mention that this race would be a potential pick-up for Republicans in 2026 when the next gubernatorial election occurs, and more turnout will be expected.
Arizona State Senator Shares Her Abortion Story, In Real Time
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/27/eva_burch_arizona_abortion
Democratic Arizona state Senator Eva Burch made headlines last week after speaking on the floor of the state Senate about her plans to obtain an abortion after receiving news that her pregnancy was nonviable. Arizona has banned all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. “I felt like it was really important for me to bring people along, so that people could really see what this looks like,” says Burch, a former nurse practitioner who worked at a women’s health clinic before running for office, about why she decided to publicly tell her story. “I wanted to pull people into the conversation so we can be more honest about what abortion care looks like” and “hopefully move the needle in the right direction,” she adds.
Missouri Attorney General Gets Slammed
https://apnews.com/article/dei-diversity-school-beating-missouri-hazelwood-928cd2980047d9f6c37351901f7d0e29
Days after Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey blamed an after-school fight on a school district’s diversity programming, a lawyer for the majority Black district in suburban St. Louis said that the state’s chief attorney is showing “obvious racial bias.”
Bailey, who is campaigning to keep his seat, said last week that he is investigating possible violations of the state’s human rights laws by the Hazelwood School District, after a March 8 fight left a girl hospitalized with severe head injuries.
Bailey blamed the school district’s diversity, equity and inclusion programming as a cause for the fight, which St. Louis County police say happened after school hours in a neighborhood about two blocks from Hazelwood East High School. He said were it not for the programs, a school resource officer would have been present at the school.
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Brianna from Moms For Missouri joins Adam for a chat about the activation of a very powerful interest group in politics: The MOMS. @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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TALKIN’ POLITICS
Quick Hits
Harris visits abortion clinic https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/15/kamala_harris_abortion_reproductive_rights_2024True or False - The GOP resignations are designed to hand the house to the dems to cut Trumps legs out from his plan to get the election pushed to the house?https://www.newsweek.com/ken-buck-teases-more-republican-resignations-coming-1878601Yeah… yeahThey are dropping like flies… another GOP lawmaker leaving DC as the rats flee the shiphttps://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/03/22/congress/gallagher-leaving-early-001485862024 Election Coverage EraTrump’s So Far Down His own Rabbit Hole He Doesn’t Know Which Way Is UpTrump sound clip “Biden beat Obama” WTF https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5110647/user-clip-biden-beats-obama-trump
Trump’s light schedule Recent polling better for Bidenhttps://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-leads-donald-trump-eight-polls-1882336Current polling - 8 months out https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/
Stormy F**** Trump, and doesn’t pay him a dimehttps://www.thedailybeast.com/the-courtroom-over-the-campaign-trail-inside-trumps-broken-scheduleBiden is all over the damn place, Trump is playing golf and begging for enough money to pay his legal billshttps://www.cnn.com/2024/03/20/politics/biden-trump-campaign-contrasts/index.htmlTrump’s lawyer might be in hot water herself for potentially unethical behavior https://www.meidastouch.com/news/new-settlement-opens-alina-habba-up-to-potential-lawsuitTrump already claiming 2024 is rigged - like a child who suddenly ins’t hungry when they find out dinner is actual chicken and not chicken nuggets: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trump-claims-2024-will-be-rigged-putting-republican-turnout-at-risk-830b213dGOP continues embracing unpopular policies out loud Want to retire and draw your benefits? NOt so fast says GOP https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republican-budget-raise-age-retirement-social-security-medicare-rcna144341?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=65fbf71a0a67fa0001b5e39d&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitterIVF for military members? Think again says GOP: https://www.axios.com/2024/03/21/ivf-veterans-house-republicans-freedom-caucusLouisiana study shows changes in abortion laws have actively harmed womenhttps://rhimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Criminalized-Care-Full-Report-March-2024.pdfThe “blood bath” clip - bigger lesson for Dems or bigger issue for trump? https://www.semafor.com/article/03/19/2024/the-viral-bloodbath-clip-and-the-rise-of-the-liberal-video-influencer@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:
Missouri’s new presidential primary; Iowa’s massive fertilizer spill; Hawley signals some break with Trump on Jan 6th; Missouri town paying big for open record violation; Texas immigration law seesaw; Sustainability in St. Louis; Turns out, young white republicans at turning point events MIGHT be a bit racist
SOURCES - river front times, missouri independent, missouri democrats.org, nbc news, newsweek, and WOWT Ohama channel 6 news
Missouri democratic primary TOMORROW - March 23Details: https://www.missouridemocrats.org/mdp-primary-information-2024Back to the poopy water in Iowahttps://www.wowt.com/2024/03/19/experts-detail-environmental-impact-fertilizer-spill-southwest-iowa/Experts detail environmental impact of fertilizer spill in southwest IowaDNR experts are still examining the environmental impacts of a massive 1,500-ton liquid nitrogen fertilizer spill near Red Oak, Iowa caused by a New Cooperative valve that was left open last Monday.They know liquid nitrogen fertilizer traveled along the East Nishnabotna River in Iowa for 50 miles down to the state of Missouri where it’s estimated to have traveled at least another 10 miles.“(It’s) probably the longest fishkill that we’ve experienced in this area,” said Brent Marten, an environmental specialist for the Iowa DNR.As the fertilizer plume swept through the water, the home of aquatic wildlife soon became their grave. Native species of varying sizes were found dead ashore and floating in the water.“Just acute toxicity basically burned tissue on the outside and if they ingested it, on the inside of the fish,” said Lorenzen.Water testing showed that where the spill happened, nitrogen levels were at least 60 times higher than they should’ve been.Josh Hawley (drop) says Trump Shouldn’t Issue Blanket Pardon for Jan 6thhttps://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article286871930.htmlIn a rare showing of a possible spine in the face of Trump’s crazy, Missouri’s soon to be one term senator Joshua “Yes these are my boots” Hawley breaks with Trump and suggests that CRIMINALS WHO ATTACKED THE GOVERNMENT might be best to be left as criminals, real novel takeMissouri Town who abused open records law drops appeal of penaltyhttps://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/15/phelps-county-town-drops-appeal-of-80000-missouri-sunshine-law-judgment/Rebecca Varney sued after Edgar Springs banned her from visiting city hall to see records or attend town board meetingsEdgar Springs, a town of 200 in southern Phelps County, must now pay Rebecca Varney $750, plus almost $80,000 in attorney fees, to satisfy a November court decision that found it violated Varney’s First Amendment rights and the Missouri Sunshine Law.Circuit Judge John Beger ruled that the city’s violations began in 2018 when it barred Varney from entering city hall to view records open to the public under the Sunshine Law. The initial order allowed her to attend meetings of the town’s Board of Aldermen but was expanded in 2019 to bar her from entering city hall at any time after she questioned whether a gathering that included several town officials was an unposted meeting.“Our rights are worth it,” Varney said. “It’s been hard but I go to city council meetings, I get to sit down just like everybody else. And they have to treat everybody that way.”In her lawsuit, Varney asked for only nominal damages in addition to legal vindication. Berger’s ruling gave Varney $100 for the constitutional violation, $650 for the Sunshine Law violation and $78,966 for litigation costs and attorney fees. Interest is accruing at the rate of 9% per year.“This was not a close case,” said Dave Roland, the attorney who represented Varney. “They should have seen from the very outset, it was going to be a loser and they were going to be on the hook for both their attorneys fees and ours.”Roland runs the Freedom Center of Missouri, providing pro bono Sunshine Law legal services for people unable to afford an attorney. Money gained from rulings like the one against Edgar Springs is used to support other litigation.
Texas Immigration Law Back On Hold After Multiple Court Rulings In Last Weekshttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/appeals-court-blocks-texas-immigration-law-supreme-court-action-rcna144193The decision comes just hours after the Supreme Court said the measure, known as SB 4, could go into effect while litigation continues.A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split 2-1 in saying in a brief order that the measure, known as Senate Bill 4, should be blocked. The same court is hearing arguments on the issue Wednesday morning.The state law would allow police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico and impose criminal penalties. It would also empower state judges to order people to be deported to Mexico.Meet Me In (Sustainable) St. Louieeeehttps://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/bloomberg-taps-st-louis-as-1-of-25-american-sustainable-cities-42136549The City of St. Louis has been selected as one of Bloomberg Philanthropies' 25 sustainable American cities and will receive resources to combat climate change locally.The three-year program will utilize federal funding in the area to “proactively build low-carbon, resilient, and economically thriving communities,” according to a news release from Bloomberg. St. Louis was chosen to take part in the program based on the city’s leadership and ambition, according to the St. Louis Development Corporation.
Black Gay Republican Says Missouri Republican Heckled Him at MAGA Evenhttps://www.newsweek.com/black-gay-republican-says-missouri-republican-heckled-him-maga-event-1879832Rob Smith (conservative commenter) accused a state legislator from Missouri of being among the individuals who allegedly heckled him at a MAGA event in December.Smith, a Republican who is Black and gay, alleged that Missouri State Representative Chris Lonsdale joined a group of conservatives accused of heckling him while attending a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix in December 2023.Video sent by Smith to Newsweek appears to show Lonsdale near a crowd that heckled and chanted a homophobic slur against Smith. Lonsdale was seen pointing his finger toward Smith. However, the video was taken from behind the lawmaker, and it remained unclear whether he was among the individuals chanting the slur."One of the individuals is a Republican elected official named Chris Lonsdale, a State Rep for MO district 38," Smith wrote in an X message to Newsweek.@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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SHOW NOTES
TALKIN’ POLITICS
Quick Hits
Hartman jumping into MO-2nd Racehttps://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/ray-hartmann-is-running-for-congress-to-oust-ann-wagner-42102094Missouri GOP working to eliminate possible ranked choice voting by selling possible amendment based on a BS problemhttps://senate.mo.gov/24info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=433SJR78 would totally eliminate RCV in the future - not actually for sure it winds up on the ballot this year but it could, this is one to contact your local rep and senator on to oppose
I believe We Had That…
Judge in Georgia Trump prosecution requires change due to PA Willis relationshiphttps://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/03/15/us/fani-willis-trump-georgia?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
True or FalseThe GOP’s trifurcation has reached final formOhio’s three way race https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/14/gop-ohio-senate-infighting-00147212Pence won’t endorse Trump https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/15/mike-pence-wont-endorse-trump-00147395Time capsule - 2012 three parts clear in primary before Romney took nomination, the last pre-Trump GOP presidential candidate, now 12 years ago: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/nancy-pfotenhauer/2012/01/11/perry-trumps-gingrich-santorum-as-top-conservative-standingYeah No…Hawley and Schimtt fail at bringing home the baconhttps://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article286608720.htmlMeanwhile, the State level in MIssouri is making cuts… and surprise! Education and health care are getting hit, againhttps://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/14/missouri-house-budget-chairman-trims-2-billion-from-governors-proposed-spending-plan/Yeah… Yeah!New labeling requirements to favor US meat productionhttps://dailyyonder.com/usda-will-implement-long-awaited-change-to-country-of-origin-labeling-rules/2024/03/14/Advocates for country-of-origin-labeling reform say the four biggest meat packers on the U.S. beef market (Cargill, JBS, Tyson, and National Beef) unduly benefited from the old rule that allowed misleading “Product of U.S.A.” labels. These corporations produced cheaper products by outsourcing to countries with fewer health and safety regulations for their workers and animals, then labeled the meat as “Product of U.S.A.” because they package it within the United States, they said. American producers were unable to compete with these cheap prices, or distinguish their American made products from the outsourced meat products, according to advocacy groups. “[Product of U.S.A. loopholes] enabled [the meat packers] to be able to sell cheap beef to consumers and make people think that they were actually buying an American made product,” Irby said. Buy or Sell2023 was the rebirth of the Union made American Middle Classhttps://www.axios.com/2024/02/15/strikes-unions-workers-statistics-chart-data
2024 Election Coverage Era…RFK trying to get on the ballot in all 50 states, but probably won’t making his candidacy even more of a waste for 2024: https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1237622705/rfk-independent-candidate-ballot-accessMeanwhile his possible running mate is an egomaniac idiot who is, at best, a less entertaining version of Joe Roganhttps://theathletic.com/5337733/2024/03/13/aaron-rodgers-vice-president-kennedy-jets-election/?source=user_shared_articleThe Trump RNC purge has occurred and it is exactly what we thought: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/03/14/trump-rnc-purge-gop-nixon-00146840Trump FEC issues piling up but no action: https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/gop-commissioners-have-single-handedly-blocked-fec-action-against-trump-29-times/
Biden’s Actual Economic Liability - Keeping up with the Joneses https://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-debt-stings-never-era-110029834.html?guccounter=1Interesting move in real estate will offset a bit: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/economy/nar-realtor-commissions-settlement/index.htmlCould large move on tax policy work/matter for Biden’s reelect? https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/biden-wealth-tax-2024/VP Harris continues her tour focused on reproductive rightshttps://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vp-harris-visit-abortion-clinic-democrats-bet-big/story?id=108118709@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Lauren Boebert won't compete in special election to replace Rep. Ken Buck | MO voters favor abortion rights | Kansas GOP’s flat tax favors the wealthiest 20% | JB Pritzker wants to end prior authorizations in mental health | Texas right-wing billionaires get their way
ELECTION 2024
Missourians back initiative to restore abortion rights by small margin, new poll finds
The St. Louis University/YouGov poll found many undecided voters as ballot campaign gathers signatures. The poll also found strong support for repealing the sales tax on food and sports wagering
BY: RUDI KELLER - MARCH 13, 2024 6:00 AM
https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/13/missourians-back-initiative-to-restore-abortion-rights-by-small-margin-new-poll-finds/
In June of 2022 The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established federal constitutional protections for abortion. Under current Missouri law, abortions are only allowed to save the life of the mother or when “a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” This has made abortion virtually inaccessible in the state.
Now, a group called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom is collecting signatures to put abortion rights on the November ballot. They must gather at least 171,000 signatures from registered voters by early May.
A new poll shows plurality of Missourians support restoring abortion rights as they existed under Roe v. Wade, but a large undecided group holds the key to victory.
The St. Louis University/YouGov Poll conducted in February found that 44% of those surveyed would vote for abortion rights after hearing the ballot language, while 37% were opposed. Almost one-fifth of voters, 19%, said they were unsure how they would vote.
71% of Democrats and 24% of Republicans support the proposal.
If the measure makes the ballot, poll director Steven Rogers said there are enough undecided voters to sway the result.
A sports wagering initiative campaign is also underway and the poll found 60% of those surveyed back legal betting on professional sports.
That poll surveyed 900 likely Missouri voters between Feb. 14 and Feb. 26, with a 3.74% margin of error. Along with the major initiatives, the poll included questions tracking attitudes toward President Joe Biden, Congress, major Missouri political figures and the General Assembly.
The poll also questioned voters about their choices for governor and their views on the biggest issues confronting the state as well as current legislative debates like school choice.
37% of those surveyed said they approve of the job President Biden is doing, a rating similar to the findings in four previous surveys dating to July 2021.
Gov. Mike Parson, who will leave office at the end of the year due to term limits, has an approval rating of 52%, among the highest ever found by the poll. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican seeking re-election this year, has an approval rating of 50%.
The race to succeed Parson is wide open, at least for the August primaries. Without named candidates, the poll found 52% of those surveyed will vote for the Republican candidate for governor while 38% selected the Democrat.
When those who said they would vote Republican were asked which candidate they preferred, “not sure” was selected by almost half of those polled. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft had the largest number of committed voters, with 28%, followed by Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe at 10% and state Sen. Bill Eigel at 8%.
On the Democratic side, “not sure” was selected by 66% of respondents, with House Minority Leader Crystal Quade chosen by 21% and Springfield businessman Mike Hamra chosen by 4%.
New Kansas flat tax proposal would mainly benefit state’s top 20% of earners
BY: RACHEL MIPRO - MARCH 13, 2024 11:19 AM
https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/13/new-kansas-flat-tax-proposal-would-mainly-benefit-states-top-20-of-earners-analysis-shows/
TOPEKA — A revamped flat tax plan touted by Kansas Senate lawmakers on Tuesday would cost the state nearly $650 million annually, give 40% of the benefits to the state’s wealthiest 20%, and reap billionaire Charles Koch a half-million dollar windfall, according to independent analysis.
During the Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation hearing, Republican lawmakers claimed the bill, Senate Bill 539, would address Kansans’ needs.
Committee Chair Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican who requested the bill’s introduction said, “It is a product of listening to people and trying to come up with the best solution,”The state currently uses a graduated income tax rate: 3.1% for income under $15,000, 5.25% for income between $15,000 and $30,000 and 5.7% for income above $30,000. Couples filing together have those income amounts doubled.
SB 539 would change income tax rates over six years, starting with a universal income tax rate of 5.7% in 2024, and reduced by .05% each year until 2029, which would set the rate at 5.45%. Under current law, the standard state deduction for income taxes is set at $3,500 for single filers and $8,000 for married couples filing jointly. The bill would set the deduction at $4,000 for single filers in 2024 and increase the standard deduction for all taxpayers by the cost-of-living adjustment published in the Internal Revenue Code beginning in tax year 2025.
However, researchers estimate the top 20% of earners – those with annual incomes of over $315,000 – would see nearly 40% of the benefits. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan research organization that favors a progressive tax system, estimated the plan would cost the state nearly $650 million annually once fully implemented.
A Kansas household making less than $55,000 a year would see $237 in benefits. Billionaire Charles Koch would receive an estimated annual $485,000 in tax breaks under the proposal.
The bill would also cut the standard tax rate for banks from the current 2.25% rate to 1.94% in tax year 2024, and down to 1.63% in 2025. For savings and loan associations, taxes would be reduced from the current 2.25% rate to 1.93% in 2024 and down to 1.61% in 2025. Other provisions include eliminating the state’s 2% sales tax on groceries by July 1. Currently, the tax is set to end on Jan. 1, 2025.
Earlier in the legislative session, a Republican-driven effort fast-tracked the 5.25% income tax plan that would have reduced tax collections by more than $300 million per year and primarily benefited the state’s top earners. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the proposal in late January, characterizing it as “reckless.”
Despite the GOP supermajority in the House and Senate, a veto override attempt failed in the House due to opposition among conservative and moderate Republicans who felt the proposal didn’t do enough for the state’s lower-income residents.
Governor Kelly has said she will continue to veto “irresponsible flat tax proposals.”
House panel opens hearings on Pritzker’s health insurance reforms
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Bill seeks to reduce denials of coverage, improve provider networks
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
https://capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/house-panel-opens-hearings-on-pritzkers-health-insurance-reforms
SPRINGFIELD – A panel of Illinois lawmakers began hearing testimony Wednesday on Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposals for sweeping changes in the state’s health insurance industry.
The changes, which Pritzker first unveiled in his State of the State address in February, would limit the ability of companies to deny claims or steer patients toward cheaper, and possibly less effective, treatments. They are contained in an amendment to House Bill 5395.
They include banning prior authorization requirements for people to receive in-patient treatment at a psychiatric facility as well as all forms of so-called “step therapy” for prescription drug coverage. Step therapy refers to the practice of requiring a patient to try one or more cheaper, alternative medications before being allowed to access medications prescribed by their doctor.
Other changes in the plan include requiring insurance companies to publicly post the types of treatments and therapies that do require prior authorization; requiring them to maintain accurate lists of the providers who are in their networks; and banning the sale in Illinois of short-term, limited duration insurance plans that don’t meet the minimum standards under the federal Affordable Care Act.
Emily Miller, a senior advisor in Pritzker’s office, tried to assure the House Human Services Committee Wednesday that the administration was not waging war against the health insurance industry.
“Insurance has a role to play, and I'm not here to demonize the insurance industry,” she said. “I am here, though, to say that it is time for consumers to have a say in how insurance companies are administering their health care plans. And we want to make sure that consumers are protected.”
During the hearing, the committee heard personal stories from individual patients and their families, including some legislators, who spoke about their experiences having claims denied by their insurers.
Among them was state Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, whose son was born with a rare heart malfunction that requires treatments for which he needs prior authorizations. He also had a daughter who died following a long battle with leukemia.
He said, “We had her stay four days in the hospital because we couldn't get a nausea medication that we knew worked after chemo (round) two. We couldn't get it authorized in chemo (round) three. Very frustrating. Four days in the hospital, and I'm not sure how that saves somebody money.”
Dr. Mary Dobbins, a pediatrician and psychologist who is a past president of the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, testified about what she called a “mental health crisis” among children and youth in the United States. She said the crisis has been “artificially magnified by the requirements that tie up our clinical time.”
She said “I've had multiple patients who destabilized because medicine they'd been doing well on was now denied, and the parents couldn't afford to pay for it out of pocket. The appropriate level of care is commonly denied.”
The committee took no action Wednesday, but Chair Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, said the committee plans to hold more discussions and could vote as early as next week to advance the bill to the full House.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
Amid white supremacist scandal, far-right billionaire powerbrokers see historic election gains in Texas
All told, 11 of the 28 House candidates supported by Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks won their primaries outright, and another eight are headed to runoffs this May.
BY ROBERT DOWNEN
MARCH 8, 2024
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/08/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-defend-texas-liberty-election/
West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks entered the 2024 primary election cycle wounded.
Their political network was in the middle of a scandal over its ties to white supremacists. Republicans were calling on each other to reject the billionaires’ campaign money. And their enemies believed they were vulnerable — one bad election day from losing their grip on the state.
Instead, Dunn and Wilks emerged from Texas’ primaries last Tuesday perhaps stronger than ever — vanquishing old political foes, positioning their allies for a November takeover of the state Legislature, and leaving little doubt as to who is winning a vicious civil war to control the state party.
In race after race, more moderate conservative incumbents were trounced by candidates backed by Dunn and Wilks. Their political network made good on its vows for vengeance against House Republicans who voted to impeach their key state ally, Attorney General Ken Paxton, advancing more firebrands who campaigned against bipartisanship and backed anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Tuesday’s election also paved the way for the likely passage of legislation that would allow taxpayer money to fund private and religious schools — a key policy goal for a movement that seeks to infuse more Christianity into public life.
All told, 11 of the 28 House candidates supported by the two billionaires won their primaries outright, and another eight are headed to runoffs this May. And, in a sign of how much the state party has moved rightward, five of their candidates beat incumbents in rematches from 2022 or 2020 — with some House districts swinging by double-digits in their favor. Of the candidates they backed, they donated $75,000 or more to 11 of them — six who won, and four who went to runoffs.
Among the triumphant on Tuesday was Mitch Little, aided by at least $153,000 in Dunn and Wilks cash, who defeated Rep. Kronda Thimesch in a campaign that focused on Little’s defense of Paxton from impeachment charges in the Senate trial last summer. Three days before he won, Little appeared at an event in Denton County with Paxton and, among others, Steve Bannon, the political operative who helped rally the far right behind then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016.
And another Dunn and Wilks candidate, David Covey, stunned the state by winning more votes than House Speaker Dade Phelan — the No. 1 target of the state’s far-right in part because of his role in the Paxton impeachment and refusal to ban Democrats from House leadership positions. Phelan now faces a runoff from Covey and the prospect of being the first Texas Speaker since 1972 to lose his primary.
This election cycle, the billionaires’ targets also overlapped with Gov. Greg Abbott, who poured more than $6 million into his quest to rid the Texas House of Republicans who defied his calls for school voucher legislation last year.
Meanwhile, Paxton barnstormed the state as he sought retribution against incumbents who supported his impeachment. And, perhaps most importantly, former President Donald Trump was active in many contests — following the lead of Paxton and his other ally, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and offering late endorsements that bolstered right-wing candidates.
We can’t wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas’ breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.
Here’s how the special election to replace Ken Buck will work in Colorado
Lauren Boebert indicates she will not compete in special election
BY: SARA WILSON - MARCH 13, 2024 5:01 PM
https://coloradonewsline.com/2024/03/13/special-election-to-replace-ken-buck-colorado/
Colorado voters in the 4th Congressional District will vote in two separate elections on June 25: the congressional primary for November’s general election, as well as a special election to immediately replace Republican Rep. Ken Buck, who announced on Tuesday that he is resigning and leaving Congress nine months ahead of schedule.It could add confusion to the a competitive and crowded race in Colorado’s Eastern Plains.
Buck had already announced his intention to retire and not seek reelection this year, but he surprised the political world this week by announcing that he would leave Congress on March 22, versus sticking around until the end of his term.
That sets off a seldom-used process to fill a congressional vacancy via special election that, according to a decision announced by Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday, will coincide with the June 25 congressional primary election. The winner of that special election will fill the remaining months of Buck’s term, but would still need to win the party’s nomination that day and then the general election in November to secure a full term in Congress.
Each party will convene a special convention made up of party insiders to select one nominee for the special election. According to state statute, those special conventions need to happen within 20 days of the governor issuing a formal order for the special election, which hasn’t technically happened yet.
The 4th District leans more Republican than any in the state, so whoever wins the special Republican nomination will likely go on to win the special election, and whoever wins the Republican primary will likely go on to win the general election.
That opens up a couple possibilities: The district will be represented by the same person from June 25 onward because they win both elections, or the winner of the special election will hand the seat off to the winner of the general election — almost certainly the winner of the Republican primary — early next year.
The state Democratic Party said on Tuesday night that it will hold its special convention no later than April 1. The convention will include the district’s central committee members and all the precinct organizers in the district. Ike McCorkle and John Padora have both signaled they will seek the Democratic special nomination.
The state Republican Party has not yet made its special convention plans public and leaders did not reply to requests for comment Wednesday. That gathering will involve officers of the congressional district and the county chairmen in the district, according to party bylaws. The state party’s assembly, where delegates will pick candidates to appear on the primary ballot, is already set for April 5 in Pueblo.
Nine Republicans were vying for the Republican nomination in the district before Buck’s early retirement announcement: current 3rd Congressional District Rep. Lauren Boebert, former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, state Reps. Mike Lynch and Richard Holtorf, conservative radio host Deborah Flora, former state lawmaker Ted Harvey, businessman Chris Phelen, businessman Peter Yu and Justin Schreiber.
Those candidates can all put themselves forward to be considered for the special election nomination.
Sonnenberg, Flora and Harvey have all indicated they will pursue the nomination.
“This new vacancy doesn’t change my race, nor my commitment to proving to Republicans voters why I am the strongest conservative voice to serve them in Washington. I look forward to earning this nomination and getting to D.C. as soon as possible,” Sonnenberg wrote in a statement.
Flora wrote in her own statement that the district can’t afford a “placeholder” between Buck’s retirement and the new term next year.
Holtorf has not indicated if he will seek the special nomination, but he called Buck’s decision a “selfish move” that will “potentially create bias during the election cycle” in a statement Tuesday.
Boebert, however, will not seek the special nomination. If she wins the special election, she would have to resign her current position representing the 3rd District, setting off a vacancy process in that district.
“I will not further imperil the already very slim House Republican majority by resigning my current seat and will continue to deliver on my constituents’ priorities while also working hard to earn the votes of the people of Colorado’s 4th District who have made clear they are hungry for a real conservative,” she said in a statement.
She called Buck’s announcement a “swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election.”
With Buck’s resignation, the GOP’s majority in the U.S. House of Representatives will shrink to 218-213.
The 4th District includes most of Douglas County and the Eastern Plains.
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STL Post article about vouchers - read me first
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/expansion-of-school-vouchers-charters-on-tap-for-debate-in-missouri-senate/article_c0976038-dbe3-11ee-b39d-cfac2843deb4.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_stltoday
All the Missouri Bills - nothing too crazy mostly vouchers expansionhttps://legiscan.com/MO/pending/house-elementary-secondary-education-committee/id/2228
https://www.heathersfleming.com/
https://www.missouriequity.com/
https://www.missouriequityaction.com/blog-3-1/legislative-update-31024
@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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TALKIN’ POLITICS
True Or FalseKatie Britt…https://www.axios.com/2024/03/08/katie-britt-biden-state-of-the-union-responseSen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) gave a rebuke of President Biden's border and immigration policies in her Republican State of the Union response from her home.Why it matters: The speech from the freshman senator is a stark example of how Republicans continue to make immigration and border security their top election year issue.Britt also took aim at Biden's economic record, hitting the president on inflation after he trumpeted wins on the economy in his speech.The Alabama senator criticized Biden's foreign policy even as he led his State of the Union with pushing Republicans to pass aid to Ukraine.Yeah…NoNo Labels is all in https://www.axios.com/2024/03/08/no-labels-2024-presidential-ticket
Yeah… Yeah!New Method for student loan benefits through employmenthttps://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2024/01/25/employers-can-now-match-student-loans-with-retirement-contributions/?sh=2cf4d479a331Employers Can Now Match Student Loans With Retirement ContributionsThe SECURE 2.0 Act includes a range of benefits meant to help consumers boost their retirement savings, and some of the most prominent changes have to do with required minimum distributions (RMDs), automatic enrollments in retirement plans and 529 to Roth plan rollovers. The passage of this act also makes it possible for employers to reward their workers with contributions to retirement accounts that are based on how much they pay toward student loans.MEANWHILE Millenial and GenZ feeling the pinch into adulthoodhttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/millennial-gen-z-employees-admit-being-distracted-work-because-rgrwc/One in four of the country’s more than 129 million privately employed workers have student loan debt, and now that student loan payments have resumed for the first time in three years, employees are increasingly looking to their employers for help.As a result, benefits that address student loan debt and education expenses specifically will go from being a nice-to-have to a need-to-have benefit for employers to offer.
Buy/SellSinema’s retirement is good for the Dem’s Senate hopes in 2024https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/03/05/congress/sinema-not-running-00144995Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she will not run for reelection this year, setting up a race between Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake to succeed her.The first-term senator, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent, said she believes in her deal-making approach to politics, "but it's not what America wants right now."2024 Election EraBiden’s unfair pricing strike force: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/05/biden-strike-force-unfair-illegal-pricesBiden on the offensive: https://www.axios.com/2024/03/05/biden-new-strategy-attack-trump-2024-electionCame through in the SOTUTone was strong: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/03/08/bidens_state_of_the_union_address_strikes_campaign_tone.htmlPerformance was downright RNC new leadership - which is a technical title not a statement of their powerhttps://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4519117-rnc-elects-leadership-michael-whatley-lara-trump/GOP members driven out with Trumps appointment of Trumphttps://www.rawstory.com/gop-exodus-lara-trump/
The Trump/Haley/Biden voter?https://www.semafor.com/article/03/08/2024/the-man-behind-haley-voters-for-biden-on-his-post-primary-pivotTrump mocking Biden’s stutter on Saturdayhttps://www.rawstory.com/trump-rally-biden-stutter/FBI says GOP big witness in Biden probe was using his position as personalBenefit while making up stories to keep his special situation https://www.rawstory.com/biden-witness-lies/Last Call
The world with NEITHER - The CoDependents of Trump & Biden
Biden and Trump are codependents https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trump-biden-codependency-theyre-so-weak-theyd-lose-to-virtually-anyone-else-6b9899fa?mod=opinion_lead_pos9Project 2025 seems to be a perfect microcosm of this phenomenonhttps://www.semafor.com/article/03/08/2024/how-project-2025-became-the-biden-campaigns-favorite-target
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A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:
State of the state of the union; Wisconsin fake electors foiled; Missouri water threatened; Alabama IVF protection law; Missouri private school horror; the ugly reality of school choice; Florida MAGA gator chomped; Iowa lawmakers funds to feed kids… wait sorry Iowa Lawmakers paying to arm teachers
SOURCES Missouri independent, the heartland collective, associated press, axios, nbc news, the Des Moines register
SOTU Quick reactions: Wisconsin Fake Elector Scheme Exposes The Underbelly Of The 2020 Schemehttps://apnews.com/article/electors-trump-settlement-ballot-2020-wisconsin-f416cd04adfa9f92c382b7c9e8a94ce7?taid=65e5f72999a0eb0001ff36b9&utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=TwitterMissouri Waterways https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/06/missouri-bill-would-slash-state-regulations-over-small-streams-and-major-aquifers/Missouri bill would slash state regulations over small streams and major aquifers Critics say the legislation debated Tuesday could jeopardize the state’s groundwater and 136,000 miles of streamsAlabama Governor Signs IVF Protection Bill That Shouldn’t Have Been Necessaryhttps://www.axios.com/2024/03/07/alabama-ivf-fertility-protection-billAlabama Senator silent on if embryos are children https://t.co/lzmTr37K9rMissouri christian boarding school founders charged with kidnappinghttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/missouri-christian-boarding-school-founder-wife-charged-kidnapping-rep-rcna141716?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=65e64b6d17ae0900010956b2&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitterSecret Recording Exposes What We Already Know About The School Choice Lobbyhttps://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/revealed/revealed-secret-recording-shows-school-voucher-proponent-talking-of-public-hangings-of-lawmakersAppeals Court Tells Florida MAGA “NOPE”https://www.axios.com/2024/03/05/florida-stop-woke-act-appeals-court-blockA federal appeals court in Florida blocked enforcement of employer provisions in a law state Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) dubbed the "Stop WOKE Act" in a unanimous ruling on Monday. The big picture: In upholding an earlier ruling, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in an opinion Monday said the legislation "exceeds the bounds of the First Amendment." It stems from a lawsuit filed by several Florida businesses challenging the act, also known as HB7, which would prevent them from requiring workers to attend workplace training promoting diversity and inclusion.DeSantis administration officials argue the law is designed to prevent indoctrination in workplaces and schools and have indicated they may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the decision Details: "This is not the first era in which Americans have held widely divergent views on important areas of morality, ethics, law, and public policy," the appeals court ruling states.Iowa Spending Tax Dollars To Arm Teachers, But Won’t Feed Kidshttps://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/06/iowa-house-panel-advances-3-million-grant-program-for-schools-that-arm-staff-buy-guns-teachers/72868745007/Iowa House lawmakers are pushing through a bill that would provide $3 million to pay for training for school districts that choose to arm staff members and could be used to buy guns for school employees.The legislation, House Study Bill 692, is part of a larger bill with other school safety requirements. It is meant to complement a separate measure House lawmakers passed last week that would allow teachers and other school staff to obtain a professional permit to carry guns on school grounds, and provide them with legal immunity for the use of reasonable force.Both bills are part of Republicans' legislative response to a deadly shooting at Perry High School in January.@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads
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Talkin’ Politics
SCOTUS Highly Predictable Let Down
The US supreme court issued its decision in the Trump/Colorado ballot case by now you’ve certainly herald about it - the court issued it’s per curium opinion on Monday, March 4th and since then the reactions have been about as expected, most folks on the left are pissed and Trump thinks he won reelection basically so let’s start thereRachel: What was your reaction and what thoughts did it leave you with?The opinion: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-719_19m2.pdfHolding: This case raises the question whether the States, in addition to Congress, may also enforce Section 3. We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency. Interesting blog from Balls And Strikes a really well written legal and politics blog posted a piece with this headline: The Liberal Justices Backed Down From the Fighthttps://ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/trump-colorado-case-what-are-the-liberal-justices-doing/Though the outcome in Anderson was a foregone conclusion, the question was just how much incredulous dissent it would elicit. The answer, unfortunately, is basically none. After including a few turns of phrase that are recognizable as barbs only by columnists with an unfortunate affinity for Supreme Court palace intrigue, even the liberal justices, for some godforsaken reason, agreed to help write part of the Constitution out of existence.This all happens as SCOTUS announces Trump’s immunity case won’t be on the docket until April 22nd which as we all know means more delays in any possible criminal casesSUPER TUESDAY IS HAPPENING
16 States are voting, counting is happening as we record
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/05/politics/states-voting-super-tuesday-dg/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/03/politics/what-to-know-super-tuesday-what-matters/index.html
“The primaries at stake include the first three states in the alphabet, as any schoolkid should be able to tell you: Alabama, Alaska (for Republicans) and Arkansas. In addition, there are California and Colorado; Maine, Massachusetts and Minnesota; North Carolina; Oklahoma; Tennessee and Texas; Utah; and Vermont and Virginia.
Tuesday also marks the end of Democrats’ mail-in presidential preference process in Iowa, and a Democratic caucus in American Samoa.”
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On this episode of The Heartland POD, for Monday,March 4, 2024 - Missouri senators attack innocent manAlabama Supreme Court race draws major money; Missouri Gov parson plays favorites, again; Starbucks unionization ; Joe Manchin catches up to reality; Trumps immunity case ; 2024 election coverage era rolls on and Trump has a short list for VP.
PLUS a last call preview
SHOW NOTES
TALKIN’ POLITICS
True or False: Missouri’s freedom caucus Senators owe a major apologyhttps://missouriindependent.com/2024/02/29/wrongly-accused-kansas-city-shooting-defamation-missouri/Two weeks after a photo of Denton Loudermill became fodder for right-wing social media posts, he’s speaking to defamation attorneys about how to restore his reputationAt a Freedom Caucus news conference last week, state Sen. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville said he and the others who shared the false information had nothing to apologize for.“There’s nothing that I see even worth that,” Brattin said when asked if he planned to apologize. “We’ve done nothing and, you know, I have no comment.”The total refusal to apologize, or acknowledge any wrongdoing, infuriated Loudermill and the attorney who has been working with him to clear his name.
Yeah… NOMega donors show up in Alabama supreme court racehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/29/anti-abortion-donors-alabama-supreme-court-raceBonus Yeah No Mo Gov commutes sentence of rich connected white dude https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article286148601.html
Yeah Yeah! Your starbys order is now union madehttps://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-02-29/starbucks-union-negotiations-are-the-end-of-howard-schultz-erahttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/business/economy/starbucks-workers-united-union.htmlStarbucks and the union that represents employees in roughly 400 of its U.S. stores announced Tuesday that they were beginning discussions on a “foundational framework” that would help the company reach labor agreements with unionized workers and resolve litigation between the two sides.The union greeted the development as a major shift in strategy for Starbucks, which has taken steps to resist union organizing at the company since the campaign began in 2021, moves that federal labor regulators have said violated labor law hundreds of times.Ya don’t Fuckin Sayhttps://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4501748-manchin-on-no-labels-they-need-to-take-a-hard-look-about-whether-they-will-be-a-spoiler/Joe Manchin says what we have all known for months. Buy/Sell: Trump Immunity Case Is The Main Story of 2024https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-decide-trumps-immunity-claim-election-interference-case-rcna139026The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to decide whether former President Donald Trump can claim presidential immunity over criminal election interference charges, adding a new hurdle to a trial taking place.The court said in a brief order it would hear arguments and issue a ruling on the immunity claim. In the meantime, the case is on hold, meaning no trial can take place.The order said the court would hear the case, which could take months to resolve, the week of April 22. That timeline allows for a ruling by the end of the court's regular term in June, which is faster than is typical when the court hears arguments but not as fast as prosecutors wanted it to be.https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/28/how-the-supreme-court-just-threw-trumps-2024-trial-schedule-into-turmoil-00144043
2024 Election Era Is Biden’s Michigan Problem A Media Creation or a Serious Issue? https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/28/politics/biden-michigan-vulnerabilities-israel-gaza/index.htmlhttps://newrepublic.com/article/179386/media-overhyping-uncommitted-threat-bidenBorder Wars https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-biden-border-election-news-02-29-24/index.htmlTrump’s Increasing Money Pithttps://www.cnn.com/2024/02/28/politics/donald-trump-appeals-court-new-york/index.htmlAlleged VP list for Trumphttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/mar/1/trump-puts-texas-gov-greg-abbott-on-vp-shortlist/
The Biden Replacement Debate continues, but is it just noise at this point? https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2895228/liberal-pundits-debate-biden-replacement-scenarios/Delegate counts https://www.google.com/search?q=democratic+primary&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS901US901&oq=democratic+primary+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRhAMgYIAhBFGDsyBggDEEUYPNIBCDMzOTlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8ABC election center: https://abcnews.go.com/electionsI am begrudgingly including this AXE piece: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/opinions/biden-trump-michigan-primary-revealed-secret-axelrod/index.html
LAST CALL
I disagree to agree but I am not disagreeable
Esther Perel on Pivot
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