Category: Businesses / Corporations / Industry

Got a Republican State Legislature? Watch out carefully for this…

This is an opinion piece that contains news, and cites. Also, all Republicans are not Magas, but they’re still Republicans. This is important.

Lawmakers plan brazen power grab, pushing aside Kansas voters and Gov. Laura Kelly

Snippet (it’s not a long piece, and it’s full of info.)

Let’s be clear about what Kansas Republican legislative leaders are doing with their planned overhaul of budgeting: They are launching a personal and political power grab against Gov. Laura Kelly.

They have never accepted or respected her mandate. Despite Kelly winning a second term and having two years left to go, they have continually attempted to usurp the executive branch’s authority. They have tried a constitutional amendment and prohibiting her ability to negotiate Medicaid contracts. Now they’re going after her yearly state budget proposal.

Usually, the Legislature begins its yearly budget process with a proposal from the governor. Her office submits it when lawmakers arrive for the annual session, in January. Now an interim committee wants to start the process earlier, as soon as October of the previous year.

In this new process, the governor’s budget would be a suggestion, not a starting point.

And never mind that it’s a direct attack on Kelly. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, assured the audience that these changes had nothing to do with the governor.

“This process has nothing to do with the governor,” he said at the meeting earlier this month, according to Kansas Reflector reporter Tim Carpenter. “If you’re going to focus on the governor, probably not the wisest thing to do, because this process has happened over time with many, many different governors.”

He was contradicted by Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, who let the proverbial cat out of the figurative bag.

“You’ll have a Republican governor, for example, or somebody you trust, and you trust the administration to build the budgets, and then you kind of rubber stamp stuff,” Masterson said. “And, then, you switch, and you have (the) opposition party and then there’s all that same power.”

Oh. So it’s like that, then.

(snip-More; also a vid of the sausage becoming sausage)

The Road to Splitsville AND THE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN TRASHING ICONIC BUILDINGS GOES TO…

Written in Wonkette style. Must be read! It’s not long. It’s jaw-droppingly appalling. Not the article, the subject of it.

by Rebecca Schoenkopf Read on Substack

How do we know we’re on the Road to Splitsville (and possibly headed to a political and legal separation of the red states and the blue), and not on some other thoroughfare, like the Highway to Hell or the Boulevard of Broken Dreams? We know, because such a Split would be absurd and grotesque. But the red states are Republican states, and the Republican Party is the Donald Trump Party, and the fans of Donald Trump love the absurd and eat the grotesque with a fucking spoon.

Speaking of which: what are you doing on September 5?

If you’ve got some time, and $2,500 (per individual) to spare, you could join Christ-knows-how-many dipshits, ghouls, imbeciles, and traitors at—we kid you not—the “J6 Awards Gala,” to be held at Donald Trump’s golf club-cum-Ex Sematary in Bedminster, N.J. Go alone, with your significant other, or rope together eleven of your chums and snag a table for 12. Yes, 12 x $2,500 = $30,000 but, because this a Donald Trump-related production, the actual cost of a table for 12 is a cool $50,000. But think of th—

What? You have a question? (snip-a bit more, well worth the click. You can read if you’re not a subscriber.)

“Proving them wrong”: After raising minimum wage, California has more fast-food jobs than ever

In April, California fast-food workers went from earning $15.50 per hour to $20 per hour

By Ashlie D. Stevens

Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the state’s fast-food minimum wage increase into law, which meant that employees at fast-food restaurants in the state went from making $15.50 per hour to $20 per hour. While the decision was lauded by many labor activists as part of broader efforts to improve working conditions and address wage disparities, some economists and fast-food industry members expressed concern over how the law would impact restaurants’ operating costs, which could result in reduced hours for workers or even job cuts. 

However, according to new state and federal employment data, California’s fast-food industry has added jobs every month this year — including 11,000 new jobs since the wage increase officially went into effect in April. For instance, in May of 2023, there were 742,600 fast-food workers in the state; a year later, there were 743,300 workers. 

According to a release from Newsom’s office last week, since raising worker wages, every month this year has seen consistent fast food job gains, and nearly each month has seen more jobs than the same month last year.

“What’s good for workers is good for business, and as California’s fast food industry continues booming every single month our workers are finally getting the pay they deserve,” Newsom said in a written statement. “Despite those who pedaled [sic] lies about how this would doom the industry, California’s economy and workers are again proving them wrong.”

CO2 pipeline setback: South Dakota Supreme Court rules in landowners’ favor

by Skylar Tallal Fri, August 23rd 2024 at 10:30 PM

DES MOINES, Iowa — Summit Carbon Solutions is facing a set back in its proposed CO2 pipeline project, as the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled in favor of landowners who sued to keep Summit from surveying their land.

It’s a reversal of a lower court decision, with the state’s high court now claiming it’s premature to categorize Summit as a ‘common carrier’ for public utility. It’s something Summit needs to be able to prove before it can use eminent domain.

“One of our main arguments is that Summit’s not a common carrier,” Jess Mazour the conservation program coordinator with the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter said. “So it really does change the game here in Iowa as well.”

Summit can’t start building its pipelines in Iowa until it gets approval in North and South Dakota.

The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter calls the decision a victory for landowners. Even though the Iowa Utilities Commission isn’t taking up the club’s reconsideration request, the club is moving forward with its plan to take the fight to court.

“We now have precedent on our side and we’re going to have a strong base for when we file our appeal in district court,” Mazour said.

A similar court case is already on the books in Iowa, with Iowa’s highest court set to hear oral arguments October 8 at the state capitol.

“A landowner in Hardin County, Kent, he was sued for denying Summit access to his land and we are fighting that and also challenging Iowa’s survey law,” Mazour said.

Eminent Domain has been a major issue in Iowa over the last few years. Some Iowa lawmakers joined the pipeline opposition but haven’t been successful in their efforts to change state laws.

The topic is also coming up on the campaign trail, specifically in Iowa’s congressional races.

Congressional Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) Iowa said carbon capture pipelines make sense for Iowa.

“So the carbon capture pipeline is only meant to lower the carbon intensity score of ethanol which makes it competitive globally,” Rep. Miller-Meeks said.

She said while eminent domain is a state issue, she hopes there will only be a limited number of landowners who don’t sign on voluntarily.

“Farmers and property owners need to look at the why the rationale and then determine if it’s in their best interest,” Rep. Miller-Meeks said. “Companies that are acquiring easements are looking at how do you make the land whole. How do you ensure farmers that you can grow crops in the near future?”

Iowa’s News Now did reach out to Summit for comment didn’t hear back.

https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/south-dakota-supreme-court-rules-in-landowners-favor-set-back-for-co2-pipelines

Fox talking heads and skin color

Yesterday in the news. Thanks to Joe My God for the posts I linked to here. This was my morning reading.

Texas Ran Out Of Migrants To Bus Into Blue Cities
New Poll Shows Harris +25 Among Arizona Hispanics
Read the full article. Arizona has the largest Hispanic population of any battleground state
Felon To Host Gala Fundraiser Honoring J6 “Hostages”
Felon Says He’s Refusing To Receive Intel Briefings Because Deep State Will Frame Him By Leaking Info
“Undercover” Lindell Brutally Owned By Child At DNC
Lindell has been spotted at the United Center wandering around in a fedora to “investigate” gender-neutral bathrooms and peddle his baseless election conspiracy theories. On Wednesday, the pillowmonger got into a verbal altercation with Knowa De Brasco, a 12-year-old activist who was there supporting Kamala Harris.
Read the full article. Watch all of the LOL clips.
NY Court Urged To Uphold Felon’s $485M Judgment
SCOTUS Upholds New AZ Law On Registering To Vote
Read the full article. Almost all voters register using the state form. As of last month, only 42,000 Arizonans are registered to vote via the federal form.
Felon Claims He Was Queen’s “Favorite President”
According to a coming biography, Queen Elizabeth told others that she found Trump “very rude” and that he always seemed to be looking over her shoulder “as if he was looking for someone more interesting.”

The book further claims that the Queen believed that Trump and Melania must have “some kind of special arrangement,” considering his flagrant serial adultery.
Trump Crime Family To Launch Cryptocurrency Platform
Pastor Convicted Of Criminally Harassing Drag Events
Read the full article.
Sentencing will be determined next week.
As you can see below, Reimer’s first arrest last year resulted in a money beg from a major right wing Canadian outlet.
Reimer’s previous non-drag related convictions resulted in sentences totally nearly three years.
Arkansas Supreme Court Rejects Abortion Initiative
Election officials said Arkansans for Limited Government failed to comply with state law primarily because it submitted documentation regarding paid signature gatherers separately and not in a single bundle.

As I said last month, it appears that the office of Secretary of State John Thurston [photo] deliberately withheld the above-cited rule about petition bundling. Thurston was a pastor before entering politics.
Project 2025 Head Floats RFK To Run The CDC Or FDA
Newsmax: Harris Vs Trump Polls Are “Election Meddling”
Felon Dodges After Fox Asks If He’s Afraid That Taylor Swift Will Sue Him For Posting Fake AI Endorsement
Gov. Tim Walz Delivers Rousing Acceptance Speech
Bill Clinton At DNC: Trump Creates And Curates Chaos
Buttigieg At DNC: Trump/Vance Are “Selling Darkness”
I knew he’d knock it out of the park.
Oprah At DNC: Decency And Respect Are On The Ballot
Walz’s Son Brings Nation To Tears: “That’s My Dad!”
Michigan AG To GOP And SCOTUS: “You Can Pry This Wedding Band From My Cold, Dead, Gay Hand” [Video]
“I got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the United States Supreme Court. You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay, hand. And I’m retaining a lot of water, so good luck with that.” – Michigan AG Dana Nessel, last night.

Classic Tom the Dancing Bug

Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for August 22, 2024

Tom the Dancing Bug Comic Strip for August 22, 2024

https://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2024/08/22

How the Inflation Reduction Act sparked a manufacturing and clean energy boom

Some 271 manufacturing projects for clean energy tech and electric vehicles have been announced since the IRA passed.

Aug. 20, 2024, 7:22 AM CDT / Source: CNBC

By Spencer Kimball, CNBC and Gabriel Cortés, CNBC

The Inflation Reduction Act has sparked a manufacturing boom across the U.S., mobilizing tens of billions of dollars of investment, particularly in rural communities in need of economic development.

The future of those investments could hinge on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. The prospect of a Republican victory has shaken the confidence of some investors who worry the IRA could be weakened or in a worst-case scenario repealed.

Companies have announced $133 billion of investments in clean energy technology and electric vehicle manufacturing since President Joe Biden signed the IRA into law in August 2022, according to data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Rhodium Group.

Actual manufacturing investment has totaled $89 billion, an increase of 305% compared to the two years prior to the IRA, according to MIT and Rhodium. Overall, the IRA has leveraged half a trillion dollars of investment across the manufacturing, energy and retail sectors, according to the data.

“It is having a transformative effect within the manufacturing sector,” said Trevor Houser, a partner with the Rhodium Group. “The amount of new manufacturing activity that we’re seeing right now is unprecedented in recent history, and is in large part due to new clean energy manufacturing facilities.”

Some 271 manufacturing projects for clean energy tech and electric vehicles have been announced since the IRA passed, which will create more than 100,000 jobs if they are all completed, according to the advocacy group E2, a partner of the National Resources Defense Council. The investments sparked by the IRA have been a boon for rural communities in particular, Houser said.

“Unlike investment in AI and tech and finance, which is clustered in big cities, clean energy investment really is concentrated in rural communities, and is one of the brightest sources of new investment in those areas,” Houser said.

The IRA has also accelerated the deployment of renewable energy, with $108 billion in invested in utility-scale solar and battery storage projects. Investments in solar and battery storage have surged 56% and 130%, respectively, over the past two years, according to the Rhodium data.

“The more mature technologies, so like wind and solar generation, electric vehicles, those have achieved escape velocity,” Houser said. “They will continue to grow no matter what. It’s a question of speed.”

Trump threats to IRA

But the “manufacturing renaissance” is still in its early stages and remains fragile, Houser said. Without the IRA, the resurgence of new factories would not have taken off, said Chris Seiple, vice chairman of Wood Mackenzie’s power and renewables group.

Former President Donald Trump has threatened to dismantle the law as he advocates for more oil, gas and coal production.

“Upon taking office, I will impose an immediate moratorium on all new spending grants and giveaways under the Joe Biden mammoth socialist bills like the so-called Inflation Reduction Act,” Trump told supporters at a May rally in Wisconsin.

“We’re going to terminate his green new scam,” he said. “And we’re going to end this war on American energy — we’re going to drill, baby, drill.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/energy/inflation-reduction-act-sparked-manufacturing-clean-energy-boom-rcna167315

Peace & Justice History for 8/20:

August 20, 1619
The first enslaved Africans brought to North America arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, aboard a Dutch ship.
________________________________________________________
August 20, 1964
A nearly $1 billion (about $5 billion in current dollars) anti-poverty measure, the Economic Opportunity Act, which created Head Start, VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America), and other programs that became part of the “War on Poverty,” was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.


Sargent Shriver & LBJ
Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, drafted the legislation and became director of the Office of Equal Opportunity which implemented the new law. The “Great Society” 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryaugust.htm#august20

Actually not that funny…

but it kinda is.

Close to Home by John McPherson for August 19, 2024

Close to Home Comic Strip for August 19, 2024

https://www.gocomics.com/closetohome/2024/08/19