Category: Economics / Economy / Income / Financial

Happening now…

Happening now…

In 1 minute, a senate committee in Kansas will be holding a hearing to ban gender affirming care up to the age of 21.

It is one of the most cruel anti-trans bans in the country.

I will be covering it live. Follow along.

🧵

As always, I rely on people like you to do my work. Please consider subscribing to support me at my newsletter, where you'll get over 200 articles focusing on trans news around legislation and life moving across the United States per year.

https://erininthemorn.substack.com/

You can follow along with me and watch the hearing here:

The bill is SB12.

We are beginning now.

Looks like the bill has been shifted to SB233, which has some differences in penalties.

Aaaand of course we have Chloe Cole.

You’d think if they are swimming in detransitioners they’d be able to find more than the same 5 they bring to every one of these.

Political Detransitioners like Chloe Cole really are the new ex-gays.

They used to trot the ex gays out before each hearing too for bans on gay marriage and conversion therapy.

https://erininthemorn.substack.com/p/political-detransitioners-are-the

"I have to remove my hair with laser hair removal"

(advocates for a bill that will force hundreds of trans amab youth through a male puberty which will result in them having to go through laser hair removal and expensive surgeries as adults)

This guy is testifying from "Mass Resistance."

This organization is responsible for a book called "The Hazards of Homosexuality," a pro-conversion therapy outlet that calls gay people's existance a "public health issue"

Like I said. The new ex gays, folks.

This is one of their main invited testimonies.

See Mass Resistance here:

https://www.massresistance.org/AboutUs.html

And we have our first "the testimony of Jamie Reed" in Washington University at St Louis.

I have a point by point refutation of Jamie.

https://erininthemorn.substack.com/p/missouri-anti-trans-whistleblower

Dr. Gaylyn Perry is speaking not on behalf of any medical organization.

She’s a pulmonologist, not an endocrinologist.

She’s a sleep therapist.

Also she's stating that Europe is "closing its clinics."

Not a single country she is referring to has categorically banned gender affirming care.

From the Alabama lawsuit, relying on Europe helped sink that bill in court:

"No country in Europe has categorically banned gender affirming care"

Now a retired doctor is testifying.

“I’m here to speak the truth about natural law and the truth given to us by our savior.”

This is not medically oriented testimony and his belief in god should have no bearing on the right of parents to make decisions for their kids.

This doctor is using the old 2011 study of "19x suicide rates" among trans people.

This is an inaccurate reading of the Dhejne study, who has specifically come out against people reading it that way:

Essentially, they are comparing a specific high risk group trans people to the general public, and not to trans people with no interventions, and it was also looking at a 30 year retrospective during some of the worst acceptance of trans people in history. (1980s)

A representative of the Kansas American Academy of Pediatrics with 450 physicians in Kansas.

She’s saying that this decision should be between doctors and patients and families.

The ACLU of KS representative is speaking.

"This bill violates the constitutional rights of children, parents, and doctors"

“It places politicians feelings against medical advice of hundreds of thousands of doctors”

"Every state attempting to defend these bills has lost"

“People will die. Families will suffer. The practice of medicine will be compromised.”

“The very care this bill attacks is responsible for my life.”

Another trans person, a trans man, is speaking.

He was on puberty blockers til 17, and took testosterone.

“College was much easier after I had my medical interventions to be my true self.”

“I can’t imagine such a life without them.”

A WPATH Doctor is speaking.

“This bill will directly impact the lives of transgender youth, directly impacting lives. Their blood will be on your hands. This is unethical.”

"For a minor to access gender affirming care, I ensure in collaboration with mental health experts assess the consistent, insistent, and persistent presence of gender dysphoria and require consent from parents" and she talks about all of the hoops patients have to jump through.

Reverend Kayla Simons Wood is speaking on behalf of Kansas Interaction.

Submits testimony from 10 clergy opposing this bill.

“I and many other Christians believe trans people are created in Gods image.”

Beth Oller:

“I provide full spectrum care from babies to end of life and I provide gender affirming care. I am an actual practicing Kansas physician.”

“The majority of people detransition not because they are not trans, but because of violence and difficulties with family”

"We need to listen to their perspective rather than the curated presentation in front of you"

Senator Stephen is asking Dr. Hubbard, a WPATH doctor, a question.

"Ms. Hubbard, Are you telling me the AAP unwaiveringly supports surgical interventions"

Dr. Hubbard: “I would appreciate it if you refer to me as Dr. Hubbard, please.”

Then points out that the treatments are tailored to the individuals.

Questioner: "Can you tell me where from Kansas you received your gender affirming care?"

"I'm not from Kansas…"

Questioner: "Is this the first time you've testified?"

"No…"

Asking Dr Crabs:

"Your testimony was from the 1980s about transgender suicides. So not current. Can I ask you where you practiced?"

"I did not practice here"

"can you verify you had a license in kansas?"

The chair cut her off.

Now a Senator is asking Dr. Beth Oller where she works (one of the people against the bill):

The doctor responds she works in Kansas.

Strongly pointing out that all of the people in support of the bill are coming from out of state.

Now a Senator is asking one of the trans man transitioners if he was given all of the info around his transition.

He answers in the affirmative.

Now they are asking a question of one of the detransitioners,

"Do you believe you were groomed into the decision to transition?"

“I don’t believe in using that word… it’s too divisive…”

This hearing isn't going super well for them.

(They'll probably still vote it through)

ACLU witness:

“I am referring to the 1.3 million doctors that are represented by the medical organizations that support this care.”

This Senator is claiming puberty blockers and HRT are causing early onset cancer.

There’s no evidence of any sort of outbreak of early onset cancer in trans youth.

Asked of the AAP representative if the majority supports gender affirming care in their chapter.

She testifies yes, most of the 450 do.

Now she is asking about the Missouri whistleblower.

“A radical supporter of the far left has blown the whistle”

“Are there other areas of medical practice where the child directs their health care?”

The doctor: “Everything the child is involved in, but the child themselves does not direct gender diverse issues. It’s parents, doctors”

The doctor in the zoom call wanted to jump in and answer, but the chair cut the committee short and immediately adjourned.

I guess we're done for the day?

That was abrupt.

I have never seen such a rushed hearing with so few witnesses called forward… what the heck did I just see?

Sorry to those of you who showed up to testify who didn't get to.

Well… thanks for following along. We'll watch to see how they vote. Please support my independent reporting and activism by subscribing.

http://erininthemorn.substack.com

Originally tweeted by Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) on February 14, 2023.

Fox News Host Blames Bank Collapse On Pride Month

Fox News Host Blames Bank Collapse On Pride Month

Longpole2 hours ago

He is covering up for Trumps deregulation of banking reforms that began after the 2008 crash.

Gigian hour ago

The bank collapsed because the Trump administration weakened Obama era banking regulations, which allowed it to take on more risk so the CEO and shareholders would make more money.

But ya, blaming it on Pride sounds “scarier” and more plausible to conservatives.

☘️Uncle Mark’s Lucky Charms2 hours ago

Y’all know that if this bank was based in a red state, these reich-wing babbling-heads would be blaming the Fed (“under the malicious direction of Pres Biden”) for raising interests rates and “targeting red state banks.”

Their rhetoric is so tired & predictable.

weshlovrcm2 hours ago

Woke = Compassion, caring, sympathy/empathy and love.

jk1052 hours ago edited

I hear most employees at this bank are white heterosexuals. If we must engage in a culture war over what is a banking regulation issues, why don’t we blame its failure on white heterosexuals?

Paul L.2 hours ago

Yes, yes, it was definitely the pride activities and not Peter Thiel spurring a run on the bank by withdrawing all his money.

There are very few banks that’ll survive a run, because they’re not built to.

Basically, Peter Thiel had enough money there personally, along with some other people that he had strong influence with, to basically be a run all on its own. The bank, on the other hand, was *mostly* okay. It had weathered the current financial climate a bit worse than others, because it wasn’t diversified, but it wasn’t in an eminent collapse situation.

It’s like someone tripping and being a little unsteady, but pretty likely to regain balance. You can help them up, or even ignore them, with little consequence, because once they have their balance bank things are back to normal. Or you can give them a push, and then they may never get their balance back.

Peter Thiel saw this bank wobbling, and said “oh, hey, they might grab me to try to regain their balance” and pushed them away from him instead. I mean, it probably wasn’t *actual* malice. But any excuse to be angry with Thiel is a valid excuse in my book.

Paul L. kaydenpat2 hours ago

Yep. I mean, this bank was small enough that it qualified for “small bank” exceptions written into the tighter banking rules.

Someone mocked Biden elsewhere by saying “the banking sector is strong if you believe me saying it’s strong” but like… the reality is, it basically requires people to trust it to be able to function. No bank can withstand a real run, because it’s a logistical impossibility for them to have enough money everywhere to pay everyone immediately even if they had *none* of it invested, but obviously a lot of that money is in “asset” form and would need to be sold first anyway.

Like, the whole banking system depends on people not panicking about banks.

Like, it’s pretty likely if nobody ever heard about Thiel’s withdrawal, SVB would’ve recovered just fine. And if the news agencies hadn’t stoked panic, the other banks would’ve been fine (or at least had structured shutdowns over a much longer time period with no panic or real losses).

But *this* is what has everyone in a panic, instead of the actual threat posed by the “sure, default on government debt” types.

Dazzer2 hours ago

Oh fuck it.

I’ve spent the last seven years working to get my licence so I can operate the Big Gay Weather Machine.

And now I have to learn how to bring down the global banking system as well?

At our next secret meeting, I’m going to suggest that lesbians are given control of the Big Lesbian Global Financial Hegemony Machine.

(It’ll be #17 on the Gay Agenda.)

Gigi Dazzeran hour ago

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Bilderbeck2 hours ago

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Tennessee Ernie Ford – Sixteen Tons

This is the world the wealthy and republican idolize.   This is the world they want back and are fighting to recreate.  A world where profit for the wealthy is the most important thing, where corporations rule, and human lives mean nothing.  The want back a world where life was nothing but servitude, working from childhood to death to make large profits for a wealthy person.  No quality of life.  No luxury for in that time as it is getting to now simply being able to eat and have shelter is a luxury many cannot afford.   Go to work as young as possible, be used and when too broken to serve any use then to die.  Is that the way we think life should be?  Is that living?  Why bother if simply to survive is a struggle of the masses for the unending greed of those who are wealthy.   It doesn’t have to be this way!  It is not this way in most developed nations.   Look at the pictures, there are kids working in the mines and Arkansas just removed child labor laws.   We are racing to a past that we were barely able to escape once.  Hugs

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/politics/sarah-huckabee-sanders-arkansas-child-labor/index.html

GOP Florida Bill Forces Colleges To Host Hate Activists.

Anything they can do to force a regressive return to a time before progressive civil rights and a progressive society that valued people for who they were including women, minorities, ethnic groups, and the LGBTQ+.   Look all those groups  / people have been around and part of us since the dawn of man, but the ability of those people to live openly in equality as they are, to live normal lives in society is something new in the last 80 years.   That is something the wealthy barons, the religious fundamentalists, and those unable to accept the changes in society are desperate to deny and reverse.  

I am sorry, I wish I could do more to promote this story.   I simply am not up to it.   Don’t just stop at the article I post, go to the story.  Things are changing fast and badly in Florida.  This is vitally important to what is happening in Florida due to the republicans under the direction of DerSantis.   It is a story of not allowing the majority to prevent the minority from forcing an ideology, a ridged ideological regressive conservative rule on a public that doesn’t want it.  This a group of ideologs that got a little authority and gerrymandered / voter suppressed it into a majority party win, and each time they gained more power they did everything they could even as their party shrank to increase their lock on power.  This is about big corporation money to force a government into office that will allow them to disregard human life while increasing profit.  Profit is king and greed is good.  But having ideas that support the importance of people or the government using its power to assist or support the public interferes with profit.  That cannot be allowed.   So in Florida they managed to get a few republican state legislature wind even using illegal means that still let the illegally elected person stay in office, then trump managed to get a failing far behind candidate for governor elected and the minority part who did not have a majority of the state’s votes changed everything to give themselves great advantages meaning large wins.   The situation in Florida is the public is 50/50 or even leaning blue but the republicans have made it almost impossible for a democrat to win in a lot of places and even if a democrat looks to win in at least three documented elections republicans violated laws to make sure the democrats cannot win.   Republicans want a one party rule which equals a dictatorship, just look at the governments around the world they support.   So to stop any free thought or kids getting the idea that there is any other way than republican ideology they make it illegal to teach it, to mention it, to disagree with the grand republican party and its minority rule will not be tolerated in the schools, in higher education facilities and now not even in the press or media.   Is this what the US wants?  Don’t you see examples of this in history?     Sorry I must go lay down.   Hugs

Comments are disabled as most posts going forward will be.   Due to health reasons.  Hugs.   Scottie

GOP Florida Bill Forces Colleges To Host Hate Activists

Bill more closely regulating on-campus speakers advances

Some items Randy sent me I want to share with everyone. Hugs

This is the republican view of governance, using the powers of the government to enforce their minority views on the public who disagrees with the party and to enrich themselves off the public treasury / legal bribery called lobbying.    Hugs

This last one is to counteract all the crazy cruel crap and republican shit above.  Enjoy with amazement at the skill of both of these two performers.   Hugs

DeSantis DeStruction! | Christopher Titus | Armageddon Update

US still has the worst, most expensive health care of any high-income country

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/01/us-still-has-the-worst-most-expensive-health-care-of-any-high-income-country/

US health care has lagged peers for years, and the pandemic made things worse.

 – 

A woman watches white flags on the National Mall on September 18, 2021, in Washington, DC. Over 660,000 white flags were installed here to honor Americans who have lost their lives to COVID-19.
Enlarge / A woman watches white flags on the National Mall on September 18, 2021, in Washington, DC. Over 660,000 white flags were installed here to honor Americans who have lost their lives to COVID-19.
Getty | Chen Mengtong

Americans spend an exorbitant amount of money on health care and have for years. As a country, the US spends more on health care than any other high-income country in the world—on the basis of both per-person costs and a share of gross domestic product. Yet, you wouldn’t know it from looking at major health metrics in years past; the US has relatively abysmal health. And, if anything, the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the US health care system’s failures relative to its peers, according to a new analysis by the Commonwealth Fund.

Health care spending of high income-countries by share of GDP.
Enlarge / Health care spending of high income-countries by share of GDP.
The Commonwealth Fund

Compared with other high-income peers, the US has the shortest life expectancy at birth, the highest rate of avoidable deaths, the highest rate of newborn deaths, the highest rate of maternal deaths, the highest rate of adults with multiple chronic conditions, and the highest rate of obesity, the new analysis found.

“Americans are living shorter, less healthy lives because our health system is not working as well as it could be,” Munira Gunja, lead author of the analysis and a senior researcher for The Commonwealth Fund’s International Program in Health Policy and Practice Innovation, said in a press statement. “To catch up with other high-income countries, the administration and Congress would have to expand access to health care, act aggressively to control costs, and invest in health equity and social services we know can lead to a healthier population.”

Dying young

Overall, the analysis paints a grim picture of how much catching up the US has to do. In terms of life expectancy, the US has trailed its peers for years but took a nosedive during the pandemic, while other countries fared better. In 2020, the average life expectancy at birth in the US was 77 years, three years lower than the average for high-income countries. The next lowest life expectancy among high-income countries was from the UK, which had a 2020 life expectancy at birth of 80.4 years.

Provisional data for 2021 suggests US life expectancy fell nearly a full year further, from 77.0 years to 76.1 years. Relatedly, the US had the highest rate of deaths from COVID-19 in 2020 compared with its high-income peers and was among the lowest of its peers in rates of COVID-19 vaccination.

In a particularly shameful set of statistics, the US continues to have the highest infant and maternal mortality rates of any other high-income country. In 2020, there were 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in the US, while the average among high-income countries was 4.1 infant deaths. In Norway, there were 1.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. The health care system is also failing mothers. In 2020, there were 24 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, about 2.5 times higher than the average for high-income countries. The country with the next highest maternal mortality rate was New Zealand with 13.6 per 100,000 live births.

Rates of infant and maternal mortality among high-income countries.
Enlarge / Rates of infant and maternal mortality among high-income countries.
The Commonwealth Fund

With many US states now rapidly turning back the clock on reproductive rights and maternity care, the US’s appallingly high rates of infant and maternal deaths are expected to worsen.

Beyond pregnancy, Americans are dying from other conditions that are treatable or preventable at a rate far higher than those seen in all other high-income countries. In 2020, 336 US deaths per 100,000 people were avoidable, while the average among high-income countries was just 225 deaths per 100,000. The rate of avoidable deaths has been rising in the US since 2015, the analysis notes.

Sicker

That tracks with the finding that Americans are more likely than their high-income-country peers to have multiple chronic conditions. In 2020, 30.4 percent of US adults said that they had previously been diagnosed with two or more chronic conditions in their life. Among other high-income countries, no more than a quarter of adults reported having two or more chronic conditions. America’s high obesity rate may play into that discrepancy. The US has a higher obesity rate than any other high-income country. In fact, it’s nearly two times higher than the average of its peers.

While Americans are dying young from avoidable conditions, they’re also spending an exorbitant amount on health care. The US spent 17.8 percent of its GDP on health care in 2020, nearly twice as much as the average of 9.6 percent among high-income countries. On a per-person basis, it outspent its peers, paying nearly $12,000 per person via government insurance programs, private insurance coverage, and out-of-pocket costs. The country that came the closest to US spending was Germany, with a little over $7,000 per-person spending.

The data hints that these high prices are discouraging Americans from getting the care they need, potentially feeding into the country’s high rates of chronic conditions and avoidable deaths. In the analysis, the US had among the lowest rate of doctor visits, with just four per year. The average was 5.7. The US also has one of the lowest rates of practicing physicians per 1,000 people—2.6 per 1,000, while the average is 3.7.

The US was the only high-income country in the analysis that does not guarantee health coverage. People in most other high-income countries have guaranteed health coverage with the option of buying supplemental private coverage.

Some TYT clips I watched. Sorry wish I could do more, but it is what it is. The last one shows how out of touch with the country the maga republicans are.

City agrees to pay $21.5K each to protesters trapped by NYPD during 2020 protest, per new settlement

https://gothamist.com/news/protesters-trapped-by-nypd-during-2020-black-lives-matter-protest-will-get-215k-each-according-to-new-settlement

Has the us population been taken hostage and subjugated by the police yet?   The police and their unions have threated any elected official that dares indicate any oversite of police brutality or even make police officers liable for their actions just like any other person.   The police in large cities are gangs, infiltrated by white supremacists, and right-wing political operatives that enforce a repressive conservative fascist ideology against the public who want to move to a more accepting progressive society.     Hugs.

Police in riot gear twist the arms of a Black woman in custody
 

New York City has agreed to pay more than $20,000 each to hundreds of individuals who were trapped by police and attacked with batons and pepper spray during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx.

According to documents filed in federal court on Tuesday evening, the city and the NYPD reached a proposed settlement to compensate anyone who was corralled by police during the infamous June 4 crackdown, which took place at the height of the protests against the police killing of George Floyd.

The settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, is believed to be the largest-ever per-person payout for a class action lawsuit arising from a mass arrest, according to Alison Frick, an attorney for the named plaintiffs who brought the class action lawsuit.

“It’s highly unusual,” said Martin Stolar, a civil rights attorney who is not involved in the case. “It shows me that the city is making an admission that there was substantial wrongdoing on the part of the department, and rather than going to trial where they risk judgment of a higher amount, they agreed to a settlement.”

Roughly 300 protesters were marching along 136th Street and Brook Avenue when they were blocked on both sides by walls of heavily-armored NYPD officers, a tactic known as kettling. Officers proceeded to attack the group with batons and pepper spray, before arresting an estimated 278 people. Among those trapped were medics, legal observers and journalists, including those reporting for Gothamist and WNYC who may be eligible for compensation.

A subsequent report from Human Rights Watch found cops acted “unprovoked and without warning, whaling their batons, beating people from car tops, shoving them down to the ground, and firing pepper spray in their faces.” The group accused the NYPD of “serious violations of international human rights law.” They described the police response, which was overseen by high-ranking department officials and primarily carried out by the NYPD’s controversial Strategic Response Group, as a “serious violation of international human rights law.”

 

On Wednesday, the City Council held a long-planned, repeatedly-delayed oversight hearing on the Strategic Response Group. No one from the NYPD showed up, citing ongoing litigation.

Under the terms of the settlement, anyone who was present for the kettling will be eligible to receive $21,500. An additional $2,500 will be awarded to each person who was arrested. The city is expected to pay an estimated $6 million to participants in the Mott Haven protest, in addition to attorney’s fees arising from the case.

Frick said the settlement is expected to be finalized by a judge in October, with victims likely receiving compensation before the end of the year.

“It was a pre-planned and premeditated assault,” Frick told Gothamist. “This is a historic settlement and we feel very confident the court will approve it.”

Emily Janakiram, a protester arrested in Mott Haven, described her reaction to the settlement as “shock and awe.” She recalled spending hours in a jail cell, surrounded by other protesters who were bloodied and bruised, wondering why they had been arrested for a peaceful demonstration..

“I’m glad to see there’s some kind of accountability being handed out,” she said. “But it’s bothersome that it’s being paid for by the taxpayer and it’s not coming out of the NYPD’s budget, which is what we were trying to draw attention to at the time.”

 

In an unattributed statement on Wednesday, the NYPD said the protest came during a “challenging moment for the department,” as officers attempted to balance demonstrators’ first amendment rights with what the agency referred to as “wide-scale rioting” and destruction.

The settlement does not include an admission of wrongdoing by the NYPD, whose leadership under former Mayor Bill de Blasio vigorously defended police actions on the night of the protest. On the day after the protest, former NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the police response was “executed nearly flawlessly,” describing the protest leaders – including well-known Bronx community organizers – as “outside agitators.”

On Wednesday, though, the agency said it had “re-envisioned” its policies and training procedures around large-scale demonstrations after receiving recommendations from several outside agencies.

De Blasio and Shea did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Samantha Max contributed reporting.

EXPOSED: Book Banning ‘Moms For Liberty’ Funders Are Exactly Who You’d Guess