Category: Economics / Economy / Income / Financial
Raw sewage floods N.Y. homes and businesses
Why Congress Is Dragging Its Feet On Pot Legalization l FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast
Marine Le Pen: Stop Sending Weapons To Ukraine
The US and other democracies had better wake up and pay attention. All across the world fascist authoritarian governments sponsored by US billionaires along with countries like Russia and those they support like Steve Bannon are spreading anti-democratic fascist bull all around the world. There are well monied groups that want white supremacy and Christian religious dominance all across the globe. When you look into it the facts become really scary.
The Associated Press reports:
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen warned today against sending any more weapons to Ukraine, and called for a rapprochement between NATO and Russia once Moscow’s war in Ukraine winds down.
Le Pen, an outspoken nationalist who has long ties to Russia, also confirmed that if she unseats President Emmanuel Macron in France’s April 24 presidential runoff, she will pull France out of NATO’s military command and dial back French support for the whole European Union.
Macron, a pro-EU centrist, is facing a harder-than-expected fight to stay in power, in part because the economic impact of the war is hitting poor households the hardest.
Read the full article.
Cultist House Candidate Sold Tear Gas Used On BLM
Politico reports:
Dozens of wealthy candidates run for Congress every election cycle. What sets Cory Mills apart are some of the mileposts on his road to riches: Selling tear gas that was used against Black Lives Matter demonstrators and purchasing a company that sold rubber bullets to Hong Kong to crack down on protesters.
Mills, a first-time Republican candidate running in a competitive primary in Florida’s 7th district, is the co-founder of PACEM Solutions. The company sells arms and riot-control gear and provides law enforcement training and private security consulting in the U.S. and around the world.
PACEM Solutions has estimated annual sales of $13.5 million, according to Dun & Bradstreet, a business data and analytics firm. Mills is funding his own run for Congress mostly with money he earned through the company.
Read the full article.
Ted Cruz Asked If He’d Fellate a Man, a Message for Don’t Say Gay Politicians & Have You Had An Orgy
Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she won’t resign and is ‘rather puzzled’ by reports that she’s mentally unfit to serve
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat of California, speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Oliver Contreras/The Washington Post via AP, Pool
- 88-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she won’t resign, despite concerns about her mental fitness.
- “I’m rather puzzled by all of this,” Feinstein told the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Even fellow Democrats have begun to privately express concerns about whether she can do her job.
Following a report from the San Francisco Chronicle that raised fresh concerns about Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s mental fitness, the 88-year-old California Democrat indicated that she’s not going anywhere.
“I meet regularly with leaders,” she told the Chronicle’s editorial board on Thursday. “I’m not isolated. I see people. My attendance is good. I put in the hours. We represent a huge state. And so I’m rather puzzled by all of this.”
The Chronicle reported that four of her Senate colleagues, including three Democrats, said they believe the senator’s memory is rapidly deteriorating.
A House Democrat from California also anonymously told the Chronicle that they had to reintroduce themselves to Feinstein several times during a recent hours-long policy discussion, prompting that member to begin raising concerns to fellow colleagues and see if Feinstein could be convinced to resign.
“It shouldn’t end this way for her. She deserves better,” the California Democrat told the Chronicle. “Those who think that they are serving her or honoring her by sweeping all of this under the rug are doing her an enormous disservice.”
Feinstein admitted to not recognizing the colleague on Thursday, but blamed the lapse on stress caused by the prolonged illness of her late husband, Richard Blum, who died in February.
“I’ve had a rough year. A cancer death doesn’t come fast,” she said. “And this is the second husband I’ve lost to cancer.”
But fellow lawmakers contended that her condition is only worsening.
“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea,” the lawmaker told the Chronicle. “All of that is gone.”
“She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring,” the lawmaker added. “Because there was just no trace of that.”
“It’s bad, and it’s getting worse,” a Democratic senator anonymously told the Chronicle.
“There’s a joke on the Hill, we’ve got a great junior senator in Alex Padilla and an experienced staff in Feinstein’s office,” one staffer working for a California Democrat told the Chronicle.
Feinstein, the oldest member of the Senate, has previously been the subject of concerns about her mental acuity. After facing criticism for her handling of the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a report from the New Yorker in December 2020 raised similar concerns.
According to that report, then-Minority Leader Chuck Schumer installed his own aide on the Judiciary Committee, which Feinstein chaired at the time, to serve as his “eyes and ears” on her.
Feinstein stepped down as chair of the committee in November 2020.
It should be noted that she has already filed to run again for another term. 88 years old, failing mental ability to age alone would be understandable but she clearly has something else going on. Not to be one sided 88 year old Chuck Grassley is also running for another 6 year term. Doesn’t the US have younger people that want to use their time to make a fortune and gain power pretending to serve the people? We are so at a loss for politicians we must press 88 year old’s into keeping their aged hands into the power trough. What a sad situation. Our founding fathers pictured a civilian political system, people would serve a term or two then go home. Maybe even come back later to do another term. The last thing they wanted was a full-time political class that enriches themselves at public expense.
Jen Psaki finally demolishes Texas governor over disgusting stunt
DeSantis signs 15-week abortion ban into law
https://www.wesh.com/article/desantis-signs-15-week-abortion-ban/39726431
Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference in Osceola County on Thursday, where he signed Florida’s bill banning abortions after 15 weeks into law.
He spoke from Nacion de Fe in Kissimmee, where signs read, “Florida is pro-life.”
“We are here today to defend those that can’t defend themselves,” he said. “It is the most significant protection for life that’s been enacted in this state in a generation.”
DeSantis said being a parent is a big responsibility, but it’s something he “wouldn’t trade for the world.”
“This is a statement of our values, that every life is important,” he said.
The GOP-controlled Senate passed House Bill 5 in March.
The legislation specifically says a doctor may not perform an abortion “if the physician determines the gestational age of the fetus is more than 15 weeks.”
It does not grant exemptions for rape, incest or human trafficking. Exceptions include if the abortion is necessary to save a mother’s life or to prevent serious injury to the mother.
Attendees at the Thursday event praised the governor, calling him “the most pro-life governor in the country.”
Supporters of the bill have said 15 weeks would be enough time to make the decision to receive an abortion.
“Being a parent even when you want your child is fundamentally a sacrifice. But it is a privilege. It is a gift that God has given us all. It is the highest gift that he can give us,” Rep. Randy Fine (R) said. “You’ve got two sets of rights that are fundamentally in conflict. You’ve got the right of a woman to do what she wants with her body. And you have the right of a baby to exist. And both of these rights cannot exist at the same time.”
Democrats have harshly disagreed.
“All abortion bans are extreme. They rob women and people of the freedom to make their own decisions,” Rep. Carlos G Smith (D) said.
Planned Parenthood officials said Floridians should have the freedom to make their own medical decisions.
“No person can truly call themselves free if they can’t make decisions about their own body,” said Stephanie Fraim.
Fraim is the President and CEO at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.
“This law is an attack on our freedom,” she said. “We should stand up and say you cannot control me, you cannot take my freedom away from me. We need this healthcare.”
The new law is not a closed deal for pro-choice advocates who argue it is unconstitutional. Fraim said Planned Parenthood is considering challenging the legislation in court.
This from a governor that cut off extra government paid unemployment for Covid early, has a ridiculous low state unemployment, has cut and tried to cut further food assistance for children including child school lunches. This governor has also fought any attempts to protect children in schools from Covid, fought vaccines for children and families, and has slashed funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) at a time it was needed most. And also in a weird way of showing how much they care about children this state pushed the don’t say gay bills that will leave LGBTQ+ kids target of bigots and being bullied by kids with bigoted parents.
Tennessee lawmaker references Hitler during statement supporting homeless bill’s passage
NASHVILLE, Tenn.–A Tennessee lawmaker who voted in favor of a bill to cut down on homeless camps spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday, referencing Adolph Hitler as an example of how there is still hope for the homeless.
On Wednesday, the Senate passed a bill making it a Class “C” Misdemeanor for soliciting or camping along highways and exit ramps. It also makes it illegal to camp on public and state property.
State Senator Frank S. Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains-D8) took to the floor on Wednesday to voice his support for the bill and to give fellow lawmakers a “history lesson.” Speaking on the floor, Sen. Niceley stated “I haven’t given y’all a history lesson in a while and I wanted to give a little history on homelessness.”
“In 1910 Hitler decided to live on the streets for a while,” Niceley said. “So for two years Hitler lived on the streets and practiced his oratory and his body language and how to connect with the masses. And then went on to lead a life that got him in the history books. So, a lot of these people its not a dead end. They can come out of these homeless camps and have a productive life, or in Hitler’s case a very unproductive life.”
Niceley appeared on JMG last week when he introduced a bill that would legalize over-the-counter sales of horse paste.
