Category: Vote / Voting

FL Republican Intros New Social Media Ban For Minors

FL Republican Intros New Social Media Ban For Minors

Why do the republicans hate young people on social media?   Because it exposes them to ideas that are now banned in Florida schools.  It is about information control, it is about indoctrination to a conservative mindset / ideology.  Think of it, even though the republicans managed to remove all reading material from schools about LGBTQIA people so LGBTQIA kids won’t see themselves represented and other students won’t see that the LGBTQIA kids are as normal as they are, young people can still see it on social media where the stars they love tell them that it is OK to be different.  Plus social media clearly shows how wrong and backwards the Republican Party is, and how out of touch a minority the fundamentalist Christians are.   Then you have the times that social media influences older teens to vote progressive / democrat, not regressive conservative like the state wants them to do.  Social media also makes republicans and maga look as stupid as they are, mocking them, and showing young people out of touch with the modern times the fundamentalist Christian republicans are.   Hugs.   Scottie

March 2, 2024 Republicans, Social Media

 

Florida Politics reports:

Language for a new social media bill with provisions for parental consent has been filed in the Senate. The move came after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed an all-out ban on those under 16 using most social media platforms.

Sen. Erin Grall, a Fort Pierce Republican, filed an amendment with new language negotiated with the House, Senate and Governor’s Office. The legislation includes exemptions for 14- and 15-year-olds to open accounts on any platform so long as they have a parent’s permission.

“A social media platform shall prohibit a minor who is 14 or 15 years of age from entering into a contract with a social media platform to become an account holder, unless the minor’s parent or guardian provides consent for the minor to become an account holder,” the amendment states.

Read the full article. The bill vetoed yesterday by DeSantis would have banned all minors under age 16 from having a social media account. 

 

J.Martindale5 days ago

Busybodies. No useful legislation, just tinkering with other people’s lives.

Ed B 5 days ago

Anything about Florida’s insurance crisis?

Nah. Didn’t think so. 🤷

99sdad 5 days ago

And this is how she spends her days, on the taxpayers dime.

HandyBear5 days ago

In Floriduh, we have many sick, hungry and homeless, yet we focus on this stupid bullshit.

amandagirl15701  HandyBear5 days ago

They just passed a homeless bill in the house I think. It bans per from sleeping in public areas without a permit. That should solve that problem.

Wash Rinse Spin Dry Fold5 days ago

The FL legislature somehow thinks kids 16 and under are mature enough to have children when raped or molested but somehow not mature enough to use social media.

That’s how stupid all of this is

Nic Peterson  Wash Rinse Spin Dry Fold5 days ago

FL ledge DESPERATLY needs to find a way to keep queer kids from seeing positive messaging about themselves. They have seen the stats that 25% of Gen Z identify as something other than straight/cis. They are freaking out that Gen Alpha (yeah I had to look that one up but don’t you dare OK Boomer me) is going to follow the same curve. I for one welcome the rest of our rainbow plenty of bisexuals out there and now they are not afraid to be counted.

Wash Rinse Spin Dry Fold  Nic Peterson 5 days ago

Not sure that is the crux of why they are pushing for this

Roma Krelian  Wash Rinse Spin Dry Fold 5 days ago

This is 100% the reason they want to stop young people from using the internet. I don’t remember seeing my first rainbow flag until I was 18. Up until that point, I thought there was something wrong with me. And as a result, I was politically neutral, and not fiercely anti-conservative at the time.

Joseph Miceli 5 days ago

Keeping kids from life -saving support groups online when they are living in Hell.
They want gay and trans kids to kill themselves. That’s what I take from this tripe.

Bruce_in_Mpls 5 days ago

They seem to think 11 year olds know nothing about the internet. Facebook has long had an age requirement, and I’ve known children as young as 11 who have had accounts. The kids figure it out quickly.

Sarah  Bruce_in_Mpls5 days ago

I guarantee you they’re also on Instachat and Snapgram and Trick Tock and whatever else folks use. And this bill won’t change that.

Bruce_in_Mpls  Sarah5 days ago

Perhaps it’s just another way to quickly create a whole new juvenile criminal class. I wonder what the consequences are, and if the parents will be held responsible for their little criminals.

dagobarbz, fine Italian shoes  Bruce_in_Mpls 5 days ago

Sentenced to work 2 years at a fast food joint, or a slaughterhouse?

Buford  Bruce_in_Mpls5 days ago

“Are you 16 or older? – Yes/No”

Art-1015 days ago

yep, ban social media but don’t you dare say a word about gun laws and gun control…

Eli Bradley  Art-1015 days ago

Oh, they’re looking to repeal the law they passed after the Parkland massacre.

Chris  Art-1015 days ago

Without guns, what the hell is going to shoot our kids? geez…

Wash Rinse Spin Dry Fold5 days ago

The party of small government certainly likes big government controls.

Art-1015 days ago

and who will police the social media police?

Nic Peterson  Art-1015 days ago

The same platoon of inbred hicks that Rhonda assembled to protect the peninsula from the existential threat that is The Bahamas.

Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalgia5 days ago

Just think of the new 18-year-old voters who now won’t vote for you in November.

Stuart  Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalgia5 days ago

I was just thinking about that. Is the 16-year-old cutoff meant to protect them from teenagers’ wrath? There won’t be any current 16-year-olds voting in 2024.

Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalgia  Stuart 5 days ago

Children have long memories when it comes to blocking them from interaction with their peers whose parents have given permission to have social media accounts. Denied an account, they would be relegated to a lower social order in their school and school community.

JustMeAgain 5 days ago edited

So all the talk about small govt was just a ruse to get the Freedumb morons to vote for them////

Tim 🇺🇦5 days ago

Isn’t this a decision best left between parent and child? Does it really need legislation? Perhaps a law mandating making one’s bed before school should happen?

Buford  Tim 🇺🇦5 days ago

Translation – “We’re raising our kids just fine… it’s the way you’re raising your kids that we need to regulate”

leathersmith  Buford5 days ago
Thumbnail
 
Eli Bradley 5 days ago

What is it with Republicans trying to pass the same shit over and over again recently? 15 times to elect a Speaker. Two tries to impeach Secretary Mayorkis. Do it right the first time… or don’t do it at all.

Gustav2  Eli Bradley5 days ago

See abortion bans.

The Ohio AG is looking to make abortion more difficult to obtain after we voted in a constitutional amendment.

Buford  Eli Bradley5 days ago

How many attempts to repeal Obamacare… 60?

Hank: NO MORE WoW!!! 5 days ago

One kid with “Permission” will show ALL his friends how to do it, and they will ALL have accounts.

The best thing a parent can teach their children about being on-line is: STRANGER – DANGER!!!!

dagobarbz, fine Italian shoes 5 days ago

Old people with little knowledge passing laws meant to control young people with lots of knowledge about technology.

This should be FUN!

MendoGoldenBoy5 days ago

If social media is outlawed, only outlaws will have social media accounts.

Buford  MendoGoldenBoy5 days ago

Only a good guy on Tik Tok can stop a bad guy on Tik Tok.

Brian Curtis 5 days ago

“But this time, we’ll get fascism right!”

 

Watch Rachel Maddow Highlights: March 4

I Shouldn’t Call This OK State Senator an Asshat…

Survey of over 90,000 trans people shows vast improvement in life satisfaction after transition

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/transgender-survey-transition-hrt-surgery-gender-affirming-rcna137563

This is from corporate mainstream media.  Let’s hope it ends the myth the anti-trans haters have been pushing, which has long been debunked.   Maybe now they will stop spreading lies and learn that they have been wrong, stop hating trans people, and accept them.   Oh well, I know, some people just can not accept change and new information / understanding.   For those wanting to watch the video and better see the graph please go to the link.   Best wishes.  Hugs.  Scottie

Most people are satisfied with life after transition.   More than 9 in 10 respondents were at least a little more satisfied with their life after transitioning.

The National Center for Transgender Equality released early insights from its 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey, the largest survey of trans people in U.S. history.

By Jo Yurcaba

A survey of more than 90,000 transgender people in the U.S. — the largest nationwide survey of the community ever — found that trans people continue to experience workplace and medical discrimination. However, the overwhelming majority of them still report more life satisfaction after having transitioned. 

The National Center for Transgender Equality, or NCTE, one of the country’s largest trans rights organizations, released its 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey Early Insights report Wednesday after a yearslong delay due, in part, to the pandemic. The survey, the most comprehensive look to date at life for transgender people in the U.S., comes as hundreds of bills in the last three years have attempted to roll back trans rights, most often by restricting trans people’s access to transition-related health care and trans students’ abilities to play school sports.

 

“There’s still a drought of information available to lawmakers, the media and advocates regarding our experiences and our needs,” NCTE Executive Director Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen said at a news conference Tuesday. “At best, we’re working in a vacuum of information. At worst, we’re combating dangerous misinformation being spread by anti-trans extremists. Without question, the misinformation and lack of understanding is underpinning these escalating legislative attacks against our community.”

A woman attends a rally in support of trans youth in schools
A woman attends a rally in support of trans youth in schools on June 26, 2023, outside the Fayette County Public Schools central office in Lexington, Ky.Ryan C. Hermens / Lexington Herald-Leader via Getty Images file

The organization’s 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey had been the largest survey of trans people in the country, with nearly 28,000 respondents 18 and older, and it has been widely cited, including by Congress and the Supreme Court. Josie Caballero, the director of the survey, said the 2022 iteration more than tripled the number of respondents — with a total of 92,329 from every state and many U.S. territories — and was improved in a number of other ways. For example, it included 605 possible questions (though no respondent received all possible questions), up from 324 in the 2015 survey, and it included more than 8,000 respondents who were 16 and 17. However, study authors note that respondents who participated in the online survey were not drawn from a random sample and that though the sample is large, the findings might not be representative of all trans people.  

Of the 84,170 adult respondents, 38% identified as nonbinary, 35% identified as transgender women, 25% identified as transgender men and 2% identified as cross-dressers.

 

Continued discrimination and mistreatment

Among the key findings released Wednesday, the survey found that trans people continue to report experiencing discrimination and mistreatment because of their gender identities and/or expressions.

More than one-third of adult respondents, or 34%, were experiencing poverty at the time of the survey, and 18% were unemployed. More than 1 in 10, or 11%, of respondents who had ever held jobs said they had been fired or forced to resign or had lost jobs or been laid off because of their gender identities or expressions. And, in line with previous survey findings, 30% of respondents had experienced homelessness in their lifetimes. 

Of adult respondents who saw health care providers in the previous 12 months, 48% reported having had at least one negative experience because they were transgender, including being refused health care, having staff members use the incorrect pronouns for them or having providers use abusive language or be physically rough or abusive while treating them. Fear of mistreatment prevented 24% of respondents from seeing doctors when they needed it in the 12 months before the survey. 

Many respondents also reported past mistreatment in school. Of adult respondents, 80% who were out or perceived as trans in K-12 experienced one or more forms of mistreatment, including verbal harassment, physical attacks, online bullying or being denied use of the restrooms or locker rooms that matched their gender identities. Of the 8,159 respondents who were 16 and 17, 60% reported such mistreatment.

Higher life satisfaction after transition

Despite those negative experiences, the vast majority of adult respondents, 79%, who lived at least some of the time in different genders from the ones they were assigned at birth reported that they were “a lot more satisfied” with their lives. An additional 15% reported they were “a little more satisfied.”

——————————————————————————————

Please see the chart at the link above.  The written version I have included below.  
This bar chart shows how respondents who had transitioned genders described their satisfaction with life after transitioning. 79% were a lot more satisfied, 15% a little more, 3% neither more or less, 1% a little less and 2% a lot less satisfied.
 
Graphic: Joe Murphy / NBC News
———————————————————————————————

Respondents who received transition-related medical care reported similarly high rates of satisfaction. Of respondents who were currently receiving hormone treatment, 84% said receiving such treatment for their gender identities/transitions made them “a lot more satisfied” with their lives, and 14% said it made them “a little more satisfied.” Just 1% said hormone treatment made them neither more nor less satisfied, and less than 1% said hormone treatment made them a lot less satisfied.

Of respondents who underwent at least one form of gender-affirming surgery, 88% said it made them “a lot more satisfied,” and 9% said it made them a little more satisfied. Less than 2% total said surgery made them a little less or a lot less satisfied. 

“That might seem obvious to some of us that of course if you’re transgender and you need transition-related health care, of course your life is better off when you get that health care,” Heng-Lehtinen said Tuesday. “But it’s really important to have actually asked people and found out objectively what is their experience, because transition-related health care is otherwise so under attack in state legislatures around the country.”

Effects of anti-trans legislation

In the last three years, 23 states have restricted gender-affirming health care — including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries — for minors and, in a few cases, adults, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. Half of states have banned trans student-athletes from playing school sports on the teams that align with their gender identities rather than their assigned sexes at birth, while 10 states have passed laws restricting what bathrooms trans people can use in schools, colleges and/or government-owned buildings.

Nearly half of respondents to the latest U.S. Transgender Survey said they had thought about moving to other states because their state governments considered or passed such laws that target transgender people, and 5% — about 4,600 people — said they had actually moved to other states because of such legislation. 

The top 10 states where trans respondents most often reported moving from were, in alphabetical order, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Related stories:

Majority report having supportive families

The state of trans rights across the country does not necessarily reflect what trans people are experiencing at home with their families. Of adult respondents, 67% reported that their immediate families were either supportive or very supportive, while 22% reported they were neither supportive nor unsupportive and 12% reported they were either unsupportive or very unsupportive. 

Of 16- and 17-year-old respondents, 44% reported that their families were either supportive or very supportive, while 28% reported that they were neither supportive nor unsupportive and 29% reported they were unsupportive or very unsupportive. 

“It’s important to see that many trans people do have supportive families, since we often hear and see otherwise,” Sandy James, one of the report’s authors, said at Tuesday’s news conference.

Heng-Lehtinen said the new data will revolutionize the field of transgender advocacy.

“I am confident that the results of the 2022 survey will not only serve as a crucial tool for education, research and policy, but it will catalyze a paradigm shift for the movement for transgender advocacy by empowering advocates with robust and current data regarding our needs and experiences,” he said.

 

How Trump Uses Fear to Win Elections

Trump and the GOP have been manipulating voters for decades. They use this through a number of fear tactics that ignite supporters’ reptilian brains and cause them to vote in irrational ways because they’ve been told Trump is their savior and the answer to the danger they’re facing. 

University of Florida terminates all DEI employees to comply with state regulation

https://www.wcjb.com/2024/03/01/university-florida-terminates-all-dei-employees-accordance-with-state-regulation

Let’s understand what this really is about.  White straight cis people (men) being in charge without having to allow non-white people in to those upper level positions.  White straight cis have good easy management jobs, brown and black people do labor.  The LGBTQIA simply go back to being in the closet not seen or heard, women stay home.  It is white supremacy Nazi bullshit.  It is an attempt to roll back the gains of those not white, not straight, not cis since the 1960s.   That is what this is.  It is pushed nationally by Stephen Miller, a well known white supremacist thug even though he weirdly is Jewish, who thinks that he passes as white in the eyes of the whites.   He once complained in college for being required to put his own trash in the trash can rather than leave it where he was done or throw it on the ground.  That was the job for the … janitors he said.   We do know what he really meant.   He and DeathSantis, the people of this mind set, love to punch down.  They are also terrified of any changes to their privilege, and that is what they really want, white straight cis privilege over everyone else.  It won’t last this last grasp to return to the past, Florida schools are already struggling to keep students and attract decent staff.  Enrollment is down.  People paying for an education want a real education they can use in the real world, not a fake maga paradise.    See if you can count the lies, misinformation, and desperate attempt to deny the truth of what is happening in the quote below.   Hugs.  Scottie

“The University of Florida is – and will always be – unwavering in our commitment to universal human dignity. As we educate students by thoughtfully engaging a wide range of ideas and views, we will continue to foster a community of trust and respect for every member of the Gator Nation. The University of Florida is an elite institution because of our incredible faculty who are committed to teaching, discovering, and serving,” the memo stated.

By Ryan Wyatt Turbeville
Published: Mar. 1, 2024 at 1:52 PM EST|Updated: Mar. 1, 2024 at 6:07 PM EST
 

The University of Florida is firing all employees in positions related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) according to a memo sent on Friday. It follows the passage of a state law in 2023 targeting college funds spent on DEI.

UF officials say they have closed the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors. Officials say 13 positions were eliminated and 15 administrative appointments were ended for faculty.

The decision was made to comply with the Florida Board of Governor’s regulation 9.016 on prohibited expenditures. Approximately $5 million previously allocated to DEI initiatives will be reallocated into a faculty recruitment fund.

Eliminated employees will receive 12 weeks of standard pay and are encouraged to apply before April 19 to other positions in the university.

RELATED: Students worried how Florida’s DEI ban will affect programs

 
 
Ahead of the fall semester, Florida’s public universities are working to figure out what they need to do to comply with state law

UF’s Chief Diversity Officer’s website describes the office’s mission as charting the “inclusive excellence strategy for the University of Florida.” The site notes “Inclusion is one of UF’s six core values.”

The listed staff of the department are Marsha Mcgriff, senior advisor to the president, Farrah Harvey, assistant director of diversity analytics, and Wilma Rogers, executive assistant

State Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson, a Democrat from Gainesville, shared her opposition to the move hours after the memo’s release.

“I am stunned but not surprised at the elimination of DEI staff at the University of Florida, my Alma Mater,” stated Hinson. “The culture wars engaged in the Republican-dominated Florida House of Representatives will continue until Floridians have had enough and develop the will and determination to flip the majority in the Florida House.”

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Christopher Rufo, a conservative education activist and New College of Florida Board of Trustees member, announced the news of the firings and posted, “The conservative counter-revolution has begun.”

The UF memo ended with the following statement:

“The University of Florida is – and will always be – unwavering in our commitment to universal human dignity. As we educate students by thoughtfully engaging a wide range of ideas and views, we will continue to foster a community of trust and respect for every member of the Gator Nation. The University of Florida is an elite institution because of our incredible faculty who are committed to teaching, discovering, and serving,” the memo stated.

CORRECTION: A prior version of the article incorrectly stated that 15 administrative positions for faculty were ended. Administrative “appointments” were ended. The appointments are roles/duties that faculty members accept in addition to their regular duties as a faculty member.

University Of Florida Fires All Diversity Program Staff

 

teeveedub 4 days ago

Let’s say this out loud:

If DeSantis and many other Republicans are opposed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, what they’re really saying is that they’re in favor of White Homogeneity, Inequity, and Exclusion.

amandagirl15701  teeveedub4 days ago

The south is still trying to win the Civil War.

 

Kyle Childress 4 days ago

If I were a black football player, Florida would be the last state I’d go to to play. Oh, who am I kidding, I’m white and in my 60s, and I wouldn’t go to Florida for anything.

marsmsu  Kyle Childress4 days ago

That’s part of the problem. Minority students must learn that they are not wanted, and refuse to accept athletic “scholarships” to Florida schools.

Not to tout my alma-mater’s record on anything, but one item to its credit was that MSU was one of the first major universities to recruit African American football players, back in the 60s. It was an early DEI initiative that helped integrate college sports.

Southern universities were among the last bastions of white athletics. How quickly we forget our past.

Ash  marsmsu4 days ago

MSU’s President, John Hannah, also took a global view of the mission of one of America’s first land grant universities, which included helping Africa. He was not afraid to work with black people.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/ne…

liondon#traitortrash4 days ago

The fragile white straight male ego is on full display.

Friday  liondon#traitortrash4 days ago

And Christianist authoritarianism in its service and vice versa.

Todd20036 4 days ago

And remember folks, the center didn’t provide services for children, but for adults

So basically, this is Rhonda Sandtits helping make it illegal to be LBGT

But hey, both parties are the same, right?

IamSmartypants  Todd200364 days ago

And not just LGBT. Also black, hispanic, Native American, Asian, or female.

Gregory In Seattle  IamSmartypants 4 days ago

Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus….

JCF  Gregory In Seattle4 days ago

Episcopalians, Mainline (Jesus-follower) Christian anything…

another_steve 4 days ago

Florida is today’s “Ground Zero” in the theofascist attempted takeover of the United States.

If their puppet, Donald Trump, reoccupies the White House, look for similar Diversity Program actions to become national policy.

Gigi4 days ago

Christian Nationalists standing behind a “FREEDOM FROM INDOCTRINATION” sign is the funniest thing I’ve seen from them this hour. What a bunch of hypocrites.

BeccaM4 days ago

Can’t have simple human decency getting in the way of Governor Puddingmitt’s program of institutionalized white theofascist supremacy.

Houndentenor 4 days ago

Here’s the kicker…if Christians were actually being discriminated against on college campuses, then these “Christians” would be for DEI programs as they would protect them.

Wash Rinse Spin Dry Fold4 days ago

DeSantis twisted and distorted so much of how higher education works, to service his culture war agenda.

Raising_Rlyeh 4 days ago edited

So a purge of people that think differently than you. How stalinesq of you Ruffo

Ross  boatboy_srq4 days ago

Now, now. There’s no reason to be dramatic.

They will only fire Black staff. And gay. And female.

Mr.Malaprops4 days ago

This could get interesting; many federal grants (like those from NASA) have DIE requirements.

alguien 4 days ago

this is what accelerating fascism looks like.

Name 4 days ago

Changing their name to the University of White Power.

Greg4 days ago

Florida will continue to suffer from an epic brain drain and the money will follow.

AncientMariner 4 days ago

Who needs diversity in Floriduh? Desantis is all the diversity one needs. White boots one day, brown ones the next. See, easy peasy.

 

Federal judge rules against pregnant workers in win for Paxton

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/27/ken-paxton-proxy-votes-congress

Courts, including the SCOTUS, have long held that congress gets to set its own rules.  Period.  They just upheld that with the fines for not wearing masks.  So the idea that a court in Texas can invalidate a law because during covid the Speaker of the House allowed voting by remote or proxy is crazy.  But more than that, stop and look at what part of the bill that the Texas Attorney General is fighting, fair pay and equality for pregnant women.  Yes protections for pregnant women is something Texas is against!  What happened to much vaunted and talked about wanting women to get pregnant and forced to have babies, but they don’t want to protect them in the workforce.   Oh now I get it, … The work force.   This is about them wanting pregnant women at home dependent on their husband.  By my dogs that love gravy, this is right back to Christian men ruling the home and working with women waiting at keeping the house, raising the man’s issue, having meals ready, and being ready to please the man.   Talk about wanting to return to the 1950s.   I know I say that about their stance on LGBTQIA to wipe us out of society, but now I realize they intend that for women also.   Hugs.  Scottie.  

Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over a pregnant worker protection law that he said was unconstitutional because it passed mostly by proxy vote.

 
The U.S. Capitol during sunrise in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 15, 2020.

he U.S. Capitol during sunrise in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 15, 2020. Credit: REUTERS/Al Drago

 

A federal court in Lubbock ruled Tuesday that proxy voting in Congress doesn’t count toward a quorum, weakening a law to protect pregnant workers that was passed with proxy votes.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration last year over a massive government funding package that passed largely by proxy votes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding package, passed in December 2022, included the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which protects accommodations for pregnant employees in the workplace and allows workers to sue employers for failing to do so. It prohibited employers from denying employment opportunities or forcing pregnant workers to go on leave if alternative accommodations were possible.

Paxton argued the Constitution requires a physical majority of members in the U.S. House to pass legislation. Since a majority of members of the House voted on the funding package by proxy, Paxton said it was unenforceable.

Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed members to vote by proxy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of both parties took advantage of proxy voting for a range of reasons, from meeting with lobbyists to promoting books. The funding package came to a House vote in late December when many members had already left Washington for the holiday recess.

 

Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas agreed with Paxton’s understanding of a quorum.

“Based on the Quorum Clause’s text, original public meaning, and historical practice, the Court concludes that the Quorum Clause bars the creation of a quorum by including non-present members participating by proxy,” Hendrix wrote in his opinion.

Paxton took issue with the PWFA in particular in his original lawsuit, asserting it put undue burden on the state government to accommodate its pregnant employees. He wrote Texas already has provisions to accommodate pregnancy and that the law unconstitutionally opened the state to lawsuits over the federal law.

Hendrix ruled the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act unenforceable against the state government and its agencies. It does not nullify the entire $1.7 trillion spending package. Doing so would jeopardize programs across the federal government, including defense spending, health care and veterans programs.

Hendrix gave the federal government a week to appeal.

It was not the first legal challenge against proxy voting. Former House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sued to end proxy voting in 2020, but a federal court in Washington ruled it did not have the authority to rule on the House’s procedures. The Supreme Court declined to take the case.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, led an amicus brief last year supporting Paxton’s lawsuit. Roy was one of the fiercest opponents of the spending package, which he said amounted to government waste without appropriate oversight.

“The Constitution was made for times such as this, when government may claim emergency powers or special privileges to respond to extraordinary circumstances,” Roy wrote in the amicus brief. “But affording the government such powers undermines our structure of government, and ultimately imperils American citizens even more than infectious disease does.”

Texas AG Wins Federal Lawsuit To Weaken Protections For Pregnant Workers: Congress Didn’t Have Quorum
According to Paxton, the act places an “undue burden” on the Texas government when it comes to pregnant workers.

 

CJ 6 days ago

“weakening a law to protect pregnant workers” while forcing women to give birth.

The cognitive dissonance is off the charts. F’ing hell.

Ščŏŧŧ Ċ – 🇺🇦 🕊  CJ6 days ago

When you put it in the context of a war on women, it makes sense

kmcdevitt  CJ6 days ago

I don’t think it is cognitive dissonance; I think it’s deliberate. They clearly want fewer women in the workforce, and will exploit any avenue they can to push them out. With this, they get the added benefit of weakening a federal law for the whole country.

Gustav26 days ago

If this stands a whole bunch is in jeopardy.

You Again?  Gustav25 days ago

Yeah, there must other laws that were passed with proxy votes.

Are they all now invalid?

Jack Frost  You Again?5 days ago

It looks like this judge views this differently than the House Parliamentarian. The wiki page for this Fed judge had this note:

This contradicted the opinion of the House Parliamentarian, who had determined that rules allowed members to vote remotely and that their presence counted toward a quorum.

Geoff  Gustav25 days ago

Since the USSC had ruled against Margie 3 toes et al in their attempt to cancel their no mask / no metal detector fines

The basis was that The House and Senate are subject to the rules they create…..

This “Quorum” issue will also be slapped down.

It will take another two years but even these nutty folk will on the court will slap it down.

I’ll read the opinion later this morning.

JTO 6 days ago

More attacks on women and reproductive rights. Forcing pregnancy and denying rights to pregnant people puts us back in the 1930s. Undoing all the gains of the Civil Rights era is the point to these people.

Yves R. Mektin 6 days ago

Ken Paxton is so ridiculously evil that he’s almost cartoonish. It’s hard to believe that a real human being could be so evil.

Darreth6 days ago

Huh.

Once again, a direct assault on women. I wonder if it’s even possible for women to rise up out of their second class citizen mindset and vote these people out of office.

Dan  Darreth6 days ago

The hardest thing to understand is that many women AGREE with being controlled by men. How that attitude made it through the 20th century is unfathomable.

Max-1 🔫+cult(R)=☠️6 days ago

Yet, no lawmaker presents a bill to hold men responsible for getting a woman pregnant…

The use of a uterus is regulated.
The use of the penis, is not regulated.

Paddycakes2001 6 days ago

WTF? This violates the Enrolled Bill Doctrine. If Congress says a bill was properly passed procedurally & sent to the president, a court cannot look behind it.

John30013  Paddycakes20015 days ago

Not to mention that Article I gives each chamber of Congress the sole authority to make it’s own rules for how it conducts it’s business.

 

Let’s talk about German audio, Russia, and a lesson for Americans….

And some more The Majority Report clips.

Flat out, I love this show.  The show runs Monday to Friday, with Emma running the show on Thursdays, which is Sam’s day off.  The show is about three hours long, divided into two parts.   The free half is mostly news and interviews, and the fun half is with calls and IMs.   Now don’t panic, if you are poor like me you can still see the entire show.  There are two ways.  First if you can not afford it they give free memberships if you need one.   Or do what I do.  The way I do it can be a pain in the butt, but it works.   Wait until the show starts on YouTube.  Open the live broadcast, then in the description box they include the link to the fun half.  Click that and it switches to the entire show.   Now as long as you don’t close the browser you have the link to the entire show for free.   You don’t have to watch it all then, like any YouTube video or live stream, you can pause it and go do things, often I will start watching it and finish in the morning, leaving the computer tab open all night.  Anyway, here are the clips.   I especially like the ones that showed how clearly Israel was lying and got caught, and how the republicans had to admit that they did not have anything on Biden.  Plus the one of right wing media correcting tRump’s claims of winning the election was fun to watch.   Hugs.   Scottie

Now we move to the horrible lies Israel has told.   Hugs.  Scottie

Empty Chairs and Empty Tables … By Randy

Empty Chairs and Empty Tables

I was flitting through the songs from Les Miserables on youtube.  Some of my favorite songs, and I’ve always been amazed at the dramatic presentations these actors could impart.  Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne, Anne Hathaway have all put out such impactful songs as to bring ache to my heart, but never did I hear one that brought me tears until this one.

I remember when I was young I asked my grandmother how Hitler was allowed to do what he did.  She was so hurt by the question.  She just looked at me, ache in her eyes.  “Randy, we didn’t know.  We didn’t believe it could be real, we didn’t think someone could do that.”  To my sorrow, I will be forced to answer similarly when someone asks me about Sandy Hook, Uvalde and oh so many more.  I am going to have to look someone in the eye and tell them that somehow having the freedom to buy guns was worth more than the lives of our greatest treasures.  I’ll have to tell them that I had no idea how to stop it.

When November comes, please remember the lives lost and the politicians who put guns before kids.

As you start this video, please scroll down to the pictures below.

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