In case there is any doubt that Fox News exists as a propaganda network to support Republicans, specifically Donald Trump, Grassley just put his foot in it so if you don’t know, now you know.
WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, expressed frustration with last week’s Fox News’ town hall with President Donald Trump, saying the network wasn’t working hard enough to get him [Trump] reelected.
Grassley told Capitol Hill reporters on Monday that all he wants is for Trump to be reelected.
“I would blame Fox more than I blame the president, because the president, it’s easy for him to digress here and there, but Hannity — you assume Fox wants him to get reelected.”
Stacey Abrams was on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell last week. It was a short don’t-blink-you-might-miss-it segment but so important to know what we are up against looking forward to November.
“Republicans have a battle plan. They are planning to raise an army of 50,000 poll patrol – people who are going to get in line and try to scare people out of voting… they have committed 20 million dollars to a litigation strategy to restrain people and restrict access to the right to vote… they intend to spend up to 60 million dollars on all of their voter intimidation platforms… they are filing lawsuits to undo and to in fact eviscerate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. They are desperate because they know they are losing…”
Loebsack joins Finkenauer and Axne to Introduce Legislation to Protect Mobile and Manufactured Home Residents
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, [Friday] Congressman Dave Loebsack joined with Congresswomen Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne to introduce the Helping Owners Meet Essential Standards (HOMES) Act of 2020. This bill responds to ongoing abuses by mobile and manufactured-home community landlords in Iowa and across the country.
“We’ve seen over and over how these out-of-state companies buy up mobile home parks, jack up the rent, impose surprise fees and intimidate Iowans — many of whom live on a fixed income” Congresswoman Finkenauer said. “The HOMES Act says if your business model threatens and preys on vulnerable Iowans, you won’t be eligible for federally backed loans.”
The HOMES Act requires mobile and manufactured home park owners to provide basic tenant protections in order to receive federally-backed financing, effectively ensuring loans supported by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac are contingent on fair leasing, rent and eviction practices.
“Mobile homes provide a pathway to affordable home ownership for millions of Americans due to their lower prices, making them attractive purchases for rural families and folks living on a fixed income. Recently, it has become all too common for mobile home communities to be purchased by a large company who comes in and sharply raises the rent, often leaving the tenant having to choose between putting food on the table and making the rent payment. The seniors, teachers, veterans, and other residents who call these communities home have long-fought for basic rights afforded to every other renter and homeowner,” said Congressman Loebsack. “I am pleased to work with Reps. Finkenauer and Axne on the HOMES Act, as this important legislation will give mobile home residents the protections they deserve.”
“This is personal,” Finkenauer said. “We’ve got to protect our friends and neighbors from predatory investors who treat their residents’ hard-earned homes like pieces on a Monopoly board.”
“The story here in Iowa has become too well known: an outside investor buys up a mobile home park, and soon after Iowans in these communities get runaway rent increases coupled with poor or completely absent communication. It’s unacceptable – especially in uncertain economic times – and predatory practices like these should not be financed with federal support,” said Congresswoman Axne. “I’m proud to join my friends in the Iowa delegation today to introduce this bill to better protect Iowans by providing commonsense, basic tenants’ rights for those living in federally backed communities. With the HOMES Act, anyone using taxpayer backing to buy a rental property needs to meet basic standards for the residents.”
Predatory corporations and private equity firms have increasingly purchased manufactured and mobile home communities in recent years, implementing a business model that relies on hiking rents and fees, and forcing tenants into contracts that leave them vulnerable to eviction.
The HOMES Act would restrict the federally backed lending available to these corporations unless they write basic protections into tenant leases. Those protections include:
One-year renewable lease terms
Advance written notice and justification of rent increases
Advance written notice of the planned sale or closure of a community
Protection against arbitrary evictions
Rights for residents selling the manufactured or mobile homes they own without incurring the significant expense of moving those homes out of their communities
The HOMES Act would also form a commission charged with developing ways to reward borrowers that adopt additional resident protections through pricing discounts on federally backed loans.
The legislation is endorsed by: MHAction, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), National Housing Law Project, and Prosperity Now.
With all the literally life threatening news that is coming out from Washington DC and our various state capitols this little item nearly slipped through unnoticed Late Wednesday night / early Thursday morning.
Bayer agrees to $10.9bn settlement over Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup
“German pharmaceutical company Bayer says it’s paying up to $10.9bn to settle a lawsuit over subsidiary Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup, which has faced numerous lawsuits over claims it causes cancer.
Bayer said it was also paying up $1.22bn to settle two further cases, one involving polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) in water.
Bayer said the Roundup settlement would “bring closure to approximately 75%” of the current 125,000 filed and unfiled claims. The resolution also puts in place a mechanism to resolve potential future claims, the company said.
“First and foremost, the Roundup settlement is the right action at the right time for Bayer to bring a long period of uncertainty to an end,” said Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer, in a statement on Wednesday.”
With Iowa being a major farming state this should be of interest to most Iowans. While I have no idea what the penetration of Roundup and Roundup Ready crops is in Iowa it is no doubt significant.
The other interesting aspect to this settlement is that when the Bayer and Monsanto merger was finalized slightly over 2 years ago it was controversial.
With the merger of Bayer and Monsanto farmers were left with only three companies that would be able to take care of farmers need for seed and pesticides – Bayer, Syngenta -China and Dupont-Dow.
At the time of their merger Monsanto was up to its eyeballs in lawsuits. This settlement takes care of about 75% of the lawsuits.
Monsanto has made several very controversial products over the years. Part of this settlement included some settlement on other Monsanto lawsuits: (also from the Guardian)
“Bayer said it would also pay up to $400m to settle cases involving the weedkiller dicamba having drifted onto plants that weren’t bred to resist it, killing them.
A further payment of up to $820m will be made to settle “most” claims for exposure to PCB, a highly carcinogenic substance, that Monsanto produced until 1977 and which has been found in US waters.”
Once again time and circumstances makes what was once seen as major news into so much background music.
“Donald Trump has been the worst president this country has ever had. And I don’t say that hyperbolically. He is. But he is a consequential president. And he has brought this country in three short years to a place of weakness that is simply unimaginable if you were pondering where we are today from the day where Barack Obama left office. And there were a lot of us on that day who were deeply skeptical and very worried about what a Trump presidency would be. But this is a moment of unparalleled national humiliation, of weakness.
“When you listen to the President, these are the musings of an imbecile. An idiot. And I don’t use those words to name call. I use them because they are the precise words of the English language to describe his behavior. His comportment. His actions. We’ve never seen a level of incompetence, a level of ineptitude so staggering on a daily basis by anybody in the history of the country whose ever been charged with substantial responsibilities.
“It’s just astonishing that this man is president of the United States. The man, the con man, from New York City. Many bankruptcies, failed businesses, a reality show, that branded him as something that he never was. A successful businessman. Well, he’s the President of the United States now, and the man who said he would make the country great again. And he’s brought death, suffering, and economic collapse on truly an epic scale. And let’s be clear. This isn’t happening in every country around the world. This place. Our place. Our home. Our country. The United States. We are the epicenter. We are the place where you’re the most likely to die from this disease. We’re the ones with the most shattered economy. And we are because of the fool that sits in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk.”
This is a good time to remember that our press is free . Folks like Molly Ivins showed us what a free press can do (3 minutes)
America has always been a work in progress. There has always been a chasm between ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the reality of everyday life. The freedoms that have been cited in those documents have never been extended to all citizens, let alone all humans in this country. In the 244 years since the signing of the Declaration there has been a continuing battle to expand rights to all citizens.
One theory is that the ruling class will never give up any power willingly. Power must be taken. In America we have examples of both advancement with violence and with non-violence. This year we have an example of people nonviolently demonstrating and making some strides. It feels like for the first time in a long time those in power are at least listening a little. Once again, it is a start.
On another note Bunker Boy has brought three major epochs of American history together all at one time. America is going through the Spanish Flu epoch, The Great Depression and the Civil Rights era all together in one fell swoop. Unlike those other periods this time we have a president who refuses to lead and couldn’t care less about what happens to the country. He just wants to be re-elected.
The pandemic is rebounding with a vengeance especially in the Republican led states. Which state is putting restrictions back into place to counter the rebound?
Mary Trump is writing a tell all book about her family due out in early August. Which family member sued to try to stop publication of her book?
In the sports world, what former and often considered racist owner of the Minnesota Twins had his statue removed from the stadium last week?
The CDC estimated Thursday that only what percent of coronavirus cases have been reported in the US?
It is still Pride Month. 51 years ago today what signature event took place in NYC?
Speaking of signature days, what other North American country commemorates its birth this week also?(I ask this every year folks)
Was the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4th, 1776?
Bunker Boy followed his rally in coronavirus riddled Tulsa last Saturday with a rally in what even more coronavirus riddled city on Tuesday?
What other country in the Americas has a coronavirus daily infection rate even worse than that of the US?
Who described Bunker Boy’s response to the pandemic as “that of a child, whining and self-pity” in a major address Thursday?
The Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Hall of Fame fundraiser will be virtual this year, streaming on Sunday evening July 26th. Who will be the keynote speaker this year?
What is Bunker Boy’s latest racist name for the coronavirus?
To say the least this week is loaded with historic events. July 1, 1862, Lincoln signed the first bill calling for what kind of tax?
According to Wikipedia, the term “homosexuality” was coined in what year? (Hint: around our civil war)
What pizza chain noted for its arcade and as a great place for a kid’s birthday party, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday?
The US senate confirmed Cory Wilson as a federal judge Wednesday. How many federal judges have now been confirmed during Bunker Boy’s term?
In a shocking announcement the US Court of Appeals, DC Circuit said that Judge Emmet Sullivan must accept the DOJ’s decision to drop charges against who?
What group of countries is considering banning travel to them from the US due to our spike in coronavirus cases?
Soon to be gone, but not forgotten. What mode of transportation introduced in 2001 is being phased out by its producer?
A huge dust cloud that originated where is affecting air quality in the gulf states and southeastern states?
Answers:
Texas
Nope, not Donald. Her uncle Robert Trump, Donald’s brother brought the suit.
Calvin Griffith
10% – which means we may actually have nearly 30 million cases
The Stonewall Inn riots
Canada Day is Wednesday July 1st
No. July 4th is when the language in the Declaration was approved. Independence was approved on July 2 – this is the day John Adams thought we should celebrate. Most of the delegates signed on August 2nd, 1776.
Phoenix, Az.
Brazil. They also have a right wing authoritarian leader.
On a press call this morning, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD-05), Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI-01), Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, along with Little Lobbyists Executive Director and Co-Founder Elena Hung and Protect Our Care discussed the briefs being filed today in the Supreme Court by the Trump administration and Republican AGs in support of their lawsuit to terminate the ACA. As the elected officials on the call made clear, the briefs being filed will put the Trump and Republican lawsuit to rip health care from 20 million Americans and protections for 135 million with pre-existing conditions on full display in front of the nation’s highest court and during a global pandemic. The briefs are being filed one day after House Democrats introduced legislation to build on the ACA and make healthcare more accessible and affordable.
“Today Americans are going to once again see the Trump plan for health care. Instead of steps to rein in COVID-19 and lower health care costs to families struggling to make ends meet, Trump and Bill Barr are going to publish a blueprint on how to dismantle American health care in the middle of a pandemic,” said Senator Wyden. “The stakes have always been high, but now they are even higher. Americans need to know that this brief sums up what Trump and Republicans think about health care: affordable health care is not a right for everybody.”
“The difference between Democrats’ priorities and those of Republicans could not be more stark, and I thank Protect Our Care for leading a call today on this issue and for their tireless efforts to defend Americans’ health care,” said Leader Hoyer. “As Republicans file briefs in support of their lawsuit to strike down the ACA and its protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Democrats have unveiled legislation to strengthen and enhance the ACA, which I’m proud to bring to the Floor next Monday. Our bill will build on the success of the ACA, which has provided coverage to 20 million more Americans and has brought costs down. President Trump and Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, want to take away protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, raise costs, and impose an age tax on older Americans – in the middle of a pandemic. That is cruel and it will cost lives. As we approach Monday’s vote, I continue to urge Congressional Republicans to join us in protecting and strengthening the law. I hope House Republicans will join us in supporting it, and I call on Senate Republicans to take it up following House passage.”
“Republicans are obsessed with taking away health care from the American people. They’ve been trying to do it for a decade, but this is the first time they’ve tried to do it in the middle of a public health pandemic,” said Congressman Cicilline. “Democrats are voting in the House next Monday to pass Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act to lower health care costs, protect patients with pre-existing conditions, expand Medicaid, and lower prescription drug costs.”
“In the middle of a pandemic, the Trump Administration and Republican party want to destroy the law that currently provides vital protections to people with pre-existing conditions and health care coverage to millions of Americans”, said Little Lobbyists Executive Director and Co-Founder Elena Hung. “They want to repeal the ACA, and they still do not have a replacement plan. This is not a difference in politics and policies. This is a difference in morals and values. Health care is a human right, and our country deserves so much better.”
“There is simply no action that would be more devastating to the ongoing health crisis than if the Trump administration and Republicans overturn the ACA and rip health care away from millions of Americans,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “The briefs being filed today will put the Republican war on health care on full display in front of the American people. The contrast between the efforts of Democrats to expand coverage, lower costs and strengthen protections and the ongoing Republican effort to take it all away in the middle of a pandemic could not be clearer.”
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Here is a reminder from the Des Moines Register via the Iowa Democratic Party website that Joni Ernst is not a friend of the ACA:
DMR Editorial: Senator Ernst Must Oppose GOP Lawsuit to Repeal the ACA
Home/Press Releases/DMR Editorial: Senator Ernst Must Oppose GOP Lawsuit to Repeal the ACA
Ed Board Blasts Iowa GOP for Silently Standing By A Lawsuit Enabled by Senator Ernst that Would Repeal Health Coverage During a Pandemic
In a scathing editorial, the Des Moines Register Editorial Board took Senator Joni Ernst and the Iowa GOP to task for refusing to condemn the GOP’s lawsuit to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act – an effort that would have “disastrous consequences” on Iowa’s health care system and rip away insurance in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic.
The lawsuit, made possible by Senator Ernst’s vote for the 2017 GOP Tax Scam, threatens the very same health coverage and protections that Senator Ernst has spent her career voting to undermine. Yet, 100 days after the Supreme Court announced it would take up the case, Senator Ernst has refused to reveal her position to voters, saying, “I’m not saying whether I support it or not.”
As the editorial makes clear, if the GOP’s lawsuit is successful, Iowans could:
“Lose the expansion of Medicaid and federal subsidies that help Iowans pay for private insurance.”
“Lose protections for people with preexisting conditions and coverage for young adults under their parents’ health insurance.”
Have their “health services and infrastructure” compromised
“Senator Ernst’s silence speaks volumes on her true priorities in Washington. After cashing in over $500,000 in campaign checks from Big Pharma and the insurance industry, Senator Ernst is complicit in her party’s egregious effort to repeal Iowans’ essential health coverage and protections during a pandemic,” said Jeremy Busch, Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson.
The Supreme Court is set to hear the case this fall. It was brought by Republican-led states and backed by the Trump administration. The result could be striking down most or all of the health reform law, which would have disastrous consequences for Iowans.
Along with other Americans, we could lose the expansion of Medicaid and federal subsidies that help Iowans pay for private insurance. We could lose protections for people with preexisting conditions and coverage for young adults under their parents’ health insurance.
It is not only individual Iowans who would suffer. When people don’t have insurance, health providers and hospitals are not paid to treat them. The ensuing loss of revenue would compromise health services and infrastructure needed by all of us.
[Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller] supports the ACA and is part of a 20-state coalition of Democrats who want the Supreme Court to uphold it.
Reynolds, as well as Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, should encourage exactly that.
For a decade, GOP politicians have challenged the law with votes to repeal it, lawsuits and refusal to make legislative fixes, while never providing a viable alternative.
The ACA has been implemented in every state. It allows entrepreneurs and early retirees to buy coverage on their own without the help of an employer. That is especially important as millions of Americans have lost their jobs in recent months.
The ACA is not perfect, but it insures millions of Americans, protects them from insurance company abuses and allows people with preexisting health problems to buy coverage.
It’s also pretty darn important for Americans to have health care during an infectious disease pandemic.
Do you wonder how something as fairly innocuous as wearing a face mask to protect yourself from ambient viruses that may kill a person became a contentious political point? Do you wonder why a person would not only put their own life in jeopardy but the lives of his or her spouse, the parents and in-laws and their brothers, sisters and children nieces and nephews?
For a long time now, essentially since the long gone days of Saint Ronald of Reagan followers of whoever is the voice of the Republican Party of the day have had followers who want to push the envelope of adherence to the Party line with some outward show of support. This show not only needs to show their support but at the same time it must also be an act that in someway shows up the beliefs of those of us who occupy the other side of the political spectrum. Now they seemed to have settled on a strategy that may get them killed.
But that doesn’t seem to matter. What matters is that they commit some public act that shows their disdain, their hate and their ridicule of the political left. Over the years, this has taken the form of many somewhat bizarre actions in order to prove how much they dislike their opponents. It seems not to matter if what they do will result in their own harm – the point is to stick it to the liberals (or libtards in their words). Or stated another way to “Own the Libs.”
The resurrection of Joe McCarty’s purposeful calling his opponents the “DemocRAT Party” (with the emphasis on “rat”) instead of Democratic Party during the Reagan years was the leading edge. As the Republican Party moved further and further to the right actions by adherents have become more and more outrageous and hurtful to our society as a whole. They do not care as long as they “own the libs.”
As climate change became a huge issue that over the years has become a source of increasingly harmful weather patterns we have seen the far right perform acts of defiance such as fighting tooth and nail to stop or roll back any and all pollution regulations enacted to fight the pollution that is causing the environmental changes that are fueling the increasingly harmful weather. Doing what is right for the country as a whole or the world as a whole is of no concern. The motivation is to own the libs and to have a wedge issue to run on.
Thus we have seen Republican adherents driving huge trucks with black smoke coming out the tailpipes. We also see lax pollution policing during Republican administrations and in Republican led state governments. Pollution never stops at a state border, so despoiling their own environments is another way to stick a finger in the Lib’s eye while pushing what shouldn’t be a wedge issue.
Of course perhaps the biggest way to own the Libs is to be able to walk around with a gun on your hip in an open show of political adherence. The Iowa legislature under Republican leadership continues to loosen gun laws. In the end of the session rush they were able to push through a law to force local governments to allow open carry inside local governmental buildings. Why? That will get all sorts of BS 2nd amendment reasons, but the only thing that makes sense to me is that once more the Republicans can stick it to the Libs.
No doubt you can think of many, many more examples of “owning the Libs.” Examples that cover not only gun laws (why does anyone need an AR15??) and environmental rules, but also laws that enforce inequalities, that give huge breaks to the rich, that treat any group of people as less than human, becoming the champion of the traitors that were once the Confederacy – the list is long today.
Having taken a 50,000 foot view of what has been the trend for the past 40 years we can see how this led to where we are today. In 2016 during the Republican primaries we saw most of the candidates who have gone far right as the whole party had. But while most of the candidates still presented right wing ideas within what were at that times norms of what could be said. One candidate made it very clear that he would not be constrained by norms or any other rules.
He also made it clear that he hated the same people that a very hard core of adherents to the Republican Party had been cultivated to hate over the years. He also hated the governmental laws and rules that got in his way. He also made it clear that he would be more than willing to sign nearly any bill put in front of him. If that wasn’t enough he would use the huge power of the office of the presidency to do what the base wanted.
Thus the long cultivated hate for libs and “others” that was deeply embedded in the base found its champion. Those who wanted to “own the Libs” now had a candidate who would do what they wanted if he got power.
Of course we are talking about Donald Trump. Trump’s path to power is to divide and conquer. His path to maintaining power is to divide and conquer. His world is divided into people who does what he says and those who don’t. Therefore anything that in anyway puts Donald Trump in any kind of a bad light is an enemy and must be defeated.
So the pandemic comes along and his response is horrible. Rather than work to defeat the pandemic, Trump unleashes all his energy on anyone who criticizes his response whether that person was supposedly a loyalist or not. That is how the president of the US became the best friend a virus ever had. That is why we have lost 125,000 lives and will probably lose at least that many more.
That is also why governors like Kim Reynolds in Iowa, Doug Ducey in Arizona, Ron DeSantis in Florida and all other Republican governors have reopened their economies way too soon and without proper guidance to contain the virus. They are afraid of pissing off that “own the Libs” base that is blindly loyal to Trump. Their politics are far more important to them than your life.
And that is how a mask that has been shown to be the very best investment an individual can make to help prevent catching the virus became a visible sign of those who want to work together for the good of all and public heath versus those who want to visibly show their loyalty to Donald Trump and to “own the Libs!”
Help yourself and all the rest of us – WASH YOUR HANDS, KEEP YOUR DISTANCE, STAY OUT OF CROWDS ESPECIALLY INDOORS AND FOR GOODNESS SAKES WEAR A MASK, WEAR A MASK, WEAR A MASK!
Joni Ernst is a corporate tool who has demonstrated this over and over through her votes. Name one thing she has done for Iowa in six years. Voted to repeal the Affordable Care ActNRA$$$
Governor Kim Keynolds: (515) 281-5211 U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Iowa Members of Congress - Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) - Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) - Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) - Rep. Zach Nunn (R) Iowa US Senators - Senator Joni Ernst (R) - Senator Charles Grassley (R)
In case there is any doubt that Fox News exists as a propaganda network to support Republicans, specifically Donald Trump, Grassley just put his foot in it so if you don’t know, now you know.
