Jake in the desert<p>MAD psyched for Pinball II next week. Already know this one's gonna get a ton of play from me. </p><p><a href="https://mikelikesrap.bandcamp.com/album/pinball-ii" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">mikelikesrap.bandcamp.com/albu</span><span class="invisible">m/pinball-ii</span></a></p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/rap" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rap</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/hiphop" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>hiphop</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/2025Albums" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>2025Albums</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/2025Records" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>2025Records</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/MIKE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MIKE</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/TonySeltzer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TonySeltzer</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/PinballII" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PinballII</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/2025Rap" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>2025Rap</span></a> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://c.im/@farrisswisher" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>farrisswisher</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://turtleisland.social/@dillyd" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>dillyd</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://staticmade.com/activitypub/Jeffrey" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>jeffrey</span></a></span></p>
Recent searches
No recent searches
Search options
Only available when logged in.
en.osm.town is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
An independent, community of OpenStreetMap people on the Fediverse/Mastodon.
Funding graciously provided by the OpenStreetMap Foundation.
Administered by:
Server stats:
258active users
en.osm.town: About · Profiles directory · Privacy policy
Mastodon: About · Get the app · Keyboard shortcuts · View source code · v4.3.8
#mike
1 post · 1 participant · 0 posts today
Chuck Darwin<p>On April 12, 2015, lifelong Baltimore resident <a href="https://c.im/tags/Freddie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Freddie</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Gray" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Gray</span></a> was arrested, hogtied and thrown into the back of a police van by six officers. </p><p>When Gray was pulled from the van less than an hour later, he was in a coma. </p><p>A week later, he passed away from severe injuries to his cervical spinal cord. </p><p>The incident, and the revelations thereafter, set Baltimore and the entire country ablaze. </p><p>Details of the case alleged officers had taken Gray for a “rough ride,” <br>a police brutality practice <br>where individuals are intentionally left unrestrained in police vehicles during dangerous driving maneuvers. </p><p>After a coroner ruled Gray’s death a homicide, <br>the six officers involved in his arrest were charged with crimes ranging from false imprisonment to manslaughter. </p><p>But the damage was done, not only to Gray, but to his community, <br>which had endured decades of deprivations and abuse by Baltimore police. </p><p>The resulting <a href="https://c.im/tags/Baltimore" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Baltimore</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Uprising" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Uprising</span></a> shook the city and the nation to its core, <br>fueling a fresh wave of Black Lives Matter protests building on the murders of <a href="https://c.im/tags/Trayvon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trayvon</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Martin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Martin</span></a>, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Brown" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brown</span></a>, and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Eric" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Eric</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Garner" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Garner</span></a>.</p><p><a href="https://therealnews.com/freddie-gray-a-decade-of-struggle" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">therealnews.com/freddie-gray-a</span><span class="invisible">-decade-of-struggle</span></a></p>
DieSachsen<p>Erneut kam es zu Widersprüchen im Verfahren gegen Mike A., der seiner Ex-Partnerin gefährliche Verletzungen zugefügt haben soll. <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Justiz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Justiz</span></a> <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Landgericht" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Landgericht</span></a> Dresden <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Gericht" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Gericht</span></a> <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> A. <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Kati" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Kati</span></a> H. <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Ethanol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ethanol</span></a> <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Verhandlung" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Verhandlung</span></a> <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Weinprinzessin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Weinprinzessin</span></a> <a href="https://dju.social/tags/Landgericht" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Landgericht</span></a> <a href="https://bit.ly/3XAK2QE" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/3XAK2QE</span><span class="invisible"></span></a> <a href="https://www.diesachsen.de/elbland/widersprueche-im-tathergang-hat-er-die-weinprinzessin-angezuendet-oder-nicht-3004049?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=publizer&utm_content=textlink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">diesachsen.de/elbland/widerspr</span><span class="invisible">ueche-im-tathergang-hat-er-die-weinprinzessin-angezuendet-oder-nicht-3004049?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=publizer&utm_content=textlink</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>While BuzzFeed went down to Florida to look into <a href="https://c.im/tags/Fruman" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fruman</span></a> and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Parnas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Parnas</span></a>, <br>my colleagues and I started talking to people in Ukraine about what they knew. </p><p>The story turned out to be pretty simple...</p><p>With Parnas and Fruman’s help, Ukrainian prosecutors and businessmen had convinced Giuliani that they could furnish him with false but useful political information about Biden. </p><p>In return, they wanted the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who had crossed some of these prosecutors, to be fired. </p><p>We published the story on July 22, 2019 and that was that. </p><p>Then, two months later, while recovering from shoulder surgery, <br>I received a flurry of messages. </p><p>A CIA whistleblower’s report that Trump had pressured Ukraine’s president to open an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden was in the papers, <br>and keen-eyed colleagues had noticed our story mentioned in the footnotes. </p><p>How did this CIA employee know about my story? </p><p>My wildest guess is they found it where everyone else did: <br>on the internet. </p><p>It hurt my ego a little, <br>but few journalists or political operatives actually seemed very interested in my story at the time, <br>despite its appearance in the whistleblower’s report. </p><p>They probably correctly assessed that it had played a minor role in the impeachment.</p><p>I moved back to Australia just before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, <br>and didn’t give much further thought to the story <br>— until it became the target of a whirlwind of online outrage in the aftermath of the dismantling of USAID by the Trump administration <br>and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. </p><p>👉The trigger seems to have been a February 3 post on X by <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Benz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Benz</span></a>, <br>a former State Department employee. </p><p>(Benz was unmasked by NBC News in 2023 as “Frame Game,” <br>an anonymous online influencer whose previous writings included the statement, <br>“holy shit, Hitler actually had some decent points.”) </p><p>Benz’s false claim that USAID had paid <br>“$20 million to hit piece journalists to dig up dirt on Rudy Giuliani <br>and use that dirt as the basis to impeach the sitting US President in 2019” <br>was quickly reposted by X’s owner, Elon Musk.</p><p>After that came <a href="https://c.im/tags/Shellenberger" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Shellenberger</span></a>, a former public relations expert whose clients included Venezuela’s late petro-dictator, Hugo Chavez. </p><p>In his own attack on OCCRP’s “treasonous” work, <br>he added more detail from a widely-criticized story on our organization published last year.</p><p>Investigative journalism is difficult work. </p><p>It requires finding patterns in large amounts of noisy information, <br>putting together a complex puzzle, <br>and painstakingly stress-testing it so that it can stand up to any challenge. </p><p>My 2019 story was carefully fact-checked and its accuracy has never been disputed <br>— not even by its current critics.</p><p>Conspiracy-theorism is, by contrast, <br>a grotesque imitation of what real journalists do. </p><p>It’s a pastiche of barely-connected facts, glued together with innuendo and pure fantasy. </p><p>Conspiracy theories can also be used to cover up uncomfortable truths. </p><p>Truths like the fact that humanitarian workers are currently warning that the gutting of billions of dollars from USAID could lead to an explosion in disease and hunger around the world. </p><p>As one Georgia manufacturer of high-nutrition food for starving children put it last week: </p><p>“It is not hype or conjecture or hand wringing or even contested use of stats to say that hundreds of thousands of malnourished children could die without USAID."</p><p>Some people would prefer to change the subject, <br>and distract us with McCarthyist attacks on free speech and the free press. </p><p>But the truth is more powerful in the end.</p><p>-- Aubrey Belford,<br>OCCRP</p><p>(2/2)</p><p><a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/feature/investigative-reporting-is-free-speech-not-treason" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">occrp.org/en/feature/investiga</span><span class="invisible">tive-reporting-is-free-speech-not-treason</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Trump confirmed Friday he stripped security protections from former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, the latest in a pattern of retaliation against political adversaries.</p><p>🔥Why it matters: <br>All of Trump's targets have received death threats during a time of heightened political violence.</p><p>♦️<a href="https://c.im/tags/Anthony" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Anthony</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Fauci" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fauci</span></a></p><p>The former NIAID director lost his protection late Thursday night.</p><p>Fauci has repeatedly been forthright about death threats against himself and his family. He's now hired his own security detail, per the New York Times.<br>"You can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you worked for government," Trump said on Fox News on Friday, when asked about Fauci.<br>Between the lines: Former President Biden issued a preemptive pardon for Fauci on his last day in office, granting him broad immunity before Trump's term began.</p><p>Fauci faced repeated political attacks from Trump and other Republicans over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>♦️<a href="https://c.im/tags/John" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>John</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Bolton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bolton</span></a></p><p>Trump's former national security adviser has faced death threats from Iran after being a fierce critic of the regime. In 2022 an Iranian national was charged in connection with a plot to assassinate Bolton.</p><p>"This is a matter that people should take seriously," Bolton told CNN's Jake Tapper.<br>Context: Bolton was vocal in his criticism of Trump after working with him during his first term and ahead of his new administration.</p><p>"It's certainly a downer for expressing your opposition to Donald Trump," Bolton said on CNN.</p><p>♦️<a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pompeo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pompeo</span></a></p><p>Trump's former secretary of state, like Bolton, faced threats from Iran, multiple outlets reported.</p><p>Pompeo has criticized Trump on fiscal and foreign policy and was not invited to join his second administration. However, Pompeo spent Trump's first week in office celebrating his win, Cabinet confirmations, and early executive orders.</p><p>🔸Zoom in: Pompeo's top aide <a href="https://c.im/tags/Brian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brian</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Hook" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hook</span></a> also lost his security, per the reports.<br><a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/01/24/trump-fauci-bolton-pompeo-security-tracker" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">axios.com/2025/01/24/trump-fau</span><span class="invisible">ci-bolton-pompeo-security-tracker</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>On December 5, right-wing culture warriors instructed lawmakers attending the <br>American Legislative Exchange Council’s ( <a href="https://c.im/tags/ALEC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ALEC</span></a> )<br> "States and Nation Policy Summit"<br>in Washington, D.C., <br>on the steps their states can take to upend policies and practices <br>designed to help address the unfolding climate emergency and diversify workforces.</p><p>CRC Advisors Senior Vice President 💥<a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Thompson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Thompson</span></a> 💥led the workshop<br> “Battles Won, War Continues: <br>The Left, ESG and State Policy,” <br>according to materials obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). </p><p>In 2020, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Greg" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Greg</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mueller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mueller</span></a> and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Leonard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Leonard</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Leo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Leo</span></a>, who played an integral role in Trump’s effort to pack the federal judiciary with right-wing judges, <br>founded CRC Advisors <br>— the group Thompson represents <br>— to “funnel big money and expertise across the conservative movement.”</p><p>Although not as well known as Leo, <br>Thompson, a member of ALEC’s private sector advisory board, <br>is an important Christian Right operative <br>who plays multiple leadership roles in campaigns and communications.</p><p>Thompson’s public relations skills were on full display in his remarks <br>demonizing the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), <br>“a global coalition of leading financial institutions committed to accelerating the decarbonization of the economy” <br>in order to preserve the planet from further destruction.</p><p>Thompson argued that large asset managers and banks that participate in GFANZ <br>— including BlackRock, State Street, Wells Fargo, City Bank, Morgan Stanley, Chase, and Bank of America <br>— are breaking antitrust law by utilizing sustainable investment strategies.</p><p>Thompson provided an example of a lawsuit against BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard <br>filed last month by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and 10 other Republican attorneys general <br>— all active members of the fossil-fuel backed "Republican Attorneys General Association" ( <a href="https://c.im/tags/RAGA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RAGA</span></a> ) <br>— alleging that the three companies violated antitrust law in colluding to raise electricity prices through their investments.</p><p>“The states have filed an antitrust lawsuit and they detail in it all of the evidence where those three companies were colluding to keep coal in the ground and from coming to market, <br>thus, driving up the price and violating antitrust law,” <br>Thompson told workshop participants.</p><p>The PR professional neglected to mention that CRC Advisors is a paid consultant of RAGA <br>or that his boss Leo’s "Concord Fund" has funneled $3.5 million to the pay-to-play group this year <br>and $20.3 million since the organization was founded in 2014, according to CMD’s analysis of its tax filings.</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Sal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sal</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Nuzzo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Nuzzo</span></a>, the first workshop presenter, is executive director of <br>"Consumers Defense", <br>the sister organization of Consumers’ Research, <br>which is a vice-chairman sponsor of ALEC’s summit and a driver of the right-wing’s manufactured crisis around “woke” capitalism.</p><p>Nuzzo argued that reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through renewable energy production would force Americans to cede <br>“two-thirds of [the] U.S. electricity generation supply chain to the Communist Party of China.” </p><p>He didn’t cite a source for this claim, nor does the group’s website provide any research substantiating it.</p><p>Nuzzo also attempted to raise the alarm with lawmakers from states that depend on agriculture <br>by claiming that the Left has “shifted their attacks and tactics into the agriculture space” <br>in response to anti-ESG legislation passed over the last three legislative cycles <br>and has moved to prevent farmers from getting access to loans.</p><p>“The [Left’s] coordinated attacks on agriculture are occurring at all levels. <br>They’re at the producer level. <br>They’re at the distributor level. <br>They’re at the consumption and sales level,” <br>Nuzzo claimed. </p><p>“If farming interests cannot get financing, [farmers] cannot operate.”</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Paul" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Paul</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Watkins" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Watkins</span></a>, founder of "Fusion Law" and both a senior legal fellow at "Consumers’ Research"<br> and a special counsel with "Heritage Action", made a number of claims in his presentation <br>based on his belief that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are discriminatory, <br>and therefore illegal. </p><p>As a member of ALEC’s "Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force", he is involved in drafting and voting on most of the group’s pro-fossil fuel policies alongside lawmakers and polluting industry lobbyists.<br><a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/12/07/top-leonard-leo-lieutenant-leads-alec-bootcamp-against-woke-capitalism" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">exposedbycmd.org/2024/12/07/to</span><span class="invisible">p-leonard-leo-lieutenant-leads-alec-bootcamp-against-woke-capitalism</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Trump border chief threatens jail for Denver mayor amid deportation dispute </p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Tom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Tom</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Homan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Homan</span></a>, Donald Trump’s hardline incoming <a href="https://c.im/tags/border" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>border</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/czar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>czar</span></a>, has threatened to put the mayor of <a href="https://c.im/tags/Denver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Denver</span></a> in jail <br>after the latter said he was willing to risk incarceration to resist the president-elect’s migrant mass deportation plan.</p><p>The threat was issued against <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Johnston" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Johnston</span></a>, a Democrat, who said he was not afraid of being jailed and encouraged people to protest against mass round-ups of immigrants in their cities and communities.</p><p>Johnston’s remarks came after Trump focused during the presidential election campaign on the Denver suburb of <a href="https://c.im/tags/Aurora" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Aurora</span></a>, which he said had become “a war zone” where apartment buildings had been taken over by Venezuelan gang members.</p><p>Asked to respond by Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Homan said: “Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing; <br>he’s willing to go to jail. I’m willing to put him in jail.”</p><p>Johnston had originally been asked by a local Denver television station to respond to Homan’s previous vows to arrest local leaders and politicians who stood in the way of deportation efforts.<br>He said he was not willing to go to jail, though he is “not afraid of that” in a Friday interview with 9 News.</p><p>“I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard problems,” he told the outlet.<br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/26/trump-tom-homan-border-denver?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/us-news/2024/n</span><span class="invisible">ov/26/trump-tom-homan-border-denver?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Rep.-elect <a href="https://c.im/tags/Sarah" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sarah</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/McBride" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>McBride</span></a> (D-Del.), <br>the first <a href="https://c.im/tags/transgender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>transgender</span></a> person elected to Congress, <br>said Sunday that House Republicans’ <a href="https://c.im/tags/bathroom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>bathroom</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ban" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ban</span></a> is an “attempt to distract from what they are actually doing.”</p><p>“Every single time, every single time we hear them say the word ‘trans,’ look what they’re doing with their right hand,” she continued.</p><p>Earlier this week, Rep. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Nancy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Nancy</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mace</span></a> (R-S.C.) introduced a bill aimed at prohibiting transgender people from facilities on Capitol Hill that match their gender identity. </p><p>House Speaker <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Johnson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Johnson</span></a> (R-La.) later announced a new policy barring transgender people from using Capitol bathrooms matching their gender identity.</p><p>“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” Johnson said previously.</p><p> “It is important to note that each member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”</p><p>McBride said Sunday that she has “had conversations with colleagues in the Democratic caucus already that <br>— that span diversity of thought about how the party should engage on a whole host of issues.”</p><p>“But I think we are all united that every single American deserves equal rights. </p><p>I think we are all united that attempts to attack a vulnerable community are not only mean-spirited, but really an attempt to misdirect,” she added.</p><p><a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5007210-sarah-mcbride-house-republicans-bathroom-ban/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">thehill.com/homenews/house/500</span><span class="invisible">7210-sarah-mcbride-house-republicans-bathroom-ban/</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Others in the Trump inner circle who made their fortunes via privately held ventures include treasury secretary <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/Steven" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Steven</span></a> T. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mnuchin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mnuchin</span></a>, who got a great deal during the financial crisis on IndyMac, a mortgage lending bank, <br>thanks to our government’s penchant for the socialization of risk and privatization of profit when entities considered “too big to fail” go into a state of distress. </p><p>Mnuchin and his fellow investors, a group that included liberal donor and hedge-fund honcho George Soros, changed the company name to <a href="https://c.im/tags/OneWest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OneWest</span></a> and began to aggressively foreclose on homeowners. <br>The bank earned Mnuchin and his partners a profit of $1.6 billion in its first year of operation, <br>even as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was preparing to take a hit of nearly $11 billion “on bad loans that the Pasadena institution made before it was sold last March and renamed OneWest Bank,” according to E. Scott Reckard of the Los Angeles Times.</p><p>Then there’s commerce secretary <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wilbur" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Wilbur</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ross" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ross</span></a>, worth $2.5 billion according to Forbes, who started a second career in 2000 with the creation of his eponymous investment company, <br>which he later sold to Invesco for a reported $375 million. </p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Reed" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Reed</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Cordish" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cordish</span></a>, special assistant to the president for intragovernmental and technology initiatives, is a scion of the family that owns privately held Cordish Companies, <br>involved in gaming and entertainment. <br>He’s said to be tight with Jared Kushner. </p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Sonny" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sonny</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Perdue" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Perdue</span></a>, Trump’s secretary of agriculture, founded the private company Perdue Inc., a trucking outfit, <br>with his wife, Mary, who was reported in 2005 to be the company’s sole shareholder. <br>(An official at Perdue Inc. declined to confirm to The Baffler whether this is still the case.)</p><p>And, while not a rich guy himself, CIA director <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pompeo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pompeo</span></a> founded a private company called <a href="https://c.im/tags/Thayer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Thayer</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Aerospace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Aerospace</span></a> in the late 1990s with help from Koch Venture Capital, an arm of Koch Industries. <br>A Pompeo aide told the Washington Post that the Koch investment amounted to only 2 percent, <br>but there’s no way to really know, since the transaction took place between two privately held companies. <br>He later became president of <a href="https://c.im/tags/Sentry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sentry</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/International" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>International</span></a>, another private company, before his 2010 run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which he won, again with an assist from the Koch brothers. <br>He’s also a climate-change denier—an appealing trait in a public official if you’re a fossil fuels magnate looking to buy one</p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Trump as divinely ordained</p><p>Many NAR leaders and followers support Trump, <br>viewing him as a divinely appointed figure who would facilitate NAR’s goals for societal reconstruction, <br>believing he was chosen by God to fulfill a prophetic destiny.</p><p>They position Trump as a warrior against a so-called demonically controlled <br>– and therefore corrupted <br>– “deep state,” <br>aligning with NAR’s emphasis on spiritual warfare and cultural dominion as outlined in the “Seven Mountains” mandate. </p><p>NAR leaders followed Trump’s understanding of a corrupt government.</p><p>The NAR led a <br>“Million Women” worship rally on Oct. 12, 2024, <br>to Washington, D.C., <br>in which the organizers sought to encourage 1 million women NAR adherents to come to pray, protest and support Trump’s campaign. </p><p>The event was promoted as a “last stand moment” to save the nation by helping Trump win the election as a champion against dark, satanic forces.</p><p>Several prominent politicians, legislators and members of the judiciary, such as House Speaker <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Johnson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Johnson</span></a> and Supreme Court Justice <a href="https://c.im/tags/Samuel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Samuel</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Alito" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Alito</span></a>, have flown the NAR-based <br>“Appeal to Heaven” flag.</p><p>For NAR evangelicals, the presidential election is interpreted through a Christian apocalyptic rhetoric. </p><p>In this rhetoric one candidate is a force for good, a warrior for God <br>– Trump <br>– and the other is led by demonic forces such as Harris. </p><p>Trump’s 2024 win is seen as a critical moment of spiritual warfare where the forces of God defeat the forces of evil.</p><p> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Lance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Lance</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wallnau" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Wallnau</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Davis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Davis</span></a>, the man who many expect to be Donald Trump’s attorney general, appeared on Benny Johnson’s podcast The Benny Show on Thursday to outline who exactly is on the president-elect’s hit list.</p><p>Davis told Johnson he has five lists ready to go, but appeared to name only four.</p><p>“I will rain hell on Washington D.C.,” he said. <br>“I have five lists ready to go and they’re growing. <br>🔸List number one—we’re gonna fire. We’re gonna fire a lot of people in the executive branch of the deep state. </p><p>🔸Number two—we’re gonna indict. We’re gonna indict Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and James Biden and every other scumball sleazeball Biden, except for the 5-year-old granddaughter who they refused to acknowledge for five years until political pressure got to Joe Biden.”</p><p>🔸“Number three—we’re going to deport. We’re going to deport a lot of people, <br>10 million people when growing, anchor babies, their parents, the grandparents. </p><p>We’re going to put kids in cages. <br>It’s going to be glorious. </p><p>We’re going to detain a lot of people in the D.C. Gulag and Gitmo </p><p>🔸and list number five—I’m going to recommend a lot of pardons. <br>Every January 6 defendant is going to get a pardon, especially my hero horn man (Jacob Chansley aka the QAnon Shaman) he is definitely at the top of the list,” he said.<br><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-likely-ag-mike-davis-were-going-to-put-kids-in-cages/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">thedailybeast.com/trumps-likel</span><span class="invisible">y-ag-mike-davis-were-going-to-put-kids-in-cages/</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Leonard Leo, an influential conservative lawyer who advised Donald Trump during his first term forcefully pushed back Friday on talk that one or more conservative Supreme Court justices might retire after Trump again takes office in January. <br>
Leo, who helped the president-elect select three Supreme Court picks during his first term, said in a statement that discussions of Justices <a href="https://c.im/tags/Clarence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Clarence</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Thomas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Thomas</span></a>, 76, or <a href="https://c.im/tags/Samuel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Samuel</span></a> A. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Alito" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Alito</span></a> Jr., 74, stepping down are unseemly.<br>
The comment drew a rebuke from <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Davis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Davis</span></a>, a Trump aide who is advising him on potential judicial picks this time around, <br>while <a href="https://c.im/tags/Leonard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Leonard</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Leo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Leo</span></a> appears to be keeping his distance.<br>
“No one other than Justices Thomas and Alito knows when or if they will retire, and talking about them like meat that has reached its expiration date is unwise, uninformed, and, frankly, just crass,” Leo said in the statement. </p><p>“Justices Thomas and Alito have given their lives to our country and our Constitution, and should be treated with more dignity and respect than they are getting from some pundits.”<br><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/08/trump-supreme-court-leonard-leo-mike-davis/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">washingtonpost.com/politics/20</span><span class="invisible">24/11/08/trump-supreme-court-leonard-leo-mike-davis/</span></a></p>
gary<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://infosec.exchange/@jerry" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>jerry</span></a></span> if trump wins there will be a deck of cards like he was in but people don't think it is an existential threat quite yet <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/chamillionaire" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>chamillionaire</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mike</span></a> 'ali' cohen</p>
Luca da Firenze<p>I just heard <a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/Johnson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Johnson</span></a> say that :<br>'Europe is a sort of Marxist Utopia'<br>🤣🤣🤣🤣😅😅😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣</p><p>Mikey..... you are such a GIGANTIC idiot.<br>🤣😅😆</p>
Jake in the desert<p><a href="https://c.im/tags/NowPlaying" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NowPlaying</span></a> one of the best rap records of 2024.</p><p>MIKE & Tony Seltzer - Pinball<br><a href="https://mikelikesrap.bandcamp.com/track/pinball" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">mikelikesrap.bandcamp.com/trac</span><span class="invisible">k/pinball</span></a></p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/rap" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rap</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/hiphop" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>hiphop</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/MIKE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MIKE</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/TonySeltzer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TonySeltzer</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/pinball" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pinball</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/2024Albums" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>2024Albums</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/2024Records" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>2024Records</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/2024rap" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>2024rap</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/2024hiphop" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>2024hiphop</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Speaker <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Johnson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Johnson</span></a> Tells Paula White’s Prayer Warriors<br>💥 God Has Chosen Trump to Lead U.S. a Second Time💥</p><p>Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson joined Donald Trump adviser Paula White on a call last night hosted by the "National Faith Advisory Board", <br>an operation White set up after Trump left office to continue the work she did as a White House aide to keep religious-right leaders solidly in the MAGA camp. <br>The call was streamed by "Intercessors for America,"<br> a group of pro-Trump prayer warriors whose leader Dave Kubal is closely associate with White, and helped her set up her "One Voice Prayer Movement" during Trump’s first term.</p><p>Johnson called himself an “ambassador of hope,” <br>telling the MAGA faithful, <br>“I am absolutely convinced that we are going to keep and grow the House majority, we’re going to win a Republican majority in the Senate, and President Donald J. Trump is going to go back to the White House.”<br>“This is a real inflection point, a civilizational moment, a turning point for our country,” he said, calling this “the most important election of our lifetimes, arguably one of the most important in the history of our nation.”</p><p>Johnson said he spent almost three hours with Trump at Mar-a-Lago just after the Secret Service disrupted a second assassination attempt. <br>Johnson said he told Trump that “it seems apparent to us that🔥 God has chosen him to do this, to lead the greatest nation in the history of the world for a second time.”</p><p><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/speaker-mike-johnson-tells-paula-whites-prayer-warriors-god-has-chosen-trump-to-lead-u-s-a-second-time/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">rightwingwatch.org/post/speake</span><span class="invisible">r-mike-johnson-tells-paula-whites-prayer-warriors-god-has-chosen-trump-to-lead-u-s-a-second-time/</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>House Speaker <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Johnson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Johnson</span></a> (R-La.) ignited outrage among Democrats on Tuesday <br>by saying the House will follow standard procedure for certifying the 2024 presidential results <br>-- if the election is "free, fair and safe."</p><p>Why it matters: </p><p>Top House Democrats have been worried a Republican-controlled House may try to block a potential Kamala Harris election victory on Jan. 6, 2025.</p><p>House Minority Leader <a href="https://c.im/tags/Hakeem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hakeem</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffries" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Jeffries</span></a> (D-N.Y.) has been conferring with deputies 🔸 to prepare for next January's joint session, sources familiar with the discussions told Axios.</p><p>"I've talked to him just generally about preparations … to make sure that we're functioning and doing everything in accordance with the will of the American people," said House Administration Committee Ranking Member <a href="https://c.im/tags/Joe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Joe</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Morelle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Morelle</span></a> (D-N.Y.).</p><p>Driving the news: <br>Asked during a press conference Tuesday if he'd commit to observing regular order on certifying a Harris win, Johnson replied, <br>"Well of course – ♦️if we have a free, fair, and safe election, ♦️we're going to follow the Constitution. Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely."</p><p>Congress' joint sessions to certify the Electoral College, once a largely ceremonial and pro forma event, has become highly charged since the Capitol riot.</p><p>While the violence in 2021 failed to stop certification of President Biden's victory, Democrats fear things could go differently if Republicans win the House and Harris takes the White House.</p><p>What they're saying: <br>Morelle told Axios that Democratic leaders are "clearly paying attention" to the election certification process and that Johnson's comments "give me greater concern."</p><p>"When he says things like he did today ... it causes great concern. [Democrats are] getting very anxious about it," Morelle added. </p><p>"I think when Donald Trump tells him to jump, he responds by asking how high," House Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said of Johnson.</p><p>New Democrat Coalition Chair Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) said Johnson is "speaking in code" and "trying to undermine confidence in the election system."</p><p>The other side: <br>Some Republicans pushed back on Democratic criticism of Johnson's remarks, arguing that the speaker included a fair caveat.</p><p>"What he said is self evident, in that elections should be free, fair and safe. And I think saying that ... is absolutely appropriate," said Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.).</p><p>Said Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.): "If the Democrats have a problem having free, fair and safe elections, that's their problem."</p><p>Both lawmakers, however, expressed confidence that the 2024 elections will be free and fair.</p><p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/09/24/johnson-spikes-top-democrats-anxiety-about-a-jan-6-redux" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">axios.com/2024/09/24/johnson-s</span><span class="invisible">pikes-top-democrats-anxiety-about-a-jan-6-redux</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Republicans step up effort to change Nebraska voting rules to help Trump </p><p>Congressional Republicans are demanding an 11th-hour change to Nebraska’s presidential voting system in a move that could transform the electoral calculus and tip the race to Donald Trump in the event of a photo finish.</p><p>With polls showing Trump neck-and-neck with Kamala Harris both nationally and in battleground states, senior GOP congressional figures are pressing the Nebraska legislature to 👉replace a system that 👍 allocates electoral votes by districts with the <br>👎winner-takes-all distribution that operates in most US states.</p><p>The change would⚠️ increase the number of electors allotted to Trump for winning the solidly Republican state from four to five <br>– and raises the possibility that the former president could end up tied with Harris at 269 electoral votes each.</p><p>Such a scenario 🆘 would pitch the ultimate decision on the election into the House of Representatives, which has the constitutional authority to certify the results – meaning the outcome of November’s House election, in which Republicans are defending a wafer-thin majority, could be even more pivotal than usual.</p><p>In a sign of the raised stakes, the South Carolina senator <a href="https://c.im/tags/Lindsay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Lindsay</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Graham" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Graham</span></a> – a close Trump ally – visited Nebraska this week and urged legislators to find the extra votes needed to revert its electoral college distribution procedure back to the winner-takes-all system it used before 1992.</p><p>Pressure was also ratcheted up by the state’s five US congressional members, who wrote to Nebraska’s governor, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jim" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Jim</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pillen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pillen</span></a>, and the speaker of its single-chamber legislature, <a href="https://c.im/tags/John" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>John</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Arch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Arch</span></a>, who are both Republicans.</p><p>“As members of Nebraska’s federal delegation in Congress, we are united in our support for apportioning all five of the Nebraska’s electoral votes in presidential elections according to the winner of the whole state,” read the Nebraska delegation’s letter, posted on X by GOP House member Mike Flood, one of its signatories. “It is past time that Nebraska join 48 other states in embracing winner-take-all in presidential elections.”</p><p>A two-thirds majority of the Republican-led chamber is needed to change the system. ⭐️Only 31 or 32 of the 50-seat body are thought to be in favour, meaning the spotlight is being focused on the state senator <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/McDonnell" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>McDonnell</span></a>, a former Democrat who turned Republican this year but swore he would never support winner-takes-all.</p><p>Local media reports have depicted McDonnell as wavering amid speculation that Trump may soon contact him personally.</p><p>The issue is potentially vital because 💥some pollsters have predicted that Harris is on course to win exactly the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House by winning the three northern swing states of <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pennsylvania" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pennsylvania</span></a>, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Michigan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Michigan</span></a> and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wisconsin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Wisconsin</span></a>, where recent polling has shown her with small but consistent leads.</p><p>🔥However, she would fall short by just one if a winner-takes-all distribution was adopted in Nebraska, whose second congressional district<br> – encompassing the state’s largest city, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Omaha" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Omaha</span></a>, and its suburbs<br> – together with its single electoral vote is expected to fall to Harris, as it did to Joe Biden in 2020.<br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/21/republicans-nebraska-trump-electoral-college?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/us-news/2024/s</span><span class="invisible">ep/21/republicans-nebraska-trump-electoral-college?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Ohio’s 🔹Republican governor 🔹condemns Trump and Vance for Springfield claims</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/DeWine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DeWine</span></a> criticizes pair in New York Times op-ed for repeating racist claims about Haitian immigrants</p><p>The conspiracy theories have caused uproar and led to an onslaught of threats and harassment.</p><p>In a guest essay published in the New York Times on Friday, DeWine said it is “disappointing” that Springfield “has become the epicenter of vitriol over America’s immigration policy”, specifically calling out <a href="https://c.im/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Vance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Vance</span></a> for amplifying <a href="https://c.im/tags/disinformation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>disinformation</span></a>.</p><p>“This rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there.”</p><p>Ohio state senate leader Nickie Antonio told the Guardian that she agreed with DeWine’s essay, but was “disappointed” that DeWine is still supporting Trump and Vance in the 2024 presidential election.<br>“What the governor left out with his entire [essay], which I think was beautiful, is that Trump and JD Vance started this whole thing to begin with and they continue it,” Antonio said.<br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/20/mike-dewine-ohio-trump-vance-haitian-immigrants?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/us-news/2024/s</span><span class="invisible">ep/20/mike-dewine-ohio-trump-vance-haitian-immigrants?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Donald Trump posted he would <br>"get <a href="https://c.im/tags/SALT" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SALT</span></a> back."</p><p>That's a strong indication he wants to 🔸let those in high-tax states deduct more than $10,000 from their federal taxes <br>— a limit he championed in his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.</p><p>Republicans in blue states, especially in New York, have made repealing the SALT cap a calling card <br>and have been willing to challenge their Republican colleagues on it.</p><p>Trump's new position might make it easier for them to return to Congress.</p><p>State of the play: </p><p>The $10,000 SALT cap expires at the end of 2025.</p><p>If Trump — or Harris — does nothing, wealthy taxpayers in high-tax states will be able to deduct an unlimited amount from their federal returns, lowering the overall tax bill.</p><p>The bottom line: </p><p>Removing the $10,000 SALT cap would cost an estimated $1.2 trillion over a decade, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.</p><p>An estimated 92% of the benefit would go to the top 10% of earners, according to CRFB.</p><p>Trump's surprise post on SALT deductions Tuesday has forced Senate Republicans into a pickle: 🔸contradict their party's leader or their old positions.</p><p>For Republican leaders, it's a taste of what's to come if Trump wins back the White House.</p><p>They'll have to harmonize their own positions<br>— in real time <br>— with a president who is constantly changing his.</p><p>Zoom in: </p><p>"We'll take a look at all the suggestions," Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who is running for leader, told reporters, noting it "got litigated extensively in 2017."</p><p>"I don't think we ought to be subsidizing state taxes," Sen. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Rick" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Rick</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Scott" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Scott</span></a> (R-Fla.) told Axios repeatedly, adding Republicans need to win the House, Senate and White House first before there's a real discussion on what to do about SALT.</p><p>"I personally, at this point in time, believe we should extend the TCJA SALT provisions," said Sen. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mike</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Crapo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Crapo</span></a> (R-Idaho), the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee. "But like I said, everything's up for negotiations." </p><p>The other side: </p><p>The new Trump idea does have support from Majority Leader <a href="https://c.im/tags/Chuck" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Chuck</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Schumer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Schumer</span></a> (D-N.Y.) who said he has "always been for eliminating the cap on SALT."</p><p>Schumer called the Trump tax bill "a nasty piece of legislation," which was "aimed at the blue states."</p><p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/09/18/trump-salt-tax-cuts-senate" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">axios.com/2024/09/18/trump-sal</span><span class="invisible">t-tax-cuts-senate</span></a></p>
ExploreLive feeds
Mastodon is the best way to keep up with what's happening.
Follow anyone across the fediverse and see it all in chronological order. No algorithms, ads, or clickbait in sight.
Create accountLoginDrag & drop to upload