U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Biden to announce relaunch of Cancer Moonshot program started under Obama
The president is expected to lay out a goal of reducing the cancer death rate by 50 percent over the next 25 years.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday will announce a relaunch of the Cancer Moonshot program that was started during the Obama administration to end a disease that kills more than 600,000 people a year in the U.S., the White House said.

Biden's revamped Cancer Moonshot aims to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years and improve the experiences of people diagnosed with cancer and their families, according to a fact sheet shared by the White House.

Biden is scheduled to make the announcement Wednesday afternoon in an event in the East Room of the White House, where he will be joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, the first lady and the second gentleman.

In a call with reporters, an administration official said the initiative was deeply personal to both Biden and Harris. Biden lost his son Beau in 2015 to brain cancer, and Harris' mother, a breast cancer researcher, died of colon cancer in 2009.

Biden previously oversaw the Cancer Moonshot program, which was announced during former President Barack Obama's last year in office, and he later founded the Biden Cancer Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer prevention and research. The initiative closed in 2019 after Biden announced his White House bid.

An administration official said the Cancer Moonshot program was being revamped now because "a lot has changed that makes it possible to set really ambitious goals."

Congress provided $1.8 billion for the Cancer Moonshot program in 2016, very little of which is left.

The Biden official said the administration is "very confident that there will be robust funding going forward," arguing that few issues garner as much bipartisan support as cancer research.

Biden on Wednesday will announce a new position, that of Cancer Moonshot coordinator in the White House, as well as a “Cancer Cabinet,” which will include such agencies as the departments of Health and Human Services, Defense and Energy, in addition to the Environmental Protection Agency. He also will announce plans to host a Cancer Moonshot summit at the White House.

The president and the first lady will urge more people to get screened for cancer, especially after millions of screenings have been skipped during the Covid pandemic.

Biden has spoken extensively about his experience losing his son to cancer and has said he wants to be the president remembered for ending the disease.

During a visit last year to Pfizer’s vaccine manufacturing facility in Michigan, Biden said, "I want you to know that once we beat Covid, we're going to do everything we can to end cancer as we know it."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-announce-relaunch-cancer-moonshot-program-started-under-obama-n1288399

[Rick Plant]

Republicans are now out in the open and very vocal with their full on racism. 

GOP senator worried Biden’s SCOTUS pick won’t know a 'law book from a J.Crew catalog'



Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., joined a growing chorus of Republicans bashing President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee — well before the president has picked anyone — even as Republican leaders try to avoid a losing fight ahead of the midterms.

Republican Senate leaders worry that picking a fight over Biden's nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, when they lack enough votes to block the nomination, would be "counterproductive" and could "backfire" by distracting from key election issues, according to Wednesday's edition of Politico Playbook. (Judicial nominations cannot be blocked through a Senate filibuster, a change introduced by Republicans when they held the majority.) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told members on Tuesday that replacing a liberal justice with another liberal would not affect the balance of the court, especially after the party packed the court with conservatives under former President Donald Trump.

But some Republican senators have repeatedly attacked Biden for vowing to nominate a Black woman to the court, even though Trump and former President Ronald Reagan similarly vowed to nominate women to diversify a court that has been dominated by white men for generations.

"No. 1, I want a nominee who knows a law book from a J.Crew catalog," Kennedy told Politico Tuesday after meeting with the GOP leaders. "No. 2, I want a nominee who's not going to try to rewrite the Constitution every other Thursday to try to advance a 'woke agenda.'"

Kennedy, an Oxford-educated lawyer and career politician, rebranded himself as a folksy Republican after a long stint as a Democrat. Louisiana publications have likened his one-liners to Foghorn Leghorn but people who knew him before he became a prominent Republican told BuzzFeed News last year that it's all an act (which he denies).

"John Kennedy is not folksy — he's just offensive," MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted in response to Kennedy's comment to Politico.

"Kennedy manages to squeeze in sexism, racism, and his fake down home Foghorn Leghorn bit all in about 15 words," wrote Fred Wellman, the former executive director of the Lincoln Project. "Enough is enough with this con artist."

Kennedy rejected GOP leaders' pleas to tone down the rhetoric on Biden's nomination.

"I think some members of leadership think they can control what people want to talk about," he told Politico. "I don't agree with that proposition. I'm going to talk about what I want to talk about, and if they don't like that, they can call somebody who cares."

Kennedy has frequently used the puzzling J.Crew quip in response to a range of issues.

"Anyone who knows a law book from a J.Crew catalog does not take this charge seriously," he declared during Trump's first impeachment.

"Anyone who knows a law book from a J.Crew catalog knows that Democrats' attempt to add D.C. as a state is unconstitutional," he said in a Fox News interview last year.

"Nobody knows what he even means by 'a law book,'" tweeted attorney Max Kennerly. "A casebook? Only students use those. The Federal Reporter? No one calls that a 'book.' A John Grisham novel?"

Other Republican senators have also attacked Biden for vowing to nominate a Black woman.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., suggested last week that Biden's nominee would be a "beneficiary" of affirmative action policies.

The White House fired back by citing Wicker's very different response to Trump's promise to nominate a woman.

"When the previous president followed through on his own promise to place a woman on the Supreme Court, Sen. Wicker said, 'I have five granddaughters, the oldest one is 10. I think Justice Amy Coney Barrett will prove to be an inspiration to these five granddaughters and to my grown daughters,'" White House spokesman Andrew Bates told CNN. "We hope Sen. Wicker will give President Biden's nominee the same consideration he gave to then-Judge Barrett."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said over the weekend that it would be "offensive" and "insulting" to select a Black woman because Black women only make up 6% of the population.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted on Tuesday that Cruz "had no objection to Donald Trump promising he'd nominate a woman in 2020" and had praised Barrett as a "role model for little girls."

"There is no outcry around that," Psaki said. "The president's view is that after 230 years of the Supreme Court being in existence, the fact that not a single Black woman has served on the Supreme Court is a failure in the process."

That sentiment was echoed by Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Graham is backing the same potential nominee as Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., that being South Carolina District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs.

"Put me in the camp of making sure the court and other institutions look like America. You know, we make a real effort as Republicans to recruit women and people of color to make the party look more like America," Graham told CBS News on Sunday. "Affirmative action is picking somebody not as well qualified for past wrongs. Michelle Childs is incredibly qualified. There's no affirmative action component if you pick her. I can't think of a better person for President Biden to consider for the Supreme Court than Michelle Childs."

Biden is also reportedly considering D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former editor of the Harvard Law Review who clerked for three federal judges, including retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, a former editor of the Yale Law Journal who argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court while serving in the Justice Department under Barack Obama, is also in the running.

Republicans' attacks have little to do with the candidates' qualifications, and even less to do with the makeup of the court, given that 108 of 115 Supreme Court justices in U.S. history have been white men.

The attacks are intended to "reiterate the narrative that liberals elevate unqualified Black Americans at the expense of others who are truly deserving" to reinforce the messages that "advocacy for equal rights is turning white conservatives into an oppressed class," wrote The Atlantic's Adam Serwer. "If the Republicans seeking to stoke resentment over this appointment can successfully turn the story of the first Black woman on the Supreme Court into another example of Black people getting free stuff they haven't earned, they will be perfectly satisfied, even if she is confirmed," he wrote. "The important battles over the future of the Court have already taken place, and the right has already won them."

https://www.rawstory.com/gop-senator-thinks-bidens-scotus-pick-wont-know-a-law-book-from-a-j-crew-catalog/

[Rick Plant]

President Biden heading to NYC Thursday to talk gun violence

NEW YORK (PIX11) — As the city lays to rest another NYPD officer, and more officers face gunfire in Queens, President Biden will make his way to New York City.

“We’re going to have the president of the United States here in this city, and we’re going to lay out clear items on the federal level,” said Mayor Eric Adams early Wednesday morning.

He spoke while visiting another NYPD officer in the hospital, after he was shot during a carjacking in the Rockaways on his way to work. Police said the suspects fired upon more officers before being arrested.

The mayor doubled down on his pledge to protect the city during Officer Mora’s funeral hours later.

“We will work to end the gun violence that has engulfed our city with pain and despair, and protect those who put their lives on the line every day,” Adams said.

Adams has called for more crime intelligence sharing coordinated at the federal level.

He also wants federal funding for trauma intervention at hospitals, DNA testing to close gun cases and anti-gun trafficking efforts.

Ideally, Adams wants to see federal gun law changes, including measures long blocked by Republicans like background checks on all gun sales.

“We support the mayor and his effort to keep the city safe which we wholeheartedly understand,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

She said President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland will seek to better understand the needs of NYC and other cities experiencing gun violence by meeting with police and community based violence interrupters on Thursday.

She said the administration has already been funding many efforts through the American Rescue Plan, and the President hopes to do more through his currently stalled social spending plans and the upcoming budget.

“There’s $300 million for community policing for cities, $200 million for community based violence interrupters, we know all of this will reduce crime,” Jean-Pierre said.

The White House also points to 37,000 DOJ gun cases opened in recent months working in coordination with local authorities.

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/president-biden-heading-to-nyc-thursday-to-talk-gun-violence/

[Rick Plant]

Breaking News: President Biden says US military forces have “taken off the battlefield” the Islamic State’s leader during an operation in Syria, and that all Americans returned safely. Just another example of what a strong capable leader we have to make America and the world a safer place.

[Richard Smith]

The top anti-Trump propagandist Jeff Zucker has resigned in disgrace at CNN.  Joining Chris Cuomo and his disgraced brother Andrew Cuomo in the halls of shame.  The chickens are really coming home to roost for all their fake stories. 

[Rick Plant]

The top anti-Trump propagandist Jeff Zucker has resigned in disgrace at CNN.  Joining Chris Cuomo and his disgraced brother Andrew Cuomo in the halls of shame.  The chickens are really coming home to roost for all their fake stories.

Glad to see Jeff Zucker gone from CNN. The dishonest attacks against President Biden for ratings has gone on for too long.   

[Rick Plant]

Trump stooge Greg Abbott is an absolute failure. He knew no improvements were made to fix this problem and now  70,000 Texans are freezing in the dark without power again. Once again, this is a reminder that Republicans can't be trusted to be in charge and proves how vital sound infrastructure is to a state. Right wing Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn both voted against President Biden's Infrastructure Bill that will help keep the power on during Texas Winter storms. Greg Abbott is up for re-election in November. Time to vote this clown out. I wonder if Ted Cruz booked his flight to Cancùn?

'Déjà vu all over again’: Despite Gov. Abbott’s promises 70,000 now without power in Texas as winter storm hits



70,000 electric customers in Texas are without power once again after a winter storm hit the Lone Star state, despite Republican Governor Greg Abbott‘s promise after last year’s massive outage that reportedly killed about 700 people, that the lights would stay on this winter.

Certified Broadcast Meteorologist for Fox San Antonio and NBC San Antonio, Brad Sowder posted a photo of some of the damage from the storm:



Austin, Texas NPR affiliate KUT on Tuesday reported how Abbott was preemptively breaking his promise: “Gov. Abbott promised last fall that ‘the lights will stay on.’ Now he says there’s no guarantee.”

“I can guarantee the lights will stay on,” he said in an interview with Fox 7’s Rudy Koski in November.

Apparently not, Texans are learning today.

“It’s a little traumatic. It’s like last year. Déjà vu all over again,” Angelica Carlin told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times as she “stood in line at an Austin H-E-B on Wednesday night with bags of dog food and water bottles in her cart.”

Carlin lost power for three days during last year’s massive power outage. “She remembers lying in bed crying and seeing steam from her breath — inside her home.”

Many Texans believe state lawmakers did not require all the necessary infrastructure improvements to guard against a repeat of the widespread blackouts, when millions went without power and at least 246 people died.

Also on Tuesday, Abbott was bragging that “Energy is the centerpiece of the Texas economy.”

https://www.rawstory.com/winter-storm-texas/