U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Texas 'Death Star Bill' could leave construction workers 'fatigued, disoriented, dehydrated': report



Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation earlier this week that "poses serious health risks" to construction workers, Texas Public Radio (TPR) reports.

Per TPR, HB 2127 — known as the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act — "bars cities and counties from passing regulations that are stricter than state ones. It also overturns local rules such as ordinances in Austin and Dallas that mandate rest breaks for construction workers."

Republican State Rep. Dustin Burrows, who proposed the "Death Star Bill," insisted "the law is needed to end 'the current hodgepodge of onerous and burdensome regulations,'" but TPR notes "for construction workers in two of the state's fastest-growing cities, advocates say, it poses serious health risks."

Mario Ontiveros told TPR "he once saw a co-worker lose consciousness and fall from a ladder," and due to his previous "safety training," the Texas construction worker "was the only one on the job site who knew how to help — performing CPR and asking his co-worker basic questions to keep him conscious — until paramedics arrived, he said."

The Texas Tribune reports:

"Texas is the state where the most workers die from high temperatures, government data shows. At least 42 workers died in Texas between 2011 and 2021 from environmental heat exposure, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers’ unions claim this data doesn’t fully reflect the magnitude of the problem because heat-related deaths are often recorded under a different primary cause of injury."

Furthermore, according to TPR, "Research published in 2018 — eight years after Austin passed its rest-break ordinance — found that construction workers were 35% more likely to get a break because of the rule."

Daniela Hernandez, state legislative coordinator for Texas advocacy group Workers Defense Action Fund, said, "We know that workers do pass out and experience heat stress and different types of heat illnesses."

Paul Puente, executive secretary of the Houston Gulf Coast Building and Construction Trades Council, said the "Death Star Bill" is expected to "strike down construction-worker protections in southeast Texas," and "negatively impact construction safety as a whole," even though "labor unions can still negotiate for rest breaks."

He emphasized, "Science has already shown that individuals need to have time to take a break, collect their thoughts, and then return back to work to ensure a safe working environment," and "Without allotted rest breaks in extreme heat," he told TPR "workers can easily become fatigued, disoriented, dehydrated — effects that endanger their lives."

Calling the state "unsafe" for construction workers, Puente added, "when you're trying to encourage businesses to come to your state, this is not a good look."

TPR reports the law is set to go into effect Sept. 1.

Read More Here: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2023-06-16/in-scorching-hot-texas-gov-greg-abbott-just-took-away-construction-workers-right-to-a-rest-break



'They literally lack all substance': Boebert and MTG buried by Dem over committee antics



During an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday afternoon, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) was asked what it is like to work with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) behind the scenes in congressionalcommittees, and she indicated that it is a waste of everyone's time.

Earlier the week, Crockett was forced to apologize to a House Oversight Committee witness after she was bullied and talked over by Boebert.

After MSNBC host Alex Witt showed the video of the Texas lawmaker telling the witness, "First of all, let me apologize because that was uncalled for, so let me do what she would never do, which is to be an adult in this room or in this chamber,” and then adding, "I’m also going to start with some nonsense that she was trying to spew and, unlike Ms. Boebert, I am legally trained and I’ve passed a few bar exams and I also legislated before I got here ...” Witt asked her what is like behind the scenes working with the Colorado Republican and her like-minded far-right colleague from Georgia.

"They literally lack all substance," Crockett laughed. "It is not just in committee, it's just generally speaking."

Referring back to the video she explained, "I saw exactly what happened, you saw it, you saw someone who decided that 'I don't have anything of value to offer, so what I'm going to do is be disrespectful and overtalk you and somehow that will be perceived as I know something.'"

"I laid out my credentials, not so much to clap back on her, but it had more so to do with her not understanding what it was that she was trying to spar with our witness about," she elaborated. "So I was laying down that I understood and she didn't, and maybe she needs to do a little research before she came to committee trying to clap back on people."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

House GOP makes it official: Ending Social Security and Medicare is the goal



Republicans are never going to be known for their eco-friendliness, but there is one thing they are very good at recycling: plots that combine ending Social Security and Medicare with schemes to cut taxes for the rich. They’re at it again with a new fiscal blueprint for the next 10 years reconstituted from the stuff they’ve been scraping up for the last few decades. The Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus in the GOP with around 175 members, just released what they’re calling a budget.

This is not the official 2024 Republican budget—there isn’t one, and while this group has the majority of the Republicans in it, it is not an actual congressional committee that has power to do anything. But this is what the majority of Republicans think should happen: cutting Social Security and Medicare and slashing domestic spending programs to the bone.

Their plan starts with raising the retirement age from the current age of 67 to 69, but wouldn’t kick in until people now aged 59 retire. They’d have to wait three months longer to retire than under the current system. The wait increases incrementally until the people who are now 52 years old retire. They—and everyone younger—would have to work until they turn 69 to get full benefits. Republicans don’t want to risk alienating seniors now, so they’re going after Gen X.

That’s a benefit cut, any way you slice it, for future retirees. “These changes would transform Social Security from an earned insurance benefit, which replaces wages lost in the event of old age, disability, or death, into a subsistence-level welfare benefit,” says Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works.

The plan resurrects the old Paul Ryan Medicare voucher scheme, calling it “premium support.” As Altman explains it, seniors would be forced to “fend for themselves on the open market with nothing but a coupon to offset as much of the cost of the insurance that they can find.”

Meanwhile, the 2017 GOP Tax Scam, with its “eye-popping payouts for CEOs,” would be made permanent. It’s set to expire in 2025. Enough said.

The White House was quick to respond:

Andrew Bates @AndrewJBates46

@PressSec: "The hardcore MAGA budget just released by @RepublicanStudy – which represents a majority of House Republicans – amounts to a devastating attack on Medicare, Social Security, and Americans’ access to health coverage and prescription drugs."

They are "taking aim at the Medicare benefits all Americans pay to earn by repealing the new power President Biden gave it to negotiate lower drug costs, to address rapid drug price increases, and to cap the price of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries."

Read Here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/06/14/statement-from-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-on-republican-study-committee-budget/

https://twitter.com/AndrewJBates46/status/1669124807768563713

That’s true. In addition to ending Social Security and Medicare as we know it, the Republicans would roll back the new authority Medicare has for negotiating lower drug prices and to force drug makers to curtail price increases. They also want to repeal the cap on insulin costs for Medicare enrollees. Yes, Republicans are the party of unaffordable insulin.

These are the same Republicans who booed and hissed at President Joe Biden in his State of the Union speech for telling the truth about their plot against Social Security and Medicare. The same Republicans who cheered and leapt to their feet when Biden asked them to “​​stand up and show them we will not cut Social Security. We will not cut Medicare.”

No one expected that to last, to be honest. It kept the programs out of the debt ceiling negotiations, which was great. But they’re never going to give up their goal of destroying the social safety net. Just like they’re not giving up on cutting taxes, slashing services, and privatizing whatever remains for personal profit. It’s all they got.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/15/2175584/-House-GOP-makes-it-official-Ending-Social-Security-and-Medicare-is-the-goal

[Rick Plant]

No 'path' for Trump to win in Nevada: Former state Trump campaign chair

Donald Trump has no chance to win the swing state of Nevada, according to a two-time Trump campaign chair who now backs Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Trump lost Nevada in 2016 and 2020. But if Trump is the nominee, there is no "path" for that to happen, according to former Nevada state Attorney General Adam Laxalt.

Laxalt made the comments dismissing Trump's chances in the state to NBC News.

"'Trump hasn’t won Nevada the last two go-arounds,' said former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a 2022 Senate candidate who is heading a super PAC backing DeSantis," the article states. "'I was a two-time Trump chair. I don’t see a path for him to win Nevada in a general election. Those voters are not coming back.'"

"Laxalt made the comments in an interview in advance of DeSantis’ visit to the state this weekend, the centerpiece of which is his speech at the annual Basque Fry, a popular event that draws thousands of conservatives from around the state," NBC reported.

Read More Here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-world-testy-ron-desantis-nevada-basque-fry-rcna89303



Bill Barr slams Trump's mental health: America 'can't be a therapy session' for 'troubled man'

Former Attorney General Bill Barr criticized the mental health of Donald Trump after he was indicted on 37 counts over the mishandling of government documents.

During a Sunday interview on CBS's Face the Nation program, host Robert Costa noted that "many" Republicans are defending Trump.

"You say Trump's alleged conduct is indefensible," Costa told Barr. "What will it say if the party, your longtime party, puts him forward as their nominee?"

"The question is, should we be putting someone like this forward as the leader of the country, leader of the free world who's engaged in this kind of conduct?"

"But the fact of the matter is, he is a consummate narcissist, and he constantly engages in reckless conduct that puts his political followers at risk and the conservative and Republican agenda at risk," he continued.

"Would he put the country at risk if he was in the White House again?" Costa asked.

"He will always put his own interests and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country's interests," Barr explained. "He's like, you know, he's like a nine-year-old — defiant nine-year-old kid who's always pushing the glass toward the edge of the table, defying his parents to stop him from doing it."

"And he's a very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country's his personal gratification of his, you know, of his ego," he added. "But our country, our country can't, you know, can't be a therapy session for, you know, a troubled man like this."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Ron DeSantis Suffers Huge Blow in His Battle With Disney



Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has seen his favorability drop across the country as his nemesis, Disney, gets more popular.

DeSantis has been engaged in a feud with the corporate powerhouse ever since Disney spoke out against his "Don't Say Gay Bill" in 2022. The governor signed the bill, which bans the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in certain grades at Florida schools, into law.

DeSantis' popularity rating has fallen since November and almost half of Americans see him in an unfavorable light, according to a survey by polling organization Navigator.

Over the same period, Disney's favorability rating has remained high, with people siding with the corporation in its beef with DeSantis and nearly two in three Americans having a favorable view of the media giant.

The majority of people, across all ethnic groups, sided with Disney and believe it is in the right in the Florida governor's "crusade" against it.

Even worse news for DeSantis is that his favorability rating among Republicans has declined 19 points since November. One in five Republicans sided with Disney, believing the company is in the right.

In an act perceived as retaliation for Disney's opposition to the "Don't Say Gay Bill," DeSantis set his sights on the land where Disney World is situated in Orlando, Florida. He attempted to strip Disney of social privileges and tax breaks protected under the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which had allowed the company to essentially run as its own self-governing authority in Florida for more than 50 years.

The majority of people, across all ethnic groups, sided with Disney and believe it is in the right in the Florida governor's "crusade" against it.

Even worse news for DeSantis is that his favorability rating among Republicans has declined 19 points since November. One in five Republicans sided with Disney, believing the company is in the right.

In an act perceived as retaliation for Disney's opposition to the "Don't Say Gay Bill," DeSantis set his sights on the land where Disney World is situated in Orlando, Florida. He attempted to strip Disney of social privileges and tax breaks protected under the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which had allowed the company to essentially run as its own self-governing authority in Florida for more than 50 years.

But Disney managed to legally outmaneuver the governor, who has announced his intention to run for the Republican presidential candidacy in the upcoming 2024 elections.

DeSantis established the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to replace the Reedy Creek board— but its handpicked, five-person membership revealed their predecessors had signed a deal with Disney in February that severely restricts the new board's powers and essentially allows Disney to remain self-governing.

In May Disney said it would pull a proposed plan to build a $1 billion corporate campus in central Florida because of "considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project." If the project had gone ahead, it would have created 2,000 jobs in the state.

Disney has also filed a lawsuit against DeSantis, in which it accused him of attempting to punish the company over its opposition to the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which it argued violated its First Amendment rights.

He reacted by filing a motion to have the judge in the case, Chief Judge Mark Walker, replaced over a perceived lack of impartiality.

DeSantis has said there was "zero" chance that he would back down in his battle with Disney.

"They're not going to govern themselves. We the people are going to govern," DeSantis said in New Hampshire during a recent visit. "To put one corporation on a pedestal and let them be exempt from the laws is not good policy.

"It's not free-market economics and it's not something that our state is going to be involved in. We will not change from that. They can do whatever they want. I know people try to chirp and say this or that. The chance of us backing down from that is zero."

https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-florida-orlando-disney-1807228



DeSantis signs bill banning direct auto sales... except for Tesla. Here's what it means

If you're in the market for a new car in Florida and really hate haggling, you're out of luck.

On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation further nailing down the ban on most automakers from selling their vehicles directly to you without going through a dealer, with a notable exception: Tesla.

Not by name, and not exclusively. HB 637, "Motor Vehicle Dealers, Manufacturers, Importers, and Distributors," bans most direct-to-consumer vehicle sales if the automaker has ever sold any model through a franchise in Florida before (i.e. every major automaker). Manufacturers that didn't already have a dealership agreement in the state before the law are exempt, which includes Tesla and presumably other new EV brands such as Lucid, Rivian and Polestar.

Elon Musk is Tesla's founder and CEO, and he also owns Twitter, where the governor announced his presidential campaign during a glitch-ridden Twitter Spaces event in May.

The bill, which goes into effect July 1, also restricts a manufacturer's ability to control what a dealership can charge you and prevents automakers from using inventory to incentivize lower prices.

Here's what this means for you.

Can I buy a new car, truck or SUV directly from the manufacturer in Florida?

Not unless it's a Tesla or other new brand, no, but you couldn't before, either. The new bill just clarifies and emphasizes what was already on the books. For all other new vehicles, you have to go through a dealer. According to HB 637:

"A licensee, a manufacturer, an importer, or a distributor, or an agent of the licensee, manufacturer, importer, or distributor, or a parent, a subsidiary, a common entity, an officer, or an employed representative of the licensee, manufacturer, importer, or distributor, may not directly or indirectly own, operate, or control, by contract, agreement, or otherwise, a motor vehicle dealership for any line-make in this state if the licensee, manufacturer, importer, or distributor has manufactured, imported, or distributed motor vehicles of any line-make which have been or are offered for sale under a franchise agreement in this state with an independent person."

"Any person who is not prohibited by this section from owning, operating, or controlling a motor vehicle dealership may be issued a license pursuant to s. 320.27."

Why can't I buy a vehicle directly from a manufacturer in Florida?

According to Dave Ramba, a lobbyist for the Florida Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) which championed the bill, “The attempt by auto manufacturers to cut out the dealer would only result in higher prices and less customer service to the public," Ramba told Florida Politics. "The new car dealer is the customer’s advocate when it comes to warranty work and service on a manufacturer’s product, and this bill will protect that.”

FADA says dealerships create "fierce price competition," prevent manufacturer monopolies, protect consumers with recall, warranty, and repair service, allow for test driving, simplify the complicated process of buying and registering a vehicle, provide many local jobs and generate tax revenue.

Critics say dealerships add an unnecessary middleman, pressuring sales tactics and layers of markup and fees that can range from a few hundred dollars to $20,000 or more per vehicle over the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). However, FADA has said that such fees would be added no matter who was selling the cars.

Opinions from Federal Trade Commission members have at various times over the last few decades recommended repealing prohibitions over direct sales, arguing in 2014 that this would likely "increase competition relative to the existing blanket ban on all other methods of selling cars" and stating in 2015 that these restrictions operate as a special protection for dealers that "is likely harming both competition and consumers." A Harris poll in 2016 found that 87% of American adults were unhappy about some part of the process of buying a vehicle at a dealership.

Why doesn't Florida's direct-to-consumer ban affect Tesla?

Because Tesla lobbied for it.

Initially, HB 637, filed by Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, and the companion bill SB 712, filed by Sen.Bryan Avila, R-Miami Springs, would have banned all direct-to-consumer vehicle sales in Florida including Tesla but, according to Florida Politics, lobbyists for Tesla successfully negotiated new language for the bill to let them keep the Florida locations open. It may also have helped Tesla that the company successfully sued the state of Michigan a few years ago to sell there.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/16/elon-musk-tesla-exempt-florida-ban-on-direct-car-sales-dealerships/70329000007/

[Rick Plant]

Trump reacts angrily as Fox News anchor directly tells him: ‘You lost the 2020 election’

Fox pushback against ex-president’s false claims comes in the wake of the broadcaster being fined $787.5m in case with defamed election machine manufacturer



Former president Donald Trump reacted angrily when Fox News host Bret Baier confronted him and told him directly that he had lost the 2020 presidential election.

Baier asked the former president in a sit-down interview how he would win back independent suburban female voters who had drifted from the Republican Party.

The twice-indicted and twice-impeached former president responded by repeating the lie that he did not lose the 2020 presidential election.

“First of all, I won in 2020,” he said. “Let’s get that straight. I won in 2020.”

However, Baier interrupted Mr Trump’s tirade to try and correct him even as the former president continued speaking, repeating long-debunked lies about footage that allegedly shows people stuffing ballot boxes.

"You lost the 2020 election,” Baier said. “There were lawsuits, more than 50 of them, by your lawyers, some of them in front of judges, judges that you appointed that came up with no evidence.”

Mr Trump repeated his claims throughout the interview and falsely claimed that the state of Wisconsin “practically admitted it was rigged.” Baier countered that investigations did no show widespread voter fraud.

“They found fewer than 475 cases,” he said.

“They were counting ballots, not the authenticity of the ballot,” Mr Trump said. “The ballots were fake ballots. This was a very rigged election.”

Baier then tried to circle back to his original question and ask Mr Trump if this is how he would make a case to the aforementioned independent suburban female voter.

“We’re off to winning an election, and I think we’re winning very well,” he said.

Baier’s challenge to Mr Trump’s claims about the election being stolen came after Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems settled a lawsuit that the company which makes voting machines had filed against the cable news giant for $787.5m. Dominion had filed the lawsuit and claimed that the network defamed the company by giving a platform to conspiracy theorists who spread lies that Dominion engaged in widespread voter fraud and that Fox failed to challenge the lies about the company.

Shortly after the settlement, the cable news giant parted ways with Tucker Carlson, one of its most-watched hosts. Carlson had repeatedly parroted lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Mr Trump is also currently facing an investigation led by the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, for his attempts to overturn the election in that state in 2020.

Mr Tump’s interview with Baier was the first one that he conducted with the Rupert Murdoch-owned network since his arraignment in a federal court in Miami. Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 charges that an indictment that a grand jury supervised by Special Counsel Jack Smith handed down.

Mr Smith is also in charge of investigating Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, including his actions on and leading up to the January 6 riot wherein supporters of Mr Trump broke into the US Capitol to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-fox-news-2020-election-loss-b2360538.html



'Holding the military hostage': Tommy Tuberville accused of putting armed forces at risk



Republicans try to position themselves as the party that's "strong on defense," but recent stunts by MAGA extremists have rendered that meaningless, a Washington Post columnist suggests.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has been holding up hundreds of military nominations to protest defense secretary Lloyd Austin’s mandate to pay for service members or their family members to travel for abortion care if they live in states where that's not allowed – all while blaming Democrats for endangering national security, reported Washington Post columnist Max Boot.

"Tuberville seems to think it is not the former president but the current one who endangers U.S. national security," Boot wrote. "He blames President Biden and Pentagon leaders for supposedly 'ruining' the armed forces. 'Something’s going wrong in our military,' he told reporters last month."

The college football coach-turned-senator has placed around 200 nominations on hold using an arcane Senate rule after losing a floor vote on his resolution prohibiting the Department of Veterans Affairs from providing abortions, and other senators are constrained by the chambers unwritten rules to let the situation continue.

"So why is Tuberville allowed to get away with his mindless obstructionism?" Boot wrote. "The problem comes down to the frustrating traditions of the Senate."

Senate staffers are hoping Tuberville would introduce an antiabortion amendment to the defense authorization bill and then withdraw his hold when it was defeated, but he doesn't sound likely to do that anytime soon -- even as key defense positions turn over in the coming months.

"Austin has made clear he has no intention of changing departmental policy to suit one senator because that would only encourage more holds in the future, and Tuberville seems indifferent to the harm he is doing by holding the military hostage," Boot wrote. "So the impasse continues to drag on with no end in sight after more than three months. It’s hard to imagine a clearer illustration of how anti-military MAGA ideology is in practice."

Read More Here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/13/tommy-tuberville-white-nationalists

[Rick Plant]

Wyden Slams House Republican Plan to Cut Social Security and Medicare

Proposal from Leading House Republicans Raises Retirement Age, Hands Medicare to Insurance Companies, Slashes Medicaid

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued a statement after the Republican Study Committee released its budget proposal.

“The House Republican plan is a roadmap to ruin for Americans trying to make ends meet, and proof that Republicans are committed as ever to cutting Medicare and Medicaid while allowing Social Security to wither,” Wyden said. “This plan should inform all Americans where Republicans’ priorities lie: showering riches on megacorporations and wealthy tax cheats, and cutting your earned benefits by raising the retirement age and undermining Medicare’s guarantee of health care benefits. Their plan lets Big Pharma off the hook by repealing Medicare’s authority to negotiate drug prices that Democrats passed last year, and slashes Medicaid to the bone, which will threaten critical care like the program’s nursing home benefit that our parents count on. The House Republican plan is a disaster for working families, and I’ll fight it every step of the way.”

https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-slams-house-republican-plan-to-cut-social-security-and-medicare



Moms for Liberty has been infiltrated by hardcore right-wing groups

The conservative group Moms for Liberty was founded as a "parental rights" group that focuses on protecting students from content that deals in race or gender and electing conservative candidates to school boards. But according to Vice News, the group is forging ties with extremist groups such as the Proud Boys.

The connection follows a pattern of conservative MAGA-aligned groups being infiltrated by more extreme right-wing movements, Vice reported.

"There's an ongoing campaign by these neo-Nazi groups to radicalize some of these more benign patriot MAGA groups—and it's working because I've seen more Nazi content creeping into posts from Moms for Liberty people recently,” a researcher who goes by the name Trash City told Vice.

The online magazine wrote, "A VICE News investigation has uncovered links between numerous Moms for Liberty chapters and extremist groups like the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, sovereign citizen groups, QAnon conspiracist, Christian nationalists, and in one case, with the founder of the AK-47-worshiping Rod of Iron Ministries church in Pennsylvania.

"Around the country, Moms for Liberty has formed links with extremist groups and militias, which are joining forces with the 'parental rights' group at protests and school board meetings, and in turn pushing the already far-right organization toward even more extreme ideology."

As Vice points out, Moms for Liberty was recently categorized as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center (a watchdog group that has had its own scandals and controversies), and a former member detailed the connection with the Proud Boys.

“The Proud Boys are heavily involved in the Miami chapter of Moms for Liberty,” Alexandra Caballero said. "Moms for Liberty want to push their agenda with fear, harassment, and intimidation, and they have the Vice City Proud Boys as their foot soldiers.”

“They’ll create a Telegram chat group and they'll invite people and they'll do a call to action, and the call to action is usually attacking where the person works, making phone calls, leaving bad reviews,” Caballero said, describing the process of harassment of school board members.

Eulalia María Jiménez-Hincapie, a leader of the group's Miami chapter, denied any links to the Proud Boys and told Vice that “right leaning organizations congregate in common core events for the common mission.”

Read More Here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d93qd/moms-for-liberty-proud-boys

[Rick Plant]

Well, we have another corrupt conservative Supreme Court justice. Just like his pal Clarence Thomas, SCOTUS justice Samuel Alito was also accepting free luxury vacations from a right wing billionaire in order to influence his vote on important decisions. These billionaires control the conservatives on the Supreme Court and politicians in Congress. That's why they always vote against the interests of the American people.

ProPublica came out with this exclusive on Alito last night. Alito knew this story was coming out, so before it did, he wrote a pathetic OP-Ed in the Wall Street Journal trying to get ahead of the story. His defense is weak.

Check out the ProPublica exclusive article below:


Alito Took Unreported Luxury Trip With GOP Donor Paul Singer
https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court


New report on Justice Samuel Alito's travel with GOP donor draws more scrutiny of Supreme Court ethics



Washington — A report revealing that Justice Samuel Alito took a luxury fishing trip with a wealthy Republican donor with ties to cases before the Supreme Court has sparked new criticisms of the justices' adherence to their ethical obligations.

The Supreme Court was already under scrutiny for justices' compliance with ethical standards due to a series of revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas's decades-long relationship with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow.

But according to a report from ProPublica published late Tuesday, Thomas is not the only justice who has accepted luxury trips from prominent Republican donors. The investigative news outlet reported that in July 2008, Alito flew to Alaska aboard a private jet for a vacation at the King Salmon Lodge, a luxury fishing resort that charged more than $1,000 per day.

The jet belonged to Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire, and Alito's accommodations at the lodge were covered by Robin Arkley II, who owns a mortgage company and donates to conservative causes, the report said.

Singer's hedge fund and related entities had asked the Supreme Court to intervene in disputes it was involved in. In 2014, the high court heard a long-running legal fight between an affiliate of his fund and Argentina. The Supreme Court ruled for Singer in a 7-1 decision, with Alito in the majority.

Neither the lodging nor travel aboard Singer's jet were included on Alito's annual financial disclosures.

"There is something rotten going on in the Supreme Court of the United States of America," Sen. Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters on Wednesday. "There is one person who can resolve it and do it this morning, and that's Chief Justice John Roberts. If he steps up and decides that we'll finally have a code of ethics on the Supreme Court, it could be a new day for the court."

Durbin called Alito's defense of his trip — aired in a preemptive opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal before ProPublica published its article — "laughable."

"That is an incredible response to the challenge that's been made," he said.

In his Wall Street Journal response, Alito argued he had no obligation to recuse himself from the cases involving Singer's businesses and said that stepping aside "would not have been required or appropriate." The justice, who has served on the high court since 2006, said he has spoken to Singer "on no more than a handful of occasions," and they never discussed his business activity or issues before the Supreme Court. He also said he did not know of Singer's ties to the parties involved in the cases cited in ProPublica's article.

Regarding the trip aboard Singer's private jet, Alito said he sat in a seat that would otherwise have remained vacant on the flight to Alaska.

Alito also refuted the suggestion that the travel and lodging should have been reported on disclosure forms, which allow exceptions for personal hospitality "on property or facilities owned by [a] person." Referencing several dictionary definitions, Alito said the jet constituted a "facility," and the justices "commonly interpreted" hospitality to include accommodations and transportation for social events that did not have to be reported as gifts.

Alito also addressed the characterization of his trip as one of luxury, writing that he stayed in a "modest one-room unit" for three nights at the King Salmon Lodge, a "comfortable but rustic facility."

The Supreme Court was already under heightened focus from Senate Democrats before the revelations about Alito's trip. The Judiciary panel held a hearing, to which Chief Justice John Roberts was invited, examining the ethical standards the justices adhere to last month. The chief justice declined to attend the proceeding but shared a Statement of Ethics Principles and Practices signed by all nine members that he said they abide by.

Following the latest findings about Alito, Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in a statement the Judiciary Committee will mark up Supreme Court ethics legislation after the July 4 recess.

"The connection between Supreme Court justices and right-wing billionaires is a very legitimate matter of concern," Whitehouse told reporters.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said he believes Alito broke the law and should be held accountable.

"Justice Alito violated the plain meaning and spirit of the law in failing to report the trip and his denial now of any possible wrongdoing just shows how the Supreme Court and Justice Alito think they don't have to answer to anyone," he told CBS News' congressional correspondent Nikole Killion.

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that Congress cannot dictate the ethical standards of the Supreme Court.

"Congress should stay out of it because we don't, I think, have the jurisdiction to tell the Supreme Court how to handle the issue," he said. "I have total confidence in Chief Justice John Roberts to in effect look out for the court as well as its reputation."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/samuel-alito-propublica-supreme-court-ethics-paul-singer/