U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

House Democrats have just passed a bill to cap insulin prices at $35. Republicans call saving Americans money for their necessary medication "socialist".

Anytime Democrats want to help people save money, radical Republicans bring out the old right wing "socialist" buzzword in order to turn off their own voting base from a bill that helps them. Republicans would rather have people go into debt or miss crucial insulin doses (in which they can die) than save them money on outrageous insulin prices. And yet Republican voters keep voting against their own interests as the party they vote for forces them to go into debt over their life saving insulin they need to survive.   

When a car dealership has a huge sale on cars and trucks to save folks some money, would Republicans call that "socialist" too?   

193 Republicans voted against capping insulin for their own supporters who need it. House Republicans would rather have them pay well over $100 as drug companies gouge them for profits. How can anybody be against saving people money for the necessary medication they need each day? This vote was not partisan or political. It was about saving Americans money from being gouged by drug companies so they can afford their necessary insulin. This vote was a no brainer, but almost every single Republican voted "no" to save lives and save people money, which includes their own voters.     

Once again, Republicans fail Americans, but mostly their own voters by proving they do not care about them. If Republicans cared about them, they would have voted "yes" to save them money on their insulin. Their "no" vote has proven they do not care.   

How can the GOP claim to be "Pro Life" when they voted against another pro life issue? If someone misses their insulin shot because they can't afford it that person is likely to die. Yet, the GOP made sure that was possible by voting no to cap insulin at $35 so people can afford to live. Thankfully we have Democrats in charge of the House to save lives and to make people's lives more affordable, otherwise this crucial bill never would have passed the House.           

Republicans already voted against "The American Rescue Plan" and the 'Infrastructure Bil" which has created the best economy on record, giving 7.4 million people new jobs, lowering unemployment to the lowest number since 1969, and putting more money in people's pockets. Republicans are more interested in banning books, banning transgenders from playing sports, taking away women's reproductive rights, and passing anti voter laws, none of which helps struggling families and individuals pay for the necessary medications they need to survive.

The GOP is not "Pro Life" and are not for the working man. Their voting record proves it each time they vote.

So my question is, "what has the GOP done to help the average American better their lives"? And the answer is absolutely nothing, because the GOP has already have voted "no" on every single bill in 2021/2022 that does exactly that. The GOP is the party of "NO". Remember that this November.                   


House passes bill to cap insulin prices

The House of Representatives voted Thursday to approve legislation that would limit cost-sharing for insulin under private health insurance and Medicare. The vote was 232-193, with 12 Republican members joining their Democratic colleagues to pass the measure.

The Affordable Insulin Now Act would cap insulin prices at either $35 a month or 25% of an insurance plan's negotiated price — whichever is lower. The legislation aims to take effect in 2023 but its fate in the Senate remains unclear.

"This is a kitchen table issue, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said to reporters ahead of the bill's passage on Thursday.

"One in four Americans is forced to skip or ration doses of insulin and that's life-threatening," she said, noting the legislation "paves the way" for further action on negotiating lower drug prices beyond insulin.

independent nonprofit that studies health care prices, which shows prices for insulin doubled between 2012 and 2016.

"No one should have to choose between taking their medication as prescribed and putting food on the table or a roof over their head," said Rep. Dan Kildee, one of three Democratic lawmakers who sponsored the legislation.

"As a father of a type 1 diabetic, I have seen firsthand how the high price of prescription drugs like insulin can harm patients and harm families," the Michigan Democrat said during debate on the House floor. "When my daughter turned 26 and got her own health insurance, there were months where she spent a third of her take home pay because she's diabetic on staying alive."

Critics of the bill argue the cap alone doesn't do enough to solve the underlying problem of rising prescription drug prices.

"We want lower prices for drugs, particularly for insulin," said Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga, during debate. "But instead of fixing a broken system, this bill aims to control it," he adding, calling the bill a "socialist plan."

House Democrats passed legislation in November as part of a broader spending package that would have enabled Medicare to negotiate lower prices for various prescription drugs.

Because that package remains stalled in the Senate, Democrats are working to more narrowly tackle making common drugs like insulin more affordable.

There is a similar bipartisan effort under way in the Senate but its path is unclear as Republicans have traditionally been opposed to price caps.

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1090085513/house-passes-bill-to-cap-insulin-prices

[Rick Plant]

It's been confirmed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife Ginni Thomas was in a Lifespring cult. So, she went from the Lifespring cult to the Trump Qanon cult participating in an attempted coup.     

Cult expert claims this never-seen-before footage features Ginni Thomas discussing Lifespring experience



An expert on cults on Thursday published video that he says shows him interviewing Ginni Thomas in 1989.

Steven Hassen, "one of the world's foremost experts on mind control, cults and similar destructive organizations," is the author of the 1988 book Combatting Cult Mind Control, the 2012 book Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs, and the 2019 book The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control.

"I knew Ginni Thomas. Ginni Thomas was in a cult (the large group awareness training cult, Lifespring). Here she is in 1989 speaking at an event I hosted for former members," Hassan wrote on Twitter before posting his video.

The time that Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, spent in Lifespring has been previously reported.

"Ginni graduated from Creighton University, in Omaha, and then attended law school there," Jane Mayer reported in a January New Yorker profile. "Her parents helped get her a job with a local Republican candidate for Congress, and when he won she followed him to Washington. But, after reportedly flunking the bar exam, she fell in with a cultish self-help group, Lifespring, whose members were encouraged to strip naked and mock one another’s body fat. She eventually broke away, and began working for the Chamber of Commerce, opposing 'comparable worth' pay for women. She and Thomas began dating, and in 1987 they married."

In February, The New York Times reported Clarence Thomas attended one of her de-programming meetings.

"Clarence and Ginni met in 1986 at a conference on affirmative action, which they both opposed. After a stint at the civil rights office of the Education Department, he was running the E.E.O.C.; she was an attorney at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and mused that year to Good Housekeeping about someday running for Congress. She had extracted herself from a New Age-y self-help group called Lifespring, which she would denounce as a cult, but was still attending meetings held by a cult-deprogramming organization, and she took him along to one. He would describe her as a 'gift from God,' and they married in 1987 at a Methodist church in Omaha; it was her first marriage, his second," The Times reported.

It was also mentioned in a 1991 Washington Post profile titled, "The Nominee's Soul Mate."

"Some women's rights activists are upset by her lobbying against such issues as comparable-worth legislation and the Family Leave Act. Some religious rights groups are troubled by her anti-cult activities in light of her involvement with Lifespring, a controversial motivational group," the newspaper reported. "She has declined to talk with reporters until after the hearings. She's not the story, she said. Yet she is a compelling and persuasive figure."

Steven Hassan, PhD
@CultExpert

"I knew Ginni Thomas. Ginni Thomas was in a cult (the large group awareness training cult, Lifespring). Here she is in 1989 speaking at an event I hosted for former members. Until today, almost NO one has seen this video.

Watch the video here: https://twitter.com/i/status/1509602849763778561

[Rick Plant]

President Biden
@POTUS 

"I know gas prices are painful. My plan will help ease that pain today and safeguard against it tomorrow.

I'll continue to use every tool at my disposal to protect you from Putin’s price hike. And I’m calling on Congress to put aside partisanship. Let’s meet this moment together.

When you combine production here at home with less dependence on oil it means more energy security.
 
Between ramping up production in the short-run and driving down demand in the long-run we can free ourselves from our dependence on imported oil from across the world."

https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1509686541127495687

[Rick Plant]

President Biden
@POTUS 

"Clean energy made in America helps safeguard our national security, tackle climate change, and support millions of good-paying jobs for generations to come.

But the most important thing my plan will do right away is save your family money.

If you take advantage of the next generation of electric vehicles, the typical driver will save about $80 a month in perpetuity from never having to pay at the gas pump again.

If your home is powered by safer, cheaper, clean electricity like solar and heat pumps, you save about $500 per year on average.

This week, my Administration is making $3.2 billion — ten times the historical level — available to states, Tribes, and territories to retrofit homes.
 
A program that in the past has delivered the average family another $372 a year in savings.

We’re setting new standards to boost the fuel economy of vehicles an average of 10 miles per gallon within 5 years.

We’re setting similar standards for smaller appliances — just one of 100 actions we’re taking to save the average household another $100 per year on utility bills."

https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1509636945806348292

[Rick Plant]

The Biden Administration wants effectively a "use it or lose it" clause in federal oil leases. The industry is probably going to kick up a fuss about any new restrictions, but this is widely how it’s done in contracts with private landowners - where the vast majority of production comes from. I'm sure Republicans will join in on attacking Biden when he's trying to drive down gasoline prices so let's see how long it takes them to do that. But this is criminal what the gas industry is doing to Americans by sitting on 9,000 unused permits while we pay high gas prices increasing their profits. Republicans and the right wing media lies claiming it's the "Keystone Pipeline" or "Biden policies" for the high gas prices but it's their oil buddies that refuse to drill to give us the oil we need.       



This is a very solid SPR release plan from the White House. Note the key detail about restocking to "provide a signal of future demand and help encourage domestic production today." President Biden is thinking ahead here while getting our allies around the world to help join us so it's not just us doing it alone. Smart and effective leadership.   



This is what's in White House gas plan that was released Thursday:

-- Release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the SPR reserves - the biggest ever in history.
-- Urge Congress to enact fees on industry wells not being used (anti hoarding) to drive down prices.
-- Restock SPR to encourage production.
-- DPA to bolster critical materials for clean energy.

A truly solid plan that will drive down high gas prices and force the greedy oil industry to keep producing oil instead of gouging us with high prices on purpose.

[Rick Plant]

President Biden
@POTUS

"Today, I am issuing a directive to strengthen our clean energy economy. To use the Defense Production Act to secure American supply chains for the critical materials that go into batteries for electric vehicles and storage of renewable energy.

We need to reduce our dependence on oil altogether.
 
We need to choose long-term energy security over energy and climate vulnerability.

And we can do that by passing my plan to speed the transition to a clean energy future that is made in America with American values.

The oil and gas industry has nearly 9,000 unused permits for drilling on federal lands.
 
I’m calling for a “use it or lose it” policy.

Congress should make companies pay fees on idle wells on federal leases and on public lands they’re hoarding without producing.

U.S. oil companies made nearly $80 billion in profits last year.
 
This isn’t the time to sit on record profits.

This is the time to step up for the good of your country. To invest in the immediate production we need to respond to Vladimir Putin.

Americans are feeling Putin’s gas price hike at the pump.

That’s why today, I’m authorizing the release of 1 million barrels a day from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve — and taking steps to lay a new foundation for lasting American energy independence through clean energy."



"Tune in as I deliver remarks on my Administration’s actions to reduce the impact of Putin’s price hike on energy prices and lower gas prices at the pump for American families."

Watch: https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1509588381893894148

[Rick Plant]

Biden uses Cold War powers to spark battery metals production



President Joe Biden will issue a directive Thursday to boost domestic production of metals and minerals used in large capacity batteries, electric vehicles and the energy sector, according to the White House.

Why it matters: Adding the materials under the 1950 Defense Production Act is part of the Biden administration's efforts to curb rising fuel prices from supply chain disruptions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

What they're saying: The White House said the materials will include lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese.

- It added that the Department of Defense will "implement this authority using strong environmental, labor, community, and tribal consultation standards."

The big picture: Beyond rising oil prices, the fallout from the invasion of Ukraine has also driven up the cost of battery inputs, like nickel. Russia is a major supplier of many of these materials.

https://www.axios.com/biden-cold-war-powers-battery-metals-production-cff4abd6-4c1a-44ba-ab27-6a8be553f018.html