News You May Have Missed
Did you know that tuberculosis is on the rise in the United States? While the fascist regime has stopped the publication of new data, they haven’t yet pulled historical data. Thus, we can see a rise nationwide:
Why do I bring this up? Because right now, in Kansas, they’re experiencing the largest number of cases they’ve ever seen. Specifically, 67 active cases, and 97 latent cases. Source.
"The current KCK Metro TB outbreak is the largest documented outbreak in U.S. history, presently," Bronaugh said in a statement to The Capital-Journal. "This is mainly due to the rapid number of cases in the short amount of time. This outbreak is still ongoing, which means that there could be more cases. There are a few other states that currently have large outbreaks that are also ongoing."
I bring this up to remind everyone that the fascist regime will keep information like this from all of us, so we will have to rely on local sources, and ferreting out the truth. If you live in Kansas, and have a cough, a bad cough: see a doctor and stay home until you do. If you live in Kansas and do not have a cough, start wearing an N95 all the time you leave your house. If you live anywhere else, check with your local/state Health Department to see rates in your area.
Did you know that there was one convicted Jan 6 criminal who accepts that she did the wrong thing, and is turning down her pardon?
71-year-old Boise resident Pamela Hemphill, once nicknamed “the MAGA Granny,” rejected her pardon.
“Accepting the pardon would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation,” Hemphill told the Idaho Statesman by phone Tuesday. “The J6 criminals are trying to rewrite history by saying that it was not a riot; it wasn’t an insurrection. I don’t want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day.”
Hemphill said her attorney informed her Tuesday that Trump pardoned her. They have made plans to file a letter of rejection. Source.
Every last one of us has done something which we later regretted because it was wrong. Kudos to Ms. Hemphill to admitting that she was wrong. It matters.
Remember that the Convicted Felon is a convicted felon because he was convicted in New York STATE court? Sure you do. There are no Federal pardons for State convictions.
BIG SHOUT OUT to Larry Krasner, Philadelphia District Attorney. He is looking into filing state charges against the local January 6th insurrectionists who pre-planned for January 6th in Philadelphia, prior to going to the riot in DC. Read the interview.
One of last week’s EOs related to a hiring freeze. The VA successfully petitioned for, and received, exemptions for about 300,000 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, medical officers and related positions. Pushing back can work! Source.
On my radar:
The Rethuglicans are down in Miami this week looking at what Congressional damage they can inflict on the nation. Between eating ribeye ($79) and strip steak ($78) at the Doral (full menu) they’ll be plotting how to simultaneously raise the debt ceiling, cut spending, and increase tax cuts for billionaires.
Since Newt Gingrich threatened Bill Clinton back in 1995 with default and shut down, the Rethuglicans have been leveraging the debt ceiling against Democratic policies and legislation.
BUT!
Let’s talk Chip Roy. The Texas Chaos Caucus member is viscerally wedded to no spending increases without offset spending cuts. He’s ALWAYS been this way, and he will NOT vote for raising the debt ceiling without offsets. More info on Chip here. He’s the most vocal, but he’s not the only Rethuglican who will vote this way. Thus, there is no mathematical way that Moscow Mike can get anything financially related passed exclusively on Rethuglican votes based on what they’re going to propose.
Let us be honest. It will cost BILLIONS to fund the deportation actions the fascists are committed to undertaking. BILLIONS. Not to mention those tax “cuts” which cost TRILLIONS. There are not enough tariffs nor cuts to fund them. I make the assumption that while there will be a move to privatize Medicare (which will cost MORE), and they’ll try to do something in the future about Social Security - no elected official is intellectually limited enough to cut off Social Security payments to the biggest voting block they’ve got.
Their biggest problem? Interest on the debt:
Interest is NOT something that can be cut by Congress as a line item. It can decrease if interest rates fall, but basically, it must be paid to avoid the US Government from defaulting for the first time in history and wrecking the entire world economy.
Put together the impossible math of both the debt AND the votes, and there is no chance that Moscow Mike won’t need Democratic votes.
And so…
What I’m going to be watching is how the Democrats in the House turn the tables on the cretins. What will Leader Jeffries and the Democratic caucus hold out for?
Some Democrats want the ability to raise the debt limit at any time it’s necessary in perpetuity. Meanwhile, the Rethuglicans only want to allow for raises until their leader ends his current term.
Will the Democrats want EOs rolled back? Will they ensure that the safety net is protected? How about citizenship for DACA recipients? What about rolling back the tax cuts for anyone making over $400,000/year?
THIS IS OUR CHANCE!!!! And what YOU need to do NOW is start writing your Member of Congress (of either party) letting your rep know what YOU see as a priority in the fiscal negotiations. Don’t write once, write once a week.
One final note
I received a total of a dozen, yes 12, texts, Signals, and emails, pointing out that I spelled the country “Colombia” as “Columbia University” is spelled. Thus WRONG.
First, the spell checker can’t catch it when there are two legitimate spellings.
Second, I never said I could spell. I’ll put my grammatical ability and overall vocabulary up against anyone, but spelling? I’m imperfect.
I know that I have no readers in Colombia (albeit several at Columbia University), but if you are of Colombian extraction, I apologize.
Using military aircraft as planned for the deportations, according to Rachel Madow whom I chanced to watch last nite while scrolling the TV: each flight alone will cost in excess of $840,000, hence in 4 years over $1 Trillion. A trillion here, a trillion there; There's the way for a Divided States of America. Perhaps the Don at least can be persuaded to use civilian aircraft for transport at approximately 1/10th the cost per flight, instead of using the huge USAF aircraft just for show as it is clear he will not be dissuaded from his deportation plans.