#American Legislative Exchange Council

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Justin Horowitz at MMFA:

Project 2025 advisory board members have attacked or outright called for the end of no-fault divorce, the option to dissolve a marriage without having to prove wrongdoing by a partner. Research highlighted by CNN found “no-fault divorce correlates with a reduction in female suicides and a reduction in intimate partner violence,” including “an 8 to 16% decrease in female suicides after states enacted no-fault divorce laws.” Project 2025 is backed by a nearly-900 page policy book called Mandate for Leadership, which extensively outlines potential approaches to governance for the next Republican administration, including replacing federal employees with extremists and Trump loyalists and attacking LGBTQ rights, abortion, and contraception. The Heritage Foundation’s proposals have a track record of success — the first Trump administration implemented 64% of Mandate’s policy recommendations. Project 2025 is also supported by a coalition of over 100 conservative organizations, many of which have spent years promoting critiques of no-fault divorce as “destructive” for society — or even blaming it for enabling a “culture of death.” According to a Media Matters review, at least 22 Project 2025 advisory board members have made similar comments targeting, restricting, or eliminating no-fault divorce. Additionally, MAGA and far-right media figures have pushed for the removal of no-fault divorce laws across the country, and several local Republican parties in Texas, Nebraska, and Louisiana have called for the dissolution of no-fault divorce in some capacity.

Project 2025 partner organizations, including the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, and The Heritage Foundation, have called for significant restrictions or an outright ban on no-fault divorce.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist in the Trump White House who is at the forefront of the Republican march toward hard-right populism, is throwing his weight behind a movement to radically rewrite the US Constitution.

Bannon has devoted recent episodes of his online show the War Room to a well-funded operation which has stealthily gained ground over the past two years. Backed by billionaire donors and corporate interests, it aims to persuade state legislatures to call a constitutional convention in the hope of baking far-right conservative values into the supreme law of the land.

The goal is, in essence, to turn the country into a permanent conservative nation irrespective of the will of the American people. The convention would promote policies that would limit the size and scope of the federal government, set ceilings on or even abolish taxes, free corporations from regulations, and impose restrictions on government action in areas such as abortion, guns and immigration.

“This is another line of attack strategically,” Bannon told his viewers last month. “You now have a political movement that understands we need to go after the administrative state.”

By “administrative state”, Bannon was referring to the involvement of the federal government and Congress in central aspects of modern American life. That includes combating the climate crisis, setting educational standards and fighting health inequities.

Mark Meckler, a founder of the Tea Party who now leads one of the largest groups advocating for the tactic, the Convention of States Action (COSA), spelled out some of the prime objectives on Bannon’s show. “We need to say constitutionally, ‘No, the federal government cannot be involved in education, or healthcare, or energy, or the environment’,” he said.

Meckler went on to divulge the anti-democratic nature of the state convention movement when he said a main aim was to prevent progressive policies being advanced through presidential elections. “The problem is, any time the administration swings back to Democrat – or radical progressive, or Marxist which is what they are – we are going to lose the gains. So you do the structural fix.”

The ��structural fix” involves Republican state legislatures pushing conservative amendments to America’s foundational document. By cementing the policies into the US Constitution, they would become largely immune to electoral challenge.

Were a convention achieved, it would mark the zenith of conservative state power in American politics. Over the past 12 years, since the eruption of the Tea Party, Republicans have extended their grip to more than half of the states in the country, imposing an increasingly far-right agenda on the heartlands.

Now the plan is to take that dominance nationwide.

Article V of the Constitution lays out two distinct ways in which America’s core document, ratified in 1788, can be revised. In practice, all 27 amendments that have been added over the past 244 years have come through the first route – a Congress-led process whereby two-thirds of both the US House and Senate have to approve changes followed by ratification by three-quarters of the states.

Meckler, working alongside other powerful interest groups and wealthy rightwing megadonors, is gunning for Article V’s second route – one that has never been tried before. It gives state legislatures the power to call a constitutional convention of their own, should two-thirds of all 50 states agree.

The state-based model for rewriting the US Constitution is perhaps the most audacious attempt yet by hard-right Republicans to secure what amounts to conservative minority rule in which a minority of lawmakers representing less-populated rural states dictate terms to the majority of Americans. Russ Feingold, a former Democratic US senator from Wisconsin, told The Guardian that “they want to rewrite the constitution in a fundamental way that is not just conservative, it is minoritarian. It will prevent the will of ‘we the people’ being heard.”

Feingold has co-authored with Peter Prindiville of the Stanford constitutional law center The Constitution in Jeopardy, a new book that sounds the alarm on the states-based convention movement. “Our goal is not to scare people, but to alert them that there is a movement on the far right that is quietly getting itself to a point where it will be almost impossible to stop a convention being called,” he said.

His urgency is underlined by how active the movement has become. A convention resolution framed by COSA has passed so far this year in four states – Wisconsin, Nebraska, West Virginia and South Carolina.

The group has also been busy around November’s midterm elections, using its muscle and some $600,000 (£528,252) of its reserves to support candidates amenable to the idea. “We have built the largest grassroots activist army in American history,” Meckler told Bannon, probably hyperbolically.

Bannon’s other guest on the War Room, Rick Santorum, a former Republican US senator from Pennsylvania who advises COSA, told Bannon: “This is something that can happen very quickly. We are a lot further along than people think.”

They are also much better funded than people might think. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), which monitors the constitutional convention movement, estimates that it pulled in $25M (£22M) in 2020, the last year for which figures are known.

The funds were split between COSA and other influential groups on the right. They include the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a network of state politicians and corporate lobbyists which has taken up the cry for a constitutional amendment to force balanced budget restrictions on Washington.

Much of the income is dark money, with the origins hidden. CMD has managed to identify some key donors – among them the Mercer Family Foundation set up by reclusive hedge fund manager Robert Mercer, and a couple of groups run by Leonard Leo, the mastermind behind the rightwing land grab in the federal courts.

More than $1m (£880,265) has also been donated in the form of Bitcoin.

The attraction to these groups and donors of pursuing a states route to rewriting the US Constitution is easily explained. Over the past 12 years, since the eruption of the Tea Party in 2010, Republican activists have deployed extreme partisan gerrymandering to pull off an extraordinary takeover of state legislatures.

In 2010, Republicans controlled both chambers of just 14 state legislatures. Today, that number stands at 31.

“Republicans are near the high watermark in terms of their political control in the states, and that’s why the pro-Trump rightwing of the party is increasingly embracing the constitutional convention strategy,” said Arn Pearson, CMD’s executive director.

Should a convention be achieved, the plan would be to give states one vote each. There is no legal or historical basis for such an arrangement but its appeal is self-evident.

One vote per state would give small rural conservative states like Wyoming (population 580,000) equal leverage to large urbanized progressive states like California (39.5 million). Collectively, small states would be in the majority and control would tip to the Republicans.

Last December Santorum spelled out this minoritarian vision at a private ALEC meeting. In an audio recording obtained by CMD, Santorum said: “We have the opportunity, as a result, to have a supermajority, even though we may not even be in an absolute majority when it comes to the people who agree with us.”

Pearson decried such thinking as “a profoundly anti-majoritarian and anti-democratic strategy that gives small rural states most control”.

With the counting system skewed towards the conservative heartlands, the list of amendments that might be pursued is disconcertingly large. Though Meckler and his allies largely avoid talking about culture war issues, it is quite conceivable that a nationwide ban on abortion and a rescinding of gay marriage would be on the table.

More openly, advocates have talked about imposing balanced budget requirements on the US government that would dramatically shrink federal resources. Some have even proposed making income tax unconstitutional.

One of the more popular ideas circulating within rightwing constitutional convention circles, initially floated by the talk show host Mark Levin, is that states should grant themselves the ability to override federal statutes and supreme court rulings. It is hard to see how the federal rule of law could be sustained under such an arrangement with its unmistakable civil war undertones.

Under Article V, 34 states would have to call for a constitutional convention to reach the two-thirds requirement. COSA has so far succeeded in getting 19 states to sign up, with a further six in active consideration.

ALEC, which sets a narrower remit for a convention focused on its balanced budget amendment, has gone further with 28 states on board.

Either way, there is a shortfall. To address it, constitutional convention leaders have invented increasingly exotic mathematical formulas for attaining the magic number, 34. “We used to call it fuzzy math, now we call it wacky math,” Pearson said.

Advocates filed a lawsuit in Texas in February that tried to get the courts to force a constitutional convention on grounds that they had reached 34 states already – they cobbled together unrelated state convention calls, including some dating back to the 1800s. In July two bills were also introduced to the US House requiring Congress to call a convention immediately.

David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University, said the willingness to adopt outlandish logic should sound further alarm bells. It raised the stakes even higher for the November elections.

“The midterms are crucial,” Super said. “Changes at state-level matter, but will not get them to 34 states. If they can take control of Congress, they could bridge the gap.”

Paradoxically, what happens to Congress in the midterms could have the biggest impact on the future prospects of a states-based constitutional convention. Should the Republicans take back control of the US House and Senate they would be in a position to advance radical Republicans’ demands.

“We’ve already seen a willingness to play fast and loose with the math on all sorts of things in Congress,” Super said. “I would not be surprised if they were to make a serious attempt to adopt one of these bizarre accounting theories should they take control of both chambers in November.”

That could mean a rapid dash for a convention before most Americans would have woken up to the danger.

“If the Republicans prevail in Congress, they could try to call a convention right away,” Feingold said. “People should know that when they go to vote in November – this could fundamentally undermine their rights in a way that is both disturbing and permanent.”

[spiderlegsmusic]

Look at these assholes. They need to be removed from any office that affects the people. It’s time to take these fuckers down

Big Pharma Is Teaming Up With MAGA Groups to Restrict Voting

Big Pharma Is Teaming Up With MAGA Groups to Restrict Voting (msn.com)

Washington's top pharmaceutical lobby oversaw the adoption of model legislation that would restrict voting access at the most recent meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

[simply-ivanka]

Harris and the First Amendment

The Supreme Court rebuked her use of lawfare in California.

By The Editorial Board -- Wall Street Journal

We keep looking for an issue, any issue, on which Kamala Harris differs with the Democratic left, but we keep coming up empty. That includes her party’s use of lawfare against political opponents, as an episode while she was California Attorney General reminds us.

Ms. Harris made headlines a decade ago by threatening to punish nonprofit groups that refused to turn over unredacted donor information. She demanded they hand to the state their federal IRS Form 990 Schedule B in the name of discovering “self dealing” or “improper loans.” The real purpose was to learn the names of conservative donors and chill future political giving—that is, political speech.

Her bullying came amid the Internal Revenue Service’s notorious targeting of conservative nonprofits; Wisconsin’s probe of GOP donors; Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin’s intimidation of donors to the American Legislative Exchange Council; and a campaign of harassment against donors who supported California’s Prop 8 (which banned same-sex marriage).

Free-market nonprofits challenged the Harris dragnet, suing the AG’s office in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta in 2021, the High Court ruled 6-3 that the AG’s disclosure demand broke the law. The Court pointed out that a lower court had found not “a single, concrete instance in which pre-investigation collection of a Schedule B did anything to advance the Attorney General’s investigative, regulatory or enforcement efforts.”

The Court said California’s claim that it would protect donor information lacked credibility, since during the litigation plaintiffs discovered nearly 2,000 Schedule B forms “inadvertently posted to the Attorney General’s website.” It noted that the petitioners and donors faced “threats” and “retaliation.”

The Supreme Court said Ms. Harris’s policy posed a risk of chilling free-speech rights, and it cited its 1958 NAACP v. Alabama precedent, which protected First Amendment “associational” rights. Ms. Harris is citing her experience as state AG as a political asset, but the Bonta case is a warning to voters that she’s willing to use the law as a weapon against political opponents.

Lawfare has failed as a political strategy against Donald Trump while undermining public confidence in impartial justice. Ms. Harris’s record suggests she’ll continue down this abusive road.

Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the August 5, 2024, print edition as 'Harris and the First Amendment'.

[wumblr]

The number of commercial-scale Bitcoin mining operations in the U.S. has increased sharply over the last few years; there are now at least 137. Similar medical complaints have been registered near facilities in Arkansas and North Dakota. And the Bitcoin mining industry is urgently trying to push bills through state legislatures, including in Indiana and Missouri, which would exempt Bitcoin mines from local zoning or noise ordinances. In May, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt signed a “Bitcoin Rights” bill to protect miners and prevent any future attempts to ban the industry. Much of the American Bitcoin mining industry can now be found in Texas, home to giant power plants, lax regulation, and crypto-friendly politicians. In October 2021, Governor Greg Abbott hosted the lobbying group Texas Blockchain Council at the governor’s mansion. The group insisted that their industry would help the state’s overtaxed energy grid; that during energy crises, miners would be one of the few energy customers able to shut off upon request, provided that they were paid in exchange. After meeting with the lobbyists, Abbott tweeted that Texas would soon be the “#1 [state] for blockchain & cryptocurrency.” Technically there is federal mandate to regulate noise, which stems from the 1972 Noise Control Act—but it was essentially de-funded during the Reagan administration. This leaves noise regulation up to states, cities, and counties. New York City, for instance, has a noise code which officially caps restaurant music and air conditioning at 42 decibels (as measured within a nearby residence). Texas’s 85 decibels, in contrast, is by far the loudest state limit in the nation, says Les Blomberg, the executive director of the nonprofit Noise Pollution Clearinghouse. “It is a level that protects noise polluters, not the noise polluted,” he says. The residents of Granbury feel they’ve been lied to. In 2023, the site’s previous operators, US Bitcoin Corp, constructed a wall around the mine almost 2,000 feet long and claimed that they had “solved the concern.” But Shirley says that the complaints from the community about the sound actually increased when the wall was nearing completion last fall. Since Marathon bought the facility outright in December, its hash rate, or computational power expended, has doubled. Any statewide legislation is sure to hit significant headwinds, because the very idea of regulation runs contrary to many Texans’ political beliefs. “As constitutional conservatives, they have taken our core values and used that against us,” says Demetra Conrad, a city council member in the nearby town of Glen Rose. In the week before this article’s publication, two more Granbury residents suffered from acute health crises. The first was Tom Weeks. “This whole thing is an eye opener for me into profit over people,” Weeks says in a phone call from the ICU. The second person affected was the five-year-old Indigo Rosenkranz. Her mother, Sarah, was terrified and now feels she has no choice but to get a second mortgage to move away from the mine. “A second one would really be a lot,” she says. “God will provide, though. He always sees us through.”

shocking! texans suffer from deregulation and ineffective walls

[dailyanarchistposts]

The Demands and What Lies Ahead

On June 9th, CHAZ representatives released a list of demands that were authored by many of the collective voices in the zone. Most of them are extremely realistic and can be accomplished if Seattle actually had a representative government instead of one that works for Amazon. The list of demands falls under four categories: economics, education, the justice system and health and human services. The authors stated further that the zone was on land taken from the local Native American Duwamish people over a century ago. The Pacific Northwest has a long history with native tribes and the collective voices of the zone realize that. Additionally, they have requested no violence be used in attempts to remove the zoners and that they be allowed to operate in a communal structure in order to “show the country what is possible through collective voices.” CHAZ has been praised by the IWW’s Industrial Worker publication as an effective way to distribute badly needed social services. The irony behind the creation of CHAZ is that austerity measures have been put in many American cities since the CARES bailout back in March. This is expected during crises and it’s not acceptable to those not just in CHAZ but protesting within the BLM movement. Austerity has been a prime focus during these protests because while police departments across the country see their budgets increase every year, every other line item of public services continue to be cut. Anarchists in the zone realize they need to do more planning going forward. They have already began deputizing scouts and are working on expanding their perimeter even more. Smoking areas have been designated and local marijuana growers have flooded the zone to provide free marijuana. The anti-capitalist views of the inhabitants will create an atmosphere of brainstorming that will only serve the commune for the better going forward. As an example of this, many have began talking about black-owned banks, divesting from local corporations and prison reform. Local activists even gave a soapbox speech criticizing the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and how their representatives in conservative state legislatures write laws without “any clue” as to who they represent. The opportunity is there to create a flourishing commune in a short term project that will ultimately likely be destroyed at some point. The main goal is to provide a glimpse for Americans what can be possible though communal action when you operate outside of the system of government that many Americans take for granted. This is not a country that is used to communal action and most citizens probably don’t even know the definition of a co-op. Kshama Sawant is a Seattle City Council member and member of the Trotskyist Socialist Alternative Party (SA). She visited the zone on June 9th and asked the residents to turn it into a community center for restorative justice. She agreed that there needs to be long term goals and that the method of going beyond policing (police abolition) needs to be analyzed and discoursed in the mainstream. Sawant did suggest caution though on pushing the city too far. She, along with the residents want to avoid future violence if the police do eventually move in to tear down the commune. The development of CHAZ is a real time education in community organizing and anarchist alternatives. Amazon and Boeing weren’t going to provide the people of Seattle with basic life necessities. Those in CHAZ hope they can demonstrate that social services can be provided in a vacuum. They have stated they will continue to build the commune and will continue until they are forced out. Long live the commune!

[tomorrowusa]

A rich guy who died 17 years ago is still funding rightwing causes. The only good news is that the money runs out in 2025.

From the Ambien and Dramamine in millions of bathroom medicine cabinets, to the sugar substitute that makes diet sodas sweet, to the first-ever birth control pill, some of America’s most common medicines and supplements can be traced back to the G.D. Searle pharmaceutical company. Now, more than a century after the company’s founding, the massive family fortune built from those scientific advances has emerged as a major benefactor of the right, mostly out of the public eye. The Searle Freedom Trust, a foundation funded by the company’s former chairman, has doled out more than $200 million in grants over the last decade, sending more money to conservative nonprofits than nearly any other private foundation in recent years, according to a CNN analysis. This year, the Searle trust is poised to play an even bigger role as it empties out its coffers. Following the wishes of its founder, the late Daniel C. Searle, the trust is closing down in 2025 and planning to award most of its last major grants in 2024. That means a potential windfall during a key election year for groups that push conservative policies: as of the beginning of 2023, according to its most recent tax return, the trust had more than $59 million left to spend.

Thanks to the Republican Supreme Court, the filthy rich can shit money into the coffers of rightwing causes and candidates.

“The fact that our political system works in a way where wealthy people who died years ago can continue to have such profound influence over our politics and our beliefs about science and the world is just incredibly damaging,” said Galen Hall, a University of Michigan researcher who’s studied the flow of money from foundations like the Searle trust to climate change denial groups. “It’s one of the key aspects of American politics that makes positive change on issues like climate change so difficult.” [ ... ] The Searle trust is one of the most prolific funders of conservative groups among all private foundations, according to a CNN analysis of nonprofit tax data. From 2020 through 2022, it has given a total of more than $29 million to a selection of conservative nonprofits identified by CNN. Only one other private foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, reported giving more to the groups over the same time period, based on data from hundreds of thousands of public tax filings. The analysis only included publicly reported donations, so it may be missing some foundations that donated through donor-advised funds, which help conceal the path of their money.

The billionaires and their poorer multimillionaire buddies know that liberals tend to overlook state governments. So they focus disproportionately on controlling state legislatures and passing reactionary laws. The late Daniel C. Searle was no exception.

The trust has also given more than $2.75 million to the American Legislative Exchange Council, which over the years has written cookie-cutter model legislation that has inspired conservative bills around the US – including laws that expanded the use of private prisons, restricted the ability of state pension funds to consider environmental risks when making investments, and limited local governments’ ability to restrict firearms. The Searle trust has “been a key financial driver of the development of right-wing political infrastructure,” said Brendan Fischer, the deputy executive director of the progressive watchdog group Documented. “They’ve had a pretty successful track record in areas including attacks on workers’ rights, the freedom to vote, state efforts to thwart action on climate change.”

We can no longer afford to be slackers when it comes to state politics. Increasingly we need to give extremist Republicans more pushback in state capitals.

Take more interest in legislative matters in your state. Let news outlets know you want more coverage of what legislatures are up to. Support outlets which already do provide such coverage.

And find out who exactly is representing you in the legislature. If it's MAGA Republicans who get loads of campaign contributions from billionaire sugar daddies, work for their defeat in the next state election.

Find Your Legislators Look your legislators up by address or use your current location.

This is a Substack about state politics by the idiosyncratic Carolyn Fiddler. It looks at state politics from a national and Democratic perspective. It's worth subscribing to.

This Week in Statehouse Action

It's good though it isn't a substitute for a news source for your specific state's politics.

Filthy rich rightwingers can be stopped if we get involved and remain focused. Winners in politics are not people with short attention spans.

[climatecalling]

Minnesota law enforcement – which along with other agencies received at least $8.6m in payments from the Canadian pipeline company Enbridge – made more than 1,000 arrests between December 2020 and September 2021. The protesters, who identified as water protectors, were arrested during non-violent direct actions across northern Minnesota as construction of the 330-mile line expansion jumped from site to site, in what campaigners say was a coordinated strategy to divide and weaken the Indigenous-led social movement – an allegation Enbridge denies. Overall, at least 967 criminal charges were filed including three people charged under the state’s new critical infrastructure protection legislation – approved as part of a wave of anti-protest laws inspired by the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), a rightwing group backed by fossil fuel companies. ... Yet the vast majority of charges were eventually dismissed – either outright by prosecutors and judges or through plea deals, suggesting the mass arrests were about silencing and distracting protesters, according to Claire Glenn, an attorney at the Climate Defense Project. “It was obviously not about criminal sanctions or public safety because otherwise the prosecutors would not be dismissing these cases left and right. Enbridge was paying police to get people off the protest line and tied up with pretrial conditions, so they could get the pipeline in the ground, and it worked,” said Glenn, who has represented more than 100 Line 3 protesters including Vialard.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Color me shocked.

Fox News is hosting the GOP debate in Wisconsin.  During this build up segment, Martha MacCallum introduces the “random Republican voters” in Wisconsin who will watch the debate.  Except, well… there’s a little problem.  MacCallum introduces Chris Lawrence as a “Wisconsin GOP voter” who seemingly supports Ron DeSantis.  However, MacCallum fails to mention that Chris Lawrence actually works for the Koch Network, who have recently pledged to spend $70 million to defeat President Trump.

@RaheemKassam

Hi I looked into “Wisconsin voter” Christopher Lawrence, why didn’t you tell people he’s a paid activist belonging to the open borders network that recently pledged $70M to stop Trump?

‘Globalist’ Koch Network Blows $70M of Donor Cash to ‘Stop Trump’.

From Sundance Treehouse Blog: "The ‘Koch network’ group Americans for Prosperity Action is dropping $70M+ on a bid to stop President Donald J. Trump becoming the 47th President of the United States, according to a new report which suggests the libertarian billionaire backed organization is campaign in the Republican primaries “for the first time in its nearly 20 year history”.

The money is in addition to a $200M+ fund established by corporate backers for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s campaign, and will likely be used for “digital advertising on the issue of electability in the presidential race,” in addition to direct mail. In such scenarios, high percentages of donor cash ends up in the pockets of campaign consultants and vendors.

The Koch network includes groups such as Americans for Prosperity, Stand Together, i360, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the State Policy Network, the CATO Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Atlas Network, the Heritage Foundation, the Independent Women’s Forum, the Manhattan Institute, the Reason Foundation, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and many more.

 The organization’s LIBRE initiative even campaigns in favor of amnesty for illegal migrants.

 The co-option of the Tea Party movement was spearheaded by the Kochs, who turned it from a citizen-led organization into a pro-corporate, libertarian shell, before dumping it when press attention became too inconvenient.

“The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade,” Trump tweeted in 2018. “I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas.”

Not only has Chris Lawrence worked for the Koch Network for the past 9 years, he is also the Senior Field Director for the Koch group Americans for Prosperity.  In essence, Lawrence is a political operative planted in the group by Fox News to support Ron DeSantis and make it appear like he is an innocuous voter.  Fox News and Martha MacCallum should be embarrassed, but they won’t be. 

Don’t forget, Ron DeSantis supporters Eric Erickson and Guy Benson sit on the Koch Network AfP Advisory Board (see here).

It’s all one big game of illusion, and Fox News is once again a big part of the Republican fraud.  Proving yet again, that everything in the Ron DeSantis orbit is astroturf, phony, manufactured and made up."

[anarchywoofwoof]

big tobacco went on a reunion tour at the 50th annual alec meeting last month.

tldr; if you suddenly start seeing a shift in tobacco policy in your state or local area or heightened advertising, discussion on the local news, etc. then this is probably why.

two lobbyists from the tobacco megacorp Altria bought precious time to speak directly to state lawmakers, including those who serve on their state's health policy committees. this took place behind closed doors in Orlando, where they joined the corporate-funded american legislative exchange council to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights.

if you have never heard of Altria, they are parent company of Philip Morris USA, which was found guilty of racketeering for misleading the public about the health dangers of tobacco products. they're pushing for - surprise - deregulation, claiming that flavored nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, are good and safe alternatives to smoking tobacco and should not be regulated in the manner they are today.

mind you, Altria owns brands like Marlboro and Black & Mild cigars, and in June they paid $2.75 billion to acquire njoy e-cigarettes.

the tobacco industry is under fire right now. they've been aggressively marketing flavored versions of highly addictive nicotine products to get kids and young people hooked. this isn't puritanical chattering, it's a fact. last spring, Juul announced a $462-million settlement with multiple states due to their marketing tactics, and in May, Altria agreed to pay $235 million to resolve more than 6,000 Juul-related lawsuits.

Mark King, Altria's senior director for state government affairs, goes on record to say that "prohibitionist policies" create unintended consequences like illicit markets and burdens on law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

what's happening here is another example of how corporations are using their influence and money to push their agenda. it's not about public health or what's best for the community. it's about profit and control. big corporations influence policy at the expense of our health and well-being and it is regularly auctioned off with less consideration than a cow at the state fair.

the tobacco industry's manipulation isn't just a problem for health advocates or the legal system. it's a sign of how money and power continue to shape the construction of our society no matter who the president is and until you address the underlying decrepit infrastructure (capitalism), the whole building will continue to sink into the earth from neglect.

[immensetruckingsolutionsltd]

Understanding Fleets: Key Organizations in the Trucking Industry

The trucking industry is a vital component of the global economy, responsible for moving goods efficiently across vast distances. Within this intricate network, various organizations play essential roles in shaping operations, regulations, and the future of trucking. Understanding these key organizations is crucial for industry stakeholders, from fleet managers to logistics providers.

For-hire carriers and Private Fleets

For-hire carriers are companies that transport goods for others in exchange for compensation.

Common Carriers: These carriers offer services to the general public and are obligated to transport goods as long as they have the capacity and are lawful.

Contract Carriers: These carriers provide services based on specific contracts with shippers, allowing for tailored transportation solutions that meet unique customer needs.

Private Fleets, on the other hand, are operated by companies to transport their products. Firms like Walmart and Coca-Cola manage private fleets to control logistics and distribution effectively, ensuring timely deliveries and cost efficiency. 2. American Trucking Associations (ATA)

The American Trucking Association is the largest national trade organization representing the trucking industry. Founded in 1933, the ATA advocates for the interests of trucking companies, working on issues such as safety regulations, infrastructure funding, and tax policies. They provide valuable resources, including industry research, educational programs, and networking opportunities, helping members stay informed about best practices and legislative changes. 3. Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA)

The Trucking Industry Defense Association focuses on legal and regulatory issues affecting the trucking sector. TIDA works to protect the interests of trucking companies in legal matters, providing resources, education, and representation to help navigate complex legal challenges. Their efforts ensure the latest legal developments and the necessary support to address potential liabilities. 4. National Association of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC)

The National Association of Small Trucking Companies represents the interests of smaller trucking businesses. NASTC offers resources, advocacy, and networking opportunities tailored to the unique challenges faced by small operators. The association provides members access to discounted services, insurance programs, and training opportunities, helping to level the playing field with larger competitors. 5. Fleet Management Associations

Numerous associations focus on fleet management, promoting best practices, and providing resources to help companies improve their operations. These organizations offer training, certifications, and networking events aimed at enhancing fleet efficiency and safety. Key associations include:

The Association for Fleet Management Professionals (NAFA): NAFA provides resources and education for fleet managers, focusing on innovative practices, sustainability, and regulatory compliance.

The National Private Truck Council (NPTC): NPTC represents companies that operate private fleets, offering members access to industry research, benchmarking data, and educational resources specific to private fleet operations. 6. Regulatory Bodies

Various regulatory bodies oversee the trucking industry to ensure safety and compliance. Key organizations include:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA): The FMCSA regulates the trucking industry in the United States, establishing safety standards, monitoring compliance, and enforcing regulations to protect public safety.

Department of Transportation (DOT): The DOT oversees transportation infrastructure and policies, ensuring that roads and highways are for safe and efficient trucking operations.

Conclusion

Understanding the key organizations in the trucking industry is essential for navigating the complexities of fleet management and logistics. From advocacy groups like the American Trucking Associations to regulatory bodies like the FMCSA, these organizations play vital roles in shaping the industry landscape. By engaging with these entities, trucking companies can enhance their operations, stay informed about industry trends, and advocate for their interests in a rapidly changing environment. As the trucking industry continues to evolve, collaboration and support from these organizations will be critical to ensuring efficient and sustainable transportation solutions.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

By Steve Corbin

According to a May 15 NBC News report, there are a multitude of issues that voters must discern about Joe Biden, Donald Trump and the independent presidential candidates before voting on Nov. 5. Logically, the importance of each issue differs between and among America’s 161.4 million registered voters.

One issue missing from the NBC News report that has become a focal point of the Biden camp, Make America Great Again Republicans and third-party candidates is democracy vs. authoritarianism. Specifically, on Jan. 20, 2025, will the duly elected and inaugurated president of the United States keep America as a democracy that dates back to the 1630’s in the New England colonies, or will it be the start of changing the country to authoritarian fascism?

If you’ve not heard of Project 2025, it’s very worthy of your independent investigation. Project 2025 is a playbook specifically created for Donald Trump and his supporters to use in the first 180 days of Trump’s 2025-29 presidential administration. The far-right extremism-based Heritage Foundation proudly takes claim for facilitating the creation of the 887-page turning-democracy-into-an-authoritarian-country document.

Project 2025’s two editors had assistance from 34 authors, 277 contributors, a 54-member advisory board and a coalition of over 100 conservative organizations (including the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Heartland Institute, Liberty University, Middle East Forum, Moms for Liberty, the National Rifle Association, Pro-Life America and Tea Party Patriots).

Project 2025 is a serious endeavor, if Trump returns to the White House, to make America a fascist country. After all, on May 20, Trump posted a video on his Truth Social media account depicting his 2025-29 administration as a “Unified Reich.” (Hitler’s Third Reich occurred from 1933 to 1945.)

Download the Project 2025 document (it's linked from this essay) so you can check out the disconcerting manuscript that tells Trump what specifically to do from Jan. 20 to July 18, 2025, to convert America into an authoritarian regime.

The 30 chapters of Project 2025 are a daunting read. Project 2025 proposes, among a host of things, eliminating the Department of Education, eliminating the Department of Commerce, deploying the US military whenever protests erupt, dismantling the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, removing sexual and gender protected discrimination and terminating diversity, equity, inclusion and affirmative action.

Additional mandates include: siphoning off billions of dollars of public school funding, funding private school choice vouchers, phasing out public education’s Title I program, gutting the nation’s free school meals program, eliminating the Head Start program, banning books and suppressing any curriculum that discusses the evils of slavery.

Project 2025 also calls for banning abortion (which makes women second-class citizens), restricting access to contraception, forcing would-be immigrants to be detained in concentration camps, eliminating Title VII and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, recruiting 54,000 loyal MAGA Republicans to replace existing federal civil servants, and ending America’s bedrock principle that separates church from state.

A news story in Politico described Project 2025 as an authoritarian Christian nationalist movement and a path for the US to become an autocracy. Several legal experts have indicated implementing the 180-day manual would undermine the rule of law and the separation of powers.

As noted earlier, Project 2025 is worthy of your independent investigation. So that you’ll be in-the-know as to what authoritarianism looks like, seriously consider reading one research-based book per month for the next five months as pre-election homework. Here’s my suggested reading assignment:

JUNE: "On Tyranny: 20 lessons from the 20th century," Timothy Snyder, 2017.

JULY: "Twilight of Democracy: The seductive lure of authoritarianism," Anne Applebaum, 2020. Chapters IV, V and VI get to the bottom line.

AUGUST: "Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America," Heather Cox Richardson, 2023.

SEPTEMBER: "Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America," Barbara McQuade, 2024. The 1,717 reference citations proves this is well researched and an honest read.

OCTOBER: "1984," George Orwell, 1949. Orwell’s novel shows Americans what life would be like under totalitarian and oppressive rule.

Reading even just one of these books will enable you to discern political candidate and party-based disinformation, misinformation and propaganda from truth, ready to vote on Nov. 5 and keep America a democracy.

[jwood718]

Liberals are Cool posted this

That opening line should be phrased differently. The Heritage Foundation is not a propaganda outlet for the GOP; rather, they are a "think tank" that (along with many others and the American Legislative Exchange Council and the like) is behind Republican propaganda. The GOP leadership can hardly make a move without getting input and impetus from the Heritage Foundation and its ilk.

[lakesbian]

fervently gripping the sink in my mind to not have any kind of visibly absurd reaction to hearing lengthy discussion about the american legislative exchange council

[multi-level-shipper]

Political, but important (2025 Mandate for Leadership):

The GOP/Republican Party released their "playbook": The 2025 Mandate for Leadership. (Scroll to "Read the Mandate", that's the full text PDF.)

Behind this are some of the most powerful conservative organizations, which include (but are not limited to): the Family Research Council, Heritage Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom, and American Legislative Exchange Council.

The document is unfortunately 887 pages, but I do encourage everyone to look under the Healthcare-related sections to start.

Here's an excerpt I found by jumping around (pg 477):

This is just one example of how LGBTQ+ people are being targeted in the Mandate. To briefly address this section; first of all, queer partners are statistically more likely to take in children with complex mental/physical backgrounds and special needs children (meaning straight couples just won't take them in, period, so the responsibility falls to gay couples) and SECOND of all, this actively sidelines single parents as well, on top of any other arrangement of persons that isn't "nuclear". The foster care system/"parentless kids queue" isn't bloated because your precious "faith-based agencies" are being attacked and stalled, it's bloated because the "married mother and father" pairs you so childishly tout as saviors won't adopt children who need homes, therefore these kids go another day being tossed around in a parentless sea.

I am SO sick and tired of gay people being othered by pretentious fucks in suits that sign off on things they think we won't read. You're welcome for adopting children that are desperate and need homes, by the way.

There's a lot you can hide in 887 pages, so please reblog this around. The more eyes we have on it, the better.

And of course, I'll personally be poking through this horseshit when I have the time.

TL;DR Most powerful conservative organizations have made their 2025 "playbook." Please look under the Healthcare sections, as these affect trans youth, the queer community, and more.

[sageglobalresponse]

The Rise Of Casinos: From the Streets of Venice to Online Giants

Casinos are an aspect of human culture by now. They have become a popular form of entertainment for many people, offering a variety of games and experiences. Many lives were made and lost at a casino table. As the industry continues to evolve with advancements in technology and changing consumer preferences, ever-growing in the online world. Nowadays, you can even find a great provider who offers sportsbooks, betting exchanges, and casinos in a single account. But where did it all start?

The History

The precise origin of gambling is unknown, but it has been present in various societies throughout history, including Ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, the Romans, Napoleon’s France, and Elizabethan England. The first known European gambling house was the Ridotto in Venice, established in 1638 by the Great Council of Venice. The establishment was closed in 1774 due to perceived impoverishment.

In American history, early gambling establishments were known as saloons, influenced by major cities like New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago, and San Francisco. Gambling was outlawed in the early 20th century, but in 1931, Nevada legalized gambling, leading to the establishment of the first legalized casinos. In 1976, New Jersey allowed gambling in Atlantic City, becoming the US’s second-largest gambling city.

The Design

Design is an important part of a casino. It plays a crucial role in creating an atmosphere that is inviting and exciting for guests. A well-designed casino can enhance the overall experience and keep customers coming back for more. But there is a somber side to it as well.

Gambling tendencies are influenced by factors such as sound, odor, and lighting. Anthropologist Natasha Dow Schüll highlights Silicon Gaming’s decision to create slot machines with a universally pleasant tone. While Alan Hirsch, founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, discovered a pleasant odor released by Las Vegas slot machines that generated 50% more daily revenue to the casinos, suggesting it acted as something similar to an aphrodisiac, leading to a more aggressive form of gambling.

A History of Crime

Casinos have been linked to organized crime, with early casinos in Las Vegas and Macau dominated by the American Mafia and Triad syndicates. In fact, studies have showed that crime incidence at a local level often doubles or triples within three years of a casino’s opening.

A 2004 US Department of Justice report found that the percentage of problem gamblers among arrested individuals was three to five times higher than in the general population. Economic studies showing a positive relationship between casinos and crime often fail to consider the visiting population, overstating the crime rate. This methodology is used due to the lack of reliable data on tourist count.

The Rise of Online Casinos

The online gambling industry began with the launch of “The Gaming Club” in 1994, powered by Microgaming, and the first online poker room, “Planet Poker,” in 1996. The early years were marked by controversy due to unregulated practices, leading to issues like lack of fair play and money laundering. In the late 1990s, Antigua and Barbuda passed the first online gambling legislation, allowing for casino licensing and paving the way for industry growth.

The industry continued to grow in the early 2000s, with more countries passing legislation to regulate and legalize it. However, the US faced setbacks with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006, making it illegal for banks to process transactions for online gambling sites. By the 2010s, the industry had become a multibillion-dollar industry.

Nowadays, online casinos are a staple of every bettors life. The convenience and accessibility of online gambling have made it a popular form of entertainment for people around the world. And if you are looking for a nice new casino option for your portfolio, we recommend checking out Game2Bet. There you will find great online casino options, along with traditional sportsbook offers. So, go ahead and open a Game2bet account, good luck and good betting.