#federal election commission

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

As of December 2023, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has received 59 allegations that Donald Trump or his committees violated the Federal Election Campaign Act. In 29 of those cases, nonpartisan staff in the FEC’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) recommended the FEC investigate Trump. Yet not once has a Republican FEC commissioner voted to approve any such investigation or enforcement of the law against Trump.

Democratic Vice Chair Ellen Weintraub pointed this out in her December 5, 2023 statement of reasons after the FEC once again failed to garner the votes to enforce the law against Trump after he allegedly violated the law by illegally soliciting or directing money to a pro-Trump super PAC that spent millions on ads opposing Joe Biden in 2020.

Because at least four of the six FEC Commissioners need to approve any FEC investigation, and because only three of those seats can be filled by Democrats, Republicans hold a veto over the agency’s enforcement and have repeatedly used it to shoot down any recommended enforcement of campaign finance law against Trump—and thus successfully shielded him from accountability over and over. Instead of fostering bipartisanship, the split FEC has often become gridlocked and, in cases involving Trump, its ability to pursue action is constrained by the members of one party.

The FEC’s enabling statute, the Federal Election Campaign Act, specifically subjects the Commission’s non-enforcement to review to prevent it from blocking meritorious enforcement. In June 2018, however, two Republican-appointed judges of the D.C. Circuit—including now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh—largely gutted that rule, giving commissioners the authority to block enforcement of the law without judicial review if the commissioners claimed that they did so as an exercise of prosecutorial discretion or under Heckler v. Chaney.

So, in 21 of the 29 cases where the FEC received recommendations to enforce the law against Trump, Republican commissioners justified non-enforcement by invoking prudential or discretionary factors in attempts to circumvent review.

When dismissing the recommendations to investigate Trump—and to kill further inquiries into his actions—the Republican commissioners have at times claimed that the FEC should not take any action because “proceeding further would not be an appropriate use of Commission resources” or that the resources would be “best spent elsewhere.” Trump has even falsely declared that the FEC “dropped” one of its investigations into him “because they found no evidence of problems.” As Commissioner Weintraub wrote in a statement of reasons in November 2023, “the data is clear: At the FEC, Mr. Trump is in a category by himself.”

Unless courts restore their check on partisan vetoes on enforcement, the commissioners will continue to fail to enforce federal campaign finance law against the powerful figures they are trying to protect.

#us politics #news #citizens for responsibility and ethics in Washington #2024 #Federal Election Commission #Federal Election Campaign Act #donald trump #conservatives #republicans #gop #Office of General Counsel #campaign finance violations #campaign finance laws #Ellen Weintraub #super pacs #political action committee #Justice Brett Kavanaugh #Heckler v. Chaney

[kp777]

By Olivia Rosane

Common Dreams

Dec. 26, 2023

"If people don't ultimately trust information related to an election, democracy just stops working," said a senior fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy.

As 2024 approaches and with it the next U.S. presidential election, experts and advocates are warning about the impact that the spread of artificial intelligence technology will have on the amount and sophistication of misinformation directed at voters.

While falsehoods and conspiracy theories have circulated ahead of previous elections, 2024 marks the first time that it will be easy for anyone to access AI technology that could create a believable deepfake video, photo, or audio clip in seconds, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

"I expect a tsunami of misinformation," Oren Etzioni, n AI expert and University of Washington professor emeritus, told the AP. "I can't prove that. I hope to be proven wrong. But the ingredients are there, and I am completely terrified."

"If a misinformation or disinformation campaign is effective enough that a large enough percentage of the American population does not believe that the results reflect what actually happened, then Jan. 6 will probably look like a warm-up act."

Subject matter experts told the AP that three factors made the 2024 election an especially perilous time for the rise of misinformation. The first is the availability of the technology itself. Deepfakes have already been used in elections. The Republican primary campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis circulated images of former president Donald Trump hugging former White House Coronavirus Task Force chief Anthony Fauci as part of an ad in June, for example.

"You could see a political candidate like President [Joe] Biden being rushed to a hospital," Etzioni told the AP. "You could see a candidate saying things that he or she never actually said."

The second factor is that social media companies have reduced the number of policies designed to control the spread of false posts and the amount of employees devoted to monitoring them. When billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October of 2022, he fired nearly half of the platform's workforce, including employees who worked to control misinformation.

Yet while Musk has faced significant criticism and scrutiny for his leadership, co-founder of Accountable Tech Jesse Lehrich told the AP that other platforms appear to have used his actions as an excuse to be less vigilant themselves. A report published by Free Press in December found that Twitter—now X—Meta, and YouTube rolled back 17 policies between November 2022 and November 2023 that targeted hate speech and disinformation. For example, X and YouTube retired policies around the spread of misinformation concerning the 2020 presidential election and the lie that Trump in fact won, and X and Meta relaxed policies aimed at stopping Covid 19-related falsehoods.

"We found that in 2023, the largest social media companies have deprioritized content moderation and other user trust and safety protections, including rolling back platform policies that had reduced the presence of hate, harassment, and lies on their networks," Free Press said, calling the rollbacks "a dangerous backslide."

Finally, Trump, who has been a big proponent of the lie that he won the 2020 presidential election against Biden, is running again in 2024. Since 57% of Republicans now believe his claim that Biden did not win the last election, experts are worried about what could happen if large numbers of people accept similar lies in 2024.

"If people don't ultimately trust information related to an election, democracy just stops working," Bret Schafer, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Alliance for Securing Democracy, told the AP. "If a misinformation or disinformation campaign is effective enough that a large enough percentage of the American population does not believe that the results reflect what actually happened, then Jan. 6 will probably look like a warm-up act."

The warnings build on the alarm sounded by watchdog groups like Public Citizen, which has been advocating for a ban on the use of deepfakes in elections. The group has petitioned the Federal Election Commission to establish a new rule governing AI-generated content, and has called on the body to acknowledge that the use of deepfakes is already illegal under a rule banning "fraudulent misrepresentation."

"Specifically, by falsely putting words into another candidate's mouth, or showing the candidate taking action they did not, the deceptive deepfaker fraudulently speaks or act[s] 'for' that candidate in a way deliberately intended to damage him or her. This is precisely what the statute aims to proscribe," Public Citizen said.

The group has also asked the Republican and Democratic parties and their candidates to promise not to use deepfakes to mislead voters in 2024.

In November, Public Citizen announced a new tool tracking state-level legislation to control deepfakes. To date, laws have been enacted in California, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington.

"Without new legislation and regulation, deepfakes are likely to further confuse voters and undermine confidence in elections," Ilana Beller, democracy campaign field manager for Public Citizen, said when the tracker was announced. "Deepfake video could be released days or hours before an election with no time to debunk it—misleading voters and altering the outcome of the election."

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

#artificial intelligence #ai #deep fakes #2024 elections #public citizen #federal election commission #fec #democracy #social media

[meandmybigmouth]

TRUMP WHORING FOR DOLLARS!

#donald trump #fundraising #federal election commission

[midnightfunk]

#george santos #george devolder #anthony devolder #fraud and false statements #department of justice #federal election commission #doj #fec

[worldofwardcraft]

Why is it so useless?

April 15, 2024

The Federal Election Campaign Act was signed into law in 1971 by President Nixon with the purpose of creating limits for campaign spending on communication media, adding additional penalties to the criminal code for election law violations, and imposing disclosure requirements for federal political campaigns. In 1974, the act was amended and established the Federal Election Commission to enforce these goals. It was a good idea while it lasted.

Because over the years, right-wing organizations and individuals have launched lawsuit after lawsuit aimed at eliminating any kind of election regulation whatsoever. And a conservative Supreme Court has been only too happy to help. In fact, almost immediately it ruled that limits on campaign contributions were unconstitutional (Buckley v. Valeo, 1976).

With the passage of the follow-up Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in 2002, large chunks of this law too were struck down. The Court declared issue ads cannot be banned (FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, 2007), restrictions on wealthy candidates violate their First Amendment rights (Davis v. FEC, 2008) and, worst of all, corporations can spend unlimited amounts on campaigns (Citizens United v. FEC, 2010).

The arrangement of the FEC itself is also problematic. The commission consists of six members, three from each major party. Which almost guarantees gridlock since at least four of the six need to approve investigating any campaign violation. Still, according to the FEC's enabling statute, any non-enforcement is subject to judicial review. So, naturally, in June 2018, two Republican-appointed judges on the DC Circuit — including now-SCOTUS Justice Brett Kavanaugh — gutted that rule. No wonder that, of the 200 matters currently before the commission, only seven are under active investigation.

Of course, whenever the subject is election cheating, Donald Trump's name is always prominent. Most recently, he's been charged with illegally soliciting and directing "soft" (unregulated and undisclosed) money to an outside super PAC called America First Action, an outfit that spent almost $134 million on ads opposing Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Here's FEC Vice Chair Ellen Weintraub last December:

And for those keeping count, the tally is now 59 times the Commission has been presented with allegations that Mr. Trump or his committees violated the FECA, 29 times the Commission’s nonpartisan professional staff recommended that we take some steps to enforce the law, and (checks notes) still zero times a Republican commissioner has voted to approve any recommendation to enforce the law against Mr. Trump.

So if you're counting on the Federal Election Commission to rein in Trump's ongoing election crimes, don't bother. It's simply no use.

#federal election commission #trump campaign #election fraud

[sleepyleftistdemon]

The Department of Justice has told the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in the DOJ’s clearest signal yet that it’s conducting its own criminal investigation into Santos’ campaign finances, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The Justice Department also asked the FEC to provide any relevant documents for an investigation, sources told the Post.

Santos has issued a plethora of lies about his heritage, family, education and work experience. He has ignored calls for his resignation and has claimed he merely “embellished” his résumé.

#department of justice #federal election commission #george santos

[malenipshadows]

[Excerpted from The Washington Post.com.] ... two of his Democratic colleagues in the New York congressional delegation, Reps. Ritchie Torres and Daniel Goldman.    In a letter to the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday [01-10-2023], Torres and Goldman detail discrepancies in Santos’s biography — saying he misled voters about “his ethnicity, his religion, his education, and his employment and professional history, among other things” — and in his financial disclosure forms. ...    The letter is the latest call for an investigation of Santos by various entities.    A complaint filed Monday [01-09-2023] by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center to the Federal Election Commission accused Santos of wide-ranging campaign finance violations. The alleged wrongdoing includes masking the true source of his campaign’s funding, misrepresenting his campaign’s spending and using campaign resources to cover personal expenses.    The congressman’s deceptions have sparked an investigation by the district attorney’s office in Nassau County, N.Y. Authorities in Brazil are also seeking to revive a fraud case against Santos dating to 2008.     As investigations into Santos multiply, questions about how his campaign raised and spent money are coming into sharp focus. [Remainder omitted.]

#unethical politicians #George Santos an NY congressman #Santos ethics complaint #Santos admits admitted to fabrications #by fabrications we mean outright lies #Santos lied about ethnicity #Santos lied about his religion #Santos lied about his family history #Santos cagey about his income #Santos cagey about campaign funding sources #Santos lied about educational history #Santos lied about employment history #Federal Election Commission #campaign legal center #GOP has no shame #shameless Republicans #have you no shame sir

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Philosopher and presidential Green Party candidate Cornel West currently owes more than half a million dollars between unpaid taxes and unpaid child support, according to tax records.

Records show West owes nearly $466,000 in federal income taxes from 2013 until 2017. This came after he accrued (and later repaid) a debt of nearly $725,000 from 1998-2005, and more than $34,000 in 2008, according to tax records in Mercer County, New Jersey – where he owns a home.

Additionally, West has an outstanding $49,500 child support judgement from 2003, records show.

The debts were first reported by The Daily Beast.

The tax debts have not been paid off as of 30 days ago – the last available data, according to Mercer County records. ABC News reached out to West and his campaign to see if West had plans to pay off the debt or set up a payment plan; they have not returned those requests for comment.

The outstanding child support payment is owed to Aytul Gurtas, his former partner and mother of one of his children. ABC News was unable to reach Gurtas for comment.

While it's not clear how long West didn't pay child support, New Jersey family lawyer Kathleen Stockton said that the amount of money appears substantial. The average U.S. child support obligation is about $5,800 per year, according to census data, making West's nearly $50,000 more than eight times that.

Stockton noted that it is possible West paid Gurtas and didn't register it with the court – though West has given no indication of that.

When the question of his debts was brought up on The Breakfast Club radio morning show last week, West told the radio show host "Charlamagne the God" that they were being used as a "distraction" from his presidential campaign, which has focused on ending poverty, mass incarceration and environmental degradation.

"Any time you shine a flashlight under somebody's clothes, you're gonna find all kind of mess, because that's what it is to be human," West said.

Earlier on the show, West mentioned he was "broke as the Ten Commandments financially, personally, collectively."

West's debts are personal, not related to the campaign, so they may not directly bear on the finances of his candidacy. Still, personal finance issues have been known to interfere with campaigns: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's sometimes imprudent management of his own finances were scrutinized during his 2016 campaign for president, and then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's personal debt seemed to undermine his message of fiscal hawkishness.

According to West's financial disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission in August 2023, he currently makes at least $200,000 annually. That includes his professorship at the Union Theological Seminary, where his annual income falls upward of $100,000; his speaking engagements, where he makes at least another $100,000; and his retirement fund, which earns him somewhere between $5,000 and $15,000 annually. His spouse, a professor, makes at least $50,000 per year.

Kedric Payne, an ethics lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center, said in an email to ABC News that the U.S. Office of Government Ethics advises candidates to disclose debts the size of West's.

"The federal disclosure law requires candidates for president to report liabilities owed over $10,000. Child support is excluded, but OGE advises that overdue taxes are reportable. If West in fact owes taxes, voters have a right to know why this isn't disclosed," Payne wrote.

West's associate, author Christopher Phillips described West as "authentic" and someone who hasn't hesitated to spend his own money to help others.

Phillips, who said he has known West for eight years, said that when he first met West over the phone, the scholar volunteered to lecture and spend time with his students at the University of Pennsylvania, where Phillips was a writing fellow.

"He said he could come down on his own nickel, and he spent the entire day breaking philosophical bread with my students … just because he likes what I do," Phillips said.

The campaign did not respond to ABC News' multiple requests for comment.

#us politics #news #abc news #green party #Cornel West #third party #2023 #2024 elections #unpaid taxes #unpaid child support #Aytul Gurtas #Kathleen Stockton #The Breakfast Club #Charlamagne the God #Federal Election Commission #Kedric Payne #Campaign Legal Center #U.S. Office of Government Ethics #financial disclosure #Christopher Phillips

[tomorrowusa]

Probably the best article about Saturday’s Australian election I have seen so far.

This is yet another victory for the anti-authoritarian center-left.

For years we’ve been hearing trash talk from the Steve Bannons of the world who claim that nationalistic authoritarians were the wave of the future. Such talk seems increasingly silly.  

While every election brings changes, Australia’s represents a high speed U-turn. 

Victory belongs to Anthony Albanese, only the fourth Labor leader since World War Two to oust a Liberal prime minister, but the 2022 Australian election was primarily a rejection of Scott Morrison and the brand of politics he has come to personify.

A politics that denied, and sometimes even mocked, the seriousness of the climate crisis - as Treasurer, Morrison laughingly brandished a lump of coal in parliament.

A politics that many female voters especially found bloke-ish and boorish.

A politics that many Australians came to associate with truth-twisting and lying - such as when Morrison claimed that Emmanuel Macron had "sledged" the Australian people over the cancellation of a multi-billion dollar submarine contract, when it was obvious that the French president had mounted a highly personalised attack on a man he labelled a liar.

At a time when conservative politics down under has displayed some small-t Trumpian traits, historians may conclude that Australian voters evicted from office the country's first post-truth prime minister.

Australia is the world’s biggest coal exporter. Despite that, voters made climate change a top issue. 

For the first time in more than a decade, the electric car nudged out the coal train.

It’s a peculiar result but one with a unified message. Labor won with just 32.8% of the vote. But when you add the vote totals for the Greens and the pro-environment “teal independents”, that tips it over 50%.

And change at the top came at lightning speed. Anthony Albanese was sworn in as prime minister less than 48 hours after the last polls closed. This was even before Labor had fully secured a majority. Several non-Labor MPs had agreed to give interim support to Albanese so he could represent Australia at the Quad summit. Many people were glad to see the last of Scott Morrison and wished to see him leave ASAP.

Votes are still being counted. Labor has 74 of the 76 seats needed to govern by itself. 5 seats have yet to be called – with current Labor leads in 2 of them. But because of ranked-choice voting, it’s not as simple as it looks on the surface.

#australia #scott morrison #post-truth #scomo #the decline and fall of scomo #national election #climate change #australia labor party #alp #anthony albanese #the greens #teal independents #federal integrity commission #uluru statement from the heart

[studylaws]

Salient Features of Indian Constitution: A Comprehensive Guide with 10 Salient Features of Indian Constitution

IntroductionSalient Features of Indian Constitution1. Lengthiest Written Constitution in the World (Article 368)2. Federal System with Unitary Bias (Article 1-4)3. Parliamentary System of Government (Article 74-75)4. Fundamental Rights (Article 12-35)5. Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 36-51)6. Independent Judiciary (Article 124-147)7. Universal Adult Suffrage (Article 326)8.…

View On WordPress

#Constitution of India #cultural and educational rights #directive principles #Election Commission #federal system #Fundamental Rights #independent judiciary #Indian Constitution #Indian Constitution features #Indian democracy #Indian governance #Indian legal system. #parliamentary system #Salient Features of Indian Constitution #Salient Features of the Indian Constitution #secularism #universal adult suffrage

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #10

March 15-22 2024

The EPA announced new emission standards with the goal of having more than half of new cars and light trucks sold in the US be low/zero emission by 2032. One of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history, it'll eliminate 7 billion tons of CO2 emissions over the next 30 years. It's part of President Biden's goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 on the road to eliminating them totally by 2050.

President Biden canceled nearly 6 Billion dollars in student loan debt. 78,000 borrowers who work in public sector jobs, teachers, nurses, social workers, firefighters etc will have their debt totally forgiven. An additional 380,000 public service workers will be informed that they qualify to have their loans forgiven over the next 2 years. The Biden Administration has now forgiven $143.6 Billion in student loan debt for 4 million Americans since the Supreme Court struck down the original student loan forgiveness plan last year.

Under Pressure from the administration and Democrats in Congress Drugmaker AstraZeneca caps the price of its inhalers at $35. AstraZeneca joins rival Boehringer Ingelheim in capping the price of inhalers at $35, the price the Biden Admin capped the price of insulin for seniors. The move comes as the Federal Trade Commission challenges AstraZeneca’s patents, and Senator Bernie Sanders in his role as Democratic chair of the Senate Health Committee investigates drug pricing.

The Department of Justice sued Apple for being an illegal monopoly in smartphones. The DoJ is joined by 16 state attorneys general. The DoJ accuses Apple of illegally stifling competition with how its apps work and seeking to undermining technologies that compete with its own apps.

The EPA passed a rule banning the final type of asbestos still used in the United States. The banning of chrysotile asbestos (known as white asbestos) marks the first time since 1989 the EPA taken action on asbestos, when it passed a partial ban. 40,000 deaths a year in the US are linked to asbestos

President Biden announced $8.5 billion to help build advanced computer chips in America. Currently America only manufactures 10% of the world's chips and none of the most advanced next generation of chips. The deal with Intel will open 4 factories across 4 states (Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon) and create 30,000 new jobs. The Administration hopes that by 2030 America will make 20% of the world's leading-edge chips.

President Biden signed an Executive Order prioritizing research into women's health. The order will direct $200 million into women's health across the government including comprehensive studies of menopause health by the Department of Defense and new outreach by the Indian Health Service to better meet the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native Women. This comes on top of $100 million secured by First Lady Jill Biden from ARPA-H.

Democratic Senators Bob Casey, Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown, and Jacky Rosen (all up for re-election) along with Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Sheldon Whitehouse, introduced the "Shrinkflation Prevention Act" The Bill seeks to stop the practice of companies charging the same amount for products that have been subtly shrunk so consumers pay more for less.

The Department of Transportation will invest $45 million in projects that improve Bicyclist and Pedestrian Connectivity and Safety

The EPA will spend $77 Million to put 180 electric school buses onto the streets of New York City This is part of New York's goal to transition its whole school bus fleet to electric by 2035.

The Senate confirmed President Biden's nomination of Nicole Berner to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Berner has served as the general counsel for America's largest union, SEIU, since 2017 and worked in their legal department since 2006. On behalf of SEIU she's worked on cases supporting the Affordable Care Act, DACA, and against the Defense of Marriage act and was part of the Fight for 15. Before working at SEIU she was a staff attorney at Planned Parenthood. Berner's name was listed by the liberal group Demand Justice as someone they'd like to see on the Supreme Court. Berner becomes one of just 5 LGBT federal appeals court judges, 3 appointed by Biden. The Senate also confirmed Edward Kiel and Eumi Lee to be district judges in New Jersey and Northern California respectively, bring the number of federal judges appointed by Biden to 188.

#Thanks Biden #Joe Biden #Democrats #politics #US politics #climate change #climate crisis #student loans #debt forgiveness #shrinkflation #women's health #drug prices

[robertreich]

The Silent Revolution in American Economics

I don't think you're expecting what I'm about to say, because I have never seen anything like this in fifty years in politics.

For decades I've been sounding an alarm about how our economy has become increasingly rigged for the rich. I've watched it get worse under both Republicans and Democrats, but what President Biden has done in his first term gives me hope I haven't felt in years. It’s a complete sea change.

Here are three key areas where Biden is fundamentally reshaping our economy to make it better for working people.

#1 Trade and industrial policy

Biden is breaking with decades of reliance on free-trade deals and free-market philosophies. He’s instead focusing on domestic policies designed to revive American manufacturing and fortify our own supply chains.

Take three of his signature pieces of legislation so far — the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, and his infrastructure package. This flood of government investment has brought about a new wave in American manufacturing.

Unlike Trump, who just levied tariffs on Chinese imports and used it as a campaign slogan, Biden is actually investing in America’s manufacturing capacity so we don’t have to rely on China in the first place.

He’s turning the tide against deals made by previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, that helped Wall Street but ended up costing American jobs and lowering American wages.

#2 Monopoly power

Biden is the first president in living memory to take on big monopolies.

Giant firms have come to dominate almost every industry. Four beef packers now control over 80 percent of the market, domestic air travel is dominated by four airlines, and most Americans have no real choice of internet providers.

In a monopolized economy, corporate profits rise, consumers pay higher prices, and workers’ wages shrink.

But under the Biden, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department have become the most aggressive monopoly fighters in more than a half century. They’re going after Amazon and Google, Ticketmaster and Live Nation, JetBlue and Spirit, and a wide range of other giant corporations.  

#3 Labor

Biden is also the most pro-union president I’ve ever seen.

A big reason for the surge in workers organizing and striking for higher wages is the pro-labor course Biden is charting.

The Reagan years blew in a typhoon of union busting across America. Corporations routinely sunk unions and fired workers who attempted to form them. They offshored production or moved to so-called “right-to-work” states that enacted laws making it hard to form unions.

Even though Democratic presidents promised labor law reforms that would strengthen unions, they didn’t follow through. But under Joe Biden, organized labor has received a vital lifeboat. Unionizing has been protected and encouraged. Biden is even the first sitting president to walk a picket line.

Biden’s National Labor Relations Board is stemming the tide of unfair labor practices, requiring companies to bargain with their employees, speeding the period between union petitions and elections, and making it harder to fire workers for organizing.

Americans have every reason to be outraged at how decades of policies that prioritized corporations over people have thrown our economy off-keel.

But these three waves of change — a worker-centered trade and industrial policy, strong anti-monopoly enforcement, and moves to strengthen labor unions — are navigating towards a more equitable economy.

It’s a sea change that’s long overdue.

#youtube #Joe Biden #politics #economics #video #videos

[metamatar]

its only been a decade of modi. they have done almost everything on that list — even the mere ideological success of elevating the butcher of godhra would've been enough, but no. the temple is complete, the court has ruled nobody burned the mosque down and even if they did, it was a good thing, the rioters and rapists have been garlanded, kashmir has been conquered de jure, citizenship has been made contigent, reservations and federalism have been weakened, vigilante cow activism has new life, dalit politics constantly threatened with assimilation and new models of muslim dispossession are imported from israel. all this with a capture of courts, election commissions, the bureaucratic apparatus, academia and media. the soil of this country had to have been rotten.

#doomposting #hindutva #ram mandir

[nevertheless-moving]

james t kirk walking through the enterprise for his FIRST OFFICIAL ENTERPRISE ASSIGNMENT (his first real (temporary) commission on the ENTERPRISE! baby boy's dream job! second time on this fancy deck EVER!) losing his absolute mind like is this. a thing. that ships do. and no one told me? at ANY point in The Academy??? Or is it just the flagship? I mean they ARE the best, so maybe Pike's on to something? Was that energy pulse a signal? Damn the choreography is impressive — yeah, I suppose I can see this being helpful for emergency drills, or at least morale... and it's just like being on an old Earth ship, which you have to admire. I wonder if they do historic shanties too! Wow! Commander Una really can do anything, is her vocal range also enhanced? Asking is almost definitely a microaggression, come on Jim, be better. ok, it's gotta be just the Enterprise, Farragut never... except, our command officers are somewhat considered killjoys? Maybe its like how some ship cultures tend more pants over skants? no, someone would have told me before now if this was a normal crew activity. But if it's not standard, how is everyone in such perfect harmony that's GOT to take serious practice. Unless its like an old school hazing, trial by fire deal... then I can't be the only one out of the loop on this. Oh shit, what if it's — oh good God I should have taken a music elective — Gary told me straight to my face that my course load was too narrow on command, my career councilor even said that I could benefit from more arts in my schedule! FUCK! They must have taught this in one of those easy credit intro to federation music seminars and everyone who looks at my file knows I'm an uncultured idiot who — oh I am also singing. huh. right yes of course the lyrics are acknowledging the oddity of... guess there's some pathogen or anomaly — thank the lord i haven't been missing something major for — wait no, being compelled to sing in unison is also a problem—

#star trek #snw #james t kirk #subspace rhapsody #IT IS CANON THAT JAMES KIRK'S FIRST ASSIGNMENT ON THE ENTERPRISE WAS INTERSPERSED BY SONG AND DANCE NUMBERS AT REGULAR INTERVALS #this is CANON folks #I REPEAT NOT ABOUT A FANFICTION #please excuse me i will be on the floor forever #i am dead serious if you have not watched this series i am crying weeping this is official star trek lore now #how did i not know earlier #why is my cringe middle school brain screensaver star trek fanfic daydream on the tv screen #who made this show #what is happening

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Since Donald Trump’s term as President ended and his power to pardon vanished with it in January 2021, he has managed to keep a wide range of former aides, confidantes and associates close to him by dispensing the millions of dollars he’s raised for his political action committee as legal fees for allies who’ve been caught up in investigations into his conduct.

According to a Federal Election Commission disclosure report filed late last month, his Save America political committee spent roughly $20m on legal fees during the first half of this year. And a separate review of FEC filings dating back to when Mr. Trump first reentered life as a private citizen shows the legal costs to be twice that amount dating back to the end of the ex-president’s term.

The commission’s data reveals that Save America’s legal costs since January 2021 were $38m, the largest set of expenditures for the group. According to advisers to the ex-president, that amount represents legal fees not just for Mr. Trump, but for dozens of former aides and associates who have become involved in the criminal investigations that have led to him facing four sets of charges in four separate courts.

That group of aides includes Mr. Trump’s two co-defendants in the criminal case pending against him in the Southern District of Florida, his longtime valet Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, a maintenance supervisor at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

In a superseding indictment filed against the ex-president, Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira last month, prosecutors alleged that Mr. Trump personally telephoned Mr. De Oliveira and assured him that he would pay for his legal representation.

The indictment also alleges that prior to that call, Mr. Nauta conferred with another employee of the ex-president’s who vouched for Mr. De Oliveira’s loyalty.

In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the ex-president’s political operation pays legal fees for his associates “to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed.”

But Mr. Trump’s legal largesse does not appear to extend to a small number of aides who’ve incurred the ex-president’s wrath even though their legal exposure has come as a result of their work for him.

One of the 18 co-defendants who was indicted along with the former president in a sprawling racketeering case brought by the Fulton County, Georgia district attorney’s office is Jenna Ellis, an attorney and commentator who first came to public attention as part of the self-described “elite strike force” that pushed unfounded claims of election fraud after Mr. Trump lost the 2020 presidential race to Joe Biden.

Ms. Ellis, who broke with Mr. Trump and has endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in next year’s election, appears to be getting no help from the ex-president’s political operation.

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) published on Tuesday, she included a link to a crowdfunding campaign on GiveSendGo, the right-wing competitor to GoFundMe that gained prominence in pro-Trump circles after the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Her attorney, Mike Melito, said on the campaign’s page: “We will fight for Jenna. If you would like to help support our efforts please consider donating by clicking the link below. America and the profession of law are worth the fight.”

Another of her former “elite strike force” compatriots turned Georgia co-defendants, ex-New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, also appears to be struggling financially under a crush of legal fees brought on by his work for Mr. Trump — work that has reportedly gone unpaid for nearly three years.

According to CNN, Mr. Giuliani and his longtime counsel, Robert Costello, journeyed to Mar-a-Lago earlier this year to plead for Mr. Trump to turn on the financial spigot and alleviate some of the ex-mayor’s legal bills, which reportedly have reached the seven-figure mark.

The former prosecutor, who now faces criminal charges under the same type of Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law which he used against the Italian-American mob in the 1980s, left only with a promise by Mr. Trump to pay for “a small fee from a data vendor” which hosts the contents of digital devices for discovery in a defamation suit against him by two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss.

Mr. Giuliani, who recently listed his New York City apartment for sale was described in a court filing for that case as “having financial difficulties” that impede his ability to produce discovery.

It’s not known exactly why Mr. Trump has refused to cover his former lawyer and longtime friend’s legal costs, but according to multiple reports, he became disillusioned with Mr. Giuliani’s work after it failed to result in him remaining in the White House despite having lost the 2020 election.

#us politics #news #republicans #donald trump #conservatives #super pacs #save america pac #2023 #the independent #Federal Election Commission #walt nauta #Carlos De Oliveira #Steven Cheung #Jenna Ellis #twitter #tweet #GiveSendGo #rudy giuliani #Robert Costello #Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law #legal fees #right wing grifters

[tomorrowusa]

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has ousted the conservative Liberal-National coalition from power. No mo ScoMo.

Australia uses ranked choice voting. So it could take several days to get final results in some electorates (constituencies). But the ALP is currently 20 seats ahead of the coalition and either 4 or 5 seats from attaining a majority in Australia’s House of Representatives.

The next prime minister will be Anthony Albanese. But it’s not yet certain whether he will be leading a majority or minority government. The results from 13 outlying electorates will determine that.

This win means Mr Albanese will replace Scott Morrison as Prime Minister, making him the 31st person to hold the nation's top job.

The son of a single parent who grew up in public housing, Mr Albanese has reached the pinnacle of his career after 26 years in the parliament.

[ ... ]

The Labor leader will be sworn in with four of his most senior frontbenchers on Monday.

Mr Albanese said he hoped his story would inspire a future generation of Australian leaders.

One group which played a significant role in the ousting of Prime Minister Scott Morrison are the “teal independents”.

The so-called "teal independents" are candidates contesting in typically safe Liberal seats on a platform of greater climate action and implementing a federal integrity commission.

These candidates were backed by a well-funded campaigning machine called Climate 200, which raised about $12 million from more than 11,000 donors.

And while most of these independents are challenging established Liberal politicians, Labor is also taking note of the rise of so many independents.

The teal independents upset a number of prominent members of the governing party. Their most high profile knockout was Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

The teals’ main issues are climate change and women’s issues. Anthony Albanese has already spoken out strongly on both. If Labor is still a few seats short of a majority, it might be able to negotiate a deal with the teal independents to take strong action on those issues in return for support on votes of confidence.

#australia #national election #labor victory #australian labor party #alp #anthony albanese #coalition #liberal party #national party #liberal-national party #scott morrison #scomo #josh frydenberg #climate 200 #teal independents #federal integrity commission #climate change