crooksandliars--2020-11-27--Trump Races To Implement Last-Minute Policies Before Inauguration

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Six days after President Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection , the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified food safety groups that it was proposing a regulatory change to speed up chicken factory processing lines , a change that would allow companies to sell more birds .
An earlier USDA effort had broken down on concerns that it could lead to more worker injuries and make it harder to stop germs like salmonella .
Ordinarily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about two years to go through the cumbersome legal process of making new federal regulations .
But the timing has alarmed food and worker safety advocates , who suspect the Trump administration wants to rush through this rule in its waning days .
Even as Trump and his allies officially refuse to concede the Nov. 3 election , the White House and federal agencies are hurrying to finish dozens of regulatory changes before Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20 .
The rules range from long-simmering administration priorities to last-minute scrambles and affect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clothes washers to life-or-death issues like federal executions and international refugees .
They impact everyone from the most powerful , such as oil drillers , drugmakers and tech startups , to the most vulnerable , such as families on food stamps , transgender people in homeless shelters , migrant workers and endangered species .
ProPublica is tracking those regulations as they move through the rule-making process .
Every administration does some version of last-minute rule-making , known as midnight regulations , especially with a change in parties .
It ’ s too soon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s tally will stack up against predecessors .
But these final weeks are solidifying conservative policy objectives that will make it harder for the Biden administration to advance its own agenda , according to people who track rules developed by federal agencies .
“ The bottom line is the Trump administration is trying to get things published in the Federal Register , leaving the next administration to sort out the mess , ” said Matthew Kent , who tracks regulatory policy for left-leaning advocacy group Public Citizen .
“ There are some real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a magic wand on these.
” In some instances the Trump administration is using shortcuts to get more rules across the finish line , such as taking less time to accept and review public feedback .
It ’ s a risky move .
On the one hand , officials want to finalize rules so that the next administration won ’ t be able to change them without going through the process all over again .
On the other , slapdash rules may contain errors , making them more vulnerable to getting struck down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on pace to finalize 36 major rules in its final three months , similar to the 35 to 40 notched by the previous four presidents , according to Daniel Perez , a policy analyst at the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center .
In 2017 , Republican lawmakers struck down more than a dozen Obama-era rules using a fast-track mechanism called the Congressional Review Act .
That weapon may be less available for Democrats to overturn Trump ’ s midnight regulations if Republicans keep control of the Senate , which will be determined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a few GOP defections could be enough to kill a rule with a simple majority .
“ This White House is not likely to be stopping things and saying on principle elections have consequences , let ’ s respect the voters ’ decision and not rush things through to tie the next guys ’ hands , ” said Susan Dudley , who led the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget at the end of the George W. Bush administration .
“ One concern is the rules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have adequate analysis or public comment , and that ’ s what we ’ re seeing.
” The Trump White House didn ’ t respond to requests for comment on which regulations it ’ s aiming to finish before Biden ’ s inauguration .
The Biden transition team also didn ’ t respond to questions about which of Trump ’ s parting salvos the new president would prioritize undoing .
Many of the last-minute changes would add to the heap of changes throughout the Trump administration to pare back Obama-era rules and loosen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the name of shrinking the government ’ s role in the economy .
“ Our proposal today greatly furthers the Trump administration ’ s regulatory reform efforts , which together have already amounted to the most aggressive effort to reform federal regulations of any administration , ” Brian Harrison , the chief of staff for the Department of Health and Human Services , said on a conference call with reporters the day after the election .
Harrison was unveiling a new proposal to automatically purge regulations that are more than 10 years old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For that proposal to become finalized before Jan. 20 would be an exceptionally fast turnaround .
But Harrison left no doubt about that goal .
“ The reason we ’ re doing this now is because , ” he said , “ we at the department are trying to go as fast as we can in hopes of finalizing the rule before the end of the first term.
” One proposal has raced through the process with little notice but unusual speed — and deadly consequences .
This rule could reintroduce firing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ giving the government more options for administering capital punishment as drugs used in lethal injections become unavailable .
The Justice Department surfaced the proposal in August and accepted public comments for only 30 days , instead of the usual 60 .
The rule cleared White House review on Nov. 6 , meaning it could be finalized any day .
The Justice Department didn ’ t respond to a request for comment .
Once finalized , this rule might never be put into practice .
The Trump administration executed a federal prisoner in Indiana @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executions before Jan. 20 , all with lethal injections .
After that , Biden has signaled he won ’ t allow any federal executions and will push to eliminate capital punishment for federal crimes .
Other less dramatic-sounding rules could prove harder to unravel and have broader consequences .
In particular , the Environmental Protection Agency is on the cusp of finalizing several rules that would make it harder to justify pollution restrictions or lock in soot levels for at least five years .
The agency wants to keep the soot standard unchanged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and despite emerging evidence that links particulate pollution to additional coronavirus deaths .
An EPA spokesman declined to comment on the timing of these rules .
“ EPA continues to advance this administration ’ s commitment to meaningful environmental progress while moving forward with our regulatory reform agenda , ” the spokesman , James Hewitt , said .
While those rules have developed over years , others were launched later and officials are taking shortcuts to finish in time .
Reviews by the White House ’ s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are now wrapping up in as few as five days .
The White House is close to completing severalrules that would extend Trump ’ s record of restricting immigration and make the changes harder for the Biden administration to reverse .
The pending rules would make it more difficult to claim asylum by excluding people with criminal convictions ( even those that have been expunged ) , drastically shortening the application time and giving immigration judges more latitude to pick and choose what evidence to consider .
The departments of Justice and Homeland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for comment .
Some rules read like Trump ’ s stump speeches translated into policy legalese .
The Department of Energy is racing to loosen efficiency standards for showerheads and laundry machines , evoking Trump ’ s recurringbits about bathroomwater pressure .
“ Do you ever get under a shower and no water comes out ?
” Trump said at an October rally in Nevada .
“ And me , I want that hair to be so beautiful.
” Notably , the trade group representing washer manufacturers actually opposes the administration ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because many machines already have short-cycle options .
The proposed rule is supported by small-government advocates such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute .
Water and electric companies warn it could lead to higher consumption and waste .
The Energy Department didn ’ t respond to a request for comment .
The administration is also bucking business groups with proposals to restrict high-skilled immigration ; in October , the departments of Homeland Security and Labor unveiled regulations to raise wage and education requirements for H-1B visas , which are often used in the information-technology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from theSmall Business Administration , saying the higher costs would stifle innovation and growth . )
But while raising the wage scale for skilled immigrants , the administration is pushing a different new rule to lower wages for “ low-skilled ” immigrant farmworkers .
A spokesperson for U.S .
Citizenship and Immigration Services ( part of DHS ) told ProPublica that “ Any delay in responding to an economic emergency and high unemployment in a way that protects American workers and ensures the H-1B program is administered consistent with statutory requirements could cause @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Department of Labor didn ’ t respond to requests for comment .
Other rules are more clearly accommodating powerful business interests .
A rule completed on Nov. 13 would restrict pension managers from considering social and environmental impacts ( known in the industry as ESG ) when choosing investments .
Another Labor Department rule would make it easier for companies like Uber to withhold benefits by classifying workers as independent contractors instead of full employees .
Both proposals had a truncated public comment period of only 30 days .
A spokesman said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how long the period lasts and that the department is working to complete all regulations on its agenda .
Such shortcuts still might not be enough to finish some new rules that are just starting out now .
Still , these tactics have raised alarms about the USDA ’ s proposal to speed up chicken factories , even though a regulatory change like that would ordinarily take two years or more .
The USDA has not provided a timeline , and the proposal is not yet public while the White House reviews it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is following the standard process .
The rules change has the support of the National Chicken Council , an industry trade group , which argues that the timing is not political .
Spokesman Tom Super called the proposal “ the most deliberative and studied proposed rule that has ever been issued .
It spans three decades , four administrations — Republican and Democrat — countless scientific studies and various court cases.
” The USDA has been laying the groundwork for the rule change for years .
Even though safety concerns scuttled the USDA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 140 birds per minute to 175 , in 2018 the agency started granting one-off waivers to individual plants that sought permission to run faster .
The performance of those plants could equip the USDA to argue that the speed limit should go up in all of them .
Although the agency has not yet released its formal justification for the new proposal , officials have referenced a new study in the journal Poultry Science that concluded that inspectors in plants with faster speeds did not detect higher average levels of salmonella contamination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a no-bid contract worth up to $ 500,000 awarded in 2018 to Louis Anthony “ Tony ” Cox Jr. , a statistician who consults for business interests such as the American Petroleum Institute and the American Chemistry Council , according to the Center for Investigative Reporting .
Cox declined to share data he secured exclusively from the USDA or to be interviewed for this article .
In emailed answers to written questions , he defended his methodology but acknowledged there ’ s room for further study .
Other evidence , however , suggests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to eat .
In a September article in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science , USDA researcher Jeremy Marchant-Forde and a co-author found that USDA inspectors threw out record-low amounts of chicken when the agency let more plants speed up since May .
The authors called this “ a major threat to public health ” to the extent it suggests inspectors were failing to find contaminated carcasses ( rather than the birds having suddenly become much cleaner ) .
But the authors cautioned they ’ re not food safety experts and declined to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues are debated , there ’ s already clearevidence that running faster lines poses higher worker risks , both repetitive strain injuries like carpal tunnel and traumatic injuries like cuts and amputations .
But the USDA maintains that it is responsible only for food safety ; worker safety is the job of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration .
That ’ s exactly the kind of interagency dialogue that the White House is supposed to coordinate when planning new regulations — and the kind of process that could be shortchanged in the final @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American Public Health Association ’ s Occupational Health and Safety Section .
An OSHA spokeswoman declined to say whether the agency has weighed in on the USDA ’ s proposal .
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health , part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , has not yet commented on the proposal but plans to , a spokeswoman said .
“ This last-minute push for an ill-advised rule change could be deadly for essential workers in slaughterhouses , ” said Jessica Martinez , co-executive director of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , an advocacy group for safer working conditions .
Since many finalized Trump rules are currently under court challenges , the Biden administration might be able to let some of them wither or die in litigation — especially where judges have blocked or struck down the regulations and the new Justice Department could decide not to appeal .
It will also have to wrestle with other changes the Trump administration is rushing to implement , using tactics other than rule-making .
The Trump administration is also pressing ahead with opening up more federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despite low prices , sluggish demand and complaints from environmental groups that drilling would encroach on wildlife habitats and national parks .
Bids are starting at just $ 2 an acre for more than 445,000 acres of public land with leases for sale to energy companies through the Bureau of Land Management , according to data from EnergyNet.com .
The leases could expand dramatically as the BLM finalizes a plan to allow oil and gas drilling on an additional 6.8 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska , a habitat for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ birds .
Spokespeople for the BLM didn ’ t respond to a request for comment .
Separately , the Interior Department will open up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge .
The agency is spending 30 days asking companies for bids , and then sales need another 30 days to take effect — just enough time to beat the clock before the inauguration .
An Interior Department spokesman said the agency is taking “ a significant step ” to implement Congress ’ direction in the 2017 Republican tax bill to start drilling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue to implement President Trump ’ s agenda to create more American jobs , protect the safety of American workers , support domestic energy production and conserve our environment , ” the spokesman , Conner Swanson , said .
He didn ’ t say whether the leases would be done by Jan. 20 .
Leases that have not yet been issued would be easier for the Biden administration to drop , but even finalized leases could be withdrawn if officials decide they were improperly issued or too environmentally dangerous , according to Erik @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Anchorage .
( Leaseholders might argue they deserve to be compensated . )
In addition , even once leases are issued , companies need permits and authorizations before actually taking action on the ground , Grafe said .
Those steps would take more time and face legal challenges .
Earthjustice and other groups are already suing to block the Arctic drilling program as a whole .
“ We have been protecting this place forever , ” said Bernadette Demientieff , executive director of the Gwich ’ in steering committee representing indigenous hunting communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is far from over , and we will do whatever it takes to defend our sacred homelands .
”

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Six days after President Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified food safety groups that it was proposing a regulatory change to speed up chicken factory processing lines, a change that would allow companies to sell more birds. An earlier USDA effort had broken down on concerns that it could lead to more worker injuries and make it harder to stop germs like salmonella.
Ordinarily, a change like this would take about two years to go through the cumbersome legal process of making new federal regulations. But the timing has alarmed food and worker safety advocates, who suspect the Trump administration wants to rush through this rule in its waning days.
Even as Trump and his allies officially refuse to concede the Nov. 3 election, the White House and federal agencies are hurrying to finish dozens of regulatory changes before Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The rules range from long-simmering administration priorities to last-minute scrambles and affect everything from creature comforts like showerheads and clothes washers to life-or-death issues like federal executions and international refugees. They impact everyone from the most powerful, such as oil drillers, drugmakers and tech startups, to the most vulnerable, such as families on food stamps, transgender people in homeless shelters, migrant workers and endangered species. ProPublica is tracking those regulations as they move through the rule-making process.
Every administration does some version of last-minute rule-making, known as midnight regulations, especially with a change in parties. It’s too soon to say how the Trump administration’s tally will stack up against predecessors. But these final weeks are solidifying conservative policy objectives that will make it harder for the Biden administration to advance its own agenda, according to people who track rules developed by federal agencies.
“The bottom line is the Trump administration is trying to get things published in the Federal Register, leaving the next administration to sort out the mess,” said Matthew Kent, who tracks regulatory policy for left-leaning advocacy group Public Citizen. “There are some real roadblocks to Biden being able to wave a magic wand on these.”
In some instances the Trump administration is using shortcuts to get more rules across the finish line, such as taking less time to accept and review public feedback. It’s a risky move. On the one hand, officials want to finalize rules so that the next administration won’t be able to change them without going through the process all over again. On the other, slapdash rules may contain errors, making them more vulnerable to getting struck down in court.
The Trump administration is on pace to finalize 36 major rules in its final three months, similar to the 35 to 40 notched by the previous four presidents, according to Daniel Perez, a policy analyst at the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center. In 2017, Republican lawmakers struck down more than a dozen Obama-era rules using a fast-track mechanism called the Congressional Review Act. That weapon may be less available for Democrats to overturn Trump’s midnight regulations if Republicans keep control of the Senate, which will be determined by two Georgia runoffs. Still, a few GOP defections could be enough to kill a rule with a simple majority.
“This White House is not likely to be stopping things and saying on principle elections have consequences, let’s respect the voters’ decision and not rush things through to tie the next guys’ hands,” said Susan Dudley, who led the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget at the end of the George W. Bush administration. “One concern is the rules are rushed so they didn’t have adequate analysis or public comment, and that’s what we’re seeing.”
The Trump White House didn’t respond to requests for comment on which regulations it’s aiming to finish before Biden’s inauguration. The Biden transition team also didn’t respond to questions about which of Trump’s parting salvos the new president would prioritize undoing.
Many of the last-minute changes would add to the heap of changes throughout the Trump administration to pare back Obama-era rules and loosen environmental and consumer protections, all in the name of shrinking the government’s role in the economy. “Our proposal today greatly furthers the Trump administration’s regulatory reform efforts, which together have already amounted to the most aggressive effort to reform federal regulations of any administration,” Brian Harrison, the chief of staff for the Department of Health and Human Services, said on a conference call with reporters the day after the election. Harrison was unveiling a new proposal to automatically purge regulations that are more than 10 years old unless the agency decides to keep them.
For that proposal to become finalized before Jan. 20 would be an exceptionally fast turnaround. But Harrison left no doubt about that goal. “The reason we’re doing this now is because,” he said, “we at the department are trying to go as fast as we can in hopes of finalizing the rule before the end of the first term.”
Easier to Pollute, Harder to Immigrate
One proposal has raced through the process with little notice but unusual speed — and deadly consequences. This rule could reintroduce firing squads and electrocutions for federal executions, giving the government more options for administering capital punishment as drugs used in lethal injections become unavailable. The Justice Department surfaced the proposal in August and accepted public comments for only 30 days, instead of the usual 60. The rule cleared White House review on Nov. 6, meaning it could be finalized any day. The Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Once finalized, this rule might never be put into practice. The Trump administration executed a federal prisoner in Indiana on Nov. 19 and plans five more executions before Jan. 20, all with lethal injections. After that, Biden has signaled he won’t allow any federal executions and will push to eliminate capital punishment for federal crimes.
Other less dramatic-sounding rules could prove harder to unravel and have broader consequences. In particular, the Environmental Protection Agency is on the cusp of finalizing several rules that would make it harder to justify pollution restrictions or lock in soot levels for at least five years. The agency wants to keep the soot standard unchanged over the objections of independent scientific advisers and despite emerging evidence that links particulate pollution to additional coronavirus deaths.
An EPA spokesman declined to comment on the timing of these rules. “EPA continues to advance this administration’s commitment to meaningful environmental progress while moving forward with our regulatory reform agenda,” the spokesman, James Hewitt, said.
While those rules have developed over years, others were launched later and officials are taking shortcuts to finish in time. Reviews by the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs that normally take 90 days or more are now wrapping up in as few as five days.
The White House is close to completing severalrules that would extend Trump’s record of restricting immigration and make the changes harder for the Biden administration to reverse. The pending rules would make it more difficult to claim asylum by excluding people with criminal convictions (even those that have been expunged), drastically shortening the application time and giving immigration judges more latitude to pick and choose what evidence to consider. The departments of Justice and Homeland Security didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Some rules read like Trump’s stump speeches translated into policy legalese. The Department of Energy is racing to loosen efficiency standards for showerheads and laundry machines, evoking Trump’s recurringbits about bathroomwater pressure. “Do you ever get under a shower and no water comes out?” Trump said at an October rally in Nevada. “And me, I want that hair to be so beautiful.”
Notably, the trade group representing washer manufacturers actually opposes the administration’s proposal, saying it’s unnecessary because many machines already have short-cycle options. The proposed rule is supported by small-government advocates such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Water and electric companies warn it could lead to higher consumption and waste. The Energy Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The administration is also bucking business groups with proposals to restrict high-skilled immigration; in October, the departments of Homeland Security and Labor unveiled regulations to raise wage and education requirements for H-1B visas, which are often used in the information-technology industry. (The proposal drew opposition from theSmall Business Administration, saying the higher costs would stifle innovation and growth.) But while raising the wage scale for skilled immigrants, the administration is pushing a different new rule to lower wages for “low-skilled” immigrant farmworkers. A spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (part of DHS) told ProPublica that “Any delay in responding to an economic emergency and high unemployment in a way that protects American workers and ensures the H-1B program is administered consistent with statutory requirements could cause real harm to the U.S. economy.” The Department of Labor didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Other rules are more clearly accommodating powerful business interests. A rule completed on Nov. 13 would restrict pension managers from considering social and environmental impacts (known in the industry as ESG) when choosing investments. Another Labor Department rule would make it easier for companies like Uber to withhold benefits by classifying workers as independent contractors instead of full employees. Both proposals had a truncated public comment period of only 30 days. A spokesman said the agency considers all comments regardless of how long the period lasts and that the department is working to complete all regulations on its agenda.
Chicken Plants on the Fast Track
Such shortcuts still might not be enough to finish some new rules that are just starting out now. Still, these tactics have raised alarms about the USDA’s proposal to speed up chicken factories, even though a regulatory change like that would ordinarily take two years or more. The USDA has not provided a timeline, and the proposal is not yet public while the White House reviews it. An agency spokesman said the department is following the standard process.
The rules change has the support of the National Chicken Council, an industry trade group, which argues that the timing is not political. Spokesman Tom Super called the proposal “the most deliberative and studied proposed rule that has ever been issued. It spans three decades, four administrations — Republican and Democrat — countless scientific studies and various court cases.”
The USDA has been laying the groundwork for the rule change for years. Even though safety concerns scuttled the USDA’s previous attempt to raise speeds from 140 birds per minute to 175, in 2018 the agency started granting one-off waivers to individual plants that sought permission to run faster.
The performance of those plants could equip the USDA to argue that the speed limit should go up in all of them. Although the agency has not yet released its formal justification for the new proposal, officials have referenced a new study in the journal Poultry Science that concluded that inspectors in plants with faster speeds did not detect higher average levels of salmonella contamination.
The USDA funded the study through a no-bid contract worth up to $500,000 awarded in 2018 to Louis Anthony “Tony” Cox Jr., a statistician who consults for business interests such as the American Petroleum Institute and the American Chemistry Council, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Cox declined to share data he secured exclusively from the USDA or to be interviewed for this article. In emailed answers to written questions, he defended his methodology but acknowledged there’s room for further study.
Other evidence, however, suggests faster speeds could make chicken less safe to eat. In a September article in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, USDA researcher Jeremy Marchant-Forde and a co-author found that USDA inspectors threw out record-low amounts of chicken when the agency let more plants speed up since May. The authors called this “a major threat to public health” to the extent it suggests inspectors were failing to find contaminated carcasses (rather than the birds having suddenly become much cleaner). But the authors cautioned they’re not food safety experts and declined to comment further.
While the food safety issues are debated, there’s already clearevidence that running faster lines poses higher worker risks, both repetitive strain injuries like carpal tunnel and traumatic injuries like cuts and amputations. But the USDA maintains that it is responsible only for food safety; worker safety is the job of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
That’s exactly the kind of interagency dialogue that the White House is supposed to coordinate when planning new regulations — and the kind of process that could be shortchanged in the final months of an administration, according to the American Public Health Association’s Occupational Health and Safety Section. An OSHA spokeswoman declined to say whether the agency has weighed in on the USDA’s proposal. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has not yet commented on the proposal but plans to, a spokeswoman said.
“This last-minute push for an ill-advised rule change could be deadly for essential workers in slaughterhouses,” said Jessica Martinez, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, an advocacy group for safer working conditions.
Leasing Against the Clock
Since many finalized Trump rules are currently under court challenges, the Biden administration might be able to let some of them wither or die in litigation — especially where judges have blocked or struck down the regulations and the new Justice Department could decide not to appeal.
It will also have to wrestle with other changes the Trump administration is rushing to implement, using tactics other than rule-making.
The Trump administration is also pressing ahead with opening up more federal lands to oil and gas development, despite low prices, sluggish demand and complaints from environmental groups that drilling would encroach on wildlife habitats and national parks. Bids are starting at just $2 an acre for more than 445,000 acres of public land with leases for sale to energy companies through the Bureau of Land Management, according to data from EnergyNet.com.
The leases could expand dramatically as the BLM finalizes a plan to allow oil and gas drilling on an additional 6.8 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a habitat for bears, musk oxen, caribou and birds. Spokespeople for the BLM didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Separately, the Interior Department will open up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The agency is spending 30 days asking companies for bids, and then sales need another 30 days to take effect — just enough time to beat the clock before the inauguration.
An Interior Department spokesman said the agency is taking “a significant step” to implement Congress’ direction in the 2017 Republican tax bill to start drilling in ANWR. “The department will continue to implement President Trump’s agenda to create more American jobs, protect the safety of American workers, support domestic energy production and conserve our environment,” the spokesman, Conner Swanson, said. He didn’t say whether the leases would be done by Jan. 20.
Leases that have not yet been issued would be easier for the Biden administration to drop, but even finalized leases could be withdrawn if officials decide they were improperly issued or too environmentally dangerous, according to Erik Grafe, an attorney with Earthjustice in Anchorage. (Leaseholders might argue they deserve to be compensated.)
In addition, even once leases are issued, companies need permits and authorizations before actually taking action on the ground, Grafe said. Those steps would take more time and face legal challenges. Earthjustice and other groups are already suing to block the Arctic drilling program as a whole.
“We have been protecting this place forever,” said Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in steering committee representing indigenous hunting communities in northeast Alaska. “This fight is far from over, and we will do whatever it takes to defend our sacred homelands.”


crooksandliars--2020-11-27--What's With Donald Trump's Tiny, Tiny Desk?

Donald Trump got in a few holes before his Thanksgiving dinner , but it went about as well as the @ @ @ @ @ he was VERY vocal about it .

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crooksandliars--2020-11-27--Donald Trump Hits Golf Ball In The Water And Screams, 'I Hate This F***ing Hole!!!'

Things going as well for Trump on the golf course as they did in the election .
Donald Trump got in a few holes before his Thanksgiving dinner , but it went about as well as the election for him ... and he was VERY vocal about it .
Trump was playing Thursday at his golf course in Sterling , Virginia , and he got teed off after he teed off and the ball went in the drink .
You hear Trump grouse , `` Oh s**t , '' and it 's clear he had a history with this particular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good one .
As he watches the ball disappear in the water , he mutters , `` I hate this f**king hole !
!
! ''
You 'd think he 'd change the configuration of the pesky hole ... after all , he owns the course .
He does n't even need to be President to do that .
Maybe Trump was off his game because he 's still so pissed off about the election .
He was tweeting up a storm , again claiming he won the election , saying , `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is NO WAY Biden got 80,000,000 votes !
!
!
This was a 100 % RIGGED ELECTION . ''

Things going as well for Trump on the golf course as they did in the election.
Source: TMZ
Donald Trump got in a few holes before his Thanksgiving dinner, but it went about as well as the election for him ... and he was VERY vocal about it.
Trump was playing Thursday at his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, and he got teed off after he teed off and the ball went in the drink.
You hear Trump grouse, "Oh s**t," and it's clear he had a history with this particular hole, and it ain't a good one. As he watches the ball disappear in the water, he mutters, "I hate this f**king hole!!!"
You'd think he'd change the configuration of the pesky hole ... after all, he owns the course. He doesn't even need to be President to do that.
Maybe Trump was off his game because he's still so pissed off about the election. He was tweeting up a storm, again claiming he won the election, saying, "Just saw the vote tabulations. There is NO WAY Biden got 80,000,000 votes!!! This was a 100% RIGGED ELECTION."


crooksandliars--2020-11-27--Donor Sues To Get His $2.5M Back: 'True The Vote' Promised To Prove Voter Fraud

True the Vote , the very grifty tea bagger group founded in Houston , claims they fight voter fraud .
But donor Fred Eshelman is suing True the Vote for $ 2.5 million because they could n't deliver the goods on this election .
If only he read Crooks & Liars , he would n't be in this pickle !
Via Alternet : True the Vote , which was founded by Tea Party supporter Catherine Engelbrecht 11 years ago , filed four lawsuits after the November 3 election but has dropped all of them—and in an official statement on November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` while we stand by the voters ' testimony that was brought forth , barriers to advancing our arguments , coupled with constraints on time , made it necessary for us to pursue a different path . ''
True the Vote called its efforts to challenge the 2020 election results Validate the Vote , promising lawsuits in seven battleground states and claiming that it would use `` sophisticated data modeling and statistical analysis to identify potential illegal or fraudulent balloting . ''
Eshelman donated $ 2 million to True the Vote on November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week .
But now , Eshelman wants his $ 2.5 million back and is saying that when he asked for updates , he was `` met with vague responses , platitudes and empty promises . ''

True the Vote, the very grifty tea bagger group founded in Houston, claims they fight voter fraud. But donor Fred Eshelman is suing True the Vote for $2.5 million because they couldn't deliver the goods on this election. If only he read Crooks & Liars, he wouldn't be in this pickle! Via Alternet:
True the Vote, which was founded by Tea Party supporter Catherine Engelbrecht 11 years ago, filed four lawsuits after the November 3 election but has dropped all of them—and in an official statement on November 17, True the Vote announced, "while we stand by the voters' testimony that was brought forth, barriers to advancing our arguments, coupled with constraints on time, made it necessary for us to pursue a different path."
True the Vote called its efforts to challenge the 2020 election results Validate the Vote, promising lawsuits in seven battleground states and claiming that it would use "sophisticated data modeling and statistical analysis to identify potential illegal or fraudulent balloting." Eshelman donated $2 million to True the Vote on November 5 and another $500,000 the following week. But now, Eshelman wants his $2.5 million back and is saying that when he asked for updates, he was "met with vague responses, platitudes and empty promises."


crooksandliars--2020-11-28--Assassination Of Iranian Scientist Likely An Effort To Kill Biden’s Chance For Peace

The assassination of Iran ’ s top nuclear scientist , Mohsen Fakhrizadeh , presumably by Israel , was probably aimed at saddling Joe Biden ’ s presidency with a war , a U.S. bombing campaign against Iran ’ s nuclear sites or , at the very least , preventing him from re-joining the Iran nuclear agreement .
On MSNBC Saturday , Iranian guest Trita Parsi explained that while Iran ’ s President Hassan Rouhani wants to avoid starting a war with Israel over the assassination , he may be pressured into one .
PARSI : The latest that 's happening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out with a statement essentially saying that Iran is not gon na walk into what he called a trap by the Israelis to escalate and create a war because that is , in his assessment , what the Israelis want .
But it is not clear if that is the view of other elements inside the country .
Some of this debate is starting to be taking place in public in which the argument that is made by the other side is that these assassinations continue to take place precisely because , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harshly enough to previous attacks and the only way of preventing future attacks is to respond really harshly to this one .
If that happens , however , then there is a very significant risk for a major escalation , potentially of war which , according to Rouhani , is what Netanyahu is looking for .
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson , a veteran of both the Army and the State Department , said it would be “ extremely unusual ” for Israel not to have informed the Trump administration of the assassination .
Quoting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wilkerson said , “ The Saudis are willing to fight the Iranians to the last dead American .
And I would add Bibi Netanyahu in that.
” According to Wilkerson , the fix against Biden is in .
WILKERSON : They want as a major outcome a war .
As a middle ground outcome , they want a bombing campaign by the U.S. against Iranian nuclear facilities .
and as a minimum amount they want to foreclose any possibility of the new president , Joe Biden , reentering the Joint Comprehensive Plan of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And it looks like they 're well on that road to success .
Nayyera Haq , another State Department veteran , said that the U.S. abandonment of the Iran nuclear agreement “ really opened the door ” for Israel and the Saudis to influence the Trump administration against Iran .
Now , “ they ’ re looking at a ticking time clock ” on “ how much can they box in Biden 's options by engaging the United States under a Trump administration or while Trump is still commander in chief ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to escape the trap laid for him by forcefully signaling opposition to the assassination : PARSI : It 's also important to recognize that Netanyahu must also have calculated that Biden probably does not have the political will to inflict a cost , impose a cost to Netanyahu if he does these things to box in Biden .
And I think it is up to the Biden administration to prove Netanyahu wrong because I doubt that Netanyahu would have gone down this path unless he felt that it was pretty much cost-free from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also from Biden .

The assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, presumably by Israel, was probably aimed at saddling Joe Biden’s presidency with a war, a U.S. bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear sites or, at the very least, preventing him from re-joining the Iran nuclear agreement.
On MSNBC Saturday, Iranian guest Trita Parsi explained that while Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani wants to avoid starting a war with Israel over the assassination, he may be pressured into one.
PARSI: The latest that's happening is that the Iranian president has come out with a statement essentially saying that Iran is not gonna walk into what he called a trap by the Israelis to escalate and create a war because that is, in his assessment, what the Israelis want. But it is not clear if that is the view of other elements inside the country. Some of this debate is starting to be taking place in public in which the argument that is made by the other side is that these assassinations continue to take place precisely because, in their view, Iranians have not responded harshly enough to previous attacks and the only way of preventing future attacks is to respond really harshly to this one. If that happens, however, then there is a very significant risk for a major escalation, potentially of war which, according to Rouhani, is what Netanyahu is looking for.
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a veteran of both the Army and the State Department, said it would be “extremely unusual” for Israel not to have informed the Trump administration of the assassination. Quoting former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Wilkerson said, “The Saudis are willing to fight the Iranians to the last dead American. And I would add Bibi Netanyahu in that.”
According to Wilkerson, the fix against Biden is in.
WILKERSON: They want as a major outcome a war. As a middle ground outcome, they want a bombing campaign by the U.S. against Iranian nuclear facilities. and as a minimum amount they want to foreclose any possibility of the new president, Joe Biden, reentering the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear agreement with Iran. And it looks like they're well on that road to success.
Nayyera Haq, another State Department veteran, said that the U.S. abandonment of the Iran nuclear agreement “really opened the door” for Israel and the Saudis to influence the Trump administration against Iran. Now, “they’re looking at a ticking time clock” on “how much can they box in Biden's options by engaging the United States under a Trump administration or while Trump is still commander in chief?”
However, Biden may be able to escape the trap laid for him by forcefully signaling opposition to the assassination:
PARSI: It's also important to recognize that Netanyahu must also have calculated that Biden probably does not have the political will to inflict a cost, impose a cost to Netanyahu if he does these things to box in Biden. And I think it is up to the Biden administration to prove Netanyahu wrong because I doubt that Netanyahu would have gone down this path unless he felt that it was pretty much cost-free from him. not just from Trump but also from Biden.


crooksandliars--2020-11-28--Deputy Prosecutor Fired For Speaking Out Against Jail Time For People Who Fall Behind On Rent

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom .
Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox .
An Arkansas prosecutor has been fired after speaking out against the state ’ s criminal eviction statute in an October ProPublica story .
Garland County deputy prosecutor Josh Drake was let go from his position on Oct. 31 by Michelle Lawrence , the prosecuting attorney .
Arkansas is the only state where landlords can file criminal charges rather than civil complaints against tenants for falling behind on rent .
Drake told ProPublica , “ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unconstitutional.
” It constitutes cruel and unusual punishment , he said , echoing other Arkansas legal experts and advocates across the political spectrum .
Under the law , which dates to 1901 , if a tenant ’ s rent is a day overdue , they forfeit their right to be in the property .
If they don ’ t leave their homes within 10 days of getting a notice from their landlords , they can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined for each day they overstay .
Evictions in the state can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to jail time , leaving people with criminal records that hinder their ability to find a new home or get a job .
In civil evictions , by contrast , landlords can pursue unpaid rent and other additional fees from tenants , but the process doesn ’ t include daily fines for staying in the property without paying or put tenants at risk of jail time .
ProPublica found that since 2018 , more than 1,000 cases have been filed under the criminal eviction statute .
During that time , judges have sentenced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charges stemming from the law , which is officially known as “ failure to pay rent , failure to vacate.
” Women and people of color have disproportionately been charged .
Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ’ s national moratorium on evictions did not stop the criminal filings .
Since the Sept. 4 order , at least 49 people have been charged , with more than two dozen cases filed in the last month .
Meanwhile , the number of new cases of the coronavirus in Arkansas has risen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has over 1,000 hospitalized because of the virus , according to Gov .
Asa Hutchinson .
Landlords told ProPublica they preferred the criminal statute to civil evictions because the criminal process is cheaper .
Taxpayers shoulder the cost when county attorneys like Lawrence and Drake pursue tenants .
In civil eviction hearings , landlords have to cover their attorney fees .
Drake had been prosecuting cases on behalf of Garland County , in central Arkansas , since March 2018 on a part-time basis .
Lawrence called Drake into her office the day after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she was firing him because his remarks drew media and statewide attention to her office , Drake said .
Lawrence , who began working in Garland County ’ s prosecuting attorney ’ s office in 1994 and was elected as the prosecuting attorney in 2016 , declined to comment , citing an office prohibition on speaking about personnel matters .
During Drake ’ s tenure , he handled at least a dozen criminal eviction cases .
Like many landlords , state legislators and prosecutors , he had the impression that the statute never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That ’ s not true , however .
Since 2018 , 45 people have been arrested exclusively for failing to pay rent and not leaving , according to state records .
Despite his misimpression , Drake nevertheless disliked the statute because he said it effectively transformed county attorneys and law enforcement officers into collection agents for landlords .
But he said he felt he had no choice but to prosecute the cases because it was his job .
He never voiced his objections until the ProPublica story .
“ I stand by what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same way , ” he said .
“ It ’ s one of those things that I ’ ve always been ashamed of , but I ’ ve never been in a situation where I could do anything about it.
” Now , he said , “ I can at least call more attention to it.
” If Lawrence “ wants to be the one that sticks up for the landlord and continues using tax money to evict people , then there is nothing I can do about it other than point it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Other elected prosecuting attorneys in the state have declined to prosecute the eviction cases .
Prosecutors in the state ’ s most populous county , Pulaski , have stopped accepting the filings altogether .
In other jurisdictions , judges have stopped hearing cases under the statute .
Of the 21 largest counties in the state , ProPublica and the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network found only five contained district courts that processed any criminal eviction filings in 2020 .
After the CDC moratorium this September , a judge and attorney in the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop pursuing the cases until further notice .
Judge Danny Thrailkill told ProPublica he has long approached the law with unease .
“ You hate to enforce it because a lot of people don ’ t have anywhere to go , ” he said .
“ It ’ s really a civil matter.
” Andy Riner , a prosecuting attorney who was just elected into a circuit judge position that will begin in January , said he had found the statute ineffective to begin with .
“ If you ’ re fining someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t get their attention , that doesn ’ t improve their conduct , ” Riner said .
“ It just doesn ’ t make any sense.
” Five years ago , a circuit court judge ruled the statute violated the Eighth Amendment ’ s clause banning cruel and unusual punishment , as well as federal and state bans on debtors prisons , but his ruling did not cover the entire state .
Other judges have upheld the statute .
Advocates are planning to try to get the law repealed in the next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Like I hoped from the first time I stepped foot in the state and learned about the law , I hope that the legislature will repeal it , ” Drake said .
Do you have access to information about evictions that should be public ?
Email maya.miller @ propublica.org and ellis.simani @ propublica.org .
Here ’ s how to send tips and documents to ProPublica securely .
For more coverage , read ProPublica ’ s previous reporting on evictions and debt collection .

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
An Arkansas prosecutor has been fired after speaking out against the state’s criminal eviction statute in an October ProPublica story. Garland County deputy prosecutor Josh Drake was let go from his position on Oct. 31 by Michelle Lawrence, the prosecuting attorney.
Arkansas is the only state where landlords can file criminal charges rather than civil complaints against tenants for falling behind on rent. Drake told ProPublica, “I hate that law. It’s unconstitutional.” It constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, he said, echoing other Arkansas legal experts and advocates across the political spectrum.
Under the law, which dates to 1901, if a tenant’s rent is a day overdue, they forfeit their right to be in the property. If they don’t leave their homes within 10 days of getting a notice from their landlords, they can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined for each day they overstay.
Evictions in the state can snowball from charges to warrants to arrests to jail time, leaving people with criminal records that hinder their ability to find a new home or get a job. In civil evictions, by contrast, landlords can pursue unpaid rent and other additional fees from tenants, but the process doesn’t include daily fines for staying in the property without paying or put tenants at risk of jail time.
ProPublica found that since 2018, more than 1,000 cases have been filed under the criminal eviction statute. During that time, judges have sentenced at least 37 renters to jail after charges stemming from the law, which is officially known as “failure to pay rent, failure to vacate.” Women and people of color have disproportionately been charged.
Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national moratorium on evictions did not stop the criminal filings. Since the Sept. 4 order, at least 49 people have been charged, with more than two dozen cases filed in the last month. Meanwhile, the number of new cases of the coronavirus in Arkansas has risen dramatically since mid-September. The state now has over 1,000 hospitalized because of the virus, according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Landlords told ProPublica they preferred the criminal statute to civil evictions because the criminal process is cheaper. Taxpayers shoulder the cost when county attorneys like Lawrence and Drake pursue tenants. In civil eviction hearings, landlords have to cover their attorney fees.
Drake had been prosecuting cases on behalf of Garland County, in central Arkansas, since March 2018 on a part-time basis. Lawrence called Drake into her office the day after ProPublica’s story ran and said she was firing him because his remarks drew media and statewide attention to her office, Drake said.
Lawrence, who began working in Garland County’s prosecuting attorney’s office in 1994 and was elected as the prosecuting attorney in 2016, declined to comment, citing an office prohibition on speaking about personnel matters.
During Drake’s tenure, he handled at least a dozen criminal eviction cases. Like many landlords, state legislators and prosecutors, he had the impression that the statute never led to arrests or jail time. That’s not true, however. Since 2018, 45 people have been arrested exclusively for failing to pay rent and not leaving, according to state records.
Despite his misimpression, Drake nevertheless disliked the statute because he said it effectively transformed county attorneys and law enforcement officers into collection agents for landlords. But he said he felt he had no choice but to prosecute the cases because it was his job. He never voiced his objections until the ProPublica story.
“I stand by what I said. I still feel the same way,” he said. “It’s one of those things that I’ve always been ashamed of, but I’ve never been in a situation where I could do anything about it.” Now, he said, “I can at least call more attention to it.”
If Lawrence “wants to be the one that sticks up for the landlord and continues using tax money to evict people, then there is nothing I can do about it other than point it out to people,” he said.
Other elected prosecuting attorneys in the state have declined to prosecute the eviction cases. Prosecutors in the state’s most populous county, Pulaski, have stopped accepting the filings altogether. In other jurisdictions, judges have stopped hearing cases under the statute. Of the 21 largest counties in the state, ProPublica and the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network found only five contained district courts that processed any criminal eviction filings in 2020.
After the CDC moratorium this September, a judge and attorney in the state’s western Polk County chose to stop pursuing the cases until further notice. Judge Danny Thrailkill told ProPublica he has long approached the law with unease. “You hate to enforce it because a lot of people don’t have anywhere to go,” he said. “It’s really a civil matter.”
Andy Riner, a prosecuting attorney who was just elected into a circuit judge position that will begin in January, said he had found the statute ineffective to begin with. “If you’re fining someone who is already broke, that doesn’t get their attention, that doesn’t improve their conduct,” Riner said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Five years ago, a circuit court judge ruled the statute violated the Eighth Amendment’s clause banning cruel and unusual punishment, as well as federal and state bans on debtors prisons, but his ruling did not cover the entire state. Other judges have upheld the statute.
Advocates are planning to try to get the law repealed in the next session of the state legislature.
“Like I hoped from the first time I stepped foot in the state and learned about the law, I hope that the legislature will repeal it,” Drake said.
Do you have access to information about evictions that should be public? Email maya.miller@propublica.org and ellis.simani@propublica.org. Here’s how to send tips and documents to ProPublica securely.
For more coverage, read ProPublica’s previous reporting on evictions and debt collection.


crooksandliars--2020-11-28--Fox Host Throws Cold Water On Team Trump's Chances With SCOTUS

Despite the best efforts by her Fox & Friends weekend cohosts Will Cain and Pete Hegseth , Jedediah Bila threw cold water on the notion that their frivolous voter fraud cases were going anywhere after a Trump appointed judge practically laughed them out of court this week .
Will Cain read a tweet by Trump lawyer and national embarrassment Jenna Ellis , promising they 're moving onto SCOTUS next , and hanging their hopes that Samuel Alito would actually take it up , Hegseth touted another lawsuit that was filed by Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly seeking to invalidate mail-in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ let the Republican-majority state legislature appoint the state 's electors – claiming that Act 77 is unconstitutional – despite the fact that all of them voted for it .
A case that , as Fetterman and others noted , they 'd better be careful what they wish for if they win : After Hegseth nonchalantly pushed the notion that it would somehow be acceptable to just toss out millions of ballots and disenfranchise everyone who voted by mail in Pennsylvania , hoping that the mayhem it creates would also toss the appointment of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well , Bila reminded them both that things did n't exactly go very well for Trump 's lawyers this week , and maybe it 's not such a good idea to be attacking Trump appointed judges as the “ activist judicial machinery in Pennsylvania ” as Ellis did on Twitter after losing the case .
BILA : Yeah , that first case you , just a note on that .
Jenna Ellis ' tweet we had put it up earlier , just talking about how it was an activist court .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up , just because the individual who wrote the opinion was actually a Trump appointed judge and the panel that actually weighed in on it , of judges , they were all GOP appointed judges .
So , I do n't know how well that holds up .
And it was quite blistering .
I mean , I was reading through it , saying , you know , `` Calling an election unfair does not make it so .
Charges require specific allegations and then proof .
We have neither here and there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballot fraud or forgery . ''
They went on and on .
So I think that is a setback , especially when you look at the Supreme Court , and you look at how they may evaluate something like this .
Obviously , you have to take into account something that was written this way .
Obviously by , like I said , a Trump appointed judge .
So it remains to be seen what they will say about it .
Obviously , we 're going to keep you posted with what goes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , but this was a blistering opinion , in my opinion .

Despite the best efforts by her Fox & Friends weekend cohosts Will Cain and Pete Hegseth, Jedediah Bila threw cold water on the notion that their frivolous voter fraud cases were going anywhere after a Trump appointed judge practically laughed them out of court this week.
Will Cain read a tweet by Trump lawyer and national embarrassment Jenna Ellis, promising they're moving onto SCOTUS next, and hanging their hopes that Samuel Alito would actually take it up, Hegseth touted another lawsuit that was filed by Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly seeking to invalidate mail-in ballots cast in the presidential election or let the Republican-majority state legislature appoint the state's electors – claiming that Act 77 is unconstitutional – despite the fact that all of them voted for it.
As if it could any more ironic and sad: EVERY REPUBLICAN SENATOR 💯 VOTED FOR ACT 77- Vote By Mail in Pennsylvania.
Every. Single. One. pic.twitter.com/h1qtXxFVk5 — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 28, 2020
A case that, as Fetterman and others noted, they'd better be careful what they wish for if they win:
The so called “mic-drop” case in Commonwealth Court blocks the certification of the PAGOP’s *own* races.
The term expires on Monday, the 30th.
This mean we wouldn’t have a Legistature to vote on their other “mic drop”: a resolution going nowhere fast.https://t.co/rmvwpVJ1NK — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 28, 2020
Fun constitutional question- are you the presiding officer of the Senate and able issue write for new elections for those vacant Senate districts Dec 1st? pic.twitter.com/3bD6JiBsEL — Nathan A. Harig (@nathanharig) November 28, 2020
After Hegseth nonchalantly pushed the notion that it would somehow be acceptable to just toss out millions of ballots and disenfranchise everyone who voted by mail in Pennsylvania, hoping that the mayhem it creates would also toss the appointment of the state's electors to the legislators as well, Bila reminded them both that things didn't exactly go very well for Trump's lawyers this week, and maybe it's not such a good idea to be attacking Trump appointed judges as the “activist judicial machinery in Pennsylvania” as Ellis did on Twitter after losing the case.


crooksandliars--2020-11-28--Trump Laughed Out Of Court Again – This Time By His Own Appointee

The decision , by Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephanos Bibas , was described by The New York Times as “ blistering ” and a “ a complete repudiation ” of Trump ’ s effort to halt the certification of Pennsyvlania ’ s certification of its votes for Joe Biden .
Reporter Jessica Snyder had a similar assessment on CNN , when she discussed it with anchor Brooke Baldwin on Friday .
SNYDER : This is yet another take down , wholeheartedly , Brooke , from federal court .
… So far , [ the Trump campaign ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take you back , this is the case that Rudy Giuliani argued in court just about two weeks ago , and that shortly thereafter , the claims were completely rejected by a federal judge out of Pennsylvania .
He took the Trump campaign , all their arguments out , line by line .
And now the Third Circuit out of Philadelphia doing the same as to this case .
… This court saying the campaign 's claims have no merit , the number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it never claims fraud or that any votes were cast by illegal voters .
And that 's been the big problem here , Brooke , is that the Trump campaign , their legal team , they have repeatedly filed lawsuits all over the country , but most specifically in Pennsylvania , as one of those key battleground states .
And they have continually alleged all kinds of wild allegations of fraud .
But the problem is , as these judges repeatedly pointed out , there 's never evidence to back up claims .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , district court has said in this case , And now the circuit court , federal appellate court in Pennsylvania saying that look , Trump campaign , you have n't backed up any of your wild speculation with any real evidence here .
So the Trump campaign yet again getting taken down by a federal court .
The Trump campaign is now vowing to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court :

The decision, by Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephanos Bibas, was described by The New York Times as “blistering” and a “a complete repudiation” of Trump’s effort to halt the certification of Pennsyvlania’s certification of its votes for Joe Biden.
Reporter Jessica Snyder had a similar assessment on CNN, when she discussed it with anchor Brooke Baldwin on Friday.
SNYDER: This is yet another take down, wholeheartedly, Brooke, from federal court. … So far, [the Trump campaign’s] track record is abysmal. To take you back, this is the case that Rudy Giuliani argued in court just about two weeks ago, and that shortly thereafter, the claims were completely rejected by a federal judge out of Pennsylvania. He took the Trump campaign, all their arguments out, line by line. And now the Third Circuit out of Philadelphia doing the same as to this case. … This court saying the campaign's claims have no merit, the number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the roughly 81,000 vote margin of victory and it never claims fraud or that any votes were cast by illegal voters. And that's been the big problem here, Brooke, is that the Trump campaign, their legal team, they have repeatedly filed lawsuits all over the country, but most specifically in Pennsylvania, as one of those key battleground states. And they have continually alleged all kinds of wild allegations of fraud. But the problem is, as these judges repeatedly pointed out, there's never evidence to back up claims. And that's what the lower court, district court has said in this case, And now the circuit court, federal appellate court in Pennsylvania saying that look, Trump campaign, you haven't backed up any of your wild speculation with any real evidence here. So the Trump campaign yet again getting taken down by a federal court.
The Trump campaign is now vowing to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court:


crooksandliars--2020-11-28--Reminder: GOP Has Falsely Shouted 'Voter Fraud' Years Before Trump Was Elected

But the contribution in dispute did n't go directly to Trump , or to an organization created by Trump affiliates .
Here 's the story : A major contributor to a group backing President Donald Trump ’ s fight to overturn the presidential election sued to recover $ 2.5 million in donations after the campaign failed in several court cases and was unable to prove any fraud .
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by North Carolina venture capitalist Fred Eshelman argued that the nonprofit group True the Vote promised to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were being used in what was pitched as a strong case against alleged election fraud .
Instead , the suit alleged , he was fed “ vague responses , platitudes and empty promises of follow-up ” that never occurred .
He was kept in the dark when weak cases filed in Wisconsin , Michigan , Georgia and Pennsylvania were voluntarily withdrawn in a decision the investor claimed was made in “ concert with counsel for the Trump campaign , ” the suit said .
If the name `` True the Vote '' sounds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was one of several right-wing organizations that whined incessantly during Barack Obama 's presidency about the IRS 's reluctance to grant them tax-exempt status as non-political profits .
These complaints led to sob stories even in the non-conservative media .
This is from a 2013 McClatchy article : Concerned about government regulation of her family ’ s manufacturing business , [ Catherine Engelbrecht ] became dissatisfied with the political process and particularly the 2008 presidential choices ... .
After witnessing what she called voter irregularities in the Houston area , Engelbrecht formed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a paid staff of five , it aims to educate 1 million poll workers nationwide on spotting election fraud .
Liberal groups view it as a conservative effort aimed at restricting minority participation , a claim that True the Vote officials deny .
Gosh , it 's hard to imagine where liberal groups got the idea that True the Vote is `` a conservative effort aimed at restricting minority participation '' ... .
In 2010 , before most reporters had heard of True the Vote , the group put out a video introducing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , far-right activist David Horowitz comes on screen .
`` The voting system is under attack now , '' he says .
`` Movements that are focused on voter fraud , on the integrity of elections are crucial .
This is a war . ''
... `` The left has been focused on this now for decades , '' says Horowitz , as photographs of black voters lining up to cast ballots flash by .
`` Obama 's very connected to ACORN , which is a voter-fraud machine .
ACORN is the radical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to register voters in Houston received threats and emails containing racist slurs after being targeted by a local tea party group accusing it of “ voter fraud.
” In emails obtained by TPM , the group Houston Votes was accused of being “ a bunch of white guilt ridden assholes , NIGGERS and greasy Mexican spics , ” “ fraudulent Marxist pigs , ” and “ American hating A-holes.
” ... Houston Votes was targeted by the Texas Tea Party group King Street Patriots in their so-called anti-voter fraud effort “ True The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Votes office as the “ New Black Panthers ’ office.
” A video put out by the group featured a doctored photo showing a Black woman holding a protest sign that read , `` I ONLY GOT TO VOTE ONCE ! ''
The group 's claims of non-partisanship are also laughable : [ The ] 2010 video announcing True the Vote 's launch begins with right-wing activist David Horowitz telling the camera that `` Republicans have to win by at least three percent in order to win an election , '' since Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... in 2012 , True the Vote contributed $ 5000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee ... .
This overtly political statement would legally , according to tax lawyers specializing in election law , disqualify a nonprofit from 501 ( c ) 3 tax-exempt status .
...
True the Vote 's website portrays voter fraud as largely a Democratic party problem .
It routinely runs stories on election fraud being perpetrated by `` liberals '' or `` Democrats '' but has , to date , never run a story on Republican or Conservative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we were told that True the Vote was being persecuted by the IRS , and that Engelbrecht was a fine , upstanding American .
Peggy Noonan -- who now regards Trump as extreme and dangerous -- lamented that Engelbrecht was `` a nice woman , a citizen , an American '' who was being pilloried for running a civic-minded organization that `` tries to get dead people off the rolls . ''
The only difference between what Trump is doing now and what True the Vote has done for years is scale .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ beyond the pale , but they were fine with the activities of True the Vote and similar organizations when most Americans were n't paying attention .
If right-wingers as well as left-wingers had denounced electoral-fraud witch hunts over the past decade , we would n't be in the mess we 're in today .
But they backed those efforts then .
So here we are now .
Published with permission of No More Mister Nice Blog

A headline at HuffPost reads:
Donor In Trump’s Election ‘Fraud’ Fight Sues To Snatch Back His $2.5 Million Contribution
But the contribution in dispute didn't go directly to Trump, or to an organization created by Trump affiliates. Here's the story:
A major contributor to a group backing President Donald Trump’s fight to overturn the presidential election sued to recover $2.5 million in donations after the campaign failed in several court cases and was unable to prove any fraud. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by North Carolina venture capitalist Fred Eshelman argued that the nonprofit group True the Vote promised to keep him informed of how his millions were being used in what was pitched as a strong case against alleged election fraud. Instead, the suit alleged, he was fed “vague responses, platitudes and empty promises of follow-up” that never occurred. He was kept in the dark when weak cases filed in Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania were voluntarily withdrawn in a decision the investor claimed was made in “concert with counsel for the Trump campaign,” the suit said.
If the name "True the Vote" sounds familiar, it's because the group was one of several right-wing organizations that whined incessantly during Barack Obama's presidency about the IRS's reluctance to grant them tax-exempt status as non-political profits. These complaints led to sob stories even in the non-conservative media. This is from a 2013 McClatchy article:
Concerned about government regulation of her family’s manufacturing business, [Catherine Engelbrecht] became dissatisfied with the political process and particularly the 2008 presidential choices.... After witnessing what she called voter irregularities in the Houston area, Engelbrecht formed a group called True the Vote. With a paid staff of five, it aims to educate 1 million poll workers nationwide on spotting election fraud. Liberal groups view it as a conservative effort aimed at restricting minority participation, a claim that True the Vote officials deny.
Gosh, it's hard to imagine where liberal groups got the idea that True the Vote is "a conservative effort aimed at restricting minority participation"....
In 2010, before most reporters had heard of True the Vote, the group put out a video introducing itself. As epic battle music plays, far-right activist David Horowitz comes on screen. "The voting system is under attack now," he says. "Movements that are focused on voter fraud, on the integrity of elections are crucial. This is a war." ... "The left has been focused on this now for decades," says Horowitz, as photographs of black voters lining up to cast ballots flash by. "Obama's very connected to ACORN, which is a voter-fraud machine. ACORN is the radical army." ...
More:
A group trying to register voters in Houston received threats and emails containing racist slurs after being targeted by a local tea party group accusing it of “voter fraud.” In emails obtained by TPM, the group Houston Votes was accused of being “a bunch of white guilt ridden assholes, NIGGERS and greasy Mexican spics,” “fraudulent Marxist pigs,” and “American hating A-holes.”... Houston Votes was targeted by the Texas Tea Party group King Street Patriots in their so-called anti-voter fraud effort “True The Vote.”
Engelbrecht referred to the Houston Votes office as the “New Black Panthers’ office.” A video put out by the group featured a doctored photo showing a Black woman holding a protest sign that read, "I ONLY GOT TO VOTE ONCE!"
The group's claims of non-partisanship are also laughable:
[The] 2010 video announcing True the Vote's launch begins with right-wing activist David Horowitz telling the camera that "Republicans have to win by at least three percent in order to win an election," since Democrats are likely to case fraudulent votes. ... in 2012, True the Vote contributed $5000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee.... This overtly political statement would legally, according to tax lawyers specializing in election law, disqualify a nonprofit from 501(c)3 tax-exempt status. ... True the Vote's website portrays voter fraud as largely a Democratic party problem. It routinely runs stories on election fraud being perpetrated by "liberals" or "Democrats" but has, to date, never run a story on Republican or Conservative instances of voter fraud.
And yet we were told that True the Vote was being persecuted by the IRS, and that Engelbrecht was a fine, upstanding American. Peggy Noonan -- who now regards Trump as extreme and dangerous -- lamented that Engelbrecht was "a nice woman, a citizen, an American" who was being pilloried for running a civic-minded organization that "tries to get dead people off the rolls."
The only difference between what Trump is doing now and what True the Vote has done for years is scale. Right-thinking citizens regard Trump's efforts as beyond the pale, but they were fine with the activities of True the Vote and similar organizations when most Americans weren't paying attention.
If right-wingers as well as left-wingers had denounced electoral-fraud witch hunts over the past decade, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today. But they backed those efforts then. So here we are now.
Published with permission of No More Mister Nice Blog


crooksandliars--2020-11-28--Trump Refuses To Concede, But Finally Admits He'll Leave The White House In January

Today in things that should in no way be news , but are , Donald Trump said he would leave the White House if ( when ) the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden .
Trump took questions from reporters late Thursday afternoon after speaking remotely to military service members .
Asked about leaving the White House , he said “ Certainly I will , and you know that.
” Except nobody has known for sure just how much of a fight Trump would put up about leaving , leading to lol-sob type events such as The Boston Globe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer on tactics for getting him out peacefully , because “ a nation hooked on drama does not want to see a US president dragged out the front door , ” only to have to turn around and say whoops , maybe people do want that .
There has been nothing certain about Trump leaving peacefully , because Trump himself has refused to say he would do so , right up until he said “ Certainly I will , and you know that.
” Weeks after the election , and after key battleground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump did not concede , however , saying “ It ’ s going to be a very hard thing to concede ” and that , of the Electoral College finalizing Biden ’ s win , “ f they do , they ’ ve made a mistake.
” Trump also said he would be going to Georgia to campaign for Sens .
David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the runoff elections there .

Today in things that should in no way be news, but are, Donald Trump said he would leave the White House if (when) the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden. Trump took questions from reporters late Thursday afternoon after speaking remotely to military service members.
Asked about leaving the White House, he said “Certainly I will, and you know that.” Except nobody has known for sure just how much of a fight Trump would put up about leaving, leading to lol-sob type events such as The Boston Globe consulting a hostage negotiator and an animal-control officer on tactics for getting him out peacefully, because “a nation hooked on drama does not want to see a US president dragged out the front door,” only to have to turn around and say whoops, maybe people do want that. There has been nothing certain about Trump leaving peacefully, because Trump himself has refused to say he would do so, right up until he said “Certainly I will, and you know that.” Weeks after the election, and after key battleground states had certified Biden’s victories.
Trump did not concede, however, saying “It’s going to be a very hard thing to concede” and that, of the Electoral College finalizing Biden’s win, “f they do, they’ve made a mistake.”
Trump also said he would be going to Georgia to campaign for Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the runoff elections there.
Posted with permission from Daily Kos.


crooksandliars--2020-11-29--Completed Wisconsin Recount Increases Biden Lead By 87 Votes -- Costing Trump $34,000 Each

President Donald Trump has paid $ 3 million for a partial recount of Wisconsin that expanded President-elect Joe Biden 's @ @ @ @ @ On Sunday , Dane County became the final Wisconsin county to complete its recount .
@ @ @ @ @ , over 800,000 ballots were recounted at the request of the Trump campaign .
`` @ @ @ @ @ recount , Biden ’ s lead over Trump in Wisconsin grew by 87 votes , @ @ @ @ @ `` Under Wisconsin law , Trump was required to foot the bill for the partial @ @ @ @ @ paid $ 3 million only to see Biden ’ s lead expand . ''
Each @ @ @ @ @ lead cost the Trump campaign around $ 34,000 .
Wisconsin state law requires the Wisconsin @ @ @ @ @ Democrat , to certify the results by Tuesday .

President Donald Trump has paid $3 million for a partial recount of Wisconsin that expanded President-elect Joe Biden's lead by 87 votes.
On Sunday, Dane County became the final Wisconsin county to complete its recount. According to The Washington Post, over 800,000 ballots were recounted at the request of the Trump campaign.
"As a result of the recount, Biden’s lead over Trump in Wisconsin grew by 87 votes," the report said. "Under Wisconsin law, Trump was required to foot the bill for the partial recount — meaning his campaign paid $3 million only to see Biden’s lead expand."
Each new vote in Biden's lead cost the Trump campaign around $34,000.
Wisconsin state law requires the Wisconsin Election Commission chairwoman, a Democrat, to certify the results by Tuesday.


crooksandliars--2020-11-29--'My Mind Will Not Change': Trump Promises To Spend '125% Of My Energy' On Hopeless Election Challeng

'My Mind Will Not Change': Trump Promises To Spend '125% Of My Energy' On Hopeless Election Challenges

President Donald Trump on Sunday vowed not to accept his 2020 election loss for at least six months .
The president made the remarks to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo in his first television interview since the election .
Trump said that he planned to `` use 125 % of my energy '' to prove that he did not lose the election .
`` You need a judge that 's willing to hear a case , '' he explained .
`` You need a Supreme Court that 's willing to make a real big decision based on everything . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to change my mind , '' the president continued .
`` In other words , my mind will not change in six months .
There was tremendous cheating here .
Boxes were brought in .
The mail-in vote is a disaster . ''
Trump went on to claim that there would never be `` another Republican elected in the history of this country '' if he is allowed to lose .
Before ending the interview , the president bragged about Republicans winning more House seats than they were expected to .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ? ''
he added despite the fact that control of the U.S. Senate has not been decided .
`` And I 'm the only one [ who lost ] .
They say it 's statistically impossible .
I led the charge .
We won state houses , we won Congress , we won the Senate .
And I lost . ''

President Donald Trump on Sunday vowed not to accept his 2020 election loss for at least six months.
The president made the remarks to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo in his first television interview since the election.
Trump said that he planned to "use 125% of my energy" to prove that he did not lose the election.
"You need a judge that's willing to hear a case," he explained. "You need a Supreme Court that's willing to make a real big decision based on everything."
"It's not like you're going to change my mind," the president continued. "In other words, my mind will not change in six months. There was tremendous cheating here. Boxes were brought in. The mail-in vote is a disaster."
Trump went on to claim that there would never be "another Republican elected in the history of this country" if he is allowed to lose.
Before ending the interview, the president bragged about Republicans winning more House seats than they were expected to.
"And we held the Senate, OK?" he added despite the fact that control of the U.S. Senate has not been decided. "And I'm the only one [who lost]. They say it's statistically impossible. I led the charge. We won state houses, we won Congress, we won the Senate. And I lost."


crooksandliars--2020-11-29--Walmart, McDonald's, Amazon, Dollar Tree, FedEx, Rely On Having Workers On SNAP And Medicaid

Government assistance is something that millions of Americans rely on .
This is not simply an issue of people who have gainful employment versus those who do not .
This is an issue of income inequality , stagnating wages , and employers who rely on welfare to heighten their profit margins .
Tens of millions of military families rely on SNAP assistance to make ends meet .
Politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders have called for the Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) to study the relationship between federal assistance programs and employers .
On Nov. 18 , GAO released their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work for such low wages that they must rely on federal assistance programs to scrape by .
Contradicting the conservative racist and classist fairytale , 70 % of Americans receiving federal assistance in some form or another work full time .
Of those Americans who are fully employed , most of them work in the private sector—the sector Republicans like to call the “ job creators.
” More than half of recipients of Medicaid and SNAP work 50 to 52 weeks a year .
For a reference point : There are only 52 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Washington Post points out , Walmart and McDonald ’ s are at the top of list of employers with business models that rely on the American taxpayer to pay for their workers ’ health , food , and housing .
A reminder here is that these are the Americans who work all of the jobs Americans rely on , so that we can use drive-thrus and eat things , walk into stores and buy things , and rush oneself or one ’ s kids into public bathrooms that have been cleaned .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the companies run by some of the wealthiest people in our country and the world .
Besides Walmart and McDonalds , “ Dollar Tree , Dollar General , Amazon , Burger King and FedEx ” also relied on underpaying large swaths of their workforce .
Up until last year , McDonald ’ s actively lobbied against raising the minimum wage across the country .
Of course , they aren ’ t raising their wages any time soon .
Of course , they ’ ve graciously offered to follow the law .
When asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prominence on the list , a spokesperson told WaPo : “ The average starting wage at U.S. corporate-owned restaurants is over $ 10 per hour and exceeds the federal minimum wage .
McDonald ’ s believes elected leaders have a responsibility to set , debate and change mandated minimum wages and does not lobby against or participate in any activities opposing raising the minimum wage.
” Walmart ’ s spokesperson took a different angle , saying much the same thing—that some of their employees “ comes to us on public assistance , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ owner , gives them a job .
It ’ s almost like the company that during a pandemic has generated a reported $ 5.14 billion in net income this last quarter is the Mahatma Gandhi of employers .
The positions that companies like Walmart and McDonald ’ s take are the same ones that have been taken by the gun industry and fossil fuel industry : They work to cast doubt on the chance that any legislation could possibly ameliorate anything because there is no panacea for this problem .
They ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t a single answer .
But the “ we have done nothing and nothing has worked ” answer is clearly making things worse .
Not better or even the same—worse .
Besides cutting back on social safety net programs , the only “ plan ” the Republican Party has been able to come up with in recent years is to pile on humiliation for those in need of a little help while taking away Americans ’ personal freedom to choose .
The Trump administration was not a creative administration .
They were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policies bottled into a more incompetent and transparently corrupt group of gangsters .
Besides attempting to cut back on food assistance programs during the pandemic they exacerbated , the best idea they came up with to ameliorate Americans ’ growing economic insecurity and anxiety was to offer up a Orwellian version of rationing .

Government assistance is something that millions of Americans rely on. This is not simply an issue of people who have gainful employment versus those who do not. This is an issue of income inequality, stagnating wages, and employers who rely on welfare to heighten their profit margins. Tens of millions of military families rely on SNAP assistance to make ends meet. Politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders have called for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the relationship between federal assistance programs and employers.
On Nov. 18, GAO released their findings on the millions of Americans who work for such low wages that they must rely on federal assistance programs to scrape by. Contradicting the conservative racist and classist fairytale, 70% of Americans receiving federal assistance in some form or another work full time. Of those Americans who are fully employed, most of them work in the private sector—the sector Republicans like to call the “job creators.” More than half of recipients of Medicaid and SNAP work 50 to 52 weeks a year. For a reference point: There are only 52 weeks in a year. And as The Washington Post points out, Walmart and McDonald’s are at the top of list of employers with business models that rely on the American taxpayer to pay for their workers’ health, food, and housing.
In the nine states that responded about SNAP benefits — Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington — Walmart was found to have employed about 14,500 workers receiving the benefit, followed by McDonald’s with 8,780, according to Sanders’s team. In six states that reported Medicaid enrollees, Walmart again topped the list, with 10,350 employees, followed by McDonald’s with 4,600.
A reminder here is that these are the Americans who work all of the jobs Americans rely on, so that we can use drive-thrus and eat things, walk into stores and buy things, and rush oneself or one’s kids into public bathrooms that have been cleaned. Not coincidentally, these are all of the companies run by some of the wealthiest people in our country and the world. Besides Walmart and McDonalds, “Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Amazon, Burger King and FedEx” also relied on underpaying large swaths of their workforce.
Up until last year, McDonald’s actively lobbied against raising the minimum wage across the country. Of course, they aren’t raising their wages any time soon. Of course, they’ve graciously offered to follow the law. When asked about the report and McDonald’s prominence on the list, a spokesperson told WaPo: “The average starting wage at U.S. corporate-owned restaurants is over $10 per hour and exceeds the federal minimum wage. McDonald’s believes elected leaders have a responsibility to set, debate and change mandated minimum wages and does not lobby against or participate in any activities opposing raising the minimum wage.”
Walmart’s spokesperson took a different angle, saying much the same thing—that some of their employees “comes to us on public assistance,” and Walmart, like a great plantation owner, gives them a job. It’s almost like the company that during a pandemic has generated a reported $5.14 billion in net income this last quarter is the Mahatma Gandhi of employers. The positions that companies like Walmart and McDonald’s take are the same ones that have been taken by the gun industry and fossil fuel industry: They work to cast doubt on the chance that any legislation could possibly ameliorate anything because there is no panacea for this problem. They’re right, of course; there isn’t a single answer. But the “we have done nothing and nothing has worked” answer is clearly making things worse. Not better or even the same—worse.
Besides cutting back on social safety net programs, the only “plan” the Republican Party has been able to come up with in recent years is to pile on humiliation for those in need of a little help while taking away Americans’ personal freedom to choose. The Trump administration was not a creative administration. They were simply a coarse version of existing Republican policies bottled into a more incompetent and transparently corrupt group of gangsters. Besides attempting to cut back on food assistance programs during the pandemic they exacerbated, the best idea they came up with to ameliorate Americans’ growing economic insecurity and anxiety was to offer up a Orwellian version of rationing.
Posted with permission from Daily Kos.


crooksandliars--2020-11-29--Trump Goes Off The Rails On Fox News And Suggests FBI Is 'Involved' In Stealing Election

In his first interview since losing to President-elect Joe Biden , President Donald Trump repeated false claims about voter fraud and suggested that the FBI was `` involved '' in stealing the election .
Trump made the claims while speaking to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo .
`` They send millions and millions and millions of mail-in ballots , '' Trump opined .
`` I 'm sure you know people that got two , three , four -- because I do .
They got four ballots .
They got one at a country home .
Dead people were seeing ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were applying to get a ballot .
They were making applications to get ballots .
Many .
And we 're not talking about 10 people , we 're talking -- there are a lot of dead people that so-called voted this election . ''
`` This is total fraud , '' he continued .
`` And how the FBI and Department of Justice -- I do n't know , maybe they 're involved .
But how people are allowed to get away with this stuff is unbelievable .
This election was rigged .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Trump also suggested that the judicial system had been rigged against him .
`` We go to judges and people do n't want to get involved , '' Trump remarked to Bartiromo .
`` The media does n't even want to cover it .
I mean , you 're doing something .
You 're actually very brave . ''

In his first interview since losing to President-elect Joe Biden, President Donald Trump repeated false claims about voter fraud and suggested that the FBI was "involved" in stealing the election.
Trump made the claims while speaking to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo.
"They send millions and millions and millions of mail-in ballots," Trump opined. "I'm sure you know people that got two, three, four -- because I do. They got four ballots. They got one at a country home. Dead people were seeing ballots. But even worse, dead people were applying to get a ballot. They were making applications to get ballots. Many. And we're not talking about 10 people, we're talking -- there are a lot of dead people that so-called voted this election."
"This is total fraud," he continued. "And how the FBI and Department of Justice -- I don't know, maybe they're involved. But how people are allowed to get away with this stuff is unbelievable. This election was rigged. This election was a total fraud."
Trump also suggested that the judicial system had been rigged against him.
"We go to judges and people don't want to get involved," Trump remarked to Bartiromo. "The media doesn't even want to cover it. I mean, you're doing something. You're actually very brave."


crooksandliars--2020-11-29--'We Need To Get Together': Fox News Doc Urges Christmas Parties Because COVID Is 'Like A Biblical Pl

'We Need To Get Together': Fox News Doc Urges Christmas Parties Because COVID Is 'Like A Biblical Plague'

Fox News doctor Marc Siegel on Sunday encouraged people to have gatherings for Christmas and Hanukkah because COVID-19 is `` almost like a biblical plague . ''
Siegel made the remarks during a Fox News segment on National Football League ( NFL ) players who he claimed are being `` punished '' by COVID-19 restrictions .
`` Do we want no Christmas ?
Do we want no Hanukkah ? ''
Siegel complained .
`` We 're praying for miracles right now to get us out of this COVID-19 pandemic .
It 's almost a biblical plague it seems like .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ world is to try to cancel holidays , '' he continued .
`` Should we try to navigate Christmas so there is less risk of spread ?
Smaller gatherings , wearing masks ?
Yes .
Should people be punished the way that the Denver Broncos are being punished for lack of a mask ?
No ! ''
Siegel went on to gripe that `` everything secular '' is the `` wrong idea '' in a pandemic .
`` We need to get together carefully , with social distancing , with masks and pray @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
`` But a really , really bad idea to cancel Christmas . ''

Fox News doctor Marc Siegel on Sunday encouraged people to have gatherings for Christmas and Hanukkah because COVID-19 is "almost like a biblical plague."
Siegel made the remarks during a Fox News segment on National Football League (NFL) players who he claimed are being "punished" by COVID-19 restrictions.
"Do we want no Christmas? Do we want no Hanukkah?" Siegel complained. "We're praying for miracles right now to get us out of this COVID-19 pandemic. It's almost a biblical plague it seems like."
"The worst thing in the world is to try to cancel holidays," he continued. "Should we try to navigate Christmas so there is less risk of spread? Smaller gatherings, wearing masks? Yes. Should people be punished the way that the Denver Broncos are being punished for lack of a mask? No!"
Siegel went on to gripe that "everything secular" is the "wrong idea" in a pandemic.
"We need to get together carefully, with social distancing, with masks and pray for the future here," he said. "But a really, really bad idea to cancel Christmas."