TALKIN’ POLITICS

Cook political Midwest races: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AXeZAkcuJTPPoCMTZZR2gH_02Po6rMac/view?usp=drive_link

• Iowa polling: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/house/2024/iowa/

Danforth blames Hawley: https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/04/jack-danforth-blames-josh-hawley-for-missourians-losing-out-on-radiation-compensation/

• Danforth instead of backing Kunce backs third party:https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/04/jared-young-hopes-to-build-momentum-for-third-party-senate-bid-with-jack-danforths-help/

Missouri Polling: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/2024/missouri/

Abortion: 
- Melania’s book and video

Reports that women seek sterilization: https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/03/more-women-are-seeking-sterilizations-post-dobbs-experts-say/

2024 Election Era: 

270 to win polling: https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/national

538: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/2024/national/

Job Numbers are in and they are stellar: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/04/september-jobs-report-economy-00182505

• Wage growth 4%, which is ahead of inflation
• Opinion lags reality, still hurts Harris in that way

Trump is a coward who wont’ debate Harris because he knows he can’t beat her: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4898291-bret-baier-trump-not-harris-debate-holdup-fox-news/

Trump caught on tape: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/04/trump-fundraiser-recording

Trump continues to be his own worst enemy: https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/national/national-politics/trump-has-hand-does-he-have-game

GOP endorsements for Harris 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/04/politics/trump-january-6-cheney-2024-analysis/index.html

Trump’s election litigation machine: https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/04/politics/trump-campaign-ground-game/index.html

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Special Counsel Filing: https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/73357920e3c8d739/8fc8bfd0-full.pdf

In a new poll from NPR 58% of Americans are concerned about voter fraud in 2024, with 86% of Republicans saying they are very concerned about voter fraud. 

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/03/nx-s1-5130284/election-concerns-voter-fraud-trump-harris-poll

One woman in Missouri, out of Columbia, has been charged now with felonies for forging false documents in her quest to prove that local officials were accepting bribes from undocumented mexicans to get liquor licenses for local mexican restaurants. 

https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/03/false-names-used-in-testimony-to-missouri-house-committee-studying-immigrant-crime/

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Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel
American Economic Liberties Project
"How the Google Antitrust Trials Could Save the Future of Journalism"
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/-ABBTNlf0CQ

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Rachel and Adam dive into two of the major upcoming SCOTUS cases including the review of Trump's ballot access and the Chevron deference @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads Co-Hosts Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85  (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Threads) Rachel Parker @msraitchetp   (Threads)  Sean Diller  (no social) The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today! JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium  http://www.americanaquarium.com/

SHOW NOTES

TALKIN’ POLITICS

Welcome to Missouri where our GOP supermajority puts the FUN in dysfunction. 

Quick Hit: Post Dobbs case rape related pregnancies https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/01/texas-has-the-most-rape-related-pregnancies-of-any-state-with-total-abortion-ban.html

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022, 14 states have instituted total abortion bans. Between July 2022 and January 2024, an estimated 65,000 women and girls in these states became pregnant as a result of rape, according to the study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

1. True Or False
   1. Colorado is on the verge of becoming a Democratic stronghold
      1. https://coloradonewsline.com/2024/01/25/colorado-gop-transformation-into-cult/
      2. Earlier this month, the Colorado Republican Party became only the second state party in the nation to endorse Donald Trump in his campaign to be president again. The state GOP’s own bylaws say it can’t take sides in a Republican primary contest. The party’s job is to support Republican candidates, not any particular Republican candidate, unless that candidate is unopposed.
2. Yeah…NO
   1. The fascists are driving off the good people
      1. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/25/us-legislators-elected-officials-abortion-gun-control?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
      2. A major survey by the Brennan Center for Justice released on Thursday warned that the spate of extremist intimidation that has been seen nationally in the US, epitomized by the attack on the Capitol building on 6 January 2021, is also sweeping local and state politics. In the fallout, elected individuals are limiting their interactions with constituents and narrowing the contentious topics they are prepared to take on.
3. Yeah… Yeah! 
   1. Tuition free journalism school
      1. https://www.axios.com/2024/01/25/cuny-journalism-school-craig-newmark-tuition-free
   2. 
       
4. Buy or Sell
   1. Political Media Will Be Completely Different By End Of This Decade
      1. https://www.semafor.com/article/01/21/2024/inside-the-collapsing-us-political-media-industrial-complex
5. The Big One
   1. Republicans across the country are having BIG feelings
   2. Michigan: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/25/rnc-kristina-karamo-michigan-republican?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
   3. Missouri: https://themissouritimes.com/senate-leadership-holds-press-conference/
      1. Then it kept getting worse: https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/25/missouri-senate-gop-warfare-escalates-with-suggestion-of-expelling-freedom-caucus-leader/
   4. Arizona: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/us/politics/kari-lake-arizona-gop.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
   5. 
       
6. 2024 Election Coverage Era
   1. GOP is having money troubles
      1. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/jan/26/rnc-seeking-new-credit-line-to-help-climb-out-of-m/
      2. 
          
   2. New Hampshire Results
      1. Biden wins big even as a write in - THIS is an actual “win”
      2. Haley performs well but Trump takes majority of delegates out of New Hampshire 
         1. Haley isn’t going anywhere either
            1. https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/politics/nikki-haley-trump-republican-primary/index.html
            2. But RNC would very much like her to do so
               https://www.semafor.com/article/01/24/2024/rnc-to-nikki-haley-drop-out

GOP proposing a move that let’s them move past democracy as a party and just declare a winner, which is really super cool: 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/politics/rnc-trump-presumptive-nominee-resolution/index.html

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A flyover from this week's top heartland stories including:

Missouri GOP in-fighting in full swing | In Iowa there’s something in the water… poop | Missouri Medicaid enrollees trapped in a nightmare | Kari Lake leaks a tape | CO House ditches Minority Leader Mike Lynch | Iowa anthem antics | Ted Cruz’s Democratic challenger in Texas | Missouri Senator Nick Schroer is a joke 

SOURCES: The Heartland Collective, Colorado News Line, Missouri Independent, New York Times, Iowa Capitol Dispatch

1. Throw The Bums Out! 
   1. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/25/missouri-senate-gop-warfare-escalates-with-suggestion-of-expelling-freedom-caucus-leader/
   2. The factional fights making the Missouri Senate a public spectacle are bad enough that Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin told reporters Thursday that she’d vote to expel the leader of the Freedom Caucus from the chamber.
   3. Speaking to the assembled editors and publishers from the Missouri Press Association during their annual visit to the Capitol, O’Laughlin noted that expelling a senator takes 23 votes of the 34-member chamber.
   4. “Two years ago, I said with 23 votes, you can throw somebody out of here,” she said. “And I would do it today.”
   5. Asked who she meant, O’Laughlin named Sen. Bill Eigel.
   6. “I would have to have 23 votes and get 23 votes, I’ll have to get some Democrats to vote for it and then I’ll have to give up something big,” O’Laughlin said. “So….everything here is a trade off you know.”
   7. Soon after the remarks were reported on social media by The Independent, the door to the Senate Lounge, where O’Laughlin was speaking, opened and a Senate doorman said Eigel wanted to talk to her on the floor.
   8. 
       
2. Must be something in the water… sadly, in Iowa it might be poop
   1. https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/01/25/state-issues-several-fines-for-manure-violations/
   2. From article: The Iowa Department of Natural Resources recently fined several livestock operations and a manure hauler for infractions that ranged from failing to submit animal waste management plans to a manure spill that resulted from a train collision.
   3. The crash happened in June 2023, when an employee of Magnum Custom Hauling, of South English, was transporting up to 6,000 gallons of manure in Marion County.
   4. Employee Deal Keasling was operating a tractor that pulled a manure spreader on a gravel road south of Pleasantville when he approached a railway and noticed a train, according to a DNR order.
   5. “When he saw the train, he realized he wasn’t going to be able to stop, so he basically floored it,” said Janet Gastineau, a senior environmental specialist for the DNR.
   6. There is a bend in the road at the railway intersection and wooded areas nearby that might have obscured Keasling’s view of the train, which struck the manure spreader. Keasling’s certification to handle the manure had expired, the order said.
   7. No one was injured, Gastineau said, but an unspecified amount of manure went into nearby Coon Creek. 
   8. Magnum and Keasling were ordered to pay a $4,975 fine.
   9. The DNR also recently fined five livestock operations for failing to submit required plans to manage their manure, which helps ensure the manure is not excessively applied to fields:
   10. 
        
3. Missouri medicaid system seems to have been broken from the inside
   1. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/23/perfect-storm-missouri-advocates-decry-medicaid-application-delays-coverage-losses/
   2. Hannah Kaplanis applied to Missouri’s Medicaid program nearly two months ago, but hasn’t received any response from the state.
   3. Just shy of 18 weeks pregnant, she’s in need of prenatal care and growing increasingly hopeless. Aside from a free ultrasound in November, she hasn’t been able to access any care. She called Missouri’s Medicaid helpline earlier this month but had to hang up after waiting on hold for 45 minutes, and she is unable to apply for other insurance until she is out of Medicaid limbo. 
   4. “It feels like I’m doing motherhood wrong already, but it’s out of my hands,” she said. “I’m at a loss. It’s just a waiting game and that gives me anxiety.”
   5. Jim Torres, program manager for health insurance services at Samuel Rodgers Health Center in Kansas City, helped Kaplanis submit her application and has been checking its status. He said that he hasn’t seen “any movement on her most recent application that was submitted on Dec. 4.” 
   6. Kaplanis’ struggles are not isolated. 
   7. Missourians trying to enroll in or retain Medicaid — the government-run health insurance program for low-income Americans — report running headlong into the state’s increasingly-strained system. Interviews with advocates, applicants, participants and experts reveal increased pressure on the state’s capacity has intensified bureaucratic hurdles to accessing Medicaid, which include lost and missing paperwork, indecipherable state notices and marathon call center wait times.
   8. “I’ve been doing this with my organization for 10 years now,” said Saralyn Erwin, a marketplace and Medicaid coordinator at Northeast Missouri Health Council who assists with applications and renewals, “and this is the worst that I have seen it.” 
4. GOP Chair in Arizona Resigns After Evidence of bribe to Kari Lake
   1. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/us/politics/kari-lake-arizona-gop.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
   2. The chairman of Arizona’s Republican Party resigned abruptly on Wednesday, a day after the publication of a 10-minute recording of a conversation between himself and Kari Lake, a former nominee for governor, in which he appeared to offer a bribe to persuade Ms. Lake to drop her 2024 Senate campaign.
   3. In the recording, which was published by The Daily Mail, Jeff DeWit, the chairman, tells Ms. Lake that there are “very powerful people that want to keep you out” of the race, and suggests he is passing on a message from them. He says he had been told to ask her: “Is there any companies out there or something that could just put her on the payroll and give her — to keep her out?”
   4. Later in the conversation, which Mr. DeWit repeatedly urges Ms. Lake not to repeat to anyone, he starts to ask, “Is there a number at which — ” before Ms. Lake interrupts, saying “I can be bought?” He replies, “Not be bought,” but instead wait a few years before running.
   5. Ms. Lake brushed off the attempts, repeatedly telling Mr. DeWit that she was offended by the approach. “That’s immoral — I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror,” she says, according to the recording.
5. The Colorado House GOP has a new leader… wonder why?
   1. https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/house-republicans-rose-pugliese-minority-leader/
   2. Colorado House Republicans chose state Rep. Rose Pugliese, a freshman lawmaker from Colorado Springs, as their new minority leader Thursday, a day after Rep. Mike Lynch stepped down following news of a 2022 drunken driving arrest.
   3. Pugliese had been serving as assistant minority leader.
6. Iowa Forced Patriotism In Schools
   1. https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/01/24/iowa-lawmakers-consider-requiring-students-teachers-sing-national-anthem-at-school-each-day/
   2. Iowa students would be required to sing part of the national anthem at school each day under a bill advanced Wednesday by a House Education subcommittee.
   3. Rep. Sue Cahill, D-Marshalltown, stood and led the room in singing the “The Star-Spangled Banner” during her closing comments.
   4. Cahill said she sang because “our Capitol is the perfect place to show patriotism,” but requiring the singing of the national anthem in school classrooms each day is not the best path forward as it would be “mandating patriotism for students.”
   5. “I think that’s something students choose and it’s something that they learn and they’ll learn it in other ways,” Cahill said.
   6. House Study Bill 587 would require students and teachers at Iowa public schools to sing at least one verse of the national anthem every day, in addition to singing all four verses of the song on “patriotic occasions” as well as at school functions or school-sponsored activities as determined by the district. Students and teachers would not be required to sing along, but would be required to stand at attention, remain silent and remove non-religious head coverings as the anthem is being sung.
   7. Private schools would be exempt from this requirement.
7. Allred Alright For Texas? 
   https://theheartlandcollective.com/2024/01/24/analysis-colin-allreds-chances-of-unseating-ted-cruz/
   1. Can Allred win? 
8. Missouri Dueling Club Opening Soon In Capitol Building Near You
   1. https://www.newsweek.com/missouri-republican-senators-duel-nick-schroer-1863838
   2. A ridiculous human being and MAGA stooge of a state senator in Missouri, who’s name is not important, offered a proposed new rule to allow for DUELING when the right wing snow flakes are insulted and get triggered
      1. His proposed amendment was posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Missouri Senate Democrats. It read: "If a senator's honor is impugned by another senator to the point that it is beyond repair and in order for the offended senator to gain satisfaction, such senator may rectify the perceived insult to the senator's honor by challenging the offending senator to a duel.
   3. What kind of duels? 
      Dueling pianos? Dueling banjos? Dual credit scholarships? Dual citizenship? Dual enrollment? 

Weekend plans?

Welp that’s it for this week. Stories in today’s show can be accessed at the Heartland Collective, Colorado Newsline, Missouri Independent, New York Times, Iowa Capitol Dispatch

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U.S. House Representative Colin Allred (D-Dallas) is the leading Democrat to take on Ted Cruz this November. Does the Democrat have any chance of unseating Lyin' Ted? Sean and Rachel look at election results from Democrats Beto O'Rourke and Joe Biden for recent clues. 

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The Delta is a part of The Heartland Collective. It is the "real - real" of life as a family in the "red states" region of the U.S., while keeping an eye on science, education, and the dynamics of raising kids a little off the center line. You know - LIFE. @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads Co-Hosts Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85  (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Threads) Rachel Parker @msraitchetp   (Threads)  Sean Diller  (no social) The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today! JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium  http://www.americanaquarium.com/

TALKIN’ POLITICS

Quick Hit: Memphis area bank hit for discriminatory red lining practices… in 2023 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/patriot-bank-pay-1-9m-211421738.html

1. True or False
   1.  The new tax bill including the child tax credit will be signed into law by January 29th? 
      1. Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/child-tax-credit-changes-2024-1862241
      2. Semafor: https://www.semafor.com/article/01/16/2024/top-lawmakers-release-bipartisan-tax-deal-expanding
2. Yea…Yeah!
   1. Missouri group’s abortion petition effort raised $1 Million in first day of existence 
      1. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/19/missouri-abortion-ballot-viabilty-effort-fundraises-1-million/
   2. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom
      1. https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/
      2. Amendment text: https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf
      3. The Heartland Collective Summary: https://theheartlandcollective.com/
      4. National Coverage: https://thehill.com/homenews/4415080-abortion-rights-advocates-single-ballot-measure-collect-signatures-missouri/
      5. 
          
      6. SEAN with your experience in the field, what are the best ways to help an effort like this? 
3. You Don’t F***ing Say
   1. Missouri GOP On The Struggle Bus
   2. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/18/tempers-flare-in-missouri-senate-during-gop-fight-over-initiative-petition-changes/
   3. Conservative Caucus, or freedom caucus, whatever they want to be called, they are pushing the IP reform HARD and especially in the face of organization on the abortion petition
      1. https://themissouritimes.com/press-release-missouri-freedom-caucus-calls-for-republican-leaders-to-follow-through-on-ip-reform/
   4. Meanwhile - they have not lost their zeal for filing anti-trans legislation
      1. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/19/missouri-anti-trans-legislation-this-year?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

2024 Election Coverage Era

1. DeEnd for DeSantis? Candidate appearances on Sunday shows cancelled this weekend 
2. Iowa has come and gone, Trump took majority, and New Hampshire is starting to feel like the chance for a narrative shift
   1. https://www.axios.com/2024/01/19/haleys-cautious-new-hampshire-primary-trump
   2. Haley sharpens attack https://x.com/nikkihaley/status/1748348447634100366?s=46&t=mukZUfs5M_R3E9tAHIu-GA
   3. 
       
   4. Real Clear politics has Haley at 33% and Trump at 49%
      1. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/
   5. One tracking poll has Trump up over 50%
      1. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/trump-slightly-increases-lead-over-haley-in-nh-according-to-latest-polling/3251887/
3. Third Party Law Suit https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/18/third-party-file-complaint-no-labels-2024-election?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
4. Trump’s defense on 14th amend case is a threat of violence https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/18/politics/14th-amendment-supreme-court-trump-colorado/index.html
5. 
    
6. Trump totally not looking like a mob boss as retribution is threatened for anyone who dare oppose him in the GOP: https://www.axios.com/2024/01/18/trump-campaign-revenge-desantis-iowa-bob-good
7. Trump’s Georgia Hail Mary: https://www.npr.org/2024/01/18/1225402050/georgia-trump-case-fani-willis-hearing-allegations
8. Lawmaker threats - the chaos, does it just turn folks off?
   1. https://www.alternet.org/direct-threats-against-lawmakers-surge/
9. Trump losing his GOP favorable stranglehold: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/favorability/donald-trump/
10. Fox and friends calling out a Trump lie
    1. https://www.meidastouch.com/news/fox-friends-says-trump-lied-about-nh-voting-laws
    2. This is what putative damages will do to you 
11. BIDEN
    1. Meanwhile Biden will be a write in in New Hampshire
       1. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/01/18/biden-new-hampshire-democratic-primary-ballot/72241066007/
    2. Primary schedule: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-primary-elections/calendar
    3. By the end of the day on Feb 3rd Biden will have a substantial lead in delegates after South Carolina and Nevada, with Michigan closing out February 
       1. Those three combined offer 208 delegates so the math will kick in and suddenly Biden will have a commanding lead prior to Super Tuesday 
    4. Plus a possible immigration bill, and now he’s on the offensive on the issue too
       1. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-says-senate-may-come-border-deal-early-week-rcna134832
    5. Biden trying to go full Bartlet with 2 state solution 
       1. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/us/politics/biden-calls-netanyahu-as-their-views-on-the-conduct-of-the-gaza-war-diverge.html
       2. 
           

That’s when the MONEY really begins to matter

NY  Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/15/us/politics/biden-fundraising-democrats.html

Biden has BY FAR the most cash on hand

Haley’s $ is not that far off from Trump

Last Call - NO LABELS

No labels gets sued https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/18/third-party-file-complaint-no-labels-2024-election

Phillips courting no labels https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/us/politics/dean-phillips-no-labels-biden.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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Friday News Flyover, January 19, 2024

Oil train delayed | Abortion rights advocates speak with Senators | Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and GOP-dominated legislature’s priorities | and OH Sen. Sherrod Brown and MO Rep. Jason Smith make big bi-partisan deal on Child Tax Credit

If you’re new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at thehearltandcollective.com 

This train is not leaving the station
Forest Service withdraws key permit for controversial Utah oil-train project opposed by Coloradans

Project would dramatically increase hazardous shipments through Colorado communities

BY: CHASE WOODRUFF - JANUARY 18, 2024 9:18 AM

A controversial Utah oil-train proposal opposed by Colorado communities and environmentalists was dealt another blow this week when the U.S. Forest Service withdrew a key permit for the project.

In an announcement published Wednesday, Ashley National Forest Supervisor Susan Eickhoff blocked the issuance of a permit to the Uinta Basin Railway to construct 12 miles of railroad track through a protected area of the national forest in northeast Utah. The stretch of track in question is part of the proposed railway’s 88-mile connection between the oil fields of eastern Utah’s Uinta Basin and the existing national rail network.

The project has drawn fierce opposition from Coloradans. A federal “downline analysis” estimated that 90% of the resulting oil-train traffic — as many as five fully loaded, two-mile-long trains of crude oil tankers per day — would be routed through environmentally sensitive and densely populated areas in Colorado, en route to oil refineries on the Gulf Coast. The oil trains would more than quadruple the amount of hazardous materials being shipped by rail through many Colorado counties.

Colorado’s Eagle County and five environmental groups sued to overturn the Uinta Basin Railway’s approval, and in August 2023 a panel of federal judges ruled that the approval process contained “numerous” and “significant” violations of the National Environmental Policy Act. The ruling vacated portions of the project’s environmental impact statement and ordered the federal Surface Transportation Board to redo its analysis of key environmental risks.

Because the Forest Service’s decision in August 2022 to grant a right-of-way permit to the project was based on that flawed analysis, the agency has withdrawn its decision pending further proceedings at the STB.

Ted Zukoski, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that sued to block the project. “This is wonderful news for the roadless forest in Utah’s Indian Canyon and the wildlife who call it home. It’s a victory for the Colorado River and nearby communities that would be threatened by oil train accidents and spills. If the oil train’s backers attempt to revive this dangerous scheme, we’ll be there to fight it again.”

In a press release, Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, who had urged multiple federal agencies to put a stop to the project, applauded the Forest Service’s move.

“A derailment along the headwaters of the Colorado River could have catastrophic effects for Colorado’s communities, water, and environment. I’m glad the Forest Service has taken this important step to protect the Colorado River and the tens of millions of people who depend on it.”

U.S. Senators and Abortion Rights Advocates Discuss State Abortion Access Limitations

BY: JENNIFER SHUTT - JANUARY 17, 2024

WASHINGTON — During a Capitol Visitors Center briefing, abortion rights advocates and Democratic U.S. Senators called for reinstating legal and safe abortion access nationwide. The nearly three-hour session featured physicians discussing the difficulties faced in states with restrictive abortion laws following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Dr. Austin Dennard, a Texas OB-GYN involved in a lawsuit against the state's abortion laws, spoke about the validity and personal nature of each abortion decision. He highlighted patients' fears about family planning in states with restrictive laws, noting the adverse impact on what should be a joyful life chapter.

The briefing preceded the annual anti-abortion March for Life, with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Chris Smith scheduled to speak. Senate Democrats criticized efforts to limit abortion access and discussed two upcoming Supreme Court cases with significant implications.

One case focuses on mifepristone, a key medication in abortion and miscarriage treatments, while the other revolves around the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). The Biden administration argues that EMTALA should protect doctors performing abortions as emergency medical treatment in states with strict anti-abortion laws.

Dr. Serina Floyd, a Washington, D.C. OB-GYN and Physicians for Reproductive Health fellow, expressed confusion over Republican efforts to target EMTALA, emphasizing the potential life-saving importance of emergency abortion care. She noted research indicating severe consequences for patients denied abortion access, including health risks, economic hardship, and staying in violent relationships.

Dr. Floyd advocated for non-interference from the government in medical decisions, stressing that patients are capable of making informed choices about their health and lives with their healthcare providers.

Senator Patty Murray of Washington highlighted her state's influx of abortion patients from restrictive states like Idaho. Murray and other senators at the briefing expressed concern that residents in states with abortion protections might not realize the impact of a potential nationwide abortion ban or Supreme Court decisions.

Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan pointed out that even states with constitutional reproductive rights, like Michigan, are not fully shielded from the effects of a national abortion ban. After hearing doctors' testimonies, Stabenow expressed astonishment at the challenges facing both physicians and women needing abortion access, questioning the progress made in women's rights, asking, “is it 2024 or are we back in 1984?”

Kansas Legislature Fast-Tracks Tax Reform Opposed by Governor Kelly

BY: TIM CARPENTER - JANUARY 17, 2024

TOPEKA — Kansas Republican legislative leaders are expediting a tax reform bill focusing on income and sales tax changes, including a single-rate state income tax of 5.25%, which Democratic Governor Laura Kelly has threatened to veto.

The bill, bypassing regular committee processes, is set for early-session debate in the Senate. 

The proposed tax overhaul would lead to a state revenue reduction exceeding $1.5 billion over three years, surpassing Governor Kelly's proposed $1 billion cut. The plan to implement a flat tax rate of 5.25%, replacing Kansas' three-rate income tax structure, has been met with opposition from Governor Kelly because it disproportionately benefits the wealthy.

The bill also proposes eliminating the state income tax on Social Security benefits, aligning with Kelly's proposal. Additionally, it seeks to remove the state sales tax on groceries starting April 1, advancing the timeline from the previously set January 1, 2025. The measure includes an exemption for the first $100,000 in state property taxes from all Kansas homeowners for school finance purposes, adjustable for inflation.

Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, both Republicans, view the bill as a compromise, claiming it addresses issues faced by retirees and families while tackling inflation.

Governor Kelly vetoed two major tax reform bills in 2023, which the Republican-dominated Legislature couldn't override. 

“We must get that money back into Kansans’ pockets — and we will —  in a fiscally responsible and targeted way,” Kelly said. “In a way that doesn’t threaten progress on all the other issues Kansans care about.  Unfortunately, that’s exactly what one proposal — the flat tax — would do. ”   

Kansas’ Governor Kelly calls for hearing on Medicaid expansion bill that would cover 150,000 Kansans

BY: RACHEL MIPRO - JANUARY 17, 2024 2:35 PM

     

TOPEKA — A Medicaid expansion proposal has been enrolled into state House and Senate committees despite continued opposition from top legislative Republicans. 

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who has spent the months leading up to the legislative session rallying across the state for Medicaid expansion, called for a hearing on the bill by Jan. 29. 

“It’s easy to sum up the Cutting Healthcare Costs for All Kansans Act: health care coverage for 150,000 Kansans, cost savings for everyone else. We protect our rural hospitals, and Kansas taxpayers pay nothing extra,” Kelly said in a Wednesday announcement of the proposal’s enrollment. “The legislature should listen to the over 70% of Kansans who support Medicaid Expansion and give this bill a hearing by Kansas Day.” 

 Rep. Vic Miller, D-Topeka, introduced the bill in the House Appropriations Committee and on the Senate side, Sen. Pat Pettey, D- Kansas City, introduced the bill into the Senate Ways and Means Committee. 

“Medicaid expansion is not only popular, but it saves lives, creates jobs and saves our rural hospitals. Hardworking Kansans shouldn’t die because of legislative inaction,” Miller said.

Medicaid expansion would unlock $700 million in annual federal funding and could potentially save 59 rural hospitals at risk of closing. Kelly unveiled her latest Medicaid expansion package in December, but Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins remain opposed to expansion, calling the move a way to expand the “welfare state.” 

Lawmakers last came close to expansion in 2020, when former Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning worked out a bipartisan deal with Kelly. But the deal fell apart as Republicans, outraged by a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy, focused on placing a constitutional amendment on abortion before voters instead,

Child Tax Credit and Business Incentives Merged in New Tax Proposal

BY: ASHLEY MURRAY - JANUARY 16, 2024

WASHINGTON — Leading members of Congress released a bipartisan, bicameral tax proposal Tuesday, promising a middle-path deal to help low-income families and provide incentives for businesses as Trump-era tax breaks expire.

The framework led by U.S. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri would raise the child tax credit incrementally through 2025 and restore tax relief for affordable housing projects.

The three-year proposal would also make exempt disaster payments to wildfire victims and to those who suffered losses after the massive train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. 

Sen. Wyden, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said in a statement that “(f)ifteen million kids from low-income families will be better off as a result of this plan, and given today’s miserable political climate, it’s a big deal to have this opportunity to pass pro-family policy that helps so many kids get ahead.”

Democrats have been pushing to permanently raise the tax credit that low-income families receive per child after a temporary increase during the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated significant reductions in child poverty. 

Wyden also praised the deal’s potential to spur affordable housing construction and said that his goal “remains to get this passed in time for families and businesses to benefit in this upcoming tax filing season, and I’m going to pull out all the stops to get that done.”

Rep. Jason Smith, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said “American families will benefit from this bipartisan agreement that provides greater tax relief, strengthens Main Street businesses, boosts our competitiveness with China, and creates jobs.”

“We even provide disaster relief and cut red tape for small businesses, while ending a COVID-era program that’s costing taxpayers billions in fraud. This legislation locks in over $600 billion in proven pro-growth, pro-America tax policies with key provisions that support over 21 million jobs. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this legislation,” Smith continued in a statement Tuesday.

And for those who file 1099 forms, a provision tucked away in the framework would increase the threshold to file to $1,000 from the current $600.

The proposal won praise from across the tax policy spectrum.

Business Roundtable, an advocacy organization representing a wide range of U.S. CEOs, described the deal’s pitch to revive expired pro-business policies as “critical to strengthening America’s global competitiveness.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat and key supporter of the child tax credit, urged his colleagues to pass the deal, calling it a “win-win for Ohio families and Ohio manufacturers.”

Sen. Brown said, “The deal’s expansion of the Child Tax Credit will help parents keep up with the rising cost of living and ensure that their hard work pays off. The business provisions will support American companies that invest in our nation’s research and manufacturing. The deal also ensures that residents of East Palestine won’t get hit with a surprise tax bill for payments they received from Norfolk Southern after last year’s derailment.”

Pretty, pret-ty good. 

Welp that’s it for me, from Denver I’m Sean Diller. Stories in today’s show can be found in the Missouri Independent, Ohio Capital Journal, Kansas Reflector and Michigan Advance. Thanks for listening, see you next time.

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Rachel Parker chats with Adam Sommer about the Open AI lawsuits and what they might mean, legally speaking. @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads Co-Hosts Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85  (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Threads) Rachel Parker @msraitchetp   (Threads)  Sean Diller  (no social) The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today! JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium  http://www.americanaquarium.com/

Information on Missouri Jobs For Justice

https://mojwj.org/

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E6odXv01lThQkYROK8zzxkFQs4kxq6xk/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102311580941791884030&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/support-missouri-jobs-with-justice-voter-action

Learn more at www.theheartlandcollective.com  and find Glenn directly with laborfront.com

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TALKIN’ POLITICS

Quick Hit: Missouri GOP working extra to move public school funding to private hands

https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/10/missouri-senate-panel-debates-expanding-tax-credit-scholarships-for-private-school-tuition/

1. True or False
   1. The St. Louis Cardinals will bring sports betting to Missouri
      1. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/12/st-louis-cardinals-lead-missouris-major-teams-to-launch-initiative-on-sports-betting/
      2. 
          
2. Yeah, No… 
   1. The state of political coverage at the moment
      1. Trying to make a conversation that doesn’t exist?
      2. Rachel slack message: We are at the stage of the cycle where all articles have 200-ish words of info about anything related to the actual meat of the article, followed by 750 words about opinion polls. No fucking wonder people tune out.
3. Isn’t It Ironic…
   1. Missouri AG office requiring training for Sunshine violations
   2. https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2024/01/12/willard-officials-will-undergo-sunshine-law-training-after-complaints/72188733007/?utm_source=pspr-DailyBriefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-briefing&utm_term=hero&utm_content=1042NL-E-NLETTER65
   3. From Article
      1. After receiving a letter from the Missouri Attorney General's Office, city leaders in Willard will have to undergo Sunshine Law training.
      2. A letter issued by the AG's office notes two complaints were filed in October about the way Willard Board of Aldermen agendas were constructed. The first complaint came in regard to the letter of impeachment presented to former mayor Sam Snider during the Sept. 25 meeting, which was not included in the agenda.
4. Buy or Sell
   1. Bipartisan Action on child tax credit
      1. https://newrepublic.com/post/178014/child-tax-credit-congress-2024
      2. From article
         1. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, a Democrat, and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, a Republican, have been negotiating an agreement for several months, and lawmakers believe that they are close to creating compromise legislation amenable to both parties.
5. 2024 Election Coverage Era `
   1. Trump hurling conspiracy theories
      1. https://www.axios.com/2024/01/12/trump-nikki-haley-birther-conspiracy
   2. Iowa day for GOP!   NPR think piece https://www.npr.org/2024/01/13/1224412456/2024-election-american-values
   3. Polling - Haley supporters are more likely to break Biden than Trump
      1. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/poll-nearly-half-haleys-iowa-backers-say-ll-vote-biden-trump-rcna133821
      2. 
          
   4. Jan 6th not going away and Trump is making it part of his platform
      1. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/13/trump-january-6-rioters-hostages?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
      2. Pardons dangled as well
   5. Primary schedule
      1. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-primary-elections/calendar
   6. More student loan action from biden
      1. https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/biden-announces-plan-to-cancel-some-student-loan-balances-under-12000/
   7. Biden moving on MJ? 
      1. https://dnyuz.com/2024/01/12/federal-scientists-conclude-there-is-credible-evidence-for-certain-medical-uses-of-marijuana/
   8. Kerry out, feels like a 2024 move 
      1. https://t.co/TDbwaT7Dd3

Special special Trump moment 

https://x.com/atrupar/status/1746621767030812834?s=46&t=mukZUfs5M_R3E9tAHIu-GA

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Adam and Sean start a breakdown of the electoral college and senate seats that are catching their eyes in 2024@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads Co-Hosts Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85  (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Threads) Rachel Parker @msraitchetp   (Threads)  Sean Diller  (no social) The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today! JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium  http://www.americanaquarium.com/

Friday Flyover of politics and elections news from America's heartland | TX GOP Rep Chip Roy says he'd boot MAGA Mike over funding bill | Missouri Sec of State on track to waste more money and lose more court cases | Lauren Boebert switches districts, CO GOP Rep Doug Lamborn announces retirement

SOURCES: The Heartland Collective, Axios, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri Independent, Fox17 WZTV Nashville, Iowa Capitol Dispatch

1. Is Speaker Mike Johnson Already on the way out? https://www.axios.com/2024/01/11/mike-johnson-house-speaker-motion-vacate
   1. From Article

Driving the news: A dozen right-wing House Republicans blocked a package of their party's bills and ground the House floor to a sudden halt on Wednesday in protest of Johnson's spending deal with Senate Democrats.

• It's a repeat of of what hardliners did under former Speaker McCarthy over his bipartisan debt ceiling deal – which ultimately foreshadowed his removal months later through a motion to vacate.
• The move came as Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) has been flirting with the idea of trying to remove Johnson, saying in a radio interview on Tuesday: "If they totally botch [the appropriations bills] ... I don't know why we would keep him as speaker."
• One Republican leadership ally described the revolt as a "shot across the bow."

1. Missouri AG and recent melted blob of flesh on CNN, Jay Ashcroft, gets smacked down in court
   https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/judge-rejects-jay-ashcroft-s-bid-to-dismiss-high-profile-lawsuit-against-his-office/article_01f1fdc6-af1c-11ee-8076-27fdb2bf7fa8.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share
   1. Complaint https://business.cch.com/srd/20231023_SIFMA-v-Ashcroft_amended-complaint.pdf
   2. From the article
      1. A federal judge rejected an effort by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to dismiss a lawsuit against his office over new, politically charged rules aimed at limiting the impact of environmental, social and governance factors in investment decisions.
      2. In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Steven Bough ruled unanimously in favor of a trade group that is suing the Republican gubernatorial candidate and his office on the grounds that the rule imposed by Ashcroft fails to acknowledge that federal law already requires financial advisers to act in the best interest of their clients when providing personalized investment advice.
      3. “The court finds that Plaintiff adequately alleges that the rules violate the First Amendment,” Bough wrote. “The court finds that Plaintiff adequately alleges that the rules are unconstitutionally vague.”
      4. And Bough said the trade organization can continue its pursuit of the case because it has the legal standing to represent financial advisers who object to Ashcroft’s rule.
      5. Ashcroft issued the rules — the first in the nation — after a similar “anti-woke” investing proposal died in the Legislature last year.
      6. Ashcroft, who is facing Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Sen. Bill Eigel in the August 2024 GOP primary, has used the lawsuit to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign, where culture war issues have played a prominent role.
      7. And, he is using taxpayer funds to pay a campaign donor to represent his office in the lawsuit.
      8. Instead of using the Missouri attorney general’s office to fight the challenge to the rules, Ashcroft hired the politically connected Kansas City law firm of Graves Garrett to represent his office.
      9. Law firm partner Todd Graves, a former head of the Missouri Republican Party, was named to the University of Missouri board of trustees in 2021 and Greim was mentioned as a possible pick for attorney general when Eric Schmitt vacated the post to become U.S. senator in 2021.
      10. Greim also represented the Office of the Governor in 2018 when former Gov. Eric Greitens was under investigation for possible impeachment.
2. Tennessee Dems Pushing Back on Abortion Bans With New Reproductive Rights Bills
   1. The bill is sponsored by new Tenn. Dem. State rep, Aftyn Behn, who can be heard at length on this week’s episode of the Dirt Road Democrat with Jess Piper
   2. https://fox17.com/news/local/2024-nashville-tennessee-rep-introduces-new-abortion-reproductive-rights-bill-politics-general-assembly-government-davidson-county-middle-tn
   3. From Article
      1. A new abortion bill aims to amend Tennessee's current law which bans the procedure in early stages of pregnancy.
      2. House Bill 1626 enacts the "Fundamental Right to Reproductive Health Care Act," meaning the state cannot interfere with abortion services because it falls under an individual's "fundamental right."
      3. The bill states every person has a right to make decisions about their reproductive health care, including "the fundamental right to use or refuse contraceptive procedures or contraceptive supplies as defined in 68-34-102." It adds a pregnant person has a right to continue a pregnancy or to terminate it.
   4. 
       
3. Michigan GOP Collapsing? 
   1. https://theheartlandcollective.com/2024/01/09/michigan-gop-is-collapsing-in-on-itself/
   2. From article:
      1. Jason Roe, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican party, said an effective new leader could help the party “right the ship” before the November 2024 elections, but that a drawn-out fight in court could hinder that progress.
      2. To date, the chaos engulfing the party has prevented it from fulfilling its traditional role of organizing and fundraising for Republican candidates, former party officials have said.
      3. “I think the chaos is far from over,” Roe said. “If this turns out to be a binding vote, I don’t think she [Karamo] or her supporters will go quietly and there will probably continue to be skirmishes throughout the election cycle.”
      4. 
          
4. Boebert Says Bye Bye - Tucks Tail And Seeks Easier Path Back To DC
   1. In a move stunning no one, CO GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, best known for her lewd and lascivious behavior, plus that time she cranked her dates honker in public, is running from the fight in her seemingly doomed reelection bid in the Colorado 3rd against Adam Frisch
      1. Article on THC
         1. https://theheartlandcollective.com/2023/12/29/lauren-boebert-says-bye-bye-to-her-current-swing-district-and-hello-to-colorados-4th/
         2. Frisch was close to winning in 2022 and most assumed he would take the 2024 race against the highly damaged Boebert
         3. The seat in the 3rd was home to Ken Buck who’s own failed speaker bid was his last hurrah as he calls it quits. 
5. Missouri water way gets needed recognition, but for horrible reasons
   1. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/08/coldwater-creek-to-finally-have-warning-signs-after-decades-of-nuclear-contamination/
   2. Nuclear waste stored outside St. Louis was found to pose a risk to nearby Coldwater Creek as early as 1949. The contaminated creek will finally have warning signs almost 75 years later.
   3. From article
      1. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement Monday that it was working with the Environmental Protection Agency to add signs along the creek to help it monitor areas “that may pose a risk if disturbed.”
      2. Coldwater Creek has been contaminated for decades with radioactive waste left over from the World War II-era effort to build an atomic bomb. But though the creek winds through some of St. Louis’ busiest suburbs and past public parks and schools, the federal government had resisted calls to post signs warning visitors of the contamination.
      3. “This is decades of potential exposure that could have been prevented that they drug their feet on,” said Dawn Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms STL, an organization formed to advocate for communities affected by St. Louis-area radioactive waste.
      4. Despite the delays, Chapman said she’s thankful that the signs are finally going to be installed. 
      5. The St. Louis area has long struggled with a radioactive waste problem. Uranium for the Manhattan Project, the name given to the effort to develop the first atomic bomb, was refined in downtown St. Louis.
      6. After World War II, radioactive waste left over from those efforts was trucked to the St. Louis airport and dumped — some on the open ground and some in barrels — next to Coldwater Creek. As early as 1949, Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, the company that refined uranium for the federal government, was aware the waste could escape the barrels it was stored in and contaminate the nearby creek
      7. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry concluded in 2019 that children and adults who played in or near Coldwater Creek or lived in its floodplain between the 1960s and 1990s may have been exposed to radioactive materials that raise the risk of certain cancers. The agency — part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — recommended signs be placed along the creek to warn residents of the potential exposure risk.
      8. The Army Corps said there was nothing specific that caused the agency to change its mind on installing the signs. The decision was “driven by our commitment to continuous improvement,” George Stringham, a spokesman for the Army Corps, said in an email. 
6. Stringham said the Army Corps would “continue to prioritize the health and safety of the community.”
7. Iowa - Gov. proposed budget is a major cut for higher ed
   1. https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/01/10/gov-kim-reynolds-budget-for-state-universities-falls-30m-short-of-regents-request/
   2. From article: 
      1. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has proposed allocating about $30 million less than what the Iowa Board of Regents requested for itself and the universities next year, though each of the universities would receive some increase in state funding.
      2. Reynolds’ budget proposal, released Monday, included recommendations for administering money from the state’s general fund and other sources to the regents, the University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University. The regents requested just over $609 million from the state’s general fund and about $40 million from other state sources. Reynolds recommended allocating almost $619 million.
8. Colorado - Congresswoman Diana DeGette introduces discharge petition to ban high-capacity magazines:
   1. https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/degette-house-vote-high-capacity-magazine-ban/
   2. From article:
      1. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette used a mechanism in the House of Representatives that would force a vote on a bill without leadership’s approval to bring forward a vote on a gun safety bill. 
      2. DeGette, who represents Denver in Congress, alongside House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chair Mike Thompson, a California Democrat, filed a discharge petition to force a vote on the Keep Americans Safe Act. 
      3. The bill would ban large capacity magazines - those that can hold 30-100 rounds - with a few exceptions and will likely struggle to get through the Republican-controlled House.
      4. DeGette said high-capacity magazines were used in all of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in the country. She said the only purpose of these magazines is to kill a lot of people in a short amount of time. “These events continue to re-traumatize our community and our nation, because no community has been untouched by this deadly epidemic,” DeGette said. “In mass shootings with four or more people killed between 2015 and 2022, high-capacity magazines led to more than twice as many people being killed and nearly 10 times as many people being wounded per incident on average.”
      5. The petition requires 218 signatures to force a vote on the floor, and with 213 Democrats in the House, at least five Republicans would need to sign. DeGette said she thinks some Republicans in the House represent districts impacted by mass shootings and may be under pressure from their constituents to ban high-capacity magazines. 
      6. U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Centennial Democrat, joined DeGette and members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol after DeGette filed the petition and applauded Colorado leadership for its gun safety measures, particularly banning high-capacity magazines. 
      7. “In Colorado, we are fortunate to have a state legislature focused on gun reform when Congress fails to make significant change due to Republican stonewalling over and over again,” Crow said. 
      8. Crow highlighted several high-profile mass shootings in Colorado where the perpetrator used high capacity magazines: the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting, the 2021 Boulder King Soopers shooting, and the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs. 

Closing Note: Doing anything this weekend? 

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US Ag Department report on Inflation Reduction Act
 

 

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Sean Diller  (no social)

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1. Kicking off 2024 with a YEAH YEAH…
   1. Court blocks Iowa's "staggeringly broad" book bans, teaching restrictions
   2. https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2023/12/31/court-blocks-iowas-staggeringly-broad-book-bans-teaching-restrictions/
   3. LAURA lead off 
2. True or False: Farmland issues are causing a shift in heartland politics
   1. Nebraska - who’s buying the land? 
      1. https://flatwaterfreepress.org/whos-buying-nebraska-corporations-investors-grabbing-giant-chunks-of-nebraska-farmland/
   2. Missouri price issues
      1. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/01/boom-or-bubble-high-missouri-farmland-prices-encourage-investors-concern-farmers/
3. Parson issues executive order, no foreign ownership of farmland within 10 miles of military installations, asking for administrative rules to be adopted, received with a resounding bipartisan popcorn fart
   1. https://www.missourinet.com/2024/01/03/parson-executive-order-bans-foreign-ownership-of-ag-land-near-military-sites/
4. You Don’t F***in Say
   1. VP Harris is out stumping for abortion rights as 2024 heats up
      1. https://www.missourinet.com/2024/01/03/parson-executive-order-bans-foreign-ownership-of-ag-land-near-military-sites/
      2. Florida ballot initiative on abortion is a sign for every other state to get moving and get it on the ballot
         1. https://www.axios.com/2024/01/05/florida-abortion-ballot-vote-2024
5. Buy or Sell: SCOTUS dumps Trump
   1. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-insurrection-2024-election-0baac5ba0c1868e437e365af17eeab24
   2. MissourinSOS to retaliate for Trump by taking Biden off the ballot, which is an oddly hilarious undercut of their entire argument 
      1. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/missouri-republican-secretary-of-state-biden-trump-ballot-rcna132600?taid=6598b42c6621b500019d8287&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
   3. Retired Federal judge who advised Pence makes the argument on how clear the 14th applies to Trump
      1. https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4393472-former-federal-judge-trump-14th-amendment-supreme-court-colorado/
6. Big One: It is officially 2024
   1. Biden’s Valley Forge speech - quite a moment or just a quiet moment?
      1. Transcript 
         1. https://apnews.com/article/biden-speech-valley-forge-trump-campaign-bda2293cac2b30e49157c2e6fb256d64
         2. Adam’s fave quote: In trying to rewrite the facts of January sixth, Trump was trying to steal history, the same way he tried to steal the election.
         3. Most satisfying quote: Trump exhausted every legal avenue available to him to overturn the election. Every one, but the legal path just took Trump back to the truth, that I’d won the election and he was a loser.
   2. Trump responded by making fun of Joe’s stutter and then calling for a civil war and blaming Lincoln for the first civil war for failing to negotiate well. 
   3. CHIPS act, and Inflation reduction act impacts are starting to hit
   4. Job numbers, good. Inflation: Down. Gas prices: Down. Unemployment: Down
   5. https://www.axios.com/2024/01/04/biden-factory-spending-manufacturing-chips
      1. CHIPS act is building factories in America, american jobs!
   6. Trump camp attacking economy: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4390967-trump-campaign-biden-economy-democracy-jan-6/
   7. NY Times - comparing today to 1948?https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/upshot/2024-election-biden-truman-economy.html
      1. From article: If there’s a time that might make sense of today’s political moment, postwar America might just be it. Many analysts today have been perplexed by public dissatisfaction with the economy, as unemployment and gross domestic product have remained strong and as inflation has slowed significantly after a steep rise. To some, public opinion and economic reality are so discordant that it requires a noneconomic explanation, sometimes called “vibes,” like the effect of social media or a pandemic hangover on the national mood.
      2. But in the era of modern economic data, Harry Truman was the only president besides Joe Biden to oversee an economy with inflation over 7 percent while unemployment stayed under 4 percent and G.D.P. growth kept climbing. Voters weren’t overjoyed then, either. Instead, they saw Mr. Truman as incompetent, feared another depression and doubted their economic future, even though they were at the dawn of postwar economic prosperity.

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Flyover Friday, December 22, 2023

 

SOURCES: The Heartland Collective, Wisconsin Examiner, Missouri Independent, River Front Times, Kansas Reflector 

1. The saga of a STL bar owner and police crash continues
   1. https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/st-louis-police-didnt-do-toxicology-test-after-bar-pm-crash-41488321
   2. From article: The St. Louis police officer behind the wheel of the SUV that smashed into Bar:PM in the early hours of Monday morning had no toxicology test done on him in the wake of the incident.
   3. At their weekly briefing, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Lieutenant Colonel Renee Kriesmann said that no such test was conducted on the officer because the police only do those tests when there is a "reasonable suspicion" of drug or alcohol use, which police didn't feel was the case following the crash.
   4. The fact that police crashed their vehicle into the LGBTQ bar and then arrested one of its co-owners, Chad Morris, made news nationwide and drew condemnation from city leaders. President of the Board of Aldermen Megan Green wrote on twitter that the "incident demonstrates the need for greater oversight of law enforcement — citizen oversight in particular."
2. Missouri GOP loses again, in Court
   1. https://theheartlandcollective.com/2023/12/19/missouri-gop-loses-in-court-again/
   2. From Article: This past January, a law went into effect that the degenerate GOP Missouri lawmakers passed into law in 2022. Said (and now overturned, we’ll get to that in a sec) law criminalized sleeping on state-owned land, making that a Class C misdemeanor. Cities, per this ridiculous travesty of a law, could have been penalized by our unelected attorney general if the law wasn’t enforced.
   3. Advocates for unhoused people took immediate action, filing suit against the state. In a unanimous decision, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the law. This is a win for the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, a Springfield homeless shelter, and Public Citizen Litigation Group. Because the bill was passed as an amendment to another piece of legislation, the court found that it violated a constitutional mandate for legislation to have a “single subject and clear purpose.”
   4. In the unanimous opinion, Judge Paul C. Wilson wrote: “It takes an extraordinary showing to convince this court to engage in judicial surgery to save a bill infected with the otherwise fatal constitutional disease of multiple subjects…and no effort was made by any party to make such a showing here.”
   5. Unlike my producer Adam Sommer, I don’t speak law for a living, but I’m pretty sure that a unanimous court opinion citing “fatal constitutional disease” is…bad. That’s bad, right?

 

1. President Biden made a stop in Wisconsin recently
   1. https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/12/20/bidens-wisconsin-visit-highlights-black-small-business-growth-milwaukee-revitalization-project/
   2. From Article: With his visit to Milwaukee, including a talk at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce as well as a stop at the shop of a Black plumbing contractor, President Joe Biden underscored his administration’s economic focus on the middle class Wednesday.
   3. Biden touted the addition of 15 million jobs since he took office after the brief COVID-19 pandemic recession. “We’re doing it by building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down.  Not a whole lot trickled down on my dad’s kitchen table with a top-down economy,” he said. “But when you [build from the middle], when you increase the middle class, the poor have a shot and the wealthy still do very well, the middle class does well, and we all do well.”
   4. In his remarks to the chamber, Biden highlighted the administration’s $15 billion project to replace lead pipes across the country, including in Milwaukee, part of the bipartisan infrastructure law enacted in 2021.
   5. 
       
2. Missouri GOP Speaker of the House spent $29,000 tax payer money on furniture, including $5,000 for a custom fridge cabinet
   1. https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/20/in-a-statehouse-short-on-space-dean-plocher-converted-an-office-into-a-liquor-pantry/
   2. From article: For four years, state Rep. Mike Stephens occupied prime real estate on the third floor of the Missouri Capitol.
   3. His office in room 306B certainly wasn’t the biggest in the space-starved statehouse, where staff often work out of musty, windowless rooms, and many lawmakers are stacked on top of each other in non-ADA compliant mezzanines. 
   4. House Speaker Dean Plocher took over that space and converted it into what has been jokingly referred to as his “butler’s pantry,” a makeshift storage room stocked with liquor, beer, wine and soda to complement the supply in his office.
   5. The move was part of a $60,000 renovation of Plocher’s office in late 2022 and early 2023, paid for with public funds by the House. Half the costs stemmed from expenses resulting from repairs to walls, baseboards and ceilings in the speaker’s office. 
   6. The other half, according to records obtained by The Independent through Missouri’s Sunshine Law, went towards new furnishings — to the tune of about $29,000, including $8,600 for a black leather sofa and armchairs, $2,500 for a new walnut table, $2,500 for a refrigerator with an ice maker, $5,000 for a custom cabinet to hold the refrigerator and $385 for two walnut trash can bins.

 

1. Kansas Gov Kelly Stands Firm On Education and Medicaid
   1. https://kansasreflector.com/2023/12/21/kelly-not-drawn-to-horse-trade-compromise-on-school-choice-to-win-medicaid-expansion/
   2. From article: Top priorities of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican Senate President Ty Masterson collide in January when the Kansas Legislature convenes for the 2024 session.
   3. Kelly left no doubt her central objective would be to convince at least 63 representatives and 21 senators — simple majorities of the House and Senate — to vote for passage of a bill expanding eligibility for government health benefits through Medicaid to 150,000 lower-income Kansans.
   4. Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, the GOP centers of power in the Capitol, are committed to advancing a bill delivering millions in state tax dollars to private schools through scholarships, savings accounts or vouchers. Their numerical challenge is bigger than Kelly’s. They’ll likely need two-thirds majorities — 84 in the House, 27 in the Senate — to override a Kelly veto on private school funding.

 

1. Finally, reporting in Missouri is highlighting a private group working hard to push private religious schooling and its connections to other “school choice” organizations
   1. https://missouriindependent.com/2023/07/10/nonprofit-near-kansas-city-seeks-to-become-epicenter-of-the-school-choice-movement/
   2. From article: The headquarters of the Herzog Foundation sits on the edge of Smithville, in an 18,000-square-foot stone and glass building on a corner lot across the street from a cornfield on a gravel-lined highway.
   3. Few Missouians have likely heard of the Stanley M. Herzog Charitable Foundation, or the organization’s namesake. But the unassuming locale masks what has been described as the “epicenter of the school-choice movement.”
   4. Stan Herzog’s political largesse bankrolled a generation of conservative candidates and causes in Missouri, pouring through a constellation of political action committees and nonprofits. When he died in 2019, he set aside $300 million to start a foundation dedicated to expanding the reach of Christian education.
   5. That mission kicked into overdrive in 2021, when Missouri lawmakers created a tax credit to support scholarships to help low-income students and those with disabilities attend private schools. Since then, a subsidiary of the Herzog Foundation has distributed almost half of the scholarships in the state.

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PAT GAROFALO

Pat Garofalo is the Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. Pat is the author of The Billionaire Boondoggle: How Our Politicians Let Corporations and Bigwigs Steal Our Money and Jobs. Prior to joining Economic Liberties, Pat served as managing editor for Talk Poverty at the Center for American Progress.

Previously, Pat was assistant managing editor for opinion at U.S. News & World Report and economic policy editor at ThinkProgress, and his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Nation, The Guardian, and The Week, among others.

You can reach Pat at pgarofalo@economicliberties.us.

Article: https://boondoggle.substack.com/p/google-and-how-the-antitrust-sausage

 

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Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium 

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Glenn Kage, Jr. is joined for a talk about how labor intersects with politics Adam Moore is a candidate for State Representative in Kentucky’s 45th District, on the outskirts of the Lexington, KY area. Social media links as well as his Act Blue links are on his website. https://www.kydeservesmoore.com/home @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads Co-Hosts Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85  (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Threads) Rachel Parker @msraitchetp   (Threads)  Sean Diller  (no social) The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today! JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium  http://www.americanaquarium.com/

True or False

The progressive purity tests are hamstringing pragmatic solutions on abortion in Missouri.

• Quade statement and plan for resolution 

• Planned Parenthood Great Planes says on their website: Strong advocacy for reproductive rights in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma
•  ACLU seems absent in the moment
• Simply a case of folks realizing it’s time to swallow some pride and get the job done?
• Adam’s take: Failure on this topic is an epitaph - here lies abortion access for women in Missouri, killed by the STL clubhouse political mentality that continues to see outlying Missouri as an afterthought
• At least Quade forces the discussion, which Republicans cannot win
• https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/15/republicans-abortion-kate-cox-00131921

Contact PP: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-great-plains

Yeah… No 

Another abhorrent story of criminalizing women for being pregnant while stripping away their access to health care comes out of Ohio this time

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/she-miscarried-in-her-bathroom-now-she-s-charged-with-abuse-of-a-corpse/ar-AA1lxOeB

From article: Brittany Watts was still hooked to an IV, sick for almost a week from a potentially fatal miscarriage, when a detective from the Warren Police Department in Ohio stepped into her hospital room. He assured her that she wasn’t in any trouble.

For more than an hour, Detective Nick Carney interviewed Watts, 33, about the details of that morning and the whereabouts of the nearly 22-week-old fetus that was declared nonviable two days earlier. As Watts described miscarrying in her bathroom, a nurse at Mercy Health — St. Joseph Warren Hospital rubbed her shoulders and told her everything would be okay, Watts told The Washington Post in a series of text messages.

Comes on the heels of learning that SCOTUS is taking up a case on Mifepristone access 

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/13/us-supreme-court-to-decide-fate-of-medication-abortion-access-nationwide/

• Sean… dare I say… possible commerce clause situation here?

And of course Texas continue to Texas: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/12/texas-abortion-ken-paxton-kate-cox?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Big One: 

Final pre-new year Trumpdate

• First things first, have you all bought your NEW TRUMP CARDS? The single HOTTEST gift this holiday season? (Yes, this is real)
  • https://collecttrumpcards.com/
  • Hill piece: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4355971-trump-digital-trading-cards-mugshot/

Nice summary of last few days from The Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-fraud-trial-latest-news-b2464611.html

Verdict on Fraud Case: 

Not to be lost in all of this: Rudy is gonna get HAMMERED in Georgia case

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4361916-cnn-giuliani-defense-georgia-election-workers/

• Defense of immunity
  • https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/13/supreme-court-trump-election-interference?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
  • https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/us-supreme-court-asked-to-quickly-rule-on-trump-claims-of-presidential-immunity/
  • 
     
• Trump didn’t bother to testify in his own fraud trial, same time that GOP was going ape shit about Hunter Biden not going to a closed deposition 
  • Another good reminder that when a group of republicans are on a microphone making accusations about a boogie man issue like Hunter it’s like a 99.999% chance they are projecting and doing the same thing at the same time

Evangelical leader in Iowa says not so fast on Trump still being the new Jesus https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4361876-top-evangelical-leader-doesnt-believe-poll-showing-strong-trump-support-iowa/

Good account for updates 

https://x.com/muellershewrote/status/1735697906819359075?s=46&t=mukZUfs5M_R3E9tAHIu-GA

Steve Martin’s One Holiday wish: 

Rachel: 

Sean:

Adam: My holiday wish is for Americans to sit back, look at their families and friends at the gatherings and realize that we are living in a place and time where the only thing standing in the way of universal access to health care, living wages, and a rising tide of prosperity is the hubris and greed of the billionaires so many treat as demi-gods and start putting their neighbor’s over the hate and rhetoric - I would also like a pre-war Martin D-18 in mint condition

LAST CALL

The Missouri First District Democratic Primary for Congress

• Rachel this is yours to set up the convo

https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/results/missouri/democratic-primaries/us-house-district-1

@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads

Co-Hosts
Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85  (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Threads)

Rachel Parker @msraitchetp   (Threads) 

Sean Diller  (no social)

The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today!

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“Change The Conversation”

Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium 

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Flyover Friday, December 15, 2023

Intro: On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, December 15th, 2023

A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:

Welcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller in Denver, Colorado. With me as co-host today is Adam Sommer, how you doing Adam?

We’re glad to have you with us. If you’re new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media with @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at thehearltandcollective.com  

SEAN: Speaking of - the website over at  THE HEARTLAND COLLECTIVE DOT COM - if you have not yet checked it out, it is full of not just shows but articles too, including a recent on on abortion laws by Rachel Parker, really sharp stuff.  

ADAM: Yeah, hats off to you and the team, shout out my and special thanks to Allyn for all the work, I think folks will like what they find over there at the site, and that article by Rachel goes great with the pod from Wednesday which was Rachel with Jess Piper and Laura Belin was back from Bleeding Heartland, a powerhouse group of women talking about abortion laws, absolutely not to be missed.  

SEAN:  Plus, we’re back in the saddle this coming week with the LAST CALL shows, which are for members only, we have a lot of fun on those shows and that’s for patreon members, you can sign up today, $5 per month unlocks that feature, go to THE HEARTLAND COLLECTIVE DOT COM and click the button to sign up today to join us for those member only bonus shows. 

Alright! Let’s get into the stories

SOURCES: Wisconsin Examiner, Missouri Independent, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Ohio Capital Journal, Colorado Newsline; Indiana Capitol Chronicle  

Rep. Sarah Unsicker has pulled out of the Dem AG primary after a two week period in which she appears to have had serious issues pop up

Very odd turn of events, disgusting anti-semetic smears and a final move of a Dark Night jOker like video

Missouri Dem leader and candidate for Governor, Crystal Quade, is taking the charge on the abortion issue in Missouri.  

https://x.com/crystal_quade/status/1735330641967759416?s=20

Sen. Josh Hawley (drop) has failed to include funding for nuclear waste cleanup for Missourians.  

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/12/defense-radioactive-senate-st-lous/

Wisconsin Secretary of State calls for removal of fake elector who was part of 2020 scheme for Donald Trump  

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/12/11/wisconsin-secretary-of-state-calls-for-removal-of-election-commissioner-who-served-as-fake-elector/

Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and the two Democrats on the Senate elections committee are calling for Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) to remove state elections commissioner Robert Spindell from his position.  

Democrats are calling for Spindell’s removal because he served as a fake elector following the 2020 presidential election, casting a false Electoral College vote for former President Donald Trump despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state. Last week, Spindell and the nine other Republicans who  joined him settled a lawsuit against them for their actions — stating publicly that Biden had won the election and agreeing not to serve as electors for Trump again.

On Monday, Godlewski said Wisconsinites can’t trust Spindell to have a say in how the state’s elections are run.  

“Wisconsin Election Commissioner Robert Spindell Jr. admitted that he was not a qualified 2020 presidential elector and co-signed a fraudulent Certificate of Votes and submitted them to my office,” Godlewski said in a statement. “That unlawful certificate was used as part of a larger scheme to overturn the election. The people of Wisconsin cannot trust the integrity and moral compass of Commissioner Spindell to administer our elections. Senator LeMahieu should immediately remove him from Wisconsin’s Election Commission.”

Democrats on the Senate elections committee, Sens. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) and Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) said Monday that Spindell’s admission that he participated in an effort to overturn the election results should be enough for him to resign or for LeMahieu to remove him.  

“Bob Spindell has continued to serve without any repercussions for his actions and statements celebrating lower turnout and successful voter suppression,” the two senators said in a statement. “Now, Bob Spindell has admitted his involvement in the scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election, and it is abundantly clear that the Senate Majority Leader’s excuses and deflections must come to an end. Bob Spindell has admitted to signing and sending false documents claiming that he was a presidential elector for the state of Wisconsin. If there were any remaining questions about whether Bob Spindell should go, they were answered when he finally acknowledged that he signed falsified documents submitted to public officials despite President Joe Biden winning the 2020 election in Wisconsin. Bob Spindell should resign. If he doesn’t, Senator LeMahieu must remove him. We understand the Wisconsin Elections Commission is made up of partisan appointees, but surely Senator LeMahieu can find a different Republican who didn’t attempt to illegally overturn a presidential election. The people of Wisconsin deserve better than Bob Spindell.”

 

 

Democratic Rep. Keri Ingle of Lee’s Summit calls for removal of STL area Shrewsberry Rep. Unsicker from Democratic caucus in Missouri  

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/missouri-house-democrat-calls-for-ouster-of-shrewsbury-state-rep-from-caucus/article_8b475036-9945-11ee-b25d-e3f3e17972df.html

Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee’s Summit, said in a news release that state Rep. Sarah Unsicker of Shrewsbury “failed to denounce” antisemitic attacks, as well as accusations that members of their caucus worked for the Israeli government, in a recent livestreamed conversation with conspiracy theorists.

Her press release said Democratic caucus leadership should “begin the process” of removing her.

“As long as she persists in enabling and spreading this kind of rhetoric, I believe my Democratic colleagues must take swift action to uphold our caucus’ commitment to fight and confront hate and intolerance by ousting her from our ranks,” Ingle said.

Her press release added that Unsicker had helped “propagate hateful, antisemitic, and conspiratorial and racist rhetoric which has hurt people and sparked online harassment campaigns.”

Ohio Legislation for so called “Parent’s Bill Of Rights” gets push back

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/12/13/counselors-psychologists-and-school-officials-speak-out-against-parents-bill-of-rights/

Dozens, including school counselors and psychiatrists, testified Tuesday against a bill in the Ohio Senate that would force schools to notify parents on “sexuality” content, and possibly on a student’s sexuality, calling it “censorship” and potentially risky for students.

“Young people are people who are entitled to their own privacy,” said Mallory Golski, of the Kaleidoscope Youth Center. “Young people are people who should have the freedom to read stories that reflect their own lives and experiences.”

Ohio House Bill 8 could be up for a vote this week, as the bill seeks to put the control of education more into parent’s hands, by allowing them to opt out of certain curricula based on the “sexuality” content. According to one of the bill’s sponsors, state Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, school districts would also be “prohibited from keeping changes in the health of the student from their parent, and the school district is also prohibited from encouraging the student to hide these issues from their parents.”

Amanda Erickson, also of the Kaleidoscope Youth Center, worried about the impact the bill will have on teachers, who may not only be required to speak with parents about information they were told by a student, but could also be impacted themselves, based on their own life choices.

Erickson herself trained as a teacher, before she moved on to the nonprofit sector after graduation. A career in a classroom did not appeal to her after the efforts of the Ohio legislature, now and in the past.

“Why would I want to be a teacher in Ohio when my legislators are so obsessed with gender and sexuality that they do not have time to pass legislation that would actually improve our schools,” Erickson asked of the Senate Education Committee.

Erickson also argued that the law might ban her and others from putting family pictures on her desk, as it might suggest a discussion she’s not allowed to have.

“Since this bill does not define ‘sexual concepts’ or ‘gender ideology,’ there are those who would argue that my wedding photo or the questions it could prompt would qualify as one or the other,” Erickson said.

The committee heard from some that currently are in the education field with members of the Ohio School Psychologists Association and the Ohio School Counselor Association both submitting in opposition to the bill, saying the bill is “not workable,” and ignores parents as an already “key tenet” in a student’s education.

 

The Missouri and Kansas border war went from civil war to friendly sports rivalry, and is reemerging as a political battle about health care

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/11/university-of-kansas-deal-with-missouri-hospital-feels-terribly-wrong-to-lawmakers/

The proposed takeover of Liberty Hospital in Missouri by the University of Kansas Health System is being greeted with scorn by lawmakers from both sides of the state line and both political parties.

Leading the charge against the takeover in Missouri is Kansas City Democratic state Sen. Greg Razer, who said the idea of KU owning a hospital in suburban Missouri is “terribly wrong.”

“There are boundaries for a reason, and they’ve crossed one,” said Razer, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The Republican leader of the Kansas Senate also has expressed concern about the takeover, along with at least one member of Liberty Hospital’s board of trustees.

Earlier this month, Razer pre-filed a bill in the Missouri General Assembly that would put a stop to a proposed partnership between the University of Kansas Health System and Liberty Hospital by prohibiting hospital boards to partner with an out-of-state health system “operated by an institution of higher education” without voter approval.

“I can’t imagine the outrage of Missouri taxpayers if we opened up (University of Missouri) Health in Olathe, Kansas,” Razer said, calling the proposed arrangement “mind boggling.”

Liberty Hospital announced in May it was looking to partner with another health system to help it expand to meet growing demand in the Kansas City suburbs north of the Missouri River. In October, it announced it had chosen KU.

The two health systems have signed a letter of intent but are still in negotiations, and the terms of the deal are not yet available. But Liberty Hospital CEO Dr. Raghu Adiga said in an interview Friday that KU had pledged to continue the services the hospital provides, including cardiothoracic surgery and a level-two trauma center.  

Adiga said those are rare for a hospital Liberty’s size.

“They put the patients first just like us,” Adiga said, “ensuring high-quality health care that we can provide right here in town.”

In a video announcing the deal in October, he said the partnership “will bring world class clinical excellence across the river to every Northlander’s doorstep.”

Razer said the arrangement would take health care dollars from Missouri to “prop up Kansas,” and feared it would be a recruiting tool for the University of Kansas.  

“Liberty has a lot of high school students. … They get great grades. It’s a great school district up there. They’re all going to be driving by a Jayhawk every day in the state of Missouri,” Razer said.

Razer’s primary objection centered on the idea of having a Kansas state institution plant its flag in Missouri.

The University of Kansas Health System is governed by the University of Kansas Hospital Authority, a board established in Kansas statute, primarily appointed by the Kansas governor and affiliated with the University of Kansas School of Medicine. But the health system hasn’t been owned by the state in 25 years. It receives no state or local tax dollars.

 

Indiana, one of the most “red” states in the union, is struggling to keep up economically speaking

https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2023/12/13/hoosier-economic-policy-improving-slower-than-competitors-report-says/

Indiana has improved on key economic development criteria in recent years, but has still fallen in national rankings, the influential Indiana Chamber of Commerce found in a report card Tuesday.

The chamber in August released a vision for Indiana in 2035, with 31 goals for the state’s education, entrepreneurship, economic growth, energy and infrastructure, health, quality of place and workforce.

The report cards — expected to be biannual — log progress on 59 metrics related to those goals.

Compared to previous years, the state scored better on about 67% of the metrics — but its national rankings on those metrics improved just 41% of the time.

“What that tells us is that we’re improving overall — but the progress isn’t happening fast enough, because other states are improving at a faster pace,” outgoing President and CEO Kevin Brinegar told reporters Tuesday. “We need to pick up the pace.”

Indiana’s strongest performance was a third-place ranking for the 11% of Hoosiers working in knowledge- and technology-intensive industries, like manufacturing or software development.

It came in fourth for the 63% of foreign-born Hoosiers with science or engineering bachelor’s degrees, as well as for the 10% of non-white workers who are self-employed.

More Rail Service In Colorado… coming soon?  

https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/front-range-rail-development/

Front Range Passenger Rail District will get a $500,000 planning grant as part of the federal Corridor ID program, which aims to help development of intercity passenger rail projects. The idea, Bose said, is to get projects into the pipeline for implementation, eventually connecting an entire corridor of cities to rail service.

The Front Range Passenger Rail District, which was created through 2021 legislation, is planning a rail line that would connect cities between Fort Collins and Pueblo.

“Colorado is very, very well positioned in the Corridor ID program,” Bose said, partly because the district has already defined the scope of its service development program and can move forward to the second step of the program. There are “tens of millions of dollars” for project planning now that the scope is set.

The Colorado project is one of 70 that the Federal Railroad Administration selected to get money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“The fact that we have a federal administration that’s committed to helping us dream up and execute a project like this is not an opportunity that we can take for granted. I think it shows us what kind of a moment we have,” Lew said.

Polis is pushing a housing agenda that encourages development along transit corridors, and he is likely to champion related legislation next year. Though the state is years away from putting Front Range residents onto passenger rail cars, the agenda represents a goal for people to live near their primary mode of transportation and commute more easily without adding traffic congestion.

“Coupled with bus rapid transit and transit oriented neighborhoods, passenger rail is a huge lynchpin in this vision we have for smarter growth, for improving affordability, livability and sustainability as Colorado grows,” Polis said.

 

 

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DNC (Fist) Bump: Rachel and Adam react to the Democrats big week, plus JD Vance keeps being weird@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads Co-Hosts Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85  (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Threads) Rachel Parker @msraitchetp   (Threads)  Sean Diller  (no social) The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today! JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium  http://www.americanaquarium.com/

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True or false 

Dems can find an effective way to discuss border security 

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2023/12/07/congress/fetterman-on-border-00130639

• National pulling regularly shows order security as a top five and offln top three issue
• Republicans always get significantly higher marks the Democrats on the issue
• We have seen it used in campaigns in Missouri or Republicans the issue of order security, even in a state that is dead center of the United States, hundreds of miles away from the nearest border crossing

Roger Marshall ties order to Israel and Ukraine fund

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article282717918.html

MSNBC Article: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-immigration-border-plan-voters-senate-negotiations-rcna125151

Yeah … no

Missouri GOP members file bill to criminalize abortion formally

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article282794193.html

You don’t fucking say

Independent investigators pulled into Marion county Kansas

https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article282850508.html

Big One

Impact of unions on 2024

-Missouri gov race https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article282715673.html

Biden‘s track record certainly isn’t perfect. When it comes to labor issues the railroad strike comes to mind but at the same time he stood strongly with the UAW and there seems to be a stronger tide there in general.

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Friday News Flyover, December 8, 2023

Intro: On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, December 8th, 2023

A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:

Texas abortion bans creating legal confusion | MO Pastor jailed facing sexual abuse charges | Sen Josh Hawley and Rep Cori Bush speak against defense bill without funds for St. Louis residents exposed to radiation | AL Senator Tommy Tuberville gives up his misguided military holds | Dolly Parton gives books to millions of kids, if you didn’t know

Welcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller in Denver, Colorado. With me as co-host today is Adam Sommer, how you doing Adam?

We’re glad to have you with us. If you’re new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media with @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at thehearltandcollective.com 

Alright! Let’s get into the stories

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/12/06/1217637325/texas-woman-asks-court-for-abortion-because-of-pregnancy-complications

Updated Thursday, Dec. 7 at 1:55 p.m.

"Kate Cox needs an abortion, and she needs it now." Thus began a petition filed in a Texas district court this week, asking a judge to allow the abortion to be performed in the state, where abortion is banned with very limited exceptions.

On Thursday, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of Travis County, Texas, ruled from the bench, granting permission for Cox to have the abortion she is seeking. Cox's fetus has a genetic condition with very low chances of survival and her own health and fertility are at risk if she carries the pregnancy to term.

The petition was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is the group behind a high profile case heard at the Texas Supreme Court last week.

In that case the group's senior staff attorney Molly Duane argued on behalf of 20 patients and two OB-GYNs that the medical exception to the ban on abortion in the state's laws is too narrow and vague, and that it endangered patients during complicated pregnancies. An attorney for the state argued the exception is already clear and that the plaintiffs didn't have standing to sue.

On the very day of those arguments, Nov. 28, Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two who lives in the Dallas area, got "devastating" news about her pregnancy, the filing says. At nearly 20-weeks gestation, she learned that her fetus has Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome, a condition with extremely low chances of survival.

So, as the Texas Supreme Court considered whether its abortion laws endangered patients with pregnancy complications in the past, Cox was trying to figure out what to do in her present situation.

Cox had already been in the emergency room three times with cramping and other concerning symptoms, according to court documents. Her doctors told her she was at high risk of developing gestational hypertension and diabetes, and because she had had two prior cesarean sections, carrying the pregnancy to term could compromise her chances of having a third child in the future, the brief says.

Last Thursday, she reached out for the Center for Reproductive Rights. Five days after that, the group filed this petition on her behalf.

The filing asked a Travis County district court for a temporary restraining order against the state of Texas and the Texas Medical Board, blocking enforcement of Texas's abortion bans so that Cox can terminate her current pregnancy. It also would block enforcement of S.B. 8, which allows civil lawsuits to be filed against those who help patients receive abortions.

That would protect the other plaintiffs in the case, Cox's husband, Justin, and Dr. Damla Karsan, who is prepared to provide the abortion if the court grants their request. Karsan is one of the OB-GYN plaintiffs in the Zurawski v. the State of Texas case.

Thursday's ruling will allow Karsan to provide an abortion without threat of prosecution. It only applies to Cox, her husband and Karsan. Issuing the ruling, Judge Guerra Gamble said: "The idea that Ms. Cox wants so desperately to be a parent and this law may have her lose that ability is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice."

There are currently three overlapping abortion bans in Texas. Abortion is illegal in the state from the moment pregnancy begins. Texas doctors can legally provide abortions only if a patient is "in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function, " the law says.

"I don't know what that means," Duane says of the language of the medical exception. "But I think [Cox's] situation must fall within whatever it is that that means."

The Texas Attorney General's office did not respond to a request for comment on Cox's case, but the office argued in the Zurawski case that the medical exception needs no clarification.

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Texas Alliance for Life, a group that lobbied in the state legislature for the current abortion laws, published a statement about Cox's case Wednesday. "We believe that the exception language in Texas laws is clear," wrote the group's communication director Amy O'Donnell, and accused the Center for Reproductive Rights of pretending to seek clarity while really attempting to "chisel away" at Texas's abortion laws.

The timeline of this case was very quick. "I have to be honest, I've never done this before, and that's because no one's ever done this before," Duane says. "But usually when you ask for a temporary restraining order, the court will act very, very quickly in acknowledgement of the emergency circumstances."

The hearing was held via Zoom on Thursday morning.

The State of Texas cannot appeal the decision directly, says Duane. "They would have to file what's called a writ of mandamus, saying that the district court acted so far out of its jurisdiction and that there needs to be a reversal," Duane explains. "But filing a petition like that is not does not automatically stay the injunction the way that an appeal of a temporary injunction does."

In the meantime, the justices of the Texas Supreme Court are considering the Zurawski case, with a decision expected in the next few months. "I want them to take their time to write an opinion that gets this right and will protect patients, doctors and their families going forward," Duane says.

"But the reality is that in the meantime, people are going to continue to be harmed," and Cox couldn't afford to wait for that decision, Duane says.

Duane praises Cox for her bravery in publicly sharing her story while in the midst of a personal medical crisis. "She's exceptional – but I will also say that the pathway to this has been paved by all the other women in our lawsuit," she says. "There is strength in numbers."

https://www.kmbc.com/article/court-documents-independence-missouri-pastor-charged-child-molestation/46058889

Court documents state that multiple people under the age of 18 accused Virgil Marsh of sexually assaulting them between 2011 and 2018.

Marsh, 71, is now in the Jackson County jail.

He was charged with two counts of first-degree of child molestation and first-degree statutory sodomy.

A probable cause statement indicates that Marsh told police he was a current pastor in Independence and admitted he had "inappropriately touched" one of the victims.

He did tell police he 'potentially kissed' a second victim on the mouth but denied sexually touching them.

He also told police he has asked for forgiveness with God and is no longer the man who "had previously done things to the victim," the probable cause reads.

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/07/compensation-for-st-louis-victims-of-nuclear-waste-stripped-from-federal-defense-bill/

Compensation for St. Louis victims of nuclear waste stripped from federal defense bill

Provisions that would have compensated those exposed to radioactive waste left over from the Manhattan Project were removed on Wednesday

BY: ALLISON KITE - DECEMBER 7, 2023 9:03 AM

     

 A joint investigation by The Independent and MuckRock.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said Thursday he would do everything he could to stop a federal defense spending bill after a provision offering compensation to Americans exposed to decades-old radioactive waste was removed. 

Speaking on the floor of the Senate, the Missouri Republican called the decision to remove compensation for Americans who have suffered rare cancers and autoimmune diseases a “scar on the conscience of this body.”

“This is an injustice,” Hawley said. “This is this body turning its back on these good, proud Americans.”

This summer, the Senate amended the National Defense Authorization Act to expand the existing Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include parts of the St. Louis region where individuals were exposed to leftover radioactive material from the development of the first atomic bomb. It would have also included parts of the Southwest where residents were exposed to bomb testing. 

But the provision was removed Wednesday by a conference committee of senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives working out differences between the two chambers’ versions of the bill.

Even before the text of the amended bill became available Wednesday night, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was decrying the removal of the radiation compensation policy. 

“This is a major betrayal of thousands and thousands of Missourians who have been lied to and ignored for years,” Hawley said in a post on social media Wednesday. 

Dawn Chapman, a co-founder of Just Moms STL, fought back tears Wednesday night as she described hearing the “gut-wrenching” news from Hawley’s staff. Chapman and fellow moms have been advocating for families exposed to or near radioactive waste for years. 

“I actually thought we had a chance,” Chapman said. But she said the group hopes to get the expansion passed another way. 

“Nobody has given up on it,” Chapman said.

The St. Louis region has suffered from a radioactive waste problem for decades. The area was instrumental in the Manhattan Project, the name given to the effort to build an atomic bomb during World War II. Almost 80 years later, residents of St. Louis and St. Charles counties are still dealing with the fallout. 

After the war, radioactive waste produced from refining uranium was trucked from downtown St. Louis to several sites in St. Louis County where it contaminated property at the airport and seeped into Coldwater Creek. In the 1970s, remaining nuclear waste that couldn’t be processed to extract valuable metals was trucked to the West Lake Landfill and illegally dumped. It remains there today.

During the Cold War, uranium was processed in St. Charles County. A chemical plant and open ponds of radioactive waste remained at the site in Weldon Spring for years. The site was remediated in the early 2000s, but groundwater contamination at the site is not improving fast enough, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

For years, St. Louis-area residents have pointed to the radioactive waste to explain rare cancers, autoimmune diseases and young deaths. A study by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found people who lived along Coldwater Creek or played in its waters faced an increased risk of cancer.

Chapman said she knew two individuals who made calls to members of Congress while receiving chemotherapy. It’s hard to ask people to keep fighting for the legislation, she said. 

“They’re not going to see another Christmas, and they’re not going to see the compensation from this,” Chapman said. “This won’t help them.” 

An investigation by The Missouri Independent, MuckRock and The Associated Press this summer found that the private companies and federal agencies handling and overseeing the waste repeatedly downplayed the danger despite knowledge that it posed a risk to human health.

After the report was published, Hawley decried the federal government’s failures and vowed to introduce legislation to help. 

So did U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis. In a statement Wednesday night, she said the federal government’s failure to compensate those who have been harmed by radioactive waste is “straight up negligence.”

“The people of St. Louis deserve better, and they deserve to be able to live without worry of radioactive contamination,” Bush said. 

Missouri’s junior senator, Republican Eric Schmitt, grew up near the West Lake Landfill. He said in a statement that the “fight is far from over” and that he will look into other legislation to get victims compensation.

“The careless dumping of this waste happened across Missouri, including in my own backyard of St. Louis, and has negatively impacted Missouri communities for decades,” Schmitt said. “I will not stop fighting until it is addressed.”

Already, two state lawmakers have pre-filed legislation related to radioactive waste in advance of the Missouri General Assembly reconvening in January. One doubles the budget of a state radioactive waste investigation fund. The other requires further disclosure of radioactive contamination when one sells or rents a house.

In July, the U.S. Senate voted 61-37  to adopt Hawley’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act expanding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include the St. Louis area. It would have also expanded the coverage area to compensate victims exposed to testing of the atomic bomb in New Mexico. The amendment included residents of New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Guam and expanded the coverage area in Nevada, Utah and Arizona, which are already partially covered.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that expanding the program could cost $147.1 billion over 10 years with St. Louis’ portion taking up $3.7 billion of that. 

The amendment would have also renewed the program for existing coverage areas. Without renewal, it will expire in the coming months. 

Hawley said, however, the “fight is not over.” 

“I will come to this floor as long as it takes. I will introduce this bill as long as it takes,” he said. “I will force amendment votes as long as it takes until we compensate the people of this nation who have sacrificed for this nation.” 

https://www.azmirror.com/2023/12/06/in-bid-to-flip-the-legislature-blue-national-dems-announce-spending-on-az/

With Republicans holding the barest of majorities in the Arizona Legislature, national Democrats are already making major investments in a bid to flip the state’s legislature blue. 

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Wednesday announced it would spend $70,000 in Arizona to aid in candidate recruitment for key races, hiring staff, digital investments and more. The spending is the start of the DLCC’s push in swing states where the committee hopes to either solidify Democratic majorities or pick up seats and win legislative control. 

The money is part of an initial $300,000 push in swing states by the DLCC, with Arizona and Michigan getting the lion’s share of the money. The DLCC is also spending money in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina. 

In Arizona, Republicans have one-seat majorities in both the 60-member state House of Representatives and the 30-member state Senate. DLCC interim President Heather Williams told the Arizona Mirror that the committee is hoping to flip the House and Senate in part by highlighting the extreme positions of Republican lawmakers. Many proposed law changes inspired by those extreme positions earned vetoes from Gov. Katie Hobbs earlier this year. 

“The Republican majority in both chambers is vulnerable,” Williams said, adding that this is only the committee’s “initial investment,” as the group anticipates spending much more in 2024. 

Williams did not elaborate on which Arizona races the group plans to target, but mentioned that the group aims to do something similar to what happened in Virginia this year. 

Last month, Virginia Democrats gained control of the House and solidified their control of the Senate. The DLCC hopes to mirror that in Arizona. In that election, all 140 seats in the Virginia legislature were up for grabs, and Democrat wins will block Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s ability to fully enact his conservative agenda. 

The DLCC ended up spending more than $2 million in Virginia. 

“Here is what we know about Republicans, they are legislating in a way across the country that is not where their constituents are,” Williams said, citing access to abortion and health care for women as key. 

Republicans and Democrats are eyeing a number of key state house races for 2024 but Williams is confident that her party will come out on top, adding that the DLCC intends to have a dialogue with voters and to help people get registered to vote. 

“I think we feel really strong with our position as an organization,” Williams said, adding that having Hobbs, a former state lawmaker as a Democratic ally in the governorship will offer advantages. 

https://alabamareflector.com/2023/12/05/tuberville-relents-on-months-long-blockade-of-most-military-nominees-blaming-democrats/

WASHINGTON — After blocking hundreds of U.S. military promotions for most of 2023 in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy, Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said Tuesday he will lift his holds on all of them except for a handful of four-star general nominees.

The senator, who sits on the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, said he told his fellow Senate Republicans “it’s been a long fight” but ultimately he said Democrats were to blame for stalling hundreds of service members from moving up in the chain of command. Tuberville had said repeatedly that Democrats could bring each of the nominees to the floor for votes, which would take hours of debate.

“We fought hard. We did the right thing for the unborn and for our military, fighting back against executive overreach, and an abortion policy that’s not legal,” Tuberville said after announcing his about-face to his fellow Senate Republicans during their regularly scheduled weekly lunch.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Tuesday that he would move the nominations to the floor “as soon as possible, possibly later this afternoon.”

“I hope no one does this again, and I hope they learned the lesson of Sen. Tuberville. And that is he held out for many, many months, hurt our national security, caused discombobulation to so many military families who have been so dedicated to our country, and didn’t get anything that he wanted,” Schumer said.

Tuberville has blocked hundreds of nominees since the spring because he opposes a recent Pentagon policy that allows armed services members time off and travel reimbursement should they need to seek an abortion in a state where it remains legal.

Roughly 80,000 active-duty female service members are stationed in states where legislatures enacted full or partial bans following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a RAND analysis.

The Biden administration and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin maintain the policy is legal, as did a 2022 Department of Justice opinion.

The list of nominees affected by Tuberville’s months-long hold grew to 451 members of the military as of Nov. 27, according to a Department of Defense official. Majority staff for the Senate Armed Services Committee list 445 affected nominees.

Tuberville’s agreement to halt his protest means that all but 11 of those nominees are expected to clear final Senate approval, according to figures from committee’s majority staff.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Tuesday that GOP senators are “pleased obviously that that situation seems to have been ameliorated by recent announcements by the senator from Alabama.”

Sen. Jack Reed, chair of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said in a statement Tuesday he’s “glad that hundreds of our nation’s finest military leaders will finally receive their hard-won, merit-based promotions.”

“They, and their families, have shown us what grace and grit look like in the face of hardship. Senator Tuberville’s actions have been an affront to the United States military and the Senate,” said Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island.

“He has jeopardized our national security and abused the rights afforded to all Senators. No Senator should ever attempt to advance their own partisan agenda on the backs of our troops like this again.”

Threat of Democratic-led procedure change

Tuberville’s change in course arrived as Schumer was poised to bring to the floor a Democratic-led rules resolution to bypass the Alabama senator’s blockade.

The proposed temporary change in floor process would have allowed senators to quickly approve large blocs of nominations simultaneously on the floor, saving hours and hours that would have been required to vote on each individually.

Tuberville said Tuesday that he and fellow Republican senators decided they did not want to see any changes to Senate floor procedures and that is the reason he decided to lift his blockade.

“All of us are against a rule change in the Senate, OK. We’re all against it,” Tuberville said.

The Alabama senator’s own Republican colleagues have grown publicly frustrated with his stalling of military promotions.

GOP senators, including Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Todd Young of Indiana, have on two occasions held the Senate floor into the wee hours bringing forward the names of nominees, only to meet Tuberville’s objections.

Some frustrated Republicans last week mulled whether to support the Democratic-led effort to override Tuberville’s blockade. Democrats would have needed nine of them to pass the change in procedure.

“I have said that right now I support Tommy Tuberville, but if he makes a statement that he’s going to maintain this posture through this Congress I intend to vote for nominations under the rules suspension,” Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told States Newsroom Nov. 29.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/12/06/ohio-senate-wants-to-stop-you-from-growing-weed-house-fights-back/

Ohio Senate wants to stop you from growing weed; House fights back

BY: MORGAN TRAU - DECEMBER 6, 2023 4:55 AM

While Ohio Senate Republicans move to dramatically change recreational marijuana policy, the House is fighting back in a bipartisan fashion — saying the will of the voters must be followed.

On Thursday, adults 21 and older in Ohio will be able to smoke weed and grow up to six plants.

When Issue 2 passed in November, state Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord) knew he could be part of clarifying public policy. He invited WEWS/OCJ’s Morgan Trau to his introduction of H.B. 354 in a “skeleton” session Tuesday morning. Skeleton sessions are when typically two lawmakers gather with the House clerk and take less than five minutes to introduce policy.

“We preserve the things that the people voted on,” he told Trau after he banged the gavel and Finance Chair state Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) watched.

Callender, who has been an outspoken supporter of marijuana, has been working on recreational implementation for years. Issue 2 came after all of his efforts were purposely stalled in the Statehouse.

“The Marijuana Legalization Initiative” allows Ohioans to grow up to six plants, with 12 per household. In addition, the proposal would impose a 10% tax at the point of sale for each transaction. It also establishes the Division of Cannabis Control within the Ohio Department of Commerce.

Ohioans voted in favor of the statute 57-43%.

“I’m glad it passed and I’m excited that we’re going to be able to take some of these measures that make it a more responsible act,” Callender said. “I want to make sure that here in this chamber, the People’s House, that we carry out the will of the people — and the people have spoken.”

His bill doesn’t make major changes, but it does add safeguards — like guidelines on advertising, public smoking bans and provisions that give local governments more of a say in where tax revenue goes. It also explains that home grow must take place at residential addresses.

“We’ve seen folks aggregate those six plants and, in essence, create a mega farm which is simply an aggregation or a co-op of a whole lot of home grows,” he said, saying that he is trying to prevent that.

The bill, one that Callendar says has bipartisan support in the House, deeply contrasts the Senate’s version.

The proposal by state Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) also includes guard rails to prevent exposure to children, including advertising guidelines. It would require marijuana to be packaged in a child-resistant container and prevents “cartoon character” or other pop culture figures whose target audience is a child from being used in weed marketing.

However, those safety guidelines are the end of the common ground.

The Senate proposal would reduce how much weed you could possess from 2.5 ounces to 1 ounce and 15 grams of marijuana concentrates to 5 grams; It would make weed less strong by limiting THC levels for plants to 25%, when the minimum was 35%. In addition, it would limit extracts to 50%, when the minimum was 90%; and it would make marijuana more expensive by raising the tax from 10% to 15%.

It also changes where the taxes go.

As mentioned, it was a 10% tax at the point of sale. It was 36% revenue to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; 36% to the host community cannabis fund to provide funds to jurisdictions with adult-use dispensaries; 25% to the substance abuse and addiction fund; and 3% to the division of cannabis control and tax commissioner fund. Issue 2 capped the number of dispensaries permitted at once to 350, but the bill cuts that down to 230.

The Senate version ups to 15% tax at the point of sale. It is 30% to the law enforcement training fund, 15% to the marijuana substance abuse treatment and prevention fund, 10% to the safe driver training fund, and the remaining 45% goes to the grand revenue fund — aka, the state lawmakers.

“The social equity program — when you really got down to the nuts and bolts of it — it was tax revenue being collected to be put right back into the hands of the industry,” McColley said. “It was a tax grab by the industry to prop up more dispensaries within the industry.”

The “Social Equity and Jobs Program” was established by Issue 2. It is designed to fix “the harms resulting from the disproportionate enforcement of marijuana-related laws” and “reduce barriers to ownership and opportunity” to those “most directly and adversely impacted by the enforcement of marijuana-related laws,” according to the initiative.

The most significant change is the proposal eliminates home grow.

“The opposition has been all around the black market,” McColley said. “It’s been around, ‘how do we keep these plants from then being transferred and sold illegally?'”

After facing backlash, McColley assured he wasn’t going against the will of the people, since he believes that the voters didn’t really know everything that they were voting on.

“I think what the voters really voted for would have been access to products,” the senator added.

Clearly, the voters want home grow, Callender argued. Access to products means access to home grow, he said.

It isn’t just Callender who is frustrated with the legislation moving through the other chamber. Dozens of Republican and Democratic representatives are infuriated with the Senate.

One with a unique perspective is state Rep. Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Twp.) The Senate took his legislation, H.B. 86, that revised the limit on the gallons of spirituous liquor that a micro-distillery may manufacture each year and added their marijuana proposal onto his bill.

“Slap in the face of Ohio voters,” LaRe told WEWS/OCJ.

The lawmaker doesn’t support recreational marijuana, but he does respect the will of Ohioans, he added.

“It’s unfortunate they want to use a bill that is focused on helping certain small businesses recover from the pandemic to fast-track language that changes the intent of the ballot initiative,” he said. “I believe we should look into where the tax dollars are spent, but this goes way beyond those details.”

Democrats agree. House Minority Whip State Rep. Jessica Miranda (D-Forest Park) says she can’t and won’t support the Senate version.

“I’m not a fan of turning my back on the Ohio voters and the will of what they said when they overwhelmingly passed Issue 2,” Miranda said.

When asked what happens if the two chambers don’t reach a compromise, Callender said he will be in better standing — since the House can just block the Senate version.

“I’m okay with just letting the initiated statute go into effect, which is a pretty strong bargaining position,” he said. “If we don’t come up with an agreement, I’ll trust the rule-making process, trust Commerce to make good rules to do this.”

The Senate is expected to pass the marijuana bill out of committee Wednesday morning, putting it on the floor for a full vote later in the day. The House version is set to be heard Wednesday, as well.

This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.

https://capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/dolly-parton-imagination-library-officially-launches-statewide-in-illinois

Pritzker says goal is to send free books to all children, ages 0-5

By PETER HANCOCK

Capitol News Illinois

phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois families with infants and toddlers now have access to free children’s books that can be sent directly to their home, regardless of their income.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday announced the official launch of the state’s partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program founded by the country music legend in 1995 in her home county in east Tennessee. It now sends free books every month to nearly 3 million children in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.

“Today, I couldn't be prouder to announce that the Imagination Library is working with the state of Illinois to begin our journey to provide every child under the age of five an opportunity to receive a free book delivered to them every single month,” Pritzker said at an event at the Bloomington Public Library.

Pritzker first announced in June that the state had formed a partnership with the Dollywood Foundation, Parton’s philanthropic organization, after Illinois lawmakers included $1.6 million in this year’s budget to fund the state’s share of the program. Other funding comes from the Dollywood Foundation and local, county-based organizations.

Since then, about 44 local programs have been operating in the state, serving roughly 4 percent of eligible children. But Dollywood Foundation executive director Nora Briggs said the goal is to reach all of the estimated 755,000 children under age 5 in Illinois.

“We know that nothing is more basic, more essential, more foundational to a child's success in life than the ability to read,” Briggs said. “The research is clear. We cannot wait until kindergarten for children to have access or exposure to books. It must happen early. It must start in the home environment. And reading at home requires books.”

People who are interested in enrolling their child in the program can find their local provider on the “check availability” tab located at imaginationlibrary.com. From there, applicants submit basic information including their address, their child’s name and date of birth, and the parents’ information.

Once a child’s eligibility is approved, they will start receiving one book each month, addressed to them. Each child within an age group receives the same monthly book. Books on the distribution list are chosen by a panel of early childhood literacy experts who review potential titles for inclusion in the distribution list. 

In addition to funding the Imagination Library program this year, lawmakers also approved Pritzker’s “Smart Start Illinois” initiative that will provide $250 million this year for early childhood programs, including expanded access to preschool, wage support for child care workers, early intervention programs, and home visiting programs.

“We're making our mark on every aspect of early childhood, and working with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library literacy efforts will begin now at the earliest ages,” Pritzker said. “Illinois is well on its way to solidifying our status as the number one state in the nation to raise young children.”

 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

Stories in today’s show originally appeared in the Missouri Independent, Capitol News Illinois, Alabama Reflector, Michigan Advance, Arizona Mirror, KMBC9 Kansas City, Ohio Capital Journal, and NPR News

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Produced by Elliot Rosen

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INTRO MUSIC BY ELLIOT ROSEN

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T/F: The last couple of weeks has been a momentum shift in favor of Biden

“Mad poll disease”  by michael podhorzer - has been a guest on show

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/01/polls-joe-biden-election-2024-democrats

• Just for fun https://x.com/TheHeartlandPOD/status/1730778192128925993?s=20
• 
   
• Cease fire in mid east - temporary but movement overall has been better for Biden 
• Trump says HE STILL WANTS TO REPEAL OBAMACARE
  • https://www.semafor.com/article/11/27/2023/trump-obamcare-repeal-senate-reaction
  • https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-obamacare-repeal-2024-biden-costly-fight-2023-12
  • 
     
• Hunter offers to testify in public and GOP refuses
• https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/hunter-biden-testify-embarrassing-house-gop-rcna127028
• 
   
• Newsom destroys DeSantis on FOX while backing Biden 
  • https://news.yahoo.com/abcarian-did-gov-newsom-fare-040031338.html
  • Email that night from Newsom for biden
• Interesting vox read about GOP dream of capturing voters of color
• https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/23982907/trump-democrats-republicans-working-class-voters-latino-black-voters
• Bleeding heartland from similar angle: https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2023/11/26/are-republicans-really-gaining-among-black-voters/
• Muslim group threatens to abandon Biden but hedges language due to the fact that they won’t be voting for Trump
  • https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/02/swing-state-muslim-leaders-biden-00129758
• Trump being dumb(er): https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-obamacare-repeal-2024-biden-costly-fight-2023-12

“Mad poll disease”  by michael podhorzer - has been a guest on show

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/01/polls-joe-biden-election-2024-democrats

• Just for fun https://x.com/TheHeartlandPOD/status/1730778192128925993?s=20

I’ll suggest that the Texas GOP not condemning Nazis, on the record, might not hurt Biden

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/02/texas-gop-antisemitism-resolution/?utm_campaign=trib-social&utm_content=1701554909&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook,twitter

Big One - GOP Money In Iowa

Discussion about abortion rights and the anti-Trump rebound effect in Iowa with Laura Belin, editor and writer for “bleeding heartland” 

https://www.bleedingheartland.com/

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Flyover Friday, December 1, 2023

Intro: On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, December 1st, 2023

A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:

Welcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller in Denver, Colorado. With me as co-host today is Adam Sommer, how you doing Adam?

We’re glad to have you with us. If you’re new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media with @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at thehearltandcollective.com 

Alright! Let’s get into the stories

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/28/new-article-greg-abbott-school-vouchers-hugh-shine-endorse/

Gov. Greg Abbott is starting to make good on his threat to politically target fellow Republicans who oppose school vouchers, issuing his first endorsement of a primary challenger to a House member who has helped thwart his top legislative priority of the year.

Abbott on Tuesday backed Hillary Hickland, an activist mother who is running against Rep. Hugh Shine, R-Temple. Shine was one of 21 Republicans who voted earlier this month to strip a voucher provision out of an education bill, delivering the most decisive blow yet to the governor’s agenda.

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/16/texas-house-school-vouchers/

​The Texas House on Friday voted to strip school vouchers from the chamber’s massive education funding bill, taking an ax to Gov. Greg Abbott’s top legislative priority of the year.

The House voted 84-63 in favor of an amendment offered by Rep. John Raney, R-College Station, which removed the provision of the bill allowing some parents to use tax dollars to send their children to private and religious schools. Twenty-one Republicans, most of whom represent rural districts, joined all Democrats in support.

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/29/missouri-attorney-general-opposes-proposed-federal-rule-supporting-lgbtq-foster-kids/

“Because of family rejection and abuse,” the Biden administration said in a September press release, LGBTQ children are “overrepresented in foster care where they face poor outcomes, including mistreatment and discrimination because of who they are.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey this week joined with 18 other states to oppose a proposed federal rule that aims to protect LGBTQ youth in foster care and provide them with necessary services.

The attorneys general argue in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services that the proposed rule — which requires states to provide safe and appropriate placements with providers who are appropriately trained about the child’s sexual orientation or gender identity  — amounts to religion-based discrimination and violates freedom of speech.

“As a foster parent myself,” Bailey said in a news release Tuesday, “I am deeply invested in protecting children and putting their best interests first.”

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/30/senate-clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-john-cornyn-ted-cruz/

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz were among several Republicans who bolted from a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Thursday to protest subpoenaing Dallas-based conservative donor Harlan Crow.

The committee’s Democrats are seeking records over payments, gifts and travel Crow reportedly provided Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, some of which were not initially listed on financial disclosures. The committee’s GOP members cast the subpoena authorization as a partisan attack against one of the most conservative members of the court and a private citizen.

"This is an outrageous attempt to target private citizens without any legitimate legislative purpose," Cornyn told reporters after the meeting. "If you can go after a private citizen … for a non-legislative prupose, you essentially can target for political reasons any American citizen at any time in the future. And that is a dangerous, dangerous place to go."

https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow

IN LATE JUNE 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef.

If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000. Fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary: He was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too.

For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks.

The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.

These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures. His failure to report the flights appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts, two ethics law experts said. He also should have disclosed his trips on the yacht, these experts said.

Thomas did not respond to a detailed list of questions.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/11/30/over-342000-ohioans-have-lost-their-medicaid-coverage-since-april/

Ohioans may be contacted up to eight times — through the mail, text messages and phone calls — before being unenrolled from Medicaid, Lawless said.

But if someone has moved, changed their number or doesn’t have internet access they might not have been notified about potentially losing their coverage.

“If they can’t get a hold of you after a few times you can just get kicked off,” Poe said. “People are just getting kicked off of their health care coverage, because Medicaid can’t find them. And that feels really rather unacceptable to me.”

More than 3 million Ohioans are enrolled in Medicaid and the Medicaid renewal process starts 60 days before their annual renewal date. Ohioans receive a final notice of disenrollment before losing their coverage, Lawless said. 

Ohioans can renew their Medicaid coverage by returning a completed renewal packet to their county Jobs and Families Services office, by calling 1-844-640-6466 or online through the Ohio Benefits eligibility portal. 

Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Twitter.

https://www.warrencountyrecord.com/stories/giving-parents-options-is-the-free-market-approach-to-education,90867

For many of our friends and neighbors, public schools are the right place for their children to be educated. In our small towns, the public school is the center of the community. Unfortunately, a one-size-fits-all approach to education doesn’t work well for the entire state or for every child.

In Missouri, we should provide options for school choice so families choose an education that fits their children’s needs. I believe so strongly in our public schools and their ability to serve students, that I know providing some families a choice will not hurt our public education system. Legislators, like me, can be pro-education and pro-education options. 

School choice provides families with the flexibility to choose the best educational environment for their children. This could mean traditional public schools, charter schools, private schools, virtual schools, and homeschooling. The key is putting the power back into the hands of parents, allowing them to make decisions based on what they believe is best for their children.

I believe that we can, and should, agree that one-size-fits-all does not fit all when it comes to education. Each child is unique, with different learning styles, interests, and needs. School choice recognizes this and acknowledges that parents are in the best position to understand their child’s individual requirements. By allowing parents to choose the educational setting that aligns with their child’s needs, we can foster a community where every student can thrive.

Critics likely will argue that education freedom might divert resources away from public schools, but the reality is quite the opposite. When parents have the option to choose, schools are incentivized to improve and innovate to attract students. Moreover, school choice promotes economic empowerment by allowing parents to invest in their children’s education. Education is an investment in the future, and when parents can direct their education dollars to the school of their choice, they are more engaged and invested in their child’s success. This active involvement creates a positive ripple effect, strengthening the entire community.

In some of Missouri’s urban areas, the ultimate outcome of our public school system is prison or death. Many kids graduate without being able to read or write.

Here in Rural Missouri, we pride ourselves on our strong sense of community, and school choice aligns with our values of individual freedom and personal responsibility. Giving parents the freedom to make decisions that impact their children’s education falls in-line with that personal responsibility. The fears of schools using school choice as a tool for recruiting for athletics fails to account for the above mentioned sense of community. 

This is why I believe that school choice programs that have seen success in Missouri’s urban areas should be expanded. The Missouri Scholars Program was started last year and allows for qualifying families based on need to receive a scholarship for $6,375 to use towards the educational needs of their children, like tuition. The reality is that many members of our community don’t qualify for this program or wouldn’t use it because they are satisfied with their public education. 

However, for the few that need a different option for their children, this scholarship is essential to provide another option. Unfortunately, right now only residents of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Clay County, Jackson County, Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Springfield, Jefferson City, St. Joseph, and Joplin. There’s no reason why our area of the state shouldn’t also be included in that list.

As your representative, I am committed to supporting policies that prioritize the well-being and success of our community. I am committed to making the public schools in our area the very best that they can be. To me, this is not a partisan issue. It’s about putting our children first and ensuring they have access to the best possible education. I urge you to consider the benefits of school choice.

Well that’s it for me. From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Stories featured in today’s show appeared first in the Missouri Independent, Ohio Capital Journal, Texas Tribune, Pro Publica, and the Warren County Record in the blessed land of Warrenton, MO.

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Belin found her love of politics growing up with parents and siblings who discussed current events at the dinner table. She has followed Iowa elections closely since the 1980 caucuses, when she took on the role of liberal Republican candidate John Anderson for a classroom debate. She first participated in an Iowa Democratic caucus as a Paul Simon supporter in 1988.

She found her love of writing about politics as an analyst for the Prague-based Open Media Research Institute and later for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She covered Russian campaigns and elections, parliamentary politics, and media issues full time from 1995 to 1998 and on a freelance basis for RFE/RL from 1999 to 2005, spanning most of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency and the early Vladimir Putin years.

As Bleeding Heartland’s lead author, Belin continued to use the handle desmoinesdem through 2018 and now writes about Iowa politics under her own byline.

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Glenn Kage, Jr. is joined by former tobacco farmer and now Cannabis farmer, Robert Huffman to talk about the work of organizing the Colorado cannabis farmers for labor rights. 

 

Learn more about Glen with laborfront.com and find Glenn as "Labor Front" on social media. 

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Music: Elliot Rosen

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Adam and Sean talk about Tim Walz speech and the moment of "THAT'S MY DAD!"  - PLUS - they predict the special guest for DNC night 4... and they might have nailed it. 

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T/F: Missouri GOP went too far with their push to limit ballot initiatives on abortion

• Jay Aschroft loses, again (lost count here) https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-supreme-court-wont-hear-jay-ascrofts-appeal-of-abortion-ballot-summaries/

Yeah No…

1. Wisconsin’s gerrymandering problem

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/20/deliberate-and-anti-democratic-wisconsin-grapples-with-partisan-gerrymandering?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

1. The primary pay to play
   1. From Article: A Michigan businessman called Democratic Senate candidate Hill Harper to offer $20 million in campaign contributions if he agreed to drop out and instead mount a primary challenge to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, according to a source with direct knowledge of the call.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/22/donor-20-million-tlaib-primary-00128443

• Makes you sadly wonder about Bell in the MO1st against Bush

Yeah Yeah…

1. Boebert has an uphill battle and is hopefully toast in Colorado
   1. CO house Dist 3 against Adam Frisch, Frisch ran in 2022 and lost a nail biter we’ve talked about it before, but with ballot initiatives could be a much different 2024 in Colorado

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/co-ballot-initiatives-spell-doom-for-boebert

1. Another Jan 6th defendant guilty and Judge ROASTS defense

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/22/taylor-james-johnatakis-guilty-jan-6-rioter?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Buy/Sell

New lawyer group fighting Trump lies for 2024

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/21/anti-trump-conservative-lawyers?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Big One

Red State Brain Drain Is Real &  A Real Problem

https://newrepublic.com/article/176854/republican-red-states-brain-drain

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On this episode of The Heartland POD, for Monday, November 20, 2023

• RIP Mrs. Carter
• Missouri AG takes down complaint but backs Musk
• The Speaker of the House wants a theocracy
• Joe Manchin Might Leave The Democratic Party, what a shocker
• The proliferation of the small sample content poll
• Colorado's big Trump ruling
• Discussion about the disappearance of local media, and how our new project might help fill that exact void

Lots to Do, so let’s go!

Welcome to The Heartland POD where we are working together to change the conversation in politics. 

Host intros “how you doin and whatchu sippin on”

Adam  - Rachel  - Sean

Support what we do by leaving a five star rating and a review wherever you listen to the show and follow us on social media with AT the heartland pod and, maybe tell a friend. Tell a family member, maybe this year for Thanksgiving you’re thankful for The Heartland POD and our family of shows?  

SHOW NOTES START

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RIP 

Former First Lady (of the NATION) Rosalynn Carter

https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/statement-rosalynn-carter-111923.html

Missouri pit stop: Appointed AG Bailey took down a corruption complaint https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article281907488.html?ac_cid=DM875098&ac_bid=256147713

True Or False: Americans will swallow theocratic government, as long as it comes with lower gas prices 

Mike Johnson Advocates For Theocracy… Speaker Mike Johnson says separation of church and state is a 'misnomer'

Bonus T/F: Joe Manching leaving the Democratic party is meaningless

https://thehill.com/homenews/4312340-manchin-considering-leaving-democratic-party/#:~:text=Sen.%20Joe%20Manchin%20(D%2DW.,seek%20reelection%20to%20the%20Senate.

YDFS: Mike Flynn kept money from donations to his legal defense fund

https://www.semafor.com/article/11/13/2023/michael-flynn-and-family-pocketed-leftover-money-from-legal-defense-fund-filing-claims

Buy of Sell - Polling firms are going to have a banner year despite the narrative that polling doesn’t matter 

Overreaction 2024 Poll Of The Week: This week, polling is GOOD for Biden!

https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1769&context=survey_center_polls

BIG ONE

Colorado Ruling: Trump Engaged In Insurrection

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/17/politics/trump-colorado-ballot-14th-amendment-insurrection/index.html

• Ruling itself: ​​https://www.scribd.com/document/685299158/11-17-2023-Final-Order

BREAK

SPECIAL EXTRA TIME 

Local News Papers Are Dying Faster Than Expected - Welcome To The Heartland Collective

https://www.axios.com/2023/11/16/newspapers-decline-hedge-funds-research

@TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and Threads

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Sean Diller  (no social)

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Title: Flyover Friday, November 10, 2023

Intro: On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, November 17, 2023

A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:

GOP Senators can’t stop Biden’s student loan plans

Illinois legislature approves plan for Small Nuclear Reactors
Ohio Republicans can’t take a hint
Ohio Secretary of State misses personal financial disclosure deadline
Biden Administration expands veterans’ health care
Democrat Dan Kildee of Michigan is retiring

Welcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller in Denver, Colorado.

We’re glad to have you with us. If you’re new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on Twitter @ THE heartland pod. Alright! Let’s get into the stories

https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/attempt-to-kill-biden-student-debt-relief-plan-tied-to-income-fails-in-u-s-senate/

Senate Republicans fail to kill President Joe Biden’s income-based student debt relief plan

BY: ARIANA FIGUEROA - NOVEMBER 16, 2023 7:10 AM

     

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia was the sole Democrat who joined Republicans in backing the resolution, which was 2 votes short of passing.

Following the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said “There are millions of students, poor, working class … who will benefit from what the president has done. Republicans don’t think twice about giving huge tax breaks to ultra-wealthy billionaires and large corporations, but when it comes to helping out working families with student debt relief, suddenly it’s too much money, it will raise the deficit, we can’t afford it. Give me a break.”

The Department of Education unveiled the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan hours after the Supreme Court in June struck down the Biden administration’s one-time student debt cancellation that would have forgiven up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for anyone making less than $125,000 per year.

Borrowers who received Pell Grants would have been eligible for an additional $10,000 in forgiveness of federal student loans.

The new income-driven repayment plan calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size and forgives balances after a set number of years. More than 5.5 million student loan borrowers have already enrolled in the SAVE plan, according to data released by the Department of Education.

Repayments on federal student loans restarted last month after a nearly three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the SAVE plan, borrowers with undergraduate loans will pay 5% of their discretionary income, rather than the 10% required under previous income repayment plans. 

https://capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/illinois-lawmakers-approve-plan-to-allow-small-scale-nuclear-development

Illinois lawmakers approve small-scale nuclear development

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Governor, who vetoed previous bill, supports new effort

By ANDREW ADAMS 

Capitol News Illinois

aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com

SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers on Thursday approved a proposal that would allow companies to develop new nuclear power generation in Illinois for the first time since 1987. 

House Bill 2473 does not entirely lift the 36-year-old moratorium on nuclear construction, but rather creates a regulatory structure for the construction of small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs. 

The bill limits the nameplate capacity of such reactors to 300 megawatts, about one-third the size of the smallest of the six existing nuclear power plants in Illinois. It also requires the state to perform a study that will inform rules for regulating SMRs, which will be adopted by regulators at the Illinois Emergency Management Agency by January 2026.  

Proponents of the measure say it is a step to make the ongoing transition away from fossil fuels more reliable for customers throughout the state, while opponents warn the unproven technology comes with safety risks and the potential for cost overruns. 

The bill passed with bipartisan support in the Senate, 44-7, and the House, 98-8. The opposition came exclusively from Democrats. 

Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement that he would sign the bill. He worked with lawmakers on the new bill after vetoing a broader measure this summer. 

Leadership of the Illinois AFL-CIO umbrella labor organization released a statement Thursday calling the policy “important for our state’s economy and our clean energy future.” 

It echoed a release from the Illinois Manufacturers Association, an industry advocacy group that testified in support of the proposal several times, saying that it would allow the state to “continue leading in energy and manufacturing innovation.”

The legislation’s sponsors, Republican State Sen. Sue Rezin, and Democratic State Rep. Lance Yednock said the bill has the potential to bolster Illinois’ electric reliability as intermittent sources like wind and solar begin to make up a larger portion of the state’s energy output. 

Sen. Rezin said she is particularly interested in the potential for SMRs to be developed at the sites of former coal plants in Illinois, avoiding the need to build new transmission lines. 

Because permitting nuclear energy takes many years at the federal level, the earliest a nuclear project could be brought online in Illinois would be in the 2030s. 

 

But critics of the bill and of nuclear power are worried.

David Kraft, an outspoken critic of nuclear energy and head of the Chicago-based advocacy group Nuclear Energy Information Service, urged lawmakers at a Thursday committee meeting to reject the bill. 

Kraft said he was concerned about the lack of existing SMR installations and the unproven nature of the technology. While some nuclear reactors of this scale do exist in other countries, no commercial SMRs have ever been built in the United States. 

In a follow-up interview, Kraft said that SMRs bring with them security concerns, as the smaller installations have different staffing requirements than traditional reactors and use a more highly enriched type of uranium. This relative abundance of this uranium, according to Kraft, could incentivize the further proliferation of nuclear weapons. 

Sierra Club Illinois chapter director Jack Darin called nuclear energy “at best, a distraction.” Sierra Club was one of the main advocacy organizations that sought Pritzker’s veto of the previous bill. 

Since 2016, five other state legislatures have either repealed or weakened their bans on nuclear construction. Counting Illinois, bans on nuclear construction remain on the books in 11 states. 

Several of the states that have lifted their bans in recent years have done so to pave the way for SMR technology. But the biggest player in that industry has seen several upsets in recent weeks. 

As lawmakers debated the bill on Wednesday, NuScale Power – the only company with a federally approved SMR design – announced that it was canceling its highly watched “Carbon Free Power Project” in Utah, which would have been the first commercial project with a NuScale reactor. 

The project’s cancelation comes after months of falling stock prices and criticism from trading firms. Still, its leaders say the company will continue with its other projects, which are at various steps of regulation and planning. 

Bill sponsor Sen. Rezin noted that “there’s a lot to learn” from NuScale’s canceled project, but hopes Illinois’ and other states’ moves to reverse their construction bans will encourage nuclear energy development in the U.S. 

She said “If we do not build out this technology with companies that are in the United States, there’s other companies and countries such as Russia that are looking to sell that technology. We don’t want that.” 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/11/16/ohio-senate-gop-floats-idea-of-15-week-abortion-ban-despite-voters-saying-no/

Ohio Senate GOP floats 15-week abortion ban despite voters saying no

BY: MORGAN TRAU - NOVEMBER 16, 2023 5:00 AM

The Ohio Senate president has floated the idea of a 15-week abortion ban following voters decisively choosing to keep lawmakers out of their reproductive care.

The debate over Issue 1 continues at the Statehouse. Some fringe and alt-right Republican House representatives are infuriated with the voters who stood up to secure abortion rights in the state.

Issue 1, the proposal to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution, passed 57-43% on election night. Despite this large victory, Statehouse Republicans have been mulling over ways to combat it.

State Rep. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester) is seemingly leading this fight with other far-right representatives Bill Dean (R-Xenia), Melanie Miller (R-Ashland) and Beth Lear (R-Galena). The quartet is described by other Ohio Republicans as being on the extreme end of their caucus due to anti-vaccine beliefs, peddling of conspiracy theories, and attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.

Describing a potential 15-week abortion ban, GOP Senate President Matt Huffman said “clearly there is a majority of people in Ohio” who want the ban - however, that would of course be the opposite of what the voters just said a week ago. ere are no statistics to prove this, and based on the language of Issue 1, the voters chose not to have any restrictions before viability.

Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau asked President Huffman “Would 15 weeks be going against the will of the people?” 

He said he didn’t know.

After the election where Ohioans stood up to demand abortion rights, the Senate President said this “wasn’t the end” and there would be a “revolving door” of repeal efforts.  

This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/11/16/sec-frank-larose-misses-deadline-for-u-s-senate-financial-disclosures/

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose misses extended reporting deadline in U.S. Senate race. He’s the only one who didn’t file. 

BY: NICK EVANS - NOVEMBER 16, 2023 4:55 AM

     

The three Republican candidates hoping to topple U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, go before voters in a few months, and by now should’ve disclosed information about their personal finances. Two of them, state Sen. Matt Dolan and entrepreneur Bernie Moreno, have done so. But after filing an extension through Nov. 14, though, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose still has not.

In both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, candidates and members have to regularly file disclosures that describe their financial positions, assets and liabilities. But the reports stick to broad strokes. Filers name their mutual funds, for instance, but the amount of their holdings are bracketed — $1,001-$15,000, $15,001-$50,000, etc.

Current U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown reported about $27,000 in retirement income from his time as a state official. His U.S. Senate income doesn’t need to be disclosed, nor do his U.S. Senate retirement accounts.

Brown also reports serving as a trustee at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. since 2008.

Under U.S. Senate rules, candidates must file financial disclosure reports within 30 days of becoming a candidate. LaRose announced his candidacy July 17, and filed for a financial disclosure extension August 9. That extension gave him until November 14 to file his report.

Despite that 90-day reprieve, LaRose still has yet to file. The Ohio Capital Journal reached out to his campaign to see if the report has been filed but not yet posted or if the campaign has requested a further extension. The campaign did not respond.

Late filing carries a $200 penalty and failing to file or filing a false report carries a civil penalty of up to $50,000.

LaRose’s failure to file thus far is particularly notable given a $250,000 personal loan he made to his campaign in September. While his Republican opponents have loaned their campaigns significantly more money, LaRose’s previous disclosures from his time as a state lawmaker don’t suggest he’d have that much cash readily available.

Chagrin Falls Republican Matt Dolan comes from a wealthy family that owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team. In addition to serving in the legislature, Dolan has worked in the Geauga County prosecutor’s office and as an Assistant Attorney General.

The state senator’s investment holdings are vast—including stocks from more than 250 companies, more than 50 mutual funds and bonds. He reports a Morgan Stanley money market account with more than $1 million alone as well as several mutual funds worth more than half a million dollars each.

Dolan also reports a handful of retirement accounts, partial ownership of several LLCs and real estate. One residential building brought in more than $50,000 in rent.

In addition to his income Dolan holds personal line of credit with Morgan Stanley worth at least $5 million. The interest rate for that credit line is just 5.96% according to Dolan’s amended report — roughly 2.5 percentage points below the current prime rate.

Dolan has loaned his campaign a total of $7 million.

Next, there’s Bernie Moreno

If anything, Moreno’s disclosure is even more complex. The Westlake entrepreneur began his business career selling cars, and his report describes his role as director of 17 different automotive business entities, most of which are no longer operating. But from cars, Moreno has branched into several other lines of business including real estate and tech.

Moreno’s assets are held in a series of trusts, and the report includes several notes about partial ownership and recent sales. He owns 65% of Dryver, LLC, for instance, which the report values at between $5 million and $25 million. Moreno recently sold off his stake in a different company called Champ Titles, and reports making more than $5 million on the deal.

He has investments worth at least half a million dollars in handful of Tel Aviv companies working technology, social media investing and healthcare AI. Moreno has also invested in Narya, the venture capital firm U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-OH, started before running for office. Vance has endorsed Moreno’s senate bid.

Moreno also reports owning millions in residential and commercial real estate. He owns 43% of a home in Ocean Reef, FL worth at least $5 million. It appears the property is a rental because it generated more than $50,000 in income. Moreno also owns a 1% stake condos located in Washington, D.C., and New York City, as well as a $1 million unimproved parcel in Zapotal, Costa Rica, and at least $1.5MM sitting in two checking accounts.

Moreno has loaned his campaign $3 million.

https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/veterans-health-care-coverage-expanded-by-biden-administration/

Biden Administratoin expands Veterans’ health care coverage 

BY: JACOB FISCHLER - NOVEMBER 10, 2023 4:01 AM

     

Officials said the Department of Veterans Affairs will expand health care coverage for certain groups of veterans and their families, and create new programs meant to make care more accessible.

The VA will make coverage of certain toxic burn pit-related conditions available sooner than anticipated. Family members of veterans who served at North Carolina’s Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from between 1953 and 1987 will be eligible to have the costs of treating Parkinson’s disease covered. And all living World War II veterans will be eligible for no-cost health care, including at nursing homes, the department said in a series of news releases.

The administration will also create a new graduate medical education program to help expand health care availability for veterans in rural, tribal and other underserved communities. And the VA will spend $5 million on an advertising campaign aimed at having more veterans sign up for services.

https://michiganadvance.com/2023/11/16/dan-kildee-dean-of-michigans-u-s-house-delegation-wont-run-for-reelection-in-2024/

Dan Kildee, dean of Michigan’s U.S. House delegation, won’t run for reelection in 2024

Retirement leaves open a key seat made more competitive with redistricting

BY: KEN COLEMAN - NOVEMBER 16, 2023 1:53 PM

     

Kildee, who is 65, said a cancer diagnosis this year caused him to reassess his career plans. 

Kildee’s retirement from the 8th Congressional District including Genesee, Bay and Saginaw counties and portions of Midland County, leaves open a seat made more competitive during the last redistricting process. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter has moved the seat from “leans Democratic” to a “tossup.”

A number of candidates could line up to run in 2024 from both parties. Republican Martin Blank, a surgeon, has already declared. Other Republicans who could run are last year’s nominee Paul Junge, former House Speaker Tom Leonard and state Rep. Bill G. Schuette (R-Midland).

On the Democratic side, potential candidates could include former Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich (D-Flint), Flint Mayor Sheldon Neely, state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City), former state Rep. Pam Farris (D-Clio) and state Sen. John Cherry (D-Flint).

In a 2020 interview with the Michigan Advance, Kildee recalled having only been in Congress for a few years when news of the Flint water crisis broke.

“That was one of those moments where I knew why I was there. I knew exactly why I was in Congress. I had to go to bat for my hometown because they only had one member of Congress, and I had to persuade a whole bunch of people to help me out with Flint.”

Kildee has served as a leader in the House Democratic caucus and has been a close ally of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). He is the co-chair of the House Democratic Steering Committee. 

Pelosi told the Advance in 2020 that Kildee “has proudly carried on his family’s long legacy of service, becoming a tremendous champion for the people of Flint and all Michiganders” as part of leadership.

“As a powerful member of the Ways and Means Committee, his persistent, dissatisfied leadership has delivered critical resources to strengthen and develop his community and ensure that our budget remains a reflection of our nation’s values. Congressman Kildee’s bold vision and expert guidance as chief deputy whip has been invaluable to House Democrats as we work to advance progress that make a difference in the lives of hard-working families in Michigan and across the country.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said through a statement that “no one fights harder for his constituents than Dan Kildee.

“Congressman Kildee knows the Bay region like the back of his Michigan mitten, and I am so grateful for our productive partnership,” Whitmer said. “I am grateful for our collaboration to bring progress to areas of Michigan that too many left behind. We brought good-paying, middle-class manufacturing jobs back to Flint, worked to lower the cost of prescription drugs with President Biden, and delivered on the issues that make a real difference in people’s lives.”   

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) called Kildee’s retirement “a huge loss for Congress, for Michigan, and for me personally. The center of his work is and always has been his hometown of Flint, for which he has fiercely advocated especially in the darkest hour of the Flint water crisis,” Slotkin said. “While I’m thankful I have another year to work with him, and thrilled that he is moving on to his next chapter, this departure stings.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) said that Kildee “will be missed. His deep knowledge of many issues and his concern for others has made a difference in countless lives, and his years of service have benefited our country in many ways,”

Advance Editor Susan J. Demas contributed to this story.

We will definitely have more on the developing primary picture for this open seat in Michigan, as well as the new open seat in Virginia as Abby Spanberger runs for Governor, and everything else that happens as we are now just a couple of short months from the 2024 primary season.

Well that’s it for me. From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Stories featured in today’s show appeared first in the Kansas Reflector, Michigan Advance, Ohio Capitol Journal, Missouri Independent and Capital News Illinois. Thanks for listening, see you next time. 

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Host
Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85  (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)

Guest

Jeff Basinger  on Twitter - https://twitter.com/wolfraiseshuman

Jeff's Substack - https://doctorfantastic.substack.com/?utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=pss

Upchurch Case: https://law.justia.com/cases/missouri/supreme-court/1991/73376-0.html

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Jen Tracy is a progressive candidate for Missouri’s 120th district.  I’ll post her links here. 

https://www.upballot.com/jen-tracy

https://www.tiktok.com/@jentracy4mo

https://www.instagram.com/therealjentracy/

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jen4mo120th

Glenn Kage, Jr.  - https://www.laborfront.com/

Follow Glenn as "Labor Front" on social media. 

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SHOW NOTES BEGIN

Special Guest - CW Gardner to talk about his new children’s book about becoming a manly man

T/F - Andy Brashear’s Win In KY Is An Example, Not An Anomaly

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/andy-beshear-win-abortion-kentucky/

Missouri Poll shows Quade isn’t just competitive  - there is a real avenue to victory here in MO for her 

• Primary will be a major waste with silver spoon business man Mike Hamarsbi 

https://www.showmevictories.com/news/one-year-out-missouri-voters-share-their-opinions-ahead-of-2024-election-cycle/

KY rural voters: https://dailyyonder.com/rural-voters-shift-toward-democrat-in-kentucky-governors-race/2023/11/09/

Big One - 2024, A Year Out - What A Difference A Week Makes, Now Imagine A Year…

 

• Nov 5, NY Times puts out their big bombshell poll and starts the coverage cycle
• https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/us/politics/biden-trump-2024-poll.html
• CNN Now has a similar poll and coverage cycle going
• Then - David Axelrod, Main Architect of the Obama campaigns - posts his thoughts about swapping Biden out as the Democratic nominee
  • https://x.com/davidaxelrod/status/1721187586268389858?s=20
  • 
     
• Meanwhile - we had the odd year election which means the bi-annual “Virginia Is A  Bellwether” analysis started 
  • Virginia bellwether good quote from Virginia State Senator and coolewst grandma on the planet, L. Louise Lucas https://twitter.com/senlouiselucas/status/1721604287531250113?s=46&t=mukZUfs5M_R3E9tAHIu-GA
  • 
     
• THEN - two days later, Democrats swept both chambers in Virginia, KY reelected a Democrat that we just discussed, and Ohio voters roundly rejected GOP extremism with the passage of Issue 1 by 13 points to legalize abortion in their state constitutio
• NOW - Huge push coming, including by Axelrod - to talk about project 2025 and the massive risk a Trump presidency part 2 would pose to both the future of American democracy and to human rights
  • https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/09/trump-president-democracy-threat-media-journalism?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
• Backdrop - More and more prominent GOP members are running from Trump
  • Iowa governor backing DeSantis - https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4296720-iowa-governor-officially-endorses-desantis-at-des-moines-rally/
• Sen. Joe Manchin is retiring from his seat and largely expected to run with the No Labels group
• Jill Stein is back too https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4302594-jill-stein-2024-bid-green-party/
• Think piece about Obama/Biden splits and how that’s showing back up now 
  • https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4304498-axelrod-criticism-obama-biden-tensions/

All of that leads to What can be a good discussion because this is one of those times where our goals are all aligned, we want not Trump to be elected  President in 2024 - but we have some starkly different reactions to Axelrod’s comments

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Marion Co Kansas newspaper raid | Hospitals are suing patients and putting liens on their homes to get paid | Missouri Sunshine Laws are alive and well | Joe Manchin retiring from the U.S. Senate probably to run for President alongside RFK Jr., Jill Stein, and Cornel West in 2024's JV election

Welcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller and with me today are my cohosts Rachel Parker and Adam Sommer

We’re glad to have you with us and if you’re new to our shows make sure you subscribe, and leave a 5 star rating wherever you’re listening to our shows, remember to look for The Heartland POD content on youtube and learn more about our shows and hosts at heartlandpod.com

Let’s get into the stories

2023 Election Results That Caught Your Eye?

Ohio Issue 1 on abortion  

Massive win for abortion rights  - 56-43, 13 point margin is pretty massive especially in this age of often close partisan election results

Kansas 2022 measure was 59-41, also was a larger election but still, bigger margin

County map breakdown on vote

https://www.wlwt.com/article/ohio-issue-1-abortion-rights-passes-county-map/45772375

GOP still promising to ignore voters and do what they think is best, because they don’t care what people thinking

https://www.salon.com/2023/11/08/this-isnt-the-end-top-ohio-vows-effort-to-undo-abortion-amendment-backed-by/

Virginia house and senate flipped to Dems after Youngkin’s double down on abortion

Youngkin pushed for voters to give him a GOP majority in both chambers so they could make abortion super illegal, and voters said, “That’s gonna be a no from me, dawg”

Sound bite from the ghost of Josh Hawley’s future  

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1722092355770016036?s=46&t=mukZUfs5M_R3E9tAHIu-GA

Kentucky reelected a Democrat for Governor - Andy Beshear

Moms for Liberty candidates LOST in almost every race they were in

https://www.kcrg.com/2023/11/09/moms-liberty-backed-school-board-candidates-overwhelmingly-lose-elections/

Summary of results on Ballotpedia

https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2023

The folks behind the Marion Co. newspaper raid that left an elderly woman and former publisher dead were more involved than they ever let on and it looks like what we thought it was all along

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/06/kansas-officials-downplayed-involvement-in-marion-raid-heres-what-they-knew/

Chaos in Missouri’s Medicaid Program

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/02/medicaid-unwinding-breeds-chaos-in-states-as-millions-lose-coverage/

Callers in Missouri reported waiting on hold for more than two hours on hotlines to renew their Medicaid coverage

People in North Carolina are losing their homes to hospital bills

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/06/hospitals-lawsuits-atrium-north-carolina?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Notes (just for reference):

In 2005, to secure a debt of $23,311 from Sandra’s treatment, a lawyer for the hospital convinced the couple to sign a deed of trust to their home. It required Atrium’s debt and attorneys’ fees to be paid before the home could be sold, transferred or refinanced.

In 2010, Belk was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Suddenly, he owed another $6,792, which he could not pay. In 2012, the hospital sued to collect its money and succeeded. Another lien was placed on the family home, with an 8% annual interest rate and more attorneys’ fees on top. Worse, Sandra’s cancer returned.

In 2013, Sandra died at 61. That did not stop the hospital from refiling the debt lien from her initial treatment, when it would have otherwise expired in 2022. That has allowed the hospital to retain a stake in Belk’s home to this day.

Rebecca Varney, a good trouble maker in Missouri’s Phelps County, and a Missouri court agrees - and awards almost $44,000 in attorney fees as a reult

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/08/phelps-county-judge-rules-missouri-city-tried-to-intimidate-woman-with-ban-on-city-hall-visits/

Edgar Springs, a town of 200 in southern Phelps County, must pay a nominal fine of $150 to Rebecca Varney for banning her from city hall for four years, and for holding several closed meetings with business that should have been conducted in public, Judge John Beger decided.  

The cost of the violations will be far more than that, however, because Beger also ordered the city to pay $43,995 in attorneys fees, plus additional costs that have not yet been calculated to bring the case to trial.

 

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1. T/F - Josh Hawley Only Introduced This Bill - to allegedly undue the Citizens United Ruling -  So He Could Say He Introduced This Bill Because Lucas Kunce Has Him Scared
   1. Sean - can you do a quick refresher of what Citizens United is for the class, please - 2010 case about corporate donations and classification as money as speech, allowed for a flood money, largely without accountability, or what’ often called “dark money” 
   2. Open Secrets Spending Summaries: https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/cost-of-election?cycle=2020&display=T&infl=N
   3. 
      Brennan Center Summary for Background reading: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained
   4. 
       
   5. https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/josh-hawley-citizens-united-bill-rcna123031
   6. 538 polling info: Hawley in leadhttps://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/2024/missouri/
   7. Mitch came right at Hawley’s throat: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/31/politics/mitch-mcconnell-josh-hawley-citizens-united/index.html
   8. 
       
2. Yeah… no -  Christian Nationalism Is a Serious Problem
   1. From a group called “Right Wing Watch”
   2. Former Trump administration and ardent Christian nationalist William Wolfe warns that "we are getting close" to a point where Christians will have to "heed the call to arms."
   3. https://twitter.com/rightwingwatch/status/1719444222028198007?s=46&t=mukZUfs5M_R3E9tAHIu-GA
   4. Mike Johnson - it’s a whole thing
3. You don’t fuckin’ say
   1. Daddy’s best boy isn't up for the job it seems 
      1. https://www.ky3.com/2023/11/01/gop-candidate-missouri-governor-implies-hed-have-quit-if-voters-pass-abortion-rights/
      2. Best line, Ashcroft actually said this: “We’re getting into real hypotheticals,” Ashcroft said
         I’d pat him on his widdle squishy head if I didn’t want to punt him off a bridge so badly.
4. Yeah… Yeah - 
   1. Trump orbit legal issues are going well for the good guys
   2. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/31/top-trump-allies-facing-charges-lose-lawyers-after-failing-to-pay-legal-bills?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
   3. Ivanka wanted to not have to testify during the week because
      1. Like, judge, we have kids and it’s just so hard and I just can’t even
      2. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/03/ivanka-trump-must-testify-trump-organization-fraud?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
      3. 
          
5. Buy or Sell - Voters accepting GOP candidates claiming victory for Biden policy? 
   1. Republicans welcome local benefits of climate law despite voting against it
   2. Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene among those accused of hypocrisy over efforts to gut landmark Inflation Reduction Act
   3. 
       
   4. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/01/republicans-climate-change-ira-nancy-mace-marjorie-taylor-greene?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
   5. 
       
6. Big One - Social Emotional Learning Is What Businesses Want, But What GOP Attacks
   1. Top workforce concern of Missouri’s CEOs is finding ‘soft skills’
   2. Two-thirds of respondents believe high school grads aren’t ‘well-prepared for success’
   3. So often hear from GOP “Kids need to learn math and how to read” but the reality is that it doesn’t matter how fast you can do arithmetic if you can’t deal with other humans 
   4. https://www.ky3.com/2023/10/27/top-workforce-concern-missouris-ceos-is-finding-soft-skills/

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Welcome to the Friday News Flyover for November 3, 2023. I’m Sean Diller. This week: Medicaid chaos in red states around the country | Cannabis legalization on the ballot in Ohio | Pennsylvania Democrats have returned triple the mail ballots compared with their Republican neighbors | Colorado voters consider two statewide ballot initiatives, and | It’s Britney

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/02/medicaid-unwinding-breeds-chaos-in-states-as-millions-lose-coverage/

Medicaid ‘unwinding’ breeds chaos in states as millions lose coverage

BY: PHIL GALEWITZ, KATHERYN HOUGHTON, BRETT KELMAN AND SAMANTHA LISS - NOVEMBER 2, 2023 11:34 AM

     

More than two dozen people lined up outside a state public assistance office in Montana before it opened to ensure they didn’t get cut off from Medicaid.

Callers in Missouri and Florida reported waiting on hold for more than two hours on hotlines to renew their Medicaid coverage.

The parents of a disabled man in Tennessee who had been on Medicaid for three decades fought with the state this summer to keep him enrolled as he lay dying from pneumonia in a hospital.

Since the expiration of COVID-era protections earlier this year, states have reviewed the eligibility of more than 28 million people and terminated coverage for over 10 million of them. Millions more are expected to lose Medicaid in the coming months.

The Medicaid disenrollment rates of people reviewed so far vary dramatically by state, largely along a blue-red political divide, from a low of 10% in Illinois to a high of 65% in Texas.

“I feel like Illinois is doing everything in their power to ensure that as few people lose coverage as possible,” said Paula Campbell of the Illinois Primary Health Care Association, which represents dozens of community health centers.

Camille Richoux, health policy director for the nonprofit Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families said, “It’s not just bad, but worse than people can imagine. This has not been about determining who is eligible using all possible means, but how we can kick people off by all possible means.”

The unprecedented enrollment drop comes after federal protections ended this spring that had prohibited states from removing people from Medicaid during the three pandemic years. Since March 2020, enrollment in Medicaid and the related Children’s Health Insurance Program had surged by more than 22 million to reach 94 million people in the U.S.

The process of reviewing recipients’ eligibility has been anything but smooth for many Medicaid enrollees, and some suspect particular states have used the confusing system to discourage enrollment.

But gaps in coverage can jeopardize people’s access to health services - or their financial security - if they get medical bills for care they cannot postpone.

Pam Shaw, a pediatrician in Kansas City, Kansas, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics’ state government affairs committee said, “Any type of care that’s put off — whether it’s asthma, whether it’s autism, whether it’s something as simple as an earache — can just get worse if you wait,”

Doctors and representatives of community health centers around the country said they have seen an uptick in cancellations and no-shows among patients without coverage — including children. Nationwide, states have already disenrolled at least 1.8 million children in the 20 states that provide the data by age. Children typically qualify more easily than adults, so child advocates believe many kids are being wrongly terminated based on their parents’ being deemed no longer eligible. 

In Texas, 68% of those disenrolled from Medicaid were children, compared with 16% in Massachusetts, according to KFF. In September, President Joe Biden’s administration said most states were conducting eligibility checks incorrectly and inappropriately disenrolling eligible children or household members. The administration  ordered states to reinstate coverage for some 500,000 people.

Idaho, one of a few states that completed the unwind in six months, said it disenrolled 121,000 people of the 153,000 recipients it reviewed as of September because it suspected they were no longer eligible. Of those kicked off, about 13,600 signed up for private coverage on the state’s ACA marketplace, according to Pat Kelly, executive director of Your Health Idaho, the state’s exchange. What happened to the rest, state officials say they don’t know.

Nationwide, about 71% of Medicaid enrollees terminated during the unwinding have been cut because of procedural issues - meaning they could actually still qualify for Medicaid, but lost it anyway. 

‘People are not getting through’

In many states, enrollees have faced long waits to get help with renewals. The worst phone waits were in Missouri, according to a KFF Health News review of letters the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent to states in August. In the letter to Missouri’s Medicaid program, CMS said it was concerned that the average wait time of 48 minutes and the 44% rate of Missourians abandoning those calls in May was “impeding equitable access” to assistance and patients’ ability to maintain coverage.

Some people are waiting on hold more than three hours, said Sunni Johnson, an enrollment worker at Affinia Healthcare, which runs community health centers in the St. Louis area. That’s a significant hurdle for people with inflexible jobs and other barriers.

In Florida, which has removed over 730,000 people from the program since April, enrollees earlier this year were waiting almost 2½ hours on a Spanish-language call center, according to a report from UnidosUS, a civil rights advocacy group. The Spanish versions of the Medicaid application, renewal website, and other communications are also confusing, said Jared Nordlund, the Florida director for UnidosUS.

Some Medicaid recipients are seeking help through the courts. In a 2020 class-action lawsuit against Tennessee that seeks to pause the Medicaid eligibility review, parents of recipients describe spending hours on the phone or online with the state Medicaid program, trying to ensure their children’s insurance coverage is not lost.

One of those parents, Donna Guyton, said in a court filing that Tennessee’s Medicaid program, called TennCare, sent a June letter revoking the coverage of her 37-year-old son, Patrick, who had been eligible for Medicaid because of disabilities since he was 6. As Guyton made calls and filed appeals to protect her son’s insurance, he was hospitalized with pneumonia, then spent weeks there before dying in late July.

“While Patrick was fighting for his life, TennCare was threatening to take away his health insurance coverage and the services he relied on,” she said in a court filing. “Though we should have been able to focus on Patrick’s care, our family was required to navigate a system that kept denying his eligibility and putting his health coverage at risk.”

TennCare said in a court filing Patrick Guyton’s Medicaid coverage was never actually revoked — the termination letter was sent to his family because of an “error.”

Phil Galewitz in Washington, D.C., wrote this article. Daniel Chang in Hollywood, Florida; Katheryn Houghton in Missoula, Montana; Brett Kelman in Nashville, Tennessee; Samantha Liss and Bram Sable-Smith in St. Louis; and Bernard J. Wolfson in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/11/01/marijuana-legalization-would-add-260m-to-ohio-economy-study-predicts/

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Or when you get ‘em anyway.

Issue 2, an initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana for people over 21 in Ohio, is on the ballot in next Tuesday’s election. 

An economic analysis released last week found that the benefits of legalizing cannabis in Ohio would outweigh the costs by a quarter-billion dollars a year.

A study by Columbus-based Scioto Analysis attempts to identify the pluses and minuses that would come with legalization.

To do the analysis, the group used studies from states such as Washington and Colorado, where recreational weed has long been the law. To examine how the pros and cons identified in those states might play out in Ohio, the researchers looked at economic and census data, as well as crime statistics.

with its 10% excise tax on top of Ohio’s normal sales tax, passage of Issue 2 would produce $190 million a year, according to the report.  

Then there are the jobs the new industry would create.

The report predicts that Ohio will add roughly 3,300 new jobs in the first year after legalization. Assuming these jobs are full time and pay matches the average wage across the state of Ohio, this will amount to about $190 million in wage benefits for workers across the state. 

And if weed is no longer illegal for adults over 21, it stands to reason that there will be fewer arrests.

The report said using data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report on the number of cannabis-related arrests in Ohio, they estimate there would be about 4,400 fewer arrests per year if recreational cannabis were legalized. 

Adding up the cost of those arrests, and assuming that 6% of those people would have been convicted of felonies, this amounts to over $38 million in savings for Ohio.”

Overall, study estimated Ohioans would receive $260 million in annual benefits if Issue 2 passes this coming Tuesday. 

https://www.penncapital-star.com/blog/mail-in-ballot-returns-top-half-a-million-2023-election-mailbag/

Dems far outpacing Republicans in mail and absentee ballots returned

Mail-in ballot returns top half a million | 2023 Election Mailbag

BY: CASSIE MILLER - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 2:00 PM

     

Here are the numbers: As of Nov. 1, Pennsylvania voters requested a total of 1,026,227 absentee and mail-in ballots.

Of that number, 90% requested a mail-in ballot and 10% requested an absentee ballot ahead of the municipal election.

Registered Democrats requested 723,746 mail-in and absentee ballots compared to 215,286 Republicans and 87,195 requests from “other” registered voters. So about 3 of every 4

Of the 570,000 ballots returned so far statewide, 417,829 - or about 3 of every 4 - were ballots from registered Democrats and 114,149 were from those registered as Republicans. 

https://coloradonewsline.com/2023/10/01/proposition-hh-proposition-ii/

Colorado voters will decide on two statewide measures this election, both of which were referred to the ballot by the state Legislature.

First, Proposition HH

If approved, Proposition HH would lower property tax rates over the next 10 years and allow the state to keep more money than it would otherwise be obligated to return to taxpayers. 

If Proposition HH passes, the residential assessment rate would be reduced to 6.7% from 6.765% until 2032. 

Proposition HH would also raise the amount of tax revenue the state can keep — set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — by 1%. The new revenue allowed would be used to backfill property tax revenue that local governments would miss out on, for things like public education. $20MM would also be set aside for a rental assistance program.

The proposition is backed by the Democratic lawmakers who voted to put it on the ballot and by Demoratic Gov. Jared Polis, as well as by other liberal groups, unions, AARP and the League of Women Voters. They say the proposal is a responsible solution to rising property taxes while still keeping schools funded. 

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/britney-spears-memoir-the-woman-in-me-sales-publisher-1235768414/

It’s Britney

Britney Spears‘ long-awaited memoir “The Woman in Me” — which details her fight for freedom and tumultuous relationships with the men in her life — has sold 1.1 million copies in its first week across print, pre-sales, e-books and audiobooks in the United States.

“The Woman in Me” was released on Oct. 24 and has officially been out for just over a week. 

The memoir is 275 pages long and the audiobook is read by actress Michelle Williams. The book featured a wild assortment of revelations that touched on Spears’ career, family, conservatorship and high profile relationships. Among them, Spears revealed that she and her ex-beau Justin Timberlake had gotten an abortion and she also claims Timberlake cheated on her with unnamed celebrities. 

Spears landed the publishing deal for a tell-all last February, just a few months after her conservatorship was terminated. Simon & Schuster acquired the rights to Spears’ book last year after a bidding war that involved multiple publishers, though the financial terms of the transaction have not been revealed. 

That’s it for me, from Denver I’m Sean Diller. Stories featured in today’s show were originally reported in the Missouri Independent, Ohio Capital Journal, Pennsylvania Capital Star, Colorado Newsline, and Variety. Thanks for listening, see you next time. 

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/19/us/politics/jason-isbell-dnc.html

 

Jason Isbell: https://www.jasonisbell.com/home

 

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Missouri Justice Coalition Website

 

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ML Smith is a criminal punishment system-impacted advocate, abolitionist and activist who experienced incarceration during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made her intimately aware of the dire reality faced by our imprisoned populations, as well as the egregious actions and apathy of institution staff and administrators. Being a Black, disabled, system-impacted woman who has experienced generational poverty is the foundation of her ideological framework, rooted in advocating for those suffering & struggling within a society created and built to oppress, marginalize and dehumanize targeted, vulnerable communities. ML is dedicated to using her experiences, knowledge, determination and voice in the struggle for equity, justice and recognition of humanity.

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1. T/F - Missouri’s speaker of the house must resign
   1. Initial reporting by MO Independent 
      1. Follow up - Plocher not resigning it seems
      2. https://missouriindependent.com/2023/10/26/missouri-house-speaker-dean-plocher-dismisses-calls-for-his-resignation/
   2. Post and Star jumped on https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article280997718.html?ac_cid=DM865574&ac_bid=59187624
2. Yeah… no - No Labels gets on another ballot for 2024 presidential 
   1. https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/no-labels-gains-2024-ballot-access-12th-state-rcna121916
   2. How is this NOT just a way to assist Trump? 
      https://www.thirdway.org/memo/the-no-labels-partys-radical-new-plan-to-force-a-contingent-election
3. NOT AN EXPERT OF THE WEEK
   1. Missouri state house member Ben Baker is NOT an expert on the US Constitution, not even close
   2. https://www.benbakerformo.com/
4. Yeah… Yeah - 
   1. Adam: Democracy Docket wins again
   2. https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-judge-orders-new-congressional-and-legislative-maps-in-georgia/
   3. Rachel: Biden Campaign Is TRUTHING!
      1. https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/16/23919770/trump-biden-truth-social-media-platform-gop-primary
5. Buy or Sell - Trump has a serious problem 
   1. Trump claims he never had powell a lawyer, but whoops he did
   2. Mark Meadows is poised to blow the whole trump world apart?
   3. https://abcnews.go.com/US/chief-staff-mark-meadows-granted-immunity-tells-special/story?id=104231281
      1. This bit is just…yeah. “But sources told ABC News that when speaking with Smith's investigators, Meadows conceded that he doesn't actually believe some of the statements in his book. 
         According to the sources, Meadows told investigators that he doesn't agree with what's in his book when it says "our many referrals to the Department of Justice were not seriously investigated."
   4. I’m just gonna leave this here: https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/jenna-ellis-under-investigation-again-colorado/
   5. Trump family testimony is coming 
      1. https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1718023559170134295?s=46&t=mukZUfs5M_R3E9tAHIu-GA
      2. 
          
6. Big One - House Got A Speaker, and He Seems Creepy AF, low key, no cap
   1. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/25/who-is-mike-johnson-house-speaker-election-denier-climate-anti-abortion?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
   2. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/house-speaker-republican-mike-johnson-january-6-mastermind-trump-election-2020.html

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