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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 9 months

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The Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services is recommending that the Drug Enforcement Administration significantly loosen federal restrictions on marijuana but stopped short of advising that it should be entirely removed from the Controlled Substances Act.

The health agency wants the drug moved from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA, potentially the biggest change in federal drug policy in decades.

HHS Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine wrote in a Tuesday letter to the DEA, first reported by Bloomberg News, that the recommendation was based on a review conducted by the Food and Drug Administration.

The DEA confirmed to POLITICO that it received the letter.

“As part of this process, HHS conducted a scientific and medical evaluation for consideration by DEA. DEA has the final authority to schedule or reschedule a drug under the Controlled Substances Act,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement. “DEA will now initiate its review.”

The HHS letter is part of the official review process initiated by President Joe Biden last October: The FDA conducts the review, which is then sent to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and HHS, after which HHS transmits a letter of recommendation to the DEA. The DEA is not required to follow HHS’s recommendation.

The White House on Wednesday refused to comment on the review process.

“The administration process is an independent process led by HHS, led by the Department of Justice, and guided by evidence,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “We’re just not going to comment on that.”

Cannabis is currently a Schedule I substance on the CSA, which means it is deemed to have a high likelihood of abuse and no medical uses. Heroin and LSD are also Schedule I drugs. Schedule III drugs are categorized as having “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.” The category includes ketamine and testosterone.

The HHS recommendation is the result of a nearly yearlong federal review of all available marijuana research. Biden’s executive action — which also included federal pardons for low-level marijuana convictions — was seen by many as a political move taken ahead of the midterm elections to incentivize turnout among younger and more progressive voters.

At the time, advocates and some lawmakers urged Biden to take clear steps to remove cannabis completely from the CSA — versus rescheduling it. Legalization advocates on Wednesday reiterated that rescheduling would not solve many of the problem they’ve been asking the Biden administration to correct.

“Rescheduling cannabis from 1 to 3 does not end criminalization, it just rebrands it. People will still be subject to criminal penalties for mere possession, regardless of their legal status in a state-level medical program,” cannabis advocate Justin Strekal told POLITICO on Wednesday.

FEDERAL-STATE CONFLICT

Federal law has failed to keep up with massive changes over the last decade in state cannabis policies. 23 states now allow anyone at least 21 years old to legally posses the drug, while 38 states have established medical marijuana programs.

But because cannabis businesses are not federally legal, they are subject to a federal tax code that prohibits narcotics traffickers from taking typical tax exemptions for business expenses like salaries and benefits. That code does not apply to Schedule III, so if the DEA approved HHS’ recommendation, cannabis businesses around the country would immediately be paying much less in federal taxes.

That would provide a big boost to the financially struggling industry.

“It’s giant,” said Charlie Bachtell, CEO of Cresco Labs, one of the country’s largest cannabis companies, in an interview. “I think you would see a healthier cannabis industry a year from now.”

Rescheduling could also mean legislative changes on Capitol Hill, where a bill to make it easier for banks to offer financial services to the cannabis industry — backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) — has been slowly plodding toward the finish line.

Changing marijuana’s federal classification would almost certainly make it easier for cannabis businesses to access banking services and raise cash even without any legislative changes.

“I don’t see a need for the SAFE Banking Act if this in fact becomes the official position,” said Jonathan Havens, a cannabis attorney at Saul Ewing who previously worked for the FDA. “I’m not saying that all banks will want to jump into this space, but the need for safe harbors I don’t think exists like it does today.”

Schumer on Wednesday urged the DEA to “quickly follow through on this important step” but added he is “continuing to work in Congress to pass important marijuana legislation and criminal justice reform.”

The shift in federal cannabis policy would also make it easier to conduct research on the health effects of cannabis consumption and for pharmaceutical companies to bring cannabis-based drugs to market. Researchers have long chafed at restrictions that only allow them to procure cannabis from a single farm at the University of Mississippi that bears little resemblance to the high-potency products many consumers are purchasing in state-legal markets.

But if the FDA decides to fully enforce regulations on the cannabis industry as it does all other Schedule III drugs, that could mean major changes for state markets.

“The question that I have is whether or not the current industry will eventually be replaced by the pharmaceutical industry,” said Rachel Gillette, head of the cannabis practice at Holland & Hart, noting that ketamine and anabolic steroids are also Schedule III drugs. “I can’t go down to the corner store and buy those things.”

Some state regulators, however, don’t think that much will change.

“This adjusts the type of security and type of bureaucracy that exists around federal research into the substance [and] it would make it easier for companies to bring cannabis based pharmaceuticals into market,” said John Hudak, Director of Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy, in an interview. “But in terms of administration of a state program, it has very little impact.”

MIXED RESPONSE

The cannabis industry on Wednesday was ebullient, while drug legalization advocates and some lawmakers had a more tepid — or downright condemnatory — response to the news.

“We believe that rescheduling to Schedule III will mark the most significant federal cannabis reform in modern history,” said Edward Conklin, executive director of the US Cannabis Council, an advocacy and trade group, in a statement. “President Biden is effectively declaring an end to Nixon’s failed war on cannabis and placing the nation on a trajectory to end prohibition.”

While the industry would see immediate financial benefits from a loosening of federal restrictions, however, criminal penalties on cannabis would not change dramatically. That prompted some advocates to criticize the HHS recommendation.

“This shift would fall woefully short of the promises made by President Biden during his 2020 presidential election campaign, especially promises made to Black and Brown communities,” said Cat Packer, director of drug markets and regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates legalizing all drugs.

Anti-legalization advocates, meanwhile, blasted the move as potentially detrimental to public health.

“The addiction profiteers who have been exposed for lying about marijuana’s physical, mental and economic impacts, are desperately looking for legitimacy in the wake of mounting evidence their products are harming millions of Americans,” said Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, in a statement. “It is regrettable that the Department of Health and Human Services move now appears to be a nod to those monied interests.”

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cannabisbusinessexecutive · 1 year

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Senate GOP faces politics vs. policy battle on marijuana

The omnibus package is on the path to passage, but the expected exclusion of marijuana banking reform has spawned a battle in the Senate GOP. For months, top Democrats and a number of Republicans had high hopes that legislation allowing banks to offer services to cannabis businesses in states where it has been legalize would be part of either the year-end National Defense Authorization Act or the…

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#GOP #Marijuana Banking #marijuana legalization #mitch mcconnell #Sen. Steve Daines #senate republicans

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mariacallous · 10 days

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There’s a new plan to revive the Affordable Connectivity Program, a pandemic-era initiative that provides low-income households in the US with discounts on high-speed internet access.

At the end of April, funding for the program was set to run out, affecting millions. But a bipartisan group of senators, led by Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, have proposed using a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization measure as a vehicle for funding the ACP and other telecom programs for a combined $6 billion. Luján’s coalition includes senators J.D. Vance, Peter Welch, Jacky Rosen, Steve Daines, and Roger Wicker.

“Right now, there are over 23 million households participating in this program. That’s more than 55 million people. But it’s not only benefiting these individual families—it’s benefiting their local communities as well,” Luján tells WIRED. “It gives families access to better-paying jobs, to training and education to create economic mobility, to better deals on groceries and household goods. The time is now to save this program.”

The measure also includes a provision for the Federal Communication Commission’s “rip and replace program,” which refunds US telecom providers for removing equipment from Chinese manufacturers including Huawei and ZTE from their networks and replacing it with less-risky tech. Earlier this month, the FCC asked Congress for around $2 billion to help bolster the program, which has faced a shortfall. That initiative has been in place since 2020, which is when the FCC identified Huawei and ZTE as national security threats and then-president Donald Trump signed the “rip-and-replace” bill into law.

“It’s also critical that we adequately fund the ‘rip-and-replace’ program to ensure our country can move forward the effort to remove and replace untrusted technological equipment. This amendment also empowers the FCC to reauction spectrum licenses to free up airwaves and allow more opportunities for the public to access faster internet speeds and more responsive networks,” Luján said.

The Biden administration has made significant investments in broadband expansion over the past few years. In a speech last month, Biden called on Congress to reinvest in the ACP.

“High-speed internet isn’t a luxury anymore, it’s an absolute necessity,” Biden said. “Congress needs to reauthorize that program now.”

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posttexasstressdisorder · 12 days

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GOOD NEWS!

There’s a new plan to revive the Affordable Connectivity Program, a pandemic-era initiative that provides low-income households in the US with discounts on high-speed internet access.

The Biden administration has made significant investments in broadband expansion over the past few years. In a speech last month, Biden called on Congress to reinvest in the ACP.

“High-speed internet isn’t a luxury anymore, it’s an absolute necessity,” Biden said. “Congress needs to reauthorize that program now.”

Update, May 7 at 7:19 pm: A previous version of this story misidentified the state Ben Ray Luján represents in the US Senate. It is New Mexico.

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titleknown · 1 year

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So, you know all those bad laws I tell y'all to call your senators to kill? Well here's a good one for you to promote!

Basically, you know how payment processors freak the fuck out if even the slightest whiff of adult content shows up on a website, which has lead to the widespread sanitization of the internet?

Well, this bill, S.293; aims to prevent that crap!

And, it's currently in the Committee of Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, so if your Senator is one of the following, call them and tell them to vote yes on it:

Sherrod Brown, Ohio, Chairman

Jack Reed, Rhode Island

Bob Menendez, New Jersey

Jon Tester, Montana

Mark Warner, Virginia

Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts (Tell her it would be a start on apologizing for voting yes on FOSTA/SESTA)

Chris Van Hollen, Maryland

Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada

Tina Smith, Minnesota

Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona (ugh)

Raphael Warnock, Georgia

John Fetterman, Pennsylvania

Tim Scott, South Carolina, Ranking Member

Mike Crapo, Idaho

Mike Rounds, South Dakota

Thom Tillis, North Carolina (Probably not reaching this asshole)

John Kennedy, Louisiana

Bill Hagerty, Tennessee

Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming

J.D. Vance, Ohio (Ugh)

Katie Britt, Alabama

Kevin Cramer, North Dakota

Steve Daines, Montana

If they're one of those right-wing dipshits, tell them it would help them prevent "cancel culture" via socially-conscious payment processors. Because subterfugue towards conservatives is always cool and good! Always!

Also mention that, in a happy irony, this would actually make kids safer by allowing platforms to acknowlege that, yes, people make a living selling well-endowed monoecious horsegirl drawings on their platform, and actually put properly finetuned safeguards in place.

As opposed to now, where they have to dance around it and put it in a grey-area hell so that Peter "Dracula" Thiel doesn't get his seastead in a shoal and ban them, which nobody likes!

So, call 'em if you can, boost even if you can't!

#law #laws #legislation #censorship #anti-censorship #payment processors #politics #american politics

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tetsuooooooooooo · 9 months

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everybody say thank you brendon thank you chris thank you shannon thank you antonio thank you ben thank you mark thank you janine thank you brian

thank you andrew kevin thank you mark thank you laura thank you travis thank you felipe thank you arthur thank you mike thank you bryan thank you thomas thank you tommy thank you victor thank you stephen thank you king diamond thank you mark thank you kirk thank you jon thank you scott thank you amy thank you malcolm thank you juliet thank you laraine thank you raya thank you livia thank you rachel thank you cel la flaca thank you karla thank you alistair thank you meagan thank you rachel thank you katie thank you tim thank you armando thank you thank you carmen thank you adam thank you young thank you spencer thank you grace thank you sakari thank you geoff thank you mantha thank you thomas thank you doug thank you roger thank you songgu thank you goni thank you rosalind thank you ken thank you virgile thank you am thank you namkyung thank you sinh thank you natalie rose thank you ryan thank you sabrina thank you jeff thank you bryan thank you yvonne thank you ashley thank you kaitlyn thank you vincent thank you emi thank you stephen thank you todd thank you giuseppe thank you rho thank you kathy thank you andrew thank you ed thank you ellen thank you thank you shannon thank you gael thank you hui thank you anna thank you kristina thank you ethan thank you gregery thats not a typo thats what it says thank you juliana thank you elyssa thank you madeleine thank you chris thank you taylor thank you joseph thank you jen thank you john thank you desmond thank you seth thank you josh thank you nina thank you joe thank you katya thank you luke thank you dain thank you nikki thank you seamus thank you brian thank you tyrick thank you meredith thank you kaylan thank you stefano thank you peter thank you smo thank you elizabeth thank you garrett thank you wesley thank you daran thank you steve thank you ran thank you ryan thank you namkyung thank you steve thank you bryan thank you joel thank you kristen thank you ryan thank you tessa thank you shelby thank you janelle thank you darren thank you jeffrey thank you ethan thank you nicholas thank you sharon thank you christine thank you debbie thank you maria thank you marian thank you ellen thank you judy thank you sossi thank you william thank you paul thank you susan thank you kelly thank you steve thank you hani thank you michael thank you michael theres two in a row thank you colin thank you eli thank you meys thank you carol thank you dan thank you austin thank you cindy thank you jay thank you rochellie thank you gregory thank you corey thank you david thank you connor thank you tony thank you paul thank you james thank you konrad thank you tristan thank you wouter thank you ken thank you james thank you john thank you james thank you michael thank you margarita mix hollywood thank you sparks & shadows thank you bear mccreary thank you ryan thank you andrew thank you ben thank you tutti music partners thank you pierre-andre thank you peter thank you kelsey thank you andrew harris thank you dayna thank you ulrich thank you gene thank you cody thank you lucas thank you cody thank you chadwick thank you jocelyn thank you zach thank you ollie thank you michael

thank you jon

#yes im insane why do you ask #look for typos you wont find any #i got thumb cramps #metalocalypse #i wouldve made this on twitter so someone would actually see it but fuck twitter #dethklok #army of the doomstar #aotd #brendon small #tommy blacha #this actually took way less thank i thought it would #i wonder if anybodys read this entire thing i put easter eggs in it

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faerie-hideaway · 6 months

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U.S. users email your representatives this, and make sure to include your zip code:

I am your constituent. I am strongly in favor of defunding Israel. I want my opinion logged on every single one of these pieces of legislation. It is an atrocity that the USA is sending our taxpayer dollars, weaponry, and other support to Israel in order to aid in the genocide of the Palestinian people. It does not reflect the will of your constituents, and I demand that you correct this by voting for/against the following bills, resolutions, and legislation.

To be frank, I will be basing my vote for you in upcoming elections on this issue. I will be watching closely to see how you vote on issues regarding funding to Israel. I will not vote for you in the next election if you vote to send any money, support, or weaponry to Israel. I will be voting for you if you vote to block money, support, and weaponry to Israel.

This is the current legislation I am for, and the current legislation I am against. I would like your office to record my opinion for each bill, and I would like you to take this into consideration when you vote.

I am FOR the following, and expect you to vote for this and co-sponsor, either now or when matching legislation reaches your office.

H.Res. 786: by Rep. Cori Bush

H.Res. 388 by Rep. Rashida Tlaib

H.R. 3103 by Rep. Betty McCollum

I am against Joe Biden’s proposal to spend billions of dollars on Israel via a package for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and the US border. Biden is asking for $100 BILLION for this package and it is only 1 YEAR'S worth of funding. This is ABSOLUTELY unacceptable, and I am against you voting for ANY bill that spends even $1 on Israel. I do not care what else is in the bill. If it gives money to Israel, I am against it.

I am AGAINST the following, and expect you to vote against this and not co-sponsor, either now or when matching legislation reaches your office.

S. 3083 by Sen. Bill Hagerty [R-TN]

S.Res. 417 by Sen. Charles “Chuck” Schumer [D-NY]

H.Res. 797 by Rep. Cory Mills [R-FL7]

S. 3081 by Sen. Steve Daines [R-MT]

H.Res. 796 by Rep. Ernest “Tony” Gonzales [R-TX23]

S.Res. 413 by Sen. Marco Rubio

H.R. 552 by Rep. Lance Gooden

H.R. 5959 by Thomas Tiffany

S. 3081 by Sen. Steve Daines

H.Res. 789 by Rep. Jefferson Van Drew

H.Res. 771 by Rep. Michael McCaul

H.R. 5932 by Rep. David Schweikert

H.Res. 768 by Rep. Michael McCaul

H.Res. 770 by Rep. Zachary (Zach) Nunn

H.Res. 701 by Rep. Bradley “Brad” Schneider

H.Con.Res. 61 by Rep. Janice “Jan” Schakowsky

S. 2587 by Sen. Jon Tester

H.Res. 606 by Rep. Andrew Ogles

S. 2413 by Sen. Robert “Bob” Menendez

S. 2438 by Sen. Christopher Coons

H.R. 4709 by Rep. Josh Gottheimer

S.Con.Res. 14: by Sen. Tom Cotton

H.Con.Res. 57 by Rep. August Pfluger

H.R. 4665 by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart

S. 2265 by Sen. Dan Sullivan

S. 2226 by Sen. John F. “Jack” Reed

H.Res. 581 by Rep. Gregory Steube

S. 2240 by Sen. Christopher Coons

H.R. 4564 by Rep. Claudia Tenney

H.R. 4365 by Rep. Ken Calvert

H.R. 4076 by Rep. Chris Pappas

H.R. 3932 by Rep. Michael Turner

H.R. 3907 by Rep. Lois Frankel

S. 1802 by Sen. Gary Peters

H.R. 3792 by Rep. Joe Wilson

S. 1777 by Sen. Jacky Rosen

H.R. 3393 by Rep. Carlos Gimenez

H.Res. 409 by Rep. Carlos Gimenez

S. 1637 by Sen. Marco Rubio

H.R. 3266 by Rep. Brad Sherman

S. 1504 by Sen. Tom Cotton

H.R. 3099 by Rep. Michael Lawler

S.Res. 188 by Sen. Robert “Bob” Menendez

H.Res. 346 by Rep. Randy Weber

H.R. 2973 by Rep. Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers

S. 1334: by Sen. Jacky Rosen

S. 1300 by Sen. Benjamin Cardin

H.Res. 311 by Rep. Ann Wagner

H.R. 2670 by Rep. Mike Rogers

H.R. 2531 by Rep. Bradley “Brad” Schneider

S. 1143 by Sen. Jerry Moran

H.R. 1777 by Rep. Joe Wilson

H.R. 1218 by Rep. August Pfluger

H.R. 1102 by Rep. Chip Roy

S. 510 by Sen. Tom Cotton

S. 489 by Sen. Rick Scott

S. 430 by Sen. James Risch

S. 431 by Sen. James Risch

H.R. 987 by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

H.Res. 92 by Rep. Josh Gottheimer

H.Res. 76 by Rep. Max Miller

H.R. 687 by Rep. Gregory Steube

H.R. 211 by Rep. Gregory Steube

S. 224 by Sen. Tom Cotton

S. 189 by Sen. Marco Rubio

I am against any legislation that allows troops to deploy to the Middle East in support roles for Israel, as proposed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

I am against Netanyahu’s ground invasion of Gaza, which will inevitably lead to mass killings of Palestinian civilians and escalate violence. If there are any future bills supporting this, you need to vote against them and not co-sponsor.

The U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Act stipulate that only Congress can authorize the president to use military force in a foreign war, except in cases of self-defense. Previous administrations from both parties have ignored this, with unauthorized strikes in places like Syria and Libya. I want you to stand against ANY use of military force that supports Israel or hurts Palestine.

And of course, I am against the usual funding of $3.8 billion PER YEAR to Israel. This 10-year agreement began in 2016. I do not want a renewal in 2026, and in the next election, I will vote for representatives who WILL NOT VOTE TO FUND ISRAEL. I will be keeping track of how you vote now, and I will not vote for you if you decide to fund Israel in any way.

I am a single-issue voter for this. I want you to defund Israel. I do not want a single dollar spent on supporting Israel. I will be paying attention to how you vote in the upcoming weeks and months, and if you vote to fund or provide weapons, troops, or intelligence to Israel, I will NOT vote for you in the next election.

We are paying attention to the budget. We know when you're giving aid to a country committing genocide instead of helping your constituents in the USA. Both myself and tens of thousands of other constituents have spent years saying that we don’t want our hard-earned taxpayer dollars going to Israel. The lack of willingness to fund anything for American citizens, but the quickness with which you take action for Israel is telling. It is unacceptable.

As an elected official, you have the opportunity to listen to the public and stand against genocide. Israel is currently committing war crimes against Palestine. You can stop this by defunding Israel. THOUSANDS of Palestinian people have been killed, 1/3 of them children, in just a couple of days. One child every 15 minutes is being killed. YOU can prevent this by refusing to send additional weapons and funding to Israel.

We are currently spending BILLIONS of dollars EVERY YEAR on Israel. I do not want my money going towards the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians. Not a dollar more.

#free palestine #palestine #defund israel

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nodynasty4us · 1 year

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From the February 20, 2023 item:

In an effort to prevent a repeat of having "candidate quality" ruin winnable Senate races, NRSC Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT) has said he will interfere in primaries to block hopeless candidates. Of course, that type of candidate is generally running on a platform of "to hell with the establishment" and might advertise the NRSC's opposition as a reason to vote for them. It can also backfire if some of the crazy candidates win, despite establishment opposition. Then, as senators, they will be a loose cannons and will not be controllable. Threatening these people with loss of committee seats won't work because they didn't run for the purpose of legislating. They ran to burn the place down.

#republicans #senate #house of representatives #2024 #featured

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 years

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youtube

Ted Cruz thinks Jon Stewart is a funny guy so he'll definitely enjoy Jon's point-by-point breakdown of the lies Cruz is spouting about the PACT Act. The bill, which would give health care to sick veterans, is being held up by Cruz and his Senate Republican colleagues who are giving patently false reasons for blocking the bill.

youtube

Jon called in to Fox News to call out Republican Senator Pat Toomey's claim that a budget gimmick was snuck into the PACT Act at the last minute. The Act which provides health care to seriously ill veterans already passed the Senate once 84-14. And now Toomey and his Republican colleagues are refusing to allow final passage of the bill, even though it contains the same exact language from the first bill. This is robbing sick veterans of care they urgently need and time they do not have.

Republican Senators have been criticized for fist bumping on the Senate floor after the GOP blocked a bill that would have expanded healthcare coverage for military veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during their service.

On Wednesday night, the Senate failed to pass a Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act in a 55 to 42 vote.

All but one of the 42 Senators who voted against the bill were Republicans, including 25 who previously supported it in June. The Senate had to vote for the PACT Act again because of a technical change the House made to the bill.

After the vote, a group of Republican Senators were seen shaking hands on the chamber floor, with Texas' Ted Cruz and Montana's Steve Daines also giving each other a fist bump.

A clip of the pair bumping fists was shared on Twitter by the Senate Democrats, along with the caption: "Senate Republicans BLOCKED the PACT Act, critical health care for veterans with illness caused by toxic burn pits. Even though many Republicans supported it just weeks ago. And they celebrated."

The clip has been viewed more than one million times since it was posted on Twitter.

The Montana Democrat Party shared a similar video along with the caption "Steve Danies BETRAYED sick veterans and CELEBRATED it with a fist bump. This is how Daines treats our veterans. It's a game to him."

MSNBC's Chris Hayes said the GOP Senators decided to vote against what was previously a "broadly bipartisan" bill to help war veterans in retaliation for the Democrats waiting for the CHIPs Act to pass before revealing that Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer had come to an agreement on what was essentially the long-negotiated Build Back Better Act.

In June, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threatened that the GOP would not help pass the CHIPs Act if Democrats went forward with the reconciliation package, a statement he made while Manchin was still objecting to it.

"Republicans were not happy, they threw a temper tantrum," Hayes said Thursday night. "They feel like they got played, so they're looking around with their anger, who to take it out on, and what they did was—I'm not making this up—they decided to punish U.S. war vets suffering the aftereffects of toxic fumes."

Hayes then played the clip of Cruz and Daines fist bumping as the "no" votes were being read out.

"'We'll show them, those vets whose lungs have the effects of toxic fumes they inhaled while fighting our wars.' Truly shameless stuff," Hayes added.

In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesman for Cruz said:

"Senator Cruz is a strong supporter of the PACT Act and our nation's veterans. However, this version of the PACT Act contains an irresponsible Democratic provision allowing Congress to recklessly spend an additional $400 billion on programs totally unrelated to our veterans. The Senator and his Republican colleagues are working to advance the bill while removing that provision. Democrats were aware of this concern before yesterday's vote but ignored it and refused to allow a vote to fix the bill. That refusal is why the bill is currently stalled. Democrats must work with Republicans and fix this issue to prevent inflationary spending that will hurt all Americans. Once that happens, the PACT Act will quickly become law."

Daines has been contacted for comment.

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genderkoolaid · 2 months

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This was the standard for trans men when Green came out in the 1980s—they were instructed to disappear and blend in as much as possible, which meant upholding the most limiting stereotypes of their gender. It was radical—in fact, unheard of—to even publicly be a trans man, let alone a man who questioned traditional masculinity and his own place in it. Under those conditions, Green didn’t see a path forward. The man who changed things, for Green and for the world, was Steve Dain. Dain had been a girls’ gym teacher at a San Francisco Bay Area high school; he lost his job when he transitioned, and chose to fight the termination, thereby becoming a national news story. Dain’s high visibility and eloquence soon made him a mentor for many trans men in the Bay area, including—most famously—Lou Sullivan, founder of FTM International. To Green, Dain also represented a more livable version of masculinity—one not tied to patriarchal norms, where “becoming a man” didn’t require being a traditional, straight man who purchased “respect” at the cost of a relationship with his own kids. “He did not [transition] because being a man was somehow better than being a woman, but because it was the only thing he could do to be himself,” Green wrote in Visible Man. “It was about telling the truth, not about hiding.”

— How Jamison Green’s visibility paved the way for a generation of trans men by Jude Ellison S. Doyle (emphasis mine)

#m.#quotes #transandrophobia #transmisandry #anti transmasculinity #transunity #transmasc history

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reddancer1 · 3 months

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Heather Cox Richardson

February 25, 2024 (Sunday)

The last several days have seen a Republican stampede to distance the party from the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision of a week ago, when it ruled that embryos frozen for in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be considered children and that their injury can be treated like injury to a child. That decision has led major healthcare providers in Alabama to stop IVF procedures out of fear of prosecution.

IVF is very popular—about 2% of babies born in the U.S. are the product of IVF—and Republicans recognize that endangering the procedure has the potential to be a dealbreaker in the upcoming election.

The fury at the Alabama decision of those who have spent years and tens of thousands of dollars in their quest to be parents was articulated yesterday in a conversation between Abbey Crain and Stephanie McNeal of Glamour, in which Crain recounted her five-year IVF journey and noted that the Alabama justice who wrote the decision, Jay Mitchell, “who,” as she said, “lives five miles down the road from me, goes to a church that people in my circle go to, and has children in schools in my community, has more of a say in whether and when I get to be a mom than me.”

The Alabama decision is a direct result of the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, decided thanks to the three religious extremists former president Trump nominated to the Supreme Court. That decision referred to fetuses as “unborn human being[s]” when it overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision recognizing the constitutional right to abortion. The Alabama decision cited the Dobbs case 15 times, relying on it to establish that “the unborn” are “living persons with rights and interests.”

Republicans are now denying they intended to halt IVF with their antiabortion stance and their appointment of religious extremists to the courts. But that position doesn’t square with the fact that since the Dobbs decision, they have pressed for so-called personhood laws, laws that give the full rights of a person to an embryo from the time of conception. Since Dobbs, sixteen state legislatures have introduced personhood laws, and four Republican-dominated states—Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, and Arizona, although Arizona’s has been blocked—have passed them.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans introduced a national personhood bill as soon as they took control in January 2023. The bill, titled “Life at Conception Act,” currently has 124 co-sponsors, including House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). On Friday, Johnson claimed to support IVF, raising the question of what exactly that support for IVF means, considering the process requires discarding certain embryos.

In the U.S. Senate, Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a “Life at Conception Act” on January 28, 2021. It currently has 18 co-sponsors, including Steve Daines (R-MT), who is the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the official campaign organization to elect Republican senators. On Friday the NRSC distributed a memo to candidates telling them to “align with the public’s overwhelming support for IVF and fertility treatments.”

While it is the IVF story that has garnered the most attention this weekend—likely because it has obvious implications for the 2024 election and Republicans have tried to rush away from it—it is simply a different facet of a larger story: the leaders of the Republican Party are working to overthrow democracy.

On February 15, news broke that Alexander Smirnov, the informant who had provided the “evidence” that then–vice president Joe Biden and his son had each taken a $5 million bribe from the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma, had been indicted by a federal grand jury for lying and “creating a false and fictitious record.” On February 20, Trump-appointed Special Counsel David Weiss of the Justice Department filed a document concluding that Smirnov has “extensive and extremely recent” ties with “Russian intelligence agencies.”

The use of Russian disinformation to destabilize democracy in the U.S. looks much like the information warfare Russia has used to establish Ukrainian leaders that worked for the Kremlin. It was the ouster of one of those leaders, Viktor Yanukovych, in the 2014 Maidan Revolution ten years ago that prompted Russian president Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine later that year. Yanukovych won office with the help of American political consultant Paul Manafort, who advised and, briefly, chaired the Trump campaign in 2016, when it weakened the Republican party’s platform plank that supported arming Ukraine against Putin after his 2014 invasion.

Seeding lies about corruption that came from Russian-linked Ukrainians was central to Trump’s 2019 impeachment: his phone call to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky demanding Zelensky announce an investigation into Burisma and Joe Biden’s son Hunter was part of an attempt to create dirt on the Bidens. That call happened after Trump’s advisor Rudy Giuliani went to Ukraine, where he talked to “an active Russian agent,” according to the FBI. FBI agents warned Giuliani that he was a target of Russian disinformation.

That poison has now spread from Trump’s rogue team in the White House to the Republican Party itself, which has apparently been carrying water for Putin at the very center of our government.

Meanwhile, under pressure from Trump loyalists in the House, Speaker Johnson is refusing to take up a measure to aid Ukraine in its resistance to Russia’s 2022 invasion. Such a measure is popular in the U.S., both among the population in general and among lawmakers. While other countries can provide funds, only the U.S. has enough of the required war matériel Ukraine so desperately needs. Already, Russia has managed to retake the key city of Avdiivka because Ukraine’s troops don’t have enough ammunition, and today Jimmy Rushton, a Kyiv-based foreign policy analyst, quoted a Ukrainian officer’s report that they can’t “medivac our guys from the contact line anymore because we don’t have any artillery ammunition to suppress the Russians. We have to leave them to die.”

The reluctance of House Republicans to support Ukraine has global implications. Putin is trying to tear up the rules-based international order that has protected international boundaries since World War II, while Trump has threatened to destroy the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that holds back Russian aggression. In the Wall Street Journal on Friday, chief foreign affairs correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov noted that European countries are worried that the U.S. will not defend its allies, while Putin has made “a de facto military alliance with the rogue regimes of North Korea and Iran while growing closer and closer to authoritarian China.”

European nations have expanded their own military production and support for Ukraine; Poland and the Baltic states have invested far more in their militaries than NATO’s threshold of 2% of a nation’s gross domestic product. In the Washington Post, Michael Birnbaum reported Friday that some of the nations that border Russia are looking again at land mines, concertina wire, and trenches—the technology of last century’s wars—to protect themselves from a Russian invasion.

Putin and allies like Viktor Orbán of Hungary have been clear they believe democracy is obsolete. Far-right extremists in the United States agree, insisting that democracy’s demand for equal rights before the law undermines society as immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and women’s rights challenge “traditional” values. That ideological justification has led many white evangelical Christians to flock to Trump’s strongman persona.

How religion and authoritarianism have come together in modern America was on display Thursday, when right-wing activist Jack Posobiec opened this weekend’s conference of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington, D.C., with the words: “Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here.” He held up a cross necklace and continued: “After we burn that swamp to the ground, we will establish the new American republic on its ashes, and our first order of business will be righteous retribution for those who betrayed America.”

But Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary suggested that the drive to lay waste to American democracy is not popular. Trump won the state, as expected, by about 60%—lower than predicted. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley won 40% of the vote. This means that Trump will have to continue spending money he doesn’t currently have on his campaign.

More important than that, even, is that it shows that even in a strongly Republican state, 40% of primary voters—the party’s most loyal voters—prefer someone else. As Mike Allen of Axios wrote today: “If America were dominated by old, white, election-denying Christians who didn’t go to college, former President Trump would win the general election in…a landslide.” But, Allen added, “It’s not.”

Which may be precisely why Trump loyalists intend to overthrow democracy.

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deltoravivisection · 9 months

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Been giggling silently to myself the whole time I've been writing this bit btw because it's like. The names in this fucking series dude. Lief. Jasmine. Doom. Dain. Barda. Zeean. Fardeep. and Steve also.

#it's so fucking funny like you've got all these fantasy/real-but-whimsical names and then just. Tom. Steven. Joe.

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deanwasalwaysbi · 1 year

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23 Republican Senators & 124 Congressmen signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court asking for a 50 state ban on mifepristone, a drug safer than tylenol that is standard treatment for abortion & miscarriages, "due to safety concerns". The brief DARES to argue that banning the life saving drug would save women from 'reproductive control'. (x) These 147 people would rather have women die of sepsis than let women control their own bodies. If your representatives are on this list, call them and tell their office you will be voting against them in the next election because they asked SCOTUS to throw the US medical drug system into chaos at the cost of American lives.

United States Senate

Lead Senator: Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) John Barrasso (WY) Mike Braun (IN) Katie Britt (AL) Ted Budd (NC) Bill Cassidy (LA) Kevin Cramer (ND) Mike Crapo (ID) Ted Cruz (TX) Steve Daines (MT) Josh Hawley (MO) John Hoeven (ND) James Lankford (OK) Mike Lee (UT) Cynthia Lummis (WY) Roger Marshall (KS) Markwayne Mullin (OK) James Risch (ID) Marco Rubio (FL) Rich Scott (FL) John Thune (SD) Tommy Tuberville (AL) Roger Wicker (MS)

United States House of Representatives

Lead Representative: August Pfluger (TX–11) Robert Aderholt (AL–04) Mark Alford (MO–04) Rick Allen (GA–12) Jodey Arrington (TX–19) Brian Babin (TX–36) Troy Balderson (OH–12) Jim Banks (IN–03) Aaron Bean (FL–04) Cliff Bentz (OR–02) Jack Bergman (MI–01) Andy Biggs (AZ–05) Gus Bilirakis (FL–12) Dan Bishop (NC–08) Lauren Boebert (CO–03) Mike Bost (IL–12) Josh Brecheen (OK–02) Ken Buck (CO–04) Tim Burchett (TN–02) Michael Burgess, M.D. (TX–26) Eric Burlison (MO–07) Kat Cammack (FL–03) Mike Carey (OH–15) Jerry Carl (AL–01) Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (GA–01) John Carter (TX–31) Ben Cline (VA–06) Michael Cloud (TX–27) Andrew Clyde (GA–09) Mike Collins (GA–10) Elijah Crane (AZ–02) Eric A. “Rick” Crawford (AR–01) John Curtis (UT–03) Warren Davidson (OH–08) Monica De La Cruz (TX–15) Jeff Duncan (SC–03) Jake Ellzey (TX–06) Ron Estes (KS–04) Mike Ezell (MS–04) Pat Fallon (TX–04) Randy Feenstra (IA–04) Brad Finstad (MN–01) Michelle Fischbach (MN–07) Scott Fitzgerald (WI–05) Mike Flood (NE–01) Virginia Foxx (NC–05) Scott Franklin (FL–18) Russell Fry (SC–07) Russ Fulcher (ID–01) Tony Gonzales (TX–23) Bob Good (VA–05) Paul Gosar (AZ–09) Garret Graves (LA–06) Mark Green (TN–07) Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA–14) H. Morgan Griffith (VA–09) Glenn Grothman (WI–06) Michael Guest (MS–03) Harriet Hageman (WY) Andy Harris, M.D. (MD–01) Diana Harshbarger (TN–01) Kevin Hern (OK–01) Clay Higgins (LA–03) Ashley Hinson (IA–02) Erin Houchin (IN–02) Richard Hudson (NC–09) Bill Huizenga (MI–04) Bill Johnson (OH–06) Mike Johnson (LA–04) Jim Jordan (OH–04) Mike Kelly (PA–16) Trent Kelly (MS–01) Doug LaMalfa (CA–01) Doug Lamborn (CO–05) Nicholas Langworthy (NY–23) Jake LaTurner (KS–02) Debbie Lesko (AZ–08) Barry Loudermilk (GA–11) Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO–03) Tracey Mann (KS–01) Lisa McClain (MI–09) Dr. Rich McCormick (GA–06) Patrick McHenry (NC–10) Carol Miller (WV–01) Mary Miller (IL–15) Max Miller (OH–07) Cory Mills (FL–07) John Moolenar (MI–02) Alex X. Mooney (WV–02) Barry Moore (AL–02) Blake Moore (UT–01) Gregory F. Murphy, M.D. (NC–03) Troy Nehls (TX–22) Ralph Norman (SC–05) Andy Ogles (TN–05) Gary Palmer (AL–06) Bill Posey (FL–08) Guy Reschenthaler (PA–14) Mike Rogers (AL–03) John Rose (TN–06) Matthew Rosendale, Sr. (MT–02) David Rouzer (NC–07) Steve Scalise (LA–01) Keith Self (TX–03) Pete Sessions (TX–17) Adrian Smith (NE–03) Christopher H. Smith (NJ–04) Lloyd Smucker (PA–11) Pete Stauber (MN–08) Elise Stefanik (NY–21) Dale Strong (AL–05) Claudia Tenney (NY–24) Glenn Thompson (PA–15) William Timmons, IV (SC–04) Beth Van Duyne (TX–24) Tim Walberg (MI–05) Michael Waltz (FL–05) Randy Weber, Sr. (TX–14) Daniel Webster (FL–11) Brad R. Wenstrup, D.P.M. (OH–02) Bruce Westerman (AR–04) Roger Williams (TX–25) Joe Wilson (SC–02) Rudy Yakym (IN–02)

If your representatives are on this list, call them and tell their office you will be voting against them in the next election because they asked SCOTUS to throw the US medical drug system into chaos at the cost of American lives.

Help to patients who have to cross state lines to get medical care by donating to your local abortion fund here. (x)

#scotus #abortionpill #state of the uterus #abortion rights are human rights #us politics #miscarriage #vote blue #nnaf #yellowhammer

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