Today’s comic by Mark Fiore is Tariff Man!
What’s coming up on Sunday Kos:
- Something must be broken deep in our hearts when it comes to police violence, by Frank Vyan Walton
- North Carolina election fraud case evokes a history of U.S. election scandals, by Sher Watts Spooner
- 'Panama Papers' and Colombian government demonstrate how to decrease tax evasion by the wealthy, by David Akadjian
- Yes, Virginia, there are progressives in rural America, by Chris Reeves
- I see George H.W. Bush through my Panamanian eyes, and the deaths he caused were unforgivable, by Egberto Willies
- Process crimes, perjury traps and the criminalization of politics: The legacy of George H.W. Bush, by Jon Perr
- Hey Republicans—Elijah Cummings and crew are coming to investigate you, by Denise Oliver Velez
- Climate change is real, man-made, and no amount of disbelief will change that, by Mark E Andersen
- Lame duck power theft shows Republicans don't believe in democracy, only their own power, by Ian Reifowitz
• Third Circuit panel rules in favor of New Jersey law limiting capacity of gun magazines: The law, passed in June, bars magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. A federal district judge denied an injunction against implementing the law In a case brought by two individual gun owners and the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs. The plaintiffs appealed, but the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit upheld the lower court’s decision in a 2-1 ruling Wednesday. “LCMs [large capacity magazines] allow for more shots to be fired from a single weapon and thus more casualties to occur when they are used,” U.S. Circuit Judge Patty Shwartz wrote for the majority. “By prohibiting LCMs, the act reduces the number of shots that can be fired from one gun, making numerous injuries less likely.” Shwartz pointed out “that pre-2015, there was never a year with more than five gun massacres, and 2015 had seven ‘massacres’ as defined by Mother Jones.”
• Open enrollment in the Affordable Care Act ends in most states on December 15: If you’ve been delaying, there are just eight days left if you need insurance! Free help is available. Answers to your questions about signing up and trained professionals who can talk your through your options are just a phone call or click away. Call 1-800-318-2596 or visit localhelp.healthcare.gov to make a one-on-one appointment now.
• Airlines made $38 billion in profits last year, but some tip-dependent airport workers struggle on less than minimum wage: The profits are up fourfold since 2013, but those do not reach help many of the workers who help generate them. Airlines and airport companies rely more than ever on low-cost air carriers and contractors that eliminate benefits, violate workers’ rights, and push down wages, according to a recent report by Airport Workers United. Wheelchair attendant Carlos Batista, who has worked at Orlando International airport for a dozen years, makes $5.23 an hour, more than $2 below the federal minimum wage because he’s in the category of tipped worker. He told The Guardian: “A lot of people don’t know we live off tips, so we get thank yous, and the average wheelchair assist from counter to gate takes 45 minutes to an hour.”
MIDDAY TWEET
• Economist looks at the growing signs a recession may be in the offing: Put a half dozen economists in a room and you’ll get six different opinions on where the economy is headed at any particular time. That being said, talk of recession has been growing. This is no surprise. The longest expansion after the 13 post-World War II recessions lasted 10 years, and in June, the current expansion will match that record. On the other hand, the most prominent economists are saying they don’t expect a recession any time soon. Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, who teaches economics at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is less sanguine. He says the trade battle between China and the United States, the global growth slowdown especially in Europe, and the Fed’s rate-boosting fears of inflation are all factors contributing to recession speculation. But Batabyal, like economists who say recession isn’t likely in the near future, puts a lot of qualifiers on his pondering, concluding: “Whether it’ll happen next year or further down the road is hard to predict. But you could argue, perhaps we’re due.”
• Kevin Hart steps down from hosting Oscars after his homophobic tweets surface.
• Report shows the positive impact of clean energy jobs in 12 Midwestern states. Inside Climate News notes that the report shows how damaging to the rural Midwest the Trump regime’s moves to undermine clean energy is. These include eliminating subsidies for renewable energy, tariffs on solar energy equipment, and the plan to smash the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. In 10 of the 12 states that were studied by the Natural Resources Defense Council, workers in clean energy jobs outnumber those in fossil fuel jobs. Only in North Dakota and Kansas are there more workers in fossil fuels. More clean energy jobs exist in urban areas, but they make up a larger percentage of the total in the less densely populated rural Midwest:
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Trump's already wigging out, so let’s add another scandal or two to the pile: illegal coordination with the NRA, and emoluments aplenty, funneled through his hotels & properties. NC Gop knew about NC-09. Can Harris be blocked? Can the results be reversed?