Energize An Ally Tuesday
Voters in Kansas gave abortion-rights supporters a rare victory last week, and it was nice to celebrate the win, especially since it’s in the heart of red-state territory. But (yeah, sorry, there’s a but) the MAGA cult’s Puritan steamroller rolls on, up to and including plans to bar women from even accessing information about abortion services in other states. Welcome to the year 1622. We hope you had a nice time travel.
Needless to say, helping women in the knuckledragger states—medically, emotionally, logistically—is now an ongoing priority, and Daily Kos has set up a fund to support grassroots organizations who specialize in just that. Details below the fold…
Continued...
Sarah Hogg writes:
We need to ensure the safety of pregnant people who seek abortion care, as well as the sustainability of the already dwindling number of medical professionals who perform abortions.
Not only will state legislatures move to ban abortion, but we can also expect them to chip away at agencies that provide comprehensive sex education, sexual and reproductive health care, transportation and any other support for pregnant people who don't want to be. But we can help ensure that more people get the health care they need. On the ground, health care providers have already been creative, resourceful, and adaptive. We can make sure these clinics stay up and running.
You can see the list of providers here at the Act Blue donation link. Thanks for helping out. Now, in keeping with the GOP’s vision for America, we return you to our regularly-scheduled witch trials. (Ooh, I see Inquisitor Alito wore his fancy wig today.)
And now, our feature presentation…
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Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Note: C&J has been downgraded by Standard and Poor's from Grade-A snark to Grade-B dreck. Please sneer at us accordingly. —Mgt.
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4 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Days 'til the next full moon: 2
Days 'til the Maine Red Hot Dog Festival in Dexter: 4
Current unemployment rate, the lowest since 1969: 3.5%
Alex Jones' estimated net worth before the $45 million judgment against him last week: $135 million - $270 million
Typical length of a case of monkeypox: 2-4 weeks
"Feels like" temperature in Portland Maine last Sunday: 100F
Age of Smokey the Bear as of today: 78
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Prescription for heart health?
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JEERS to a veddy veddy bad man. Late-breaking news last night that 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump was the subject of an FBI raid at Mar-A-Lago, the pleasure palace that reeks of bleach and unresolved childhood issues. Apparently he’s a crook. Who knew? My best guess: the FBI.
CHEERS to a signature achievement. Amid great fanfare, on Sunday the United States Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act—aka “Li'l Build Back Better”—and sent it off to the House for final passage. (Friday?) And all I could think in the moment, besides hooray for the Democrats, was dear god please let there be a Vox explainer. Happily, the stars aligned and one fell out of our maple tree when I shook it:
The Inflation Reduction Act would be the biggest thing the US has ever done to tackle climate change, and climate makes up the largest share of the bill’s spending: nearly $370 billion.
VP Harris broke the tie, and is poised to become the tie-breakingest veep in U.S. history. (At 26, she’s just three behind John Adams.)
[T]he bill also includes some significant steps on health care, including shoring up an expansion to the Affordable Care Act. […] Medicare will be able to negotiate on a handful of drugs, with those new prices taking effect in 2026. … The drugs in question will be determined based on a slew of criteria, including how expensive they are. These negotiations are poised to save Medicare a lot of money, since the prices are currently set by manufacturers.
The agreement also includes a 15 percent minimum tax on corporations with profits over $1 billion.… There is also a 1 percent excise tax on corporations’ stock buybacks, which are currently not subject to any taxes at all. That excise tax is estimated to raise roughly $73 billion in revenue. … [It also] increases funding for the IRS so that it can up enforcement and go after unpaid taxes[mostly among the wealthy.]
Oh, and that $35-per-month cap on insulin prices that Republicans shot down? That was for private insurance only—Medicare recipients will still enjoy the cap. Which makes the next goal a no-brainer: Medicare for all.
JEERS and CHEERS to the "Fat Man." 77 years ago, on August 9, 1945, three days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, we did the same thing with a second one over Nagasaki. The bad news: it killed 74,000 people and caused unspeakable damage that lingers to this day. The good news: there was no third one.
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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CHEERS to happy endings. On August 9, 1842, the U.S. and Canada peaceably resolved their border dispute with the signing the Webster-Ashburton Treaty:
This treaty marked the end of unofficial fighting (known informally as the Aroostook War) along the Maine border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and resolved issues that had led to the Indian Stream dispute as well as the Caroline Affair.
Maine’s badass border-guard puffins on patrol.
The border was fixed with the disputed territory divided between the two nations. The British acquired the Halifax-Quebec road route they desired. Also, as a result of this treaty, portions of the US-Canada border were adjusted so as to give the US negligibly more land to the north.
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty failed to clarify ownership of Machias Seal Island and nearby North Rock, which remain in dispute today.
Our catapults are at the ready, just in case Justin Trudeau gets some crazy notion of staging a midnight raid on our gunpowder and womenfolk. Without leaving their usual dozen cases of Molson in exchange, I mean.
CHEERS to primary concerns. Holy mackerel, people. You mean to tell me that there are still primaries being held across the fruited plain, from sea to shining sea, from the mountains to the prairies and the oceans white with foam? (I sure hope there's also some money allocated for white foam control in that inflation reduction bill.) Yes—we still have 18 states to go, with contests today in four of them. Allow me to summarize off the top of my head:
Connecticut This is where P.T. Barnum is from. He was a showman. Connecticut also makes submarines and, I believe, is where the Pez dispenser was invented by Joe Lieberman. Daily Kos contributing editor Greg Dworkin (DemfromCT) lives in Connecticut. His Abbreviated Pundit Roundups get more readers than me, therefore I dislike Connecticut and only acknowledge them because of that one time they helped found our country.
Minnesota Mall of America!
Another fine contribution from Vermont.
Vermont Vermont is New England's odd duck and tries hard to be weird. They would probably fit in better with the Canadian ethic (I say as a compliment). Howard Dean is from Vermont and he cross-posted something from Daily Kos on his website in 2003 and that's how I discovered this place and eventually became an international treasure and honorary Eurovision Song Contest winner in 2005, 2006, and 2010. Vermont has the best cows, according to many sources with tears in their eyes. Also: when Hannibal crossed the Alps with his elephants, he ended up in Vermont and opened a little country store in Rutland.
Wisconsin Oh my god, what happened to Wisconsin??? Forget Florida and Texas, this formerly blue state is now one or two Democratic election losses away from full goosestep mania. Remember that time citizens were exercising their right to a peaceful redress of grievances at the state house, and the governor had the windows and doors welded shut so the only way legislators could get in or out was through the chimney? Yeah—that's now considered "the good old days." I blame all this chaos on a bad batch of mozzarella.
So there ya go, now you're up to date. Be sure to follow the Daily Kos Elections Team tonight for all the live-blogging highlights. Because if you follow me, you'll just end up in a ditch.
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Ten years ago in C&J: August 9, 2012
CHEERS to getting a golden ticket. Hey, LGBT people! Good news—you're a WINNER!!! One of America's two major political parties has officially confirmed that they like you, they really really like you with no strings attached. This will be an official DNC plank in a few weeks:
“We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.”
“We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
Symbolic? Yes. Thought I'd ever see it in my lifetime? Never. Not bad for a Monday. [8/9/22 Update: Ten years later, marriage equality is legal in all 50 states, thanks to the Supreme Court, and everyone’s living happily ever after. And in other news, the Supreme Court is planning to do takesie backsies because Jesus. This fucking country.]
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the life of Mr. Mellow. 27 years ago today, Grateful Dead icon Jerry Garcia died at a Northern California residential drug treatment center. He was felled by a heart attack at 53. Or, as I like to say, too effing young:
The Dead used their global influence to advance environmental concerns like saving the rainforest as well as other charitable causes.
As the band's patriarch, Garcia became a larger-than-life figure to his fans. Those close to him knew him as a sensitive man with a spiritual side. As Garcia put it, "I love great art, poetry, all the things that enrich human life are things that I like. Also, there's tons of music that I love. I mean I don't really think I'm gonna be able to get around to everything that I potentially like in this lifetime." …
Onstage, where the Grateful Dead launched extended jams, Garcia's guitar solos sent Deadheads into ecstatic dances and trances. But Garcia remained humble. "I'd like to learn how to play the guitar before I die. Yeah, that'd be good."
Yeah, their concerts were legendary. (I hear someone might've discreetly passed around a joint at one of 'em.) But for a gang of marauding hippies they warbled a pretty awesome Star Spangled Banner. In what's become an annual C&J tradition, here they are for an encore to sing us out, with an added reminder that our previous President of the United States still doesn’t know the words:
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Have a mellow Tuesday. (I hear Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia is wonderful this time of year.) Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
"What is Bill in Portland Maine talking about?!!"
—Sen. Mazie Hirono
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