Stephan: This isn't getting much media coverage, but the Moore v. Harper case now before the Supreme Court, given the christofascist cabal that dominates the court today, could radically alter the whole structure of the American electoral process. It would basically move control of the Congress and presidency away from the voters and into the state legislatures. It would change the entire power structure of American politics making the state legislatures the dominant player in all elections.
US Supreme Court Credit: supreme.justia.com
Scheduled for argument in December, Moore v. Harper concerns the ability of state courts to enforce state constitutions and state laws in elections. Many are sounding the alarm that the decision could have a monumental effect on elections for years to come.
In the case Moore v. Harper, the U.S. Supreme Court will not only examine congressional redistricting in North Carolina — it will also be examining a far-right legal idea known as the independent state legislature doctrine. In its most severe form, the ISL, also known as ISLT, argues that only state legislatures should govern elections at the state level.
Former Secretary of State and First Lady Hilary Clinton attempted to warn the American people of the possible consequences back in October.
The issue in Moore v. Harper is whether the Constitution gives state legislatures the exclusive power to determine the “manner” of congressional elections, unconstrained by state constitutions. Under the independent state legislature theory advanced by North Carolina Republican legislators and their conservative allies, it does.
Because state constitutions often provide greater protection of voting rights […]
Sara Berg, MS, Senior News Writer - American Medical Association
Stephan: Further evidence that America's illness profit system when stressed trends towards failure. Sixty three percent of physicians report they are verging on burnout. This is going to have a notably strong impact on rural areas, particularly in Red states which, because of the Dobbs decision, already have healthcare systems under stress. We are seeing a growing number of medical deserts where healthcare is at third world levels, and that is going to leave us woefully unprepared for the next pandemic. The whole system needs to be restructured so that it is based on wellbeing not profit.
A rural American medical desert
Three in five physicians reported at least one manifestation of burnout during the height of the Omicron wave that struck the U.S. during the winter of 2021–2022, pushing physician burnout rates to an all-time high and demonstrating more than ever the need for a renewed national commitment to bolster the physicians and other health professionals who have worked so tirelessly to save countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between Dec. 9, 2021, and Jan. 24, 2022, nearly 2,500 U.S. physicians responded to a survey by researchers from the AMA, the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The researchers found that, overall, 62.8% of physicians had at least one manifestation of burnout in 2021, compared with 38.2% in 2020, 43.9% in 2017, 54.4% in 2014 and 45.5% in 2011. These trends were consistent across nearly all specialties.
Stephan: The anti-vaxxer movement is playing a very negative role in diseases other than Covid. This movement is a form of willful stupidity that killed millions with Covid and now, as this CDC report describes, has become a factor with measles. You can't fix willful stupidity because it is a choice people make, a deliberate denial of well-established facts.
A young child with measles Credit: Baby center
Measles vaccination coverage has steadily declined since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, a record high of nearly 40 million children missed a measles vaccine dose: 25 million children missed their first dose and an additional 14.7 million children missed their second dose, a joint publication by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. This decline is a significant setback in global progress towards achieving and maintaining measles elimination and leaves millions of children susceptible to infection.
In 2021, there were an estimated 9 million cases and 128,000 deaths from measles worldwide. Twenty-two countries experienced large and disruptive outbreaks. Declines in vaccine coverage, weakened measles surveillance, and continued interruptions and delays in immunization activities due to COVID-19, as well as persistent large outbreaks in 2022, mean that measles is an imminent […]
Stephan: I am increasingly concerned by what a corrupt nation the United States has become. A small group of the uber-rich are openly and actively advocating a fascist authoritarian government. Here's proof of what I am saying.
Kari Lake with Glenn Youngkin in October 2022 Credit: Gage Skidmore
In an article published on November 3, the Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger reported that “nearly 80 percent” of the $1.7 million that right-wing shipping magnates Dick and Elizabeth Uihlein donated to Republican candidates “between January 7, 2021 and August 31, 2022” went to “campaigns or committees tied to the 147 Republicans who voted, on January 6, (2021), to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.” But their fondness for MAGA election denialists, according to Sollenberger, goes beyond donations.
Sollenberger, writing for the Beast in an article published on November 28, reports that in 2021, Arizona Republican Party Vice Chair Gina Swoboda was hired as executive director for “the Uihlein-backed dark money nonprofit Restoration Action Inc.” Her salary was $108,750 per year.
“Swoboda, a former Trump campaign official and the vice chair of the Arizona Republican Party, is now leading a misguided charge against the ballot count in that state on behalf of GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake,” Sollenberger explains. “Swoboda currently […]
Stephan: Here is yet more of the overwhelming corruption of the Republican Party. This is what Citizens United has wrought, and why I feel so strongly that we should have publicly funded elections, and it should be a serious felony to pay anyone in public office however such a payment was transacted. The scale of this is amazing and I think it is notable that they don't bother to hide any of this.
Richard Uihlein Credit: Twitter
The Republican Party’s single biggest donor in the 2022 midterm election cycle also teamed up with a nationwide network aimed at overturning GOP election losses.
Right-wing megadonor Dick Uihlein funneled tens of millions of dollars to the nonprofit Restoration Action Inc., which hired former Donald Trump campaign official and election conspiracy theorist Gina Swoboda as its executive director, according to a newly uncovered IRS filing shared with The Daily Beast.
“Restoration Action is a hub for election denial, including funding some of the key players pushing election falsehoods in Arizona at the moment,” said Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of the watchdog group Documented, which obtained and shared the filing. “This is a reminder that there’s big money behind the push to undermine democracy. Through Restoration Action and other entities, an array of groups pushing election conspiracy theories are backed by literally tens of millions of dollars from just one billionaire couple.”
The filing shows the dark-money group raised more than $20.5 million in the […]
