Stephan: The story you hear on the television news channels is that Abbott, which is the source and cause of the baby formula crisis had a pollution problem in one of their plants, and so they closed it. What you are not hearing is how that plant came to be toxic with bacteria. In the previous story I explained why Abbott didn't immediately cleanse and upgrade their plant? Greed, of course, but that is only part of the story. Here's the other part, and it speaks to the corruption that infects the entire American government.
A view of the Abbott plant in Cootehill, Ireland. Credit: Niall Carson/PA Images / Getty
The Abbott Nutrition facility in Sturgis, Michigan, which produces much of the U.S. supply of baby formula, shut down in February, bringing production lines to a grinding halt. Following a voluntary recall and investigation by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the stoppage stemmed from a bacterial outbreak whose effects would be felt months later. Starting last September, five babies who had consumed the plant’s formula contracted bacterial infections. Two of them died.
The production pause is now contributing to a national shortage of formula, a crisis that experts believe will continue for months. Abbott, however, disputes that there is any link between its formula and the infant illnesses.
Questions are now swirling about alleged problems at the Abbott-owned factory, which produces popular brands such as Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare. A recently disclosed whistleblower document claims that managers at the Sturgis plant falsified reports, released untested infant formula, and concealed crucial safety information from federal inspectors.
But eight years earlier, the formula industry rejected […]
Stephan: Here is further proof that America, as a country, and particularly Republicans, do not like or support children, and that Joe Manchin is a vile human being. There is a deep sickness in the United States because voters put into power men and women who care nothing for them, only for their own personal power, and voters can't seem to wake up to that reality as the Trumpers demonstrate in every election.
One of the most corrupt and selfish members of Congress Senator Joe Manchin, who West Virginia voters put into office again and again despite his track record of working against their wellbeing almost daily. Credit: CBS News
A new analysis out Friday confirms that the number of U.S. households with kids that report not having enough food to eat has surged in the months since corporate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined Senate Republicans in refusing to extend the expanded Child Tax Credit benefit beyond mid-December.
Data from the Household Pulse Survey (HPS), a nationally representative internet survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, shows that from April 27 to May 9, 15% of households with children reported food insufficiency—defined as sometimes or often not having enough food to eat in the past week. In early August, the percentage of families with kids that reported struggling with hunger was roughly 9.5%.
Food has become more expensive in recent months as a handful of corporate grocery giants and meat, egg, and […]
Stephan: As this report lays out dark money is pouring into the upcoming election because Citizens United and this Supreme Court have legalized bribery and, except for a few ethical members, most of Congress, particularly the Republicans, metaphorically stand on a street corner like hookers flashing their tits to passing corporate shills and lobbyists. The corruption of the American Congress is breathtaking and only a vast citizen uprising of voters committed to protecting democracy is going to stop this. Will that happen? To be honest I doubt it.
Dark money is pouring into U.S. elections, but the vast majority of it is not being disclosed to the Federal Election Commission.
The 2022 election cycle has already attracted more than $115 million in contributions from and spending by 501(c) groups reported to the FEC, OpenSecrets’ new analysis found.
Many of the top spenders on so-called “issue” ads that mention candidates are politically-active nonprofits that do not disclose their donors. Issue ads aired on TV or radio are only required to be disclosed in the weeks leading up to an election, and online ads that avoid expressly advocating for an election outcome are not required to be disclosed at all.
Nonprofits that do not disclose their donors reported less than $3 million of their independent spending to the FEC during the 2022 election cycle as of May 19.
Most of the spending on these issue ads has not been disclosed to the FEC because they do not explicitly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate within the weeks leading up to an election.
Stephan: Thom Hartmann, I believe, has it right. The Republican Party has morphed into a White supremacy, male dominant, militantly heterosexual christofascist party, and about a third of Americans are onboard for that. They are trying to restructure the American political system so that they get into power and stay in power. Getting control of the Supreme Court was the first step, gerrymandering and voter suppression was the second, November's election is the third step and the 2024 election is the final step. They are banking on the fact that the Democratic Party can't get its act together, and that they now control enough of the media to spew out sufficient disinformation to keep the majority of Americans in a state of confusion and fear. It is also important to their plan that Trump and all is orcs not be held accountable. The one thing that might change this process is if the January 6th Committee makes such a compelling case that the gestalt of the culture changes.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on May 13 Credit: Attila Kisbenedek / AFP
Republicans believe that Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán has figured out the “secret sauce” to turn a republic into a hard-right oligarchy, and today they’re in Budapest drinking deep from his insights on the fine points of destroying democracy.
In two speeches this week, Orbán laid out his Hungarian version of the racist American “Great Replacement Theory,” trashed Jewish financier George Soros as a proxy for Jews around the world, reiterated the importance of having friendly rightwing billionaires seize control of a nation’s media, and attacked societies that allow gay marriage and tolerate trans people as engaging in “gender madness.”
Orbán’s Fidesz Party and the GOP in most Red States have become virtually indistinguishable, from cronies owning the media, to packing the courts, to rigging elections through purging voters and gerrymanders, to putting polluting businesses in charge of regulatory agencies.
Now both have their sights set on the American federal government. Seriously, both. Orbán is […]
Stephan: One of the major goals of the Trump administration, under all the deflecting vampire circus designed to keep everyone distracted, was a strategy to restructure the Judicial branch of government. What the christofascists wanted was to restructure the American judiciary so that what they planned would be deemed legal. That and control of the House and Senate would allow them to transform the U.S. into a full-blown anocracy. Trump was remarkably successful, even as, from mostly the old judges he lost case after case. Overturning Roe and friendly judges in the next tiers give the christofascists a generation to attain their aims.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
A number of young and prominent Trump-appointed judges are writing their opinions with provocative language, diving into the culture wars in ways offering an audition for a future Supreme Court opening.
Why it matters: Most judges who are would-be justices try to avoid controversy, preserving themselves for a confirmation hearing. But with the specter of former President Trump mounting another run for office, their opinions may not only create opportunity but curry favor with the person who could fulfill their ambitions.
During his term, Trump had tremendous impact on the federal bench.
He appointed 234 judges who will rule on some of the most consequential issues for decades to come.
One of them, 35-year-old Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, recently — and single-handedly — struck down the federal mask mandate on public transportation.
