IF YOU ENJOY SR AND FIND IT USEFUL WOULD YOU PLEASE DONATE
When I began Schwartzreport my purpose was to produce an entirely fact-based daily publication in favor of the earth, the inter-connectedness and interdependence of all life, democracy, equality for all, liberty, and things that are life-affirming. Also, to warn my readers about actions, events, and trends that threaten those values. Our country now stands at a crossroads, indeed, the world stands at a crossroads where those values are very much at risk and it is up to each of us who care about wellbeing to do what we can to defend those principles. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to SR, particularly those of you who have scheduled an ongoing monthly contribution. It makes a big difference and is much appreciated. It is one thing to put in the hours each day and to do the work for free, but another to have to cover the rising out-of-pocket costs. For those of you who haven’t done so, but read SR regularly, I ask that you consider supporting it.
Stephan: Here is a first measure of the country's gestalt in the month since the Trump era ended. I take this as good news
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
27% of U.S. adults are satisfied, up from 11% in January
Satisfaction among Democrats surges 40 percentage points
COVID-19 surpasses the government as most important problem
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Twenty-seven percent of U.S. adults are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S, more than double the percentage observed in January. The increase reverses a three-month decline that saw satisfaction drop to one of its lowest levels ever.
Line graph. Recent trend on Americans’ satisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S. Twenty-seven percent are currently satisfied, up from 11% in January. Satisfaction had declined since hitting 28% in October before the election. It remains below where it was before the coronavirus pandemic, including a recent high of 45% in February 2020.
Satisfaction, which had been 28% at the time of the 2020 presidential election, fell in the ensuing months as U.S. coronavirus infections surged and then-President Donald Trump and his allies disputed Joe Biden’s victory, culminating in the Jan. 6 riots on Capitol Hill. The 11% satisfied in January was four percentage points […]
Stephan: I have been holding this for a few days because other stories were more important, but I take this as a sign that Virginia is going Blue, and also as a sign that marijuana madness in the U.S. is fading slowly away. I live in a state where marijuana has been legal for years now. And what I have noticed is no one talks much about grass anymore, there is less crime, and fewer sleazy people are coming on to the island.
Virginia lawmakers approved a bill on Saturday that will legalize recreational marijuana in 2024. The compromise bill that delays retail sales of the drug for three years turns Virginia into the first Southern state to vote to legalize marijuana for adults, joining 15 other states and the District of Columbia. The bill still has to be signed by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who has been vocal about his support for marijuana legalization. “It’s been a lot of work to get here, but I would say that we’re on the path to an equitable law allowing responsible adults to use cannabis,” State Sen. Adam Ebbin told the Associated Press.
The House passed the legalization measure 48-43 while the Senate approved it 20-19. The bill was approved without a single Republican vote in either chamber. The bill, which would legalize possession of an ounce of marijuana or less by those 21 or older, calls for the creation of an independent agency to regulate the marijuana market. But lawmakers “punted,” as the Richmond Times-Dispatch puts it, several key decision on how the […]
Stephan: I am really concerned about the Republican push to retain the form of democracy in America, but not its substance. This is classic fascist maneuvering, and in countries like Germany and Italy or much of Eastern Europe it has been effective. Is it possible that the United States could become a fascist authoritarian nation? It may seem impossible to some, but when I watch or read the media of the alt-right I see a craving for this, and a real commitment to make it happen. Here, in 13 fact based research charts you can see what the Republicans are doing.
A visitor wears a face mask with a picture of Trump’s mouth at the CPAC conference Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty
The Republican Party is the biggest threat to American democracy today. It is a radical, obstructionist faction that has become hostile to the most basic democratic norm: that the other side should get to wield power when it wins elections.
A few years ago, these statements may have sounded like partisan Democratic hyperbole. But in the wake of the January 6 attack on the Capitol and Trump’s acquittal in the Senate on the charge of inciting it, they seem more a plain description of where we’re at as a country.
But how deep does the GOP’s problem with democracy run, really? How did things get so bad? And is it likely to get worse?
Below are 13 charts that illustrate the depth of the problem and how we got here. The story they tell is sobering: At every level, from the elite down to rank-and-file voters, the party is permeated with anti-democratic political attitudes and agendas. And the prospects […]
Michael M. Grynbaum, Davey Alba and Reid J. Epstein, Reporters - The New York Times
Stephan: This is further fact-based evidence of what the Republicans are up to, and how they seek to manipulate their followers. Goebbels' "Big Lies" is exactly the kind of tactic employed by Hitler, and now by Trump and his orcs.
On social media, cable networks and even in the halls of Congress, supporters of Donald J. Trump tried to rewrite history in real time, pushing the fiction that left-wing agitators were to blame for the violence on Jan. 6.
On social media, cable networks and even in the halls of Congress, supporters of Donald J. Trump tried to rewrite history in real time, pushing the fiction that left-wing agitators were to blame for the violence on Jan. 6.
At 1:51 p.m. on Jan. 6, a right-wing radio host named Michael D. Brown wrote on Twitter that rioters had breached the United States Capitol — and immediately speculated about who was really to blame. “Antifa or BLM or other insurgents could be doing it disguised as Trump supporters,” Mr. Brown wrote, using shorthand for Black Lives Matter. “Come on, man, have you never heard of psyops?”
Only 13,000 people follow Mr. Brown on Twitter, but his tweet caught the attention of another conservative pundit: Todd Herman, who was guest-hosting Rush Limbaugh’s national radio program. Minutes later, he repeated Mr. […]
Stephan: Whenever I watch or read fascist media I am always amazed to see women, almost universally White women, advocate social policies that support male dominance, and laws that tell women they do not have control over their own bodies. How could any woman support such policies. Here is he answer.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, fascist princess
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the infamous Georgia Republican, has shown herself to be an anti-Semite and a white supremacist. She is also a bigot who last week posted a sign outside her congressional office that reads, “There are two genders: Male and Female. Trust the Science.” This was a direct attack on Rep. Marie Newman, an Illinois Democrat whose office is directly across the hall, and who has a trans daughter.
James S. Henry and David Cay Johnston, - DC Report/Raw Story
Stephan: How many ways do the facts have to tell us that Donald Trump is a criminal? The amazing story to me is how this man is not in prison where he belongs. As a thought experiment imagine for a moment that Obama had this kind of documented record. What would the Republicans have tried to do to him Or consider Hillary Clinton? Do I have to remind you of the endless nonsense hearings on Benghazi that cost millions of dollars and went nowhere?
Felix Sater and Donald Trump. Credit: screen grab from BBC Panorama
However we decide to account for Donald Trump’s astonishing rise and fall, we now know that he was certainly no stranger to a sprawling netherworld of Russian gangsters and oligarchs.
Now there are stunning new allegations in federal court documents that this Russian criminal network with worldwide reach hired Felix Sater, one of Trump’s closest associates, to hide a fortune stolen in Kazakhstan.
The central Asian country was once part of the Soviet Union. The stolen fortune cited in the lawsuit is the tip of the iceberg. Keep reading.
Stolen money amounting to $440 million was invested in America and run through trust funds maintained by Moses & Singer. The New York City law firm has long represented Sater, a Soviet-born American.
Stephan: Look at the chart with which I began this report. Study it. We are the richest country in the world and we live in the shame of the poverty of 1 out of 7 American children, and the poverty of the elderly. We are a very sick society, very sick, and nothing is going to change this except we ourselves. We must change. But are we up to it? I am not sure.
One in seven American children live in poverty, according to the Center for American Progress. Despite the nation’s wealth, the United States has one of the worst child poverty rates among similarly developed countries.
A new poll from Vox and Data for Progress indicates that despite the popularity of child welfare programs, one of the reasons we’ve failed to help millions of children could be a concern that’s dogged public welfare programs for decades:widespread concern that some may take advantage of these benefits.
The introduction of Sen. Mitt Romney’s Family Security Act earlier this month centered child poverty in the national political conversation and drew praise from conservativeandliberal sources alike. As Vox’s Dylan Matthews explained, the bill “overhauls the current child tax credit and turns it from a once-a-year bonus to massive income support, paid out monthly by the Social Security Administration” that would help not just parents with substantial income but lower-paid families too.
But the Utah Republican’s surprising bill prompted backlash from Republicans and some conservative researchers.
In a statement released the day of the bill’s release, Sens. […]
Stephan: Some more good news from the Biden administration. I am becoming optimistic that we have a president and administration that takes the challenge of climate change seriously. It gives me hope.
President Biden making another good news announcementCredit: White House
President Joe Biden on Friday restored an Obama-era calculation on the economic cost of greenhouse gases, a step that will make it easier for his agencies to approve aggressive actions to confront climate change.
But the administration stopped short, for now, of boosting the cost figure to higher levels that economists and climate scientists say are justified by new research.
The interim figure — $51 for every ton of carbon released into the atmosphere — is well above the $8 cost used under former President Donald Trump, who declined to factor the global impacts of climate pollution into his calculation. It’s on par with a price based on analyses undertaken between 2010 and 2016 under former President Barack Obama, whose administration was first to calculate the figure known as the social cost of carbon.
The price point is temporary. A new Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases is required to issue a final number by January.
“A more complete update that follows the best science takes time. This is […]
