U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

"I just signed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 into law – setting the Postal Service on more stable financial footing and creating a more modern, accountable service for tomorrow."

"Tune in as I sign the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 into law."

https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1511802596947808264


Six-days-a-week mail delivery saved; Biden signs Postal bill


President Joe Biden signs the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. Watching from left are Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Annette Taylor. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service meant to shore up the popular but beleaguered agency's financial future and cement six-days-a-week mail delivery was signed into law Wednesday by President Joe Biden.

The legislation cleared Congress last month after fully a dozen years of discussion that took on a new sense of urgency amid widespread complaints about mail service delays. Officials had repeatedly warned that without congressional action, the Postal Service would run out of cash by 2024.

"The Postal Service is central to our economy and essential to rural America,” Biden said. He added that mailmen and women deliver 4 million prescriptions per day, along with letters, consumer goods and even live animals, “often to parts of the country that private carriers can't or won't or aren't required to reach.”

The final legislation achieved rare, bipartisan support by scrapping some of the more controversial proposals and settling on core ways to save the service. Delivering the mail is among the most popular things the government does, with 91% of Americans having a favorable opinion of the Postal Service, according to a Pew Research Center poll released in 2020.

The bill signing came the same day the Postal Service announced it plans to raise rates effective July 10. Under the proposal submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission, the cost of a first-class Forever stamp would increase by 2 cents to 60 cents.

The Postal Service said the increase, which is less than the annual rate of inflation, will help the agency implement Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year plan to stabilize agency finances.

Lawmakers from both parties attended the signing ceremony and the mood was jovial, a big improvement from Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran previously saying the service was in a “death spiral” that was particularly hard on rural Americans.

The Postal Service Reform Act lifts budget requirements that have contributed to the agency's red ink, and spells out that mail must be delivered six days a week, except for federal holidays, natural disasters and some other situations.

Postage sales and other services were supposed to sustain the Postal Service, but it has suffered 14 straight years of losses. Growing worker compensation and benefit costs, plus steady declines in mail volume, have exacerbated losses, even as the service delivers to 1 million additional locations every year.

The new law ends a requirement that the Postal Service finance workers’ health care benefits ahead of time for the next 75 years — an obligation that private companies and federal agencies do not face. Biden said that rule had “stretched the Postal Service's finances almost to the breaking point."

Now, future retirees will enroll in Medicare, while other health plans and the Postal Service cover only current retirees’ actual health care costs that aren’t paid for by the federal health insurance program for older people,

“In recent years we saw how unfair policies forced this treasured institution to cut costs and delayed the delivery of medication, financial documents and other critical mail,” Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who helped write the legislation, said in a statement. “These long overdue reforms will undo these burdensome financial requirements.”

To measure the agency's progress in improving its service, the law requires it to set up an online dashboard that would be searchable by ZIP code to show how long it takes to deliver letters and packages.

Dropped from the package as it neared actual legislation were efforts to cut back mail delivery. Also set aside — for now — were other proposals that have been floated over the years to change operations, including to privatize some services.

Criticism of the Postal Service peaked in 2020, amid the COVID-19 crisis and ahead of the presidential election, as cutbacks delayed service at a time when millions of Americans were relying on mail-in ballots during the pandemic. Then-President Donald Trump acknowledged he was trying to financially pinch the service to limit its processing ability for an expected surge of mail-in ballots, which he worried could cost him the election he eventually lost.

Dominated by Trump appointees, the agency’s board of governors had tapped DeJoy, a major GOP donor, as postmaster general. He proposed a 10-year plan to stabilize the service’s finances with steps like additional mail slowdowns, cuts in some offices’ hours and perhaps higher rates.

Biden said Wednesday that more needs to be done to reform the Postal Service, including investing in an electrified vehicle fleet that could save money while helping combat climate change. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is examining a Postal Service contract to replace its huge fleet of mail-delivery trucks with a mix of gas and electric vehicles, which the Environmental Protection Agency and Democratic lawmakers argue has too few electric vehicles.

“Today we enshrine into law our recognition that the Postal Service is fundamental to our economy, to our democracy, to our health and the very sense of who we are as a nation," Biden said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/six-days-week-mail-delivery-215413982.html

[Rick Plant]

Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar will mark Hitler’s birthday by attending white nationalist bash



Prescott Republican Congressman Paul Gosar is set to be a “special guest” with the white nationalist American Populist Union at an event that will be on a date popular among white nationalists and Neo-Nazis: Hitler’s birthday.

The American Populist Social will be held in Tempe on April 20, a date revered by white supremacists and Neo-Nazis.

The American Populist Union is closely aligned with groypers, a group of white nationalists who strive for their ideas to become a part of the Republican mainstream and are largely followers of 23-year-old white nationalist Nick Fuentes. In 2021, Gosar was the first elected official to speak at Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference in 2021. This year, the conference saw speeches by Gosar, Rogers and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Earlier this month, Gosar said his March video message to attendees of AFPAC was the fault of a staffer who sent his video message to the wrong group. He distanced himself from Fuentes, telling Politico that the young Holocaust-denying racist  “has a problem with his mouth.”

Fuentes shared the story on the encrypted messaging app Telegram with the message “April Fool’s!” and later said in a livestream that he and Gosar will continue to “collaborate behind the scenes.”

The group which Gosar will be joining later this month has connections to Fuentes ideologically and through its members. The group hobnobbed with Arizona politicians in December when it held an event across the street from Turning Point USA that attracted a slew of fringe activists and groypers.

The other featured guest at the event, John Doyle, has allied with and promoted groypers, and he organized a “Stop the Steal” rally in Michigan with Fuentes. Doyle, a YouTube personality who runs a show called “Heck off Commie,” regularly advocates far-right ideology. He has said that Martin Luther King was “not a hero” and has claimed that liberalism is linked to satanism.

Doyle has also posted highly misogynistic content, such as saying that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote, and he once called for “low IQ offenders” to be executed in response to a story about a Black man committing a violent crime. Doyle, along with other members of APU, were also in attendance at the first 76Fest which was dubbed “Hitler Youth, without the Hitler” by one of its organizers.

Arizona state Sen. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, is also listed as a featured guest, but he told the Arizona Mirror he is not attending.

“When they first contacted me, I thought it was a County Young Republican event,” Petersen said. “After I realized it was an organization I was unfamiliar with, I respectfully declined to speak.”

APU did not respond to a request for comment asking it chose April 20 — a Wednesday — for its event. The organization still lists Petersen as a “special guest” at the event.

Gosar’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

https://www.azmirror.com/blog/paul-gosar-to-attend-white-nationalist-social-gathering-on-hitlers-birthday/

[Rick Plant]

Why do  Tennessee Republicans want to marry kids?

Proposed legislation could legalize child marriage in Tennessee

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Some Tennessee Republicans want to make common law marriage legal. But the bill being pushed through the legislature this week doesn’t have any age requirements and opponents say that paves the way for allowing child marriage.

Twenty-four Tennessee Republicans are sponsoring this legislation and right now it is making headlines around the world. Newsweek, The Hill and The Daily Mail in the U.K. have all written about it, Twitter is all abuzz about it, and all eyes are on the Volunteer State as people wonder if the state’s lawmakers are about to legalize child marriage.

State Rep. Tom Leatherwood, the Republican from Shelby County who represents Arlington, sponsored House Bill 233, introducing it in the Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee on April 23. The legislation is designed to legalize common law marriage in Tennessee as a way to push back against the LGBTQ movement.

“I’ve seen a change in the tide, and if there’s any hostility, it’s against those people who do believe marriage comes from God, not from government and do believe it’s between a man and a woman,” said Leatherwood.

“What’s the age limit on this bill?” inquired Rep. Mike Stewart, a Democrat from Nashville, “My concern would be you’re changing the law and we have strict age limits on marriage in Tennessee and I don’t think we want to get away from that.”

“So your current language does not have an age limit? You’re aware our current law does have an age limit and you know what that age limit is?” Rep. Torrey Harris of Memphis asked Leatherwood.

Current Tennessee law states you can get married as young as 17 if you have parental consent. Critics worry House Bill 233, if passed, would pave the way for child marriage and child sex abuse.

“What in your legislation would stop a 16-year-old from going down with someone else to the courthouse and getting this done, since there’s no age restriction within your law?” asked Rep. Harris.

“I think it would be construed that minors would not be able to enter into this,” Leatherwood replied.

“So it would be assumed?” said Harris. “So we’re going to take the assumption that minors would not be included in this?”

Rep. Rush Bricken, a Republican from Tullahoma, said HB 233 simply creates new paperwork for couples to fill out if they want their union to be a common-law marriage, and not a marriage requiring a license from the state.

“We’re making a whole bunch to do and getting off in the weeds here when this strictly is a form, and we should give our citizens the right to choose,” said Bricken.

Harris said if the bill ultimately passes, it would likely lead to a 14th amendment court challenge.

“We have no age limit in this legislation and that’s very much a problem,” said Harris.

State Senator Raumesh Akbari from Memphis told Action News 5: “It’s ugly enough Republicans are advancing an unconstitutional bill to undermine marriage equality, but the fact that this bill reopens the debate on child marriage is outrageous. Kids need time to grow and mature. Kids need to be kids, not brides and mothers.”

The bill passed the House subcommittee and now goes before the House Civil Justice Committee on April 6, and the full Senate will hear the bill on Thursday, April 7.

https://www.actionnews5.com/2022/04/06/proposed-legislation-could-legalize-child-marriage-tennessee/

[Rick Plant]

Rick Scott throws Ron DeSantis under the bus over his war on Disney



On Wednesday, POLITICO reported that Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) refused to back up Gov. Ron DeSantis over his threats to revoke special protections in law for the Walt Disney Corporation, in retaliation for their criticism of the "Don't Say Gay" law recently passed in Florida.

"Scott said he supports the legislation and complained during a lengthy television interview on Bloomberg Television and also on Twitter about 'woke companies' such as Disney, which also came under fire for not taking a stance on the bill until Florida lawmakers approved it," reported Gary Fineout. "But the former two-term governor sidestepped a question on whether Florida legislators should repeal a half-century state law that created a special district for the theme park that allows it to essentially establish its own independent government. DeSantis previously said he’d be 'receptive' to making changes to that law."

"My experience with Disney had been positive," Scott told POLITICO.

The law in question is the Reedy Creek Improvement Act of 1967, which basically allowed Disney to operate the public services in the area that would become the Walt Disney World resort complex. Prior to Disney taking over the land, it was considered uninhabitable.

For years, reporting has suggested that Scott and DeSantis have a hostile and adversarial relationship, with both seeing the other in conflict with their own presidential ambitions. In 2019, Scott even left DeSantis' inauguration speech early, prompting him to ad lib out the parts of his speech in which he would have thanked Scott for his service as governor.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/06/rick-scott-fissures-desantis-disney-00023582

[Rick Plant]

If Rick Scott and Republicans get their way they will tax working class Americans $4500. Also, ending social security and Medicare is part of their 2022 plan as well. That's all in Rick Scott's 11 point plan to destroy America. We finally dug out of the ditch Donald Trump put us in, and Republicans want to put us back in there again, but this time even further. I don't know of anybody who wants to pay Rick Scott's $4500 tax. Do you?     



Rick Scott Can’t Even Get Fox News to Buy His Lies
“It’s not a Democratic talking point. It’s in [your] plan,” host John Roberts scoffed at the senator’s attempts to deny reality

Republican Sen. Rick Scott couldn’t convince Fox News host John Roberts to buy his ridiculous 11 point “Plan to Rescue America,” which includes proposals to force all Americans to pay income tax, sunset all federal legislation within five years, and complete the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico to name it after former President Donald Trump.

“You recently put out an 11-point plan to rescue America,” Roberts said when interviewing Scott on Fox News Sunday. “Two of the big points are, quote: ‘All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount.’ Currently, over half of Americans pay no income tax. It also says: ‘All federal legislation sunsets in five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.'”

"Sure. John, that’s, of course, the Democrat talking points. It’s… ” Scott began, but Roberts interrupted.

“No, it’s in the plan. It’s in the plan,” Roberts insisted.

Undeterred by Roberts’ fact checking, Scott continued pushing back. “Also in the plan, it says we ought to, every year, talk about exactly how we’re going to fix Medicare and Social Security,” Scott said. He then pivoted to defending his plan to increase taxes for the 57 percent of Americans who did not pay federal income tax last year.

“Here’s what’s unfair,” Scott continued. “We have people that don’t — that could go to work and have figured out how to have government pay their way. That’s not right. They ought to have some skin in the game. I don’t care if it’s a dollar. We ought to all be in this together.”

To be clear, millions upon millions of Americans both work and do not pay income tax, many of them because they qualify for enough in deductions and credits to zero out their tax bill. One way to have more Americans pay income tax to this would be policy efforts to make help low-income workers earn more, but that isn’t a part of Scott’s plan.

But you don’t have to take our word for it, or even just the Democrats (and the Fox News host) who have criticized Scott’s 11 points. Roberts noted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dissed Scott’s plan for exactly the reasons Roberts stated: it would raise taxes while threatening Social Security and Medicare.

“Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda,” McConnell said earlier this month. “We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years. That will not be part of the Republican Senate majority agenda.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1508086607269830667

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/rick-scott-fox-news-taxes-medicare-social-security-1328178/

[Rick Plant]

President Biden
@POTUS

"America is stronger than we were a year ago, but we are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused. Today’s extension of the pause on student loan repayments will provide a continued lifeline as we recover and rebuild from the pandemic.

This afternoon, I signed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 into law. The bill recognizes that the Postal Service is a vital public service — one that we are ensuring can continue to serve all Americans for generations to come."

[Rick Plant]

President Biden continues to work hard for unions and blue collar workers who are the backbone of America.

Biden takes aim at Amazon as he touts unions



WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden drew loud applause at a labor event on Wednesday when he turned a spotlight on Amazon.com Inc while touting his administration's efforts to promote unions.

After highlighting a government task force on worker organization he launched a year ago “to make sure the choice to join a union belongs to workers alone,” Biden called out the online retail giant, whose own workers at a New York City warehouse voted last week to unionize.

“And by the way, by the way, Amazon here we come. Watch. Watch,” he said during a speech to the North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Legislative Conference.

Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.

Widely considered the most pro-union president in decades, Biden has swiftly ousted government officials deemed by unions to be hostile to labor and reversed rules of past President Donald Trump that critics said weakened worker protections.

Asked at a briefing with reporters whether Biden was endorsing unionization at Amazon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said he was not sending a message that he or the U.S. government would get involved directly in such efforts.

"What he was conveying is his long-time support for collective bargaining, for the rights of workers to organize, and their decision to do exactly that in this case," she said.

Last week some 55% of workers at a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island voted to form the first U.S. union at Amazon, America's second-largest private employer, building on recent grassroots successes by labor activists pushing into new industries.

Amazon has said it may file objections, due on Friday, before the election outcome is certified.

Employees at 10 U.S. Starbucks locations have likewise voted to unionize as well.

Biden's task force, which includes more than 20 heads of agencies and Cabinet officials such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, seeks to help reverse decades of declining union membership and power, labor experts said.

© Reuters