March 24, 2023

Friday, March 24, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

To read an article excerpted in this Roundup, click on its blue title. Each “blue” article is hyperlinked so you can read the whole article.

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Joe is always busy.

US and Canada reach a deal on decades-old asylum agreement.

The US and Canada have struck a deal on changes to a decades-old asylum agreement that would restrict certain migrants from seeking protections in Canada, two Canadian officials told CNN, marking a significant change in how Canada accepts asylum seekers.

While discussions have been ongoing for years, the sharp increase of people crossing into Canada from the US — some of whom are believed to have initially crossed the US southern border — had recently placed added urgency on talks.

US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are expected to announce the modifications to the agreement before Biden concludes his visit and travels back to the US, according to one Canadian official. (CNN).

Touch 👇to watch the President celebrating the 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.

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The woman, who counted votes to make the Affordable Care Act a reality 13 years ago, weighed in yesterday too.👇

Pelosi Statement on 13th Anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act | Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

On this day in 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: a shining achievement that presidents had strived toward for more than a century.  The ACA stands alongside Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as a pillar of health and financial security for America’s working families.  Now, America is healthier, because in America, health care is more affordable and accessible than ever before.

“With this landmark law, Democrats welcomed millions of families onto affordable insurance plans, drove down out-of-pocket costs and outlawed discrimination against the 130 million Americans living with pre-existing conditions.  When Republicans tried to repeal the ACA, Democrats joined a tidal wave of advocates and activists to defeat their monstrous plan.  And in the last Congress, we built on the ACA’s foundation: saving many families an average of $2,400 a year on their premiums, while slashing the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors.  More needs to be done: we must reduce the cost of insulin and prescription drugs for all Americans, we must expand Medicaid in all states, and we must expand access to mental health care.

“As we mark this joyous day, extreme Congressional Republicans are still plotting to recklessly rip away families’ health care.  Today, and every day, Democrats declare that we will never relent in our mission to ensure that in America, health care is a right – not a privilege.”
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Its people want to protect the earth. The European Union wants to help them. 

The EU and Australia are cracking down on Greenwashing.

EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 21, 2023.

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This week, the European Commission and Australia are increasingly cracking down on greenwashing as the EU proposes new rules on environmental labeling . . . .

 The European Commission proposed rules that would require companies in Europe to back up climate-friendly claims about their products with evidence,to stamp out misleading green labels for products from clothing to cosmetics and electronic goods.

The proposed European Union rules would regulate labels like "natural", "climate neutral" or having "recycled content" – and tackle what the EU says is rampant greenwashing among products sold in Europe.

To use such labels, a company must carry out a science-based assessment, assessing all significant environmental impacts, to prove that its product lives up to the claim, or have it verified under an environmental labeling scheme.

 An accredited verifier would need to check the claim before a company can publicly use it. Companies that make climate-friendly claims without proof could face financial penalties.
(Reuters).

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Kicking and screaming, North Carolina agrees at last to Medicaid expansion, to take care of its people.

NC approves Medicaid expansion, reversing long opposition.

Democratic Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper.

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Medicaid expansion deal in North Carolina received final legislative approval on Thursday, capping a decade of debate over whether the closely politically divided state should accept the federal government’s coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-income adults.

North Carolina is one of several Republican-led states that have begun considering expanding Medicaid after years of steadfast opposition. Voters in South Dakota approved expansion in a referendum in November. And in Alabama, advocates are urging lawmakers to take advantage of federal incentives to expand Medicaid in order to provide health insurance to more working people.

When Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a longtime expansion advocate, signs the bill, it should leave 10 states in the U.S. that haven’t adopted expansion. North Carolina has 2.9 million enrollees in traditional Medicaid coverage. Advocates have estimated that expansion could help 600,000 adults.

“Medicaid Expansion is a once in a generation investment that will make all North Carolina families healthier while strengthening our economy, and I look forward to signing this legislation soon,” Cooper tweeted.

There’s no set start date in the final bill for expansion under the legislation, but it still comes with one caveat: It can’t happen until after a state budget is approved. This usually happens in the early summer. Cooper panned that provision, which could give GOP leaders leverage to include unrelated items he may strongly oppose.

The House voted 87-24 in favor of the deal, after little debate and a preliminary vote on Wednesday. Many Democratic members on the floor stood and clapped after it passed, which is usually not permitted under chamber rules. Almost two-thirds of the House Republicans also voted yes. The Senate already approved the legislation last week in near-unanimous votes.

The final agreement also included provisions scaling back or eliminating regulations that require state health officials to sign off before medical providers open certain new beds or use equipment. Senate Republicans demanded the “certificate of need” changes in any deal.

Republicans in charge of the General Assembly for years had been skeptical about expansion, which originated from the federal Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama 13 years ago Thursday.

A financial sweetener contained in a COVID-19 recovery law means North Carolina also would get an estimated extra $1.75 billion in cash over two years if it expands Medicaid. Legislators hope to use much of that money on mental health services. (ABCNews)

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Feel free to ask Republicans you know which of these camps of marvelous voters they fall into.

Trump Gains on DeSantis | Monmouth University Polling Institute.

MAGA loyalists stand by former president.

West Long Branch, NJ – Former President Donald Trump now holds an advantage over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as Republican voters’ preference for the party’s 2024 nomination. The Monmouth (“Mon-muth”) University Poll shows Trump has made gains among nearly every voting bloc since the start of the year and is especially popular among strong MAGA supporters. [Note: most of the poll interviews were conducted before reports emerged about a potential indictment of the former president.]

When asked who they would like to see as the Republican nominee for president in 2024, 41% name Trump and 27% name DeSantis. These two have dominated top-of-mind preferences of GOP voters since Monmouth started polling the 2024 contest late last year, but there has been a significant shift between them over that time. The two were tied in February (33% each) while the December results showed a greater preference for the Florida governor (39%) than the former president (26%).

Some of Trump’s broadest support comes from Republicans who identify as strong supporters of MAGA – the Make America Great Again movement within the party. These voters – who represent nearly 4 in 10 Republicans nationally – overwhelming prefer Trump (73%) to DeSantis (25%) in a head-to-head contest.

DeSantis is preferred by those who only support MAGA somewhat (61% to 32% for Trump), as well as Republicans who do not consider themselves to be MAGA supporters at all (57% to 31%). Overall, 73% of GOP voters say the MAGA movement has been good for the party. Just 20% say it has been bad. Even among Republicans who are not MAGA supporters themselves, 34% say the movement has been good for the party.     

“The movement Trump created is sticking by their standard-bearer. That’s enough for Trump to overcome weaker support among the less MAGA portion of the Republican electorate, at least for now,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

The poll also looked at other possible matchups in the Republican contest for president that include former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence – neither of whom register more than a few percentage points as top-of-mind preferences for the nomination. Trump is the overwhelming favorite against either of them in a direct matchup – taking 70% to 23% against Haley and 73% to 21% against Pence. In a hypothetical four-way contest, Trump (44%) holds a nominal lead over DeSantis (36%), with Pence (7%) and Haley (6%) trailing far behind. (Monmouth Polling).

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Bi-Partisan admonishment against Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

Senate Ethics admonishes Graham for campaign solicitations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Ethics Committee is admonishing South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham for soliciting campaign contributions inside a federal building after a Nov. 2022 Fox News interview in which he asked viewers to donate to a GOP candidate.

Graham violated Senate rules and standards of conduct because he was in a Senate office building when he did the interview, the leaders of the ethics panel said in a rare public letter released on Thursday.

“The public must feel confident that Members use public resources only for official actions in the best interests of the United States, not for partisan political activity,” wrote Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Chris Coons, D-Del., and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, the panel’s Republican vice chairman. “Your actions failed to uphold that standard, resulting in harm to the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate. You are hereby admonished.”

Coons and Lankford wrote that Graham solicited campaign contributions for Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s campaign committee “five separate times” during the Nov. 30, 2022 interview on Fox News.

In a statement Thursday, Graham said: “It was a mistake. I take responsibility. I will try to do better in the future.”

It is unclear if Graham could face any criminal penalties for his actions. Coons and Lankford said this was the senator’s second violation, after he similarly solicited campaign contributions for his own campaign during an unplanned hallway interview in 2020. (AP).

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Wondering what Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is up to? Here is a frightening glimpse.

Sinema Trashes Dems: ‘Old Dudes Eating Jell-O.’

Ever since Senator Kyrsten Sinema became an independent in December, her Democratic colleagues have been restrained about the shift, careful not to alienate the Arizona lawmaker when they only have a single-seat majority and need her support on legislation and nominees.

Hoping to get through this year, and then gain clarity about whether Sinema will even seek re-election in 2024 let alone continue to caucus with her old party, Senate Democrats have dodged questions about the mercurial marathoner who’s still barely in their ranks.

As she races to stockpile campaign money and post an impressive, statement-making first-quarter fundraising number, Sinema has used a series of Republican-dominated receptions and retreats this year to belittle her Democratic colleagues, shower her GOP allies with praise and, in one case, quite literally give the middle finger to President Biden’s White House.

And that’s before an audience.

Speaking in private, whether one-on-one or with small groups of Republican senators, she’s even more cutting, particularly about Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whom she derides in harshly critical terms, according to senior Republican officials directly familiar with her comments.

Those lunches were ridiculous,” she told a small group of Republican lobbyists at a reception in Washington this year in explaining why she had stopped attending her caucus’ weekly luncheons in the Capitol, according to an attendee.

First off, she explained, she was no longer a Democrat. “I’m not caucusing with the Democrats, I’m formally aligned with the Democrats for committee purposes,” Sinema said. “But apart from that I am not a part of the caucus.”

Then she let loose.

“Old dudes are eating Jell-O, everyone is talking about how great they are,” Sinema recounted to gales of laughter. “I don’t really need to be there for that. That’s an hour and a half twice a week that I can get back.”

Now she was rolling.

“The Northerners and the Westerners put cool whip on their Jell-O,” she shared, “and the Southerners put cottage cheese.”

Cue the groans.

Turning more serious, but continuing to dismiss her colleagues, Sinema boasted that she had better uses of her time than “those dumb lunches,” which the windiest lawmakers can drag out but are also used to discuss substance and strategy.

“I spend my days doing productive work, which is why I’ve been able to lead every bipartisan vote that’s happened the last two years,” she said.

In fairness to Sinema, as Dizzy Dean purportedly said, it ain’t bragging if you really done it. And she was at the forefront of a series of bipartisan achievements in the last Congress, including on infrastructure and gun control. Along with needing her 51st vote this year, that’s why the White House was just as restrained about Sinema leaving the party as Senate Democrats.

White House aide telephoned Sinema last summer, she said, and told her she’d have to make sure all 50 Senate Democrats at the time were present for the vote to confirm Roopali Desai to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sinema said she told the aide there was no need to fret because the vote would be bipartisan.

Then she revealed who the aide was, saying “that was Klain,” as she quickly flashed her middle finger in the air to demonstrate what she thinks of the powerful and now-departed White House chief of staff.

After the laughter died down, Sinema boasted that Judge Desai picked up 67 votes in a swift confirmation and then got in one final dig at the White House. “I did not call Ron back,” she said. (Politico).

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Yesterday, this 👇 happened.

Senate Democrats aren't hitting back at Kyrsten Sinema after POLITICO reported she privately bashed caucus members. 

Chuck Schumer - "She's been a very effective legislator."

"Well, we're friends. Whatever she does, I'm supporting her," Joe Manchin said. (Politico).

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Wondering what Florida Freshman Maxwell Frost is up to? This will please you. A fighter.

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Poverty and Homelessness go hand in hand.

Are you with me? To end un-affordability of housing should be among our top priorities as a nation.

How America Manufactures Poverty.

The sociologist Matthew Desmond identifies specific practices and policies that consign tens of millions to destitution.

By Margaret Talbot

Matthew Desmond’s terrific previous book, “Evicted” (2016), is emphatically about the lives of the poor. It followed eight struggling families trying to stay housed in Milwaukee, where, in the poorest neighborhoods, “median rent for a two-bedroom apartment was only $50 less than the citywide median.”

Families were spending up to seventy per cent of their monthly incomes on housing that might have stopped-up plumbing, broken windows, filthy carpets, and front doors that wouldn’t lock. And when they fell behind on rent for any of the multitude of reasons that people living precariously do—a trip to the emergency room, an unexpected car repair, a steep utility bill paid to keep the lights or the heat on—they faced the chaos and humiliation of eviction.

“Evicted” illuminated big and sometimes novel themes: the outsized role of housing costs in the creation and perpetuation of poverty across the nation, the fact that evictions had become so common that businesses found ways to profit from them (moving companies, for instance, would extract the last of a tenant’s belongings, down to the shower curtain in the bathroom, and place them in storage, which would cost more than many tenants had to reclaim them).

“Poverty, by America,” he explains, is a book about how and why the rest of us abide poverty and are complicit in it.

Why do many of us seem to accept that the problem is one of scarcity—that there is simply not enough to go around in our very rich country? Where there is exploitation, there are exploiters, and this time Desmond sees many more of them, including most of his prospective readers.

Corporations batten on low-wage labor, but so do consumers, who have come to expect the cheap goods and services—the illusorily frictionless food deliveries, the Amazon orders that arrive like conjuring tricks the afternoon you place them—that poorly paid, nonunionized, often temporary workers provide.

How is it that the United States, a country with a gross domestic product “larger than the combined economies of Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, France, and Italy,” has a higher relative poverty rate than those other advanced democracies? Why do one in eight Americans, and one in six children, live in poverty—a rate about the same as it was in 1970? Why do we put up with it?

The short answer, Desmond argues, is that as a society we have made a priority of other things: maximal wealth accumulation for the few and cheap stuff for the many. At the same time, we’ve either ignored or enabled the gouging of the poor—by big banks that charge them stiff overdraft fees, by predatory payday lenders and check-cashing outlets of what Desmond calls the “fringe banking industry,” by landlords who squeeze their tenants because the side hustle of rent collecting has turned into their main hustle, by companies that underpay their workers or deny them benefits by confining them to gig status or that keep them perpetually off balance with “just-in-time scheduling” of shifts.

To the extent that middle- and upper-class people unthinkingly buy products from such companies and invest in their stock, or park their money in those banks, or oppose public housing in their neighborhoods despite a professed commitment to it, or bid up the prices of fixer-uppers in Austin or San Francisco or Washington, D.C., they, too, are helping to buttress the system.

Recent research suggests that even public housing, much maligned, is strikingly beneficial for the families that can get a spot, which can involve a years-long wait. The intimidating towers are now far outnumbered by more dispersed and approachable low-rises.

Children who grow up in public housing show lower lead levels in their bloodstreams, more robust mental health, and better results in school than those whose families are scraping by in the private housing market, according to a trio of recent studies; a fourth study, published last year in the American Economic Journal, found that kids who’d lived in public housing had higher incomes and lower rates of incarceration as young adults.

“The American government gives the most help to those who need it least,” Desmond argues.

Americans who benefit from social spending in the form of, say, a mortgage-interest tax deduction don’t see themselves as recipients of governmental generosity.* The boon it offers them may be as hard for them to recognize and acknowledge as the persistence of poverty once was to Harrington’s suburban housewives and professional men. These Americans may be anti-government and vote that way. They may picture other people, poor people, as weak and dependent and themselves as hardworking and upstanding.

And Desmond offers solutions as well, scattered throughout the book and exhibiting varying levels of ambition. Finally, Desmond wants us to think of ourselves as “poverty abolitionists.” (The New Yorker).

*The payout to homeowners in 2020—a hundred and ninety-three billion dollars—far exceeded the fifty-three billion dollars in direct housing assistance that the government gave to low-income families.

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There’s Racism, Poverty, Sexism, Homophobia, and yes, the ole stand-by, Antisemitism.

Antisemitic Incidents Reach New High in U.S., Anti-Defamation League Says.

The police guarded the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, after four people were taken hostage by a pistol-wielding man during a Shabbat service last year.

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The number of antisemitic incidents in the United States last year was the highest since the Anti-Defamation League began keeping track in 1979, the Jewish advocacy group announced on Thursday.

In a new report, the A.D.L. counted 3,697 incidents throughout the United States in 2022, a 36 percent rise from the year before. A majority were characterized as harassment, including online, but the tally also included 111 assaults and more than 1,200 occasions of vandalism.

The report is the latest indication that antisemitism in the United States is on the rise, a trend that has been reflected in American culture and politics, sending fresh waves of alarm through Jewish communities. It also mirrors data gathered by the federal government, as well as a separate academic study tracking incidents of bias against many religious groups. (New York Times).

The Anti-Defamation League’s Report on Antisemitism in 2022. Click here.

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The issue is really about campaign finance crimes as well as Trump performing fraud against the American people to affect an election.

But this is still going to be true.👇