February 7, 2024

Wednesday, February 7, 2024. Annette’s News Roundup.

I think the Roundup makes people feel not so alone.

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.

Please feel free to share.

Invite at least one other person to subscribe today! https://buttondown.email/AnnettesNewsRoundup

___________________________________________

Joe is always busy.

On King Charles.

Nevada Primary last night.

___________________________________________

Kamala is always busy.

___________________________________________

The American people had a good day yesterday. Trump did not.

First, Trump lost at the U.S.Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Claim of Absolute Immunity.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald J. Trump’s claim that he was immune from prosecution on charges of plotting to subvert the results of the 2020 election, ruling that he must go to trial on a criminal indictment accusing him of seeking to overturn his loss to President Biden.

The unanimous ruling, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, handed Mr. Trump a significant defeat. But it was unlikely to be the final word on his claims of executive immunity: Mr. Trump, who is on a path to locking up the Republican presidential nomination, is expected to continue his appeal to the Supreme Court. (New York Times).

The original 57 page ruling.

This is the nation’s highest court.

What will happen next? a further appeal to the Supreme Court?

Neal Katyal is the Paul Saunders Professor at Georgetown University and the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States. He has argued 48 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, with his 49th and 50th coming up in March and April. He is a legal commentator on MSNBC.

The Border Bill.

The bi-partisan Border Bill which includes funding for Ukraine and Israel has not moved forward because of Trump who wants problems on the Border to hurt Biden in the 2024 election. Trump also must be pleased to stop funds from going to Ukraine in its fight again Trump ally, Putin.

Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise of the House GOP leadership proclaimed the bill “dead on arrival.” GOP Senators, including cowardly Senate Minority Leader Mitch who had initially spoken on behalf of the bill, promised to vote no.

On Monday, Trump issued a dare on the Border Bill. Watch him here.👇

The President answered him yesterday.

Watch the President speak on the Border Bill. 👇

Biden Tells Republicans to ‘Show Some Spine’ Against Trump on Border Deal.

President Biden accused the House GOP of thwarting legislation tightening immigration rules and providing aid to Ukraine and Israel out of fear of their 2024 front-runner, Donald Trump.

https://youtu.be/YaaT20QG6jo?si=6kCob__Y5BQCFDaf

Others spoke about the possible failure of this bill too.

Foreign affairs journalist Anne Applebaum reflected on the teetering national security measure wrote: “People will die, today, because of the cynical game played by the American Republican party. Their irresponsibility is breathtaking.”

Foreign affairs specialist Tom Nichols of The Atlantic wrote: “Letting Ukraine fall because of [Republicans’] cultish loyalty to Trump will be a betrayal that will stain America forever—and probably end up pulling us into a fight for Europe later. This is one of the rare moments when the path to disaster is clearly marked and avoidable.”

Former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) summed up the day’s crisis over the national security measure: “On Trump’s orders, Republicans in Congress are rejecting the border security deal. They’re also abandoning America’s allies in Ukraine. Trump and the [Republicans] are losing the war on purpose in an inexcusable betrayal that will strengthen America’s enemies for years to come.” (Source of these quotations, Letters from an American).

The Border Bill may be dead or maybe not but the Republican hypocrisy of stopping policies they helped draft is now broadly recognized. They no longer have the right to claim the Border is a Democratic problem. As the New York Times wrote, “On the Border, Republicans Set a Trap, Then Fell Into It.”

One more thing. Yesterday too.

Trump couldn’t have been too happy when his mouthpiece, Speaker Mike Johnson, forgot to count when attempting to execute what was supposed to be the GOP’s signature act - the impeachment of Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary.

CNN - The House vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas failed Tuesday evening, a stunning blow to House Republicans who had pushed the effort as a key political goal.

The House vote was 214-216. Three Republicans, Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher and California Rep. Tom McClintock, joined the Democrats in voting against the resolution. GOP Rep. Blake Moore joined the “no” side to allow the House GOP to bring up the vote again.

___________________________________________

Today is another big day too.

Biden's vow of affordable internet for all is threatened by the looming expiration of subsidies.

President Joe Biden recently traveled to North Carolina to promote his goal of affordable internet access for all Americans, but the promise for 23 million families across the U.S. is on shaky ground.

That’s because a subsidy that helps people with limited resources afford internet access is set to expire this spring.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides $30 a month for qualifying families in most places and $75 on tribal lands, will run out of money by the end of April if Congress doesn’t extend it further.

“I think this should be high priority for Congress,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat who has worked with a bipartisan group of governors to promote the program, said in a phone interview. “To many families, $30 a month is a big deal.”

It matters a lot to Shirleen Alexander of Charlotte, who said the money she saves through the ACP goes toward her grocery bills. It also offsets some of the stress she feels over medical bills.

“If they took (ACP) away, it would be like taking food out of my mouth,” said Alexander, a senior citizen on a fixed income. “I need the service, and some of my senior citizen friends need it, as well.”

The program is key to the Biden administration’s plans to make the internet available to everyone, which the president has touted repeatedly as he has ramped up his reelection campaign. He has likened it to the Rural Electrification Administration, the New Deal program that delivered electricity to much of rural America in the 1930s.

“Our goal is to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet by the year 2030, everyone in America, just like Franklin Roosevelt did a generation ago with electricity,” President Biden said in Raleigh last month.

So far, only 43% of eligible households nationwide have signed up for the ACP subsidy. But the program has enabled people who have signed up to avoid the kinds of financial trade-offs Alexander described, said Brian Vo, chief investment officer of Connect Humanity, a nonprofit promoting widespread internet access. It also gives them access to vital services such as telehealth, remote schooling and work, he said.

“If you put ACP and affordability in the context of the social determinants it drives and the economic value created, the benefits far outweigh the cost of $30 per household,” Vo said.

If the program expires, participating families, including nearly 900,000 in North Carolina, will either lose internet access or have to pay more to stay connected.

North Carolina is among the top states in the country when it comes to taking advantage of the ACP, according to an AP analysis of the program. More than 50% of eligible households in the state are enrolled in the program.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently proposed a bill to sustain the ACP through the end of 2024 with an additional $7 billion in funding — one billion more than what Biden asked Congress to appropriate for the program at the end of last year. However, no votes have been scheduled to move the bill forward and it’s unclear if the program will be prioritized in a divided Congress.

In the meantime, the Federal Communications Commission has already taken steps to wind the program down. It has instructed internet providers to send notices about the projected end of the program and announced that it will stop accepting new enrollees after February 7.

Nate Denny, the deputy director for broadband for North Carolina, said he’s “extremely worried” about the winding down of the subsidy program, especially as the state is set to receive a total of $1.5 billion from the federal government. Most of that money will be awarded to internet providers to build internet infrastructure in areas that need it most.

“The ACP has a tremendous effect on adoption, but it also has a huge impact on the state’s ability to stretch available infrastructure funding,” Denny said.

The ACP reduces the amount of grant money an internet provider needs to build into lower-income communities because it provides the assurance of a steady customer base, according to state broadband leaders the AP spoke with and an analysis from nonprofit Common Sense Media and consulting firm Boston Consulting Group.

“With the ACP’s help, internet providers are seeing more willing subscribers, more beneficiaries of their investments that then help them stretch their capital further, and thusly stretch state investments, as well,” Denny said.

The infrastructure money comes from a pot of $42.5 billion allocated for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, the cornerstone of the Biden administration’s efforts to close the digital divide for good.

In December, states submitted draft plans detailing lower-cost plans that providers who build networks using BEAD money will be required to offer qualifying families. Several states incorporated the ACP subsidies into those draft plans in ways that would lower the cost for internet access to zero for some customers.

Though those lower-cost plans wouldn’t work as designed without support from the federal subsidy program, a spokesperson for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration said BEAD “will still connect everyone in America and ensure that newly connected households have access to affordable plans.”

Several Biden administration officials, including Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, have highlighted the need for more funding for the program during trips across the country in recent months.

The state of North Carolina will do what it can to maintain affordable internet no matter what, the governor said, but he hopes Congress will keep the subsidies coming to those who need them.

“We want to try to keep this program alive, and I still think the chance to do that is still there,” Cooper said. (Associated Press ).

Call your Congressperson today. The bill which can entend funding for the internet happens today. (202) 224-3121 is the phone number for the U.S. House switchboard operator.

___________________________________________

Remember on Thursday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument at 10 am ET as to whether the 3rd section of 14th Amendment bars Trump from ballots.

An audio feed of the argument will be live-streamed on the Court's website. MSNBC will also broadcast the audio.

Colorado and Maine have ordered Trump’s removal from their ballots. In both of those states, the decision is stayed pending further judicial review.

___________________________________________