In the season of Trump, it's hard to find bandwidth for anything else happening in the Supreme Court, especially as we wait for the decision on presidential immunity. But the decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, handed down on Friday, will have a direct impact on all of our lives. It will upend agency regulations that are used to implement federal law. That sounds dry and far away from our daily lives. But it’s not.
Joyce, thanks again for a succinct explanation of Loper. While we have been worried about a unitary presidency, it’s a unitary judiciary that is much more scary. At least a president can only serve two terms. Judicial reform is necessary. We need term limits as a priority as Biden is elected with no grandfathering in any current Justice
Off the top of my head: Citizen's United, the gutting of the Voting Right's Act, Dobbs, no affirmative action, overturning the J6 Criminal's conviction, giving Trump 180 days + who knows, and on and on - and, it's going to keep happening - for at least 20 years depending on who wins in November. So when you're all shook up about Biden's debate performance keep in mind it's either Biden or Trump. Full Stop! The ONLY way to mitigate this is to expand the court to one justice for each appellate district. That will REQUIRE not only that Biden wins in 2024, but that we give him a strong democratic Congress. The Court, the Climate Crisis, our republic, women's rights, education rights, gun laws, helping young people get into affordable housing, and on and on. The decision couldn't be more stark - yet, democrats are panicking over Biden's debate performance. This is exactly why I've NEVER been a democrat (although, I vote against republicans) The next FEW elections will be critical because NONE of these problems will be solved in one election cycle.
I think I understand what you are saying but it didn’t come out right. I too am not an ideologue. I’m only a democrat so I can vote in a very democratic city of Hartford or I would be independent. Democrats can be their own worst enemy at times. In Hartford in 2015, the mayor at the time wanted to bring a minor league baseball club to town and offered to build a ball park for a billionaire ball club owner. Hartford couldn’t afford 90 million but we got into it and it almost bankrupted us if not for the state to bail us out. But this isn’t what government should be for. So I’m clearly a fiscal conservative. We have a frightening mess on our hands. We need a super majority in order to appoint no less than 3 judges to the high court. But it won’t ever happen. We are too bogged down is fuss bug issues like the southern border.
What I'm saying in a nutshell, is in November it's Biden or Trump. Any adult who's not part of the cult can easily figure out what that means - I just listed some "stuff" off the top of my head as to why it's an easy choice for me. I've also been a fiscal "conservative" over the years, but the solution to that isn't more tax cuts for the top earners in our country. To me, it's them paying more taxes for the privilege of being billionaires in the greatest country on earth. Balancing the budget would not be complicated along with preserving Social Security and Medicare. It just won't happen while republicans have numbers in Congress to block the efforts of democrats to reduce/get rid of the deficit. But that's a conversation for another day.
That is why I wanted SO BADLY for Biden to remind debate watchers every chance he got that the things he wants to accomplish next term will only be possible if voters also give him a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate. So, rather than vote for any Republican incumbent just because their names are familiar, they must vote for Dems all down the ticket to support their vote for him. I just do not think he got that across!
Yeah, I don't know what she stands for. She needs to choose a coupld of issues, and deep dive and pledge allegiance to them, and then bring them up a lot, IMO.
their own worst enemies over and over and over again. Where is the effective messaging? Where are the eager youngbloods - men and women - who can take up the torch. I have been a democrat all my life and I despair at the current state of things. Biden's messaging is awful - ex: "Folks, I humbly ask you to donate $5" -- sounds like great-grandpa. I remember the messaging when Obama ran for the first time -- it was terrific.
Where I am, where Boebert wants to represent me, there were two dem candidates for an open county commissioner spot. The current commissioners are republicans, profoundly corrupt, and are selling out the county to developers where there isn't enough water.
One candidate was a schoolteacher in his 20s, smart enough and charming, while other is an older woman, tough as nails, determined and noones fool.
Who would you have voted for to take on these clowns?
Sometimes the older candidate is going to be the match for the corruption. Sometimes not. But maybe the younger voters want someone who looks like them. They do tend to think they're experts on everything.
The difference between Obama and Biden is that Biden has accomplished much more in his first term than Obama accomplished in two terms. I love Obama and wish the dems had a younger option, but the reality is Biden has been, in my view, a historically effective president - despite having a "majority" in Congress in only his first two years.
To add to the story of the ballpark costing 90 million while our neighborhoods continue to suffer lack of city services, I lobbied city council who was to vote yes or no to finance the park. Only on councilwoman gave me the dignity of an office visit. I had know her for a long time. I made my argument and she responded, “But we need more jobs.” I responded, “Cynthia, you are talking part time minimum wage jobs for a few costing 90 million.” She repeated her line and I knew she was the kind of democrat that was wrong. Clearly wrong.
Be a Democrat. Get inside the party and make the change. Sitting outside bitching is just whining.
You'd be surprised at what you can accomplish. More people need to do just that. Voting isn't enough, and I've been frustrated inside the party, but until enough of us get inside, all we're doing is complaining.
I'm busy in several places ENCOURAGING people to vote for Biden and giving the reasons why. Every time I think maybe I should "join" the party, (I'm 76) the democrats organized the circular "firing squads" like they've been doing since the debate - where, by the way, Trump gave the WORST debate performance I've ever seen (NOTHING but lies and fantasies) yet, it was hardly noticed because democrats were doing what they've done so many times in my lifetime - and, that is to run from their own accomplishments.. Biden gave a poor debate performance but God help us if we decide to choose our leaders thusly.
Your thoughts are interesting. I think there have been, all along, Democrats calling for another candidate, saying that Biden is too old. And every once in a while something happens that fires them up again, gives them ammunition, like the debate. I think in the end, we can't know what will happen on Nov. 5th, but have to hope that people with half a brain will know not to vote fopr Trump nor will abstain from voting. My chief complaint, which I think you agree with, is that they are taking up bandwidth with their criticsms of Biden, taking away bandwidth from criticisms of Trump. With voters out there that haven't even heard of Project 25, there is a lot of work to do show people why they should never, ever vote for Trump.
David, I’m with you, except your last sentence. I believe that IT WILL be solved in ONE election cycle if we don’t pay attention. this CYCLE, if Trump wins, because he and his Tyrant Followers will end ALL CYCLES.
He will END our Democracy, by ending our voter rights. Putin told him if he gets a second term, then he can end voting rights and become the leader for LIFE. If that happens, there will be NO MORE CYCLES allowed to let us vote….. for who we want or what we want. We will no longer have rights. AND….. if he takes office, HIS SUPREME COURT will give him the right to Shoot anyone who opposes him.
So, IT’S THIS TIME….. RIGHT NOW…… for OUR CYCLE to STAND FIRM with President Joe Biden, if we ever want to have another CYCLE.
TO VOTE DEMOCRAT, is a vote for…..
DEMOCRACY
FREEDOM
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
LGBTQ RIGHTS
BLACK RIGHTS
I could go on and on but I will end with one more right that sums it up…..
“ANOTHER CYCLE RIGHT” so we, the people, have the RIGHT to continue to speak up for what is RIGHT for AMERICA.
Let ALL OF US, be you Republican, Independent, Democrat, Young, Old, Black, Oriental, Rich or Poor, vote in this CYCLE for the capability to vote again and again, for what’s right for ALL OF US. We can’t just hand it over to one idiot who will hand it down to his idiot son, who will hand it down to his idiot son or daughter, and so on. We’re better than what might happen.
I want the freedom to vote for the person who will keep our country FREE so that all the generations to follow will have that same right as us to keep our country FREE for all the generations that will follow them. We HAVE THE CHOICE THIS YEAR….. We need to vote to keep that choice alive election after election after election.
2024 is our opportunity to “KEEP FREE” what we have all had and wanted…..
Yes, it's NOW, I agree. However, this republican dry rot goes well beyond Trump. Just give the "Project 2025" a quick read. These republicans will not be extinguished with a Biden victory in November. I've watched them drift farther and farther to the "right" since the (Lewis) Powell memo back in the early 70's and the Reagan administration in 1980. This "Project 2025" is a pure recipe for fascism - Trump, or any other republican will be expected to follow it. (It's 900 pages and I suggest everyone read as far into it as they can) My point is, democrats MUST understand it will take several "cycles" to fully purge these fascists from our midst. I would agree with you that should Trump CHEAT his way back into the "White House" all bets are off. If that happens this won't get "fixed" in the few years I have left. I have a hard time even imagining that's possible. (OBTW this 6-3 SCOTUS is a problem which republicans have bee cultivating for years - it's hard to fathom how much damage they're going to do. Monday should be interesting - possibly depressing)
Hang in there David. We oldies but goodies (me 75 this month) gotta hang in there for the added votes for DEMOCRACY. :) I’m seeing lots and lots of voters on our side. Keep up the good work!
Slow down, Piper. Structural fixes that improve equity, access, safety, democracy are all fine. "Helping young people get into affordable housing " may be a worthy goal, but the way you state it sounds like you think it should be accomplished by fiat, by ideology, by price controls. Do you mean that? I'd vote against such a policy, assuming democracy is preserved. I would vote FOR public investment in affordable housing in cooperation with local jurisdictions. See the difference?
It's that kind of loose language that has been a prime target of conservatives, which has led to overturning of the Chevron precedent.
You're putting your own prejudices into my mouth. I don't know how old you are, but to be in the 20 - 40 age groups and to come from circumstances where there's no "silver spoon" - the idea of not only home ownership, but even renting - at least where I live - is beyond a large segment of that group - which is why nearly half of them are still living with their parents. What the Biden administration has proposed is not only the construction of "affordable housing" but a plan to make it possible for young people to get their first home. To me, that's not loose language, and to be perfectly honest, I don't care what "conservatives" (whatever that word means anymore) think of it. Electing Trump certainly won't solve that or any of the other problems I mentioned. Suggesting otherwise, to me, is "loose language."
Which is a set of policies that Biden is trying to implement to lower housing costs, without upending the system. That makes sense.
So, I was objecting to the simplicity of your language, but your response made me look up what Biden is trying to accomplish. If thats what you meant, i understand.
We have many factors contributing to the housing problem. 1. Not enough construction since Covid,2. Airbnb has made a lot of investors turning single families into rentals, 3. The psychological stampede to buy and hold second homes as investments and now limited partnerships are in the game, 4. A trend to buy lower cost distressed multi unites, take out secondary loans then abandoned the properties. This has happen all over my city. We are now just sending inspections to penalize owners $1,000 a day which will result in foreclosure and here is where government should hold the building, rehab them and rent them out a lower prices. If this could be replicated across the nation, it would force others to lower rents. And also keep in mind that section 8 is also somewhat contributing to the high cost of rentals. It’s certainly complicated.
The democratic congress in Colorado passed a law to allow additional family units to be built on existing properties with a home already there.
It was vehemently opposed by...you guessed it, developers, who want to pack as many expensive overpriced single family dwellings per quarter acre and the republicans who are trying to steal water from the San Luis valley, a poor area with nothing but agriculture and water that sustains it.
I leave lived at Tahoe a long time, on the north shore, Nevada side. It is a neighborhood that was home to people who worked here, like teachers and nurses. It is called”The Woods” because the houses were built in a forest, and we are not allowed to cut a tree down without permission. Mature ponderosa pine. I’ve seen houses with an upper deck built with a hole in it for the tree.
A home normally has neighbors on 3 sides and 2 corners. Five. I used to have people living in those 5 houses. Now, one of them is sporadically here but primarily lived in California. One of them is the overflow house for a family with a big house on the lake - empty except for holidays. Two are not for sale but it has been years since I have seen anybody living there. And the one behind my house was torn down, starting a little over one year ago. ALL the trees were torn down in three days using what today passes for a steam shovel. And they built what I call the IKEA house, because it is the size of a gd IKEA and is full of lumber. Lovely, but it completely takes over a 0.4 lot, so nobody is saving the lake any more. They used to guard footprint, but now they want taxes. The IKEA house isn’t even in sight of the lake. It’s for sale for 7 million if you’re interested - 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. They say they’re not going to rent it out. I would actually welcome human beings.
Most of the time, when I take my spaniel out at night, everything is black. Nobody at home anywhere.
In the meantime, local doctors can’t get nurses or receptionists. Combined with border wars, I can’t get a housecleaner or handyman (I am a disabled widow) unless I pay for one to come up from Reno.
It’s as if they blew up a bunch of houses.
And it trickles down. There’s nothing to buy and nothing to rent.
This situation cries out for regulation (Not price fixing but limits on empty houses that are just sitting there as an investment - or a Californian avoiding taxes.) Oops. Can’t do regulation either.
The housing market exists within a government-defined market. Right now (and for a while building up to this), the legal culture is separating people from empty houses. That can’t be a good idea.
I agree. The regulations are designed to support single family homes, but investors swoop in, renovate, and raise the average taxable value of a home. The average sale price of homes in our neighborhood has jumped over 50% since the pandemic. I do believe regulations are possible even after losing the Chevron precedent. Congress just needs to be more specific when it passes laws. The Supreme Court did not take away Congress's power to pass enforceable laws.
In light of the recent Supreme Court's efforts to reduce protections of We, the People and turn the nation to one that allows industry to dictate which regulations will least hinder profits of such industry as in 'Loper Bright v. Raimondo.' from my book, "Donald's Vanity Tantrums." Enjoy or try to.
Environmental Protection Agency
April 18, 2018
"Hello, Environmental Protection Agency. May I help you?"
"My name is Shelby Connor. I'm from Parrish, Alabama. And we've had boxcar loads of dog gone shit sittin' at our rail yard for months. All 260 cars full of shit. And it stinks.”
"That's probably a state matter. Did you call the Alabama Department of Environmental Management?"
"What ya'll mean? It’s a state matter? These trainloads of shit have come down from New York. It's an intersate matter."
"Sir, please be respectful here. It's human waste.”
"I don't care what you call it. It's stinkin' up our town. We can't even go to a Little League baseball game ‘cause the boxcars are right across the tracks. How would you like to drive to church on Sunday and take a whiff of it while praying to the Lord? We're a small town here in Parrish.”
"Did Donald Trump send this waste down here to us because we didn't elect Roy Moore? Let me speak with your director, Scott Pruitt."
Sir, Mr. Pruitt isn't available. And he no longer reviews environmental issues. Our new mandate from the president is to help companies get rid of waste the cheapest way possible. They probably picked Alabama because your dumping rates are so low. You'll have to call the West Virginia office to file a complaint. They handle waste disposal. Oh wait, that office has been closed down."
"I wanna know why New York and New Jersey’s shit is sitting next to our little town. Git the stuff outta here."
"Shelby, shouting into the phone won't get you anywhere. I'm trying to help. Here, let me give you the Denver office. They have experience handling bio solids. Oops, sorry, that office was recently closed, too. Mr. Connor, we're not going to be around much longer as an agency. The EPA is shutting down. Haven't you heard?"
"I voted for Donald Trump. And now he's turning his back on us."
"The president is doing a great job getting rid of regulations so more jobs can be created. Do you know how many people you could employ shoveling that sludge into a dump? Your residents could have more work for generations. I suggest you could turn this waste into fertilizer-rich compost and grow organic vegetables."
You got a point there. That's why we voted for him. I need as second job. How can we git more New York bio waste?"
I agree. I’ve had these little discussions with them. And I I wonder is not that they are so gullible and ignorant, but what have we done to drive them into the hands of such people. I think it’s healthy to question what we might be doing wrong. At least this is how my mind works.
That is how it should work. We should be having intelligent discussion about just what caused the discontent.
Unfortunately, the orange traitor just gets people angry and strives to divide us in order to get what he wants, NOT what's good for Americans. And he is backed by greedy wealthy people and a crooked Supreme Court.
And what's wrong with Alabama officials dealing with the problem? You've assumed that they won't deal with the shit spoiling Alabama air. That's an unreasonable assumption. Alabama officials will have to work with New York officials, first determining why it was shipped to Alabama in the first place. Perhaps (probably) a local reprocessor employing hundreds of Alabamans bought it cheap and will make a bundle once it's processed. Perhaps Alabama officials will now control that business, maybe paying you for your discomfort. Alabama officials may have to eventually appeal to the Commerce Department or EPA, and then maybe the courts, but I'm more comfortable with that modus operandi than potential tyranny by the Washington DC administrative state.
Oh, it is going to take so much more than that…. If Trump gets into office, there will be no more term limits. Plus, he’s going to write into law that you can appoint your successor. Then he’ll go remove the three liberal justices and replace them with, oh I don’t know, 3, 4, 5 more conservative, federalist judges. Game over.
That presidents can appoint judges is a huge flaw in our system. All judges should be subject to election and those elections should partisan because, of course they are.
Remember the Court is an equal branch of the government. Congress passes laws and this one would be unambiguous. There would be a grace period with the term limits but not long enough so Biden could not appoint their replacement.
The US is slip-sliding into becoming a new country. Trump can retire tomorrow because the reactionary majority of the Supreme Court has just accomplished the coup right-wing extremists have been working toward for 50 years.
SCOTUS's reactionary majority is overturning the rule of law case by case and replacing it with authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. Whose the happiest?
--Justices Alito and Thomas and their wives, now off the hook for supporting the attempted coup and accepting bribes;
--the funders and supporters of Project 2025
--CEOs and board members of companies who can rake in short-term profits by ignoring safety and health rules that were designed to protect their employees, customers, and themselves;
--Judge Aileen Cannon, enthusiastically auditioning to be a Supreme Court Justice;
--Lots of other mediocre, ideologically-motivated attorneys and judges who Trump would appoint to lifetime positions;
--Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, and the spineless MAGAs in Congress.
Where do we go from here? We must elect a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President and Democrats for every elected office at every level of government. Only we the people can stop this American nightmare.
Bannon has produced a book or two, hasn't he? I don't know who actually wrote them. He could use his four months to produce another, but first he would have to stop kvetching about the consequences of contempt of Congress.
Maybe a fellow prison mate will treat him to some bad man wagon experiences and he will respond then be charged with serious felony. (Bad man wagon is Jamaican jargon look it up.) lol.
Bannon is going to Dansbury CT Fed prison and it’s nickname is “Klansbury” because of the racial tensions there He’ll probably be afforded protection It’s also interesting to me that after Weisselberg went to Rikers that the NY Hells Angel Chapter leader showed up at Trump’s trial in Manhattan I’m guessing that
Riker’s bikers are protecting him and putting money in his jail account from the DJT org
They ignore precedent, so pack the court and we will ignore precedent. They opened that door, so to hell with them. Let's get term limits, a strict ethics oversight committee that can toss out SCOTUS Justices that violate their oath or are caught in lies when they testify in front of Congress.
Just as conservatives committed and then recommitted themselves to accomplishing their pet projects over a time course lasting decades, liberals must keep top of mind that our challenge must ineluctably be matching their efforts with identical commitment to goals opposite to theirs. Forming a “more perfect union” requires and will take no less dedication and effort to counteract, disinfect, and redirect our beloved democracy away from the deviant path conservatives have already managed to construct over decades with their misguided efforts. We are in the midst of a modern iteration of a bloodless civil war with anti-democratic forces who have lost faith in the genius of the Constitutional Democracy our founders envisioned for their posterity ~240 years ago. I hope we and our likeminded descendants have the right stuff necessary at least to match the fervor and commitment of our foes in this struggle. Our task will not be easy, but it is one we cannot shrink from robustly engaging. Our struggle to maintain modernized concepts of individual and collective freedom is in many ways identical to the one our forebears engaged on taking their first steps along the winding path that has brought us to our present day crisis of faith. Are we up to the task at hand? I’d say we had better be!
Yes to all you say here. However, I have several memories of a super majority across several decades that screwed it up with a single-focus, high priority issue that got the super majority ousted 2 years later. If only I could trust the Dems to fix several things at once…😩
Of course, I vote full blue and shall again, but I am always disappointed with the Dems uncanny inability to maintain a super majority for a full 4-year term where they could get a lot more accomplished.
My impression is that voters - about half the public - aren't following politics closely, if at all. So they are more easily persuaded politically by headlines, loud voices, and their social/personal environment. I remember a survey from a few years ago that Americans knew who Judge Judy was, but far fewer of them could name a Supreme Court Justice.
Thank you for emphasizing the enormity of this decision. I am a meteorologist (Birmingham born and bred) and I am trying to convey to my social media friends just what this means to our nation in terms of, say, air pollution regulation. Maybe the oil companies can bring back leaded gasoline just for the fun of it? Since rulings usually have wider impact than initially expected (e.g., Chevron itself), it's hard for anyone to grasp at this moment just how much damage this decision will do to American society by replacing expert knowledge with a robed cult of Aileen Cannons. Neil Gorsuch provided a perfect example of the problem in the ozone ruling this week, confusing oxides of nitrogen with nitrous oxide. Don't let us forget this; it's much more important than most of the chattering about Trump trials.
If I remember correctly, Gorsuch is trying to get revenge for his mother, who did something that got her fired, something environmental. He's just a perfect example of what happens when we bypass experts. WHO DO HAVE SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE!
Probably so. I hope in the coming years, we the people can somehow get revenge for Anne Gorsuch and her antienvironmental tenure and for her gift of a right-wing conservative to the Supreme Court.
They are only concerned with the precedents they choose to observe, and not all the others. They are trying to justify a Supreme Court that is sidelining an ineffectual Congress. But we have to engage Congress to change the parameters of what the Supreme Court can review. If the court is interfering with government efforts to reduce pollution and reduce carbon consumption and the creation and release of greenhouse gases, then Congress should curtail the Supreme Court's authority to rule on such cases. Yes, it can be done!
Neil Gorsuch's mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford (née McGill), was the first woman to serve as the administrator of the EPA under Reagan. Here’s a few of her scandals:
- Burford was the first agency director in U.S. history to be cited for contempt of Congress after she refused to turn over documents related to a toxic waste cleanup program.
- She was accused of halting the cleanup of the Stringfellow Acid Pits, a waste dump in California, in order to damage the Democratic senatorial bid of Governor Jerry Brown.
- She ordered a study that halted the cleanup of poisoned groundwater in a Minneapolis suburb.
These controversies ultimately led to her resignation in 1983, and her tenure as EPA director.
I knew that Neil Gorsuch was getting revenge for his mother, but I couldn't remember the details. He definitely holds a grudge; it's no secret. Thank you for supplying the details.
Whether or not he "holds a grudge," it's clear that he's the true spawn of the Gorsuch tribe and is a menace to society, just as his mother was. But let's not focus just on him, because there are five more members of the court who are determined to reverse the last 80 years of so of government action and Supreme Court acquiescence in that action.
It's Roberts, the perpetual corporate . Decisions on the court boil down to previous practice, whether they're corporate whores or have worked and ruled on the side of humans. Like Jackson has.
And like RBG said, all the justices on the court should be women.
I agree that we should focus on all the bad ones. Gorsuch just came to mind because I remembered about his wanting to get revenge for his mother. I think the only "conservative" I have not been able to form an opinion about ACB.
SCOTUS terms must be limited to 18 years - and I completely agree with Kathi that such limits must be applied immediately. Bye bye Justices Thomas, Alito, and Roberts! Plus the Court should be expanded to 13 so each Justice has one of 13 Courts of Appeals to “oversee”.
Joyce thank you for ALL you do, I am so discouraged, disheartened America has Laws but where are they, who are the Laws for? I hope it gets better but I am in doubt at this time. Yes we are in this together.❤️❤️
"The longstanding Chevron deference doctrine required courts to defer to agency action when the law was ambiguous⁶ and the agency’s view was reasonable. That came to an end on Friday..."
If Trump is elected, this will pale in comparison to what is being proposed in Project 2025.
Thank you Joyce for bringing that to readers' attention, even though the John Oliver link was missing. 🙂
Like Biden's debate performance, we don't abandon someone over one mistake.
Again, I agree. Given the amount of dark money in elections, this is a windfall not only for those buying influence in Congress, but for those who are now free to sue under more favorable conditions.
If Trump is elected, do you see it getting even worse?
Yes, over time it will get worse, as ever more issues come up. I'm keeping my eye on tax law. The most fundamental of Heritage Foundation goals is control of tax law. I see a concerted effort to outlaw certain taxes, such as taxes on capital, which is where they protect most of their wealth from taxation. Keep your eyes open on this one.
Any Republican in the White House. If it's the Yam, then sobeit. But any Republican will do. The Yam is the most malleable--he thinks he's in charge, even though he isn't.
Wondering who the Heritage Foundation is going to choose as his running mate? I knew all that hooey about him announcing his 'choice' at the debate was just that. Hooey.
Yet Trump is the choice of primary voters. He should be the easiest to defeat, but here we are. Given a sales pitch totally disconnected from reality, he presents an unprecedented threat.
On the other hand, we could basically say the same about Democrats. If incrementally spreading crumbs when giving them control is the best we can expect, we should probably be taking a deeper dive.
With the broadest view, the promise of hope and change resulted in the ACA and a continuation of tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals.
We can chalk it up to the best that can be done, or we can divert our efforts to change the election system so that the people are actually represented.
Thank-you! I did not understand the Chevron case until your explanation. We may as well get rid of colleges and universities because they make experts. Holy Cow! Having spent my career among experts and being married to one, I can see the country going to hell in a hand basket.
Exactly! Have you noticed the Republicans have been waging war on education for decades? They want it to be pay per day. They control the content and collect the profits to buy off more judges, senators, House members, and presidents.
Ya know James, I worked with many electronic engineers all my life and my husband was a civil engineer (retired). I can tell you the one thing you don’t want to do is tell an engineer they are wrong. In fact, I imagine Engineering 101 to be a class titled, “Never be Wrong.” They have so much responsibility in their work. Tell me a judge that will lose their livelihood if a mistake is made? Engineers face that every day. The government is unforgiving in this subject. Their signatures and license stamp are on their completed work. When we earned our college degrees, we were conferred them with all the rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES. I’ve thought about that declaration often and take it seriously. I guess engineers will continue to be expert witnesses in court and make tons of money.
The judges will receive lavish vacations or other bribes or 'gratuities' (gotta love Kavanaugh for that one!) in return for reversing the decisions of experts in the field. Such reversals translate into profits for the industries receiving the deregulation. What they are doing is out in the open for all to see. Watch for air pollution and climate initiatives to fall like acid rain. This is the Heritage Foundation's wet dream.
Reagan hated higher education when he was the governor of CA. As president he tried to do away with the Dept. of Education. He did split DHEW into DHHS! The GOP has hated education for decades!
And it's all an effort to convert as much public education as possible to for-profit businesses. Privatize everything including Social Security. Rake in huge public subsidies and retain all the future profits. Let tax dollars flow INTO their pockets. They sure as hell don't flow OUT of their pockets. Their program is obvious, and we do nothing about it.
I come back to the economist I listened to the other day on MacroDose. ha-Joon Chang is a Korean economist who said an interesting thing: governments do more things right than businesses. I'd never thought of that, but when you put the hive mind to something, at least it's more likely to be well considered. How many private businesses fail every year? Plenty of startups. Enron anyone?
He also had a lot to say about the "science of economics, trying to hoodwink the public, pretending economics is physics with complex absurd equations without enough variables, and inventing jargon to mask what they say. It's mostly sociology and psychology, and neither are science.
Now joining "Comstock" is "Loper Bright" when it comes to what will almost certainly be a renewed attack on medical abortion --- this time adding a direct attack on FDA authority in general "legitimized" by the "Loper Bright"decision. The Court majority, in its inimitable fashion, has again sown chaos and uncertainty as it did with Dobbs. Yet another example of zealotry or ideology preempting not only science and expertise but common sense. By curtailing the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws they administer, as granted by Congress, and ruling that the courts (and it will be lower courts with their even fewer resources) should rely on their own interpretation of ambiguous laws, the Court majority has effectively left the business community scratching its head, rather than somehow relieved as might be expected. Businesses and industries (and ultimately we...) rely on dependable, evidence- or fact-based rules and procedures to operate --- whether they agree with them or not --- and now, the Court majority in its infinite wisdom, has knocked that into a cocked hat, by allowing unknowledgeable judges to decide what the laws governing these often technical rules and procedures mean. Nothing less --- whether religion, reproductive rights, voting, and now business --- than a full out attack on the way we not only choose to, but the way we can, live our lives.
And it's not just the President that matters in regards to the courts. Roe would still be on the books if the Senate had been in Democratic hands in 2016 and 2020.
Loper will foster endless litigation. Environmental and workplace safety regulations are all on the table. Complete regulatory capture blessed by what passes for a “supreme court.” The decline and fall of stare decicis continues apace.
This is the first step in instituting Project 2025. We all know that the English language, like any language, is imprecise, filled with words that convey positive and negative connotations. Most words have multiple synonyms. Simple words, such as "and" along with "or" carry a lot of weight, commas matter. In the recently issued Jan. 6 case we saw that the SC in Fischer decided that the actual wording of the relevant statute didn't mean what the text actually says because the majority didn't think that Congress really meant what is written. It's impossible for Congress to pass laws that use language that can't be questioned, it's impossible to pass laws that cover every conceivable possibility, and it's impossible to write definitions that no one will question. I'm a retired academic, my area of expertise is Federal tax law. I spent my graduate education and more than 35 years reading tax statutes, regulations, administrative rulings, legislative history and court cases (someone's gotta do it) and please believe me that it frequently comes down to determining what the words actually mean. Except in criminal tax cases, the IRS has the presumption of correctness. Will this change also? It's not possible for any human being to read something and not have their own prejudices and biases come into play. This type of court decision is the lawyers permanent employment act (as if they needed one). Every client who doesn't like a regulatory result will sue the government and the courts will be overwhelmed. We do have a few courts where the judges are experts in certain areas of the law, the Tax Court (one of three trial level courts for tax cases) and Bankruptcy Court for example. But, there are no courts where the judges are experts in any area of medicine, science, engineering, the environment, safety (food, social media, AI, machinery, etc.) or any type of expertise beyond a reading of the applicable statutes. In tax law, there are certain Internal Revenue Code sections where Congress has specifically delegated the writing of regulations specifically to the IRS (part of the Treasury Department). This is true for the entire area of consolidated corporate tax returns. Will this be impacted? This is a case of arrogance, hubris and trying to grab power and destroy the administrative state. What an avoidable mess and Republicans will not want to strengthen any regulatory statutes to improve this situation. They, along with their corporate and wealthy donors, want to destroy the administrative state, not improve it.
As much as I oppose and abhor the Dobbs decision, this decision essentially killing the administrative state is even worse. This can destroy the U.S. Economy and the economic well-being of every American. The health and competitive balance of the U.S. economy depend upon the federal administrative state. We will all rue the day this decision was rendered.
I wonder what effect this will have on the FAA. Will seatbelts be optional because I don’t wanna wear them? Will Boeing get to decide even more what quality means? Buckle up, gonna be a rough flight too
Joyce, thanks again for a succinct explanation of Loper. While we have been worried about a unitary presidency, it’s a unitary judiciary that is much more scary. At least a president can only serve two terms. Judicial reform is necessary. We need term limits as a priority as Biden is elected with no grandfathering in any current Justice
Off the top of my head: Citizen's United, the gutting of the Voting Right's Act, Dobbs, no affirmative action, overturning the J6 Criminal's conviction, giving Trump 180 days + who knows, and on and on - and, it's going to keep happening - for at least 20 years depending on who wins in November. So when you're all shook up about Biden's debate performance keep in mind it's either Biden or Trump. Full Stop! The ONLY way to mitigate this is to expand the court to one justice for each appellate district. That will REQUIRE not only that Biden wins in 2024, but that we give him a strong democratic Congress. The Court, the Climate Crisis, our republic, women's rights, education rights, gun laws, helping young people get into affordable housing, and on and on. The decision couldn't be more stark - yet, democrats are panicking over Biden's debate performance. This is exactly why I've NEVER been a democrat (although, I vote against republicans) The next FEW elections will be critical because NONE of these problems will be solved in one election cycle.
I think I understand what you are saying but it didn’t come out right. I too am not an ideologue. I’m only a democrat so I can vote in a very democratic city of Hartford or I would be independent. Democrats can be their own worst enemy at times. In Hartford in 2015, the mayor at the time wanted to bring a minor league baseball club to town and offered to build a ball park for a billionaire ball club owner. Hartford couldn’t afford 90 million but we got into it and it almost bankrupted us if not for the state to bail us out. But this isn’t what government should be for. So I’m clearly a fiscal conservative. We have a frightening mess on our hands. We need a super majority in order to appoint no less than 3 judges to the high court. But it won’t ever happen. We are too bogged down is fuss bug issues like the southern border.
What I'm saying in a nutshell, is in November it's Biden or Trump. Any adult who's not part of the cult can easily figure out what that means - I just listed some "stuff" off the top of my head as to why it's an easy choice for me. I've also been a fiscal "conservative" over the years, but the solution to that isn't more tax cuts for the top earners in our country. To me, it's them paying more taxes for the privilege of being billionaires in the greatest country on earth. Balancing the budget would not be complicated along with preserving Social Security and Medicare. It just won't happen while republicans have numbers in Congress to block the efforts of democrats to reduce/get rid of the deficit. But that's a conversation for another day.
That is why I wanted SO BADLY for Biden to remind debate watchers every chance he got that the things he wants to accomplish next term will only be possible if voters also give him a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate. So, rather than vote for any Republican incumbent just because their names are familiar, they must vote for Dems all down the ticket to support their vote for him. I just do not think he got that across!
Oh yes. I wish The NY Times and certain Democrats would use their heads and stfu.
I hate to say this, but we probably need a new vp, as much as I personally like Kamala Harris.
Well yes. I don’t know what it is but she just seems insincere.
Yeah, I don't know what she stands for. She needs to choose a coupld of issues, and deep dive and pledge allegiance to them, and then bring them up a lot, IMO.
And, OBTW I totally agree with your comment "democrats can be their own worst enemies." I didn't make that point very well in my first post.
their own worst enemies over and over and over again. Where is the effective messaging? Where are the eager youngbloods - men and women - who can take up the torch. I have been a democrat all my life and I despair at the current state of things. Biden's messaging is awful - ex: "Folks, I humbly ask you to donate $5" -- sounds like great-grandpa. I remember the messaging when Obama ran for the first time -- it was terrific.
The younger gens are progressive getting shunned by the Democrat machine
There aren't enough of them.
Where I am, where Boebert wants to represent me, there were two dem candidates for an open county commissioner spot. The current commissioners are republicans, profoundly corrupt, and are selling out the county to developers where there isn't enough water.
One candidate was a schoolteacher in his 20s, smart enough and charming, while other is an older woman, tough as nails, determined and noones fool.
Who would you have voted for to take on these clowns?
Sometimes the older candidate is going to be the match for the corruption. Sometimes not. But maybe the younger voters want someone who looks like them. They do tend to think they're experts on everything.
That's for sure.
The difference between Obama and Biden is that Biden has accomplished much more in his first term than Obama accomplished in two terms. I love Obama and wish the dems had a younger option, but the reality is Biden has been, in my view, a historically effective president - despite having a "majority" in Congress in only his first two years.
It's not "they". It's us.
To add to the story of the ballpark costing 90 million while our neighborhoods continue to suffer lack of city services, I lobbied city council who was to vote yes or no to finance the park. Only on councilwoman gave me the dignity of an office visit. I had know her for a long time. I made my argument and she responded, “But we need more jobs.” I responded, “Cynthia, you are talking part time minimum wage jobs for a few costing 90 million.” She repeated her line and I knew she was the kind of democrat that was wrong. Clearly wrong.
She was spouting talking points.
Get inside the party and work it.
That is what it takes.
Be a Democrat. Get inside the party and make the change. Sitting outside bitching is just whining.
You'd be surprised at what you can accomplish. More people need to do just that. Voting isn't enough, and I've been frustrated inside the party, but until enough of us get inside, all we're doing is complaining.
I'm busy in several places ENCOURAGING people to vote for Biden and giving the reasons why. Every time I think maybe I should "join" the party, (I'm 76) the democrats organized the circular "firing squads" like they've been doing since the debate - where, by the way, Trump gave the WORST debate performance I've ever seen (NOTHING but lies and fantasies) yet, it was hardly noticed because democrats were doing what they've done so many times in my lifetime - and, that is to run from their own accomplishments.. Biden gave a poor debate performance but God help us if we decide to choose our leaders thusly.
Your thoughts are interesting. I think there have been, all along, Democrats calling for another candidate, saying that Biden is too old. And every once in a while something happens that fires them up again, gives them ammunition, like the debate. I think in the end, we can't know what will happen on Nov. 5th, but have to hope that people with half a brain will know not to vote fopr Trump nor will abstain from voting. My chief complaint, which I think you agree with, is that they are taking up bandwidth with their criticsms of Biden, taking away bandwidth from criticisms of Trump. With voters out there that haven't even heard of Project 25, there is a lot of work to do show people why they should never, ever vote for Trump.
David, I’m with you, except your last sentence. I believe that IT WILL be solved in ONE election cycle if we don’t pay attention. this CYCLE, if Trump wins, because he and his Tyrant Followers will end ALL CYCLES.
He will END our Democracy, by ending our voter rights. Putin told him if he gets a second term, then he can end voting rights and become the leader for LIFE. If that happens, there will be NO MORE CYCLES allowed to let us vote….. for who we want or what we want. We will no longer have rights. AND….. if he takes office, HIS SUPREME COURT will give him the right to Shoot anyone who opposes him.
So, IT’S THIS TIME….. RIGHT NOW…… for OUR CYCLE to STAND FIRM with President Joe Biden, if we ever want to have another CYCLE.
TO VOTE DEMOCRAT, is a vote for…..
DEMOCRACY
FREEDOM
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
LGBTQ RIGHTS
BLACK RIGHTS
I could go on and on but I will end with one more right that sums it up…..
“ANOTHER CYCLE RIGHT” so we, the people, have the RIGHT to continue to speak up for what is RIGHT for AMERICA.
Let ALL OF US, be you Republican, Independent, Democrat, Young, Old, Black, Oriental, Rich or Poor, vote in this CYCLE for the capability to vote again and again, for what’s right for ALL OF US. We can’t just hand it over to one idiot who will hand it down to his idiot son, who will hand it down to his idiot son or daughter, and so on. We’re better than what might happen.
I want the freedom to vote for the person who will keep our country FREE so that all the generations to follow will have that same right as us to keep our country FREE for all the generations that will follow them. We HAVE THE CHOICE THIS YEAR….. We need to vote to keep that choice alive election after election after election.
2024 is our opportunity to “KEEP FREE” what we have all had and wanted…..
A United States of America….. DEMOCRACY!
not autocracy.
Yes, it's NOW, I agree. However, this republican dry rot goes well beyond Trump. Just give the "Project 2025" a quick read. These republicans will not be extinguished with a Biden victory in November. I've watched them drift farther and farther to the "right" since the (Lewis) Powell memo back in the early 70's and the Reagan administration in 1980. This "Project 2025" is a pure recipe for fascism - Trump, or any other republican will be expected to follow it. (It's 900 pages and I suggest everyone read as far into it as they can) My point is, democrats MUST understand it will take several "cycles" to fully purge these fascists from our midst. I would agree with you that should Trump CHEAT his way back into the "White House" all bets are off. If that happens this won't get "fixed" in the few years I have left. I have a hard time even imagining that's possible. (OBTW this 6-3 SCOTUS is a problem which republicans have bee cultivating for years - it's hard to fathom how much damage they're going to do. Monday should be interesting - possibly depressing)
Hang in there David. We oldies but goodies (me 75 this month) gotta hang in there for the added votes for DEMOCRACY. :) I’m seeing lots and lots of voters on our side. Keep up the good work!
Slow down, Piper. Structural fixes that improve equity, access, safety, democracy are all fine. "Helping young people get into affordable housing " may be a worthy goal, but the way you state it sounds like you think it should be accomplished by fiat, by ideology, by price controls. Do you mean that? I'd vote against such a policy, assuming democracy is preserved. I would vote FOR public investment in affordable housing in cooperation with local jurisdictions. See the difference?
It's that kind of loose language that has been a prime target of conservatives, which has led to overturning of the Chevron precedent.
You're putting your own prejudices into my mouth. I don't know how old you are, but to be in the 20 - 40 age groups and to come from circumstances where there's no "silver spoon" - the idea of not only home ownership, but even renting - at least where I live - is beyond a large segment of that group - which is why nearly half of them are still living with their parents. What the Biden administration has proposed is not only the construction of "affordable housing" but a plan to make it possible for young people to get their first home. To me, that's not loose language, and to be perfectly honest, I don't care what "conservatives" (whatever that word means anymore) think of it. Electing Trump certainly won't solve that or any of the other problems I mentioned. Suggesting otherwise, to me, is "loose language."
Piper, I appreciate your response. So I looked up: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-plan-to-lower-housing-costs-for-working-families/
Which is a set of policies that Biden is trying to implement to lower housing costs, without upending the system. That makes sense.
So, I was objecting to the simplicity of your language, but your response made me look up what Biden is trying to accomplish. If thats what you meant, i understand.
We have many factors contributing to the housing problem. 1. Not enough construction since Covid,2. Airbnb has made a lot of investors turning single families into rentals, 3. The psychological stampede to buy and hold second homes as investments and now limited partnerships are in the game, 4. A trend to buy lower cost distressed multi unites, take out secondary loans then abandoned the properties. This has happen all over my city. We are now just sending inspections to penalize owners $1,000 a day which will result in foreclosure and here is where government should hold the building, rehab them and rent them out a lower prices. If this could be replicated across the nation, it would force others to lower rents. And also keep in mind that section 8 is also somewhat contributing to the high cost of rentals. It’s certainly complicated.
The democratic congress in Colorado passed a law to allow additional family units to be built on existing properties with a home already there.
It was vehemently opposed by...you guessed it, developers, who want to pack as many expensive overpriced single family dwellings per quarter acre and the republicans who are trying to steal water from the San Luis valley, a poor area with nothing but agriculture and water that sustains it.
And of course they back republicans.
Democrats passed it anyway.
I leave lived at Tahoe a long time, on the north shore, Nevada side. It is a neighborhood that was home to people who worked here, like teachers and nurses. It is called”The Woods” because the houses were built in a forest, and we are not allowed to cut a tree down without permission. Mature ponderosa pine. I’ve seen houses with an upper deck built with a hole in it for the tree.
A home normally has neighbors on 3 sides and 2 corners. Five. I used to have people living in those 5 houses. Now, one of them is sporadically here but primarily lived in California. One of them is the overflow house for a family with a big house on the lake - empty except for holidays. Two are not for sale but it has been years since I have seen anybody living there. And the one behind my house was torn down, starting a little over one year ago. ALL the trees were torn down in three days using what today passes for a steam shovel. And they built what I call the IKEA house, because it is the size of a gd IKEA and is full of lumber. Lovely, but it completely takes over a 0.4 lot, so nobody is saving the lake any more. They used to guard footprint, but now they want taxes. The IKEA house isn’t even in sight of the lake. It’s for sale for 7 million if you’re interested - 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. They say they’re not going to rent it out. I would actually welcome human beings.
Most of the time, when I take my spaniel out at night, everything is black. Nobody at home anywhere.
In the meantime, local doctors can’t get nurses or receptionists. Combined with border wars, I can’t get a housecleaner or handyman (I am a disabled widow) unless I pay for one to come up from Reno.
It’s as if they blew up a bunch of houses.
And it trickles down. There’s nothing to buy and nothing to rent.
This situation cries out for regulation (Not price fixing but limits on empty houses that are just sitting there as an investment - or a Californian avoiding taxes.) Oops. Can’t do regulation either.
The housing market exists within a government-defined market. Right now (and for a while building up to this), the legal culture is separating people from empty houses. That can’t be a good idea.
I agree. The regulations are designed to support single family homes, but investors swoop in, renovate, and raise the average taxable value of a home. The average sale price of homes in our neighborhood has jumped over 50% since the pandemic. I do believe regulations are possible even after losing the Chevron precedent. Congress just needs to be more specific when it passes laws. The Supreme Court did not take away Congress's power to pass enforceable laws.
In light of the recent Supreme Court's efforts to reduce protections of We, the People and turn the nation to one that allows industry to dictate which regulations will least hinder profits of such industry as in 'Loper Bright v. Raimondo.' from my book, "Donald's Vanity Tantrums." Enjoy or try to.
Environmental Protection Agency
April 18, 2018
"Hello, Environmental Protection Agency. May I help you?"
"My name is Shelby Connor. I'm from Parrish, Alabama. And we've had boxcar loads of dog gone shit sittin' at our rail yard for months. All 260 cars full of shit. And it stinks.”
"That's probably a state matter. Did you call the Alabama Department of Environmental Management?"
"What ya'll mean? It’s a state matter? These trainloads of shit have come down from New York. It's an intersate matter."
"Sir, please be respectful here. It's human waste.”
"I don't care what you call it. It's stinkin' up our town. We can't even go to a Little League baseball game ‘cause the boxcars are right across the tracks. How would you like to drive to church on Sunday and take a whiff of it while praying to the Lord? We're a small town here in Parrish.”
"Did Donald Trump send this waste down here to us because we didn't elect Roy Moore? Let me speak with your director, Scott Pruitt."
Sir, Mr. Pruitt isn't available. And he no longer reviews environmental issues. Our new mandate from the president is to help companies get rid of waste the cheapest way possible. They probably picked Alabama because your dumping rates are so low. You'll have to call the West Virginia office to file a complaint. They handle waste disposal. Oh wait, that office has been closed down."
"I wanna know why New York and New Jersey’s shit is sitting next to our little town. Git the stuff outta here."
"Shelby, shouting into the phone won't get you anywhere. I'm trying to help. Here, let me give you the Denver office. They have experience handling bio solids. Oops, sorry, that office was recently closed, too. Mr. Connor, we're not going to be around much longer as an agency. The EPA is shutting down. Haven't you heard?"
"I voted for Donald Trump. And now he's turning his back on us."
"The president is doing a great job getting rid of regulations so more jobs can be created. Do you know how many people you could employ shoveling that sludge into a dump? Your residents could have more work for generations. I suggest you could turn this waste into fertilizer-rich compost and grow organic vegetables."
You got a point there. That's why we voted for him. I need as second job. How can we git more New York bio waste?"
Except, I bet 9 out of 10 of the idiots who voted for the traitor won't be so happy about shoveling shit for a second job.
I agree. I’ve had these little discussions with them. And I I wonder is not that they are so gullible and ignorant, but what have we done to drive them into the hands of such people. I think it’s healthy to question what we might be doing wrong. At least this is how my mind works.
Wealth inequality is what we're doing wrong.
Bring back the guilotine.
Guillotine has two L and yes, bring it back.
That is how it should work. We should be having intelligent discussion about just what caused the discontent.
Unfortunately, the orange traitor just gets people angry and strives to divide us in order to get what he wants, NOT what's good for Americans. And he is backed by greedy wealthy people and a crooked Supreme Court.
Agree
Bill, thanks for the very sad but clear illustration.
It would be very helpful if you had added that your story is a sarcastic depiction of a phone call never made.
Satire.
And what's wrong with Alabama officials dealing with the problem? You've assumed that they won't deal with the shit spoiling Alabama air. That's an unreasonable assumption. Alabama officials will have to work with New York officials, first determining why it was shipped to Alabama in the first place. Perhaps (probably) a local reprocessor employing hundreds of Alabamans bought it cheap and will make a bundle once it's processed. Perhaps Alabama officials will now control that business, maybe paying you for your discomfort. Alabama officials may have to eventually appeal to the Commerce Department or EPA, and then maybe the courts, but I'm more comfortable with that modus operandi than potential tyranny by the Washington DC administrative state.
Oh, it is going to take so much more than that…. If Trump gets into office, there will be no more term limits. Plus, he’s going to write into law that you can appoint your successor. Then he’ll go remove the three liberal justices and replace them with, oh I don’t know, 3, 4, 5 more conservative, federalist judges. Game over.
That presidents can appoint judges is a huge flaw in our system. All judges should be subject to election and those elections should partisan because, of course they are.
“At least a president can only serve two terms“
Don’t count on it if Trump is elected. He’s already said having a President for life is a good idea.
Wow how would we not "grandfather in" current justices? The court would never allow that.
Remember the Court is an equal branch of the government. Congress passes laws and this one would be unambiguous. There would be a grace period with the term limits but not long enough so Biden could not appoint their replacement.
The US is slip-sliding into becoming a new country. Trump can retire tomorrow because the reactionary majority of the Supreme Court has just accomplished the coup right-wing extremists have been working toward for 50 years.
SCOTUS's reactionary majority is overturning the rule of law case by case and replacing it with authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. Whose the happiest?
--Justices Alito and Thomas and their wives, now off the hook for supporting the attempted coup and accepting bribes;
--the funders and supporters of Project 2025
--CEOs and board members of companies who can rake in short-term profits by ignoring safety and health rules that were designed to protect their employees, customers, and themselves;
--Judge Aileen Cannon, enthusiastically auditioning to be a Supreme Court Justice;
--Lots of other mediocre, ideologically-motivated attorneys and judges who Trump would appoint to lifetime positions;
--Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, and the spineless MAGAs in Congress.
Where do we go from here? We must elect a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President and Democrats for every elected office at every level of government. Only we the people can stop this American nightmare.
Wel, Bannon is going to Jail on Monday 7/1/. There is no "war room" behind bars.
Oh you forget Hitler's jail term. He wrote the first half of Mein Kampf there in 1924, while his party was banned. Bannon is an unspeakable nightmare.
Bannon has produced a book or two, hasn't he? I don't know who actually wrote them. He could use his four months to produce another, but first he would have to stop kvetching about the consequences of contempt of Congress.
He is.
When he gets out he has the state case going to trial. No bail!!!
And the case is being handled by Judge Merchan. Bannon will not be a happy camper.
Judge Merchan will not be handling the case as he is otherwise engaged. The case has been moved to a lady judge whose name escapes me at the moment.
That lady judge is a viper. No comfort for bannon.
Thank you for the information Jen, and the seemingly good news.
I didn't know that. Thank you for the information. In a way it's too bad because I would have loved to see what happened in that trial.
I think I heard that changed because of a conflict in the judges schedule. Does anyone know for sure? I hope I’m wrong
I’ll believe it when I see it tomorrow/ July 1st. There’s no reason to believe Bannon won’t attempt some last minute BS to keep himself out of jail.
Maybe a fellow prison mate will treat him to some bad man wagon experiences and he will respond then be charged with serious felony. (Bad man wagon is Jamaican jargon look it up.) lol.
Bannon is going to Dansbury CT Fed prison and it’s nickname is “Klansbury” because of the racial tensions there He’ll probably be afforded protection It’s also interesting to me that after Weisselberg went to Rikers that the NY Hells Angel Chapter leader showed up at Trump’s trial in Manhattan I’m guessing that
Riker’s bikers are protecting him and putting money in his jail account from the DJT org
I have heard he will have access to media.
They ignore precedent, so pack the court and we will ignore precedent. They opened that door, so to hell with them. Let's get term limits, a strict ethics oversight committee that can toss out SCOTUS Justices that violate their oath or are caught in lies when they testify in front of Congress.
Just as conservatives committed and then recommitted themselves to accomplishing their pet projects over a time course lasting decades, liberals must keep top of mind that our challenge must ineluctably be matching their efforts with identical commitment to goals opposite to theirs. Forming a “more perfect union” requires and will take no less dedication and effort to counteract, disinfect, and redirect our beloved democracy away from the deviant path conservatives have already managed to construct over decades with their misguided efforts. We are in the midst of a modern iteration of a bloodless civil war with anti-democratic forces who have lost faith in the genius of the Constitutional Democracy our founders envisioned for their posterity ~240 years ago. I hope we and our likeminded descendants have the right stuff necessary at least to match the fervor and commitment of our foes in this struggle. Our task will not be easy, but it is one we cannot shrink from robustly engaging. Our struggle to maintain modernized concepts of individual and collective freedom is in many ways identical to the one our forebears engaged on taking their first steps along the winding path that has brought us to our present day crisis of faith. Are we up to the task at hand? I’d say we had better be!
Elections to restore our democracy?
Too late.
Vote in November! I have been accepted a Election worker in my CA county. Security protocols are in place.
BRAVO, Bryan!!
Oh boy, do I hope you and I are both wrong!
Sing it from the Mountain Tops, Laurie!
Yes to all you say here. However, I have several memories of a super majority across several decades that screwed it up with a single-focus, high priority issue that got the super majority ousted 2 years later. If only I could trust the Dems to fix several things at once…😩
Of course, I vote full blue and shall again, but I am always disappointed with the Dems uncanny inability to maintain a super majority for a full 4-year term where they could get a lot more accomplished.
My impression is that voters - about half the public - aren't following politics closely, if at all. So they are more easily persuaded politically by headlines, loud voices, and their social/personal environment. I remember a survey from a few years ago that Americans knew who Judge Judy was, but far fewer of them could name a Supreme Court Justice.
Thank you for emphasizing the enormity of this decision. I am a meteorologist (Birmingham born and bred) and I am trying to convey to my social media friends just what this means to our nation in terms of, say, air pollution regulation. Maybe the oil companies can bring back leaded gasoline just for the fun of it? Since rulings usually have wider impact than initially expected (e.g., Chevron itself), it's hard for anyone to grasp at this moment just how much damage this decision will do to American society by replacing expert knowledge with a robed cult of Aileen Cannons. Neil Gorsuch provided a perfect example of the problem in the ozone ruling this week, confusing oxides of nitrogen with nitrous oxide. Don't let us forget this; it's much more important than most of the chattering about Trump trials.
If I remember correctly, Gorsuch is trying to get revenge for his mother, who did something that got her fired, something environmental. He's just a perfect example of what happens when we bypass experts. WHO DO HAVE SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE!
Probably so. I hope in the coming years, we the people can somehow get revenge for Anne Gorsuch and her antienvironmental tenure and for her gift of a right-wing conservative to the Supreme Court.
Neither Gorsuch nor his clerks understood or paid attention to or cared about the science. That’s the problem.
They are only concerned with the precedents they choose to observe, and not all the others. They are trying to justify a Supreme Court that is sidelining an ineffectual Congress. But we have to engage Congress to change the parameters of what the Supreme Court can review. If the court is interfering with government efforts to reduce pollution and reduce carbon consumption and the creation and release of greenhouse gases, then Congress should curtail the Supreme Court's authority to rule on such cases. Yes, it can be done!
Vote for democrats
His momma tried to dismantle the EPA as its chief. He's an idiot but he's still mommas boy.
Roberts has been working on deregulation issues for ages! Now he is implementing Project 2025! Corruption! The stench is not going away.
Fun fact::
Neil Gorsuch's mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford (née McGill), was the first woman to serve as the administrator of the EPA under Reagan. Here’s a few of her scandals:
- Burford was the first agency director in U.S. history to be cited for contempt of Congress after she refused to turn over documents related to a toxic waste cleanup program.
- She was accused of halting the cleanup of the Stringfellow Acid Pits, a waste dump in California, in order to damage the Democratic senatorial bid of Governor Jerry Brown.
- She ordered a study that halted the cleanup of poisoned groundwater in a Minneapolis suburb.
These controversies ultimately led to her resignation in 1983, and her tenure as EPA director.
…Wonder if Neil has a grudge?
This needs to be publicized OVER AND OVER.
"Her name was McGill, and she called herself Lil, but everyone knew her as Nancy" - to quote the Beatles.
good mnemomic suggestion!@:)
I knew that Neil Gorsuch was getting revenge for his mother, but I couldn't remember the details. He definitely holds a grudge; it's no secret. Thank you for supplying the details.
Whether or not he "holds a grudge," it's clear that he's the true spawn of the Gorsuch tribe and is a menace to society, just as his mother was. But let's not focus just on him, because there are five more members of the court who are determined to reverse the last 80 years of so of government action and Supreme Court acquiescence in that action.
It's Roberts, the perpetual corporate . Decisions on the court boil down to previous practice, whether they're corporate whores or have worked and ruled on the side of humans. Like Jackson has.
And like RBG said, all the justices on the court should be women.
I agree that we should focus on all the bad ones. Gorsuch just came to mind because I remembered about his wanting to get revenge for his mother. I think the only "conservative" I have not been able to form an opinion about ACB.
Apple does not fall far from tree….
Wow!
She taught him, Neil, well!
SCOTUS terms must be limited to 18 years - and I completely agree with Kathi that such limits must be applied immediately. Bye bye Justices Thomas, Alito, and Roberts! Plus the Court should be expanded to 13 so each Justice has one of 13 Courts of Appeals to “oversee”.
Joyce thank you for ALL you do, I am so discouraged, disheartened America has Laws but where are they, who are the Laws for? I hope it gets better but I am in doubt at this time. Yes we are in this together.❤️❤️
"The longstanding Chevron deference doctrine required courts to defer to agency action when the law was ambiguous⁶ and the agency’s view was reasonable. That came to an end on Friday..."
If Trump is elected, this will pale in comparison to what is being proposed in Project 2025.
Thank you Joyce for bringing that to readers' attention, even though the John Oliver link was missing. 🙂
Like Biden's debate performance, we don't abandon someone over one mistake.
On the contrary, Loper enables Project 2025!
Agreed, but not "on the contrary". Trump has to get elected first.
No, my comment was made irrespective of who wins the election. The Court has taken over the country. It will take decades to correct this -- if ever.
Again, I agree. Given the amount of dark money in elections, this is a windfall not only for those buying influence in Congress, but for those who are now free to sue under more favorable conditions.
If Trump is elected, do you see it getting even worse?
Yes, over time it will get worse, as ever more issues come up. I'm keeping my eye on tax law. The most fundamental of Heritage Foundation goals is control of tax law. I see a concerted effort to outlaw certain taxes, such as taxes on capital, which is where they protect most of their wealth from taxation. Keep your eyes open on this one.
It's interesting how the tax cuts keep increasing the national debt, but Republicans no longer talk about it except when Democrats are in "control".
When the Simpson-Bowles proposal was floated for Congressional consideration, the national debt was $13.5 trillion.
I liked this definition:
Regulations = Protections
Regulations that may cut profits for corps are in place to protect our cutizens from illnesses, injury & potentially death.
Any Republican in the White House. If it's the Yam, then sobeit. But any Republican will do. The Yam is the most malleable--he thinks he's in charge, even though he isn't.
Wondering who the Heritage Foundation is going to choose as his running mate? I knew all that hooey about him announcing his 'choice' at the debate was just that. Hooey.
Yet Trump is the choice of primary voters. He should be the easiest to defeat, but here we are. Given a sales pitch totally disconnected from reality, he presents an unprecedented threat.
On the other hand, we could basically say the same about Democrats. If incrementally spreading crumbs when giving them control is the best we can expect, we should probably be taking a deeper dive.
With the broadest view, the promise of hope and change resulted in the ACA and a continuation of tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals.
We can chalk it up to the best that can be done, or we can divert our efforts to change the election system so that the people are actually represented.
@Frank I tried to message you, but it didn't go through.
You might be interested in checking us out. https://www.veteransforallvoters.org/
Thank-you! I did not understand the Chevron case until your explanation. We may as well get rid of colleges and universities because they make experts. Holy Cow! Having spent my career among experts and being married to one, I can see the country going to hell in a hand basket.
Exactly! Have you noticed the Republicans have been waging war on education for decades? They want it to be pay per day. They control the content and collect the profits to buy off more judges, senators, House members, and presidents.
Ya know James, I worked with many electronic engineers all my life and my husband was a civil engineer (retired). I can tell you the one thing you don’t want to do is tell an engineer they are wrong. In fact, I imagine Engineering 101 to be a class titled, “Never be Wrong.” They have so much responsibility in their work. Tell me a judge that will lose their livelihood if a mistake is made? Engineers face that every day. The government is unforgiving in this subject. Their signatures and license stamp are on their completed work. When we earned our college degrees, we were conferred them with all the rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES. I’ve thought about that declaration often and take it seriously. I guess engineers will continue to be expert witnesses in court and make tons of money.
The judges will receive lavish vacations or other bribes or 'gratuities' (gotta love Kavanaugh for that one!) in return for reversing the decisions of experts in the field. Such reversals translate into profits for the industries receiving the deregulation. What they are doing is out in the open for all to see. Watch for air pollution and climate initiatives to fall like acid rain. This is the Heritage Foundation's wet dream.
I'm a chemist and worked among chemical engineers sometimes.
Many are idiots, and get paid to try dumb things and when they don't work they just move on.
To imagine judges would do a better job than these poor excuses for science is laughable.
Some were good. Many were just "hey let's try this, it might work".
My sister was a EE and that's a different group.
But give me engineers over lawyers any day.
I knew an architect who lost his license to practice because he got distracted by family health issues and did not properly supervise a project.
Wow that's awful.
Reagan hated higher education when he was the governor of CA. As president he tried to do away with the Dept. of Education. He did split DHEW into DHHS! The GOP has hated education for decades!
The uneducated are easier to rule.
Dumpty loves him the poorly educated.
That fits - it’s part of why he loves himself
He said as much
And it's all an effort to convert as much public education as possible to for-profit businesses. Privatize everything including Social Security. Rake in huge public subsidies and retain all the future profits. Let tax dollars flow INTO their pockets. They sure as hell don't flow OUT of their pockets. Their program is obvious, and we do nothing about it.
I come back to the economist I listened to the other day on MacroDose. ha-Joon Chang is a Korean economist who said an interesting thing: governments do more things right than businesses. I'd never thought of that, but when you put the hive mind to something, at least it's more likely to be well considered. How many private businesses fail every year? Plenty of startups. Enron anyone?
He also had a lot to say about the "science of economics, trying to hoodwink the public, pretending economics is physics with complex absurd equations without enough variables, and inventing jargon to mask what they say. It's mostly sociology and psychology, and neither are science.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/macrodose/id1646528688?i=1000660389570
Since the dolt Reagan.
Now joining "Comstock" is "Loper Bright" when it comes to what will almost certainly be a renewed attack on medical abortion --- this time adding a direct attack on FDA authority in general "legitimized" by the "Loper Bright"decision. The Court majority, in its inimitable fashion, has again sown chaos and uncertainty as it did with Dobbs. Yet another example of zealotry or ideology preempting not only science and expertise but common sense. By curtailing the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws they administer, as granted by Congress, and ruling that the courts (and it will be lower courts with their even fewer resources) should rely on their own interpretation of ambiguous laws, the Court majority has effectively left the business community scratching its head, rather than somehow relieved as might be expected. Businesses and industries (and ultimately we...) rely on dependable, evidence- or fact-based rules and procedures to operate --- whether they agree with them or not --- and now, the Court majority in its infinite wisdom, has knocked that into a cocked hat, by allowing unknowledgeable judges to decide what the laws governing these often technical rules and procedures mean. Nothing less --- whether religion, reproductive rights, voting, and now business --- than a full out attack on the way we not only choose to, but the way we can, live our lives.
Forget trump! Forget Biden. What’s on the ballot this November, and every November for the foreseeable future, is the Judiciary.
And it's not just the President that matters in regards to the courts. Roe would still be on the books if the Senate had been in Democratic hands in 2016 and 2020.
Loper will foster endless litigation. Environmental and workplace safety regulations are all on the table. Complete regulatory capture blessed by what passes for a “supreme court.” The decline and fall of stare decicis continues apace.
This is the first step in instituting Project 2025. We all know that the English language, like any language, is imprecise, filled with words that convey positive and negative connotations. Most words have multiple synonyms. Simple words, such as "and" along with "or" carry a lot of weight, commas matter. In the recently issued Jan. 6 case we saw that the SC in Fischer decided that the actual wording of the relevant statute didn't mean what the text actually says because the majority didn't think that Congress really meant what is written. It's impossible for Congress to pass laws that use language that can't be questioned, it's impossible to pass laws that cover every conceivable possibility, and it's impossible to write definitions that no one will question. I'm a retired academic, my area of expertise is Federal tax law. I spent my graduate education and more than 35 years reading tax statutes, regulations, administrative rulings, legislative history and court cases (someone's gotta do it) and please believe me that it frequently comes down to determining what the words actually mean. Except in criminal tax cases, the IRS has the presumption of correctness. Will this change also? It's not possible for any human being to read something and not have their own prejudices and biases come into play. This type of court decision is the lawyers permanent employment act (as if they needed one). Every client who doesn't like a regulatory result will sue the government and the courts will be overwhelmed. We do have a few courts where the judges are experts in certain areas of the law, the Tax Court (one of three trial level courts for tax cases) and Bankruptcy Court for example. But, there are no courts where the judges are experts in any area of medicine, science, engineering, the environment, safety (food, social media, AI, machinery, etc.) or any type of expertise beyond a reading of the applicable statutes. In tax law, there are certain Internal Revenue Code sections where Congress has specifically delegated the writing of regulations specifically to the IRS (part of the Treasury Department). This is true for the entire area of consolidated corporate tax returns. Will this be impacted? This is a case of arrogance, hubris and trying to grab power and destroy the administrative state. What an avoidable mess and Republicans will not want to strengthen any regulatory statutes to improve this situation. They, along with their corporate and wealthy donors, want to destroy the administrative state, not improve it.
Limitless arrogance married to malevolent anti-democratic Doctrine.
As much as I oppose and abhor the Dobbs decision, this decision essentially killing the administrative state is even worse. This can destroy the U.S. Economy and the economic well-being of every American. The health and competitive balance of the U.S. economy depend upon the federal administrative state. We will all rue the day this decision was rendered.
I wonder what effect this will have on the FAA. Will seatbelts be optional because I don’t wanna wear them? Will Boeing get to decide even more what quality means? Buckle up, gonna be a rough flight too
I believe Justice Kagan wrote the dissent. It was brilliant. Worth reading.
Here's the pdf. Kagans dissent is pp 82 to 114. It is brilliant and readable. READ IT!
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-451_7m58.pdf