USA News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

Texas AG Ken Paxton executes search warrants in major Democratic county in election fraud probe

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watc ... ar-county/

[caltrek]

Democrat Senator Bob Menendez Resigns Following Bribery Conviction
August 20, 2024

Introduction:

(Independent Journal Review) Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez resigned his seat in the Senate on Tuesday, according to multiple outlets.

The Senate Democrat announced his resignation following his conviction in a bribery scheme involving three New Jersey businessmen and the Egyptian government. Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signaled that he will replace Menendez with George S. Helmy, a healthcare executive and his former chief of staff.

A federal court in July found Menendez guilty of taking actions that would benefit the Egyptian government in exchange for bribes, including writing a letter to his fellow senators advocating for sending military aid to Egypt and providing the foreign government with personnel information related to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, The Associated Press reported. Federal authorities found over $100,000 worth of gold bars and $480,000 in cash hidden in the now-former senator’s home.

Menendez has maintained his innocence, saying after his conviction that he was “deeply disappointed by the jury’s decision” and that he would be moving forward with an appeal. “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country, and I have never, ever been a foreign agent,” Menendez said.

Read more here: https://ijr.com/dem-senator-bob-menend ... viction/

[firestar464]

Armed and Underground: Inside the Turbulent, Secret World of an American Militia

https://www.propublica.org/article/insi ... ee-percent

[firestar464]

Journalist withheld information about Emmett Till’s murder, documents show

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/journ ... r-AA1pAB1M

[weatheriscool]

If Trump wins and gets another justice or two they will strike down the entire safetynet and much of the federal government when it comes to helping people. count on it.

[Vakanai]

If Trump wins and gets another justice or two they will strike down the entire safetynet and much of the federal government when it comes to helping people. count on it.

That's always been a major Republican goal - they've always been against Medicare and Medicaid, and they've always been against social security, despite the fact that their voter base has always been older and often dependent on such safety nets.

[weatheriscool]

Kaitlyn Buss-Detroit News: Trump promises free IVF for all

Donald Trump says that under his administration, the government would pay for IVF treatments. He is planning to make the announcement at a rally Thursday afternoon at a Michigan steel facility.

“We’re going to be making a major statement today that IVF treatments — you know I’m in favor of it — that IVF treatments will be covered by the government under a Trump administration,” former President Donald Trump told me exclusively at Alro Steel in Potterville.

Details of the in vitro fertilization proposal are forthcoming. Democrats have tried to tie Trump to the idea he would pass a national abortion ban, even though he has said he would not.

“All the states are voting on it and they’re getting what they want. People are voting. You’ve heard me say this before. Basically, we’ve taken it out of the federal government,” Trump said. “Nobody wanted it in the federal government.”

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opini ... 001859007/

[caltrek]

Here’s the Data to Show Why Trump’s Migrant Numbers are Lies
by Jeff Brumley
August 29, 2024

Introduction:

(Baptist News Global) A nonpartisan immigration think tank has issued a report challenging misleading and false claims about immigrants prevalent in the presidential campaign season, including the frequent lie that up 20 million undocumented people live in the U.S.

Republican candidate Donald Trump has cited that number in promising to launch mass deportations if he is reelected, the Center for Migration Studies reported in “Correcting the Record: False or Misleading Statements on Immigration.”

“This is strongly overstated. According to estimates from the Center for Migration Studies of New York, 10.9 million undocumented immigrants reside in the United States, based on Census Bureau and American Community Service data. Other organizations, including the Department of Homeland Security, have produced similar estimates.”

Another contribution factor to the number of undocumented people living in the U.S. today is that more than 40% of that group have overstayed visas and did not illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, as immigration opponents sometimes claim, the report says. “While the number of undocumented in the country increased by 650,000 from 2020 to 2022, other undocumented individuals and families, especially from Mexico and Asian countries, have been leaving the United States.”

Another falsehood confronted in the report is the assertion that 10 million or more migrants have poured through the border during President Biden’s term while the Trump administration had the lowest number in history.

Read more here: https://baptistnews.com/article/heres- ... are-lies/

[weatheriscool]

Alaska governor vetoes expanded birth control access as a judge strikes down abortion limits

By BECKY BOHRER and GENE JOHNSON
Updated 2:22 AM EDT, September 5, 2024

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — In competing developments about reproductive rights in the nation’s largest state, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill to expand birth control access while a judge struck down decades-old restrictions on who could perform abortions.

The Republican governor’s veto Wednesday stunned supporters of the measure, which would have forced insurance companies to cover up to a year’s supply of birth control at a time, something considered especially important in providing access in distant rural communities.

The bill overwhelmingly passed the state Legislature this year: 29-11 in the Republican-controlled House and 16-3 in the Senate, which has bipartisan leadership. It was not opposed by insurance companies, supporters noted.

But in an emailed statement, Dunleavy spokesperson Jeff Turner said he vetoed it because “contraceptives are widely available, and compelling insurance companies to provide mandatory coverage for a year is bad policy.”

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-bir ... 4d3f56f1b4

[wjfox]

[firestar464]

'A Profound Injustice': Missouri Judge Rules Abortion Rights Amendment Invalid

https://www.commondreams.org/news/abortion-missouri

[firestar464]

Texas sues to block federal rule protecting health records of women crossing state lines for abortions

https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texa ... abortions/

[weatheriscool]

Trump says his plan to expel millions of immigrants will be a ‘bloody story’ (The Independent)

Donald Trump has issued yet another ominous warning about his potential second term in the Oval Office, this time promising a "bloody story" for the millions of immigrants he intends to deport.

He made the comments at a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin on Saturday, echoing the broader Republican National Committee’s 2024 platform. The GOP's plans for America after a Trump victory include aggressive immigration enforcement and mass deportations.

That's when Trump alluded to the blood.

"And ya know getting them out will be a bloody story," Trump said. "[Undocumented immigrants] should have never been allowed to come into our country. Nobody checked them."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 09092.html

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Social Security benefits are projected to rise 2.5% in 2025

Source: CBS News

Updated on: September 11, 2024 / 1:51 PM EDT

The nation's more than 70 million Social Security recipients may want to temper their expectations of how much more they'll be getting in 2025. Retirees are looking at an average monthly bump of $48, or an increase of 2.5%, according to projections released on Wednesday.

The 2025 cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, which is based on the rate of inflation, is now forecast to come in below last month's 2.57% calculation, the Senior Citizens League (TSCL), an advocacy group for older Americans, said. The updated forecast came hours after the government reported that prices rose 2.5% in the 12 months ending in August, as inflation continues to moderate.

The projected increase is not yet official, as the Social Security Administration typically determines the following year's COLA in mid-October. A 2.5% rise would translate into an average monthly benefit of $1,968, and show up in most recipients' January benefit check.

Though a 2.5% hike would be less of an increase than the 3.2% received in 2024, it falls roughly within the bounds of the historical norm, which has averaged at about 2.6% over the past two decades. The COLA ran as low as 0.0% in 2010, 2011 and 2016, and as high as 8.7% in 2023.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-sec ... -cola-cpi/

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

^^^Ooooo...big scary Trump wants us to destroy our environment for the sake of a little bit of extra water that we could procure without his help, as well as for mutual aid fire-fighting resources which probably benefit other states more than California. So, where is this extra water supposed to come from?

Are you listening Nevada, Arizona, et al?

[weatheriscool]

Now Vance is saying immigrants are eating pets in Dayton

A new viral video shared by Republican vice-presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance is continuing to fuel rumors about migrants abducting and eating pets in the state.

However, this time it says it's happening in Dayton, about 30 miles from Springfield. Springfield has been at the center of the immigration debate due to unproven claims that Haitian immigrants are killing pets.

The video was posted on X Saturday morning by Christopher F. Rufo, a prominent conservative activist who initiated the adversarial movement against critical race theory. The video shows what seems to be skinned animals on top of a small charcoal grill in the yard of a home. A couple of live cats could also be seen roaming the yard around the grill.

The post quickly gained traction on the social media platform, amassing over 33,000 likes and and 15,000 retweets as of Saturday afternoon. Two of those retweets were from Vance – who along with other Republican influencers, spread rumors earlier this week about Haitian migrants in Springfield eating pets – and Donald Trump Jr.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2 ... 226286007/