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To bring you these under-the-radar political notes from the US

The extraordinarily tragic war in Ukraine has side-lined political news out of Washington and the US.

Here are a few items worth paying attention to in these very confronting times:

The text messages were included in Meadows provision of his phone records to the House Select Committee on the January 6 insurrection.

Meadows cooperated for a time with the Select Committee, and then ceased providing materials of record. Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, who co-wrote PERIL on Trumps last year in office, broke the story for the Washington Post:

Virginia Thomas, a conservative activist married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, repeatedly pressed White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in a series of urgent text exchanges in the critical weeks after the vote, according to copies of the messages obtained by The Washington Post and CBS News.

Between Virginia Thomas, who goes by Ginni, and President Donald Trumps top aide during a period when Trump and his allies were vowing to go to the Supreme Court in an effort to negate the election results.

On Nov. 10, after news organizations had projected Joe Biden the winner based on state vote totals, Thomas wrote to Meadows: Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!You are the leader, with him, who is standing for Americas constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.

Ms Thomas has every right to speak her mind on any issue. But these texts reveal she was a player in advising Meadows on Trumps strategy to stop the steal.

Those machinations would find their way to the Supreme Court, where her husband would and did rule on Trump lawsuits to throw out the election. Justice Thomas did not recuse himself from those cases.

Will the House Committee subpoena Ms Thomas to testify on what she did and whether she worked with her husband? Will Justice Thomas take unilateral steps to recuse himself from any further participation in Trump-related cases before the Supreme Court? Public hearings on all the Select Committees work will occur in the next few weeks. They will be explosive.

If Trump-backed candidates win, and if Republicans take control of the House or Senate or both, Trump will claim credit for the Republican wave and further boost his prospects for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Rep. Mel Brooks of Alabama was a huge Trump backer. He appeared onstage at the rally January 6 that helped incite the Trump mob to attack the Capitol. Trump endorsed Brooks for his run at the open Senate seat in Alabama. But Brooks has been polling badly, and Trump pulled his endorsement last week. Brooks is angry, and went public on what Trump expected him to do in return for the endorsement:

This is shocking stuff. First, the only way Biden can be removed as president is by impeachment, and that will not happen.

Second, there is no way that Brooks or anyone else can put Trump back into the White House only the American people can do that. Third, there are no special elections in the United States for the presidency. What this episode shows is how Trump is increasingly fixated on 2020, more than he is in looking beyond the 2024 election and this obsession of Trumps is becoming a bigger issue for many rank-and-file Republicans.

Politico is reporting:

Republicans lead the generic ballot by 4 points.Biden won these battleground seats by an average of 5.5 points. In these districts, 75% of swing voters say Democrats are out of touchor condescending. About two-thirds say Democrats are spending too much money in Washington. Bidens net approval rating in these districts is -15.About 40% of voters in these seats approve of the job Biden is doing as president, while 55% disapprove.Among independent voters, his net approval is -32 a 34-point swing since February 2021 from a group that often dictates which party holds the House majority.And among Hispanic voters, his net approval is -10,a drop of 31 points in the same time frame. Economic concerns substantially advantage the GOP.Voters who identified jobs/the economy as their No. 1 concern favor Republicans by 20 points on the generic ballot. Among those who put cost of living at the top, Republicans are at a 24-point advantage.

Continuing Republican pressure on what they believe are the killer issues for them in November: inflation, gasoline prices, crime in the cities, immigration at the southern border, what woke progressives are teaching children in schools, especially on racial issues, transgender sports, new laws to restrict abortion. Republicans firmly believe these hot button issues will drive their voters to the polls and President Bidens approval remains well under 50%.

It looks like Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor who was John McCains incendiary vice-presidential running mate in 2008, and who famously said she could see Russia from her backyard, is positioning to run. Heres what she told Sean Hannity on Fox last week:

Im going to throw my hat in the ring because we need people that have cajones. We need people like Donald Trump who has nothing to lose like me. We got nothing to lose and no more of this vanilla milquetoast namby-pamby wussy pussy stuff

Whether her pre-formal-entry stunting is enough to scare off other challengers and whether she still has strong appeal in the state. The special election is likely to be held well before November.

Which is a good note on which to bring this special edition to a close.

Go here to see the original:
Palin proves how powerful Trumpism is in the Republican Party | ticker VIEWS - ticker NEWS

Given recent history, Pennsylvania Republicans should make their official motto Save Us From Ourselves.

First, 14 Republican lawmakers joined a lawsuit asking the states Supreme Court to rule that mail-in-balloting is unconstitutional. Republicans trying to limit access to the ballot wouldnt be shocking, as voter repression seems to be part of the partys core values, if it werent for the fact that 11 of the 14 Republicans that joined the lawsuit voted for the very law theyre trying to overturn, in 2018.

Now, Republicans are aiming to cut the states gas tax by one-third to fight back against record high petroleum prices, by using emergency covid funds to fill the gap in the states budget. I applaud cheaper prices at the pump, especially when it comes at the sacrifice of the countrys highest state-imposed gas tax, but Id be remiss in not pondering why Republicans didnt have this concern when they, under GOP-controlled legislative and executive branches, passed the tax hike in 2013.

If youre forced to drive to your local polling place in May, in order to cast your ballot, remember to send your gas receipts to the states GOP headquarters.

Richard Aldo Monti

Harrison

Read more:
Letter to the editor: Republicans need saving - TribLIVE

From ballot boxes to classrooms to doctors offices, the Republican party in the age of Trump is all in on giving the government more control over your life.

Wisconsin has a decentralized system of elections that allows local municipalities to administer their own elections. This system automatically includes checks and balances that ensure our elections are free, fair, and secure. But Wisconsin Republicans who support Trumps Big Lie the false assertion that the 2020 elections were stolen want to metaphorically step into the voting booth with you.

Michael Gableman is a former Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice who is overseeing a partisan investigation into the 2020 election, which was authorized by the Republican state legislature. In a March 2022 report, Gableman recommended giving partisan legislators the authority to overturn election results. Even more harrowing, his report recommended the state government create a special bounty program that incentivizes government agencies to police elections, even though there is no history of widespread fraud in Wisconsin. Think about that Republicans want to pay people money to find fraud that they have no evidence exists. What could go wrong?

Next door in Iowa, Republicans in the state legislature proposed having video cameras record every single K-12 classroom in the state. That would not only undermine local control of the school boards and school districts, it is downright creepy to think about anyone, including a room of government bureaucrats, watching every minute of any childs day at school. The bill was subsequently pulled.

And across the country, Republicans are racing to enact legislation that bans abortion, should the Supreme Court overturn Roe vs. Wade. That puts elected officials and government bureaucrats squarely in the doctors office between pregnant women and their doctors. Buoyed by Texass 15-week abortion ban (currently being challenged in US Supreme Court), Florida Republicans passed their own 15 week ban and in Idaho Republicans are moving ahead with a six week ban of their own.

Elections, classrooms, and doctors offices are more than enough to demonstrate a trend. But the closer you look, the more you realize the Republican Partys push for more control of your life goes further. Republicans also want the government to help raise your kids, decide what curriculum is taught in school, and even weigh in on youth sports.

The rest is here:
Wisconsin Republicans: The Party of Big Government? - UpNorthNews

Zach Klein| Guest columnist

Voters in 2015 and 2018 overwhelmingly approved measures reforming the way Ohio draws its state legislative and congressional district maps, writing into our constitution processes that were supposed to promote bipartisanship and bring fair maps to Ohio.

If redistricting commission members failed to live up to that duty, voters made sure that the Ohio Supreme Court could intervene and hold lawmakers accountable for trying to rig the district lines.

Up until this point, the Republican members of the redistricting commission have flouted their constitutional duty to draw fair maps that reflect the will of the voters.

More: GOP OKs Ohio legislature maps tweaked from rejected ones; Democrats say process 'hijacked'

Just this week, we saw Republicans on the commission reject maps drawn in the public view by a pair of bipartisan mapmakersonly to turn around and approve another likely flawed, secretly GOP-drawn map.

Now former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder'sNational Redistricting Action Fund andthe American Civil Liberties Union of Ohiohave asked the Ohio Supreme Court to holdcommission members contempt of court.

The groups are suing overlegislative maps put forward by the GOP-dominated commission.

At a time when democracy feels in crisis and the institutions that exist to safeguard it are showing their wear and tear, the Ohio Supreme Court's rulings inspire faith in the process voters laid out to eliminate partisan gerrymandering.

Despite Republican attempts to rig the system, the Ohio Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Maureen OConnor, should be commended for rightfully enforcing the law even in the face of harsh partisan criticism.

This is a case study in how the rule of law and an independent judiciary is designed to work in a democracy.

More: Ohio Republicans discussing impeachment of Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor after map ruling

The court is not to blame for the redistricting commissions inability or unwillingness to abide by the rules and draw the fair maps Ohioans deserveand demanded. The justices are simply doing their job to uphold the law by evaluating the merits of each individual map presented to them. When the maps presented are clearly unconstitutional and purely partisan, the court has no choice but to continue to reject those maps.

Likewise, the court is not to blame for the crisis in which we find ourselves, a month away from our states primary election with no district lines in place. Its a manufactured problem created entirely by Republican commission members.

Had they acted in good faith from the start, we would have had fair maps months ago and election officials across the state would be busy preparing for our primary. But Republicans didnt act in good faith and now elections officials are faced with an unprecedented crisis.

More: Disingenuous Ohio Republicans disregard will of people to maintain dominance

The city attorneys office has won our share of cases, but weve lost some too. But no matter the outcome, we respect the legal process. We dont threaten to unseat judges or call into question their impartiality. We dont disparage their commitment to the law. We respect their decision and get back to work on behalf of the people of Columbus. Thats our job.

Republicans on the redistricting commission created this mess and now its their job to fix itnot the Democrats on the commission and certainly not the court.

Gerrymandering is a scourge whether its a blue or red state. And in Ohio, voters laid out a process thats simple: draw fair maps. Its what a number of citizen-led groups have done when they submitted maps for review to the commission, and its what Republican commission members must do in order to salvage what chance we have at holding our scheduled primary.

More: Opinion: Lawmaker's 'rigged' map would steal Ohioans' right to representation

The Ohio Supreme Court is upholding its duty to the law, the Ohio Constitution and the people of Ohio. It is living up to the redistricting reforms Ohioans passed not once, but twice.

In stark contrast, Republican commission members continue to lack the courage to do right by the voters, refusing to uphold their end of the deal and instead passing one partisan map after another. But something has to change.

Two of the Republican commission members must do as our chief justice has done, and thats simply to do their job to uphold the constitution and pass fair maps that meet the constitutional standard voters expect and deserve. Democracy depends on it.

Zach Klein has served as Columbus city attorney since 2018, .

Read the original here:
Cowardly Republicans trying to 'rig the system' in Ohio, Columbus city attorney says - The Columbus Dispatch

Photo courtesy of the Senate Republican Conference Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, at podium, joins New York City Council Members Joe Borelli and Bob Holden at the entrance to Rikers Island in September 2021 to criticize the states bail system and the new Less is More law, which releases prisoners for technical violations of parole.

Speaker Carl Heastie, who leads the New York State Assembly, seems to have a definite view concerning bail reform that appears to differ from that of the governor, Kathy Hochul.

A little background: the Democrats got their behinds kicked in the last election over the issue. You will recall that the liberal contingent in the Democratic-led New York State Legislature quite correctly passed legislation in an effort to equalize the way in which the bail system in the state treated suspects after arrest. Those who had resources could fork out the big bucks needed to get released from custody, while those without deep pockets had to languish in the pokey because they didnt have the money necessary to get out. This became an issue in the last election when the Democrats who sponsored the so-called bail reform bill found out that they had lost some middle-class voters who thought that people released on bail were likely to go on and commit more crimes.

That led to some problems for the liberal Democrats and alienated some of the middle-class voters. In other words, the concept of bail reform was certainly correct in that it was philosophically right, but it led to political problems for the Democrats.

It shouldnt surprise anyone that the message was received by the battered Democrats who are now showing some signs of division. On one side are the liberals in the state legislature. They are correct in their assertions that the poor are more likely to have to stay in jail due to their inability to post bail. Meanwhile, the rich and middle-class voters want to be protected and have reacted strongly against idea of bail reform. Never mind the statistical analysis that suggests that those released are not committing crimes at the level the critics of bail reform are suggesting. But hey, political reality is what people believe, correctly, or not.

This is where it gets interesting. Governor Hochul, who is no fool, gets the message and starts to suggest that the baby should get split. If I am reading her words correctly, she thinks that dangerous folks should be kept in jail while the powerful Speaker, Carl Heastie, takes the politically and factually correct position that it isnt right for poor people stay in custody just because they cant afford bail.

Obviously, Heastie has to listen to what the liberal Democrats in his conference are telling him while, like it or not, Governor Hochul knows which way the more conservative wind is blowing. It is clear that she sees the political danger here. If the Democrats continue to lose seats, their huge majority in both houses may be threatened and her own election prospects will be diminished by her endorsing this bail reform.

Since there is honor among politicians, I am sure that both Heastie and Hochul understand and honor each others positions. Let there be no mistake: the Heastie position is correct, so-called bail reform is a worthy idea. It is just one more piece of proof that the political game is loaded in favor of those with money. As a person of color, Heastie knows that and understands what injustice is all about.

So what will happen? Obviously, the governor has no cards to play since she cant make the Legislature do what they dont want to do. The Republicans and conservatives have found a powerful card to play here. They are winning elections based on this split and are unlikely to change positions now. They think that have discovered political gold and will play the bail reform card to the hilt. There may be an agreement between the Speaker and the Governor to allow for the difference of opinion. The Speaker is right, and the governor knows what to do to win an upcoming election.

See the rest here:
Publisher's Corner: Republicans will play the bail reform card to the hilt - Legislative Gazette