Today, however, I want to hear from you. What's on your mind? What topics should be on Popular Information's radar? You can leave your thoughts in the discussion thread linked below, starting now. I’ll be dropping by later today to answer any questions.
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We are Brits living in a Trump dominated region of the central United States. There are a lot of misconceptions here about the real impact of Republican policies on universal healthcare, deregulation and taxation. They think that Brits pay high taxes to pay for the NHS, but fail to recognize that Americans pay high taxes to benefit corporations, the military industrial complex and the healthcare gravy train. I’d love to see your economic analysis show the real poverty of the average American family here in the US compared to the Brits. We now spend half the year back in the UK. Would be happy to help with like for like research on the cost of living in both places.
It would be great if some of the stats comparing red states and blue states on life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality, education, annual income (adjusted by state COL) number of hospitals by population, obesity rates, cancer rates, diabetes rates and CVD rates were published in one place. It would show almost without exception that blue sates have far better stats than red states. Maga is truly a death cult and the life expectancy data show it.
Regarding healthcare in the US ... I have long admired and appreciated the healthcare system in the UK. The underlying approach to healthcare in the US is based on generating money. I started in medical school in 1979 and have practiced as a family physician since 1989. Gradually US healthcare has transitioned to a specialty focused devaluing of primary care. A report from the Robert Graham Center and the Milbank Memorial Fund showed a 26% decrease in primary care percent of revenue from commercial medical insurance of 6.2% in 2013 to 4.6% in 2020 (March 2023 report). Primary care should be a major resource and has been shown to improve health and quality of life. As primary care atrophies and primary care gets paid less ... more primary care providers are retiring and transitioning to other professions. This is due to the focus on making money in healthcare and lack of vision from our leaders.
If primary care were compensated appropriately the majority of care would be managed in the primary setting. My office is a private practice focused on quality. I am experiencing the house of cards falling. I cannot survive in the US healthcare system as we are now focused ... on quality. That is a dilemma for me and leads to ethical conflicts as I will not deliver healthcare that is not high quality (see articles on moral injury in healthcare). If I approached our office from a business position I would shift from quality to a high volume referral center in which we would shift from an average of 30-40 minutes per visit to ten minute visits in which we minimally manage health and we refer patients for nearly all chronic disease care. We would not establish relationships with people ... we would be a "factory" focused on revenue.
I have seen a gradual increase in the time required to get patients seen in specialties. Those performing procedures are readily available still at this time and those areas in healthcare generate the highest revenues.
The US does not regulate healthcare to provide quality. We regulate healthcare to generate revenue.
The UK is not perfect from my reading and it does provide care for everyone and does look at the entire system in providing quality care. The UK spends $4,725 per person on healthcare and the US spends $10,687 as of 2023. There are many paths to providing competent quality care for the US. I am not seeing movement in that direction. Each day at work now is harder and will eventually tilt to an end of the path we are taking. I am 66 years old and hope to continue to find ways to make this work for another 15 years or more.
Just talking about this today with my son who is disabled due to surgeries and treatment of Osteosarcoma that has left him disabled unable to walk without assistance and he can't drive as his right side is the impacted side. He is in chronic pain. He has been on MediCare and SSDI with MediCal for dental, which he can't get good care from those who take MediCal. He cannot get in for months.
If we had government healthcare, dental, and vision and all public hospitals were funded well meaning their staff was paid well, that would be a huge bargaining block. There is no reason that an X-ray costs different prices depending upon where you are, or that a doctor in the ER with privileges at that hospital is out of network and a huge bill is owed. There is no reason anyone should go bankrupt because of medical bills. Insurance companies need to be gone! For profit hospitals need to be gone.
We do not have healthcare in this country. Most people go into healthcare believing that the training will allow them to impact lives for the better.
[It is hard for me to believe that I am 66 years old. Where have the years gone?]
In 1979 I do believe that the US was different. We worked to help people live better lives. Now with the system as it is ... that is no longer true. Most of healthcare is driven by power and money. We in healthcare practice in a toxic business. Not all and not everywhere. I know where to find the sweet spots of healthcare as I have been practicing in the same metropolitan area for 45 years or so.
But now I am growing weary of the constant challenges and traumas and lack of support. I am looking for ways forward and I hope I am able to find paths that allow me to be a physician to people. I am hoping I can brighten lives and help assuage pain and counsel people to be the most that they can be regardless of the realities they live with.
May you, your family and your son find brighter opportunities going forward. May this country find the courage to change this atrocity we now call healthcare so that you, your family and your son have the best possible care.
Donald, You are an excellent observer. Most people on these types of chats are aware and fight this but without much headway due to extreme corruption. In the US our out of pocket expenses are very high. For example, I live in Chicago. I live in. Condominium (owned apartment) and pay $12k property taxes per year, car insurance $2400 per year! This is with a safe driving record! Insurance is a mere $800 annually but you get the picture for keeping up with costs.
I absolutely love your idea for Judd to talk about what our tax dollars REALLY support! And how Republicans have never been in the side of the worker! Our social security system takes 6% out of income up to $160k (approx). But we have multi-millionaires and BILLIONAIRES who pay into SS only up to the same $160k of income. Some wealthy don’t have wages and salary to tax…they live off of the investment income they have. This is taxed at a lower rate.
Where in the UK are you from? I’ve been to each country in the UK a couple of times. Love it there! Had a great visit in Lake District England last year.
I’m from Colchester in the county of Essex but we now spend half the year in Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland. Currently retired and downsizing here in the US hence very conscious of the economic and lifestyle differences. In 2018 I joined the board of a Missouri non profit campaigning for universal healthcare and my wife and I collected signatures for the ballot initiative that successfully forced the gerrymandered trifecta Republican Missouri legislature to accept Medicaid expansion in 2020. I met state legislators on both sides. The most memorable moment was a private remark by a Republican Senator whose wife is a physician that the insurance industry “owns” the state legislature. Sadly, this decent man was primaried and replaced with a MAGA toadie.
Donald, I’m so happy you and your wife are here part time helping with signature collections for effective legislative action. Bravo! Thank you!
I had to look up Stonehaven.- stunning! Then Colchester…you are east coast people! 😊 I have a couple of friends who live in Norwich. What a way to re-charge in those beautiful places.
I’m always so happy to meet sane people across the globe. I’m wondering how you ended up in Missouri but this is not a penpal site. 😄 Anyway, nice to “meet” you!
It may sound silly to have only one counter example, but it matters to me: a very wealthy friend moved to and became a British citizen before she turned 50. She experienced a debilitating intestinal problem, and with each NHS examination was told that her minor gastric disturbance would clear up on its own. She did have access to other medical care (because of her money), and after more than a year, this examination from a specialist revealed peritonitis--the kind that could cause her death if she wasn't treated immediately. She recovered and has followed a diet carefully , avoiding any food that could cause a flare up.
It’s not silly at all. Your point is well taken. If you have money in the US (we did when I was working) then the health system here works just fine. Except of course for the hassles and routine denials of coverage. The point is that the NHS works at scale and cost efficiency demands economy on diagnostics which sometimes leads to the outcome your friend avoided. But I would contend that many more Americans die because they don’t go to ER or even Urgent Care because they can’t afford to pay. The daughter of my neighbor was one such sad case. Like so many Americans working in low paid jobs she didn’t have health insurance and delayed seeking treatment for pneumonia and died.
I would also add that when I was working in the UK we had private health coverage (BUPA) to augment the NHS. My wife was able to access the best consultants and prompt diagnostics for several problems over the years. I’m puzzled that your wealthy friend did not avail herself of that option.
She had the option but kept believing the NHS doctors, and assumed that her strong constitution and good eating habits should suffice. When she felt truly wretched, she went to a specialist--and discovered that she was in a life threatening drastic condition.
Beginner's tip regarding US healthcare for older people: If you have Medicare, you are entitled to on annual Wellness Exam. If you have an additional, supplemental program like an Aware Gold addition, you are ALSO likely entitled to a more thorough ANNUAL EXAM. Check with your insurance provider to be sure - they will probably provide you with what to say to the schedulers when you contact your medical provider to get an appointment. Aware Gold programs, often much reviled, do allow you this option.
The ERA! This amendment was proposed in December of 1923--100 years ago! And, we have NOTHING to celebrate! How about exposing who and what stands in the way of the passaage of this basic affirmation of the rights of women. Phyllis SchiafIy, the major vocal opponent died in 2016. I remember Obama planning to have this passed as soon as he became President. It would be helpful to learn the specific reasons anyone with power has come up with (currently) to block what should be a tenet of civilization. It's time to support the rights of women in all areas of life. The issue of Women's Choice to do what they choose to do with their bodies is obviously popular right now. It's "high time"!
Completely agree. Way overdue. Sure, we have the right to vote. But equal pay for equal work? Other specifics? If the MAGA crowd have their way, we will all be “Handmaidens “ and what could be more disgusting? Speaker Johnson has a lot of power at present and would love to see us wearing “Leave it to Beaver” house dresses with aprons and heels, preparing meals and knowing our “true” place in this misogynistic nightmare. Equal Rights Amendment now.
Voter suppression is happening in states that may determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. This is largely going uncovered by traditional media.
Agree. Also the majority of blue voters are, with respect to the Electoral College, in the minority of states. In red states all MAGA needs is fifty percent plus one (Karl Rove’s slogan). Reduce non-red voters in red states using voter suppression and the numerical majority red states (led by big point Texas and Florida) creep over the Electoral College’s threshold for winning. And don’t forget about ProjectRedMap. 99 percent of Americans have never heard of it.
Great work, Judd! I appreciate your grit and tenacity! You’re pulling back the curtain on so many issues that Americans should be concerned about and (in my estimation) you’re the only one doing this type of work. It’s honest, straightforward reporting and it’s vitally important.
Randy, Democracy Now - Amy Goodman is an excellent source. Thom Hartmann is another good source. On Substack- Robert Reich is very informational. And others too.
I've been going through my school district's budget and learning a lot about the various technology services many, many districts have contracted with and how a large number of them are owned by the same private equity company. And that there is very little due diligence being done to protect our families' data by most districts. Vista Equity Partners is the main one. The problem other than the lack of data security (leaving aside the question of whether PE firms should be involved in public education) is that these apps don't even work well. We're still dealing with a bussing fiasco only made worse by the technology company the district paid to "streamline" the routes with kids not getting home from school until 6pm and some routes being cancelled without prior notice weekly. I don't have to go through the budget to know we're giving 7 million dollars to EVOLV for AI weapons detection despair the fact that the FTC is investigating their business practices. Meanwhile half the kids can't read at anywhere near grade level. Why is that? Another program. I'm kind of freaking out trying to do this by myself, so if you guys are interested at all...
It's JCPS in Louisville KY. The busing situation got national coverage due to the fact that they had to close schools after kids weren't getting home until 9-10pm the first day of school. It's barely improved. And that's just the buses. The local media here basically reissues the school district's PR releases as news. On the rare occasion they do some journalism they fail to follow up. Even the local NPR EDUCATION reporter. 😐
Oooh, Kentucky. Honestly, you reap what you sow. For the soul-selling of electing Mitch McConnell to the Senate year after year, the drip down into the state has created much corruption and old-boy-take-it-it's-yours. The best thing for you to do is get Amy McGrath, or someone like her, into a position of power and get the old dogs OUT.
Also I hope you reminded yourself of the whole "reaping what you sow" thing during the Trump administration. You didn't vote for Trump, you say? I didn't vote for McConnell. That's a lazy and rude response to someone who has worked her ass off trying to get Democrats elected locally, state-wide and nationally for years.
Um. I'm in Louisville. It's blue as blue can be here, a more neoliberal shade than I prefer but that's a nationwide problem. And our school district gets attacked by the Republican held state legislature but the private equity bullshit is entirely nonpartisan. You make a lot of incorrect assumptions here and Amy McGrath lost her race with millions of dollars left to spend, where did it go?
A group of private developers has formed up in Atlanta to oppose the 3 decades long plan to build light rail on the 22 mile loop that encircles the city. Despite the fact that the city has repeatedly voted to support, and recent petitions of the myriad neighborhoods that will be connected have overwhelmingly indicated support, a small well funded group is using false equivalency arguments and fear tactics to get equal coverage in the press using a 600 person study authored by one of the founders of the non-profit 'Better Atlanta Transit" which formed to create a campaign to defeat the rail project.
I'm from Atlanta, and one my biggest laments with living there is the sorry state of its public transit, which is wholly beneath its stature as a major urban area.
I didn't know about this light rail project. Thank you for mentioning it.
Greetings from Whidbey Island. Perfect speed is being here. Howdy neighbor! It is a constant battle by the roads crews, to keep the forests from taking back the streets here. At our place we have declared an armistice and welcome the shade and music of the wind.
I’m very concerned about what is happening to people who are protesting the militarization and violent behavior of police. Example: Domestic terrorism charges for those protesting “Cop City” in Atlanta and RICO charges for organizers and those participating in bail fund drives. Things have really heated up there since the murder of the young tree protector Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran
Oops! Accidentally hit “send” . . . Many citizens in Atlanta have opposed this development--which is to be the largest police training facility in the world, built in a large swath of green space in the city and surrounded by predominantly citizens of color. The voice and rights of the citizens have been ignored and a large coalition of diverse locals, along with engagement by others from outside of Atlanta have galvanized against police violence and development of green spaces.
Mainstream media is not really covering it and is full of misinformation and omissions when they do.
Since he seems to want to be the center of distraction, would love to find the monied mules who got a Florida resident got Tommy Tuberville elected. He is doing the bidding of others, who? Who is the $$ behind this uneducated fool??
I assume that everyone knows that this debacle is all in support of Trump and those who want to dismantle all aspects of of power that would stop Trump in his maneuvers.
In the same lane as Donald Clarke, I wish someone with your investigative skills would do a piece on the state of the healthcare system in this country with an emphasis on Medicare versus those damned Medicare Advantage plans. These plans are the biggest scam in US history, if you ask me.
Additionally, when purchasing insurance through the marketplace one cannot know ahead of time what benefits you will receive. Alarmingly, even after you purchase one of these very expensive over priced government subsidized policies there are no guarantees. It even says so right on my Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance card.
I have been comparing my health care access and costs (ACA) side by side with my mother’s and husband’s Medicare for over a decade now.
Medicare is THE MOST EFFICIENT health care insurance program out there and it is also the most inexpensive. Some actuarial studies have shown that if we all paid into it from cradle to grave as it was initially designed to be (Medicare For All), premiums could be as low as $17/month.
It’s a big deal. Donald Clarke is correct. There is poverty and then there is poverty created by bad public policy.
Thanks, Judd. Your tenacity and ability to distill these complex issues into digestible understandable bits is a true gift that we need right now more than ever.
Most people in healthcare do as well. The first time I heard the reference “Medicare disAsvantage” was at a neuro rehab about 12 years ago. It common among health care providers. They hate these plans because healthcare providers get into the business of caring and then are told they can’t!
Yeah, I have union provided healthcare supplemental plan & suddenly I'm off of Medicare and thrown into an "Advantage" plan. Our dr's office billing clerk said if I need long term care no one will take me with an Advantage Plan. What's up? Would like to know something more on these Medicare Advantage Plans ... thank you.
How about Republicans in the Ohio legislature trying to strip the courts of their power to decide if legislation violates the state constitution because voters decided to enshrine the right to abortion in the constitution?
I'd be interested in more information about current immigration and immigration policies. We keep hearing that the southern border is overwhelmed and undocumented migrants are pouring over our "open borders." Republicans want to abolish birthright citizenship, use deadly force at the borders, and set up internment camps for migrants who have the legal right to request asylum. What happens when the next migrant caravan comes? What government aid is set aside to help migrants? How does it impact the economy? Our schools? Our healthcare system?
I just moved out of Florida due to the Dark Lord DeSantis and GOP's horrendous takeover of the state, anti-this, anti-that, all negativity and repression. I was a faculty member at a FL university and I have heard that 20-30% of Florida faculty members have also fled the state. Any hard figures on that? I stayed and tried to be part of the solution for a time, but the hate is real and deep, beyond my humble abilities to foment change. Very sad for the students, K-12 and beyond, who are getting less than a half-a** education now.
Thank you for even making the attempt in such an abruptly hostile territory. That's the most surprising thing to me. The sheer speed with which these events occured.
Judd, I’d like to see your excellent investigative task force shine more light on Supreme Court Justices’ acceptance of “gratuities” and their feeble attempts to explain them and now self regulate themselves.
For example, SCOTUS corruption has been so brazen and shameless, it wouldn’t surprise me if their new “code of ethics” included this:
“US Supreme Court Creates Gift Registry for Justices”
In MA, health insurance for lower income folks resembles a shell game, with small companies appearing and disappearing while healthcare providers struggle to get paid and patients (consequently) struggle to find anyone within a two hour drive who will accept their constantly changing cards (e.g., BeHealthy Partnership.) Who profits from this chaos? How does it persist? [Thanks, by the way, for your wonderful work.]
I'd like to see some in depth reporting, research, on the many radical GOP House and Senate members. I's bet that underneath the surface of their financials, their private lives, lurk an abundance of criminal or nearly criminal activites.
Delving into the financials of Supreme Court justice Thomas has forced the Court to adopt a ( mostly meaningless, at the moment ) set of ethical standards. At least it's a start.
James Comer apparently made a similar loan to his brother as President Biden did. Yet for Comer, Biden's loan is an impeachable offence , and his is fine ?!
I'd love to see the dirt hiding behind the grandstansders MTG, Boebert and Gaetz
I realize there are far more issues than it is possible to cover. But as long as you asked - I wish someone would do a really honest and researched story on what is happening to our Wild Horses. The current "management" style of the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is to eradicate them from our public lands - to the benefit of the livestock and mining lobbies. They HAVE been proven to be native wild animals - living here for hundreds of years - regardless of the propaganda thrown out there.
I guess to many people it would seem to be such an unimportant subject. But how we treat other species - domestic & wild - shows how we treat each other.
Far too many species are already extinct - more every day. Thats pretty well covered by conservation organizations. The Wild Horses are being claimed to be an "invasive" non-native species. There are some really good organizations that are attempting to make a difference but its difficult when you are up against corporate lobbyists and big-ag!
You seem, from both of your comments I've seen so far, that you would benefit from thinking before you post and remember what I hope your momma told you. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".
The Vouchers for All law in Arizona is a farse. Parents get $7K to subsidize private or religious school or homeschooling. There is no accountability for academic achievement or fiscal responsibility. Parents are using the money in perverse ways. You can read about it here.
I want to know more about the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. I was startled and suspicious when he more or less easily rammed through a bill to avoid government shutdown. He must have his radical supporters in an arm lock so he can make points with the media until it's time for their agenda to be pushed. It was all too easy, compared to the shenanigans that have been going on so far this year. Johnson is up to something, the question is WHAT?
It wasn’t Johnson that had the radical supporters in an arm lock, it’s the groups behind Johnson. I’ll bet Mike Johnson was elected Speaker with 100% support from the Republican caucus only because any potential “no” vote received a pointed and stern phone call from a higher up for either Trump, The Heritage Foundation, or Koch. Followed by a reminder call if there’s any suspicion of wavering on support for Johnson. Forward progress of the true Christofascist conservative agenda is what matters. Personal bickering, bill riders, talking head media interviews, and the common good of the nation are distractions that need not get in the way.
COP28 is coming up, and the APEC Summit is happening right now. I’d suggest that PI’s coverage of the economy and trade, climate and the environment, and diplomacy should ramp up in the next three weeks.
Why aren’t public college and public university presidents demanding more funds for mental health services on their campuses from state and federal governments? Students are ghosting their professors often because they are extremely depressed. Even if professors file reports expressing their concerns to campus psychological services, these offices are often understaffed due to lack of funding. We’re at risk of losing a massive amount of young people to mental illness. Mental health must be addressed for all segments of the US, but perhaps an effort by these leaders can get a national conversation started.
There was a story that was touched upon sometime in the past 2-3 months by either Heather Cox Richardson or Joyce Vance that was about a mayoral election that took place in one of the southern states (AL, MI, LS ?) where the incumbent lost, but still has not vacated the position as the existing town government had tacitly agreed to ignore the winner and go on as if there had been no election.
This seems like an important story to look into in the light of all the issues surrounding elections in our country.
How bout some national coverage of MA state auditor's attempt to audit the state legislature, one of the least transparent in the nation despite our overwhelming Dem supermajority and despite huge public support for transparency. Speaker of the House and AG have both stated that she lacks the authority to audit the legislature, despite long history of precedents. She's launched a ballot initiative to bring the issue to the voters directly. Watch as powerful Dems do everything possible to sink the campaign, beginning with voter suppression (e.g. throwing out voter signatures t keep the question off the ballot).
Republicans aren't the only ones who jerrymander, suppress voting, and erect walls to transparency in order to consolidate their power.
You're right about "not the only ones." The problem is that politics has become a career: college major in poli sci, then "law" school, then start with precinct delegate, move up to school board, state rep, congress... It's all about keeping your job and getting the next promotion. Much better to have candidates who've achieved something other than fund-raising. Then term-limit them, but fairly long terms, since it takes a while to learn the rules of each new game.
I think you are doing really good informed INVESTIGATIVE journalism that is sadly lacking in MSM and social media. It is having positive impacts on peoples lives. The series of articles about the young indigenous woman that was murdered on the road by the white supremacist and the cops did not do anything about it until your article gained national attention is a shining example of calling truth to power and what real journalism can do. Thank you.
OHIO! We worked to get choice on the ballot. Thousands of signatures. Issue 1 WON! The state legislature is basically saying nice try...we are going to stop it. Ohio is the poster child of letting gerrymandered districts to bring unwanted representation regardless of the people. It’s going to be a playbook to let minority rule across all red states.
Living here in Vermont, the current mystery seems to be Bernie Sander's steadfast support for funding the daily and exponential civilian body count in Gaza.
One possible factor may be the supersonic Lockheed Martin first-strike F-35 jets favored by Israel for civilian suffering. After Lockheed Martin contributions, Bernie supported basing 20 F-35s in Vermont's only big airport, where they take off almost daily with supersonic noise over our largest town (Burlington) and over the sizey University of Vermont campus.
In 2018 an investigation by Vermont's major online daily into campaign contributions found all three of Vermont's then national legislators -- Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and now-retired Patrick Leahy -- received five digit donations from the corporations making parts for the F-35.
Quote from VT Digger:
"Vermont’s three members of Congress have received generous donations from the four major contractors working on the F-35: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and United Technologies.
"Leahy has taken the lion’s share of cash, pulling in at least $93,850 from the four contractors over the course of his career, according to a VTDigger analysis of data from the Center For Responsive Politics. Sanders was second with $85,437, while Welch’s haul was at least $30,200."
Multi-billion healthcare company refuses to replace defective products. Dexcom, maker of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) now limits patients to 3 replacements of defective sensors per month, implying need for any more is due to user error or re-selling. But the tech isn’t at a level to support that conclusion. No help is offered to patients beyond standard articles, videos on website so, if user error is the problem, shouldn’t Dexcom offer better training? Meanwhile Dexcom is increasing its market share by selling to type 2 diabetics. And is Dexcom refunding insurers if patient says sensor is defective but it’s not replaced?
A bunch of money and terror are spent training kids for school shooting as well as having armed people in schools. Is there any evidence that it does any good?
It seemed that Uvalde had armed guards on duty and, I imagine, had done lots of drills terrifying students. Were fewer students harmed because of it?
It seems to me that teaching kids to go to their classroom and lock the door is enough. Even with these shootings happening once a month, it's highly improbable that you're school will be involved in a shooting. Why spend so much time and money on such an unlikely event?
I can see how that's surprising, but in my limited experience with shooting ranges (I do not own a firearm), they seem pretty safe. And if you think about it, it's very probable that many more kids are shot at school than at a shooting range.
First off, I want to thank you for the wonderful reporting by you and the team. Great works.
A couple of health care issues that I believe need more clarification, first being the so-called negotiation of dogs under Medicare. The reality is that Medicare is actually unable to "negotiate." Medicare sets prices for services based on a variety of current conditions so I believe it's important to move away from the political word of negotiate and maybe into something that's a better description. One example is the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) created in The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. The law was originally delayed a year while CMS worked on the Part D program, and then when it was first being implemented in 2005 Congress delayed it another year because they (and all the DME suppliers) disagreed with how the program was being implemented. I believe that the launch of the DMEPOS program is a perfect comparison of the industry opposition to Medicare payment changes.
Second, it's important to remember that Medicare only has the authority to manage costs of health care services, not quality. CMS has been attempting to improve quality through a number of demonstration programs, but ultimately the majority of CMS' oversight for health care services is cost (and many others like Kaiser Health News (KHN), ProPublica and STAT are doing remarkable work on both health care costs and quality).
I follow a group on Facebook that tracks arrests for January 6th. It’s amazing they are still tracking down and arresting rioters almost 3 years later. People that have been looking over their shoulder for this long still being found and charged. Yet, nothing in the news. It would be great to see a comprehensive breakdown of this aftermath and reiterate they didn’t get away with it! Thanks! The group is January 6th Arrests & Updates.
Two things: 1) The ad nauseam number of ads on TV. Seriously, it's beginning to feel like "20 minutes of ads with 10 minutes of programming. And they wonder why streaming is so popular. 2). How does FOX "News" continue as a news channel when all they do is lie and NOT cover the real news. To each his own if they want to call that news, but I don't understand why the FCC doesn't take away their broadcasting license for failure to live up to "news standards". Thanks for letting me have my say! I think you do a fabulous job.
I'd love to know more about the long-term history of the land where Israel and Palestine now reside. It seems everything written about it lately begins in 1948 - but what's the historical context in the centuries before that? I realize this is a history deep dive, and the today's political issues are most recently related to the 20th century, but it seems a lot of us lack the long-term historical perspective of this particular part of the world.
There has been a trend of individuals getting elected as a Democrat and then switching to Republican (either declaring a new party affiliation or in practice). We've seen this happen across the country at various levels of government. NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Former LA City Council President Nury Martinez are good examples.
I recently worked on a local election for an underdog candidate and let me tell you, even at this grassroots level, things got nasty. My query to you, Judd, is how many races go unchallenged, and is is this an increasing phenomena? I guess hand in hand is why term limits are not in place everywhere. When term limits are in place, I would imagine there is a more robust electorate.
Katy Bolger, look up David Pepper's work. He has documented that many, many races in Ohio do go unchallenged, and their authoritarian legislature is stuffed with people who have never faced an opponent.
I am a teacher (currently not in the classroom) and a parent of a student who is in elementary school. I did homeschool my daughter for k-2 because of Covid and became very aware of the debate over how to teach reading effectively for most students. As a result, I fell into research about curricula, computer based programs, computer adaptive testing, and state standardized testing and its role in the reading debate, as well as the low rates of reading proficiency in the US.
While I agree there are many reasons for a fall in reading scores (Covid, technology, screens, social media, overworked parents, under-resourced districts), I do wonder whether the intrusion of private companies, money, and equity into the very lucrative and captive public k-12 space has had some role as well.
State tests and standards, especially in elementary, are often not child developmental appropriate (yes, kindergarten is the new 1st and 2nd grade; I did kindergarten when it was half day, including a nap and snack time). Tests, especially for reading, are difficult for students because many rely on "cold" passages- meaning passages where the children have not necessarily studied the topics in school and learned the relevant background knowledge and vocabulary to be successful, meaning they can maybe decode the words and "read" them out loud, but they may not know enough to answer comprehension questions. For example, let's say that my daughter learned about ancient civilizations this year in her reading and social studies course in 3rd grade, but when she goes to take the state test, she can be tested on a reading passage from the Civil War. These tests aren't testing reading so much as what knowledge, vocabulary, and outside-of-school experiences a kid has- if they get something they know, they will do better even if they are a poor reader (search for the baseball study and related findings).
Well, why is this a concern? Because many of the state mandated tests are written and overseen by private companies, like Pearson, not by state entities, like government officials, teachers, university professors, etc. They may be able to sign off on tests, but because tests are held under security (as a teacher, I've signed that I will give up my teaching license if I fail to secure a private company's test properly) and parents/teachers/administrators cannot see the testing materials due to security and copyright, I wonder if we are being sold a bad test and scores. Because there is also another level of private industry, owned by the test companies, which is curricula, intervention programs, and benchmark testing programs, all geared towards increasing student scores on those same state tests. It does seem rather suspicious to me and I wonder where the money is coming from and going to among these private test and curriculum companies and state legislatures, who mandate the tests and who are overwhelmingly now mandating which curricula schools can even use because of the "reading wars."
Another issue is that we may just be failing kids because we are gearing school to these curricula that are mainly test prep for state exams and kids are doing poorly because we no longer teach a rich curriculum, created by educators. It is all just data points now until college, when we realize that multiple choice tests and short essays are not preparing kids for college and work.
In a particular example, my daughter's school uses iReady, a "computer adaptive benchmark and personalized learning program" from Curriculum Associates. I have been unable to find much research about its effectiveness, aside from studies conducted by researchers who work for Curriculum Associates. I have found two analyses that don't show high effective rates for the program, but there just is not enough evidence to show it helps. Students are given the test 3 times a year as a benchmark- the report I got as a parent was pretty useless, as it just gave generic information like "vocabulary, at Grade 3; comprehension, at Grade 3." However, neither her teacher nor I are able to even see the questions or answers from these tests. As a teacher and parent, I have no faith in a test that cannot be viewed by professionals- I don't know what the passage or questions were like, what my child did right or wrong, anything. Then, she is given a "personalized learning plan" that she has to do online for 45 minutes each week, but her teacher does not have the time to monitor this work, as all 18 students have different paths. So, they have to rely on the program for information as to how a student is doing. It appears to me to just be weekly test prep with games sprinkled through. But, the school no longer teaches spelling because they use that time for test prep, so I teach my daughter at home because spelling/encoding is an important skill to help develop her reading and writing fluency for the rest of her life.
I've also found out that Curriculum Associates gets to use my daughter's data from working on the computer every week to create it norms and standards, free of charge and without giving me an option to say no.
So, I guess this long winded passage asks:
1. Do our kids suffer from lack of reading ability OR are our private corporation backed testing and curricula inappropriate for them OR are we reducing schools to test prep curricula and simply not giving them a rich education for life as a citizen?
2. Who is influencing the reliance on testing data in the states and now using the "reading wars" to influence state legislatures to mandate which curricula can be used?
3. Where is all of our children's data going and why are we allowing private entities to use it, with no opt out? Do parents have to allow our children to be mined for data to be able to access public school?
4. As always, where is the money coming from and going to?
Thank you for all the work you do- this was just a fraction of issues I see (I didn't mention vouchers, religious intrusion in schools, Google, Chromebooks, PowerSchool, the proliferation of apps my child is forced to use, the movement of all reading and writing to screens, without even teaching keyboarding skills, etc) but I think there is a lot going wrong with public education that is heavily influenced by private money.
Mr. Legum, a few months ago several members of our Indivisible Evanston (IL) group visited members of an Indivisible group in Dixon, IL. We partner with them in an effort to help them flip some red government politicians reps to blue. This is in very red rural central Illinois. They have a difficult task.
Several of them, who read your substack posts, asked if we could contact you about an organization called "Young America’s Foundation" (YAF) headed by former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. I believe they may have contacted you before but your volume of texts and emails must be huge.
So I’m hoping I can get your attention. I’m pretty sure an internet search will lead you to the organization. I also have a copy of the Lee County Democratic Central Committee newsletter, from this past summer, which has an article about YAF. I would be glad to send it to you or take picture of the article for you to read. It’s short. Hope you’re able to follow up and expose this group. They are as insidious as the Mom’s for Liberty that you recently wrote about. Thanks for that.
Thanks for allowing us to contact you. Sincerely, Steve Sidell
Keep dogging No Labels - disingenuous and dangerous! Also, exposing private equity and the damage it does when it gets a large stake in an area of the economy. Thanks for the coverage on the "faux" retail theft - shared with my council member as my city considers wasting time on this rather than dealing with the root of youth crime here.
Thank you for your terrific investigative reporting! As we know, young people are going to be critical voters in the 2024 presidential election. Republicans have been working hard to recruit and train young people to be conservative thinkers and voters. One organization is headquartered in Dixon, IL, the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan, at the Reagan Ranch in California and other locations. It is the Young America's Foundation. Someone really really needs to look into the activities of this organization - and no one would be better than, you, Judd. They are now recruiting middle school students in addition to their activities for high school and college students. They have egads of lawyers so our Board of Education's hands are tied when YAF promotes their events via our public schools. YAF is buying up lots of property in Dixon. Obviously they have lots of funding but it is difficult to find out who supports them financially. Can you help?
What is missing is a large spotlight on the far right continuing assault on taking money from the middle class and poor and giving it to the wealthy and wealthy corporations and then always whining about the need to make cuts everywhere to pay for their giveaways to the wealthy! And rarely is this talked about. The "culture wars" are their way of distracting the people (especially the right to keep them "enraged and engaged" and distracted) in America of their theft of the money from the middle class and poor. People care about money and their money is being stolen from them by right wing politicians and the wealthy and wealthy corporations all the time............................. (Case in point: Why do you think the Republicans are trying to cut and reduce funding to the IRS? It is not about you and me. It is about them feeding their wealthy donors. They don't give a damn about us. But, they do care about the care and feeding of their owners - the wealthy and wealthy corporations who fund their campaign to keep us feeding them with OUR money! Talk about that - LOUDLY EVERYWHERE especially in red rural America who are really getting the shaft, but are oblivious because the con job on them is so good they are blind to the theft because they are always manipulated to be mad all the time.)
Just tossing this out here: if you want/need another go at Citizens United, or any other money-in-politics angle, the city of Wichita, Kansas just elected a Libertarian as its mayor. Lily Wu, a former television anchor, was backed by Koch money through Americans for Prosperity and massively out-gained/out-spent her rivals in both the primary and general election. Wichita is the largest city in the state and had a 4-3 democratic majority in their City Council before the election; now that has flipped. Kansas also rejected abortion restrictions last year. Adding another odd twist to this situation is the fact that Wu was not endorsed by the Libertarian Party of Kansas and only switched from being a registered Republican last year. As the Libertarian Party puts it, Mayor-Elect Wu used "[their] banner as a stepping stone throughout her campaign". The only union backing she had was from the Fraternal Order of Police, whose support our outgoing mayor lost because he tried to hold them accountable for their many scandals. What's equally frustrating in this case is that Wu is an immigrant of Asian descent, and I'd love to be able to champion her ascent. But there's no evidence she's going to the value the people of Wichita over its aristocratic class.
The company that was hired by the Arizona Senate, Cyber Ninjas, to recount 2020 election results using hand counting of ballots was later fined $50,000 a day for failure to release public records. What is happening, or not happening, with collecting the fine? What has happened to the CEO Doug Logan for not paying the fine? Is there any punitive measures being taken?
Judd, it was obvious when 17 GOP state AGs and Governors signed on to TX AG Paxton's phony suit attacking ALL votes in 4 distant states that it was a Trump organized scheme to steal millions of votes and so throw and steal the election. This suit originated about Dec. 9, 2020. Florida's governor and AG joined it, it was quickly thrown out, but the attempt was made. Fl's AG Ashley Moody was shredded publicly by a former Chief Justice of the state supreme court for having done so, saying she's betrayed the constitution and her office. She laid low for awhile, the FL papers seem to have forgotten about it, and she won re-election. On August 1, 2023, Jack Smith's criminal indictment of Trump, at about p.13, paragraph 24 et seq, described this lawsuit specifically as a key front in Trump's criminal conspiracy to steal the election. People who voluntarily join a criminal conspiracy after it's hatched, to advance its criminal purposes, are usually considered criminal co-conspirators. That should include all 17 of the state governors and AGs who joined in that TX suit. Last week, I heard brilliant elections lawyer Marc Elias, a true American hero for his work generally and in beating back Trump's many fraudulent elections challenges nationally, say that he was greatly alarmed that these 17 pairs of GOP state officials who joined Trump's criminal conspiracy hadn't yet seemed to draw the attention of the DOJ. I'm alarmed by that too. Most of them picked up the "Big Lie" baton that Trump couldn't get over the finish line in 2020, and used that lie to pass voter suppression laws in their states that we're still having to deal with. They repeated Trump's lie for the same reason Trump hatched it - to steal millions of votes away from their autocratic GOP aims. And so here we still sit. These 17 pairs of apparent criminials are sitting there waiting to be criminal investigated, prosecuted and punished. Can you please do what you can to draw national attention to this travesty of inaction? And only last night on Lawrence O'Donnell's show, I heard that likely this same 17 pairs of elected subverters of elections have no joined in with Trump's appeal to the DC Circuit attempting to throw out Judge Chutkin's limited gag order in the Trump case before her! They think they're impune, because they've never been scourged for their treachery of late 2020! Can you please spotlight this travesty of inaction with an eye toward greater national media and government attention to it? Thanks for all you do.
Moody actually tried to "erase" her footprints relating to funding and organizing the Ellipse event by scrubbing her official state office web page of any reference to her involvement with the RAGA (Republican Attorneys General Association) and its non-profit arm on which she was a board member, the RLDF (Rule of Law Defense Fund), both of which were involved with the Ellipse event AT LEAST. By January 11, 2021, both of those associations had been eliminated from her page, where they'd been through that date. Her office refused comment when asked about the removal. Additionally, Moody is from Plant City in western Hillsborough County, 5 miles away from Lakeland Florida, where Publix Corp. is HQ'd. I think it's impossible to believe that Moody isn't a familiar acquaintance with the Fancelli Publix heiress, who was a very big contributor to the Ellipse event, which Moody participated in organizing. The whole association REEKS.
We are Brits living in a Trump dominated region of the central United States. There are a lot of misconceptions here about the real impact of Republican policies on universal healthcare, deregulation and taxation. They think that Brits pay high taxes to pay for the NHS, but fail to recognize that Americans pay high taxes to benefit corporations, the military industrial complex and the healthcare gravy train. I’d love to see your economic analysis show the real poverty of the average American family here in the US compared to the Brits. We now spend half the year back in the UK. Would be happy to help with like for like research on the cost of living in both places.
It would be great if some of the stats comparing red states and blue states on life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality, education, annual income (adjusted by state COL) number of hospitals by population, obesity rates, cancer rates, diabetes rates and CVD rates were published in one place. It would show almost without exception that blue sates have far better stats than red states. Maga is truly a death cult and the life expectancy data show it.
Regarding healthcare in the US ... I have long admired and appreciated the healthcare system in the UK. The underlying approach to healthcare in the US is based on generating money. I started in medical school in 1979 and have practiced as a family physician since 1989. Gradually US healthcare has transitioned to a specialty focused devaluing of primary care. A report from the Robert Graham Center and the Milbank Memorial Fund showed a 26% decrease in primary care percent of revenue from commercial medical insurance of 6.2% in 2013 to 4.6% in 2020 (March 2023 report). Primary care should be a major resource and has been shown to improve health and quality of life. As primary care atrophies and primary care gets paid less ... more primary care providers are retiring and transitioning to other professions. This is due to the focus on making money in healthcare and lack of vision from our leaders.
If primary care were compensated appropriately the majority of care would be managed in the primary setting. My office is a private practice focused on quality. I am experiencing the house of cards falling. I cannot survive in the US healthcare system as we are now focused ... on quality. That is a dilemma for me and leads to ethical conflicts as I will not deliver healthcare that is not high quality (see articles on moral injury in healthcare). If I approached our office from a business position I would shift from quality to a high volume referral center in which we would shift from an average of 30-40 minutes per visit to ten minute visits in which we minimally manage health and we refer patients for nearly all chronic disease care. We would not establish relationships with people ... we would be a "factory" focused on revenue.
I have seen a gradual increase in the time required to get patients seen in specialties. Those performing procedures are readily available still at this time and those areas in healthcare generate the highest revenues.
The US does not regulate healthcare to provide quality. We regulate healthcare to generate revenue.
The UK is not perfect from my reading and it does provide care for everyone and does look at the entire system in providing quality care. The UK spends $4,725 per person on healthcare and the US spends $10,687 as of 2023. There are many paths to providing competent quality care for the US. I am not seeing movement in that direction. Each day at work now is harder and will eventually tilt to an end of the path we are taking. I am 66 years old and hope to continue to find ways to make this work for another 15 years or more.
Just talking about this today with my son who is disabled due to surgeries and treatment of Osteosarcoma that has left him disabled unable to walk without assistance and he can't drive as his right side is the impacted side. He is in chronic pain. He has been on MediCare and SSDI with MediCal for dental, which he can't get good care from those who take MediCal. He cannot get in for months.
If we had government healthcare, dental, and vision and all public hospitals were funded well meaning their staff was paid well, that would be a huge bargaining block. There is no reason that an X-ray costs different prices depending upon where you are, or that a doctor in the ER with privileges at that hospital is out of network and a huge bill is owed. There is no reason anyone should go bankrupt because of medical bills. Insurance companies need to be gone! For profit hospitals need to be gone.
We do not have healthcare in this country. Most people go into healthcare believing that the training will allow them to impact lives for the better.
[It is hard for me to believe that I am 66 years old. Where have the years gone?]
In 1979 I do believe that the US was different. We worked to help people live better lives. Now with the system as it is ... that is no longer true. Most of healthcare is driven by power and money. We in healthcare practice in a toxic business. Not all and not everywhere. I know where to find the sweet spots of healthcare as I have been practicing in the same metropolitan area for 45 years or so.
But now I am growing weary of the constant challenges and traumas and lack of support. I am looking for ways forward and I hope I am able to find paths that allow me to be a physician to people. I am hoping I can brighten lives and help assuage pain and counsel people to be the most that they can be regardless of the realities they live with.
May you, your family and your son find brighter opportunities going forward. May this country find the courage to change this atrocity we now call healthcare so that you, your family and your son have the best possible care.
I would LOVE to read about this.
Same here!
Donald, You are an excellent observer. Most people on these types of chats are aware and fight this but without much headway due to extreme corruption. In the US our out of pocket expenses are very high. For example, I live in Chicago. I live in. Condominium (owned apartment) and pay $12k property taxes per year, car insurance $2400 per year! This is with a safe driving record! Insurance is a mere $800 annually but you get the picture for keeping up with costs.
I absolutely love your idea for Judd to talk about what our tax dollars REALLY support! And how Republicans have never been in the side of the worker! Our social security system takes 6% out of income up to $160k (approx). But we have multi-millionaires and BILLIONAIRES who pay into SS only up to the same $160k of income. Some wealthy don’t have wages and salary to tax…they live off of the investment income they have. This is taxed at a lower rate.
Where in the UK are you from? I’ve been to each country in the UK a couple of times. Love it there! Had a great visit in Lake District England last year.
I’m from Colchester in the county of Essex but we now spend half the year in Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland. Currently retired and downsizing here in the US hence very conscious of the economic and lifestyle differences. In 2018 I joined the board of a Missouri non profit campaigning for universal healthcare and my wife and I collected signatures for the ballot initiative that successfully forced the gerrymandered trifecta Republican Missouri legislature to accept Medicaid expansion in 2020. I met state legislators on both sides. The most memorable moment was a private remark by a Republican Senator whose wife is a physician that the insurance industry “owns” the state legislature. Sadly, this decent man was primaried and replaced with a MAGA toadie.
Donald, I’m so happy you and your wife are here part time helping with signature collections for effective legislative action. Bravo! Thank you!
I had to look up Stonehaven.- stunning! Then Colchester…you are east coast people! 😊 I have a couple of friends who live in Norwich. What a way to re-charge in those beautiful places.
I’m always so happy to meet sane people across the globe. I’m wondering how you ended up in Missouri but this is not a penpal site. 😄 Anyway, nice to “meet” you!
It may sound silly to have only one counter example, but it matters to me: a very wealthy friend moved to and became a British citizen before she turned 50. She experienced a debilitating intestinal problem, and with each NHS examination was told that her minor gastric disturbance would clear up on its own. She did have access to other medical care (because of her money), and after more than a year, this examination from a specialist revealed peritonitis--the kind that could cause her death if she wasn't treated immediately. She recovered and has followed a diet carefully , avoiding any food that could cause a flare up.
It’s not silly at all. Your point is well taken. If you have money in the US (we did when I was working) then the health system here works just fine. Except of course for the hassles and routine denials of coverage. The point is that the NHS works at scale and cost efficiency demands economy on diagnostics which sometimes leads to the outcome your friend avoided. But I would contend that many more Americans die because they don’t go to ER or even Urgent Care because they can’t afford to pay. The daughter of my neighbor was one such sad case. Like so many Americans working in low paid jobs she didn’t have health insurance and delayed seeking treatment for pneumonia and died.
I would also add that when I was working in the UK we had private health coverage (BUPA) to augment the NHS. My wife was able to access the best consultants and prompt diagnostics for several problems over the years. I’m puzzled that your wealthy friend did not avail herself of that option.
She had the option but kept believing the NHS doctors, and assumed that her strong constitution and good eating habits should suffice. When she felt truly wretched, she went to a specialist--and discovered that she was in a life threatening drastic condition.
Beginner's tip regarding US healthcare for older people: If you have Medicare, you are entitled to on annual Wellness Exam. If you have an additional, supplemental program like an Aware Gold addition, you are ALSO likely entitled to a more thorough ANNUAL EXAM. Check with your insurance provider to be sure - they will probably provide you with what to say to the schedulers when you contact your medical provider to get an appointment. Aware Gold programs, often much reviled, do allow you this option.
The ERA! This amendment was proposed in December of 1923--100 years ago! And, we have NOTHING to celebrate! How about exposing who and what stands in the way of the passaage of this basic affirmation of the rights of women. Phyllis SchiafIy, the major vocal opponent died in 2016. I remember Obama planning to have this passed as soon as he became President. It would be helpful to learn the specific reasons anyone with power has come up with (currently) to block what should be a tenet of civilization. It's time to support the rights of women in all areas of life. The issue of Women's Choice to do what they choose to do with their bodies is obviously popular right now. It's "high time"!
Thank you!!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Completely agree. Way overdue. Sure, we have the right to vote. But equal pay for equal work? Other specifics? If the MAGA crowd have their way, we will all be “Handmaidens “ and what could be more disgusting? Speaker Johnson has a lot of power at present and would love to see us wearing “Leave it to Beaver” house dresses with aprons and heels, preparing meals and knowing our “true” place in this misogynistic nightmare. Equal Rights Amendment now.
The ERA has been ratified by the States...it now just needs to be addressed by the Congressional librarian or something and published.
Hysteria did a podcast on it about a month ago.
Voter suppression is happening in states that may determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. This is largely going uncovered by traditional media.
It is here. Another worthy site to support. https://www.democracydocket.com/?utm_source=Democracy+Docket+Newsletters&utm_campaign=03a784ebf7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_07_18_06_01_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-9336cb8284-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=03a784ebf7&mc_eid=afe9dd128d
I agree. Voter suppression is happening right before our eyes and must be stopped.
Very timely and urgent; must protect our Constitutional Republic!
Agree. Also the majority of blue voters are, with respect to the Electoral College, in the minority of states. In red states all MAGA needs is fifty percent plus one (Karl Rove’s slogan). Reduce non-red voters in red states using voter suppression and the numerical majority red states (led by big point Texas and Florida) creep over the Electoral College’s threshold for winning. And don’t forget about ProjectRedMap. 99 percent of Americans have never heard of it.
Great work, Judd! I appreciate your grit and tenacity! You’re pulling back the curtain on so many issues that Americans should be concerned about and (in my estimation) you’re the only one doing this type of work. It’s honest, straightforward reporting and it’s vitally important.
Randy, Democracy Now - Amy Goodman is an excellent source. Thom Hartmann is another good source. On Substack- Robert Reich is very informational. And others too.
Thank you, I’ll check them out!
Don't forget Heather Cox Richardson! She is excellent! (found on substack)
I've been going through my school district's budget and learning a lot about the various technology services many, many districts have contracted with and how a large number of them are owned by the same private equity company. And that there is very little due diligence being done to protect our families' data by most districts. Vista Equity Partners is the main one. The problem other than the lack of data security (leaving aside the question of whether PE firms should be involved in public education) is that these apps don't even work well. We're still dealing with a bussing fiasco only made worse by the technology company the district paid to "streamline" the routes with kids not getting home from school until 6pm and some routes being cancelled without prior notice weekly. I don't have to go through the budget to know we're giving 7 million dollars to EVOLV for AI weapons detection despair the fact that the FTC is investigating their business practices. Meanwhile half the kids can't read at anywhere near grade level. Why is that? Another program. I'm kind of freaking out trying to do this by myself, so if you guys are interested at all...
Where is this happening?
It's JCPS in Louisville KY. The busing situation got national coverage due to the fact that they had to close schools after kids weren't getting home until 9-10pm the first day of school. It's barely improved. And that's just the buses. The local media here basically reissues the school district's PR releases as news. On the rare occasion they do some journalism they fail to follow up. Even the local NPR EDUCATION reporter. 😐
Oooh, Kentucky. Honestly, you reap what you sow. For the soul-selling of electing Mitch McConnell to the Senate year after year, the drip down into the state has created much corruption and old-boy-take-it-it's-yours. The best thing for you to do is get Amy McGrath, or someone like her, into a position of power and get the old dogs OUT.
Also I hope you reminded yourself of the whole "reaping what you sow" thing during the Trump administration. You didn't vote for Trump, you say? I didn't vote for McConnell. That's a lazy and rude response to someone who has worked her ass off trying to get Democrats elected locally, state-wide and nationally for years.
Keep at it Rachel. We are behind you!! Get Gym Jordan out also. What a pathetic, ignorant man.
Um. I'm in Louisville. It's blue as blue can be here, a more neoliberal shade than I prefer but that's a nationwide problem. And our school district gets attacked by the Republican held state legislature but the private equity bullshit is entirely nonpartisan. You make a lot of incorrect assumptions here and Amy McGrath lost her race with millions of dollars left to spend, where did it go?
This is an interesting analysis. https://newrepublic.com/article/165243/amy-mcgrath-losing-democrats-senate-fundraising
Yes I remember this article, thank you.
Yoiks!
I guess that McConnell will be Senator from Kentucky until he freezes enough to keel over.
@J.A.M. As far as the private equity situation, that's occurring nationwide.
https://themarkup.org/machine-learning/2022/01/11/this-private-equity-firm-is-amassing-companies-that-collect-data-on-americas-children
A group of private developers has formed up in Atlanta to oppose the 3 decades long plan to build light rail on the 22 mile loop that encircles the city. Despite the fact that the city has repeatedly voted to support, and recent petitions of the myriad neighborhoods that will be connected have overwhelmingly indicated support, a small well funded group is using false equivalency arguments and fear tactics to get equal coverage in the press using a 600 person study authored by one of the founders of the non-profit 'Better Atlanta Transit" which formed to create a campaign to defeat the rail project.
AND the current Cop City hullaballoo! One of the "activists" shot how many times and according to what I read - arms raised! So much disturbing news.
Does Tyler Perry speak out about "this"?
I'm from Atlanta, and one my biggest laments with living there is the sorry state of its public transit, which is wholly beneath its stature as a major urban area.
I didn't know about this light rail project. Thank you for mentioning it.
Greetings from Whidbey Island. Perfect speed is being here. Howdy neighbor! It is a constant battle by the roads crews, to keep the forests from taking back the streets here. At our place we have declared an armistice and welcome the shade and music of the wind.
Two words: Ginni Thomas
Two more words: Clarence Thomas.
Yes! Her involvement in attempting to destroy democracy, and how much she's been paid to do that has been way underreported!
I’m very concerned about what is happening to people who are protesting the militarization and violent behavior of police. Example: Domestic terrorism charges for those protesting “Cop City” in Atlanta and RICO charges for organizers and those participating in bail fund drives. Things have really heated up there since the murder of the young tree protector Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran
Oops! Accidentally hit “send” . . . Many citizens in Atlanta have opposed this development--which is to be the largest police training facility in the world, built in a large swath of green space in the city and surrounded by predominantly citizens of color. The voice and rights of the citizens have been ignored and a large coalition of diverse locals, along with engagement by others from outside of Atlanta have galvanized against police violence and development of green spaces.
Mainstream media is not really covering it and is full of misinformation and omissions when they do.
Bannon needs to be neutralized. Miller too. Univision & reaching Latinos. How can the media boost Dem turnout.
Since he seems to want to be the center of distraction, would love to find the monied mules who got a Florida resident got Tommy Tuberville elected. He is doing the bidding of others, who? Who is the $$ behind this uneducated fool??
Rules of the Senate must be changed. One Senator should not be able to handicap the entire U.S. Military.
Very good point! How insane this is!
I assume that everyone knows that this debacle is all in support of Trump and those who want to dismantle all aspects of of power that would stop Trump in his maneuvers.
In the same lane as Donald Clarke, I wish someone with your investigative skills would do a piece on the state of the healthcare system in this country with an emphasis on Medicare versus those damned Medicare Advantage plans. These plans are the biggest scam in US history, if you ask me.
Additionally, when purchasing insurance through the marketplace one cannot know ahead of time what benefits you will receive. Alarmingly, even after you purchase one of these very expensive over priced government subsidized policies there are no guarantees. It even says so right on my Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance card.
I have been comparing my health care access and costs (ACA) side by side with my mother’s and husband’s Medicare for over a decade now.
Medicare is THE MOST EFFICIENT health care insurance program out there and it is also the most inexpensive. Some actuarial studies have shown that if we all paid into it from cradle to grave as it was initially designed to be (Medicare For All), premiums could be as low as $17/month.
It’s a big deal. Donald Clarke is correct. There is poverty and then there is poverty created by bad public policy.
Thanks, Judd. Your tenacity and ability to distill these complex issues into digestible understandable bits is a true gift that we need right now more than ever.
I call them Medicare Disadvantage Plans
Most people in healthcare do as well. The first time I heard the reference “Medicare disAsvantage” was at a neuro rehab about 12 years ago. It common among health care providers. They hate these plans because healthcare providers get into the business of caring and then are told they can’t!
Yeah, I have union provided healthcare supplemental plan & suddenly I'm off of Medicare and thrown into an "Advantage" plan. Our dr's office billing clerk said if I need long term care no one will take me with an Advantage Plan. What's up? Would like to know something more on these Medicare Advantage Plans ... thank you.
How about Republicans in the Ohio legislature trying to strip the courts of their power to decide if legislation violates the state constitution because voters decided to enshrine the right to abortion in the constitution?
And they love to go on about "the radical left!"
This 2025 plan and why the media is ignoring it. It’s quite detailed and ready to go on day 1.
I'd be interested in more information about current immigration and immigration policies. We keep hearing that the southern border is overwhelmed and undocumented migrants are pouring over our "open borders." Republicans want to abolish birthright citizenship, use deadly force at the borders, and set up internment camps for migrants who have the legal right to request asylum. What happens when the next migrant caravan comes? What government aid is set aside to help migrants? How does it impact the economy? Our schools? Our healthcare system?
I just moved out of Florida due to the Dark Lord DeSantis and GOP's horrendous takeover of the state, anti-this, anti-that, all negativity and repression. I was a faculty member at a FL university and I have heard that 20-30% of Florida faculty members have also fled the state. Any hard figures on that? I stayed and tried to be part of the solution for a time, but the hate is real and deep, beyond my humble abilities to foment change. Very sad for the students, K-12 and beyond, who are getting less than a half-a** education now.
Thank you for even making the attempt in such an abruptly hostile territory. That's the most surprising thing to me. The sheer speed with which these events occured.
I'm happy for you but how sad that others for whatever reason cannot escape.
Judd, I’d like to see your excellent investigative task force shine more light on Supreme Court Justices’ acceptance of “gratuities” and their feeble attempts to explain them and now self regulate themselves.
For example, SCOTUS corruption has been so brazen and shameless, it wouldn’t surprise me if their new “code of ethics” included this:
“US Supreme Court Creates Gift Registry for Justices”
https://open.substack.com/pub/jerrymctigue/p/us-supreme-court-creates-gift-registry?r=1nwpbm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
In MA, health insurance for lower income folks resembles a shell game, with small companies appearing and disappearing while healthcare providers struggle to get paid and patients (consequently) struggle to find anyone within a two hour drive who will accept their constantly changing cards (e.g., BeHealthy Partnership.) Who profits from this chaos? How does it persist? [Thanks, by the way, for your wonderful work.]
I'd like to see some in depth reporting, research, on the many radical GOP House and Senate members. I's bet that underneath the surface of their financials, their private lives, lurk an abundance of criminal or nearly criminal activites.
Delving into the financials of Supreme Court justice Thomas has forced the Court to adopt a ( mostly meaningless, at the moment ) set of ethical standards. At least it's a start.
James Comer apparently made a similar loan to his brother as President Biden did. Yet for Comer, Biden's loan is an impeachable offence , and his is fine ?!
I'd love to see the dirt hiding behind the grandstansders MTG, Boebert and Gaetz
I realize there are far more issues than it is possible to cover. But as long as you asked - I wish someone would do a really honest and researched story on what is happening to our Wild Horses. The current "management" style of the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is to eradicate them from our public lands - to the benefit of the livestock and mining lobbies. They HAVE been proven to be native wild animals - living here for hundreds of years - regardless of the propaganda thrown out there.
You asked!
WE are all asking for massively important things be reported by Judd et al. But you are right to ask about and care for animals.
I guess to many people it would seem to be such an unimportant subject. But how we treat other species - domestic & wild - shows how we treat each other.
Far too many species are already extinct - more every day. Thats pretty well covered by conservation organizations. The Wild Horses are being claimed to be an "invasive" non-native species. There are some really good organizations that are attempting to make a difference but its difficult when you are up against corporate lobbyists and big-ag!
Thanks for you reply - I appreciate it.
Keep caring about all of God's creations.
You seem, from both of your comments I've seen so far, that you would benefit from thinking before you post and remember what I hope your momma told you. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".
The Vouchers for All law in Arizona is a farse. Parents get $7K to subsidize private or religious school or homeschooling. There is no accountability for academic achievement or fiscal responsibility. Parents are using the money in perverse ways. You can read about it here.
https://www.sosaznetwork.org/2023/wasteful-misspending-of-esa-voucher-funds-shocks-arizona/
Since other states are considering voucher bills, their constituents need to see how their tax dollars can be abused.
Thanks for all you do.
I want to know more about the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. I was startled and suspicious when he more or less easily rammed through a bill to avoid government shutdown. He must have his radical supporters in an arm lock so he can make points with the media until it's time for their agenda to be pushed. It was all too easy, compared to the shenanigans that have been going on so far this year. Johnson is up to something, the question is WHAT?
It wasn’t Johnson that had the radical supporters in an arm lock, it’s the groups behind Johnson. I’ll bet Mike Johnson was elected Speaker with 100% support from the Republican caucus only because any potential “no” vote received a pointed and stern phone call from a higher up for either Trump, The Heritage Foundation, or Koch. Followed by a reminder call if there’s any suspicion of wavering on support for Johnson. Forward progress of the true Christofascist conservative agenda is what matters. Personal bickering, bill riders, talking head media interviews, and the common good of the nation are distractions that need not get in the way.
COP28 is coming up, and the APEC Summit is happening right now. I’d suggest that PI’s coverage of the economy and trade, climate and the environment, and diplomacy should ramp up in the next three weeks.
Why aren’t public college and public university presidents demanding more funds for mental health services on their campuses from state and federal governments? Students are ghosting their professors often because they are extremely depressed. Even if professors file reports expressing their concerns to campus psychological services, these offices are often understaffed due to lack of funding. We’re at risk of losing a massive amount of young people to mental illness. Mental health must be addressed for all segments of the US, but perhaps an effort by these leaders can get a national conversation started.
The march to authoritarianism is first and foremost on my mind. That threat overshadows everything else.
There was a story that was touched upon sometime in the past 2-3 months by either Heather Cox Richardson or Joyce Vance that was about a mayoral election that took place in one of the southern states (AL, MI, LS ?) where the incumbent lost, but still has not vacated the position as the existing town government had tacitly agreed to ignore the winner and go on as if there had been no election.
This seems like an important story to look into in the light of all the issues surrounding elections in our country.
How bout some national coverage of MA state auditor's attempt to audit the state legislature, one of the least transparent in the nation despite our overwhelming Dem supermajority and despite huge public support for transparency. Speaker of the House and AG have both stated that she lacks the authority to audit the legislature, despite long history of precedents. She's launched a ballot initiative to bring the issue to the voters directly. Watch as powerful Dems do everything possible to sink the campaign, beginning with voter suppression (e.g. throwing out voter signatures t keep the question off the ballot).
Republicans aren't the only ones who jerrymander, suppress voting, and erect walls to transparency in order to consolidate their power.
You're right about "not the only ones." The problem is that politics has become a career: college major in poli sci, then "law" school, then start with precinct delegate, move up to school board, state rep, congress... It's all about keeping your job and getting the next promotion. Much better to have candidates who've achieved something other than fund-raising. Then term-limit them, but fairly long terms, since it takes a while to learn the rules of each new game.
Why is there a cap on wages income for Seniors' Social Security that is based on 1970's wages/income?
Have you done a deep dive on Tricia Cotham in NC state House of Reps? It has been covered by NYT, but it could likely use your special touch.
I think you are doing really good informed INVESTIGATIVE journalism that is sadly lacking in MSM and social media. It is having positive impacts on peoples lives. The series of articles about the young indigenous woman that was murdered on the road by the white supremacist and the cops did not do anything about it until your article gained national attention is a shining example of calling truth to power and what real journalism can do. Thank you.
OHIO! We worked to get choice on the ballot. Thousands of signatures. Issue 1 WON! The state legislature is basically saying nice try...we are going to stop it. Ohio is the poster child of letting gerrymandered districts to bring unwanted representation regardless of the people. It’s going to be a playbook to let minority rule across all red states.
Also Project2025 and it’s horrendous plan.
Living here in Vermont, the current mystery seems to be Bernie Sander's steadfast support for funding the daily and exponential civilian body count in Gaza.
One possible factor may be the supersonic Lockheed Martin first-strike F-35 jets favored by Israel for civilian suffering. After Lockheed Martin contributions, Bernie supported basing 20 F-35s in Vermont's only big airport, where they take off almost daily with supersonic noise over our largest town (Burlington) and over the sizey University of Vermont campus.
In 2018 an investigation by Vermont's major online daily into campaign contributions found all three of Vermont's then national legislators -- Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and now-retired Patrick Leahy -- received five digit donations from the corporations making parts for the F-35.
Quote from VT Digger:
"Vermont’s three members of Congress have received generous donations from the four major contractors working on the F-35: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and United Technologies.
"Leahy has taken the lion’s share of cash, pulling in at least $93,850 from the four contractors over the course of his career, according to a VTDigger analysis of data from the Center For Responsive Politics. Sanders was second with $85,437, while Welch’s haul was at least $30,200."
https://vtdigger.org/2018/03/05/leahy-staff-central-role-f-35-basing-decision/
Multi-billion healthcare company refuses to replace defective products. Dexcom, maker of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) now limits patients to 3 replacements of defective sensors per month, implying need for any more is due to user error or re-selling. But the tech isn’t at a level to support that conclusion. No help is offered to patients beyond standard articles, videos on website so, if user error is the problem, shouldn’t Dexcom offer better training? Meanwhile Dexcom is increasing its market share by selling to type 2 diabetics. And is Dexcom refunding insurers if patient says sensor is defective but it’s not replaced?
A bunch of money and terror are spent training kids for school shooting as well as having armed people in schools. Is there any evidence that it does any good?
It seemed that Uvalde had armed guards on duty and, I imagine, had done lots of drills terrifying students. Were fewer students harmed because of it?
It seems to me that teaching kids to go to their classroom and lock the door is enough. Even with these shootings happening once a month, it's highly improbable that you're school will be involved in a shooting. Why spend so much time and money on such an unlikely event?
Better question: who is getting rich teaching our children how to be budding terrorists?
I can see how that's surprising, but in my limited experience with shooting ranges (I do not own a firearm), they seem pretty safe. And if you think about it, it's very probable that many more kids are shot at school than at a shooting range.
Mike Johnson? Speaker
More than Mike Johnson, alone, please investigate the theocratic New Apostolic Reformation that he endorses.
The new speaker just announced a debt commission. Wonder if people know smiling Mike is going after social security and Medicare?
First off, I want to thank you for the wonderful reporting by you and the team. Great works.
A couple of health care issues that I believe need more clarification, first being the so-called negotiation of dogs under Medicare. The reality is that Medicare is actually unable to "negotiate." Medicare sets prices for services based on a variety of current conditions so I believe it's important to move away from the political word of negotiate and maybe into something that's a better description. One example is the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) created in The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. The law was originally delayed a year while CMS worked on the Part D program, and then when it was first being implemented in 2005 Congress delayed it another year because they (and all the DME suppliers) disagreed with how the program was being implemented. I believe that the launch of the DMEPOS program is a perfect comparison of the industry opposition to Medicare payment changes.
Second, it's important to remember that Medicare only has the authority to manage costs of health care services, not quality. CMS has been attempting to improve quality through a number of demonstration programs, but ultimately the majority of CMS' oversight for health care services is cost (and many others like Kaiser Health News (KHN), ProPublica and STAT are doing remarkable work on both health care costs and quality).
I follow a group on Facebook that tracks arrests for January 6th. It’s amazing they are still tracking down and arresting rioters almost 3 years later. People that have been looking over their shoulder for this long still being found and charged. Yet, nothing in the news. It would be great to see a comprehensive breakdown of this aftermath and reiterate they didn’t get away with it! Thanks! The group is January 6th Arrests & Updates.
Two things: 1) The ad nauseam number of ads on TV. Seriously, it's beginning to feel like "20 minutes of ads with 10 minutes of programming. And they wonder why streaming is so popular. 2). How does FOX "News" continue as a news channel when all they do is lie and NOT cover the real news. To each his own if they want to call that news, but I don't understand why the FCC doesn't take away their broadcasting license for failure to live up to "news standards". Thanks for letting me have my say! I think you do a fabulous job.
Please show stats that compare the economy with D and R administrations since FDR.
I'd love to know more about the long-term history of the land where Israel and Palestine now reside. It seems everything written about it lately begins in 1948 - but what's the historical context in the centuries before that? I realize this is a history deep dive, and the today's political issues are most recently related to the 20th century, but it seems a lot of us lack the long-term historical perspective of this particular part of the world.
There has been a trend of individuals getting elected as a Democrat and then switching to Republican (either declaring a new party affiliation or in practice). We've seen this happen across the country at various levels of government. NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Former LA City Council President Nury Martinez are good examples.
I recently worked on a local election for an underdog candidate and let me tell you, even at this grassroots level, things got nasty. My query to you, Judd, is how many races go unchallenged, and is is this an increasing phenomena? I guess hand in hand is why term limits are not in place everywhere. When term limits are in place, I would imagine there is a more robust electorate.
Katy Bolger, look up David Pepper's work. He has documented that many, many races in Ohio do go unchallenged, and their authoritarian legislature is stuffed with people who have never faced an opponent.
I am a teacher (currently not in the classroom) and a parent of a student who is in elementary school. I did homeschool my daughter for k-2 because of Covid and became very aware of the debate over how to teach reading effectively for most students. As a result, I fell into research about curricula, computer based programs, computer adaptive testing, and state standardized testing and its role in the reading debate, as well as the low rates of reading proficiency in the US.
While I agree there are many reasons for a fall in reading scores (Covid, technology, screens, social media, overworked parents, under-resourced districts), I do wonder whether the intrusion of private companies, money, and equity into the very lucrative and captive public k-12 space has had some role as well.
State tests and standards, especially in elementary, are often not child developmental appropriate (yes, kindergarten is the new 1st and 2nd grade; I did kindergarten when it was half day, including a nap and snack time). Tests, especially for reading, are difficult for students because many rely on "cold" passages- meaning passages where the children have not necessarily studied the topics in school and learned the relevant background knowledge and vocabulary to be successful, meaning they can maybe decode the words and "read" them out loud, but they may not know enough to answer comprehension questions. For example, let's say that my daughter learned about ancient civilizations this year in her reading and social studies course in 3rd grade, but when she goes to take the state test, she can be tested on a reading passage from the Civil War. These tests aren't testing reading so much as what knowledge, vocabulary, and outside-of-school experiences a kid has- if they get something they know, they will do better even if they are a poor reader (search for the baseball study and related findings).
Well, why is this a concern? Because many of the state mandated tests are written and overseen by private companies, like Pearson, not by state entities, like government officials, teachers, university professors, etc. They may be able to sign off on tests, but because tests are held under security (as a teacher, I've signed that I will give up my teaching license if I fail to secure a private company's test properly) and parents/teachers/administrators cannot see the testing materials due to security and copyright, I wonder if we are being sold a bad test and scores. Because there is also another level of private industry, owned by the test companies, which is curricula, intervention programs, and benchmark testing programs, all geared towards increasing student scores on those same state tests. It does seem rather suspicious to me and I wonder where the money is coming from and going to among these private test and curriculum companies and state legislatures, who mandate the tests and who are overwhelmingly now mandating which curricula schools can even use because of the "reading wars."
Another issue is that we may just be failing kids because we are gearing school to these curricula that are mainly test prep for state exams and kids are doing poorly because we no longer teach a rich curriculum, created by educators. It is all just data points now until college, when we realize that multiple choice tests and short essays are not preparing kids for college and work.
In a particular example, my daughter's school uses iReady, a "computer adaptive benchmark and personalized learning program" from Curriculum Associates. I have been unable to find much research about its effectiveness, aside from studies conducted by researchers who work for Curriculum Associates. I have found two analyses that don't show high effective rates for the program, but there just is not enough evidence to show it helps. Students are given the test 3 times a year as a benchmark- the report I got as a parent was pretty useless, as it just gave generic information like "vocabulary, at Grade 3; comprehension, at Grade 3." However, neither her teacher nor I are able to even see the questions or answers from these tests. As a teacher and parent, I have no faith in a test that cannot be viewed by professionals- I don't know what the passage or questions were like, what my child did right or wrong, anything. Then, she is given a "personalized learning plan" that she has to do online for 45 minutes each week, but her teacher does not have the time to monitor this work, as all 18 students have different paths. So, they have to rely on the program for information as to how a student is doing. It appears to me to just be weekly test prep with games sprinkled through. But, the school no longer teaches spelling because they use that time for test prep, so I teach my daughter at home because spelling/encoding is an important skill to help develop her reading and writing fluency for the rest of her life.
I've also found out that Curriculum Associates gets to use my daughter's data from working on the computer every week to create it norms and standards, free of charge and without giving me an option to say no.
So, I guess this long winded passage asks:
1. Do our kids suffer from lack of reading ability OR are our private corporation backed testing and curricula inappropriate for them OR are we reducing schools to test prep curricula and simply not giving them a rich education for life as a citizen?
2. Who is influencing the reliance on testing data in the states and now using the "reading wars" to influence state legislatures to mandate which curricula can be used?
3. Where is all of our children's data going and why are we allowing private entities to use it, with no opt out? Do parents have to allow our children to be mined for data to be able to access public school?
4. As always, where is the money coming from and going to?
Thank you for all the work you do- this was just a fraction of issues I see (I didn't mention vouchers, religious intrusion in schools, Google, Chromebooks, PowerSchool, the proliferation of apps my child is forced to use, the movement of all reading and writing to screens, without even teaching keyboarding skills, etc) but I think there is a lot going wrong with public education that is heavily influenced by private money.
Retired teacher and administrator here. I 100% agree. Are you familiar with this book?
Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6919688
Mr. Legum, a few months ago several members of our Indivisible Evanston (IL) group visited members of an Indivisible group in Dixon, IL. We partner with them in an effort to help them flip some red government politicians reps to blue. This is in very red rural central Illinois. They have a difficult task.
Several of them, who read your substack posts, asked if we could contact you about an organization called "Young America’s Foundation" (YAF) headed by former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. I believe they may have contacted you before but your volume of texts and emails must be huge.
So I’m hoping I can get your attention. I’m pretty sure an internet search will lead you to the organization. I also have a copy of the Lee County Democratic Central Committee newsletter, from this past summer, which has an article about YAF. I would be glad to send it to you or take picture of the article for you to read. It’s short. Hope you’re able to follow up and expose this group. They are as insidious as the Mom’s for Liberty that you recently wrote about. Thanks for that.
Thanks for allowing us to contact you. Sincerely, Steve Sidell
Keep dogging No Labels - disingenuous and dangerous! Also, exposing private equity and the damage it does when it gets a large stake in an area of the economy. Thanks for the coverage on the "faux" retail theft - shared with my council member as my city considers wasting time on this rather than dealing with the root of youth crime here.
Thank you for your terrific investigative reporting! As we know, young people are going to be critical voters in the 2024 presidential election. Republicans have been working hard to recruit and train young people to be conservative thinkers and voters. One organization is headquartered in Dixon, IL, the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan, at the Reagan Ranch in California and other locations. It is the Young America's Foundation. Someone really really needs to look into the activities of this organization - and no one would be better than, you, Judd. They are now recruiting middle school students in addition to their activities for high school and college students. They have egads of lawyers so our Board of Education's hands are tied when YAF promotes their events via our public schools. YAF is buying up lots of property in Dixon. Obviously they have lots of funding but it is difficult to find out who supports them financially. Can you help?
What is missing is a large spotlight on the far right continuing assault on taking money from the middle class and poor and giving it to the wealthy and wealthy corporations and then always whining about the need to make cuts everywhere to pay for their giveaways to the wealthy! And rarely is this talked about. The "culture wars" are their way of distracting the people (especially the right to keep them "enraged and engaged" and distracted) in America of their theft of the money from the middle class and poor. People care about money and their money is being stolen from them by right wing politicians and the wealthy and wealthy corporations all the time............................. (Case in point: Why do you think the Republicans are trying to cut and reduce funding to the IRS? It is not about you and me. It is about them feeding their wealthy donors. They don't give a damn about us. But, they do care about the care and feeding of their owners - the wealthy and wealthy corporations who fund their campaign to keep us feeding them with OUR money! Talk about that - LOUDLY EVERYWHERE especially in red rural America who are really getting the shaft, but are oblivious because the con job on them is so good they are blind to the theft because they are always manipulated to be mad all the time.)
Just tossing this out here: if you want/need another go at Citizens United, or any other money-in-politics angle, the city of Wichita, Kansas just elected a Libertarian as its mayor. Lily Wu, a former television anchor, was backed by Koch money through Americans for Prosperity and massively out-gained/out-spent her rivals in both the primary and general election. Wichita is the largest city in the state and had a 4-3 democratic majority in their City Council before the election; now that has flipped. Kansas also rejected abortion restrictions last year. Adding another odd twist to this situation is the fact that Wu was not endorsed by the Libertarian Party of Kansas and only switched from being a registered Republican last year. As the Libertarian Party puts it, Mayor-Elect Wu used "[their] banner as a stepping stone throughout her campaign". The only union backing she had was from the Fraternal Order of Police, whose support our outgoing mayor lost because he tried to hold them accountable for their many scandals. What's equally frustrating in this case is that Wu is an immigrant of Asian descent, and I'd love to be able to champion her ascent. But there's no evidence she's going to the value the people of Wichita over its aristocratic class.
The company that was hired by the Arizona Senate, Cyber Ninjas, to recount 2020 election results using hand counting of ballots was later fined $50,000 a day for failure to release public records. What is happening, or not happening, with collecting the fine? What has happened to the CEO Doug Logan for not paying the fine? Is there any punitive measures being taken?
Judd, it was obvious when 17 GOP state AGs and Governors signed on to TX AG Paxton's phony suit attacking ALL votes in 4 distant states that it was a Trump organized scheme to steal millions of votes and so throw and steal the election. This suit originated about Dec. 9, 2020. Florida's governor and AG joined it, it was quickly thrown out, but the attempt was made. Fl's AG Ashley Moody was shredded publicly by a former Chief Justice of the state supreme court for having done so, saying she's betrayed the constitution and her office. She laid low for awhile, the FL papers seem to have forgotten about it, and she won re-election. On August 1, 2023, Jack Smith's criminal indictment of Trump, at about p.13, paragraph 24 et seq, described this lawsuit specifically as a key front in Trump's criminal conspiracy to steal the election. People who voluntarily join a criminal conspiracy after it's hatched, to advance its criminal purposes, are usually considered criminal co-conspirators. That should include all 17 of the state governors and AGs who joined in that TX suit. Last week, I heard brilliant elections lawyer Marc Elias, a true American hero for his work generally and in beating back Trump's many fraudulent elections challenges nationally, say that he was greatly alarmed that these 17 pairs of GOP state officials who joined Trump's criminal conspiracy hadn't yet seemed to draw the attention of the DOJ. I'm alarmed by that too. Most of them picked up the "Big Lie" baton that Trump couldn't get over the finish line in 2020, and used that lie to pass voter suppression laws in their states that we're still having to deal with. They repeated Trump's lie for the same reason Trump hatched it - to steal millions of votes away from their autocratic GOP aims. And so here we still sit. These 17 pairs of apparent criminials are sitting there waiting to be criminal investigated, prosecuted and punished. Can you please do what you can to draw national attention to this travesty of inaction? And only last night on Lawrence O'Donnell's show, I heard that likely this same 17 pairs of elected subverters of elections have no joined in with Trump's appeal to the DC Circuit attempting to throw out Judge Chutkin's limited gag order in the Trump case before her! They think they're impune, because they've never been scourged for their treachery of late 2020! Can you please spotlight this travesty of inaction with an eye toward greater national media and government attention to it? Thanks for all you do.
Moody actually tried to "erase" her footprints relating to funding and organizing the Ellipse event by scrubbing her official state office web page of any reference to her involvement with the RAGA (Republican Attorneys General Association) and its non-profit arm on which she was a board member, the RLDF (Rule of Law Defense Fund), both of which were involved with the Ellipse event AT LEAST. By January 11, 2021, both of those associations had been eliminated from her page, where they'd been through that date. Her office refused comment when asked about the removal. Additionally, Moody is from Plant City in western Hillsborough County, 5 miles away from Lakeland Florida, where Publix Corp. is HQ'd. I think it's impossible to believe that Moody isn't a familiar acquaintance with the Fancelli Publix heiress, who was a very big contributor to the Ellipse event, which Moody participated in organizing. The whole association REEKS.
Make that "eastern Hillsborough County."