7.10-13 Open Threads – The Progressive Wing

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Hola mis amigos y amigas. So, MoveOn, No Labels, Turd Party and the rest are at it again. We’ve got a year and 4 months before the elections. They are attacking us Progressives/Liberals yet again. MoveOn is a moderate RW joke. I know cos I’ve been an email member since their inception. The other two are pure RW garbage. What is this? Another repeat of the $hillary Coronation again? Only this time it’s Byedone. 🙁 Spare me. Someone(s) has/have seriously threatened AOC. Maxwell Frost is a rookie. We are gaining in power whether the PTBs like it or not. Climate crisis is becoming a major issue now. What a surprise (eye roll). The Nest is Open. You all take good care. 🙂

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An appropriate tune for the past weekend’s climate/weather report. Enjoy.

Serious, life-threatening flooding is occurring today across much of Vermont. Emergency crews have conducted rescues in multiple communities. About two dozen state roads are closed as of 10AM. Flash flood warnings are in effect from the Massachusetts line to the Canadian border. pic.twitter.com/09ryZ1N7bR
— Vermont State Police (@VTStatePolice) July 10, 2023

Hope Upstate NY is safe!

Greatgodalmighty!😪

Senator Welch and I spoke with the President’s Chief of Staff this afternoon who assured us that a federal disaster declaration for Vermont will be signed in the coming hours. This is good news as it will begin the process of freeing up federal support for Vermont.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 10, 2023

The big floods were just south of Poughkeepsie. Our train connection though to NYC has been cut off.

Oh my, wow!

I was thinking about you and yours, jcb! Thank all the gods of nature, Poughkeepsie was spared! 🙂

Northern NY is OK. The rivers and streams are seriously roiled but the forecast for the worst of the rain shifted east at the last minute. The pictures coming out of Vermont are devastating. And there were a lot of problems in the Hudson Valley, as well.

I just heard that the Saranac River is misbehaving in a couple of spots. There are road closures in a couple of spots in the eastern Adirondacks due to that.

Thanks for the update Paul, we dont get to here about everywhere thats effected by this.

We just went through something like this last week, too. The ground is saturated, all that’s left is runoff. Climate change is very visible in the northeast this summer, even in isolated places that we usually think of as pristine. Guess we just have the one lifeboat, and we seem intent on sinking it.

I am glad I was born with low BP. I’ve known about the oil damage to our blue planet and the atmosphere since I was a kid. I’ve always had a low carbon footprint cos it just made basic common sense. Just thinking about climate crisis gets my blood boiling. 😡😡😡😡😡😡

It could cost $196 trillion in investments to zero out the world’s carbon emissions by 2050, per Bloomberg.
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) July 10, 2023

Forget 2050. The emergency is NOW!😡

Yeah, it’s hard to tell if we’re gonna choke on forest fire smoke, or drown in a flash flood.

Way to late by then, Orl if you keep your house in the family they may have a view of the ocean by then

We’re inland and in a high drainage area, wi. However, the Peninsula is gradually sinking.

Laura

And *not* getting it done will cost all life on earth. I’d say $196 trillion is a bargain by comparison.

Amen x 270!

Hmm… just announced: "No Labels to Launch Common Sense Agenda in New Hampshire with National Guest Speakers… on July 17th, No Labels will launch its Common Sense agenda at Saint Anselm College… will feature two national guests… "
Testing waters for a possible ticket?
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 10, 2023

El Barfo, big-time!🤮🤮

Trying to usher in another Trump term, apparently.

Naah, No Labels is another RW outfit. They’re more of a threat to the GOPukes. Examples: Joe Manchin, Joe Lieberman.

That Kennedy name is still floating around out there. Although if he keeps getting endorsements from Tucker Carlson you are absolutely right. Still, there are those voters who typically support Democrats who won’t get past the name.

Hearing from 2 sources, familiar with the special counsel grand jury on J6, that Trump's consideration of using purported fed. authority to seize voting machines is under scrutiny. SC probing whether there was criminal intent to build a premise for delay/block in certification…
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 10, 2023

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of marijuana banking legislation first being filed in Congress.
The bill has since evolved, and support has grown, as lawmakers now mount what they hope is one last push to finally get it signed into law this year.https://t.co/un5VRepgw8 pic.twitter.com/DHVpIbxXmL
— Tom Angell 🌳📰ⓥ (@tomangell) July 10, 2023

Sure took like forever (Valley Girl voice). Hope you all are experiencing clean air up your way, Ms. Benny. 👍

I don’t think we’ve gone over 75 in our AQI in the past week.

We’ve had rain here too but seems to be happening more at night, which is great for us. We were in a drought, and I would argue we’re still in one, but our soy and corn crops look more promising.

Hope you’re doing OK too, orl!

Good to hear. We are getting our intense tstorms almost daily. We need them to keep the temps and humidity down. However, August-October is the teeth/fangs of our storm season. Our casa is as ready as we can get.

Right now, there is a lot of sand in the lower atmosphere courtesy of western Africa. Tropical storms can’t form in those dryer conditions. How long that will last is anyone’s guess?

Were still to dry up here in WI, rain is needed. The corn in our area is the “Knee high by July” but need the rain.

JUST IN: The 30 year mortgage rate has hit a new decade high at 7.38%, up 23 bps since last week, per BankRate pic.twitter.com/htoyzqhoLp
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) July 10, 2023

Not as bad when interest rates were at 20% in 1980 but still too high.

Yea you were lucky to get a car loan below 15% back then as well

this is certainly a winning message in a Democratic primary pic.twitter.com/Ak2ppm4a8I
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 10, 2023

What a disappointing fruitcake!

Yeah…

Barbara Lee would be fantastic but if Katie Porter wins in California, she would be locked in for years and would eventually be an extremely powerful progressive voice. I love Lee but she won’t be in the Senate long enough.

How do you do a whole story about Barbara Lee's age and fail to mention the only thing that matters about it, which is that the Senate seniority system is such that most have to be there at least a couple terms to acquire any power? https://t.co/lQpvnPafFw
— David Dayen (@ddayen) July 10, 2023

I wish Lee was 20-25 years younger–PERIOD! Katie Porter is the best one of the trio. Ole centrist Schiff is in his late 60s, huh? My money and support is on Katie and it will stay that way. We desperately need young public servants, and not garbage like DeSh1tface and Gaetz.

Benny

I wish Barbara Lee would run for Mayor of SF. I know she’s more Bay East, but I bet she would make a better mayor than what SF has now.

Facebook worked with prosecutors to help lock up a woman for an abortion. Facing two years in prison.
Facebook turned over messages to cops that made the case. https://t.co/Zfotoy55kM pic.twitter.com/cUwcHvBndN
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) July 11, 2023

Man, I am so glad I am literate, and hate nosy gossip.👍 That is why I never signed up for TWITter, and got free of FaceBook. FaceBook made me wary and uneasy from the get-go. I couldn’t stand C- IQs who struck the Motherlode like Zuckerberg. He’s no genius, believe me. And FB basically just turned into a cyber gossiping mud pit. I’m one of those personalities who loathes malicious gossip and backstabbing. FB is filled to the brim with both.💩💩 Speaking of abortion arrests and other related FRight merde, watch the way Nebraska votes next year. Just finished the read. 29 weeks is 7 months into a pregnancy. What gives here? Was the young lady braindead? I’m pro-choice all the way, but……..sheesh.🙄

Benny

I have issues with FB and slightly wary of Threads, the new twitter, also created by Zuckerberg. But in this instance, I’m unhappy with Zuckerberg’s team thinking they are the Minority Report enablers.

I truly wonder why women contine to vote for the GQP? Even though MTG has delusions of getting power the GQP wont let her go much further up the chain of command as it were. Barret is done as the USSC is her limit. Since the GQP has old Hitler and young Hitler running for the GQP nomination remember this GQP women, Hitler believed this German slogan, “Kinder, Küche, Kirche,” which means “children, kitchen, church,” a shorthand to describe a right-wing view of women’s proper role in thier view of German society back then.)

I guess Farmers had to choose between spending $$$$ on football game advertising or pull out of Florida due to losses in Fla.
Farmers becomes latest company pulling out of Florida amid property insurance crisis
clickorlando.com/news/l…

Not all the companies associated with them are pulling out. When we sustained our worse hurricane damage c/o Charley back in 2004, it was FEMA who helped us big-time. I look at it like this: anyone dumb enough to build/rebuild on a barrier island shouldn’t even be able to get insurance. Why do you think nature made barrier islands? Plus, the state government corruption here is very, very entrenched and bad. DeSh1tface isn’t even here; the stupid sh1t is out POTUS campaigning. Boy, is that worthless biped in for a big surprise. Heh-heh-heh.

Benny

Just back from Ukraine, @CodePink co-founder @medeabenjamin says people in the country are "being fed a daily diet of irrational expectations" by the government about how Ukrainian forces are winning the war. The truth, she says, is that "there is a stalemate on the ground." pic.twitter.com/DDMOVPo9DQ
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) July 12, 2023

I don’t think Medea Benjamin is a tankie.

Me thinks Ms. Benjamin is close to the truth.

Not so Dark Brandon

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/11/sanders-biden-nih-nominee-00105738

When President Joe Biden nominated Monica Bertagnolli to run the National Institutes of Health, it seemed like a choice meant to make everyone happy.
A renowned cancer surgeon, Bertagnolli fulfilled Biden’s personal demand that his next NIH chief come from the oncology world he’s long admired. Bertagnolli had already done a stint atop the government’s National Cancer Institute, where she was well-liked by staff scientists and clinicians. And throughout the broader medical research community, support for her was instant and full-throated.
“We wholeheartedly applaud the announcement from President Biden for this outstanding choice,” Karen Knudsen, the CEO of the American Cancer Society, said in a May statement urging swift confirmation for a pick she called “an exceptional surgical oncologist, innovative scientist and leader with a strong track record of transforming organizations.”
Yet two months later, what many viewed as a slam-dunk selection has become the latest personnel headache for a White House that’s struggled mightily of late to get its nominees through the narrowly divided Senate.
Bertagnolli’s candidacy is stalled indefinitely, caught up in a standoff between the administration and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over Biden’s drug pricing agenda.
A second senator, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), has made her own demands, pressuring Bertagnolli to sign expanded ethics agreements that include swearing off working for or on behalf of major drug companies for four years after leaving NIH. Bertagnolli has so far resisted over concerns about the scope of those commitments, two people familiar with the matter said.
It’s a process that’s become so unexpectedly drawn out and uncomfortable for Bertagnolli that her allies privately question at what point it’s no longer worth the hassle. In addition to juggling full-time duties at NCI and her candidacy to run NIH, Bertagnolli recently underwent treatment for her own breast cancer diagnosis.
“To have members of the Democratic caucus presenting obstacles to getting this done, it’s frustrating,” said Harold Varmus, who ran the NIH during the Clinton era, and is a strong supporter of Bertagnolli. “I’ve seen the statements by Sen. Sanders and by the White House, and I don’t see those unblocking things.”
Biden has been without a permanent NIH director for a year-and-a-half, alarming medical research groups who believe it’s critical to have a confirmed leader ahead of looming budget negotiations on Capitol Hill — as well to provide stability at a time when public health agencies are under increasing political scrutiny.
The logjam has also raised fresh questions about the White House’s personnel operation, and why it didn’t anticipate that its NIH nominee would run into roadblocks.
Sanders, who chairs the Senate committee responsible for vetting Bertagnolli’s candidacy, said in a recent interview that he began warning the administration in January that he wanted more unilateral actions to slash drug prices. Frustrated by the lack of response, he decided to go public in a June interview with The Washington Post, vowing to oppose all health nominees until the White House met his demands.
Despite those running tensions, the White House did not alert Sanders it planned to nominate Bertagnolli before the news broke, said the two people familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity to describe internal decision making. In the weeks after Bertagnolli’s nomination, some Biden officials also expressed internal optimism that Sanders would grant her a hearing in June, the people said.
No hearing has been held. Instead, Sanders insists he feels no pressure to move on Bertagnolli’s nomination as long his requests remain unmet, telling POLITICO “the public is probably more on my side.”
“What the American people want now is not just another head of an agency,” he said. “They want policies to address the major crises facing this country.”
The impasse is just one of several Biden has encountered with respect to his nominees. And it’s a sign of how efforts by senators in both parties to use the nominations process to exercise leverage has upended expectations that the White House would face an easier time after Democrats expanded their Senate majority last November.
Biden’s pick to run the Labor Department, Julie Su, has seen her nomination founder for five months amid skepticism from a trio of senators. Nominees for both the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission withdrew this year after it became clear they couldn’t win confirmation. In May alone, Biden lost two judicial nominees. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), meanwhile, has singlehandedly halted the promotions of around 250 military officers, resulting in vacancies across the Pentagon.
In response to questions about Sanders’ demands, the White House declined to comment on the record.
But a White House official pointed to its passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and said the administration remains committed to getting Bertagnolli confirmed.
“The President shares the Senator’s concerns on drug pricing,” the White House spokesperson said, calling the IRA “the most consequential law addressing the high cost of prescription drugs.”
The White House also defended its nominations process by noting it’s confirmed more nominees than the Trump administration had to this point in the term, despite holding fewer Senate seats at the beginning of Biden’s presidency.
In Bertagnolli’s case, the fight over her nomination has proved particularly frustrating for Biden officials because it has little to do with her actual qualifications.
Sanders wants the White House to take more aggressive steps to rein in drug prices, such as reinstating an NIH requirement that drug companies sell a medicine at a “reasonable” price when it’s developed with help from the federal government, or seizing drug patents to license them out to other manufacturers to lower their prices.
NIH researchers previously concluded the “reasonable” pricing clause discouraged private-sector collaboration with the agency. The Health and Human Services Department is reviewing its so-called march-in authority, but earlier this year declined a petition to test that patent-seizing power for a prostate cancer drug.
Biden officials counter Sanders by stressing that the IRA is already having an impact. The law capped the price of insulin for older Americans starting this year, and will eventually allow Medicare to directly negotiate the cost of certain drugs, a goal Democrats pursued for decades.
Sanders, though, waved away the argument, calling the IRA’s provisions “a very modest step that doesn’t go anywhere near far enough.”
Bertagnolli continues to meet with senators in hopes the White House and Sanders resolve their standoff. She sat down on Tuesday with Warren to discuss her ethics demands, although it did not result in an agreement. Outside allies have also ramped up their lobbying in recent weeks, sending letters to Sanders and Senate leadership pushing for her confirmation.
After missing the June window, Varmus said his hope is that Bertagnolli can get a hearing before the August recess.
But Biden allies dismissed the prospect that the White House would bend to Sanders’ demands just to jumpstart Bertagnolli’s confirmation, arguing that despite what the senator says, there’s little more it can realistically do to make a major dent in drug prices.
Sanders, too, remains unmoved, having yet to even scheduling a meeting with Bertagnolli.
“It’s nothing personal,” he said. “The principle here is that we have got to address some of the major health care crises in America. That’s what we’ve got to do, and it’s time for the administration to act.”

If Bertagnolli is another greedball wanting to chomp at the craporate lobbying Big PHrMA $$ trough after her fed term is done, no thank you! I back Bernie and Liz on this one.

On #PrimeDay, let's not forget: Amazon is the third wealthiest company in America owned by the second wealthiest man in America. It should be the safest place to work, not one of the most dangerous. If you’re a warehouse worker, share your story here: https://t.co/n7ba2Z2A7R
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 12, 2023

"They’re using exaggerations, half-truths, and outright deception in an attempt to destroy the career of the first public servant in decades to run the FTC as it’s written in law, instead of serving as a handmaiden to industry." @ddayen's latest.👇 https://t.co/JPmHQnE51n
— American Economic Liberties Project (@econliberties) July 12, 2023

Khan needs to make mincemeat out of Jordan and all his little FRight, bought-off, stupid, corrupt allies, including the DINOs She’s very smart and owes no craporate interest-period. That will be reported by independent media just like Dayen/AP.