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Senate Democrats push plan to abolish Electoral College

(The Hill) Three Democratic senators unveiled a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College system Monday, just more than a month after President-elect Trump stunned the Democrats by sweeping all seven battleground states, knocking off three Senate Democratic incumbents in the process. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii,) Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), three leading progressive Senate voices, say it’s time to “restore democracy” by allowing for the direct election of presidents through the popular vote alone.

marmar

"Trump has no real mandate for what he is planning": Push for Christian nationalism may backfire

(Salon) Donald Trump has promised to be a dictator on “day one” of his administration. Based on his already-announced plans and those in process, Trump, like other autocrats and authoritarians, means what he says. His words and statements should be understood both literally and figuratively. Trump’s (and the Republican Party’s and the “conservative” movement’s) models of leadership are Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán. Trump and his MAGA presidential administration and movement will attempt to remake American society in their mold — and do so very quickly.

DeeDeeNY

Steve Bannon Is Already Setting the Stage for a Third Trump Term

(New Republic) Speaking at the New York Young Republican Club on Sunday, War Room podcast host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon suggested that conservatives should rally to keep the MAGA leader in power via a supposed loophole in the U.S. Constitution. “Donald John Trump is going to raise his hand on the King James Bible and take the oath of office, his third victory and his second term,” Bannon said at the club’s annual gala. “And the viceroy Mike Davis tells me, since it doesn’t actually say consecutive, that, I don’t know, maybe we do it again in ’28?”

Zorro

Confidence in U.S. Courts Plummets to Rate Far Below Peer Nations

(New York Times) Public confidence in the American legal system has plunged over the past four years, a new Gallup poll found, putting it in the company of nations like Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela. “These data on the U.S. courts are stunning,” said Tom Ginsburg, an authority on comparative and international law at the University of Chicago. After the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the several prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, Professor Ginsburg said, “there is a perception that the judiciary has become inexorably politicized.”

KS Toronado

Tuesday carTOONS

groundloop

Infamous paper that popularized unproven COVID-19 treatment finally retracted

(Science.org) A 2020 paper that sparked widespread enthusiasm for hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment was retracted today, following years of campaigning by scientists who alleged the research contained major scientific flaws and may have breached ethics regulations. The paper was pulled because of ethical concerns and methodological problems, according to a retraction notice.

BumRushDaShow

Senators demand USDA move more swiftly to prevent theft of grocery funds from low-income families

(NBC News) The U.S. Agriculture Department must take immediate action to secure the benefits cards from which low-income families are being robbed of grocery funds, six Democratic senators urged in a letter. Data since last fiscal year shows that the federal government has reinstated more than $150 million in stolen benefits to participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. But the actual amount taken from needy households is most likely much higher than that, the senators wrote in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, adding that a proposed rule that the Agriculture Department has yet to release about modernizing the cards would prevent the thefts from proliferating.

mahatmakanejeeves

'They're eating the pets:' Trump, Vance earn PolitiFact's Lie of the Year for claims about Haitians

(Politifact) Underlying 2024’s most outrageous political lie was a truth — some might even argue a confession — voiced by an accomplice: To get media attention, then-vice presidential candidate JD Vance acknowledged, sometimes "I have to create stories." And so, with a brazen disregard for facts, Donald Trump and his running mate repeatedly peddled a created story that in Springfield, Ohio, Haitian immigrants were eating pet dogs and cats.

BumRushDaShow

Biden's last effort to boost ACA enrollment

(Axios) President Biden is making a final push to build on the Affordable Care Act, extending the enrollment period for marketplace coverage that kicks in Jan. 1 as sign-ups lag. ACA enrollment has hit new record highs each year of the Biden administration. But those gains are on shaky ground as the Trump administration prepares to take over in January.

BumRushDaShow

LA Times Owner's 'Meddling' Ramps Up to Demand Ed Board 'Take a Break From Writing About Trump'

(Mediaite) The tension between Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong and the newspaper’s staff is growing, reported Oliver Darcy Monday evening, after demands that the editorial board “take a break from writing about Trump” — an odd request about an incoming president. Soon-Shiong was criticized after he blocked the Times from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a move that led to three staffers resigning as members of the editorial board.

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Trump could target Affordable Care Act and Medicaid to help pay for lower taxes, experts say

25 min ago - Updated on: December 17, 2024 / 11:21 AM EST The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, remains popular with the public, garnering the approval of 54% of U.S. adults, according to a recently released Gallup poll. But experts say that may not i ... (CBS News)

Nadler slams Texas attorney general for 'draconian crusade' in NY abortion pill lawsuit

49 min ago - 12/17/24 3:35 PM ET Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) criticized Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) for filing a lawsuit against a New York doctor for providing abortion care to a Texas patient via telemedicine. “Last week, TX Attorney General Paxto ... (The Hill)

Equality Caucus chair tells 'idiots' who claimed Wisconsin shooter was trans to 'f‑‑‑ off'

1 hr ago - by Brooke Migdon - 12/17/24 1:35 PM ET Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which works to advance LGBTQ equality in the House, on Tuesday slammed “idiots” who claimed without evidence that the shooter at a ... (The hill)

Elizabeth Warren Urges Trump To Place Guardrails On Top Ally Elon Musk

1 hr ago - Dec 17, 2024, 01:01 PM EST Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday called on Donald Trump to place guardrails around billionaire Elon Musk, who has maintained a near-constant presence in the president-elect’s inner circle since his victory in ... (Huff Post)

Justice Amy Coney Barrett plays 'highly useful' role in Trump being denied immunity in hush-money case

1 hr ago - Dec 17th, 2024, 10:25 am The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money case in New York on Monday refused to dismiss the dozens of felony convictions against the president-elect in light of the Supreme Court’s sweeping immuni ... (Law & Crime)

Fusion Start-Up Plans to Build Its First Power Plant in Virginia

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White House presses for Congress to provide more authority to address drones in U.S. airspace

2 hrs ago - Dec. 17, 2024, 9:54 AM EST WASHINGTON — As public concern has escalated over drones flying in the skies above New Jersey and other East Coast states, the White House wants Congress to pass legislation that would give greater authority to the fed ... (NBC News)

Trump files suit against Iowa pollster Ann Selzer and Des Moines Register newspaper

2 hrs ago - The suit, filed Monday night in Polk County, Iowa, says it seeks “accountability for brazen election interference” over a Nov. 2 poll that showed Kamala Harris up 3 percentage points in Iowa. Trump ultimately won the state by double digits, ... (NBC News)

Biden calls for ban on congressional stock trading

2 hrs ago - Updated 11:10 AM EST, December 17, 2024 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden endorsed a ban on congressional stock trading in an interview that’s being released this week, belatedly weighing in on an issue that has been debated on Capitol ... (AP)

Elon Musk and SpaceX Face Federal Reviews After Violations of Security Reporting Rules

3 hrs ago - Dec. 17, 2024 Elon Musk and his rocket company, SpaceX, have repeatedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols aimed at protecting state secrets, including by not providing some details of his meetings with foreign leaders, according to pe ... (New York Times)

Bidenomics Was Wildly Successful The president's domestic record wasn't just extraordinary.

3 hrs ago - No one can yet say for sure why such a strong economy led to a definitive loss for the sitting administration. But however voters felt about President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris's management of inflation--or immigration, or crime, or anythin ... (newrepublic)

DHS overhauls H-1B visa program

3 hrs ago - 12/17/24 10:45 AM ET The Biden administration announced a rule Tuesday clarifying who can apply for an H-1B work visa, a key program to attract international talent that's been criticized as too complicated and susceptible to abuse. The new rule exp ... (The Hill)

Honda, Nissan to Start Talks on Possible Merger, Nikkei Says

3 hrs ago - Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are preparing to start negotiations on a possible merger, which ultimately could be expanded to include Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Japan’s Nikkei reported Tuesday. Such a deal would create an automotive rival t ... (Bloomberg)

Luigi Mangione indicted on murder charges for shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Thompson

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First lady Jill Biden announces she is leaving her teaching post after historic tenure

4 hrs ago - Published 10:53 a.m. ET Dec. 17, 2024 | Updated 12:25 p.m. ET Dec. 17, 2024 First lady Jill Biden announced Monday she is stepping down from her teaching position at Northern Virginia Community College. "Last Thursday, I taught my last class of the s ... (USA Today)

Judge in Hunter Biden case sued over underage drinking party, alleged beating

5 hrs ago - Wilson alleges that one of the guests, Jackson Dorlarque, assaulted him and struck "his head and body on a curb on the Scarsi property." From the beating, Wilson lost consciousness, sustained a traumatic brain injury, and had to be hospitalized for m ... (LA Times)

Trump Melts Down Over Judge's 'Psychotic' Refusal To Trash Hush Money Conviction

6 hrs ago - In an angst-ridden screed on Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump lashed out at New York Judge Juan Merchan for refusing to throw out his criminal hush-money conviction. Calling Merchan a “radical partisan” who is “deeply conflic ... (HuffPost)

US electors to certify Trump's win in process targeted by fake electors in 2020

6 hrs ago - Tue 17 Dec 2024 07.00 EST Electors will meet in all 50 states on Tuesday to ratify the second election of Donald Trump to the presidency, a process typically no more than a ceremonial step to the White House for the winner of an election. Usually, i ... (The Guardian)

Archivist says Equal Rights Amendment can't be certified as Democrats push Biden to recognize it

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Hill Republicans say funding deal reached, but Johnson's dealmaking with Democrats stirs anger among conservatives

6 hrs ago - Congressional Republican leaders have informed their members that they’ve reached a deal on government funding, with staffers now racing to finalize hundreds of pages of text, according to four GOP sources. But House Speaker Mike Johnson’s ... (CNN)