So good to 'see' you again, Robert! What a strong, positive post today! As my husband enters Hospice today, it was a boost to read your column! I take comfort in the amazing people who have stood up to be counted, and will lead us back to a country, and a government, we can be proud of.
Outstanding letter as usual! I have a question about the elephant in the room. (No, not that one, the other one.). When Mitch McConnell gets back after recovering from falling and hitting his head, and Biden gets back from helping peace to continue in Northern Ireland, do you think these two old timers who know the Senate as well as anybody will have a private come-to-Jesus-meeting about increasing or getting rid of the debt ceiling and return for some serious negotiations AFTERWARDS on dealing with Social Security? Like having FICA taken from all earned income? (Back before I retired the FICA would stop being taken out about halfway through the year. It used to puzzle me - it was such a small amount, and my budget had been set up based on the money coming in for the first half of the year. If it simply continued to be taken out all year I never would have missed it.)
He's baaaack!!! Robert, I'm nearly out of breath from the energy of this edition!!! You go!!!
Tomorrow is my triple bypass surgery, so I will be offline for a while. I will miss this community! Today is also my last day of posting to FB and Twitter for a while, so in this one I encouraged folks to subscribe. Blessings to all!
Joe Biden's has been a truly paradigm shifting presidency! Unlike Clinton and Obama, who mostly accepted the Republican supply-side/neoliberal economic paradigm, which redistributes income upward and has led to staggering economic inequality in this country, Biden is actively dismantling that paradigm and returning us to the demand side model that led to the greatest expansion of America's middle class from 1932-1980. Maybe because he was in Congress when Democrats were still operating within the demand side paradigm, he remembers how beneficial that was to the majority of Americans.
When I read the Second Amendment to our Constitution.. the Phrase "well regulated militia" stands out.. Please explain why a governor can't call the national guard a "militia" and pass laws that only those with active status in the militia can possess rifles or hand guns with magazines larger than 3...or some small number..
Thank you again Robert! Thank you thank you -- for all your work! Thank you for this
clear, detailed, and un-sensational reporting. The news is so wild that your step by step reporting is exactly what I (and surely we all) need. Much appreciated!
The problem with the disarray within the GOP is that they are extreme enough to destroy our growing economy by not raising the dept ceiling. This should be our number 1 concern in the short run. Thanks Robert for your always incredible analysis.
So you know darn well that nothing Thomas does is "inadvertent". He is the poster child for everything that's amiss with the Repubs or the Pro-Rape Party, my preferred name for them.
Alabama, another shit-hole state with a crappy governor. Four people died and 28 injured. The cops haven't revealed the weapons but how much do you want to bet that there's an AK or AR involved? Oh yay! Everybody gets a high-powered gun the minute they start chabbering! WTAF??
If you don’t mind my tooting the family horn, my brother-in-law, Jim Kessler, of the Third Way, wrote the report “The Red State’s Murder Problem” and is in NYC to present it at Jordan’s “field hearing” today. Assuming he actually gets to testify, I think Jordan will regret holding this hearing.
Apr 17, 2023·edited Apr 17, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Great summary and analysis, Robert. I must say I'm disappointed in talk about a possible settlement in the Dominion case. While Dominion has done a great service to the country by outing Fox, I was hoping for a better outcome than a backroom deal. Seems like Fox is backpedaling on its contrition a bit, and Dominion has the power to change that.
Of course, Dominion's duty is to its shareholders, but the goodwill they have achieved thru their lawsuit and the positive impact its had on repairing the damage wrought by MAGAts on voting must be worth something.
Republicans are on the wrong side of every major issue of concern to the American people. They may think they are on the “side of the angels and patriots” but they are wrong, dead wrong. And in the long run it will cost them. Americans are getting fed up with their extreme positions.
The numbers are turning against Republicans on the gun issue. Combined with reproductive liberty, the climate crisis, and attacks on LGBTQ rights, MAGA extremists have picked the wrong side of nearly every major social and political issue challenging America. Although they can control legislation through gerrymandered legislatures, that is a losing game over time. Democrats can win at the statewide and national level—where they can block G.O.P. lawlessness and enact gun reform.
Republicans are on the wrong side of all these issues - guns, abortion, healthcare, LGBTQ rights, racial and ethnic equity, libraries and books, teaching history, economic inequality and a living wage, and climate change. Republicans stands on these issues and more would make America and our kids less safe, sicker, poorer, less well educated, and with an imperiled future.
We have a path forward—through grass-roots politics, organizing, and activism on the issues we care about. It will be long and arduous, but we have a path forward. Let’s take it.
Think carefully about this when deciding who deserves your votes. You are deciding our shared future and that of your kids and grandchildren.
My super-blue state of VT has permitless carry. Shameful! I support GunSense VT and will put more pressure on our legislators. Thanks for the reminder!
A law-nerd point. the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 used to be in 5a USC. That set of statutes was repealed in Dec 2022 and --for Title 1--replaced with the provisions of 5 USC 13101-13111. The order of the sections changed, but as far as I can tell not the relevant wording. The comments made by Roberts in 2011 were under the old numbering.
The repeal and change of numbers hasn't made it into the Cornell's Legal Information Institute, my usual go-to place for wording of statutes.
One correction, Robert, or maybe an addition: in half the states, it’s easier to buy an automatic killing machine (a pistol) than it is to register to vote. What does that say about us?
Todays Edition Newsletter certainly was uplifting and positive but I believe serious foundational issues exist causing some voters not to feel positive about the country right now. The abortion bill controversy and miscarriage of law by a Texas judge coupled with the latest disclosure of financial mismanagement or more from Judge Thomas does not give many voters confidence in either the judicial system or the Supreme Court. Add to this the almost weekly mass shootings and lack of any collective or outraged Republicans and their hosting and supporting an NRA event days after innocent children have been murdered adds to the frustration many voters feel. Voters want these issues fixed and people held accountable. Voters need to see and feel that our government is working and something we can be proud of and frankly that is not happening. It up to voters at the grass roots level to make this happen.
So good to 'see' you again, Robert! What a strong, positive post today! As my husband enters Hospice today, it was a boost to read your column! I take comfort in the amazing people who have stood up to be counted, and will lead us back to a country, and a government, we can be proud of.
Outstanding letter as usual! I have a question about the elephant in the room. (No, not that one, the other one.). When Mitch McConnell gets back after recovering from falling and hitting his head, and Biden gets back from helping peace to continue in Northern Ireland, do you think these two old timers who know the Senate as well as anybody will have a private come-to-Jesus-meeting about increasing or getting rid of the debt ceiling and return for some serious negotiations AFTERWARDS on dealing with Social Security? Like having FICA taken from all earned income? (Back before I retired the FICA would stop being taken out about halfway through the year. It used to puzzle me - it was such a small amount, and my budget had been set up based on the money coming in for the first half of the year. If it simply continued to be taken out all year I never would have missed it.)
He's baaaack!!! Robert, I'm nearly out of breath from the energy of this edition!!! You go!!!
Tomorrow is my triple bypass surgery, so I will be offline for a while. I will miss this community! Today is also my last day of posting to FB and Twitter for a while, so in this one I encouraged folks to subscribe. Blessings to all!
Joe Biden has turned out to be a remarkable president. History I think will judge him very favourably.
Joe Biden's has been a truly paradigm shifting presidency! Unlike Clinton and Obama, who mostly accepted the Republican supply-side/neoliberal economic paradigm, which redistributes income upward and has led to staggering economic inequality in this country, Biden is actively dismantling that paradigm and returning us to the demand side model that led to the greatest expansion of America's middle class from 1932-1980. Maybe because he was in Congress when Democrats were still operating within the demand side paradigm, he remembers how beneficial that was to the majority of Americans.
When I read the Second Amendment to our Constitution.. the Phrase "well regulated militia" stands out.. Please explain why a governor can't call the national guard a "militia" and pass laws that only those with active status in the militia can possess rifles or hand guns with magazines larger than 3...or some small number..
Thank you again Robert! Thank you thank you -- for all your work! Thank you for this
clear, detailed, and un-sensational reporting. The news is so wild that your step by step reporting is exactly what I (and surely we all) need. Much appreciated!
The problem with the disarray within the GOP is that they are extreme enough to destroy our growing economy by not raising the dept ceiling. This should be our number 1 concern in the short run. Thanks Robert for your always incredible analysis.
So you know darn well that nothing Thomas does is "inadvertent". He is the poster child for everything that's amiss with the Repubs or the Pro-Rape Party, my preferred name for them.
Alabama, another shit-hole state with a crappy governor. Four people died and 28 injured. The cops haven't revealed the weapons but how much do you want to bet that there's an AK or AR involved? Oh yay! Everybody gets a high-powered gun the minute they start chabbering! WTAF??
If you don’t mind my tooting the family horn, my brother-in-law, Jim Kessler, of the Third Way, wrote the report “The Red State’s Murder Problem” and is in NYC to present it at Jordan’s “field hearing” today. Assuming he actually gets to testify, I think Jordan will regret holding this hearing.
Great summary and analysis, Robert. I must say I'm disappointed in talk about a possible settlement in the Dominion case. While Dominion has done a great service to the country by outing Fox, I was hoping for a better outcome than a backroom deal. Seems like Fox is backpedaling on its contrition a bit, and Dominion has the power to change that.
Of course, Dominion's duty is to its shareholders, but the goodwill they have achieved thru their lawsuit and the positive impact its had on repairing the damage wrought by MAGAts on voting must be worth something.
Republicans are on the wrong side of every major issue of concern to the American people. They may think they are on the “side of the angels and patriots” but they are wrong, dead wrong. And in the long run it will cost them. Americans are getting fed up with their extreme positions.
The numbers are turning against Republicans on the gun issue. Combined with reproductive liberty, the climate crisis, and attacks on LGBTQ rights, MAGA extremists have picked the wrong side of nearly every major social and political issue challenging America. Although they can control legislation through gerrymandered legislatures, that is a losing game over time. Democrats can win at the statewide and national level—where they can block G.O.P. lawlessness and enact gun reform.
Republicans are on the wrong side of all these issues - guns, abortion, healthcare, LGBTQ rights, racial and ethnic equity, libraries and books, teaching history, economic inequality and a living wage, and climate change. Republicans stands on these issues and more would make America and our kids less safe, sicker, poorer, less well educated, and with an imperiled future.
We have a path forward—through grass-roots politics, organizing, and activism on the issues we care about. It will be long and arduous, but we have a path forward. Let’s take it.
Think carefully about this when deciding who deserves your votes. You are deciding our shared future and that of your kids and grandchildren.
My super-blue state of VT has permitless carry. Shameful! I support GunSense VT and will put more pressure on our legislators. Thanks for the reminder!
A law-nerd point. the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 used to be in 5a USC. That set of statutes was repealed in Dec 2022 and --for Title 1--replaced with the provisions of 5 USC 13101-13111. The order of the sections changed, but as far as I can tell not the relevant wording. The comments made by Roberts in 2011 were under the old numbering.
The repeal and change of numbers hasn't made it into the Cornell's Legal Information Institute, my usual go-to place for wording of statutes.
One correction, Robert, or maybe an addition: in half the states, it’s easier to buy an automatic killing machine (a pistol) than it is to register to vote. What does that say about us?
Todays Edition Newsletter certainly was uplifting and positive but I believe serious foundational issues exist causing some voters not to feel positive about the country right now. The abortion bill controversy and miscarriage of law by a Texas judge coupled with the latest disclosure of financial mismanagement or more from Judge Thomas does not give many voters confidence in either the judicial system or the Supreme Court. Add to this the almost weekly mass shootings and lack of any collective or outraged Republicans and their hosting and supporting an NRA event days after innocent children have been murdered adds to the frustration many voters feel. Voters want these issues fixed and people held accountable. Voters need to see and feel that our government is working and something we can be proud of and frankly that is not happening. It up to voters at the grass roots level to make this happen.