44 Comments
May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Here is a handy-dandy list of Dems to support, along with their Twitter handles (courtesy of Nick Knudsen):

PA Gov: @JoshShapiroPA

PA Sen: @JohnFetterman

PA Lt Gov: @AustinDavisPA

NC Sen: @CheriBeasleyNC

NC-01: @DonDavisNC

NC-13: @wileynickel

OR Gov: @TinaKotek

OR-04: @ValHoyle

OR-06: @AndreaRSalinas

https://twitter.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1526995581834432512?s=20&t=oNLZ-2jiWksW-h_S8gH6Gw

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Mark Kelly, Beto, Demings,

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author

Thanks! I will promote!

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ME Gov Janet Mills

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

May we add Beto to this list?

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Please.

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Robert, you did not point out that on the same day that 192 House Republicans voted against money to get formula to infants, 203 of them voted against a bill to fight domestic terrorism. So Republicans are on record as opposing healthy food for babies, but in favor of domestic terrorism. Let’s get that message out!

And the basis of the baby formula debacle is not so much FDA mishandling of its inspection of that plant in Michigan as it is the fact that four companies control 90% of the formula market in the US. Antitrust should be a top priority for the Biden administration and all Democrats.

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Hi, Jon. Thoughtful as always! I wonder whether the concentration of production is an anticompetitive issue or an issue of the difficulty in manufacturing sterile product for infants. A friend in the agricultural industry tells me that Abbott will reject an entire trainload of grain used in manufacture of formula if it finds a single instance of contamination in one car. I am willing to be educated on this point, so if you have any resources for me to read, please send to rhubbell@outlook.com. Thanks!

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Thanks Robert for this comment.

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founding

I always assume anti-competitive practices, but I admit that at least theoretically you might be right. I have a suit against Abbott some years ago, on behalf of a drug pusher, err, pharmaceutical salesperson they had fired. We didn't really get into quality issues, but I didn't come away with warm, fuzzy feelings about the company.

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Those two votes (against US supply of baby formula and against a bill to fight domestic terrorism) lead to a new name for the once GOP: The Party of Death.

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May 22, 2022·edited May 22, 2022

(let's add another 2 word phrase to that description: "and "Dominance")

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May 20, 2022·edited May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I see a lot of articles saying the GOP will turn us into Hungary. But America is far more diverse than Hungary, with a population that is 98% larger. The far-right appeals to a tiny minority and they would have to constantly keep the general public satisfied. Hungary is able to do this because much of the country is socially conservative and against western values. So the government is able to keep the people satisfied with soccer stadiums and a business-as-usual attitude. But Hungary is not America, and it never will be. Orban is an evil tactician, while Trump is an aging man who loves to act tough and say stupid things.

The GOP can try to wave all the magic wands it wants. The people will win. Things may get worse before they get better, but I have faith in us winning.

America was already a far-right autocracy in the 1800s and the early 1900s. Women couldn't vote, people of color were beaten and prevented from voting, there were Jim Crow laws (that were WAY worse than what we have now), gays were completely hidden, and Christianity ruled everything. If we could overcome that, we can truly do anything.

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Thank you once again for your fact-based reporting of the current news.

Regarding polling: I am tired of the daily reporting that Biden has tanked in the polls. I think part of the problem is the high expectations that immediately after Biden took office , like day #2, he could reverse everything that Trump had done. Another issue I have is with the MSM not reporting on the positive improvements that Biden has made, but instead still giving too much attention to every little lie that Trump utters. Like you pointed out, many things are going to happen between now & when voting takes place that will influence how people will vote. Less emphasis on the polls! *steps down from soapbox*

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Warnock in GA.

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Thank you for making the essential point that Democrats and Progressive Independents do not “surrender the field” to Republicans even in deep red districts. It is also essential that we field strong candidates for all offices including a focus on local offices. We must remember that the only truly unwinnable races are those in which we fail to compete. There are entirely too many local races in red districts nationwide in which there are no Democratic or Progressive Independents on the ballot.

Here in Texas we have formed Blue Horizon Texas (https://www.bluehorizontexas.org/). The purpose of this organization is to recruit, train, and help build support networks for Democratic and Progressive non-partisan candidates for local offices statewide in Texas. With a focus on R+10 districts we have in our first year over 50 candidates we are helping in districts where in some cases it has been decades since a Democrat competed for that office. We are working also with Run for Something (https://runforsomething.net/) and local Democratic and non-partisan civic groups to recruit, train, and support candidates. We are also in the process of forming a Texas General Purpose Pac that will allow us to help with fund raising for the candidates and support networks we are helping to build. This is a great team doing the hard work and we constantly hear from folks “we did not realize how many more of us there were in our area who felt as we do.” There are many who feel they have been too long forgotten and ignored by the state and national party organizations as being in “unwinnable” districts. They are excited by finding those with the message that the only unwinnable districts are those in which we fail to compete. We can help recruit, prepare, train, and support strong candidates to provide real competition in the arena of ideas.

We are hoping the model we are creating here will provide an example for others. Democrats need to understand the importance of running everywhere to win anywhere.

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"We must remember that the only truly unwinnable races are those in which we fail to compete." Amen!!

Bruce, I would like to feature Blue Horizon Texas and in the newsletter. Can you contact me at rhubbell@outlook.com?

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Robert:

I have sent you an email as requested. The initial send was rejected by your email server. I have resent it using Gmail. Please let me know if you do not receive it. While you should have my email address as a subscriber, you can also reach me at Bruce.Carpenter@HBVinc.com. Thank you.

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As I learned from a Tweet from Rep Val Demings (FL-10) last week: "The same baby formula producer that had contaminated product and lead to this shortage used billions of dollars to buy back stock instead of investing in their product safety". American capitalism at it's "finest"- making money off the backs of our youngest, even neonates! https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/20/abbott-baby-formula-shareholder-profits

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

The failure by Abbott to run a clean and healthy plant is the REAL story here. Without the regulators they’d still be sending out contaminated product!!!

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Hi, G. If you can, read the WSJ article on the contamination. There was bacteria in the Abbott plant, just not the bacteria that resulted in the infant deaths and injury. And I am not aware that contamination was found in any product shipped by Abbott (as opposed to bacteria being found in opened product, which did not match the bacteria in the Abbott plant.) There is also an important lesson for parents that I learned from researching this issue without regard to what happened at Abbott: Bacteria starts growing in formula as soon as it is opened. Refrigeration, sealing, and prompt use are important to maintaining the purity of formula.

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I'll take a look at WSJ in the library. The "mismatch" of bacteria is, shall we say, intriguing! Did Abbott deliberately keep the plant closed, i.e. not cleaned and put back into service or did the regulators keep the plant closed. (I usually read more deeply but not in this case. Thank you again for your column. You, HCR, and Tim Snyder keep me informed. (Also the MSM, but with a lot of digressions....) How may I send you a private email on a topic.

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I couldn't understand why Republicans would vote against domestic baby formula and favor foreign baby formula. Then I read the WaPo article. This is not about baby formula. Their no vote was a slam of the FDA. Like the recent court decision against the EPA, this too is a step in the direction of dismantling and eliminating US government administrative departments.

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One of the things that I can't understand is how the polls and public opinion can have President Biden and the Democrats doing so badly when the Republicans are an abomination in every respect. Then I watched a clip of Elise Jordan's focus group in Georgia. The clips they showed were primarily Republicans...MAGA Republicans at that...but when asked if they would consider voting for Stacy Abrams against Brian Kemp they were horrified. They said a vote for any Republican would be better than voting for a Liberal, Communist Democrat. That alone shows how poisonous the Republican messaging, via Fox, is. To paint all Democrats as Communists or Socialists is standard fare but the fact that it is now gospel to so many is just unbelievable. Luckily (I hope), these were primarily MAGAs and we know we cannot reason with them, so I just hope that moderate Republicans and Independents won't fall for this.

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I Chair Women for Beasley in NC. It will be a fight to the finish against Trumper Ted Budd who voted against Medicaid expansion in NC, baby formula, loves his guns, votes no if Dems vote yes consistently etc. so if you can help us in NC get Cheri Beasley to the Senate please help. You can respond to this with your email and I can reach out or go to cheribeasley.com to donate and/or volunteer. Republicans already bought close to $7m in advertising!!!

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Hi, Pat. Thanks for your leadership in the Cheri Beasley campaign. As I noted in the newsletter, Ted Budd is supported by The Club for Growth. This will be a very expensive campaign and we need to support Cheri Beasley with lots of donations--large and small. Keep up the good work!

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On the Oklahoma Abortion Law, I’m old enough to have been involved in the original fight for reproductive freedom. Before Roe, researchers were looking for contraceptives that did not produce abortions. The pill was one of those. IF a fertilized egg is a fetus upon fertilization, then quite a number of our current contraceptives probably immediately also become illegal. Seems to me that might be a problem for a much wider slice of the population than the abortion issue alone.

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May 20, 2022·edited May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Lawrence O'Donnell night before last had quite a segment on the importance of Pennsylvania electing Josh Shapiro Governor. He called Shapiro the man who could save democracy. His MAGAette opponent, Mastriano, would do extensive damage to the electoral process to ensure only the former guy or another MAGAette wins the Presidency. Pennsylvania is a critical swing state which can swing the outcome one way or another. So, it is critical we all get behind Mr. Shapiro's campaign! We, the People, all of us this time! Here is the link to that segment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaUQBRSZ7No

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

RE the baby formula problem, I’m surprised at the virtual absence of coverage of the proportion of mothers who breast-feed (and therefore usually have no “shortage” issue) vs. those fo depend on baby formula. It’s long since I had my babies, but I remember vividly the efforts of baby-formula manufacturers who came to me in hospital offering samples of the stuff, and the absence of hospital breast-feeding advice or programs. I remember the nurse who came in with a bottle in hand, and exclaimed, when I declined the offer and said I was going to breast feed, “you mean you’re going to starve your baby!”. I was terrified, but luckily had an obstetrician from Argentina who knew all about breast feeding and who had encouraged and coached me ahead of time how to go about it. (There IS a technique!). That was 50 years ago, and some things have changed. But clearly not enough. I’m curious to know the proportion of women who bottle feed by choice rather than from physical necessity. Of course formula is handy in certain circumstances even when breast-feeding, and some women cannot breast-feed, but the convenience of immediate access for the baby, the convenience when traveling, and the advantage to the baby — absorbing the mother’s immunities — is unsurpassed. So why has this been left out of the story as a formula for preventing such a shortage again?

Styra Eisinger

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All good points, but for women who work outside the home, many employers make pumping difficult or impossible (think about a classroom educator on her feet for six hours a day). Formula becomes a necessity.

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The U.S. ranks almost dead last in countries that provide $upport for women to stay home with their babies to breastfeed. Formula should never be a necessity when breastfeeding is possible and optimal for a mother who chooses to do so. Instead of the government just paying for formula in WIC programs, we should pay mothers who nurse their babies.

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Thankfully, much has changed with support for breastfeeding in our country, beginning 45 years ago when we stopped sending a case of formula home from the hospital with new mothers who were "trying" to nurse their babies. Currently the largest percentage of breastfeeding mothers are white and well off. Yes, clearly we have not done enough. What I would have given to be paid to stay home with my babies during their first year (I nursed all 4 of them for 3 years each)! Many countries do! My hope is that this formula debacle will be the incentive for more mothers to breastfeed. When I was working for the National Health Service Corps in Appalachia in the late 70's, my goal was to double the number of babies who were breastfed. The first thing I did was reassign the receptionist in one of our clinics who made a face whenever a woman asked if there was a place she could nurse her infant. I also set up a patient education program, put up loving posters, ran instructional videos in the waiting room and reminded them of all the benefits ("easily lose that 7 pounds your body puts on just for making milk later!). Privately I assured my pregnant clients that if they had any problems at home after delivery with nursing to call me at 2 a.m. if need be. I assured them it was okay because in the long term I received much fewer calls on breast fed babies than with formula fed ones. Our numbers went up a little, but not anywhere as much as I'd hoped. Then all of a sudden, it seemed that every pregnant woman who came into our main clinic wanted information on how to breastfeed! Wow! It had been a year since I had started my "campaign" and finally we were seeing the results! Then I overheard one patient in the waiting room exclaiming to another patient how Erica's baby on All My Children had been kidnapped and was allergic to all formula's and if the baby wasn't found and brought back to his mother to nurse soon he could die! Our breastfeeding numbers doubled that month. The power of the media cannot be underestimated. Yes, I'd very much like to see coverage of the numbers of mother's who breastfeed, the benefits of nursing, and what our government COULD be doing to support them. This formula shortage would be the perfect opportunity. That, and reruns of All My Children, summer of 1979.

RN, MSN

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How heroic, MaryPat! Sad that it takes so much to restore the natural option as normal. La Leche League is another supportive resource--got me through baby #2.

https://www.llli.org/

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LOVE La Leche League! So glad they were helpful for you!

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Yours is the only newsletter I read on a regular basis. Thanks for all the hard work putting this together so reliably. I think it's your positive spin that we CAN do this if we can enliven the Democratic base. And I agree that abortion is in fact a bigger deal than pollsters know. They don't account for the privacy of the voting process and what women will do independently when in the voting booth or privacy of their own home.

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Agree!

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May 20, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I live in a deeply red state (AL) but have never voted republican. However, I intend to vote in the republican primary next Tuesday. I need a list of the least trumpest republicans who will likely be elected in Novenber when I will of course vote for Democrats! At the moment, I'll probably vote for Kay Ivey and Katie Britt but have no clue past them. Thanks, "Life Long Democrat in the South (since 1972)".

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YES!!! Perfect Strategy!

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Thanks for the specific list of candidates we should support and volunteer for to help impact outcomes in swing states.

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