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CousinIT

After blaming Biden for baby formula shortage, Republicans vote against funding to help

(Newsweek) The House on Wednesday passed a $28 million emergency spending bill to address the nationwide shortage of baby formula. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee who authored the bill, said the money would pay for additional U.S. Food and Drug Administration staffing to boost inspection of formula at domestic and foreign suppliers, prevent fraudulent products getting onto store shelves and improve data collection on the infant formula marketplace. The bill, known as the Infant Formula Supplemental Appropriations Act, passed 231 to 192 in a vote mostly along party lines. All House Democrats supported the legislation.

AZProgressive

Biden invokes Defense Production Act for formula shortage

(AP) President Joe Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act to speed production of infant formula and authorized flights to import supply from overseas. The Defense Production Act order requires suppliers of formula manufacturers to fulfill those orders before other customers. Biden is also authorizing the Defense Department to use commercial aircraft to fly overseas formula supplies that meet federal standards to the U.S., in what the White House is calling “Operation Fly Formula.”

JHB

Thursday TOONs

applegrove

Big Majority Want Limits for Supreme Court Justices

(Political Wire) A new Quinnipiac poll finds Americans support limiting the number of years a Supreme Court Justice can serve on the Supreme Court, 69% to 27%. In addition, a majority of Americans say the Supreme Court is mainly motivated by politics, 63% to 32%.

riversedge

Mitch McConnell Won't Denounce 'Great Replacement Theory'

(Crooks & Liars) The highest ranking Republican official in U.S. government, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, repeatedly refused to denounce “replacement theory” in a press conference Tuesday afternoon. That puts him in company with New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the third in command among House Republicans who seems to be an adherent of the white nationalist conspiracy theory.

Nevilledog

Orban and US right to bond at CPAC in Hungary over 'great replacement' ideology

(The Guardian) Hungary’s nationalist leader, Viktor Orbán, will be the star speaker at an extraordinary session of America’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to be held in Hungary this week, in an effort to cement bonds between the radical right on both sides of the Atlantic under the banner of the “great replacement” ideology. In a speech on Monday, Orbán made explicit reference to the ideology, which claims there is a liberal plot to dilute the white populations of the US and European countries through immigration. Increasingly widespread among US Republicans, the creed was cited by the killer who opened fire on Saturday in a supermarket in a predominantly black area of Buffalo, New York.

Noahv

As Gov, Doug Mastriano could refuse to certify results if Democrats win the state in 2024

(Washington Post) As a Pennsylvania state senator and gubernatorial candidate, Doug Mastriano railed against the rampant fraud that he believes was responsible for Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat. He vowed to decertify voting machines in counties where he suspects the result was rigged. And he asserted that the Republican-controlled legislature should have the right to take control of the all-important choice over which presidential electors to send to Washington. As governor, Mastriano would have the opportunity not just to speak, but to act. The Trump-endorsed 58-year-old, who won the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday, would gain significant influence over the administration of the battleground state’s elections should he prevail in November, worrying experts already fearful of a democratic breakdown around the 2024 presidential contest.

867-5309.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Tells Women: Don't Want Abortions? Don't Have Sex

(Newsweek) U.S. Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has told women that if they do not want to get pregnant they should stay celibate, at an anti-abortion speech she posted on Twitter on Tuesday. Addressing onlookers, Greene, who is a representative for Georgia's 14th congressional district, said: "Women need to make better choices. If we want to be women who make choices, here's one thing you can choose. If you don't want to become pregnant right now, choose to not have sex. You can always abstain."

littlemissmartypants

The State Behind Roe's Likely Demise Also Does the Least for New Parents in Need

(ProPublica) When it comes to reproductive care, Mississippi has a dual distinction. The state spawned the law that likely will lead to the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade. It is also unique among Deep South states for doing the least to provide health care coverage to low-income people who have given birth. Mississippians on Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, lose coverage a mere 60 days after childbirth. That’s often well before the onset of postpartum depression or life-threatening, birth-related infections: A 2020 study found that people racked up 81% of their postpartum expenses between 60 days and a year after delivery. Every other state in the Deep South has extended or is in the process of extending Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum.

babylonsister

Imagine Dealing With This Many Condescending Anti-Abortion White Men and Not Losing Your Shit

(Mother Jones) Today’s House hearing on abortion rights was bound to have its share of ignorant and offensive questions, not to mention disinformation, from a certain cohort of white male Republicans. But at times the questions asked of the witnesses—particularly Dr. Yashica Robinson, an OB-GYN and abortion provider in Alabama—were just too absurd, if not simply hateful.