USA News and Discussions

weatheriscool
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weatheriscool
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weatheriscool
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Re: USA News and Discussions

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weatheriscool
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Is the Debt Limit Constitutional? Biden Aides Are Debating It.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/us/p ... ution.html

No paywall
https://archive.is/HdQ5o
A standoff between House Republicans and President Biden over raising the nation’s borrowing limit has administration officials debating what to do if the government runs out of cash to pay its bills, including one option that previous administrations had deemed unthinkable.

That option is effectively a constitutional challenge to the debt limit. Under the theory, the government would be required by the 14th Amendment to continue issuing new debt to pay bondholders, Social Security recipients, government employees and others, even if Congress fails to lift the limit before the so-called X-date.

That theory rests on the 14th Amendment clause stating that “the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”

Some legal scholars contend that language overrides the statutory borrowing limit, which currently caps federal debt at $31.4 trillion and requires congressional approval to raise or lift.

Top economic and legal officials at the White House, the Treasury Department and the Justice Department have made that theory a subject of intense and unresolved debate in recent months, according to several people familiar with the discussions.
weatheriscool
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Illinois set to become first state to end book bans
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois is poised to become the first state to punish public institutions that ban books.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has said he supports a House bill that would withhold state funding from any of the state’s 1,600 public or school libraries that remove books from their shelves. It passed in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday, and Pritzker is expected to sign the legislation.

“In Illinois, we don’t hide from the truth, we embrace it and lead with it,” the governor said when the bill was first presented. “Banning books is a devastating attempt to erase our history and the authentic stories of many.”

The final version of House Bill 2789 passed the state Senate 39 to 19 after it was approved in March by the House on a 66 to 39 vote.

The impetus for the legislation came from newly elected Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose office oversees library systems and their funding. Giannoulias, a Democrat, said he couldn’t fathom that book banning is happening in 2023.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/0 ... s-00095151
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Texas Senate Approves Bill To Allow Gov. Greg Abbott To Overturn Elections
Source: HuffPost via Yahoo

The GOP-controlled Texas Senate on Tuesday passed a proposal allowing the state to overturn elections in Harris County, home to the state's most populous city Houston.

The legislation penalizes county officials for running out of ballot paper at some voting sites in the 2022 election, the Houston Chronicle reported. Still, more importantly, it gives Republican Gov. Greg Abbott "precedent-setting" power to undo election results.

The measure would give Abbott's appointed secretary of state the authority to hold a new election in the county if it runs out of paper at 2% or more of its polling sites for more than an hour, the newspaper noted.

Snip...

The bill's Republican co-author, state Sen. Mayes Middleton, said, "There is no excuse why we can't competently run our elections and have adequate ballot paper."
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-senate ... 54752.html
weatheriscool
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Jury reaches at least partial verdict in Proud Boys Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy trial
Source: ABC News

After a trial lasting several months, a jury in Washington on Thursday reached at least a partial verdict in the Proud Boys Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jury-re ... d=98871626
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caltrek
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GUILTY: 4 Proud Boys, Including Enrique Tarrio, Convicted of Seditious Conspiracy
by Dan Friedman
May 4, 2023

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) A Washington DC jury has convicted four members of the far-right Proud Boys group of seditious conspiracy and other crimes for actions connected to the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress. The verdicts came after a three-month federal trial and five days of deliberation.

The jury found Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy even though Tarrio did not personally take part in the January 6 riot. Tarrio had been arrested on Jan. 4 for vandalism during a previous pro-Trump rally and had been ordered to leave DC. Still, jurors found that he joined in a conspiracy to use violence to help Donald Trump retain power. Also convicted were: Ethan Nordean, the top Proud Boy on the ground that day; Joseph Biggs; and Zachary Rehl. The jury did not reach a sedition verdict for Dominic Pezzola, a lower-ranking member of the organization.
The jurors also convicted all the defendants except Pezzola of conspiracy to obstruct Congress. They did, however, convict Pezzola of obstructing an official proceeding and other charges related to the riot. On January 6, Pezzola used a stolen police riot shield to smash out window panes on the western side of the Capitol, allowing the first breach of the Capitol Building itself. The jurors were likely unsure if Pezzola was involved enough in planning to be guilty of conspiracy. US District Court Judge Timothy Kelly—a Trump appointee—instructed them to continue deliberating on the unresolved counts.

With the convictions, 14 members or affiliates of far-right groups that played leading roles in the January 6 attack have been convicted of the symbolically important charge of seditious conspiracy. Six members of the Oath Keepers militia group were previously found guilty of sedition, while four other men have pleaded guilty to that charge.

Further Extract:
Like lawyers for many January 6 defendants, attorneys for Tarrio and other Proud Boys argued that Trump was ultimately to blame for the attack on Congress. They insisted that their clients were low-level backers who were being unfairly prosecuted while the former president and his aides avoid consequences.
Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... ggs-rehl/
Last edited by caltrek on Fri May 05, 2023 9:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
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MT: Judge issues restraining order against new abortion requirement
A Lewis and Clark County District judge has granted a temporary restraining order blocking the state from allowing a newly signed abortion restriction law from being enforced until after a hearing because the law is likely a violation of the Montana Constitution.

Judge Mike Menahan issued the temporary restraining order on Thursday afternoon, which stops House Bill 575 from becoming an enforceable law just a day after Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the measure, along with four other anti-abortion restrictions, and five more on the way to his desk. He pledged to sign those measures as well.

House Bill 575 is part of several abortion measures that are being challenged in district court. The new law would have required healthcare providers to perform an ultrasound on a woman who seeks an abortion, and also requires written documentation to be kept on file that documents that the fetus is not viable. The bill defines viability at 24 weeks, effectively banning it after that point.

Opponents to the bill during the 2023 legislative session criticized the measure brought by Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls, because it added unnecessary procedures, paperwork and expense, while interfering with the medical care and privacy of patients.

https://dailymontanan.com/2023/05/04/th ... quirement/
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Georgia's GOP governor signs bill that could remove local prosecutors and DAs from their jobs
CNN — Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed legislation Friday that will create an oversight commission with the power to remove local prosecutors and district attorneys from their jobs. The measure has been heavily criticized by Democrats, including an Atlanta-area DA, who is seriously weighing charges in connection with former President Donald Trump’s actions in Georgia during the 2020 election.

Prior to the signing, Kemp’s office said that the measure, known as SB 92, would create “an oversight mechanism for district attorneys and solicitors-general across Georgia to ensure accountability in upholding constitution and statutory duties.”

“As hardworking law enforcement officers routinely put their lives on the line to investigate, confront, and arrest criminal offenders, I won’t stand idly by as they’re met with resistance from rogue or incompetent prosecutors who refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said in a press release after signing the bill. He added that the creation of the commission “will help hold prosecutors driven by out-of-touch politics than commitment to their responsibilities accountable and make our communities safer.”

The GOP-led state legislature passed the bill earlier this year, mainly along party lines.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/05/politics ... index.html
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