All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[kidfresh512]

Federal judge fines Texas child welfare agency $100K per day for foster care failures

A federal judge has ordered Texas health and human services officials to pay $100,000 per day in fines for routinely neglecting investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect by children in the state’s beleaguered foster care system, according to a Monday order.

U.S. District Judge Janis Jack found Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner Cecile E. Young in contempt of her court orders to fix the way the state investigates complaints by children in its care.

It is the third time the state has been held in contempt of court orders since a 2011 lawsuit was filed about foster care conditions in the care of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the child welfare arm of HHS.

The judge’s decision was prompted by the “continued recalcitrance” to conduct thorough, accurate and timely abuse, neglect, and exploitation investigations by the agency’s Provider Investigations unit, which investigates those allegations, the 427-page decision reads.

“As demonstrated by the stories of the children and PI’s failure to take any action to remedy the egregious flaws identified by the Monitors, PI represents a significant, systemic failure that increases the risk of serious harm [to the children].”

“The judge’s ruling is measured but urgent, given the shocking evidence,” said Paul Yetter, attorney for the plaintiffs. “Innocent children are suffering every day. After all these years, when will state leadership get serious about fixing this disaster?”

At the center of the battle are the roughly 9,000 children in permanent state custody, removed from their homes due to circumstances that can include abuse at home, or complex health needs that parents are unable to manage without help, or the loss of their family caregivers.

They often present the most tragic stories and have some of the most complex mental and behavioral needs of any child in the system, yet they are often left in dangerous homes and residential centers with poor supervision — frequently overmedicated, trafficked, and unable to get help if they’re continuing to be being abused.

Testimony during a series of hearings earlier this year and late last year zeroed in on the poor quality and backlog of investigations into complaints of sexual abuse reported by children in state care who have intellectual or developmental disabilities, such as autism, fetal-alcohol syndrome, and Down syndrome.

In one case, plaintiffs say, a girl was left in the same residential facility for a year while 12 separate investigations piled up around allegations that she had been raped by a worker at the facility. She was left in the facility with that same worker until she was “dumped in an emergency room, alone, with her jaw broken in two places,” Jack said.

Horrific. Yet Texas is leading the charge regulating women's bodies. Yet once they are born and get jammed in these foster care facilities they dont give them the proper supervision and allow these horrific abuses for years.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

At least he seems more relaxed and diplomatic about the whole thing today.

Reading nonsense like that makes me want to laugh out loud because it's so ridiculous. I mean, the so-called "assault on America" was The Nodfather (saw that on X too) hording top secret documents which I'm sure he planned to sell to the highest foreign bidder.

[CaptainEurope]

Trump Media stock is down 9% in the first 20 minutes of trading.

[Mister Mets]

I know all the reasons the Republicans ended up with Trump…”fanatical supporters”, “he gives licence to hate”, etc, etc.

But, blimey it’s strange that it can come to him being their Presidential candidate. Write it 20 years that some one could behave like him, and be Presidential candidate with a 50/50 shot at winning…it would be regarded as a satirical fantasy.

There are fundamentally three questions on Trump- why he won the nomination in 2016, why he won the presidential election in 2016 and why he'll be renominated in 2024.

Part of the context of his win in 2016 is the perception that McCain and Romney lost because they were nice guys who couldn't fight as dirty as the left. (It seems Obama was always favored in '08 and '12, so I think that was more about political environment.) There's been a contingent who like candidates who sell themselves as businessmen more than politicians. Steve Forbes and Herman Cain were briefly major contenders in primaries, while the Bushes and Romney played up their business experience. There's also a group of people who thought radical change was necessary. They didn't really care what it looked like- These were the Ron Paul voters in 2012.

There was also a sense that the establishment Republicans fundamentally didn't like working class voters in the GOP, but Trump did. He may like them in the way a shark likes tuna.

The media also handled the election badly, generally giving Trump a lot of free publicity, more than his share of the vote would suggest. (He had 45% of the vote in the end, but two-thirds of the media coverage was about him.) And sometimes he would be criticized for positions on issues that are ugly but arguably have support among general election voters (IE- the Muslim ban) which is not the way to prevent someone from winning votes.

Once he won a major party nomination, he was in a position to win the presidency. Hillary Clinton was one of the least popular general election nominees ever, and ran the most progressive campaign ever, so she didn't do much of anything to appeal to voters in the middle. It left the impression that the election was more of an opportunity than a crisis. It seemed to be a calculation that if they moderated too much in the general election, it would tie the hands of an administration that never ended up happening. They also ran a god-awful campaign, spending resources to increase the popular vote, rather than focusing on the states that would guarantee wins in the electoral college.

There hasn't been much exploration about why she lost. November 7 2016, she was President in waiting. November 9 2016, she was persona non grata. There should be more of an exploration of what she and her supporters did wrong to lose to someone so catastrophically flawed.

It did help that a key Supreme Court seat was at stake. Democrats wanted to replace the conservative Scalia and they didn't have a Senate majority. In this, they played a bad hand badly nominating Garland, who seemed to be a generic Democrat without much of a constituency. And the Clinton's campaign suggested they might pick someone else if they won in 2016, which undercut the message that Garland was uniquely impressive and that it was wrong for Republicans to block his seat.

If voters feel economic and other kinds of anxiety (there were some losers with modernization; life expectancy was declining was declining among some demographics) voters are more likely to go for social conservatives who back traditional values that feel familiar to them than for progressives who may offer more. And Trump was fiscally moderate, opposing any hint that there would be cuts to Social Security or medicare. Things were changing very rapidly, and that can lead to backlash if there's a sense that authorities may go too far, while getting in the way of actually getting things done (it's very difficult to build anything in left-wing jurisdictions.)

As for 2024, Trump's numbers went up when he got prosecuted. There seems to be a sense that his enemies are going too far, that he is more sinned against than sinning. The argument about 88 criminal charges against Trump only works if you think he'd be prosecuted as much if he were someone else. Otherwise, it's lawfare. It doesn't help that cases have major flaws. Alvin Bragg may have the only criminal case against Trump to get a verdict before November, and he has the complex trick of proving that Trump tried to hide a felony that he has never been charged with. Fani Willis hired her boyfriend, and lied about it.

There's also a sense that he would have easily won reelection if not for Covid, and his supporters and independents are unlikely to think he should have supported further restrictions. The economy was doing pretty good.

The New York Times just had a piece by a former Bill Clinton advisor on how the electoral map looks in 2024, and the ways Biden or Trump can win.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...p-outlook.html

[kidfresh512]

Second Republican says they will back effort to oust Johnson from speakership

A second House Republican told Mike Johnson on Tuesday that he will sign on to an attempt to end his speakership, according to two lawmakers in the room — meaning Johnson would almost certainly need Democratic votes to retain his gavel if his rivals move against him.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said during a closed-door GOP meeting that he would back Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) effort amid rising conservative frustration with the speaker's proposed foreign aid package. Massie is the first Republican to commit to supporting her. It's still unclear when Greene plans to force the ouster vote, though she has vowed to do it eventually.

“You’re not going to be the speaker much longer," Massie told Johnson, according to two lawmakers in the room.

On Monday evening, Johnson announced his plans to send four separate bills to the floor — on aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, plus a fourth with other miscellaneous provisions. That sparked pushback from Greene and some other conservatives, who have opposed attempts to send further cash to Ukraine. Given that resistance, Johnson would likely need Democratic support to bring those bills to the floor, which could further incite GOP hardliners in any ouster vote.

More disfunction.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Second Republican says they will back effort to oust Johnson from speakership



More disfunction.

It'd be funny if it didn't enable Russia

[kidfresh512]

It'd be funny if it didn't enable Russia

In this case even though he is personally vile and his policies abhorrent to most Dems. He at least has been hamstrung enough by his own party that he passes basic legislation, govt funding, at least going against the nutjobs in his caucus. He is in trouble for basically funding the government . Until the Dems can hopefully takeover in November there is no promise any of the other morons the GOP put up won't just bow to the MTGs. So I can see the Dems just voting for him if he gets the aid packages out of limbo to Ukraine etc.

[Robotman]

Day 2 of the Trump trial!
Will he stay awake?
Will we have more entertaining jury candidates, like the lady who likes "hitting da clubs" yesterday?
Will the judge again echo Trumps' legal person's stupid comments and questions?
I CANNOT WAIT!!

I’m sure his cult think that by falling asleep he will as rebelling against the court. “Looks he’s so cool, rebellious, and relaxed that he fell asleep at his own trial.”

They would never admit that he’s a senile tired old man whose Adderall had probably stopped working.

[Mister Mets]

One benefit Iran can count from their missle attack is they now know precisely how quickly Israel can react and how effective their defense can be. And, they did it without starting a war.

This is probably why there needs to be some kind of penalty. It's atrocious if they can endanger thousands of lives for show and there's no incentive against it. Iran appeases regional antisemites, and they gain some intel out of it.

Why they should be treated differently than if they had lobbed missiles at Greece or Austria (just to pick a country with similar populations)?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

In this case even though he is personally vile and his policies abhorrent to most Dems. He at least has been hamstrung enough by his own party that he passes basic legislation, govt funding, at least going against the nutjobs in his caucus. He is in trouble for basically funding the government . Until the Dems can hopefully takeover in November there is no promise any of the other morons the GOP put up won't just bow to the MTGs. So I can see the Dems just voting for him if he gets the aid packages out of limbo to Ukraine etc.

Funding the government was what got Craven Kevin bounced by the Nutjob Caucus. I for one am not holding out much hope Johnson will ultimately be that courageous, in the end, he'll probably give in to the Trump loving loons.

I’m sure his cult think that by falling asleep he will as rebelling against the court. “Looks he’s so cool, rebellious, and relaxed that he fell asleep at his own trial.”

They would never admit that he’s a senile tired old man whose Adderall had probably stopped working.

Or had been up texting at 0-dark thirty.

[Jack Dracula]

Second Republican says they will back effort to oust Johnson from speakership



More disfunction.

When McCarthy agreed to the terms set by the Freedom Caucus in exchange for their extremely fickle support he gutted any real leverage any future Republican speakers may have… and he did it for nothing more than to satisfy his own ego.

[aja_christopher]

There are fundamentally three questions on Trump- why he won the nomination in 2016, why he won the presidential election in 2016 and why he'll be renominated in 2024.

Because many conservatives and Republicans are white supremacists and white nationalists and they will support those values in Trump even if he supports Russia and engages in criminal and immoral behavior.

There is no need to try to make it more complex than it is unless you are trying to avoid finding a real solution.

He has said what he is and the Republican party knows it: the only people still pretending otherwise at this point are those who are protecting Republicans and those in denial.

I know all the reasons the Republicans ended up with Trump…”fanatical supporters”, “he gives licence to hate”, etc, etc.

But, blimey it’s strange that it can come to him being their Presidential candidate. Write it 20 years that some one could behave like him, and be Presidential candidate with a 50/50 shot at winning…it would be regarded as a satirical fantasy.

It's not strange at all -- the only thing remarkable about it is that so many people refuse to accept the depth of bigotry, sexism and prejudice that underlies many Republican policies.

Again -- this is not surprising at all to many "minorities" in America who have been dealing with it firsthand since long before cameras and the internet.

It's way past time to acknowledge the depth of the sickness that America has been dealing with since it's foundation -- it shouldn't take 91 felonies to make people realize there is a serious problem.

The next Republican fascist may not be so stupid.

[Jack Dracula]

I know all the reasons the Republicans ended up with Trump…”fanatical supporters”, “he gives licence to hate”, etc, etc.

But, blimey it’s strange that it can come to him being their Presidential candidate. Write it 20 years that some one could behave like him, and be Presidential candidate with a 50/50 shot at winning…it would be regarded as a satirical fantasy.

It demonstrates the poor level of judgement that Republican voters have been reduced to by decades of misinformation, propaganda and rabble-rousing by conservative media and politicians. They’d been trained to hate the government so much they were ripe for a populist strongman who promised to “drain the swamp” and solve all their problems.

[ed2962]

Kyle Rittenhouse speaks at Kent State

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ky...it/ar-BB1lICAT

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Kyle Rittenhouse speaks at Kent State

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ky...it/ar-BB1lICAT

It irks me no end that this snot nosed, murdering little punk has become a celebrity among right wingers and Second Amendment nutbags. And to think he spoke at Kent State of all places was doubly abhorrent.