New House Speaker Once Blamed Abortions for Social Security, Medicare Cuts
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling – October 25, 2023
The new House speaker, Mike Johnson, has touted some extremely controversial opinions as a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus—but few as unsavory as his apparent hatred for a woman’s right to choose, sizing a woman’s worth up as her ability to create more workers for American businesses.
In a clip that surfaced Tuesday, Johnson put the onus of Republican cuts to essential programs on unborn children, claiming that if American women were producing more bodies to churn the economy then Republicans wouldn’t have to cut essential social programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
“Roe v. Wade gave constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn children in America,” Johnson said, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“You think about the implications of that on the economy; we’re all struggling here to cover the bases of Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and all the rest. If we had all those able-bodied workers in the economy, we wouldn’t be going upside down and toppling over like this,” he added.
Johnson has also co-sponsored at least three bills hoping to ban abortion at a nationwide level, including the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children From Late-Term Abortions Act, and the Heartbeat Protection Act of 2021, all of which carry criminal penalties of up to five years in prison for physicians who perform abortions.
Where previous nominees flailed around, caucus support for Johnson was resounding. Scalise and Jordan were both Speaker nominees for a number of odd days before it became clear there was no path forward; Jordan saw massive rifts form in his relationships with a handful of his caucus after they received a slew of death and other threats in his name. Emmer was the nominee for just over the run-time of Avengers: Endgame. But when Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) nominated Johnson on the House floor, caucus members reportedly cheered and chanted, “Mike! Mike! Mike!”
In his remarks, not only does Johnson claim Roe “gave constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn children,” but he rails against the imagined economic detriments of abortion, pushing his caucus’ outlandish claim that by depleting a hypothetical workforce, abortion has defunded social security: “Think about the implications of that on the economy. We’re all struggling here to cover the bases of social security and Medicare and Medicaid and all the rest,” Johnson says. “If we had all those able-bodied workers in the economy we wouldn’t be going upside down and toppling over like this… Roe was a terrible corruption.” Mind you, social security and health care have been gutted in the last several years by Republican lawmakers, not people who choose to end a pregnancy.
Alas, this is the man who will be presiding over the House moving forward as the threat of another government shutdown looms. This is the man who will be relied on to forge the bipartisan agreements necessary to pass a budget and keep the wheels of our government in motion. You’ll have to excuse me if I’m not feeling overly optimistic about things right now.
Mass shooting hits multiple locations in Lewiston, Maine
Jolie Lash and Riley Hoffman – October 25, 2023
At least 20 people are believed to be dead and dozens more have been injured after a bowling alley came under fire in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday evening, law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News.
There are also reports of shots fired at additional locations, including a local bar, according to law enforcement sources briefed on the situation.
PHOTO: Law enforcement vehicles are shown at a scene of a shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 25, 2023. (Nichoel Wyman Arel)
A nurse at Maine Medical Center told ABC News the shooting unfolded at a bowling alley during its youth night.
“Maine Medical is on lockdown right now awaiting Lewiston patients,” the nurse said. “They just called for [emergency department] nurses and critical care nurses to come in, set up three stretchers to each single critical care bay. They just got their first two patients — both gunshot wounds to their thighs.”
A suspect is not yet in custody and an active manhunt is underway. Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office shared a photo of the alleged gunman on Facebook Wednesday evening, asking for identification help via messenger or email.
PHOTO In this image posted to the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, a suspect in an active shooter event is shown in Oct. 25, 2023. (Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office)
The White House said Wednesday evening, “The President has been briefed on what’s known so far about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine and will continue to receive updates.”
Governor Janet Mills posted on X that she was aware of the situation and urging “all people in the area to follow the direction of State and local enforcement. I will continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with public safety officials.”
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Amazon Injuries More Widespread Than Thought, Study Says
Matt Day – October 25, 2023
In this article
(Bloomberg) — More than two-thirds of Amazon.com Inc. US warehouse workers surveyed by researchers reported that they took unpaid time off to recover from pain or exhaustion sustained on the job.
The new national study, published Wednesday by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development, found that 69% of workers surveyed stayed home without pay to recover, including 34% who did so three or more times.
The data suggest “injury and pain at Amazon are far more widespread” than previously known, said Beth Gutelius, research director at the center and a leading expert on logistics and warehouse work.
The report is based on a 98-question online survey that gathered responses from 1,484 warehouse workers in 451 facilities across 42 states, the researchers said. It was conducted between April and August and measured the percentage of workers who took time off during the previous month. Amazon employs hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers in the US.
Researchers found their subjects using ads on Meta Platforms Inc. apps, targeting people who listed Amazon as their employer or lived in areas where the company operates. The project received funding from the Ford Foundation, Oxfam America and the pro-labor nonprofit National Employment Law Project.
Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel said the report was “not a ‘study’ — it’s a survey done on social media, by groups with an ulterior motive.” She recommended that people read the safety data Amazon submits each year to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, “which shows that rates in our buildings have improved significantly, and we’re slightly above the average in some areas and slightly below the average in others.”
Lynch Vogel acknowledged there is work to be done but that worker safety is a top priority and that Amazon continues to invest in safety throughout its operations.
The report, the broadest academic survey of Amazon workers to date, adds to the growing scrutiny of the company’s sprawling logistics operation. Amazon is the second-largest private-sector employer behind Walmart Inc., and employs about 29% of the country’s warehousing workers, the researchers estimate. That gives the company outsize influence over the industry’s working conditions and compensation.
Critics say Amazon pushes employees to work too hard and too quickly, leading to avoidable injuries. Workplace safety regulators in Amazon’s home state of Washington allege a direct connection between employee monitoring and discipline and musculoskeletal disorders suffered by its workers. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, meanwhile, has cited Amazon for exposing workers to ergonomic risks at several facilities across the country.
Amazon says the regulators’ allegations are inaccurate and is challenging them, including during weeks of hearings held recently on the Washington state citations. The company says its investments in worker safety, including a push to automate repetitive and arduous tasks, are helping reduce the injury rate.
Gutelius and co-author Sanjay Pinto say 63% of workers acknowledged that Amazon has made safety a high priority. But many suffer injuries anyway, and workers who say they have trouble keeping up are more likely to be hurt on the job, according to Gutelius.
“The harder it is for a worker to maintain the pace of work, the more likely it is that they are injured,” she said.
Employees also suffered work-related mental health issues. More than half of those surveyed reported feeling burned out. The portion of workers reporting burnout increases with job tenure, the researchers say.
The researchers excluded results that didn’t take the questions seriously or appeared to feign employment with Amazon. Managers and drivers were also excluded. Responses were weighted to align demographically with Amazon’s own published statistics on the racial and gender breakdowns of its workforce.
Overall, 41% of workers reported being injured while working at an Amazon warehouse. The share rises to 51% for people who have worked at the company for more than three years.
“They are taking some steps, but tinkering around the margins isn’t going to work,” Pinto said of Amazon’s attempts to reduce injuries within its ranks. “There’s something fundamental about the system that needs to change.”
(Updates with Amazon comment, details on project funders, starting in the fifth paragraph. A previous version of this story was corrected to remove Princeton as a study funder in penultimate paragraph.)
Editorial: Fla. attorney general moves to silence voters once again
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board – October 24, 2023
Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS
Attorney General Ashley Moody won’t be satisfied with simply banning abortion in Florida, at which she appears close to success. She also intends to prevent voters from doing anything about it.
Moody has notified the Florida Supreme Court that she will ask it to rule against placing a constitutional initiative guaranteeing abortion rights on the November 2024 ballot.
The drive has collected signatures from more than 400,000 voters toward a required goal of nearly 900,000. Sponsors and supporters have spent more than $9.7 million in anticipation of Florida Supreme Court rulings that would effectively abolish abortion in Florida.
The initiative would change the constitution to say that “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare providers.” It would not affect an existing provision dealing with parental notification.
A focus on ‘viability’
Moody telegraphed her strategy in an opinion essay to Florida newspapers, arguing that the language of the ballot summary and the amendment is ambiguous and would mislead voters.
“As any mother knows, ‘viability’ has two meanings when it comes to pregnancy,” Moody wrote.
Some women, according to Moody, relate viability to the risk of miscarriage, while others take it to mean when a fetus can survive outside the womb.
She wrote that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which supports abortion rights, “notes the two medical definitions.”
What’s misleading is Moody’s misrepresentation of where the American College actually stands on that definition. There is nothing misleading about the term viability so long as doctors are defining it — and they are the only ones who should.
The full definition
This is precisely how doctors define it: “Viability is the capacity of the fetus to survive outside the mother’s uterus. Whether or not this capacity exists is a medical determination, may vary with each pregnancy, and is a matter for the judgment of the responsible attending physician.” (Emphasis added).
Moody did not quote that.
Most commonly, viability is calculated at 23 or 24 weeks of gestation. It is not, and never should be, a matter for meddling or ambitious politicians like Moody.
Moody has consistently been on the wrong side of a woman’s right to her own body. In a pending case being watched nationally, she has urged the court to repeal its historic 1989 decision that Florida’s constitutional right of privacy protects abortion rights.
Were the court to do that, it would effectively limit privacy protection to the release of public records — a faint shred of how the court defined it in 1989.
The court, then and now
“Florida’s privacy provision is clearly implicated in a woman’s decision of whether or not to continue her pregnancy,” Justice Leander Shaw wrote at the time. “We can conceive of few more personal or private decisions concerning one’s body that one can make in the course of a lifetime.”
Restricting the provision, as Moody and the Legislature want the court to do, would expose almost any personal conduct to political control, from end-of-life decisions to the availability of contraception. Parental rights could, and likely would, be subject to unlimited interference by the state.
The pending case involves the constitutionality of Florida’s current ban on abortions past 15 weeks, but a law the Legislature passed this spring automatically caps the procedure at six weeks, a time when many women don’t know they are pregnant, if the court upholds the 15-week ban.
In what appears to be a clear breach of judicial ethics, Justice Charles Canady has been participating in the case despite the interest of his wife, state Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, as a co-sponsor of the six-week abortion ban, which passed as SB 300.
Moody and the Legislature are contemptuous of how the voters spoke nine years ago on a ballot proposal by lawmakers that would have expressly overruled the 1989 precedent. It would have narrowed privacy rights to those determined by the U.S. Supreme Court under the federal constitution. The vote was 4.3 million against and 3.5 million in favor. Had it passed, there would be no privacy rights in Florida because of the high court’s subsequent decision repealing Roe v. Wade.
Hostility toward voters
Moody’s quibbling over “viability” is in line with her hostility to giving voters a voice on other controversial citizen-sponsored amendments. She opposes those dealing with marijuana. Even after Parkland, she sided with the gun lobby in persuading the court to not allow a statewide vote on banning assault weapons.
The attorney general is required to petition the court to rule on proposed initiatives when they hit a threshold of verified signatures. The abortion question qualified with 222,881. Moody is not required to oppose them. It is difficult to conceive of any dealing with abortion rights, marijuana legalization or guns to which she would not manufacture an objection.
The job of Florida attorney general has long been called “the people’s lawyer.” Moody is not.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email atletters@sun-sentinel.com.
Climate scientists warn Earth systems heading for ‘dangerous instability’
Daniel Manzo – October 24, 2023
Climate scientists warn Earth systems heading for ‘dangerous instability’
Forecasts about the negative effects of human-caused climate change are not uncommon, but new research published Tuesday makes even more dire claims, declaring that “life on planet Earth is under siege” and that “we are pushing our planetary systems into dangerous instability.”
The study, titled “The 2023 State of the Climate Report: Entering Uncharted Territory” and published in the journal Bioscience, points to specific climate events in 2023 to support its findings, including exceptional heat waves across the globe, historic and record-breaking warm ocean temperatures, and unprecedented low levels of sea ice surrounding Antarctica.
The 12 international scientists who created the report indicated that in so far in 2023, there have been 38 days with global average temperatures more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service earlier this month indicated that 2023 will likely go on record as the hottest year ever recorded.
What’s more, the highest average Earth surface temperature ever recorded was in July, according to the report, which also notes that may be the highest surface temperate the Earth has experienced in the last 100,000 years.
The research team, which included scientists from the United States, Australia, Germany, Brazil, the United Kingdom, China, and the Netherlands, says that anthropogenic global heating – meaning global heating caused or amplified by humans – is the key driver in recent extreme climate events. The team also took into account that some of these events are complex and are at least partially driven by non-human factors, including water vapor effects from an underwater volcano, as well as dust from Africa, and the El Niño global climate pattern.
PHOTO: In this July 13, 2023, file photo, a man wipes his face as he walks under misters in downtown Phoenix. (Matt York/AP, FILE)
The researchers also point to “minimal progress” by humanity to stop the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. “Although the consumption of renewable energy (solar and wind) grew a robust 17% between 2021 and 2022, it remains roughly 15 times lower than fossil fuel energy consumption,” the report states.
“Without actions that address the root problem of humanity taking more from the Earth than it can safely give, we’re on our way to the potential partial collapse of natural and socioeconomic systems and a world with unbearable heat and shortages of food and fresh water,” declares report co-lead author William Ripple, from the Oregon State University College of Forestry.
“Life on our planet is clearly under siege,” said Ripple.
The authors says action must be taken now to avert further extreme climate impacts: “[T]o mitigate these past emissions and stop global warming, efforts must be directed toward eliminating emissions from fossil fuels and land-use change and increasing carbon sequestration with nature-based climate solutions.”
‘Time Is Up’: Scientists Warn Earth Has Entered ‘Uncharted Climate Territory’
Chris D’Angelo – October 24, 2023
If Earth were a human, it would already be in the emergency room.
An international team of scientists on Tuesday issued a new assessment of planetary health that says the world has entered “uncharted climate territory” and that “life on planet Earth is under siege.”
The report, published in the journal BioScience, found that 20 of 35 identified “vital signs” of the planet — from human population and greenhouse gas emissions to sea level rise and ocean acidity — have reached record extremes.
The analysis, authored by a dozen expert scientists, is as much a desperate warning as an urgent call for action.
“For several decades, scientists have consistently warned of a future marked by extreme climatic conditions because of escalating global temperatures caused by ongoing human activities that release harmful greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere,” the report states. “Unfortunately, time is up. We are seeing the manifestation of those predictions as an alarming and unprecedented succession of climate records are broken, causing profoundly distressing scenes of suffering to unfold. We are entering an unfamiliar domain regarding our climate crisis, a situation no one has ever witnessed firsthand in the history of humanity.”
This year has truly been one of extremes — unprecedented heat waves, record-shattering land and sea surface temperatures, record-low Antarctic sea ice extent, and a Canadian wildfire season that has so far torched over 45 million acres, more than 2.5 times the previous record.
A forest fire rages in British Columbia, Canada, in July.
A forest fire rages in British Columbia, Canada, in July.
Tuesday’s stunning, unfiltered assessment comes as many scientists are still trying to make sense of the climate anomalies documented in recent months.
“The truth is that we are shocked by the ferocity of the extreme weather events in 2023,” the report reads. “We are afraid of the uncharted territory that we have now entered.”
The changes have been so rapid that they’ve “surprised scientists and caused concern about the dangers of extreme weather, risky climate feedback loops, and the approach of damaging tipping points sooner than expected,” the report states. And they occurred against a backdrop of what the authors described as “minimal progress by humanity in combating climate change.”
Human activity, primarily the world’s addiction to fossil fuels, is the main driver of planetary warming and the extreme weather events causing devastation around the globe. Despite a steady drumbeat of warnings from the world’s scientific community, global carbon emissions are forecast to hit an all-time high in 2023. In just a single year, from 2021 to 2022, global fossil fuel subsidies more than doubled, from $531 billion to $1.01 trillion, which the report’s authors linked to rising energy costs stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A gas flare from a Shell Chemical LP petroleum refinery illuminates the sky in Norco, Louisiana.
A gas flare from a Shell Chemical LP petroleum refinery illuminates the sky in Norco, Louisiana.
The paper warns that “massive suffering due to climate change is already here” and highlights several deadly, climate-fueled disasters over the past year, including extreme heat waves in Asia, catastrophic wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, and devastating flooding in Libya. By the end of the century, between 3 billion and 6 billion people — as much as half of the planet’s population — could “find themselves confined beyond the livable region,” according to the analysis.
“Without actions that address the root problem of humanity taking more from the Earth than it can safely give, we’re on our way to the potential collapse of natural and socioeconomic systems and a world with unbearable heat and shortages of food and freshwater,” Christopher Wolf, a lead author of the paper, said in a statement.
The report advocates for much more than minimizing planet-warming greenhouse gasses, calling specifically for reducing overconsumption of the world’s resources, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, increasing forest protection, shifting toward plant-based diets and transforming the global economy to “prioritize human well-being and to provide for a more equitable distribution of resources.” Additionally, it urges humanity to “stabilize and gradually decrease the human population with gender justice through voluntary family planning and by supporting women’s and girls’ education and rights, which reduces fertility rates and raises the standard of living.”
The recommendations go beyond the normal scope of climate science, but underscore how serious the researchers believe the crisis to be.
“Rather than focusing only on carbon reduction and climate change, addressing the underlying issue of ecological overshoot will give us our best shot at surviving these challenges in the long run,” the authors conclude. “This is our moment to make a profound difference for all life on Earth, and we must embrace it with unwavering courage and determination to create a legacy of change that will stand the test of time.”
Negligent builders and developers might be responsible for hidden peril underneath Florida: ‘Some shady folks still used them’
Rick Kazmer – October 23, 2023
Recently released government data about the Sunshine State could provide a new moniker for Florida — the Lead Pipe State.
That’s because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that Florida has more lead pipes in its water systems — 1.16 million of them — than any other state, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida highlights a national problem, as some 9.2 million lead pipes carry drinking water to households around the country, the Times reports. It’s a concern that has lingered for decades with severe health implications.
As a result, the government plans to pump billions of dollars into lead-pipe-heavy states to tackle the problem.
“Every community deserves access to safe, clean drinking water,” EPA administrator Michael Regan told the Tampa Bay Times.
Why are lead pipes dangerous?
Drinking water contaminated with lead can cause heart problems, lower IQ rates among children, and anemia, among a list of other serious health problems, according to the EPA.
Lead was spotlighted in 2014 during the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. Lead leached into the water supply, causing severe health problems for the community.
Why are lead pipes still a concern?
Craig Pittman has been following the lead pipe story for Florida Phoenix, a nonprofit news site. In a recent column, he said that the building and development industry is partially to blame for lingering lead concerns.
Despite increased regulations during the decades, he wrote, lead solder, flux, and pipes were still being used. The government ramped up regulations on lead pipes in 1986.
“Even after lead pipes were banned … some shady folks still used them, figuring they wouldn’t get caught because the evidence was literally buried out of sight. Meanwhile, a lot of lead pipes were already in use all around the country,” Pittman wrote.
He talked to civil engineer Alison Adams, who works for the utility company Tampa Bay Water. Adams said the lead is often found after the public utility hookup, because it’s in the materials the builders used.
“Lead pipes were used in the building industry, not in public water supply,” she said. “A utility’s responsibility ends at the meter to a home. Lead pipes were used between the meter and in homes or businesses, including schools, as a matter of construction.”
What’s being done about lead in the water?
The EPA highlighted the lead problem as part of a survey of 3,500 water systems around the country. The Times reported that about $625 billion is needed to upgrade the systems.
President Joe Biden has promised $15 billion to clear out all of the nation’s lead pipes, according to the Times.
It’s a lofty goal that will target states with the most lead. After Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York have the most lead pipes, the Times reports.
How can I test for lead at home?
The EPA has a guide that outlines how to test your service line for lead. It includes details on the different faucets and fixtures that commonly contain the heavy metal.
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Large portion of Americans doubt democracy and view violence as acceptable, poll finds
Brendan Rascius – October 18, 2023
J. David Ake/AP
A large portion of Americans on both sides of the aisle favor getting rid of democracy and imposing violence on their political opponents, among other authoritarian measures, according to a new poll.
Thirty-one percent of Donald Trump supporters and 24% of President Joe Biden supporters said democracy is “no longer viable” and an alternative system should be tried, according to an October poll from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
The poll surveyed 2,008 registered voters from Aug. 25 to Sept. 11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Other key findings:
When asked whether it is acceptable to employ violence to stop political opponents from attaining their goals, 41% of Biden supporters and 38% of Trump supporters said yes.
30% of Trump supporters and 25% of Biden supporters said elections should be suspended in times of crisis.
41% of Trump supporters and 30% of Biden supporters said they favor either conservative or liberal states seceding from the union.
Nearly half of Biden supporters, 47%, and 35% of Trump supporters said the government should restrict the expression of views “considered discriminatory or offensive.”
The polling comes as Trump, the leading contender for the GOP nomination, continues to claim without evidence that the 2020 election was rigged against him.
The results, which signal a desire for an authoritarian crackdown, come at a time when public trust in government is at a near-record low, according to the Pew Research Center. In a 2023 poll, only 16% of Americans said they trusted the government to do what is right at least most of the time.
The poll reveals “really troubling findings about democracy and the potential for violence,” Rick Hasen, the director of UCLA’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, said on X.
‘The View’: Rachel Maddow Says Jim Jordan Winning Speaker Would Be Like Trump Putting ‘Rudy Giuliani on the Supreme Court’
Andi Ortiz – October 18, 2023
Rep. Jim Jordan remains in the running to become the next Speaker of the House, but he is struggling to come up with the necessary votes to win the job. But Rachel Maddow isn’t looking forward to that possibility, comparing it on Wednesday to Rudy Giuliani getting a spot on the Supreme Court.
Stopping by “The View” on Wednesday, the MSNBC host admitted she was glad that Jordan lost the first vote, and worried what his speakership might actually look like.
“I think that had Mr. Jordan been chosen, it would have been a big deal for the country,” Maddow said. “It would be like if Trump was president and put Rudy Giuliani on the Supreme Court, you know what I mean?”
That comparison earned a full belly laugh from Whoopi, as Sunny Hostin and her co-hosts conceded it was “a very good example.”
“I mean, there was nobody who was more important in Congress to Trump’s effort to overthrow the lawfully elected government of the United States than Jim Jordan,” Maddow added.
“So then, to make him second in line to the presidency? And in charge of congress certifying the election results in 2024? I mean, he’s still in the running, maybe it’ll still be him. That’ll be a big deal if it happens, in all the wrong ways.”
All that said, Maddow was pretty confident that, no matter who ends up with the gavel, they aren’t going to enjoy their time with it.
“Even if you could fast forward to the end of this process, whenever it ends, with whoever wins, what does that person win? The worst job in America!” she said. “And they get to hold it for five minutes, and then get fired, and then we start again. I mean, there’s nothing to look forward to for anybody here. It is a sad thing.”
