Household survey shows expenses rising faster than income

https://apnews.com/article/inflation-debt-poll-personal-finance-economy-dd4c88e2076d1fd3f85c51fb8992583b

AP household survey shows debt rising and income not keeping up with expenses. High interest rates are part of the story.

Charlie Cooper

Justice Thomas's benefactor forgave a $267,000 loan

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/us/politics/clarence-thomas-rv-loan-senate-inquiry.html

In 1999, Anthony Welters lent Clarence Thomas $267,000 to be an RV. Thomas made some interest payments, but in 2008 the loan was mysteriously "satisfied." Senate Finance Committee investigators (Democrats) now question whether Thomas violated Supreme Court ethics requirements (such as they are) and whether Thomas evaded income taxes.

Charlie Cooper

Report gives overview of attempts to hold Trump and allies accountable for election denial

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trump-and-his-allies-are-starting-to-face-accountability-for-their-plot-to-overturn-the-2020-presidential-election/

Charlie Cooper

Review of how changes in voting laws will affect swing states in 2024 electin

https://votingrightslab.org/battleground-2024-how-swing-states-changed-voting-rules-after-the-2020-election/

Four key swing states have made it harder to vote: GA, NC, NH, WI.

Charlie Cooper

Colorado suit to exclude Trump from ballot will proceed to trial

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/21/politics/colorado-lawsuit-trump-ballot/index.html

The judge has rejected several motions from Trump and the Republican Party to throw out the case, and it will proceed to trial on October 30.

Charlie Cooper

Historical overview of Amendment XIV, section 3

https://www.pogo.org/reports/the-constitutions-disqualification-clause-can-be-enforced-today#heading-5

How it has been enforced in the past and how it can be enforced today.

Charlie Cooper

2 Supreme Court justices own stock in companies that stand to gain in Moore case

https://www.levernews.com/justices-have-financial-interest-in-major-tax-case/

 Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito together own shares in 19 companies that could see combined tax relief of more than $30 billion if the court issues a broad ruling in the Moore v. United States tax case and strikes down a one-time corporate tax imposed in 2017."

Charlie Cooper

Election staff turnover and inexperience threatens 2024 elections

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4254685-alarms-sound-over-high-turnover-among-election-workers/

A variety of factors have election officials very worried about the 2024 election. Conspiracy theories lead to threats from the public, mistakes by election officials are blown out of proportion, resignations and turnover are already high, and existing staff are relatively inexperienced. The article sites swing states such as Pennsylvania and Arizona where problems are especially acute.

Charlie Cooper

Billionaires get huge tax breaks for donating to fake charitable groups

https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/charles-kochs-5-billion-tax-loophole?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=cw8n 

Everyone knows these groups are mainly doing electioneering work, but it's hard to prove, and the IRS has given up pursuing them because of political pressure from right wing billionaires and their allies in Congress. Charles Koch recently donated over 5 billion to new groups that will carry on his libertarian politicking long after he is dead..

Charlie Cooper

Democratic National Committee refuses to ban dark money in primaries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T4W8ftTvzU&t=20s

The Young Turks (TYT) reports that the DNC recently passed a symbolic resolution condemning dark money. But it continues to allow dark money to be used in Democratic primary races. TYT alleges that the dark money is especially valuable to the DNC to defeat progressives who run against mainstream Dems.

Charlie Cooper

"We Don't Talk about Leonard"

https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-podcast

Series of 3 podcasts on Leonard Leo, the man at the center of a vast, right-wing dark money network that influences every phase of federal judicial operations in the United States.

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights reports on aftermath of Shelby Co. v. Holder

https://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/Shelby-County-Report-2023.pdf

In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Shelby County v. Holder. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has now issued a report on the massive voter suppression campaign that has ensued in about half of the states in the 10 years since the myopic decision.

Charlie Cooper

Right-wing network challenged 100,000 individual voters in Georgia

https://www.propublica.org/article/right-wing-activists-georgia-voter-challenges

A few activists, supported by a right-wing organization, challenged almost 100,000 voters in Georgia. Most of the challenges were not valid. By selecting the geographical area on which to focus and by other algorithmic means these challenges can disproportionately impact Democratic-leaning voters.

Charlie Cooper

Wealthy GOP donor bankrolled Cyber Ninjas' effort to get voting data, whisteblower says

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/10/04/stefanie-lambert-sued-by-xrvision-in-pennsylvania-voting-machine-dispute/71051050007/

In addition, a GOP lawyer is charged with asking a data firm to give false testimony about voting machines. When they refused to comply, she spread information that caused the firm to lose business.

Charlie Cooper

Considerations in applying section 3 of Amendment XIV to disqualify insurrectionists from office

https://thefulcrum.us/could-the-constitution-itself-defeat-trump-in-2024 

Charlie Cooper

Conservative group sued for trying to remove voters from Georgia rolls

https://fairfight.com/ttv/

Fair Fight, a nonprofit founded by Stacey Abrams, opposes " [v]oter suppression, particularly of voters of color and young voters." The group is suing True the Vote, a self-described "election integrity" nonprofit organization that has attracted a great deal of controversy for its techniques that some say target voters of color. The lawsuit by Fair fight alleges that "True the Vote and the other defendants in the lawsuit took affirmative steps to intimidate voters and try to keep them from voting in violation of § 11(b) of the VRA." The lawsuit further alleges that True the Vote challenged the voting eligibility of 364,000 mostly black, brown, and younger voters based on flimsy evidence such as the filing of a change of address form at the Post Office and that such tactics amount to voter intimidation. So far, the Georgia court has agreed with Fair Fight and ordered that the case can move to a trial stage.

Charlie Cooper

No Labels seems to be a front for Wall Street and other big money

https://popular.info/p/no-labels-makes-its-choice?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1664&post_id=137608006&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=cw8n&utm_medium=email

No Labels wants to qualify for the presidential ballot in all 50 states. It has big, dark money from very wealthy donors. However, leaks have indicated what types of interests are behind No Labels.

". . . .in 2018, the Daily Beast obtained "internal documents" that revealed "prominent executives from Fortune 500 companies and leading financial-services firms have contributed to No Labels' 501(c)(4) dark-money group and its affiliated 501(c)(3) charitable arm." The group received large donations from top executives running hedge funds and private equity firms, including Bain Capital, Centaurus Advisors, Oaktree Capital Management, Trian Fund Management, and Apollo Global Management." The group has also solicited donations from prominent Trump supporters, "including PayPal founder Peter Thiel, businessman Foster Friess, and Home Depot founder Ken Langone." The New Republic, citing an internal document, reported that between 2019 and 2021, No Labels received $130,000 from right-wing billionaire Harlan Crow."

In Arizona, No Labels was forced to register as a political party in order to get ballot access. Now, people have joined the No Labels Party and submitted applications to appear on the ballot. No Labels is suing because running candidates for state office would force them to comply with Arizona disclosure laws. The Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes, ruled that they cannot keep these party members off the ballot.

[NOTE: GMOM and its allies in For the People -- Maryland recruited volunteers to support the candidacy of Adrian Fontes as Secretary of State of Arizona.]

Charlie Cooper

Clarence Thomas has yet another conflict of interest

https://prospect.org/power/2023-10-02-clarence-thomas-another-conflict-of-interest/ 

Clarence Thomas provides major fundraising assistance for the Horatio Alger association. Research now shows that wealthy members of the association stand to gain from a case that could reduce the powers of the consumer financial protection bureau. Yet Thomas has not recused himself from this case.

Charlie Cooper.