As we continue our effort to keep you up-to-date on how money corrupts American government and politics, as well as other news of the day, we’re is pleased to publish this daily digest compiled by BillMoyers.com’s Michael Winship.
Take down that flag –> In the wee hours of the morning, after more than 13 hours of fierce debate and attempts to delay, the South Carolina House of Representative agreed to remove the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds. It will come down within 24 hours of the governor’s signature. Rep. Joe Neal: “The whole world is asking, is South Carolina really going to change, or will it hold to an ugly tradition of prejudice and discrimination and hide behind heritage as an excuse for it?”
Just a glitch… or was it? –> Trading was suspended for about four hours on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday due to an internal technical problem with their computers, not a cyberbreach from outside. But according to The Hill, the activist hacking group Anonymous “tweeted late Tuesday: ‘Wonder if tomorrow is going to be bad for Wall Street…. we can only hope.'” The paper was quick to add, “The message could also be seen as an allusion to economic unrest in China and Greece, which has contributed to global market turmoil in recent days.” Here’s Stephen Colbert’s apocalyptic take.
No, Ms. Palin, they’re not “death panels” –> Pam Belluck at The New York Times: “Medicare, the federal program that insures 55 million older and disabled Americans, announced plans on Wednesday to reimburse doctors for conversations with patients about whether and how they would want to be kept alive if they became too sick to speak for themselves.”
Another plus for Obamacare –> “… Individual spending on birth control pills plummeted by almost half in the first six months the landmark healthcare law went into effect,” Inae Oh at Mother Jones writes, saving “women a startling $1.4 billion in 2013 alone. Out-of-pocket spending on intrauterine devices (IUD’s) also declined by 68 percent.”
Relegated to the ashtray of history –> CVS, which last year banned the sale of tobacco products in all its stores, has withdrawn from the US Chamber of Commerce in the wake of the recent New York Times exposé reporting that the Chamber has been lobbying against anti-smoking laws globally.
Take that, Donald Trump –> Wednesday was a day when the Donald granted yet another egregious and bombastic interview — this time with NBC’s Katy Tur (he announced, astonishingly, “I’ll win the Latino vote…”). It was a day when Spanish-born superchef and activist Jose Andres withdrew his plan to open a restaurant in Trump’s new hotel in DC. But best of all yesterday was this new article from The American Prospect by Robert J. Sampson asking, “What accounts for the remarkable decline of violent crime in the United States and the return of urban vibrancy? Although certainly not the only factor, immigration deserves attention as part of the answer for the nation’s crime decline and urban revitalization.”
And in Bush family news… –> As Jeb Bush told the NH Union Leader that to grow the economy, “people should work longer hours,” there came word from ABC News via Daily Kos that his brother George W. “charged $100,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser for U.S. military veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan… The former President was also provided with a private jet to travel to Houston at a cost of $20,000, the officials said.”
Get out of bail free card –> Setting an example for criminal justice systems around the country, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a new plan that will allow low-risk detainees to await trial without paying bail or being kept in jail. Beginning next year, a $17.8 million fund will allow judges “to substitute bail for an estimated 3,000 low-risk defendants with a modern supervision system,” according to Reuven Blau at the NY Daily News. “That oversight would include daily check-ins, text message notices and linking them with drug counseling and behavior treatment.” Elizabeth Glazer, director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, said, “Unnecessary detention imposes substantial costs on both the individual behind bars and the city.”
Maybe we can do a book report for extra credit –> The Center for American Progress Action Fund has issued a report card for each of the 50 states in its new analysis, “The Health of State Democracies.” Maine comes in first and Alabama is last, but New York State has nothing to brag about — we came in at #44, behind Texas and North Carolina, with a D- for accessibility of the ballot, F for representation in state government and C for influence in the political system. “Every state has room for improvement,” the report states. “From the highest-ranked states to the lowest, each state can take concrete steps to improve its residents’ democratic experience.”
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