#U.S. Senator Cory Booker

[beardedmrbean]

The South Jersey business owner who defied Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID lockdown orders by keeping his gym open, racking up dozens of court summonses, has been cleared of all charges, his attorney said Tuesday.

Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, opened his facility during the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020 in defiance of a state-ordered closing of nonessential businesses. Police arrested some gym members as they left after workouts at the facility.

Smith and co-owner Frank Trumbetti were fined more than $165,000 and faced more than 80 summonses charging them with violating a governor’s orders, operating without a mercantile license, creating a public nuisance and disturbing the peace.

At one point, the state Attorney General’s office recommended fines of up to $10,000 a day and imprisonment for the owners of Atilis if they did not shutter their business. Many of the charges also carried up to six months in jail, said Smith’s attorney, John McCann of Oakland in Bergen County.

“When you look at this, it didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. It kind of looked like they were throwing everything they could at these guys,” McCann said.

McCann said the summonses were written up by the Bellmawr Police Department, but the cases were later transferred to Winslow Township Municipal Court due to a conflict.

“Those charges hung over these guys’ heads for over four years,” McCann said.

On April 24, a judge in Winslow Township dismissed the charges but gave the prosecutors until this week to appeal.

“We didn’t get a lot of cooperation from Bellmawr with regard to discovery. The only thing we got with regard to discovery was the summonses,” McCann said Tuesday.

“You need the reports, you need a whole bunch of stuff. The judge in Winslow said Bellmawr didn’t provide their court with meaningful discovery to give to us,” McCann said. “She basically said that Bellmawr ignored the requests.”

When there was no appeal from officials in Bellmawr or the state, all charges were dropped with prejudice, meaning they cannot be filed again, according to McCann.

Bellmawr’s court clerk on Tuesday declined to comment on the case, and the court clerk in Winslow Township was not immediately available to comment.

A spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a call and an email seeking comment Tuesday morning.

In an interview during the pandemic, Smith accused the state of being “very selective” about which businesses could stay open and those that could not.

“Telling people that liquor stores are essential but places they can come to work on their physical and mental health is not — it’s just not adding up. So, we decided to take matters into our own hands,” Smith said at the time.

In May 2020, the business filed a federal lawsuit against the state, accusing Murphy, along with then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and other New Jersey officials of violating the owners’ constitutional rights by forcing them out of business indefinitely with no timeline for when they can reopen.

McCann on Tuesday said Atilis’ owners did not make money off gym memberships during the pandemic. The facility, for that period of time, became the campaign headquarters for Republican U.S Senate candidate Rik Mehta, who challenged Democrat Cory Booker for his U.S. Senate seat.

People entering Atilis were exercising their right to volunteer for Mehta’s candidacy. If they worked out while they were there, they were not charged a membership fee, McCann said.

“There was no income coming in but for the GoFundMe money they were raising to fight the state,” McCann said. The GoFundMe raised more than $530,000 for the gym owners’ cause.

On Sunday, Smith took to social media to claim victory in the gym’s fight against the state.

“The support we received locally, nationally, and internationally for our stand is something I will be forever grateful for,” Smith said.

[darkeagleruins]

🤔🤔

[jomiddlemarch]

Confirmed guests (more speakers to come!) include:

Actresses Kyra Sedgwick & Alfre Woodard

U.S. Senator Cory Booker (NJ)

U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego (AZ)

Former U.S. Ambassadors Bruce Heyman (Canada) & Suzi LeVine (Switzerland & Liechtenstein)

Lawyer, provocateur & Trump critic George Conway

Jess Craven, Robert Hubbell, Simon Rosenberg

Are you registered to vote? If not, go to votefromabroad and request your ballot today! 

RSVP's will be shared with the Harris-Walz Campaign.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Rowaida Abdelaziz at HuffPost:

A group of Democratic senators led by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter Tuesday night to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to shut down four private detention centers. The letter, first reviewed by HuffPost and signed by Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), targets facilities in New Mexico, California, Louisiana and Virginia. All of the facilities have faced serious complaints over treatment of detainees. Contracts for two of those facilities are up for renewal this week.

“We do not support a system that detains people in inhumane conditions that result in long-term medical issues, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. We urge that these facilities be shut down, in a step towards building an immigration system that welcomes and respects migrants,” read the letter. The letter, addressed to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Patrick Lechleitner, the acting director of ICE, also demands immigration officials to hand over a list of all public and private ICE detention facilities as well as a timeline for ending contracts at those four facilities. “After reports of inhumane conditions, including sleep deprivation, dirty drinking water, and psychological trauma, independent watchdogs and other experts have recommended that the Biden administration close the worst of these facilities,” Warren said. “This would be a meaningful step toward ending the federal government’s reliance on private detention centers.”

10 Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), sent a letter calling for the closing of the inhumane ICE detention centers. It's also why ICE should be abolished.

[coochiequeens]

No one is entitled to biological offspring and how can they include surrogacy in the Act without implying that couples are entitled to women to be surrogates?

A trio of Democratic senators are introducing a "Right to IVF Act" that would, among other things, force private health insurance plans to cover assisted reproduction treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg freezing, and gestational surrogacy.

The measure provides no exception or accommodations for religious objections, all but ensuring massive legal battles over the mandate should it pass.

The "sweeping legislative package" (as the senators describe it) combines several existing pieces of legislation, including the Access to Family Building Act and the Family Building Federal Employees Health Benefit Fairness Act sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D–Ill.), the Veteran Families Health Services Act from Sen. Patty Murray (D–Wash.), and the Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act from Sen. Cory Booker (D–N.J.).

Booker's contribution here is probably the most controversial. It requires coverage for assisted reproduction from any health care plan that covers obstetric services.

A Reverse Contraception Mandate

Remember the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate, which required private health insurance plans to cover birth control (allegedly) at no cost to plan participants? It spawned some big legal battles over the rights of religious employers and institutions not to offer staff health plans that included birth control coverage.

Booker's Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act is a lot like the Obamacare contraception mandate, except instead of requiring health care plans to cover the costs of avoiding pregnancy it would require them to cover treatments to help people become pregnant.

The bill states that all group health plans or health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance must cover assisted reproduction and fertility preservation treatments if they cover any obstetric services. It defines assisted reproductive technology as "treatments or procedures that involve the handling of human egg, sperm, and embryo outside of the body with the intent of facilitating a pregnancy, including in vitro fertilization, egg, embryo, or sperm cryopreservation, egg or embryo donation, and gestational surrogacy."

Health insurance plans could only require participant cost-sharing (in the form of co-pays, deductibles, etc.) for such services to the same extent that they require cost-sharing for similar services.

What Could Go Wrong?

It seems like it should go without saying by now but there is no such thing as government-mandated healthcare savings. Authorities can order health care plans to cover IVF (or contraception or whatever) and cap point-of-service costs for plan participants, but health insurers will inevitably pass these costs on to consumers in other ways—leading to higher insurance premiums overall or other health care cost increases.

Yes, IVF and other fertility procedures are expensive. But a mandate like this could actually risk raising IVF costs.

When a lot of people are paying out of pocket for fertility treatments, medical professionals have an incentive to keep costs affordable in order to attract patients. If everyone's insurance covers IVF and patients needn't bother with comparing costs or weighing costs versus benefits, there's nothing to stop medical providers from raising prices greatly. We'll see the same cost inflation we've seen in other sectors of the U.S. healthcare marketplace—a situation that not only balloons health care spending generally (and gets passed on to consumers one way or another) but makes fertility treatments out of reach for people who don't have insurance that covers such treatments.

Raising costs isn't the only issue here, of course. There's the matter of more government intervention in private markets (something some of us are still wild-eyed enough to oppose!).

Offering employee health care plans that cover IVF could be a good selling point for recruiting potential employees or keeping existing employees happy. But there's no reason that every employer should have to do so, just because lawmakers want IVF to be more accessible.

It's unfair to employers—big or small, religious or non-religious—to say they all must take on the costs of offering health care plans that cover pricey fertility treatments. And Booker's bill contains no exceptions for small businesses or for entities with religious or ethical objections.

A lot of religious people are morally opposed to things like IVF and surrogacy. This measure would force religious employers to subsidize and tacitly condone these things if they wanted to offer employees health care plans with any obstetrics coverage at all.

As with any government intervention in free markets, there's the possibility that this fertility treatment mandate would distort incentives. IVF can certainly be an invaluable tool for folks experiencing infertility. But it's also very expensive and very taxing—emotionally and physically—for the women undergoing it, with far from universal success rates. The new mandate could encourage people who may not be good candidates for IVF to keep trying it, perhaps nudging them away from other options (like adoption) that might be better suited to their circumstances.

'Access' Vs. Whatever This Is

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many Americans have worried that the legal regime change would pave the way for outlawing things like contraception or IVF, too. Encoding into law (or legal precedent) the idea that fertilized eggs are people could have negative implications for these things, even if many conservative politicians pledge (and demonstrate) that IVF and birth control are safe. In response, some progressive politicians—perhaps genuinely concerned, perhaps sensing political opportunity (or why not both?)—have started talking a lot about the need to protect access to IVF across the country.

As much as I agree with this goal, I think IVF's legality is better off as a state-by-state matter. That said, the "protect IVF nationwide" impulse wouldn't be so bad if "protecting access" simply meant making sure that the procedure was legal.

But as we've seen again and again over the past couple decades, Democrats tend to define health care and medicine "access" differently.

The new Right to IVF Act would establish a national right to provide or receive assisted reproduction services. In their press release, the senators say this last bit would "pre-empt any state effort to limit such access and ensur[e] no hopeful parent—or their doctors—are punished for trying to start or grow a family." OK.

But that's not all it would do. The bill's text states that "an individual has a statutory right under this Act, including without prohibition or unreasonable limitation or interference (such as due to financial cost or detriment to the individual's health, including mental health), to—(A) access assisted reproductive technology; (B) continue or complete an ongoing assisted reproductive technology treatment or procedure pursuant to a written plan or agreement with a health care provider; and (C) retain all rights regarding the use or disposition of reproductive genetic materials, including gametes."

Note that bit about financial cost. It's kind of confusingly worded and it's unclear exactly what that would mean in practice. But it could give the government leeway to directly intervene if they think IVF is broadly unaffordable or to place more demands on individual health care facilities, providers, insurance plans, etc., to help cover the costs of IVF for people whom it would otherwise be financially out of reach.

This is the distilled essence of how Democrats go too far on issues like this. They're not content to say "People shouldn't be punished for utilizing/offering IVF" or that the practice shouldn't be illegal. They look at authoritarian or overreaching possibilities from the other side (like banning or criminalizing IVF) and respond with overreaching proposals of their own.

The proble with increasing access to IVF is what happens when the couple needs a surrogate to have biological offspring? Will they beg and pester the women in their lives? Will the affordable IVF compensate surrogates fairly?

[saydams]

("...humanitarian aid FOR GAZA" is how that headline should end. it got cut off)

February 02, 2024

WASHINGTON–U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Friday led 21 colleagues in a letter to President Biden urging the administration to encourage Israeli officials to take five specific steps to significantly increase urgently needed humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.

“The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is dire and the civilian suffering is at an unacceptable and staggering level.  Ninety-three percent of Palestinians in Gaza are facing crisis levels of hunger. Eighty-five percent of the population is displaced. Seventy percent of those killed are women and children,” the senators wrote. “While the scale of the crisis is massive, the humanitarian assistance that is entering Gaza is just a fraction of what is needed to save lives. Since aid operations resumed on October 21, delivery of lifesaving assistance to Gaza continues to be hampered, despite no evidence of Hamas theft or diversion of humanitarian assistance provided via the United Nations or international non-governmental organizations (INGOs).”

In order to significantly increase the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, the senators recommended the administration work with Israeli officials to take five specific steps (recommended steps under the "keep reading" at the end)

U.S. Senators who wrote letter and/or signed it (arranged by state):

Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)

Tom Carper (D-Del.)

Chris Coons (D-Del.)

Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)

Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)

Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)

Angus King (I-Maine)

Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)

Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Ed Markey (D-Mass.)

Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)

Tina Smith (D-Minn.)

Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)

Cory Booker (D-N.J.)

Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.)

Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)

Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)

Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.)

Jack Reed (D-R.I.)

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

Tim Kaine (D-Va.)

Peter Welch (D-Vt.)

Patty Murray (D-Wash.)

Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)

if your senator isn't on this list, call them!

here are the recommended steps referenced above:

Repair and open a third border crossing at Erez to provide additional aid to north Gaza. Planned missions by humanitarian actors to reach north Gaza from the south have repeatedly not been allowed to proceed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) due to cited security concerns, leaving hundreds of thousands living there stranded without enough food, water, and medical supplies and equipment.

Streamline the convoluted inspections process for aid entering via the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings, and issue a pre-approved list of items for entry.

Establish a clear, enforceable deconfliction process inside Gaza to ensure humanitarian organizations can operate safely. Hundreds of health and humanitarian workers have died in Gaza, including humanitarian aid workers who have been killed in areas deemed “safe zones” by the IDF. Israeli authorities should establish a direct line of contact for the humanitarian community to the IDF, as well as hold regular meetings to review incidents and make improvements.

Increase capacity for processing humanitarian aid and restart the import of commercial goods via the border crossing at Kerem Shalom. Before October 7th, hundreds of trucks filled with commercial goods crossed through Kerem Shalom into Gaza every day. The current humanitarian trucking operation can help reduce the suffering, but it cannot substitute for a functioning commercial sector.

Open additional supply routes for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Every option must be explored to increase the amount of humanitarian and commercial goods going in, including via Jordan, the West Bank, Ashdod, and maritime routes. To the extent feasible, we also encourage you to explore whether U.S. military assets could help support humanitarian deliveries, via maritime or air routes.

“The largest daily amount of humanitarian aid entered Gaza on November 28th, during the seven-day humanitarian pause. Additional and longer humanitarian pauses are needed to enable a surge of assistance to enter Gaza and the safe movement of goods and people within Gaza. A humanitarian pause will also allow people to safely return to their homes in north Gaza. These steps will not solve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but taken together, they will alleviate the suffering for millions of people,” they concluded.

[rjzimmerman]

Booker, Grijalva Introduce Bill to Permanently Protect American Bison, Grizzly Bears, and Gray Wolves. (Insider NJ)

Excerpt from this story from Insider NJ:

Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ-07) introduced the Tribal Heritage and American Bison, Grizzly Bear, and Wolf Restoration and Coexistence Act, legislation to establish permanent federal protections for these three species and expand recovery efforts and coexistence measures. Additionally, the bill would enhance existing tribal management authorities over these species by creating oversight committees that work in unison with Indian Tribes to identify tribal lands suitable for possible reintroduction efforts.

“American bison, grizzly bears, and gray wolves are iconic American species and are timeless symbols of our nation’s heritage, yet these animals were driven to the brink of extinction,” said Senator Booker. “Building on the success of past conservation legislation like the American Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, I am proud to introduce legislation that directs the Secretary of the Interior to works closely with Indigenous communities to ensure permanent protection for these animals.”

“Bison, grizzly bears, and wolves hold significant spiritual, cultural, and ecological value to many tribal communities and our nation,” said House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva. “I’m proud to introduce this legislation with Senator Booker to enshrine protections for these species and ensure that conservation and management are conducted in close consultation with Tribal Nations. For centuries, the United States’ policies have systematically failed to honor our treaties, harming Tribal Nations and resulting in significant cultural losses and ecological damage. Congress has a trust responsibility to move forward from past injustices and craft policies for the future that are based on respect and recognition of Tribal Nations’ leadership in recovering these iconic species and their habitats.”

Specifically, the Tribal Heritage and American Bison, Grizzly Bear, and Wolf Restoration and Coexistence Act would:

Prohibit the take, possession, purchase, sale, or transport of American bison, grizzly bears, and wolves, exclusive of captive-bred bison intended for human consumption, with targeted exceptions authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to issue permits for scientific or conservation purposes and for protection of agricultural interests and public safety.

Exempt religious, cultural or treaty-reserved purposes of Federally recognized Indian Tribes.

Provide for civil and criminal penalties for violations.

Require consultation with federally recognized Indian Tribes before a take permit is issued under this Act or before any activity is carried out on the Tribal land of a federally recognized Indian Tribe that may negatively impact habitat or increase mortality of bison, grizzly bears or wolves.

Authorize federally recognized Indian Tribes, in consultation with the Secretary, to manage bison, grizzly bears and wolves reintroduced on Tribal land.

[stevishabitat]

Soil: The Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Climate Change - EcoWatch

www.ecowatch.com

Soil: The Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Climate Change

EcoWatch

7 - 8 minutes

By Claire O’Connor

Agriculture is on the front lines of climate change. Whether it’s the a seven-year drought drying up fields in California, the devastating Midwest flooding in 2019, or hurricane after hurricane hitting the Eastern Shore, agriculture and rural communities are already feeling the effects of a changing climate. Scientists expect climate change to make these extreme weather events both more frequent and more intense in coming years.

Agriculture is also an important — in fact a necessary — partner in fighting climate change. The science is clear: We cannot stay beneath the most dangerous climate thresholds without sequestering a significant amount of carbon in our soils.

Agricultural soils have the potential to sequester, relatively inexpensively, 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gasses annually — equivalent to the annual emissions of 64 coal fired power plants, according to National Academy of Sciences.

But we can’t get there without engaging farmers, turning a source of emissions into a carbon sink. Here are just a few of the ways the Natural Resources Defense Council works to encourage climate-friendly farming:

Creating New Incentives for Cover Crops: Cover crops are planted in between growing seasons with the specific purpose of building soil health. Despite their multiple agronomic and environmental benefits, adoption is low — only about 7% of U.S. farmland uses cover crops. NRDC is working to scale up cover cropping through innovative incentives delivered through the largest federal farm subsidy: crop insurance. We’ve worked with partners in Iowa and Illinois to launch programs that give farmers who use cover crops /acre off of their crop insurance bill. And partners in Minnesota and Wisconsin are exploring similar options. While we’re delighted at the benefit this program has for farmers in those individual states, we’re even more excited about the potential to scale this program to the 350 million acres that utilize subsidized crop insurance nationwide. A recent study suggests that cover crops sequester an average of .79 tons of carbon per acre annually, making cover crops one of the pillars of climate-friendly farming systems.

Supporting Carbon as a New “Agricultural Product”: Championed by Senator Ron Wyden, the 2018 Farm Bill created a new program, the Soil Health Demonstration Trial, that encourages farmers to adopt practices that improve their soil health, and tracks and measures the outcomes. NRDC worked alongside our partners at E2 and a number of commodity groups, farmer organizations, and agribusinesses to secure passage of this provision. The Demonstration Trial will create a new, reliable income stream — farmers will get paid for the carbon they sequester regardless of how their crops turn out, and it builds the data needed for confidence in any future carbon markets. USDA recently announced the first round of awards under this new program, totaling over million in investments to improve soil health. Senator Cory Booker has since drafted legislation that would increase funding for the program nearly 10-fold to 0 million annually; Representative Deb Haaland released a companion bill in the House.

Scaling up Regenerative Agriculture: Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming that looks to work with nature to rebuild the overall health of the system. Regenerative farmers use a variety of tactics, including reduced chemical inputs, diverse crop and livestock rotations, incorporating compost into their systems, and agroforestry, among others. Our team is in the midst of interviewing regenerative farmers and ranchers to learn more about what’s working for them and what challenges they’ve faced in their shift to a regenerative approach. We’re planning to analyze our interview results and combine them with a literature review to identify what role NRDC could potentially play in helping to scale up regenerative farming and ranching systems. We’ll also be sharing quotes and photos from our interviews on social media every Friday starting in January, so stay tuned for some inspiring farm footage!

Supporting Organic Farmers: Organic agriculture by design reduces greenhouse gas emissions, sequesters carbon in the soil, does not rely on energy-intensive chemical inputs, and builds resiliency within our food system. Practices integrated into organic production will become increasingly more important in the face of a changing climate. NRDC supports organic farmers through policy initiatives like the Organic Farm-to-School program that was introduced in the California legislature last year. In the coming year, we’ll continue to work to support organic farmers in California.

Reducing Food Waste: Food waste generates nearly 3% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and NRDC is working hard to reduce that number, and improve soil health in the process. Some of our policy proposals include securing passage of date labelling legislation to eliminate confusion about whether food is still good to eat, working with cities to reduce waste and increase rescue of surplus food, and supporting efforts at all levels to increase composting of food scraps. Adding compost to soils improves their ability to sequester carbon, store nutrients, and retain water. Composting food scraps also helps to “close the loop” on organic matter and nutrients by returning them to the agricultural production cycle, rather than sending that organic material to landfills, where it generates methane (a powerful climate pollutant).

Climate-friendly farming also offers a host of important co-benefits. For example, when farmers use complex crop rotations to break weed, pest, and disease cycles, they can reduce the amount of synthetic chemicals they need to use. When they use practices like cover crops, no-till, and adding compost to protect and restore the soil, they reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers that emit greenhouse gasses. And when farmers can reinvest the oppressive amount of money they had been previously spending on expensive, synthetic inputs into the additional labor required to carbon farm, they bring new jobs to economically-depressed rural areas.

Farmers understand better than many of us the harsh realities of climate change, regardless of their opinions about what’s causing those changes. And tight margins and trade wars make the potential of new value streams particularly attractive for farmers right now. By working alongside the farmers and farmworkers who tend the land, we can bring new allies into the fight against climate change, restore the health of our soil, and create a healthy, equitable, and resilient food system.

[mariacallous]

The senator tasked with overseeing federal antitrust enforcement is urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether a Texas-based company’s price-setting software is undermining competition and pushing up rents.

Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights, sent a letter to the DOJ’s Antitrust Division this month. It was also signed by two other Democrats, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.

“We are concerned that the use of this rate setting software essentially amounts to a cartel to artificially inflate rental rates in multifamily residential buildings,” the letter said. It encouraged the DOJ to “take appropriate action to protect renters and competition in the residential rental markets.”

In mid-October, a ProPublica investigation documented how real estate tech company RealPage’s price-setting software uses nearby competitors’ nonpublic rent data to feed an algorithm that suggests what landlords should charge for available apartments each day. Legal experts said the algorithm may be enabling violations of antitrust laws.

ProPublica detailed how RealPage’s User Group, a forum that includes landlords who adopt the company’s software, had grown to more than 1,000 members, who meet in private at an annual conference and take part in quarterly phone calls. The senators raised specific questions about the group, saying, “We are concerned about potential anticompetitive coordination taking place through the RealPage User Group.”

RealPage did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RealPage has said that the company “uses aggregated market data from a variety of sources in a legally compliant manner” and that its software prioritizes a property’s own internal supply and demand dynamics over external factors such as competitors’ rents. The company has said its software helps reduce the risk of collusion that would occur if landlords relied on phone surveys of competitors to manually price their units.

The DOJ declined to comment on the letter.

The department five years ago reviewed RealPage’s plan to acquire its biggest competitor in pricing software, but federal prosecutors declined to seek to block the merger, which doubled the number of apartments RealPage was pricing.

The senators noted that transaction, saying RealPage has made more than 10 acquisitions since 2016. They said in data-intensive industries, “the ability to acquire more data can result in the algorithms suggesting higher prices and can also increase the barriers to entry” for other competitors. The lawmakers encouraged the department “to consider looking back at RealPage’s past behavior to determine whether any of it was anticompetitive.”

The letter follows two others sent by lawmakers urging the DOJ or Federal Trade Commission to investigate RealPage. Since ProPublica’s investigation was published, three lawsuits have been filed on behalf of renters alleging that the software is artificially inflating rents and facilitating collusion. RealPage has denied allegations in a lawsuit filed in San Diego, and it has not responded to calls for comment about the other two legal actions, filed in federal district court in Seattle.

[wain-wright]

https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-paul-reintroduce-justice-for-breonna-taylor-act#:~:text=The%20Justice%20for%20Breonna%20Taylor%20Act%20would%20require%20federal%20law,from%20the%20Department%20of%20Justice.

Was googling this to keep an eye on.

[sa7abnews]

New Jersey Gov. Murphy to appoint former chief of staff, George Helmy, to vacated Menendez Senate seat: report

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/16/new-jersey-gov-murphy-to-appoint-former-chief-of-staff-george-helmy-to-vacated-menendez-senate-seat-report/

New Jersey Gov. Murphy to appoint former chief of staff, George Helmy, to vacated Menendez Senate seat: report

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to appoint his former chief of staff, George Helmy, to fill the seat that will be vacated by convicted U.S. Sen Bob Menendez, D-N.J., next week, multiple state media reports say. Helmy served as Murphy’s chief of staff for more than four years and most recently was employed as an executive and head of external affairs for RWJBarnabas Health. Murphy’s appointment means Helmy will serve out the remainder of Menendez’s term, which expires on Jan. 3. The seat was already up for election on Nov. 5. Democrats have nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who’s in a strong position in the Democratic-leaning state. He faces Republican Curtis Bashaw. While still on trial in July, Menendez filed to run as an independent candidate for re-election. Helmy, who also previously served as state director for Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will now serve beside him in the upper chamber until the end of the 118th Congress. Murphy could have handed Kim a possible seniority advantage by appointing him to the vacated seat. Kim competed against the governor’s wife, Tammy Murphy, in the Democratic primary. The New Jersey first lady later withdrew her candidacy in late March. DEMOCRATIC SEN. BOB MENENDEZ GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES IN FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIALHelmy is not the first former senior aide to earn caretaker senator appointments from former bosses. New Jersey Republican Jeffrey Chiesa, Massachusetts Democrat Mo Cowan and West Virginia Democrat Carte P. Goodwin did the same, according to Roll Call. Menendez will resign Aug. 20 following his conviction for taking bribes for corrupt acts including acting as an agent of the Egyptian government. The senator had insisted after the July 16 verdict that he was innocent and in a July 23 letter announcing his upcoming resignation to Murphy, a fellow Democrat, Menendez promised to appeal “all the way,” including to the Supreme Court. The roughly monthlong delay in leaving gives Murphy’s staff time for an orderly transition, Menendez wrote. The date also coincides with a Senate payday, according to the Associated Press. Menendez, 70, was convicted of charges that he sold the power of his office to three New Jersey businessmen who sought a variety of favors. Prosecutors said Menendez used his influence to meddle in three different state and federal criminal investigations to protect his associates. They said he helped one bribe-paying friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund and another keep a contract to provide religious certification for meat bound for Egypt.COULD BOB MENENDEZ RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF CORRUPTION?He was also convicted of taking actions that benefited Egypt’s government in exchange for bribes, including providing details on personnel at the U.S. embassy in Cairo and ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators regarding lifting a hold on military aid to Egypt. FBI agents found stacks of gold bars and $480,000 in cash hidden in Menendez’s house.After his conviction, Menendez denied all of those allegations, saying “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”But numerous fellow Democrats had urged him to resign, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Murphy had urged the Senate to expel Menendez if he didn’t quit. Only 15 senators have ever been expelled. Sen. William Blount, of Tennessee, was ousted in 1797 for treason. The other 14 were expelled in 1861 and 1862 for supporting Confederates during the Civil War.Menendez faces the possibility of decades in prison. A judge scheduled his sentencing on Oct. 29, a week before the election.The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

[beardedmrbean]

Every conservative justice on the Supreme Court bowed out of deciding a case stemming out of Texas.

In a rare move, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all sat out deciding whether to hear MacTruong v. Abbott, a case arguing that the Texas Heartbeat Act (THA) is constitutional and that the state law violates federal law. The six justices were named as defendants in the case. They did not give a detailed justification as to why they chose not to weigh in, and are not required to do so.

Monday's order list from the Supreme Court states that the six conservatives on the bench "took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition." Because there were not enough justices for a quorum—the court needs at least six and only Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson remained—the court affirmed the judgment of a lower court to dismiss the lawsuit.

The case was brought by MacTruong, a U.S. citizen who resides in New Jersey, against the six conservative justices, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan and former President Donald Trump. MacTruong alleges the defendants were involved in either passing, enacting or upholding the THA because he believes the Dobbs decision was incorrectly decided and thus, Roe v. Wade is still law.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, ending federal access to abortion.

Judicial politics expert Alex Badas told Newsweek that the justices may be ineligible to partake in the decision because of the court's recent statement on its ethics. "A Justice should disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the Justice's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, that is, where an unbiased and reasonable person who is aware of all relevant circumstances would doubt that the Justice could fairly discharge his or her duties," the statement said.

"I believe being named in the suit falls into this category of disqualification," Badas said.

Affirming the decision from the Fifth Circuit, which ruled against MacTruong and decided that he did not have standing to sue, the Supreme Court effectively tossed the suit altogether.

"The Fifth Circuit was unanimous against MacTruong," Badas said. "It is worth noting that two of the three judges who heard the case were appointed by Democratic presidents. These judges may be sympathetic to his claim that Dobbs was incorrectly decided but it shows that his legal case for standing is very weak that they vote against him."

Badas noted that MacTruong has other pending cases involving the same issue, but it is likely that they will end like this case, "with him losing and the courts issuing decisions arguing that he lacks standing."

Other plaintiffs named in the suit include the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, President Joe Biden, California Governor Gavin Newsom, actors George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Tesla Founder Elon Musk, singer Britney Spears and media expert Norah O'Donnell.

[pashterlengkap]

Jennifer Aniston blasts J.D. Vance’s misogynist “childless cat ladies” comments

Jennifer Aniston had some strong words this week for former President and current Republican nominee Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). Like so many in the U.S., the Friends star was apparently shocked by Vance’s wildly misogynist comments belittling several prominent Democrats, including current Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, as “childless cat ladies,” which recently resurfaced on social media.   Related J.D. Vance calls Kamala Harris a “miserable cat lady” The mega-MAGA VP pick says having no kids means you can’t run the country. On Wednesday, Aniston took to Instagram, re-posting a clip from Vance’s July 29, 2021, appearance on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today “We’re effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too,” Vance told Carlson in the clip. “And it’s just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?” It’s worth noting that less than a month after Vance’s comments, Buttigieg announced on social media that he and husband Chasten were in fact in the process of becoming parents. In September 2021, they announced that they had adopted fraternal twins Penelope Rose and Joseph August. One could reasonably chalk Vance’s assumption that Buttigieg couldn’t or wouldn’t have children up to homophobic ignorance, but his presumption about then-31-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was just categorically asinine. Aniston seemed to agree. “I truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of The United States,” Aniston commented in her Instagram story. “All I can say is… Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too.” Aniston may have been referring to Vance’s recent opposition to the “Right to IVF Act.” The bill was introduced by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) earlier this year in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s unprecedented February ruling that effectively outlawed in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment in the state. The “Right to IVF Act” would have ensured access to IVF and other forms of assisted fertility treatment nationwide. In June, Vance was one of 47 Senate Republicans to vote against the bill, which needed 60 votes to pass. The issue is personal for Aniston, who after years of tabloid speculation about her struggle to have children, opened up to Allure about her journey with IVF. “It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road,” she told the magazine in 2022. “All the years and years and years of speculation… It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it. I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.’ You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed.” “I have zero regrets,” she added. “I actually feel a little relief now because there is no more, ‘Can I? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.’ I don’t have to think about that anymore.” Vance’s opposition to a nationwide right to IVF doesn’t just affect cisgender women and others who can carry children. IVF is the most common method of assisted reproduction and, according to Dr. Eve Feinberg, associate professor of reproductive endocrinology and… http://dlvr.it/TB7SXb

[southjerseyweb]

Booker in South Carolina spotlight - New Jersey Globe

It's a big weekend for U.S. Senator Cory Booker as he eyes a potential bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. He's in South …

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Allison Janokwski at DNC:

5:30 PM

Call to Order Alex Hornbrook Executive Director of the 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee Gavel In The Honorable Cory Booker United States Senator, New Jersey Invocation Sri Rakesh Bhatt Sri Siva Vishnu Temple Bishop Leah D. Daughtry The House of the Lord Churches Pledge of Allegiance Students from Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet School from St. Paul, MN National Anthem Jess Davis Presentation of Honorary Resolutions The Honorable Jaime Harrison Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Joined by Vice Chairs The Honorable Keisha Lance Bottoms, Ken Martin, Henry R. Muñoz III, Treasurer Virginia McGregor, and Finance Chair Chris Korge. Remarks Mini Timmaraju President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All Remarks Alexis McGill Johnson President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund Remarks Cecile Richards Reproductive Rights Champion Remarks Kelley Robinson President of the Human Rights Campaign Remarks Jessica Mackler President of EMILYs List Remarks María Teresa Kumar Founding President and CEO of Voto Latino Remarks The Honorable Tom Suozzi Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, New York

6:00 PM

Welcome Remarks The Honorable Cory Booker United States Senator, New Jersey Joint Remarks The Honorable Aftab Pureval Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio The Honorable Cavalier Johnson Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Joint Remarks Rashawn Spivey and Deanna Branch Lead pipe removal advocates Remarks The Honorable Lisa Blunt Rochester Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Delaware Remarks The Honorable Grace Meng Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, New York Remarks: “Project 2025—Chapter Three: Freedoms” The Honorable Jared Polis Governor of Colorado Remarks The Honorable Debbie Wasserman Schultz Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Florida Remarks The Honorable Suzan DelBene Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Remarks The Honorable Keith Ellison Attorney General of Minnesota Remarks The Honorable Dana Nessel Attorney General of Michigan Joint Remarks Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg Parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin Performance Maren Morris American singer-songwriter

7:00 PM

Remarks The Honorable Veronica Escobar Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Texas Remarks The Honorable Chris Murphy United States Senator, Connecticut Remarks The Honorable Javier Salazar Sheriff of Bexar County, Texas Remarks The Honorable Pete Aguilar Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Influencer Remarks Carlos Eduardo Espina Content creator Remarks Olivia Troye Former Trump administration national security official Remarks The Honorable Geoff Duncan Former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia Remarks The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mississippi Remarks Sergeant Aquilino Gonell Retired United States Capitol Police Officer Remarks The Honorable Andy Kim Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, New Jersey Influencer Remarks Olivia Julianna Content creator Performance Stevie Wonder American singer-songwriter and musician Remarks Kenan Thompson and Guests on Project 2025 American comedian and actor

8:00 PM

Host Introduction Mindy Kaling Remarks The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Remarks The Honorable Bill Clinton 42nd President of the United States Remarks The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker Emerita of the U.S. House of Representatives Remarks The Honorable Josh Shapiro Governor of Pennsylvania Remarks Alexander Hudlin Jasper Emhoff Arden Emhoff Remarks The Honorable Catherine Cortez Masto United States Senator, Nevada

9:00 PM

Performance Amanda Gorman National Youth Poet Laureate Remarks The Honorable Wes Moore Governor of Maryland Remarks The Honorable Pete Buttigieg Performance John Legend American singer-songwriter Sheila E. American singer and drummer Remarks The Honorable Amy Klobuchar United States Senator, Minnesota Remarks Benjamin C. Ingman Former student of Governor Walz Remarks The Honorable Tim Walz Governor of Minnesota Benediction William Emmanuel Hall Lead Pastor of St. James Church in Chicago

Apologies for the delay of night 3’s release of the DNC Speaker schedule.

The main speaker of tonight is Minnesota Governor and Kamala Harris VP pick Tim Walz.

Other notable Speakers: Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Geoff Duncan, Andy Kim, Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Josh Shapiro, and Pete Buttigieg.

Grace Meng and Debbie Wasserman Schultz were initially set to speak on Monday, but got moved to tonight.

Performers: Maren Morris, John Legend, Amanda Gorman (poem), Stevie Wonder

[latinomuslims]

U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative André Carson (D-IN-07) led colleagues in introducing a resolution recognizing January as Muslim-American Heritage Month and celebrating the achievements of Muslims living in the United States.