DL Open Thread: Friday, May 12, 2023
First, a Very Special Crossover from yesterday’s Post-Game Wrap-up/Pre-game Show. The LLC’s And Corporations In Seaford Are People bill was not worked. Which doesn’t mean it’s dead. Four reps were absent yesterday (there have been quite a few absences this week), so maybe there weren’t enough yes votes to meet the 2/3rds requirement for the bill. Or maybe there aren’t enough votes for passage. Yet. Contact your legislator (I did) and urge them not to vote for the bill. They don’t even have to vote no, a not-voting will suffice.
How Leonard Leo Undermines Democracy:
A deep-pocketed nonprofit organization founded by the conservative activist Leonard A. Leo gave away $182.7 million in a year’s time, a new tax filing shows, demonstrating how aggressively it has worked behind the scenes to prop up other groups and causes on the right.
The organization, Marble Freedom Trust, was formed in 2020 and was funded by a gift of more than $1.6 billion — an extraordinary windfall that resulted from a single donor’s contribution of 100 percent of a company’s shares before the company was sold, leaving Marble with the proceeds of the sale, The New York Times reported last year.
Marble Freedom Trust, a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organization, is a centerpiece of Mr. Leo’s network. The group’s stated mission is to “maintain and expand human freedom consistent with the values and ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”
It was not immediately clear from the group’s record of contributions how Marble was realizing that mission. The recent filing for Marble — a tax record for the year ending on April 30, 2022, that was obtained by the liberal transparency group Accountable.US — does not reveal much about the ultimate destination of the $182.7 million.
“Marble Freedom Trust is Leonard Leo’s billion-dollar slush fund to erode democracy,” said Kyle Herrig, the president of Accountable.US. “With all this money under his control, Leo can push his extreme agenda by influencing conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, deploying state attorneys general to do his bidding and moving extreme bills in state legislatures.”
Since the $1.6 billion windfall — which came from Barre Seid, an electronics manufacturing mogul — Marble has received no contributions or grants, but it did report $26.6 million in investment income last year. As of about a year ago, Marble still had $1.2 billion to spend.
Some Judge Decrees That 18-Year-Olds Have Constitutional Right To Buy Handguns:
A judge in Virginia has struck down federal laws blocking handgun sales to buyers over 18 and under 21, in a ruling that might augur the rollback of regulation prompted by the Supreme Court’s sweeping expansion of gun rights last year.
Judge Robert E. Payne of Federal District Court in Richmond, Va., ruled on Wednesday that statutes and regulations put in place over the past few decades to enforce age requirements on sales of handguns, like the semiautomatic Glock-style pistols, by federally licensed weapons dealers were “not consistent with our nation’s history and tradition” and therefore could not stand.
A citizen’s Second Amendment rights do not “vest at age 21,” he added.
“This decision is not a surprise — all bets are off,” said Jonathan Lowy, a lawyer and gun violence activist who has sued firearms manufacturers on behalf of the victims of mass shootings and their families. “Bruen gave license to any judge who has an inclination to strike down any gun law.”
This judge was appointed by George Bush The Elder.
Here’s Why CNN Gave Trump Two Hours Of Free Airtime. Robert Reich explains it all for you. An excerpt:
The leading shareholder in Warner Bros. Discovery is John Malone, a multibillionaire cable magnate. (Malone was a chief architect in the merger of Discovery and CNN.)
Malone describes himself as a “libertarian” although he travels in right-wing Republican circles. In 2005, he held 32% of the shares of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. He is on the board of directors of the Cato Institute. In 2017, he donated $250,000 to Trump’s inauguration.
Malone has said he wants CNN to be more like Fox News because, in his view, Fox News has “actual journalism”. Malone also wants the “news” portion of CNN to be “more centrist.”
It’s unlikely that Malone instructed Zaslav to tell Licht to fire Stelter. Power isn’t exercised that clumsily in large corporate media bureaucracies.
It’s more likely that Licht knew what Zaslav wanted, and Zaslav knew what Malone wanted. A source told Deadline’s Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson that even if Malone didn’t order Stelter’s ouster, “it sure represents his thinking.”
When you follow the money behind deeply irresponsible decisions at the power centers of America today, the road often leads to right-wing billionaires.
Santos Settles To Avoid Prosecution–In Brazil. Gee, if only Bolsonaro had remained in power…
What do you want to talk about?
HERE’s a bill I’d like to see be introduced in Delaware. Prohibits utilities from using money from ratepayers for lobbying and related activities:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/05/colorado-law-utilities-customers-lobbying/
“Colorado’s new Utility Regulation Act was passed on Monday by the state Senate after clearing the state House two days prior, and is expected to be signed by Governor Jared Polis soon. It prohibits investor-owned utilities from charging their customers—known as ratepayers—for any membership dues in trade associations, lobbying expenses, or any other activities influencing legislation, ballot measures, and other regulatory actions. It also bars utilities from spending ratepayer money on political advertising or any messaging intended to boost the utility’s brand.”
“It’s common practice, for example, for investor-owned utilities to funnel money from customers to trade associations like the American Gas Association and the Edison Electric Institute, which are well known for their political lobbying efforts to protect industry interests. One report from the London-based think tank InfluenceMap found that close to half of the 25 largest investor-owned utilities in the US are actively working to delay the energy transition through lobbying, political messaging, or campaign donations, including via trade groups.
Dues collected from millions of utility customers add up to huge political spending budgets: The Edison Electric Institute has an annual budget of over $90 million, and has led national campaigns against rooftop solar and federal climate regulations.”
Total Agreement with ‘bulo, corporate political games like this should be banned so that they can not use our money to get their little corporate way. 90 million should have the customers up in arms, but as ever we shall see.