It's Your Call for June 13
The Missouri Department of Conservation decision to close Pigeon Hill Shooting Range stops public access to a free public use area with safety as a convenient excuse. What's next? You can't fish in the Missouri River because it's too deep. You might drown. You can't duck hunt. If it's too cold, you might get frostbite. The truth is, the Missouri Department of Conservation doesn't remember we all pay the tax that funds them, and I, for one, think that money could be spent more productively.
For the criminals
I remember when I was growing up, the Democrats were for people who respected the law. Now the Democrats are for the criminals.
Completely unfair
I like the way the city of St. Joseph says they're going to raise our server rates starting July 1, and I get my serve bill for June that is due July 1 and they already raised my server rate from $92 to $100 and something just simply because I guess it's due July 1. That is cheating me and that's totally, totally unfair.
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The Hill
34 minutes ago
- The Hill
7 states most likely to follow Texas in redistricting
A redistricting arms race is heating up around the country as other states look to follow Texas's lead in redrawing their congressional lines ahead of the 2026 midterms. Multiple Democratic and Republican governors have expressed interest in their states conducting their own redistricting process to add as many seats as they can for their parties and increase the chances that their party can win control of the House next year. But whether they will be able to depends on the state and its own unique rules. Here are the seven states most likely to follow Texas in redistricting: Ohio Ohio is the only state in the country, even including Texas, already guaranteed to redraw its district lines as it's in a bit of a different situation than the others. State lawmakers are required to approve a new map ahead of the midterms because the current map, in place since 2022, was only approved by a simple majority along party lines rather than a bipartisan supermajority. But with Republicans firmly in control of both houses of the state legislature, the party still seems likely to pick up a few seats with the next map. The two Democratic lawmakers most likely to potentially lose their seats in the process are Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Emilia Sykes in the 9th and 13th Congressional districts. So while Republicans already occupy 10 of the 15 House seats that Ohio has, they could still pick up a few more. California California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has been arguably the most visible Democrat in responding to Republicans' efforts to use redistricting, and the Golden State seems to be the party's best chance to pick up the most seats if Texas approves a new map. The process for California to redraw its lines in time for the 2026 midterms is a bit complicated — but possible. The state has an independent redistricting commission that determines its district lines, but Newsom confirmed on Friday the state would move forward with a special election in November that would allow them to create a new map in place for the rest of the decade. The independent commission would remain intact for the reapportionment after the 2030 census, and a new map would only be used if Texas or another state redraws its lines first. But presuming Texas does redistrict, Newsom and state Democrats appear committed to advancing a plan that could gain their party up to five seats. Florida The Sunshine State is the other significant source of possible gains for the GOP through redistricting, and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has been increasingly hinting at the state GOP following Texas's footsteps to add more Republican seats. Florida state House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) announced on Thursday that he would form a redistricting committee to explore possible maps and legal questions associated with how the lines are drawn. But he didn't specify the timeline for redistricting, saying the committee's members would be announced next month. But a few Democrats could be targeted if the process advances, including Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jared Moskowitz and Darren Soto. And Republicans are feeling particularly emboldened after the state Supreme Court upheld the current map against claims of racial gerrymandering. Indiana Along with the big-ticket states that could give the GOP multiple extra seats, the Trump administration is also putting pressure on smaller states that could net only one seat. Vice President Vance visited Indianapolis on Thursday for a meeting with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) to discuss mid-decade redistricting. Braun didn't commit to redistricting following the meeting, but he left the door open. Meanwhile, Trump's allies were reportedly exploring options in Indiana late last month. Braun would need to call a special session of the legislature and Republicans would have to move quickly, but the party has a supermajority. If approved, a new map would most likely target Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.) in the northwestern part of the state. Missouri Missouri is another state where Republicans theoretically could pick off another Democratic-held seat if the party members want to push forward. The administration has also put pressure on the GOP in the state, with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) as the likely target, but the reaction from state lawmakers has been mixed. State House Speaker Pro Tempore Chad Perkins initially expressed doubt about redistricting early, but he showed more openness to it after receiving a call from the White House. But state Senate President Pro Tempore Cindy O'Laughlin told The Missouri Independent that she also wasn't too eager about the plan, and Perkins expressed concern about possible backlash to Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) calling a special session. New York New York Democrats seem just as determined as their California counterparts to update their district lines, but their chances of being able to update them before next year's elections seem slim. The Empire State also uses an independent commission to draw its lines, with approval from the state legislature. State lawmakers can propose a constitutional amendment to voters to change the system, but any amendment needs to pass in two consecutive sessions of the legislature before being proposed to voters. This would mean that no change could go into effect until ahead of the 2028 elections at the earliest. But Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has pledged to look at all available options, acknowledging the time constraints and wanting a faster timeline. She said the independent commission should be disbanded or changed, and she would also look at litigation options. New Jersey The Garden State would be an ideal spot for Democrats to try to pick up a seat or two, but barriers put in place will likely make this not possible before the midterms. New Jersey also has an independent commission that lawmakers would need to go around to enact a new map, but its state constitution also specifically prohibits mid-decade redistricting. Both of these could be overcome with a constitutional amendment, and Democrats have comfortable control of both houses of the state legislature, but likely not enough time remains to change it in advance. The public needs a three-month notice period before voting on an amendment, which means this past Monday was the deadline for getting it passed ahead of Election Day on Nov. 4.
The Hill
34 minutes ago
- The Hill
Abortion shield laws face mounting pressure
Republicans are waging a multipronged campaign against abortion shield laws in blue states, hoping to force the federal government to ultimately intervene. Legal experts say the effort will be difficult — as some states have already learned. State abortion shield laws are meant to protect providers and patients from civil and criminal actions. Eighteen states plus the District of Columbia have an abortion shield law, according to Rachel Rebouché dean of Temple University Beasley School of Law. Shield laws in eight of those states protect abortion providers regardless of patient location, which has helped cover health care providers who send abortion medication to telehealth patients living in states where the procedure is restricted. Republicans are fighting the laws in court, while also pushing for a federal law that supersedes the protection. More than a dozen GOP attorneys general recently urged congressional leadership in a letter to preempt the state laws by passing legislation that bans shield laws. Signees include Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R), both of whom have taken legal action against a New York doctor for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion pills to women in their respective states. Some legal experts don't think congressional leadership will introduce legislation to preempt state abortion shield laws because it would struggle to pass. 'It's just not realistic,' said James Bopp Jr., general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, adding that there is not a single anti-abortion Democratic senator and at most two anti-abortion Democrats in the House. 'There is absolutely zero prospect of it passing the Senate, and it makes no sense to waste your time on things that are completely hopeless and pointless.' Bopp said he believes that the state lawsuits challenging abortion shield laws have an objective legal merit, arguing that since each state is sovereign, no other state can regulate conduct within them. He argues that in attempting to do this, abortion shield laws deny 'full faith and credit' to the state laws where these abortions occur. Paxton has led the charge in combating these laws in court, most notably with his lawsuit against New York physician Margaret Carpenter. His office sued Carpenter in December, accusing her of sending abortion pills to a Texas woman last year. Soon after, a Texas judge ordered Carpenter to pay more than $100,000 in penalties, but she did not respond to the lawsuit nor appear for the subsequent court hearing. Paxton has tried twice to force a New York county clerk to file the ruling against Carpenter, but the clerk has refused, citing the state's abortion shield laws. He is now seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the clerk, Taylor Bruck, to enforce the summary judgment and court summons. In January, a grand jury in Louisiana indicted Carpenter for also allegedly prescribing abortion medication to a woman in the state, resulting in state authorities requesting she be extradited. Paxton and Murrill have said that they will continue to try and press charges against Carpenter. 'That case is far from over, and we are continuing to evaluate our options to ensure that Dr. Carpenter faces justice in Louisiana,' Murrill said in a statement to The Hill. But New York leadership does seem likely to recognize Texas or Louisiana's judgments anytime soon. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has vowed to protect Carpenter. This puts Texas and New York at loggerheads, legal experts said, which could lead to a lengthy back and forth of appeals and clashing state court rulings that could lead to nowhere or eventually force a federal court to get involved. Legal experts told The Hill that Paxton's actions regarding the case against Carpenter suggest he is trying to get an abortion shield law case to be seen before the Supreme Court. 'This is the road toward getting courts to weigh in on whether or not shield laws, in doing what they do, will be upheld by the Supreme Court under various challenges,' said Rebouché. A spokesperson for Paxton did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Hill. States filing lawsuits that challenge shield laws are going to face obstacles, and cases will be difficult to win, legal experts said. This is because a lot of the arguments that a state like Texas would make to suggest that an abortion shield law should be struck down by a federal court are untested in this context, according to Rebouché. Once at the Supreme Court, Texas would likely argue that New York's shield law is violating the Constitution's full faith and credit clause, which mandates that all states must respect the judicial proceedings of another state, she said. And winning a legal case arguing that an abortion shield law violates the full faith and credit clause could be difficult, since a state like New York could argue that the clause is not absolute, Rebouché said. There is a long-held exception to the clause that states are not required to enforce a penal law from another state. Mary Ziegler, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis, said the letter to congressional leadership could mean that anti-abortion lawmakers might not be confident they wouldwin a case at any federal level. 'It's not much of a vote of confidence in terms of how they think they're going to, you know, do in federal court when these clashes arrive there,' she said. While state courts battle, a Texas civil lawsuit could end up being how an abortion shield law case appears before the Supreme Court. A Texas man is suing a California doctor for allegedly providing his girlfriend with abortion medication. Unlike the other state challenges, the wrongful death suit was filed in federal court. It could potentially lead to the downfall of shield laws faster than any action taken by an attorney general.
Los Angeles Times
34 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Vance is right to call out warped partisan representation
Believe it or not, Vice President JD Vance has said a number of things over the years that I agree with. For example, when he suggested 'the American people will not tolerate another endless war' with regards to sending aid to Ukraine, I felt seen. When Vance told podcaster Theo Von 'we need to release the Epstein list; that is an important thing,' I could not have agreed more. The sex trafficker received over $1.5 billion and 4,000 wire transfers to help pay for his operation. The American people should know who among us gave that monster money. Recently Vance took to social media to point out that Republicans average 40% of the vote in California but under one redistricting scenario would be represented by only 9% of the state's House seats. 'How can this possibly be allowed?' He pondered. It's a really good question — especially for Texas. After Texas gained two spots because of population growth in 2021 — 95% of which is attributable to people of color — Gov. Greg Abbott signed off on a map that actually increased the number of districts in which most voters are white. In fact, 60% of the new state Senate districts were majority white despite white residents making up less than 40% of the population. Vance is correct to point out there's a dearth of Republican representation in California politics. But while Democrats have controlled the governor's mansion and both state chambers for 11 consecutive years in the Golden State, in Texas the Republicans have held all three for 22 consecutive years — in large part because of the type of gerrymandering Vance denounced. (In California, it's hard to fault partisan redistricting for the current mix of representation … because the state does not have partisan redistricting. Voters established an independent commission 14 years ago.) Texas' current map already seems to tilt in Republicans' favor. Last year, the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, won more than 40% of the vote in the Lone Star State, and yet today Republicans hold nearly 70% of the state's House seats. And Abbott and his MAGA cohorts in office want even more. In one sense it is a full circle moment for Vance to complain about gerrymandering considering it was a former vice president — Elbridge Gerry — who started it. One of the nation's founding fathers, Gerry was governor of Massachusetts when he approved a Senate seat map that the Boston Gazette lampooned as being shaped like a salamander. That's because it was drawn in an odd way to rig the system so that it bent toward Republicans. What Vance is complaining about was started by his party and has been the country's reality since 1812. That's not to suggest Democrats are not also guilty. Between 2010 and 2020, Illinois lost roughly 18,000 people. That reduction cost the state a House seat and required a new congressional map. For more than a decade, Republican Adam Kinzinger represented the 16th district — a swath of land that included moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats. However, after the new map was drawn by Democrats, the 16th district was erased and Kinzinger was without a district. That is the same Kinzinger who proved to be a crucial member of the Jan. 6 committee because the war vet put his country over party. So, while Illinois Democrats were busy grabbing more power with the new map in 2021, they unknowingly forced out a moderate Republican who would prove to be one of the few conservatives in Congress to stand up for democracy. He proved not only to be an ally of democracy-oriented Democrats, but to be one of the speakers at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, a move that he and they hoped would bring out more moderates to vote against Donald Trump. Had the Democrats kept his district intact, perhaps they would have had an ally in the House fighting President Trump's overreach. Remember in May when Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' passed the House by a single vote? Therein lies the true danger of gerrymandering. It's not about what is snuffed out today but what is prevented from happening in an unforeseen future. Kinzinger voted with Trump 90% of the time, including against the first impeachment. Looking at that, I don't blame Democrats for seeing him as a political foe back when they eliminated his district. However, when it mattered most, he was a democracy ally. Yet by then, he was seen as a doomed political figure because of gerrymandering. Sophocles himself couldn't have written a more tragic tale of self-defeating hubris. So yes, JD Vance has said a number of things over the years that I agree with: no endless wars, release the Epstein files, stop the gerrymandering. I agreed with the Vance who was interested in fighting for democracy. But to appease his boss, he's retreated from principled stances. How the world has changed, and he with it. YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow
