Author: Reporter

Fake Trump elector on Wisconsin election commission will not be removed by Republican leadership

The majority leader of the Wisconsin Senate on December 11 rejected calls to rescind his appointment to the state elections commission, who was one of the Republicans that attempted to undermine America’s democracy by serving as a fake elector for former President Donald Trump in 2020, as part of his criminal effort to overturn the legal results of voters. Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said in a statement that his appointee Bob Spindell and the other fake electors had invoked a “failed legal strategy” and “not a sinister plot to overturn an election.” For that reason, LeMahieu said...

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A Gift to Putin: Why Republican policy to block aid trades Ukrainian lives for lives of asylum seekers

A deal to provide further U.S. assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden. The impasse is deepening in Congress despite dire warnings from the White House about the consequences of inaction as Republicans insist on pairing the aid with changes to America’s immigration and border policies. After the president said he was willing to “make significant compromises on the border,” Republicans quickly revived demands that they had earlier set aside, hardening their positions and attempting to shift the negotiations to the right, according to a person familiar with the talks...

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Urgently needed winter camp for migrants driven from Texas closed over environmental concerns

Governor J.B. Pritzker’s administration announced on December 5 that it is scrapping plans for a temporary winter camp for migrants in Chicago, citing the risk of contaminants at the former industrial site. The setback comes as Chicago struggles to house more than 24,000 migrants arriving from the border with Mexico since August of last year, most in buses sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, according to city data released in December. With the coldest weather looming — and despite a partnership with religious leaders to provide temporary housing — hundreds of asylum-seekers still await placement at airports and police...

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Lost body autonomy: Delays grow for medically necessary abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned

A woman whose fetus was unlikely to survive called more than a dozen abortion clinics before finding one that would take her, only to be put on weekslong waiting lists. A teen waited seven weeks for an abortion because it took her mother that long to get her an appointment. Others seeking the procedure faced waits because they struggled to travel hundreds of miles for care. Such obstacles have grown more common since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, doctors and researchers say, causing delays that can lead to abortions that are more complex, costly, and in...

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Governor Tony Evers vetoes Republican bill to ban gender-affirming care for Wisconsin youth

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill that sought to outlaw gender-affirming care for minors on December 6. The veto was expected from Governor Evers, who has vowed to strike down any proposals from the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature that he deems harmful to LGBTQ+ youth. “This type of legislation, and the rhetoric beget by pursuing it, harms LGBTQ people and kids’ mental health, emboldens anti-LGBTQ hate and violence, and threatens the safety and dignity of LGBTQ Wisconsinites,” Governor Evers wrote in his veto message. “I will veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less...

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Voting experts warn that election equipment in 2024 face serious threats from software breaches

An effort to access voting system software in several states and provide it to allies of former President Donald Trump as they sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election has raised “serious threats” ahead of next year’s presidential contest, according to a group of experts who urged federal agencies to investigate. The letter sent by nearly two dozen computer scientists, election security experts and voter advocacy organizations asks for a federal probe and a risk assessment of voting machines used throughout the country, saying the software breaches have “urgent implications for the 2024 election and beyond.” The...

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