April, 06 2022, 03:05pm EDT
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Congress Presses Oil Giants to Explain Refusal to Lower Gas Prices Despite Massive Profits
Today at a congressional hearing, executives from oil giants BP America, Chevron, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, and Shell were pressed to explain their refusal to lower
WASHINGTON
Today at a congressional hearing, executives from oil giants BP America, Chevron, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, and Shell were pressed to explain their refusal to lower gas prices despite their massive profits.
"Today executives from some of Big Oil's largest companies failed to explain why they refuse to use their eye-popping $71.2 billion in profits to lower gas prices for American consumers struggling to fill their tanks and instead choose to shower wealthy executives and shareholders with billions in dividends and stock buybacks. They should be ashamed," said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. ""The fact these executives didn't even bother to show up in person today tells you all you need to know about how seriously they're taking this crisis. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle were right to call them out. Instead, these executives are far more interested in exploiting the pandemic and war in Ukraine to pad their bottom lines and make Americans pay on both ends. They are gouging consumers at the pump and rigging the system to avoid paying their fair share in drilling royalties on public lands, shortchanging taxpayers, public schools, and critical infrastructure like roads and hospitals."
The executives appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for a hearing titled, "Gouged at the Gas Station: Big Oil and America's Pain at the Pump."
- Massive Profits: The six companies testifying today reported more than $71.2 billion in profits in 2021.
- Billions to Shareholders, Not Consumers: They used over $8 billion of those record profits on stock buybacks and over $38 billion on shareholder dividends.
- They Want High Prices: Many of the witnesses today are on the record celebrating high commodity prices for the benefit to their bottom line.
- Buying Influence: Republican members of Energy and Commerce have taken over $11.5 million from the oil and gas industry in campaign contributions; all but one of the 26 has taken in five figures.
Accountable.US is a nonpartisan watchdog that exposes corruption in public life and holds government officials and corporate special interests accountable by bringing their influence and misconduct to light. In doing so, we make way for policies that advance the interests of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.
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Christian Nationalism 'On the March': Oklahoma Mandates Bible Teachings in Public Schools
"It's not just happening in Oklahoma; we're seeing it from Texas to West Virginia, from Florida to Idaho," said one church-state separation advocate.
Jun 28, 2024
Advocates for the separation of church and state said Thursday that they plan to take all necessary steps to stop Christian nationalists across the country "from trampling the religious freedom of public school children and their families" after Oklahoma school superintendent Ryan Walters became the latest right-wing leader to mandate Christian teachings in schools.
Walters announced Thursday that "immediate and strict compliance is expected" for a new policy mandating that public schools teach the Christian Bible as part of the state curriculum.
Including the religious text in class materials is necessary "to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system," said Walters. "We're talking about the Bible, one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country."
The announcement came days after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana signed into state law a new policy requiring all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments by 2025.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) endorsed the policy on Wednesday, saying, "I think there's a number of states trying to look to do the same thing, and I don't think it's offensive in any way." Last weekend, former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also expressed support for the requirement, saying it could be "the first major step in the revival of religion, which is desperately needed in our country."
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which has launched a legal challenge against the Louisiana law, said Thursday that Walters' policy is "textbook Christian nationalism" and "a transparent, unconstitutional effort to indoctrinate and religiously coerce public school students."
"This nation must recommit to our foundational principle of church-state separation before it's too late. Public education, religious freedom and democracy are all on the line."
"Public schools are not Sunday schools," said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. "Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters has repeatedly made clear that he is incapable of distinguishing the difference and is unfit for office."
"Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else's children," continued Laser. "Not on our watch. Americans United is ready to step in and protect all Oklahoma public school children and their families from constitutional violations of their religious freedom."
Laser noted that the organization is already challenging Walters and other Oklahoma officials who are pushing to open the first publicly funded religious charter school, which was blocked by the state Supreme Court this week.
That effort, Walters' announcement, and Louisiana's Ten Commandments law all illustrate that "Christian nationalism is on the march across this country," said Laser.
"It's not just happening in Oklahoma; we're seeing it from Texas to West Virginia, from Florida to Idaho," she said. "Christian nationalists and their lawmaker allies want to replace school counselors with religious chaplains; allow teachers and coaches to pray with students; teach Creationism in science classes; and ban books and censor curricula that feature LGBTQ+ people and racial and religious minorities."
"Americans United will do everything in our power to stop Christian nationalists like Ryan Walters from trampling the religious freedom of public school children and their families," added Laser. "This nation must recommit to our foundational principle of church-state separation before it's too late. Public education, religious freedom and democracy are all on the line."
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) also said it would take "any necessary steps" to stop Walters from imposing the Bible teaching requirement on Oklahoma educators.
"Walters' concern should be the fact that Oklahoma ranks 49th in education," said FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. "Maybe education would improve if Oklahoma's superintendent of education spent his time promoting education, instead of religion."
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'The Stakes Could Not Be Higher': Debate Disaster Ignites Calls for Biden to Step Aside
"You're deluded if you believe Joe Biden, at this stage of his life, is the best person Democrats have to offer against Donald Trump, against a fascist," said journalist Mehdi Hasan.
Jun 28, 2024
President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance Thursday evening against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump—an unhinged, would-be authoritarian whose lies were glaring and constant—sent much of the Democratic Party establishment into a spiral of panic and ignited calls for the incumbent to step aside to allow another Democratic candidate to take on the former president in November.
The alarm began to set in just minutes into the
CNN-moderated event in Atlanta, with Democratic operatives and lawmakers exchanging despairing texts with reporters and each other after the president declared—after appearing to lose his train of thought—that "we finally beat Medicare," an absurd line that followed his stumbling attempt to explain that the nation's ultra-rich pay far too little in taxes.
"For example, we have a thousand trillionaires in America—I mean billionaires, in America," said Biden, his voice raspy from what his campaign says was a cold. "And what's happening? They're in a situation where they, in fact, pay 8.2% in taxes. If they just paid 24% or 25%, either one of those numbers, they'd raised $500 million—billion dollars, I should say, in a 10-year period."
The beltway access outlet Politicoreported that the text message inboxes of its journalists quickly blew up with expressions of dismay from Democratic lawmakers and the names of potential options to replace the 81-year-old incumbent, who cruised through the primary process without a serious challenge.
"I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue," an unnamed member of the House Democratic caucus wrote to Politico. An anonymous Democratic insider told the outlet that they believe "there are short lists being made" for Biden's potential replacement, lists that reportedly include Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
An unnamed Democratic lawmaker toldThe Financial Times that "many House Democrats tonight, representing a wide cross-section of the Democratic caucus, were privately texting one another that Biden needs to announce he's decided not to run for reelection"—a belated conclusion that drew disdain from commentators who have been warning for months that a Biden reelection bid could be calamitous.
"Hilarious to watch elite consensus shift and see all the media folk who knowingly created the Biden 2024 catastrophe now desperately try to maintain credibility by depicting themselves as the courageous voices demanding a course correction when it may already be too late," The Lever's David Sirota wrote Friday morning.
The frenzied discussions of a last-ditch replacement effort spilled over into the
editorial pages of major newspapers, panel discussions with former White House officials and ex-lawmakers, and the segments of prominent corporate television shows, including MSNBC's "Morning Joe"—which Biden reportedly watches obsessively.
Morning Joe, Biden’s favorite show, is wavering.
“If he were CEO and he turned in a performance like that, would any corporation in America, any Fortune 500 corporation in America keep him on as CEO?”
pic.twitter.com/bSZisE3FDU
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 28, 2024
In a panel discussion following Thursday night's 90-minute debate, CNN national political correspondent John King said that "there is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party" that began shortly after the debate kicked off and "continues right now."
"It involves party strategists, it involves elected officials, and it involves fundraisers. They are having conversations about the president's performance, which they think was dismal, which they think will hurt other people down the party in the ticket," said King. "And they're having conversations about what they should do about it. Some of those conversations include should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside. Other conversations are about should prominent Democrats go public with that call."
Dire concerns about Biden's performance and broader readiness to compete in the November election were amplified by Trump's showing during Thursday night's debate, which further showed that the presumptive Republican candidate poses a grave threat to democracy, the climate, workers, and fundamental rights.
"Tonight put on full display how broken our political system is. Our generation deserves better," Stevie O'Hanlon, communications director for the youth-led Sunrise Movement, said in a statement. "The debate also made it undeniable that a Trump presidency would be a climate catastrophe. When Trump was asked if he would address the climate crisis, he ignored the question completely—because he can't answer it. He has promised oil and gas CEOs that he will expedite drilling permits, hasten fracked gas pipeline approvals, and release 'vast stores' of oil and gas on public lands. In return, they're bankrolling his campaign."
"Biden touted achievements that young people fought hard and long to win: the Civilian Climate Corps and the Inflation Reduction Act. Like in 2020, we will fight like hell to defeat Donald Trump so we have the political conditions to end the fossil fuel era and win a Green New Deal," O'Hanlon added. "But President Biden and the Democratic establishment's choices have made an election against a convicted felon dangerously tight. Young people have offered Democrats the vision, energy, and policy on which to beat Donald Trump. They have turned away from it. If there is to be any chance of beating Trump this November, they must listen to young voters."
"Biden is manifestly not up to the task of combating Trump's lies, vitriol, and neofascism—nor is he capable of articulating a coherent progressive vision capable of galvanizing voters this fall."
It's far from clear that mounting calls for Biden to end his reelection campaign and clear the way for a viable replacement will move Democratic leaders or the White House, which has been adamant that the president will be on the ballot in November even as Democratic voters indicate they would prefer someone else as their nominee.
A Gallup survey released ahead of Thursday's debate showed that just 42% of Democratic voters are pleased with Biden as the nominee and a majority want a different candidate.
But Robert Costa of CBS News reported in the debate's aftermath that unnamed sources close to Biden said there is "zero chance" the president "steps away from running."
Newsom, one of the Democrats most commonly floated as a potential alternative to Biden, came to the president's defense Thursday night, urging the party to rally behind the incumbent.
"You don't turn your back because of one performance," Newsom said. "What kind of party does that?"
Alex Wagner presses Gov. Gavin Newsom on questions about whether Biden should step down.
Newsom: “You don’t turn your back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”
“This president has delivered. We need to deliver for him at this moment.” pic.twitter.com/J5G9XGNYWn
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 28, 2024
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also stood by the president, telling reporters on Friday that he should not drop out of the race even as one unnamed House Democrat—described as an "outspoken defender" of Biden—toldPolitico's Jonathan Martin that Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) should seriously consider a "combined effort" to convince the incumbent to step aside.
"The movement to convince Biden to not run is real," the lawmaker said.
However, Martin noted, "many top party officials" feel that "Biden can't be persuaded let alone pressured."
"One Democratic governor called the debate 'beyond bad,' but said it was 'too late' to nominate a new standard bearer," Martin reported.
But analysts argued Thursday's debacle solidified the case that a Biden candidacy is untenable—and could gift Trump and his far-right allies another four years in power, which they're planning to use to unleash a massive assault on reproductive rights, public education, immigrants, environmental regulations, and more.
"I'm not saying that Joe Biden is going to lose the presidential election because of tonight's debate. The race is still ridiculously too close to call at this point," saidZeteo's Mehdi Hasan, a former MSNBC host. "But it's not looking good. And what I am saying is that you're deluded if you believe Joe Biden, at this stage of his life, is the best person Democrats have to offer against Donald Trump, against a fascist."
"Small-d American democracy, if it is to survive, needs Democrats—big-d Democrats—to put their big boy pants on and get their act together," Hasan added.
I have spent months, both on MSNBC and at Zeteo, refusing to obsess over Biden’s age and fitness for office. But no longer. Not after tonight’s car crash of a ‘debate’.
It’s time for Biden to step aside. The Democrats need to find a new nominee. https://t.co/20UUcW06TK pic.twitter.com/oMtRbED3Bx
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) June 28, 2024
After acknowledging that "a comatose Joe Biden would make a better president than Donald Trump," Vox's Eric Levitz wrote Thursday that even though "there is no way for the Democratic Party to deny Biden the nomination at this point," party leaders could "personally lobby the president to step aside and endorse his preferred successor, preempting the hazards of a contested Democratic convention in late August."
"Waiting months to anoint a presumptive nominee would be highly risky. Rallying around Biden's handpicked heir now would be much less so," Levitz added. "The president's policy positions and governing record matter more than his current skills as a rhetorician. But precisely because of how much is substantively at stake in this election, Democrats cannot afford to wager it on American voters changing their minds and deciding that Biden isn't too old for his job after watching him struggle to remember the topics of his own sentences."
RootsAction, a progressive group that urged Biden in late 2022 not to run for reelection and has been calling on the president to step aside for more than a year, said in a statement that Thursday night underscored the incumbent's "severe liabilities as a candidate.
"Biden is manifestly not up to the task of combating Trump's lies, vitriol, and neofascism—nor is he capable of articulating a coherent progressive vision capable of galvanizing voters this fall," the group said. "There is still time before the party convention to decide on a different nominee for the party. Democratic leaders must finally heed the clear preference of Democratic voters and reconsider their backing of Biden’s candidacy."
"We need a swift intervention to make Biden voluntarily a one-term president so a Democratic nominee can be up to the job of defeating Trump," RootsAction added. "The stakes could not be higher for the future of the United States, and the world."
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'Wannabe Dictator' Donald Trump Won't Commit to Accepting Election Results
"His candidacy remains an existential threat to our democracy and the very communities he scapegoats on the campaign trail," said one campaigner.
Jun 28, 2024
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on Thursday refused to commit to accepting the results of his looming rematch with incumbent President Joe Biden, the latest indication that the former president is bent on sowing potentially violent chaos as he seeks another four years in the White House.
Asked several times during Thursday night's debate in Atlanta whether he would accept the outcome of the November election, Trump demurred, veered off course, downplayed the January 6, 2021 insurrection as "a relatively small number of people that went to the Capitol," and repeated lies about election fraud.
Eventually, Trump said in response to a yes-or-no question from CNN's Dana Bash that he would accept the results "if it's a fair and legal and good election," suggesting he would only view the contest as legitimate if he wins.
"I would have much rather accepted these but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous," said Trump, falsely insisting the 2020 election was stolen. "If you want, we'll have a news conference on it in a week."
Bash: The question was will you accept the results of the election?
Trump: If it’s a fair and legal and good election, absolutely. I would’ve much rather accepted these but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous pic.twitter.com/SQpup59HM5
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 28, 2024
Alejandra Gomez, executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona, said Trump's election remarks make clear he is "still the same wannabe dictator he was during his first term" and that "his candidacy remains an existential threat to our democracy and the very communities he scapegoats on the campaign trail."
"If Donald Trump wins in November he will unleash an all-out attack on our institutions from the media to our Justice Department," Gomez added, referring to the former president's threat to weaponize arms of the federal government against his political opponents.
Stand Up America's Christina Harvey echoed Gomez's warning, saying in a statement that Thursday night's debate underscored "the extraordinary danger that Donald Trump poses to our democracy."
"Trump refused to denounce the January 6 insurrection, would not promise to accept the election results, bragged about ending Roe v. Wade, and spewed endless lies and conspiracy theories," said Harvey. "The stakes in this year's election are enormous, and the future of our democracy and our fundamental freedoms are on the line. We cannot let Trump ever step foot in the Oval Office again."
The dire threat Trump and his far-right allies pose to U.S. democracy, fundamental freedoms, the climate, workers, and more served to amplify concerns among Democratic insiders and outside progressives about Biden's stumbling performance Thursday night, which solidified for many that he is the wrong person to take on the former president in November.
"I'm not saying that Joe Biden is going to lose the presidential election because of tonight's debate. The race is still ridiculously too close to call at this point," saidZeteo's Mehdi Hasan following the Atlanta event. "But it's not looking good. And what I am saying is that you're deluded if you believe Joe Biden, at this stage of his life, is the best person Democrats have to offer against Donald Trump, against a fascist."
"Small-d American democracy, if it is to survive, needs Democrats—big-d Democrats—to put their big boy pants on and get their act together," Hasan added.
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