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Rebecca Smith , a reporter who used her in-depth knowledge of the utility business to expose Enron's financial deceit, the failure of California's energy deregulation and the problems with PG&E's fire-prone power lines, died on Dec. 15 from complications of an autoimmune disease. She was 68.
Smith, who worked at The Wall Street Journal for more than 20 years, was regarded as one of the most knowledgeable journalists covering the electricity industry, a sector that not all news organizations cover closely. She learned parts of the business that many writers would find dull or inscrutable, knowledge that put her ahead in covering some of the biggest stories of her career.
She was a recipient of four Gerald Loeb Awards honoring the best of business journalism, a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and co-author of "24 Days," a book about the fall of Enron.
"She was extremely tough-minded," said John R. Emshwiller , a former Journal reporter who wrote "24 Days" with Smith. "When she became interested in something and sunk her teeth into it, she did not let go."
Smith, who went by Becky among friends, was born March 23, 1955 , in Omaha, Neb. , the third of four children. Her parents, who moved to Seattle shortly after she was born, were educators. Her mother, a schoolteacher, encouraged curiosity by building a home library with thousands of books, enough that Smith could sometimes complete school papers without having to leave the house.
Smith majored in communications and history at the University of Washington and graduated in 1977. She worked at local newspapers in Washington and Oklahoma before moving to California in 1985 to work at the Oakland Tribune , where she wrote a series on the turmoil that rocked the savings-and-loan industry for much of the 1980s.
California's crisis
She joined the staff of the San Jose Mercury News in 1992, as California was preparing to embark on a complicated, and consequential, effort to create a competitive electricity market through deregulation.
Smith didn't shy from what she called DBI, or "dull but important," coverage areas. As she attended hearings where California officials hammered out an ill-fated structure for the state's new competitive electricity market, Smith was among the first to recognize what could go wrong. She wrote in 1999 about the risk of power-supply shortages that could result in what are known as rolling blackouts, or forced outages to keep supply in line with demand. She joined the Journal that year.
Her reporting proved prescient as supplies grew scarce in 2000 and 2001, forcing the power-grid operator to call for rolling blackouts several times as electricity prices skyrocketed. The result was a political and financial crisis for California that led to the recall of Gov. Gray Davis and the bankruptcy of PG&E, the state's largest utility company. Smith dived into the reasons for the market's failures, earned a Loeb Award for her coverage and was a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting.
Pat Wood , who chaired the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission just after the crisis, fielded dozens of calls from Smith as his agency investigated its origins. Her questions, he said, were challenging enough to knock him down a peg.
"So many people were kissing up to me in those days, and it was so nice to just talk to somebody who beat me up a little bit," he said. " Rebecca Smith , with her brain, kept me humble."
Enron scandal
The energy crisis had barely abated when Jeff Skilling , then the chief executive of Enron, resigned after a few months on the job. Smith began working with Emshwiller to investigate the company's convoluted financial dealings, revealing that it had misled investors and broken securities laws. Their reporting earned a Loeb Award.
"There were many times that I would be totally underwater, but of course you always returned Becky and John's phone calls, period," said Mark Palmer , a partner at advisory firm Brunswick Group who served as Enron's spokesman at the time. "She was like the quarterback that prepares for every situation and understands every play in the book."
Smith continued reporting on utility companies and earned the respect of many of the industry's top executives, even those who were targets of her most critical coverage.
"Corporate executives often tried to either dazzle you or intimidate you, " Emshwiller said. "Becky you couldn't charm or intimidate."
Tom Fanning , who retired this year as chief executive of Southern Co., which operates utilities in much of the Southeast, got to know Smith as she covered the company and some of its challenges, including a failed effort to build a "clean coal" power plant in Mississippi .
"She would choose to listen and learn, and whether you changed her opinion or not, at least we had an honest, constructive conversation about the issues of the day," he said.
Smith, an active member of her church in Berkeley , had what she considered a life-changing experience in 2013, when she took a month off to walk the 500-mile Camino de Santiago in northern Spain . The Latin phrase solvitur ambulando -- it is solved by walking -- became her mantra as she completed other pilgrimages, including walking St. Oswald's Way and St. Cuthbert's Way in northern England .
Smith retired in 2017, only to return to the Journal in 2018 to work on its investigations team. That year, a PG&E power line ignited the Camp Fire , which killed 84 people and destroyed the town of Paradise in Northern California . She worked with colleagues on a series of articles that examined why the company had for years failed to address wildfire risk. Their work earned a Loeb award and was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.
In 2021, she and Emshwiller introduced a new generation of Journal subscribers to the Enron story in the first season of the Bad Bets podcast series, in which they explained the company's misdeeds 20 years after its downfall.
Smith retired again last year. She is survived by her brother, Steven Smith ; her children, Susan and Kevin Bryant ; her former partner, Lori Steere ; and her current partner, Nancy Levin .
Write to Katherine Blunt at katherine.blunt@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-20-23 1231ET
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Mike Flynn says the Colorado decision is part of a conspiracy to turn American into a “Globalist, One-World… transhumanist society that is dark… has two systems of gov’t (one for elites & one for the slaves), is God-less, dark & without a soul.”@GenFlynn this is a Wendy’s. https://t.co/VcAwyQkko1 pic.twitter.com/DduScNYxWU
— Jim Stewartson, Counterinsurgent 🇺🇸🇺🇦💙🎈 (@jimstewartson) December 20, 2023
WATCH: @ElieNYC on why it was no accident the Colorado Supreme Court directly quoted Justice Neil Gorsuch in their decision to disqualify Trump from the 2024 ballot. pic.twitter.com/Z3GGNPb2pc
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) December 20, 2023
👉🏿👉🏿👉🏿 (2021) pic.twitter.com/Va6ZR5KM7o
— AlexAlvaro@toad.social (@AlexAlvarova) December 20, 2023
This is a great piece from @MaraGay about how some black voters in rural Georgia feel like their problems have been ignored by Biden/Dems.
— Matthew Sheffield (@mattsheffield) December 20, 2023
Unfortunately, many of the situations the voters rightfully bemoan are caused by national or statewide Republicans. https://t.co/bW0EWexYKI
Colorado will just tell them;
"No weed for you, NEXT"
She's on a roll.
Jo
@JoJoFromJerz
Colorado has just announced that it will be opening it’s borders to all displaced ketchup bottles looking for refuge.
Colorado inflicted Beetlejuice Boebert on us.
We’re almost square now.
The Trump campaign just shared this totally accurate map proving that the state of Colorado is actually not a part of the US at all.
It’s part of Mexico.
George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, John Legend, Mark Ruffalo, LeBron James, Leonardo DiCaprio & Lenny Kravitz are all liberals.
Ted Cruz is a Republican.
Any questions?
Yes of course, the public booger eating, mom jeaned, jowl merkin’d & mulleted Dollar Store Wolverine Cosplayer with the penis proboscis knows better than anyone how to satisfy a woman in bed.
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) December 19, 2023
All these years practicing on Donald Trump haven’t been in vain after all. pic.twitter.com/a8OOymB9kT
Seems like this would be a good time for the Supreme Court Justice for hire hubby of a coup plotter to recuse himself from hearing any cases involving the outgoing president she tried to plot a coup for, but what do I know? pic.twitter.com/is5nuAyIhB
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) December 19, 2023
Funny
Jo
@JoJoFromJerz
I guess you could call this a “Rocky Mountain Bye.”
‘Colorado just isn’t my type.’
- Trump probably
Prominent Republican judge leaves party, cites Donald Trump as 'a big part of it'
Scott Wartman
Cincinnati Enquirer
4:27 ET Dec. 19, 2023
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/19/why-leslie-ghiz-left-the-republican-party/71972248007/
Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz.
A prominent Republican judge and politician in Hamilton County has ditched the Republican Party.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Leslie Ghiz said former President Donald Trump played "a big part of it" as she has wrestled with what party she wants to run in and whether she wants to run for reelection at all.
Ghiz, who had been a Republican during her previous runs for Cincinnati City Council and judge, tried to get the endorsement of the Hamilton County Democratic Party for her reelection campaign in 2024. The Hamilton County Democrats declined this month to endorse her, according to Ghiz and Hamilton County Democratic Chair Gwen McFarlin. Neither Ghiz nor McFarlin gave a reason for why they didn't endorse her.
Ghiz is now considering running as an independent.
"I was assessing on where I stood on matters and I feel like I didn't have a home one way or the other," Ghiz told The Enquirer Tuesday, a day after she withdrew her petition to run as a Democrat.
Ghiz didn't want to get specific on why she left the Republican Party. The Enquirer asked Ghiz whether Trump had anything to do with her decision.
"That was a big part of it," Ghiz said, declining to detail what she thinks of Trump.
"I'm not going to go into that," she said. "I've got too much going on to let him spoil my day."
Ghiz started her political career in 2005 when she won election to Cincinnati City Council. She served on city council until 2011. In 2012, she was elected as a Common Pleas Court judge, winning reelection in 2018.
She described her politics as "middle of the road."
"I'm trying to figure out where I fit right now," Ghiz said.
Her defection from the Republican Party could have big implications for a fading Republican Party in an increasingly Democratic county. Democrats hold all but two countywide offices, prosecutor and engineer. Ghiz is still listed as one of four Republican Common Pleas Court judges on the Hamilton County Republican Party website.
Hamilton County GOP Chairman Russ Mock declined to comment until after the partisan filing deadline passes on Wednesday.
As of Tuesday, two Republicans and two Democrats have filed to run for two of the seats on the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas.
While the deadline to file as a Republican or Democrat is Wednesday, Dec. 20, the deadline to run as an independent in the judicial race is March 18. In the meantime, Ghiz said she would weigh her options.
"So I don't really know, at this point," Ghiz said. "I'm looking over independent, what the options are with that, and that kind of thing. And I've got time. I don't have to make a decision right this second."
I was being a bit sarcastic. Only the "attention" part was serious. Might want to think about taking care of the natural water pipelines that flow from higher northern hemisphere down south. Plus there is about 2.2 million miles of water pipelines in the US now, and a big portion of that are needing replaced and will have to be replaced in the near future. Food might become not so cheap shipping it or otherwise when we end up with minimal production.
Thinking about it though, oil would become a lot more expensive if they dealt with all the water contamination that happens from leaking wells (many of them abandoned) and pipelines. Lets really break the fossil fuels industry's law of diminishing returns taking care of all the methane leaks that spew into the air. As much as 10-15% of our natural gas production goes into our environment. Really take a bite out the profits if we just stopped the waste and enforced some tightened standards of regulation. Use what we need, but need what we use would sure would go a long way to saving the environment.
Plus we won't need to pipe the water down to the population, the population will pipe itself to the areas of more livability, taking up land that could be used for growing food, and exasperating the problem of our tributaries flow down further. Vicious trend. I imagine we might see in the future, more salt filtration systems and the expense consequences of that. Salt is already contaminating the Mississippi River and effecting fresh water supply there.
Thousands of Oil and Gas Wastewater Spills Threaten Property, Groundwater, Wildlife and Livestock Across Texas
From the Texon Scar to the Sabine River, produced water spills have impacted soil, contaminated water resources and killed wildlife. But the Railroad Commission of Texas has resisted new regulations.
By Martha Pskowski
December 18, 2023
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18122023/state-of-denial-oil-gas-wastewater-spills-texas/
Trump's GOP and Putin two peas in a pod
Mike Flynn’s non-profit America’s Future is going full steam into Pizzagate psyops in advance of the 2024 election.
— Jim Stewartson, Counterinsurgent 🇺🇸🇺🇦💙🎈 (@jimstewartson) December 19, 2023
ICYMI, QAnon is basically Pizzagate 2.0. Same enemies and heroes. Same Russian psychological warfare.
Any country that lets this go on is fundamentally broken.… https://t.co/cVELZaER67 pic.twitter.com/Vm6WEUQbe0
In light of Mike Flynn announcing “Operation Z” to create a new Hitler Youth, and both Tucker Carlson & the Kremlin pushing antisemitic “reptilian” propaganda, I note this Russian military intelligence QAnon network was pushing “Qperation Z” to “kill reptilians” six months ago. https://t.co/HJZPqOGbDb
— Jim Stewartson, Counterinsurgent 🇺🇸🇺🇦💙🎈 (@jimstewartson) December 19, 2023
Russia “sought to denigrate the Dem Party…and undermine confidence in the election, most likely to undermine US support for Ukraine.”
— Pete Strzok (@petestrzok) December 19, 2023
Hard to overstate how critical the 2024 elections are to Russia–and Putin personally.
Expect unprecedented interference across national races. https://t.co/E2AkFKElYI pic.twitter.com/j1oHEzJpdq
Sounds like a Trump campaign speech -
— Pete Strzok (@petestrzok) December 19, 2023
Russian actors “cast aspersions on the integrity of the midterm elections, including by claiming the voting software was vulnerable, Americans expected cheating to undermine the midterm elections, and Democrats were stealing the elections” pic.twitter.com/O41CBHmAOX
Some more gunboat diplomacy. Great recruitment video, supply will be protected.
Global supply chains are backed by nothing.
— Velina Tchakarova (@vtchakarova) December 19, 2023
The nothing.#realpolitik #velsig pic.twitter.com/UD7U5Gth1Q
Maybe they can put as much attention to some water pipelines from the NE as they do to fossil fuel pipelines. Even with a 17% increase of rainfall in the SW, it doesn't even put many drops in the bucket of the needed usage.
From the NCA5 (5th National Climate Assessment 2023), "Climate Trends" figures. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/downloads/
Deleted my original post to remove addresses. Mea culpa. Trying again:
— Tamar Hallerman (@TamarHallerman) December 19, 2023
Attorneys for Fulton Trump case defendant Trevian Kutti are jumping ship, several weeks after she recorded an Instagram Live video that legal observers say likely violated her bond agreement pic.twitter.com/KOCi4jGkAR
DeSantis, super PAC accused of breaking campaign finance law in federal complaint
by: Kevin Accettulla
https://www.wfla.com/news/politics/desantis-super-pac-accused-of-breaking-campaign-finance-law-in-federal-complaint/
Posted: Dec 18, 2023 / 06:34 PM EST
Updated: Dec 18, 2023 / 10:45 PM EST
But, but, the Hunter dic pics.
🚨 Texas AG Ken Paxton has bought at least six properties out-of-state, including land in Hawaii and Utah, three homes in Florida, and a lodge in Oklahoma, without disclosing them on his state-mandated ethics reports. @KUT.
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) December 17, 2023
Click link for story👇
https://t.co/7anQ7KsnOq pic.twitter.com/n1D5YkW4Nl
Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) – Plug Power had its rating downgraded from “Neutral” to “Underweight” by Piper Sandler, which also lowered the target price of the clean energy company’s stock from $6.50 to $2.30, according to information from The Fly. As a result, the value of Plug Power’s shares fell 3.8% in Tuesday’s pre-market to $4.26.
That's a heck of a cut. Piper Sandler has about an average of 7% return on their ratings, nothing to really wow about, though their stock price has increased over 30% this year. What's interesting is that most of their ratings are a buy with holds coming in second. Their sell ratings are only about 3% of their ratings. So this downgrade is amongst the few.
Hope they get serious about it. Before, Poland has made a deal with Hungary with blocking each other's suspensions.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/hungary-may-be-deprived-of-voting-rights-in-eu-to-approve-aid-to-ukraine-ft/ar-AA1lFyAr
I know. I just try to have the habit of backing my opinions. I don't believe we are going to have 10-20 yrs before we see some very major destructive and expensive consequences from climate catastrophes in a lot nearer future than most imagine. The anomaly numbers will have their effect comparatively quick. Sure, things don't go in a straight line and we may have a slight retrace (any reprieve would be above today's "normal"), but there is no way that 2023 climate numbers are not going to have it's destructive effect. Exponentiality is a disaster to any species.
Anyway, Mother Nature can giveth, and she can taketh away. Iceland just blew it's guts over 300 ft into the air. Thorvaldur Thordarson, a volcanologist in Iceland stated “We are looking at a worst-case scenario”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svartsengi_Power_Station
I give it half that.
Everybody needs to understand what this means. We are out of equilibrium. The more unbalanced we become, the more extreme conditions will apply. To get it back in balance, the opposite extreme conditions will have to occur. We're f*#!!ed. If we listen and act, we can be less f*#!!ed. As bad as it is, I'll take the less.
Because our planet is now absorbing 2.2 W/m² more heat from the sun than it did the first decade of this century.
And because the extra greenhouse gases keep most of that additional heat on Earth.
This is the most important graph in the world:
Many decades ago scientist made projections. They were very wrong. It's so much worse than they projected. Nobody listened to them anyway. Will they be wrong again, probably, and again they will probably be too conservative, and again too many people are not listening now.
This year's temperatures are giving new meaning to the phrase "off the charts"#StateofClimate
— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) December 15, 2023
Graph of Sept-Nov temperatures from @NOAA pic.twitter.com/yaiJXawYpc
Republicans always taking from the public schools (the poor) and giving funds to the private schools (the rich). Education isn't what they want for the masses.
To understand the problems plaguing underfunded schools in Idaho, the @IdahoStatesman and @ProPublica surveyed all 115 public school superintendents, visited 39 schools and collected stories from over 200 students, parents and educators. https://t.co/oJ1hzjt9qi
— ProPublica (@propublica) December 18, 2023
BREAKING: US Court of Appeals for 11th Circuit rejects Mark Meadows’ request to transfer his Georgia election case from state to federal court:
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 18, 2023
— Circuit rules removal doesn’t apply to former officials
— Also finds that the charged conduct wasn’t within scope of official duties pic.twitter.com/pMYi8SOmZl
Signs of things to come.
Hawaii governor wants 3,000 vacation rentals converted to housing for Maui wildfire survivors
BY AUDREY MCAVOY
Updated 4:27 PM MST, December 15, 2023
https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-maui-wildfire-vacation-rentals-housing-4ee2b107956140ec6fba32bd22094934
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Friday said he wants 3,000 condos and homes that are normally rented to Maui tourists converted to long-term housing for displaced wildfire survivors who are now living in hotels.
Green said he’s prepared to use the “hammer” of post-fire emergency orders to make sure owners of short-term vacation rentals extend them to long-term units if enough spaces aren’t converted voluntarily by mid-January.
The governor said that as of Thursday, there were 6,297 residents still living in hotels more than four months after the Aug. 8 wildfire wiped out historic Lahaina. The vast majority don’t have anywhere else to go given the extreme housing shortage on Maui.
The lack of stable housing has been a source of stress for Lahaina residents, some of whom have had to switch hotel rooms multiple times since the fire. One group is camping out on Kaanapali Beach in front of resort hotels and vows to stay there until short-term rentals are converted for the use of residents....................................................................................more
it’s here
— Prof. Steve Austin (@postcarbonsteve) December 18, 2023
it’s happening now
we’re not only not ready
most don’t have any idea https://t.co/OgVL470Ea8 pic.twitter.com/3nnHxUNwsM
it’s here
— Prof. Steve Austin (@postcarbonsteve) December 18, 2023
it’s happening now
we’re not only not ready
most don’t have any idea https://t.co/OgVL470Ea8 pic.twitter.com/3nnHxUNwsM
I guess the elf look didn't go over well, so he went out and got some boots from Mr Munster, see how that goes. To get on the presidential ride, you have to be this high. lol
New boots pic.twitter.com/T4aasZAE1w
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 16, 2023
Was just passing by, so I thought I would go ahead give it out.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/14/magazine/israelis-palestinians-peace-forum.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GU0.6pIf.8HBLFhsc9RrG&hpgrp=k-abar&smid=url-share
It's not good. Then what is with the GOP side.
ALERT: Judge sentences Capitol riot defendant Anthony Sargent to 60 months in prison (5 years)
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 15, 2023
This isn’t common. Judge went well above Justice Dept recommendation
The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump
By Jeremy Herb, Katie Bo Lillis, Natasha Bertrand, Evan Perez and Zachary Cohen, CNN
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/12/politics/missing-russia-intelligence-trump-dg/
December 15, 2023
Washington (CNN) — A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said.
In the two-plus years since Trump left office, the missing intelligence does not appear to have been found.
The binder contained raw intelligence the US and its NATO allies collected on Russians and Russian agents, including sources and methods that informed the US government’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election, sources tell CNN.
The intelligence was so sensitive that lawmakers and congressional aides with top secret security clearances were able to review the material only at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where their work scrutinizing it was itself kept in a locked safe................................
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/12/politics/missing-russia-intelligence-trump-dg/
NEW: Harvard’s endowment has increased 3,521% since 1978.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) December 14, 2023
It's larger than the GDP of more than 120 nations — and all the money is tax free.
Taxing just 1% of Harvard’s endowment could make community college free for everyone in Massachusetts. pic.twitter.com/p8pUHtbTa6
I didn't read it as going against any of what your doing or reasons for doing it. The author gave some statements to that towards the end. All those emotions, remembrances, connections with family and community, and respect to the fallen are a good thing and a needed positive for society. I applaud you for your thoughts and actions. The author was only giving out some facts and accounting numbers, how much is being paid out to have those experiences, respectful gestures, and memories. It looked judgingly at where the money goes, who it goes to, and how much does it go for the actual causes.
You should continue your tradition. Nothing wrong with the respect you give and the satisfaction you receive from it. The article only makes aware that the numbers show that WAA is not quite the non profit it impresses itself out to be nor much of a contributor to the causes. The founders are also the owners of the company that receives most of the 10's to 100's of millions that WAA raises. If their business for profit, The Worcester Wreath Company, didn't have nearly 80% of its' income from the "charity" and the years of constant promotions on Fox, they would have ceased to exist. Most of what's left after WWC takes it cut goes to just running the "charity" business, very little to nothing goes to the causes expressed by WAA.
Their history with their labor force and attitude towards their employees isn't anything good either. Dozens of labor and safety violations, covid denial for profit, almost a hundred sick and even a death, "willful violations", failure to keep records of illnesses and accidents", and 10's of thousands of fines (paid for by WAA and people that have good thoughts and remembrances).
The article just gives awareness and reminds us that there are other choices and avenues that give most of what they recieve to the actual cause and place the importance and focus to actual need over profit. Doesn't stop buying some wreaths and remembering the vets that are no longer with us twice a year, just know who your buying those wreaths from.
Article gives some options to give to real needs of vets and their families that require so much more and all year round help. Organizations like Wounded Warriors, Operation First Response, Head Strong Project, and others have a much better ratings and are also nationwide. %75 really isn't that great when most of WAA problems is in revealing all of their finances (Accountability & Finance part). Where other's are strong in revealing their accounting (98,100%), WAA is lacking. Sites like BBB's Give.org won't rate them due to failure to disclose accountability information for the Standards for Charity Accountability (standards on matters such as charity finances, appeals, and governance). Those areas require disclosures to evaluate and if a charity refrains from that, it brings up the red flags.
The article was only pointing these things out, but wasn't knocking the perceived causes and efforts of people like you.
BREAKING: THAT WAS FAST! The appeals court GRANTS Jack Smith’s motion for expedited appeal on the immunity case. Trump’s brief due 12/23. DoJ’s due 12/30. Trump’s reply due 1/2. Oral arguments TBD. pic.twitter.com/ZDdwieFvGH
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) December 13, 2023
Attorneys general on the move this week:
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) December 13, 2023
17 Democratic AGs filed a brief in support of Illinois' expansive mail-in ballot receipt deadline: https://t.co/RQp9gAIkrm
13 GOP AGs filed a brief saying that voters can't sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act: https://t.co/hNn1ebLGuq
Judd Legum@JuddLegum
1. @WreathsAcross America is a popular and rapidly growing veterans charity
It raised over $30 million last year.
But the vast majority of the money goes to Worcester Wreath Company
Key fact: The owners of Worcester Wreath Company founded Wreaths Across America
7:30 AM · Dec 13, 2023
2. Wreaths Across America was created around the same time Worcester Wreath Company lost its contract with LL Bean, which accounted for 90% of Worcester's wreath sales
Today, Wreaths Across America accounts for 80%+ of Worcester's sales
3. In fiscal year 2022, $20,605,527 of the money raised by Wreaths Across America went directly to Worcester Wreath Company. Most of the rest of the funds went to marketing, overhead, and staff salaries.
4. In 2015, the Worcester Wreath Company said it sold the wreaths to Wreaths Across America for $8.50, earning a $1.20 profit on each wreath. If that profit margin has held, this year's wreath laying will earn the company $3,480,000.
5. A spokesperson for Wreaths Across America maintains the organization also helps "living veterans."
The primary way is that other non-profits can sell sponsored wreaths on behalf of Wreaths Across America and get "paid back" $5 for each wreath sold
6. The total amount of these payments by Wreaths Across America to other orgs in fiscal year 2022 was just $3,046,486. And not all of that money went to veterans orgs. Boy Scouts, 4-H Clubs, and many other non-veteran groups participate.
7. The issue is not that laying a wreath on a tombstone causes any harm. It provides symbolic support for veterans.
But living veterans have acute unmet needs, including housing, disability accommodation, and mental health
https://popular.info/p/the-truth-about-wreaths-across-america
Alarmingly clear. https://t.co/LLT2nBwiA7
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) December 13, 2023
Hey @mkraju Why is ANYONE talking to Grassley abt this stuff w/o asking if he stands by his claim that the Obama DOJ opened an investigation into Zlochevsky in January 2016 and the Trump DOJ shut it down in December 2019? Grassley provided evidence that TRUMP should be impeached. https://t.co/GqLeexVQh8
— emptywheel ceci n'est pas un checkmark (@emptywheel) December 13, 2023