ICYMI: Most racist legislator of the week and more

I read far too much news every week, and if you are reading this, you probably do, too. But did you see these stories from the past week? 

First, in Oklahoma, Republican state representative JJ Humphrey introduced an “anti-terrorism” bill that classifies all Hispanics as terrorists. The Guardian has the story:

“In addition to ‘a member of a criminal street gang’ and someone who ‘has been convicted of a gang-related offense’, the bill defines a terrorist as ‘any person who is of Hispanic descent living within the state of Oklahoma’.”

Humphrey’s non-apology:

“He said: ‘I apologize for using the word Hispanic, but I was not wrong. Again, these are Hispanic. Reality is they are Hispanic. There’s nothing to be ashamed with.’

“Humphrey said he will go back to the bill and amend the language from ‘Hispanic’ to ‘undocumented here illegally, or something like that’.”

Another under-the-radar story comes from Public Notice, which details Elon Musk’s attempt to overturn the National Labor Relations Board. The article delves into the decision to file this case in Texas, and its subsequent removal to California. But the really important part is here:

“The reason Musk wants to be in Texas is because of a Fifth Circuit decision in a 2022 case called Jarkesy v. SEC in which a three-judge panel ruled that [Administrative Law Judges] are unconstitutional.

“The court reasoned that: (1) it’s illegal for Congress to delegate too much power to civil servants, unanswerable to the voters; and (2) that agencies’ use of ALJs violates the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. This position would have been unthinkable 15 years ago, but now that Republicans have a vise grip on the Supreme Court, they’ve decided that the judiciary needs to grab all the power it can. Just this week, the Court heard oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a case which threatens to hamstring the executive branch and allow courts to substitute their own judgment for that of federal agencies at will. …

“Essentially, SpaceX says that because the ALJs enjoy civil service protections and can’t be fired by the president as political appointees, and because the NLRB’s procedures don’t allow for a jury trial, the enforcement action against SpaceX is illegal under Jarkesy.

“And in case it’s not clear, if Musk succeeds, the NLRB will have no way to enforce labor laws that guarantee citizens the right to collective action.” 

Then there’s the Ouray County Plaindealer in Ouray, Colorado. The newspaper had the guts to publish a story about rape at the police chief’s house. Not that anyone got to read the story: hundreds of copies of the newspaper were stolen from all of the newspaper vending machines in town, reports HuffPost. 

“’It’s pretty clear that someone didn’t want the community to read the news this week,’ McIntyre wrote [in an email to readers]. ‘I’ll leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions on which story they didn’t want you to read.’

“The front-page headline on the January 18-24 edition of the paper in question reads, ‘Girl: Rapes occurred at chief’s house.’

“The story, authored by McIntyre, relays the horrific allegations of a 17-year-old girl who says she was repeatedly raped while at a party with the police chief’s stepson and two other individuals in May 2023.”

Finally, two important stories about crime and inflation also flew mostly under the radar. 

Crime fell both nationally and in Minnesota in 2023. Jeff Asher has a good analysis of the national figures, and the Minnesota Reformer has us covered locally: 

“Crime in Minnesota was down across the board in 2023, according to preliminary data released by the Department of Public Safety.

“Statewide, relative to 2022:

• Homicide was down 5%
• Car thefts were down 8%, and carjackings 38%
• Larceny, or theft, decreased by about 15%
• Rape fell by 20%

“Many major crime categories, like robbery, burglary, larceny and sexual assault, are now running lower than they did prior to the pandemic. Others, like homicide, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft, remain well above pre-pandemic levels despite recent declines.”

Inflation is down, and that has been widely reported though not as widely believed. The under-reported news is that corporate profits are the biggest driver of recent inflation:

“The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report. …

“Since pandemic inflation spiked in 2021, a high-stakes debate has played out about its sources. Many progressive economists pointed to corporate profits – or “greedflation” – and supply chain issues as a driver of high prices, while their more conservative counterparts singled out government stimulus cash and high wages.

“The report’s authors scoured corporate earnings calls and found executives bragging to shareholders about keeping prices high and widening profit margins as input costs come down.” 

That’s it for this week–now I can close those tabs and clear my browser.