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Good News Roundup for Friday, February 17, 2023: Go, Joe, Go! [1]

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Date: 2023-02-17  

Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!

Gotta say, am loving this version of President Joe Biden.

Ever since the SOTU — like, the best SOTU ever, despite some saying we should give up SOTUs and just have the president send a letter instead of boring everyone — he has been brilliant.

Joe’s feisty. He’s swinging. He has the receipts. And for once, the media is actually paying attention.

And the MTG party is looking crookeder and crazier by the day. In fact, we all owe MTG some thanks for having made Joe look so brilliant.

Balloons and inflation are on their way down, bridges and judges are up, investments in the US and the greener future are happening.

Of course, there’s still A LOT to do, friends. Threats everywhere. Bad people still in government. None of our achievements have “just happened” — they take lots of work.

But many of our allies are working to make the world a better place. Come on in, see what has been collected for you, and please, share your own!

Regular Scheduled Programming

No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:

💙 There are more of us than there are of them.

💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!

💔 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.

🗽 Biden as President ! 🗽

Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room.

👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍

👍 Biden set to pounce on an opportunity at the World Bank Hans Nichols Axios

President Biden plans to move quickly to replace David Malpass as president of the World Bank Group, seizing on his departure to transform the bank into an institution dedicated to fighting climate change, White House advisers say. Why it matters: Malpass’ surprise decision to leave his term early gives the Biden's administration something it wanted even before the president was inaugurated: A chance for Biden to pick a new World Bank leader. Team Biden wants a candidate who is committed to expanding the bank's lending facilities to finance more renewable energy projects in the developing world.

Biden wants a candidate who is committed to expanding the bank's lending facilities to finance more renewable energy projects in the developing world. Climate needs to be one of its central missions, advisers say.

Malpass was installed by tRump.

👍 EPA announces billions to help disadvantaged communities transition to renewable energy Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch

Under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) — part of last year’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act — states, Tribes, municipalities and eligible nonprofits will soon be able to apply for $27 billion in grant funding from a “green bank” to help finance projects that facilitate the country’s transition to renewable energy and reduce pollution, a press release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said. The EPA has outlined how to apply for the GGRF grants, which will focus on low-income and disadvantaged communities.

👍 In case you missed it, these firms are investing in the US WH Briefing Room

This week, we saw more evidence that an American manufacturing boom—thanks to the President’s economic agenda—continues to take hold all across the country. Boeing announced one of the largest orders in the company’s history: a purchase of over 200 aircraft through an agreement between Air India and Boeing valued at $34 billion at list price. The purchase will support over one million American jobs across 44 states, and many of those jobs won’t require a four year degree. Ford announced it will build a $3.5 billion factory in Marshall, Michigan that will employ at least 2,500 workers to make advanced batteries for electric vehicles. Texas Instruments announced it would build a new, $11 billion semiconductor plant in Lehi, Utah. manufacturing in Utah.

👍 ⚡️ Deported veterans return to US and get citizenship Gabe Ortiz, Daily Kos

💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣

The Rs don’t care about the deficit, which we always knew, but finally the WH is making that clear to everyone! WH Briefing Room

Congressional Republican leaders insist that the national debt is among our nation’s greatest challenges, and reducing it is among their highest priorities. In fact, they claim that reducing the debt is so urgent it warrants endangering the entire U.S. economy through debt limit brinksmanship. But their legislative agenda to date points in a very different direction—with proposals that would increase the debt by over $3 trillion. ✂️ Congressional Republicans proposed repealing—and are even running ads attacking—reforms President Biden signed to lower prescription drug costs. Repealing these policies would increase the amount of money Medicare pays Big Pharma, raise costs for seniors, and add $159 billion to the debt.

to the debt. House Republicans have advocated and proposed repealing tax increases on large corporations that President Biden has signed into law, adding $296 billion to the debt.

to the debt. House Republican leaders have also committed to extend the expiring Trump tax cuts, a $2.7 trillion debt increase that would give the top 0.1% (with incomes over $4 million per year) a $175,000 annual tax cut, over 2.5 times a typical family’s annual income. That’s why the American people deserve to see Congressional Republicans’ full and detailed budget plan and compare it with the President’s Budget plan to invest in America, bring down costs for families, protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and reduce the deficit, which he will release March 9.

McConnell fighting with Scott (and McCarthy’s House)

x We can’t keep caving in to the Democrats and the debt ceiling is a perfect example.



I am not going to back down and I’m going to keep fighting to make sure we get our fiscal house in order and protect American families’ hard-earned dollars. https://t.co/N7czH68TOC — Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) February 6, 2023

And there’s always George Santos:

x NEW: George Santos raised—and spent—hundreds of thousands of dollars for a recount that never happened. Me @thedailybeast https://t.co/H2509OOkFH — Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) February 16, 2023

And here’s another George Santos wannabe Phil Williams, NewsChannel 5

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you believe Middle Tennessee's newest congressman, he's not only a businessman, he's also an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and health care, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes. But an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered that Andy Ogles' personal life story is filled with exaggerations, a story that's often too good to be true. ✂️ Then, there are Ogles' claims to be a trained police officer and international sex crimes expert. ✂️ "There is nothing in Mr. Ogles training or personnel file that indicates he had any involvement in 'international sex trafficking' in his capacity as a reserve deputy," Williamson County sheriff's spokesperson Sharon Puckett told NewsChannel 5.

And he was let go from his reserve police duty because he never showed up. There’s a lot more in the article, but fair use means we can’t have more here. On the other hand, there’s no paywall, and if you’re from Tennessee you should read it.

I think the Dems have to do a lot more to warn the voters about the lies being told by Rs.

🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚

8.2 MILLION fewer Americans suffering from medical debt, thanks to Biden & Harris! WH Briefing Room

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new report that shows that the number of Americans with medical debt on their credit reports fell by 8.2 million from the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2022. Today’s report is consistent with a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found that the number of Americans who are part of families having trouble paying their medical bills declined by 5.5 million between 2020 and 2021. One driver of these declines is the significant increase in the number of insured Americans over this period, a result of the President’s strategy of protecting and strengthening the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and lowering health care costs. The decline also reflects continued actions by the CFPB to highlight problems with inaccurate reporting of debt in collections and put the industry on notice to correct their behavior. ✂️ Specifically: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) implemented a streamlined process to make it easier and faster for lower-income veterans to get their VA medical debt forgiven. The new process – establishing simple criteria to qualify for debt relief and launching a new online debt relief portal – has already provided relief to over 10,000 veterans and saved them more than $10 million in copay debt .

. Communities across the country – from Cook County, Illinois, to Toledo, Ohio, to New Orleans, Louisiana, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – are using or have passed legislation to use about $16 million American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to purchase medical debt from hospitals and other sources and forgive it, wiping out nearly $1.5 billion in medical debt, a ratio of nearly 100-to-1. Other localities and states have proposed to make similar purchases using ARP funding.

Democrats school Rs in House committee meetings Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

… Democrats came to these hearings prepared and focused. They not only eviscerated GOP conspiracy theories but also did a bang-up job exposing Republicans as the ones who have “weaponized” the government. Perhaps this was inevitable. MAGA conspiracy theories only work in the hermetically sealed universe of right-wing media, where no assumptions are challenged, no hard questions are posed and no complete explanation of a supposed scandal is required. In that realm, a MAGA lawmaker can scream “Hunter Biden!” and be cheered for “owning the Libs.” Once set loose into the real world, however, the MAGA conspiratorialists find it tough sledding. President Biden has no reason to be concerned about these congressional probes so long as Democrats such as Ocasio-Cortez, Goldman and Raskin are there to embarrass Republicans.

Election officials 💙 are fighting election deniers Amy Gardner, Patrick Marley, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Washington Post

When the new Arizona attorney general took office last month, she repurposed a unit once exclusively devoted to rooting out election fraud to focus on voting rights and ballot access. In North Carolina on Tuesday, the State Board of Elections began proceedings that could end with the removal of a county election officer who had refused to certify the 2022 results even as he acknowledged the lack of evidence of irregularities. “Democracy Playbook” that includes stronger protections for election workers and penalties for those who spread misinformation. And later this week, a group of secretaries of state will showcase athat includes stronger protections for election workers and penalties for those who spread misinformation. These actions and others reflect a growing effort among state election officials, lawmakers and private-sector advocates — most of them Democrats — to push back against the wave of misinformation and mistrust of elections that sprang from former president Donald Trump’s false claim that his 2020 defeat was rigged.

Dianne Feinstein may have needed to retire for a while, but she did some damned fine work in her career. Here’s her exposure of torture. Doktor Zoom, Wonkette

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) announced yesterday that she won't seek Another reminder of her speaking truth to power reelection in 2024, so we'd like to take a moment to appreciate one of her indispensable acts of service to the USA: her battle to investigate and compile a complete record of the CIA's covert torture program during the George W. Bush administration. We'll probably never see Bush or Dick Cheney face trial for taking America to the Dark Side — or further into it — in the name of fighting terrorism, to say nothing of the many lower level officials and operatives who took part in it. But thanks to the work of Feinstein, who chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee, we do at least have the 500-plus page executive summary and key findings of the report, released in 2014. The full report, running more than 6,700 pages, remains classified. Feinstein told the New Yorker in 2015 that the torture report was the most important work of her career in the Senate, although as that story discusses at length, Feinstein and her colleagues in the investigation had to fight incredible resistance from the CIA, even though Leon Panetta, Barack Obama's appointee as CIA director, had initially promised to give the Select Committee full access to the agency's records.

I have never known an SOTU to make such a difference. But Biden’s did:

x 🚨 NEW POLL: By 24 points, Americans who watched the State of the Union last week overwhelmingly approved of President Biden's speech (61% approve).



Overall, 72% engaged with the address, including 32% who watched at least part it live & 40% who saw news or social media about it pic.twitter.com/C3sZvZE57c — Navigator Research (@NavigatorSurvey) February 16, 2023

💜 Unity? 💜

🐢 Two Democrats want to adopt McConnell’s old debt-ceiling proposal Jared Gans, The Hill

Two Democratic senators called on Congress to adopt a proposal that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made in 2011 to address a standoff over raising the debt ceiling, which would grant the president the authority to raise the limit on their own. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in an op-ed in The Washington Post on Wednesday that McConnell’s plan is simple and took the “weaponization of the debt ceiling off the table” during a battle over raising the debt limit more than a decade ago. The plan was included in the Budget Control Act of 2011, which ended an impasse between a Republican-led House with a Democratic-led Senate and then-President Obama.

📥 Actions You Can Take 📤

Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what they’re saying?

Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are), you can support and contact these organizations:

ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union

Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.

Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams

🌱Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I don’t know how to deprogram 75 million people, but some things have been written about, such as deep canvassing, and lots of people are talking about this. If you know someone (who did not storm the Capitol), then see if you can be pleasant. Instead of trying to reason with them (logic is obviously not their strong point) distract them with something else. We need to remove the sources of lies and to take down the temperature. If we get more of the Rs to wear masks and to get vaccinated and to vote for Ds, the country will be a better place. We need to coax some of them out of the rabbit holes and diffuse the anger and the crazy.

🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help. Note: they are especially planning to target the 57 Rs in local governments who participated in the insurrection.

👎 Defund the seditionists. Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others.

🔎 Want to check out what’s going on with campaign contributions? Check out this diary. 👀

🐍 Schadenfreude 😈

DOJ has taken over the investigation of Texas AG Ken Paxton

x NEWS: The DOJ has taken over the corruption investigation of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Texas prosecutors that had been “leading” the probe have been stripped of the case. This is powerful. This is big. Ken Paxton has strutted for WAY too long. — Jack Hopkins (@thejackhopkins) February 16, 2023

Mark Meadows subpoenaed by Jack Smith Kaitlan Collins CNN

Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows has been subpoenaed by the special counsel investigating the former president and his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Special counsel Jack Smith’s office is seeking documents and testimony related to January 6, and Meadows received the subpoena sometime in January, the source said. An attorney for Meadows declined to comment. ✂️ The move to subpoena one of Trump’s most senior aides – in addition to the recent subpoena of former Vice President Mike Pence, as CNN reported last week – marks the latest significant step in the special counsel’s investigation into Trump’s role in seeking to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.

I saw some head-scratching as to how Pence could be subpoenaed but not Meadows; it turns out, both are subpoenaed. And Meadows was subpoenaed sometime in January; Jack Smith is moving fast. Garland, however, was certainly not.

Grand jury believes some of their witnesses lied Emma Hurt Axios

An Atlanta judge released part of a grand jury report Thursday saying jurors believe one or more witnesses committed perjury during their probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Why it matters: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation remains a key venue in which former President Trump and his allies might face criminal charges for alleged election interference and other crimes.

More liars: Would love to see Fox taken out!

x A New York State appeals court rejected Fox News’ attempt to shut down Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation suit against the network. @ProfMMurray and @ChaiKomanduri join: pic.twitter.com/a6S0GIIJat — The Beat with Ari Melber 📺 (@TheBeatWithAri) February 15, 2023

And, of course, they knew they were lying. Here are some paragraphs with some of their correspondence (Jeremy Barr and Rachel Weiner) from Washington Post

“Sidney Powell is lying,” Tucker Carlson wrote to a producer about the Trump lawyer, who once claimed in a guest spot that voting technology companies “flipped” Trump votes to Biden. ✂️ And of Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, Fox’s prime time roster seemed to share a common opinion during these fraught weeks. “[He’s] acting like an insane person,” wrote Sean Hannity, star of the network’s 9 p.m. show, while his 10 p.m. colleague Laura Ingraham concurred: “Such an idiot.” ✂️ The filing in Delaware State Superior Court ahead of an April trial is meant to bolster Dominion’s argument that Fox leadership was aware that the claims of election fraud were untrue but nonetheless “spread and endorsed” them, the company argued.

Sorry Elmo, but we’re just not that into you! How needy is Musk, that he has to change algorithms to make him appear more popular. And how great is it that Joe Biden’s tweet performed so very well! Love it! Go, Joe, Go!

x Today might be a good day to unfollow @elonmusk This is crazy megalomaniac stuff. https://t.co/T39A00ctpb — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) February 15, 2023

tfg’s delaying tactic denied

x Trump's latest gambit to delay the E. Jean Carroll case DENIED. The judge says 'Mr. Trump has offered no persuasive reason to relieve him of the consequences his own failure to seek (relief) in a timely fashion.' pic.twitter.com/x91Vqj5zrY — Don Lewis (@DonLew87) February 15, 2023

Two Russian brigades in tatters Marc Santora New York Times

KYIV, Ukraine — As Moscow steps up its offensive in eastern Ukraine, weeks of failed attacks on a Ukrainian stronghold have left two Russian brigades in tatters, raised questions about Russia’s military tactics and renewed doubts about its ability to maintain sustained, large-scale ground assaults. The battle for the city of Vuhledar, which has been viewed as an opening move in an expected Russian spring offensive, has been playing out since the last week of January, but the scale of Moscow’s losses there is only now beginning to come into focus. Accounts from Ukrainian and Western officials, Ukrainian soldiers, captured Russian soldiers and Russian military bloggers, as well as video and satellite images, paint a picture of a faltering Russian campaign that continues to be plagued by battlefield dysfunction. In recent weeks, Moscow has rushed tens of thousands more troops, many of them inexperienced new recruits, to the front lines as President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces seek to demonstrate progress before the anniversary of his invasion on Feb. 24. But raising further doubts about Russia’s offensive capabilities, Western officials estimate that a large part of Russia’s army is already fighting in Ukraine.

And in news that is not new, Kari Lake has lost again:

x BREAKING: Kari Lake has lost again. https://t.co/5ewUykBoPL — Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) February 16, 2023

📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️

Reporters without borders (reporters sans frontières) and the rescue of a Russian journalist

At a press conference on 10 February at the headquarters of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in Paris, Russian producer Marina Ovsyannikova and RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire described the extraordinary operation whereby she managed to secretly flee Russia with RSF’s help four months ago. Deloire initially contacted Marina Ovsyannikova to offer her RSF’s help five days after she became a symbol of resistance to Russian propaganda on 14 March 2022, when she interrupted the evening news programme on the Russian state TV channel Pervy Canal, brandishing a sign with an anti-war message. Ovsyannikova got back in touch with RSF in June, from Ukraine. Then, in September – when she was under house arrest in Moscow, fitted with an electronic bracelet and facing a possible ten-year jail sentence on a charge of “spreading false news about the Russian armed forces” for reporting the number of children killed in Ukraine – an intermediary let RSF know that she wanted to flee.

The link goes to the rsf.org website, and there’s a lot more information about them there. They are doing what they can to support truth, especially in authoritarian regimes.

🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️

This is just so wonderful:

x In Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers have set up these Friendship Benches. Anyone can come and sit, and the grandmothers will talk to them and help them with their problems.



They've helped more than 100,000 people so far.



🇿🇼 pic.twitter.com/vNRtjEtK7J — Goodable (@Goodable) February 7, 2023

📎 Odds & Ends 📎

Old EV batteries being used to power California grid Andy Corbley, Good News Network

A California start-up has saved thousands of used electric vehicle battery packs from landfills by diverting them into an energy storage facility. BWU Storage Solutions made a million bucks last year selling stored renewable energy to the CA power grid, thanks to 1,300 used battery packs from Toyota and Honda EVs. Worn out over long years of powering cars, the batteries nevertheless have continued use as a way to store excess solar and wind energy for times when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.

This is just nice:

x For the last few years, my grandpa, a WWII veteran, has been talking about how if he makes it to 100 he’ll get a letter from the @POTUS.



He got the letter. 💯🥹 pic.twitter.com/LnfXlJM35S — mindy pressman (she/her) (@pressmindy) February 13, 2023

Ultra-low emissions in London making air better Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch

In 2019, London Mayor Sadiq Khan established the world’s first 24-hour Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in central London to protect the city’s residents from deadly air pollution. The ULEZ imposed £12.50 fines on vehicles whose emissions exceeded certain standards. Two years later, Khan expanded the zone to include inner London within the boundaries of the North and South Circular roads. Now, a new peer-reviewed report from the mayor’s office finds the policy has paid off months before Khan plans to expand it once again. “As a former lawyer, I just love looking at the evidence. The evidence today is game, set and match unequivocal,” Khan told the Evening Standard of the report. “The Ulez is the most effective policy to clean up the air in our city there has ever been.”

And some people now have a cat:

x In Turkey, firefighters saved this cat from underneath rubble after the earthquake.



Now, the cat refuses to leave their side.



🥹❤️pic.twitter.com/7d7QHFko73 — Goodable (@Goodable) February 16, 2023

🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and the sequel, Scavengers of Mind. (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages.

💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙

It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.

Current projects:

Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters

And some other ideas:

You can relax and recharge.

You can join protests and freeway blog.

You can help register new voters.

You can smile.

You can say something nice to friend or a stranger.

You can get out the vote for special elections.

You can reach out to upset Republicans. We need to win some back.

You can share your ideas below.

🌻

💙 “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.” 💙

President Joseph R. Biden

🌹 🌹 🌹

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