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From another article but pertinent: "The public perception of this case is that it's about politics," Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, wrote in his decision, which was joined by Judge David Guaderrama, an Obama appointee. "To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics."

The impetus for Texas' new maps was a letter from Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, that argued, erroneously, that the state's "coalition" districts those with majority-minority populations where that majority consists of more than one minority group were unconstitutional following a decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Petteway v. Galveston County.

"Any mention of majority White Democrat districts"which DOJ presumably would have also targeted if its aims were partisan rather than racial"was conspicuously absent," Brown wrote.

Redistricting was added to the special legislative session called by Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, two days after Dhillon sent her letter.

"In other words, the Governor explicitly directed the Legislature to redistrict based on race," Brown wrote. "In press appearances, the Governor plainly and expressly disavowed any partisan objective and instead repeatedly stated that his goal was to eliminate coalition districts and create new majority-Hispanic districts."

Brown's decision eviscerates Dhillon's letter as containing "so many factual, legal, and typographical errors" that it is "challenging to unpack." The main problem is that the letter completely misinterprets the Petteway decision by arguing that its finding that the Voting Rights Act cannot require the drawing of coalition districts means that coalition districts are therefore unconstitutional.

"Petteway's holding that [Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act] does not require [coalition] districts' has no bearing on the permissibility of such districts as a matter of legislative choice or discretion,'" Brown wrote, quoting from other legal precedents.

Brown goes on to point out that Dhillon's explanations for which districts were unconstitutional coalition districts included multiple factual inaccuracies, including the background about how the district lines were initially drawn. He also notes what is missing from her letter.

www.huffpost.com

Mike Johnson can't have it both ways...

Earlier this year, Trump's own DOJ announced that when it came to the Epstein files, that there was no there there. That is that there was no evidence that would lead the DOJ to open investigations into any previously un-indicted individuals.

But this morning, prior to the vote on releasing the Epstein files, Johnson condemned the Democrats and the Biden administration for not taking up this issue when they had their chance.

If what Trump's DOJ said was true, then it was also true four year ago.

As I've said all along, it was Trump and the MAGA crowd who made Jeffery Epstein an issue during the 2024 campaign and if you look into it, you can see how this all went back to the birth of MAGA during the 2016 campaign when they attacked Hillary and the Democrats over all sorts of stories about pedophilia, remember 'Pizzagate'. I think that during Trump's first term, despite Epstein's indictments and eventual 'suicide', the pedophilia issue sort of died down. However, when Trump was lanuching his 2024 campaign, in order to stir up the MAGA base and it's still deep seated, smoldering conspriacy theories over pedophilia, he made this pormise to release the Epstein files, along with the files on JFK, Martin Luther King Jr, UFO's, etc. Anyway, I think Trump just assumed that while these issues would make for good sound bites to toss around during his stump speeches, that once he was back in office, it would all go the way it had gone during his first time around, that is that the whole pedophilia issue would be forgotten as he implemented what was his really on his mind, that is 'Project 2025'.

And as far as I can find, it appears that the only mention of pedophilia in 'Project 2025' was with respect to using it to undermine LGBTQ Rights.

OCU

Even after taxes,that is great money.

7600 a month. Let's say 40% is taxes.
4560 after tax.
assuming no retirement or HSA deductions

Housing usually is the next biggest budget expense.
US average rent is 1500-1800/mo
We'll use 1800.
probably an underestimation for urban areas; my search says averages are more in the $1,800 to 2,000 range

2760 left to pay utilities (elec/gas, water/sewer, phone/internet/cable).
utilities have been steadily climbing by large jumps each year for several years; we've signed up for plans that spread bills out over the course of the year and pay about $200 per electric and gas, ~$100 for water and sewer, so $600 a month in utilities
~$80 for cell/internet bundle
Call it $750 to $800 if you add cable.

Groceries/month.
On average, my family of 4 spends $100-120 per week with larger weeks, say once a month, where we stock up on bulk protein from Costco and freeze it along with other more stable items we can use in bulk; say on average $200-250 per trip
That would give a total of about $600-$730 per month

Car insurance needs to be broken down to note monthly expense.
Personally works out to about $150

Single person is doing really well with this.

A couple? That's $200,000. No sweat.

This is need vs want.

The 'want' crowd can't survive because they don't understand what 'need' means.

#12 | Posted by Petrous

Totals for my bold text are $3,550. Without any deductions or savings.

Leaving $1,010 remaining.

That doesn't include other big ticket items like:

Car payment - average of ~$1,000
Daycare/child care - average ~800-1,000 per child depending on child's age
student loan payments - average $400-500
Car/home maintenance - variable
Medical costs - variable
Clothing/shoes/gas/miscellaneous items - variable

Me thinks your last line is based on the significant assumption of two six figure earners in a single household whereas the norm is, most likely, a single six figure owner in a household with supplemental income coming from the other spouse/partner.

Even if there are two six figure incomes in a household, two kids in day care wipes most of that gain away.

@#61 ... A 2020 Justice Department report into the case found "poor judgment" was made in giving Epstein a sweetheart deal at the time."...

Ya think.

Yet Pres Trump appointed Mr Acosta to his Cabinet.

As a reward?

Alexander Acosta
en.wikipedia.org

... In 2007"2008, as U.S. attorney, Acosta approved a plea deal that allowed child-trafficking ring-leader Jeffrey Epstein to plead guilty to a single state charge of solicitation, in exchange for a federal non-prosecution agreement.[2]

After Epstein's arrest in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges, Acosta faced renewed and harsher criticism for his role in the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, as well as criticism and calls for his resignation as Secretary of Labor; he resigned on July 19 and was replaced by Eugene Scalia.

Since March of 2025, Acosta has been a member of the board of directors of Newsmax and serves as its Audit Committee chair.[3] ...



"Jocularity!"

www.youtube.com

You know Trumpers are losing it when all they can do is post LAME Whataboutisms about the Bidens rather than admit that their Cult Leader is a liar, a fraud, a rapist, a traitor, and a Pedo Pimp Enabler.

It's so sad and inept and stupid that it's funny.

@#14 ... Joe Dems said it wasn't his. ...

The concerns expressed about the laptop were not whether it was Mr Hunter Biden's, but the provenance of the laptop, i.e., who else had access to that laptop while it was in that shop.

It could not be shown that the laptop was not tampered with.

Provenance
en.wikipedia.org

... The primary purpose of tracing the provenance of an object or entity is normally to provide contextual and circumstantial evidence for its original production or discovery, by establishing, as far as practicable, its later history, especially the sequences of its formal ownership, custody and places of storage. The practice has a particular value in helping authenticate objects. ...

... Several women who survived abuse by Jeffrey Epstein have come together for a public service announcement video demanding that Congress release all files ...

From what I understand, there may be to be a press conference tomorrow with many of the Epstein victims and Congresspeople.

Also, I just saw this ...

In reversal, Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files
apnews.com

... President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it.

"We have nothing to hide, and it's time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party," Trump wrote on social media late Sunday after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a weekend in Florida.

Trump's statement followed a fierce fight within the GOP over the files, including an increasingly nasty split with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had long been one of his fiercest supporters. ...

The president's shift is an implicit acknowledgement that supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass it the House, although it has an unclear future in the Senate.

It is a rare example of Trump backtracking because of opposition within the GOP. ...


#10 I think what Corky means are these promises kept ...

- 19th Amendment | Women's right to vote

- Apollo 11 | First manned moon mission (and all of the value-added innovations)

- Social Security | Social insurance program

- Medicare | Health insurance for seniors

- NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization - the political and military alliance between the US, Canada and Europe

- Medicaid | Health care program for low income people

- Securities and Exchange Act Law | Oversee the trading of securities and protect investors

- Rural Electrification Act | Federal loans for the installation of electricity to serve rural areas

- Peace Corps | American volunteers promoting friendship, goodwill and peace around the world

- Unemployment Benefits | Temporary payments to the unemployed

- Fair Labor Standards Act | Ending the cruel practice of child labor

- Servicemen's Readjustment Act | The GI Bill, which has benefited millions of returning soldiers

- Federal Home Loan Program | Guaranteed loans that allowed millions of Americans to become homeowners

- National Industrial Recovery Act | 8 hour workday, minimum wage, paid overtime, and the right to collective bargaining

- National School Lunch Act | Free or low-cost meals for children who might otherwise go hungry

- 1965 Voting Rights Act | Prohibits discrimination in voting

- National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis | Forerunner of the March of Dimes

- Head Start Program | Comprehensive services for low income families

- 1964 Civil Rights Act | Prohibits discrimination and protects civil rights

- Marshall Plan European Recovery Act | Rebuilt a secure and peaceful Europe after World War II

- Financial Aid for Higher Education Loans | Guaranteed student loans that enabled over 50 million Americans to receive a college education

- Family and Medical Leave Act | Temporary unpaid leave and job protection to employees " for qualified medical and family reasons

- Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act | Protect workers against pay discrimination

- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act | Health care reform: Preventive care screening, lower prescription drug costs, protection for pre-existing conditions among many other benefits

- American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 | Pandemic recovery, economic stimulus payments, free vaccines, funeral expense assistance, expanded child tax credits, block grants for schools, funds for small business and many other benefits

What have the GOPyers given us?

- a $37.000,000,000,000.00 debt

- free taxpayer money to the uber wealthy

You're welcome.

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