United States | News & Politics

the Callais decision is likely to trigger the largest drop in Black representation since the end of Reconstruction.

People are already voting, but he's super-excited about being able to take representation away from blacks

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The Trump administration says the cities shouldn’t be penalized for unhealthy air because pollution can blow in from abroad. Some experts say that’s preposterous.

This is what happens when the EPA is run by the fossil fuels industry: they try to point fingers at somebody else, instead of cleaning up actual local problems.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/vid/p/1074062/erika-kirk-says-candace-is-directly-accusing-her-of-being-involved-in-her-husbands-assas

‘I have comedians dressing up in whiteface, I have people saying I’m not fit to be CEO, AND I HAVE CANDACE OWENS CLAIMING I MURDERED MY HUSBAND’ — Erika Kirk

‘Every morning, I wake up to a new headline LYING ABOUT ME’

With it out of the way, Louisiana's governor moved to cancel an in-progress election and take representation away from blacks

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/vid/p/1073604/the-artemis-ii-crew-looks-mortified-as-trump-turns-to-them-while-he-s-attacking-nato

Thanks to today's Supreme Court Decision:

In states with large Black populations that remain under Republican control—half of the Black American population resides in the South—lawmakers will now be able to draw districts that dilute Black residents’ voting power. In his opinion for the right-wing majority, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that “in considering the constitutionality of a districting scheme, courts must treat partisan advantage like any other race-neutral aim: a constitutionally permissible criterion that States may rely on as desired.” The Court’s decision is consonant with the philosophy, articulated by Kilpatrick in his earlier days, that the state is oppressive when it interferes with the right to discriminate, and respects liberty when it allows discrimination. And the decision fits just as well with Kilpatrick’s later spin on that philosophy: Attempts to ban racial discrimination are themselves discriminatory—against white people.

Apr 29, 2026

In an interview with Common Dreams shortly after the CPC unveiled its New Affordability Agenda, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) said he believes American voters across the political spectrum are hungry for a concrete policy platform that takes aim at the corporate forces driving price increases across the economy, from the for-profit utility companies raking in huge profits off the backs of struggling families to oil titans reaping massive windfall gains thanks to war-driven oil price surges.

Casar stressed that the 10th and final plank of the New Affordability Agenda—“Getting Big Money Out of Politics”—is critical because “corporations being able to buy politicians and buy elections is a huge driver of what’s made things more expensive.”

Apr 29, 2026

Nearly 120 civil society groups on Wednesday urged US lawmakers to reject Republican-led efforts to fast-track approval of artificial intelligence and conventional data centers, including by slipping provisions for these facilities into permitting reform legislation or “must-pass” bills.

Fossil fuel companies “are pushing to fast-track data center build-outs while ignoring the impacts on communities and the environment,” the groups said in a letter to congressional leaders. “Proposals disguised as ‘commonsense’ reforms would weaken the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act, while also stripping residents of their right to participate in decisions affecting their health, water, and air.”

cross-posted from: https://ttrpg.network/post/36491667

The share of Americans who say their financial situation is getting worse is higher now than at any point in the past 25 years, per new Gallup data out Tuesday morning.

Why it matters: Americans are struggling after years of higher inflation and a recent surge in gas prices due to the Iran war — a major challenge for President Trump and Republicans as the midterm elections come into view.

By the numbers: 55% of respondents to a poll conducted April 1-15 said their financial situation is getting worse; that's up from 53% last year and 47% in 2024.

**The number is higher than at any point since 2001, even compared with recessions during the pandemic or in the wake of the financial crisis**. 

Friction point: This is the fifth consecutive year that more Americans say their finances are worsening rather than improving.

Zoom in: When asked to identify their most important financial problem, 31% cited the cost of living.

Energy costs are mentioned by 13% of Americans, up 10 percentage points from last year and the highest since 2008.

Reality check: Inflation is still elevated from where it was the last time Trump was in office, but it's certainly lower than at its peak in 2022.

The big picture: Still, the recent surge in gas prices has increased the pressure on American pocketbooks.

The average price of a gallon of gas is $4.11, says AAA. It was under $3 before the war started on Feb. 28.
Many Americans blame Trump for the increase.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/8356663

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/45410

Since returning to the White House last year, President Donald Trump has revived his war on workers and their labor unions, including by making US workplaces less safe, according to an annual report released Monday by the AFL-CIO.

The AFL-CIO published its 35th annual "Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect" report on the eve of Workers Memorial Day on Tuesday, and in the lead-up to International Workers' Day, or May Day, on Friday—for which organizers have already planned more than 3,000 events demanding an economy that serves "workers over billionaires" across the United States.

"Over the last 35 years of this report, job safety agencies' resources have diminished dramatically, even as their responsibilities have grown immensely," the publication notes. "For instance, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is now in charge of 85% more establishments, 44% more workers, and new hazards and technologies, yet Congress has reduced its budget by 10% and staffing by 26%, including a 16% reduction in inspectors."

"These percentages have massive impacts on such a tiny agency and very real personal effects on workers and their families," the report continues. "Agencies now have a paltry number of staff to write standards, analyze data, conduct inspections, perform oversight on states, orchestrate needed research on important hazards, and respond to emerging threats. The number of OSHA inspectors has now hit a new low, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) does not have enough inspectors to meet its statutory requirement to inspect each mine multiple times a year."

While "more than 735,000 workers now can say their lives have been saved since the passage" of the Occupational Safety
and Health (OSH) Act, "too many workers remain at serious risk of injury, illness, or death as chemical plant explosions, major fires, construction collapses, infectious disease outbreaks, workplace assaults, toxic chemical exposures, and other preventable tragedies continue to permeate the workplace," the document stresses.

"Workplace hazards still kill approximately 140,000 workers each year in the United States—including 5,070 from traumatic injuries in 2024 and an estimated 135,000 from occupational diseases each year," the report states. "That is more than 380 workers each day. Job injury and illness numbers continue to be severe undercounts of the real problem."

The publication points out that "Black and Latino workers are more likely to die on the job," while older workers and minors are also "at serious risk." According to the data, the deadliest industries in the United States are: agriculture, forestry, and fishing and hunting; mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; transportation and warehousing; construction; and wholesale trade.

"It is a disgrace that in 2026, being Black, Latino, or an immigrant can still be a death sentence on the jobsite," declared AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Fred Redmond, in a statement. He specifically called out the president's attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as well as those on immigrant communities.

"Our new report makes it terrifyingly clear that the Trump administration's anti-DEI, mass deportation agenda will only make this crisis worse," Redmond said. "When workers are afraid that reporting threats to their safety could result in their work permits being revoked and their families being ripped apart, and when employers fear that reporting workplace data will hurt their bottom line, we are all less safe: workers of color and white workers, immigrant workers and US-born workers. We must fight the Trump administration's attacks on communities of color like our fellow workers' lives are on the line—because they are."

Faced with these "preventable" deaths, as AFL-CIO put it, the second Trump administration has taken an ax to job safety oversight and enforcement. Specifically, the report details, the administration has:

• Pushed out so many staff that job safety agency staffing is at new lows, leaving fewer inspectors than ever to cover a growing workforce;
• Instructed its OSHA and MSHA inspectors to focus on employer outreach and assistance, taking time and resources away from inspections with citations;
• Expanded OSHA penalty reductions for employers when they violate the law;
• Proposed twice to eliminate worker safety and health training grants, even though Congress has rejected these cuts so far;
• Proposed to eliminate the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, in charge of independent, nonregulatory investigations after an industrial explosion, leak, or other major incident;
• Stopped conducting MSHA impact inspections, a critical enforcement tool for focusing on mines with a poor history of compliance with MSHA standards, high numbers of injuries, illnesses or fatalities, or other indicators of unsafe mines;
• Issued zero criminal referrals for violations of the OSH Act;
• Indefinitely halted the enforcement of the silica standard in coal and metal/nonmetal mining;
• Extended deadlines for companies to comply with important Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chemical regulations that specifically protect workers, such as methylene chloride; and
• Proposed to remove dozens of OSHA and MSHA standards from the books and supported efforts to dismantle the regulatory process.

"Every worker should be able to go home safe and healthy at the end of their shift—but 55 years after the founding of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, that fundamental right is in danger," warned AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler.

"From the dismantling of critical federal agencies and laws to the expansion of unregulated, untested AI technology, the protections that workers fought and died for are under serious threat," Shuler said, as the Trump administration lobbies against legislation that would regulate artificial intelligence in Republican-led states.

"The labor movement refuses to go backward," she added. "More than five decades after a Republican signed the landmark Occupational Safety and Health Act into law, we urge all members of Congress—from both sides of the aisle—to join us in this fight."

Both chambers of Congress are currently controlled by Trump's Republican Party, and recent votes on various war powers resolutions have demonstrated how most GOP lawmakers are unwilling to stand up to the president, even when he defies the US Constitution.

From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/vid/p/1072078/hegseth-running-into-trouble-early-in-todays-hearing

Hegseth: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been obliterated.

Smith: You said we had to start this war because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you’re saying it was completely obliterated?

April 28, 2026

Press freedom advocates on Tuesday forcefully condemned the Republican-dominated Federal Communications Commission—and FCC Chair Brendan Carr in particular—for moving to challenge Disney-owned ABC’s broadcast licenses as President Donald Trump again pressures to network to fire late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel.

“The First Amendment and the FCC’s mandate do not permit the agency to use broadcast licenses as weapons to punish broadcasters for constitutionally protected content they air,” declared Freedom of the Press Foundation chief of advocacy Seth Stern.

The court’s conservative majority said it upheld the landmark law, but the liberals in their dissent accused them of gutting it. In the case, the justices ruled that a Louisiana voting map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.