Flo Rida ✡️🌻✡️🌻✡️🌻

I Don’t Like it, I Love it:   First the bad news, on Monday Florida’s Supreme Court pulled a SCOTUS by ruling that the state’s constitutional guarantee of privacy no longer covers the right to abortion.  Their decision means that the state’s current ban on abortions after fifteen weeks of pregnancy is legal and, far worse, that the six-week ban that had been on hold pending Monday’s ruling will go into effect in thirty days. That’s a huge problem, not just for Floridians, but for residents of a number of neighboring states who flocked to Florida in droves for their reproductive care. The potentially good news is that the court also signed off on the wording of Constitutional Amendment #4 which if passed will return the right to abortion in Florida to where it was before Roe was overturned by Dobbs.   Amendment 4 will be on the November ballot, giving Floridians the ability to vote to legalize abortion, something that voters already did in Ohio and Kansas.  Those states are “redder” than Florida.  The Ohio amendment passed with 57% of the vote and the Kansas vote passed with 59%; however, at 60%, Florida’s amendment hurdle is higher, so passage of Amendment 4 is not a slam dunk.  The amendment enshrining abortion rights won’t be the only one on the ballot, Florida’s Supreme Court also signed off on another amendment that if passed will legalize the recreational use of marijuana.  And, of course, the November ballot will also include the presidential race, as well as races for the House and Senate.  It’s not clear if the inclusion of abortion and weed on the ballot will tilt the presidential race sufficiently towards Biden to allow him to notch a state win given that the Orange man now calls Florida his home, but it could move some voters and will almost certainly increase turnout, typically a plus for Democrats which explains why Trump who stocked SCOTUS with anti-abortion justices is facing a conundrum, now promising to make a statement on abortion in “two weeks.”  The abortion and weed amendments make the Senate race between Republican incumbent Rick Scott and his Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell one to watch. Scott barely won his last race and though he’s got boatloads of money, he’s not all that popular for lots of reasons including that the company he headed was convicted of committing 14 felony counts of Medicare and Medicaid fraud for which it was fined $1.7 billion and because of his on again, off again advocacy for sunsetting Social Security and Medicare, particularly popular among Florida alta kockers (Yiddish for crochety old folks 😂😂), so a ballot that includes the legalization of abortion and weed could lift Murcasel-Powell into the Senate. Floridians VOTE!

Bond, Don Bond: On the subject of alta kockers, the most aggrieved one has posted the $175 million bond that he needed for his New York fraud case.  Trump secured that bond from a subsidiary of Knight Insurance which is owned by Don Hankey, a California billionaire 💰 💰 who achieved his $7 billion net worth providing very high interest sub-prime auto loans to challenged borrowers.  Hankey, a Trump supporter, said that since many of the people his company lends to lie on their loan applications, he could relate to Trump’s habit of lying on his.  Not so coincidentally, Hankey is also the largest individual shareholder of Axos Bank, the online company that lent Trump’s businesses $225 million in the aftermath of January 6 after other mainstream financial institutions stopped doing business with him. Although Hankey insists that his decision to provide the bond wasn’t political, who is he kidding? And given his net worth, would it surprise anyone if Hankey waived repayment at some future date?  As to questionable financial situations, Trump Media and Technology Group whose only asset is Trump Social reported that it lost $58 million during 2023 and its auditor warned that those losses raise substantial doubt about its ability to stay in business. The value of the company’s NASDAQ traded stock dropped 21% after the report was released, but it still remains hugely, with an emphasis on hugely, overvalued because its valuation has little to do with its business but lots to do with Trump’s being its majority owner.  It’s increasingly obvious that most investors in Trump Media are in the stock because they are Trump fans who see buying the stock as just another way to transfer wealth to him, either because they worship the ground he walks on or, in the case of large investors, because they hope to get something bigly in return.  So far Trump hasn’t been able to cash out of any of his shares but since the company’s board is made up of his friends and family, including Don Jr, his one-time trade representative Robert Lighthizer, his former SBA Administrator Linda McMahon, former Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, and his one-time National Security advisor Kash Patel, its fair to assume that when he’s ready to sell they’ll vote to lift any restrictions. Should Trump sell, the stock will dive further but so it goes.

Legal Morass:  In response to Trump continuing to attack his daughter and just about everyone else associated with the NY election interference/hush money case, presiding Judge Juan Merchan has expanded his gag order to cover his, DA Alvin Bragg’s, and the other prosecutors’ families. The Judge called Trump out for his vitriolic attacks saying they serve no other purpose than intimidation. So far Trump hasn’t attacked his one-time fave, Hope Hicks, but he might as reports are that she, like Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, will be testifying in the hush money case. Oddly enough, there’s one judge Trump hasn’t attacked: District Judge Eileen Cannon.  Last night Special Counsel Jack Smith who has just about had it with Judge Cannon, called out the jury instructions she requested for the purloined documents case she continues to stall for being “based on a fundamentally flawed legal premise,” warning that he may appeal if she rules against him. Unfortunately, Cannon who appears to be positioning herself for a higher federal judicial appointment in a future Trump administration, is hard to replace because if it was easy, Smith would have already had her kicked to the curb.  As to Trump, the very right-wing crowd putting together the plans for his “second” term, want to eliminate the prohibition against presidents running for a third term. I kid you not. 

House Politics: Reports are that Speaker for now Mike Johnson is likely to finally allow a vote on some form of aid to Ukraine.  When he does, expect some fireworks as some members of his Republican caucus, think Margie Q but some others as well, say that providing aid to Ukraine will be the death knell for his Speakership. Depending on when the Ukraine vote takes place, Lauren Boebert may not be there.  She had emergency surgery in Colorado to remove a life-threatening blood clot from her hip yesterday and though she’s expected to recover she probably will spend some time on the no-fly list.  She’s not the only one down for the count, Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva revealed that while seeking treatment for a persistent cough, he was diagnosed with cancer and though he plans to seek reelection, he hasn’t attended a roll call since mid-February.  It’s not unusual for members of Congress to get sick, miss votes, or even die during a session but given that the balance of power in this Congress is hanging by a thread, the loss of any one member could have significant consequences.  

Fog:  And by fog, think fog and darkness of night.  Israel inadvertently bombed a caravan carrying World Central Kitchen aid workers who were providing food to Gaza.  That’s tragic, and sadly, not uncommon in war zones.  Israel’s military has admitted its awful mistake, but they continue to lose the PR war to Hamas who never apologizes, the humanitarian workers are dead, and the hostages, at least those who haven’t already been killed, are still hostages. 

#BringThemAllHomeNow