Truly an outstanding and must-read article here
from The Hill written by the former Idaho AG and former Idaho Supreme
Court Justice, Jim Jones (service
from 1983-2017). Jones is also a VN artillery combat officer, and a Republican.
His article and the story headline:
“Junk lawsuits by Republican
attorneys general harm their own people”
Four main topics from
the article:
First Example:
The COVID vaccine mandate ordered by President Joe Biden for businesses with
more than 100 employees and Federal workers, and by many and Corporate work
places, too (Updated: A Federal Appeals court stayed that ruling, however, further court action is predicted).
After losing 151 employees to the coronavirus early in the pandemic, Tyson Foods implemented a vaccine mandate for its employees to keep its plants open. Now, more than 96% of Tyson's workforce is vaccinated, its employees have safe work spaces and it does not have to worry about work stoppages.
Similar results can be achieved by the federal
mandates. Red states would be particularly benefited because the vaccination rates there are the lowest and the
mortality rates are the highest.
The mandates will make their people safer and allow their businesses and schools to get back to normal, but Republican attorneys general have challenged the mandates in court.
The conservative Republican appointees on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals have halted the 100-employee mandate and may rule against it.
Other federal courts will likely uphold both mandates, but
that remains to be seen. If the Republican AGs eventually prevail in the suits,
their constituents will lose - many their very lives.
In fact, on November 8, just days after AG Paxton sued to
stop the mandates, Texas disclosed that more than 85% of its
nearly 29,000 COVID-related fatalities between January 15 and October 15 were
among the unvaccinated. The unvaccinated were 40 times more likely to die than
fully vaccinated Texans.
Second Example:
In December 2020, TX
AG Ken Paxton, supported by 18 other Republican AG’s, led an assault on the
very heart of our Federal system in the USSC challenging the presidential
election results in GA, MI, PA, and WI. It was a junk lawsuit with no factual
support or legal merit. The Supreme Court swatted it away in a mere three days.
A few Republican AG’s opposed the move to subvert the U.S. Constitution, recognizing the dangers posed to their states.
Ohio AG David Yost said: “Paxton's gambit would undermine
a foundational premise of our federalist system: the idea that the States are
sovereigns, free to govern themselves.”
Idaho AG Lawrence Wasden also refused to join Texas expressing: “Significant concerns about supporting a legal argument that could result in other states litigating against legal decisions made by Idaho's legislature and governor. Idaho is a sovereign state and should be free to govern itself without interference from any other state.”
Had Texas prevailed,
it would have enabled any state to challenge the laws of another state - gun
laws, pandemic measures, and voting laws, to name a few.
Third Example: The January 6 Capitol Attack was the legal attack on the U.S. electoral system was bad enough, but the rightwing AGs followed up with an even worse assault on democracy just weeks later.
An arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), with $150,000 donated by a grocery store heiress, funded a robocall urging a January 6 march to the U.S. Capitol to “Stop the Steal.”
It was an incomprehensible move.
Luckily, Vice President Pence heeded advice from his predecessor Dan Quayle, and refused to go along with this attempted coup.
Fourth Example: The current junk litigation engaged in by Texas and 18 other Republican AG’s asks the USSC to uphold the TX law outsourcing abortion enforcement to vigilantes across the country. The Supreme Court will soon issue an opinion, and I fully expect it to rule the scheme unconstitutional.
During argument of the case, justices expressed concern about allowing private citizens to restrict constitutional rights, something that had apparently escaped the attention of the GOP lawyers.
Laws of this ilk could be used to infringe practically
any right contained in our sacred Bill of Rights. The Idaho AG, again, recognized
the danger and refused to join this misguided ploy.
The
full article is here truly an outstanding piece.
My 2 Cents: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and as clearly seen in this article from AG Ken Paxton shows those two are totally out of control (let alone out their minds as well, I think).
Overall,
Texas shows how bad things are all across the nation at this point in time and
the link to it all: The trail of ugly mis- and disinformation; the chaos; the
turmoil; the rioting; the violence; and, future uncertainty that we see is Trump, period, end of story.
How will it all end? Who
knows at this point, but it probably will not end well for the country as a whole.
Thanks for stopping by.
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