{"id":12652,"date":"2018-07-24T18:25:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T01:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=12652"},"modified":"2018-07-24T18:24:39","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T01:24:39","slug":"republicans-love-big-government-hate-states-rights-local-control-and-yes-democracy-bradcast-7242018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=12652","title":{"rendered":"Republicans Love Big Government, Hate States Rights, Local Control and, Yes, Democracy: &#8216;BradCast&#8217; 7\/24\/2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/Images\/BradCast_GregAbbott_ConservativeCon_072418.jpg\" hspace=\"6\" vspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">It&#8217;s remarkable that Democrats &#8212; and the mainstream corporate media &#8212; have allowed Republicans to get away with claiming to be &#8220;conservatives&#8221; who support states rights, small government and local control for so many years. As it turns out, the exact opposite is usually true. That becomes abundantly clear whenever and wherever the GOP takes the reins of government power. We&#8217;ve got several examples of that, once again, on today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><i>BradCast<\/i><\/a>. [<i>Audio link to show is posted below.<\/i>]\n<p>As global climate change continues to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/07\/23\/world\/global-heatwaves-climate-change-wxc\/index.html\">shatter heat records<\/a> across the country and planet, the death toll continues to rise along with temperatures and more intense, unexpected (if long-predicted) extreme weather. On Tuesday, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/4ff9051aaa2f4364887ba13db84a01fd\">at least 74<\/a> were killed in <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/ive-life-man-fled-sea-escape-greece-fires\/story?id=56778851\">sudden wildfires<\/a> in Greece. That toll, which is expected to rise, comes on the heels of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/07\/10\/asia\/japan-floods-intl\/index.html\">hundreds killed<\/a> by recent record rain, flooding and accompanying landslides in Japan, and at least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/worldviews\/wp\/2018\/07\/24\/death-toll-climbs-as-japan-wilts-under-a-record-breaking-heat-wave\/?utm_term=.a5263567056b\">77 dead<\/a> amid all-time record heat there over the past week alone.<\/p>\n<p>Heat records are being shattered every day of late here in the U.S. as well, including <a href=\"http:\/\/ktar.com\/story\/2150431\/phoenix-sets-record-for-new-high-temperature-for-july-23-at-115-degrees\/\">in Phoenix<\/a> where it topped out at a record 115 degrees on Monday, and where airplanes were grounded for several days last summer thanks to record warmth. This year, however, with the help of Trump&#8217;s FAA, American Airlines has come up with a way to avoid being grounded despite new record temps. They&#8217;ve just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.12news.com\/article\/news\/local\/valley\/dont-worry-this-scorching-phoenix-heat-wont-impact-your-american-airlines-flight\/75-577020586\">raised the maximum temps<\/a> under which their planes are allowed to take off! What could go wrong?<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, the Trump Administration is now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-07-23\/trump-is-said-to-seek-repeal-of-california-s-smog-fighting-power\">challenging<\/a> the state of California&#8217;s right to set their own fuel efficiency standards for cars, despite an agreement with the Obama Administration that had, with the approval of automakers, established a uniform nationwide standard.  The state&#8217;s right to set its own environmental standards at all &#8212; as established over nearly 50 years under the federal Clean Air Act &#8212; will now, reportedly, be revoked by Trump&#8217;s EPA who, apparently, have no use for states rights (at least when that&#8217;s inconvenient to GOP corporate funders.) Let the law suits <strike>begin<\/strike> continue.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, so-called &#8220;conservatives&#8221; in Texas are <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/muckraker\/texas-activists-paid-sick-leave-fight-gop-preemption\">attempting<\/a> to use Big Government state law to preempt efforts by local governments and voters in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, who hope to establish their own rules for paid sick-leave. Some 40% of Texas workers, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/houston-texas\/houston\/article\/Report-An-estimated-4-3-million-Texan-workers-12967177.php\">recent study<\/a>, are currently prevented from taking a paid day off when either they or their children get sick. The state&#8217;s Big Government-loving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/news\/news_columnists\/peggy_fikac\/article\/Gov-Abbott-vows-to-reverse-mandatory-paid-sick-12873197.php?utm_campaign=chron&#038;utm_source=article&#038;utm_medium=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chron.com%2Fnews%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston%2Farticle%2\">Governor Greg Abbott<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasattorneygeneral.gov\/news\/releases\/ag-paxton-intervenes-in-lawsuit-challenging-city-of-austins-unlawful-sick-l\">Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a> (facing his own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/texas-politics\/collection\/everything-need-know-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-criminal-cases\">securities fraud indictments<\/a>) oppose the city measures, just as they have in the past when voters in local jurisdictions have attempted to ban fracking, raise minimum wage requirements or even ban plastic bags.<\/p>\n<p>There is, however, a solution. We can all try &#8212; <i>try<\/i>, at least &#8212; to vote the liars and hypocrites out of office this November. In Nevada, for example, voters are now said to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rgj.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2018\/07\/23\/nevada-legislature-elect-first-female-majority\/801728002\/\">on the verge<\/a> of potentially electing the first female majority state legislature in our nation&#8217;s history. To pull it off, however, and to flip local, state and Congressional seats from &#8220;red&#8221; to &#8220;blue&#8221; this year, voters will have to turn out <i>and<\/i> actually be allowed to cast a vote. <\/p>\n<p>A new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/publication\/purges-growing-threat-right-vote\">study from the Brennan Center for Justice<\/a> suggests that may be <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/states-purged-16-million-voters-from-the-rolls-before-the-2016-election-1c5688dcaad7\/\">more difficult<\/a> than many currently appreciate. Their analysis finds that voters are being purged from the rolls at a record pace, particularly in jurisdictions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/19\/opinion\/midterms-voting-purges-elections-registration.html\">with a history of racial discrimination<\/a>, where such procedures previously required federal preclearance under the Voting Rights Act (until the GOP majority on the U.S. Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=10094\">gutted<\/a> the landmark 1965 law in 2013.)<\/p>\n<p>So, with just over 100 days remaining until this year&#8217;s crucial midterm elections, please <b>CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION<\/b> to make sure you are still properly registered! Don&#8217;t wait until its too late! <\/p>\n<p>But, we close today with at least a <i>bit<\/i> of encouraging news. Despite the stolen GOP majority on the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocking lower federal court rulings finding U.S. House and state legislative seats had been unlawfully gerrymandered by partisans in several states, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/23\/us\/gerrymandering-states.html\">number of statewide measures<\/a> to end partisan gerrymandering will most likely be on the ballot this November. Unless, that is, so-called &#8220;conservative&#8221; Republicans block the so-far wildly successful, bi-partisan grassroots initiatives in states like Michigan, Missouri, Colorado and Utah&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\".\/Images\/Speaker_Icon_24.png\" style=\"width: 24px; float: none; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;\"> <b><i><a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_DeadlyClimateRecords_GOPBigGovt_VoterPurges_072418.mp3\">CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!&#8230;<\/a><\/i><\/b><br \/>\n[audio:http:\/\/bradblog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_DeadlyClimateRecords_GOPBigGovt_VoterPurges_072418.mp3]<\/blockquote>\n<p><center><b>* * *<\/b><\/center><i>While we post <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><\/i>The BradCast<i><\/a> here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they&#8217;re available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/id803467610\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/stitcher.com\/s\/player.php?fid=25838&#038;src=psl\">Stitcher<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/The-BradCast-with-Brad-Friedman-p477565\/\">TuneIn<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/podcastgen\/bradcast\/feed.xml\">our native RSS feed<\/a>!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-START--><\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f5f0e0; border:2px solid #6b5a2e; border-radius:6px; padding:10px 14px; text-align:center; font-family:Georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"display:block; margin:0 0 8px 0; color:#3a2e0e; font-size:0.95em; line-height:1.5;\"><strong>The BRAD BLOG<\/strong>, <em>The BradCast<\/em> and <em>Green News Report<\/em> are all 100% independent and 100% listener and reader supported!<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/Donate\" style=\"display:inline-block; background:#6b5a2e; color:#ffffff; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:4px; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; font-family:Georgia,serif; font-size:0.9em;\">Please CLICK HERE to help support our work today!<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-END--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s remarkable that Democrats &#8212; and the mainstream corporate media &#8212; have allowed Republicans to get away with claiming to be &#8220;conservatives&#8221; who support states rights, small government and local control for so many years. As it turns out, the exact opposite is usually true. That becomes abundantly clear whenever and wherever the GOP takes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,89,675,21,543,37,479,930,753,200,451,548,1200,1110,776,650,473,779,477,305,120,356,300,126,313,31,280,243,517],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-12652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arizona","category-media-appearance","category-bradcast","category-california","category-climate-change","category-colorado","category-donald-trump","category-election-2018","category-electric-vehicles","category-environment","category-epa","category-extreme-weather","category-faa","category-gerrymandering","category-greece","category-greg-abbott","category-japan","category-ken-paxton","category-kpfk","category-michigan","category-missouri","category-nevada","category-republicans","category-rights-and-freedoms","category-us-supreme-court","category-utah","category-vote-caging","category-voter-registration","category-voting-rights-act","bb-type-bradcast"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12652"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=12652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}