Last Call For The Road To Gilead Goes Through Ohio, Con't

The Right-Wing Noise Machine™ has spent this week attacking an Ohio doctor who was forced to refer a ten-year-old child who was sexually assaulted and impregnated to get an abortion out of state in Indiana because of Ohio's "Heartbeat Bill" six-week ban on abortions reinstated by the state's GOP Attorney General, Dave Yost, the day after Roe v Wade was struck down by the Supreme Court.  Several right wing news outlets called the story a hoax, even the Ny Times and Washington Post openly questioned the validity of the story.

Yost himself went on FOX News last night to say there wasn't a "whisper" of evidence that the story was true, that there wasn't a "damn scintilla of evidence".

Less than 24 hours later, a Columbus man was arraigned on those exact charges.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost appeared on Fox News this week, casting doubt on the veracity of Dr. Caitlin Bernard's account that a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim needed to travel to Indiana for an abortion.

Yost, a Republican, doubled down on that in an interview with the USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau on Tuesday.

"Every day that goes by the more likely that this is a fabrication. I know the cops and prosecutors in this state. There's not one of them that wouldn't be turning over every rock, looking for this guy and they would have charged him," he said. "I'm not saying it could not have happened. What I'm saying to you is there is not a damn scintilla of evidence. And shame on the Indianapolis paper that ran this thing on a single source who has an obvious axe to grind.""

After news broke Wednesday of an arrest in the case, Yost issued a single sentence statement: "We rejoice anytime a child rapist is taken off the streets."

He later added that he's "absolutely delighted that this monster has been taken off the street. If convicted, he should spend the rest of his life in prison."

Gershon Fuentes, 27, of Columbus, was arrested Tuesday after police say he confessed to raping the child. He is charged with rape.

Yost is endorsed by the Ohio Right to Life PAC.

The same day that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Yost went to federal court to lift a stay on an Ohio law that bans abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.

Called the "heartbeat" ban, the new law prohibits abortions, including in cases of rape or incest. The only exception is if the life of the mother were in jeopardy.

Democrat Jeff Crossman, Yost's opponent in the AG's race, said the attorney general misrepresented the law, indicating a 10-year-old would qualify for an exception when there is no exceptions for rape and incest. "He doesn't care about the facts."

Last week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called the child rape case a "tragedy," but didn't weigh in on the law he signed that barred her from getting the procedure in Ohio.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for DeWine said the governor has no further comment.

"And he has said that if the evidence supports, the rapist should spend the rest of his life in prison," said DeWine press secretary Dan Tierney.

Former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who is running against DeWine for governor, called on both DeWine and Yost to apologize for questioning the validity of the case.

The DeWine campaign called Whaley's statement misleading and false, saying "At no point did he express anything but empathy and compassion and demanded justice for the child victim."

 

Which is another lie.

 

If Yost is lying, and he is, it shows just how awful Ohio's new abortion ban is going to be.

 

But you know what? if he was actually telling the truth, the same thing would apply.

 

 

Vote Like Your Country Depends On It, Con't

 Or...don't vote, and maybe you'll be okay, but probably not, I guess.

 

A majority of American voters across nearly all demographics and ideologies believe their system of government does not work, with 58 percent of those interviewed for a New York Times/Siena College poll saying that the world’s oldest independent constitutional democracy needs major reforms or a complete overhaul.

The discontent among Republicans is driven by their widespread, unfounded doubts about the legitimacy of the nation’s elections. For Democrats, it is the realization that even though they control the White House and Congress, it is Republicans, joined with their allies in gerrymandered state legislatures and the Supreme Court, who are achieving long-sought political goals.

For Republicans, the distrust is a natural outgrowth of former President Donald J. Trump’s domination of the party and, to a large degree, American politics. After seven years in which he relentlessly attacked the country’s institutions, a broad majority of Republicans share his views on the 2020 election and its aftermath: Sixty-one percent said he was the legitimate winner, and 72 percent described the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as a protest that got out of hand.

The survey results come as the House committee investigating Jan. 6 revealed new evidence this week that Mr. Trump and his aides had a hand in directing the mob to the Capitol to try to maintain his hold on the executive branch.

Among all voters, 49 percent said the Capitol riot was an attempt to overthrow the government. Another 55 percent said Mr. Trump’s actions after the 2020 election had threatened American democracy. As with so many other issues, voters saw the riot through the same partisan lens as other issues.

Seventy-six percent of Republican voters said Mr. Trump had simply been exercising his right to contest his loss to Joseph R. Biden Jr. Asked if Mr. Trump had committed crimes while contesting the election, 89 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independent voters said yes, while 80 percent of Republicans said he had not.

“If I’d have been Trump, I’d have been very pissed off about the whole situation,” said Charles Parrish, 71, a retired firefighter from Evans, Ga.

Among Democrats, 84 percent said the Capitol attack was an attempt to overthrow the government and 92 percent said Mr. Trump threatened American democracy.

Democrats’ pessimism about the future stems from their party’s inability to protect abortion rights, pass sweeping gun control measures and pursue other liberal priorities in the face of Republican opposition. Self-described liberals were more likely than other Democrats to have lost trust in government and more likely to say voting did not make a difference.

 

What Democrats mean by overhaul is filibuster reform, SCOTUS reform, voting rights across the country, and reforming the electoral college.

 

What Republicans mean is "those people can still vote, so let's not let them anymore." 

But yeah, for folks 18-29 in this poll, 48% say there's no reason to vote at all because it won't make a difference.

 

We've saw record heavy turnout in 2018's midterms, but we're still only 8 years removed from 2014, which saw the lowest turnout since WW II.

2022 could still go either direction.

Running The Numbers, Con't

June year-over-year inflation was the worst yet, with a 9.1% rise in prices over the last twelve months.

Shoppers paid sharply higher prices for a variety of goods in June as inflation kept its hold on a slowing U.S. economy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

The consumer price index, a broad measure of everyday goods and services, soared 9.1% from a year ago, above the 8.8% Dow Jones estimate. That marked another month of the fastest pace for inflation going back to December 1981.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core CPI increased 5.9%, compared to the 5.7% estimate.

On a monthly basis, headline CPI rose 1.3% and core CPI was up 0.7%, compared to respective estimates of 1.1% and 0.5%.

Taken together, the numbers seemed to counter the narrative that inflation may be peaking, as the gains were based across a variety of categories.

Energy prices surged 7.5% on the month and were up 41.6% on a 12-month basis. The food index increased 1%, while shelter costs, which make up about one-third of the CPI rose 0.6% for the month and were up 5.6% annually. This was the sixth straight month that food at home rose at least 1%.

Rental costs 0.8% in June, the largest monthly increase since April 1986, according to the BLS.

Stock market futures slumped following the data while government bond yields surged.

Much of inflation rise came from gasoline prices, which increased 11.2% on the month and just shy of 60% for the 12-month period. Electricity costs rose 1.7% and 13.7%, respectively. New and used vehicle prices posted respective gains of 0.7% and 1.6%.

Medical care costs increased 0.7% on the month, propelled by a 1.9% increase in dental services, the largest monthly change ever recorded for that sector in data that goes back to 1995.

Airline fares were one of the few areas seeing a decline, falling 1.8% in June though still up 34.1% from a year ago. The meat, poultry, fish and eggs category also fell 0.4% for the month but is up 11.7% on an annual basis.

 

The good news is that July numbers are already better, with a sharp drop in oil prices this month so far.  Oil is down $25 from its June highs of $120 a barrel, but that still means oil is $95 right now, and gasoline prices still remain remain high.  They are falling too, finally, with the national average down 40 cents from $5 average highs.

But we'll almost certainly see more major rate cuts in the weeks ahead, another three-quarter percent or even a full percent point is not out of the question.