Friday, April 11, 2025

Measles and whopping cough outbreaks: If only Bill Cassidy had found his spine 57 days ago


Bill Cassidy M.D. is chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP).  On February 13, 2025, he voted to confirm RFKjr as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  He should have known better but couldn't find his spine.


Headline:  Pro Publica, 4/11/2025
In the past six months, two babies in Louisiana have died of pertussis, the disease commonly known as whooping cough. 
Washington state recently announced its first confirmed death from pertussis in more than a decade. 
Idaho and South Dakota each reported a death this year, and Oregon last year reported two as well as its highest number of cases since 1950. 
While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak concentrated in the small, dusty towns of West Texas, cases of pertussis have skyrocketed by more than 1,500% nationwide since hitting a recent low in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Deaths tied to the disease are also up, hitting 10 last year, compared with about two to four in previous years. Cases are on track to exceed that total this year.

 
Bill got...


Dr. Bill chose to preserve his political future over saving lives.  Unconscionable!  America deserve an explanation and an apology!


Related posts:
Chapter 1.  (3/10/2025)   Censored
Chapter 2.  (3/10/2025)
Chapter 3.  (3/10/2025)
Chapter 4.  (3/11/2025)
Chapter 5.  (3/12/2025)
Chapter 6.  (3/12/2025)
Chapter 7.  (3/13/2025)
Chapter 8.  (3/14/2025)
Chapter 9.  (3/14/2025)
Chapter 10.  (3/14/2025)
Chapter 11.  (3/14/2025)
Chapter 12.  (3/14/2025)
Chapter 13.  (3/15/2025)
Chapter 14.  (3/18/2025)
Chapter 15.  (3/19/2025)
Chapter 16.  (3/19/2025)
Chapter 17.  (3/21/2025)
Chapter 18.  (3/22/2025)
Chapter 19.  (3/26/2025)
Chapter 20.  (3/28/2025)
Chapter 21.  (3/29/2025)
Chapter 22.  (3/30/2025)

April 2925
Chapter 23.  (4/1/2025)
Chapter 24.  (4/2/2025)

Letters. We get letters. Some Iowa voters fess up to making a mistake voting for Trump

 
Election mapWikipedia
HeadlineDes Moines Register, 4/10/2025

Many of us already knew this on November 9, 2016.
With markets nosediving across the globe and given all the current reports of huge anti-Trump crowds, it’s clearly time for all those who voted for President Donald Trump to recognize that it was a huge mistake. He’s been doing everything he can to destroy our country and its’ relationships with all of our allies, while catering to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

USDA secretary Brooke Rollins poses with chickens while keeping key department positions unfilled

 
DO YOUR JOB!

Headline:  WATT Poultry, 4/9/2025

Roy Graber reports:
The National Turkey Federation (NTF) has been somewhat limited with its outreach to federal officials in the second Donald Trump administration, as key leadership positions within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have not been filled. 
NTF Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Lindy Chiaia and Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Dale Nellor gave an update on the governmental matters during an April 9 presentation at PEAK in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
Chiaia noted that Brooke Rollins has been confirmed as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and has been very active since taking office, frequently travelling and making agency announcements. 
However, other senior level leaders are still lacking.

Related posts:
April 2025

March 2025


Thursday, April 10, 2025

With Democrats currently slashing Republicans' margins of victory, Iowa's Zach Nunn looks vulnerable in 2026

 
Republican Zach Nunn has represented Iowa's gerrymandered 3rd congressional district since January 2023.  Gerrymandering in 2021 certainly played a role in his defeating Democratic incumbent Cindy Axne in 2022

Election results:  Ballotpedia
Headline:   Des Moines Register, 4/8/2025

In the 3rd District, Nunn performed about on par with Trump, defeating his Democratic challenger by about 4 percentage points. Still, Trump's 4-point margin of victory in the 3rd District made it his worst district in the state. He won Iowa overall by about 13 percentage points.
Packing Polk County.


Wisconsin 3rd CD.  (4/9/2025)

With Democrats currently slashing Republicans' margins of victory, Ashley Hinson will need to work her butt off to win re-election

 
Republican Ashley Hinson has represented Iowa's 2nd congressional district since January 2023.  Gerrymandering in 2021 solidified the GOP's hold on this district.   It'll be tough for a Democrat to win in 2026, but it's certainly worth a shot.


Election results:  Ballotpedia
Headline:   Des Moines Register, 4/8/2025

But in a surprise, the DCCC is also putting a target on Hinson in the 2nd District. Hinson comfortably won her last reelection by 15 percentage points in the district Trump won by about 9.7 percentage points. Cook Political Report does not list the race among those it considers competitive.
But I suspect that Cook did not consider this race competitive either.


The secret sauce of the GOP's gerrymandering success in the 2nd CD is cracking the blue communities of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, located just 30 miles apart.  


Wisconsin 3rd CD.  (4/9/2025)

With Democrats currently slashing Republicans' margins of victory, Iowa's Mariannette Miller-Meeks looks extremely vulnerable in 2026


Republican Marianne Miller-Meeks has represented Iowa's 1st congressional district since January 2023..

Election results:  Ballotpedia
Headline:   Des Moines Register, 4/8/2025

Brianne Pfannenstiel quotes Emily Tuttle channeling Karoline Leavitt:
The National Republican Congressional Committee has said it expects strong results in 2026. "Iowans overwhelmingly rejected the radical, out of touch Democrat agenda in 2024," NRCC spokesperson Emily Tuttle said in a statement. 
"Voters know they can count on Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn to put Iowans first, and that's why they'll send them back to Congress in 2026."
Emily, Miller-Meeks won by just 3,799 votes out of 414, 078 cast.  Receiving 50% of the vote is not an overwhelming victory.

Don't let anyone tell you that the Iowa GOP isn't into gerrymnandering legislative districts.  Note the cracking of reliably greater Des Moines, one of the few blue areas of the state.



Wisconsin 3rd CD.  (4/9/2025)

'Sick patient'? Go to the mirror, Donald Trump!

 
Headline:  New York Times, 4/4/2025

Tony Romm and Colby Smith report
A new analysis from the Yale Budget Lab found that Mr. Trump’s overall tariffs could cause price levels to rise 2.3 percent in the short term. That would translate into an average loss of $3,800 in purchasing power per household based on 2024 dollars. 
“Prices are going to go up, period,” said Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Yale Budget Lab, adding that companies were going to feel the immediate pinch. “These are really big tariffs. These are not things we can expect companies to just absorb.”

Related posts:
April 2025
GET ME REWRITE: Unhinged Donald Trump doubles down on tariffs (4/9)

March 2025
Hire a clown, expect a circus:  Trump Treasury secretary Scott Bessent (net worth: $521 million) sez “access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream"   (3/31)
Trump lackey Peter Navarro sez, "Trust in Trump."  Best not to take any advice from this clown..  (3/31)

Sexual abuse of a minor in the Name of the Lord (#119 in a series)

 
 Photo and headlineDowney Patriot, 4/9/2025

A Downey pastor was arrested after accusations of sexual abuse to a minor on Thursday, April 3, and now faces eight felony counts, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. 
Father Jamie Arriaga, 41, was removed from his position as associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Downey on Wednesday, April 2, after the archdiocese received a report alleging his sexual misconduct against a minor,the Archdiocese of Los Angeles wrote in a statement.
"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."  (Galatians 5:16)


Other miscreant posts:
April 2025
Darren Day.  (4/8)

March 2025
Joshua Lucero.  (3/26)
Jeffrey Summers.  (3/24)
Sergio Guardia.  (3/22)
Marvin Upton.  (3/21)
Rodger Strong.  (3/20)
Britt Taylor.  (3/19)
Daniel Menelaou.  (3/15)
Robert Morris.  (3/14)
Jose Saez Jr.  (3/12)
Waymon Jordan.  (3/8)

February 2025
Jesse Santos.  (2/26)
Ruel Barbee.  (2/16)
Lee B. Patrick.  (2/14)
Timothy Nall.  (2/7)

January 2025
John Fiedler.  (1/26)
James McMillan.  (1/25)
Jeffrey Merrow.  (1/18)
Johel LaFaurie.  (1/17)
Jeff Taylor.  (1/16)
Dallas Majewski.  (1/15)
Bruce Hollen.  (1/14)
Timothy Nall.  (1/9)
 
December 2024
Edward Monk.  (12/23)
Joshua Lough.  (12/22)
Ignazio Medina.  (12/20)
Anthony Odiong.  (12/19)
Vincent Bishop.  (12/9)
Arturo Alarcon.  (12/8)
Hunter Eubanks.  (12/7)
Roy Shoop.  (12/5)

November 2024
James McMillan.  (11/30)
Stephen Melton. (11/29)
Charles Sulivant.  (11/24)
Geoffrey Carter.  (11/22)
John Radcliff.  (11/21)
Garrett Harmon.  (11/20)
Edward R. Monk.  (11/16)
George Bell.  (11/14)
Jose Mora.  (11/13)
William Pounds.  (11/12)
Charles Randall.  (11/9)
Jackson Gatlin.  (11/7)
Charles Goff.  (11/1)

October 2024
Stephen Johnson.  (10/27)
Josh Howerton.  (10/26)
Craig Stone.  (10/26/2024)
Steven Lawson. (10/25).  
Scott Crenshaw.  (10/25)
Byron Copeland.  (10/25)
Josiah Anthony.  (10/25)
Ronald Goines.  (10/24)
Tony Cammarota.  (10/24)
Robert Morris.  (10/24)
Mike Buster.  (10/23)
Tony Evans.  (10/23)
Terren Dames.  (10/23)
James Randolph.  (10/23)
Matt Queen.  (10/18)
Roy Shoop.  (10/12)
Gabriel Mills.  (10/3)

September 2024
John Raymond.  (9/27)
Juan Barrios.  (9/23)
Demiro Johnson.  (9/22)
Glen Dean McCoy.  (9/22)
James Swanson.  (9/21)
William Dunfee.  (9/21)
Steven Lawson.  (9/20)
Rocky Goodwin.  (9/19)
William Johnson.  (9/17)
Tim Ballard.  (9/13)


Why? Because Trump is bloviating again! (Easter egg profiteering edition)

 
Top headline:  CNN
Bottom headline:  Wisconsin State Journal

Josh Funk (AP) reports in the State Journal:
In defiance of President Donald Trump's predictions, U.S. egg prices increased again last month to reach a new record-high of $6.23 despite a drop in wholesale prices and no egg farms having bird flu outbreaks. 
The increase reported Thursday in the Consumer Price Index means consumers and businesses that rely on eggs should not anticipate immediate relief. Demand for eggs is typically elevated until after Easter, which falls on April 20.  
Industry experts were expecting the index to reflect a drop in retail egg prices because wholesale egg prices dropped significantly in March[emphasis added]

Related posts:

GET ME REWRITE: Wisconsin embarrassment Glenn Grothman hears what he wants to hear

 
HeadlineManitowoc Herald Times Reporter, 4/9/2025

Patti Zarling reports:
Jill Iverson, an organizer of the Manitowoc rally and a co-founder of Progressive Lakeshore People, said people came from surrounding towns like Sturgeon Bay and Sheboygan, but the majority were Manitowoc and Two Rivers residents. She estimated 700 to 1,000 people turned out for the rally at Washington Park and in front of the Manitowoc County Courthouse, many carrying signs opposing Trump. 
[snip]  
U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Republican who represents Wisconsin Sixth Congressional District, told the Herald Times Reporter Tuesday following the event that he spent Saturday with constituents who feel Trump is on the right track.

More than a decade of inanities from Glenn:
2025

2024 

His brain as immovable as a boulder, Glenn Grothman confesses hes stuck in the past when it comes to same-sex marriage.  (12/22/2022)
After January 6, 2021, GOP shows off its 'soft on crime' side (Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin edition).  (10/12/2022)

Ripon newspapers calls out Wisconsin Embarrassment Glenn Grothman.  (8/24/2021)

2019
Might hurt in the short term? Wisconsin has led the U.S. in farm bankruptcies three years running.  (9/3)
Ripon Commonwealth Press editorial writer tells us what we already know about Glenn Grothman.  (8/29)
Government welfare for me but not for thee (the updated edition).  (8/19)
"We're all minorities in America".  (7/22)
How hard up do you have to be to ask Glenn Grothman to be your commencement speaker? (5/22)
Glenn Grothman falls on his knees after Trump State of the Union bloviating.  (2/7)
Trump fanboy Glenn Grothman pimps for Mexico border wall.  (1/25)
Meet the 7 House critters who voted against back pay for federal workers.  (1/13)
Glenn Grothman starts the 116th Congress where he left off in the 115th: Enhancing his clown bona fides.  (1/5)
Back in the news with more inanities.  (1/4)

July-Dec 2018
Glenn Grothman, dedicated follower of political fashion, fills us in.  (11/10)
"Good guy' Greg Gianforte sends Glenn Grothman a check.  (11/2)
When you know you're at the bottom of the GOP food chain: Eric Trump headlines Glenn Grothman rally.  (10/31)
Stamp to a letter, birds of a feather clown show: Gushing over Greg Gianforte, both Donald Trump and Glenn Grothman say "that's my kind of guy".  (10/19)
As the election approaches, Glenn Grothman's babbling intensifies.  (10/6)
Dear voters of Wisconsin's 6th congressional district, this gibberish should convince you this clown should be kicked out of office.  (9/27)
Get me rewrite. More than just tweets: Everything about Trump encourages Democrats and independents to sweep gomers like Glenn Grothman out of office.  (8/9)
Dear Glenn Grothman, Repeat after me: YALTA.  (7/23)
Dear Glenn Grothman, Does this mean you don't support Donald Trump's military parade?  (7/19)

Jan-Jun 2018
Could we please, please, get rid of this clown?  (6/21)
Glenn Grothman in so many words:  The ruination of America is people with darker skin tones.  (1/27)
Glenn Grothman shares etiquette advice on KFIZ.  (1/19)
Memo to Glenn Grothman: Next time you see Donald Trump, give him a great big kiss, mwah!  (1/18)
UPDATE: The demented clown, otherwise known as Glenn Grothman, returns to the topic of Al Sharpton at MLK event.  (1/18)
Newspaper editorial calls out Glenn Grothman for his (a) mispresentation or (b) lie.  (1/11) 
Glenn Grothman cries on the shoulder of his favorite KFIZ deejay. (1/9)

Jul-Dec 2017
Our resident clown Glenn Grothman tells just half of the story.  (12/24)
Like Vermin Supreme, Glenn Grothman believes that there should be free ponies for all Americans.  (12/15)
A letter sent without fear of retribution.  (12/3)
The insightful Glenn Grothman was talking to a gal.  (11/22)
Dear Dan Kohl, If you substitute 'clownish' for 'partisan', the arrow moves hard right.  (11/9)
The malevolent conservatism and clownish inhumanity of Glenn Grothman.  (10/25)
Glenn Grothman sets a ridiculously low bar regarding hurricane aid to Puerto Rico.  (10/24)
Glenn Grothman demands that a border wall be built.  (8/31)
Here's something on which Glenn Grothman and I agree.  (8/10)
Glenn Grothman wants us all to die.  Or not to fly.  (7/20)
Short-term memory loss and The Glenn Grothman 24/7 Clown Show.  (7/15) 
Steady drip-drip-drip inside Glenn Grothman's head vs. steady drip-drip-drip of evidence Russian collusion.  (7/13)

Apr-Jun 2017
Glenn Grothman gives a big thumbs up to Pennsylvania's congressional districts.  (6/22)
Glenn Grothman on the Paris Accord:  The blithering goes on.  (6/7)
Dear Glenn Grothman, Not that anyone is listening to you.  (6/5)
Oh, yeah, I just bet he does.   (6/1)
It's bromance time for Glenn Grothman, sez Greg Gianforte seems like a good guy.  (5/26/2017)
At Glenn Grothman's groan-inducing town hall.  (5/2)
51 U.S. House members implore Trump to legalize LGBT discrimination.  (4/27)
At KFIZ, everybody loves a clown.  (4/17)
Wishful thinking: Glenn Grothman does a little Mick Jagger at the podium during Sheboygan listening session.  (4/11/.

Jan-Mar 2017
What DO they think of Glenn Grothman on Capitol Hill?  (1/31/2017)
Not a Muslim ban, Glenn Grothman? The numbers indicate otherwise.  (1/31/2017)
Glenn also loves to run into the reassuring arms of Vicki McKenna; she normalizes his nuttiness.  (3/28)

2016
The conservative values of Glenn Grothman, straight shooter and exemplary public servant.  (10/30)
GOP donor and Neenah realtor pens letter to editor, praises Glenn Grothman.  (10/28)
Well, Glenn Grothman, looks as though Donald Trump and Paul Ryan won't accompany Mr. Gumpy on his outing.  (10/20)
Meet the 3 Stooges who introduced Donald Trump at yesterday's rally in Green Bay.  (10/18)
Likely to be other reasons why Trump and Glenn Grothman's relationship might be "less than perfect".  (10/13)
Glenn Grothman raises GOP specter of black bogeyman Al Sharpton.  (7/14)
Recommended reading from Glenn Grothman.  (3/3)
Once again, Grothman does the blah blah blah.  (1/13)

2015
Tea Party alert: Glenn Grothman supports increase in federal gas tax.  (12/29)
Glenn Grothman's moving service.  (11/16/2015)
Glenn Grothman: Still trying to get to 'yes' with Paul Ryan.  (10/18/2015) 
Dear Glenn Grothman, Breaking up is hard to do.  (10/17/2015) 
He's a guy, and has access to 'all machines that one would need'.  (9/29/2015) 
Meet the Members of the Republican Study Committee: Glenn Grothman (R-WI, 6th District).  (8/18/2015)
What about seeing the light, Representative Grothman?  (8/11/2015)
Glenn Grothman's gibberish in full flower.  (7/1/2015)
Rep. Glenn Grothman puts corporate personhood first.  (6/23/2015)
Glenn Grothman Finds His Voice in Washington, D.C. (6/19/2015)
Glenn Grothman goes seriously bland on us.  (5/12/2015)
Glenn Grothman's lips are zipped.  (4/9/2015)
Glenn Grothman Speaks the Language of the Godfather of states' rights.  (1/13/2015)

2014
Glenn Grothman, Quiet Man.  (10/12/2014)
Tom Petri returns the favor to Glenn Grothman.  (9/5/2014)
Wisconsin's 6th Congressional District primary: Less than 12% of voters paid attention.  (8/24/2014)
Hey guys and gals, Scott Walker is not 100% convinced that Glenn Grothman can win the 6th CD. (8/23/2014)
Career politician Glenn Grothman moves one step closer to Wisconsin's 6th Congressional District general election.  (8/22/2014)
To the tune of $692,000.   (8/14/2014)