A growing number of activists and advocates oppose Kemp's bill, which he says is aimed at creating more balance between plaintiffs and defendants in Georgia’s court system, often citing an American Tort Reform Foundation ranking which listed Georgia as one of the top five “judicial hellholes” in the country in 2024. But as the bill makes its way through the Georgia legislature, "survivors of human trafficking, advocates for sexual assault survivors and the trial lawyers who represent them have been sounding the alarm about aspects of the bill they say could prevent nearly all victims from receiving justice through the civil system," according to the Georgia Recorder. They argue that if the bill becomes the law, it would effectively gut victims' ability to pursue damages.
In testimony before a legislative committee, survivors of human trafficking spoke out against the legislation, urging lawmakers to consider the impact that the bill's wording would have on the hotels and motels that turned a blind eye to trafficking survivors’ exploitation.
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Question from a Vietnam combat veteran to Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) & staffers Rob & Ashley Adkerson, Nick Petromelis, Ashleigh Padgett: now that you endorse this additional denigration of a veteran, after you
- Laid waste to the DVA, depriving veterans of vital medical services
- Demeaned the military service of John McCain
- Labeled American soldiers suckers and losers,
to what lower level of hypocrisy can you descend, after demonstrating you put sucking up to Trump ahead of taking care of veterans?
Kremlin Says U.S. Foreign Policy Shift Aligns with Its Own Vision
'Lies and distortions': New York Times offers unusually blunt assessment of Trump tactics
(Excerpts)
- New York University historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who is an expert on authoritarian movements and leaders, says that Trump's willingness to repeat falsehoods constantly without any regard for their veracity makes him "one of the most skilled propagandists in history."
- Hunter College historian Benjamin Carter Hett asserts that there was a direct link between Trump's campaign of lies and the sort of propaganda that Nazis used to gain power nearly 100 years ago: "Exactly the same kind of thing happened in the very diverse and lively German press of the 1920s and 1930s."
FULL STORY
By Gregory E. Sterling, dean, Yale Divinity School
(Excerpts)
- Evangelicals and Christians who voted for Trump should be outraged that administration funding cuts will hurt charitable groups, including Christian organizations.
- …what is particularly alarming is that (the gutting of USAID) is destroying this humanitarian work with the tacit (if not explicit) support of too many people who cite the Gospels as their guide.
- Two of the largest Christian charitable groups that receive financial assistance from the U.S. government—Catholic Relief Services and World Vision—are heavily dependent on government funding to perform their lifesaving work. Both are now facing massive layoffs.
- Also disturbing to me are radical cuts to efforts by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide relief for areas hit by major disasters in the U.S., and layoffs at the Federal Housing Administration that threaten to disrupt its ability to provide the mortgage insurance on which millions of Americans depend.
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Key moment Georgia Republican infuriated town hall
- Rep Rich McCormick faced a very hostile town hall crowd in his district on Thursday, as he attempted to defend the massive cuts Donald Trump is inflicting on government operations, including job cuts that are already impacting the local economy.
- "One attendee told the lawmaker he'd done a disservice and failed to stand up for his constituents."
- McCormick represents the "red" 6th District and won re-election last year with 64.9 percent of the vote.
FULL STORY From the Washington Post, by Shadi Hamid
(Excerpts)
- Democrats, says Hamid, who who have condemned him for criticizing Democrats when President Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy "reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of both Trump’s presidency and the role of political commentary in our deeply polarized era."
- "Here’s the counterintuitive truth: I’m more critical of Democrats precisely because I expect more from them."
- Democrats consistently fall short of the very ideals they profess to champion. Under the Biden administration, Democratic leaders spoke of the “indiscriminate” bombing of Gaza while refusing to do anything to stop it.
- The Democratic Party has long preached tolerance and inclusion while marginalizing pro-life Democrats, talking down to Black and brown voters, ignoring religious conservatives and dismissing the growing ranks of Americans who felt the party had become too radical on issues such as gender identity.
- On policy, what was once the working-class party chose to prioritize things such as college debt relief, which disproportionately benefits the wealthy.
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