Demand the GOP remove Mike Johnson as Speaker!

Daily Dose of Democracy:

Gov. Tate Reeves’ top political donors received $1.4 billion in state contracts from his agencies
A bombshell investigation by Mississippi Today has revealed that the state's Republican Governor Tate Reeves has funneled a staggering $1.4 billion in state contracts and grants to his top political donors — a blatant quid pro quo arrangement. On top of that, even more contracts amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars have been awarded to the governor's donors from state agencies that he does not directly lead. "Corrupt" does not even BEGIN to describe this debacle, and with Democratic challenger Brandon Presley just ONE point behind in the polls, this scandal could prove to be the "October Surprise" to end all surprises!

Take Action: Chip in to help Missississippi Democrats win the governorship in next week's — WINNABLE — race! Let's go Brandon!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: DC judge responds to Jack Smith's strategy to jail Trump pending trial
Judge Chutkan has now reinstated the disgraced former president's gag order and now we all can sit back and wait until Trump inevitably violates it.

Take Action: Tell the media to start covering Trump like the threat he is!

Trump-endorsed governor candidate wants to force 9-year-olds to have their rapists’ babies
SURJ: That’s not a typo, folks. Mitch McConnell's hand-picked gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron really is that extreme. And you might be thinking, even in a red state like Kentucky, game over. But you’d be wrong. Andy Beshear may be America’s most popular Democratic governor with a great chance of winning re-election next week, but MAGA Republicans are spending millions on smears and disinformation to beat him. We need all hands on deck to make sure that Cameron doesn't turn Kentucky into another Florida with forced birth for child-rape victims, book bans, attacks on trans kids, gutted public schools, and more. Can you sign up for one phone-bank session and help get Andy over the finish line? This is the most important race of 2023, and we all need to do our part!

Top UN official in New York resigns over "genocide" of Palestinian civilians
The director of the New York office of the UN high commissioner for human rights has left his post, protesting that the UN is “failing” in its duty to prevent what he categorizes as "textbook case of genocide" of Palestinian civilians in Gaza under Israeli bombardment and citing the US, UK, and much of Europe as “wholly complicit in the horrific assault." He said that the UN had failed to prevent previous genocides against the Tutsis in Rwanda, Muslims in Bosnia, the Yazidi in Iraqi Kurdistan and the Rohingya in Myanmar and wrote: “High Commissioner, we are failing again."

Take Action: Tell corporations to stop funding lobbyists pushing harmful laws!

Realtors found liable for $1.8 billion in damages in conspiracy to keep commissions high
Housing prices are higher than ever and for many Americans the dream of homeownership seems to be receding further into the distance every day — and it turns out there may be some serious behind the scenes wheeling and dealing contributing to the housing crisis. A Missouri jury has found the National Association of Realtors, a real estate industry trade group, and some residential brokerages liable for nearly $1.8 billion in damages after determining they conspired to keep commissions for home sales artificially high.

Take Action: Tell Congress to end legacy enrollments at taxpayer-subsidized Ivy League schools!

Israel strikes Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp
An Israeli strike supposedly targeting a Hamas commander in the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza has left catastrophic damage and killed a large number of people, according to eyewitnesses and medics in the enclave. Israel has openly admitted to the strike, claiming there were numerous Hamas terrorists hiding in the camp and defended the deadly civilian toll as a "tragedy of war." Hamas has denied the IDF's claims while critics are calling it an outright war crime. “Children were carrying other injured children and running, with grey dust filling the air. Bodies were hanging on the rubble, many of them unrecognized. Some were bleeding and others were burnt,” said witness Mohammed Al Aswad.

Take Action: Tell the FCC to restore the net neutrality protections that Trump ended!

Cornell student arrested over threats to Jewish classmates
Patrick Dai, a 21-year-old, has been detained by authorities after making online threats to shoot his Jewish classmates, rape them, and "kill Jewish babies." In a statement, Cornell University said: "We remain shocked by and condemn these horrific, antisemitic threats and believe they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Republicans' Speaker choice backfires in brutal fashion
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: What a disaster.

Indicted Trump allies suddenly without lawyers after failing to pay legal bills
Three of Trump's biggest stooges, Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, and MyPillow guy Mike Lindell, have each racked up huge legal expenses to defend themselves from either criminal charges, convictions, or defamation lawsuits, and all have lost key lawyers for failing to pay six- and seven-figure bills. Turns out Donald isn't the only card-carrying member of the crime-and-dash club. Grifters gonna grift!

Tuberville military holds may have contributed to Marine commandant’s hospitalization
According to Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed, Tommy Tuberville's continued refusal to confirm top military promotions — a pathetic tactic he's deploying in an effort to coerce the Pentagon into repealing important abortion policies — could be partially responsible for the hospitalization of General Eric Smith, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Thanks to the logjam imposed by Tuberville's PR stunt, top military officials are being forced to do multiple job, driving some of them to the point of exhaustion. General Smith was hospitalized over the weekend for an apparent heart attack. At this point there can be no denying it: Tommy Tuberville is actively sabotaging the U.S. military.

FBI director warns that antisemitism is reaching "historic level" in US
As global tensions boil over in connection to the Israel-Hamas war, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that antisemitism as a "threat" is reaching “historic levels” in the United States. He went on to warn that “the Jewish community is targeted by terrorists really across the spectrum” including homegrown violent extremists, foreign terrorist organizations, and domestic violent extremists. Unfortunately, when neo-Nazis and anti-Semites have the tacit endorsement of people like, say, the Governor of Florida or a certain disgraced ex-president of the United States, it's no wonder they're so emboldened.

Democratic governor sues GOP lawmakers over blocking UW System pay raises and conservation projects
In a lawsuit that could upend how the state Legislature operates, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is suing Republican lawmakers over decisions to withhold pay raises for University of Wisconsin System employees and to block conservation projects, arguing such actions made by legislative committees rather than the full Legislature violate the state Constitution's separation of powers requirements.