Feds demand compromise on Colorado River while states flounder
#HackerNews #Feds #ColoradoRiver #WaterShortage #Compromise #States #Flounder
Alex Akselrod
boosted
Basically, the #Anarchists were right, #states began as #tax extortion rackets:
“One theory suggests it was the intensification of agriculture that spurred the creation of states. Once fertilisation and irrigation were used, it produced a surplus that elites could extract to build and maintain states. However, an alternative view, first put forward by anthropologist James Scott, is gaining ground. … By Scott’s account, Mafia-style protection rackets forced people to produce grain, from which tax could be extracted and used to fund further exploitation. Scott proposed that these protection rackets were effectively the original states. … We tested these ideas, combining data from hundreds of societies worldwide with a global language family tree representing the ancestral relationships between those societies. … grain agriculture consistently predicted subsequent state formation and the adoption of taxes.”
Basically, the #Anarchists were right, #states began as #tax extortion rackets:
“One theory suggests it was the intensification of agriculture that spurred the creation of states. Once fertilisation and irrigation were used, it produced a surplus that elites could extract to build and maintain states. However, an alternative view, first put forward by anthropologist James Scott, is gaining ground. … By Scott’s account, Mafia-style protection rackets forced people to produce grain, from which tax could be extracted and used to fund further exploitation. Scott proposed that these protection rackets were effectively the original states. … We tested these ideas, combining data from hundreds of societies worldwide with a global language family tree representing the ancestral relationships between those societies. … grain agriculture consistently predicted subsequent state formation and the adoption of taxes.”
Lisa Melton
boosted
Trump told #states on Saturday to “immediately undo” any actions to provide full #FoodStamp benefits to #LowIncome families, threatening financial penalties if they do not comply. The late-night guidance from the #USDA adds to the uncertainty surrounding the nation’s largest anti- #hunger program during the govt #shutdown. Officials in several states said they remained unsure on Sunday how the directive would affect the roughly one in eight Americans who rely on #SNAP.
Trump told #states on Saturday to “immediately undo” any actions to provide full #FoodStamp benefits to #LowIncome families, threatening financial penalties if they do not comply. The late-night guidance from the #USDA adds to the uncertainty surrounding the nation’s largest anti- #hunger program during the govt #shutdown. Officials in several states said they remained unsure on Sunday how the directive would affect the roughly one in eight Americans who rely on #SNAP.
One major issue hanging over oral arguments is the extent to which the #Trump admin must refund tariff revenue in the event that the justices find its policies to be illegal.
Speaking on behalf of the challengers, #Katyal acknowledged it is a “difficult” question. But he generally seemed to suggest the court had many options at its disposal & could reconcile that later—including, for example, by limiting its decision “to prospective relief.”
Benjamin Gutman, Oregon’s solicitor general, is making his first oral argument appearance before the justices on behalf of a group of #states that challenged the #tariffs.
#Kavanaugh asked, why would #Congress give the president the power to shut down #trade but not to take a less severe step, like impose a 1% tariff. That, he said, appeared to underscore the govt’s claim, creating an “odd donut hole in the statute.”
“It’s not a donut hole,” responded Gutman. “It’s a different kind of pastry.”
Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states
#HackerNews #DirectFile2026 #IRS #States #TaxPolicy #DigitalGovernment
As authority, Burkett cited Trump’s August executive order that deployed the guard to fight *crime* in #WashingtonDC. The same order required the secretary of #defense to create “a standing National Guard quick reaction force … available for rapid nationwide deployment” in “quelling civil disturbances”.
#Trump #law #Constitution #RightToProtest #CivilRights #AbuseOfPower #Authoritarianism #Autocracy #Dictatorship #fascism #Tyranny #MafiaState #MilitaryState #NationalGuard #PosseComitatusAct
Janessa Goldbeck, a former US Marine Corps captain & chief executive of the Vet Voice Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group, said the order represented “an attempt by the president to normalize a national, militarized police force”.
She predicted that force would be used to send #troops to #states led by #Democratic governors without their permission & could be used to suppress turnout and disrupt the fair operation of #elections.
Tim Chambers
boosted
Keep it up. Be smarter than the #Idiocracy.
Western #States Issue Their Own #Vaccine Recommendations to Counter #RFKJr
The guidelines, from #California, #Oregon, #Washington & #Hawaii, mirror those of major #medical organizations. They were issued a day before an advisory panel was to meet to review potential changes to #federal recommendations.
#PublicHealth #science #medicine #CDC #vaccines #Trump #ConspiracyTheories #disinformation #eugenics #HealthyIfYoureWealthy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/health/vaccine-guidelines-california-oregon-washington-hawaii-rfk.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Keep it up. Be smarter than the #Idiocracy.
Western #States Issue Their Own #Vaccine Recommendations to Counter #RFKJr
The guidelines, from #California, #Oregon, #Washington & #Hawaii, mirror those of major #medical organizations. They were issued a day before an advisory panel was to meet to review potential changes to #federal recommendations.
#PublicHealth #science #medicine #CDC #vaccines #Trump #ConspiracyTheories #disinformation #eugenics #HealthyIfYoureWealthy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/health/vaccine-guidelines-california-oregon-washington-hawaii-rfk.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
#Trump also wrote that he wanted to get rid of voting machines, which he described as inaccurate & expensive [wrong. Far more accurate than hand counting]. He claimed, incorrectly, that the US was “the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting.”
His post did not elaborate on what the #ExecutiveOrder would say. It was also not immediately clear whether the Trump admin could stop the use of mail-in voting, which is largely entrusted to individual states.
His post did not elaborate on what the #ExecutiveOrder would say. It was also not immediately clear whether the Trump admin could stop the use of mail-in voting, which is largely entrusted to individual states.
#Trump argued in his post that #states were “merely an agent’ for the #FederalGovernment in counting & tabulating the votes.” [he is so unbelievably ignorant]
“They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them,” Trump said. [whatever happened to the #StatesRights party?]
#law#ElectionLaw#Constitution #access #seniors #military #students #disabled#VoterSuppression#BigLie #idiocracy
Heidi Li Feldman
boosted
NY Gov #KathyHochul: “I'm tired of fighting this fight w/ my hand tied behind my back. … #politics is a political process.…we’re sick & tired of being pushed around when other #states don’t have the same aspirations that we always have had. I hold those dear. But I cannot ignore that the playing field has changed dramatically. Shame on us if we ignore that fact & cling tight to the vestiges of the past. That era is over. Donald #Trump eliminated that forever.”
NY Gov #KathyHochul: “I'm tired of fighting this fight w/ my hand tied behind my back. … #politics is a political process.…we’re sick & tired of being pushed around when other #states don’t have the same aspirations that we always have had. I hold those dear. But I cannot ignore that the playing field has changed dramatically. Shame on us if we ignore that fact & cling tight to the vestiges of the past. That era is over. Donald #Trump eliminated that forever.”
#Democrats who control other #states are threatening to retaliate by drawing new maps of their own if #Texas#Republicans carry out their plan. On Monday, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee called on Democratic state lawmakers from around the country to prepare for carving up their states.