A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1487603
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1487603
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O/T but well worth reading
Why are cars in the US so big? The policies that ruined American cars, explained. - Vox
Dangerous, polluting SUVs and pickups took over America. Lawmakers are partly to blame.
The expanding size of automobiles — a phenomenon I call car bloat — has deepened a slew of national problems. Take road safety: Unlike peer nations, the US has endured a steep rise in traffic deaths, with fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists, who are at elevated risk in a crash with a huge car, recently hitting 40-year highs. Vehicle occupants face danger as well. A 2019 study concluded that compared to a smaller vehicle, an SUV or a pickup colliding with a smaller car was 28 percent and 159 percent, respectively, more likely to kill that car’s driver.
Car bloat also threatens the planet. Because heavier vehicles require more energy to move, they tend to gulp rather than sip the gasoline or electricity that powers them, increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Extra weight also accelerates the erosion of roadways and tires, straining highway maintenance budgets and releasing microplastics that damage ecosystems.
For half a century, a litany of federal policies has favored large SUVs and trucks, pushing automakers and American buyers toward larger models. Instead of counteracting car bloat through regulation, policymakers have subtly encouraged it. That has been a boon for car companies, but a disaster for everyone else.
Those concerns proved justified. The average vehicle footprint expanded 6 percent between 2008 and 2023, a “historic high,” according to an EPA report, which also found that some carmakers, such as General Motors, actually had lower average fuel economy and higher average carbon emissions in 2022 than in 2017. To its credit, the EPA recently announced revisions to its vehicle GHG rules that would narrow (but not close) the gaps between standards for large and small cars.
The Hummer Tax Loophole
In 1984, Congress stopped allowing small business owners to take a tax deduction for the purchase price of cars used for work. But the bill included a giant loophole: To protect those who need a heavy-duty vehicle (think farmers or construction workers), Congress made an exception, known as Section 179, for cars that weigh over 6,000 pounds when fully loaded with passengers and cargo. Today such behemoths are eligible for a tax deduction of up to $30,500, while business owners who opt for a smaller car can claim nothing at all.
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“We don’t like Kristi very much, thank you!”
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Dem Ruben Gallego leads Kari Lake 39% to 34% in an April 11th poll on 538
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Something TPM has barely covered is potentially going to affect the election. The student protests over Gaza have pretty much dominated the MSM, pumped up by right-wing media influencers in the same way Matt Drudge got the MSM to obsess over Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky.
As the article below points out, for the media, Gaza is no longer about the death and misery there, it’s about kids misbehaving on US campuses. My own take is that campus protests have simply never worked. The 1960s antiwar protests on which all subsequent campus protests seem to be based didn’t shorten the war by a single day – on the contrary, by polarizing opinions over Vietnam, they hardened pro-war sentiment and helped kick off the culture wars for the next several decades. They helped get Reagan elected governor and Nixon elected twice.
The Right is looking for another BLM to fire up the base. The protesters really should ask themselves if the standard-model campus protest isn’t just ineffective, but counterproductive. My fear is that the protests won’t save a single life in the Middle East, but may contribute to electing Trump.
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Alito and Thomas exclaim, “hold my beer”, while Kavanaugh quickly finishes his beer so no one tried to take it from him while they end democracy.
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And we have another clown “sovereign citizen” who has not only proclaimed himself to be not only the 'sovereign" mayor of Providence but the governor of Rhode Island and the Commander In Chief of the US…
Oh and he’s the “king” too!!! 
:dizzy:
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Noem shoots horses and goats as well as the family dog. What about her children if they “make a mistake”? Does she walk around her ranch heavily armed as Boebert would?
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Noem kills puppies like Pecker kills Trump stories.
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Remember when DeSantis made a deal whereby the state of Flordia could donate public funds directly to a presidential campaign?
Hence the Trump/Hate Munchkin meeting.
ETA: Apologies to the munchkin community. I just couldn’t type the guy’s name twice.
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There’sa time and place for pheasant hunting and it comes after the dog has been trained to point the bird. One should not put an untrained pup in a hunt with other dogs who’ve been taught the rules. That is not how a dog learns.
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Advise to Alito and Thomas, don’t hand your beer to Kavanaugh, he’ll drink it.
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All that activity on 4/20. The only thing he’s king of is Ralph.
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Hancock Shaker Village goats yesterday, in the round barn. No wonder we call children “kids.” (Not me or mine in the second photo.)
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‘SCOTUS Through the Looking Glass’ or perhaps ‘Justice Takes up Residence in the House of Horrors’. Either would be an appropriate title for a documentary about of current High Council of Fascist Mullahs.
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When her children make a mistake, she pressures public officials to overlook it.
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…the jury could have found that Mr. Trump’s demeanor and conduct in the courtroom itself put his hatred and disdain on full display.
Do you suppose he’ll modify his behavior now in his current election interference (“hush money”) trial. He’s been given a broad hint.
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