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Wisconsin GOP eyes complete ban on public nudity after minor photographed at naked bike ride
Wisconsin Republicans want to make it a crime to be naked in public for any reason and for a child to attend any event, like a naked bike ride, where people don’t have clothes on.
A state Senate committee held a hearing Thursday on two bills introduced after a photograph circulated earlier this year of a child who attended Madison’s annual naked bike ride. The picture outraged some Republican lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who questioned Attorney General Merrick Garland at a congressional hearing last month about what he was going to do about it.
“It’s kind of a joke, but it’s not a joke,” the bills’ lead sponsor, Republican Senate President Chris Kapenga, testified Thursday. “This is a pretty serious, especially in today’s society.”
The World Naked Bike Ride has been happening in cities across the world for more than 20 years. The events are meant to encourage body positivity and to promote cycling as a form of transportation that lessens the dependence on petroleum.
The ride marked its 13th year in Madison this summer. About 150 bikers took part this year, riding past the state Capitol — twice — on a Saturday morning where thousands of people, including children, were attending the popular farmers’ market.
A photo from the Madison event posted on Facebook showed that a girl under age 18 participated. The photo showed the girl, who appeared to be nude except for shoes and a helmet, facing away from the camera.
Acting on complaints, the Dane County district attorney determined that the girl’s participation did not violate any state laws. Madison police determined that state law on the possession of child pornography also did not apply because the photo was not sexual in nature. It also said that current state law relating to exposing a child to harmful material or narrations did not apply.
One proposal heard Thursday would make it a misdemeanor to be naked in public for any reason. Under current law, being naked is only a crime if the public exposure is indecent.
The other measure would make it a crime to allow anyone under 18 to see a nude person who is part of an event, like a naked bike ride, where adult participants are intentionally not wearing clothes. It would also make it a crime to take a picture of a child who is a part of the event and not wearing clothes, unless the picture is being taken in order to report it to police.
Violators under both could face up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
“If you agree that people shouldn’t be allowed to expose their genitals in public and that minor children shouldn’t be paraded naked through streets and photographed, then I encourage your support on these bills,” Kapenga testified.
Democratic Sen. LaTonya Johnson raised concerns about the bill potentially making it illegal to bring children to concerts or stage events where performers are partially nude. She said it could lead to some performers not coming to Wisconsin.
Kapenga dismissed those concerns, saying performers like Beyoncé and her dancers could afford to purchase “100 strips of cloth to cover their butt crack.”
“I highly doubt that Beyoncé would not come because she can’t expose her crack,” he said.
14TH ANNUAL PHILLY NAKED BIKE RIDE BRINGS HUNDREDS TO THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE
The bills, which have no Democratic sponsors, are a long way from becoming law. They would have to pass both the state Senate and Assembly, which are controlled by Republicans, and then be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said the governor had not reviewed the bills.
Jeff Weigand, a Dane County Board supervisor who complained to police about the naked bike ride, testified in favor of the proposals Thursday.
“Proponents of this bike ride have stated that they believe this is about their freedom to protest,” Weigand testified. “I would ask them, ‘What about my freedom? What about my freedom to walk around, walk down the street and not be assaulted by nudity? What about my children’s innocence that I work very hard to protect?’”
Participants have been cited at naked bike rides in Madison and around the country. At the first ride in Madison in 2010, Madison police issued 10 citations for disorderly conduct. A year later, Madison’s city council amended the public indecency ordinance to allow for nudity as a legitimate form of political protest.
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Cruz argues Biden’s border wall order is just ‘window dressing’ amid migrant crisis
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) denounced President Biden’s decision to continue border wall construction in his state Thursday, saying the move is not in line with his administration’s policies.
“This is a crisis. It’s out of control, but I don’t believe for a minute that Joe Biden wants to fix it,” Cruz said in a Fox News interview, referencing illegal immigration.
“I think this is all window dressing to pretend he cares,” he added.
The Biden administration announced Thursday it will waive 26 federal regulations to speed up border wall construction over 20 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas.
“There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
That goes against the administration’s previous policy of avoiding new wall construction and against promises Biden made on the 2020 campaign trail. Biden later argued that legal limitations gave him no choice but to use funds provided for the wall, which were first allocated by the Trump administration.
“The money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate, to redirect that money. They didn’t. They wouldn’t,” he said. “In the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated for. I can’t stop that.”
In the Fox News interview Thursday, Cruz railed against Biden administration immigration policy, claiming that Biden actually wants more undocumented immigrants to enter the country.
Border policy is a key emphasis of Republicans for the 2023 and 2024 elections, and especially for Cruz, who faces reelection next year. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) is the most notable Democrat who has declared a campaign for the seat.
Democrats were also unhappy with the change. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) denounced the move as “impotent political posturing.”
He called the change a “wasted opportunity to use executive power to actually fix our asylum system instead of impotent political posturing,” adding that it makes it more difficult for voters to distinguish between the border policies of Biden and former President Trump, his expected 2024 opponent.
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill
Wisconsin lawmakers hear $614M Milwaukee Brewers stadium overhaul proposal
The chief architect of a plan to hand the Milwaukee Brewers more than $614 million to cover stadium improvements defended his proposal Thursday in front of a legislative committee, promising the deal will keep the team in Milwaukee for another generation without new taxes.
Republican state Rep. Rob Brooks has developed a pair of bills that call for handing public dollars from the state, the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to the team. He argued for the bills at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis during a public hearing organized by the state assembly.
The team’s fans are reeling after the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Brewers 5-2 on Wednesday night, eliminating them from the playoffs. Brooks began his presentation by joking that he doesn’t blame the committee for the loss.
DIAMONDBACKS EARN DATE WITH NL WEST RIVAL DODGERS AFTER SWEEPING BREWERS IN WILD CARD SERIES
He spent the next hour and a half promoting the proposal but cautioning that it was still a work in progress.
He stressed that the package creates no new taxes, instead using income taxes on players’ salaries as a funding stream. He warned that if the Brewers were to leave Wisconsin the state, the city and the county would lose tens of millions of dollars in income and sales taxes. That revenue loss could translate to dips in state aid to municipalities across the state.
Public funding for professional sports facilities is hotly debated across the country. The team’s principal owner, Mark Attanasio, has an estimated net worth of $700 million, according to Yahoo Finance. The team itself is valued at around $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. Still, the Brewers have been working for months to secure public funding for stadium repairs and upgrades.
The team so far has not threatened to leave Milwaukee if it doesn’t get public help, but relocation is always a possibility if a city willing to pay the team’s bills steps forward.
Democrats on the committee gave Brooks’ proposal a cool reception. Rep. Tod Ohnstad, a Kenosha Democrat, questioned whether it’s worth investing in baseball at all.
He said the sport is losing popularity, adding that he “tortured” himself watching the Diamondbacks sweep the Brewers out of the playoffs. He said the proposal needs substantial changes to earn his vote.
Other Democrats complained the proposal asks for too much money from the city and county.
Brooks countered that the proposal calls for winterizing the stadium so the Brewers can rent it out year-round for events such as concerts, generating more sales tax for the state and local governments.
He added that he’s working on an amendment that calls for attaching a fee on tickets for non-baseball events that would be split between the state, the city and the county. He’s also working on another amendment that would create a group that would study developing the stadium’s parking lots into a restaurant district that would provide more tax revenue.
He argued that losing the Brewers would put the city and county in an even worse financial position. Keeping the Brewers in Milwaukee provides businesses with the certainty they need to invest in the area around the stadium, he said.
Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers’ vice president of business operations, told the committee he wished he had to leave for another playoff game, but “baseball sometimes breaks your heart.”
He stressed that the team wants to stay in Milwaukee through at least 2050 but needs certainty and emphasized that the Brewers have agreed to chip in $100 million for renovations. He said the team makes Milwaukee attractive and generates tax revenue from fans who visit the stadium from across the state and the Midwest.
He pushed back a proposal to develop the stadium’s parking lots for other uses. He said that would exacerbate parking shortages and hurt tailgating traditions.
Reports commissioned by the Brewers and another by a state consultant found the stadium’s glass outfield doors, seats and concourses should be replaced. Its luxury suites and technology such as its sound system and video scoreboard need upgrades, and its signature retractable roof needs repairs. Fire suppression systems, parking lots, elevators and escalators need work, too.
GREEN BAY PACKERS LOGO DESIGNER JOHN GORDON DEAD AT 83
Under Brooks’ proposal, the state would give the team $60.8 million next fiscal year and up to $20 million each year after that into 2046. The city of Milwaukee would contribute a total of $202 million and Milwaukee County would kick in $135 million by 2050.
The team would contribute about $100 million and extend its lease at American Family Field through 2050, keeping Major League Baseball in its smallest market for another 27 years.
According to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo attached to the legislation, baseball operations at the stadium currently generate about $19.8 million annually in state and local taxes. That figure is expected to grow to $50.7 million annually by 2050, according to the memo.
The package has garnered support from the tourism industry, including the Tavern League of Wisconsin, a lobbying powerhouse.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed giving the team almost $300 million in the state budget in exchange for the team extending its lease by 13 years, to 2043. Evers would have pulled the money from the state’s $7 billion surplus, but Republican lawmakers killed the plan after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he wanted a longer lease extension.
The governor told the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday that he’s concerned about how much the city and county will have to contribute but he’d probably support any stadium proposal that comes across his desk.
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White House blasts GOP infighting as ‘needless political chaos’
The White House on Thursday criticized the House Republican Conference for infighting, saying they need to resolve the chaos quickly.
It released a memo entitled “House Republican chaos continues as President Biden makes progress for the American people” to provide a split screen between the disarray among House Republicans and the work Biden is doing this week.
“The American people deserve leadership that puts the issues affecting their lives front and center, like President Biden is doing — not the needless political chaos the House Republicans are miring themselves in as extreme members demand policies that are wildly at odds with the country and as their conference bickers with each other,” deputy press security Andrew Bates said in a statement.
Biden this week announced new steps to forgive $9 billion in student loans and announced manufacturers of the 10 drugs that were selected for negotiation have signed agreements to participate in the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug price negotiation program, the memo outlined.
“President Biden is eager to work with both parties on behalf of American families to make progress on the country’s top priorities. After singlehandedly causing a near-default crisis, a near shutdown, and the current state of instability, we hope they come around to the same posture,” Bates said.
He argued that Republicans should work with Biden on lowering drug prices and providing more funding for Ukraine, amid concerns over whether a new Speaker would include Ukraine funding in a spending bill.
“It’s incumbent on House Republicans to resolve their infighting as quickly as possible, and join President Biden in making more progress on the issues that affect millions of Americans every day,” Bates said.
When the House voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his speakership post on Tuesday, Biden called for the House to elect a new Speaker quickly.
The White House since then has said it won’t get involved with a new Speaker election and said it’s not their place to figure out who it should be.
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill
Federal court selects new Alabama congressional map, likely handing Democrats a seat at next House election
Federal judges have selected a new congressional map for Alabama on Thursday – one that includes an additional majority-black district that will likely give Democrats an additional seat in the House.
The selected map – Remedial Plan 3 – was approved by a panel of three federal court judges after ruling that the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature failed to remedy a Voting Rights Act violation when lawmakers adopted new lines this summer.
The judges made their selection from three remedial maps that were proposed by a court-appointed official after hearing objections from both parties. The new map, which replaces the Republican drawn lines, will be used for the 2024 elections.
The ruling, which orders the Alabama Secretary of State to administer the next election based on the selected map’s lines, states that “the Plaintiffs already suffered this irreparable injury once in this census cycle when they voted in 2022 under the unlawful 2021 Plan” and “will suffer an irreparable harm absent injunctive relief.”
SUPREME COURT DEALS FINAL BLOW TO ALABAMA GOP IN REDISTRICTING BATTLE
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a final blow to the congressional map drawn up by Alabama Republicans, permitting a court-appointed official to draw a map with greater representation for Black voters instead.
In a brief order, the high court rejected a petition from Alabama to reverse a lower court ruling that threw out a proposal from state lawmakers that did not include a second Black-majority district, as the Supreme Court previously directed. The ruling allowed a court-appointed special master to proceed with one of three proposals submitted last week that would create a second Black-majority congressional district in Alabama.
In addition to the Yellowhammer State’s existing majority-Black district, another one has nearly been added, giving Democrats the ability to pick up an extra seat in the House.
Black voters remain a strong Democratic constituency in the Yellowhammer State, and the new district would favor Democrats as both parties battle for control of the House in 2024. Lawsuits challenging GOP-led redistricting efforts are also pending in Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.
The state’s initial, GOP-proposed congressional map — that had one majority-Black district out of seven in a state where 27% of residents are Black — was denied last year by the three-judge panel.
The panel then issued the guidance to include a second Black-majority district or “something quite close.”
Alabama appealed the case to the Supreme Court and lost in June, with the justices ruling that lawmakers had diluted the voting power of the state’s Black residents.
However, instead of following the court’s directive to create a second majority-Black district, state lawmakers proposed a plan that would increase the percentage of Black voters represented in the Second Congressional District from 31% to 40%.
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The three-judge panel for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama said earlier this month they were “deeply disturbed” that the state’s redrawn map did not adhere to their guidance and appointed a special master to redraw the map instead.
Fox News’ Shannon Bream, Bill Mears, Chris Pandolfo, Lawrence Richard and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Race between Trump, Biden so close it will come down to one variable, survey concludes
A new survey shows that the presidential race between former President Trump and President Biden is thin, but Biden faces a deficit in terms of registered voters and the election will rest heavily on who mobilizes the most voters.
A new Marquette Law School national survey shows Trump with 51% of the vote compared to Biden at 48% among registered voters but reflects that Biden has a 51% to 49% advantage with people who are “likely” to vote.
“The difference in advantage shows how the outcome of the election may be determined by the success of respective efforts to mobilize voters over the coming 13 months,” the survey states.
The poll, taken between September 18 and 25, 2023, shows that registered voters who are “very” or “somewhat” enthusiastic about the 2024 election favor Trump by a margin of 54% to 46%.
TRUMP RUNS AWAY WITH DOUBLE-DIGIT LEAD OVER BIDEN, NEW GENERAL ELECTION POLL FINDS
The survey also polled voters on a matchup between Biden and Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, and the latter topped the president 51% to 48% among registered voters.
With likely voters, Biden leads 51% to 48%.
NO LONGER ‘ANY DISPUTE’ BIDEN ‘LIED’ ABOUT NEVER TALKING BUSINESS WITH HUNTER: GOP LAWMAKER
In terms of “reluctant” voters, Biden holds a lead of 51% to 47%.
The poll shows that 12% of voters will choose someone else besides Biden or Trump and 4% won’t vote.
“Registered voters view Trump as better able to handle the economy, immigration, inflation, creating jobs, and foreign relations, while Biden is seen as better at handling Medicare and Social Security, abortion policy, and climate change,” the survey says.
“A significant share say there is no difference or that neither candidate would be good on each issue.”
The survey was conducted among 1,007 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
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NJ congressional hopeful sues over ‘so help me God’ petition pledge
A New Jersey man who wants to run for Congress next year has sued the state over its requirement that candidates sign a nominating petition including the affirmation “so help me God.”
James Tosone, 70, plans to run for Congress in 2024 as a Libertarian. But as a nontheist, he said he cannot sign part of the petition required for candidates who run for office in New Jersey.
The Bergen County resident filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court against Secretary of State Tahesha Way, who also is the state’s lieutenant governor. It seeks an injunction preventing the state from requiring candidates to sign a petition including the religious oath.
“It’s an egregious violation of freedom of conscience, as well as our Constitution — to compel nontheists to take a religious oath,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, the co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that promotes separation of church and state. “This legal challenge seeks to put an end to this discriminatory and anachronistic practice.”
‘GOLD BAR BOB’ CHARGES NOT SURPRISING TO ANYONE: NJ MAYOR
Tosone, who refuses to sign the document, claimed the requirement is preventing him from running for office.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office declined comment.
Tosone said he contacted the state Division of Elections about the requirement and was told in November 2021 that the oath is required by state law.
The lawsuit claims Way has the authority to amend the petition form to enable nonbelievers to run for office and assert the truthfulness of their submitted information without having to “violate their conscience.”
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Manchin says state of emergency needed at southern border as Biden admin resumes wall construction
Democrat West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin called for a state of emergency at the southern border after the Biden administration resumed construction on the border wall.
Manchin said a state of emergency is needed at the southern border on Thursday after President Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would resume construction on the border wall started by former President Donald Trump.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the move late Wednesday as the House’s speaker fight takes center stage in the media, saying there is an “acute and immediate need” for the wall.
“Far-left Democrats in Washington have to come to grips with the fact that we have to shut down the border,” Manchin told Fox News Digital. “Similar to President Trump, the Biden administration should call a national emergency on the border because this crisis is impacting every corner of our country.”
“We must work together to create an immigration policy that gives people the chance to come here legally as well as strengthens our border security with additional Border Patrol agents, new technology and a border wall,” Manchin continued.
In a Thursday “Morning Joe” interview, Manchin said there needs to be a wall along areas of the southern border that are being hit hard by the droves of illegal immigrants surging into America.
Noting that Mayorkas is “good people” who he works with, the West Virginia senator said the Biden administration needs to declare a state of emergency at the southern border “and shut it down tight.”
“The administration, the president has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ And what Trump did, he basically declared a state of emergency,” Manchin said.
“You have to build the wall. There’s areas we need the wall, and there’s areas where we need technology,” the senator continued.
The wall’s construction is a broken promise for Biden, who railed against Trump’s signature issue during the 2020 campaign and halted construction after taking the presidency.
Mayorkas is citing an “acute and immediate need” to waive dozens of federal laws to build a border wall in south Texas where illegal migration has surged.
The agency posted an announcement on the U.S. Federal Register that outlines construction in Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, where the administration says there is “high illegal entry.” The agency says there have been over 245,000 migrant encounters in the sector this fiscal year.
Mayorkas says he is using his authority provided by Congress to waive 26 federal laws, including the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act.
“There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas pursuant to sections 102(a) and 102(b) of [the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996],” Mayorkas said.
The administration had put a halt to new border wall construction in early 2021, after Biden had promised as a presidential candidate that there would “not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.” The administration said wall construction under the Trump administration was “just one example of the prior administration’s misplaced priorities and failure to manage migration in a safe, orderly and humane way.”
However, the construction is funded by the fiscal year 2019 DHS appropriations bill, which specifically funded wall projects in the RGV Sector and which DHS is required to use for its appropriated purpose.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced plans for up to 20 miles of wall in the RGV Sector in June. The administration previously made moves to close gaps and replace gates and says such projects prioritize the completion of activities and projects to address life, safety and operational risks – including the safety of individuals, Border Patrol agents and migrants.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed reporting.
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Poll: Rising Number of Americans Against Arming Ukraine
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