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Brenna

@brenmcelf.bsky.social
582 followers 1.4K following 10 posts
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Reposted by Brenna
The Shumater @theshumater.bsky.social · 22h
NY Times asked experts about strategies to improve education, based on cost and effectiveness. School voucher subsidies - on which Arkansas is now wasting $400M a year - were the worst option. Universal pre-K would be more effective. #arpx #arnews #arleg buff.ly/xqFzCok
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Harris County TX. He's hospitalized: "ICE claimed the man ran in front of the agents' vehicle and was struck. However, the surveillance video appears to show the SUV veering left through empty parking spaces before running the man over..." abc7.com/story/ice-ru...
abc7.com
ICE agent strikes man with car during pursuit in Texas, authorities say: VIDEO
Surveillance video shows the moment an unmarked SUV carrying ICE agents ran over a man during a pursuit at a shopping center in Texas.
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Adam Cohen (My Personal Views Only) @axidentaliberal.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Trump promised Youngstown, Ohio he’d save their manufacturing plant. It closed They still voted for him He promised that Foxconn would build a plant in Ohio. Never happened Once again, they voted for him Now Ohio faces huge layoffs as Trump declares he’s on the midterm ballot What will Ohio do
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 04/10/2026
There are new and specific numbers in this story, so it’s worth reading. I continue to resent the lack of credit to Nick Schwellenbach at @pogo.org, Dan Friedman at @motherjones.com, and me, who have previously reported every other aspect of this story, including that the sale prices were very high.
Kristi Noem's Agency Gave Her Donor a Lucrative Contract Just Before She
Left
The Homeland Security Department signed a multi-million dollar agreement to buy five aircraft from a company owned by a political contributor of the secretary on her last day, documents show.
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The fundraising texts you delete are working on someone. It’s infuriating and heartbreaking. An 85yo in Ohio gave more than double the value of his home. A 91yo in an Indianapolis senior facility gave 25K times. The DCCC/DSCC don’t just tolerate the spammers who exploit seniors. They take part.
data4democracy.substack.com
Hook and Squeeze
How Democratic consultants, committees, and party leaders built a fundraising spam pipeline that funnels money from a captive pool of elderly donors into their own operations.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 08/08/2026
New in PN: How everyday Americans are forced to fund Trump's corruption "A Public Notice-American Doom analysis shows Trump is spending nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer dollars to fund his many renovation projects. Meanwhile, Trump and his family’s crypto schemes have raked in more than $2.25b."
publicnotice.co
How everyday Americans are forced to fund Trump's corruption
On top of his self-dealing, taxpayers are spending billions on his vanity projects.
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Adrienne LaFrance @adriennelaf.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
GREAT SCOOP from @michaelscherer.bsky.social: National Park Service projects are now being defunded to cover President Trump’s Washington renovation spree. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
A White House Makeover, Brought to You by Struggling National Parks
Park projects are being defunded to cover President Trump’s Washington renovation spree.
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Zander Furnas @alexanderfurnas.com · 17/07/2026
see also screwworm
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The Shumater @theshumater.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Arkansas has a $655M surplus and wastes nearly $400M a year on school vouchers. But we can't find the money to support daycare for 16K low-income kids. Make it make sense. #arpx #arnews #arleg
buff.ly
Arkansas daycare providers reducing services, shutting doors 8 months after state funding cuts | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
In September, Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said the federal government had cut roughly $8 million from the state's planned quarterly grant payment, and that state officials had to make…
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
NEWS --> Three men who were in the van with the victim of the ICE shooting in Texas are potential witnesses, but they're now under pressure to self-deport, a rep for the families tells me. They remain in detention even as ICE's story falters. Details in this piece: newrepublic.com/article/2129...
newrepublic.com
Texas ICE Killing Darkens: Rep Says Witnesses Pressured to Self-Deport
There were three others in the van with the man shot by ICE in Houston this week. A represenative for the families tells TNR that the government is pressuring these potential witnesses to self-deport.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Other people are mere counters in their game. Oh whoops, you fell off the board. Never mind. Yet somehow these sick-minded people, who don't in any way reflect the attitude of the general population, come to dominate our politics and our media. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
When the right denies the true danger of heatwaves, ask yourself this: whose children’s lives is it willing to risk? | George Monbiot
The class politics of extreme heat are very real and very dangerous – but that doesn’t stop the billionaire press from peddling its agenda, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
I open and end the piece with a quote from James Baldwin: “American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” This should be the paradigm that guides our historical analysis and political imagination.
steady.page
From the Declaration to Donald Trump
Wrestling with a history that is complicated, inspiring, frustrating, uplifting, and horrifying. A continuity of conflict, 1776-2026
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tomwellborn3rd @wellborn.net · 05/07/2026
Republicans may be running out the clock on disclosing whether McConnell is even alive, purely so a filing deadline slides past and Thomas Massie can't grab the seat. A man's actual mortality reduced to a procedural loophole for gatekeeping power.
rawstory.com
Journalists float astonishing theory around silence surrounding Mitch McConnell’s health
With Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) health status still unclear after his latest medical incident, multiple journalists have offered a stunning theory for why his office and fellow Republicans have remained largely silent.McConnell was rushed to the hospital in mid-June for an undisclosed medical rea...
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Jezebel @jezebeldotcom.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Presidential corruption hits mind-boggling new high as Trump's sons just showed up in a $1.6 billion bonanza orchestrated by their dad www.jezebel.com/trump-kazakh...
jezebel.com
Why Is Trump Making a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal in Kazakhstan?
Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 24/06/2026
Sen. Slotkin on Donald Trump: "He's literally left…Sen. Thune, on the stage right now, canceled the signing of a housing bill like eight minutes ago until we pass the SAVE Act, this obsession he has, which will disenfranchise a huge number of voters."
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 24/06/2026
Sen. Peters: "Yes or no, if a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposed rule?" Postmaster General David Steiner: "Under our proposed regulation, no."
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
This piece just won 1st place at the Southern Christian Writers Conference Writing Awards Contest in the newspaper category! Congratulations @solcrenshawjr.bsky.social!
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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
1. Progressive Champions PAC, a super PAC created last month, says on its website that its mission is to “elect bold, progressive candidates up and down the ballot.” A Popular Information investigaiton reveals that it's a GOP front group. Following along for receipts. 🧵
popular.info
Progressive Champions PAC is a GOP front
Progressive Champions PAC, a super PAC created last month, says on its website that its mission is to “elect bold, progressive candidates up and down the ballot.” On Friday, according to FCC records,…
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Leslie Gray Streeter @lesliegraystreeter.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
ICE detained people at my kid's school today, shaking him so much that he begged me to bring him home, but to bring his passport so he could prove he's an American. They are coming for us all. And now my kid knows. I hate this. www.thebanner.com/opinion/colu...
thebanner.com
Streeter: ICE detained people outside my child’s school and forever changed him
COLUMN | My son called me panicked as ICE detained people outside his Baltimore City public school. It’s forever changed him — and me, too.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
NEW — I wrote about my visit to Delaney Hall, the ICE facility in Newark, NJ where detainees are on a hunger and labor strike in protest of rotten food, unpaid work, and unjust detainment, and where protesters outside have spent the last week drawing ICE's ire while keeping strikers' demands alive.
thehandbasket.co
Starved, smashed and bloodied: The violence at ICE’s Delaney Hall
Brutality towards detainees and protesters continues to unfold in Newark, NJ. The Handbasket was on-site to report.
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L.A. TACO @lataco.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Daily Memo: Around 500 People Are Now On A Hunger Strike at Five ICE Detention Centers Across the U.S. It started with one man from Cuba at the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico, who has been in ICE detention since last August. Full report: lataco.com/huger-strike...
lataco.com
Daily Memo: Around 500 People Are Now On A Hunger Strike at Five ICE Detention Centers Across the U.S. ~ L.A. TACO
It started with one man from Cuba at the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico, who has been in ICE detention since last August.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
KAT WON. FUCK ICE.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
REUTERS: “Enrique Tarrio, Proud Boys leader sentenced ‌to 22 years for seditious conspiracy over the January 6, 2021 riot, said he planned to get between $2 & $5 million.” We are so far off the cliff. 🇺🇸 www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
In earlier times, when things actually mattered, the resignation would already have happened.
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The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Data centers are responsible for a 76% increase in the cost of electricity in the largest US grid www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Data Centers Drive 76% Rise in Power Bills on Largest US Grid
Power prices on the largest electric grid in the US jumped 76% in the first quarter due to rampant demand from data centers, adding to pressure on its operator to alleviate the strain on consumers.
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Zeteo @zeteo.com · 15/05/2026
Trump Wants to Give $1.7 Billion of YOUR Money to HIS Pals @mehdirhasan.bsky.social on the biggest Trump corruption scandal of them all. Plus: the latest War Powers vote on Iran fails in Congress, again. Read here: zeteo.com/p/trump-want...
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Eric Schmeltzer @ericschmeltzer.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Holy shit this piece will melt some eyeballs. Writer argues Dems need to take drastic, even once-unimaginable tactics in response to Voting Rights Act being gutted. He writes: "Patience is the enemy now" and we have to stop asking people for it. betterdonkey.substack.com/p/the-vra-wa...
betterdonkey.substack.com
The VRA Was the Nice Version
SCOTUS has forced our hands, and now patience is our enemy.
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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The rule appears to be that redistricting is always legal when it benefits Republicans and never legal when it benefits Democrats.
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Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi @congressmanraja.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
While American families pay more at the pump and grocery store, the Trump family appears to be cashing in on defense contracts. The Pentagon must answer serious questions about conflicts of interest and self-dealing. www.commondreams.org/news/cost-of-i…
commondreams.org
Economist: Don't Listen to Hegseth, Trump's Iran War Will Cost 'Very Possibly Trillions' | Common Dreams
University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers challenges the Pentagon's lowball $25 billion estimate for Trump's illegal war on Iran.
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Morgan Fairchild @morgfair.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
'Limbs on runway': Plane horror hours after transportation chief's reality show reveal www.rawstory.com/sean-duffy-r...
rawstory.com
'Limbs on runway': Plane horror hours after transportation chief's reality show reveal
A person was killed at Denver International Airport after trespassing onto a runway and being sucked into a Frontier Airlines jet engine Friday night — just hours after Transportation Secretary Sean D...
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Julie Novkov @jnovkov.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
This amazing image really captures the Tennessee fight and it's all over the internet. I am reposting it to encourage people to credit photographer Nicole Hester and the Tennessean.
Rep. Justin Pearson D- Memphis attempts to attend a Senate Committee meeting and is denied entry by the Sergeant at Arms on the second day of special session concerning redistricting at Cordell Hull State Office Building in Nashville on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.
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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 08/05/2026
Photo by @nicolehester.bsky.social for The Tennesseean www.tennessean.com/picture-gall...
Caption via The Tennessean: 

Rep. Justin Pearson D- Memphis attempts to attend a Senate Committee meeting and is denied entry by the Sergeant at Arms on the second day of special session concerning redistricting at Cordell Hull State Office Building in Nashville on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.
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Ari Berman @ariberman.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
"The Callais decision has been catastrophic in substance and timing. The Roberts Court not only dismantled the country’s most important civil rights law, but put its thumb on the scale of the 2026 elections, turbocharging Trump’s gerrymandering arms race" www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
After SCOTUS destroyed the Voting Rights Act, Southern states rush to pass Jim Crow voting maps
“We’re seeing the greatest purge of Black power since the era of Reconstruction.”
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Mia Farrow @miafarrow.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Republicans propose $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for Trump's ballroom www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/u...
nytimes.com
G.O.P. Proposes $1 Billion in Immigration Bill for Trump’s Ballroom Project
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Republicans want to spend $1 billion in taxpayer money on Trump's $400 million ballroom.
ms.now
Republicans want to spend $1 billion in taxpayer money on Trump’s $400 million ballroom
The controversial vanity project was already unpopular. The GOP’s planned use of public funds is poised to make matters worse.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
My own view is that the central problem with today’s #SCOTUS is the extent to which it isn’t—and doesn’t think it should be—accountable to other government institutions, especially Congress. Today’s “One First” walks through eight of the levers Congress *used* to pull to keep the justices in line:
stevevladeck.com
225. How Congress Used to Leverage the Court
History is replete with examples of Congress using its powers to leverage, nudge, and even threaten the Supreme Court. A big part of how we got to where we are is that Congress has stopped doing so.
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Josh McLaurin @joshforgeorgia.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
“More blue districts” is not the same as protecting Black voting power - this is something that must be made clear as the VRA is demolished and redistricting wars continue to escalate
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
🚨BREAKING: Newly obtained documents show a clear paper trail of Trump administration officials planning to share sensitive voter data with an outside political group trying to overturn elections, as part of a secret agreement. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
Exclusive: New records show paper trail of DOGE voter data pact with election deniers
The documents provide the clearest evidence to date that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel engaged with an outside political group seeking to analyze voter rolls in an effort to cha...
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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
The Iran War has cost $25 billion so far, Jules Hurst tells the House Armed Services Committee. Hurst is acting Under Secretary of Defense and CFO. First time a top DOD official has put a price tag on this, after weeks of Trump officials dodging the Q.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
This is correct. There is no future of democratic self government in the US with an unreformed Supreme Court. The Court is riddled with corruption and abuses of power and rooting out that corruption is a sine qua non of civic democracy in the United States.
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Lorraine Montez @lorrainemontez.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
@bsky.app @safety.bsky.app Mrs. Betty Bowers is an extremely popular account and has been around social media for years and years. What the hell are you doing?!
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Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
A “former Palantir executive recently confirmed what many have long suspected. In a public stmt, the whistleblower said it plainly: Palantir intended to take over the US government, & many of his former colleagues are now installed inside the federal apparatus. He called it an occupied nation.” 1/
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
This is insane, tinpot authoritarian shit. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/u...
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 22/04/2026
Pulitzer-worthy reporting here from Minnesota immigrant news @sahanjournal.bsky.social. 70+ children detained during Operation MetroSurge. 30 sent to Dilley. Two dozen held >20 days, a Flores violation. 7 still detained as of March 10. ~20 have been deported. sahanjournal.com/immigration/...
sahanjournal.com
ICE detained more than 70 Minnesota children, data reveals
Immigration officials detained more than 70 Minnesota children between Dec. 1 and March 10, a Sahan analysis of court records and federal deportation data shows.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
NEW REPUBLIC: “Where Did Millions in Funding Go?” $63 MILLION companies paid in *settlements* to Trump appears to have vanished (into his pocket) and @SenWarren wants answers. newrepublic.com/article/2092...
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Adam Parkhomenko @adamparkhomenko.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
If you watch and share one thing today make at this. Why is every democrat in the country not talking like this?
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ARX⚡️501 @50501arkansas.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
⚠️ CENTRAL ARKANSAS. Google wants to dredge 16 acres of wetlands near Fourche Creek for a massive data center. We are the Natural State. Not Google's sacrifice zone. Comment by May 1 👇 rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs Email: Michael.R.Gala@usace.army.mil Request a public hearing. Force their hand. ✊
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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
I used to write the WaPo editorials on US-Africa policy, as well on as human rights and politics on the continent. To describe hundreds of thousands of deaths on the continent as “messy” is an absolute abomination.
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 28/03/2026
We need to know how much energy data centers use – and if YOU are subsidizing the costs of Big Tech companies. Making this data public is the bare minimum.
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