Extreme Commanders

A thread for political issues that aren't necessarily federal or related to Trump and Musk.

Controversial Christian nationalist legislation introduced in North Dakota House

At the start of the new legislative session, a group of North Dakota legislators put forward a potentially unconstitutional resolution that would have the state “acknowledge the Kingship of Jesus Christ.”

“Whereas, the founding fathers of this great state begin the constitution with the words, ‘We’, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God … We desire there shall be a recognition of Almighty God as the source of authority; of the Lord Jesus Christ as the rightful ruler of nations…” the text for House Concurrent Resolution 3020 reads.

Many of these same lawmakers also introduced another bill urging the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that legalized gay marriage across all 50 states.

HCR 3020 could be considered unconstitutional; the First Amendment clearly states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Furthermore, one of the most influential Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, wrote favorably of religious pluralism.

Click on the link for the full article

House Republicans mull taxes on scholarships and changes to student loan programs

As Republicans in Congress look for ways to slash spending, some legislators are floating new taxes on college scholarships, an end to student loan repayment plans and a big hike in taxes on university endowments.

The ideas affecting higher education are among many in circulation among House committees that are exploring ways to cover the cost of extending and expanding tax cuts passed in President Donald Trump’s first term.

The recommendations are still evolving, and it’s unclear how close any of them will get to being implemented. Regardless, advocates across higher education say they are alarmed to see such proposals gain traction at all with Republicans.

The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce has suggested several possible ways to overhaul student loan programs. Some would reduce student access to federal aid for college.

On the chopping block potentially are several plans students can opt into to repay their students loans, including the SAVE plan introduced by the Biden administration. That plan doesn’t require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225% of the federal poverty line — $32,800 a year for a single person — and prevents interest from adding to balances as long as borrowers make their monthly payments. The SAVE plan was already put on hold after Republicans challenged it. Some plans do not appear to be targeted, including one that caps loan payments based on borrowers’ income level.

Another possible change would give borrowers additional opportunities to recover from defaults. While they currently can rehabilitate their loans just once, allowing them to make a certain number of consecutive payments to get out of default, the proposal would allow them to go through that process twice. The committee projected the new process could save the government millions of dollars but did not spell out how.

Scholarships and fellowships have been exempt from taxes as long as they are used for tuition and related expenses. That would change under another proposal that’s up for consideration.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act currently requires some private nonprofit colleges and universities to pay a 1.4% tax on income from their endowments, which raised about $244 million from 58 institutions in 2022. The committee suggests increasing that to a 14% tax and expanding which colleges would have to pay it.

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The Plot Against America

As I write this in early 2025, a quiet revolution is unfolding within the U.S. government. Inside the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), teams of young tech operatives are systematically dismantling democratic institutions and replacing them with proprietary artificial intelligence systems. Civil servants who raise legal objections are being removed. Government databases are being migrated to private servers. Decision-making power is being transferred from elected officials and career bureaucrats to algorithms controlled by a small network of Silicon Valley elites. This isn't a spontaneous coup—it's the culmination of a dangerous ideology that has been meticulously developed since the 2008 financial crisis, one that sees democracy itself as obsolete technology ready to be “disrupted.” To understand how we reached this critical moment, and why it threatens the very foundation of democratic governance, we need to trace the evolution of an idea: that democracy is not just inefficient, but fundamentally incompatible with technological progress.

DOGE is not about efficiency. It is about erasure. Democracy is being deleted in slow motion, replaced by proprietary technology and AI models. It is a coup, executed not with guns, but with backend migrations and database wipes.

What follows is not speculation or dystopian fiction. It is a carefully documented account of how a dangerous ideology, born in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, has moved from the fringes of tech culture to the heart of American governance.

The story of how it begins starts sixteen years ago.

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, marking the largest failure of an investment bank since the Great Depression. This event catalyzed the global financial crisis, leading to widespread economic hardship and a profound loss of faith in established institutions.

In the aftermath of the crisis, several key figures emerged who would go on to shape a new movement in American politics.

Curtis Yarvin, writing under the pseudonym Mencius Moldbug, had been developing a critique of modern democracy on his blog Unqualified Reservations since 2007. As the financial crisis unfolded, Yarvin applied his unconventional analysis to the economic turmoil.

In a 2008 post, “The Misesian explanation of the bank crisis,” Yarvin wrote:

Briefly: the fundamental cause of the bank crisis is not evil Republicans, lying Democrats, 'deregulation,' 'affirmative-action lending,' or even 'ludicrous levels of leverage.' A banking system is like a nuclear reactor: a complicated piece of engineering. If it's engineered right, it works 100% of the time. If it's engineered wrong, it works 99.99% of the time, and the other 0.01% it coats the entire tri-state area in radioactive strontium.

Click on the link for the full analysis

NC Senate votes to limit how many treatments health insurance companies can be required to cover

Health insurance companies couldn't be required to cover any more procedures than they already are under a new bill advancing in the state legislature. The measure passed the state Senate on Wednesday, but it's unclear how the bill might fare in the state House of Representatives.

North Carolina currently requires major insurers to pay for 58 medical procedures. Everything else is optional or negotiable. Under Senate Bill 24, that list could never grow larger. That means if people wanted to push for a treatment to be covered in the future, they could only make that happen by removing something else from the list, and turning it into an optional coverage.

Critics fear the bill will pit patients and advocacy groups against one another, arguing over whose medical problems are more deserving of treatment. Supporters, however, say North Carolina's medical costs are already sky-high and hope the measure will prevent health insurance from becoming even more expensive.

"This will ensure that we're not imposing additional burdens on the health system," said the bill's lead sponsor Sen. Jim Burgin, R-Harnett, on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Burgin has also said he thinks the state requires insurance companies to cover too many things already.

“There's 58 mandated coverages,” Burgin said in a committee hearing Tuesday. “You know, I tell people all the time, God only had to have 10 commandments.”

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Right, because commandments and health conditions are comparable.

Now lets reveal how much each of these NC Senators are receiving in health care insurance company [s]bribes[/s] donations.

Nazi flags can fly in Utah schools, but not pride flags, GOP lawmaker says

An ongoing fight in Utah to ban pride flags in schools entered new territory Thursday after Rep. Trevor Lee proposed new legislation to ban the flags not just in public schools, but in any government building or on any government property.

The bill, HB0077, originally applied only to schools. But an update to the bill released ahead of Thursday’s House Education Committee hearing expands the ban to all government buildings or property. The updated bill was favorably recommended by the committee, with the committee’s two Democrats — Reps. Sahara Hayes and Carol Moss — casting the only “nays.” It will now be heard on the full House floor.

Approved flags for display in government buildings and schools would include the Utah state and U.S. flags, military flags, flags for other countries, flags for Native American tribes and official flags for colleges and universities. The bill also allows for the flying of a “historic version of a flag ... that is temporarily displayed for educational purposes,” which Lee, R-Layton, said would include the Confederate and Nazi flags.

“We are starting to see increasingly more hostile-type interactions between different political factions that we have within our society, and that is no different than what we’re starting to see a lot within our education system,” Lee said while presenting the bill to the committee Thursday. “Our schools should be a place for children to learn, to not feel like they are being pushed or seen as agendas in one way other another as it pertains to political beliefs.”

When he first introduced the bill, Lee said on the social media platform X that his goal was to ban pride flags. But Nazi and Confederate flags, he told the committee Thursday, would be included in the approved flags.

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I'm pretty sure this is our boy Hersh, making some righteous waves.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/polit ... 26924.html

Fwiw, Mediocre White Men would make a great band name. Especially if it's an Asian all girl death metal band.

Why does science denialism in Florida not surprise me?

State senator files bill to ban fluoride in drinking water statewide

Tavares Republican state senator Keith Truenow filed a bill that would ban fluoride in public water systems across the state.

The bill, which looks to address a number of agricultural issues, will also prohibit local governments across the state from adding fluoride to public water systems.

Fluoride has been added to public water since the mid-2oth century and has support from groups like the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control.

"Patients need to be able to make their own decisions, and we support what it is and work within what patients believe." said Dr. Troy Gessner, owner of Springs Family Dentistry.

Like many other dentists, Gessner says that fluoride is helpful for preventing cavities and strengthening enamel.

"There's a lot of information that supports the use of fluoride to decrease cavity risk, and there's multiple avenues, but the best that we found is the topical applications," he said.

But the practice has come under scrutiny from the Florida Surgeon General and other advocates who have expressed concern with the widespread use of flouride.

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My town doesn’t use Fluoride anymore and think it’s been that way for a year.