blocked::https://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/dont-get-demoralized-get-organized-take-back-the-20/37385\">posted a list of House Democrats who voted for health care reform with crosshairs aimed at their locations. In a March 23 tweet about her map, Palin \u003Ca href=\"https://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSarahPalinUSA%2Fstatus%2F10935548053\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"blocked::https://mediamatters.org/rd?to=https://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/status/10935548053\u003Cbr /> blocked::https://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/status/10935548053\">wrote: \" 'Don't Retreat, Instead -- RELOAD!' \" Palin's list was criticized by conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who introduced and endorsed Palin during the 2008 campaign, as helping foster a climate of violent rhetoric. Hasselbeck added that the list is \"purely despicable\" and \"insane.\" Beck: \"Grab a torch.\" Asserting that politicians are addicted to spending, Beck stated: \"When do we ever run those who are bankrupting our country and literally stealing our children's future out of town? Grab a torch.\" [Glenn Beck, 1/6/10] Huckabee: Members of Congress \"should be tarred and feathered as the original tea partiers would have done.\" As RightWingWatch.org noted, Fox News host Mike Huckabee said of members of Congress in January: HUCKABEE: Every member of Congress knows in his gut what's in the people's interest and what's in K Street's interest. If you think your real boss is some smug guy in a corner office with his Gucci loafers up on a mahogany deck and not the folks back home, those folks who voted for you, who gave you 25 or 50 hard-earned bucks, who put up yard signs and made calls for you, you deserve to lose. Shame on you, you shouldn't just be fired, you should be tarred and feathered as the original tea partiers would have done. That's my view and I welcome yours. [Fox News' Huckabee,1/25/10] Stossel said he has \"Barney Frank in effigy\" hanging above his sofa. In a February 3 interview with New York magazine, when Fox Business host John Stossel was asked, \"What's hanging above your sofa?\" he responded: \"Barney Frank in effigy.\" [New York, 2/3/10] Morris: \"Those crazies in Montana who say, 'We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case.\" During a long conspiracy theory about a \"super-national authority\" that will oversee U.S. financial institutions, Fox News contributor Dick Morris asserted that because President Obama's policies are \"internationalist ... [t]hose crazies in Montana who say, 'We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case.\" [Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, 3/31/09] Beck portrays Obama, Democrats as vampires, suggests \"driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers.\" Beck aired a graphic portraying Obama and Democrats as vampires and said, \"The government is full of vampires, and they are trying to suck the lifeblood out of the economy.\" Beck then suggested \"driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers.\" [Glenn Beck, 3/30/09] Beck: \"To the day I die, I am going to be a progressive hunter.\" Telling his listeners that they \"are going to learn so much on Friday,\" Beck compared himself to \"Israeli Nazi hunters\" and commented, \"I'm going to find these big progressives and, to the day I die, I'm going to be a progressive hunter.\" He added: BECK: I'm going to find these people that have done this to our -- you know, to our country, and expose them. I don't care where -- I don't care if they're in nursing homes. I'm going to expose what they have done and make sure that the people understand, because our Constitution, our republic -- if it survives -- it will only survive because the people are waking up and through the grace of God, because we are that close to losing our republic. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 1/20/10] Beck: \"This is the end of prosperity in America forever ... the end of America as you know it.\" Telling his audience, \"You must not allow this to pass,\" Beck stated in November 2009 that \"they're going to get passed that 60-vote barrier. And they'll get there by people like [Sen.] Joe Lieberman, who's a reasonable guy and has good intent. You'll get passed it by people like that, who say, you know what? Look, we got to be reasonable; we have to have a debate. And then Harry Reid will go for the 51 count and he'll pass this thing. And it will be a nail in the coffin of America.\" Beck added: \"You must -- must get on the phone in your districts. You must wake everybody up you know. This is the end of prosperity in America forever if this bill passes. This is the end of America as you know it.\" [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 11/19/09] Beck: \"[T]he fundamental transformation of America is complete.\" Beck also said: \"Not only are they doing health care, but they are doing education in this same bill. Education and health care.\" He added: \"It is overwhelming the system. And I'm telling you, if this bill passes -- health care and education all in one bill -- if this passes, the fundamental transformation of America is complete. There's no going back from this point. It must not pass.\" [The Glenn Beck Program, 3/15/10] Beck: \"If you can be deemed someone who maybe shouldn't have a baby, they can have their people come in.\" Beck said on his Fox News show: \"You know and I know in this 2,300-page bill that includes education, the control that this government has is endless. They will -- if this passes, they will control every aspect of your life.\" Beck further said: \"They will be able to -- there is places in here that if you can be deemed someone who maybe shouldn't have a baby, they can have their people come in. The government is in our homes on this.\" [Glenn Beck, 3/16/10] Beck: We lose \"the Democratic Party to the socialists.\" On his March 19 Fox News program, Beck stated: \"If this passes, I think it makes the election of people like Lindsey Graham, who are the compromise with big government, darn near impossible, because you can't tone this one down. You've got to pull this back by strong constitutionalists. Don't we -- if this passes, don't we lose, really, the Democratic Party to the socialists? And the Republican Party either has to be, you know, real federalists, real people that understand controlled power, or you are going to have a third party?\" [Glenn Beck,3/19/10] Moore: \"This is a dark day for America if we pass this bill.\" Discussing the market reaction to passing the health bill, The Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore said on Fox News: \"I think personally -- I think that the markets have always thought for the last year and a half that eventually this day would come. And I think, by the way, this is a dark day for America if we pass this bill.\" [America's News HQ, 3/21/10] Cal Thomas claimed health reform \"is an outrage\" and \"a sham\"; \"[e]uthanasia is coming.\" On Fox News' America's News HQ, Thomas said the health bill is \"a triumph of the humanistic, atheistic philosophy. Instead of being endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, those rights are going to be taken away by bureaucrats who will decide whether you get a hip replacement or a heart bypass, based on your age and your ability to pay more taxes.\" He continued: THOMAS: It is an outrage. It is a sham. Euthanasia is coming. You can call them death panels. That's exactly what they're going to be. We are going to really be sorry for this, but, unfortunately, when the guy in the white robe comes to give us our little pill, as President Obama told ABC, the 100-year-old woman who wants to live must get in order to make it equal for everybody and not to spend so much, it will be too late. [America's News HQ, 11/21/09] Hannity: \"If we get nationalized health care, it's over; this is socialism.\" In November 2009, Sean Hannity said, \"When you look at the extreme czars, and you look at Barack Obama, and you look at the Barack Obama that portrayed himself one year ago as a very different candidate, you know, why -- I feel like I have been vindicated. I was excoriated for saying he is far more radical than people know. You know, what do you see about him? Do you think he is far -- do you think he's a socialist? Do you think he's -- because I think this is -- if we get nationalized health care, it's over. This is socialism, and that's a kind word.\" [Fox News' Hannity,11/2/09]","author":{"@type":"Person","description":"Newswire Editor is a Common Dreams staff position.","identifier":"25413159","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8zMjg5OTM0MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTc4ODc3OTc4NH0.Kro-XRoA7MB_ddUbc_2x6KjtfCnnkFR_VUghmVRfeoE/image.png?width=210"},"name":"newswireeditor","url":"https://www.commondreams.org/author/newswireeditor"},"dateModified":"2022-12-22T00:19:57Z","datePublished":"2010-04-08T15:28:43Z","description":"Media Matters' Burns: There are "real consequences" to network's history of violent rhetoric","headline":"Pelosi Death Threats Linked to Fox News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"600","representativeOfPage":"True","url":"","width":"1200"},"isAccessibleForFree":"True","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/04/08/pelosi-death-threats-linked-fox-news","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.commondreams.org/","@type":"Organization","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"511","url":"https://assets.rbl.ms/32373543/origin.png","width":"1501"},"name":"Common Dreams","sameAs":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Dreams","https://www.facebook.com/commondreams.org","https://twitter.com/commondreams"],"url":"https://www.commondreams.org/"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":["h1",".widget__subheadline",".social-author",".body-description"]}},{"@id":"https://www.commondreams.org/","@type":"Organization","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressCountry":"USA","addressLocality":"Portland","addressRegion":"Maine","postalCode":"04112","streetAddress":"PO Box 443"},"alternateName":"CommonDreams.org","contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","availableLanguage":"English","email":"info@commondreams.org","telephone":"+1-207-775-0488","url":"https://www.commondreams.org"},"ethicsPolicy":"https://www.commondreams.org/ethics-policy","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"511","representativeOfPage":"True","url":"https://assets.rbl.ms/32373543/origin.png","width":"1501"},"name":"Common Dreams","nonprofitStatus":"Nonprofit501c3","publishingPrinciples":"https://www.commondreams.org/publishing-principles","sameAs":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Dreams","https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0010146/","https://www.facebook.com/commondreams.org","https://twitter.com/commondreams","https://www.instagram.com/commondreams/"],"telephone":"207-775-0488","url":"https://www.commondreams.org/"}]}
Pelosi Death Threats Linked to Fox News | Common Dreams
Media Matters' Burns: There are "real consequences" to network's history of violent rhetoric
WASHINGTON
Today, after the mother of
Gregory
Giusti -- the man arrested for allegedly threatening Speaker Nancy
Pelosi's life over health care reform -- stated that Fox News was a
factor in her son's alleged actions, Media
Matters for America released the following statement:
"The violent language and scare
tactics we see on Fox News every day have real consequences," said
Eric
Burns, President of Media Matters. "This is a network that ran a 14-month
campaign against health care reform,
which left their viewers confused and angry. The question is, now
that one of those viewers has allegedly threatened Speaker Pelosi's life
over health care reform, is Fox News going to do anything about it?"
BACKGROUND
On April 7, the Los Angeles Timesreported
that "[s]everal
federal officials say the man [Giusti]
made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and
Washington, D.C., and to her husband's business office. The suspect
allegedly
recited her home address and said that if she wanted to see it again,
she
should not support the healthcare overhaul bill that was recently
signed."
The same day, Giusti's
mother, Eleanor Giusti, made the following comments to ABC's San
Francisco affiliate,
KGO-TV:
ELEANOR GIUSTI: Greg has -- frequently gets in with
a
group of people that have really radical ideas and that are not
consistent with
myself or the rest of the family and -- which gets him into problems.
And
apparently I would say this must be another one that somehow he's gotten
onto
either by -- I'd say Fox News or all of those that are really radical,
and he
-- that's where he comes from.
As Media Matters has
noted, Fox News hosts and guests have repeatedly
used
violent rhetoric and apocalyptic language to describe health care reform
and other issues. Additionally,
a number of network personalities have a history of issuing
inflammatory
remarks about Pelosi.
Most notably, Glenn Beck discussed "put[ting] poison" in Pelosi's wine:
INFLAMMATORY REMARKS
ABOUT PELOSI
Beck
talks about "put[ting] poison" in Pelosi's wine.
Glenn Beck stated:
BECK: So, Speaker Pelosi, I just wanted to -- you
gonna drink your wine? Are you blind? Do those eyes not work? There you
-- I
want you to drink it now. Drink it. Drink it. Drink it.
I really just wanted to thank you for having me
over
here to wine country. You know, to be invited, I thought I had to be a
major
Democratic donor or a longtime friend of yours, which I'm not.
By the way, I put poison in your -- no, I -- I look
forward to all the policy discussions that we're supposed to have -- you
know,
on health care, energy reform, and the economy. [Glenn Beck, 8/6/09]
Cal
Thomas: Pelosi's "deliberately provocative" walk across Capitol
was like "the march through Skokie,
Illinois, by the
Nazis." Columnist Cal Thomas said, "When Nancy
Pelosi went through those tea partiers, it was like -- what should
we
analogize this to? -- the march through Skokie, Illinois,
by the Nazis. It was deliberately provocative. They wanted a
reaction." [Fox News Watch, 3/27/10]
Fox & Friends re-enacts
pro-life
heckler who told Pelosi to "burn in hell." Co-host Steve
Doocy played a heckler who shouted, "Nancy Pelosi, you'll burn in
hell!" during a Pelosi speech while co-host Alisyn Camerota
imitated
Pelosi. After they re-enacted the events, co-host Peter Johnson Jr.
laughed. [Fox & Friends, 10/30/09]
Beck
asks if Pelosi was "inciting" tea partiers with House gavel --
"a big hammer." Beck asked, "If [Pelosi]
was really worried about violence and she thought these people were
violent, why would you grab a big hammer and walk into a sea of
these
people?" He later asked, "Did anyone say to Nancy Pelosi,
'You're inciting these people. You're slapping them across the
face'?"
[Glenn Beck, 3/25/10]
O'Reilly
says Pelosi is pushing "Fidel Castro stuff." Bill
O'Reilly stated that "Nancy Pelosi and her far-left crew want to
raise
the top tax rate to 45 percent. That's not capitalism, that's Fidel
Castro
stuff, confiscating wages that people honestly earn. [The
O'Reilly Factor, 11/4/2009]
Beck
lists Pelosi among California's
"really dangerous people" that include communists,
eco-terrorists,
Black Panthers. Beck stated that "California has become
quite a hotbed
for all kinds of radicals -- communists, socialists, all in the
1960s, but
they were here before -- progressives. Now, eco-terrorists, they're
here.
You have the Panthers formed here. Nancy Pelosi is here. A lot of
really
dangerous people in a state as volatile as this one, and it is on
the
edge." [Glenn Beck, 2/9/10]
O'Reilly
hosts tea party activist who says it "would have been more symbolic
had [Pelosi] had a whip." On The O'Reilly Factor,
tea party
activist Kevin Jackson characterized the walk to the Capitol by
Pelosi and
other members of Congress on the day the House voted for health
care
reform as "this very wealthy white lady leading a group of black,
you
know, men up to the thing with her gavel in her hand. It would have
been
more symbolic had she had a whip." [The
O'Reilly Factor, 3/31/10]
Miller:
Pelosi has a "sub-reptilian intellect." On The
O'Reilly Factor, radio host
Dennis Miller claimed that voters "did not want to turn $1.2
million
over to a sub-reptilian intellect like Nancy Pelosi." After
O'Reilly
compared Pelosi's comments following the November 2009 elections to
"George Custer at the Little Big Horn, before the arrow went
through
his throat," Miller added, "This woman could lose a game of
Tic-Tac-Toe to an amoeba, for God's sakes. It will show you the
holes in
the system we have that this is the most powerful woman in the
United States of America.
Look at her -- she's sub-reptilian. ... Empty, vapid, nobody's
home."
[The O'Reilly Factor, 11/4/09]
Miller:
"If you go in with her and the long knives ... you better be ready
to
play hard." Dennis Miller said of Pelosi:
"There's blood in the water on her, and I hope they bring in
Cousteau's kid to document it because this is going to be a
beautiful
demise. ... It's going to get ugly, and if you go in with her and
the long
knives, I would warn you -- and you're not a plastic surgeon, you
better
be ready to play hard, because you will get the speaker's gavel
from her
when you pry it from her cold, dead hand, as they say in the
trade."
[The O'Reilly Factor, 5/19/09]
Doocy
thought O'Reilly asking if Pelosi is a "kook" was a "great
question." On Fox
& Friends, Doocy played a clip of O'Reilly asking Sarah
Palin, "Do you think that [Pelosi's] a kook? ... Do you think she's
actually crazy?" Doocy added, "What a great question: 'Is she a
kook?' " [Fox & Friends, 1/13/10]
VIOLENT, APOCALYPIC
RHETORIC
Palin: "Don't Retreat, Instead -
RELOAD!" Palin posted
a list of House Democrats who voted for health care reform with
crosshairs
aimed at their locations. In a March 23 tweet about her map, Palin wrote:
" 'Don't Retreat, Instead -- RELOAD!' " Palin's list was
criticized by conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who introduced and
endorsed Palin during the 2008 campaign, as helping
foster
a climate of violent rhetoric. Hasselbeck added that the list is
"purely despicable" and "insane."
Beck: "Grab a
torch." Asserting that politicians are
addicted to spending, Beck stated: "When do we ever run those who
are
bankrupting our country and literally stealing our children's
future out
of town? Grab a torch." [Glenn
Beck, 1/6/10]
Huckabee: Members of
Congress "should be tarred and feathered as the original tea
partiers
would have done." As RightWingWatch.org
noted, Fox News host Mike Huckabee said
of members of Congress in January:
HUCKABEE: Every member of Congress knows in his gut
what's in the people's interest and what's in K Street's interest. If
you think your
real boss is some smug guy in a corner office with his Gucci loafers up
on a
mahogany deck and not the folks back home, those folks who voted for
you, who
gave you 25 or 50 hard-earned bucks, who put up yard signs and made
calls for
you, you deserve to lose. Shame on you, you shouldn't just be fired, you
should
be tarred and feathered as the original tea partiers would have done.
That's my
view and I welcome yours. [Fox News' Huckabee, 1/25/10]
Stossel said he has
"Barney Frank in effigy" hanging above his sofa. In
a February 3 interview with New York magazine,
when Fox Business host John Stossel was asked, "What's hanging
above
your sofa?" he responded: "Barney Frank in effigy." [New
York, 2/3/10]
Morris: "Those
crazies in Montana
who say, 'We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going
to take
over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case."
During a long conspiracy theory about a "super-national
authority" that will oversee U.S. financial institutions, Fox News
contributor Dick Morris asserted that because President Obama's
policies
are "internationalist ... [t]hose crazies in Montana who say,
'We're
going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over' --
well,
they're beginning to have a case." [Fox News' Your World
with Neil Cavuto, 3/31/09]
Beck portrays Obama,
Democrats as vampires, suggests "driv[ing] a stake through the
heart
of the bloodsuckers." Beck aired a graphic
portraying Obama and Democrats as vampires and said, "The
government
is full of vampires, and they are trying to suck the lifeblood out
of the
economy." Beck then suggested "driv[ing] a stake through the
heart of the bloodsuckers." [Glenn
Beck, 3/30/09]
Beck: "To the
day I die, I am going to be a progressive hunter."
Telling his listeners that they "are going to learn so much on
Friday," Beck compared himself to "Israeli Nazi hunters"
and commented, "I'm going to find these big progressives and, to
the
day I die, I'm going to be a progressive hunter." He added:
BECK: I'm going to find these people that have done
this to our -- you know, to our country, and expose them. I don't care
where --
I don't care if they're in nursing homes. I'm going to expose what they
have
done and make sure that the people understand, because our Constitution,
our
republic -- if it survives -- it will only survive because the people
are
waking up and through the grace of God, because we are that close to
losing our
republic. [Premiere Radio Networks' The
Glenn Beck Program, 1/20/10]
Beck:
"This is the end of prosperity in America
forever ... the end of America
as you know it." Telling his audience, "You
must not allow this to pass," Beck stated in November 2009 that
"they're going to get passed that 60-vote barrier. And they'll get
there by people like [Sen.] Joe Lieberman, who's a reasonable guy
and has
good intent. You'll get passed it by people like that, who say, you
know
what? Look, we got to be reasonable; we have to have a debate. And
then
Harry Reid will go for the 51 count and he'll pass this thing. And
it will
be a nail in the coffin of America."
Beck added: "You must -- must get on the phone in your districts.
You
must wake everybody up you know. This is the end of prosperity in
America
forever if this bill passes. This is the end of America as you know
it."
[Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn
Beck Program, 11/19/09]
Beck:
"[T]he fundamental transformation of America is complete."
Beck also said: "Not only are they doing health care, but they are
doing education in this same bill. Education and health care." He
added: "It is overwhelming the system. And I'm telling you, if this
bill passes -- health care and education all in one bill -- if this
passes, the fundamental transformation of America is complete.
There's
no going back from this point. It must not pass." [The Glenn
Beck Program, 3/15/10]
Beck:
"If you can be deemed someone who maybe shouldn't have a baby, they
can have their people come in." Beck said on his
Fox News show: "You know and I know in this 2,300-page bill that
includes education, the control that this government has is
endless. They
will -- if this passes, they will control every aspect of your
life."
Beck further said: "They will be able to -- there is places in here
that if you can be deemed someone who maybe shouldn't have a baby,
they
can have their people come in. The government is in our homes on
this." [Glenn Beck, 3/16/10]
Beck:
We lose "the Democratic Party to the socialists."
On his March 19 Fox News program, Beck stated: "If this passes, I
think it makes the election of people like Lindsey Graham, who are
the
compromise with big government, darn near impossible, because you
can't
tone this one down. You've got to pull this back by strong
constitutionalists. Don't we -- if this passes, don't we lose,
really, the
Democratic Party to the socialists? And the Republican Party either
has to
be, you know, real federalists, real people that understand
controlled
power, or you are going to have a third party?" [Glenn Beck, 3/19/10]
Moore:
"This is a dark day for America if we pass this
bill." Discussing the market reaction to passing the
health bill, The Wall Street Journal's
Stephen Moore said on Fox News: "I think personally -- I think that
the markets have always thought for the last year and a half that
eventually this day would come. And I think, by the way, this is a
dark
day for America
if we pass this bill." [America's News HQ, 3/21/10]
Cal
Thomas claimed health reform "is an outrage" and "a
sham"; "[e]uthanasia is coming." On Fox
News' America's News HQ,
Thomas said the health bill is "a triumph of the humanistic,
atheistic philosophy. Instead of being endowed by our creator with
certain
inalienable rights, those rights are going to be taken away by
bureaucrats
who will decide whether you get a hip replacement or a heart
bypass, based
on your age and your ability to pay more taxes." He continued:
THOMAS: It
is an outrage. It is a sham. Euthanasia is coming. You can call them
death
panels. That's exactly what they're going to be. We are going to really
be sorry
for this, but, unfortunately, when the guy in the white robe comes to
give us
our little pill, as President Obama told ABC, the 100-year-old woman who
wants
to live must get in order to make it equal for everybody and not to
spend so
much, it will be too late. [America's News HQ, 11/21/09]
Hannity:
"If we get nationalized health care, it's over; this is
socialism." In November 2009, Sean Hannity said, "When you
look at
the extreme czars, and you look at Barack Obama, and you look at
the
Barack Obama that portrayed himself one year ago as a very
different
candidate, you know, why -- I feel like I have been vindicated. I
was
excoriated for saying he is far more radical than people know. You
know,
what do you see about him? Do you think he is far -- do you think
he's a
socialist? Do you think he's -- because I think this is -- if we
get
nationalized health care, it's over. This is socialism, and that's a
kind
word." [Fox News' Hannity, 11/2/09]
Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit,
501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to
comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative
misinformation in the U.S. media.
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"There are no other providers who can fill the gap if the 'defunding' of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand," said the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and two state chapters.
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a provision of the new Republican budget law that bars Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood health centers across the United States, an attack that reproductive rights advocates warn could shutter hundreds of clinics nationwide.
The decision by Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, an Obama appointee, came shortly after the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its chapters in Massachusetts and Utah sued over the provision, which establishes a one-year Medicaid funding ban for healthcare organizations that provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023.
The lawsuit argues that the "clear purpose" of the provision is to "categorically prohibit health centers associated with Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements... in order to punish them for lawful activity, namely advocating for and providing legal abortion access wholly outside the Medicaid program and without using any federal funds."
The provision therefore "violates plaintiffs' Equal Protection and First Amendment rights," the lawsuit states.
Talwani ordered the Trump administration to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and timeframes" to Planned Parenthood and its members as the case proceeds.
Planned Parenthood welcomed Talwani's decision to issue a temporary injunction but stressed that the legal battle is far from over.
"We're grateful that the court acted swiftly to block this unconstitutional law attacking Planned Parenthood providers and patients," the organization said in a statement late Monday. "Already, in states across the country, providers and health center staff have been forced to turn away patients who use Medicaid to get basic sexual and reproductive healthcare because President Trump and his backers in Congress passed a law to block them from going to Planned Parenthood."
"There are no other providers who can fill the gap if the 'defunding' of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand," the group added. "The fight is just beginning, and we look forward to our day in court."
"The Trump administration's hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won't stop us."
Planned Parenthood warned that if the provision—which anti-abortion groups praised—is allowed to stand, nearly 200 health centers across dozens of states would be at risk of permanent closure due to the one-year Medicaid funding ban and more than a million patients could lose access to care, including STI treatment, cancer screenings, and birth control.
According to Planned Parenthood, 60% of its health centers are located in areas that are rural, medically underserved, or plagued by a shortage of healthcare professionals.
More than half of Planned Parenthood member patients rely on Medicaid to access crucial health services, the group estimates.
"The Trump administration's hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won't stop us," said Dominique Lee, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. "Let me be crystal clear: We are not intimidated. We were built for this moment. Here in Massachusetts, we fight back, and we will never be bullied into turning our backs on healthcare or human rights."
While the agency and outside meteorologists say the NWS provided timely and accurate forecasts, the fatal flooding is generating fresh alarm about cuts and open positions.
As the official death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas ticked above 100 on Monday, concerns over vacancies as well as job and potential funding cuts at the National Weather Service continued to mount—even as the NWS and independent meteorologists insisted that the agency had "issued timely warnings in advance of the deadly floods."
The flooding came just over two months after all living former directors of the NWS published a letter sounding the alarm about President Donald Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 and its cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the parent agency of the NWS in the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The five men—Louis Uccellini, Jack Hayes, Brig. Gen. D.L. Johnson, Brig. Gen. John J. Kelly Jr., and E.W. "Joe" Friday—wrote on May 2 that "even if the National Weather Service remains level funded, given the interconnectedness of all of the parts of NOAA, there will be impacts to weather forecasting as well. We cannot let this happen."
"These proposed cuts come just days after approximately 300 National Weather Service... employees left the public service to which they had devoted their lives and careers," the ex-directors pointed out. "That's on top of the approximately 250 NWS employees who were fired as a result of their probationary status in new—often higher-level positions—or took the initial buyout offered by the Trump administration in early February."
"That leaves the nation's official weather forecasting entity at a significant deficit—down more than 10% of its staffing—just as we head into the busiest time for severe storm predictions like tornadoes and hurricanes," they continued. "Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life. We know that's a nightmare shared by those on the forecasting frontlines—and by the people who depend on their efforts."
Discussing recent job reductions with The Associated Press on Monday, Uccellini, whose tenure leading NWS included Trump's first term, warned that "this situation is getting to the point where something could break."
"The people are being tired out, working through the night and then being there during the day because the next shift is short-staffed," he said. "Anything like that could create a situation in which important elements of forecasts and warnings are missed."
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For the flooding in Texas, the NWS Austin-San Antonio office had five meteorologists working, rather than two, as part of its "surge staffing" protocol.
However, Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the NWS Employees Organization, a union that represents government workers, also toldNBC News that the agency's Austin-San Antonio office does not have a permanent science officer, who conducts training for and implements new technology, or a warning coordination meteorologist, who has contact with media.
That office "is operating with 11 staff meteorologists and is down six employees from its typical full staffing level of 26," NBC reported. The nearby San Angelo office "is short four staff members from its usual staffing level of 23. The meteorologist-in-charge position—the office's top leadership position—is not permanently filled. The office is also without a senior hydrologist."
Despite some open positions at the two offices, the NWS began warning of potential flooding as early as Thursday morning, and as conditions worsened overnight, the agency issued its first warning for "life-threatening flash flooding" for parts of Kerr County at 1:14 am Central Time Friday, according toCNN.
"But questions remain about how many people they reached, whether critical vacancies at the forecast offices could have affected warning dissemination, and if so-called warning fatigue had been growing among residents in a region described as one of the most dangerous in the country for flash flooding," the network noted.
As Fahy put it to Politico: "The crux of this disaster is a failure of the last mile of communication... The forecasts went out, they communicated the forecasts, they disseminated the watches and warnings. And the dilemma we have is there was nobody listening at 4 o'clock in the morning for these watches and warnings."
Wisconsin-based meteorologist Chris Vagasky similarly told NBC that "the forecasting was good. The warnings were good. It's always about getting people to receive the message... It appears that is one of the biggest contributors—that last mile."
In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending.
"Taxpayers won't pay for it," Mr. Kelly said. Asked if people might reconsider in light of the catastrophe, he said, "I don't know."
As of Monday evening, 104 people are confirmed dead, most of them in Kerr County, which includes Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp that lost at least 27 campers and counselors. The APreported that "search-and-rescue teams carried on with the search for the dead, using heavy equipment to untangle trees and wading into swollen rivers. Volunteers covered in mud sorted through chunks of debris, piece by piece, in an increasingly bleak task."
In a statement to multiple news outlets, the NWS provided a detailed timeline of its alerts. The agency also said that it "is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County" and "remains committed to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services."
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday sent a letter to Roderick Anderson, acting inspector general at the Department of Commerce, urging an investigation into "the scope, breadth, and ramifications of whether staffing shortages at key local National Weather Service... stations contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding."
"The roles left unfilled are not marginal, they're critical," he emphasized. "These are the experts responsible for modeling storm impacts, monitoring rising water levels, issuing flood warnings, and coordinating directly with local emergency managers about when to warn the public and issue evacuation orders. To put it plainly: They help save lives."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out at him and reporters for such scrutiny on Monday, saying that "unfortunately, in the wake of this once-in-a-generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning."
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In addition to the president's so-called Department of Government Efficiency—previously led by billionaire Elon Musk, the richest person on Earth—pushing layoffs and retirements, Trump's administration is working to boost fossil fuels that drive the global climate emergency.
As Common Dreamsreported earlier Monday, a study published by ClimaMeter found that the floods in Texas were caused by "very exceptional meteorological conditions" that cannot be explained merely by natural variability.
Former Common Dreams staff writer Kenny Stancil is a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, which has documented "Trump's attacks on disaster preparedness and response."
"The deadly Texas floods will not be the last manifestation of extreme weather turbocharged by fossil fuel pollution," Stancil wrote in a Monday blog post. "In an era of escalating climate threats, we need a stronger public sector with more resources to mitigate risks, help people weather storms, and adapt to the future."
"We got people that work and repair the water mains and can't afford their water bill," said union leader Greg Boulware last week. "I don't want to be rich. We just want comfort inside the city that we serve daily."
Philadelphia's largest municipal workers' strike in over 40 years is entering its second week after negotiations with the city broke down this weekend.
Over 9,000 sanitation workers, 911 dispatchers, water services workers, crossing guards, and other city employees walked off the job last week, demanding that the city increase their salary enough to meet the rising cost of living.
But even with trash piling up on the streets and other city services understaffed, Mayor Cherelle Parker (D) would not agree to the demands made by AFSCME District Council 33, Philadelphia's largest blue-collar union.
Parker has offered a pay increase of 8.75% over the next three years, which she described as historic.
But DC 33 president Greg Boulware said that's far too little for municipal workers, many of whom are among the city's "working poor," to survive.
"It's not like as if our members are making $80,000, $90,000 a year," Boulware said. "A 2% increase on those would be significantly higher than it would be on somebody making $40,000-$45,000 a year. So, her math truly is not mathing, and you're clearly not paying attention to the working people that are going on in this city."
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The average municipal worker in Philadelphia makes around $46,000, which is $15,000 less than the median income in the city and less than half of what a single adult needs to live comfortably, according to a study by SmartAsset.
"We got people that work and repair the water mains and can't afford their water bill," Boulware said at a rally last week. "We got people that repair the runways at the airport and can't afford a plane ticket. I don't want to be rich. We just want a comfort inside the city that we serve daily."
The union initially asked for an 8% raise for the next four years, which the city dismissed. This weekend, they pared their proposal down to 5%, but the city still did not budge.
Parker has insisted that her smaller proposed increases are merely what is "fiscally responsible," and that the city cannot afford to offer more.
The union has disputed this, pointing out that Parker herself is budgeted to receive a 9% increase to her salary of more than $240,000. That increase alone is nearly half the current salary that the average DC 33 member makes in a year.
As of Monday, negotiations have stalled, with no clear end in sight. With a throng of picketers behind him, Boulware told NBC 10, a local affiliate, that the union was working on a third proposal, and that negotiations may resume Tuesday. But he seemed to expect more obstinacy from the city.
"We've been there to be able to sit and meet and negotiate," he said. "It doesn't seem like the city quite honestly wants to entertain any of the questions that we have about things and actually have a true dialogue... That's how you negotiate and that's not truly what's been going on."
Despite the city's refusal to budge, momentum around the strike has continued to grow. On Friday, rapper LL Cool J dropped out of a 4th of July festival in the city, saying, "There is absolutely no way I can perform across a picket line."
Other AFSCME councils around Pennsylvania have joined pickets in solidarity. This includes Philadelphia's Council 47, which represents thousands of "white collar" city workers.
With mounds of trash accumulating on streets, sometimes becoming as "tall as people," the environmental activists with the Sunrise Movement have also joined in the effort to pressure the city. On Monday, activists hauled bags of trash into the lobby of City Hall, labeled with the words "Meet DC 33 Demands" written in yellow tape.
AFSCME, meanwhile, has stated its resolve to fight on as the strike has gained national attention.
"City workers are holding the line until they get a FAIR contract with the wages and benefits they deserve," the national union's account wrote on X Monday. "One day longer, one day stronger, no matter what it takes."