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Stand Up America Statement on Nikki Haley Presidential Announcement
Today, former Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley announced she will run for president in 2024. Although Haley is the first person to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination, she is rumored to be joined by fellow MAGA extremist and Trump understudy, Ron DeSantis, and others are expected to join in the running as 2023 continues.
Stand Up America’s Executive Director, Christina Harvey, issued the following statement:
“Make no mistake: Nikki Haley is no moderate. From her support of Trump’s policy of putting children in cages and the regressive reproductive health policies she pushed as Governor of South Carolina to her opposition to federal voting rights legislation and her unwavering support of Donald Trump—even after he incited the January 6th insurrection—Nikki Haley has shown her true colors.
“When we needed leaders to stand up for our democracy and our freedoms, Haley fell in line with Donald Trump, again and again. She spent 2022 throwing her support behind election deniers across the country, including someone who was at the Capitol insurrection on January 6th. That’s exactly the opposite of what our country needs. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make her unique.
“Whether the Republican nominee is Nikki Haley, Donald Trump or someone else, there will likely be a MAGA Republican with a track record of undermining our democracy on the GOP ticket come November 2024.”Haley has long been a champion for right-wing causes. In her time as the UN ambassador, Haley led the U.S withdrawal from the U.N.’s New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and defended the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of separating migrant children from their parents. After the Jan 6 insurrection, Haley initially criticized Trump for inciting the mob, but later opposed impeachment, saying “They beat him up before he got into office. They’re beating him up after he leaves office. I mean at some point, I mean, give the man a break. I mean, move on.”
In her time as the Governor of South Carolina, Haley was vocal about her opposition to reproductive health care and gun safety measures. Despite her “moderate” persona, she continues to be a strong ally of Donald Trump and has continued to perpetuate MAGA misinformation.
Stand Up America was founded in 2016 as a digital-first grassroots community working to resist Donald Trump and his cronies’ corruption, racism, and his threats to our democracy. From 2017 to 2021, our members made 1.7 million calls to Congress to oppose the MAGA extremist agenda. In 2020, our volunteers contacted 25 million voters to help defeat Trump and elect Joe Biden to the presidency. In 2022, our team helped build a firewall for democracy ahead of 2024 by electing pro-democracy Secretaries of State in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, and Nevada, passing key democracy ballot initiatives, and mobilizing our members to get out the vote for progressive candidates nationwide. In 2024, our community will continue mobilizing to elect candidates who will stand up for our freedoms and our democracy.
Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to strengthen our democracy and oppose Trump's corrupt agenda, Stand Up America has driven over 600,000 phone calls to Congress and mobilized tens of thousands of protestors across the country.
LATEST NEWS
'Nothing Off the Table': Wyden Says Subpoena Possible for Billionaire Harlan Crow
"It comes as little surprise that Mr. Crow is doubling down on bogus legal theories as he continues to stonewall basic questions about his gifts to Clarence Thomas and his family."
Jun 06, 2023
U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden on Tuesday said that "nothing is off the table"—including a subpoena—after a lawyer for Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow continued to duck questions about the billionaire's gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his relatives.
In a June 2 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Crow attorney Michael Bopp expressed "respect" for the panel's "important role in formulating legislation concerning our federal courts system," while stating that he would "welcome a discussion with your staff."
However, Bopp also reiterated his assertion that "Congress does not have the power to impose ethics standards on the Supreme Court" and "therefore cannot mount an investigation for the purpose of helping craft such standards."
"It comes as little surprise that Mr. Crow is doubling down on bogus legal theories as he continues to stonewall basic questions about his gifts to Clarence Thomas and his family."
Thomas and Crow have repeatedly refused to answer questions about years of gifts—including luxury vacations and private school tuition—to the right-wing justice and members of his family.
In response to Bopp's assertion—which has been roundly refuted by Durbin and legal experts—Wyden, a progressive Oregon Democrat, accused the Gibson Dunn partner of "stonewalling."
"It comes as little surprise that Mr. Crow is doubling down on bogus legal theories as he continues to stonewall basic questions about his gifts to Clarence Thomas and his family. If anything, the most recent letter from his attorney raises more questions than it answers," the senator said in a statement.
\u201cHarlan Crow continues to stonewall over his gifts to Clarence Thomas. Nothing is off the table as I discuss next steps with my Finance Committee colleagues to compel answers to our questions from Mr. Crow, including by subpoena. Those discussions will continue.\u201d— Ron Wyden (@Ron Wyden) 1686059917
"The letter states, 'charter rates or reimbursements at rates prescribed by law were paid to the Crow family entities' with zero additional detail that could help clarify these financial arrangements, such as exactly who made those payments for Justice Thomas' extravagant luxury travel, and how many times and in what amounts those payments were made," Wyden continued.
"Far too often, efforts to investigate real-life tax practices of the ultra-wealthy and powerful end with this kind of vague, carefully-worded assurance that everything is on the level. That's simply not good enough," he argued. "This is exactly why the Finance Committee is pursuing this matter as part of its broader review of gift and estate tax practices of ultra-high net worth individuals."
Wyden added: "I've already begun productive discussions with the Finance Committee on next steps to compel answers to our questions from Mr. Crow, including by subpoena, and those discussions will continue."
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Pipeline Opponents Disrupt Semafor Conference as Manchin Takes Stage
The senator appeared at the summit days after pushing through language in the debt ceiling bill that will expedite the permitting process for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Jun 06, 2023
Organizers of a summit on so-called "permitting reform" hosted by the fossil fuel-linked news outlet Semafor were forced to delay the event on Tuesday when several climate campaigners interrupted Sen. Joe Manchin's remarks to protest the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a pet project of the right-wing West Virginia Democrat.
About two dozen protesters assembled on the stage at the event just as Manchin began speaking about his desire to speed up the approval of projects like the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a $6.6 billion fracked gas project that would run from the senator's home state to Virginia, passing through wetlands and waterways.
"Dirty deal, MVP, Manchin, you are killing me!" chanted the demonstrators, who Bloomberg Law reported were representing the direct action group Climate Defiance. The group also sang the song "Take Me Home, Country Roads."
\u201cBREAKING: We just fully shut down Senator Joe Manchin's keynote address.\n\nHe is shoving a 2,000,000,000 cubic-foot-per-day fracked gas pipeline down our throats. \n\nManchin is not a moderate. Manchin is an ecocidal millionaire. We must resist him with all we've got. And we will.\u201d— Climate Defiance (@Climate Defiance) 1686075030
The demonstration came days after President Joe Biden signed into lawdebt ceiling legislation over the objections of climate campaigners as well as economic justice groups. The so-called Fiscal Responsibility Act includes a requirement that federal agencies approve all remaining permits for the MVP, which has been stalled in the courts as opponents have challenged its threats to the environment in the region the pipeline will pass through. The law also shields the permits from judicial review.
The pipeline is also projected to emit the equivalent of more than 89 million metric tons of carbon at a time when climate scientists and energy experts have warned that fossil fuel emissions must be rapidly drawn down to limit planetary heating to below 2°C above preindustrial levels.
Manchin secured the MVP language in the debt ceiling bill after his previous attempts to include the "dirty deal" regarding expedited permitting in the National Defense Authorization Act and in a stopgap funding bill last year.
The senator left the stage during the protest and claimed the protesters' actions would help him "tremendously" in his state, although polls have shown that West Virginians support a transition to clean energy.
\u201cClimate protesters disrupted Manchin\u2019s Semafor Q&A today on permitting and Mountain Valley pipeline. Speaking now in the back room, Manchin said \u201cwhat these people did today helps me tremendously in my state\u201d politically.\u201d— Ella Nilsen (@Ella Nilsen) 1686065235
Campaigners who have fought the MVP for years have said they will not back down following the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition is planning a rally in front of the White House on Thursday, and the local group Preserve Bent Mountain in Virginia said Monday that "it is not yet clear whether the stench of the MVP/debt limit deal will surpass legal scrutiny."
"Even if some of these permits are issued and initially shielded from judicial review, that's not necessarily the end of the line," Jason Rylander, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity," told the independent outlet Cardinal News on Monday. "The pipeline still has to cross some of the most difficult terrain along the route, through the Jefferson National Forest and other areas, and there will be opportunities to hold them accountable for the damage they are continuing to do."
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'Shameless Greed': Pharma Giant Merck Sues to Kill Medicare Drug Price Negotiations
"This lawsuit is a desperate attempt by the industry to beat back popular legislation that would curtail Big Pharma's ability to price gouge Medicare," said one consumer advocate.
Jun 06, 2023
Merck on Tuesday became the first pharmaceutical company to sue the Biden administration over a recently enacted law that empowers Medicare to directly negotiate the prices of a small number of high-cost prescription medicines with drug makers—a change that could threaten Merck's bottom line.
Filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., Merck's lawsuit characterizes the drug price negotiation policy established by the Inflation Reduction Act as "tantamount to extortion" and claims the "singular purpose of this scheme is for Medicare to obtain prescription drugs without paying fair market value."
The lawsuit against the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also alleges that the drug price negotiations make "a mockery of the First Amendment" by "conscripting companies to legitimize government extortion."
The suit asks the court to "declare that the program effects compensable takings under the Fifth Amendment, and enjoin its compelled 'agreements' under the First Amendment."
Patient advocates and lawmakers responded with disdain to Merck's lawsuit, which likely won't be the last from an industry that fights aggressively to maintain its power to drive up prices at will. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data last week showing that more than 9 million Americans are delaying medication refills, skipping doses, and taking smaller dosages than prescribed due to high costs.
"Merck is doing everything it can to protect its profits at the expense of patients who need their prescriptions to stay healthy and get treatment for everything from cancer to diabetes," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. "While big drug companies may not want to be at the negotiating table, the American people are sick and tired of giant pharmaceutical corporations putting their executives' paychecks above patients."
Keytruda, Merck's cancer drug, carries an annual list price of $175,000, and the U.S. government has spent billions helping patients cover the cost of the medicine in recent years.
"Merck is claiming the U.S. Constitution requires the U.S. government and people to be suckers. That's not true," Robert Weissman, president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement Tuesday. "This lawsuit is a desperate attempt by the industry to beat back popular legislation that would curtail Big Pharma's ability to price gouge Medicare and secure monopoly profits. Full stop."
"While Big Pharma's litigation gambit plays out, it is critical that the federal government continue its preparation for price negotiations," Weissman added. "Delay in the commencement of long-overdue negotiations will result in billions of dollars in excess costs for taxpayers and consumers."
"No one needs to read Merck's fancy lawyer talk or PR spin to know what this is all about—it is about them wanting to continue to fleece taxpayers and gouging seniors."
In September, CMS is expected to release a list of the first 10 Medicare Part D drugs that will be subject to direct price negotiations. Manufacturers of the selected drugs will then have until the following month to sign an agreement to conduct negotiations, and the agreed-upon prices will take effect in 2026.
Dozens of additional prescription drugs covered by Part D or Part B will be subject to price negotiations in the years following 2026. Though the prices of just a small number of drugs will be negotiated under the Inflation Reduction Act provisions, the policy could have a significant impact given that a sliver of medicines accounts for a large percentage of Medicare's prescription drug spending.
The Congressional Budget Office concluded earlier this year that "price negotiation will lower average drug prices in Medicare and will reduce the budget deficit by $25 billion in 2031."
As The New York Timesnoted Tuesday, Merck's Keytruda "could be among the first products targeted when negotiations begin in 2028 on drugs administered in a healthcare setting."
"Merck had been expecting to bring in significant revenue from a new formulation of Keytruda it is developing that can be more easily given under the skin," the Times reported. "That could be subject to negotiation, too, under the government's plans for the program."
Margarida Jorge, head of the Lower Drug Prices Now campaign, said Tuesday that Merck's lawsuit is "nothing but a political stunt motivated by the same shameless greed that we're used to seeing from drug corporations that have made decades of inflated profits at the expense of patients' health and taxpayers' hard-earned money."
"No one needs to read Merck's fancy lawyer talk or PR spin to know what this is all about—it is about them wanting to continue to fleece taxpayers and gouging seniors so they can keep sky-high profits and soaring executive pay," said Jorge. "It's time for big drug corporations like Merck to give up their monopoly control over prices and negotiate fair prices for the medicines we need."
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