Time to end the rigged game of third-party litigation funding
Source: Washington Examiner · Bias: Center Right
Summary
It’s well known that frivolous lawsuits cost billions of dollars each year, but few people know about a shadowy subset of financiers — sometimes overseas — who are intensifying the problems in America’s legal system. A loophole in today’s tax code effectively allows third parties to rake in money from lawsuits with little to no tax […]
Time to end the rigged game of third-party litigation funding
Center Right
It’s well known that frivolous lawsuits cost billions of dollars each year, but few people know about a shadowy subset of financiers — sometimes overseas — who are intensifying the problems in America’s legal system. A loophole in today’s tax code effectively allows third parties to rake in money from lawsuits with little to no tax […]
Data: U.S. Drought Monitor; Map: Erin Davis/Axios VisualsFirework associations expect a massive boom in backyard fireworks this July 4, a surge that collides with dry conditions and a blistering heatwave that could drastically increase the risk of fires.Why it matters: Climate change is increasing the likelihood and severity of wildfires, and large chunks of the U.S. are under burn bans because of severe drought.What they're saying: "It only takes one small spark landing in dry vegetation under the right conditions to start a fast-moving wildfire," April Newman, a public information officer at Cal Fire, tells Axios.Embers can smolder for over a minute, Newman says, "increasing the potential for ignition even after the visible display has ended."Even if a lawn looks green, the "eye test can be deceiving," Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center, tells Axios. Dig just a few inches into Mid-Atlantic soil, "you hit dryness again."State of play: Local governments navigating the drought created a patchwork of burn bans across the country.Colorado Springs issued a citywide burn ban earlier this week before canceling all fireworks displays — even professional ones — citing "extreme fire danger."Utah Gov. Spencer Cox suspended a state law that prevented local governments from enacting blanket bans, prompting Salt Lake County and others to outlaw fireworks.The other side: Florida has no statewide fireworks ban despite lingering droughts and nine county-level burn bans.State law includes a "fireworks holiday" giving anyone over 18 the right to set them off.By the numbers: The national landscape is dangerously primed for ignition, and tragedy is already playing out.Roughly 50% of the U.S. is currently in a drought, according to Fuchs.On July 1, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 257 new fires, and firefighters are trying to contain 51 large fires nationwide.Three firefighters died combating a major fire in western Colorado on Saturday.The intrigue: July 4 celebrations bring a massive, sudden influx of potential ignition sources.When you combine millions of flying sparks with dry vegetation, humidity and a heatwave, wildfires get the exact catalyst they need to explode, safety and climate experts say.Between the lines: Consumer demand for fireworks to commemorate America's 250th anniversary is at record levels."People look like they're going to be showing their patriotism" Ed Vasel with the National Fireworks Association, tells Axios. "We're thinking things are going to be up maybe as much as 20-25% in some areas this year."Professional pyrotechnicians follow strict distance requirements and work with on-site fire departments, but neighborhood celebrations often lack those safeguards, he says.Worth noting: Conditions for President Trump's record-breaking firework plans are better than they were weeks ago Fuchs says, but drought and sweltering heat still remain.While recent rain has provided some surface-level relief, these showers are not a complete "drought buster," Fuchs says.The bottom line: "There's a lot of angst amongst people who believe that fireworks is a right, and that it is culturally valuable, and that it is something that no one should be able to interfere with," David Barrett, executive director of The Safe Community Project, tells Axios."I appreciate and have empathy for those opinions. I do think at the same time…they recognize that the decisions they make don't affect only themselves for their personal pleasure, but those around them who they might inadvertently injure or kill."Go deeper: Trump's July Fourth event faces dangerous D.C. heat - Axios Washington D.C.
On Friday, a prominent MAGA journalist called it: “The State Fair debacle is the end of @realDonaldTrump as a cultural force.”Alex Berenson – a veteran journalist who gained MAGA fame for his vocal COVID denial and voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 – posted this declaration to social media along with a photo of an almost completely empty National State Fair, at the center of which stood a mini mockup of the Commander in Chief’s crumbling triumphal arch. “Trump has always been uncool in a cool way,” Berenson continued. “He’s so in love with himself and his own awful taste you appreciate him even if you hate him. But this is just a box-office bomb, and it makes him look so old.”His dismal assessment comes amid rampant reports of the fair’s many disappointments. The event – much touted by Trump in the weeks preceding it – has been characterized by thin to nonexistent crowds, prompting the crowd-size-obsessed president to fly into a rage and fret that no one will show up to his 4th of July rally. His own supporters have called it “really disappointing,” “unnecessarily vanilla,” and “like a silent protest.” Even Fox News ditched the affair after wasting too much airtime on “live shots of empty grass.”The National State Fair is part of the wider celebrations marking the United States’ 250th birthday, which have been plagued by controversy, scandal, and failure for months. In May, the fair concert series fell apart within hours of its lineup announcement as musicians quit, saying they’d been misled about the event’s pro-Trump connotations. Somewhere along the way, Trump decided the Reflecting Pool needed to be painted, and that debacle spun out into Algaegate. This and other projects have been riddled with accusations of no-bid contracts and shady dealings. Berenson’s assertion that the end of Trump is nigh comes as the MAGA movement descends into “civil war.” The president has lost some of his most important political and media allies, like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene. The ‘Relectant Right’ who played a key role in his 2024 election have soured. And even the white working-class voters who are his most loyal support base have drifted away. Overall, Trump’s approval ratings have plunged to historic lows, increasing to just 37 percent in recent days.
Recent polling shows that Democrat voters openly want socialist candidates.
The post The Democrat Party Is Literally Communist, and the Voters Admit It! (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Two major polls of the Maine Senate race dropped this week, and they told the same story: The race is incredibly close, and Democrat Graham Platner has real work to do among the working class. He's running an aggressively left-populist, anti-establishment campaign targeting the billionaire class-and boasts lots of blue-collar appeal-but GOP Senator Susan Collins is way ahead among those voters. Why?
During a recent appearance on the Sean Hannity Show, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania revealed the one thing that would make him leave the Democrat Party.
The post Senator John Fetterman Reveals the One Thing That Would Make Him Leave the Democrat Party (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
If you’re feeling that the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States has been hijacked by a narcissistic, political hack, you’re not alone. Instead of a joyous event for all Americans, our holiday has been plagued by vicious attacks on those who haven’t drunk the Make America Great Again Kool-Aid. And the results are proof positive that we, the people, are not going for it.Not one bit.One of the primary “celebrations” was the Great American State Fair held on the National Mall this week. Supposedly showcasing the history of the 50 states, a whopping 20 states decided to skip the event entirely. Not because they’re not proud of their state or didn’t want to tell the wonderful tales about the vast diversity and beauty of this place we call home, but because President Donald Trump turned it into a political rally for himself instead of a birthday party for all Americans.Most of the musicians and entertainers who were booked cancelled as it morphed into a staged event for Trump. Those few that didn’t cancel had very sparse crowds sprinkled over the lawn in one of the most embarrassing displays of just how historically unpopular our current president and his attempts to divide, not unite, Americans are with the populace.Despite Trump claiming a crowd of 45,000 people, about 1,000 showed up. Of course this is totally in line with his self-aggrandizing exaggerations across the board since he lives in a fantasy world where he is worshipped and adored.But the stunning failure of the Great American State Fair isn’t alone in demonstrating the fact that Americans have grown very tired of this particular reality TV show clown. Consider these events of the last week:The Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s executive order attempting to overturn the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship. It’s not where we came from, it’s where we are; and those born here are Americans. The president’s former attorney, Ty Cobb, reflecting on the financial declaration showing the president and his sons have garnered more than a billion dollars from sketchy crypto sources called it “the greatest onslaught of corruption in the history of mankind” adding “he creates policies that can only enrich himself and his family, is something that I think the average American should be staggered by.”A federal judge blocked Trump’s executive order that the U.S. Postal Service could not deliver mail ballots in states that had not surrendered their voter role information to the federal government, thus halting one of his most obvious and odious attempts to rig the coming elections in which his MAGA allies are predicted to lose badly. Even the Social Security Administration’s latest list of popular baby names puts “Donald” at its lowest point since the 1880s.The takeaway is clear — Americans are not happy that our nation’s birthday has been hijacked and degraded. We are not happy with being intentionally divided instead of united in celebration of our history. We are not happy that those who fought and died to establish this nation — and all those who have struggled to keep democracy alive since then — have been shoved to the side by a gilded grifter.Trump is not who we are as Americans and Montanans. We are the nation of “all men are created equal” and on this 250th celebration of our founding the great challenge is to live up to that promise, to be the united, not the divided, states — and to continue to forcefully reject these self-serving, despicable efforts to drive us apart.
