Blend/mix/puree

Today’s newsletter has a very un-theme theme, which is a super technical way of saying that the stories are just kind of all over the place. If yesterday was the buffet of absurdity, today is the blender without a lid. The ingredients are all delicious, but I can’t close the pitcher, so there’s no way to combine them neatly. I’ll do my best, but just know that it might get a little messy.

The Big Takeaway

If my life depended upon my ability to name a theme (The Evening Wrap: Extreme Edition), I’d probably go with “government,” a completely non-descriptive descriptor for a newsletter about government. It’s broad, but I guess that’s the point — regardless of the specific story I’m dissecting, we’re always talking about government.

For example, when we discuss “men who just keep saying things, all the time,” we’re either talking about men in government or men who want to be in government. Or, in the case of Doug Mastriano, both! Mastriano is an uber-conservative state senator from Pennsylvania and the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, and I am forced to discuss him today after a remark he made in 2019 popped back up like a bad penny, per the Pennsylvania Capital Star.

During an interview with WITF-FM, a Harrisburg-based radio station, Mastriano — then the sponsor of a bill to ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy — was asked whether a person who terminated their pregnancy at 10 weeks should be charged with murder. 

“OK, let’s go back to the basic question there,” Mastriano replied. “Is that a human being? Is that a little boy or girl? If it is, it deserves equal protection under the law.”

Was he, then, saying he’d agree with murder charges? “Yes, I am,” Mastriano said.

A sitting state senator endorsing murder charges for abortion patients seems like … news, but it didn’t make headlines at the time. (In America, everything — even murder! — takes a backseat to a sitting president’s second impeachment.) But the internet is forever, and it finally came for Mastriano on Tuesday, when NBC News unearthed the quote and posted it for all to see.

Mastriano’s campaign didn’t respond to NBC’s requests for comment. But the candidate has said in the past that his views on abortion (he’s not a fan) would be “irrelevant” should he become governor, because governors don’t write bills.

“I cannot rule by fiat or edict or executive order on the issue of life. It’s up to the people of Pennsylvania,” Mastriano told a super-duper far-right network in a clip he posted on Twitter Monday. “So if Pennsylvanians want exceptions, if they want to limit the number of weeks, it’s going to have to come from your legislative body and then to my desk.”

Kudos to Mastriano for his basic understanding of the legislative process, with one large caveat: Governors can veto bills as they see fit, which makes Mastriano’s views on abortion — and every other legislative issue! — fully relevant, full stop. 

Similarly relevant: The $400 million in government contracts awarded to a company that’s run by Joe O’Dea, a Republican U.S. Senate hopeful whose top priority is reducing government spending. Political hypocrisy is nothing new here, but this is a particularly awkward type of political hypocrisy that seems destined to surface in real time on the campaign trail.

It already has. Last month, for example, O’Dea lauded a $14 million aquatic habitat restoration project as a “win-win” for the “river and the people who recreate there.” He casually omitted the third and final winner: Concrete Express Inc., his own company and the project’s general contractor, Colorado Newsline reported.

“I hear he hates federal spending,” incumbent U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said after the event’s groundbreaking. “Except for the $14 million that built this thing.”

The project is relatively small potatoes for CEI, which boasts a number of larger, ongoing contracts across Colorado. Its portfolio includes a multi-year highway construction bid with the state Department of Transportation and contracts with several counties for work on segments of an ongoing bike trail project. The latter was funded in part by a federal transportation program that’s roundly loathed by Republicans, but money talks, you know?

Actually, it doesn’t, according to O’Dea’s communications director, who said the aquatic habitat project was simply “common sense” and “ecologically responsible.” It’s an example of good government spending, he added — totally different from “reckless and wasteful” government spending, like “Michael Bennet and Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion boondoggle.” 

Michael Bennet And Joe Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Boondoggle (™) — better known as the American Rescue Plan Act — was approved by Congress way back in March 2021, primarily as an economic driver to help the country recover from the pandemic. The bulk of its allocations went to stimulus checks, child tax credits and schools, all seemingly “good” uses of government money. None are listed as priorities on O’Dea’s website.

Other priorities: (Massachusetts) Some ballot questions could draw blank stares … (Michigan) Republicans saw the economy as Whitmer’s big weakness in the election. Has that changed? … Minnesota Reformer files motion seeking to unseal Mike Lindell search warrant documents …  What Nevada’s Question 2 means for the state’s minimum wage … (Nevada) Complaint filed against Lombardo for donating Metro helicopter ride to anti-abortion group’s fundraiser … (Ohio) In response to Dobbs, abortion-rights activists turn to state constitutions … Oregon governor candidates debate education, housing, abortion in Bend … (Pennsylvania) Shapiro poised to break spending record in governor’s race after raising $25M this summer … Texas court confirms the attorney general can’t unilaterally prosecute election cases … (Wisconsin) House Jan. 6 committee to wait for court ruling before enforcing Vos subpoena

Caught Our Eye

I love being reminded that no group (not a single one!) is a monolith, so I am accordingly obsessed with this Idaho Capital Sun story about the national nonprofit Mormon Women for Ethical Government. It’s a nonpartisan group with state chapters, all focused on a few key issues (current priorities include anti-racism and protecting democracy). It’s open to all women, and while most of its members are also members of the conservative Mormon church, they’re not all personally conservative. 

State-level chapters are free to choose their own methods of advancing the national group’s agenda. In Idaho, members have focused on early childhood education, voting access and building productive relationships with each other and with lawmakers.

“One of the things that I get excited about is, because we have so many women in the state who could participate in this group, we could be a powerful voice for ethics, for peaceful resolution, for kindness,” said LaRae Harris Wilson, the Idaho chapter coordinator. “I want to see this group grow and really become loud advocates against extremism.”

From the Newsrooms

• (Ohio) Funding school lunch program could prevent ‘lunch shaming’
• ‘The storm is here. It is imminent’: Ian threatens to make landfall as Category 5 in southwest Florida
• (New Jersey) Inflation hits inmates’ wallets, even as their wages have flatlined
• Proposed $2.5 billion for wildfire victims is almost triple the last time feds lit New Mexico on fire
• Typhoon Merbok spotlights Alaska’s needs for science and climate-resilient infrastructure

One Last Thing
Do I want a 10-inch Kindle I can write on? I feel like I want a 10-inch Kindle I can write on. (It can also send Microsoft Word documents, which will be nice for everyone back in 1995.)

This edition of the Evening Wrap published on September 28, 2022. Subscribe here.