Friday Politics Roundup for June 3, 2022 | Biden for Assault Weapons Ban; GOP plot to corrupt local elections; cancel student debt; PA gun laws; APSCUF new president; D&D; 3D printed ear

Biden gives prime-time speech call for a ban on assault weapons (sort of). He said: “After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done. This time, that can’t be true. This time we must actually do something.” 

Thanks to video tapes obtained by Heidi Przybyla [Prezbella], investigative reporter at Politico, we now have a window into a GOP plot to recruit and train political operatives to run as poll workers so they could more effectively challenge voters and disrupt elections at the precinct level. The tapes also expose a GOP to “build out a nationwide district attorney network” favorable to overturning the will of the majority. 

Direct action gets the goods. Biden administration is canceling all the student loan debt held by former students of the predatory, for-profit Corinthian Colleges. But as Ann Bowers, a member of the Debt Collective and one of those students who had her debt canceled, tells the story…it was organizing and activism that won the day. 

There are cracks forming in Pennsylvania Court’s “preemption” rulings that have prevented municipalities from enacting their own gun laws. A great piece by Angela Couloumbis and Stephen Caruso of Spotlight PA breaks it down. 

PA Gubernatorial candidate, Doug Mastriano (also known by his super-villain alias “Dog Moth”), sent materials to the January 6th select committee this week - however, there are some serious exceptions to what he was asked to produce. He is also reportedly willing to testify before the committee. We shall see. 

Once again the Teacher Shortage Alarm is sounding. New reporting in the Philadelphia Inquirer echos reporting from earlier this year about the rapid decline in prospective teachers. 

APSCUF gets a new old president following Jamie Martin’s announcement that she would not be running for a second term due to health issues. Ken Mash, Martin’s predecessor, will return as APSCUF’s president as the faculty union enters a contract negotiations year. The current contract will expire June 30, 2023. Given the unprecedented gutting of PASSHE’s universities and consolidating 6 of the 14 state universities into 2, all indications are that faculty and students may need to dust off their 2016 strike manuals. 

Doctor’s transplant first 3D printed ear using human cells of the patient.  

Dungeons and Dragons makes it in the New York Times. And just in time for the release of the new “Monsters of the Multiverse” sourcebook. Woot!

The Wheel keeps on turning.

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