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OPINION: Harold R. Berk, Petitioner v. Wilson C. Choy
This affects the entire country.

Caption Harold R. Berk, Petitioner v. Wilson C. Choy Summary Delaware law requiring a plaintiff suing for medical malpractice to provide an affidavit from a medical professional attesting to the suit’s merit, Del. Code, Tit. 18, §6853(a)(1), conflicts with a valid Federal Rule of Civil Procedure and does not apply in federal court. Author Justice Amy Coney Barrett Opinion Certiorari Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 18, 2024) Case Link 24-440

I am fucking done with MAGA. I wanted to post on facebook but no MAGA will read it (since most can’t read).
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

Tomorrow marks one year of Trump being back in office. So let’s do what his supporters never want to do: actually look at the record.
I’ll start with the positives so nobody cries about bias. The border is more secure. The stock market is doing well. That’s it. That’s the list.
Now the clown show.
In one year we’ve renamed the Gulf of Mexico because feelings, launched Trump and Melania meme coins like a pump-and-dump presidency, and pardoned everyone from January 6 — including people who violently assaulted police officers. “Back the blue,” unless the blue stands in Trump’s way.
Trump slapped tariffs on almost every country on Earth. Giant corporations like Apple and Google simply paid their way around them. Small and mid-size businesses couldn’t, so they slowed hiring, shut down, or folded. The result? The worst job growth year since 2020. Trump managed to recreate pandemic-level economic damage without an actual pandemic. That’s almost impressive.
Everything is more expensive — intentionally. Tariffs raise prices. Everyone knew it. Everyone said it. He did it anyway after promising to lower costs. You were lied to.
We’re now blowing up boats in the Caribbean under the banner of “drug enforcement,” often without knowing who’s on them or what they’re carrying — and in some cases killing survivors. That’s not strength. That’s reckless brutality.
And here’s the part you truly cannot make up: while doing this, Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras, a man convicted in U.S. court of massive cocaine trafficking into the United States — hundreds of tons — and sentenced to decades in prison. So let’s be clear: poor people on boats get missiles, but an actual convicted drug kingpin gets a pardon. That’s not a war on drugs. That’s a protection racket.
We took out Maduro — fine, no tears shed — then left his cabinet and VP in power while lining up to grab Venezuelan oil. Regime-change theater. Same corruption, same system, different branding. Funny how it’s always about oil.
Meanwhile, Trump drags his feet on releasing the Epstein files — a literal campaign promise — insults his own supporters for asking, and stalls at every turn. I’m not saying he’s guilty. I am saying innocent people don’t act like that.
Then there’s Greenland. A NATO ally. A place where we already have a military base. Trump openly threatens military force “for national security” — the exact excuse we say would justify war if China or Russia used it. If you don’t see the hypocrisy, you’re not confused — you’re committed.
We elected Trump to lower prices. He raised them.
We elected him to expose corruption. He sells pardons to convicted fraudsters.
We elected him to fight the deep state. His own people now admit the conspiracies were bullshit.
If you supported Trump and now feel embarrassed, congratulations — that means you still have a functioning conscience. People make mistakes.
The best time to reject Trump was 2016.
The second-best time is right now.
And if you can read all of this and still proudly call yourself MAGA — you’re not defending America. You’re defending a cult.

Legislative Standing and/After Bost
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.

Another Steve Vladeck essay, about Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections and how it fits (or doesn't) with the court's jurisprudence on standing.
I tend to think that standing doctrine is far too restrictive (How much litigation there should be is a policy question, not really the proper domain of the courts. But it has seemed to me that courts prefer to limit the volume of litigation by limiting standing in marginal cases). So I was happy with the outcome in Bost, but had the same frustration that the court expands standing in this case while restricting it in other areas.

Virginia Democrats Quickly Proving That ‘Affordability’ Pivot Is a Farce
Every delay has consequences.

Remember when Democrats spent an entire election cycle talking about “affordability” as if that’s all they care about now? Well, if you bought that, then there’s a socialist mayor in New York who’s got a bridge to sell you.

But New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t actually the one completely blowing up the affordability farce, it’s assumedly “moderate” Virginia Democrats.

Much of the media touted Abigail Spanberger as the moderate Democrat gubernatorial candidate who could lead the party back to power. The Wall Street Journal even called her the “anti-Mamdani.”

“Abigail Spanberger is seen as a potential moderate face for her struggling party,” read The Wall Street Journal’s subheadline.

Moderate face, Maoist heart, I guess.

The moment Virginia Democrats gained control of the Legislature and the governor’s mansion, they went hard to work at making Virginia a California on the Potomac with a dizzying array of leftist bills that are sure to soon end up on Spanberger’s desk.

This was highlighted in a viral X post by conservative commentator Greg Price on Monday.

Democrats now control the legislature and Governor's office in Virginia.

Here are just a few of the bills they've introduced

– New 4.3% sales tax on Uber Eats, Amazon, etc deliveries.
– New sales tax on admissions to a wide variety of businesses.
– Create two new higher tax…
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 19, 2026

Nothing says “affordability” like a half-dozen new taxes, free education for illegal aliens, and speed cameras on every corner, am I right?

It’s not looking so good on the affordable energy front either. One of Spanberger’s first acts in office was to, of course, sign an executive order to stop cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She also quickly opted to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, a nonprofit organization that places greenhouse gas restrictions. This project was well described by Virginia state Sen. Glen Sturtevant.

“RGGI forces its member states to buy emissions credits … from RGGI. It’s a non-profit-run carbon tax system,” he posted on X. “Those credits then get charged directly to you on your electric bill. Youngkin pulled Virginia out of RGGI and saved Virginian’s nearly a billion dollars on their electric bills.”

One of Spanberger’s first moves this week is to force Virginia to join RGGI (pronounced “Reggie”). If you hear it mentioned, it’s not a person. It’s a 501c3 “nonprofit” based in New York City.

RGGI forces its member states to buy emissions credits…from RGGI. It’s a…
— Glen Sturtevant (@GlenSturtevant) January 21, 2026

Many of these items seem like handouts to patronage groups. In fact, they aren’t even hiding it. One piece of legislation would make it easier for state nonprofits to rip off taxpayers. They apparently looked at all that Somali fraud in Minnesota that drained billions of dollars from taxpayers and said, “More of that, please.”

Democrats in Virginia have introduced a bill that bans state agencies from imposing requirements on non-profits to verify their eligibility before receiving taxpayer dollars.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 21, 2026

Even beyond the …

A Pregnant Woman at Risk of Heart Failure Couldn’t Get Urgent Treatment. She Died Waiting for an Abortion.
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

When Ciji Graham visited a cardiologist on Nov. 14, 2023, her heart was pounding at 192 beats per minute, a rate healthy people her age usually reach during the peak of a sprint. She was having another episode of atrial fibrillation, a rapid, irregular heartbeat. The 34-year-old Greensboro, North Carolina, police officer was at risk of a stroke or heart failure. 

In the past, doctors had always been able to shock Graham’s heart back into rhythm with a procedure called a cardioversion. But this time, the treatment was just out of reach. After a pregnancy test came back positive, the cardiologist didn’t offer to shock her. Graham texted her friend from the appointment: “Said she can’t cardiovert being pregnant.”

The doctor told Graham to consult three other specialists and her primary care provider before returning in a week, according to medical records. Then she sent Graham home as her heart kept hammering.   

Like hundreds of thousands of women each year who enter pregnancy with chronic conditions, Graham was left to navigate care in a country where medical options have significantly narrowed.

As ProPublica has reported, doctors in states that ban abortion have repeatedly denied standard care to high-risk pregnant patients. The expert consensus is that cardioversion is safe during pregnancy, and ProPublica spoke with more than a dozen specialists who said they would have immediately admitted Graham to a hospital to get her heart rhythm under control. They found fault, too, with a second cardiologist she saw the following day, who did not perform an electrocardiogram and also sent her home. Although Graham’s family gave the doctors permission to speak with ProPublica, neither replied to ProPublica’s questions.

Graham came to believe that the best way to protect her health was to end her unexpected pregnancy. But because of new abortion restrictions in North Carolina and nearby states, finding a doctor who could quickly perform a procedure would prove difficult. Many physicians and hospitals now hesitate to discuss abortion, even when women ask about it. And abortion clinics are not set up to treat certain medically complicated cases. As a result, sick pregnant women like Graham are often on their own.

“I can’t feel like this for 9mo,” Graham wrote her friend. “I just can’t.” 

She wouldn’t. In a region that had legislated its commitment to life, she would spend her final days struggling to find anyone to save hers. 

Carolyn Graham holds a portrait of her daughter Ciji, who was a police officer. Andrea Ellen Reed for ProPublica

Graham hated feeling out of breath; her life demanded all her energy. Widely admired for her skills behind the wheel, she was often called upon to train fellow officers at the Greensboro Police Department. At home, she needed to chase her 2-year-old son, SJ, around the apartment. She was a natural with kids — she’d helped her single mom raise her nine younger siblings.

She thought her surprise pregnancy had caused the atrial fibrillation, also called A-fib. In addition to heart disease, she had a thyroid disorder; pregnancy could send the gland into overdrive, prompting dangerous heart rhythms. 

When Graham …

Kimberley Harmer: The Campaign Leadership Programme proves the party’s best days really are ahead
We're watching the same failure loop.

Kimberley Harmer is a Conservative activist and community Ambassador. She is a senior caseworker for Charlie Dewhirst MP and chairs a youth charity. 

I have just returned from the Campaign Leadership Programme delivered by Ron Nehring, and David Reede of the Leadership Institute through the Conservative Campaign Academy. Attending the course has left me more convinced than ever that the Conservative Party is far from finished. Over four intense days, I saw our energy, determination, and strength on full display.

We are not done. We are only getting started.

The programme is led by practitioners who understand that successful campaigning is built on realism rather than relying on reassurance. Training is delivered by experienced political operators from the UK and internationally, alongside senior Conservative professionals who have fought real campaigns under real pressure. Honesty is demanded and complacency not tolerated.

Uncomfortable truths are confronted directly, not to apportion blame or indulge pessimism, but to build a serious plan for recovery rooted in integrity and clarity of purpose. These principles, honesty, responsibility, and discipline are woven through the fabric of the course. Facing the truth is how we build the future.

Participants are challenged to assess who we are as a Party: our strengths, our weaknesses, and where we have lost focus. Just as importantly, we consider what we can grow from those lessons. This is not nostalgia or denial. It is about rebuilding, revitalising, and renewing.

Central to this process is understanding our Conservative values in their truest sense. Patriotism is not performative; it is practical. Conservatives are serious about the country we serve. We believe in responsibility, including fiscal responsibility; in strong institutions; in hard work; and in governing with both restraint and ambition. Our values are not relics; they remain a roadmap for the future.

Teamwork is at the heart of the programme. Group projects replicate the pressures of campaigning on the ground, requiring collaboration, challenge, and clear decision-making. Rebuilding the Party will not be achieved by individuals acting alone, but by disciplined teams committed to a shared purpose. Alone we can do little; together we can achieve everything.

Much has been made of those who have chosen to leave the Party. But renewal is not weakened by the departure of opportunists. It is strengthened by those prepared to stay, confront uncomfortable realities, and do the hard work required to win again.

I left the programme feeling reinvigorated, focused. Stronger, more determined, ready for the challenge ahead. It was a genuine game-changer. Not only has it helped me develop my own skills and understand the kind of leader I can …

Does anyone else think that this whole Greenland issue is really just an attempt to box in Canada?
Who's accountable for the results?

I haven't seen anyone else discuss this in the news. Everyone seems so flabbergasted that Trump wants to take Greenland for strategic purposes, that I think they all forgot that when he first got back into office he said he wanted to make Canada the 51rst state.
IMO there's not really any major advantage in having Greenland under US control if we can just station our troops there whenever needed. It occurs to me that if he's trying to be the "Greatest President Ever" he's probably looking at expanding American territory.
So, the same way he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and take the Panama Canal back, it's another form of expansion. I would imagine that in his mind the United States should be considered all of North America. If he successfully takes over Greenland, then Canada would be bordered on all sides (except North) by the USA. Seems like a positioning set up to me.

Mark Kelly’s money bomb
Why resist verification?

As he increasingly flirts with a 2028 presidential run, Mark Kelly is winning friends up and down the ballot — if not influencing his Trump administration enemies.

In an effort to help flip the House and Senate in 2026, Kelly has strategically used his star turn as President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Public Enemy No. 1 to ramp up his giving and fundraising to competitive candidates, party committees and state parties to the tune of nearly $5 million last year, according to figures shared exclusively with POLITICO.

Since Trump in late November attacked the Arizona senator and other national security Democrats with a Truth Social post accusing them of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” one of the biggest questions in political circles has been just how much Kelly would benefit from Trump fashioning him into a foil. That post has raised Kelly’s profile, boosted further by Hegseth announcing an investigation into Kelly.

While Kelly’s total fundraising numbers aren't yet available, what he raised and gave away will likely only be a fraction. His moves thus far — and the spotlight that Trump has shone on him — have positioned him to be a key fundraiser for Democrats in 2026, and offer him a platform to build out a 2028 base.

Kelly made more than $1 million in direct contributions and transfers to Democrats across the country, bringing his total direct contributions to more than $1.4 million for 2025. That includes $100,000 each to the DCCC and the DSCC and more than $280,000 to the DNC and state parties combined. As for the Senate, the DSCC vice chair has raised or contributed more than $2.3 million for the committee since the start of last year. He also raised $1 million for other Democrats in the fourth quarter alone by signing emails, text messages and ads.

Kelly also made direct contributions to approximately 30 state parties, including in potential early nominating 2028 states like Iowa, Michigan, South Carolina and New Hampshire. He also made two trips to South Carolina and one trip to Michigan, along with travel to Nevada.

“There’s definitely a message there that resonates with Nevada voters across the board,” Nevada Democrats Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno told POLITICO, adding that Kelly drew a diverse crowd to the event he attended and praising his contribution to the state party. “So yes, I know there'll be a number of people that will probably throw their hat in the ring, but he has definitely sparked the interest of some Nevada voters.”

That's not to mention off-year election trips for Democrats in North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia. “Senator Kelly is working overtime to support Democrats running in tough races because he knows that taking back the House and Senate is critical to holding Trump …

Judge Outrages New York Republicans by Ordering New Congressional Map
What's the endgame here?

New York likely has to draw a new congressional map thanks to a Democrat-appointed judge’s ruling—drawing Democrat applause and Republican outrage over the possibility of Empire State conservatives losing representation in Washington.

The ruling could spell trouble for Republican control of seven New York House seats, and be decisive in handing Democrats control of the House.

On Wednesday, New York Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman ordered the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission to redraw its U.S. House districts due to “Black and Latino votes … being diluted” in the state’s Republican 11th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis. 

New York’s Constitution requires that district boundaries not dilute the votes of “racial or minority language groups,” and details a process for petitioners to request a redrawing of the state’s congressional map.

The Case

Pearlman, an appointee of Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was her chief of staff when she was lieutenant governor, cites “racial appeals in Staten Island politics” as being “meaningful” for the question of whether the district’s boundaries dilute minority votes. 

Pearlman also cites the fact that “minority-preferred candidates ‘usually’ lose” as evidence of “racially polarized voting” in the district, one of his justifications for ordering a new map.

The case’s petitioners are all New York electors.

Pearlman also cites expert witness Dr. Thomas J. Sugrue’s testimony claiming Staten Island “has a long history of racial segregation, discrimination, and disparate treatment against Blacks and Latinos.”

Pearlman writes in his ruling that “time is of the essence to fix congressional lines in this case,” and that the redistricting commission must redraw lines by Feb. 6.

The voters of New York deserve the fairest congressional map possible.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeemjeffries) January 22, 2026

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was quick to applaud the ruling, calling it “the first step toward ensuring communities of interest remain intact from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan” on Wednesday.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., who represents much of the Bronx, told The Daily Signal on Thursday that he was generally supportive of redrawing maps.

“If there’s a congressional district that violates civil rights law, or either the federal or the state constitution, then, yes, it should be redrawn in accordance with our laws,” said Torres.

Republican Backlash

But Republicans denounced the ruling as a Democrat attempt to seize control of a House seat.

“Democrats can’t beat me on merit, policy and debate. So what do they do? They file a meritless lawsuit claiming our district disenfranchises minorities to take out the first minority to represent the district and steal our seat,” Malliotakis, who is of Cuban descent, wrote on X.

Malliotakis vowed to “use every legal option at our disposal, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court” to counter the decision.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who represents the lower Hudson Valley, also denounced the decision when speaking to The Daily Signal on Thursday.

“I think what you’ve seen …

(What’s Left of) Our Economy: Tariff-Spurred Inflation You Need to Squint to See
How is this acceptable?

Today’s official U.S. report on the inflation measure favored by the Federal Reserve did show a smidgeon of tariff-induced price hikes.  But so far, it’s only a smidgeon – and still far from the widespread forecasts of a major living cost surge whacking American consumers due to President Trump’s trade levies.

At the same time, there’s another big takeaway from the new release on Price Indexes for Personal Expenditures (PCE) inflation, which due to shutdown-related delays covers both last October and November:  So far during Trump 2.0, PCE inflation by both of its broadest measures is running awfully close to the two percent annual rate targeted by the central bank.

Let’s start with the so-called headline rate’s monthly changes since last February – the president’s first full months in office:

February      0.4 percent                                                                        

March          0.0 percent                                                                   

April            0.2 percent                                                                 

May             0.2 percent       

June             0.3 percent  

July              0.2 percent  

August         0.3 percent

September    0.3 percent

October        0.2 percent

November    0.2 percent 

So at least on a sequential basis, headline PCE inflation has lost momentum so far during the president’s second term.

Headline PCE inflation on a yearly basis during this period is slightly warmer:

February      2.7 percent

March         2.3 percent 

April           2.2 percent

May            2.4 percent

June            2.6 percent

July             2.6 percent

August        2.7 percent

September   2.8 percent

October       2.7 percent

November   2.8 percent

All of these figures are higher than that Fed target rate.  But on a February-November basis, the picture looks more encouraging.  During that period last year, headline PCE was up just 1.72 percent altogether.  If recent trends continue, that would well bring the yearly pace to 2.06 percent when the February, 2026 numbers come out – nearly exactly the Fed’s target rate.  And this despite whatever tariff pressures have developed.  And that 1.72 percent figure is only fractionally higher than that from the same months in pre-tariff-y 2024 (1.66 percent).

Where the tariff-driven inflation evidence starts to appear is in the months since President Trump began imposing his “Liberation Day” tariffs (last April).  

Between last April and November, 2025, headline PCE climbed by 1.54 percent.  That’s much faster than the 1.05 percent recorded during the same months in 2024.  Even so, that result indicates that headline PCE has slowed some since April.  In addition, if the current pace continues, February’s PCE report would show the headline number rising by just 2.05 percent – even closer to the Fed target.

As RealityChek readers know by now,  core PCE strips out energy and food prices because they’re supposedly volatile for reasons largely unrelated to the economy’s underlying vulnerability to inflation.  So they’re better signs of an inflation tariff effect than the headline data.  On a monthly …