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Now that the GOP has succeeded in its decades-long push to overturn Roe v. Wade, conservatives are turning to the next front in their war on reproductive rights: a national abortion ban. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a top ally of Donald Trump, is introducing a bill that would federally prohibit the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. It doesnt go as far as the heartbeat bill his colleague, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, has proposed. But Grahams measure, dubbed the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act, would nonetheless constitute an extreme attack on reproductive freedom and healthcare and incidentally, on the states rights Republicans say are near and dear to their heart.

If you'll recall, states' rights had seemed top of mind for Republicans back in June, when Samuel Alito and the Supreme Courts conservative supermajority issued its Dobbs decision and ended federal abortion protections. The power to decide this profound moral question has officially returned to the states, where it will be debated and settled in the way it should be in our democratic society by the people, Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado said in a news release at the time. Graham himself echoed that point in a CNN interview just last month, arguing that states should decide the issue of marriage and states should decide the issue of abortion.

But, as The Washington Post pointed out last week, that hasnt stopped Republicans like Buck and Graham from expressing support for a national abortion ban a sweeping invasion of privacy that would seem to trample over state sovereignty. As Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote Tuesday, Overturning Roe was never about giving power back to states. It was about controlling our bodies and our personal autonomy. We cannot let this happen.

The timing of Grahams legislation is somewhat curious, coming two months before an election that has, in part, become a referendum on Dobbs: All across the country, Republican candidates have scrambled to soften or hide their extreme anti-abortion stances while Democrats, who were just months ago bracing for a November shellacking, continue to gain momentum in the midterms. But putting forth a nationwide ban which, as Sean Hannity approvingly noted Monday evening, mirrors the Mississippi law at the center of the Dobbs case appears to confirm Democrats dire warnings that the GOP seeks to outlaw abortion not just in GOP-led states but throughout every state in the union.

Its unclear how much traction Grahams legislation will have within his party at least with the midterms looming. But even if the party doesnt mobilize around him now, Grahams latest proposal the most extreme antiabortion legislation hes ever introduced serves as a preview of what a GOP majority is likely pursue on Capitol Hill. Indeed, a number of Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have expressed support for draconian federal restrictions. Would they be able to pull it off? Thats hard to say. But the prospect of such a move underscores the danger the GOP continues to pose to reproductive rights in this country.

A national abortion ban may be wildly unpopular, but thats also sort of the point. If Republicans were to truly confer such policies to the will of the people, as Buck put it, Roe probably wouldnt have been overturned in the first place. Polls have consistently shown that an overwhelming majority of Americans support reproductive freedom. Even in the GOP-led state of Kansas, voters soundly rejected a ballot initiative that would have stripped abortion protections from the state constitution. Voters may be poised to do so again in states like Michigan, where Republicans tried and failed to block a ballot measure to let the citizens decide. States rights," the GOP is learning, might be a nice rallying cry when youre trying to justify the Supreme Court breaking with five decades of precedent. But its far less appealing when states dont do exactly as you want them to.

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So Much for States' Rights: Republicans Are Eyeing a National Abortion Ban - Vanity Fair

Brian Flick| Opinion contributor

I was a registered Republican until I pulled my first Democratic ballot on May 8, 2018.

Like many reading this, I grew up in suburban neighborhoods that were predominately white and middle class. I grew up listening to Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Rush Limbaugh remember Rushs bit during the Clinton years about "American Held Hostage?" I went to a Baptist church on Wednesday nights and Sundays, and I lived in a household where politics wasnt a dinner table discussion, nor was it something we seemed to ever talk about.

Many of you who identify as Republican or conservative in the wake of Jan. 6, the Trump presidency and the Dobbs decision have asked yourself the same question I began to ask myself in earnest about 15 years ago: Is this Republican Party really the party for me?

The answer has become a clear no for me.

On the economy, my former party has gone rogue.

I began my legal career in 2007 as a consumer bankruptcy attorney which I still am to this day working primarily with working-class and middle-class families. I spent the majority of my first four years in practice helping families across the socio-economic spectrum trying to save their homes from foreclosure, their cars from repossession and collection efforts from banks and corporations, especially payday lenders, who preyed upon these families. As the bailout was happening, I asked myself why the corporations were being bailed out, and families were losing everything.

On middle- and working-class families, my former party has given up.

I have been abhorred by the Republican Partys, particularly the Ohio GOPs, outright assault on middle- and working-class families. I witnessed this firsthand in the Ohio Legislature in 2010-2011 when I urged passage of a bill that would increase Ohios homestead exemption. After I testified in front of a House committee, I was able to watch floor debates; and, to my absolute horror, I listened as countless Republicans openly attacked Gov. John Kasich over Medicaid expansion and expressed disdain for the needs of our most economically vulnerable Ohioans.

And most recently on womens rights, my former party has rejected protections for personal rights.

I have always supported a womans right to choose, and there is no place in the party for a pro-choice Republican given the continued grip the religious right and lobbyists have on the party.

This horror has continued each and every time I have petitioned at the Statehouse, which has included two other memorable meetings: the time I heard an unnamed state senator refer to Ohioans as "you people" during a meeting with corporate lobbyists and two consumer groups about legislation over Ohios first data security bill, and a second time where I worked against a payday lending bill only to have the Republican representative repeatedly pause in his questioning as he was getting texts of questions to ask me from the lobbyist in the corner.

My only regret from May 8, 2018 was not making the decision to become a Democrat earlier.

The Republican Party has lost its way, and Im proud to be working with organizations across our state, like WelcomePAC (https://welcomepac.org/), that are committed to elevating candidates who can protect our state and our democracy from the GOPs radicalized positions.

It is my hope that sharing parts of my story inspires others to not only ask themselves the hard questions, but to also leave a party that now celebrates greed, corruption and oppression.

Brian Flick is Managing Partner and Cincinnati Office Director of Dann Law, with a practice that focuses on bankruptcy, foreclosure defense, appellate litigation, and other areas of consumer law.

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Opinion: I left the Republican Party because it has lost its way - The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Tuesday said former President Trump brought heaps of fear into the GOP as lawmakers worried disloyalty to their party leader could knock them out of favor.

For some reason, somewhere, it all became about power, and it all became about fear. And Donald Trump brought heaps of fear into the Republican Party, Kinzinger said on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

For like a year or two, people thought maybe we could take down Donald Trump. When he kept surviving, this fear came through of like, we have to do everything he wants, because he is invulnerable, and he very well may be invulnerable, but there are a lot of people that, with that fear, sold out their soul because they didnt want to be kicked out of the tribe.

The Illinois congressman, one of just two Republicans on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, said his party has gone crazy.

Kinzinger ran down the holier-than-thou folks in Congress who put their loyalty to Trump ahead of their partys practical values.

You know these people, the holier-than-thou folks that get elected to Congress that preach to you constantly about the Constitution, whats in it, what isnt in it, how this little nuance does abide by it or doesnt abide by it. We all believe in the Constitution, Kinzinger said.

Theyre the same people that have sold out their values because the Donald Trump said to do so. Theyre the same people that now consider conservatism to be that fealty to Donald Trump.

Earlier this year, Kinzingers fellow Republican on the Jan. 6 committee Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)said loyalty to Trump and loyalty to the Constitution were mutually exclusive and that the Republican party needs to choose one.

Kinzinger and Cheney have both come under fire from the former president and his supporters for breaking rank to criticize him.

Trump last year reveled in Kizingers announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2022.

Cheney recently lost her reelection bid to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman in Wyomings GOP primary, and said in her concession speech that she could easily have won her House seat again, but that she would have had to enable [Trumps] ongoing efforts to unravel our Democratic system.

Kinzinger on MSNBC Tuesday appealed to his Democratic friends, saying he understands frustration and disappointment with conservatives and moderates, but that threats to democracy require a cooperative, collaborative approach in Congress.

We have all got to come together because, if you truly believe democracy is in threat if you truly believe that then we need uncomfortable alliances, he added.

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Kinzinger: Donald Trump brought heaps of fear into the Republican Party - The Hill

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer rolled out a coalition of Republicans mostly former officeholders and gubernatorial appointees backing her reelection campaign at an event in Grand Rapids Monday evening.

Though many of the Republicans assembled to support the Governor were only moderately conservative, there is still some distance on policy. Whitmer and her supporters instead placed a focus on shared values.

This is a moment where we have got to come together and I think many of the things that bind all of us standing here (is that) we care about democracy, we care about decency, and we care about individual freedom, Whitmer said at the press conference. We may not agree on everything, but these are fundamental to who we have been in Michigan, and who we need to continue to be.

Whitmer will face Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon in the general election Nov. 8.

Related: Tudor Dixon walks the tightrope in gubernatorial bid

Its emblematic of the political moment, where some moderately conservative voters repulsed by the GOPs enduring thrall of former president Donald Trump and his priorities have found themselves politically homeless. The campaigns effort mirrors a similar effort during Whitmers last campaign.

Jeff Timmer, the former Michigan Republican Party executive director, cofounded a group in 2020 that led that effort to support now-President Joe Biden. He is also now backing Whitmer for much the same reasons. In an interview, Timmer said the group is about creating the permission structure for conservatives to become crossover voters in the general election.

Related: Why a former Michigan GOP leader joined disillusioned Republicans against Trump

Among some of these those in attendance Monday, Timmer included, disproven yet persistent conspiracy theories about the integrity of Michigans elections weighed heavily in their decisions to support Whitmer.

If we ever have the luxury of debating policy in elections theres differences that I would have, but I view the choice before us as much more existential, Timmer said. (Dixon is) fueling the lies that have weakened our democracy and brought us to this point where were the faith in our elections is hanging by a thread due to propaganda by people like Tudor Dixon.

Dixon doesnt currently outright deny the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, but previously waffled on the issue during the gubernatorial primary and has claimed the true result of the 2020 presidential election is unknowable.

Related: Republican candidates want to stop talking about 2020 fraud claims. They may not have a choice.

Dixons campaign brushed aside Whitmers GOP supporters as elites that dont represent everyday people.

We are attracting the support of business owners who had their livelihoods crushed by Whitmer, law enforcement officials who can no longer take the radical bent of todays Democrat(ic) Party that sides with defund the police, and parents who had their children locked out of schools by this cruel, heartless Governor, Sara Broadwater, a spokesperson for Tudor Dixons campaign, said in a statement. Well take their support over the Lansings big government cocktail crowd any day of the week.

Jim Haveman, the director of the former Department of Community Health under Republican governors Rick Snyder and John Engler, said he hadnt seen enough substance from Dixons platform.

Having been in both with Governor Engler and Governor Snyder, I know what government can do to make this state better. And I just havent seen a platform from the candidate to make a difference, Haveman said of Dixon.

Other participants of Republicans for Whitmers 35-member leadership council include major Republican donor Bill Parfet; former State Reps. Doug Hart, Mike Pumford and Mickey Knight; from State Sens. Tony Rocca and Mel Larsen; former U.S. Rep. and state legislator Joe Schwarz; election attorney Joe Pirich and former Michigan Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Bob LaBrandt.

Whitmers pitch to swayable voters is not necessarily to compromise on key issues, but instead a promise to hear them out and uphold small-d democratic values.

I recognize that we may not agree on every issue, but I am focused on solving problems and I will sit at the table and make room for any person who wants to solve problems, Whitmer said. What I dont have time for is people that just want to wage culture wars and talk about things that arent going well.

The campaigns bet is that, for increasingly endangered moderate Republicans, that offer may be enough.

Read more at MLive:

Macomb County GOP asks federal court to decertify the 2020 election

Michigan Republican SOS candidate Kristina Karamo tried to crash car with family in it, according to court filing

Tudor Dixon agrees to Oct. 13 debate with Gretchen Whitmer

Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack leaving court

Millions in Pro-Whitmer spending gives Michigan Democrats the advertising edge this fall

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Republicans For Whitmer group unveiled in bid for crossover support - MLive.com

The Wisconsin Republican senator Ron Johnson, a vocal critic of Beijing who has vowed to launch investigations into the Biden familys alleged relationships with Chinese businesses, declared $57m in income in his first 10 years in office in connection to his ownership stake in a company whose growth has closely been linked to China.

Financial disclosures show the senators wealth has sharply increased during his years running for and serving in the Senate thanks to his holding in Oshkosh-based Pacur, a plastics maker where Johnson previously served as top executive.

Johnson is seeking re-election for a third term in a tough contest against Democrat Mandela Barnes, who polls show has a slight edge over the Republican incumbent.

During his first run for public office before his 2010 election, Johnson portrayed himself as a successful businessman who knew how to create jobs. An advertisement he used in both his successful 2010 and 2016 campaigns showed the 67 year-old standing in front of a white board, touting his own record as a manufacturer, a fact that he said made him stand out in a sea of lawyers who serve in the Senate.

A close examination of Johnsons financial disclosures and other public filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, legal filings and other public records reveal that Johnsons wealth was boosted by his companys ties to another company that was owned and managed by his family, which in turn grew its business in China, acquired businesses in China, and reported having a loan worth tens of millions of dollars from the Bank of China.

In one case, the company run by Johnsons family sued the US government to try to press for softer trade relations with Beijing, a position that Johnson himself adopted in a rare break with Trump administration policies.

Johnson sold his stake in Pacur in 2020, although documents show that an LLC owned by Johnson and his wife, Jane, still receives up to $1m annually through rent and royalties as owners of the building where Pacur operates.

Pacur was co-founded by Johnson and his brother-in-law in the 1970s. It was in effect closely tied to a larger company called Bemis, which was founded and run by Johnsons father-in-law, Howard Curler.

SEC documents show that, from about 1998 to 2010, Bemis paid tens of millions of dollars to Pacur, which was a supplier to Bemis. Johnson also personally owned Bemis stock, valued at between $1m and $5.2m on financial disclosure forms. The stock was later gifted to the senators family foundation, called the Grammie Jean Foundation.

A spokesperson for Johnson said the senator had no beneficial interest in the foundation.

Bemis, records show, had a steady and growing presence in China under the leadership of Jeffrey Curler, Howard Curlers son and Ron Johnsons brother-in-law. The company has plants in China and in 2013, records show, appear to have acquired tens of millions of dollars in Chinese debt in connection to a Chinese acquisition. SEC filings show that Bemis also disclosed in 2016 that it had a $50m Bank of China loan.

Bemis was sold to Australia-based Amcor in 2018 in a deal valued at $6.8bn. The Guardian reached out to Amcor for more details about the $50m loan, which appeared in Bemis filings before Amcor acquired the company. A spokesperson for Amcor said Amcor was not involved in the loan and did not have insights into the transaction.

Bemis was also active on issues related to trade during Johnsons Senate tenure.

In two cases, the group filed suit against the US governments policies on trade in China, including one suit in 2018. In the legal action brought by Bemis and Rollprint Packaging Products, the plaintiffs sued the United States to contest a finding by the International Trade Commission in support of tariffs on China. The lawsuit did not appear to proceed beyond the complaint. At the same time, Johnson was a vocal critic of US trade policy against China, marking a rare disagreement with Trump.

Johnson has also made speeches in the Senate that criticized financial transactions by the presidents son Hunter Biden, which he claimed were tied to Communist China and meant that Joe Biden was probably compromised on China.

The Biden familys vast web of foreign financial entanglements, Johnson alleged, had serious implications, and Johnson said he and fellow Republican senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa would continue to investigate them.

Our challenge is the deep state does not give up its secrets easily, Johnson said in a speech on the Senate floor in March.

A recent investigation by the Washington Post found that CEFC China Energy, a Chinese energy conglomerate, paid nearly $5m to entities controlled by Hunter Biden and his uncle. But it did not find evidence that Joe Biden personally benefited or knew about the transactions, which occurred after Biden left the vice-presidency and before he announced his presidential run.

Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for Johnson, denied that Johnson had any connections to his own family companys previous business interactions with Chinese companies.

He never had any managerial involvement in, or knowledge of the management actions taken by Bemis Company and had no connection to China or conflict of interest there.

Until your inquiry, he had no knowledge of Bemiss business holdings in China or any legal action Bemis was involved in. The Bemis company was one of many customers Senator Johnsons business sold plastics to, Henning said.

She also defended Johnsons position on tariffs. His belief is politicians in both parties have used Chinas trade abuses to demagogue against their political opponents without enacting effective solutions.

Henning also denied that Johnson accrued $57m in income in connection to Pacur from 2009 to 2020, because she claimed some of the funds were designated as gross receipts even though they are listed in financial disclosure forms as income.

Gross receipts are the amount of business that an organization reports before stripping out expenses. When asked by the Guardian to explain why Johnson had listed the funds as income in his financial disclosures, and what the gross receipts referred to, Henning did not respond.

Got a tip? You can contact the reporter at Stephanie.Kirchgaessner@theguardian.com

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Republicans wealth boosted by stake in company whose growth linked to China - The Guardian US