flintne

America already made daylight saving time permanent once. In December 1973, 79% of Americans supported it and Nixon signed it into law. By February 1974, eight weeks into the experiment, support had collapsed to 42%. The policy never changed. Winter arrived. Sunrise in Washington DC came at 8:27am. Kids left for school in total darkness, carrying flashlights and wearing reflective tape. When Congress moved to repeal, members cited the deaths of eight Florida schoolchildren in the first weeks of the change. The energy case collapsed too. The whole point was the oil embargo, and the Department of Transportation concluded the fuel savings were too small to matter. Ten months after signing it, Congress repealed it and Ford put the country back on standard time. There's a mechanism that makes this cycle repeat: permanent DST is only ever voted on when the sun is up. Polls run in the abstract, votes happen in warm months, and the benefit, a free hour of evening light, is easy to imagine year-round. The cost is concentrated in about 10 weeks of dark winter mornings and only becomes real after implementation. So the policy polls beautifully right up until January. Today's vote happened in July. The 1974 law passed in December, right before the exact winter that killed it. If this clears the Senate, the first real test arrives in January 2027, when sunrise in Indianapolis comes after 9am. Sleep researchers have watched this loop for 50 years, which is why the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the AMA, and the National Sleep Foundation all back the opposite reform, permanent standard time. Congress just picked the one version of clock reform America has already tried, hated, and repealed.

This will be such a nightmare.

I'm in.

😬 AWKWARD: Rob Sand says that he opposes Zach Lahn's plan for a moratorium on data centers and it did not go over well with the audience at his own town hall. No wonder he's blocking Iowans from attending them!

At what point is the Nebraska Department of Roads going to make it three lanes from Omaha to Grand Island?It is absolutely crazy the amount of traffic and inconsideration from others going below the speed limit in the passing lane.

Interesting. McConnell’s “proof of life” photo was released shortly after this segment. 🤔 Andy Beshear says the Republican legislature changed the law to block him from appointing a Senator if a vacancy occurs. He argues the Kentucky Constitution gives him that authority, calls the changes politically motivated, and says he’s prepared to fight the issue in court if a Senate seat becomes vacant, while wishing McConnell a full recovery.

This will hand Flood reelection on a platter. A race that could have been winnable is now going to be a cake walk for the incumbent. This has downhill impacts. Ego? Intentional sabbatoge? Whatever it is, this needs to stop. Ideological battles can be had later. Winning is theneed