422 Comments

Thanks for the detailed explanation of "congressional earmarks," Heather. I will try and read more about these and hope they make a difference for the American people. Very interesting.

As to the other portions of your letter, this was EVERYTHING:

"Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne noted that the adherence of all but seven senators to Trump “should end the absurd talk that there is a burden on President Biden to achieve a bipartisan nirvana in Washington. If most Republicans can’t even admit that what Trump did is worthy of impeachment, how can anyone imagine that they would be willing and trustworthy governing partners?”

Dionne added that the acquittal made an overwhelming case for getting rid of the filibuster, which in its current incarnation effectively means that no legislation can pass without support from 60 senators. Thanks to the 50-50 split in the Senate, getting to 60 means getting 10 Republican votes. This is impossible, Dionne says, because clearly “There are not 10 Republican Senate votes to be had on anything that really matters.”'

This is so true. Republican senators who did not vote for conviction are as bad as T---- and the insurrectionists themselves. Maybe worse. . .because of the power they continue to hold. As far as I'm concerned, they wanted the insurrection--even though they were in danger--because they do not like that Congress--the House especially--is looking more and more like America. They fear the loss of white supremacy. How do we work with people like that? We don't. We work right through them, we don't give up, give in, or go away. I am emboldened everyday by the younger people from every background in this country who are being elected into positions of power. If each one of us commits ourselves to work hard in our own communities to dismantle systemic racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and sexism, white supremacy as a power structure will collapse. White supremacists will never completely disappear, but white supremacy as a power structure MUST. That and only that will move us toward achieving this experiment we call Democracy. Only then can we begin to distribute wealth and power in this country.

Thanks again, Heather. This American needs your daily letters.

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Excellent! As a recovering racist (I was born/raised in Alabama, and the first step to recovery is admission), I highly recommend this book:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0991331303/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_8M2RDMFAZDZNJS10KWQS

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I agree, this is a good place to start if you're a middle aged white person. Please consider buying it from a locally owned independent bookstore, or if you don't have one near you, one that ships (many do!), rather than from Amazon. We need to keep these places open and Amazon has profitted enough from the pandemic.

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It was my intention to promote the book, not the source. It's an excellent book that helps white people better understand White Privilege. This white author spent 25 years with best intentions-- wasted. Learn from other's mistakes. Let's not repeat them over and over.

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Thank you, Beth, for that reminder. So many of my friends with the means to do so have upped their usage of Amazon during the pandemic. It's hard to convince them to give up funding Bezos' tax-free life completely, so when they are resistant, I suggest they at least order through smile.amazon.com - which provides the opportunity to donate a percentage of every purchase to a charity or non-profit of the buyer's choice.

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Frugal Bookstore is a family-owned, small but high-quality Black-owned bookstore in Boston's Nubian Square. They will order and ship titles not in stock. The staff is VERY nice. Support the "rebels" against Amazon's evil empire!

https://frugalbookstore.net/

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The Frugal children's section is particularly strong.

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Amen! "Congress - the House especially - is looking more and more like America." You nailed it right there.

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It also explains the lack of partisanship. If there is nothing in it "for me" why would the other side buy in. Clearly moral reasons are not enough. Follow the money.

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In different areas, power is still out here in North central Texas. Dallas/Ft Worth area. It hasn’t been discriminating, rich and poor alike are hit by it. The affluent area of Southlake had to open a warming station. All hotel rooms sold out. My friends, a family recovering from Covid, didn’t have electricity to run the husband’s breathing treatments. They did get a hotel room.

There are people on Facebook saying this is all Biden’s fault. Because he’s proposed alternative energy to the beloved oil. But the council , ERCOT, formed to prevent this said they weren’t given the funds needed to fix these problems from Gov. Abbott. The energy company Oncor says as areas get back online they’ll start rolling blackouts again!

So many thanks to Biden! For being a president! No thanks to Abbott who continues to play the party politics.

Thanks for the summary, Heather! News here is all about the weather! ❄️

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I'm in rural Texas about 70 miles northwest of San Antonio. It is 7 degrees right now and expected to go down to 4 degrees. Our rural electric cooperative seems to be doing an amazing job of keeping the electricity on. We've had a few flickers but no outages for which I am very grateful. The one thing I haven't heard anyone say to day is this storm which is setting records would seem to me to be part of the climate crisis. Global warming means storms become more and more intense and larger. We should be talking about the climate crisis while the weather has our attention. In my twenty years in Texas I'm never seen but a dusting of snow that melted almost as soon as it touched the ground. Now we have about three inches of snow which won't get a chance to melt for several more days. And we had an ice storm that has covered the trees with about 1/2 inch of ice around the branches and two inch icicles hanging on each and every leaf. The sparkle of the ice was beautiful in the sunshine this afternoon but this is very hard on the trees. Even when I lived in New England I remember some ice storms but never one that created so much ice on the trees. Let's start talking about the climate crisis!

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My friends from that area of the country are braying about how Global Warming is being disproven by the situation of today, because it is really cold. What maroons, to quote the philosopher of my childhood, Bugs Bunny.

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Yup! I hear that all the time too. They don’t read or choose to inform themselves about why these extremes are happening. As you kindly put it, what maroons. And we are stuck living with such idiots. Mother Earth has every right to kick us off.

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Exactly - "How can global warming cause freezing cold, silly!" Maroons for sure.

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Ice storms are more the norm for Ft Worth. It’s definitely extreme that it’s cold all the way to Galveston! I do remember snow here as a kid that would last a day or two every few years. But a week? Still I have relatives that think this is all just nature’s way and global warming isn’t real. Maybe nature’s way of getting rid of humans!

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Exactly. See my comment up thread.

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I don’t understand why some people jump right to “blame” when something bad happens. How is this in any way Biden’s fault?!?!? And more importantly, why even try to blame the effects of a major weather event on a person unless the ultimate desired outcome is to fuel hatred and division. Then that begs the question- why are so many people so eager to promote hatred and division?? I just don’t get it 😢.

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The distinction between blame and responsibility is an interesting one. I've seen blame be integral to abuse. It directs a lot of hostility at pushing its target down relative to the blamer. Caught up in that hostility is the energy that could have been used to address whatever the problem might be.

The last 40 years of radical right "conservatism" has made extensive use of that pattern. Drain resources toward the rich, then harness the frustration over lack of resources to demonize the Dems and get votes from the very people being harmed. The disgraced former president extended the practise to a virtual art form, collecting money from his voters based on his big lie that they were aggrieved and helpless while he shafted them along with everyone else.

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You make a very compelling point. I have not been able to wrap my mind around the fact that the very people who suffer the most under republican leadership are the ones who continue to vote them in to power.

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There 'tis in a nurshell. We the People, All of Us This Tme, have so much work to do.

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WTPAOUTT

Great phrase

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And this is the problem, in a nutshell. No matter what the reality is... if people are already indoctrinated to find fault with their perceived enemy (President Biden in this case) and they blame him, EVEN as that person works to help him, it seems as if there is no way to reach them. It’s incredibly frustrating.

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Points to the need for the Democratic Party and the Biden administration to aggressively publicize all the things they do that make people's lives better -- and what the Repubicans do to try to prevent that.

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Because their N°1 principle is that it can't be their fault....therefore it is someone else's. It's a lot easier to moan than to get yourself off your backside and get the problem fixed.....and in this case it sounds like underinvestment in the electrical distribution system and poor management of the maintenance and repair services.......a local affair!

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Isn't it fascinating that they don't want the federal gubbament messing with their sovereignty, stay out of state affairs and block aid to local/state governments!! But as soon as a crisis hits their state it's all the FEDS FAULT for not jumping in to help them.

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Not much you can do with bad faith.

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And yet they blame Biden, who is providing aid. The madness continues.

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Agree. With events like this one, I tend to cancel out all the chatter and cacophony and turn immediately to this issue: power grids are very outdated forms of electricity; TX and other ‘sunny’ states should already be converting to solar power; climate change. These are the current issues. What am I doing in my life to address these and how may I support the hardest hit parts of America right now?

It does me know good, or solving the issue really, to blog are argue in real life with people about party politics, POTUS, etc etc.

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When ya got nothin' practical or helpful, blame's the only game.

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Stay safe and warm, Denise. I'm sorry Texas is in such a terrible situation right now.

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Thanks! So far I’m pretty toasty so far!

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Hmmm, more and more extreme weather events .... Maybe it has something to do with climate disruption. and maybe we should tackle it properly. For now nonpartisan assistance to Americans is the right move by the Biden admin.

And if it stays cold, swinging along to Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys always heats things up. Aaah-HAAAH!!!

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"Everbody complaining about the weather but nobody doing anything about it" is an old way of thinking. We can deal with climate change resulting in historically unusual weather by reducing fossil fuel usage as a start and it has to be on a world-wide basis. Rejoining the Paris accords is good.

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Thanks, Denise, for keeping us informed. I was struck by the news that Texas was experiencing sub-freezing temps. To me that's what makes power outages so frightening.

Hoping for the best for you in the coming days.

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I haven’t been struck by the rolling power outage. But yes! 1 degree right now. Yikes! Snow all the way to the beaches of The Gulf. Freezing ice/sleet/snow predicted for Tuesday night. Every county affected.

Schools had to give up on remote learning since power has been out. Don’t mess with Snow Days! Nature will find a way to make it happen!

Same as last year, being isolated doesn’t really change my lifestyle all that much. Thanks! I’m good! Me and my pets! 😊

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We didn't fare so well in the greater Houston area. 12+ hours without power today - it got down to 44 in our house. Worse for many households in Houston proper. Truly a disaster.

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Take care Judy! And be safe!

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Thanks for the well-wishes! We are warm at the moment. I’m sure our house would have been in the 30’s by morning if our power hadn’t come back up shortly before midnight.

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That's a relief!

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I hope you and yours are not suffering!

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Several areas came back up and went back down. People without heat are saying their house is in the 30s today. It is a huge disaster. The news report said ERCOT tried to pull Texas off the national grid so we don’t have any support system. They have failed epically! Stay Safe!

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The high today here in central Texas was 21 degrees and the low is going to be about 4 degrees. Tomorrow will be better. The low predicted to be 23 degrees will be higher than today's high at 21 degrees. Rather twists the mind's logic, doesn't it.

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Welcome to New England! Although it’s warmer in Boston this week than Texas. Sorry to you all. We expect that type of weather and are insulated against it.

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Virginia, where I live, has its share of power outages, and has experienced single digits and even negative digits on occasion. A sure-fire way to prevent that (while we're waiting for a climate change correction) is to invest in a whole-house generator. After experiencing a six-day outage some years ago, we finally bought one. Since then our outages have been reduced to momentary blips, the longest having lasted an hour.

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Part of the problem in OK is that gas pipes are freezing, cutting off supply and raising rates to as high as they can legally go.

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We bought a small generator after the derecho tore through the mid-Atlantic, leaving us without power. It will hold us long enough to transfer everything to family with a whole house generator, in case of major long-term winter outages.

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International Falls MN is temporarily located in TX this week.

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Wood stove here in Michigan. And long underwear. Wishing you sunshine and warmth.

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What a great way for the people in Texas to start to understand CLIMATE CHANGE! If they can stop blaming Biden who has been in office a mirror month!!

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I have family and friends in DFW. Some have heat, some don't. It's frightening. What I don't understand is how a power grid that can handle Texas summers can't handle a few days of freezing cold. WTF?

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I just read a story that stated the generating equipment is literally shutting itself down because of the extreme cold. https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2021/02/15/dallas-winter-storm-freeze.html

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Feb 16, 2021
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That's what I assumed -- that's how it happens here in Connecticut-- but I hadn't read anything in the local or national news explaining that. The rolling blackouts make it sound like the utility companies are doing this arbitrarily.

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It's a question of "load mnagement"....shring out a reduced power level so everyone gets a bit.

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If I understand the theory of rolling blackouts - I may be wrong - the goal is to reduce excess demand in a way that equalizes the harm over time.

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Yes, but some friends report no rolling at all, just hours and hours of blackout.

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A friend down in Rockport has been without power during the entire time and they are not expecting to have any power for several more days. The town is almost out of gas. He is in a motel where there are only three people remaining; it is 40 degrees inside and they just got water back this morning.

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Also, a friend who lives in a relatively new community outside Dallas where the power lines are underground, is still suffering blackouts.

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really. I was just wondering about underground lines. But I guess they still connect somewhere and transformers are going out so all power goes down.

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That is probably due to transformers, which are above ground, being damaged. Most homes in our area have underground utilities, but ours are above ground because the builder would have been forced to blast through solid granite, at huge expense, in order to bury them. We've had neighbors' homes with underground utilities lose power while we kept ours, and it was due to their houses being serviced by different transformers from ours, and ours dodged the bullet.

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Also, the generators are apparently shutting themselves down. They are not sufficiently insulated, I guess. https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2021/02/15/dallas-winter-storm-freeze.html

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Placing power and phone lines underground is a sensible precaution to ward off disaster. But the greater expense is an incentive to cut costs. leaving people vulnerable as in TX right now.

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I have memories of ice similar storms in Montréal which was supplied by only three major high tension lines from Hydro sources in the north. Ice builds up, breaks the line in remote forest areas. When you only have 3 sources, losing one is difficult...but when 2 or more go down, you're in real trouble. Blackouts don't always have such happy outcomes as the rise in the birth-rate 9 months after the fabled black out of New York State a generation ago.......got to keep warm somehow!

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It's my understanding that heating in Quebec is mostly electric because of the availability of hydro power. So power outages would be severe/

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I'm one of the lucky people who still has power (it was a whopping 14F degrees in Austin earlier and is 20F as I write this). I just received an email from the gas company, stating that some of the storage gas wells are freezing and there is now a possibility of a shortage. I do have a small space heater, but not many people have those on hand, and if there is no gas, then we're without heat and hot water.

Beginning Saturday, the night temperatures will remain above freezing, so that will help, but wow. This weather extends to the Gulf, and the beaches of Galveston are covered in ice and snow. Crazy weather!

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Thank goodness, an end to the ban on earmarks! Before the ban, members of Congress could bargain with each other for real, tangible things that could benefit their districts, exhibiting the "self interest" deliberately harnessed by the Founders. In an excess of moralistic zeal, such earmarks were abolished. (Except for the billions of dollars granted by the Department of Transportation annually, most recently by Mitch McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao.)

After the earmarks ban, and with the advent of near-universal media, there were no more "backroom deals," and everything was aboveboard and before the camera. The only things a Congressperson could trade were soundbites, or protests of fealty, or demonstrations of loyalty to party or ideology.

Yay. Ideology has become paramount, and actually getting work done has become "giving in to the enemy," or "betraying one's principles." Frankly, I'd much rather one Member trade, for instance, free feed for llamas in Tennessee, to another Member in exchange for a vote for easier voting registration, like, everywhere. It's a manageable corruption, where taxpayer money is funneled to local projects that seem like nonsense everywhere else, but it still leads government onward and toward the needs of the people.

A fairly recent example is the "Bridge to Nowhere," where Sarah Palin sold out her own state in her hopes of national advancement. I was there, in Ketchikan, and saw that the proposed bridge, partially funded with federal funds, was actually the connection between the city of Ketchikan and it's international airport. Without the bridge, travelers had to board a ferry and cross a river to reach the airport. Calling it a "Bridge to Nowhere" made an ideological sham of the needs of the local community, and made fodder for sloppy journalists and venal politicians.

Please, let's restore earmarks and give Members of Congress real money to trade with each other. Without earmarks, competence in Congress, especially on the Republican side, has become measured by how little one can accomplish, all in the name of "purity" of values and ideology. Government, declared by Reagan to be the "problem," has become the whipping boy of the Right, instead of the valuable player in our society it rightfully is. Perhaps if we give to Congress, the Right as well as the Left, the power to grant governmental benefits, we can get them to agree that government, like business or religion, is simply a powerful social tool, useful for dealing with certain social ills.

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Thanks, Dan. Your explanation of earmarks informs me immensely.

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And if it's accurate, so much the better! Please do fact check me -- I'm one of those odd fellows who laughs out loud when one of my premises is shown to be bogus. So many of my views are based on a lifetime of news observation, a process that guarantees a constant injection of bias and prejudice. I'm dying to find the "truth" behind modern conservative philosophy; what if there isn't any? Surely it's impossible that there is no valid opposition, no fact-based disagreement on social policy. Isn't it?

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Stuart Stevens said, “It Was All a Lie.” His book about the Republicans is quite interesting.

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Kentucky profited from earmarks that McConnell used extensively. If earmarks are reinstated maybe McConnell will be less obstructionist so the Senate can actually do their job.

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As long as he's in a minority and the process is open and well managed

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McTurtle's campaign benefited from Goodwife Chao's Labor budget dump right before the election. That and getting more votes than the number of voters. There's something rotten in the state of Kentucky.

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Some of the rot is most likely related to the "curious" decision on the part of the Rusal oligarchs to build an aluminum processing plant within 3 months of the sanctions against Russia being dropped...Just sayin'

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Thanks, B. We need details on other states and locales. Keep sharing.

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Thank you, Dr Heather.

The phrase that summed it up for me in this Letter was quoted from The Washington Post,

"If most Republicans can’t even admit that what Trump did is worthy of impeachment, how can anyone imagine that they would be willing and trustworthy governing partners?”

Smh.

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Right smh! R we Doomed?

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Only if we don't act to save our democracy.

BTW, which one is you in the photo, Donald? (I bet you do the blocking.)

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It's absolutely appalling. Smh right along with you.

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Thanks your clear presentation of facts. Slightly off topic: during the impeachment trial, Rep. Ruskin read from the preamble of the Constitution. The phrase “promote the the general welfare”struck a cord. If that isn’t saying in clear language that the tole of government is to help the people, I don’t know what is.

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It's a most important phrase. As is "a more perfect Union," a goal to always pursue.

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Absolutely! I’ve long been cognizant of that phrase; it’s a gentle reminder that we are a work in progress. But for so long, I’ve been hearing that the Constitution is more about business and than people. So when Rep. Ruskin quoted the Preamble, I read the Constitution again.

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I love what our new president is doing in so many ways. Going to Republican states to talk directly to the people, reevaluating earmarks to benefit state localities and non-profits, but not private companies.

I do wish he'd reconsider the way the $1,400 checks would be distributed. I'm one of millions of people who has not been affected financially by the pandemic and who lives comfortable on far less than $75,000. Many of us just don't need the check. It's a place where I think there is room to negotiate with Republicans.

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I have friends who live in NYC who are desperate for the extra funds--because as academics they are making crap wages (for NYC) and they are paying student loans. I am single and I a not eligible for one of the checks--didn't get one the first time either--(I hold an endowed chair that tips me just over the limit) and I fell into the chasm of the Trump tax "cuts" so my tax bill has actually been about 20% higher than it was before Cheeto's shenanigans. But if you have any disposable income you feel you can do without, giving it to people in need is, in my opinion, the way to go: political activists, food banks, academic and arts institutions (who are keeping dancers and musicians on the payroll but without the benefit of ticket sales: this is employment for thousands and thousands of people)--whatever you feel strongly about. I have, this year, actually donated more than 25% of my annual income to charity because I am privileged and I can afford it.

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I’m not rich by any stretch but I donated several chunks to feed and clothe those less fortunate from the last stimulus thru a friend who heads a charity at her church. I’ll do the same with the next one. It just feels right to me.

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A couple I know in Schenectady,NY cashed their check and chose key bus stops where essential workers were arriving or leaving for work and handed out $50 bills and thanked them.

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While I did donate to the arts and organizations, I should donate to the woman who paid for the plane-pulled banner in the sky over Mar-a-Lago that read "Trump is guilty lock him up"! Brilliant.

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Hey, Pam. I, too, am not affected financially and have wondered how to give the money back that I have received. The best I came up with was upping my donations to the charities I support who are distributing groceries to the many in need.

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Maybe donate to Stacey Abrams's Fair Fight or to Common Cause. These organizations are working hard to make the democratic reforms most people on this forum long for.

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Lynell, yes! We did this as well, most focusing local organizations. In addition to our food bank, we chose a local organization that has long been providing emergency financial assistance (& more) focused on keeping families in their homes. (MetMin) This one may be off the critical path, but I thought that supporting a local organization that provides free long-term birth control to any woman in our area would help. (A Step Ahead Chattanooga) We did one disaster relief donation.

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We did too. I gave my money to a local activist for some who needed a new furnace and to my pastor friend to use his discretion with people who need food, heating assistance or whatever. He is excellent in “qualifying” requests and stretching money as far as possible.

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We donated ours to local performing arts groups that are in danger.

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There is no need to support local performing arts groups so long as there are plenty of Trumpublican acting groups performing in State legislatures throughout the country before ignorant, gullible and bigoted audiences.

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I get the joke, but the performing arts are always scrambling for funding, and now without audiences, they must be in extremely dire straits.

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Of course. Locally, performing arts groups are right in line behind food banks in priority lists for those able to donate.

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It's a good joke without mentioning actual arts groups.

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We are also financially ok so we donated every dime of our stimulus checks, and more, to food banks. Individuals can help get the federal money to those who need it most.

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Hey, Jackie, if we're not careful, this could turn out to be a trend going forward!

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