Taxes are one of several forms a discipline that sustains a civilized society. Democracy is a share of responsibility as well as choice. Thus we reciprocally create the environment that sustains a free society. Governance with the collective consent of the governed helps establish boundaries to establish rights for all individuals. Governance imposed by the few is organized crime; tyranny.
“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.” ― Louis D. Brandeis
Of all people, Vice President Calhoun wrote: "The [Roman] Republic had in reality ceased to exist long before the establishment of the Empire. The interval was filled by the rule of ferocious, corrupt, and bloody factions. There was, indeed, a small but patriotic body of eminent individuals who struggled in vain to correct abuses and to restore the government to its primitive character and purity, and who sacrificed their lives in their endeavors to accomplish an object so virtuous and noble." ✍️
Reactionary Republicans may thinking that "primitive and pure" means the government of 1845. I would argue that the argument goes deeper than freezing history but a restoration of the social contract of basic rights for all and the social compact of basic dignity for all. ⚖️
Today's eminent individuals are more in number, if not yet in power. They include elected officials like Senators Warren, King, Murphy, Warren, Whitehouse as well as Representatives Crocket, Goldman, McGovern, Raskin as well as Governors Mills, Pritzker, Shapiro, Waltz, Liz Cheney, Pete Buttigieg, Adam Kinzinger, Heather Cox Richardson et many al. 🤝
This is true, but we have at least 2 generations of people misinformed by Fox and the late Rush Limbaugh to believe otherwise. We should not have counted on legacy media outlets to tell the truth, because they have decided to do otherwise.
Gavin Kliger is a groyper who has been known for racist and offensive written commentary. He’s probably the most dangerous of the bunch.
AP cites 1 of the 21 'Resigner's as stating all that is left are the "ideologues" that who are not capable of competent work. This is 1 reason why the 21 'Resigners' abandoned MUSK publicly.
Substack author Michael Sellers, a "former CIA officer, Russia specialist currently an investigator, taking a deeper look at things that matter", looks at these resignations and the resignation letter they submitted as a sign that DOGE is about far more than merely "auditing" the government, but is actually seizing control. The warnings here are pretty clear as to what is actually going on. A good read ...
Guess when Obama said the government needed auditing he should have followed through. Dems kicked the can down the road and are now crying when someone is actually looking at waste.
Just 1 problem is that long time federal workers are considered "waste" like the 1600 employees who combatted fraud, abuse & a long list of other work.
If you fall for "waste" I got a Bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya unless you are going to buy a 5 $Miilion "Gold Card" from the condo salesman.
In the case of 21 workers in the USDS that resigned when it became the nightmare DOGE, it seems they had been doing the diligent work improving service and saving cost for 10 years as we transitioned into both better computers and practices.
(That is if it doesn't disappear like so many other links to stuff we taxpayers paid for and had available from 2015 starting in the Obama administration and through the Biden administration.)
I was rather stunned by the good fortune of having Dr. DJ Patil being able to put the data to work so effectively. I saw a presentation around 2017, on some of the data dashboard capability that seemed unbelievable at the time. The presenter drew in whatever data the audience was interested in after showing some examples. It was like a super Combat Control Center, but with things like matching severe weather data with census data, farmer critical data. It has been getting better and faster , but with great care also.
I can see where the pirates can come in and pretend they are the ones that are now capable of doing so much faster but they do not have the same interests in mind that those true public servants.
Social media of itself is not bad but a means of open or semi open communication. When used to share disinformation it's potential for bad outcomes is huge. It calls on those who use it to make sure what they share has value and truth.
Correction. It is the addictive social polarizer, social divider, and ultimate tool for mining personal data used for personalized behavioral modification, radicalization, and social control.
Cambridge Analytica was only the beginning.
Elon and PayPal mafia are living out his father’s Technocracy Inc dream.
Watch: The Great Hack
Read follow Carole Cadwaldar, the Guardian
Read: Zucked Roger McNamee
The age of surveillance capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
You were all in favor of social media when Twitter and Zuckerberg were doing the bidding of the Biden administration. Now that Zuckerberg says no more everyone is aghast. Bigger question is as AI becomes smarter than humans will if recognize just who is spinning the BS. If indeed it is largely the Democrats what will happen then? Will you accept what it may prove or try and shut it down? How far is one willing to go to keep control. Democracy is supposed to swing back and forth, but one party seems to be upset after almost 12 years of power having to let the other side take the reins.
Sadly, the center did not hold in 2016 when the UK voted for BREXIT. And the orange manace was elected Nov. of 2016. Seems like a vintage couple of years for Russian disinformation warfare success.
We have had people on both extremes annoying the people in the center who want the government to get things done in a reasonable way. We also have a bunch of people who think all taxes are bad and bleat nonstop about that. The poem says (Keats??) the center cannot hold.
Don’t tell Trump voters this isn’t what they signed up for—we’re not interested in hearing that it wasn’t what they expected. The Democrats warned you, yet this is the path you chose. You chose hate and fear over facts and reality.
You are in good company, ¡J. L.! If my shrinking grey matter serves at all, Montesquieu said, in much the same spirit as you that citizens of citizens of a democracy have to live and breathe its spirit lest the republic devolve into mob psychology, anarchy, and, eventually, tyranny.
Mr. McDoodle, thank you for reminding us of Montesquieu and our debt to the French. May we enjoy Macron’s put down of Trump and charge forward under the banner of Lafayette, Diderot, Voltaire, etc. Aux armes, citoyens!
taxes are also a way to return a portion of the wealth that the workers generated through their labor back to them allowing the wealthy to still keep much more than they earned.
"Tesla Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2024, Despite $2.3 Billion in Income. This brings Tesla's average tax rate over the past three years to 0.4 percent."
And...WE via the US government subsidize the purchase of such vehicles (a good idea) through tax credits. WE give Musk federal money indirectly by propping up his sales numbers.
So...Tesla gets help from you and me, makes billions, and pays almost nothing in taxes. Musk watches the value of his stock holdings grow along with the company. Never needs a salary that could be taxed. Borrows against his stock holdings to provide his play money.
The Patriotic Millionaires website will give you details on how the morbidly rich escape taxation. There ARE some good rich people out there. But they don't get much airtime either.
Thank you, Bill. This is an example of really good information that I value here. I think part of my resistance will be to write short letters to the editor. Thank goodness my town still has a good newspaper! I live in Trump territory, and I believe a non-rant letter with a good fact or two will make a difference. The low-information voter is a big part of our problem.
I agree. We are really lucky. The death of newspapers is certainly a part of this problem. I was never a subscriber until COVID. That woke me up to the need to support journalism.
Just because little X picked his nose and wiped it on the Resolute Desk?? Typical billionaire attitude--don't just clean and polish it--refinish it! If it didn't have historical significance, I'm certain they would have tossed it all together and come up with a BIG BEAUTIFUL desk befitting a king. Gold inlay and solid gold drawer pulls! Elon, not the taxpayers, should pay for the refinishing...as if.
Bill, I see that frequently. But the people who do not understand this never see it. They are often just against all taxes and government. A lot of them are actually going to know soon, if not already, what the government does for them.
The Millionaires website helpful and has been around awhile. The founder is worth knowing about.
I would think taking old frameworks and using in new ways.
Pen pal letters, 4 zH Club with inter generational approach , and Departments of Utopia since dystopia has been a thing force long time abd actually creates fear so another way in the long term to change. For now I wish IRS had powers like they used to. I also would like the military invoices because all if this is treason. And Rupert Murdoch is a US Citizen and I have lost friends and loved family members to FOX.
I agree, Gary. I think it's a normal reaction to blame, but what a waste of time and energy. I'm not saying this in a self-righteous way - I've had to learn in the long and winding road of life that when I blame someone, I am not hurting the someone, but only building up my judgmental side. Sooner or later I will blame myself for something. Not healthy.
One thing I've been focusing on with HCR is my theme of the day for calling my representatives. I think, today, it is the line about 2/3 of nursing home patients being on Medicaid. That is something my Republican representatives certainly know. They also know what happens to them when they tell their constituents that Grandma has to come live with them.
Ann, I totally understand and respect all opinions presented. I am merely an ex-military guy, who is knowledgeable about threats to this country.
I am simply a man of action. I have continuely called and written to law makers and an ex-President. I gave him my opinion, of the current threat level which trump poses to our democracy.
I have asked to use our Special Operation Teams to remove all Domestic Terrorists. Musk, trump, and vance must be removed. We can clean the collateral individuals later. Label all before mentioned as Domestic Terrorists, which does not afford them Constitutional rights. Then we must purge all the government of career politicians. Fire all supreme court justices that are loyal to trump. Limit terms on all politicians, to insure that their interests are for the people. We must also restructor the Electoral College, so as it does not have the power to overrule the people's vote.
These are merely the thoughts of an old Solider. Please forgive my ignorance and or simplicity of mind.
Gary, I totally agree with you about the blaming. I do not think you are either ignorant or simple-minded. Far from it!
If we had no men or women of action, we never would have had, or kept, democracy.
My father had a military deferment in WWll, I think because of his job. But he had attended VMI. I think everyone graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant. He believed that he was obligated to help fight, so he enlisted in the infantry. He never talked about the war. He received a Bronze Star. He was the best man I have ever known. I think of him every day as I try to do something every day to stop this madness.
As I have always stated "I am no hero, but I have had the Honor to have walked among them". Most of us who served are men of action. I am absolutely not effective when still.
Although old (70) my heart is that of a warrior, and I will remain as such, until My God takes my breath.
Well Gary, as a soldier, I had to rely on 'adults in the room'. You go! I went(!) Not for me to reason why, but for me to do or die. I was part of the broom.., we swept. Now "the room" seems to be filled with a bunch of dildo's doing what works for them. I bailed in 87 after 22 yrs of all the fun I could stand. Fortunate to have survived, I'm now on the outside looking in. History has not improved our foresight, only our hindsight.
Simplicity of mind is not a good descriptor. Plain speaking, and assessment of situations in its clearest form(s). We do what we know; I tend to write very short sentences because that's how cops write. As those who deal routinely with threats posed by other humans, that focus and direction tends to come through as simplicity (as in narrow focus) and not in complexity of thought or analysis.
AH there is nothing simplistic about you! Which is what I love about you . . . You might be "direct" (a term people have used about me frequently) but that just means you speak truth to power and devil take the hindmost. A very admirable trait, in my opinion.
I like your perspective, particularly as I believe that there should be no one left in government who voted to overthrow the 2020 election as they are all traitors!
It's always easier to talk than to do Gary but I would like to note that your reply is also blame. I agree with your humble opinion on where our focus should be.
If i might suggest to keep an eye on the midterms election 2026 as a turning point in our battle to regain democracy for this country. The maga horde and the handlers of Proyect 2025 will do anything, I mean, anything to prevent defeat.
Carla, I had lost your reply for a while but it showed up again 😀.
In reference to your question regarding if 2026 will be too late, let me tell you that your concern it's mine too. However, nobody is sitting just waiting for that election as you can see, every day, people are waking up, democrats in Congress and some Republicans are doing something, protest are growing and republican legislators are being pressure against the wall on town meetings. We have, in the meantime, keep the pressure up, let the wheels of justice turn while keeping our focus on the election. Thanks for your reply 👍
I feel like lots of people are doing what they can and many here have mentioned what those things are. We plan on honoring no buy this Friday. However, it is also OK to think about what has happened and why and have a rant. I hope that the 2026 election actually happens. As for Gary's suggestions, I am about at the point where I would like the people he mentioned removed by force. Purge the government of career pols.....hmmmm.....some of them give a lifetime of service. Unfortunately, they must also raise money to run. I like my senators and my rep, so I do not want to be deprived of being able to vote for them. The criticism I see of them comes mainly from bots and trolls. People ignored the warning about the Supreme Court in 2016 and so we got the three we have instead of three who might have been counter to Uncle Tom and Sammy. As for the Electoral College, it's too bad the Founders had to find a way to get the 13 to agree to the Constitution, but I don't see that changing.
Absolutely to your last sentence! Our government DOES not offer equal representation by virtue of the Senate. I've argued this point with people who look at a US map with the states colored red or blue. They visualize the vast swath of red and think that means the country is overwhelmingly Republican! I point out that much of that land is either public land or enormous ranches/farms. Should the vote be based on individual HUMANS, or shall we give the bisons, or the cattle a vote as well? How about the chickens?
(I've been termed "ridiculous" for that last statement.)
I understand your stance. However, when the Constitution was written, it was the House by population and two Senators for every state. This is not going to change. What hopefully people will do is pay attention to state legislative races because so many rep districts are gerrymandered. It may be too late for that. Then there is voter suppression, so it doesn't matter if certain votes are suppressed what the population is.
Michele: Thanks for the mention of my idea. It is a starting point of consideration. I rely on the more legislatively educated and experienced to make that call. I am merely a forceful tool which could aid in this change.
I am humbled to have even one person acknowledge my thought.
Gary, you are now on my list to read when you post. Please do not think that your opinion and experience do not count right up there with everyone else. Kudos.
Years ago, when the Chicago area had several daily newspapers, my aunt subscribed to them all and would read them entirely, front to back. She never went beyond high school, but she was well informed by her self-education.
Being able to afford a degree doesn’t make you any more intelligent. Intelligent people continue to educate themselves all their lives. It’s not about a piece of paper.
Agree Ricardo.., 2026 is an opportunity, which I hope we don't squander. As an aside, It would be of interest to really get a 'feel' for what day to day life is like in Hungary. Simple stuff. Do they have jet skiis? Do they Do they do 'this'.., do they do'that'? What do they do. I don't hear much.., do you? I don't care to visit. Do they ever come over here?
Mad, I visited Hungary once and among other things, I visited the house in Budapest where my grandparents on my father side use to live. As a visitor, you don't notice much as when I visited Russia twice. Life from a visitor point of view appears to be normal. But is not. Believe what decent journalists and historians write about every day experiences there. Thanks for your reply 👍
Ricardo; That is my point completely! Then you need us in Special Operations, to address this situation. Although I am old, (70) I can still man a post and or work in command and control.
Gary, I agree. I'm tired of hearing that the Dems are bad at messaging! Or that Biden didn't promote his successes! We've seen that mainstream media ignored Biden, who, if you could catch it, sent the very intelligent and articulate Pete Buttigieg out to spread the message.
Our culture seems to feed on audacity, perfectly exemplified by the WWE culture that the GOP embraced for their convention. Trump knows that he can say or do anything, and his base either loves the shock and awe, or they dismiss it. When I see that golden statue of Trump that is paraded at various GOP events, I am stunned that the evangelicals don't turn away in disgust. (Leviticus 26:1)
Miselle: I actually had to reread Leviticus , to remind myself what was stated. I realize and accept that God alone has the right to avenge. However, as a warrior, I just wish his timing was a little more swift, and that he would call on me to assist his Avenging Angels!
Gary, I'm not interested in blaming, but I'm very committed to accountability and holding responsible parties accountable for their actions. You're right, blame doesn't solve problems, but taking responsibility and making change does.
Miriam; I love your kind heart..truly. It kindness like yours which make fighting bad people worth the loss. Men in the Military and the Special Operation Teams I speak of, fight for people like you. Good honest folks who cannot do what we can. It is a Honor we take very seriously. We are aware that at some point we may loose our life. We understand and a accept that fact. We also realise we are expendable, in order to save the greater good...like you.
Dieing doesn't scare a warrior, living under a dictatorship does.
Agree - why am I paying anything when the billionaires don’t pay anything. I would love to pay Ukraine my obligatory tax rate as compensation for my country turning traitorous to them and to our true allies.
Yes. And I'm waiting for the next 2/28-style blackout to apply to "tax extensions" or another form of revenue interruption. Remember that "No taxation without representation" and other revenue protests occurred here from the get-go. It worked then and will work again.
I always try to cut it so close that I might have to pay a little. Otherwise it's a loan to our government that the likes of the Republicans will give to themselves or Muskrat
Try explaining that to some people! I recall sitting at our break table with some coworkers, one who was thrilled to be getting about $8000 back from the government. (This is a woman who had plenty of financial problems, many due to her own poor judgement. Gambling was a big one) I tried to explain that amount was indeed, a loan, and that perhaps that she could have better used it all year long. Perhaps have invested that amount? I absolutely could not explain this to her, and she was a very smart, accomplished woman in our field. Perhaps financial intelligence eluded her. (BTW, inquiring minds might want to know what she did with that "windfall". Did she pay off her debts? HELL NO. She immediately requested time off, and she and her husband went to Las Vegas.)
No, I still believe it is my right as a patriotic citizen to give back so We all have airports, highways, dams, forests, hospitals, schools………….. I don’t need a yacht, a rocket to mars, a degree from an “elite” university. Even tho’ those who have those needs seem not to need to share or think.
We had a strong middle class after Roosevelt’s “New Deal”. Everyone who grew up ( I mean really grew up) knows that history.
Reagan was needy enough to become a puppet for the far right!
YES! I really want to file an extension for the sole purpose of…where the hell is this money going now that Elonia is holding the reins and the purse strings?? It’s so rich that this man is in term 2 and never have we seen a tax return. Yet we are just expected to pay up every April.
The Obscenely Wealthy reap most of the Benefits of Civilization... Note: "For their part, the Democrats rejected the proposal, concerned about the concentration of wealth in the U.S.: on Sunday, economist Robert Reich noted that “[t]he top 0.1% of Americans control $22 trillion in wealth,” while “[t]he bottom 50% control $3.8 trillion in wealth.”"... The Obscenely Wealthy produced DJT, and his ilk... They are never 'First Responders'... One does not see then in 'Public Service'... Rather You see them in 'Mar-a-Lago'.... Many like Elon Musk, are Predatory.... Their Tax-Loopholes should be closed, and their Tax-Rates restored to Eisenhower-Era levels... That would be FAIR...
Too much wealth gives the holder the power to warp our government to their bidding. Citizens United is proof of that. When MAGA says they want to go back to the 1950s (which i have been told to my face), I tell them "Great! That would include tax rates on the wealthy around 95%. You good with that?" They get real quiet.
I believe that Thomas Jefferson would be On-Board with that... Thomas Jefferson definitely believed that the 'Death Tax' should have been 100% is order to prevent the Current Descendants of the Robber Barron's Control our Country...
A Modest Proposal to Enact Fair Economic Legislation:
Knowing that all or almost all republicans can be bought, that a slush fund be created to reward or buy off three republican senators to the tune of 5 million dollars to be put in off shore accounts with their names attached. They need only vote for democratic initiatives. In addition, a fund would be created to hire security protection for each senator for the next 5-10 years.
Republicans only want money and 5 million isn’t to be ignored. They only need to vote for democratic legislation then probably be voted out of office which is when they will be rewarded with a 5 million dollar gift tax free. 15 million dollars plus the price of security protection would be a relatively small price to pay to enact needed legislation for We, the People.
It’s a viable proposal. And it would show that indeed, republicans all can be bought. Would you contribute to this People’s Fund?
Bribery is not the solution. We the people cannot outspend Elon Musk. But if the truth is revealed by Heather and others, the American people will respond. The vast majority will not tolerate such corruption. That is why democracy is powerful.
The truth revealed by Heather…. Really. Heather has been revealing truth for a long time. Her truth is buried under an avalanche of bullschittery by the expert propagandists. And this has been the scenario for decades. Wishful thinking indeed…
As reported in yesterday's HCR letter, even such an astute, informed, long-active observer as oligarchy expert Timothy Snyder thinks that things are now starting to change.
The truth was there in 2016 all the way through to 11/5/24 and a large faction of people CHOSE not to believe it. Another knew it was going to happen and still voted against their countrymen and democracy because it would line their pocket. All truly think, like spoiled brats, that the rest of us who obey the law, want to pay taxes for the benefit of our countrymen and support Allie’s aligned more with freedom than a murderous Putin, MBS, NK and Iran will do the work to sustain their cushy way of life.
It’s why they elect lazy, know nothings lie GOP with a sound like a jerky fish because they count on some nerdy Democrat to actually do the work of governing. Well, that is already crumbling. Now we have Big Balls and a grandson of a KGB spy, racists, misogynists and people who can’t even rent a car whipping through our information and leaking it either deliberately of making it so vulnerable, the next ransom crime from Moldavia will be some basement dweller demanding a trillion dollars to not shut America down completely. Has anyone though what might happen when some nefarious character is either given or gains access to our grids, our dams, our control towers, our hospitals, etc?
And the idea MAGA will ever admit they were duped is laughable. They’ll ride this to their deaths which will be hastened when they are denied food, healthcare and clean water.
But bribery is the status quo in Congress and legislatures nationwide. Lobbyists and big donors run the show. This situation was exacerbated by Citizens United. Viva la revolution!
Bill, not sure about your proposal specifically. But, I have wondered about buying off politicians to do good. Never thought about security, suppose that would be necessary today. Where we find ourselves is just so insane.
How Swiftian of Bill! Sure, let's bribe our way out of corruption, what could possibly go wrong? Or, for about $10.00 worth of ammunition, we could simply shoot 5 or 6 Republican Senators every time there is a crucial vote in the Senate :)
I can’t decide if I’m more depressed that this is the most cohesive plan I’ve heard to counter the oligarchy or that I think this plan could actually work. I need to look at some pics of cats in boxes to fight this malaise.
I have purchased a Mega ticket when it nears a billion dollar prize payout. I don't need the money, but my sick fantasy is appearing on television and loudly proclaiming that I'm going to use the money to "buy some Congresspeople!!"
;-D
Any btw, did anyone see that Trump is saying he'll do away with green cards, and institute a "gold card" where you can purchase US citizenship for $5 million? A press person asked if Russian Oligarchs could do that, and he basically said sure.
Bill Katz, with as much respect as I can possibly muster, I must inform you that I have carefully read your comments over the past many weeks with a truly open mind, and I have concluded that all your ideas are wrong-headed.
Bribery is what got us into this mess in the first place. We are struggling with a bribed president, a bribed SCOTUS, and numerous bribed legislators. Your "modest proposal" is as absurd as those who claim the solution to our gun problem is more guns.
As that old maxim goes, "two wrongs don't make a right."
Miriam I totally agree with you. But the rich are different from you and me. And so the claim that we all make that taxes are an obligation we should all be willing to pay--like voting being an OBLIGATION of citizenship, a sentiment ignored by around 40% of people eligible to vote at any given time--seems to refer only to those whose ability to pay is less secure than those who are swimming, drowning, glutted with money and the trappings of wealth. The cruelty is the point. They want a return to some kind of servitude of the working class that is designed to enrich them. This is not, as some think, a characteristic of pre-modern society, which was oppressive indeed, but based on lineage not wealth. It is a byproduct of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. William Blake's poem, Jerusalem, which became the single most popular hymn in the Church of England (it is the theme of the Women's Institutes that operate in parishes) contrasts the "green and pleasant land" Blake idealizes as a place where Jesus walked to the "dark satanic mills" of his countryside. It still resonates. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54684/jerusalem-and-did-those-feet-in-ancient-time
That's my point, Linda—the rich should be required to pay their fair share of taxes, and by fair share, I mean a rate which reflects a percentage at least as great as what less wealthy and poor people pay of their incomes, but probably greater.
It is interesting that with wealth comes moral corruption. There is a theory that the rich become bored. They've already played all the things and done all the things and gone all the places. Their relationships become transactional rather than intimate. The only exciting thing left for them is sadism. Which is why this saying exists: "The cruelty is the point".
The wealth is enabled by an educated workforce, a valuable infrastructure, an efficient justice system with effective laws and equal enforcement thereof, and a free press that serves to provide transparency to the entire system.
Thanks for your reply M. I agreed that is right thinking but in reality it's also wishful thinking. Had we have another Roosevelt instead of Clinton and Obama, it won't be wishful thinking. I know what you are going to think: what I just said about Roosevelt is wishful thinking. Abd you'll be right. 😀
There is not another FDR waiting for us, and our current system of legalized campaign finance bribery ensures we won’t have one. Too many Republicans have shown more fealty to the Orange Menace than to the common good.
Taxes are the rent you pay to live and prosper in this country. If the rent is cheaper and/or amenities better elsewhere, then you might choose to move.
Unfortunately, we have allowed wealth inequality to enable the disaffected to buy the building.
Yes. I am surprisingly lacking in matters of policy, finance, etc., which may make me a fairly typical American, but a flat tax has always made sense to me. I don't understand how anyone could claim unfairness in this arrangement. If someone earns 60K (at 25% tax for arithmetic) they will pay 15K--a lot! 600K--150K. 6M--1.5M 6B--1.5B. If this were true I'm sure the rate could be much lower than 25% for all people (maybe 10%??). If it's not a progressive tax, how can the 6B earner claim to be treated more unfairly than the 60K earner?
I used to think that, until I contemplated what life would be like with that.
During a period of time around 2008, my husband started a new position at McDonalds Corporate. This was a new project, and they decided to cut the project (there were issues with the CEO, its vague, but I believe there was health related turnover at the top.) Since he'd only been there about 3 months, he was out. Any available positions were offered to people who'd been there longer.
So, now, here we are, two adults with three kids. Two teenagers, one about to start college. I have a part-time job in a hospital lab, making about $22K/yr. I ask for extra hours, but they don't allow that, so I have to get a second job doing registry at another hospital, which is spotty because #1 they need weekend help and I already work e/o weekend at my primary job and #2 they call me on short notice, and I'm frequently already at my primary job that day.
Taking a flat 10-15% off would have had a major impact on me. Now, do you REALLY think that taking 10-15% off the millionaire would impact their lives in any significant manner? You say that you are "sure the rate could be much lower" if this was instituted, but I have my doubts about that. The ultra rich have way too many methods of getting out of paying taxes.
Corb, I'm am glad to finally discover the ONE other human who agrees with me. I have believed and sometimes stated that if •everyone• from the lowest earners to the highest were required to pay the same percentage of their income – with the elimination of all loopholes – the percentage could be reduced to a very small number, far less than 25% and probably less than 10%. But all deductions must be eliminated for a flat tax to work.
Deductions, in my opinion, are just governmental social engineering that is advertised as "tax breaks." The government should not be inducing citizens to buy houses or have children, or engage in any other activity that qualifies for a tax deduction. But with a fair, flat tax, people who want to buy homes or have children would be able to afford to achieve their dreams and more, because they'd be paying less in taxes.
A flat tax does not discourage anyone from bettering their circumstances. They may pay more dollars in tax, but they still get to keep more dollars after tax.
Well, let’s think a bit. Currently, the lower 50% of taxpayers pay 3% of individual federal income tax. The top 1% of taxpayers pay 40%. So when I hear talk to the effect that “the rich” aren’t paying their “fair share,” I wonder what that could possibly mean.
Just the fact that you call yourself "un-woke" cautions me to even bother to engage with you, but here goes:
Let's hypothetically say the average family makes $50K. Let's say Musk made $50 BILLION. Okay, so, lets take 40% off Musk's income. Do you think that has impacted him in ANY WAY?
Now let's go back to the average family. $2500 in taxes doesn't sound too bad to you, eh? How about if THEY had to pay 40%? Now depending upon their family size, they are probably in poverty level. Should only the rich be allowed to have children?
We could get into the morality if not religious beliefs of doing unto others, or being a good Samaritan, but I don't wish to argue that with you.
I hope that my example is clear enough for you, but to be honest, I don't wish to engage any further with you. I hope you enjoy your personal wealth right now, because you can't take it with you.
What has that got to do with the inarguable fact that the wealthy pay a hugely disproportionate share of the income taxe? Nothing, that's what
The average effective tax rate for the top 1% of income earners is 26.1%, and they pay an average of $562,000. The average effective tax rate for the bottom 50% of income earners is 3.7%, and they pay an average of $822. These are what is known as facts and figures, as opposed to sanctimonious moralizing and snark.
As I expected to you to answer, you ignore the facts or twist them to suit you. I read the comments and you are a new additianyhow. to me. You aren't as blatant as the trolls, who get called out, but your narrow minded views border on it. There are often respectful disagreements here, but I don't want to waste my time to discover if you have anything else that might be of value. Thete are too many intelligent people that I respect on here to waste my time on your comments. The "un-woke" caused that.
Respond or not, I don't care. I am about to block you so I don't see your skewed opinions anyhow.
Republicans go on and on about government spending but when they have the power to do so, they do nothing about it. So, if theyre not going to cut spending, wouldn't you rather have the spending go to people who need it rather than billionaires? This must be too difficult an equation for Trump voters.
The parts of the country that voted R need huge billboards spelling out what’s going on and that Trump is responsible! Democrats need to MESSAGE! Get out into those communities, tell them what is happening, and ask them if that was part of the agenda they voted for: to lose healthcare? To give wealthy a tax cut? Are their prices going down?
There are so many horror stories that it's hard to pick those that stand out. We get inured. Yet I think some especially egregious events can be underlined paired with the words, "Is this what you voted for?"
Heather Cox Richardson: Unequal "... access to resources like healthcare":
Thus, on the Measles Outbreak in West Texas & New Mexico, per ABC & the Texas Department of Health services (DSHS) there are now 124 infected people, 18 are hospitalized & 1 death reported so far.
Ages 0 to 4 years old 39 cases
Ages 5 to 17 years old 62 cases
Others: 13 cases
TOTAL: 124 ... so far.
MAYO CLINIC: "Measles are aerosolized & highly infectious." Droplets are inhaled and/or picked up on surfaces where humans can be infected for about 2 hours.
As a former public health RN, my heart goes out to the folks in TX and NM. Managing such an outbreak becomes exponentially harder without the central management of entities like the CDC, especially when coordination across state lines is required. Most states simply don't have the expertise or people needed to manage even small outbreaks such as this.
Thank you, Steve. It's important for the public to know what you just said. We are up against the government-is-bad propaganda that has been active since Reagan. I get the sense that we are going to win this, though it may take a while.
Thank you Steve & thank you Anne: "I got the sense we are going to win ...". Me too. I have Heather's "Something is Shifting" 2/23 lead on a note next to my computer.
I just received my 1st Texas DSHS Bulletin at 7:56 am this morning 2/26 conforming the 1st Measles Death of a "school aged child hospitalized in LUBBOCK, Texas".
Bryan, I don't know what the heck TX is thinking, but. I'd quarantine, as in ROPE OFF the entire area..,double fence it in. No one travels out. Supplies shipped in to a gate drop off. No entry to public schools in this entire nation without measles shot.
Stop catering to religion, conspiracy theorist, deniers, libtards, magatts, or anyone. Decision Day: Measles shots! Done. Deal with it. Move on.
I understand "West Texas" is far away in a big wig state in a relatively poor region. It ain't Austin, TX. All but 5 of the infections were unvaccinated persons.
Brings me back to early Covid 19 infection Days; I had a retired epidemiologist friend. I took note he did not leave his car to have Coffee with the usual folks.
Everything about the epidemiologist's behavior told me the risk was AIRBORNE including tell tale symptomatic loss of the Sense of Smell.
I am subscriber now to the "YLE" Substack ... that's Your Local Epidemiologist that has good data on Bird Flu & other health concerns.
Counsellor, YLE was my first paid Substack subscription. Her original area of expertise is in gun violence as an epidemic. I've read some amazing stuff from her research.
I recall about a dozen years ago while working in the lab, the hospital epidemiologist (very intelligent, impressive man!) came in the lab and was talking with the pathologists. He'd often come by and talk with the techs as well.
The story was, a woman had gone back to her native India to spend an extended time with a dying family member. She ended up staying on for about a year or so while her engineer husband remained stateside. While there, her two very young children did not get their childhood vaccines. She came home and shortly thereafter, both kids got some sort of virus that manifested in fevers and rash. There was quite a concern, as there was initial fear that the kids had measles. (And before anyone asks, yes diseases can have distinctive rashes, but overall, rashes can be very difficult to identify). I recall the epidemiologist being very worried and these kids were placed in isolation. I don't recall what it ended up being, but it wasn't measles. The doc talked about much of what is in the news now--how infectious it was, how long it remained in the air. He said that those kids being on an airplane trip that long could be a nightmare to track down the other patients.
This was well before COVID. I'd think about that measles case when I'd hear arguments regarding masks, etc.
Excellent point JL. The obvious answer would be NO only if they are feeling the pain of their decision or are informed of what's to come. That's should be our priority in developing a message.
One man to control the fate of millions? This is beyond crazy. It is diabolical.
The very idea of privately held satellites controlling communications for the world is obscene and incredibly stupid. Starlink should be nationalized and overseen by the FCC in coordination with the FAA. Or some agency that is there for the PEOPLE.
To threaten the country with when Putin comes to take over just like he’s doing with Ukraine.
About a week ago I said that next our only internet available will be Starlink and he’ll control every aspect of what we see and hear. I don’t think I’m being hysterical on this.
JL, in my world, they are 100% on board with all the "government waste" the dogy boys have found; never mind that it is almost all completely false. They will not acknowledge any other information that runs counter to their views.
Those of us with R representatives aren’t able to voice our opinions bc they don’t hold town halls—they hide from us. Calling and writing are all we’ve got even if it’s less effective.
While I generally agree with HCR's take on Repubs being married to trickle down principles, she somehow is stuck in the past with her portrayal of the other corporate wing of the uni-party. So, like most liberals, she seems stuck in the past when the Democratic Party still represented the people. That was a long time ago before the Democratic Party became the party of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, abandoning working class people to instead kowtow to the elitist professional management class of which HCR is very much a part of today.
So sure, Dems increased the top income tax brackets. Though they also further complicated tax codes, and thus provided more loop holes. The results? The effective rates on wealthy individuals were and are still minimal, especially since the source of many higher income bracketed people's wealth isn't subject to income tax. The Dems also love expansive programs without any cost containment. And guess what? These programs drove up education and healthcare costs making higher education and healthcare a lot less accessible. Not to mention, that 95% of the money printed via these large omnibus bills, ends up doled out as corporate welfare.
That certainly was the ultimate consequence of policies enacted during the Clinton administration that further deregulated banks and created new financial instruments. Why? These Acts passed during Clinton's Administration led to the 2008 financial crisis, and Obama bailing out banks that were too big too fail. Obama also furthered regime change policies in Libya, and tried to do the same in Syria further destabilizing the region while he also continue the costly war in Afghanistan. While Biden kept pouring more money into Israel to finance the genocide in Gaza, and also laundering money to the military industrial complex through Ukraine to pay for his proxy war to try to bring down Putin. Clinton, Obama and Biden all further f'-upped Haiti turning that country into an anarchy.
Anyway, my pointing out Democratic short comings doesn't mean I endorse or accept any of the Republicans' principles. Though, one has to be more real and less cartoonish with one's depiction of "good" versus "bad" guys or parties. Why? Because both corporate parties SUCK. The faster people like HRC realize this, the sooner people like HRC will hopefully realize why so many people feel so disenfranchised and angry.
Though does HRC ever venture out of her ivory tower and her blue bubble?
That's a rhetorical question because the answer is obviously no.
ChatGPT had fun with your reply, Mr. Spin, but I'm not going to waste time or space by posting the entire response...
In Summary:
There are numerous generalizations, oversimplifications, and factual inaccuracies in the statement.
It makes broad claims without providing enough context or nuance, especially on issues like tax policy, the 2008 financial crisis, U.S. foreign policy, and the role of the Democratic Party in corporate interests.
The tone and ad hominem attacks on Heather Cox Richardson do not contribute to a productive or well-rounded critique.
These errors weaken the overall argument, and a more thoughtful and evidence-based approach would be needed to make a convincing critique.
I agree with you. There are some interesting gaps. Clinton was centrist as Dems go, policy wise (‘workfare’ for instance) but ended with a budget in the red largely owing to the tech boom. Then came GWBush for 8 years—another ‘gap’ wherein 9/11, ongoing war, and tax cuts including wealth tax breaks and deregulation leading to hedge fund irresponsibility contributed largely to the 2008 crisis and huge investment fraud schemes. The bailouts for the banks and auto industry were pricey but kept major economic generators on some footing, though Wall Street avoided appropriate consequences for their malfeasance considering losses by the average American. Obama did find Syria (and for that matter, Saudi Arabia) very problematic and admitted later that it was one of the weakest points of his admin. Was that about Dem capitulation? I’m doubting it, especially in light of the Tea Party obstructionism and Trump’s immediate actions in the region after he came to office to line his own pockets and satisfy his donors. I’m sure this is a very incomplete accounting but between Mr Spin’s gaps and mine there probably lies the truth of it.
What you can't think for yourself, so you need to resort to a chatbot for an inaccurate assessment? Wow, I'm impressed. Though, I suppose you believe chatbot's are infallible.
All my other arguments are equally and easily supportable.
Though, given your obvious lack of research skills and inferior critical analytical ability, it's really no wonder your blind reverence for the HCR. whose arguments in your mind are beyond any sort of criticism. And yes, I criticized her cartoonish arguments.
Anyway, thanks for the laugh. You're very amusing.
Someone can disagree with your argument without the necessity for you to demean the person. This is exactly why we are where we are, mired in cultural fights instead of reasonable disagreement. You could have said “I disagree.”
And you are very insulting, which, in itself, is indeed a form of "spin." Not to mention brimming with self-importance. All part of spin world. Get thee to a seat on the Fox News couch. And learn to use an apostrophe properly, while you're at it.
For a lesson in how to behave in a comment forum, I'll lead by example.
I appreciated Heather's paragraphs that concisely summarized the Democratic approach to government's role in society versus the Republican point of view.
However, I think her summary of Republicans' view of government is out of date, as they have all but abandoned the principles she described. Currently, the MAGA segment of the party think that government should be and do whatever Donald Trump wants. The remainder of Republicans don't think about it at all.
Why do you start everything with a bullying insult? I stop reading the second I see them. Are you incapable of putting your thoughts forward like a rational adult. Do better. You’re not the least bit amusing.
The working class hasn’t voted consistently democratic since the 70’s. Wedge issues like abortion and guns were one of the many parts of Nixons southern strategy that was very effective. The Democratic party kept losing elections so with Clinton it shifted center. This of course shifted the Republicans farther to the right and we got Newt Gingrich and the contract with( on) America because in part Clinton wanted to reform healthcare.
Matilda-Please be more precise. You mean the white working class hasn’t voted for the Dems. The white working class gravitated to the Rs because they promise to save them from the idea of equality for Black and Brown people.
Brown v the Board of Ed and legislation LBJ passed in the 1960s was a bridge too far and a threat to white supremacy. We can dress up our current society anyway we want but maintaining a cast system is a waste of time and talent.
Racism is not just a social or cultural issue. It’s always been an economic issue. It was invented by White men to create division among the working class allowing the wealthy to maintain power and control. We should all know more about the truth of America’s history.
In politics racism is what the “southern strategy” is all about. It’s why Reagan announced his campaign in Mississippi. It’s why Bush had Willie Horton. It’s why Trump blurted out the Haitians are eating pets. It’s why more than 90% of Republicans are white. It’s why Trump’s administration is so white. They’ve been manipulating the white working class for decades.
If we don’t acknowledge this fact about racism (and misogyny too) then we’ll never solve America’s formidable and long standing systemic problems whether it’s economics, elections, violence etc. Racism is the “bread and butter issue” we overlook at our peril.
You have nailed it. If not, how did the nation not recoil with one big vomit when DEI began being attacked? The press, the politicians failed to speak the truth about a concept that ONLY encourages OPPORTUNITY for all of us. It doesn't give one color or ethnicity an advantage.
Condemning "diversity" is RACISM writ large. Suggesting there is something wrong with "equity" is "ELITISM" on steroids. Disparaging "inclusion" is "BIGOTRY" with balls.
People are fighting DEI because they don't understand the basics of economic growth. The economy is not a zero sum game where we just divide up a limited bucket of money. Helping people become higher earners means MORE TAXES to help other people get a leg up. To GROW the bucket.
Fighting DEI is at its core fighting the concept of a cooperative society that thinks of itself as a "we". Fighting DEI is anti-civilization. It is fascism.
Bill, what you and Gina are both alluding to is a visceral difference between conservatives and progressives related to race and really, everything.
Conservatives, especially white conservatives, live by a "scarcity doctrine." That is, there is a finite supply of resources available to the human race. We must all struggle to get our share of those resources, and fight anyone who threatens to take away our share or any portion of it. Civically, this translates to tax avoidance and legislating disadvantages against "the other."
Progressives live by the "abundance doctrine," which posits that there's enough of everything we need to go around. If our needs increase, we'll just make more. Progressives regard taxes as "sharing the wealth" and try to write laws that help everyone generate more abundance.
What strikes me about that observation is that Conservatives in our country tend to be associated with Christianity and progressives less so. However, the "abundance doctrine" is at the heart of Christianity. I guess that's why I have more affinity with progressives.
White Americans are fighting DEI because they want the government to protect their legal, economic, and political advantages from even the sligbtest encroachment by other Americans.
Democrats have to get back to bread and butter issues without sacrificing the interests of those who support them. For one thing, we need to decisively break with the whole idea of deregulated capitalism. That is what we have had for almost 45 years, and I am not surprised average Americans are worse off with it. It’s worse for some Americans because of deregulated capitalism on top of traditional economic disadvantages.
Joe was doing that, and the billionaire class didn’t like his tax and labour policies. So they, in the person of Musk dumped copious amounts of money ( thank you Citizens United/ SCOTUS) into the campaign of a fuckin asshole grifter wannabe authoritarian, and with the help of misinformation, piped into the super computers we all carry in our pockets, here we are.. At least that’s how I see it Kathy..
Is the Democratic Party trying to undo American democracy and join America to the Axis of the Bad Guys? No.
Does the Democratic Party want to cut Medicaid, Snap and health care insurance for low-income Americans in order to lower taxes for America’s wealthiest people? No.
That would be the Republican Party which, through Trump, has already flipped American over to stand with the likes of North Korea and Russia, bringing disgrace to America and horror to all of America’s former allies.
You are arguing to make the perfect the enemy of the good. That is not the way out of this mess.
I wish it was either/or. Most of us here did the right thing, yet we got f-cked over by dark money that paid to amplify straight-out lies to a populace kept as uneducated as possible for the sake of Republican susceptibility.
I've obviously had enough politics for this morning. Off to renew, regroup and fight again tomorrow.
Agreed with your general description of the Democratic Party position in recent years but I reserve my opinion after reviewing the book you mentioned, in normal human hours. It's 2:41 ET while I write this reply. Thanks BS.
I agree, Lynne. Inexplicably, Democrats just don't know how to message. Last night on MSNBC Lawrence O'Donnell had Sen. Warren on to discuss the destruction of the CFPB. The description of the financial benefits to consumers of the CFPB was impressive but my point is i don't recall hearing about any of this during the campaign last year. Why not?
Lynne,I reply earlier to your comment and I just read it again. I honestly think you figured the right strategy to reach the part of the mega paty followers that are being, or will be soon, affected by the policies they ,ignorantly, voted for.
I understand that many of them, no the stupidest of them but many, would be open to other options rather than take the pain that will be inflicted upon them.
The billboards idea is great and not too expensive if we can develop a good, to the point and brief message being actualized as the effects of the policies changes. Finance should come from the Democratic Party. The campaign should be coordinated with Democratic governors as in Kentucky and legislators in every state. They should be speaking every day as reinforcement of the changing billboards messages.
I remember driving on a highway in Miami and it was this huge billboard showing the heads id Stalin, Fidel Castro and trump overlapping and a simple message directed to the Cuban American voters. That was in 2016 and still remember the impression it caused on me. Please, don't let your excellent idea go. Stay in touch!!!!
Billboards, you must be old. No one looks up from their phones except drivers who are watching the road. Are you part of the postcard writing brigaid? You are so out of touch with reality.
They’ll blame the Democrats. They’re cultists—nothing, absolutely nothing, Trump does will change their minds. When the expected funds don’t materialize, they’ll complain about being shortchanged, but they won’t blame Trump. After all, in their eyes, he can do no wrong—gods are infallible.
Anyone remember how when Nixon was president the saying was that there was a cancer on the presidency? Well, we don’t have a cancer this time. We have the equivalent of the hijacked planes of 9/11 crashing into the federal bureaucracy and the federal budget rather than the World Trade Center. And this time the planes are flown by Republicans in league with Vladimir Putin.
It’s refreshing to hear a wise and intelligent message from former Secretary (and Mayor) Pete Buttigieg. We need to hear his voice, loud and clear! People are thirsty for the TRUTH from reliable leaders. Pete, along with an informed and knowledgeable “cabinet”, can be that person of the moment to carry us through this insanity.
I nominate Pete as "communications director" for the People's Cabinet (as in shadow cabinet in the UK) that should have been assembled by the DNC by now. We need clear messages from experts that represent the facts for each department of the Federal Government.
Example: every time Pam Bondi does something awful and potentially illegal, her counterpart as the "Peoples AG" would hit the airwaves and cyber world with clear criticism. Facts.
That means more than interviews on MSM (which is dying). It means simultaneously speaking for the people on TikTok, YouTube and every SM site that will accept the truth.
I don't buy Carville's "roll over and play dead" strategy. We need to build a Democratic platform NOW that starts moving the pendulum back to sanity and decency.
Bill, YES again to your comment about The people’s Cabinet. And Pete plus AOC plus a few moderate Democrats for balance. What do you think if Liz Cheney were included…hmmm 🤔
As Barbara Mullen, official chider of this community, would say, "How do you plan to make this happen?"
But I'm not Barbara, so I'll just offer my enthusiastic support of this idea, which has recently been floated. Is there a way we can press Ken Martin, DNC chair, to get this going?
I love Heather, Joyce Vance, Brian Tyler Cohen, Marc Elias, the Meidas and Bulwark folks. But these are isolated voices crying in the wilderness. The Opposition Party needs to be speaking forcefully with one voice that somehow captures the attention of corporate media and •makes• them amplify the opposing view.
The video (6.5 minutes long) below is from July 2024 and was replayed recently on MSNBC. Caroline Giuliani spoke so eloquently about trump taking over her father and what would happen with a trump presidency. And, like so many others, she was spot on. Here we are with a cancerous disease we cannot get rid of and it is literally going to kill us. The pain and loss of our democracy could have been prevented by a Harris presidency. By comparison, Nixon's corruption looks like the sniffles from a cold.
Can't wait for the hillbilly NRA loving 2nd Amendment FAFO 'mericans to figure out Ma and Pa are getting kicked out of nursing homes and losing healthcare.
The poor folks living in the hollers of Appalachia would most likely suffer if this budget is enacted, but we shouldn’t condemn or disparage them for swallowing the MAGA lies.
The Republican propaganda machine churns out misinformation at such a prolific rate that the lies cover the country like a blanket of ash from a volcanic eruption.
Put the blame where it belongs — on the ones speaking lies, not those hearing them, and believing.
See it, reveal it, and if possible heal it….will take a concerted effort to help & not denigrate those who have been duped (I’m talking regular folk, not the diehard T-cult that thrives on lies & conspiracies). As so many pundits are saying….many folks have ended up painfully experiencing the “FOFA” syndrome.
Whatever blame is to be born by "GOP" rank and file (we all bear responsibilities for our choices at some point) there are way too many Americans in MAGA to ignore or try to isolate. There has to be some path to some degree of healing if our society is to thrive. It would help if could cut off some of the flood of lies.
JL-the question is how do we bring people together to fight against capitalists who care little for the common good. As long as they can keep us fighting with each other they can continue to build a society that places them in control because money talks. It buys courts, politicians, media, elections and so much more.
I should note Anne Nelson, a writer and journalist, has noted in vast swaths of the U.S., people don’t have much on the air except for right wing secular talk radio and Christian Nationalist radio, and of course Fox News and like minded outlets. This is one big reason why the parties have such different outlooks.
Maybe we can blame some of it on poor regional educational policies that have discouraged critical thinking skills. I guess in some countries (Denmark?) they are teaching kids in school how to scrutinize and protect themselves from online disinformation and predatory threats. This would ignite a major culture war in this Country in so many ways.
Abbott in Texas has made it a point to discourage critical thinking. Republicans seem to be emulating the old Soviet Union in their desire to ensure conformity of thought. It takes a great deal of work to break with this mode of thinking, or unquestioning acceptance.
Texas . . . . . Abbott . . . . . their legislature, so screwed up. They still haven't done any preventative maintenance on that problem with the frozen gas mains, their electrical grid and their legislature that only meet every two years. Those poor people, just gluttons for punishment, just keep voting those same people back into office. Did Cruz get reelected?
Unless there's some sort of seismic change in the way Texas votes, Raphael Eduardo will be there for life...unless, of course, Trump appoints him as the next replacement for a SCOTUS seat, which i think is his main concertn...
R, we should put blame on both. The hollers of Appalachia and elsewhere never ever benefited from any republican policy, by the contrary, they should be thankful to democrats for what they have but instead, they voted against their own benefits. Shame on the republican/maga lies machine but shame on their voters to. After al,l many of them donated their entire Social Security checks to the scumbag campaign. There's no cure for stupidity.
The weird thing that I encounter clever, well educated people that repeat MAGA talking points like a robot. It's not stupidity, at least in the sense of lack of capacity. I also know some who were raised in an atmosphere of big lies who made a clean break. And I think human beings are more vulnerable to manipulation than it pleases us to think.
I think that in a healthy society certain values are celebrated and some others discouraged. We hear a lot about truth and justice but to what degree are those concepts keenly explored? So much modern language has become Orwellian. We should not allow our public employees to lie to us. No effective business manager would put up with an employee telling significant lies. When it matters we can be prosecuted for lying to our own government. Those who we hire to conduct the government should not be allowed to lie to us. That's how Nixon lost his job; the deceptive "coverup". And in those days, Republicans were ready to convict him. What's different? A free society requires the preponderance of the public to act in good faith. If too many don't, there is no hope.
Ricardo, when people vote against their own interests, which many MAGA folks have done, it could be for many reasons, but I believe the primary one is that people who are living on low incomes do not know who and what to believe. You can call it stupidity or pig-headedness or just plain ignorance, but my point is to blame the Republican “Alternative Facts” people for spreading the lies, not the victims who believe them.
Steve, I have long wondered how/why those who work for and protect the billionaire class—those rich folks who can safely ensconce themselves “above the fray” or chaos—have realized that they are totally dependent on “workers” to keep them safe….allegiances may work for awhile, perhaps a long while, but eventually those “workers” will discover who really holds the power if everything has gone to sh*t.
Barbara, I learned as a young deputy sheriff working corrections (longest 18 months of my career), that "peckerwood" was a noun. Its "formal"definition (per Wikipedia) is A "racial epithet for white people, especially poor, rural whites. Originally an ethnic slur, it has been embraced by a subculture related to prison gangs and outlaw motorcycle groups."
TC's use here "took me back" to the first time someone proudly displayed their brand new "peckerwood" tattoo. I laughed, instead of showing proper respect.
Steve, they deserve it for voting the way they did. They should have been informed ahead of voting. Now they'll pay the consequences of their ignorance and stupidity, together with millions that knew better and voted with their brains.
Yup, we've ALL been lied to. It is one of the few ways the current administration treats us fairly and without bias. They're willing to lie to us all, regardless of party affiliation, race, gender, income level (well, 99.9% of income levels), geographic origin, citizenship status, or degree of 'wokeness'.
Once again, I am in awe of your ability to track the latest developments in Washington DC to understand, analyze, footnote, and cogently write about same on a one day turn around. Seems like a simple thank you is not worthy of your work but nonetheless, I offer mine.
Bridget, totally agree with you about HCR’s Letters. For whatever reason, she’s able to distill yet highlight what’s most relevant for me to know daily, as well as to include history. Plus, I just explained to a friend, that I read her first each day to get focused as well as calm enough to take some form of action.
Together I feel like we’re water vs the rump regime of scissors, paper, rock.
So, the pain begins in earnest. In my community we are preparing to grow as much food as possible. Others are stockpiling goods and making herbal medicines. I know there are good doctors getting ready to do field medicine.
I live in a medium sized northeastern city with a lot of poverty. We believe we will be on our own.
That's what I am doing, also. Preparing for the civil war I've seen coming since November. We will be left with no other option, given the makeup of the Congress (and do not tell me that enough Republicans will come out of their stupor and vote against this madness - they will not) and a Supreme Court that has given us Citizens United and struck down Roe v. Wade (do not ask me to rely on them to do the right thing). No amount of speeches in Congress, or lawsuits heard in all the courts in the land will right this ship of state. We are in for a long battle. Now, it is in Ukraine. Not long, it will be here.
I remember how hard that song hit me in 1968 with students shutting down universities, soldiers shooting students on campus, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the streets, the world gone mad.
And here we are again. And again, it’s Republicans.
I call it the wealthy using the rest of us as a public urinal. I don’t want violence, mayhem or bloodshed. I just want the wealthy to pay more taxes, and to remember they are not above and outside this society, but are part of it.
Where is the democratic leadership? I’m getting nonstop requests for donations but No clear idea how Dem senate and House are planning to fight what we’re seeing.
Just for fun, I’ve been replying to the Dem’s begging texts with one of my own, saying that when they grow a spine and start actively resisting, I’ll resume donating.
I ripped Schumer’s request with a bit of a diatribe about how we need a leader, not a weenie.
Democrats are out of power and need money to get back in. Their positions are the same as they were 4 months ago. We should have kept Joe or voted for Kamala but some had doubts. Don’t make the same mistake. Vote Blue.
Vote! Turnout is critical. I'm working phone banks this evening and will pass out lit at the early voting centers here in Illinois next month. We must involve ourselves!
We probably never thought we'd see this day, in the United States, but here we are in our struggle for representative democracy - and in solidarity with all who resist tyranny.
Thank you for mentioning “Bella Ciao.” When Viktor Orbán visited the EU Parliament last year, a number of its members greeted Orbán by singing “Bella Ciao” to him. The speaker scolded them for doing it, but I thought it was a great gesture. I wonder about the Americans who see Orbán as a suitable example of governance. He’s not, and young and educated Hungarians are leaving for more congenial nations with better governments and economies.
Thank you for posting this, lin. The image of the linked hands and arms and the smiling, singing faces moved me to tears. Getting to such a place within our own borders will be a long, uncomfortable, perhaps even fractious journey. We're still looking for first real steps to be taken by Democrat leaders in placea to advance it. For every King (Angus) and Mills there are twenty Dems sitting on their hands, vainly trying to raise funds for "next elections" that will never come if things are going as they are. Yesterday I made silly posting mistakes and computer miscues caused by the recurrence of long covid symptoms because of my fatigue, but I apologized to those immediately affected and received very gracious responses to those apologies. Thank you for your understanding and forgiveness.
The Dumbassed Unreconstructed Confederates have now shot themselves in both feet. There will be a Democratic House on January 3, 2027, and perhaps a 66-vote Democratic Senate. In which case Dilbert will set another first in his career of How Lowwwww can you goooooo? Fastest impeachment and conviction in history.
TC, I wish your vision becomes really but I'm pessimistic at the possibility of fair and real election for the midterms, if we have one at all. If the approval numbers for the scumbag president are too low as I expect, they'll find a way, whether by cheating or by fabricating an incident to justify declaring the state of emergency or invoking the insurrection act. Brace yourself.
He called Zelensky a dictator for a reason… he knows damn well that they don’t have elections during Marshall law. Trump has lined everything up to create a disaster and consolidate his power with a crisis and the military. Same as Hitler, Putin and Orban.
In other words, there will be no more free or fair elections.
A bullet-proof Democratic legislature could be put in place in the next election, TC, but it would take the most well organized, most energetic, and most well funded get-out-the-vote operation ever mounted in the history of voting. It will cost billions because it cannot be done without trained, paid organizers in every political precinct, each of them leading an army of volunteers. The money is probably the easiest part. The hard part is the formation of an effective group of leaders and organizers to get it going and keep it rolling.
First off, BRAVO and thank you to my Rep. Brittany Pettersen for hustling back to DC with your new baby to cast your vote against this mess.
Next, thank you to our Democratic members of Congress who also voted against this mess.
And finally to HCR, thank you for wading through the crap of this administration and keeping us informed.
PS. Rep. Pettersen has also done a phenomenal job of bringing fed $$ back to our district for local infrastructure projects. Those $$ 1) provide much needed improvements to roads/bridges/drainage, etc. 2) create jobs 3) and, personally, trickle down to the projects my employer works on.
People will take to the streets in huge numbers. We will strike and we will boycott businesses that support the takedown of our country and theft of its assets. Republican members of Congress are starting to feel the heat, which will only increase as those who voted for them feel betrayed and desperate. If 3.5% of the population joins a a grassroots, non-violent mass movement, the pretense of power will get very shaky and we may reach a tipping point where the regime's alliance of enablers crumbles.* Unfortunately, we have to live through this experiment. There is strength and there is more safety in numbers. But the numbers are growing fast. Our local Indivisible group has seen ten-fold growth in the size of its meetings, and that number is growing fast. This is just one organization standing for democracy.
The Medicaid cuts are likely to be largely shifting the costs to the states so the cowardly GQP congresscritters can claim that they didn’t actually cut or kick anyone off. However, the red states will bear the brunt of the costs and have the bulk of the people who will get hurt.
Well naturally because Medicaid was long ago turned in to a program of assistance to states in the form of grants with loose guidelines and incentives in the way of carrots and sticks. Here we are just giving you less money
. Not telling you what to do with it. If you want more, raise taxes
Please vote ‘No’ on GOP 2025 Budget Bill as it cuts food assistance & healthcare for our most vulnerable population. Tax cuts for wealthy billionaires is a poor excuse for cutting needed care for Alaska’s most vulnerable. We can do better.
These essays are very helpful. Thank you very much.
Perhaps there is a means of taxing the oligarchs of America other than on their incomes. I suggest a penny/share tax on every share of stock traded in the US on the NYSE or NASDAQ. Yes, day traders would pay the sales or transfer tax as well, but the charge is quite small for those whose trades are miniscule compared to the wealthy. In addition, the US Government enforces the IP of billionaires and others through our legal system. If you own a TM, copyright or patent, just knock on the door of a Federal court for enforcement. These are government granted monopolies. Why not retain an interest for all Americans, say 5% of all revenue generated from the IP monopoly? The same approach might be taken to mineral and oil leases. I understand a balance must be struck to avoid discouraging invention and capital investment in exploitation of natural resources, but given the current disproportionate distribution of wealth, it seems our system is not at all balanced. The terminal value of IP rights and resource leases may not be adequate to compensate for the rights granted by the Federal government.
Interesting idea Rich. Yesterday Berkshire Hathaway's A stock closed at $750,040.50 a share and the B stock somewhere around $500/share. The average daily volume of BRKa is 14700 shares so that would raise about $37,000.00 a year. Obviously this is an extreme example, but it's definitely doable. The average volume of Apple stock is 55.6 million shares a day. At a penny a share, trading would raise around $139 million a year.
Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. The wealthy should certainly pay their fair share of those taxes.
Taxes are one of several forms a discipline that sustains a civilized society. Democracy is a share of responsibility as well as choice. Thus we reciprocally create the environment that sustains a free society. Governance with the collective consent of the governed helps establish boundaries to establish rights for all individuals. Governance imposed by the few is organized crime; tyranny.
“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.” ― Louis D. Brandeis
Of all people, Vice President Calhoun wrote: "The [Roman] Republic had in reality ceased to exist long before the establishment of the Empire. The interval was filled by the rule of ferocious, corrupt, and bloody factions. There was, indeed, a small but patriotic body of eminent individuals who struggled in vain to correct abuses and to restore the government to its primitive character and purity, and who sacrificed their lives in their endeavors to accomplish an object so virtuous and noble." ✍️
Reactionary Republicans may thinking that "primitive and pure" means the government of 1845. I would argue that the argument goes deeper than freezing history but a restoration of the social contract of basic rights for all and the social compact of basic dignity for all. ⚖️
Today's eminent individuals are more in number, if not yet in power. They include elected officials like Senators Warren, King, Murphy, Warren, Whitehouse as well as Representatives Crocket, Goldman, McGovern, Raskin as well as Governors Mills, Pritzker, Shapiro, Waltz, Liz Cheney, Pete Buttigieg, Adam Kinzinger, Heather Cox Richardson et many al. 🤝
Three cheers for a new Enlightenment! 🤞💡✌🏽
Not bad, Mr. McDoodle. Not bad at all.
Good thing about flooding the zone: inevitably and occasionally, I get it right. 😉
Outstanding Ned. SAULTE!
Thank you, Gary, for the compliment. I appreciate it. 🤝
Don't forget, February 28th is an economic blackout day for 24 hours. We will demonstrate the power of the people. Do n't spend anything that day.
We need to add the youngest member of Congress who raised the ire of Comey by calling a spade a spade. Hope it’s on YouTube for all the world to see.
Have this quote in my profile
This is true, but we have at least 2 generations of people misinformed by Fox and the late Rush Limbaugh to believe otherwise. We should not have counted on legacy media outlets to tell the truth, because they have decided to do otherwise.
Gavin Kliger is a groyper who has been known for racist and offensive written commentary. He’s probably the most dangerous of the bunch.
AP cites 1 of the 21 'Resigner's as stating all that is left are the "ideologues" that who are not capable of competent work. This is 1 reason why the 21 'Resigners' abandoned MUSK publicly.
Substack author Michael Sellers, a "former CIA officer, Russia specialist currently an investigator, taking a deeper look at things that matter", looks at these resignations and the resignation letter they submitted as a sign that DOGE is about far more than merely "auditing" the government, but is actually seizing control. The warnings here are pretty clear as to what is actually going on. A good read ...
https://michaeldsellers.substack.com/p/doge-mass-resignations-a-deeper-look
https://rickey125.substack.com/p/its-the-data-stupid
Guess when Obama said the government needed auditing he should have followed through. Dems kicked the can down the road and are now crying when someone is actually looking at waste.
Just 1 problem is that long time federal workers are considered "waste" like the 1600 employees who combatted fraud, abuse & a long list of other work.
If you fall for "waste" I got a Bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya unless you are going to buy a 5 $Miilion "Gold Card" from the condo salesman.
In the case of 21 workers in the USDS that resigned when it became the nightmare DOGE, it seems they had been doing the diligent work improving service and saving cost for 10 years as we transitioned into both better computers and practices.
To see what they were accomplishing, see https://www.usds.gov/resources/USDS-2024-Impact-Report.pdf
For an early success, see https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/02/25/putting-power-data-work-america
(That is if it doesn't disappear like so many other links to stuff we taxpayers paid for and had available from 2015 starting in the Obama administration and through the Biden administration.)
I was rather stunned by the good fortune of having Dr. DJ Patil being able to put the data to work so effectively. I saw a presentation around 2017, on some of the data dashboard capability that seemed unbelievable at the time. The presenter drew in whatever data the audience was interested in after showing some examples. It was like a super Combat Control Center, but with things like matching severe weather data with census data, farmer critical data. It has been getting better and faster , but with great care also.
I can see where the pirates can come in and pretend they are the ones that are now capable of doing so much faster but they do not have the same interests in mind that those true public servants.
If Fox and Rush are just misinformation, what is social media? (A: radicalization)
Social media of itself is not bad but a means of open or semi open communication. When used to share disinformation it's potential for bad outcomes is huge. It calls on those who use it to make sure what they share has value and truth.
Correction. It is the addictive social polarizer, social divider, and ultimate tool for mining personal data used for personalized behavioral modification, radicalization, and social control.
Cambridge Analytica was only the beginning.
Elon and PayPal mafia are living out his father’s Technocracy Inc dream.
Watch: The Great Hack
Read follow Carole Cadwaldar, the Guardian
Read: Zucked Roger McNamee
The age of surveillance capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
You were all in favor of social media when Twitter and Zuckerberg were doing the bidding of the Biden administration. Now that Zuckerberg says no more everyone is aghast. Bigger question is as AI becomes smarter than humans will if recognize just who is spinning the BS. If indeed it is largely the Democrats what will happen then? Will you accept what it may prove or try and shut it down? How far is one willing to go to keep control. Democracy is supposed to swing back and forth, but one party seems to be upset after almost 12 years of power having to let the other side take the reins.
Thanks for the suggestions, Ted.
Misinformation=confirmation bias. Fear and hate are the most motivating emotions and misinformation confirms people's fear and hatred, hence DJT!!
Media, like governance can be bottom up or top down.
On both sides. We have pushed on the far left but our brains can’t quite understand it. I do.
Why or how did the center hold in Europe but not in the US?
Sadly, the center did not hold in 2016 when the UK voted for BREXIT. And the orange manace was elected Nov. of 2016. Seems like a vintage couple of years for Russian disinformation warfare success.
We have had people on both extremes annoying the people in the center who want the government to get things done in a reasonable way. We also have a bunch of people who think all taxes are bad and bleat nonstop about that. The poem says (Keats??) the center cannot hold.
Kathy, I agree completely. 34 year of marinating in Murdoch has lobotomized
red states. It is hard to believe yet is that not how Hitler consolidated power?
what is his address
Probably, Klieger is holed up living out of an office in OPM.
He writes on substack, but I don’t want to click on his link.
weeklybyte.substack.com
https://weeklybyte.substack.com
https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-engineer-explains-why-he-works-for-doge-2025-2?op=1
Don’t tell Trump voters this isn’t what they signed up for—we’re not interested in hearing that it wasn’t what they expected. The Democrats warned you, yet this is the path you chose. You chose hate and fear over facts and reality.
You are in good company, ¡J. L.! If my shrinking grey matter serves at all, Montesquieu said, in much the same spirit as you that citizens of citizens of a democracy have to live and breathe its spirit lest the republic devolve into mob psychology, anarchy, and, eventually, tyranny.
Mr. McDoodle, thank you for reminding us of Montesquieu and our debt to the French. May we enjoy Macron’s put down of Trump and charge forward under the banner of Lafayette, Diderot, Voltaire, etc. Aux armes, citoyens!
Thank you Virginia for reminding me and us of the mighty contribution of the French.
✌🏽
Un peu changé par moi: ¡allons les enfants de la république!
taxes are also a way to return a portion of the wealth that the workers generated through their labor back to them allowing the wealthy to still keep much more than they earned.
replying to "Governance imposed by the few ..." & the ongoing disassembly of "DOGE", who is Musk's apparent point-person AMY GLEASON?
Anybody know?
Does anyone else feel like a chump paying their taxes this year when we all know the coniver in chief pays zero?
A fact that seems to get very little air time:
"Tesla Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2024, Despite $2.3 Billion in Income. This brings Tesla's average tax rate over the past three years to 0.4 percent."
And...WE via the US government subsidize the purchase of such vehicles (a good idea) through tax credits. WE give Musk federal money indirectly by propping up his sales numbers.
So...Tesla gets help from you and me, makes billions, and pays almost nothing in taxes. Musk watches the value of his stock holdings grow along with the company. Never needs a salary that could be taxed. Borrows against his stock holdings to provide his play money.
The Patriotic Millionaires website will give you details on how the morbidly rich escape taxation. There ARE some good rich people out there. But they don't get much airtime either.
Thank you, Bill. This is an example of really good information that I value here. I think part of my resistance will be to write short letters to the editor. Thank goodness my town still has a good newspaper! I live in Trump territory, and I believe a non-rant letter with a good fact or two will make a difference. The low-information voter is a big part of our problem.
Anne, you are lucky with the newspaper. Ours has long been a Gannett rag. We subscribe online to see the obits.
I agree. We are really lucky. The death of newspapers is certainly a part of this problem. I was never a subscriber until COVID. That woke me up to the need to support journalism.
I sure miss ours. A high school classmate of mine was the last local editor of the Medford Mail Tribune. Medford didn't even get a Gannett rag.
Yeah, but Eugene does and Gannett saves money by having people write articles for both papers.
Our local newspaper shows a picture of tfg about to send the Resolute Desk out for refinishing!
Just because little X picked his nose and wiped it on the Resolute Desk?? Typical billionaire attitude--don't just clean and polish it--refinish it! If it didn't have historical significance, I'm certain they would have tossed it all together and come up with a BIG BEAUTIFUL desk befitting a king. Gold inlay and solid gold drawer pulls! Elon, not the taxpayers, should pay for the refinishing...as if.
Bill, I see that frequently. But the people who do not understand this never see it. They are often just against all taxes and government. A lot of them are actually going to know soon, if not already, what the government does for them.
ProPublica did a great piece on this too, though it was published a few years back. https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax
Bill, as you know Tesla stock is down, and people are not buying sucks autos:-)
I don't want to pay taxes that support Trump's actions, period. And with the IRS ranks decimated, who's going to be checking on me?
The Millionaires website helpful and has been around awhile. The founder is worth knowing about.
I would think taking old frameworks and using in new ways.
Pen pal letters, 4 zH Club with inter generational approach , and Departments of Utopia since dystopia has been a thing force long time abd actually creates fear so another way in the long term to change. For now I wish IRS had powers like they used to. I also would like the military invoices because all if this is treason. And Rupert Murdoch is a US Citizen and I have lost friends and loved family members to FOX.
Here is the org Patriotic Millionaires https://patrioticmillionaires.org/
Then to Tesla:
https://itep.org/tesla-reported-zero-federal-income-tax-in-2024/
And a deep dive into corporate data and state-by-state data for 2024:
https://itep.org/iteps-top-charts-of-2024/
Hello my Friends. As I sit here this morning reading your replies, I find one overriding theme. Blame!
We all know who is to blame, rehashing it is merely a waste of time and effort.
Our focus in my humble opinion, should be on how do we as a united force stop it.
I agree, Gary. I think it's a normal reaction to blame, but what a waste of time and energy. I'm not saying this in a self-righteous way - I've had to learn in the long and winding road of life that when I blame someone, I am not hurting the someone, but only building up my judgmental side. Sooner or later I will blame myself for something. Not healthy.
One thing I've been focusing on with HCR is my theme of the day for calling my representatives. I think, today, it is the line about 2/3 of nursing home patients being on Medicaid. That is something my Republican representatives certainly know. They also know what happens to them when they tell their constituents that Grandma has to come live with them.
Ann, I totally understand and respect all opinions presented. I am merely an ex-military guy, who is knowledgeable about threats to this country.
I am simply a man of action. I have continuely called and written to law makers and an ex-President. I gave him my opinion, of the current threat level which trump poses to our democracy.
I have asked to use our Special Operation Teams to remove all Domestic Terrorists. Musk, trump, and vance must be removed. We can clean the collateral individuals later. Label all before mentioned as Domestic Terrorists, which does not afford them Constitutional rights. Then we must purge all the government of career politicians. Fire all supreme court justices that are loyal to trump. Limit terms on all politicians, to insure that their interests are for the people. We must also restructor the Electoral College, so as it does not have the power to overrule the people's vote.
These are merely the thoughts of an old Solider. Please forgive my ignorance and or simplicity of mind.
I am a warrior, not a politician.
Gary, I totally agree with you about the blaming. I do not think you are either ignorant or simple-minded. Far from it!
If we had no men or women of action, we never would have had, or kept, democracy.
My father had a military deferment in WWll, I think because of his job. But he had attended VMI. I think everyone graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant. He believed that he was obligated to help fight, so he enlisted in the infantry. He never talked about the war. He received a Bronze Star. He was the best man I have ever known. I think of him every day as I try to do something every day to stop this madness.
Thank you, Gary! I am a fan of yours.
Thanks Brother.
My dad served In WW II in normandy.
As I have always stated "I am no hero, but I have had the Honor to have walked among them". Most of us who served are men of action. I am absolutely not effective when still.
Although old (70) my heart is that of a warrior, and I will remain as such, until My God takes my breath.
SALUTE MY FRIEND!
Well Gary, as a soldier, I had to rely on 'adults in the room'. You go! I went(!) Not for me to reason why, but for me to do or die. I was part of the broom.., we swept. Now "the room" seems to be filled with a bunch of dildo's doing what works for them. I bailed in 87 after 22 yrs of all the fun I could stand. Fortunate to have survived, I'm now on the outside looking in. History has not improved our foresight, only our hindsight.
Simplicity of mind is not a good descriptor. Plain speaking, and assessment of situations in its clearest form(s). We do what we know; I tend to write very short sentences because that's how cops write. As those who deal routinely with threats posed by other humans, that focus and direction tends to come through as simplicity (as in narrow focus) and not in complexity of thought or analysis.
AH there is nothing simplistic about you! Which is what I love about you . . . You might be "direct" (a term people have used about me frequently) but that just means you speak truth to power and devil take the hindmost. A very admirable trait, in my opinion.
Wow Ally. I never thought in those terms.
And we need you and more like you!!! Thank you for your service and your insights!
I like your perspective, particularly as I believe that there should be no one left in government who voted to overthrow the 2020 election as they are all traitors!
True!!!!
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼
It's always easier to talk than to do Gary but I would like to note that your reply is also blame. I agree with your humble opinion on where our focus should be.
If i might suggest to keep an eye on the midterms election 2026 as a turning point in our battle to regain democracy for this country. The maga horde and the handlers of Proyect 2025 will do anything, I mean, anything to prevent defeat.
I wonder,Ricardo... will 2026 be too late?
Carla, I had lost your reply for a while but it showed up again 😀.
In reference to your question regarding if 2026 will be too late, let me tell you that your concern it's mine too. However, nobody is sitting just waiting for that election as you can see, every day, people are waking up, democrats in Congress and some Republicans are doing something, protest are growing and republican legislators are being pressure against the wall on town meetings. We have, in the meantime, keep the pressure up, let the wheels of justice turn while keeping our focus on the election. Thanks for your reply 👍
Yes Ricardo, I fear that the maga will do much harm to prevent a loss in 2026.
Don't fear George, be concerned and do your utmost, to prevent a total loss. Even little things help. Thanks for your reply 👍
I feel like lots of people are doing what they can and many here have mentioned what those things are. We plan on honoring no buy this Friday. However, it is also OK to think about what has happened and why and have a rant. I hope that the 2026 election actually happens. As for Gary's suggestions, I am about at the point where I would like the people he mentioned removed by force. Purge the government of career pols.....hmmmm.....some of them give a lifetime of service. Unfortunately, they must also raise money to run. I like my senators and my rep, so I do not want to be deprived of being able to vote for them. The criticism I see of them comes mainly from bots and trolls. People ignored the warning about the Supreme Court in 2016 and so we got the three we have instead of three who might have been counter to Uncle Tom and Sammy. As for the Electoral College, it's too bad the Founders had to find a way to get the 13 to agree to the Constitution, but I don't see that changing.
Absolutely to your last sentence! Our government DOES not offer equal representation by virtue of the Senate. I've argued this point with people who look at a US map with the states colored red or blue. They visualize the vast swath of red and think that means the country is overwhelmingly Republican! I point out that much of that land is either public land or enormous ranches/farms. Should the vote be based on individual HUMANS, or shall we give the bisons, or the cattle a vote as well? How about the chickens?
(I've been termed "ridiculous" for that last statement.)
I understand your stance. However, when the Constitution was written, it was the House by population and two Senators for every state. This is not going to change. What hopefully people will do is pay attention to state legislative races because so many rep districts are gerrymandered. It may be too late for that. Then there is voter suppression, so it doesn't matter if certain votes are suppressed what the population is.
The chickens are all in Congress afraid of the fox.
Michele: Thanks for the mention of my idea. It is a starting point of consideration. I rely on the more legislatively educated and experienced to make that call. I am merely a forceful tool which could aid in this change.
I am humbled to have even one person acknowledge my thought.
Thank You
Gary
Gary, you are now on my list to read when you post. Please do not think that your opinion and experience do not count right up there with everyone else. Kudos.
Gary, you are not "merely" , you are asking important as the rest of us. I salute you.
Thank you Ricardo, you are accurate and correct. I confess that I am not as educated, (just a Bachelors degree) as those who reply in this forum.
You have your strengths! Pls do not think less of yourself due to the status of any degree. That is nonsense!
Years ago, when the Chicago area had several daily newspapers, my aunt subscribed to them all and would read them entirely, front to back. She never went beyond high school, but she was well informed by her self-education.
It's not just what you have in your brain Gary, but also what you have in your heart.
You have a lot on both. 🫡
Being able to afford a degree doesn’t make you any more intelligent. Intelligent people continue to educate themselves all their lives. It’s not about a piece of paper.
Loved your reply ❤️
Gary, that does not matter at all. You could not have any degree and still have a remarkable and courageous voice.
Michele, the fact that Gary read HCR's letters, comment on them and replies with absolute clarity, speaks volumes. 🫠
Agree Ricardo.., 2026 is an opportunity, which I hope we don't squander. As an aside, It would be of interest to really get a 'feel' for what day to day life is like in Hungary. Simple stuff. Do they have jet skiis? Do they Do they do 'this'.., do they do'that'? What do they do. I don't hear much.., do you? I don't care to visit. Do they ever come over here?
Mad, I visited Hungary once and among other things, I visited the house in Budapest where my grandparents on my father side use to live. As a visitor, you don't notice much as when I visited Russia twice. Life from a visitor point of view appears to be normal. But is not. Believe what decent journalists and historians write about every day experiences there. Thanks for your reply 👍
Ricardo; That is my point completely! Then you need us in Special Operations, to address this situation. Although I am old, (70) I can still man a post and or work in command and control.
Just a thought!
Gary, I agree. I'm tired of hearing that the Dems are bad at messaging! Or that Biden didn't promote his successes! We've seen that mainstream media ignored Biden, who, if you could catch it, sent the very intelligent and articulate Pete Buttigieg out to spread the message.
Our culture seems to feed on audacity, perfectly exemplified by the WWE culture that the GOP embraced for their convention. Trump knows that he can say or do anything, and his base either loves the shock and awe, or they dismiss it. When I see that golden statue of Trump that is paraded at various GOP events, I am stunned that the evangelicals don't turn away in disgust. (Leviticus 26:1)
Miselle: I actually had to reread Leviticus , to remind myself what was stated. I realize and accept that God alone has the right to avenge. However, as a warrior, I just wish his timing was a little more swift, and that he would call on me to assist his Avenging Angels!
I of course will bow to him and him alone.
Thank you for your trust in me.
SALUTE
Gary
Gary, I'm not interested in blaming, but I'm very committed to accountability and holding responsible parties accountable for their actions. You're right, blame doesn't solve problems, but taking responsibility and making change does.
Miriam; I love your kind heart..truly. It kindness like yours which make fighting bad people worth the loss. Men in the Military and the Special Operation Teams I speak of, fight for people like you. Good honest folks who cannot do what we can. It is a Honor we take very seriously. We are aware that at some point we may loose our life. We understand and a accept that fact. We also realise we are expendable, in order to save the greater good...like you.
Dieing doesn't scare a warrior, living under a dictatorship does.
Agree - why am I paying anything when the billionaires don’t pay anything. I would love to pay Ukraine my obligatory tax rate as compensation for my country turning traitorous to them and to our true allies.
Agree.
Yes. And I'm waiting for the next 2/28-style blackout to apply to "tax extensions" or another form of revenue interruption. Remember that "No taxation without representation" and other revenue protests occurred here from the get-go. It worked then and will work again.
You have no idea how utterly pissed off I am I have to stop and gather all my tax docs and spend time filing.
Same.
I am as well.
If anything we overpaid this year…do you think I am feeling optimistic about getting our refund?
I always try to cut it so close that I might have to pay a little. Otherwise it's a loan to our government that the likes of the Republicans will give to themselves or Muskrat
Try explaining that to some people! I recall sitting at our break table with some coworkers, one who was thrilled to be getting about $8000 back from the government. (This is a woman who had plenty of financial problems, many due to her own poor judgement. Gambling was a big one) I tried to explain that amount was indeed, a loan, and that perhaps that she could have better used it all year long. Perhaps have invested that amount? I absolutely could not explain this to her, and she was a very smart, accomplished woman in our field. Perhaps financial intelligence eluded her. (BTW, inquiring minds might want to know what she did with that "windfall". Did she pay off her debts? HELL NO. She immediately requested time off, and she and her husband went to Las Vegas.)
We always pay quarterly; my wife is a sole practitioner psychologist, and it is better that way for us.
If they gut the IRS enough, you could have some optimism...
I do
It's a perq of the ultra wealthy. Let freedom ring.
No, I still believe it is my right as a patriotic citizen to give back so We all have airports, highways, dams, forests, hospitals, schools………….. I don’t need a yacht, a rocket to mars, a degree from an “elite” university. Even tho’ those who have those needs seem not to need to share or think.
We had a strong middle class after Roosevelt’s “New Deal”. Everyone who grew up ( I mean really grew up) knows that history.
Reagan was needy enough to become a puppet for the far right!
YES! I really want to file an extension for the sole purpose of…where the hell is this money going now that Elonia is holding the reins and the purse strings?? It’s so rich that this man is in term 2 and never have we seen a tax return. Yet we are just expected to pay up every April.
An extension is just for your paperwork. Your money is still due on 4/15.
L Duffy,
I certainly do.
The Obscenely Wealthy reap most of the Benefits of Civilization... Note: "For their part, the Democrats rejected the proposal, concerned about the concentration of wealth in the U.S.: on Sunday, economist Robert Reich noted that “[t]he top 0.1% of Americans control $22 trillion in wealth,” while “[t]he bottom 50% control $3.8 trillion in wealth.”"... The Obscenely Wealthy produced DJT, and his ilk... They are never 'First Responders'... One does not see then in 'Public Service'... Rather You see them in 'Mar-a-Lago'.... Many like Elon Musk, are Predatory.... Their Tax-Loopholes should be closed, and their Tax-Rates restored to Eisenhower-Era levels... That would be FAIR...
I say tax them 100% over 10 billion or less - what is the point of that much money except to cause trouble.
I never thought I would agree with a statement like that, but I sure do these days! Money corrupts.
Too much wealth gives the holder the power to warp our government to their bidding. Citizens United is proof of that. When MAGA says they want to go back to the 1950s (which i have been told to my face), I tell them "Great! That would include tax rates on the wealthy around 95%. You good with that?" They get real quiet.
I believe that Thomas Jefferson would be On-Board with that... Thomas Jefferson definitely believed that the 'Death Tax' should have been 100% is order to prevent the Current Descendants of the Robber Barron's Control our Country...
A Modest Proposal to Enact Fair Economic Legislation:
Knowing that all or almost all republicans can be bought, that a slush fund be created to reward or buy off three republican senators to the tune of 5 million dollars to be put in off shore accounts with their names attached. They need only vote for democratic initiatives. In addition, a fund would be created to hire security protection for each senator for the next 5-10 years.
Republicans only want money and 5 million isn’t to be ignored. They only need to vote for democratic legislation then probably be voted out of office which is when they will be rewarded with a 5 million dollar gift tax free. 15 million dollars plus the price of security protection would be a relatively small price to pay to enact needed legislation for We, the People.
It’s a viable proposal. And it would show that indeed, republicans all can be bought. Would you contribute to this People’s Fund?
Bribery is not the solution. We the people cannot outspend Elon Musk. But if the truth is revealed by Heather and others, the American people will respond. The vast majority will not tolerate such corruption. That is why democracy is powerful.
The truth revealed by Heather…. Really. Heather has been revealing truth for a long time. Her truth is buried under an avalanche of bullschittery by the expert propagandists. And this has been the scenario for decades. Wishful thinking indeed…
As reported in yesterday's HCR letter, even such an astute, informed, long-active observer as oligarchy expert Timothy Snyder thinks that things are now starting to change.
The truth was there in 2016 all the way through to 11/5/24 and a large faction of people CHOSE not to believe it. Another knew it was going to happen and still voted against their countrymen and democracy because it would line their pocket. All truly think, like spoiled brats, that the rest of us who obey the law, want to pay taxes for the benefit of our countrymen and support Allie’s aligned more with freedom than a murderous Putin, MBS, NK and Iran will do the work to sustain their cushy way of life.
It’s why they elect lazy, know nothings lie GOP with a sound like a jerky fish because they count on some nerdy Democrat to actually do the work of governing. Well, that is already crumbling. Now we have Big Balls and a grandson of a KGB spy, racists, misogynists and people who can’t even rent a car whipping through our information and leaking it either deliberately of making it so vulnerable, the next ransom crime from Moldavia will be some basement dweller demanding a trillion dollars to not shut America down completely. Has anyone though what might happen when some nefarious character is either given or gains access to our grids, our dams, our control towers, our hospitals, etc?
And the idea MAGA will ever admit they were duped is laughable. They’ll ride this to their deaths which will be hastened when they are denied food, healthcare and clean water.
But bribery is the status quo in Congress and legislatures nationwide. Lobbyists and big donors run the show. This situation was exacerbated by Citizens United. Viva la revolution!
Bill, not sure about your proposal specifically. But, I have wondered about buying off politicians to do good. Never thought about security, suppose that would be necessary today. Where we find ourselves is just so insane.
Simply put: two wrongs don't make a right.
How Swiftian of Bill! Sure, let's bribe our way out of corruption, what could possibly go wrong? Or, for about $10.00 worth of ammunition, we could simply shoot 5 or 6 Republican Senators every time there is a crucial vote in the Senate :)
How do we possibly decide which 5 or 6?
Perhaps a good old fashioned first-come-first served basis, though reservations could be nice too.
Start with the ones who voted against certifying the Biden election.
You win the prize. It was said in satire. I did give a hint up front.
And it was well done! I'll have a smile on my mug for the rest of the day!
You make me feel redeemed.
Oh. Okay. So in future, when you expound absurdly, we should respond as Donald's apologists do and infer, "Oh, he was just joking."
Got it.
Just so freakin’ funny …
😂😂😂 now there’s efficiency!
Desperate times are upon us.
We should be searching for desperate measures soon. we can't wait for the mid-terms...
It's a good start!
Yes… thus he opened with A Modest Proposal…
Indeedy. Now I'll use it in my blog. I do use these posts for info as well as ideas to expand upon.
I heard the interview with the moron from Tennessee on NPR this morning. It's pretty clear to me that some kind of "sweetener" passed from the Felon to the Congressman. I presume that a combination of bribes and threats are being used to keep them all compliant. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5308016/rep-tim-burchett-r-tenn-discusses-the-budget-framework-passed-on-tuesday
I can’t decide if I’m more depressed that this is the most cohesive plan I’ve heard to counter the oligarchy or that I think this plan could actually work. I need to look at some pics of cats in boxes to fight this malaise.
I have purchased a Mega ticket when it nears a billion dollar prize payout. I don't need the money, but my sick fantasy is appearing on television and loudly proclaiming that I'm going to use the money to "buy some Congresspeople!!"
;-D
Any btw, did anyone see that Trump is saying he'll do away with green cards, and institute a "gold card" where you can purchase US citizenship for $5 million? A press person asked if Russian Oligarchs could do that, and he basically said sure.
Bill Katz, with as much respect as I can possibly muster, I must inform you that I have carefully read your comments over the past many weeks with a truly open mind, and I have concluded that all your ideas are wrong-headed.
Bribery is what got us into this mess in the first place. We are struggling with a bribed president, a bribed SCOTUS, and numerous bribed legislators. Your "modest proposal" is as absurd as those who claim the solution to our gun problem is more guns.
As that old maxim goes, "two wrongs don't make a right."
Yes please! We can buy their "Democracy Coins'.
Me thinks: you are employing a bit of Irish Irony (sarcasm), Bill
Bill, P.S., just to clarify, I have wondered about good, big millionaires and billionaires, not me, buying off politicians to do good.
We have a KLEPTOCRACY in the making!
Make Aristocrats Grotesque Again!
https://bsky.app/profile/justinsg.bsky.social/post/3lj3dcy6zc22o
I like "Make Aristocrats Guillotined Again" ...
Our civilized society is what allowed them to become so wealthy in the first place. They should be grateful to pay their fair share 😡
Miriam I totally agree with you. But the rich are different from you and me. And so the claim that we all make that taxes are an obligation we should all be willing to pay--like voting being an OBLIGATION of citizenship, a sentiment ignored by around 40% of people eligible to vote at any given time--seems to refer only to those whose ability to pay is less secure than those who are swimming, drowning, glutted with money and the trappings of wealth. The cruelty is the point. They want a return to some kind of servitude of the working class that is designed to enrich them. This is not, as some think, a characteristic of pre-modern society, which was oppressive indeed, but based on lineage not wealth. It is a byproduct of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. William Blake's poem, Jerusalem, which became the single most popular hymn in the Church of England (it is the theme of the Women's Institutes that operate in parishes) contrasts the "green and pleasant land" Blake idealizes as a place where Jesus walked to the "dark satanic mills" of his countryside. It still resonates. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54684/jerusalem-and-did-those-feet-in-ancient-time
That's my point, Linda—the rich should be required to pay their fair share of taxes, and by fair share, I mean a rate which reflects a percentage at least as great as what less wealthy and poor people pay of their incomes, but probably greater.
It is interesting that with wealth comes moral corruption. There is a theory that the rich become bored. They've already played all the things and done all the things and gone all the places. Their relationships become transactional rather than intimate. The only exciting thing left for them is sadism. Which is why this saying exists: "The cruelty is the point".
I had no clue of the etiology of that song. I've played it many times, and I really love it.
Thank you.
One of my favorites, too, AH. Sang it at quite a few Episcopalian funerals and weddings back int he day when I did such things.
The wealth is enabled by an educated workforce, a valuable infrastructure, an efficient justice system with effective laws and equal enforcement thereof, and a free press that serves to provide transparency to the entire system.
And the wealthy have not been paying them for 45 years.
Wishful thinking Miriam.
Not wishful thinking, Ricardo, right thinking. Read The Atlantic ($ after 3 reads/month, I think)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/corruption-trump-administration/681794/
ie, One Word Describes Trump
that one word is, clearly, ‘traitor’.
We’re not at war — yet.
But we are. It's a political war
. Have seen same in Central America. First the words and then come the troops.
Thanks for your reply M. I agreed that is right thinking but in reality it's also wishful thinking. Had we have another Roosevelt instead of Clinton and Obama, it won't be wishful thinking. I know what you are going to think: what I just said about Roosevelt is wishful thinking. Abd you'll be right. 😀
There is not another FDR waiting for us, and our current system of legalized campaign finance bribery ensures we won’t have one. Too many Republicans have shown more fealty to the Orange Menace than to the common good.
Taxes are the rent you pay to live and prosper in this country. If the rent is cheaper and/or amenities better elsewhere, then you might choose to move.
Unfortunately, we have allowed wealth inequality to enable the disaffected to buy the building.
Now come the evictions.
Yes. I am surprisingly lacking in matters of policy, finance, etc., which may make me a fairly typical American, but a flat tax has always made sense to me. I don't understand how anyone could claim unfairness in this arrangement. If someone earns 60K (at 25% tax for arithmetic) they will pay 15K--a lot! 600K--150K. 6M--1.5M 6B--1.5B. If this were true I'm sure the rate could be much lower than 25% for all people (maybe 10%??). If it's not a progressive tax, how can the 6B earner claim to be treated more unfairly than the 60K earner?
I used to think that, until I contemplated what life would be like with that.
During a period of time around 2008, my husband started a new position at McDonalds Corporate. This was a new project, and they decided to cut the project (there were issues with the CEO, its vague, but I believe there was health related turnover at the top.) Since he'd only been there about 3 months, he was out. Any available positions were offered to people who'd been there longer.
So, now, here we are, two adults with three kids. Two teenagers, one about to start college. I have a part-time job in a hospital lab, making about $22K/yr. I ask for extra hours, but they don't allow that, so I have to get a second job doing registry at another hospital, which is spotty because #1 they need weekend help and I already work e/o weekend at my primary job and #2 they call me on short notice, and I'm frequently already at my primary job that day.
Taking a flat 10-15% off would have had a major impact on me. Now, do you REALLY think that taking 10-15% off the millionaire would impact their lives in any significant manner? You say that you are "sure the rate could be much lower" if this was instituted, but I have my doubts about that. The ultra rich have way too many methods of getting out of paying taxes.
Corb, I'm am glad to finally discover the ONE other human who agrees with me. I have believed and sometimes stated that if •everyone• from the lowest earners to the highest were required to pay the same percentage of their income – with the elimination of all loopholes – the percentage could be reduced to a very small number, far less than 25% and probably less than 10%. But all deductions must be eliminated for a flat tax to work.
Deductions, in my opinion, are just governmental social engineering that is advertised as "tax breaks." The government should not be inducing citizens to buy houses or have children, or engage in any other activity that qualifies for a tax deduction. But with a fair, flat tax, people who want to buy homes or have children would be able to afford to achieve their dreams and more, because they'd be paying less in taxes.
A flat tax does not discourage anyone from bettering their circumstances. They may pay more dollars in tax, but they still get to keep more dollars after tax.
How about "taxes are the membership fee to the community a person reside."
Don't forget, February 28th is an economic blackout day for 24 hours. We will demonstrate the power of the people. Do n't spend anything that day.
Well, let’s think a bit. Currently, the lower 50% of taxpayers pay 3% of individual federal income tax. The top 1% of taxpayers pay 40%. So when I hear talk to the effect that “the rich” aren’t paying their “fair share,” I wonder what that could possibly mean.
Just the fact that you call yourself "un-woke" cautions me to even bother to engage with you, but here goes:
Let's hypothetically say the average family makes $50K. Let's say Musk made $50 BILLION. Okay, so, lets take 40% off Musk's income. Do you think that has impacted him in ANY WAY?
Now let's go back to the average family. $2500 in taxes doesn't sound too bad to you, eh? How about if THEY had to pay 40%? Now depending upon their family size, they are probably in poverty level. Should only the rich be allowed to have children?
We could get into the morality if not religious beliefs of doing unto others, or being a good Samaritan, but I don't wish to argue that with you.
I hope that my example is clear enough for you, but to be honest, I don't wish to engage any further with you. I hope you enjoy your personal wealth right now, because you can't take it with you.
What has that got to do with the inarguable fact that the wealthy pay a hugely disproportionate share of the income taxe? Nothing, that's what
The average effective tax rate for the top 1% of income earners is 26.1%, and they pay an average of $562,000. The average effective tax rate for the bottom 50% of income earners is 3.7%, and they pay an average of $822. These are what is known as facts and figures, as opposed to sanctimonious moralizing and snark.
As I expected to you to answer, you ignore the facts or twist them to suit you. I read the comments and you are a new additianyhow. to me. You aren't as blatant as the trolls, who get called out, but your narrow minded views border on it. There are often respectful disagreements here, but I don't want to waste my time to discover if you have anything else that might be of value. Thete are too many intelligent people that I respect on here to waste my time on your comments. The "un-woke" caused that.
Respond or not, I don't care. I am about to block you so I don't see your skewed opinions anyhow.
Republicans go on and on about government spending but when they have the power to do so, they do nothing about it. So, if theyre not going to cut spending, wouldn't you rather have the spending go to people who need it rather than billionaires? This must be too difficult an equation for Trump voters.
The parts of the country that voted R need huge billboards spelling out what’s going on and that Trump is responsible! Democrats need to MESSAGE! Get out into those communities, tell them what is happening, and ask them if that was part of the agenda they voted for: to lose healthcare? To give wealthy a tax cut? Are their prices going down?
There are so many horror stories that it's hard to pick those that stand out. We get inured. Yet I think some especially egregious events can be underlined paired with the words, "Is this what you voted for?"
Heather Cox Richardson: Unequal "... access to resources like healthcare":
Thus, on the Measles Outbreak in West Texas & New Mexico, per ABC & the Texas Department of Health services (DSHS) there are now 124 infected people, 18 are hospitalized & 1 death reported so far.
Ages 0 to 4 years old 39 cases
Ages 5 to 17 years old 62 cases
Others: 13 cases
TOTAL: 124 ... so far.
MAYO CLINIC: "Measles are aerosolized & highly infectious." Droplets are inhaled and/or picked up on surfaces where humans can be infected for about 2 hours.
As a former public health RN, my heart goes out to the folks in TX and NM. Managing such an outbreak becomes exponentially harder without the central management of entities like the CDC, especially when coordination across state lines is required. Most states simply don't have the expertise or people needed to manage even small outbreaks such as this.
Thank you, Steve. It's important for the public to know what you just said. We are up against the government-is-bad propaganda that has been active since Reagan. I get the sense that we are going to win this, though it may take a while.
Thank you Steve & thank you Anne: "I got the sense we are going to win ...". Me too. I have Heather's "Something is Shifting" 2/23 lead on a note next to my computer.
I just received my 1st Texas DSHS Bulletin at 7:56 am this morning 2/26 conforming the 1st Measles Death of a "school aged child hospitalized in LUBBOCK, Texas".
Bryan, I don't know what the heck TX is thinking, but. I'd quarantine, as in ROPE OFF the entire area..,double fence it in. No one travels out. Supplies shipped in to a gate drop off. No entry to public schools in this entire nation without measles shot.
Stop catering to religion, conspiracy theorist, deniers, libtards, magatts, or anyone. Decision Day: Measles shots! Done. Deal with it. Move on.
I understand "West Texas" is far away in a big wig state in a relatively poor region. It ain't Austin, TX. All but 5 of the infections were unvaccinated persons.
Brings me back to early Covid 19 infection Days; I had a retired epidemiologist friend. I took note he did not leave his car to have Coffee with the usual folks.
Everything about the epidemiologist's behavior told me the risk was AIRBORNE including tell tale symptomatic loss of the Sense of Smell.
I am subscriber now to the "YLE" Substack ... that's Your Local Epidemiologist that has good data on Bird Flu & other health concerns.
Counsellor, YLE was my first paid Substack subscription. Her original area of expertise is in gun violence as an epidemic. I've read some amazing stuff from her research.
Yes, and YLE/She has another Doc working with her & working very well.
I recall about a dozen years ago while working in the lab, the hospital epidemiologist (very intelligent, impressive man!) came in the lab and was talking with the pathologists. He'd often come by and talk with the techs as well.
The story was, a woman had gone back to her native India to spend an extended time with a dying family member. She ended up staying on for about a year or so while her engineer husband remained stateside. While there, her two very young children did not get their childhood vaccines. She came home and shortly thereafter, both kids got some sort of virus that manifested in fevers and rash. There was quite a concern, as there was initial fear that the kids had measles. (And before anyone asks, yes diseases can have distinctive rashes, but overall, rashes can be very difficult to identify). I recall the epidemiologist being very worried and these kids were placed in isolation. I don't recall what it ended up being, but it wasn't measles. The doc talked about much of what is in the news now--how infectious it was, how long it remained in the air. He said that those kids being on an airplane trip that long could be a nightmare to track down the other patients.
This was well before COVID. I'd think about that measles case when I'd hear arguments regarding masks, etc.
Miselle, that was a very good report on an Epidemiologist-on-the-Job that stuck with you. Good one.
if only
I can already see all the Trump flag waving trucks and the overweight cosplay MAGA descending upon the town, screaming OUR RIGHTS!
Excellent point JL. The obvious answer would be NO only if they are feeling the pain of their decision or are informed of what's to come. That's should be our priority in developing a message.
On another note, a near miss at Midway Airport in Chicago yesterday. And now we’re getting Starlink which Musk an turn off with a hissy fit.
I know. This makame crazy!
One man to control the fate of millions? This is beyond crazy. It is diabolical.
The very idea of privately held satellites controlling communications for the world is obscene and incredibly stupid. Starlink should be nationalized and overseen by the FCC in coordination with the FAA. Or some agency that is there for the PEOPLE.
Yes, but not in THIS Administration.
To threaten the country with when Putin comes to take over just like he’s doing with Ukraine.
About a week ago I said that next our only internet available will be Starlink and he’ll control every aspect of what we see and hear. I don’t think I’m being hysterical on this.
Given what's already been happening, I don't think you are either!
Thanks for the info and comment ML.
JL, in my world, they are 100% on board with all the "government waste" the dogy boys have found; never mind that it is almost all completely false. They will not acknowledge any other information that runs counter to their views.
Those of us with R representatives aren’t able to voice our opinions bc they don’t hold town halls—they hide from us. Calling and writing are all we’ve got even if it’s less effective.
While I generally agree with HCR's take on Repubs being married to trickle down principles, she somehow is stuck in the past with her portrayal of the other corporate wing of the uni-party. So, like most liberals, she seems stuck in the past when the Democratic Party still represented the people. That was a long time ago before the Democratic Party became the party of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, abandoning working class people to instead kowtow to the elitist professional management class of which HCR is very much a part of today.
The 20016 book, with its 2017 afterwards, Listen, Liberals, details this transformation of the Dem Party. FWIW, here is my review of that book. https://beyondspin.wordpress.com/2024/01/20/listen-liberals/
So sure, Dems increased the top income tax brackets. Though they also further complicated tax codes, and thus provided more loop holes. The results? The effective rates on wealthy individuals were and are still minimal, especially since the source of many higher income bracketed people's wealth isn't subject to income tax. The Dems also love expansive programs without any cost containment. And guess what? These programs drove up education and healthcare costs making higher education and healthcare a lot less accessible. Not to mention, that 95% of the money printed via these large omnibus bills, ends up doled out as corporate welfare.
That certainly was the ultimate consequence of policies enacted during the Clinton administration that further deregulated banks and created new financial instruments. Why? These Acts passed during Clinton's Administration led to the 2008 financial crisis, and Obama bailing out banks that were too big too fail. Obama also furthered regime change policies in Libya, and tried to do the same in Syria further destabilizing the region while he also continue the costly war in Afghanistan. While Biden kept pouring more money into Israel to finance the genocide in Gaza, and also laundering money to the military industrial complex through Ukraine to pay for his proxy war to try to bring down Putin. Clinton, Obama and Biden all further f'-upped Haiti turning that country into an anarchy.
Anyway, my pointing out Democratic short comings doesn't mean I endorse or accept any of the Republicans' principles. Though, one has to be more real and less cartoonish with one's depiction of "good" versus "bad" guys or parties. Why? Because both corporate parties SUCK. The faster people like HRC realize this, the sooner people like HRC will hopefully realize why so many people feel so disenfranchised and angry.
Though does HRC ever venture out of her ivory tower and her blue bubble?
That's a rhetorical question because the answer is obviously no.
....
ChatGPT had fun with your reply, Mr. Spin, but I'm not going to waste time or space by posting the entire response...
In Summary:
There are numerous generalizations, oversimplifications, and factual inaccuracies in the statement.
It makes broad claims without providing enough context or nuance, especially on issues like tax policy, the 2008 financial crisis, U.S. foreign policy, and the role of the Democratic Party in corporate interests.
The tone and ad hominem attacks on Heather Cox Richardson do not contribute to a productive or well-rounded critique.
These errors weaken the overall argument, and a more thoughtful and evidence-based approach would be needed to make a convincing critique.
I agree with you. There are some interesting gaps. Clinton was centrist as Dems go, policy wise (‘workfare’ for instance) but ended with a budget in the red largely owing to the tech boom. Then came GWBush for 8 years—another ‘gap’ wherein 9/11, ongoing war, and tax cuts including wealth tax breaks and deregulation leading to hedge fund irresponsibility contributed largely to the 2008 crisis and huge investment fraud schemes. The bailouts for the banks and auto industry were pricey but kept major economic generators on some footing, though Wall Street avoided appropriate consequences for their malfeasance considering losses by the average American. Obama did find Syria (and for that matter, Saudi Arabia) very problematic and admitted later that it was one of the weakest points of his admin. Was that about Dem capitulation? I’m doubting it, especially in light of the Tea Party obstructionism and Trump’s immediate actions in the region after he came to office to line his own pockets and satisfy his donors. I’m sure this is a very incomplete accounting but between Mr Spin’s gaps and mine there probably lies the truth of it.
I love Chatgpt!!!
Meh, try Claude!
What you can't think for yourself, so you need to resort to a chatbot for an inaccurate assessment? Wow, I'm impressed. Though, I suppose you believe chatbot's are infallible.
Anyway, if you don't understand how the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act contributed to the 2008 financial crisis, try reading this article https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/19/wall-street-deregulation-clinton-advisers-obama
All my other arguments are equally and easily supportable.
Though, given your obvious lack of research skills and inferior critical analytical ability, it's really no wonder your blind reverence for the HCR. whose arguments in your mind are beyond any sort of criticism. And yes, I criticized her cartoonish arguments.
Anyway, thanks for the laugh. You're very amusing.
Someone can disagree with your argument without the necessity for you to demean the person. This is exactly why we are where we are, mired in cultural fights instead of reasonable disagreement. You could have said “I disagree.”
And you are very insulting, which, in itself, is indeed a form of "spin." Not to mention brimming with self-importance. All part of spin world. Get thee to a seat on the Fox News couch. And learn to use an apostrophe properly, while you're at it.
For a lesson in how to behave in a comment forum, I'll lead by example.
I appreciated Heather's paragraphs that concisely summarized the Democratic approach to government's role in society versus the Republican point of view.
However, I think her summary of Republicans' view of government is out of date, as they have all but abandoned the principles she described. Currently, the MAGA segment of the party think that government should be and do whatever Donald Trump wants. The remainder of Republicans don't think about it at all.
Why do you start everything with a bullying insult? I stop reading the second I see them. Are you incapable of putting your thoughts forward like a rational adult. Do better. You’re not the least bit amusing.
The working class hasn’t voted consistently democratic since the 70’s. Wedge issues like abortion and guns were one of the many parts of Nixons southern strategy that was very effective. The Democratic party kept losing elections so with Clinton it shifted center. This of course shifted the Republicans farther to the right and we got Newt Gingrich and the contract with( on) America because in part Clinton wanted to reform healthcare.
Matilda-Please be more precise. You mean the white working class hasn’t voted for the Dems. The white working class gravitated to the Rs because they promise to save them from the idea of equality for Black and Brown people.
Brown v the Board of Ed and legislation LBJ passed in the 1960s was a bridge too far and a threat to white supremacy. We can dress up our current society anyway we want but maintaining a cast system is a waste of time and talent.
Racism is not just a social or cultural issue. It’s always been an economic issue. It was invented by White men to create division among the working class allowing the wealthy to maintain power and control. We should all know more about the truth of America’s history.
In politics racism is what the “southern strategy” is all about. It’s why Reagan announced his campaign in Mississippi. It’s why Bush had Willie Horton. It’s why Trump blurted out the Haitians are eating pets. It’s why more than 90% of Republicans are white. It’s why Trump’s administration is so white. They’ve been manipulating the white working class for decades.
If we don’t acknowledge this fact about racism (and misogyny too) then we’ll never solve America’s formidable and long standing systemic problems whether it’s economics, elections, violence etc. Racism is the “bread and butter issue” we overlook at our peril.
Gina,
You have nailed it. If not, how did the nation not recoil with one big vomit when DEI began being attacked? The press, the politicians failed to speak the truth about a concept that ONLY encourages OPPORTUNITY for all of us. It doesn't give one color or ethnicity an advantage.
Condemning "diversity" is RACISM writ large. Suggesting there is something wrong with "equity" is "ELITISM" on steroids. Disparaging "inclusion" is "BIGOTRY" with balls.
People are fighting DEI because they don't understand the basics of economic growth. The economy is not a zero sum game where we just divide up a limited bucket of money. Helping people become higher earners means MORE TAXES to help other people get a leg up. To GROW the bucket.
Fighting DEI is at its core fighting the concept of a cooperative society that thinks of itself as a "we". Fighting DEI is anti-civilization. It is fascism.
Bill, what you and Gina are both alluding to is a visceral difference between conservatives and progressives related to race and really, everything.
Conservatives, especially white conservatives, live by a "scarcity doctrine." That is, there is a finite supply of resources available to the human race. We must all struggle to get our share of those resources, and fight anyone who threatens to take away our share or any portion of it. Civically, this translates to tax avoidance and legislating disadvantages against "the other."
Progressives live by the "abundance doctrine," which posits that there's enough of everything we need to go around. If our needs increase, we'll just make more. Progressives regard taxes as "sharing the wealth" and try to write laws that help everyone generate more abundance.
What strikes me about that observation is that Conservatives in our country tend to be associated with Christianity and progressives less so. However, the "abundance doctrine" is at the heart of Christianity. I guess that's why I have more affinity with progressives.
White Americans are fighting DEI because they want the government to protect their legal, economic, and political advantages from even the sligbtest encroachment by other Americans.
Completely agree. Our history of racism and income inequality is one of the reasons I still have to work at my advancing age.
Democrats have to get back to bread and butter issues without sacrificing the interests of those who support them. For one thing, we need to decisively break with the whole idea of deregulated capitalism. That is what we have had for almost 45 years, and I am not surprised average Americans are worse off with it. It’s worse for some Americans because of deregulated capitalism on top of traditional economic disadvantages.
Joe was doing that, and the billionaire class didn’t like his tax and labour policies. So they, in the person of Musk dumped copious amounts of money ( thank you Citizens United/ SCOTUS) into the campaign of a fuckin asshole grifter wannabe authoritarian, and with the help of misinformation, piped into the super computers we all carry in our pockets, here we are.. At least that’s how I see it Kathy..
Is the Democratic Party perfect? No.
Is the Democratic Party trying to undo American democracy and join America to the Axis of the Bad Guys? No.
Does the Democratic Party want to cut Medicaid, Snap and health care insurance for low-income Americans in order to lower taxes for America’s wealthiest people? No.
That would be the Republican Party which, through Trump, has already flipped American over to stand with the likes of North Korea and Russia, bringing disgrace to America and horror to all of America’s former allies.
You are arguing to make the perfect the enemy of the good. That is not the way out of this mess.
Vote Blue or live with the consequences.
I wish it was either/or. Most of us here did the right thing, yet we got f-cked over by dark money that paid to amplify straight-out lies to a populace kept as uneducated as possible for the sake of Republican susceptibility.
I've obviously had enough politics for this morning. Off to renew, regroup and fight again tomorrow.
Pretty sure HCR does not call herself a liberal. HCR calls herself a Lincoln Republican.
Agreed with your general description of the Democratic Party position in recent years but I reserve my opinion after reviewing the book you mentioned, in normal human hours. It's 2:41 ET while I write this reply. Thanks BS.
How is the weather in Moscow?
Your “expertise” is pathetic compared to any real historian.
🗽
Exactly. They need to ask Republican members of Congress like Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana 'where's the omelette?'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBuMn6dLzfs
I agree, Lynne. Inexplicably, Democrats just don't know how to message. Last night on MSNBC Lawrence O'Donnell had Sen. Warren on to discuss the destruction of the CFPB. The description of the financial benefits to consumers of the CFPB was impressive but my point is i don't recall hearing about any of this during the campaign last year. Why not?
Extraordinary clear and powerful message Lynne. If we do what you propose, we'll save democracy.
Thanks
It’s the Dems! It’s the Dems! Whenever something goes wrong, blame the Dems!
Vote Blue
Lynne,I reply earlier to your comment and I just read it again. I honestly think you figured the right strategy to reach the part of the mega paty followers that are being, or will be soon, affected by the policies they ,ignorantly, voted for.
I understand that many of them, no the stupidest of them but many, would be open to other options rather than take the pain that will be inflicted upon them.
The billboards idea is great and not too expensive if we can develop a good, to the point and brief message being actualized as the effects of the policies changes. Finance should come from the Democratic Party. The campaign should be coordinated with Democratic governors as in Kentucky and legislators in every state. They should be speaking every day as reinforcement of the changing billboards messages.
I remember driving on a highway in Miami and it was this huge billboard showing the heads id Stalin, Fidel Castro and trump overlapping and a simple message directed to the Cuban American voters. That was in 2016 and still remember the impression it caused on me. Please, don't let your excellent idea go. Stay in touch!!!!
Billboards, you must be old. No one looks up from their phones except drivers who are watching the road. Are you part of the postcard writing brigaid? You are so out of touch with reality.
Ok- so what do YOU suggest instead?
Lynne, this is a good account to ignore.
They’ll blame the Democrats. They’re cultists—nothing, absolutely nothing, Trump does will change their minds. When the expected funds don’t materialize, they’ll complain about being shortchanged, but they won’t blame Trump. After all, in their eyes, he can do no wrong—gods are infallible.
Like Bernie is doing
Anyone remember how when Nixon was president the saying was that there was a cancer on the presidency? Well, we don’t have a cancer this time. We have the equivalent of the hijacked planes of 9/11 crashing into the federal bureaucracy and the federal budget rather than the World Trade Center. And this time the planes are flown by Republicans in league with Vladimir Putin.
God help us all
😢💔🇺🇸
It’s refreshing to hear a wise and intelligent message from former Secretary (and Mayor) Pete Buttigieg. We need to hear his voice, loud and clear! People are thirsty for the TRUTH from reliable leaders. Pete, along with an informed and knowledgeable “cabinet”, can be that person of the moment to carry us through this insanity.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
I nominate Pete as "communications director" for the People's Cabinet (as in shadow cabinet in the UK) that should have been assembled by the DNC by now. We need clear messages from experts that represent the facts for each department of the Federal Government.
Example: every time Pam Bondi does something awful and potentially illegal, her counterpart as the "Peoples AG" would hit the airwaves and cyber world with clear criticism. Facts.
That means more than interviews on MSM (which is dying). It means simultaneously speaking for the people on TikTok, YouTube and every SM site that will accept the truth.
I don't buy Carville's "roll over and play dead" strategy. We need to build a Democratic platform NOW that starts moving the pendulum back to sanity and decency.
Bill, YES again to your comment about The people’s Cabinet. And Pete plus AOC plus a few moderate Democrats for balance. What do you think if Liz Cheney were included…hmmm 🤔
I guess that’s asking for trouble re media etc.
Just sent a copy of your comment to the DNC via their website.
As Barbara Mullen, official chider of this community, would say, "How do you plan to make this happen?"
But I'm not Barbara, so I'll just offer my enthusiastic support of this idea, which has recently been floated. Is there a way we can press Ken Martin, DNC chair, to get this going?
I love Heather, Joyce Vance, Brian Tyler Cohen, Marc Elias, the Meidas and Bulwark folks. But these are isolated voices crying in the wilderness. The Opposition Party needs to be speaking forcefully with one voice that somehow captures the attention of corporate media and •makes• them amplify the opposing view.
Great analogy
Thanks so much. I only wish it wasn’t true. 😢
Me too, Steve, me too.
😢🇺🇸
The video (6.5 minutes long) below is from July 2024 and was replayed recently on MSNBC. Caroline Giuliani spoke so eloquently about trump taking over her father and what would happen with a trump presidency. And, like so many others, she was spot on. Here we are with a cancerous disease we cannot get rid of and it is literally going to kill us. The pain and loss of our democracy could have been prevented by a Harris presidency. By comparison, Nixon's corruption looks like the sniffles from a cold.
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/daughter-of-rudy-giuliani-describes-watching-her-dads-life-crumble-because-of-donald-trump-220936773921
Sadly the copilots of that plane are the President of the United States and an unelected private citizen billionaire.
I agree, this is exactly what is happening. It is a great analogy. May I borrow it?
Yes, of course you can borrow this analogy. And please consider mentioning it comes from me. Thank you.
There was. He was that cancer.
Can't wait for the hillbilly NRA loving 2nd Amendment FAFO 'mericans to figure out Ma and Pa are getting kicked out of nursing homes and losing healthcare.
The poor folks living in the hollers of Appalachia would most likely suffer if this budget is enacted, but we shouldn’t condemn or disparage them for swallowing the MAGA lies.
The Republican propaganda machine churns out misinformation at such a prolific rate that the lies cover the country like a blanket of ash from a volcanic eruption.
Put the blame where it belongs — on the ones speaking lies, not those hearing them, and believing.
No blaming. Just recognizing.
See it, reveal it, and if possible heal it….will take a concerted effort to help & not denigrate those who have been duped (I’m talking regular folk, not the diehard T-cult that thrives on lies & conspiracies). As so many pundits are saying….many folks have ended up painfully experiencing the “FOFA” syndrome.
Whatever blame is to be born by "GOP" rank and file (we all bear responsibilities for our choices at some point) there are way too many Americans in MAGA to ignore or try to isolate. There has to be some path to some degree of healing if our society is to thrive. It would help if could cut off some of the flood of lies.
JL-the question is how do we bring people together to fight against capitalists who care little for the common good. As long as they can keep us fighting with each other they can continue to build a society that places them in control because money talks. It buys courts, politicians, media, elections and so much more.
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig.
But pigs will attack and eat anything when they are hungry.
Having lived, as a young adult, on a ranch that had some pigs….I, um, learned a lot about their propensities….some kinda scary!
I should note Anne Nelson, a writer and journalist, has noted in vast swaths of the U.S., people don’t have much on the air except for right wing secular talk radio and Christian Nationalist radio, and of course Fox News and like minded outlets. This is one big reason why the parties have such different outlooks.
Maybe we can blame some of it on poor regional educational policies that have discouraged critical thinking skills. I guess in some countries (Denmark?) they are teaching kids in school how to scrutinize and protect themselves from online disinformation and predatory threats. This would ignite a major culture war in this Country in so many ways.
Abbott in Texas has made it a point to discourage critical thinking. Republicans seem to be emulating the old Soviet Union in their desire to ensure conformity of thought. It takes a great deal of work to break with this mode of thinking, or unquestioning acceptance.
Texas . . . . . Abbott . . . . . their legislature, so screwed up. They still haven't done any preventative maintenance on that problem with the frozen gas mains, their electrical grid and their legislature that only meet every two years. Those poor people, just gluttons for punishment, just keep voting those same people back into office. Did Cruz get reelected?
Cancun Ted is unfortunately still working against our Democracy!
Screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me.
Unless there's some sort of seismic change in the way Texas votes, Raphael Eduardo will be there for life...unless, of course, Trump appoints him as the next replacement for a SCOTUS seat, which i think is his main concertn...
I can't seem to find this Jurist Raphael Eduardo, I take it. I forgot to mention Ken Paxton, What a piece of work.
Certainly it is the "Ministry of Truth" folks I blame the most. Their deceptions are deliberate, premeditated, and cruel. It is predatory.
It's true JL but if you don't have followers those deceptions go nowhere.
It's like a vicious circle that should be broken.
R, we should put blame on both. The hollers of Appalachia and elsewhere never ever benefited from any republican policy, by the contrary, they should be thankful to democrats for what they have but instead, they voted against their own benefits. Shame on the republican/maga lies machine but shame on their voters to. After al,l many of them donated their entire Social Security checks to the scumbag campaign. There's no cure for stupidity.
The weird thing that I encounter clever, well educated people that repeat MAGA talking points like a robot. It's not stupidity, at least in the sense of lack of capacity. I also know some who were raised in an atmosphere of big lies who made a clean break. And I think human beings are more vulnerable to manipulation than it pleases us to think.
I think that in a healthy society certain values are celebrated and some others discouraged. We hear a lot about truth and justice but to what degree are those concepts keenly explored? So much modern language has become Orwellian. We should not allow our public employees to lie to us. No effective business manager would put up with an employee telling significant lies. When it matters we can be prosecuted for lying to our own government. Those who we hire to conduct the government should not be allowed to lie to us. That's how Nixon lost his job; the deceptive "coverup". And in those days, Republicans were ready to convict him. What's different? A free society requires the preponderance of the public to act in good faith. If too many don't, there is no hope.
Ricardo, when people vote against their own interests, which many MAGA folks have done, it could be for many reasons, but I believe the primary one is that people who are living on low incomes do not know who and what to believe. You can call it stupidity or pig-headedness or just plain ignorance, but my point is to blame the Republican “Alternative Facts” people for spreading the lies, not the victims who believe them.
Of course we should disparage them. They voted for this. Cruelty, and culture war bullshit. Fuck their lack of critical thinking skills.
Sorry, but the hearing and believing ones put Trump in office. They're both to blame.
What I worry about is, who are those 'mericans going to be pointing their guns at when they finally figure it out.
Billionaires?
If only. Billionaires have convinced the uneducated that the felon loves so much that it's always the libs' fault.
Steve, I have long wondered how/why those who work for and protect the billionaire class—those rich folks who can safely ensconce themselves “above the fray” or chaos—have realized that they are totally dependent on “workers” to keep them safe….allegiances may work for awhile, perhaps a long while, but eventually those “workers” will discover who really holds the power if everything has gone to sh*t.
Religion convinces them that a paradise awaits if they suffer enough.
Yeah, Steve, but not everybody “believes”!
Very good question!
We have time to figure that out James. First they have to stop watching Fox, collect their thoughts, open up and act.
Fox needs to be stopped.
That would require the peckerwoods to have brains, and brains are one thing the peckerwoods never have had.
They also don't have money or empathy. Just wait and see.
Wait, what? And here I thought that pecker-brains were a big driving force in our society on so many issues! I stand corrected, I guess. 🤪
Funny!!!😜
Barbara, I learned as a young deputy sheriff working corrections (longest 18 months of my career), that "peckerwood" was a noun. Its "formal"definition (per Wikipedia) is A "racial epithet for white people, especially poor, rural whites. Originally an ethnic slur, it has been embraced by a subculture related to prison gangs and outlaw motorcycle groups."
TC's use here "took me back" to the first time someone proudly displayed their brand new "peckerwood" tattoo. I laughed, instead of showing proper respect.
I still laugh.
That's exactly why they voted against their interests TC. You solved the riddle!!!!! 😜
Steve, they deserve it for voting the way they did. They should have been informed ahead of voting. Now they'll pay the consequences of their ignorance and stupidity, together with millions that knew better and voted with their brains.
We ALL are suffering the consequences of their vote. That’s what makes me crazy.
Yup, we've ALL been lied to. It is one of the few ways the current administration treats us fairly and without bias. They're willing to lie to us all, regardless of party affiliation, race, gender, income level (well, 99.9% of income levels), geographic origin, citizenship status, or degree of 'wokeness'.
Good example of equalitarian society Steve. 🤢
And their SS money. I hope they're ready to take them in.
Once again, I am in awe of your ability to track the latest developments in Washington DC to understand, analyze, footnote, and cogently write about same on a one day turn around. Seems like a simple thank you is not worthy of your work but nonetheless, I offer mine.
Don't think you thanks it's the only one Bridget. Thanks for talking for many, many thousands !!!👍
Bridget, totally agree with you about HCR’s Letters. For whatever reason, she’s able to distill yet highlight what’s most relevant for me to know daily, as well as to include history. Plus, I just explained to a friend, that I read her first each day to get focused as well as calm enough to take some form of action.
Together I feel like we’re water vs the rump regime of scissors, paper, rock.
So, the pain begins in earnest. In my community we are preparing to grow as much food as possible. Others are stockpiling goods and making herbal medicines. I know there are good doctors getting ready to do field medicine.
I live in a medium sized northeastern city with a lot of poverty. We believe we will be on our own.
Survival IS Resistance!
That's what I am doing, also. Preparing for the civil war I've seen coming since November. We will be left with no other option, given the makeup of the Congress (and do not tell me that enough Republicans will come out of their stupor and vote against this madness - they will not) and a Supreme Court that has given us Citizens United and struck down Roe v. Wade (do not ask me to rely on them to do the right thing). No amount of speeches in Congress, or lawsuits heard in all the courts in the land will right this ship of state. We are in for a long battle. Now, it is in Ukraine. Not long, it will be here.
How are you preparing? I want to make sure I'm not missing ideas.
In my head I keep hearing Neil Young singing:
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming.
“We’re finally on our own.
Four dead in Ohio.”
I remember how hard that song hit me in 1968 with students shutting down universities, soldiers shooting students on campus, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the streets, the world gone mad.
And here we are again. And again, it’s Republicans.
That stuff you can feel trickling downhill isn’t the largesse of billionaires.
Jan, that’s why I call it the “tinkle down” theory instead of “trickle down”….
That's a good one. I've been calling it Trickle-UP economics for years because it is.
I call it the wealthy using the rest of us as a public urinal. I don’t want violence, mayhem or bloodshed. I just want the wealthy to pay more taxes, and to remember they are not above and outside this society, but are part of it.
Where is the democratic leadership? I’m getting nonstop requests for donations but No clear idea how Dem senate and House are planning to fight what we’re seeing.
Just for fun, I’ve been replying to the Dem’s begging texts with one of my own, saying that when they grow a spine and start actively resisting, I’ll resume donating.
I ripped Schumer’s request with a bit of a diatribe about how we need a leader, not a weenie.
Schumer is a joke and needs to go!!
Just keep it up and see who people vote for next time. Get with the program and stop thinking this isn’t partly your fault.
And take people who don’t support Democrats to another country. Some of us need the leaders we have supported here.
Democrats are out of power and need money to get back in. Their positions are the same as they were 4 months ago. We should have kept Joe or voted for Kamala but some had doubts. Don’t make the same mistake. Vote Blue.
Vote! Turnout is critical. I'm working phone banks this evening and will pass out lit at the early voting centers here in Illinois next month. We must involve ourselves!
I hear you. I am so so sick of donation requests when it doesn't feel like they're doing much of anything to fight this madness. At all.
Just keep starving them and see who gets elected.
Optimistic of you to think we'll have fair elections, if any, with the Trump Coup ignoring laws left and right.
Heather discussed this very question in yesterday’s chat.
They are doing their jobs dutifully. Like the crew of the Titanic did
Resist Every Day! Sing It Out!
We probably never thought we'd see this day, in the United States, but here we are in our struggle for representative democracy - and in solidarity with all who resist tyranny.
Lovely Italian Anti-Fascist song
Bella Ciao" - Italian Anti-Fascist Song
.https://youtu.be/cUAP-fE81zs?si=0ZIRv5HCiTWaM3fL.
Ukrainian female soldiers singing Bella Ciao
.https://youtu.be/1lNYJTOSZdI?si=kugaEMgeUB6I-NDD.
Bella Ciao in Ukrainian
.https://youtu.be/vLEdOBsyPdk?si=_9Np9obzbj0U__tv.
1000s of miles apart Ukrainian & Iranian women sing anti-Fascist Bella Ciao
.https://youtu.be/AGBHFQadbfA?si=0IXgQfoxmKsRZA0h.
Bella Ciao in Milano
.https://youtu.be/EDz3nvxYVc8?si=x2ChJQR-24v0PZiU.
Bella Ciao
.https://youtu.be/8y8zEzk9-A8?si=CdDJFEu_KHq7isNQ.
Bella Ciao in 10 Languages
.https://youtu.be/5FCNg2O_Ivs?si=LN4cMsb7WoZf5H-X.
Thank you for mentioning “Bella Ciao.” When Viktor Orbán visited the EU Parliament last year, a number of its members greeted Orbán by singing “Bella Ciao” to him. The speaker scolded them for doing it, but I thought it was a great gesture. I wonder about the Americans who see Orbán as a suitable example of governance. He’s not, and young and educated Hungarians are leaving for more congenial nations with better governments and economies.
Kathy Hughes, ThankYou for mentioning this. Maybe Trump will be similarly serenaded.
EU vs Hungary's Orban: Lawmakers Sing "Bella Ciao"
.https://youtu.be/hpEMyXPeOes?si=eCBr9CBhluB3Uj2Z.
Thank you for posting this, lin. The image of the linked hands and arms and the smiling, singing faces moved me to tears. Getting to such a place within our own borders will be a long, uncomfortable, perhaps even fractious journey. We're still looking for first real steps to be taken by Democrat leaders in placea to advance it. For every King (Angus) and Mills there are twenty Dems sitting on their hands, vainly trying to raise funds for "next elections" that will never come if things are going as they are. Yesterday I made silly posting mistakes and computer miscues caused by the recurrence of long covid symptoms because of my fatigue, but I apologized to those immediately affected and received very gracious responses to those apologies. Thank you for your understanding and forgiveness.
But we cannot stop for a minute!
Amazing passion lin. Thanks !!!
Watched all the links. Singing now!
Wonderful links, lin•
The Dumbassed Unreconstructed Confederates have now shot themselves in both feet. There will be a Democratic House on January 3, 2027, and perhaps a 66-vote Democratic Senate. In which case Dilbert will set another first in his career of How Lowwwww can you goooooo? Fastest impeachment and conviction in history.
TC, I wish your vision becomes really but I'm pessimistic at the possibility of fair and real election for the midterms, if we have one at all. If the approval numbers for the scumbag president are too low as I expect, they'll find a way, whether by cheating or by fabricating an incident to justify declaring the state of emergency or invoking the insurrection act. Brace yourself.
Or of fair and real election tallies:
https://youtu.be/6G8fu50VRXo?si=qdkI3qBFSMJ8euMP
Thanks for your reply Mary
What you and the video implie it's a form of cheating I'm talking about.
Incredibly clever, sophisticated, but "crackable" electronic transfer shenanigans. Do hope there is an investigation, and proof, soon.
Do you not see what’s coming?
He called Zelensky a dictator for a reason… he knows damn well that they don’t have elections during Marshall law. Trump has lined everything up to create a disaster and consolidate his power with a crisis and the military. Same as Hitler, Putin and Orban.
In other words, there will be no more free or fair elections.
The time is NOW!
Martial, not Marshall. 🙄
Of course there will be free and fair elections.
And the time is referenced from past, now, and future.
Salud, DMS.
🗽
Unless...
A bullet-proof Democratic legislature could be put in place in the next election, TC, but it would take the most well organized, most energetic, and most well funded get-out-the-vote operation ever mounted in the history of voting. It will cost billions because it cannot be done without trained, paid organizers in every political precinct, each of them leading an army of volunteers. The money is probably the easiest part. The hard part is the formation of an effective group of leaders and organizers to get it going and keep it rolling.
It may be too late for that to happen if this bunch gets their way and women aren’t allowed to vote.
First off, BRAVO and thank you to my Rep. Brittany Pettersen for hustling back to DC with your new baby to cast your vote against this mess.
Next, thank you to our Democratic members of Congress who also voted against this mess.
And finally to HCR, thank you for wading through the crap of this administration and keeping us informed.
PS. Rep. Pettersen has also done a phenomenal job of bringing fed $$ back to our district for local infrastructure projects. Those $$ 1) provide much needed improvements to roads/bridges/drainage, etc. 2) create jobs 3) and, personally, trickle down to the projects my employer works on.
Most impressed by Rep Pettersen.
This is utter madness!
Intentional. That’s what makes it temporary. It’s a smoke screen. Easily cleared by right action. We the People is always the start.
Salud, Rowshan!
🗽💜
Salud, Christine!! Yes!! We, the people!
Agreed; also with Christine, who also calls it intentional.
Intentional madness.
People will take to the streets in huge numbers. We will strike and we will boycott businesses that support the takedown of our country and theft of its assets. Republican members of Congress are starting to feel the heat, which will only increase as those who voted for them feel betrayed and desperate. If 3.5% of the population joins a a grassroots, non-violent mass movement, the pretense of power will get very shaky and we may reach a tipping point where the regime's alliance of enablers crumbles.* Unfortunately, we have to live through this experiment. There is strength and there is more safety in numbers. But the numbers are growing fast. Our local Indivisible group has seen ten-fold growth in the size of its meetings, and that number is growing fast. This is just one organization standing for democracy.
* https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world
It needs to happen. It MUST happen.
Thank you, Gary. I feel the same energy.
Salud!
🗽
The Medicaid cuts are likely to be largely shifting the costs to the states so the cowardly GQP congresscritters can claim that they didn’t actually cut or kick anyone off. However, the red states will bear the brunt of the costs and have the bulk of the people who will get hurt.
The Dems need to be messaging this DAILY.
Well naturally because Medicaid was long ago turned in to a program of assistance to states in the form of grants with loose guidelines and incentives in the way of carrots and sticks. Here we are just giving you less money
. Not telling you what to do with it. If you want more, raise taxes
Thanks HCR- my tel msg made no difference today….
Please vote ‘No’ on GOP 2025 Budget Bill as it cuts food assistance & healthcare for our most vulnerable population. Tax cuts for wealthy billionaires is a poor excuse for cutting needed care for Alaska’s most vulnerable. We can do better.
These essays are very helpful. Thank you very much.
Perhaps there is a means of taxing the oligarchs of America other than on their incomes. I suggest a penny/share tax on every share of stock traded in the US on the NYSE or NASDAQ. Yes, day traders would pay the sales or transfer tax as well, but the charge is quite small for those whose trades are miniscule compared to the wealthy. In addition, the US Government enforces the IP of billionaires and others through our legal system. If you own a TM, copyright or patent, just knock on the door of a Federal court for enforcement. These are government granted monopolies. Why not retain an interest for all Americans, say 5% of all revenue generated from the IP monopoly? The same approach might be taken to mineral and oil leases. I understand a balance must be struck to avoid discouraging invention and capital investment in exploitation of natural resources, but given the current disproportionate distribution of wealth, it seems our system is not at all balanced. The terminal value of IP rights and resource leases may not be adequate to compensate for the rights granted by the Federal government.
I've been wondering about other methods, these look interesting and worth a research effort.
Interesting idea Rich. Yesterday Berkshire Hathaway's A stock closed at $750,040.50 a share and the B stock somewhere around $500/share. The average daily volume of BRKa is 14700 shares so that would raise about $37,000.00 a year. Obviously this is an extreme example, but it's definitely doable. The average volume of Apple stock is 55.6 million shares a day. At a penny a share, trading would raise around $139 million a year.