It’s always good to be reminded of Frances Perkins, Al Smith, and FDR. Lately I’ve been thinking about the 95% income taxes paid by the richest during and just after WWII. Can we do a repeat of that so we can improve public transportation, health care, educate and pay public school teachers, and reinvigorate the middle class decimated by Republican policies? Or will we be stuck in oligarchy?
In actuality, Trump, his ChristoNazi politicians, bureaucrats and Legions of Death are a gang of home-invasion robbers running amok victimizing the entire 99.9 Percent.. And the 77-million-voter Moronic Majority that gave these criminals license to loot remains too stupefied by hatred to realize they're already being robbed.
I have no bandwidth for comments today, so glad to see you right near the top of my feed. I've got too much work to do today and too little energy to muster. Not much sleep last night (arthritis acting up) and I thought of you and hoped your knee is doing so good that Saturday won't be an issue.
BTW, my problem isn't my knees, those are about the only part of my body not riddled with it. I praise whoever invented heating pads, but in a pinch, a purring cat with their 100+ body temperature works just fine! 😸
Indeed they do, Miselle! Artemis is keeping my chest warm and occasionally scrolling the screen with her back paws.
The arthritis in my hands makes me glad I play the tuba and not the cello; four paddles that my right hand can manipulate without bending vs. four strings with my left hand whose pinky and index fingers don't bend well at all. The knees are as a result of my misspent youth (catching/umpiring fastpitch for almost 30 years) and misspent adulthood (Sheriffin').
Ally, I have alpaca fingertip- less gloves I wear. The amt. of warmth I get lets me type. And, CBD hand cream does indeed make pain less noticeable. MD/ Ortho approved.
Miselle, you got me at "I have no bandwidth for comments today." Know what you mean - I ran out of bandwidth trying to respond to Heather's column YESTERDAY! Just didn't know where to start. So many issues tumbling around - I wanted to say something mean about Olivia Wales's stupid claim about mail-in voting being rife with fraud. Wanted to know if she'd been challenged - vigorously and on the spot, as soon as the words left her mouth. That would be a miracle, IMHO. And the pavers in the West Wing colonnade being removed for some idiotic reason? All I remember thinking is we'll probably wake up some day soon, like the after tomorrow, and find the West Wing in the same condition as East Wing. Also, we don't a 250' triumphal arch in DC! For one thing, I thought we were broke! Sorry, am venting.
That is a vulgar comment. You apparently don't know what concentration camps are, or what they did under Hitler. Watch some YouTube interviews with victims. Detention Centers are just that. You sneak into a country illegally that is a foreseeable consequence. Notice they don't sneak into China.
As a matter of fact, I do know that history having lived through it via Life Magazine photos, contemporary newsreels, a trip to Dachau which was so powerful that in Poland I refused to go to Auschwitz. Once was enough. I own and have read Shirer’s “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” as I have known people with camp tattoos.
I understand climate change and American “exceptionalism” having lived and traveled abroad.
Would flee gangs and climate change if I could not be safe or eat and believed that in America I could be safe and eat. Man’s inhumanity to man is not a virtue.
Another, moron. Oh, and all the morons seem to flock to the light like moths do the candle flame unfortunately, they’re getting their ass burnt and they don’t even feel like they’re so numb
A very well thought out and well researched response there John. Just backfilled with backup and links and everything terrific good job so do you have anything specific to say not a damn thing just add homonym attacks and insults that that's all you gotV
Yes, Margo, that’s true, but you can choose which light you would like to align with. That’s what America is all about. And far too many especially here don’t even bother question or research the light that they have surrounded themselves with.
You are I’d like to be polite to you, but you don’t deserve to sweat off my testicles. I would love to take you to Auschwitz and treat you to a little internment for a little while then you would learn never to use the word Nazi again you fucking anti-semetic scum
The Israeli government-- not Jews, they are certainly not acting like responsible nor ethical Jews-- is fascist and genocidal and antisemitic, because it is contradicting all of the genuine values of the Jewish allegiance to the one God.
Why are you stupid? It’s called survival do you know the Israel will be gone if not for the golden dome. Many times over Why don’t you go live there and see their life that they have my wife’s brother lives in an underground shelter three months out of the year
Dr. Cox Richardson provides us with much valuable information. She's worth every penny of whatever she makes. Donald Trump is taking $10billion (with a B) from our treasury because he says the IRS embarrassed him years ago by releasing some tax returns. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he will gladly write the check (sure he will- it's our money, not his). Additionally, Trump is planning to take another $10billion (with a B) because of the "raid" on his Mar a Lago residence by the FBI (which "raid" we're finding out was totally justified because he stole top secret docs.) Trump wants to become the wealthiest man in the world, and R's are happy to let him do that with our money and corrupt foreign dollars and crypto and bribery money. And you're worried because Dr. Cox Richardson gets paid for the hard work she does every single day? C'mon, man!
A K, I am sure she doesn't just stuff the $ in her bank. She helps a lot of causes. Her reminders of our history are always apropos to the current state of affairs. She is helping all of us to weave together our Nation's facts. Not to mention, she rarely takes a day off. She's earned her wings.
I’d like your source for that. I know it’s possible, but I find it doubtful given the lies we are assailed by daily. Of course because of the excellence of the letter she may have that many subscribers. Given the effort to produce it daily however, I wouldn’t begrudge her a penny.
Yeah, well guess what she’s milking you to death Virginia you don’t even see it let’s see 1 million viewers and she has more times five bucks a month let’s see how much does that make did you graduate sixth grade or what?
I have three degrees from an excellent institution and have studied with international scholars. Have you ever thought of anything besides money and “power”? Like another 92-year old who publishes regularly in The New York Times and is a former Foreign Service and Monetary Officer, I know that my wealth is my liberal arts education.
Bingo, Mr. Kaufman or Mrs. Kaufman. Used to be a credible historian. Now she’s just a radical liberal activist what’s the come to the capitalism and she’s got millions of lemmings that follow her without opening their eyes
Return to Normalcy, the challenge, most of those rich boys have no clue how to do anything but rake in the bucks and they have to have enormous help from their underlings to do that. Can you imagine Elon Musk actually doing anything but bossing people around? How about Vought, the Trump whisperer, could he drive a tank or know how to engage with the "enemy?" Not a chance! They would prefer to send our young people, talented, but according to them and Baby Donnie, expendable. That for me is at the center of the current Republican/right-wing horrors.
Absolutely Right On Ruth! my gosh, they'd have to figure out how to wear clothes more than once or do laundry. And eating? Oh dear, starving billionaires!
Cindy, hard to imagine billionaires cleaning up their own mess or really getting in shape. It puts bad pictures in my head but I could get used to them there.
Arcticstones, I have been wondering that since the war started. It seems to me it is the billionaires who will benefit, so they should be the ones who pay for it. They can afford it, particularly Musk, Ellison, Theil, and Vought, some of the big boosters of the event. Maybe we need to issue a bill to them for what their actions have led to.
The way I see stuff -- you have three bullies - the US, Iran and Israel - who are now turning to the good kids - Europe - and asking for their help. So which way does Europe go - incur trump's rath and turn a deaf ear, or slip in some aid - money, armaments or military? One country already announced that NATA should help out trump!!!
Sky Blue, and Trump has no idea really about prices. They are just numbers to him since he has never had to buy anything for himself, go out and actually spend his own cash for something as basic as food, shelter, or clothing beyond something outrageously expensive, then he whined about it for weeks or bragged about it for decades. In addition to everything else Trump is, he is an ignoramus and he has no intention, even if he could due to his advancing dementia, to be anything else because he thinks he is now king of the world and can do whatever he wants to whomever and whatever he wants and his sycophantic white house toddler pool goes right along, accepting the ridiculous bullying as just part of being a billionaire or whatever it is they are and have decided to be due to brown-nosing Baby Donnie.
Again American screws up: no exit plan for another war, lives lost, treasury plundered. The government has turned into an insane asylum, and the maddest person in the place is running it!!!
I'd add not only the treasury plundered, but also outrageously obvious insider trading in the futures market, and seemingly on betting sites such as on the length of Karoline Leavitt's press briefing as described at https://www.rawstory.com/leavitt/
"...Prediction gambling on the length of the events has become popular, with Wednesday's briefing having a 98% chance to run past 65 minutes. Instead, she exited with 30 seconds to spare. The suspiciously timed exit ignited outrage online, with traders and political observers alike calling the episode absurd, corrosive, and yet another sign the prediction-market craze has veered into farce..."
From facebook comments on the story:
Oh, the "gamble on everything" website that is partially owned by Don Jr is taking bets on things they have complete control over?
Well, let’s see, and then we have Merrill below benefit from my comments here. Took 10 years to get Osama bin Laden took four years to get Saddam Hussein to 10 months and 20,000 bombs to get Qaddafi. Took three days to get the leaders of Iran and their successors and their successors and their successors. Would you like to know what Linden Johnson did in the 70s he killed 56,000 Americans for what? Would you like to know why we were in Afghanistan for years and years for no reason at all I didn’t hear you complaining about it then. You’re about Obama know about Johnson or about kennedy or about Bush. And there’s poor Merrill, looking for the defeat of America. A real sick puppy
Stories of Trump's self dealing keeps expanding. Won't it be ironic if the crimes that finally bring down the House of Trump are insider trading around his self-dealing criminal behavior. Not pedophilia, not tariffs, not DOGE, not "It's Going to be Wild" RFK Jr, not a big pile of Constitutional violations, not his in your face graft, not ICE murders, not the murder of alleged drug runners in boats, not decapitation of foreign leaders and so forth. It's like mobsters of yore who never paid for their murders but went to prison for tax evasion. Whatever it takes, the American People are abandoning Trump/MAGA in droves. Retribution is coming. A MASSIVE No Kings rally this weekend will keep the ball rolling.
Ally, I live in the building where Eliot Ness, who chased Al Capone, had his office. It’s in the National Historic Neighborhood of downtown Chicago. Now we have ICE sirens 24/7.
Do you know why you have a sirens because of Donald Trump because Barack Obama did exactly precisely particularly specifically exactly what Trump is doing. He took people from the phones he took people from their jobs. He even built the cages that housed the children. There were no protest because it was Obama to God and he deported 3 million people and only 25% of them ever received what they called due process. Look it up, Virginia
It might be ironic, Merrill except trump and his minions have managed to bring the United States to the lowest point internationally that it has ever been. They have changed the world order that the United States had designed to keep democracy strong after World War II.
Our stature in the world may never recover. This trump DOJ will never investigate much less prosicute any crime committed by these people.
They wouldn't have gotten rid of so many Inspector Generals throughout the Executive Branch and top military Jag Officers if they ever intended not to operate in the most corrupt and lawless ways imaginable.
Actually, you’re about as upside down as you become there right now 30 nations rushing to save their oil. And assist United States, an opening of the strait of Hormuz. NATO has become stronger because of Trump and his motivation to have them prepare more of their GDP to protect against Russian aggression before they weren’t even paying their 2% and after Trump’s conversation with them not only be paying or two but they’re pushing it to five. Oooops. Japan just gave its credence to Trump. And all the European nations didn’t want to help or now seeing how vital it is because despite you environmentalist wackos, you’ll finally realize that fossil fuel is the most important commodity on planet earth
Merrill, $ matters have removed people from the WH before & I hope the same will happen soon. My hope is our No Kings march 3/28 will help some more people get the real picture of what our future holds if we don't have major court action soon.
Tax the rich? You obviously don’t have a clue how are Techsystems works at all right now the bottom, 50% of all taxpayers of all income earners pay 3% of the total income tax. Let’s see if you can comprehend that. How would you like to take a guess as to what percent of the total income tax top 1% pay? Just total ignorance here so sad
Hi V W, my preference, instead of raising the percentage to a super high level, is to re-write the tax code and get rid of many, not all, of the available deductions and credits that allow the super wealthy to have taxable income that is far less than their gross income. Yet, sadly, I can’t even imagine the bickering, maneuvering, and sabotaging that would occur if Congress even bothered to attempt to re-write tax code.
And why are you not serving within our government somewhere!?
Excellent list of "can dos!" Now to find those leaders who WILL DO!!!! I have seen a few pushing hard for some of your correctly stated necessary changes!!!!
Somehow we need to find the voters who will vote to ensure that we have a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," and not a few oligarchs. There are now 1135 billionaires in the U.S. and 900,000 deca-millionaires. They represent 1/3 of 1% of the U.S. population. We are an oligarchy. That 1/3 of 1% possess as much wealth as the bottom 1/2 (170,000,000) of the American population. We need a new NEW DEAL. If the U.S. population were only 3.4 million people, there may not be even one billionaire, but because our population is 340 million, we have more than 1,000 billionaires. The takeaway: the people are an absolutely essential element in creating wealth. The wealth should be equitably distributed as in the Scandinavian countries, where what they have in place is Pragmatic Capitalism. "The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to facilitate the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life." - Frances Perkins, FDR's Sec. of Labor
Thank you, Richard Sutherland, for having all the math. I can only feel, hear, and see what you have written, remembering only the sense as a child that all of America and a lot of the world wanted peace and was working, regardless of politics, to have it. One of my great step aunts was slated to go to San Francisco and help with the founding of the UN and in my small, poor public school, we were learning the structure of peace to come.
Then came the Hollywood propaganda film maker to propagate trickle down economics, aided by those who, regardless of a predictable result (though too stupid to see it—greed blinds), encouraged the hollowing out of the middle class and the destruction of our democracy.
Now we have a felon, who for more gold and trophies, has sold US to Putin and a sultan believed to have “disappeared” an American citizen and who has traumatized the party of the propagandist.
There IS Saturday. May it be millions of marchers. Here’s to the press that will cover it and to Bruce who will have at least some marchers singing. We will overcome! (Think of Stephen Miller and sing too.)
Yeah, he has the math and it’s all upside down and backwards. You can’t come very well can he. especially when it comes to democracy. See if you can figure it out Virginia Donald Trump for two huge issues that were handled by a small group of people in Washington DC and return them to the people who vote who can choose what to do with those two issues. Pure democracy
Richard-What a powerful statement you’ve made about the fact that it’s people who produce wealth.
This recognition was embedded in our system of indentured servants, enslaved Africans, “workers” and “employees”. These are all groups who’ve had to fight for human rights including establishing and changing laws to support fairness and justice for all”.
Frances Perkins’ vision of the government’s role is one I share. Imagine if the government and laws of the nation were designed to insure our domestic good, pursuit of happiness and prosperity for everyone. Just working together toward such a goal could bring out the best of humanity.
Thank you for the kind words, Gina. I was one of the beneficiaries of the New Deal economy: 12 years of college, grad school and law school - total tuition? Less than $17,000. Today? Would cost $689,000 in tuition. Yes, take away the people that make it happen and consume the goods and services that Zuckerberg, Bezos, Ellison, Thiel, Musk and the others profit from, and they would have nothing. Were the billionaires lucky? They were. To their credit, they came up with some great ideas, but without the people they would merely be empty thoughts.
Richard, the numbers don't lie. Beyond me how people don't understand what an oligarchy is & how it affects every portion of our lives. Go Frances! She should be a statue in the garden of heroes. Oh, wait, turnip would throw a major temper- tantrum.
Cindy, that is a great idea - a statue of Frances Perkins, but after Trump is gone from power. The very next Democratic president should advocate this and Congress should approve it and fund it. Thank you for this.
And only is that what we have right now that richard, but he actually took two of the most important issues in America today and sent it back to the voters now let’s see if you can figure with those two issues are? Two of the most critical issues are now back in the hands of the voters, instead of being in control with a few folks in Washington DC. Thank you, Donald Trump
To answer your question, I did once think about running for a local office. But I have an estranged sister who would reach deep into the skeleton closet and rattle the bones and no doubt she would. So I never ran for anything except in a road race.
You make an excellent point, Harvey, but Trump had the benefit of knowing that there were tens of millions of white, racist bigots that he could count on for support. I doubt that Bill had such a cushion.
That is so sad. Maybe there’s a way to air the skeletons on your own terms and make them an example of growth and reform…. God knows people need those examples. The knee-jerk “gotcha” culture is poison.
After many years as a volunteer in various town functions from schools to finance, I did run and was elected (yet another volunteer position) to a select board. I advocated for open communication by encouraging the meetings being on a local cable station and getting a functioning, website set up through the then somewhat novel, emerging municipal website firms (vs. hiring a "webmaster"). I accomplished both but small town politics is a full-contact sport!
I also had a full time paying job and the crap, nastiness, and threats I had to put up with wasn't worth my time or well being.
Janet, people would be surprised at what goes on in small towns or cities like Salem OR where I live. I was once sitting next to a city councilor who was telling me about all the death threats she had received.
I’m an open book. I indulged in drugs only. Never violence. Some of which are legal today but today, I don’t inhale as they say. And I eat flax seed and chia seed and run for exercise and health and frequently explain to my doctor that I don’t like taking medication that is not absolutely necessary and overruled a former physician on one medication.
And I long ago befriended the cop who busted me and we maintained contact until last year when he told me that, as a MAGA, he was glad those two protesters were shot dead then I told him to go fuck himself and never contact me again. Such is life. But I used our periodic lunches to understand these people so I could possibly use my insights in my book, “Donald’s Vanity Tantrums.”
I really like this list! Keep #2 right there. But I'd make #1: "Rehire the scientists and medical experts, work on the Climate Emergency with adaptation, roll out a Giant New Green Deal."
Bill, as a retired nurse, me & my medical friends have watched in horror as medical experts & scientists were brushed aside. We are already paying for these political maneuvers & will continue to do so. pseudo- science is just disgusting. This new batch of "experts" remind me of Chicken Little with all their off the wall 'studies.
Swbv- eliminate Electoral college. We no longer need horseback riders to spread the political message. Not to mention women and immigrants/ Blacks had no say- so then. Popular vote by ballot count should be the only deciding factor.
Good list of needed actions,but you missed voter's rights! Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and most other special provisions apply to jurisdictions encompassed by the "coverage formula" prescribed in Section 4(b). The coverage formula was originally designed to encompass jurisdictions that engaged in egregious voting discrimination in 1965, and Congress updated the formula in 1970 and 1975. In Shelby County (AL) v. Holder (2013), the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5 to 4 vote struck down the Section 4(b) coverage formula as unconstitutional because the coverage formula was based on data over 40 years old, making it no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden on the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states. The court did not strike down Section 5, but without a coverage formula, Section 5 is unenforceable. The jurisdictions which had previously been covered by the coverage formula massively increased the rate of voter registration purges after the Shelby decision.
Research shows that the Act successfully and massively increased voter turnout and voter registrations, in particular among blacks. The Act has also been linked to concrete outcomes, such as greater public goods provision (such as public education) for areas with higher black population shares, and more members of Congress who vote for civil rights-related legislation.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act appeared to be working well until the 2013 SCOTUS decision in Shelby County (AL) v. Holder.
Most of us believe in all 6 items you listed, and applaud it; were it not for the difficulty of not only turning all those measures into law, but making sure they are not reversed by future administrations.
Given the US's vivid catalogue of sociopolitical history, which often didn't turn out well, there are a number of good ideas swirling around here today - lively and engaging. Praise for those of you who are promoting great ideas to turn the tables.....
That’s a start. But our education system must be revamped to teach truth in history and the Constitution so that the dimwits who think slavery was a job training program and that women and people of color have contributed nothing to society are forced to learn it. We also need to teach empathy and decency and compassion because we have clearly failed as evidence suggests. In order to ensure a nation that creates good citizens, we need to help build good people who will work together into the future.
As a person of faith, I believe we also need to reassert separation of church and state in cement (!) and reenact the Fairness Doctrine so news/media ppl are held to the highest levels of accountability!
Excellent statement on what is needed in education. IMO, we need national standards of what must be learned as Americans or else the State does not receive a cent of Federal education funds. How can the USA survive without finally accepting We the People are in fact, and have always been, one nation and not 50 divided States as the corporations want us to be. I discuss that deeply in my Memorandum at UnitedWeAmend.org.
Public schools have been forcing the pledge of allegiance on kids since before the last century and yet many Americans focus on being citizens of 50 separate "States." You might think they never began every morning saluting the nation's flag while reciting how we are one indivisible nation. Maybe they have no clue what "indivisible" means but surely the word "one" must ring a bell. Yes, teach the Constitution and our history. Teach how to connect the dots of our history to reach who we are today. Imagine the writing of the Mayflower Compact before they stepped off the boat. The idea of a contract, a written law among the people and how that grew into an American culture of written agreement, law, and then our Constitution, a Republic, a government of laws, and not of men. A compare and contrast of who We are today as a culture to who they were reveals a few steps forward with amendments as to who is included in equal rights of all individuals. It is as if the Founders had a large roll of cultural gauze wrapped around their heads covering their eyes and could only see white land-owning men. Every several generations the roll has been unwrapped and more people have been recognized. Only a child educated as an "American" with a solid grasp of that history might see we are not there yet. That we are still blinded by the culture of the past and we must distinguish between traditional values and a worthless rut, e.g., hate and irrational fears.
Jen, good luck with teaching those things. Many kids are unreachable because of what they hear at home. Then there is the sports culture in schools which does not teach any of the things you suggested. Case in point: in Washington state we have two athletes who have been accused of sexually assaulting younger teammates. No surprise from me as these sorts of things went on when I was in education.
Understood-and I know it won’t be easy but we have to try! In Scandinavia, they have instituted empathy programs in the schools-perhaps if we can reach some students, it might filter back into families. I realize this is perhaps somewhat naive but I also realize it will take generations to undo the damage these Nazis have created. We have to try-and establishing strict no-tolerance codes of ethics for students regarding bullying, assault, etc is also a no-brainer. I’m sickened to hear about the assault of student athletes-not surprised, but sickened. Frankly, is there a single woman in our country who hasn’t suffered from sexual assault on one level or another? And unreported student athletes’ assaults, male or female, must be off-the-charts. As I said, perhaps I’m naive, but I do believe we need to start somewhere and since we can’t legislate what goes on in the home, schools are a start.
No, it won't be easy and what we could be if we copied some Scandinavian programs. The things you want to reform are generational, meaning they are kept alive in certain subcultures like sports or by parents who are prejudiced. When I was teaching, we had a similar incident. The principal, a jerk in many ways, actually wanted to do the right thing, but parents of the aggressors would not have anything happen to their darlings. The father of the student who had suffered called me as the boy was in my class. I sadly had to tell him that I could do nothing. He was an immigrant and could not understand why this happening. And yes, most women would have a story to tell.
Bill, I love moonshot-thinking here. Now—re-articulate each goal in terms of personal prosperity. (Not to obfuscate the goal… but to reframe it in a way that garners widespread support and action.)
So: “Tax the Rich” becomes eliminate income tax on income under $250k.
Universal Coverage: Zero out-of-pocket health insurance.
Citizens United: Helmsley PAC (capping political donations to give equal voice to “the little.”)
Convict Trump Cronies: Grift Reimbursement Act (confiscated Trump-era ill-gained profits fund state projects.)
NATO: Ally reconstruction committee of Global Justice (ARC of Global Justice)
Consider that none of Trump’s actions have bothered his supporters MORE than a 70¢ increase in gas.
I once intended to run for mayor of Hartford as a republican just so I could spoof the agenda. I changed parties and spoke at the little republican town committee. I thought it was in the bag but a guy I know who runs almost every cycle as an independent just so he can get his video channel out front, ran that night and talked a better game than I. So they nominated a crossover instead of me. I already had written rediculas stuff to propose.
Hey Bill, excellent list. Yet I do want to comment on #3, "Reverse Citizens United removing corp money in campaigns." I know what it is you mean but to actually remove mega-money form politics reversing Citizens United is not a guarantee to that end. There are two popular proposed amendments, e.g., “Citizens Over Corporations Amendment” and “For Our Freedom Amendment” which claim to reverse Citizens United but they are not the rampart, the defensive wall, we need. They fail to repeal Corporate personhood . Moreover they use legal terms such as legislatures “...may regulate...”, and “...shall have power to...”. Thus legislators are free to decide to do nothing. The result is a swinging gate left wide open to mega-money in politics. IOW, it puts us back to what got us here in the first place. I discuss all of this in my Memorandum to We the People. I discuss the who, what, when and how the corporatist fascist did all the damage to our Constitution beginning in the Industrial Revolution with Corporate personhood. I close with a model rampart amendment which begins by repealing Corporate personhood. Please read and share my Memorandum at UnitedWeAmend.org.
Do you have these wet dreams very often their bill. Are you living in some kind of over the rainbow story or what?
Do you know what the tax breakdown really is between who pays the tax with who doesn’t? I’ll give you a little taste here the bottom, 50% of taxpayers pay 3% of the total income tax. The top one percent of taxpayers pay 40% of the total income tax. Oops time for a wake up call her Billy
Yes Bill! That is a legitimate plan! You sure brought back memories of the Helmsley empire. Poor Mr. Hemsley's dementia sure left the Queen in charge. But, failed in the end. Thanks for the reminder.
It would simplify the tax code tremendously if everyone, whether individual or company, who makes more than $25,000 a year pays a flat rate of 5% of their total income, no deductions. We wouldn’t need lawyers or accountants since everyone could fill out the one page form and enclose a check for the amount due.
Of course, lawyers, accountants, bureaucrats, and companies would screech loudly and do their best to cheat and hide their income. Their income would be calculated on their total worldwide earnings, so they can’t escape this responsibility by international maneuvers.
People will say it’s unrealistic, but think how much time and stress it would save. Soon America would truly be great again, not sucked dry by the current predators and vampires in business and government.
There was a presidential candidate a few years ago, a rich guy, who proposed the flat tax, I forget his name. But if you earn $26,000, 5 % is a much bigger deal to your family financial well being than if you earn $500,000. I’m no economist but I think I got the gist of that right, as I recall from all the prior discussion of the flat tax.
Pam, Ross Perot perhaps. And yes, as my students found out, a more substantial income still comes out ahead while a lesser income pays out almost all of its income on necessities.
Steve Forbes is the one I remember from Presidential primaries beginning in 1996 (the year Elizabeth Warren and I left the Republican Party).
Though I like Elizabeth Warren's Wealth Tax proposals as I understand them, I would like to know more how they would limit the tax dodge so many of the wealthiest seem to use of not accepting salary, preferring to just borrow against their assets at a much lower interest rate than their taxes would be.
Back around 2007 and 2008 a classmate in a Hot Rod class was retired CPA that had worked for the California Board of Equalization. I had been interested in the velocity of money (M2, ratio to money supply M1, I think) as what seemed an indicator for how well the most productive middle class was doing. He seemingly agreed to the logic I was fumbling through, but didn't have an answer to what the then current velocity of money was (they had changed something that de-emphasized it IIRC), and said he would check it out before the next class. The minute he saw me he became very excited and ran over to tell me the Velocity of Money was "worse" than the worst portion of the Great Depression, when the velocity was so much lower than the total money supply, to me mostly held unproductively by not only the richest in the land but so many below them that no longer trusted banks to invest their money prudently.
The only good tax is the tax on the other guys. I’ve looked at the flat tax idea for years and at first thought it was a bad idea, but have become convinced that if tiered correctly it’s a good idea
It's not about the dollar. It's the $600 dollars for those struggling on SSI. It's the mom on TANF or the single dad on SNAP. The whole reason we are trying to support them is because they don't have money to survive. But you think that 5% is nothing? $500 is a billion when you don't even have a roof over your head.
Have you never been poor? The $50 million isn't going to affect a billionaire in any way. But that $600 to a disabled person on SSI/D could be the difference between rent and the street.
Kristin, I've been a proponent of a flat tax for longer than I can remember. However, I think everyone who earns an income, no matter how small, should pay a flat tax. If everyone has "skin in the game," everyone gains a sense of ownership of the society in which they live. It's the same idea as members of a credit union. I've never proposed a percentage because I don't have the figures to do the calculations. It's probably less than 5%.
I suspect that a flat tax would probably be the strongest tool to drive a balanced budget, too. The current debt and deficits have been driven by oligarchs who know they will never have to pay these obligations, thanks to the loopholes they've given themselves.
People who claim to be smarter than I am always tell me that it's a regressive approach and it wouldn't work. I say, "Try it and prove me wrong."
There are several reasons that a flat tax will never be implemented. Chief of the reasons is that our government has always used the tax code as a tool of social engineering, to pressure citizens to do what legislators want us to do.
Another reason is that a flat tax would eliminate the need for the tax preparation industry. U.S. taxpayers spent $16.2 BILLION on the tax preparation industry in 2024. That amount is expected to rise to $45.3 billion by 2027. The industry lobbies Congress to keep the tax code as impenetrable as possible, thereby guaranteeing the H&R Blocks and TurboTaxes an unlimited potential for revenue growth.
Another reason is that every individual and corporate taxpayer thinks they are "special" and deserve to keep their specific loopholes. A flat tax works ONLY if there are zero deductions or credits.
True now. But Karma. A high price will have to be paid whether that is financial, incarceration, or having to live with a spiritual void and a shameful legacy at the end of your life. Yes indeed that price will be paid.
as it has been throughout time...but then there's the global human debt...that's accrued on a planetary level all of our existence...and it seems that debt is coming due...one major, natural disaster at a time...war, of course, being a major contributor...
no reason to give up, of course...i'm just lucky to have lived in, imo, the best times humans might ever experience...
and i imagine you're doing what you can NOW. i don't believe humans HAVE much of a future to look forward to, to be honest, based on what i've seen over the last decade...because of that 'accrued debt' i spoke of...but most of my life, AND now, i've done my best to take responsibility for whatever knowledge i think i have...it's worked well for me.
Isaac, when I see what is happening and see the death star regime undermining any effort to mitigate climate change, I have little or not hope for the future as we are destroying the planet's ability to support life as we know it. I am almost 83, so I feel lucky too.
Stories of Trump's self dealing keeps expanding. Won't it be ironic if the crimes that finally bring down the House of Trump are insider trading around his self-dealing criminal behavior. Not pedophilia, not tariffs, not DOGE, not "It's Going to be Wild" RFK Jr, not a big pile of Constitutional violations, not his in your face graft, not ICE murders, not the murder of alleged drug runners in boats, not decapitation of foreign leaders and so forth. It's like mobsters of yore who never paid for their murders but went to prison for tax evasion. Whatever it takes, the American People are abandoning Trump/MAGA in droves. Retribution is coming. A MASSIVE No Kings rally this weekend will keep the ball rolling.
Merrill, did you know you can legally (however, perhaps that term is obsolete now during the that the gang criminals are supposedly’n charge’)withold 50% of your Fed Tax for an illegal unauthorized war? You can donate that amount to an organization for The Greater Good 😊 ie
ACLU, international medical corp, Doctors Without Borders….
Everyone who has given a second thought knows that it is the money in politics that has given rise to a dysfunctional democracy and a government own and run by the oligarchs.
I told my friend yesterday when we get a busy mom with 3 kids into the Oval Office as president she will whip this country into shape. The first thing she will do is throw out this bs complicated tax program and put in place a flat tax across the board based on income- all income. No more tax loopholes.
Get rid of income inequality and then work on racism and we may be able to claw our way back to being a respected country.
Because, of course, we should be throwing the homeless in jail for tax evasion rather than make the rich pay their share??
If you don't even make enough to pay for a roof over your head why should you be paying the same as Elon Musk? Billionaires mostly live off of loans. They are rich, they are 'good for it'. So the banks loan them millions that they live off from. Then their corporations pay the loans back as a business expense.
As it's not a 'salary' (it's a reduction in equity) they don't have to pay taxes.
But that disabled person living in their tent in the alley or on the edge of the highway should have to pay a flat tax on the $998 a month that they get from Social Security? The $600 they would owe in taxes is huge to them... They already can't afford a place to live. They already pay half of their SSI in child support (or old court fines). Now we will take food out of their mouth so that the code is 'fair'?
How is any of that 'fair'?
This persons income doesn't even reach poverty level... and there isn't a state in the union that you can afford an apartment on minimum wage.
Income inequality goes WAY WAY beyond stupid income taxes.
Mary E, the US sure needs an updated tax code to limit the "fair" cheating by rich people & businesses. I am Watching my state of WA fight for different taxes & I hope it will work towards undoing all the free gifts people get through deductions.
You could further modify it into a combined income and net worth tax. The tax rate would actually be lower overall because wealthier individuals typically have a much higher net worth. The issue with taxing only income is that many wealthy people set up structures to hold their assets in ways that never generate qualified income for tax purposes. Our economy has changed since the original tax laws were written, and they need to be updated to reflect how wealth is accumulated today. I actually like the idea of everyone paying a flat tax from zero income/wealth and then providing allowances based on region to ensure basic living expenses are met. In other words, if someone earns a poverty wage, they’ll get a larger check back than a multimillionaire who receives nothing. By taxing everyone equally, we eliminate the harmful rhetoric used against people who earn less just because they earn less—removing the 'taker' language used against economically disadvantaged individuals.
Hey, Virginia. I was heartened to hear Heather call out "the elephant in the room" in one of her chats or conversations advocating for getting rid of the tax cuts to billionaires. That would go a long way toward paying for these much needed programs.
First of all, reforming the Individual Income tax code is a fool's errand at this point in time. Every 5 months the Republicans are increasing the national debt by $1 trillion. And no one say a thing about it. Trump's private army of brown shirts was funding through Trump's term into 2029. The single best reform to the Individual tax code would be to reinstate the alternative minimum tax that was in place in 1985. Joe Biden tried to implement an AMT for individuals and corporations of 15% and he got nowhere thanks to Joe Manchin and the Republicans like Susan Collins who brags about the trinkets she is throwing to the people of Maine.
As Joe Biden has said, "We are the United States of America! We can do anything that we set our minds to do!" (approximate quote)
We are not "poorer" by spending money to invest in America and in lifting up American citizens of all colors!!!! We are stronger, we become closer to one another when we are willing to share and willing to care for each and all!
Saturday is No Kings III protests around the country. Whether you are planning to attend or not, you can recruit people to attend by putting a sign in your yard letting people know where they can go to protest on Saturday, 3/28 and when.
Also, when you attend take pictures of your favorite signs and send them to your local paper. The MSM has been underreporting the number of attendees and showing pictures of the camaraderie that has been occurring at the rallies.
Invite the editor of your local paper to attend as well as reporters. With 3000 registered protest venues and hundreds more unregistered this is BIG news.
I predict something news worthy and awful will take over the news cycle Saturday. I hope I am wrong GJ. He is so predictable though. I hope for the safety of our military people and the lives of all people.
Given that he gave Iran '5 days' on Monday.. I expect he will do something horrible Friday night. That is his normal MO. He does his worst on the weekends when the markets are closed and the MSM is asleep.
Yes, Emily, and I have just spent time letting Sender and Kauffman know that they are not as bright as they think they are, nor as powerful. Thought: maybe they’re jealous of HCR!
Frances Perkins was a "giant" among mere mortals. Her theory of government: "The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to facilitate the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life." Frances Perkins is the person most responsible for our having Social Security. The legislation had been drafted but there was the issue: how to make it legal? Frances was the first ever and the only female cabinet member in FDR's Administration. So, she socialized with the wives of Cabinet members and Supreme Court Justices. Following one luncheon Frances was waiting with the wife of a Supreme Court Justice. When he arrived to pick up his wife, Frances ran the problem by the justice, how to make it legal. His response: "Call it a tax. Congress has the power to tax." Fast forward: that is the argument that Chief Justice John Roberts used to legalize Obamacare.
Thank you, Richard Sutherland. That’s the kind of story Heather’s letters encourage. As I am a musician (trusting you know the fake Ann Landers column that ends with something like “and my brother is a murderer, but how do I let the woman I want to marry know that I am a musician”), politics was frequently only staying informed and voting, but the long look at US from France really hardened my Democratic politics and refreshed my year of 18th century French lit.
I propose Legend-of-Zelda style taxes. You cannot have more than 999,999 dollars: every dollar after that will be left lying for someone else to pick up.
Love reading your arranging stories, Ally. Having done some as a graduate student in Musicology having to complete some undergraduate requirements and being married to a French horn player. My motto these days: musicians can do anything they set their minds to. I’ve known ones who did just that.
Zelda got my wife through grad school; I had just started working at the Sheriff's Office and was assigned to graveyard corrections. I'd get up at about 10 and have coffee on the couch as I woke up enough to go to work.
Interestingly, the chamber group (tuba/euphonium players; 14-18 members depending on availability) had a director who arranged some of the music from "The Legend of Zelda" about 15 years ago. Only two of us were familiar with the music!
A novel idea I heard yesterday is to levy income taxes on robots who are replacing people in industry. I can't imagine the pluses and minuses of that, but it bears some study. Idea came from a venture capitalist who's well connected to global economics, in context of a conversation about China's most advanced factories where robots work 24/7, often in the dark, producing goods that are integral to manufacturing elsewhere.
I try very hard - and have almost always - try not to be insulting. But think about it - and this morning, the first comment that I see is the one by Virginia Witmer, which reaffirmed in my mind the solid opinion that Republicans will literally “f-up a wet dream”! There have been very Republican POTUS’ who have done a very good job in that role. Think back in history of who to blame or did a very poor job of managing our nation’s business.
The Great Depression, the Great Recession, Watergate, MAGA…folks, I kinda feel embarrassed that I am living at a time to witness the worse occupant ever elected to be president of the U.S. of America…and while at the same time witness a bunch of “p”…weak, spineless and gutless individuals elected to Congress renege on their responsibilities to facilitate the grift and the attempted dismantling of almost 250 years of hard and smart work with a beautifully structured and impressive experimental form of government!
I always thought that in the 2016 presidential campaign, that it should have been a Biden/Clinton ticket! I now know with certainty that I was right. Our Democratic Party elected and non-elected leaders made a big mistake back then. I know, hindsight is 20/10, and I also know that Mr. Biden had to deal with the death of a son - but look at the mess and embarrassment that this country now presents to the world.
In 1966, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a Congressional Intern in one of — if not best Congresses in our nation’s history. The 89th Congress
Congressional Profiles | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives , one where the
Democrats won/held huge majorities in Congress, outnumbering Republicans 295-140 in the House of Representatives and 68-32 in the Senate.
We have a lot of work to do people. I have no kids and almost no relatives that just before and when I depart this life-form, will cause me to worry. If departing this life-form means that we can see and meet with old friends and acquaintances, I’ll be anxious to see Senator Claude Pepper and his wife Mildred, Hubert Humphrey and Muriel, LBJ whom although I was in the same room or near him on three occasions. I never got nor made the chance to meet or to shake his hand and some wonderful classmates, friends and teachers along with my parents!
I was a Congressional Intern during the 93rd Congress -- the one that impeached Richard Nixon -- fortunate enough to work in the office of one of the only constitutional scholars in the House, Bob Eckhardt, representing what was then Texas's 8th District in mostly East Houston. He and Barbara Jordan were colleagues and friends -- and our office got complimentary tickets to sit in the gallery of the Judiciary Committee in August 1974. Just for 15 minutes, no more (I think we were allowed to sit for 30) and not quite for the actual Committee vote to impeach. I was the intern in sneakers who ran to the Supreme Court the morning it handed down its 8-0 decision against Richard Nixon to be one of the first to get 1 of the 25 or so just-printed copies of its judgement. I know what it is like to work in exciting times for a Congressperson you respect.
It's easy to look back and say had only this happened, we wouldn't be where we are today. But David Axelrod helped convince Biden not to run in 2016, and that seemed wise counsel then. I can't know what it is like to have lost not one child, but three altogether. And we also know because we've read the Mueller report that Russia played a significant role in creating all the conditions that led to Trump defeating Hillary in 2016.
Hindsight is often perfect. Living in the moment always comes with difficult choices that have to be made. Let's take responsibility for trying to make the right choices for the future right now. And wave hello to Hubert Horatio when you get the chance to see him again....!
Fascinating...having had the opportunity to be there and to work there for almost four months, one gets a wide and informative perception and perspective of our nation. I was lucky as "the Senator" (Claude Pepper) and HHH, were close friends. One of my most memorable experiences while there, aside from a surprise 21st birthday celebration in the Cannon HOB, was dinner at a restaurant called the Congressional, when the Senator related his experiences on a trip to Germany at the request of FDR, when he had dinner in the same restaurant where Hitler often ate...and yes, while there, Hitler did come in to dine. I still get a chill when I recall hearing him tell of his and his wife's experiences on that evening during and later after dinner. Stay safe!
wow Ally, that's impressive! I hope that you've been well and staying safe? I had some wonderful experiences during my years of working for and with and knowing Claude Pepper. During my time with him in D.C., it fun to be able to sit and "pull letters" for him once he signed them. He would occasionally have comments about the person to whom he was writing and would sometimes add personal notes to them. Although he had the automated sign machine, he was "old school" and the preference for personally signing as much of his correspondence as possible. This was after his days in the Senate.
Yeah, my f-i-l was pretty special. USAF Lt. Col at retirement, flew until he'd be desked and then retired. Detached with the 5th Special Forces Group in Laos and Cambodia. Albatross missions into Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis; two bronze stars. He was also a trumpian asshole at the end of his life. Vascular dementia sucks.
Americans keep voting for Republicans — and now they're getting exactly what they asked for. As long as money rules politics, this is the predictable result: two parties wedded to their donors, one more nakedly than the other.
To be fair, Democrats at least propose policies that serve the common good. But in American politics, HATE sells. Hate is how we got Trump. Fear and hatred are simply more powerful motivators than even greed — and any politician who understands that has a weapon no policy paper can match.
Harvey, I agree that you've identified the two motivators that drive humans, but I don't agree with how you prioritized them.
Greed is the extension of the natural instinct of every creature on the planet, including the human ones. Most animals spend their waking hours searching for food and eating it. Some animals, including humans, search for resources and hoard the excess for times of scarcity. Only the human animal has the capacity to create schemes to take more than s/he needs or could ever utilize, simply because it's possible to do so.
By contrast, hatred is not an instinctual response. Predator animals do not hate their prey. They hunt and eat their prey for survival. Prey animals don't hate predators; they fear them and avoid them. When fights occur in the animal kingdom, they're rooted in survival. Only humans experience hatred. It is a learned response, and only humans can teach it to other humans.
While greed and hatred are both powerful drivers of human decisions, I'm convinced that greed is the stronger of the two. In fact, when you consider the various hatreds harbored by U.S. voters, they hate the "others" because they believe the others are taking something away from them, usually jobs or benefits, which go back to the survival instinct. Hatred of LGBT persons is purely irrational, as they are taking nothing away from straight folks. But that hatred is based in religion, which is purely irrational.
I agree with enormous income tax rates for the ridiculously wealthy. Carnegie libraries, Vanderbilt museums, standard oil education grants and so much more are bedrocks of our society. What do they need all this money for? Just like the rest of us paupers, they’re going to end up dead in the end. Un f*ing believable. Greedy b*stards.
We could also find a lot of cash on hand by stopping the funding of ICE and the war on Iraq. Think of what a billion dollars a day could achieve in America's inner city and rural schools!
Frances Perkins should be the role model for every damn Democrat, since of course the christofascists on the other side would applaud the death of so many "immigrants".
I don’t want to pay any taxes this year! I don’t want to support Israel any more, the war in Iran, the destruction of our wild lands, the destruction of science or the destruction of our energy infrastructure.
I believe it was 90%, and there were so many loopholes in the law that very few paid that rate. The top rate was reduced to 70% in 1969, and then to 50% a few years later.
“You must have the government intervene in workplace situations.”
This is what Heather said in her podcast earlier today, on the anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist debacles, talking with Timothy Snyder.
“The future needs to have a big idea.”
This was from Timothy Snyder, in that same podcast with Heather.
They talked about growing U.S. monopoly in recent decades – how mainstream and social media, fossil fuel, and other monopolies have coincided with organized pushes for more wealth for the wealthy, from the 1971 Powell memo to 2010 Citizens United, to Donald’s tilt to the Epstein classes today. The war in Iran, Timothy noted, began “in consultation with international oligarchs,” resulting now in “a total bonanza for Russia.”
But he sees one key hope, that: “If everybody does their little thing, it’s going to be fine.” For instance, if we keep talking with each other here on Heather’s site, we in our collective clarities will be standing firmly to push back against Donald’s criminal and corrupt autocrat linkages.
Many celebrate instead not our contacts with each other, but first and foremost our contacting mainly higher-ups in public office. One person on Heather’s site keeps a list of those officials here, and is in a hurry every day to repeat publishing it. But she never communicates anything with anyone here aside from her repeat presenting that list. So I’m grateful Heather had Timothy Snyder on her podcast today, for him to stress as higher priority our needs for constructive contacts with each other.
I believe King Charles III is visiting on the occasion of America’s 250th Anniversary Celebrations. My sentiment may be politically incorrect, but right now I would far rather be ruled by King Charles III than Mad King Donald!
After stripping his own brother of titles and relegating Andrew to Marsh Farm, I can’t imagine why King Charles III would want to be associated with Donald Trump.
I agree. I can't understand why the King favored him with a state visit! The King is a model of civility and dignity and our president does not have one redeeming feature.
Do not kid yourselves. The beneficiary of the “ ordained by god to rule” system may not approve of our boorish president, but Charles, William and the rest of them are not on the side of our democracy.
He reigns, but doesn’t rule. Parliament and the Cabinet holds the real power. Trump is behaving more like Thailand’s king, who behaves as an ancient Thai monarch in his attachment to autocratic power and who wants to govern from luxury hotels in Germany and Switzerland.
He's trying his best to circumvent the law, though, by using laws that are on the book to prosecute/persecute his enemies maliciously and fraudulently.
Arctic, it seems that everyone has utterly forgotten that Charles cheated on Diana with Camilla. I really don't see how Charles is any model of moral turpitude.
Charles' stripping of Andrew's royal trappings had less to do with personal integrity and more to do with public image.
Charles is a cheater. That he would visit another cheater isn't so surprising.
We all have parts to play. The broader the scope, the better, the more inventive and resilient. Democracy demands ceaseless well informed, well considered, good faith conversion; else how could it be a democracy?
GJ, perhaps one explanation for our generation's stupidity is that most of us are religious. Isn't faith basically believing in the existence of something (or someone) that your eyes tell you doesn't exist?
Younger generations aren't buying the whole religion thing, so maybe they're less susceptible to brainwashing.
Stories of Trump's self dealing keeps expanding. Won't it be ironic if the crimes that finally bring down the House of Trump are insider trading around his self-dealing criminal behavior. Not pedophilia, not tariffs, not DOGE, not "It's Going to be Wild" RFK Jr, not a big pile of Constitutional violations, not his in your face graft, not ICE murders, not the murder of alleged drug runners in boats, not decapitation of foreign leaders and so forth. It's like mobsters of yore who never paid for their murders but went to prison for tax evasion. Whatever it takes, the American People are abandoning Trump/MAGA in droves. Retribution is coming. A MASSIVE No Kings rally this weekend will keep the ball rolling.
It is harder to collaborate effectively as our population grows, but I think we could do a better job of it nevertheless. Years ago, while visiting a friend in rural Vermont, we stopped by a hill on which there was someone running and old car engine removed from a car, with the crankshaft rigged to a tireless car wheel which powered a rope supported by pulleys that stretched some distance up the hill. It was a ski rope tow for kids in the region who paid nothing to use it, the "bunny hill" supervised by volunteer adults. That seemed a flower of a real community. Not so easy with higher population densities, but perhaps we could be more clever and caring about how neighborhoods interact. Less narcissistic. I think we have that capacity within us.
I think every human being is effectively a unique experiment. I think every human being is simultaneously more alike and more unique than we are apt to acknowledge, even apt to admit to ourselves. Solidarity furthers, conformity no. We stand on the shoulders of giants, yes, but also, and more fundamentally on the shoulders of countless millions of unique human beings largely ignored by our reports of news and history. The gift of life and sentience is without measure, and the better we know ourselves, as individuals and collectively, and also coherently get to know and map our full set of circumstances, in all of the ways we are capable, the richer our hour upon the stage is likely to be.
Vermonters' self-reliance and ingeniuty co-evolving with circumstances that favor local action produced that fun contraption.
Looming problems with population density and managing solid waste in places with shallow water tables keep pointing (in my mind) to neighborhood facilities for composting, water treatment, hgydroponics with pasteurized urine and more but the land is too expensive. Then I get to the larger problem that so many people live alone in single-family dwellings, and how more shared models make sense for single people and for families raising kids in multigenerational communities. The unpopular thought came to mind of coastal people (I am one) moving inland which might also solve some of the havok caused by cultural misunderstandings, mis and dis-information inland, between the coasts, All the problems that caused people to vote for the current regime. My morning rambling, in response to a sense that our nation is presenting us with a Design Problem.
In a few places in the US, there is the "Eden Alternative" which is a co-housing, intergenerational community. There's one in Ithaca NY. I think this is the concept of which you speak. Not a commune, but there is the option for shared meals, and much more.
Similar, yes. I checked out co-housing in WA and OR a few years ago and in each case, the costs were prohibitive because of the architects, consultants, contractors who got percentages to guide the projects to completion. I'm thinking, for that reason that smaller more local, lless professional perhaps, but working with viable templates. Permitting can present huge obstacles. There's s summit coming up in Seattle in May: https://www.coopartnerships.org/community-events/2026/5/16/the-cohousing-summit-seattle. BUT, this isn't quite it -- something about what grows from participatory local needs that captures enthusiasm and shared investment from low and moderate income people who aren't funding their buy-ins with cashed in realestate formerly earned, and secure pensions from concluded careers. A conundrum.
Yes Joan, I too am living on the coast in a flood zone a bit north of you. I have watched the waste of FEMA repeatedly rebuilding homes in places no homes should be built - at the taxpayers expense.I have always argued how wrong and dumb this is even though it could be me one day needing FEMA help.
The other crazy thing is there is a big housing shortage and people like me are hanging on to larger than necessary homes bc we can't afford to move. Everything is upside down!
And I happen to enjoy reading your morning ramblings.
You make me wonder about the US Constitution. What if the framers had had the foresight o split the country once in reach either a geographic size or a certain population level. Watching the Ken Burn's series on the revolution one of the things that allowed the US to continue to press westward was when Canada was limited from going south into what is now Ohio, Kentucky and further west. What if the US had been split East Coast to the Alleghany MT, the Midwest, the Mideast and then the West. Or some other division. But at least 3 countries and up to seven.
I love the visual - reminds me of the dad who builds a box in his front yard in the winter, fills it with water and the kids skate and play games there together. I love this so much and wish it were the norm.
"You must have government intervene in workplace situations". True. I posted memo earlier this week that a New Mexico jury just intervened to start a new era of digital law.
The jury ordered META & Google [ the App YouTube] to pay $375 million dollars in damages to protect the children of New Mexico from purposeful child exploitation on these powerful Platforms.
The psychological intent according to the evidence at trial was to exploit a child's NEGATIVE feelings about themselves to manipulate a New Mexico child's development. The jury found 75,000 violations & rewarded about $5,000 for each violation.
During trial, META & Google attempted to play their Get-out-of-Jail-Free-Card (Section 230.) Ah, that didn't work. META's & Google (YouTube) last ditch defense was that the Platforms had a 1st amendment right to exploit New Mexico children. That argument went down in flames🔥.
The Jury determined that META & Google's behavior was a "substantial factor" in causing the harm to children. Never forget it; this jury verdict heralds a major shift in our digital law.
The brilliant Plaintiff's Attorney was LAURA MARQUEZ GARRET of the Social Media Victims Law Center. Excellent intervention Counsel. ⚖️
***********************************************
UPDATE per Ali Vitali, 3/25/26 at 2 AM Pacific.
The Plaintiff, "Kaly" now 20 years old was awarded $6 million dollars 70% to be paid by META. The jury was 7 women & 5 males.
"Kaly" fell victim to the "beautiful" filters. I would approximate the number of other civil court cases pending as more than 1500.
I noticed a change in YouTube over the past few years. They purposely introduce the viewer to streams that you have watched previously and pounds the hell out of you with all kinds of AI altered crap. I only use YouTube to facilitate recording my songs. It works fine for that singular purpose. I’m not interested interacting with anyone else on the site. It’s all planed algorithmic garbage. But for a child and adults this can easily suck one into endless streams of crap.
I'm guessing that "Katz and "Maus" on an operating room schedule tickled the funny bone of someone who might think that cats and mouse would be running amok in the OR.
I see. I am using my name in my forth coming book, “Katz on Cats and Other Animal Tails.”
Btw, I just saw a documentary last evening on Barbara Hudson who was quite an extraordinary woman. I never knew she was lesbian as she kept it quiet. I’m disappointed that Jimmy Carter didn’t appoint her to be his Attorney General as she had interviewed for the position. That would have been historic.
Thank you. Now I understand the basis for the case and can delight in the verdict. NM media has not been able to present the case clearly and succinctly.
Maybe it's not Megan's job to do anything more than what she's doing here, Mr. Balla. Perhaps as a mother and full-time grade school teacher she has less time to spare on pontification. Maybe she chooses simply to communicate a valuable service to readers without trying to demean or trivialize what they choose to do with that information. Do you?
The work Megan has done on that list is incredible - I think that is one of the most meaningful contributions anyone has ever made to this group and beyond.
''Now Showing at the White House: War, Lies, and Stuff Blowing Up''
America is now apparently being governed like a man half-watching an action movie in an airport lounge.
According to recent reporting, the president is receiving wartime briefings in a form specially tailored to his intellectual comfort zone, a highlight reel of “the biggest, most successful strikes” and, one assumes, the choicest footage of things exploding on cue. Not history, not context, not consequences, not the dull and unglamorous burdens of statecraft. Just the cinematic edit. Foreign policy as trailer. National security as a sizzle reel for a man who regards attention span as an act of oppression.
It is actually impressive, in a grotesque way. Previous presidents were handed intelligence. This one apparently needs a Michael Bay cut with fewer words and more fireballs. Somewhere in the Situation Room, serious people are probably standing around trying to decide whether the next military update needs more flag imagery, bigger fonts, or a voice-over saying, “Mr. President, this is the part where America looks super tough.”
This is not leadership. It is elderly-adolescent brand management with missiles.
And really, it tells you everything. The administration does not seem to believe the president should understand reality. It believes he should feel good while passing through it. Why burden the man with complexity when you can hand him a two-minute montage of American dominance, flattering angles, and loud booms? Why explain the regional stakes, civilian costs, or long-term risks when you can simply whisper “very successful, sir” and hit play?
So here we are, a nuclear superpower run like a focus group for fragile masculinity. The republic faces war, authoritarianism, corruption, and democratic decay, and the commander in chief is being fed government by clip package.
Coming soon to a collapsing empire near you, Top Grift: Maverick. Rated R for recklessness, delusion, and repeated damage to the Constitution.
Your comment should be somewhere near the top. Perhaps no information out of the daily barrage was so revealing as the New York Times article (I think) about Trump being sat down every morning to watch big, loud, bang-bang, bomb' em video clips (complete with little emojis, bubbles and god-knows what). The cinematic special effects -- no director, no knowledge, no point. Bigger fonts, crank up the volume. Baby Huey just loves him some noise along with his hamberder and Diet Coke. Another success for the "focus group for fragile masculinity" indeed.
We are so far beyond 25th Amendment time and yes, the whiff of collapsing empire is all about. I just pray (and work) that we will figure out how to keep the best of it as all the various Rube Goldberg contraptions start to heave and crumble. Thanks again for your post.
"It is elderly-adolescent brand management with missiles."
This is the perfect summary. Donald, a learning-disabled adult with arrested emotional development is now sinking into dementia. The most appealing – and quieting – form of entertainment for a person with this mentality is a video presentation.
Yes, Michael, "a nuclear superpower run like a focus group for fragile masculinity."
We so need a return to schools run by teachers.
Well, I don't know if we really ever had it. But we sure have gotten further, further away from its possibility.
Politicians, bureaucrats, evangelicals, and standardized testers (all anonymous, depersonalized, dehumanized elites ever presuming only they should ask any questions).
You're like a wind-up doll, Mr. Balla. Doesn't matter what the article is about, pull a string and you go standardized testing! standardized testing! It's actually quite disrespectful to the intellectual caliber of the person you responded to, to say nothing of being simply tiresome.
Like Snyder’s exhorting of making eye contact and small talk in On Tyranny. I agree 100%. We can go deeper than small talk sometimes now too and note the gravity of predicaments. Here’s to constructive contacts, the more the better.
In fairness to the person you mention, in my limited experience I believe she will respond to comments people make on her posts.
She responds "to comments people make on her posts," but only about her interest in writing officials, an interest many, many share.
But so many others commenting here raise a plethora of fine points in many other areas -- but all connected to healthy American community. These commenters seem all, however, to lack power, to lack public office, or to be in contention for office.
Those who put their comments in later often appear far, far down in the thread, where very few others go. I often read -- and reply to -- many of these far-down, mostly un-read others.
But then, I'm odd. I want schools to teach essay writing skills so youth learning English in many countries introduce themselves in their cultures. I'd like to see schools then swap batches of essays with schools farther off, for good communication among groups that otherwise have no communication with "others."
I also listened to the Heather/Tim video yesterday.
The message was "Every person can play a part. Even just posting a sign in your window."
Megan is doing way more than that. She is providing a bulletin board for others like me to pin threads about what we think is doable and important on any given day. Her post keeps those action-oriented threads visible and accessible near the top of the comments. You can quickly collapse the threads of the direct replies to her posts to see those action items and then pick and choose what you want to focus on for the day and access the details. And you have access to an extensive curated resource of places to send your thoughts where they can make a difference.
She is providing a structure for action while living a life with work and young kids. It is a service to all of us that Substack does not provide, since you can't key word search.
I think it is a brilliant example of a small daily act with enormous potential impact. It is, to my mind, exactly what Heather and Tim were talking about.
PS. Thank you to the people who like Megan's post every day so that her bulletin board stays near the top of comments.
Thank you for being odd Phil. I can be odd too. These times when so much including and beyond American democracy is at stake and imperiled, call for standing out—another of Snyder’s points. I wish my morning allowed me time to say more but I must keep moving today. Here’s to connections and us taking risks and bringing everyone along that we can.
Agreed, and to add a note from Robert Reich in his Substack yesterday, "So please don’t thank me. Thank yourself and the activists around you. Be thankful that we still have enough freedom to oppose this vicious regime. And continue to use that freedom as wisely and effectively as you can.
At least one big idea seems to be emerging from the courts, which is that despite the Section 230 shield from being liable for content, online platforms are liable for harm caused by what silicon valley calls "stickiness engineering." This has two parts, which includes, but is not limited to content. The engineering goal is to increase ad revenue by designing their platforms to retain eyeballs for as long as possible. That directly translates to increased clickthrough rates. While the two big cases that have found for the plaintiffs for harm caused and awarded damages based on that, the punitive damage portion is still to be decided.
This is potentially a hugely impactful result in the political arena. Stickiness engineering or addiction (the term the lawyers are using) is the vehicle by which information bubbles have had their effectiveness increased so dramatically. I am firmly convinced this was the key to Trump's election. We just need to see some punitive damages sufficiently large to drive behavior modification. One thing that provides hope is that even though so far it is just two cases, they have provided a roadmap for the plaintiffs in the thousands of similar cases working their way through the courts.
There is a strong parallel here with the effectiveness of Joseph Goebbels' work for the Third Reich. There is a fascinating series of videos about this on YouTube discussing the experience of German POWs during WWII. The one about the nurses taken to Medicine Hat, Alberta is particularly revealing about how effective information bubbles can be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahd2CSwHQaY
When trying to understand how many of the MAGA crowd can believe the nonsense they do, it is helpful to use a technique that Toyota manufacturing engineers call "The 5 Whys." When trying to analyze something one is trying to improve, ask why something is the way it is, and then, why the initial answer is the way it is, and so on until why has been asked at least five times. It's like being a 2 year old on steroids. The aim is to keep asking why until one gets at the root issue. Stickiness engineering is a root issue or cause for many of our current political problems. It's not the only one, but it is a very big one. It is has also played a very big role in the destruction of local newspapers, by sucking off most of their advertising revenue.
Re corruption. I wanna know what happened to the concept of qui tam?
Google: Qui tam is a legal mechanism allowing private individuals (whistleblowers or "relators") to sue companies or individuals defrauding the government on behalf of the state, typically under the False Claims Act. Originating from Latin meaning "he who sues for the king as well as for himself," it enables whistleblowers to receive a portion (often 15%–30%) of recovered funds.
I think that all too often people are too lazy to explore all the facts regarding actions being taken by our government officials and just go with their social group. For some, belonging is more important that researching to find "truth". This attitude makes for dangerous times. Wealth does NOT equal wisdom! Faith is not just a label...it is expressed in the love and care for one another, rich or poor, all colors and languages....not confined by politics!
Indeed. The left is prone to the same issues, but there is a difference that has a strong correlation to housing density. Conventional political wisdom says that the suburbs tend to be the swing districts. Digging deeper into that, at the precinct level, whether the majority tends to vote liberal or conservative very strongly correlates to the number of people per acre. Below 20 the precinct tends to vote conservative. Above 25 it tends to vote liberal. 20-25 it is a swing precinct. Digging deeper into that (our third why), people tend to be more tolerant and even embracing of our differences as we are packed more tightly together. It's a natural survival thing easily observed in the way people behave in an elevator. It's not a thinking thing so much as an automatic behavioral shift, and it shows in the way we vote.
Yes, very like the approach used by the famous and wild German psychologist, Fritz Perls. The distorted behavior and attitudes of persons have a root cause, and the process of finding that cause in order to address the underlying pathology takes time. He likened it to peeling back the layers of an onion. While it's tempting to say that MAGAts act as they do because they're stupid, it is likely much more complex, with deep roots.
Phil, I hope I misread what seems like a negative comment toward Megan. It takes a lot of work and time to build out a spread sheet like our patriot Megan keeps up to date. I for one am grateful to anyone who is doing the slightest effort to rid our country of this blatant corruption.
When things hit the fan here in Minneapolis we demonstrated spontaneous efforts to take care of one another that resonated with people across the world. This can be a basis for a political movement. How much money does any one person need? Tax the rich!
Phil, not everyone is on this Substack for the same reasons. Everyone comes from a different place and has a different background, and different experiences. You are one who appears to appreciate the interaction and the dialogue that different people bring, and enjoy having long posts that engage a variety of other Readers.
Megan is a mom with at least two kids who are small single digit ages (I don't know offhand their ages, but they're young). Your recurring theme is the decline of (if not the destruction of) our public education system. Hers is the importance of contacting congress critters and providing an easy way for those of us less motivated or able to research that contact information ourselves.
I have opinions (as my dad said with sarcasm "opinions are like @$$holes, everybody has at least one, and sometimes more than they need") and usually I keep the more negative ones to myself, although they do creep out from time to time.
I think everyone has a role to play in turning this situation around. I see no value in denigrating anyone’s meaningful good-faith contribution to the resistance. It takes a village, and the worst thing any of us can do is think we alone have all the answers.
I see this forum as a place where both outward and inward resistance to tyranny are taking place. We exchange ideas, and yes, sometimes argue over them. But through that a consensus often emerges that we can take to our outward-looking presence, which like it or not, isn’t going away. We have to be willing to challenge authority, because it will not change on its own.
i would think both are possible...and just b/c 'that person' doesn't communicate with other 'here', doesn't mean she doesn't communicate with her inner circle...whether face to face or by other means technical...
i see posts here that i think of as therapeutic...which, in themselves, are 'effective'...but don't really get much done beyond that...whatever. we ALL have to live the consequences of each others actions or inactions...plain and simple. fair or not.
and individuals need to choose their priorities, imo...
And, in fact, I've noticed from many of those in separate comments to her, also separately and wonderfully exchange comments with many fine others here, too.
I agree with everything except implicating the Powell Memo of 1971. Lewis Powell was not arguing for union smashing, oligarchy, or anything like them. He was seeking to heighten the pro-business profile in much the same way that, in Powell's view (with which I agree), liberal thinking and philosophies had flourished on college campuses.
Any of the emotional language in the Powell memorandum reflected common fears at a time of violence by the weathermen, fragments of the S.D.S., and violent members of the Black Pantherset al. Any connection between an Powell's outline of action, adhering to intellectual integrity, and what we see today required different minds with indifferent hearts
No, Ned. He and his corporate allies really hated the ferment built into humanities.
So many fine books, movies, and songs of that era fed into the vitally -- needed vitality -- of the anti-war movement, feminism, gay rights, farm workers, the environment.
Powell and crew intensely wanted to curtail the energies which humanities occasioned. That's why, a year-and-a-half after his memo's promulgation, The Heritage Foundation was up and running. First express mission, to remove humanities from schools. And at the same time, ALEC also came into being, to lobby all the state legislatures to tame all the colleges and universities -- desiccate them, cut their public subsidies, reduce tenure, turn all higher ed into depersonalized silo specializations.
These far-right instruments were enormously well-funded, poisonously organized.
I’m old enough to remember, and had a bff who was republican crazy. And very smart, watched the fervor with which a good person became a radical with only thoughts for the SC victories. Her justification for chump. Wonder if she is happy today.
Thank you Professor Richardson for all you do. Everyone reading, speak up with the knowledge she gives us.
Be LOUD! We deserve better 💔🤍💙
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Laughing out loud literally, Megan, looking for your post and if you hadn't gotten one out about making good trouble via your excellent spreadsheet, I would've posted it on your behalf. Thank you for your consistent efforts and extreme diligence in selflessly maintaining such a wonderful resource for the rest of us to use and share with others in our circle of resisters. Take care of yourself, and stay safe! ❤️👍💖😊
Megan's students are fortunate to have her as a teacher...Take care and stay safe, indeed -- a message for us all this coming Saturday when once more we re-appear with homemade signs to inform the prevaricators, the suck-ups, loonies and collaborators that they answer to us, no matter what they may believe.
Yes, @justraven - me too! I’m traveling and not in the EST, so I have to scroll to find Megan’s post. I do what I can to help keep it at or near the top. I’ve bookmarked the link and reference it several times a week. So grateful for this resource!
I join in lauding your efforts. Your efforts are especially needed in this Golden Age of Cowardice on the GOP side, where their sleepwalking representatives do everything in their power to eliminate the ability of we the American public to even contact them, if we are outside their district.
I'll be in the streets of Los Angeles on Saturday marching with my confreres, and consoures, making as much good trouble as can be had!
Maybe two questions. The child-minders (am guessing Miller, Klaus Bondi and a couple others) are obviously setting Baby Trumpie in front of the Tee-Vee so him can watch big bam-bam, blow-up videos filled with emojis and sound effects, so him can claim Iran "gave me a big, beautiful present...I'm not going to tell you what it is...."
The evidence for mental decay, babble-bibble blobbery and complete unfitness for office increases by the day. The soft-care MAGATs have already fled the ship -- the hard-core ones are searching for lifeboats. A reckoning lies ahead, though not before things are probably set to worsen. Be strong and keep widening those cracks!
Most likely it is Miller now that Wiles is undergoing cancer treatments. But Miller is focused on domestic policy; that doesn’t explain the foreign policy decisions. Miller has a $250,000 investment in Palantir, but he only has an estimated net worth of $1-2 million. He has gotten help with legal fees from oil interests.
Maybe Trump is having a daily phone call with Witkoff who has a daily call with Dmitriev who has a daily call with Putin, and he has daily calls directly with Bibi and MBS. It’s like the four most malevolent men on earth on mainlining crazy into Trump’s infusion line.
The real hoot is that he’s not insane enough to be 25th out of office, but if he ever went to trial, he’d be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Lewis Carroll couldn’t have imagined this any better.
The 2 names that pop out from Heather's post tonight are Stephen Miller and Susie Wiles. Although they're not usually in focus in photos of Trump or out of view completely, those 2 are intermediaries that control information flow to Donold.
Wiles doing her thing to keep Donold's addled brain interested but criminally enabling a monstrous lunatic that has no self control, decency or even a moral compass.
Stephen Miller, who seems to be keeping a lower profile these days, is the main go-between and executive order author that he just gets Trump to sign away. Miller is often referred to as "Trump's brain" or the "architect" of the administration's most hard-line policies, particularly regarding immigration.
Wiles is undergoing cancer treatment so even though she is supposedly working I think she is having less influence which is why Trump seems to be even more erratic.
Foreign policy direction is coming from Putin, MBS and Bibi. The Iran crazy coming out of Trump’s mouth is exacerbated by Putin and Bibi in conflict over their positions on Iran. Putin got the oil sanctions lifted on Russia in return for not objecting too strongly to the war on Iran in spite of his giving Iran intell. Even though Iran is Putin’s ally, weakening US power and prestige is a bigger prize.
Her treatment is the same prescribed plan that I completed last year. I never took off one minute of work, not one, because all parts of the treatments can be scheduled early and late during the week. They’re not debilitating like chemo…which in my mind is what deems you a true cancer survivor.
That said, Ms. Wiles supports one very evil motherfucker, she gets no sympathy from me.
I was able to work half-time at my agency in order to keep my medical benefits when going through chemo and radiation. I would work a Thursday/Friday/Monday/Tuesday work week and have a week off between infusions. It was not easy, but I had two department heads who made sure I had the ability to work those 20 hours per week. I screened the citizen report forms and the cold case files, and on the couple occasions that there wasn't that work, I did computer entry for Fleet records.
Thank you for sharing that information! I am glad your treatment was successful and that there are alternatives for some types of cancer that are less debilitating. Science at work!
Oh interesting about Wiles, I did not know that. Cancer sucks for anyone so I don’t make light of that, but that is an extremely toxic environment to work in. Trump is so vile that it might even be carcinogenic just to be around him.
Putin definitely has a hold on Trump, a decades long relationship it would appear. Donold has even said they’ve “been through a hell of a lot together”. Whatever it is, Putin is the only person Donold seems to idolize and even fawn over, he really does seem to be taking marching orders from him.
Who writes the script for his blathering performances, or rather, who points him in one chaotic direction or another. There is method in his madness. There is a weaving of his revenge/greed fantasies with P2025 goals. He is right, he weaves scenarios for purpose, the purpose is destructive evil. So his blather is cult crazy, but the effects are right on target.
We must stand up for those rights we have lost under Trump. On Saturday Americans around the world will be holding No Kings, No Tyrants, No Dictators, and No Wars rallies. Here is a list of the rallies abroad. Please share with friends and families abroad.
One hundred and fifteen years ago today, a young social worker stood on the Manhattan sidewalk across from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory building, in near paralyzed horror, watching one young woman after another hurl herself from the building's upper floors to their certain deaths, so as to escape the fire inside that never should have been.
That young social worker was Frances Perkins, who a generation later would become a true American pioneer, becoming the first woman ever to serve in a Presidential cabinet. The litany of her deeds, and the lifelong efforts she made to make working conditions better and safer for all Americans are legion, as Heather described.
In her twilight years, she would discuss how the entire New Deal, the sweeping programs to bring social and economic healing and justice to an America reeling from the depravities of the Great Depression, all stemmed from the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.
Agreed! And any reference to Frances Perkins, to continue to educate American children is a good thing…notably the ‘real name’ of “Baby” in the still-popular film “Dirty Dancing” as being >>>Frances…”like the first woman in the Cabinet”.
It begs the question - nomatter if you were impressed with Kamala Harris, or not- why not a WOMAN President…🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
…Answer: the ongoing legacy of ‘male superiority’ which is toxically present in the current administration. Trump’s ‘Blonde Bimbo Brigade’, who doubtless do ‘Dual Duty’ 😉, are traitors to their own gender.
Once in a blue moon a warrior like Frances Perkins comes along.
Indeed! Why not a woman President? It is not like the men have done such a great job, is it?
We have had two women as candidates who were far more qualified in every way than the inferior male who was “elected”..and I say that in quote’s because I still believe that neither of those elections were clean or fair.
Linda, it is my opinion, laid in the 2008 Democratic Convention and cemented in the 2016 and 2024 elections that misogyny triumphs over racism for the top spot.
Trump’s staff is feeding him only the good news, painting the rosy picture, because they know that giving the boss the truth is a career ender. Giving the truth to the public will have the same results much quicker.
No one is more aware of this than Karoline Leavitt.
The anniversary of the Triangle Fire is a potent reminder of why we need government regulations as well as a government that creates and enforces them.
When Hegseth was asked if they were negotiating with Iran he said "we are negotiating with bombs" -- he is another child-man who sees this as a video game and sees himself as a Marvel hero. Revolting.
That is why at all costs we must insure the integrity of the next election, because the NANP (New American Nazi Party, formerly the GOP) is doing all it can to undermine it. If they succeed, American history will indeed become a MAGA fairy tale.
The competent executive likes to hear the good news, but knows he/she needs to hear the bad news more. To that end, the competent executive gathers a staff that he knows will tell him what he needs to hear before they tell him what he likes to hear.
This basic principle is alien to the Trump Administration.
ICYMI: Timothy Snyder is an American historian, a chaired university professor of history who has spent his long career (long before Donald Trump appeared) studying fascism and the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and the Holocaust. He has published about 6 books on these topics including the bestselling “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century” 2017 (ISBN 978-0-8041-9011-4). He is an internationally known and highly respected expert on authoritarianism and fascism. On 4/25/26 Dr. Richardson interviewed him: “American Conversations: Timothy Snyder - YouTube” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kqslmq4oIE
Here are two exerpts from the interview to give you a taste of what is discussed in it. It’s very interesting to hear their perspectives. Timothy Snyder: “If we were not in a petrol world, Russia couldn’t invade Ukraine we wouldn’t be in wars in the Middle East. A Petro world makes possible a certain kind of oligarchy. It’s not that difficult to extract oil and a natural gas. It’s not that difficult to convert that kind of power to political power because you just have to control the territory where the resource happens to be. If you get power from wind nuclear or solar that’s not going to lead to political authoritarianism. If you get it from oil and gas, it does tend to lead to political authoritarianism. The sense that we don’t have a future because of climate change, and the reality of both of these wars (Iran and Ukraine) has to do with bad choices we are making which only serve the short term interests of a very small number of people. Trump is stuck in a world of oil, partly because he is stuck in his version of the past and also because he seems to feel this is just the right way to be powerful, which I think is actually in the calculation. We are giving up future power to the Chinese by doing this because even if we obsess about oil and natural gas, a turn will be made in the energy economy and if we’re not leading that term that means China is leading that turn, Russia can only prosecute war because of oil and natural gas. The fact we’re not sanctioning. Russia is unconscionable, and by leading this change toward hydrocarbons, we are making this type of war more likely.”
Heather Cox Richardson: “This world you are describing of Trump wanting to be part of a world in which he plays with international oligarchs over issues involving territory, and the control of oil is one that Robert Mueller described in a speech when he was director of the FBI that this was the future of terrorism and organized crime and that it would take place across ideologies, religions, and countries with business leaders and criminals all working together to amass power and wealth.”(Russian criminal sistema on an international scale and reflected in the life of Jeffrey Epstein) (Robert Mueller speech:“FBI — The Evolving Organized Crime Threat”. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/speeches/the-evolving-organized-crime-threat#:~:text=Robert%20S.,result%20of%20globalization%20and%20technology.)
They also discussed Timothy Snyder’s new book “On Freedom” on imagining, creating, sharing the politics of the future and how government has a role to play in creating the conditions under which its citizens can be free and protected.
Last night Malcolm Nance, Dean Blundell and Zev Shalev were discussing that the whole group of them should be tried for treason, and that if we put a Jasmine Crockett or someone like her in as Speaker of the House, which one can do, then she is third in line for the presidency. We all need to be out on Saturday at a No Kings rally. Here is a list of the ones abroad that I could find.
Another strong contender for a Democratic Speaker would be Jamie Raskin. I think he is the smartest person in the House and the best able to rewrite the rules in the House to make it function and to make sure that reform legislation would be written to avoid loopholes and unintended consequences. He also was the lead in Trump's second impeachment trial so you know he will go after every opportunity to impeach Trump's cabinet with criminal referrals for good measure and go after Trump.
Yes to Jamie Raskin for Speaker of the House, may it be so. Always very impressed with his performance in Congress, like Heather's post tonight bringing up Raskin's questions about the confidential, top secret and highly sensitive documents that Trump stole, squirreled away and read aloud to who knows...And recently, during the Noem hearings, his questions and the presentation of facts and pictures Rasking showed was stellar and should have been seen by more Americans because it was instrumental in getting her fired.
I was thinking of him too. I am just mentioning who Malcolm Nance picked. He also said Kamala could be speaker of the house, because there is no rule that says you have to be a member of the House to be the speaker of the house.
I would love to see Raskin representing the legislative branch go up against SCOTUS on separation of powers.
He is also a rarity, with a balanced two-state solution for Israel, with massive aid to Palestinians, curbs on how Israel uses US aid, while protecting Israel's right to protect itself, and condemning October 7. He has criticized how Bibi has run the Gaza war, is appalled by the massive civilian casualties, and points out that Israel is violating international humanitarian law.
He has also called MBS a "homicidal prince" and called out Trump for courting him.
A smart rational man of integrity, the total opposite of Trump.
If Dems win the House at the midterms, I want the smartest, savviest, most experienced member of the House to be Speaker, someone who knows the ropes and could use every possible strategy to keep Trump/Vance in check and neuter him.
The most important characteristics for a post midterm Speaker:
1. a persuasive and articulate spokesperson with integrity
2. a pitbull going after corruption in the Trump administration
3.a first-rate legal mind to rewrite the House rules to make it function and to challenge SCOTUS
3.a bridge-builder with the ability to craft bipartisan legislation that is veto-proof and get it passed
Excellent list of qualifications, Georgia. Neither Jeffries or Schumer are persuasive or particularly articulate. They are dull -- we need someone with the qualities you describe
Of course. Let us hope there are unencumbered elections. No guarantees. Our state governors must activate their national guard before the feds do. This is the trick to prevent federalizing them which trump will do.
Trump vs. Illinois on using the National Guard in Illinois to protect Federal buildings only got to the stage of ruling against Trump on a motion to stay a lower court ruling. The ruling was based on the definition of what “regular forces” meant in the relevant statutes. SCOTUS clarified that meant the regular miliatry. So Trump could call out the National Guard to help the regular military domestically if the regular military couldn’t accomplish what it is allowed to do under Posse Comitatus.
The SCOTUS denial of the stay sent the case back to the Seventh Circuit, and in January the parties negotiated and agreed to drop the appeal, leaving the district court judge’s ruling in place. So Trump could try again in a new situation engineered to pass the constraints SCOTUS laid out in its ruling on the stay.
Ben Radersdorff has a post about why the SAVE Act NOT being passed is part of a plan to undermine the midterms by stirring up violence.
“You didn’t pass the legislation that would have solved this fake problem, and therefore the election results are not valid.”
In other words, Trump is pushing the SAVE America Act not just on a distant hope of disenfranchising some voters. He is, much more immediately, hoping to use its failure to override the electoral process entirely.
The plan has three parts;
to deceive the country about the existence of rampant election fraud,
to disrupt the election process by using violence, deploying federal power, and manipulating election rules,
if that isn’t enough, to deny the results and overturn the results.
I’ll keep saying it: if Biden, or any democratic president for that matter, did only 0,000001% of what the Orange Goblin King has pulled, the Republicans would be screaming for impeachment until they exploded. Bill Clinton gets a blowjob from an intern and he needs to be hanged, but it’s fully ok for _their_ president to rape underage girls. The double standards are of galactic proportions here…
Well said, Dutch Mike! I tried that "what would you do if your guy did that?" question back when I still engaged with the brainwashed. I never, ever got them to answer that question.
Read ‘Becoming Madam Secretary’ a historical novel about Frances Perkins. Once started the book, couldn’t put it down. Despite politics always being dirty, Frances Perkins managed to make a difference.
The settlement with Michael Flynn is just the latest corrupt act by the DoJ under Pam Bondi. It follows the decision to pay compensation to the family of insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt
Pam Bondi's DoJ is open warfare with federal judges and state bar associations who block Trump's illegal appointments of unqualified cronies to state attorney posts. She has been retaliating by immediately sacking attorneys appointed by those judges. She is even now trying to place herself above the law by drafting a regulation that would allow her to block any state bar ethics investigation into current and former DOJ lawyers while the department conducts its own internal review. If state bar authorities refuse the AG’s “request” to pause an investigation, the rule allows the DOJ to “take appropriate action to prevent the bar disciplinary authorities from interfering with the Attorney General’s review of the allegations.”
I thought this indicative of "what goes around, comes around." A research project I was working on today led me to Newspapers.com, to which I subscribe, where I noticed a small opinion piece in the Lansing [Michigan] State Journal, Sat. September 23, 1893, which I quote without comment, other than to ask, sound familiar?
"GROVER'S DICTATORSHIP. The democratic newspapers of the country are beginning to wake up to the fact that Grover Cleveland is assuming dictatorial airs not at all in consonance with the popular idea of a president of the United States. These are the specifications furnished by the Albany (N.Y.) Express in its arraignment of that eminent New Yorker, and upon which any impartial grand jury must present a true bill:
He has endeavored repeatedly to usurp the functions of a co-ordinate branch of the government.
He has suspended the law. He has violated the constitution.
He holds himself above his party. He repudiates his party pledges.
His will is the law, and those who oppose him personally or officially feel the weight of his official
wrath.
He is the most dangerous man who has ever sat in the chair of Washington."
Damn, Grover way down on the pole these days. I repeat again from Will Roger’s, Nov 26, 1932. “The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow’s hand.” Mr. Hoover, and our vipers, know well that money trickles up.
And even more dangerous than Trump , (and his family), are the persons who have put him in his position including, deceived, naive American citizens!!!!
We need a brave, new, experienced and knowledgeable set of leaders within our government as soon as possible!!!
"Vultures are relatively silent as they lack a syrinx so they can only hiss, growl, and snarl.
They are predominantly scavengers but will occasionally kill small animals that are sick or dying. However, they will not eat a carcass that is more than a few days old as it become putrid.
Bald heads help radiate excess heat away from their bodies and keep rotting flesh from soiling feathers.
Vultures do not suffer from food poisoning because they have very acidic stomach acids with a pH of almost zero; these acids actually stop the spread of disease.
Their primary flying style is soaring which allows them to travel great distances expending very little energy.
A group of vultures is called a committee, venue or volt. In flight, a group of vultures is a kettle and when feeding at a carcass, the group is referred to as a wake.
To keep cool, vultures urinate on their legs and feet; this also kills bacteria or parasites and helps to keep the birds healthy.
Both Turkey Vulture and Black Vulture populations are increasing; increased road traffic results in more available road kill!
When threatened, Turkey Vultures defend themselves by vomiting very potent stomach acids. This not only acts as a deterrent with predators but also “lightens the load” so they can escape easily into flight."
Baby Huey might want us to believe that imaginary Iranians have been giving him imaginary presents, but beneath the distracting bibble-babble, a "ground operation" of some kind is almost certainly in the works -- likely the occupation of Kharg Island (what else you do with 5,000 Marines and the 82nd Airborne, I don't know). Both the House and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairs (Mike Rogers and Roger Wicker) have hinted as much.
You'd think they'd be razor-focused on this, preparing us for the casualties such a dangerous occupation would ensure. Layered defenses, anti-armor minefields, MANPADs (shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles) await them. Betting you'd be wrong -- they're FAR more concerned with trying to swamp media coverage of No Kings Day this Saturday. Their fear of us, not the safety of our troops, remains their greatest concern.
Any bets that the "ground operation" will begin this Saturday morning so Faux News can easily switch out whatever measly coverage of the marches they'd planned in order to show bam-bam war videos and ginormous American flags flapping in the breeze instead?
It’s always good to be reminded of Frances Perkins, Al Smith, and FDR. Lately I’ve been thinking about the 95% income taxes paid by the richest during and just after WWII. Can we do a repeat of that so we can improve public transportation, health care, educate and pay public school teachers, and reinvigorate the middle class decimated by Republican policies? Or will we be stuck in oligarchy?
Tax the rich! Impeach Trump and imprison him for treason. Let's sing the no kings anthem loudly on Saturday so that he fears we the people: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/no-kings-anthem
In actuality, Trump, his ChristoNazi politicians, bureaucrats and Legions of Death are a gang of home-invasion robbers running amok victimizing the entire 99.9 Percent.. And the 77-million-voter Moronic Majority that gave these criminals license to loot remains too stupefied by hatred to realize they're already being robbed.
Exactly!
I have no bandwidth for comments today, so glad to see you right near the top of my feed. I've got too much work to do today and too little energy to muster. Not much sleep last night (arthritis acting up) and I thought of you and hoped your knee is doing so good that Saturday won't be an issue.
BTW, my problem isn't my knees, those are about the only part of my body not riddled with it. I praise whoever invented heating pads, but in a pinch, a purring cat with their 100+ body temperature works just fine! 😸
Indeed they do, Miselle! Artemis is keeping my chest warm and occasionally scrolling the screen with her back paws.
The arthritis in my hands makes me glad I play the tuba and not the cello; four paddles that my right hand can manipulate without bending vs. four strings with my left hand whose pinky and index fingers don't bend well at all. The knees are as a result of my misspent youth (catching/umpiring fastpitch for almost 30 years) and misspent adulthood (Sheriffin').
Ally, I have alpaca fingertip- less gloves I wear. The amt. of warmth I get lets me type. And, CBD hand cream does indeed make pain less noticeable. MD/ Ortho approved.
Miselle, you got me at "I have no bandwidth for comments today." Know what you mean - I ran out of bandwidth trying to respond to Heather's column YESTERDAY! Just didn't know where to start. So many issues tumbling around - I wanted to say something mean about Olivia Wales's stupid claim about mail-in voting being rife with fraud. Wanted to know if she'd been challenged - vigorously and on the spot, as soon as the words left her mouth. That would be a miracle, IMHO. And the pavers in the West Wing colonnade being removed for some idiotic reason? All I remember thinking is we'll probably wake up some day soon, like the after tomorrow, and find the West Wing in the same condition as East Wing. Also, we don't a 250' triumphal arch in DC! For one thing, I thought we were broke! Sorry, am venting.
👂🏼I hear you, sister!
Detention Centers morphing into Concentration Camps:
LINK (Common Cause article by Marks): https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-mass-detention-system
LINK (directly to Marks' substack post): https://john3012.substack.com/p/the-war-brought-home-the-recalibration
That is a vulgar comment. You apparently don't know what concentration camps are, or what they did under Hitler. Watch some YouTube interviews with victims. Detention Centers are just that. You sneak into a country illegally that is a foreseeable consequence. Notice they don't sneak into China.
As a matter of fact, I do know that history having lived through it via Life Magazine photos, contemporary newsreels, a trip to Dachau which was so powerful that in Poland I refused to go to Auschwitz. Once was enough. I own and have read Shirer’s “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” as I have known people with camp tattoos.
I understand climate change and American “exceptionalism” having lived and traveled abroad.
Would flee gangs and climate change if I could not be safe or eat and believed that in America I could be safe and eat. Man’s inhumanity to man is not a virtue.
Another, moron. Oh, and all the morons seem to flock to the light like moths do the candle flame unfortunately, they’re getting their ass burnt and they don’t even feel like they’re so numb
Ad hominems. And not very original.
A very well thought out and well researched response there John. Just backfilled with backup and links and everything terrific good job so do you have anything specific to say not a damn thing just add homonym attacks and insults that that's all you gotV
Aren't we all moths of some ilk or another? Do we get to pick our light or are we born to it?
Yes, Margo, that’s true, but you can choose which light you would like to align with. That’s what America is all about. And far too many especially here don’t even bother question or research the light that they have surrounded themselves with.
Mush for brains Loren. Again, lemmings...
You are I’d like to be polite to you, but you don’t deserve to sweat off my testicles. I would love to take you to Auschwitz and treat you to a little internment for a little while then you would learn never to use the word Nazi again you fucking anti-semetic scum
The Israeli government-- not Jews, they are certainly not acting like responsible nor ethical Jews-- is fascist and genocidal and antisemitic, because it is contradicting all of the genuine values of the Jewish allegiance to the one God.
Why are you stupid? It’s called survival do you know the Israel will be gone if not for the golden dome. Many times over Why don’t you go live there and see their life that they have my wife’s brother lives in an underground shelter three months out of the year
Sorry, your hate is showing.
The golden dome has nothing to do with genocide.
Peace can come to Israel and its neighbors through a completely different approach.
Based on the sophistication of your comment, I gather that Ms. Richardson is getting rich off of some...well..crazies.
She’s a college professor of history. They don’t “get rich” except in understanding of history and humanity.
She makes ~$5 million from this "Letter."
Dr. Cox Richardson provides us with much valuable information. She's worth every penny of whatever she makes. Donald Trump is taking $10billion (with a B) from our treasury because he says the IRS embarrassed him years ago by releasing some tax returns. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he will gladly write the check (sure he will- it's our money, not his). Additionally, Trump is planning to take another $10billion (with a B) because of the "raid" on his Mar a Lago residence by the FBI (which "raid" we're finding out was totally justified because he stole top secret docs.) Trump wants to become the wealthiest man in the world, and R's are happy to let him do that with our money and corrupt foreign dollars and crypto and bribery money. And you're worried because Dr. Cox Richardson gets paid for the hard work she does every single day? C'mon, man!
A K, I am sure she doesn't just stuff the $ in her bank. She helps a lot of causes. Her reminders of our history are always apropos to the current state of affairs. She is helping all of us to weave together our Nation's facts. Not to mention, she rarely takes a day off. She's earned her wings.
So she makes money. I thought you guys were all about the capitalism.
No?
At any rate, she deserves it, which is more than I can say about the complete grifters currently vandalizing the US.
I’d like your source for that. I know it’s possible, but I find it doubtful given the lies we are assailed by daily. Of course because of the excellence of the letter she may have that many subscribers. Given the effort to produce it daily however, I wouldn’t begrudge her a penny.
Thank you that’s monthly
Yeah, well guess what she’s milking you to death Virginia you don’t even see it let’s see 1 million viewers and she has more times five bucks a month let’s see how much does that make did you graduate sixth grade or what?
I have three degrees from an excellent institution and have studied with international scholars. Have you ever thought of anything besides money and “power”? Like another 92-year old who publishes regularly in The New York Times and is a former Foreign Service and Monetary Officer, I know that my wealth is my liberal arts education.
Bingo, Mr. Kaufman or Mrs. Kaufman. Used to be a credible historian. Now she’s just a radical liberal activist what’s the come to the capitalism and she’s got millions of lemmings that follow her without opening their eyes
Thought: I wonder whether Trump would have attacked Iran, if that war had to be fully funded – and paid for by billionaires and large corporations?
And that those people would have to fly the planes, lead the troops & man the battleships!!!! You know THEIR boots on the ground!
Return to Normalcy, the challenge, most of those rich boys have no clue how to do anything but rake in the bucks and they have to have enormous help from their underlings to do that. Can you imagine Elon Musk actually doing anything but bossing people around? How about Vought, the Trump whisperer, could he drive a tank or know how to engage with the "enemy?" Not a chance! They would prefer to send our young people, talented, but according to them and Baby Donnie, expendable. That for me is at the center of the current Republican/right-wing horrors.
That’s why we need a draft, however you want to define it.
Absolutely Right On Ruth! my gosh, they'd have to figure out how to wear clothes more than once or do laundry. And eating? Oh dear, starving billionaires!
Cindy, hard to imagine billionaires cleaning up their own mess or really getting in shape. It puts bad pictures in my head but I could get used to them there.
return- I bet a big bunch would show up with bone spurs!
Cindy, that's if they couldn't get their private doctor to declare bon spurs, keeping them from the fray as their Baby Donnie did!
Arcticstones, I have been wondering that since the war started. It seems to me it is the billionaires who will benefit, so they should be the ones who pay for it. They can afford it, particularly Musk, Ellison, Theil, and Vought, some of the big boosters of the event. Maybe we need to issue a bill to them for what their actions have led to.
The way I see stuff -- you have three bullies - the US, Iran and Israel - who are now turning to the good kids - Europe - and asking for their help. So which way does Europe go - incur trump's rath and turn a deaf ear, or slip in some aid - money, armaments or military? One country already announced that NATA should help out trump!!!
4 Bullies.... including Russia.
NEVER EVER BACK DOWN TO A BULLY or they will continue to chase you FOREVER!!
And NEVER EVER TRUST A BULLY because they are SO insecure narcissistic and paranoid that sooner than later EVERYONE becomes one of their TARGETS!
How true Sky. Europe has to deny what Turnip desires most- power with groveling. I think a united Europe is our last defense against The Bully!
You're right. I left out Russia.....
I think EVERYTHING that trump does is to affect the stock market.
Everyone around him knows what he's going to do and when and that's when they place their bets.
WE all know trump ONLY cares about money and who makes it. He doesn't seem to take any vacations except to play golf on his own property.
He is one cheap mutha!
Worse... trump ALWAYS makes it MORE expensive for all of America.
Sky Blue, and Trump has no idea really about prices. They are just numbers to him since he has never had to buy anything for himself, go out and actually spend his own cash for something as basic as food, shelter, or clothing beyond something outrageously expensive, then he whined about it for weeks or bragged about it for decades. In addition to everything else Trump is, he is an ignoramus and he has no intention, even if he could due to his advancing dementia, to be anything else because he thinks he is now king of the world and can do whatever he wants to whomever and whatever he wants and his sycophantic white house toddler pool goes right along, accepting the ridiculous bullying as just part of being a billionaire or whatever it is they are and have decided to be due to brown-nosing Baby Donnie.
Good question Arctic. Probably not- it would mean T would have to show details of his 'wealth'- that is, if he really has any.
Moron, it is paid by large donors and corporations. Maybe you haven’t looked at the tax tables lately
Again American screws up: no exit plan for another war, lives lost, treasury plundered. The government has turned into an insane asylum, and the maddest person in the place is running it!!!
I'd add not only the treasury plundered, but also outrageously obvious insider trading in the futures market, and seemingly on betting sites such as on the length of Karoline Leavitt's press briefing as described at https://www.rawstory.com/leavitt/
"...Prediction gambling on the length of the events has become popular, with Wednesday's briefing having a 98% chance to run past 65 minutes. Instead, she exited with 30 seconds to spare. The suspiciously timed exit ignited outrage online, with traders and political observers alike calling the episode absurd, corrosive, and yet another sign the prediction-market craze has veered into farce..."
From facebook comments on the story:
Oh, the "gamble on everything" website that is partially owned by Don Jr is taking bets on things they have complete control over?
Nobody saw this coming…
Jim, I don't know how people can ignore the obvious insider trading- the timing of market growth and fall is not a coincidence.
ABSOLUTELY TRUE, Cindy!
There aren't enough straightjackets to contain all the bad players. I suppose we could use the ICE prisons to hold the crazies.
Well, let’s see, and then we have Merrill below benefit from my comments here. Took 10 years to get Osama bin Laden took four years to get Saddam Hussein to 10 months and 20,000 bombs to get Qaddafi. Took three days to get the leaders of Iran and their successors and their successors and their successors. Would you like to know what Linden Johnson did in the 70s he killed 56,000 Americans for what? Would you like to know why we were in Afghanistan for years and years for no reason at all I didn’t hear you complaining about it then. You’re about Obama know about Johnson or about kennedy or about Bush. And there’s poor Merrill, looking for the defeat of America. A real sick puppy
Stories of Trump's self dealing keeps expanding. Won't it be ironic if the crimes that finally bring down the House of Trump are insider trading around his self-dealing criminal behavior. Not pedophilia, not tariffs, not DOGE, not "It's Going to be Wild" RFK Jr, not a big pile of Constitutional violations, not his in your face graft, not ICE murders, not the murder of alleged drug runners in boats, not decapitation of foreign leaders and so forth. It's like mobsters of yore who never paid for their murders but went to prison for tax evasion. Whatever it takes, the American People are abandoning Trump/MAGA in droves. Retribution is coming. A MASSIVE No Kings rally this weekend will keep the ball rolling.
Merrill, you're speaking in Al Capone here! 😜
Ally, I live in the building where Eliot Ness, who chased Al Capone, had his office. It’s in the National Historic Neighborhood of downtown Chicago. Now we have ICE sirens 24/7.
As with the MOB;
Mob boss John Gotti had tons of money, many many followers, and the best attorneys money could buy.
Gotti won so many of his court cases that he was dubbed The Teflon Don.
BUT...it still didn't stop him from dying in PRISON in Missouri!!
Fingers crossed 🤞 🤞 🤞.
Wonder what ever happened to all the $$ Gotti had?
Hmm. What does your city say about the noise ordinance being violated? Just one way to let them know this is not acceptable. ;-)
Do you know why you have a sirens because of Donald Trump because Barack Obama did exactly precisely particularly specifically exactly what Trump is doing. He took people from the phones he took people from their jobs. He even built the cages that housed the children. There were no protest because it was Obama to God and he deported 3 million people and only 25% of them ever received what they called due process. Look it up, Virginia
🤭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It might be ironic, Merrill except trump and his minions have managed to bring the United States to the lowest point internationally that it has ever been. They have changed the world order that the United States had designed to keep democracy strong after World War II.
Our stature in the world may never recover. This trump DOJ will never investigate much less prosicute any crime committed by these people.
They wouldn't have gotten rid of so many Inspector Generals throughout the Executive Branch and top military Jag Officers if they ever intended not to operate in the most corrupt and lawless ways imaginable.
Actually, you’re about as upside down as you become there right now 30 nations rushing to save their oil. And assist United States, an opening of the strait of Hormuz. NATO has become stronger because of Trump and his motivation to have them prepare more of their GDP to protect against Russian aggression before they weren’t even paying their 2% and after Trump’s conversation with them not only be paying or two but they’re pushing it to five. Oooops. Japan just gave its credence to Trump. And all the European nations didn’t want to help or now seeing how vital it is because despite you environmentalist wackos, you’ll finally realize that fossil fuel is the most important commodity on planet earth
Merrill, $ matters have removed people from the WH before & I hope the same will happen soon. My hope is our No Kings march 3/28 will help some more people get the real picture of what our future holds if we don't have major court action soon.
love this. thank you
Tax the rich? You obviously don’t have a clue how are Techsystems works at all right now the bottom, 50% of all taxpayers of all income earners pay 3% of the total income tax. Let’s see if you can comprehend that. How would you like to take a guess as to what percent of the total income tax top 1% pay? Just total ignorance here so sad
Ready & raring to go 3/28! NO KINGS!
Hi V W, my preference, instead of raising the percentage to a super high level, is to re-write the tax code and get rid of many, not all, of the available deductions and credits that allow the super wealthy to have taxable income that is far less than their gross income. Yet, sadly, I can’t even imagine the bickering, maneuvering, and sabotaging that would occur if Congress even bothered to attempt to re-write tax code.
Exactly. Remove the deductions. Recall the quote by the hotel queen Leona Helmsley that “Only the little pay taxes.”
1. Revamp the tax code.
2. Offer universal health coverage
3. Reverse Citizens United removing corp money in campaigns
4. Ban all semi automatic weapons
5. Convict all political criminals in the Trump administration and imprison them for high crimes and misdemeanors including top down
6. Officially rejoin NATO
There, fixed it.
Bill Katz,
And why are you not serving within our government somewhere!?
Excellent list of "can dos!" Now to find those leaders who WILL DO!!!! I have seen a few pushing hard for some of your correctly stated necessary changes!!!!
Somehow we need to find the voters who will vote to ensure that we have a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," and not a few oligarchs. There are now 1135 billionaires in the U.S. and 900,000 deca-millionaires. They represent 1/3 of 1% of the U.S. population. We are an oligarchy. That 1/3 of 1% possess as much wealth as the bottom 1/2 (170,000,000) of the American population. We need a new NEW DEAL. If the U.S. population were only 3.4 million people, there may not be even one billionaire, but because our population is 340 million, we have more than 1,000 billionaires. The takeaway: the people are an absolutely essential element in creating wealth. The wealth should be equitably distributed as in the Scandinavian countries, where what they have in place is Pragmatic Capitalism. "The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to facilitate the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life." - Frances Perkins, FDR's Sec. of Labor
Thank you, Richard Sutherland, for having all the math. I can only feel, hear, and see what you have written, remembering only the sense as a child that all of America and a lot of the world wanted peace and was working, regardless of politics, to have it. One of my great step aunts was slated to go to San Francisco and help with the founding of the UN and in my small, poor public school, we were learning the structure of peace to come.
Then came the Hollywood propaganda film maker to propagate trickle down economics, aided by those who, regardless of a predictable result (though too stupid to see it—greed blinds), encouraged the hollowing out of the middle class and the destruction of our democracy.
Now we have a felon, who for more gold and trophies, has sold US to Putin and a sultan believed to have “disappeared” an American citizen and who has traumatized the party of the propagandist.
There IS Saturday. May it be millions of marchers. Here’s to the press that will cover it and to Bruce who will have at least some marchers singing. We will overcome! (Think of Stephen Miller and sing too.)
Yeah, he has the math and it’s all upside down and backwards. You can’t come very well can he. especially when it comes to democracy. See if you can figure it out Virginia Donald Trump for two huge issues that were handled by a small group of people in Washington DC and return them to the people who vote who can choose what to do with those two issues. Pure democracy
Richard-What a powerful statement you’ve made about the fact that it’s people who produce wealth.
This recognition was embedded in our system of indentured servants, enslaved Africans, “workers” and “employees”. These are all groups who’ve had to fight for human rights including establishing and changing laws to support fairness and justice for all”.
Frances Perkins’ vision of the government’s role is one I share. Imagine if the government and laws of the nation were designed to insure our domestic good, pursuit of happiness and prosperity for everyone. Just working together toward such a goal could bring out the best of humanity.
Thank you for the kind words, Gina. I was one of the beneficiaries of the New Deal economy: 12 years of college, grad school and law school - total tuition? Less than $17,000. Today? Would cost $689,000 in tuition. Yes, take away the people that make it happen and consume the goods and services that Zuckerberg, Bezos, Ellison, Thiel, Musk and the others profit from, and they would have nothing. Were the billionaires lucky? They were. To their credit, they came up with some great ideas, but without the people they would merely be empty thoughts.
Richard, the numbers don't lie. Beyond me how people don't understand what an oligarchy is & how it affects every portion of our lives. Go Frances! She should be a statue in the garden of heroes. Oh, wait, turnip would throw a major temper- tantrum.
Cindy, that is a great idea - a statue of Frances Perkins, but after Trump is gone from power. The very next Democratic president should advocate this and Congress should approve it and fund it. Thank you for this.
And only is that what we have right now that richard, but he actually took two of the most important issues in America today and sent it back to the voters now let’s see if you can figure with those two issues are? Two of the most critical issues are now back in the hands of the voters, instead of being in control with a few folks in Washington DC. Thank you, Donald Trump
To answer your question, I did once think about running for a local office. But I have an estranged sister who would reach deep into the skeleton closet and rattle the bones and no doubt she would. So I never ran for anything except in a road race.
Bill, who in the world has more skeletons than Trump? If that low-life ignoramus could get elected twice, who cares about your skeletons?
And remember: people are more than the worst thing they have ever done. — Bryan Stevenson
You make an excellent point, Harvey, but Trump had the benefit of knowing that there were tens of millions of white, racist bigots that he could count on for support. I doubt that Bill had such a cushion.
We all have skeletons
That is so sad. Maybe there’s a way to air the skeletons on your own terms and make them an example of growth and reform…. God knows people need those examples. The knee-jerk “gotcha” culture is poison.
After many years as a volunteer in various town functions from schools to finance, I did run and was elected (yet another volunteer position) to a select board. I advocated for open communication by encouraging the meetings being on a local cable station and getting a functioning, website set up through the then somewhat novel, emerging municipal website firms (vs. hiring a "webmaster"). I accomplished both but small town politics is a full-contact sport!
I also had a full time paying job and the crap, nastiness, and threats I had to put up with wasn't worth my time or well being.
Janet, people would be surprised at what goes on in small towns or cities like Salem OR where I live. I was once sitting next to a city councilor who was telling me about all the death threats she had received.
Are you the friendly felon among us? Bill Katz?
I’m an open book. I indulged in drugs only. Never violence. Some of which are legal today but today, I don’t inhale as they say. And I eat flax seed and chia seed and run for exercise and health and frequently explain to my doctor that I don’t like taking medication that is not absolutely necessary and overruled a former physician on one medication.
And I long ago befriended the cop who busted me and we maintained contact until last year when he told me that, as a MAGA, he was glad those two protesters were shot dead then I told him to go fuck himself and never contact me again. Such is life. But I used our periodic lunches to understand these people so I could possibly use my insights in my book, “Donald’s Vanity Tantrums.”
Exacta mua… Vote for me and I’ll set you free, lol.
I really like this list! Keep #2 right there. But I'd make #1: "Rehire the scientists and medical experts, work on the Climate Emergency with adaptation, roll out a Giant New Green Deal."
And don’t forget, rejoin WHO. The plan now is to reinvent it so it’s centered in the USA. But even that seems to be on the back burners.
People, today, are displaying engaging, enraging and enthralling ideas and head-snapping insights.
Stephanie, this is why so many of use read LFAA every day! I have lots of ooo's and awe's with every read!
Me, too!!
Bill, as a retired nurse, me & my medical friends have watched in horror as medical experts & scientists were brushed aside. We are already paying for these political maneuvers & will continue to do so. pseudo- science is just disgusting. This new batch of "experts" remind me of Chicken Little with all their off the wall 'studies.
SCOTUS reform: term limits, maximum age limit, adoption of an enforceable ethics code
Electoral College - recalculate or eliminate
Swbv- eliminate Electoral college. We no longer need horseback riders to spread the political message. Not to mention women and immigrants/ Blacks had no say- so then. Popular vote by ballot count should be the only deciding factor.
Good list of needed actions,but you missed voter's rights! Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and most other special provisions apply to jurisdictions encompassed by the "coverage formula" prescribed in Section 4(b). The coverage formula was originally designed to encompass jurisdictions that engaged in egregious voting discrimination in 1965, and Congress updated the formula in 1970 and 1975. In Shelby County (AL) v. Holder (2013), the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5 to 4 vote struck down the Section 4(b) coverage formula as unconstitutional because the coverage formula was based on data over 40 years old, making it no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden on the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states. The court did not strike down Section 5, but without a coverage formula, Section 5 is unenforceable. The jurisdictions which had previously been covered by the coverage formula massively increased the rate of voter registration purges after the Shelby decision.
Research shows that the Act successfully and massively increased voter turnout and voter registrations, in particular among blacks. The Act has also been linked to concrete outcomes, such as greater public goods provision (such as public education) for areas with higher black population shares, and more members of Congress who vote for civil rights-related legislation.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act appeared to be working well until the 2013 SCOTUS decision in Shelby County (AL) v. Holder.
Bob W, thanks for the history lesson. Leave my WA mail- cast ballot alone!
Most of us believe in all 6 items you listed, and applaud it; were it not for the difficulty of not only turning all those measures into law, but making sure they are not reversed by future administrations.
Given the US's vivid catalogue of sociopolitical history, which often didn't turn out well, there are a number of good ideas swirling around here today - lively and engaging. Praise for those of you who are promoting great ideas to turn the tables.....
That’s a start. But our education system must be revamped to teach truth in history and the Constitution so that the dimwits who think slavery was a job training program and that women and people of color have contributed nothing to society are forced to learn it. We also need to teach empathy and decency and compassion because we have clearly failed as evidence suggests. In order to ensure a nation that creates good citizens, we need to help build good people who will work together into the future.
As a person of faith, I believe we also need to reassert separation of church and state in cement (!) and reenact the Fairness Doctrine so news/media ppl are held to the highest levels of accountability!
Excellent statement on what is needed in education. IMO, we need national standards of what must be learned as Americans or else the State does not receive a cent of Federal education funds. How can the USA survive without finally accepting We the People are in fact, and have always been, one nation and not 50 divided States as the corporations want us to be. I discuss that deeply in my Memorandum at UnitedWeAmend.org.
Public schools have been forcing the pledge of allegiance on kids since before the last century and yet many Americans focus on being citizens of 50 separate "States." You might think they never began every morning saluting the nation's flag while reciting how we are one indivisible nation. Maybe they have no clue what "indivisible" means but surely the word "one" must ring a bell. Yes, teach the Constitution and our history. Teach how to connect the dots of our history to reach who we are today. Imagine the writing of the Mayflower Compact before they stepped off the boat. The idea of a contract, a written law among the people and how that grew into an American culture of written agreement, law, and then our Constitution, a Republic, a government of laws, and not of men. A compare and contrast of who We are today as a culture to who they were reveals a few steps forward with amendments as to who is included in equal rights of all individuals. It is as if the Founders had a large roll of cultural gauze wrapped around their heads covering their eyes and could only see white land-owning men. Every several generations the roll has been unwrapped and more people have been recognized. Only a child educated as an "American" with a solid grasp of that history might see we are not there yet. That we are still blinded by the culture of the past and we must distinguish between traditional values and a worthless rut, e.g., hate and irrational fears.
Jen, good luck with teaching those things. Many kids are unreachable because of what they hear at home. Then there is the sports culture in schools which does not teach any of the things you suggested. Case in point: in Washington state we have two athletes who have been accused of sexually assaulting younger teammates. No surprise from me as these sorts of things went on when I was in education.
Understood-and I know it won’t be easy but we have to try! In Scandinavia, they have instituted empathy programs in the schools-perhaps if we can reach some students, it might filter back into families. I realize this is perhaps somewhat naive but I also realize it will take generations to undo the damage these Nazis have created. We have to try-and establishing strict no-tolerance codes of ethics for students regarding bullying, assault, etc is also a no-brainer. I’m sickened to hear about the assault of student athletes-not surprised, but sickened. Frankly, is there a single woman in our country who hasn’t suffered from sexual assault on one level or another? And unreported student athletes’ assaults, male or female, must be off-the-charts. As I said, perhaps I’m naive, but I do believe we need to start somewhere and since we can’t legislate what goes on in the home, schools are a start.
No, it won't be easy and what we could be if we copied some Scandinavian programs. The things you want to reform are generational, meaning they are kept alive in certain subcultures like sports or by parents who are prejudiced. When I was teaching, we had a similar incident. The principal, a jerk in many ways, actually wanted to do the right thing, but parents of the aggressors would not have anything happen to their darlings. The father of the student who had suffered called me as the boy was in my class. I sadly had to tell him that I could do nothing. He was an immigrant and could not understand why this happening. And yes, most women would have a story to tell.
Michele, it is so amazing that most people & those in position to clean up our system, still have blinders on when sexual assault is brought up.
Bill, I love moonshot-thinking here. Now—re-articulate each goal in terms of personal prosperity. (Not to obfuscate the goal… but to reframe it in a way that garners widespread support and action.)
So: “Tax the Rich” becomes eliminate income tax on income under $250k.
Universal Coverage: Zero out-of-pocket health insurance.
Citizens United: Helmsley PAC (capping political donations to give equal voice to “the little.”)
Convict Trump Cronies: Grift Reimbursement Act (confiscated Trump-era ill-gained profits fund state projects.)
NATO: Ally reconstruction committee of Global Justice (ARC of Global Justice)
Consider that none of Trump’s actions have bothered his supporters MORE than a 70¢ increase in gas.
Bill Katz for President!!!!
Harvey for some reason your comment reminds me of 'Pat Paulsen for president'! :-0
I once intended to run for mayor of Hartford as a republican just so I could spoof the agenda. I changed parties and spoke at the little republican town committee. I thought it was in the bag but a guy I know who runs almost every cycle as an independent just so he can get his video channel out front, ran that night and talked a better game than I. So they nominated a crossover instead of me. I already had written rediculas stuff to propose.
😆
Also abolish the Electoral College.
Mary Ellen, not going to happen and any constitutional convention risks the elite putting in things that would make matters worse.
Katz for president and throw out the dogs.
Hey Bill, excellent list. Yet I do want to comment on #3, "Reverse Citizens United removing corp money in campaigns." I know what it is you mean but to actually remove mega-money form politics reversing Citizens United is not a guarantee to that end. There are two popular proposed amendments, e.g., “Citizens Over Corporations Amendment” and “For Our Freedom Amendment” which claim to reverse Citizens United but they are not the rampart, the defensive wall, we need. They fail to repeal Corporate personhood . Moreover they use legal terms such as legislatures “...may regulate...”, and “...shall have power to...”. Thus legislators are free to decide to do nothing. The result is a swinging gate left wide open to mega-money in politics. IOW, it puts us back to what got us here in the first place. I discuss all of this in my Memorandum to We the People. I discuss the who, what, when and how the corporatist fascist did all the damage to our Constitution beginning in the Industrial Revolution with Corporate personhood. I close with a model rampart amendment which begins by repealing Corporate personhood. Please read and share my Memorandum at UnitedWeAmend.org.
I understand I wrote it quickly.
Bill Katz,
If only. But you have hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, we are a greedy country and those who have money tend to hold tightly to it. Sigh!
Oh, if only it were so easy. Bill. That would be a moral high ground to steep to imagine.
Do number 3 first. The corporate money would skew the tax code rewrite and just about everything else.
Do you have these wet dreams very often their bill. Are you living in some kind of over the rainbow story or what?
Do you know what the tax breakdown really is between who pays the tax with who doesn’t? I’ll give you a little taste here the bottom, 50% of taxpayers pay 3% of the total income tax. The top one percent of taxpayers pay 40% of the total income tax. Oops time for a wake up call her Billy
Sorry I forgot to reblock you. Will do momentarily.
Yes Bill! That is a legitimate plan! You sure brought back memories of the Helmsley empire. Poor Mr. Hemsley's dementia sure left the Queen in charge. But, failed in the end. Thanks for the reminder.
It would simplify the tax code tremendously if everyone, whether individual or company, who makes more than $25,000 a year pays a flat rate of 5% of their total income, no deductions. We wouldn’t need lawyers or accountants since everyone could fill out the one page form and enclose a check for the amount due.
Of course, lawyers, accountants, bureaucrats, and companies would screech loudly and do their best to cheat and hide their income. Their income would be calculated on their total worldwide earnings, so they can’t escape this responsibility by international maneuvers.
People will say it’s unrealistic, but think how much time and stress it would save. Soon America would truly be great again, not sucked dry by the current predators and vampires in business and government.
Anyone who makes less than the cost of living should not be paying taxes.
There was a presidential candidate a few years ago, a rich guy, who proposed the flat tax, I forget his name. But if you earn $26,000, 5 % is a much bigger deal to your family financial well being than if you earn $500,000. I’m no economist but I think I got the gist of that right, as I recall from all the prior discussion of the flat tax.
Pam, Ross Perot perhaps. And yes, as my students found out, a more substantial income still comes out ahead while a lesser income pays out almost all of its income on necessities.
Steve Forbes is the one I remember from Presidential primaries beginning in 1996 (the year Elizabeth Warren and I left the Republican Party).
Though I like Elizabeth Warren's Wealth Tax proposals as I understand them, I would like to know more how they would limit the tax dodge so many of the wealthiest seem to use of not accepting salary, preferring to just borrow against their assets at a much lower interest rate than their taxes would be.
Back around 2007 and 2008 a classmate in a Hot Rod class was retired CPA that had worked for the California Board of Equalization. I had been interested in the velocity of money (M2, ratio to money supply M1, I think) as what seemed an indicator for how well the most productive middle class was doing. He seemingly agreed to the logic I was fumbling through, but didn't have an answer to what the then current velocity of money was (they had changed something that de-emphasized it IIRC), and said he would check it out before the next class. The minute he saw me he became very excited and ran over to tell me the Velocity of Money was "worse" than the worst portion of the Great Depression, when the velocity was so much lower than the total money supply, to me mostly held unproductively by not only the richest in the land but so many below them that no longer trusted banks to invest their money prudently.
Yes, Steve Forbes! Interesting about velocity.
The only good tax is the tax on the other guys. I’ve looked at the flat tax idea for years and at first thought it was a bad idea, but have become convinced that if tiered correctly it’s a good idea
Mike, my government students thought it was a good idea until they suggested actual numbers for a couple incomes and decided it was not a good idea.
which, no matter where we might look in human history, have always been there... just not as obviously, i think...
but i think yours is a very good suggestion. for what that's worth...
... SERIOUSLY?
Why should the homeless and the people on welfare have to pay the same as the billionaires?
Maybe the same percent, but that doesn’t equal the same amount of money. 5% of a dollar is five cents. 5% of a billion dollars is ?
It's not about the dollar. It's the $600 dollars for those struggling on SSI. It's the mom on TANF or the single dad on SNAP. The whole reason we are trying to support them is because they don't have money to survive. But you think that 5% is nothing? $500 is a billion when you don't even have a roof over your head.
Have you never been poor? The $50 million isn't going to affect a billionaire in any way. But that $600 to a disabled person on SSI/D could be the difference between rent and the street.
Kristin, I've been a proponent of a flat tax for longer than I can remember. However, I think everyone who earns an income, no matter how small, should pay a flat tax. If everyone has "skin in the game," everyone gains a sense of ownership of the society in which they live. It's the same idea as members of a credit union. I've never proposed a percentage because I don't have the figures to do the calculations. It's probably less than 5%.
I suspect that a flat tax would probably be the strongest tool to drive a balanced budget, too. The current debt and deficits have been driven by oligarchs who know they will never have to pay these obligations, thanks to the loopholes they've given themselves.
People who claim to be smarter than I am always tell me that it's a regressive approach and it wouldn't work. I say, "Try it and prove me wrong."
There are several reasons that a flat tax will never be implemented. Chief of the reasons is that our government has always used the tax code as a tool of social engineering, to pressure citizens to do what legislators want us to do.
Another reason is that a flat tax would eliminate the need for the tax preparation industry. U.S. taxpayers spent $16.2 BILLION on the tax preparation industry in 2024. That amount is expected to rise to $45.3 billion by 2027. The industry lobbies Congress to keep the tax code as impenetrable as possible, thereby guaranteeing the H&R Blocks and TurboTaxes an unlimited potential for revenue growth.
Another reason is that every individual and corporate taxpayer thinks they are "special" and deserve to keep their specific loopholes. A flat tax works ONLY if there are zero deductions or credits.
True now. But Karma. A high price will have to be paid whether that is financial, incarceration, or having to live with a spiritual void and a shameful legacy at the end of your life. Yes indeed that price will be paid.
as it has been throughout time...but then there's the global human debt...that's accrued on a planetary level all of our existence...and it seems that debt is coming due...one major, natural disaster at a time...war, of course, being a major contributor...
no reason to give up, of course...i'm just lucky to have lived in, imo, the best times humans might ever experience...
I’m a 73 year old Baby Boomer who also feels like I lucked out. But it doesn’t stop my very deep concern for the future…
and i imagine you're doing what you can NOW. i don't believe humans HAVE much of a future to look forward to, to be honest, based on what i've seen over the last decade...because of that 'accrued debt' i spoke of...but most of my life, AND now, i've done my best to take responsibility for whatever knowledge i think i have...it's worked well for me.
i sleep well. (and i'm older than you).
Isaac, when I see what is happening and see the death star regime undermining any effort to mitigate climate change, I have little or not hope for the future as we are destroying the planet's ability to support life as we know it. I am almost 83, so I feel lucky too.
Stories of Trump's self dealing keeps expanding. Won't it be ironic if the crimes that finally bring down the House of Trump are insider trading around his self-dealing criminal behavior. Not pedophilia, not tariffs, not DOGE, not "It's Going to be Wild" RFK Jr, not a big pile of Constitutional violations, not his in your face graft, not ICE murders, not the murder of alleged drug runners in boats, not decapitation of foreign leaders and so forth. It's like mobsters of yore who never paid for their murders but went to prison for tax evasion. Whatever it takes, the American People are abandoning Trump/MAGA in droves. Retribution is coming. A MASSIVE No Kings rally this weekend will keep the ball rolling.
Bastard should be put on trial for ALL of it with a generous helping of RICO so that all of that corrupt money can be clawed back.
Merrill, did you know you can legally (however, perhaps that term is obsolete now during the that the gang criminals are supposedly’n charge’)withold 50% of your Fed Tax for an illegal unauthorized war? You can donate that amount to an organization for The Greater Good 😊 ie
ACLU, international medical corp, Doctors Without Borders….
Yes it’s taking a risk,
but, ‘if not when?’
From The Guardian 3/26/26
Opinion
I am not paying American war taxes this year. Will you join me?
Clara Vondrich
War tax resistance has a venerable tradition dating back to days before the US was even born. It’s time to revive this tradition
Thu 26 Mar 2026 06.00 EDT
Changing deductions won’t work. We may need to change congress.
Everyone who has given a second thought knows that it is the money in politics that has given rise to a dysfunctional democracy and a government own and run by the oligarchs.
I told my friend yesterday when we get a busy mom with 3 kids into the Oval Office as president she will whip this country into shape. The first thing she will do is throw out this bs complicated tax program and put in place a flat tax across the board based on income- all income. No more tax loopholes.
Get rid of income inequality and then work on racism and we may be able to claw our way back to being a respected country.
Because, of course, we should be throwing the homeless in jail for tax evasion rather than make the rich pay their share??
If you don't even make enough to pay for a roof over your head why should you be paying the same as Elon Musk? Billionaires mostly live off of loans. They are rich, they are 'good for it'. So the banks loan them millions that they live off from. Then their corporations pay the loans back as a business expense.
As it's not a 'salary' (it's a reduction in equity) they don't have to pay taxes.
But that disabled person living in their tent in the alley or on the edge of the highway should have to pay a flat tax on the $998 a month that they get from Social Security? The $600 they would owe in taxes is huge to them... They already can't afford a place to live. They already pay half of their SSI in child support (or old court fines). Now we will take food out of their mouth so that the code is 'fair'?
How is any of that 'fair'?
This persons income doesn't even reach poverty level... and there isn't a state in the union that you can afford an apartment on minimum wage.
Income inequality goes WAY WAY beyond stupid income taxes.
Well…I imagine if 8 million No Kings members called and pounded Congress, they’d make something new happen. We just have to stay on it.
The rich wrote the tax code Mary.
Mary E, the US sure needs an updated tax code to limit the "fair" cheating by rich people & businesses. I am Watching my state of WA fight for different taxes & I hope it will work towards undoing all the free gifts people get through deductions.
You could further modify it into a combined income and net worth tax. The tax rate would actually be lower overall because wealthier individuals typically have a much higher net worth. The issue with taxing only income is that many wealthy people set up structures to hold their assets in ways that never generate qualified income for tax purposes. Our economy has changed since the original tax laws were written, and they need to be updated to reflect how wealth is accumulated today. I actually like the idea of everyone paying a flat tax from zero income/wealth and then providing allowances based on region to ensure basic living expenses are met. In other words, if someone earns a poverty wage, they’ll get a larger check back than a multimillionaire who receives nothing. By taxing everyone equally, we eliminate the harmful rhetoric used against people who earn less just because they earn less—removing the 'taker' language used against economically disadvantaged individuals.
Hey, Virginia. I was heartened to hear Heather call out "the elephant in the room" in one of her chats or conversations advocating for getting rid of the tax cuts to billionaires. That would go a long way toward paying for these much needed programs.
So would not having any more wars.
Wars make rich people richer. F* ‘em.
or make THEM fight them?
First of all, reforming the Individual Income tax code is a fool's errand at this point in time. Every 5 months the Republicans are increasing the national debt by $1 trillion. And no one say a thing about it. Trump's private army of brown shirts was funding through Trump's term into 2029. The single best reform to the Individual tax code would be to reinstate the alternative minimum tax that was in place in 1985. Joe Biden tried to implement an AMT for individuals and corporations of 15% and he got nowhere thanks to Joe Manchin and the Republicans like Susan Collins who brags about the trinkets she is throwing to the people of Maine.
Waste, fraud, and abuse. That is what we have.
Morning, Lynell! I haven't heard that chat yet (I'm a bit behind). I look forward to hearing about that!
Virginia Witmer,
As Joe Biden has said, "We are the United States of America! We can do anything that we set our minds to do!" (approximate quote)
We are not "poorer" by spending money to invest in America and in lifting up American citizens of all colors!!!! We are stronger, we become closer to one another when we are willing to share and willing to care for each and all!
Saturday is No Kings III protests around the country. Whether you are planning to attend or not, you can recruit people to attend by putting a sign in your yard letting people know where they can go to protest on Saturday, 3/28 and when.
Also, when you attend take pictures of your favorite signs and send them to your local paper. The MSM has been underreporting the number of attendees and showing pictures of the camaraderie that has been occurring at the rallies.
Invite the editor of your local paper to attend as well as reporters. With 3000 registered protest venues and hundreds more unregistered this is BIG news.
I predict something news worthy and awful will take over the news cycle Saturday. I hope I am wrong GJ. He is so predictable though. I hope for the safety of our military people and the lives of all people.
Given that he gave Iran '5 days' on Monday.. I expect he will do something horrible Friday night. That is his normal MO. He does his worst on the weekends when the markets are closed and the MSM is asleep.
Yep, that’s looking very likely.
so are sporting events.
G J…
Totally agree re AMT
Yes, Emily, and I have just spent time letting Sender and Kauffman know that they are not as bright as they think they are, nor as powerful. Thought: maybe they’re jealous of HCR!
And reduce our nation’s insolvency!
Frances Perkins was a "giant" among mere mortals. Her theory of government: "The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to facilitate the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life." Frances Perkins is the person most responsible for our having Social Security. The legislation had been drafted but there was the issue: how to make it legal? Frances was the first ever and the only female cabinet member in FDR's Administration. So, she socialized with the wives of Cabinet members and Supreme Court Justices. Following one luncheon Frances was waiting with the wife of a Supreme Court Justice. When he arrived to pick up his wife, Frances ran the problem by the justice, how to make it legal. His response: "Call it a tax. Congress has the power to tax." Fast forward: that is the argument that Chief Justice John Roberts used to legalize Obamacare.
Thank you, Richard Sutherland. That’s the kind of story Heather’s letters encourage. As I am a musician (trusting you know the fake Ann Landers column that ends with something like “and my brother is a murderer, but how do I let the woman I want to marry know that I am a musician”), politics was frequently only staying informed and voting, but the long look at US from France really hardened my Democratic politics and refreshed my year of 18th century French lit.
I propose Legend-of-Zelda style taxes. You cannot have more than 999,999 dollars: every dollar after that will be left lying for someone else to pick up.
Rupies!!!!
Love reading your arranging stories, Ally. Having done some as a graduate student in Musicology having to complete some undergraduate requirements and being married to a French horn player. My motto these days: musicians can do anything they set their minds to. I’ve known ones who did just that.
=pling= !! :D :D
Zelda got my wife through grad school; I had just started working at the Sheriff's Office and was assigned to graveyard corrections. I'd get up at about 10 and have coffee on the couch as I woke up enough to go to work.
Interestingly, the chamber group (tuba/euphonium players; 14-18 members depending on availability) had a director who arranged some of the music from "The Legend of Zelda" about 15 years ago. Only two of us were familiar with the music!
A novel idea I heard yesterday is to levy income taxes on robots who are replacing people in industry. I can't imagine the pluses and minuses of that, but it bears some study. Idea came from a venture capitalist who's well connected to global economics, in context of a conversation about China's most advanced factories where robots work 24/7, often in the dark, producing goods that are integral to manufacturing elsewhere.
Interesting Joan. Some days some things are so over my head it is hard to think.
I try very hard - and have almost always - try not to be insulting. But think about it - and this morning, the first comment that I see is the one by Virginia Witmer, which reaffirmed in my mind the solid opinion that Republicans will literally “f-up a wet dream”! There have been very Republican POTUS’ who have done a very good job in that role. Think back in history of who to blame or did a very poor job of managing our nation’s business.
The Great Depression, the Great Recession, Watergate, MAGA…folks, I kinda feel embarrassed that I am living at a time to witness the worse occupant ever elected to be president of the U.S. of America…and while at the same time witness a bunch of “p”…weak, spineless and gutless individuals elected to Congress renege on their responsibilities to facilitate the grift and the attempted dismantling of almost 250 years of hard and smart work with a beautifully structured and impressive experimental form of government!
I always thought that in the 2016 presidential campaign, that it should have been a Biden/Clinton ticket! I now know with certainty that I was right. Our Democratic Party elected and non-elected leaders made a big mistake back then. I know, hindsight is 20/10, and I also know that Mr. Biden had to deal with the death of a son - but look at the mess and embarrassment that this country now presents to the world.
In 1966, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a Congressional Intern in one of — if not best Congresses in our nation’s history. The 89th Congress
Congressional Profiles | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives , one where the
https://history.house.gov/Congressional-Overview/Profiles/89th/
Democrats won/held huge majorities in Congress, outnumbering Republicans 295-140 in the House of Representatives and 68-32 in the Senate.
We have a lot of work to do people. I have no kids and almost no relatives that just before and when I depart this life-form, will cause me to worry. If departing this life-form means that we can see and meet with old friends and acquaintances, I’ll be anxious to see Senator Claude Pepper and his wife Mildred, Hubert Humphrey and Muriel, LBJ whom although I was in the same room or near him on three occasions. I never got nor made the chance to meet or to shake his hand and some wonderful classmates, friends and teachers along with my parents!
I was a Congressional Intern during the 93rd Congress -- the one that impeached Richard Nixon -- fortunate enough to work in the office of one of the only constitutional scholars in the House, Bob Eckhardt, representing what was then Texas's 8th District in mostly East Houston. He and Barbara Jordan were colleagues and friends -- and our office got complimentary tickets to sit in the gallery of the Judiciary Committee in August 1974. Just for 15 minutes, no more (I think we were allowed to sit for 30) and not quite for the actual Committee vote to impeach. I was the intern in sneakers who ran to the Supreme Court the morning it handed down its 8-0 decision against Richard Nixon to be one of the first to get 1 of the 25 or so just-printed copies of its judgement. I know what it is like to work in exciting times for a Congressperson you respect.
It's easy to look back and say had only this happened, we wouldn't be where we are today. But David Axelrod helped convince Biden not to run in 2016, and that seemed wise counsel then. I can't know what it is like to have lost not one child, but three altogether. And we also know because we've read the Mueller report that Russia played a significant role in creating all the conditions that led to Trump defeating Hillary in 2016.
Hindsight is often perfect. Living in the moment always comes with difficult choices that have to be made. Let's take responsibility for trying to make the right choices for the future right now. And wave hello to Hubert Horatio when you get the chance to see him again....!
Fascinating...having had the opportunity to be there and to work there for almost four months, one gets a wide and informative perception and perspective of our nation. I was lucky as "the Senator" (Claude Pepper) and HHH, were close friends. One of my most memorable experiences while there, aside from a surprise 21st birthday celebration in the Cannon HOB, was dinner at a restaurant called the Congressional, when the Senator related his experiences on a trip to Germany at the request of FDR, when he had dinner in the same restaurant where Hitler often ate...and yes, while there, Hitler did come in to dine. I still get a chill when I recall hearing him tell of his and his wife's experiences on that evening during and later after dinner. Stay safe!
JL, my father-in-law was in the cadre of Air Force One pilots, and was detailed as LBJ's pilot when he left the White House. He had some stories!!
wow Ally, that's impressive! I hope that you've been well and staying safe? I had some wonderful experiences during my years of working for and with and knowing Claude Pepper. During my time with him in D.C., it fun to be able to sit and "pull letters" for him once he signed them. He would occasionally have comments about the person to whom he was writing and would sometimes add personal notes to them. Although he had the automated sign machine, he was "old school" and the preference for personally signing as much of his correspondence as possible. This was after his days in the Senate.
Yeah, my f-i-l was pretty special. USAF Lt. Col at retirement, flew until he'd be desked and then retired. Detached with the 5th Special Forces Group in Laos and Cambodia. Albatross missions into Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis; two bronze stars. He was also a trumpian asshole at the end of his life. Vascular dementia sucks.
Americans keep voting for Republicans — and now they're getting exactly what they asked for. As long as money rules politics, this is the predictable result: two parties wedded to their donors, one more nakedly than the other.
To be fair, Democrats at least propose policies that serve the common good. But in American politics, HATE sells. Hate is how we got Trump. Fear and hatred are simply more powerful motivators than even greed — and any politician who understands that has a weapon no policy paper can match.
Harvey, I agree that you've identified the two motivators that drive humans, but I don't agree with how you prioritized them.
Greed is the extension of the natural instinct of every creature on the planet, including the human ones. Most animals spend their waking hours searching for food and eating it. Some animals, including humans, search for resources and hoard the excess for times of scarcity. Only the human animal has the capacity to create schemes to take more than s/he needs or could ever utilize, simply because it's possible to do so.
By contrast, hatred is not an instinctual response. Predator animals do not hate their prey. They hunt and eat their prey for survival. Prey animals don't hate predators; they fear them and avoid them. When fights occur in the animal kingdom, they're rooted in survival. Only humans experience hatred. It is a learned response, and only humans can teach it to other humans.
While greed and hatred are both powerful drivers of human decisions, I'm convinced that greed is the stronger of the two. In fact, when you consider the various hatreds harbored by U.S. voters, they hate the "others" because they believe the others are taking something away from them, usually jobs or benefits, which go back to the survival instinct. Hatred of LGBT persons is purely irrational, as they are taking nothing away from straight folks. But that hatred is based in religion, which is purely irrational.
I agree with enormous income tax rates for the ridiculously wealthy. Carnegie libraries, Vanderbilt museums, standard oil education grants and so much more are bedrocks of our society. What do they need all this money for? Just like the rest of us paupers, they’re going to end up dead in the end. Un f*ing believable. Greedy b*stards.
We could also find a lot of cash on hand by stopping the funding of ICE and the war on Iraq. Think of what a billion dollars a day could achieve in America's inner city and rural schools!
We could also. make it illegal for convicted snake oil salesmen and women to run for public office Nancy.
Frances Perkins should be the role model for every damn Democrat, since of course the christofascists on the other side would applaud the death of so many "immigrants".
Here's a chapter on the impact of Frances Perkins. And Mary McLeod Bethune.
https://jimthehistorian.substack.com/p/the-conscience-of-the-new-deal-frances
I don’t want to pay any taxes this year! I don’t want to support Israel any more, the war in Iran, the destruction of our wild lands, the destruction of science or the destruction of our energy infrastructure.
I believe it was 90%, and there were so many loopholes in the law that very few paid that rate. The top rate was reduced to 70% in 1969, and then to 50% a few years later.
“You must have the government intervene in workplace situations.”
This is what Heather said in her podcast earlier today, on the anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist debacles, talking with Timothy Snyder.
“The future needs to have a big idea.”
This was from Timothy Snyder, in that same podcast with Heather.
They talked about growing U.S. monopoly in recent decades – how mainstream and social media, fossil fuel, and other monopolies have coincided with organized pushes for more wealth for the wealthy, from the 1971 Powell memo to 2010 Citizens United, to Donald’s tilt to the Epstein classes today. The war in Iran, Timothy noted, began “in consultation with international oligarchs,” resulting now in “a total bonanza for Russia.”
But he sees one key hope, that: “If everybody does their little thing, it’s going to be fine.” For instance, if we keep talking with each other here on Heather’s site, we in our collective clarities will be standing firmly to push back against Donald’s criminal and corrupt autocrat linkages.
Many celebrate instead not our contacts with each other, but first and foremost our contacting mainly higher-ups in public office. One person on Heather’s site keeps a list of those officials here, and is in a hurry every day to repeat publishing it. But she never communicates anything with anyone here aside from her repeat presenting that list. So I’m grateful Heather had Timothy Snyder on her podcast today, for him to stress as higher priority our needs for constructive contacts with each other.
Heather and Timothy are brave defenders of democracy. I can't wait until the next no kings protest on Saturday! Let's keep singing the no kings anthem together: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/no-kings-anthem
I believe King Charles III is visiting on the occasion of America’s 250th Anniversary Celebrations. My sentiment may be politically incorrect, but right now I would far rather be ruled by King Charles III than Mad King Donald!
That visit seems undecided. Let's hope he does not come to 'honor' the current president.
King Charles III is known for not mincing words. His speech may well be tantamount to a verbal whipping of Little Donnie.
After stripping his own brother of titles and relegating Andrew to Marsh Farm, I can’t imagine why King Charles III would want to be associated with Donald Trump.
I agree. I can't understand why the King favored him with a state visit! The King is a model of civility and dignity and our president does not have one redeeming feature.
Do not kid yourselves. The beneficiary of the “ ordained by god to rule” system may not approve of our boorish president, but Charles, William and the rest of them are not on the side of our democracy.
I hope he does not come -- my husband is British and feels the same.
Lucky you, you and your husband have an option if you want to leave here. I can't imagine that a visit is safe for anyone now.
He reigns, but doesn’t rule. Parliament and the Cabinet holds the real power. Trump is behaving more like Thailand’s king, who behaves as an ancient Thai monarch in his attachment to autocratic power and who wants to govern from luxury hotels in Germany and Switzerland.
Precisely! And thank you for making the important distinction between reign and rule. I should have been more precise.
Our president would love to have a law like Thailand's which makes it a crime to insult/criticize the monarchy.
I’m sure he would, but the First Amendment wouldn’t permit it.
He's trying his best to circumvent the law, though, by using laws that are on the book to prosecute/persecute his enemies maliciously and fraudulently.
I watched a cool 2 season series on Britbox called Total Control about this distinction Kathy. I really enjoyed it.
Arctic, it seems that everyone has utterly forgotten that Charles cheated on Diana with Camilla. I really don't see how Charles is any model of moral turpitude.
Charles' stripping of Andrew's royal trappings had less to do with personal integrity and more to do with public image.
Charles is a cheater. That he would visit another cheater isn't so surprising.
How about we not have a ruler at all, just the democracy the original rulers sold us.
I think he has already canceled that trip. ?
We all have parts to play. The broader the scope, the better, the more inventive and resilient. Democracy demands ceaseless well informed, well considered, good faith conversion; else how could it be a democracy?
From The NY Times regarding support for the war in Iran.
There are also wide age gaps among Republicans:
84% of Republicans 65 and older and 79% of those 50 to 64 approve of how Trump is handling the conflict.
Smaller shares of younger Republicans – 49% of those 18 to 29 and 60% of those 30 to 49 – say the same.
How can my generation be so stupid?
I guess these are the fools that still have cable and watch Fox News from the time they wake up until the go to bed. Their brains are all mush.
“handling the conflict”
that HE started
The ridiculousness of this is breathtaking is it not?
I'm nearly 70 and I think Trump is full of 💩
GJ, perhaps one explanation for our generation's stupidity is that most of us are religious. Isn't faith basically believing in the existence of something (or someone) that your eyes tell you doesn't exist?
Younger generations aren't buying the whole religion thing, so maybe they're less susceptible to brainwashing.
Stories of Trump's self dealing keeps expanding. Won't it be ironic if the crimes that finally bring down the House of Trump are insider trading around his self-dealing criminal behavior. Not pedophilia, not tariffs, not DOGE, not "It's Going to be Wild" RFK Jr, not a big pile of Constitutional violations, not his in your face graft, not ICE murders, not the murder of alleged drug runners in boats, not decapitation of foreign leaders and so forth. It's like mobsters of yore who never paid for their murders but went to prison for tax evasion. Whatever it takes, the American People are abandoning Trump/MAGA in droves. Retribution is coming. A MASSIVE No Kings rally this weekend will keep the ball rolling.
Yes, J L. And Heather has emphasized -- more than once -- the need to write officials.
I'd like, however, to get this in balance.
Too many get fixated on the need much more primarily to look up to authorities, to see officials as more vital to us than we may be to each other.
Testing inculcates this abject, dismissive thinking. Testing teaches that it's the authorities who ask the questions, only they -- not mere us ever.
It is harder to collaborate effectively as our population grows, but I think we could do a better job of it nevertheless. Years ago, while visiting a friend in rural Vermont, we stopped by a hill on which there was someone running and old car engine removed from a car, with the crankshaft rigged to a tireless car wheel which powered a rope supported by pulleys that stretched some distance up the hill. It was a ski rope tow for kids in the region who paid nothing to use it, the "bunny hill" supervised by volunteer adults. That seemed a flower of a real community. Not so easy with higher population densities, but perhaps we could be more clever and caring about how neighborhoods interact. Less narcissistic. I think we have that capacity within us.
I think every human being is effectively a unique experiment. I think every human being is simultaneously more alike and more unique than we are apt to acknowledge, even apt to admit to ourselves. Solidarity furthers, conformity no. We stand on the shoulders of giants, yes, but also, and more fundamentally on the shoulders of countless millions of unique human beings largely ignored by our reports of news and history. The gift of life and sentience is without measure, and the better we know ourselves, as individuals and collectively, and also coherently get to know and map our full set of circumstances, in all of the ways we are capable, the richer our hour upon the stage is likely to be.
Vermonters' self-reliance and ingeniuty co-evolving with circumstances that favor local action produced that fun contraption.
Looming problems with population density and managing solid waste in places with shallow water tables keep pointing (in my mind) to neighborhood facilities for composting, water treatment, hgydroponics with pasteurized urine and more but the land is too expensive. Then I get to the larger problem that so many people live alone in single-family dwellings, and how more shared models make sense for single people and for families raising kids in multigenerational communities. The unpopular thought came to mind of coastal people (I am one) moving inland which might also solve some of the havok caused by cultural misunderstandings, mis and dis-information inland, between the coasts, All the problems that caused people to vote for the current regime. My morning rambling, in response to a sense that our nation is presenting us with a Design Problem.
In a few places in the US, there is the "Eden Alternative" which is a co-housing, intergenerational community. There's one in Ithaca NY. I think this is the concept of which you speak. Not a commune, but there is the option for shared meals, and much more.
Similar, yes. I checked out co-housing in WA and OR a few years ago and in each case, the costs were prohibitive because of the architects, consultants, contractors who got percentages to guide the projects to completion. I'm thinking, for that reason that smaller more local, lless professional perhaps, but working with viable templates. Permitting can present huge obstacles. There's s summit coming up in Seattle in May: https://www.coopartnerships.org/community-events/2026/5/16/the-cohousing-summit-seattle. BUT, this isn't quite it -- something about what grows from participatory local needs that captures enthusiasm and shared investment from low and moderate income people who aren't funding their buy-ins with cashed in realestate formerly earned, and secure pensions from concluded careers. A conundrum.
Yes Joan, I too am living on the coast in a flood zone a bit north of you. I have watched the waste of FEMA repeatedly rebuilding homes in places no homes should be built - at the taxpayers expense.I have always argued how wrong and dumb this is even though it could be me one day needing FEMA help.
The other crazy thing is there is a big housing shortage and people like me are hanging on to larger than necessary homes bc we can't afford to move. Everything is upside down!
And I happen to enjoy reading your morning ramblings.
You make me wonder about the US Constitution. What if the framers had had the foresight o split the country once in reach either a geographic size or a certain population level. Watching the Ken Burn's series on the revolution one of the things that allowed the US to continue to press westward was when Canada was limited from going south into what is now Ohio, Kentucky and further west. What if the US had been split East Coast to the Alleghany MT, the Midwest, the Mideast and then the West. Or some other division. But at least 3 countries and up to seven.
I love the visual - reminds me of the dad who builds a box in his front yard in the winter, fills it with water and the kids skate and play games there together. I love this so much and wish it were the norm.
"You must have government intervene in workplace situations". True. I posted memo earlier this week that a New Mexico jury just intervened to start a new era of digital law.
The jury ordered META & Google [ the App YouTube] to pay $375 million dollars in damages to protect the children of New Mexico from purposeful child exploitation on these powerful Platforms.
The psychological intent according to the evidence at trial was to exploit a child's NEGATIVE feelings about themselves to manipulate a New Mexico child's development. The jury found 75,000 violations & rewarded about $5,000 for each violation.
During trial, META & Google attempted to play their Get-out-of-Jail-Free-Card (Section 230.) Ah, that didn't work. META's & Google (YouTube) last ditch defense was that the Platforms had a 1st amendment right to exploit New Mexico children. That argument went down in flames🔥.
The Jury determined that META & Google's behavior was a "substantial factor" in causing the harm to children. Never forget it; this jury verdict heralds a major shift in our digital law.
The brilliant Plaintiff's Attorney was LAURA MARQUEZ GARRET of the Social Media Victims Law Center. Excellent intervention Counsel. ⚖️
***********************************************
UPDATE per Ali Vitali, 3/25/26 at 2 AM Pacific.
The Plaintiff, "Kaly" now 20 years old was awarded $6 million dollars 70% to be paid by META. The jury was 7 women & 5 males.
"Kaly" fell victim to the "beautiful" filters. I would approximate the number of other civil court cases pending as more than 1500.
I noticed a change in YouTube over the past few years. They purposely introduce the viewer to streams that you have watched previously and pounds the hell out of you with all kinds of AI altered crap. I only use YouTube to facilitate recording my songs. It works fine for that singular purpose. I’m not interested interacting with anyone else on the site. It’s all planed algorithmic garbage. But for a child and adults this can easily suck one into endless streams of crap.
I love seeing your name in the comments. Reminds me of the days when Katz and Maus were on the O.R. schedule :)
Please explain.
I'm guessing that "Katz and "Maus" on an operating room schedule tickled the funny bone of someone who might think that cats and mouse would be running amok in the OR.
I see. I am using my name in my forth coming book, “Katz on Cats and Other Animal Tails.”
Btw, I just saw a documentary last evening on Barbara Hudson who was quite an extraordinary woman. I never knew she was lesbian as she kept it quiet. I’m disappointed that Jimmy Carter didn’t appoint her to be his Attorney General as she had interviewed for the position. That would have been historic.
Focused purpose, good comment Bill.
Thank you. Now I understand the basis for the case and can delight in the verdict. NM media has not been able to present the case clearly and succinctly.
Thank you. It took me 3 or 4 drafts but, I used to make closing statements to Jurors at Trial.
Maybe it's not Megan's job to do anything more than what she's doing here, Mr. Balla. Perhaps as a mother and full-time grade school teacher she has less time to spare on pontification. Maybe she chooses simply to communicate a valuable service to readers without trying to demean or trivialize what they choose to do with that information. Do you?
The work Megan has done on that list is incredible - I think that is one of the most meaningful contributions anyone has ever made to this group and beyond.
''Now Showing at the White House: War, Lies, and Stuff Blowing Up''
America is now apparently being governed like a man half-watching an action movie in an airport lounge.
According to recent reporting, the president is receiving wartime briefings in a form specially tailored to his intellectual comfort zone, a highlight reel of “the biggest, most successful strikes” and, one assumes, the choicest footage of things exploding on cue. Not history, not context, not consequences, not the dull and unglamorous burdens of statecraft. Just the cinematic edit. Foreign policy as trailer. National security as a sizzle reel for a man who regards attention span as an act of oppression.
It is actually impressive, in a grotesque way. Previous presidents were handed intelligence. This one apparently needs a Michael Bay cut with fewer words and more fireballs. Somewhere in the Situation Room, serious people are probably standing around trying to decide whether the next military update needs more flag imagery, bigger fonts, or a voice-over saying, “Mr. President, this is the part where America looks super tough.”
This is not leadership. It is elderly-adolescent brand management with missiles.
And really, it tells you everything. The administration does not seem to believe the president should understand reality. It believes he should feel good while passing through it. Why burden the man with complexity when you can hand him a two-minute montage of American dominance, flattering angles, and loud booms? Why explain the regional stakes, civilian costs, or long-term risks when you can simply whisper “very successful, sir” and hit play?
So here we are, a nuclear superpower run like a focus group for fragile masculinity. The republic faces war, authoritarianism, corruption, and democratic decay, and the commander in chief is being fed government by clip package.
Coming soon to a collapsing empire near you, Top Grift: Maverick. Rated R for recklessness, delusion, and repeated damage to the Constitution.
Your comment should be somewhere near the top. Perhaps no information out of the daily barrage was so revealing as the New York Times article (I think) about Trump being sat down every morning to watch big, loud, bang-bang, bomb' em video clips (complete with little emojis, bubbles and god-knows what). The cinematic special effects -- no director, no knowledge, no point. Bigger fonts, crank up the volume. Baby Huey just loves him some noise along with his hamberder and Diet Coke. Another success for the "focus group for fragile masculinity" indeed.
We are so far beyond 25th Amendment time and yes, the whiff of collapsing empire is all about. I just pray (and work) that we will figure out how to keep the best of it as all the various Rube Goldberg contraptions start to heave and crumble. Thanks again for your post.
"It is elderly-adolescent brand management with missiles."
This is the perfect summary. Donald, a learning-disabled adult with arrested emotional development is now sinking into dementia. The most appealing – and quieting – form of entertainment for a person with this mentality is a video presentation.
Yes, Michael, "a nuclear superpower run like a focus group for fragile masculinity."
We so need a return to schools run by teachers.
Well, I don't know if we really ever had it. But we sure have gotten further, further away from its possibility.
Politicians, bureaucrats, evangelicals, and standardized testers (all anonymous, depersonalized, dehumanized elites ever presuming only they should ask any questions).
You're like a wind-up doll, Mr. Balla. Doesn't matter what the article is about, pull a string and you go standardized testing! standardized testing! It's actually quite disrespectful to the intellectual caliber of the person you responded to, to say nothing of being simply tiresome.
Like Snyder’s exhorting of making eye contact and small talk in On Tyranny. I agree 100%. We can go deeper than small talk sometimes now too and note the gravity of predicaments. Here’s to constructive contacts, the more the better.
In fairness to the person you mention, in my limited experience I believe she will respond to comments people make on her posts.
Yes, correct you are, Brother Chris -- she does.
She responds "to comments people make on her posts," but only about her interest in writing officials, an interest many, many share.
But so many others commenting here raise a plethora of fine points in many other areas -- but all connected to healthy American community. These commenters seem all, however, to lack power, to lack public office, or to be in contention for office.
Those who put their comments in later often appear far, far down in the thread, where very few others go. I often read -- and reply to -- many of these far-down, mostly un-read others.
But then, I'm odd. I want schools to teach essay writing skills so youth learning English in many countries introduce themselves in their cultures. I'd like to see schools then swap batches of essays with schools farther off, for good communication among groups that otherwise have no communication with "others."
Phil,
I also listened to the Heather/Tim video yesterday.
The message was "Every person can play a part. Even just posting a sign in your window."
Megan is doing way more than that. She is providing a bulletin board for others like me to pin threads about what we think is doable and important on any given day. Her post keeps those action-oriented threads visible and accessible near the top of the comments. You can quickly collapse the threads of the direct replies to her posts to see those action items and then pick and choose what you want to focus on for the day and access the details. And you have access to an extensive curated resource of places to send your thoughts where they can make a difference.
She is providing a structure for action while living a life with work and young kids. It is a service to all of us that Substack does not provide, since you can't key word search.
I think it is a brilliant example of a small daily act with enormous potential impact. It is, to my mind, exactly what Heather and Tim were talking about.
PS. Thank you to the people who like Megan's post every day so that her bulletin board stays near the top of comments.
Thank you, Georgia, for your good, rousing re-affirmation of her postings.
Thank you, too, for notes on the inner workings and options this young mother's postings provide to so many.
The numbers of those giving her a "like" speaks for itself.
Thank you for being odd Phil. I can be odd too. These times when so much including and beyond American democracy is at stake and imperiled, call for standing out—another of Snyder’s points. I wish my morning allowed me time to say more but I must keep moving today. Here’s to connections and us taking risks and bringing everyone along that we can.
Agreed, and to add a note from Robert Reich in his Substack yesterday, "So please don’t thank me. Thank yourself and the activists around you. Be thankful that we still have enough freedom to oppose this vicious regime. And continue to use that freedom as wisely and effectively as you can.
RR"
At least one big idea seems to be emerging from the courts, which is that despite the Section 230 shield from being liable for content, online platforms are liable for harm caused by what silicon valley calls "stickiness engineering." This has two parts, which includes, but is not limited to content. The engineering goal is to increase ad revenue by designing their platforms to retain eyeballs for as long as possible. That directly translates to increased clickthrough rates. While the two big cases that have found for the plaintiffs for harm caused and awarded damages based on that, the punitive damage portion is still to be decided.
This is potentially a hugely impactful result in the political arena. Stickiness engineering or addiction (the term the lawyers are using) is the vehicle by which information bubbles have had their effectiveness increased so dramatically. I am firmly convinced this was the key to Trump's election. We just need to see some punitive damages sufficiently large to drive behavior modification. One thing that provides hope is that even though so far it is just two cases, they have provided a roadmap for the plaintiffs in the thousands of similar cases working their way through the courts.
There is a strong parallel here with the effectiveness of Joseph Goebbels' work for the Third Reich. There is a fascinating series of videos about this on YouTube discussing the experience of German POWs during WWII. The one about the nurses taken to Medicine Hat, Alberta is particularly revealing about how effective information bubbles can be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahd2CSwHQaY
When trying to understand how many of the MAGA crowd can believe the nonsense they do, it is helpful to use a technique that Toyota manufacturing engineers call "The 5 Whys." When trying to analyze something one is trying to improve, ask why something is the way it is, and then, why the initial answer is the way it is, and so on until why has been asked at least five times. It's like being a 2 year old on steroids. The aim is to keep asking why until one gets at the root issue. Stickiness engineering is a root issue or cause for many of our current political problems. It's not the only one, but it is a very big one. It is has also played a very big role in the destruction of local newspapers, by sucking off most of their advertising revenue.
Re corruption. I wanna know what happened to the concept of qui tam?
Google: Qui tam is a legal mechanism allowing private individuals (whistleblowers or "relators") to sue companies or individuals defrauding the government on behalf of the state, typically under the False Claims Act. Originating from Latin meaning "he who sues for the king as well as for himself," it enables whistleblowers to receive a portion (often 15%–30%) of recovered funds.
Craig Dupler,
I think that all too often people are too lazy to explore all the facts regarding actions being taken by our government officials and just go with their social group. For some, belonging is more important that researching to find "truth". This attitude makes for dangerous times. Wealth does NOT equal wisdom! Faith is not just a label...it is expressed in the love and care for one another, rich or poor, all colors and languages....not confined by politics!
Indeed. The left is prone to the same issues, but there is a difference that has a strong correlation to housing density. Conventional political wisdom says that the suburbs tend to be the swing districts. Digging deeper into that, at the precinct level, whether the majority tends to vote liberal or conservative very strongly correlates to the number of people per acre. Below 20 the precinct tends to vote conservative. Above 25 it tends to vote liberal. 20-25 it is a swing precinct. Digging deeper into that (our third why), people tend to be more tolerant and even embracing of our differences as we are packed more tightly together. It's a natural survival thing easily observed in the way people behave in an elevator. It's not a thinking thing so much as an automatic behavioral shift, and it shows in the way we vote.
Yes, very like the approach used by the famous and wild German psychologist, Fritz Perls. The distorted behavior and attitudes of persons have a root cause, and the process of finding that cause in order to address the underlying pathology takes time. He likened it to peeling back the layers of an onion. While it's tempting to say that MAGAts act as they do because they're stupid, it is likely much more complex, with deep roots.
Phil, I hope I misread what seems like a negative comment toward Megan. It takes a lot of work and time to build out a spread sheet like our patriot Megan keeps up to date. I for one am grateful to anyone who is doing the slightest effort to rid our country of this blatant corruption.
A question of balance, Marj.
We're out of kilter when so many "like" primarily appeal to authorities, as opposed to replying to, enjoying, amplifying each other.
Timothy Snyder got that eminently, decently correctly in his talk with Heather yesterday on her podcast.
When things hit the fan here in Minneapolis we demonstrated spontaneous efforts to take care of one another that resonated with people across the world. This can be a basis for a political movement. How much money does any one person need? Tax the rich!
Phil, not everyone is on this Substack for the same reasons. Everyone comes from a different place and has a different background, and different experiences. You are one who appears to appreciate the interaction and the dialogue that different people bring, and enjoy having long posts that engage a variety of other Readers.
Megan is a mom with at least two kids who are small single digit ages (I don't know offhand their ages, but they're young). Your recurring theme is the decline of (if not the destruction of) our public education system. Hers is the importance of contacting congress critters and providing an easy way for those of us less motivated or able to research that contact information ourselves.
I have opinions (as my dad said with sarcasm "opinions are like @$$holes, everybody has at least one, and sometimes more than they need") and usually I keep the more negative ones to myself, although they do creep out from time to time.
I think everyone has a role to play in turning this situation around. I see no value in denigrating anyone’s meaningful good-faith contribution to the resistance. It takes a village, and the worst thing any of us can do is think we alone have all the answers.
I see this forum as a place where both outward and inward resistance to tyranny are taking place. We exchange ideas, and yes, sometimes argue over them. But through that a consensus often emerges that we can take to our outward-looking presence, which like it or not, isn’t going away. We have to be willing to challenge authority, because it will not change on its own.
I have read so many great comments this morning but my coffee is gone and must start the day and prepare for Saturday.
i
i would think both are possible...and just b/c 'that person' doesn't communicate with other 'here', doesn't mean she doesn't communicate with her inner circle...whether face to face or by other means technical...
i see posts here that i think of as therapeutic...which, in themselves, are 'effective'...but don't really get much done beyond that...whatever. we ALL have to live the consequences of each others actions or inactions...plain and simple. fair or not.
and individuals need to choose their priorities, imo...
Of course, Isaac, "both are possible."
And, in fact, I've noticed from many of those in separate comments to her, also separately and wonderfully exchange comments with many fine others here, too.
I agree with everything except implicating the Powell Memo of 1971. Lewis Powell was not arguing for union smashing, oligarchy, or anything like them. He was seeking to heighten the pro-business profile in much the same way that, in Powell's view (with which I agree), liberal thinking and philosophies had flourished on college campuses.
Any of the emotional language in the Powell memorandum reflected common fears at a time of violence by the weathermen, fragments of the S.D.S., and violent members of the Black Pantherset al. Any connection between an Powell's outline of action, adhering to intellectual integrity, and what we see today required different minds with indifferent hearts
No, Ned. He and his corporate allies really hated the ferment built into humanities.
So many fine books, movies, and songs of that era fed into the vitally -- needed vitality -- of the anti-war movement, feminism, gay rights, farm workers, the environment.
Powell and crew intensely wanted to curtail the energies which humanities occasioned. That's why, a year-and-a-half after his memo's promulgation, The Heritage Foundation was up and running. First express mission, to remove humanities from schools. And at the same time, ALEC also came into being, to lobby all the state legislatures to tame all the colleges and universities -- desiccate them, cut their public subsidies, reduce tenure, turn all higher ed into depersonalized silo specializations.
These far-right instruments were enormously well-funded, poisonously organized.
I’m old enough to remember, and had a bff who was republican crazy. And very smart, watched the fervor with which a good person became a radical with only thoughts for the SC victories. Her justification for chump. Wonder if she is happy today.
Thank you Professor Richardson for all you do. Everyone reading, speak up with the knowledge she gives us.
Be LOUD! We deserve better 💔🤍💙
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Comments/reactions help keep this bumped ✊
Laughing out loud literally, Megan, looking for your post and if you hadn't gotten one out about making good trouble via your excellent spreadsheet, I would've posted it on your behalf. Thank you for your consistent efforts and extreme diligence in selflessly maintaining such a wonderful resource for the rest of us to use and share with others in our circle of resisters. Take care of yourself, and stay safe! ❤️👍💖😊
Megan's students are fortunate to have her as a teacher...Take care and stay safe, indeed -- a message for us all this coming Saturday when once more we re-appear with homemade signs to inform the prevaricators, the suck-ups, loonies and collaborators that they answer to us, no matter what they may believe.
Yes, @justraven - me too! I’m traveling and not in the EST, so I have to scroll to find Megan’s post. I do what I can to help keep it at or near the top. I’ve bookmarked the link and reference it several times a week. So grateful for this resource!
Rouse that righteous "rabble", Megan!
I join in lauding your efforts. Your efforts are especially needed in this Golden Age of Cowardice on the GOP side, where their sleepwalking representatives do everything in their power to eliminate the ability of we the American public to even contact them, if we are outside their district.
I'll be in the streets of Los Angeles on Saturday marching with my confreres, and consoures, making as much good trouble as can be had!
Thanks, as always.
Thank you Megan! I hope you have a little time Saturday to experience some joy at a local protest near you.
Today's post raises one question. Who is runnning the White House and controlling the information flow to Trump?
Maybe two questions. The child-minders (am guessing Miller, Klaus Bondi and a couple others) are obviously setting Baby Trumpie in front of the Tee-Vee so him can watch big bam-bam, blow-up videos filled with emojis and sound effects, so him can claim Iran "gave me a big, beautiful present...I'm not going to tell you what it is...."
The evidence for mental decay, babble-bibble blobbery and complete unfitness for office increases by the day. The soft-care MAGATs have already fled the ship -- the hard-core ones are searching for lifeboats. A reckoning lies ahead, though not before things are probably set to worsen. Be strong and keep widening those cracks!
Most likely it is Miller now that Wiles is undergoing cancer treatments. But Miller is focused on domestic policy; that doesn’t explain the foreign policy decisions. Miller has a $250,000 investment in Palantir, but he only has an estimated net worth of $1-2 million. He has gotten help with legal fees from oil interests.
Maybe Trump is having a daily phone call with Witkoff who has a daily call with Dmitriev who has a daily call with Putin, and he has daily calls directly with Bibi and MBS. It’s like the four most malevolent men on earth on mainlining crazy into Trump’s infusion line.
Exactly what you said, Georgia
It's Mickey Mouse, first and foremost. The rest are fill-ins.
The real hoot is that he’s not insane enough to be 25th out of office, but if he ever went to trial, he’d be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Lewis Carroll couldn’t have imagined this any better.
Love the nickname Klaus Bondi!
The 2 names that pop out from Heather's post tonight are Stephen Miller and Susie Wiles. Although they're not usually in focus in photos of Trump or out of view completely, those 2 are intermediaries that control information flow to Donold.
Wiles doing her thing to keep Donold's addled brain interested but criminally enabling a monstrous lunatic that has no self control, decency or even a moral compass.
Stephen Miller, who seems to be keeping a lower profile these days, is the main go-between and executive order author that he just gets Trump to sign away. Miller is often referred to as "Trump's brain" or the "architect" of the administration's most hard-line policies, particularly regarding immigration.
Wiles is undergoing cancer treatment so even though she is supposedly working I think she is having less influence which is why Trump seems to be even more erratic.
Foreign policy direction is coming from Putin, MBS and Bibi. The Iran crazy coming out of Trump’s mouth is exacerbated by Putin and Bibi in conflict over their positions on Iran. Putin got the oil sanctions lifted on Russia in return for not objecting too strongly to the war on Iran in spite of his giving Iran intell. Even though Iran is Putin’s ally, weakening US power and prestige is a bigger prize.
Her treatment is the same prescribed plan that I completed last year. I never took off one minute of work, not one, because all parts of the treatments can be scheduled early and late during the week. They’re not debilitating like chemo…which in my mind is what deems you a true cancer survivor.
That said, Ms. Wiles supports one very evil motherfucker, she gets no sympathy from me.
I was able to work half-time at my agency in order to keep my medical benefits when going through chemo and radiation. I would work a Thursday/Friday/Monday/Tuesday work week and have a week off between infusions. It was not easy, but I had two department heads who made sure I had the ability to work those 20 hours per week. I screened the citizen report forms and the cold case files, and on the couple occasions that there wasn't that work, I did computer entry for Fleet records.
I stand with you in your assessment of Ms. Wiles.
Thank you for sharing that information! I am glad your treatment was successful and that there are alternatives for some types of cancer that are less debilitating. Science at work!
Oh interesting about Wiles, I did not know that. Cancer sucks for anyone so I don’t make light of that, but that is an extremely toxic environment to work in. Trump is so vile that it might even be carcinogenic just to be around him.
Putin definitely has a hold on Trump, a decades long relationship it would appear. Donold has even said they’ve “been through a hell of a lot together”. Whatever it is, Putin is the only person Donold seems to idolize and even fawn over, he really does seem to be taking marching orders from him.
We all get what we deserve.
Who writes the script for his blathering performances, or rather, who points him in one chaotic direction or another. There is method in his madness. There is a weaving of his revenge/greed fantasies with P2025 goals. He is right, he weaves scenarios for purpose, the purpose is destructive evil. So his blather is cult crazy, but the effects are right on target.
Miller.
Who’s on first, what’s on second and nobody knows who’s on third
stephen miller is running the WH would be my guess Georgia - along side russel voight and peter thiel Georgia
We must stand up for those rights we have lost under Trump. On Saturday Americans around the world will be holding No Kings, No Tyrants, No Dictators, and No Wars rallies. Here is a list of the rallies abroad. Please share with friends and families abroad.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/no-kings-no-tyrants-no-dictators?r=f0qfn
Nasty day here in NRW - hope we have a good turnout.
Do you actually mean “Nordrhein-Westfalen”??
Yes
And where in NRW, if I may ask?
Cologne. You?
My sister-in-law lived in Cologne for 4+ years as a FedEx pilot. Got to visit a few times and really love that city!
Not very far from there: region Düsseldorf; Kreis Kleve to be precise.
Evening to All!
One hundred and fifteen years ago today, a young social worker stood on the Manhattan sidewalk across from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory building, in near paralyzed horror, watching one young woman after another hurl herself from the building's upper floors to their certain deaths, so as to escape the fire inside that never should have been.
That young social worker was Frances Perkins, who a generation later would become a true American pioneer, becoming the first woman ever to serve in a Presidential cabinet. The litany of her deeds, and the lifelong efforts she made to make working conditions better and safer for all Americans are legion, as Heather described.
In her twilight years, she would discuss how the entire New Deal, the sweeping programs to bring social and economic healing and justice to an America reeling from the depravities of the Great Depression, all stemmed from the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.
We all owe this woman an eternal debt
The Frances Perkins family homestead in Newcastle, Maine, is now a national monument.
You can visit it and learn about everything this dedicated woman did for our country.
Https://Frances Perkins center.org
Agreed! And any reference to Frances Perkins, to continue to educate American children is a good thing…notably the ‘real name’ of “Baby” in the still-popular film “Dirty Dancing” as being >>>Frances…”like the first woman in the Cabinet”.
It begs the question - nomatter if you were impressed with Kamala Harris, or not- why not a WOMAN President…🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
…Answer: the ongoing legacy of ‘male superiority’ which is toxically present in the current administration. Trump’s ‘Blonde Bimbo Brigade’, who doubtless do ‘Dual Duty’ 😉, are traitors to their own gender.
Once in a blue moon a warrior like Frances Perkins comes along.
Thankyou for your salient thoughts!
Indeed! Why not a woman President? It is not like the men have done such a great job, is it?
We have had two women as candidates who were far more qualified in every way than the inferior male who was “elected”..and I say that in quote’s because I still believe that neither of those elections were clean or fair.
Linda, it is my opinion, laid in the 2008 Democratic Convention and cemented in the 2016 and 2024 elections that misogyny triumphs over racism for the top spot.
Trump’s staff is feeding him only the good news, painting the rosy picture, because they know that giving the boss the truth is a career ender. Giving the truth to the public will have the same results much quicker.
No one is more aware of this than Karoline Leavitt.
The anniversary of the Triangle Fire is a potent reminder of why we need government regulations as well as a government that creates and enforces them.
When Hegseth was asked if they were negotiating with Iran he said "we are negotiating with bombs" -- he is another child-man who sees this as a video game and sees himself as a Marvel hero. Revolting.
Revolting is too kind.
How long before they erase any mention of that in our history…
That is why at all costs we must insure the integrity of the next election, because the NANP (New American Nazi Party, formerly the GOP) is doing all it can to undermine it. If they succeed, American history will indeed become a MAGA fairy tale.
Ah, the old Nixon " Rosey Scenario!
The competent executive likes to hear the good news, but knows he/she needs to hear the bad news more. To that end, the competent executive gathers a staff that he knows will tell him what he needs to hear before they tell him what he likes to hear.
This basic principle is alien to the Trump Administration.
ICYMI: Timothy Snyder is an American historian, a chaired university professor of history who has spent his long career (long before Donald Trump appeared) studying fascism and the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and the Holocaust. He has published about 6 books on these topics including the bestselling “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century” 2017 (ISBN 978-0-8041-9011-4). He is an internationally known and highly respected expert on authoritarianism and fascism. On 4/25/26 Dr. Richardson interviewed him: “American Conversations: Timothy Snyder - YouTube” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kqslmq4oIE
Here are two exerpts from the interview to give you a taste of what is discussed in it. It’s very interesting to hear their perspectives. Timothy Snyder: “If we were not in a petrol world, Russia couldn’t invade Ukraine we wouldn’t be in wars in the Middle East. A Petro world makes possible a certain kind of oligarchy. It’s not that difficult to extract oil and a natural gas. It’s not that difficult to convert that kind of power to political power because you just have to control the territory where the resource happens to be. If you get power from wind nuclear or solar that’s not going to lead to political authoritarianism. If you get it from oil and gas, it does tend to lead to political authoritarianism. The sense that we don’t have a future because of climate change, and the reality of both of these wars (Iran and Ukraine) has to do with bad choices we are making which only serve the short term interests of a very small number of people. Trump is stuck in a world of oil, partly because he is stuck in his version of the past and also because he seems to feel this is just the right way to be powerful, which I think is actually in the calculation. We are giving up future power to the Chinese by doing this because even if we obsess about oil and natural gas, a turn will be made in the energy economy and if we’re not leading that term that means China is leading that turn, Russia can only prosecute war because of oil and natural gas. The fact we’re not sanctioning. Russia is unconscionable, and by leading this change toward hydrocarbons, we are making this type of war more likely.”
Heather Cox Richardson: “This world you are describing of Trump wanting to be part of a world in which he plays with international oligarchs over issues involving territory, and the control of oil is one that Robert Mueller described in a speech when he was director of the FBI that this was the future of terrorism and organized crime and that it would take place across ideologies, religions, and countries with business leaders and criminals all working together to amass power and wealth.”(Russian criminal sistema on an international scale and reflected in the life of Jeffrey Epstein) (Robert Mueller speech:“FBI — The Evolving Organized Crime Threat”. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/speeches/the-evolving-organized-crime-threat#:~:text=Robert%20S.,result%20of%20globalization%20and%20technology.)
They also discussed Timothy Snyder’s new book “On Freedom” on imagining, creating, sharing the politics of the future and how government has a role to play in creating the conditions under which its citizens can be free and protected.
Remember the No Kings rally on Saturday, March 28, 2026. NoKings.org. Indivisible.org
We are at a turning point now -- but which way is up for grabs.
One thing should grabbed now: Trump. Lock him up and throw away the key.
The harshed part will be that Trump can never have a Big Mac again.
Last night Malcolm Nance, Dean Blundell and Zev Shalev were discussing that the whole group of them should be tried for treason, and that if we put a Jasmine Crockett or someone like her in as Speaker of the House, which one can do, then she is third in line for the presidency. We all need to be out on Saturday at a No Kings rally. Here is a list of the ones abroad that I could find.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/no-kings-no-tyrants-no-dictators?r=f0qfn
Another strong contender for a Democratic Speaker would be Jamie Raskin. I think he is the smartest person in the House and the best able to rewrite the rules in the House to make it function and to make sure that reform legislation would be written to avoid loopholes and unintended consequences. He also was the lead in Trump's second impeachment trial so you know he will go after every opportunity to impeach Trump's cabinet with criminal referrals for good measure and go after Trump.
Yes to Jamie Raskin for Speaker of the House, may it be so. Always very impressed with his performance in Congress, like Heather's post tonight bringing up Raskin's questions about the confidential, top secret and highly sensitive documents that Trump stole, squirreled away and read aloud to who knows...And recently, during the Noem hearings, his questions and the presentation of facts and pictures Rasking showed was stellar and should have been seen by more Americans because it was instrumental in getting her fired.
I was thinking of him too. I am just mentioning who Malcolm Nance picked. He also said Kamala could be speaker of the house, because there is no rule that says you have to be a member of the House to be the speaker of the house.
I would love to see Raskin representing the legislative branch go up against SCOTUS on separation of powers.
He is also a rarity, with a balanced two-state solution for Israel, with massive aid to Palestinians, curbs on how Israel uses US aid, while protecting Israel's right to protect itself, and condemning October 7. He has criticized how Bibi has run the Gaza war, is appalled by the massive civilian casualties, and points out that Israel is violating international humanitarian law.
He has also called MBS a "homicidal prince" and called out Trump for courting him.
A smart rational man of integrity, the total opposite of Trump.
If Dems win the House at the midterms, I want the smartest, savviest, most experienced member of the House to be Speaker, someone who knows the ropes and could use every possible strategy to keep Trump/Vance in check and neuter him.
The most important characteristics for a post midterm Speaker:
1. a persuasive and articulate spokesperson with integrity
2. a pitbull going after corruption in the Trump administration
3.a first-rate legal mind to rewrite the House rules to make it function and to challenge SCOTUS
3.a bridge-builder with the ability to craft bipartisan legislation that is veto-proof and get it passed
RASKIN IS A NATIONAL TREASURE💙💙💙💙💙
Excellent list of qualifications, Georgia. Neither Jeffries or Schumer are persuasive or particularly articulate. They are dull -- we need someone with the qualities you describe
What a gift Jamie Raskin is to the American people.
Of course. Let us hope there are unencumbered elections. No guarantees. Our state governors must activate their national guard before the feds do. This is the trick to prevent federalizing them which trump will do.
Trump vs. Illinois on using the National Guard in Illinois to protect Federal buildings only got to the stage of ruling against Trump on a motion to stay a lower court ruling. The ruling was based on the definition of what “regular forces” meant in the relevant statutes. SCOTUS clarified that meant the regular miliatry. So Trump could call out the National Guard to help the regular military domestically if the regular military couldn’t accomplish what it is allowed to do under Posse Comitatus.
The SCOTUS denial of the stay sent the case back to the Seventh Circuit, and in January the parties negotiated and agreed to drop the appeal, leaving the district court judge’s ruling in place. So Trump could try again in a new situation engineered to pass the constraints SCOTUS laid out in its ruling on the stay.
Ben Radersdorff has a post about why the SAVE Act NOT being passed is part of a plan to undermine the midterms by stirring up violence.
This strategy does not require Congress to pass any laws. In fact, the central goal is for the White House to override Congress and states. To do so, the administration plans to use the lies promoted by the SAVE America Act: that elections are rife with fraud and that harsh anti-voter measures by the federal government are a necessary response. As my colleague Alexandra Chandler https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/03/save-america-act-gop-senate-elections/686463/?gift=Nj9UFV_X1w2ChjHrh1VR1aYldCvG6jnQ-6Z7V2BRd-w&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share:
“You didn’t pass the legislation that would have solved this fake problem, and therefore the election results are not valid.”
In other words, Trump is pushing the SAVE America Act not just on a distant hope of disenfranchising some voters. He is, much more immediately, hoping to use its failure to override the electoral process entirely.
The plan has three parts;
to deceive the country about the existence of rampant election fraud,
to disrupt the election process by using violence, deploying federal power, and manipulating election rules,
if that isn’t enough, to deny the results and overturn the results.
https://www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/whatever-happens-with-the-save-america
None better.
I’ve said this before Jamie Raskin is a national treasure
I agree. I wish we had more people like Rep. Raskin in Congress.
Agreed 111%.
I’ll keep saying it: if Biden, or any democratic president for that matter, did only 0,000001% of what the Orange Goblin King has pulled, the Republicans would be screaming for impeachment until they exploded. Bill Clinton gets a blowjob from an intern and he needs to be hanged, but it’s fully ok for _their_ president to rape underage girls. The double standards are of galactic proportions here…
Well said, Dutch Mike! I tried that "what would you do if your guy did that?" question back when I still engaged with the brainwashed. I never, ever got them to answer that question.
It's simply too painful for them to think about that.
It requires work getting out of the confirmation bias information silo they live in.
Feed him at the trough, the more cholesterol, the better
Read ‘Becoming Madam Secretary’ a historical novel about Frances Perkins. Once started the book, couldn’t put it down. Despite politics always being dirty, Frances Perkins managed to make a difference.
Loved this book
Wonderful book.
Power corrupts. Absolute power, absolutely corrupts. Certainly seems to be holding true.
How much more proof do we need
The settlement with Michael Flynn is just the latest corrupt act by the DoJ under Pam Bondi. It follows the decision to pay compensation to the family of insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/19/jan-6-ashli-babbitt-wrongful-death-settlement
and the even more bizarre decision to award her full military honours
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/28/ashli-babbitt-military-honors-january-6-riot
Trump's ridiculous blanket pardon has allowed other Capitol rioters to also seek damages
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/january-6-enrique-tarrio-lawsuit
and has even threatened the prosecution of the pipe bomber, Brian Cole
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/16/man-charged-planting-bombs-capitol-trump-pardon-00831086
Pam Bondi's DoJ is open warfare with federal judges and state bar associations who block Trump's illegal appointments of unqualified cronies to state attorney posts. She has been retaliating by immediately sacking attorneys appointed by those judges. She is even now trying to place herself above the law by drafting a regulation that would allow her to block any state bar ethics investigation into current and former DOJ lawyers while the department conducts its own internal review. If state bar authorities refuse the AG’s “request” to pause an investigation, the rule allows the DOJ to “take appropriate action to prevent the bar disciplinary authorities from interfering with the Attorney General’s review of the allegations.”
https://aboutblaw.com/bk49
This is an utterly lawless regime.
Awful. Just awful.
I thought this indicative of "what goes around, comes around." A research project I was working on today led me to Newspapers.com, to which I subscribe, where I noticed a small opinion piece in the Lansing [Michigan] State Journal, Sat. September 23, 1893, which I quote without comment, other than to ask, sound familiar?
"GROVER'S DICTATORSHIP. The democratic newspapers of the country are beginning to wake up to the fact that Grover Cleveland is assuming dictatorial airs not at all in consonance with the popular idea of a president of the United States. These are the specifications furnished by the Albany (N.Y.) Express in its arraignment of that eminent New Yorker, and upon which any impartial grand jury must present a true bill:
He has endeavored repeatedly to usurp the functions of a co-ordinate branch of the government.
He has suspended the law. He has violated the constitution.
He holds himself above his party. He repudiates his party pledges.
His will is the law, and those who oppose him personally or officially feel the weight of his official
wrath.
He is the most dangerous man who has ever sat in the chair of Washington."
Damn, Grover way down on the pole these days. I repeat again from Will Roger’s, Nov 26, 1932. “The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow’s hand.” Mr. Hoover, and our vipers, know well that money trickles up.
Rusty Mott,
And even more dangerous than Trump , (and his family), are the persons who have put him in his position including, deceived, naive American citizens!!!!
We need a brave, new, experienced and knowledgeable set of leaders within our government as soon as possible!!!
I finally found a true description of
Republicans: as vultures.
"Vultures are relatively silent as they lack a syrinx so they can only hiss, growl, and snarl.
They are predominantly scavengers but will occasionally kill small animals that are sick or dying. However, they will not eat a carcass that is more than a few days old as it become putrid.
Bald heads help radiate excess heat away from their bodies and keep rotting flesh from soiling feathers.
Vultures do not suffer from food poisoning because they have very acidic stomach acids with a pH of almost zero; these acids actually stop the spread of disease.
Their primary flying style is soaring which allows them to travel great distances expending very little energy.
A group of vultures is called a committee, venue or volt. In flight, a group of vultures is a kettle and when feeding at a carcass, the group is referred to as a wake.
To keep cool, vultures urinate on their legs and feet; this also kills bacteria or parasites and helps to keep the birds healthy.
Both Turkey Vulture and Black Vulture populations are increasing; increased road traffic results in more available road kill!
When threatened, Turkey Vultures defend themselves by vomiting very potent stomach acids. This not only acts as a deterrent with predators but also “lightens the load” so they can escape easily into flight."
Never heard of a better comparison of a republican Susan. I love it 😀
We desperately need a turning point before Trump shreds the rest of our democracy
I'm afraid it will need to be a pivot point...
Baby Huey might want us to believe that imaginary Iranians have been giving him imaginary presents, but beneath the distracting bibble-babble, a "ground operation" of some kind is almost certainly in the works -- likely the occupation of Kharg Island (what else you do with 5,000 Marines and the 82nd Airborne, I don't know). Both the House and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairs (Mike Rogers and Roger Wicker) have hinted as much.
You'd think they'd be razor-focused on this, preparing us for the casualties such a dangerous occupation would ensure. Layered defenses, anti-armor minefields, MANPADs (shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles) await them. Betting you'd be wrong -- they're FAR more concerned with trying to swamp media coverage of No Kings Day this Saturday. Their fear of us, not the safety of our troops, remains their greatest concern.
Any bets that the "ground operation" will begin this Saturday morning so Faux News can easily switch out whatever measly coverage of the marches they'd planned in order to show bam-bam war videos and ginormous American flags flapping in the breeze instead?
Makes sense if not ground invasion something else big to try to flood the zone