Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote to House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) today to warn him that the Treasury will be unable to pay the government’s bills by early June, possibly as early as June 1.
The Supreme Court Justices.. self-assessing their own ethics? Like asking the foxes to guard the henhouse... /snort
Also, the "Republicans’ “Default on America Act,” or “DOA,” which “offers two choices: either default on the debt or default on America, forcing steep cuts to law enforcement, veterans, families, teachers, and kids" is appropriately "Dead On Arrival" as an extortionate attempt by the Rethugs...
And Dr. Heather, you are up QUITE LATE!! Hopefully you have turned off the computer and the house lights and have gone to bed in the few minutes since you posted this. THANK YOU for these daily LFAAs. 💜💜💜
I ask that all the time!! And, she pulls it all together (daily letter, podcasts with Prof. Joanne Freeman, 2 political chat videos/week, writes books, teaches, mentors PhD candidates, gets out in a kayak, gets married, has friends, etc.) whether in Maine, Massachusetts or traveling to parts unknown! And, she is a major influencer of the best kind (knowledgeable, educated, willing to share, and down to earth). I'm exhausted just writing those things down :) When I started getting the Letters, only a few hundred people were followers . . . I was instantly addicted.
That we have the privilege to read but more APPRECIATE.
It’s quality , a rare and cherished voice amidst the din.
So from this comes today a reflection : How years have changed perception ‘as the world turned’ and I/We listened ( or didn’t) and what we valued , worked for, and now appreciate.
In a nutshell things have improved, we’ve come somewhat out of the dark ages and get to laugh at The Dark Brandon. We realize the challenges ahead most of US in comfortable lives and aware of the new challenge ahead.
I am hopeful.
I believe in America .
I believe identifying the areas of concern will bring the needed change and I strongly believe my fellow Americans are waking up to see their vote does count and where we DONT want to go.
"The eyes of love never sleep." The words inscribed on Harry Houdini's tombstone. All Americans, and our beautiful America, are the fortunate recipients of the endless love from Dr. Heather Cox Richardson. Gratitude flows into the vast ocean of her love for humanity. Her waters are deep, and they are true. They embrace all living beings equally.
Yes I fear that she is working hours more appropriate to the 18th Century. I would be glad to see her have two days off a week, but at least take one day a week for rest.
It is understandable that HCR would want to avoid the hate mail and general aggravation that might result from her columns appearing in the MSM and papers, trolls abound, but many Americans would enjoy and benefit from her thoughtful work as much as we subscribers and it could only help our democracy to have better informed citizens.
Since when is cutting and pasting from Media Matters and Huff Post considered great journalist work? Can you cite ONE example of original work EVER posted here? One ? Its all word for word the same ideas you when find anywhere in leftist media. It's top down group think. On the other hand, I understand that it takes great courage these days to deviate from leftist orthodoxy one inch. That's why the least courageous people in America are in academia.
Well, if you really believe that HCR is randomly cutting and pasting from others, and that we are all part of the leftist orthodoxy, and that you so fervently wish to disparage folks in academia, why are you even here, except to troll and spew your right wing, elite-hysteria rubbish?
With child labor laws reverting to the 18th century, HCR as usual is ahead of the curve and thats why she works 18 hours/day and 9 days a week. I had my REPUBLICAN'T Congressman introduce a bill a few years back to add another day to the and it passed easily. Now I also work 8 days/week. I call it retirement. The REPUBLICAN'TS call it: not enough
I came across this fascinating article on the BBC site of the Medieval habit of "2 sleeps". One goes to bed relatively early, wakes up after 2-3 hours sleep, putters about and does stuff for 2-3 hours, then goes back to bed. This kind of sleep habit lasted into the 18th and 19th centuries in some places.
There are numerous references to this kind of sleep pattern in early American writings, right into the 1900s. It it common in other cultures as well. Some members of my family (including me) still follow this pattern. And there have been studies that suggest that this may be the normal sleep pattern for human beings. The change seems to have emerged from the development of an industrial economy and "shift work", and the resulting impact on other members of the family, and on other institutions that adapted to that significant change in sleeping patterns.
Fascinating article! This two phase sleep makes sense in "light" of keeping the fire going, caring for infants and small chidren, managing livestock, and such. Thank you for this eye-opening, illuminating reference.
Copying my comment in here where it really belongs...
Read "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, PhD before you decide to sleep in two chunks like they may have done in the far past or still do in some cultures. I'm more inclined to think our increasingly short and broken sleep patterns of the past 80 years or so are partly responsible for the rise in dementia and some other brain dysfunctions.
Good historians are researchers who dig DEEPLY compared to others. They would make Sherlock & Hercule Poirot seem like SLACKERS with their attention to detail.
Maybe, but they don’t rule over my non-Catholic belief system….Nine humans determine everything for 330,000 million of us. Yes, We the People are ruled by nine people, essentially and 100 Senators and 435 something Congresspeople. It sucks, frankly.
As in sciences such as evolution, cosmology, geology/paleontology, archeology, doing it right when tracking history appears to mean exhaustive research and fact checking; attention to fine distinctions and subtle connections.
Fictional sleuths are fun (murder mysteries are my guilty pleasure) but most of the time rely on deus ex machina insights that make them tall tales. Evidence in history is often less readily testable than is that for the "hard"(tangible) sciences, but our best guesses about the future, or workable potential futures, can only be informed by what we accurately observe in the past. We can exercise foresight, yet we never get to see what has yet to be until it's upon us.
That said, I claim with that high degree of (my own ) confidence that the sun will "rise" tomorrow morning, and that much that we expect will occur. It seems very wise to look (rather carefully) before we leap.
I'm sure that even I get more sleep than she does, & I'm an INSOMNIAC thanks to my mother's genetic contribution AND working third shift during the late 1980's.
I worked in capital intense industry that ran 24 / 7, almost 365 days a year. (2 days we didn't run were Christmas and Mother's Day, we ran July 4.) Most workers hated 3 to 11 more than night or what we called graveyard. Reason for hatred of 3 to 11 was you never saw your family. They were either asleep or at school. Tough life but it paid well with lots of overtime. Harder yet was the unit supervisors or what used to be called foremen. We dropped that term years ago with many women taking those jobs. What was such a killer was these were rotating shifts, 3 weeks on days, 3 weeks on 3 to 11 and 3 weeks on graveyard.
From my perspective the hardest is 12 hour shifts for nurses and other hospital medical staff. They don't get Christmas or Mother's Day off either. Sick people are sick 365 days a year. Covid made this really hard, we have a daughter who is a Nurse Pactisher.
I'm retired from county law enforcement; in the 28 years I worked full time, we had (except for a brief period in 2008-2009 where we dropped 24 hour coverage due to the recession) three shifts: days, swings, and graves. We had shift bid twice a year, and for three month intervals. For the second half of my career, we worked four 10 hour days with overlapping hours at the busiest times of day. For all but the last 5 years, I worked primarily graveyard (I found out why hospitals called that the NOC shift; nocturnal, because I suppose "graveyard" carries connotations you don't want in a health care facility). The last 5 was day shift, where I had a start time of 0600 and had a typical awakening time of 0330 so that I could work out before going to work. I am still on a sleep pattern where I am up and awake between 0430-0600, even after being retired 10 years.
I agree that 12's are awful, especially if there are mandated day/night rotations occurring less than every three months. There are some things that just don't stop because of the calendar and holidays...
Melatonin and more often Valerian from Whole Foods ( they vet the content ) has saved me. A sleep doc cannot hurt. So much in life that can trip us ----Melatonin with alcohol will mess with your hormones.
I'll freely admit that I stay up late for the express purpose of catching the latest LFAA fresh off the virtual press! It's hell on my diurnal rhythm, but a price I am willing to pay...
Right now we are living in Spain (but soon to return to the States). We are six hours ahead of the east coast of America. But the first thing I do every morning is to look for the latest LFAA. Don't start your day without it!
I post Heather's letters to my Facebook page immediately. I included some commentary about the party of death and then somewhat sarcastically wished people good morning because nothing about the content today is good.
If I may ask (and not to stray too far from this group's purpose), in what part of Spain are you living, and how do you like it? I'm reconnoitering the Iberian peninsula, including Portugal, with an eye to relocating somewhere there for the last chapter, and am eager for any insights and pointers.
I don't quite know how to do it, but there must be some way to discuss outside of this group (if you're interested in passing along your thoughts) and still maintain privacy and security. Maybe WhatsApp?
Dear pts, we are always happy to talk about Spain. We are not rich but we worked our entire lives and lived pretty frugally with the intent of having a good retirement (something future generations may not have). Any way, we bought a small house in the south east corner of Spain in 2006. We love it here and since we retired we can spend more time. I would tell you that the people, the food, the wine and the cost of living is all fabulous. Does it have it flaws? Of course, but there are SO many pluses that far outweigh them. We have 340+ sunny days a year, we are a 4 minute walk from the Mediterranean, we are surrounded by mountains and our village has about 800 year round people living here and we are the only Americans. That is all on the plus side. One the negative side, we can only stay 90 days then we have to leave the country for 90 days so, it is a bit expensive to go back and forth but it is worth it. Also, speaking at least some Spanish is important. Gas is more expensive than in the States, but cars are more fuel efficient (go figure) and everything else is less expensive. We can continue this conversation on PM on FB or we can connect on WhatsApp.
Not for me! I'm traveling in the UK right now and reading this the next day because I found my favorite part of her letters are the comments and discussions.
My hope is that she has hired staff with some of the proceeds from Substack who can scan the news of the day. Someone who is as busy in so many things for so many years has to have found ways to be efficient. So in my mind, she's having breakfast with Buddy while her staff finishes collating the deluge of b.s., sprinkles the results with her vast knowledge of history, writes the day's post in no yime with no mistakes, and calls it a night.
There's this remedy called "a power nap". You just close your eyes. People think you are sleeping, and they keep quiet and don't try to wake you. You can announce you will be taking a nap, which helps. It doesnt really matter if you sleep: you get a change of pace, which is as good as a rest. Zzzzzzzzz.....
Spot on Just Janice; FYI to the Community., on 3/24/23.The Guardian's Ed Pilkington reported that justice Samuel Alito was flown to a religious liberty Summit in Rome on 7/21/22 by the Religious Liberty Initiative "whose faculty have filed amicus briefs in at least 6 high profile cases since 2020". The Guardian Editors posted a photo illustration of Alito in a tux gesturing to an audience standing by behind a thick plated see-through lectern.
This was all in the Scotus' Summer Break of 2022 before the day in April 2023 when Alito chose Murdoch's Wall Street Journal to make an accusation ( no evidence ) against fellow Justices on the very day Pro Publica exposed Justice Thomas's acceptance of luxurious travel & gifts from a right wing Mega Donor. These are not ethics violations, these acts
moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.
Similar:
moral code
morals
morality
moral stand
moral principles
moral values
rights and wrongs
principles
ideals
creed
credo
ethos
rules of conduct
virtues
2.
the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.
eth·ic
noun
plural noun: ethics
a set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct.
Origin
late Middle English (denoting ethics or moral philosophy; also used attributively): from Old French éthique, from Latin ethice, from Greek (hē) ēthikē (tekhnē) ‘(the science of) morals’, based on ēthos (see ethos).
'Both morality and ethics loosely have to do with distinguishing the difference between “good and bad” or “right and wrong.” Many people think of morality as something that’s personal and normative, whereas ethics is the standards of “good and bad” distinguished by a certain community or social setting.' (Britannica)
Yes, I checked my Ipad around 2:30am and there was no new letter. Heather is one busy lady! I can't imagine how she ever has time to sleep and today Tuesday is a busy day for her. The semester or quarter should be about ready to wrap!
The Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5T and hold federal spending to 2022 levels. If there is a default its on the Democrats. There is a budget in place.
Here is a novel idea. With a $31.5 Trillion dollar deficit, maybe America ought to live within its means. BTW we don't need 80,000 new IRS agents. Especially when the Biden administration is weaponizing the IRS against its citizens. It was a nice move to send an IRS agent to journalist Matt Tiabbi house the day he was to testify before Congress.
This nothing new for the Democrats. Who can forget the Obama years when the IRS was going after conservative groups. Lois Lerner, an IRS official, plead the Fifth amendment before congress after emails showed her hatred of conservatives and targeting of conservative groups.
Of course, if people were serious about the US deficit they would raise taxes on those who have milked the system for the last 20 years. But those are the Republican donors. They have bought the Republicans and the Supreme Court. They want to turn the country into a kleptocracy. That’s the MAGA way.
Sorry to embarrass you, but stop with leftist cliches:
1) All the wealthiest people are democrats. Pick a city: NYC, Boston, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, et cetera, all the wealthiest areas are run by Democrats.
2) Who are the constituents of the democratic party? Silicon Valley, Wall Street, High Tech, Pharma... the wealthiest industries are donors to the Democrats. You are right they BOUGHT
THE DEMOCRATS.
3) If there is Kleptocracy is the Democrats. They haven't changed any tax rules on Hedge funds. They haven't limit the power of Big Tech to censor or use your personal info. They colluded with big pharma to lie about the efficacy of COVID vaccines/booster while making billions.
Bernie was the only one fighting against the unholy alliance of big money influence on Democrats until he was strong armed into silence.
I'm sorry, James A, that you haven't heard about Koch money, ALEC, the Federalist Society, the Heritage Fund, Leonard Leo, and so many others who have been working hard for the last maybe 40 years to undermine democracy. They were clever, to be sure, by targeting the judiciary, re-districting, local school boards and city councils in order to pepper them with conservatives who would ensure the destruction of progressive policies.
We no longer have a two (2) party system. The Republicans stopped being republicans back in 2015-2016. You have not ridiculed the largest political grouping, the wide array of Independents or the Age Group that is deciding the most recent critical elections, the18-30's with few hang-ups. I cannot wait for my granddaughters to take over currently aged 10 & 13. Political life is changing as fast as the computer chip on your cell phone. PS: I report personal attacks to Substack Inc my neighbor.
You are asking for unilateral disarmament. Democrats fund up because it's the only way to respond to Republicans funding up. The only solution requires putting the genie back in the bottle: overturn Citizens United. Remove all private funding from campaigns, not only the big donors and corporations, and level the playing field by allowing public funding only.
Focus on the evil of the current funding system, which is an uncontrolled race to outspend the other side with no rules or limits. Fix the real problem and let these people keep their money (which we can then tax).
3) You want to talk about a kleptcracy, that isn't party specific. Both parties have their issue with that. Additionally, you know that neither party wants to change tax rules on hedge funds, and neither party has done anything to protect our data with big tech. To pass most legislation you know that you need 60 votes in the Senate right? Especially when it comes to Data protection. Maybe if one party wasn't always oppositional and had an interest in governing we'd be making progress on that front. I'm not even going to get into your Covid comment, because it's clear that you still think Covid was really just one virus and it didn't mutate into different viruses that caused a reduction in efficacy. It's really poor form to armchair quarterback a global pandemic after the fact, while scientists and virologists were trying to keep people alive and prevent spread to make it seem like there was collusion. On the Bernie front you are correct, but at least be consistent in your debate. Do you want more tax revenue and to limit big money in politics? They why do you support Republican big donors? Do you support Citizens United? You said, you didn't want more IRS agents, but Bernie wants to go after all billionaires?
You seem to be very contrarian and just nitpick democrats which is your prerogative however at least be consistent logically and also go after people in your own party as well. Or better yet, lets go after everyone in all parties and hold them accountable. Not everything needs to be a team sport.
Thanks for questioning my mental status. I realize that at my age I certainly have my moments. You sir, seem blind in one eye, and only able to see what you want see and hear what you want to hear. Yes, "do your homework" is a good suggestion. Follow it. Check out Russian money and NRA money: not distributed balanced.
Well, James...you're one guy with an opinion, like the rest of us. You've dropped into a space with a somewhat provocative tone, a space where you'll find very few convivial listeners. A little piece of advice; it's not a wise mission to attempt to convince others who hold nearly diametrically opposed views; somewhat like trying to convert an Imam to become a Southern Baptist. You'd be better off speaking to the undecided. There's an increasingly dominant fraction of the electorate who are neither registered GOP nor Dems. We are the "independents" or non-affiliated. We listen to voices that make sense, not demagogues. There's unbelievable amounts of money flowing around the entire political universe. The government operates carrying debt greater than a year's national economic output. Sort of like my mortgage, I guess. Were we to value the entire nation's economic energy like a business, I believe we'd find that the long term debt is not unbearable. Would we be better off with less? Perhaps, but then many investments would not have been made, either. Someday in the not too distant future, I'll turn my considerable mortgage into a somewhat less considerable but substantial pot of cash with which to downsize. Yes, it's debt and yes, I pay interest, but I'm also building equity and experiencing the rising valuation of the asset. At risk of pushing the analogy too far, we're doing the same here in America. And, investing in the capacity to pursue the biggest, most ingenious corporate tax scofflaws with a foothold on every continent doesn't seem like a bad investment, particularly if their actions return more than they cost. I'm certain there's a blog where you'll feel more at home; good luck in your search!
This willful naïveté on the part of Republican supporters who persist in pretending that blatant political brinksmanship is a level playing field, is the dividing line between honest but misinformed politicians and criminals dressed up as politicians, like wolves in sheep’s clothing. Why don’t the House Republicans submit a bill which includes rolling back Trump’s massive tax cut to his cronies, which is the root of the ballooning of the deficit? Do you make enough money to have benefitted from that? I am in the group that saw my taxes go up. The Republicans could make some small argument for freezing spending if the freeze was equitable across all government entities including DOD and their own Congressional perks. But that is not what their cuts consist of, by their own admission. How many people do you know who are dependent on Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare? If you don’t know anyone, go to a Community Senior Center and talk to the people there, and then come back and explain how forcing the country into default benefits honest people who paid their taxes all their working lives.
Honest? Who are you kidding? You might want to put down the bong and read a little recent history:
Start with the Biden's. They've been selling influence for years to the Chinese and the Russians/Ukrainians. Why Joe was dumb enough to let his crack addicted son Hunter be the bag man is beyond me.
Then there is the Clinton's. My personal favorite was the Haiti Relief Fund. After the World community raised almost 10 Billion in relief aid, Bill volunteered to manage the money. Only about 10% of the money went to the Haitian government. The rest went to "FRIENDS OF THE CLINTON's" who then generous donated to the Clinton Global Initiative. The result was a trainwreck of mismanaged infrastructure and fraud. The Haitian government was so appalled they told the Clinton's to get lost. To this day there are still Haitians protesting the thievery in front of the Clinton Global Initiative offices in NYC.
It took almost as much Chutzpah as Sec of State for Hillary to fly around the selling influence out in the open.
As for brinksmanship, what in the hell are you talking about? The Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling 1.5TB. If there is default its on the democrats.
Thank you you for this quote, Heather!I have just been discussing this very issue with someone here, based on yesterday’s letter! I hope it will not create confusion if I quote this in yesterday’s threads. “....while Republicans are blaming Democrats for creating inflation by pumping too much money into the economy through social welfare programs, The Wall Street Journal yesterday embraced the argument that a key factor in inflation has been price gouging by corporations. A piece by Paul Hannon noted that businesses are boosting their profit margins, confident that consumers will blame supply chain issues and higher energy prices rather than the companies padding their profits. Oil giant Shell just announced almost $9.6 billion in profits in the first three months of 2023.”
“The fastest way to waste money is to hire more federal employees.” That sounds like a gop cliché. However, I think maybe a compromise could really help, IF that compromise is “close all the loopholes” AND repeal the trump tax cuts. That should level the playing field, reduce the deficit, and balance the spending picture. But the IRS agents need to stay and pursue the questionable tax-dodgers of both parties.
>The Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5T and hold federal spending to 2022 levels. If there is a default its on the Democrats. There is a budget in place.
The problem is that we've already agreed to new spending, and the future budget vs existing agreed upon expenses should always be reviewed separately. The GOP raised the debt ceiling 3x under Trump and other previous Republican Presidents, additionally in the "budget" that McCarthy presented it is very vague and punts the budget cuts to the house appropriations committee so it doesn't actually provide details. You seem to be arguing in bad faith sir... Did you even read the actual budget / debt ceiling proposal by McCarthy, it is super vague and not detailed at all, lots of platitudes but no details.
>Here is a novel idea. With a $31.5 Trillion dollar deficit, maybe America ought to live within its means. BTW we don't need 80,000 new IRS agents. Especially when the Biden administration is weaponizing the IRS against its citizens. It was a nice move to send an IRS agent to journalist Matt Tiabbi house the day he was to testify before Congress.
The new IRS agents are definitely needed to go after the rich people that can hire teams of lawyers so they don't have to pay their taxes. There is no evidence that the IRS is being weaponized against citizens. Just imagine thinking that paying taxes appropriately is weaponization... Not everything is a conspiracy. The alternative is a flat consumption tax, or what some Republicans want which is to end all Federal tax which isn't a solution either.
>This nothing new for the Democrats. Who can forget the Obama years when the IRS was going after conservative groups. Lois Lerner, an IRS official, plead the Fifth amendment before congress after emails showed her hatred of conservatives and targeting of conservative groups.
That is frankly a bit overstated. After an investigation if you remember the IRS did go after all political groups across the spectrum that specifically applied for tax-exempt status. Conservatives claimed that they were specifically targeted by the IRS, but a report released by the Treasury Department's Inspector General in 2017 found that from 2004 to 2013, the IRS used both conservative and liberal keywords to choose targets for scrutiny. Initial reports described the selections as nearly exclusively of conservative groups with terms such as "Tea Party" in their names. According to Republican lawmakers, liberal-leaning groups and the Occupy movement had also triggered additional scrutiny, but at a lower rate than conservative groups. The Republican majority on the House Oversight Committee issued the report, which concluded that although some liberal groups were selected for additional review, the scrutiny that these groups received did not amount to targeting when compared to the greater scrutiny received by conservative groups. Words matter, but you making it seem like there is some hatred towards conservative people by the entire IRS is bad faith at best. The government overall is split pretty evenly on how people vote, and has it ever occurred to you that GOP led groups with mysterious donors might need more scrutiny?
I know you believe that the Republicans are the good team and the Democrats are the bad team, but at least try not to show your partisanship and debate in good faith. Country before party remember?
Another leftist who can't think their way out of a paper bag.
To show how stupid you are, you didn't even to cite what you "claim" I'm
lying about.
Leftism is the haven of the anti-intellectual. To show how bad it is, Heather doesn't offer an ounce of original thought other than pasting news from Media Matters or Huffington Post.
Those sound like fighting words...was that your intention? In your experience, does lobbing insults bring you more validation for your views? I feel badly for you, trying to swim in a pool of hostile combatants, but it seems like you threw the first punch up there a ways. Again, there's probably a forum where your views will find a more favorable audience. The best of luck with that!
Alito is worried about the threat of assassination to justices due to the Dobbs leak, but not the threat of death to millions of women of child-bearing age imposed by that decision. That's where we are.
The Supreme Court Justices.. self-assessing their own ethics? Like asking the foxes to guard the henhouse... /snort
Also, the "Republicans’ “Default on America Act,” or “DOA,” which “offers two choices: either default on the debt or default on America, forcing steep cuts to law enforcement, veterans, families, teachers, and kids" is appropriately "Dead On Arrival" as an extortionate attempt by the Rethugs...
And Dr. Heather, you are up QUITE LATE!! Hopefully you have turned off the computer and the house lights and have gone to bed in the few minutes since you posted this. THANK YOU for these daily LFAAs. 💜💜💜
When does HCR ever sleep?
I ask that all the time!! And, she pulls it all together (daily letter, podcasts with Prof. Joanne Freeman, 2 political chat videos/week, writes books, teaches, mentors PhD candidates, gets out in a kayak, gets married, has friends, etc.) whether in Maine, Massachusetts or traveling to parts unknown! And, she is a major influencer of the best kind (knowledgeable, educated, willing to share, and down to earth). I'm exhausted just writing those things down :) When I started getting the Letters, only a few hundred people were followers . . . I was instantly addicted.
I vote for Heather Cox Richardson.....President of the USA!
Definitely a candidate for presidential advisor.
That we have the privilege to read but more APPRECIATE.
It’s quality , a rare and cherished voice amidst the din.
So from this comes today a reflection : How years have changed perception ‘as the world turned’ and I/We listened ( or didn’t) and what we valued , worked for, and now appreciate.
In a nutshell things have improved, we’ve come somewhat out of the dark ages and get to laugh at The Dark Brandon. We realize the challenges ahead most of US in comfortable lives and aware of the new challenge ahead.
I am hopeful.
I believe in America .
I believe identifying the areas of concern will bring the needed change and I strongly believe my fellow Americans are waking up to see their vote does count and where we DONT want to go.
Thanks for your support
💙VOTE💙
That's so sweet. It's like you're voicing her titles. 🧡
"The eyes of love never sleep." The words inscribed on Harry Houdini's tombstone. All Americans, and our beautiful America, are the fortunate recipients of the endless love from Dr. Heather Cox Richardson. Gratitude flows into the vast ocean of her love for humanity. Her waters are deep, and they are true. They embrace all living beings equally.
Thank-you!
Yes I fear that she is working hours more appropriate to the 18th Century. I would be glad to see her have two days off a week, but at least take one day a week for rest.
I would be even happier if some of her columns appeared in the major newspapers.
It is understandable that HCR would want to avoid the hate mail and general aggravation that might result from her columns appearing in the MSM and papers, trolls abound, but many Americans would enjoy and benefit from her thoughtful work as much as we subscribers and it could only help our democracy to have better informed citizens.
Since when is cutting and pasting from Media Matters and Huff Post considered great journalist work? Can you cite ONE example of original work EVER posted here? One ? Its all word for word the same ideas you when find anywhere in leftist media. It's top down group think. On the other hand, I understand that it takes great courage these days to deviate from leftist orthodoxy one inch. That's why the least courageous people in America are in academia.
Well, if you really believe that HCR is randomly cutting and pasting from others, and that we are all part of the leftist orthodoxy, and that you so fervently wish to disparage folks in academia, why are you even here, except to troll and spew your right wing, elite-hysteria rubbish?
Just read Huff Post or Media Matters, its word for word the same.
With child labor laws reverting to the 18th century, HCR as usual is ahead of the curve and thats why she works 18 hours/day and 9 days a week. I had my REPUBLICAN'T Congressman introduce a bill a few years back to add another day to the and it passed easily. Now I also work 8 days/week. I call it retirement. The REPUBLICAN'TS call it: not enough
UGH!
I came across this fascinating article on the BBC site of the Medieval habit of "2 sleeps". One goes to bed relatively early, wakes up after 2-3 hours sleep, putters about and does stuff for 2-3 hours, then goes back to bed. This kind of sleep habit lasted into the 18th and 19th centuries in some places.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220107-the-lost-medieval-habit-of-biphasic-sleep
That's what I do, now that I'm retired.
There are numerous references to this kind of sleep pattern in early American writings, right into the 1900s. It it common in other cultures as well. Some members of my family (including me) still follow this pattern. And there have been studies that suggest that this may be the normal sleep pattern for human beings. The change seems to have emerged from the development of an industrial economy and "shift work", and the resulting impact on other members of the family, and on other institutions that adapted to that significant change in sleeping patterns.
Fascinating article! This two phase sleep makes sense in "light" of keeping the fire going, caring for infants and small chidren, managing livestock, and such. Thank you for this eye-opening, illuminating reference.
Would that be a split shift?
Copying my comment in here where it really belongs...
Read "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, PhD before you decide to sleep in two chunks like they may have done in the far past or still do in some cultures. I'm more inclined to think our increasingly short and broken sleep patterns of the past 80 years or so are partly responsible for the rise in dementia and some other brain dysfunctions.
Heather, have you ever utilized CHAT/GPT to help you with your writing?
JL, An Historian’s work is never done!
Good historians are researchers who dig DEEPLY compared to others. They would make Sherlock & Hercule Poirot seem like SLACKERS with their attention to detail.
And Heather is a Force of Nature all by herself…..aren’t we SO lucky to know her and to learn from her?
Does a Catholic priest regret taking his vows ? OUR SURVEY SAYS...... 😉🤔
Maybe, but they don’t rule over my non-Catholic belief system….Nine humans determine everything for 330,000 million of us. Yes, We the People are ruled by nine people, essentially and 100 Senators and 435 something Congresspeople. It sucks, frankly.
Amen!!!!!!
As in sciences such as evolution, cosmology, geology/paleontology, archeology, doing it right when tracking history appears to mean exhaustive research and fact checking; attention to fine distinctions and subtle connections.
Fictional sleuths are fun (murder mysteries are my guilty pleasure) but most of the time rely on deus ex machina insights that make them tall tales. Evidence in history is often less readily testable than is that for the "hard"(tangible) sciences, but our best guesses about the future, or workable potential futures, can only be informed by what we accurately observe in the past. We can exercise foresight, yet we never get to see what has yet to be until it's upon us.
That said, I claim with that high degree of (my own ) confidence that the sun will "rise" tomorrow morning, and that much that we expect will occur. It seems very wise to look (rather carefully) before we leap.
I'm sure that even I get more sleep than she does, & I'm an INSOMNIAC thanks to my mother's genetic contribution AND working third shift during the late 1980's.
I worked in capital intense industry that ran 24 / 7, almost 365 days a year. (2 days we didn't run were Christmas and Mother's Day, we ran July 4.) Most workers hated 3 to 11 more than night or what we called graveyard. Reason for hatred of 3 to 11 was you never saw your family. They were either asleep or at school. Tough life but it paid well with lots of overtime. Harder yet was the unit supervisors or what used to be called foremen. We dropped that term years ago with many women taking those jobs. What was such a killer was these were rotating shifts, 3 weeks on days, 3 weeks on 3 to 11 and 3 weeks on graveyard.
From my perspective the hardest is 12 hour shifts for nurses and other hospital medical staff. They don't get Christmas or Mother's Day off either. Sick people are sick 365 days a year. Covid made this really hard, we have a daughter who is a Nurse Pactisher.
Not to mention the toll overnight and late evening shifts take on our neurons. We evolved to sleep when the sun was down.
I'm retired from county law enforcement; in the 28 years I worked full time, we had (except for a brief period in 2008-2009 where we dropped 24 hour coverage due to the recession) three shifts: days, swings, and graves. We had shift bid twice a year, and for three month intervals. For the second half of my career, we worked four 10 hour days with overlapping hours at the busiest times of day. For all but the last 5 years, I worked primarily graveyard (I found out why hospitals called that the NOC shift; nocturnal, because I suppose "graveyard" carries connotations you don't want in a health care facility). The last 5 was day shift, where I had a start time of 0600 and had a typical awakening time of 0330 so that I could work out before going to work. I am still on a sleep pattern where I am up and awake between 0430-0600, even after being retired 10 years.
I agree that 12's are awful, especially if there are mandated day/night rotations occurring less than every three months. There are some things that just don't stop because of the calendar and holidays...
Melatonin and more often Valerian from Whole Foods ( they vet the content ) has saved me. A sleep doc cannot hurt. So much in life that can trip us ----Melatonin with alcohol will mess with your hormones.
Melatonin also can interfere with some prescription drugs.
I'll freely admit that I stay up late for the express purpose of catching the latest LFAA fresh off the virtual press! It's hell on my diurnal rhythm, but a price I am willing to pay...
Right now we are living in Spain (but soon to return to the States). We are six hours ahead of the east coast of America. But the first thing I do every morning is to look for the latest LFAA. Don't start your day without it!
Same, no easing into the morning, eh? Right to the greatest and most literate take of the day. Have you watched "How the South Won the Civil War?" It is available on https://www.c-span.org/video/?471923-1/how-south-won-civil-war.
I post Heather's letters to my Facebook page immediately. I included some commentary about the party of death and then somewhat sarcastically wished people good morning because nothing about the content today is good.
I haven't seen it Ed, but I will see if I can find it, thanks.
Thanks for this!
Now if I can only figure out how to get it to stream via my Apple TV! :)
I got the book. Is there a video version, too?
If I may ask (and not to stray too far from this group's purpose), in what part of Spain are you living, and how do you like it? I'm reconnoitering the Iberian peninsula, including Portugal, with an eye to relocating somewhere there for the last chapter, and am eager for any insights and pointers.
I don't quite know how to do it, but there must be some way to discuss outside of this group (if you're interested in passing along your thoughts) and still maintain privacy and security. Maybe WhatsApp?
Dear pts, we are always happy to talk about Spain. We are not rich but we worked our entire lives and lived pretty frugally with the intent of having a good retirement (something future generations may not have). Any way, we bought a small house in the south east corner of Spain in 2006. We love it here and since we retired we can spend more time. I would tell you that the people, the food, the wine and the cost of living is all fabulous. Does it have it flaws? Of course, but there are SO many pluses that far outweigh them. We have 340+ sunny days a year, we are a 4 minute walk from the Mediterranean, we are surrounded by mountains and our village has about 800 year round people living here and we are the only Americans. That is all on the plus side. One the negative side, we can only stay 90 days then we have to leave the country for 90 days so, it is a bit expensive to go back and forth but it is worth it. Also, speaking at least some Spanish is important. Gas is more expensive than in the States, but cars are more fuel efficient (go figure) and everything else is less expensive. We can continue this conversation on PM on FB or we can connect on WhatsApp.
I don’t!
I need behavior modification, BIG TIME. It's easy to mark it up to my DNA, so much so that it's becoming my default response.
Not for me! I'm traveling in the UK right now and reading this the next day because I found my favorite part of her letters are the comments and discussions.
That's very interesting! I had not heard of this, but it makes sense, since having my upper body raised enables me to breathe better.
Where can you find risers for your bed that are stable and strong?
Yes, and let’s not forget she teaches a full day of classes on Tuesdays before going home and doing her politics chat on Facebook. Wonder Woman.
My hope is that she has hired staff with some of the proceeds from Substack who can scan the news of the day. Someone who is as busy in so many things for so many years has to have found ways to be efficient. So in my mind, she's having breakfast with Buddy while her staff finishes collating the deluge of b.s., sprinkles the results with her vast knowledge of history, writes the day's post in no yime with no mistakes, and calls it a night.
Or she's superhuman.
He is a very hardworking and honest man. She inspires me.
There's this remedy called "a power nap". You just close your eyes. People think you are sleeping, and they keep quiet and don't try to wake you. You can announce you will be taking a nap, which helps. It doesnt really matter if you sleep: you get a change of pace, which is as good as a rest. Zzzzzzzzz.....
Spot on Just Janice; FYI to the Community., on 3/24/23.The Guardian's Ed Pilkington reported that justice Samuel Alito was flown to a religious liberty Summit in Rome on 7/21/22 by the Religious Liberty Initiative "whose faculty have filed amicus briefs in at least 6 high profile cases since 2020". The Guardian Editors posted a photo illustration of Alito in a tux gesturing to an audience standing by behind a thick plated see-through lectern.
This was all in the Scotus' Summer Break of 2022 before the day in April 2023 when Alito chose Murdoch's Wall Street Journal to make an accusation ( no evidence ) against fellow Justices on the very day Pro Publica exposed Justice Thomas's acceptance of luxurious travel & gifts from a right wing Mega Donor. These are not ethics violations, these acts
civil and/or criminal liability matters.
Discord is the GOP's main god, along with the god / goddess Ignorance & Untruth. An Unholy Trinity.
Don't forget money! They primarily worship money, even though they like to say it's "Jesus".
They aren't really Christians at all, but Mammonites.
Karen - Darths Maul & Sidious would be better Christians than these affronts to common decency.
NOW ! THAT IS A Great DISCRIPTION,~ of MANY !, in the MANKIND GROUP!!
It's like the fox lives in the henhouse and the hens have all been eaten. I am hoping that Biden follows the paths that are laid out by Paul Krugman, of a few ways out of the debt ceiling mess. https://www.berkshireeagle.com/opinion/columnists/by-paul-krugman-a-few-ways-out-of-the-debt-ceiling-mess/article_71f201b3-ad3c-5e5a-bdb8-ba518b0b67f2.html I do not want to see the Budget implode.
I love reading Paul Krugman's opinion pieces! He explains things in a way that I can understand. 😊
I agree. He made me relieved because one can see that while it is not commonly being discussed, there are things that can be done.
Thank you Linda. This is a good read from a trustworthy voice.
Great article! Thanks for posting!
Thanks very much for sharing Krugman's piece. Very helpful!
I agree with you, giving judges the right to judge their own ethics is the height of humor.
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
eth·ics
noun
plural noun: ethics; noun: ethics
1.
moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.
Similar:
moral code
morals
morality
moral stand
moral principles
moral values
rights and wrongs
principles
ideals
creed
credo
ethos
rules of conduct
virtues
2.
the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.
eth·ic
noun
plural noun: ethics
a set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct.
Origin
late Middle English (denoting ethics or moral philosophy; also used attributively): from Old French éthique, from Latin ethice, from Greek (hē) ēthikē (tekhnē) ‘(the science of) morals’, based on ēthos (see ethos).
'Both morality and ethics loosely have to do with distinguishing the difference between “good and bad” or “right and wrong.” Many people think of morality as something that’s personal and normative, whereas ethics is the standards of “good and bad” distinguished by a certain community or social setting.' (Britannica)
What does 'ethics' mean in America these days?
I look at it as 'defaulting on the budget' is 'defaulting on America'!
Yes, I checked my Ipad around 2:30am and there was no new letter. Heather is one busy lady! I can't imagine how she ever has time to sleep and today Tuesday is a busy day for her. The semester or quarter should be about ready to wrap!
What in the hell are you talking about?
The Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5T and hold federal spending to 2022 levels. If there is a default its on the Democrats. There is a budget in place.
Here is a novel idea. With a $31.5 Trillion dollar deficit, maybe America ought to live within its means. BTW we don't need 80,000 new IRS agents. Especially when the Biden administration is weaponizing the IRS against its citizens. It was a nice move to send an IRS agent to journalist Matt Tiabbi house the day he was to testify before Congress.
This nothing new for the Democrats. Who can forget the Obama years when the IRS was going after conservative groups. Lois Lerner, an IRS official, plead the Fifth amendment before congress after emails showed her hatred of conservatives and targeting of conservative groups.
Of course, if people were serious about the US deficit they would raise taxes on those who have milked the system for the last 20 years. But those are the Republican donors. They have bought the Republicans and the Supreme Court. They want to turn the country into a kleptocracy. That’s the MAGA way.
Sorry to embarrass you, but stop with leftist cliches:
1) All the wealthiest people are democrats. Pick a city: NYC, Boston, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, et cetera, all the wealthiest areas are run by Democrats.
2) Who are the constituents of the democratic party? Silicon Valley, Wall Street, High Tech, Pharma... the wealthiest industries are donors to the Democrats. You are right they BOUGHT
THE DEMOCRATS.
3) If there is Kleptocracy is the Democrats. They haven't changed any tax rules on Hedge funds. They haven't limit the power of Big Tech to censor or use your personal info. They colluded with big pharma to lie about the efficacy of COVID vaccines/booster while making billions.
Bernie was the only one fighting against the unholy alliance of big money influence on Democrats until he was strong armed into silence.
You are delusional my friend.
I'm sorry, James A, that you haven't heard about Koch money, ALEC, the Federalist Society, the Heritage Fund, Leonard Leo, and so many others who have been working hard for the last maybe 40 years to undermine democracy. They were clever, to be sure, by targeting the judiciary, re-districting, local school boards and city councils in order to pepper them with conservatives who would ensure the destruction of progressive policies.
Why do I have to embarrass yet another person.
READ THE POST RESPONDED TO. Their claim is that all the mega money coming from Republicans. That's joke.
Here is a list of the Top Donors to 2022 Midterms:
Rank Contributor Total To Liberal Groups To Conservative Groups
1 George Soros $176,752,713 $176,752,713 DEMOCRATS
2 Richard & Elizabeth U $86,446,015 REPUBLICANS
3 Kenneth C. Griffin $71,050,000 $0 REPUBLICANS
4 Jeffrey S & Janine Yass $56,241,400 REPUBLICANS
5 Timothy Mellon $41,700,000 $0 REPUBLICANS
6 Michael R. Bloomberg $41,262,025 DEMOCRATS
7 Sam Bankman-Fried $38,837,000 DEMOCRATS
8 Stephen A. Schwarzman $36,000,058 DEMOCRATS
9 Peter Thiel $35,250,000 $0 $35,250,000 DEMOCRATS
10 Fred Eychaner $32,100,000 $32,100,000 DEMOCRATS
Its pretty even.
Its time to grow up, stop being lazy, and do your homework. If you don't like money in politics start by cleaning up your OWN PARTY.
We no longer have a two (2) party system. The Republicans stopped being republicans back in 2015-2016. You have not ridiculed the largest political grouping, the wide array of Independents or the Age Group that is deciding the most recent critical elections, the18-30's with few hang-ups. I cannot wait for my granddaughters to take over currently aged 10 & 13. Political life is changing as fast as the computer chip on your cell phone. PS: I report personal attacks to Substack Inc my neighbor.
You are asking for unilateral disarmament. Democrats fund up because it's the only way to respond to Republicans funding up. The only solution requires putting the genie back in the bottle: overturn Citizens United. Remove all private funding from campaigns, not only the big donors and corporations, and level the playing field by allowing public funding only.
Focus on the evil of the current funding system, which is an uncontrolled race to outspend the other side with no rules or limits. Fix the real problem and let these people keep their money (which we can then tax).
You only embarrass yourself, duh
For your fist point what do rich / wealthy cities have to do with your reply?
Second, the constituents of the Democratic party are not companies, they are people... It's pretty widely accepted and known that most C Suite people and CEO's typically vote Republican. The donors that you mentioned above donate to both the Republican Party and GOP Party pretty equally most years.. You are being willfully argumentative if you don't think that Silicon Valley, Wall Street, High Tech, and Big Pharma don't donate to both rather equally. You can look up the donations here: https://www.businessinsider.com/fortune-500-companies-republican-democrat-political-donations-2018-2#facebook-10 or here for each cycle: https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/top-organizations
3) You want to talk about a kleptcracy, that isn't party specific. Both parties have their issue with that. Additionally, you know that neither party wants to change tax rules on hedge funds, and neither party has done anything to protect our data with big tech. To pass most legislation you know that you need 60 votes in the Senate right? Especially when it comes to Data protection. Maybe if one party wasn't always oppositional and had an interest in governing we'd be making progress on that front. I'm not even going to get into your Covid comment, because it's clear that you still think Covid was really just one virus and it didn't mutate into different viruses that caused a reduction in efficacy. It's really poor form to armchair quarterback a global pandemic after the fact, while scientists and virologists were trying to keep people alive and prevent spread to make it seem like there was collusion. On the Bernie front you are correct, but at least be consistent in your debate. Do you want more tax revenue and to limit big money in politics? They why do you support Republican big donors? Do you support Citizens United? You said, you didn't want more IRS agents, but Bernie wants to go after all billionaires?
You seem to be very contrarian and just nitpick democrats which is your prerogative however at least be consistent logically and also go after people in your own party as well. Or better yet, lets go after everyone in all parties and hold them accountable. Not everything needs to be a team sport.
"You are delusional my friend."
Thanks for questioning my mental status. I realize that at my age I certainly have my moments. You sir, seem blind in one eye, and only able to see what you want see and hear what you want to hear. Yes, "do your homework" is a good suggestion. Follow it. Check out Russian money and NRA money: not distributed balanced.
Well, James...you're one guy with an opinion, like the rest of us. You've dropped into a space with a somewhat provocative tone, a space where you'll find very few convivial listeners. A little piece of advice; it's not a wise mission to attempt to convince others who hold nearly diametrically opposed views; somewhat like trying to convert an Imam to become a Southern Baptist. You'd be better off speaking to the undecided. There's an increasingly dominant fraction of the electorate who are neither registered GOP nor Dems. We are the "independents" or non-affiliated. We listen to voices that make sense, not demagogues. There's unbelievable amounts of money flowing around the entire political universe. The government operates carrying debt greater than a year's national economic output. Sort of like my mortgage, I guess. Were we to value the entire nation's economic energy like a business, I believe we'd find that the long term debt is not unbearable. Would we be better off with less? Perhaps, but then many investments would not have been made, either. Someday in the not too distant future, I'll turn my considerable mortgage into a somewhat less considerable but substantial pot of cash with which to downsize. Yes, it's debt and yes, I pay interest, but I'm also building equity and experiencing the rising valuation of the asset. At risk of pushing the analogy too far, we're doing the same here in America. And, investing in the capacity to pursue the biggest, most ingenious corporate tax scofflaws with a foothold on every continent doesn't seem like a bad investment, particularly if their actions return more than they cost. I'm certain there's a blog where you'll feel more at home; good luck in your search!
This willful naïveté on the part of Republican supporters who persist in pretending that blatant political brinksmanship is a level playing field, is the dividing line between honest but misinformed politicians and criminals dressed up as politicians, like wolves in sheep’s clothing. Why don’t the House Republicans submit a bill which includes rolling back Trump’s massive tax cut to his cronies, which is the root of the ballooning of the deficit? Do you make enough money to have benefitted from that? I am in the group that saw my taxes go up. The Republicans could make some small argument for freezing spending if the freeze was equitable across all government entities including DOD and their own Congressional perks. But that is not what their cuts consist of, by their own admission. How many people do you know who are dependent on Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare? If you don’t know anyone, go to a Community Senior Center and talk to the people there, and then come back and explain how forcing the country into default benefits honest people who paid their taxes all their working lives.
Honest? Who are you kidding? You might want to put down the bong and read a little recent history:
Start with the Biden's. They've been selling influence for years to the Chinese and the Russians/Ukrainians. Why Joe was dumb enough to let his crack addicted son Hunter be the bag man is beyond me.
Then there is the Clinton's. My personal favorite was the Haiti Relief Fund. After the World community raised almost 10 Billion in relief aid, Bill volunteered to manage the money. Only about 10% of the money went to the Haitian government. The rest went to "FRIENDS OF THE CLINTON's" who then generous donated to the Clinton Global Initiative. The result was a trainwreck of mismanaged infrastructure and fraud. The Haitian government was so appalled they told the Clinton's to get lost. To this day there are still Haitians protesting the thievery in front of the Clinton Global Initiative offices in NYC.
It took almost as much Chutzpah as Sec of State for Hillary to fly around the selling influence out in the open.
As for brinksmanship, what in the hell are you talking about? The Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling 1.5TB. If there is default its on the democrats.
Thank you you for this quote, Heather!I have just been discussing this very issue with someone here, based on yesterday’s letter! I hope it will not create confusion if I quote this in yesterday’s threads. “....while Republicans are blaming Democrats for creating inflation by pumping too much money into the economy through social welfare programs, The Wall Street Journal yesterday embraced the argument that a key factor in inflation has been price gouging by corporations. A piece by Paul Hannon noted that businesses are boosting their profit margins, confident that consumers will blame supply chain issues and higher energy prices rather than the companies padding their profits. Oil giant Shell just announced almost $9.6 billion in profits in the first three months of 2023.”
How else is the IRS going to come down on Millionaire & Billionaire Tax Cheats? That’s a huge job that takes a huge labor force to handle!
If EVERYONE pays their fair share of taxes, we would be more than able to live within or even below or means.
That's naïve and ridiculous.
The government could collect more taxes from "Millionaires and Billionaires' ANYTIME IT WANTED TO.
CLOSE ALL THE LOOPHOLES. Democratic Millionaire and Billionaire donors want those loop holes. End of Story.
You don't need 80,000 more federal employees. Unless you want to go after your citizens and throw a bone to federal unions. Its a joke.
The fastest way to waste money is to hire more federal employees.
“The fastest way to waste money is to hire more federal employees.” That sounds like a gop cliché. However, I think maybe a compromise could really help, IF that compromise is “close all the loopholes” AND repeal the trump tax cuts. That should level the playing field, reduce the deficit, and balance the spending picture. But the IRS agents need to stay and pursue the questionable tax-dodgers of both parties.
And repeal Reagan's the government is the Enemy.
Hmmmm.... I just looked at your "Newsletter". Instead of Pragmatist, I think Antagonist is a better description. Now I know what the 'A' stands for!
>The Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5T and hold federal spending to 2022 levels. If there is a default its on the Democrats. There is a budget in place.
The problem is that we've already agreed to new spending, and the future budget vs existing agreed upon expenses should always be reviewed separately. The GOP raised the debt ceiling 3x under Trump and other previous Republican Presidents, additionally in the "budget" that McCarthy presented it is very vague and punts the budget cuts to the house appropriations committee so it doesn't actually provide details. You seem to be arguing in bad faith sir... Did you even read the actual budget / debt ceiling proposal by McCarthy, it is super vague and not detailed at all, lots of platitudes but no details.
>Here is a novel idea. With a $31.5 Trillion dollar deficit, maybe America ought to live within its means. BTW we don't need 80,000 new IRS agents. Especially when the Biden administration is weaponizing the IRS against its citizens. It was a nice move to send an IRS agent to journalist Matt Tiabbi house the day he was to testify before Congress.
The new IRS agents are definitely needed to go after the rich people that can hire teams of lawyers so they don't have to pay their taxes. There is no evidence that the IRS is being weaponized against citizens. Just imagine thinking that paying taxes appropriately is weaponization... Not everything is a conspiracy. The alternative is a flat consumption tax, or what some Republicans want which is to end all Federal tax which isn't a solution either.
>This nothing new for the Democrats. Who can forget the Obama years when the IRS was going after conservative groups. Lois Lerner, an IRS official, plead the Fifth amendment before congress after emails showed her hatred of conservatives and targeting of conservative groups.
That is frankly a bit overstated. After an investigation if you remember the IRS did go after all political groups across the spectrum that specifically applied for tax-exempt status. Conservatives claimed that they were specifically targeted by the IRS, but a report released by the Treasury Department's Inspector General in 2017 found that from 2004 to 2013, the IRS used both conservative and liberal keywords to choose targets for scrutiny. Initial reports described the selections as nearly exclusively of conservative groups with terms such as "Tea Party" in their names. According to Republican lawmakers, liberal-leaning groups and the Occupy movement had also triggered additional scrutiny, but at a lower rate than conservative groups. The Republican majority on the House Oversight Committee issued the report, which concluded that although some liberal groups were selected for additional review, the scrutiny that these groups received did not amount to targeting when compared to the greater scrutiny received by conservative groups. Words matter, but you making it seem like there is some hatred towards conservative people by the entire IRS is bad faith at best. The government overall is split pretty evenly on how people vote, and has it ever occurred to you that GOP led groups with mysterious donors might need more scrutiny?
I know you believe that the Republicans are the good team and the Democrats are the bad team, but at least try not to show your partisanship and debate in good faith. Country before party remember?
Lying James
Another leftist who can't think their way out of a paper bag.
To show how stupid you are, you didn't even to cite what you "claim" I'm
lying about.
Leftism is the haven of the anti-intellectual. To show how bad it is, Heather doesn't offer an ounce of original thought other than pasting news from Media Matters or Huffington Post.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Those sound like fighting words...was that your intention? In your experience, does lobbing insults bring you more validation for your views? I feel badly for you, trying to swim in a pool of hostile combatants, but it seems like you threw the first punch up there a ways. Again, there's probably a forum where your views will find a more favorable audience. The best of luck with that!
Join me in reporting him as well (…under his comments).
Apple crapple.
Excellent assessment of Supreme Court tirades. The conservative right faction acts like toddlers that feel that the world revolves around them....
Alito is worried about the threat of assassination to justices due to the Dobbs leak, but not the threat of death to millions of women of child-bearing age imposed by that decision. That's where we are.
Alito is scum. He doesn’t know the difference between a blastocyst and a human being, must really hate women.