384 Comments

Today Biden named the Republicans who voted against the infrastructure law and then asked for money. Biden said, “I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus.” ...

That's a good one!

Expand full comment

Hi Folks, guess who had a birthday today? And celebrated by staying up until 2:00 am ET to help save democracy with her Letters from an American? Well, The States Project has one more week to collect funds for good candidates in critical state legislatures to keep or get a Democratic majority. Give a gift in Heather's name--our small donations add up to make a difference! Thanks!

https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/1XQhnyD/Tending-to-Democracy

Expand full comment

This dovetails right into Governor DeSantis's request for 100% Federal funding to Florida for Hurranxe Ian damage.

My wife noted yesterday on the news that all of the services to help Floridians with immediate support appear to be coming from national not for profit and Federal organizations, and FEMA. She heard no state services mentioned.

In Maine, our state and localities deal with nor'Easters, ice and snowstorms that can damage and shut down areas. These are our weather risks that we pay taxes for. Taxes that are budgeted, put aside, and increased when budgets are used up. Florida is a hurricane state, hence the use of "hurricane" in many of their team sports names. But Florida and other hurricane states have low taxes and then lean on the Federal government and northern snow states like Maine for their clean up. And worse, when we have occasional hurricane damage, their politicians like DeSantis advocate against our being assisted, claiming we are putting our expenses on the national "credit card".

Republicans are con artists.

Expand full comment

Attack-dog Biden is my new best friend. I'm so happy — and democracy will be better off — to see and hear him off-leash. He's like a boxer landing jab after jab at Republicans for their hypocrisy and disdain for anything the federal government does to help citizens. The video of him tonight calling out Ron Johnson for wanting to essentially end Social Security and other entitlement programs was priceless.

Expand full comment

“ Biden said, “I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus.”

Politics has become a sport. A game. Teams.

I often wonder why a Republican who is totally against something, say Medicare or Social Security, would accept that “handout.” If they were true to their beliefs wouldn’t they opt out?

Expand full comment

If 100% of Republican senators believed TFG was guilty, but voted to acquit regardless, that is 100% dereliction of duty. They swore an oath.

They make me do the same almost every day.

Expand full comment

Unfortunately, since Republican officeholders are shameless and Republican voters don't have the brains to find their ass with both hands on a clear day with a three hour advance notice, calling them out for the shameless hypocrites they are will not change a thing.

Expand full comment

What a great Letter. It is truly remarkable that Republicans seem to favor lying about the economy (and much else), even when it works against them. It must be the case that they are irretrievably chained to the donor class that wants lower taxes on the wealthy, less spending on infrastructure and other social goods like healthcare, and elimination of government oversight. It doesn't even make sense that the donor class wants less spent on infrastructure, except where they hope to create infrastructure privately and charge big bucks for it, such as toll roads or a private postal service. But those appear to be the people demanding Republicans bray about "socialism" whenever Democrats invest in the economy or our citizens. What we need is full disclosure, either by law or by extremely effective journalism, of the degree to which the wealthy control these puppet politicians.

Expand full comment

That Biden guy can be a droll dude.

Expand full comment

Biden said, “I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus.”

Expand full comment

So much good news about our economy and the continuing positive change we are seeing daily, thanks to President Biden and the Democrats. And it’s expected that repubs will criticize and take credit at the same time. No surprise. What is troubling is the news of the loss of K-12 teachers and support staff. Many of my teacher friends who had to teach online during the Pandemic and then endure complaints and controversy about masking in person, were happy to take early retirement even losing value of benefits. Add to those retiring teachers those who teach in communities that are fighting over what and how to teach, specifically CRT, Critical Race Theory, even if they don’t understand it, our system of Public Education is in trouble. John F.Kennedy: “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation.”

Expand full comment

WONDERFUL! :-)) Today Biden named the Republicans who voted against the infrastructure law and then asked for money. Biden said, “I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus.”

Expand full comment

So it has now become common practice for journalists like Rachael Bade and Karoun Demirjian to withhold information vital to our survival as a democracy in order to get a lucrative book contract. If they had the receipts proving that every Republican senator believed 45 broke the law in that phone call to Zelensky, they were obligated to report it at the time, not a year and a half later.

Our democracy is in peril not only because Republicans have become overtly authoritarian thugs, but because the fourth estate has abandoned its fundamental responsibility to report the facts. How depressing.

Expand full comment

OFF TOPIC: Per WAPO, Reuters & Stringer, the Kerch Strait Bridge is on fire. The major bridge is Russia's main supply route to southern Ukraine. Few details.

Expand full comment

Your last sentence warmed the cockles of my heart. I will only reiterate two voices from the past. From Nov 26, 1932, Will Rogers said “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 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 hands.” From HST, “Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.” Why do we have to keep learning these same lessons over and over. Propaganda works, we don’t have the Japanese to jolt us out of our attraction for the Republican/Nazi lying machine almost 81 years after they did it before.

Expand full comment
Oct 8, 2022·edited Oct 8, 2022

I have reposted this on LinkedIn, and every single Republican who created a lie in their recent posts on Twitter -- McCarthy, Jordan, Paul, the awful Marsha Blackburn. Thank you Heather. And BTW A most happiest of happy birthdays. I saw the post of someone on Twitter. 🎉🍧🧁🎂🍨🍬🍭🍡

Expand full comment