Two quotes stood out for me today the first is from the New Yorker: “Trump has been begging officials worldwide not to do the right thing for years to help rig the election for him—no deal in Gaza, no defense of Ukraine, no Kremlin hostages release, no border deal, no continuing resolution, no interest rate cuts etc—just sabotage & subterfuge.”
Next, Billie Eilish: “Vote like your life depends on it,” Eilish said, “because it does.”
I’m pleased to see that the laundry list of prominent Republicans, former officials within recent past Republican administrations, who’ve announced they are voting for Harris/Walz is growing rapidly and substantially. Country before party is a mantra I can get behind.
That is beyond true, a continuation and extension under Maga of Mitch's commitment years ago to undermine Obama so much he wouldn't be able to govern (plus Tea Party, in the wake of the ACA) yet the same Mitch is, wisely, not sure potently, is urging the House to get its act together and pass a funding bill the Dems in the Senate won't torpedo, if that GOP house members can even agree on a bill, given how the same intractable divisions among them persist, perhaps with a vengeance. Trump, of course, is pushing for chaos full fury, as Heather rightly notes. It isn't all quite working out as he hopes, i do trust. Love to see all those Republican and entertainment leader endorsement for Harris and Lutz. Get out the vote! Get out the vote!
Hold the bus! It's Congress responsibility to pass immigration reform. They did not. Republicans voted down, at Trump's insistence, the one bill they created and somehow the media doesn't follow that story. Or Biden's desperate executive order, which he did do, followed on the heels of the failed legislation. Since an executive order can be overturned by any court or the next administration, he pushed Congress to do immigration reform which hasn't been addressed since 1986. Thus, you should focus on the hypocrisy of Republican members of Congress, who have been ginning up border problems for political purposes, but refuse to do anything about it. Who admit to wanting to keep the problem alive. And by the way, migrants are passing into the US at the lowest level in years.
If Harris/Walz lose on this issue, it's because the media has not covered this story and because the false narrative is carried by people who don't take the time to understand the issue. And because, it seems Republicans in power don't care to solve problems.
They ran for decades against Roe v Wade never thinking that the dog would catch the car. Immigration seems to be their answer for everything but they don't want to lose the only issue that they can run on.
"Vance told a reporter today that he personally considers the programs under which they came illegal, so he is still 'going to call [a Haitian migrant] an illegal alien.' ”
Prospective vice presidents can create law just by thinking about it, but the public has to vote (if they can)? But Harris (who is vice president) can't? And the press with was a-buzz with doubts about BIDEN"S sanity?
Responsible journalism might focus on more comfort for the afflicted victims of cruel, cynical political maneuvering. Also to make the afflicitors a tad less comfortable with consistent devil's bargains.
Frank, I firmly believe that the only reason that Mitch is urging the House to get its act together is because a shutdown would do further damage to the Republicans in the upcoming election, and in the twilight of his career as a partisan saboteur he'd like to burnish his reputation to cause those among us with amnesia to view him as a benign "statesman." I don't have amnesia.
Definitely, J.L. As in the case of the Trump impeachments, he's willing to state the obvious, but he wouldn't vote to convict. Like Bill Barr, who enabled Trump at every turn, he'd now wants his legacy to highlight his last public statements, not his support of a moronic tyrant.
Frank, I will be working the poles November 5th. It will be a very long day....it will start at 5am EST and end after dark hopefully, before 8pm EST in Clay County, Indiana. Prayers for safety will be appreciated!
Thank you! I have been a poll worker and you deserves kudos for doing this unappreciated, difficult, physically taxing (!) job. We should have to hope that you (and all the other workers) are safe, but it is an unfortunate result of the nonstop hate and lies spewed by TFG.
I lived in Ukraine, married to a Ukrainian. Came back to Canada two years ago. American politics is both entertainment and critical to our ability to someday return home
As the USA Ambassador to Canada recently warned, "Canadians are spending too much time on American politics and not enough on their own." Lots is happening in Canada that is just as scary as the Republican far right especially in Alberta and Ontario. And some of it paid for by USA entities.
Biden spent almost 3 years refusing to do anything to stop millions from rushing over hot sands and a cool river. To suggest that this is our proud legacy; clogging cities around the nation with this massive influx is a sad and untenable statement of the administration. It’s a losing proposition. If Harris loses in November, this one issue stands front and center. Why he was so dense to not take executive action is anyone’s guess. Perhaps why we are not appalled is more easily understood. We accept face value of the Think People, the Idologues at the top of the food thinking chain and know that they can do no wrong and that we must fall in line and agree. After all, we’re Democrats. And now we have a nail biter of an election on our hands. Against who? Only the worst decrepit , demented unstable wannabe pretend ole-style New York mafia Don that’s Biden’s adversary. I couldn’t have dreamed up this story in a million years if it wasn’t true. And it’s all in my book, “ Donald’s Vanity Tantrums” for only $15 online. Hurry before they are all sold out. And you’ll get several belly laughs with the scathing satire told in my little illustrated book. Better than Mao Si Tung’s little red book.
I usually scroll on by. He’s been whining about immigrants for years using the same old rhetoric coming from those who feel their position threatened. And trying to sell his book.
Gail, perhaps he could increase the price of his book, and even get a bit more respect, if he knew the proper spelling of Mao Zedong. Historian, he isn't.
No not at all. I only suggest that for me, I’m not n anyone’s cheerleader as most folks are. I call it like I see. Here again is what I call group attack. If you don’t read the expected script, critize the messenger. The messengers of Ancient Greece bringing news of defeat were frequently slaughtered. Enjoy slaughtering me.
You don’t understand the logic I express.migration is by far the elephant in the room. If we lose we lose on this one issue although there are other issues that democrats have endorsed. But if Trump wins, it will be because of this. I’m not a cheerleader like you guys are. I tell it like I see it. I’m an independent-minded person. And this is a comment section. You don’t need to agree but it’s unnecessary to insult me.it only diminishes your self.
Ah, yes, the tired old "millions of illegal immigrants flooding across the border and ruining small town America". From what I gather, reading MAGAt comments on Xitter, any Brown or Black person is an illegal immigrant.
Allen, try and examine facts and issues on the ground. Often issues are nuanced as this is. Haitians are here legally. That was a totally made up story of then eating pets to fire up the unwitting base a cluck heads. The southern border has been a problem needing to be addressed and Biden finally addressed it — after three wasted years. So if your comments are to be accepted, then Biden is doing wrong keeping those brown and black people out.
The southern border problem has not been addressed. We've been over this dozens of times with you on this newsletter. Over a year ago the Biden admin started working with people in Congress to fund and try to pass the most comprehensive Border Security Bill in decades and it got killed by Republicans at the behest of Trump. The southern border executive orders that Biden has passed are all being challenged in Court and most likely will not hold up under legal scrutiny, they are at best a stop gap for solving the issue long term. The non sequitur at the end of your comment, that "Biden is doing wrong keeping those brown and black people out" doesn't make any sense and is an attempt to argue in bad faith.
Immigration is NOT the deal breaker in this election. When Biden’s attempts were made to deal with/it the usual sabotage and subterfuge by R’s ensued. To circumvent the potential loss of this election to Biden’s immigration policies is short sighted and duplicitous. The cult of trump runs deep in our disenfranchised citizenry; the desperate attempt to win at all costs (including lying, cheating, appointing thugs to oversee election sites and gerrymandering) is a far greater threat to this election than the ONE issue of immigration. I sense “off the cuff” and “incendiary commentary without forethought” is your MO. If you want to be taken seriously (and it appears you don’t) then try critical thinking/research before posting.
You are regimented and trained well by the Democratic Thought Police. Enjoy your faulty thinking. Just remember we have laws in this country that should be obeyed.
I agree James M. Coyle! The Haitian-pet-eating scandal seems to be happening right when news outlets started noticing financial misdealing from OH Senate candidate, Bernie Moreno. The balance of the senate is critical for Dems to win. Nominating judges absolutely needs to continue under Dem control to stop Project 2025. I hope awareness of trump/vance’s sabotage & subterfuge about this senate race in Ohio is heigthened. It’s all about the judges to be nominated in the future administration. We need D-OH Senator Sherrod Brown to win in November. Here’s an article to share with others about his corrupt opponent: https://newrepublic.com/post/185913/maga-senate-candidate-bernie-moreno-lying-business
The McCarthyesque scandal machine combs for the slightest wisp of opposition scandal, clearly manufacturing charges when there is none. Vance even admits it. Next: "The Sky is Falling" (and it's all Harris's fault).
They keep saying it is about "economic anxiety" however some of much their policy ideas center on performance, punishing certain groups of people and finally just being an opposition party with no substance. That is why I don't believe them on anything, they aren't serious people with serious policy ideas on how to solve problems.
The fact that the Republican governor of Ohio and Republican Mayor of Springfield still said they are going to vote for the Trump / Vance ticket after all of these shenanigans is just insane. This is why I say they only care about power over anything else, especially since Trump can't keep his mouth shut and basically admits to all of their poorly thought out "concept of plans"
basically admits to all of their poorly thought out "concept of plans"
" You know, I do the weave. You know what the weave is? I'll talk about, like, nine different things, and they all come back brilliantly together. And it's like - and friends of mine that are, like, English professors - they say, it's the most brilliant thing I've ever seen." - Bore of Little Brain
One of Trump’s “enemies” has been knocking it out of the park, of course with hilarity. 😂Jimmy Kimmel had over 3.5 million views on his Tues. night monologue.He asked all in the audience who was not registered to vote. He brought one young person up on stage and then out came Oprah to help her register online.
“It’s so important to register to vote, and to vote.”
OMG Kathy, thanks for that link ! That entire clip was hilarious ! I usually watch Colbert, but that clip served notice that I need some Kimmel now and then. Lol ~
Thank you Allen, correct! "John ??? ' fled LFAA when 16 Readers joined me in pinpointing the Department of Treasury actions (plural) against foreign paid actors. I am not on 'Thread' but "John ???" has been tracked to his new position.
“Vote like your life depends on it,” Eilish said, “because it does.”
I would like to see more celebrities using their platform to speak out against Fatman and Ribbon. Anyone with a scrap of political leverage right now, needs to use it.
I believe his wives sign non-disclosure agreements. Melania's book comes out next month. Since you hail from Michigan, the Felon in Chief spoke in Flint, my home town Tuesday. A friend drove by and said the parking lot at the Dort Center had fewer cars than it did for high school hockey games.
Patricia, I love this report on the number of cars in the parking lot for death star's BS. I can't even imagine why he would come to Flint in the first place as there are areas in Michigan that are more friendly to him. That he wants to visit Springfield, Ohio, is more of the in your face moves that Rs seem to thrive on. That poor town is trying to solve the problems created by death star and JD and now let's rub salt in the wound by visiting. Personally I like the pictures of the citizens there packing Haitian restaurants.
We are all immigrants or their progeny, except for a few of the native tribes left. It’s just that we have taken in the chaff with the wheat, like the Rupert, Elon, and the original Drumpfs. Yep, we let some snakes in and the worst are pale as can be
You got me thinking about the parable of the weeds and the wheat in Matthew 13:24-30 along with "I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16). Translation: Do something, but first, do no harm, which in this moment means vote for and support D candidates. Even the snakes will thank us in the end.
Expect a forthcoming manifestation of the Kara-Murza effect. "It happens like this always. When dictatorships (and wannabe dictators) fall, people look back and they say, ‘Well, how didn’t we see that at the time? This is so obvious.’"
Addicts hit rock bottom and admit they have a problem every day. MAGA's rock bottom is near.
The Bering straight theory has been questioned but not the immigration. That said, when First Nations arrived, the was no one here to object to it except, perhaps, birds and bears.
I’m with you, Gary. It always irked the hell out of me that the corporate media never called these grifters immigrants while they freely throw that word around when relating to immigrants especially people of color and especially when spreading lies.
I'm not a W fan, but at least he released his tax returns and Yale transcript. He admitted he was a C student.
Where is Trump's 2023 tax returns besides as evidence in the New York criminal case. When are they going to nail him for income tax evasion as well?
Yesterday, it was reported the 3 whistleblowers are splitting 74 million dollars for turning in a tax evader that owes $263 million in taxes and penalty.
I thought Nixon would be the worst president in my lifetime; then came Reagan, then W, then Trump. Remarkably, the party pretty much started with Lincoln, was a mixed bag, and really dived after Eisenhower. Now it's corrupt to the bone.
I am partly troubled by the degree that celebrities seem to sway our decisions about the fate our own society, but anyone who has a "megaphone" should use it to call out what's at stake.
“ Senate and House Republicans told Peter Sullivan of Axios that if they regain control of the government, they will work to get rid of the provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that permits the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over drug prices. Negotiations on the first ten drugs, completed in August, will lower the cost of those drugs enough to save taxpayers $6 billion a year, while those enrolled in Medicare will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses.”
How can any voter with a modicum of sense think this is a good idea?
“Modicum of sense” not in evidence in anywhere in MAGAtVille. I just got a med, that did cost $95.00. The one I just got cost $1.26. I thought it was an error, but apparently not. Glory be.
I have had the same experience and it’s lovely. And gas at the pump is under $3 a gallon. YET, after every media outlet continued to call the former Biden debate DISASTEROUS, there is no mention of tfffg disaster of a debate or even an image or mention of Kamala in the news headlines. MSM still trying to make news not report it. Is it fear of criticism by MAGat bullies?
I had the same reaction, MLM. What, Republicans are actually bragging about this?! How can any voter with a modicum of sense keep these people in office?? 😠
They keep telling me they vote on economic policies, and they hate government debt, but the way they vote sure doesn't seem like it. MAGA Republicans and the baseline GOP voters seem to have done a very good job of pretending like they care about economic issues, when they really use it as a shield for their bs culture war beliefs. They are Republicans before they are anything else, even if they know the policies they are supporting won't actually help or will make things worse. They just start from the position that Republicans are better than Democrats on every issue despite the evidence otherwise.
Republicans have NO business campaigning on immigration when they are the ones who killed the bipartisan immigration bill in Congress a few months ago.
One of my favorites, Counsellor. I always used "behind the plate" instead of "centerfield". (I was a catcher, and cannot judge a fly ball to save my soul)
I had a large, well-oiled mitt not padded like your behind-the-plate model. So Sheriff ... you know I was playing the hot corner not lounging around in centerfield.
"Republican endorsements of the Harris-Walz ticket continue to pile up. On Monday, six-term representative Bob Inglis (R-SC) told the Charleston City Paper that “Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the republic” and said he would vote for Harris. “If Donald Trump loses, that would be a good thing for the Republican Party,” Inglis said. “Because then we could have a Republican rethink and get a correction.” "
It would be a good thing for the country to have sanity reset as something of a normal.
B.L.U.F. (bottom-line, up-front): J.D. Vance is a formidable candidate and the vice presidential debate will be crucial to victory.
We need all those G.O.P. endorsements. I have not paid attention to Senator Vance. Then I listened to a couple of speeches. This candidate is formidable. Check out minutes twenty-four through thirty of this speech in which Senator Vance takes questions from local reporters.
Senator Vance did this in at least one other speech. He prefaces his dialogue by accusing Vice President Harris of avoiding the Press. Well one thing for sure: ¡the Falstaffian 'alien count' is now up to twenty-five millions (Henry IV, part-1: Act II, Scene-4)!
Linda and I have asked ourselves which is more concerning, Trump winning and serving out his term or Trump winning and dying in office. The answer is not obvious to us.
Gary, you and Linda hold much the same concern as I. Candidate Trump galls me to no end, but at least he is unlikeable, obvious, and unpleasant.
¿What happens when a more seductive version of the former President comes along who is as unprincipled as he? Senator Vance may be that version.
Scares me witless. Now I have to get off of dead-center and volunteer lest a latter-day Alcibiades, Aaron Burr, or Douglas MacArthur comes along as V.P.
DJT, and JD thrive in Chaos... DJT has only succeeded in 'Failing Upwards'... His 'Gish-Gallop' overwhelms just by sheer Volume of S*T... Springfield is only the start... Expect more Springfields as the Election gets closer as DJT gets even more Desperate.. . JD is without a Moral Compass, look at how JD treats his Constituents as Totally Expendable Assets...
I remember John McCain coming out of the hospital with prominent surgical wounds to vote thumbs down on killing the ACA. That is a Republican that I respect. He was, at one time, part of mainstream Republicanism.
He was definitely a responsible Republican! I have a great deal of respect for him. Of course, he did a number of things I didn't like (Palin was a big error!) but all in all, he came through when he needed to, both in war and in the Senate.
Couldn’t agree more Gary. I take pride in telling people here are his policies “Trump has been begging officials worldwide not to do the right thing for years to help rig the election for him—no deal in Gaza, no defense of Ukraine, no Kremlin hostages release, no border deal, no continuing resolution, no interest rate cuts etc—just sabotage & subterfuge.” I will add and yes on controlling everything about you and tax cuts again for the wealthiest.
And do they understand the ramifications of a general tariff on all imported goods from China and mass deportations to the US economy or the lives of those caught up in the madness? If they did-there is only one sane choice.
Yes, consumers and purchasers pay as prices are increased to cover the tariffs, while the tariff proceeds fill government coffers. I believe Trump used some if not much of those Chinese tariffs to subsidize American farmers when the Chinese countered by reducing their own purchases agricultural products. I wonder where that stands 4 years later?
David, imagine the inflation in produce prices when Trump deports the workers who harvest it—and then promises tariffs on produce (coupled with import reductions) on fruits that the US is unable to produce.
Tariffs are pretty complex for me to judge the best applications of them (and other trade balancing actions) to help keep what seem some strategic capacity within countries and regions and are more reciprocal.
A recent peek at one of Trump’s advisors left me with a few revelations about how he reluctantly let slip hints of how reckless and thin skinned reactions by Trump could mess things up. As I was wondering about Kevin Hassett, whom I knew nothing about, but recommended by an old Vietnam hero I respect for things other than current political alignments I thought he might be somewhat like Albert Speer working for a certain German leader.
Turns out a better comparison would seem to be Hjalmar Schacht.
"...He served in Adolf Hitler's government as President of the Central Bank (Reichsbank) 1933–1939 and as Minister of Economics (August 1934 – November 1937).
While Schacht was for a time feted for his role in the German "economic miracle", he opposed elements of Hitler's policy of German re-armament insofar as it violated the Treaty of Versailles and (in his view) disrupted the German economy. His views in this regard led Schacht to clash with Hitler..."
Seems he wanted to build the civil infrastructure and put a lot of people back to work (I hope a bit like FDR, Frances Perkins, Harold Ickes, etc). I don't know how he felt about slave labor, though, or eliminating 2/3rds of the Jewish people, where others would have found ways to just tax them a bit higher and get the benefits of their knowledge, skills, and relative good will in supporting a more tolerant government. I think we'd have had a much harder time if the Germans had been smart enough to keep them working willingly for them, especially the scientists.
Be sure to watch through to the end where she nails him with a major flaw in his views (and, to me inactions).
A minor point in the start of my views on balanced trade was at a 1985 Pomona Swap Meet, seeing some Australian versions of cars from the 30s like a hardtop version (no door pillar) of my 39 Chevy Coupe and what a 1950 version of an El Camino (no separate pickup bed) looked like, finding out they had to have at least 25% of the components made in Australia.
Interest rate cut means factors that influence inflation are improving! Inflation rate at or below 3% how much better can it get? Inflation, immigration and grocery store prices are suppose to be the points of attack by the gop! Inflation is a non- starter! Immigration , the blood is on trumps hands since he killed the bipartisan Senate bill and grocery prices are the result of corporate Greedflation, which no President can control unless the industry is nationalized!!!!
The other issue, Louis, is housing prices. Private equity firms are going around the country buying up single-family homes, raising the prices. These guys need to be regulated. The oligarch class is making renters out of our population. No chance to own a home and build up equity. My wife and I bought our first home in 1975 for $39,250 and then sold our home (we moved up) in 2015 for $3.6 million. We pocketed the equity. Renters don't have that opportunity.
Good point Richard. The other big driver is local zoning laws that limit the nature and quantity of affordable housing that can be built. Too many towns "exclude others" by allowing only single family homes on large lots. MA is beginning to chip away at this with recent legislation. But there is much more to do. The Boston area is losing people (workers!) because it's too expensive to live here.
And let's not underestimate the need for rentals. We are desperately short of them and local zoning blocks them as well. I found this stat interesting:
One of our older aeronautics students (like some others), had rental properties that seemed to have been mostly homes he had lived in for a few years wherever he had been stationed (buying instead of renting). When the Financial crisis hit and his renters couldn't afford the rents (even though he rarely raised rates unless someone moved out), he told them not to worry, he lowered the rates to what they could afford and had them help take care of the property to keep it in good shape for the following renters, sweat equity instead of cash.
My parents couldn't buy homes through most of our service life since we were in high cost areas like Hawaii, but wherever we were, whether in government quarters or rentals, we left it in better shape than when we moved in. I still wonder if there couldn't be a better way organized to let renters earn some equity as they lived in, maintained and added various improvements.
One friend was so good at improving the home they rented a portion of that the owners pushed them out so their daughter could move back the home she had left before the improvements were made (all at my friends' expense).
I think that Ashton, US expat living in Germany who studied low income housing for her PhD, is explaining how Germany is a country of renters and so renters have protections that they do not have in the US. https://youtu.be/V7d1eQ7Onk0?si=6inDqi8t5XA41dRw
While most of our friends here in Germany own homes, much of that is from inherited wealth. In my husband's family houses get passed down on farms to the next generation that is going to farm. Some people buy their own homes before their parents gift them their houses, but others live in rentals their entire lives, and they get to make improvements to them.
My town south of Boston has a neat accessory dwelling rule which allows home owners to build apartments onto their homes- following some parameters of course.
The rules vary from town to town such as whether it can be attached or separate. It was something we looked at but the steep material and labor costs that also made it so hard to find contractors 3 years ago made us wait to see how this election goes.
I'm very encouraged to consider it again after November.
The documentary Food Inc. 2 points out that Walmart takes in one of every 3 dollars spent on groceries in the US. They have coerced many of their suppliers to lower prices and then pocket the difference. The Walton family is now the richest family in America and they will only get richer as they force more competitors out of business.
It's past time to split Walmart into multiple companies due to their anti-competitive policies.
I read Sam Walton’s story, Made in America. He gloried in driving little mom and pop businesses out of business, especially in small towns, often killing their downtown areas. The “low prices” came at great long term costs. Alice Walton spends all that grocery money on luxuries like horses and art.
When my wife was going to UM Rolla, there were stories in the local paper about what Sam Walton did to Rolla retail businesses. By 1990 70% of the retail business in Rolla was going to Walmart. There was one other grocery store within 40 miles of Rolla and there was a K-Mart that closed it's doors in the mid-1990s.
And her daughter bought a $300 million yacht with her "hard earned" money. The Waltons are one of the reasons I dislike trustifarians.
I think that what we need to realize and understand is the dialectic between capital and labor, as it were. Capital, without regulation, will continue to be concentrated in the hands of the few. It's the nature of the beast. This is where government comes in to regulate it. For the sake of the good of the community, it is a necessary exercise. Time to start breaking up these groups, such as Walmart.
It took me a while to see that his "Made in America" stated preference had some small print attached, it had to be within 5% of the cost of what he bought anywhere else.
Louis, finally, polls show more voters believing that Harris is better at the economy than Trump. Maybe if more people hear his plans, they’ll see that Harris is so much better.
Almost anyone with a mortgage or wants to borrow for a car or appliances is going to kiss the proverbial pavement as interest rate reduction works through the lending agencies. Though interest rate increases were designed to bring down inflation overall by making it more expensive for businesses to fund expansions etc, it did have an inflationary effect of consumer's basic cost of living. Wherever possible, businesses attempt to pass on increased costs, and they too often live off operating lines of credit.
You get it, Frank. But on the other side of the coin, lower rates mean savers suffer. And the impact of that is two fold: the investor class benefits as savers are lured away from low interest savings accounts and CDs - and they re-enter the stock market which most people don't understand or handle well. Lower rates may also encourage foolish spenders to carry credit card balances (the devious high tax collected by big banks).
The Fed should stop right now. Leave rates alone and stop trying to juice the economy and propping up a stock market. There is nothing wrong with a 6% mortgage. But there is a lot wrong if you can't get at least 4% in an FDIC protected savings account.
It is harder than ever for many people to have those options, though.
Our answer was to get away from the rapidly disappearing small banks, and go good credit unions with enough FDIC coverage to insure our modest interest savings to the maximum.
Back in the 80s and 90s, I put 10% (3% company, usually matching 100% of my 3% limit, plus another 1% of mine unmatched) in our Kodak 401(k). It was pretty good for those days, but 12 years ago only provided about 3 days worth of our monthly retirement income the year after we retired.
(When I retired from the military, Kodak seemed one of the best companies to go to work for.)
These are the same people that think if de-inflation happens it would be a good thing for them, or tariffs on all products would make things cheaper. I've said it for years, lack of economic literacy and quality education is the reason why the American experiment might fail.
They certainly didn't want the immigration bill to pass. They killed that, but they failed to ruin our economy. (Although trump seems to be killing his own private economy. I love watching his stock tank.)
Trump's real story, not covered by MSM on page 1, is the 75% decline in Truth Social stock value. Who are the schmucks that bought at $79?
Who are the people he scammed by his 2020 reelection campaign? He had to refund $122.7 million to supporters in 2020, giving back nearly 11% of the money it raised.
As soon as he had "assassination" attempts, he had a grift in place. What did he sell? To whom. How was he able to start grifting so fast?
When DJT stock went public there were several stories about the Trump sycophants that bought the stock at or around $79/share. A few "invested" their entire 401-Ks and IRAs into the stock.
Several of them were the true believers that think that Trump has never told a lie and that he won the 2020 election.
I almost feel sorry for them. Why isn't the MSM interviewing these poor people now?
Of course JD. He's ("him") been done so wrong, wrong, wrong..., in their minds. Either way, should "him" win or lose WE the people are going to have our hands full maintaining some semblance of law and order. Just look at the behavior of the Sheriff in Springfield, OH. He's taking down names. Yup. Look for more like that. It's called retro.....bution. Then comes 'round em up'!
Let them be "sorry" by themselves amongst their "sorry" friends, such as they are. It's just another boring story for MSM to choose from and I sure don't want to listen to it.
Some MSM do … it’s now about $16 per share — about an 80% decline in value. Ooops, and it’s all time high was almost $98 per share, reflecting an almost 85% decline in value for those idiots who may have purchased at or near its high!
So, destroying our economy except for the for the rich people that fund their campaigns and prop them up, is part of their goals. They want the haves to be few and the have nots to be plentiful and beholden to them for government services which will all be tied to embracing Christian Nationalist ideals and behaviors.
Linda, you are correct: the war is between the oligarchs and the rest of us. The oligarchs have manipulated the evangelical Christians into voting against their own best social and economic interests. Oligarchs vs. the people. HCR covers this in her book, "How the South Won the Civil War."
Richard, JDV is the epitome of Tech Bro Oligarchs and Christian Nationalists coming together. I have read that he is put in place by the Tech Bros like Peter Thiel to win with Trump and then using Article 25, take over from Trump by claiming that Trump is incompetent.
maybe a bunch are praying for Netanyahu to bring on Armageddon at Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley. Sadly too many Americans in their sacred churches are praying for a renewed "Christianization" of American Society. Like the Apostle Paul they feel they lived in an alien, Satan dominated society. That includes Johnson, big time. Likely Mitch too.
Linda, Project 2025 lays out how they will do away with government services that do not serve the oligarchs (starting with Head Start, FEMA and free school lunches). As members of Joel Osteen’s congregation found when he refused to open the church to house people displaced by Hurricane Harvey, churches don’t always step up like FEMA (he eventually opened the doors when the local media shamed him).
Mary, my Democrats Abroad Book Club which is reading Project 2025 has read and discussed about 12 chapters and the forward. We are skipping around. We did notice that all of the food programs were to be moved to the Department of Health and Human Services and made harder to access, but they also want to turn the HHS into the Department of Life, so what happens to these program or Special Education Services which also would be moved to HHS after the Department of Education is nixed. What these dumber than dirt Republicans do not seem to understand is that even elite private schools will be hard pressed to find well trained teachers when colleges of education are corrupted by the new accreditation standards, which may be changed or removed. Our whole system of higher education is under attack with no government backed student loans. Are you saying all the teachers will come from the elite, the only ones who can afford to get an education? So, many things will be destroyed with their plans for Education, and will set the US to be more like a third world country.
Hhahhaaa... welp.., much to their 'religiott' distress has come the opening-up of the LGBTQT+Etc closet door exposing the behaviors for all to "deal with" and to accept. Accept, maybe.., not so much for some. Al the while tho, of the pillars supporting this huge religious deck (platform, whatever) many are rotting out or being undermined by the waters (influencers, if you will) that are really flowing through the sieve (the net!) unabated. Even the Mormon mega-church is starting to swing-away on some of their gates with their own Onlyfans fascination. Of course, none of this stuff we now get tossed in our face is new by any means. Merely human behavior, like it or not, has existed long before the alphabet was thrown at it. Christian Nationalist "ideals" being permeated family by family. Oooop, I can hear another pillar crumbling.
He has created the carnage that we see every day, so he can point to things and say, I can fix that. How much our current crises can be attributed to republicans, either created or made worse…. Every last horror that we deal with today
Only he won't. He will turn the US into one big Christian Nationalist wait for End of Days and until them follow CN rules or else get put into immigration prison and deported.
B.L.U.F. (bottom-line, up-front): J.D. Vance is a formidable candidate and the vice presidential debate will be crucial to victory.
We need all those G.O.P. endorsements. I have not paid attention to Senator Vance. Then I listened to a couple of speeches. This candidate is formidable. Check out minutes twenty-four through thirty of this speech in which Senator Vance takes questions from local reporters.
Senator Vance did this in at least one other speech. He prefaces his dialogue by accusing Vice President Harris of avoiding the Press. Well one thing for sure: ¡the Falstaffian 'alien count' is now up to twenty-five millions (Henry IV, part-1: Act II, Scene-4)!
For once, Trump appointed (and kept) someone who seems to know what he’s doing—Jerome Powell—and is focused on doing what is best for the country. And Biden was smart enough to not fire him out of spite (something that Trump seems unable to do).
lol, you're not the first, if so, a very very distant many times removed. My surname comes from Nova Scotia, Canada, where they are fairly plentiful. There is a big FB group of American Loomers of all stripes I'm sure.
Watching JD Vance say directly into the TV cameras, the democrats are responsible and especially Biden and Harris for the nasty, evil talking points that got us to the place where Trump has been targeted twice is way beyond absurd. It's beyond spin or deflection. It's time for the Lincoln Project to put together the Trump highlight reel from the past 9 years and air it frequently. We know who has the trash mouth.
In a video I watched on YouTube, Robert Reich compiled the reasons why Trump shouldn't be president again. The video, which Inequality Media produced, is short but includes 75 reasons from Trump's first presidency.
We tried to teach our kids not to use what we called "Wrestler mouth" back in the 1980s but our preteen son and a neighbor's son went through a phase where their heroes were the TV wrestlers that were better known for their creative taunting which they had great fun in using on each other (never even play fighting physically), until a little girl came up and punched our son.
He came home in tears, but learned a lesson about careless use language.
I am at a complete loss as to how this election could be close. One look at all of the treasonous election deniers, corrupt incompetents, and others better suited for a sociopathic circus, not governing the United States and should be enough to convince anyone with a minimum of a 6th grade education and measurable IQ to vote for candidates who embrace the rule of law and democracy.
I used to be at a complete loss too because I was trying to be logical — then I realized it’s a combo— Trump is a huckster who ignites resentments and fears— but he’s a very competent demagogue because he is a master of television and our other huge vulnerability is the electoral college and social media disinformation spread even by Russia and China.
AND our current despicable newspapers and news coverage.
NYTimes and Comey are as responsible as Murdoch for this mess we are in.
Intellectuals? Head of the FBI? They are as shameful as the Repugnicans who still carry on abetting, including our local Molinaro.
Marc Molinaro was a beloved kid from Tivoli, NY. The youngest Mayor ever ,and Tivoli loved him and supported him. Not anymore. He doesn't have the heart to be strong.
You know I really respect the NYTIMES because they do their own factchecking and I know every person and institution have ongoing challenges with factual reporting and resistance to natural bias but Fox goes beyond the pale with false narratives!
I just saw the clip of him describing how there is a big faucet the size of a wall between Canada and California….to supporters in California who surely have some clue about water right issues they must contend with. How do these people leave there and still think he can be trusted with the nation’s challenges, foreign and domestic?
I live in a very blue suburb of Illinois. Yesterday, I saw a huge crowd lined up outside of a popular liquor store and wondered what was going on. Was a Chgo Bear or another sports figure there? I can't confirm it, but I was told Hulk Hogan was appearing there.
Is it possible that the Russians have decided that TFG has become a liability and want him gone? That might explain the recent attacks from MAGA wackos.
But their dilemma is that his pick for VP is equally unpalatable to sane voters. He’s a political lightweight, with an attitude like that of DeSantis.
All three share a common trait: Lying is easy, and is essential.
To me he’s the insipid orange turd, I only added insipid, his own lawyer called him repeatedly the orange turd. I loathe him so much I find it almost impossible to speak his given name. 🤷♂️
One of the rare instances that the F-word is warranted, and after all the division he has caused with his self-serving imbecilic decisions and cruel policies, there aren't enough pejoratives to describe him.
Back nearly four years, at the start of the Biden presidency, when they kept asking him about Trump, the President said he wasn't interested in talking about "the former guy".
Anne-Louise, I particularly liked whoever came up with the moniker “Dolt-45”. Some clever snarky folks out there, eh? Wasn’t it Kim Jong Un who called him a “dotard”?
Dolt-45! That's brilliant! Yes, Kim Jong Un retaliated against "Little Rocket Man", with "The Dotard". Do you remember when he went to visit him in North Korea? He took a video with him which showed the two of them, side by side, gazing into a beautiful future, as rulers of the world.
There are also Mango Mussolini and Agolf Twitler. Trump has never understood that he is his own worst enemy, and like immature people everywhere, he refuses to take responsibility for his own shortcomings.
James, I now call him TFFFG…..The Felonious F*#king Former Guy (you can mix up the “F’s” in any order that suits you). Started out as just TFG, but evolved as more information became known. Who knows, may morph yet again!
A bit too close to sounding like the great jazz musician. OK if you just use "felon" and arrange the adjectives around it. There's one in circulation, something like CFT, or C34F - but that's not right - escapes me.
I saw a brief video of Ms Huckabee at a rally talking about her humble opinion. What a power hungry apple not far from her tree. I happen to have a beautiful and talented Haitian daughter in law living in NYC and also a Haitian art collection. I also taught quite a few Haitian students in high school and middle school inner city public schools. The parents were tough at parent nights. They are hardworking people and they understand the value of education. I hope this Springfield Ohio debacle the hillbilly created bites both of them near their shit holes really hard on Election Day.
Shady Jaydee may have Appalachian roots, but he has long since departed from our traditional values. And please don’t disparage the rest of us by using that word so freely. Maybe call him “the weird guy” instead.
Vance is smug and power hungry and represents a greater danger than Trump, as he has the smarts Trump lacks. Unfortunately, Peter Thiel purchased him as our senator, and I didn’t vote for him. I want to keep Sherrod Brown as our Senator.
I’m so encouraged by all the conservatives backing Harris/Walz. I feel like we’ve finally turned the page and politics has reentered the realm of decency and honor. I can finally see a way forward, where conservative ideas can enter the conversation again without the demonization of people who adhere to progressive ideals.
A tangential complement to Dr. Richardson's paragraph concerning the notable Republicans who are endorsing VP Harris, is Joyce Vance's anecdote about seeing Harris/Walz signs pop up in various locations in Alabama. Some of them are pretty funny (e.g., "My dog is smarter than Trump"). Other substacks are noting the disappearance (and non-appearance) of Trump signs in places in rural Pennsylvania where they formerly proliferated. Anecdotes they may be, but nonetheless encouraging. Could it be that Trump's schtick is getting old, even with his supporters?
James, a friend of mine (a political progressive) recently bought property in a red/purple area of Michigan…on purpose. He posted his Harris/Walz sign & has been heartened by the mostly very positive response.
Trump admitted that after nine years of promising he would release a new and better healthcare plan than the Affordable Care Act in just a few weeks, all he really had were “concepts of a plan.”
I'll to remember that one. Back in school if I didn't write a term paper? "I have "concepts" of a thesis. Tell the IRS I have "concepts" of my return available. Tell the boss at the deadline that I have "concepts" of a job well done.
It's a lot easier than actually accomplishing anything, and so very "smart".
I have yet to hear anyone ask TFG when it was that America was great anad how it was great. Roy Moore thought the ideal was the American South before the Civil War, apart from the detail of slavery.
I watched Billie's strong endorsement on IG yesterday of Harris/Walz, and didn't realize how big her fanbase is until Dr. Heather wrote about her and her brother, "[...] singer-songwriters Billie Eilish, who has 119 million followers on Instagram, and Finneas, who has 4.2 million, [...]"
While much less than half of the Swiftie followers, still a force to be reckoned with. Love her music.
I know that Beyoncé allowed Harris to use her song, but has she formally endorsed her? Prior to retirement, I worked with many young, black women, and almost none were intending to vote if they were even registered
They'd need to act quickly to get it done in time.
Some of the postcarding campaigns are focusing on Black women in swing states - sending them voter registration and get out the vote messages. Field Team 6 is one...
I should be getting the 100 postcards I ordered from FT6 today and the stamps as well, they want me to have them in the mail by the 30’th. I should be able to write 10 a day, if I can’t my daughters will help me. These are all about registering likely democratic voters who aren’t registered. So I’ll be post carding as well as donating to senate candidates. Biden won GA by less than 12,000 votes, that was just a handful per precinct, every vote counts, do what you can. 🙏
The more celebrities, Republicans, and others OK Kamala and Tim, the worse the orange felon gets.
He'll go down to defeat -- and his vicious lapdog Vance -- still insulting, damning, lying about people of color and vulnerable others. He, or they, will do this because their tens of millions who all got "educated" in U.S. schools all hunger for tall tales, scripts, legendary stereotypes -- all the worst of fiction, given that those tens of millions all got zero legitimate humanities in all those U.S. schools.
They can't even imagine that we have many humanities sympatico to our American working classes: films like “The Florida Project” and “Winter’s Bone”; novels like Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” Walter Mosley’s “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,” Tom Hanks’ “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,” and many by Richard Russo and Stephen King; memoirs like Mary Karr’s “The Liars’ Club,” Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Erin Gruwell’s “The Freedom Writers Diary,” poems such as Philip Levine’s Detroit factory poems, songs like Tim Grimm’s “Broken Truth,” Bob Segers’ “Feel Like a Number,” Carsie Blanton’s “Rich People,” and any number of Bruce Springsteen or hip hop Ari Melber will cite.
They -- those school-dehumanized tens of millions -- won't know how some elites now call for more humanities.
I've suggested this before: the excellent satirical political novel by Roland Merullo "American Savior"--the premise being a man claiming to be Jesus reincarnated runs for POTUS. Quite an excellent read, esp now, and amazing it was published in 2008!
You are too kind, Jeri. I am cautiously dipping my toe back into the political news. I have to limit myself.
Some great news today, I got an email from Penzeys. After the Trump blather over Harris's visit, they requested help in the form of orders, as they have been fighting the MAGA boycotts. They had SUCH a huge response, they got 6 weeks worth of orders in one week! They are offering to cancel any orders that can't wait, but you can also notify them to "take your time" which I did.
They are a great company with awesome products., and truly Christian or Golden Rule (whatever you prefer) attitude.
Propagating (irrational) fear and anger at the "other" is political strategy. Period. Full stop. Sure wish the corporate media could bring themselves to feeling a responsibility to cut through the BS and tell it like it is, so as, to save our nation. Okay. Wishful thinking. We'll do it instead.
As usual, HCR covered a lot of ground in today's newsletter. In particular, I'm glad she highlighted the likelihood that a Trump administration would change the ACA to allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. That would be a travesty and alone justifies a vote for Harris/Walz (as if anyone needed more reasons to do so).
Another “home run” of a letter from HCR.
Two quotes stood out for me today the first is from the New Yorker: “Trump has been begging officials worldwide not to do the right thing for years to help rig the election for him—no deal in Gaza, no defense of Ukraine, no Kremlin hostages release, no border deal, no continuing resolution, no interest rate cuts etc—just sabotage & subterfuge.”
Next, Billie Eilish: “Vote like your life depends on it,” Eilish said, “because it does.”
I’m pleased to see that the laundry list of prominent Republicans, former officials within recent past Republican administrations, who’ve announced they are voting for Harris/Walz is growing rapidly and substantially. Country before party is a mantra I can get behind.
That phrase "sabotage & subterfuge" is a concise description of the MAGA party's theory of government, on display daily in your national congress.
That is beyond true, a continuation and extension under Maga of Mitch's commitment years ago to undermine Obama so much he wouldn't be able to govern (plus Tea Party, in the wake of the ACA) yet the same Mitch is, wisely, not sure potently, is urging the House to get its act together and pass a funding bill the Dems in the Senate won't torpedo, if that GOP house members can even agree on a bill, given how the same intractable divisions among them persist, perhaps with a vengeance. Trump, of course, is pushing for chaos full fury, as Heather rightly notes. It isn't all quite working out as he hopes, i do trust. Love to see all those Republican and entertainment leader endorsement for Harris and Lutz. Get out the vote! Get out the vote!
Hold the bus! It's Congress responsibility to pass immigration reform. They did not. Republicans voted down, at Trump's insistence, the one bill they created and somehow the media doesn't follow that story. Or Biden's desperate executive order, which he did do, followed on the heels of the failed legislation. Since an executive order can be overturned by any court or the next administration, he pushed Congress to do immigration reform which hasn't been addressed since 1986. Thus, you should focus on the hypocrisy of Republican members of Congress, who have been ginning up border problems for political purposes, but refuse to do anything about it. Who admit to wanting to keep the problem alive. And by the way, migrants are passing into the US at the lowest level in years.
If Harris/Walz lose on this issue, it's because the media has not covered this story and because the false narrative is carried by people who don't take the time to understand the issue. And because, it seems Republicans in power don't care to solve problems.
Thank you for the sanity and the clarity.
They ran for decades against Roe v Wade never thinking that the dog would catch the car. Immigration seems to be their answer for everything but they don't want to lose the only issue that they can run on.
"Vance told a reporter today that he personally considers the programs under which they came illegal, so he is still 'going to call [a Haitian migrant] an illegal alien.' ”
Prospective vice presidents can create law just by thinking about it, but the public has to vote (if they can)? But Harris (who is vice president) can't? And the press with was a-buzz with doubts about BIDEN"S sanity?
When the NYT says the differences between Harris' and the former guy's immigration policies are subtle, you KNOW MSM isn't doing its job.
Reprehensible!
Well, they haven't done their jobs for years. Why should they start now?
Before He Who Shall Not Be Named comes for them?
Responsible journalism might focus on more comfort for the afflicted victims of cruel, cynical political maneuvering. Also to make the afflicitors a tad less comfortable with consistent devil's bargains.
Frank, I firmly believe that the only reason that Mitch is urging the House to get its act together is because a shutdown would do further damage to the Republicans in the upcoming election, and in the twilight of his career as a partisan saboteur he'd like to burnish his reputation to cause those among us with amnesia to view him as a benign "statesman." I don't have amnesia.
I think he is cunning enough to see that a shutdown is most likely to backfire.
Definitely, J.L. As in the case of the Trump impeachments, he's willing to state the obvious, but he wouldn't vote to convict. Like Bill Barr, who enabled Trump at every turn, he'd now wants his legacy to highlight his last public statements, not his support of a moronic tyrant.
Frank, I will be working the poles November 5th. It will be a very long day....it will start at 5am EST and end after dark hopefully, before 8pm EST in Clay County, Indiana. Prayers for safety will be appreciated!
Thank you! I have been a poll worker and you deserves kudos for doing this unappreciated, difficult, physically taxing (!) job. We should have to hope that you (and all the other workers) are safe, but it is an unfortunate result of the nonstop hate and lies spewed by TFG.
Suggestion: work the polls in November instead. I think poles are in strip joints.
I love that a Canadian is following US politics so closely. Do you live in the States?
I lived in Ukraine, married to a Ukrainian. Came back to Canada two years ago. American politics is both entertainment and critical to our ability to someday return home
As the USA Ambassador to Canada recently warned, "Canadians are spending too much time on American politics and not enough on their own." Lots is happening in Canada that is just as scary as the Republican far right especially in Alberta and Ontario. And some of it paid for by USA entities.
Biden spent almost 3 years refusing to do anything to stop millions from rushing over hot sands and a cool river. To suggest that this is our proud legacy; clogging cities around the nation with this massive influx is a sad and untenable statement of the administration. It’s a losing proposition. If Harris loses in November, this one issue stands front and center. Why he was so dense to not take executive action is anyone’s guess. Perhaps why we are not appalled is more easily understood. We accept face value of the Think People, the Idologues at the top of the food thinking chain and know that they can do no wrong and that we must fall in line and agree. After all, we’re Democrats. And now we have a nail biter of an election on our hands. Against who? Only the worst decrepit , demented unstable wannabe pretend ole-style New York mafia Don that’s Biden’s adversary. I couldn’t have dreamed up this story in a million years if it wasn’t true. And it’s all in my book, “ Donald’s Vanity Tantrums” for only $15 online. Hurry before they are all sold out. And you’ll get several belly laughs with the scathing satire told in my little illustrated book. Better than Mao Si Tung’s little red book.
My mother used to say "Blab Off" when TV commercials interrupted the news.
Blab Off Katz- you are annoying.
I usually scroll on by. He’s been whining about immigrants for years using the same old rhetoric coming from those who feel their position threatened. And trying to sell his book.
Gail, perhaps he could increase the price of his book, and even get a bit more respect, if he knew the proper spelling of Mao Zedong. Historian, he isn't.
Ditto for you in my remarks to Miss Simon.
Hum ho, he seems to be everywhere touting his wisdom to those of us who “refuse to see”
Any point seems to get lost in the tedium
No not at all. I only suggest that for me, I’m not n anyone’s cheerleader as most folks are. I call it like I see. Here again is what I call group attack. If you don’t read the expected script, critize the messenger. The messengers of Ancient Greece bringing news of defeat were frequently slaughtered. Enjoy slaughtering me.
You don’t understand the logic I express.migration is by far the elephant in the room. If we lose we lose on this one issue although there are other issues that democrats have endorsed. But if Trump wins, it will be because of this. I’m not a cheerleader like you guys are. I tell it like I see it. I’m an independent-minded person. And this is a comment section. You don’t need to agree but it’s unnecessary to insult me.it only diminishes your self.
"migration is by far the elephant in the room" -
in your room- and in their room.
Womens Rights ?
Gun Control ?
Fiscal Responsibility ?
Honor, Integrity ?- hmmmm
Threw the baby, our amazing young country, out with the bathwater?
Your "job" could be the better explaining of your logic. You disrespect and insult us readers right and left and then you complain about insults.
Pfui poor Mr. Katz.
Ah, yes, the tired old "millions of illegal immigrants flooding across the border and ruining small town America". From what I gather, reading MAGAt comments on Xitter, any Brown or Black person is an illegal immigrant.
Allen, try and examine facts and issues on the ground. Often issues are nuanced as this is. Haitians are here legally. That was a totally made up story of then eating pets to fire up the unwitting base a cluck heads. The southern border has been a problem needing to be addressed and Biden finally addressed it — after three wasted years. So if your comments are to be accepted, then Biden is doing wrong keeping those brown and black people out.
The southern border problem has not been addressed. We've been over this dozens of times with you on this newsletter. Over a year ago the Biden admin started working with people in Congress to fund and try to pass the most comprehensive Border Security Bill in decades and it got killed by Republicans at the behest of Trump. The southern border executive orders that Biden has passed are all being challenged in Court and most likely will not hold up under legal scrutiny, they are at best a stop gap for solving the issue long term. The non sequitur at the end of your comment, that "Biden is doing wrong keeping those brown and black people out" doesn't make any sense and is an attempt to argue in bad faith.
Try reading what I wrote
Sorry. Bought Prof Timothy Snyder new book "On Freedom" instead. And he didnt advertise here.
Good for both of you.
Immigration is NOT the deal breaker in this election. When Biden’s attempts were made to deal with/it the usual sabotage and subterfuge by R’s ensued. To circumvent the potential loss of this election to Biden’s immigration policies is short sighted and duplicitous. The cult of trump runs deep in our disenfranchised citizenry; the desperate attempt to win at all costs (including lying, cheating, appointing thugs to oversee election sites and gerrymandering) is a far greater threat to this election than the ONE issue of immigration. I sense “off the cuff” and “incendiary commentary without forethought” is your MO. If you want to be taken seriously (and it appears you don’t) then try critical thinking/research before posting.
You are regimented and trained well by the Democratic Thought Police. Enjoy your faulty thinking. Just remember we have laws in this country that should be obeyed.
You've written "Harris and Lutz" where you meant Harris and Walz." (Lutz was a diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during WWII, so quite worthy.)
I agree James M. Coyle! The Haitian-pet-eating scandal seems to be happening right when news outlets started noticing financial misdealing from OH Senate candidate, Bernie Moreno. The balance of the senate is critical for Dems to win. Nominating judges absolutely needs to continue under Dem control to stop Project 2025. I hope awareness of trump/vance’s sabotage & subterfuge about this senate race in Ohio is heigthened. It’s all about the judges to be nominated in the future administration. We need D-OH Senator Sherrod Brown to win in November. Here’s an article to share with others about his corrupt opponent: https://newrepublic.com/post/185913/maga-senate-candidate-bernie-moreno-lying-business
I agree!
The McCarthyesque scandal machine combs for the slightest wisp of opposition scandal, clearly manufacturing charges when there is none. Vance even admits it. Next: "The Sky is Falling" (and it's all Harris's fault).
I wish Sherrod Brown had run for president in 2016. He had shown interest for a brief moment.
They keep saying it is about "economic anxiety" however some of much their policy ideas center on performance, punishing certain groups of people and finally just being an opposition party with no substance. That is why I don't believe them on anything, they aren't serious people with serious policy ideas on how to solve problems.
The fact that the Republican governor of Ohio and Republican Mayor of Springfield still said they are going to vote for the Trump / Vance ticket after all of these shenanigans is just insane. This is why I say they only care about power over anything else, especially since Trump can't keep his mouth shut and basically admits to all of their poorly thought out "concept of plans"
basically admits to all of their poorly thought out "concept of plans"
" You know, I do the weave. You know what the weave is? I'll talk about, like, nine different things, and they all come back brilliantly together. And it's like - and friends of mine that are, like, English professors - they say, it's the most brilliant thing I've ever seen." - Bore of Little Brain
All the crap is in service of plutocrats' quest for Absolute Power.
Patriotism? Like pledging lives, fortune and sacred honor? Christianity, like Sermon on the Mount?
Trump?
Vance?
Leo, Musk, Koch or Crow, et al?
MAGA?
What's wrong with this picture?
One of Trump’s “enemies” has been knocking it out of the park, of course with hilarity. 😂Jimmy Kimmel had over 3.5 million views on his Tues. night monologue.He asked all in the audience who was not registered to vote. He brought one young person up on stage and then out came Oprah to help her register online.
“It’s so important to register to vote, and to vote.”
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa6vGFO9ty8v5KZJXQxdhaw
I saw this yesterday, and loved it! Kamala and Oprah have a joint podcast tonight.
Double 'good trouble' ...
OMG Kathy, thanks for that link ! That entire clip was hilarious ! I usually watch Colbert, but that clip served notice that I need some Kimmel now and then. Lol ~
Most important in the battleground states. Everything else is extra.
I take it you are the immigration troll on LFAA. They finally got rid of John S??? who was the Russian troll but he has resurfaced on Threads
Thank you Allen, correct! "John ??? ' fled LFAA when 16 Readers joined me in pinpointing the Department of Treasury actions (plural) against foreign paid actors. I am not on 'Thread' but "John ???" has been tracked to his new position.
excellent.
“Vote like your life depends on it,” Eilish said, “because it does.”
I would like to see more celebrities using their platform to speak out against Fatman and Ribbon. Anyone with a scrap of political leverage right now, needs to use it.
"President Joe Biden said: "We don't demonize immigrants."
Obviously Biden is a better man than I am. I demonize Elon (Leon) Musk and Rupert Murdoch who continue to support DonOLD.
And I demonize Ivana and Melania for marrying convicted felon Donald Trump and refusing to challenge his xenophobia, misogyny and his hate speech.
I'm sorry Joe. There's a reason you are the President and I'm not, if fact hundreds of reasons.
I believe his wives sign non-disclosure agreements. Melania's book comes out next month. Since you hail from Michigan, the Felon in Chief spoke in Flint, my home town Tuesday. A friend drove by and said the parking lot at the Dort Center had fewer cars than it did for high school hockey games.
Patricia, I love this report on the number of cars in the parking lot for death star's BS. I can't even imagine why he would come to Flint in the first place as there are areas in Michigan that are more friendly to him. That he wants to visit Springfield, Ohio, is more of the in your face moves that Rs seem to thrive on. That poor town is trying to solve the problems created by death star and JD and now let's rub salt in the wound by visiting. Personally I like the pictures of the citizens there packing Haitian restaurants.
Who is Melania's ghostwriter? Michelle Obama, with a twist?
No, she wrote it herself. It's a coloring book. /S
; -)
this should be a top news headline - tRumpf would go apesh!t crazy with that comparison! ;-)
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💥
We are all immigrants or their progeny, except for a few of the native tribes left. It’s just that we have taken in the chaff with the wheat, like the Rupert, Elon, and the original Drumpfs. Yep, we let some snakes in and the worst are pale as can be
You got me thinking about the parable of the weeds and the wheat in Matthew 13:24-30 along with "I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16). Translation: Do something, but first, do no harm, which in this moment means vote for and support D candidates. Even the snakes will thank us in the end.
Hope I live long enough for that to happen. Cults usually need some deprogramming or Ike…
Expect a forthcoming manifestation of the Kara-Murza effect. "It happens like this always. When dictatorships (and wannabe dictators) fall, people look back and they say, ‘Well, how didn’t we see that at the time? This is so obvious.’"
Addicts hit rock bottom and admit they have a problem every day. MAGA's rock bottom is near.
I read the comments on Newsweek stories and it is scary how ignorant many of the commenters are as well as their cognitive dissonance.
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both”
— Justice Louis Brandeis
Louis likely spinning as much as any founding father. Sad that we don’t learn….
Didn't the Native tribes immigrate over the Bering Straight?
We all emigrated from Africa....
Just some more recently than others.
Guess those who stayed behind had no idea how “superior” those who went first would be to those who went right behind.
The Bering straight theory has been questioned but not the immigration. That said, when First Nations arrived, the was no one here to object to it except, perhaps, birds and bears.
Yep, but what did those natives disparage? Guess they just ate the bears, and whatever.
It was not conquest, though there were internal wars for territory. They saw themselves as kindred to other creatures, even those that were eaten.
I’m with you, Gary. It always irked the hell out of me that the corporate media never called these grifters immigrants while they freely throw that word around when relating to immigrants especially people of color and especially when spreading lies.
Ditto Gary; I'm afraid to even take a stab at how many times I've said just that, ie.,
"I'm sorry Joe. There's a reason you are the President and I'm not, in* fact hundreds of reasons."
I probably plagiarized it from you 😎.
Ha! I wish I could like this a zillion times.
You mean someone like Coward George W. Bush Kazz? The man who sleepwalked America into raging disfunction. That one? Both he and Jeb, fearful losers.
I'm not a W fan, but at least he released his tax returns and Yale transcript. He admitted he was a C student.
Where is Trump's 2023 tax returns besides as evidence in the New York criminal case. When are they going to nail him for income tax evasion as well?
Yesterday, it was reported the 3 whistleblowers are splitting 74 million dollars for turning in a tax evader that owes $263 million in taxes and penalty.
I thought Nixon would be the worst president in my lifetime; then came Reagan, then W, then Trump. Remarkably, the party pretty much started with Lincoln, was a mixed bag, and really dived after Eisenhower. Now it's corrupt to the bone.
Kazz, we all have a scrap of political leverage, and we all need to use every scrap right now.
I am partly troubled by the degree that celebrities seem to sway our decisions about the fate our own society, but anyone who has a "megaphone" should use it to call out what's at stake.
“ Senate and House Republicans told Peter Sullivan of Axios that if they regain control of the government, they will work to get rid of the provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that permits the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over drug prices. Negotiations on the first ten drugs, completed in August, will lower the cost of those drugs enough to save taxpayers $6 billion a year, while those enrolled in Medicare will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses.”
How can any voter with a modicum of sense think this is a good idea?
“Modicum of sense” not in evidence in anywhere in MAGAtVille. I just got a med, that did cost $95.00. The one I just got cost $1.26. I thought it was an error, but apparently not. Glory be.
I have had the same experience and it’s lovely. And gas at the pump is under $3 a gallon. YET, after every media outlet continued to call the former Biden debate DISASTEROUS, there is no mention of tfffg disaster of a debate or even an image or mention of Kamala in the news headlines. MSM still trying to make news not report it. Is it fear of criticism by MAGat bullies?
Yes, they try to make the news not report it. Walter flipping in his grave…
Are you saying they negotiated your cost down from to 95 to 1.26? If so this is fantastic! Cheers!
It was on the list of drugs that would be negotiated. I just know what showed up on my CC a couple of days ago. No complaints here...
I had the same reaction, MLM. What, Republicans are actually bragging about this?! How can any voter with a modicum of sense keep these people in office?? 😠
They keep telling me they vote on economic policies, and they hate government debt, but the way they vote sure doesn't seem like it. MAGA Republicans and the baseline GOP voters seem to have done a very good job of pretending like they care about economic issues, when they really use it as a shield for their bs culture war beliefs. They are Republicans before they are anything else, even if they know the policies they are supporting won't actually help or will make things worse. They just start from the position that Republicans are better than Democrats on every issue despite the evidence otherwise.
Cognitive dissonance.
Republicans have NO business campaigning on immigration when they are the ones who killed the bipartisan immigration bill in Congress a few months ago.
They are talking about objectifying people of color. Logic has nothing to do with it.
With the memo leak about Supreme Court Justice Roberts....I worry that the election will end up in the Supreme Courts hands.
Memo leak? I missed that, although I share your concern.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/us/justice-roberts-trump-supreme-court.html?unlocked_article_code=1.L04.9NKv.ZlUDvF0UnBdY&smid=url-share
Thank you for link!
YIKES!!!
Yup. Heather is a heavy hitter. 🎶 Put me in Coach ... I'm ready to play today 🎶
One of my favorites, Counsellor. I always used "behind the plate" instead of "centerfield". (I was a catcher, and cannot judge a fly ball to save my soul)
I had a large, well-oiled mitt not padded like your behind-the-plate model. So Sheriff ... you know I was playing the hot corner not lounging around in centerfield.
Thank you Ellis!!!
Still time to register more Democrats.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer
I'm still writing post cards, but adding a $ donation too. Everyone, do what you can, and do it now. Time is short.
I sent another $30 to Kam & the Coach. This time their Team is sending me a signed yard sign. : --)
COOL!
Keeping it for my 2 Granddaughters. : -- )
and
"Republican endorsements of the Harris-Walz ticket continue to pile up. On Monday, six-term representative Bob Inglis (R-SC) told the Charleston City Paper that “Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the republic” and said he would vote for Harris. “If Donald Trump loses, that would be a good thing for the Republican Party,” Inglis said. “Because then we could have a Republican rethink and get a correction.” "
It would be a good thing for the country to have sanity reset as something of a normal.
It provides us with some hope for a resurrected two party system that is rational and simply has honest policy disagreements.
BE CAREFUL OF J.D. VANCE
B.L.U.F. (bottom-line, up-front): J.D. Vance is a formidable candidate and the vice presidential debate will be crucial to victory.
We need all those G.O.P. endorsements. I have not paid attention to Senator Vance. Then I listened to a couple of speeches. This candidate is formidable. Check out minutes twenty-four through thirty of this speech in which Senator Vance takes questions from local reporters.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?538417-1/senator-jd-vance-campaigns-raleigh-north-carolina
Senator Vance did this in at least one other speech. He prefaces his dialogue by accusing Vice President Harris of avoiding the Press. Well one thing for sure: ¡the Falstaffian 'alien count' is now up to twenty-five millions (Henry IV, part-1: Act II, Scene-4)!
Linda and I have asked ourselves which is more concerning, Trump winning and serving out his term or Trump winning and dying in office. The answer is not obvious to us.
Gary, you and Linda hold much the same concern as I. Candidate Trump galls me to no end, but at least he is unlikeable, obvious, and unpleasant.
¿What happens when a more seductive version of the former President comes along who is as unprincipled as he? Senator Vance may be that version.
Scares me witless. Now I have to get off of dead-center and volunteer lest a latter-day Alcibiades, Aaron Burr, or Douglas MacArthur comes along as V.P.
Thank you Gary…underscoring is very cool🫶
DJT, and JD thrive in Chaos... DJT has only succeeded in 'Failing Upwards'... His 'Gish-Gallop' overwhelms just by sheer Volume of S*T... Springfield is only the start... Expect more Springfields as the Election gets closer as DJT gets even more Desperate.. . JD is without a Moral Compass, look at how JD treats his Constituents as Totally Expendable Assets...
The list of Republicans supporting Vice President Harris highlights the cowardice of former President Bush.
When Trump loses, these responsible Republicans (Where have they been all these years?) can form the backbone of a new Conservative Party,
I remember John McCain coming out of the hospital with prominent surgical wounds to vote thumbs down on killing the ACA. That is a Republican that I respect. He was, at one time, part of mainstream Republicanism.
He was definitely a responsible Republican! I have a great deal of respect for him. Of course, he did a number of things I didn't like (Palin was a big error!) but all in all, he came through when he needed to, both in war and in the Senate.
I would have voted for him in 2000 if Rove’s dirty tricks hadn’t won the primary for W. I couldn’t vote for him with Palin in 2008.
Couldn’t agree more Gary. I take pride in telling people here are his policies “Trump has been begging officials worldwide not to do the right thing for years to help rig the election for him—no deal in Gaza, no defense of Ukraine, no Kremlin hostages release, no border deal, no continuing resolution, no interest rate cuts etc—just sabotage & subterfuge.” I will add and yes on controlling everything about you and tax cuts again for the wealthiest.
We’re in near violent 😂 agreement on this.
A nice summary. Thanks.
Gosh! It’s almost as if the Trump campaign doesn’t want to see the ecomomy doing well!
And his supporters booed when the fed cutting interest was announced.
Do they understand why they're booing?
Probably not. Especially if they watch faux snooze.
And do they understand the ramifications of a general tariff on all imported goods from China and mass deportations to the US economy or the lives of those caught up in the madness? If they did-there is only one sane choice.
But he will not deport the immigrants who work in his hotels, golf courses and Mar-a-lardo!
or his wife! Or JDV's wife!
Yes, consumers and purchasers pay as prices are increased to cover the tariffs, while the tariff proceeds fill government coffers. I believe Trump used some if not much of those Chinese tariffs to subsidize American farmers when the Chinese countered by reducing their own purchases agricultural products. I wonder where that stands 4 years later?
Trump’s tariff idea shows how stupid he is about financial matters and why he managed to bankrupt casinos.
Dontcha' know, he graduated from the Wharton School! I am sure their alumni office brags about him!
American farmers were already getting subsidies before those tariffs on Chinese goods...
If you wonder where things stand years later, you can just look it up you know...
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/14/trump-biden-farmers-00135396
https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-biden-tariffs/
The trade war also hurt because China responded in their own way as well.
Blab off
David, imagine the inflation in produce prices when Trump deports the workers who harvest it—and then promises tariffs on produce (coupled with import reductions) on fruits that the US is unable to produce.
No, partly because they don’t know the meaning of the word “ramifications.”
Tariffs are pretty complex for me to judge the best applications of them (and other trade balancing actions) to help keep what seem some strategic capacity within countries and regions and are more reciprocal.
A recent peek at one of Trump’s advisors left me with a few revelations about how he reluctantly let slip hints of how reckless and thin skinned reactions by Trump could mess things up. As I was wondering about Kevin Hassett, whom I knew nothing about, but recommended by an old Vietnam hero I respect for things other than current political alignments I thought he might be somewhat like Albert Speer working for a certain German leader.
Turns out a better comparison would seem to be Hjalmar Schacht.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjalmar_Schacht
"...He served in Adolf Hitler's government as President of the Central Bank (Reichsbank) 1933–1939 and as Minister of Economics (August 1934 – November 1937).
While Schacht was for a time feted for his role in the German "economic miracle", he opposed elements of Hitler's policy of German re-armament insofar as it violated the Treaty of Versailles and (in his view) disrupted the German economy. His views in this regard led Schacht to clash with Hitler..."
Seems he wanted to build the civil infrastructure and put a lot of people back to work (I hope a bit like FDR, Frances Perkins, Harold Ickes, etc). I don't know how he felt about slave labor, though, or eliminating 2/3rds of the Jewish people, where others would have found ways to just tax them a bit higher and get the benefits of their knowledge, skills, and relative good will in supporting a more tolerant government. I think we'd have had a much harder time if the Germans had been smart enough to keep them working willingly for them, especially the scientists.
See Margaret Hoover's interview on Firing Line at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODX-0t3t3K4
Be sure to watch through to the end where she nails him with a major flaw in his views (and, to me inactions).
A minor point in the start of my views on balanced trade was at a 1985 Pomona Swap Meet, seeing some Australian versions of cars from the 30s like a hardtop version (no door pillar) of my 39 Chevy Coupe and what a 1950 version of an El Camino (no separate pickup bed) looked like, finding out they had to have at least 25% of the components made in Australia.
I don’t know how they ended up losing the ability to produce their own cars but was intrigued by the smaller more economical to operate engines than similar cars made in the US (or Canada, which also tended to be more practical). Perhaps clues are at https://didyouknowcars.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-australian-automotive-manufacturing-industry/
Interest rate cut means factors that influence inflation are improving! Inflation rate at or below 3% how much better can it get? Inflation, immigration and grocery store prices are suppose to be the points of attack by the gop! Inflation is a non- starter! Immigration , the blood is on trumps hands since he killed the bipartisan Senate bill and grocery prices are the result of corporate Greedflation, which no President can control unless the industry is nationalized!!!!
The other issue, Louis, is housing prices. Private equity firms are going around the country buying up single-family homes, raising the prices. These guys need to be regulated. The oligarch class is making renters out of our population. No chance to own a home and build up equity. My wife and I bought our first home in 1975 for $39,250 and then sold our home (we moved up) in 2015 for $3.6 million. We pocketed the equity. Renters don't have that opportunity.
Good point Richard. The other big driver is local zoning laws that limit the nature and quantity of affordable housing that can be built. Too many towns "exclude others" by allowing only single family homes on large lots. MA is beginning to chip away at this with recent legislation. But there is much more to do. The Boston area is losing people (workers!) because it's too expensive to live here.
And let's not underestimate the need for rentals. We are desperately short of them and local zoning blocks them as well. I found this stat interesting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_home_ownership_rate
One of our older aeronautics students (like some others), had rental properties that seemed to have been mostly homes he had lived in for a few years wherever he had been stationed (buying instead of renting). When the Financial crisis hit and his renters couldn't afford the rents (even though he rarely raised rates unless someone moved out), he told them not to worry, he lowered the rates to what they could afford and had them help take care of the property to keep it in good shape for the following renters, sweat equity instead of cash.
My parents couldn't buy homes through most of our service life since we were in high cost areas like Hawaii, but wherever we were, whether in government quarters or rentals, we left it in better shape than when we moved in. I still wonder if there couldn't be a better way organized to let renters earn some equity as they lived in, maintained and added various improvements.
One friend was so good at improving the home they rented a portion of that the owners pushed them out so their daughter could move back the home she had left before the improvements were made (all at my friends' expense).
I think that Ashton, US expat living in Germany who studied low income housing for her PhD, is explaining how Germany is a country of renters and so renters have protections that they do not have in the US. https://youtu.be/V7d1eQ7Onk0?si=6inDqi8t5XA41dRw
While most of our friends here in Germany own homes, much of that is from inherited wealth. In my husband's family houses get passed down on farms to the next generation that is going to farm. Some people buy their own homes before their parents gift them their houses, but others live in rentals their entire lives, and they get to make improvements to them.
Like, except the last paragraph...
My town south of Boston has a neat accessory dwelling rule which allows home owners to build apartments onto their homes- following some parameters of course.
The rules vary from town to town such as whether it can be attached or separate. It was something we looked at but the steep material and labor costs that also made it so hard to find contractors 3 years ago made us wait to see how this election goes.
I'm very encouraged to consider it again after November.
The documentary Food Inc. 2 points out that Walmart takes in one of every 3 dollars spent on groceries in the US. They have coerced many of their suppliers to lower prices and then pocket the difference. The Walton family is now the richest family in America and they will only get richer as they force more competitors out of business.
It's past time to split Walmart into multiple companies due to their anti-competitive policies.
I read Sam Walton’s story, Made in America. He gloried in driving little mom and pop businesses out of business, especially in small towns, often killing their downtown areas. The “low prices” came at great long term costs. Alice Walton spends all that grocery money on luxuries like horses and art.
Horses are a necessity. So is art.
So is taxing the shit out of Alice Walton.
When my wife was going to UM Rolla, there were stories in the local paper about what Sam Walton did to Rolla retail businesses. By 1990 70% of the retail business in Rolla was going to Walmart. There was one other grocery store within 40 miles of Rolla and there was a K-Mart that closed it's doors in the mid-1990s.
And her daughter bought a $300 million yacht with her "hard earned" money. The Waltons are one of the reasons I dislike trustifarians.
I love “Trustafarians.”
I think that what we need to realize and understand is the dialectic between capital and labor, as it were. Capital, without regulation, will continue to be concentrated in the hands of the few. It's the nature of the beast. This is where government comes in to regulate it. For the sake of the good of the community, it is a necessary exercise. Time to start breaking up these groups, such as Walmart.
It took me a while to see that his "Made in America" stated preference had some small print attached, it had to be within 5% of the cost of what he bought anywhere else.
LIKE YESTERDAY
Louis, finally, polls show more voters believing that Harris is better at the economy than Trump. Maybe if more people hear his plans, they’ll see that Harris is so much better.
And do they understand what will happen if even a few pieces of Project 2025 are enacted.
Oh, wait--the Supreme Court has already put in place the most impactful piece. Presidential immunity.
Almost anyone with a mortgage or wants to borrow for a car or appliances is going to kiss the proverbial pavement as interest rate reduction works through the lending agencies. Though interest rate increases were designed to bring down inflation overall by making it more expensive for businesses to fund expansions etc, it did have an inflationary effect of consumer's basic cost of living. Wherever possible, businesses attempt to pass on increased costs, and they too often live off operating lines of credit.
You get it, Frank. But on the other side of the coin, lower rates mean savers suffer. And the impact of that is two fold: the investor class benefits as savers are lured away from low interest savings accounts and CDs - and they re-enter the stock market which most people don't understand or handle well. Lower rates may also encourage foolish spenders to carry credit card balances (the devious high tax collected by big banks).
The Fed should stop right now. Leave rates alone and stop trying to juice the economy and propping up a stock market. There is nothing wrong with a 6% mortgage. But there is a lot wrong if you can't get at least 4% in an FDIC protected savings account.
JMO
Spoken like a man without a mortgage and a lot of savings.
Nope. Paid off the mortgage a long time ago. And we live on Social Security and a shrinking couple of retirement IRAs. We will die happy and broke.
It is harder than ever for many people to have those options, though.
Our answer was to get away from the rapidly disappearing small banks, and go good credit unions with enough FDIC coverage to insure our modest interest savings to the maximum.
Back in the 80s and 90s, I put 10% (3% company, usually matching 100% of my 3% limit, plus another 1% of mine unmatched) in our Kodak 401(k). It was pretty good for those days, but 12 years ago only provided about 3 days worth of our monthly retirement income the year after we retired.
(When I retired from the military, Kodak seemed one of the best companies to go to work for.)
And if Rupert and Lachlan win their current lawsuit, it will be worse. Wonder who has bribed the judge the most…
These are the same people that think if de-inflation happens it would be a good thing for them, or tariffs on all products would make things cheaper. I've said it for years, lack of economic literacy and quality education is the reason why the American experiment might fail.
They certainly didn't want the immigration bill to pass. They killed that, but they failed to ruin our economy. (Although trump seems to be killing his own private economy. I love watching his stock tank.)
Not surprised that he’d kill his own stock. Trump is a scam artist.
Just a terrible business person! 6 bankruptcies!?
lol on that! It will go to worthless if and when Trump loses the election.
Time for a short sell. 😎
Do remember that this idiot - tfg, donvict, 45, trumpster or whatever - wants to make the Fed (Federal Reserve and/or its chairman) non-independent.
Trump's real story, not covered by MSM on page 1, is the 75% decline in Truth Social stock value. Who are the schmucks that bought at $79?
Who are the people he scammed by his 2020 reelection campaign? He had to refund $122.7 million to supporters in 2020, giving back nearly 11% of the money it raised.
As soon as he had "assassination" attempts, he had a grift in place. What did he sell? To whom. How was he able to start grifting so fast?
When DJT stock went public there were several stories about the Trump sycophants that bought the stock at or around $79/share. A few "invested" their entire 401-Ks and IRAs into the stock.
Several of them were the true believers that think that Trump has never told a lie and that he won the 2020 election.
I almost feel sorry for them. Why isn't the MSM interviewing these poor people now?
They probably still love him. And believe that “he will rise again.”
Of course JD. He's ("him") been done so wrong, wrong, wrong..., in their minds. Either way, should "him" win or lose WE the people are going to have our hands full maintaining some semblance of law and order. Just look at the behavior of the Sheriff in Springfield, OH. He's taking down names. Yup. Look for more like that. It's called retro.....bution. Then comes 'round em up'!
Good lord, round them up will apply to all of us eventually
Let them be "sorry" by themselves amongst their "sorry" friends, such as they are. It's just another boring story for MSM to choose from and I sure don't want to listen to it.
I don't. In the least.
Some MSM do … it’s now about $16 per share — about an 80% decline in value. Ooops, and it’s all time high was almost $98 per share, reflecting an almost 85% decline in value for those idiots who may have purchased at or near its high!
And still overvalued.
Did he actually return the 122.7 mil ?
That can't happen. Crude as it is , monetary policy is a potent tool the Fed uses to help its economic stabilization mandate.
And, the US treasury his own playground!
According to Andra Watkins, Christian Nationalists in General, which is who Trump works for and JDV is, are for people suffering because they think that brings them to God in the wayside they want them to come. If empowered they will MACN. Make America christian Nationalist. https://open.substack.com/pub/project2025istheocracy/p/christian-nationalists-suffering?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
So, destroying our economy except for the for the rich people that fund their campaigns and prop them up, is part of their goals. They want the haves to be few and the have nots to be plentiful and beholden to them for government services which will all be tied to embracing Christian Nationalist ideals and behaviors.
Linda, you are correct: the war is between the oligarchs and the rest of us. The oligarchs have manipulated the evangelical Christians into voting against their own best social and economic interests. Oligarchs vs. the people. HCR covers this in her book, "How the South Won the Civil War."
Richard, JDV is the epitome of Tech Bro Oligarchs and Christian Nationalists coming together. I have read that he is put in place by the Tech Bros like Peter Thiel to win with Trump and then using Article 25, take over from Trump by claiming that Trump is incompetent.
maybe a bunch are praying for Netanyahu to bring on Armageddon at Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley. Sadly too many Americans in their sacred churches are praying for a renewed "Christianization" of American Society. Like the Apostle Paul they feel they lived in an alien, Satan dominated society. That includes Johnson, big time. Likely Mitch too.
Linda, Project 2025 lays out how they will do away with government services that do not serve the oligarchs (starting with Head Start, FEMA and free school lunches). As members of Joel Osteen’s congregation found when he refused to open the church to house people displaced by Hurricane Harvey, churches don’t always step up like FEMA (he eventually opened the doors when the local media shamed him).
Mary, my Democrats Abroad Book Club which is reading Project 2025 has read and discussed about 12 chapters and the forward. We are skipping around. We did notice that all of the food programs were to be moved to the Department of Health and Human Services and made harder to access, but they also want to turn the HHS into the Department of Life, so what happens to these program or Special Education Services which also would be moved to HHS after the Department of Education is nixed. What these dumber than dirt Republicans do not seem to understand is that even elite private schools will be hard pressed to find well trained teachers when colleges of education are corrupted by the new accreditation standards, which may be changed or removed. Our whole system of higher education is under attack with no government backed student loans. Are you saying all the teachers will come from the elite, the only ones who can afford to get an education? So, many things will be destroyed with their plans for Education, and will set the US to be more like a third world country.
Hhahhaaa... welp.., much to their 'religiott' distress has come the opening-up of the LGBTQT+Etc closet door exposing the behaviors for all to "deal with" and to accept. Accept, maybe.., not so much for some. Al the while tho, of the pillars supporting this huge religious deck (platform, whatever) many are rotting out or being undermined by the waters (influencers, if you will) that are really flowing through the sieve (the net!) unabated. Even the Mormon mega-church is starting to swing-away on some of their gates with their own Onlyfans fascination. Of course, none of this stuff we now get tossed in our face is new by any means. Merely human behavior, like it or not, has existed long before the alphabet was thrown at it. Christian Nationalist "ideals" being permeated family by family. Oooop, I can hear another pillar crumbling.
“Gosh! It’s almost as if the Trump campaign doesn’t want to see the ecomomy doing well!”
They don’t. They would gladly crash the economy if they could pull it off before the election.
Oh, they will. They will block funding of the government on the 1st of October, and then blame Biden and Harris for it.
Of course. America needs to be a hellscape, so that the Great Orange Hero can come to your rescue - and only he can save you!
He has created the carnage that we see every day, so he can point to things and say, I can fix that. How much our current crises can be attributed to republicans, either created or made worse…. Every last horror that we deal with today
We’d punish a firefighter arsonist for setting fires—but not Trump’s Chaos Creators.
burn baby burn, Trump that is.
Only he won't. He will turn the US into one big Christian Nationalist wait for End of Days and until them follow CN rules or else get put into immigration prison and deported.
They don’t. They want us all hostage. Remember, walls keep people in as well.
Not before the election
Then they could blame Joe.
I blamed W for the debacle in 2008, but it didn’t take repubs long to dump it on Obama
Curses!
No doubt whatsoever
.dude...it is commonly known now that the deranged Magat cult psycopaths worship the orange turds that drip out of the orange asshole.
BE CAREFUL OF J.D. VANCE
B.L.U.F. (bottom-line, up-front): J.D. Vance is a formidable candidate and the vice presidential debate will be crucial to victory.
We need all those G.O.P. endorsements. I have not paid attention to Senator Vance. Then I listened to a couple of speeches. This candidate is formidable. Check out minutes twenty-four through thirty of this speech in which Senator Vance takes questions from local reporters.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?538417-1/senator-jd-vance-campaigns-raleigh-north-carolina
Senator Vance did this in at least one other speech. He prefaces his dialogue by accusing Vice President Harris of avoiding the Press. Well one thing for sure: ¡the Falstaffian 'alien count' is now up to twenty-five millions (Henry IV, part-1: Act II, Scene-4)!
For once, Trump appointed (and kept) someone who seems to know what he’s doing—Jerome Powell—and is focused on doing what is best for the country. And Biden was smart enough to not fire him out of spite (something that Trump seems unable to do).
NOT under the Biden/Harris watch, of course, you're being sarcastic!
Thank you for recognizing the sarcasm! Say, do you have a cousin named Laura? (Apologies - couldn’t resist)
lol, you're not the first, if so, a very very distant many times removed. My surname comes from Nova Scotia, Canada, where they are fairly plentiful. There is a big FB group of American Loomers of all stripes I'm sure.
Only he can wave his magic wand and make the economy well!
Watching JD Vance say directly into the TV cameras, the democrats are responsible and especially Biden and Harris for the nasty, evil talking points that got us to the place where Trump has been targeted twice is way beyond absurd. It's beyond spin or deflection. It's time for the Lincoln Project to put together the Trump highlight reel from the past 9 years and air it frequently. We know who has the trash mouth.
In a video I watched on YouTube, Robert Reich compiled the reasons why Trump shouldn't be president again. The video, which Inequality Media produced, is short but includes 75 reasons from Trump's first presidency.
Need to whittle that down to "the big five" if that's possible
Yes! The Reich review is a staggering red flag! If T wins, more of the same, only worse!!
We tried to teach our kids not to use what we called "Wrestler mouth" back in the 1980s but our preteen son and a neighbor's son went through a phase where their heroes were the TV wrestlers that were better known for their creative taunting which they had great fun in using on each other (never even play fighting physically), until a little girl came up and punched our son.
He came home in tears, but learned a lesson about careless use language.
Jake Tapper of CNN did such a "reel" on his show yesterday afternoon. I am sure you could find it on YouTube.
raw meat for some nasty but fact based advertising.
Thank you Professor Richardson.
I am at a complete loss as to how this election could be close. One look at all of the treasonous election deniers, corrupt incompetents, and others better suited for a sociopathic circus, not governing the United States and should be enough to convince anyone with a minimum of a 6th grade education and measurable IQ to vote for candidates who embrace the rule of law and democracy.
I used to be at a complete loss too because I was trying to be logical — then I realized it’s a combo— Trump is a huckster who ignites resentments and fears— but he’s a very competent demagogue because he is a master of television and our other huge vulnerability is the electoral college and social media disinformation spread even by Russia and China.
AND our current despicable newspapers and news coverage.
NYTimes and Comey are as responsible as Murdoch for this mess we are in.
Intellectuals? Head of the FBI? They are as shameful as the Repugnicans who still carry on abetting, including our local Molinaro.
Marc Molinaro was a beloved kid from Tivoli, NY. The youngest Mayor ever ,and Tivoli loved him and supported him. Not anymore. He doesn't have the heart to be strong.
Ah well, I believe the in BLUE WAVE!!!
You know I really respect the NYTIMES because they do their own factchecking and I know every person and institution have ongoing challenges with factual reporting and resistance to natural bias but Fox goes beyond the pale with false narratives!
I just saw the clip of him describing how there is a big faucet the size of a wall between Canada and California….to supporters in California who surely have some clue about water right issues they must contend with. How do these people leave there and still think he can be trusted with the nation’s challenges, foreign and domestic?
https://x.com/conorsvan1/status/1835432235110916390
Just posted about it elsewhere. 🤓
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/elderly-golfer-blithers-about-a-giant/comment/69458520?r=1p3r9&utm_medium=ios
I live in a very blue suburb of Illinois. Yesterday, I saw a huge crowd lined up outside of a popular liquor store and wondered what was going on. Was a Chgo Bear or another sports figure there? I can't confirm it, but I was told Hulk Hogan was appearing there.
I’ll bet Trump believes the election wouldn’t be close at all if he’d picked Hulk Hogan for VP.
Puke, our country modeled on wresting culture is about the worst I can imagine.
George, 'Tain't about logic or IQ, it's all about FEELINGS for DonOLD's followers! He's all about FEELING angry about one's situation in life.
I think too he has given his nutty followers a sense of community.
Same here
Is it possible that the Russians have decided that TFG has become a liability and want him gone? That might explain the recent attacks from MAGA wackos.
But their dilemma is that his pick for VP is equally unpalatable to sane voters. He’s a political lightweight, with an attitude like that of DeSantis.
All three share a common trait: Lying is easy, and is essential.
What is TFG? I feel like I should know . . .
The former guy.
I call him the donvict.
To me he’s the insipid orange turd, I only added insipid, his own lawyer called him repeatedly the orange turd. I loathe him so much I find it almost impossible to speak his given name. 🤷♂️
Same. I can't even type it
tffg all lowercase when I have to refer to him.
The F* Former Guy.
One of the rare instances that the F-word is warranted, and after all the division he has caused with his self-serving imbecilic decisions and cruel policies, there aren't enough pejoratives to describe him.
I go with fpotus; showing my distain without (for once) using profanity.
I aspire to your standard, but so far have fallen woefully short....😆
Back nearly four years, at the start of the Biden presidency, when they kept asking him about Trump, the President said he wasn't interested in talking about "the former guy".
Don Old.
The WaPo readers used to call him 45, so as not to have to use his name.
Anne-Louise, I particularly liked whoever came up with the moniker “Dolt-45”. Some clever snarky folks out there, eh? Wasn’t it Kim Jong Un who called him a “dotard”?
Dolt-45! That's brilliant! Yes, Kim Jong Un retaliated against "Little Rocket Man", with "The Dotard". Do you remember when he went to visit him in North Korea? He took a video with him which showed the two of them, side by side, gazing into a beautiful future, as rulers of the world.
There are also Mango Mussolini and Agolf Twitler. Trump has never understood that he is his own worst enemy, and like immature people everywhere, he refuses to take responsibility for his own shortcomings.
Great moniker, Barbara. My favorite fraction still remains 46/45!
James, I now call him TFFFG…..The Felonious F*#king Former Guy (you can mix up the “F’s” in any order that suits you). Started out as just TFG, but evolved as more information became known. Who knows, may morph yet again!
A bit too close to sounding like the great jazz musician. OK if you just use "felon" and arrange the adjectives around it. There's one in circulation, something like CFT, or C34F - but that's not right - escapes me.
Convicted Felon
Succinct enough.
Fiendish? Feckless? Floundering? Fiendish?
Richard, fallacious?
Failure former f*ing
A to Z:
Atrocious bully convicted criminal devious evil f*ing fat grifter heinous insipid joke killer lunatic liar mean nasty old pompous POS querulous rabid slimy treacherous underhanded vile worthless xcon yeasty zilch zero
Gigi, brava! You win the prize.
It can also be tffg
Goebbels’s their hero
Lying... KEY word.
This actually makes sense. Thanks for the insight!
I saw a brief video of Ms Huckabee at a rally talking about her humble opinion. What a power hungry apple not far from her tree. I happen to have a beautiful and talented Haitian daughter in law living in NYC and also a Haitian art collection. I also taught quite a few Haitian students in high school and middle school inner city public schools. The parents were tough at parent nights. They are hardworking people and they understand the value of education. I hope this Springfield Ohio debacle the hillbilly created bites both of them near their shit holes really hard on Election Day.
Shady Jaydee may have Appalachian roots, but he has long since departed from our traditional values. And please don’t disparage the rest of us by using that word so freely. Maybe call him “the weird guy” instead.
Vance is smug and power hungry and represents a greater danger than Trump, as he has the smarts Trump lacks. Unfortunately, Peter Thiel purchased him as our senator, and I didn’t vote for him. I want to keep Sherrod Brown as our Senator.
I’m so encouraged by all the conservatives backing Harris/Walz. I feel like we’ve finally turned the page and politics has reentered the realm of decency and honor. I can finally see a way forward, where conservative ideas can enter the conversation again without the demonization of people who adhere to progressive ideals.
Abby, my fervent hope is that we will have honest vote counters & state officials to then verify the accurate counts. 🤞
Of course we always have had such people—what I hope we don’t have are Repugs threatening honest voter volunteers and election workers
it's possible.
Don’t assume anything
A tangential complement to Dr. Richardson's paragraph concerning the notable Republicans who are endorsing VP Harris, is Joyce Vance's anecdote about seeing Harris/Walz signs pop up in various locations in Alabama. Some of them are pretty funny (e.g., "My dog is smarter than Trump"). Other substacks are noting the disappearance (and non-appearance) of Trump signs in places in rural Pennsylvania where they formerly proliferated. Anecdotes they may be, but nonetheless encouraging. Could it be that Trump's schtick is getting old, even with his supporters?
James, a friend of mine (a political progressive) recently bought property in a red/purple area of Michigan…on purpose. He posted his Harris/Walz sign & has been heartened by the mostly very positive response.
I dream, not in Texas
If you see a trump sign on the “”right of way “
Call the Highway department. It is very successful in Texas and is removed.
Business properties love them, but good to know
Let’s hope so!
Trump admitted that after nine years of promising he would release a new and better healthcare plan than the Affordable Care Act in just a few weeks, all he really had were “concepts of a plan.”
I'll to remember that one. Back in school if I didn't write a term paper? "I have "concepts" of a thesis. Tell the IRS I have "concepts" of my return available. Tell the boss at the deadline that I have "concepts" of a job well done.
It's a lot easier than actually accomplishing anything, and so very "smart".
Trump at his age now inhabits concepts of both a heart and a brain.
very very thin and basic concepts.
Brainless and heartless.
And yet the mainstream media claims Harris doesn't provide enough details on her proposed policies! 🙄
No double standard there, eh?
RREEPPUUBBLLIICCAANNSS??
Double-standard, Doublethink. Doubletalk. Doublecross.
Doubleungood.
I have yet to hear anyone ask TFG when it was that America was great anad how it was great. Roy Moore thought the ideal was the American South before the Civil War, apart from the detail of slavery.
I watched Billie's strong endorsement on IG yesterday of Harris/Walz, and didn't realize how big her fanbase is until Dr. Heather wrote about her and her brother, "[...] singer-songwriters Billie Eilish, who has 119 million followers on Instagram, and Finneas, who has 4.2 million, [...]"
While much less than half of the Swiftie followers, still a force to be reckoned with. Love her music.
I know that Beyoncé allowed Harris to use her song, but has she formally endorsed her? Prior to retirement, I worked with many young, black women, and almost none were intending to vote if they were even registered
They'd need to act quickly to get it done in time.
Some of the postcarding campaigns are focusing on Black women in swing states - sending them voter registration and get out the vote messages. Field Team 6 is one...
I should be getting the 100 postcards I ordered from FT6 today and the stamps as well, they want me to have them in the mail by the 30’th. I should be able to write 10 a day, if I can’t my daughters will help me. These are all about registering likely democratic voters who aren’t registered. So I’ll be post carding as well as donating to senate candidates. Biden won GA by less than 12,000 votes, that was just a handful per precinct, every vote counts, do what you can. 🙏
Thanks, Dick! I was hoping to do those but I think I missed my window!
The more celebrities, Republicans, and others OK Kamala and Tim, the worse the orange felon gets.
He'll go down to defeat -- and his vicious lapdog Vance -- still insulting, damning, lying about people of color and vulnerable others. He, or they, will do this because their tens of millions who all got "educated" in U.S. schools all hunger for tall tales, scripts, legendary stereotypes -- all the worst of fiction, given that those tens of millions all got zero legitimate humanities in all those U.S. schools.
They can't even imagine that we have many humanities sympatico to our American working classes: films like “The Florida Project” and “Winter’s Bone”; novels like Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” Walter Mosley’s “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,” Tom Hanks’ “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,” and many by Richard Russo and Stephen King; memoirs like Mary Karr’s “The Liars’ Club,” Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Erin Gruwell’s “The Freedom Writers Diary,” poems such as Philip Levine’s Detroit factory poems, songs like Tim Grimm’s “Broken Truth,” Bob Segers’ “Feel Like a Number,” Carsie Blanton’s “Rich People,” and any number of Bruce Springsteen or hip hop Ari Melber will cite.
They -- those school-dehumanized tens of millions -- won't know how some elites now call for more humanities.
Here's one superb example, James Engell -- who ought please Heather, too, for his concluding citations being as fine as hers: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2022/12/features-forum-humanists
I've suggested this before: the excellent satirical political novel by Roland Merullo "American Savior"--the premise being a man claiming to be Jesus reincarnated runs for POTUS. Quite an excellent read, esp now, and amazing it was published in 2008!
Thanks
Good morning, Jeri!
Good morning to one who is always on target and has paid attention for longer than chump has been a threat...
You are too kind, Jeri. I am cautiously dipping my toe back into the political news. I have to limit myself.
Some great news today, I got an email from Penzeys. After the Trump blather over Harris's visit, they requested help in the form of orders, as they have been fighting the MAGA boycotts. They had SUCH a huge response, they got 6 weeks worth of orders in one week! They are offering to cancel any orders that can't wait, but you can also notify them to "take your time" which I did.
They are a great company with awesome products., and truly Christian or Golden Rule (whatever you prefer) attitude.
Golden rule my preference. Thanks so much for the info on Penzeys, I will check them out. Love your posts, the truth screams, as it should…
Thanks for the link, Phil, excellent article.
Will JDV go back to being a senator or did he have to give up that job to run for VP?
Ask Peter Thiel, Marj.
Corrupt, dehumanized billionaires like him decide. Not the Constitution. Not the people of Ohio.
Thanks for this
Trump is on the Titanic, but, as he is not a gentleman, he will be the first to elbow his way onto a lifeboat!
Very apt analogy, Isobel….I can actually visualize it! *shudder*
Imagine not demonizing anyone...
Propagating (irrational) fear and anger at the "other" is political strategy. Period. Full stop. Sure wish the corporate media could bring themselves to feeling a responsibility to cut through the BS and tell it like it is, so as, to save our nation. Okay. Wishful thinking. We'll do it instead.
Not only demonizing people who are different, but also telling people that “those people” took what should be theirs.
JaneDough56, yup, inciting anger.
My overseas absentee ballot should arrive tomorrow. Bloody hell America…..let’s get Kamala as President! (Expat in England)
As usual, HCR covered a lot of ground in today's newsletter. In particular, I'm glad she highlighted the likelihood that a Trump administration would change the ACA to allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. That would be a travesty and alone justifies a vote for Harris/Walz (as if anyone needed more reasons to do so).