At left we see the driving force behind the pullback of Trump supporters.
A full one-third of voters in the poorest, reddest states are on Medicaid. Yes, that’s a lot of ignorance, but it’s also a lot of outrage when these fools start dropping like flies once their healthcare is gone.
Given the developments here in the United States whereby Trump and Musk are destroying the federal government while shifting support from Ukraine/NATO to Russia, it’s understandable that Americans are terrified that their country has become a dictatorship.
That said, most (not all) Trump supporters will eventually refuse to back such a blatantly un-American regime.
I hope readers caught Robert Reich’s piece in which he outlines 10 reasons for “modest optimism.”
No, destabilizing our government’s capacity to protect Americans’ health and safety is not a good thing.
This is a coup.
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich writes:
Here are a few words from the Sierra Club:
Our public lands are under threat. Elon Musk’s DOGE team has fired thousands of rangers, docents, educators, scientists, and caretakers of the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, & Bureau of Land Management. Unless (these decisions) are reversed, these mass firings will hurt protected lands, wildlife, and visitors. Already our ability to safely and effectively access our public lands has been impacted.
How proud should Americans be about the new federal government being shoved down our throats by Donald Trump and Elon Musk?
It’s good to see these words from Mike Pence, calling out Donald Trump for just one more bald-faced lie. “The road to peace must be built on the truth.” Excellent.
Yet part of me is more amused by the hypocrisy than impressed by the inspiration. Isn’t this the same Mike Pence who sat through 30,000+ similar lies over a period of four years?
This blurb on Mitch McConnell is completely true, but I have news for you: poor and ignorant people care very little about affluence and education, as long as their fundamental need is met, i.e., the supremacy of white people.
Seriously, Kentuckians adore McConnell.
We live among people who believe that God wants the United States to function according to the ideals of the modern-day Republican party:
• Round up and deport everyone living here without documentation.
• Re-instate the death penalty.
• Destroy the natural environment if it can be done profitably.
• Further degrade educational standards.
• Back Putin in his war against Ukraine.
• Transfer virtually all government power to the executive branch under Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
• Eviscerate the federal government, defunding programs that keep Americans healthy and safe.
I’m skeptical.
The suggestion from a reader at left represents the right idea overall, but needs to be rethought.
I met a guy from Norway the other day who talked about his nation’s wealth tax. In short, it’s hard to become and remain a billionaire anywhere in his region of the world, though it’s actually easy to become fairly affluent. That’s because moderate income people actually pay significantly lower tax rates than we Americans do, and, of course, all education and healthcare are free.
If I were asked to suggest the best approach to a wealth tax, I’d start by researching how various countries around the globe have designed and implemented theirs.
The man with the sign here is my friend Paul Scott, co-founder of Plug-In America way back in 2005. FWIW, Paul overbuilt the solar PV array on his roof specifically to charge his car; he hasn’t used a drop of gasoline in decades.
He writes:
That’s me, standing on the corner, which I’ll be doing every day now in protest. When you buy gas, you fund Trump. The oil industry spent over a billion dollars in the last election making sure he and his cronies took office.
