My friends, this message is in your hands because – I greatly fear for America. For some of you, this will be a difficult thing to read. I only ask is that you think on what is being said – mostly not by me
Increasingly, people of good intent are saying things we never would have thought: an increasing number of people are expressing doubts about democracy as a concept, about America as a country. Most important here: WHY? are they saying this?
I offer here some topics for you to think on:
1] Truth – in recent years/decades, the very idea of “truth” has become negotiable. Some insisting there are always, “two sides of the story.” NO, sometimes there aren’t. It is a strategy used by authoritarians: muddy the waters, get people confused. Putin is the master of this. This is “the tobacco defense.” Trump did/does it – the “stolen election” mantra is only what he’d done his entire post-age 10 life.
2] Faith in government – it has been a deliberate strategy for some on the political-economic “right’ to sabotage faith in American government. WHY? Because people of power don’t need government. Former Koch employees have publicly said: Charles Koch wanted to crush government because it was the ONLY thing on earth restraining him. For over 60 years, people like those in the John Birch Society have pushed this. Reagan then made it “respectable” to say government was the problem, not the solution.
3] Changing the rules. This, at bottom, is issue #1. Starting with big corporations around 1970 – the economic right decided they didn’t want to share America’s wealth with their workers. They began to attack and weaken ANY union. They moved jobs to “right to work” states, then Mexico, then S.E. Asia, finally China. Unions lost the ability to strike. The current, greatest force: the CORRUPT McConnell/Roberts “supreme court.” R-W legal groups find ‘perfect test cases,’ then run them up “the conveyor belt” of Mitch McConnell constructed ‘conservative’ courts, to the CORRUPT McConnell/Roberts “supreme court.” Presto! that kangaroo group CHANGES THE RULES.
4] The CORRUPT McConnell/Roberts “court.” If you believe anything other than those 6 “justices” are on that “court” to do anything but CHNAGE THE RULES, you are a lot more trusting, possibly naive, than I think. We have the quotes, confessions, actions, etc. that, since 1968, this IS THE INTENT. Research the major McConnell/Roberts “court’ decisions. the PATTERN is that [before the 3 current religion cases] “religious right” groups have a 90% win rate. The McConnell/Roberts “court” is THE most “business-friendly” “court” since 1945. Roberts came on the “court” with 2 agendas: race and religion. [**** note: this is before Senator Sheldon Whitehouses”s “The Scheme”. about the CORRUPT Roberts “court” was published – it revealed “the Roberts Five” had a 73-0 record on ideological cases!!!]
5]. Economic Inequality – this is a major cancer for America. From 1789-1980, virtually every generation did better than their parents. Since 1970, this has been DELIBERATELY sabotaged. Please read Wilkinson & Pickett”s. “The Spirit Level,” or Joe Stiglitz” “The Price of Inequality” [Nobel Prize winner], or Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston’s “Divided. The Perils of Our Growing Inequality.” OR – you can research pre- and post-1980 [unspun] IRS income stats. ANY economy in which a high school grad can not thrive, support their family, is IMMORAL.
6]. The internet. – If I had my way, humans would NEVER think of this concept. I understand most of you are on it, for “normal” activities, of pleasure and business. YOU are NOT the problem The idealistic goals of internet creators have been shattered by the criminal use of it. The I-net is now used by organized crime gangs, by terrorists, by racists, by scam artists. they are undermining the basic concepts of law and order, of honesty in business, of simple human decency, of democratic government. The I-net is ruled by rumors, deliberate lies, monstrous falsehoods, etc. – all sabotaging human civilization. [*** note; this ignored the use if the I-net for political purposes – mainly the spreading of BIG lies, debunked rumors, etc – the 2024 election was DETERMINED by I-net falsehoods & blatant lies]
7] The South – is and always has been – a cancer on America. It has NEVER outlived the use of slavery, then KKK and Jim Crow, now discrimination. think on this: from 1830-1860, 300 WHITES were lynched in the South, others “run out of town” [literally], tarred & feathered – because – they made the mistake of not supporting slavery. this anti-Black discrimination also covered “poor white trash” and now ALL who live there. the South is THE most backward region – health-wise, education-wise, economically [see “The Spirit Level”]. The South now has outsized influence on ALL American culture and politics – largely negative [see recent Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida laws].
[*** 176 Electoral College votes of Trump’s 300 plus came from the old 1861-65 Confederacy; the South is the center of anti-abortion laws and other “Christian Nationalist” cultural laws***]
8] World War II – and – China. America was on the winning side of WW II because of British courage, 27 million dead Russians, and the American economy buried the Nazis and Japanese on tidal waves of equipment. America won the Cold War because the Russians couldn’t keep up with the American economy. We can’t fight the Chinese – they have our industry. The Chinese broke an international treaty of 50 years in half that time in Hong Kong – the response of American industry was to ignore that – BIG MESSAGE to the world. If then, they had done what they’re doing in Russia, maybe…. But – the GREED of the top 1% owned “American” corporations is such they couldn’t/won’t – too many profits. American jobs are in china so “American” corporations can dodge taxes, regulations, living wages for American workers – we have the quotes, confessions, etc. by the perps.
9]. Housing – is a symbol of what hedge fund-private equity-secret anonymous shell companies have done to ordinary Americans. They are. IMMORAL. They’ll do. ANYTHING. to make a profit – and have done it. Now, multiple stories and sources are reporting on this. The latest is today’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune story on real people in Duluth fighting against these funds of “investors’ buying up housing there for “vacation rentals.” A real estate agent told me that in some Minneapolis neighborhoods – 50% – of the housing was owned by these groups. A recent PBS, and also CBS, stories – discussed how “investors” have been buying up housing from Calif – to – the Atlantic in the southern half of the USA – then jacking up the cost of housing. You’ll be reading more stories like this. If. EVERYTHING. is “commodified” – for sale – what of America is left?
10] Guns. Research what the Founders INTENDED: Articles of Confederation, Article VI [“..every state shall always kep a well regulated & disciplined militia..”]; Madison’s original – 3 part – draft for the Second Amendment – pay special attention to the 3rd phrase [..’but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service.”]; the Senate changed Madison’s word order – so “A well-regulated militia..” came FIRST; the 1792 [May 3 & 8] Militia Acts [read it ALL: the DUTY of 18-45 white males, military ranks, care for the wounded & disabled].
The 2nd Amendment, and all others, was passed on December 15, 1791 – the 1791 Militia Acts were passed within 5 months. Do you think, just maybe, these two were connected? Check the rules of grammar – since when does one get the full meaning of a sentence [2nd Amendment] by reading half of it???
There were at least 5 Supreme Court rulings, 1789 – 1939, that the 2nd Amendment was to protect citizens having guns for MILITARY reasons, so the 48 states would have their own military forces – as a political measure.
Most of you are over age 50. You’ve been around enough. America, 2022, is not what America was earlier, especially if you lived 1947-1973. that innocence is gone. That faith in “the system” has been sabotaged. SO – WHO are the winners?
For some of you this will be difficult – for the first time in American 1789 – history, we have a major political party that is – steadily, especially since 1980, sliding towards many un-democratic thoughts and actions. For the first time in American 1789 – history, we have a major political party that is all but owned by two groups: its billionaire donors and its religious voters.
People within this party have publicly confessed: what were formerly “fringe” ideas are now driving this party’s discussions and policies. Research the “14 characteristics of fascism” – how many, honestly, o YOU see as here or beginning to creep into American talks and policies? – Be honest – what do the facts – what exists – tell you?
WHY did some “American” conservatives” recently go to Hungary for their annual convo? WHO else was there? Why have some praised Hungary’s dictator? Why have some praised Putin? Why do some praise Putin a s an example of “Christian faith? [***note: can you conceive of Americans praising Joe Stalin ???]
If you examine laws passed in regressive states – mostly the South – what PATTERNS jump out to you? Who are the “winners” and “losers” of those laws? How do these laws measure up to basic American principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution’s Preamble, let alone things said by the Founders, Lincoln, Supreme Court giants?
There is NO joy in this letter. Recent events have revealed a very dark side of this blessed nation. America is no longer the heirs of the Founders – Scandinavia is, Canada is.
I greatly fear for my children and granddaughters. Please think on what I’ve said; think if it is time for good people like you to act, to speak out.
So – here we are, it is Tuesday, November 26, 2024 – little, if anything worried about or discussed above has changed – in fact, much of it has gotten worse. The 2024 election had much hatred, lies, fear, misinformation, racism, misogyny either blatantly said – or unspoken, but in people’s minds.
Democracy is fragile – we are now, in 2024-2029, about to find out exactly how. We are going to find out if the American people are willing to fight to keep the democratic gains of 1900 forward – or meekly let them be taken away. We are going to find out if “divide and conquer” will work. We are going to find out if America is a “democracy” – or, if the Right Wing goal of a plutocratic theocracy has now been achieved.
We are already disgraced – we have elected THE anti-George Washington president – in spite of his own voters admitting he IS a despicable person, but they think he’ll “make America great again’ – against all evidence from his first term , and his 2021 rhetoric and actions
“Our” government is now in the hands of people who don’t believe in it – indeed, apparently, they intend to weaken or destroy it – if you haven’t, find critical analysis of “PROJECT 2025 – the blueprint of a Right-Wing think tank – on how the new Trump administration can do this, or “as some are saying’ the “Mein Kampf of what the Right Wing wants to do TO America.
Time is getting short. You may want to think if 2024 is the last REAL election.”
Author: tomdolen
Trump as “savior”!!! II – “America Headed in the Wrong Direction” [BUT – on closer look, since 1981 !!!]
Adolf Hitler: “The best way to take control over people and control them utterly is to take a little of their freedom at a
time, to erode rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way, the people
will not see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes
cannot be reversed.”
Dear people: America has been “headed in the wrong direction” since 1980. The first CON MAN, Ronald Reagan, made YOU feel good while his rich friends stole the American Dream. But, Ronnie was so handsome, had such a nice smile….so you elected him twice and then his vice president too! He said. all “the right things,” “things you wanted to hear”!!! – while he TRIPLED the national debt, broke a major strike, ended balanced media broadcasts, and……….
THE basis for that 1947-1973 mass middle class prosperity was SHARED NATIONAL WEALTH. Then came the 1980s and “Greed is Good!” – and Bush II tax cuts for the rich, his immoral Iraq war, his 2008 recession – and Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the rich that are about 25% of the national debt.
SO – CON MAN Trump sold some of YOU on lie #35,xxx: “It’s Joe Biden’s fault.”
Below is a SMALL part of the MOUNTAIN o f statistical proof: America began heading in the wrong direction. NOT. in 2021, but in 1981……
1] “Evil Geniuses” [Kurt Andersen]: “During the 20th century, America managed to make its economic and social systems both more and more fair and more and more prosperous. A huge, secure and contented middle class emerged. Incomes rose in sync. But then the New Deal gave way to the Raw Deal. Beginning in the early 1970s, by means of a long war conceived of and executed by a confederacy of big business CEOs, the superrich, and right wing zealots, the rules and norms that made the American middle class possible were undermined and dismantled. The clock was turned back on a century of economic progress, making greed good, workers powerless, and the market all powerful while weaponizing nostalgia, lifting up an oligarchy that served only its own interests..”
*** Billionaire investor Warren Buffett: “There’s class warfare, all right, but its my class, the rich class, thats making
war, and we’re winning.”
2]. “Is the economy to serve the people who make it up, or is their labor for the sake of lining the pockets of the rich and powerful? [Juliet Schor]; “..the U.S. Catholic Bishops..wrote in their 1986 pastoral letter on the economy, “the economy should serve people; people should not serve the economy.” [“Economic Apartheid In America”; C.Collins, F.Yeskel]
***. “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy, that is the search of a
superior moral justification for selfishness.” [John Kenneth Galbraith]
3]. “Economic Apartheid In America” [2005; C. Collins & F. Yeskel]:
A] “The larger economic trends of the past three decades…falling wages…wealth inequality…widening gap between highest- and lowest-paid workers…losing ground at work…precarious and stressed middle class…the rising tide lifts only yachts.”
B] graphs on pages 41-42: 1947-1979: “We Grew Together”…the bottom 80% quintiles ALL grew 100%-116%, the top 99% [Census Bureau data]; 1979-2003 “We Grew Apart”…the bottom 20% LOST 2%; the second 205 gained 8%; the third 20% gained 15%; the fourth 20% gained 26%; the top 20% gained 51% – & – the top 5% gained 75%.
C] “The Power Shift since the 1970s..Who sets the agenda for economic policies?”…”On the rise: big campaign contributors…corporate lobbyists…corporations…big-asset owners…CEOs…Wall Street”. “In decline: popular political movements… voters…labor unions…wage-earners…employees…main street”
“Why this happened…a power shift led to rule changes”…..”Rule changes since the 1970s: anti-union climate…global treaties benefit corporations…big tax cuts for the wealthy…corporate welfare expands…minimum wage not raised…Federal Reserve “whip inflation” policy helps investors, hurts wage growth…”privatization” [dismantling government] helps investors, hurts consumers and workers”
D]. “The attack on worker’s rights [i.e. unions]..evidence is clear..unions raised the standard of living for most low- and moderate-income people, whether they joined unions are not…Most industrialized countries..would not tolerate the employer practices that occur every day in the United States.”
E]. “The race to the bottom…U.S. workers cannot and should not compete against workers in countries like China [low wages, no unions]..nor..with countries of high rates of child labor…Free trade agreements as..currently written create a climate in the United States where employers are..emboldened to threaten to move plants overseas to extract wage concessions or discourage unionization efforts..”
F]. “In the last two decades, the U.S. tax system has become a two-tier tax system, investigative journalists ..Bartlett T..Steele argue..there is one system for the wealthy, what they call “the Privileged Person’s Tax Law,” and another one for everyone else..”
*** “The point is you cant be too greedy.” [Donald J. Trump, “The Art of the Deal”]
4]. “The Betrayal of the American Dream” [Donald Bartlett & James Steele; 2012; two Pulitzer Prizes]
A] “..[this]..is the story of how a small number of people in power have deliberately put in place policies that have enriched themselves while cutting the ground out from underneath America’s greatest asset – its middle class..the wealthy and the powerful..have become this country’s ruling class.”
B] “..between 1999 and 2008,,foreign affiliates of U.S, parent corporations increased their employment abroad by 2.4 million jobs,,slashed their employment in the United States by 1.9 million.”
C]. “..the ruling class is defined by its ability to move money beyond the reach of government supervision.”
D]. “The U.S. health care system is based on the misguided notion..the private market is the best way to provide care and coverage to Americans.” [see their 2004 “Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business – and Bad Medicine’}
E] ‘..for tens of millions of middle-class Americans, as well as for the working poor who hope to achieve that status, then American dream is over.”
F]. “Running a country like a business means everyone is expendable.”
G]. “Congress writes the rules..and Wall Street..decides what rules it will permit.”
*** “..one certainty..there is no way to access infinite wealth without rigging the system. No one becomes a billionaire honestly.” [Sarah Chayes: “On Corruption in America”]
5] “When did we go astray?..There’s no easy answer to such a question, but clearly the election of President Ronald Reagan represented a turning point..” [“The Price of Inequality”; Joseph Stiglitz; 2012; Nobel Prize winner}
A]. “The underlying thesis..we are paying a high price for our inequality – an economic system that is less stable and less efficient, with less growth, and a democracy..put in peril..”
B]. “For years there was a deal between the top and the rest of our society…we will provide you with jobs and prosperity, and you will let us walk away with the bonuses. You all get a share..we get a bigger share..now that tacit agreement..always fragile, has come apart.”
C] “American inequality didn’t just happen. It was created..Much of the inequality that exists today is a result of government policy, both what the government does and..does not do.”
***. “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” [Matthew 16:26]
6] “Who Stole the American Dream?” [Hedrick Smith; 2012; Pulitzer Prize winner]
A] “Over the past 3 decades, we have become Two Americas..no longer one large family with shared prosperity and shared political and economic power..’
B]. “Today, the greatest challenge and most corrosive fault line in our society is the gross inequality of income and wealth…What separates the Two Americas..is a wealth chasm..from 2002 to 2007, America’s sup-rich, the top 1% [3 million people], reaped two-thirds of the nation’s entire economic gains..In 2010, the top 1% captured 93% of the nation’s gains.”
C] “..in America since the late 1970s..soaring wealth of the super-rich has brought the unraveling of the American Dream for the middle class..”
D] “From 1998 through 2010, business interests and trade groups spent $28.6 billion lobbying compared with $492 million for labor..no countervailing power matches the political clout of business. Our democracy has become starkly unequal.”
E] “since the 1970s, business leaders have largely abandoned..share-the-wealth ethic…the pay of a typical male worker was lower in 2010 than in 1978, adjusted for inflation.”
*** “What most people don’t seem to realize is that there is just as much money to be made out of the wreckage of a civilization as from the upbuilding on one.” [Margaret Mitchell – “Gone With the Wind”]
Dear People – the above is merely the BEGINNING of a mountain of STATISTICAL PROOF that the great 1947-1973 American middle class mass prosperity was. STOLEN. from. YOU by the rich – we have been “headed in the wrong direction” since 1980. – NOT since 2021 !!!!!! o
Trump as “savior” !!! – Hang On To YOUR Wallet; Trump’s “numbers’ DON’T Add Up !!!
***Republican President Herbert Hoover: “You know, the only trouble with capitalism is capitalists. They’re
too damn greedy.”
1} Christine Benz, director of personal finance & retirement planning for Moringstar: “Whoever takes over as president is inheriting a fairly robust economy, mild inflation, average-to-below-average interest rates and fairly high valuations for U.S. stocks.” [“How election results could affect your retirement accounts.”; Michelle Singletary; ll/ll/24; Wash. Post]
2] “Manufacturing already has made a comeback…Rebound Trump promises has been underway in many places”: “McLean County is part of an unusually strong jump in manufacturing jobs between 2019 and 2023…The Biden administration tried to use policy to ensure..more..would be union jobs, or at least offer union-level wages..this approach is almost certainly dead due to the results of the election.” [Tim Henderson; 11/17/24; Stateline.org]
***Adam smith: “We can’t have free markets because the world is too complex and independent to let everyone run around doing whatever he or she wants to do. As a society, we have to regulate conduct when it interferes with other people’s freedoms or when it threatens damage to other people’s properties.”
3] “For voters, economy is key”: “..many economists warn..Trump’s plans are likely to worsen the inflation he’s vowed to eradicate, drive up the federal debt and eventually slow growth…Last month, 23 Nobel-winning economists signed a letter warning..a Trump administration “will lead to higher prices, larger deficits, and greater inequality..Among the most important determinants of economic success..are rule of law and economic and political certainty, and Trump threatens all of these.”..The centerpiece of Trump’s economic agenda is taxing imports..In fact, American companies pay them – and then typically pass along their higher costs to their customers via higher prices..Trump has threatened to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, potentially undermining one of the factors that allowed the United States to tame inflation without falling into recession.” [Paul Wiseman; 11/10/24; Assoc. Press]
***Republican President Theodore Roosevelt: “Of all the forms of tyranny the least attractive and most vulgar is the
tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy.”
4]. “Musk Looks To Benefit From New Pal Trump…Billionaire’s six firms, deeply entangled with the U.S., pose a conflict with any new job he gets” [E.Lipton, K.Grind, D.Fahrenthold, T.Schleifer; 11/10/24; New York Times]
5] “Biggest Donors Expect Returns on Investment…Moguls Look to Lifting of Regulations”: “Limit the reach of federal regulations on artificial intelligence. Make room for cryptocurrencies to thrive. Ease the anti-trust crackdown on big companies. Buy more military drones. And don’t raise taxes on billionaires.” [Eric Lipton; 11/17/24; New York Times]
**!!**!! – This & MUCH MORE is the “to-do list” for Trump from his donor billionaires – WHO. is missing from any concerns here??? – YOU, Mr. & Mrs. lower 90% !!!!!!!!!!!!
*** Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: “We can either have a democracy in this country or we can have great
wealth concentration in the hands of a few. But we cannot have both.”
6] “Trump’s plans likely don’t lower grocery bills…Proposed tariffs, deportation could make food prices rise, according to economists”…”..food producers rely on imported goods like fertilizer, equipment and packing materials. If they’re forced to pay more..they will raise prices….U.S. farmers also could have trouble selling their goods overseas, since other countries would likely respond with retaliatory tariffs..”There is a fundamental disconnect between a stated goal of reducing grocery prices and a tariff policy that only stands to increase those costs.” [Dee-Ann Durbin; 11/17/24 Assoc Press]
7] “Trump tax cut vows face fiscal realty”: “The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office..estimated..continuing all of the expiring provisions would cost roughly $4 trillion over a decade, and Trump’s campaign proposals could add trillions more to the debt.” [Andrew Duehren; 11/8/24; New York Times]
***!!!***!!! – Republican tax cuts, 1981-2017 increased the national debt from LESS than $1 trillion for 1789-1980 America to some $35 trillion – because they cut tax rates for the obscenely rich – which leads to Right-Wing 7 Republican demands for “austerity” – i.e. – cuts to social programs that benefit YOU – see Roosevelt & Brandeis quotes above & more
*** Adam Smith: “The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of government, as nearly as
possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which
they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”
*** Billionaire Bill Gates: “I need to pay higher taxes. I’ve paid, in absolute, more taxes over ten billion [dollars].
than anyone else, but, you know, the government should require people in my
position to pay significantly higher taxes.”
*** Billionaire investor Warren Buffett: “There’s class warfare, all right, ubt it my class, the rich class, that’s making
war, and we’re winning.” **Buffett has long said his secretary pays taxes at a higher rate
than he does. Recent analysis reveals many billionaires pay a 3.4% tax rate, if anything.
8]. Do. YOUR. own. REAL. research:
A] study 1947-1980 income, wealth, tax rates – compared with 1981-2024 numbers. 1947-1980 top marginal taxe rates AVERAGED 81% – Republicans cut those, first in half, now 1/3-1/4. The 1947-1973 American middle class enjoyed THE. STATISTICAL. PEAK of prosperity in American history. It was “too good a deal”. – for. YOU, so the rich [see Buffett, Brandeis, Roosevelt, Smith quotes above] declared WAR [quietly – through “campaign contributions”]. on. YOU – cut their taxes, cut YOUR income, increased costs for YOUR food, medical care, housing, etc…., move jobs overseas………
B]. find. REAL. critical analysis of “PROJECT 2025” and “Agenda 47”. – to decode what their innocuous language REALLY means to YOU. – it is a Right-Wing blueprint of the R-W “wish list” to COMPLETE the transformation of America into a PLUTOCRATIC. THEOCRACY.
***** WATCH. YOUR. WALLET !!!!! – how uninformed, how misinformed, how gullible. – are. YOU??? If YOU voted for the Con Man, the Entertainer – “who said what you thought” – or – “said what you wanted to hear” – the NUMBERS above – and MUCH, MUCH more – indicate YOU will NOT get what YOU thought YOU voted for; a better, more prosperous life>
*** SO – now what? – vigilance – hold Trump and his Republican enablers to account – but don’t wait until 2026, could be too late. WHY. did 23 Nobel economics winners write a letter warning of economic consequences if Trump puts his plan and his campaign rhetoric into law???? No – they don’t “hate America,” they don’t “hate Trump”. – they examined Trump’s numbers! – and they DON’T. ADD. UP
*** Adolf Hitler: “If you tell a big lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”
*** New analysis by the “Conservative Think Tank “Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget” finds Trump plans would. WRECK. SOCIAL. SECURITY – But!!! – Trump promised to “fight for and protect SocialSecurity” –
what if Trump DOESN’T ????
***. On October 4th – McDonalds sued the big four meatpackers for “allegedly conspiring for years to limit beef supplies”. – meaning increased cost of. YOUR. Big Mac – what if Trump DOESN’T. support the suit?????
*** “The top four companies control 90% of the cotton seed market, 80% of corn seed, 70% of soybean seed, 67% of pork, and 62% of agrichemicals according to the advocacy group Farm Action.” **These monopolies cost. YOU. at the grocery store and more – what if Trump. DOESN’T. do anything to lower YOUR. costs ????
*** What if “Joe Biden’s “bad economy'”. DOESN’ T change under Trump???
*** What if Trump’s tariffs, tax cuts for the rich, deportations of food, farm workers, construction workers, and others. – DOESN’ T work?? DOESN’T help. YOU ???????????
*** What if the warning by the 23 Nobel Prize winning economists that Trump’s policies will cost YOU money is correct ?????????????? [ does that mean you voted AGAINST. YOURSELF !!!!!!!!!!! ]
*** Are. YOU, Trump supporter. – still going to vote for his Republican enablers in 2026 –
will the same “rules” that applied to Biden & Democrats in 2024. apply to Republicans in 2026 ?????
HANG. ON. TO. YOUR. WALLET !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Trump and Abortion Cruelty; Religious Zealotry and Nazi Principles
*** “Abortion and homosexuality concerned him particularly; in a speech over the radio in January 1937, he put these two topics high on the list of his ‘tasks for the future’…”We have already set out to tackle these abominations [Schleusslichkeiten] rigorously and with deep seriousness, in the bitter knowledge that a growth or even just continuance of these two epidemics must bring any Volk to the abyss, although lower in. Germany than in most European and foreign countries, is nevertheless shockingly high.” Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler ; page 185}
*** “I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in “A”, “B”. “C”, and “D”. Just who do they think they are? and from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?” [Barry Goldwater}
*** “We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press – in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess.” This may sound familiar – maybe some over-heated Republican talking points. In fact it’s what Adolf Hitler. promised the German people in 1933.” Reverend Bob Schenck [“Losing Faith; November-December, 2024; Mother Jones; page 2
*** “I have often expressed my sentiments, that every man..being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.” [George Washington]
*** “The individual ought not be trusted with the right to make decisions related to his or her reproductive potential..Nazi doctrine, founded on the distinction between “worthy” and “unworthy” life, enforced selective breeding by increasing penalties for abortion and prohibiting birth control,” Claudia Koonz; “Mothers in the Fatherland..Women, the Family and Nazi Politics; page 285]
*** “Is it not strange tat the descendants of those Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the Atlantic to preserve their own freedom of opinion have always proved themselves intolerant of the spiritual liberty of others?” [Robert E. Lee]
1]. Opposition to abortion, birth control, the LGBTQ community – is a RELIGIOUS belief. Certain religions seek to impose THEIR religious beliefs on YOU – this is un-American, un-Constitutional, flies in the face of one of the oldest American historical traditions and policies: “separation of church and state.” Do your own research: start with Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson; the 1657 “Flushing Remonstrance,” 18th century Virginia evangelicals demanding separation of church and state; Baptist preachers Isaac Backus and John Leland.
2]. Research 1776-1800 state constitutions [Faith of the Founders; Edwin Gaustad; Appendix B, pages 134-145. 8 states banned an active minister in their government!!!; 4 states prohibited a “religious test for office” [Article VI]; 10 states prohibited a state church [Amendment One]. Read: 1776 North Carolina Constitution, Articles XXXIV: “..neither shall any person, on any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith or judgment, nor be obliged to pay, for..the building of any house of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes right..” [ANY DOUDT about “separation of church & state” ???]
2] Some examples of many – Republican cruelties on abortion and reproductive rights;
A – the infamous Ohio case of the raped, pregnant 10-year-old girl, forced to go to Indiana for an abortion [“Penalty sought for girl’s doctor”; Davies & Rodgers; 12/1/22; Associated Press]
B- “Infant mortality rate soars post-Roe”. [Ariana Cha; 10/27/24; Washington Post Weekly]
C- “Radioactive” Pregnant Women” – turned away from ERs – “One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to check her in..” [Amanda Seitz; 4/21/24; Associated Press]
D- “Abuse victims trapped without options”. [Marissa Lati; 7/10/22; Washington Post]
E- “How state abortion restrictions are affecting pregnancy care…Treating a rare complication has gotten harder – and it nearly cost a woman her life”. [Caroline Kitchener; 4/30/23; Washington Post Weekly]
F- “Doctors fear delayed abortions pose safety risk”. [Laura Ungar; 12/10/23; Associated Press]
G- “Idaho’s abortion ban encourages legal delusion and medical myth” [Lisa Jarvis; 4/28/24; Bloomberg Opinion]
H- “Fatal genetic condition at heart of Texas abortion case”. [Kelsey Ables; 12/24/23; Washington Post]
I. “In Louisiana, a woman 10 weeks into her pregnancy was told that although her fetus was missing the top of its skull – an unsurvivable condition – she had to continue carrying it because the state’s abortion ban did not specify that condition as an exception.” [The Week; 9/2/22; page 11] !!!!!! Republican CRUELTY personified !!!!! UNBELIEVABLE !
J- “Sterilizations among women increasing”. [Emily Schmall; 9/12/24; New York Times] An
K- “Why Are Some Women Paying For Contraceptions?” [Alisha H. Gupta; 7/2/23; New York Times]
L- “IVF threats drive clinics to ship out embryos” [Ghorayshi & Kliff; 8/13/24; New York Times]
M- “My patient was a 13-year-old girl..he took her to his apartment..locked her in..raped her.
The neighbors heard her screaming..called the police..[who] caught this guy in the act..there is zero ambiguity..this pregnancy [is] result of rape.” Yet the doctor got hassled by the police..she had more encounters with “..police who
5]felt..emboldened to treat me like dirt..” This doctor and her family left this southern state [“Abortion Stories From Post-Roe America”; 10/27/24; New York Times Opinion
3] Consequences: “Docs Flee Red States” [Editorial; 6/15/23; The Progressive Populist]: both medical interns and practicing doctors are increasingly unwilling to practice OB/GYN medicine in states with abortion bans – because they can’t practice the necessary medicine they were taught/practiced. Texas already has a doctor shortage, expected to worsen by 50%, and a shortage of nurses. Only 40% of Terxas hospitals have labor and delivery services.
4]. “The Right-Wing Plan To Make Everyone An Informant” [Adam Serwer; November 2024; The Atlantic]: Texas’ 2021 “bounty law,” which promises $10,000 to anyone who successfully sues somebody who “aids and abets” an abortion…Republican-controlled state legislatures and conservative activists..passed bills and embraced legal strategies that encourage Americans to monitor one another’s behavior and report their friends, family members, and neighbors to the authorities. Call it the “Snitch State.” – OR. – historically, call it something Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, China might have done. – American police state, anyone ???????
5] Then – How do YOU want to die? Do YOU have “health care directives” and/or living wills? If YOU make the fatal mistake of entering the wrong nursing home – they may refuse to honor YOUR legal wishes. – in. GUESS WHAT. – a nursing home run by a certain church.
In “Medical Emergency…The Church-State Wall Has Collapsed When It Comes to End-of-Life Care,: Kim Callinan discusses this. [Church & State; March 2021; pages 20-21]
In “The Power Worshippers..Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism,” Katherine Stewart, in Chapter 11: “Controlling Bodies: What “Religious Liberty”. Looks Like from the Stretcher,” [pages 241-43] relates how “John” dying of brain cancer in a hospice “repeatedly” asked for information on medically asisted death [legal in his state] – it was refused by the church running it, because “Directive 61 states: “Patients experiencing suffering that cannot be alleviated should be helped to appreciate the Christian understanding of redemptive suffering.” John obtained a gun and blew his brains out in one of their bathtubs – traumatizing the staff.
***** So – do YOU want to die on YOUR legal terms – or, do YOU want to “appreciate the Christian understanding of redemptive suffering”? WHO gets to decide how YOU die – YOU or a church you may not belong to??? See the 1776 North Carolina state constitution listed above – “..not on any pretenses whatsoever.. shall YOU be compelled…”
*** “I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. I would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it.”
[Billy Graham, 1981]
6] Partial known summary: Religious zealots want to control YOUR reproductive life – by any means necessary; Religious zealots want to control how YOU die; Religious zealots want to establish “the Snitch State” – with a $10,000 bounty on YOUR head; Religious zealots want to control YOUR use of public roads if YOU want to escape their “Handmaid’s Tale” dictatorship; Religious zealots want to intercept YOUR mail if YOU are guilty of “immoral conduct” by ordering birth control pills; Religious zealots want to control books in YOUR public library and in YOUR chid’ school; Religious zealots want to put up the Christian “10 Commandments” in public buildings; Religious zealots want to change science and history curriculum in public schools
*** Randall Terry: “Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty..are called by God to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time..don’t want pluralism.”
Vote Republican in 2024- and YOU can help make Randall Terry’s plan come true – is this what YOU want???
Trump – a Authoritarian “Savior” – What a Joke !!! [ on Us}
*** “This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs: Whenhe first appears, he is a protector.” [Plato]
1] Research “the 14 characteristics of fascism”:
1- powerful and continuing nationalism
2- disdain for human rights
3- identifying enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
4- supremacy of the military
5- rampant sexism
6- controlled mass media
7- obsession with national security
8- religion and government are intertwined
9- corporate power is protected
10- labor power is suppressed
11- disdain for intellectuals and the arts
12- obsession with crime and punishment
13- rampant cronyism and corruption
14- fraudulent elections
****** Thanks to the “revenge of the empire” since 1980, America is well on the way toward achieving many FASCIST factors listed above – especially #3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13 – with Republicans/Far Right working very hard on achieving #14
***”People may start out with an initial prejudice against tyrants, but when tyrants or would-be tyrants treat them with adrenalin-releasing propaganda about the wickedness of their enemies – particularly of enemies weak enough to be persecuted – †hey are ready to follow [the tyrants] with enthusiasm.” [Aldous Huxley]
2]. Read: “The Conspiracy To End America…Five ways my old party is driving our democracy to autocracy” [Stuart Stevens – 25-year Republican lead strategist & media consultant]: “Whenever a democracy slides into autocracy, there are five critical elements at work: financiers, propagandists, support of a major party, legal theories to legitimize authoritarian acts, and shock troops.” YOU know all of these are at work NOW – YOU have seen it: the billionaires visibly out for Trump; the Far Right media echo chamber [TV, radio, I-net, “experts”, authors]: the Donald Trump [oops!!!] Republican “Party”; legal theories [the CORRUPT Roberts’ “supreme court”[???]. plus other legal groups & judges; January 6, 2021, plus various “militias” and armed men turning up at various public events…
*** It already almost happened in 1933 – Read “The Plot to Seize the White House,” by Jules Archer – the Jul-November, 1933 Right-Wing plot revealed by the McCormack-Dickstein Committee hearings and February 15, 1935 report.
*** “Of all the forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of the plutocracy.” [Theodore Roosevelt]
3]. Read: “Take Trump At His Word”. [New York Times Editorial; 10/27/24; Sunday Opinion]:
A- “Trump says he will use the Justice Department to punish people he doesn’t like. Believe him. In his own words…”
B- “Trump says he will round up and deport millions of immigrants. Believe him. In his own words…”
C- “Trump says he will deploy the American military against U.S. citizens. Believe him. In his own words…”
D- “Trump says he will allow vigilante violence to end crime. Believe him. In his own words…”
E- “Trump says he will order the military to strike foreign civilian targets if the United States is attacked.” Believe him..”
F- “Trump says he will punish blue states by withholding disaster relief. Believe him. In his own words…”
G- “Trump says he will use ideological tests to decide which public schools get federal money. Believe him…”
H- “Trump says he will abandon U.S. allies. Believe him. In his own words…”
*** “At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” [Abraham Lincoln]
*****. Lincoln didn’t know about fascism. He didn’t know that the party he helped form – would itself be the author of most of America’s post-1980 problems and controversies, virtually all the craziness and cruelties. He did say, speaking of the “Know Nothings”..”I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”
***** Which explains why Trump is no Abraham Lincoln. – and why the party Lincoln formed is dead.
America is in BIG DANGER, democracy itself is in BIG DANGER, if near-50% of Americans believe an acknowledged “despicable” person, convicted felon, liar of recorded 30-40,000 lies, racist, misogamist, tax cheat, draft dodger, etc., etc. who instigated a near-coup on 1/6/21 – can somehow be “an instrument of God’s will” to “save” America from itself – when it’s his fellow top 1% that have created much of the mess the lower 90% needs to be saved from.
THE. SINGLE. GREATEST. CON. of all human history – turning the biggest, greatest democracy into a FASCIST PLUTOCRATIC THEOCRACY looms as a distinct possibility. – unless. YOU. decide this cannot happen when YOU vote on the future of America, November 5, 2024. Please think…………………
Trump’s Economic Plan – DISASTER if Implemented
The Trump economy “was better”???????? What if Trump had ruled under 4 years of COVID??? What is the leader factor in 2020-2024 inflation – COVID !!! – and of course, top 1% & corporate GREED.
America is a capitalist system – PRIVATE companies sell goods & set prices – not government. There are NUMEROUS corporate CEO confessions – some listed below – where CEOs CONFESSED they had used COVID to inflate their prices. Many/most American industries are controlled by 2-3-4 companies – often in food. Numerous cases where companies have pled guilty to price-fixing collusion. Then there are Trump stupidities – like tariffs……
********!!!!!***** l0/31/24 headline: “New tariffs would lead to price hikes…U.S. companies say they’ll pass added costs to consumers if Trump is re-elected and makes good on his promises”. ****!!!!!*****!!!!!! HERE’s. your proof !!!!!!
First – just a few headlines:
– “Trump’s tariff plan would sow chaos…His attacks would raise prices, hurt markets, spark economic feuds” [10/17/24; Stein & Lynch; Washington Post]
– “Trump’s budget ideas don’t add up…Promises could add trillions of dollars to rising national debt” [9/28/24; Stein; Washington Post]
– “Trump’s fiscal plans could hike U.S. debt…Analyses also cite rising costs for most Americans” [Duehran & Rappeport; 10/8/24; New York Times]
– “Report: Trump would drain Social Security..fund might run out of money within six years under a Trump presidency” [Weil; 10/27/24; Washington Post]
– “Trump’s Big Promises to Big Business…Former President Trump has a ‘For Sale’ sign around his neck” [Goldmacher, Haberman, Swan; 10/27/24; New York Times]
– “Worried about inflation? You won’t like Trumponomics 2.0…former President Donald Trump’s economic agenda seems to be dedicated to raising prices” [Bloomberg Opinion Board; 5/26/24]
– “Beware of Trump’s economic plans…Higher tariffs, politicized central bank, a deliberately weakened dollar and more public borrowing would be dangerous”. [Bloomberg editorial; 5/20/24
– “American Business Can’t Risk Another Trump Term..he is attacking the foundations of American prosperity” [New York Times Editorial Board; 10/20/24]
– “Poorer households at risk with Trump plan…economists say lower-income households would be hit hardest by tariffs..” [Swanson, Duehren, Broadwater; 7/18/24; New York Times]
– “Trump Plans to Make His Massive Tax Cuts for the Rich and Corporations Permanent..which would allow the wealthy to steal from the public”. [Kolhatkar; 4/15/24; The Progressive Pipulist]
– “Trump’s Idea To Drop Prices May Lift Them…Economists See Costs in Three Key Proposals”. [Savage, Haberman, Swan; 6/9/24; New York Times]
– “UAW Slams Trump-Vance As “Menace To The Working Class” [Dispatches; 11/1/24; The Progressive Populist]
– “How Republicans Screw Workers..Efforts by Obama and Biden to enforce labor laws have been systematically undermined by right-wing courts and legislators” [Kuttner; 5/1/24; The Progressive Populist]
Second – do you need details, after the above – how “the champion of the workers” has, WILL, screw over the lower 90%? What would you expect a selfish ‘millionaire/billionaire” to do??? OK – try this:
– “GOP deregulation hurts consumers; new bill from Democrats could help”. [Catherine Rampell; 3/6/19; Washington Post]: “For markets to work, you need a system where either the government protects consumers or consumers can adequately defend themselves…The “neither” option lands you in a kleptocracy..where Republicans have been leading the country for the past few years…”
“Under President Trump, Republicans have repealed or watered down tons of federal rules..notice a striking pattern: Many of them loosen the limits for how much harm businesses can inflict upon consumers…”
“..perhaps where the GOP has been most successful in curbing consumers’ ability to fight back relates to mandatory arbitration clauses..’ [*** FORCED arbitration in front of industry-paid/friendly “judges”]
Third – were YOU really better off under Trump??? What do REAL statistics reveal?
A]. “Were You Better Off Than Trump?” [The Progressive Populist editorial; 4/15/24]: “Donald Trump’s promoters are now asking “Are you better off today than you were four years ago..?”
“By almost any objective standard, the U>S. is in much better shape today…Trump inherited a healthy economy..Non-farm employment fell by 1.4 million jobs in March 2020 and a staggering 20.5 million jobs in April..Unemployment was 6.3% in January 2021..grocery shelves were empty…”
“The British medical journal The Lancet..blamed Trump for an error-filled response to the coronavirus pandemic that analysts said contributed to 40% more deaths compared to other wealthy countries…”
“All those jobs lost during Trump’s last year have been recovered under Biden, plus 423,000 manufacturing jobs..created since..the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act in 2021…”
“Inflation has settled back to 3.2%, much of which is caused by corporate profiteering, which Republicans have shown little interest in checking…”
“Despite Republican claims..crime has run out of control under Biden, a recent FBI report noted..crime actually declined significantly in 2023, continuing a post-pandemic trend…”
B] “The Truth About the Biden Economy…His economy is outperforming other countries, and past presidents by a long shot”. [Matthew Winkler; 4/28/23; Bloomberg Opinion]: “..the economy during Biden’s 27 months..witnessed the greatest and fastest recovery of gross domestic product in modern times.. We have a jobless rate that is the lowest in a peacetime economy since World War II..”
C] “The Greatest Economy Ever?..The president deserves the credit he’s taking”. [Dean Baker; 7/17/23; InsideSources.com]: “Since the pandemic, the U.S. has had the highest growth growth rate of any wealthy country. It’s inflation rate is among the lowest..Perhaps even more important were..bills changing the long-term direction of the U.S. economy.”
Fourth – PRICES !!!!! – consider:
A]. “A Tale of Two Consumers”. [Robert Reich; 7/1/24; The Progressive Populist]: “..PepsiCo has so much monopoly power it’s been able to raise prices, blame inflation, shaft consumers, and score record profits..”
B] “Corporate profiteers pandemic strategy: GOUGE CONSUMERS AND BLAME JOE BIDEN” [The Hightower Lowdown; February, 2022]: “Consider diapers..Procter & Gamble announced last April..Covid-driven production costs were forcing it to raise the price for ..Pampers…used the excuse of inflation to inflate the price of diapers..co-monopolist Kimberly-Clark goosed up its prices at the same time…’
“IN 2019..big U. s. corporations hauled in roughly a trillion dollars in profit..two years later, during the pandemic, they grabbed more than $1.7 trillion. Antitrust analyst Matt Stoler finds..this huge profit jump accounts for 60% of the inflation now slapping U.S. families…” [****!!!!!! – got that; 60% of inflation is. CORPORATE GREED !!!*****]
“The CEO of Kroger..gloated last summer that “a little bit of inflation is always good in our business..we’ve been very comfortable with our ability to pass on increases” to consumers…”
“..85% of the U.S. beef market is controlled by just four multibillion-dollar goliaths..this beef cartel has been raising consumer prices during the pandemic..Their profit margin at the end of 2021 was 300% [!] higher than the previous year.”
C]. “FTC Launches Probe Into Surveillance Pricing That Targets Individuals” [Naveen Athrappully; 7/24-30/24; The Epoch Times]”. “[FTC] is looking into how firms are using surveillance pricing to charge different prices to different consumers…In September, the FTC accused Amazon of creating a secret price-setting algorithm.”
D]. “He’s the Expert on Uncovering ‘Shrinkflation'”. [Clare Toeniskoetter; 11/27/22; New York Times]: “With inflation at a 40-year high, business owners have been increasingly shrinking their products in an attempt to hide price increases.”
E]. “Inflation may be cover for gouging” [Paul Davidson; 4/28/22; USA Today]: “..last year, the aggregate profit margin of non-financial corporate business hovered above 13% in all four. quarters, the best performance in 70 years…56% of retailers say inflation has allowed them to raise prices above what’s required to offset higher costs, according to a survey of 1,000 retailers by Digital.com in November. More than half..say they’ve pushed up prices by an average of 20% or more.” [***!!! – got that – best profits in 70 years…prices up by 20%. !!!!!!]
F]. “Quantifying Big Pharma Price-Gouging” [Rick Claypool; Public Citizen News: Nov-Dec, 2021]: “Big Pharma makes almost twice..selling the top 20 prescription drugs in the United States as it does selling the same drugs to..the rest of the world combined…now Big Pharma is using every trick in the corporate influence playbook to fight policies that would reduce U.S. drug spending..” [also including a “Ripping Off Americans” chart for HIV, Autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis, type 2 diabetes drugs !!!!]
G]. “Auto insurance costs rising at fastest pace since 1970s” [Emily Flitter; 5/16/24; New York Times]: “Geico recently reported a big jump in quarterly profit on higher premiums and lower customer claim..”
***!!! GUESS WHAT??? In details, company names, etc….- one name is missing; Joe Biden……NOBODY. said Joe Biden raised rates or his profit margin by 10-20-30%… GEE – WHY not???? If YOU voted for Trump “because Biden’s at fault for high prices – you’re very badly misinformed. – because this is one more TRUMP. BIG. LIE. – because facts supplied above. are a very small “drop-in-the-bucket” of the vast MOUNTAIN of other facts soundly disproving this. TRUMP. BIG. LIE. – which. GREEDY corporations and Wall Street are more than happy to see YOU accept.
Trump and “Project 2025” – Finish Creating the “American” Plutocratic Theocracy
“This is a real plan, by people who have been in government, for how to systematically take over, take away rights and freedoms, and dismantle the government in service to private industry..”
“The Heritage plan aims to make it very hard for the government to function. And then you loudly announce that the government can’t do anything.” [“Global Warning”; Zoya Teirstein; December,2024; Mother Jones]
This discussion of “Project 2025” will end with examination of some “Project 2025” roots being in thre old Southern Confederacy, which – given the cruel arrogance of the FAR RIGHT since 1980, should not be a surprise – YOU have just exchanged one “Master” for another.
It’s appropriate to end “Project 2025” evaluation with the slave-owning Confederacy – because that is symbolic of how the arrogant FAR RIGHT sees YOU – as somebody to be exploited. Instead of the old “Fugitive Slave Law” – now we have the “Fugitive Woman Laws”; instead of Black people denied freedoms – now Americans are denied free reproductive rights; instead of Black people being “owned” by slaveholders – now YOU can be “owned” by YOUR employer; instead of Black people denied the right to read – now YOUR school children denied the right to read books that might “upset” them; instead of the exploitive top 1% slaveholders – now we have the exploitive corporations, Wall Street, etc., etc.
It is NOT an accident the modern Republican Party is based in the old Confederacy. It is NOT an accident the post-2015 Republican Party is now a cult led by THER biggest CON MAN in American history – just like the old “Master” telling YOU what the “truth” is. “Deviants” don’t get physically whipped now – but YOU get mentally tortured by getting trashed on the I-net by self-appointed trolls [ !!! or is it Russians !?!?! ]
If Trump “wins election” – YOU may see “1984” in real terms, just 40 years late. In a sense, “Project 2025” is like “Mein Kampf” – except it has over 140 authors instead of one; reflects the combined FAR RIGHT “wish list”. – which VERY SERIOUSLY – intends to take YOU back to ??? 1950, or is it 1900, or is it 1850 ??????
Now, below – SOME of “Project 2025’s” specifics:
1]. “Project 2025 is a blueprint to End the American Dream” [Karen Dolan; l0/15/24; The Progressive Populist]: “Six ways the the right-wing playbook hurts children, families, and our communities – all to make the wealthy a little wealthier..:
A] “Millions..will lose health care..slashes Medicaid..eliminate the Affordable Care Act.rolls back {drug negotiations]…
B] “Children will be sicker, poorer, and hungrier..cuts to food assistance programs..[cognitive damage potential]..
C] “Public schools will suffer..eliminate Head Start…preschool programs..programs for students with disabilities…
D} “Millions of families will be criminalized. Mixed-status families [could be ripped apart]..
E] “Food, water, air will be poisoned..reduces or eliminates..[environmental] regulations…
F] “Only the wealthy win..main goal is yet more tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations..codify inequality..”
2] “Project 2025 will affect every part of life, even weather updates” {Dispatches; 8/15/24; The Progressive Populist]:”..the plot to gut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the National Weather Service…the problem with the weather service is that it5 tries to predict the weather: …that involves making people aware..we are experiencing unprecedented rising heat around the globe..something Project 2025 means to stop.”
3] “Project 2025’s Plan to Gut Medicare and Medicaid” [Sonali Kolhatkar; 8/15/24; The Progressive Populist]: “..how a group of former Trump officials would like to transform the country into a right-wing dystopia where the rich thrive and the rest of us die aspiring to be rich…justify ending social programs..[more $$$ to private health care insurers]…
4] “AFL-CIO Guide Shows How Trump Agenda Would Be ‘Catastrophic’ For Workers” [Brett Wilkins; 8/15/24; The Progressive Populist]: “..highlights include: -Banning unions for public service workers [pg.82]; -Firing civil service workers and replacing them with Trump anti-union loyalists [80]; -Letting bosses eliminate unions mid-contract [603]; -Letting companies stop paying overtime [592] and allowing states to opt out of federal overtime and minimum wage laws [605]; -Eliminating chld labor protections [595]; -Urging Congress to pass J.D. Vance’s bill to let employers create their own sham company-run unions [599]”
5]. “Despite Trump’s Denials, he and Project 2025 are close” [E.J. Fagan; 7/18/24; Chicago Tribune}: “Project 2025’s numerous unpopular conservative policy positions..have come under fire. As a result, former President Donald Trump and his allies have attempted to distance themselves…The Heritage Foundation is closer to Trump than it has been to any presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan.”
6] “Destroying life and liberty..A Christian Nationalist playbook outlines a broad scheme to overthrow American democracy and install a theocracy” [Liz Hayes; June,2024; Church & State]: “Project 2025 offers a 900-page playbook for restructuring the federal government in order to accommodate the policy goals of Christian Nationalists…Many sections advocate policies that would undermine church-state separation and religious freedom”:
A] Public Education..”calls for federal funding of “education choice”..code words for {govt $$$ to ANY private school]
B] Abortion & reproductive health care..abortion NOT health care..no birth control.. “abortion surveillance” !!!!!!!…
C] LGBTQ equality – end anti-discrimination protections, return to “Denial of Care Rule”….
D] “Biblical family structures’ – return to “heterosexual, intact marriage”….
E] Foster care discrimination – support for taxpayer-funded groups to discriminate..must pass religious litmus test !!!
F] Public health policies – “..prioritize personal religious beliefs over public health and safety.”
G] Department of labor- end anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ and DEI..employers can discriminate
7] “Project 2025 will guide Trump’s dismantling of democracy” [Editorial Board; 7/18/245′ St. Louis Post-Dispatch]: The Heritage Foundation’s president recently said Project 2025 will drive “a second American revolution” one that “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be”… some recommendations:
A] strip civil service protections for federal bureaucracy by placing them under direct presidential control
B] greatly expand military’s domestic role, include policing and law enforcement !!!
C] more draconian anti-abortion laws; Orwellian stripping of “offending phrases’ from all federal paperwork !!!
D] Dept of Justice – instead of protecting people, prosecute govts, universities, corporations offending it !!!
E] “..turn the FBI into little more than the personal police force of the president..” {King Donald I ???]
F] repeal environmental and climate programs, regulations; gut EPA & downsize agencies
8} “Legislating inequality…the Christian Confederate roots of Project 2025” [Bruce Gourley; July-August,2024; Church & State]: “Like the ideology of the Confederate States, Christian Nationalists’ Project 2025 advocates for “ordered liberty”…In the slaveocratic South, public safety and rule of law meant..forced enslavement of Black persons…”
“..billionaires rather than common folk fund Project 2025’s opposition to fair corporate taxes, effective business regulations, abortion, women’s rights, human rights, public schols, robust Social Security and welfare programs and adequately public health programs – all of which benefit working families…
“Project 2025’s authors in reality parrot ideology of 1950s and “60s Confederate apologists..’
“In addition to Confederate roots, Project 2025 also reconstructs the U.S. Constitution. In the name of their superior “religious liberty” document authors contort the Establishment Clause..” [thus following in the footsteps of the CORRUPT Roberts “court” of right-wing Christian Nationalists political hacks, who contorted the First Amendment]
“The end goal of Project 2025 is religious privilege and power…a theocratic future of religious-based, white male-dominated ordered liberty and structural inequality within which God’s self-perceived chosen people rule over all others.” [hey – correct me – but doesn’t this sound like the “fictional”. “The Handmaid’s Tale”. being brought to life??? What next – the 1692 Salem Witch Trials – with the prosecutors, all except one, being ministerial men ???
YOU – and ONLY. YOU can prevent this dystopian plutocratic theocracy – by YOUR intelligent, rational, fact-seeking. VOTE. against. Trump and his Republican accomplices. on November 5, 2024
YOU and only YOU – can prevent “Project 2025” from occurring
Trump and Immigration – What IF America Does What He Demands?
Please consider the following in making a RATIONAL decision about Trump’s Immigration LIES:
1] “Significant immigration and border proposals introduced in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2021, 2023 AA. FAILED, largely due to REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION… the “Gang of Eight” U.S. Senators [4Republicans, 4 Democrats]..crafted a COMPREHENSIVE proposal to fix imigration 10 years ago, only to watch it die under..REPUBLICAN leadership of House Speaker JOHN BOEHNER…
“The proposal would have provided the kind of industry-specific, thoughtful approach we needed then and still need now…The immigration bill TRUMP. KILLED. this year would have done even more.” [Sabrina Haake; ll/1/24; The Progressive Populist] ****!!!*** read, then re-read this – immigration reform is a problem ONLY. because REPUBLICANS have refused to solve it. – keeping it alive as a political strategy – is this what YOU want???
2] “Data disproves Trump talking points on migrant jobs” [Fatima Hussein; 10/13/24; Associated Press]: “..government data shows immigrant labor contributes to economic growth..a mass deportation event would cost U.S. taxpayers up to a trillion dollars and could cause the cost of living, including food an housing, to skyrocket, economists say…
“..people in the U.S. illegally are not taking native citizens’ jobs because [they are jobs] native workers are unwilling to fill, such as agriculture and food processing jobs…
“Data also shows when there are not enough workers to fill these roles, firms will automate their jobs with machines and technology investments rather than turn to native workers.”
3] “…And How It’d Ruin America” [Mother Jones; September-October, 2024]:
A]. FOOD – “Half of all farmworkers in the United States are undocumented…a 50% decrease in the farm labor supply could result in a 21% increase in..prices of hand-picked crops..
Andrew Mickelson, Idaho potato farmer: “If [immigrant workers] just disappeared overnight, the sector would be devastated..I do not think..we in this country could grow enough food.”
B]. CARE – “Some 350,000 undocumented immigrants work in health care..142,000 are child care workers, personal care aides, and home heralth aides…160,000 are..cleaners and housekeepers…
“When former President Donald Trump talks about mass deportations and enforcement, he’s talking about eradicating the type of quality of life..Americans enjoy right now.”
C]. INFRASTRUCTURE – “..1.4 million [undocumented] people are employed in construction..more than 10% of the entire labor force…Trump’s deportation scheme would grind the construction of new housing to a halt, turbocharging the affordability crisis…”The economy would collapse.”
D]. SOCIAL SECURITY – “Unauthorized workers pay $13 billion a year into the Social Security system through payroll tax deductions, even though they’re not eligible for benefits.”
4} – “Expiration Date..Are We Almost Out of [Cheap] Milk?” [Marcela Valdes; 10/20/24; New York Times Magazine]: “What Peter does know..is that without foreign-born workers, his dairy could not stay afloat. Americans are understandibly reluctant to perform dirty, dnagerous and demanding work…In a 2012 study, Watson estimated..if Idaho cut its supply of foreign-born, less-educated labor by 50%, the state’s G.D.P. would fall by $905 million. In 2024..that number would only be bigger..”
5]. “Where Trump Leads, Immigrants Crucial” [Maya Rao; 10/20/24; Minnesota Star Tribune]: “Farm owner John Rosenow credits immigrant labor with sustaining his business, estimating..at least 90% of workers on Wisconsin dairy farms are unauthorized. He turned to Mexican migrants 25 years ago..when he could no longer find American citizens to do the work.” He believes if Trump does mass deportations, “It would devastate the $45 billion dairy industry in America’s second largest milk processing state.”
6]. “You’re Fired! Trump’s Deportation Plan Would Gut Half Ag Labor Force” [Alan Guebert; 9/1/24; The Progressive Populist]: “That’s a hard truth Trump and his political allies never talk about. Deporting all, most, or even a small number of thrse laborers doesn’t mean thise now-open jobs will be filled by unemployed Americans…”
“The vast economic research..Natasha Sarin.told U.S. News, “suggests just the opposite…GDP would actually fall and inflation would rise under Trump’s plan…The key reason for the job loss is the American labor force isn’t static, it’s dynamic; jobs are interconnected across industries…”
“The Congressional Budget Office..calculated the U.S. labor force will likely grow by 5.2 million people and $7 trillion by 2033 “thanks especially to net immigration..”
***Corroboration: “Immigrant surge steers economy around a recession” [Paul Wiseman, Gisela Salomon, Christopher Rugaber; 4/14/24; Associated Press] – native-born American workers, 25-54 dropping because so many aged out/retiring – “filling the gap has been a wave of immigrants’
******Suggestion: Read. “What If Trump Actually Deports 11 Million People?” – Mother Jones, September-October, 2024
Again – the PROBLEM is this: FEAR. over FACTS. – a recurrent FAR-RIGHT practice, 1980 – 202XXX – THINK!!!
Trump as KLEPTOCRAT; Appointing Political TERMITES; and. – Much More = Unfit For Office
This post is excerpts from Pulitzer Prize winning David Cay Johnston’s “It’s Even Worse Than You Think” [2018]. If you consider yourself a patriotic American – read this book !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A] “A single factor defines Donald Trump’s presidency, making it unlike the 44..before…past presidents all shared a trait missing in the Trump presidency…their administrations were about America and its people….The Trump presidency is about Trump. Period.”
B] “Trump himself has reduced his life philosophy to a single word – revenge. “I love getting even.”……”go for the jugular, attack them in spades!”
C]. “His entire life Trump has been a con artist…Trump relies on faux news organizations…millions of Americans..believe Trump is their champion and is being railroaded by Democrats who collude with..journalists who Trump calls..”enemies of the people.”
D]. “…Trump’s mercurial nature…volatile emotions often drove his decisions. So does whatever he heard from the last person he spoke to.”
E]. “…statements showing how he reacts instinctively, often without advice or knowing basic facts..revealing how his ignorance of science and the technology of modern warfare blocks his ability to understand issues when they’re explained to him.”
F]. “Trump articulated clearly..two standards of justice..One..for those in positions of power who shared his views and took actions he liked…The other..was for everyone else.” [207-08]
G] !!!!!!! Illegal immigrants working in the U.S.A.???!???!??? “..records showed..Melania Knauss..worked illegally in the United States in 1995; …the staff at Mar-a-Lago, which for years relied on the very workers Trump wanted kept out – foreigners.” [242-44] ***as in Trump gets to play by his own rules !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
H]. “Trump lacks the emotional stability, knowledge, critical-thinking skills, and judgment to be commander in chief. Emotionally he remains the 13-year-old troublemaker his father sent..to a military academy where..brutality was common.” [253] *****!!! but he’s our champion and we trust him !!!!!!!!!!
I] “Our Constitution is not written to handle someone like Trump,” the political scientist Jason Johnson told me. “That is the greatest danger and greatest harm he is to our country.” [263]
1]. “Trump is the first president to pose numerous questions about whether he is receiving income from foreign governments, which the Framers felt was inherently corrupting.”
2]. “As president, he did not change his long history of refusing to pay contractors, fighting tax bills, and using two sets of wildly different estimates of the value of his properties.”
3}. Three lies in one tweet [pg. 41] on appointing ambassadors!!!!! *****Trump doesn’t follow rules YOU & I do****
4]. The director of the Office of Government Ethics quit, later said Trump’s conduct “risks people starting to refer to us as a kleptocracy.” [*****as in, becoming more like Russia******]
5] Pages 79-92 – how Trump conned voters into a tax plan where most benefits go to the top 1%. – and [94- ] Trump paid at a 3.5% tax rate, or, NOTHING *****how would YOU like to pay 3.5% or nothing???*******
6]. Pages 101-111 – SOME of the Trump lies on his Mexican Wall; violation of the Logan Act
7] Pages 115-142 – attacks on the EPA and science – BECAUSE. science provides REAL facts on why FAR RIGHT business practices are injuring American’s health and prosperity
8] “Stocking the Swamp” – how Trump appoints industry-friendly hacks and crooks to positions; how Wall Street “easily manipulates”. the system.
9]. Trump likes the Saudis because they “buy apartments from me..Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.” [158] ***might someone call this a “conflict of interest”??? ***
10]. Trump killed the proposed “Trans-Pacific Partnership” trading alliance WITHOUT China. “Trump’s protectionist instincts..his dark vision of..America run by what he called stupid leaders, included at least two other actions that helped the Chinese..” [165-66]
11] “Trump did more to help the Chinese fulfill their ambitions of becoming a 21st century superpower than anyone else.” [167} **** remember this when China & America go to war****. Trump and greedy “American” corporations gave and ARE giving the Chinese the $$$$$$$$ to build their threat to America and democracy ***********
12]. Trump imported cheap steel from China – COSTING U.S. JOBS – – and “..went to great lengths to hide where the steel came from.” [171]
13] Pages 185-203 – Trump’s destructive education policies – huge budget cuts damage U.S. future – contradict Trump’s “America First” and “Make America Great Again” propaganda slogans !!!!!!!!!!
14] Trump cuts budgets for VETERANS !!! – on mental health, homelessness, disability, unemployment, government hiring freeze – in spite of promises !!! [221-227]. ***hey, gotta pay for the top 1% tax cut somehow !!!!!!!
15]. Trump allows 75,000 people “so mentally ill they’re not allowed control over their finances could easily buy guns.” [232] [just following the CORRUPT Roberts “court’s “thinking” ]
16] “…I relied on public records to illuminate Trump’s conduct, including a major drug trafficker for whom he risked his casino licenses for reasons that..have never been properly explained..” [266]. [ and – consider, “some people are saying” – why didn’t Trump loose those licenses – when others probably would have ….where is THIS going ????? !!!!!]
********. Again – this posting is only a small part of the very large. MOUNTAIN. of DOCUMENTED. evidence why one Donald J. Trump should NEVER be allowed in ANY. public office. – shame on US. if we “vote” him another chance.
Trump – ‘UNFIT FOR OFFICE’ – the Psychiatric Case
This post includes excerpts from “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump…37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President”. If you are a patriotic American, wanting crucial info on the 2024 election – this is a MUST read- **** the following are but a SMALL sample of evidence against a second Trump presidency. What is being discovered is this: there is NO way Trump should be allowed to be president again – he is mentally unfit for the job – here’s why:
A] “..Gilligan told Dr. Lee’s town hall attendees, “I don’t say Trump is Hitler or Mussolini, but he’s no more normal than Hitler.” [74]
B} “Donald Trump’s speech and behavior show..he has severe sociopathic traits. The significance of this cannot be overstated.”…no other presidents “have shown sociopathic qualities to the degree seen in Mr. Trump. Correspondingly, none have been so definitively and so obviously dangerous.” [85-86]
C] Clinical psychologist John Gartner: “I will argue..Trump can be both evil and crazy, and that unless we see how these two components work together, we will never truly understand him. Nor will we recognize how much danger we are in…When you combine narcissism, antisocial traits, and paranoia, you get a leader who feels omnipotent, omniscient, and entitled to total power; and who rages at being persecuted by imaginary enemies..all who are not part of the in-group or who fail to kiss the leader’s ring are enemies who must be destroyed.” [92]
D]. “..one more factor:..possibility of neurological disorder…comparing video interviews to Trump from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s to current video, we find..differences [significant reduction in the use of essential words; an increase in the use of adjectives such as very, huge, and tremendous; and incomplete, run-on sentences that don’t make sense and that could indicate a loss of train of thought or memory} are conspicuously apparent.” [41]
1]. “Trump is a “mirror-hungry” leader..a narcissist whose private feelings of inadequacy must be quenched by..constant adulation of his followers, hence nonstop rallies..filled with chants of hatred, threats of violence..constant references to Trump’s serial lies and fantasy world.” [xx]
2]. “Trump is not Adolf Hitler, but he shares many of Hitler’s disorders, addiction to lies, and appeal to wounded followers through dehumanization of target groups.” [xx]
3] “The dangers stoked by Trump and his toxic triangle of conditions go beyond war. Trump is stoking mass violence..denying any role of his own toxic hate-filled speech..another sign of Trump’s pathology, an utter inability to face..consequences of his own actions.” [xxii]
4]. “The election of Donald Trump is a warning sign for American society..decades-long trends toward economic inequality, environmental destruction..hollowing out of the content of U.S. democracy..are gaining steam. The election of Trump escalated many..processes breaking down traditional institutions in the country.” [xxvii]
5] “..malignant normality, one brought about by President Trump and his administration…Trump’s dangerous individual psychological patterns: his creation of his own reality..inability to manage..inevitable crises..violated American institutional requirements and threatened the viability of American democracy.” [xiviii]
6]. “It doesn’t take a psychiatrist to notice our president [2017-19] is mentally compromised…A man can be both evil and mentally compromised – which is a more frightening proposition. Power not only corrupts but..magnifies existing psychopathologies, even creates new ones.” [iviii-lix]
7]. “Unbridled and Extreme Present Hedonism…How the Leader of the Free World Has Proven Time and Time Again He is Unfit for Duty”. [pages 21-45]: dehumanization, lying, misogyny, paranoia, racism, self-aggrandizement, the narcissistic personality [“I alone can fix it”], the bully personality [“I hope Corrupt Hillary Clinton chooses Goofy Elizabeth Warren as her running mate”], the Trump effect [“I’m gonna bomb the shit out of them”] “
8]. “I Wrote The Art of the Deal with Donald Trump”. [Tony Schwartz]: Trump’s self-worth is forever at risk…..compelled to go to war with the world…..a zero-sum choice for him: You either dominated or you submitted…..His development essentially ended in early childhood…..The life he lived was all transactional…..facts are whatever Trump deems them to be on any given day…..in 1985, the image I had of Trump was that of a black hole….. [64-69]
9] “Trump’s Trust Deficit is the Core Problem” [Gail Sheehy]: “..the biggest concern is that Donald Trump trusts no one…..As president, Trump is systematically shredding trust in the institutions he now commands….. {he} borrowed a phrase from Lenin and Stalin to brand the American media as an ‘enemy of the people’…..Trump operates on..assumption..everyone is out to get him…..giving his subordinates the license to lie…..”manages the situation so it’s never possible for his advisors to know where they stand..the opposite of what you want in a high-functioning organization”…..in..his first 100 days, Trump appeared..increasingly out of touch with the reality in which the majority of us live..” [70-76]
**** Please read, study, think. more – this site posted material on 10/24/24 – more is coming, more appears almost every day – either in warnings about Trump, or, more unhinged speeches and announcements by Trump. Ask yourself – why are groups of former Trump administration workers, 700 – YES !!! seven hundred – former national security people warning against Trump, why are dozens of Nobel Prize winners warning about Trump ????? , and – on and on…. NO OTHER American president or presidential candidate has EVER been discussed concerning their “sociopathic traits” Ask yourself: why do the Russians want Trump to win ???????
PLEASE. – think. VERY. carefully before you vote. Thank you.
With Justice For All 
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