Morning all. We got the monthly jobs report this morning and it was one of the worst since COVID - 143,000 jobs were added last month. Here is how the NYT played it:
Here is what we know about the economy right now - GDP and job growth have slowed; inflation and prices are rising; egg prices are soaring; the Fed did not cut interest rates, leaving them in a tough, elevated place for consumers; destructive tariffs still loom; emerging GDP economic plans will dramatically grow the deficit; Trump’s deportations are stressing an already tight US labor market; the integrity of our financial system may have been compromised by Musk and his malicious posse.
It is a core tenet of Hopium that a central reason the last three Republican Presidents brought recessions and exploding deficits is that Republicans are unconcerned and unversed in economics and economic policy. They have a Southern Strategy hangover social policy - more for me/us, less for you/them - that has been fraudulently sold for decades as economic policy. In building an economic strategy out from large tax cuts for the wealthy/corporations and fanatical efforts to reduce the number of people of color from the United States - Trump is flirting with all sorts of things that will hurt the economy, raise prices, harm workers and increase the deficit - benefit cuts for the working poor, higher health care costs, removal of millions of workers from an already tight labor market, trade wars and prices hikes. Where are Trump’s plans to lower prices? Make housing more affordable? Lower health care costs and provide better access to health care (MAHA)? Cut the deficit? Get interest rates down? He doesn’t have plans for any of that.
In fact, what we are seeing now is probably the worst treatment of workers by an employer - Donald Trump - that America has seen in a hundred years, perhaps ever. He is breaking laws to fire people; offering fake buyouts; abandoning American citizens working abroad; forcing people to the office with very planning. Donald Trump, our “working class” President, has launched an unprecedented and illegal reign of terror against hundreds of thousands of working Americans all in the service of more for me, less for you. He is a betrayer of working class Americans, not a champion.
Let’s dive into another manifestation of the more for me, less for you approach - the world-altering assault on USAID and our programs for the poorest people in the world. I share a CNN story (video above) about how Senator Marco Rubio was for many years one of the most powerful defenders of USAID in Congress. In 2022 Rubio even asked President Biden to INCREASE USAID’s budget. Secretary of State Rubio - yes, this same guy - is now overseeing the Musk-initiated illegal vaporization of the agency. Do watch, above. It’s stunning stuff.
Here’s the NYT on what’s happening with one just one of USAID’s programs, PEPFAR, its global program to combat HIV:
Two weeks into President Trump’s sweeping freeze on foreign aid, H.I.V. groups abroad have not received any funding, jeopardizing the health of more than 20 million people, including 500,000 children. Subsequent waivers from the State Department have clarified that the work can continue, but the funds and legal paperwork to do so are still missing.
With the near closure of the American aid agency known as U.S.A.I.D. and its recall of officers posted abroad, there is little hope that the situation will resolve quickly, experts warned.
H.I.V. treatment and services were funded through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, a $7.5 billion program that was frozen along with all foreign aid on Mr. Trump’s first day in office.
Since its start in 2003 during the George W. Bush administration, PEPFAR has delivered lifesaving treatment to as many as 25 million people in 54 countries and had enjoyed bipartisan support. The program was due for a five-year reauthorization in 2023; it survived an effort by some House Republicans to end it and was renewed for one year.
Without treatment, millions of people with H.I.V. would be at risk of severe illness and premature death. The loss of treatment also threatens to reverse the dramatic progress made against H.I.V. in recent years and could spur the emergence of drug-resistant strains of H.I.V.; both outcomes could have a global impact, including in the United States.
On CNN this week Bill Gates said shuttering PEPFAR would result in 10,000,000 people dying. Ten million. In this case vaporizing USAID is not just more for me, less for you. It is more for me, a lot less of you.
Our Daily Reminder - I do a deep dive into all this in my new video, Fighting Hard, Fighting Smart:
Trump 2.0 is a profound, ongoing betrayal of America, and everything that has made this remarkable nation the most powerful and prosperous in the world. It is why we must fight. As dark as all this is, we cannot for one moment forget that what Trump is doing is wrong; he and his project remain deeply unstable and his coalition fractious; he is doing deeply unpopular things, going far beyond his narrow “mandate;” he is old, impulsive, reckless and clearly in decline; and extremists and ideologues are often far better at bread and circuses than governing.
The States Need To Explore Their Subpoena Power - I am not a lawyer, but I hope State Attorney Generals and Governors/state legislators are exploring all options to try to stop the Trump/Musk crime spree in Washington. What is remarkable is that DOJ and the acting US Attorney are just ignoring that Trump and Musk and hundreds of their employees are just openly breaking all sorts of laws everyday. But can the states now step in? What can they do to protect the privacy of their constituents? The integrity of America’s financial system (state pension funds)? The illegal firing of residents of their states? How can our Congressional leaders help them?
I wonder whether State AGs and state legislatures who have subpoena power can launch investigations and subpoena Musk, members of his malicious posse, other Trump officials. If they don’t show can they then be prosecuted? There is a clear consumer protection angle here. State governments must protect their residents from harm, and creating inquiries, using subpoena power in dozens of states all at once could begin to create a possible avenue of accountability for the extraordinary crime spree we are experiencing right now; a crime spree enabled by the corrupt Presidential immunity granted to Trump by SCOTUS, his abuse of his pardon power for his quislings and whose escalating legal liabilities, of course, is shouldered not by them but by us. Yes, we the people, are paying both sides of all the litigation Trump and Musk have ushered in. It is why we must keep striving to find a break on all this corruption and lawlessness; corruption and lawlessness the new Attorney General threw in all of our faces this week as she allowed the most corrupt government official in modern American history to swear her in:
Let’s Keep Contacting Our Reps All - a few possible messages today. Offices need to hear from us in Washington, and in the states.
Insist on criminal referrals to DOJ/FBI for Musk and his malicious posse to try to slow down their savage assault on “the America Of The Four Freedoms”
Keep fighting against the Unacceptable 3 - Gabbard, Kennedy, Patel
Whatever else you feel like communicating today
New, crazy info came out about Patel this week. Make your calls!
We keep getting wins in the Courts. From The New Republic:
A U.S. District Court in Washington on Thursday partially blocked Elon Musk and his DOGE groupies from further accessing government databases.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly approved a temporary restraining order that prevents two DOGE-affiliated employees from accessing anything other than read-only records from the Bureau of Fiscal Service’s systems.
The restricted employees are Tom Krause and Marko Elez, who will be permitted access on an “as needed” basis, according to the filing. Prior to joining Musk’s federal team, Krause served as a chief executive of a Silicon Valley software company, while Elez is a 25-year-old engineer with experience at two of Musk’s companies: X and SpaceX.
Marko Elez is no longer with Musk. He resigned yesterday after the Wall Street Journal found a slew of old wildly racist postings of his. So be clear - the 25 year old who rewrote the code in the Treasury payment systems is now out there for foreign intelligence agencies and other malicious actors to have their way with. Yes, this is where we are, and why we need to keep fighting…..
And for those who want to do more traditional campaign and political work, we have three Hopium-backed projects we are rallying behind:
Help Get Ken Martin Off To A Strong Start - In this time of extraordinary challenge we need a strong DNC. On Saturday night we set a goal of raising $100,000 by March 31st for our new Chair. Incredibly over 800 of you have donated over $92,000 so far. Watch my interview with Ken about what he wants to do with the DNC, and chip in whatever you can to help Ken and the new exciting team at the DNC get off to a strong start.
Note that two other good friends of Hopium - David Hogg and Jane Kleeb - were elected Vice Chairs of the DNC this weekend (Jane was elected head of the ASDC which also makes her a DNC Vice Chair). You can watch my inspiring interviews with David here, and with Jane here and learn more about where they want to take the party in the days ahead.
Help Abigail Spanberger Win Virginia - Virginia will be one of the big battlegrounds of the November, 2025 elections and we have a great candidate for Governor, Abigail Spanberger. Watch my interview with Abigail, donate, volunteer, and learn more here. Given how many federal employees live in Virginia, this race is also now on the front lines of the Trump/Musk assault on the federal government. We’ve raised more than $25,000 so far towards our March 31st goal - thank you all. Let’s keep working it for Abigail!
Help Susan Crawford and Ben Wikler in Wisconsin - As a way of honoring our good friend Ben Wikler and supporting this critical Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, I am asking our community to donate to the Wisconsin Democratic Party today. The money raised here will make sure Ben has the resources he needs to keep his team in place so they can support this critical statewide race. I know many of you are already deeply involved here - thank you all. More on this critical election in the coming days. Our goal is to raise $50,000 by April 1st. We’ve raised $12,000 so far - thank you all!
Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon
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