I watched many of the Dems who spoke on the senate floor today before the Vought confirmation vote. They spoke the truth and fought hard- it was truly inspiring .
I had the same issue. What I did by mistake was change how I prefer getting my Sub stack delivered. I chose "push notifications". That is when I stopped getting emails. Once I went to the tools section in my Sub stack account I clicked on email delivery and that cleared up the problem. Hope this helps.
Congressional Democrats' offices are being inundated by phone calls from angry constituents who feel the party should be doing more to combat President Trump and his administration.
Some lawmakers feel their grassroots base is setting expectations too high for what Democrats can actually accomplish as the minority party in both chambers of Congress.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Axios: "What I think we need to do more is: Put the onus on Republicans, so that the calls that we're getting are directed toward Republicans."
"There has definitely been some tension the last few days where people felt like: you are calling the wrong people. You are literally calling the wrong people," said one House Democrat.
What we're hearing: More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers and aides said in interviews with Axios that their offices have received historically high call volumes in recent days.
Some staffers said they hadn't seen this many calls since seminal events like the Oct. 7 attack, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings or even the Trump impeachment proceedings.
Aaron Fritschner, a spokesperson for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), said his office's phones have been "ringing off the hook without pause since we opened yesterday morning."
On social media sites such as X and Bluesky, another aide said, "Every Dem is getting lit up by the neo-resistance folks being like 'do more.'"
What they're saying: "We had the most calls we've ever had in one day on Monday in 12 years," said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.).
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), who has served in Congress since 1997, told Axios: "I can't recall ever receiving this many calls. People disgusted with what's going on, and they want us to fight back."
Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said his office has received "hundreds, maybe thousands" of calls.
I talked with a staffer at Angie Craig’s office today. Talked about DOGE’s criminality at the Treasury Dept. and my concern for MN farmers and businesses suddenly losing income (China tariffs and closing USAID) i mentioned that I’d started receiving scam texts suddenly which is a possible indicator that Musk and Co. are damaging the security of my private information. (I know the two things may not be related but I’m not the only one this is happening to suddenly. Pretty damn suspicious) He listened, took notes and fed my concerns back to me very clearly. Sounded utterly exhausted - said what others are saying which is that their phones are ringing nonstop. I thanked him, and just said to take care cause we the people are not going to stop demanding action. After, I made a donation to the DNC
Keep up the great work everyone. And thank you Simon for your terrific insights into Elon’s hatred of democracy last night. Makes me crazy that one of his grandparents was from Minnesota - the idea of his family’s generational fascism and racism really opened my eyes. I know that mindset is not unique but I grew up in the opposite mindset - more than 400 years here in America - where my family has fought for equality. Musk is even more dangerous than I knew and I appreciate your insight there, terrifying as it is.
Another action is to contact your local newspaper, radio station, t.v. station to urge them to cover exactly how ideas like tariffs will affect people in their own state.
State of play: After a week of being caught flat-footed by President Trump's and Elon Musk's stunning moves to upend the federal bureaucracy, Democrats have spent the last few days flooding the zone with acts of resistance.
They've rallied outside of multiple federal agencies that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has targeted, trying unsuccessfully to gain entry to the buildings and interview staffers.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has vowed to use a March 14 federal funding deadline as leverage to try to "choke off" any efforts to defund programs like Medicaid.
Democratic committee leaders have also sent Trump and his administration a flurry of letters demanding information on DOGE's shock and awe tactics.
I just love how you detail this for us every day! I really appreciate this level of detail showing that we are making a difference. Now we have to sustain it.
We are treating impoverished children in the Philippines. Our team leaves before 6 AM and we return to our hotel after 6 PM. Utterly exhausted I stopped reading a lot of the substacks but ArcticStones have been keeping me in the loop. My profound gratitude to you and Simon and Bluesky.
Thank you for the kind words! My wife’s cousin works – or worked – for USAID in the Middle East, so this is personal.
Here is a thought: That a few other countries and some billionaires pool their resources and keep USAID intact, hiring everybody so they can continue the good work. The world cannot afford to let Musk obliterate this fine, important organization!
Agreed - calls need to be made to the Republicans - but also to Dems to let them know we support them, let them know the issues that are most important to us so they can focus too. They are being bombarded by this onslaught. We also need to make sure we are watching and disapprove when they vote for the Republican cabinet!!
Our calls need to go the Republican's too. That is all I have and I want them to know that I expect them to take action to quash this lawless actions of Elon Musk, in particular, and of Trump.
Absolutely, Karen, right on. If the end game here is going to be peaceful (so the Chinese and Russians don't end up the real winners), we HAVE TO TALK TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS, and move enough of them over to our side to convince the MAGAs the jig is up and they'd better get back with the program, the *American* program.
Agree, Karen. We have two Dem senators but a Republican congressman. We have called and emailed him to voice our anger on a variety of topics since inauguration day. We must let Repukes know that their constituents are angry, dissatisfied and keeping watch. (And that we blame them for this mess.)
Simon just said on the tape that we all need to call our own representatives. He mentions astro-turfing. Staff does not pay attention to callers from outside their consituencies. So Blumenthal's comments is an encouragement to us with Red State Reps and Senators to make those calls. They are just as important as those of us calling our Dem reps to do more. Even if it doesn't feel like it. Imagine being a GOP elected in a red region and the scorecard of calls is trending purple or blue. That could make them a bit nervous, eh?
Thanks to everyone engaged here, and thank you Simon, for your leadership and commitment to help keep us all going forward. Winning not whining.
My Virginia representative and senators are blue and NOT the problem. I call and email them sometimes, but mostly I'm calling and emailing GOP politicians. even if I have to enter a fake address on their website that's in their state or district. If Mitch McConnel can immorally and unconstitutionally withhold a vote on a Supreme Court nominee, I feel justified in using a fake address to contact an out-of-state politician.
I generally follow Simon's advice about sticking to my own elected officials. The exception is when I call someone in their capacity as the leader/ranking member/member of a key committee. And I ALWAYS state that up front at the beginning of the call.
Who are the right people to call? We are asking our representatives to step up and lead. I heard Schumer told other Senators to be patient and wait for Trump to screw up so badly that... what? They can then do what?
My take? Listen to Simon, ignore Schumer. Call both senators of your state, and your Congressional representative – regardless of whether the are Democrat or Republican.
I agree. But in my state they are all Blue so it’s annoying to hear about their frustrations. If they aren’t the right people to call (as one Dem rep said) then I can’t think of who else to call. Other than local media to urge them to cover what’s happening in terms of their own states and communities.
Call your state senator, call your state attorney general. Tell them to do everything to stop the coup. It's illegal and they need to make noise too. Even Mayors, City Councils or County Supervisors.
Don't worry about "annoying" your Blue Reps. Call anyway. Thank them for their efforts and encourage them to make some other kind of effort like filing a criminal complaint against Leon Skum with the DOJ. Simon explains why this would not be a "wasted effort."
That's just it. Trump isn't "screwing up". He, his donors and sycophants are doing exactly what they said they would do and then denied they would do and then said they would and then said it was fake news. It's called gaslighting. I read that Lisa Murkowski said they are getting so many calls, it has overloaded their system. Good!
Yes. We need to thank the Dems who are now standing strong.
The New Republic: Senate Democrats are finally taking a stand against Donald Trump’s government rampage.
Earlier this evening, Senate Dems led by Jeff Merkley (OR-Sen) wrapped up a grueling 30-hour marathon to "hold the floor" to protest and resist the confirmation of a key Trump nominee, Russell Vought.
Dozens of Senate Dems refused to give up the floor, speaking through the night on Vought's support for Trump freezing trillions of dollars in federal spending, his coordination with Elon Musk to dismantle federal agencies, and his active role as an architect of Project 2025.
When Dems fight with backbone like this, working through the night to resist one of Trump’s most evil nominees, we need to let them know we see them and show them our thanks. When we do that, it encourages them to do more and others to do some.
Can you chip in to support Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Warren, Raphael Warnock, Andy Kim, Brian Schatz, and over twenty Senate Democrats in total who held the floor to protest Trump's nomination of Project 2025 architect Russell Vought? Chip in here. (And please pass to others.)
Democrats spent months flailing against Trump and Musk, but now they're starting to change their tune...
Good that the Courts told Musk to get his people out of the Treasury. I wonder if his minions realize Musk will throw them under the bus once the pressure gets too intense.
I would try that. For Hopium I only ever use my laptop. But others have mentioned there are annoying differences in Substack functionality between laptops and cell phones/iPads.
Trump/Musk and their minions are just as idiotic this time as they were the first time. They are doing things that are going to damage their voters. This WP article talks about how they are going to damage farmers because of their USAID actions. And this is just one example. They don't know what they are doing.
Democrats from farm states now need to be all over this. Both elected and grassroots Dems in these states have to amplify this.
Further, I totally agree that we have to fight every day. I will not give in and be part of the degradation of our democracy. My grandfather was shot down over Austria on Christmas Day 1944 and survived two broken ankles, a broken back and 5 months in two concentration camps. He fought Nazi's with everything he had. I owe him the same.
Exactly. I hope that what Ken Martin/DNC and others will build a rapid reaction communication network to use these stories and activate voters where it's needed.
Quick update. I made my daily calls to my senators and congressional rep and this time, 2 of the 3 offices actually had real people answer the phone! This is a first for me in the last week or so. I take this to mean that they are getting engaged with their constituents and making sure that they are listening. I took Simon's advice and kept it to one topic for each today and it was clear that they were taking note of my comments.
I really enjoyed this Q&A with Sen. Brian Schatz and I think he's saying a lot of the things that Simon is saying too. Worth your time to read it everyone.
I cancelled my WaPo subscription after Bezo blocked the Editorial Committee's endoresement of Kamala. But I had prepaid my susbscription through March, so I am occassionally logging in to harvest my 10 free gift articles per month:
This removes the paywall so that everyone with the above URL can read it for free and share it with others. Enjoy and please send it to some people who voted for Trump!
"My grandfather was shot down over Austria on Christmas Day 1944 and survived ..."
I lost a maternal uncle who was in the US Army Air Corp (part of a bomber squadron) and was KIA in Feb 1945. My mom had 7 brothers (6 older than her) and several other of my uncles were in the Navy during the war but they all survived. Both my late father (Army) and mother (Marines) also served in WWII.
Thanks for the exciting information regarding Treasury. We need MUSK out of all governmental agencies it systems. Understand MUSK goons went into NAOA yesterday an!d pushed people out of the way. This is so very wrong. I am writing my senators again about that
I personally think Simon’s Hopium group is one of the true leaders in the resistance/opposition, primarily due to Simon’s wisdom and leadership. Right after the election defeat, I joined at the Founder’s level (I erroneously thought it was a closed group of founding people!) in order to give more support to this effort. I know not everyone can do that but I encourage anyone who can (it’s $1,000 per year) to invest in this community so we can lead in this unprecedented and perilous time. That group then meets with Simon on Fridays for a cameras on zoom call where we can ask questions, in addition to hearing from
Seeing more anecdotal posts on Bluesky that the Democrats' rallies are breaking through even with Republican friends and relatives, and that people no matter what party are concerned about the security of their data and their money. That's translating to calls to Republican politicians as well. Pair that with the escalating prices and likely economic fallout in a few months and that could be the basis of a growing resistance that hits the midterms.
Another sign that things are working is the increased "oh don't worry it's read-only" explanations coming from the trump administration. Though it's total bullshit that Musk's people are "only looking at the data" and not making changes to it, the fact that they even have to explain that shows they know it's not legal and that people aren't satisfied with their "we're watching for fraud" excuse. I also think it's a good idea to start demanding they show the evidence of the so-called "fraud" that they keep touting is the rationale behind this database breach and the closing of USAID. What's happening is that Fox and other right-wing outlets, along with legacy media keep conflating "fraud" with "things that Republicans think are wasteful spending." That difference needs to be pointed out loudly.
The "read-only" excuse is ridiculous even if true--you can't just look at a payment that's been made to a contractor or person (of what must be trillions of records) and discern that any particular one is fraudulent or overpaid!
"Read-only" is something, but I still don't want anyone viewing my data who isn't a regular government employee using the data for normal duties!! This is a data breach to end all data breaches, and it's going to hit everyone, republican, democrat, and non-voters
I made my daily calls to Fetterman (DINO) and McCormick (R) insisting they vote No on the dangerous Four and listing three suggestions I want them to use to stop the coup.
I also called Bresnahan (R), got a staffer and thanked him for his listening tour of my region ( posted on social media) but I remarked I see no evidence that he is listening to those of us concerned about the coup we are witnessing. I then listed ways he could act so as to keep Congress from becoming superfluous: stand with other house members in opposition to Musk raiding the treasury and small business administration (his area); join in a criminal referral to DOJ to document Musks illegal actions; and post on social media an acknowledgment of our concern and ways he is protecting constituents data. The staffer wrote each down and particularly paid attention to the criminal referral suggestion.
I detail all this to thank Simon for the encouragement to keep calling and for the encouragement to treat scripts as lesson opportunities for both Dems and freshman Republicans who may respond to our calls for action.
I hope when you called Fetterman you rallied against his support of Pam Bondi! I wrote him a letter yesterday telling him how disappointed I was in his support, what gives with this. Let's keep up our calls and emails to their offices. I live in E TX and now am fighting school vouchers which just passed, ugh.
OMG Simon. Just listening to last night's talk. And I'm Only 19 mins in. THANK YOU. Way to kick our butts.
Also Robert Reich has a nice letter this morning with 10 things we can all do.... it's community minded, and good guidance. I'm going to post it. Kind of moral guidelines for helping close to home. Stay safe everyone.Keep calling. Thanks again Simon. I really calmed down listening.
AMUSING FACT: Trump's ICE frees hundreds of immigrants under "catch and release" – to be precise, he’s freed 461 undocumented immigrants from custody since he took office. (I presume Trump’s MAGA base is applauding?)
Maybe you’re seeing a pop-up window? I’m not an Axios subscriber and not seeing a paywall. I know they have special articles behind a paywall, but I’m pretty sure this is not one of them.
Same here, I have no intention of subscribing to Axios. Try simply closing the window and refreshing. Or even opening Axios.com in a different browser.
I'm not wasting people's time. I'm only telling you what I experienced, and I did finally open it. And please, there's no need for any of us to get upset right now.
I watched many of the Dems who spoke on the senate floor today before the Vought confirmation vote. They spoke the truth and fought hard- it was truly inspiring .
I agree this was meticulously planned and and would add that Trump is simply a foil.
Female, not make. Woman not man. Curious. I wonder why……..
Link?
I'm not getting emails with the invitation for paid subscribers any more.... How can I get back in that list? 😊♥️
I had the same issue. What I did by mistake was change how I prefer getting my Sub stack delivered. I chose "push notifications". That is when I stopped getting emails. Once I went to the tools section in my Sub stack account I clicked on email delivery and that cleared up the problem. Hope this helps.
OUR CALLS REALLY MATTER – SIMON’s STRATEGY IS WORKING
Yesterday Axios had a headline that told us what Simon has been underscoring:
Democrats' Phones Bombarded With Calls to "Fight Harder"
Details in the article are striking and dramatic – very encouraging and worth reading!
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/06/democrats-congress-trump-musk-doge-calls
Congressional Democrats' offices are being inundated by phone calls from angry constituents who feel the party should be doing more to combat President Trump and his administration.
Some lawmakers feel their grassroots base is setting expectations too high for what Democrats can actually accomplish as the minority party in both chambers of Congress.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Axios: "What I think we need to do more is: Put the onus on Republicans, so that the calls that we're getting are directed toward Republicans."
"There has definitely been some tension the last few days where people felt like: you are calling the wrong people. You are literally calling the wrong people," said one House Democrat.
What we're hearing: More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers and aides said in interviews with Axios that their offices have received historically high call volumes in recent days.
AND:
Some staffers said they hadn't seen this many calls since seminal events like the Oct. 7 attack, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings or even the Trump impeachment proceedings.
Aaron Fritschner, a spokesperson for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), said his office's phones have been "ringing off the hook without pause since we opened yesterday morning."
On social media sites such as X and Bluesky, another aide said, "Every Dem is getting lit up by the neo-resistance folks being like 'do more.'"
What they're saying: "We had the most calls we've ever had in one day on Monday in 12 years," said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.).
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), who has served in Congress since 1997, told Axios: "I can't recall ever receiving this many calls. People disgusted with what's going on, and they want us to fight back."
Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said his office has received "hundreds, maybe thousands" of calls.
I talked with a staffer at Angie Craig’s office today. Talked about DOGE’s criminality at the Treasury Dept. and my concern for MN farmers and businesses suddenly losing income (China tariffs and closing USAID) i mentioned that I’d started receiving scam texts suddenly which is a possible indicator that Musk and Co. are damaging the security of my private information. (I know the two things may not be related but I’m not the only one this is happening to suddenly. Pretty damn suspicious) He listened, took notes and fed my concerns back to me very clearly. Sounded utterly exhausted - said what others are saying which is that their phones are ringing nonstop. I thanked him, and just said to take care cause we the people are not going to stop demanding action. After, I made a donation to the DNC
Keep up the great work everyone. And thank you Simon for your terrific insights into Elon’s hatred of democracy last night. Makes me crazy that one of his grandparents was from Minnesota - the idea of his family’s generational fascism and racism really opened my eyes. I know that mindset is not unique but I grew up in the opposite mindset - more than 400 years here in America - where my family has fought for equality. Musk is even more dangerous than I knew and I appreciate your insight there, terrifying as it is.
Back to work.
Another action is to contact your local newspaper, radio station, t.v. station to urge them to cover exactly how ideas like tariffs will affect people in their own state.
Great idea.
OUR CALLS LEAD TO DEM ACTION (from article)
State of play: After a week of being caught flat-footed by President Trump's and Elon Musk's stunning moves to upend the federal bureaucracy, Democrats have spent the last few days flooding the zone with acts of resistance.
They've rallied outside of multiple federal agencies that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has targeted, trying unsuccessfully to gain entry to the buildings and interview staffers.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has vowed to use a March 14 federal funding deadline as leverage to try to "choke off" any efforts to defund programs like Medicaid.
Democratic committee leaders have also sent Trump and his administration a flurry of letters demanding information on DOGE's shock and awe tactics.
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/06/democrats-congress-trump-musk-doge-calls
I just love how you detail this for us every day! I really appreciate this level of detail showing that we are making a difference. Now we have to sustain it.
Great work,Arctic Stones, as always!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
We are treating impoverished children in the Philippines. Our team leaves before 6 AM and we return to our hotel after 6 PM. Utterly exhausted I stopped reading a lot of the substacks but ArcticStones have been keeping me in the loop. My profound gratitude to you and Simon and Bluesky.
Thank you for the kind words! My wife’s cousin works – or worked – for USAID in the Middle East, so this is personal.
Here is a thought: That a few other countries and some billionaires pool their resources and keep USAID intact, hiring everybody so they can continue the good work. The world cannot afford to let Musk obliterate this fine, important organization!
Agreed - calls need to be made to the Republicans - but also to Dems to let them know we support them, let them know the issues that are most important to us so they can focus too. They are being bombarded by this onslaught. We also need to make sure we are watching and disapprove when they vote for the Republican cabinet!!
Our calls need to go the Republican's too. That is all I have and I want them to know that I expect them to take action to quash this lawless actions of Elon Musk, in particular, and of Trump.
Absolutely, Karen, right on. If the end game here is going to be peaceful (so the Chinese and Russians don't end up the real winners), we HAVE TO TALK TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS, and move enough of them over to our side to convince the MAGAs the jig is up and they'd better get back with the program, the *American* program.
Agree, Karen. We have two Dem senators but a Republican congressman. We have called and emailed him to voice our anger on a variety of topics since inauguration day. We must let Repukes know that their constituents are angry, dissatisfied and keeping watch. (And that we blame them for this mess.)
Simon just said on the tape that we all need to call our own representatives. He mentions astro-turfing. Staff does not pay attention to callers from outside their consituencies. So Blumenthal's comments is an encouragement to us with Red State Reps and Senators to make those calls. They are just as important as those of us calling our Dem reps to do more. Even if it doesn't feel like it. Imagine being a GOP elected in a red region and the scorecard of calls is trending purple or blue. That could make them a bit nervous, eh?
Thanks to everyone engaged here, and thank you Simon, for your leadership and commitment to help keep us all going forward. Winning not whining.
My Virginia representative and senators are blue and NOT the problem. I call and email them sometimes, but mostly I'm calling and emailing GOP politicians. even if I have to enter a fake address on their website that's in their state or district. If Mitch McConnel can immorally and unconstitutionally withhold a vote on a Supreme Court nominee, I feel justified in using a fake address to contact an out-of-state politician.
I generally follow Simon's advice about sticking to my own elected officials. The exception is when I call someone in their capacity as the leader/ranking member/member of a key committee. And I ALWAYS state that up front at the beginning of the call.
Who are the right people to call? We are asking our representatives to step up and lead. I heard Schumer told other Senators to be patient and wait for Trump to screw up so badly that... what? They can then do what?
My take? Listen to Simon, ignore Schumer. Call both senators of your state, and your Congressional representative – regardless of whether the are Democrat or Republican.
I agree. But in my state they are all Blue so it’s annoying to hear about their frustrations. If they aren’t the right people to call (as one Dem rep said) then I can’t think of who else to call. Other than local media to urge them to cover what’s happening in terms of their own states and communities.
Call your state senator, call your state attorney general. Tell them to do everything to stop the coup. It's illegal and they need to make noise too. Even Mayors, City Councils or County Supervisors.
Don't worry about "annoying" your Blue Reps. Call anyway. Thank them for their efforts and encourage them to make some other kind of effort like filing a criminal complaint against Leon Skum with the DOJ. Simon explains why this would not be a "wasted effort."
That's just it. Trump isn't "screwing up". He, his donors and sycophants are doing exactly what they said they would do and then denied they would do and then said they would and then said it was fake news. It's called gaslighting. I read that Lisa Murkowski said they are getting so many calls, it has overloaded their system. Good!
Yes. We need to thank the Dems who are now standing strong.
The New Republic: Senate Democrats are finally taking a stand against Donald Trump’s government rampage.
Earlier this evening, Senate Dems led by Jeff Merkley (OR-Sen) wrapped up a grueling 30-hour marathon to "hold the floor" to protest and resist the confirmation of a key Trump nominee, Russell Vought.
Dozens of Senate Dems refused to give up the floor, speaking through the night on Vought's support for Trump freezing trillions of dollars in federal spending, his coordination with Elon Musk to dismantle federal agencies, and his active role as an architect of Project 2025.
When Dems fight with backbone like this, working through the night to resist one of Trump’s most evil nominees, we need to let them know we see them and show them our thanks. When we do that, it encourages them to do more and others to do some.
Can you chip in to support Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Warren, Raphael Warnock, Andy Kim, Brian Schatz, and over twenty Senate Democrats in total who held the floor to protest Trump's nomination of Project 2025 architect Russell Vought? Chip in here. (And please pass to others.)
Democrats spent months flailing against Trump and Musk, but now they're starting to change their tune...
To paraphrase the above Incredible Jefferson quote, WE WILL NOT GO BACK!!!!! Thank you Simon!!!!!
Our local party is rallying at Cornyn’s San Antonio office today. I’m making signs . The press will be there.
Rachel showed all the rallies on Wednesday! Big ones and little ones all over the country!
Good that the Courts told Musk to get his people out of the Treasury. I wonder if his minions realize Musk will throw them under the bus once the pressure gets too intense.
How do I get the transcript?
There is a "Transcript" button a few lines below the video. I often like to use that.
I don’t see it on my phone. Do I have to go to my laptop?
I would try that. For Hopium I only ever use my laptop. But others have mentioned there are annoying differences in Substack functionality between laptops and cell phones/iPads.
Trump/Musk and their minions are just as idiotic this time as they were the first time. They are doing things that are going to damage their voters. This WP article talks about how they are going to damage farmers because of their USAID actions. And this is just one example. They don't know what they are doing.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/06/trump-usaid-money-american-farms/
Democrats from farm states now need to be all over this. Both elected and grassroots Dems in these states have to amplify this.
Further, I totally agree that we have to fight every day. I will not give in and be part of the degradation of our democracy. My grandfather was shot down over Austria on Christmas Day 1944 and survived two broken ankles, a broken back and 5 months in two concentration camps. He fought Nazi's with everything he had. I owe him the same.
It's already hitting KS farmers: https://www.kwch.com/2025/02/05/trumps-spending-halts-raise-concerns-kansas-farmers-global-stability/
Exactly. I hope that what Ken Martin/DNC and others will build a rapid reaction communication network to use these stories and activate voters where it's needed.
Quick update. I made my daily calls to my senators and congressional rep and this time, 2 of the 3 offices actually had real people answer the phone! This is a first for me in the last week or so. I take this to mean that they are getting engaged with their constituents and making sure that they are listening. I took Simon's advice and kept it to one topic for each today and it was clear that they were taking note of my comments.
I really enjoyed this Q&A with Sen. Brian Schatz and I think he's saying a lot of the things that Simon is saying too. Worth your time to read it everyone.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/brian-schatz-trump-musk-us-aid.html?utm_medium=s1&utm_campaign=nym&utm_source=bluesky
I cancelled my WaPo subscription after Bezo blocked the Editorial Committee's endoresement of Kamala. But I had prepaid my susbscription through March, so I am occassionally logging in to harvest my 10 free gift articles per month:
https://wapo.st/3WSo7nI
This removes the paywall so that everyone with the above URL can read it for free and share it with others. Enjoy and please send it to some people who voted for Trump!
"My grandfather was shot down over Austria on Christmas Day 1944 and survived ..."
I lost a maternal uncle who was in the US Army Air Corp (part of a bomber squadron) and was KIA in Feb 1945. My mom had 7 brothers (6 older than her) and several other of my uncles were in the Navy during the war but they all survived. Both my late father (Army) and mother (Marines) also served in WWII.
We owe them all a debt of gratitude and service today.
Thanks for the exciting information regarding Treasury. We need MUSK out of all governmental agencies it systems. Understand MUSK goons went into NAOA yesterday an!d pushed people out of the way. This is so very wrong. I am writing my senators again about that
I personally think Simon’s Hopium group is one of the true leaders in the resistance/opposition, primarily due to Simon’s wisdom and leadership. Right after the election defeat, I joined at the Founder’s level (I erroneously thought it was a closed group of founding people!) in order to give more support to this effort. I know not everyone can do that but I encourage anyone who can (it’s $1,000 per year) to invest in this community so we can lead in this unprecedented and perilous time. That group then meets with Simon on Fridays for a cameras on zoom call where we can ask questions, in addition to hearing from
Simon. You will be warmly welcomed!
Seeing more anecdotal posts on Bluesky that the Democrats' rallies are breaking through even with Republican friends and relatives, and that people no matter what party are concerned about the security of their data and their money. That's translating to calls to Republican politicians as well. Pair that with the escalating prices and likely economic fallout in a few months and that could be the basis of a growing resistance that hits the midterms.
Another sign that things are working is the increased "oh don't worry it's read-only" explanations coming from the trump administration. Though it's total bullshit that Musk's people are "only looking at the data" and not making changes to it, the fact that they even have to explain that shows they know it's not legal and that people aren't satisfied with their "we're watching for fraud" excuse. I also think it's a good idea to start demanding they show the evidence of the so-called "fraud" that they keep touting is the rationale behind this database breach and the closing of USAID. What's happening is that Fox and other right-wing outlets, along with legacy media keep conflating "fraud" with "things that Republicans think are wasteful spending." That difference needs to be pointed out loudly.
The "read-only" excuse is ridiculous even if true--you can't just look at a payment that's been made to a contractor or person (of what must be trillions of records) and discern that any particular one is fraudulent or overpaid!
"Read-only" is something, but I still don't want anyone viewing my data who isn't a regular government employee using the data for normal duties!! This is a data breach to end all data breaches, and it's going to hit everyone, republican, democrat, and non-voters
Just saw this post on Facebook:
★Kristen Elizabeth★
@StaarVellocet
·
18h
Obama White House photographer Pete Souza on Instagram:
"I’ve probably been to 100 political protests like this in my life, & there have always been counter protesters that show up. Until today.
NO ONE came to support Trump/Elon. Not a single counter-protesters. ZERO"
I made my daily calls to Fetterman (DINO) and McCormick (R) insisting they vote No on the dangerous Four and listing three suggestions I want them to use to stop the coup.
I also called Bresnahan (R), got a staffer and thanked him for his listening tour of my region ( posted on social media) but I remarked I see no evidence that he is listening to those of us concerned about the coup we are witnessing. I then listed ways he could act so as to keep Congress from becoming superfluous: stand with other house members in opposition to Musk raiding the treasury and small business administration (his area); join in a criminal referral to DOJ to document Musks illegal actions; and post on social media an acknowledgment of our concern and ways he is protecting constituents data. The staffer wrote each down and particularly paid attention to the criminal referral suggestion.
I detail all this to thank Simon for the encouragement to keep calling and for the encouragement to treat scripts as lesson opportunities for both Dems and freshman Republicans who may respond to our calls for action.
The people united will never be defeated.
I hope when you called Fetterman you rallied against his support of Pam Bondi! I wrote him a letter yesterday telling him how disappointed I was in his support, what gives with this. Let's keep up our calls and emails to their offices. I live in E TX and now am fighting school vouchers which just passed, ugh.
OMG Simon. Just listening to last night's talk. And I'm Only 19 mins in. THANK YOU. Way to kick our butts.
Also Robert Reich has a nice letter this morning with 10 things we can all do.... it's community minded, and good guidance. I'm going to post it. Kind of moral guidelines for helping close to home. Stay safe everyone.Keep calling. Thanks again Simon. I really calmed down listening.
I loved Reich's ten things we can do and I shared it with many this morning. Local focus is as vital as national phone bank flooding.
Thank you Kate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AMUSING FACT: Trump's ICE frees hundreds of immigrants under "catch and release" – to be precise, he’s freed 461 undocumented immigrants from custody since he took office. (I presume Trump’s MAGA base is applauding?)
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/06/trump-immigration-catch-release
I'd love to read the article, but it's behind a pay wall.
Maybe you’re seeing a pop-up window? I’m not an Axios subscriber and not seeing a paywall. I know they have special articles behind a paywall, but I’m pretty sure this is not one of them.
I'm seeing a pop-up window that tells me to subscribe, and subscribing is the last thing I want to do.
Same here, I have no intention of subscribing to Axios. Try simply closing the window and refreshing. Or even opening Axios.com in a different browser.
Asking for your email address is NOT the same thing as a paywall. It is a free subscription!
Please be as accurate as you can be so you aren't wasting people's time who are trying to help you.
I'm not wasting people's time. I'm only telling you what I experienced, and I did finally open it. And please, there's no need for any of us to get upset right now.