Self-report: I just sent this to my GOP Representative:
"Please vote against the budget reconciliation bill. It would result in cuts to Medicare, which my husband and I and thousands of your constituents depend on. This is in addition to the cuts to vital programs like Medicaid and SNAP already included in the bill itself.
"President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans’ mammoth tax and immigration bill would add so much to the national debt that it could force nearly $500 billion in cuts to Medicare beginning in 2026, Congress’s nonpartisan bookkeeper reported late Tuesday."
I wrote something similar to my Republican Senators (OH):
Subject: "$500 Billion Cuts to Medicare too? This bill is a monstrosity!"
"So now I'm hearing that the budget bill would add so much to the deficit that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, it would trigger more than $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (‘PAYGO’) Act. So not only would many poor people lose their Medicaid, but the rest of us older people would lose some of our Medicare too.
The more I learn about this bill, the more I realize how terrible it is.
You have got to change this bill so it does not cut off healthcare for millions of Americans and does not add trillions of dollars to the federal budget deficit.
I urge you to change this bill drastically or to vote against it. If you cannot do that, then you really should not be in the Senate."
Not one on trying to be loud, but I didn't see this noted. In theory ignoring the Parliamentarian this time means the Senate will in the budget bill.
From Joe Katz (link to him below):
📞 GOP MAKES IT OFFICIAL: THEY’LL SHATTER SENATE RULES FOR CORPORATE PROFITS 📞
Majority Leader John Thune announced yesterday that the Senate will overrule the parliamentarian and vote on three Congressional Review Act resolutions rolling back California’s tough new protections on auto emissions (see background here). This violates the plain language of the CRA, and it’s a radical undermining of Senate precedents that were treated as sacred when Democrats held the majority to allow the GOP to get around the filibuster. It would also be a devastating blow to state-level efforts against climate change and a major win for the auto and fossil fuel industries.
Let’s reach out to our senators and tell them to put our health and welfare ahead of corporate profits and oppose H.Res. 87, H. Res 88 and H. Res. 89. We can find sample language we can use from Climate Hawks Vote here. Let’s also let them know this is a line they can’t uncross, and if they’re Democrats demand they match the GOP escalation for escalation. If they’re going to rewrite the rules whenever it’s convenient, we must do the same.
Good question. Saw that too on The Bulwark. Then I wondered why Tom Boner hasn't come out with his data results. My take is - it was all the attacks on Joe, from Dems too :-( , and all the disinformation ads that Musk was able to amplify with his $260 M. A hard lesson for we Dems that we really have to stop bashing our party, (why do MAGA/GOP and even Never Trumpers, work for them) and figure out how to take back the youth, male vote and counter the lies and disinformation.
I see the 2024 election as a combination of 1) mass-anesthetization and 2) people voting for trump because they believed he wouldn't do what he said he'd do.
Yeah, I think Dems made assumptions about the electorate back in 2012 and didn't follow up to see if attitudes among incoming groups has changed. I.e., do Latino, young, black voters coming of age since 2012 or 2016 actually have different values/views (what they think is important in a candidate/party) than their preceding cohorts? Or is it more that they are susceptible to misinformation that didn't exist in the quantity it does now?
I know this-- my teen daughter's closest group of five friends doesn't have a single straight-up white person in the group, but they don't give one flip about race. On the same front, they have gay and trans friends or colleagues, but don't care one bit about that. Those kinds of issues will not move the needle an iota for them. They're all high school athletes, and don't think physiological boys should be competing with physiological girls (and it's just because it's unfair, no other reason). They care about climate change and the environment, but it's not their top priority. They are huge on women's rights and equality, they like capitalism, they don't care much about guns either way, have a huge appreciation for jobs like restaurant workers, store workers, and delivery workers (mainly because of COVID), and they have a mostly pragmatic view of government and politics. And they're all on YouTube a lot (watching, not posting).
My guess is they're fairly representative of their age cohort, at least females, which will be voting for the first time in 2028.
Interesting. Similar to my early 20's grand daughters. But they do care about guns, climate change, social justice is important, the corruption of capitalism; they are both pragmatic as that is something I've always stressed to them. Thanks for your comment.
Two great comments. I have two sons - 22, 24 - women's rights and equality, capitalism with rules that protect American families and deep respect for those who are not exactly like they are seem to inform their broad peer group. The gun thing is a confusion in their group - they find the school shootings nihilistic, horrifying and untenable, but a lot of them want to own a gun. I also agree that they are all quite pragmatic. I was born in 1966 and raised in an era of unprecedented peace and unity, but this is NOT what my sons and their friends have inherited. They are coming of age during a time of tumult. Those of us who have travailed a bit longer than they have must continue to teach them well and fight for their futures.
It is nuanced, well-written, and doesn't do the usual hyperbolic "Dems need to message better" diagnosis, which is frankly tiresome when the other party's candidate talked about eating pets and swayed for 2 hours to music during a campaign event.
The other thing it doesn't do is claim that the US population is more conservative and that the MAGA agenda is somehow popular, therefore democrats should "tone down the DEI" and mimic right-wing talking points and rhetoric, effectively tossing issues that are important to women and minorities out the window. I'm really tired of that line of thinking, especially when it is indeed possible that trump is a one-off. Why should we revamp the party based on the contours of right-wing assessments of what democrats are?
What I take away from the Catalyst report is that trump, compared to any other republican politician, has been the most successful at turning out low-propensity voters who have right-leaning views. In the past, we've assumed that all unlikely voters were automatically more liberal. That is not the case and we have to stop thinking that. It should be apparent by now that there is a significant portion who are right-leaning. What I'm still unsure of is what percentage of that non-active-voter group has those right-leaning views. We really do not know since a good chunk of Biden voters did not show up to vote at all in 2024- they didn't really switch to trump. They just sat it out. Whether those voters lean right or left remains a mystery.
Though the report doesn't talk about this, I also think that Musk's investment in hyper-targeted social media and streaming ads made a difference- in one post I saw on Bluesky, a guy was complaining that a movie he watched on Tubi, which is a free streaming service, had ads EVERY 7 MINUTES. Imagine right-wing ads (or ads designed to depress democratic turnout) multiplied across countless movies and shows viewed by people who tend to only use free streaming. That's what we are up against.
I had this ah-ha moment this morning while walking with my dog....."his" actions now do require us to truly make America great again in a compassionate and lawful way. He has exposed the long standing under belly of this country which can be healed ...being 80 I do not feel that it will be in my lifetime which makes me cry daily.
I hope you will not be melancholy. I am 58 and I may not see that healing in MY lifetime either. But I believe in it to the bottom of my soul and I believe the seedbed of healing in America is the South. All Americans are connected through space and time and just 250 short years and I have not given up on our experiment just yet! When we beat MAGA into ashes (and we will) that victory will belong to you and me (and our progeny!!) even if you and I are not here to bear physical witness.
Thank you, Simon! I called my Maryland reps and asked for criminal referrals for Musk and RFK and for them to work as hard as possible against the budget. (By the way, I refuse to use Trump's framing "the big beautiful bill," even sarcastically. He doesn't get to set the terms of the debate.) Doing more cards for Virginia today, too.
Some days I worry more than others, but I'm reminded of the axiom, "Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water." Regardless of how we feel, we can just do the work.
Yesterday, the Washington Post’s Editorial Board posted a viewpoint that made me really angry: "If Biden was too frail for his job, voters should have been informed"
My response: "If Jeff Bezos was too vulnerable to Trump’s pressure to allow journalists, columnists, cartoonists, the Comments Editor, other editors, and WaPo’s Editorial Board, to do their jobs professionally and independently, then the Washington Post should have informed its readers and subscribers."
.
Today, Robin Givhan posted this column:
"Biden was empath-in-chief. Can a divided country offer him empathy?"
My response: "Wapo’s headline asks a question of America — specifically of Red America. Sadly the answer is NO. Not when you have Trump leading MAGA’s “Cruelty Is the Point” parade."
I quit WaPo before Bezos killed the endorsement, exactly because of their headlines. They were always anti-Biden and pro-T**** clickbait, no matter what the articles said, and headlines matter.
As for frailty, FDR was frail, and look at his accomplishments! Honestly, that is what vice presidents are for.
Those headlines aren’t about President Biden’s health, they are about WaPo’s absolute desperation to talk about *anything* other than the current president and his ruinous actions. Which is why we keep bringing them up.
I have the same reactions reactions as you but kept my annual subscription at a giveaway price – although I immediately signed up for Jennifer Rubin’s The Contrarian when she left WaPo.
My digital subscription just expired. WaPo invited me to renew at $12 a month. When I declined, they offered it for $3/mo – and I declined again. They must be desperate, because within the hour WaPo’s offer was reduced to $0.99 per month, the same rate as this last year. There are still journalists and a few columnists worth reading, so despite my reservations I just renewed, at just over 3 cents a day.
It does, however, give me comfort that I belong to a rather-large group of readers who regularly post comments drawing attention to the evil practices of the Trump Regime, the distortion of slanted headlines chosen by WaPo’s desk, and the cowardice of the Editorial Board and their owner, Jeff Bezos.
I hope my reply didn’t sound like I thought you (or anyone) should unsubscribe from WaPo or any other media. I love the story of how you got a good deal!
And as Rachel Maddow points out, what is working to fight authoritarianism is everything, all of what everyone is doing. If we all did the same thing we wouldn’t be nearly as strong. I did my share of critical comments there for many years.
All good! I was dead set on unsubscribing, wasn’t waiting for a deal. But it shocked me to realize how desperate the Washington Post was not to lose more readers. They lost over 250,000 subscribers immediately after Bezos blocked WaPo from endorsing Kamala Harris. (Note: They never gave updated figures, but I expect the final tally is far higher.)
I’m used to reading a lot between the lines. Noticing e.g. how headlines are skewed even on good, critical articles tells me a lot.
My go-to news media is The Guardian, which I feel does have excellent comments and discussions. And I can select the US, UK, European or Australian Edition. That’s especially valuable during time of elections.
PS. I used to sometimes comment on Politico back in the day – until they dropped readers’ comments.
Self reporting: I just urged Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales' staffer that he should vote NO on the reconciliation bill since it will hurt his constituents across his TX district.
I called Ted Cruz and left a voicemail urging him to take back responsibility for setting tariffs.
I will again be calling my GOP senators and Dem. representative today.
I had an interesting conversation with my middle child yesterday. He just finished his sophomore year of college and was telling me that although he will continue to vote for Democrats, he is fed up with the party and thinks it is terrible. I asked him why and he said, "Imagine your doctor says that you have cancer and your choice is chemo or death. You might wish you were healthy, but of course you're going to choose the chemo." He ranted about his friends who don't vote because of purity testing in the Democratic party ("they're choosing death over chemo!") but went on to say that he fears he will never be able to buy a house or retire comfortably because although the Democrats have been better about job creation, they haven't lowered the debt (which is of course now costing us more because of the downgrade to our credit score). He went on and on but that was the gist of it. Despite the fact that he hasn't paid any attention to David Hogg, he parroted all of Hogg's talking points. And I had to concede that he was right.
I believe that we are somehow going to get rid of the current regime and that Democrats will regain control of all three branches of government. I have to believe that or I become non-functional. But I think we need to take these very legitimate concerns seriously as we promote candidates and think about the future of our party and country.
I agree. But to stick with that very apt analogy, for those of us who watched the Republican Party fight regulations so they could dump toxins and cause this cancer, and then deny healthcare, Democrats being blamed for only having chemo to offer is confusing and frustrating.
But it is true, Democrats have been unable to stop the Republicans’ wanton destruction. We could only slow it a bit. Whether or not your child’s rage is fair doesn’t change anything. The rage exists. We have to account for that reality when we plan.
So the question is, how do we change enough to satisfy younger voters without changing so much that we lose all our most experienced people? Or alienate older voters?
Edit: One thing occurs to me. We must be *seen* to be taking action. Somehow Democratic leaders have to successfully publicize what they do. I don’t really understand why President Biden’s incredible accomplishments went unnoticed, but they were exactly the kinds of things that would have helped secure a future for your child.
I disagree with your son. It just seems fashionable to be down on the Dems. The Biden administration had this economy going in the right direction and our economy was deemed the envy of the world by Wall Street Journal. The Dems might have a messaging problem but in every way they are far better with the economy and do not run up the deficit even close to the Rs. If the Dems were able to implement their full agenda I think they would be able to balance the budget. Just setting the tax rates like Biden wanted to on the wealthiest and raising the tax rate on corporations would go a long way. Bill Clinton balanced the budget before and I believe if Dems could get control of all three branches they could do it again.
I think if your son looked at the data that Simon has frequently presented on how the the two parties compare on the economy your son would not have an argument to make against the Democratic party on that issue!
You raise excellent points, but I don’t think we will be able to convince millions of young voters (who were mostly taught a single semester of civics by football coaches who tend to swing right). They don’t want data, they want to know that they will be okay.
It might be unfair but we have to take their fears and desires seriously, even if we don’t agree.
Evangelicals thought Democrats were going to persecute them for their religion and even though it isn’t true, they are now all-in for fascism. I don’t want the same to happen to Gen Z, and we can’t rely on them knowing what is factual. They don’t trust anyone right now.
I disagree with him as well, but he is right that the debt continues to rise. He is right that housing costs keep going up. I decided not to argue with him and just to hear him out, believing that if I could understand where he is coming from I can understand his occasional outbursts better. And now I do!
Elizabeth T - you & I could be twinsies - except that's my oldest son speaking - "Mom, I'll vote for Democrats of course, but...." he is despairing of the Democratic Party. I am 58 years old and a student of history and I am not despairing that the Democratic Party will rise again. Keep the faith sister. One's 20s can be rough terrain....at least mine were for me!
I honestly think the Republicans are destroying themselves and will be out of power for decades. Unfortunately they're going to destroy a lot of the country as well! I can't dwell on the people who are suffering because of that narcissistic sadistic racist rapist and the coalition of death eaters that he has gathered ...
Thanks for drawing everyone’s attention to the illegal deportations to South Sudan. My colleague represents some of the men caught up in that scheme. They are Asian with no ties to Sudan. I can’t imagine it’s anything other than a death sentence to dump people in a place where they don’t speak the language, or know the culture, nor have any means of securing housing or food and that is an active war zone. It just seems like a way to inflict a long, drawn-out and terrifying death.
Self report - I just called Loudermilk, Ossoff and Warnock's office again. My main message is that the combination of illegal tariffs and the rancid reconciliation bill are doing incalculable harm to the country and they should fight against both with everything they've got. I donate monthly to any campaign Simon brings to my attention (as well as others that are particularly important to me) and I write post cards to voters in swing states (currently writing a bunch for the VA governor's race). I also try to make sure ALL of the friends of my 20-year-old sons are registered to vote and I tell them the truth about things. One new thing happened to me this morning and a dear friend invited me to be her plus 1 at a fundraising luncheon for Senator Ossoff next week being held at the firm of an attorney my friend and I used to work for, so I will report back in after that. Godspeed, friends. Erick Erickson is live right now telling everyone the BBB is in trouble. Obviously, we can't know what will happen with the rancid monstrosity of the BBB, BUT we must all be engaged in tons of good trouble doing everything we can to sink it.
I left the daily message for Fetterman, who again has no staff answering phones, to get loud about supporting programs being targeted for cuts and to vote no on the "more for them less for us" bill when it gets to the senate.
The voicemail message to Sen McCormick (R) and message to the staffer at Rep Bresnahan's (R) office: "Tax cuts for wealthy people like you will explode the deficit which will trigger massive cuts to Medicare in addition to further cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. As you well know, our health care systems in this county (Luzerne, PA) are vulnerable, we have lost services, doctors, and nurses already. These cuts may well put these systems into breaking points. It is disgusting to pay for your tax cuts by taking health care from your constituents. In addition the meetings in the cloak of darkness make this whole process look sleazy. It is un-American. Vote NO on this bill. "
I also told the staffer that I expect Bresnahan to keep his promise that he would not vote for a bill that cut Medicaid, and this bill is certainly doing that.
Thank you for this summary of your talking points, Kay.
I had not thought to point out the sleaziness of their middle-of-the-night machinations, so that was a meaningful addition to my complaints in my call today to Miller-Meeks (R, IA-01). Also, I instructed the staff member to remind the congresswoman that she had vowed to constituents during a telephone town hall in early February that because trumpy had *promised* not to touch social security and Medicaid/Medicare, there was “no chance” these programs would be cut.
Google tells me that there are 186 hospitals in North Carolina (including specialty hospitals). There are 425 nursing homes and 1,200 adult care homes. The VA also has some care homes. Google also tells me that two thirds of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid. I called my Democratic rep to tell her this and also sent her an email requesting that she have her staff contact the hospitals and nursing homes at risk of closure. I would the nursing homes in particular would want to alert their residents and residents' families that the facilities were at risk of closure. Fox News watchers have NO idea this is coming and I would think that discovering that mom is about to be shipped home with no healthcare would light a fire under their butts.
Any suggestions on how to contact the hospitals and nursing homes in a way that would get their attention? I don't think an email from a stranger would do it. There must be a group that oversees hospitals and nursing homes that could perhaps be persuaded to put out an alert? I'm clueless!
My understanding is that the immigrants sent to Sudan were Vietnamese and Burmese. So the administration is not sending people BACK. They are dropping people with no resources in a foreign country that is on the brink of civil war and has no resources or services. Why not just drop them off in the middle of the Amazon or the Sahara desert? I called my Senators to voice my horror at this and ICE and the administration's contempt for the courts . . . I also pointed out that Biden was able to deport more immigrants while respecting our constitution and basic human rights.
Kari it’s never been about sending people back. The 50 legal Venezuelans sent to El Salvador were not going back. It’s about sending people away and most civilized countries will not take either criminals or people not legally removed. The whole think is so sick and performative and ILLEGAL!!!!!
YES!! Exactly! I just wanted to clarify that no one was being sent BACK to their home (whether it was a place the UN would work with or not). It is about disappearing people to the worst "hell hole" that the administration can find.
Kari and Simon - this sending people to dictator-run countries is a new level of hell as far as I'm concerned. UnAmerican to the core. Illegal. Immoral. Some evil plan drug up from the bottom of the swamp. Immigrants are NOT our problem - we all descended from immigrants and that's the beauty of this patch quilt nation. Trump understands nothing about America.
Self Reporting - Our Swing Left Westchester (NY) chapter had a Saving Democracy meeting on May 17th at Sing KIll Brewery in Ossining NY. There wre 14 of us depite the gorgeous day!
Self-report. 1. Called my feds to urge them to oppose Trump’s plans to declare tax-exempt organizations terrorist groups and/or remove their tax-exempt status, to oppose proposed funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, and to make a stink about the arrest of Rep. McIver. 2. Am writing postcards for the mayoral race in San Antonio with Postcards to Voters.
Self-report: I just sent this to my GOP Representative:
"Please vote against the budget reconciliation bill. It would result in cuts to Medicare, which my husband and I and thousands of your constituents depend on. This is in addition to the cuts to vital programs like Medicaid and SNAP already included in the bill itself.
"President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans’ mammoth tax and immigration bill would add so much to the national debt that it could force nearly $500 billion in cuts to Medicare beginning in 2026, Congress’s nonpartisan bookkeeper reported late Tuesday."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-and-gop-s-tax-bill-would-force-cuts-to-medicare-cbo-says/ar-AA1FcYmA "
I wrote something similar to my Republican Senators (OH):
Subject: "$500 Billion Cuts to Medicare too? This bill is a monstrosity!"
"So now I'm hearing that the budget bill would add so much to the deficit that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, it would trigger more than $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (‘PAYGO’) Act. So not only would many poor people lose their Medicaid, but the rest of us older people would lose some of our Medicare too.
The more I learn about this bill, the more I realize how terrible it is.
You have got to change this bill so it does not cut off healthcare for millions of Americans and does not add trillions of dollars to the federal budget deficit.
I urge you to change this bill drastically or to vote against it. If you cannot do that, then you really should not be in the Senate."
Not one on trying to be loud, but I didn't see this noted. In theory ignoring the Parliamentarian this time means the Senate will in the budget bill.
From Joe Katz (link to him below):
📞 GOP MAKES IT OFFICIAL: THEY’LL SHATTER SENATE RULES FOR CORPORATE PROFITS 📞
Majority Leader John Thune announced yesterday that the Senate will overrule the parliamentarian and vote on three Congressional Review Act resolutions rolling back California’s tough new protections on auto emissions (see background here). This violates the plain language of the CRA, and it’s a radical undermining of Senate precedents that were treated as sacred when Democrats held the majority to allow the GOP to get around the filibuster. It would also be a devastating blow to state-level efforts against climate change and a major win for the auto and fossil fuel industries.
Let’s reach out to our senators and tell them to put our health and welfare ahead of corporate profits and oppose H.Res. 87, H. Res 88 and H. Res. 89. We can find sample language we can use from Climate Hawks Vote here. Let’s also let them know this is a line they can’t uncross, and if they’re Democrats demand they match the GOP escalation for escalation. If they’re going to rewrite the rules whenever it’s convenient, we must do the same.
Source:
https://open.substack.com/pub/susanrogan/p/may-21-2025-theyre-definitely-fcking
The increase for Medicare is a 'trigger' . I quoted from Jessica Craven's Substack and her quote is from the Tax Policy Center.
I've called my repub rep twice so far today, probably more later. I'm going to a rally tomorrow in front of his MI office.
🙌🏻🙌🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸
Hello Simon,
Curious if you read Dan Pfieffer's substack today and if you plan to share thoughts on that subject (the Catalist poll findings)?
Thanks.
Good question. Saw that too on The Bulwark. Then I wondered why Tom Boner hasn't come out with his data results. My take is - it was all the attacks on Joe, from Dems too :-( , and all the disinformation ads that Musk was able to amplify with his $260 M. A hard lesson for we Dems that we really have to stop bashing our party, (why do MAGA/GOP and even Never Trumpers, work for them) and figure out how to take back the youth, male vote and counter the lies and disinformation.
dems didnt vote
I see the 2024 election as a combination of 1) mass-anesthetization and 2) people voting for trump because they believed he wouldn't do what he said he'd do.
Yeah, I think Dems made assumptions about the electorate back in 2012 and didn't follow up to see if attitudes among incoming groups has changed. I.e., do Latino, young, black voters coming of age since 2012 or 2016 actually have different values/views (what they think is important in a candidate/party) than their preceding cohorts? Or is it more that they are susceptible to misinformation that didn't exist in the quantity it does now?
I know this-- my teen daughter's closest group of five friends doesn't have a single straight-up white person in the group, but they don't give one flip about race. On the same front, they have gay and trans friends or colleagues, but don't care one bit about that. Those kinds of issues will not move the needle an iota for them. They're all high school athletes, and don't think physiological boys should be competing with physiological girls (and it's just because it's unfair, no other reason). They care about climate change and the environment, but it's not their top priority. They are huge on women's rights and equality, they like capitalism, they don't care much about guns either way, have a huge appreciation for jobs like restaurant workers, store workers, and delivery workers (mainly because of COVID), and they have a mostly pragmatic view of government and politics. And they're all on YouTube a lot (watching, not posting).
My guess is they're fairly representative of their age cohort, at least females, which will be voting for the first time in 2028.
Interesting. Similar to my early 20's grand daughters. But they do care about guns, climate change, social justice is important, the corruption of capitalism; they are both pragmatic as that is something I've always stressed to them. Thanks for your comment.
Two great comments. I have two sons - 22, 24 - women's rights and equality, capitalism with rules that protect American families and deep respect for those who are not exactly like they are seem to inform their broad peer group. The gun thing is a confusion in their group - they find the school shootings nihilistic, horrifying and untenable, but a lot of them want to own a gun. I also agree that they are all quite pragmatic. I was born in 1966 and raised in an era of unprecedented peace and unity, but this is NOT what my sons and their friends have inherited. They are coming of age during a time of tumult. Those of us who have travailed a bit longer than they have must continue to teach them well and fight for their futures.
Here is the link to the entire Catalyst report. https://catalist.us/whathappened2024/
It is nuanced, well-written, and doesn't do the usual hyperbolic "Dems need to message better" diagnosis, which is frankly tiresome when the other party's candidate talked about eating pets and swayed for 2 hours to music during a campaign event.
The other thing it doesn't do is claim that the US population is more conservative and that the MAGA agenda is somehow popular, therefore democrats should "tone down the DEI" and mimic right-wing talking points and rhetoric, effectively tossing issues that are important to women and minorities out the window. I'm really tired of that line of thinking, especially when it is indeed possible that trump is a one-off. Why should we revamp the party based on the contours of right-wing assessments of what democrats are?
What I take away from the Catalyst report is that trump, compared to any other republican politician, has been the most successful at turning out low-propensity voters who have right-leaning views. In the past, we've assumed that all unlikely voters were automatically more liberal. That is not the case and we have to stop thinking that. It should be apparent by now that there is a significant portion who are right-leaning. What I'm still unsure of is what percentage of that non-active-voter group has those right-leaning views. We really do not know since a good chunk of Biden voters did not show up to vote at all in 2024- they didn't really switch to trump. They just sat it out. Whether those voters lean right or left remains a mystery.
Though the report doesn't talk about this, I also think that Musk's investment in hyper-targeted social media and streaming ads made a difference- in one post I saw on Bluesky, a guy was complaining that a movie he watched on Tubi, which is a free streaming service, had ads EVERY 7 MINUTES. Imagine right-wing ads (or ads designed to depress democratic turnout) multiplied across countless movies and shows viewed by people who tend to only use free streaming. That's what we are up against.
I had this ah-ha moment this morning while walking with my dog....."his" actions now do require us to truly make America great again in a compassionate and lawful way. He has exposed the long standing under belly of this country which can be healed ...being 80 I do not feel that it will be in my lifetime which makes me cry daily.
I hope you will not be melancholy. I am 58 and I may not see that healing in MY lifetime either. But I believe in it to the bottom of my soul and I believe the seedbed of healing in America is the South. All Americans are connected through space and time and just 250 short years and I have not given up on our experiment just yet! When we beat MAGA into ashes (and we will) that victory will belong to you and me (and our progeny!!) even if you and I are not here to bear physical witness.
Thank you, Simon! I called my Maryland reps and asked for criminal referrals for Musk and RFK and for them to work as hard as possible against the budget. (By the way, I refuse to use Trump's framing "the big beautiful bill," even sarcastically. He doesn't get to set the terms of the debate.) Doing more cards for Virginia today, too.
Some days I worry more than others, but I'm reminded of the axiom, "Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water." Regardless of how we feel, we can just do the work.
Amen, my friend.
TWO ANGRY COMMENTS TO WAPO’s EDITORS
Yesterday, the Washington Post’s Editorial Board posted a viewpoint that made me really angry: "If Biden was too frail for his job, voters should have been informed"
My response: "If Jeff Bezos was too vulnerable to Trump’s pressure to allow journalists, columnists, cartoonists, the Comments Editor, other editors, and WaPo’s Editorial Board, to do their jobs professionally and independently, then the Washington Post should have informed its readers and subscribers."
.
Today, Robin Givhan posted this column:
"Biden was empath-in-chief. Can a divided country offer him empathy?"
My response: "Wapo’s headline asks a question of America — specifically of Red America. Sadly the answer is NO. Not when you have Trump leading MAGA’s “Cruelty Is the Point” parade."
I quit WaPo before Bezos killed the endorsement, exactly because of their headlines. They were always anti-Biden and pro-T**** clickbait, no matter what the articles said, and headlines matter.
As for frailty, FDR was frail, and look at his accomplishments! Honestly, that is what vice presidents are for.
Those headlines aren’t about President Biden’s health, they are about WaPo’s absolute desperation to talk about *anything* other than the current president and his ruinous actions. Which is why we keep bringing them up.
I have the same reactions reactions as you but kept my annual subscription at a giveaway price – although I immediately signed up for Jennifer Rubin’s The Contrarian when she left WaPo.
My digital subscription just expired. WaPo invited me to renew at $12 a month. When I declined, they offered it for $3/mo – and I declined again. They must be desperate, because within the hour WaPo’s offer was reduced to $0.99 per month, the same rate as this last year. There are still journalists and a few columnists worth reading, so despite my reservations I just renewed, at just over 3 cents a day.
It does, however, give me comfort that I belong to a rather-large group of readers who regularly post comments drawing attention to the evil practices of the Trump Regime, the distortion of slanted headlines chosen by WaPo’s desk, and the cowardice of the Editorial Board and their owner, Jeff Bezos.
Yeah, Jennifer Rubin is a gift.
I hope my reply didn’t sound like I thought you (or anyone) should unsubscribe from WaPo or any other media. I love the story of how you got a good deal!
And as Rachel Maddow points out, what is working to fight authoritarianism is everything, all of what everyone is doing. If we all did the same thing we wouldn’t be nearly as strong. I did my share of critical comments there for many years.
All good! I was dead set on unsubscribing, wasn’t waiting for a deal. But it shocked me to realize how desperate the Washington Post was not to lose more readers. They lost over 250,000 subscribers immediately after Bezos blocked WaPo from endorsing Kamala Harris. (Note: They never gave updated figures, but I expect the final tally is far higher.)
I’m used to reading a lot between the lines. Noticing e.g. how headlines are skewed even on good, critical articles tells me a lot.
My go-to news media is The Guardian, which I feel does have excellent comments and discussions. And I can select the US, UK, European or Australian Edition. That’s especially valuable during time of elections.
PS. I used to sometimes comment on Politico back in the day – until they dropped readers’ comments.
get 'em, mr. stones
Self reporting: I just urged Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales' staffer that he should vote NO on the reconciliation bill since it will hurt his constituents across his TX district.
I called Ted Cruz and left a voicemail urging him to take back responsibility for setting tariffs.
I will again be calling my GOP senators and Dem. representative today.
I had an interesting conversation with my middle child yesterday. He just finished his sophomore year of college and was telling me that although he will continue to vote for Democrats, he is fed up with the party and thinks it is terrible. I asked him why and he said, "Imagine your doctor says that you have cancer and your choice is chemo or death. You might wish you were healthy, but of course you're going to choose the chemo." He ranted about his friends who don't vote because of purity testing in the Democratic party ("they're choosing death over chemo!") but went on to say that he fears he will never be able to buy a house or retire comfortably because although the Democrats have been better about job creation, they haven't lowered the debt (which is of course now costing us more because of the downgrade to our credit score). He went on and on but that was the gist of it. Despite the fact that he hasn't paid any attention to David Hogg, he parroted all of Hogg's talking points. And I had to concede that he was right.
I believe that we are somehow going to get rid of the current regime and that Democrats will regain control of all three branches of government. I have to believe that or I become non-functional. But I think we need to take these very legitimate concerns seriously as we promote candidates and think about the future of our party and country.
I agree. But to stick with that very apt analogy, for those of us who watched the Republican Party fight regulations so they could dump toxins and cause this cancer, and then deny healthcare, Democrats being blamed for only having chemo to offer is confusing and frustrating.
But it is true, Democrats have been unable to stop the Republicans’ wanton destruction. We could only slow it a bit. Whether or not your child’s rage is fair doesn’t change anything. The rage exists. We have to account for that reality when we plan.
So the question is, how do we change enough to satisfy younger voters without changing so much that we lose all our most experienced people? Or alienate older voters?
Edit: One thing occurs to me. We must be *seen* to be taking action. Somehow Democratic leaders have to successfully publicize what they do. I don’t really understand why President Biden’s incredible accomplishments went unnoticed, but they were exactly the kinds of things that would have helped secure a future for your child.
dems need to be authentic and walk the talk. no more consultants. and they need to have fire in their bellies. no more schumer pablem.
I disagree with your son. It just seems fashionable to be down on the Dems. The Biden administration had this economy going in the right direction and our economy was deemed the envy of the world by Wall Street Journal. The Dems might have a messaging problem but in every way they are far better with the economy and do not run up the deficit even close to the Rs. If the Dems were able to implement their full agenda I think they would be able to balance the budget. Just setting the tax rates like Biden wanted to on the wealthiest and raising the tax rate on corporations would go a long way. Bill Clinton balanced the budget before and I believe if Dems could get control of all three branches they could do it again.
I think if your son looked at the data that Simon has frequently presented on how the the two parties compare on the economy your son would not have an argument to make against the Democratic party on that issue!
You raise excellent points, but I don’t think we will be able to convince millions of young voters (who were mostly taught a single semester of civics by football coaches who tend to swing right). They don’t want data, they want to know that they will be okay.
It might be unfair but we have to take their fears and desires seriously, even if we don’t agree.
Evangelicals thought Democrats were going to persecute them for their religion and even though it isn’t true, they are now all-in for fascism. I don’t want the same to happen to Gen Z, and we can’t rely on them knowing what is factual. They don’t trust anyone right now.
I disagree with him as well, but he is right that the debt continues to rise. He is right that housing costs keep going up. I decided not to argue with him and just to hear him out, believing that if I could understand where he is coming from I can understand his occasional outbursts better. And now I do!
Maybe he could watch Simon’s “With Dems” presentation?
Elizabeth T - you & I could be twinsies - except that's my oldest son speaking - "Mom, I'll vote for Democrats of course, but...." he is despairing of the Democratic Party. I am 58 years old and a student of history and I am not despairing that the Democratic Party will rise again. Keep the faith sister. One's 20s can be rough terrain....at least mine were for me!
I honestly think the Republicans are destroying themselves and will be out of power for decades. Unfortunately they're going to destroy a lot of the country as well! I can't dwell on the people who are suffering because of that narcissistic sadistic racist rapist and the coalition of death eaters that he has gathered ...
Thanks for drawing everyone’s attention to the illegal deportations to South Sudan. My colleague represents some of the men caught up in that scheme. They are Asian with no ties to Sudan. I can’t imagine it’s anything other than a death sentence to dump people in a place where they don’t speak the language, or know the culture, nor have any means of securing housing or food and that is an active war zone. It just seems like a way to inflict a long, drawn-out and terrifying death.
Self report - I just called Loudermilk, Ossoff and Warnock's office again. My main message is that the combination of illegal tariffs and the rancid reconciliation bill are doing incalculable harm to the country and they should fight against both with everything they've got. I donate monthly to any campaign Simon brings to my attention (as well as others that are particularly important to me) and I write post cards to voters in swing states (currently writing a bunch for the VA governor's race). I also try to make sure ALL of the friends of my 20-year-old sons are registered to vote and I tell them the truth about things. One new thing happened to me this morning and a dear friend invited me to be her plus 1 at a fundraising luncheon for Senator Ossoff next week being held at the firm of an attorney my friend and I used to work for, so I will report back in after that. Godspeed, friends. Erick Erickson is live right now telling everyone the BBB is in trouble. Obviously, we can't know what will happen with the rancid monstrosity of the BBB, BUT we must all be engaged in tons of good trouble doing everything we can to sink it.
Self report:
I left the daily message for Fetterman, who again has no staff answering phones, to get loud about supporting programs being targeted for cuts and to vote no on the "more for them less for us" bill when it gets to the senate.
The voicemail message to Sen McCormick (R) and message to the staffer at Rep Bresnahan's (R) office: "Tax cuts for wealthy people like you will explode the deficit which will trigger massive cuts to Medicare in addition to further cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. As you well know, our health care systems in this county (Luzerne, PA) are vulnerable, we have lost services, doctors, and nurses already. These cuts may well put these systems into breaking points. It is disgusting to pay for your tax cuts by taking health care from your constituents. In addition the meetings in the cloak of darkness make this whole process look sleazy. It is un-American. Vote NO on this bill. "
I also told the staffer that I expect Bresnahan to keep his promise that he would not vote for a bill that cut Medicaid, and this bill is certainly doing that.
Thank you for this summary of your talking points, Kay.
I had not thought to point out the sleaziness of their middle-of-the-night machinations, so that was a meaningful addition to my complaints in my call today to Miller-Meeks (R, IA-01). Also, I instructed the staff member to remind the congresswoman that she had vowed to constituents during a telephone town hall in early February that because trumpy had *promised* not to touch social security and Medicaid/Medicare, there was “no chance” these programs would be cut.
Google tells me that there are 186 hospitals in North Carolina (including specialty hospitals). There are 425 nursing homes and 1,200 adult care homes. The VA also has some care homes. Google also tells me that two thirds of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid. I called my Democratic rep to tell her this and also sent her an email requesting that she have her staff contact the hospitals and nursing homes at risk of closure. I would the nursing homes in particular would want to alert their residents and residents' families that the facilities were at risk of closure. Fox News watchers have NO idea this is coming and I would think that discovering that mom is about to be shipped home with no healthcare would light a fire under their butts.
Any suggestions on how to contact the hospitals and nursing homes in a way that would get their attention? I don't think an email from a stranger would do it. There must be a group that oversees hospitals and nursing homes that could perhaps be persuaded to put out an alert? I'm clueless!
good idea. maybe elected dems could work this. in their districts.
My understanding is that the immigrants sent to Sudan were Vietnamese and Burmese. So the administration is not sending people BACK. They are dropping people with no resources in a foreign country that is on the brink of civil war and has no resources or services. Why not just drop them off in the middle of the Amazon or the Sahara desert? I called my Senators to voice my horror at this and ICE and the administration's contempt for the courts . . . I also pointed out that Biden was able to deport more immigrants while respecting our constitution and basic human rights.
Kari it’s never been about sending people back. The 50 legal Venezuelans sent to El Salvador were not going back. It’s about sending people away and most civilized countries will not take either criminals or people not legally removed. The whole think is so sick and performative and ILLEGAL!!!!!
YES!! Exactly! I just wanted to clarify that no one was being sent BACK to their home (whether it was a place the UN would work with or not). It is about disappearing people to the worst "hell hole" that the administration can find.
It’s mass murder! Horrifying and heart breaking.
Kari and Simon - this sending people to dictator-run countries is a new level of hell as far as I'm concerned. UnAmerican to the core. Illegal. Immoral. Some evil plan drug up from the bottom of the swamp. Immigrants are NOT our problem - we all descended from immigrants and that's the beauty of this patch quilt nation. Trump understands nothing about America.
Self Reporting - Our Swing Left Westchester (NY) chapter had a Saving Democracy meeting on May 17th at Sing KIll Brewery in Ossining NY. There wre 14 of us depite the gorgeous day!
Self-report. 1. Called my feds to urge them to oppose Trump’s plans to declare tax-exempt organizations terrorist groups and/or remove their tax-exempt status, to oppose proposed funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, and to make a stink about the arrest of Rep. McIver. 2. Am writing postcards for the mayoral race in San Antonio with Postcards to Voters.