Members of this wonderful community are leaving out there on the playing field for our freedoms, our families and our future! Need to keep working hard all....
My sister in Denver was at the rally there and I sent her your comment, telling her this is from a fellow Coloradan and that you both make me proud that my horse is named Colorado de Oro!!
With the anticipated thousands [million+?]] of heroic protestors on April 5th here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-23-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper, then, in no particular order, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Steve Brodner, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Annne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Warren, Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill,Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg,
Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer--
American Bar Association, Indivisible. MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Democracy Docket, CODEPINK, ACLU et al. And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition: Law firms, see below)
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Include Bill Penzey CEO of Penzey’s Spices who encourages his customers who voted for Trump to reconsider the future they want for their country and future generations and has new lines of spices and merch that fits these times.
Spices like “justice”,and “Resist” and “Hugs” in the form of tokens for your pocket and blankets to dent others who have been dealing with life’s curve balls and fighting and resisting the chaos and cruelty.
We can’t wait until 2026 to gain more Democrats in Congress! Why isn’t Simon encouraging support of the three candidates is the special elections??To me it’s a defeatist attitude—just because they are red districts, people are enraged with what’s going on and this includes Republicans and Independents!
I have been taking breaks between writing postcards to Susan Crawford to write a few for Josh Weil and Gay Valimont through Postcards to Voters (postcardstovoters.org). As of this afternoon, both lists for the FL candidates have been completed. But there are many phonebanking opportunities.
PTV still has addresses for Susan Crawford for the WI race - I think it must have been a massive list! As far as I know everybody else (Activate America, Reclaim Our Vote, Postcards to Swing States, and Blue Wave postcards as well as Vote Forward) has already distributed their complete lists. Now it is time to start phonebanking (remote) or knocking doors (local).
There are two elections in PA on Tuesday (25th) -- one for state house (Allegheny County) and one for state senate (Lancaster County). At this point, the house race will likely go to the Democrat. This will keep PA's house in Democratic hands.
The Lancaster County race is REALLY interesting because of its swingy-ness. I believe the Democrat, James Malone, is going to flip it. PA is such a critical battleground state, so the word going out of a potential Democratic win could impact the race in WI, and the two races in FL on April 1.
Next on my list for postcards after it is too late to mail to WI is 100 postcards into Pittsburgh with the Environmental Voter Project.
Then I will get going on postcards for VA. Postcards4VA (https://postcards4va.com/) has a series of early postcards in selected districts for March and April that they are calling "Wake up Virginia which highlights all the social saftey net programs being cut in order to give tax cuts to billionaires. These campaigns do require special postcards that you must purchase through their proshop (https://postcards4va.ourproshop.com/)
I agree!! Trump campaigned in blue states, and garnered support and/or got important exposure. I bond with the idea of FEROCIOUS OPPOSITION and KRUSZE advice to capture the narrative.
As more information comes out about Trump's strip mining of our country, you never know were our message will be heard and acted upon!!
TERRIFIC stuff – inspirational examples of work by members of the Hopium community!
SImon, apropos your live interview tomorrow with immigration attorney David Leopold, I would like to draw attention to this insane new development. The Washington Post reports:
IRS NEARS DEAL WITH ICE to share addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants
"Trump pushes his administration to use every resource to conduct what he hopes will be the largest mass deportation of immigrants in U.S. history.
"The Internal Revenue Service is nearing an agreement to allow immigration officials to use tax data to confirm the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally. Under the agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement could submit names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS to cross-reference with confidential taxpayer databases.
"Normally, personal tax information — even an individual’s name and address — is considered confidential and closely guarded within the IRS. Unlawfully disclosing tax data carries civil and criminal penalties.
“It is a complete betrayal of 30 years of the government telling immigrants to file their taxes,” one former IRS official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution."
"The IRS has for years reassured undocumented workers that their tax information is confidential and that it is safe for them to file income tax returns without fear of being deported. About half — possibly more — of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country file income tax returns."
…
IRS COMMISSIONER REJECTS 700,000 REQUESTS – THEN RETIRES
"Last month, IRS leadership rejected a DHS request for the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of 700,000 people the Trump administration suspected of being in the country illegally.
"The acting IRS commissioner at the time, Doug O’Donnell, and agency attorneys concluded both requests were unlawful. O’Donnell retired the next day, after 38 years at the tax agency. His successor, Melanie Krause, quickly signaled an interest in collaborating with Homeland Security officials, The Post has reported.
"Two weeks later, the Trump administration also replaced the IRS’s top attorney, who had voiced opposition to attempts to share taxpayer data across agencies, including by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service."
Also: "Meanwhile, DHS on Friday eliminated three internal watchdog agencies that advocated for immigrants and investigated complaints about detention conditions, the care of migrant children and delays in processing applications for green cards or citizenship. DHS officials said the offices created bureaucratic hurdles that obstructed the agency’s work."
The whole "suspected" of being here illegally is really scary. Well lots of undocumented workers contribute to Social Security for benefits they will never receive. Lots of undocumented pay taxes and don't get any refund they may be due. What will this do to the economy? Of course, none of this compares to the inhumanity of it all.
We need more people under 60 in DC. AOC has a bright bright future in my eyoces. And Bernie - may he live forever. We could have had him as President in '16.
Most impressive for me about AOC is how she's grown and able to absorb without giving up or betraying her priorities. Definitely a leader now and in the future. Bernie is unique, though, and am extraordinarily grateful for his leadership.
I live in a senior living community in suburban DC (right near you, Simon.) Almost all residents are Dems. At dinner last night, I mentioned April 5, and NONE of the 10 people at my table knew of it as an "event" day, although they've been writing to and phoning congressional members. After explaining as best I could, I went to my room and combed through articles, blogs & e-mails to find a concise explanation that I could reference: print one or more links and distribute to residents.
Folks were anxious for more information. I know that we don't want to encourage participating in something whose sponsors we don't know, but having links to give to people is useful.
One that I used was to a discussion between Jen Rubin and Ezra Levin of Indivisible. I'm open to more, and encourage others to follow this action. (corrected)
Right after we bought our plane tickets and hotel reservation, we sent our RSVP through the Womens March website: https://www.womensmarch.com/initiatives/peoples-veto-day-washington-d-c They did a fantastic job organizing the January Rally with a march through the streets, with line marshals, police escort, and porta-potties.
Please plan to attend! We seniors need to get back in the streets to protest and protect our Social Security and Medicare, and get rid of Musk.
Wrote postcards for Susan Crawford last week and going to a postcard-writing party this afternoon for one last push. Out doing errands yesterday saw a crowd of people with signs and realized they were picketing the local Tesla dealer. My Democratic Rep (Seth Moulton, MA-6 - who has famously tried very hard to work with Republicans) just sent an email survey asking if he should do town halls in red districts and got a resounding “yes.”
We (League of Women Voters Newport RI) have an upcoming town hall with all three of our congressional delegates (Amo, Reed, Whitehouse - all Dems) in April on Aquidneck Island. We are non-partisan (in that we do not endorse candidates or parties) -- but we are not neutral (there are many issues we advocate for - for voting rights, against the Save Act, for immigrant protection LGBTQIA+ rights and protections, for women's health and reproductive rights, for educational funding, against book banning -- you get the picture).
My question - what does an effective town hall look like (we have the middle school theater). We are thinking about statements from the resp, Q & A, then stories from constituents about how DOGE, the various EO's, and tax breaks for the rich are affecting them (we have a naval base on the island, many small businesses, and a tourism industry field by immigrant workers). How do you keep one issue protesters from hijacking the event (I am thinking about Gaza - which I support - but I have seen how one issue can bring town halls to a halt. All advice is welcome!
You've probably thought of this already, but how about reaching out to other League of Women Voters orgs in cities/states where they've already done one or had one done by the DNC/others? Maybe nearby States like Massachusetts? Vermont?
My group is deep into planning our (no-show) town hall for our R congressmen. In addition to invited speakers, we will have people sign up for 3-minute speaking spots, like at a school board meeting. We also plan to have notecards for people to write out their thoughts, and a videographer for people to record a message if they can’t get on the speaking list. We’re also enlisting a few guys to act as security.
Tim Walz had a huge town hall in Rochester MN recently because Republican Brad Finstad refused to hold a town hall. I read that Senator Susan Collins, who is up for reelection in 2026, has never in 25 years done a town hall. If you want to invite Tim to do a town hall in Maine or elsewhere you must ask 8 weeks in advance. Here is the form:
Hi friends - I teach DEI at a couple of colleges and universities. One of my joys is teaching high school kids for college credit. This semester I have a class of students from a Catholic high school in a small very homogenous Midwestern town. After studying racism in America for two weeks, I asked them to write a response paper about what they've learned. I graded a dynamite paper this morning that I want to share. You'll understand after you read it why I'm SO bullish on our young people and want to see them in elected politics as soon as possible. This is from a young man in my class:
"I think that America has made a lot of progress since its founding. Slavery is currently outlawed, and Jim Crow laws have been overturned. We still have racial violence which is sad to admit but it is overwhelmingly true. With the current administration I fear that it will only get worse. The United States has, in the last two months, undone so much progress. We see hate crimes being committed all the time and our elected officials seem not to care, or worse write the laws in which makes it legal. The current administration has put an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). They are trying to erase great Americans who accomplished many things.
The only way to continue to make progress in our current time is to continue to implement DEI. DEI has had great results or many people of color. It gives them a fighting chance against people that have more privilege. Passing laws that will ensure that we move forward as a whole country instead of a white dominated country is key to bringing equality to all people. We are all humans, and it shouldn’t matter what color your skin is. Instead, it should be based on the actions you take.
America’s elected officials need to step up and pass laws that have a harsher punishment for any hate crime. Set the precedent that it is not okay to commit crimes against someone because of the color of their skin, or their heritage. They have fallen short on doing this and will continue too in the foreseeable future. One of the worst things that America has done in that past few years is to elect Donald Trump. His views against minorities should be eye opening, yet America has elected him for a second term. His attacks against DEI are just the start of his dismantling of equality in America. He has started this term with targeting the LGBTQ+ community. It is just a matter of time until he goes for another group.
Our elected officials need to hold our police accountable. It is very upsetting to see that an officer can be fired from one department for committing crimes just to be hired in the town over. I have lost all faith in our police force. When I was younger, I was told that the police are there to help and to protect you. I know that isn’t the case for some individuals. Some individuals have a deep mistrust in our legal system. Some have very good reasons for that mistrust.
The way we can prevent this is by impeaching our current president and reimplementing DEI. If we start to educate our younger generations that all people are equal, I think it will have a great impact on the future of the US. Education is the key here. If we start to educate our younger generations that, it doesn’t matter what skin color you are, or what faith you have, that we are one people, under one flag. Work together no matter what to better the next generation."
Out of the mouths of babes. Have a great week, warriors!
Thanks for sharing. I hope this young man goes far! He has the potential to go far. You should suggest he look into "Run For Something" it sounds like he would make a grest school board candidate!!
As we are painfully aware, Trump is trying to shut down the Department of Education. He won’t let leftist deep-state experts set standards, insist on bothersome facts, or try to raise the quality of schools in Republican-run states.
In short, Trumpian Education may soon be coming to a school near you. Enjoy!
Good morning all. Leaving in an hour for a protest to defend the US postal service. Eager to see the turnout. Keep up the good fight.
Trump denying signing the 1798 Alien act shows what a little coward he is. Prayers up for Judge Boasberg to keep his courage. He needs to act swiftly so it doesnt turn into another Judge Marchan.
Put Homan in jail. Disbar the doj lawyers. Defend due process!
Yep, so are cowardice and corruption, as we are witnessing every day. For the epidemiology geeks (I am one) in Hopium, our hard work as democracy defenders will insure that R0 (pronounced R not) for courage is greater than for the other traits.
Is your vote SAFE? Will your vote be purged by vigilante challengers? Scared? Get Angry Protest
The Nazis(aka Republicans) SAVE Act and access to Americans private information The Nazis will use this information using AI to eliminate voters from the voting rolls with election consequences
We have the numbers they have the cash. The SAVE act will require proof of birth either by original birth certificate(who has that) or passport
The SAVE ACT will require people are asked to register or re-register to vote (31m do that every year….for various reasons change address/change county, change name with marriage) voters will have to prove they are citizens in order to vote This can be done in 2 ways: 1) proof of birth either by original birth certificate(who has that?) or 2 passport (12% have passports and are usually white and wealthy) What about women who have different last names now? Try to register if you do not have your original birth certificate because marriage licenses, military ID’s will not count This is why the Trump regime tried to do away with birthright citizenship
The result of the SAVE ACT: Massive drain of the voter rolls
Call your congressperson to vote against the SAVE ACT 202 224 3121
I wonder what the plan is for rural America. I'm from rural America, and I can tell you that the MAGA/southern evangelical culture is deeply ingrained. Their Republican/MAGA politics is like their religion. They really don't think about Democracy a lot. It's constant culture wars and Fox News. Many of them have never voted for a Democrat in their lives.
The Republican stranglehold on rural America has been devastating for Democrats, Democracy and, ironically, rural America. To beat MAGA, we have to figure out a way to pervasively speak to them. Some economic plans for rural areas alone isn't going to do it. These folks don't have a whole lot to begin with.
It is interesting…. This morning one of my local DCC officers announced intention to start building a Democratic Party platform to address the issues confronting rural voters by creating a poll for our rural county’s voters to respond to. He is asking us on theTCDCC to consider what we would ask them if we had the chance. I am marinating my response because I’m not sure a poll is the way to go here and I’m pretty sure any poll we could construct locally would slant…. Would you have any thoughts on this?
Policies alone aren't going to do it. It's a psychological/sociological problem. I spent 40 years living in a tiny, rural community. It was hammered by Republican policies, and they still voted red every election. I tried my absolute best to change hearts and minds, and it was all for nothing. A lot of this ties back to culture and religion.
Oh Yes! I think that the best way forward, if one was to truly want to engage, would be for our DCC to offer pancake breakfasts — or such — then walk around with the syrup pitchers and coffee pots and Just Listen.
It would be a start. Democrats need to build culture trust with rural Americans. Republicans bend over backwards to appeal rural Americans' worst culture instincts. And, we're not about that thankfully. We don't need a majority of them. We need more of them though. And, maybe, then we can start using policies to improve their economies, healthcare and schools. It took decades to get to this point. It will take decades to fix it.
I just got told 1. they want to construct an instrument that would provide “quantifiable results” and 2. that the project is not an official DCC project. I just completely lost interest. I should, perhaps mention that I am an experienced university lecturer in Elementary Statistics whose professional interest is probability theory 😎
Rural farms are getting slammed by Trump, numerous articles out there on farms devastated by the government not honoring prior administrations support, from loans to markets like USAID.
I am not so sure about this. For example Elyse Stefanic's district used to vote Democratic. Obama's first campaign voted for him. When Stefanic first ran in NY-21, she ran as a moderate Republican. I think if a moderate Democrat who happens to be a farmer ran, which he is,he might not win but could heavily cut into that support which during this past election went deeply red. Also, a number of people in that district also live in cities. A good number of that district are elderly. How do you think potentially cutting off Ss, Medicare and Medicaid, SNAP benefits sits with them? I think you will find places in Kansas, New Hampshire and Maine that have been screwed over by this administration might be moved to vote differently, as well. At first we might not win states, but I think districts need to be looked at more closely.
My sister in Denver was at the rally there and I sent her your comment, telling her this is from a fellow Coloradan and that you both make me proud that my horse is named Colorado de Oro!!
Today's ResistBot petitions cover SSA payments and the childish billionaire in charge, and a plea to reject the SAVE Act.
https://open.substack.com/pub/colemanrogers/p/resistbot-petitions-23-mar-2025?r=3km7w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
With the anticipated thousands [million+?]] of heroic protestors on April 5th here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-23-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper, then, in no particular order, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Steve Brodner, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Annne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Warren, Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill,Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg,
Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer--
American Bar Association, Indivisible. MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Democracy Docket, CODEPINK, ACLU et al. And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition: Law firms, see below)
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
thx for great list!!! gives us courage!!! we are not alone!!
Include Bill Penzey CEO of Penzey’s Spices who encourages his customers who voted for Trump to reconsider the future they want for their country and future generations and has new lines of spices and merch that fits these times.
Spices like “justice”,and “Resist” and “Hugs” in the form of tokens for your pocket and blankets to dent others who have been dealing with life’s curve balls and fighting and resisting the chaos and cruelty.
Goooooo Penzey’s Spices!
https://www.penzeys.com/shop/about-us/
https://www.penzeys.com/shop/about-republicans/
Also Bandy Lee, MD forensic psychiatrist on substack
We can’t wait until 2026 to gain more Democrats in Congress! Why isn’t Simon encouraging support of the three candidates is the special elections??To me it’s a defeatist attitude—just because they are red districts, people are enraged with what’s going on and this includes Republicans and Independents!
Jeanie, as frustrating as that is, he is not asking us to support races he doesn't think we can win.
we can support individually.
I have been taking breaks between writing postcards to Susan Crawford to write a few for Josh Weil and Gay Valimont through Postcards to Voters (postcardstovoters.org). As of this afternoon, both lists for the FL candidates have been completed. But there are many phonebanking opportunities.
https://www.mobilize.us/?event_type=2&org_ids=207
PTV still has addresses for Susan Crawford for the WI race - I think it must have been a massive list! As far as I know everybody else (Activate America, Reclaim Our Vote, Postcards to Swing States, and Blue Wave postcards as well as Vote Forward) has already distributed their complete lists. Now it is time to start phonebanking (remote) or knocking doors (local).
https://www.mobilize.us/?org_ids=36566
There are two elections in PA on Tuesday (25th) -- one for state house (Allegheny County) and one for state senate (Lancaster County). At this point, the house race will likely go to the Democrat. This will keep PA's house in Democratic hands.
The Lancaster County race is REALLY interesting because of its swingy-ness. I believe the Democrat, James Malone, is going to flip it. PA is such a critical battleground state, so the word going out of a potential Democratic win could impact the race in WI, and the two races in FL on April 1.
Next on my list for postcards after it is too late to mail to WI is 100 postcards into Pittsburgh with the Environmental Voter Project.
Then I will get going on postcards for VA. Postcards4VA (https://postcards4va.com/) has a series of early postcards in selected districts for March and April that they are calling "Wake up Virginia which highlights all the social saftey net programs being cut in order to give tax cuts to billionaires. These campaigns do require special postcards that you must purchase through their proshop (https://postcards4va.ourproshop.com/)
I agree!! Trump campaigned in blue states, and garnered support and/or got important exposure. I bond with the idea of FEROCIOUS OPPOSITION and KRUSZE advice to capture the narrative.
As more information comes out about Trump's strip mining of our country, you never know were our message will be heard and acted upon!!
TERRIFIC stuff – inspirational examples of work by members of the Hopium community!
SImon, apropos your live interview tomorrow with immigration attorney David Leopold, I would like to draw attention to this insane new development. The Washington Post reports:
IRS NEARS DEAL WITH ICE to share addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants
"Trump pushes his administration to use every resource to conduct what he hopes will be the largest mass deportation of immigrants in U.S. history.
"The Internal Revenue Service is nearing an agreement to allow immigration officials to use tax data to confirm the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally. Under the agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement could submit names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS to cross-reference with confidential taxpayer databases.
"Normally, personal tax information — even an individual’s name and address — is considered confidential and closely guarded within the IRS. Unlawfully disclosing tax data carries civil and criminal penalties.
“It is a complete betrayal of 30 years of the government telling immigrants to file their taxes,” one former IRS official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2025/03/22/ice-irs-immigrants-deport/
(Note: Excerpts edited for brevity.)
"The IRS has for years reassured undocumented workers that their tax information is confidential and that it is safe for them to file income tax returns without fear of being deported. About half — possibly more — of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country file income tax returns."
…
IRS COMMISSIONER REJECTS 700,000 REQUESTS – THEN RETIRES
"Last month, IRS leadership rejected a DHS request for the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of 700,000 people the Trump administration suspected of being in the country illegally.
"The acting IRS commissioner at the time, Doug O’Donnell, and agency attorneys concluded both requests were unlawful. O’Donnell retired the next day, after 38 years at the tax agency. His successor, Melanie Krause, quickly signaled an interest in collaborating with Homeland Security officials, The Post has reported.
"Two weeks later, the Trump administration also replaced the IRS’s top attorney, who had voiced opposition to attempts to share taxpayer data across agencies, including by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service."
Also: "Meanwhile, DHS on Friday eliminated three internal watchdog agencies that advocated for immigrants and investigated complaints about detention conditions, the care of migrant children and delays in processing applications for green cards or citizenship. DHS officials said the offices created bureaucratic hurdles that obstructed the agency’s work."
(Note: Excerpts edited for brevity.)
Talk about betrayal. Definitely a lawsuit a'comin'......
The whole "suspected" of being here illegally is really scary. Well lots of undocumented workers contribute to Social Security for benefits they will never receive. Lots of undocumented pay taxes and don't get any refund they may be due. What will this do to the economy? Of course, none of this compares to the inhumanity of it all.
Bernie is looking pretty stylish on stage with AOC! My oh my!👍
Gotta say, they're a dynamite pair and a match for each other! And hopefully 'matches' lighting others on fire.
We need more people under 60 in DC. AOC has a bright bright future in my eyoces. And Bernie - may he live forever. We could have had him as President in '16.
Most impressive for me about AOC is how she's grown and able to absorb without giving up or betraying her priorities. Definitely a leader now and in the future. Bernie is unique, though, and am extraordinarily grateful for his leadership.
I live in a senior living community in suburban DC (right near you, Simon.) Almost all residents are Dems. At dinner last night, I mentioned April 5, and NONE of the 10 people at my table knew of it as an "event" day, although they've been writing to and phoning congressional members. After explaining as best I could, I went to my room and combed through articles, blogs & e-mails to find a concise explanation that I could reference: print one or more links and distribute to residents.
Folks were anxious for more information. I know that we don't want to encourage participating in something whose sponsors we don't know, but having links to give to people is useful.
One that I used was to a discussion between Jen Rubin and Ezra Levin of Indivisible. I'm open to more, and encourage others to follow this action. (corrected)
Not to overwhelm you and your neighbors - here's one site that should lead you to others and prove useful https://indivisible.org
Right after we bought our plane tickets and hotel reservation, we sent our RSVP through the Womens March website: https://www.womensmarch.com/initiatives/peoples-veto-day-washington-d-c They did a fantastic job organizing the January Rally with a march through the streets, with line marshals, police escort, and porta-potties.
Please plan to attend! We seniors need to get back in the streets to protest and protect our Social Security and Medicare, and get rid of Musk.
I think you mean Indivisible not Independent. I feel a lot more comfortable knowing that Ezra and Leah are on board for Apri1 5th.
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/ezra-levin-of-indivisible-talks-to
Absolutely. I'll see if I can correct it. Your link is the one I was looking for. Thanks.
😊👍
Wrote postcards for Susan Crawford last week and going to a postcard-writing party this afternoon for one last push. Out doing errands yesterday saw a crowd of people with signs and realized they were picketing the local Tesla dealer. My Democratic Rep (Seth Moulton, MA-6 - who has famously tried very hard to work with Republicans) just sent an email survey asking if he should do town halls in red districts and got a resounding “yes.”
Finally! Great that you kept pushing and Moulton responded.
Any ideas on how to help homebound people get information on benefits for Social Security now that phone access has been eliminated?
We (League of Women Voters Newport RI) have an upcoming town hall with all three of our congressional delegates (Amo, Reed, Whitehouse - all Dems) in April on Aquidneck Island. We are non-partisan (in that we do not endorse candidates or parties) -- but we are not neutral (there are many issues we advocate for - for voting rights, against the Save Act, for immigrant protection LGBTQIA+ rights and protections, for women's health and reproductive rights, for educational funding, against book banning -- you get the picture).
My question - what does an effective town hall look like (we have the middle school theater). We are thinking about statements from the resp, Q & A, then stories from constituents about how DOGE, the various EO's, and tax breaks for the rich are affecting them (we have a naval base on the island, many small businesses, and a tourism industry field by immigrant workers). How do you keep one issue protesters from hijacking the event (I am thinking about Gaza - which I support - but I have seen how one issue can bring town halls to a halt. All advice is welcome!
You've probably thought of this already, but how about reaching out to other League of Women Voters orgs in cities/states where they've already done one or had one done by the DNC/others? Maybe nearby States like Massachusetts? Vermont?
My group is deep into planning our (no-show) town hall for our R congressmen. In addition to invited speakers, we will have people sign up for 3-minute speaking spots, like at a school board meeting. We also plan to have notecards for people to write out their thoughts, and a videographer for people to record a message if they can’t get on the speaking list. We’re also enlisting a few guys to act as security.
I just posted this Share fm Robert Reich and thought it might help you n your group
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/how-to-organize-an-empty-chair-town?r=x5q6e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Tim Walz had a huge town hall in Rochester MN recently because Republican Brad Finstad refused to hold a town hall. I read that Senator Susan Collins, who is up for reelection in 2026, has never in 25 years done a town hall. If you want to invite Tim to do a town hall in Maine or elsewhere you must ask 8 weeks in advance. Here is the form:
https://mn.gov/governor/connect/contact-us/schedulingrequest.jsp
Hi friends - I teach DEI at a couple of colleges and universities. One of my joys is teaching high school kids for college credit. This semester I have a class of students from a Catholic high school in a small very homogenous Midwestern town. After studying racism in America for two weeks, I asked them to write a response paper about what they've learned. I graded a dynamite paper this morning that I want to share. You'll understand after you read it why I'm SO bullish on our young people and want to see them in elected politics as soon as possible. This is from a young man in my class:
"I think that America has made a lot of progress since its founding. Slavery is currently outlawed, and Jim Crow laws have been overturned. We still have racial violence which is sad to admit but it is overwhelmingly true. With the current administration I fear that it will only get worse. The United States has, in the last two months, undone so much progress. We see hate crimes being committed all the time and our elected officials seem not to care, or worse write the laws in which makes it legal. The current administration has put an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). They are trying to erase great Americans who accomplished many things.
The only way to continue to make progress in our current time is to continue to implement DEI. DEI has had great results or many people of color. It gives them a fighting chance against people that have more privilege. Passing laws that will ensure that we move forward as a whole country instead of a white dominated country is key to bringing equality to all people. We are all humans, and it shouldn’t matter what color your skin is. Instead, it should be based on the actions you take.
America’s elected officials need to step up and pass laws that have a harsher punishment for any hate crime. Set the precedent that it is not okay to commit crimes against someone because of the color of their skin, or their heritage. They have fallen short on doing this and will continue too in the foreseeable future. One of the worst things that America has done in that past few years is to elect Donald Trump. His views against minorities should be eye opening, yet America has elected him for a second term. His attacks against DEI are just the start of his dismantling of equality in America. He has started this term with targeting the LGBTQ+ community. It is just a matter of time until he goes for another group.
Our elected officials need to hold our police accountable. It is very upsetting to see that an officer can be fired from one department for committing crimes just to be hired in the town over. I have lost all faith in our police force. When I was younger, I was told that the police are there to help and to protect you. I know that isn’t the case for some individuals. Some individuals have a deep mistrust in our legal system. Some have very good reasons for that mistrust.
The way we can prevent this is by impeaching our current president and reimplementing DEI. If we start to educate our younger generations that all people are equal, I think it will have a great impact on the future of the US. Education is the key here. If we start to educate our younger generations that, it doesn’t matter what skin color you are, or what faith you have, that we are one people, under one flag. Work together no matter what to better the next generation."
Out of the mouths of babes. Have a great week, warriors!
Thanks for sharing this!
thanks for sharing this wonderful essay - there is hope!
Thanks for sharing. I hope this young man goes far! He has the potential to go far. You should suggest he look into "Run For Something" it sounds like he would make a grest school board candidate!!
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/sunday-hopium-our-opposition-movement/comment/102828128
Thanks Cheryl - I think he will be one of our next Hopium Chronicles members - I encouraged him.
On a lighter note: TRUMPIAN EDUCATION
As we are painfully aware, Trump is trying to shut down the Department of Education. He won’t let leftist deep-state experts set standards, insist on bothersome facts, or try to raise the quality of schools in Republican-run states.
In short, Trumpian Education may soon be coming to a school near you. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh3Yz3PiXZw
It is eerie to see how much the father looks like Hegseth. And this funny video (7 yrs old!) is now scary rather than absurdist.
Good morning all. Leaving in an hour for a protest to defend the US postal service. Eager to see the turnout. Keep up the good fight.
Trump denying signing the 1798 Alien act shows what a little coward he is. Prayers up for Judge Boasberg to keep his courage. He needs to act swiftly so it doesnt turn into another Judge Marchan.
Put Homan in jail. Disbar the doj lawyers. Defend due process!
Courage is Contagious!
Yep, so are cowardice and corruption, as we are witnessing every day. For the epidemiology geeks (I am one) in Hopium, our hard work as democracy defenders will insure that R0 (pronounced R not) for courage is greater than for the other traits.
Is your vote SAFE? Will your vote be purged by vigilante challengers? Scared? Get Angry Protest
The Nazis(aka Republicans) SAVE Act and access to Americans private information The Nazis will use this information using AI to eliminate voters from the voting rolls with election consequences
We have the numbers they have the cash. The SAVE act will require proof of birth either by original birth certificate(who has that) or passport
The SAVE ACT will require people are asked to register or re-register to vote (31m do that every year….for various reasons change address/change county, change name with marriage) voters will have to prove they are citizens in order to vote This can be done in 2 ways: 1) proof of birth either by original birth certificate(who has that?) or 2 passport (12% have passports and are usually white and wealthy) What about women who have different last names now? Try to register if you do not have your original birth certificate because marriage licenses, military ID’s will not count This is why the Trump regime tried to do away with birthright citizenship
The result of the SAVE ACT: Massive drain of the voter rolls
Call your congressperson to vote against the SAVE ACT 202 224 3121
I wonder what the plan is for rural America. I'm from rural America, and I can tell you that the MAGA/southern evangelical culture is deeply ingrained. Their Republican/MAGA politics is like their religion. They really don't think about Democracy a lot. It's constant culture wars and Fox News. Many of them have never voted for a Democrat in their lives.
The Republican stranglehold on rural America has been devastating for Democrats, Democracy and, ironically, rural America. To beat MAGA, we have to figure out a way to pervasively speak to them. Some economic plans for rural areas alone isn't going to do it. These folks don't have a whole lot to begin with.
It is interesting…. This morning one of my local DCC officers announced intention to start building a Democratic Party platform to address the issues confronting rural voters by creating a poll for our rural county’s voters to respond to. He is asking us on theTCDCC to consider what we would ask them if we had the chance. I am marinating my response because I’m not sure a poll is the way to go here and I’m pretty sure any poll we could construct locally would slant…. Would you have any thoughts on this?
Policies alone aren't going to do it. It's a psychological/sociological problem. I spent 40 years living in a tiny, rural community. It was hammered by Republican policies, and they still voted red every election. I tried my absolute best to change hearts and minds, and it was all for nothing. A lot of this ties back to culture and religion.
Oh Yes! I think that the best way forward, if one was to truly want to engage, would be for our DCC to offer pancake breakfasts — or such — then walk around with the syrup pitchers and coffee pots and Just Listen.
It would be a start. Democrats need to build culture trust with rural Americans. Republicans bend over backwards to appeal rural Americans' worst culture instincts. And, we're not about that thankfully. We don't need a majority of them. We need more of them though. And, maybe, then we can start using policies to improve their economies, healthcare and schools. It took decades to get to this point. It will take decades to fix it.
great idea!!
I just got told 1. they want to construct an instrument that would provide “quantifiable results” and 2. that the project is not an official DCC project. I just completely lost interest. I should, perhaps mention that I am an experienced university lecturer in Elementary Statistics whose professional interest is probability theory 😎
Rural farms are getting slammed by Trump, numerous articles out there on farms devastated by the government not honoring prior administrations support, from loans to markets like USAID.
Most of them will still support Trump. Their support goes beyond money. It's deeply ingrained cultural ties/psychosis/fear and hatred of the others.
I am not so sure about this. For example Elyse Stefanic's district used to vote Democratic. Obama's first campaign voted for him. When Stefanic first ran in NY-21, she ran as a moderate Republican. I think if a moderate Democrat who happens to be a farmer ran, which he is,he might not win but could heavily cut into that support which during this past election went deeply red. Also, a number of people in that district also live in cities. A good number of that district are elderly. How do you think potentially cutting off Ss, Medicare and Medicaid, SNAP benefits sits with them? I think you will find places in Kansas, New Hampshire and Maine that have been screwed over by this administration might be moved to vote differently, as well. At first we might not win states, but I think districts need to be looked at more closely.
Do you follow Jess Piper on Substack? If not, check her out!
https://open.substack.com/pub/jesspiper/p/you-are-going-to-have-to-tell-them?r=1aiy5t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false