I’d love for you to interview some of the strong young voices in our party: AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, David Hogg. If I’ve missed them let me know where I can watch.
Point of fact: the post COVID inflation was no where close to being the worst ever. Many in this community surely remember the 1970’s. Odd/even days for gasoline. Money market funds paying 17% on deposits. Trump is DELUSIONAL.
Calling Booker & Kim to support the Kaine tariff bill.
My birthday is tomorrow, May 1. My hubby and I are planning to go to a protest late that afternoon. I think standing up for our democracy is a great way to celebrate one’s birthday.
That negative growth report is going to hit hard. I'm glad the impacts of Trump's policies are happening so quickly.
I called Sens. Schiff and Padilla to urge their yes vote on the tariff resolution (before breakfast, before coffee even!). I really like the new "menu" option on the Senators' call lines, and was able to get a live staff member in Schiff's DC office.
Sat in on Ami Bera's telephone town hall last night. I thought he did well, spoke honestly and from the heart, and was particularly passionate on medical issues such as Medicaid cuts. He's a doctor so that makes sense. He talked about a promising effort to contact rural hospital and medical groups in the districts of vulnerable Republicans, and getting them to apply pressure to those Republicans. He also plans to hold an in person town hall soon.
Now for coffee while Jefferies speaks (listening as I type, it's great).
Really smart about the rural hospitals and medical groups. Medicaid keeps their doors open in all the many parts of the country that are **already** underserved by healthcare. Part of the marked disparity in health outcomes between red and blue states.
"Utah congressman offers pushback to Trump administration on immigration, tariffs"
I like to think this is due to my incessant letter writing. Not a disavowal yet but Blake Moore is starting to get the courage to push back. I'll send a couple more letters to him and John Curtis today. I've given up on Mike Lee.
I'm right there with you as a fellow Utahn. Let's pat ourselves on the back for our letters and phone calls hopefully helping to move the needle a bit.
Since many of the May Day rallies are using the tagline "May Day Strong", here is a Mobilize query to help you find a May Day rally either tomorrow or through this weekend:
For a general source for protest locations I recommend this substack which normally posts a constantly updated list of protests for the upcoming week on Fridays:
Thank you for the link Simon; great speech by Leader Jeffries.
I called Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen and Congressman Raskin and asked them to loudly support the Kaine, et al. tariff resolution and to make criminal referrals against Elon Musk. I'll be writing more postcards today to remind Florida voters to sign up for Vote By Mail.
Thanks for the great interview w Rep. Neguse, he is always great to hear from! Fantastic First 100 Days presentation by Leader Jeffries just now. It's up on his YouTube if you want to watch. Other pro-democracy folks have done these events, including Sen. Murphy w Marc Elias, and Katie Phang. Keep it up, the messaging is on point.
Called Sens. Kim & Booker yesterday evening after finding out they voted to confirm the dumbsh*t from GA, David Perdue, for ambassador to China. I really let 'em have it - there is NO excuse to vote for any of these folks, and these two know better and are no shrinking violets to boot. I really am at a loss. Will include this in my daily calls for this week, I'm really pissed off.
Just found out our NJ AG is appearing before SCOTUS on May 15 to present case on birthright citizenship from the state of NJ. AG from Washington will also appear to present oral argument. Please thank your AGs if they have joined lawsuits, and ask em why if they have not.
*** Called Sens. Kim & Booker yesterday evening after finding out they voted to confirm the dumbsh*t from GA, David Perdue, for ambassador to China. I really let 'em have it - there is NO excuse to vote for any of these folks, and these two know better and are no shrinking violets to boot. I really am at a loss.
Me too. I called them both early this morning even though I am in NC. I was calling as a donor to both of their campaigns. I also called Fetterman, Gallego, Rosen and Slotkin for the same reason. And in addition to donations, I wrote dozens of postcards each for Fetterman, Gallego, and Rosen! So disappointing!!
Simon, very impressive what you pointed out yesterday in your interview with Congressman Joe Neguse: "There are Hopium members in every single Congressional district in the country."
Wow! Just wow! Congratulations! Deeply appreciate this community and your great work.
Schumer has been speaking on the floor regularly and has changed his tone to sound more forceful (for him anyway).
This weekend I’m going with my grassroots group to see Jamie Raskin’s town hall on Long Island. So great to have some attention paid here!
I’m officially the Democratic candidate for Nassau County Legislative District 19. I’ve never run for office before! Soon I’ll be knocking doors in my area. Would love to cut the margins in my heavily Republican district!
I attended a zoom last night (I think - the zooms run together!). The speaker was Katrina Shankman who is the new Executive Director for Rust Belt Rising (https://rustbeltrising.com/).
She has a background in organizing and was in the state legsislature in WI representing a rural Red district. The title of her presentation was Messaging Voters Beyond The Base.
I thought it had a lot of meaty content that was actionable. This morning they sent out a link to the recording. Here it is, in case you are interested:
Pleased with the Canadian election result, though the conservatives did better than expected. The Liberals were 20 points behind and came through to win by 2 points - mainly due to Donald Trump's ignorant and offensive attitude. So, one in the eye for the idiot. Will he bounce back from his record low approvals? Looks like the economy is going to struggle for the rest of 2025, so let's see how the American people will react. Will they say they disapprove and then go back to Trump/GOP in midterms or is there a more profound change in mood? I don't know, but will be interested to see the inflation and job numbers and how folk react to those.
Russell, I want to put out there that you seem to believe it is your job here to spread right aligned sentiments woven into things that feel vaguely positive for us. So the Canadian win is actually not so good; Trump could bounce back, things may not as bad for him as they seem. I've almost commented on this tactic many times before and I ask, respectfully, that it end.
Simon, Not at all. It was a good win for the Liberals given where they were a few months ago. Since the election was called the Liberal lead went from ca. 5%/6% to 2% on polling day. still a win, though not enough for a majority, which many expected. The Conservatives were not expected to exceed 40% and they did. Not what I would wish, but a fact. Regarding Trump, I hope his approval ratings drop to zero. I don't know what will happen though and we need to see. As many commentators point out Trump's political obituary has been written before and been proven premature. I don't know what will happen when the struggling economy impacts people and how they will then think about Trump and the respective parties. I think it important to cite objective (if possible empirical) evidence. I have many faults but promoting the political right is not one of them. The work of you and the Hopium community is heartwarming and I applaud it and support it. I am hugely impressed by your personal commitment, unrelenting effort and dedication to a just, democratic, life enhancing political agenda. I'm sorry that I appear on occasion to cause irritation - most definitely not my intention, tactical or otherwise. In truth, though we want the same outcome and though I suspect our politics and hopes for the future may be aligned, I think it's time I ceased engagement here, because I like this community, have had so many lovely messages from it and don't want to be a distraction or irritant to it or you. I truly wish you well Simon and all in Hopium. I truly hope you see the fruit of all your admirable efforts and that we can raise a metaphorical glass in the future to the demise of Trump and Trumpism. You are a good man and I wish you sincerest good luck for the future, with great respect, Russ.
Krugman had a short article today about this. Probably not much of this can be credited to tariffs because the crazy tariff announcement came after the last day that Q1 data covers. It's not a great report though, and maybe some of it was anticipation of tariffs. The negative tariff effects haven't really been included in this report and probably most of the negative impacts are only just starting to be felt. So buckle up this is going to get ugly.
Yes all the negative effects we've seen in the economy so far are in anticipation of the tariffs. The real effect of the tariffs - which Trump seems to forget are 10% for all goods imported into the US from almost every country and much higher for China and some Mexican and Canadian products - are only now about to be felt, and it yes it is going to get much, much worse.
Self report from WI: calls are in to both senators regarding tariff bill. Contacted republican congress members regarding budget resolution and signal chats. Calls this afternoon will be about Ukraine/Putin and DOGE. Heading to May Day protest tomorrow and have invited friends to join me.
I’d love for you to interview some of the strong young voices in our party: AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, David Hogg. If I’ve missed them let me know where I can watch.
Karin -- you can go to the "podcasts" tab on the Hopium home page, and then search by last name. I found a talk with Frost last September that way.
Thanks! I appreciate
You can take the boy out of Mar-a-Lago, but you can't take Mar-a-Lago out of the boy.
Marred-el-Ego...
A fabulous one. Thanks
You can take the boy outta New Yawk but … oh yes, Mar El Lago is mafioso land south.
Point of fact: the post COVID inflation was no where close to being the worst ever. Many in this community surely remember the 1970’s. Odd/even days for gasoline. Money market funds paying 17% on deposits. Trump is DELUSIONAL.
Calling Booker & Kim to support the Kaine tariff bill.
Mortgage rates were 17-18%
My birthday is tomorrow, May 1. My hubby and I are planning to go to a protest late that afternoon. I think standing up for our democracy is a great way to celebrate one’s birthday.
Happy birthday! – and many more. :)
Why, thank you, ArcticStones! Much appreciated! ☺️
That negative growth report is going to hit hard. I'm glad the impacts of Trump's policies are happening so quickly.
I called Sens. Schiff and Padilla to urge their yes vote on the tariff resolution (before breakfast, before coffee even!). I really like the new "menu" option on the Senators' call lines, and was able to get a live staff member in Schiff's DC office.
Sat in on Ami Bera's telephone town hall last night. I thought he did well, spoke honestly and from the heart, and was particularly passionate on medical issues such as Medicaid cuts. He's a doctor so that makes sense. He talked about a promising effort to contact rural hospital and medical groups in the districts of vulnerable Republicans, and getting them to apply pressure to those Republicans. He also plans to hold an in person town hall soon.
Now for coffee while Jefferies speaks (listening as I type, it's great).
Really smart about the rural hospitals and medical groups. Medicaid keeps their doors open in all the many parts of the country that are **already** underserved by healthcare. Part of the marked disparity in health outcomes between red and blue states.
"Utah congressman offers pushback to Trump administration on immigration, tariffs"
I like to think this is due to my incessant letter writing. Not a disavowal yet but Blake Moore is starting to get the courage to push back. I'll send a couple more letters to him and John Curtis today. I've given up on Mike Lee.
https://www.ksl.com/article/51303844/utah-congressman-offers-pushback-to-trump-administration-on-immigration-tariffs
Nice job
I'm right there with you as a fellow Utahn. Let's pat ourselves on the back for our letters and phone calls hopefully helping to move the needle a bit.
maga = Chaos, Cruelty & Corruption
Democrats See you, Hear you, Feel you and are committed to make life better for you! -- Leader Jeffries' words today
Blueprint for a better America
I called my Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales and urged that he support Public TV whose federal funding is at risk.
I called Senator Cruz and urged him to vote NO on the SAVE Act and to take back responsibility for setting tariffs from Trump.
May Day May Day this Thursday
Get out and hit the streets with your local group, this pressure is working and we must keep growing our resistance
Your post just made it click for me: May Day is also "SOS". Perfect.
Since many of the May Day rallies are using the tagline "May Day Strong", here is a Mobilize query to help you find a May Day rally either tomorrow or through this weekend:
https://www.mobilize.us/?end_date=2025-05-05T03%3A59%3A59.999Z&q=May%20Day%20Strong&start_date=2025-05-01T04%3A00%3A00.000Z
For a general source for protest locations I recommend this substack which normally posts a constantly updated list of protests for the upcoming week on Fridays:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thepeopledissent/p/update-may-day-protestseverything?r=1aiy5t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Thank you. I’ve had a hard time negotiating some of the other protest sites.
I'm glad that it helped!
Thank you for the link Simon; great speech by Leader Jeffries.
I called Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen and Congressman Raskin and asked them to loudly support the Kaine, et al. tariff resolution and to make criminal referrals against Elon Musk. I'll be writing more postcards today to remind Florida voters to sign up for Vote By Mail.
Thanks for the great interview w Rep. Neguse, he is always great to hear from! Fantastic First 100 Days presentation by Leader Jeffries just now. It's up on his YouTube if you want to watch. Other pro-democracy folks have done these events, including Sen. Murphy w Marc Elias, and Katie Phang. Keep it up, the messaging is on point.
Called Sens. Kim & Booker yesterday evening after finding out they voted to confirm the dumbsh*t from GA, David Perdue, for ambassador to China. I really let 'em have it - there is NO excuse to vote for any of these folks, and these two know better and are no shrinking violets to boot. I really am at a loss. Will include this in my daily calls for this week, I'm really pissed off.
Just found out our NJ AG is appearing before SCOTUS on May 15 to present case on birthright citizenship from the state of NJ. AG from Washington will also appear to present oral argument. Please thank your AGs if they have joined lawsuits, and ask em why if they have not.
Keep going!
*** Called Sens. Kim & Booker yesterday evening after finding out they voted to confirm the dumbsh*t from GA, David Perdue, for ambassador to China. I really let 'em have it - there is NO excuse to vote for any of these folks, and these two know better and are no shrinking violets to boot. I really am at a loss.
Me too. I called them both early this morning even though I am in NC. I was calling as a donor to both of their campaigns. I also called Fetterman, Gallego, Rosen and Slotkin for the same reason. And in addition to donations, I wrote dozens of postcards each for Fetterman, Gallego, and Rosen! So disappointing!!
Simon, very impressive what you pointed out yesterday in your interview with Congressman Joe Neguse: "There are Hopium members in every single Congressional district in the country."
Wow! Just wow! Congratulations! Deeply appreciate this community and your great work.
Schumer has been speaking on the floor regularly and has changed his tone to sound more forceful (for him anyway).
This weekend I’m going with my grassroots group to see Jamie Raskin’s town hall on Long Island. So great to have some attention paid here!
I’m officially the Democratic candidate for Nassau County Legislative District 19. I’ve never run for office before! Soon I’ll be knocking doors in my area. Would love to cut the margins in my heavily Republican district!
thank you! so important.
Thank you! We need to run candidates everywhere, and we can't do it without people like you! Go win some hearts and minds!
Thank you! 🙂
I attended a zoom last night (I think - the zooms run together!). The speaker was Katrina Shankman who is the new Executive Director for Rust Belt Rising (https://rustbeltrising.com/).
She has a background in organizing and was in the state legsislature in WI representing a rural Red district. The title of her presentation was Messaging Voters Beyond The Base.
I thought it had a lot of meaty content that was actionable. This morning they sent out a link to the recording. Here it is, in case you are interested:
https://youtu.be/mp1iHLYe_bg
Thank you! I’ll check it out!
Congratulations, let us know when and how to make calls for you!
I will!
Good luck!
Pleased with the Canadian election result, though the conservatives did better than expected. The Liberals were 20 points behind and came through to win by 2 points - mainly due to Donald Trump's ignorant and offensive attitude. So, one in the eye for the idiot. Will he bounce back from his record low approvals? Looks like the economy is going to struggle for the rest of 2025, so let's see how the American people will react. Will they say they disapprove and then go back to Trump/GOP in midterms or is there a more profound change in mood? I don't know, but will be interested to see the inflation and job numbers and how folk react to those.
Russell, I want to put out there that you seem to believe it is your job here to spread right aligned sentiments woven into things that feel vaguely positive for us. So the Canadian win is actually not so good; Trump could bounce back, things may not as bad for him as they seem. I've almost commented on this tactic many times before and I ask, respectfully, that it end.
Simon, Not at all. It was a good win for the Liberals given where they were a few months ago. Since the election was called the Liberal lead went from ca. 5%/6% to 2% on polling day. still a win, though not enough for a majority, which many expected. The Conservatives were not expected to exceed 40% and they did. Not what I would wish, but a fact. Regarding Trump, I hope his approval ratings drop to zero. I don't know what will happen though and we need to see. As many commentators point out Trump's political obituary has been written before and been proven premature. I don't know what will happen when the struggling economy impacts people and how they will then think about Trump and the respective parties. I think it important to cite objective (if possible empirical) evidence. I have many faults but promoting the political right is not one of them. The work of you and the Hopium community is heartwarming and I applaud it and support it. I am hugely impressed by your personal commitment, unrelenting effort and dedication to a just, democratic, life enhancing political agenda. I'm sorry that I appear on occasion to cause irritation - most definitely not my intention, tactical or otherwise. In truth, though we want the same outcome and though I suspect our politics and hopes for the future may be aligned, I think it's time I ceased engagement here, because I like this community, have had so many lovely messages from it and don't want to be a distraction or irritant to it or you. I truly wish you well Simon and all in Hopium. I truly hope you see the fruit of all your admirable efforts and that we can raise a metaphorical glass in the future to the demise of Trump and Trumpism. You are a good man and I wish you sincerest good luck for the future, with great respect, Russ.
Krugman had a short article today about this. Probably not much of this can be credited to tariffs because the crazy tariff announcement came after the last day that Q1 data covers. It's not a great report though, and maybe some of it was anticipation of tariffs. The negative tariff effects haven't really been included in this report and probably most of the negative impacts are only just starting to be felt. So buckle up this is going to get ugly.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-noise-before-the-storm
Yes all the negative effects we've seen in the economy so far are in anticipation of the tariffs. The real effect of the tariffs - which Trump seems to forget are 10% for all goods imported into the US from almost every country and much higher for China and some Mexican and Canadian products - are only now about to be felt, and it yes it is going to get much, much worse.
I think I didn't read your article carefully. Usually I'm checking these articles out while I'm doing other work.
You carefully made the point about the data coming before the tariffs. I had missed that on my cursory read, sorry.
Self report from WI: calls are in to both senators regarding tariff bill. Contacted republican congress members regarding budget resolution and signal chats. Calls this afternoon will be about Ukraine/Putin and DOGE. Heading to May Day protest tomorrow and have invited friends to join me.