I do not know how old this ends, but this is just so unsustainable. And I’ve never seen anything like it, not just in politics, but in life! It doesn’t matter how deep of a hole this guy finds himself in, he just keeps asking for a more powerful version of a shovel. I think at this point we’re at an oil drill… I don’t know how his presidency sustains through four years unless the constitution completely collapses. And I am cautiously optimistic that the American people aren’t gonna let that happen. But Jesus, the insanity is at a level that’s just incomprehensible 🤯🤯🤯
See, the last time we tried holding up a CR, the Senate leadership ended things too early and kind of threw Jeffries and the House under the bus in the process, who had been standing firm. If we are going to do it again, we have to consider two things:
1) Do we have the direct aid resources on the ground to sustain it? Last year proved that Trump will treat anything like that as a strike and will defund any and all welfare programs he can to try and break that strike. What is our strategy for preventing people from suffering when that happens? We need a national aid plan to we can keep helping the vulnerable.
2) Do our leaders actually have the stomach for this? The problem is that Democrats care if people die and Trump doesn't, simple as that. So Trump will put as many people in danger as possible to come out ahead in another shutdown scenario. I believe our legislators have more stomach at this point than a lot of Republicans. But if we were to seriously consider another shutdown we would have to seed the ground and make it as likely as possible that they break from Trump relatively quickly. We would really need the Hill intelligence advantage before we tried it.
While this is not a likely scenerio we could try to attach some version of the Russian sanctions bill that just passed the Senate, funding and a directive to rebuild our cyber and elections security parts of DHS, and take another run at doing something about the Middle East as part of the negotiations over the CR. Our fiscal year runs out on Sept 30th. There is no possibility of a full budget being passed by then so they just extend funding of this year onward in a "Continuing Resolution," probably to December. We can create a security package that we want to pass and build a public campaign around it for these negotiations, the December negotiations and when the new Congress returns. How much of it can we get passed? I don't know but we need to try.....
well, satan and blanche were lying (under oath no less for blanche) to the senate. they have every intention to spend $1.8B on his insurrection army for the midterms. they called his bluff and he showed his cards. it is clear he will bring everything to bear on these elections that he can, legal or illegal. the courts will be too slow. it is so unnerving that he came out and said he will do it anyway. where does this $1.8B come from? doesnt the house & senate have to appropriate? we are about to enter an era where the US govt legislative branch can not be trusted to uphold the constitution, laws, norms, regular order, free & fair elections. hope i am wrong. but he is insane and the repub party does never stops him and now he is a threatened animal in the corner. imagine: an attorney general who lies under oath to the senate during his confirmation! hard to imagine actually. another thug criminal enabling the biggest loser of all time!
Those images are from Africa, not from Spain proper in Europe. It's deliberately distorting the situation.
As a born and bred Minnesotan who doesn't live there now, I can't tell you how infuriating it is to see Trump attack my state. Or how proud I am of how the people have responded to that piece of shit, who doesn't deserve to be called an American much less the president. To blame Walz for an Iranian attack is irresponsible and un-American.
Trump is a buffoon! Everyone sees him as cowering and deflecting the very real threat to MN and 7 other states. Trump is a distraction to those State leaders who will actually have to step up and secure all our safety.
And he just keeps digging! He is now eroding his own congressional support, voters and media cronies. People are exhausted! This week, I will register new Democrat voters in CA 13 (Stockton/Adam Grey). I am also giving money to Peltola, Acton and Jackson.
Hello Hopium Community, I'm not back yet. I just wanted to take a peek at what is happening with Our Family. Evidently, a lot! Be back Working Monday Simon. My time together with my Daughter will be ending Sunday night. 😢
Meant to post Thursday about the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid taking effect--July 30, 1996. Although the law had been passed and signed in '65, it took effect in '66. Among other things, it demonstrated the power of Democratic perseverance. FDR spoke about "old age insurance" many times, including when the Social Security Act was passed in 1935. That provided an income but not access to healthcare.
Truman made it an important priority after WWII, saying in 1945 that access to healthcare was a right that should be guaranteed to all Americans. And appropriate to our times, Truman reminded Congress that 30% of those examined for military service during the War (men and women) were found physically or mentally unfit. And many of those infirmities resulted from lack of access to healthcare. (Thanks to Heather Cox Richardson for this info.)
So, this has been a D priority for decades. We've fought for it and are still doing so. And as the Medicaid cuts continue to take effect, and as more and more people lose their ACA insurance due to cuts in premium support, our country will, once again, find out what a tragedy results. And Pete Hegseth, good luck recruiting your "warriors," more and more of whom won't be able to pass military physicals because they haven't had adequate healthcare as children and young adults.
I know it is not top of mind, or even if we should be raising money, but I think we should all be aware of the situation in Arizona. In 2022, we won a trifecta: Governor, Atty Gen'l, and Secretary of State to protect democracy. Now the GOP election deniers are back in all three races. We must again protect democracy so that in 2028, the Presidential election is fair and clean in Arizona. God help us, if the GOP wins these raves!
Hi Simon, Thanks particularly for your last two weekly get-togethers, very informative and helpful. It's go time; it's the general election. It occurs to me that we have models, examples of how to proceed these next 90+ days: support the slate of Democratic party candidates like Paul Wellstone supported Gore in 2000; like Tom Perriello supported Northam in 2017; like Elizabeth Warren supported Biden in 2020. Voting is important, voting early is important, and so is fulsome, enthusiastic support for Democratic party candidates during the entirety of the general election season, not tepid support.
Simon, thank you for all of this excellent information. Wanted to ask about the MI polling because I had seen on MS Now with Velshi, they were promoting the Emerson College poll showing Sayed up by near 15 points. Meanwhile, and please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m aware that MI residents don’t often participate in polls and there may be many undecided’ until Election Day. I’ve heard that unions are only just starting to weigh in. Because MI is at least in my view, a ‘must-keep seat,’ I’m hoping that one, Whitmer’s endorsement of Stevens takes her over the finish line in the final hours and that two, should El-Sayed achieve the nomination, he has the unassuming ability to defeat Rogers. Whichever way this goes, we’ll have to put all our MI eggs into that candidate to help ensure we hold onto the seat 🙏.
Simon, thank you for pulling this all together!
I'm working on postcards to Ohio voters today and making my pimento cheese for a family dinner.
I do not know how old this ends, but this is just so unsustainable. And I’ve never seen anything like it, not just in politics, but in life! It doesn’t matter how deep of a hole this guy finds himself in, he just keeps asking for a more powerful version of a shovel. I think at this point we’re at an oil drill… I don’t know how his presidency sustains through four years unless the constitution completely collapses. And I am cautiously optimistic that the American people aren’t gonna let that happen. But Jesus, the insanity is at a level that’s just incomprehensible 🤯🤯🤯
See, the last time we tried holding up a CR, the Senate leadership ended things too early and kind of threw Jeffries and the House under the bus in the process, who had been standing firm. If we are going to do it again, we have to consider two things:
1) Do we have the direct aid resources on the ground to sustain it? Last year proved that Trump will treat anything like that as a strike and will defund any and all welfare programs he can to try and break that strike. What is our strategy for preventing people from suffering when that happens? We need a national aid plan to we can keep helping the vulnerable.
2) Do our leaders actually have the stomach for this? The problem is that Democrats care if people die and Trump doesn't, simple as that. So Trump will put as many people in danger as possible to come out ahead in another shutdown scenario. I believe our legislators have more stomach at this point than a lot of Republicans. But if we were to seriously consider another shutdown we would have to seed the ground and make it as likely as possible that they break from Trump relatively quickly. We would really need the Hill intelligence advantage before we tried it.
Appreciate you weighing in here but you are talking about the fall 2025 CR fight. There was a more recent one over ICE funding where the Rs caved.
Our protest sign is "STOP CORRUPTION PRODUCTION!" This applies to EVERY aspect of the Trumpian leadership fiasco.
What are the tools the Democrats have, you are referring to, that they should now start using?
While this is not a likely scenerio we could try to attach some version of the Russian sanctions bill that just passed the Senate, funding and a directive to rebuild our cyber and elections security parts of DHS, and take another run at doing something about the Middle East as part of the negotiations over the CR. Our fiscal year runs out on Sept 30th. There is no possibility of a full budget being passed by then so they just extend funding of this year onward in a "Continuing Resolution," probably to December. We can create a security package that we want to pass and build a public campaign around it for these negotiations, the December negotiations and when the new Congress returns. How much of it can we get passed? I don't know but we need to try.....
well, satan and blanche were lying (under oath no less for blanche) to the senate. they have every intention to spend $1.8B on his insurrection army for the midterms. they called his bluff and he showed his cards. it is clear he will bring everything to bear on these elections that he can, legal or illegal. the courts will be too slow. it is so unnerving that he came out and said he will do it anyway. where does this $1.8B come from? doesnt the house & senate have to appropriate? we are about to enter an era where the US govt legislative branch can not be trusted to uphold the constitution, laws, norms, regular order, free & fair elections. hope i am wrong. but he is insane and the repub party does never stops him and now he is a threatened animal in the corner. imagine: an attorney general who lies under oath to the senate during his confirmation! hard to imagine actually. another thug criminal enabling the biggest loser of all time!
Here is a thought-provoking article:
https://benwheeler.substack.com/p/liberals-dont-understand-conservatives
"Conservatives aren't hypocrites, you just don't understand their views."
I'm writing postcards to Iowa and leaving voicemail for Sen. Ernst and Rep. Miller-Meeks.
Those images are from Africa, not from Spain proper in Europe. It's deliberately distorting the situation.
As a born and bred Minnesotan who doesn't live there now, I can't tell you how infuriating it is to see Trump attack my state. Or how proud I am of how the people have responded to that piece of shit, who doesn't deserve to be called an American much less the president. To blame Walz for an Iranian attack is irresponsible and un-American.
I will postcard today later on.
Trump is a buffoon! Everyone sees him as cowering and deflecting the very real threat to MN and 7 other states. Trump is a distraction to those State leaders who will actually have to step up and secure all our safety.
And he just keeps digging! He is now eroding his own congressional support, voters and media cronies. People are exhausted! This week, I will register new Democrat voters in CA 13 (Stockton/Adam Grey). I am also giving money to Peltola, Acton and Jackson.
To win control of the Senate from Trump's Republicans please vote for and contribut to these Democratic candidates for the Senate:
NC-Cooper for North Carolina, ME-Troy Jackson for Maine, OH- Friends of Sherrod Brown,
AK- Mary Peltota for Alaska, GA-Jon Ossoff for U.S. Senate NH-Chris Pappas for Senate,
IA- Josh Turek for Iowa, TX- Talarico for Texas, FL-Alex Vindman for Florida.
Former Senator Claire McCaskill said on TV this morning to keep an eye on Kansas with pastor of a mega church as the D Senate candidate.
Hello Hopium Community, I'm not back yet. I just wanted to take a peek at what is happening with Our Family. Evidently, a lot! Be back Working Monday Simon. My time together with my Daughter will be ending Sunday night. 😢
Meant to post Thursday about the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid taking effect--July 30, 1996. Although the law had been passed and signed in '65, it took effect in '66. Among other things, it demonstrated the power of Democratic perseverance. FDR spoke about "old age insurance" many times, including when the Social Security Act was passed in 1935. That provided an income but not access to healthcare.
Truman made it an important priority after WWII, saying in 1945 that access to healthcare was a right that should be guaranteed to all Americans. And appropriate to our times, Truman reminded Congress that 30% of those examined for military service during the War (men and women) were found physically or mentally unfit. And many of those infirmities resulted from lack of access to healthcare. (Thanks to Heather Cox Richardson for this info.)
So, this has been a D priority for decades. We've fought for it and are still doing so. And as the Medicaid cuts continue to take effect, and as more and more people lose their ACA insurance due to cuts in premium support, our country will, once again, find out what a tragedy results. And Pete Hegseth, good luck recruiting your "warriors," more and more of whom won't be able to pass military physicals because they haven't had adequate healthcare as children and young adults.
I know it is not top of mind, or even if we should be raising money, but I think we should all be aware of the situation in Arizona. In 2022, we won a trifecta: Governor, Atty Gen'l, and Secretary of State to protect democracy. Now the GOP election deniers are back in all three races. We must again protect democracy so that in 2028, the Presidential election is fair and clean in Arizona. God help us, if the GOP wins these raves!
Hi Simon, Thanks particularly for your last two weekly get-togethers, very informative and helpful. It's go time; it's the general election. It occurs to me that we have models, examples of how to proceed these next 90+ days: support the slate of Democratic party candidates like Paul Wellstone supported Gore in 2000; like Tom Perriello supported Northam in 2017; like Elizabeth Warren supported Biden in 2020. Voting is important, voting early is important, and so is fulsome, enthusiastic support for Democratic party candidates during the entirety of the general election season, not tepid support.
Simon, thank you for all of this excellent information. Wanted to ask about the MI polling because I had seen on MS Now with Velshi, they were promoting the Emerson College poll showing Sayed up by near 15 points. Meanwhile, and please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m aware that MI residents don’t often participate in polls and there may be many undecided’ until Election Day. I’ve heard that unions are only just starting to weigh in. Because MI is at least in my view, a ‘must-keep seat,’ I’m hoping that one, Whitmer’s endorsement of Stevens takes her over the finish line in the final hours and that two, should El-Sayed achieve the nomination, he has the unassuming ability to defeat Rogers. Whichever way this goes, we’ll have to put all our MI eggs into that candidate to help ensure we hold onto the seat 🙏.