Democrats and Independents... The time to engage has come!

We don't have to beat the Republican criminal syndicate (RCS) at their own game, using their methods and tactics, but we must compete and win if we're going to restore Democracy in the USA.

When they go low, we walk across them like the badly warn pavement they've chosen to become.

Fight fire with water cannons.  There's a reason those devices are bolted to vehicles.   

Let's demonstrate our determination.

Democrats in Texas, California, Illinois, NY, etc... have shown the way.  

There are things that government must do, because they are expensive to do well, and must be done as well as is possible for as close to everyone as is possible.

The business of business is profit, and there's no profit to be had in providing these most important of basic services: education (pre-k to post doc); transportation (roads, trains, airports, seaports, etc...); basic research (FFRDC, Tier 1 & 2 research universities, etc...); post office (6 days every week, to everyone come rain or sleet...); the military (to protect and defend the Constitution...); regulations that define the boundaries for establishing and keeping civil society.

Government must do health care (Medicare for All/Single payer), because the best medical practices are prevention and most efficient/fastest cure; the least profitable of all available means and methods.

Remember, the business of business is profit, and the best of health care is that which is most efficient and effective; least profitable.

These are some of the things businesses can't do well, no matter what they say, because the pursuit of profit is self-serving, and those who've profited most have taken unenlightened, self-interest to narcissist and megalomaniacal extremes.

Democracy is the worst kind of government, except for everything else.  Democracy is what we must constantly pursue as if our posterity depends upon it, because it does.

Lead, follow or get out of the way, because we've  got a Democracy to re-establish in these United States of America.

“De Minimis,” is for Cheating.

There is no such thing as a, “de minimis,” (insignificant) change to any voting machine; anywhere, ever.  All proposed changes should have every detail published and distributed well in advance, so that everything might be cross checked by multiple other, “third party oversight,” agencies and vendors.

I spent 25 years working in tech support for computer connectivity, networking, and in one of the data centers, where I spent 5 years, we did systems changes starting Saturday at midnight.  The phrase used for dodging reporting and accountability was, that the system, “change is transparent to the users.”

There were often changes in many of the different sub systems involved in the processing of data at this, unnamed, company.  Too often many of these changes were labeled, in the associated documentation (lack thereof), as, “transparent to users.”  Many of these changes were not known to said users, and most of the systems' users did not come in till start of business on Monday morning.  

The phones at the operations/tech support desks would start to ring as computer  users on the east coast tried to begin their work week on Monday morning.  The changes weren't just not, “transparent,” they often had caused applicable systems to crash.

It was apparent, though not followed through with, that no changes should ever be referred to as, “transparent to users,” and/or, “de minimis.”

The voting machines used in the USA are far more important than the data processing systems in any single company, so it is far more important that NO change may ever be labeled as, “de minimis.”

According to an investigative piece, from the Daily Boulder, a private lab quietly implemented sweeping changes to voting machines used in over 40% of U.S. counties ahead of the 2024 race. Those changes, the report claims, were made with no public notice, no formal testing, and no third-party oversight.

What changes were made to voting machines before the 2024 election?  Investigations and litigation is currently in process to find out.  The election has been certified by Congress, so the results of the 2024 Presidential election are unlikely to be changed as a result of the aforementioned activity.

Instead of labeling these as major changes, Pro V&V classified them as “de minimis,” a term typically reserved for insignificant tweaks. This classification allowed them to bypass public scrutiny and avoid triggering full-scale testing or certification processes.

But watchdog group SMART Elections wasn’t convinced. In their words:
“This wasn’t just a glitch in some sleepy county. It was a stress test of our entire system.”

Soon after the machines went live, complaints began to surface.

At the center of the controversy is Jack Cobb, the director of Pro V&V. While he doesn’t appear in the headlines, his lab certifies the machines that millions of Americans use to vote. According to the report, once the controversy began to gain traction, Pro V&V’s website went dark, leaving only a phone number and a generic email address. No public logs. No documentation. No comment.

Pro V&V is certified by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). However, once accredited, labs like Pro V&V face no real public oversight.

These are problems that should never have been allowed to happen; needs to be determined and addressed before November elections in 2026.

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/kamala-harris-won-the-u-s-elections-bombshell-report-claims-voting-machines-were-tampered-with-before-2024/articleshow/121732679.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst  


https://aitechtonic.com/secret-changes-to-voting-machines-cast-shadow-over-2024-u-s-election-integrity/  


P.S., If the federal elections of 2026 lead to a veto proof, Democratic majority in the US Congress, then the transgressions, oft illegal, of the (criminally convicted, pathological liar) merde l'orange administration can start to be corrected while said troublesome 47th president still occupies our (US citizens') White House.

Let's Get Busy!

Ladies and Gentlemen of all persuasions... I hear too many of you complaining about how life is mistreating you. Especially, that the Democratic party does not work for you.

Have you registered to vote? Checked your voter registration? Do you vote in as close to every election as possible?  Have you communicated with your elected officials (briefly, courteously and reasonably often)?

Seems like a lot to ask of you... However, it really does not take all that long with the Internet and e-mail tools available these days. You already knew these things unless you are one of those folks described in the first paragraph, who hasn't attempted any of these things.

If you don't do any of the aforementioned, suggested things, how do you expect Democrats to know what you want? What you need? You're expecting a clairvoyant to just magically be able to know all and do exactly what you want; every where, all the time.

If that describes your lack of activity in your own best interest, you're your own worst nightmare.

Your job is too tough and doesn't pay the bills, provide the benefits you and your family need...  So, did you join a union? Did you ever think to organize with your co-workers to petition for what you, and everyone else, really are expecting in return for your  hard work?

Once again, you might be the problem if you are expecting that what you want will just magically happen!

Are you surprised when things just don't automatically go the way you want?

If you can't be bothered to make a modest effort for yourself, for your own life, you are the reason that you will always be disappointed.

One of the loudest, and most consistently present voices in America are African-American, women!  But they don't have the numbers to do it all by themselves.

In the last Presidential election they could not carry the most qualified candidate to victory, not only because they have insufficient numbers on their own, but also because misogyny and racism worked against them.

We, Americans, are literally in the worst of times, because too many of us could not be bothered to show up and act in our own best interest.

We all need to stand up, look around, find the team that's most likely to work with, and for, us (a union and the Democrats) and get busy.

Democracy doesn't happen  on it's own, and isn't self sustaining... If we, each and every one of us, can't be bothered to at least show up we will always be saddled with what someone else wants.

We need to get all of our back sides in gear, join together, and let's create the society that works as well as is possible for all of us.

Let's get this done!

Three Steps Forward; Four Steps Back...

 Fight fire with water cannons!

In the 1940s there were unions and workers started to reap more of the benefits of the industrial, then information, age that their efforts created. The 1960s saw Civil and Voting Rights advanced for more Americans. In the 70s women's rights and health care needs were advanced in the USA. We voted for a seriously qualified, African-American man for our President early in the 21st century; twice.

We got self-satisfied and the progress was lost.

Some megalomaniacal, wealthy oligarchs (aristocrat wannabes), with the help of some seriously insecure, (almost exclusively white) people (a.k.a., MAGAts) elected the 34 times convicted, pathological liar to the Presidency; twice.

The oligarchs are surprised by the consequences of electing said merde l'orange; FAFO. The MAGAts are discovering that, "the leopard is eating their face;" FAFO, once again.  

Where there is wealth (in the USA we've created the largest, wealthiest of economies the world has ever known) theft will be a near constant threat.  The aristocrat wannabes pretend that the miracle, of the USA, was because of what they've done. They are utterly incorrect. They want the spoils funneled to themselves, but they are completely incapable of doing this, amongst the many other things at which they always fail, for themselves.

Hence merde l'orange and the MAGAts.

We, the people, need to take back our Democracy.  Protest, peacefully, and vote in every election.

Our Democracy is our responsibility.  

Remember, Democracy doesn't happen on it's own, and does not sustain itself.
 
Democracy is a form of government that must be: of, by and for the people, or it will not work.  

When government works it is boring!  The following books are explanatory; need not be read cover to cover to be understood:

Who is Government; by Michael Lewis (and many others); Riverhead Books, 2025.  

Bulls, Bears and the Ballot Box: How the Performance of Our Presidents Has Impacted Your Wallet (Your Wallet Does Better During a Democratic Administration), by Bob Deitrick and Lew Goldfarb, Advantage Media Group, 2012.

Poverty, By America; by Matthew Desmond; Crown Publishing; 2023.  

How Infrastructure Works, Inside the Systems That Shape Our World; Deb Chachra; Riverhead Books; 2023. 


We, the voters (nobody else can do it for us), bear the responsibility for good government.

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for everything else," said Winston Churchill.

The USA is now enduring the, “everything else,” that is the worst of government.

Come together, right now, and restore our progress, our Democracy, as only we (all the people) can. 

Rep. Maxine Waters Explains the Klepto Bills Before Congress...

 My colleagues in Congress are making a mistake advancing these crypto bills...
This week, the House will consider several crypto bills, including the so-called CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act.

July 14, 2025, 5:00 AM CDT
By Rep. Maxine Waters, representative for California's 43rd congressional district

I told you so.

Believe it or not, as an elected official, I hate saying those four words. Not because I don’t like being right, but because when the moment comes to say them, it usually means that something has gone terribly wrong. It also means other elected officials and policymakers were warned and chose to ignore that warning and move ahead anyway.

We warned them about the risks of tearing down the barriers between commercial and investment banking, and of deregulating regional banks. But those warnings were ignored, those bills became law, and when it all came crashing down, everyone was quick to point fingers, but not at themselves. Now, I’m sounding the alarm about the risks of pending crypto legislation, which will open the floodgates to massive fraud and financial ruin for millions of American families.

I’m sounding the alarm about the risks of pending crypto legislation.

This week, the House will consider several crypto bills, including the so-called CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act, which proponents claim will establish a pro-innovation regulatory framework for crypto that also safeguards consumers and investors. But the reality is that they would be passing bills written by and for the crypto industry. If either bill passes through Congress, we’ll one day look back on its enactment as a pivotal moment in time — much like we point to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. That legislation dismantled Glass-Steagall’s firewall between commercial and investment banking, allowing banks, brokers and insurers to combine into mega financial “supermarkets” — all in the name of “innovation.”

When the predatory mortgages-fueled housing bubble burst, these “innovators” who amassed their wealth on the backs of vulnerable families required massive taxpayer bailouts. That is, they privatized their gains and socialized their losses. A warning from the more recent past is the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018, which weakened oversight of regional banks and exposed depositors to potential losses, as seen in the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023.

Crypto often paints its critics as Luddites at best, anti-American at worst. The fact is, the CLARITY and GENIUS bills wrap themselves in the flag of innovation, but all they really do is replicate the same mess that led to past financial crises: They call for few regulations, minimal enforcement, weak consumer protections and more industry consolidation.  On top of that, these bills have a special, intentional wrinkle that makes them especially dangerous: They would legitimize and legalize the unprecedented crypto corruption by the president of the United States.

Donald Trump and his family are raking in piles of cash, much of it through shady crypto ventures, which have made Trump $1.2 billion richer. At the same time, the Trump administration has gutted watchdogs and silenced critics, allowing Trump to exploit the oversight gap created to enrich himself through meme coins, stablecoins and backroom deals with foreign governments. What we’re witnessing isn’t just unethical; it’s the largest fraud and abuse of power in modern history.

Trump has used the power of the presidency to pitch crypto deals abroad — engaging with questionable and dangerous foreign entities. The bills Congress will consider this week place no checks on that behavior. Indeed, they make it easier for Trump’s personal financial interests to dictate U.S. policy.  In committee, Democrats offered numerous amendments to curtail the president’s abuse of power. Republicans voted down every single one.

Trump’s corruption shouldn’t be our only concern, however.  A big problem with these bills is that they fail to protect consumers. The CLARITY Act handcuffs the Securities and Exchange Commission, preventing it from proactively protecting people against fraud. Regulators would have to wait until after investors have already been harmed to act — potentially after a company has collapsed and life savings have vanished. We’ve seen this before. FTX collapsed because insiders illegally operated the exchange, controlled customer funds and traded against their own clients. The CLARITY bill does nothing to address that and, in fact, actually creates space for similar schemes. This won’t just affect consumers in crypto markets — CLARITY will undermine traditional securities markets by creating loopholes that traditional firms can use to evade our existing securities laws.

The GENIUS Act is no better. Though its supporters say it will provide urgently needed protections for users of stablecoins, there’s no funding provided to regulators to implement the law, and the consumer protections it provides are weak. In contrast to the way banks are regulated, there are no community reinvestment requirements, no third-party vendor oversight, and the federal oversight of stablecoin issuers licensed by states or overseas is weak. This leaves users vulnerable to fraud and discrimination.

A second problem is that the bills create serious national security risks. While the CLARITY Act mentions the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), it does little to actually enforce it. During the House Committee on Financial Services’ markup of the bill, Republicans summarily rejected Democratic proposals to ensure crypto companies comply with the BSA, commensurate with the risks of financial crime facing their firms. The bill also broadly exempts the decentralized finance industry from nearly all oversight, a category that Trump’s World Liberty Financial notably claims to fall under. Meanwhile, the GENIUS Act opens the floodgates to foreign-controlled crypto that poses serious national security risks, all to appease Trump’s inner circle, which has ties to crypto.

These bills will only strengthen Wall Street’s dominance alongside Big Tech, while squeezing out smaller innovators.

A third problem is that the bills entrench Wall Street’s power. Crypto has long been sold as a way to democratize finance away from big banks. But these bills will only strengthen Wall Street’s dominance alongside Big Tech, while squeezing out smaller innovators. They give megabanks and Big Crypto the green light to consolidate control.

This should be enough reason for my colleagues to vote no.

In a few weeks, we’ll mark the 15th anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, landmark legislation that Congress passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis. That crisis was made so much worse by one of those Wall Street supermarket firms, AIG, an insurance giant that was allowed to insure complex, poorly regulated and dangerous financial instruments. I will never forget the despair of Americans who lost their homes, jobs and life savings then. Many of them never recovered.

Passing the CLARITY and GENIUS Acts would prove that we learned nothing from that disaster. Congress now has a choice: Protect the public and uphold democratic accountability, or hand over the keys to a president using his power for personal gain.
If these bills become law, America will eventually face its first crypto financial crisis. And when that happens, my Republican colleagues will likely point fingers at everyone but themselves, just as they’ve always done, and say they had no idea this could happen.

But I won’t. I’ll say I told you so. And then I’ll get to work on cleaning up their mess.

Rep. Maxine Waters
Maxine Waters represents California's 43rd congressional district in the House of Representatives.

The Republican Criminal Syndicate Fails, Again

 You might have heard recently that there's been a deadly environmental disaster in the Texas Hill Country.  You might also have heard the RCS (Republican criminal syndicate) deny Climate Change...  Well 7 days after the first, “100 year,” flood (less than 20 years after a previous deadly flood, Blanco River in 2015, in Hill Country) we're having a second, “100 year flooding event,” in the Texas Hill Country.   

During a press conference, about the flooding in Kerr county on the weekend of July 4th 2025, the governor of Texas deflected a question about disaster preparedness with an ignorant football reference. It demonstrated the vacant attitude with which the RCS, in Texas, has approached state services.  The RCS dominated state government in Texas has failed, many times, to provide the kind of assistance that could have saved lives, including in the Guadalupe River area known as “flash-flood alley.”

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/greg-abbott-bizarre-postflood-football-analogy/  

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/texas/articles/2025-07-09/a-decade-of-missed-opportunities-texas-couldnt-find-1m-for-flood-warning-system-near-camps  

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/06/texas-disaster-warning-emergency-communication-bill-kerrville-floods/  

The RCS dominated state government in Texas has consistently withheld the kind of spending needed to provide proper services for the state's large population.  The state legislature has created, “budget surpluses,” by not using the money we, Texans, pay in taxes.

The Texas government has instead created the slush fund known as, “the Rainy Day Fund...”

https://texastaxpayers.com/what-is-the-texas-rainy-day-fund/  

Texas has a very regressive state taxing system: those who can afford it least, pay the largest percentage of their income in taxes.  The Texas legislature could, and has often talked about, giving relief to said heavily burdened tax payers, but has never done it.

Texas' RCS government has failed, repeatedly, to protect the citizens of Texas, and many of the visitors to Texas, from incidents of floods, freezes, shootings, etc...   Too many people continue to be needlessly injured and killed.

It is well past time, for far too many folks who've been injured or killed, for the voters of Texas to elect a government that tries it's best to serve everyone in Texas...  

I've been a Democratic, candidate for the Texas legislature, multiple times, so I'm not an objective observer. However, voting in your own best interest is to vote for Democrats.  Give (y)ourselves a chance.

When Government Works, It's Boring...

Ladies, Gentlemen, any and all others...  Government, when it works well, is incredibly boring.  That's why we have Inspectors General, DOJ, FTC, SEC, CFPB, etc...  They watch and report on what our government is doing; if everybody picks their favorite agency, and keeps up to date on it, we the people can keep government in line.

Remember, we the people (a.k.a., voters) are ultimately responsible for keeping our government working for us.  Recently, too many of us dropped the ball and let an oligarchy, assisted by gullible MAGAt voters, install their favorite convicted criminal, pathological liar back into the oval office (FA).  Those, who had been warned, are FO the hard way; our democratic republic has been violated/lost.  Folks who caused/allowed this to happen are discovering, the hard way, that this has unpleasant repercussions for almost everybody.     

The reason that some things must be done by government is because social structure that works best as is possible for as close to everybody is not done for profit; not what businesses do.  The business of business is profit, the occupation of government is working together to make a place for all to prosper while creating and leaving a better world for the next generation.

Suggested reading; copied from: https://blueboomerhd.blogspot.com/2024/06/vote-in-your-own-best-interest-vote-for.html  

You need not read all these books cover to cover to get a really decent idea of what's being presented for your consumption.

Who is Government; by Michael Lewis (and many others); Riverhead Books, 2025.  

Bulls, Bears and the Ballot Box: How the Performance of Our Presidents Has Impacted Your Wallet (Your Wallet Does Better During a Democratic Administration), by Bob Deitrick and Lew Goldfarb, Advantage Media Group, 2012.

Poverty, By America; by Matthew Desmond; Crown Publishing; 2023.  

How Infrastructure Works, Inside the Systems That Shape Our World; Deb Chachra; Riverhead Books; 2023. 

There's more where that comes from (see link provided above)...  

Economic reality from the Patriotic Millionaires...

Copied, without permission:

Hi Friends of the Patriotic Millionaires,
 
“Recession indicators” have been all the rage on social media over the last month. To avid scrollers, anything that was popular during the 2008 financial crisis that’s now making a comeback – from knee-high Converse sneakers, to Lady Gaga being back on the charts, to “Mamma Mia!” being back on Broadway – all signify that a recession is looming in America.
 
It might sound crazy, but the tongue-in-cheek recession indicator memes are actually on to something. Inflation has cooled considerably since its peak in the summer of 2022, but thanks to Trump’s escalating trade war, experts have warned that the odds of a recession and another bout of price spikes are growing. Life in America is already extremely expensive for most, but if Trump isn’t stopped, it may just become entirely unaffordable altogether.  
 
For this week’s Closer Look, we want to give a rundown of where America is, and where America is heading, in terms of the cost of living. Specifically, we’ll share a few different numbers to highlight how high the cost of living has become over the last few years; identify the real driving forces behind rising prices; explain how Trump’s trade policies are bound to make things worse; and offer our own alternative proposal to get America on a better (read: cheaper) path.
 
The current cost of living in America
 
The Consumer Price Index, the most common measure of inflation, rose 2.4% over the year ending in May 2025. This is a great deal lower than the peak 9% rate America experienced in June 2022, and is close to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate. That’s the good news about the cost of living in America.
 
Now, here’s the bad news. While it’s certainly a relief that prices aren’t rising nearly as fast as they were three years ago, the reality is that they aren’t falling and are still unacceptably high to consumers. In all, prices are 23.7% more expensive than they were in February 2020 before the COVID pandemic began. The price of eggs may have (shockingly!) declined last month – down from $5.12 per dozen in April to $4.55 in May – but they are still 109.6% more expensive than they were five years ago. In all, of the 400 items for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks prices, just 25 are cheaper today than they were five years ago.
 
During the 2024 election, where the economy and inflation were the top issues driving voters’ decisions at the ballot box, former Vice President Harris tried to push out the message that wages had actually risen faster than inflation and had essentially canceled out its effects. Technically, she was right: no matter which way you look at it, average wages ultimately rose faster than prices between 2019 and 2024. But the key word there is “average,” as some unlucky workers actually saw their inflation-adjusted wages decline over that period. Also, prices for essentials like housing and food rose faster than wages; as a result, low-income workers who spend a disproportionate amount of their incomes on these necessities may, in fact, have seen their purchasing power decline.
 
Finally, another often overlooked way to get a sense of how Americans’ wallets are faring is to look at how much debt they’re lugging around. We looked, and it’s not pretty. Americans’ debt on everything from credit cards, mortgages, and student loans now stands at a record $18.04 trillion. Credit card debit is particularly worrisome: it’s risen 51% since 2021 and is also at a record high of $1.21 trillion. And credit card delinquencies? Roughly 12% of Americans carry credit card debt that is thirty days delinquent, which is higher than what we saw during the Great Recession.
 
In short, these numbers show just how unfunny the truth behind those funny “recession indicator” memes really is.
 
The driving forces behind the sky-high cost of living
 
So how did we get here? How did life become so crazy expensive in America, enough to put us a stone’s throw away from a recession?
 
Trump has blamed former President Biden and the Democrats for the inflation crisis we’ve climbed down from over the last few years. Specifically, he blames their “reckless spending” – with both the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act – for overheating the economy, which created a situation where demand for goods and services outstripped supply and subsequently caused prices to spiral.
 
Like with most other things, Trump is wrong. It’s true that demand increased as the economy rebounded from the COVID pandemic, but the president conveniently fails to mention that it was predominantly driven by high-income earners. Flush with gains from their stock portfolios, real estate holdings, and other assets, the top 10% of earners splurged big-time on things like vacations and luxury products. On the other hand, between September 2023 and September 2024, spending by low- and middle-income households actually declined.  
 
Facing bottlenecks due to COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global supply chains could not keep up with high earners’ heightened demand in the post-pandemic period. This increased production costs for corporations, who then passed those costs onto consumers in the form of higher prices.
 
But there’s more to the story here. We know now that corporations actually raised prices on their products above what would have been necessary to make up for elevated production costs. In other words, they gambled that consumers would accept higher prices because of all the buzz over supply chain snarls, and took advantage of the situation to price gouge them. Their gamble certainly paid off. Over 40% of the rise in prices between the end of 2019 and mid-2022 could be attributed to fatter corporate profits. This continued into 2024 when supply chains unsnarled and production costs declined: in the first two quarters of the year, corporate profits were responsible for over 33% of price growth. The end result of it all was a record high of $4 trillion in corporate profits at the end of 2024.
 
Trump’s tariffs will make things worse
 
On the campaign trail, Trump promised to immediately bring prices down, but that’s obviously another broken promise in a long line of Trumpian broken promises. Instead, the president’s policies, particularly on trade, are bound to make life way more expensive than it already is for millions of Americans.
 
As of this writing, tariffs currently in effect thanks to Trump include: a 10% across-the-board tariff on most countries; additional levies on Mexico, Canada, and China; a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum imports; and a 25% levy on imported vehicles and car parts. (This may change on July 9 for many countries when the pause on Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs lifts.) In all, according to the Yale Budget Lab, Americans face an overall average effective tariff rate of 15.8%, which is the highest the country has seen since 1936.
 
Trump may think his tariffs are no big deal – to him, kids can live just fine with two dolls instead of thirty – but, in reality, they have the potential to cause serious harm. Tariffs have largely not reached consumers in the form of higher prices just yet, but that’s probably because businesses stockpiled inventories of foreign goods before Trump took office. But once they eat through them, the majority of economists expect inflation to tick up thanks to tariffs. The Federal Reserve is also deliberately holding off on cutting interest rates because, according to Chair Jerome Powell, they expect a “meaningful increase in inflation over the course of this year.”
 
Tariffs also could do harm by giving corporations yet another opportunity to price gouge consumers. They could use the excuse of widespread tariffs to raise prices, even on goods that are not affected. And there’s every reason to believe that they will do so. A 2020 study of tariffs that Trump applied on washing machines during his firm term found that companies also raised prices on domestic washing machines and clothes dryers, which were not subject to tariffs.
 
Our Alternative: The “Cost of Living” Tax Cut Act
 
There are a lot of things that lawmakers need to do to rein in the outrageously high cost of living in the United States. They need to raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage. They need to clamp down on corporate price gouging. They need to stop Trump from starting unnecessary trade wars. The list goes on.
 
We have another solution to offer: the “Cost of Living” Tax Cut Act, which is one of the four pieces of legislation in our legislative platform, The MONEY Agenda: America 250. It would do two things:
 
1. Provide a Cost of Living Exemption (COLE) on federal taxes up to a reasonable threshold for the cost of living for a single adult with no children (approximately $40,000 per year).
2. Implement a surtax on incomes over $1 million, transferring the responsibility for the lost revenues from the working class to the millionaire class. A 3% surtax would be instituted on income over $1 million and an 8% surtax would be instituted on income over $10 million.
 
We’re not going to pretend that this would solve the whole problem of America’s cost of living crisis all by itself. But it would provide meaningful relief to working people by guaranteeing that our income tax system does not tax them into poverty (or further into poverty), all while shifting the tax burden to wealthy people like us who can afford to contribute more.
 
Conclusion
 
We are five months into Trump’s second presidency, and from what he and his administration have accomplished so far, it's obvious that he does not care about improving the livelihoods of the millions of working-class voters that put him back in the White House. If he were, he would not be pushing the country down a slide into a massive and completely unavoidable recession.
 
Instead, just like in his first term, he is squarely focused on enriching himself and his fellow billionaire friends. Congressional Republicans are gearing up to pass their One Big Beautiful Bill Act over the next week, which will give massive tax breaks to wealthy people like us at great expense to working people. We’ll have a lot more to say about it once things are finalized, but it’s worth mentioning now to highlight yet another thing on the horizon that Trump is doing that will fan the flames of our cost of living crisis.
 
Lady Gaga, “Mamma Mia!,” and knee-high Converse sneakers are welcome to stay, but we want recessions to be a thing of the past. It’s a shame that Trump and Republicans feel differently given their policy pursuits, but rest assured, the Patriotic Millionaires will continue to do everything and anything we can to push lawmakers to make life more affordable for all Americans.   
 
Warmly,
The Patriotic Millionaires
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Website
Copyright © 2025 Patriotic Millionaires, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in through our website.

Our mailing address is:
Patriotic Millionaires
1629 K St NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

  https://mailchi.mp/patrioticmillionaires.org/a-closer-look-recession-indicators-are-right-on-the-money?e=fbf8d222fd

Welcome to the Big Tent

 Democrats are the big tent party...  The only party that supports oath of office, rule of law and the US Constitution.

With so many in said, "big tent," you will never find that you agree, about everything, with the rest of us claiming to be Democrats.

So what?

You will not ever agree about everything with anybody; not ever.

So what?

Discus, agree, or agree to disagree, and move on...  The sun will still rise tomorrow.

Those who are very, perhaps exclusively, supportive of the Independent politicians need to remember that there are only two US Senators, and no known, Independent party members in the US House.  They caucus with the Democrats because they can pass no legislation on their own; period.

Remember the big tent, and how satisfied you are/were with the 45/47th  Presidential administrations when you prepare to vote.

We all should register to vote, double check that registration, vote in as close to every election as possible, and communicate briefly, politely and often with our elected officials.

Remember, perfect is an unattainable, stretch goal.  Nothing is perfect. Everything can be improved, at least a little bit.

Don't let the pursuit, perception, of perfection block what's actually quite good.

Democracy doesn't happen on it's own, and doesn't sustain itself...  If we want to return to a democratic republic, and to keep it (this time), we can depend only upon ourselves.

Where's the MSM?

Zeeshan Aleem (MSNBC), Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson, George Clooney, and their ilk, can take a ride up Grace and Frankie's STFU Mountain.  

I switched my vote from Elizabeth Warren to Joe Biden when Jim Clyburn endorsed him.  All the aforementioned are old, at least 5 years older than me, people.  

If Joe had remained on the ticket the misogynists and racists (m & r), more than 9 million of 'em, that did not vote in 2024 might have shown up and we'd not have another merde l'orange administration.   

I will take Joe, in a recliner, in the oval office versus the jack ass in the office now.  

Also, remember this you dip sticks, the office is in the same building as the residence.  

Again, If reelected, that would've meant that, upon realization of a need to step aside, we would've gotten an extremely competent President Harris;  m & r stupidity avoided!

Now, consider the old, merde l'orange's visible cognitive decline being completely avoided by the Republican criminal syndicate that is absolutely silent as a convicted criminal, pathological liar, 47 gets no negative feedback (from Tapper, Thompson or Aleem either).
 
Also, consider that if the Senate had convicted 45 when he'd been impeached for inciting insurrection, he'd been 14/3 prevented from ever holding public office again. Senators that didn't vote to convict, and the Representatives that didn't vote to impeach, are guilty of aiding and abetting insurrection; 14/3 eligible!

Where's that book?  

Restoring Democracy in the USA in 2026

There are 22 Republican Senators up for reelection in 2026, and as many  as possible have to be replaced by Democrats in those elections.  

Those states that have Democratic, legislative majorities, and Democratic governors can 14/3 their Republican criminal syndicate, US Senators (that didn't vote to convict 45 for inciting insurrection) out of office; permanently.  

If that combination can give the Democrats a 67 seat majority in the US Senate, along with a simple majority in the US House, then 47 can be impeached and convicted for inciting insurrection and emolument clause violations; 14/3'd out of office and then made available for trial on charges that are pending due to his reelection.  

Otherwise, there will be a need to wait till 2028 to oust 47...  God help us, if we didn't help ourselves, by procuring at least a simple majority in the US House and/or Senate.

Informing the 14/3 Qualified...

On January 6, 2021 an insurrection against the USA happened at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C.  It was incited by the 45th President in order that he might remain in the office of the President after losing the election in November of 2020.

45 was impeached for inciting the insurrection, but an insufficient number of Republicans in the US Senate voted to convict the impeached former President.  If convicted, 45 would have been forbidden from holding any public office in the USA ever again, as outlined in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

If the 45th President had been appropriately convicted, ostracized, we could not be where we are today.  The US Representatives and Senators that voted against either impeachment or conviction are guilty of aiding and abetting insurrection; equally qualified to be banned from holding any public office in the manner proscribed in the aforementioned 14/3.

Let all who were involved (before, during or after) in the insurrection be hereby informed of their 14/3 status, then remove said individuals from any and all public offices.

Speaking of: impeachment, conviction and 14/3...

Can you say, “emolument clause violations?”

Can We Finally Put To Rest The Myth That Republicans Are Good For The Economy?

 
Copied, without permission, from the Political Voices Network

As Trump destroys global financial stability, it’s time to recognize that GOP’s “fiscal responsibility” is a con—and America has been the mark for decades.

Tara Devlin

Apr 13, 2025

For over four decades, American voters have been subjected to one of the most successful mass gaslighting campaigns in modern history—the carefully cultivated myth that Republicans are better for the economy than Democrats.

We’ve heard our friends and family rely on this myth when making excuses for casting a Republican vote. "I’m a fiscal conservative," they claim, as if this magical incantation absolves them of supporting a party that openly peddles hate and division. They’ve got a Black friend! A gay cousin! They’re not like those Republicans. No, they just really love that sweet, sweet (supposedly amazing) Republican “fiscal” policy.

Of course, this is demonstrably false and easily debunked. A perfunctory dive into our history reveals the repeated economic calamities Republican policies have wrought for the working class majority.

In order to vote for their own demise, the average Republican has swallowed two lies: first, that the only thing Democrats do is "tax and spend" (code for: they take money from hardworking white people and give it to those lazy “others”), and second, that Republicans are somehow guardians of financial wisdom, and “adult” enough to unsympathetically kick those lazy “others” in the ass (to motivate them).

They’re half right about one thing—Democrats do want to raise taxes— on the billionaires who’ve been riding our backs like entitled parasites for generations. Not, the working class.

The truth is Republicans tax hardworking Americans of all pigments, but rather than giving it to all those lazy supposed “welfare queens” who roll up in limos to collect their public assistance and their “young buck” sons buying T-bone steaks with their oh-so-generous food stamps, Republicans rob from working people to add another zero on the bank accounts of the already-rich.

The Math Doesn’t Lie—Republicans Do

Here’s what your Republican uncle doesn’t understand: every dollar spent on social programs generates about $1.60 in economic activity. That’s money flowing back into the economy and local businesses. But when Republicans shift that money upward through tax cuts for the rich, it disappears into offshore accounts and stock buybacks, widening the inequality gap that’s already choking our democracy. It’s like giving the wealthy more “mad money” to buy politicians and corrupt government, ensuring that income disparity between the rich and poor widens and the chances for upward mobility for those not born with a trust fund gets further out of reach.

Math, history and our own eyes show us the entire GOP economic agenda is a con job to slash taxes for the oligarchs, deregulate corporations until they’re our unrestrained overlords, then cry about deficits the second the Democrats attempt to do anything to balance the scales for the working-class majority. And yet, despite a century of irrefutable proof that conservative policies lead to financial calamity for the many, the media still treats "Republican fiscal responsibility" as a legitimate position rather than the bad-faith grift it so obviously is.

In his first mal-administration, the Republican con man standard bearer added trillions to the debt with his tax scam that did nothing but make the rich richer and increase a wealth gap that was already wider than in Ancient Rome. Yet, in 2024, Republicans had the gall to run on economic competence. Why wouldn’t they? The media played along, incessantly reporting polls showing voters trusted Trump on the economy despite all available evidence proving it was a sucker’s bet.

This wasn’t reporting—it was active participation in the Republican con with a fabrication so easily debunked that repeating should be considered media malpractice. Yet, we saw it gain traction throughout the entirety of the last presidential campaign. While right-wing propaganda outlets can be expected to cultivate the fiction their a serially bankrupt standard bearer is an economic genius, the mainstream media spent the 2024 election cycle repeating endless polls showing that average Americans believed Trump would be better for the economy than Biden. Again, in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

So, here we are, watching as con man whose entire career is a case study in grift and failure, turns the global economy into his latest “Trump Taj Mahal.” And yet, somehow, the corporate media still gives the Republican Party the benefit of the doubt, as if they’re even attempting to be sober stewards of shared prosperity.

Well, it’s time to say, “enough!” Let’s drag this myth into the middle of 5th Ave and do away with it once and for all

GOP: From “The Party of Lincoln” to the Party of Looters

It may be hard to believe now, but the Republican Party was once a progressive force in American politics. Founded in 1854 by Northern abolitionists in opposition to the expansion of slavery into new territories, Republicans once pushed for civil rights, public education, and economic reforms to benefit both Black and white citizens. By the 1880s, they sold their soul to became the spokesmen for selfishness and unbridled greed. The GOP became the political enforcers for Rockefeller, Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan—trading their moral backbone for gilded-age bribes. This was the moment the Republican Party stopped being a force for economic justice and became the attack dogs of oligarchy and they’ve been licking corporate boots ever since.

The First GOP-Created Economic Collapse: The Long Depression (1873–1896)

Before the Great Depression of the 20th Century, there was a 23-year economic nightmare sparked by wild speculation, corporate looting, and brutal austerity—AKA: Republican policies. What later became known as the “Long Depression,” began with a financial crisis called the “Panic of 1873”, which kicked off when “Jay Cooke & Company” collapsed under the weight of its overextended investments. The failure of this major financier of railroad expansion sparked a chain reaction of bank failures and business bankruptcies. The New York Stock Exchange was forced to close for ten days, and within two years, 18,000 businesses failed, including 89 railroads.

The American “Robber Baron”

Railroads were America’s first major industry, but the exploitative practices of the powerful, so-called “captains of industry” earned them the infamous nickname "robber barons." The term originally referred to medieval European feudal lords who preyed on travelers by imposing exorbitant tolls or engaging in outright banditry along the trade routes they controlled. By the late 19th century, newspapers and Congressional testimony drew parallels between these medieval oppressors and their American counterparts—figures like Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Carnegie—whose rapacious greed, monopolistic practices, and complete disregard for the public good led to widespread suffering among working people. Their actions solidified their reputation as modern-day robber barons, exploiting the nation solely for selfish personal gain.

The GOP's commitment to "hard money" policies meant supply was constrained by the amount of gold available. Limited currency in circulation disproportionately harmed farmers, laborers, and debtors while benefiting wealthy creditors. Construction halted, wages were slashed as much as 50% and strikes erupted nationwide. While punctuated by periodic recessions, the Long Depression lasted decades. It was an example of conservatives putting corporate profits over public welfare, leaving workers to bear the brunt of austerity and financial collapse. A cycle that will repeat again and again.

It took the Progressive Era—and Democratic leadership—to finally rein in this out-of-control corporate oligarchy. No, it wasn’t the goodness of our benevolent Lords finally seeing the light and deciding to share the profits of the wealth that labor makes possible in the first place—but government policy that somewhat balanced the scales.

Progressives introduced antitrust laws, labor protections, and a federal income tax to claw back some semblance of economic fairness. The pattern was set: Republicans wreck the economy for the many to enrich the few—Democrats clean up the mess.

The Republican Great Depression (1929–1941)

If we need a definitive case study in failed Republican economic malpractice, look no further than the Republican Great Depression of the early 20th century—a catastrophe entirely engineered by GOP policies.

Under Republican rule in the 1920s, the U.S. was transformed into a high-stakes casino for the wealthy elite, featuring tax cuts for millionaires, zero financial oversight, and a stock market driven by reckless speculation rather than sound investment.

When the bubble burst in 1929, Republican President Herbert Hoover responded as Republicans often do when confronted with the reality of their failed policies—by doing nothing. The ideology of “laissez-faire” capitalism and the myth of “rugged individualism” were the canon of their “I got mine, better luck next life” cult. Republicans dismissed the widespread suffering their policies caused as merely a turn of Fortuna’s wheel—a bump in the economic cycle. Naturally, their indifference to the plights of average Americans had devastating consequences. Unemployment soared to 25%, millions lost their homes and faced starvation. The harrowing toll of malnutrition and hypothermia climbed as Republicans remained passive, seemingly unconcerned with the suffering their policies inflicted. Waiting out the clock when the supposed cycle corrected itself —after so many had suffered and died, of course.

Governor FDR’s New Deal Gets a Trial Run in New York

In stark contrast, during the Republican Great Depression of the 20th century, then governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt took the New Deal for a test drive as his state experimented with government intervention to address the crisis. New York became the only state to provided public assistance to those devastated by the economic collapse—a precursor to what would become his transformative New Deal.

For example, in 1931, Roosevelt created New York’s “Temporary Emergency Relief Administration” (TERA). Our nation’s first program for unemployment relief, TERA provided direct home relief and work relief, focusing on socially useful projects that paid prevailing wages. While other states directed suffering citizens to fall back on the old Dark Ages strategies of begging alms from the Church—policies throughout history that did nothing but let an indifferent government off the hook for doing nothing to promote the general welfare—Roosevelt raised state income taxes on the wealthy by 50%, authorized bonds to fund public works programs and put New Yorkers back to work. While Americans struggled under minimal or non-existent relief efforts in other states, New York became a model of how government could step in to protect citizens during economic collapse, laying the ground work for the national New Deal.

FDR’s New Deal Goes National

In 1932, FDR was elected to the presidency on the promise to actually do something to help Americans suffering under the Republican economic collapse. Fundamentally reshaping America’s economy, the New Deal introduced Social Security, which, ensuring that millions no longer faced destitution if a calamity befell them or they were fortunate enough to grow old. The New Deal also aimed to prevent the kind of reckless speculation that actually led to the economic depression to begin by regulating Wall Street through the Securities Exchange Act. Labor rights were strengthened with the Wagner Act, empowering workers to unionize and bargain collectively, leading to better wages and working conditions.

Public works programs, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), put millions back to work building infrastructure, roads, and schools all over the nation. These initiatives not only provided immediate relief but also laid the groundwork for long-term economic growth that had the added benefit of modernizing the country’s infrastructure.

The New Deal’s success was undeniable. It pulled America out of the Great Depression and laid the foundation for an unprecedented era of prosperity in the post-war years. For the first time in history, a thriving middle class emerged as the backbone of American society, buoyed by policies like the GI Bill, which helped millions of veterans returning from defeating fascism overseas to shore up freedom and prosperity at home through accessing education and home loans.

Right on cue, in subsequent decades conservatives in both parties began dismantling these policies. With the help of right-wing media made possible by Bill Clinton signing the “Telecommunications Act of 1996,” the American people began to think that their middle-class status was a direct result of own “bootstraps” rather than a result of hard work and government policies. The conservative media sang a siren song of divisiveness to the white working class that went something like this—if they had “pulled themselves up by their bootstraps,” what’s wrong with those “other” communities? Of course, the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News left out that in order to get votes from Senators and Representatives from the Jim Crow south, some New Deal policies weren’t extended to Americans with darker pigment. In any case, the environment that created an economically vibrant working class came from government policies, not because a Robber Baron felt like trickling. Conservatives in the halls of power ramped up their “divide and conquer” rhetoric, began chipping away at the New Deal and the middle class began, once again, slipping lower and lower on the ladder.

Reagan’s Trickle Down Lies

Fast-forward to the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan took the GOP’s old playbook—cut taxes for the rich, deregulate everything, and let corporations run wild—and rebranded it as "supply-side economics." This concept suggested that if the wealthy were given tax breaks, they would invest those savings back into the economy, ultimately benefiting everyone.

Never at a loss for shamelessness, Republicans employed easily-debunked charts and graphs to justify their trickle down BS. Famously, Ronald Reagan displayed one of these charts during a national address. “The Laffer Curve” was supposed to depict how sweeping tax cuts on the rich would lead to shared prosperity for all.

I know you won’t be surprised to hear that empirical evidence from Reagan's presidency shows that these tax cuts disproportionately benefited the rich while failing to deliver the promised economic benefits for the broader population. By slashing top marginal tax rates from 70% to 28%, all Reagan did was allow the wealthiest Americans to accumulate even more wealth, while middle- and lower-income groups saw their prosperity decline.

It was always a scam. Reagan’s tax cuts exploded the deficit, ballooning it from around $900 billion in 1980 to over $2.8 trillion by the end of his presidency. His union-busting efforts crushed wages, leading to a decline in the middle class purchasing power. Financial deregulation paved the way for the Savings & Loan crisis, a disastrous failure that cost taxpayers $160 billion to clean up. The rich got richer—by 1989, the wealthiest 1% held 40% of the nation’s wealth—while everyone else got screwed. Republicans spun this as a "boom," claiming that the economy was thriving, despite the growing inequality.

The worst part is they’re still peddling the same snake oil today, insisting that tax cuts for the wealthy will lead to job creation and economic prosperity, even in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. By continuing to spread the trickle down lie, they ultimately give away the game that their policies are ruse to make the rich richer and turn the working class into the more malleable working poor.

Bush II: From Surplus to Another Meltdown

When Bill Clinton left office in 2001, the U.S. had a budget surplus and was on track to pay off the national debt. The country was experiencing economic growth characterized by low unemployment and rising wages. Then George W. Bush arrived with two unfunded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and tax cuts predominantly benefiting the wealthy—and within eight years, the economy was in freefall.

The 2008 financial crash wasn’t an accident; it was the direct result of GOP deregulation, which allowed Wall Street to turn the housing market into a Ponzi scheme. The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, which had previously separated commercial and investment banking, contributed significantly to the crisis. Millions lost their homes, and unemployment soared to nearly 10%. Meanwhile, Republicans suddenly remembered once again that they "cared" about deficits—just in time to block Obama’s recovery efforts.

Obama: Cleaning Up Bush’s Mess and Handing Trump a Booming Economy

When Barack Obama took office in January 2009, he inherited the worst economic crisis since the first Republican Great Depression—courtesy of George W. Bush’s catastrophic kiss up/kick down mismanagement. The stock market had collapsed, unemployment was skyrocketing, and the auto industry—the backbone of American manufacturing—was on the verge of total collapse, with GM and Chrysler facing bankruptcy.

But instead of doing what Republicans always do (let it burn), Obama acted:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act injected $831 billion into the economy, creating millions of jobs and preventing a full-blown depression. This included funding for infrastructure projects, education, and healthcare, which collectively helped stimulate economic activity.

The auto bailout saved GM and Chrysler, preserving 1.5 million jobs and preventing economic collapse in the Midwest, which would have had devastating effects on local economies.

Dodd-Frank financial reform reined in Wall Street’s worst excesses, imposing stricter regulations on banks to prevent another financial crisis (though not enough, thanks to GOP obstruction).

The result:

75 straight months of job growth—the longest streak in U.S. history.

Unemployment dropped from 10% to 4.7% by the end of Obama’s term, signaling a robust recovery.

The stock market tripled, adding $18 trillion in wealth, benefiting not just the rich but also the middle class via retirement accounts and investments.

GDP grew steadily, with no recessions in his final six years—demonstrating the effectiveness of his policies.

This is the economy President Obama handed the tax-cheating serial bankrupt Republican con man that succeeded him, despite receiving fewer votes. Obama left Putin’s favorite president a thriving economy with record-low unemployment, rising wages, and booming markets— an economy Trump immediately took credit for, despite having done nothing to build it.

Trump: The Grifter-in-Chief Who Crashed the Economy (Twice)

As I’ve written above, Traitor Trump inherited President Obama’s thriving economy, immediately took credit for it, then proceeded to pass a $1.9 trillion tax cut for corporations that disproportionately benefited the wealthy and did nothing for workers. Wages stagnated, and the deficit ballooned to over $3 trillion. In keeping with his unbroken record of destroying everything he gets his greed-centered clutches on, Trump’s pandemic response was the worst in the world.

For a refresher, let’s review:

The conman Republican standard bearer dismantled the pandemic response team Obama had created, which had been specifically designed for situations like this.

He ignored warnings, downplayed the threat, and let the virus spread unchecked, resulting in over 700,000 American lives lost.

His chaotic "leadership" led to the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression, with 22 million jobs lost in a single month, and many small businesses shuttered permanently.

By the time he left office, the U.S. had fewer jobs than when he started—the worst record since Herbert Hoover.

And yet, thanks to corporate media gaslighting, many still insist he was an economic genius, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

In case you needed more examples of Republican destruction, let’s just take a stroll through the Red States.

Red States: More Illustrations of Failed Republican Policies

If Republican economic policies actually worked, we’d expect their stronghold states to be thriving models of prosperity. Instead, they’re national embarrassments—collapsing under the weight of their own ideological malpractice.

Let’s briefly go through some.

Kansas: The Tax-Cut Lab Rat That Almost Died

• The Experiment: In 2012, GOP Governor Sam Brownback slashed taxes for the rich, promising an economic "miracle."

• The Result: Instead of prosperity, Kansas faced school closures, crumbling infrastructure, and a tanking credit rating. Funding for public education was slashed, teacher layoffs increased, and even Republicans had to reverse the tax cuts in 2017, acknowledging the disastrous impact on the state's economy.

Texas: The "Miracle" That’s Really a Corporate Welfare Scam

• The Myth: Texas boasts about low taxes and "small government," portraying itself as a beacon of economic freedom and opportunity.

• The Reality: Despite these claims, Texas has the highest uninsured rate in America, a collapsing power grid exposed during winter storms, and schools facing severe underfunding. Moreover, Texas takes $1.50 from blue states for every $1 it pays in federal taxes, effectively relying on the economic stability of states like California and New York to prop up its own failures.

Mississippi: America’s Basement

• The Record: Mississippi consistently ranks dead last in healthcare, education, and infrastructure, with a poverty rate exceeding the national average.

• The Hypocrisy: This state receives $2.63 in federal aid for every $1 it contributes, all while lecturing about "self-reliance" and personal responsibility. The state's leaders often advocate for smaller government, yet they rely heavily on federal funds to survive.

Alabama: The Education Crisis

• The Reality: Alabama's education system is among the worst in the nation, with some of the lowest funding per student and poor graduation rates. The state ranks 50th in education spending, leading to a workforce ill-prepared for modern jobs.

• The Federal Dependency: Alabama takes $1.71 in federal aid for every $1 it contributes, showcasing its reliance on federal support while promoting anti-government rhetoric.

Louisiana: The Poverty Capital

• The Record: Louisiana has the highest poverty rate in the country, with significant disparities in healthcare access and educational attainment. The state frequently ranks at the bottom for public health outcomes and infrastructure.

• The Funding Gap: Louisiana receives $1.38 in federal aid for every $1 it pays in taxes, demonstrating its economic dependence on federal support.

West Virginia: The Coal State in Decline

• The Reality: Once thriving due to coal mining, West Virginia has seen its economy decline sharply as coal jobs disappeared. The state has one of the highest unemployment rates and struggles with widespread drug addiction.

• The Federal Lifeline: West Virginia takes $2.25 in federal aid for every $1 it pays in taxes, relying heavily on federal funds to support its economy.

Arkansas: A Struggling Economy

• The Record: Arkansas consistently ranks low in health care, education, and economic opportunity. The state has high rates of obesity and poor health outcomes, which impact productivity and economic growth.

• The Dependency: Arkansas takes $1.51 in federal aid for every $1 it pays in taxes, showcasing its reliance on federal assistance to sustain its economy.

Oklahoma: The Budget Crunch

• The Crisis: Oklahoma has faced severe budget shortfalls, leading to cuts in education, healthcare, and public safety. The state has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents and struggles to fund essential services.

• The Aid Reliance: Oklahoma takes $1.29 in federal aid for every $1 it pays in taxes, revealing its economic vulnerability and dependence on federal support.

Red States Are the Real “Welfare Queens”

The top ten states that take the most federal aid relative to taxes are all Republican-run. Red states like Kansas, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma are economic basket cases surviving only by leeching off progressive tax dollars from blue states like New York and California.

More infuriating still is rather than be grateful for the help Blue State voters generously provide, these poorly run Red State voters can’t seem to muster the manners or maturity to say “thanks,” and consistently disparage Democratic voters. They can’t even say the actual name of the DemocraTIC Party, for Chrissakes!

So, as we can see, history, reality and math have a “liberal bias” that can’t be denied. The persistent economic struggles faced by the American populace can be traced back to the deliberate actions and policies of the Republican Party. Time to stop giving them the benefit of the doubt. They’re not trying to cultivate an economy that works for all. They’re trying to replace the “Grand Experiment” with autocracy because it’ll be easier for them to steal. An upwardly mobile, economically vibrant working class is one that demands a fair share of the profits their labor makes possible. That’s a working class majority the “masters of the universe” don’t want to have to consider.

I really wish I were wrong, but watching Trump, Musk, and the Republican Party implement Project 2025, it can’t be denied: Republicans aren’t just rolling back the New Deal and the Progressive Era; they’re rolling back the American Revolution with the help of pervasive myths about their economic competence. Despite the overwhelming evidence linking GOP governance to economic crises, the party continues to perpetuate myths that shield them from accountability, aided by a complicit corporate media.

The historical pattern is clear: Democratic administrations are left to clean up the messes created by their Republican counterparts, who strategically employ tactics to maintain their grip on power, all while distracting voters with culture wars. As the threat of further economic ruin looms thanks to this incompetent tax-cheating lifelong con man at the helm, it is imperative for Americans to recognize the cycle of sabotage and take a stand against it.

Support independent liberal voices! Watch “The Tara Show with Tara Dublin and Tara Devlin” here on the Political Voices Network, Tuesdays and Thursdays 2PM EST!

If you missed the show live, check it out at the Political Voices Network on YouTube!

Learning the Cost of Eliminating Civics Classes in Our Schools

The reason that Republicans tried, with too much success, to eliminate Civics from school curricula was evident last night.

I went to the Wilco Young Democrats meeting Thursday night to talk to them.  I told them that their voice and vote were important. You know this, because Republicans are trying hard to block that vote and voice.

The DMV knows when you are of voting age, and they have your address; can send you a ballot automatically for every election...  It's called motor voter, and you don't have it because Republicans are terrified of you specifically, and large voter turnout in general.

They are not as scared of someone my age, because many of us, who are older, are (were) dependable Republican voters.  They should be more scared of older folks, because when we turn out in larger numbers we aren't the dependable, Republican voters they believe we are.

As I sat across the table, conversing with the younger folks, they said, "we don't feel like we are being heard."  They asked their group's leader and she told them how to get their perspective registered with their elected officials, and still... 

I mentioned that as their candidate I was seeking their perspective, but (as I found out) there's 142,000 (not the 92,000 that I had guessed) voters/constituents in every Texas House district. So, even though I now have some of their ideas, unless they vote in sufficient numbers, their representative will remain the Republican incumbent.

Even if I were to get elected there would still be the perspective of as many of the 142,000 constituents to consider.  Their particular ideas might not rise to the top, and it might still appear that they were not heard; listened to...  The notion that it was their responsibility to make sure their ideas had been properly received seemed completely lost on them. 

The young folks were told that in the 1960s progress on voting and civil rights had been achieved...  In the 1970s progress was made in women's health care, specifically maternal care.  We, their parents and grandparents, had gotten sassy, fat and self-satisfied and most of that progress has been lost (three steps forward, two steps back).

We, older generations, must work with our offspring to regain the progress that was lost if we all want to move ahead.

Frankly, the evening was kinda disappointing.

In the course of human history Democracy has been very rare.

Democracy doesn't happen on it's own. 

Democracy is not self-sustaining. 

The effort to establish Democracy has always been difficult. 

Sustained Democracy has been short term and, to date, long term success has escaped every democratic effort.

The time of challenge remains upon us, and the odds of success in continuing our Democracy are, historically, against us.

“...A republic, if you can keep it,” said Ben Franklin in 1787.

Our fate is in our hands.

How Poor and Middle Class Wage Earners Subsidize the Wealthy 1%

You pay sales taxes on every eligible purchase; most, every day, purchases are taxed.  The less you earn the higher the percentage of your income is consumed by sales taxes.

You own, or are purchasing, a home (condo, house, adu, etc...) it's not cash unless you sell it, but you pay property taxes on it, every year.

If you own, or are buying, a car (truck, etc...) it's not cash unless you sell it, but you pay taxes on it every year.

If you own stock, equity, in any company...  it's not cash unless you sell it; there are no taxes on that stock till you sell it.

None!

Yet, if you borrow money, up to the entire market value of that stock, there's still no taxes; even as you're cashing in!  

This is how wealthy people accumulate and spend enormous amounts of money with out ever having to pay taxes.  

This, and thousands more pages of tax law, is how poor and middle class people subsidize the rich here in the United States of America.

These are the 1% that own the Republican criminal syndicate (RCS).  Unlike Musk, they hide behind the curtain and pull the strings that control the RCS; control the grifting, pathological liar that was 45, and is now, the 47th president of these United States of America.

45 should have been impeached, convicted and banned from holding any public office, ever again.  See: Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.  The self-centered, cowards of the RCS, that should have done this, are terrified of being swept out of office by primary opponents, funded by the money of the wealthy oligarchs hiding behind the curtains; puppet masters of the RCS.

If you voted for these two administrations (45 & 47) then you are the gullible fools that the 1% and the RCS depend upon; conned gratulations!

FAFO...

The elections of 2024 created chaos of enormous proportions in the US government, and caused great anxiety amongst many other nations (especially those that had considered the USA an ally) around the world.  The results happened because, statistically, 9 million fewer people voted in 2024, when compared to the turn out for the 2020 Presidential elections.

Too many Democrats are pointing at one another, in circular firing squad fashion, to assign blame...  Other democrats are saying that we should change this, that or another thing.

Bull Shit!

Three things need to be done, by as close to everybody, as close to all of the time as is possible:  Register (double check) to vote; vote in as close to every election as you can; communicate with your elected officials (courteously, briefly and often).

The Democratic party ain't perfect, because perfect is an unattainable, stretch goal; there has never been anything that could not be improved. The Democrats are the, “big tent,” party in which no one will ever completely agree with anyone else; does not mean tear it down...  Does mean agree, or agree to disagree, and move on.

Major legislation was passed during the Biden administration...

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1143149435/despite-infighting-its-been-a-surprisingly-productive-2-years-for-democrats  

This would have been left in capable hands, to be sustained and improved upon, by a Harris/Walz administration.

There was significant progress in the Biden administration via executive orders...

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/politics/biden-laws-passed-priorities-to-get-done-executive-orders/index.html   

This, too, would have fared productively in a Harris/Walz administration.

Then there was the comparison twixt the 45 administration and the Biden administration...

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/04/07/trump-vs-biden-who-got-more-done-on-legislation/   

The US economy was predicted to go into recession after Covid...  It did no such thing.  The US economy recovered fastest amongst the advanced economies of the world; was the envy of all those other national economies.

In point of fact President Bill Clinton mentioned, during his speech at the 2024 Democratic convention, that since the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1989, 51 million jobs have been created in the USA. 50 million were created during Democratic administrations; 1 million jobs created during Republican administrations.  This can be confirmed via: verify.com; Snopes/MSN.com; Politifact.com; ABC News online; gigafact.org; etc...

The gang that can't think straight (when they bother to try), headed by merde l'orange and the DOGEbag incels, is the current administration thanks to almost 10 million voters who couldn't be bothered to show up and vote.  The mess you've created will get cleaned up by those of us who do, almost always show up, at an unfortunately great cost.

FU!

Civil War II Will Be Fought in the Courts, Nationwide.

State and federal legislators: Democrat, Independent and RINO (because they wouldn't join the Republican move to a criminal syndicate);

For God's sake, get off your hands!

45 incited insurrection and enough Republican (in their criminal syndicate) Representatives and Senators turned a blind eye, aiding and abetting insurrection, that we now have merde l'orange 47.  All the above are eligible for Section 3 of the 14th Amendment's boot out of any, and all, public offices; forever.

Then start the prosecutions based on: Mueller, Smith, Senate Intel and House January 6th committees' reports; GA, AZ, etc... election certification chicanery; stopping CO and ME from controlling access to their own state, 2024 ballots; Review Citizens United and Presidential immunity SCOTUS decisions; forensic auditing of the million dollar (to quarter billion dollar), dark money donors (including: Russian, American and other kleptogarchs) to the Republican criminal syndicate; etc...

There is an enormous amount of, alleged, illegal activity to bring to trial.  Spread the word:

Get Busy, Damn It!!!

Ralph Nader > In the Public Interest > Stay Silent and Stay Powerless Against Trump’s Tyranny

Democratic Party Leaders – Get Tough and Hold Regular Unofficial Congressional Hearings by and for the People!

Mar 16, 2025

Copied, without permission, from Ralph Nader’s official website…

By Ralph Nader

March 14, 2025

There are reasons why influential or knowledgeable Americans are staying silent as the worsening fascist dictatorship of the Trumpsters and Musketeers gets more entrenched by the day. Most of these reasons are simple cover for cowardice.

Start with the once-powerful Bush family dynasty. They despise Trump as he does them. Rich and comfortable George W. Bush is very proud of his Administration’s funding of AIDS medicines saving lives in Africa and elsewhere. Trump, driven by vengeance and megalomania, moved immediately to dismantle this program. Immediate harm commenced to millions of victims in Africa and elsewhere who are reliant on this U.S. assistance (including programs to lessen the health toll on people afflicted by tuberculosis and malaria).

Not a peep from George W. Bush, preoccupied with his landscape painting and perhaps occasional pangs of guilt from his butchery in Iraq. His signal program is going down in flames and he keeps his mouth shut, as he has largely done since the upstart loudmouth Trump ended the Bush family’s power over the Republican Party.

Then there are the Clintons and Obama. They are very rich, and have no political aspirations. Yet, though horrified by what they see Trump doing to the government and its domestic social safety net services they once ruled, mum’s the word.

What are these politicians afraid of as they watch the overthrow of our government and the oncoming police state? Trump, after all, was not elected to become a dictator—declaring war on the American people with his firings and smashing of critical “people’s programs” that benefit liberals and conservatives, red state and blue state residents alike.

Do they fear being discomforted by Trump/Musk unleashing hate and threats against them, and getting tarred by Trump’s tirades and violent incitations? No excuses. Regard for our country must take precedence to help galvanize their own constituencies to resist tyranny and fight for Democracy.

What about Kamala Harris — the hapless loser to Trump in November’s presidential election? She must think she has something to say on behalf of the 75 million people who voted for her or against Trump. Silence! She is perfect bait for Trump’s intimidation tactics. She is afraid to tangle with Trump despite his declining polls, rising inflation, the falling stock market and anti-people budget slashing which is harming her supporters and Trump voters’ economic wellbeing, health and safety.

This phenomenon of going dark is widespread. Regulators and prosecutors who were either fired or quit in advance have not risen to defend their own agencies and departments, if only to elevate the morale of those civil servants remaining behind and under siege.

Why aren’t we hearing from Gary Gensler, former head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), now being dismantled, especially since the SEC is dropping his cases against alleged cryptocurrency crooks?

Why aren’t we hearing much more (she wrote one op-ed) from Samantha Power, the former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under Biden, whose life-saving agency is literally being illegally closed down, but for pending court challenges?

Why aren’t we hearing from Michael Regan, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under Biden about saboteur Lee Zeldin, Trump’s head of EPA, who is now giving green lights to lethal polluters and other environmental destructions?

These and many other former government officials all have their own circles – in some cases, millions of people – who need to hear from them.

They can take some courage of the seven former I.R.S. Commissioners — from Republican and Democratic Administrations — who condemned slicing the I.R.S staff in half and aiding and abetting big time tax evasion by the undertaxed super-rich and giant corporations. I am told that they would be eager to testify, should the Democrats in Congress have the energy to hold unofficial hearings as ranking members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees.

Banding together is one way of reducing the fear factor. After Trump purged the career military at the Pentagon to put his own “yes men” at the top, five former Secretaries of Defense, who served under both Democratic and Republican presidents, sent a letter to Congress denouncing Trump’s firing of senior military officers and requesting “immediate” House and Senate hearings to “assess the national security implications of Mr. Trump’s dismissals.” Not a chance by the GOP majority there. But they could ask the Democrats to hold UNOFFICIAL HEARINGS as ranking members of the Armed Services Committees!

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker can be one of the prime witnesses at these hearings – he has no fear of speaking his mind against the Trumpsters.

On March 6, 2025, the Washington Bureau Chief of the New York Times, Elisabeth Bumiller, put her rare byline on an urgent report titled, “‘People Are Going Silent’: Fearing Retribution, Trump Critics Muzzle Themselves.”

She writes: “The silence grows louder every day. Fired federal workers who are worried about losing their homes ask not to be quoted by name. University presidents [one exception is Wesleyan University President Michael Roth] fearing that millions of dollars in federal funding could disappear are holding their fire. Chief executives alarmed by tariffs that could hurt their businesses are on mute.”

To be sure, government employees and other unions are speaking out and suing in federal court. So are national citizen groups like Public Citizen and the Center for Constitutional Rights, though hampered in alerting large audiences by newspapers like the Times rarely reporting their initiatives.

Yes, Ms. Bumiller, pay attention to that aspect of your responsibility. Moreover, the Times’ editorial page (op-ed and editorials) are not adequately reflecting the urgency of her reporting. Nor are her reporters covering the informed outspokenness and actions of civic organizations.

Don’t self-censoring people know that they are helping the Trumpian dread, threat and fear machine get worse? Study Germany and Italy in the nineteen thirties.

The Trump/Musk lawless, cruel, arrogant, dictatorial regime is in our White House. Their police state infrastructure is in place. 

Silence is complicity!

From: The official website of Ralph Nader.


 

Raise the Minimum Wage...

To a living wage, and grow the economy.

If you bump up the minimum wage to an actual, living wage the businesses it effects will try to make it look devastating.  

First, businesses will create ever changing work schedules...  Any business open and operating on a regular, recurring schedule, week to week, should be required to have a regular, recurring work schedule for all their employees.  

Business will cut back on an individual employees work hours as a perceived form of punishment. This will only knee cap the business, because they'll still need the same number of total hours worked to support the normal volume of activity in the store or office.  

These dramatic overreactions will bite businesses in the butt, because they still need to satisfy, or lose, customers.  

When more people can afford to spend money into the economy, the economy will grow and thrive.  There's few, to no, places where one can live in modest comfort with a wage of less than $22 an hour; for at least 40 hours a week.

Business leaders, trying desperately hard to look stupid, will say even the poorest Americans can afford a car. Well, there are very few places in the USA that have sufficient public transit, so folks must have a car to get to work.  Second, most (40% of American families: epi.org; UnitedforALICE.org) are barely making ends meet; can't afford $400 for car maintenance...  Can't afford preventative, standard or emergency, medical care costs either.

The USA is the only OECD country where one can be bankrupted by medical expenses.

When more folks can afford to spend money back into the economy, while saving and investing, the economy will grow and thrive; period.  Only the narcissists and megalomaniacs will be unhappy.

The Road Back From Oligarchy to Democracy...

 The road back from the current oligarchy in the USA should start with the removal of government officials who broke their oath of office to allow 45 to be in the elections of 2024; to become 47.

These officials, Congressional and SCOTUS, paved the way for what should have been impossible; cleared the road for the grifter in chief, and the oligarchs behind the curtain, to move toward an authoritarian United States.

Any current congressional Republicans, or Democrats who voted against both impeachments of 45 should be 14/3 removed from office immediately.

Those who voted against impeachment or conviction for the insurrection of 6 January 2021 should definitely be shown the exit; should already be on the streets.  

SCOTUS justices that expedited the case that blocked CO & ME from exercising their 14/3 authority, to remove 45 from their 2024 primary ballots, are guilty of aiding and abetting insurrection; should be escorted out of office permanently.

The USA, and the rest of the world, deserve better than this...  We need to be able to watch as the USA corrects a serious, "47," mistake. 

 

 

Curbing Electricity Demand

 Moderating Demands on the Electric Grid...

Multiple corporate entities are asking for enormous increases in electricity generation and distribution on the public, municipal, power grid that supplies the entire United States with electricity, in support of data centers that will fulfill processing power requirements for AI and Kleptocurrency.

No.  Don't build it, at least, not yet.

IBM has made advances in fiber interconnectivity, within AI's data centers, that will significantly reduce the overall need for electricity...  This, and other operating efficiencies that are in the pipeline, will reduce the need for said massive increases in electricity production and distribution.  Full fledged power development for huge data centers needs to be restricted till technology advances do, what they have always done, reduce the size and power requirements of the instruments used in this, the information age.

Kleptocurrency (a.k.a., cryptocurrency; not by me) is also asking for others to provide them with enormous amounts of new electric power generation and distribution.

No! Not ever.

Kleptocurrency is designed to evade the reporting and regulatory environs that are required for actual currency (a.k.a., here as: legal tender).  The only function that kleptocurrency serves is criminal, and therefore should not be allowed to draw power from public, municipal grids; should not be allowed to create it's own power via nuclear means and methods.

Converting the entire country and, indeed, the whole world, to the use of renewable electricity is already taxing the facilities of said power generation and distribution physical plant.  

Don't add more unjustifiable stress. 

Unregulated Capitalism is Feudalism...

To return to properly regulated capitalism, we need:

A return to Democracy from the current oligarchy, that's attempting to transition to an authoritarian regime;

To make that change we need a congress that isn't controlled by the Republican, criminal syndicate.  Then, and only then, can legislation to end, make as close to impossible to recreate, Citizens United, literally, come to pass.

Then we must re-institute tax codes, higher taxes on significant wealth, that existed from the late 1940s through the 1970s;

Change back from what the well purchased Reagan administration, serving their wealthy oligarchs, did when taxes were reduced and tax shelters were created, as if tax reductions weren't enough;

Return to trust busting that Teddy Roosevelt's and FDR's administrations introduced... As Lina Khan had done during her term as chair of the Federal Trade Commission, aided by Jonathan Kanter when he was Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

You know, the things that only Democrats will do when properly pressured by the voters.

Who Let the Doge Out?

 It's great to hear MSNBC's hosts, including former Republicans like Michael Steele and Nicolle Wallace, using their bully pulpit to inform viewers that we have already gone from Democracy to oligarchy, courtesy of the Citizens United vs. the FEC SCOTUS decision.  

We are now transitioning to an authoritarian regime courtesy of the wealthy oligarchs, aristocrat wannabes, who have leveraged Citizens United to do all the damage to Democracy that's possible from said oligarchy.

However:

FAFO is in process;

See the lyrics to: FAFO, A Government Carol (from the blog of  BlueBoomerHD);

See also: RICO Republicans (from the blog of BlueBoomerHD as well);

COBOL flustered the Dogebag incels, because it's a mainframe programming language developed in the late 1950s and early 60s; their grandparents used it in mainframe based data centers.  They never realized that they'd need to understand that sort of old timey thing.  If you really want to see the eyes roll back, in the head of a Millennial or Gen Z programmer, talk about flowcharts;

The reason the Dogebag incels thought someone from 1875 was getting Social Security payments was because they've accessed test and development systems only.  The aforementioned systems use deceased persons so that it is nearly impossible to accidentally, or purposely, get the different computing environs mixed up.

Joe knew on election day that the government needed to be locked down, because the 45 administration; the book, “Project 2025;” and MAGAts that couldn't keep quiet... Let everybody know what was coming.

Lower level staff at various federal agencies were made aware, and given the ability to run interference, because the first priority of the incoming 47 administration was to install toadies in the leadership roles of all executive agencies.

A mess is being made by the 47 administration that is, mostly, being contained while evidence of criminal behavior is collected; charges to come (see: RICO Republicans, above).

To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

A Few Thoughts for Younger Voters...

 Living indoors is far more expensive than it should be; than it has been within my own lifetime.

Why?

Because in 1999 the last of the Glass-Steagall Act (G-S A) was repealed.  G-S A separated risky investments from (regulated to be) safer investments.  Wall Street was able to kill off the Savings and Loan Financial Services Industry (S&L). People got modest interest on savings placed in an S&L branch bank, and that money was made available to people, as a lower than average rate mortgage, for home (house and condo) buyers.  A home was a place where you lived.  Now, a home is an investment... A place where you make money/profit.  Housing inventory has been removed from the market, by large investors, to increase profit by manipulating supply.

I'm a Boomer who is a few years (<5 years) from owning my house, but will not downsize because the aforementioned inventory manipulation means it will cost me more to move to a smaller home, on a smaller lot.

If regulation returns then artificial supply reductions will no longer cause higher profit margins: supply increases; prices drop. More of you younger consumers will be able to afford/own a home. Wall Street, and well purchased politicians, will fight this tooth and claw...

Your move.

Federal, and some states (like my home state of Texas), still have (for 15 years) a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and limits on overtime (no time and a half) wages.  That's a living wage absolutely nowhere, and I almost never use the concept of, "absolutes."

https://stephenwyman.substack.com/p/democrats-and-the-economy

Minimum wage needs to be, at least (see the cost of living on east and west coasts), tripled quickly.  The minimum wage should soon be doubled again and track inflation thereafter.

If you think Wall Street, and company, whined about S&Ls just wait till you hear them scream about how increased wages (and benefits) will create enormous rates of inflation and destroy the economy...  It's BS, because when more people can afford to do more than just live indoors and eat (y'know save and invest, also) the economy, customer base, grows (find the studies that prove that, they're out there, and you'll need 'em).

BTW, there's research out there, quite a bit of it, about how and why the USA has the most expensive, by a lot, and the least effective health care amongst the OECD nations of the world.  The reason we do so poorly, at such a high price, is for profit health care and for profit health insurance, also; medical bankruptcy happens in none of the other OECD countries.

https://stephenwyman.substack.com/p/voting-in-your-own-best-interest

There's only one party that can be convinced to do what's needed, and that's the Democrats.

https://stephenwyman.substack.com/p/why-vote-for-democrats

Regulated capitalism is the only way to make it possible for as close to everyone to prosper (live in reasonable comfort and security)...  My wife and I, along with quite a few other Boomers (the ones who didn't splurge, because they could), are living proof.

https://stephenwyman.substack.com/p/why-government-not-business-provides

Once again: Your move.

I'll help where I can, if you'll let some old timers participate.

https://stephenwyman.substack.com/p/recommended-reading

Just a bit of perspective, and suggested reading...

Xenophobia Explained

 It is important to remember in Germany, the USA and every where on the Earth where you find people: no hominids, then humans, evolved where they live now, unless you live in a specific region in Africa.  Second, the genetic difference between any two human beings is 0.5% of their individual genomes.  

Therefore, all the immigration problems, everywhere, occur when any group arrives in a new place and declares that nobody else needs be allowed in, because, "we're here."

We all need to recognize xenophobia as the enormous problem that it is, always has been, and engage the intelligence, that too many people are prone to denying, to work out a solution that will to be acceptable to a majority, because it will never be acceptable to everybody.

Working with the AfD, and their ilk, in Germany will always be as problematic as is working with the white nationalists in these United States of America. You need not take it from this WASP.  My ancestors arrived in the Americas about 400 years ago and (mostly) have not closed the door behind ourselves.

Working with others is always going to be working with someone who is very much like you; see the last sentence of the first paragraph.  If that doesn't make sense to you, you are the problem.