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HUMANITY DOOMSDAY CLOCK - Moves forward to 2125 due to election of US President trump.

Estimate of the time that Humanity will go extinct or civilization will collapse. The HUMANITY DOOMSDAY CLOCK moves forward to 2125 due to US President trump's abandonment of climate change goals. Clock moved to 90 seconds to doom at December 2023. Apologies to Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists for using the name.

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Wednesday, March 20, 2024

N S F W



I am disgusted by Americans who want to hand over our country to chickenshit crybaby trump.


Tyrants are all the same: Putin, crybaby trump, Hitler, Xi Xen Peng. 


Some of my ancestors fought with Washington in 1776 to end King George's tyranny. Some of them died in that War. 


Millions of Americans and people from other countries died to stop Hitler's tyranny in World War II.


I have studied Russia, Putin and Stalin, et.al., since 1960. Today, Putin bankrolls tyrants in many places, including the United States of America.


And yet, home grown domestic terrorists and the GOP want to hand over our country to crybaby trump whom Putin bankrolls. 


If he steals the office, he will send goons for critics.


I am such a critic. 


I will not go with those thugs. 




Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Dark


Rubens - Massacre of the Innocents


Human history shows that we are capable of darkness and violence on a massive scale. The United States of America seeks to upend that narrative by allowing the people to choose their leaders. We have succeeded bringing light and hope to all people for more than 250 years.


Today we see forces of darkness trying to end our narrative and bring back darkness and violence to the United States of America.


At this writing trump plans to appoint a convicted felon and notable traitor into his campaign. Paul Manafort is the subject of a massive Congressional investigation into his illegal campaign actions. 


Here is that report: 


Our future is at stake.



Thursday, March 14, 2024

trump Loses Popular Vote, Calls for Violence


trump wants desperately to be President. He will call for violence to install him in the White House when he loses the popular vote.


This November, we will need armed, sworn officers to protect the integrity of all the ballots,  from the voting booth through the installation of the President in January 2025. Any process that calls for openness should restrict personal access to the facility and instead offer closed circuit monitoring of any such process.


We should prepare to deploy National Guard to election offices in  each State where an election supervisor perceives threats.



Heather Cox Richardson presents the political situation in the United States of America today [See her column below].


Heather Cox Richardson Mar 14

 

After yesterday’s primary contests, we appear headed toward a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024. But this year’s election is an entirely different kettle of fish than that of 2020.


In 2020 there were plenty of red flags around Trump’s plans for a second term, but it was not until after it was clear he had lost the election that he gave up all pretense of normal presidential behavior. Beginning the night of the election, he tried to overturn that election and to install himself as president, ignoring the will of the voters, who had chosen Joe Biden. His attack on the fundamental principle of democracy ended the tradition of the peaceful transfer of power established in 1797 when our first president, George Washington, deliberately walked behind his successor, John Adams, after Adams was sworn into office.


Trump then refused to step aside for his successor as all of his predecessors had done, and has continued to push the Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. His loyalists in the states have embraced that lie, undermining faith in our electoral system, although they have never produced any evidence for their claims of voter fraud. (Remember the Cyber Ninjas who handled the election audit in Arizona? The company went out of business in 2022.)  


Then, a year after he left office, news broke that Trump had compromised the country’s national security by retaining highly classified documents and storing them in unsecured boxes at Mar-a-Lago. When the federal government tried to recover them, he hid them from officials. In June 2023 a grand jury in Miami indicted Trump on 37 felony counts related to that theft. 


Trump is not the same as he was in 2020, and in the past three years he has transformed the Republican Party into a vehicle for Christian nationalism. 


In 2016 the Republican Party was still dominated by leaders who promoted supply-side economics. They were determined to use the government to cut taxes and regulations to concentrate money and power among a few individuals, who would, theoretically, use that money and power to invest in the economy far more efficiently than they could if the government intervened. Before 2016 that Reaganesque party had stayed in office thanks to the votes of a base interested in advancing patriarchal, racist, and religious values. 


But Trump flipped the power structure in the party, giving control to the reactionary base. In the years since 2020, the Republican Party has become openly opposed to democracy, embracing the Christian nationalism of leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who maintains that the tenets of democracy weaken a nation by giving immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and women the same rights as heterosexual, native-born white men. 


Rather than calling for a small federal government that stays out of the way of market forces, as Republicans have advocated since 1980, the new Trump Party calls for a strong government that enforces religious rules and bans abortion; books; diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; and so on. In 2022, thanks to the three extremists Trump put on the Supreme Court, the government ceased to recognize a constitutional right that Americans had enjoyed since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision: the right to abortion.  


Last week, Trump formally took over the apparatus of the Republican Party, installing loyalists including his daughter-in-law at the head of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and purging the organization of all but his own people. Indicating its priorities, the RNC has hired Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, former correspondent at the right-wing media outlet One American News Network and promoter of the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, as senior counsel for election integrity. 


In Congress, far-right Trump supporters are paralyzing the House of Representatives. The Republicans took power after the midterm elections of 2022 and have run one of the least effective congresses in history. Far-right members have refused to agree to anything that didn’t meet their extremist positions, while first Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and then Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refused to reach out to Democrats to pass legislation except for must-pass laws like appropriations, when Democrats provide the majority of the votes that keep the government functioning. 


The result has been a Congress that can get virtually nothing done and instead has focused on investigations of administration officials including the president which have failed spectacularly. Republican members who actually want to pass laws are either leaving or declining to run for reelection. The conference has become so toxic that fewer than 100 members agreed to attend their annual retreat that began today. "I'd rather sit down with Hannibal Lecter and eat my own liver," a Republican member of Congress told Juliegrace Brufke of Axios.


Meanwhile, Trump has promised that if he returns to office, he will purge the nonpartisan civil service we have had since 1883, replacing career employees with his own loyalists. He has called for weaponizing the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense, and his advisors say he will round up and put into camps 10 million people currently living in the U.S., not just undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers but also those with birthright citizenship, tossing away a right that has been enshrined in the Constitution since 1868.


Internationally, he has aligned with dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and has threatened to abandon the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a security pact that has protected the U.S. and like-minded nations since 1949. 


If Trump has descended into authoritarianism since 2020, Biden has also changed. For all his many decades of public service, it was unclear in 2020 what he could actually accomplish as president, especially since Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had weaponized the filibuster to stop Congress from passing anything on the Democrats’ wish list. But on January 5, 2021, in a special election, Georgia voters elected Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and the Democrats took control of the Senate as well as of the House. 


In Biden’s first two years with the help of then House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who managed a squeaky-small House majority [with] Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic majority, and on occasion, a few Republicans set out to demonstrate that the government could work for ordinary Americans. They passed a series of laws that rivaled President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society of the 1960s. 


The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan rebuilt the economy after the worst of the coronavirus pandemic; the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act) is rebuilding the nation’s roads and bridges; the $280 billion Chips and Science Act invests in semiconductor manufacture and scientific research; the $739 billion Inflation Reduction Act enables the government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and invests in programs to combat climate change. Projects funded by these measures are so popular that Republicans who voted against them are trying to claim credit. 


Biden, Harris, and the Democrats have diversified the government service, defended abortion rights, reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, relieved debt by enforcing the terms of student loans, passed a gun safety law, and reinforced NATO.


They set out to overturn supply-side economics, restoring the system on which the nation had been based between 1933 and 1981, in which the government regulated business, maintained a basic social safety net, promoted infrastructure, and protected civil rights. The result was the strongest economic recovery from the pandemic of any country in the world.  


Now, the general election truly begins, and the contrast could not be clearer, Harris wrote after Biden secured the nomination. Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy and our fundamental freedoms. He is proud of his role in overturning Roe, and has talked openly about plans for a nationwide abortion ban. He routinely praises authoritarian leaders and has himself vowed to be a dictator on Day One. Just this week, he said that cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be on the table if he receives a second term. Each of these stances ought to be considered disqualifying by itself; taken together, they reveal the former President to be an existential danger to our country.


With his State of the Union speech last week, President Biden passionately presented our alternative vision. We will reduce costs for families, make housing more affordable, and raise the minimum wage. We will restore Roe, protect voting rights, and finally address our gun violence epidemic. The American people overwhelmingly support this agenda over Donald Trump’s extreme ideas, and that will propel our campaign in the months ahead.


It appears that Biden and Trump will square off again in 2024 as they did in 2020, but the election is not a replay of four years ago. Both candidates are now known quantities, and they have clearly laid out very different plans for America’s future. 




Reminder: These letters are available in a free audio version at Substack, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.


Notes:


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/cyber-ninjas-company-led-arizona-gop-election-audit-shutting-down-n1287145


https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/12/politics/rnc-trump-takeover-lawyers-election/index.html


https://apnews.com/article/trump-documents-investigation-timeline-087f0c9a8368bb983a16b67dd31dcd4c


https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-classified-documents-indictment-c15a5f36e4e83417805718d81a035441


https://www.axios.com/2024/03/12/house-republican-retreat-infighting


https://punchbowl.news/article/never-ending-impeachment-inquiry/


Twitter (X):


Acyn/status/1768084013799932213


david_darmofal/status/1767735412158570604/photo/2


Victorshi2020/status/1767965023115333973




Wednesday, March 6, 2024

State of the Union: We're Not Done Yet



State of the Union:  


We're Not Done Yet


We have more to do to help American families in all 50 states.


Join with us.. We need you.


The time is now



Thursday, February 22, 2024

WAR

 

We have war today. I was born in 1941; I lived through the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. I read and heard news about Evil every day.

 

The Evil is back now, today. Tyrants are Evil, regardless of the time and location. If we do not stop tyrants, they will expand their depravity until we force them to stop.

 

Putin is a tyrant, plain and simple. Tyrants act Evilly, it's what they do.

 

We define Evil as the complete lack of concern for those souls harmed by their actions; tyrants like Putin inflict their Evil on their subjects. We see it when Russian officers force Russian soldiers in Ukraine to step over bodies of their fallen comrades to advance Putin's interests.

 

Here is Evil defined:


Some Americans support Putin and work to prevent the USA from stopping Evil. They do Evil work by preventing actions in the United States designed to stop Putin’s war.

 

Putin’s Russia started a War in Europe by invading Ukraine and threatening to expand his invasion to other NATO countries. Since we are the principal arms and munitions suppliers to Ukraine, the United States is involved. Putin tries to infiltrate American elections to create an American inability to act. That makes his invasion campaign easier when Ukrainian troops run low on ammunition.

 

Putin actively sows misinformation about domestic US conditions in various channels. He hopes doing so will make the US weaker;  click here for proof. Trump and the far right GOP in Congress accept Russian propaganda as justification for their actions to weaken the United States.

 

We should find a way to deliver weapons and munitions to Ukraine quickly, in spite of GOP tactics designed to delay our response. I am certain our failure to do so will expand the War to other European countries.

 

Part of Putin’s control of Russian citizens relies on blocking messages from the West reaching them. We created Radio Free Europe [RFE] after World War II to ensure delivery of truth to Russian and other Soviet Bloc nations. RFE succeeded in that task. We should expand greatly those activities today. The goal will be to stir unrest in Russia so that Putin fears for his control.

 

We should also initiate activities designed to foment unrest in Russian citizens. We can support Expat Russians planning a transition to a new Russian government after Putin dies. We can encourage those Expats to write a Constitution, create plans for nationalizing enterprises and ensuring military cooperation to prevent any new tyrants from taking power when Putin dies.

 

These tactics will help our War Effort.



Monday, February 19, 2024

Russia After Putin



Inevitably, Putin will die. Worldwide opinion today turns anti-Putin. 


When he dies, there may be chaos in Russia. My bet is that he does not have a workable succession plan. Most dictators do not have one.


The West failed to assist Russia's move away from tyranny into a democratic state in the 1990's, after the Wall fell. Criminals amassed ownership of public property and installed a tyranny in Russia under Putin. 


I list below some steps that the West can take to facilitate Russia's transition to a democratically elected government and avoid a tyranny. A new Shadow Duma established with expats can start the process until a newly elected Duma arrives. Russians want to live in a Democracy and do not want a reinstallation of a tyrant successor to Putin. The West should help them do so.


The new government may choose to apply to join the EU as an Official Candidate for membership. However, the EU sets rigid requirements for Candidates who wish to join the EU. Click here for the EU enlargement process. 


Russia will not meet those conditions until Russia has a fully functioning elected government. I discuss here the necessary steps to join the EU eventually.


'In order to apply for EU membership, a country has to be European and respect the EU's democratic values. It also needs stable institutions guaranteeing democracy and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the ability to take on and carry out the obligations of the EU membership.Dec 6, 2023


A country can become an official candidate once it meets basic political, economic and reform criteria. It can then start formal negotiations on 35 chapters covering many different policy areas with the EU.'  Cloick here to see detailed steps


BEFORE THE EU APPLICATION


STEP 1: Establish a shadow Duma before Putin's demise using expat Russians who will meet and work on the EU Candidate process; and, begin writing a new Constitution. USA and EU can help organize and fund this. The shadow Duma can continue after Putin's demise until a newly elected Duma can meet. 


STEP 2: Establish coordination with top military officials to secure their agreement they will accept subordination to civilian authority established pursuant to the new Constitution. Discharge those who refuse.


Step 2.5. Enact martial law to prevent violence, election interference and possible overthrow of new government. 


STEP 3: Conduct elections to the new Duma with international supervision ensuring election integrity.


STEP 4. Nationalize all enterprises above an arbitrary limit such as 1,000 employees. The state will manage the enterprises. Later, the Duma can negotiate proposed acquisitions on a case-by-case basis with the objective of professional sustainable management and financial capacity


STEP 5. New government seeks outside cash assistance to endure that newly nationalized enterprises can meet their payroll until divested.


STEP 6. Appoint judges who support the new government to all judicial posts. Ensure each judicial appointment requires a public impeachment in the Duma to be overturned or compromised.


STEP 7. Establish Civil Service board to establish required credentials for new employees select and install government employees. Ensure that all meetings of the Board will be publicly viewable. 


STEP 8. New Duma will establish areas of interest for business enterprise regulation; then, it will write appropriate regulations.


 

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Sleep Little Donny, Sleep



 'Go to sleep little baby..'  


Little Donny, you fought so many battles for your family. Nobody understands how hard you fought.


And now you are tired, very tired.


Sleep will make you safe from them, the losers you beat.


Lay down your head and let the losers drift away.


Sleep the long sleep and be safe and warm......


You'll see your whole family when you rest. You'll be safe.


Saturday, February 10, 2024

Biden Responds: A Suggestion

Here's my idea for a Biden campaign speech:  


'My Fellow Americans:

 

I want to take a few moments for some straight up political messages. Please bear with me for a bit.

 

As you have heard, some folks in my opponent’s party are suggesting that I am too old to be trusted with Presidential duties. Some folks think my memory is a bit slow.

 

Really ??

 

Well, OK then. I encourage you to view my recent TV video ad addressing that topic. That video shows me interacting with several top National Security officers about pressing matters affecting several countries and political leaders. You can see how I go about the everyday business of protecting our National Security as your President by directing our officers to take actions relating to threats and other issues to specific people and locations around the world. As your President, I am in meetings like that every day, sometimes for 12 hours straight and longer if the situation warrants.

 

The same video shows my opponent speaking at a few campaign appearances. He seems to have some memory and comprehension issues. I am worried that he will fail to protect our National Security due to his evident health issues.

 

It seems like a clear choice for you.

 

Now, I want to take a minute and speak directly to Trump voters. As your President, I have the privilege of protecting your rights as Americans and I will continue to do that, regardless of the election results. It is the right thing to do. I will not use my office to persecute you for your political choices. They are your rights and I will protect them as fully as I can.

 

But, and it’s a big ‘but’, I will encourage the DOJ to prosecute you if you commit any insurrection acts or other crimes. If courts judge you guilty, I will not pardon you.

 

Some of you may have questions about Trump’s competency and effectiveness you choose to be quiet about. That’s normal and also the right thing to do.

 

Sometimes we make a choice that turns out badly and does not provide us with what we want. That has happened to me before. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but later I regretted it. If you have second thoughts about your choice, please know that you are wise to question that decision and then change it if you wish. 


Thansk you for your attention. God Bless America.'

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Appeals Court Rejects Trump Argument; Link to Full Opinon

 

The Appelate court [not the Supremes, it is my error] Rejects  the appeal. 


Click here Text of Supreme Court decision



Or copy and paste this link to your browser


https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/68ec07f627291201/6b857e6a-full.pdf

Friday, February 2, 2024

Empathy on Demand Side Creates Economic Growth


February 1, 2024, Heather Cox Richardson


One of the biggest stories of 2023 is that the U.S. economy grew faster than any other economy in the Group of 7 nations, made up of democratic countries with the world’s largest advanced economies. By a lot. The International Monetary Fund yesterday reported that the U.S. gross domestic product—the way countries estimate their productivity—grew by 2.5%, significantly higher than the GDP of the next country on the list: Japan, at 1.9%.


IMF economists predict U.S. growth next year of 2.1%, again, higher than all the other G7 countries. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta projects growth of 4.2% in the first quarter of 2024.


Every time I write about the booming economy, people accurately point out that these numbers don’t necessarily reflect the experiences of everyone. But they have enormous political implications. 


President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, and the Democrats embraced the idea that using the government to support ordinary Americans—those on the “demand” side of the economy—would nurture strong economic growth. Republicans have insisted since the 1980s that the way to expand the economy is the opposite: to invest in the “supply side,” investors who use their capital to build businesses. 


In the first two years of the Biden-Harris administration, while the Democrats had control of the House and Senate, they passed a range of laws to boost American manufacturing, rebuild infrastructure, protect consumers, and so on. They did so almost entirely with Democratic votes, as Republicans insisted that such investments would destroy growth, in part through inflation. 


Now that the laws are beginning to take effect, their results have proved that demand-side economic policies like those in place between 1933 and 1981, when President Ronald Reagan ushered in supply-side economics, work. Even inflation, which ran high, appears to have been driven by supply chain issues, as the administration said, and by “greedflation,” in which corporations raised prices far beyond cost increases, padding payouts for their shareholders.


The demonstration that the Democrats’ policies work has put Republicans in an awkward spot. Projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, are so popular that Republicans are claiming credit for new projects or, as Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) did on Sunday, claiming they don’t remember how they voted on the infrastructure measure and other popular bills like the CHIPS and Science Act (she voted no). When the infrastructure measure passed in 2021, just 13 House Republicans supported it. 


Today, Medicare sent its initial offers to the drug companies that manufacture the first ten drugs for which the government will negotiate prices under the Inflation Reduction Act, another hugely popular measure that passed without Republican votes. The Republicans have called for repealing this act, but their stance against what they have insisted is “socialized medicine” is showing signs of softening. In Politico yesterday, Megan Messerly noted that in three Republican-dominated states—Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi—House speakers are saying they are now open to the idea of expanding healthcare through Medicaid expansion.


In another sign that some Republicans recognize that the Democrats’ economic policies are popular, the House last night passed bipartisan tax legislation that expanded the Child Tax Credit, which had expired last year after Senate Republicans refused to extend it. Democrats still provided most of the yea votes—188 to 169—and Republicans most of the nays—47 to 23—but, together with a tax cut for businesses in the bill, the measure was a rare bipartisan victory. If it passes the Senate, it is expected to lift at least half a million children out of poverty and help about 5 million more. 


But Republicans have a personnel problem as well as a policy problem. Since the 1980s, party leaders have maintained that the federal government needs to be slashed, and their determination to just say no has elevated lawmakers whose skill set features obstruction rather than the negotiation required to pass bills. Their goal is to stay in power to stop legislation from passing.


Yesterday, for example, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who sits on the Senate Finance Committee and used to chair it, told a reporter not to have too much faith that the child tax credit measure would pass the Senate, where Republicans can kill it with the filibuster. “Passing a tax bill that makes the president look good…means he could be reelected, and then we won’t extend the 2017 tax cuts,” Grassley said.


At the same time, the rise of right-wing media, which rewards extremism, has upended the relationship between lawmakers and voters. In CNN yesterday, Oliver Darcy explained that “the incentive structure in conservative politics has gone awry. The irresponsible and dishonest stars of the right-wing media kingdom are motivated by vastly different goals than those who are actually trying to advance conservative causes, get Republicans elected, and then ultimately govern in office.” 


Right-wing influencers want views and shares, which translate to more money and power, Darcy wrote. So they spread “increasingly outlandish, attention-grabbing junk,” and more established outlets tag along out of fear they will lose their audience. But those influencers and media hosts don’t have to govern, and the anger they generate in the base makes it hard for anyone else to, either. 


This dynamic has shown up dramatically in the House Republicans’ refusal to consider a proposed border measure on which a bipartisan group of senators had worked for four months because Trump and his extremist base turned against the idea—one that Republicans initially demanded. 


Since they took control of the House in 2023, House Republicans have been able to conduct almost no business as the extremists are essentially refusing to govern unless all their demands are met. Rather than lawmaking, they are passing extremist bills to signal to their base, holding hearings to push their talking points, and trying to find excuses to impeach the president and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.


Yesterday the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, which is firmly on the right, warned House Republicans that “Impeaching Mayorkas Achieves Nothing” other than “political symbolism,” and urged them to work to get a border bill passed. “Grandstanding is easier than governing, and Republicans have to decide whether to accomplish anything other than impeaching Democrats,” it said. 


Today in the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin called the Republicans’ behavior “nihilism and performative politics.”


On CNN this morning, Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) identified the increasing isolation of the MAGA Republicans from a democratic government. “Here we are both on immigration and now on this tax bill where President Biden and a bipartisan group of Congress are trying to actually solve problems for the American people,” Goldman said, “and Chuck Grassley, Donald Trump, Mike Johnson—they are trying to kill solutions just for political gain." 


Notes:


https://www.axios.com/2024/01/31/us-economy-2024-gdp-g7-nations


https://www.wfla.com/politics/florida-gop-rep-says-she-cant-recall-how-she-voted-on-chips-appropriations-bills/


https://www.wsj.com/articles/alejandro-mayorkas-impeachment-house-republicans-border-immigration-homeland-security-1a431a5d


https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/09/politics/biden-republicans-infrastructure-law/index.html


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/01/gop-blunders-nihilism/


https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/11/05/house-infrastructure-reconciliation-vote/


https://talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo/greg-abbotts-performative-border-clash-is-a-classic-maga-era-stunt


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/greedflation-is-replacing-inflation-as-companies-raise-prices-for-bigger-profits-report-finds-bfb51060


https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/us/child-tax-credits-pandemic-colorado.html


https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/31/politics/house-vote-tax-bill-child-tax-credit/index.html


https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/31/southern-republicans-obamacare-00138109


https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/31/media/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-right-wing-media/index.html


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-tax-credit-bill-senate-vote/


Twitter (X):


atrupar/status/1753093857527382355


IanSams46/status/1752511045187383334


TheDemocrats/status/1753101008086171900


RepSwalwell/status/1752870024014975228


TristanSnell/status/1752874545474683060


WhiteHouse/status/1753161307233173642


​​SteveRattner/status/1753140645584146579


 

Friday, January 26, 2024

Putin Orders US Congress to Stop Ukraine Aid, GOP Cowards Obey



World War III is coming thanks to the GOP. All is on the table: Nuclear attacks, massive European war of attrition, millions raped and dead.


When we appease a monster, he takes even more. We know that. 


NATO will not stand idly and watch Putin inflict a holocaust on Ukraine because they know Putin will continue advancing.


The GOP/Quisling/MAGATS in the United States obey Putin and his employee/asset Donald Trump.


Trump and the GOP use imigrants in the US Homeland as pawns in a power game. 



 

Sunday, January 21, 2024

# 2 UPDATE: Winning by Owning the Feelings


[I choose to conflate Haley with trump - pretty sure her actual policies on these issues will be the same as his.]


Trump/Haley manipulate voters by stressing emotions in them that serve their purpose. However, those voters do not understand that Trump/Haley's actions do not support their feelings. Even more, they willingly accept the emotions they feel as proof of their convictions, as in: 'I feel strongly that the election was stolen and that means it was stolen. And, that's exactly what Trump/Haley say.'



Joe Biden can counter that by naming the feelings of voters and demonstrating how his policies and actions address their feelings; and, how Trump/Haleys' actions will not. It ain't easy, but it will win. If Biden's campaign finds some useful ideas here, they are free to use, adopt or adapt any or all of these arguments. 



INFLATION 



Rising prices for all the things we buy makes life harder for all American Moms, Dads, and everyone else too. My administration does a few things to help because we are a better America when families suffer less. Prices are still high but the inflation rate that measures how fast prices are increasing has dropped to lower levels today than last year. 


One of those things we do is to promote higher wages. Higher prices mean Moms and Dads need higher incomes just to make it, so, we support policies that will help wages go up and make life easier. We encourage our people to enforce the labor laws already on the books. We see that autoworkers settled their strike with higher wages. We will all be better off because wages for everyone tend to go up as union wages go up. Trump/Haley policies will lower wages.


We encourage markets to become more competitive. More competition means more jobs and lower prices. Sometimes competition suffers a bit when there are only a few companies in an industry. That can mean higher prices. We are discouraging those market concentrations and expect additional competition to result in lower prices and better quality. Trump/Haley policies suport monopolies


As you know, we in Washington do not regulate or control the prices of what we all buy. Our system lets markets determine prices instead of bureaucrats dictating prices. That system is not perfect but it does much better for us than setting prices in markets does for those places that try it.  


BORDER SECURITY and IMMIGRATION


Some Americans fear and hate foreigners and immigrants. In addition, a large number of the very people fearing foreigners have lives of great difficulty. Many of these Americans want to prevent refugees from coming here because Trump/Haley say there are some 'bad' people. However, we process legal immigrants with very rigorous vetting before we let them in. That vetting will catch 99% of the bad people. 


We want a new immigration law to solve the illegal immigration problem. However, a few heartless politicians will not allow Congress to change needed reforms of the laws and policies. They do that because they calculate that Americans voters will blame the Biden White House for the situation we see every day. They kill the hopes and aspirations of some and murder some other immigrants in a cold-blooded attempt to win an election.  


America promises to welcome and give a safe start to people who feel violence and persecution in their home country and who follow the rules. We promise to let them live in peace and to prosper when they follow the rules and work hard. Many suffer hardships and violence at home and on their journey. My heart breaks for these intrepid souls. We promise them that when they follow the rules, we welcome them as Americans in citizenship ceremonies open to the public. I cannot convey completely the joy I see at those ceremonies from them and their families.


ABORTION


Some religious zealots judges and politicians have taken away a right America granted to mothers 50 years ago. They remind me of the Taliban and HAMAS. I get the concern about rights of the unborn; any decision about abortion is so personal that I think only the mother and her doctor can possibly make that decision. I know some women who have had abortions. I cannot comprehend their pain and trauma. The zealot judges claim some higher authority than the Constitution. It is simply un-American.


The bigger point remains that the same zealot judges want to take away more of the rights and privileges that make America strong and prosperous. More than 1,354,664 (1) Americans have died protecting our Constitution from Fascist attacks. The very Constitution those 1.3 million have died for is under severe attack from American zealot judges and politicians. 


They want to take away our Freedom and, they might succeed. The Constitution gives us the vote so we can bloc Fascist rule; otherwise, we might live in the FASCIST STATES OF AMERICA!


I cannot be calm about this; it is too critical. (1) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war]



HATRED, GAZA, UKRAINE


I do not understand hatred. I get angry and frustrated but I do not conjure an emotional response to the things or people who are associated with my anger and frustration. I am a bit of Stoic in that I try to see the reality of things and then decide what to do next.


Nevertheless, many people in the world who hate other people or people have different beliefs or live in other countries including America. As President, I see and understand how we can protect ourselves from the hatred.


GAZA


People have hated and persecuted Jews for a very long time in many countries around the world. I think some of the hatred is religious in nature but it is real regardless of the causes. Creating Israel meant taking some land away from its inhabitants. I suppose they feel angry because of that, I know I would feel anger in that case. We relegated the Palestinian people to live in a small area inside Israel. 


HAMAS is a small terrorist group in GAZA, which actively wants to kill all the Jews in Israel as its mission statement. Other people who hate Jews finance and support HAMAS in their attacks, but active HAMAS is a small percentage of the Palestinians who live in GAZA. Some militants created a massacre of Jews in October. Israel exercises its right of self-defense in attacking HAMAS in GAZA. However, HAMAS members use Palestinian civilians as shields against Israeli attacks by locating their bases in underground tunnels beneath hospitals and schools. When Israel attacks HAMAS bases it kills many non-belligerents including women and children as well as HAMAS. 


Biden works very hard to influence Israel to reduce violence in Gaza. Trump/Haley look for ways to make a profit from the violence. 


My heart breaks for all those who suffer in that war. While I grieve for Palestinians and Jews alike, the United States supports the right of any nation including Israel to defend its population from terrorist attacks. 



UKRAINE: 


Trump/Haley encourage Congress to delay or stop our Aid to Ukraine. Under Trump/Haley and without American aid, Putin will take the entire country. Russian forces will rape and murder their way to Ukraine's Western borders. Then NATO countries near Ukraine will strike against a Rusian controlled Ukraine. Inevitable increases in violence will escalate. That will be World War III. At some point in this nightmare someone will use nuclear weapons.  Trump/Haley will create horrendous conflict and mass murder.


Biden stands strong against Putin and reduces the likelihood of furthr aggression. We pray he will avoid a wider conflict.


I have no words. I pray for a cessation of violence and a resolution to this war as soon as possible.



VOTING RIGHTS


Biden works every day to extend voting rights in the entire country for all Americans. Trump/Haley promote the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him and given to Biden. Biden won the popular vote by 7 million votes. And, the election was very fair. 'Trump’s own officials say 2020 was America’s most secure election in history. Homeland Security put out a statement with state and local officials that countered the President’s [Trump]fraud claims.' [VOX Nov 13, 2020, 4:40pm EST]


Trump/Haleyknow that voters choose Democrats over the GOP in just about all elections. They try to restrict voting rights so the GOP steals that which he knows they cannot win. If Trump/Haley succesfully steal the 2024 election, they will try to ensure that all future elections choose Trump/Haley as President even if the popular votes go against them. 



CLIMATE CHANGE



Trump/Haley work to sabotage legislation and policies that combat global warming. They choose to maximize short term profits for pulluters at the cost of harm to the planet and the future of our grandchildren. 



Here's what Joe Biden does:  'This is a case where conscience and convenience cross paths, where dealing with this existential threat to the planet and increasing our economic growth and prosperity are one and the same. When I think of climate change I think of jobs.' President Joe Biden Before Signing Executive Actions on Tackling Climate Change, Creating Jobs, and Restoring Scientific Integrity (Jan. 27, 2021) [https://www.whitehouse.gov/climate/] 



Sunday, January 14, 2024

Tyrants Lived Before

 


We see nothing new in t.rump. History shows us many examples. Some may regard the wannabe ruler as a new thing in the world, but he is just like Lysander in 454 BC.

There is nothing new under the Sun. We Humans as a species are capable of both sublime goodness and also brutish thuggery. 


'3 Lysander now summoned from their various cities to Ephesus men whom he saw to be most eminent for confidence and daring, and sowed in their minds the seeds of the revolutionary decadarchies​  afterwards instituted by him, urging and inciting them to form political clubs in their several cities, and apply themselves to public affairs, assuring them that as soon as the Athenian empire was destroyed, they could rid themselves of their democracies and become themselves supreme in power. 


4 Moreover, by actual benefits he gave them all a confidence in this future, promoting those who were already his friends and allies to large enterprises and honours and commands, and taking a share himself in their injustice and wickedness in order to gratify their rapacity. Therefore all attached themselves to him, expecting to attain all their highest ambitions if only he remained in power. 


5 Therefore, too, they neither looked kindly upon Callicratidas at the first, when he came to succeed Lysander in the admiralty,​ nor afterwards, when he had shown by manifest proofs that he was the justest and noblest of men, were they pleased with the manner of his leader­ship, which had a certain Doric simplicity and sincerity. They did, indeed, admire his virtue, as they would the beauty of a hero's statue; but they yearned for the zealous support of Lysander, and missed the interest which he took in the welfare of his partisans, so that when he sailed away they were dejected and shed tears.


6 Lysander made these men yet more disaffected towards Callicratidas. He also sent back to Sardis what remained of the money which Cyrus had given him for the navy, bidding Callicratidas ask for it himself, if he wished, and see to the maintenance of his soldiers. And finally, as he sailed away, he called Callicratides to witness that  the fleet which he handed over to him was in command of the sea. But he, wishing to prove the emptiness and vanity of this ambitious boast, said: "In that case, keep Samos on the left, sail to Miletus, and there hand the triremes over to me; surely we need not fear to sail past the enemy at Samos if we are masters of the sea." 3 To this Lysander answered that Callicratidas, and not he, was in command of the ships, and sailed off to Peloponnesus, leaving Callicratidas in great perplexity. For neither had he brought money from home with him, nor could he bear to lay the cities under forced contribution when they were already in an evil plight. 4 The only course left, therefore, was to go to the doors of the King's generals, as Lysander had done, and ask for money. For this he was of all men least fitted by nature, being of a free and lofty spirit, and one who thought any and every defeat of Greeks at the hands of Greeks more becoming to them than visits of flattery to the houses of Barbarians, who had much gold, but nothing else worth while. '



This webpage reproduces one of The Parallel Lives by  Plutarch published in Vol. IV of the Loeb Classical Library edition,1916

The text is in the public domain.

[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lysander*.html]


Self Defense for Election Workers



Some American voters have regressed from civilized behavior into aberrant beings with infantile attitudes, 'If I can't do what I want, I will shit on your dinner; or maybe I'll shoot you with my assault rifle'. You election and court workers are decent people conducting business for the American people; you hear death threats in your workplaces and your homes. Those threats are crimes, and, they are simply despicable.


Know that most Americans are with you and have your back. You are not alone.


I suggest some mechanisms that will help you avoid the vileness directed at you. This is low level beginning stuff that is easy to follow. They are small steps, but will be effective in reducing the volume of threats. It's my list and it has not been reviewed; please ask your employer's attorney to review before you start using these ideas.


Know that we will not judge you for your decision to retire if that is best for you and your family. You are heroes.


Here are the steps to take:


1. Do NOT accept that the threats are part of the election process and are just 'political'. They are crimes.


2. Change all your online, remote and computer passwords immediately.


3. Change them again every month. Use English words you can remember easily and add a number or symbol as well. Or, use computer generated passwords.


4. Do not answer the phone or click on any email from a sender you do not know personally. Never open any attachment from an email. Screen all calls to your business and home phones and personal cell phone. Record and save each threat no matter how mild it appears. Law enforcement will collect the calls and look for patterns that lead to criminal charges. 


Use this as your phone's greeting: "You have reached Mary Smith's personal telephone. Since I am a public servant employed by the [United States, State, County or city] any threat you make directed to me or my family is a crime under Federal and local law. Know that I will forward your threat and your Phone number to law enforcement with a request to arrest you. Leave your message now." 


5. Record all of the message and the phone number and any other identifying fact the caller discloses. 


6. Save them into a digital format like Excel that can be sent to detectives. Remember, collections of large volumes of data about threats can suggest patterns and identify the cdriminals behind the calls. Data is the phone number, the date and time of the call, your rating of the call threat level and any other facts the caller reveals. 


When we have several thousand people doing this, we will know a lot about who is behind the calls. We can prosecute those people as well as the caller. A person who facilitates a crime is also guilty of a crime. 


7. Rank the nature of the threat using this code or some other:


Cat 1 - credible explicit death threat to public official, probably illegal


Example: The following message led to an arrest: 

The man allegedly said in a voicemail left for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Sept. 27, 2021, according to the Justice Department:

'When we come to lynch your stupid lying Commie [expletive], you’ll remember that you lied on the [expletive] Bible, you piece of [expletive]. You’re gonna die, you piece of [expletive]. We’re going to hang you. We’re going to hang you,'


Cat 2 - Emotional, unfocused rant mentioning death


Cat 3 - Hatred expressed, no specific threat of violence


Cat 4 - Unemotional disagreement with explicit rationale


Cat 5 - Unemotional disagreement with zero rationale


8. Give your records to local law enforcement as well as to places which collect the data like the FBI or election fairness organizations. Request that law enforcement file criminal actions and proseucte the people who threaten you. 


Report here for Califonia: Report all threats or acts of workplace violence to the DGS Workplace Violence Referral Line at (916) 376-5344.


D O J here  https://tips.fbi.gov/home

 

Friday, January 12, 2024

Complete Report : White House for Sale



 See the full report click below:


White House for Sale


Or, copy and paste:  


https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/352377138e125817/849dad00-full.pdf




Wednesday, January 10, 2024

How to Prevent 'Treasonous Acts'


Law enforcement and the United States legal system cannot prevent crimes and treasonous acts before they occur. We see problematic consequences from that reality. The United States cannot wait until a treasonous act succeeds before we take counter action because a successful treasonous act may be enough to destroy our legal system.


However, we CAN disrupt and perhaps prevent any coordinated actions involving several individuals and/or groups. Such significant actions involve several people and require coordination. In addition, coordination requires money and leadership. 


We can discourage any treasonous act perpetrators from completing their plan by convincing them that they will be tried for treason and, if found guilty of such a crime, suffer the punishments up to and including death that the Constitution provides. Donating money and other support to a treasonous act is a crime.


Treasonous acts are punishable by fines, imprisonment or death as detailed in 18 USC Ch. 115: TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES; From Title 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PART I—CRIMES [See link here: [https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim]]


We expect significant actions from t.rump followers to interfere with and/or discredit the 2024 elections. I hope we continue to alert Law Enforcement and the National Guard about likely actions as we discover them. Individual, lone wolf actors present a difficult challenge. We cannot stop individual lone actors who follow their personal impulses without coordination with others. We can and should establish regional clearing centers before the elections that are close to areas where t.rump 'Treasonous Acts' are most likely to happen. 


In addition to establishing regional clearing centers to process detainees, we should begin investigations of people who are likely to donate money and organizations skills toward a successful insurrection.


LEAKING THE EXISTENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS INTO 'TREASONOUS ACTS' WILL NOTIFY ORGANIZERS AND FINANCIERS OF THEIR PERSONAL RISKS. 

We hope their fear will diminish their appetite for Fascism.  The organizers of the coming Treasonous Acts have written a detailed plan of how they will destroy the institutions which preserve our freedoms, security and liberty. To read their entire plan, click here: Mandate for Leadership 2025

 

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Prosecuting Treasonous Acts

We see today a coordinated movement to weaken and overthrow the legitimate government of the United States of America by whatever means the protagonists choose. 


We recognize 'treasonous acts' [the phrase is from former CIA director John Brennan] when we see them and we want to punish the perpetrators, organizers and financiers of those acts. We know exactly what is happening, but our system prevents us from acting to avert harm until the courts prove the legal basis for any action beyond a reasonable doubt. If we wait for that level of absolute proof, it may be too late. Insurrectionists deliberately use our system to delay any action to save our system, at the exact some time they are actively conspiring to destroy our system.


Treasonous acts are punishable by fines, imprisonment or death as detailed in 18 USC Ch. 115: TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES; From Title 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PART I—CRIMES [See link here: [https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim]


These crimes lie outside of normal political discourse; they are crimes. They are NOT political discussions and/or Free Speech.


We CAN pursue the folks who commit those acts and the people who provide support for them. We can prosecute them after the fact; AND, we can discourage any such acts BEFORE the fact. We expect to see continuing and growing demonstrations as the 2024 elections draw near. We expect those demonstrations will be met with resolve including force if necessary.


We can create collection centers where Police and National Guard personnel take all those arrested and/or detained while engaged in an unlawful act. Perhaps the FBI can interrogate each detained person to see whether they are simple foot soldiers who should be in jail, or perhaps a person may have knowledge of the financing, planning and organizing the acts.


We should prosecute all the insurrectionists, especially the people at the top of the organization. Once they are aware we can charge them with treason, they may be less likely to commit the acts.


We recognize the reluctance of the Department of Justice to discuss plans like these; however, a limited discussion of intent may serve effectively the security interests of the United States by cooling down the treason acts somewhat.


Here are the Codes:


'Advocating overthrow of Government


Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or


Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or


Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof—


Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.


If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.


As used in this section, the terms "organizes" and "organize", with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons.'


(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 808; July 24, 1956, ch. 678, §2, 70 Stat. 623; Pub. L. 87–486, June 19, 1962, 76 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(N), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)


18 USC Ch. 115: TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES

From Title 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDUREPART I—CRIMES 


[https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim] 

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

The Fascist Plan Exposed

 Read the entire Fascist plan here:  


Mandate for Leadership 2025



Or click and paste here:

https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

Thursday, December 14, 2023

The Trouble with Bidenomics


Biden used some tried and true policies to guide us through the pandemic and the subsequent expansion. The data is clear and it is amazing.

 

But, households do not feel the data. So, we ask questions: “How do we get great economic fundamentals with no polling bounce? How can we translate our performance into better polling?’

 

Here’s why that happens: At the kitchen table, Moms and Dads do not perceive the benefits of an improved economy because the benefits spread unequally across all sectors of the United States. More benefits accrue to rich people than benefits accrue to working people.  Corporate profits are rising but Moms’ and Dads’ wages are not keeping up with the price increases that contribute to those profits and contribute to inflation at the same time. Perhaps wages will increase to compensate households more fairly in the long run, but as Keynes said in the Great Depression ‘In the long run we are all dead.’

 

Wages kept up with prices in the 20th Century until about 1976. Then wages stopped growing but CEO profits and Billionaires took all the benefits of an expanding economy. Not only that, but they also captured the government and blocked public actions to benefit working people. They are still doing that today.

 

We have a simple solution toward improving Democrat polling numbers on economic questions. First, acknowledge the situation in public forums. Then, explain how you will challenge CEO and Billionaire market power to restore economic fairness. Moms and Dads need some hope now.

 

It doesn’t matter that you have not completed the actions yet. We want to hear you say that you understand our reality and will try to remedy that.

 

Economists use a measurement called the GINI coefficient to measure the levels of inequality between classes in a country. Our GINI score is bad  -  we are too unequal. Scores as bad as our score raise questions about national security. High GINI scores denote higher levels of inequality, which data suggest that higher than average GINI scores may threaten our future social stability.  The United States will be more secure when our scores approach lower levels as in several European countries. Our United States average GINI score of 48 is well above countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

 

 

 

Selected Country GINI

[Higher bad]

 

USA               48.0

 

SWEDEN       30.1

 

DENMARK   28.2

 

CANADA      33.3

 

NORWAY      27.6

 

RUSSIA         37.5

 

Many writers recognize the importance of inequality: Bertrand Russell said this about rich and unscrupulous financiers:

 

“A modern community is not likely to be prosperous if its financial affairs are conducted solely with a view to the interests of rich and unscrupulous financiers, without regard to the effect upon the rest of the population. Needless to say, it is unwise to leave these financiers to the unfettered pursuit of their private profit. One might as well run an art museum for the sole profit of the curator, leaving him at liberty and whim to sell the contents whenever he happened to be offered a good price.“ [i]

 

Click here.  for a more complete discussion.

[i]  Bertrand Russell, In Praise of Idleness: And Other Essays (1935), Ch: IV, The Modern Midas (1932), p. 77

 

  

Thursday, December 7, 2023

Enemy of the United States



The United States Constitution creates a government elected by the Voters of the country. Officials of the Government take an oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic. Officials and citizens agree to obey the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Constitution. Should a person or organization violate one or more of those laws, then that person or organization can be prosecuted and/or punished as the law establishes. The laws protect citizens from the harm criminals might inflict on them.


Any person who refuses by actions, oaths or words to obey the laws and accept any punishment pursuant to the law becomes a criminal and is subject to punishment up to and including death.


An unexpected situation happens when an elected or appointed official, who is authorized to enforce those laws, chooses to disobey any or all the laws adopted pursuant to the Constitution despite their earlier sworn oath to protect the Constitution. We consider them criminals and prosecute them as established in the law. Such prosecutions happen regularly at all levels of government.


A special case happens today when we prosecute former President Trump for a variety of crimes against the Constitution while he campaigns actively to be re-elected President. Further, he has announced that, if elected, he will use his Presidential powers to punish his enemies and reward his friends. It is likely he will dismantle the Constitution and attempt to remain as POTUS regardless of any future election.


Since he intends to disregard the Constitution if elected, then he is not protected by the Constitution or the laws. The sovereign power of the United States can be used directly against Trump to prevent him from taking any elected office without regard for any Constitutional protection he may claim. 


Such action can include any action that prevents him from taking office.


' According to 50 USCS § 2204 [Title 50. War and National Defense; Chapter 39. Spoils of War], enemy of the United States means any country, government, group, or person that has been engaged in hostilities, whether or not lawfully authorized, with the United States;


(3) the term "person" means


(A) any natural person;


(B) any corporation, partnership, or other legal entity; and


(C) any organization, association, or group.



[https://definitions.uslegal.com/e/enemy-of-the-united-states/]


USLegal.com;  USA Legal, Inc. Convenient, Affordable Legal Help - Because We Care! 

USLegal


Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Repairing United States Welfare Programs

 

This excerpt from 'The 'The Captured State: Selected Statistics Show Harms of Wealth Concentration to American Life' discusses a new approach to social welfare spending and offers some hope for better outcomes.


'The question arises: can we spend our way out of our current political hatred and violence by making a more costly safety net for disadvantaged Americans?

 

We may find other countries with better safety nets and less political violence than the United States. We might learn from them. A corollary assumption is that countries with better safety nets spend more money on them than we do. However, the facts show that more spending, by itself, does not make things better.

 

We already spend as much per capita as most countries with better social welfare results. We spend enough money, we just don't spend it right. Chapter Z. Alternate Solutions to Social Welfare Problems on page 28 discusses different spending methods to improve our performance 


Expectations help determine the outcomes of social welfare programs as they do in educational institutions. The United States uses one set of expectations and shows poor social policy results. Some Nordic countries use a very different set of expectations and show better social policy results. [Page 14]

 

1. High Expectations in Social Welfare Programs [i]

 

Educational experiments show that students perform better when teachers have high expectations of them. Conversely, students do poorly when teachers have low expectations for them.

 

'The students of high expectation teachers show larger achievement gains, while the students of low expectation teachers make smaller or negative gains. The positive attitudes and equitable teaching practices of high expectation teachers also lead to higher levels of engagement, motivation and self-efficacy in students.'

 

United States social welfare programs appear to demonstrate low expectations of the recipients. Some programs may be modeled on the Southern Strategy to delay racial integration. ‘The Southern strategy [to integration] was one of holding out, of being so difficult, so painful to deal with that, hoping that the North would then do what it had done during Reconstruction, get disheartened and then leave.’  [ii]

 

Contrarily, welfare programs in other countries take the opposite approach of assuming that welfare recipients are family members who have fallen on hard times. The welfare program supports people as they move toward better circumstances.

 

2. United States’ Expectations

 

In our effort to reduce the inequality gap by transferring income and assets to the less fortunate among us, we make it hard to qualify for the programs and then we make it hard to prove your qualification.

 

Some people who need the assistance do not receive the aid available to them; and, in many cases, they fail to apply or complete the application.

 

Most ‘means tested’ welfare programs in the USA fail to deliver because many qualified recipients of the aid do not apply.

 

            ‘…avoidable and unavoidable costs, states' distorted incentives, and social norms are the major sources of impediments to benefits and that most of these impediments are embedded in or result from certain legal mechanisms of the welfare system. Law and Inequality: A Journal’[iii]

 

Many highly disadvantaged people do not apply for substantial benefits for which they are eligible by their circumstances.

 

 

           ‘An estimated 46 million Americans live below the poverty line. But millions aren’t covered by any of the welfare programs. Records show that 72% of people living in poverty received help from at least one welfare program. Among those living in deep poverty - an income that falls 50% below the poverty threshold - 70% received assistance, while the remaining 5.5 million people did not. At least 13 million people live in poverty and don’t receive any benefits from welfare programs.’ Urban Institute [iv]

 

‘Complaints of mistreatment in navigating the welfare state are commonplace, with most unpleasant encounters arising from interactions between welfare recipients and social workers. The dominant approach to social work was casework which emphasized the personal characteristics or moral deficiencies of the recipient rather than social reform. In some cases the said deficiency was grounds for denying assistance. Casework fostered a paternalistic and demeaning relationship between social workers and clients. Caseworkers are the persons who have the most opportunity for showing respect or   described not as much in terms of what they receive in their checks but rather in terms of the relationship that they have with their caseworker; a study found that the way in which a client was shown respect was often more important to the client than what the provider in the situation did to solve the client’s problems.’   Nadasen, Premilla (June 17, 2014). Welfare Warriors:’[v]

 

 

Most ‘means tested’ welfare programs in the USA fail to deliver because many qualified recipients of the aid do not apply. ‘…avoidable and unavoidable costs, states' distorted incentives, and social norms are the major sources of impediments to benefits and that most of these impediments are embedded in or result from certain legal mechanisms of the welfare system.’[vi] Many highly disadvantaged people do not apply for substantial benefits for which they are eligible by their circumstances.



 

1. High Expectations in Social Welfare Programs

 

[i] Effect of high expectations, Libretexts Social Sciences: [https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Education_and_Professional_Development/Foundations_of_Education_and_Instructional_Assessment_(Kidd_et_al.)/10%3A_Effective_Teaching/10.06%3A_What_is_the_effect_of_having_high_expectations_for_students#:~:text=Pygmalion%20Effect%20and%20Self%2DFulfilling%20Prophecy&text=If%20the%20student%20feels%20that,5).]

 

[ii]  Daily Stoic, Sep 21, 2023

 

2. United States’ Expectations

 

[iii] Source: Unwelcome Benefits: Why Welfare Beneficiaries Reject Government Aid?

Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice, Vol. 24, No. 107, 2006

 

 

[iv] Five Things You May Not Know about the US Social Safety Net, Sarah Minton and Linda Giannarelli February 2019, [https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99674/five_things_you_may_not_know_about_the_us_social_safety_net_1.pdf]

 

 

[v] WIKIPEDIA,  Nadasen, Premilla (June 17, 2014). Welfare Warriors: The Welfare Rights Movement in the United States. Routledge. ISBN 9781136743696.

 

[vi]  Source: Unwelcome Benefits: Why Welfare Beneficiaries Reject Government Aid?

Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice, Vol. 24, No. 107, 2006