All of the various findings, articles, videos, pictures, and other stuff I dig up on the web. Anything on this site was posted by me. Any opinion expressed here is only my own
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
2025/03/28
I doubt it
https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/032825_fema_states_op/if-fema-didnt-exist-could-states-handle-disaster-response-their-own/
voter rights
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows blasts Trump elections order
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/03/28/maine-secretary-of-state-shenna-bellows-blasts-trump-elections-order/
Utah bans flags
https://www.ksl.com/article/51284267/utah-is-first-state-to-ban-fluoride-in-water-restrict-flags-on-public-buildings
Interesting what the governor called out;
"Finally, as tired as Utahns are of politically divisive symbols, I think they are also tired of culture war bills that don't solve the problems they intend to fix"
2025/03/02
Kleptocracy in action
!!! NO VERIFICATION AT THIS TIME !!!
Report from the Senate Floor:
Last
night in the Senate, something really important happened. Republicans
forced us to debate their billionaire bailout budget framework. We
started voting at 6 PM because they knew doing it in the dark of night
would minimize media coverage. And they do not want the American people
to see how blatant their handover of our government to the billionaire
class is.
So I want to
explain what happened last night and what we did to fight back. The apex
of Republicans’ plan to turn over our government to their wealthy
cronies is a giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations. And they
plan to pay for it with cuts to programs that working people rely on.
Popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, are
all being targeted. In order to pass the tax cut, Republicans have to go
through a series of procedural steps. Last night, they took the first
step which requires them to pass an outline of their plan, but with it,
any senator can offer as many amendments as we want. So my Democratic
colleagues and I did just that.
Now,
we knew that Republicans would largely unanimously oppose them, but we
had two objectives here. One, Republicans were forced to put their
opinion on record — many for the first time — on the most corrupt parts
of Trump and Musk’s agenda. Two, as I’ve been saying, I am going to make
every process and procedure as slow and painful as possible for as long
as my colleagues choose to ignore the constitutional crisis happening
before our eyes.
So what
did we propose? We proposed no tax cuts for anyone who makes a billion
dollars a year. We made them vote on whether or not Elon Musk and DOGE
should have limitless access to Americans’ personal data. We made them
vote on whether to protect IVF and require insurers to cover it. Every
single amendment Democrats proposed was shot down. On almost every
single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it. Every Republican
voted against our proposal to prevent more tax cuts for billionaires.
The corruption and theft is happening in the open here.
The
whole game for Republicans is taking your money and giving it to the
wealthiest corporations and billionaires — even if it means kicking your
parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest
children. They know what they are doing is deeply unpopular. They are
offering a tax cut to the most wealthy that is 850 times larger than
what they are offering working people. Oh and by the way, any tax cuts
for working people are going to be washed out by higher costs for basic
necessities, like health care and food. It’s a fundamental injustice.
Thanks
to your pressure and support, many of my Democratic colleagues have
joined my effort to do everything we can to make sure they cannot
destroy democracy and steal your money in the dark of the night. We are
being loud about what is happening. I’m going to continue to grind the
gears of Congress down as much as possible to make it that much harder
and slower to get away with this corruption. That’s why the votes lasted
until nearly 5 AM.
This
is a five-alarm fire. I don’t think we have two years to plan and fight
back. I think we have months. It’s still in our power to stop the
destruction of our democracy with mass mobilization and effective
opposition from elected officials. So we can’t miss any opportunity to
take advantage of opportunities to put Republicans on the record and
shine a light on what is happening.
And
you have a role to play in this as well. I need you to amplify what’s
happening, support the leaders who are fighting for you to make sure
they can continue speaking truth to power against Musk and Trump’s
billionaire cronies, and show up at rallies and town halls. Use every
tool at your disposal to send a message loud and clear about how you
expect my colleagues to lead and fight in this moment.
Every best wish,
US Senator Chris Murphy (D - CT)
!!! NO VERIFICATION AT THIS TIME !!!
2024/09/04
Netanyahu made a huge mistake
Qatar sent millions to Gaza for years – with Israel’s backing.
For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces
So it seems for years the various governments of Bibi propped up Hamas. So while Mahmoud Abbas was making roads and pathways towards uniting the Palestinians towards a 2 party solution, and a recognized state of Palestine.
From the times of Israel
"""
Thus, amid this bid to impair Abbas, Hamas was upgraded from a mere terror group to an organization with which Israel held indirect negotiations via Egypt, and one that was allowed to receive infusions of cash from abroad.
"""
Now it blew up in his face.
His response to it blowing up in his face is now, in turn, blowing up in his face.
2024/05/01
disfunction Grows
https://npr.org/2024/05/01/1248433401/marjorie-taylor-greene-motion-to-vacate-house-speaker-mike-johnson
MTG is once again highlighting the extreme dysfunction in our legislative branch right now. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats actually come to the rescue of the speaker, or do they let him twist in the wind like last time.
We really need to amend our voting system in this country. The electoral college has got to go in my opinion. We need to replace it with ranked choice voting, and we need to get rid of all of the money infecting our political system right now.
2021/05/10
2020/07/13
I Like the Titanic Reference
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/opinion/trump-coronavirus.html
A normal president and a normal political party would be horrified by this turn of events. They would realize that they made a bad call and that it was time for a major course correction; they would start taking warnings from health experts seriously.
2020/06/05
Drumpf/ Nixon compared
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/trump-nixon.html
No real surprises here from Krugman in his opinion.
2020/05/29
more patriot act stuff
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bv8z7q/surveillance-hawks-sabotaged-a-vote-to-stop-the-fbi-from-collecting-your-internet-history
2020/04/14
2020/04/07
Cost of the vaccancies
Some of the cost at least:
https://prospect.org/health/trump-war-on-veterans/
The department is now reeling under roughly 50,000 vacancies—a number larger than the Departments of State, Labor, Education, and Housing and Urban Development combined. These shortages make it difficult to deliver timely care to veterans under normal circumstances.
https://prospect.org/health/trump-war-on-veterans/
The department is now reeling under roughly 50,000 vacancies—a number larger than the Departments of State, Labor, Education, and Housing and Urban Development combined. These shortages make it difficult to deliver timely care to veterans under normal circumstances.
2020/04/02
2020/04/01
USA Fails at pandemics
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/
More evidence on how the trump virus has totally laid bare the misconceptions and the facades of readiness here in this country.
"""
On the Global Health Security Index, a report card that grades every country on its pandemic preparedness, the United States has a score of 83.5—the world’s highest. Rich, strong, developed, America is supposed to be the readiest of nations. That illusion has been shattered. Despite months of advance warning as the virus spread in other countries, when America was finally tested by COVID-19, it failed.
"""
More evidence on how the trump virus has totally laid bare the misconceptions and the facades of readiness here in this country.
"""
On the Global Health Security Index, a report card that grades every country on its pandemic preparedness, the United States has a score of 83.5—the world’s highest. Rich, strong, developed, America is supposed to be the readiest of nations. That illusion has been shattered. Despite months of advance warning as the virus spread in other countries, when America was finally tested by COVID-19, it failed.
"""
2020/03/03
the non-Deep state
There is No Deep State: But We Do Have Some Problems
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/02/25/there-is-no-deep-state-but-we-do-have-some-problems/
I thought this was a very measured article.
2020/02/28
2020/02/18
2020/02/17
2020/02/15
2020/02/11
War against those with need
https://www.salon.com/2020/02/10/trump-budget-would-cut-medicare-medicaid-and-social-security-while-expanding-tax-cuts-for-the-rich/
The $4.8 trillion budget proposal released Monday would cut Medicare by $850 billion, cut Medicaid by $920 billion and cut Social Security by $30 billion over the next decade, according to The Washington Post. The proposal would also slash food stamp spending by $181 billion. The plan also calls for a steep 8% cut to the Education budget; a 9% cut to the Health and Human Services Budget, including the Centers for Disease Control; and a 26% cut to the Environmental Protection Agency budget. The Interior Department would see a 13% budget cut; the Department of Housing and Urban Development would see a 15% cut; and both the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development would be slashed by 22%.
The $4.8 trillion budget proposal released Monday would cut Medicare by $850 billion, cut Medicaid by $920 billion and cut Social Security by $30 billion over the next decade, according to The Washington Post. The proposal would also slash food stamp spending by $181 billion. The plan also calls for a steep 8% cut to the Education budget; a 9% cut to the Health and Human Services Budget, including the Centers for Disease Control; and a 26% cut to the Environmental Protection Agency budget. The Interior Department would see a 13% budget cut; the Department of Housing and Urban Development would see a 15% cut; and both the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development would be slashed by 22%.
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