2023 Archives

As we watch the Trump campaign prepare to replace 50,000 civil servants with fascist toadies if he wins the White House, it’s important to remember that Dwight Eisenhower was the last Republican president who believed in democracy, the rule of law, and that government should prioritize what the people want. From 1960 to today a series of leaders within the Republican Party have abandoned the democracy that American soldiers fought the Revolutionary War to secure, the Civil War to defend here at home, and World War II in Europe and the Pacific to defend around the world. This has brought us a series of criminal Republican presidents and corrupt Republican Supreme Court justices, who’ve legalized political bribery while devastating voting and civil rights.

The Best of the Rest of the News. — Behind the Curtain: Trump allies pre-screen loyalists for unprecedented power grab. — Quote of the Day, “One thing. I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing. One. That I can go campaign on and say we did,” Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy said. “One!” Is he watching my show? — How Mike Johnson got played. — Is a national abortion ban coming? — Coming to a Republican-controlled town near you? Murfreesboro Tennessee outlaws being gay. — Why the Washington Post published graphic images of mass shootings. — Crazy Alert! The “QAnon Queen” threatens locals with public execution as she abandons tiny town....say what?!

Preply did a national survey of Gen Zers that was published last month & found that more than half of them were seriously interested in or actively considering permanently moving out of America.. Young Americans have a resource those of us who came of age before the late 1990s lacked: instant and easy access to information about people and life in other countries. Between the Internet and social media, Gen Zers have a better understanding of what life is actually like overseas, and they’re liking what they’re seeing. Or, put another way, they’re looking around at America and not liking what they’re seeing. The language tutoring site Preply did a national survey of over 3,000 Gen Zers, published last month, and found that more than half of them are seriously interested in, or actively considering, permanently moving out of the United States. For a bit over a quarter of them, the main attraction of living in the UK, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Australia, Germany, Ireland, or Italy (the top 10) was free or low-cost access to healthcare and higher education.

What baffles me is why a TV news host who earns $2.9m a year would go to such lengths to avoid even mentioning a solution that’s been signed onto repeatedly by virtually every Democrat for decades? Why did NBC’s Kristen Welker use an incomplete frame for her question about Social Security at last week’s GOP debate, and why didn’t Lester Holt or anybody else correct her? Here’s her question: KRISTEN WELKER: “Americans could see their Social Security benefits drastically cut in the next decade because the program is running out of money. Former President Trump has said quote, ‘Under no circumstances should Republicans cut entitlements.’ Governor Christie, first to you, you have proposed raising the retirement age for younger Americans. What would that age be specifically, and would you consider making any other reforms to Social Security?” The simple reality is that if a person earns $160,200 a year or less, they pay a 6.2% tax on all of their income. In other words, a person making exactly $160,200 pays $9,932.40 (6.2%) in Social Security taxes.