Category: Public Policy

Repeal The 17th!

That would be the 17th amendment….and the MAGA twats are busy trying to get rid of the amendment….but what is it, right?

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

MAGA hates this and wants to return to the days when the governors decided….

A group of House Republicans is seeking to repeal the 17th Amendment as tensions with Senate Republicans deepen over the stalled SAVE America Act. While reports suggest the repeal proposal, introduced by Rep. Keith Self of Texas, has little chance of becoming law, the effort highlights growing frustration among House conservatives, who have accused the Senate of failing to advance one of their top priorities ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Self, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, introduced legislation that would repeal the 17th Amendment and return the selection of senators to state legislatures, the system used before the amendment was ratified in 1913. The 17th Amendment gave Americans the right to directly elect U.S. senators. Self’s bill has eight Republican cosponsors: Eric Burlison of Missouri, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Andy Harris of Maryland, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Sheri Biggs of South Carolina and Michael Cloud of Texas.

In a statement, Self argued that direct election ratified by the 17th Amendment has “given us six-year politicians more focused on national ambitions and the institution of the U.S. Senate than on the states they serve.” He added that the Senate was designed to “protect state sovereignty and act as a check on federal overreach.”

“If senators are supposed to represent their states, then the states should choose them. Repealing the 17th Amendment will restore that constitutional balance and make the Senate more accountable to the people of Texas and every other state in the union,” he said.

https://knewz.com/house-republicans-push-repeal-17th-amendment-feud-gop-senators/

First of all senators represent the checkbook that funds them and secondly they are all in  it for themselves….the people are the furthest from their concerns.

Finally they would have yes men in the Senate (they already do but more would be better)….

This is just MAGA trying to force their idiot-ologies on the process…..

A horrible idea……this needs to be put in the toilet and flushed.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A ‘Stable Genius’ Governing Strategy

People have been criticizing Donny and his TACO attitude….but there is more to his governing style that that one thing….

His pattern is simple…create a problem, grifters profit, it collapses, prosecute those that notice….

Simple huh?

 

https://www.alternet.org/trumps-pattern/

 

Think back to last year and his second term….so far he has stuck to this plan….all you need to do is look at any of this policies….they all hold true to this pattern.

+++My doctors visits start at 0800 this morning so I shall be out of pocket once again….hopefully I am home by lunch.+++

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

AIPAC Under Fire

In the past because of their proportional influence over Dem candidates the DNC is offering up a resolution to not accept AIPAC money…

A Democratic National Committee member is proposing a symbolic resolution for consideration at a DNC meeting next month to reject the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s massive spending on Congressional races.

The measure, sponsored by a young DNC member from Florida, could put party leaders on the spot about the pro-Israel lobbying group’s outsized role in Democratic primaries.

A lobbying behemoth that for decades courted lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, AIPAC has become an increasingly toxic brand in the Democratic Party.

In recent years, Israeli leaders and their backers in Washington have become more closely aligned with Republican politicians. At the same time, however, AIPAC’s super PAC has focused tens of millions in spending on Democratic primary races.

DNC Resolution to Reject AIPAC Funding Puts Democratic Leaders in the Hot Seat

That was in 2024 and they are still trying to lessen AIPAC influence over Dem candidates.

Then in 2026, April to be exact the DNC voted down a resolution….

A Democratic National Committee (DNC) panel voted on Thursday to reject a resolution condemning “the growing influence” of dark money and corporate-backed outside spending in Democratic races, particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

At the DNC’s spring meeting in New Orleans this week, the resolutions committee voted to kill the push, which would have been nonbinding, as scrutiny over the pro-Israel lobby grows amid the midterms.

“The use of massive outside spending to support or oppose candidates based on their positions regarding international conflicts or foreign governments raises concerns about undue influence over democratic debate and policymaking, potentially constraining elected officials’ ability to represent the views of their constituents,” reads the resolution, submitted by Florida DNC member Allison Minnerly, pointing out AIPAC in particular for spending some $14 million in the Illinois Democratic primaries last month.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5823840-dnc-aipac-resolution-fails/

So AIPAC keeps it’s control over the funds in DNC…..

There are a few individuals within the DNC that do not want the corrupting money from AIPAC…..

Rep. Ro Khanna has become the first member of the US Congress to sign a “peace pledge” promising to swear off funds from the Israel lobby and block US support for countries that violate human rights.

The pledge was created by the political action committee Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption, which runs the widely shared “AIPAC Tracker” social media campaign that names and shames politicians who receive support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other pro-Israel groups that have spent tens of millions in recent election cycles to influence members of Congress.

Lawmakers who sign the pledge agree not to take money from AIPAC or pro-Israel lobbying groups and promise to make campaign finance reform a key priority.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/khanna-aipac-pledge

At least Khanna is doing the right thing….I will be watching to see who joins Khanna and who keeps their hand out to AIPAC….it will make a difference who I support.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Just What DC Needs

There are approximately 15oo lobbyists on K Street and now the DoD is trying to make it easier for more corrupting money to be available….

As it pushes for a record breaking $1.5 trillion defense budget, the Department of Defense wants lawmakers to water down restrictions on the infamous revolving door between the Pentagon and industry, inviting more undue influence from the defense sector.

The DoD’s legislative proposal, submitted to Congress for consideration in the FY 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), tosses out key lobbying restrictions introduced by the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2017. It remains unclear whether the proposal will be included in the base text of the Senate version of the NDAA, which has not been released.

The McCain restrictions prevented recently departed officials from lobbying the Defense Department or Armed Forces for two years following retirement. But the new DoD provision would only impose this two year “cooling off” period on former defense officials who want to lobby in the specific military agency or Pentagon office where they used to work.

The DoD claims it needs to do this because the limits now in place “may restrict the Department’s access to the knowledge and expertise of its former personnel” and thus could have an “adverse effect on [the department’s] recruitment and retention.”

As such the bill also eliminates McCain’s two-year cooling off requirement for “behind-the-scenes” activities, which include the “preparation and planning activities, research and other background work” that can support a company’s lobbying activities. The DoD asserts that measures restricting these behind the scenes lobbying efforts are difficult to enforce.

Ben Freeman, the director of the Quincy Institute’s Democratizing Foreign Policy Program, calls the Pentagon’s rationale a “cop-out.”

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/revolving-door-pentagon/

This admin will do anything to make the corruption more intense….

Personally I think the cooling off period should be at least 5 years with 10 being the best idea.

We have enough criminals with buckets of money for Congress and the admin….it is time to close that corrupting appendage of government down for all time.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

NYC Does It Again

I recently wrote about a policy that the new mayor of NYC will pursue…..city owned grocery store….personally I think it is a great idea and more cities should be so concerned.

The mayor has yet another plan for the city….this time it will help city employees with child care….

Tucked in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s sprawling universal childcare plan is a little-talked-about milestone: In September, the city will open what appears to be the first free daycare for municipal workers in the country.

The center, called The Little Apple, is a pilot program that could prove to be a model for cities across the country that are childcare curious, but not ready to take the big universal swing.

Housed in a renovated space on the first floor of the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in Manhattan, home base for more than 2,000 city workers, the Little Apple will offer free care to the kids of full-time staff. All workers in the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), a city government support agency, can also take advantage of it regardless of their work location.

The center will be small — just 40 seats for children ages six weeks to 3 years old. To pay for it, the city budgeted about $1.5 million, or $35,000 per child.

“This is what Wall Street could call a good investment,” Mamdani said in a press conference announcing the new center. “We know that after housing, the cost of childcare is what is pushing working families out of this city.”

DCAS Commissioner Yume Kitasei told The 19th said the solution came about as a retention strategy, responding to the needs workers shared. In surveys, workers enthusiastically embraced the idea. One worker described access to free childcare as “life-changing.”

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/under-mamdani-new-york-will-be-first-to-open-free-childcare-center-for-city-workers/

So far this man has done just about everything he said he wanted to do….he has my vote of mayor of the year.

Right after the first of the year the mayor first major proposal was a tax plan….

A number of new taxes have been proposed this winter and spring to address the City’s structural budget gap. They range from a surcharge on high-income Personal Income Tax filers, to a partial recapture of the federal tax benefits accruing to Pass-Through Entity Tax filers, to higher rates for the City’s business income taxes, to higher real property transaction taxes on luxury properties at time of sale. One of the most likely, and possibly only, new tax revenue to be included in the FY 2027 State budget is a tax on pied-à-terre properties in New York City.

To date, details on the proposed tax have been hard to find, but Governor Hochul announced a revenue estimate of $500 million from 13,000 “second homes” with market value of at least $5 million.  The lack of further information has spurred wide-ranging conjectures regarding which properties might be subject to the tax and how much they might pay.

In this Fiscal Note we use previous pied-à-terre tax proposals to estimate potential revenues and highlight areas of uncertainty. Based on the parameters chosen for the analysis, tax revenues are critically dependent on the share of targeted properties that are rented and on the behavioral responses to the tax. We find that, before adjusting for these factors, our choice of tax rates and brackets could raise almost exactly $500 million from a little over 11,200 properties. However, revenues could be reduced to between roughly $340 million and $380 million based on assumptions on exclusions for rented units and behavioral changes following the imposition of the tax.

The Pied-à-Terre Tax and Its Potential Revenues

Another policy that meets with my acceptance….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those City-Owned Grocery Stores

Everyone knows and has felt the bite to the price of groceries….and the mayor of NYC promised to introduce city-owned stores to help bring down the cost of food….

How has it so for?

 

https://time.com/article/2026/05/21/mamdani-city-owned-grocery-stores-east-harlem-manhattan-the-bronx/

 

WE will see how well this idea works for the people of NYC….maybe it could help the rest of the country as well.

Sadly, we probably will not here much about this if it is a success but everything if it fails…..for the MSM does not want a success to become a national morn.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

We Are ‘Domestic Terrorists’

Do you actively criticize or protest Donny and his merry band of crooks?

If so you may be labeled a domestic terrorist…..Donny and the Hand Job Gang has defined it as….

The brainchild of National Security Council official Sebastian Gorka, the “Counterterrorism Strategy” weaves together Trump’s war on the wider world — which stretches from interventions and wars in Yemen and Iran to Nigeria and Somalia to Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea — with the administration’s war on dissent at home, which has targeted immigrants, legal observers, activists, protesters, and the press.

…

Now, according to the Trump administration, the nation is battling three major types of terror groups: “Legacy Islamist Terrorists,” the long-standing focus of America’s counter-terror efforts; “Narcoterrorists and Transnational Gangs”; and “Violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists.”

This last group is defined in the document as people the administration deems to be “anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.” This puts antifa — a fictional foe that is actually a collection of ideas and not an organization — on par with actual terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and drug-trafficking syndicates such as the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

How Trump’s New Counterterrorism Strategy Puts You at Risk

According to these slugs that definition would be me….

I will not deny that I think that Donny and The Slugs are a cancer on our society and the sooner we can eliminate the tumor the sooner we can rebuild this once great country….

So since I am a big mouth opponent am I worried that they will come get me while I sleep?

I will lose little sleep worrying about that….but will they charge me with being a ‘domestic terrorist’?

Unless something changes….there is no federal statute to charge anyone as ‘a domestic terrorist’….you can be charged for a lot of things but a domestic terrorist is not one of them in a legal sense.

Despite officials’ proclivity for the phrase, there is no federal statute to charge someone with domestic terrorism. Federal law does define domestic terrorism—criminal acts “dangerous to human life,” intended to intimidate civilians or influence government policy. But as the FBI noted in a November 2020 memo, “This is a definitional statute, not a charging statute.” The bureau prefers the term domestic violent extremism “because the underlying ideology itself and the advocacy of such beliefs is not prohibited by US law.”

Federal sentencing guidelines already allow for an “enhanced penalty….if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism,” and it’s easy to see its potential for abuse. When leaders of the far-right Proud Boys were convicted for organizing the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, prosecutors alleged the mob violence that day was “no different” than blowing up a building.

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly disagreed but still felt “the constitutional moment we were in that day is something that is so sensitive that it deserves a significant sentence.” Kelly applied terrorism enhancements and sentenced them each to over a decade in prison. (All participants received a presidential pardon in 2025.)

Over the past 25 years, we’ve learned the government won’t waste an opportunity to increase its power in the name of fighting “terror,” whether at home or abroad. The Trump administration already claims the authority to label people “domestic terrorists” based on such perceived offenses as “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity.” The FBI cited January 6 as justification to dramatically increase surveillance of American citizens who opposed then-President Joe Biden. We should look skeptically at any further expansion of power that will supposedly fight “terror.”

(reason.com)

But I am sure if needed Donny and his Magic Sharpie will do the honors.

If you criticize Donny and his Band of Tech Bro thieves are you worried about them coming for you?

Me?  I just say…’Bring It On!’

Tell me what you feel.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Are We Force-Fed “Facts”?

There is so much propaganda out there, not just the Donny years but for the last several decades, ‘facts’ that we all buy into that are not ‘facts’ at all…..

1. The idea that tax cuts or bailouts for the wealthy will stimulate the economy (aka “trickle-down economics”) is, at best, a failed experiment and, at worst, an all-out deception. The term “trickle-down economics” was first used in relation to Herbert Hoover and his economic policy during the Great Depression. However, Hoover’s oft-attributed commitment to laissez-faire free market economic policy is debatable, and he actually raised taxes on the rich.

2. The major modern player in trickle-down economics was Ronald Reagan, though the term he actually used was supply-side economics, which purports to boost economic growth through lowered individual and corporate taxes and regulations. His first major move toward such an economy was the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which, according to Reagan’s Office of Management and Budget director David Stockman, was really just “a Trojan horse to bring down the top [tax] rate” and essentially trickle-down in a trench coat.

The Act slashed the highest income tax from 70% down to 50%. Lower incomes also received tax cuts, but they were much smaller. It also reduced estate, capital gains, and corporate taxes. This massively increased the deficit to such a disastrous level that some of it was actually reversed before it went into effect just a year later in TEFRA, including a few of the tax breaks and slashes that had not gone into effect yet; it also closed tax loopholes and increased other taxes like the cigarette tax. However, Reagan’s Tax Reform Act of 1986 later provided further massive tax cuts, slashing the top income tax from 50% to 28%, and decreasing the corporate tax rate by 12 points to 34%.

All of this was purportedly done to boost the economy, which was in a recession when Reagan came into office. So, did it work? Kind of, temporarily. Unemployment dropped, finance (particularly stocks, bonds, and real estate) and technology expanded, and low-level positions (in addition to high-level ones) saw pay raises. However, Reaganomics also led to the income gap widening considerably, with the richest now able to lobby the government for further policy to support them. Oh, and Reagan massively increased the deficit…again.

There is so much more bullshit that was fed to the less intelligent among us

https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahmarder/american-propaganda

All this was propaganda which equates to damn lies and yet voters flocked to the promise of a better America…..and how has that worked out for you?

Reagan among others have been pulling our chains and manipulating us to the point of us actually being the problems we face today.

For christ sake learn something…..for we have the power to change this assassination of our system by politicians….all we have to do is learn and vote for the change we need to right this country from the destructive course these politicians have set us on.

Do you want to continue on this journey of destruction or do you want the country we use to have?

It is your choice.

Choose wisely.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Inverted Fascism–WTF?

For years now we have been having a conversation….well most sane people have been…..is a Donny a fascist or not?

His actions to me say he is…..and the actions of his sycophants say they are as well…..the tech bros are for sure…..but with all that what is this thing called ‘Trumpism”?

I argued that Trump is a fascist, but more specifically, borrowing from the language of Sheldon Wolin, he is an “inverted fascist.” Inverted fascism, like the fascist regimes in Italy and Germany, is animated by a totalitarian drive, but puts corporate interests above those of the nation state. The Trump administration’s war on Iran is the most extreme manifestation of inverted fascism that we have seen yet.

Inverted fascism is more than simply a collection of policies that are repressive and in the interest of billionaires. It could be understood as a condition in which popular input, at every level, has been usurped by corporate power. This condition is marked by media concentration in the hands of a tiny group of conglomerates facilitated by FCC-authorized mergers; social media owned by right-wing billionaires; lobbyists, campaign donors, and corporate-backed think tanks determining policy; and underfunded schools, mass deportations, and militarized police.

But inverted fascism is also a global condition. In their report on 2025, the first year of Trump’s second term, Oxfam found that billionaire wealth around the world grew by more than 16%, reaching a record $18.3 trillion. This while right-wing governments around the world have taken up different versions of inverted fascism. Benjamin Netanyahu engages in brazen genocide in Gaza and land grabs in the West Bank and Lebanon while hollowing out Israel’s own social services. Narendra Modi oversees unprecedented inequality while forwarding his own Hindu nationalism.

This order, however, is fundamentally unstable as made evident by the inability of the Trump administration to pry open the Strait of Hormuz, the reverberating economic consequences of the war, Iran’s remarkable success in its assault on US and Israeli targets in the region, and the reluctance of US allies toward participating. This war marks a major step in the decline of US hegemony. As that decline unfolds, the brazenness of the violence of capitalism becomes increasingly evident. The assault began with the bombing of a girls’ school that killed over 150, the vast majority of whom were between the ages of eight and twelve.

Decline has been a reality for US global hegemony since it reached its peak following WWII. In 1949, the Chinese Revolution succeeded despite billions in US aid to the Kuomintang nationalists and tens of thousands of marines working alongside Japanese imperialists endeavoring to defeat the Red Army. One letter from US ambassador to China, John Leighton Stuart, to the secretary of state relayed, “Killing, assaulting of peaceful Chinese civilians and raping of Chinese women and robbing of Chinese shops by American forces in China. One United States Marine in Tientsin had thrown 9 year old Chinese girl into river [sic].”

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-going-to-get-a-lot-worse/

Donny’s actions and policies smell suspiciously like fascism…..this point has been debated for years now….the Donny loyalist do not see it….those effected by these policies see it so very clearly….

I know this is all debatable….but I would love to hear you thoughts….good or bad….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Are These F*ckers High?

I have read some disturbing and completely idiotic stuff coming from Donny and his band of moron but this one takes the ….Are You High?…category.

This story from The Hill….

The United States Postal Service (USPS) could begin mailing handguns if a proposed rule from the Trump administration receives approval.

Filed last month, the proposed rule would allow Americans to mail concealable guns, like pistols and revolvers, to anyone in the country. Protections similar to those for mailing long-barreled rifles and shotguns, which require them to be unloaded and securely packaged, would likely be applied.

The USPS reviewed public comments due on Monday before making any changes to its rules on handguns.

Concealable handguns have been banned from being mailed unless they come from licensed dealers since 1927. The Department of Justice called the law against mailing handguns “unconstitutional as applied to constitutionally protected firearms, including handguns, because it serves an illegitimate purpose and is inconsistent with the Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation.”

The National Rifle Association (NRA) praised the decision, claiming that the “USPS handgun prohibition continues to create massive and needless headaches for law-abiding gun owners.”

The USPS reviewed public comments due on Monday before making any changes to its rules on handguns.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) praised the decision, claiming that the “USPS handgun prohibition continues to create massive and needless headaches for law-abiding gun owners.”

Attorneys general from around two dozen states sent a letter on Monday urging the USPS to withdraw the proposed rule. They argued that the proposal would make it easier for felons to access handguns.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) is among those state attorneys general pushing back on the proposed rule, saying that the proposed rule would “make it easier for criminals and abusers to access firearms,” calling it a “slap in the face to gun violence survivors and law enforcement.”

“We cannot ignore the dangerous consequences of this proposed rule, which could open the door for prohibited individuals to obtain weapons without background checks or regard for state firearms laws,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said in a statement. “This irresponsible loophole blatantly disregards public safety and would create a direct strain on state resources.”

Everytown for Gun Safety president John Feinblatt told The Associated Press that the proposed rule would turn the USPS into a “gun trafficking pipeline” for illegal weapons, “while stripping law enforcement of the tools they need to prevent and investigate gun crime.”

The NRA’s executive director for its Institute of Legislative Action John Commerford told the AP that thanks to the Trump administration, “USPS will finally allow these firearms to be shipped under the same commonsense safety conditions as rifles and shotguns.”

(thehill.com)

Who decides who is ”law abiding”?

What’s next from this admin a book of instruction on the proper use of a gun at mass shootings?

This is pour insanity….but what can we expect from the group holding all the power?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”