MEMO TO DEMOCRATS AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO SAVE THIS NATION:

I watched 20 minutes of the “debate” Thursday night and, as with many Democrats, I have spent the last few days very concerned about our nation.

Now, it’s time to get out of the blue funk and get to work with a redoubled effort to save this nation.

My support for Joe and Kamala is unwavering – period.

I have been a Democrat since the early 1950’s, and I don’t intend to let up now.  And I’m asking each one of you to redouble your efforts – and get involved, talk to your friends, family, colleagues, and do everything you can between now and November.  YOU will make the difference.

Below is information passed to me from a family member who is inside the Biden-Harris campaign that I think will be helpful to understanding the numbers and the issues, as well as some thoughts from some senior campaign people.

 “Tremendous progress can be made if we persevere through difficult challenges.”

. . .  Jimmy Carter

“These are the times that try men’s souls: the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country.” 

. . . Thomas Paine, 1776

Here’s what I know and what guides me every day:  Democracy is not guaranteed – every generation must protect it, defend it, and fight for it.

This is my fight.

This is Joe’s fight.

This is OUR fight.

So I’m asking you NOW – make it your fight.  This is the time.

America’s greatness is tied to her future – Trump is tying it to our past.  From the founders, to the suffragettes, to the civil rights movement, the common theme is hope.  And that hope for a better country for all is what should guide us in this campaign.  Whether it was the New Deal, the Great Society, or Biden’s American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Chips and Science Act, and the PACT Act – it’s Democrats who have always worked to protect and provide for this country.  Since Reagan, there have been 51 millions jobs created – 49 million of those under Democrats.

The main question I’ve received is about Thursday night.  Did he have a bad night?  Yes.  Have any of the issues in the campaign changed?  No.

Trump presents a clear and present danger to this country – and we have to work our asses off to elect Joe and Kamala.

Here is what’s coming up in the next few weeks that we need to focus on:

–       Immunity ruling from SCOTUS and this could potentially spur action in the DC/January 6th case.

–       On July 11

o   Trump sentencing in NY case

o   Biden will be hosting all of the NATO leaders at a convening in DC

o   This will be a huge opportunity to show a split screen of a convicted felon vs the leader of the free world hosting all of the NATO leaders to further protect democracy around the world and strengthen our foreign policy/alliances.  And I would expect that many of those leaders will be giving interviews supporting Biden’s reelection.

–       RNC Convention

o   During their convention, we will be rolling out Republicans for Biden.

o   Last week we saw former US Representative Adam Kinzinger come out publicly for Biden, and he will continue to travel and speak to his support for Biden and the danger of Trump.

o   While I don’t have a list of who will be the leaders of the Republicans for Biden, I suspect it will be some heavy hitters.  And if I were a betting person, I might also put some money on some of the generals who Trump has been lying about to possibly come out publicly as well.

–       Blue Wall Travelling

o   All surrogates will be on the road, especially in the blue wall states.

o   This will include many of the Democratic governors.

Information we received at meetings on Thursday that I think is interesting:

–       Reproductive rights panel

o   Polling shows voters are NOT done voting on the issue; we will define it as a choice.

o   There is the message, the messaging/messengers, and the medium.  We will have real voices from people in states with the bans – we have already had some of them do ads to show what happened in their state and can happen other places.

–       Path to 270

o   There are 7 states that are currently tied, and we need to win 3 or 4 of them.

o   Our targets are those we need to reengage and then expanding.

  • The biggest group to reach is reengagement folks.
  • These are people who trust people they already know.
  • They trust YOU – and need to hear from YOU.  Make it personal.

o   Of the 7 million votes we won by last time, it was the 45k in GA, WI, and AZ that won the election.

Points that came out immediately from Thursday night that I think are really important:

–       Arizona – Latino focus groups

o   Went heavily for Biden during/after the debate

o   Voters responded poorly to Trump; used words like “liar”, “mean”, and said things like “can’t do another 4 years with him”

o   AZ is very important in the senate races, and the Latino vote is part of that math, so this is positive for us.

–       Real time polling on key issues (abortion, January 6th, others) – voters moved in our favor and their answers followed our core messaging

Notes from the Biden-Harris campaign on Saturday:

–       Team Biden-Harris raised more than $27 million between debate day and Friday evening. Debate night saw three record-breaking hours for grassroots fundraising – including the hour following the debate which was the best one hour of grassroots fundraising since launch.

–       Across the battlegrounds, our state campaigns have received an influx of volunteer enthusiasm and support, which we are channeling into voter outreach:

o   More than three times as many people applied to work on the campaign in the 24 hours following the debate than apply on an average day.

o   Post-debate, across the battlegrounds, our rate of volunteer signups was more than three times as much as an average day.

o   In North Carolina, we had our largest event of the campaign on Friday, with thousands of people turning out to hear the president give strong and forceful remarks.

–       Flash polls from CNN, 538, SurveyUSA, Morning Consult, and Data for Progress show what we expected: The debate did not change the horse race. This mirrors what the campaign’s internal post-debate polling showed: The president maintained his support among his 2020 voters and voters’ opinions were not changed.

o   CNN: “An 81% majority of registered voters who watched the debate say it had no effect on their choice for president, with another 14% saying that it made them reconsider but didn’t change their mind. Just 5% say it changed their minds about whom to vote for.”

o   538: “The face-off doesn’t seem to have caused many people to reconsider their vote.”

o   SurveyUSA: Continues to show a tight race between President Biden and Donald Trump, consistent with public polling averages pre-debate.

o   Morning Consult: A new large-sample, independent poll has President Biden gaining 1 point post-debate, now leading 45-44.

o   Data for Progress: Vote choice between Trump and Biden remains largely unchanged, and Biden continues to run ahead of other Democrats in a Trump matchup.

o   Geoff Garin of Hart Research: “I am finishing my second battleground state poll post-debate and both surveys show the same thing: the debate had no effect on the vote choice. The election was extremely close and competitive before the debate, and it is still extremely close and competitive today.”

–       Following the debate, our internal dials showed President Biden led Trump on key measures of being presidential, speaking to the issues that matter, and being likable by more than 20 points. Dials showed that independent voters were turned off by Trump’s personal attacks, and had deep negative feelings when Trump talked about January 6, his support for Putin, and refusing to lay out his vision for America. Our internal poll confirmed the dials: Trump’s performance left independent voters feeling less confident about his position on reproductive rights and abortion, respect for the Constitution and rule of law, and truthfulness.

–       Debate dials conducted by outside groups in Phoenix, Arizona largely confirm what we saw from internal dials. A few key takeaways:

o   “Overall, voters say that the debate for the most part didn’t change their overall outlook of either candidate.”

o   “Trump’s refusal to answer questions in a straightforward manner and his exaggerated boasting fed into perceptions that he cares more about himself than solving peoples’ issues.”

o   “Biden’s strongest moments were on matters of policy substance, and voters thought he better addressed their concerns on the issues than did Trump.”

Bottom line: Our team knows a thing or two about putting our heads down and doing the work to win hard races. This will be a very close election. It was always going to be. It will be won by breaking through and talking to voters every single day, making our case to them about just how high the stakes are and who is fighting for them. That’s what our campaign has been planning for. It’s the relentless work we’re doing on the ground to get our winning message out that makes us confident President Biden will win this race and beat Donald Trump.

After the June 27 “debate,” how about we all just calm down

I, too, was very disappointed and depressed at President Biden’s performance in the June 27 “debate.”  In fact, I turned it off about 30 minutes in.

I have heard — as we all have heard — the calls for Biden to step aside and let us Democrats nominate a younger person.

I agree that Biden — in 2020 — should have announced that he would not run for re-election in 2024 and he would help the Democratic Party find a younger candidate.

But that’s as far as it goes.

Why is no one calling for Trump to be replaced?  After all, he has been found guilty (1) on 34 felony fraud charges; (2) fouind guilty of bank, insurance, and real estate fraud and is facing $400 million in fines; (3) as well as facing serious charges the he violated various parts of the US Espionage Act.  Why no calls for him to be pushed aside?

Why is no one reporting that every word out of Trump’s mouth was a LIE.

Now, let’s look at some facts.

The Republican National Committee is going into the Presidential election almost broke.  Furthermore, Trump’s daughter-in-law is now in charge of RNC finances and she is directing millions of $$ in campaign money to pay Trump’s legal fees.

Trump and the RNC have almost no ground game in any state.  On the other side, the DNC and the Biden-Harris campaign are flush with cash, more rolling in, and all of it being used for local campaigns, offices, field workers, and the like.

Post-debate polls gave Biden a 1% uptick across the nation.  A major post-debate Hispanic focus group reported a 10% drop in Hispanic support for Trump — which was not very heavy to start with.

Trump’s ratings have been stuck for years.  He has a hard core of MAGAt supporters, but he is bleeding independents, women, minorities, and many Republicans who say they simply will not vote for President.  Biden, meanwhile, is picking up independents, women, young people, minorities and all the other undecided or usual Democratic supporters.

The lesson for us Democrats is to take a deep breath, work to elect Biden-Harris, and ignore the freakout crowd, including the pro-Trump NYTimes and Washington Post.

 

 

The current US “Supreme Court” includes two crooks and three liars. Some Court.

The current US Supreme Court is not so Supreme because it currently contains two crooks and three liars.

CROOKS

  • “Justice” Clarence Thomas
  • “Justice” Samuel A. Alito

LIARS

  • “Justice” Neil M. Gorsuch
  • “Justice” Brett M. Kavanaugh
  • “Justice” Amy Coney Barrett

Let’s now examine these crooks and liars.

Both Thomas and Alito have taken enormous bribes from wealthy people, some of whom have or had business before the Court.

For over 20 years Thomas has accepted millions of dollars in luxury items from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ corruption is intolerable.

Is it permitted for Thomas to take bribes “because he grew up poor”?  This jackass thinks so.  Normal people, not so much.

And there is MUCH more . . . simply do a Google search for terms such as “Clarence Thomas bribes”.

“Justice” Alito whines because his corruption was exposed.

Alito took luxurious “fishing trips” with major Republican donor.

Alito doesn’t like being exposed as a crook.

And there is MUCH more . . . simply do a Google search for terms such as “Justice Alito bribes”.

And now let’s get to the three liars on the “Supreme” Court.

Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.

During their confirmation hearings, all three of these stated time and again that, in their view, Roe v. Wade was “settled law.”  The minute they got on the Court, they voted to overturn “settled law.”  Liars, all three.  Then, of course, there are huge shadows over each of them

GORSUCH.  In 2016, Justice Scalia died and President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — himself the recipient of substantial bribes — refused to bring Garland’s nomination to the Senate for a vote, claiming that Obama was in the last year of his term and no President had ever filled a Supreme Court vacancy during his last year.  McCONNELL LIED.  Many Supreme Court vacancies have been filled by Presidents in their last year.  McConnell held the seat open in violation of the US Constitution, Trump was elected, and Gorsuch went onto the Court.

KAVANAUGH.  Also know as “Beer Bong” Kavanaugh.  A rich kid from a privileged family who was know to party until he blacked out drunk, was accused of raping a woman in a drunken stupor.  The FBI under Trump refused to investigate the charges, Kavanaugh and Republicans attacked the woman’s story, and Kavanaugh was put on the Court.

BARRETT.  Barrett is a long-time member of a radical evangelical cult that practices “laying on of hands” and “speaking in tongues.”

Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett — crooks and liars and wierdos.  Your “Supreme Court” in action.

Trumponomics is given failing grade by every economic forecasting agency

Moody’s estimates Trump’s extended tax proposal would lead to a recession by 2025.

 CAP estimates Trump’s tariff plan would raise taxes for middle-income households by up to $8,300.

Congressional Budget Office estimates Trump’s tax plan would cost $4 trillion over the next decade, add $4.6 trillion to deficit.

Today, 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists are worried Trump’s economic plans would reignite inflation and cause lasting economic harm. 

Axios: “Sixteen Nobel prize-winning economists are jumping into the presidential campaign with a stark warning: Former President Trump’s plans would reignite inflation and cause lasting harm to the global economy if he wins in November.”

Moody’s recent report demonstrates how Trump’s MAGAnomics agenda will lead to slower growth and higher inflation — triggering a recession by 2025.

USA Today: “‘Biden’s policies are better for the economy,’ says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. ‘They lead to more growth and less inflation.

“According to a Moody’s study, Trump’s plan would trigger a recession by mid-2025 and an economy that grows an average 1.3% annually during his four-year term vs. 2.1% under Biden. (The latter is in line with average growth in the decade before the pandemic.)

“Next year, under a Trump administration, inflation would rise from the current 3.3% to 3.6%, well above the 2.4% forecast under Biden, the Moody’s analysis shows. Compared with Biden, the U.S. would have 3.2 million fewer jobs and a 4.5% unemployment rate, a half percentage point higher, at the end of a Trump tenure.”

The Hill: “Republicans are getting ready to fast-track the extension of the Trump tax cuts through the reconciliation process if they win big in November. Nearly seven years after the GOP used budget reconciliation to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the party is gearing up to use the same maneuver to renew key provisions set to expire in 2026. While most legislation needs the support of 60 senators to avert a filibuster, budget reconciliation allows lawmakers to pass major tax and spending bills with a simple majority — and without bipartisan backing…

“While changes in business and corporate taxes from the 2017 tax law changed investment flows within the economy, it did not add substantially to economic growth.”

According to the Congressional Budget Office, permanently extending Trump tax cuts would cost taxpayers $4 trillion dollars over the next decade, adding $4.6 trillion to the deficit.

Senate Budget Committee: “According to the latest report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), extending the Trump tax cuts for the next 10 years—as Republicans have proposed—would add $4.6 trillion to the deficit.

“The report, written at the urging of Senator Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Senator Wyden (D-OR), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, finds that the extension would cost $1.1 trillion more than previously estimated.”

Center for American Progress: “According to new estimates released today by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), permanently extending the expiring provisions of the Trump tax cuts would cost $4 trillion over the next 10 years, $400 billion per year.* This includes $3.4 trillion from extending the expiring individual and estate tax provisions as well as $551 billion from extending business provisions.

[…]

“An extension would provide, on average, a larger tax cut for extremely rich households than for everyone else. Households with incomes of more than $500,000 per year—roughly the top 2 percent of households by income—would receive a larger tax cut than households making $200,000 per year, not just in dollars terms but also as a percentage of their after-tax income. And the households making $200,000 per year would receive a larger tax cut than those making $50,000 or less per year.”

Tax Policy Center: “CBO’s Latest Budget Estimates May Make Extending The TCJA More Complicated”

Trump’s latest tax scheme would raise taxes on middle-income Americans by up to $8,300 while giving the top 1% another handout.

Center for American Progress: “Trump’s latest idea to replace all income taxes with tariffs is mathematically impossible, but even if it were feasible, it would dramatically increase income inequality and raise taxes for the bottom 90 percent of households. It would raise taxes for middle-income households by $5,100 to $8,300 while cutting taxes for the top 0.1 percent by at least $1.5 million annually.”

President Biden’s administration is protecting consumers from price gouging.

Vox: “His administration has also tackled monopolies like it’s the Roosevelt era, filing a flurry of sweeping lawsuits against major companies, including four Big Tech companies, on the grounds that they are harming competition in their industries and, therefore, American consumers.”

Business Insider: “The Biden administration has launched investigations and antitrust lawsuits against several mega corporations, many in the tech sector, that it accuses of behaving like monopolies — and it’s setting him apart from his predecessors.”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: “Biden-Harris Administration to Make First Offer for Drug Price Negotiation Program, Launches New Resource Hub to Help People Access Lower-Cost Drugs”

President Biden’s economic plan lowered costs on everyday grocery items and increased food assistance programs including SNAP for families across America.

Biden-Harris Lowering Costs Agenda: “Providing the typical low-income family of four about $2,000 more for groceries each year by improving SNAP—lifting about 3 million people out of poverty, including 400,000 Black children, 350,000 Hispanic children, and 18,000 Asian American children—and launching Summer EBT for nearly 21 million children.”

White House ICYMI: “President Biden’s top economic priority is lowering costs for American families—including calling on grocery chains making record profits to lower prices. The President and his team have been meeting with CEOs and business leaders, including Target CEO Brian Cornell, to discuss the elevated costs that families face. Target, Walmart, and other grocery chains have begun to answer the President’s call to lower prices for household goods.”

Washington Post: “This week, Target announced it would lower prices on roughly 5,000 items, including staples such as milk, produce, bread and coffee, as well as diapers and pet food. The reductions will ‘collectively save consumers millions of dollars this summer,’ the company said in a news release. The White House — which has been pressing retailers to lower prices — took credit for the rollbacks, posting on X: ‘President Biden called on grocery chains making record profits to lower prices for consumers — and they’re answering the call.’”

Speaker Mike “Moses” Johnson is in another mess of his own making

House Speaker Mike Johnson wants this to be a serious and busy week, packed with passing appropriations bills for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. As usual, one of the Freedom Caucus members he’s been sucking up to has other plans.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida announced Monday that she plans to force a vote on her incoherent contempt resolution to have the sergeant of arms of the House arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland. Last week she suggested that she was working with Johnson and the leadership team to get it on the schedule. That apparently didn’t happen, so she’s going to force a privileged resolution—which has to be considered—to lock Garland up.

Move over Reps. Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene: Luna is coming for her 15 minutes of fame.

The House voted to hold Garland in contempt earlier this month, a futile waste of half a week of the calendar. The Justice Department summarily rejected following up on the House’s contempt charge, stemming from the department’s refusal to provide the video of special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden in his documents investigation. The department provided full transcripts and Hur testified but that wasn’t enough for Republicans. They want video and audio they can chop up to make Biden look bad.

Of course holding that contempt vote wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy the chaos agents, and now we have this escalation from Luna. It’s a direct result of Johnson’s continuing efforts to appease the maniacs—a strategy that’s wearing thin with his colleagues. This one is particularly problematic because it’s untested and raises constitutional concerns.

House rules say “the recalcitrant witness may be arrested and brought to trial before the bar of the House, with the offender facing possible incarceration,” but what that looks like in practicality isn’t spelled out. How is a cabinet official protected by an FBI detail arrested? After he’s arrested, then what? Where’s he held? How is he prosecuted? None of that is covered in the rules or anywhere else.

Congressional experts, including those at the Congressional Research Service, warn that “because of the institutional prerogatives that are often implicated in inter-branch oversight disputes,” enforcing an inherent contempt charge “may raise constitutional concerns.”

Here’s another pickle Johnson has found himself in, entirely of his own making. And once again, he’s probably going to have to rely on Democrats to get him out of it. This time, however, they might not be inclined to help him.

I’m with “Sleepy Joe” all the way!!

I’m voting for the ‘befuddled’ guy who delivered an infrastructure bill, lowered prescription drug prices, and expanded healthcare access, instead of the guy who promised things he never delivered.

I’m voting for the ‘mentally unstable’ guy who understands the threat of climate change, instead of the guy who rants about faucets that only drip and toilets that don’t flush.

I’m voting for the ‘cognitively impaired’ guy who champions women’s rights, instead of the guy who actually brags about taking those rights away.

I’m voting for the ‘slow-talking’ guy who speaks eloquently and truthfully about the issues, instead of the guy who lies about everything and rambles incoherently in doing so.

I’m voting for the allegedly ‘corrupt’ guy, instead of the convicted felon, fraudster, tax cheat, and rapist.

I’m voting for the ‘dimwitted’ guy who has overseen a strengthening economy, lower unemployment, millions of new jobs, and higher wages, instead of the guy who is openly hoping for the economy to crash because he thinks it will help him politically.

I’m voting for the ‘demented’ guy who believes in democracy, the law, and the Constitution, instead of the guy who abhors the very principles the nation was founded upon.

The choice is clear between a steady hand guiding the ship of state, and a raving lunatic who thinks ranting about electric boats and being eaten by sharks is a sure vote-getter.

Retired Army General Mike Flynn is fleecing the rubes, goobers, and other stupid people for millions of $$$

Retired General Michael Flynn has parlayed lies and bullshit into a mountain of money for himself and his family.

In 2021, retired Gen. Michael T. Flynn, Donald J. Trump’s first national security adviser, became chairman of a 75-year-old nonprofit organization — the kind of small charity where chairmen typically work for free.

But Mr. Flynn received a salary of $40,000, for working two hours per week.

The next year, he got a raise: $60,000, for two hours.

Mr. Flynn’s charity also paid one of his brothers, two of his sisters, his niece and his sister-in-law. By the end of its second year, his nonprofit group, America’s Future Inc., was running in the red, burning through reserves — and still paying $518,000, or 29 percent of its budget, to Flynns.

Since leaving the Trump administration under an ethical cloud, Michael Flynn has converted his Trump-world celebrity into a lucrative and sprawling family business. He and his relatives have marketed the retired general as a martyr, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for a legal-defense fund and then pocketing leftover money. Through a network of nonprofit and for-profit ventures, they have sold far-right conspiracy theories, ranging from lies about the 2020 election to warnings, embraced by followers of QAnon, about cabals of pedophiles and child traffickers.

Click here to go to an article that lays out the whole story.