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18May2025
No Kings, Day of Defiance 14June2025
Could we gather as a group at this rally and post a sign like this?
Red Square Sign? 97.3 KB View full-size Download
We would then have with folks. Some questions we might ask:
Your Thoughts for June 14th?
(excerpts)
“We, the people” must use Trump's corruption as motivation to redeem democracy from the stranglehold of billionaires and corporations. We must reform the DOJ, FBI, and Congress. We must overturn the corrupt decisions of the Supreme Court that grant presidents criminal immunity and allow corporations to buy elections and politicians. We will accomplish those reforms at the ballot box, in the streets, in living rooms, and in school auditoriums. Fully redeeming our democracy will be a long-term, arduous task. We have already begun the work and have reason for hope. The daily reports of corruption and lawlessness are difficult to stomach, but we must use them as a source of righteous indignation and courage for the battles to come. Stay strong and know that we are in this fight together. Trump did not weaken the guardrails of democracy on his own. He has been enabled and assisted by a corps of cultural war shock troops who believe in white supremacy, Christian nationalism, and antisemitism. But he has not corrupted us—the people. To be sure, he has gained control of about one-third of the electorate. But it is not enough—or should not be enough—to halt the rebirth and reformation that has already begun. I wish there were a better, easier answer than saying that years of protesting in the streets and showing up at town halls and ballot boxes will be needed to get us out of this mess. But here we are. The only question is, “What are we going to do about it?” For me, the answer is, “Exactly what we have been doing, only louder, more frequently, and in greater numbers.”
, Levitsky, Way & Ziblatt
Authoritarianism is harder to recognize than it used to be. Most 21st-century autocrats are elected. ...
We call this — a system in which parties compete in elections but the systematic abuse of an incumbent’s power tilts the playing field against the opposition.
The descent into competitive authoritarianism doesn’t always set off alarms. Because governments attack their rivals through nominally legal means like defamation suits, tax audits and politically targeted investigations, citizens are often slow to realize they are succumbing to authoritarian rule.
Under authoritarianism, by contrast, opposition comes with a price. Citizens and organizations that run afoul of the government become targets of a range of punitive measures: Politicians may be investigated and prosecuted on baseless or petty charges, media outlets may be hit with frivolous defamation suits or adverse regulatory rulings, businesses may face tax audits or be denied critical contracts or licenses, universities and other civic institutions may lose essential funding or tax-exempt status, and journalists, activists and other critics may be harassed, threatened or physically attacked by government supporters.
When citizens must think twice about criticizing or opposing the government because they could credibly face government retribution, they no longer live in a full democracy.
By that measure, America has crossed the line into competitive authoritarianism. The Trump administration’s weaponization of government agencies and flurry of punitive actions against critics has raised the cost of opposition for a wide range of Americans.
For many American citizens and organizations, then, the cost of opposition has risen markedly. Although these costs are not as high as in dictatorships like Russia — where critics are routinely imprisoned, exiled or killed — America has, with stunning speed, descended into a world in which opponents of the government fear criminal investigations, lawsuits, tax audits and other punitive measures and even Republican politicians are, as one former Trump administration official , “scared” out of their minds “about death threats.”
American civil society has the financial and organizational muscle to resist Mr. Trump’s authoritarian offensive. It has several hundred billionaires; dozens of law firms that earn at least a billion dollars a year; more than 1,700 private universities and colleges; a vast infrastructure of churches, labor unions, private foundations and nonprofit organizations; and a well-organized and well-financed opposition party.
But civil society must act collectively. Chief executives, law firms, universities, media outlets and Democratic politicians, as well as more traditional Republicans, have a common interest in preserving our constitutional democracy. When organizations work together and commit to a collective defense of democratic principles, they share the costs of defiance. The government cannot attack everyone all at once. When the costs of defiance are shared, they become easier for individuals to bear.
So far, the most energetic opposition has come not from civic leaders but from everyday citizens, showing up at congressional town hall meetings or participating in Hands Off rallies across the country. Our leaders must follow their example. A collective defense of democracy is most likely to succeed when prominent, well-funded individuals and organizations — those who are best able to absorb blows from the government — get in the game.
America’s slide into authoritarianism is reversible. But no one has ever defeated autocracy from the sidelines.
25May2025
from SPLC
posted in Docs & Files > Action Tools
Heatmap
... “”... It $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. The bill’s next stop is the Senate, where it could change significantly. But if this bill is enacted, it will jack up America’s energy and environmental risks — for relatively little benefit.
The Republican megabill will make climate change worse. Within a year or two, the U.S. will be pumping out half a gigaton more carbon pollution per year than it would in a world where the IRA remains on the books, ...
What does America get for this increase in air pollution? After all, it’s possible to imagine situations where such a surge could bring economic benefits. In this case, though, we don’t get very much at all. Repealing the tax credits from GDP over the next decade, ...Across the country, household energy costs by 2035, on top of any normal market-driven volatility, ...
In other words, in exchange for more pollution, Americans will get less economic growth but higher energy costs. ...
Republicans are now trying to remove these tax bonuses in order to finance tax cuts for high-earning households. But removing the IRA alone won’t pay for the tax credits, so they will also have to borrow trillions of dollars. This is already , driving up interest rates for Americans. Indeed, a U.S. Treasury auction earlier this week for $16 billion in bonds, driving stocks and the dollar down while spiking treasury yields.
Higher interest rates will make it more expensive to build any kind of new power plant. ... Batteries are a , and they will undergird many of the most important general and military technologies of the next several decades. ...
Does this mean that Republicans will kill America’s electric vehicle industry? Not necessarily. But they will dent its growth, strength, and expansion. They will make it weaker and more vulnerable to external interference. ... It is risky to make the power grid so exposed to natural gas price volatility. It is risky to jack up the federal deficit during peacetime for so little gain. It is risky to cede so much demand for U.S.-sourced critical minerals. It is risky to raise interest rates in an era of higher trade barriers, uncertain supply shocks, and geopolitical instability.
?, If You Can Keep It Substack
I find democracy is best explained through its benefits. ... the rule of law, individual rights, and electoral freedom.
The rule of law, fairness, and predictability
Democracy is good for business. ... But that’s not true when an autocratic leader with no safeguards can make impulsive or self-serving economic policy decisions.… like, say, a and the global trade system?
That predictability — that impartiality — helps ensure our freedom. Otherwise, we’re all at the whims of people with power.
Individual rights and the restraints on power
In our day-to-day lives, many of us don’t spend much time thinking about our rights: to speak our minds, to travel freely, to worship as we wish, to feel safe and secure in our homes, to earn a living, to love and marry, to criticize the powerful, and to not be arbitrarily and indefinitely imprisoned. But in reality, everything around us is built on the foundation of fundamental rights like and and and .
Often, these violations of individual rights start with — and are built around — centralized databases and surveillance structures to monitor citizens. The more the government knows about you, the more options it has to potentially curtail your basic freedoms.
Right now, the Trump administration and DOGE are to build a massive, unified database of all Americans. We don’t know what this database will be used for.
Whatever its purpose, trust me: Our rights are worth protecting before they’re dismantled, not after.
Electoral freedom and the ability to choose our leaders
Democracy is a system in which parties lose elections. ... Do the people in power routinely lose and leave power through elections? If yes, great. If no, that’s not a democracy.
It’s not just that we the people get to select our leaders — and therefore have a say in policy decisions ... It’s that we have a failsafe way to remove leaders from power when we inevitably need to do so....
, The Ground Game Substack
WHAT MOBILIZING ACTUALLY DOES
Mobilizing begins with a countdown clock. ...
The assignment is simple and brutal: convert latent sympathy into visible pressure before the clock hits zero. Lists matter more than deep relationships, message discipline more than philosophical depth, and friction-free tech beats Robert’s Rules every time.
WHAT ORGANIZING ACTUALLY DOES
Organizing starts ... with a power map. ... What exact decision must flip, and by when? Who can actually say “yes” or “no,” and who whispers in their ear? What do those actors prize most, votes, profit, reputation, stability, and where is that prize exposed? Which organized people, money, and narrative can we already marshal, or quickly build, to press on that nerve? Finally, what public action will convert our assets into a cost they can’t ignore or a benefit they crave? Those five questions sketch the first draft of any serious campaign plan.
Organizing opens a power chart.
Mobilizing opens a turnout model.
Both models are essential, yet neither is sufficient alone.
, Waging Non-Violence
We are heading down a perilous road. Vulnerable communities face growing threats. The climate crisis is outpacing scientists’ worst predictions. Authoritarianism is no longer a distant possibility — it is rising, with democracy backsliding across the globe. With Trump’s return, public services like education, labor protections, humane immigration policies, health care and diversity programs are being dismantled.
Meanwhile, trust in democracy is — especially among young people. As political scientist Steven points out, part of the problem is motivational: The political right is fighting for a clear, albeit dangerous, vision. The left, by contrast, is often fighting against that vision, with fewer compelling alternatives on offer.
So what can we do? We build. We shift away from reform — away from tweaking broken systems — and instead direct our energy toward creating entirely new ones. And the beauty of this method is: we don’t have to start from scratch. We can draw from history. ...
Empowered communities: Building power from the ground up
As organizer and strategist Marshallnotes, power means having others more dependent on you than you are on them. Translated, this means the people have become almost entirely dependent on the services and structures owned or operated by states and mega-corporations, who far too often, exploit people for their own gain. To become genuinely empowered, people can work in community to meet their essential needs — food, housing, healthcare, education, energy, technology and economic stability. And this is not theory. It’s already happening. Across the globe, people are building systems from the ground up that meet human needs while resisting corporate and state overreach.
Food security: Growing resilience, one seed at a time
Corporate agribusiness dominates food supply chains, prioritizing profit over people. These monopolized supply chains not only distance us from the sources of our food — they make us vulnerable to disruption, price manipulation and environmental collapse. To grow their power and resilience, communities are reclaiming food through local co-ops, urban farms and direct partnerships with farmers. ... By feeding ourselves and our communities — intentionally, ethically and locally — we remove power from those who misuse it, and begin building something lasting in its place.
Housing: Reclaiming shelter as a human right
In cities across the globe, real estate speculation and corporate landlords have turned shelter into a commodity — driving rents sky-high and pushing working people into precarious living conditions or homelessness.
But communities are not powerless. When people organize to collectively own and manage their homes, they create one of the most powerful tools of nonviolent resistance: housing cooperatives.
Health care: Healing without permission
Across the globe — even in wealthy nations — health care is increasingly monopolized by profit-driven corporations or crippled by underfunded public systems. Millions are left without basic care, forced to choose between crushing debt or untreated illness. ...
Education: Learning to resist, learning to build
When an elite few control what counts as knowledge, when critical thinking is replaced by obedience, we’re not just approaching fascism — we’re already living it.
Energy: Power from the people
... When communities own their energy, they own their future. They are no longer dependent on corporations who serve shareholders, or governments who delay transition for political convenience.
Technology: Reclaiming the digital commons
Big Tech corporations monitor, monetize and manipulate digital spaces — treating our attention and data as commodities, shaping public discourse through opaque algorithms. The result? A digital world that is increasingly extractive, surveilled and inaccessible to those without wealth or expertise. But just like food, land or energy — technology can be reclaimed. ...
Safety and security: From control to care
Creating community-based safety doesn’t require permission. It requires a shift in mindset — from protection-through-force to protection-through-care. ...
Authoritarianism thrives when people are isolated and dependent — when food, energy, housing and safety are controlled by a handful of elites. But when communities feed each other, house each other, teach each other and protect each other — they are less dependent on dominant systems, which allows them to mount a more effective resistance. ...
The answer isn’t just electing better leaders. It’s building a world where no one has the power to deny another human being their basic rights.
1June2025
video, Robert Reich
, Nate Hagens
at Wesleyan University
Eighty-five years later, the foundations of our democracy are being tested. We are in a moment of profound risk. A moment of true consequence. And in moments like this, history always offers two paths. One leads to renewal. The other to ruin. And the burden of choosing the right path, Class of 2025, falls to you.
And the first, step one, is to be that spark. Take the first action — even just small symbolic ones, ... Courage really is contagious.
And it leads to step two: collective action. ... When freedom is threatened, people who normally disagree must band together in its defense. Divide and conquer is tyranny's oldest trick. Pit us against each other — on the basis of race, religion, or national origin — and it's easier to pick our pockets of money and power.
And if we do that, we create the space for step three: not just to resist, but to rebuild. The 20th-century order is over. A new age is being born. What democracy looks like in that new age — how it works, whom it serves — that is your generation's work.... We can do better than this. So long as we build from our most cherished ideals: Freedom. Justice. Human dignity. Equality under the law.
, Rev. William Barber & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
DOGE is a scam, but its consequences are real. ... because of the careless cuts Musk made to the USAID program, decimating US investment in fighting hunger and disease around the world. ... These life-saving and life-sustaining programs were canceled because Elon Musk lied and called them “waste, fraud, and abuse.” His lie meant that children died of malnutrition, diarrhea, and tuberculosis. ... Like Musk’s chainsaw, the $1.1 trillion of total cuts proposed in this big, ugly GOP bill would put Medicaid, SNAP, and green energy programs through the woodchipper. They would balloon the deficit in ways that threaten Medicare, all to offset tax cuts for the wealthy and extreme spending on war and more masked militias to attack immigrant communities. .... The DOGE scam is killing people all around the world; unless 3 Republicans in the Senate take a stand against this big, ugly bill, the lie about “waste, fraud, and abuse” will soon be killing people in your neighborhood.
suggest nonvoters are already feeling that their vote may matter more than they’d though it did. More than a third of nonvoters from 2024 now regret their decision not to cast a ballot in 2024, and among those regretful nonvoters 68% agree Trump is a dictator who must be stopped. It’s a striking data point: nonvoters are almost as opposed to the Trump regime as Democrats. ... Now is the time to link up, build a big, broad moral fusion coalition, and commit ourselves to follow the leadership of people who know their lives are at stake. ...
, Wired
Sahil Lavingia published on his personal website detailing his 55-day stint within DOGE. Lavingia, who as a member of DOGE at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is the CEO of Gumroad, a platform that helps creatives sell their work. ... Lavingia describes the kinds of projects he worked on at the VA and his overall impressions of working with DOGE. Lavingia described the DOGE operations as “disorganized,” with little information sharing across different teams. ... Musk has spent the last few weeks saying that he is going to be largely leaving his DOGE duties behind. Two of his closest lieutenants, and , appear to be departing as well. Davis, who has worked with Musk for years, including at X and as the CEO of the Boring Company, has been integral to the day-to-day operations of DOGE. Without Davis at the helm, Lavingia says, it’s unclear who will lead DOGE—and in what direction. “Steven was the only person who was across everything,”
Lavingia told WIRED that Davis appeared to be the person directing most of the DOGE activities at different agencies, and was in direct contact with all the DOGE members at various points. Generally, in Lavingia’s experience, that correspondence happened using the encrypted messaging app Signal. Experts and lawmakers have that using Signal for official government communications could violate laws that require government employees to maintain records of all communications. ... Davis would message priorities to whoever was the DOGE team lead at a given agency. At the VA, Lavingia tells WIRED, Davis instructed the DOGE team to prioritize reviewing contracts for cancellation. ... These three men— Armstrong, Akis, and Davis—appeared to be the people in charge ... “Steven is basically like a chief of staff or body man when Elon was there,” ...
Akis, the cofounder and president of venture capital firm Human Capital, is a longtime Musk associate. He is not a US citizen. In February, The Atlantic reported that from hiring Akis into DOGE because he was born in Turkey, though he has a green card. s, The Atlantic noted, generally do not allow for non-Americans to be employed by the government.
Armstrong, who helped advise Musk on his purchase of Twitter, has at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), .
Davis has long been an important part of Musk’s inner circle. ... Davis , then based out of SpaceX’s DC offices. He recruited one young engineer who is now running a , ... Davis was also instrumental in pressing for a (SSA) for one of the group’s young engineers, Akash Bobba.
Musk and Davis were what is known as special government employees, who are able to work in government for a limited period of time, up to 130 days. In his blog post, Lavingia writes that DOGE was a way for the Trump administration to distance itself from otherwise unpopular decisions. “In reality, DOGE had no direct authority. The real decisions came from the agency heads appointed by President Trump, who were wise to let DOGE act as the ‘fall guy’ for unpopular decisions,” ... Without Musk and Davis, Lavingia says he has “no idea” what direction DOGE will take. And as for the young engineers who followed Musk and Davis into government: “I assume they’ll leave soon too.”
8June2025
, Wired
If you’re planning to hit the streets, here’s what you need to know.
, Ruth Ben-Ghiat
The Donald Trump administration blends classic means of authoritarian takeover with something new: a power-sharing agreement between a president and a private individual, Elon Musk. This agreement allowed the latter to strike at the state via a lawless vanguard of technical experts under his command. ...
Far from ending its work, DOGE is expanding, and its lawless actions are being institutionalized as a second phase of action begins. DOGE and Project 2025’s own armies of democratic destruction will work together under Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought’s guide. ...
Trump allowed DOGE to take over the United States government’s administrative and financial systems, capture the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans, and decimate numerous essential government agencies. ...
They occupied and locked out members of Congress from government buildings, installed themselves physically in those spaces, remaining there 24/7, fired many thousands of government employees after barring them from their own computer systems, physically removed officials who sought to stop their seizures and infiltrations, shut down and defunded whole programs and agencies, ...
DOGE is now embedded in over 30 United States government agencies and departments, including the , the , the , the , the United Postal Service, and the IRS (which hasalmost 1/3 of its tax auditors after just 2 months of DOGE cuts).
They have also breached the , which guards banking and other details for more than 87 million Americans and thus is a prime target for plunder. The tech billionaire Antonio Gracias is now there as a DOGE staffer, and the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to give DOGE access to its records....
, Pamela Paxton
That’s where . The independent federal agency for national service and volunteerism has facilitated the a year, placing them through partnerships with thousands of nonprofits that provide tutoring, disaster relief and many other important services. But Americorps’ fate is now uncertain. In April 2025, the Trump administration , suddenly ending the stipends that were supporting more than 32,000 AmeriCorps volunteers. ... The Trump administration has also and indicated that it wants to , along with its .
Since then, AmeriCorps members have built housing and infrastructure, delivered disaster relief, tutored in low-income schools, provided health care and helped older adults age with dignity in both urban and rural communities across the nation. ... One such study found that every dollar invested in national service , such as higher earnings, better mental and physical health, and economic growth. Additionally, every federal dollar spent on national service produces $17.30 in savings across other government programs through reductions in public assistance, health and criminal justice spending.
, Waging Nonviolence
Musk’s 130-day tenure at DOGE was characterized by aggressive cruelty. He eliminated somewhere between 200,000-260,000 federal positions through mass firings, buyouts and early retirements. He didn’t achieve his stated goal of $2 trillion in savings. Even his website, filled with misleading and inaccurate claims, — and are closer to 0.8 percent. The most casual look at his reveals that the goal isn’t savings — it’s enriching himself and displacing democracy. Predictably the Republican budget is set to explode deficit spending and extract more money from all but the richest people in this country. ... This approach can be expanded to target Musk’s contracts with SpaceX — in conjunction with more protests at its facilities, like the ones that have already happened in , and . Pressure could also be ramped up on T-Mobile and anyone else using Starlink to find services that aren’t run by pro-DOGE billionaires. ... If you’re not sure where to begin, remember Tesla Takedown didn’t start as a national plan. It started with a bunch of people doing things that made sense to them — and eventually a small crew “coordinated” what was already happening locally across the country.
, Demcast
Millions of Americans will lose Medicaid and food assistance under Trump's proposed tax bill, all to pay for more tax breaks for billionaires who don't need them. ... The GOP's tax scam is a BILLIONAIRE BAILOUT, plain and simple. They're taking money from working families to give to their wealthy donors. ...
The GOP priorities are clear: billionaires and corporations before people.
, Rebecca Solnit
I think maybe it's begun, the bigger fiercer backlash against the Trump Administration which is itself a violent backlash against every good thing that's happened over the past several decades – the advance of rights for nature, women, children, indigenous peoples, BIPOC and immigrants/refugees, queer people, trans people, people with disabilities, workers, the right of us all to be free from being poisoned by food, water, air. It's begun in Los Angeles, the city of angels, a city of almost four million people, almost half of them Latino, in a region of almost twelve million that two thousand California National Guards cannot and will not subjugate. All they can do is punish and incite, and I hope that some of the protesters are telling them they're violating their mission and maybe the law. ... It is up to us to defeat that agenda, and up to all of us who are not those under attack by this administration to stand with them and for them. At its heart the Trump Administration is violently divisive, isolationist, and segregationist, and solidarity is our first duty and most profound rejection of that agenda.
Notes on Activism, Kara Joy
while i am absolutely still engaged, i am also old. and tired. been at actively trying to avoid this brand of very specific eventuality for a very long time. i’m also loving all of this newer activist energy. people write me a lot, asking how i haven’t completely burned out over time. so. fwiw…
notes to newer activists (or) things i wish i would’ve known 30 years ago (or) what i’ve learned so far:
activism without community leads to burnout. find your people. stay engaged. cultivate community. if you don’t have it, build it.
while we’re all aligned, there will inevitably be differing ideas. anchor into your values. the infighting will happen. that’s just a given. esp on the left. we’re famous for it.
you don’t have to do everything - just do a one thing. something. anything. and then do the next right thing.
ask yourself often - is my reaction and movement rooted in trauma response? adjust accordingly. work from a place of wholeness, as close as you can get to that. rage is fine. incredibly valid. but also embrace grief, love, joy, imagination, creativity, vision. they last longer. feel it all.
rest is resistance. it’s not a detour. or betrayal. community is resistance.
take news breaks. let your nervous system reset, as best as possible.
before actions or organizing, make a little ritual. get grounded in the present. a breath. a mantra. a magical rock in your pocket. after, return to rest. a quiet walk. a nap. a cup of tea. reflect in a journal. create a playlist of songs that soothe you. this is a reminder to your nervous system that right now you are safe, whole, human.
celebrate small wins. joy is also resistance. there will be far more of these.
you’re likely feeling a great sense of urgency. hold that by the edges. none of this happened overnight and it’s not going to be undone overnight. urgency culture is real. what’s an emergency? triage it, emotionally and practically.
observe, don’t absorb. act where/when you can. it takes all of us. it takes every moment you are able to give.
your heart will break. a lot. you’ll feel frustrated. it’s part of being aware. take care of you. a lot of trauma lives in activist spaces. the basics: sleep, eat, hydrate, move. the not so basic but also vitals: somatic work, breathing - the intentional kind. therapy.
keep learning, keep unlearning. being teachable, being open, stepping outside your comfort zone is radical. you don’t need to be a flawless activist, just show up. know you’ll screw something up. own it. adjust. shift.
vision: what are you fighting for, not just against. imagine it. draw it. write it. collage it. build it in micro-moments.
healthy activism means you’re leaving it better than you found it.
get cozy with grief. it’s part of justice work. it honors what hasn’t changed. what’s been lost. grieve alone, grieve collectively.
visibility isn’t impact. anchor to your why. return to it often. not all social media posts are effective. not all social media posts are performative. but some are. will it have an impact? is it effective? things to ask you.
justice is a practice, not a purity test. guilt and shame backfire and will not lead to action. teach. welcome. provide on-ramps to action.
go back and find the activists throughout history that bring the fire for you. there are certain words i always return to when i’m feeling despair. collect them to have at the ready.
stay open to wonder. look at the stars. listen to old songs. look at the sky. a river. babies. there’s a lot of beauty to fight for.
authoritarianism wants you tired, scared, joyless. your delight is resistance fuel. joy is resistance.
never forget. we are all connected. what happens to one of us happens to all of us. we are wired for connection. fierce individualism is killing us.
empathy is not weakness. it’s a lifeline. no matter what they say. don’t let the bastards grind you down.
mostly, thank you, deeply and sincerely, thank you, for whatever it is you are doing to make the world a better place. for knowing we are all connected. for acting accordingly. ❤️❤️❤️ Kara Joy
15June2025
, Robert Reich Substack
The energy, exuberance, and solidarity of those demonstrations [June 14th, No Kings Day] stood in sharp contrast to Trump’s noxious display of tanks and military equipment on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. ... We will not be intimidated by the violence he has stirred up — not by the shootings of state legislators and their spouses in Minnesota, nor by the death threats against federal judges, nor by the thuggish removal of a United States senator from a Trump official’s news conference, nor by the arrest of a judge who didn’t cooperate with ICE, nor by the abductions of people from our streets and places of work.
We will be steadfast and strong, as we were in yesterday’s protests.
The moral squalor of Trump has brought us back to basics: Why we have a Constitution. The meaning of the rule of law. The importance of checks and balances and separation of powers. The centrality of our judiciary. The significance of due process and habeas corpus. The connection between near-record inequalities of income and wealth, and the record levels of money corrupting our politics....
Patriotism based on the common good does not pander to divisiveness. It does not vilify diversity, equity, and inclusion. True patriots don’t fuel racist or religious or ethnic divisions. They aren’t homophobic or transphobic or sexist. True patriots confirm the good that we have in common. They seek to strengthen and celebrate the “We” in “We the people.”
Trump is the opposite of a patriot. He is a traitor and a coward. His lust for power and wealth at the expense of the common good makes this one of the most shameful chapters of our history.
Yesterday we reasserted “We.” We did it largely peacefully. We gained strength from our solidarity. We celebrated of our numbers and our power. We will be steadfast. We will not cower to a dictator. We will win.
, Ro Khanna (D-CA)
Congressman on Tuesday unveiled a progressive plan to cut the deficit by $12 trillion and enable investment in "essential programs for ordinary Americans: childcare, universal healthcare, affordable housing, free college, cancellation, advanced manufacturing, and good-paying jobs."
The California Democrat's , introduced in a report and floor , has five recommendations to cut spending: modernize the military ($850 billion), get rid of upcoding and fraud in ($830 billion), negotiate Medicare drug prices ($200 billion), end fossil fuel subsidies ($170 billion), and implement smarter procurement and contracting ($333 billion)....
The plan doesn't just advocate for spending cuts, it also features a trio of recommendations for generating revenue: tax corporations fairly ($2 trillion), tax billionaires ($4.7 trillion), and protect Social Security ($2.9 trillion).
, Notes on the Crises Substack
The first public signal of chaos at the IRS ... when the that DOGE was seeking access to the IRS’s Integrated Data Retrieval System—one of the most sensitive ... databases of personal information in the federal government. ...Since then, the chaos has only multiplied to include , , and a DOGE-hosted IRS “.” These aren’t isolated incidents. They reflect a strategic campaign to transform the IRS into a politically partisan enforcement mechanism and a lever of executive power.
The IRS sits at the center of the federal government’s fiscal architecture. As the financial nexus between the state and its residents, it facilitates the movement of trillions of dollars through the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. It enforces tax law, detects fraud, and has the authority to audit the ultra-wealthy to crack down on tax evasion that enables them to become even richer. ... taxes facilitate the provision of public goods and services: everything from national defense and infrastructure to schools and our social safety nets. Taxes come in many forms, including income taxes (on wages, salaries, and capital gains), consumption taxes (such as sales and excise taxes), property taxes, and corporate taxes ... What’s also being lost in all of this is not just IRS institutional expertise or workforce capacity. It’s the legitimacy of the social contract: the idea that taxation is a collective democratic function. DOGE’s approach echoes a system where data is extracted not to serve the public, but to entrench private and executive power. In this framework, the IRS no longer upholds civic duty, but instead enforces obedience. Public authority remains, but democratic accountability disappears.
We are no longer just watching a system decay. We are watching it be consolidated to serve private power, silence dissent, and reverse the very idea of democratic taxation. It’s a constitutional breakdown. If the IRS falls, we won’t just lose an agency; we’ll lose one of the last institutional expressions of democratic obligation. Taxation is not just how we keep a number of key infrastructures running—it is how we declare what we value, who we protect, and who must answer to the public. The IRS reflects that social contract, however imperfectly, and not without deep bias. But unlike some other federal institutions, its mandate remains tenuously anchored in public law and congressional oversight. It is one of the few places where the struggle over fiscal accountability is still active and, for now, structurally possible.
Climate / Environment
18May2025
, RMI
Taxonomies are useful for seeing similarities and differences across approaches, but by linking certain approaches, they also restrict our ability to see other, alternative groupings. Here, we propose a new way of understanding the CDR ecosystem that steps outside of existing CDR taxonomies and instead looks at the flow of a carbon atom through its removal lifecycle. We believe that, by stepping outside of the conventional taxonomic mindset, this method of thinking has the potential to unlock scientific breakthroughs, commercial synergies, and non-technical barriers.
As we collect more information about the flow of carbon from left to right across this flowchart, we will be able to make the connecting lines scaled proportionally to the volume of carbon flowing through each connection. Sankey diagrams like this are already used to help people understand and make decisions about complex fields . By building towards an analogous representation of the current and future CDR field, it will be easier to allocate limited resources (such as waste biomass) across categories and to understand the implications of supporting different processes across the three steps of the flow diagram.
The flowchart taxonomy is not meant to be definitive; instead, it is meant to show the power of looking at the same space with a new light. Other taxonomies and representations may be equally helpful for thinking about financing, policy, or RD&D in new ways. As the CDR ecosystem continues to mature and expand, researchers, funders, and entrepreneurs should consider the other ways in which the CDR ecosystem can be parsed, as these may lead to exciting new technical breakthroughs, commercial possibilities, and means of communicating specific messages to different audiences.
, Inside Climate News
A new report draws on decades of internal documents and court records to lay out how some of the world’s most powerful corporations misled the public about the dangers of climate change—and how their efforts to avoid responsibility for the harms caused by their products have evolved in recent years.
The documents and records cited in , released Wednesday by the watchdog group Union of Concerned Scientists, have been reported on previously. But the report’s authors say they are the first to aggregate and analyze those documents in a comprehensive way.
“This report puts together, in one place, a powerful body of evidence about what the fossil fuel corporations knew—and when—about the climate impacts of their products, and what they did in spite of what they knew,” said Kathy Mulvey, a report author and accountability campaign director for the Climate and Energy Program at UCS.
Mulvey said the report should add heft to dozens of lawsuits pending worldwide against fossil fuel companies over their contribution to climate change.
Newer industry efforts outlined in the report include attempts to block that would make polluters pay for climate-related damage, a to rebrand environmentally conscious investing as “woke capitalism” and efforts to revive a 2018 attempt to obtain a blanket waiver of legal liability from Congress.
“In the current political context, we have reason to believe that the fossil fuel industry and its allies will attempt yet again to pass some form of liability waiver and get off scot-free for decades of deception, pollution, and massive damage to people and the planet,” the report said.
“Congress must do everything in its power to ensure such an effort does not succeed.”
, Canary Media
“Totally unworkable” rules could kill manufacturing and clean energy investment by restricting tax credits for any project remotely tied to China, experts warn. ... Tucked into the House Republicans’ released on Monday is a poison pill for U.S. clean energy developers and manufacturers, one that energy and tax policy experts say would essentially repeal the hundreds of billions of dollars of tax credits now flowing to energy projects and solar, battery, and EV factories across the country. ... If passed into law, this piece of the House Ways and Means Committee proposal would undermine investor confidence in financing the buildout of new clean-energy projects and factories, experts say. It could also erode the tax-credit eligibility of solar, wind, battery, geothermal, nuclear, and other zero-carbon energy developments under construction, and the eligibility of factories that are already online and churning out batteries, solar panels, and other clean energy products. ...
The combination of FEOC restrictions, accelerated cutoffs for claiming tax credits, and other changes proposed by the House Ways and Means bill — including ending tax-credit transferability rules that have — will equate to , ...
The Ways and Means Committee bill is one of a number of legislative proposals being worked out by House committees this week in advance of this month. Republicans have in Medicaid and food assistance programs in order to that will primarily benefit wealthy individuals and corporations and . That makes the tax credits a tempting target since repealing them could by hundreds of billions of dollars.
, Canary Media
House Republicans introduced legislation on Monday that would gut the Inflation Reduction Act. If the proposed rules become law, it will lead to more greenhouse gas emissions — and threaten hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of economic development in regions represented in Congress by Republicans.
A vast majority of the clean energy projects announced after the Inflation Reduction Act was enacted benefit Republican-led congressional districts, per the latest update from the , a joint project from research firm Rhodium Group and experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law in August 2022, companies have invested a total of about $320 billion into clean energy projects in the U.S. and plan to spend more than $500 billion on top of that to build cleantech factories, low-carbon industrial facilities, and installations of solar, batteries, and other renewables. Nearly 80% of the dollars already spent went to Republican districts, and three-quarters of planned investment will go to those areas.
As law, the Ways and Means proposal could derail a lot of that outstanding spending — and even some of the projects already under construction or operational.
Those declines in clean-energy and EV adoption would mean less demand for manufacturers who plan to build factories to produce electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, wind transmission cables, and other cleantech in the States. They would have to reevaluate whether their factories still make sense under an entirely different set of economic conditions — and it’s likely that the answer would be “no” for many.
, Wired
General Motors is bringing in potentially groundbreaking new battery tech that not only has 30 percent more energy density at the existing production cost for cells but also would circumvent China's stranglehold on intellectual property for EV batteries. The company even claims this new type of battery pack could lower the cost of its so they're comparable to their gasoline counterparts.
The LMR cells, however, substitute manganese—which is cheaper and more globally plentiful—for some of the pricier nickel and virtually all of the cobalt. They are, Oury said, 60 to 70 percent manganese, 30 to 40 percent nickel, and only up to 2 percent cobalt.
, NYTimes
Almost immediately after the tolls — charging most vehicles $9 to enter Manhattan from 60th Street south to the Battery — they began to alter traffic patterns, commuter behavior, transit service, even the sound of gridlock and the on-time arrival of school buses.
In March, the tolls in net revenue, putting the program on track to generate roughly $500 million in its first year.
, PV Magazine
About are dedicated to corn growing for ethanol fuel in the U.S. Roughly 38% of U.S. corn harvested is used for ethanol fuel, rather than food.
A study from Department of Natural Resources and the Environment of Cornell University published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that solar PV generates the same amount of energy as corn ethanol in just 3.2% of the land-use footprint. In other words, the energy generated by one hectare of utility-scale solar would require about 31 hectares of corn-ethanol to produce the same amount energy. Find the methodology.
, AP News
The world’s biggest corporations have caused $28 trillion in damage, a new study estimates as part of an effort to make it easier for people and governments to hold companies financially accountable, like the have been.
A Dartmouth College research team came up with the estimated pollution caused by 111 companies, with more than half of the total dollar figure coming from 10 : Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, National Iranian Oil Co., Pemex, Coal India and the British Coal Corporation.
For comparison, $28 trillion is a shade less than the sum of all goods and services produced in the United States last year.
Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative Terminated by NOAA
We are deeply saddened to report that the Acting Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Grants Management Division sent a letter on May 5th terminating the (NCRC), effective immediately. The NCRC, a NOAA Climate Adaptation Partnership (CAP) program, was the Climate Impacts Group (CIG)’s largest source of funding to work with rural communities and Tribes across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to adapt and build resilience to climate impacts such as extreme heat, flooding, drought, and sea level rise.
CIG has hosted the NCRC, a collaboration among academic institutions and Tribal- and community-based organizations, since 2021. Our current five-year award was planned to run through August 2026, at which point, under normal circumstances, we would recompete for another five-year award. The NCRC, which represents about 25 percent of the total work conducted at CIG,
The termination of NCRC is a major blow to climate adaptation and community-based resilience in the Northwest. In recent discussions and previous reviews of our annual reports, NOAA and bipartisan congressional staff have recognized the importance of the NCRC, and the NOAA CAP program that funds it, because of our tangible, positive impacts in local communities. Our work has ranged from supporting farmers in Idaho facing the dual stressors of drought and land use change, to informing Washington state legislation to save lives during extreme heat events, to working with coastal Tribes in Oregon and Washington as they respond to sea level rise and other climate threats.
In a testimonial in support of our work, Patrick Freeland of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians stated, “[The NCRC] Tribal coastal resilience (TCR) portfolio centers Tribal sovereignty, and platforms Tribal leadership. The TCR team continuously practices a thoughtful, contemplative, and respectful approach, informed by the experiences and decision-making authority of knowledge-holders who offer insights that guide the work. This is a clear model of the convergence of many sciences, disciplines, and traditional knowledges to effectively understand and responsibly address real-world problems.”
We want to thank and recognize our NCRC partners at Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, American Farmland Trust, Front and Centered, Gonzaga University’s Climate Institute, Headwaters Economics, Portland State University, Washington Sea Grant, Washington State University, and Western Washington University, who are all affected by this decision. Despite this setback, the Climate Impacts Group stands by our commitment to working in partnership to support equitable climate adaptation in the Northwest and beyond.
25May2025
, Senator Adam Schiff
... and .
, Project Drawdown
Positive emotions like joy, hope and compassion have been shown across various studies to increase climate action. ... climate communications that engage people in joyful emotional states may be the most effective in increasing climate action ... ... So where we want to be and where we want to be kind of as a society is in what we call the window of tolerance or other people call it the zone of resilience ... This place in the middle where we can be open and curious and present. ... Scientists have figured out through careful experiments that in order to effectively offset negativity bias we need about three pieces of good news for every one piece of bad news in order to balance the scales ...
, Spokesman-Review
Spokane’s most vulnerable residents will no longer have assistance in preparing for the devastating effects of climate change, if the Trump administration follows through on its intent to rescind nearly $20 million in federal funding.... the Environmental Protection Agency notified Gonzaga University on May 2 of the impending cancellation of a , according to a joint news release from the city of Spokane and the private Jesuit school decrying the move.
$19.9 million grant devoted to climate resiliency in Spokane’s disadvantaged, low-income communities
Hundreds of low-income homes were to be retrofitted with heat pumps and high-quality air filtration systems, five community centers and libraries were going to be bolstered to serve as extreme weather shelters, and several prospective workers were to be trained for jobs in clean energy – all as a result of the funding.
“We are concerned not only about the process by which this decision was made, but even more so about its very real consequences for the people we serve,” Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh said in a statement. “Our mission is to educate and serve. This grant enables our community to learn how to deal with dangerous climate conditions and help the thousands of community members who lack the ability to protect themselves from the extreme heat and wildfire smoke that is all too common in the Inland Northwest today.”
Nearly 95% of the grant funding was devoted to tangible services and infrastructure improvements, like the establishment of extreme weather shelters and upgrades to qualifying houses, the release states. The Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment was the lead recipient and pass-thru administrator for the funds, but the work was to be spread among several nonprofits and civic bodies, including Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners, the city of Spokane, Spokane Public Library and the Carl Maxey Center.
, Inside Climate News
Upper West Side in NYC has been the home of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, .... on April 24, NASA informed scientists working at the institute that the agency’s tenure at the location was about to end. ... Federal climate and Earth scientists are facing widespread budget and staffing cuts in the Trump administration’s push to dismantle vast swaths of the government. ...
The Trump administration recently proposed a budget that seeks to cut 24 percent of the agency’s funding, putting a range of locations and the programs within at risk, ...
, 350 Seattle Petition
Dirty energy CEOs met with Trump behind closed doors, asking for total protection from any efforts by cities and states to hold them accountable for their climate crimes.
Climate-fueled disasters like floods, fires, hurricanes, and heat waves are on the rise, uprooting lives and livelihoods and costing states and taxpayers billions of dollars. That's why a growing number of cities and states are filing lawsuits or passing new legislation that would make the fossil fuel industry pay its fair share for climate damages. The fossil fuel industry is turning to its friends in Congress, demanding a “liability waiver,” which is a “get out of jail free” card.
, Heatmap
The Republican megabill will make climate change worse. Within a year or two, the U.S. will be pumping out half a megaton more carbon pollution per year than it would in a world where the IRA remains on the books, ...
What does America get for this increase in air pollution? .. Repealing the tax credits from GDP over the next decade, ... Texas will be — it could lose up to $100 billion in energy investment. Across the country, household energy costs by 2035, on top of any normal market-driven volatility, ... The country will become more reliant on foreign oil imports, yet domestic oil production will budge up by less than 1%.
In other words, in exchange for more pollution, Americans will get less economic growth but higher energy costs.
Republicans are now trying to remove these tax bonuses in order to finance tax cuts for high-earning households. But removing the IRA alone won’t pay for the tax credits, so they will also have to borrow trillions of dollars. This is already , driving up interest rates for Americans. Indeed, a U.S. Treasury auction earlier this week for $16 billion in bonds, driving stocks and the dollar down while spiking treasury yields.
Higher interest rates will make it more expensive to build any kind of new power plant. At a moment of maximum stress on the grid, the U.S. is going to pull away tax bonuses for new electricity supply and make it more expensive to do any kind of investment in the power system. ... significant risk exists for runaway energy cost chaos.
House Republicans have stripped virtually every demand-side subsidy for electric vehicles from the bill, including a $7,500 tax credit for personal EV purchases. ... This will reduce the economic rationale for much of the current buildout in electric vehicle manufacturing and capacity happening across the country — it could potentially put every new EV and battery factory meant to come online after this year . ... This will weaken the country’s economic competitiveness. Batteries are a , and they will undergird many of the most important general and military technologies of the next several decades. ... they will increase the risks that the United States simply gives up on ever understanding battery technology and doubles down on internal combustion vehicles — a technology that, like coal-powered naval ships, is destined to lose.
... It is risky to make the power grid so exposed to natural gas price volatility. It is risky to jack up the federal deficit during peacetime for so little gain. It is risky to cede so much demand for U.S.-sourced critical minerals. It is risky to raise interest rates in an era of higher trade barriers, uncertain supply shocks, and geopolitical instability.
Alerts & Petitions,
Lung Action Network,
Save Medicaid & Clear Air Programs
Lung Health Insider Newsletter
EMPHASIZE THE CLEAN ENERGY BOOM: Clean energy is driving job creation, reducing energy costs, improving public health, and supporting economic development. Partner with businesses, schools, labor groups, and nonprofits to amplify messaging that matters locally.
LOCAL STORIES ARE ESSENTIAL: To communicate impact effectively, focus on the what, who, how, and why — tell real, personal stories that illustrate how clean energy programs benefit individuals, schools, businesses, and underserved communities.
USE DATA, MAPS, AND DIRECT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO FIND AND SHARE STORIES: Leverage tools like the , and the to find clean energy projects near you.
, ecoAmerica
1June2025
, Just Have A Think
New research paper suggests an ice-free Arctic Ocean might be less than FIVE years away.
, The Nature Conservancy
, Bill McKibben
The Trump administration ... official budget proposal ... essentially zeroes out research in geophysics and science funding in general. We probably won’t feel this as quickly as we’ll feel the parallel (especially as hurricane season ). But we will feel it soon enough. ... we are rushing into the most dangerous period in human history, and the Trump administration seems determined that we do it blindly. It’s inconceivably stupid, and it’s entirely real. And the planet doesn’t care: physics will not cut us any slack because we elected a moron.
, Bill McKibben
R existing clean energy projects in Texas will pay more than $12bn in taxes to communities where they are located, funding schools, roads and hospitals, while paying out another $15bn to landowners to lease their properties.
“It’s a hard life out here, there’s rocks, mesquite and coyotes and not a lot else – if there’s anything to make life easier, do it,” said Davis as he stood on his property under the whooshing blades of a wind turbine, one of a ragged line of turbines that make up the Cactus Flats wind project. ... Davis has several hundred goats and sheep and raises cattle for wagyu beef on his 1,300-acre property, but 40% of his income now comes from the wind turbines ... “I struck wind!” said the ebullient Davis, who likes to restyle Trump’s into “turn, baby, turn” in recognition of his wind turbines. ...
, Scientific American
The latest version of Grok, the chatbot created by Elon Musk’s xAI, is promoting fringe climate viewpoints in a way it hasn’t done before ... The language learning models that power AI chatbots are “really quite malleable and you can change the kind of results they give,” Dessler said. “They're not tied to any absolute truth or anything like that and if you want one to lie to you, you can tell it to do that. If you want it to give you a particular viewpoint, you can do that.” ... “Malicious people can use Grok to intentionally generate climate misinformation to sow doubt about scientific consensus or environmental movements,” ... “As we go into the future, more and more people are going to get their information from these AIs,” Dessler said. “Obviously, the concern is that someone's going to do something like this to mislead people.”
8June2025
Coming June 9-15: How does climate change affect where and how we live? The energy used to operate buildings results in more than a fourth of global carbon dioxide pollution. And climate change threatens communities with risks like floods and wildfire. So NPR is dedicating a week to stories about climate change solutions for living and building on a hotter planet.
15June2025
Economics & Climate, Kay Shields Substack
Scientists have been warning for over 50 years of planetary limits, but the economic orthodoxy has proved reluctant to acknowledge them. Most heterodox research is under-resourced, under-funded and continues to be rejected by the mainstream ...
What I know for sure, is that heterodox economists — like Keen, Parrique and many others, including many women and non-white and Global South economists — have plenty to offer. Many such economists have been challenging economic wisdom for decades, much as the mainstream may prefer to ignore them.
It is possible to envisage an economic system centred on sufficiency, where public money is used to mobilise resources where we need them — not simply to where it can make the most profit. Where human needs, especially in the over-consuming Global North, are fulfilled at far lower levels of energy and material use — because products last longer and because we are not manipulated into consuming by ads and algorithms. And where innovation is targeted towards meeting our needs while repairing and supporting our life-giving planet — not the vague goal of more growth.
, Ben Shread-Hewitt
AI is not destiny. It is a tool — a powerful, seductive, double-edged tool. In the fight against climate change, it can be a weapon in our service or one that backfires. Its future, if it is to have any hope of being a climate tool, must be wrested from cult-like visions and the devastating feedback loops that — at this time — seem hardwired into it. The choice depends not on the code itself, but on the systems we build to control it, and the institutions we task with its oversight.
Prepare for Extreme Heat, Seattle Office of Emergency Management
Be safe during a heat event
Know the signs of heat-related illnesses and ways to respond. If you are sick and need medical attention, contact your healthcare provider for advice and shelter in place if you can. If you are experiencing a medical emergency call 9-1-1.
Get more detailed information about heat-related illnesses from the
and ., Kiley Price, Inside Climate News
The agency predicts “hotter-than-average” temperatures, a trend that is becoming as climate change worsens. These high temperatures can be deadly; that heat-related deaths have more than doubled over the past 24 years. ... Medical experts have dubbed heat a “” because many people don’t realize they are in trouble until it’s too late. That’s because the symptoms can start out pretty slowly—heavy sweating, headaches or nausea—but worsen rapidly to a rash, seizure or even stroke. ... Typically, the fast air moving from fans displaces the warmer air that comes in contact with our skin, which makes it easier for sweat to evaporate and eliminate body heat. However, this research finds that when air temperatures pass 95 degrees, fans can exacerbate the transfer of heat to the body from the environment by blowing hot air on your skin. ... The Trump administration defunded NOAA’s Center for Heat Resilient Communities, an effort designed to help cities understand how heat moves through their area and how best to mitigate it, .
Wealth Inequality / Economy / Business
18May2025
, Paul Krugman ☼
The reality is that we’ve gone from a completely insane tariff rate on imports from China to a rate that’s merely crazy. And China accounts for only a fraction of our imports. Tariffs on everyone else are still at 10 percent, a level we haven’t seen in generations. And there are still other shoes to drop: Trump has, for example, been promising tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
The trade war is still very much on. Anyone who reports otherwise (a) hasn’t done their homework (b) is misleading the public. And while the stock market has to some extent bought into unwarranted optimism, markets with fewer naive investors likeand bonds don’t seem .
... we’d expect Trump’s tariffs after last weekend’s retreat on China to cut overall U.S. trade by roughly 50 percent.
Does cutting U.S. trade with the world in general by half and reducing trade with China by two thirds sound to you like Trump calling off his trade war? It sounds to me like a massive disruption of the world economy, only slightly less disruptive than what we were looking at last week.
What about the impact on U.S. families? Tariffs are sales taxes levied on American households; don’t let anyone tell you different. Walmart yesterday that it will have to begin raising prices later this month because of the tariffs.
And tariffs are regressive sales taxes that fall much more heavily on lower-income Americans than on the affluent, for three reasons. First, low-income households spend a higher fraction of their income. Second, compared with the affluent, poor and working-class families spend more on goods, which are facing tariffs, as opposed to services, which aren’t. Finally, the goods whose prices will rise most tend to be items like clothing that loom large in lower-income families’ budgets.
... We may not be looking at the complete economic meltdown that seemed quite possible (and is still a possibility), but we’re still looking at much higher inflation and an economic slowdown at best — i.e., stagflation. ... so many pundits and reporters ... have been sounding the all clear on Trump’s tariffs, when the reality is that all we’ve seen is a modest retreat from complete, destructive insanity to seriously harmful madness. It’s hard to avoid the sense that what we’re seeing on tariffs is another version of the sanewashing that Trump has benefited from ever since he entered politics. People just keep wanting to believe that he’s making sense, that he isn’t as ignorant and irresponsible as he seems. But he is.
25May2025
, Robert Reich video
He's not ushering in a New Golden Age. He's taking us back to the Gilded Age.
, Paul Krugman
The House has now passed what must surely be the worst piece of legislation in modern U.S. history. Millions of Americans are about to see crucial government support snatched away. A significant number will die prematurely due to lack of adequate medical care or nutrition. Yet all this suffering won’t come close to offsetting the giant hole in the budget created by huge tax cuts for the rich. Long-term interest rates have already soared as America loses the last vestiges of its former reputation for fiscal responsibility.
First, get Americans — mainly wealthy Americans — to pay the taxes they owe. ...
Second, crack down on Medicare Advantage overpayments. ...Medicare is at risk of overpaying [Medicare Advantage] plans between $1.3 trillion and $2 trillion over the next decade
Third, go after corporate tax avoidance. Much of this involves multinational firms using strategies that are shady and dishonest but legal to make profits actually earned in the United States disappear and reappear in low-tax nations like Ireland.
Finally, we should just get rid of Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cut.
... politicians who aren’t even willing to do these things have no business lecturing anyone about fiscal responsibility.
Corporate Political Responsibility, Erb Institute, U Michigan
“The transition of CPRT into Third Side Strategies is a powerful example of the Erb Institute’s mission in action ...We’re proud to have incubated this groundbreaking work at the intersection of business, sustainability, and democracy—and we’re thrilled to see it evolve into an independent force for principled leadership.”
CPRT was born out of a simple but profound insight: sustainability innovators are often placed at a competitive disadvantage when the rules of the market don’t support long-term thinking. If companies want to lead on sustainability, their public affairs strategies must align with their values—not undermine them. This vision was articulated in an award-winning article, “” by Erb Professor Tom Lyon and co-authors that coined the term corporate political responsibility. ... .
1June2025
, Paul Krugman
Donald Trump and his family have made billions off the $Trump and $Melania “meme coins,” but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that other politicians have also been the beneficiaries of crypto largesse. ... And what the crypto industry wants out of today’s politicians, above all, is legislation that gives a veneer of legitimacy to stablecoins like Tether.
What is a stablecoin? It’s a digital token like Bitcoin — that is, an asset that “belongs” to whoever has the secret numerical key that unlocks it. But unlike Bitcoin, whose value in dollars fluctuates wildly day to day, a stablecoin is supposed to retain a fixed value in dollars. The stablecoin issuer maintains that stability by standing ready to buy its tokens back, holding reserves of conventional assets like Treasury bills for that purpose. ... the ownership and disposition of stablecoins, unlike the ownership and distribution of bank deposits, is anonymous. This is a highly valuable feature for those who want to engage in money laundering, extortion, purchase of illegal drugs, and so on. In other words, the only economic reason for stablecoins is to facilitate criminal activity. ... the biggest stablecoin issuers are trying to reassure holders of their solvency by accumulating large reserves of U.S. government debt. But the flip side of this is that a run on stablecoins could turn into a ! That is, if the owners of stablecoins were to rush to convert their holdings into dollars, this would force stablecoin issuers into a fire sale of U.S. Treasury bills, driving up interest rates.
The fundamental point is that the growth and legitimation of stablecoins poses new risks to — all in the name of making it easier for criminals to do their business.
8June2025
Judd Legum, Popular Info
The Senate is considering the GENIUS Act, which would provide an official regulatory framework for stablecoins. The passage of the GENIUS Act would legitimize and mainstream stablecoins. According to one industry analyst, if the GENIUS Act passes, the stablecoin industry could rise from . ... Why are [some] Senate Democrats providing Trump an opportunity to make his corrupt crypto scheme even more profitable?
, Robert Reich
We’re cutting is waste, fraud and abuse
Rubbish. Here’s the truth: The bill passed by the House will reduce federal spending on Medicaid by at least $600 billion over a decade and reduce enrollment by about 10.3 million people
You got more than 1.4 million illegal aliens on Medicaid.
Utter BS. Here’s the truth: Unauthorized immigrants are not eligible for federally funded Medicaid, except in emergency situations. States are required to to determine eligibility.
“The One Big, Beautiful Bill ... the largest deficit reduction in nearly 30 years with $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings.” (Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary)
Baloney. Here’s the truth: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will increase the deficit by
15June2025
, Ro Khana (D-CA)
Congressman on Tuesday unveiled a progressive plan to cut the deficit by $12 trillion and enable investment in "essential programs for ordinary Americans: childcare, universal healthcare, affordable housing, free college, cancellation, advanced manufacturing, and good-paying jobs."
The California Democrat's , introduced in a report and floor , has five recommendations to cut spending: modernize the military ($850 billion), get rid of upcoding and fraud in ($830 billion), negotiate Medicare drug prices ($200 billion), end fossil fuel subsidies ($170 billion), and implement smarter procurement and contracting ($333 billion)....
The plan doesn't just advocate for spending cuts, it also features a trio of recommendations for generating revenue: tax corporations fairly ($2 trillion), tax billionaires ($4.7 trillion), and protect Social Security ($2.9 trillion).
, Notes on the Crises Substack
The first public signal of chaos at the IRS ... when the that DOGE was seeking access to the IRS’s Integrated Data Retrieval System—one of the most sensitive ... databases of personal information in the federal government. ...Since then, the chaos has only multiplied to include , , and a DOGE-hosted IRS “.” These aren’t isolated incidents. They reflect a strategic campaign to transform the IRS into a politically partisan enforcement mechanism and a lever of executive power.
The IRS sits at the center of the federal government’s fiscal architecture. As the financial nexus between the state and its residents, it facilitates the movement of trillions of dollars through the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. It enforces tax law, detects fraud, and has the authority to audit the ultra-wealthy to crack down on tax evasion that enables them to become even richer. ... taxes facilitate the provision of public goods and services: everything from national defense and infrastructure to schools and our social safety nets. Taxes come in many forms, including income taxes (on wages, salaries, and capital gains), consumption taxes (such as sales and excise taxes), property taxes, and corporate taxes ... What’s also being lost in all of this is not just IRS institutional expertise or workforce capacity. It’s the legitimacy of the social contract: the idea that taxation is a collective democratic function. DOGE’s approach echoes a system where data is extracted not to serve the public, but to entrench private and executive power. In this framework, the IRS no longer upholds civic duty, but instead enforces obedience. Public authority remains, but democratic accountability disappears.
We are no longer just watching a system decay. We are watching it be consolidated to serve private power, silence dissent, and reverse the very idea of democratic taxation. It’s a constitutional breakdown. If the IRS falls, we won’t just lose an agency; we’ll lose one of the last institutional expressions of democratic obligation. Taxation is not just how we keep a number of key infrastructures running—it is how we declare what we value, who we protect, and who must answer to the public. The IRS reflects that social contract, however imperfectly, and not without deep bias. But unlike some other federal institutions, its mandate remains tenuously anchored in public law and congressional oversight. It is one of the few places where the struggle over fiscal accountability is still active and, for now, structurally possible.
Social Security / Medicaid / SNAP / Reproductive Rights
18May2025
, Faith Action Network
Congress considers devastating cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as part of a major budget reconciliation bill this spring ... we believe that we have more than enough resources to provide food and healthcare for all people and that we are called to hold our leaders accountable for the common good. We need to keep up the pressure in these critical weeks, and FAN is sharing a range of resources for you to learn about the issues, advocate for a moral budget, and invite others to join you:
, Kathleen Weber
... most legislation is passed by the reconciliation process where only a simple majority is needed to pass a financial package. Because of this, a long list of radical changes are crammed into what Trump calls his “big beautiful bill.”
Extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts: ... a nonpartisan ... people making less than $50,000 per year would get $263 in tax relief while those making over $1 million would get more than $81,000.
Cuts to Medicaid: From now on, Medicaid recipients must qualify twice a year. Those who are childless must prove that they are engaged in 80 hours per month of work, volunteer service, or education. ... These changes put a bigger administrative cost and burden on states who do the work of qualifying applicants. ... cuts to Medicaid will come into effect in 2029, so Republicans will not have to face voters with these cuts in place.
Cuts to Nursing Homes: Nursing homes in 49 states have been using ... the provider tax to increase funding for Medicaid patients. If that loophole is closed, nursing homes will have to reduce the number of Medicaid patients they care for. Thus, the bill doesn’t take Medicaid benefits away from a patient directly but makes openings in nursing homes less available.
Eliminations of subsidies for Obamacare: an estimated 2 million will lose coverage
Lowering the federal contribution for food stamps
Repeal Biden's student loan forgiveness programs
Repeal all Biden credits incentivizing green energy (wind, solar, nuclear, EVs)
Raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. The Treasury Department will run out of money ... in August.
Over the weekend, Speaker Mike Johnson will be negotiating with the various factions among the House Republicans. Here are a few of the most prominent groups: The Budget Hawks (Freedom Caucus) want $2 trillion in cuts to federal spending as opposed to $1.5 trillion dollars. The , a group of Republicans representing Blue States want a higher deduction for SALT (state and local income taxes). About 10 congressional Republicans want no cuts to Medicaid
, The Lancet
The United States Congress has proposed cuts to Medicaid, reversing the Affordable Care Act expansion.These cuts could increase mortality and financial hardship for enrollees while straining health-care providers, especially in rural and underserved areas. ... Approximately 72 million individuals in the USA are enrolled in Medicaid nationwide.... an estimated 15·5 million people would lose Medicaid coverage ... the proposed cuts, potential excess deaths could reach approximately 14 660 over a 1-year period for people aged 25–64 years, the equivalent of the seventh leading cause of death in that age group ... rural residents with low income, might be disproportionately affected. ... Loss of Medicaid coverage will increase financial hardship. ... we estimate that approximately 623 000 additional individuals aged 25–64 years ... will face catastrophic health-care costs annually. ... the planned cuts could lead up to 8·7 million American people to forego needed medical care, exacerbating chronic conditions and worsening long-term health outcomes not captured in our immediate mortality calculations. Medicaid also plays a critical role in child health, and loss of coverage during childhood could have lifelong effects on health and economic productivity. Finally, many hospitals in rural areas depend on Medicaid payments to stay open, and their closure would adversely affect the entire populations they serve, regardless of Medicaid coverage. ... These findings underscore the critical role of Medicaid in protecting public health and economic stability. Policy makers should carefully weigh the health and financial consequences of these cuts for their constituents.
, WA Post
... the major changes DOGE pushed at Social Security have been abandoned or are being reversed after proving ineffective, while others are and satisfaction. The problems come as the agency struggles to cope with a record surge of hundreds of thousands of retirement claims in recent months.
, Indivisible
Republicans in Congress are on a mission to strip working families of $1.5 trillion in Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential programs—all to pay for more than $4.5 trillion in tax breaks for the super-rich.
Paul Krugman
Republicans in Congress, taking their marching orders from Donald Trump, are on track to enact a hugely regressive budget — big tax giveaways to the wealthy combined with cruel cuts in programs that serve lower-income Americans. True, the legislation suffered a setback last week, initially failing to make it out of committee. But that was largely because some right-wing Republicans didn’t think the benefit cuts were vicious enough.
Medicaid, in case anyone needs reminding, is the national health insurance program for low-income Americans who probably don’t have any other way to pay for medical care. In 2023 Medicaid covered , far more than Medicare (which covers seniors), including 39 percent of children.
Providing health care to children, by the way, isn’t just about social justice and basic decency. It’s also good economics: Children who receive adequate care grow up to be more productive adults. Among other things they end up paying more taxes, so Medicaid for children almost surely pays for itself.
The belief that many Americans receiving government support are malingering, that they could and should be working but are choosing to be lazy, is a classic zombie idea. That is, like the claim that cutting taxes on the rich will unleash an economic miracle, it’s a doctrine that should be long dead. It has, after all, been proved wrong by experience again and again.
But right-wingers simply refuse to accept the reality that almost everyone on Medicaid is either a child, a senior, disabled or between jobs. Only 3 percent of Medicaid recipients were non-disabled working-age adults persistently not working — the kind of people right-wingers imagine infest the program. And it’s a good bet that a fair number of these people had extenuating circumstances of some kind.
25May2025
,
, and . ..., and now Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. . (As explained and the must-read , about what it treats as “a serious or life-threatening adverse event,” and .)
Let’s reach out to our members of Congress and remind them and ask them to support measures like Senator Tina Smith’s to
8June2025
Lives, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
The damage from the House bill’s cruel and logic-free cuts to Medicaid and other health services will fall mostly heavily on the 15 million who will lose health insurance. But the damage won’t be contained there—nearly everybody else in the U.S. will feel the harms of less efficient health care and labor markets, higher needs to pay for uncompensated care, closures and cutbacks in health care providers and hospitals, and even damage to entire local economies that are reliant on this health spending. For the very rich who will see enormous tax cuts from this bill, it all might end up being a good deal. For everybody else, it will not.
Science / Education / Libraries / Art
18May2025
Science Magazine, in its , has several articles about the impact of the first 100 days of Trump's war on the scientific enterprise. Here is an excerpt from an overview article "":
It is almost certainly the most consequential 100 days that scientists in the United States have experienced since the end of World War II. Since taking his oath of office on 20 January, President Donald Trump has unleashed an unprecedented rapid-fire campaign to remake—some would say demolish—vast swaths of the federal government’s scientific and public health infrastructure. His administration has erased entire agencies that fund research; fired or pushed out thousands of federal workers with technical backgrounds; terminated research and training grants and contracts worth billions of dollars; and banned new government funding for activities it finds offensive, from efforts to diversify the scientific workforce to studies of the health needs of LGBTQ people. ...
NSF investments have made America and American science great. At least 268 received NSF grants during their careers. The foundation has partnered with agencies across the government since it was created, including those dealing with and . The Federal Reserve estimates that government-supported research from the NSF and other agencies has had a return on investment of since 1950, meaning for every dollar U.S. taxpayers invested, they got back between $1.50 and $3.
Since January, , and a have threatened the integrity and mission of the National Science Foundation. Hundreds of . The administration’s proposed would cut NSF’s funding by 55%, an unprecedented reduction that would end federal support for science research .
, The Lancet
President Donald Trump has promised a new golden age of scientific progress and innovation. ... Yet Trump, ... has launched a series of extraordinary attacks on universities that threaten to impose political obedience and crush academia.
Executive Orders obsessing over diversity and gender empowered Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to slash federal budgets and awards, interrupting investigations into paediatric cancer, diabetes, and HIV, prematurely ending at least 113 clinical trials, and witholding funds from more than 200 universities. PhD projects have been cancelled, graduate admissions rescinded, and infrastructure investment forgone. The visas of foreign-born American students and faculty have been revoked and high-profile detentions and deportations are already reversing decades of brain gain that have drawn generations of global talent to US institutions.
The harm wrought from these deprivations will be lasting and expansive. Universities are the incubators of crucial basic research that advances health and science—biomedical advances such as magnetic resonance imaging, the Human Genome Project, CRISPR, and cancer checkpoint inhibitors all began in university laboratories. The work done at universities is a key driver of US economic success. But universities also have less immediately tangible value. They should be a place for the cultivation of free expression, curiosity, exploration, and debate, where intellectual and artistic thought can develop, and where the next generation of innovators and leaders can learn, grow, and thrive.
“The history of medical science teaches clearly the supreme importance of affording the prepared mind complete freedom for the exercise of initiative. It is the special province of the medical schools and universities to foster medical research in this way.” [Vannevar Bush] These words stand in stark contrast to the actions of Trump and his administration, whose campaign of ideological persecution of universities threatens to irrevocably sever that uniquely successful partnership and with it dismantle one of the essential pillars of American civil society.
25May2025
, If You Can Keep It Substack
Tomorrow, my colleague and our co-counsel will argue a motion for a preliminary injunction in our lawsuit against the Trump administration for illegally cancelling hundreds of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants on topics and communities that the White House dislikes. ....
We argue that it’s illegal and unconstitutional for the administration to arbitrarily cancel research funding like this. ...
Science is not just an academic pursuit. From medicine to public health to engineering to technology to public policy, scientific discoveries and innovations quite literally shape the world around us.
Science saves lives.
The politicization of NIH funding is not only illegal — it’s a threat to real research and real people, and not just the already-vulnerable communities that the administration has repeatedly scapegoated. The directives that triggered these cuts (and the cuts themselves) must be reversed.
, The Hill
The pause of billions of dollars in research funding to universities has had devastating effects on cancer research as lab work is put on hold and schools are halting the acceptance of new Ph.D. students.
The Trump administration’s war with higher education, combined with efforts to reduce government spending by the Department of Government Efficiency, has left significant casualties in cancer research, which in the U.S. is largely done at colleges and universities. ...
“I see a large number of people who should be at the great universities over the next 10-15 years trying to figure out how to bail out right now, and I’m afraid we’re going to lose a generation of America’s best researchers, and that’s going to be a huge setback for us,” said Otis Brawley, an expert in cancer prevention and control at Johns Hopkins University.
... An analysis in JAMA on earlier this month found the NIH alone cut almost $1.5 billion in funding in less than 40 days.
Along with a decrease in grants, the NIH is also losing thousands of staffers in a reduction of its workforce.
“We’ve seen institutions like Johns Hopkins and the University of California system already starting to make some cuts to their overall staff,” ...
A minority staff report from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this month said the Trump administration cut $2.7 billion in funding to NIH since January and warned the actions “will lead to fewer breakthroughs for diseases like cancer, a weaker public health response against future infectious disease threats, and a continued decline in trust in public institutions.”
The situation with research funding is likely to only get worse, however, as universities plan out their budget for the next academic and fiscal years. Schools are going to struggle with predicting what type of funding cuts could hit them as the Trump administration has made clear it is not done going after universities.
“What we’ve seen with the Trump administration is they’ve completely slowed down the peer review process, where they are not funding things at the same level or amount that they were previously. They’re also terminating a lot of grants,” Spreitzer said....
“We know that research staff around the country have lost their jobs because when the grant ends, is terminated, there is no funding for that project. And universities are trying to understand the magnitude of this issue, the duration of the issue. … But this unexpected change makes it difficult to do robust planning,” Fuentes-Afflick added.
The Trump administration has been cancelling grants at Harvard University over the past several weeks, citing the University’s alleged failure to address campus antisemitism. While all of Harvard has been affected, Harvard Chan School stands to lose the most from the cuts, because it relies on funding from the federal government and other outside sponsors for 59% of its budget—a higher percentage than other Harvard schools.
Other schools of public health have also had grant funding terminated, the article noted, but Harvard Chan School has been hit hardest.
, professor of environmental epidemiology, talked about receiving an email about the cancellation. “It feels like a gut punch,” he said. He noted that the funding cancellation could mean the end of his research, conducted over the past 20 years, to learn why military veterans are more likely to be diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) than other groups. He said he is worried about the jobs and futures of the 10 to 15 researchers who work with him.
1June2025
, Katherine Stewart, New Republic
The proposed 2026 calls for a devastating 37 percent cut in funding for biomedical research through the National Institutes of Health; a 56 percent cut in science research funding through the National Science Foundation; and further, major cuts in science budgets at NASA, NOAA, the EPA, the CDC, the Agriculture Department, the Energy Department, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Forest Service, and other smaller agencies. Make no mistake: This is a total war on science in America. If an enemy power wished to demolish one of the pillars of American economic, military, and political strength over the past century, this might be what they would do.
This anti-rationalist ideology comes in several flavors, not all of them consistent. One wing comes out of the evangelical hard right, which has long argued that science has been turned into a weapon against faith. ... Then there is a different approach emerging from people in the orbit of far-right think tanks such as the . They hold the view that science has become part of a “woke bureaucracy” ... A third, much smaller but highly influential group includes the slice of tech bros who have allied with the authoritarian movement. Some believe that AI and other allegedly private-sector forces will soon dominate science; therefore, we don’t need the traditional government funding system. They want us instead to put our blind faith behind them, the wizard-founders, who they insist are the absolute best at everything they do and can be therefore counted on to pursue science on behalf of all humanity ...
Scientists will need to step forward and help the public understand the value of their work. Historians need to step forward and explain the extraordinary achievements of the American research university system. The rest of us need to get the message out. The true consequences of this equation will show up 10 and 20 years from now, when our once-great democracy faces health, climate, and other crises that might well have been avoided.
8June2025
A new executive order allows Trump-appointed officials to “correct” and censor federal scientific findings, claiming to restore scientific rigor while sidelining expert review.
Over 6,000 scientists, academics, and physicians signed a protest letter warning that the order seeks control and undermines independence and trust in research institutions.
The order threatens research on climate change, DEI-informed science, and worst-case scenario modeling — while invoking language from the open science movement to justify political oversight.
In the wake of the Trump administration’s sweeping terminations of federally funded grants at Harvard University, researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health are lamenting the loss of lifesaving research across multiple disciplines.
, Robert Reich
Throughout history, tyrants have understood that their major enemy is an educated public. Slaveholders prohibited enslaved people from learning to read. The Third Reich burned books. The Khmer Rouge banned music. Stalin and Pinochet censored the media. ... He has embraced one of the mottos from George Orwell’s 1984: ” He knows that an uninformed public is easier to divide and conquer.
Re-Write History
Trump and his MAGA cronies are making schools , cover up the and erase the .
Gut Education
As Trump tries to abolish the Department of Education, he’s also proposing to cut funding for K-12 public schools and to force universities to let him influence .
Dismantle Science
By and attacking the , the , and , Trump is stifling medical and scientific research. And his cuts to the and put all of us at risk.
Suppress The Media
From suing
and
over their news coverage to to , Trump is trying to silence America’s sources of news.Attack The Arts
So it’s no surprise that Trump is , is what’s displayed at the Smithsonian, and has for the Performing Arts. To limit art is to limit free speech and expression. It’s a crucial step that authoritarians use to silence anyone who dissents through creativity.
15June2025
, Annie Waldman et al.
The National Institutes of Health is responsible for . Its funding has sparked countless medical breakthroughs — on cancer, diabetes, strokes — and plays a fundamental role in the .
Scientists compete vigorously for a slice of the more than $30 billion that the agency doles out annually; they can spend years assembling grant applications that stretch thousands of pages in hopes of convincing peer reviewers of the promise of their projects. Only .
The mass cancellation of grants in response to political policy shifts has no precedent... It threatens the stability of the institution and the scientific enterprise of the nation at large.
Unconstitutional Activities / Legal Remedies
18May2025
, Robert Hubbell
The Trump administration has been an ongoing constitutional violation since Inauguration Day. The courts are catching up. ... the Trump administration has adopted the tactic of slow-walking judicial and congressional consideration of those specious arguments. That development should give us hope and confidence that justice will prevail ultimately, and possibly sooner rather than later!
... the Trump administration ... retreating on two significant legal matters: The question of birthright citizenship and the ability of the president to “impound” funds appropriated by Congress. ... Trump's retreat is a testament to the outstanding work of legal advocacy organizations like the,, , , , (LULAC), , , and many others.
At a time when the largest and most powerful firms in the American legal profession continue to bow and scrape before Trump, firms like Arnold & Porter are rightfully highlighting their pro bono work as they deliver on their commitment to underserved and vulnerable communities. See the linked video on Arnold & Porter’s website for insight into how firms can and should step up to their professional and ethical commitments: . [good video]
Suggesting that birthright citizenship as a US citizen would depend on the state of one’s birth is ludicrous and cuts at the foundation of the United States of America. The Solicitor General of the US was forced to make such absurd arguments because the administration is desperate to avoid a ruling on the merits of Trump's executive order. ... We have the administration on the run. We need to keep up the pressure, with the help of legal advocacy organizations and principled law firms.
The “cuts” by DOGE are unconstitutional. All of them. It is a bedrock principle of the Constitution that Congress appropriates funds and the president “faithfully executes” the laws that appropriate those funds. By withholding (“impounding”) funds appropriated by Congress, Trump is violating the Constitution. Every day. That ongoing constitutional violation is a scandal that is being ignored by the media. Trump is now seeking to avoid a confrontation in Congress, testing his ongoing unconstitutional conduct. He is again in retreat—because he does not want to know the answer that Congress will give. ... Cases challenging the unconstitutional impoundments are wending their way through the federal courts. ... If Trump were to ask Congress to ratify his unconstitutional cuts, he would need to identify the nature and amount of those cuts. In effect, Trump would be asking for forgiveness for his unlawful cuts when he should have sought permission.
A final note on the Supreme Court. Readers have understandable anxiety every time the Supreme Court hears a case challenging Trump’s unlawful actions. The anxiety is understandable given the Court’s atrocious decisions in Dobbs and Trump v. US (and others).
But we should not shrink from pushing for Supreme Court review of Trump’s actions. We need to know which side of democracy the Court is on. While I have very modest hopes that we will receive some support from the Court, we need to know sooner rather than later if the Court will abandon us again. ... If the Court does abandon us, we may need to change tactics. Let’s find out and move on. The Court isn’t going to save us. It might help us. Or not. Either way, it is up to us. It always is. And we are up to the task.
, Robert Reich
On Tuesday, Judge Dugan was indicted for obstructing a federal agency and concealing an undocumented immigrant who was being sought by federal officers at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. The charges carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine. Yesterday, Judge Dugan pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The background: On April 18, Judge Dugan presided over a pretrial hearing in a domestic abuse case against Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican immigrant. Federal officials gathered in the hallway outside her courtroom, planning to arrest Flores-Ruiz for being in the country illegally. But Judge Dugan — not wanting her courtroom or the courthouse to become a place where undocumented immigrants feared to appear — directed Flores-Ruiz through a different exit than the public door that led to the hallway where agents were waiting.
Yesterday outside the courthouse several hundred against the Trump regime’s treatment of Dugan and its immigration crackdown in Milwaukee. People in the crowd held signs that read, “We are a nation of laws,” “Defend Democracy,” and “Only Fascists Arrest Judges.” One speaker led the crowd in chants of “Hands off Hannah Dugan” and “Hands off our immigrant brothers and sisters.”
Earlier this month, more than 150 former state and federal judges signed a to Attorney General Pam Bondi calling the arrest of Judge Dugan an attempt to intimidate the judiciary. “This cynical effort undermines the rule of law,” that letter said, “and destroys the trust the American people have in the nation’s judges to administer justice in the courtrooms and in the halls of justice across the land.”
25May2025
, David Kurtz, TPM
... nothing will have as long-lasting and damaging an effect on American democracy as the Supreme Court’s yesterday to upend 90 years of its own precedent and .
The high court’s six-justice conservative majority fundamentally altered the structural balance of power among the branches of the federal government. It handed vast new power to the White House to put politics above expertise, partisanship above reason, and power over principle....
One wonders how independent agencies will even function. They were created and have existed over the course of nearly a century under a certain set of assumptions about the importance of experts, consistency in policy-making, and insulation from partisan politics. What is their use or reason for being now if they’re merely appendages of the White House doing its bidding?
With unitary executive theory, Congress cannot write robust new legislation that modernizes the civil service and stops politicization. A President could just ignore it. Even if Trump leaves office, and a new President looks to restore nonpartisan competence, their promises are only good for four or eight years before another President can come in and rip up the terms of their employment. And over time, why would even a good government President invest effort in restoring capacity if their successor can undermine it?
With unitary executive theory, the public sector becomes permanently viewed as an unstable and chaotic workplace that we are seeing now. The most capable potential employees decide its not worth the bother, and the workforce becomes a mix of people who cannot get a job elsewhere, and short term political appointees.
1June2025
, Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo
I don’t, for starters, buy that Musk is really leaving government service at all, though the fact that a of DOGE adds a bit more credibility to the claim. ... Remember, he used DOGE to scoop up lots of contracts. I doubt he wants to lose those. But others would like them, too. That means he’ll have to remain involved.
The bigger problem with this storyline is the idea that Musk failed. .... To believe that you’d need to buy the idea that the goal was to streamline the government and save a bunch of money as opposed to gut the parts of the government that Trump world and the Silicon Valley right view as enemies and do so in an at best extra-constitutional fashion because it would never be possible through constitutional means. He succeeded at doing quite a lot of that, at least for now. He wrecked whole sections of the government and scooped up a ton of government contracts which not only further feathered his nest but advances the privatization of the government. He also engaged in a still-too-little-understood effort to create a vast store of integrated private information on U.S. citizens. ... As I said, I’d love it if Musk failed. But he didn’t. .... He ran an anti-constitutional blitzkrieg through the federal government, did massive harm, violated a slew of criminal laws. And he only tired of his antics when the reputational harm to his companies became steep enough to really endanger them. He’s a destructive crook who needs to be held accountable for his actions. ...
, Michelle Goldberg, NYTimes
Musk’s absurd scheme to save the government a trillion dollars by slashing “waste, fraud and abuse” has been a failure. The Department of Government Efficiency claims it’s saved $175 billion, but experts the real number is significantly lower. Meanwhile, according to the Partnership for Public Service, which studies the federal work force, DOGE’s attacks on government personnel — its firings, rehirings, use of paid administrative leave and all the associated lack of productivity — couldthe government upwards of $135 billion this fiscal year, even before the price of defending DOGE’s actions in court. Musk’s rampage through the bureaucracy might not have created any savings at all, and if it did, they were negligible. ... He did indeed shred the United States Agency for International Development [USAID]. ... it has terminated more than 80 percent of U.S.A.I.D. grants. ... [In 4 months] , most of them of children, ... Musk apparently did not anticipate that it would be bad P.R. for the world’s richest man to take food and medicine from the world’s poorest children. ... If there were justice in the world, Musk would never be able to repair his reputation, at least not without devoting the bulk of his fortune to easing the misery he’s engendered. ...
[Comment] Legal advocacy groups should draw up an indictment of Musk and his minions and wage a big public campaign to take him before the International Criminal Court. Other advocacy groups should promote a boycott of companies associated with him. Democratic Congress members should fight against government subsidies and contracts to his companies. He may never be held legally accountable, but it should be easy to blacken his reputation for good.
8June2025
E, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Office
Donald Trump’s presidency has been profitable for Elon Musk. Since Election Day, Musk’s staggering net worth has increased by over $100 billion. While serving as a “Special Government Employee” in the White House and leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has maintained extensive financial conflicts of interest through his ownership or stake in several private and publicly traded companies: Tesla, SpaceX, X and xAI, the Boring Company, and Neuralink. Before Trump took office, Musk’s companies faced at least $2.37 billion in potential liability from pending agency enforcement actions. Now many of those enforcement actions have stalled or been dismissed. Musk’s companies have received or are being considered for large contracts with the federal government, with foreign governments, and with other private sector companies. Musk and individuals acting on his behalf have been involved in dozens of questionable actions that raise questions about corruption, ethics, and conflicts of interest.
Disinformation / Media / Free Press
18May2025
Trump Slashes Research on Disinformation
Science Magazine, ,
The research doesn’t suppress speech—quite the opposite, says Lisa Fazio, a researcher at Vanderbilt University whose $500,000 NSF grant to study how false beliefs form and how to correct them was cut. “Telling you that science thinks you’re wrong isn’t censoring your belief,” she says. “It’s more speech. It’s the freedom of speech of the fact checkers, the journalists, whoever’s writing the debunk to say, ‘I’ve looked at this evidence, and this is what I think it says.’”
Ending the research, in contrast, is “an overt act of censoring and preventing accountability,” says Stephan Lewandowsky, a misinformation researcher at the University of Bristol. “Who other than a liar would cancel misinformation research?”
25May2025
,
We need a common, positive identity. If you are against oligarchy, then you are for POPULISM. Either our government serves the PEOPLE or it serves the FEW. Either our economy serves the PEOPLE or it serves the FEW. Those are the options. Which side are you on? ... Real populism is driven by radical empathy and righteous anger. Either our government serves the PEOPLE or it serves the FEW. Either our economy serves the PEOPLE or it serves the FEW. Populism is being on the side of the people.
There is a reason why Republicans try to demonize every name we have for ourselves. Identities have power. Human beings are inherently tribal. The urge to belong, to identify as part of a community and feel like you have a valued place within it, is not only the most powerful driver of political behavior, but possibly of all social behavior.
It matters to put a name to our cause. It matters to be able to say, “I am a populist,” to be able to answer the question, “What are we for?” As the man said, “The world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending.”
We are for the people.
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, Grassroots Connector Substack
Critical thinking brings logic, reason, and skepticism to the 24/7 rumor mill. To think critically means to apply time-tested questions to so-called truths before they go viral. Here are the basics:
1. Do you have all the information? In Thinking Fast and Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahnemann named a common thinking flaw, the assumption that “What You See is All There Is.” You might think you’re getting the full story but you’re probably not. Go digging.
2. Is the latest gossip “too good to be true?” “Too good” means its implications are all favorable to one party, all bad news for the other. Life — and politics — are rarely so black-and-white, and seeking nuance can reveal hidden agendas.
3. What group stands to gain? Just as courtroom lawyers ask “cui bono?” (who benefits from a crime?), ask who benefits from any “truth.” Also ask who it stands to hurt. The answers should lead to further questioning.
4. Have you considered the source? Don’t believe anything friends tell you they “heard from a friend!” If the source is from the mainstream media, ask whether they employ fact-checkers and issue corrections for errors. If the source is “independent media” (like Substack), read the source’s other posts to see “where they’re coming from.” And when checking into an independent website, click on “About Us” to see who runs the site and who funds the site. Now find out who this “Us” supported in recent elections.
5. Have you considered the sentiment? Real news is repeated with solemnity. Fake news is repeated with glee.
6. Evidence, please? It’s not enough to say “everyone knows” or “well, it’s just common sense. . .” Find concrete evidence from multiple vetted sources, i.e., sources proven reliable by reputation for accuracy, respected awards (a Peabody, a Pulitzer), and by peer reviews.
7. Have you factored in common biases? Not just “confirmation bias” that leads us to trust what confirms our beliefs but also 1) “availability bias” that strengthens allegations you most recently heard; 2) “anchoring” which stubbornly ties us to initial evidence; and 3) “perseverence bias” that makes changing your mind so hard. (There are dozens more.)
8. Have you followed Ronald Reagan’s advice — “trust but verify”? Never take anyone’s word for anything. Never use just a single source to prove a point. And never assume that any side — yours or mine or your uncle’s — is always right.
There’s not much riding on this other than the future of democracy. In 2020, Barack Obama summed up the danger: “If we do not have the capacity to distinguish what’s true from what’s false, then by definition the marketplace of ideas doesn’t work. And by definition our democracy doesn’t work.”
For more on critical thinking, consider:
— How to Win the War on Truth, by Samuel Spitale.
— The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread, by Cailin O’Connor.
— The Constitution of Knowledge, by Jonathan Rauch.
Be careful, be suspicious. It’s a jungle out there.
1June2025
, Gil Duran
Yuval Noah Harari
AI is the first information technology where the "written word" interprets itself, with the human out of the loop? ... You can also find the book in your friendly neighborhood public library (, , )!
, Scientific American
The latest version of Grok, the chatbot created by Elon Musk’s xAI, is promoting fringe climate viewpoints in a way it hasn’t done before ... The language learning models that power AI chatbots are “really quite malleable and you can change the kind of results they give,” Dessler said. “They're not tied to any absolute truth or anything like that and if you want one to lie to you, you can tell it to do that. If you want it to give you a particular viewpoint, you can do that.” ... “Malicious people can use Grok to intentionally generate climate misinformation to sow doubt about scientific consensus or environmental movements,” ... “As we go into the future, more and more people are going to get their information from these AIs,” Dessler said. “Obviously, the concern is that someone's going to do something like this to mislead people.”
8June2025
, Antonia Scatton
We need to get proactive and SET THE AGENDA to promote the stories and issues that we want the American public exposed to. ... It’s our job to use the resources available to us to repeatedly expose people to “the way we see things” until they adopt our perspective as their own. ... You have a mission to impact the minds of persuadable members of the American public. Your voice and your time are valuable assets. Make strategic decisions about how to spend those limited resources.
TALK ABOUT THIS
15June2025
, Ben Shread-Hewitt
AI is not destiny. It is a tool — a powerful, seductive, double-edged tool. In the fight against climate change, it can be a weapon in our service or one that backfires. Its future, if it is to have any hope of being a climate tool, must be wrested from cult-like visions and the devastating feedback loops that — at this time — seem hardwired into it. The choice depends not on the code itself, but on the systems we build to control it, and the institutions we task with its oversight.
, Popular Information Substack
Over the weekend, for example, the Trump administration ordered 2,000 members of the California National Guard to be deployed to in Los Angeles about Trump’s immigration policies. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) described Saturday’s protests as “peaceful.” But Trump deployed the National Guard anyway, against the wishes of state and local officials. The protests were centered around federal immigration raids at workplaces in the greater Los Angeles area.
Trump's recent actions in Los Angeles are part of a sustained, multi-pronged attack on freedom of speech, targeting anyone who does not share Trump’s political ideology. A Popular Information investigation identified 22 actions taken by the Trump administration that undermine the principle of freedom of speech.
Civic Uprising / People Power
18May2025
, The White Pages Substack
and link to articles that reinforce the sentiment. Add a second code that will , or perhaps even offer a date and time for a community meeting that you’re hosting. Hang up the signs across your region— rural areas, cities and suburbs. Go to a small town’s Main Street and put signs on every corner: It’s true, by the way, and small businesses should know about it.
than you imagined. When people ask you how you’re doing, say “I’m trying a new thing– I’m getting involved with ______ mutual aid, have you heard of it?”
as
. Join. Agitate. Know that we won’t turn the tide if we can’t get union density back in the double digits.
see some of the recommended books
, Anat Shenker-Osorio
Yes, a majority of people agreeing with your view means nothing. But a majority of people opposing your view is similarly meaningless — if you can get a small sliver to not merely agree but sustain robust action. Civil rights — , and — were unpopular in their day. Until, that is, average Americans saw with their own eyes the courage and righteousness of people boycotting, sitting in, and protesting in the face of horrific repression. The notion of a Muslim ban in Trump’s first run at office until people rushed off to airports to offer free legal help and voice their objections. their disapproval led to shifting public attitudes, and this campaign promise. And while the swift Republican-engineered backlash has memory-holed it, the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd for the cause by double digits. Tragically, that .
Sometimes, the first move you make is wildly unpopular. But doing it doesn’t merely move you toward your goal, it alters the majority public opinion many Democrats are so feverishly chasing. Actions shift how people perceive what is occurring — what is at stake, who are the villains, victims, and heroes — and which issues are most salient to consider next time people vote. They can change the dynamic of a future election from one that is about, say, “the border” and “law and order,” to one that is about wresting our freedoms and our families, our lives and our livelihoods, from the grip of billionaires hell-bent on our destruction. We cannot poll, cajole Democrats, or even vote our way to democracy. We must take to the streets and demand it.
Make It So, Jane Fonda Video
25May2025
, The Ground Game Substack
WHAT MOBILIZING ACTUALLY DOES
Mobilizing begins with a countdown clock. ...
The assignment is simple and brutal: convert latent sympathy into visible pressure before the clock hits zero. Lists matter more than deep relationships, message discipline more than philosophical depth, and friction-free tech beats Robert’s Rules every time....
WHAT ORGANIZING ACTUALLY DOES
Organizing starts ... with a power map. ... What exact decision must flip, and by when? Who can actually say “yes” or “no,” and who whispers in their ear? What do those actors prize most, votes, profit, reputation, stability, and where is that prize exposed? Which organized people, money, and narrative can we already marshal, or quickly build, to press on that nerve? Finally, what public action will convert our assets into a cost they can’t ignore or a benefit they crave? Those five questions sketch the first draft of any serious campaign plan.
Organizing opens a power chart. Names, institutions, and the relationships connecting them get pinned like circuitry. The questions are: Who has unilateral authority? Who influences them? What do they fear or need? That map dictates the next six months of one-to-ones, leadership development plans, and steadily escalating structure tests designed to move a small number of decisive people.
Mobilizing opens a turnout model. Districts or precincts are stacked in a spreadsheet, every row tagged with target universes, contact rates, and vote goals. The questions are: Where is our vote margin hiding? How many persuadables can we touch per shift? How many dials, doors, or ads do we need to close the gap before the buzzer sounds?
Both models are essential, yet neither is sufficient alone. ...
?, If You Can Keep It Substack
I find democracy is best explained through its benefits. ... the rule of law, individual rights, and electoral freedom.
The rule of law, fairness, and predictability
The United States is a remarkably prosperous country. That success is directly thanks to our democratic systems, institutions, and processes that ensure predictable, fair, and rules-based outcomes.
Democracy is good for business. ... that’s not true when an autocratic leader with no safeguards can make impulsive or self-serving economic policy decisions. …like, say, a and the global trade system?
That predictability — that impartiality — helps ensure our freedom. Otherwise, we’re all at the whims of people with power.
Individual rights and the restraints on power
In our day-to-day lives, many of us don’t spend much time thinking about our rights: to speak our minds, to travel freely, to worship as we wish, to feel safe and secure in our homes, to earn a living, to love and marry, to criticize the powerful, and to not be arbitrarily and indefinitely imprisoned. But in reality, everything around us is built on the foundation of fundamental rights like and and and ....
Often, these violations of individual rights start with — and are built around — centralized databases and surveillance structures to monitor citizens. The more the government knows about you, the more options it has to potentially curtail your basic freedoms.
Right now, the Trump administration and DOGE are to build a massive, unified database of all Americans. We don’t know what this database will be used for.
Whatever its purpose, trust me: Our rights are worth protecting before they’re dismantled, not after.
Electoral freedom and the ability to choose our leaders
Finally, elections. If I had to pick one of the many single definitions of democracy, I’d go with ...
Democracy is a system in which parties lose elections.
... It’s not just that we the people get to select our leaders — and therefore have a say in policy decisions (although obviously that’s important). It’s that we have a failsafe way to remove leaders from power when we inevitably need to do so.
8June2025
, Corbin Trent, America’s Undoing
We need an ideological revolution that rejects the lies we've been taught:
* That government is the problem (when corporations are)
* That markets self-regulate (when they self-destruct)
* That incremental change works (when we need transformation)
* That the rules are sacred (when they're rigged)
We need people willing to use power the way FDR did - to fundamentally restructure the economy. To break monopolies. To build public alternatives. To treat concentrated wealth as the threat to democracy that it is. This isn't about left vs. right anymore. It's about whether we'll remain corporate subjects or become citizens again.
We need to envision this across every sector that's been captured by monopoly power:
Childcare: Not just subsidies for private centers that jack up prices, but publicly run childcare facilities in every community
Housing: Not just affordable housing mandates, but the government as a major homebuilder competing directly with private developers
Energy: Not just regulating utilities, but public power generation and distribution that puts private monopolies out of business
Banking: Not just better regulations, but public banks that offer real alternatives to Wall Street
Broadband: Not just net neutrality, but municipal networks that make Comcast obsolete
Transportation: Not just subsidizing private companies, but building public alternatives that actually work
What we're talking about is a reset of our entire market system. We need to re-ignite real competition - and the only way to do that in a system this captured, this monopolized, this sold out is through massive public competition.
Immigrants / Free Speech / DEI
25May2025
, The Big Picture Substack
When I write about the latest horrific policy or action by the Trump administration, often a reader will comment, “The cruelty is the point.” ... We need to look behind that cruelty and ask the harder question: But what’s the goal? ...
Fascism creates a myth of victimhood, that the majority population is in a humiliating decline from a past greatness because of singled-out minority populations. It’s an us-against-them crisis, the myth goes. The targeted racial, ethnic, religious or gender minorities, and the “liberals” who support them, are thus framed as not just opponents but enemies, demonized so the majority can feel justified in hating and repressing them. ... He is trying to divide us, to make us fear and despise other human beings who live in our communities, and to gain power from that division and fear. ...
The administration well understands what happens when it metes out punishment against alleged “undesirable” social elements and the perceived enemies of the administration. Corporations, law firms, media companies, and even major universities scrambled to stay on Trump’s good side so that they wouldn’t become the next target. They capitulated with little to no actual resistance, just like the entire Republican Party has done.
This erodes the traditional safeguards of our civil liberties while giving a big assist to the project of MAGA authoritarianism.
Recently, the White House announced it was ending Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of refugees from war-torn, dangerous, and stricken parts of the world, from Haiti to Afghanistan.
As a result of this ruling and Noem’s draconian order, the lives of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, along with millions of their families and friends, have suddenly been upended. Many justifiably fear what will happen to them next. Will they be seized off the street or out of their cars? Will they be held indefinitely in decrepit and dangerous ICE detention facilities? Will they be sent back to their native country or instead to a third country, perhaps even to prison there? ... CBS of 75 percent of the 238 men sent to CECOT and could find no evidence of any criminal record whatsoever. And just yesterday, the CATO Institute released a that 50 of the Venezuelans now imprisoned there came to the U.S. legally and violated no immigration laws.
... the administration hopes it becomes so commonplace that we hear about it, shake our heads in resigned hopelessness, and begin to accept it as inevitable. ...
Earlier in this piece, I noted that the creation of “domestic enemies” such as migrants permits the government to target not just the migrants themselves but the liberals and activists who support them as “enemies of the state.” The White House is now attempting to sow doubt and fear among its political opponents by using the power of the state to intimidate them and even lock them up, too....
This is why the fight for the rights of migrants, for basic concepts of justice and fair play, and for bedrock rights such as habeas corpus, matter so much. The cruelty the administration has unleashed upon one group is only a warm-up for something far more ambitious.
We can turn this back, force a reckoning, lock arms, and demand accountability. But the time to do so is now, rather than long after the detention camps they are building for migrants today become the prison camps for the perceived enemies of the state tomorrow.
, Rogan’s List
While the most urgent need is to prevent TPS designations from being terminated, we must also work for a more long-term, stable solution. Let’s contact our reps and ask them to condemn the revocation of TPS and which Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) has reintroduced to create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and folks with temporary status. ... We can also use to push Congress for a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants. Lastly, we can connect with and support , an organization formed and led by TPS beneficiaries that advocates to protect their status and for a legal path to permanent residency.
8June2025
, Rogan’s List
, and assaulted, injured and arrested David Huerta, the president of the SEIU in California. The raids sparked extensive protests. In spite of state and local officials and , Trump has chosen to and deploy them against our citizens. ... If we spot immigration enforcement activity, we can use these tips on how to verify and what information to record from and , and while enforcement is in progress.
.) And they’ve built a full guide to our rights we can read
. has pulled together multiple resources on how to protest safely
.
.
. connects military members with experienced attorneys and can be reached at .Voting Protections
Ukraine / NATO / USAID / Militarism / Anti-Nuclear Weapons
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