https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kc3nnRasCA
I had been feeling discouraged about the current state of affairs in America. And I came across this video of Hakeem Jeffries press briefing from January 23. I found it a useful antidote against the feeling that our democracy is over.
Very briefly summarized; Jeffries termed the 50 page House Republican budget plan as "the contract against America". He went on to say that the slimmest majority since the 1930s is by no means a " mandate", and that the House Democrats will not enable MAGA to put in place tax breaks which would make government "by the billionaires, of the billionaires, for the billionaires".
When questioned about the Democrats' position on immigration, Jeffries said that they would work with Republicans to secure the border, and to enact bipartisan and comprehensive policy reform. But that they would act to protect, dreamers, farm workers, and families.
Jeffries called out House Republicans for lying about Project 2025, by saying that they never heard of it, which of course is false. And every single thing the President, and they, have done since inauguration has been straight out of Project 2025.
The whole briefing is not very long, and is worth listening to. I found it to be a refreshing " Hold your horses, buster" shot over the Republican bow.
There is a transcript available if you'd rather read it than listen to it:
https://www.rev.com/transcripts/house-democrat-news-briefing-1-23-25
Excellent communicator during the impeachment. He does a good job appealing to the working class and staying on message: MAGA = Privilege for the rich, and the shaft for everybody else.
ReplyDeleteNCR and America report that Vance has chewed out the bishops for speaking out against the immigration moves. A bit late on the part of the bishops. Obviously Vance knows nothing about Catholic Social teaching - hardly a surprise.
ReplyDeleteNothing but good as far as I'm concerned. The more white Catholic Republicans understand that MAGA is not pro-Catholic, the better off everyone will be.
DeleteI read about that thing with Vance. He was chewing out the bishops for having financial motives for advocating for migrants. Even though Catholic agencies (not the bishops personally) get some federal money to help settle immigrants who are here legally (I suppose a lot of asylum cases?). It's pretty rich for a billionaire member of a government for billionaires by billionaires to be lecturing the bishops about avarice!
DeleteThen Vance goes off about the bishops not caring about the poor little children who are being trafficked. That appears to be the latest tactic, ICE can raid schools because there might be victims of trafficking there. Then when parents show up to try to get their children out of custody, nab them and deport. Fortunately schools are so locked down for fear of shooters that they have the ability not to let ICE in. I understand they are not obligated to let them in.
Yeah, cuz child traffickers are so careful to ensure that the kids go to school before they go home to eat dog and cat burgers and snort fentanyl.
DeleteRFK hearing begins Wednesday at 10 a.m. More info on Senate's hearing page w live link to proceedings: https://www.finance.senate.gov/hearings/hearingto-consider-the-nomination-of-robert-f-kennedy-jr-of-california-to-be-secretary-of-health-and-human-services
ReplyDeleteHopefully he can be baited into going full bore ga-ga over vaccines, abortion up to the moment of delivery, and other views so that people understand what's on the line.
The Post will also have live text updates. I realize he can't help his gravelly voice, but it's irksome to listen to when it's emitting a steady stream of b.s.
The fact that RFK was even nominated for that position just shows that Trump does not give a damn about anyone's health but his own. Yeah I hope he gets baited into going full-on cray over stuff at the hearing. Especially with bird flu around, crossing the species barrier. I think he has advocated unpasteurized milk as being very healthy, and of course there are his anti- vax views. The man is mentally disturbed.
DeleteKing Donald stopped all federal grant payments this morning to ensure nobody's doing DEI programs, and legal aid for migrants offices were shuttered in Michigan. Meantime Prince Elon tells the German far-right that it's time to set aside guilt feelings over the past. Albeit mach frei, everybody! And one of the Jan6 "tourists" was shot dead by a cop in Indiana for pulling a gun during an arrest. What a wonderful thing to have strong leaders watching out for our best interests!
ReplyDeleteOne of my nieces works for the AG of Massachusetts. It is a state office, so won't be subject to the federal purge, but is going to make their work very difficult. They have to interact with federal agencies a lot .
DeleteA friend is director of a public university library collection. Any federal grants they have in the pipeline are frozen. This affects hiring, expansion plans, etc.
DeleteTo the extent that states, municipalities, school districts, and nonprofs receive federal money or fed block grants, they're SOL.
I think ultimately this will be nothing but good if voters are made to understand that this (and more to come!) is what you get with MAGA.
People were warned. They didn't listen.
Actions have consequences.
Many people justified their support for the Republican party saying that they felt the Rs would protect religious freedom. Wonder what they think now that the freedom of Catholic agencies to assist refugees and migrants is not being respected. They either didn't see that coming, or didn't care.
ReplyDeleteGuessing that all most MAGA Catholics think about are vouchers for Catholic school, rights of abortion foes to protest at clinics, and CSS adoptions to bar gay adopters.
DeleteThey are not much on board with other social justice teachings.
The abolition of the write-off on mortgage payments might come as a nasty surprise to all those white MAGA super-Catholics with six kids and a trad wife trying to afford their own home, tho.
My friend and everyone she knows in the international humanitarian NGO community have been fired, with no severance. Thousands of workers in the US and overseas. This will impact Catholic Relief Services, Jesuit Refugee Services and other Catholic NGOs. Not to mention that the people in need of medical care etc won’t be getting it.
ReplyDeleteToday they stopped all domestic grants and loans. They said Medicare and Social Security will continue. The fate of Medicaid for the poor is uncertain. The states that disburse funds for Medicaid via a federal portal report being blocked. The WH spokesperson said that she would check on that. This will impact Catholic Charities among thousands of other organizations that have federal grants.
Yep, big mess confuses people so Trump happy. Wash Post has a good explainer: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/28/trump-spending-freeze-upends-washington-triggering-legal-threats-delays/
DeleteMeantime, some states are challenging the freeze, but everything from Medicaid to Head Start to NEH grants have been frozen.
Meantime the new press secretary is wearing her cross as she defends Trump so we'll all know this is what Jesus wants.
And Google is changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps, according to a radio report this morning. I wonder if I can switch to Alta Vista as my preferred search engine.
I better start supper and get my mind offa this stuff.
Right now the map switch is only for US users. But I’m quite sure they will threaten Google with enough lawsuits to try to force compliance for Maps in all countries. My son runs a project that supports the legal dept at Google. I’ll let you know what I hear.
DeleteJudge blocked the freeze for now. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-pause-federal-grants-aid-f9948b9996c0ca971f0065fac85737ce
DeleteBut chaos reigns. I think that's the whole point.
Yes, he loves to create chaos. One of his minions said it would be a shock and awe campaign. The lawsuits will tie up a lot of stuff. There is a saying about government that the President proposes but the Congress disposes. He is bypassing Congress illegally in some of this. Will they sit back and let him totally take over their Constitutional responsibilities and powers? I’m guessing yes. McConnell didn’t go along, but it’s too late now.He impeded the impeachment that would have ended trumps political career. But as senate majority leader he decided that trump was an asset to getting Republican votes and worked to save trump from being impeached even though he couldn’t stand trump on a personal level. He is probably regretting what he did now, putting party above country . Too late.
DeleteThis Trumpobscene Era is all reminding me of something I read a long time ago. The fantasy novel “Black Easter” by James Blish. An arms dealer hires a black magician to release all the demons of hell for a limited time. Of course, they won’t return when told and pandaemonium reigns. Essentially, it turns out to be Armageddon but Satan wins.
ReplyDeleteI read that, too in another lifetime! As a lover of dystopian lit, reading about the apocalypse is more fun than living thru it.
Delete2.5 million fed employees got the Fork in the Road memo telling them to quit by Feb 6 and get severence thru Sept or risk being fired and get zip. The Post reported that that subject line was the same one Elon used when he bought Twitter and fired everyone.
I haven't even looked at the paper yet today. I just wanna sharpen the garden pitchfork and join a mob.
We've both worked in places where they asked for voluntary "quitting" in return for severance. It never ended well. They lost too many, and usually the more capable people who had a choice, left.
DeleteMakes me think of the story where a husband came home from work, and the place was a mess and the kids were outside in their pajamas playing in the mud. He asked his wife what happened. She said, "You know how you always wonder what I do all day? Well today I didn't do it."
I predict we are going to find out what a bunch of people do at work when they're not there to do it.
FWIW I think there would be legal problems with firing people from a federal agency without cause and without severance. But maybe they think the laws don't apply anymore.
The memo is weaselly. It says that the gov can no longer guarantee your job so quit now and get paid until Sept.
DeleteI think the idea is to privatize government functions. Which means that taxpayers will get the worst service for the highest prices while Trump gets private kickbacks from contract companies.
Trump is also reclassifying large numbers of employees to make them easier to fire or turn them into temps. State of Mich did this under Gov Engler, GOP. Contract temp workers were hired to replace regular state employees who took early retirement. Some "temps" have worked for state for 20 years. They do the same jobs as reg state employees but have to buy state health care benefits and will get no retirement when they leave.
Yet more reasons why employees need unions, but their temp status makes it easy to get rid of troublemakers; just don't renew their contracts.
I kept hearing "It's the economy, stupid" and the price of eggs, and the middle class is hollowed out, etc.all during the election cycle. How is eliminating 2.5 million middle class jobs going to help the economy? Oh, right, it wasn't ever about the economy for the Republicans. It was only ever about power.
DeleteSee, this is why Catholics need to have more far-right Protestant family members to explain this to you:
DeleteThe idea is that this is going to move millions of fed employees into the private sector and eliminate the taxes we spend on their bloated salaries, thus increasing our spending power, and, coupled with all that tariff money plus immigrants kicked out of "black jobs," we will ALL GET RICH, which is the whole point of being American.
Plus our riches will be proof that Jesus loves us the very best in all the world, and whatever we do is blessed.
It's just Reaganism on steroids.
The federal government was the last bastion for employees not being treated like crap. His Nibs is correcting that oversight. Throwing fear and sowing insecurity into millions of people at once. It has to be a sexual experience for him. Also for those Americans who like to see their fellow Americans mistreated. And there are many of those.
ReplyDeleteYes, the federal government had a rep of being a decent employer. They kind of got their pick of talented people. That isn't going to be the case now.
DeleteI guess Trump tried to wreck the postal service last time. I don't think he entirely succeeded. I do know that you have to work as a temp or part-timer for a long time before you get hired on permanently with them.
Re the recent collision over the Potomac, President Femtobrain has already found the root cause: DEI. Who needs the NTSB experts? Maybe they’ll be fired by Mump to save money. Also, I own a 249g drone. The software won’t let me fly into an airport and lowers the ceiling altitude in the vicinity of an airport. Yet militaryhelicopters can cross flight paths. I think we need a change of flight rules before we blame it on DEI. Just another day in the United States of Idiocracy.
ReplyDeleteMilitary helicopters fly up and down the river constantly. That airport is tricky to begin with, being on the river. The first thing my husband (the aeronautical engineer born in DC and living here for 84 years, with many years spent rowing up and down that same river under the military helicopters) said was “ It’s been idiocy for years to allow military helicopters to fly in the flight path of the planes taking and off and landing from Reagan National. A disaster waiting to happen.
DeleteI never flew in or out of Reagan but I once picked up a colleague there. I’ll be sure to avoid any flights that connect there.
DeleteGood story about Vance vs US Catholic bishops for those not paywalled:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/01/30/jd-vance-catholic-church-immigration/
Raised as he was in a family from a heavily evangelical/Pentecostal area, where Catholics generally do not qualify as Christians, it will be interesting to see if Vance can hold onto his Catholicism and to what extent he can square it with MAGA politics wrapped up in Pentacostal notions of the End Times in which the Pope is cast as the Anti-Christ.
"Turning Catholic" forces a convert to measure exactly how much of his old habits and attitudes he is willing to give up and what the cost of that might be. As a fellow convert, I understand that what Vance might have professed rather glibly in theoretical terms in the glow of RCIA will now be tested, in his case, very publicly. It's gonna hurt a lot. He has my prayers.
It seems to me that Vance is a chameleon in that he conforms himself to whatever are Trump's views at the moment. Too bad he didn't give himself more time to figure out what he really does believe before plunging head first into politics.
DeleteI have a certain feeling for him, odious as his associations with Trump.
DeleteI see Vance as being not very important. At most, he’ll be a liaison with the RC Church to lecture them when they’re wrong. So far, the Trump presidency is catastrophic on all fronts. He should strengthen all the alliances in the world that oppose America. They really have had their fill of us and for good reason.
DeleteVance is a reliable tie-breaker maybe a whip, though less effective than Biden was as VP to Obama. It never occurred to me that his conversion might just be a way to give MAGA a way to deflect Church positions they don't like from a supposedly "inside" perspective. Having been thru RCIA, I find it hard to imagine anybody who wasn't sincere would put up with it for months on end for nefarious purposes.
DeleteMy take on Vance is that he is attracted to authoritarian people and systems because he was raised by addicts and nut cases in a dysfunctional family.
I don't know that Vance went through RCIA? He may have taken private instructions from a priest he knew. We have RCIA here (I guess now it's called OCIA now). But people can still meet with the priest privately. All they really have to do is say they can't get off work on Tuesday evening.
DeleteCNA has a story about his "faith journey" here: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258347/13-things-to-know-about-jd-vance-s-catholic-journey
DeleteHe writes about it himself in an essay here: https://thelampmagazine.com/blog/how-i-joined-the-resistance
No mention of RCIA either place. Sounds like he "studied extensively" with priests, monks, and read a lot of foundational documents from the Church fathers.
Sounds like his sources might have been cherry-picked a little.
DeleteI dunno. Conversion stories themselves are cherry picked to fit a certain narrative structure for an already-converted audience that tells reinforces what they already believe to be true. I could write a whole analysis about how conversion stories--I've read hundreds--draw on older hagiographical elements and blah blah, but I nobody here cares.
DeleteWhat IS interesting to me is how Vance, in chastising the bishops breaks the conventions of the conversion story. He was very quick to impute a profit motive to the bishops instead of considering long-held Catholic teaching about migrants and refugees.
That's his Pentecostalism (and probably political expediency) coming out.
All Catholics are imperfect Catholics, but Catholic converts are imperfect in ways that reflect the baggage from previous religious upbringing.
I’ve always been interested in conversion stories. The only thing I know about yours, Jean, is that you became very interested in the saints ( before or after becoming Catholic?), that you were turned off by the country club Episcopalians at your EC church ( I never met any of those so I wasn’t turned off by that in the EC), and that Rumer Godden’s book (In this House of Brede) seemed to influence you. I never got my former colleague at work who converted to Hinduism from Christianity to tell me his story. Most RC converts I’ve met over the years became RC to please a spouse. Several told me outright that they didn’t accept a lot of the teachings.But they converted anyway, “ so that the whole family can go to communion”. My husband never converted and I never wanted him to. His brother was raised , like my husband, in a progressive church - originally Congregational but now part of the United Church of Christ. His wife was raised Catholic. They moved a lot ( career Navy) and at some point belonged to a progressive EC. They left that because of the gay bishop/gay priest controversy and became evangelicals. That went along with becoming Libertarian, and eventually trump supporters. She died in Sept - and I loved her in spite of it all because she had such a good heart.
DeleteThe thing about conversion stories is that they really don't end until somebody dies, and maybe not even then.
DeleteGood thought, Jean.
DeleteOn a sad note, one of my niece's friends was on that plane that went down.
ReplyDeleteI’m so sorry. The aunt of one of my son’s classmates was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, and my nephews best friend died in the twin towers on the same day. I think It’s especially shocking for young people because they can’t imagine someone their own age, friends, dying, especially in such a shocking way.
Delete