Well Done, Senator Booker!

 

Senator Cory Booker (D., NJ) has surpassed Strom Thurmond's record, holding the Senate floor for an astonishing 25 hours! (Get yourself a well-deserved rest!) As he closed his speech, during which he spoke to the Trump agenda and the ways that it will hurt working families, he invoked the memory of John Lewis:

"This is a moral moment. It’s not left or right; it’s right or wrong. Let's get in good trouble," Booker said as he concluded his remarks and was met by a standing ovation from Senate colleagues. "I yield the floor."

Democratic lawmakers have been facing pressure from their constituents to respond more forcefully to the Trump administration’s sweeping policy changes, including massive cuts to the federal workforce, ramped-up deportations and sweeping tariffs.

Booker's remarks clearly resonated with many who watched them. A live feed of the speech on the senator's TikTok account had more than 220 million likes by early Tuesday night, before he exceeded 24 hours on the floor, and users were posting fan edits.

This was a demonstration about what our Democratic representation in congress can do even if they do not have the majority in either chamber--they can hold the floor adn speak to the values and concerns of the people they represent. 

That's what we want them to do--represent US. 

Why Elon Musk Gets Picked On

 

Huh. Where to start?

Musk alleges that another billionaire is handing out checks so that people will protest his and boycott his businesses. Because when you and your little DOGE gremlins are cutting aid to starving kids, Meals on Wheels, costing thousands of people their livelihoods and prancing about with a little chainsaw because BRRRR CUTTING GOOD!, people need a monetary reason to make them mad--right?

This is the kind of bullshit you get when your mama tells you the reason the other kids are picking on you is because they are just so jealous because they are dumb poors and not as bright and handsome as mommy's little man. 

The Real Social Security Fraudsters, He Says

 

Howard Lutnick, late of Cantor Fitzgerald, who is not, by any stretch, a poor man, has sorted out who the real fraudsters and abusers of Social Security might be--the people who would complain if they failed to receive a check. If they failed to receive their check, that they were counting on, because they paid into the system during their entire working life? I mean, say what, now?

“What we have to do is stop sending money to someone who’s not hurt, who’s on disability for 50 years,” he claimed. “It’s ridiculous, and they have another job.”

At one point in the wide-ranging, nearly two-hour conversation, Lutnick also said that if Social Security “didn’t send out their checks this month,” his “mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain.”

“She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining,” the billionaire businessman said.

This is not Normal

 

How do you confront a man who has done a lot of damage in a very short period of time, and promises to get up in front of the American people and lie about everything? Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D., NM) chose to hold a simple sign: "This is not normal."  (It was snatched from her by Republican Rep. Lance Gooden.)

What the folks who attended or tuned into this speech beheld was a long rally speech--not really like a State of the Union speech at all. Trump called out the head of DOGE, Elon Musk (who isn't supposed to BE the head of DOGE, allegedly, for some sort of legal reason). He dwelled on the ideas of immigrant crime and trans people in sports for some reason. (Divisiveness. Feeding the bigotry beast.)

There will obviously need to be heroic fact-checking. This is a speech where Trump blamed Biden for the economy that he has actually contracted, threatening higher prices and a recession. Economists were not predicting a recession with Biden's policies--only with what Trump has been doing so far. 

But we aren't new to this game. Trump lies. Trump blames other people. Trump comes up with proposals that might just be a puppet show in a madhouse. We are in a trade war with our North American neighbors. Trump has openly sided with Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian war. 

This is, in fact, not normal. A ketamine-fueled megalomaniac with poor sleep habits is Peter-Panning his crazy ass through our government with his Lost Boys, looking to move fast and break stuff--not really understanding what he's breaking, just hoping to get the contracts to fix whatever it is. Daddy Ourbucks rose for a little applause during the speech. 

One could almost wonder why he didn't give speech himself. Shy? 

Unauthorized Thoughts and Declined Prayers

 

Generally, when a stranger is murdered in cold blood, there's at least a muted "Damn shame!' sort of reaction. If a man with a family dies at the age of 50, why, you can certainly say "That's far too young, that poor man's family!" (Not that he was poor--unfortunate, but not poor.) You don't actually see people writing folk songs about the killer and posting them to social media, or see people back out of the search for the killer. 

What has happened, if one can at all "read the room", is that the murdered CEO has become a stand-in for a parasitical industry. Our health insurance system isn't a "health care system"--it's a promise to pay for protection. Some of your health care bill will be paid. Not all. Your course of treatment can be affected by your insurance company. 

This can and does result in bad (fatal or crippling) outcomes. Of course, people feel some way about that. 

And the result of that feeling may look very cold-blooded. It isn't. It's rather hot, actually.

What if We Declined the Decline?

 

Reporter: A brand new analysis finds that Social Security would run out in six years if Trump's agenda is enacted pic.twitter.com/eLiOZPpvfb

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 21, 2024

Generation X people have never taken Social Security for granted, actually I think a lot of us came up thinking the rug would be pulled out from under us because that was how our generation experienced everything--as a recession. I mean, I definitely feel like at some point, someone in my lifetime said out loud with their whole chest that Social Security was the third rail of politics, but I never equally also felt it applied to me, because it felt like someone, somewhere else, was going to wind up the ladder I was supposed to retire on. 

Like, they were going to move up the age I could even get Social Security to an age where I wouldn't even be competent to apply, Like, I would have worked to my late seventies and be trying to sort out how Medicare Part D shit was going down. And just have new technocrat hoops my elderly ass would have to jump through. And a canyon my elderly ass might fall through. 

I'm in my 50's still wondering about that rug pull. Kamala Harris is eight years older than me and wants to save the thing Trump's economic plan would destroy--I guess none of his friends are counting on SS. They count on his tax cuts, though.  

The Harris Plan--Supporting Our Values

 

What if the way to support families and the middle class was to put our money where our values are and invest in the changes we want to see to make life better for the average American? 

It's a loaded question, and I get why some folks would be mad--supporting new families and encouraging homeownership are fine things for people who want to talk about financial security for households to reference, but actually doing something about it? Isn't that the business of other people to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps about? 

Look, I used to do a feature on this blog about our "Know Your Class War" and just like "Climate Sunday", it fell by the wayside because we have a first-world economy with disastrous outcomes in terms of health, happiness, and upward mobility in general. Democrats have, through measures like Social Security, Medicare, the ACA, and others--actually tried to do something about this. Republicans usually dub these measures "Communism".  (See Reagan and Medicare.)

Biden Knocked 'em Dead in the Old SOTU

 

After Biden's claim that some Republicans want to end Medicare and Social Security provoked GOP anger, the president responds, "I'm glad to see it, I enjoy conversion."

"Social Security and its bookend, Medicare, are off the books now, right?," Biden adds. "We have unanimity!" pic.twitter.com/3aymKQlf1d

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 8, 2023

Now, after that, are the GOP feeling like they want to try to introduce something about so-called "entitlement" (paid-benefit) programs and be made liars? 

Joe Biden foxed them. He got them rolling. He just set up the ad against whenever they want to roll that idea out. He decided to go off message to use the GOP's contrary energy against them, like political aikido.  This is what Joe Biden does best--he gets people. His EQ is outstanding. And he knew how to bait the hook. 

Now you know: Democrats and the Biden Administration will protect your Social Security--and the GOP, not so much. But they might leave it alone for now. He also called out opposition to his infrastructure plan, saying he would meet his opponents at the ground breaking. Because you know goddamn right Republicans will vote against things and then take credit for them like butter would not melt in their mouths. 

And I don't care what nepo-baby Sarah Huckabee Sanders has to say in response, because she is going to pretend like the culture war fell on her, not like she and her inappropriate-length dresses fell on the culture war and like she maybe did not lie for a former president and therefore has no standing whatsoever to call out anyone else's supposed factual shortcomings. 

The story is, Democrats perform in office, and the GOP performs like a madhouse--incoherent and signifying their delusions. 

I have nothing better to say about what I saw. 

Defining the GOP

 

Is that a pizza menu Rep. Elise Stefanik holds in her hand in the picture above? Why, no, it is the Republican party's plan to define itself ahead of the midterms! Many GOP legislators, we are assured, worked long and hard to boil down what the party plans to do in their Commitment to America, and while I think what's on offer is long on goals and short on policy specifics, I can already envision what the party will do, because they have been telling us.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, I think, has done the best job of defining the party: it's about a federal abortion ban.  He has literally said the words "defines our party" regarding this issue, and I sure as heck don't disbelieve him, because even if they can't manage it federally, you can be sure GOP governors and state houses are ready to exercise their "states' rights" to take away the rights of people who can become pregnant. 

They have goals regarding crime and inflation, and also oversight of the White House. I think we can predict fairly well what House Republicans would do with their opportunity--pretty much nothing useful for the economy (tax cuts for the rich and "cutting waste" really won't accomplish much) and maybe they are only concerned about crime regarding some people, but as long as Biden is president, they have a great incentive to not make things better and to, I dunno. Try impeaching him for something. Anything, really. 

They say they want to protect Social Security and Medicare, and Sens. Rick Scott and Ron Johnson have given us a good window into their thinking about that--they are going to destroy the village to save it. 

From the skimpy pamphlet that GOP House leadership brandished, to the video that contained a lot of stock footage from...Russia (Really? A national party won't foot the bill to contract a videographer to shoot B-roll out in Indiana or wherever?), you can really see the loving, thoughtful work that has gone into their messaging. 

Even the comments of their probably-planted concern-mommy let you really know what they are all about:

"Critical race theory; diversity, equity, and inclusion; gender identity ... anti-bullying programs ... These are all Marxist-style programs targeting our children."

— A mom at the House GOP's "Commitment to America" agenda rollout, as Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy nods along pic.twitter.com/AiLhVvX07f

— The Recount (@therecount) September 23, 2022

So, you understand, they will defeat classroom communism with a commitment to be....pro-bullying, anti-inclusion, and definitely crack down on that diversity and equity stuff. You bet! In sum, f you want a party that stands for culture war, inaction on kitchen table issues, the Big Lie, book-banning and making kids carry their rapists' baby to term, well, the GOP have well and truly demonstrated who they are! 

Republicans Don't Care About Your Family

 

Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg had sharp words for the Republicans opposing a bill codifying the right to same-sex marriages, urging them to support the legislation's passage in the Senate after it won bipartisan House approval. https://t.co/mBKJi45Egb

— ABC News (@ABC) July 24, 2022

Republicans demonstrated with their vote in the House against supporting same-sex or interracial marriages that they don't care about all of our American families. After all, House Republicans also failed to support access to contraception.  They don't care if lack of access to abortion means that a pregnant person dies, or that pregnant people can't move freely across the country to access their right to bodily autonomy according to their own conscience. 

It has to be finally admitted--they don't care about your family. Republicans chatted quite comfortably with a gay man and then right afterwards told him his family did not matter to them. They don't care about his family, and his young children. They don't care about his parental rights and those of his spouse. 

They would not care about your family, that you made via IVF, because it offends the anti-abortion people. I want you to know that. 

If you are Jewish or gay, they would probably prefer you not adopt because you aren't the right sort of people to raise kids. Marjorie Taylor Greene considers adoptive parents "fake" and thinks they are a danger to children. 

Fouling Up Social Security

Today, Donald Trump stated that if re-elected, he'll undermine the entire financial footing of Social Security.

Our seniors and millions of Americans with disabilities are under enough stress without their hard-earned Social Security benefits in doubt. https://t.co/glUDQlcbEO

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 9, 2020

Of all the ding-bat things Trump could decide to try during a time of massive job losses, of course he'd have to throw in one that makes no real sense: a payroll tax deferral when the problem is people aren't on any damn payroll. (And the surprise-level about that should be nil--he lies about things, but he also does not understand shit about crap.) It's a fake gave-away to employers--except it will have to be paid back oh, unless Trump is re-elected when he will make it "permanent". So Social Security and Medicare will just not be funded, and that means he's basically fucking them as hard as he's fucking the post office right now.

Older people who were thinking of voting for Trump--first he wants you to die of coronavirus because he thinks he wants better economics numbers and to his clueless brain, that means business as usual, but he doesn't understand the economy is dependent on the virus actually being under control because fear of death is a pretty big factor in determining consumer habits. (I certainly wouldn't go to a restaurant if I thought my entree came with a side-order of COVID, for example.) Then he threatens your benefits, because, get this, your benefits are funded by people contributing to programs right now. And then he's also going to mess with, not just your voting by mail so you can do it safely, but things like your getting medicines by mail, or paying your bills by mail on time (incurring late fees), and other little things you might want to sit and think about.

And it's because he was too dumb to get his ass sorted about the pandemic back in February. Oh, and because he's lousy at being president, but is shit-scared that not being president will wind his ass up in prison, and there are reasons it should.

Also, in Trump's continuing plan to make executive orders that he most likely can't do and hasn't thought out and are campaign stunts and not actual things that will materialize are pretending he can stop evictions (by having different agencies look into it) and reducing the previous federal UI amount and making it dependent on what states are paying. And he's taking the money out of FEMA disaster relief and damn. That could be really bad.

Like, how is this all supposed to help? He could provide more immediate aid by directing Meadows to not fuck around and cooperate with Pelosi who already has something not-useless planned. It would show he has confidence he could sell that to the American people outside of his little club.

It just looks an awful lot like he's decided he'd rather wreck a lot of things than be remotely constructive, at a time when his being useful, or even vaguely like a leader in fact instead of play-acting as one, would be useful not just to see the country through an actual crisis, but maybe even do some magic on his poll numbers so he wouldn't have to fuck about with voter suppression. But he isn't the man for that. And it's starting to look pretty clear who should be doing the job Trump can't.

Before the Immigrants Take it All

I don't usually recount personal stories here on the blog, because I try to keep my real life and my blog persona separate. You might have an image of me--cool. I mostly tell the truth on myself, when I do talk about myself.  But today (of all days) there was an exchange that left me a little disconcerted, because it was entirely offhand. It was a conversation an older lady had with a slightly-less older lady in the elevator in my workplace.

I'm outspoken enough online--that much you might have noticed. I try to keep civil with folks I disagree with, but I find it easier to link to bolster my argument than just state it, because people believe what they believe for reasons. Maybe they just don't drink from the same wells I do. I don't know how they get their ideas. I want to believe examples or published data help, even if some studies and published data have told me, they don't, necessarily.

And work is a different thing than any other kind of interaction--if I don't know a co-worker from my outfit well enough to know how they will take me, I know I have no reason to attempt a conversation, let alone try out a correction of my elders. 

But this lady said something so ignorant I kind of did not know where to start. She replied to a question about when she was retiring with "I have to start taking my Social Security before the immigrants take it all."

This person had no fucking idea how anything the hell worked. She just thought there was a sloppy pool of benefit money that randos were able to siphon off of at will. That immigrants paid into Social Security and never were able to collect because they didn't have legitimate SS numbers, was not anything she had logically taken into account, although it was true. That Social Security for her was paid by workers who came after her, just like her contributions were paying for current retirees, was something she did not seem to be aware of. That Federal budgets really shouldn't take Social Security contributions into their scope when talking about what budget money is available, was not on her mental horizon.

She was happily blaming immigrants for a lack of benefits she was not even going to experience. 

All the arguments were at my tongue-tip. She got off at her floor "Have a blessed day" and I took my alone time until I got to my floor to say out loud to no one at all "That wasn't correct in any way." Because I had to say something out loud, to no one at all, or I might scream. 

And this was not even a likely Trump voter. This was just the kind of stupid prejudice people have about other people because they feel like having prejudices against people, I guess. It made me mad. So I place it here. 

I don't know when we attack that kind of fucked-up wrong concept about how things work, but I suggest the elected leaders of The Left try it. Put on record how things work. Because I am not sure some of the GOP elected know how all the things work, either.