I could not believe my ears when I saw a reporter in Wyoming interviewing a handful of residents there, and reportedly found that all the persons spoken to - agreed with the sentiment that Liz Cheney was undeserving of another term as the representative of their state! What is the matter with their perception of the interests of the country? Hello! Wake up folks. Trump is a dictator in waiting...
On this substack we seem to excel at diagnosis and complaint. Identifying the problem is widely held to be the first step in finding a solution. But we never seem to get there! We always seem to point out things that others can do (e.g. the Fed should..., Democrats ought to..., Biden needs to...., Congress should act...). But how can we focus on our individual efforts to solve some problems? I'm going to do 3 things in August:
1. work for the Katie Porter campaign to help her get re-elected
2. donate until it hurts, not just to Katie Porter, also to other key campaigns around the country, including Katie Hobbs in AZ, O'Rourke in TX, Demings in FL and Stacey Abrams in GA. Senate campaigns are just as or even more important, so putting my money where my mouth is...
3. volunteer to work the polling booth on election day and do my part to make sure it is safe and accessible for all voters in my area.
One other thing I am trying to do is learn to talk to my Republican friends. Many of them are disgusted with Trump and Trump-ism but what I am hearing is that they are actually afraid of voting for Democrats. There have been too many lies and conspiracies pushed out by Fox and other radical misinformation media sources. People are legitimately confused. It goes like: "If I vote against Trump's larceny and criminality, will I then be voting for policies that I don't support?" One good option that sensible conservatives have is to just sit out this particular election. See what happens and then look forward to 2024. I remember in 1972 when I was working for George McGovern there was a big push to get out the vote. One lady was interviewed saying she planned not to vote. When the reporter asked why, she said along the lines, "I don't vote because it only encourages them!" This might be a good policy for well meaning but conflicted Republicans this time around!
Music educator here ... Please let me help you find some theme music! I agree, it would be lovely to have some. The Free Music Archive has SO many great instrumental pieces, posted by their composers for use, as long as the source is acknowledged.
In a few weeks I'll be driving across the country on secondary highways from New Mexico to Milwaukee with an Econ. Prof. and Russian historian I met online last year. Maybe I'll learn something while meandering through the underbelly of the USA? At least the conversation won't be dull! Wish me luck!
We should eliminate all corporate special exemptions. They are not people, but 'Individuals for tax purposes', so they should pay the same taxes as a single individual. No special exemptions, deductions or tax rates.
I’ve volunteered as a poll watcher so I can keep an eye on any GOP/MAGA antics at the polls. And I will be distributing Get Out The Vote materials in my precinct - north Tampa area.
Regarding a theme song; I think you could use one of several "heroic" themes from Beethoven's Symphony #3, the "Eroica." You wouldn't need to worry about copyright law since it was written centuries in the past, and Brother Ludwig would never object to your using it!
Another cool theme remembered from my youth was used on the animated TV program Mighty Mouse: "Mighty Mouse is on the Way!" Anybody can sing that, and it's fun to drop your voice a few octaves to try for a superhero voice!
i answered "a paycation", but since i am still unemployed (and probably will be for the rest of my life), this paycation is not voluntary. my august plans are to read a couple more 800+ page books and reviewing them. (currently working on one such review right now for forbes in fact.) huge books like this take a much longer time to read than my usual 3 days because there are so many stupid little distractions that pop up every single day.
i have no realistic suggestions for a theme song for your show, but PLEASE do not use something that is licensed only for USA. if so, i won't be able to access your saturday podcast, just as i could not (and still cannot) access the wealth and poverty class that i originally subscribed to. :(
let me add a few more frowny-disappointed faces, just to drive my point home:
Thank you for this morning's coffee klatch. I really like your idea of reporting the real state of the economy - not just how it effects the too wealthy people. I also want to know why the DNC isn't spending oodles of money explaining why we have an economic downturn (especially that it is global not regional) instead of letting the retrumplicans get away with dumping it all on Biden. Are they secretly hoping to lose?
My great, great grandfather was confederate veteran. He fought for an awful cause, and yet I am proud of him. I am a Vietnam vet and that was an awful cause. We humans are a complicated lot. Because of my political views my people would think I was insane.
One seemingly small but momentous decision is, in my opinion, at the root of the fatigue and worry we are all going through today. It goes back to 2009, and was the decision by then-president Barack Obama not to fulfill his promise to sign the "Freedom of Choice" Act -- codifying a woman's right to an abortion into law. Doing so, he said during the campaign, would be at the top of his list of priorities.
The Act would have taken Roe off the table completely. After the death of Scalia, Mitch McConnell would not have had a giant carrot to wave to the white evangelicals who formed Trump's base. All of the kabuki theater gyrations of picking Supreme Court justices would have been behind us from that time.
I appreciate the opportunity to express my deep disappointment in how Democrats have treated THEIR base. (Don't get me started on free trade....)
We should eliminate all corporate special exemptions. They are not people, but 'Individuals for tax purposes', so they should pay the same taxes as a single individual. No special exemptions, deductions or tax rates.
I could not believe my ears when I saw a reporter in Wyoming interviewing a handful of residents there, and reportedly found that all the persons spoken to - agreed with the sentiment that Liz Cheney was undeserving of another term as the representative of their state! What is the matter with their perception of the interests of the country? Hello! Wake up folks. Trump is a dictator in waiting...
I will be plotting a communist revolution from the comfort of my Lazy Boy. Hard work being a revolutionary these days. Pass the iced tea, please.
On this substack we seem to excel at diagnosis and complaint. Identifying the problem is widely held to be the first step in finding a solution. But we never seem to get there! We always seem to point out things that others can do (e.g. the Fed should..., Democrats ought to..., Biden needs to...., Congress should act...). But how can we focus on our individual efforts to solve some problems? I'm going to do 3 things in August:
1. work for the Katie Porter campaign to help her get re-elected
2. donate until it hurts, not just to Katie Porter, also to other key campaigns around the country, including Katie Hobbs in AZ, O'Rourke in TX, Demings in FL and Stacey Abrams in GA. Senate campaigns are just as or even more important, so putting my money where my mouth is...
3. volunteer to work the polling booth on election day and do my part to make sure it is safe and accessible for all voters in my area.
One other thing I am trying to do is learn to talk to my Republican friends. Many of them are disgusted with Trump and Trump-ism but what I am hearing is that they are actually afraid of voting for Democrats. There have been too many lies and conspiracies pushed out by Fox and other radical misinformation media sources. People are legitimately confused. It goes like: "If I vote against Trump's larceny and criminality, will I then be voting for policies that I don't support?" One good option that sensible conservatives have is to just sit out this particular election. See what happens and then look forward to 2024. I remember in 1972 when I was working for George McGovern there was a big push to get out the vote. One lady was interviewed saying she planned not to vote. When the reporter asked why, she said along the lines, "I don't vote because it only encourages them!" This might be a good policy for well meaning but conflicted Republicans this time around!
Music educator here ... Please let me help you find some theme music! I agree, it would be lovely to have some. The Free Music Archive has SO many great instrumental pieces, posted by their composers for use, as long as the source is acknowledged.
In a few weeks I'll be driving across the country on secondary highways from New Mexico to Milwaukee with an Econ. Prof. and Russian historian I met online last year. Maybe I'll learn something while meandering through the underbelly of the USA? At least the conversation won't be dull! Wish me luck!
We should eliminate all corporate special exemptions. They are not people, but 'Individuals for tax purposes', so they should pay the same taxes as a single individual. No special exemptions, deductions or tax rates.
I’ve volunteered as a poll watcher so I can keep an eye on any GOP/MAGA antics at the polls. And I will be distributing Get Out The Vote materials in my precinct - north Tampa area.
Regarding a theme song; I think you could use one of several "heroic" themes from Beethoven's Symphony #3, the "Eroica." You wouldn't need to worry about copyright law since it was written centuries in the past, and Brother Ludwig would never object to your using it!
Another cool theme remembered from my youth was used on the animated TV program Mighty Mouse: "Mighty Mouse is on the Way!" Anybody can sing that, and it's fun to drop your voice a few octaves to try for a superhero voice!
I'm going to the Van Gogh exhibit in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Aug. 10th. Part Fraycation, part inspiration to pull out my painting supplies.
i answered "a paycation", but since i am still unemployed (and probably will be for the rest of my life), this paycation is not voluntary. my august plans are to read a couple more 800+ page books and reviewing them. (currently working on one such review right now for forbes in fact.) huge books like this take a much longer time to read than my usual 3 days because there are so many stupid little distractions that pop up every single day.
i have no realistic suggestions for a theme song for your show, but PLEASE do not use something that is licensed only for USA. if so, i won't be able to access your saturday podcast, just as i could not (and still cannot) access the wealth and poverty class that i originally subscribed to. :(
let me add a few more frowny-disappointed faces, just to drive my point home:
:( :( :(
Theme song? 16 tons :)
Thank you for this morning's coffee klatch. I really like your idea of reporting the real state of the economy - not just how it effects the too wealthy people. I also want to know why the DNC isn't spending oodles of money explaining why we have an economic downturn (especially that it is global not regional) instead of letting the retrumplicans get away with dumping it all on Biden. Are they secretly hoping to lose?
My great, great grandfather was confederate veteran. He fought for an awful cause, and yet I am proud of him. I am a Vietnam vet and that was an awful cause. We humans are a complicated lot. Because of my political views my people would think I was insane.
One seemingly small but momentous decision is, in my opinion, at the root of the fatigue and worry we are all going through today. It goes back to 2009, and was the decision by then-president Barack Obama not to fulfill his promise to sign the "Freedom of Choice" Act -- codifying a woman's right to an abortion into law. Doing so, he said during the campaign, would be at the top of his list of priorities.
The Act would have taken Roe off the table completely. After the death of Scalia, Mitch McConnell would not have had a giant carrot to wave to the white evangelicals who formed Trump's base. All of the kabuki theater gyrations of picking Supreme Court justices would have been behind us from that time.
I appreciate the opportunity to express my deep disappointment in how Democrats have treated THEIR base. (Don't get me started on free trade....)
We should eliminate all corporate special exemptions. They are not people, but 'Individuals for tax purposes', so they should pay the same taxes as a single individual. No special exemptions, deductions or tax rates.