beedunk177633.bsky.social
Pro-democracy, not left or right.
Dreaming of Liberty and Justice for all.
Looking for ways to empower Americans to restore democracy.
Anonymous because these are dangerous times.
216 posts
19 followers
72 following
Active Commenter
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Even when the Trump administration fails to follow through on their many threats, or the decision is reversed, the resulting uncertainty has a high cost.
Executing well requires short and long-term planning. The costs of chaos are much more than GDP stats. We'll be paying for it for decades.
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One way to light a fire under him would be to call his office and show that you know: he, as chair of the Veteran's Affairs Committee, could HOLD HEARINGS on cuts.
Voters need to show that they are not fooled!
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Can't miss a chance for dictatorship.
Changing the laws (or just violating them) to extend terms beyond their legal limits is a hallmark of dictatorships (see: Xi).
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He's asking for a "particular situation" -- i.e., some worker for which he can argue an exception.
The general situation (which he's not interested in) is that this is illegal impoundment, usurping Congress's power.
Begich is on several relevant committees, including Oversight!
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OK, I was responding to the suggestion of crowdsourcing the info, but we don't have a crowd, so I'll drop it until/unless someone expresses interest.
Thanks!
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Are Alaska's voters hearing about Begich's helplessness? Maybe there are some creative ways to reach them.
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I've watched Democrats in the Congress and Senate pretend to be helpless for decades.
It seems like Republicans are now adopting this "strategy".
I don't think it leads to political success in the long run.
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I made the spreadsheet. If you'd like to help maintain it, please request edit access.
bsky.app/profile/beed...
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I made a spreadsheet. Are you interested in helping to maintain it? If so, request access.
bsky.app/profile/beed...
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I made a google sheet, as suggested by Mr. Hahn, below.
I can put in a bit of effort to oversee editing, but can't keep it up-to-date myself.
If reliable-seeming volunteer editors respond, perhaps it will be kept up-to-date.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
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With luck, it will go from $354 (today) down to $28 (2020).
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Europeans remember that Nazis are bad.
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In reality, they will start screaming, and red state politicians will learn why they shouldn't have let Trump and Musk do whatever they want.
Will they try to get it fixed for their states while screwing everyone else?
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I'm not hearing this info from anywhere else. Sorry!
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Medicare is very complicated. Things will get bad pretty quickly.
Health insurance is critical to the well-off. Medicare problems will affect more people even than Social Security.
All those Trump voters and non-voters are about to start learning why it matters who is President.
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I don't think his supporters will react well to having their social security checks stopped. <-- understatement.
The only way to avoid political suicide here is to claim to cut the fraud while doing nothing.
Maybe he's senile enough to let it go forward.
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If your Senator is a Democrat, call them.
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If you have a Democratic Senator, call and has him/her to filibuster funding that goes to Musk.
www.commoncause.org/work/fire-el...
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The Intercept had a good article about how Democrats in the Senate can go after Musk's wealth. He has $20 billion in gov't contracts. They can oppose this (using the filibuster). theintercept.com/2025/02/17/e...
Tesla also gets subsidies for people buying electric cars.
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Articles are already coming about about how Tesla execs are worrying about Musk's political activities.
I love the demonstrations against Tesla!
I know too many wonderful people who own Tesla's, so I don't want to punish them. I don't think any of them would buy one now.
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Another direction is to reduce Musk's power by reducing his wealth. While getting revenge, and maybe making an example for anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps.
Hurting Tesla sales is a winner. Tesla stock is vastly overvalued and will crash given a push.
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So, it seems inevitable that Musk will be scapegoated.
But, the sooner it happens, the less damage he'll cause.
What can we do to accelerate it?
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The incredible damage Musk has done is just beginning to become apparent. It's going to get *lots* worse. Many of the victims will be Trump supporters.
Trump is going to get increasing heat for it. This will bother him, because Trump needs to be adored.
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Sounds like a sore point. Keeping poking it!
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... if they don't die in airline accidents because of cuts in the FAA or Big Ball's weekend rewrite of the air traffic control system.
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Scientology is militantly against psychiatry and psychiatric drugs. The administration is rumored to be opposing drugs taken by millions of Americans to fight depression. Is there a connection?
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I'd love to hear some creative thoughts about this. Let's assume Fox is not going to emphasize these points. Can people be reached through other channels? Social networking (not X)? Ads? What about professional groups and interest groups (e.g., farmers, cancer support groups)?
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"Primarying" is an effective threat because voters in the Republican primary are much more extreme than in the general election. A good candidate for the general election can lose the primary (against Musks $$).
So, register as Republicans in NC?
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Instead of whining to Trump, I hope he will make his case to the broader public (and the citizens he used to serve at the USDA).
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I'm beginning to wonder if Trump and his crew are actually the kind of people who would intentionally murder their own soldiers during a war.
The best explanation for their behavior is that it's deliberate sabotage of the U.S. It's hard to imagine that depth of stupidity.
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It happens. The cultural revolution, Khmer Rouge.
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So, welcome them! You can mutter about their stupidity in private (I scream into a pillow).
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We're in a battle to save (or restore) democracy. The votes of well-informed, liberal minded voters weren't enough to do that.
It's obvious that the only hope is for low-information Trump voters, and non-voters, to stop voting for people who hurt them (or fail to stop others from hurting them).
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I'd love to see them invest that $118K in reaching people other than those who voted for Kamala Harris, anyway.
When Trump sees that Musk is hurting his approval rating, Musk will go under the CyberTruck. Or into the wood chipper.
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I have learned this rule very well. A good follow-up is to ask one of the people who's worked in the area for decades, in which case you will probably learn something really interesting.
I thought every functional adult over 30 knew this. I overestimated Trump, Musk and a lot of voters.
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War on Expertise = War on Truth
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bsky.app/profile/beed...
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20% was what I read. It's the foundation of his wealth.
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bsky.app/profile/beed...
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bsky.app/profile/beed...
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Bravo! How did they react?
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I think it will happen, because Trump is hurting his supporters badly.
I'm hoping people here will see some ways to help mobilize those folks: Veterans whose VA benefits are being cut. Farmers not getting paid on Fed contracts. Medicaid recipients not getting healthcare. Etc.
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The first word of the headline is "Progressive".
I'm with you and I'm glad that people are demonstrating. I'm just hoping for a day when people who voted for Trump start demonstrating, too.
When that happens, Republicans will start standing up to Trump.
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Is our glacial legal system too slow to stop these illegal cuts?
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Have you tried calling offices in Iowa? He really needs to hear about this.
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Let's hope Elon crashes and burns like one of his cars -- soon!
When people start noticing the damage that Musk has caused, Trump won't take responsibility -- he will throw Musk under the CyberTruck.
... or maybe into the wood chipper.
Can we make that happen sooner?