rabelaisclay.bsky.social
308 posts
100 followers
140 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
I suspect the trajectory of the United States debt is similar to the history of Republican tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. If the average American pays 20% of their earned income to the government so should the corporate class, the Wall Street tycoons and the top 1%.
comment in response to
post
This is only the beginning of the end for Medicaid and eventually Medicare if the Republicans maintain their congressional majorities. They will defund the programs into irrelevance one bill at a time.
comment in response to
post
Trump's use, or abuse, of tariffs has always seemed to exceed his constitutional powers, and he imposed them in a arbitrary and capricious manner. His aim was to coerce nations for personal favors by threatening ruinous tariffs creating great disturbance in international trade.
comment in response to
post
The American people should, by now, be well acquainted with the policies and priorities of Trump and his Republican Party: shrink government, lower taxes for the wealthy, deregulation of business and wait for the system to crash so democrats can clean it all up. But Americans still vote for it.
comment in response to
post
Members of Congress have little say over Presidential pardons. America voted for this.
comment in response to
post
Republicans are using a budgetary tactic called "reconciliation" to allow it to pass with a "simple majority" and return it to the House and on to Trump's desk.
comment in response to
post
The Senate Democrats don't have the majority vote that could stop this bill so most likely it will pass. But the American people voted for this when they handed control of Congress to the Republicans. They voted for more money to billionaires and fewer services for the needy.
comment in response to
post
Can the law constrain a man like Trump now that he has the power of the Presidency. While Trump is distracting the nation with tariffs, trade wars and assaults on universities and government agencies, he is using the office to enrich himself enormously. Dictators don't obey the law they are the law.
comment in response to
post
During Trump's first term he added over $8 trillion to the US debt, while Biden added half that at over $4 trillion. Economists have stated that Republican tax cuts bear far more responsibility for the debt than runaway spending. Trump now wants more tax cuts that benefit mainly the very wealthy.
comment in response to
post
What they want is everything, but, most importantly, they don't want to pay for it. The rich want to reduce their annual tax liability to zero and still control the government to further advance their interests.
comment in response to
post
The United States Constitution is nothing more to Trump than a inconvenient obstacle to the grandiose, shortsighted and outdated agenda he is determined to impose on the country. So far there has been no moderating force that can restrain him. What we have is one-man rule masquerading as democracy.
comment in response to
post
It's no surprise that Trump is taking presidential patronage to unprecedented heights to reward loyalty and financial munificence and use every opportunity his office affords to greatly expand his personal wealth. His potential conflicts of interest have been ignored by congress and the courts.
comment in response to
post
Seems like everyday Trump gives us another reason why he shouldn't be president, but the blame lies with the people who voted for him and continue to support his debasement of the office.
comment in response to
post
Anyone who voted for Trump signed up for whatever Trump cares to do at any given time which is subject to change
at any moment depending on circumstances that are constantly evolving and Trump's moods which come and go and whatever was discussed with whoever he spoke to most recently.
comment in response to
post
Trump always gives himself away. If he believed in the righteousness and worth of his agenda and was confident and secure in his presidency he wouldn't need to waste time trying to undermine his political opposition with baseless accusations and ill-conceived investigations.
comment in response to
post
Trump's attitude is beyond mere arrogance and more like someone who knows that he can't be touched by the law. He feels he's more powerful than congress or the courts. He sees himself as on a par with Putin and Orban.
comment in response to
post
The voters chose Trump in 2024 despite his well documented past which included felony convictions and inciting an insurrection. We can criticize Trump for his flaws and misdeeds, but it is the voters who bear the responsibility of putting him in office.
comment in response to
post
It has been reported countless times how enamored and accommodating Trump is with Putin and how Trump has behaved in a way that favors Putin and Russia primarily. Trump wants to construct a world that is run by and for authoritarian rulers who can make their boundless avariciousness a reality.
comment in response to
post
It's tempting to think that there is a method to Trump's madness but maybe it's just madness. He has a required Project 2025 agenda that he must adhere to and anything else is his settling of scores and retribution on his perceived adversaries. He is squandering the office on personal grudges.
comment in response to
post
The entire Trump Administration should be replaced.
comment in response to
post
Trump's most likely measure of the success of his presidency is not his poll numbers nor his domestic or international reputation nor the viability of his policies, but how much money he'll walk away with after 4 (or more) years.
comment in response to
post
Whatever Musk was actually able to save in government spending by his "waste fraud and abuse" initiative was far, far less than the $1 trillion he predicted and far less than the massive amounts (far more than Biden) of taxpayer money Trump is burning through with his unconstitutional pursuits.
comment in response to
post
Newsom should know that legal due process is a fundamental right and its violation is anything but a distraction.
comment in response to
post
The saying "everybody talks about the weather, but nobody ever does anything about it" may have to change. If humans are the cause of climate change related extreme weather events then humans must be the solution. Ignoring the problem won't make it magically go away.
comment in response to
post
Trump requires complete loyalty, but can universities, or any institution of higher learning, give him that and still maintain some measure of independence? It seems unlikely.
comment in response to
post
After the "Access Hollywood" tape, and grossly mishandling the Covid pandemic, inciting an insurrection and becoming a convicted felon Trump became president a second time. Either that says something disturbing about America or about Trump, but we should learn not to underestimate him.
comment in response to
post
We may never recover from the harm done to our standing as a free and fair country and the world may never view us in quite the same way. Trump has acquired a international reputation as a bully with a unpredictable and volatile nature not a stable and reliable business partner.
comment in response to
post
Trump can do trade deals like he does tariffs: divorced and independent from any recognized reality. He can fashion a trade deal at a moments notice with whatever pops into his head. By the time the effects of those poorly thought out deals become known, Trump will have moved on to new business.
comment in response to
post
This case is about more than Mr Garcia. It also involves the ultimate power of the American presidency and the checks and restraints on his ability to defy the US Constitution and our basic rule of law. Can the president "disappear" anyone if he moves quickly enough to bypass the courts?
comment in response to
post
Trump must see this country, or possibly the world, as a pyramid with himself at the very top and spreading out to the masses at the bottom. He is like the robber barons of the past who pillage and decimate the land for endless profit. Trump is relentless and insatiable and for now, unrestrained.
comment in response to
post
What this comes down to is if Trump were to defy a court order, which it appears he already has, what can anyone do about it? The Supreme Court has given him blanket immunity for presidential acts so Trump faces no consequence for ignoring the court and so here we are. Trump has all the cards.
comment in response to
post
Here is the full interview with Senator Van Hollen:
youtu.be/_lRgr3G21Ig
comment in response to
post
Our national debt grows more massive every day and even the interest on that debt seems unsustainable yet the Republican's answer is to implement greater tax cuts benefitting mostly the very wealthy and reducing the staff at the I.R.S. That is not a plan that is indifference.
comment in response to
post
It's hard to comprehend the callousness and cruelty of the Trump Administration. It seems to be their defining feature. When his time in office is through what will be left standing?
comment in response to
post
Trump has a baseline approval of 40%, give or take a percentage point or two, whatever the subject may be. That represents his immovable, unshakeable, rock solid amount of support commonly known as his base. Trump could commit the most heinous crime and that percentage of approval wouldn't budge.
comment in response to
post
Does it give the citizens of a country assurance that their president can misconstrue important world events and thereby create an alternative reality that he can then use the power of his office to act upon?
comment in response to
post
The Supreme Court through its reckless and legally questionable decisions helped create this situation where a defiant president can ignore their rulings. Why should Trump comply when they gave him immunity?