ON THE EVE OF DESTRUCTION II......

 

This image was published in 2016... and continues to this day - 8 years later...

   THE TRUMP DEPORTATION PLAN

The cartoon below appeared in a NJ Newspaper in the early days of the Trump presidency. That was the time of the start of the "Great Wall" along our southern border as "ordered" by Trump. His promise was that "the Wall" would be paid for by Mexico as you will recall. In addition to "the Wall", shutting the border and deporting the "unwanted persons" was the Trump "scare plan" that continues to this day... now 8 years after the 2016 campaign.

The cartoon you find below was published in 2016. The information below is the current Trump "Deportation Plan" put forward by the PROJECT 2025 document as well as in the Trump Campaign Platform. I send this along to add it to your "Fact File" for the intense weeks ahead in the race for the White House. Trump has called for the DEPORTATION OF 20,000,000 FOLKS seeking shelter and safety in the US. Be informed.... Be aware.... Be engaged.... Be ready for the debate....

The proposed Trump "Great Round-Up" uses the National Guard ordered by State Governors supplemented by US Military when and where necessary to arrest and to place those "snatched" into CAMPS (concentration?) to await deportation. The Governors are nervous, the military wants no part in imitation of Germany of the 1930s, and economists are very concerned.... Undocumented immigrants makeup 5% of the entire US workforce, so mass round-up and deportation would wreak havoc on the economy sectors where they are concentrated - agriculture, construction, hospitality, and health care. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, Removing all 11 million undocumented workers (Trump says 20 million) would shrink the labor force by 6.4% over 2 decades and reduce the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by$1.6 trillion! Quite the teardown of the US economy...

3.5 million undocumented aliens working here for years already have US-born children under 18. An awful decision .... leave the kids behind in the country that they know? Or, take them along to a place they have never seen? What happens if a state - like NY - refuses to permit the NY National Guard to round-up immigrants? Does President Trump send in the US Military in 2025 to do the job? Mass protests? A standoff between state and federal authorities? Troops? Does it evolve into a bloody nightmare?

Is this what we really want???

I send this along to add to your "Fact File" for the intense weeks ahead in the race for the White House. Trump has called for the DEPORTATION OF 20,000,000 FOLKS seeking shelter and safety in the US. Be informed.... Be aware.... Be engaged.... Be ready for the debate.... AND VOTE!

Bobby J

THE PAIN OF POVERTY AND POLITICS: THE RULES OF THE MAGA RED CAP

 

The growing Pain of Poverty

POVERTY AND HEALTHCARE WITH MEDICAID = ESSENTIAL

I am sharing the result of some of my recent research completed regarding poverty and medical coverage. As you likely know, the ACA (formerly known as Obamacare) covered some 25-30 million Americans not covered by medical insurance... With some basic coverage. In addition to providing for some modest and basic coverage, this plan saved many public hospitals running red ink across the nation. The cause of the red ink was not solely lack of coverage, but of large numbers of families in poverty without coverage and a hospital and healthcare requirement to accept those in need of treatment - insurance or not. As the number in poverty grew, the red ink increased... and public hospitals ran in deficit. Some states opened their budgets to a "help hospitals" line to make up for the red ink, others not. NJ and NY did so, while others in Republican hands did not. 

Those circumstances and needed access to healthcare brought on the ACA and the provision of the Affordable Care Act that invited states to expand Medicaid basic coverage without any state matching funds in 2014. Many states opted for that expansion, including California and Minnesota represented by our candidates for President and Vice President this season - Harris and Walz. Other states didn't - in spite of the fact that their hospitals were stressed, and their poverty rates were high. Today - 10 years later - 10 states have refused to expand the healthcare coverage of Medicaid for those in poverty in their home states.... And their public hospitals run red.... Here they are...

The Federal Poverty Level (FPL) varies by size of family. In 2024, the poverty stats are at $15.060 for 1; 19,720 for 2; and up from there. For example, the FPL for a family of four stands at $31,200 this year. 14 States with the highest poverty rate are these (DC makes 15):

2024 POVERTY RATES. STATES REFUSING TO EXPAND MEDICAID = SEE YELLOW HIGHLIGHT

                                     

1. Mississippi       19.58%                                                                   
2. Louisiana         18.65%                                        
3. New Mexico    18.55%                                        
4. West Virginia   17.10%
5. Kentucky          16.61%
6. Arkansas          16.08%
7. Alabama          15.98%        
   
8. D.C.                   15.45%
9. Oklahoma        15.27%
10. South Carolina14.68%
11. Tennessee       14.62%
12. Georgia            14.28%
13. Texas                14.22%
14. Arizona            14.12%
15. North Carolina13.98%

In addition to those highlighted (6 of 10), the others are Florida, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming - all governed by Republicans but for Wisconsin. In these states nearly 1 in 5 adults ages of 19-64 are uninsured - 1.6 million adults in the non-expansion states. The Center on Budget and policy Priorities reports that 60% of those who fall into this gap are people of color and 40% are not. Latino - 35%; Black - 24%; and Asian account for 2%. The Dem Governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers has included Medicaid expansion covering 90,000 poverty stricken residents in his biennial State Budget submission since 2019. Each year - including this one - the Republican controlled Legislature adopted the budget but amended out the Medicaid expansion provisions each time. In this case, the Red Hat Legislature stopped it.  

I send this to make the point - and to equip you with the data to make the argument that MAGA controlled states care little for those in need, including the public hospital facilities. Needless to say, although waist-deep in the poverty pool, continues to resist the ACA and Project 2025 calls - again - for its repeal. One example is that the Republican Governor of Mississippi announced that he would veto any bill that expands Medicaid in spite of the fact that the Red Legislature passed two bi-partisan versions of a bill to accomplish that end but could not agree on a compromise before the session ended. In Mississippi the Red Cap Governor stopped it. PING.... and PONG....

Add this to your issues file.... All based on facts.....

STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! MARCH ON TO NOVEMBER.... AND VOTE! 

Bobby J

THE SUPREME COURT - 2024. AFTER 248 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY AND FREEEDOM IS THE COURT HACKING AWAY AT LIBERTY? DEMOCRACY? THE PILLARS OF OUR NATION?

 

Hi Folks:  As many know, often I cannot control myself in speaking out one way or another.  This time - especially with the Court's Immunity ruling - I may be spirited out of New York to somewhere in the Antarctic should Trump the madman get back at the national switch in the White House. I can imagine that state-to-state US National Guard units would be "nationalized", issued red caps, and given a list of homes to visit and folks to be "collected" for trial and more....  In any case, this past 7 days, including Monday this week, the Supreme Court has opened the legal "doors" by Court rulings to the dismantling of our Democracy, diminishing the enforcement of national laws, and setting up the new President as the American Monarch. I could not stand idly by..... So, here we go... A short version. 

 

The Chevron Supreme Court decision setting up the administrative state to be disassembled piece by piece is an outrage. Consult "Project 2025" authored by the Heritage Foundation and you will note that this decision shrinks the "federalist" decision-making with the Court handing off governing decisions to the states that began with the erasure of Roe v. Wade. Even worse, the Court's determination that a significant degree of immunity must be applied to former presidents - like this snake-oil Moron - (Trump v. the US). Add it all up and the stage is being set by the Supreme Court for a MAGA DICTATORSHIP! Clear the legal path for "King" Trump.... get him into the White House, disassemble the US Constitution and its authority to supersede the states, and slash the federal bureaucracy and its authority to set the regulatory rules under adopted federal law. OMG! Shall we kiss the American Democracy GOODBYE?

The Presidential Oath: "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the US..."

The firm belief that in this unique Democracy... born 248 years ago... that "No one is above the law" isn't so anymore? Is the President A "KING?" Does the law apply to everyone else except the President of the United States? When the President acts in their own legal capacity in the performance of the duties of their office, is the President ABOVE THE LAW? Is the President cloaked in legal immunity? DID THE US SUPREME COURT HOLD THAT THERE IS BUT ONE PERSON IN THE NATION THAT IS ABOVE THE LAW - THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES? Can the President murder his opponents and jail his critics on 5^th Avenue or anywhere else? Should Trump succeed in the 2024 election come November and return to the White House, are the words shown above the OATH OF HIS OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT now altered to "I will tear up the Constitution of the United States?" 

This image - and its line - "That's all Folks" - infers that the fuse has been lit and an electoral "explosion" in 2024 will elect the next - and first - "KING OF THE US" (Sotomayor's dissent quote). Is this the death of our democracy born in 1776 under the Articles of Confederation and re-born again in 1789 under the new Constitution of the United States? Will we have to burn books? Re-write our American History class content? Re-write a new Constitution eliminating term limits on the presidency? Will the schoolboys all have to wear school uniforms with red caps? The schoolgirls short skirts? Will our "KING" serve for life and his family continue the reign? OMG!

Stand Up! Speak Out! March on forward! AND VOTE!

"WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN... TO LIVE? OR TO DISSOLVE?

ELECTION 2024

We've only just begun to live

White lace and promises

A kiss for luck and we're on our way

(We've only begun)

Before the risin' sun, we fly

So many roads to choose

We'll start out walkin' and learn to run

(And yes, we've just begun)

Sharing horizons that are new to us

Watching the signs along the way

Talkin' it over, just the two of us

Workin' together day to day

Together ... Together...."

The Carpenters, 1970

 _________________________________________________________________________

Welcome back! I have laid off this blog for several months.... I began this commentary back in the fall of 2015.... nearly 10 years now... What "lit my fuse" was the Trump announcement that he would seek election as the president of the United States! OMG! I began to write, monitor, recall, and report his psychotic campaign into 2016... and the SHOCKING OUTCOME - ALL BASED ON LIES, EXAGERATIONS, AND SNAKE OIL. 

That was Act I.

I have picked up my pen and pencil... and turned on my keyboard to follow the roller-coaster ride to the next stop - November 2024. What you see here may repeat something you already know, contain new info that you missed, remind you of an important/debatable FACT, and set a stage for the battle ahead. As you will see, all of the articles written are stored here in reverse order of publication - current to former. This is a solid and supported FACT FILE. You can trash it... or keep it handy for your debate/discussion engagement as the clock ticks down. The 2024 heat has been turned up... and the political "pot" is coming to a boil... be prepared with FACTS, not lies... knowledge and not rumors...TRUTH and not LIES. Ready?

Here we go.... Act II

Once inaugurated in January 2017, Beth and I - along with a million others - gathered in January in the Women's March in DC to protest the anti-woman candidate pledged to "erase" Roe v. Wade from the Supreme Court record after 50 years of female freedom to choose.... I continued to write - Act II - The Trump Presidency... and the lunacy that unfolded along a crash and burn path. More than 100 articles later - Trump lost the election of 2020 to Joe Biden.... and, notwithstanding "STOP THE STEAL" efforts led by Trump, Giuliani, and others to this day, Trump has refused to recognize his loss in 2020... and continues to lie., lie, lie regarding imaginary illegal votes cast in spite of losing more than 60 court cases filed across the nation in a dozen jurisdictions. Some were appealed to the Supreme Court as well.  Lost them all due to lack of any evidence in any case. On the day of Electoral Certification set on January 6th according to the Constitution, both Houses of Congress were meeting together to count and certify the Electoral votes case as certified by all 50 states - Republican and Democratic alike. 

Trump called for the January 6th Insurrection! He and others stoked the crowd summoned by Trump to the DC Ellipse that day. Thousands appeared - some armed and eager others eager and "juiced." The charge took place on Trump's orders... and the Congressional Building was invaded, damaged, wrecked, and ransacked. Violent injury and deaths were recorded as well. The Members of Congress fled to secure locations and only hours later returned to complete the required Constitutional task. That night Biden was formally "elected" President of the United States. After that episode, I slowed the blog production... The BLOG was the story of TRUMP after all - before election in 2016.... during his term to 2021... and his exit from the White House - without a peaceful transition to a new administration - as outlined in our Constitution, our history, and through the voting choices of the American people in the election of 2020. 

I had assumed that the Republican ranks would breathe a sign of relief with Trump's departure.... and would resume a more sane, conservative, and concerning agenda unlike the lunacy, uninformed, unsteady, ramshackle ruckus that Trump dragged into the Oval Office. It seemed that the early Biden administration - marked by his efforts at bi-partisan negotiation and progress in solving problems that the nation faced - would succeed along with a measure of Republican support. Then - TRUMP STEPPED IN ONCE AGAIN. Progress slowed, Covid cured without bleach, the urgently needed Infrastructure bill was adopted, healthcare protected and somewhat expanded, high-price-profit pharmaceutical companies controlled with prices being levelled - especially insulin maxed at $35 a month! With Medicare and Social Security protected, unemployment sitting at its lowest in 30 years of  records, Stock Market at new record highs, 14,000,000 new jobs created, student loans forgiven, GNP growing rapidly, and inflation coming down - though not as yet to the goal levels sought by the Federal Reserve Board. Still, compared to other industrial nations around the globe, the US has set new recovery records and leads every other nation in economic recovery recked by the Covid storm. 

And, that takes us to this May - 2024.... After the Republican Party "calmed" for a bit... a Trump "depth charge" ignited.... and the MAGA MONSTER REAPPEARED! Republican Presidential Primary Election candidates fell by the wayside although Trump refused to debate... and the Trump MAGA virus spread.... Cases - civil and criminal - were filed against Trump... and his legal staff adopted a simple plan - DELAY, DELAY, DELAY.... APPEAL, APPEAL, APPEAL.... MOTION AFTER MATION AFTER MOTION... LOSE AND APPEAL, APPEAL, APPEAL... Simple plan - delay until election day 2024, get elected, stop the criminal actions, and pardon yourself! He already pardoned several convicted offenders in the week before he left office on January 20th, 2021. These included Roger Stone and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Steve Bannon, Steve Miller and others have joined the MAGA MADHOUSE circling the Trump plan. Here are some examples:

1. Michael Flynn is promoting a new real-estate firm that caters to Trump supporters. MAGA Realty promises that their clients will be "thoroughly vetted to ensure that they share our beliefs." Flynn notes that all homebuyers will be gifted a 25-feet flag pole and an AR-15 "to make liberal heads explode!" (THE WEEK MAGAZINE. 5.24.24)

2. Candidate Trump: Both before and during his NY State criminal trial Trump held a rally or two and rambled on and on with nonsensical drivel for an hour at a clip. He described the January 6th invasion and damages of the Congressional Building not as insurrectionists or seditionists although hundreds have entered guilty pleas to date. Instead, Trump described them as "patriots" and those currently in prison as "hostages." I wonder if he is sentenced to prison after being found guilty on 34 felony counts that he will describe himself as a "Hitlerian Patriot and Hero?" 

     Speaking of HITLER.... when he was convicted in 1924 - a exact century before today - for leading an armed insurrection against the German Democracy he discovered that the Courtrooms made excellent "soapboxes" for political grandstanding! Hitler railed against Germany's democratic elected leaders and their constitutional legal system. He attacked the judges, prosecutors, and jurors insisting that it was THEY that committed treason against Germany - not him! (Ryback, LA Times. 4.19.24)

   During his remarks in Wildwood, NJ Trump also mentioned some of his American "heroes." He described the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lector as "the late, great" and a "wonderful man." OUCH! 

On the other side of the coin is Nikki Haley, former Republican Governor of South Carolina and the last Republican candidate for president this season to drop out of the race just 2 months back. Most thought that Haley would stand by and possibly campaign against Trump.... but, NO... Just a week ago, Haley bowed down and kissed the ring along with many others, including Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who had already announced that he would depart the Leadership come January '25. Haley ran against Trump and steadily criticized him as "unstable," "unhinged," "unfit for office," and a disaster for our party." Even now, out of the race since March, she continued to poll at around 20% - before the NY CONVICTIONS. 

The Time has come... should you fall, I'll catch MAGA!

Meanwhile..... Former VP Mike Pence announced that he couldn't "in good conscience" endorse Trump. Pence cited  "profound policy differences" as the reason for his decision. "Trump's policy positions are at odds with the conservative agenda." Other Trump Administration Office holders have joined the anti-Trump Chorus. These include Trump's defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chief of Staff Mark Kelly who refer to Trump as "a threat to democracy" and a "wannabe dictator." (Last, The Bulwark. 3.29.24)

Now that the NY Jury has found trump GUILTY of all 34 criminal charges and the sentencing has been scheduled for July 11th, Trump predicts an uprising and a "BLOODBATH" if he is not re-elected! Trump has already planned to pardon those who fought for him on January 6th. Others should be jailed says Trump. That includes Liz Chaney and a host of other Republicans who failed to be "election deniers" on the trump Train. 

Right now, poll data is split almost right down the middle. In fact, both candidates - whether up a few points or down a few in a variety of polls across the nation and in various states, fall right into the polls margin of error estimates - 3-4 points. The net result is a TIE! Looking further, however, especially into the toss-up states - 7 states that have gone and could go either way. Cross-tabs suggest that there is a difference between those who are citizens, those who are registered to vote, and those who are registered and are likely voters who have voted regularly in federal elections for Congress and the Presidency. Still... we are months away from election day, before debates, before conventions, and before numerous "Trump Train Wrecks." Meanwhile, ENDORSEMENTS ARE UNDERWAY...

On May 23rd at a rally in NYC the Trump folk claimed 25000 were in attendance. They had requested a permit for 3500 - not 35000. 3400 tickets were issued and aerial shots suggest that the number reached was 800-1500 people assembled - some in support and some out of curiosity. Trump accepted two curious "endorsements" from alleged gang members. Rappers Michael Williams (Sheff G) and Tegan Chambers (Sleepy Hallow) were indicted with 30 other people on 140 counts including murder, attempted murder, illegal firearms and at least a dozen shootings (Richardson. Letters from an American. 5.24.24). Shef G was released from jail in April after posting a $1.5 million bond. 

MAGA has pulled together.... The MAGA Republican Leadership in both House and Senate also pulled together.... AND THREATENED THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, THE NY ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY, THE "CONFLICTED" TRIAL JUDGE, AND THE "POISONED" JURORS TOO - just to cite a few... 

Trump has warned that a "bloodbath" can take place... Will our "Declaration of Independence" from an autocratic Monarchy of King George in 1776 be erased? Can it be dissolved and replaced nearly 250 years later by King Donald? Can our precious US Constitution - its reliance on the rule of law and not the rule of a dictator - be the backbone of the American Democracy? Have "we only just begun to live?" Or, being rounded up into "snuff camps?" Is the nation ready to wake up and recognize the MAGA MENACE that surrounds us? Are the symbols of the MAGA MADMEN brown Hitlerian shirts from 100 years ago? Mob families fashion with Godfathers, CAPOs, and Made Men wearing black suits and toting Tommie Guns (forerunners of the NRA) of the Mobster Families. Or, is the MAGA crowd wearing Red caps and long ties repeating MAGA Chants with loaded AKs? It's time to STAND UP, SPEAK OUT, AND MARCH ON TO REGISTER VOTERS... SWING VOTES... AND SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY! 

Bobby J