Respond to attacks on democracy by improving people’s lives

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos wrote that Elon Musk’s jet was at West Palm Beach. That’s the closest airport to the nasty guy’s Mar-a-Lago estate. And the New York Times confirms they met. Why did they meet? One big possibility is Musk has or may pay the nasty guy’s half-billion legal fine. For Musk it is only 1.2% of what he paid for Twitter. The next question then is, after all the nasty things the nasty guy has said about Musk, why would Musk want to bail him out? Because Musk might want some governmental favors, should the nasty guy be able to grant them. Tesla factories are bad at safety. Their self-driving cars might be recalled. Tesla is a racist workplace and is being sued over it. The United Auto Workers are targeting Tesla as a place to organize and Musk hates unions.

For both men, this could be what Trump might describe as a fantastic deal. Destroying government oversight was already on his agenda... Musk is among the richest people in history. He wants to make his robots, spaceships, and brain chips without concern about regulations or safety. He wants to be free to discriminate against Black people and treat women like breeding stock. Trump can promise him all that and more.

For those concerned with details: Yes, that makes the “donation” a bribe. In a pundit roundup for Kos Chitown Kev quoted several good articles. Philip Bump of the Washington Post wrote:

Musk doesn’t want Trump to be able to say that the Tesla CEO is on his team. Musk wants to be able to frame Trump as being on his. ... Musk wants to be in a position of power, and he seems dissatisfied with the power that comes from having lots of money.

Next Kev quoted Zack Beauchamp of Vox:

Again and again, social scientists found that the best predictor of Trump support among Republican voters is the degree to which they feel discomfort with the changing nature of American demographics and social norms. Trump has sold himself as the only person capable of fighting back against the alleged elite conspiracy behind these changes, saying things like “I alone can fix it” and “I am your retribution.” From these building blocks, he has created a full-scale political movement dedicated to reconquering America. Trump’s appeal isn’t premised on delivering concrete policy goals, nor even “owning the libs” with high-profile stunts. It is about assuaging the sense of fear and resentment at their America being replaced: about achieving victories that assuage the sense of psychological assault created by things like mass immigration, a Black president, shifting gender roles, and a beloved beer brand cutting an ad with a trans influencer. Donald Trump, as a figure, represents the America they know and love. His victories are their victories, his defeats their defeats.

On to a quote by Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva writing for El País in English:

In recent decades, an exclusionary economic model has concentrated wealth among the very few and has widened disparities. Inequality has become fertile ground for extremism. When democracy fails to guarantee the well-being of citizens, figures who sell simplistic solutions to complex problems thrive, sowing distrust in the electoral process and political institutions. We are facing a worrying rise in support for the extreme-right and its traditional tools to accelerate social disintegration: authoritarianism, violence, economic precariousness, climate denialism, hate speech, xenophobia, racism and misogyny. Fortunately, some of our societies have opted for governments that believe that the key to responding to attacks on democracy is to improve people’s lives.

And into the comments for cartoons. Dennis Goris posted a cartoon of the nasty guy at a rally. Two elephants are behind him. One says “Time to unify around the divider.” Paresh Nathtoons posted a cartoon for International Women’s Day. It shows women marching towards a sign saying “Gender Equality” as one woman says, “Our movement will go on till we reach the goal.” Then we see the sign being pulled away by men. Dave Whamond posted a cartoon of the six conservative members of the Supreme Court saying to the nasty guy and a woman:

We rule that states do not have the power to bar Trump from the ballot! States do, however, have to power to bar you from making decisions about your own body.

Irena Buzarewicz posted a cartoon by Iconeo. It shows a turret of a tank, when turned upside down looks a lot like the part of a coffee maker that holds the grounds. The caption says, “Make coffee, not war.” Joan McCarter of Kos noted that both senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin will not run for a Senate seat again.

Between Sinema and Manchin, all hope of the nation having nice things during the first two years of President Biden’s term, when Democrats held a majority in both the House and Senate, was crushed. They blocked or watered down all the good, transformative policies Biden and fellow Democrats proposed for the country. Now the two biggest impediments to actual progress will be gone—if Democrats keep the Senate.

McCarter then listed all the things Manchin and Sinema thwarted: Restoration and expansion of the Voting Rights Act. Federal abortion rights. Raising the minimum wage. Closing tax loopholes. Environmental justice. Reform the Supreme Court. Repeal the Jim Crow relic filibuster. Sumner reported that six years after the nasty guy tax cuts the National Bureau of Economic Research has released a detailed analysis of those cuts. No surprise, they didn’t live up to the benefits touted to get them passed. As for those benefits...

These included a simplistic lower-taxes-equals-more-growth-equals-everybody-wins string of predictions that would have made Ronald Reagan proud. It focused on the idea that, by encouraging companies to invest more in the United States and do less business overseas, the tax cut would be revenue neutral. That is, the tax cut would generate as much new revenue through investment growth as it lost through the decreasing tax rate. Because conservative economic theory said so.

It also said average Americans would get a $4K to $9K raise. They got maybe $750. Corporate domestic investment did increase – by as much as they saved in taxes. Corporate tax revenue dropped by up to $150B a year, all of that adding to the deficit.

However, the combination of reduced tax rates and changes in rules that allowed corporations greater flexibility in deducting expenses meant an incredible 41% decline in corporate tax collections. ... But corporations did end up with a lot more revenue—so that part of the prediction, which was probably the only part Republicans really cared about—was true.

Back in 2021 Speaker Pelosi called them the “vote no and take the dough” caucus. McCarter reported they’re still at it. Yeah, the House is working on actual funding bills. This is how it is playing out this year: Step 1: Republicans put in a lot of “community funding projects” – formerly called earmarks – in the bill. Step 2: Some Republicans got on social media and complained about “605 PAGES OF EARMARKS” and saying its all because of Democrats corrupting government and no Republican should vote for the bill. Step 3: Many Republicans do vote no. Democrats, the responsible people they are, pass the bill – with all the earmarks – so the government doesn’t shut down. Step 4: Republicans go back to their districts claiming credit for all the money they brought home. McCarter reported that five months and a week into the fiscal year the House passed legislation to fund half the government to avoid a shutdown (the other half has a deadline in a couple weeks). In this half House Republicans essentially lost. Sumner reported on the “top 5 most loathsome” bills introduced in Republican state legislatures over the last week. I wonder if this will become a weekly column. The five bills: In Missouri bill proposes that if a teacher is found to be tolerant of transgender students (as in using preferred pronouns) they can be found guilty of a felony and required to register as a sex offender as well as pay a fine and do time in jail. In Utah a bill would give a teacher almost complete immunity for firing a gun on campus. This is supposedly to thwart bad guys with guns. But what if a teacher uses it against a student? In Tennessee they propose banning teachers displaying pride flags or other unapproved flags. Teachers could display Confederate flags. There is an exception for official school flags – so school boards should get busy and think rainbow. Georgia proposes (school?) librarians face criminal prosecution if they distributed material “harmful to minors.” Penalties could include jail. In Idaho there is a bill to identify who is and isn’t a terrorist. A person is if they are member of a foreign terrorist organization. An architect of the bill is a member of a domestic terrorist organization. None of these bills have become law – yet. Aldous Pennyfarthing of the Kos community reported on a survey of the Public Religion Research Institute that shows 55% of Republicans qualify as Christian Nationalists, as do 25% of independents and 16% of Democrats. For the survey PRRI asked people if they agreed with five statements.

* The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation. * U.S. laws should be based on Christian values. * If the U.S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore. * Being Christian is an important part of being truly American. * God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.

I do not want to find out who decides what “Christian values” are. Pennyfarthing wrote:

That a movement so antithetical to clearly defined and long-held American values has overtaken one of our two major parties is truly disturbing. But as this same survey makes clear, we are still the majority. Which means there’s still plenty we can do to push back, even if the game is rigged against us, thanks to the same Constitution that’s supposed to confer inalienable religious freedoms.

Lisa Hagen of NPR also discussed the PRRI survey with Robert Jones, president and founder of PRRI and author of the recent book The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future. From the article based on the on-air discussion:

Other policy priorities for Christian nationalists include restrictions on abortion access, LGBTQ rights and strict immigration limits, Jones said. PRRI also found they are roughly twice as likely as other Americans to believe political violence can be justified. "From that worldview, there really aren't political opponents. What there are is existential enemies. And I think that's also kind of poison to the fabric of democracy in the country," said Jones.

In another pundit roundup, this one from just after the South Carolina primary, Greg Dworkin included a tweet from Ryan Struyk:

CNN exit polls in South Carolina primary: White evangelical Christians: 75% Trump 24% Haley Everyone else: 51% Haley 49% Trump

In the comments Higgins Cartoons posted one that says:

The Donald Trump Sixth of January Insurrection commemorative stamp, has been causing some confusion among users, as they are unsure on which side to spit...”

With the news that Moscow Mitch is stepping away from his leadership role Monte Wolverton posted a cartoon with Mitch listing his accomplishments. I listed some before. Here’s one that I hadn’t: “Effectively replaced Congress with SCOTUS!” Pedro Molina posted a cartoon on Kos of the Gates of Hell flung open and hands of fire are gripping Lady Liberty, Lady Justice, and an elephant. A figure in front tossing keys over his shoulder is labeled “McConnell” who says, “My job here is done!”