hay rick
hay rick's JournalThe rule of law.
A society that tolerates a lawless administration can not reasonably expect citizens to respect or abide by the rule of law. The rule of law is a two way street. If Donald Trump is above the rule of law, so are we all. I will not stop for Trump red lights.
Trump has a new yo yo. It's called the Dow.
For a small fee you can get advance notice of his next Tariff Truth.
1 minutes notice: $1,000,000
5 minutes notice: $5,000,000
30 minutes: $100,000,000
Who's playing with the big boys now?
Trump's tariffs are just bullying and bribery solicitation.
It's a classic protection racket.
Never will be heard a discouraging word...
List from. NYT article on Trump administration's developing verboten list:
Article here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-federal-agencies-websites-words-dei.html
The Russian asset.
An asset is something you own. Sometimes it's a person.
Senator Merkley's 5 points make the case:
1. He repeats Kremlin talking points like they’re gospel - Ukraine started the war.
2. He gave away key things on the negotiating table before the negotiations even started, ensuring the U.S. would absolutely oppose any possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine.
3. He's cut off the arms shipments to Ukraine completely.
4. He's undermined the partnership with Europe, a major goal of Putin’s.
5. He's done everything to discredit and demean Zelensky on the international stage — notably with that shameful press conference in which he teamed up with the Vice President to attack Zelensky.
Federal workers' salaries represent less than 5% of federal spending and 1% of GDP
Source: Marketplace.org
The government announced more than 62,000 job cuts across 17 different agencies last month, the report said, and even more cuts are expected to come. The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to slash 80,000 jobs, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
DOGE, headed by unelected billionaire Elon Musk, is spearheading these federal layoffs to cut what it considers wasteful government spending. In 2024, the government spent almost $7 trillion. The largest spending categories were Social Security, health insurance programs and defense, which totaled more than $4 trillion.
...
The total amount we spend on payroll for federal workers is about $336 billion a year, Kettl said.
That’s 1% of gross domestic product, and almost 5% of total federal spending. The government payroll for other developed countries is typically 5% of GDP, Kettl said.
Read more: https://www.marketplace.org/2025/03/06/federal-workers-salaries-represent-less-than-5-of-federal-spending-and-1-of-gdp/
The media likes to reinforce the narrative that "government waste" is a serious problem and everyone is against it. Given the fact that federal workforce compensation is such a small part of total spending, overhauling the workforce offers trivial savings opportunities. More to the point, the chainsaw approach taken by DOGE does have a real chance of making federal agencies incapable of fulfilling their missions. Government incompetence can be turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy. DOGE may not be good at creating savings but it sure looks like an effective tool for sabotage. I'm sure Elon Musk finds it all very amusing.
American ethnic cleansing.
On Friday, myself and two others traveled to Indiantown, FL to distribute Spanish/English Know Your Rights cards. Indiantown is a small rural town in an area dominated by agriculture and is adjacent to Lake Okeechobee. It has a significant Hispanic population of varying origins.
We stopped by churches, food banks, and small tacquerias, restaurantes, panaderias, etc. One of the businesses was a little Guatemalan restaurant that we visited at lunchtime. There were no customers. The proprietor told us that this is typical now. His usual customers are afraid to come out and be seen on the street. He has personally witnessed 6 ICE raids in the last month. He is keeping a diary.
The other businesses we spoke to had the same story. To state the obvious: businesses without customers, especially small businesses, will have to close- more likely sooner than later. The ICE raids are tearing the heart out of Indiantown's Hispanic community and, one should expect, similar communities across the country. This looks and feels like the start of ethnic cleansing, American style.
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Member since: Thu Jan 31, 2008, 11:08 PMNumber of posts: 8,645