Tag: Donald Trump

Trump & The Locals

Local elections are coming up. Yes, that’s not news; they’re held in conjunction with the midterms.

It’s interesting to watch and listen to Republican candidates Brad Hicks and Christine Drazen. Such remarkable platforms!

Brad Hicks is running to represent my district in the Oregon legislature. Christine Drazen is running to replace Tina Kotek as Oregon governor.

Brad Hicks is all about bring the ‘ABC’s to Salem. These are Affordability, Balance, and Common Sense. Brad Hicks eschews questions about Donald Trump’s policies. Brad Hicks insists that he’s focusing on local issues. Hicks aims to address the cost of living by lowering taxes, opposing new tax increases, and cutting government spending.

Gosh…that sounds a lot like Trump’s economy agenda, without tariffs.

Indeed, Brad Hicks has only said one thing about Trump that the record can find in all the years which Trump has been in the Oval Office. Brad Hicks promised that Oregon law enforcement would welcome and support ICE.

Bizarre as hell for Brad Hicks to pretend he can bring affordability to Oregon without addressing the Trump-sized elephant in Washington, D.C. It’s also laughable that Brad Hicks will deliver ‘common sense’ solutions. Like what are common sense solutions? Well, to read about the rest of his promises, it’s about suspending regulations so more things can be built.

Yes, very common sense to set aside the regulations set up to protect the air, land, and water to build, build, build. Very common sense to cut taxes and oppose new taxes at a time when the Federal government has cut funding to states — especially states like Oregon, which is generally politically blue.

His own position reminds me of the Sam Brownback experiment in Kansas, which ended in an economic mess for Kansas.

In other news, Brad Hicks hasn’t come out for or against building AI and data centers in Oregon. As the former President and CEO of the Medford (Oregon) Chamber of Commerce, I can sense which way he’ll lean. The lack of a stance is very telling.

Likewise, Christine Drazen is aggressively pursuing an old-school Republican agenda. She also promises ‘common sense’ solutions. I don’t feel a need to go much into her policies because her policies and proposals are a lot like Trump and Hicks: reduce regulation. Cut government ‘waste’. Increase the business environment to attract more business. Cut taxes.

Drazen does say she’s against more AI and data center construction at the moment. But she voted against Oregon’s 2025 POWER Act. The 2025 POWER Act is a law requiring large electric utilities to place data centers into a separate rate class so tech companies absorb the costs of new energy infrastructure rather than everyday consumers. To me, her refusal to vote FOR the law shows that her words and actions do reflect her true intentions.

She reminds me of Sen. Susan Collins, often mouthing the right sentiments, but then voting against what she says.

At any rate, Hicks and Drazen refuse to talk about Trump. Refuse to align with him or distance themselves with from him. They believe that burying their heads in the sand when it comes to Trump will win them some votes.

That’s probably true. There are always ‘never-Democrat’ voters. Staunch MAGAts are still out there, laboring away at the misconception that Trump cares for them and will improve their life and think that more business will save the nation.

I disagree and will not vote for Trump or secret surrogates like Brad Hicks and Christine Drazen. To me, they are imposters and cowards.

Vote blue.

1

Trump – As Expected

Trump is more predictable than the weather.

That’s especially true in this era, when extreme weather strikes more frequently, and el Nino is bringing in new changes to the patterns.

Donald Trump’s pattern under pressure and criticism is to become more belligerent and aggressive. He rails more; whines more; and attacks more. The midterms are coming up, and prices are not coming down. Trump, who once promised no new wars, instead finds the war he started with Iran dragging on. Trump has claimed it’s over, it’s almost over, or ‘we won’ numerous times before. Now, Trump is saying the war will “probably end after the mid-terms”.

Doubts about Trump are growing and persisting. Regardless of what polls say about the elections and a midterm blue wave or Donald Trump’s declining popularity, the tells of his decline among his base are visible. Rallies where Trump is appearing are weakly attended. Trump’s calls to support AI and data centers construction are met with silence.

After all that’s gone wrong and getting worse for Donald Trump, I was unsurprised that Trump’s DOJ raided Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in Minnesota. Rep Omar has three things going against her in Trump’s eyes: she’s an intelligent woman, a refugee from Somalia, and an outspoken Trump critic.

I guess Trump sees Rep. Omar is a good test case for Trump’s increasing tactics of lawfare and weaponizing the government against his opponents. Trump’s previous efforts to prosecute political opponents, James Comey, Letitia James, and David Hearn, flopped in big, audacious ways.

But Trump has nothing else to offer. Trump already went after the press, trying to ban press organizations who tell the truth about his sparsely attended rallies, terrible and worsening economy, and the growing disaster that is now the Iran war. Trump also dislikes being reminded that he’s breaking promises and laws, and that he is not the all-powerful, all-knowing, always-right person he likes to pretend he is.

The press fought back, and the courts have sided with the press, so far. Precedence would point to a win for the press in all the courts. Freedom of the press is one of those things we used to pride ourselves on in the United States. Donald Trump arrived on the scene, though, and weaponized people’s distrust of the press to gain popularity.

Now, with his popularity waning, even Donald Trump’s MAGA base are walking away from him. Not because of the attacks on the press, or attacks on the sitting members of Congress, or using the government as a weapon to persecute and prosecute opponents. No.

MAGAzens are turning on Trump because he failed to release the Epstein files and he failed to lower prices. Now, thanks to Trump’s own failed policies, it’s too late for him to fix either.

Trump has tried badgering and bullying his way back to strength. He’s lied from the beginning and fed people’s hate and fear. Those aspects of his portfolio have grown old and thin.

Trump tried bribing We the People, attempting to buy popularity with various ‘dividends’. But Trump’s brand is so toxic, even that failed to gain Trump any props.

Trump tried to lower prices, drilling, making deals for oil and gas, temporarily suspending sanctions and tariffs. They, too, failed to win anyone back, as his efforts instead highlighted his hypocrisy.

Now Trump has returned to his most proven, effective tool, attacking immigrants and women. Doesn’t matter if the woman he’s attacking is a sitting member of Congress, legally elected to the office by We the People, and legally sworn in.

Trump has never cared for law or justice and won’t begin now. Donald Trump will just attack more, hoping to bully his way into popularity once again.

So, brace yourself. I don’t doubt that this is just a test case. Trump and his minions and advisors floated this raid on Rep. Omar to see how it floats with his base.

Trump doesn’t see that a growing number of people are weary of him and ready to turn the page.

Vote blue in November, so we can keep turning the page on Donald Trump.

8

Monday’s Theme Music – Fool & Me

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, October 12, 2026.

Autumn continues its golden, chilly reign. 53 F now, we’ve risen from the overnight low of 32 and we’re getting close to the 62 F expected high. It’s a boldly blue sky and marvelously sharp sunshine. A small herd of clouds — momma and four or five kits — hard to say because they keep moving — feed on the blue to one side.

No more on Mom and her situation today. Patience is needed as I await news and developments. That’s a life stage many of us know very well.

Time is extremely tight today. Food & Friends deliveries began the morning, writing in the late morning to early afternoon, BCG wash in the mid-afternoon, and then back to help a friend move some items. I made the plans, so I accept them. Tomorrow will be as busy but in other areas of needs.

Today’s music is a throwback tune, “The Fool and Me”. The Neurons placed the Robin Trower offering in my morning mental music stream early today after I went through a cursory review of news stories followed by a fast reflection on dreams, time, and appointments. Make sense, I guess.

Sample Lyrics:

Traveling that wind and laugh at the crowd, mmm the fool and me
Howl at the moon baby yell out loud, the fool and me
And ohh oh, where ever we go
We keep the spirit free
Ohh nobody knows
No one but the fool and me

Stretching on out and feeling fine, the fool and me
Two fools dancing on the hands of time, yeah
The fool and me
And ohh oh, where ever we go
We keep the spirit free
Ohh nobody knows
No one but the fool and me

Yes, and there is a connection to Donald Trump in this: his impact on my life, and his impact on my nation, my friends, and family. Trump is politically divisive. That’s just the starting point. Consumed with thoughts about only himself, he’s consuming our world and tearing it apart. Some MAGAzens applaud this: “Tear it all down and start over.” Yet, when Trump’s destruction hits their lives, many call, “Wait a minute. What’s going? This isn’t what I want.”

Well, I can tell you for sure, what Trump has done and is doing is sure as hell not what I want.

I hope we can vote Democrats into office and take over Congress and offset the madness that is Trump.

May your day end with you feeling fine and looking back on what you did with smiles.

Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music — Bad Moon Rising

Sunday, October 11, 2026 — Ashland, southern Oregon.

The weather and foliage matched perfectly yesterday and feel right today. Many of us enthused about the crisp and cool autumn air. This was what we’d been looking for! Temperatures topped in the mid 70s yesterday and dropped to the low 30s last night. Right now finds us at 42 F. Though it’s quite sunny and the sky is clear and blue, today’s high is expected to close out in the mid 50s.

Mom reports a new decline. She’d in pretty good spirits this week. Today, she reported, “My pain upon urinating is worse than ever like it was when I first had the bladder infection and it is brown up upon the pads. And it smells rotten. And I feel physically ill.”

This blow came as my sisters and I have been working out what to get Mom for her upcoming 92 birthday at the end of this month.

Trump and Hegseth are excited for their upcoming military execution by firing squad. Outside of them, Americans are checking their priority lists and problems and realizing that Donald Trump is completely out of touch with them.

People are concerned about Trump’s broken promises, the war in Iran, rising prices, AI, and high food, energy, and healthcare costs. Trump responded with more Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! antics.

Your Donald Trump Quote of the Day:

Call me an enemy, then, Trump, because I’ll continue to adhere to history and industry standards and refer to artificial intelligence, or AI.

At this point, reading the political news has me growling and shaking my head. I never expected much out of Trump, but he and his administration is an absolute trainwreck. More of Trump’s supporters are pulling away. I doubt it helped Trump’s cause when Trump told supporters at one recent rally, “It’s amazing. When you stand up here, it’s just like…the love. I could say the stupidest things and you’d clap. ‘Oh, I love you so—’ It’s true.”

We’ll see how those Donald Trump supporters feel when the midterm elections results come in next month. Trump said to make the upcoming elections about himself. He doesn’t know how much disapproval of him has grown, how many are turning away from him, and tuning out from him.

Between Mom and Trump, The Neurons put “Bad Moon Rising” in the morning mental music stream. This song by Clearance Clearwater Revival, aka CCR, was released in 1969. It’s about premonitions about bad things on the verge of happening.

Sample Lyrics:

I see the bad moon rising
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightning
I see bad times today

Don’t go around tonight
Well, it’s bound to take your life
There’s a bad moon on the rise

I hear hurricanes a-blowing
I know the end is coming soon
I fear rivers overflowing
I hear the voice of rage and ruin

May this day bless you and yours with fresh air, good health, and good fortune.

Cheers

4

Friday’s Theme Music – Big Time

Frida, October 9, 2026 — Ashland, southern Oregon.

Our hot, summerish streak is holding, with blue skies and sunshine. Clouds are sprinkled across the blue to keep it from being pristine, making the reds, golds, and oranges splash in bright, picturesque ways. Today’s high is 78 but the sun has a strong, sustained warmth.

I haven’t been doing the theme music for a few days. One, busy. Two, I had “Dirty White Boy” by Foreigner stuck in my head, yet, sans clear and apparent reason. The Neurons finally cleared the music out this morning, leaving me with an empty morning mental music stream.

Didn’t take long for reading the political news to fill it.

Don Jr. scrambles to calm furious MAGA voters

Then there was a Digby article which brought home our sense of things with me, my wife, and Donald Trump.

Are Americans Tired Of Being Suckers?

My wife and I received our $90 Trump bribes. Inspired by a friend’s response, we donated our bribes to blue candidates in tight races.

I also received a letter from the IRS. Something about they’ll match my IRA contribution this year. And, if I don’t have an IRA account, I can go to TrumpIRA to set up a high quality, low cost IRA.

My wife and I laughed. “I don’t trust anything with Trump’s name on it,” she said.

I agreed. “The promise of a high-quality, low-cost IRA with Trump’s name attached to it is as meaningful as Trump’s other promises and efforts. Like ‘no new wars’, ‘lower prices on day one’, the ‘Ukraine-Russia war ending immediately, Donald J Trump’s healthcare plans, which went from a plan coming in two weeks to a concept to…nothing.

Expect nothing but greed and broken promises from Trump — even though he claims otherwise.

As Trump likes to claim things, many say that Trump is spiraling. My wife and I think the same, with me adding, “Big time,” as we talked about it.

That invited The Neurons to bring in Peter Gabriel with his song, “Big Time”, from 1986.

Sample Lyrics

The big, big city
I’ll be a big noise
With all the big boys
(So much stuff I will own)

And I will pray to a big god
As I kneel in the big church

(Big time)
I’m on my way, I’m making it
(Big time)
Oh, yes!
(Big time)
I’ve got to make it show, yeah
(Big time)

(Big time)
It’s so much larger than life
(Big time)
I’m gonna watch it growing
(Big time)

My parties have all the big names
And I greet them with the widest smile
Tell them how my life
Is one big adventure
And always they’re amazed

~snip~

And my heaven will be a big heaven
And I will walk through the front door

(Big time)
I’m on my way, I’m making it
(Big time)
(Big time)
I’ve got to make it show, yeah
(Big time)

(Big time)
It’s so much larger than life
(Big time)
I’m gonna watch it growing
(Big time)

(Big time)
My car is gettin’ bigger
(Big time)
My house gettin’ bigger
(Big time)
My eyes gettin’ bigger
(Big time)
And my mouth
(Big time)
My belly’s gettin’ bigger

(Big time)
And my bank account
(Big time)
Look at my circumstance
(Big time)

And the bulge in my
Big, big, big, big, big, big, big
Big, big, big, big, big, big, big
Big!

This song has a quality that I can easily ascribe to Trump’s thinking.

Hope your day is not spiraling and that you ascend to places where you feel healthy, happy, and comfortable.

Cheers

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Trump Accelerates Distractions & Whining

What’s Trump doing today?

We ask that question every day at my house. We ask even though we know he’ll be lying, whining, distracting, and doing things that test the limits of law, ethics, and taste. We ask knowing that with polls showing the GOP and Trump as losers in the upcoming elections, Trump will be triggered and will increase the scale of distractions under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to new heights.

Today, Trump is whining again about not winning the Nobel Peace Prize. It went instead to Navi Pillay. Congratulations to her!

I’m not surprised that Donald Trump didn’t win. In his worldview, killing people and destroying things mean peace. That’s not how the rest of the world tends to view peace. At 80 years old, you would think Trump would have learned by now that he has not. Trump demonstrated long ago that he lacks learning abilities — unless it’s about ways to gain and keep more money for himself.

Donald Trump has also proven to be vindictive. It wasn’t surprising that his administration immediately ordered more sanctions against the ICC after one of those former judges won the Peace Prize.

Trump thinks he’s done ‘far more blah blah Trump weave blah’ than the human rights activist, Navi Pillay, who won. Of course, Donald Trump has also rated himself as the greatest president ever earlier this year, another sign of Trump’s detachment from reality. Over in reality, historians and voters disagree with his assessment.

Polls since Trump released his assessment said that almost half Americans rank Trump as a failure. 65% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy.

In other “we-don’t-really-need-this” Trump news, Donald Trump has announced that he wants to make one of his Florida golf resorts into a presidential retreat.

The letter announcing this latest move made my wife and I laugh and laugh. Summaries of the letter’s contents published in newspapers said that Trump International will pay for the improvements.

Sure.

I believe that, dont’ you? I’ll bank that right beside Trump’s promise to not golf if he won the election because he’s too busy.

That promise for Trump International to pay for the improvement carries the same weight of promise for Trump’s gold cell phones. I believe that Trump International will pay for it as much as I believe Trump’s previous claims that he would probably release the Epstein files, that private donors would pay for the new ballroom, and that that Americans would get a DOGE dividend because we’re making so much money as a nation.

I believe the assertion that Trump International will pay for it as much as I believe that Trump has lowered prices on everything since taking office, and that he lowered the price of prescription drugs by hundreds, even thousands of percent.

I believe this declaration as much as I believe that Donald Trump has fixed the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, one — two — three times — no, wait, they’re still working on it.

I believe it as much as I believe that Trump’s tariffs will not raise prices. (Note: they HAVE.)

Assurances that Trump International will pay for it all carries as much water as a pail without a bottom. I believe it as much as Trump’s declaration that as part of his ‘bold agenda’, there would be no new wars.

In short, I don’t believe any of Trump’s promises, or any promises made by any organization or project with Trump’s name attached to it.

The evidence that Trump and his organization will not do what they say they will is overwhelming. Only people in cults or those who have an agenda which Trump serves will believe it.

I’m not part of either of those camps.

5

Donald Trump’s Multi-Thread Approach

We’ve seen enough of Donald Trump to know his approach. He’s used them in business, interpersonal relations, and in politics. We know what to expect.

  1. Trump begins with lies, misinformation, and exaggeration to establish a position for himself. Facts, data, and history are all distorted or dismissed.
  2. After Trump repeats his position multiple times, Trump claims that only he can fix it, and talks about how great he is. He’ll often claim that he’s never wrong and that only he can see what’s going on. As part of this, he’ll frequently declare himself an expert, even often saying that he ‘probably knows more than anyone in the world’ about the subject. Anecdotes about others coming to him — often with tears in their eyes — will emerge. These thankful people shake his hand and tell him how great he is, that, “nobody else has ever done this before.”
  3. In the next stage, Trump makes dire predictions about how bad everything will be if he doesn’t get his way. Along the way, Trump now begins character assassination and name-calling of anyone who criticizes, questions, or opposes him. Others are dumb, stupid, horrible. They’re rapists, murderers, thugs. They come from shit-hole places.
  4. Trump will then stoke fears with angry tirades — commies, con jobs, hoaxes, woke! They’re taking advantage of you! They’re coming for you! They’re eating your pets, killing your babies, stealing your money, forcing their religion on you, taking your jobs!
  5. Distractions commence. Trump makes broad proclamations, announces a new project, a new trade agreement, new investments, new peace deals, new factories! He’s renaming something, he stopped another war, we’ve made so much money! Prices are going down, everyone is getting rich!
  6. Bribes, wheedling, and begging begin. Donald Trump offers money, often characterizing them as dividends. When the money can be found, the promise is fulfilled, such as the $1776 dividend to the military, where the funds were shifted from military housing. Or the more recent $90 Medicare dividend, where money was drawn from the Medicare improvement fund. More often than not, the money is never seen.

If you’ve been paying attention to US political news, you can see how Trump puts them together in his ‘weave’. Trump’s methodology creates a sort of chaos, like a toddler running through a dinner party.

Donald Trump doesn’t understand that many of We the People are as smart or smarter than him. Trump’s magical weave is nothing new to We the People who track what’s going on. His lies and broken promises were bound to catch up with him.

When his lies and cheating caught up with him in business, Donald Trump stiffed contractors and declared bankruptcy.

Trump can’t do those things in his current situation. Instead, he uses the Oval Office’s power to threaten, cajole, attack, and declare emergencies.

But more of We the People are onto his ‘weave’. They know that despite his claims, promises, and lies, prices are not going down, the war in Iran should never have been started and is not over, and that putting his name on more buildings does nothing to improve freedom, democracy, security, or affordability.

Trump’s weave is frayed and falling apart.

Vote Blue in November. It won’t ‘magically’ change things or automatically lower prices, as Trump likes to claim he will do, but it will help temper the whims and arrogance of the authoritarian now in office, Donald J Trump.

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Don’t Read That Book

Just finished reading a book. Non-fiction, it’s by Michael Lewis. It’s called “The Premonition”.

The book is about the US government’s efforts to develop a coherent pandemic plan well before COVID-19 struck. A small group of people took deep interest in it and kept things going, even when the various presidents changed requirements. Most strikingly, we gained insight into Trump and his administration’s response to COVID-19.

Oh, I remember what Trump said about COVID-19. His quotes are burned in my mind.

Trump lied about how bad COVID-19 was and refused to commit the US government to any course to mitigate the virus’s spread. Donald Trump then told the states, “You’re on your own,” and finally, took credit for the vaccine’s quick development when he was barely part of the equation. He was a fan in the stand shouting, “We won,” after the game is over.

So, I urge you not to read this book because it will probably piss you off.

By reading that book right now, I see Trump taking the same course of action with the US education system. He’s dismantling the federal system and telling states, you’re on your own.

Donald Trump is pursuing his same ass-backward approach with climate change. He’s denying it’s a problem, deriding it as a con job or a hoax. When it’s finally too late, he’ll walk away and tell everyone, you’re on your own

Trump is already doing his COVID-19 shuffle with affordability and healthcare. When running for election, Trump extravagantly and frequently criticized President Obama’s healthcare plan, claiming, “I’m coming up with a better one.” Trump never did come up with a better healthcare plan.

Likewise, Donald Trump stumped on the affordability crisis in 2024. Oh, how terrible it is to live in President Biden’s economy, Trump screeched over and over. I will make it all better. I will lower prices on day one.

Well, it’s well past day one. Prices are much higher and heading even higher. Trump is already shrugging it off, telling us, “You’re on your own.”

It’s not that bad, Trump says. Prices are already falling.

Just as Trump did with healthcare.

Just as Trump did with COVID-19.

1

Trump Sells Fear & Ignorance

Donald J Trump’s latest efforts to protect himself has shown ghastly ignorance and is deeply rooted in fear.

The fear that Trump is feeling is that if the GOP loses control of Congress, he will be investigated, impeached, and convicted.

The fear that Donald Trump selling is another of those tired, worn out, overused ‘what if’ kind of fears that the weak-minded feed on:

What if Iran has nuclear weapons and ‘takes out a California city’?

Multiple facts spring to mind in response to Trump’s remarks. Donald Trump claimed to have destroyed Iran’s nuclear capability several times before. Yet here he is again, trying to instill fear in others that Iran has them and will use them.

Donald Trump claimed that the war he began with Iran is over or almost over thirty-eight times before last night. After all of those statements, why should anyone believe that the war is ‘almost over’ again, or will be over after the midterms? Trump originally claimed the war would be over in a few weeks. Donald Trump made that claim over 167 days ago. What has changed to make us believe that Donald Trump is suddenly telling the truth?

Worse, most cravenly, is how Donald Trump so cavalierly writes off the chance of a couple US cities. He dismisses the lives which would be lost in such a strike to be ‘a very small price to pay’.

The MAGA crowd Trump was speaking to cheered.

Trump’s MAGA crowd cheered for American deaths.

It apparently doesn’t matter to them if Americans are killed. What’s important to Trump and MAGA is that these are not Americans to them, no, they are Democrats, and *gasp* probably liberals.

They do not care at all if among those Democrats are MAGAts just like them, or Republicans.

Nor does this ‘pro-life’ crowd care if there are children among the dead. No, they’re just vacuously cheering Donald Trump’s threats.

Beyond the callousness about life and death and the disregard for American lives, Donald J Trump and his supporters display amazing stupidity. San Diego and Los Angeles are huge ports. Los Angeles has been the number 1 container port in the world for years.

Shall we talk about what the devastation of any two American cities would do to the United States and global economy?

Donald Trump also dismisses what such an impact would have on the safety and security of the United States. San Diego is home to a US Navy fleet and training center. It’s where the USS Abraham Lincoln went home for repairs after serving in Trump’s war with Iran.

Donald Trump doesn’t care. All Donald Trump cares about is protecting his ass and staying in power.

And to hear those MAGAzens cheer, they’re of one mind with him on this.

Trump is so scared and desperate at this point, he’ll say and do anything to protect and promote himself. No life matters to him but his own. That’s why the Democrats must take control of Congress next month.

Vote Blue in November.

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Looking Back on Trump Double Standards

Paul Krugman gets right to the point with his headline:

The Trump Administration is a Cesspit of Corruption

Mr Krugman shows us the receipts, among them, the damning one that looms over the nation:

“America currently has a Republican president who, along with his family, has raked in billions, possibly close to $10 billion in personal gain from office in less than two years.”

Remember when the GOP complained about President Obama’s spending?

State Department spends $70,000 on Obama’s books – and stirs a controversy

How ’bout this one, about President Biden?

Oversight Republicans Raise Concerns About Biden Family Profiting Off White House

It’s funny in a “I am very pissed off about it” manner, but the GOP has said little about Donald J Trump’s spending and income during Trump’s second term, until a few months before the 2026 midterms.

It’s almost as if Republicans didn’t care until it was shown that they might lose political power because of Trump’s income and spending.

But Heather Cox Richardson puts some things together for us in her regular column in “Letters from An American”, October 2, 2026. Going back to 2015 and Trump’s initial rallies in Alabama, she compares now and then.

Read these quotes and insights Ms Richardson gives us from back then:

“Although the actual unemployment rate was 5.6%, he claimed it was “anywhere from 18 to 20 percent”—although he then upped it to 21%—and “the worst since 1978.” “A lot of people…can’t get jobs,” he said. “They can’t get jobs, because there are no jobs, because China has our jobs and Mexico has our jobs. They all have jobs.

“He sneered at the federal government, claiming “stupid” politicians had no idea how to negotiate and were wasting so much money that the national debt was close to $24 trillion, a number he called “the point of no return…. That’s when we become a country that’s unsalvageable.””

Trump called that national debt of $24T the point of no return and has shoved it since to over $40T — $16T more.

Ms Richardson addresses more details about what’s transpiring in 2026 as we close on the midterm elections. But here is the money shot:

“And therein lies the crux of the crisis that is driving a seismic political change: it has become crystal clear that Trump never intended to address the real problems he identified. His tariffs, deep tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, extraordinary corruption, multiple vanity projects, and war on Iran are benefiting him, his family, and his cronies. At the same time, the Republicans are, at his direction, slashing the social welfare programs, medical funding, education, infrastructure, and healthcare that used to serve the American people.

“Trump has taken to claiming that the country’s economy is booming, but that he and the Republicans have done a bad job of telling people. “All over the country, they’re building factories, plants—manufacturing’s coming back,” he told a crowd at a truck facility in Texas. “The only thing we’re doing badly at is public relations.””

But the truth is, the affordability crisis has become more painful for many Americans under Donald Trump, and he cares only about himself and his opinion. Donald Trump crows about how wonderful, great, and smart he is, again and again and again. Yet condition for most in this nation continue to deteriorate.

With that, the Trump Double Standard is finally crumbling.

No, it will never go away. Too many still support Donald Trump for reasons that make many of the rest of us shake our heads and sigh, and then spit in anger and spew some angry swear words.

Hopefully, enough voters have learned that come the midterms, We the People can finally handcuff the runaway government Donald J Trump has launched.

Vote Blue in November, 2026.

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