That bronze draped metallic looking dress is probably my favorite one Michelle has worn. I think it is extremely flattering. I saw her Inaugural gown from the first Inauguration in the Smithsonian, to me this dress beats that one. Does she get to keep any of them? Not sure if they are bought from a clothing allowance or her own money.
JER, you are a ray of sunshine and hope during these unnerving times. It is people like you that inspire me to fight the good fight, you have restored my faith in mankind.
Am I wrong, but isn’t this the same scam that they used to destroy the solvency of the United States Post Office?
…………………………….
GOP Plans Major Social Security Cuts
By JOSH MARSHALL
Published DECEMBER 9, 2016, 2:13 PM EDT
We’ll have a story coming shortly on what I just mentioned a short time ago: that Republicans are now planning to pass major cuts to Social Security this year.
Until then let me cover the broad details of the plan.
Unlike the Bush-era plan to partially phase out Social Security and replace it with private investment accounts, this plan takes a different approach. Through a variety of mechanisms, this plan simply cuts benefits and introduces means testing. To look at specific cuts, changes in eligibility and so forth look at pages 2 and 3 on this official Social Security Administration scoring document analyzing the plan. The benefit cuts appear to hit everyone but are weighted toward more affluent recipients.
The big picture is that the current Social Security Trust Fund is predicted to be exhausted in the mid-late 2030s. So roughly in 20 years. People often refer to this as ‘bankruptcy’. But that’s not really accurate. At that point Social Security would only be able to pay 79% of benefits recipients will be entitled to in those years.
By 2090, that percentage falls to 74%. So it’s fairly stable after that drop-off in the 2030s.
If the American life expectancy is dropping and the demise of Obamacare there will be fewer people anyway because the in the short time that there will be more wars, more deaths of young people who pay for the older peoples SS, that if will not become insolvent. They are preparing to turn over trillions of $’s to Wall Street…..
This is the perfect post to share the entrancing evening I spent last night in The People’s House at the Congressional Ball. Both my TOD and OFA peeps were nestled in my heart as I entered as the guest of my long-ago flower girl, now the wife of my junior Senator from Oregon. The White House is at its most beautiful at Christmastime, enhanced by our hosts like no others. The photo op almost didn’t happen with the Obamas because chits were scarce, the place with packed with Congress critters and their guests, and initially Mary wasn’t on the list. Magic was worked, and we had our brief shining moment. When I greeted President Obama and quickly told him about my role as OFA Portland Chapter Co-Chair, he responded with an extra hug and the words, “We cannot give up now; there is so much more work to do.” It was easy to promise him that we will be right there with him. With Michelle I had barely enough time to tell her that the friend who hand-made my dress said, “I love you Obamas” with every tiny red bead she stitched on it. It was surreal. No idea if I even looked at the camera. Of course no one but Pete can take pictures in the special room they have staged for these official portraits. I put my few attempts to capture the magic on my Facebook page (feel free to friend me you ARE my friends!). Mary took I-Phone pix of me with Tom Perez, Elijah Cummings, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, and a few more luminaries. I don’t have those yet. Had the chance to speak with Valerie Jarrett and thank her for being such a tremendous support to the Obama Family. On the way out, taking a moment to imprint the images forever, another couple and we whispered, “You will always be our First Family!”
ohhhhh Judith…thank you so very much…i can feel the magic thru your words….and the President is so right….We cannot give up….and as you said….they will always be our First Family….
Oh, how I love this post!! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful experience with all of us. Your writing really puts us there with you, and I got chills when you spoke of those tiny beads.
Wow Judith! You brought tears to my eyes with this writing. How blessed you were.
How blessed we have been these past eight years with the Obamas in the White House. He will be my president until someone is elected who is worthy to follow him.
Thank you for this vivid picture Judith.
How Trump and the GOP will try to turn the entire country into Dixie
By Paul Waldman
December 9 at 12:56 PM
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in Mississippi or Alabama? Well if the GOP has its way, you’ll get the chance to find out.
That’s because Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, through the executive branch leadership now being assembled and the legislative priorities they have laid out, are preparing to take the economic, political, and social arrangements of the South and spread them across the country.
The desire to southernize the entire United States is not new, and in some ways it’s been happening for a while, at least where Republicans have control of government. But now that Republicans have complete control in Washington, they’re going to try to accelerate and deepen that process. Let’s look at it piece by piece:
The Southern economic model. The first and most far-reaching component of this project is to take the Southern economic model national. The foundation of that model is the elimination of collective bargaining and the destruction of the labor unions that are able to negotiate higher wages and better benefits for workers. The Southern model replaces the North’s high-wage, unionized manufacturing with a low-wage, low-benefit version that has succeeded in drawing many factories southward. Southern states have lured companies with gigantic tax breaks and the promise of a powerless and desperate workforce. The result is often more jobs in those Southern states, but worse jobs. And what those states give up in taxes means poorer schools and fewer social services.
This is a story with roots that go back before the Civil War, but in recent years it has taken on a new character as even foreign firms look to the American South as a source of cheap labor. And as Harold Meyerson explained last year in this terrific article, multiple forces including the crippling of unions and the emergence of Walmart as the nation’s largest retailer have acted to pull wages and benefits across the country down toward the South’s level.
Don’t count on people resisting. All too often people give u p because it is exhausting and wound up accepting what seems inevitable. Most Americans have short attention spans and these corporations and Southern Republican legislatures can and have waited people out. They never give up on their goals and they always find away around any type of stay or regulation that is put in place. I live in Florida and I have seen this all of my life. There is no power of the people. The large corporations, the media and the top percent of the 1 percent that own and run everything (politicians are merely their tools). The rest of us are bit players in the game that they own and run.
Americans hold dear the democratic principle that the people should decide who represents them. But the Electoral College is designed to allow electors to make a decision that may not be consistent with the vote of the people. (In fact, in this year’s election, the apparent Electoral College winner is not the choice of the people, as he lost the popular vote by more than 2.5 million.) In extraordinary circumstances like our current ones, where the presumptive president-elect is manifestly unfit, the electors must be free to do their constitutional duty.
Then there are the self-serving and soulless ones who need our prayers:
Good Citizen,
I am sorry that, because I have received more than 60,000 emails, I can no longer personally respond to you. I gave up after about 1200. Given that the content is fairly universal, I am comfortable offering this universal response.
Thank you for your communication and for your passion for the Republic. I prefer writers to rioters.
Several things merit mentioning. First, you have every right to lobby an elector. I welcome the contact from a fellow American.
Second, this is not a pure democracy, it is a republic. The corollary to that fact is that even if the majority did rule, and it does not, there was no absolute majority winner in this election.
Third, the Electoral College does not exist in order to give you a “do over” because you don’t like the results; it exists to preserve the nature of the the republic.
Finally, your feelings notwithstanding, it is not my duty to care one whit what the plurality or majority of Americans want. My job is to represent the decision of the winning party in the Texas Presidential election.
It’s not that your feelings don’t matter at all, they just don’t matter here. The law and U.S. Constitution do.
For those who believe I should change my vote to HRC because of your intense feelings about Donald Trump, surely you must know that for every person who feels you have elected the worst person to ever hold the office, there is another who would have felt exactly the same that had we elected HRC: that she is unfit for office and her husband has committed multiple sexual assaults.
Nevertheless, I think it safe to say, my good citizen, you would not have agreed with electoral nullification of a Clinton victory. Nor would I.
This is why we have elections.
If you disagree with the electoral college concept, and some do, you have the opportunity amend the constitution. But elector nullification is not the answer.
I will vote my conscience. You need have no fear. I have never intended to do anything more or less.
Please allow me to illustrate my point from America’s favorite pastime, baseball. In the 1960 World Series the Pirates beat the Yankees 4 games to three. But, the Yankees scored a total of 55 runs while the Pirates could only muster 27 total runs.
Unfair? No, those are the rules of baseball. We choose the winner of the World Series by number of games won, regardless of the disparity of the total runs. If the rules were different, teams would strategize differently and the result would likely be different. That the Yankees outscored the Pirates in 1960, or that the Cubs tied the Indians in runs scored this year, is nothing more than an interesting statistic.
In a Presidential campaign, if the rules were different, candidates would strategize differently and the result would likely be different. Donald Trump won according to the rules. Everything else, including the popular vote, is merely an interesting statistic.
Indirect election of the chief executive is the rule under parliamentary forms of government. No one in Canada or the United Kingdom votes for Prime Minister. The election is indirect.
In closing, I am delighted that many are reading the Federalist Papers. I’ve been reading them for twenty years. They are a fascinating insight into the minds of the framers of the Constitution, aren’t they? The Anti-Federalist papers are equally educational. I recommend them for your reading also.
Yes, I agree with Hamilton in Federalist 68. No, I do not believe that the election of Donald Trump rises to that level.
If you have read this far you deserve my thanks, and to know that I do browse for responses. I read them and sometimes respond personally as time allows.
May God bless America and may God bless the great state of Texas.
Best regards,
L. Scott Mann
Texas Elector, Congressional District 19
The following may interest, enrage or encourage you:
The auto-reply from the Texas elector - IMO, if he really remembered 1968, as I do, he would do everything possible to avoid repeat of some shameful US history, which we are all still bearing the weight of.
It is NOT about Democracy….it is about Power…and those who have the power decided whose vote matter whose doesn’y…We orgaanize to achieve political power…
My concern right now is the DEMS…and their attempt to pivot away from the President and the coalition that elected him twice..
I have the entire up to date list of Trump’s transition team and I am literally physically ill. I won’t post the entire seven pages, but here are several whose names and affiliations jumped out at me. The list reads like a tea party play book.
Attorney General Nominee U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Mary Anne Bradfield (Accelerated Development & Support Corp., former NRA lobbyist, David Bossie, Deputy Executive Director (Citizens United), Aaron Chang, Advance Lead (Huckabee for President), Small Business Administrator Nominee: Linda McMahon (World Wrestling Entertainment), Secretary of Transportation Nominee: Elaine Chao (Mitch McConnell’s wife), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Nominee: Dr. Ben Carson, Nina Owcharenko Schaefer and Curtis Dubay (Heritage Foundation), Richard Manning (Americans for Limited Government), Nathan Mehrens (Americans for Limited Government Research Foundation), Cindy Hayden (Altria lobbyist and former Sessions staffer), Jim Carafano (Heritage Foundation),Cindy Hayden (Altria lobbyist and former Sessions staffer), Jim Carafano (Heritage Foundation), Jason Miller, Communications Director (Ted Cruz for President), Stephen Miller, National Policy Director (Office of Sen. Jeff Sessions), Katrina Pierson, Senior Advisor (Tea Party activist), Josh Pitcock, Senior Advisor, Vice President-elect (Federal lobbyist for Indiana), Dan Scavino, Director of Social Media (The Trump Organization), Marc Short, Senior Advisor, Vice President-elect (Koch Industries), Sean Spicer, Senior Communications Advisor (RNC), Katie Walsh, Senior Advisor (RNC).
Every single choice is perfect to destroy the department they’re chosen for. It’s Destruction of the US GOV 101. Putin is in control. We’re witnessing a coup in real time, and the GOP unlocked the door and invited them in. This is insanity.
I’ve been absent for awhile but am back and checking what’s happening in TODVille. What a pleasant welcome are the pictures of this fine and lovely couple. Besides, I get to call them my POTUS and FLOTUS.
Per CNN, the latest of a series of jokes since November 8, 2016.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has removed himself from consideration for a position in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, Trump has announced.
“He is and continues to be a close personal friend, and as appropriate, I will call upon him for advice and can see an important place for him in the administration at a later date,” Trump said.
Giuliani will stay on as a “Vice Chairman of the Presidential Transition Team,” the organization said.
Our countries are steadfast allies, friends and partners. My thanks to @VP Biden for today's discussions with Premiers and Indigenous leaders on tackling climate change and leaving a better world for our kids and grandkids. 🇨🇦🇺🇸 Nos pays sont de solides alliés, amis et partenaires. Je remercie le @VP Biden pour les discussions d’aujourd’hui avec les premiers ministres et les dirigeants autochtones sur la manière de nous atteler au dossier des changements climatiques, pour laisser un monde meilleur à nos enfants et à nos petits-enfants.
A post shared by Justin Trudeau (@justinpjtrudeau) on
What I would give for one of these particular pictures! This would look really, really terrific along with my earlier framed Obama family pictures!
Dear President and First Lady Obama,
I wonder if you would/could send me one of these as a token for my being such a good neighbour all these years. I never once let my pets break through your fence!
Good evening. CanadaBarb asked me to share this, for anyone interested!
We will continue to fight for our freedoms, our lives & future. Join us as we #Pivot2Power on Mon 12/12 @7pm https://t.co/ypQXSHzZea pic.twitter.com/fbaafpUE2H
— ColorOfChange.org (@ColorOfChange) December 9, 2025
Well, I missed all of VPJoe’s visit in real time. 😦
Sorry, sir, but it couldn’t be helped. Hope you had a great visit, notwithstanding the white stuff in the air and on the ground!
.@VP: Thank you, #Canada, for your leadership on #climatechange. #USCanada #VPvisit pic.twitter.com/hXL9k02cNJ
— U.S. Embassy Ottawa (@usembassyottawa) December 9, 2025
“Wheels up” for @VP Biden back to #DC - a quick but wonderful visit w/#US’ #friendneighborally: #Canada! #USCanada #VPvisit pic.twitter.com/ALyPksTovi
It remains a mystery to me @LorettaLynch how #Comey could act so courageously & then undermine an Election. https://t.co/tc8sqxfzHY
— Bobfr (@Our4thEstate) December 9, 2025
Various algorithms can be imagined for what role Comey played (continues to play) … one conceivable output being a surprise that would be much more consistent with his behavior as described in the article ….
How is this sham of a foreign interference election even legal? Russia CLEARLY interfered with the election of the US and now have their preferred candidate! The American PEOPLE don’t, but Russia does! How is it ok for the FBI..you know, THE SAME FBI THAT WE PAY FOR WITH TAXPAYER $$$, on the take to mess with the election and that’s “ok”?? WTF is WRONG with this picture!! I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, but JHC…why aren’t people in the streets?! This is INSANE. Do you suppose that the EC is paying attention to the sorry ass choices this fraud is making for appointments? Every single on of them wants to demolish the agency they are supposed to be in charge of! Holy crap! Even the dumb asses that voted for the fraud should be in the streets! The swamp IS HIM! They all got pawned by a game show host! This makes me ill…this is not my America.
“Even the dumb asses that voted for the fraud should be in the streets! The swamp IS HIM! They all got pawned by a game show host! This makes me ill…this is not my America.”
Because he is weak and they want to achieve their goal of taking down America!! Hillary understands Putin! That’s why this happened…they couldn’t have Hillary in a position of power! Killing us from within.
And, what it is remarkable and inevitable, given that Hillary Clinton is a woman, is that she is going to have to fight to have what is rightfully hers and what the majority of VOTING Americans supported - her Presidency.
Dear @HillaryClinton,
You defeated all of them. You are the #PeoplesChoice. Don't stop. FIGHT!
Please, don’t jump me or take this wrong BUT what do you all think PO is doing behind the scenes?! Friends, this news tonight is ???????????? JC, I have no words to use. df said it well do ditto to what she said. 😰😰😰😰😰😰😰😰 for our country. Can anyone talk me down? CHIPS! We miss you. NW! Could not survive without you keeping us going.
It does feel weird right now doesn’t it? Oddly quiet from the PBO Admin & DOJ, like it did right before they got OBL. I keep running scenarios through me head, like how they fix all this…… Putin needs to be taken down first via the FIFA bribery scandal, then Trump & CO can follow. Even the GOP is weirdly silent on all this insanity, but it’s obvious to me, they’re waiting for the EC to seal it, then they’ll arrest Trump for one of the many crimes he’s done from Rape of a minor to all of his infinite business conflicts, to RICO via the fraud with TrumpU. The list is endless, and they want Pence because he’s controllable, although crazy - they can repeal everything they want with Pence, but at least Putin doesn’t have to be involved…..
There is so much insanity, and stupidity. It’s scary AF.
I looked at the pics at the top of the post and suddenly remembered that I haven’t looked in my ‘Love is in the air’ Obama picture folder in a loooong while. So off I go down memory lane, sharing one or three! ❤ ❤ ❤ me some Obamas showing love!
Wait up @NerdyWonka, I see you're posting… L-O-V-E! We-ell… look what I found in my pic files! 😊😊 Can't remember which year right now. pic.twitter.com/wrinSKMOcq
Proof of how low these low down dirty Republicans will go. It is just fine with them if some foreign government like Russia help them win, but if Russia had hack into the RNC and given emails to Wikileaks, the Republicans would have a dam fit.
Hola!
Beautiful couple! I’m going to miss them so much.
Congrats Don !
Look at Michelle, my goodness! the first photo does it for me.
Can the powers that run TOD give us a picture of Michelle by herself? Asking for a friend.
That bronze draped metallic looking dress is probably my favorite one Michelle has worn. I think it is extremely flattering. I saw her Inaugural gown from the first Inauguration in the Smithsonian, to me this dress beats that one. Does she get to keep any of them? Not sure if they are bought from a clothing allowance or her own money.
Love this First Lady.
FLOTUS is so beautiful with that hour glass figure. She is truly our Nubian Princess ❤️
Totally lovely!
JER, you are a ray of sunshine and hope during these unnerving times. It is people like you that inspire me to fight the good fight, you have restored my faith in mankind.
Don ~ ask and ye shall receive ❤️
They are the best and the most real POTUS and FLOTUS ever.
Michelle and her Boo! How can she look younger and even more beautiful each year?
Very well done {{{{{{NW}}}}}}! Thank you!!!
This is how it’s done Melania, you don’t have to take all your clothes off baby girl.
Am I wrong, but isn’t this the same scam that they used to destroy the solvency of the United States Post Office?
…………………………….
GOP Plans Major Social Security Cuts
By JOSH MARSHALL
Published DECEMBER 9, 2016, 2:13 PM EDT
We’ll have a story coming shortly on what I just mentioned a short time ago: that Republicans are now planning to pass major cuts to Social Security this year.
Until then let me cover the broad details of the plan.
Unlike the Bush-era plan to partially phase out Social Security and replace it with private investment accounts, this plan takes a different approach. Through a variety of mechanisms, this plan simply cuts benefits and introduces means testing. To look at specific cuts, changes in eligibility and so forth look at pages 2 and 3 on this official Social Security Administration scoring document analyzing the plan. The benefit cuts appear to hit everyone but are weighted toward more affluent recipients.
The big picture is that the current Social Security Trust Fund is predicted to be exhausted in the mid-late 2030s. So roughly in 20 years. People often refer to this as ‘bankruptcy’. But that’s not really accurate. At that point Social Security would only be able to pay 79% of benefits recipients will be entitled to in those years.
By 2090, that percentage falls to 74%. So it’s fairly stable after that drop-off in the 2030s.
If the American life expectancy is dropping and the demise of Obamacare there will be fewer people anyway because the in the short time that there will be more wars, more deaths of young people who pay for the older peoples SS, that if will not become insolvent. They are preparing to turn over trillions of $’s to Wall Street…..
Well, if we UNCAPPED Social Security, then it would be 100% solvent from now till …..just sayin’
Congratulations, Don. Love and hugs to all from D.C.!
hey Judithhhhhhhhh….
i know it was awesome….tell us all about it
Shine on, JF! ❤️👏🏼
Good afternoon TOD’ers, if you haven’t heard, Dudette is sick. She sends her ❤ Love to TOD’ville. Please keep her in your prayers.
Loving healing prayers for our dudette
Oh no! Dudette - please recover ASAP!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Dudette, if you see this, please feel better soon. Sending love, hugs and positivity
Oh no. Sending healing prayers for our Dudette.
{{{{{{{{Dudette}}}}}} healing love and strength girl. ❤ ❤ ❤
Get will soon, Dudette.
Dudette, praying that you get well soon. We miss you.
Wishing Ms. Dudette a fast recovery.
Prayers up for you Dudette.
Am praying that you will get well soon.
Thank you ranman. Sending out speedy healing thoughts and wishes to you Dudette. Get well soon and take good care of yourself.
We love you, Dudette! Be well. (Thanks, ranman. We’ve been wondering about her.)
Wishing you a speedy recovery, {{{{{{{{Dudette}}}}}}}}
{{{{{ ❤️ Dudette ❤️ }}}}} 🙏🏻
Get well soon Dudette! Sending you healing light and love…
ranman, thank you so much for giving us this update on Dudette.
Dudette girl, please take care and get well ❤
This is the perfect post to share the entrancing evening I spent last night in The People’s House at the Congressional Ball. Both my TOD and OFA peeps were nestled in my heart as I entered as the guest of my long-ago flower girl, now the wife of my junior Senator from Oregon. The White House is at its most beautiful at Christmastime, enhanced by our hosts like no others. The photo op almost didn’t happen with the Obamas because chits were scarce, the place with packed with Congress critters and their guests, and initially Mary wasn’t on the list. Magic was worked, and we had our brief shining moment. When I greeted President Obama and quickly told him about my role as OFA Portland Chapter Co-Chair, he responded with an extra hug and the words, “We cannot give up now; there is so much more work to do.” It was easy to promise him that we will be right there with him. With Michelle I had barely enough time to tell her that the friend who hand-made my dress said, “I love you Obamas” with every tiny red bead she stitched on it. It was surreal. No idea if I even looked at the camera. Of course no one but Pete can take pictures in the special room they have staged for these official portraits. I put my few attempts to capture the magic on my Facebook page (feel free to friend me you ARE my friends!). Mary took I-Phone pix of me with Tom Perez, Elijah Cummings, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, and a few more luminaries. I don’t have those yet. Had the chance to speak with Valerie Jarrett and thank her for being such a tremendous support to the Obama Family. On the way out, taking a moment to imprint the images forever, another couple and we whispered, “You will always be our First Family!”
{{{Judith}}} Seared forever in your memories:) Wonderful. Meeting them will be on my bucket list till the day I die
Me too, me too.
Mine too DF.
Same!!!
JUDITH, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! FOR THIS FABULOUS REPORT!. YOU MADE MY FRIDAY!!! ❤ ❤ ❤
Thanks alot for sharing. Wish I had gone with you as “your pocket”
Oh Judith, what a honor for you and thru you to all of us. Thank you for all that you have done to be there and for sharing it with us.
ohhhhh Judith…thank you so very much…i can feel the magic thru your words….and the President is so right….We cannot give up….and as you said….they will always be our First Family….
I have tears in my eyes reading this Judith. I can just feel your joy at being there and really appreciate your words here. Thank you.
Oh, how I love this post!! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful experience with all of us. Your writing really puts us there with you, and I got chills when you spoke of those tiny beads.
Wow Judith! You brought tears to my eyes with this writing. How blessed you were.
How blessed we have been these past eight years with the Obamas in the White House. He will be my president until someone is elected who is worthy to follow him.
Thank you for this vivid picture Judith.
well-said Carolyn- he’s my president until there’s a worthy successor, which very well may never happen 🙂
Judith the description of your amazing evening leaves me in tears. So very happy for you and grateful you shared it here, thank you.
you certainly deserve experiences such as that! way to go!
**Thanks** for this sharing, Mrs. F! Very, very much appreciated!
Judith!!!!!
Thank you for sharing your evening of memories with us. I hope you post pictures here. I can’t wait to see your dress! 💃🏾
GGail - are you on Facebook? Friend me! I cannot post with my stupid traveling laptop.
Gonna repost this.
How Trump and the GOP will try to turn the entire country into Dixie
By Paul Waldman
December 9 at 12:56 PM
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in Mississippi or Alabama? Well if the GOP has its way, you’ll get the chance to find out.
That’s because Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, through the executive branch leadership now being assembled and the legislative priorities they have laid out, are preparing to take the economic, political, and social arrangements of the South and spread them across the country.
The desire to southernize the entire United States is not new, and in some ways it’s been happening for a while, at least where Republicans have control of government. But now that Republicans have complete control in Washington, they’re going to try to accelerate and deepen that process. Let’s look at it piece by piece:
The Southern economic model. The first and most far-reaching component of this project is to take the Southern economic model national. The foundation of that model is the elimination of collective bargaining and the destruction of the labor unions that are able to negotiate higher wages and better benefits for workers. The Southern model replaces the North’s high-wage, unionized manufacturing with a low-wage, low-benefit version that has succeeded in drawing many factories southward. Southern states have lured companies with gigantic tax breaks and the promise of a powerless and desperate workforce. The result is often more jobs in those Southern states, but worse jobs. And what those states give up in taxes means poorer schools and fewer social services.
This is a story with roots that go back before the Civil War, but in recent years it has taken on a new character as even foreign firms look to the American South as a source of cheap labor. And as Harold Meyerson explained last year in this terrific article, multiple forces including the crippling of unions and the emergence of Walmart as the nation’s largest retailer have acted to pull wages and benefits across the country down toward the South’s level.
They will try. But it is more likely that people will resist. Political power is often temporary.
Political power is often temporary…….in the hands of fools.
Yep!
Don’t count on people resisting. All too often people give u p because it is exhausting and wound up accepting what seems inevitable. Most Americans have short attention spans and these corporations and Southern Republican legislatures can and have waited people out. They never give up on their goals and they always find away around any type of stay or regulation that is put in place. I live in Florida and I have seen this all of my life. There is no power of the people. The large corporations, the media and the top percent of the 1 percent that own and run everything (politicians are merely their tools). The rest of us are bit players in the game that they own and run.
Isn’t this sort of a defeatist attitude, then?
http://washingtonmonthly.com/2016/12/09/states-cant-stop-electors-from-voting-their-conscience/
Americans hold dear the democratic principle that the people should decide who represents them. But the Electoral College is designed to allow electors to make a decision that may not be consistent with the vote of the people. (In fact, in this year’s election, the apparent Electoral College winner is not the choice of the people, as he lost the popular vote by more than 2.5 million.) In extraordinary circumstances like our current ones, where the presumptive president-elect is manifestly unfit, the electors must be free to do their constitutional duty.
Then there are the self-serving and soulless ones who need our prayers:
Good Citizen,
I am sorry that, because I have received more than 60,000 emails, I can no longer personally respond to you. I gave up after about 1200. Given that the content is fairly universal, I am comfortable offering this universal response.
Thank you for your communication and for your passion for the Republic. I prefer writers to rioters.
Several things merit mentioning. First, you have every right to lobby an elector. I welcome the contact from a fellow American.
Second, this is not a pure democracy, it is a republic. The corollary to that fact is that even if the majority did rule, and it does not, there was no absolute majority winner in this election.
Third, the Electoral College does not exist in order to give you a “do over” because you don’t like the results; it exists to preserve the nature of the the republic.
Finally, your feelings notwithstanding, it is not my duty to care one whit what the plurality or majority of Americans want. My job is to represent the decision of the winning party in the Texas Presidential election.
It’s not that your feelings don’t matter at all, they just don’t matter here. The law and U.S. Constitution do.
For those who believe I should change my vote to HRC because of your intense feelings about Donald Trump, surely you must know that for every person who feels you have elected the worst person to ever hold the office, there is another who would have felt exactly the same that had we elected HRC: that she is unfit for office and her husband has committed multiple sexual assaults.
Nevertheless, I think it safe to say, my good citizen, you would not have agreed with electoral nullification of a Clinton victory. Nor would I.
This is why we have elections.
If you disagree with the electoral college concept, and some do, you have the opportunity amend the constitution. But elector nullification is not the answer.
I will vote my conscience. You need have no fear. I have never intended to do anything more or less.
Please allow me to illustrate my point from America’s favorite pastime, baseball. In the 1960 World Series the Pirates beat the Yankees 4 games to three. But, the Yankees scored a total of 55 runs while the Pirates could only muster 27 total runs.
Unfair? No, those are the rules of baseball. We choose the winner of the World Series by number of games won, regardless of the disparity of the total runs. If the rules were different, teams would strategize differently and the result would likely be different. That the Yankees outscored the Pirates in 1960, or that the Cubs tied the Indians in runs scored this year, is nothing more than an interesting statistic.
In a Presidential campaign, if the rules were different, candidates would strategize differently and the result would likely be different. Donald Trump won according to the rules. Everything else, including the popular vote, is merely an interesting statistic.
Indirect election of the chief executive is the rule under parliamentary forms of government. No one in Canada or the United Kingdom votes for Prime Minister. The election is indirect.
In closing, I am delighted that many are reading the Federalist Papers. I’ve been reading them for twenty years. They are a fascinating insight into the minds of the framers of the Constitution, aren’t they? The Anti-Federalist papers are equally educational. I recommend them for your reading also.
Yes, I agree with Hamilton in Federalist 68. No, I do not believe that the election of Donald Trump rises to that level.
If you have read this far you deserve my thanks, and to know that I do browse for responses. I read them and sometimes respond personally as time allows.
May God bless America and may God bless the great state of Texas.
Best regards,
L. Scott Mann
Texas Elector, Congressional District 19
The following may interest, enrage or encourage you:
https://www.facebook.com/SandstormScholar/
http://sandstormscholar.com/a-matter-of-conscience/
http://sandstormscholar.com/emails-electors-reflect-character-hrc-supporters/#sthash.TLreVVpr.qm03mDG0.dpbs
And for those who think the country has never been in worse condition or that we are on the brink of civil war: http://sandstormscholar.com/?p=15899
The auto-reply from the Texas elector - IMO, if he really remembered 1968, as I do, he would do everything possible to avoid repeat of some shameful US history, which we are all still bearing the weight of.
It is NOT about Democracy….it is about Power…and those who have the power decided whose vote matter whose doesn’y…We orgaanize to achieve political power…
My concern right now is the DEMS…and their attempt to pivot away from the President and the coalition that elected him twice..
I have the entire up to date list of Trump’s transition team and I am literally physically ill. I won’t post the entire seven pages, but here are several whose names and affiliations jumped out at me. The list reads like a tea party play book.
Attorney General Nominee U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Mary Anne Bradfield (Accelerated Development & Support Corp., former NRA lobbyist, David Bossie, Deputy Executive Director (Citizens United), Aaron Chang, Advance Lead (Huckabee for President), Small Business Administrator Nominee: Linda McMahon (World Wrestling Entertainment), Secretary of Transportation Nominee: Elaine Chao (Mitch McConnell’s wife), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Nominee: Dr. Ben Carson, Nina Owcharenko Schaefer and Curtis Dubay (Heritage Foundation), Richard Manning (Americans for Limited Government), Nathan Mehrens (Americans for Limited Government Research Foundation), Cindy Hayden (Altria lobbyist and former Sessions staffer), Jim Carafano (Heritage Foundation),Cindy Hayden (Altria lobbyist and former Sessions staffer), Jim Carafano (Heritage Foundation), Jason Miller, Communications Director (Ted Cruz for President), Stephen Miller, National Policy Director (Office of Sen. Jeff Sessions), Katrina Pierson, Senior Advisor (Tea Party activist), Josh Pitcock, Senior Advisor, Vice President-elect (Federal lobbyist for Indiana), Dan Scavino, Director of Social Media (The Trump Organization), Marc Short, Senior Advisor, Vice President-elect (Koch Industries), Sean Spicer, Senior Communications Advisor (RNC), Katie Walsh, Senior Advisor (RNC).
This is what we thought would happen…no one is really surprise….
Marching Shoes on…check!
What we really have to beware of is the pivot away from the Obama Coalition that DNC and some DEMS are looking to do…
Ain’t going to happen….
Yep it is horrendous. Each day, each name brings a whole new round of anger, disgust and I admit- fear.
Every single choice is perfect to destroy the department they’re chosen for. It’s Destruction of the US GOV 101. Putin is in control. We’re witnessing a coup in real time, and the GOP unlocked the door and invited them in. This is insanity.
Good Afternoon TODVille.
Wow! just wow!!!
I’ve been absent for awhile but am back and checking what’s happening in TODVille. What a pleasant welcome are the pictures of this fine and lovely couple. Besides, I get to call them my POTUS and FLOTUS.
Hope all is well with each one of you.
Oh, the elegance & beauty of the First Couple.
Sending prayers and positive thoughts to Dudette. Get well soon, love.
Sending up healing prayers for Dudette’s speedy and complete recovery.
Yes. ❤
LOL - so Rudy has “removed his name” from the running for a position in the Trump administration. LOL
Per CNN, the latest of a series of jokes since November 8, 2016.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has removed himself from consideration for a position in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, Trump has announced.
“He is and continues to be a close personal friend, and as appropriate, I will call upon him for advice and can see an important place for him in the administration at a later date,” Trump said.
Giuliani will stay on as a “Vice Chairman of the Presidential Transition Team,” the organization said.
Stellar!
Lovely card and lovely First Family.
i used to get the card…and then they stopped….bummer
Mine stopped too, when I couldn’t donate to the DNC/DCCC any longer. 😶
I HAVEN’T DONATED ANYTHING..I VOTE..BUT I FEED THE POOR..NOONE IN WASHINGTON POLITICS IS POOR!
What I would give for one of these particular pictures! This would look really, really terrific along with my earlier framed Obama family pictures!
Dear President and First Lady Obama,
I wonder if you would/could send me one of these as a token for my being such a good neighbour all these years. I never once let my pets break through your fence!
Pleeeeease.
Thanks,
VC
How cute is that!
Good evening. CanadaBarb asked me to share this, for anyone interested!
I AM HOPING FOR LOTS OF PHOTOS OF THE HANUKKAH RECEPTIONS TO TRANSFER TO MY FB…………..
aren’t they leaving earlier this year … maybe I am just anxious
Well, I missed all of VPJoe’s visit in real time. 😦
Sorry, sir, but it couldn’t be helped. Hope you had a great visit, notwithstanding the white stuff in the air and on the ground!
It’s people like Joe who make us all so proud.
Hi ya, JO’B. I am so happy that VPJoe dropped by for a quick visit, even if he chose a time I was busy! 😀 😀
That’ll teach him, VC! His mistake. Have a great evening!
It teaches me too - often a problem when you try to teach someone a lesson. 😉 🙂
Thanks!
Various algorithms can be imagined for what role Comey played (continues to play) … one conceivable output being a surprise that would be much more consistent with his behavior as described in the article ….
How is this sham of a foreign interference election even legal? Russia CLEARLY interfered with the election of the US and now have their preferred candidate! The American PEOPLE don’t, but Russia does! How is it ok for the FBI..you know, THE SAME FBI THAT WE PAY FOR WITH TAXPAYER $$$, on the take to mess with the election and that’s “ok”?? WTF is WRONG with this picture!! I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, but JHC…why aren’t people in the streets?! This is INSANE. Do you suppose that the EC is paying attention to the sorry ass choices this fraud is making for appointments? Every single on of them wants to demolish the agency they are supposed to be in charge of! Holy crap! Even the dumb asses that voted for the fraud should be in the streets! The swamp IS HIM! They all got pawned by a game show host! This makes me ill…this is not my America.
“Even the dumb asses that voted for the fraud should be in the streets! The swamp IS HIM! They all got pawned by a game show host! This makes me ill…this is not my America.”
Precisely, df …..
Because he is weak and they want to achieve their goal of taking down America!! Hillary understands Putin! That’s why this happened…they couldn’t have Hillary in a position of power! Killing us from within.
Exactly, df.
And, what it is remarkable and inevitable, given that Hillary Clinton is a woman, is that she is going to have to fight to have what is rightfully hers and what the majority of VOTING Americans supported - her Presidency.
OF COURSE…HOPE THEY GOT THE INFO. ON MY HACK…VLAD HAS BEEN VELLLLLY BUSY!
MARSHALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LAW IN THE STREETS!
TRUMP IS LOWER THAN SWINE..SATAN’S NEXTDOOR NEIGHBOR!
You may be right some day about that, Sue. Let’s hope not!
Goodnight and take care, TOD ….
All is not yet lost ….
NW, thanks. Just THANKS 🌹
Please, don’t jump me or take this wrong BUT what do you all think PO is doing behind the scenes?! Friends, this news tonight is ???????????? JC, I have no words to use. df said it well do ditto to what she said. 😰😰😰😰😰😰😰😰 for our country. Can anyone talk me down? CHIPS! We miss you. NW! Could not survive without you keeping us going.
It does feel weird right now doesn’t it? Oddly quiet from the PBO Admin & DOJ, like it did right before they got OBL. I keep running scenarios through me head, like how they fix all this…… Putin needs to be taken down first via the FIFA bribery scandal, then Trump & CO can follow. Even the GOP is weirdly silent on all this insanity, but it’s obvious to me, they’re waiting for the EC to seal it, then they’ll arrest Trump for one of the many crimes he’s done from Rape of a minor to all of his infinite business conflicts, to RICO via the fraud with TrumpU. The list is endless, and they want Pence because he’s controllable, although crazy - they can repeal everything they want with Pence, but at least Putin doesn’t have to be involved…..
There is so much insanity, and stupidity. It’s scary AF.
Had to return. I don’t think the timing of this WaPo report is the least bit accidental.
The “bury the lede on Friday” meme is NOT operative here.
I think that the timing has to do with getting all the information out before Asian markets open on Monday (our Sunday afternoon).
As KO stated, we MUST STOP trump from being inaugurated (and Pence, as well).
And yes, I #TrustBarack 100% ….
I looked at the pics at the top of the post and suddenly remembered that I haven’t looked in my ‘Love is in the air’ Obama picture folder in a loooong while. So off I go down memory lane, sharing one or three! ❤ ❤ ❤ me some Obamas showing love!
Oh damn:) That’s the one!
Proof of how low these low down dirty Republicans will go. It is just fine with them if some foreign government like Russia help them win, but if Russia had hack into the RNC and given emails to Wikileaks, the Republicans would have a dam fit.
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2016/12/09/bff-❤%EF%B8%8F/
they look so beautiful
where are all the lawyers?