Taking life sustaining funds from our poorest Americans so the GOP can legislate massive tax breaks to our richest American is BOTH heartless sadism and terrible economics.
The sadism is obvious. Characterize the poor as the "parasite class" so you can get the pleasure of stripping them of life saving benefits. "Ahhh. Getting my money back from the parasites feels soooo good!"
BUT, left out of the economic equation is the impact on consumer spending and growth. If the GOP takes $800 billion in benefits away from the poorest Americans, those Americans will have that much less to spend on basic consumer goods like food, clothing, gas, rents and healthcare. That drop in spending will come right out of the pocket of wealthy Americans in the form of list investment profits, bankruptcy, crime, social disruption, drugs and so forth. And everyone of these GOP politicians call themselves good Christians!
The GOP must be driven from power in 2026! We must keep pushing back.
Two Years from Now? We have less than TWO MONTHS til Hell Tears loose in Europe, and our Country will be in full chains by then. We Must Demand Action NOW. REMOVE THIS RUSSIAN COUP. THIS MEANS ALL OF THEM WIRH THE MILITARY. NOW. WE WILL NOT BE A NATUON SOON, AND GONE BY TWO LONG YEARS. 🇺🇸🕯️
I agree. The sooner the better. But to be practical, we need to focus on what's doable. We should protest, start a tax revolt, organize a national strike and more DEI "I will not buy" days/weeks/never from major retailers. However, a J6 style assault on the Capital just won't work. It would kick off a domestic military response, mass arrests and give Trump more support.
We must continue to turn GOP politicians in purple districts away from Trump and MAGA. They have to know that turning away from Trump's coup is the ONLY way to keep their job.
The Washington Post had an article titled “Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding.” It seems as though Musk should offer those contracts up to save the US more than firing federal workers etc.
When contacting Iowa's all-Republican federal delegation, I leverage precise state data to frame my advocacy around the protection of vulnerable Iowans: Here are samples of recent letters and emails sent to my Senators and US. Rep.
"I'm writing regarding your plans to protect the 678,107 Iowans currently enrolled in Medicaid—21% of our state's population. Additionally, I'm concerned about your position on nutritional support for the more than 180,000 Iowa children eligible for free or reduced lunches, representing 40% of our public school enrollment of 485,000 students.
While agricultural policy certainly matters for our state's 86,000 farms and 70,000 farm workers, I want to emphasize that social safety net programs actually touch the lives of a significantly larger number of your constituents. I would appreciate hearing your specific plans to safeguard these essential services in upcoming legislation."
Expanding Impact Through Storytelling. --Though I don't have personal stories to share, I've offered a Substack platform where fellow Iowans can anonymously share their experiences with these programs. This approach allows constituents to safely describe how federal policy decisions directly impact their families without fear of exposure or reprisal.
I hope larger, effective Substack models will aggregate constituent experiences to strengthen our efforts. These collected narratives would complement the statistical data, providing quantitative and qualitative dimensions to our advocacy.
Thanks, Jessica. And I am happy to share—I have shared with state groups—I don’t understand why this strategy is not used. I first go to the state websites—as we know, quoting from the state govt. in Republican Iowa is helpful. To double-check, I share with advocates to ensure credibility. I have used Chat and Claude to find additional sources. Specifically, I have gone outside of Iowa and used the Kaiser Family Foundation, given its coverage of state impacts and its credibility. Does this help?
Self Reporting - today I contacted Ciscomani through his contact page on his web site. I felt it was important to tell my story.
We were damn near decimated in the Great Recession, lost our business & 2 homes. The ACA saved me. If I need nursing home care, in the future, I may need Medicaid. My husband was in his early 70's so there has been no way we could make up what we lost. Sorry for the TMI, but it is an important point as many are in the same boat (and I do wonder how many blew a gasket and are now MAGA) Our 'leaders' are ignoring what the GOP did in 2008, (we personally made it to 2013) and are now cutting programs for their tax cuts. How do they square this?
Anyway, I told Ciscomani I did not want his usual form letter; I wanted an explanation/justification how he can vote Aye for this budget. Thanks all.
Think about sharing your story, if you have a Republican Congressperson. Will they care, probably not.
Once again, Trump acts against the best interest of his own mega voters. Many of them live in rural places where the post office is their only real connection that is cost-effective. Every time somebody tries to cut the rule post offices, a big outrageous felt. So that will be an interesting exercise to see how that goes.
Did you see Kristi Noem's infomercial this morning on national TV? Her words: "We are a nation of laws." To me this is the height of hypocrisy when we have a President who is a convicted felon and who pardoned the worst of the Jan. 6 rioters who harmed/attacked police officers and gov. property. We need to call her to task for her words. It appears we are a nation of laws not for everybody but only for those deemed acceptable in the eyes of a narcissistic President. Let's encourage Ms. Noem to re-think her words and be held accountable. Thanks for your work, Jess.
HRH Donald Trump already declared any action in the interest of saving the Nation cannot be a crime. So, whatever we do to resist and save the Nation isn't a crime.
I think it was Simon Rosenberg this morning (can't remember) who called the Congressional Republicans the Vichy government. I'd like to see this term used lots more.
Thank you,Jenn. Feels good to be able to call my congresswoman and thank her, I am from Minnesota. I feel very fortunate to be from Minnesota. And I’ve been writing postcards for Wisconsin. I like having actions that I can do to challenge the inhumanity that is being Done on a national level. Thank you again for your guidance.
I called Morgan Luttrell's office to voice my extreme anger that he voted for this bill, apparently they already have MY information because I call at least 2-3X a week. It's so disgusting. I am almost in disbelief that America is here at this moment in time. F..k the government and anyone who voted for this bill.
Reposting one of my favorite quotes, from Cecile Richards: "When you're fighting for justice, you lose, you lose, you lose - and then you win."
YES love this!
That is very good. I think I’m gonna have to pin that on my forehead.
Taking life sustaining funds from our poorest Americans so the GOP can legislate massive tax breaks to our richest American is BOTH heartless sadism and terrible economics.
The sadism is obvious. Characterize the poor as the "parasite class" so you can get the pleasure of stripping them of life saving benefits. "Ahhh. Getting my money back from the parasites feels soooo good!"
BUT, left out of the economic equation is the impact on consumer spending and growth. If the GOP takes $800 billion in benefits away from the poorest Americans, those Americans will have that much less to spend on basic consumer goods like food, clothing, gas, rents and healthcare. That drop in spending will come right out of the pocket of wealthy Americans in the form of list investment profits, bankruptcy, crime, social disruption, drugs and so forth. And everyone of these GOP politicians call themselves good Christians!
The GOP must be driven from power in 2026! We must keep pushing back.
Two Years from Now? We have less than TWO MONTHS til Hell Tears loose in Europe, and our Country will be in full chains by then. We Must Demand Action NOW. REMOVE THIS RUSSIAN COUP. THIS MEANS ALL OF THEM WIRH THE MILITARY. NOW. WE WILL NOT BE A NATUON SOON, AND GONE BY TWO LONG YEARS. 🇺🇸🕯️
I agree. The sooner the better. But to be practical, we need to focus on what's doable. We should protest, start a tax revolt, organize a national strike and more DEI "I will not buy" days/weeks/never from major retailers. However, a J6 style assault on the Capital just won't work. It would kick off a domestic military response, mass arrests and give Trump more support.
We must continue to turn GOP politicians in purple districts away from Trump and MAGA. They have to know that turning away from Trump's coup is the ONLY way to keep their job.
It’s absolutely time to get active.
The Washington Post had an article titled “Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding.” It seems as though Musk should offer those contracts up to save the US more than firing federal workers etc.
100%.
He is not normal. He wants to run the world. He doesn’t care who he hurts.
When contacting Iowa's all-Republican federal delegation, I leverage precise state data to frame my advocacy around the protection of vulnerable Iowans: Here are samples of recent letters and emails sent to my Senators and US. Rep.
"I'm writing regarding your plans to protect the 678,107 Iowans currently enrolled in Medicaid—21% of our state's population. Additionally, I'm concerned about your position on nutritional support for the more than 180,000 Iowa children eligible for free or reduced lunches, representing 40% of our public school enrollment of 485,000 students.
While agricultural policy certainly matters for our state's 86,000 farms and 70,000 farm workers, I want to emphasize that social safety net programs actually touch the lives of a significantly larger number of your constituents. I would appreciate hearing your specific plans to safeguard these essential services in upcoming legislation."
Expanding Impact Through Storytelling. --Though I don't have personal stories to share, I've offered a Substack platform where fellow Iowans can anonymously share their experiences with these programs. This approach allows constituents to safely describe how federal policy decisions directly impact their families without fear of exposure or reprisal.
I hope larger, effective Substack models will aggregate constituent experiences to strengthen our efforts. These collected narratives would complement the statistical data, providing quantitative and qualitative dimensions to our advocacy.
This is great! Where do you find your exact numbers?
Thanks, Jessica. And I am happy to share—I have shared with state groups—I don’t understand why this strategy is not used. I first go to the state websites—as we know, quoting from the state govt. in Republican Iowa is helpful. To double-check, I share with advocates to ensure credibility. I have used Chat and Claude to find additional sources. Specifically, I have gone outside of Iowa and used the Kaiser Family Foundation, given its coverage of state impacts and its credibility. Does this help?
This is a GREAT approach. It will build the long-term Resistencee we need 👍👍
My understanding is that Massie voted against because he didn’t think the cuts were enough.
Yes. I meant to add that but forgot. It's no virtue of his that he voted no. But since he did, and we need every no vote, we can still thank him.
You can quick send a letter to Congress too with American Postal Workers Union to pack a punch here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/defend-our-public-postal-service-2
Self Reporting - today I contacted Ciscomani through his contact page on his web site. I felt it was important to tell my story.
We were damn near decimated in the Great Recession, lost our business & 2 homes. The ACA saved me. If I need nursing home care, in the future, I may need Medicaid. My husband was in his early 70's so there has been no way we could make up what we lost. Sorry for the TMI, but it is an important point as many are in the same boat (and I do wonder how many blew a gasket and are now MAGA) Our 'leaders' are ignoring what the GOP did in 2008, (we personally made it to 2013) and are now cutting programs for their tax cuts. How do they square this?
Anyway, I told Ciscomani I did not want his usual form letter; I wanted an explanation/justification how he can vote Aye for this budget. Thanks all.
Think about sharing your story, if you have a Republican Congressperson. Will they care, probably not.
Not TMI at all. It is imperative that we share our exact personal stories so they understand how people they represent are being hurt.
Thank you Jessica. Much appreciated.
Once again, Trump acts against the best interest of his own mega voters. Many of them live in rural places where the post office is their only real connection that is cost-effective. Every time somebody tries to cut the rule post offices, a big outrageous felt. So that will be an interesting exercise to see how that goes.
Did you see Kristi Noem's infomercial this morning on national TV? Her words: "We are a nation of laws." To me this is the height of hypocrisy when we have a President who is a convicted felon and who pardoned the worst of the Jan. 6 rioters who harmed/attacked police officers and gov. property. We need to call her to task for her words. It appears we are a nation of laws not for everybody but only for those deemed acceptable in the eyes of a narcissistic President. Let's encourage Ms. Noem to re-think her words and be held accountable. Thanks for your work, Jess.
She literally nauseates me.
Oh yes, most definitely
HRH Donald Trump already declared any action in the interest of saving the Nation cannot be a crime. So, whatever we do to resist and save the Nation isn't a crime.
I think it was Simon Rosenberg this morning (can't remember) who called the Congressional Republicans the Vichy government. I'd like to see this term used lots more.
Me too.
Thank you,Jenn. Feels good to be able to call my congresswoman and thank her, I am from Minnesota. I feel very fortunate to be from Minnesota. And I’ve been writing postcards for Wisconsin. I like having actions that I can do to challenge the inhumanity that is being Done on a national level. Thank you again for your guidance.
Thank you Jess! Great stuff!
I called Morgan Luttrell's office to voice my extreme anger that he voted for this bill, apparently they already have MY information because I call at least 2-3X a week. It's so disgusting. I am almost in disbelief that America is here at this moment in time. F..k the government and anyone who voted for this bill.
Thank YOU for all that YOU do!
Thank you!
Thank you for this report. Thank you for All you are doing. 🫂💙🇺🇸