Politically Rational

Author: Rick

  • Health Impacts in America

    โ€œWe are a rich nation and can afford many things.ย  But ill-health which can be prevented or cured is one thing we cannot afford.โ€ โ€“ Harry S. Truman, 1945

    ๐ˆ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐œ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ, ๐›๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ.

    Among the many controversial nominees ultimately confirmed to Donald Trumpโ€™s cabinet, one of the most controversial was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.ย  I heard a lot of support for his ideas on removing additives in food and cutting down on the prevalence of processed food in American diets.ย  Simultaneously, I heard a lot of opposition to his skepticism of modern medicine, vaccines and mental health issues in particular.

    As we journey through the third month of his second Presidency, today I want to look at the wide-reaching effects of the Trump Administration on human health in the United States.

    With the constant swirl of headline news from this administration, the continued measles outbreak in Texas rarely seems to make the front page in todayโ€™s news.ย  However, as the head of Health and Human Services continues to downplay the efficacy and safety of vaccines, cases of the disease are still rising in Texas and outbreaks are beginning in many other states.ย  From a total of 285 cases in 2024, we have already seen 483ยน cases in 2025.ย  In addition to measles outbreaks, we have also seen an increase in Vitamin A Toxicity as Kennedy Jr. pushes it as an alternative treatment for measles.ย  These actions directly jeopardize the health of America.

    This week, news broke that the administration was cutting tens of thousands of jobs from the CDC, FDA, and NIH; despite claims of transparency, the team that responds to FOIA requests was among these cuts.ย  These groups are responsible for a wide array of government programs, most notably including tracking infectious diseases (see measles, above), ensuring the safety of our food supply, and medical research.ย  Cuts to these critical departments put America at higher risk of food borne illness and transmissible diseases, on top of harming future health outcomes in the face of disease.

    As part of the initiative to cut wasteful spending, hundreds, if not thousands, of grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health have been cancelled; most of these grants are for research already under way and these projects are now at risk of ending prematurely, without results.ย  The research being cancelled includes cancer, cardiac health, vaccines, and mental health.ย  Cancelling research grants hurts the long-term health of America, and Americaโ€™s status as a leader in medical research.

    The Trump administration is planning to cut 83,000 jobs from Veterans Affairs.ย  This department is responsible for providing health care to American Military Veterans.ย  As we already have reports of staffing shortages at the VA which lead to challenges for our veterans in obtaining the medical care they deserve, cutting this agency will only exacerbate the serious issues within the agency.ย  Cutting 20% of the staff at Veterans Affairs will cause immediate harm to the 9+ million veterans enrolled in its services.

    The CDC has cited the end of the Covid-19 Pandemic as rationale for cancelling grants and contracts awarded to state and local governments.ย  While this funding was initially intended strictly for the purpose of tracking and fighting the pandemic, last year the funding was opened up for use in other areas.ย  This sudden cut in resources will hamper many statesโ€™ efforts to improve their health departments and potentially strain state budgets.ย  Cutting state and local resources for tracking health care heightens risk of increased disease. ยฒ

    Among the first actions of this new administration were drastic cuts to the USAID program.ย  The spending allocated in this program helps fund nutrition and health care programs worldwide, along with many international non-profit organizations dedicated to combating issues tied to poverty.ย  While this action will directly harm international citizens, it will also harm our diplomatic efforts.ย  Moreover, as we saw clearly in 2020, infectious disease transmission does not follow international borders and this will open up new pathways for disease to spread worldwide, including in the United States.ย  Curtailing USAID increases the likelihood of infectious disease in the United States. ยณ

    Each of these actions, on its own, will create immediate uncertainty in the health and well-being of America.ย  However, taking all of these actions together makes it even more difficult to project the final outcome of the Trump administrationโ€™s health policies.ย  However, each of these actions is detrimental to the health of America and a compound effect of them all together is likely to significantly worsen health outcomes in the United States for years to come.

    ย 

    Note 1 โ€“ this value will likely increase in the coming days โ€“ the source from the CDC below should have an updated figure, but with some of the cuts discussed in this post, I am not sure if that is true.

    Note 2 โ€“ As many states, Iowa included, are pushing to decrease state-level income taxes, federal cuts have an additional risk of creating budget shortfalls at the state and local levels.ย  A deficit is already projected in Iowa.

    Note 3 โ€“ Historically, worse conditions from disease, violence, and hunger have contributed to mass migration; given the current immigration stance in the United States, I imagine this migration may look different than in years past.

    ย 

    Sources:

    RFK Jr. weighing FDA crackdown on food additives under Trump โ€“ CBS News

    RFK Jr. Says Ultra-Processed Foods are โ€˜Poisonโ€™ | TIME

    Trump, RFK Jr. go after antidepressants, weight loss drugs. Hereโ€™s what the science says โ€“ ABC News

    Texas reports latest measles numbers as cases continue to spread | Fox News

    Measles Cases and Outbreaks | Measles (Rubeola) | CDC

    Some measles patients in West Texas show signs of vitamin A toxicity, doctors say, raising concerns about misinformation | CNN

    Trump Administration Begins Layoffs at CDC, FDA and Other Health Agencies โ€“ The New York Times

    Scholars, groups sue Trump administration over canceled NIH research funding | CNN

    HHS Grants Terminated

    5 reasons federal cuts are hitting veterans especially hard | PBS News

    Veterans groups raise the alarm about DOGE cuts at the VA : NPR

    Veterans Affairs: Addressing Longstanding Management Challenges Requires Sustained Leadership | U.S. GAO

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/health/trump-state-health-grants-cuts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.804.5NAV.v3yWUmgZu4W_&smid=url-share

    Trump administration says it will pull back billions in COVID funding from local health departments | AP News

    Trumpโ€™s ending of 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts slams programs around the world | AP News

    Trump administrationโ€™s USAID cuts have implications for humanitarian workers worldwide : NPR

    In potential showdown, aid groups demand court find USAID, State officials in contempt | WOSU Public Media

    USAID staffers stunned, angered by Trump adminโ€™s DOGE shutdown of $40B agency | Fox News

    Iowa revenues will drop below current spending with new 3.8% flat tax

  • The Importance of Voting

    I invite civil, bipartisan discussion to this post.

    Most of the people who are reading this post probably do not need to be told the importance of voting.ย  However, in light of two special elections in Iowa since the 2024 election, along with a Supreme Court election in Wisconsin and special elections in Florida both on April 1st, I feel it remains a vitally important topic.

    There is one common refrain I have heard from a lot of people over the years, sometimes in person, in news articles, or interviews, and I am sure you have heard it too: My vote wonโ€™t make a difference.

    This can be a difficult narrative to break because on the surface, it is almost certainly true.ย  For example, in an election to the United States Senate, an entire state is voting for their preferred candidate making it relatively unlikely that any single voter is truly going to be the determining vote in that election.ย  On the other hand, the general sentiment that a vote wonโ€™t make a difference is likely to be shared among a population with other common attitudes and the apathy of entire voting blocs absolutely has the ability to swing elections.

    Moreover, voter turnout swings dramatically depending on the type and year of the election.ย  Many voters tend to think of voting specifically in major elections โ€“ voter turnout is far and away the highest in presidential election years with standard midterm elections in a distant second place.ย  In 2022 1.22 million voters cast a ballot in the gubernatorial race while 1.66 million cast a ballot for the presidential race in 2024.ย  According to the federal register, Iowa has a voting age population of nearly 2.5 million people, meaning over 30% of the eligible population did not vote in recent elections.

    Iowa had a special election in 2025 for the 35th Senate District as the incumbent resigned her position to become the Lieutenant Governor. ย In the election on January 28th, Democrat Mike Zimmer won the seat by a margin of 52% โ€“ 48%, taking one seat in the Iowa Senate from Republican control.ย  As President Trump won the vote in that district just two months earlier with a 60% majority, this swing has been touted as a major flip in favor of Democrats.

    I want to take an opportunity to look more closely at this election result and see what we can conclude from this election result.

    In the most recent general election in Iowa 35th Senate District in November 2022, there were a total of 24,266 voters compared with only 9.308 voters in the special election in January 2025.ย  Although the headline numbers are striking โ€“ the seat was won by a Republican with 60% of the vote in 2022 and lost with only 48% of the vote in 2025 โ€“ the district also saw a decline in votes of 62%.ย  Voter apathy in special elections is strong, and this was no exception.

    According to the Iowa Legislature website, there are approximately 64,000 people in this senate district and according to the U.S. census, 77% of Iowa residents are over 18 years old meaning the voting age population in the district is approximately 49,000 people, yet even in the most recent general election, less than half of those eligible cast a vote.ย  Voter apathy even in a general mid-term election is high.

    So, what conclusions can be drawn from the recent elections in Iowa? ย I do not believe we can make any proclamations about the general mood of the population from these recent special elections.ย  However, I believe we can firmly conclude that votes in special elections carry even more weight than those in a general election on account of the reduced voter turnout in those elections. ย Voting in special elections is exceptionally important.

    With 435 representatives in the United States, each representative has a voting age population of about 575,000 people.ย  Interestingly, one of the biggest arguments against the Constitution during the Convention was the requirement that a district be no smaller 30,000 people; this was considered to be too few representatives to adequately serve their constituents.ย  If we had more representatives, each requiring fewer votes to win office, it may assuage the fear that our singular vote does not matter.

    Please always stay informed about elections on all levels and all times; those elected in Presidential Election cycles, mid-terms, and special elections all have the same power to affect change.

    Thank you.

    ย 

    ย 

    Sources:

    Federal Register :: Estimates of the Voting Age Population for 2021

    2024 United States presidential election in Iowa โ€“ Wikipedia

    2022 Iowa elections โ€“ Wikipedia

    1787: Centinel, Letter I (Pamphlet) | Online Library of Liberty

    State of Iowa โ€“ Canvass State

    Screenshot 2025-02-24 083359.png (2067ร—790)

    Iowa Democrats flip Senate seat in special election

    U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Iowa

    https://iowa-legis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html

  • Immigration and Border Security

    ๐ˆ ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐œ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ, ๐›๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ.
    โ€œ๐ˆ ๐ฆ๐š๐ฒ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐š๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐š๐ฒ, ๐›๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ž๐Ÿ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐š๐ฒ ๐ข๐ญ.โ€
    This quote has long been attributed to Voltaire, but it seems to have first appeared in a book in the early 1900s. With the importance of free speech to democracy, I have always considered it a wonderful expression with the intention of inspiring open thought and truly hearing the viewpoint of others with the goal of understanding rather than disagreement.
    As long as I can remember, people in the United States have discussed the need for immigration reform and better enforcement at the southern border of the United States. Bill Clinton signed an immigration bill into law in 1996, George W. Bush discussed illegal immigration on numerous occasions including laying out a comprehensive plan in his 2007 State of the Union address, and Barack Obama signed an immigration reform bill in 2013. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ข๐๐ž๐š ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐œ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐›๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ.
    As Donald Trump has returned to office, he has taken aggressive steps against immigrants. However, many of this administrationโ€™s actions have been aimed at people who have entered this country legally, following the steps outlined by the federal government. It makes sense to tackle the real issues of illegal immigration, ๐›๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ง๐ž๐š๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐œ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐›๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ.
    This week, a student at Tufts University was detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The video of her arrest can be easily found online and is rather disturbing; she was taken in by plain clothes ICE officers in masks, and she was immediately moved to a detention facility across the country. This student has committed no crime; she did not destroy property, she did not attack anyone, and she did not support any sanctioned international organizations.
    She was detained and had her legal immigrant status revoked for speaking in support of Palestinians; Secretary Rubio has suggested another 300 visas have been similarly revoked. The fact that she is here on a student visa should have no bearing on her constitutionally protected right to free speech. ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ž๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐š๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐›๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ž๐œ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ.
    Since the new Trump Administration has come back into the Executive Branch, there have been numerous reports of tourists being detained within the United States. This includes a German tourist who was detained for several weeks in San Diego, a Welsh backpacker who was detained at the border and held for nearly three weeks in Washington State, among others.
    As a result of these detentions of people in this country legally, numerous European governments are understandably updating their travel advisories related to the United States. ๐Ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐š๐ ๐š๐ข๐ง, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ž๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐›๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ž๐œ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ.
    The Trump Administration has stripped hundreds of thousands of immigrants of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that was granted by the Biden Administration. These immigrants came to the United States legally from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela as they faced hardships in their homelands.
    Whether the decision to grant TPS to these people was a good decision or not, they followed the protocol of the United States Federal Government and were admitted to under a legal pathway to residency. In addition to these countries, President Trump is reportedly also expected to revoke legal residency to Ukrainian refugees who have fled the Russian invasion of their country. ๐๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐›๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ž๐œ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ.
    As I have mentioned before, Donald Trumpโ€™s executive order allowing ICE to conduct raids on schools is a troubling move. Schools now are being forced to consider their best, legal options for dealing with the possibility that immigration agents come to their schools to take away individuals on their grounds. Moreover, students will potentially witness another student, parent, or school employee be taken by force. With the Executive Branch revoking legal statuses at will, people taken away could have been here legally. ๐€๐ ๐š๐ข๐ง, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ž๐œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐›๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ž๐ง๐ก๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐›๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ž๐œ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ.
    As we see these many immigration policies that work only to harm people who have worked to come into the United States on legal grounds provided directly by the federal government, I continue to question what exactly Congress has to say about these issues. Unfortunately, I hear almost nothing from my representation; I will write again today to my Senators and Representatives and ๐š๐ฌ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ข๐ซ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐š๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐œ๐ก๐ž๐œ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐ญ:
    ๐‚๐ก๐ฎ๐œ๐ค ๐†๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฒ โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ–-๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ“
    ๐‰๐จ๐ง๐ข ๐„๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ’-๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ’
    ๐™๐š๐œ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ง โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ’๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ-๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐ŸŽ
    Thank you for reading.
    Sources:

  • Campaigns of Coercion

    ๐ˆ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐œ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ, ๐›๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ.
    As I think many of you can tell, I put a lot of thought, time, and effort into each and every one of my posts here. I appreciate the thoughts, comments, reactions, and discussion I have had thus far and I still maintain hope that this evolves into a broader, bipartisan discussion regarding the current political environment. As you read the details I lay out today, please share more examples I may have missed. I will provide news sources in the comments.
    โ€œ๐ˆ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ž๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฆ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ, ๐›๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐๐ฌ.โ€
    The news coming out of Washington D.C. has been incredibly difficult to keep up with. News that would have majorly shaken politics in a normal cycle has been a weekly, if not daily, occurrence. However, despite frequent breaking news, we hear relative silence from Congress. The quote above is attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. While the quote was spoken with regards to civil rights in the 1960s, ๐ˆ ๐›๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž ๐ข๐ญ ๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ .
    Today, I would like to talk again about the danger of the President freezing funding which has been authorized by Congress ๐š๐ง๐ ๐๐ž๐œ๐ข๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐œ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐. I will also reiterate that if there is fraud or abuse found in government spending, it should be disclosed and prosecuted. However, we have seen wholesale, indiscriminate cuts to large swaths of the government; we can tell these cuts are not done meticulously as we often have errors and blatant lies in reporting from DOGE, as well as workers being rehired, including those who work with U.S. Nuclear Weapons.
    The President deciding unilaterally which ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  can be released, allows the President wide discretion to pressure his opponents to bend to his will; it is apparent that the President will pull any lever at his disposal, regardless if it is Constitutional.
    Shortly after taking office, Los Angeles was continuing to deal with wildfires in the area. Despite the obvious need for emergency funding, Donald Trump repeatedly stated he was inclined to withhold federal aid to the state if they did cave to his demands. Now, numerous states are suing the administration for withholding congressionally approved funding as he demands they stop projects that are designed to mitigate the impacts of climate change. ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
    Columbia University had $400 million in congressionally approved grants frozen by President Trump. In order to unfreeze these funds, which were unconstitutionally frozen by the President, Columbia University was required to come up with a plan to mitigate protests on campus; the protests themselves should easily be legal under the first amendment. ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
    On March 15th, President Trump aimed an Executive Order at the Paul Weiss law firm; the firm has a history of working with prominent Democrats and has worked on numerous high profile cases. The Executive Order signed by President Trump directly targeted this firm removing security clearances and banning them from all federal buildings. In order to stop this order from being enforced, the company agreed to a deal with the President, seemingly the Presidentโ€™s objective all along. ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
    After Pete Hegseth was nominated for Secretary of Defense, it was widely reported that Senator Joni Ernst was uncertain whether Hegseth should be confirmed. In order to sway Senator Ernst, the Presidentโ€™s allies embarked on a public campaign pressuring her to confirm the nominee or face the wrath of Trump voters in a primary campaign. ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
    Shortly after the 2024 election, President Trump sued CBS News over a โ€™60 Minutesโ€™ interview claiming the program doctored footage of Kamala Harris. As reports swirl over a possible settlement from the parent company of CBS, Paramount Pictures, it seems President Trump is utilizing his position as head of the Executive Branch once again to coerce Paramount into submission. As Paramount looks to merge with Skydance, it will require FCC approval and President Trump will not allow the FCC to approve unless a settlement is reached. ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
    As we can see in the examples above, President Trump is using any possible power at his disposal to coerce Congress, constituents, companies, universities, and other organizations to bend to his will. While I largely believe that each of these groups should stand up for what is right and not give in to the pressure of the President, it seems they often relent. One of the biggest powers Donald Trump has at his disposal is funding that he has frozen ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐›๐ฒ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ.
    I do not know exactly what keeps Congress silent while the tornado of this Trump Administration continues to tear through Washington D.C. However, I do know that I will continue to share my frustrations with my representation, and I ask you all do the same. Once again, here are the local phone numbers of my members of Congress:
    ๐‚๐ก๐ฎ๐œ๐ค ๐†๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฒ โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ–-๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ“
    ๐‰๐จ๐ง๐ข ๐„๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ’-๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ’
    ๐™๐š๐œ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ง โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ’๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ-๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐ŸŽ
    Thank you.
    Note: This was originally posted to Facebook on March 26th, 2025.

  • Freedom of Speech is a Bedrock of American Democracy

    ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ฅ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐œ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ, ๐›๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ. I will post sources for my thoughts in the comments. Once again, I have written far more than I set out to write; I hope you read to the end. I will also provide relevant sources in the comments.
    โ€œCivil liberty, in all countries, hath been promoted by a free discussion of publick measures, and the conduct of publick men.
    The freedom of the press hath, in consequence thereof, been esteemed one of its safe guards. That freedom gives the right, at all times, to every citizen to lay his sentiments, in a decent manner, before the people.โ€ โ€“ John DeWitt, November 1787
    The quote above is from an article published in the Boston American Herald as America debated the newly written Constitution. This argument, among others, led to the freedom of the press as one of the key amendments in the Bill of Rights. Since the ratification of the constitution, ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ก๐š๐ฌ ๐›๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐š๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐›๐ž๐๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ; ๐ข๐ง๐๐ž๐ž๐, ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐š๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐›๐ž๐๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ.
    President Trump has had immigration officers arrest a recent graduate of Columbia University, who is here legally, with a green card, over protests related to Palestine, admitting he had broken no laws, and is attempting to deport him โ€“ further stating this is the first of many to come. This arrest is an attempt to intimidate, to make dissent and protest a feared activity. In addition to the arrest, President Trump has pulled millions of dollars of funding for multiple universities tied to Palestinian protests. Regardless of whether you agree with a protest or not, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐›๐ž๐๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ.
    President Trump has stepped up attacks on journalists in America.ย  Starting with attacks on โ€˜fake newsโ€™, this week he spoke at the
    Department of Justice and claimed MSNBC and CNN are arms of the Democratic Party, calling their reporting โ€œillegalโ€. Defining these actions as illegal is blatantly untrue and a further attempt to intimidate opposition, harming our free speech principles. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐›๐ž๐๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ.
    Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use the FCC to revoke media licenses for media networks who he claims treated him unfairly. Once again, the President is attempting to coerce media networks to paint him in a positive light, threatening free speech in the United States. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐›๐ž๐๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ.
    According to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, the funding that has been released after being frozen by the Executive Branch is concentrated in Republican districts, particularly those where the members of Congress have acquiesced to the demands of Donald Trump, despite all of this frozen funding having been legally appropriated by Congress. This is another mechanism to quell dissent and free speech โ€“ in this case amongst the very congress members who have the power to check the President. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐›๐ž๐๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ.
    Donald Trump has targeted law firms that have opposed him โ€“ signing an executive order to punish several law firms. This is a threat to other law firms, indicating executive action will be taken if a firm chooses to oppose the president. While I am a little uncertain if this is actually a first amendment violation, it is unequivocally immoral and an attempt to stifle dissenting legal opinions. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐›๐ž๐๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ.
    For many decades and through many Presidents, the White House Correspondentsโ€™ Association chose which journalists were able to be party to the Presidential pool. President Trump has taken over this control and is excluding many highly reputable news agencies on account of their coverage of the President and including media which are more closely aligned with his views. Excluding journalists is another way to push out dissenting opinions. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐›๐ž๐๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ.
    My entire life, I have heard politicians across the aisle, journalists, teachers, and friends discuss the incredible importance of free speech in democracy; truly, democracy cannot survive without a free press. For this reason, I cannot imagine any reason that republicans in Congress are silent.
    I write today to ask my representation, Senators Grassley and Ernst and Representative Nunn, to stand up for this important, unalienable right and demand that President Trump respect the right to free speech. ๐ˆ ๐š๐ฌ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ฌ๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ค ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ค ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ.
    ๐‚๐ก๐ฎ๐œ๐ค ๐†๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฒ โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ–-๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ“
    ๐‰๐จ๐ง๐ข ๐„๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ’-๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ’
    ๐™๐š๐œ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ง โ€“ (๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“) ๐Ÿ’๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ-๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐ŸŽ
    Thank you for reading.
    Note: This was originally posted to Facebook on March 15th, 2025.