Welcome to this week’s edition of “Stuff You Should Consume,”— a weekly compilation of interesting political content for Message Box readers. “Red Wave, Blue Undertow” by Michael Podhorzer, Weekend Reading I have consistently underscored that to the extent that Americans understood the stakes of the midterms to be about defeating MAGA, they would once again show up in sufficient numbers to bar the door. All that was needed to confound the usual midterm rout for the president’s party was making sure that 2020 voters understood that, just as they didn’t want Trump for President, they certainly didn’t want his criminal accomplices and MAGA fascists to take over Congress and their state capitals.
As regards DeSantis and the immigration chaos, here is what I say on social media or other forums every time DeSantis comes up in this context.
Florida's Ag industry has, collectively, 850,000 undocumented workers working across the industry in very necessary jobs. The Ag Industry's trade associations and growers' associations are very generous to Republican politicians in this state, and their new favorite is DeSantis. The sugar industry alone, per the Miami Herald, handed out nearly $11 million in contributions in the 2022 cycle alone for state and federal races.
In 2022, DeSantis signed a bill exempting any company hiring workers in the ag industry from using e-Verify, and prohibiting any state or local police agency from conducting immigration raids.
While DeSantis was signing bills protecting "illegals" in this industry, he was conspiring to persuade "illegals" in Texas to board a couple of planes to be flown to Martha's Vineyard. All to give him an opportunity to score political points in his unannounced bid for the White House. His only reported comment about this scheme was that "illegals eventually find their way to Florida."
DeSantis is a hypocrite, who wants no solution to the country's border crisis. He has already crafted a solution to Florida's immigration problem, while keeping that solution as far in the shadows as he can. But for the U. S., he wants chaos, he needs chaos, and he is doing what he can to create chaos.
I am so fed up with the GOP blocking immigration reforms in order to support ongoing chaos at the border to play to their base for each election. We need reform now to promote an orderly and humane immigration process. With 3.5% unemployment, we need immigrants including the Afghans who served our troops in Afghanistan, foreigners being educated in our colleges, and a path to citizenship for Dreamers and other law-abiding/productive workers from other countries. Our economy needs more workers, so let's get them their green cards, visas and citizenship for those who legally qualify. And let's budget for federal employees to handle the need in a timely manner.
1+1+1=3. Debt + spending - taxes = new debt ceiling.
Specifying adherence to a logical contraction is insane. In an over-constrained equation, something has to give. If Law literally cannot handle logos, it is useless. #MintTheCoin, I say. The retarded catch-22 should be flushed out in the open.
"There’s a lot of talk in Washington around the so-called “debt ceiling” which is a really unfortunate name. I prefer to call it the “deadbeat ceiling.”
Why? A “debt” ceiling implies that what we’re talking about is like a credit card, as if Congress were voting whether or not to raise our borrowing limit. As former Missouri senator Claire McKaskill succinctly put it, however, this “is NOT raising your credit card limit, it is making your car payment.”"
As regards DeSantis and the immigration chaos, here is what I say on social media or other forums every time DeSantis comes up in this context.
Florida's Ag industry has, collectively, 850,000 undocumented workers working across the industry in very necessary jobs. The Ag Industry's trade associations and growers' associations are very generous to Republican politicians in this state, and their new favorite is DeSantis. The sugar industry alone, per the Miami Herald, handed out nearly $11 million in contributions in the 2022 cycle alone for state and federal races.
In 2022, DeSantis signed a bill exempting any company hiring workers in the ag industry from using e-Verify, and prohibiting any state or local police agency from conducting immigration raids.
While DeSantis was signing bills protecting "illegals" in this industry, he was conspiring to persuade "illegals" in Texas to board a couple of planes to be flown to Martha's Vineyard. All to give him an opportunity to score political points in his unannounced bid for the White House. His only reported comment about this scheme was that "illegals eventually find their way to Florida."
DeSantis is a hypocrite, who wants no solution to the country's border crisis. He has already crafted a solution to Florida's immigration problem, while keeping that solution as far in the shadows as he can. But for the U. S., he wants chaos, he needs chaos, and he is doing what he can to create chaos.
I am so fed up with the GOP blocking immigration reforms in order to support ongoing chaos at the border to play to their base for each election. We need reform now to promote an orderly and humane immigration process. With 3.5% unemployment, we need immigrants including the Afghans who served our troops in Afghanistan, foreigners being educated in our colleges, and a path to citizenship for Dreamers and other law-abiding/productive workers from other countries. Our economy needs more workers, so let's get them their green cards, visas and citizenship for those who legally qualify. And let's budget for federal employees to handle the need in a timely manner.
1+1+1=3. Debt + spending - taxes = new debt ceiling.
Specifying adherence to a logical contraction is insane. In an over-constrained equation, something has to give. If Law literally cannot handle logos, it is useless. #MintTheCoin, I say. The retarded catch-22 should be flushed out in the open.
Really good stuff. Thank you.
here's a late addition: https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-deadbeat-limit
"There’s a lot of talk in Washington around the so-called “debt ceiling” which is a really unfortunate name. I prefer to call it the “deadbeat ceiling.”
Why? A “debt” ceiling implies that what we’re talking about is like a credit card, as if Congress were voting whether or not to raise our borrowing limit. As former Missouri senator Claire McKaskill succinctly put it, however, this “is NOT raising your credit card limit, it is making your car payment.”"