Today, however, I want to hear from you. What's on your mind? What topics should be on Popular Information's radar? You can leave your thoughts in the discussion thread linked below, starting now. I’ll be dropping by later today to answer any questions.
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Sep 28, 2023·edited Sep 28, 2023Liked by Judd Legum
It would be great if someone could provide a plain-speak outline of Project 2025; the Heritage Foundations plan to turn the U.S.A. into a dictatorship. It's a large report at 920 pages. I'd be happy to outline a section or two. Maybe we could make this a community effort.
I have tried to sort through what the Heritage Foundation wants to do with Project 2025, and it indeed looks revolting. Some aims were achieved, according to what I read. I think most Americans don't understand what would happen if their aims are achieved.
Exactly why I think this is a needed piece of journalism. More importantly though, it needs to get out there. I don't think most Americans are even aware.
I have been reading, searching, and digging into Project 2025 for a few months now. I have written a few articles about my basic findings at my Substack that you might find helpful.
I came to comments to say the same thing. Trying to get through all the pages is tedious and very time consuming. Several of my friends have said the same thing and commented it was so detrimental to democracy, they had to stop reading frequently. I happened to run across a clip by Ali Velshi on MSNBC on Project 2025 that I have recommended to several groups I belong to. However I do not feel it was adequate and did not go into the depth people need to know. It is very important that the information reaches as many people as possible before the 2024 elections.
From Wikipedia: "Project 2025 is a controversial plan, authored by the Heritage Foundation, to reshape the U.S. federal government in the event of a Republican victory in the 2024 United States presidential election.[1][2] Established in 2022, the project seeks to recruit thousands to come to Washington, D.C., to replace existing employees to restructure the federal government as to further the agenda and policies of Donald Trump.[3] The plan would perform a quick takeover of the entire U.S. federal government under a maximalist version of the unitary executive theory – a theory proposing the president of the United States has absolute power of the executive branch – upon inauguration. The development of the plan is led by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative U.S. think tank.
The plan includes widespread changes across the entire government, particularly in regards to economic policy and the role of the federal government and federal agencies. Numerous commentators see Project 2025 as a path to the ending of American democracy, which would replace it with an undemocratic authoritarian regime, possibly led by Trump as dictator.[4]"
Thank you for the easy link. Now, I'm wondering about how all of these evil qualities they are afraid of are behaviors or predilections of Kevin Roberts and his ilk--pedophilia, unusual sexual tastes, etc. [As a psychotherapist for decades, I learned how common it is for "regular men" to want to dress as women, wear women's makeup, and secretly wear womens' underwear. I could care less what they want or what they do, but to make hidden desires evil and then project them onto an "enemy" demands exposure.]
I suggest that we gather enough information to be able to discern to the WHY--what motivates them--not just power (we know that). Which Heritage player is in favor of "what," and the why's behind the huge expenditure of money and connivance.
Is there an accounting of the cost to tax payers of Donald Trump? I remember reading how much his secret service detail cost during his term. If all of the costs were added up that are attributed to his actions, I have no idea how much that would be. It would include direct costs like salaries and expenses of the justice department, courts and indirect costs of legislators protecting him.
It would be good to know how much one person has added to our debt.
Agreed. I'm especially interested in the price tag of his golfing trips, where SS were put up at Trump properties at full rate. Taxpayers picked up the tab. Perhaps get a refund, and solve the problem of child hunger in the US?
I would include the cost of protection for his adult family members as well. It's a package. As a separate item, what is the cost of the increased protection for all the people Trump has targeted, whether they are government officials, attorneys, witnesses, or private citizens.
Yes! This! Today General Milley was commenting how he had security. Who pays for it? Does he incur this expense, or are taxpayers footing this one too?
And, has any of the cost come down under Biden? Is there a limit to what he can charge the Secret Service? I know the SS doesn't like to talk about security, etc., but is anyone in Congress monitoring the charges and how they compare to other former presidents? Did they really take away security for his grown "children?"
Oh well, "it's bigger than you realize"! Every time any of his children or family members took a trip, Secret Service had to protect them (such as a ski trip to CO, or any vacation).
Thanks for your work. Would you consider an investigation into the people/funding behind No Labels, Useyourvoice.com, and other so-called centrist organizations?
I’m interested on your take regarding the Equal Rights Amendment. 38 states have ratified and yet a Democratic president and senate, who rely on female voters, cannot publish it.
This is an excellent idea. While we’re at it, how about National Popular Vote? It has been approved in seventeen states representing 205 electoral votes. Once it gets to 270, it activates (at least in those states). Where are we on getting the final 65 electoral votes to restore some semblance of popular “one person, one vote” democracy?
That must be because there aren’t 10 Republican votes.
The filibuster cudgel requires 60 votes for almost everything. You can thank Manchin and Sinema for maintaining that. https://wapo.st/3nLXlLJ (free to read).
It only takes a simple majority to kill the filibuster. If Sinema is replaced by Gallego and we (sigh) keep Manchin, and stay at 50 or 51, we do have the vice presidential vote, then finally. Simple majority.
But most people don’t know about the filibuster cudgel and understandably are upset that we couldn’t pass everything we wanted with our majority. This is why.
I’ve heard some opinion that Senate action is not required but rather the archivist merely needs to ‘publish’ the amendment.
Even so, unlike abortion, equal rights under the constitution is far more fundamental and would on the surface seem to be a political winner. I mean who’s going to come out and say otherwise?
So I find it curious that the Dems don’t seize the opportunity.
Unfortunately it is indeed not that simple - The 27th amendment took 203 years to ratify, but the ERA was supposed to be ratified in 38 states by 1979, due to a Congress-imposed deadline. 35/38 states have ratified the amendment. The good news is that the 1979 deadline was included in Congress’ proposal for an amendment, not the actual text passed by states. A new proposal passed by a dem congress would fix this, but then again the filibuster becomes an issue, and 5 of the original 35 have tried (not clear if legal) to rescind their pre-1979 ratification https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/pathstoratification
I’m raising on this forum because I do think it’s that simple. Judd is quite good at exposing hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle. Anyway, would love to explore.
One writer explained that we don't want "equal rights" because women deserve more rights for pregnancy and childbirth and maternity leave. There is no "equal" about it because males don't give birth nor breastfeed. Most developed nations have far more generous policies for women who give birth and parent. The equal rights amendment serves up an important measure of equality, but this part, where females are unique, doesn't get addressed appropriately.
Hmm yeah but doesn’t that sound like a right wing talking point. At minimum, there’s a sizable portion (majority!) of the voting population that doesn’t have equal standing under the constitution.
I’m raising this in this forum because I have a suspicion Democrats must have as much to gain from not seeing the ERA through. Much like when corporations give lip service to progressive causes and still fund politicians who oppose those policies.
I wonder if part of the problem is a repeated use of "one size fits all" policies, when one size fits very few (and I think we know who the very few are).
Why is legacy media continuing to massively underplay the extraordinary threat of a second Trump term (or the current threats to civil rights and minority rights posed by GOP officials in almost every state?)
I hear about Biden's age, the border, and inflation on a daily basis, or their favorite framing: "Why X is bad for Biden".
Do these journalists and anchors truly not understand the ruination that follows fascism? Have they failed to see the repression of a free press in Poland, Hungary, India, etc?
Or is their bubble so impenetrable that they dwell in denial?
Along these lines, why does the media frame Biden’s age & TFG’s indictments as polar opposites? Clearly, Biden & TFG are nearly the same age, Biden is healthier than TFG, & Biden is unlikely to be indicted.
My wife is a federal employee and the government shutdown is front and center in our household. We have some savings and will be OK, but we worry about the impact to contact workers and hourly employees (i.e. the custodial staff) who won't receive back pay whenever Kevin Mccarthy can get the maga extremists to stop holding him, and the entire federal government hostage. What is Fox reporting on this? What are people saying who are represented by these lunatics? What is the broader social and economic impact of yet another shut down? How beholden to Putin are these Representatives as they stop aid to Ukraine?
Read Trump is still the defacto leader of the party- he wants a long shutdown to plunge country into recession & sabotage the Dems- GOP are in goose-step.
I am not personally affected, but I am more than worried about the workers affected. I have worked with federal employees and find them smart, dedicated, and hard-working. They don't deserve this.
I really enjoy the work this publication produces. All the writers are so thorough. I'd love for you to drive deeper into the pay issues with our USFS Wildland firefighters. Their temporary raise 2yrs ago to $15 per hour was paltry. BUT the firefighters were grateful for it! Now it's set to expire 9/30 and no one has a solution. These folks are experienced public servants. They don't want to go work for Cal Fire or other state agency. They like what they do and want to keep doing it to help all of us. But they work so hard, are gone for weeks at a time, often compromising their own health, and they can't survive on the pay. Especially if they want to own a home and/or start a family. Folks are going to be very scared and helpless without these dedicated emergency responders. Yet there's no solution out there for them. No one is even talking about it.
A partial solution has been that prison inmates in some locations have been trained to be firefighters, and in limited situations are helping to fight forest fires ... but for a number of reasons, they don't get hired when released, mostly due to resistance from the organizations themselves.
That's true. But that's been going on for some time now. It's not a solution to paying the firefighters, whether they start off in prison or elsewhere, a living wage.
Also I'm not as familiar with how inmates are paid when they're still in prison, but that's a whole other subject for Popular Information to write about honestly, the fact that having prisoners work for no or incredibly low wages is a form of slavery that continues today. And prisons going private has made this horrible situation even worse.
Agreed! The prison industrial complex thrives on repeat customers... no incentive towards true rehabilitation, job training, etc. It's a terrible idea to privatize prisons.
One of the slow motion disasters that Republicans have been bringing about - with enormous consequences but very little media attention - has been the purposeful destruction of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Their obvious goal has been to disable it so that they can get away with whatever electoral shenanigans they choose. This is a very serious issue that I’d love to see you tackle. Here’s a recent article on the mess at the FEC: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-rap-fec-gridlock-that-republicans-say-is-a-feature/ar-AA1h14wE
I’d be very interested in how much government funding, services and other support goes to the districts and residents of each of the House extremists who apparently want nothing more than to undermine, shut down and destroy the government. If federal funds and services were to disappear, what would be the impact on their home districts and on the public they are supposedly representing? Also, what are their salaries, how are they paid, what are these individuals worth personally and who is supporting them and their campaigns financially?
In addition, I would love to see a movement to make elected officials have to pay for their own health insurance, as we all do. Make them apply to ACA and receive assistance only as needed. Why do they get a free ride? Save us all some money and pay for your own insurance, politicians.
This is an excellent idea. I believe it is imperative for the American people to understand how much these radicals are taking and from who...additionally how much money they are getting for their respective districts in terms of special projects, funding for roads and transportation, housing, etc. It is bad enough that they will get a salary during the government shut down, but certainly their districts need to suffer because of how they are hurting all of us.
Please keep hammering away at the hypocrisy of most media's lack of holding Republicans and Trump to even just a basic standard of truth and honesty. The Democratic party is the only major party in our country that is trying to govern with real policy, whether it is good policy or policy that matches each person's taste, or not. I think I don't really need to explain this specifics of this anymore here. But, the ridiculousness with which the Republicans are behaving in their attempt to function needs to be fully exposed, and not allowed to be seen as policy or "the other side" to a problem or debate. (I.e. How is it that Republicans are beginning to try to get away with writing off climate change as simply the change of the seasons?)
It's a time for a follow-up on your great work investigating money flowing to Jared Kushner from Saudi Arabia? It may seem like really old news, but I would love to see some accountability for this cretin. I am enjoying seeing Justice catch up to many of the Trump miscreants, and of course Trump himself, I don't think Kushner should escape.
Yes, I think about this all the time. Especially in light of how much energy we are spending talking about other people benefiting from family members in office.
Can you find info on profiteering in the food industry? Sticker shock at the supermarket is one reason for the country's foul mood. Retailers are one part of the story, but how about the food processors?
The farmer doesn't get the bucks. My neighbor pretty much gets the same per pound for his cattle that he did in 2016. Yet a 2 pound beef roast is $26. The middle man and end source, site energy costs, higher insurance costs, etc, etc are to blame. Ha. Corporate greed in the food industry is the problem. Check on stock prices and profits like you do the oil industry. Most are doing quite well sticking it to us.
It seems clear that the mainstream media are failing when they continue to report false equivalencies such as Biden’s age and Trump’s 91 felony indictments or Hunter Biden’s troubles and Trump’s 91 felony indictments. Jennifer Rubin and Frank Bruni regularly call this out but nothing seems to change. The mainstream media are all about the horse-race and not about the substance. It would be great, Judd, if you could take this on. As a well-respected and effective journalist with a great platform, this disservice by the mainstream media needs to be changed and soon. What do you think?
As much as I am a devotee to MSM, I agree with Adele on this. The MSM is always concerned with telling both sides of a story even when one side is completely discredited. (Up until only a few years ago the New York Times always added the "On the other hand..." in climate crises stories and gave voice to "3% of scientists disagree that climate change is man-made" until they finally said "Bastaa!" and dropped the "to be sure" paragraph.)
I know the msm has them, so let them swing those cujones and call BULLSHIT when the bull is shitting.
This is gonna feel like a tired subject maybe, but even w/all the pieces on generational issues, I'm not sure people TRULY understand how depressed Millennials and some of the Gen-Z generation are in the U.S.. Being blamed for EVERYTHING wrong in this society may be great for clicks, clout, and article sales, but it is really slaughtering their self value to a point where they don't care about anything or anyone anymore. For example, there are THOUSANDS of missing children in schools after COVID, and it seems like an afterthought to people. (Sorry for the long post)
Following up on your post last month about why Americans say the economy is terrible despite an abundance of date that shows otherwise, I'd love your take on the role of corporate media in shaping people's negative perceptions. Last month, Quinnipiac reported results of a poll that showed 71% of Americans described the economy as "not so good" or "poor." But perhaps more noteworthy (and certainly less reported), 60% of respondents described their OWN financial situation as either "good" or "excellent." That's a pretty big disconnect. Why is the mainstream media so quick to talk down our economy each day? We've had repeated warnings of recessions that never happened, little mention that inflation is down 5% from last year at this time, and very little mention of historic job growth and a record streak low unemployment (along with lowering deficits) since Biden took office.
I think part of it and, I am guilty of this myself, is that it's far more interesting in the news business to talk about bad news. But this can distort reality, as you note.
I would like to see amplified the working conditions of retail pharmacists. They walked out in Kansas CVS. Walgreens and Walmart aren't any better. Yes pharmacists make a lot of money but when they are expected to do the impossible, our lives are at stake. The conditions are inhumane, no breaks, no bathroom time, no assistance. Its appalling. This needs to be amplified by journalism. CEOs want to quiet it down. Don't let them.
This is why we need to make patient care and pharmacist’s mental health a priority in retail pharmacy. This is a realistic breakdown of my 24 hour store’s numbers and tasks broken down on an hourly level. I am expected to work 6 of my 8 hours alone, with only 2 hours of overlap between 2 PM and 4 PM. The stress from the day follows us home and comes back the next day. Especially when we are expected to close (10 PM) one shift and open (8 AM) the next day.
800 scripts entered per day, around 90% coming between 9 AM – 9 PM (60 per hour)
500 scripts sold per day, around 90% coming between 9 AM – 9 PM (37 per hour)
45 vaccines per day, all between 9 AM – 8:00 PM (4 per hour)
1.) 60 prescriptions entered per hour (av)
a. E-Review – 10 seconds per Rx = 10 minutes
b. Review – 8 seconds per Rx = 8 minutes
2.) Pt. consults – 20 per hour (av)
a. 45 seconds each = 18 minutes
3.) Vaccines – 4 per hour
a. 5 minutes per appt = 20 minutes
4.) TPR/DUR overrides – 5 per hour
a. 45 seconds each = 3.75 minutes
5.) Answering Phone
a. 15 calls per hour @ 1 minute each = 15 minutes
6.) Patient Care Portal calls
a. 5-6 per hour to complete list
i. 3 minutes each (av) = 15 – 18 minutes
7.) OTC counsels – 2 per hour
a. 1-2 minutes each = 2 to 4 minutes
8.) Calling doctor offices for Rx verification
a. 1-2 per hour
i. 3 minutes each = 3 to 6 minutes
9.) Transfers to & from pharmacy
a. 1-2 per hour
i. 2 minutes each = 2 to 4 minutes
10.) Getting & Retrieving C2s from safe = 2 minutes
Total = 98.75 to 108.75 minutes per hour
Even without vaccine season, the hourly work expected is 78.75 to 108.75 minutes worked of work crammed into 60 minutes. This overload of work expected out of one pharmacist creates a culture of cramming more work than should be possible to keep up, resulting in an environment of:
What can I do faster instead of focusing on patient safety and accomplishing the task well
What can I skip doing when I fall behind
What things can I do at the same time to help catch back up
CVS Pharmacy Would You Like Shots with That? a documentaryRxcomedy Bled Tanoe, PharmD The Cynical Pharmacist
In California, we are again seeing an increase in tv ads that on their surface seem at least somewhat favorable of alternative energy. With a bit of digging into the funding sources for these ads, however, there are clear ties to the fossil fuel industry. Two examples are Californians for Affordable & Reliable Energy (CARE) and Californians for Energy Independence. I’m curious if there are examples of these types of misleading practices in other parts of the country, and if so, is there coordination and perhaps higher level, pooled funding.
Thanks. I've been noticing these commercials masquerading as public service ads and find them suspicious.
I'd like to add the frequent, repetitive commercial that claims the the State of CA is adding $1.12 tax per gallon. No detail. I'm out of state presently so cannot double-check who is publicly behind the ad but just checked and learned that the California excise gas tax went up $0.04 on July 1 to a total of $0.579 a gallon.
From SD Union-Tribune: "Formally called the Road Repair and Accountability Act, the gas tax is expected to raise $52.4 billion over 10 years." However, I think that expectation continues to drop as the number of EVs has increased. The UT article also points out that CA doesn't have the highest excise tax; Pennsylvania holds that 'honor' at $0.617/gal. plus everyone in every state pays a federal excise tax of $0.184 per gallon.
All of this pre-dates the hideous late-September gas price in CA that now substantially exceeds $6/gal. And I was down to 1/4 tank when I left in mid-September. Looking forward to my driving trip for a family Thanksgiving in Tucson; I always try to have just enough gas to get me across the state line to Yuma for a fill-up. Same for return trip.
I’m interested in better understanding the various vulnerabilities and ambiguities in our election system that would allow a person facing 91 felony indictments to be even remotely considered for the presidency, let alone elected. In other words: What catastrophic failure (and of what specific mechanisms) is being allowed to play out every single day where someone like that is currently one of two frontrunners?
I agree with this. There is a provision being considered in one or two states that would keep Trump off of the ballot. What is the provision? Is it in the Constitution? How many states are doing this? Can this be done in other states too through law suits? Etc. Coverage on this would be very interesting and enlightening.
Exactly! It speaks to the wider concept of *individual states (Leticia James) and counties (Fani Willis) doing the right thing where they can* throughout this whole nightmare. Short of a constitutional amendment that would bar anyone with a criminal indictment to be eligible for public office - the states may be the last remaining bastion of hope!
As I just noted in a comment just upthread, the 60 votes filibuster cudgel would be a good thing to explain to people because it’s been a frustrating three years for me to explain to people over and over again that they can’t just vote simple majority for almost anything at this point, only judicial appointments or reconciliation bills.
At the first 2023 Republican debate, a young man from Young America's Foundation was allowed to pose a question to the candidates about climate. He appeared well prepared and his question appealed to young voters. That is the frightening thing about Young America's Foundation. On the surface, they appear very clean cut and reasonable. But a quick look at their website reveals who they really are - an anti-LGBTQ organization formed to torment LGBTQ students on college and high school (and some middle schools) throughout the nation. Their power and funding are growing at an exponential rate. They own the Reagan Ranch in California, the Reagan boyhood home in Dixon, IL and have just purchased the Reagan birthplace in Tampico, IL. Their version of Reagan is highly idolized. I would love to see some digging on who these people are and who funds them.
The NC State budget repeals the law requiring draft maps and other redistricting records to be made public after districts are approved. This means all gerrymandering can be hidden. (!!!)
And, last week Rep. Terence Everitt (D) received notice from House Speaker Tim Moore that his legislative office had been moved to a basement closet while he was waiting to vote on the new budget. Someone boxed up his things in his old office. Everitt said it was likely a retaliation by Moore because of his request to the Wake County District Attorney to investigate Moore over a salary increase given to a state employee with whom he was having an affair.
In North Carolina, the GOP dominated state legislature is passing a budget that provides over $20 milllion of tax payer money for faith-based "pregnancy crisis centers" that do not appear to be legitimate organizations. They are not legitimate organizations in the first place, as they exist to dishonestly manipulate women seeking abortions. The issue here is that these orgs appear to not even provide any services at all, even their stated goal of tricking women out of seeking healthcare.
I would love to see this investigated, but I know our legislature will not and I haven't seen anything from local media. Please see this video of State Senator Natasha Marcus:
The housing crisis that has everyone concerned and talking has many causes and no one root cause. But I would like to know how the equity firms investing in housing has made it worse AND how realtors in getting commissions for house sales cause increases in the cost of a home.
Great. FYI - I have an acquaintance in Mass real estate who has been attempting to shed light on how buying and selling agents can collude to increase house sales. I think this is illegal in some states? But the big one for me is the predatory acts of corporate landlords raising rents on people have been renting for 20+ years and suddenly they are thrown out.
I’m so glad you are investigating and writing about our Democracy.
I’m a psychiatrist in NC, a purple state which used to have a great education system and health care. Since the Republicans took over by gerrymandering, it’s going downhill in both those areas.
Why are people “not good if the economy is good? “ Constant news of trump, other judges and politicians who are corrupt, and the climate crisis that everyone in media is ignoring. There’s a lot of grief and worry.
We’re looking at many systems breaking down soon, and minimal leadership. What is our future?
There’s been some alarm but little follow up reporting on the use of RICO in the arrest of protestors at Cop City in Atlanta. The charges essentially determine that organizing under their first amendment constituted a criminal organization or domestic extremism. Even though there’s been only one charge of arson in the case and money laundering under 8 counts, all 61 protestors were tied to racketeering. It feels like it’s just as concerning as the Kansas case of police seizing newspaper records. If it happens once without too much blowback then it gives license to repeat it en mass.
Agreed, this is frightening. And their using the date of George Floyd's murder as the 'inception date' of the imagined 'terrorist org'. This implies that every one of us rightfully protesting that atrocity are potentially implicated as terrorists?
With the vast wealth (and, thus, power) accumulating at the tip-top of the economic scale, this deadly-serious imbalance is breaking America's financial backbone: the Middle Class.
Please lay out, in deep detail, how "unearned wealth" has accumulated there. Thanks for all the work you and your team do!
here's an idea : how about a story on how the auto manufacturers are brainwashing Americans into buying huge, expensive gas guzzling SUVs and pick up trucks to increase their profits with little concern over the environment or climate change, and the damage and destructionThese vehicles do.
It all comes down to getting out the vote, starting right now for the November 7 elections. Ask your friends what is their plan to vote, join your local dem groups for canvassing, get young people registered.
This is fantastic, so many good ideas for investigations! I'm sure you will astound us in the near future. Your work has a real time effect on politics, and I am very very grateful for all that you do!
MSM continually frames the narrative around federal budgeting and tax policy in terms of taxpayer’s paying for things. MMT has shown that tax dollars are simply destroyed on payment and that the true narrative is that the government simply provisions for its needs by issuing payments within an budgetary framework established by Congress and approved by the President. Thus the budget, once established, is always payed for by issuing new dollars and not tax revenues. I would appreciate an analysis of this process so as to first demonstrate its validity and then to begin calling out the conventional framing whenever possible. We should stop accepting the childish narrative of taxes paying for things and accept that taxes have other important roles like reducing wealth disparities and incentivizing behaviors or investments.
has let go their top rated News Anchor team Brien Mcelhatten and co Anchor his wife Krista.
What’s the truth behind rumors?
Did his questions in an interview with congressman Jim Banks cause his non renewed contract. SarkariExam.com will give a very cautioned explanation..but did Banks
complain to station owners? I hope you can shed some light.
IMHO Banks is a little r = radical...not a R = Republican.
What is going on with the botched Covid vaccine rollout? The large pharmacy chains don’t seem to have enough supply and they’re charging folks who have insurance even though the insurance companies are required to pay. Our local health department doesn’t expect to have stock for a few weeks yet. (Shocked face) it appears privatizing public health doesn’t work great. Someone screwed up and I’m not seeing anything in the press about it. Is anyone asking HHS what happened? Who is in charge?
Some really great discussion here, thanks everyone. I’m particularly interested in project 2025 as well. For Judd though, please keep the spotlight on Florida! It’ll be so easy for them to sweep it under the rug with no one calling them out.
Hey Judd - can you do a piece on Gym Jordan's blatant abuse of his position and trying to illegally interfere into a criminal investigation? I just read an article today that he is again demanding documents by October 11th when he has no legal authority to do so.
The news out of New York that declared Trump's businesses illegal. I saw little mention in the mainstream, corporate-owned press. This is a big deal because it is based on his inflated tax returns where we overvalued, "shock!", his business to get favorable loan terms. The man is true con-artist.
Just like to say to Judd and company you are doing what you can to get the truth out there in the midst of a divided and sadly failing democratic republic.
Thank you.
Lots of good ideas on here this morning. Hope to read about 2025 Heritage project and many others mentioned here today.
Hate groups and how to get them labled as such, our North Shore community is experiencing bomb threats at multiple libraries and one elementary school. Two dark money extremists groups, Awake Il and New Trier Neighbors, have targetted LGBTQ+ programming at libraries and two public schools with rainbow flags in classrooms. Multiple bomb threats. The receipts: https://us15.campaign-archive.com/?u=8a3d87cd7d79916580f8848f7&id=19466af810
The Southern Poverty Law Center does a great deal of work tracking hate groups and, in some cases, suing them and putting them out of business. See https://www.splcenter.org and go to their "Hatewatch" or Hate Map menus.
I like the topics you hit! If anything, I'd like you to tell us more about yourself, so that each time we share, the people reading it can see why you are credible.
I'd love to see you elevate the case of tiny Newbern, AL. They elected their first black mayor in 166 years in 2020, but the white incumbent has so far refused to vacate the office (both the position and the physical space). There's an unelected despot running that town, and its duly elected mayor seems to have no options for securing an ouster.
I think this case poses the very relevant question: what happens if an authoritarian like Trump wins the presidency and then simply refuses to leave when their time in office is up? Do We, the People, have any legal or civil recourse, or are we looking at necessary armed rebellion to remove someone who behaves like the former mayor of Newbern?
I would like an explanation - although I can guess - why the mainstream media refuse to give President Biden credit for anything, and why they insist on manufacturing a false equivalency between him and Trump.
Other than the nightmare of climate change, I see two things warranting more discussion on this platform with suggestions on possible courses of action. I agree with those who have expressed a desire to get the word out regarding Project 2025, what it would entail, and how it can be stopped. While I rarely agreed with him, I can't begin to imagine Ronald Reagan and his Republican Party wanting to dismantle the FBI, destroy freedom of religion, quit NATO and take the United States off the world stage. The other issue is current state of the Republican Party and how working class Americans could be awakened and convinced that it is not the party that really cares about them. How can the Democratic Party reclaim the trust of those it has lost?
How does the 65-70% of the populace, call us the mainstream - concerned about solutions to climate warming, respect for rights of others, non-racist, non-misogynistic, not anti-Semitic, not homophobic, believe in gun safety - reassert control over the political process AND not have the tyranny of the majority.
As it is now, I feel and think we’re caught in the grips of an inescapable self-destruction machine.
We have tyranny of the minority right now. It's an effort by white males to make their traditional dominance permanent against the onslaught of women, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and others joining the democratic process. Of course, that is a broad generalization, but I have worked in male-dominated environments and the level of fear of all these others competing is high. Just look at the photos taken of each party at the beginning of Congress. The Republicans are almost all white men, while the Democrats display an amazing amount of diversity.
The first one is the one we need to remedy if we can. I know most people see the process and automatically feel it's Biden's fault, but the message needs to be the combination of corporate greed and the ripples of the pandemic. People don't have the time to get an economic education, but the messaging needs to be clear.
I also think we need to be ready for the "Biden might not make it and see, we are going to have Harris" attacks, form both sides. I'd be fine with her, but many won't.
Also, maybe a full accounting/audit of the entire military budget? That'd be eye-opening.
I don't know if this topic is too broad but here goes: one of the major drivers of working class people's budget stress is the ever-increasing cost of rent. This seems to be rarely mentioned when discussing the problem of inflation even though housing is most people's largest expense. Except in a few places, such as NYC, there is little rent control. Landlords seem to be able to just raise prices to whatever they choose as what they're selling is a necessity and it's a tight market in most places. In 2019, I moved to a housing complex in Asheville, NC, one owned by a national conglomerate. The rent was $1,200 per month when I moved in. When I moved out two years later, they raised it to $2,000 per month for next tenant. That's a 50% increase. North Carolina has law FORBIDDING rent control throughout the state. People seem fatalistic about exorbitant rent increases, as if nothing can be done except through supply meeting demand. I keep wondering whether there are statistics about the profits of these large rental companies, similar to how we get information on how other large corporations (oil, auto, for- profit healthcare) have record profits while squeezing average working/middle class people.
The rising cost of housing has led to an increase in homelessness. Young people are unable to leave their parents home because of housing costs, working families are losing their homes.
What is driving this? How has the rise of short term rentals, such as AirB&B, impacted the availability of affordable housing? What other factors are contributing and what solutions are there to the problem?
Given the latest on the Trump Organization's fraud, I'd like to see a story digging into all of the lenders and title companies who were involved in his deals over the years. None of us would get away with saying our building was worth $XX million without an appraisal and verification of occupancy, cash flow, etc. In some cases, he lied about where the property was in NYC to inflate the perception of its value. And, he probably got lower interest rates on the loans because of his claims that they were worth so much and performing so well. He claims the loans performed well and the banks got repaid, but how do we know that? Wouldn't the banks have made more with a loan to a reputable company that was honest about the building conditions? This was a massive amount of fraud over many years. Much of this should be public record, mortgages get recorded etc. How was he allowed to get away with all of it for so long?
Yes, I am probably beating a dead horse, but once again I'd love you to focus on Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. A few weeks ago he used taxpayer money to send mailers to what seems like a select group, I am on his mailing list and didn't get it. I suppose it is legal to use your office and taxpayer money to promote yourself to help with reelection by only sending it to Republicans, but at the very least such gross behavior should be called out. I thought another journalist was working on this, but it seems to have gone nowhere. https://x.com/BuxMontNews/status/1699964800082543004?s=20 Bucks County is important, what is happening in our Commissioners race is important. You already know what is happening in Pennridge is important. We're such a swing district, and very purple, and far too many people here look at Fitzpatrick like he's one of the good Republicans. He needs someone to out him for what he really is.
Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick recently introduced a bill to change the name of the post office to the Susan C. Barnhart Post Office. The proposal has already received strong support from the community. No comment needed.
“Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy,”
This looks like the biggest issue of our time. Everything else is a detail under his heading.
he United States, like many industrialized countries, has undergone a corporate coup d’état in slow motion, cementing into place a system of control the political philosopher Sheldon Wolin calls inverted totalitarianism. Inverted totalitarianism retains the institutions, symbols, iconography, and language of the old capitalist democracy, but internally corporations have seized all the levers of power to accrue ever greater profits and political control. Claire Provost and Matt Kennard in their book “Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy,” chart the way the corporate coup d’état was orchestrated. It examines the use of an international legal system to control and plunder the resources in the developing world, including the overthrow of governments that challenge corporate dominance. The authors expose the nefarious alliance between Non-Profit organizations and corporations, one that prioritizes profit rather than justice. The document leading the weakening of labor laws and evisceration of worker’s protections and rights. To enforce this predatory behavior corporations have not only created, in essence, a global supreme court but raised and funded private mercenary militias to crush labor movements and intimidate and even murder activists. The subversion of democracy abroad is accompanied, the authors argue, by the subversion of democracy at home. The mechanisms of control pioneers to plunder the developing world are being used in the industrial world. Joining me to discuss Silent Coup is Matt Kennard, a former staff reporter for the Financial Times and co-founder and chief investigator at Declassified UK, a news outlet that investigates British foreign policy.
It would be great if someone could provide a plain-speak outline of Project 2025; the Heritage Foundations plan to turn the U.S.A. into a dictatorship. It's a large report at 920 pages. I'd be happy to outline a section or two. Maybe we could make this a community effort.
I have tried to sort through what the Heritage Foundation wants to do with Project 2025, and it indeed looks revolting. Some aims were achieved, according to what I read. I think most Americans don't understand what would happen if their aims are achieved.
Exactly why I think this is a needed piece of journalism. More importantly though, it needs to get out there. I don't think most Americans are even aware.
Yes, please. I need a scary story to help me sleep well at night.
I have been reading, searching, and digging into Project 2025 for a few months now. I have written a few articles about my basic findings at my Substack that you might find helpful.
I came to comments to say the same thing. Trying to get through all the pages is tedious and very time consuming. Several of my friends have said the same thing and commented it was so detrimental to democracy, they had to stop reading frequently. I happened to run across a clip by Ali Velshi on MSNBC on Project 2025 that I have recommended to several groups I belong to. However I do not feel it was adequate and did not go into the depth people need to know. It is very important that the information reaches as many people as possible before the 2024 elections.
From Wikipedia: "Project 2025 is a controversial plan, authored by the Heritage Foundation, to reshape the U.S. federal government in the event of a Republican victory in the 2024 United States presidential election.[1][2] Established in 2022, the project seeks to recruit thousands to come to Washington, D.C., to replace existing employees to restructure the federal government as to further the agenda and policies of Donald Trump.[3] The plan would perform a quick takeover of the entire U.S. federal government under a maximalist version of the unitary executive theory – a theory proposing the president of the United States has absolute power of the executive branch – upon inauguration. The development of the plan is led by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative U.S. think tank.
The plan includes widespread changes across the entire government, particularly in regards to economic policy and the role of the federal government and federal agencies. Numerous commentators see Project 2025 as a path to the ending of American democracy, which would replace it with an undemocratic authoritarian regime, possibly led by Trump as dictator.[4]"
More details in the full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025
Thank you for the easy link. Now, I'm wondering about how all of these evil qualities they are afraid of are behaviors or predilections of Kevin Roberts and his ilk--pedophilia, unusual sexual tastes, etc. [As a psychotherapist for decades, I learned how common it is for "regular men" to want to dress as women, wear women's makeup, and secretly wear womens' underwear. I could care less what they want or what they do, but to make hidden desires evil and then project them onto an "enemy" demands exposure.]
I suggest that we gather enough information to be able to discern to the WHY--what motivates them--not just power (we know that). Which Heritage player is in favor of "what," and the why's behind the huge expenditure of money and connivance.
Excellent idea.
Good morning Judd,
Is there an accounting of the cost to tax payers of Donald Trump? I remember reading how much his secret service detail cost during his term. If all of the costs were added up that are attributed to his actions, I have no idea how much that would be. It would include direct costs like salaries and expenses of the justice department, courts and indirect costs of legislators protecting him.
It would be good to know how much one person has added to our debt.
Doug Funk
Agreed. I'm especially interested in the price tag of his golfing trips, where SS were put up at Trump properties at full rate. Taxpayers picked up the tab. Perhaps get a refund, and solve the problem of child hunger in the US?
I would include the cost of protection for his adult family members as well. It's a package. As a separate item, what is the cost of the increased protection for all the people Trump has targeted, whether they are government officials, attorneys, witnesses, or private citizens.
Yes! This! Today General Milley was commenting how he had security. Who pays for it? Does he incur this expense, or are taxpayers footing this one too?
And, has any of the cost come down under Biden? Is there a limit to what he can charge the Secret Service? I know the SS doesn't like to talk about security, etc., but is anyone in Congress monitoring the charges and how they compare to other former presidents? Did they really take away security for his grown "children?"
Oh well, "it's bigger than you realize"! Every time any of his children or family members took a trip, Secret Service had to protect them (such as a ski trip to CO, or any vacation).
Thanks for your work. Would you consider an investigation into the people/funding behind No Labels, Useyourvoice.com, and other so-called centrist organizations?
We did do a piece on what I was able to find in April. But it's mostly an unknown: https://popular.info/p/the-opaque-70-million-scheme-that
Yes, what is Manchin doing? He announced he wouldn’t announce his political plans in his home state until the end of the year. What’s up?
Just a tidbit. Maybe Jim Justice wants to run for his seat. He seems to control most of WVA
Justice switched from Democrat to Republican to be governor; perhaps Manchin is too. The No-Labels 3rd Party will kill candidates in both parties.
'The No-Labels 3rd Party will kill candidates in both parties'...BUT MOSTLY BIDEN.
Yes. These 3rd parties never win. They need to read history.
He is. And his dog.
I’m interested on your take regarding the Equal Rights Amendment. 38 states have ratified and yet a Democratic president and senate, who rely on female voters, cannot publish it.
This is an excellent idea. While we’re at it, how about National Popular Vote? It has been approved in seventeen states representing 205 electoral votes. Once it gets to 270, it activates (at least in those states). Where are we on getting the final 65 electoral votes to restore some semblance of popular “one person, one vote” democracy?
43 state legislatures are controlled by the GOP. Va poised to become 44. A snowball's chance in heck it will get on a ballot in any of them.
The process is a bit more complex than that. Good outline here: https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution
That must be because there aren’t 10 Republican votes.
The filibuster cudgel requires 60 votes for almost everything. You can thank Manchin and Sinema for maintaining that. https://wapo.st/3nLXlLJ (free to read).
It only takes a simple majority to kill the filibuster. If Sinema is replaced by Gallego and we (sigh) keep Manchin, and stay at 50 or 51, we do have the vice presidential vote, then finally. Simple majority.
But most people don’t know about the filibuster cudgel and understandably are upset that we couldn’t pass everything we wanted with our majority. This is why.
I’ve heard some opinion that Senate action is not required but rather the archivist merely needs to ‘publish’ the amendment.
Even so, unlike abortion, equal rights under the constitution is far more fundamental and would on the surface seem to be a political winner. I mean who’s going to come out and say otherwise?
So I find it curious that the Dems don’t seize the opportunity.
Not sure it’s really that simple. If it was, then the Democrats would, surely.
Unfortunately it is indeed not that simple - The 27th amendment took 203 years to ratify, but the ERA was supposed to be ratified in 38 states by 1979, due to a Congress-imposed deadline. 35/38 states have ratified the amendment. The good news is that the 1979 deadline was included in Congress’ proposal for an amendment, not the actual text passed by states. A new proposal passed by a dem congress would fix this, but then again the filibuster becomes an issue, and 5 of the original 35 have tried (not clear if legal) to rescind their pre-1979 ratification https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/pathstoratification
I’m raising on this forum because I do think it’s that simple. Judd is quite good at exposing hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle. Anyway, would love to explore.
One writer explained that we don't want "equal rights" because women deserve more rights for pregnancy and childbirth and maternity leave. There is no "equal" about it because males don't give birth nor breastfeed. Most developed nations have far more generous policies for women who give birth and parent. The equal rights amendment serves up an important measure of equality, but this part, where females are unique, doesn't get addressed appropriately.
Hmm yeah but doesn’t that sound like a right wing talking point. At minimum, there’s a sizable portion (majority!) of the voting population that doesn’t have equal standing under the constitution.
I’m raising this in this forum because I have a suspicion Democrats must have as much to gain from not seeing the ERA through. Much like when corporations give lip service to progressive causes and still fund politicians who oppose those policies.
I wonder if part of the problem is a repeated use of "one size fits all" policies, when one size fits very few (and I think we know who the very few are).
Yeah, Texas passed its own ERA 45 years ago, but it has meant very little in practice except for potty parity in public facilities.
Is there a statute of limitations on the amendment. It's been years since it was passed. Seems VA tried during the Northam admin. Nothing happened.
Why is legacy media continuing to massively underplay the extraordinary threat of a second Trump term (or the current threats to civil rights and minority rights posed by GOP officials in almost every state?)
I hear about Biden's age, the border, and inflation on a daily basis, or their favorite framing: "Why X is bad for Biden".
Do these journalists and anchors truly not understand the ruination that follows fascism? Have they failed to see the repression of a free press in Poland, Hungary, India, etc?
Or is their bubble so impenetrable that they dwell in denial?
Along these lines, why does the media frame Biden’s age & TFG’s indictments as polar opposites? Clearly, Biden & TFG are nearly the same age, Biden is healthier than TFG, & Biden is unlikely to be indicted.
They are auditioning for GOP state propaganda - no morals.
They are owned by the 1%. Corporate hacks to Big Daddy who owns them.
My wife is a federal employee and the government shutdown is front and center in our household. We have some savings and will be OK, but we worry about the impact to contact workers and hourly employees (i.e. the custodial staff) who won't receive back pay whenever Kevin Mccarthy can get the maga extremists to stop holding him, and the entire federal government hostage. What is Fox reporting on this? What are people saying who are represented by these lunatics? What is the broader social and economic impact of yet another shut down? How beholden to Putin are these Representatives as they stop aid to Ukraine?
Thanks for your good work.
They are under Trump's control. Jordan is trying to defund Jack Smith/DOJ. You can bet if you smell crap in a situation, Donald Trump is in the area.
Jordan is probably afraid he’s next to be held accountable for his part in the big plot.
Read Trump is still the defacto leader of the party- he wants a long shutdown to plunge country into recession & sabotage the Dems- GOP are in goose-step.
Our family weathered two shut downs. It is absolutely no way to run a country!
I am not personally affected, but I am more than worried about the workers affected. I have worked with federal employees and find them smart, dedicated, and hard-working. They don't deserve this.
I really enjoy the work this publication produces. All the writers are so thorough. I'd love for you to drive deeper into the pay issues with our USFS Wildland firefighters. Their temporary raise 2yrs ago to $15 per hour was paltry. BUT the firefighters were grateful for it! Now it's set to expire 9/30 and no one has a solution. These folks are experienced public servants. They don't want to go work for Cal Fire or other state agency. They like what they do and want to keep doing it to help all of us. But they work so hard, are gone for weeks at a time, often compromising their own health, and they can't survive on the pay. Especially if they want to own a home and/or start a family. Folks are going to be very scared and helpless without these dedicated emergency responders. Yet there's no solution out there for them. No one is even talking about it.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
A partial solution has been that prison inmates in some locations have been trained to be firefighters, and in limited situations are helping to fight forest fires ... but for a number of reasons, they don't get hired when released, mostly due to resistance from the organizations themselves.
That's true. But that's been going on for some time now. It's not a solution to paying the firefighters, whether they start off in prison or elsewhere, a living wage.
Also I'm not as familiar with how inmates are paid when they're still in prison, but that's a whole other subject for Popular Information to write about honestly, the fact that having prisoners work for no or incredibly low wages is a form of slavery that continues today. And prisons going private has made this horrible situation even worse.
Agreed! The prison industrial complex thrives on repeat customers... no incentive towards true rehabilitation, job training, etc. It's a terrible idea to privatize prisons.
One of the slow motion disasters that Republicans have been bringing about - with enormous consequences but very little media attention - has been the purposeful destruction of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Their obvious goal has been to disable it so that they can get away with whatever electoral shenanigans they choose. This is a very serious issue that I’d love to see you tackle. Here’s a recent article on the mess at the FEC: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-rap-fec-gridlock-that-republicans-say-is-a-feature/ar-AA1h14wE
It's true. Many of the FEC commissioners are there to ensure that the agency does not function.
I’d be very interested in how much government funding, services and other support goes to the districts and residents of each of the House extremists who apparently want nothing more than to undermine, shut down and destroy the government. If federal funds and services were to disappear, what would be the impact on their home districts and on the public they are supposedly representing? Also, what are their salaries, how are they paid, what are these individuals worth personally and who is supporting them and their campaigns financially?
In addition, I would love to see a movement to make elected officials have to pay for their own health insurance, as we all do. Make them apply to ACA and receive assistance only as needed. Why do they get a free ride? Save us all some money and pay for your own insurance, politicians.
This is an excellent idea. I believe it is imperative for the American people to understand how much these radicals are taking and from who...additionally how much money they are getting for their respective districts in terms of special projects, funding for roads and transportation, housing, etc. It is bad enough that they will get a salary during the government shut down, but certainly their districts need to suffer because of how they are hurting all of us.
GOP no care- their districts are so gerrymandered they have their jobs indefinitely ie GYM don’t call him a traitor Jordan.
Please keep hammering away at the hypocrisy of most media's lack of holding Republicans and Trump to even just a basic standard of truth and honesty. The Democratic party is the only major party in our country that is trying to govern with real policy, whether it is good policy or policy that matches each person's taste, or not. I think I don't really need to explain this specifics of this anymore here. But, the ridiculousness with which the Republicans are behaving in their attempt to function needs to be fully exposed, and not allowed to be seen as policy or "the other side" to a problem or debate. (I.e. How is it that Republicans are beginning to try to get away with writing off climate change as simply the change of the seasons?)
It's a time for a follow-up on your great work investigating money flowing to Jared Kushner from Saudi Arabia? It may seem like really old news, but I would love to see some accountability for this cretin. I am enjoying seeing Justice catch up to many of the Trump miscreants, and of course Trump himself, I don't think Kushner should escape.
Yes, I think about this all the time. Especially in light of how much energy we are spending talking about other people benefiting from family members in office.
I agree!
Can you find info on profiteering in the food industry? Sticker shock at the supermarket is one reason for the country's foul mood. Retailers are one part of the story, but how about the food processors?
The farmer doesn't get the bucks. My neighbor pretty much gets the same per pound for his cattle that he did in 2016. Yet a 2 pound beef roast is $26. The middle man and end source, site energy costs, higher insurance costs, etc, etc are to blame. Ha. Corporate greed in the food industry is the problem. Check on stock prices and profits like you do the oil industry. Most are doing quite well sticking it to us.
It seems clear that the mainstream media are failing when they continue to report false equivalencies such as Biden’s age and Trump’s 91 felony indictments or Hunter Biden’s troubles and Trump’s 91 felony indictments. Jennifer Rubin and Frank Bruni regularly call this out but nothing seems to change. The mainstream media are all about the horse-race and not about the substance. It would be great, Judd, if you could take this on. As a well-respected and effective journalist with a great platform, this disservice by the mainstream media needs to be changed and soon. What do you think?
As much as I am a devotee to MSM, I agree with Adele on this. The MSM is always concerned with telling both sides of a story even when one side is completely discredited. (Up until only a few years ago the New York Times always added the "On the other hand..." in climate crises stories and gave voice to "3% of scientists disagree that climate change is man-made" until they finally said "Bastaa!" and dropped the "to be sure" paragraph.)
I know the msm has them, so let them swing those cujones and call BULLSHIT when the bull is shitting.
This is gonna feel like a tired subject maybe, but even w/all the pieces on generational issues, I'm not sure people TRULY understand how depressed Millennials and some of the Gen-Z generation are in the U.S.. Being blamed for EVERYTHING wrong in this society may be great for clicks, clout, and article sales, but it is really slaughtering their self value to a point where they don't care about anything or anyone anymore. For example, there are THOUSANDS of missing children in schools after COVID, and it seems like an afterthought to people. (Sorry for the long post)
Following up on your post last month about why Americans say the economy is terrible despite an abundance of date that shows otherwise, I'd love your take on the role of corporate media in shaping people's negative perceptions. Last month, Quinnipiac reported results of a poll that showed 71% of Americans described the economy as "not so good" or "poor." But perhaps more noteworthy (and certainly less reported), 60% of respondents described their OWN financial situation as either "good" or "excellent." That's a pretty big disconnect. Why is the mainstream media so quick to talk down our economy each day? We've had repeated warnings of recessions that never happened, little mention that inflation is down 5% from last year at this time, and very little mention of historic job growth and a record streak low unemployment (along with lowering deficits) since Biden took office.
I think part of it and, I am guilty of this myself, is that it's far more interesting in the news business to talk about bad news. But this can distort reality, as you note.
I would like to see amplified the working conditions of retail pharmacists. They walked out in Kansas CVS. Walgreens and Walmart aren't any better. Yes pharmacists make a lot of money but when they are expected to do the impossible, our lives are at stake. The conditions are inhumane, no breaks, no bathroom time, no assistance. Its appalling. This needs to be amplified by journalism. CEOs want to quiet it down. Don't let them.
From FB " The accidental pharmacist"
Please add this to your posts anonymously.
This is why we need to make patient care and pharmacist’s mental health a priority in retail pharmacy. This is a realistic breakdown of my 24 hour store’s numbers and tasks broken down on an hourly level. I am expected to work 6 of my 8 hours alone, with only 2 hours of overlap between 2 PM and 4 PM. The stress from the day follows us home and comes back the next day. Especially when we are expected to close (10 PM) one shift and open (8 AM) the next day.
800 scripts entered per day, around 90% coming between 9 AM – 9 PM (60 per hour)
500 scripts sold per day, around 90% coming between 9 AM – 9 PM (37 per hour)
45 vaccines per day, all between 9 AM – 8:00 PM (4 per hour)
1.) 60 prescriptions entered per hour (av)
a. E-Review – 10 seconds per Rx = 10 minutes
b. Review – 8 seconds per Rx = 8 minutes
2.) Pt. consults – 20 per hour (av)
a. 45 seconds each = 18 minutes
3.) Vaccines – 4 per hour
a. 5 minutes per appt = 20 minutes
4.) TPR/DUR overrides – 5 per hour
a. 45 seconds each = 3.75 minutes
5.) Answering Phone
a. 15 calls per hour @ 1 minute each = 15 minutes
6.) Patient Care Portal calls
a. 5-6 per hour to complete list
i. 3 minutes each (av) = 15 – 18 minutes
7.) OTC counsels – 2 per hour
a. 1-2 minutes each = 2 to 4 minutes
8.) Calling doctor offices for Rx verification
a. 1-2 per hour
i. 3 minutes each = 3 to 6 minutes
9.) Transfers to & from pharmacy
a. 1-2 per hour
i. 2 minutes each = 2 to 4 minutes
10.) Getting & Retrieving C2s from safe = 2 minutes
Total = 98.75 to 108.75 minutes per hour
Even without vaccine season, the hourly work expected is 78.75 to 108.75 minutes worked of work crammed into 60 minutes. This overload of work expected out of one pharmacist creates a culture of cramming more work than should be possible to keep up, resulting in an environment of:
What can I do faster instead of focusing on patient safety and accomplishing the task well
What can I skip doing when I fall behind
What things can I do at the same time to help catch back up
CVS Pharmacy Would You Like Shots with That? a documentaryRxcomedy Bled Tanoe, PharmD The Cynical Pharmacist
#truth #pharmacy #pharmageddon #pharmacytechnician #pharmacists
In California, we are again seeing an increase in tv ads that on their surface seem at least somewhat favorable of alternative energy. With a bit of digging into the funding sources for these ads, however, there are clear ties to the fossil fuel industry. Two examples are Californians for Affordable & Reliable Energy (CARE) and Californians for Energy Independence. I’m curious if there are examples of these types of misleading practices in other parts of the country, and if so, is there coordination and perhaps higher level, pooled funding.
Thanks. I've been noticing these commercials masquerading as public service ads and find them suspicious.
I'd like to add the frequent, repetitive commercial that claims the the State of CA is adding $1.12 tax per gallon. No detail. I'm out of state presently so cannot double-check who is publicly behind the ad but just checked and learned that the California excise gas tax went up $0.04 on July 1 to a total of $0.579 a gallon.
From SD Union-Tribune: "Formally called the Road Repair and Accountability Act, the gas tax is expected to raise $52.4 billion over 10 years." However, I think that expectation continues to drop as the number of EVs has increased. The UT article also points out that CA doesn't have the highest excise tax; Pennsylvania holds that 'honor' at $0.617/gal. plus everyone in every state pays a federal excise tax of $0.184 per gallon.
All of this pre-dates the hideous late-September gas price in CA that now substantially exceeds $6/gal. And I was down to 1/4 tank when I left in mid-September. Looking forward to my driving trip for a family Thanksgiving in Tucson; I always try to have just enough gas to get me across the state line to Yuma for a fill-up. Same for return trip.
I’m interested in better understanding the various vulnerabilities and ambiguities in our election system that would allow a person facing 91 felony indictments to be even remotely considered for the presidency, let alone elected. In other words: What catastrophic failure (and of what specific mechanisms) is being allowed to play out every single day where someone like that is currently one of two frontrunners?
I agree with this. There is a provision being considered in one or two states that would keep Trump off of the ballot. What is the provision? Is it in the Constitution? How many states are doing this? Can this be done in other states too through law suits? Etc. Coverage on this would be very interesting and enlightening.
Exactly! It speaks to the wider concept of *individual states (Leticia James) and counties (Fani Willis) doing the right thing where they can* throughout this whole nightmare. Short of a constitutional amendment that would bar anyone with a criminal indictment to be eligible for public office - the states may be the last remaining bastion of hope!
As I just noted in a comment just upthread, the 60 votes filibuster cudgel would be a good thing to explain to people because it’s been a frustrating three years for me to explain to people over and over again that they can’t just vote simple majority for almost anything at this point, only judicial appointments or reconciliation bills.
Also, why isn’t anyone talking about over turning the filibuster or increasing the size of The SCOTUS any more?
At the first 2023 Republican debate, a young man from Young America's Foundation was allowed to pose a question to the candidates about climate. He appeared well prepared and his question appealed to young voters. That is the frightening thing about Young America's Foundation. On the surface, they appear very clean cut and reasonable. But a quick look at their website reveals who they really are - an anti-LGBTQ organization formed to torment LGBTQ students on college and high school (and some middle schools) throughout the nation. Their power and funding are growing at an exponential rate. They own the Reagan Ranch in California, the Reagan boyhood home in Dixon, IL and have just purchased the Reagan birthplace in Tampico, IL. Their version of Reagan is highly idolized. I would love to see some digging on who these people are and who funds them.
The NC State budget repeals the law requiring draft maps and other redistricting records to be made public after districts are approved. This means all gerrymandering can be hidden. (!!!)
And, last week Rep. Terence Everitt (D) received notice from House Speaker Tim Moore that his legislative office had been moved to a basement closet while he was waiting to vote on the new budget. Someone boxed up his things in his old office. Everitt said it was likely a retaliation by Moore because of his request to the Wake County District Attorney to investigate Moore over a salary increase given to a state employee with whom he was having an affair.
Disgusting people!
We are going to have some coverage of North Carolina next week. A slightly different topic but relates to the budget.
Oh great- thank you and I look forward to reading it!
Hi Judd,
In North Carolina, the GOP dominated state legislature is passing a budget that provides over $20 milllion of tax payer money for faith-based "pregnancy crisis centers" that do not appear to be legitimate organizations. They are not legitimate organizations in the first place, as they exist to dishonestly manipulate women seeking abortions. The issue here is that these orgs appear to not even provide any services at all, even their stated goal of tricking women out of seeking healthcare.
I would love to see this investigated, but I know our legislature will not and I haven't seen anything from local media. Please see this video of State Senator Natasha Marcus:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxkteFdt2Wi/?hl=en
Thanks for raising this issue. We are going to start diving into the NC budget next week.
I would love to get an update on Walgreens and their anti contraceptives policies.
The housing crisis that has everyone concerned and talking has many causes and no one root cause. But I would like to know how the equity firms investing in housing has made it worse AND how realtors in getting commissions for house sales cause increases in the cost of a home.
This is something I am also thinking about. Thank you for raising it.
Great. FYI - I have an acquaintance in Mass real estate who has been attempting to shed light on how buying and selling agents can collude to increase house sales. I think this is illegal in some states? But the big one for me is the predatory acts of corporate landlords raising rents on people have been renting for 20+ years and suddenly they are thrown out.
Realtors and scams like Opendoor are absolutely out of control! Seems like anyone and everyone is a realtor these days and most have zero ethics!
yes!!
Hi Judd,
I’m so glad you are investigating and writing about our Democracy.
I’m a psychiatrist in NC, a purple state which used to have a great education system and health care. Since the Republicans took over by gerrymandering, it’s going downhill in both those areas.
Why are people “not good if the economy is good? “ Constant news of trump, other judges and politicians who are corrupt, and the climate crisis that everyone in media is ignoring. There’s a lot of grief and worry.
We’re looking at many systems breaking down soon, and minimal leadership. What is our future?
There’s been some alarm but little follow up reporting on the use of RICO in the arrest of protestors at Cop City in Atlanta. The charges essentially determine that organizing under their first amendment constituted a criminal organization or domestic extremism. Even though there’s been only one charge of arson in the case and money laundering under 8 counts, all 61 protestors were tied to racketeering. It feels like it’s just as concerning as the Kansas case of police seizing newspaper records. If it happens once without too much blowback then it gives license to repeat it en mass.
Agreed, this is frightening. And their using the date of George Floyd's murder as the 'inception date' of the imagined 'terrorist org'. This implies that every one of us rightfully protesting that atrocity are potentially implicated as terrorists?
With the vast wealth (and, thus, power) accumulating at the tip-top of the economic scale, this deadly-serious imbalance is breaking America's financial backbone: the Middle Class.
Please lay out, in deep detail, how "unearned wealth" has accumulated there. Thanks for all the work you and your team do!
Thanks Meriby!
here's an idea : how about a story on how the auto manufacturers are brainwashing Americans into buying huge, expensive gas guzzling SUVs and pick up trucks to increase their profits with little concern over the environment or climate change, and the damage and destructionThese vehicles do.
Go anywhere in the world and what you see is either small cars or huge American castoffs, guzzling and spewing. Good idea, D E.
It all comes down to getting out the vote, starting right now for the November 7 elections. Ask your friends what is their plan to vote, join your local dem groups for canvassing, get young people registered.
I am writing postcards cards for blue candidates now.
Contact an organization like moveon.org. Do what you can
This is fantastic, so many good ideas for investigations! I'm sure you will astound us in the near future. Your work has a real time effect on politics, and I am very very grateful for all that you do!
You are a bellwether in your posts. You know about weird sh8t before it is on my radara. I rely on you for that. Keep up the good work
Thanks Tim!
MSM continually frames the narrative around federal budgeting and tax policy in terms of taxpayer’s paying for things. MMT has shown that tax dollars are simply destroyed on payment and that the true narrative is that the government simply provisions for its needs by issuing payments within an budgetary framework established by Congress and approved by the President. Thus the budget, once established, is always payed for by issuing new dollars and not tax revenues. I would appreciate an analysis of this process so as to first demonstrate its validity and then to begin calling out the conventional framing whenever possible. We should stop accepting the childish narrative of taxes paying for things and accept that taxes have other important roles like reducing wealth disparities and incentivizing behaviors or investments.
Mr Legum, Fort Wayne IN TV news WPTA 21
has let go their top rated News Anchor team Brien Mcelhatten and co Anchor his wife Krista.
What’s the truth behind rumors?
Did his questions in an interview with congressman Jim Banks cause his non renewed contract. SarkariExam.com will give a very cautioned explanation..but did Banks
complain to station owners? I hope you can shed some light.
IMHO Banks is a little r = radical...not a R = Republican.
What is going on with the botched Covid vaccine rollout? The large pharmacy chains don’t seem to have enough supply and they’re charging folks who have insurance even though the insurance companies are required to pay. Our local health department doesn’t expect to have stock for a few weeks yet. (Shocked face) it appears privatizing public health doesn’t work great. Someone screwed up and I’m not seeing anything in the press about it. Is anyone asking HHS what happened? Who is in charge?
Some really great discussion here, thanks everyone. I’m particularly interested in project 2025 as well. For Judd though, please keep the spotlight on Florida! It’ll be so easy for them to sweep it under the rug with no one calling them out.
Hey Judd - can you do a piece on Gym Jordan's blatant abuse of his position and trying to illegally interfere into a criminal investigation? I just read an article today that he is again demanding documents by October 11th when he has no legal authority to do so.
The news out of New York that declared Trump's businesses illegal. I saw little mention in the mainstream, corporate-owned press. This is a big deal because it is based on his inflated tax returns where we overvalued, "shock!", his business to get favorable loan terms. The man is true con-artist.
Free link. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/29/trump-tower-new-york-ruling-engoron-james/
Also, though not MSM: https://www.npr.org/2023/09/29/1202534656/trump-fraud-ruling-new-york-business-empire-judge
Just like to say to Judd and company you are doing what you can to get the truth out there in the midst of a divided and sadly failing democratic republic.
Thank you.
Lots of good ideas on here this morning. Hope to read about 2025 Heritage project and many others mentioned here today.
Hate groups and how to get them labled as such, our North Shore community is experiencing bomb threats at multiple libraries and one elementary school. Two dark money extremists groups, Awake Il and New Trier Neighbors, have targetted LGBTQ+ programming at libraries and two public schools with rainbow flags in classrooms. Multiple bomb threats. The receipts: https://us15.campaign-archive.com/?u=8a3d87cd7d79916580f8848f7&id=19466af810
The Southern Poverty Law Center does a great deal of work tracking hate groups and, in some cases, suing them and putting them out of business. See https://www.splcenter.org and go to their "Hatewatch" or Hate Map menus.
we are aware so far no love
I like the topics you hit! If anything, I'd like you to tell us more about yourself, so that each time we share, the people reading it can see why you are credible.
I'd love to see you elevate the case of tiny Newbern, AL. They elected their first black mayor in 166 years in 2020, but the white incumbent has so far refused to vacate the office (both the position and the physical space). There's an unelected despot running that town, and its duly elected mayor seems to have no options for securing an ouster.
I think this case poses the very relevant question: what happens if an authoritarian like Trump wins the presidency and then simply refuses to leave when their time in office is up? Do We, the People, have any legal or civil recourse, or are we looking at necessary armed rebellion to remove someone who behaves like the former mayor of Newbern?
I've been reading about this. Very open to covering it if/when I feel like we could add something.
I would like an explanation - although I can guess - why the mainstream media refuse to give President Biden credit for anything, and why they insist on manufacturing a false equivalency between him and Trump.
Other than the nightmare of climate change, I see two things warranting more discussion on this platform with suggestions on possible courses of action. I agree with those who have expressed a desire to get the word out regarding Project 2025, what it would entail, and how it can be stopped. While I rarely agreed with him, I can't begin to imagine Ronald Reagan and his Republican Party wanting to dismantle the FBI, destroy freedom of religion, quit NATO and take the United States off the world stage. The other issue is current state of the Republican Party and how working class Americans could be awakened and convinced that it is not the party that really cares about them. How can the Democratic Party reclaim the trust of those it has lost?
I agree with you.
How does the 65-70% of the populace, call us the mainstream - concerned about solutions to climate warming, respect for rights of others, non-racist, non-misogynistic, not anti-Semitic, not homophobic, believe in gun safety - reassert control over the political process AND not have the tyranny of the majority.
As it is now, I feel and think we’re caught in the grips of an inescapable self-destruction machine.
Get rid of gerrymandered voting districts in every state. How to do it is the problem
We have tyranny of the minority right now. It's an effort by white males to make their traditional dominance permanent against the onslaught of women, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and others joining the democratic process. Of course, that is a broad generalization, but I have worked in male-dominated environments and the level of fear of all these others competing is high. Just look at the photos taken of each party at the beginning of Congress. The Republicans are almost all white men, while the Democrats display an amazing amount of diversity.
The first one is the one we need to remedy if we can. I know most people see the process and automatically feel it's Biden's fault, but the message needs to be the combination of corporate greed and the ripples of the pandemic. People don't have the time to get an economic education, but the messaging needs to be clear.
I also think we need to be ready for the "Biden might not make it and see, we are going to have Harris" attacks, form both sides. I'd be fine with her, but many won't.
Also, maybe a full accounting/audit of the entire military budget? That'd be eye-opening.
Also an explanation about how the HUGE amount of spending that took place during the Trump presidency led to today's inflation.
Good luck on the audit of the military. LoL
I don't know if this topic is too broad but here goes: one of the major drivers of working class people's budget stress is the ever-increasing cost of rent. This seems to be rarely mentioned when discussing the problem of inflation even though housing is most people's largest expense. Except in a few places, such as NYC, there is little rent control. Landlords seem to be able to just raise prices to whatever they choose as what they're selling is a necessity and it's a tight market in most places. In 2019, I moved to a housing complex in Asheville, NC, one owned by a national conglomerate. The rent was $1,200 per month when I moved in. When I moved out two years later, they raised it to $2,000 per month for next tenant. That's a 50% increase. North Carolina has law FORBIDDING rent control throughout the state. People seem fatalistic about exorbitant rent increases, as if nothing can be done except through supply meeting demand. I keep wondering whether there are statistics about the profits of these large rental companies, similar to how we get information on how other large corporations (oil, auto, for- profit healthcare) have record profits while squeezing average working/middle class people.
The rising cost of housing has led to an increase in homelessness. Young people are unable to leave their parents home because of housing costs, working families are losing their homes.
What is driving this? How has the rise of short term rentals, such as AirB&B, impacted the availability of affordable housing? What other factors are contributing and what solutions are there to the problem?
Given the latest on the Trump Organization's fraud, I'd like to see a story digging into all of the lenders and title companies who were involved in his deals over the years. None of us would get away with saying our building was worth $XX million without an appraisal and verification of occupancy, cash flow, etc. In some cases, he lied about where the property was in NYC to inflate the perception of its value. And, he probably got lower interest rates on the loans because of his claims that they were worth so much and performing so well. He claims the loans performed well and the banks got repaid, but how do we know that? Wouldn't the banks have made more with a loan to a reputable company that was honest about the building conditions? This was a massive amount of fraud over many years. Much of this should be public record, mortgages get recorded etc. How was he allowed to get away with all of it for so long?
Yes, I am probably beating a dead horse, but once again I'd love you to focus on Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. A few weeks ago he used taxpayer money to send mailers to what seems like a select group, I am on his mailing list and didn't get it. I suppose it is legal to use your office and taxpayer money to promote yourself to help with reelection by only sending it to Republicans, but at the very least such gross behavior should be called out. I thought another journalist was working on this, but it seems to have gone nowhere. https://x.com/BuxMontNews/status/1699964800082543004?s=20 Bucks County is important, what is happening in our Commissioners race is important. You already know what is happening in Pennridge is important. We're such a swing district, and very purple, and far too many people here look at Fitzpatrick like he's one of the good Republicans. He needs someone to out him for what he really is.
As long as he's not explicitly adovcating for his election, you are allowed to mail your constitutents. It's a process call "franking." https://ethics.house.gov/official-allowances/frank
Oh I'm sure it's legal, but mailing only his Republican constituents with taxpayer funds is scummy.
Than you Linda. I live in NYC and have a weekend home in Bucks Cty. Mr. F is a total fraud, who sands a few edges for suburban Rs to stomach him.
Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick recently introduced a bill to change the name of the post office to the Susan C. Barnhart Post Office. The proposal has already received strong support from the community. No comment needed.
“Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy,”
This looks like the biggest issue of our time. Everything else is a detail under his heading.
he United States, like many industrialized countries, has undergone a corporate coup d’état in slow motion, cementing into place a system of control the political philosopher Sheldon Wolin calls inverted totalitarianism. Inverted totalitarianism retains the institutions, symbols, iconography, and language of the old capitalist democracy, but internally corporations have seized all the levers of power to accrue ever greater profits and political control. Claire Provost and Matt Kennard in their book “Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy,” chart the way the corporate coup d’état was orchestrated. It examines the use of an international legal system to control and plunder the resources in the developing world, including the overthrow of governments that challenge corporate dominance. The authors expose the nefarious alliance between Non-Profit organizations and corporations, one that prioritizes profit rather than justice. The document leading the weakening of labor laws and evisceration of worker’s protections and rights. To enforce this predatory behavior corporations have not only created, in essence, a global supreme court but raised and funded private mercenary militias to crush labor movements and intimidate and even murder activists. The subversion of democracy abroad is accompanied, the authors argue, by the subversion of democracy at home. The mechanisms of control pioneers to plunder the developing world are being used in the industrial world. Joining me to discuss Silent Coup is Matt Kennard, a former staff reporter for the Financial Times and co-founder and chief investigator at Declassified UK, a news outlet that investigates British foreign policy.
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-with-3e0#details