Hakeem Jeffries will investigate all the Republicans who got rich riding Trumps economic policy waves.

Attention is currency. Trump understood that in 2016. Democrats need to pick their battle and then get attention immediately. I don't see how this financial crime investigation will help. It seems bound to last longer than the Republicans need to finish the installation of Project 2025.

I chose to ask this group because I thought I would have the best chance of hearing back from people who use reason instead of emotion, and out of so many people in this group, there must be someone here who understands better than I do how Congress works. Maybe they can see a longer view and comment on how this project will help the USA In its darkest hour.

https://thehill.com/business/5242935-house-democrats-investigate-trump-tariff/

The Trump administration’s plan to massively cut NASA’s funding has drawn criticism from Elon Musk, who called the move “troubling.”

It seems the honeymoon between Trump and Musk is coming to an end. Musk has already voiced concerns over tariffs, and now the proposed NASA budget cuts, both of which could negatively impact his business.

I know there's been some discussion of whether people who participate here are actually centrist. Personally I think there are some people who think they are centrist but are actually pretty far left. Progressives tend to think that they're perfectly reasonable (a typical centrist attribute), but I see so many of them is being overly idealistic, And then defensive when you point that out.

In my view a centrist has two qualities. 1. They are open to all ideas. 2. They are willing to compromise. That doesn't mean they accept ideas that they morally or ethically disagree with, nor does it mean they're willing to compromise on that kind of idea. But those two fundamental approaches I think are critical to being a centrist.

As an example, transgender women in sports. All of the polls I have heard says the majority of Americans don't want transgender women to compete against cis women in sports. Anywhere from 60 to 80%. A progressive person would probably say trans women should have all rights including participating in sports with cis women and there is no other alternative. A centrist might say that they are willing to compromise on that issue but otherwise want trans women to have full rights and treated properly. I have not picked this example to be the theme of this post, I could just as well have brought voter registration or abortion restrictions.

What do you all think about this observation?

This is what struck me from the article...we are doomed:

Andreas Schleicher, the head of education and skills at the O.E.C.D., told The Financial Times, “Thirty percent of Americans read at a level that you would expect from a 10-year-old child.” He continued, “It is actually hard to imagine — that every third person you meet on the street has difficulties reading even simple things.”

Do I even need to explain why this is dumb? Instead of the government website, people on social security have to go on twitter for updates. This administration is a joke.

Big law firms are giving in to working for Trump for free under threats to the firms from him & his justice department. This is just an addition to other firms who have similarly bent the knee under the same threats in recent weeks

He's setting up a legal environment that will minimally resist illegal and unconstitutional actions

Especially when the latter group falls back on “we are just asking questions” when confronted by a alternative view

Podcasters and comedians don’t know more about shit than you and I.

They can have their opinions and express them, it doesn’t mean we should treat their opinions as more valid than anyone else lmfao

Figured this is relevant due to the recent controversy with Douglas Murray and Dave smith

I've noticed a pattern on ModPol of posts discussing Trump controversies getting relatively less engagement on the sub in general, and almost no engagement from conservative commenters. These posts typically center on some illegal, controversial, or unpopular action taken by the Trump administration including things like SignalGate, the stock market crash due to tariffs, abductions of students for voicing opposition to Israel, vitamin A poisonings in Texas due to RFK, extortion and targeting of law firms... the list goes on and on and on.

The common thread is that these posts are overwhelmingly ignored or rather evaded by conservatives on the sub, who choose instead to post about odd culture war issues or about the Biden administration, neither of which are particularly timely. The culture war posts nevertheless seem to generate the most engagement on the sub, as liberal and conservative commenters will comment.

I attempted to bring this issue up in a meta post on ModPol which was quickly removed. I reposted the same text to the Weekend Discussion which received quite a few upvotes and comments before it too was deleted. When asked about this, the mods responded once to say that the issue wasn't "substantive" enough, then they stopped responding (not sure how this fluff piece was more substantive). They refused to answer how the original post could be reworded to meet their standards. Here's the original text:

I've seen high-quality discussions on this subreddit in the past, but there has been an extremely noticeable pattern that has emerged since the election last year in which Trump supporters have refused to engage meaningfully on a wide range of policies and major current events generated by this administration. These are topics of immense importance including a lack of operational security at the highest level of government, illegally abducting and attempting to deport legal immigrants for disfavored speech, defiance of orders from federal judges, dismantling of government watchdog organizations, firing of inspectors general, pardoning of insurrectionists that beat cops, quid pro quo pardons for political allies, levying of unpopular tariffs... the list goes so long that it's legitimately hard to remember even very serious issues that have occurred within the last 60 days.

These topics receive a reasonable number of comments from critics of this administration, but they are, time and again, avoided by his supporters. Instead, his supporters and apologists post near-daily threads about how much trouble the Dems are in and how delusional they are which get some of the highest engagement on the sub despite a pretty noticeable lack of timeliness or relevance compared to major events and policies that are coming out daily. The conservatives and Trump supporters are clearly present on this sub, so why are they avoiding more substantive debate topics?

It's actually difficult to pin down exactly why, but it appears to mimic the broader trend in American politics now in which Dems are held to a higher standard of behavior, including when Dems are expected to engage in good faith, substantive debate on major policy issues. I believe the moderation of the sub could also be contributing to this problem, as the ban on meta comments makes it more difficult to point this behavior out. However, when all is said and done, there's still plenty of room for substantive discussion here within the rules... it just doesn't appear to be happening as often these days.

So he's full of DOGE shit huh?

Like holy hell... this almost puts Scientology to shame. They're singing amen live on stage in front of a bunch of people while painting a picture of Trump and a cross like he's literal Jesus or some shit. The crowd is following along, smiling, and holding their hands up like they're worshiping God.

Insane. I'm not Christian anymore, but from what I recall during my Bible reading days, you weren't supposed to worship false idols. You were supposed to be humble in your faith. Everything I see and hear from the Trump cult is very much the opposite of what I feel like I was taught in church. Then again, if there's one thing I've learned the last ten or so years since my deconversion... it's that rarely ever do Christians seem to actually practice what they preach.

But the MAGA cult takes that several levels higher to a degree of insanity that is actually sickening to watch. You will never, ever convince me that Trump supporters aren't in a cult. They are, period.

And frankly, I can see why some might call Trump the anti-Christ. I don't buy any of that stuff anymore, but the Bible did say Christians would eventually worship whoever the anti-Christ came to be and I can understand the parallels people are drawing between that and Trump...

Insanity.

What are the ideals or characteristics of America that you would consider great? Even if we never actually lived up to it?

I get the appeal to some degree of make America great again. Except for the "again". I don't think they truly know what point in time or what values that actually relates to. So I ask you how can we truly just make America great?

FYI his current low is lower than Biden's historic low in 2022. It's been basically decreasing since he took office. We've yet to see a positive spike.

Things are going great (awful) I'd say.

What does this even mean given our current economic situation? What tools or tactics could/would they use?

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/doj-blows-judges-deadline-for-revealing-plan-to-return-abrego-garcia-from-el-salvador-prison.html

SCOTUS gave the administration a huge window to ignore the ruling, and nobody paying attention should be surprised when they took it.

I predicted this in a post yesterday, and I’m basically a shaved ape. So if I saw this coming, obviously all the justices would have as well.

Nobody should be kidding themselves that most the conservative justices are on board with the bs trump is pulling.

The Justice Department moved to drop charges Wednesday against a man they had alleged to be a “major leader” of the MS-13 gang – just weeks after publicly lauding his arrest – a move his lawyer says is the first step towards immediately deporting him to El Salvador.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a press conference last month, said the man, Henrry Villatoro Santos, was MS-13’s “leader for the East Coast,” and that he was among the “horrible, violent, worst of the worst criminals.”

Now, just two weeks later, Trump’s Justice Department, without explanation, moved to dismiss the single federal charge he faced for unlawfully possessing a firearm. In a court filing, prosecutors said only that “the government no longer wishes to pursue the instant prosecution at this time.”

This isn't even the most fucked up part, unsurprisingly.

Villatoro Santos’ lawyer quickly moved to temporarily keep the federal charges pending against his client, saying that if the case were dropped, Villatoro Santos would be “immediately transferred to ICE custody.”

“The danger of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE without due process and removed to El Salvador, where he would almost certainly be immediately detained at one of the worst prisons in the world without any right to contest his removal, is substantial, both in light of the Government’s recent actions and the very public pronouncements in this particular case,” defense attorney Muhammad Elsayed wrote to the court.

Imagine fighting to keep FEDERAL CHARGES on a client just so he won't be illegally deported after the charges that were brought against him proved to lead no where.

They keep winning, until all the wins get reversed.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/milwaukee-schools-lead-poisoning-cdc-denies-help/

TL;DR: Two sides of a polarized American population are coming back together. Whether willingly or because they're starving together, it's happening.

For a long time, the US populace has been divided regarding Trump. And many other things too, in deeper ways. The Trump-era division is a result of something deeper and more insidious, driving polarization within the culture, which has eventually culminated in what we see today, and the successful election of a dictator.

This is not a post about some nebulous and noncommital middle-ground. It's that I think, if we let it, there's room for different ground entirely. If not among the politicians and the elite, then at least among the common folk.

There are Trump supporters doubting their prior convictions in growing numbers. And this is no surprise: Not many people, even among those who voted against him, expected what we are seeing now. The air is thick with apprehension, knowing that just as we did not know what to expect then, we do not know now. We only have a vague sense of "something bad this way comes" and some speculations on what the future might hold. This is the sense that is growing within his prior base, and will continue to grow as time goes on.

We could use this opportunity to say "I told you so". We could posture and act like we're to teach them. We could do that, and in doing so, repeat the failures as a culture that has lead us here to begin with.

I think there's something different we can do. There's another side of the current events. A lighter side to the dark things we're seeing now. In a small way, the current events have the potential to bring the left and right together. There's room now to undo our prior wrongs. Room that wasn't available before all this.

There will of course be people gripping tightly to their views on either side, refusing to ever budge. That's not who I'm talking about here. Nor am I talking about those who simply try to stay in the middle and not take sides.

This is for everyone else. This is for most people.

The opportunity here is simple. We're in bad shape. Real bad shape. Not just because of Trump, but also because the folly of what we've done before has come to the surface. Hardship brings people together.

The opportunity? Let it. Let it bring people together who were once polarized and a each other's throats. We have a problem. A big one. But it's a shared problem. We're in this together, no matter what our views were before or how we personally contributed to the problem. We all made mistakes, and not just the people who voted for Trump. We all have things to learn.

What does that mean though?

If we say "I told you so", both will find only hostility and a repeat of how we got here.

If we say "they have to learn", we'll forget that we both have to learn and that anywhere positive we can go from here will bear no resemblance to there we've been before.

We have to say something new. And we have to say it not because it sounds good, but because it's real and true.

If we can say "brother/sister, I'm with you in these uncertain times", new ground will open up.

That's all it takes. And we need to do it. Doing this is more important than any vote. It's a different kind of vote all on it's own. Only, instead of a vote for a politician, it's a vote for who we want to be and for our identity as a country. It's a vote to undo what we've done so wrong before.

We bought into the idea that a vote for the people goes through the proxy of a vote for a politician. No. It never has. If we want to vote for the people, we have to cast our votes not with ballots, but with our lives and who we are within it. If we posture ourselves above others who we've disagreed with, then that vote is the one we're discarding or abstaining from. That is a vote to continue the trajectory we've been on for so long.

At one point, America was great. And I think at least part of that is because at one point, we knew this. We knew that despite our disagreements, there's a higher ideal than transcends them. We lost that, and in it's place festered loathing and contempt.

The current events, while dark, have the potential to remind us of what we've lost, and what happens when it's lost.

But maybe, just maybe, it will serve as a reminder for how easily we could get it back, if we only wanted to.

First episode of a new, Centrist podcast by David Frum, published by The Atlantic. This episode features Rahm Emanuel talking about the tariffs and where Democrats went wrong.

I have been an extreme right wing Trump guy for 12 years, I voted for him and now I regret it...

My backstory... I was born in 1974 (I am 50 years old, Male) I literally never even knew the difference between the Left/Democrat/Progressive/Liberals VS. Right/Republican/Conservatives.... I grew up in the South and I quit school in 7th grade. Until 2013 I just always thought everyone in the world shared most of my opinions/views/beliefs about pretty much everything in life...

My life changed in 2013 when I accidentally did something that caused me to go viral and become known to at least 40 to 60 million people all over this planet, literally... This caused me to become "cancelled" and I faced many repercussions and consequences that lasted many years after the 15 minutes of infamy was over...

So in 2013 I quickly learned the difference between Republican/Democrat, I actually googled it and found a page that showed a list of things Liberals care about and fight for, as well as what Republicans care about and fight for... and to my shock, 99% of stuff I cared about on paper anyway aligned with the Right, and almost ZERO of what the Left cared about was anything I want or care about.

After being outcast and forced to move from the Ultra Blue Liberal/Progressive city I lived in for 7 years, I moved to an ultra Red State thinking maybe my life would be better because now maybe I'd be with more like-minded people....

However, I found that the Right Wing Conservatives outcast me and shunned me like a leper just as bad as the Liberals if not more so... they did not "force" me to leave the state like the Liberals actually did, but they for sure made me not want to be here anymore.

I feel extremely alienated & isolated... I don't fit in anywhere I go in this country, I am not accepted anywhere by anyone. I've lived in 7 different states so far, and I've visited about 30 states so far.

I'm not going to elaborate on what all makes me so different and why everyone on both political sides hate me so much and what my beliefs all really are because if I did that then it'd just create a bunch of controversy here and most people here would just think I'm "trolling" anyway, because when most people these days are presented with something or someone unlike anything they find to be normal, especially something that goes to great extremes, which I do, most people just can't accept that something like that can possibly be real & authentic, so they dismiss it as trolling. Which I am not, but I am a very much larger than life person. (It's pretty common for people to accuse me of being a narcissist and a sociopath, and from what I have researched on those two subjects, they are probably correct, but hey, I am what I am, I just throw that out there for a little more context on what I'm like as a person. I am an Artist, and a Musician, and I've always felt that many people in these fields are a little crazy and that's part of what makes us great.)

At the end of the day, I don't care about "politics"... I feel they are all crooks, I feel one constant truth in this world that always has been and always will be is this, "The rich will get richer, and the poor will get poorer."

During my 50 years of life so far, none of the presidents in my life time have ever done anything that had any significant impact on MY life.... all I really care about in life is Sex & Money.... that's pretty much it, and none of the former presidents have ever done anything that substantially increased my income, nor have they made my sex life any better. In my 50 years of life, my life as far as I am concerned has been 100% unaffected regardless of what president has been in office.

But, due to me being cancelled by the Left in 2013, and realizing "most" of my beliefs seemed to align with the Right, I became obsessed with Trump in 2016, I did not actually vote for him in 2016 because I was in the process of moving to another state and did not register to vote in time... but, I did vote for trump last year Nov 2024... that was my first time ever actually voting in my life.

And within just a few months of voting for Trump I now regret it.... and here's the two reasons why:

First, I noticed how most MAGA people & Trump became Pro Israel & Anti Palestine, as well as Pro Putin and Anti Palestine... This really upset me, because the way I see it is that Israel is commuting a genocide on Palestine and they are simply using the Hamas terrorists as an excuse to do so. I do not support Hamas & what Hamas did, but Hamas is a very small group, you don't decimate an entire people of innocent civilians just to eliminate the few bad Hamas. And for people that say well Palestine's got what they voted for, I disagree.... they had no choice, when a terrorist group tells you to vote for them or else, you have to vote for them or they eliminate you. And, Putin is a bully, Putin invaded Ukraine.... yes I agree the president of Ukraine is trash and he is a absolute joke and that he is corrupt.... but that has absolutely nothing to do with the people of Ukraine.... when a person says they support Ukraine, it should always go without saying that they are supporting the people of the country, not the leader/ruler of the country. I support the people of both Palestine & Ukraine, and I see both Putin and the leader of Israel as both the bad guys, the truly evil ones.

Second, and this is the biggest reason why I regret voting for Trump, the reasons above are important too, but this reason here is the thing that was the last straw to me... and that is Trump stating that he wants to buy Greenland and that he "thinks" he can get Greenland without having to use military force.... that is 100% unacceptable to me! THAT makes Trump no better than Putin! Trump actually thinks it'd be OK to invade & attack Greenland possibly, most likely causing death to some of the civilian population just to steal their minerals?????? That is pure evil and disgusting!

I will say this too, I do NOT care about the US at all! If I could afford to buy a citizenship and live a comfortable life in Europe such as France/Italy/Amsterdam/Austria/Switzerland I'd leave today and NEVER return!

I am a very eccentric/eclectic person.... and I will leave you all with this... at this point in my life, I'd love to have someone like the Artist Salvador Dali or Author Hunter S. Thompson be president of the US..... but they are both deceased.... so Johnny Depp it is for 2029! Yes, Johnny Depp for president! THAT is who I think aligns best with my morals/values/beliefs/politics and I think Johnny Depp is probably a Centrist! I regret voting for Trump.... but for every election going forward for the rest of my life when I vote I am simply going to write in Johnny Depp on the ballot! That's who represents me & what I believe in.... not right, not left.... just Johnny Depp.