Trump’s corruption is not surprising. It’s who he is. But the really appalling thing is how many others are willing to tolerate it: the Department of Justice, the Supreme Court, the lawyers within his administration. Really disgusting!
This would be a great time for our party to disrupt and transform the entire money-grubbing, political influence system that so many Americans detest. This could be a cornerstone of our 'rebrand the democratic party' effort. Disrupt fund raising, Citizens United, public servants trading stocks -- all of it -- starting with two big things: 1. awareness building of the price we all pay for this corruption and 2. a pledge by every dem to change their own behaviour. Big and bold and loud.
These are great goals. But to accomplish them, we need the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. We need SCOTUS reform to reverse all the “money = speech” decisions.
I would love to hear Dem leadership put together a strategy to accomplish these goals, step-by-step. It just seems to me that starting with getting money out of politics as the first step will keep us from ever winning meaningful elections.
Trump is so disgusting. But so are Republicans in Congress who kowtow to him. And I bet a lot of his MAGAt voters would be fine with his making money any way he can. I am so tired of feeling sick he is the President.
I just read the Comments and see how often disgusting is the adjective of choice. What a sad commentary.
Shady Don, Dodgy Don, Despicable Don, Bootlegging Don, Don the Con, The Big Grifter, The Grumpy Grifter, Taboo Trump… just some thoughts but let’s keep it going!
"Trump is the most transactional person on the planet, and the transaction here is very clear—money for access." Absolutely true, but don't forget Republicans in Congress. They're also transactional. They say nothing publicly about Trump's corruption in exchange for hoping they don't get a primary challenge.
It’s good to keep an accounting of these things, as we need to build a message describing this administration (though I think Dan long ago nailed it with “Chaos and Corruption”, so I don’t know why we need to keep on looking). Use the label then a list of one-line descriptions of real examples, this being one.
But of course, this example—nor any other single example—is going to sink Trump as it either looks like a political smear or it comes and goes so fast that no one sees it. If they have even heard about his wars against Harvard, law firms or former sides—well, a superficial view of that probably leaves a lot of voters unmoved.
Inflation and the cost of living will turn Trump’s approval below 40% eventually. Then and only then is he vulnerable to all the ancillary charges.
But he’s not there yet—he’s been in office less.than 100 days, and most of his voters are just admiring the fact that he is busy and constantly in motion.
Not to be James Carville about it, but we need to give him time to screw up. We see the seeds of his undoing, but they haven’t sprouted. We need to keep an accounting of his misdeeds, but we can’t expect most others to share any outrage or disgust.
For Dems, laser focus on 2 things: (1) genuine tax reform that favors true work vs. passive income and (2) ethics and political finance reform … these 2 things affect every voting American and are issues that voters generally care deeply about
To me the most fiendishly clever part of this is the “dinner with Trump,” which on the surface resembles all those endless “win a dinner with Obama” (or Hillary) emails we used to get, the key difference being, of course, that all we had to do was give a small contribution and be entered into a drawing which we would be extremely unlikely to win. With the Trump crypto scheme, the only question is how much one has to buy to be guaranteed a seat at the table.
Only a Federalist Supreme Court Justice could believe that unattributable, unlimited money in political campaigns doesn’t lead to corruption, but Trump doesn’t feel bound to even the appearance of adherence to those “rules.” Would anyone be surprised to learn that Elon gave huge sums to Trump personally in exchange for all he has achieved for himself as he rummages around in our government?
Unfortunately, there are a lot of Americans that don’t see distinctions within a campaign finance environment that is an open sewer of corruption no matter how carefully a politician follows the “rules.” A system that leads to a Presidential campaign needing $1,000,000,000 to be competitive is thoroughly corrupted.
This is at the bottom of the cynicism many feel towards our government, but I t feels like we the people are in the mood for bold action. Democrats should propose publicly financed campaigns and explain it as a way to end a government that serves the interests of the wealthy instead of the interests of working Americans.
Meaningful campaign finance reform coupled with significant increases in the taxation of the wealthy is a good place to start.
Trump’s corruption is not surprising. It’s who he is. But the really appalling thing is how many others are willing to tolerate it: the Department of Justice, the Supreme Court, the lawyers within his administration. Really disgusting!
This would be a great time for our party to disrupt and transform the entire money-grubbing, political influence system that so many Americans detest. This could be a cornerstone of our 'rebrand the democratic party' effort. Disrupt fund raising, Citizens United, public servants trading stocks -- all of it -- starting with two big things: 1. awareness building of the price we all pay for this corruption and 2. a pledge by every dem to change their own behaviour. Big and bold and loud.
These are great goals. But to accomplish them, we need the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. We need SCOTUS reform to reverse all the “money = speech” decisions.
I would love to hear Dem leadership put together a strategy to accomplish these goals, step-by-step. It just seems to me that starting with getting money out of politics as the first step will keep us from ever winning meaningful elections.
I like this thinking!
This blatant corruption is disgusting!! He gets to be President when he should be in prison.
I keep thinking about how Jimmy Carter put his peanut farm in a blind trust. And here we are today. Let’s also be clear, if a Democrat did this……🙄
Trump is so disgusting. But so are Republicans in Congress who kowtow to him. And I bet a lot of his MAGAt voters would be fine with his making money any way he can. I am so tired of feeling sick he is the President.
I just read the Comments and see how often disgusting is the adjective of choice. What a sad commentary.
We need a moniker for his corruption that we repeat --like Crooked H (such bullshit but it stuck). Thoughts??!
Shady Don, Dodgy Don, Despicable Don, Bootlegging Don, Don the Con, The Big Grifter, The Grumpy Grifter, Taboo Trump… just some thoughts but let’s keep it going!
"Trump is the most transactional person on the planet, and the transaction here is very clear—money for access." Absolutely true, but don't forget Republicans in Congress. They're also transactional. They say nothing publicly about Trump's corruption in exchange for hoping they don't get a primary challenge.
He's our corrupter and thief.
I am struck by how well these three words go together: crypto, corrupt, and kryptonite. Maybe someone can do better than this ChatGPT haiku…
Crypto shadows fall,
Corrupt hearts clutch kryptonite—
Truth fades in the chain.
I kinda hope he'll figure out that he can make more money without the hassle of being President, and resign
It’s good to keep an accounting of these things, as we need to build a message describing this administration (though I think Dan long ago nailed it with “Chaos and Corruption”, so I don’t know why we need to keep on looking). Use the label then a list of one-line descriptions of real examples, this being one.
But of course, this example—nor any other single example—is going to sink Trump as it either looks like a political smear or it comes and goes so fast that no one sees it. If they have even heard about his wars against Harvard, law firms or former sides—well, a superficial view of that probably leaves a lot of voters unmoved.
Inflation and the cost of living will turn Trump’s approval below 40% eventually. Then and only then is he vulnerable to all the ancillary charges.
But he’s not there yet—he’s been in office less.than 100 days, and most of his voters are just admiring the fact that he is busy and constantly in motion.
Not to be James Carville about it, but we need to give him time to screw up. We see the seeds of his undoing, but they haven’t sprouted. We need to keep an accounting of his misdeeds, but we can’t expect most others to share any outrage or disgust.
For Dems, laser focus on 2 things: (1) genuine tax reform that favors true work vs. passive income and (2) ethics and political finance reform … these 2 things affect every voting American and are issues that voters generally care deeply about
Seems like we have to win majorities first, then the presidency. No minority party will ever pass either of those reforms.
Correct. To actually enact such reforms we’ll need majorities. In the meantime, however, I believe they are strong platforms to focus campaign(s).
Preach corruption every day.
To me the most fiendishly clever part of this is the “dinner with Trump,” which on the surface resembles all those endless “win a dinner with Obama” (or Hillary) emails we used to get, the key difference being, of course, that all we had to do was give a small contribution and be entered into a drawing which we would be extremely unlikely to win. With the Trump crypto scheme, the only question is how much one has to buy to be guaranteed a seat at the table.
And there’s not a darn thing we can do about this or anything else. 🤷♀️😞
Only a Federalist Supreme Court Justice could believe that unattributable, unlimited money in political campaigns doesn’t lead to corruption, but Trump doesn’t feel bound to even the appearance of adherence to those “rules.” Would anyone be surprised to learn that Elon gave huge sums to Trump personally in exchange for all he has achieved for himself as he rummages around in our government?
Unfortunately, there are a lot of Americans that don’t see distinctions within a campaign finance environment that is an open sewer of corruption no matter how carefully a politician follows the “rules.” A system that leads to a Presidential campaign needing $1,000,000,000 to be competitive is thoroughly corrupted.
This is at the bottom of the cynicism many feel towards our government, but I t feels like we the people are in the mood for bold action. Democrats should propose publicly financed campaigns and explain it as a way to end a government that serves the interests of the wealthy instead of the interests of working Americans.
Meaningful campaign finance reform coupled with significant increases in the taxation of the wealthy is a good place to start.