Tag: Social Security

byRob C.

So here we are—paying our taxes like good little citizens, watching potholes swallow our cars whole, bridges crumble into rivers, and our healthcare bills arrive with more drama than a season finale of Breaking Bad. And yet, somehow, America is still the “greatest country in the world,” right? Sure. If you’re a billionaire.

Let’s just be honest about something nobody in Congress wants to say out loud: We pay a lot in taxes. And we get almost nothing for it.

Why? Because the game is rigged—and the billionaire class has been cheating since disco was cool. Possibly forever. But hey, who’s counting? (Answer: not the IRS, apparently, since they’ve been too underfunded to audit the rich for years.)

The Great American Giveaway

Every year, average Americans like you and me dutifully fork over our tax dollars—money that could go toward, oh I don’t know, functioning schools, drivable roads, healthcare that doesn’t require a GoFundMe, and college degrees that don’t feel like a 30-year mortgage.

But instead, what do we get?

– Crumbling infrastructure.

– A healthcare system that’s basically a roulette wheel with a $10,000 copay.

– A student debt crisis so bad we might as well hand diplomas out with foreclosure notices.

– Teachers buying classroom supplies from Dollar Tree.

– And oh yeah, billionaires launching themselves into space because paying taxes is for suckers.

Meanwhile, the top 1%—those titans of “merit”—are dodging $500 billion in taxes every single year. That’s half a trillion dollars. Enough to fund universal pre-K, rebuild every bridge in America, fix Flint’s water, and still have change left over to buy Congress a conscience (well, maybe not that last one).

Wealth ≠ Merit (Shocking, I Know)

Let’s kill this myth once and for all: Income inequality is not the result of a merit-based system. It’s the result of a corruption-based system. The people who’ve been winning the game for the last 50 years wrote the rules, rigged the scoreboard, and now own the referee.

They tell us to “tighten our belts” while they deduct their private jets. They say, “We can’t afford universal healthcare,” while they stash trillions in offshore accounts. And they have the audacity to call it capitalism—as if there’s a free market involved when billionaires are writing tax policy through lobbyists and PACs.

This isn’t capitalism. It’s plutocracy cosplay wrapped in a flag, sponsored by Goldman Sachs.

Compare and Despair

Meanwhile, in other developed countries—you know, the ones without dreams of corporate feudalism—people get:

– Free or low-cost healthcare without having to marry their job.

– Affordable college education that doesn’t turn them into indentured servants.

– Subsidized childcare, parental leave, pensions, housing, and transit that actually runs on time.

– And… wait for it—happiness. The top spots on the World Happiness Index consistently go to countries that tax their rich and provide for their people. Wild concept, I know.

In the United States, our happiness comes in the form of “thoughts and prayers,” broken dreams, and coupons for a free side of fries with our insulin.

The National Debt? Try the National Heist.

We’re constantly told that we need to be concerned about the national debt. We need to “cut spending” (translation: gut services for the poor), “raise the retirement age” (translation: die at your desk), and “be fiscally responsible” (translation: shut up and keep paying).

But here’s a fun thought experiment: if the top 1% has dodged $500 billion a year in taxes for decades… and you add that up… it starts to look a whole lot like our national debt.

So let me get this straight—we’re being saddled with interest payments on money we never even got to use, because billionaires couldn’t bear the thought of giving up a fourth vacation home or—God forbid—a yacht with fewer than 3 helipads?

The Joke’s On Us—And It’s Not Funny Anymore

We are being played. Gaslit. Swindled. Shaken down by a class of elites who convince us that billionaires are “job creators,” taxes are evil, and that government should be small enough to drown in a bathtub—except when it’s writing billion-dollar checks to Lockheed Martin or ExxonMobil.

And through it all, we’re supposed to be grateful. Proud, even. Patriotic in our poverty. But here’s the real red, white, and blue truth:

Until we tax the rich, shut the loopholes, and stop worshipping billionaires like they’re gods instead of parasites, we’ll keep getting crumbs while they feast.

So yes—we pay high taxes.

No—we don’t get what we deserve.

And yes—we’re the suckers at the table while the rich count their winnings and sip champagne made from our broken infrastructure.

But we don’t have to keep playing by their rules.

It’s time we flipped the table.

Art by Chris Britt

How U.S. interventions created the very immigration crisis it now decries.

by Rob C.

Ah, the American Dream™—where freedom rings, corporations flourish, and if you don’t like it, well, there’s always the CIA to help you reconsider.

For over a century, the U.S. has been the self-appointed global nanny, ensuring that any nation daring to prioritize its people’s welfare over American corporate profits receives a swift lesson in “democracy.” And by democracy, we mean coups, assassinations, and economic sabotage.

A Brief History of ‘Liberation’

Let’s take a whirlwind tour of countries that have experienced the benevolent touch of U.S. intervention:

• Guatemala (1954): When President Jacobo Árbenz attempted land reforms threatening the United Fruit Company’s interests, the CIA orchestrated a coup, plunging the nation into decades of civil war and unrest.

• Chile (1973): Salvador Allende’s election scared Wall Street, so the U.S. helped install General Pinochet, whose bloody dictatorship apparently passed the “pro-business” test.

• Nicaragua (1980s): The U.S. funded the Contras against the left-leaning Sandinistas, sparking a brutal conflict that left the country in ruins—but hey, we kept Coca-Cola safe.

• Panama (1989): Under the banner of the War on Drugs (and conveniently the Panama Canal), the U.S. invaded to remove Noriega—once our guy—leaving hundreds of civilians dead.

• Iran (1953): Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh thought Iranians should benefit from their own oil. Big mistake. The CIA staged a coup and reinstalled the Shah, whose secret police made the Gestapo look like mall cops.

• Vietnam (1955–1975): Over 3 million lives lost trying to stop “communism” (and protect American markets). Mission not accomplished.

• Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela—all given their fair share of “freedom packages.”

• Panama again (1955): José Antonio Remón Cantera, a Panamanian president committed to nationalizing the canal and cleaning up corruption, was assassinated under mysterious circumstances. Documents hint at U.S. complicity—because nothing says “democracy” like eliminating leaders who prioritize their people.

Economic Hit Men: How to Own a Country Without Firing a Shot

John Perkins, in Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, describes how developing countries were strong-armed into taking enormous loans from the World Bank and IMF. These were designed not to help, but to enslave—creating debt so suffocating that U.S. corporations could swoop in and privatize everything from water to electricity.

They called it “development.” We call it economic colonization. And if a leader said no? See above. Coup. Assassination. Chaos.

The Great American Boomerang

And now—shock of all shocks—millions of people from these broken nations show up at our doorstep. Not because they hate America, but because our foreign policy burned down their house.

But MAGA says the border is being “invaded”? Let’s be real: if anyone knows how to invade a country, it’s us.

The “immigration emergency” is not a bug. It’s the bill coming due for a century of foreign meddling and corporate greed. Our multinational overlords raked in billions, and now the human cost is knocking at our gates—and we act surprised?

Let’s Talk About Who Really Belongs Here

We love to scream about “illegal immigrants,” but here’s a fun fact: unless you’re Native American, you or your ancestors are immigrants. The truth is, this country was built on stolen land, by stolen labor, for stolen profit. And now we clutch our pearls as people displaced by our wars and policies seek a fraction of the safety and opportunity we promised.

Conclusion: The Crisis We Created

So the next time you hear a politician bemoan the “border crisis,” remember: we built this. We funded it. We armed it. And now we’re criminalizing its victims.

Immigration isn’t the invasion.

The American Empire was.

Art by Patrick Chappatte

Why the Constitution can’t save us without the courage of the people

by Rob C.

Let’s begin with the good news.

Yes, the courts have ruled against Trump and his allies—again and again. Judges across the country have blocked illegal executive orders, stopped voter suppression schemes, struck down unconstitutional immigration policies, and ruled in favor of the rule of law.

Now the bad news?

None of it is stopping him.

The Rulings Keep Coming. So Does the Lawbreaking.

Trump’s inner circle—reincarnated for his second term with even fewer restraints—has made one thing painfully clear: they do not care what the courts say. They do not respect the rule of law. They view every check and balance as an obstacle to be crushed, evaded, or rebranded as “deep state interference.”

And now, they’re rewriting the rules.

The Republican bill that just passed Congress includes a direct attack on judicial independence—limiting the power of federal judges to block executive overreach. Let that sink in: the same party that cheered “constitutional conservatism” now wants to handcuff the judiciary when it challenges their Dear Leader.

This isn’t law and order. It’s authoritarian creep… And it’s working.

One Ruling Away From Irrelevance

Courts can issue rulings. They can declare actions illegal, unconstitutional, or even tyrannical.

But here’s the catch: those rulings only work if someone enforces them.

In a functioning democracy, presidents obey court orders. In a MAGA dictatorship? They ignore them.

• A judge blocks an immigration crackdown? Trump calls the judge a traitor.

• A court rules against voter suppression? MAGA states rewrite the laws.

• A Supreme Court ruling protects civil rights? MAGA governors find “workarounds.”

When the executive branch refuses to comply—and the legislative branch is complicit—the courts are reduced to paper tigers. Toothless. Symbolic. Quoting the Constitution while democracy burns.

They Told Us What They’d Do. We Didn’t Listen.

Remember Project 2025? It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s a published plan. A blueprint for dismantling federal agencies, purging civil servants, and consolidating presidential power beyond anything we’ve seen in U.S. history.

And it’s not being implemented in the shadows. It’s being cheered at rallies. Funded by billionaires. Endorsed on primetime television.

They want to gut the Department of Justice. Replace apolitical prosecutors with MAGA loyalists. Turn the IRS, the EPA, even the CDC into tools of Trumpist control.

The courts can’t stop this alone. Because this is not just legal strategy—it’s ideological warfare.

The Constitution Is Not a Force Field

We love to believe that America is protected by sacred parchment. That the Constitution will save us from tyranny.

But that’s not how this works.

The Constitution is only as strong as the people who uphold it.

And right now, millions of Americans are watching the foundation crack—and saying nothing. Because their gas is cheaper. Or because their favorite influencer told them it’s all a hoax. Or because they still believe this is just “politics as usual.”

It isn’t.

This is not Left vs. Right. This is democracy vs. authoritarianism.

And the courts? They are only one line of defense.

We The People Must Be the Firewall

If the courts are going to stand for us, we have to stand with them.

That means Protesting, Organizing and Resisting when rights are trampled.

Because Trump and his enablers don’t fear court rulings. They fear a public that refuses to obey unlawful power. They fear an uprising of conscience. They fear a democracy that refuses to die quietly.

Final Thought: The Verdict Is Ours

The courts will keep fighting. But if we wait for a judge to save democracy—if we sit back while the system is dismantled one branch at a time—then we’ve already lost.

Because no document, no robe, and no courtroom can stop fascism if the people don’t rise up and say: Not here. Not now. Not ever.

This is the case of the century. And we, the people, are the jury.

Art by John Cole The Times Tribune

How the MAGA movement is building an Orwellian America in plain sight

Remember when conservatives used to clutch pearls about “Big Government”? When they warned that the Left was coming for your freedom, your gas stove, and your plastic straws?

Fast-forward to 2025, and suddenly, those same “freedom-loving patriots” are the ones writing the authoritarian rulebook. Literally.

Let’s start with the opening scene of this dystopian reboot:

The Ministry of Truth – Now Available on FOX

Donald Trump is once again attacking the free press—this time with names, networks, and vengeance. National outlets like CBS and ABC are now being slandered as enemies of the state. Local affiliates like WCBS? Labeled “threats to democracy.” Because in Trump’s America, “free speech” means only praising Dear Leader.

John Oliver laid it out plainly in a recent exposé: this isn’t media criticism. It’s a political purge.

Trump doesn’t want honest reporting—he wants propaganda. He wants a country where the only “news” comes from Fox News, OAN, or whichever influencer last shared a meme blaming Biden for the moon being too bright. Anything less than total obedience is now treason.

This isn’t conservative. It’s Orwellian.

The War on Thought: Universities and Law Firms Under Siege

What’s more dangerous than books? Apparently, educated people.

The Trump regime and its allies are actively targeting universities, law schools, and major law firms that don’t toe the MAGA line. Legal scholars are being branded as “radical leftists.” Elite schools are accused of “indoctrination.” Meanwhile, graduates from Liberty University are being fast-tracked into federal clerkships as long as they swear loyalty to the cult.

We used to debate ideas. Now we’re banning them.

Academic freedom? Nope. Trump and his allies are pushing a purge of anyone in education who teaches history, climate science, diversity, or anything that challenges the notion that Donald Trump is the infallible chosen one. Forget “critical race theory”—now it’s critical thinking that’s under attack.

Russell Vought: The Authoritarian Architect

If this all feels a little too organized to be the product of Trump’s chaotic brain, that’s because it is. Enter: Russell Vought. A man so cartoonishly villainous he makes Dick Cheney look like a camp counselor.

Vought is the evil technocrat behind Project 2025—a comprehensive plan to reshape the U.S. government into a permanent MAGA monarchy. His Heritage Foundation playbook includes:

• Dismantling civil service protections.

• Empowering the President to fire thousands of federal employees and replace them with loyalists.

• Turning independent agencies (like the DOJ and FBI) into instruments of political revenge.

• Purging “disloyal” military leaders.

In other words: turning the United States into a dictatorship—but with better branding.

Three Superpowers, One World: The MAGA Map

Trump recently declared that there should only be three major world powers: the U.S., Russia, and China.

Sound familiar?

That’s not just bad foreign policy—it’s straight out of George Orwell’s 1984, which depicted a world divided into three authoritarian superstates perpetually at war to keep their citizens terrified and obedient.

Trump doesn’t want peace. He wants perpetual enemies to justify perpetual control. Because if you’re always under threat, you’re always willing to surrender freedom for security.

This is the MAGA worldview:

War is peace. Ignorance is strength. Trump is truth.

Judges? What Judges?

And just in case you thought the courts might save us, think again.

The latest Republican bill to pass through Congress includes a sinister provision: limiting the ability of federal judges to block unconstitutional actions by the executive branch. Translation: if Trump defies the law, good luck finding a judge with the power to stop him.

Checks and balances? That’s so 1787.

In this brave new world, judges are useful only if they rule for Trump. If they don’t, they’re “activists,” “deep state,” or “traitors.” And once they’re powerless, who’s left to stop the train?

From Sarcasm to Sirens

We’ve joked. We’ve meme’d. We’ve rolled our eyes.

But it’s time to admit something terrifying: the MAGA movement is no longer just a punchline—it’s a playbook. It’s authoritarianism with a red hat and a flag-wrapped Bible.

They don’t want to govern. They want to rule.

They want to control what you see, what you know, and what you’re allowed to say. And they’re not hiding it. They’re proud of it. They’re selling it like a late-night infomercial for fascism.

And millions are buying in.

Final Thought: This Is Not a Drill

If you’re waiting for a moment to take this seriously, this is it.

They’ve told us what they want to do. They’ve passed the bills. Written the memos. Gutted the institutions. They’ve created their own Ministry of Truth, and they’re halfway to their own Ministry of Love.

And unless we speak up, organize, and resist—they’re going to finish the job.

Because in 2025, it’s not a dystopian novel.

It’s the news.

by Rob C.

Remember when Trump said he’d end the war in Ukraine on day one? Or when he promised he’d bring down prices, restore order, and make everything “great again” by sheer force of personality?

Well, congratulations, America. You voted for cheaper eggs—and what you got instead was a death sentence.

Because while Trump throws tantrums on Truth Social and plays golf at Mar-a-Lago, his Republican allies in Congress have quietly pushed forward what may be the most vicious, cold-blooded piece of legislation in modern American history: a sweeping tax bill that guts support for the poor, the disabled, and the elderly, all to give billionaires another round of belt-busting bonuses.

They’re calling it tax “reform.”

We’re calling it what it is: a beautiful bailout for billionaires and a death trap for everyone else.

The Big, Beautiful, Billionaire Bailout Bill

At the heart of the bill? Massive tax breaks for the ultra-rich, cleverly disguised as “economic stimulus.” You know, because nothing helps the average American quite like making sure the third yacht of a hedge fund manager is tax-deductible.

But here’s the fine print: in order to “offset” the giveaways to their donors, Republicans are slashing vital programs. We’re talking about Medicaid cuts, disability benefit rollbacks, and the kind of budgetary cruelty that targets the people with the least political power—because they can.

And thanks to the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) law, this bill will automatically trigger deep cuts to Medicare, among other safety-net programs. That’s right: the party that screamed bloody murder at the thought of “death panels” just handed one to corporate America.

All so the ultra-wealthy can enjoy a few more loopholes while grandma skips her heart medication.

The Real Cost of Cheap Eggs

Let’s be clear: this didn’t come out of nowhere. Americans were angry about inflation. They were sick of high prices. They wanted relief.

And the Trump campaign knew it. So they fed voters a steady diet of empty promises: “Lower prices on day one!” “Energy independence!” “Peace through strength!” “Only I can fix it!”

But here’s what voters didn’t ask for:

• A tax plan that raids Medicare.

• A budget that punishes disabled Americans.

• A government that exists solely to serve billionaires and burn everyone else.

They didn’t vote for a policy agenda—they voted for a feeling. For a vibe. For revenge.

And now the price of that rage is being paid by the most vulnerable among us.

Trickled-On, Not Trickle-Down

Let’s not pretend this is new. Republicans have been selling the same snake oil for forty years: cut taxes for the rich and wait for the magic to “trickle down.”

Spoiler alert: it never does. The only thing that’s ever trickled down is pain.

Meanwhile, Trump’s billionaire backers—who wrote this bill in the first place—are about to reap a windfall. Deregulation, tax shelters, estate tax rollbacks, you name it. They’re cashing in while the rest of the country watches their Social Security COLA shrink and their local clinics shut down.

It’s wealth transfer—but in reverse. Upward. Ruthless. Engineered cruelty wrapped in a flag and sold as “freedom.”

Freedom for the Rich, Austerity for Everyone Else

This is what the MAGA project really looks like when the cameras are off and the cameras in Congress are rolling: a fundamental reshaping of government into a machine that serves the rich and punishes the poor.

It’s not about family values. It’s not about jobs. It’s about creating a country where the ultra-wealthy are gods and the rest of us are disposable.

And if you’re sick, disabled, elderly, or just unlucky?

Too bad. Should’ve been born with a trust fund.

A Warning, Before It’s Too Late

This isn’t just a tax bill. It’s a warning shot—a test of how far they can go before the public notices. Before voters realize that they’ve been conned. That they traded in their democracy for cheap slogans and cheaper lies.

But here’s the truth: this moment isn’t the end of the story. It’s a call to action.

We still have the power to fight back. To expose the cruelty. To protect the vulnerable. To vote out the liars and legislate for the living—not just the rich.

Because if we don’t act now, this won’t just be a bad bill—it’ll be a blueprint.

A blueprint for a country where human worth is measured in profit, compassion is weakness, and democracy is for sale.

Let’s make sure it never gets passed.

art by Jack Ohman

by Rob C.

It started as a joke. A punchline. A billionaire in name only, who slapped his name on buildings, stiffed contractors, went bankrupt more times than your local Blockbuster, and somehow convinced millions he was a business genius. Then came The Apprentice, where boardrooms were edited like action movies and Trump got to cosplay CEO in primetime.

But somewhere along the way, the joke stopped being funny.

Donald Trump didn’t just run for president—he cast himself in the role. And millions of Americans, disillusioned by a broken system, economic stagnation, and decades of political doublespeak, bought the performance. Hook, line, and red hat.

Welcome to the MAGA Mind—a political movement that long ago stopped being about policy and started being about personality. Loyalty, not logic. Emotion, not evidence. Worship, not wisdom.

Cult, Not Party

Sociologists and psychologists have long studied cult behavior. The MAGA movement checks every box:

• Charismatic leader who demands total loyalty?

• Demonization of all outsiders, critics, and apostates?

• Apocalyptic language, endless persecution narratives, and moral absolutism?

What started as a slogan to “drain the swamp” quickly became a loyalty test to one man. MAGA is no longer about America—it’s about Trump. It’s about belief over reality, identity over facts, and rage over reason.

The MAGA Mindset

Ask a die-hard MAGA supporter what Donald Trump has done for them, and odds are you’ll get a slogan: “He fights!” or “He tells it like it is!” or “He loves America!” Press a little deeper, and the facts fall apart.

Trump’s tax cuts enriched billionaires and ballooned the deficit. His tariffs wrecked American farms and raised prices. His COVID denialism cost lives. His economic “success”? He inherited a steady recovery from Barack Obama and coasted until it crashed. Now, in 2025, he’s trying to ride the momentum Joe Biden built—record job creation, wage growth, and a stabilizing post-pandemic economy—while taking credit for policies he openly opposed.

MAGA loyalists don’t care. They’ll blame Biden for gas prices but credit Trump when they drop. They’ll ignore the fact that Trump was out of office when the economy went from flat-lining to “the envy of the world”—because the MAGA Mind isn’t about facts. It’s about feelings. Trump didn’t need to succeed—he just needed to perform rage on camera and point fingers at “them.”

It’s not an ideology. It’s a cult of personality fused with grievance, nostalgia, and willful delusion.

Because MAGA isn’t about results. It’s about identity. Trump didn’t need to succeed—he just needed to make his followers feel like he was one of them, even if he lives in a golden tower and couldn’t care less about their struggles.

The Psychology of the MAGA Mind

Let’s dig into the mental machinery that makes this possible:

Extreme Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias is natural—we all do it. But in MAGA world, it’s weaponized. Supporters seek out information that confirms their worldview and immediately reject anything that contradicts it, no matter how well-sourced. If Trump says he won the 2020 election, then any evidence to the contrary is “fake news,” no matter how many judges (including Trump-appointed ones) say otherwise.

Reality becomes optional. Truth becomes tribal.

Benefit Bias

Also known as motivated reasoning, this is the tendency to believe something because it serves you emotionally or socially—even if it’s not true. If Trump represents your cultural grievances, your economic anxiety, your fear of the “other,” then believing in him feels good. It rewards you psychologically. MAGA isn’t just about belief—it’s about belonging. And in that space, truth is less important than affirmation.

Willful Ignorance

This is when people know they’re ignoring the facts—but do it anyway. It’s the “yeah, maybe he lies, but…” defense. It’s the “they’re all corrupt” rationalization. It’s choosing not to look too closely, because deep down, they know the illusion might crack. And once you see the grift, the whole thing collapses. Willful ignorance is the scaffolding that holds the MAGA temple together.

When Faith Replaces Facts

The MAGA movement operates more like a fundamentalist religion than a political ideology. The leader is infallible. The narrative is sacred. The opposition is evil. And any failure or setback is proof of persecution, not a need to change.

You can’t debate MAGA with facts. You’re not in a discussion—you’re up against a belief system. And belief systems don’t fall from argument. They collapse from within, when the contradictions finally get too loud to ignore.

But until then, the cult remains. Fueled by disinformation. Hardened by hate. And increasingly unmoored from democratic principles.

A Dangerous Delusion

The MAGA mind isn’t just embarrassing—it’s dangerous. It led to a violent insurrection in 2021, and in 2025, it’s led to something worse: the systematic dismantling of constitutional norms.

Trump’s second term has already been defined by violations of court orders, mass firings of career civil servants, illegal loyalty oaths, and open defiance of judges. Habeas corpus is under attack. The press is vilified daily. Political opponents are being harassed with trumped-up investigations. And the Department of Justice? Turned into a weapon against dissent.

All justified in the name of the “Imperial Presidency”—a theory Trump now openly embraces. No checks. No balance. Just one man, above the law, claiming that he alone speaks for “the people.”

It’s not a presidency. It’s a purge. And it’s happening right now.

This isn’t politics. This is radicalization in slow motion.

The Mandate Myth

One of the most surreal parts of this movement is how loudly it proclaims a “mandate” while standing on one of the weakest electoral margins in modern history.

Trump barely eked out a win in 2024—losing the popular vote again and scraping by in just a few key swing states, mostly because prices were high and voters were frustrated with inflation. In the end, his victory was secured by a few thousand votes, angry tweets about the price of eggs, and relentless disinformation. That’s not a wave. It’s a glitch in the matrix.

And yet, the MAGA movement acts like it has divine authority to remake the nation in its image. They talk about retribution, about erasing the “deep state,” about installing Trump loyalists in every agency and court.

This isn’t how democracies work. It’s how autocracies start.

Let’s be clear: A narrow win fueled by economic anxiety is not a mandate to destroy the Constitution. It’s a warning sign of how fragile our democracy has become—and how easily it can be hijacked by a loud minority with authoritarian dreams.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

The answer isn’t easy, but it starts with truth. With calling out the lies, even when it’s uncomfortable. With rebuilding civic education, community, and compassion—because cults prey on isolation and fear.

We must stop normalizing this behavior. Stop giving platforms to propaganda. Stop pretending this is just another chapter in the American story. It’s not. It’s a threat to the very idea of America.

So speak up. Show up. Vote. Educate. Resist.

The MAGA mind may be locked in its delusion—but the rest of us don’t have to live in it.

Art by Nick Anderson

by Rob C.

How Trump’s “beautiful” deals stink up the room—and rob the American people blind

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Donald Trump is not a dealmaker. He’s not a brilliant negotiator. He’s not a chess master playing eleven-dimensional MAGA Monopoly. He’s a gasbag in a red tie with a flair for showmanship, a phobia of facts, and a fanbase trained to cheer when he trades steak for sawdust.

And yet, he sold himself as the “Dealmaker-in-Chief.” His greatest hits album? A bloated ghostwritten book called The Art of the Deal, some failed casinos, steaks nobody wanted, a fake university, and now—a presidency riddled with fantasy contracts and real corruption.

Let’s take a whiff, shall we?

The Qatari Clown Jet: “A Beautiful Plane”

Ah yes, the deal that set off alarm bells from D.C. to Doha. Trump’s latest obsession? A $400 million plane from Qatar that they’d been trying to unload like a used Kia with a salvage title. But to Trump? It was “beautiful,” “fantastic,” “the best plane, maybe ever.”

Why did Qatar give it to him? Maybe it had something to do with Trump reversing positions on their blockade. Maybe they wanted to stay in the good graces of a man who mistakes bribery for friendship. Either way, our Commander-in-Discount got taken for a ride—literally.

China’s “Concession” Stand

Remember when Trump launched a full-blown tariff war with China? He swaggered around like a trade Rambo, shouting about unfair deals and how he alone could fix it. Fast forward through rising prices for American farmers, tanking exports, and emergency subsidies… and what did we get?

A vague promise from China to maybe buy some soybeans. That’s it. No structural reforms. No victory parade. Just an IOU wrapped in a press release.

Trump called it a “tremendous win.” The rest of us called it what it was: a retreat disguised as a handshake.

The Phantom Wins

Whether it’s NATO, Canada, or North Korea, Trump has a signature move: stage a photo op, claim victory, and then walk away before anyone checks the receipt.

He pulled out of the Iran Deal with no plan. He left the Paris Climate Accord because he thought coal was making a comeback. And NAFTA? He changed the name and called it new. Classic Trump: slap a gold sticker on the same box and yell, “You’re welcome.”

The truth? These weren’t deals. They were stunts. Flashy distractions while the real business happened behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, in the Back Room…

While Trump’s out front playing Monopoly with dictators and calling it diplomacy, the real action is happening where the cameras don’t go: inside the Beltway boardroom, where the ink is wet on the 2025 Republican Budget Bill (a.k.a. The Great American Shakedown Act).

Here’s what this masterpiece of greed does:

Strips Medicaid from over 20 million Americans, because apparently if you’re not rich, you’re not trying hard enough to live.

Slashes energy efficiency programs, because who needs clean air when your billionaire donors own half the oil fields?

Guts public services—libraries, transit, school lunches, food safety inspections—basically anything that might help regular people survive.

And in case that wasn’t enough of a giveaway to the ultra-wealthy, the bill:

Eliminates the estate tax for billionaires, turning America’s rich kids into royalty with zero inheritance taxes on empires built off worker exploitation.

Expands loopholes for private jets, yachts, and “executive wellness retreats,” which is just a fancy way of saying “your tax dollars are paying for some hedge fund bro’s tequila-soaked spa weekend in Aspen.”

But don’t worry—they’re calling it “fiscal responsibility.”

Funny how that only kicks in when it’s time to take insulin away from a waitress in Des Moines, but never when it’s time to give the DeVos family another offshore tax dodge.

And guess who’s writing the legislation? The same billionaire think tank puppeteers who fund Trump’s Super PACs and ghostwrite his policy bullet points (because, let’s face it, the man’s never read past the headlines).

This isn’t governance. It’s a hostile takeover of the federal government—a leveraged buyout where the American people are the collateral, and the only ones cashing in are the 0.1% who already own everything but your soul.

Conclusion: The Emperor Has No Deals

In the end, The Art of the Deal was just a conman’s cologne—a way to cover the stink of incompetence and disguise the sour truth. Trump doesn’t make deals. He makes headlines, handouts for the wealthy, and hollow promises wrapped in red-white-and-blue rhetoric.

Art – You can buy “The Farting Trump Adult coloring book” @ Amazon

Or:

How Tech Bros Sell Us Digital Beanie Babies While Robbing Us Blind

by Rob C.

Let’s get one thing straight right out of the gate: crypto is not the future. It’s not money. It’s not revolutionary. It’s not the glorious people-powered utopia we were promised in some sweaty Reddit thread in 2013. It’s a digital Ponzi scheme—with better marketing.

Most people couldn’t tell you how it actually works. All they know is that it’s shiny, it’s new, and some 26-year-old named Braxton just bought a Lamborghini with something called a “dog-e coin.” So now everyone’s racing to get in before they miss the next gold rush—which, coincidentally, is exactly how every pyramid scheme starts.

What Is Money, Anyway?

Real currencies—like the U.S. dollar—get a lot of flak. “It’s just paper!” cry the crypto cultists. “The Fed prints it out of thin air!” But here’s the thing: the dollar is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. That means it’s tied to the entire U.S. economy—our land, natural resources, productivity, military, and GDP. You know, actual stuff.

You can pay your taxes with it. Buy groceries. Pay your rent. Take a vacation. You don’t have to check Elon Musk’s Twitter account to find out if your money will be worth anything tomorrow.

And if you’re still not sold, ask yourself: What do investors run to during global chaos? Not Doge coin. Not Bitcoin. The dollar. Every. Single. Time.

Crypto: Backed by Nothing but Vibes

Now let’s look at crypto. What’s it backed by? Absolutely nothing. There’s no central bank. No GDP. No mineral wealth. No government. No legal protections. Just some code on a server and a bunch of white papers written in tech babble.

“But what about blockchain?” Ah yes, the magical word that makes everything sound futuristic and legit. Blockchain is just a digital ledger. A record-keeping system. A glorified Excel spreadsheet that’s decentralized and allegedly tamper-resistant—until someone finds a workaround or convinces enough users to “fork” the code and rewrite history.

Blockchain is not money. It’s not a store of value. It’s a tool. And just because it’s used by crypto doesn’t mean crypto is stable, smart, or safe. After all, McDonald’s uses spreadsheets—doesn’t mean you should invest in Happy Meal tokens.

Too Many Coins, Too Little Value

At last count, there were over 20,000 different cryptocurrencies. Yes, twenty thousand. That’s not innovation—it’s financial spam. For every Bitcoin or Ethereum, there are thousands of “coins” created as a joke, a rug pull, or a way to make a quick buck from gullible investors.

Remember Luna/Terra? Market cap over $40 billion… until it wasn’t. It collapsed almost overnight, vaporizing life savings and turning Reddit threads into digital graveyards.

Then came FTX—the crypto exchange that was supposed to be “too smart to fail.” Instead, it turned out to be a Bahamas-based frat party run by Sam Bankman-Fried, who treated customer funds like Monopoly money, until it all blew up in a mushroom cloud of fraud.

And now? We’ve got TrumpCoin, MAGA tokens, and meme coins from influencers promising access to “private alpha chats” in exchange for your dignity and your checking account.

SIDEBAR: Crypto’s Greatest Faceplants – The Hall of Digital Shame

1. Terra/Luna – Imploded $40 Billion in Market Cap

The “stablecoin” that wasn’t. Pegged to the dollar via a complex algorithm that failed in spectacular fashion. The result? Total collapse and massive investor wipeout in 2022.

2. FTX – Fraud on an Olympic Scale

Run by Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX was one of the biggest exchanges until it turned out to be a glorified Ponzi scheme. Millions lost, Sam is now wearing prison beige, and crypto trust is in the dumpster.

3. Bitconnect – The Original Meme Scam

Promised insane returns through a mysterious trading bot. Spoiler: there was no bot. It collapsed like a Jenga tower made of wet spaghetti. The cringe “Bitconnect!” YouTube guy lives in infamy.

4. SafeMoon – Safe? Not Even Close.

Marketed as a “community-driven” crypto. After the hype died, the developers cashed out, the price tanked, and retail investors were left with digital pocket lint.

5. TrumpCoin / MAGA Tokens – Red Hats, Empty Wallets

Branded coins that exist solely to exploit the MAGA crowd. Trump himself disavowed them—then launched his own. Now offering steak dinners for top “investors.” Nothing screams integrity like selling influence in coin form.

The Ponzi in the Room

At its core, Crypto operates like a Ponzi scheme on Red Bull: early adopters make billions, then cash out when enough latecomers buy in. The later you arrive, the more likely you are to be left holding the pixelated bag. Prices are driven not by underlying value, but by hype, FOMO, and a never-ending stream of influencers yelling “To the moon!” from their rented Lamborghinis.

And as with all good scams, Wall Street has arrived, wearing a backwards cap and pretending it invented decentralization. Crypto “exchanges” are just casinos dressed up as finance platforms. And the regulators? They’re still trying to figure out MySpace.

Meanwhile, Trump and his band of grifters have jumped into the market with their own meme coins, dinner-for-donors, NFT scams, and “influencer investing” packages that are more pay-for-play than campaign fundraising. It’s not about freedom. It’s about profit. Their profit. Your loss.

It’s Digital Alchemy—and You’re the Mark

Crypto has become the perfect con for the digital age. It promises the world, delivers volatility, and leaves you wondering why your life savings are now worth less than a Chipotle burrito. It’s not democratizing wealth—it’s concentrating it in the hands of early adopters, venture capitalists, and the same people who crashed the housing market and walked away richer.

So here’s the truth: Crypto isn’t the future of money—it’s the future of marketing scams. It’s an illusion, a get-rich-quick fantasy peddled by tech libertarians who want your cash without regulation, oversight, or consequences.

And if you’re still not convinced, ask yourself why the people screaming “crypto is freedom” are also the ones selling you tokens, charging you gas fees, and promising you the moon… from their offshore tax haven.

Final Word: If it sounds too good to be true, and you don’t understand how it works but your Uber driver is all in—run.

Crypto isn’t freedom. It’s financial cosplay for billionaires, tech bros, and wannabe libertarians. It promises decentralization, but somehow always ends up in a handful of wallets—and surprise, yours isn’t one of them.

Real currencies may be boring, but they don’t vanish overnight.

Art by Walt Handelsman

by Rob C.

Why the Rich Keep Winning, the Rest Keep Struggling, and the Stock Market Is Just a High-Stakes Magic Trick

The Stock Market Is Not the Economy

Let’s start with a dirty little secret Wall Street doesn’t want you to know: the stock market has almost nothing to do with your life. Unless you’re a Fortune 500 CEO or a hedge fund manager doing God’s work from a Hamptons beach house, the daily tick of the Dow means jack.

The stock market tracks shareholder profits, not national prosperity. It celebrates layoffs, rewards outsourcing, and throws a party every time a company squeezes another dime out of its workers without giving them a raise. And while Wall Street sips champagne, small businesses—the actual backbone of our economy—get left out of the conversation entirely. They don’t have stock tickers. They just have rent, payroll, and hope.

Billionaires Don’t Create Jobs—You Do

Here’s the con: we’re told that rich people are magical unicorns who birth jobs out of thin air if we just give them enough tax breaks and don’t look them in the eye. But the truth? Jobs come from demand—when people (that’s you and me) have money to spend, and businesses step up to meet that need.

Small businesses hire when their community supports them—not when Jeff Bezos sneezes. Yet we still shower giant corporations with tax incentives, zoning gifts, and corporate welfare so they’ll “create jobs.” And when they do? It’s often minimum wage work with no benefits, while the CEO cashes a $100 million bonus and fires half the staff the next quarter to “increase shareholder value.”

Spoiler alert: Shareholder value ≠ human value.

Pollute, Crash, Repeat

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the sheer genius of the corporate scam. First, they pollute your air and water. Then, they crash your economy. Then, they take your tax dollars to fix it—and still give themselves a raise.

Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Banks—hell, Big Everything—have turned crisis into a business model. Crash the system, walk away with a bailout, and let the public foot the bill. Accountability? Please. They’ve got more lawyers than conscience.

Meanwhile, you try missing one student loan payment, and you’re in collections faster than a bank exec can say “golden parachute.”

The Real Bosses: BlackRock, Vanguard & Friends

You may not know their names, but they own everything. BlackRock and Vanguard are like financial horcruxes—pieces of the corporate soul embedded in every major company on Earth. Together, they control tens of trillions of dollars and are the largest shareholders in nearly every industry: tech, oil, finance, food—you name it.

They don’t just influence the economy—they dictate it. They lobby quietly, pull strings behind closed doors, and manipulate markets while the public stares at shiny objects like meme stocks and presidential tweets. This isn’t free market capitalism. It’s a slow-motion hostile takeover of democracy.

Let’s Kill the Lie

The American worker is not lazy. The American economy is not failing because of regulation or diversity or whatever scapegoat is on Fox News this week. It’s failing because the rules have been rewritten by people who treat your life as a line item.

You are the job creators. Every person who wakes up and puts in the work, opens the store, drives the delivery van, teaches the kids, writes the code, or stocks the shelves. The economy doesn’t trickle down—it gets built from the ground up.

So no, we don’t need to worship billionaires. We need to tax them, regulate them, and stop letting them run this country like a rigged Monopoly game.

Because the myth of the job creators is exactly that—a myth. And if we don’t break the spell soon, the only jobs left will be cleaning up the mess they leave behind.

Art by – Matt Wuerker for Politico

Please support this work.

Get the book – “Democracy for Sale – How Corporate Greed is Corrupting Democracy and Endangering the Planet.”

Available @ AMAZON and Booksellers everywhere

How the Trump Family Is Crippling the U.S. Government While Auctioning Off the Presidency Like a Mar-a-Lago Cabana

Forget Watergate. Forget Teapot Dome. Forget whatever Warren Harding got up to between poker games. If corruption were an Olympic sport, Donald Trump and his family would be Michael Phelps in a red tie, racking up gold medals in self-dealing, backroom influence, and good old-fashioned grift.

Let’s start with the latest jaw-dropper: Trump intends accept a $400 million private jet from Qatar—because when you’re running for president and pretending to be tough on foreign influence, what better time to say, “Hey, sure, I’ll take the flying palace from the oil monarchy I used to bash on stage”? Even Trump’s own handlers had to step in, which is impressive considering most of them think “conflict of interest” is a liberal conspiracy.

But that plane? That was just the tip of the flaming iceberg—and America’s democracy is sinking like the Titanic.

The Family Business: America for Sale

The grift didn’t start in 2025. Oh no. It started the moment Trump descended the golden escalator in 2015 like a two-bit Bond villain announcing a clearance sale on ethics. Once in office, the Trumps realized what the presidency really was: a once-in-a-lifetime branding opportunity.

Foreign governments funneled money through Trump International Hotel in D.C., paying absurd rates for rooms they barely used, just to curry favor with Orange Julius Cesar. If you wanted a defense contract, an invitation, or just a warm handshake from someone in power, the price was printed right on the minibar menu.

Then there’s Jared Kushner, the failed real estate heir turned global finance bro. After his taxpayer-funded world tour in Trump’s first term, the Saudis dropped $2 billion into his hedge fund—a hedge fund he had no experience running. Why? Did they love his PowerPoints? Or maybe it was the fact that he spent four years giving them classified briefings and letting MBS get away with murder—literally. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to connect those dots.

Crypto Scams and Meme Dreams

Now in 2025, Trump’s grift has gone digital. Enter the MAGA Coin, TRUMP Token, or whatever crypto Ponzi scheme they’re pushing this week. It’s not a financial asset—it’s a loyalty test.

Trump’s family is now hawking cryptocurrencies to their cult-like base, raking in anonymous millions from “investors,” many of whom appear to be foreign nationals, shady shell companies, and tech bros who think ethics are a software bug.

And here’s the best part: the top 25 investors get a private dinner and a “special tour” of the White House. Which is totally normal behavior from a sitting president. Absolutely nothing says “public servant” like a White House access pass that comes with a blockchain wallet and a campaign donation receipt.

The man who once accused Hillary Clinton of “pay-for-play” is now literally selling government access like it’s an NFT of the Lincoln Bedroom.

Fox Nation: Now Hiring

While the Trump family is busy stuffing their offshore accounts, who’s running the government? Oh, right—the cast of Fox & Friends, a few Twitter personalities, and a guy who once yelled “vaccines are microchips” on a livestream.

Actual policy? That’s for suckers. The Trump administration’s approach is simple: crank up the tariffs, spark trade wars, appoint unqualified yes-men to critical posts, and let the chaos distract everyone while you cash out.

So yes, small businesses are crumbling under the weight of Trump’s economic illiteracy. Yes, tariffs are boomeranging back into the U.S. economy like flaming frisbees. And yes, public agencies are staffed by conspiracy theorists who think FEMA camps are real. But you have to ask…

Is the incompetence the point—or the distraction?

Because while we’re all gawking at the latest dumpster fire, Trump might finally be succeeding at the one thing he’s always wanted: not power, not legacy, but money. Real money. Billionaire money. The kind he’s always pretended to have, but never quite earned—until now, courtesy of the taxpayers, the rubes, and a few oil-rich sheikhs.

Final Thought: What’s the Going Rate for a Democracy These Days?

So here we are. The U.S. government is being run like a family-owned casino: corrupt, gaudy, and rigged for the house. And we’re all stuck inside, playing with chips we didn’t ask for while the Trump clan counts our cash.

The question isn’t whether Trump is corrupt. That ship has sailed, hit an iceberg, and is now serving as a themed restaurant in Dubai.

The real question is this: Is all the chaos—the tariffs, the TV hires, the political stunts—just a smokescreen for the ultimate score? Is Trump finally doing what he’s failed at for 40 years—becoming a real billionaire—one stolen dollar at a time?

Because if that’s the case… the grift isn’t just criminal. It’s working and because he’s fired all the watchdogs, he’ll probably get away with it.

Image credit – Bagely