#30: How Could the World Not Be Watching Us With Trepidation?

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Well, at least you can appreciate Donald Trump’s sense of history, since his tax bill has revived the medieval practice of selling indulgences to the rich. It is an awful new law, revealing the emptiness of past Republican protests about deficits. Its underlying philosophy boils down to this - get while the getting is good. If you are Paul Ryan, it is an additional bonus that you have created new pressures on Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare spending.

Did any of us even need this new motivation? Our resistance was continuing to grow either way, spurred by the excellent results first in Virginia and now in Alabama. The electoral lessons in November and then in December couldn’t have been clearer. In those states, our enthusiasm and commitment and relentlessness increased registrations and promoted turnout. We swept away Ed Gillespie, the Republican candidate for Governor in Virginia even though he got 300,000 votes more than the Republican candidate from four years before. Because of the focus on getting people energized and getting them to the polls, the Democrat Ralph Northam got 600,000 more votes than the Democrat from four years before and won by a wide margin.

We could get used to this. What we are doing is working. The level of our own personal motivation matters, hugely. Certainly, one great force inspiring the resistance is Trump himself. He has insisted that a massive transfer of riches to the wealthy from funds we must borrow (for our children and grandchildren to pay back) is a middle-class tax cut. So, now that we know that he will say anything and do anything, we don’t have to worry about being distracted by some positive action Trump might take. But with or without Trump’s tweets and Trump’s headlines, we will grow our resistance every week and every month until November 6, 2018. There are scores of ways to accelerate. If we haven’t found local friends or associates to work with, groups linked to Indivisible, Swing Left, and several other national organizing efforts are everywhere.

There are years in American history that are critical to understanding who we are as a people. In 1776, ragtag revolutionaries declared our independence. In 1865, we ended a war amongst ourselves and the institution of slavery that begat that war. In 1963 we passed the Civil Rights Act, an indispensable but insufficient tool to fight discrimination, and in 1968 we lost Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy and almost unraveled as a nation.

Do we now understand that 2018 could be a year of that level of consequence? Don’t we know that we are a part of a great resurgence, an effort to restore the never fully realized promise of a great democratic experiment? Do we realize that we are on the verge of doing something unprecedented, something that will send a signal to the people of an entire planet?

How could those people of the world not be watching us now with trepidation, as our own United Nations Ambassador steps forth and insults the world? She says their country’s vote in the World’s General Assembly should be for sale to us? She says that the $26 billion we provide in foreign aid to make sure the hungry are fed and disease is eradicated is less important than this anti-democratic stance of a country that purports to be the greatest democracy of all?

And our own elected officials and our own news media fell silent. Either they were distracted by the tax bill or numbed by other daily offenses. It’s time for each of us to attend to these matters of our place in the world by doing these three things.

1) Become an Advocate for Nations Working Together
	The management of the United Nations has been fraught with problems for decades now. Paraphrasing the adage about democracy, the United Nations is the worst way for nations across the world to get together, except for all others. The U.N.’s Millennial Development Goals established by the world community in 2000 provided the grounding for extraordinary progress in poverty alleviation and disease eradication. The U.N. has provided the underlying structure that lead to the Paris Climate Accords. However limited its success has been in preventing conflict, it’s a place that the quest for peace finds a home. All nations use the United Nations to advance national self-interest and well as identify and pursue collective global interest. Unfortunately, the President of the United States has stressed the former all out of proportion to the latter. Since the United Nations was founded in 1948, there has been an organization for Americans to go to provide active support for the United Nations, sending a signal to the world that we intend to be a part of the world community. That’s the United Nations Association of the United States. You can utilize it as a way to support advocacy that can protect the U.N., educate yourself about what is happening in the world community, and learn ways to involve yourself in the international health and welfare agenda. UNA-US is a vigorous opponent of the U.N. budget cuts that Donald Trump and Nikki Haley have proposed.
2) Get Behind the Bi-Partisan Consensus on Foreign Aid
	During the debate in the U.N. General Assembly over the United States action recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, Nikki Haley said that she was “taking names” of nations who would “disrespect” the United States and that this vote would be remembered when the United States allocates foreign aid. If another nation had said anything of the sort, the United States would be outraged. Embarrassingly, we were lectured to by the far less democratic Turkey about our “blackmailing” behavior, and only nine countries voted with us --- Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo.   In February, Republican Senators Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona successfully defended foreign aid as the exercise of “soft power” essential to America’s role in the world. Perhaps the bipartisan consensus in Congress that is against direct ties between the granting of aid and General Assembly votes will hold. We must help make it so. In the House, the relevant appropriations subcommittee is State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. Their views on the Haley threats will become much clearer by mid-January. Please call subcommittee chair Hal Rogers of Kentucky (Republican) and ranking minority member Nita Lowey of New York (Democrat) and indicate how much it matters to you that the Congress send a bi-partisan signal that aid will be protected from the administration’s disorderly conduct. Call the office of Representative Hal Rogers at 202-225-4601 Call the office of Representative Nita Lowey at 202-225-6506
3) Don’t Forget to Show Your Lack of Love For the Wall
	Democrats and some Republicans have hopes of re-enacting DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) in some form as a part of a mid-January bi-partisan budget deal. Because of this excellent prospect we have a fresh risk that someone will think it is a good idea to give Donald Trump his wall as a part of the complex give and take of negotiations. This cannot be allowed. Donald Trump wants the wall because it sends a global signal, with levels of meaning going way beyond the significance of the structure itself. For exactly the same reason, we cannot accept the building of the wall. The wall would be an emblem for the world of the failing of America. If you haven’t communicated with your own members of Congress on this, you should do so in the next week. And, you should boost an unlikely player. The more high-quality advocacy organizations battling the wall, the better. The Sierra Club’s borderlands project is concentrating the environmental arguments against the wall, opening up an all new political front. This is the rationale: “Walls and barriers have already been constructed across more than 650 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. These barriers block wildlife migration, cause flooding, and damage pristine wild lands, including wildlife refuges, wilderness areas and national forests." Here is where to learn about and donate to the borderlands project.

The New Year awaits. In Congress, the Senate has nearly exhausted the ways that they can use the rules of budget reconciliation to pass measures with 50 votes. Instead, the need for Trump and McConnell to get 60 votes will put Charles Schumer and Democratic leadership in play in all new ways. It will also provide some new chances for fresh, would-be presidential candidates who also happen to be Democratic Senators to put themselves forward, such as Cory Booker, Kamela Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, and Chris Murphy. It’s a good discussion to start having. Let’s see who among these and others have the dreams, the staying power and the strength of character to help rebuild a democracy.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#29 A Party Launches A Search For Its Soul

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Unbelievably, this is all going to get even more bizarre and even more complex. There are three separate swirls that are robbing the Capitol and White House of all equilibrium.

First, Donald Trump’s most abiding desire is to be seen as a legitimate President. Perhaps there will never be sufficient evidence that there was collusion to swing the election between Trump and the Russians, but Trump understands that the indictment of his aides and the allegations of collusion is de-legitimizing his presidency. This de-legitimization will have electoral consequences in November 2018. In addition, the future action special prosecutor Robert Mueller takes means it will be more difficult to get any legislative victories after this awful tax bill is completed, signed and trumpeted. Most important to Trump, successfully calling into question the way he won changes his place in history, and not at all in favorable ways. The stain is permanent.

Second, Trump’s henchman, Steve Bannon, has wanted to break down the Republican Party since long before he found Trump to front the effort. Where once Republican Senators like Jacob Javits, Charles Percy and Hugh Scott stood tall in the Senate and advanced civil rights and social welfare reform and shaped new environmental laws, leading Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, John Thune and John Cronyn stand less tall and advocate positions far to the right of their predecessors. Not far enough for Bannon. There were wars for the soul of that party when Reagan was president, and Reagan allies dumped the “moderates”, state after state. That was nothing compared to what will now ensue. The election of Doug Jones in Alabama signals an all-out war among Republicans, to be fought state by state. Bannon bet big in the most Republican state in the country, taking down Luther Strange just to see if he could. Even before the storm over Roy Moore and teenage girls, Bannon knew that Moore was hugely flawed as a public figure, and he didn’t care. The loss will put McConnell and others back on offense against Bannon, leaving one to ask, “This was once the party of Lincoln. What and where is the soul of the party they will be trying to defend?”

Third, after the passage of the tax bill, Republicans will be almost out of ways to use the budget reconciliation process to gain passage of bills with only 50 votes in the Senate. Return to the “regular order” that John McCain treasures will force McConnell and the White House to regularly engage with Charles Schumer and Senate Democratic leadership to get to the 60 votes that close debate. Because Republicans thus need Democratic votes to increase defense spending, and will need Democrats on several other issues going forward, the dreamers will end up being protected. Whether it happens as a part of a late December bi-partisan budget deal, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) ultimately will be reworked in a bipartisan deal, and Trump will pretend that he was working for that outcome all along.

The weeks going forward will make past abnormal weeks of 2017 seem normal in comparison. Trump’s tweets on media coverage regarding Mueller, Russia and collusion will become even more frequent and desperate, as he fears charges against Jared Kushner or one or both of his sons are imminent. In short order, he will blame Richard Shelby and other Republican Senators for Doug Jones’ victory, rather than blaming Roy Moore and Bannon.

How can our resistance take advantage of all this turmoil? We can continue do all of the early support for the elections in November of 2018 that we have been doing, and up that ante month by month. It should have reached obsession level for each of us when the campaigns are running full tilt. If at this point a Trump resister doesn’t know what targeted races interest her or him most, personal adjustments must be immediate.

In addition, we can and must expect more from Democrats in developing and delivering a coherent message than the little we have seen so far. On that score, we can take heart that Democratic factions are working together on adjustments to the Democratic presidential nominating process, including reducing the role of super-delegates.

We can energize ourselves with despair over the Trump induced decline in the vitality of our democracy at home, or our despair over the dimming of the beacons through which our nation sought (however problematically) to brighten the world. But the better way to propel ourselves is to see the lights ahead of us and to work our way toward them.

Today, we need to attend to the numerous and hugely consequential Congressional matters still in play between now and the end of the year:

1) Dealing With Democrats on the Budget
	In the Senate, Mitch McConnell needs 60 votes to pass the increases in the Defense budget. Democratic Minority Leader Charles Schumer is willing to provide those votes, depending on budgeted levels for such programs as CHIP (children’s health care), opioid treatment, funding for State Department positions and relief for Puerto Rico.   The complication is that no one wants to shut the government down if talks reach an impasse, and if there is even the hint of a shutdown, neither party wants to be assigned the blame. In the face of this, 44 Democratic Senators have said that they will not vote for a budget that fails to include domestic spending increases, which would deny McConnell the 60 votes he needs. This is a bad time to blink. Charles Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have done well when McConnell and Ryan have needed their votes, and we must expect that again. We all call and write Republicans Senators a lot. It is time to write Democratic Senators underscoring these views: no budget agreement without significant attention to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and other domestic needs no budget agreement without movement to continue Dreamer protection now provided by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) no wall, not now, not ever Write to all (1 or 2) of the Democratic Senators your state has. Because you are in-state, you will be able to use their on-line email form. Then, be sure to be counted by calling the main number at your Senator’s DC office. If there is no Democratic Senator in your state, pick one from nearby.
2) Focusing on Susan Collins
	Susan Collins is in a bind. She provided the key vote to deny Republicans their destruction of the Affordable Care Act. Then, trying to stay within her party, she provided Republicans their key vote to pass the Senate’s version of the tax bill. She continues to maintain that unless Mitch McConnell and President Trump follow through with various promises they made to her, that she will vote against final passage of the bill after the Conference Committee's reconciliation of the House and Senate version. Among other things, she wants Affordable Care Act insurance markets shored up, because the tax bill is likely to eliminate the individual mandate. It is okay to recognize Susan Collins for trying harder than every other Republican Senator to support health care for Americans in the face of dangerous political forces. She will have a little more leverage when the Democratic minority grows to 49 votes when Doug Jones is seated. It is also okay to let Susan Collins know that we are all a force too. Please write her aide Steve Abbott, Chief of Staff and tell him that Susan Collins must insist that health care be fully protected in the tax bill and the effort to eliminate the individual mandate be jettisoned. Tell her that only then will she be true to her past refusal to be a part of denying care to many millions of Americans. Then call Susan Collins’ office in Portland, Maine at 207-780-3575 and deliver the same message.
3) Fighting Over Bears Ears
	Donald Trump went to Salt Lake City recently to announce the slashing of Bears Ears National Monument from 1.5 million acres to 230,000 acres, an action strongly urged by the fossil fuel industry. This is a major first battle over the integrity of the national monument system and other preserved lands. This battle is not over. With regard to the Bears Ears action, there are five lawsuits pending. In a key lawsuit, the Hopi, Navajo, Ute Mountain, Zuni and Ute Tribes are arguing that Trump and Interior Secretary Zinke do not have the power under the Antiquities Act to decommission a National Monument. You can track this effort, add your name to an online petition and support this lawsuit today.

The Republican leadership of the House and Senate are fully aware of Donald Trump’s dysfunctions -- the bullying, incuriosity, falsehoods and lack of any kind of core values and compass. Certainly, it is a difficult choice for an elected official to walk away from her or his own party. However, when you signed up for the job and took your oath you said that you would put your country first.

These leaders also know that all of us are battling back. They know that we are out there in great numbers. The Virginia results in the November elections and the news from Alabama have already demonstrated to them that their turning a blind eye to Trump’s innumerable and daily dysfunctions is not working. We have within our power from now to next November to make that even more abundantly clear.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#28 The More Intense the Resistance, the Shorter the Nightmare

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There are all sorts of adjectives to use to describe this bizarre presidency. It would be disappointing enough to have a President who all the time is bragging about things that he has done, but it is monumentally disappointing to have a president who also makes up virtually all the things he brags about.

Well, at least Donald Trump is resolving the argument about American exceptionalism! For all of our country’s flaws, one otherwise might have been inclined to take some special pride from our freedoms and protections under the Bill of Rights, or our orderly transfer of power after elections. And there are other ways that our country is a world leader - just fewer with each month. Ironically, it is Syria signing the climate change agreement that leaves us alone among nations.

If Congress passes a tax bill, it is already guaranteed that it will be an awful piece of legislation. Either version will benefit the rich at the hands of the middle class, and wound people with lower incomes. Either will unnecessarily and dangerously expand the deficit. Given these findings are well documented the reason why the bill’s passage is still likely is the calculation that virtually all Republicans in Congress have made. They know the bill will be unpopular with the public, but they believe that their cause (and their re-election chances) will suffer even greater or more certain or more lasting damage if they pass nothing at all.

It’s hard to be delighted at the dilemma they are in, since they are diminishing our economic future at the same time that they are endangering their political future. Their story seems even more unseemly when you realize that they have bought into the same Republican tax orthodoxy that has failed in the past, most recently in the fiscal near collapse of Kansas. To make the bad story worse, they have done it all at the urging of their donors, who will benefit the most.

The gift just keeps on not giving. The House version wipes out education benefits for students, teachers and institutions. The Senate seeks to do whatever they can to wreck the Affordable Care Act by eliminating the individual mandate. The House version eliminates the estate tax.

The odds are high that the Senate will pass a version of the bill by early next week, feeling that they must. Mitch McConnell will bestow extra blessings to get votes. Lisa Murkowski will receive drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Ron Johnson will get more favorable treatment for small business. James Lankford will get future promises of debt reduction. The beleaguered Susan Collins (not quite ready to flee her party, unfortunately) will be pushed by Republican leadership to decide which of her colleague’s injustices to redress, and will seek to save the estate tax, at least for estates above $20 million. That leaves three retiring deficit hawks - Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and John McCain.

As contemptuous as they have been of Trump, this is a battle the three would like to avoid. If they duck it, they will join their Republican colleagues in arguing that (overoptimistic) projected growth in the gross national product will wipe out the increases in the deficit. They are still Republicans. Other than McCain’s opposition to the “skinny” version of health care repeal, their votes against Trump have been selected or timed to be inconsequential.

There is a glimmer of hope for our opposition. It is one thing for McConnell to get votes in the Senate for the Senate bill, and yet another to get the votes in the Senate for a conference committee report or other vehicle containing additional compromises with the House. This leaves us with two reasons to generate all the activity we can.

First, we can try to create the opportunity for three Senators to do the right thing on the tax bill (or on a subsequent conference report or compromise with the House) like Murkowski, Collins and McCain did in opposing the Affordable Care Act. If this happens, the primary issue for the possible dissenting Senators (in this case Corker, McCain, Flake, Murkowski and Collins) will be that the bill hugely expands the budget deficit. Second, if we try and fail, we will still be generating strong support for our position from the general public, which will help us build for November 6, 2018, which we can make a great day in our nation’s history.

Let’s do these three things right away:

1) Make a Final Run at the Senate
	Write or call any or all of these Senators, emphasizing the argument that is most likely to sway them, if they are to be swayed at all, or which could strengthen their resolve in a dispute with the House. Bob Corker of Tennessee - He said all along he wasn’t willing to increase the deficit by a dollar. Tell him that the country’s leading economists are united that the Republican expectations of growth that will be generated by the tax bill are fanciful. He was right all along about not increasing the deficit, and they have failed to meet his test. (202) 224-3344 John McCain - Emphasize that this is a backdoor attempt to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, using the same lack of “regular order” he already deplored. David Bennett, Legislative Aide david_bennett@mccain.senate.gov (202) 224-2235 Jeff Flake - Say that the country needs him to stand behind his courageous and eloquent address about Donald Trump. (202) 224-4521 Susan Collins - Thank her for efforts on the estate tax and tell her the bill as a whole rejects the principles of fairness and equity that she stands for. Steve Abbott, Chief of Staff steve_abbott@collins.senate.gov (202) 224-2523 Lisa Murkowski - Tell her that in allowing the repeal of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act she will be aiding in the eventual elimination of health care protection for millions of women who she has fought so hard to defend. (202) 224-6665
2) Defend American Education
	The most inexplicable part of the bill that passed the House is its assault on students, teachers and colleges. Teachers would lose the Educational Expense Deduction of $250, though the House has been quick to save any number of business expense deductions for corporations. Students would no longer be able to deduct interest paid on student loans. Graduate students would no longer find their research assistantships tax deductible, reducing their net income by 20% or more in a generation beset by student debt. A number of private colleges and universities would have their endowments taxed, even though these funds underpin student scholarships. Write the Republican Congressmen who lives closest to you and say how disappointed you are that they have singled out education for cuts while finding multiple ways to give extra advantage to high income taxpayers. At the best, the groundswell on this issue may soften the House in its negotiation with the Senate, whose education provisions are less draconian. Even without that outcome, the response to you might help underscore the vulnerability of that member of Congress come next November.
3) Get Our Country Some Better Members of the House and Senate
	The biggest problem with the Senate and the House of Representatives is that a not inconsiderable number of people who have been elected should not be there in the first place. Some are there because Democrats let down their guard, failing to generate the enthusiasm in off year elections that is a must when you are seeking to maintain a majority. Doug Jones’s effort to beat Roy Moore is huge. On December 12, we could gain a 49th Democratic vote in the Senate. At minimum, it will significantly increase the ability of Susan Collins and others to block Trump excesses. The Alabama race is flooded with money, but it will end up being very close, since leading Republicans have abandoned Moore. Here’s where you would send a check.  There is also a way to stand right now against the House tax bill and for taking back the House next year. Among the organizations bent upon taking back the house are Indivisible, which now has 6,000 local groups. Flippable has joined the fray and is focusing in part on taking back state legislatures. Sister Districts is also focused on “down ballot” races and matches up groups of people in safe districts with a targeted race in another part of the country. With the help of the donation system Act Blue, Swing Left has become an important pipeline to support emerging candidates in the sixty Congressional districts we have the best chance of taking back. You can now split your donation equally among opponents to House members who voted for the tax bill, thus letting your electoral displeasure be direct and immediate.

And on it goes. Some people have intentionally separated themselves from Trump’s daily assault on humanity. They aren’t prepared to tell you about wildly inappropriate remarks to Navajo codebreakers, bizarre self-aggrandizing exchanges with the father of a UCLA basketball player, or even a verbal assault on Jeff Flake. That’s an understandable defense mechanism, since in the world outside Trump there is love to be sought and given, dreams to be nurtured, the environment to be stewarded, and people in need to be served.

Whatever choice is made about the distance from the battle, we must not wait too long to re-engage. The more people we have in this country who in the course of every week show that they are resisting, the shorter our country’s nightmare will be.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#27: Virginia Results Reveal How We Will Take Back the House

Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends, if you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.

Unfortunately, it isn’t just the same thing week after week. The damage is considerable, cumulative and growing. What seemed at one time to be strong examples of Donald Trump’s unfitness for the presidency (hanging up on the Australian prime minister, giving a political speech at the Boy Scout Jamboree) are now tame.

The new offenses against all senses are much worse. Putin is believed and admired, and the central elements of our democracy thus are actively besmirched. John McCain couldn’t have been more pointed: “There’s nothing America First: about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community. Vladimir Putin does not have America’s interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naïve but places our national security at risk.”

Our country is living a nightmare. And unbelievably, right now the most helpful recent rescuer is the very white knight himself, Steve Bannon, who actively seeks to tear the Republican Party in two. Bannon’s war on Republicanism strengthens our already excellent opportunity to take back the House of Representatives and provides a new small, but growing chance for an even greater prize -- the United States Senate.

We must not get ahead of ourselves. What is before us is a year of relentless focus on the elections that will take place on November 6, 2018, taking full advantage of the blueprint that just emerged in Virginia. As we proceed, let’s incorporate a measure of caution. So far, we are riding on Trump’s weaknesses and not on our own strengths. We can be reactive now, but we must ultimately gain greater clarity, cohesion and leadership. This will emerge. In the meantime, as we defend against the worst actions of a bizarre presidency, we will remember one thing more. Consuming our friends’ undeniably clever snarky posts and bits about Trump may be energizing, but they are no substitute for acting on issues and engaging in specific campaigns. We already know likes and re-tweets in and of themselves do not represent political action.

The very good news is that the story of next year is already partly written. Especially with Bannon out there trashing Republican Senators, it is going to be very difficult for Trump to reverse the dominant narrative where his unpopularity grows, and his prevarications pile up. The Virginia election results demonstrated the deterioration of his support from suburban women. Notably, it also revealed an enthusiasm boost borne out of the resistance. 450,000 more Virginians came to the polls to elect Northam over Gillespie than voted in the 2013 gubernatorial election.

The Virginia results have everything to do with how we can most certainly take back the House in 2018 and how we may even put the Senate into play. Off-year elections like the one next November almost always result in a push back against the party in power. When that same party is also fighting among themselves, their enthusiasm and participation wanes. In this context, changing the minds of voters is splendid, but even greater success lies in motivating and energizing those who already are disturbed about Trump. If they can feel our momentum and vote in droves, taking back 45 seats in the House is not out of the question. The House will then stand as a huge barrier to the diminishment of our democracy.

The reason why Republicans in both the House and Senate are fully committed to passing any tax bill is that they are searching for anything that could even partially inoculate them against a Democratic takeover of the House. The provisions in the House and Senate versions of the tax bill reveal what they want most now, so they can celebrate the holidays later: significant reductions in corporate taxes; special provisions that reduce tax exposure of those with very considerable assets; and tax cuts that provide a meaningful income tax reduction for most middle income and upper income taxpayers. In all three cases these proposals further exacerbate wealth maldistribution in America. It is a foregone conclusion that as much as 80% of the benefits to individuals will go to the top 5% of taxpayers.

The reduction in the corporate tax rate is intended to create comparable rates with our foreign economic competitors, but there is no guiding provision that will incentivize creation of family wage jobs. Special provisions include eliminating the estate tax in the House or sharply reducing it in the Senate, with leadership using the tax exposure of 50 farms a year to provide cover for a tax break for those with hundreds of millions of dollars of assets. Finally, even the rate reductions themselves have disproportionate value to high income taxpayers. If you provide a 7% reduction to a middle-income family which pays $10,000 a year, you are sending them an additional $700. If you provide a lower reduction of 5% to an upper income family which pays $200,000 a year, you are sending them $10,000.

What to do? How does one sort out individual actions? Let’s choose actions that push back against the unfortunate Republican tendency to select for special gilding things that are already gilded.

1) Say No on the Elimination of Estate Taxes
	For married couples, the federal estate tax comes into play when their assets upon passing are more than $11 million. Estate planning involves numerous legal ways to decrease this exposure, including making annual gifts to one’s children and grandchildren. Even though by far the greatest amount of these taxes are paid by those with assets over $200 million, its repeal is always on the Republican wish list. The current Senate proposal lifts the size of taxable estates to $22 million rather than eliminating the tax, an effort to retain the vote of Maine Senator Susan Collins on the overall bill. This battle has seen the surprising emergence of another Republican Senator, not at all known for taking on such disputes. This is Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota. He may start to bend under pressure, but see what you can do to reinforce his better sensibilities. He is unused to hearing from people across America. Call and tell his staff at 202- 224-5842 that he should stand his ground on estate taxes. Write legislative director Gregg Rickman at Gregg_Rickman@rounds.senate.gov. Or if you have a Republican Senator, write him or her and extend your thinking on this matter.
2) Protect the Affordable Care Act One More Time
	In a late breaking element, Mitch McConnell is signaling his interest in including in the tax bill a repeal of the individual coverage requirement mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Republicans need more “revenue” which they say could be used to shore up the tax cuts for the middle class! Apparently they couldn’t find the resources in the $1.5 trillion hole they have already created in budget over the next ten years, or the $300 billion estate tax break they have devised. The elimination of the individual mandate would kill the ACA, depriving it of, among other things, a pool of healthy insured people. The Congressional Budget Office believes that the number of insured would drop by 13 million people. Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and John McCain have stood up for health care for Americans. Could you write and call to ask them to do it one more time? Morgan Griffin, Legislative Aide for Lisa Murkowski, Alaska  Steve Abbott, Chief of Staff for Susan Collins, Maine  David Bennett, Legislative Aide for John McCain, Arizona
3) Congressman, Step Away From Our Teacher’s Desk
	Both the House and the Senate versions of the tax bill allow corporations to deduct all sorts of expenses, but they take that opportunity away from your town’s elementary and primary school teachers. Really? We know you tax writers are bent on decreasing tax deductions, but could you leave Ms. McGillicuddy’s $250 deduction for things she buys for her classroom alone? Isn’t that behavior you want to encourage? Here’s the chance to write any Republican Senator or member of Congress from your state. Tell them that now is a perfect time to show our teachers that the sacrifices they have been making to help equip their classrooms count with you, and should count with them.

The Mueller investigation continues, and there will be more indictments. It will be reemphasized that another nation which in no way wishes us well tried to tear apart the fabric of our democracy. Whether or not the collusion that is proved will reach the President, we will see very clearly the picture of a values-deficient Trump campaign, which demonstrated that they would do anything and say anything to win. Now, in just a year we can take the first of two steps at the ballot box to make it right.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#26: Make Steve Bannon a Sordid Historical Footnote

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It is familiar in fiction - the delusional ruler, alone in his castle, raging. Jesters and flatterers are summoned, but the anger is unabated. There is much scurrying about. Knights and members of the ruler’s court are summoned. Ultimately, the ruler slumbers fitfully, and…

… Donald Trump is at peace, until the tweeting begins.

This is not a good non-fictional situation, it is fair to say. As a real estate developer, Donald Trump was in a business in which certain unscrupulous practitioners use exaggeration and misrepresentation as a business practice. His world tolerated and even encouraged ritualistic adversarial exchanges as deals were considered. Before he was sworn in, none of the virtues of the best presidents had ever found any home with him, certainly not Barrack Obama’s eloquence or intellectual grounding, or FDR’s ability to lead nations through tenacity and the strength of his ideas.

So, we are left with an unsuited and thus unsuitable president, and an ongoing governmental crisis. We must remind ourselves that we will prevail and regain a new equilibrium because we have to, and because:

• We have a constitutional system for which the checks and balances on the Presidency are very real, in which the courts and Congress can and do step in. It is the Congress that is doing too little but still is protecting Robert Mueller and sanctioning Russia, and the courts that are impeding some of the worst of the executive orders.

• We have an election in just a year in which we will take back the House and gain an extra set of brakes. This will be especially helpful in fighting back against the Trump/Pruitt decimation of environmental protection. If the election were held today, we would win 40-50 seats, exceeding the 24 we need. Donald Trump’s support has deteriorated to its lowest level.

• We have Senators McCain, Flake, Collins, Murkowski, and Corker who have openly broken ranks on specific issues. Others like Lamar Alexander of Tennessee have forged bi-partisan approaches. Even though these tales of forthrightness and occasional personal political sacrifice are far too few, they are not insignificant.

The Congress will pass a tax bill this fall, because they must. Both they and Donald Trump need to say that they did this, or they will be portrayed as having had a lost year. They just got their votes to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, which is an unusual thing to be saying about a party that has trumpeted the need for balanced budget. Unfortunately for them, Trump has made tax cut promises requiring at least three times as much deficit spending as that $1.5 trillion. In his world, he doesn’t have to recognize that these numbers don’t add up. It’s a con.

What should we be most focused on as we do our resistance work?

We must be ever-obsessed with wealth distribution in America. Since the 1982 tax bill, tax policy has reduced the progressivity of the tax code and thus contributed to the growing concentration of wealth in the top 10%. The White House has been using mathematical gymnastics to argue that it is self-evident that any tax bill will disproportionately benefit the very rich, because they pay more taxes. That contention is false. Adding insult to injury, their draft proposals would eliminate both the estate tax, the alternative minimum tax, and lower taxes on pass through profits from limited liability companies - three taxes paid only by exceedingly wealthy people.

From this point on, it is all about evaluating the various proposals on their distributional impact. We must make certain that every tax proposal that is floated is subject to this test, and tailor our notes to Congress accordingly. There are three things we can do today:

1) Let the Ways and Means Committee Know You’re Out There
	There are 40 members of the House Ways and Means Committee, which will start the action by reviewing the proposal of their chair, Kevin Brady, which he has prepared in conjunction with Paul Ryan. The proposal is already being opposed by the Republican-leaning National Association of Home Builders. It’s complicated, but they are worried that the proposed increase in the standard deduction would decrease itemizers and thus the impact of the existing mortgage deduction, and consequently destabilize the housing market. They wanted a fix through a new tax credit, and were turned down. This back and forth is relevant because it creates a more receptive climate for your letter. The Republicans on the committee will come together to pass a bill, but many will be influenced by their mail and calls, as they pick and choose their pain and gain. The 40 members of the committee are spread across the country, so chances are good there will be one or more from your state for you to send a note or make a call. That’s good thing because it will be easier for you to deal with the defenses members are setting up to decrease their out of state email. See the committee member list here. The best argument to emphasize is the need for the bill to attend to middle class taxpayers. Please note for them that you as a voter are watching their actions on this specific issue.
2) Figure Out What is Happening on SALT, and Act Accordingly
	Republicans in higher tax states are very worried that their taxpayers will be disproportionately impacted as the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) is pared back or eliminated. This is complex, too, because the relative impact on the middle class and the very wealthy of rolling back this tax break depends on each state’s tax structure. It is certainly the case that decreasing this deduction in order to raise revenue to make it possible to eliminate the alternative minimum tax and the estate tax is a bad deal for the middle class and everyone else who doesn’t pay these two taxes. Thus, it is a good idea to go all the way back to your own state legislators from your own district. You can send them an email and make sure they are focused on what’s happening on this issue on the federal level. You can ask them to examine the impact on middle income taxpayers and be in contact with members of Congress.
3) Celebrate That Life Isn’t Just About Money
	In the midst of all the legislative focus on the making and keeping of money, a federal district court judge has blocked enforcement Trump’s awful ban on transgendered people in the military. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was first appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan. She has ruled the plaintiffs are likely to ultimately win on the merits. In addition to a victory for justice and fairness, this story is about what smaller organizations can do. The organizations bringing suit were GLBQT Legal Advocates and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Write and thank one or both of them, and if you possibly can, click and send a celebratory contribution that will help them pay for legal costs going forward. GLBQT Legal Advocates National Center for Lesbian Rights

Steve Bannon is out there somewhere, doing his venal thing. He is hoping the intensity of your effort will wane. He and his followers are kindly called “economic nationalists” by the media. He is banking on them prevailing, and so is Donald Trump. It is up to all of us to make such an outcome not just inconceivable, but impossible. You can make Steve Bannon a sordid historical footnote.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#25: Republican Senators Say a Prayer for Mattis, Tillerson and Kelly Every Day

Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends, if you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.

It has been almost a year. If this was a merely a presidency without grace, we would bear up under it with aplomb. But it is a bullying, incurious, relentlessly dishonest, scary presidency. Hence, our resistance.

For most of this year, the number one thing we need to do has been clear. We need to and plan to take back the House of Representatives on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. It is now just over a year away and the races are emerging. Our chances of getting the 24 seats we need are excellent. A new poll shows Democrats significantly leading the “generic” Congressional vote. We have more than a year to go, but our prospects are the best they have been. Of course, our prospects are good because of the awful damage that has been wrought upon our nation. That makes it a bit more difficult to celebrate.

Recently, Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said the greatest danger of this presidency is that its disdain for diplomacy and resultant reliance on “binary” options could lead us in the direction of World War III. This is the most serious of business, forcing us to BOTH take back the House and adopt a new number one project. That project must increase the number of Republican leaders who are actively speaking out to check the President’s excesses. As outlined most recently in missive #18 this is no easy thing.

One might think that Donald Trump’s unpopularity would give any Republican leader some “cover” under which to criticize him. After all, the narrative that Donald Trump has a solid, unquestioning and unflinching base is false. Somewhere around 20% of the Republicans who voted for him are not with him anymore, and he has hemorrhaged support from independents.

However, the remaining Trump supporters are of sufficient number to punish Republican officeholders not only for real slights, but for imagined slights. All of the recent Steve Bannon adventures recruiting candidates to oppose the Republican “establishment” are a Trump-blessed demonstration that there will be retribution for those that stray. Note that none of the primary Republican Senate critics of Trump (Murkowski, Corker, McCain, Collins, Sasse, Paul) are up for re-election in 2018. And, all have given him important support at critical junctures, though not on health care.

Corker maintains that there are a lot of Republican Senators who share his worries about global conflict, which is hard to doubt. But they are also glad that it is Corker who is talking, not them. Senators like Jeff Flake of Arizona toed the line on the health care votes, but all he has earned is an alt-right opponent in the primary and a strong Democratic candidate in the general election.

How do we increase the number of Republican dissenters? First, we develop a richer understanding of why they don’t want to do what we want them to do. Officeholders vary widely in how they seek to establish justice and promote the general welfare, but all of them think that’s what they are doing, and none of them want voters to tell them they can’t do it anymore. They vote with Trump for reasons of self-preservation, so that they can continue to serve, so that they will be able to do the good that they are doing, or (in some cases) that they think they are doing.

It gets complicated for them when their interest in self-preservation pulls them in two distinct directions. In an increasing number of states, Senators fear that the retribution from independent voters if they vote with Trump will outweigh retribution from the Trump “base” if they vote against Trump. Loud, intense, well-resourced, concerted opposition from all of us changes the equation. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska wanted to do the right thing on health care, but you can bet that she was also weighing who she was going to make the maddest and how long they are going to stay mad.

Even with all of this weighing, it is important to remember that a Senator can always step forward out of pure principle. Ben Sasse of Nebraska is an example of this. He would be better off politically if he hadn’t asked if Trump was “recanting his oath of office” when he said NBC should have its broadcasting license (which it doesn’t hold in the first place) challenged.

Certainly, Senators are worried that Trump will start a war and that a lot of people will die. They say a prayer for Mattis, Tillerson and Kelly every day. Because they have these worries, you can ask them (or a Representative) to oppose Trump on foreign policy so that the republic will stand. But it never hurts to also be able to say that if they do not oppose Trump on foreign policy, there will be political consequences. Just be sure to follow up and help make it so.

There will be time to take on tax “reform” efforts and with them the re-kindling of the novel Republican notion that decreasing revenue by $2 trillion in tax cuts will not increase the deficit. For now, let’s do three things that will reinforce the signal to Republican Senators and Representatives that it is time for them to be counted:

1) Start Counting On Nebraska Senators
	Ben Sasse of Nebraska followed up with his criticism of Trump with this response to Sean Hannity of Fox News, who had taken him on for criticizing Trump: "Some of us still believe in the constitution".   Sasse has potential that all of us need to help him realize. Let’s thank him for standing up for the First Amendment and thus give him some positive reinforcement. Let’s make sure we get through my leaving a phone message, sending an email to him, and trying to get a personal message through. First, call the main line at: 202-224-4224 Then, email the Senator Finally, to make sure you get a human, call his Lincoln office at 402-476-1400 After that, take an interest in the other Nebraska Senator, Deb Fischer. She has supported Trump almost without exception, though she was somewhat troubled by his order regarding transgendered persons in the Armed Services. For all of her unyielding support, she has been attacked by Steve Bannon for failing to criticize Bob Corker when he criticized Donald Trump.  We aren’t going to turn Deb Fischer in our direction, but it would be good to show her she has been noticed. If you have extra energy on the Nebraska front, send her an email telling her that it will be a political test that America is watching for her to stand up to Bannon.
2) Thank Senator Bob Corker Profusely and Follow Him Closely
	Senator Bob Corker has a year left as the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He can do an enormous amount of good for America if he doesn’t start getting worn down by the attacks he is receiving.  Reinforce the good. Be a part of the “count” by emailing the Senator himself.   Then try to find your way around the curtain by writing a note to his foreign affairs counsel John Rader and tell him how important it is that the Senator attend to these matters on a daily basis: John Rader, Counsel Senate Foreign Relations Committee 423 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington D.C 20510-6225
3) Make Sure Our Side of the Story is Well Articulated
	A year after Donald Trump was elected, the main voices of the opposition remain Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. These two people were elected by their fellow Democrats as managers of their caucuses. They are imperfect national spokespeople to be the lead respondents to Trump. Email Michael Tyler, spokesperson for Democratic Party chair Thomas Perez and the Democratic National Committee. Tell him you are sitting out there hoping that they are working aggressively to groom and advance other elected officials to comment on the daily happenings in Washington D.C. Ask him what the DNC is doing on this front.

The rest of the fall will be all about the budget bill, keeping the government open, and tax “reform”. The central tax issue must remain the enormous and growing disparities in wealth distribution in America. The best thing you can say about the tax debate and related media coverage so far is that almost every story refers to the distributional impact by income level of various tax proposals.

On the global front, we need to persuade some Senators to imagine themselves as a part of Profiles in Courage. Or, in the alternative, let’s continue to show the political intensity that will make the principled stand of any Republic senator less courageous and more practical. Let’s make them more worried about our reaction than they are about Donald Trump’s reaction.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#24: In No Way is Donald Trump a Populist

Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends, if you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.

As this bizarre Presidency unfolds and unravels, the media has grown accustomed to labeling Donald Trump’s beliefs. The most accurate such description is “Trumpism”, which one imagines means the collective policy and political positions of Donald Trump. Of course that doesn’t get us very far in predicting behavior or establishing coherence.

Two other terms have come into vogue, both false and both affording Trump greater credence than he has earned. The first, “economic nationalism”, implies that much of Trump’s primary platform is to put the economic interests of the United States and its people far ahead of any economic interests of other countries and people.

This “truth” is not self-evident. Its genesis comes from Trump’s re-negotiation of some elements of NAFTA and his current trade battles with China, Canada and others. But putting our economic interests first requires us to have economic success over time, which we can’t achieve without having robust markets for our products. Being in constant conflict with other countries weakens us as a trading partner, recasts us as the bully in the marketplace, and risks serious trade wars that will cost us.

The even more problematic untruth is calling Trump a populist. The word populist is conveyed on someone “seeking to represent the interests of ordinary people.” Even the venerated New York Times cannot keep itself from calling Trump and his supporters “the populist wing” of the Republican Party as opposed to the “establishment wing.” So, the word populist conveys authenticity, pretending that the ultimate self-dealing, self-aggrandizing President is “of the people”. The real situation is that he is attending to the pretense of being of the people. With his approval levels declining significantly, the people are not so sure about it.

If Donald Trump is all about advancing the lives of ordinary people, see if he can pass this test:

• A populist wouldn’t propose “tax reform” that would personally save him a billion dollars by eliminating estate taxes on the wealthy.
• A populist would never spend each weekend using taxpayer dollars provided by ordinary people to fly to his various properties so that has can promote them.
• A populist wouldn’t think of filling his cabinet with billionaires who could not be more removed from America’s neighborhoods and communities.
• A populist would not use his presidency to regularly attack any woman who dares to stand up to him.
• An authentic populist would not ignore and leave us vulnerable to the enormous impacts of climate change, which will have the greatest impact on people with fewer resources.

This fall will be all about tax reform. It begins with the fiction as well that huge tax reductions for the very wealthy and for corporations will produce economic growth and tax revenue so great that it will wipe out the $1.5 trillion shortfall that the tax cuts create. This is being said with a straight face by Republicans who cut taxes six times in the days of George W. Bush and never saw such revenues appear. Reagan budget director David Stockman calls Trump’s tax proposals an “aspirational air ball”. That is being kind.

It’s the new battle, and one worth fighting with everything we’ve got. The fundamental question is whether we want the awful wealth maldistribution in America to get even worse, because everything Ryan and Trump have thrown out so far would make it so. The present Trump sketch would give 50% of the tax relief to people making over $700,000 a year. From the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities comes this succinct review of what would be wrought. 

Let’s accelerate. Republicans have already set in motion a reconciliation process which means they will only need to get 50 votes in the Senate. This will be hard to do, because John McCain is a likely no, and a number of other Republican Senators including Rand Paul are worried about increasing the deficit. Much like the successful battle that lead to the survival of the Affordable Care Act, we will need to start with “moderate” Republicans in the Senate as we insist on a fair and equitable tax reform bill. Because 20 or so Republican House members are upset with spending cuts insisted upon by the Freedom Caucus, there may some insisting that we can do in the House as well.

Here are three things that we can do today:

1) Spread the Truth About the Estate Tax
	There is no federal taxation on estates of less than $5.5 million for an individual and $11 million for a couple, and the marginal tax rate has been lowered over the years. Donald Trump just told a very big lie. He said that “millions” of farmers and small businesses would be freed from having to sell their holdings to pay the tax if we only eliminate the tax. The number of farmers and farms that would be subject to the estate tax next year will be around 80. These are huge multi-million dollar farm operations, and even those are afforded an extended payment schedule so that they can keep their farms within their families. The bulk of the benefits from estate tax elimination would instead go to people who have assets like Donald Trump, not the farmer with some plentiful acreage and row crops near you. As noted, Trump himself would save an estimated billion dollars. Nice work if you can get it. It is critical that we set the record straight, and this analysis can help you do that. You could write a letter to your local newspaper, which is still out there. You could advance the politifact.com posting through social media, or email the link to your friends. Either way, this misinformation cannot be allowed to stand, and the wealthiest Americans should not be allowed to hide behind the American farmer.
2) Focus on Key Moderate Republicans
	The vote of Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee may determine whether a Trump-like proposal makes it through the Senate Finance Committee and is sent to the floor. That’s because politically proportionate representation on that key committee yields only a one vote edge, with 10 Republicans and 9 Democrats. Corker has already expressed concerns about the tax proposal but he has also agreed to let the budget process go forward at least temporarily. It includes a predicted tax reform related $1.5 trillion revenue loss over the next ten years. Famously, he has called into question Trump’s “stability” and “competence”, and he has already announced he is not running for re-election. He is against adding to the deficit. He is as free to do the right thing as he is ever going to be. You can help him think about what the right thing is. Since he has already argued against increasing the deficit, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell will try to make certain he is fine with the proposition that $1.5 trillion in revenue losses will be offset by revenue gains from a boosted economy. It has never been so. Please write and call to tell Bob Corker that. Senator Bob Corker Email Phone: 202-224-3344 In the House, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania is leader of the Tuesday group. These are “moderates” but not at all in the way that moderation used to be in the heart of the Republican party. Charlie Dent and some of his colleagues are feeling badly that some of them were driven by Republican leadership to “walk the plank”. They voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which turned out to be all pain and no gain since repeal didn’t pass the Senate. To make things worse, Donald Trump called the House Republican version “mean” after he got their votes. All this means that these Republicans are feeling wronged, and they are being asked to accept social welfare and other spending cuts that Senate Republicans will never ratify. Charlie Dent is already used to being criticized by Trump, and he is not running for re-election. Please write and call him and say that it is time for him to be counted and to lead the Tuesday group Republicans down a new path. Representative Charlie Dent Email Phone: 202-225-6411
3) Support Tax Justice Advocates
	Some battles need relentless advocacy, and that is what Citizens for Tax Justice has been providing for years. This would be an outstanding time to click and donate. They won’t necessarily be in the room when final decisions are made, or when the 50th Senate vote is gained by one side of the other. But they will have fueled the arguments for tax equity. The case for tax reform that doesn’t upend the American people would be far less powerful were it not for their efforts.

Certainly, this has become a slog. The good news about Donald Trump’s day to day behavior is it never creates self-doubt in all of us on whether we should resist! Let’s all keep doing what we are doing. Don’t forget to choose a Congressional campaign or two. This is no time to let up.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington