Tag: #maga
In Idaho, MAGA Party Official Snitches On GOP Legislator For Hiring 'Illegals'

In Idaho, MAGA Party Official Snitches On GOP Legislator For Hiring 'Illegals'

One Republican state representative in Idaho was recently caught off-guard when a far-right political activist had Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents sent to her potato farm.

According to Newsweek, Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen — who is serving her second term in Idaho House District 32A — is now publicly railing against Ada County, Idaho Republican Party vice chairman Ryan Spoon in an op-ed. Mickelsen recalled in a recent essay for the Idaho Statesman that Spoon had ICE agents deployed to her farm, which resulted in them arresting one farm worker roughly a week after Spoon tweeted at President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan. She didn't mention Spoon by name but referred to him as "someone working remotely for an insurance company who thinks he knows Idaho values and the [agriculture] business better than you do."

"Could you please send some illegal immigration raids to the businesses owned by Idaho state Rep. Stephanie Mickelson," Spoon wrote on January 21, misspelling Mickelsen's name. "She has been bragging about how many illegals her businesses employ."

Mickelsen wrote in her op-ed that her farm "complies with all applicable laws regarding employment and immigration," though she would also "welcome improvements to the laws and enforcement." But she didn't spare her critics among the GOP base who criticized her for acknowledging that large and influential sectors of the economy like agriculture are heavily reliant on immigrant labor.

"As a state representative, I’ve experienced this firsthand," Mickelsen wrote in her op-ed. "For honestly discussing real issues relating to immigration policy — recognizing both the need for border security and the reality that critical aspects of our economy depend on foreign workers — I’ve become the target of intimidation tactics designed to silence me."

On his social media channels, Spoon has repeatedly targeted Mickelsen over her comments about the outsized role undocumented labor plays in the American economy. He's also amplified content from an account called "Stop Idaho RINOs" [Republicans In Name Only] including a floor speech in which she cautioned her fellow Republicans against immigration measures that could harm the Gem State's economy. Newsweek also reported that a University of Idaho study found that roughly 35,000 undocumented immigrants work in Idaho's agriculture, hospitality and construction industries.

"If you guys think that you haven't been touched by an illegal immigrants' hands in some way, either your traveling or your food, you are kidding yourselves,' she said earlier this month.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Shrinking American Culture To Fit Those Small MAGA Minds

Shrinking American Culture To Fit Those Small MAGA Minds

So much of the American character is in peril, including the cultural touchstones I often reference, probably more often than my column editors would like. But I believe most Americans’ lives are enriched by the TV shows and music, theater and films that make skeptics and even hate-watchers tune in for the Academy Awards or Super Bowl halftime show.

I long ago embraced the fact that the arts (high and low) bring joy, knowledge and — often, just in time — an escape. But to Donald Trump they have become yet another part of American life he can control.

His administration is eviscerating the division that preserves and maintains more than 26,000 art pieces across the country, including renowned paintings and sculptures, owned by the government.

Under Trump’s influence, museums are canceling exhibits that feature diverse artists, films are stripping out characters that represent the underrepresented, and internships and scholarships that expose all communities to the arts are ending.

In just one example, the young musicians who auditioned for and won a coveted learning experience with the U.S. Marine Band were disappointed when an executive order canceled their workshop and “Equity Arc Wind Symphony.” This time, military band veterans stepped up, and the story and tuneful results were seen by the millions who watched and listened on “60 Minutes” on CBS.

However, not every Trump-induced nightmare has a fairy tale ending.

In Washington, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, under the new Trump-appointed management and a board that shockingly elected him chair, intends to narrow the kinds of work it will present in the future, a scary thought even if you adore the Trump-favored musical “Cats.” How many times can a person hear “Memory”?

Isn’t the beauty of culture choice? With diverse offerings available, there is bound to be something that’s appealing to every individual taste.

The president gave away the game when he admitted that in all his years in Washington, he had not been a fan of the Kennedy Center. “I didn’t go,” he said when asked. “There was nothing I wanted to see.”

Nothing piqued the president’s curiosity? Nothing that might inspire, surprise or simply entertain?

Maybe that’s why Trump never laughs, or hardly smiles, unless it’s that weird smirk that spreads across his face when he thinks his sophomoric insults are somehow witty. A hint: Just because sycophants guffaw, it doesn’t mean you’ll be the next recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, awarded from that Kennedy Center stage.

Oh, wait a minute.

So, exactly what “woke” shows did the president reject, sight unseen? Perusing the programming when he was in office, I wondered. Was it touring productions of The Book of Mormon or Hello, Dolly! ? Maybe On Your Feet! the story of Cuban American musicians Emilio and Gloria Estefan? Didn’t Cuban Americans turn out for him in Florida?

Considering Trump’s coziness with Vladimir Putin, you’d have thought Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, performed in conjunction with the English company of Cheek by Jowl and the Pushkin Theatre Moscow, would have caught his eye.

But, no. With all those varied shows on the schedule, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera, the uninterested Trump mostly decided to pass.

In 2017, he did attend a Fourth of July concert at the Kennedy Center hosted by First Baptist Church Dallas, reported NPR. But when the main event is a performance by the choir and orchestra of a song that includes the lyrics “Make America Great Again” and Trump squeezes in a slam on the “fake media,” I’m not sure that counts.

Now, he wants to deny everyone else, dictating what Americans will see and hear, starting but I fear not ending at the Kennedy Center.

The insistence on seeing art and culture through Trumpian eyes means Kennedy Center audiences will miss the MacArthur “genius” and Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens, who has canceled her show in response.

Having seen Giddens with the Carolina Chocolate Drops delightfully play an eclectic brand of roots music, which elevates the contributions of African Americans, I can say missing a Giddens performance is Trump’s loss.

Giddens has the rare gift of entertaining while teaching you something — in her case, something about America.

I count myself lucky to have had parents who found every free concert, lecture or film at the library. Community programs offering dance and music lessons are disappearing, I fear. Theater and opera tickets didn’t put too much strain on the purse — if you were willing to sit up in the nosebleed section.

My young life included arts and culture, things that I loved and hated and had questions about, that were interesting and fun, that enhanced rather than distracted from the reading, writing and arithmetic many of our leaders would like to solely revert to in public schools.

Though lacking the wealth of the Trump family, my parents realized the importance of a complete education.

I’m certain the president would not have approved of the last show I saw at the Kennedy Center,A Soldier’s Play, Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, set on a segregated Army base in the South during World War II. It’s grounded in the history Trump and his followers are trying to erase.

Yet, a packed audience was thrilled, a difference in opinion on what is and is not proper art that should be allowed in anyone’s America, even Trump’s.

Mary C. Curtis has worked at The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Charlotte Observer, as national correspondent for Politics Daily, and is a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. She is host of the CQ Roll Call "Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis" podcast. Follow her on X @mcurtisnc3.

Reprinted with permission from Roll Call


MAGA Oligarchs Using 'Friction Theory' To Ruin Social Security

MAGA Oligarchs Using 'Friction Theory' To Ruin Social Security

Thomas Jefferson referred to the U.S. government as a "common house" that provided the people protection and stability. Donald Trump is trying to evict Americans from that comfy home by making it hard to get benefits that should be thought of as a right.

Witness the slashing of basic government services in the name of deficit reduction, or more accurately, paying for tax cuts. Elon Musk's rash firings are about more than saving taxpayers money on salaries and office rent. It's about frustrating Americans trying to obtain benefits to the point that they give up.

In economics, "friction theory" describes how governments (or other institutions) put into place unnecessary complexity, bureaucratic hurdles, or inefficiencies to discourage the public from accessing services. This can take the form of complex paperwork, or limited hours of operation to reduce demand.

It's no accident that Musk is cannibalizing the workforces that administer such benefits as Social Security and Medicaid. These are people we sometimes must talk to.

Trump started applying the friction theory in his first term to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Its purpose was to steer away the younger and healthy beneficiaries needed for a stable insurance pool.

He shortened the annual ACA enrollment period and slashed its advertising budget by 90%. He cut funding for the navigators who helped folks understand the ACA program and how to enroll in it.

He employed other means to dismantle the program. The tax cut legislation effectively repealed the "individual mandate" requiring most Americans to have health coverage or pay a penalty. By removing the penalty, fewer healthy people bought coverage. The result was higher ACA marketplace premiums to cover a riskier pool of beneficiaries.

Trump also expanded access to short-term plans that didn't have to meet basic ACA requirements, such as covering preexisting conditions. Many people opted for these cheaper plans, again leaving the ACA marketplaces burdened with a sicker population.

Unable to bankrupt the ACA, Trump then tried to kill the program outright and almost succeeded. Time to try again.

The ACA expanded access to Medicaid. Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term, calls for stricter eligibility standards to decrease enrollment in Medicaid and place limits on lifetime benefits. What Project 2025 wants, Project 2025 seems to be getting.

As for the Social Security Administration, Musk's mass layoffs insert friction into the process of getting information about benefits or fixing problems. That has resulted in limited phone-based services and the shutting of local offices providing in-person assistance. The Social Security website has crashed four times in 10 days this month so far.

The MAGA slumlords now portray Social Security not as the earned benefit it is but as some kind of racket. Consider Musk's fake claims about armies of long-dead Americans still collecting benefits. And he calls Social Security a "Ponzi scheme."

Social Security faces financing challenges, but the benefits come out of taxes paid by the workers and their employers. What's not distributed to beneficiaries gets invested in securities backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Our new commerce secretary broke new ground in portraying those claiming a missed Social Security check or incorrect payment as likely criminals. I quote Howard Lutnick:

"A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining. ... The easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen, because whoever screams is the one stealing."

Face it. The knives are out to destroy Americans' confidence in the government services that made their national house feel like home. The goal of the MAGA slumlords is to get the public to curse the program and, most importantly, go away. Frustration is their weapon.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

Worthwhile Canadian Observations, Or Resistance North Of The Border

Worthwhile Canadian Observations, Or Resistance North Of The Border

For those puzzled by my headline: Back in 1986 The New Republicchallenged its readers to come up with a headline more boring than “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative,” the title of a New York Times op-ed by Flora Lewis. They couldn’t. Canada, you see, was considered inherently boring.

As I wrote a couple of months ago, economists have never considered Canada boring: It has often been a laboratory for distinctive policies. But now it’s definitely not boring: Canada, which will hold a snap election next month, seems poised to deliver a huge setback to Donald Trump’s foreign ambitions, one that may inspire much of the world — including many people in the United States — to stand up to the MAGA power grab.

So this seems like a good time to look north and see what we can learn. Here are three observations inspired by Canada that seem highly relevant to the United States.

Other countries are real

I don’t know what set Trump off on Canada, what made him think that it would be a good idea to start talking about annexation. Presumably, though, he expected Canadians to act like, say, university presidents, and immediately submit to his threats.

What he actually did was to rally Canadians against MAGA. Just two months ago Canada’s governing Liberals seemed set for a historic collapse, with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre the all-but-inevitable next prime minister. Now, if the polls are to be believed, Poilievre — who has been trying to escape his image as a Canadian Trump, but apparently not successfully — is effectively out of the running:

I won’t count my poutine until it’s served, but it does seem as if Trump’s bullying has not only failed but backfired spectacularly. (And, arguably, saved Canada; all indications are that Poilievre is a real piece of work.) But why?

Much of this is on Trump, who always expects others to grovel on command. But it also reflects a general limitation of the American imagination: we tend to have a hard time accepting that other countries are real, that they have their own histories and feel strong national pride. Canada, in particular, arguably defined itself as a nation in the 19th century by its determination not to be absorbed by the United States.

In fact, there are almost eerie parallels between some of those old confrontations and current events. The 1890 McKinley tariff, of which Trump speaks with such admiration, was in part intended to pressure Canada into joining the U.S.. Instead, it inspired a backlash: Canada imposed high reciprocal tariffs, sought to strengthen economic linkages between its own provinces, and built a closer economic relationship with Britain.Sure enough, Mark Carney, the current and probably continuing Canadian prime minister, has emphasized removing remaining obstacles to interprovincial trade and seems to be seeking closer ties to Europe.

Trump may expect submission; he’s actually getting “elbows up.”

Time and chance happeneth to us all

Why, but for the grace of Donald Trump, was the Liberal Party headed for electoral catastrophe? There were specific policy issues like the nation’s carbon tax and Justin Trudeau’s personal unpopularity, but surely the main reason was a continuation of the factors that made 2024 a graveyard for incumbents everywhere, especially continuing voter anger about the inflation surge of 2021-22.

Some of us tried to point out that the very universality of the inflation surge meant that it couldn’t be attributed to the policies of any one country’s government. If Bidenomics was responsible for U.S. inflation, why did Europe experience almost the same cumulative rise in prices that we did? But there was never much chance of that argument getting traction in the United States, where we have a hard time realizing that other countries exist.

The Canadians, however, definitely know that we exist, and you might think that public anger over inflation would have been assuaged by the recognition that Canada’s inflation very closely tracked inflation south of the border:

But no, Canadian voters were prepared to punish the incumbent party anyway for just happening to hold power in a difficult time. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet electoral victory to parties with good policies; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Life is about more than GDP

Canada’s inflation experience looks a lot like ours, but in other ways Canada has clearly underperformed. In particular, it has had weak productivity growth, which has left it substantially poorer than the U.S.. Canada, The Economist declared in a much-quoted article, is now poorer than Alabama, as measured by GDP per capita.

That’s not quite what my numbers say, but close. Yet Canada doesn’t look like Alabama; it doesn’t feel like Alabama; and by any measure other than GDP it isn’t anything like Alabama. Here’s GDP per capita along with a widely used measure of life satisfaction, the same one often cited when pointing out how happy the Nordic countries seem to be, and life expectancy at birth:

So yes, Canada’s GDP per capita is comparable to that of very poor U.S. states. So is per capita GDP in Finland, generally considered the world’s happiest nation. But Canadians appear, on average, to be more satisfied with their lives than we are, although not at Nordic levels. We don’t have a comparable number for Alabama, but surveys consistently show it as one of our least happy states.

Part of the explanation for this discrepancy, no doubt, is that so much of U.S. national income accrues to a small number of wealthy people; inequality in Canada is much lower.

And I don’t know about you, but I believe that one important contributor to the quality of life is not being dead, something Canadians are pretty good at; on average, they live more than a decade longer than residents of Alabama.

The general point here is that while GDP is a very useful measure, and is generally correlated with the quality of life, it’s not the only thing that matters. And the more specific point is that Canada, which among other things has universal health care, has some good reasons beyond national pride not to become the 51st state.

So Canada isn’t boring now, and it never was. As I said, try looking north; you might learn something.

Paul Krugman is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and former professor at MIT and Princeton who now teaches at the City University of New York's Graduate Center. From 2000 to 2024, he wrote a column for The New York Times. Please consider subscribing to his Substack, where he now posts almost every day.




Reprinted with permission from Paul Krugman.

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