Support Our Journalism

Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

Politics National News World Economy Lifestyle Store

Tag: pennsylvania

Rising Egg Prices? Totally Donald Trump's Fault!

During the campaign, Donald Trump stood before a table of groceries, a box of eggs included, and promised: "When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one." It's now past day 14, and eggs prices are hitting record highs. Or to use a Trumpian locution, egg prices are the worst they've been in history.

You surely heard that Waffle House raised the price of its breakfasts by 50 cents an egg? Or that 100,000 eggs — valued at $40,000 — were just stolen from a single store in Pennsylvania?

Where are prominent Democrats emoting in supermarket aisles, hyperventilating on X or renting garments on the steps of the Capitol over this great injustice? It happened on Trump's watch breaking a sacred promise.

As of this typing, Trump has yet to blame egg prices on DEI or Hunter Biden. He hasn't said, as George Conway playfully tweeted, "THIS IS TOTALLY KAMALA HARRIS'S FAULT." Trump probably doesn't want to draw attention to the matter.

But now that Trump's in charge, his propagandists have discovered the bird flu, which killed egg-laying chickens during the Biden years. The influenza A viruses obviously haven't gotten the memo that they were supposed to disappear on Inauguration Day. That has Trump supporters hollering about the unfairness of blaming the MAGA god for an act of God.

But is it unfair for Democrats to fight unfairness with their own unfairness? After all, Trump unfairly blames everything on them.

The power of these lies is threefold. One, much of the public reads it as genuine criticism. Two, the target must spend time and energy explaining what the truth is. And a third advantage not equally shared: Many Republican followers are fully aware of the falsehoods but simply enjoy the discomfort they visit on Democrats.

Trump blamed the tragic plane crash in Washington on DEI. Those diversity, equity and inclusion policies will not be missed by many of us, but they had zero to do with the air disaster. Bringing them up, however, let Trump play around with racist and sexist innuendo.

Democrats could have countered with the verifiable truth that there were no commercial air disasters during the Biden administration. What's gone wrong since Trump took over? Democrats could have claimed that Trump's mania for deregulating has already brought laxness to air safety. And his vow to ax the jobs of government workers has left traffic control towers demoralized and understaffed.

Perhaps Democrats didn't want to stoop that low, but they surely could have come up with a bolder response than Chuck Schumer's drone before the mics. The Senate minority leader complained that Trump's unfounded explanation was "idle speculation" exploiting a terrible tragedy. His voice seemed to come out of a Victrola whose turntable was losing speed.

Maybe Democrats should ignore me on this. Ideally, one ought not unfairly blame anyone for anything. And Democrats have not been immune to attributing unrelated causes to things that went wrong under Republican governance. But their lying generally wasn't so blatant and gleeful.

Now a brief foray into the fact-based world: Economists say that Trump's trade wars will raise the cost of food still higher. And so would his plans to deport farm workers without the proper papers. Be prepared.

Now let's go back. There was a time when you didn't have to mortgage your home to buy breakfast. Perhaps if I act now and sell some stock, I can afford to take my family of four to Waffle House for a two-egg breakfast, side of bacon. With tip, that would cost we hardworking Americans more than $40. Shocking inflation.

AND THIS IS TOTALLY DONALD TRUMP'S FAULT!

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

What Is Behind John Fetterman's Rightward Pivot?

On Thursday, Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman became the first Senate Democrat to meet with Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s problematic pick to lead the Department of Defense. Oddly, Fetterman hasn’t ruled out supporting Hegseth, whose own mother once wrote him an angry email calling him an abuser of women. (She now says she doesn’t hold the same view of her son.)

“He could theoretically become the head of the Defense Department,” Fetterman told Politico in explaining his logic. “I've discovered in my time in D.C. that that’s important. And, ‘Are you having a conversation with someone?’ I don’t know why that’s shocking.”

Fetterman also said he’s aware of “some” allegations against Hegseth. Those include, but are not limited to, Hegseth allegedly raping a woman in 2017—Hegseth said the sex was consensual—and supposedly drinking on the job. But that hasn’t stopped the Pennsylvania senator from being open to joining Republicans in confirming the Fox News host.

Fetterman said he’s not sure why it’d be “controversial” to meet with Hegseth—and even suggested the two might find common ground on some issues. And on its own, meeting with the likely next defense secretary may not be a strange thing. But that’s not the only eyebrow-raising action Fetterman has taken recently.

On Wednesday, Fetterman apparently became the first Democratic senator to join Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform. And in his debut post, he made the surprising call to pardon Trump in his New York hush money case.

Fetterman also said he was a “hard YES” on confirming Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York as the next ambassador to the United Nations.

— (@)

Stefanik isn’t the first Trump Cabinet pick that Fetterman has voiced his support for. In November, he said he would vote to confirm Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as the next secretary of state.

— (@)

Once a self-described progressive, Fetterman has pivoted to the right since winning his 2022 Senate election. But backing Trump’s Cabinet picks isn’t the first time the senator has found himself on the outs with the progressive movement. He’s one of many Democrats to make stringently pro-Israel statements during its ongoing war in Gaza. In that, he found allies in the Democratic Party, such as New York Rep. Ritchie Torres.

However, Fetterman is making the case that he hasn’t abandoned progressivism—but that the movement dumped him.

“I didn’t leave the label, it left me on that,” Fetterman said in a June interview with comedian Bill Maher.

But a review of his history with the label makes his change appear more cynical in nature. After all, the senator happily embraced the label for years and courted the endorsement of independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, when Fetterman successfully ran to be Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor. Now, though, Fetterman seems more keen to taunt progressivism than to embrace it.

It’s a convenient scapegoat for Fetterman to blame the left for his shift to the right. It keeps his name in the limelight while making him seem to be some sort of brave truth-teller who isn’t afraid to stand up to his own party.

However, he might find it hard to have it both ways, with both parties, especially during a time when center-left and establishment Democrats are coming under fire for frequently losing elections and major policy fights.

At least for now, Fetterman hasn’t made clear what his end goal is in fighting his own party’s interests. But in the short-term, he is apparently trying to fill the void of the non-Republican rabble-rouser now that independent Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are leaving.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Trump Peddling Still Another Crappy Novelty -- And This One Stinks

There’s a new stench wafting out of the Donald Trump factory of crap. Trump has a brand-new set of fragrances for men and for women, named “Fight Fight Fight,” in reference to the shooting event in Butler, Pennsylvania last July.

Trump announced the ad with a picture of him and first lady Jill Biden sitting next to each other during a ceremony to mark the reopening of the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The caption read, “A fragrance your enemies can't resist!”

While Americans wait for Trump to formulate coherent “concepts of a plan” for the American health care system, they can spend $199 to buy a cologne for men or a perfume for women. What the two fragrances smell like hasn’t been reported. Maybe blood, sweat, and baby powder? Whatever bronzer smells like?

The image on the box of Trump’s “Fight, Fight, Fight” scent is a clear homage to the photo of Trump raising his fist after the assassination attempt that was used widely by his campaign during the election cycle, but it is not identical image. Gone is any strain on his face, any blood, and any Secret Service shielding him. Whether that is because the Associated Press fixed the licensing error on the images that Trump exploited to sell photo books, or simply a marketing decision, is hard to say.

Photographers of the event worried that the images of Trump and his bloody ear would become “photoganda” in the MAGA cult of personality. That’s exactly what has happened.

But Trump isn’t just selling stink. He’s gone into the mobile gaming realm. Last week, Trump’s son Eric promoted preorders for a new Trump Golf game set to drop in the summer of 2025. The game will reportedly offer in-app purchases of specialty virtual golf clubs ranging from the $9.99 Trump Gold club to the $99 Trump Noir club.

According to the creators of the game, you too can “Become Trump.” Maybe they mean you can waste millions of taxpayer dollars playing golf instead of helping the people that voted for you? One thing is for sure: Winning in Trump Golf will likely result in receiving the same kind of made-up trophies as Trump gets.

Add it to the list of gold-looking crap Trump sells and will continue to sell long past his mortal expiration date.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

'Best News For Democrats': Surge In Early Voting By Women

On Election Night 2024, decision desks will be paying especially close attention to the vote count in Pennsylvania — a crucial swing state that has 19 electoral votes and will help decide the outcome of the presidential race.

National and battleground state polls have been showing a very close race in the Keystone State, where Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Kamala Harris are tied in CBS News and CNN polls released in late October. A Quinnipiac University poll released on October 30 showed Trump with a two percent lead in Pennsylvania. A Marist poll released on November 1 showed Harris two points head there.

Early voting is underway in Pennsylvania. And according to Politico reporters Megan Messerly and Jessica Piper, Democrats view a heavy turnout among female voters as a very good sign for Harris.

"Across battlegrounds, there is a 10-point gender gap in early voting so far," Messerly and Piper explain in an article published on October 29. "Women account for roughly 55 percent of the early vote, while men are around 45 percent, according to a Politico analysis of early vote data in several key states. The implications for next week's election results are unclear; among registered Republicans, women are voting early more than men, too. But the high female turnout is encouraging to Democratic strategists, who expected that a surge in Republican turnout would result in more gender parity among early voters."

Messerly and Piper add, "It's impossible to know who these women are voting for, including whether Democrats are winning over unaffiliated or moderate Republican women disillusioned with former President Donald Trump. But the gender gap has been one of the defining features of the 2024 campaign, and Harris allies see the lack of a surge of male voters as an encouraging sign."

Tangle News' Issac Saul tweeted that Politico's "analysis of early voting data in Pennsylvania found that women registered as Democrats made up nearly a third of early votes this year from people who did not vote in the state in 2020." And this, Saul added, is the "best news for Dems in weeks."

Democratic strategist Tom Bonier told Politico, "In some states, women are actually exceeding their vote share from 2020, which is, at this point, shocking to me. I never would have bet on that.”

Messerly and Piper report, "According to TargetSmart’s analysis, Black and Latino women under the age of 30 are not only showing up at higher rates than their male peers — but by even a larger margin than they did in 2020."

The Politico reporters add, "That finding is echoed by internal data shared with Politico by the progressive, women-focused organization Supermajority, which is targeting many of these women: More than a third of the 3.6 million low-propensity women the organization is focused on turning out have already voted, which Democrats see as a good sign given that infrequent voters tend to vote later or on Election Day."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Shop our Store

Headlines

Editor's Blog

Corona Virus

World

        About The National Memo
    
The National Memo is a political newsletter and website that combines the spirit of investigative journalism with new technology and ideas. We cover campaigns, elections, the White House, Congress, and the world with a fresh outlook. Our own journalism — as well as our selections of the smartest stories available every day — reflects a clear and strong perspective, without the kind of propaganda, ultra-partisanship and overwrought ideology that burden so much of our political discourse.
TAGS

Created By

RebelMouse

About Masthead Terms of Service Privacy Statement Advertise Contact

Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

Rising Egg Prices? Totally Donald Trump's Fault!

What Is Behind John Fetterman's Rightward Pivot?

Trump Peddling Still Another Crappy Novelty -- And This One Stinks

'Best News For Democrats': Surge In Early Voting By Women

Shop our Store

Constitution Cork Coaster

Democracy Mug

Make America Think Again Hat

Constitution Rocks Glass

Headlines

Law Firm That Won Fox Defamation Case Files Suit Against Trump

Republicans Sing Praise Of Trump Tariffs As Economy Spirals

Cuts In Federal Funding Shut Down Vaccine Clinics Amid Measles Surge

Crashing Out: Consumer Confidence Falls To Lowest Level Since Great Recession

Editor's Blog

Brilliant Tariff Strategy Or Market Manipulation? We Report, You Decide

In Trump's Hands, Absolute Power Brings Inevitable Catastrophe

Why The Trump War Plans Leak Is So Much Worse Than What Hillary Did

Waste, Fraud And Abuse In Musk's Department Of Gross Errors

Corona Virus