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Chronic Crocheter's avatar

Let's not also forget to add in that by removing those "undocumented migrants" from farm and other food/field work, it further disrupts the food chain. It will make what food there is more expensive due to shortages or the need to import from elsewhere as farmers and ranchers go out of business. Time to plant victory gardens if you know how.

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Public Servant's avatar

Please don't forget all the civil servants who are being fired and furloughed. My partner and I have lost our careers because of the fascists. We had to line up at a food bank last week. Then they ran out of food because so many of us are struggling with DOGE and the MAGA shutdowns.

Help us resist: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/democracy-defender-reader-poem

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Monica Mac's avatar

Crikey, I am so terribly sorry :( I have lined up at a food bank in the past and it isn't what you want to be doing, at all.

Big hugs to you and your partner, the whole situation sucks big time.

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Linda Laz's avatar

And I refuse to eat Argentinian beef especially because they are battling hoof and mouth disease. WTF!!

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Janey Gregory's avatar

Love Them🐄🐂🐃🦬Please Don't Eat Them From AnyWherE🌍, The Bovines Love & Put 100% Trust In Us Daily & Then We Betray Them As Only A Greed-Commodity💔 Red Meats Are Dangerous To Our Heart Healths & Who Wants To Endure Cancer From Ingesting Them⚕️

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Linda Laz's avatar

Oh Janey, I agree 100%! I’m working on it. The thought of red meat laced with a disease is a strong deterrent.

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Janey Gregory's avatar

We Have It 100% Correct Linda & Hopeful Others Will See Our ForeWarN⚜️ Thank you Linda for the kind replay, take care🤗

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Melissa's avatar

I've seen somewhere recently that ground beef from Mexico (which apparently U.S. imports lots of and is in MacDonald's

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Janey Gregory's avatar

Absolutely nothing fair or rational about abusing these beautiful creatures🐄🐂🐘🦬AnyWherE🌍 &/OR In AnY WaY💔 Thank you for your informative reply Melissa, appreciate it🙂

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Ruth Sheets's avatar

Linda, I am wondering who Baby Donnie will blame if that cow disease comes here and infects our American cattle. I am guessing Democrats for something. Republicans are not as smart as they think. That is obvious when one realizes they are following without critique, an old man who has never been the brightest bulb in anyone's string (except in conning everyone around him), and who has dementia that is pretty far advanced. I keep hearing that it really isn't dementia but that Trump is playing with all of us until he gets full power, then he will show us his brilliance. NOPE! He has dementia!

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Michael's avatar

We have been eating their beef for a long time already, the felon is just buying more of it. Most of our beef we consume comes from other countries, most of our beef goes to other countries. We do not eat much of our own meat.

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Linda McCaughey's avatar

Here in the U.P. as well as in many other places in the northern tier, Victory Gardens would soon be under several feet of snow. Then what? Planning for next year's garden is already underway for most real gardeners. How do we manage after this year's harvest runs out, even before planting time??

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Sharyn Dimmick's avatar

Linda, you learn to dry, freeze, can and otherwise preserve what you can produce while your garden is producing. It is a lot of work, but it will help keep you fed. I moved to Washington state too late to put in a garden this year. We have a year-round farmers market where I live though and I shop there every week. Other than that, I watch for sales every week and try to buy only what I need and use what I've already got. And, if I can manage it, I'll make a small donation to the local food bank next month.

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Linda McCaughey's avatar

All good preservation methods, along with cold storage of root vegetables. All of this is possible only if you have enough land to grow an adequate amount of vegetables and fruits. If you rent or live in an apartment, it could be a lot more difficult still.

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Chronic Crocheter's avatar

Farmer's markets are good to hit up if you are in an apt. Our state gives matching 20$ for SNAP benefits which are good for fruits and veggies, which can be preserved. And have found that farmers are good about working with you to maximize that

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Linda McCaughey's avatar

Good to know--thanks!

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Mommadillo's avatar

Democrats need to stand their ground because everyone expects them to cave. If they want to remain a viable political party, they need to stand for SOMETHING.

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Ellie Alive In 25's avatar

They need to be taking out ads that tell the truth, and remind people who controls the government at this moment, and that it isn't the Democrats.

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G Wyn's avatar

The Government Shutdown is straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. Wrecking Ball the Government, Economy and the White House East Wing. Meanwhile, Cheeto is hopscotching across Asia. The Prime ministers are carrying him around in a chair, gifts galore, trade deals that will never materialize. Cheeto is like a kid in the candy store, eyes wide open. Meanwhile, we are being held hostage at the whim of Cheeto. Millions of people with out a pay check, SNAP and other programs are shut down. HOW THE HELL are we going to survive this ! What’s Next ?

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W.J. Gallo's avatar

The dismantling of the administrative state is what they want. In other words, a shut down is meaningless to these scoundrels. It will be exploited for very devious ends.

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Claire's avatar

The Democrats must not cave. This is a republican caused disaster. Hold your ground although it will be hard. Pumpkin head and his sycophants are well on their way to destroying this country. Stand your ground!!!!

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William Ozanick's avatar

Absolutely! What makes it extremely difficult is having Benedict Donald spend all of his time overseas and ignoring the vital importance of the American people. He is clueless, since many of the people who are being forced into these dire situations, undoubtedly voted for him. But remember this: Never underestimate the ignorance and stupidity of a Trump supporter.

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Sherry Taylor's avatar

The Republican Party is unAmerican and inhumane. I believe in democracy with a two party system, just not this MAGA Republican Party. The Republican Party that I used to be a member of is unrecognizable. I’ve been an Independent voting Democrat since 2004 and the Bush-Cheney Iraq War for weapons of mass destruction which was a lie. It did make Cheney richer while costing American taxpayers billions of dollars and American lives. It’s important we take back the House and the Senate so we can help Americans and try to repair the damages Trump and his minions have done to our democracy.

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Francis/Clare's avatar

And countless Iraqi lives.

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Kai-Lee Klymchuk's avatar

You can bet that Trump has been advised of (difficult to trace) ways to funnel the "cost savings" from program cuts and funding interruptions to his own offshore bank accounts. If they don't stop him now, he'll probably slink into exile with trillions of dollars. That is if buddy Vlad lets his protégé rival him in that moneyed status. Imagine! His reward for creating all that chaos and suffering! And no jail time!

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Lisa P. Singer's avatar

"Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body, the producers and consumers themselves."

- President Herbert Hoover

This is straight out of Project 2025.

On SNAP, the Heritage Foundation pushes stricter work requirements that could disqualify about 700,000 people monthly from food assistance.

For the ACA, its blueprint outlines a phased repeal starting with the end of enhanced subsidies. So in phase one, about 5 million will lose coverage.

It's like nothing's changed since Herbert Hoover: Republicans still bet on "free markets" to solve everything, convinced government aid makes folks "fat and lazy."

Too bad the Democrats got gutted by the DSA right when we needed them most.

I can't sleep at night. How about you?

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Lani Jacobson's avatar

i've been averaging less than 4 hours a night. Anger and Fear compete for headspace. Sleep is the loser.

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Bruce Kopetz's avatar

Stress and outrage are shortening the life expectancy of the entire U.S. population. Except maybe not for the cultists.

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Jeff's avatar

And you would think businesses would support the ACA extension. It saves them money and improves worker productivity. The “secret” they (and Republicans) should know:

1. Dead people don’t work. They also don’t buy anything.

2. Sick and injured people can become dead people

3. Even if they don’t, the sick and injured a) aren’t as productive as healthy people, and b) are likely not to do as much shopping – they’re coping with their sickness/injury. So that hurts the business’ business.

4. Sick people who come into work because they have to feed their family can and often do pass on their illness. Repeat 1,2, and 3 for all the new sick people.

5. ACA, Medicare, and Medicaid do not require the businesses to do all the work of maintaining HR and costs associated with medical care for their workers.

Businesses should support extending the ACA subsidies, Medicaid & Medicare benefits, because it is in their business interest.

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Richard's avatar

You would think so but think about this. Whether people work, get sick, die, or go hungry is completely immaterial to them. It doesn’t affect them. They will get food and medical care - the price means nothing to them. Forty million dead of starvation is that much less annoyance to them. They don’t care. They’re expendable. They don’t NEED to care. They want power and control and they have it. Major corporations and wealthy businessmen have all capitulated-people who you would think would have some backbone but have none. The mainstream media has collapsed into a pile of cowardly uselessness and hungry for profit they are selling out and becoming right wing propaganda outlets. (Eg CBS and CNN are essentially done). I could go on. The no kings day came and went and not a fucking thing different. I’m trying to be optimistic and I hope this will turn around but it’s going to be rough.

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Jeff's avatar

I don't disagree with your statement. I wasn't trying to speak for what they believed, but what reality is. My point is it is NOT immaterial to them and DOES affect them - their sources of income (the businesses) are negatively affected by sickness and injury. As in they make less profit. It's in their interest to keep their workers and customers healthy. And it's in their interest to put those costs on the government, not themselves.

Having said that, it's obvious many of them don't understand that. Why I don't know - unless they think somehow their businesses are not affected by the laws of economics. So I'm not saying you're wrong, but that they have blinders on that make THEM wrong. And will pay for it at some time in the future when things crash & burn. They actually do need to care, they believe they don't need to care.

This wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened - look at history, to include the roaring 20's and the Great Depression. Unfortunately, when things go south, they tend to go south for everyone, not just the rich.

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gail benda's avatar

Trump’s essentially the leader of the pack and needs to be neutralized now not 3 or 4 more

Years of destruction -each year

More harm -WHY was Europe

Waiting to remove Hitler? They should have acted far more

Aggressively and quicker

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Melissa's avatar

Trump is NOT "the leader of the pack." He's their tool.

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RJM's avatar
Oct 30Edited

Well said. Thank you.

Another thing this intentional cruelty is doing is eliminating talk about the Epstein Files. Hard to find anyone who's mentioning them these days.

Another subject that has been effectively buried: Signalgate. Mary, would you have a moment one of these days to give us a list of the worst things - the ones we really must not forget - that have happened in your uncle's second term? The top 3 or 5 would be enough!

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Oct 30
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RJM's avatar

Thanks. Yes. I slipped a cog. Am correcting it now.

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Roger Autoclave's avatar

“Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy should be fighting to get his employees paid. Instead, he’s blaming everything on Democrats; this, of course, even though Republicans control every single branch of government.”

💯!

However, this assumes that the individual serving as the Secretary of Transportation has a semblance of competence to perform the duties of this role.

Kelly is purely a political appointee, so we shouldn't be surprised that every action he takes (or doesn't take) has one goal—to gain and maintain power for tRump and the GOP.

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Nancy Graham's avatar

Donald luxuriates in his misconceived glory while meting out hardship and struggle for Americans. Never seen a human so callous and evil in his thinking. He played nice until he got in office and now letting it all roll out.

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Patrick Martin's avatar

Yes, Democrats need to stand strong on this. But Trump and his goons are crazy enough to let the shutdown run for months on end. They don't even pretend to care about most Americans anymore. And they're willing to hurt people to get their way.

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Jill Hastings's avatar

Let’s also remember that 368,530 kids are in foster care

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Jill Hastings's avatar

We have 1.2 MILLION underage children in the U.S. that live in households where they are being cared for by foster parents or other unrelated caregivers who CHOSE to take them in instead of letting them slowly starve to death, or “fail to thrive” and then develop health, learning, and behavior problems. SNAP helps feed those children and enable those families to take on extra children they could not otherwise afford. I have heard many Republican “right to lifers” call “pro-choicers“ names ie. “baby killers” etc. I think they should be called “pro-birthers” unless they are willing to subsidize the programs like SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, adoption subsidies , special education services, etc. It takes more than love to raise a healthy child. Yet the pro- birthers and the Big Beautiful Bill are still cutting back the very programs that could actually give these kids a chance at a healthy, satisfying life.. Mary and Sammy, thanks for explaining the economic consequences more clearly.

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Lynda Phoenix's avatar

I think pro-birthers as a title is giving them too much credit as they are not really concerned with the health or the life of the mother (or the birthed child for that matter). I would refer to them as pro-fetus or pro-embreo. They're not concerned with birth defects or still borns or if a mother's life is at risk. In fact their concern is not promoting life but having control. As long as they have the control they don't really care how or if you die.

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Francis/Clare's avatar

Horrors

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Rene Remington's avatar

Thank you for your candor, it is always refreshing even when you have to tell on your own families escapades.

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Linda Laz's avatar

I think I need a screaming room.

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Dorothy's avatar

Frighteningly brilliant "expose," Mary!

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John Bridges's avatar

Excellent points! Keep informing us with facts.

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