From day one, the Trump administration has made its disregard for the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and its deep-seated racism too clear to ignore. Just a few examples will suffice: the recently-announced intent to limit the number of refugees the country will accept to 7500, while giving priority to White South Africans; directing ICE to stop and harass people based on nothing but skin color; the constant and ferocious attacks on DEI; the ongoing efforts to disenfranchise Black voters…the list goes on. And on.
The best response to MAGA protests that the racist label is unfair was in a recent headline from The Hill. It read “If MAGA doesn’t want to be labeled racist, it should stop elevating racists.”
Memo to President Trump’s backers: If you want people to stop calling you racist, stop saying and doing racist things. And stop excusing racist posts and rants by leading voices in the MAGA media.
When Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson recently ranked among the top five on Spotify’s list of top trending podcasts, it screamed out that racism and antisemitism are not a problem for their MAGA-world fan base.
None of this, of course, surprises those of us who have understood since 2016 where Trump’s support lies. MAGA’s racism has been too glaringly obvious to ignore. But more recently, it seems that MAGA’s animus goes beyond race, gender and religion; the administration is evidently determined to undermine the very concept of Equal Protection–the belief that all citizens are entitled to the equal application of the laws. (For that matter, Trump clearly wants the effective repeal of the entire 14th Amendment–beginning with birthright citizenship, but definitely not ending there.)
The Washington Post has reported on the administration’s most recent assault on the very concept of Equal Protection of the Laws. The administration now wants to deny people who hold different political beliefs a benefit to which they are legally entitled.
Employees of nonprofit organizations that work with undocumented immigrants, provide gender transition care for minors or engage in public protests will have a hard time getting their federal student loans forgiven under regulations advanced Thursday by the Education Department.
The 185-page rule revises eligibility requirements for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which cancels the education debt of government and nonprofit employees after 10 years of service and 120 monthly loan payments. It will allow the education secretary to disqualify employers — not individuals — who engage in activities the department deems to have a “substantial illegal purpose” on or after July 1 — when the rule takes effect
Current law makes those holding student loans eligible for a federal program offering loan forgiveness if they focus on areas that serve the public good. The law has defined those categories as including careers in education, public health or public interest law. The proposed rule would dramatically change a program that has offered debt relief “to more than 1 million student loan borrowers across more than 20 sectors of the economy.”
The proposed rule was prompted by a Trump Executive Order that designated disfavored nonprofits that should no longer be eligible for government benefits.
A partial list of those the administration wants to deem ineligible is telling:
Aiding and abetting violations of federal immigration laws.
Supporting terrorism or engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing federal government policy.
Engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of federal or state law.
Engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination.
The subjectivity is obvious–and the point. We’ve seen how ICE defines the obstruction of government “policy.” We’ve seen what the administration considers “aiding and abetting” (i.e. offering opinions that are protected free speech). The administration defines medical treatment of transgender children to be “mutilation.”
And of course, the administration takes the position that any effort to level the playing field for minorities amounts to “illegal discrimination” against White Christians.
You can almost hear the mob boss. “Want your student loan forgiven, so you can afford a house or a new car? It would be a shame if all those payments you’ve already made didn’t count…maybe you should change jobs.”
I doubt that Trump can spell, pronounce or define “arbitrary and capricious” but those terms describe what would result from his efforts to ignore the clear meaning of the 14th Amendment–and for that matter, the rest of the Bill of Rights. Citizens would no longer have an automatic right to equal treatment–their access to government programs would depend upon the degree to which they are willing to bend the knee.
Like it works in a monarchy…..
I’m sure that by the time this was posted most of us have seen Trump’s latest list of Pardons includes Rudy and others involved in the attempted turnover of the 2020 election.
Trump’s allowed immigrant list being topped by White South Africans is a glaring announcement that he and Elon Musk are still hand-in-glove, BFFs (I have my own version of what that means); SCOTUS has no intention of stopping him or upholding the few courts who are trying.
Locally, our first snowfall of the year is rampant with reports of snow covered Interstates, accidents and closed access in areas. I haven’t seen any report of snow plows or salt trucks out anywhere; always major news with weather and traffic reports after any snowfall.
As far as loan forgiveness goes, my wife fit every category for her loan to be forgiven and never got it forgiven. She spent all of her career educating inner city children. It really depends on who you are and if you fit their political narrative.
Then we saw people with 6 times the loan and no government service get it forgiven. It was all over the news.
The ACA has cost us all increases in our premiums larger donut holes higher deductions. Teachers got slammed. Bad policy. Serve your government and trust the process… wrong. Its about policy and how can we make it.
The huge national debt is a problem and something no one cares about. The backdoor tax is costing every person $3000 per year
Politicians have failed us.
To show that Americans have been manipulated adequately with mind control, they defend the actions of multi-billionaires like Musk and Bezos while taking pictures of single mothers’ shopping carts who use what little they get in food stamps. Cart Nazis are all over social media. I read one comment about using food stamps for their fingernails and getting their hair done, which was a famous racist trope under the Reagan administration (welfare queens).
The above observation is precisely why Trump is hammering minorities – all people of color and women. They are second-class citizens unless they serve Trump or have lots of money and give some to Trump.
This is why Trump struggles to navigate the world outside the US. However, Europe has become mostly fascist, with Musk giving money to Germany’s Nazi Party so that Germany will flip. I’ve heard Meloni in Italy hammering France for its oppression in Africa, which is causing a lot of the migration to Europe (racism).
What I find interesting, and I’ve had some interesting exchanges with Gemini AI, is that while our 2nd Amendment allows for the organization of a militia against a tyrannical government, SCOTUS has ruled that the militia is the National Guard. However, the National Guard apparatus is also being used against the people. If we do form a militia, the FBI will come down on us for violating the law – insurrectionists and sedition. When did that right disappear? Also, if the National Guard has been declared a “citizen militia,” why isn’t it being used against ICE for its illegal actions?
p.s. The eight Senate Democrats who folded did so with a nod that, in December, the MAGA and Trump will discuss extending the ACA subsidies. What a group of idiots! Who makes deals with sociopathic liars?
And, some farmer, from the mid-west, interviewed on 60 Minutes, suffering from Trump’s garbage, says “He (Trump) is a smart man.” Yeah, diabolically smart, when it serves his purposes.
Todd, you have pointed out the sad truth about how presidential lies take on a life of their own…going strong 40+ years later.
Here we go again! Democrats never seem to learn that they can’t take the word of any Republican except the late Senator, John McCain, especially when it comes to the ACA. They’ve done everything they could do to get rid of it.
The pattern of discrimination isn’t just related to student loans. Our dear leader has refused money to blue states for disaster relief. That’s especially rich, since they are the ones paying for most of it. Maybe the blue states could find a way to put their excess taxes into an escrow fund to be used to cover any disasters that occur in their states. At the end of their fiscal years, they could forward the remaining funds to DC.
As long as Orange Jesus is in charge, blue states can kiss any Federal Government expenditures for infrastructure improvements goodbye, as well. The only reason he needs is that he loves to “own the libs.”
the working class may see another wage cut. if a recession isnt,a recession what is? when jobs reappear again,there will be a lower wage expected. as i watch wall streets numbers zoom,i feel that zoom outta my pocket into greeds pocket.the so-called trump will fix it,fix what?the NoDaks here have a steady pay,now winter is coming quick,those jobs we enjoy are mainly construction and service.little in mfg. as the winter gets cold,diesel prices are getting higher.which turns into propane getting higher.now comes the data centers. you may not see them ,but here in NoDak the state gov.is tripping over its dick to get them. we dont have many zoning issues when money talks,its just done.the locals here dont care about the news,just their petrid life against others. we sold coal creek (underwood,nodak)generating station to rainbow,for direct power to these data centers, special privleges and taxes along with it. then theres a power shortage,like the oil boom, guess whos gonna fund the data centers power needs? look elsewhere, and ask why do we need all this data storage?
get behind the look. thats the issue, its a base to serve the repressive goverment were watching being honed into every aspect of everyones life. now who gets to judge us? and then implement the outcome? seems when jobs will get scarce,cherry picking the data will be the answer,profits first,all others will be starved off,kinda like now..
Todd:
your good at finding stuff, how about what data centers are really gonna do as far as the citizens outcome,and how to keep from getting sucked into this mass take over/and use of our privacy.i need more info ammo..
best wishes.
Yes, it seems like hate and racism, but the theme really is to divide America so it is safe for some and less comfortable and secure for others. It’s a caste ladder with people from America, south and north of here, and non-MAGA as the lowest rungs, and billionaires on the top rung.
Chuck Shummer and Hakeem Jefferies made a principled stand against the arrangement. They were undercut by a handful of other Democrats who couldn’t stand the pressure carried by government workers.
Republicans don’t really care about others, and as long as they can make some suffer, so that they have a position of suffering less, they don’t care.
The country is in severe decline overall. We are called the United States, but our unity doesn’t serve Donald Trump, so he loves the Divided States more. Division against unity (by an authoritarian government) in global competition is doomed to fail.
You’re right in the long term, Pete. Our division will end up destroying the Anglo-Zionist Empire. However, the Oligarchs live for the next three months, or quarterly reports.
Jack Smith,
Yes, Trump gave OpenAI, Microsoft, Oracle, and SoftBank (which, interestingly, owns the Gannett newspapers) $500 billion to build out their AI data centers across the US. However, AI isn’t generating any profits. Altman’s ChatGPT owes over $1.2 trillion and generates only $15 billion in revenue. He’s already hinting that he needs a government bailout to raise more money, which makes no sense whatsoever. He’s not the only one trying to scam Trump for a bailout.
Meanwhile, numerous experts are warning of the imminent bursting of the Tech Bubble. The MAGA leaders call themselves and their billionaire friends the “job creators,” but these data centers create only a few maintenance jobs since the whole building is filled with computers. And, as you know, the demand for power from the grids will cause our utility rates to explode as well.
I agree with Pete about Shumer and Jeffries and all they did to defend ACA and SNAP for Americans. The results of the holdout/shutdown were causing real problems that were just getting worse. Air travel was increasingly having a lot of near misses and now with opening the government the controllers will be paid, and the risk of Holiday travel will be greatly reduced.
The remaining federal employees will get their paychecks, and the House of representatives will be called back to session. There is no excuse not to swear in the newly elected representative from Arizonia (though she is of Hispanic heritage) and let the republicans take sole responsibility for covering up the Epstein files and protecting pedophiles.
It’s the long-term strategy of “give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves”.
Mixed feelings. I know Republicans in Congress can’t be trusted but hate to see the hardships of the shutdown. Once again, the dishonesty of Trump et. al. has caught Democrats in a no win predicament. It makes my blood boil and only increases my determination to RESIST.
I am loyal to the Constitution, NOT to Trump or any other political person. Just sayin’.