Mostly Monday Reads: Pre-election Maneuvers

“Beware, the Malignant, Malicious MAGA Midwife Magician has resurfaced in recent days.” John Buss, @repeat1968

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

We’re definitely on the countdown to the Midterms. I wish Jimmy Carter were around to verify elections, especially in Georgia. The voter confusion and suppression methods underway in this country are worthy of giving us Banana Republic status. I was about to write about election stuff anyway when JJ brought to my attention a new Georgia law passed in March.  It doesn’t take effect until 2028, but it sure does illustrate nefarious intent. Imagine a ballot without party affiliation next to the candidate’s name.

Both Georgia officials, like the D.A. Fannie Willis and voter-rights organization Democracy Docket are leading the charge to stop this. Laws and elections in every state matter. This is from June, but you can see why the fight continues.

Metro Atlanta district attorneys sued to block a new Georgia law that would strip party labels from district attorney and other local races in five Democratic-leaning counties, arguing the measure is an unconstitutional attack on Black and Democratic voters.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Fulton County challenging House Bill 369 (HB 369), which Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed into law last month. The law would make several county-level offices — including district attorney — nonpartisan beginning in 2028, but only in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties.

Those five metro Atlanta counties are among the state’s most populous and Democratic-leaning. They also have large Black populations and all have Black women serving as district attorney — a fact the lawsuit and voting rights advocates have pointed to as central to the law’s impact.

The challenge marks the opening of a major legal fight over whether Georgia Republicans can selectively remove party labels from local races in the very counties where Democratic candidates have built power. In practical terms, nonpartisan elections mean voters would no longer see whether candidates for certain local offices are running as Democrats, Republicans or members of another party.

Boston argues the law is not a neutral change, but a targeted political maneuver by the Republican-controlled Georgia General Assembly to obscure party affiliation in counties where Democrats currently hold most elected offices.

You may read more at the link as it elucidates the three grounds on which the lawsuit challenges HB 369.  We all remember the Musk Wisconsin voter bribes during the 2024 elections. He didn’t even face charges. So, is it illegal if the President tries it?  “Is it legal? Trump promises Medicare and ACA checks without Congress ahead of midterm elections. Democrats are raising legal questions, but no court has blocked either payment yet.”  This is from Scripps News. Joe St George has the story.

President Trump announced that more than 20 million seniors on Medicare will soon receive a direct deposit of nearly $100, drawing Democratic criticism and questions about whether the payments — made without congressional approval — are legal.

“I am pleased to announce over 20 million seniors on Medicare will still be receiving a deposit of nearly $100 directly into their bank accounts,” Trump said.

Trump said the money will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund. A White House fact sheet says most eligible seniors will receive $90 via direct deposit in early October. Those without direct deposit will receive a check.

The Medicare payment is not the only check the administration is cutting. Last month, Trump announced refunds to some people enrolled in Affordable Care Act health plans, saying they had been previously overcharged.

“Nearly 1 million hardworking Americans in 30 states will soon be getting refunds of $500 each,” Trump said.

On the campaign trail, Trump has also promised more money if Republicans win in the November midterm elections.

So far, no legal challenge has resulted in a court blocking either the $500 ACA refunds or the $90 Medicare payments, though Democrats have been sharply critical of both.

“If you want to BUY midterm votes, maybe start by not gutting everyone’s health care in the first place,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said, referring to the $500 ACA checks.

Also drawing scrutiny on Capitol Hill is Trump’s use of taxpayer dollars to pay for commercials this campaign season. The White House says the spending is legal, but others disagree. Complaints have been filed with the FCC and broadcasters, though no judge has yet blocked the commercials from airing.

This story in the Washington Sun lets us know what some of the plans are for stopping voter suppression tactics by the Federal Government.”State Officials Are Trying to Get Ahead of Federal Agents at the Polls.

The Trump administration has left open the door to sending federal agents to polling locations on Election Day.

Democratic state officials and organizations across the country are preparing for a scenario in which the Trump administration deploys federal agents to the polls in November.

The administration has said it has no plans to send federal agents to polling locations on Election Day. But President Donald Trump and some of his close advisers have left voting rights organizations and state officials uneasy after deflecting when asked about whether they will be deployed.

“The deployment of federal power against its opponents and organizations and the public is really top of mind right now,” said EJ Juárez, executive director of the State Innovation Exchange, a network of progressive state legislators across the country. “We have a set of people in power that are very much set on changing the rules of the game midway through.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told lawmakers during a hearing in March that he would only send agents to the polls if there was a “specific threat,” but that he couldn’t “guarantee hypothetically what threat would be.” When asked Monday by Time magazine whether he would deploy federal agents, Trump said, “Haven’t thought of it.” He also refused to rule out using the Insurrection Act to declare a state of emergency leading up to the election.

“In the event that something unusual or unexpected or alarming occurs, we have procedures in place to elevate that problem to our office,” Shenna Bellows, Maine’s Democratic secretary of state, told The Washington Sun. “In collaboration with the attorney general’s office, we would be in court and getting orders from the court within hours, not days or months.”

Bellows’ office has been working with state and local officials nationwide through the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a component of the nonprofit Center for Internet Security. In February 2025, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency cut $10 million that Congress had appropriated to CIS, directly impacting the EI-ISAC’s work.

This week’s Rogue player in Orange Caligula’s cabinet is Rapey, Drunk, and Religious Crackpot Pete Hegseth. It’s just one thing after another with this one and it raises questions about Congressional oversight. This is from The Hill. Alexander Bolton has the lede. “GOP senators, blindsided by Hegseth, demand notice, transparency.”  You would think Republican War Hawks would have an issue with all the crazy going on with that guy. Now, they figure it out?

Key Republican senators say they were blindsided by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announced 20 percent reduction of the U.S. military’s general and admirals, and they’re voicing concerns about the lack of consultation with Congress and the possibility that qualified senior officers were sacked for political or ideological reasons.

Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill are questioning whether too many experienced and highly qualified generals and admirals are being pushed out because of politics and what impact it might have on military readiness in the future.

“I wouldn’t have made that a priority if I had been asked,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who said he was only informed of the 20 percent reduction shortly before it was announced.

“I didn’t get a long lead,” he said when asked if he got a heads up before Hegseth’s announcement Wednesday.

Wicker didn’t have many details about the significant reduction in senior ranks. “I think he’s probably interested in cutting out bureaucracy at the top level,” he speculated.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is handling the Pentagon’s request for an emergency supplemental spending package as well as the annual defense spending bill, said the sudden and large reduction of generals and admirals raises questions and concerns.

Collins said she didn’t get advanced notice of the steep reduction in military leadership ranks.

She noted she told Hegseth at a hearing earlier this year that his ouster of senior military officials was “deeply troubling” and risked “depriving us” of the “talent, dedication and patriotism” of women and people of color who were disproportionately pushed out.

That really doesn’t sound like they’ve figured too much out there. There’s no plan of action, of course.  Just whining  they’ve not been consulted. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want any one subjected to what Hegseth considers ethos. He’s obviously pickled his brain with booze and sent it out to be laundered to a brainwashing cult. I’m just hoping that folks that care about the folks who serve in America’s forces are worried enough to dump the Trumpers.

One last thing about the upcoming election. This from the link above at AlterNet. “Trump’s ‘desperation’ is showing as he races to red states: ex-Fox host.”

Longtime friend of President Donald Trump Geraldo Rivera thinks that President Donald Trump is growing more and more desperate.

Trump is headed to red states that are now dangerously close to electing Democrats on Nov. 3. While Trump pledged he’d be campaigning every day for Republicans, it appears there are many GOP candidates who don’t want to be seen with him.

Speaking to CNN on Monday, co-host Brianna Keilar asked Rivera, a former Fox News host, whether Trump’s efforts to “barnstorm” red states were a “Hail Mary” or something else.

“I see it as desperation more than anything else,” he said. He cited Latino voters as a good example. “Anyone who voted Republican — well not everyone — but two out of three have now decided to go the other way. Back, in many cases, to the Democrats. From Florida to Texas, to Arizona, California. I think that huge Latino belt in the southern part of the country is going to go overwhelmingly, overwhelmingly for the Democrats.”

Trump approval among Latino voters ranks at about 27 percent, according to a new NBC News/Telemundo poll taken at the end of September, Keilar cited. Disapproval is at 69 percent. She asked if he thought that was enough to really make a difference.

“I think cost of living is very important to voters. So is the war in Iran that the president started with no clear idea how to end. But I think really, if you were to ask me in my heart of hearts, Brianna, I think it is the absolute cruelty, the abject cruelty with which the Trump administration has administered its immigration policy.”

He suggested that the only way that Republicans can ever have any hope of salvaging the Latino voters of the future would be to abandon Trump’s abusive techniques.

Are we finally getting an example of bullies never win?  This is another story from the Washington Sun that you might want to read. “Republicans in Safe Red States Are Breaking With Trump, Too. At least five GOP senators who are not on the ballot have criticized the president’s handling of the economy and policy priorities.”  Avani Kalra has the story.

It’s not just vulnerable Republicans in swing districts distancing themselves from their party leader.

As President Donald Trump travels the country touting the “greatest” American economy in history, even senators in safe red states are beginning to push back on his rhetoric and policies.

“I’m not going to tell the voters, ‘Oh, it’s President Biden’s fault, and it’s not that bad, you shouldn’t believe your checkbooks,’” Sen. John Kennedy, whose home state of Louisiana swung for Trump by 22 points in 2024, told reporters before the Senate recessed for the elections.

“I also tell them the truth: The main reason for the resurgence in inflation is the Iran war. I think they appreciate the truth, but they’re angry,” Kennedy told The Washington Sun later. His term is up in 2028.

Such rhetoric is a surprising twist. Candidates in tough races often break with unpopular presidents, as they are doing this year. Lawmakers who aren’t on the ballot or who occupy safe seats seldom do. But suddenly they are, as if their states might not be as sheltered from the political headwinds sweeping the nation as history suggests, or perhaps they see hints that the winds could keep blowing for the rest of Trump’s term and beyond.

Kennedy is just one example of out-of-cycle Republicans increasingly criticizing Trump as his approval rating continues to drop. At least four other non-threatened GOP senators have split with the president in recent weeks.

Take West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice, who echoed Kennedy’s concerns that voters are frustrated by the cost of living. He told The Washington Sun that “Republicans,” not just the president, have made missteps while speaking with Americans about the economy.

West Virginia favored Trump by over 40 points, and Justice’s term is not up until 2031.

I’m reminded of James Carville’s old saying when he was running Bill Clinton’s first campaign for the presidency. “It’s the economy stupid!’  I can guarantee you that we’re living up to the Dismal Science reputation these days as we economists have to deliver the bad news about the economy daily.  I promise this is it and I’ll got some lunch and lighten up. This is from MS NOW‘s Paul Waldman.

The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics fell far short of expectations: just 29,000 jobs created in September. Though not many people are losing their jobs, it is a bad time to be looking for one (just ask any graduating senior). And critically, wage growth was again lower than inflation, meaning that on average, Americans continue to fall behind on affording the necessities of life.

To look at President Donald Trump’s poll ratings, one would think we’re in the middle of an outright depression, not just a mediocre economy that isn’t providing the kind of security and opportunity people want. That may be explained by a yawning gap between what Trump promised and what he has delivered — especially for those people, including young men, who put the greatest hope in him to improve their lives.

Begin with the big picture, which could hardly be worse for Trump. His average approval on the economy is in the low 30s. On inflation — or “the cost of living” in some surveys — it’s even worse. Last week’s AP/NORC poll showed his approval on the cost of living at just 17%, the same number as in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Perhaps most shocking of all, in both polls, most Republicans said they disapprove of the president’s handling of the issue.

It was clearly a mistake for Trump to say on the campaign trail in 2024, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.” But that’s not all he hasn’t been able to deliver. Ever since he ran in 2016, he has offered a vision of a return to an America of the past, one in which manufacturing was the driver of the economy and the people who today feel they have been left behind — especially men, and especially men in rural areas — could rely on well-paid, secure jobs that offered not just a good living but also a sense of accomplishment and status.

We talked about how bad it is for Farmers, well the latest victims of Trump’s disastrous economy are Truckers.  $6 diesel is basically putting them out of business.  You may read more about that at News Week.  Here’s the headline. “Mass Layoffs, Trucking Bankruptcies Mount Amid Diesel Price Shock.” The future does not look bright for the Trump Regime.  Here’s a little John Lennon singing Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out!  “What you say, what you say, what you say?”

What’s on your Reading, Action, and Blogging list today?