Yesterday, Saturday, March 8, for about two hours, around a thousand people of all ages lined both sides of Division St. on the east side of B.A. Clark Park with signs expressing frustration and anger with the actions of the Trump/Musk/Vance regime and with the devoted MAGA Republican congress people who continue to defend and support it. Coverage in this morning’s Sunday Spokesman? Crickets. That said about the Sunday’s Spokesman, the headlines throughout the paper this morning give voice to the frustration and anger expressed by the protesters and their signs:
“Firings cost Lake Roosevelt national park ranger his ‘dream job’”
“Baumgartner voices support for Ukrainian refugees as Trump considers revoking status”
“Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid could shutter hospitals, maternity care in rural towns”
“Justice Department purges national security leadership”
“CDC to study vaccines, autism despite research showing no link”
“New Washington unemployment data begins to show scale of federal firings”
“Refugee’s near decade-long wait ends in hope - then shattered by Trump’s suspension”
“Federal funding chaos hampers Washington’s planning for wildfire season”
“Federal layoffs plunging workers into tough labor market”
“How to handle stress of tariff escalation and stock market jitters”
For the Trump/Musk/Vance administration and those dyed-in-the-wool MAGA congresspeople who support it, the sheer mass of cruelty and chaos seem to be the point. In the midst of all this Trump and Musk seem to murmur, “Trust us, we have a plan. Once we get through this, you’ll see, America will be great again. Trust us.” Even some self-described Trump supporters among people with whom I converse, people who have trusted Trump/Musk/Vance, are beginning to wonder.
Republican congresspeople elected on Trump’s thin coat tails are in a bit of a quandary. Some Republican congresspeople are in a bit of a quandary as voters express dismay with the chaos and cruelty of the Trump/Musk/Vance regime. Freshman Congressman Michael Baumgartner voted (with the U.S. House Republican herd) for Trump’s budget blueprint bill—a bill that if it were passed intact as the new budget would 1) require massive cuts to Medicaid and 2) reward Trump’s wealthy, big-spending backers by extending the 2017 tax cuts. Worse, if this budget blueprint were to pass as written as the new enacted, functioning budget it would add $20 trillion dollars to the national debt over the next ten years. Take that from the mouth of the one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-see P.S.), who voted “Nay” to the blueprint budget in an otherwise party line vote of 217-215. Watch this truly remarkable two minute nineteen second C-Span video. It is head-spinningly honest. In contrast, on February 25th on “X” Mr. Baumgartner posted:
“Politics is the art of the possible. Tonight, with the narrowest majority in history, House Republicans stuck together to approve a budget which begins a process to responsibly address our national debt, secure our border, stop tax increases on families and improve our military readiness. Good job, team. I was pleased to vote YES.”
Watch the C-Span video and then look again at Baumgartner’s post. He’s following the MAGA herd in the only consequential actual vote he has taken. On the threat to Medicaid that this budget blueprint represents, he obfuscates:
In an interview on Wednesday, Baumgartner emphasized that states are responsible for how Medicaid funds are spent and called the program “a broken system that costs too much money and does not serve the most needy well, or in a sustainable way.”
“Not only is the system broken and in need of reform, the reality is that America is broke,” he said. “We are $37 trillion in debt and are spending more money on debt payments than we are on national security, so the economic reality and responsibility has to set in, and that is going to require some very needed reforms in Medicaid.”
He wants to “reform” the system, Medicaid in particular, because we’re “$37 trillion in debt” while he just voted for a bill that would make that number $57 trillion over ten years (according to his fellow House Republican)? How stupid or blind does he think we are?
Be assured that if Baumgartner senses a greater shift in the tide of opinion he will shift. Help him along a bit by showing up tomorrow, Monday, March 10, at 4PM outside the building (it’s the historic, old Schade Brewery now called the Schade Towers and standing within the University District), the building that houses his office at 528 E. Spokane Blvd.
Then on Tuesday, March 11, at 4:30PM, turn out for “Tesla Tuesdays” at the Liberty Lake Tesla Supercharger, 21728 E. Mission Ave just north and west of the Liberty Lake I-90 interchange:
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry
P.S. If the name of U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) sounds familiar: Yes, he’s the one who made some news by sending out a Christmas card featuring himself and members of his extended family, each member cradling a semi-automatic or automatic military weapon. Of course, he was trolling for the sake of notoriety. As stupid and as un-Christmas-spirited as that antic was, his current point about the Trump budget blueprint is spot on. It offers a revealing window into the thought processes of current Republican Congressional leadership.
