In an interview with MeidasTouch, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate contrasts steady public service with her opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy’s, treatment of Ohio as a “flyover state.”
Yes, astounding! Orange Oinky Face isn't shy about letting people know exactly who he is. Now many of those suffering the most from OOF's policies are those who voted for him. Maybe we need an "open enrollment" period for this administration where those of us who want to be treated fairly can "opt out" of the OOF circus.
If you catch 100 red fire ants as well as 100 large black ants, and put them in a jar, at first, nothing will happen. However, if you violently shake the jar and dump them back on the ground the ants will fight until they eventually kill each other. The thing is, the red ants think the black ants are the enemy and vice versa, when in reality, the real enemy is the person who shook the jar. This is exactly what's happening in socity today. Liberal vs conservative, black vs white, pro mask vs anti-mask, vax vs anti-vax, rich vs poor, man vs woman, cop vs citizen. The real question we need to be asking ourselves is who's shaking the jar ... and why? —Shera Star
...
There is something way bigger going on when you can divide everyone in the entire world into an 'us vs them' mentality on almost every single subject. —Prevensilk
When half of those ants support and protect the person who shook the jar, then what?? I see maga influencers blame JE victims and say these 13-16 yr olds consented to be SA'd by these old men, that's the problem!
[The] top 10% owns 63% of the assets in the United States at high rates, mean higher yields on their cash and steady appreciation of their homes. [The] bottom 50% ... own just 5% of the assets and carry the bulk of the floating rate debt, the type of debt where it can go up. If you read into the theory of the K-Shaped economy, the top 10% of living in a global asset boom and the bottom 50% are living in a local debt trap. How wealth inequality is spiraling in America DW, 26-Dec-25 https://tinyurl.com/yc588zat
I have communicated with those who voted for Trump and those who have voted for Kamala Harris as I did. As long as one is respectful, we can communicate without malice. Trump and his Regime have shaken the Jar, both election, actually 3 elections. He lost to President Biden, an empathetic decent person. I miss him terribly.
yes, people really have basic animal/insect on/off switches.
the despots of the world, throughout history, know exactly how to shake things up to pit 1 against another....
terrorists (also known as freedom fighters when looked at from a different angle) do the same thing.....
yet, over 2025 years ago, there were people like jesus, mohammed, buddha, (to name just a few) who could see clearly how the despots do that, and enabled the disadvantaged, down trodden people to see their own value in a positive light and started movements that brought people together....
then the despots decided to shake the jar again and turn catholics against protestants, shia muslims against sunni muslims etc etc.
it seems we will always be just 'shooked-up/f**ked-up animals/insects?
to prevent the next despot from shaking the american jar of democracy, we have to have some smart radical economic thinkers come up with radical new strategies to take care of 'we the people' rather than letting the politicians and billionaires decide what they think is 'good' for us....
will the dems come up with radical ideas like:
Will you consider a better tax and government funding plan of action? One where the people who pay taxes every year are the ones to guide the politicians in coming up with a budget? on our (human not corporate) tax returns we can add a form where we get to allocate our tax$ by % to the 10 major categories of government, and congress has to comply with that within 10%…. there are more people who submit tax returns than vote so it will be a better representation of the people. all the political parties have to do is promote the way they would spend the tax payer $…then there will be no need for a government shutdown ever again. the typical and ancient approach of ‘cable tv bundles’ from the political parties is wrong…this day and age we get to pick and choose and get to decide the budget – NOT the POLITICIANS… THIS MAY SEEM RADICAL, BUT IT IS MORE REALISTIC THAN THE PARTY BASED B-S WE GET FROM POLITICIANS TODAY.
....AND....
Will you support veterans having the exact same healthcare as members of congress?, no 2nd class VA healthcare - they deserve the best.
....AND....
Will you honestly and energetically work to close all the tax loopholes that the wealthy use to hide/prevent/defer taxation? Yes, the exact same loopholes that all members of congress use to prevent/defer the taxation of the wealth you accrue while taking advantage of the congressional gravy train…. This will provide the needed $ revenue to fund better/affordable healthcare in ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, and VA.
....AND....
Will you beef up the IRS to focus on the top 20% wealth holders in the country (including members of congress)? This will help reduce the government deficit.
....AND....
Will you respect the voters in states and counties that vote for republican values and not democrat values…meaning don’t force democrat benefits on them…if they want any ‘democratic party’ benefits like childcare/education/food benefits, they must have a referendum in that state or county to decide, and if the majority say yes, then they get what they vote for and nobody can say it was forced on them from outside their state or county…
....AND....
Do you think UHT (Underutilized Housing Tax) is a good thing? Add a federal (and/or state) 1% tax for non-resident foreign owned housing/property as an adjunct to their property tax if the housing/property is an investment and not their primary residence, as Canada is doing. It could be just a state level or county level tax. It is NOT a tax on LOCALS, just the non-voting foreign owners. It is a small enough tax to not deter foreign investment. The money raised is then used for the homeless - for a county/city/state to purchase land for small communities of tiny houses, or a communal subsistence vegetable garden-lot plus tiny houses. Rental rates must be low and only raised by real COL for that community (so NO PROFIT from it). Rehabilitating people back into the work force will enable many homeless people to regain some dignity and self-sustaining power. A portion of the UHT could be used for drug rehabilitation, food banks etc. POVERTY is NOT a CRIME so how about DOING something realistic on a large self financing scale with UHT for HOMELESSNESS??
....AND....
Will you stop tax payer $ as subsidies and tax benefits to wealthy individuals (like Elon Musk etc) and profitable large corporations (even if they are your mega-donors and ‘supporters’)? Pay-back-loans are OK to stimulate certain industrial development, engineering and research, but constant handouts are NOT OK. This will help reduce the government deficit.
....AND....
Will you support a governmental recommended retirement age so that old farts (70+ like me) retire and mentor younger members of congress on how to make things happen in our dysfunctional 2 party system…free mentoring that is - not consultant fees!!!! by 70 politicians are just prolonging their wealth accumulation by being on the congressional gravy train. They are NOT indispensable – younger reps (up to 55) should be heading up committees and having a say about the future, the old farts have amassed a lot of wealth in their tenure of ‘doing the people’s work’ but we don’t want to be taken for complete suckers by letting them carry on doing it until they fall asleep or die (biden, feinstein, pelosi, schumer and soooooo many more - on the BOTH sides).
DO YOU AGREE WITH ANY OF THIS?
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE RADICAL IDEAS THAT COULD GET OUR GREAT COUNTRY BACK ON TRACK TO BE THE BEACON ON THE HILL THAT SAYS CARING AND COMPASSION ARE THE GREATEST TOOLS IN OUR TOOLBOX?
Here’s what I think—politics is binary mind control:
The media - both news and entertainment - have now politicized nearly everything in our society as an extremely powerful mechanism of control.
Politicization is so effective at manipulating the populace because most people emotionally connect their personal belief system to the belief system of their political party, and so then any attack on their party - legitimate or otherwise - is interpreted by their brain as an attack on themselves. Reason and logic then jump out the nearest window as raw emotion takes the helm, thus making them even more susceptible to the predatory controlling influences.
I have just read the recommendation of the link you posted. Communication with respect to those who voted for Trump and welcoming them when they realize that Trump did not deliver on his promised strategy is necessary. We must Unite, not hate to dump the vile Trump Regime. We MUST Communicate with respect on both sides. That is what I have done. Listening to people is very important to bridge the ghastly divide.
good point, though i would not entirely agree, unless it reflects the single issue voter e.g. pro-life = republican. some see their personal financial situation as being the major issue they vote on, others of us see the future of our democracy and our rights as being the most important thing to secure for all future generations.
trump sure has created the koolaid that lobotomizes people into believing his constant lies, and maybe the truth is that their belief system of racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, homophobia etc.phobia is what trump portrays, so they are invested in his success at achieving their pet hates?
Democracy and billionaires/billion dollar corps/plutocracy cannot coexist.
Consolidated power will absolutely always corrupt government and bend it to its will.
The first and most essential role of government is to prevent wealth or power consolidation. This task is existential.
American laissez-faire capitalism destroyed American markets, competitiveness, and innovation.
We underestimated how difficult it was to control greed, once we began to see it as a virtue, and call selfishness success.
If we want ‘one person one vote’, we need to dispense with ‘$100 one vote’.
This requires banning residents, visitors, and those wishing to conduct business in the US, from having or controlling more than $100,000,000.
Again, this is because they inevitably corrupt our institutions in the pursuit of their own interests. We cannot grant that opportunity and retain our own.
The reason we are in this mess running headlong into tyranny is because the majority of people refuse to believe that the controllers would ever do this to us. These eternal optimists appear to be blind to this most fundamental construct of human nature: that power attracts and then corrupts nearly everyone who wields it—and the globalists - those obscure puppetmaster billionaires you never read about in Forbes and who've spent decades away from the disinfectant properties of sunlight - have indeed become quite corrupted. I’ve tried and failed countless times to open their eyes to the truth of the situation – that the elites are evil incarnate, and that they want most of us dead, and that they want to enslave the rest of us. And the stunning part about their blindness is that none of this is new: the psychopaths often rise to the top of every power structure over time as the bad drives out the good and as such tyranny has taken control of nations many many times throughout history. This time is no different, and the freedom we take for granted has actually been an aberration from the historical norm.
———Since Before the Enlightenment, Neo-Technocratic-Feudalism Has Always Been the Primary Objective———
If people still cannot see this: https://archive.is/o/KjznA/https://tritorch.substack.com/p/there-is-something-way-bigger-going given how obvious what is occurring has become, then I do not see how we have any hope of turning the tide. The normies will just keep on complying and believing what’s being done to them is for the greater good while they drag themselves and the rest of us into totalitarianism.
“There is something way bigger going on when you can divide everyone in the entire world into an 'us vs them' mentality on almost every single subject. —Prevensilk”
I am in Ohio....I hope this summary is accurate! The loss of healthcare insurance will be the thing that convinces most of us that Ohio needs to return to the "purple state". it had been for so many years. The economy here is suffering from the current administration's policies. And Dr. Amy Acton came up from hardship - big time hardship - and worked very, very hard to achieve all that she has. Our Republican Governor, Mike Dewine, saw her wonderful service and chose her to guide the earliest phases of COVID.....she is awesome!
She is right: "This is greed, wealth, corruption against public interest and service of the citizens."
I grew up in Ohio and still have family and friends there. I too was very impressed with every interview I saw of Amy and thought she was a wonderful voice of reason during Covid.
Yes. She is an epidemiologist and during COVID, she and the GOP governor had a reporting time early every afternoon, to inform and support Ohioans who had to be housebound. It made national news as innovating.
Watching live, we could hear the anti-masking crowd, quite small but very vocal, shouting from outside the Statehouse. Dr. Acton had MAGAs come to her home to protest outside. It was disgusting. She eventually had to resign, after her superb performance, while MAGAs died of COVID because they were so mean and stubborn. They were seriously manipulated by corrupt Republican pols in Ohio. Who, btw, didn't care if Ohioans died from carelessness and culting.
But they, like Trump and the hypocrites they all are, protected themselves from the virus through vaccines. Wouldn't dare appear in person masked though.
I know this is sad, but Republican racism and bigotry might hand us this race. I'm wondering if, after all these years of demonizing "the other," a lot of MAGAs will just stay home rather than vote for a brown Hindu with a funny name. Sure, I know Cincinnati voted for one for mayor (Aftab Pureval) but he's a Democrat in a blue city.
what if the trump republicans decide to suddenly support the aca subsidies but with their usual mean/nasty twists that they are known for, but with trump spewing forth positive BS and 'only trump can fix this' rhetoric shoved down their throats 24/7?
It's too late. The enrollment period is past and people have chosen (or not chosen) their plans. Backtracking would be wildly complicated, and beyond the scope of incompetent Trump administration to fix in any impactful way.
good comment - but me-thinks the trump gang want to hide behind their incompetence...but there must be someway that the aca recipients can be compensated....
She is the best! We will be lucky to have her for Governor. I’m from Ohio and yes health care is a high concern! How are we to survive ? You can’t afford health care groceries utilities gas.
Absolutely. Dr. Acton is getting better and better at campaigning. She's gotten a lot of support and advice from David Pepper, a key strategist who knows Ohio politics well. If we can get both first timer Acton and Sherrod Brown back into office as US senator, we can do a LOT against the illicit GOP supermajority.
I would like to ask Dr. Acton what she would do about the cessation of the ACA tax credits and the skyrocketing health insurance? Although I don't use ACA, it makes a huge difference to many Ohio voters.
I am in Ohio and make 29,000 a year and my husband is in disability. My ACA went from $250 per month to $580. I had to go to a catastrophic coverage and will have worse medical outcomes.
Actual stories like yours Carla, is what will help the democratic party win more elections. You should write to your state's rep's (I assume they are republican) and let them know how this is affecting you. I don't expect them to do anything about it, but if a democrat runs for that seat, they can use this information and many more to help spread the concerns. (Ex: Carla's rep ignored her pleas to reduce her insurance and she is now forced to drop many of it's provisions...)
Read this article from another substack author Scot Nakagawa, which touches on why real stories matter. It is not my article, nor do I have any affiliation with the author, I just found it very interesting from a point of view on how to achieve future success.
Some of our state's congresspeople are Democrats — in fact more than we were gerrymandered to have (They went for 13-2 and ended up with 10-5. Fair would be 8-7.) The Republicans actually (for complicated reasons) throw in the towel on the extreme gerrymander they were trying for a few months ago and were probably looking at 11-4 or maybe 10-5 again if we're lucky. The others are all unwinable at this point. Luckily I am in the one blue district they can't do anything about except pack.
I'd still like to see the Republicans opposed. They are far too comfortable in their incumbency. That makes them arrogant and entitled. They know that Ohioans have the habit of voting for names they recognize 🙄, and coast on it. Then they play musical chairs when they term out of a particular seat. We're so sick of it.
I want to put the fear of god into those creeps. Run in every district!
I will definitely write them I know they won’t listen ( Jim Jordan reps my district), but like you said their opponents can use it against them. I have been posting my info a lot hoping someone will see it and personalize it and realize Trump and Republicans don’t support us.
Dragged down by an unpopular president, Republicans are bracing for a midterm trouncing, The Guardian, 27-Dec-25 https://tinyurl.com/c3jcxtx7
“[Trump] is a guy whose legacy may well be the political collapse of Republicans in this era. Put another way, rather than asking who is going to be the inheritor of the Trump mantle and the so-called Maga movement, we may be talking in a year or so about which candidates can escape the odious distinction of having been connected with Trump.” “The American people have been pushing back. There have been nearly 500 lawsuits filed in federal court over the course of these first 11 months of the administration. The administration is losing in court before judges that were appointed by Republicans, Democrats and President Trump himself.”
Patrick Gaspard, a former assistant to Barack Obama and director of the White House office of political affairs, said: “I would place the odds at 70% that Democrats are going to recapture the House in a massive tsunami." Charlie Sykes, a conservative author and broadcaster, said: “With Donald Trump, ‘lame duck’ may just be another word for nothing left to lose. He will still have vast, unchecked powers, which he’s already made clear that he will exercise in the rawest, most reckless way possible. How does Donald Trump behave when he has nothing politically left to lose? That’s a question I’m not sure that we’ve gotten our heads around.”
since the man is clearly crazy, and i mean that in the most clinical terms, i believe he's capable of anything, including trying to drop the atom bomb on a US city--blue of course.
T is a homicidal, malevolent, vindictive, sociopathic toddler who will set the bed on fire when sent to his room. I hope and even pray the Fire Dept is on duty and at hand when (not if) he does!
If you peel back a few more layers of the onion, I think you will find he cares about no one except himself. Loyal useful idiots are easy to find and to dispatch (“you’re fired!”). As for oligarch backers, he does not care about them, just about how they can be useful to him. If they cease to be, he punishes them, as with CBS, which has become Foxlite. He is (and probably always has been) a sad and lonely creature in orbit around himself.
Abuse of political power is the abuse of people. When are we going to stop re-electing dictators? Transforming Society, 27-Jan-23 https://tinyurl.com/2xx3z6wa
There may be many reasons why people elect a charismatic and populist authoritarian for the first time. The second time, however, they know what they are getting into. The psychological impact of political abuse is in many ways similar to interpersonal abuse, [including] intrinsically complicated relationships between the abuser and victim. In this alternative world, abuse appears normal and justified, and facts no longer matter. Those who choose to adapt by seeking a rational explanation for such a leader’s actions are susceptible to identifying with the perpetrator, normalising abuse and violence, and eventually losing the ability to recognise abuse and abusers as such.
Such leaders often position themselves as a saviour who can bring justice and protection from the hostile and threatening world. Often, we fail to recognise early enough the tectonic shifts in the collective psyche as we slide into this self-serving and encapsulated alternative reality. [We] must become concerned about a society’s political and social health when the questioning of a political leader equates to blasphemy; when collective loyalties overwrite individual and family values; and when health care, science, education and sports become politicised. In the past, vilifying LGBTQ people has been one of the first indicators of emerging self-destructive trends in society.
Studies of the psychological impact of totalitarianism across the world strongly suggest that we must not place all the blame on the leader: kings are played by their entourage. They cannot do anything without the support of an indoctrinated or passive majority, often hard-working, good people who just want to be happy, have good jobs and raise children. [We] need to start looking at ourselves and the choice and responsibility we have to prevent the recurrence of political victimisation and create an abuse-free future of our liking. We must employ strategies to help us to recognise and resist political manipulations, indoctrination and brainwashing [by] staying true to our core moral values [and by using] multiple sources for our information.
I hope we are at the point that we are starting to look at ourselves. It's our responsibility to leave our country in a position where our kids and grandkids will have a chance at a decent life.
I’m from Youngstown, where Amy is from. I don’t live there anymore, but when I go home, I see fewer Trump flags and signs in yards, and my family members who used to love him have turned against him.
I’ll never forget during his 2016 presidential rally stop in Youngstown when he pledged to save the Lordstown General Motors plant, the area’s largest industrial employer. It shuttered not long after, leaving thousands unemployed and having to move out of state to find jobs that allowed them to support their families.
Many Ohioans like myself have seen MAGA as liars and grifters from the beginning, and I think more are realizing it now.
It’s interesting having grown up in Ohio, but whenever I had a conversation with one of my friends who claimed to be Republican, when we discussed policy and what they wanted to see happen they were really Democrats! This is discounting the extreme MAGA who have a total different view of what North America should look like!
When I drive across northern Ohio on route 2 and 20 to get the hell out of here, I am seeing fewer Trump signs and flags. There's that guy in Fayette who has the giant billboard signs but his place has been Trump'd out since 2015. There's another guy in Fayette who has a banner on his shed, but the five or six people there who had the "Don't blame me I voted for Trump" signs last year don't have anything now – no victory signs. And there's one guy in Carroll Township on the south side of the road who has a Trump flag. That's it.
MAGA is becoming a lonely occupation these days. Here's a message to all who may be reconsidering: you can still SAY you're MAGA, but you don't have to vote that way. No one will ever know.
I'm thinking a lot of Ohio MAGAs will just stay home next year, depressed because the candidate at the top of their ticket isn't white enough for Stephen Miller.
I grew up in Warren OH. Went to Youngstown State University. Lived in OH for 48 years. I was in shock that he had a rally in Y-Town and saw the attendance. It wasn't red when I lived there. I still have family and friends there and it breaks my heart to see all the businesses closed down when I visit. This doctor is what they need to work for these people.
I love it. I live in Pittsburgh. very close to the tri-state area. Ohio people are odd. also they are the wost driver...😅...of course I'm joking. they are realizing they made big mistake voting for the piggy, stupid piece of garbage. tacotits words.
Still can’t believe people voted for a second round of this sh1t.
I know what you mean. It's mind boggling. They must watch FOX all day everyday.
A normal person who doesn't watch the FOX disinformation network: 🙂. But, after watching FOX: 🤪.
You know Steve you’re right. That said , I keep asking myself…don’t these people ever come out of their house?
Like to buy groceries, pump gas or talk to people younger than they are?
You know like “reality”? Sigh…,
Yes, astounding! Orange Oinky Face isn't shy about letting people know exactly who he is. Now many of those suffering the most from OOF's policies are those who voted for him. Maybe we need an "open enrollment" period for this administration where those of us who want to be treated fairly can "opt out" of the OOF circus.
Bravo, well written and so very true. Thank you!
If you catch 100 red fire ants as well as 100 large black ants, and put them in a jar, at first, nothing will happen. However, if you violently shake the jar and dump them back on the ground the ants will fight until they eventually kill each other. The thing is, the red ants think the black ants are the enemy and vice versa, when in reality, the real enemy is the person who shook the jar. This is exactly what's happening in socity today. Liberal vs conservative, black vs white, pro mask vs anti-mask, vax vs anti-vax, rich vs poor, man vs woman, cop vs citizen. The real question we need to be asking ourselves is who's shaking the jar ... and why? —Shera Star
...
There is something way bigger going on when you can divide everyone in the entire world into an 'us vs them' mentality on almost every single subject. —Prevensilk
When half of those ants support and protect the person who shook the jar, then what?? I see maga influencers blame JE victims and say these 13-16 yr olds consented to be SA'd by these old men, that's the problem!
Happens when there in nothing but winners or lovers
Extremes with no middle ground when the majority of us are the middle
[The] top 10% owns 63% of the assets in the United States at high rates, mean higher yields on their cash and steady appreciation of their homes. [The] bottom 50% ... own just 5% of the assets and carry the bulk of the floating rate debt, the type of debt where it can go up. If you read into the theory of the K-Shaped economy, the top 10% of living in a global asset boom and the bottom 50% are living in a local debt trap. How wealth inequality is spiraling in America DW, 26-Dec-25 https://tinyurl.com/yc588zat
I have communicated with those who voted for Trump and those who have voted for Kamala Harris as I did. As long as one is respectful, we can communicate without malice. Trump and his Regime have shaken the Jar, both election, actually 3 elections. He lost to President Biden, an empathetic decent person. I miss him terribly.
yes, people really have basic animal/insect on/off switches.
the despots of the world, throughout history, know exactly how to shake things up to pit 1 against another....
terrorists (also known as freedom fighters when looked at from a different angle) do the same thing.....
yet, over 2025 years ago, there were people like jesus, mohammed, buddha, (to name just a few) who could see clearly how the despots do that, and enabled the disadvantaged, down trodden people to see their own value in a positive light and started movements that brought people together....
then the despots decided to shake the jar again and turn catholics against protestants, shia muslims against sunni muslims etc etc.
it seems we will always be just 'shooked-up/f**ked-up animals/insects?
to prevent the next despot from shaking the american jar of democracy, we have to have some smart radical economic thinkers come up with radical new strategies to take care of 'we the people' rather than letting the politicians and billionaires decide what they think is 'good' for us....
will the dems come up with radical ideas like:
Will you consider a better tax and government funding plan of action? One where the people who pay taxes every year are the ones to guide the politicians in coming up with a budget? on our (human not corporate) tax returns we can add a form where we get to allocate our tax$ by % to the 10 major categories of government, and congress has to comply with that within 10%…. there are more people who submit tax returns than vote so it will be a better representation of the people. all the political parties have to do is promote the way they would spend the tax payer $…then there will be no need for a government shutdown ever again. the typical and ancient approach of ‘cable tv bundles’ from the political parties is wrong…this day and age we get to pick and choose and get to decide the budget – NOT the POLITICIANS… THIS MAY SEEM RADICAL, BUT IT IS MORE REALISTIC THAN THE PARTY BASED B-S WE GET FROM POLITICIANS TODAY.
....AND....
Will you support veterans having the exact same healthcare as members of congress?, no 2nd class VA healthcare - they deserve the best.
....AND....
Will you honestly and energetically work to close all the tax loopholes that the wealthy use to hide/prevent/defer taxation? Yes, the exact same loopholes that all members of congress use to prevent/defer the taxation of the wealth you accrue while taking advantage of the congressional gravy train…. This will provide the needed $ revenue to fund better/affordable healthcare in ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, and VA.
....AND....
Will you beef up the IRS to focus on the top 20% wealth holders in the country (including members of congress)? This will help reduce the government deficit.
....AND....
Will you respect the voters in states and counties that vote for republican values and not democrat values…meaning don’t force democrat benefits on them…if they want any ‘democratic party’ benefits like childcare/education/food benefits, they must have a referendum in that state or county to decide, and if the majority say yes, then they get what they vote for and nobody can say it was forced on them from outside their state or county…
....AND....
Do you think UHT (Underutilized Housing Tax) is a good thing? Add a federal (and/or state) 1% tax for non-resident foreign owned housing/property as an adjunct to their property tax if the housing/property is an investment and not their primary residence, as Canada is doing. It could be just a state level or county level tax. It is NOT a tax on LOCALS, just the non-voting foreign owners. It is a small enough tax to not deter foreign investment. The money raised is then used for the homeless - for a county/city/state to purchase land for small communities of tiny houses, or a communal subsistence vegetable garden-lot plus tiny houses. Rental rates must be low and only raised by real COL for that community (so NO PROFIT from it). Rehabilitating people back into the work force will enable many homeless people to regain some dignity and self-sustaining power. A portion of the UHT could be used for drug rehabilitation, food banks etc. POVERTY is NOT a CRIME so how about DOING something realistic on a large self financing scale with UHT for HOMELESSNESS??
....AND....
Will you stop tax payer $ as subsidies and tax benefits to wealthy individuals (like Elon Musk etc) and profitable large corporations (even if they are your mega-donors and ‘supporters’)? Pay-back-loans are OK to stimulate certain industrial development, engineering and research, but constant handouts are NOT OK. This will help reduce the government deficit.
....AND....
Will you support a governmental recommended retirement age so that old farts (70+ like me) retire and mentor younger members of congress on how to make things happen in our dysfunctional 2 party system…free mentoring that is - not consultant fees!!!! by 70 politicians are just prolonging their wealth accumulation by being on the congressional gravy train. They are NOT indispensable – younger reps (up to 55) should be heading up committees and having a say about the future, the old farts have amassed a lot of wealth in their tenure of ‘doing the people’s work’ but we don’t want to be taken for complete suckers by letting them carry on doing it until they fall asleep or die (biden, feinstein, pelosi, schumer and soooooo many more - on the BOTH sides).
DO YOU AGREE WITH ANY OF THIS?
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE RADICAL IDEAS THAT COULD GET OUR GREAT COUNTRY BACK ON TRACK TO BE THE BEACON ON THE HILL THAT SAYS CARING AND COMPASSION ARE THE GREATEST TOOLS IN OUR TOOLBOX?
Here’s what I think—politics is binary mind control:
The media - both news and entertainment - have now politicized nearly everything in our society as an extremely powerful mechanism of control.
Politicization is so effective at manipulating the populace because most people emotionally connect their personal belief system to the belief system of their political party, and so then any attack on their party - legitimate or otherwise - is interpreted by their brain as an attack on themselves. Reason and logic then jump out the nearest window as raw emotion takes the helm, thus making them even more susceptible to the predatory controlling influences.
Excerpt from: https://tritorch.substack.com/p/there-is-something-way-bigger-going
I have just read the recommendation of the link you posted. Communication with respect to those who voted for Trump and welcoming them when they realize that Trump did not deliver on his promised strategy is necessary. We must Unite, not hate to dump the vile Trump Regime. We MUST Communicate with respect on both sides. That is what I have done. Listening to people is very important to bridge the ghastly divide.
good point, though i would not entirely agree, unless it reflects the single issue voter e.g. pro-life = republican. some see their personal financial situation as being the major issue they vote on, others of us see the future of our democracy and our rights as being the most important thing to secure for all future generations.
trump sure has created the koolaid that lobotomizes people into believing his constant lies, and maybe the truth is that their belief system of racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, homophobia etc.phobia is what trump portrays, so they are invested in his success at achieving their pet hates?
The media is shaking the jar. Esp. the right wing media.
Except we aren't ants. So the real question is , who voluntarily climbed into the jar knowing it was going to be shaken?
It is the top vs the bottom.
Democracy and billionaires/billion dollar corps/plutocracy cannot coexist.
Consolidated power will absolutely always corrupt government and bend it to its will.
The first and most essential role of government is to prevent wealth or power consolidation. This task is existential.
American laissez-faire capitalism destroyed American markets, competitiveness, and innovation.
We underestimated how difficult it was to control greed, once we began to see it as a virtue, and call selfishness success.
If we want ‘one person one vote’, we need to dispense with ‘$100 one vote’.
This requires banning residents, visitors, and those wishing to conduct business in the US, from having or controlling more than $100,000,000.
Again, this is because they inevitably corrupt our institutions in the pursuit of their own interests. We cannot grant that opportunity and retain our own.
The reason we are in this mess running headlong into tyranny is because the majority of people refuse to believe that the controllers would ever do this to us. These eternal optimists appear to be blind to this most fundamental construct of human nature: that power attracts and then corrupts nearly everyone who wields it—and the globalists - those obscure puppetmaster billionaires you never read about in Forbes and who've spent decades away from the disinfectant properties of sunlight - have indeed become quite corrupted. I’ve tried and failed countless times to open their eyes to the truth of the situation – that the elites are evil incarnate, and that they want most of us dead, and that they want to enslave the rest of us. And the stunning part about their blindness is that none of this is new: the psychopaths often rise to the top of every power structure over time as the bad drives out the good and as such tyranny has taken control of nations many many times throughout history. This time is no different, and the freedom we take for granted has actually been an aberration from the historical norm.
———Since Before the Enlightenment, Neo-Technocratic-Feudalism Has Always Been the Primary Objective———
If people still cannot see this: https://archive.is/o/KjznA/https://tritorch.substack.com/p/there-is-something-way-bigger-going given how obvious what is occurring has become, then I do not see how we have any hope of turning the tide. The normies will just keep on complying and believing what’s being done to them is for the greater good while they drag themselves and the rest of us into totalitarianism.
“There is something way bigger going on when you can divide everyone in the entire world into an 'us vs them' mentality on almost every single subject. —Prevensilk”
Correct:
https://thiswillhold.substack.com/p/she-won-part-iii-the-devil-is-in
https://rronors.substack.com/p/trumpomuskovian-fraud
I am in Ohio....I hope this summary is accurate! The loss of healthcare insurance will be the thing that convinces most of us that Ohio needs to return to the "purple state". it had been for so many years. The economy here is suffering from the current administration's policies. And Dr. Amy Acton came up from hardship - big time hardship - and worked very, very hard to achieve all that she has. Our Republican Governor, Mike Dewine, saw her wonderful service and chose her to guide the earliest phases of COVID.....she is awesome!
She is right: "This is greed, wealth, corruption against public interest and service of the citizens."
I grew up in Ohio and still have family and friends there. I too was very impressed with every interview I saw of Amy and thought she was a wonderful voice of reason during Covid.
Yes. She is an epidemiologist and during COVID, she and the GOP governor had a reporting time early every afternoon, to inform and support Ohioans who had to be housebound. It made national news as innovating.
Watching live, we could hear the anti-masking crowd, quite small but very vocal, shouting from outside the Statehouse. Dr. Acton had MAGAs come to her home to protest outside. It was disgusting. She eventually had to resign, after her superb performance, while MAGAs died of COVID because they were so mean and stubborn. They were seriously manipulated by corrupt Republican pols in Ohio. Who, btw, didn't care if Ohioans died from carelessness and culting.
But they, like Trump and the hypocrites they all are, protected themselves from the virus through vaccines. Wouldn't dare appear in person masked though.
I so agree with you on the hypocrisy of this regime! Well said
I know this is sad, but Republican racism and bigotry might hand us this race. I'm wondering if, after all these years of demonizing "the other," a lot of MAGAs will just stay home rather than vote for a brown Hindu with a funny name. Sure, I know Cincinnati voted for one for mayor (Aftab Pureval) but he's a Democrat in a blue city.
what if the trump republicans decide to suddenly support the aca subsidies but with their usual mean/nasty twists that they are known for, but with trump spewing forth positive BS and 'only trump can fix this' rhetoric shoved down their throats 24/7?
It's too late. The enrollment period is past and people have chosen (or not chosen) their plans. Backtracking would be wildly complicated, and beyond the scope of incompetent Trump administration to fix in any impactful way.
good comment - but me-thinks the trump gang want to hide behind their incompetence...but there must be someway that the aca recipients can be compensated....
She is the best! We will be lucky to have her for Governor. I’m from Ohio and yes health care is a high concern! How are we to survive ? You can’t afford health care groceries utilities gas.
Absolutely. Dr. Acton is getting better and better at campaigning. She's gotten a lot of support and advice from David Pepper, a key strategist who knows Ohio politics well. If we can get both first timer Acton and Sherrod Brown back into office as US senator, we can do a LOT against the illicit GOP supermajority.
I would like to ask Dr. Acton what she would do about the cessation of the ACA tax credits and the skyrocketing health insurance? Although I don't use ACA, it makes a huge difference to many Ohio voters.
Prayers we do
Amy is wonderful. She was the voice of truth during Covid. it was horrible how she was threatened during it. She stepped down because of threats.
I am in Ohio and make 29,000 a year and my husband is in disability. My ACA went from $250 per month to $580. I had to go to a catastrophic coverage and will have worse medical outcomes.
So sorry Carla. This is so wrong on every level.
Actual stories like yours Carla, is what will help the democratic party win more elections. You should write to your state's rep's (I assume they are republican) and let them know how this is affecting you. I don't expect them to do anything about it, but if a democrat runs for that seat, they can use this information and many more to help spread the concerns. (Ex: Carla's rep ignored her pleas to reduce her insurance and she is now forced to drop many of it's provisions...)
Read this article from another substack author Scot Nakagawa, which touches on why real stories matter. It is not my article, nor do I have any affiliation with the author, I just found it very interesting from a point of view on how to achieve future success.
https://open.substack.com/pub/antiauthoritarianplaybook/p/the-man-who-couldnt-choose?r=5ax1ig&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Some of our state's congresspeople are Democrats — in fact more than we were gerrymandered to have (They went for 13-2 and ended up with 10-5. Fair would be 8-7.) The Republicans actually (for complicated reasons) throw in the towel on the extreme gerrymander they were trying for a few months ago and were probably looking at 11-4 or maybe 10-5 again if we're lucky. The others are all unwinable at this point. Luckily I am in the one blue district they can't do anything about except pack.
I'd still like to see the Republicans opposed. They are far too comfortable in their incumbency. That makes them arrogant and entitled. They know that Ohioans have the habit of voting for names they recognize 🙄, and coast on it. Then they play musical chairs when they term out of a particular seat. We're so sick of it.
I want to put the fear of god into those creeps. Run in every district!
I will definitely write them I know they won’t listen ( Jim Jordan reps my district), but like you said their opponents can use it against them. I have been posting my info a lot hoping someone will see it and personalize it and realize Trump and Republicans don’t support us.
I appreciate you sharing that. It helps to have real people share things and I plan on mentioning it in my letters too.
Fuck the Republicans.
Love it! I have a lot of growing hope she will be our next governor here. 🙌
I am voting Dr Acton and Sherrod Brown (for senator)
Pretty dumb to vote when you have owners and live in an oligarch. Stop voting for rich people to save you FFS. When your vote is pointless
many OHIOANS are turning. go Amy. love her here.
Dragged down by an unpopular president, Republicans are bracing for a midterm trouncing, The Guardian, 27-Dec-25 https://tinyurl.com/c3jcxtx7
“[Trump] is a guy whose legacy may well be the political collapse of Republicans in this era. Put another way, rather than asking who is going to be the inheritor of the Trump mantle and the so-called Maga movement, we may be talking in a year or so about which candidates can escape the odious distinction of having been connected with Trump.” “The American people have been pushing back. There have been nearly 500 lawsuits filed in federal court over the course of these first 11 months of the administration. The administration is losing in court before judges that were appointed by Republicans, Democrats and President Trump himself.”
Patrick Gaspard, a former assistant to Barack Obama and director of the White House office of political affairs, said: “I would place the odds at 70% that Democrats are going to recapture the House in a massive tsunami." Charlie Sykes, a conservative author and broadcaster, said: “With Donald Trump, ‘lame duck’ may just be another word for nothing left to lose. He will still have vast, unchecked powers, which he’s already made clear that he will exercise in the rawest, most reckless way possible. How does Donald Trump behave when he has nothing politically left to lose? That’s a question I’m not sure that we’ve gotten our heads around.”
since the man is clearly crazy, and i mean that in the most clinical terms, i believe he's capable of anything, including trying to drop the atom bomb on a US city--blue of course.
T is a homicidal, malevolent, vindictive, sociopathic toddler who will set the bed on fire when sent to his room. I hope and even pray the Fire Dept is on duty and at hand when (not if) he does!
Nice to see people are still on Earth 1. Good job!
Trump only wants rich powerful white people in this country. Doesn't care about the rest of us.
If you peel back a few more layers of the onion, I think you will find he cares about no one except himself. Loyal useful idiots are easy to find and to dispatch (“you’re fired!”). As for oligarch backers, he does not care about them, just about how they can be useful to him. If they cease to be, he punishes them, as with CBS, which has become Foxlite. He is (and probably always has been) a sad and lonely creature in orbit around himself.
Amen. Trump thinks ONLY of what benefits himself. He's incapable of empathizing with or caring about others. Sad.
this account is a bot I think.
Abuse of political power is the abuse of people. When are we going to stop re-electing dictators? Transforming Society, 27-Jan-23 https://tinyurl.com/2xx3z6wa
There may be many reasons why people elect a charismatic and populist authoritarian for the first time. The second time, however, they know what they are getting into. The psychological impact of political abuse is in many ways similar to interpersonal abuse, [including] intrinsically complicated relationships between the abuser and victim. In this alternative world, abuse appears normal and justified, and facts no longer matter. Those who choose to adapt by seeking a rational explanation for such a leader’s actions are susceptible to identifying with the perpetrator, normalising abuse and violence, and eventually losing the ability to recognise abuse and abusers as such.
Such leaders often position themselves as a saviour who can bring justice and protection from the hostile and threatening world. Often, we fail to recognise early enough the tectonic shifts in the collective psyche as we slide into this self-serving and encapsulated alternative reality. [We] must become concerned about a society’s political and social health when the questioning of a political leader equates to blasphemy; when collective loyalties overwrite individual and family values; and when health care, science, education and sports become politicised. In the past, vilifying LGBTQ people has been one of the first indicators of emerging self-destructive trends in society.
Studies of the psychological impact of totalitarianism across the world strongly suggest that we must not place all the blame on the leader: kings are played by their entourage. They cannot do anything without the support of an indoctrinated or passive majority, often hard-working, good people who just want to be happy, have good jobs and raise children. [We] need to start looking at ourselves and the choice and responsibility we have to prevent the recurrence of political victimisation and create an abuse-free future of our liking. We must employ strategies to help us to recognise and resist political manipulations, indoctrination and brainwashing [by] staying true to our core moral values [and by using] multiple sources for our information.
I hope we are at the point that we are starting to look at ourselves. It's our responsibility to leave our country in a position where our kids and grandkids will have a chance at a decent life.
The tide is turning. Great interview.
Americans are listening, speaking up and standing up.
Americans deserve better.
I’m from Youngstown, where Amy is from. I don’t live there anymore, but when I go home, I see fewer Trump flags and signs in yards, and my family members who used to love him have turned against him.
I’ll never forget during his 2016 presidential rally stop in Youngstown when he pledged to save the Lordstown General Motors plant, the area’s largest industrial employer. It shuttered not long after, leaving thousands unemployed and having to move out of state to find jobs that allowed them to support their families.
Many Ohioans like myself have seen MAGA as liars and grifters from the beginning, and I think more are realizing it now.
It’s interesting having grown up in Ohio, but whenever I had a conversation with one of my friends who claimed to be Republican, when we discussed policy and what they wanted to see happen they were really Democrats! This is discounting the extreme MAGA who have a total different view of what North America should look like!
Same, in conversations w/ my R- Family, friends as well!
When I drive across northern Ohio on route 2 and 20 to get the hell out of here, I am seeing fewer Trump signs and flags. There's that guy in Fayette who has the giant billboard signs but his place has been Trump'd out since 2015. There's another guy in Fayette who has a banner on his shed, but the five or six people there who had the "Don't blame me I voted for Trump" signs last year don't have anything now – no victory signs. And there's one guy in Carroll Township on the south side of the road who has a Trump flag. That's it.
MAGA is becoming a lonely occupation these days. Here's a message to all who may be reconsidering: you can still SAY you're MAGA, but you don't have to vote that way. No one will ever know.
I'm thinking a lot of Ohio MAGAs will just stay home next year, depressed because the candidate at the top of their ticket isn't white enough for Stephen Miller.
I grew up in Warren OH. Went to Youngstown State University. Lived in OH for 48 years. I was in shock that he had a rally in Y-Town and saw the attendance. It wasn't red when I lived there. I still have family and friends there and it breaks my heart to see all the businesses closed down when I visit. This doctor is what they need to work for these people.
I love it. I live in Pittsburgh. very close to the tri-state area. Ohio people are odd. also they are the wost driver...😅...of course I'm joking. they are realizing they made big mistake voting for the piggy, stupid piece of garbage. tacotits words.