Short takes
The Humongous Despicably Moneygrubbing Bill passed the Senate by one vote, Vance’s, breaking a 50-50 tie. The big story is what’s in the bill, and how it will affect us all, but there’s another story here.
Republicans had a three-vote advantage here - but three Senators walked across the aisle to stand with Democrats on it. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is walking away from the Senate as a result, giving up re-election in response to demented rants from the ranter-in-chief. Other older, experienced Senators might follow suit; why should they stay to be bullied and ranted at? Those Republicans who have been paying attention to their constituents should have noticed how profoundly unpopular the bill is to everyone, which may make it harder for them to persuade anyone to vote for them next time around. Voters have notoriously short memories, but they notice things like loss of health care, loss of regional rural hospitals and lower income.
As a result, the longer-term effect of the bill might be the loss of power for Republicans, which cannot come soon enough.
The other side of the ICE raids on agricultural workers and possibly factory workers processing food as well is that the fields lie still, empty of people to till them, to pick and gather food and get it ready for transportation. That’s less food going to market, less money for the farm owners. Less food for the truckers to transport across the country to grocery stores, and higher prices when they get to the stores.
We are going to face a lot less choice in terms of what to eat, and pay more for it. I suspect that local farmers’ markets will be doing very good business. It might also be a good year for small personal gardens in places where they can be planted, though it’s a bit late to plant many crops.
It’s an old-time truism that Republicans live in the countryside and Democrats in the cities. However, I can’t recall a time when so many Republican county sheriffs were running unopposed. And there’s a strong trend among these unopposed lawmen for aiding ICE in its immoral and illegal work, which indicates sheer bigotry. Do you really want a bigot for a sheriff?
Shouldn’t resistance include running for public office? I’d like to suggest that qualified people who are resisting the regime might consider running for office, as another way to take back decent and ethical government. I realize that in some places it may be a choice between being an Eisenhower Republican and a MAGA Republican, but isn’t it time to bring back Eisenhower values of working ethically to improve life for everyone, and not just the wealthy?