We live in a time that people are more inclined to obey an unlawful executive order than they are to follow a court order 🤦🏾♀️.
Dictators are created due to cruelty, cowardice, & compliance! IF THEIR ASSES will ignore the Supreme Court, we can definitely IGNORE HIM!
Pam Bondi said on Fox that the FBI’s arrest of a county judge is “sending a very strong message.” Yes, Pam, and that message is, this country is being ruled by fascist traitors.
Stop writing to impress everyone.
Start writing for one person who matters.
This has helped me through many writer’s blocks and maybe it’ll help you.
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I want politics to be about a better everyday life.
Here's what that can look like:
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Make America Great Again.
I’m going to say something that shouldn’t be controversial but will be. If you are a Christian, you can support border control and immigration being legal vs illegal. You CANNOT celebrate deportations and get off on the cruelty, and be a real Christ follower. Period
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Genuinely nasty
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I agree with this.
The best stories, ideas, and culture right at your fingertips.
Don't leave anything for later.
Later, the coffee gets cold.
Later, you lose interest.
Later, the day turns into night.
Later, people grow up.
Later, people grow old.
Later, life goes by.
Later, you regret not doing something... when you had the chance.
hi is this where i write things to you? i’m new here. also i’m confused because i’ve been scrolling/exploring here for two hours and i feel kinder and alive-er instead of meaner and deader. is this really how it is here? if so i am very grateful. thanks for letting me into your substack party.
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Of course advance information on US combat operations is classified. Pretending otherwise is an insult to our troops, who all know this.
The Secretary is unfit to lead.
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So the Republican Party has historically blocked:
-Paid sick leave
-Paid family & medical leave
-Universal childcare
-Universal pre-K
-Expanded Child Tax Credit
-Programs to support reproductive health
And they're wondering why more people aren't having children?
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As a followup to my photo gallery of the addition to the historic library in New London, Ohio, I spoke to the library director about the $400,000 effort. This is a Carnegie library that dates back to 1916 at its current site
I’m fine with Trump being imprisoned forever due to a clerical error
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Beginning this account to document the journey of the debut of my first ever novel.
Super excited to begin this journey!
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The Loneliness No One Talks About
No one warns you about the loneliness that comes with growing.
The silence when old friendships stop fitting, but new ones haven’t formed.
The ache of outgrowing places, conversations, even versions of yourself.
Growth is beautiful, but it can also be isolating.
Keep growing anyway. You’ll find your kindred spirits.
Pope Francis lifted the world as he led the Church with his profound moral voice. As he returns to God, may his call to humility and concern for the least among us continue to resound.
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Not just one!
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I refuse to be the kind of person who loses their mind over a delayed train or lets a spilled coffee set the tone for the whole day.
I want to be the one who stays composed, who sees the good even when things don’t go as planned. The kind of person who breathes through the little chaos and still finds beauty in how the day unfolds.
I want to be soft. I want to be steady.
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This week I have learned a lot about the hard work that goes into getting a book prepared to go out into the world.
I no longer take for granted the hours that authors pour into their art.
And yet, despite the exhaustion, there is something marvelous about the process. Doing something you enjoy should breathe life and fulfillment into you. And the fulfillment of creating this story is reason enough to keep me pushing.
So are we still more upset about Diverse, but qualified, yet presumed unqualified hires, than DUI hires?
(Asking for anyone who cares about US National Security)
Pete Hegseth needs to go for the safety of the United States & the allies that we still have.
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Americans have had enough of this shit !
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Still not sure what this Substack thing even is or how to gain impressions. All I know to do is post here and there and just try and settle myself into this community and perhaps everything will work out on its own….
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I’m telling y’all—teachers are built different 💙
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They're physically removing the Greensboro lunch counter from the Smithsonian—the actual counter where four brave students sparked a national movement in 1960. This isn't just about museum artifacts. It's about who gets to exist in America's story, whose courage is remembered, and whose resistance is honored.
There are men today who are wealthier than some entire nations. They are against democracy because it is a rival for control. When they say government is doing things best left to private charities, they know they would never donate to those charities; they prefer to donate to things with their name on it, like a museum, a theater, or a college of business. I read a clip recently of hedge funder Kenneth Griffin spending $44.6 million on a stegosaurus skeleton. That could have helped a lot of homeless people--if he cared.
"Government is doing things best left to private charities." If they wanted to do it, they could improve everyones' lives. E.G. Social Security is the greatest anti poverty program in US history.
Charity begins at home. They get tax deductions, plus if propely applied, it increases the GDP and tax revenues. If Social Security is sliding toward a "default" it is because Congress and a succession of presidents would sell their families for a few votes. The default of Trust Funds is supposed to apex in 2034 due to the increase of birth rates of baby boomers. After 2034, birth rates of later generations flatten and the funds can be solvent.
Social Security protects workers, widow(er)s, orphans and disabled people and is a major investment for many of us.
Please donate to create an endowment to slow down the rate. If everyone who donates to say, universities, which aren't really charities, the trust funds would be secure.
Here's an ABA article for tax and estate lawyers I published a few years ago. December 01, 2011 FINANCIAL PLANNING
Social Security—Maybe Charity Should Begin at Home
By Daniel F. Solomon
For most of its history, Social Security was a terrific bargain: our parents and grandparents most probably received significantly more benefits than they paid into the Social Security Trust Fund. The trust fund comprises the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds (OASDI, collectively).
In most cases, because our family units could rely on these benefits, they were able to enjoy enough financial independence to send people like us to school so that we could become lawyers—productive and, in some cases, wealthy, members of society. For 75 years, the Social Security Trust Fund has helped enable American soci- ety to achieve far beyond the aspirations of its founders, ultimately providing more than subsistence to retirees by also protecting widows, orphans, and disabled people. The dignity provided to needy beneficiaries surely far outweighs the economic value of the funds.
However, financial experts have long predicted a future insolvency of the funds. A majority of Americans have invested in the funds, recognize their social utility, and do not want to burden their heirs. Although there have been legislative attempts to “fix” the system, there is no consensus how to do it. The Congressional Research Service reported:
For example, for workers who earned average wages and retired in 1980 at age 65, it took 2.8 years to recover the value of the retirement portion of the combined employee and employer shares of their Social Security taxes plus interest. For their counterparts who retired at age 65 in 2002, it will take 16.9 years. For those retiring in 2020, it will take 20.9 years.
Geoffrey Kollmann and Dawn Nuschler, “Social Security Reform” (October 2002).
The National Commission on Social Security Reform (informally known as the “Greenspan Commission” after its chairman) was appointed by the Congress and President Ronald Reagan in 1981 in response to a short-term financing crisis that Social Security faced at that time. Estimates were that the OASI Trust Fund would run out of money possibly as early as August 1983. Congress rendered a compromise that extended the retirement age from 65 to 67, through a deal that raised payroll taxes and trimmed benefits enough to keep Social Security solvent. See Jackie Calmes, “Political Memo: The Bipartisan Panel: Did It Really Work?” New York Times, January 18, 2010. However, the legislation addressed only the immediate problem and did not address the long-term viability of the fund. See also Rudolph G. Penner, “The Greenspan Commission and the Social Security Reforms of 1983,” in Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency, David Abshire, Editor. Washington: Center for the Study of the Presidency, pp. 129–31.
The George W. Bush administration commission deliberated on the issue and then called for a transition to a combination of a government-funded program and personal accounts (“individual” or “private accounts”) through partial privatization of the system.
President Barack Obama reportedly strongly opposes privatization or raising the retirement age but supports raising the cap on the payroll tax ($106,800 in 2009) to help fund the program. He has appointed a National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which is to report and offer another fix.
Current estimates predict that payroll taxes will only cover 78% of the scheduled payout amounts after 2037. This declines to 75% by 2084. 2010 OASDI Trust- ees Report, Figure II.D2, ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2010 trTOC.html.
Although the congressional plan was to ensure solvency through Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax, there is a private means to help: to also consider the humanitarian and charitable nature of the Social Security Administration (SSA), which has been possible since a legislative fix in 1972. Before then, bequests naming Social Security or a trust fund as a beneficiary could not be accepted, which caused problems in administration of some estates. Money gifts or bequests may be accepted for deposit by the managing trustee of the OASI and DI funds. Section 170(c)(l) of the Internal Revenue Code lists the U.S. government among the educational or charitable organizations to which donations are acceptable. Gifts must be unconditional, except that the donor may designate to which fund the gift should be donated. If no fund is designated, the gift is credited to the OASI Trust Fund.
However, SSA has not publicized its charitable persona. Although the agency has received some gifts and bequests, they have been insignificant and not given consideration in a possible fix. The concept has been so unimportant to the experts that the Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin does not specify how much the administration has received in gifts and bequests. Total revenue from gifts to the trust funds has been quite small. From 1974 to 1979 the most received in any one year was $91,949.88. During that period, the average annual amount was only $39,847. In 1980, almost two-thirds of the gifts were less than $100. The median gift size was $50. One person, for example, donated $13.11. She arrived at that amount by applying 5.85% (the employee tax rate then in effect) to her benefit amount and donated it to help “‘shore up’ the sagging, dwindling Social Security fund.” However, the 2010 Social Security Trustees Report lists them as about $98,000 (ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2010/II… cyoper.html#2). Compared to many other charities, this is a paltry amount.
Apparently, SSA has never done a feasibility study nor marketing research to determine how an aggressive campaign could raise funds to support Social Security, or how gifts and bequests could reduce the current estimates of impending doom. According to some estimates total deductions taken for all charities next year would be $413.5 billion. Estimates for fiscal year 2011 are that SSA will spend $730 billion. That amount is already covered through “contributions” (taxes), but it is reasonable that charitable contributions to the trust fund could significantly lessen taxpayer exposure for impending doom, if not return the fund to solvency.
As lawyers, we have the capacity to remind our families, our clients, and the public at large that there is a way to contribute to help endow future generations in the pursuit of the same kind of social stability that Social Security provided to our parents and grandparents.
BREAKING -- Trump's illegal targeting of law firms continues, attacking WilmerHale for hiring Robert Mueller.
Here's the thing. EVERY SINGLE ONE of these attacks is an "unofficial act" outside the scope of the presidency.
So Trump can face civil suits -- and criminal cases.
America taking over Greenland is a foolish idea. America destroying its relationship with Canada is utter idiocy. America applying tariffs and engaging in trade wars with neighbors is economic nonsense. A lunatic is holding America hostage and his enablers are making fools of themselves.
Not sure who needs to hear this, but if you have to TASER your constituents in order to hold a town hall, you might be a fascist.
