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Chit-Chat: The Feels

CM-BlueButterfly

By CM-BlueButterfly
in Everything Else

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Annber03
Annber03

And yet the same people who are awed by his celebrity are also the ones talkng about how celebritees need to stay out of politics. You'll pardon me if I can't take their critiques all that seriously. 

Annber03
Annber03

For as long as I live, I will never understand the hold this guy has over people. 

Annber03
Annber03

Everything I want to say would be a string of curse words at this point.  Hope you're happy, people who decided to be all precious with your votes or who felt this guy deserved another chance aft

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tres bien

tres bien

(edited)

How cruel and heartless do you have to be to target children and local farmers. Pullling the rug out from under the feet of vulnerable people 

This is not a third world country we’re living in but it’s like we inching into some very dark place. I hope it’s my imagination but JFC we’re only six weeks into this nightmare 

Edited by tres bien
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suomi

suomi

A U.S. district judge has ruled the Trump administration must quickly pay nearly $2 billion in foreign assistance owed to its humanitarian partners around the world, saying the administration probably violated the Constitution by blocking money allocated by Congress.

U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali gave the Trump administration until Friday to provide a status report on payment of thousands of invoices owed to relief groups for work performed before Feb. 13.

But Ali also found that the State Department’s review and termination of thousands of contracts with aid groups for work after that date could stand. He said the government would have to spend $58 billion in foreign aid appropriated by Congress at some point, but could legally cancel most of its U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department contracts for future assistance as part of a plan to radically reduce foreign aid.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/03/11/usaid-foreign-funding-suspension-unlawful/

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bluegirl147

bluegirl147

8 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

There goes Trump, playing ten dimensional pool again.

Speaker Johnson is full of shit.  Trump can't spell strategy let alone know how to do it. When it blows up in his face and by the looks of the stock market it already is, he will disavow all of it and say it wasn't his fault.

7 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I got jolted back to the shit show that is reality when he said, "They'll want retaliatory tariffs, and you know what that means?  A return to Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression."

It's sad that a fictional president knows more than an actual real life president.

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Dimity

Dimity

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I've been falling asleep to my West Wing DVDs lately, ending my day by pretending Jed Bartlet is president.  I got jolted back to the shit show that is reality when he said, "They'll want retaliatory tariffs, and you know what that means?  A return to Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression."
 

All I keep thinking was that not everyone lost out in the Great Depression and it would not surprise me one bit if the 'great' minds behind Trump pushing tariffs are poised to profit 'bigly' when everything falls apart.  They've more than proven that they are not acting in the best interests of the American people, let alone the rest of the world.

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peacheslatour

peacheslatour

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I've been falling asleep to my West Wing DVDs lately, ending my day by pretending Jed Bartlet is president.  I got jolted back to the shit show that is reality when he said, "They'll want retaliatory tariffs, and you know what that means?  A return to Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression."
 

What is the end game here? To impoverish the entire nation except the 1%? How many yachts can you own? How much revenge does Donald need? He doesn't even care about his cult anymore. He's done with them. He used them to stay in power and out of jail. Now what?

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bluegirl147

bluegirl147

Just now, Dimity said:

All I keep thinking was that not everyone lost out in the Great Depression and it would not surprise me one bit if the 'great' minds behind Trump pushing tariffs are poised to profit 'bigly' when everything falls apart.  They've more than proven that they are not acting in the best interests of the American people, let alone the rest of the world.

I read a headline yesterday I think that said Trump loves the Gilded Age. Well of course he does. To quote Wikipedia it was a time of materialistic excesses and widespread political corruption.

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Makai

Makai

4 hours ago, tres bien said:

The republicans insist that there aren’t any cuts to Medicaid but that’s probably a lie.

It is technically true but incredibly deceptive. The Republicans didn’t cut Medicaid but they are requiring the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, to cut $880 billion over the next decade. Even if they were to cut everything in the budget except Medicare and Medicaid they would still be $299 billion short of the required cuts. Medicare and Medicaid are 93% of their budget. 

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bluegirl147

bluegirl147

4 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

What is the end game here? To impoverish the entire nation except the 1%? How many yachts can you own? How much revenge does Donald need? He doesn't even care about his cult anymore. He's done with them. He used them to stay in power and out of jail. Now what?

I think when you have that much money and power, especially like Musk, it becomes like a drug.  You need more of it.  I keep thinking what it's like raising kids.  You teach them boundaries and structure and most kids do really well with that.  When you are that rich and that powerful with no boundaries you become like a bratty kid.  You want to break your toys just because you can. 

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Dimity

Dimity

(edited)

I have a cousin who is a snowbird who owns property in Florida.  According to her they've been told that from now on if they are in the States longer than 30 days they have to register (where I am not sure) and be fingerprinted.

What the hell, America?

ETA:  Apparently this falls under his  Protecting the American People Against Invasion executive order.

Clearly older Canadians are high risk, good god.  What a freaking idiot.

Edited by Dimity
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Kemper

Kemper

(edited)
3 hours ago, Dimity said:

I knew Vance wasn't the brightest penny in the drawer but, wow.

JD Vance spars with heckler as he blames immigrants for high housing prices

Sadly, I have no idea how to get on Instagram. But has anyone seen the "Cats On a Couch" stream that has popped up on there? The goal of the creators is to have the cats get more followers than Vance. It is the perfect, perfect, tonic to the ickiness, meanness and just-plain-horrible person that is the VP. Wish the Dems could have created the account. But. Now they need to create one for Trump. Dogs on a Dig? Make this happen!

Edited by Kemper
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Ohiopirate02

Ohiopirate02

10 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I have a cousin who is a snowbird who owns property in Florida.  According to her they've been told that from now on if they are in the States longer than 30 days they have to register (where I am not sure) and be fingerprinted.

What the hell, America?

I think your cousin got some wrong information. If Trump threw a hissy fit and signed an executive order slashing the amount of time Canadians can visit the US from 6 months to 30 days, then that would make news. Mostly because Canada would retaliate in kind, so would Mexico.

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Makai

Makai

(edited)
8 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I think your cousin got some wrong information. If Trump threw a hissy fit and signed an executive order slashing the amount of time Canadians can visit the US from 6 months to 30 days, then that would make news. Mostly because Canada would retaliate in kind, so would Mexico.

Canadians could be forced to register to stay longer than 30 days in U.S.

I’m not sure about Canada, but Mexico started enforcing some visa requirements since Trump announced the tariffs. 

Edited by Makai
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Anela

Anela

(edited)
26 minutes ago, Makai said:

Canadians could be forced to register to stay longer than 30 days in U.S.

I’m not sure about Canada, but Mexico started enforcing some visa requirements since Trump announced the tariffs. 

My sister married a Canadian, and she used to go back-and-forth a lot. She started going up there for months, in 2001. 9/11 happened when she was up there, so mum was torn about going to get her, or leaving her up there.  

Immigration at the border (in Buffalo), mostly left her alone, until 2010, when they pulled her and my dad over,  told her she could only be there for a month, and that she would need to get travel insurance for that month, as well as a bus ticket or something, showing that she had proof that she was coming back here. They got married in 2012, and she moved in 2014, when she was told that she couldn’t come back here for a while, when she was seeking permanent residency. 

Edited by Anela
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anony.miss

anony.miss

(edited)
1 hour ago, Makai said:

Canadians could be forced to register to stay longer than 30 days in U.S.

 

Set to take effect the second week of April, unless Trump dithers and cancels yet another wannbe tough guy order (we all know the only order Trump can be trusted to never cancel is from Mickey Ds...)

"The draft rule, which is set to take effect April 11, expands requirements for registration and fingerprinting of foreign nationals who cross the U.S.-Canada land border and stay in the U.S. longer for more than a month.

Affected people would have to create an account with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and schedule an appointment for fingerprinting as part of a background check."

Edited by anony.miss
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Eri

Eri

(edited)
5 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

This thing with the stock market has me so scared. Like most of us, I worked and saved and invested so I could retire and have enough to give to others as well. Now I'm too afraid to even look at my statements and wonder if the MAGAs are not in the same boat. Are they really cheering for the collapse of their own financial stability or do they really hate liberals so much they do't even care if they have nothing to show for their lives except stickin' it?

Your concerns are valid. I'd try not to worry though - the most important thing to remember is that the stock market =/= the economy. It's just an indicator of broader economic trends and how these trends affect various aspects of an economy's health to investors. 

Things were stabilizing, and now they're creating all this self-inflicted chaos, and making people panic. And this is what happens - people withdraw their money (possibly locking in their losses), cut back on shopping, and prices rise, then we're right back where we were with high inflation and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And if you don't invest for growth, your money could lose its power because of inflation in the long term. The baseline of our economy is still strong (for now) but the stock market does not like uncertainty / volatility and neither do consumers, as this administration is learning the hard way.

I think the decimating cuts to staff at the Social Security Administration is a much bigger threat right now when lines are already long and the workers are already overwhelmed and understaffed. The last thing they should want is a disruption of benefits to millions of Americans without broader implications.

Just to throw a little something into perspective :)

Edited by Eri
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Annber03

Annber03

6 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

This thing with the stock market has me so scared. Like most of us, I worked and saved and invested so I could retire and have enough to give to others as well. Now I'm too afraid to even look at my statements and wonder if the MAGAs are not in the same boat. Are they really cheering for the collapse of their own financial stability or do they really hate liberals so much they don't even care if they have nothing to show for their lives except stickin' it?

Trump supporters: We voted for Trump because he's going to fix our economy!

Also Trump supporters: Yeah, let it all burn, own the libs! Who cares if they're suffering economically, we're winning!

Make it make sense. 

5 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

From the Guardian 3/11/2025.

The Department of Agriculture has slashed over $1 billion in funding aimed at helping schools and food banks purchase from local farmers, according to a nonprofit.

“Multiple states” were recently notified of these cuts, the nonprofit School Nutrition Association said in a statement Tuesday.

An estimated $660 million in funds through the Local Food for Schools program for 2025 will no longer be available to support childcare institutions and schools, the group added.

Boy, I sure would be interested to see the reaction to this from any farmers here in Iowa who voted for Trump. You'd think they' would've learned after Trump had to scramble and bail them out during his first go-round in office, when his economic polices fucked them over then, too. 

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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

1 hour ago, tres bien said:

According to CNN the Department of Education will begin laying off about half of their 4400 staff tonight 

Yeah...and our tax dollars will help fund kids going to private schools.  Isn't that special?  It is just mindboggling how fragile our country/democracy has been all along. One creep gets into the Oval Office with his fellow thugs and it's already falling apart.

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Lantern7

Lantern7

(edited)
1 hour ago, Bliss said:

That mouth! Looks like an animal's butt-hole. (I'm sorry to all animals!)

Like I said, his face is an effective image for birth control. The guy is offensive to all five senses.

I’m busy reading Facebook, reading about the constant enabling. Put him on Mt. Rushmore, put him on the $100 bill, rename an airport for him, etc. I also read about a third term. This alarms me because something would have to happen to Obama in order for MAGA to seriously start chirping for that. I know the guy wouldn’t want to come out of retirement and run the country for four more years, but who else could rally the populace against the orange menace?

Edited by Lantern7
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Yeah No

Yeah No

10 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I got the same email. They are all like "don't panic, don't do anything in haste, stay the course, things will work out, blah, blah, blah." I wasn't planning on panicking but shit, it sucks and I feel paralyzed. My husband is still working but he's pushing 70 and I want him to retire!

And that's another thing! Anyone whose fortunes are tied to real estate can forget selling any property for development because construction prices are going to go through the roof. I was thinking of adding a second bath to our little house and now that's never going to happen.

Wow you sound just like me. My husband just turned 69 and is still working. He was thinking of retiring in a year or two but now that's off the table. I was going to renovate our bathrooms but now forget that, and they really need renovating too. It sucks. This is the 3rd time I've put that off. The first was when I was wrongfully terminated from my job. The second was because of the pandemic. And now this. The hits just keep on comin'. I don't know how many more times I can get up after being knocked down.

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peacheslatour

peacheslatour

2 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Wow you sound just like me. My husband just turned 69 and is still working. He was thinking of retiring in a year or two but now that's off the table. I was going to renovate our bathrooms but now forget that, and they really need renovating too. It sucks. This is the 3rd time I've put that off. The first was when I was wrongfully terminated from my job. The second was because of the pandemic. And now this. The hits just keep on comin'. I don't know how many more times I can get up after being knocked down.

I feel that. Thank god for this site. I never thought I'd see the day when there was space here to say how we really feel about everything. Politics used to be verboten here. I'm not complaining however, I'm just thankful.

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Yeah No

Yeah No

6 hours ago, peacheslatour said:
7 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

I heard speculation that bankrupting farmer and other businesses is intentional so people with money can buy them up.  Did I hear that here?  Or somewhere else?  Can't remember.  

I heard it too. Over on Fark. They were saying the same thing happened in the crash of '08.

6 hours ago, Makai said:

I don’t know if this has been posted before but it explains what they have to gain by decimating the economy. 

My husband has been talking about this for years. At first it sounded like some kooky conspiracy theory but over the years I have grown to believe it. Periodically TPTB engineer recessions to bankrupt businesses and have their ways of profiting off of it. The greedy are getting greedier so they are making it happen more frequently and drastically all the time.

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Yeah No

Yeah No

6 hours ago, Eri said:

I think the decimating cuts to staff at the Social Security Administration is a much bigger threat right now when lines are already long and the workers are already overwhelmed and understaffed. The last thing they should want is a disruption of benefits to millions of Americans without broader implications.

I'll be lucky if I start getting my SS money in a couple of months. The stock market is one thing and now I have this to worry about too. We heard SS was going to go broke eventually but of course it has to be under some kind of threat right now just because I've finally applied to start getting benefits, which I really need. I have the worst kind of luck. I know a lot of people are going through this but I have been through too much of this kind of crap over the years. I give up. I've been trying not to get too worried about things but forget that now. 

38 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I feel that. Thank god for this site. I never thought I'd see the day when there was space here to say how we really feel about everything. Politics used to be verboten here. I'm not complaining however, I'm just thankful.

Same here. I don't know what I would do without this place right now. Thank you all for being here.

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Soapy Goddess

Soapy Goddess

16 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

Why does he want it?  He doesn't need access to everyone's data.

I'm not inside his head, so I can't speak for him. All I can do is speculate...maybe he wants to cross-reference data in order to eliminate duplicates.

16 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

But not do what Trump wants if it goes against the law. 

What's against the law? Gathering information to eliminate fraud??

 

Soapy Goddess

Soapy Goddess

16 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Judging from Marco Rubio's face, he might be among them. But yeah, speaking of being damned if you do and damned if you don't, this is an example of that.

I see that. I also see that some crazy people are vandalizing Tesla dealerships. I understand if one wants to boycott, but to destroy property and light cars on fire, etc...that's juvenile! And not exactly "legal" either.

16 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I also wonder how prepared for it she was. It was thrust on her when she wasn't exactly expecting it. That might have hindered her success too.

I find it hard to believe that she didn't have a clue as to what was about to go down, especially after Clooney's op-ed. If I were her, and not exactly ready, I would have declined and offered up another name like Amy K. if the party wanted to run a woman.

Soapy Goddess

Soapy Goddess

14 hours ago, Dimity said:

I knew Vance wasn't the brightest penny in the drawer but, wow.

JD Vance spars with heckler as he blames immigrants for high housing prices

Speaking of heckling, it works both ways. The opposition really needs to learn how to speak to their fellow man (meaning man and woman). The heckling (aka bullying) is out of control everywhere you turn. 

 

heckle.jpg

CheshireCat

CheshireCat

On 3/1/2025 at 7:47 AM, Eri said:

A united Europe poses a threat to both the US and Russia. Consequently, both have long invested in fracturing the EU, which is more apparent in the recent supporting of far-right, Eurosceptic parties to undermine the union. A divided Europe, with weaker nations like England and France away from Germany, will have less bargaining power and more inclination to follow US influence. Can you attest @CheshireCat?

Late answer 'cause I'm a slow writer (and my tendency to re-write and re-write what I've re-written and possibly re-write that doesn't help either 🙃)

Anyway, I’ve never been under the impression that the US were invested in fracturing Europe. I don’t think they had a reason to because they were more or less aligned in their ways of life and goals. 
I can't even say that I was under the impression that Russia was actively invested in fracturing Europe. From where I’m sitting it looks more like they were waiting and watching and when a possibility presented itself (with Brexit), they took it. I'd say, the same happened with the US. They saw an opening after the Obama presidency and jumped on it. (I suppose that's what you get when you put a spy in charge? They're tacticians and used to playing the long game).

While Russia now seems to fan the flames they ignited, it doesn't look like the US is taking a bigger interest in fracturing Europe than they were before. Based on what Trump has said, I'd say that's because Trump doesn't necessarily care if Europe is united or not and I'm not sure that he spends much time weighing the meaning of union vs individual countries. I’m also under the impression that he believes strong-arming (and blackmail) will get him anywhere anyway. 

Russia, obviously, has different ambitions but I don’t think it’s a fractured Europe that increases the likelihood of following US lead. I think that depends on the type of government. Meaning, I'm sure that even if the EU fractured, the current French or German governments still wouldn’t look towards the US more than they do now.

While right-wing governments are more inclined to appease Russia at the moment, I don’t know what would happen should Ukraine fall and Russia threatened the neighboring countries. Yes, Poland is a NATO member and all that but what I’m getting at is that the threat of Russia is far closer to Western Europe than it is the US, and, as right as the governments might be, I think it’s difficult to predict how they would react if the threat of Russia advances further west.

 

On 3/2/2025 at 9:07 PM, ECM1231 said:

My son is in the process of trying to obtain Italian citizenship for himself, his wife, and 2 young, toddler-age children. The past few weeks I've provided him with quite a bit of family history, some known to me and some that I have discovered. I don't know how serious he is about actually moving, and it would break my heart, but at least he does have options. 

Politics-wise, I wouldn’t consider Italy a much better option than the US at the moment. The government has several things in common with the US government and while some factions in the AfD are a step too far for them, they have AfD sympathizers in their ranks as well.

 

On 3/3/2025 at 5:58 AM, anony.miss said:

I think the Democrats should boycott the State of Disunion.

They need to stand outside on the steps of the Capitol as the visible resistance to Trump, they need to show the world there are still Americans who refuse to support tyranny at home or abroad. They need to stop playing by the rules and break the fucking glass and raise the alarm. Let the empty suit, with the very long rap sheet and very, very short list (as in none) of human qualities rant and rage indoors, where it's safe and warm and the clapping of corrupt pro-Putin  enablers makes him feel like the big shot he never was. Millions of people around the world are waiting to see if America is still alive: It's time for the resistance to show up and show out.

 

On 3/3/2025 at 1:09 PM, ProudMary said:

Chris Murphy is one of my favorite elected Democrats, but I STRONGLY disagree with him here. Boycotting this faux-SOTU is definitely NOT the answer.

The Democrats should not cede that floor! They should be in that chamber, wearing light blue and yellow ribbons or Ukrainian flag lapel pins. 🇺🇦 (I wouldn't mind seeing a few Canadian flag lapel pins either. 🇨🇦) A rotation of Democrats should shout out "You're lying" for every single lie DJT tells. I don't know if signs are allowed on the floor of the House chamber, but even if they're prohibited, the Dems should find ways to smuggle them in under jackets. Boo him repeatedly, as the GOP did to Obama and Biden. 

Bring fired federal workers as guests. Get loud! Throw sand in the gears. Throw DJT off his game. We can't be in that chamber. Show the fuck up for us!

I think both your option and anony.miss’ option would have worked for me. Either would have demonstrated that these are extraordinary circumstances.

However, I think what would have complicated your option is the Democrats' ongoing messaging problem. I don't know what it is, why they have such difficulties establishing and fighting/changing narratives. But I think if they had done what you suggested, the story would have been decorum or immaturity or whatever and what should have been the story, the many things that Democrats would have been protesting, would have gotten lost in all the noise - literally and figuratively. 

 

On 3/3/2025 at 2:02 PM, ProudMary said:

I'm D-O-N-E with Nancy Pelosi, 

I was done with Pelosi back in 2018 when she resisted efforts to start impeachment proceedings and investigate Trump and kept telling everyone that Trump needed to be defeated at the ballot box. I don't know if she didn't want to accept that that wasn't going to be enough or if she didn't see it. But when faced with a leader with authoritarian tendencies, violations of norms and laws need to have consequences or they will just get bolder and bolder. I actually believe that she, and everyone who supported her in how she handled things during Trump's first term, also shares responsibility for where we're at now. 

 

On 3/3/2025 at 2:15 PM, fastiller said:

THIRD!  Same.  So much same. AOC; Crockett; Frost need to be given leadership roles in the House, along with a few others.  Jeffries needs to get on this quick fast.

I was so impressed with Crockett at the DNC. Alsobrooks as well. And I think there was a third woman but I'm not sure anymore. Generally, I thought that Democrats had some impressive and inspiring politicians at the DNC and it's a pity they're not given more active roles and aren't more visible. 

 

On 3/3/2025 at 4:10 PM, MostlyContent said:

I think we'd all love term limits, right?  Maybe 4 terms in the House and 2 terms in the Senate, and then go home.  That's 20 years of 'service'.  See ya!  

I could get on board with that! 

Germany doesn’t even have term limits for the chancellor. That’s how we end up with chancellors who were in office for 16! years and had Merkel not stepped down, I think another four would have been a real possibility. 

Given the time that US presidents have to spend campaigning and that they spend much of their last year as a "lame duck", I think 8 years is a little tight to accomplish much. However, I don't think it's the term limits that should change but election campaigns! 

Germany does have term limits for its equivalent of the Supreme Court, though. They serve for a maximum of 12 years.

tres bien

tres bien

7 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Yeah...and our tax dollars will help fund kids going to private schools.  Isn't that special?  It is just mindboggling how fragile our country/democracy has been all along. One creep gets into the Oval Office with his fellow thugs and it's already falling apart.

👍

Wait till people living in rural areas and parents of children with disabilities find out what happens when the Department of Education no longer exists 

The DOE office was closed on Tuesday and is reopening on Thursday 

The Secretary of Education told Laura Ingraham that she will be dismantling the department as directed by Trump

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