The Struggle for the Soul of America: Republicans Play Politics with Americans’ Healthcare and Food Assistance

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

We are in the fifth week of the federal government shutdown. With no end in sight, forty-two million Americans will lose their SNAP food assistance benefits tomorrow, November 1. That’s 12% of the population of the richest country in the world going hungry because politicians put their own interests ahead of the needs of their constituents.[1]

In addition, if Congress doesn’t get back to work soon and extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, about 20 million Americans will see their health insurance premiums increase dramatically.[2] Over four million more are projected to go without health insurance altogether next year because they just can’t afford it.[3]

According to recent polls, more Americans blamed Republicans rather than Democrats (45% to 33%) for the shutdown. Even worse for the GOP, 51 percent of voters not affiliated with either party blamed Republicans while only 34 percent blamed Democrats.[4] Unaffiliated voters outnumber both Republican and Democratic voters.

A critical reason for the shutdown is the Democrats’ demand that Congress extend the ACA subsidies. Republicans insist that the Democrats vote to reopen the government before negotiating an extension of those tax credits/subsidies. But, since the Republicans failed to include them in their “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” last spring,[5] the Dems don’t trust that the Republicans will extend them at the same level now. So, they are trying to force the Republicans hand by not voting to reopen the government until the subsidies are extended. A new survey found 59% of Republicans and 57% of “Make American Great Again” supporters favor extending the ACA enhanced subsidies.[6]

That puts Republicans in a real bind. While a majority of their own party supports extending the ACA subsidies, Republican Speaker Johnson is refusing to bring his House members back to Washington and reopen the government, which is the only way those subsidies can be extended. The longer that Johnson accuses the Democrats while maintaining the shutdown, it would seem the more Republicans will be blamed for denying affordable healthcare to millions of Americans, many of whom are members of the GOP. Not to mention that continuing the shutdown eliminates essential food assistance for millions of Americans as well.

This has to hamper Republicans’ prospects in next week’s elections. And the longer it goes on, the greater it will likely negatively impact their chances for success in the 2026 elections. While the Republicans will claim the Democrats are responsible for all this, it’s the GOP that controls Congress, the White House, and, in effect, the Supreme Court. Republican policies rule our country. The Democrats must remind the voters that the Republicans played politics with both their ability to afford healthcare and the need to feed their families. This could be a huge opportunity for Democrats.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), and his new memoir, From Camden to Kathmandu. He is the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/10/28/snap-runs-out-impact-food-stamp-recipients/86943125007/

[2] https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/health/health-insurance-subsidies-behind-government-shutdown

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/14/obamacare-aca-health-insurance-prices/

[4] https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5572516-shutdown-blame-game-politics/

[5] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/23/big-beautiful-tax-bill-skipped-aca-credits.html

[6] https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/trump-supporters-obamacare-subsidies-government-shutdown-poll-rcna235195

The Struggle for the Soul of America: The Power of the People

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

I have long maintained that the only thing that can save our country from Trump and his march to authoritarianism is the American people. The reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show by ABC is exhibit number 1.

Within six days of Kimmel’s indefinite suspension, Disney, ABC’s parent company, announced his show would be returning to the airwaves. The reason was clear. The public’s boycott of Disney was costing it and its investors tons of money. Immediately after Kimmel’s suspension, Disney customers began to cancel their subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu and threaten a broader consumer boycott. The Disney boycott quickly became four times as large as any boycott over the last five years. Disney’s stock dipped about 3.5 percent and continued to trade lower in subsequent days — a loss in market value of approximately $4 billion.[1]

The power of the people voting with their pocketbooks is huge. It may be our greatest weapon in the struggle to prevent Trump and his MAGA cohorts from turning our country into a fascist state.

But the main reason the boycott was so successful is the protection of our First Amendment right to freedom of speech has very broad appeal. Conservative Republican senators denounced threats by the Federal Communications Commission chairman to pull ABC’s license for airing Jimmy Kimmel’s show. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said it was “wrong” and “absolutely inappropriate.” And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) claimed FCC Chairman Carr’s threats were “dangerous as hell.” Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in Congress have called for Carr to resign.[2]

The question now is what other boycotts would have the broad-based appeal to force Trump’s government to back away from its autocratic policies. One that might fit the bill would be against the oil industry. Right now, Trump is eliminating subsidies, tax incentives and other support for sustainable energy, such as wind and solar. While his war on renewable energy has actually reduced Americans’ support for it from 79% to 60%, this shift may very well be due to linking “climate change and renewable energy to broader culture war issues,” according to one expert. And some Republicans who did support renewable energy have backed off their stances because it could be seen as “disloyal” to Trump.[3]

But Trump’s war against renewables is really all about politics. In 2024, he promised fossil fuel friendly polices to the oil and gas industry in return for their financial support for his campaign for president. Since becoming president, Trump has delivered big time on that promise by signing numerous Executive Orders boosting the industry.[4]

At the same time, Trump’s policies favoring Big Oil over renewable energy is hurting American consumers as well as the environment. While he vowed to cut energy and electricity prices in half, they are actually going up dramatically. Trump’s energy initiative is expected to “cut GDP by $1.1 trillion, add $170 billion to household energy bills, and cut hundreds of thousands of jobs.”[5]

This will negatively impact all consumers, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike. The only ones who will benefit are the extractive industries and Trump’s ultra-wealthy friends. A well planned, targeted boycott against one or two of these polluting companies could force the industry to change its tune. The boycott would demand that the industry start investing a significant portion of its resources in renewable energy and lobbying Trump to reverse his policies detrimental to the sustainable energy industry. It’s time we the people come together and make our government work for all the people.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-deeper-story-behind-americas?fbclid=IwY2xjawM_gRZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFHQzVpV09rTkd0clpybUphAR4BdDkurB7rjC8xY77nR1160MRUSpEMZ4xrsRLcFH5XVfw8Z7gXVsAfE5B_5Q_aem_vwuITbfolGtuFp3I0oZ77w

[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/22/republican-us-senators-knock-fcc-chair-for-threatening-disney-over-kimmel

[3] https://floodlightnews.org/support-for-renewables-shrinks-as-fossil-fuel-interest-grows/

[4] https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/02/03/trumps-first-executive-orders/

[5] https://nevadacurrent.com/2025/07/09/ugly-truths-about-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-and-energy-costs/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Dems Going on Offense, Finally

Posted on August 16, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

Enough is enough. The Texas GOP power grab attempting to gerrymander five Democratic Congressional House districts into Republican seats has finally awakened the Blue team. At last, the Democrats realize that they must go on the offensive and fight fire with fire, or our democracy is doomed. Not all of them have gotten the memo, of course, but a more progressive, aggressive leadership is beginning to emerge.

Yes, Sen. Sanders and AOC have been leading the charge for some time now. However, they are not sitting in executive offices where they could initiate real change. California Gov. Newsom, on the other hand, is in a position to do just that, and he’s not holding back. While I’ve never been a big fan of the governor’s, Newsom’s plan is a significant step that appears to be rallying Democrats across the country. It “leverages Democrats’ control of the most populous state in the Union to warn Republicans to back away from their attempt to rig the 2026 election.”[1]

Newsom exclaimed: “Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back.” And historian Heather Cox Richardson noted, “After years of criticism that Democrats have not fought hard enough against Republicans’ manipulation of the system to amass power, the California plan…flips the script.”[2]

Democrats in other states are standing up as well. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Hochul have jumped into the fight. “This is nothing short of a legal insurrection,” Ms. Hochul said. She insisted that we must fight back.[3]

Meanwhile, a young, progressive candidate for New York City mayor, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, is the odds-on favorite to capture New York’s City Hall. Mamdani’s rise has been fueled by progressive proposals such as rent freezes, publicly owned grocery stores, and universal childcare.[4]

The surge in major Democratic figures willing to stand up to Trump and his MAGA cronies gives me hope. Their outspokenness will inspire others to do the same and help increase the resistance to Trump’s authoritarian regime. At the same time, it will generate momentum for Indivisible’s One Million Rising campaign[5] around the country.

It’s a sign that the tide is changing. If you are not already active in this effort to save our democracy, we need you to get involved now. The next big national protest will be on Labor Day, September 1. See https://maydaystrong.org/ and https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-labor-day to learn more about what promises to be a huge sign that the American people will not allow a two-bit, want-to-be-king grifter to destroy our country. Go to https://indivisible.org/ and help save America from Trump’s fascist takeover.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-14-2025?r=4d2np6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/us/politics/democrats-redistricting-trump.html

[4] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/zohran-mamdani-odds-of-becoming-new-york-mayor-hit-record-high/ar-AA1Kx8Ab?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[5] https://www.nokings.org/rise?emci=afd31273-106e-f011-8dc9-6045bda9d96b&emdi=2789183d-2b6e-f011-8dc9-6045bda9d96b&ceid=2597101

The Struggle for the Soul of America: While the Fear of Trump’s Retaliation Works to Suppress Opposition, Resistance Is Still Growing

Posted on July 25, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

In the 1930s, as Hitler was consolidating his power, the great majority of Germans did little or nothing to resist him and his Nazi forces out of fear. Peter Hoffmann’s review of The Good Germans concluded that the “threat of harsh punishment largely worked.”[1] Today, Trump is taking a page from Hitler’s playbook.

The latest example of Trump’s threats working is CBS’s surprise cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the highest rated talk show in the country.[2] The announcement came just days after CBS parent company Paramount Global reached a $16 million settlement with Trump in what appeared-to-be his “frivolous” lawsuit against Paramount. Some Democrats contend that Paramount paid Trump under threat that his administration would not approve of its multi-billion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.[3]

Fear of Trump retaliating has affected Republicans, too. According to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, GOP Congressmen are afraid “they could be attacked in the same way her husband” was.[4] That likely influenced GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s failure to vote against Trump’s big budget bill, a vote which would have sunk that bill. Murkowski admitted, “I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real.”[5]

In both cases, the fear of Trump’s retribution probably affected the outcome in his favor. In addition, major corporations including AT&T, Ford and Toyota made large contributions to Trump’s inauguration to gain his goodwill[6] and avoid potential backlash for failing to support him.[7] As a result, corporate America won’t be leading the fight against Trump’s authoritarian regime.

Still, the resistance is growing.[8] On July 16, Indivisible held an online One Million Rising training attended by over 130,000 concerned Americans just like you. “The 90-minute video conference was organized to train activists in principles of ‘strategic non-cooperation,’ which aims to gum up the works of the increasingly dark and dictatorial Trump administration.”[9] If you missed it, I urge you to watch it at https://www.nokings.org/rise#livestream.

I participated in the training with 10 friends. We all felt it was an excellent workshop and an inspiring beginning to the formation of a huge resistance movement.

The second of the three training sessions is Wednesday, July 30, at 6 pm Mountain Time, 8 pm Eastern. You don’t have to have attended the first session to register for the second and third trainings. Go to https://www.nokings.org/rise to sign up and learn more about this crucial effort.

Too many of us are sitting at home in fear and hopelessness, not knowing what to do. If that includes you, joining One Million Rising will help you overcome these feelings by engaging with hundreds of thousands of Americans in the struggle to stop Trump and his cronies. Together, we must strive to save our country and build a better democracy.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.jstor.org/stable/24483571

[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/07/late-show-stephen-colbert-canceled-cbs/683602/

[3] https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/stephen-colbert-s-late-show-canceled-after-trump-lawsuit-settlement-sparks-backlash/ar-AA1IRlgw?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[4] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-reveals-why-republicans-wont-cross-trump_n_6878bf6ce4b09816d3162894

[5] https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5327518/donald-trump-100-days-retribution-threats

[6] https://www.axios.com/2024/12/25/companies-donate-trump-inauguration

[7] https://apnews.com/article/trump-retribution-columbia-paul-weiss-law-firms-40c8cbafaa3592a6b2cc5858770d3731

[8] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/resistance-2-0-protests-get-louder-and-more-organized/ar-AA1IAIX9?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[9] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-authoritarian-no-kings-playbook-1235388347/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Israel’s Choices: Endless Conflict or Real Peace

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

On this Yom Kippur, Israel, the United States, Iran and much of the Arab world must repent and change course.

The current war between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran is just the latest chapter in a conflict that has been going on at least since Israel was established by United Nations Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947. Under that resolution, the British protectorate of Palestine was to be divided into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab. The Arab countries surrounding Israel opposed the resolution and went to war against Israel in 1948.[1]

Israel won that war which resulted in over 700,000 Arabs being forced from their homes in the new Jewish state.[2] It has won several other armed conflicts with their Arab neighbors since then. But the Six-Day War in June 1967 was a turning point. Israel captured the West Bank during that war, and it has been under Israeli military occupation as a national security measure to this day.[3]

While six Arab countries, beginning with Egypt in 1979, have made peace with Israel[4] and normalized relations, hostilities continue with a number of others led by Iran. Backed by a huge amount of U.S. funds and armaments, Israel has been able to deter Arab assaults over the years, with the exception of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Since then, Israel has gone on the offensive. Its goal now appears to be the complete elimination of all terrorists that threaten Israel. As a result, many thousands of innocent Arabs in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, a great many of them women and children, have been killed, plus thousands more maimed or starved to death, in Israel’s widespread attacks to wipe out its enemies.[5]

The only problem is Israel will never be able to do that militarily. Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari has even admitted as much when he said that Hamas cannot be made to “disappear.”[6] The bottom line is that as long as the Palestinian people are denied their own state as promised in the 1947 U.N. resolution, the fighting will continue.

Unfortunately, the current Israeli government has no intention of agreeing to a two-state solution. It would rather continue killing thousands of innocent Arabs, leave its hostages in the hands of Hamas, have its own people live in constant fear and danger, and be isolated from the rest of the world except for the U.S. Implausibly, the American government seems helpless to do anything to stop this madness despite the fact that it supplies Israel with the means to keep this cycle of death and destruction going.

Meanwhile, 99 American doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who have volunteered in Gaza since October 7, 2023, are urging President Biden and Vice President Harris to “end this madness now.” Estimating the Gaza death toll at over 118,000, they wrote, “Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered by our bullets.”[7]

Consequently, they are demanding of Biden and Harris: “A ceasefire must be imposed on the warring parties by withholding military support for Israel and supporting an international arms embargo on Israel and all Palestinian armed groups. We believe our government is obligated to do this, both under American law and International Humanitarian Law.”[8]

There’s practically no chance that the Biden administration would agree to this demand. It could, however, immediately halt shipments of all offensive weapons to Israel to pressure Jerusalem to agree to a ceasefire and begin negotiations for a real two-state, lasting peace. While that may not convince Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to change course, it may move the Israeli people to demand elections for a new government.

The Arab world recently made a strong offer that’s gotten little attention but could open the door to those negotiations. Two weeks ago, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi responded to Netanyahu’s claim that Israel is surrounded by those who want to destroy it. Safadi announced at the United Nations that 57 Arab and Muslim countries would unequivocally guarantee Israel’s security if Jerusalem ended the occupation and agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state.[9] Of course, the U.S. would as well.

While getting there will be very difficult, Harris should now state that as president, she would strongly support and work to implement the Arab proposal while continuing to protect Israel. On the anniversary of the October 7^th massacre, Harris affirmed that “We must work to ensure nothing like the horrors of October 7 can ever happen again.”[10] Ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state is the only way to ensure that critical goal.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is a former U.S. Institute of Peace Fellow and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He is also the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America. (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.). Contact him at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.britannica.com/event/Arab-Israeli-wars

[2] https://mondediplo.com/1997/12/palestine

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_occupation_of_the_West_Bank#:~:text=The%20West%20Bank%2C%20including%20East,during%20the%20Six%2DDay%20War.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_relations#:~:text=After%20several%20Arab%2DIsraeli%20wars,Morocco%20and%20Sudan)%20normalized%20relations.

[5] https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/more-women-and-children-killed-gaza-israeli-military-any-other-recent-conflict; https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/10/4/live-israeli-bombs-rain-down-on-lebanons-beirut-gaza-occupied-west-bank

[6] https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/20/middleeast/hagari-netanyahu-destroy-hamas-israel-intl/index.html

[7] https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/10/05/gqob-o05.html

[8] Ibid.

[9] https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-10-02/ty-article-opinion/.premium/jordans-foreign-minister-told-israelis-and-inconvenient-truth/00000192-4dc3-d2cc-a5d7-edff907e0000

[10] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/10/07/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-marking-one-year-since-hamas-october-7th-terrorist-attacks/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Will Harris Ride a Blue Wave to Victory or Watch It Crash on the Shores of the Middle East?

Posted on October 5, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

While most of the media is reporting that this year’s election will be very close, some experts see it differently. Northwestern University data scientist Thomas Miller has crafted a model for forecasting the 2024 presidential election that, he believes, is far more reliable than the polling that’s constantly cited in the media as the best guide to the outcome on Nov. 5. Miller’s model is based on 60 years of presidential election history.[1]

In 2020, Miller called the presidential race within 12 electoral votes, and correctly posited that the Democrats would sweep both Georgia Senate seats when the polls showed the Republicans significantly ahead. Miller’s data shows the Harris-Walz ticket far in the lead and the wide Democrat advantage settling into a remarkably stable pattern. He sees the Harris-Walz team winning by 66 electoral votes over the Trump-Vance ticket.[2]

Allan Lichtman, the American University political historian renowned for accurately predicting 9 out of the 10 most recent presidential elections, also predicts Harris will win this year’s White House race.[3]

The fact that a great many prominent Republicans have endorsed Harris provides further evidence that the Democratic ticket will prevail.[4] Former conservative Congresswoman Liz Cheney is even campaigning with Harris in the swing state of Wisconsin this week.[5] As Gov. Walz said at the recent Vice-Presidential debate, “Support of democracy matters…I’m as surprised as anybody of this coalition that Kamala Harris has built, from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift and a whole bunch of folks in between…”[6]

But all of Harris’s promising electoral prospects could quickly be swept away by the rising threat of an expanding war in the Middle East. Israel is now exploring how to retaliate against Iran for its recent missile attack on the Jewish state, which Israel acknowledges did minimal damage.[7] While President Biden is trying to temper Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response, he has yet to take any strong steps to stop the escalation of the conflict. And Harris appears to be going along with Biden’s timid approach.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has said he would make a deal with Iran to avoid a full-blown war if he were elected.[8] Ironically, Trump killed an important nuclear deal with Iran when he was president.[9] But if Harris doesn’t break with Biden and put out her own plan for averting such a war, Trump could become the “peace candidate” and seriously damage Harris’s ability to beat him in November.

To win the presidency Harris cannot allow this to happen. She must provide a clear vision for not only preventing a larger Middle East war but also for creating real peace in the region that both Iran and Israel could accept. Harris must also recognize that the U.S. has to be firm with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. She cannot permit his efforts to escalate the conflict for political purposes deter her from taking a bold stance to achieve peace through diplomacy.[10]

First, Harris must listen to the concerns of Americans, especially in the critical battleground state of Michigan, who have family members living under U.S.-backed Israeli assaults in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories. After repeated requests, she finally did meet with them on Friday, October 4^th. [11] But for someone who says she wants to represent all the people, why did it take her that long?[12] Hopefully, their talk helped meet the Arab-Americans’ needs and encouraged them to support Harris.

At the same time, Harris needs to call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire throughout the Middle East, not just in Gaza as she did last March.[13] Simultaneously, she must provide conditions and incentives that would induce both sides to de-escalate the conflict and move toward a Middle East peace.

Incentives for the Israelis could include:

Iran acknowledging Israel’s right to exist.
Iran agreeing to cease all support for terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Iran agreeing not to engage in, encourage or support any hostilities toward Israel.
Iran agreeing to influence Hamas to release the Israeli hostages.
U.S. agreeing to supply Israel with the means to defend itself.

Incentives for Iran could include:

U.S. and Israel agreeing not to attack Iran, including its oil fields and nuclear facilities.
U.S. agreeing to help Iran build a peace economy.
U.S. agreeing to help rebuild Gaza.
Israel withdrawing completely from Gaza and agreeing to the right of Palestinians to have their own state.
U.S. halting all shipments of offensive weapons to Israel.

The ball is in Harris’s court. She must demonstrate real leadership now to convince American voters that she’s the right person to lead our country in these critical times.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/harris-holds-66-electoral-vote-113900118.html

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2024/09/29/allan-lichtman-election-prediction-system-explained/75352476007/

[4] https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-republicans-endorsing-kamala-harris-trump-1960937; https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-endorsement-letter-republicans-1956304

[5] https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/03/liz-cheney-harris-wisconsin-00182306

[6] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tim-walz-2024-vp-debate-closing-statement/

[7] https://www.euronews.com/2024/10/03/israel-says-damage-from-iranian-missile-attack-minimal-thanks-to-high-quality-defence

[8] https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-suggests-he-would-make-a-deal-with-iran-if-elected-we-have-to/

[9] https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-nuclear-deal/

[10] https://www.yahoo.com/news/democrats-suspect-netanyahu-attempting-tilt-100000970.html

[11] https://www.npr.org/2024/10/04/nx-s1-5140179/kamala-harris-arab-americans-michigan

[12] https://www.commondreams.org/news/uncommitted-harris-lebanon

[13] https://www.npr.org/2024/03/04/1234822836/kamala-harris-benny-gantz-gaza-cease-fire-israel-hamas

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Will the Democrats’ Get-Out-the-Vote Campaign Nullify the Republicans’ Voter Suppression Efforts?

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

The Democrats left their National Convention in Chicago last week with the wind at their backs. While they, and many others supporting the Harris-Walz ticket, are flying high, we would all be wise to keep our feet solidly on the ground and focus on building a huge GOTV (Get-Out-the-Vote) campaign to counter the Republicans’ aggressive voter suppression efforts.

The Republicans know that the only way they can win the November election is by suppressing the vote in as many ways as possible. For instance, the Republican National Committee urged “the Supreme Court to intervene in an Arizona election dispute this week and block up to 40,000 of the state’s registered voters from casting ballots in the presidential race.”[1] On Thursday, while the Court rejected the Republican effort to disenfranchise those voters, it did allow “some parts of a law requiring proof of citizenship to be enforced.”[2]

In Michigan and Nevada, Republicans are seeking to force election officials to remove voters from the rolls, despite federal law limiting such actions in the months preceding an election. In another Nevada lawsuit, the RNC is trying to block mail ballots from being counted if received after Election Day.[3]

In Georgia, the Republican-controlled state Board of Elections passed a new rule that allows local elections officials to halt vote counting[4] and even outright refuse to certify the election results.[5]

Meanwhile, Republicans are also recruiting thousands of poll monitors in battleground states to try to intimidate voters and disrupt the elections in Democratic cities.[6] At the same time, Democratic groups like Swing Left[7] are training and organizing poll watchers to protect voters’ rights at the polls.[8]

These are the acts of scared, desperate Republicans who will do just about anything to gain power. It is a very sad state of affairs. Not that the Democrats are above reproach. But the Republicans have now thrown democracy out the window at the behest of a two-bit con man who would readily throw any of them under the bus if it served his huge narcissistic appetite.

Republicans are anxiously trying to get Trump to stay on message by focusing on the economy and immigration. But Trump refuses to. He loves going personal, making fun of people, and calling them names. Something an 8-year-old might do.

Fortunately, the Democratic standard bearer, Kamala Harris, is a no-nonsense prosecutor, among other valuable skills. If anybody can beat Trump and ensure that he’s brought to justice, Kamala is answering the call “for the people.”

Still, we all must stand with Kamala. An overwhelming voter turnout created by a massive GOTV campaign must make it crystal clear that the American people support democracy and reject Donald Trump’s authoritarianism. As Kamala declared on the final night of the convention, “We’re not going back!…We’re moving forward.”

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com. https://protectthevote.net/), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-08-19/republicans-urge-supreme-court-to-block-40-000-arizonans-from-voting-for-president-in-november

[2] https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-citizenship-elections-arizona-62b7e777cfdbb99242510e562de00781

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/10/republican-trump-election-voting-lawsuits/

[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/25/democrats-fair-election/?utm_campaign=wp_follow_jennifer_rubin&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl-jenniferrubin&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3ed245a%2F66cb1bd654e7751dec229478%2F5ddffac0ae7e8a7319e6966d%2F6%2F23%2F66cb1bd654e7751dec229478

[5] https://www.wabe.org/new-rule-may-allow-georgia-election-boards-to-halt-certifying-results/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrKu2BhDkARIsAD7GBouoq-EE2PBQxXlDGo37Y75v_Jx8-7jiBJdzIgsbEQ4rRvO-Cm24JX0aAgOlEALw_wcB

[6] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/gop-poll-monitors-suburbs-democratic-cities-rcna159059

[7] https://swingleft.org/p/strategy?utm_source=google-search&utm_campaign=volunteeracquisition24&utm_medium=paid-search&utm_term=volunteer_democrats

[8] https://protectthevote.net/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: It’s Never Too Late for the Democrats to Do the Right Thing

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

On March 31, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not run for re-election that fall. In his short time as president, Johnson achieved great advancements for the American people, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. Still, in 1968, the Democratic Party and the country as a whole were very divided by race, class, ideology, and, of course, the Vietnam War.[1]

Despite his noteworthy accomplishments, Johnson’s public approval rating sat at only 36%. He was being challenged by members of his own party as well as a strong Republican candidate, Richard Nixon. Johnson realized the odds of his re-election were poor. As political historian Matthew Dallek explained, “LBJ had become the face of America’s divisions.”[2]

Fifty-six years later, President Biden’s situation is not much different than Johnson’s was. In his one term in the White House, Biden has achieved many good things, including rebuilding our infrastructure, significant gun violence prevention legislation, and combating the climate crisis.[3] Yet, his public approval rating stands at just 37%.[4] Like Johnson, many Democrats don’t want him to run for re-election and he is being challenged by a strong Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Biden has now become the face of America’s divisions as well.

Unlike Johnson, however, President Biden has failed to come to grips with the reality of his situation and the catastrophic consequences facing our country if his Republican opponent wins the presidency. But Thursday evening’s presidential debate was a stark wakeup call for the rest of the Democratic Party. The question is how will the Party respond.

For a hopeful answer, let’s turn to 1974 and the Republican Party’s response to Nixon’s failing presidency. Due to Nixon’s alleged involvement in the Watergate scandal involving a criminal break-in and subsequent cover-up, Nixon lost the support of many in the Republican Party as well as American voters in general. He was about to be impeached by Congress.

On Aug. 7, 1974, the leaders of the Republican Party, U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., U.S. House Minority Leader John Rhodes, R-Ariz., and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, R-Pa., went to the White House and made it clear to Nixon that his presidency was “doomed.”[5] Two days later, Nixon resigned the presidency.

Granted Biden’s situation is quite different. But what is similar is that Biden has lost the support of a great many members of his party.[6] Biden’s presidency may not be “doomed,” but his chances of re-election could be after his awful performance at Thursday’s debate.[7]

The leaders of the Democratic Party need to do what those Republican leaders did in 1974. Barak Obama, Bill Clinton, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries with the support of First Lady Jill Biden must go to the White House and tell President Biden that his re-election is very much in peril, and he needs to withdraw from the race. Nixon said it best when he resigned, “…as President, I must put the interests of America first.”[8]

Unfortunately, two days after Biden’s terrible debate, none of the above-mentioned Democratic leaders are preparing to deliver that message to Biden. In fact just the opposite, they are all rallying around the president despite the fact that “59 percent of independent voters and 47 percent of Democratic voters said Biden should be replaced as the party’s presidential candidate. “[9]

The Democrats are rolling the dice by sticking with Biden. Though it’s an uphill battle, he may still be able to rejuvenate his campaign and beat Trump. And, honestly, they would also be gambling if they chose another candidate to lead the ticket. But selecting a new standard bearer at their convention would energize Democrats and give them a huge opportunity to win over those undecided voters in the swing states that will decide this election.

Yet, the truth is that it’s all up to Biden. He has enough delegates committed to him to secure the nomination if he wants it. What he decides will undoubtedly impact the election, but ultimately the fate of our democracy is in the hands of the American people.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.history.com/news/lbj-exit-1968-presidential-race

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/

[4] https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-BIDEN/POLL/nmopagnqapa/

[5] https://www.azcentral.com/story/azdc/2014/08/03/goldwater-rhodes-nixon-resignation/13497493/

[6] https://www.npr.org/2024/06/05/nx-s1-4987296/young-voters-biden-gaza-inflation-abortion-trump-genforward-poll

[7] https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/biden-trump-threat-to-democracy

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon%27s_resignation_speech

[9] https://www.newsweek.com/biden-poll-democrats-debate-trump-1919143

The Struggle for the Soul of America: The Israeli-Hamas War Is Biden’s Vietnam

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

As a college student in the 1960s, I became so appalled at our government’s prosecution of the Vietnam War that I joined the protests against the war. On April 15, 1967, hundreds of thousands of us marched from New York’s Central Park to the United Nations on the East River in the biggest anti-war rally up until then.[1] But as the war grew, so did the protests. On November 15, 1969, the Moratorium to End the War staged an even larger demonstration in Washington.[2] I was among the protesters at the Pentagon that the police teargassed that day.

Today, as then, college students are spearheading the protest movement against America’s involvement in a costly war. And, similar to President Johnson back then, President Biden is now the primary target of the students’ wrath.

True, there are very significant differences between the two conflicts. Most importantly, no Americans are fighting and dying in Gaza today. Over 58,000 American service people lost their lives in Vietnam.[3]

On the other hand, the Administration’s unconditional support for one side is very similar in both wars. Then the United States was all in with the South Vietnamese. Today, our government fully backs Israel. At the same time, a large segment of the American Jewish community as well as Muslim Americans oppose Biden’s position, making his re-election campaign that much more difficult.

In both cases, however, resistance to our government’s handling of the war grew. By March 31, 1968, the opposition was so great that President Johnson announced he would not run for re-election that fall.[4] While President Biden does not appear to be considering withdrawing his candidacy in this year’s election, the protests on college campuses and beyond have increased, though not to the extent of the Vietnam-era demonstrations; at least, not yet.[5]

The Democrats will hold their National Convention in Chicago this coming August. Ironically, that’s the same city where the Democrats gathered in 1968 to nominate their presidential candidate, and it didn’t go well. Anti-war protesters clashed with the police on national television reminding the voters of the Dems’ responsibility for the quagmire in Vietnam.[6] The Democrats ended up losing the election to Richard Nixon. We could very well see a repeat of that tragic scenario later this year if Biden fails to take decisive action soon to stop the slaughter in Gaza.

Despite the growing protests, as well as the increasing death toll in Gaza, Biden just signed a bill providing another $26 billion for Israel’s war effort. Included in that Israeli figure is over $9 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza.[7]

At the same time, 55% of Americans now disapprove of Israel’s military actions and only 27% approve of Biden’s handling of the Middle East conflict, according to a March Gallup poll.[8]

While the war is not one of the top concerns of the electorate, in a close election as this year’s is likely to be, Biden could lose critical swing states due to his continued support for Israel’s military aggression. Given this distinct possibility, it’s puzzling that Biden hasn’t done more to stop the slaughter of thousands of innocent Gazans, mostly women and children, and the destruction of their homeland.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently offered this path forward for Biden: stop sending Israel offensive weapons. Kristof noted, “…that would get the attention of the Israel Defense Forces very quickly.” He argued for suspending “the transfer of offensive arms to Israel, pending food actually being delivered to Gaza to end this starvation, and some indication of dialing back the more reckless side of the bombing in Gaza and then push immediately for some kind of a cease-fire and hostage release and, likewise, then try to use that for some kind of an arrangement for a Palestinian state.”[9]

Kristof explained that Biden was right to call out Hamas’s October 7^th attack on Israel as “barbaric and intolerable. But if you only care about human rights for one side in a conflict, then you don’t actually care about human rights. And if you regard the deaths of children on one side of a conflict as a tragedy, as unacceptable, but deaths of children on the other side of the conflict as regrettable, then there is something profoundly wrong not just with your geopolitics but with your moral compass.”[10] While it remains to be seen whether Biden actually gets that, we can only hope that he changes course soon before it’s too late.

However, there is something you can do here at home to try to advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians. At 11:15 a.m. on May 12, a live-streamed Joint Memorial Ceremony will be viewed at the Jean Cocteau Theater in Santa Fe as part of an international event in support of efforts to end the violence and bring freedom and justice to all in the Middle East. I hope to see you there. For more information about the Memorial, go to https://www.afcf.org/2024-joint-memorial-day-ceremony.

Bruce Berlin

[1] https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/massive-anti-war-demonstrations/

[2] https://archive.nytimes.com/learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nov-15-1969-anti-vietnam-war-demonstration-held/#:~:text=all%20Historic%20Headlines%20%C2%BB-,On%20Nov.,and%20towns%20across%20the%20country.

[3] https://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics#:~:text=April%2029%2C%202008.-,The%20Vietnam%20Conflict%20Extract%20Data%20File%20of%20the%20Defense%20Casualty,casualties%20of%20the%20Vietnam%20War.

[4] https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/lyndon-b-johnsons-decision-not-to-run-in-1968

[5] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pro-palestinian-seders-planned-new-york-other-cities-college-campuses-simmer-2024-04-23/; https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/the-mounting-antiwar-protests-on-college-campuses/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=wp_post_reports

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention_protests

[7] https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-israel-pacific-glance-0af96be97c47496f88506a21ebe1ddab#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20About%20%2426%20billion%20for%20supporting,amid%20the%20Israel%2DHamas%20war.

[8] https://news.gallup.com/poll/642695/majority-disapprove-israeli-action-gaza.aspx

[9] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/opinion/biden-morality-gaza-israel.html?action=click&module=audio-series-bar&region=header&pgtype=Article

[10] Ibid.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: We’re in for a Wild Election Year!

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

There’s never been anything like the 2024 election year. Every other day I hear a different scenario of how the presidential election could be radically changed.

First, Biden and Trump are the two oldest candidates to ever run for president of our country. One or both of them could die or become incapacitated before election day. Neither looks like they’re in great shape.

Second, the courts could find Trump ineligible to run under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and knock him out of the race. Section 3 bars anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country from holding federal office.[1]

The Colorado Supreme Court has already held Trump ineligible to be on its primary ballot based on Section 3.[2] The former president immediately appealed its decision to the U.S. Supreme Court which will hear oral arguments very soon on February 8^th. Prominent conservative legal scholars who are members of the Federalist Society, an influential conservative advocacy group, agreed that the Court could disqualify Trump under the Fourteenth Amendment. They wrote that Section 3 is “self-executing, operating as an immediate disqualification from office, without the need for additional action by Congress.” They then concluded that Trump could be rendered ineligible for election.[3]

From a liberal perspective, Bruce Ackerman, Yale Professor of Law and Political Science, offered a different angle in reaching a similar conclusion. He contends that “originalism,” that is, the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment as it was intended at its origin, requires Trump’s exclusion from the race for president.

Ackerman argues that the Colorado court “found that Trump’s support of the Proud Boys, which played a key role in the Jan. 6 riot, represented a paradigm case of “insurrection” as it was originally understood at the time the amendment was enacted.” And, that understanding is supported by “leading originalist scholars and jurists.”[4]

Additionally, Trump’s three appointments to the Supreme Court, “Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett,…proudly proclaim(ed) their adherence to “originalism” at their Senate confirmation hearings.” Ackerman notes it was also their “basis for repudiating Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion in Dobbs.”[5]

In effect, these three justices are trapped by their own doctrines. How could they use originalism to deny women the right to an abortion and not apply it to deny Trump the right to run for president? Ackerman believes that “if the three Trump appointees stick to their originalist principles and vote to disqualify him from office, the justices would actually strengthen American democracy and might help ease the country’s sharp divides — while also bolstering a beleaguered Supreme Court.”[6]

Whatever the Court decides will apply to all fifty states, not just Colorado. Given the Colorado presidential primary, along with those in 15 other states and territories, is March 5^th, just five weeks away, the Court should decide pretty quickly. A decision to throw Trump off the ballot would drastically change the election and might even result in widespread protest and violence. That last factor could play a role in the Court’s decision as well.

This is just one of several wild cards in this year’s election. I will explore others in the coming weeks and months.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66690276

[2] https://apnews.com/article/trump-insurrection-14th-amendment-2024-colorado-d16dd8f354eeaf450558378c65fd79a2

[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66690276

[4] https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/25/supreme-court-originalism-trump-ballot-eligibility-00137666

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.