Exposing corruption is not enough; voters need to understand how corruption affects their lives

This is a messaging challenge for those hoping to change the Trump regime in November 2026 and 2028.  Exposing corruption is not enough; voters need to understand how corruption affects their lives. The demise of Viktor Orban was brought about because voters understood that his corruption had made them the poorest country in the European Union.  So many in the US complain about the price of gas at the pump, and they see the connection with world-set oil prices and the impact on supply, and I understand this is about a war Trump started with Iran.  Some excuse Trump for getting rich while president because he is such a great businessman they so admire, but they are beginning to understand how his corrupt practices drive up grocery and agricultural prices and inflation.  To fund it, Trump proposes cuts to feed the hungry programs and making health care unaffordable for even more voters.  The Iran war is an easy connection to make to rising prices, but what does corruption have to do with it?  

 PBS and AP, in a lengthy analysis, show how the Trump family's cryptocurrency ventures are connected and how the prospect of war and foreign policy initiatives shape investment decisions. and the pockets of Trump and his family.  That's the problem: it is lengthy and requires a grasp of such new instruments of wealth like cryptocurrency and gifts from airplanes to the advantage of  managing sovereign Saudi funds

.The Trump family's current wealth has much to do with their self-interested conduct of foreign affairs, but the challenge is getting this into a form that lay people can understand and make the link to their own well-being.  Bribery is not always obvious when there is a quid pro quo.  The quid may be separated by months from the quo...or involve what seem to be unrelated business transactions that just happen to result in stuffing the pockets of schemers at both ends of a corrupt deal.   This is worth a serious read: 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-the-trump-familys-business-deals-could-open-the-door-for-future-presidents-to-profit-from-office?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

 

The Supreme Court ruling on tariffs today? Consumers see a partial relief

 Trump's got a plan B up his sleeve despite his loss in the Supreme Court today, declaring that Trump did not have the power to impose reciprocal tariffs. (Those are the tariffs, like the 15% on all imports from the EU). How Trump plans to get around the ruling is to abuse another law: Trump orders temporary 10% global tariff to replace duties struck down by US Supreme Court. (and upped it to 15% 2/21/2026, and that may also be challenged as illegal on the basis that there are conditions attached he my have violated) He could ask his loyal Congress to just rubber-stamp his tariffs, also.. "Tariffs are taxes," declared a 6-3 Supreme Court, and Congress has that power, not the president, to levy them.

What was carved out in the SCOTUS ruling were aluminum and steel, and those tariffs remain because they were connected to national security interests. What is absurd about those is that beverages and cosmetics, mostly in aluminum containers, will still get hit by high tariffs based on the percentage and value of aluminum or steel container part of the item (50% for those smelt and cast in the EU and 200% if it comes from designated countries like Russia)...and those costs will still just be passed on to the consumers. Automobiles and steel tariffs were not affected by the relief, either. They remain, it appears. SCOTUS did not rule if consumers get a refund of some sort for the illegally imposed tariffs. So, consumers consider the price increases caused by tariffs as your donation to the federal treasury, legal or not. Supreme Court strikes down most of Trump's tariffs in a major blow to the president

What did change today with the ending of Trump's reciprocal tariffs may be that import shipments valued at below $800 will be exempted from the Trump tariff requirements, that they all had to go through US customs. CNBC addressed the issue this morning, and further verification is needed.  This deminimus exemption caused such a mess in such giants as UPS, that these small package shipments that did not meet the requirements of US customs paperwork were simply destroyed, estimated by some to total worth in billions of dollars.Update: 2/32/2026: no, nothing changed. Deminimus is still verboten.

Full disclosure: Felicia Muftic is president of a small business importing cosmetics from the European Union, some of which come in aluminum containers and others in plastic containers. MelemUSA,LLC

So here is Trump's plan B, to put a 10% tariff on every import relieved from the 15% plus tariff by the Supreme Court decision today. He is clear he sees tariffs as a fundraiser for the treasury. What is clear to everyone else, he wants to raise money on the backs of all consumers. Tariffs are going to be paid by consumers. Per a study of 2025 by the Federal Reserve, 90% of tariffs were paid by consumers and businesses.

.Let me raise an issue that has not been connected to tariffs yet. To keep the national debt in check caused by his generous tax breaks to the very rich and his friends, the tariffs, paid by normal people, make up some of the loss to the treasury by Trump's tax breaks. The answer is to reverse the tax breaks and let those who are not on budgets pay their fair share. Tax Cuts Are Primarily Responsible for the Increasing Debt Ratio - Center for American Progress

Tariffs make things more expensive and contribute to the affordability gap and to the middle-class travails of not having enough income to cover living expenses like they once did..

Trump does not care a fig about affordability. He calls that a Democrat hoax. This should be a red flag, an indication of where his heart does not lie.

Update 2/21/2026:The impact on small businesses Trump’s tariffs get knocked out — but the hit to small business is just beginning described in this article, which is what we ourselves have experienced and the recommended solutions make sense. We have not gone out of business but that was almost a day by day discussion as we encountered chaos and inconsistencies throughout our supply chain. We have survived to continue. The kindest comment I can make is that the 10%-15% world wide tariff brings some stability to our planning and orders for product from Croatia for the next five months. What this world wide tariff will do, however, in result in continued higher prices for consumers, including for products previously exempted

Per Google AI description of our company, Melem USA LLC: Melem USA, LLC, based in Fraser, Colorado, is an authorized importer and distributor of Melem skin and lip balm, a popular Croatian pharmaceutical skincare brand. They sell directly through their website and Amazon, catering to consumers seeking relief from dry, irritated, or chapped skin caused by harsh climates. 

I fear white supremacy has raised its ugly head again.

 I fear white supremacy has raised its ugly head again. From my Muftic Forum facebook posting today edited a bit. 

Some personal musings and hand-wringing in the marching orders to the Department of Justice, to focus instead on White rights instead of the civil rights of minorities. https://www.cbsnews.com/.../justice-department-reverse...

Except for eggs (the bird flu epidemic seems to be over), the price of groceries has either stayed the same since Trump promised to lower the prices or has risen dramatically in beef and pork. And, no, gas for my car is not under $2 per gal. AAA says it is averaging well over $2 per gal.

Now I am seeing some shifting in polls, with focus instead on groceries and gas is now on the cost of health care, housing, and retirement, which are big-ticket items that even the middle class is feeling the pain about. Other evaluators and opinion writers watch to see if the MAGA devotees are losing their love of TruImp. Still, his MAGA base, by any estimmates comprise 30 to 35% of the total vote, and the majority of the GOP are holding firm. Any shifts recently to blue have come mostly from independents and Hispanics.

I have always felt the cost of living was not the real concern for MAGA, but it was the stand-in issue for other issues still not politically correct to be so open about. Outweighing the cost of living and affordability of modern life is what I would most kindly identify as "cultural". This umbrella term includes racist attitudes. and that the "again" part of the MAGA slogan most likely refers to pre-civil rights legislation of the 1950's. Anti-DEI removal from every government standard in the past year is just fine for Trump's base, and now the DOJ, under Trump's direction, is to protect the rights of White people who have been so discriminated against, even though they are the majority.

The recent 'Monkey flap depicting the Obamas as monkeys' is revealing, given the silence coming from the right with a few exceptions. Trump blames it on a staffer, but has not apologized. Update: 2/14/2026, Trump has even attacked members of the GOP who have criticized the monkey business as disloyal to him. What that says to me is that he himself believes his MAGA base is as racist as he is, and who also believe that black people are directly descended from apes and are still inferior to White people. Trump privately lashes out at GOP lawmakers over racist video blowback, sources say

That view of Black people was in my most racist Jim Crow eastern Oklahoma birth place and what I experienced and heard until I went off to college in 1956." Negroes were inherently descended from a branch of apes, so it went ,who were therefore inferior and incapable of governing (good at sports and music, however), either to be treated, like children paternalistically, andalso to keep them separate from us White folks. (The Obamas, intellectually, behaviorally, and oratorically, were a slap in the face of the old trope.)

There appears to be still a large segment of Americans stuck in the attitudes of the 1950's, even though there are subsequent generations in leadership. The silence from all but a few to the monkey posting on Trump's media on the right is incriminating. While being called "racist" by those on the left as an insult hurled at MAGA, I fear there are many in MAGA who look in the mirror and are OK with being called one and who are comfortable with a president who has a lifetime history of racist dog whistles and policies that resemble their own feelings.

The icing on the cake, in case you are still upset or sceptical of my view is what happened this past week: While DEI is now removed as a standard for government behavior, the orders from above to the DOJ are now to protect the majority racial groups in power, us White people, who have been so discriminated against by DEI and civil rights legislation. White supremacy has now come out of the closet and into the light as official public policy.

White Christian nationalism is closely related to racism and white supremacy. It has overtaken the White House and Trump, himself, as Trump says the separation of church and state is no more. https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/02/moral-indignation-rises-as-major.html

Trump refuses to apologize after posting meme condemned as racist | Watch. Would it be because he would turn off part of this MAGA base who agrees with the belief that the Obamas are descended from apes so they are lesser.

Modern anthropology and science have found the following, per a Goog;e AI search of the question if White people are also descended from apes. The answer:

•  Early hominid species (human ancestors) diverged from the ancestors of chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa
• Race and Evolution: All modern human populations (white, Black, Asian, etc.) share a common ancestor that lived around 200,000 years ago in Africa.
• Light Skin Development: The development of white skin in Europeans is a relatively recent evolutionary adaptation (roughly 8,000–12,000 years ago) as populations moved into higher latitudes. 

The buzzword of the 2026 elections: affordability.What does that mean?

Zohran Mamdani's winning election campaign for New York City mayor's contribution to the 2026 elections is the word: affordability. It is one of those words that can be such an umbrella term, it can mean much to so many that even if it could be defined, it falls into a category of "I can't tell you, but when I see or feel it, I know what it is".  It is sort of like the judge trying to define what obscenity means. In 1964 Judge Potter Stewart wrote an opinion in a Supreme Court case that has become famous in defining a vague term like hard-core obscenity: He famously wrote: "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."  Affordability is like that: hard to define, but a voter knows when he/she sees it.

Lying about it as Trump is doing in Iowa does not fly either. Fact check: Trump says Democrats don’t talk about affordability anymore (they do) because inflation is over (it isn’t)  It is either his staff does not dare correct him, or his gears and mouth are stuck in lying or he thinks his MAGA base is really that  dumb. 

There has been some polling to try to understand what a word like affordability means. One was just published, but the final conclusion was what it meant to most polled concerning specific costs that worried them the most.. Per a New  York Times analysis of an in-depth poll (Cross-Tabs: January 2026 Times/Siena National Poll  of Registered Voters - The New York Times): "When we asked voters what they were most worried about affording, they usually didn’t mention the costs of goods that surged in the wake of the pandemic, like gas, cars, and food. Instead, they mentioned major expenses like housing, retirement, and health care."  The Tilt - The New York Times,  in a column written by Nate Cohn and published January 28, 2026.

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Affordability vs economy is not about semantics; both are true at the same time

Why does Trump seem not to care he facing plunging polls and a loss of the House in November?

Updated: 3/1/ 2026 Whether the Iran attack will change Trump's approval ratings by November or influence the outcome of the midterms is yet a matter of speculation, but there will be time for the longer-term impact to be revealed and felt. That ridding the world of the odious Iranian leadership in power until a day ago was indeed an impressive display of the US and Israel's military/intelligence capability, but whether what follows is an improvement in the West's eyes is a gamble. If the US gets involved on the ground in another forever war will be seen as a failure of Trump's foreign policy and military strategy.

 That Trump does not care a whit what even his followers think,  nor even making a serious attempt to make a clear case in the leadup to the attack, is a further sign that Trump thinks he is a dictator who can ignore polls, public opinion, war powers acts, and commit a reversal of promises not to get in the mud mire of mid -east wars. The initial reaction by Trump's supporters in Congress is that they are happy to continue to anoint him as "their" dictator and to give up their own power to benefit his lust for more and more power.

Updated: 2/3/2026

Polls today, nearly all of them, show Trump's approval is sinking into Nixon territory, and nearly 60% of Americans disapprove of his top issues: immigration, affordability, and land grabs of foreign territories. He is already brushing off the loss of the House this November. Why does he seem not to care that voters feel the pain, and instead, just doubles down? He seems in a hurry to get revenge and punish his enemies and is engaged in stuffing his personal wealth with crypto converted to dollars and exchange fees while the getting is good. He is acting like a deranged fascist dictator gorging himself in a candy shop and satiating an appetite that craves for more and more power and control, domestic and abroad, and getting away with it before he is stopped in November: Why? He keeps issuing executive orders that he treats like they are the law, but that are blatantly unconstitutional. He counts on court delays and appeals to give him time and let him keep on violating the Constitution. He is hinting at calling off even the November 2026 and 2028 elections or confiscating ballot boxes, or declaring some national emergency or a cooked-up insurgency, as a pretext for military occupation.  Observers fear he is hoping that the streets turn so ugly he can use ICE as a pretext to invoke the insurrection act, using military,  and his ICE paramilitary, even Joe Rogan calls it a Gestapo,  funded and in place and able to act as his personal army. Why?  MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Trump wants to GOP nationalize elections and control the vote count: that's what dictators do

 Why has this happened? 

(1). First and foremost, there is no one or no way to stop Trump's lust for power, and he knows it.  He has whipped Congress into subservience as they cower in fear of crossing him. Court rulings? He just figures a way around them and keeps on enforcing and executing his orders while the courts delay, delay, delay decisions and hear appeals upon appeals.  He may even ignore court rulings if there is an insurgency, he hinted to the New York Times recently. He believes he has the power to do it. Update 1 20 2026: A comprehensive report of how Trump and conservative GOP leaders are turning America into a unitary form of governement. (Unitary form: all power to the executive with eliminating checks and balances of the legislature and judiciary...( That in my view is a polite description of an autocracy) Trump Tests Presidential Power: Venezuela Operation, Iran Bombing and More - The New York Times

 (2)  He is a lame duck who will never have to face angry voters again, so he can ignore them, even those in his own party.

(3)"His" Supreme Court gave him immunity from criminal prosecution, so breaking the law is of no concern to him.

.(4) He is counting on his partisan loyalists of about 40% of all adults polled, to keep him going and have his back. 

(5) Update: 1/27/2026 He is planning some dirty tricks to disenfranchise votes of citizens in blue states...and especially in Colorado. Trump's attempt to federalize voter counts and elections in direct contradiction to the Constitution. Expect Trump et al will try to keep Colorado's vote from being counted, as well as any blue states,  throwing the results of who gets the majority in Congress into chaos and dispute. They will meet a buzz saw if they try such tricks on Colorado. Colorado has a plan and backup plans. Threat of force won’t change Colorado secretary of state’s mind on voter rolls, mail-in ballots   

Tump's false pretense of such dirty tricks is still: the 2020 election was stolen because all of those illegals voted and mail-in votes are all a fraud, their propagandists and a deluded Trump claim.. In over 6 years such attempts to prove these claims have failed. They think if they can get voters' personal information, they can prove their pretext.  In reality, this is just a pretext to keep themselves in power by throwing the 2026 midterms into chaos.   

 What to do; what to do, hand wringers? The only way to stop two more years of this is still an overwhelming vote and kicking out his political allies up and down the ballot in the midterms. In the meantime, angry voters have to deny Trump a fascist style pretext for such a military-like takeover of democracy by keeping their protests peaceful, large, and focusing on voter registration and turnout. FYI: an insurrection is not peaceful protestors nor even a handful of violent protestors...but Trump threatens to invoke the insurrection act, nonetheless. Those threats will go nowhere if the protests remain peaceful.

 In the meantime, cool it, hot heads, you who want to vent anger with violence.  As Minnesota officials say, "Don't take the bait". ICE hopes you do lose self-control and become violent. They will then have a pretext to invoke the Insurrection Act and oppress you with overwhelming military-like force. As they escalate their violent behavior, they are provoking you to answer in kind. Don't. If you play this right, your day will come to oust these MAGA. The real power, the opinions of the majority of the people, is the force that is already with you. So is a federal judge. Don't mess it up. 

Judge Restricts Immigration Agents’ Actions Toward Minnesota Protesters - The New York Times Renee Good killing is the straw that broke the camel's back. Judge clamps down on ICE actions to suppress Minneapolis protesters exercising their constitutional rights with flash bangs, pepper spray, chemical agents, and excessive force by combat-ready ICE paramilitary-garbed agents... We are not yet a militarized police state working on behalf of a government leadership determined to get its way by any means, including violence. Let's see if this gets appealed or ignored.

These ICE are not patriots or just police. They are a masked paramilitary, claiming they are a law enforcement agency, while using excessive force techniques to take down their targets and use violent weapons of crowd control, inflaming, not de-escalating, being overtly racist, targeting those who are brown or looks like a migrant, in a way that would have gotten local policemen fired, suspended, prosecuted, and even imprisoned. The agents wear masks and display no badge numbers, so citizens cannot hold individual agents accountable. Their leader claims they have total immunity from prosecution and conceals evidence that could lead to prosecution, even for murder. Wearing masks makes them look fierce and threatening as well. No local police agency condones this.  

Here is the real value of organizations like Indivisible and 50501. They give the opposition cover and safety in numbers,, and give them the guts, non-violent techniques, and the discipline to stand up peacefully. They provide a non-party-based outlet, support, and protest opportunity for disaffected GOP members, independent,  unaffiliated voters, and Democrats dissatisfied with their own party's leadership.  The tent of these groups is welcoming, with room for a wide variety of ideologies and public policy issues.   They have the ability with vast lists of activists and their emails, leaders trained,  ready, able, and willing to galvanize voters in November. This is not the MLK civil rights movement of 50 or so years ago, but it is similar in its spirit, and it has drawn on many of the same peaceful and effective techniques of protest. The Indivisible types of protesters know from their education what kind of democracy we have and why it is so valuable. They know the difference between our kind of democracy and dictatorships. They have also inspired other organizations, grassroots, and neighborhood groups to adopt their same techniques, so it is creating a movement that goes far beyond the influence of the Indivisible lists of participants. 

 Sometimes polls do not get the complete picture if they fail to ask the right questions: I looked at the most recent one at the beginning of February.  The question of whether you believe Trump is damaging democracy was not asked....or even if that was an issue in some rankings. The closest to testing that is do you approve of Trump's job or performance? When asked that way, Trump's slide is only from 49% to 45%, yet the special election results show a decisive shift in the matter of 15 or more points.  Something is not adding up and there seems to be a disconnect between polling and voter action.

  Trump approval rating falls across every major issue in new poll   Here is another view by a heavyweight think tank taken before the Minneapolis murders. This one says the reason for the shifts in job approval is that Trump is losing blocks of voters who voted for him in 2024: young voters, independents, Hispanics. As President Trump loses support, Republican prospects in the 2026 midterms grow darker | Brookings  Such polls must give Trump comfort that his job approval has not fallen before 40% (usually below 40% signals real trouble). 

What gives Trump discomfort is  what happens in November 2026 could very likely shift Congress blue, opening him up to impeachment (again) and trimming his budget wings, as well as stopping ICE's cruel dragnet approach that sweeps up and imprisons non-criminals, legal immigrants with no criminal records, and even American citizens.  Doing it cruelly and trampling civil rights seems part of their plan now.. 

Trump is rightly correct in pointing out he is not on the ballot in November, and that is why he is likely lose Congress in any case. The other way he can get around this is if he tries to interfere with our elections using dirty tricks he has up his sleeve as feared in terms of takeover of the election process nationally..Another factor will be how many protesters marching in the street are increasing to over 3.5% of the voters (12 million), usually a threshold of success for peaceful protests successfully causing regime change elsewhere in the world per political scientists studying that history, though even smaller percentages have been successful. .  The Minneapolis effect could well boost the ranks of marching protesters to that level. The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world | Harvard Kennedy School

 As much as the Trump regime tries to say these are paid agitators and organizers, they are fooling themselves and MAGA. Without millions themselves realizing they are the only way to stop this wannabe dictator, since the guardrails against such have failed, Indivisible could never have succeeded in turning out so many, mostly white, educated middle-class people of all ages.  The participants have been willing to risk Trump's threats and abuse of power, "screw their courage to a sticking post" (Shakespeare) all across America, and for many, for the first time in their lives, to get out and march in support of democracy. They know a wannabe King, tyrant, dictator when they see one because they remember what they learned about the history of the 1930s  in Europe, the 1950's to current times in South America, and how ordinary people suffered under such rule, causing many to flee their home countries to western democracies. (There is a reason the migrants are not hordes flowing to such dictatorships.) They see it happening here and now.  Above all, they are a pro-democracy force that wants to preserve the kind of democracy we have had for 250 years, of, by, and for the people  (not of, by, and for a one-man, small minority,  or oligarchic ruler). They know about such dictatorships that, once in power, they only care enough to trickle down just enough to the masses to keep them from violently revolting. The rest of the tax benefits and grift is for their personal lifestyles and the causes that serve them. The goal of such autocrats is to stay in power by whatever means, including violence.  

CNN poll: Democrats are deeply motivated for the midterms despite having dismal views of party leaders

 

Are Trump's supporters getting what they want from his second term? Here's what a new poll shows

A post from mid December which  dives deeper into why and what of Trump's brand of fascism, or whatever you call how he is acting. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: My nagging question: why does fascism keep raising its ugly head

A post written in October: MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: What is MAGA? Whatever you call it, it is not conservative, but something else.

Why are ICE agents so prone to violence and so dedicated to taking down anyone who looks like a migrant. Look at who they are recruiting. Whatever could go wrong? . The US government seems to have a clear message for white nationalists | CNN Politics

Grocery price inflation end of 2025: up 2.4 percent  tariff role per an ABC news report.Grocery inflation is picking up, defying Trump's claims. Here's why.

Gas prices at pump..just below $3 per gallon; mid Jan 2026 AAA Fuel Prices  Not..below $2 per gal as Trump claims.

Housing price inflation:Housing price inflation, 1967→2026

Energy cost inflation: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/21/why-electricity-prices-are-surging-for-us-households.html#:~:text=Electricity%20prices%20are%20rising%20quickly,the%20electric    Nearly 5% in 2025

Affordability vs economy is not about semantics; both are true at the same time

 Affordability vs economy is not about semantics; both are true at the same time. Why the disconnect? Trump may be touting his great economy, but those concerned about having enough money to pay for the basics have been left out of his "economy". Update: 12/18/2025: Consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in the past 12 months. Consumer Price Index Summary - 2025 M11 Results

Update 12/28/25  If you can download it, here is a non-spun look at the US by the British Guardian. It is a mixed bag of unmet promises and strength in other ways not felt by those living on a budget. The conclusions are similar to mine above. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-2025-us-economy-in-charts-rising-prices-hiring-slowdown-rollercoaster-growth/ar-AA1T9XDx?ocid=socialsharehe co

Continue with original post:

U The Trump administration's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) resulted in a shift of wealth toward the wealthiest Americans and corporations, the "greatest upward transfer of wealth in American history," some say, and Trump made affordability worse by his tariffs and cutting everything from SNAP to Obamacare. However, those who live paycheck to paycheck or barely make ends meet, at least 40% of Americans, are those for whom the term "affordability" means something, and the term "economy being great" looks like a lie by an out-of-touch president. Polls and rece/nt off-year election wins by those who made affordability their top issue show that the political chickens have come home to roost.

Fact checking Trump's address 12/17/25 PolitiFact | Fact-check: President Trump’s speech on inflation, wages, military dividend

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Failed To Deliver Promised Benefits - Center for American Progress

When I compared my expenses from February 2025 to November 2025, what stood out to me was a significant spike in my electric company costs. I belong to a rural provider that is non profit and provides excellent service, so I could not blame greed or bad management. Nonetheless, the cost rose. What and why? This from CBS was comprehensive and a part , not the largest part ,of the reasons had to do with a variety of Trump initiatives. Otherwise there are a large variety of pressures on prices. Why utility bills are rapidly rising in some states - CBS News

Time to make corruption a resistance issue, as powerful as affordability and NO KINGS

Update:  A comprehensive view of Trump's corruption: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/opinion/trump-corruption.html?unlocked_article_code=1._U8.Pu8A.ks_n9mGjhyFs&smid=url-share

  While affordability looks like it will be the main driver of the 2026 midterms, there is another story out there that will have staying power. It is corruption. Since so much is right in the open,, what we have seen is contributions that are often laundered through third parties to separate the "contribution" from the payback or separated by time, happening months later after the donation was made in a seemingly unrelated manner. It is the pattern that will eventually reveal how corrupt the Trump regime is...Putting the pattern together is this piece from the NY Times.. The next challenge will be making the case in a way that the general public grasps the scope and understands how this affects their lives. The true puzzle to me is why MAGA and the GOP do not care? Is it that other issues impact their day-to-day lives more...affordability, racism and bigotry, class warfare of the working person against the big guys, or disgust with his immoral behavior? Perhaps all of the above will play a role, but corruption is bound to be an issue. It is still developing. It will take a few poster child worthy examples of Trump's obvious rewards to connect those who pay to play as an example of bribery to grab the interest of those still sitting on the fence and in the short term, the revealed actions of what is left of the free press, like the New York Times. In the longer term, if Democrats seize control of the House in November, expect them to connect the dots in a public way to make the MAGA brand so toxic that it can affect a regime change in the next presidential elections in 2028.

Continuing with the original post. Corruption is corruption whether committed in secret or in plain view. The difference is that a significant number of American voters do not care if it is in secret or in the open. For them, it is part of Trump's macho, big-businessman mystique and/or he serves some other purposes. We, the people, get the kind of rulers we deserve... and we do not deserve this. When affordability and NO Kings have become the issues motivating political activism, it is also time to add corruption to the list of reasons for a serious regime change in Washington, DC. These three issues, affordability, NO Kings, and corruption, are related, either as a harmful result or empowering the president to act as he does against the interest of the people over which he thinks he rules by executive order. So far, his respect for the rule of law is to abuse it as long as he can get away with it, until challenges reach "his" Supreme Court. Then what?

Populist revolts against corruption, like the Maidan revolution in Ukraine, which eventually led to the Russian invasion, are what tyrants and dictators fear the most. Fear of this motivates these autocrats to crack down even further on those who would expose them. Putin's actions against Navalny are a case in point. Navalny's revolt was fueled by his outrage over Putin and his oligarchs' corruption. (Navalny ended up dead in a gulag). When Viktor Orbán of Hungary faced criticism for his new luxury digs from whatever was left of a free press, he doubled down, destroying the pesky media. In all of these cases, the greed and corruption of these modern-day dictators were hidden from public view until some challenger exposed them.

That is not the case in the USA when Trump is being corrupt right out in the open. His demanding $230 million from the federal cookie jar to cover his legal costs is jaw-dropping. His crypto wealth is based solely on the value of his name and is bought or invested by those seeking favors and foreign policy advantages worldwide, or relief from tariffs in side deals, and pardons for his enablers. These are not decisions that serve the needs of US citizens or that motivate him to faithfully execute the laws of the land, as required by the Constitution. Instead, it contributes to decisions that harm ordinary people's ability to cope with daily pocketbook needs.

Affordability is not just "the groceries". It is also making health care unaffordable to pay for tax breaks for those who do not heed them, wielding power over who and what is subject to tariffs, or giving regulatory relief from consumer and environmental protections.. Tariffs are indeed raising consumer costs, are considered taxes by his allies on the Supreme Court, and he is now selectively backpedaling on a few, in effect admitting they cost consumers. Acting like a king, he grants regulatory favors (with the help of loyal appointees to agency heads and boards or Musk's chainsaw) to big business. This means axing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ending consumer protections against practices that led to the 2008 financial crisis, or ending refunds for those who were wrongfully scammed by illegal financial institution practices. In nine months, he has also removed or controlled any in-house government watchdogs that find and report abuses and corruption to a GOP-controlled Congress and his Justice Department, which has been made moot since both are subservient to him. He threatens the media and press with delicensing or halting mergers if they report inconvenient truths, including those that expose corruption. Trump's increased wealth and political power are also based on favors and tax breaks he has granted and instigated on behalf of his "oligarch" billionaires, whom he sees as his peer group and Mar-a-Lago cronies. Top of his list: reducing their taxes and cutting services and support of the middle class to pay for it.

Once Trump is out of office, the crypto bubble he has ridden to feather his nest will collapse because its value is only access to Trump himself and the power and fear he wields as president. He has monetized his position as president, and when he is no longer president, the value of his family's crypto will decline, too. In the meantime, his crypto has enabled Middle Eastern regimes to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in his family's businesses.

Trump has been able to do this without fear of criminal prosecution because the US Supreme Court granted him immunity. The only other option for addressing corruption is impeachment. Impeachment is only an indictment, but the Senate finding him guilty and removing him is very unlikely because of the supermajority required. For that reason, he survived two other impeachments. Any retribution for his crimes will have to wait until he leaves the Oval Office. If he has his way, he will not leave. It is up to " we the people" to make sure his term is indeed over.

His moral corruption is a whole other issue. His cruelty, his infidelities, his rubbing elbows with sex traffickers and their customers, his p-grabbing boasts and assault (even found liable in court), are worthy of disgust, yet those who profess to be fine Christians look the other way because he serves whatever other purposes they have.

Update 11/19/2025 comments on the Epstein file release vote that cleared Congress 11/28/2025.

The value of the Epstein files vote is recognition that

1)sex trafficking of underage girls is vile, and

2) the issue is non-partisan, condemned by those on both sides of the aisle, and

3) the victims deserve our sympathy, and

4) enforcement of actions against sex trafficking deserves our support and the support of political leaders. The heroes, of course, were the incredibly brave women who, as underage girls deemed too young by law to consent, risked threats to their lives and exposing a painful past to public scrutiny, came forward before world media. Bravo.

5) Whether Trump did any more than rub elbows with Epstein and look away is yet to be determined, but he at least can be judged by the company he once kept.

The challenge for both those advocating for keeping the democracy we have and for exposing corruption is to help voters understand how it impacts them. Autocracies trample on the rights of citizens and their ability to influence public policy that benefits ordinary people. Corruption is the means by which wannabe dictators gain and maintain power. Once these autocrats are in control, they are more interested in protecting their self-interests, remaining in power, and secretly maintaining privileges they value than in protecting the safety and needs of those over whom they rule.

Tsk, tsking, and moral outrage are not enough to end sex trafficking if the ruling powers do not care or are participating in the practice. Class warfare, blaming the ultra-rich for paying for such depravity, is not enough, because human sex trafficking also involves victimizing the poor, less educated, underage, and undeserved. The johns are not always the ultra-rich, either. For sex trafficking to flourish depends upon the powers that be charged with enforcing laws to look the other way with a wink and a nod to boys will be boys.

Democrats do have their act together if they just realize it and communicate it

 In the wake of the shutdown's ugly ending and griping by Democrats,"... when will Democrats ever get their act together.".."Schumer must go"...etc...the Democrats have an act together if they would just realize it and communicate it. The old saying is still true: all politics is local, but there are two themes voters can recite by memory: Make health care and cost of living more affordable; restore and defend Democracy. These are the two issues that all Democrats can subscribe to, and nearly every plank in a platform fits into one or the other, or even both. Affordability (tariffs, labor shortages, inflation, restoring ACA subsidies). 2) pro Democracy: (ICE thuggery, acting like a dictator, and a King. defying laws, white Christian nationalism, end cronyism and corruption, cruelty, and so much more, such as restoring balance and separation of powers, and honoring the rule of law and due process). There may be local issues that have gotten locals up in arms. In the midterms, when elections are by House district and some Senate seats are up in state races, raise those local issues, like getting the military off our streets. Adapt them, take a few examples, and tell how and what you can do to fix it. No laundry lists are needed but examples and a few details will do.

There are official figures available (Consumer Price Index) per category, comparing prices between September 2024 and September 2025, which show that prices are up in every category (except for gas, eggs, clothes, and tech), some significantly. If Trump media tells you the economy is great, and you are feeling it is not, from the consumer affordability data, you are not crazy. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualized-u-s-inflation-by-category-in-2025/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOL9_tleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeQ0gzp-RajkSBO2XB0S0e3iOLnLgQF24m5gS_wF723RIdkAybYi03x6hxUB8_aem_Rrs5rGVwe1xqJLhTpy

Bingo: a key:word: affordability. Bingo: freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness ;messaging again

 I see the 2026 midterms shaping up on two key issues: affordability for everyday life for the non-wealthy and the preservation of democracy. Historian John Meacham put his finger on it: the Declaration of Independence, which states that a government should help its citizens pursue life, liberty, and happiness, and to do so, needs to be free from a tyrannical "king". Credit Rep. Zohran Mamdani, who just won the Democratic party nomination primary for New York mayor, for coining a winning campaign word: affordability. He hit a nerve, and it's his use of it that bested an old generation of pols. Like him or not, he gave those searching for better messaging the winning one word for the 2026 and 2028 election cycles.

 In truth, both the issue of affordability and the protection of democracy are related. Dissent, protest, and freedom of speech are  needed for people to pursue life, liberty, and happiness when government overreaches or ignores their pain..  That is the tie that binds both freedom and the affordability of living for all, not just for the privileged few or  those of a certain race or religion or who swear loyalty to a king. That is the reason we declared independence from a tyrannical king, and the document of the Declaration of Independence remains the best stand-alone reason why democracy should be upheld instead of the dictatorship of one or a few, whether you call it a king, a strongman, or an autocracy. 

The abject failure of Trump to live up to his promise to make life more affordable is a fact of life happening before our very eyes. Protecting democracy as we have known it is more than just an anti-Trump, anti-Trumpism attack campaign strategy; it is a positive sales message on how, going forward, it is an advantage for people themselves to have the freedom, to complain, and to vote in free and fair elections for representative who prioritize their constituents interests. fear from threats of fear or favor..

The near absolute power is being handed step by step to an American president, freed from the fear of being prosecuted for committing a crime, and now given the ability to ignore lower federal court decisions in the ruling handed down today in birthright citizenship. It is one more gift by the Supreme Court to emasculate the power of the two branches of government, the judicial and legislative branches, designed to check and balance each other and the executive, to bridle government abuse of power, and muzzle the inalienable rights of its citizens using the tools of fear and favor. The branch to which the extra power is given is already an administration dedicated to the unitary ability of one branch, the executive branch, which holds the reins of power without challenge, thereby becoming the enabler of an autocracy.

Immediately after the Supreme Court handed down its decision, CASA, an immigration rights organization, filed a class action suit that should force the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the amendment to uphold birthright citizenship. However, individuals affected still have the ability, if they have the money or help, to sue, and also groups of those affected can also sue in class action suits, as CASA just did.  That this is retroactive appears not to be the situation, and the Supreme Court case concerns children born in the US after February 19, 2025, when Trump signed the blatantly unconstitutional executive order.  It is possible that the Trump regime could block a class action suit reaching the Supreme Court through a legal maneuver. 

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/what-does-the-supreme-court-ruling-on-birthright-citizenship-mean/ "Friday’s ruling addressed three lawsuits that were filed against Trump’s executive order seeking to deny birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents or certain noncitizens on temporary visas. The judges in those lawsuits granted nationwide injunctions against Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order, arguing that it violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. Nationwide injunctions have been granted against Republican and Democratic policies alike. But SCOTUS ruled that, in most cases, district court judges cannot issue nationwide injunctions to block federal policies. They can only grant relief to the individuals or groups who brought a particular lawsuit.  This could mean that courts would be forced to allow harmful or unconstitutional policies to take effect in some places or against some individuals while being blocked in others—creating a chaotic and confusing patchwork of rules."

 From an AI inquiry on Google about the CASA class action suit filed June 27:

• "CASA and other groups, who had previously obtained a nationwide injunction against the order, are now seeking class-action relief to protect the rights of a broader group of individuals affected by the order, specifically those who have had or will have children born in the U.S. after February 19, 2025. 
• What the lawsuit challenges:

  The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of President Trump's executive order, which seeks to limit birthright citizenship, arguing it conflicts with the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship to all persons born in the U.S. 
• Impact:

  The lawsuit aims to ensure that the rights of U.S.-born children of immigrants are protected and that the executive order does not create a patchwork of conflicting rules regarding birthright citizenship across the country. 

Declaration of Independence: A Transcription | National Archivesn n

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Governor Gavin Newsom delivers a bill of particulars against Donald Trump..Links to video/transcript