Morning all. Happy Monday. Got a few things for you today…..
Over the past few days (here, here, here) we’ve discussed how as the economy continues to deteriorate so does the political standing of Trump and the Rs. Here’s more confirmation of the deterioration of their brand from a new CBS poll. Even the benignly worded “ICE operations” has become a huge drag on them:
For all the concern about the growing strength of the right in Europe it appears a center-left coalition unseated the current right-leaning government in Swedish elections yesterday:
With 95% of votes counted overnight, the left-leaning opposition bloc – led by Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats – has widened its lead to three seats, leading 176 to 173 against the reigning centre-right coalition and their far-right partners in Sweden Democrats.
Brent crude starts the week at $109 a barrel, up from where it sat most of last week…..
Which will almost certainly cause gas prices to rise even further this week:
Making it even more likely the Fed raises interest rates later this week, which is going to cause an explosion from the addled, corrupt as f*ck madman in the construction pit formerly known as the White House. From the FT today:
Stubbornly high inflation has set Donald Trump and Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh on a collision course this week as markets prepare for the central bank to raise interest rates in defiance of the president’s demands.
Economists warned the Fed’s “credibility” was on the line if it did not back an increase on Wednesday after official figures showed no signs of the meaningful improvement the Fed chair said he would need to see to avert such a move.
But raising rates for the first time in three years just weeks before November’s midterm elections risks provoking the ire of the president, who has made it clear he wants significantly lower borrowing costs.
Trump on Sunday reiterated his position that the US should have “the lowest interest rate in the world”.
Kevin Hassett, director of Trump’s National Economic Council, meanwhile, warned that “if it’s a rate hike, then the president will, you know, I’m sure he’s not going to be super happy about it”.
“I think if you want an independent Fed, then one thing the Fed does is it stays out of the way of elections,” Hassett told Fox News.
The NYT writes this morning about the aftermath of the big Houthi advances in recent days:
From the article:
Saudi Arabia has increasingly found itself caught in the middle of the war between the United States and Iran. Now, the kingdom’s leadership is assessing dwindling options on how to respond.
In recent weeks, the Iran-allied Houthi militia in Yemen has repeatedly attacked the kingdom, threatening to throttle its ability to export oil and piling pressure on the global economy. But Saudi Arabia has been left frustrated and disappointed by President Trump’s reluctance to confront the Houthis, former diplomats and analysts say.
The kingdom’s diplomatic efforts to engage with Iran have also had limited results. A meeting planned on Monday between officials from Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries was abruptly postponed on Sunday night, as the gap between their positions remained vast.
“Right now the Saudis are really frustrated,” said Michael Ratney, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. “In some sense it’s their worst-case scenario.”
This weekend the Russians almost killed train loads of international VIPs leaving returning to Poland from Ukraine. Among those on one of the trains was former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson:
Rather than condemning Russia for this attack and the escalating and increasingly barbaric attacks on civilians in Ukraine the Trump regime spent the weekend attacking Ukraine, blaming them in various statements both for the war and higher diesel prices in the US. Here’s a powerful response to some of Trump’s traitorous blather from Senator Andy Kim:
While reporting this morning has unearthed that Don Jr.’s recent off-shore wedding was bankrolled by a Russian oligarch close to Putin:
I’m pleased report this morning that our “New Battlefield” project with the state parties is getting noticed. New articles featuring our work are running now on NBC News digital, and in The AP and The Guardian this morning:
From The Guardian article:
The Democrats intend to train tens of thousands of volunteers to monitor the polls and counter possible voter intimidation under a new plan to protect November’s US midterm elections from anticipated interference from Donald Trump and his allies.
The nationwide initiative, dubbed the New Battlefield Project, will help state Democratic committees build up a vast coalition of volunteers to monitor the polls, push voters to cast their ballots early and create a network to respond to disinformation.
The Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) plans to train volunteers across 57 states and territories. It hopes to train volunteers for 25% of the nation’s 95,000 election day polling places, focusing on districts with competitive races.
Responding to an article making the rounds from Judge Michael Luttig about a possible attempt by Mike Johnson to refuse to seat newly elected Members of Congress in January, please note that all of the party wide election protection operations - including ours - are being built to stay up and running through the Congressional transfer of power in January. Everyone is anticipating that Trump will continue to attempt to keep us from power even if we win the election in November. Everyone is planning on continuing the legal and political/message fights. That’s why when I talk about our project the intent is to ensure a free and fair election this Novembers *and a peaceful transfer of power in January. *
If you sign up to be a state party Democracy Protector you will be part of this organized effort. You can learn more and sign up for this program here, and chip into our fundraising campaign to get this vital national project off the ground here. We’ve raised $37,000 towards our $50,000 goal - thank you all!
And yes, it is time, my friends, time for Job One, time to go…..
Let’s kick off our work this week with Hopium’s Daily Mantra:
There is nothing Trump and MAGA wants more than for us to be fighting with each other and not with him. We have one job now - elect as many of these wonderful candidates running for the House and Senate as we can. It’s where our focus must be. It’s a year of opportunity for us across the country. We must seize it, together.
Be sure to become an Early Vote Champion in your networks, communities, and organizations. Sign up to become a Democracy Protector too……
**Our Winning The House Campaign **- Donate | $1,246,100 raised, $1,250,000 goal (new stretch goal) | Donate to all twelve of our initial wave of House challengers with a single contribution split twelve ways | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Jonathan Nez (AZ-02), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews.
Friends, if these twelve courageous candidates win, the House will flip, even with Callais and their rancid mid-decade redistricting. So eyes on the prize here everyone!
Winning The Senate - $910,100 raised, $1,200,000 goal - Donate | This new fund splits a single donation to our six candidates must likely to flip a Senate seat this November - Sherrod Brown (OH), Roy Cooper (NC), Troy Jackson (ME), Mary Peltola (AK), James Talarico (TX), and Josh Turek (IA).
Our working total includes what we’ve raised for these six so far through direct donations to their campaigns. You can watch our interviews with each of these exciting candidates and/or contribute directly to any of them directly here.
**Winning The House - The Second Wave Fund **- Donate | $401,100 raised, $500,000 goal - We’ve launched a second House fund, one supporting candidates who’ve emerged from late, primaries and need a bit more help.
Our list now features Rebecca Bennett (NJ-07), Bob Brooks (PA-07), Cait Conley (NY-17), Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Bob Harvie (PA-01), Dr. Richard Pan (CA-06), Denise Powell (NE-02), Bobby Pulido (TX-15), Manny Rutinel (CO-8), Dr. Amish Shah (AZ-01), Randy Villegas (CA-22), and Marni von Wilpert (CA-48).
A donation to the Second Wave Fund is split evenly among these twelve, and more as other worthy candidates emerge from their primaries. Our total above includes money we’ve raised for directly for each candidate. You can watch interviews with these great candidates here.
Winning The House - The Third Wave Fund - Donate | $45,100 raised, $500,000 goal | We’ve launched this new fund for candidates who have emerged even later from primaries and need a bit more help as we work to expand our map and go deeper into tough terrain. Our initial list - and it may grow - is Christina Hines (MI-10), Lindsay James (IA-02), Jake Johnson (MN-01), Jessica Killin (CO-5), Nancy Lacore (SC-01), and Brian Poindexter (OH-7).
Support The State Parties’ Election Protection Program - Donate | $37,100 raised, $50,000 goal | We’ve launched a new, targeted fundraising campaign to help get the new election protection program of the State Democratic Parties, one this community helped develop, off the ground.
Please hit the “like” button so more will see this post, and self-report all the good trouble you are making each day in our paid subscriber chat below…..
Keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and elections to win all across the country, together! - Simon
