THINGS ARE GOING TO GET VERY BAD, VERY QUICKLY

 Do not underestimate what is about to happen if this bill happens.  

This regime is determined to achieve its agenda and to stop them requires public pushback on every single thing.  The only thing that is going to stop this is a National Strike. 

https://lettersfromanoldactivist.blogspot.com/2025/05/why-demonstrations-will-not-stop-trump.html

Deep cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, including slashed funding, new work requirements, and tightened eligibility—projected to expose 11.8 million more people to being uninsured by 2034 

Medicare & Medicaid overall reduction of roughly $85 billion over 2025–2034 in the Senate version Removes clean‑energy incentives, phasing out Biden-era tax credits—an expected 72% drop in renewables over the next decade, leading to higher utility bills 

Extends and deepens Trump-era tax cuts, including sweeping breaks for the wealthy, corporations, and permanent 2017 tax cuts 

$3.3–3.9 trillion added to the deficit over 10 years, made possible by “accounting tricks” masking the true cost 

Raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion to avoid default—even as spending cuts badly hit entitlements .

Cuts to environmental and public protections, including reduced EPA enforcement, clean water rollbacks, and weakened auto emissions standards 

Massive new spending on border enforcement—$45 billion for ICE detention and $50 billion for border fortifications 

Caps SALT deduction at $10k for upper‑middle incomes, though later increased to $40k for five years, while remaining controversial 

WHY DEMONSTRATIONS WILL NOT STOP THE TRUMP REGIME - AND WHAT WILL

Not all protests are demonstrations, but when we hear "protest" most of us think of a demonstration. 

Demonstrations feel powerful.  You are out in the streets, marching, chanting, waving a big sign, and surrounded by others doing that. 

Or maybe it's just a few of you, resolute, standing against the forces of evil, even if you stand alone. 

Demonstrations can raise energy, give you the strength to keep fighting.  Often, they build lasting relationships with other like-minded people or create new organizations or community groups. 

Demonstrations that protest mistreatment can show the people suffering that there are people who care.

They can help turn the tide of public opinion, and sometimes they can even break entrenched beliefs or overcome group mind. 

But in and of themselves, they don't usually change things.  Only if someone with the power responds. Or if someone uses the demonstrations as leverage. Like Trump's followers and the January 6th insurrection attempt. Trump won the support of the Republican party leadership and most of the oligarchs because he has those violent followers- not because he was their choice.

The nature of a demonstration- of any protest really- is child against parent, powerless against powerful.  The protester doesn't have the power to change things on their own. The protester is already at a disadvantage.

And whoever is in power, the parent, will usually first respond by ignoring it.  Then trying to either shush it with force or placate with an easy give or a distraction. 

Sometimes, the parent will become afraid of the child's violence and give in, as is the case with Trump or widespread riots. But again, it is not a peaceful demonstration or march that creates the change. 

And often these changes are short-lived. Once business as usual has resumed, those in power will begin to reverse the changes. 

Only a national strike of union and non-union employees, and a shutdown of everything else that can be shutdown (like schools, restaurants, anything discretionary) will stop this. 

This is a powerful, offensive move.  Fewer than 30% of people voted for Trump, and that is if you believe the count. He has lost followers but not gained any new ones. They want to shut us down, little by little, choosing whom they don't like. We can and should turn the tables on them. 

A shutdown would use the government shutdowns as leverage.  They would no longer work against us, but for us. It would not enrich the courts, because you can't arrest people for staying at home or going to a park. They could potentially arrest people picketing, but we don't have to have a picket line to strike. 

If we are going to keep demonstrating, then we need to start talking about a shutdown.  Activists, labor leaders, business owners, landlords, schools- anyone against this regime needs to support a strike fund and encourage people to strike and shutdown. 

This regime isn't going to stop unless we stop it.  They don't care about demonstrations or protests or boycotts.  

Also see this post https://lettersfromanoldactivist.blogspot.com/2025/02/thoughts-on-strategy-from-old-activist.html

RESIST DISINFORMATION PART 2

DO NOT REPOST MEMES BEFORE VERIFYING EVERYTHING!

Remember the same numbers are used year after year!  Most of these are from 2017-2018

ONLY ONE OF THESE IS RIGHT!  

This is clearly deliberate misinformation meant to confuse people when calling or writing congress! And in some cases (particularly HR 610, to encourage people to vote against their interests!

H.R. 861— 119th Congress (2025-2026)

American Music Fairness Act of 2025  

THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY GOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

H.R.610 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)  

Close the Medigap Act of 2025  

H. R. 610 (Introduced-in-House)

THE ONLY CORRECT ONE  

H.R.899 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)

To terminate the Department of Education.  

H.J.Res.69 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)  

Providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to Israel of certain defense articles and services.  

H.R.370 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)  

Voluntary School Prayer Protection Act of 2025  

H.R.785 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)  

Representing our Seniors at VA Act of 2025  

H.R.83 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)

Ending Common Core and Expanding School Choice Act

 

H.R.147 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)

FinCEN Oversight and Accountability Act of 2025 

RESIST DISINFORMATION EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS HARMLESS

The meme below was written by a profile that had a woman's name.  She has either blocked me now or her account is gone, but it did look legitimate. 

When she first posted it, I shared it.  I think there were maybe a few thousand shares at that point.  It was about a day old. Right after I shared it, I realized I had responded to it emotionally ("oh thank you  AMA, we are all united against this fascism"). 

This is EXACTLY the state of mind that disinformation agents look for or seek to create. People want them to be true, they respond emotionally, and they don't fact check it. 

If the disinformation is challenged, they will defend it by going to great lengths to "prove" that it must be true. 

Disinformation is not just about spreading harmful lies or slander, it is also about cultivating a lack of commitment to truth and fact checking. 

The J.D. Vance couch sex story is a good example of this.  Everyone wanted this to be true.  It seemed like it could be true.  How could someone make something like that up?

But they had.  Then there were rumors that it appeared in some earlier edition, perhaps a review galley, a special first edition that no one seemed to have a copy of. It's not in the first edition and if it had been we'd have heard the story ages ago. 

The story spread so far, so fast, and so virulently that it is now just accepted. Everyone knows it isn't true, but we don't care. 

And that it makes us as bad as the MAGAs doesn't bother us because it is harmless. 

But I don't think this one is harmless.  For one thing, this has gained the AMA youtube site over 100,000 new followers in a very short time.  

No one is on the CDC site, which had fewer followers to begin with.  Instead of creating more of a watchdog effect on the CDC it has created a feeling of false satisfaction that the AMA is watching over the CDC and public health like a guardian angel. 

And it has created a situation where people have accepted unverified information, that could be true but is not publicly acknowledged anywhere.

And until the AMA comes out with a public statement saying this is true, we should not promote it as fact. 

If a newspaper reported this as fact they would become unreliable.  Anyone that wanted to divert people to the AMA site could simply say "I believe" or "I think it is likely" but instead they continue to share this meme. 

I went to the AMA youtube site.  No notice they were doing this.  I looked through their videos. I looked at both websites and their press releases.  I searched both sites and the youtube page for any official announcement confirming this. 

I conducted a search to see if there were rumours about this anywhere else- Alt National Park Service perhaps? Nothing anywhere. 

I contacted both organizations through their press contact form.  They have never responded to me.  I contacted Snopes.  Still no response. 

This woman posted it right after this story appeared in the news (February 6th):

CDC Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Transmission Between Cats and People - The New York Times

And there had been a stoppage of reports in late January:

Trump Administration Halts All Communications From The Centers For Disease Control As Bird Flu Spreads

HHS official halts CDC reports and health communications for Trump team review

After two weeks these updates were reinstated with some restrictions 

CDC Weekly Report Back After 2-Week Halt But No H5N1 Bird Flu Info

CDC scientists barred from publishing certain research as communication limits continue : Shots - Health News : NPR

The CDC has been updating on bird flu, but not so much on their youtube, which gets very little following, especially now that everyone is over on the AMA site.

H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation | Bird Flu | CDC

Bird Flu | Bird Flu | CDC

In October of 2024, before Trump's electionthe AMA and CDC declared a joint venture:

"The AMA has been selected as a partner to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a five-year, $176 million initiative aimed at strengthening the nation’s public health infrastructure and building its workforce."

AMA, CDC will work to bolster public health infrastructure | American Medical Association

This was posted on January 29, 2025.  It is the first in the series

https://youtu.be/FoXZvHYHd_Y?si=5L00brOwcozv7Tyl

So when people went to the site this is the video they saw, and everyone that have challenged about this has insisted that this is "verification" of the meme. 

Now is not the time for this kind of thinking.  We need to catch ourselves.  This could end up damaging the CDC. Or the AMA.  It may not. 

But it is certainly damaging our credibility, and the integrity with which we monitor our thought processes and information intake. 

Within a few days of the meme, it had been shared over 100k times. I have seen it everywhere, with no one challenging the "daily updates" (not true) or that the "AMA is doing this because the CDC can't."

The meme is misinformation, deliberate, and should not be shared. I'm sorry to be sharing it here. 

One side note: 

Just as I began to write this, I got a comment from someone on my post about neoliberals saying "I read as far as Jimmy Carter and stopped.  He's my hero."  This particular person is being directly affected by neoliberal policies.  

This kind of avoidance, refusing to learn about something, because it infringes on hero worship, is another aspect of the kind of emotional thinking that makes people susceptible to disinformation. 

(PS-At a later date, when I have some more time, I will post some clips of the arguments I have had with people about this.  I need to remove their names and format them as facebook has a lot of coding in each text that makes it nightmare to directly paste into blogger. This is not to shame anyone, but to point out how tricky people will get when confronted with their own gullibility and lack of critical thinking. Yes, I do it too.)

WHY TRUMP IS SO POWERFUL

Trump is not wanted by the Republicans, or most of the oligarchs other than the Tech bros.

Trump has power because of his crazy mob. The people in power are terrified of them.  Not only do they vote, attend his rallies, give him money, and generally worship him, they stormed the Capitol.  

With nooses. 

He's a clown but his mob wants a clown.  These people are ready and willing to lose their jobs, businesses, farms, medical coverage, social security- all of it- just to "own a lib."

Yes, some of them are just gullible people that don't understand how things work and are dazzled by him.  But there are plenty that don't care.  They hate trans people, women that don't get married or have abortions, gay people, brown and black people.  

Trump openly courted Nazis and white supremacists so that he has the same power other fascists like Hitler did.  They know they will be fully pardoned if they are ever even charged or convicted. They are "standing back and standing by" until he calls on them.  And he will call on them at some point.  

Probably as soon as the government is gutted, and the economy is crashing.  Just when all the people who aren't acting out yet are flooding the streets. 

So, if we want to defeat him, we are going to have to band together and get our own nooses.  We don't have to resort to violence, but it is going to take real risk. 

That is why I keep pushing for the shutdown and strike.  The only real power we have is our labour. Demonstrations only work if the people in power fear an uncontainable riot or revolution, or if they are somehow affected by it. 

This regime is not affected by demonstrations.  Demos work to politicize people, to create resistance groups, and to show the world that there is dissent, but they don't necessarily bring change. 

The Vietnam war ended because it became unprofitable, not because of the protests.  The end result was that the draft isn't enforced anymore and in the 1980s Reagan (really Bush Sr) started moving all the military money to DoD contractors and mercenaries.  (That's why they don't care about veterans anymore.  Whole other post on that needed.)

We need to organize with immediate impact in mind. Planning demos and boycotts for the future is great, but we need real results now.  That means strategy, risk, and organizing locally, not just on-line, and working to recruit people that aren't involved yet. 

EDIT- I believe that this might also play a part in why he has oligarchic support.  The Epstein documents are a threat to these men.  

Justice Department Quiet On Epstein Documents After Claiming It Has ‘Truckload’ Of Files

MARCH 14TH STRIKE SHUTDOWN SICKOUT FLYER

 

MARCH 14TH  

NO WORK NO SCHOOL NO SPENDING 

STRIKE – SICKOUT - SHUTDOWN  

WE NEED TO STRIKE BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT BUDGET CRISIS COMES TO A HEAD! WE NEED TO SHUT THEM DOWN BEFORE THEY SHUT US DOWN! 

If you can’t strike, call in sick on March 14th. We need a strong show of force.  Demonstrations, marches, rallies, and civil disobedience only work when there is incentive for people in power to change.  This administration has already shown that they will not abide by the courts or the will of the people.  The Democrats offer only the hope of a balance of power after mid-terms, but that may be too late and may not be enough to stop what is happening. 

Our only real power is in our labor and participation in society.  If enough people shutdown, we have leverage to shut down DOGE and Musk, to have government employees reinstated, and to have all new employees properly vetted and tested for competency.  

SPREAD THE WORD! ORGANIZE IN YOUR COMMUNITY, INCLUDING AT WORK AND SCHOOL IF YOU CAN!  

POOL RESOURCES AND FUNDRAISE SO THAT WE CAN STRIKE FOR AS LONG AS NECESSARY!  

ASK LOCAL DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS AND ORGANIZATIONS TO DONATE TO THE STRIKE POOL AND TO HELP ORGANIZE! 

This is a grassroots action that has been promoted by several groups and individuals on-line, but the key to action is in our communities.  

Also check out https://generalstrikeus.com/ for a group that has been organizing for a while for a national strike. 

THIS FLYER IS PRODUCED LOCALLY BY: https://lettersfromanoldactivist.blogspot.com 

STRATEGIES FOR STAYING SAFE AT DEMOS

GRASSROOTS VERSUS BIG ORGS

So far, the 50501 and other demonstrations have had good turnout but not been big enough to draw counter-protesters or unruly actions.  As the movement builds and gains influence, this will likely change.  Even if the size of the demonstrations doesn't grow, although they probably will.

Often at big marches held by large organizations, the march becomes more like a parade with a lot of marshals.  The people that come are meant only to march or participate in preplanned events.  At grassroots demos everyone becomes both a participant and an organizer, laying a foundation for more independent political action in the future. 

Grassroots actions creates more leaders and fosters a strong community of independent activists.

KEEPING EVERYONE SAFE

One of the best ways to stay safe is to have more experienced activists distributed throughout the demo.  Have experienced people who are specifically there to look out, keeping an eye out for trouble.  Orange hat legal observers are good too, but you want someone who is doing nothing but watching for suspicious or troublesome activity.  

Have demonstrators spread out, particularly on sidewalks in front of government buildings.  Not so far apart that individuals can be isolated, but also not in one big lump making an easy target. This also prevents sidewalks being blocked. It also makes the demo look bigger.

If you are an experienced activist and don't know anyone else at the demo, just find the best spot to keep an eye out and walk through the crowd a few times and look for any suspicious people.  I usually find a reason to wait until all of the demonstrators have left, or all of the suspicious people have left. And if I can I try to follow them and look at their vehicles for future reference.

(They are usually men, usually alone, usually wearing a hat and non-descript clothing, and rarely holding signs. Sometimes they are law enforcement, but they can be individuals or from groups looking for leaders to target or follow.)

And in these areas with Trump supporting law enforcement, the police are something you need to watch out for too.  Are they dressed normally or in riot gear? Do they have paddy wagons parked all about and numbered zip ties hanging off their belts? They don't get dressed up unless they are planning to attack. 

And if there are counter protesters, are they protecting them or us? Where are the police standing, facing the demo and a distance away, with the counter protestors behind them?  (Mike German's just released book Policing White Supremacy details how law enforcement was trained to fear non-violent leftists more than violent white supremacists, among other things. Well worth reading.)

QUESTIONS FOR ORGANIZERS

If you are a demo that is organized by a local group or chapter, find the organizers, introduce yourself.

Do they have a jail hotline and sharpies for people to write the number on their hand?

Are there legal observers?

Are there lookouts or security and are they identifiable by armbands or something else?

Do they have a first aid kit?

Is there a hand signal or anything that is used to flag problems or summon assistance?

And ask if they need you to be in any particular place or to do anything to assist. 

IF THERE IS NO ORGANIZER

If there isn't a group leader just position yourself as best you can.  If you can get a good view of the whole demo that is ideal.  If not, move around a bit. If you are an activist for an issue or group, go around and introduce yourself and let people know that if they have a problem or see anything suspicious to let you know and that you will do the same.

For the moment, the Trump supporters are still reveling in their victory.  To them 50501 looks like Democrats re-enacting their election result demonstrations in 2020.  (There's some cognitive dissonance on this theory from the folks that insist that capitol insurrection was antifa and the Democrats.) 

But it is best to be prepared.