Background: President Trump is pulling out all the stops to distract us from his disastrous administrative blunders, revenge efforts, failing health, and downright grift. One of the most recent is a “wag the dog” (1) threat to Venezuela, accompanied by extra-judicial killings of people in small boats, without presenting proof that they were doing anything threatening to the U.S. This sort of provocative posturing can lead to years of armed conflict and death. It’s an old distraction gambit, but when being posed by an increasingly erratic person with the nuclear codes at his command, it’s truly alarming.
Another reason for persecuting Venezuela besides Trump’s distraction effort, is his claim that Venezuela stole something from the United States. The claim refers to Venezuela’s nationalization of its oil industry, which involved the taking of assets from foreign companies, including U.S.-based oil companies, not the US government. THAT HAPPENED IN 2007, almost 20 years ago. (2) Those oil companies are still among the richest corporations on the planet. Apparently, their greed never ends. Didn’t we see enough blood for oil in Iraq? Do we really have to repeat the mistake?
Several legislative bills and resolutions were recently introduced in the U.S. Congress to prevent unauthorized war or military action with Venezuela, but they have so far failed to pass. (3) They included
Senate Joint Resolution 90, introduced in October. Failed Nov. 6
“No Unauthorized Force in Venezuela Act”, (actually two separate continuing resolutions) introduced November 21, rejected December 17
THERE IS NO current legislation in the works to prevent the President from continuing military actions in the region without congressional approval.
Action: Ask our delegation to take the lead in introducing legislation blocking war with Venezuela. Stop the efforts at regime change! We have no more business telling Venezuela to topple its government, than Russia had, perhaps still has, fomenting discord here.
Background: Remember our motto, Dirigo – I lead? And “As Maine goes so goes the nation”? Why have we ceded that leadership to Michigan? (1) Recent cases in point:
Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich, on December 9 introduced HR 935, articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (2, 3)
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who is running for an open Senate seat in Michigan, formally introduced an article of impeachment on December 10 against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (4)
While pundits give these bills virtually zero chance of passing, they contain documentation of the high crimes and misdemeanors of these two Cabinet-level ruffians. This will be useful when they have to answer for their misdeeds after we flip both houses of Congress and de-fang this dangerous administration. Also, it’s high time Susan Collins started to make amends for her disastrous mistake in confirming Kennedy. In June 2025, she said she had “no regrets” (5). Cowardly and shameful, she needs to be replaced!
Action: Contact our delegation and ask them to support these impeachment resolutions, even if they deem it futile. It sends a message!
Urgency: Add this to your daily calls. Doing this soon proves you are on top of developments, and you want our delegation to LEAD, again!
Extra Credit:
(1) Like Maine, Michigan has unified Democratic leadership. Our trifecta happened in 2019, theirs in 2023. It looks like Michigan swiftly enacted significant progressive legislation, in most areas where Maine had already done so. The areas where Michigan currently seems to be ahead of Maine are:
Passed Universal Background Checks on all firearm purchases. (We do not have this – yet – for private sales.)
Expanded tuition-free pre-K and community college (PreK is available in some places in Maine but not all: Community College funding is not guaranteed after 2025)
For a listing of all the areas where Michigan has recently adopted progressive measures, consult Google AI, searching for “Is Michigan a progressive state?” then further search each of the listed progressive actions for Maine’s record.
Background: There’s no mystery about it. Many CEO’s make more money than they are worth. Over decades these unpatriotic greedheads have figured out how to rig the system. See Robert Reich’s post (1) for the data and the rationale. To combat this greed and restore some sanity to executive compensation, Bernie Sanders and Rashida Tlaib have proposed S 2818 and HR 5298, the “Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act.” (2, 3) The Senate bill currently has 4 senate co-sponsors, neither of which is named King or Collins. The House bill is cosponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree along with 19 others.
Bills by that title have been proposed for years, at least since 2019, by Sanders in the Senate and Barbara Lee in House.Under the current version, companies would pay higher taxes when the ratio of the pay of their CEO to their typical worker exceeds 50-to-1, which is much higher than the ratios from the 1960-70’s (typically 20- or 30-1). Right now, some CEO’s (e.g. Walmart) are making almost 1000 times the pay of their workers. In some cases (e.g. Starbuck’s) the ratio is close to 3000-1. This is beyond obscene. The bill proposes a sliding scale of increased corporate tax rate depending on how obscene the ratio is.
Note this proposal does not tax the CEO’s directly. It taxes their corporations, whose boards of directors are enabling these obscene levels of inequality. Under the current proposal, if a company is paying its workers a really good wage, it can also pay its CEO handsomely without incurring the penalizing tax.
Action: Call or write our delegation and ask them to support the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act. It just might have a chance of passing in this congress, or the next one after we have repudiated the agenda of the greedheads and booted them out of office. Thank Pingree for signing on as a cosponsor.
Background: We wrote in Action 183 and its addendum, that the Department of Education is planning to reduce the amount that people entering certain professions can borrow at advantageous rates, so that they can afford the necessary education and training. They plan to do this by downgrading those professions into non-professions. It should be widely recognized by now that the real purpose for this action is not to save the government money – the loans are overwhelmingly repaid with interest(92% either fully repaid or on track) – but to drive those motivated borrowers into the arms of predatory lenders, just the kind of people this administration seems to like to “pal around with”.
It’s now surfaced that the profession of architecture is also no longer to be recognized as a qualifying profession (along with the medical professionals (1). The result will be that fewer students from non-affluent backgrounds will be able to enter the architectural profession. Also, downgrading architecture to non-professional status, in addition to being absurd on its face, will result in loss of respect for the profession, which adds to the discouragement of young people from joining. This is apparently just fine with the plutocrats, but is a huge loss to our nation, a wanton destruction of our intellectual capital, which after all is what has made America truly great.
The new rules are set to go into effect July 1, so there is time to build a groundswell if we all get started right away in our particular spheres of influence. Let’s talk to all the architects we know. Are they aware? What are they doing? Can they join with the other professions that are affected, to get our elected legislators involved? Our legislators need to demand that regular procedures be followed for all these reclassifications, with formal hearings (congressional as well as administrative) and opportunity for public comment. This is a good time to build on the new erosion of trust in the Trump government (“by and for the billionaires”).
Action: Forward this action item to the architects you know, and/or write to AIA Maine. Also alert our delegation on all the DOE’s stupid and ignorant reclassifications in the service of predatory lenders. They need to hold hearings!
Background: As you know, the Big Ugly Bill deep six’d the subsidies that made Affordable Care Act premiums actually affordable for a lot of folks (like around 22 million of our fellow citizens). After a lot of hemming and hawing, the Congress is finally (apparently) going to take a vote on extending “enhanced ACA premium tax credits” past their expiration date of December 31. A current bipartisan bill, HR 6010, the Fix It Act, (1) proposes a two-year extension of enhanced ACA premium tax credits, paying for it by cracking down on Medicare Advantage fraud and insurance broker misconduct. This would prevent a significant premium increase for millions of Americans, while the bill would also implement new income caps and fraud safeguards. The Coalition on Human Needs- CHN – (2) has sent a request that we pressure our delegation into signing on to this measure or at least vote for it. It’s not a complete answer to the problem, but at least it’s something. Just don’t let the media fool you into thinking it’s the whole answer. We need a complete overhaul of the medical insurance situation (like, single payer health care nationwide…which should be a plank in the Democratic party platform!)
Action: Write a letter in your own words and send to our delegation, or phone them! This is much more effective than sending a “canned” letter. You don’t have to lard your letter with statistics or rationale – they’ve heard all that. Just tell them what youwant them to do! And ask for a reply.
A message (and addendum) from the Hancock Country Democrats:
Background: It’s hard not to come to the conclusion that the MAGA/Republican/Christian Nationalist method of keeping the human population numbers down is to first create more people in their own image, then kill off as many other living people as possible. Consider that
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed (including by Susan Collins). He aims to destroy life-saving vaccines and espouses other crackpot medical theories.
US Aid funding was destroyed, resulting in millions of deaths in other nations.
The Supreme Court eliminated most abortion care, risking women’s lives.
Medical insurance is about to become unaffordable, so people won’t get care until it’s too late.
And now, Trump has defined advanced nursing as not professional-degree worthy, creating a huge barrier to entering into these badly needed professions. (1)
Friends in the nursing profession had this to say about the latest Trump travesty: Not classifying graduate nursing as a profession “could seriously limit federal borrowing for graduate nursing students. It affects other careers too, but for nursing, all CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) programs are doctorate programs. The total program usually costs over $150k, and you are out of work for 3 years. That’s a rough total cost estimate of around $300-350k to obtain the degree, which includes lost wages and tuition. Professional degree seekers can borrow up to $200k, but now that nursing is to be excluded from the professional class, borrowing at decent rates would fall under the normal $100k cap for a graduate degree. DNP (doctor of nursing practice) and NP (nurse practitioner) programs would be similarly restricted. This would be a massive roadblock for the vast majority of prospective students, (as) most private lending for graduate degrees is incredibly predatory.”
Action: Alert your legislators and protest this absurd development. We need more well-trained medical professionals, not fewer. It shouldn’t be impossible for talented Mainers of modest means to enter these life-saving professions. Ask our legislative delegation to “pay attention to this matter” and do something about it. Talk to your nurse friends and ask them to share their stories with nurse.org (See Extra Credit item 2)
Urgency: The sooner the better, at least by year end. July 1, 2026 is when the new standard will go into effect if nothing is done, and it takes time to get matters like this acknowledged and addressed.
I love it when you write to amplify the action items! This is from Veronica: “Just FYI, it seems to be more graduate degrees than just nursing (I checked with Snopes fact checker). Social work (MSW), public health (MPH, Dr.PH), Physician Assistants (PA), Occupational Therapists (OT), Physical Therapists (PT), Speech and Language Therapists, and many types of Counseling Programs will fall under this removal from Professional status at Dept of Ed (if it passes). What does it mean “if it passes”? That’s hard to tease out. The process (per Snopes) is “negotiated rulemaking, a public comment period, and a final proposal before a rule becomes law.” I don’t trust this administration to follow ordered normal steps.” Agreed, Veronica! This administration will ignore public comments, unless there is an overwhelming public outcry. The whole scheme looks like a giveaway to those predatory lenders, and part of Project 2025’s destruction of public education. Becoming an MD also will be unaffordable except for the already wealthy.
Background: We previously suggested that Janet Mills should sign LD 1971. (1) The title of the bill is “An Act to Protect Workers in This State by Clarifying the Relationship of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies with Federal Immigration Authorities” and the text of the bill can be found here.
Last Friday night, at the Maine Dems Gala in Portland (an excellent event BTW!) she sat at the same dinner table with Governor Pritzker, had a private audience with him prior to the dinner, and listened to his keynote speech where he gave a blistering takedown of ICE actions in Illinois. After the dinner, I asked her if listening to Pritzker might have moved her to reconsider her reluctance to sign LD 1971. Her reply? “I think about it every day”, and then she went on to say that she was thinking of crafting an alternative, involving the law enforcement community.
All well and good, but this is an emergency. Maine law enforcement should not be put in a position where they are acting as an arm of the federal DHS/ICE, no matter how much the feds try to sweeten the deal with offers of equipment, funding or other inducements to local law enforcers. LD 1971 passed the Maine legislature on the 18th of JUNE “to be enacted”, but was HELD by Governor Mills on JULY 8. She has had lots of time – almost half a year – to craft her proposed alternative. We have seen NOTHING. This is unacceptable. She touts her resolve to stand strong against Trumpian overreach. She needs to follow her historic “see you in court” statement with proof that she means it.
Action: Call Janet Mills. Ask her to sign the legislation. As with any other legislation, if it needs to be modified after some experience in the field, that is always an option.
Background: When Trump was first elected, Republicans fantasized about alternatives to the Affordable Care Act but have produced nothing in the nine years since. (1) The recent government shutdown, which was fought over the extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidy, has made health care the #1 issue in American politics at least through the 2026 elections, if not beyond. Democrats need to embrace this as their central issue and propose to DO something about it that will make a profound difference for all Americans. That “something” has been clear for some time, which is to incorporate a Medicare option as an amendment to the ACA, a measure supported by the vast majority of Americans according to numerous polls.
Americans balk at mandates, but embrace options, and are especially likely to do so in response to the compelling economics of a Medicare option. Gradual, but probably inevitable, adoption of a Medicare option by most Americans will put us on the path toward a sensible health care policy enjoyed by the rest of the developed nations. Compared to those countries, we bear on average almost twice the cost for health care as well as shorter life expectancies. (2) With a Medicare option open to all, personal bankruptcies due to medical costs (the primary cause of such bankruptcies (3) would become a thing of the past. In addition, companies which currently provide commercial insurance for their employees would be able to lower their costs and/or increase wages. (4)
The primary objection to the Medicare option is purported cost. However, that cost would not be born entirely by the government. People under age 65 (the current age of eligibility) opting to enroll in Medicare would presumably pay premiums, but ACA subsidies would still be available to offset those costs. In addition, the initial cost of the premiums is expected to be considerably lower than currently paid to commercial, profit-driven insurance providers simply due to the lower cost of Medicare administration – about 2 % for Medicare vs. 17% for private insurance. (5)
Putting this proposal on the table NOW by the Democratic Party would send a clear message to the American voters of Democratic intentions once returned to the majority, and provide a stark contrast to the Republicans who, by their actions, obviously could not care less about the well-being of average Americans. It should be a litmus test for Democratic aspirants to elected office and a core tenant of party identity into the future.
The recent budget bill passed with only a “pinkie promise” from Republicans to vote sometime in December whether or not to extend the ACA tax credits. If they are not extended, insurance costs will rise to unaffordable levels for millions of us. (6) Since the Dems are supposedly going to write the terms of the ACA extension bill promised by Republicans, NOW would be a good time to include the Medicare option. It is high time for Democrats to make a few, big, transformative promises like this and commit to sticking with them until victory is achieved, even if it takes decades. Think of it as building a new party identity with a foundation in the party’s past.
Action: Write to your Democratic representatives and all the aspiring Democratic candidates at any level of government, as well as to the party leadership, and urge them to declare publicly that they are in favor of the concept of a Medicare Option Amendment to the Affordable Care Act. Let’s change the focus from the ongoing Trumpocalypse and get something positive going, starting with health care. We’ve had enough of letting Republicans set the terms of debate! Golden could leave office as a champion of the Medicare Option Amendment. King could somewhat restore his badly tattered reputation by doing the same.
National Candidates: For Democratic candidates for office, a simple online search for their campaigns should give you contact info. For Matt Dunlap, see Amy Fried’s article about him here.
Current state legislators and party leaders: The state party chair is Charles Dingman, devon@mainedems.org. You already have your current Democratic state legislators in your files. If you have a Republican legislator, you might want to skip over them. Other Maine state legislators outside of Hancock County to contact could include:
(2) AI says “Healthcare costs and outcomes vary across the developed world, with the United States spending significantly more per capita ($13,432 in 2023) than other high-income nations, while often experiencing worse health outcomes like lower life expectancy and higher infant/maternal mortality rates. For comparison, the average spending in other developed countries was around $7,393 per capita in 2023, with countries like Switzerland ($9,688) and Germany ($8,441) having high costs, but still lower than the U.S.” See also:
(3) AI again: “Medical costs are a primary driver of personal bankruptcies in the United States, with a widely cited 2019 study reporting that 66.5% of people who file for bankruptcy blame medical bills as a key reason. This makes medical debt the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., exceeding credit card debt and mortgage problems.”
(4) Advantages include reduced cost, simplified administration, and improved competitive ability to attract employees by directing the cost savings into higher wages.
ALSO: Subscribe to Emanual Pariser’s almost daily action item emails! emanuelpariser@gmail.com There are enough actions described therein to keep you at work full time, helping to save our democracy.
Contact:
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number.
Background: As you know, before they will end the government shutdown, the congressional Republicans are holding hostage the extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. (They need Democratic votes to overcome the filibuster and pass a continuing resolution to fund the government.) Most Democrats are insisting that the extension be approved before they will vote to end the shutdown, because they are sick and tired of “falling for Lucy with the football”(1). If the extension is not approved, health insurance premiums will more than double for 22 million of our fellow citizens. Republicans are hard at work persuading Angus King, Jared Golden (still in office), and a handful of other congressional Democrats (and of course Collins) to capitulate.
Yes, the shutdown is painful. But we should have “learned our lesson” by now. We cannot trust the Republicans to do the right thing. They have the power to simply extend the tax credits first, then end the shutdown. Or, include the tax credits as part of the “continuing resolution”. Republicans have the power to do that, now. The fact that they are not doing it speaks volumes about their lack of trustworthiness, their callous indifference to millions of Americans who need the tax credit to be able to afford health insurance, and their adherence to the Project 2025 playbook (which, in a nutshell, is a blueprint for destroying the social safety net).
Action: Call King, Collins and Golden today. Demand that they NOT CAVE to the demand to pass a continuing resolution to end the shutdown without including the extension of the ACA tax credits.
Contact:
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number.
IF the capitulation has already happened, call in protest.
Extra Credit:
(1) https://slate.com/culture/2014/10/the-history-of-lucys-pulling-the-football-away-from-charlie-brown-in-peanuts.html AI overview says: “”Falling for Lucy with the football” is a metaphor for repeatedly being deceived by someone or falling for the same trick over and over, despite previous negative experiences. It represents a cycle of dashed hopes and a naive belief in a person who consistently betrays trust, often symbolizing the conflict between optimism and cynicism.” In this instance, Republicans have touted for many years that they will propose a better alternative to the ACA, but they have proposed absolutely nothing. There is no reason to suspect that they will in the future, because the only sensible alternative is “medicare for all”, which is anathema to their privatization agenda.
(2) For more in-depth info, check out this Google document here. Thanks to Emanuel Pariser for this action item.
Background: The legislature is not in session and won’t be until January 1, unless Governor Mills calls it back into session to deal with the impending crisis of loss of SNAP benefits for our most vulnerable citizens. (1) There is $1 Bn in the “rainy day fund”, part of which could be established as a contingency if Trump continues to dither about reinstating federal funding. Likewise with the fuel assistance – LIHEAP – program. To do this, Mills just needs to decide this is more urgent than campaigning to replace Susan Collins. In other words, she needs to continue to do the job as Governor, until the end of her term.
If our state Republican legislators prefer to follow the MAGA cult rather than cooperating to provide life essentials for our most vulnerable citizens, a roll call will tell the voters who is willing to sacrifice our people on the altar of their MAGA ideology. It will tell us a lot about who to vote for/campaign against in 2026, right? Next November, Mainers will elect a Governor, U.S. Senator, two Members of Congress, and every single member of the State House (151 seats) and State Senate (35 seats).
Action: Contact Governor Mills and demand that she calls the legislature back into session to deal with the emergency caused by the Trump administration’s cutoff of SNAP and fuel assistance. Contact your legislators and demand that they cooperate with this effort.
Find your State Representative: By name: Here By district: Here
Find your State Senator: By name: Here By district: Here
Urgency: Do it today. It’s going to take them time to get their act together, and meanwhile people are in danger from hunger and cold. Plus, Thanksgiving is around the corner, fer god’s sake!
