No Kings in Cedarburg

2,000 people were at the No Kings protest in Cedarburg last weekend. Thank you to the organizers and all of you who joined in the joy.
 
Let’s turn the pages of history back a moment and quote Thomas Paine in Common Sense: “For as in absolute governments the King is Law, so in free countries the law ought to be King, and there ought to be no other.” That is why we gathered across Wisconsin and across the planet on Oct. 18. You gave permission for more people to join the movement of resistance. Thank you.
 
So for those of you who are Evita fans, we can all sing together, “Don’t cry for me, Argentina.” According to Andrew Egger in The Bulwark, “On Monday, the U.S. Treasury agreed to purchase $20 billion in Argentine pesos in an ‘exchange-rate stabilization’ operation. Other interventions are likely. When all is said and done, the White House hopes to provide $40 billion in rescue money for Argentina.” We bought 20 billion U.S. dollars worth of Argentina’s pesos. At today’s rate (and the peso’s value has fallen since Monday) one Argentinian peso is worth 0.00067 in U.S. dollars.
 
So why are we doing this? Andrew Egger states, "It's been funny to listen to Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talk about this, as the rationales they offer diverge quite a bit. Bessent goes to some trouble to dress it up in the language of economics, casting it as a canny investment for America: ‘The success of Argentina’s reform agenda is of systemic importance, and a strong, stable Argentina which helps anchor a prosperous Western Hemisphere is in the strategic interest of the United States,’ he tweeted this month. But Trump’s been explicit: He’s doing it to prop up his buddy Milei. ‘I’m with this man because his philosophy is correct,’ Trump said of Milei last week. ‘And if he wins, we’re staying with him, and if he doesn’t win, we’re gone.’”
 
So, if we are “gone,” Donald, do we get our 20 billion dollars back? We all know there is some very serious grifting going on here. Just in: the Argentinian peso is at its record low.
 
Trump also wants to buy beef from Argentina so we pay less for hamburger at the grocery store, and he still is promising to bail out American soybean farmers. Small farm bankruptcies have risen to a five year high. Trump’s tariffs, as we know, are responsible for that. Instead of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think the guy should be awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics.
 
We are still in a government shutdown. It is important for the Democrats to demand the premium tax credits for Affordable Health Care insurance eligibility get extended beyond Dec. 31, 2025. Democrats care about us having healthcare and not going broke. Republicans do not care. They hate the Affordable Care Act, i.e. Obamacare. Because, the Republicans are unable to successfully gut the law through votes in Congress. (Remember the late Senator McCain’s famous thumbs down to Mitch McConnell?) So, they have resorted to gutting the law by making access to insurance through the market place unaffordable. If you can’t afford your premiums, good bye, Obamacare.
 
By the time you read this Trump will have demolished the East Wing of the White House. Good grief. Have a safe trick-or-treat weekend. Thanks for reading.