I'm not too scared to donate, I'm exhausted and tapped out by 2+ years of breathless, endless fundraising texts and emails from every Dem in the country!!! I don't ever want to see another "Donate now or Democracy is DOOMED!!!" text.
What this article really says is that the Democratic Party belongs to the Democratic donor class rather than the Democratic constituents. The Democratic Party has no interest in overturning Citizens United, or they wouldn't have allowed AIPAC to spend ridiculous money to unseat sitting Democrats in the primary.
'Unfortunately when we let each other down, in our home towns, through apathy, incompetence or delusion, we loose sight of the balance between coming and going. Staying and leaving. Visitors, strangers, neighbours, refugees, family, swindlers, artists, engineers, doctors, athletes, killers, pushers and dreamers.' https://trkingston.substack.com/p/hello-transient-expressionism-part-768
Personally I am not afraid (but I am just little old me) and have continued to give money on immigration issues (I include Grumpy Combat Veteran's work to rescue more Afghanistan SIV recipients). I am disgusted by what Trump is doing. If I have learned anything over the last 4-6 years it is that your average citizen has no understanding of refugee and asylum law. Most of the people being yelled about as undocumented are not illegal, they are waiting, lawfully, for an asylum court date. And Trump revoking the TPS status of so many at risk people is nauseating. Frankly I don't think our Democratic (or Republican) politicians understand refugee and asylum law. My frustration on this topic is endless. Now I am off to see if the American Immigration Council needs money. I agree with those who have commented they are done giving money to politicians. Maybe in 2026. But until Congress remembers that it is Congress and a co-equal branch of government all they are getting from me is angry phone calls.
I disagree that we are too afraid to donate. We are BOMBARDED with non stop fundraising that is causing me to disregard ALL of it. “STOP” is my go to text response lately. It’s hard to know who/where is the best bang for our bucks to help the most people. Not afraid of Trump here, but certainly afraid of scammers!!!
The article was interestingly written. I don't think grassroots donors are afraid. I think this is more about something like the Gates Foundation being afraid to donate. Check out this group for grassroots donations, they only send me very occasional emails (because I agree the texts are driving me nuts): https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/521549711
Funny how the “land of the free” keeps brainstorming new ways to turn human lives into a for-profit horror show. Private prisons weren’t enough? Now we get deportation death squads?
The wealthy are more than happy to have brown people to cook their meals and clean their disgustingly ostentatious mansions, but when it comes to donating money to help keep them from being harassed by Trumps stormtroopers they go silent. That's why we need to tax the rich out of existence. Or use my preferred method of putting a bounty on all of them.
Uncontrolled migration absolutely doomed the Democratic Party, as it has doomed all the center left parties of continental Europe except Denmark. The Danish Social Democrats took a hard line on migration from (at least) the Syrian onslaught in 2015. They alone are thriving and in power.
The Democrats have been just plain wrong on immigration. Goosing the labor market, like unfettered free trade, inevitably undermines workers and they know it. One of Biden’s most grievous mistakes was not coming to grips with immigration until just a few months before the election. Harris ignored the protection his executive order gave her and never—no not once—addressed the border issue head on. Now here we are. I am not opposed to immigration as such, few Americans are. But it must be lawful and controlled, and it must not disproportionately hurt low-wage workers.
You can do three things with illegals: (1) You can deport them, (2) you can continue exploiting them for the benefit of consumers, or (3) you can legalize them and give them full economic (and maybe political) rights.
Trump says he wants option #1, but I suspect he'll fudge for the sake of #2.
Progressives presumably want #3, but Democrats have been messaging as if #2 is their safe space.
I suspect a lot of potential donors balk at the idea of rewarding illegals with benefits, don't want them deported either, and are queasy about the exploitation thing.
So that's a recipe for paralysis, and for exploring less iffy ways to invest their altruism.
I think Democrats have been coy for political reasons, but they've ended up shooting themselves in the foot.
I knew a few months ago that keeping support for immigrants was going to be a big problem when the ACLU sponsored an ad for Pod Save America's nightly newsletter that barely included immigration as a priority:
The ACLU has a plan to hold the Trump administration accountable on day one:
File legal actions to combat discriminatory tactics, including attacks on housing, health care and employment for LGBTQ individuals
Challenge the administration’s dangerous attacks on reproductive freedom – including attempts to take medication abortion off the selves – through advocacy efforts in Congress and at the state level
Work with state and local officials to push back against federal overreach and ensure our rights and freedoms aren’t stripped away by federal force.
If Trump's campaign promises – discrimination against LGBTQ individuals and other vulnerable populations, complete bans on abortion access, and threats of mass deportation– are any indication, we must prepare for a full-scale attack on our most fundamental rights.
As long as donors fear to right that check, President Musk and his handmaidennTrump win and there will be no democrats to support. But do say that the democrats have truly failed us with their feeble response to our present threat. They have absolutely no strong leadership.. Schumer is weak inept and Jeffries is mere decision. Nancy Pelosi was the end of the line of strong democratic leaders.
It’s moderate republicans that are carry the fight ( Lincoln Project, Steve Schmidt, Charlie Sykes and the Bulwark). It is hard to give to the democrats when they did nothing with a $Billion .
A third party embracing the sane people of this country on both sides of the aisle seems the only viable chance to fight the oligarchs controlling this country.
Now we know the price of citizenship …..$5million… bring us your rich and corrupt, never enough of you here. Those tired huddled masses, you have to go. Trump’s America where nothing is is free and the of the cowards.
It is difficult to explain to the Ukrainian families that I sponsored to come to the U.S. that, though the program they arrived through was legal when Biden was President, it has since been declared illegal and that, though they were promised they could stay in the U.S. for two years from the day they arrived, that rug might be yanked out from under them and they might be considered “illegal” and deportable soon, through no fault of their own. They struggle to believe me, because that is the way the Russian government operates, not the American one. It upends everything they ever believed about America.
I don’t really know what my point is. I’m just sad and scared for them. These are human beings trapped in terrible circumstances through no fault of their own, and Dems who just see a “losing issue.”
I'm concerned about the Afghan interpreters who helped our troops at the risk of themselves and their families. They were promised new lives in the US and quadruple-vetted to fulfill these obligations.
Now many are stuck in Afghanistan, where they will be murdered by the Taliban, or in Pakistan where they will be sent back to Afghanistan, or in third countries like Qatar, where they were waiting to be brought to the US and are now stranded without careers or citizenship.
would you talk to Republican donors like this? why do you feel like it's acceptable to demand donations by biting the hand that has fed you all along? why isn't this issue looked at as "Republicans haven't given jack fucking squat" instead of "damn you, Democrats! you aren't giving enough!" this is the exact strategy of the pro-Hamas/Palestine protestors last summer - brow beat the Democrats to death so they can't win to lose. i'm getting really tired of the whining and brow beatings. i think i'll save my money for candidates who don't cow-tow to this nonsense. i'll remind you the male hispanic vote swung hard for FOTUS -- this issue belongs to MAGA now - tell the whiners to take it up with them. MAGA officially owns this issue now. i'm done!
It is important that all immigrants, illegal and otherwise, get due process and fair treatment. That said, if we are going to flush Trump/MAGA and take our country back money raised in support of that effort should go to issues that can win elections, not lose them. To the AITOW Dems I say...STOP listening to out of touch progressives like AOC, Bernie "social democrat" Sanders, and Rashid Tlaib! That is a ticket to continued losses and America having to survive through a post Trump MAGA purgatory, something we can all agree would be a nightmare.
I'm not too scared to donate, I'm exhausted and tapped out by 2+ years of breathless, endless fundraising texts and emails from every Dem in the country!!! I don't ever want to see another "Donate now or Democracy is DOOMED!!!" text.
What this article really says is that the Democratic Party belongs to the Democratic donor class rather than the Democratic constituents. The Democratic Party has no interest in overturning Citizens United, or they wouldn't have allowed AIPAC to spend ridiculous money to unseat sitting Democrats in the primary.
'Unfortunately when we let each other down, in our home towns, through apathy, incompetence or delusion, we loose sight of the balance between coming and going. Staying and leaving. Visitors, strangers, neighbours, refugees, family, swindlers, artists, engineers, doctors, athletes, killers, pushers and dreamers.' https://trkingston.substack.com/p/hello-transient-expressionism-part-768
Personally I am not afraid (but I am just little old me) and have continued to give money on immigration issues (I include Grumpy Combat Veteran's work to rescue more Afghanistan SIV recipients). I am disgusted by what Trump is doing. If I have learned anything over the last 4-6 years it is that your average citizen has no understanding of refugee and asylum law. Most of the people being yelled about as undocumented are not illegal, they are waiting, lawfully, for an asylum court date. And Trump revoking the TPS status of so many at risk people is nauseating. Frankly I don't think our Democratic (or Republican) politicians understand refugee and asylum law. My frustration on this topic is endless. Now I am off to see if the American Immigration Council needs money. I agree with those who have commented they are done giving money to politicians. Maybe in 2026. But until Congress remembers that it is Congress and a co-equal branch of government all they are getting from me is angry phone calls.
If anyone else wants to donate, here is their info: https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/521549711
I disagree that we are too afraid to donate. We are BOMBARDED with non stop fundraising that is causing me to disregard ALL of it. “STOP” is my go to text response lately. It’s hard to know who/where is the best bang for our bucks to help the most people. Not afraid of Trump here, but certainly afraid of scammers!!!
The article was interestingly written. I don't think grassroots donors are afraid. I think this is more about something like the Gates Foundation being afraid to donate. Check out this group for grassroots donations, they only send me very occasional emails (because I agree the texts are driving me nuts): https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/521549711
How can an individual donate small amounts to an immigration fund?
https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/521549711
Funny how the “land of the free” keeps brainstorming new ways to turn human lives into a for-profit horror show. Private prisons weren’t enough? Now we get deportation death squads?
The wealthy are more than happy to have brown people to cook their meals and clean their disgustingly ostentatious mansions, but when it comes to donating money to help keep them from being harassed by Trumps stormtroopers they go silent. That's why we need to tax the rich out of existence. Or use my preferred method of putting a bounty on all of them.
If I might quote my own recent anti-capitalist screed:
Neoliberalism can’t be “reformed.” It must be obliterated and replaced with a radically different system.
1. SEIZE AND REDISTRIBUTE CORPORATE WEALTH
Tax billionaires at 90%.
Break up monopolies and return industries to democratic control.
Make corporations pay for the damage they’ve caused.
2. MAKE ESSENTIAL SERVICES FREE
Universal healthcare, housing, and education—paid for by the wealth they stole.
Abolish private prisons and end the carceral state.
3. DEMOCRATIZE WORK
Worker-owned cooperatives instead of corporations.
Stronger unions and universal labor protections.
4. DECARBONIZE THE ECONOMY
Nationalize energy production.
Massive investment in public transportation.
5. DESTROY THE GIG ECONOMY AND ENSURE ECONOMIC DIGNITY
Universal Basic Income.
Shorter work weeks, higher wages.
Uncontrolled migration absolutely doomed the Democratic Party, as it has doomed all the center left parties of continental Europe except Denmark. The Danish Social Democrats took a hard line on migration from (at least) the Syrian onslaught in 2015. They alone are thriving and in power.
The Democrats have been just plain wrong on immigration. Goosing the labor market, like unfettered free trade, inevitably undermines workers and they know it. One of Biden’s most grievous mistakes was not coming to grips with immigration until just a few months before the election. Harris ignored the protection his executive order gave her and never—no not once—addressed the border issue head on. Now here we are. I am not opposed to immigration as such, few Americans are. But it must be lawful and controlled, and it must not disproportionately hurt low-wage workers.
You can do three things with illegals: (1) You can deport them, (2) you can continue exploiting them for the benefit of consumers, or (3) you can legalize them and give them full economic (and maybe political) rights.
Trump says he wants option #1, but I suspect he'll fudge for the sake of #2.
Progressives presumably want #3, but Democrats have been messaging as if #2 is their safe space.
I suspect a lot of potential donors balk at the idea of rewarding illegals with benefits, don't want them deported either, and are queasy about the exploitation thing.
So that's a recipe for paralysis, and for exploring less iffy ways to invest their altruism.
I think Democrats have been coy for political reasons, but they've ended up shooting themselves in the foot.
Sure there's a wariness that comes with funding 'the greater good' while others get to invest into their self-interest.
I knew a few months ago that keeping support for immigrants was going to be a big problem when the ACLU sponsored an ad for Pod Save America's nightly newsletter that barely included immigration as a priority:
The ACLU has a plan to hold the Trump administration accountable on day one:
File legal actions to combat discriminatory tactics, including attacks on housing, health care and employment for LGBTQ individuals
Challenge the administration’s dangerous attacks on reproductive freedom – including attempts to take medication abortion off the selves – through advocacy efforts in Congress and at the state level
Work with state and local officials to push back against federal overreach and ensure our rights and freedoms aren’t stripped away by federal force.
If Trump's campaign promises – discrimination against LGBTQ individuals and other vulnerable populations, complete bans on abortion access, and threats of mass deportation– are any indication, we must prepare for a full-scale attack on our most fundamental rights.
As long as donors fear to right that check, President Musk and his handmaidennTrump win and there will be no democrats to support. But do say that the democrats have truly failed us with their feeble response to our present threat. They have absolutely no strong leadership.. Schumer is weak inept and Jeffries is mere decision. Nancy Pelosi was the end of the line of strong democratic leaders.
It’s moderate republicans that are carry the fight ( Lincoln Project, Steve Schmidt, Charlie Sykes and the Bulwark). It is hard to give to the democrats when they did nothing with a $Billion .
A third party embracing the sane people of this country on both sides of the aisle seems the only viable chance to fight the oligarchs controlling this country.
Now we know the price of citizenship …..$5million… bring us your rich and corrupt, never enough of you here. Those tired huddled masses, you have to go. Trump’s America where nothing is is free and the of the cowards.
It is difficult to explain to the Ukrainian families that I sponsored to come to the U.S. that, though the program they arrived through was legal when Biden was President, it has since been declared illegal and that, though they were promised they could stay in the U.S. for two years from the day they arrived, that rug might be yanked out from under them and they might be considered “illegal” and deportable soon, through no fault of their own. They struggle to believe me, because that is the way the Russian government operates, not the American one. It upends everything they ever believed about America.
I don’t really know what my point is. I’m just sad and scared for them. These are human beings trapped in terrible circumstances through no fault of their own, and Dems who just see a “losing issue.”
I'm concerned about the Afghan interpreters who helped our troops at the risk of themselves and their families. They were promised new lives in the US and quadruple-vetted to fulfill these obligations.
Now many are stuck in Afghanistan, where they will be murdered by the Taliban, or in Pakistan where they will be sent back to Afghanistan, or in third countries like Qatar, where they were waiting to be brought to the US and are now stranded without careers or citizenship.
I am also scared for the ones who did make it here. Who knows who Trump will round up indiscriminately.
Annette - thank you for your efforts in supporting & advocating for the Ukrainian branches of our human family
would you talk to Republican donors like this? why do you feel like it's acceptable to demand donations by biting the hand that has fed you all along? why isn't this issue looked at as "Republicans haven't given jack fucking squat" instead of "damn you, Democrats! you aren't giving enough!" this is the exact strategy of the pro-Hamas/Palestine protestors last summer - brow beat the Democrats to death so they can't win to lose. i'm getting really tired of the whining and brow beatings. i think i'll save my money for candidates who don't cow-tow to this nonsense. i'll remind you the male hispanic vote swung hard for FOTUS -- this issue belongs to MAGA now - tell the whiners to take it up with them. MAGA officially owns this issue now. i'm done!
It is important that all immigrants, illegal and otherwise, get due process and fair treatment. That said, if we are going to flush Trump/MAGA and take our country back money raised in support of that effort should go to issues that can win elections, not lose them. To the AITOW Dems I say...STOP listening to out of touch progressives like AOC, Bernie "social democrat" Sanders, and Rashid Tlaib! That is a ticket to continued losses and America having to survive through a post Trump MAGA purgatory, something we can all agree would be a nightmare.