Randy's Rants
Randy's Rants is a series of essays by legendary Cleveland author, activist and CCPC Member Randy Cunningham. We'll be featuring a different one each week for as long as Randy is willing to write the articles.
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National
Pollution from coal plants was dropping. Then came Trump and AI The Trump administration is allowing coal plants to release more pollution at a time when utilities across the country are opting to save their aging coal facilities from retirement so they can power artificial intelligence. Those twin trends - weaker pollution safeguards and accelerated coal use - will have dramatic implications for rising temperatures and the health of people living near the coal plants.
All of the billionaires and business people that Donald Trump has pardoned So far this year, Trump has granted clemency, including pardons and commutations, to more than 1,600 people compared to 238 acts of clemency his entire first term.. 1,500 of those were January 6 defendants. The list includes several notable business people, all of whom are Trump allies. The most notable is Changpeng Zhao, the cofounder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Mamdani's win has progressives eyeing New York City House seats New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's win has sparked progressives to target House seats across the city, including some currently held by Democratic heavyweights such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The challengers have sought the backing of the city's DSA chapter. If that DSA chapter could get Mamdani elected it stands to reason they could get the House challengers elected too. We wish them good luck.
How Trump's base could break A significant portion of Trump 2024 voters - more than a third - do not consider themselves to be MAGA Republicans. And not only are they less loyal to Trump than self-identified MAGA Republicans, some of them have already begun to turn on him. Non-MAGA Trump voters are much more likely to blame Trump for the state of the economy, say he has too much power and be pessimistic about the future. Let's hope the cracks in the base continue to get bigger and bigger.
5 ways Republicans are breaking with Trump Trump is facing increasing resistance from Republicans in Congress to certain proposals and parts of his agenda as he nears the end of his first year in office. The threat of a primary challenge hasn't been stopping GOP lawmakers from criticizing Trump's actions or rebuffing some of his demands. The areas of criticism seem to be foreign policy, tariff dividend checks, artificial intelligence policy, redistricting and ending the filibuster, and blue chips.
More Americans say Trump has helped raise prices rather than lower them In a Yahoo/YouGov poll conducted in late November, 49 percent of respondents said Trump has done more to increase prices, while 24 percent said he's done more to lower prices. Another 17 percent said he's done "about the same," and 10 percent said they were not sure. One has to wonder if the 24 percent who said Trump has lowered prices have even looked at how much they are paying for things.
Selling the Poor on Spending Like They're Rich Describes how plutonomy, premiumization, and social media have squeezed the middle class. Plutonomy describes the disproportional power the ultra-wealthy have over our financial system. and of course they need the poor to buy their products, even if they cannot afford to buy them. Premiumization is a marketing term used to describe making a product more desirable. And social media has ratcheted up status competition.
Medicare for All Disappeared. Its Popularity Didn't The demand for Medicare for All went from the center of the discourse to political exile in record time. But the policy's popularity never faded. A new poll finds strong majority support for the neglected idea among Americans across the political spectrum. In a survey of 1,207 likely voters, Data for Progress found that 65 percent of voters support a Medicare for All system. Wouldn't it be great if this was an issue the Democrats ran on in 2026 and 2028?
FBI is a 'circus’ under Kash Patel, says damning report A 115-page report compiled from interviews with dozens of current and former FBI agents found that FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bogino have turned the agency into a 'circus’ with agents describing the two men as clowns more obsessed with their personal image and posting to social media than they are with running the law enforcement agency. The report also found that many agents believe that Patel is “in over his head.” Anyone surprised?
Costco sues Trump administration, seeking a refund of tariffs Costco wholesale has sued the Trump administration before the Court of International Trade, asking it to consider all tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act unlawful. The company said in a filing last week that it is seeking a "full refund” of all duties under the act paid as a result of Trump's executive order that imposed what he called "reciprocal” tariffs. We wish Costco good luck in their suit.
Trump's war on drugs includes some notable exceptions Trump is pretending to be the scourge of drug kingpins everywhere by blowing up Venezuelan ships alleged to be carrying drugs. But as always the Hypocrite-in-Chief is all pretend. Smack dab in the middle of the phony War on Drugs comes the pardon of Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras, who was serving a 45-year sentence for trafficking more than 500 tons of cocaine into the country.
Trump slams affordability concerns as a 'con job ' as he refuses to listen or learn The ‘con job’is being done by the Democrats who, according to Trump, are pretending prices are high when they really are not. Maybe Trump doesn't have any idea what to do about the cost of living or maybe he's convinced himself that his absurdities are true. Or maybe he really believes that he can once again convince constituents not to believe their lying eyes - or wallets
House GOP exits mount as gridlock deepens House Republicans have an exodus problem. More than two dozen GOP lawmakers have already announced that they are not seeking reelection. And that number is expected to grow over the holidays. Which means two good things: Those seats will all be open seats next year and therefore, easier to flip. Also, the lame ducks in those seats may actually be able to grow a spine since they are no longer dependent on Trump for their next election.
Local
Amid Mamdani's Rise, Cleveland's DSA Chapter is Trying to Capitalize on Momentum The Mamdani momentum in Cleveland carried on to democratic socialist Tanmay Shah's victory in the Ward 12 Cleveland City Council election last month. Nationally, DSA's membership grew from 80,000 to 90,000 from October to November and the Cleveland DSA chapter had 220 new members this year.The movement is a little different than when CCPC formed out of the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign, focusing today on immediate concerns of affordability and economic security. We wish our DSA comrades good luck as we move into the new year of challenges!
Cleveland OK's $100M Browns deal The Browns will pay Cleveland $25 million up front, then $45 million over 10 years after the team departs ($20 million for lakefront development and $45 for neighborhood projects.). The Browns will also pay for the full demolition of Huntington Bank Field, estimated to be about $30 million. The deal also averts a costly legal fight the city was unlikely to win. The bottom line is Brook Park Browns looks like a done deal.
Federal changes could significantly reduce permanent housing for homeless people People in more than 2,000 Cuyahoga County households could be pushed toward homelessness with federal policy changes to permanent housing programs. While the United State Department of Housing and Urban Development is increasing its homelessness funding from $3.6 billion to $3.9 billion, the money is prioritizing " transitional housing " versus the " housing first " typically used for homeless people.
State
Affordability wars. Democrat Sherrod Brown launches early attack in Ohio's pivotal Senate race. Affordability - from housing to healthcare to groceries - has become a Democratic rallying cry entering the holidays. And former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who's attempting a political comeback, is using the issue as a bludgeon against Republican Sen. Jon Husted. as Ohio voters prepare for the 2026 midterms. You've probably seen the ads on TV.
Immigration
Asylum seekers across US in limbo over Trump's policy reversal's: 'devastating' Immigration lawyers and advocates are trying to understand exactly how Trump's flurry of immigration policies restricting asylum and legal immigration wil be implemented. The far-reaching policy announcements, aimed at dramatically curtailing legal pathways to immigration, came after Trump vowed to "permanently pause” migration from "third world” countries after the DC National Guard shootings.
Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious’ travel patterns The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of camera scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious, based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Does this sound like fascism?
Black Lives Matter
Trump doubles down on his latest racist obsession Apparently unsatisfied with his original racist rant against Somali immigrants, Trump doubled down on it during a Wednesday press conference in the Oval Office. He launched into a racist, conspiracy-laden tirade against Somalis and local officials who have opposed his targeting of immigrant communities in Minneapolis. And of course one of his main targets in the rant was progressive Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
And In Case You Missed It
Video of CCPC November Meeting - The Great Betrayal: How America Abandoned the Middle Class
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