"How Did We Get Here?"

Every day is somehow more dystopian than the last, and we have a long dark path in front of us. I don't mean to be alarmist, it's just how I feel. Every day I'm reminded of the entirety of America's historical context which brings us to this moment. But I keep seeing and hearing people ask, "How did we get here?" No shade to the people posing the question, but the answer is that we never left.

Market Manipulation

How blatant does market manipulation have to be before we do something about it? I'm hearing little more than whispers about calls for review of the events last week in Congress, and the social media response isn't any louder. When our nation is under attack we're supposed to Stand Up, Fight Back. But I think some of us who feel the urge to fight the tyrannical self-serving Trump regime feel so removed from the economy, we can't fathom how to fight back.

Project 2025 Implementation: Executive Orders 36 - 40

I know these posts are long, but I can't imagine how else to cover them completely without posting them one at a time. Trump has surpassed FDR's record for the most executive orders in an administration's first 100 days. FDR had signed 99 when he took over in 1933. Trump still has two weeks in his first 100 days and he has signed 116 orders. Many of them are over-reaches of executive power, and numerous have been challenged in court. Still, watching Trump try to consolidate power, implement his bigotry, and use his position to make himself and his wealthy friends even more wealthy has felt like one blow after another. 

4 of these 5 orders are related to the military, and Trump has not been demonstrated any loyalty to our allies so it seems within the realm of possibility that we could see more than a trade war during his term, as America further isolates itself and promotes toxic foreign policies. We're currently at 88% of executive orders representing an implementation of policies or goals detailed in Project 2025. Some are near verbatim quotes. 

Liberation Day Downturn

Trump did it. 10% tariffs on all foreign imports. 25% on cars. A whole table worth of tariffs that will be ripping through the economy. As a banker, I feel like Ralph Wiggum at the back of the bus. The impact on my job security aside, I see the poverty people are living in. I see elderly people who struggle to pay their bills, or to get the care they need. I see people trudging their way through life, doing the best they can, and trying to make the most out of nothing. These people will suffer. People will starve. The homelessness epidemic will soar. People will die needless deaths of poverty.

Project 2025 Implementation: Executive Orders 31 - 35

This latest batch is 4 for 5 in terms of alignment with Project 2025, and none of them pose any kind of opposition to policies and goals laid out in the conservative manual.

Current running tally: 30 of 35 orders align with policies or goals stated in Project 2025. 1 order opposes a policy laid out in the guidebook. 4 orders are not mentioned in Project 2025, but not ruled out either.