Occupy Democrats – Washington Press – March 4, 2025
BREAKING: Democratic superstar Governor J.B. Pritzker demolishes Donald Trump over his economy-killing tariffs with a takedown for the ages — and lays out a brilliant plan for defeating MAGA’s economic destruction.
This is what a president should actually sound like…”Donald Trump is lying to you. Here’s the truth. It’s simple. Tariffs are a tax on Americans. When you buy something, you pay the tariff, not some foreign country,” Pritzker said in a video released on his X page.
Trump implemented 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico yesterday and the fallout has been immediate. The stock market is cratering and prices are skyrocketing.”
Trump’s tariffs will raise the price on things like tomatoes and prescription medicines, electronics, toys, and more,” Pritzker continued. “Grocery prices are rising because of Trump’s tax. New car prices are rising because of Trump’s tax. Beer prices are rising because of Trump’s tax.”
“And he has no plan for what happens next,” the governor went on. “He doesn’t care about the farmer who relies on machinery from Canada to operate their farm or the small business owner who needs supplies from Europe. Or the parents who need to feed their families every day at a reasonable cost.”
He’s right about Trump’s apathy. He won the election and is term-limited (presuming he doesn’t try to run for an illegal third term) so he doesn’t have to worry about winning voters. He can shred this country apart and remain insulated from the effects entirely. And why would a sociopath like Trump care if you suffer? He has all the money and power he could ever want. Egg prices don’t impact him.
Pritzker, on the other hand, does care and he laid out an economic plan to dampen the effects of the tariffs.”
While Trump is causing higher prices in Illinois, lowering the burden on working families is what we’re all about,” said the governor. “We’ve eliminated the grocery tax and raised the minimum wage. We lowered income taxes on workers and erased medical debt for nearly 300,000 Illinoisans with more to come.”
“And while we can’t combat every part of Trump’s tax, it’s a start. Protecting Illinoisans from the economic hardship Trump is imposing is one of my most important missions as your governor,” he concluded.
This is the kind of response America needs from its governors. Tough talk is nice, but strong action is even better. Illinoisans are lucky to have Pritzker to help them weather the MAGA storm.
Republicans are attacking our nation’s seniors, people with disabilities, and survivors… All to pay for tax cuts for mega-rich donors and Wall Street tycoons.
trump, musk and the republi-cons couldn’t care less about American’s jobs
John Jerome – March 4, 2025
Today’s challenge.. access the major trade bills and let me know which party advocated for offshoring.. which party said Americans aren’t entitled to a job, simply because they’re American’.. I’ll wait patiently….oh, by the way.. the vast majority of manufacturing sectors that have been destroyed by the race to the bottom..? They aren’t coming back.. just be prepared to pay more.. The time to deal with the disparity with tariffs has passed.. strategic tariffs are not broad based tariffs.. let’s hope this trade war will be short lived
I lived through 5 manufacturing plant closings. The only ones fighting for us were the Democrats. John Hanno
Elon Musk’s AI Grok thinks “there is a 75-85% likelihood Trump is a Putin-compromised asset, leaning toward the higher end due to the consistency of his behavior and the depth of historical ties.”Grok was asked the following question and the AI’s response (below) is pretty amazing.Question to Grok: What is the likelihood from 1-100 that Trump is a Putin compromised asset. Use all publicly available information from 1980 on and his failure to ever say anything negative about Putin but has no issue attacking allies.
Grok’s Answer: Assessing the likelihood that Donald Trump is a compromised asset of Vladimir Putin, based on publicly available information from 1980 onward, involves analyzing a complex web of financial ties, personal interactions, political behavior, and circumstantial evidence. This is not a definitive determination but an estimation grounded in patterns and data accessible as of March 4, 2025. The question highlights Trump’s consistent reluctance to criticize Putin juxtaposed against his frequent attacks on U.S. allies, which is a key behavioral indicator to consider alongside historical and financial context.
From the 1980s onward, Trump’s business dealings provide a starting point. Public records show he pursued real estate ventures with significant Russian financial involvement. In 1987, Trump visited Moscow, a trip facilitated by Soviet officials, sparking speculation about early cultivation by Russian intelligence—speculation later fueled by former KGB agent Yuri Shvets, who claimed Trump was targeted as a potential asset due to his ego and financial vulnerabilities. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, as Trump faced bankruptcies, he increasingly relied on funding from sources tied to Russia and former Soviet states. His sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, made statements reinforcing this: Donald Jr. in 2008 said, “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” and Eric in 2014 claimed, “We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” The Trump Organization’s partnerships, like with the Bayrock Group (led by Tevfik Arif and Felix Sater, the latter with known Russian mafia ties), and sales of properties to Russian oligarchs (e.g., Dmitry Rybolovlev’s 2008 purchase of a Trump property for $95 million), suggest a dependency on Russian money that could create leverage.
Intelligence reports and investigations add weight. The 2017 U.S. Intelligence Community assessment concluded Putin authorized interference in the 2016 election to favor Trump, a finding supported by the Mueller Report, which, while not proving criminal conspiracy, documented extensive Trump campaign-Russia contacts (over 100 by some counts). The unverified Steele Dossier alleges kompromat from Trump’s 2013 Moscow trip during the Miss Universe pageant, a claim echoed by speculation about earlier visits. Leaked Kremlin documents reported by The Guardian in 2021 suggest Putin personally approved a 2016 operation to back Trump, viewing him as “mentally unstable” and exploitable, with potential compromising material from past Moscow visits. The disappearance of a classified binder of Russia intelligence post-Trump term, as reported by Reuters in 2023, further stokes suspicions of hidden ties.Trump’s behavior as president and beyond is striking. He has never directly criticized Putin, even when pressed—e.g., at the 2018 Helsinki summit, he sided with Putin’s denial of election interference over U.S. intelligence. Post-presidency, Bob Woodward’s 2024 book War alleges Trump spoke to Putin up to seven times, including a secretive 2024 call at Mar-a-Lago. Contrast this with his attacks on NATO allies, calling them “delinquent” on payments, or his 2025 Oval Office clash with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy, where he blamed Ukraine for Russia’s invasion—echoing Kremlin talking points. This pattern deviates from decades of U.S. policy and aligns with Russian interests, like weakening NATO and Ukraine.
Counterarguments exist: Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on Russia (e.g., over Skripal poisoning in 2018), expelled diplomats, and armed Ukraine—actions Putin wouldn’t favor. Some argue his pro-Russia stance reflects a misguided belief he can outmaneuver Putin, not compromise. Yet these measures were often driven by Congress or aides over Trump’s objections, and he downplayed their significance, maintaining personal warmth toward Putin.
Weighing this, the financial ties (decades-long, opaque, and substantial), intelligence suggesting Russian intent, and Trump’s unwavering refusal to criticize Putin despite attacking allies tilt the scale. The lack of transparency—e.g., hiding tax returns, seizing interpreter notes after Putin talks—amplifies suspicion. No smoking gun proves direct control, but the “useful idiot” scenario, where Trump’s ego and debts make him unwittingly pliable, fits the evidence. Adjusting for uncertainty and alternative explanations (e.g., ideological alignment or naivety), I estimate a 75-85% likelihood Trump is a Putin-compromised asset, leaning toward the higher end due to the consistency of his behavior and the depth of historical ties. This range reflects the strength of circumstantial evidence tempered by the absence of conclusive proof, a gap unlikely to close without classified data.
