No matter the party or role in government, it is morally wrong to use the position for personal gain.

Lately, we have seen a lot of republicans supporting the PELOSI ACT.  It is unclear to me how much Nancy Pelosi has benefitted from insider trading, if at all, during her tenure in office, but at the end of the day arguing whether she, specifically, has made money due to being a Congresswoman is a red herring.  Whether or not she has made money from insider trading while in Congress doesn’t change the fact that it should not be legal to make trades based on non-public information learned due to a position in Congress and I therefore support the PELOSI ACT, even if the name is contrived for dubious political purposes.

I cannot find any statements from Senators Grassley or Ernst, but it seems Zach Nunn supports nearly identical legislation, having introduced it in the House.

With that, I am reminded that President Jimmy Carter put his peanut farm into a blind trust upon entering office to reduce the possibility of conflict of interest.*  He also started the tradition of releasing his tax returns annually for the sake of transparency.

As we look to prevent politicians from enriching themselves due to their political position, I would expect widespread condemnation from Congress on President Trump’s decision to accept a $400MM airplane from Qatar and we have seen some republicans, and nearly all democrats, voice concerns about this gift.  Formally, this is being designated a gift to the United States, but designated in such a way that only Donald Trump will ever have a chance to use it.  I suppose that all depends on what the definition of ‘gift to’ someone is.

“Something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation” – this is how Merriam-Webster defines a gift.  It certainly sounds to me that this airplane is being transferred by Qatar to the President, not the U.S. Government, without compensation.

Why does it matter how this gift is designated?  Because Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution states “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.”

I have not seen any statements from Zach Nunn or Joni Ernst, and while Chuck Grassley did voice some concerns about national security implications, he did not mention any legal or ethical concerns with this gift.

Despite the fact that politicians ought to be working diligently to ensure adequate services are provided to their constituents, many also seem to enrich themselves along the way, sometimes significantly.

*An interesting note, the Carter peanut farm was horribly managed during his presidency and was deep in debt when he left the White House.

Sources:

GIFT Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster

Did Carter Sell His Peanut Farm When He Became President? | Snopes.com

U.S. Constitution | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Hawley Reintroduces PELOSI Act to Ban Congress from Trading Stocks – Josh Hawley

Red herring – Wikipedia

S.58 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Representative Zach Nunn Introduces Bipartisan Congressional Stock Trading Ban Legislation – Congressman Zach Nunn

Republicans voice concern over Trump’s support for a new Air Force One from Qatar : NPR

Grassley shares national security concerns over Qatar luxury jet gift to Trump

Fact check: Jimmy Carter put his peanut farm into a blind trust during presidency

Nixon and Carter Made Releasing Tax Returns a Norm. Then Along Came Trump.

I was speaking to a friend a few weeks ago about how my political frustrations, particularly the way we seem to be throwing Congressional oversight of the Executive Branch out the window, has led me to begin writing publicly on Facebook and I ultimately created a website to blog my thoughts.

I confessed that it was difficult to write about everything that is going on because in addition to the deluge of daily news, my appeals for bipartisan discussion were mostly met with “You’re dumb!” or “You lost!” alongside claims that this is “a fake account” or being asked, “how much do I get paid by Crowds on Demand?”

This led me to wonder aloud whether my writing even made any difference; she simply responded:
“The ocean is made up of drops of water.”

I was very appreciative to hear that response and would like to take an opportunity to share more uplifting quotes about making a difference.  Please provide more if you know any.

• “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.” – John F. Kennedy

• “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – Dr. Seuss

• “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” – Mahatma Ghandi

• “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

• “Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room.” – Dalai Lama

I will also note that this is not a fake account, nor am I being paid to write my opinions

All of these are from the last week in the Trump Administration:

• President Trump says only a stupid person would turn down a free $400 million plane.
• RFK Jr., the head of Health and Human Services for the United States of America, says people shouldn’t take medical advice from him
• Marco Rubio called protestors at Columbia pro-Hamas thugs.
• Pam Bondi claims the Trump administration has saved 258 million lives from fentanyl.
• Kristi Noem announces the termination of protected status for people of Afghanistan as we welcome Afrikaners from South Africa.
• Tulsi Gabbard announced we are increasing surveillance on Greenland.
• Tulsi Gabbard also fired multiple officials at the National Intelligence Council who said the Alien Enemies Act was not currently justified.
• Doug Collins complained that Senators were scaring people by suggesting he would fire doctors among the massive cuts at the VA.

• Speaker Mike Johnson says, “𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞” when asked if President Trump should accept a plane from Qatar

Sources:

Trump defends Qatar jumbo jet offer, says it would be ‘stupid’ to turn away free plane – ABC News

WATCH: Health Secretary RFK Jr. says he doesn’t think people should take medical advice from him | PBS News

Rubio Threatens Visa Revocations After Pro-Palestinian Protests At Columbia

Bondi Far Overstates the Impact of Fentanyl Seizures on American Lives – FactCheck.org

DHS Terminating Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan | Homeland Security

First Afrikaners arrive in U.S. under radically redrawn refugee program : NPR

Denmark summons US diplomat amid reports on US intel gathering in Greenland | AP News

Gabbard fires two senior intelligence officials focused on assessing threats to US | CNN Politics

A contentious hearing on the Hill for VA secretary : NPR

‘Not My Lane’: House Speaker Mike Johnson Defers To Trump On Accepting Gift Plane | HuffPost Latest News

It seems someone is using pizza deliveries in an attempt to intimidate judges who rule against the Trump Administration.  That sounds ridiculous – but when anonymous deliveries are being made to the families of justices in the name of a judge’s murdered son, this is not a simple innocuous joke.

I invite civil, bipartisan discussion on this post.

This can be added to the list of other attacks on the judiciary I have discussed before:

• J.D. Vance questioning the authority of the judiciary
• President Trump said we need to look at the courts
• Elon Musk has called for judicial impeachments
• Two judges have been arrested and one has now been indicted by a federal grand jury with Pam Bondi suggesting there would be more to come.

Absolutely no one should be above the law.  It shouldn’t matter if it is a judge, politician, or a civilian – if someone is refusing to allow federal agents to carry out their lawful duties, they should face appropriate consequences.  I have my doubts that is what happened here, as my understanding is they did not have a judicial warrant; moreover, the comments surrounding this arrest suggest this is an attempt to send a message more than punishing the actions of this judge.

On top of the questions with this judge in particular, it does our nation a disservice to allow ICE agents to target courtrooms.  We are going to discourage people who are in the midst of the legal immigration process, and if someone does happen to know details of a crime, they are not going to come forward.

I urge Congress to stand up and demand a full investigation into the ongoing attack on the judiciary.

* For anyone who doesn’t remember the details, Pizzagate is a strange conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton was involved in trafficking children at a pizza place.

Sources:

Feds Urged To Investigate Pizzas Sent To Judges Using Name Of Judge’s Murdered Son | HuffPost Latest News

1 year after son’s death, Judge Esther Salas says ‘we need to send a message’ – ABC News

Ignoring the Judiciary – Politically Rational

Vance questions authority of US judges to challenge Trump

Trump and allies ramp up attacks on judges, courts as agenda hits legal roadblocks – ABC News

Elon Musk Calls for Impeachment of Judge in DOGE Case: Can Congress Do It? – Newsweek

Federal authorities arrest two judges, in escalation of Trump immigration crackdown

Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan indicted by grand jury on federal charges – ABC News

Trump’s Attorney General Warns Arrested Judge Is Just the Beginning | The New Republic

ICE Arrests at Immigration Appointments Stir Fear and Debate

PolitiFact | How Pizzagate went from fake news to a real problem for a D.C. business

One of the biggest reasons I’ve heard people support the Republican party is they are fiscally conservative and are concerned about the budget deficit.  Although I don’t consider it my top priority today, I agree with being fiscally conservative and working to reduce the national debt, or at least reducing the deficit, especially in times of prosperity.

I welcome civil, bipartisan discussion on this post.

Yesterday, details of the Republican Budget Plan, ridiculously called the Big Beautiful Bill, (BBB), were released.  Despite weeks of claiming they had no intention of cutting Medicaid, the plan ultimately cuts $880 billion in spending, mostly to Medicaid.

While many Republicans are claiming that these cuts will only target “waste, fraud and abuse”, a line that is overused more by the day, the Congressional Budget Office estimates this will result in 8.6 million people losing health care coverage over the next ten years.

Some Republicans are publicly stating their opposition to such extreme cuts, including Josh Hawley who considers this move to be political suicide, Don Bacon has put a “red line” at $500 billion in cuts, and David Valadao is vowing to protect Medicaid.

My U.S. Representative, Zach Nunn, has been saying over and over again that he introduced a bill that would not allow Congress to reduce Medicaid (or SNAP benefits) through the process of Budget Reconciliation, but he seems to keep insinuating there is significant waste, fraud and abuse within the program.

I think there probably is some waste, fraud and abuse in just about every major program in Federal government, and I think we should work to remove it.  However, there were already Inspectors General who looked for this kind of activity prior to being fired by Donald Trump and I believe the fraud we see is generally overstated.

I completely agreed with the idea from President Trump that we should raise taxes on people making over $2.5 million, but passing this bill would be a travesty.  This bill would increase the debt limit significantly by providing large tax cuts to top earners in the United States and does not even come close to covering the cost of those tax cuts in spending decreases.

This bill is the exact opposite of fiscally responsible.

Sources:

House Republicans unveil details of Trump tax plans | CNN Politics

House Republicans have unveiled proposed Medicaid cuts. Democrats say millions will lose coverage | PBS News

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/opinion/josh-hawley-dont-cut-medicaid.html?unlocked_article_code=1.G08.Ahbe.gxN7qfG_Jjwq&smid=url-share

Don Bacon sets $500B red line on Medicaid – POLITICO

Rep. David Valadao vows to protect Medicaid amid protests and political pressure

Nunn introduces resolution preserving Medicaid, SNAP benefits for Iowa’s ‘most vulnerable’ | News | kmaland.com

R48444.3.pdf

D.C. Dispatch: Iowa delegation discuss measures on maternal health, Medicaid • Iowa Capital Dispatch

Trump fires more than a dozen independent inspectors general | AP News

Trump and Taxes – Politically Rational

Trump revives millionaire tax talks as Democrats blast GOP on Medicaid

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5296015-gop-tax-bill-salt-trump-priorities/