Think lawless and impeached president Donald Trump has run out of demented ways to use the full force of the federal government to hurt his perceived political enemies, a.k.a. entire blue regions of the country? Well, think again. Mr. “Most Pro-Life President in American History” is reportedly considering cutting funding for newborn screenings and COVID-19 relief (during the middle of a fucking pandemic) from a number of major cities led by Democrats, Politico reports.
“New York, Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C., and Seattle could lose funding for a wide swath of programs that serve their poorest, sickest residents after the president moved last month to restrict funding,” the report said, “escalating his political battle against liberal cities he’s sought to use as a campaign foil.” But even if this Health and Human Services (HHS) proposal stays a proposal, this corrupt president has already been unabashedly using federal agencies against communities for the sole purpose of his reelection.
In the swing state of Pennsylvania, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has used taxpayer funds to plaster anti-immigrant propaganda on billboards in a Nazi-like campaign that even administration officials have privately admitted is nothing but Trumpian politics: “[t]wo officials with knowledge of plans for the sanctuary op described it as more of a political messaging campaign than a major ICE operation,” The Washington Post reported last month. “The campaign is rare, if not unprecedented,” the Associated Press said.
ICE is also currently terrorizing communities led by Democrats, conducting raids in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and the New York City area, with the administration deploying unlawfully appointed acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf to basically act as a campaign surrogate. That includes trotting him out to announce the “fairly routine operation” that’s actually “resulted in a fairly low number of arrests,” the AP continued (likely thanks to local policies that limit cooperation with the mass deportation agency).
Under the HHS proposal, even more vulnerable populations in some of these regions would be targeted in absolutely obscene ways.
An HIV treatment initiative—slashed. Research into lung disease—sounds like something that might be good to know during a pandemic that affects the lungs?—slashed. “The list also includes funding for other programs,” the report continues, “like $423,000 for universal hearing screenings for newborns in the District of Columbia, housing for people in addiction recovery in Seattle, and services providing nutrition and mental health counseling to elderly New Yorkers.”
All, of course, impacting areas that the impeached president views not as his constituents and integral parts of this vast and diverse nation, but instead as enemies. After all, recall that Trump initially turned down California’s request for an emergency declaration following a number of horrific wildfires. Should Trump lose reelection in just days (and please God let him lose), God help us all if this spiteful asshole gets into “payback” mode with the help of his buddies including noted white supremacist aide Stephen Miller. (That, in particular, is among my latest worries at night, FYI.)
“DHS is supposed to be a law enforcement agency. But under lackeys such as Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, DHS has become a political arm of the Trump campaign,” immigrant rights leader and America’s Voice found Frank Sharry said. “When armed agents of the state defer to an autocratic leader who threatens to undermine the legitimacy of a free and fair election, democracy is imperiled.”
“Chad Wolf’s paycheck is paid for by American taxpayers, not Trump’s reelection campaign,” he continued. “Hyped immigration raids in blue cities, election-year billboards in swing states, and photo ops at the border wall are not aimed at serving the public, they are aimed at pleasing a desperate and losing candidate.”
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