“November 5th will be our D-Day.”

June 8, 2024

Hi, all. Today’s edition will be short(ish) as my wife and I are traveling to Northern California to appear at a reader-sponsored event focused on voter turnout for the House, Senate, and presidential contests. Also, as noted below, there will be no newsletter on Sunday evening for Monday. The next newsletter will appear in your inbox Monday evening.

---

Justice Thomas amends financial disclosure forms to acknowledge that a billionaire paid for luxury vacations.

Clarence Thomas did not disclose two luxury vacations that were paid for by billionaire Harlan Crow. Thomas disclosed the existence of the vacations only after they were discovered by Pro Publica.

Thomas initially denied the reports as “untrue.”

He later listed the vacations as gifts on his financial disclosure forms but argued he was not required to identify the source of the gift.

On Friday, Thomas finally amended his disclosure forms to identify the source of the travel gifts as billionaire Harlan Crow. See Talking Points Memo, Justice Clarence Thomas Acknowledges He Should Have Disclosed Free Trips From Billionaire Donor

We must do whatever is necessary to restore the system of checks and balances. At present, the members of the reactionary majority believe they sit above the other two branches of government. Untrue. They are one of three co-equal branches of government. They need to be reminded of that fact.

Expand the Court. Impose an enforceable code of ethics. Limit the Court’s appellate jurisdiction. Cut its funding. That should get their attention—and provide motivation for the Court to clean its own house of the rot that has accumulated under Republican appointments since George H.W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas.

---

Trump intends to assert unilateral control over government spending

Add this story to the list of ways in which Trump plans to assume dictatorial powers if he is elected in November.

Under the Constitution, Congress passes bills that appropriate money for specific purposes. The president is charged with the obligation to “take care” that the laws passed by Congress are duly executed—including bills that appropriate funds for specific purposes.

Over the nation’s history, various presidents withheld funds appropriated by Congress. That unconstitutional self-help met its zenith of abuse under Richard Nixon. In 1974, Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act, which effectively eliminated the presidential ability to withhold funds in the absence of congressional ratification of the withholding.

During Trump's first term, he threatened to illegally withhold funds appropriated for the defense of Ukraine. For threatening to illegally withhold funds appropriated by Congress, he was impeached—although gutless Republicans in the Senate refused to convict him.

Trump is now threatening to ignore the Impoundment Control Act on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. See Washington Post, Trump plans to claim sweeping powers to cancel federal spending. (This article is accessible to all.)

Per the Post,

The Constitution gives control over spending to Congress, but Trump and his aides maintain that the president should have much more discretion — including the authority to cease programs altogether, even if lawmakers fund them. Depending on the response from the Supreme Court and Congress, Trump’s plans could upend the balance of power between the three branches of the federal government.

If he gets the chance, Trump's plan to unilaterally withhold massive amounts of federal spending will lead to chaos. To be clear, such dictatorial powers will extend far beyond “day one” of his second term—assuming there is one.

This point seems arcane and may take a bit of explaining. However, as reported in WaPo, Trump intends to rewrite the Constitution by giving the president powers that are not mentioned in the Constitution—and then daring the courts to do something about it. That is not the way a democracy works. This is a big story. It deserves continuous attention every day until the election.

---

A few comments from readers

The Comment section for yesterday’s newsletter included many posts worth repeating, including the following:

Reader Ellie K. noted this tweet by Hillary Clinton:

Eighty years ago today, thousands of brave Americans fought to protect democracy on the shores of Normandy.

This November, all we have to do is vote.

Hillary’s tweet was included in a post by Joyce Vance on her Substack, Civil Discourse, D-Day and the Importance of Voting. Joyce Vance’s column includes a list of actions we can take to protect and expand the right to vote. Take a minute to review Joyce’s column to see if there are additional actions you can take before November!

Reader Jonathon Margolis wrote, “November 5th will be our D-Day.” Reader ZB added, “November 5th is Democracy Day.”

Reader Lynell (VA by way of MD & DC) included two clips worth watching over the weekend:

This 54-second clip of President Zelensky of Ukraine engaging with a veteran of WW II.

Then, this eleven minute interview with Tom Hanks from yesterday where he talks about democracy and how it is as much, if not more so, the everyday people (that'd be us!) who make it work in good times and in bad. If you'd rather, just skip to minute 7:34 to hear his response to another Trump presidency.

Reader Frank S. summarized Trump's rambling answer to the question about his “relationship with God.” Per Frank, “To him everything is transactional. (“What’s in it for them.”)”

---

Opportunities for Reader engagement

Force Multiplier — Join Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi on Monday!

Our friends at Force Multiplier are thrilled to invite you all to a Zoom with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi on Monday June 10th at 7 PM ET.  Speaker Pelosi will be speaking and answering questions in support of candidates in five California districts - Adam Gray ( CA-13), Rudy Salas (CA-22), George Whitesides (CA-27), Will Rollins (CA-41). and Dave Min (CA-47).  These districts, four of which Joe Biden won in 2020 are key to the goal of flipping the House.  We hope you will attend and tell your friends!  You can register and donate HERE

---

Senate Circle—join an event for Ohio and Montana, moderated by Jessica Craven!

Join Senate Circle's "Pair of Aces" fundraiser on Monday, June 17, at 7:00PM ET/4:00PM PT in support of donor alliances in Ohio and Montana. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) are in races too close to call, and it is imperative that we reach, register, and activate every last voter so that these incumbents win re-election and maintain the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate.

We will hear from Executive Director Misha Barnes of Ohio Progressive Collaborative, and Stacie Anderson of Montana Values Action Fund. Our moderator will be Jessica Craven, author of Chop Wood, Carry Water on Substack.

Senate Circle selected these two races because they are must-wins for Democrats. The lesson learned in Georgia in 2022 is that it was the organization and activation of grassroots groups that boosted Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff into office. That is now the model for Ohio and Montana in 2024. Contributions to donor alliances — who know the political landscape, who know the players, who know the needs — give us the best chance of replicating those results.

Please join us in learning about and supporting this work. Sign up here: Help A Pair of Aces Win the U.S. Senate

---

Concluding Thoughts

My wife’s birthday is Sunday, June 9. Jill has graciously agreed to share it with a group of 100 strangers meeting in Northern California on Sunday to discuss increasing voter turnout. We will join the group from 3:00– 5:00 pm and then I will take her out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate her birthday. I want to give her my undivided attention, so I will not write or publish a newsletter on Sunday evening. The next newsletter will arrive in your inbox late Monday evening.

Jill posted a video on her blog that reflects on celebrating her 68th birthday during this unsettled time. Check it out. I think you will enjoy it: Birthday Reflections! (everydaywithjill.com).

On Wednesday, the nation celebrates Juneteenth. For an informative and wonderful explanation of Juneteenth, see this video exhibit by the National Museum of African American History and Culture | Juneteenth. Speaking of the wonderful National Museum of African American History, my wife published three videos on our recent visit to the Museum. The Museum is a national treasure, and Jill’s videos give a good sense of the breadth and depth of the Museum. See Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.

Food for thought for the weekend: Rebecca Solnit is a US columnist for The Guardian. She is the best writer working for a major media outlet (in the English-speaking world). All of her essays are gems, including her most recent effort, Trump, Covid, the climate crisis – we’ve had a hard few years. The wounds linger | Rebecca Solnit | The Guardian.

Solnit examines the fitful and incomplete global recovery from Covid. I recommend her entire essay, but want to leave the following with you as for thought over the weekend:

Another crisis of our times is that the internet has isolated us, shattered our capacity to concentrate, undermined existing news media and created fertile ground for the spread of hate, misinformation and propaganda.

The internet has isolated us from more face-to-face forms of contact and put us in spaces where combative shouting is normal and emotional honesty risky and rare, where in-group performativity is everywhere and dissent is dangerous. 

After that bleak assessment, Solnit prescribes a solution:

My prescription might be simple: be kind to each other, remembering the distress we’ve all lived through; defend the facts with ardor; fight fascism and climate chaos in the ways you’re best equipped to (and if you’re lucky, that will connect you to other good people doing that crucial work).

And if you’re lonely, know that even in that, you’re not alone; millions are largely because of how our world got rearranged. But diagnosis is the first step of treatment or cure, and just talking about how personal the impact is of this chaotic new era matters.

Here is the pith: “Just talking about how personal the impact is matters.”

The Comments section is open to all over the weekend so everyone can talk about how they feel after a turbulent week. And in the words of Rebecca Solnit, “Be kind to each other, remembering the distress we’ve all lived through.”

Talk to you on Monday evening / Tuesday morning!