Government Coup

[gimmethesimplelife]

"Maine may be one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his Administration, but we won’t be the last. Today, the President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it – and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so."

It's not about trans, it's not about women's rights. It's a money grab. It's a power grab. It's like Richie Aprile said to Tony Soprano, "What's mine is not yours to give me."

I owe Maine an apology. I've always reduced it to LL Bean and the ferries to a better country (Canada). Clearly there is substance to Maine and I stand corrected. Much respect to the Governor! Rob

[iris lilies]

regarding SS:

Attachment 6253

Out of curiosity, what do all of the jargony acronyms mean?

[Tybee]

VERA = The Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) offers federal employees an opportunity to retire early while still receiving significant benefits.

ACOSS= acting commissioner of Social Security

Apparently to a post from someone who works at SS this was announced on a phone call yesterday.

See Feddiscussion at Reddit and Fednews at Reddit where people are posting in real time.

[LDAHL]

[QUOTE=iris lilies;443599]

I think there are some real serious concerns about upholding the rule of law in this Administration. Real serious.

I don’t consider the threat to hold back educational dollars from Maine to be one of them. But I do understand a threat to 10% of the Maine public schools’ education budget isn’t peanuts.

Perhaps they could just, ya know, keep boys out of girls sports. Do the right thing.

Like a baby taking his first unsteady steps, the Democrats are moving haltingly toward a basic appreciation of federalism. After all those years of using the income tax and Commerce Clause to muscle the states, they are seeing the other side of the equation. Can a grasp of checks and balances or judicial restraint be far behind?

[early morning]

JUST TO BE CLEAR - the post quoted above by LDAHL is NOT mine!

[flowerseverywhere]

I spoke last night to a niece who is a physician at a VA. She is getting contacted by headhunters and considering some positions. She said it was total chaos and uncertainty as many support people are being fired. Morale is down the tubes. I wonder how many other workers will lose staff that will their job impossible to do efficiently. Now Trump is directing department heads to make a list of 50% of people to reduce in force (ie. fire) by March 13. Does anyone here think mass firings done to probationary employees, those taking early retirement and 50% of the rest is not going to cause dysfunction and Chaos? Maybe he should fire 50% of his secret service, white house staff, his traveling, the capitol police, housekeeping, food and cleaning staff and the staff of all his cabinet members. It’s only fair, right?

[iris lilies]

IL, You may be totally correct. However that is not the case being argued and what the courts will decide. What ever the courts decide, I still think the feds have better issues before them, that it's micro controlling states issues, and it's part of their cancel culture of DEI. It's certainly not even near the top of my concerns over the EO's Burning Down the House.

As I understand the argument in the PDF, an executive order is different from a federal law. Perhaps you can enlighten me on that, as I'm not sure. If rump ordered a ban on abortion, would it be federal law? And in the instance of my state, voters approved an amendment to the state constitution supposedly protecting the right to abortion. How would an executive order affect that?

"Minnesota State High School League: Executive Order 14201 does not preempt Minnesota law. Prohibiting students from participating in extracurricular activities consistent with their gender identity would violate the Minnesota Human Rights Act."

https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Op...5-20250220.pdf

I read through the Attorney General’s opinion about Minnesota’s Human Rights act that protects transgender persons from discrimination, meaning they are allowed to participate in any sport they choose. It does seem to be a simple case of executive order versus state statuettes and state statuettes always prevail,

so it does look as though the Maine Human Rights Act which seems similar to the Minnesota Human Rights Act allow boys to do whatever they like. I think that is unfortunate.

[flowerseverywhere]

Stories like these are why democrats are where they are

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...vertelemetry=1

Illinois had a healthcare plan for adults illegally in the country, paid for by taxpayers, while the schools have a budget crisis. And I am 100% sure that tax paying people are seeing their food become more expensive, and know American citizens who have no or subpar expensive health insurance.

all these things add up, like this ongoing discussion of biological men competing against women, and housing illegal people in hotels when many Americans can’t afford to visit NYC.

I certainly do not support what Trump/Elon are going about this, but many Americans are fed up as they see it getting harder for them to get by. It is shortsighted to think cutting half the federal workforce indiscriminately, as well as “entitlements” like social security and Medicare won’t drastically affect them.

[flowerseverywhere]

Also, if this is true, we should all be outraged

https://www.foxnews.com/us/doge-says...empty-facility

millions spent per month on an empty facility.

[Rogar]

I read through the Attorney General’s opinion about Minnesota’s Human Rights act that protects transgender persons from discrimination, meaning they are allowed to participate in any sport they choose. It does seem to be a simple case of executive order versus state statuettes and state statuettes always prevail,

so it does look as though the Maine Human Rights Act which seems similar to the Minnesota Human Rights Act allow boys to do whatever they like. I think that is unfortunate.

That's the way I read it, too. But as Donald said, we'll see you in court. Sometimes what's right and what's legal are not the same, but I do support the rights of the state to determine certain issues. Since Congress, the President's cabinet, and probably much of the judicial system seem to be under Donald's control, it's at least good to know there are some defenses against his EOs.