UNSTACKED! #14
“It’s Not Just Bribery”
”Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar. It’s not
just bribery, it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom.”
~ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
By now EVERYONE’s seen the headlines, “Trump administration poised to
accept ‘palace in the sky’ as a gift for Trump from Qatar”. My first reaction was
Oh No, No, No you won’t take “free” stuff from a foreign government, with the
“free” part being up for debate and the value of the “gift” worth 400 million. All
of this from a country that is not our friend and provides huge amounts of money
and support for Hamas. The Qatari’s are all about buying influence and they see
a man who wants to be bought. Josh Marshall, TPM added, “My feeling about
Qatar gifting Trump a 747 is simply that it is just embarrassing for the United
States…the US doesn’t need a gift from a little country of a used plane that is
out of production and largely used for freight.” Whatever glee I get from the
freight line and the image of 47 as cargo in a hand-me-down aircraft, I can’t stop
asking, “What about the Foreign Emoluments Clause?”
“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And 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.”
There were so many things that the founding fathers left to the character of the
men (and someday women) who would inhabit the office, but the one thing they
were very clear to spell out, their red line if you will, was to guard against the
return of a monarchy and the corruption that can come from that abuse of power.
Presents of any kind from Kings or foreign states cannot be accepted without the
consent of Congress and it’s high time they intervene with this serial violator of
the Constitution. According to the Emoluments Clause, the short-fingered
vulgarian is not permitted to profit from his office by accepting so much as a pen,
without the Congress’ approval. Just say NO to the plane, Donald!
In UNSTACKED! #13, I commented on 47’s unchecked grift and attached a link
to Elizabeth Warren’s list of his first 100 days of corruption. Then Senator Chris
Murphy posted that 47’s biggest scandal is his “running of a back door bribery
scheme, where any CEO or foreign oligarch can send him money secretly
through his crypto coin scam, in exchange for favors. All are truly historic
examples of his corruption, but the plane has to be the clearest, most direct
example of it.
Nearly every American, even MAGA should be able to follow along. When ‘Far-
right’ conspiracist Laura Loomer, usually a very vocal supporter of 47, slammed
the move, with this comment, “I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for
him. But, I have to call a spade a spade,” she wrote, adding it is “really going to
be such a stain on the admin if this is true. And I say that as someone who would
take a bullet for Trump. I’m so disappointed.” Ok, setting aside the weirdness of
this comment, when you’ve lost the muck-o-sphere of Laura Loomer and
apparently even conservative podcaster, Ben Shapiro, you’re in real hot water
with the base.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a longtime critic of 47, added “Didn’t Hunter
Biden once sell a painting and get investigated for four years?” Right? if this was
someone with the last name, Biden, accepting anything of value from a foreign
government, from anyone for that matter, there would be Republicans running
down the halls of the capital with their hair on fire, screaming “Biden Crime
Family”! Instead they’re either politely “concerned” or laughing this off with jokes
about sweeping the plane for bugs.
And in his own strange effort to divert attention away from the grift, I mean gift,
the short-fingered vulgarian went on what MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell has
described as a “humiliation tour” of the Middle East. But the “Last Word” anchor
also suggested that 47 is “too stupid to know it.” The biggest irony according to
Lawrence is that, “The president of the United States, who just last week was
telling American kids how many toys they could have for Christmas, is now
humiliating himself with those Middle Eastern dictators by showing them just how
much he covets their toys.”
Force Fields and Resistance
We’ve all spent countless hours even before January 20th reading, listening,
writing, plotting and protesting in the face of this onslaught from 47, Musk, DOGE
and Republicans. It’s so easy to become overwhelmed and then discouraged.
Our sanity demands that there are times we just can’t keep up with the news, nor
should we, but as tempting as it is to check out, we also can’t permanently look
away. We can’t cede our power to the authoritarians. What is the equilibrium
between driving Forces and Restraining Forces? Forces for good. Forces
against. And some forces that are mixed.” This excellent piece on force field
analysis from Choose Democracy is worth a full reading. You can find it linked
here:
https://substack.com/redirect/40249ac0-5e46-463e-a934-390f286803b2?
j=eyJ1IjoidW5wd2cifQ.hDF9MCgN7XQJd8uZdzsOGF_WaMGiK4oN2LuhuOtxQ
VQ
Here’s a sampling:
“It’s worth pausing here to note our feelings in these tense times. Many days it’s
easy to ask “Are we winning? Are we losing?” Like a basketball game, many of
us do a kind of score keeping about how many points are we down? But, just to
walk further into the sports analogy, this is more like soccer — where a lot of the
game isn’t about immediate scoring but about positioning, repositioning, quick
advances, quick retreats. Progress may not always be visible or immediate, but
that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.”
Friends, we are the counter force to this administration’s injustice and what we’re
doing matters!
TRIGGERED
Yesterday there was an important hearing on the mark up for potential cuts to
Medicaid. I managed to listen through three hours of testimony. The CBO
(Congressional Budget Office) estimates that 13.7 million people could lose their
health care if these cuts are passed. One of the Republican arguments in favor
of cuts, was that 1.4 million undocumented immigrants are enrolled in Medicaid.
While that would be illegal in any case, Representative Alexandria Ocasio
Cortez, asked, if the number is 1.4 million, then why are you kicking 13.7 million
off of Medicaid? Great question!
For those of us living in Ohio, these cuts to Medicaid are particularly troubling.
If even one dollar of funding is cut to the current federal subsidy of 90%, it will
trigger an automatic and nearly immediate cut to the Ohioans who are enrolled
in the Medicaid expansion program. That’s 770,000 Ohioans who will lose their
health coverage. There are efforts, right now, to pressure Ohio legislators into
removing the trigger language from the Budget.
Background on Medicaid Coverage in Ohio from the Kaiser Foundation
(KFF)
“Today, 94% of Ohio residents are covered by health insurance, one of the state’s
strongest health metrics. According to the Ohio Department of Medicaid, 770,000
Ohio residents are covered by Medicaid Expansion, about 6.5% of the state
population. If these people lost their health insurance immediately, the number of
people without health insurance in the state would double in an instant.”
“The costs of this loss would compound over time. People without health
insurance are less likely to get preventative screenings, leading them to more
frequent emergency room use and more costly treatments. Evidence shows
Medicaid expansion improved financial security, promoted tobacco cessation,
and reduced rates of heart disease and premature death.”
“Medicaid is not cheap. But the evidence we have on it suggests it pays
dividends to society. Legislators should think hard about the consequences of
kicking 770,000 Ohio residents back into the ranks of the uninsured.”
UNSTACKED! Action
Today, a grassroots organizing group, NOBLE delivered letters with hundreds of
Ohioan’s signatures to every state Senator, asking for the removal of the trigger
language. Thank you to those of you who signed the letter. Our voices this week
will help to amplify and strengthen their message. The Senate is projecting a
deadline of Memorial Day to complete their work on the state budget. This
timeline, coupled with the federal push for cuts to Medicaid, makes this item a
priority for action.
If you live in Ohio call the Medicaid Committee Chair and Members linked below
and ask them to REMOVE the Medicaid trigger language in the state budget.
Not in Ohio, these cuts will have ramifications across the entire country. Call
your Congressional Reps with messages to stop the cuts to Medicaid. For those
of you with Democratic Representatives, send them a message of thanks for
their efforts to save this program from devastating cuts.
https://ohiosenate.gov/committees/medicaid
Committee Chair Senator Mark Romanchuk – (614) 466-7505
With Readiness and Refusal!

Unstacked