What Did We Have To Lose?

“What the hell do you have to lose?” Donald Trump asked of an all white audience in Ohio and Michigan in reference to Black Americans. Not once, did he ask the question in front of a predominantly Black audience and I’m sure the reason he didn’t, he knew he’d get an answer he wouldn’t like. So, this was his campaign question and it was re-asserted with a meeting of Black lawmakers in Washington with the Congressional Black Caucus. Now, 11 months into his installed position at the White House, not only can he not answer the question, he’s demonstrated he doesn’t care what the answer is or might have been.

Not only have Black Americans not gained anything from his being elected through the rigged, Russian interference, all Americans have lost — all those who are not rich and not old white men.

The Traitor has demonstrated his loathing of women, people of color and those who are financially strapped through no fault of their own, other than the circumstances of their birth. He accused over 16 women of lying when they lay accusations of sexual misconduct at his feet — disdaining them as if they were a pieces of garbage and only chose women to serve in his cabinet who are for the most part — pretty subservient. Although he had at least one strong defender in the White House — Omarosa — she has since been booted out and that only leaves — Ben Carson — the total belly-waxer who grovels every time Traitor Don looks his way.

But it’s not just the women and the Black folks who have lost. When we look at everything he’s done so far and God help us if the Republican-led Congress won’t wake up and smell the stench — we see one thing pretty clearly — Donald Trump only cares about Donald Trump and what he wants and to hell with anyone else and the Constitution.

Through the storms and the rain from Harvey and Maria and the fires in California, we discover that addressing catastrophic situations are not his strong suit. In fact, from his delayed responses, it would appear that he had to be reminded that these events were occurring. The same is true of Heather Heyer’s murder, the massacre in Las Vegas, and in the small town in Sutherland Springs, Texas — his remarks were perfunctory, not comforting as if he hated the interruption of his daily tweet rants and golf games. He was rude to a Gold-Star widow, Myeisha Johnson, on the phone (at least that was her perception) and then he attempted to belittle Congresswoman Fredericka Wilson who was with Myeisha when she got the phone call from Trump.

Leaders from the Historical Black Colleges were invited to the Oval Office for for a photo op and after making empty promises, they were no longer needed and nothing he said to them has been fulfilled. They lost needed funding to continue their mission to provide quality educational opportunities for a predominantly Black student body.

He’s rolled back consumer protection regulations that now allow coal mines to poison streams and other water systems; manufacturers are free to pollute the air and manufacture pesticides that cause brain damage and create toxic soil in food production.

He’s pulled out of the Paris Accord agreement regarding global warming because his limited ability and understanding of science has convinced him, the United States doesn’t need to participate.

He’s insulted world leaders and attempted to bully them into doing what he wanted with an assist from Nikki Haley, who apparently has joined the cult of stupidity.

His tax cut scam— benefits only the very wealthy and corporations — those earning less than $100K a year will have to suffer the consequences of not making more money and in paying increased taxes — on a graduated time scale. And it looks like — if Paul Ryan has his way — those of us who are older, Senior Citizens will lost Social Security benefits and Medicare benefits. A whole of lot losing going on from this corrupt administration and Congress.

Over 9 million children have lost access to medical care and another 13 million will suffer from the loss of healthcare insurance with the removal of the “ACA mandate.”

Native Inhabitants are losing protected lands (national monument regions being shrunk it size) because of the greed of the wealthy donors so they can “drill for oil” and uranium.

Alaskans are losing precious wildlife area — again for greed — focusing on the rich, not the land.

Puerto Ricans have lost much — access to electrical power, needed medicine and food supplies because of Maria and the Traitor in the Oval Office doesn’t seem to concerned about them.

America has lost her standing on the global stage because of his ineptness and incompetence and if he has his way, many parents will lose their children in a war that does not have to be, but will because the Traitor is a bully and has no common sense or decency.

Many families will lose their homes due to the inflation that is bound to occur with the lopsided tax code passed by greedy Republicans who care more about money than their constituents.

Access to a quality education is lost because of his lack of education (how he obtained a degree is a mystery, but most of us have concluded — daddy paid for it). Betsy DeVos is the worst person in the world to head the Department of Education because she knows nothing about public education and could care less.

Traitor Don admits all his cabinet members are his billionaire buddies (or least those who contributed millions to his campaign) because he “couldn’t have a poor person in a cabinet position.” Many of us could argue that point effectively, but it would be a waste of breath and time.

Some people have lost sleep since November 8, 2018 and a desire to live — anticipating the worse — every morning they wake.

So, what did we have to lose? It appears quite a bit — a sense of security and stability — since none exists in the White House. Hatred and bigotry abound because it spills over from the White House, unfettered, unfiltered as anyone who dares to disagree with him, is belittled or undermined.

No peace, no compassion, no empathy, no real leadership — that’s what we lost when Russian interference and foolish people decided to elect a reality TV has-been rather than a competent woman — simply because she was a woman and her last name was Clinton.

Though we have lost — some of what we had and some of what will never be — we don’t have to lose more. We can take it all back — by voting for Everyone who runs as a Democrat in 2018 and 2020 — The Blue Vote — will at least give us back a sense of security and our rightful place on the global stage — without influence from Russia or greedy Republicans.

We can stop the madness — from the impotent Republican majority and the traitor in the White House, but we have to take off the blinders that hinder the truth of the matter and put our feelings aside for the good of America — all of us, not just some of us.

Purpose of Truth!

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 NIV

There’s so much behind this statement from Jesus that we should hold fast to that neither time nor space will be sufficient for the elaboration I could make, but I’ll go as far as I can, within the constraints that I have.

Jesus was talking to the Jews who believed He was who He said He was and He could do what He said He could do. But let’s go back a verse. “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” John 8:31. “If you hold to my teaching…” Whose holding onto His teachings? Certainly not the Republicans–who once claimed to the party of “moral majority” and who are now–the party of American Terrorists Inc.

I could start and end with the Tax Scam Bill that only benefits the rich, but there’s so much more. First of all, poor people and most of the middle class–don’t earn enough money to benefit from the repeal of the estate tax. We don’t private air crafts, golf courses or wineries. You know who does? Yep–you got it–trump crime family! And it doesn’t stop at them–Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell–the GOP leadership are also in bed with the Russians and since they fear losing their donors–Murdoch, Mercer and Koch brothers–more than their constituents–who actually voted for them, they are just as guilty as the trumped (I’ll explain in a paragraph or two) crime family. In fact, only one GOP senator, Bob Corker–cared enough about his constituents to vote against the monstrosity tax bill that will eventually be responsible for the deaths of millions.

Don’t take my word for it, go read the bill for yourself  https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s1 (it’s only 522 pages long) and then–using critical thinking skills–if accessible–decide for yourself.

But while you wade through the muddled waters let me summarize some points of interest. The elimination of the ACA mandate will lead to higher insurance premium costs for those of us who are unfortunate enough to use health insurance. But remember–we’re also the ones who can’t afford the coverage we pay for as it is. College students will no longer be able to deduct interest paid on student loans and if they receive scholarships, the scholarships will be taxed as income which will essentially wipe out any benefit for poor families who usually (not always) apply for and get the scholarships because they are smart enough to go to college, but families are not wealthy enough to pay for it. Charitable deductions will decrease because it is usually the wealthy who establish charitable foundations and just about anyone can contribute, but now–those contributions can no longer be deducted. Even with the decreased tax formula for corporations–they have already said, they would NOT use savings to invest in business, but will distribute to shareholders or CEOs as bonuses. How’s that helping the working class, again?

Then, there are all those other little nuggets that make Republicans spasm in ecstasy. Now, a fetus can be declared eligible for a 529 deduction, and for the purposes of circumventing Roe v Wade, GOP asserts life begins at conception in order to make women liable for having an abortion. Itemized deductions have disappeared along with state and local tax deductions, home equity, medical expenses and so much more. Now, remember I said there would be an increase in deducting estate taxes and that includes gift taxes. So, I guess for purposes of simplicity–IF the poor were rich, they could gift their money to their children and not pay taxes on it. But the rich get richer with changes to the AMT (alternative minimum tax rate).

Wow! Just found a huge break for poor people! Because we’re going to be paying more in taxes, GOP decided to make sure we would file by providing free tax filing through IRS (already in place, but don’t expect to get back more).

This could go on for days but let me get back to the trump crime family and how they benefit. A family corporation gets deductions and all sorts of breaks up to $25,000,000. Now, how many of you are making $25,000,000 a year in a family business? They’re also the ones who get the breaks on owning the wineries, the golf courses, and the air craft maintenance. Since we have no idea of what their taxes look like, we’ll never know whether they exceed the limit or if in fact they’re paying their fair share (fair as defined by the Greedy Old Predators).

The truth is–though the GOP claim to be Christians (followers of Christ), they know not how to do what He said. What did He tell us to do? Defend the rights of the poor and the needy; feed and house them (Matthew 25), love all–unconditionally (the greatest commandment) and to know–there will come a reckoning day when we’ll all stand before Him and give an account of what we’ve done in the earth. Some–(GOP primarily) who think they’ll get into heaven will be surprised when they hear, “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I NEVER knew you.” They have forgotten one very important truth–it is more difficult for a “rich man to get into heaven than a poor one” primarily because the poor–spend more time trying to help others than the rich who worship their money. Don’t believe me–do some research! How about this one little tidbit–the trump foundation–collected money from others for the ostensible purpose of helping those in need, and yet they used the money for themselves–a football, a portrait, buying favors with elected officials–all the things–poor people don’t do.

And let’s not forget how we arrived at this place–loss of integrity and honor from elected leaders–the evangelical community–the ones who are supposed to truly reverence God and His Word–lied to their congregations about trump being a Christian and in some cases, beat them over the head with the notion that as a Christian–they HAD to vote for trump. Pushing a personal agenda by manipulation is not exactly the Will of God–as they promoted. The Will of God–as bestowed upon us all to choose is accepting the fact that God is a God of choice, not manipulation. He does not and will not take “choice” from us and makes clear there are consequences for our choices–good or bad. We’re now in the “horrible consequence” phase because of weak-minded individuals who chose to join a cult and worship the demagogue–trump. This cult supports and encourages corruption at the highest level (evil in high places), sexual predators and pedophiles and wants us all to look the other way–when treason is about to be laid out before the nation. They attempt to “gaslight” us with screams of “fake news” when the only groups reporting fake news is Fox News, Breitbart and Infowars (as well as trumptv). These groups only present opinions without any journalistic integrity and they certainly don’t represent Christ-like values promoting bigotry and hatred.

Okay, I guess I have to end this, but I wanted to make some truths clear so people would be “free” to read, research and judge a matter for themselves, rather than just accept the talking points of a corrupt group of Greedy Old Predators. I believe America can do so much better without those professing to be Christians and aren’t with those who are and live the life so all will know–who truly knows and trusts Jesus Christ.

I’m Mary Hall-Rayford and I’m exploring a possible run for office as the next President of the United States in 2020. I think I have what we need as Everyday American who can serve the needs of all other Everyday Americans–fairly, with justice and integrity and honor intact. Watch for me! facebook.com/YesIAm2020