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Gren Whitman's avatar

Federal Harm Registry. What a good idea to document the myriad negative effects the Trump maladministration is having on millions. Rather than just to sigh and move on, take the time to register the harm you've experienxced or witnessed. Be active, not passive.

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Sharon Lawrence's avatar

See my comment

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Dr J's Sanity Space's avatar

Dan: This is an excellent development. Not only will it provide what you discuss, but it also provides (at least for me) looking ahead to saner times. Thanks for writing about this and providing hope for the future.

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Sharon Lawrence's avatar

See my comment

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Diane McComb's avatar

I hope we all understand we are a breath away from a military dictatorship. The Rs in Congress are doing absolutely nothing to stem his illegal actions, so we might not make it to midterms. I actually overheard someone musing that they wished the majority of people in this country were citizens. I looked at them in disbelief and politely said I was absolutely sure the majority of people in this country are citizens to which she said, "You know, white people" OMG I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Then she said, "I'm as woke as anyone". I just had to tell her I thought she was misinformed...

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Eric Greene's avatar

This needs to grow into a Truth and Reconciliation commission to hold the perpetrators accountable. Very proud of my County Executive to launch this initiative.

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George Figgs's avatar

Thank you Dan !!!

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bitchybitchybitchy's avatar

Well said, Dan. I have friends who may lose their jobs due to thr proposed closure of BARC or the relocation to other cities.

Add the harm from defunding crime prevention programs.

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Sharon Lawrence's avatar

I've taken three approaches to this problem. (1) This one is Texas specific but would be applicable to any red state. I list the third party/data sources that highlight the TRUE state of affairs in Texas (much of which I'm certain many Texans are unaware of), https://sharonlawrence.substack.com/p/elections-advice-to-texas-democratic.

(2) Since January, I've been posting "News to Know: Trump 2.0." Here's the latest edition, https://sharonlawrence.substack.com/p/news-to-know-trump-20-67c. I review about 100 news sites daily and pull out information about Trump 2.0 actions that I aren't getting covered in the mainstream media. A lot of these items come from specialty publications so they have the expert opinion that is needed.

A new feature, "News to Know; The Economy & Government Finances" is designed to track information about the state of the economy - which will be pivotal in 2025, 2026 & 2028 elections. I'm tracking a personal cost-of-living index so I can prove the impact, https://sharonlawrence.substack.com/p/elections-an-action-plan-for-voters-8be. I encourage others to do as well.

(3) As an added note, I'm doing some issue briefs as well. Here's the one on immigration, https://sharonlawrence.substack.com/p/issue-insights-immigration-part-2. Also did one on Albrego Kilmar Garcia. Those include some introductory material plus vetted resources.

All of this is designed to put the reliable information that people need at their fingertips. It's imperative that we combat disinformation, misinformation, lack of information, and the outright lies being told.

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Sharon Lawrence's avatar

The title "Harms Registry" is going to put the MAGA & independent voter off. I would simply label it "Impact of Trump Administration policies." Then let the facts speak for themselves. I'd also be careful about focusing on facts and documentation. Otherwise (as you see in social media comments) the people who MOST need to read this information just brush it off as "leftist whining."

This has to be carefully curated ....

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Dr J's Sanity Space's avatar

In the current environment, being “careful” is going to a gun fight with a knife. Those who would dismiss this registry because of what it is called are a lost cause as it is. They do not work with facts.

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Sharon Lawrence's avatar

I've been covering actions of the Trump administration for about 60+ hours a week since January 20. Based on what I've seen, in some cases we know that there is an impact ... but it's not clear if there's a "harm" yet. That's been the case with the changes in weather balloon releases - as there "may" be some technology coming online that makes the reduction in releases harmless .

In other cases, a billionaire entrepreneur might lose a $10,000 grant. There's an impact, but one would argue little, if any, harm. So you don't want to discourage people from reporting because they can't quantify a "harm" for themselves.

Also something that on its face might seem a bit innocent could be harmful in combination with other actions. That's why I caution against using the "harm" standard. ...

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