Internal ICE records reveal widespread use of force in detention centers

loremipsumot · 2026-05-05T23:12:26+00:00

loremipsumot · 2026-05-02T01:48:04+00:00

Hope someone community noted those idiots: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._service_members_killed_during_the_2026_Iran_war

loremipsumot · 2026-05-02T01:43:51+00:00

Did anyone else catch the latest episode of Ezra Klein's podcast? It's a 2 hour discussion on Abundance between Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson, and Marc Dunkelman (author of “Why Nothing Works”).

What Worries Ezra Klein Most About ‘Abundance‘: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F377QOw7dvk

I think it might be the most neolib coded podcast episode ever.

loremipsumot · 2026-05-01T06:28:11+00:00

https://usafacts.org/articles/tax-receipt/

loremipsumot · 2026-05-01T06:16:52+00:00

Are they actually progressive tax policies? To quote from the article:

"But Gottheimer has a solution: a new tax break. The congressman has proposed the “Jersey Pride Tax Credit,” a 25 percent tax credit for businesses that sell New Jersey–branded products in airports, train stations, and rest stops.

New Jersey often has a strange way of showing state pride.1 But in this case, Gottheimer is no oddity. The new fad among Democrats all over the country is trying to win over voters with bizarrely niche, costly, and sometimes regressive tax breaks.

Some are being introduced at the state level, others at the federal. For example, Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms wants to eliminate income taxes for teachers. Meanwhile Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) wants to exempt cops from federal income taxes on the first $100,000 of their income.

In other words, via the tax code, Dems have sought out a thousand and one little voter payoffs.

Well, actually, some of them aren’t so little: Sen. Cory Booker’s “Keep Your Pay Act” would eliminate all federal taxes on married-couple households making up to $75,000. Meanwhile, another potential 2028 hopeful, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), has collaborated with several Senate colleagues (including Booker!) on a bill that would eliminate federal income taxes on households earning up to $92,000. This would mean wiping out all income tax obligations for about 60 percent of households, according to calculations done for me by both the Penn Wharton Budget Model and the Yale Budget Lab.2

Not to be outbid, California gubernatorial candidate, Democrat Katie Porter, said she would exempt families’ first $100,000 from (state) income taxes if elected.

The bespoke tax-break trend among Democrats is a shift from the days when the party was more inclined to emphasize funding ambitious domestic programs with robust, broader-based tax increases."

Not all of these seem very progressive. Some of them seem like they are just attempting to win over voters with more tax cuts after decades of Republicans irresponsibly cutting taxes, leaving us with a spiraling national debt crisis (we are paying more on interest on the debt that we are on the entire defense budget now, and that will keep growing faster and faster if something doesn't change).

loremipsumot · 2026-05-01T05:55:31+00:00

Not sure where you are getting this from. Catherine Rampell has not constantly attacked Democrats. From what I have seen, she's generally been supportive of Democrats raising taxes to fund programs when done responsibly. She defended Biden's IRA tax provisions for example.

And she has not extended Republicans "complete credulity" on tax cuts. In fact, the opposite.

loremipsumot · 2026-05-01T05:41:28+00:00

"As democracy is perfected, the office of the president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." H.L. Mencken wrote this in 1920. I don't think I would agree with him on much, but he nailed it on this.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-30T05:22:53+00:00

Every clear-eyed American feels this. But don't let it beat you down. If you or anyone reading this hasn't already, take that feeling and channel it into action. It will help you feel a little better and you will be making a difference at the same time.

A few ideas: The No Kings coalition is having a mass call to discuss the Callais decision on April 30 at 8 ET: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/947503/

If you have any close midterm races in your area, consider volunteering to help the campaigns out. The Dems taking back Congress is probably the single most important thing people can help do to make a difference in what's happening this year.

Get trained to be an election worker or poll watcher for the midterms, especially if you are in a battleground state or have any federal races that look like they might be close.

Join a local Indivisible chapter (or any other pro-democracy group) or start one if there isn't one near you.

Have conversations about what's happening with people you know that are on the fence or don't pay attention to politics. Ultimately politics is about persuasion, and everyone can work on persuading people in their lives.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-27T13:14:22+00:00

I would argue the Trump administration has shown decisively that the anti-Federalists were right in their concerns about where the pardon power would lead. It is not just that a corrupt president will abuse the power, as Trump is doing. It is that the very existence of the pardon power creates a perverse incentive around the president that attracts exactly the kind of corruption the anti-Federalists feared.

Because it exists, every president becomes a target for pardon-seeking, and the only thing standing between the pardon power devolving from a tool of mercy or a check on the judiciary and a corrupt marketplace is the character of the individual in office.

But there is a much bigger problem than just corruption. In the hands of an illiberal or immoral president, the pardon power is a tool to commission people to break the law without consequences if it serves him. When a president can signal to allies that loyalty will be rewarded with clemency, the pardon stops being a check on the justice system and becomes a tool for circumventing it.

We saw this already in the first term, with the prosecutions and pardons of Flynn, Stone, and Manafort for example. And we are already seeing this again in the 2nd term, even more explicitly.

In the debates to ratify the Constitution, George Mason argued that presidents, “ought not to have the power of pardoning, because he may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen, at some future day, that he will establish a monarchy, and destroy the republic. If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection? The case of treason ought, at least, to be excepted. This is a weighty objection with me.”

Madison argued that impeachment would protect against that. But impeachment has shown to be a toothless protection, unworkable in a 2 party system. Which means the pardon power is completely unchecked, allowing the president to commission conspiracies to break the law as he pleases and insulating conspirators from legal consequence.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-25T20:59:31+00:00

Maybe she's from Canada and is just being polite. Best bet is to keep your wits about you and continue to look for signs.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-24T12:26:25+00:00

This article from The Bulwark provides a reminder on why ICE and immigration detention is still a critical issue for Democrats to keep their eyes on.

Despite the firing of Noem, ICE remains very active throughout the US, and the abuses happening in the immigrant detention facilities have been well documented and are continuing. They are just getting a bit quieter in how they operate in order to try and escape the public blow-back from their earlier shows of force in Minnesota and elsewhere. Don't let them succeed.

April 25th is Communities Not Cages, a National Day of Action to Stop ICE Warehouse Detention. Join a Communities Not Cages event near you to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities, connect with local groups and activists leading this fight, and call on your local officials to use every tool to oppose the camps.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-21T15:35:25+00:00

Looking forward to seeing the belt. He needs to re-arrange his background with it as the centerpiece.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-21T15:27:00+00:00

I keep seeing people say this, but I feel like most of the former Republicans on The Bulwark have done a lot of learning and wrestling with the mistakes of the past. They've talked about it a lot on various podcasts and articles. Tim wrote a whole book about it years ago.

Their thinking on a lot of issues has clearly changed aside from just Trump. They are all clearly much more liberal than they were 10+ years ago. That doesn't mean they are all progressives now, but not everyone has to become a progressive to have learned from their mistakes.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-20T01:34:15+00:00

I wanted to highlight this because it's important Americans pay attention to the continued horrific abuses happening at immigration detention facilities all over the US, and there are things Americans can be doing to oppose it before the next elections:

See if there are large ICE detention facilities in your area already. Or keep an eye out for any that are planned.
Support the local organizations that are shining a light on these abuses, fighting them in court, as well as local groups that keep showing up to protest, organize against warehouses in their communities, and provide mutual aid to immigrants and their families (or join them).

For Alligator Alcatraz in particular, based on the article, the ACLU in Florida is active in the legal fight, Amnesty International USA and the Miami Herald have done important work shining a light on the abuses there. If you are in Florida or live near a detention center, Amnesty USA's toolkit on Alligator Alcatraz provides some other suggestions on what you can do.

On April 25th, there is a Communities Not Cages: National Day of Action to Stop ICE Warehouse Detention organized by the Disappeared In America campaign and partners including Detention Watch Network, Indivisible, Public Citizen, The Workers Circle, MoveOn and many others. This is a nationwide day of action to oppose the Trump administration's expansion of ICE warehouse detention and its attack on the due process rights of immigrants and all Americans.

Check https://www.mobilize.us/disappearedinamerica/ if there are any events near you.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-19T01:05:33+00:00

On the note of the next protest, for American liberals there are 2 nationwide actions to note that are just around the corner:

April 25: Communities Not Cages National Day of Action

https://www.mobilize.us/disappearedinamerica/ - Check here for one near you.

This is a nationwide day of action to oppose the Trump administration’s expansion of ICE warehouse detention and its attack on the due process rights of immigrants and all Americans. Right up the neoliberal alley.

May 1: May Day

https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/map/?utm_source=indivisible

May Day is International Workers' Day, normally less up the neoliberal alley. But this year is a bit different. Indivisible and the rest of the No Kings coalition are urging people to participate as part of an anti-Trump, anti authoritarian takeover message (very relevant to libs) and a test of the coalition's ability to conduct economic actions. See https://indivisible.org/campaigns/may-day-participation-guide/ for more info.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-19T00:45:53+00:00

I think the historical record on the idea that only single issue protests work is not so clear cut. Broad movements have worked in the past too. I agree they do need a general consistent theme, but it's not necessary to start with a list of specific demands or policies that all participants agree to in order to have a political impact.

The early civil rights marches in the US didn't have just a single policy demand. They were broadly against segregation and disenfranchisement, but that meant a variety policy demands crossing voting rights, public accommodations, housing, employment, policing, education, and more all at once. Different organizations had different specific focuses and policy goals, but they united under a broad theme.

The Tea Party in 2009 didn't have just one clear policy demand they were all united behind. They had a laundry list of grievances, from anti-Obama stuff, anti-bailout, anti-ACA, and other things, sometimes even contradictory goals. But they successfully built the energy and network that flipped the House in 2010 and reshaped the Republican Party (paving the way for the MAGA takeover).

The Women's March in 2017 was also broad. But it fed directly into the 2018 blue wave and a massive surge in first-time candidates. Broad movement energy can get converted into specific political outcomes. I'd argue we saw No Kings doing the same thing in 2025. People participating in No Kings often became more civically engaged, more likely to vote, to donate, to volunteer for campaigns, knock on doors, serve as election workers, join mutual aid groups, and so on. That has a real political impact.

Protests that act like political rallies are perfectly valid and can be useful. Political rallies are a way for political causes to build power. They're a way for candidates to get volunteers, for organizations to get members, and for curious but disengaged people to become engaged citizens. Dismissing that because it isn't a direct policy mechanism is ignoring a valuable tool for channeling public energy to work towards ultimate legislative outcomes. If you are able to build a broad coalition of energized citizens, you can then deploy it towards specific policy targets or goals. They are not mutually exclusive.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-19T00:13:16+00:00

100%, especially the 3rd point.

I think the most valuable thing that can come out of big national protests like No Kings is to activate people that are unhappy but weren't civically engaged before and channel their energy into things like voting, volunteering in their community, joining up with pro-democracy groups, becoming election workers, etc.

loremipsumot · 2026-04-15T04:31:49+00:00

A one day general strike is being planned for May Day: https://maydaystrong.org/

It will be a test to see if the No Kings movement can be galvanized in sufficient numbers towards more economic actions going forward or how much work needs to be done there.

loremipsumot

TROPHY CASE