CITING “CIVIL UNREST” in American cities, the Department of Homeland Security has accelerated new regulations meant to expand the powers of a little-known federal police force.
The new rules drew scant notice when they were first proposed during the twilight of the Biden administration. Now, using language about “rioters” at federal facilities, the Trump administration is fast-tracking the rule changes — which critics say DHS could use as a pretext to go after protesters wearing frog costumes or making a racket on the streets of Chicago and Portland, Oregon.
Among the new rules was the criminalization of protesters wearing masks. The mask ban ostensibly applies only to those trying to conceal their identity during a crime, but the Trump administration has taken an expansive view of criminal behavior in protests that includes an array of First Amendment-protected activity.
I’d argue the only state qualified to “lead” anything is Washington State. California is way too political. Oregon is Purple with a loud rainbow dot around Portland.
The rest of the country is just laughable.
CASCADIA NOW!
Eh, WA has a very regressive tax system that needs a change to the state constitution to fix before it can be a shining paragon of goodness. That and the ludicrous cost of housing/living.
All of that is subjective though. Yes the cost is higher, but I get paid more. I looked at other cheaper states, but they don’t pay much.
I don’t agree with you at all on the taxes though. I basically pay zero state taxes.
That’s kinda the problem. We don’t have an income tax so everything is handled through sales and property (and miscellaneous fees and levys but I don’t want to get too granular). It disproportionately impacts lower-earning households who see a much greater proportion of their money lost to daily expenses or housing costs that raise far faster than their wages. We literally cannot enact a fair income tax because the atate constitution disallows anything but a flat rate which also disproportionately affects lower incomes.
I don’t agree that it’s the problem. I like that there is no income tax and I like that the taxes happen through property. If you own property, you have assets, you owe more than a person living in an apartment. I can understand how someone who is less of a socialist could find this offensive. I think the solution for all of this is to simply put a wealth tax on both the extremely wealthy and businesses.
Regarding sales tax specifically I very much disagree that it impacts lower earning families. Food is often not taxed at all.
Even other countries see California as a leader of the country. It’s called progressive
If anyone sees California as a leader of the country, they do not know anything about the country. Perhaps a few decades ago California was pushing a bit more than other states, but those days are long gone and… Nearly forgotten. Except all of those things that give you cancer… California is definitely a world leader on labeling Carcinogens
California’s problems are real—no one’s denying that, in fact that’s quite literally what I was saying. However, let’s be honest: the same states laughing at California’s struggles are the ones copying its policies while doing nothing to fix their own mess. They use its tech, stream its movies, and copy its climate policies… and then they’re sitting there saying, “You don’t know anything about the country.” They’re just not paying attention to the data.
Well… I don’t think any state is doing a very good job except for Washington state. And even that is not good enough to stay in the United States for once martial law happens (it will)