you and I have had many very good conversations over the years on the other site. Yes, but it's bugging me just a bit that I haven't as yet figured out what your PSU posting handle was. I may end up asking you to PM me with it! I don't take issue with your perspective on any of these topics. My only point was that right now, IMO democrats don't have someone who can steal back the issues that used to be theirs. True dat. Buttigieg is perhaps the most articulate of the Demos who have put themselves forward as candidates for the nomination, but I don't see a gay candidate getting the nomination, much less winning a general election. That may change in 30 years, but I don't see that happening today. Schiff is actually brilliant, but his stint managing the House impeachment proceedings against Trump has stamped him as too partisan for Republicans to stomach. I actually like Delaware Senator Chris Coons quite a bit. He's smart and he's very good at cultivating and maintaining relationships with Senators of both parties, but he has not, to my knowledge, expressed any interest in the presidency. Newsom has his flaws, but he is the most likely candidate at this point. But a whole lot can change between now and 2028. If you talk to democrats, and I do as I'm sure you do also, very few are for the issues mentioned = transgenders, illegal migrants, antisemitism - but when they go into the voting booth they pull"D". And, republicans are no better. I'd wager that a large % of Trump voters would rather have voted for someone else, but given the options he was the lesser of two evils. And, again IMO, there have been too many elections that have come down to that. Democrats should have won in 2016 and 2024 but they had crummy candidates. A lot of American voters are uniformly tribal in their voting habits. That has ossified over the last couple of decades as the party platforms have diverged much more than they used to. I voted for Reagan in 1984 and Bush Sr. in 1988. And I have voted for some Republicans (e.g., Schwarzenegger and Hayakawa) )in state and local elections. But I don't see myself pulling the lever for a Republican while that party is lined up behind Trump in such monolithic fashion. There is no legislative check and balance on Trump at all right now. The GOP caucuses in the House and Senate do whatever he tells them to do. But that will change at some point.
Tax billionaires, great idea. How do we do that? There are less than a handful of Americans who make $1billion/year (if any). I define a billionaire as someone who has at least $1 billion in assets. If they have that amount of assets, trust me, they have a whole lot of income, too. And, we don't have a wealth tax, and there have been numerous debates about whether a wealth tax is even constitutional. I'd be all for a "surcharge" on incomes over a certain level - maybe $10million or so - as we've done that before- as long as the money went for deficit reduction. I don't think we'd get a majority of democrats to vote for a wealth tax...I might be wrong!
Now you would know, but I read that those that are in the country illegally are not entitled to free legal counsel (a state might provide funding). True?? I'm not aware of any blanket rule prohibiting illegal aliens from receiving free legal counsel. But they are most likely to get it from some NGO, not the government itself. there are plenty of lawyers and legal organizations that provide legal services on a pro bono basis. Most county bar associations do this. I have volunteered with a couple of them. They can have a day in front of an immigration judge but on their dime. Immigrants generally arrive here in the U.S. with little in the way of assets, but they are typically able to get legal representation on a pro bono basis from one of more volunteer legal service organizations. (How about that! Lawyers volunteering their services!) I'm all for due process, but, if you're in the country illegally, then you're in the country illegally. Something like 95% of asylum cases are denied, so that says something.
I've lived overseas and I am empathetic to the desire for folks to come to the US. But, we're $37 trillion in debt, adding another $3trillion over the next 10 years (bet it's more), and borrowing money to house, feed, educate, and provide medical care for people who aren't supposed to be here . And yet aren't providing sufficiently for some of our own citizens. I understand your position.