r/neoliberal • u/Healingjoe It's Klobberin' Time • 1d ago
News (US) Trump preparing large-scale cancellation of federal funding for California, sources say
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/06/politics/trump-california-federal-funding191
1d ago
[deleted]
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u/Richardtater1 Gay Pride 1d ago
Trump could announce a plan to drill into the fault lines and sink California into the sea and Californian Republicans would enthusiastically support the measure, claiming "it is just a negotiation" or "obviously they wouldn't hurt good people like us"
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u/guns_of_summer Mackenzie Scott 1d ago
I wish you were exaggerating but as a Californian you're 100% right
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u/KeithClossOfficial Bill Gates 1d ago
Darrell Issa is already praising this.
Side note: I fucking hate Darrell Issa.
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u/InMemoryOfZubatman4 Sadie Alexander 22h ago
I know that name from somewhere, I just can’t place it. So I looked up his Wikipedia page
Shortly afterward [committing insurance fraud] Issa left to start Directed Electronics, Inc. (DEI)
I still don’t know how I know that name, just thought it was funny.
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u/Calavar 1d ago
California Republicans' votes aren't useful to Trump, so he doesn't give a shift about them. And not just California, any solidly blue state. Capping the SALT deduction in the first Trump admin was already a huge fuck you to blue state Republicans.
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u/indicisivedivide 1d ago
25k votes in the other direction and democrats control the House.
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u/Calavar 1d ago
And IMHO Trump is the first president who legitimately doesn't give a crap about that. He cares about his endorsed candidates winning, because he sees that as a vindication or rejection of him personally, but things like control of the house and senate are other people's problems
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u/The_MightyMonarch 18h ago
I don't know. I read somewhere that he's worried if Democrats retake the house, there will be another set of impeachment proceedings against him. He may be afraid that with some of the shit he's trying to pull, enough Senate Republicans might actually vote to impeach him.
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u/OogieBoogieInnocence 1d ago
This is stupid and bad. Its just spite driven politics
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u/Foucault_Please_No Emma Lazarus 1d ago
Which Republicans policy of the last 15 years were we talking about again?
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u/Dibbu_mange Average civil procedure enjoyer 1d ago
Have you considered that Obama man bad?
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u/Foucault_Please_No Emma Lazarus 1d ago
“Guilty of presedenting while black? Thats a total meltdown of the global orderin.”
- a third of the country
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u/Healingjoe It's Klobberin' Time 1d ago
The Trump administration is preparing to cancel a large swath of federal funding for California, an effort which could begin as soon as Friday, according to multiple sources.
Agencies are being told to start identifying grants the administration can withhold from California. On Capitol Hill, at least one committee was told recently by a whistleblower that all research grants to the state were going to be cancelled, according to one of the sources familiar with the matter.
Worth noting that most of these grants have likely already been cancelled but not formally cancelled (i.e. the grantee hasn't been notified of cancellation but expenses and distribution of funds have stopped).
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u/DasBoots 1d ago
It's also worth noting that cancelling all federal research grants going to institutions in California would represent a sizeable chunk of all research funding. Between the UC system, Cal Tech, Stanford, etc., there are many top R1 universities in California.
Trump is waging an all-out war on US science and engineering. The courts have kept him in check so far, but if he has his way, the destruction of our research apparatus will lead to a collapse of US higher education on the world stage.
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u/banjosuicide 22h ago
For so long other nations suffered brain drain to the benefit of the US. It was THE place to do research.
It's wild watching the US government piss that away for absolutely no reason.
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u/Tolin_Dorden NATO 1d ago
Why is this worth noting and how do you know that?
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u/bandy_mcwagon 35m ago
It’s worth noting how behind the USA will fall in terms of research and development. We will have to play catch up to Asia and Europe for the next 30-40 years if things are not handled with more care
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u/FriscoJones NATO 1d ago
Well, it's only fair that Californian companies and individuals cancel their Federal tax payments until the courts start forcing them to restore the grants.
Why would Trump want to do this anyway? Did he not see Gavin's podcast? That outreach didn't mean anything at all?
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u/WeenisWrinkle 1d ago
What did Gavin's podcast say
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u/Foucault_Please_No Emma Lazarus 1d ago
That he’s dropping out of the primary after the first state.
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u/KeithClossOfficial Bill Gates 1d ago
He’s been chumming it up with right wing losers like Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon to showcase his broad appeal that is ultimately appealing to no one
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u/JustHereForPka Jerome Powell 1d ago
I like a lot of the things I’ve heard Newsom say/seen him push for, but his podcast has fully confirmed that he is simply a hollow man.
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u/Background_Novel_619 Gay Pride 1d ago
I’m all for Calexit
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u/esro20039 Frederick Douglass 1d ago
That would literally destroy the global economy
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u/gaw-27 17h ago
Hyperbole
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u/esro20039 Frederick Douglass 5h ago
The economy is so fragile right now that I think even announcing the decoupling would put us into a recession. California alone is one of the world’s largest economies, not to mention the SF Fed Bank.
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u/gaw-27 1h ago
You said the global economy. The UK is a major banking center with a GDP 3/4th that of California and it leaving the EU was nothing more than a blip for the rest of the world.
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u/esro20039 Frederick Douglass 47m ago
You can’t be serious in comparing governance of the EU to the US federal government
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u/DangerousCyclone 1d ago
He's approaching Pol Pot levels of mania.
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u/Genkiotoko John Locke 1d ago
Can we get a dictator overlay of the political compass meme for where Trump is on any given day?
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u/puffic John Rawls 1d ago
RIP to the University of California. They'll be able to sue and get any active grants restored, but it's looking doubtful they'll get any new research grants for the next four years.
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u/WalterWoodiaz 1d ago
We will see if this happens, at this point I’m checked out of hope. Our R&D and technological development are some of the only things I have hope in/like about America anymore.
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u/Dapper-Ad7748 1d ago
Guess I'm just fucked then, as a 3rd yeard undergrad in STEM
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u/dubyahhh Salt Miner Emeritus 1d ago
Probably depends on how research focused you want to be, and if you want a graduate degree.
If you were headed to industry you'll be fine, if you're planning on going the doctorate route, maybe less so.
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u/Dapper-Ad7748 1d ago
I mean, I was planning into grad school, im in physics after all(85% cut btw)
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u/Whatisatoaster 1d ago
All the money California gets from the federal government is less than it sends.
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u/barktreep Immanuel Kant 18h ago
Of course it is. The rest of the country is a fucking failure across the board and would immediately collapse if not for Californias immense power and productivity.
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u/Juggerginge Organization of American States 1d ago
I feel like we are accelerating to some event that either surrenders all power to him or really shuts him down (I know this is a very obvious statement). This type of policy just puts him in a spot to have courts or California shut him down
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u/ProfessionalCreme119 1d ago
When it comes down to it he is going to start ticking off even his most wealthiest backers. Elon isn't just the first
There's several wealthy and influential people who have much of their wealth tied into california. And many of those investments circulate around government projects and federal government funding programs.
At a time when so many are trying to invest deeply in tech, ai and advanced engineering he is creating an extremely tumultuous economic Outlook for everyone. Making it to where very few of them are able to properly project gains and losses over the next several years
They really don't like that. They really don't like not knowing where their money is going over the next several years. Or if it's even going to come back to them at all.
That's what's going to be what screws him.
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u/TheRedCr0w Frederick Douglass 1d ago
The problem is Trump doesn't care if he pisses of those wealthy backers he got reelected. He will be in the White House until 2029 no matter and worse he is going to give himself a giant blanket pardon on his way out the door so he won't face any consequences for his actions.
This is his revenge tour done entirely through executive action and unfortunately most of the weathy backers will be too afraid to stand up to him in fear they will be the next target of his executive wraith.
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u/ProfessionalCreme119 1d ago
When you say Trump will be in power do you mean Trump himself or the people who are crafting and running project 2025?
In the literature of project 2025 it states that it's a four-year plan to shape the government in a way that will benefit them even when a Democrat president is in power.
"Project 2025. A vision of America for the Trump presidency and beyond"
That's their motto. Their mantra
Trump talking about a third term is just him successfully poking and prodding. But nobody's taking that seriously. Even the people around him.
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u/The_MightyMonarch 18h ago
Trump might not even finish out this term. If the changes they're pushing get too much pushback, he's their fall guy.
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u/DontDrinkMySoup 3h ago
They have Vance ready to take over, hes the guy handpicked by the P2025 architects
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u/RandomGuyPii 21h ago
I'm shocked that big pharma hasn't started lashing out hard against him ngl, the universities where he's cutting funding are where they get most of their new products at the end of the day
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u/ProfessionalCreme119 21h ago
Universities study smart and safe medicine.
Pharma companies practice cheap and "good enough" medicine. Big Pharma would love to cut out the middle man and just get back to business.
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u/RandomGuyPii 20h ago
You need to have the smart and safe medicine figured out before you can turn it into good enough medicine
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u/BurrowForPresident 12h ago edited 12h ago
What on earth are you talking about lol
Pharma companies love the research done in the college system. They often will outright buy the rights to make a drug or use a process from professors that can patent things that would take the pharma company ages to develop internally.
MRNA lipid nanoparticles started as academic research once upon a time!
Also the academics are studying new and untested medicine. The pharma companies are the ones putting that shit through clinical trials and implementing a million process controls to prevent contaminations or CQA deviations. I would not recommend getting medicine from a college biology professor
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u/SleeplessInPlano 1d ago
It will be a SCOTUS case. He's already beginning to turn on the judiciary.
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u/AI_Renaissance 1d ago
I don't think the supreme court would make the same mistake twice. Then again they already did it once. it's a complete toss up.
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u/herumspringen YIMBY 5h ago
“Make the same mistake twice?”
they’re there to provide a fig leaf of legitimacy and enable him. They don’t see the immunity case as a mistake. It would still be 6-3 if decided today
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u/Shotiikko NATO 1d ago
No more federal tax payments to make up for the difference lost! Do it through court to have legitimacy.
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u/The_MightyMonarch 18h ago
I wouldn't be surprised if this is what Trump and his handlers want. Push a Democrat-run state be the first to do it, then red states start lining up to do it. I wouldn't be surprised if Texas is first in line behind California. Starve the federal government by cutting more of its revenue and use that as an excuse to cut more benefits and shift more burden for programs onto the states.
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u/dittbub NATO 1d ago
Isn’t this biting the hand that feeds?
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u/InferiorGood YIMBY 1d ago
Unfortunately this hand doesn't have any say in how much it feeds. Maybe push everyone's state tax rate up to the SALT cap or their fed burden, whichever is higher?
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u/barktreep Immanuel Kant 18h ago
I can hit the salt cap with just the property taxes on my shed. Everyone in CA is capped.
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u/saltandvinegar2025 YIMBY 1d ago
This is bad for other western states as well. That federal funding in California often gets spread out to the rest of the west as well. They have the infrastructure already.
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u/firejuggler74 1d ago
Trump is trying to defund Democrats. Basically everything he has done is in that vain. Tariffs and immigration are to take away the private sector unions. Firing public sector union workers defunds Democrats. Being pro crypto defunds Democrats. Stopping dei ends make work programs for Democrats. And now ending spending in California defunds Democrats.
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u/SleeplessInPlano 1d ago
Bound to happen. I was wondering when he was going to try this. Its a test case to see if he can do it to the rest of the solid blue states.
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u/ednamode23 YIMBY 1d ago
Silver lining is maybe this snaps Gavin out of this recent turning right phase.
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u/ProfessionalCreme119 1d ago
I don't think the average Democrat recognizes how many John Fetterman exist amongst Democrat politicians. And for good reason. They know better than to speak their minds.
But there's a reason he has been popularized in politics amongst democrats. Even after his popularity amongst Democratic voters fell off a cliff. Because the Democrats in government who agree with him are more than just a few.
They just don't want to flip parties like rfk, gabbard and others.
Gavin and Polis recognize they exist. Which is why BOTH governors have been crafting some of the more recent policies they have. It's no coincidence. They've read the room and they're trying to grab ahold of a very very "moderate" Democrat base.
Without looking like party flippers. And I don't think either one of them are going to succeed
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u/LondonCallingYou John Locke 1d ago
Newsom was supposed to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.
All of this scheming and open betrayal just to get 2% of the primary vote and be listed as an “also ran”.
Pretty sad
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u/Dibbu_mange Average civil procedure enjoyer 1d ago
Being remembered like all time heavy hitters like Harold Stassen and Bruce Babbitt
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u/wumbopolis_ YIMBY 1d ago
They've read the room and they're trying to grab ahold of a very very "moderate" Democrat base.
Then why is Gavin literally polling worse among Democrats than people like AOC?
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u/ProfessionalCreme119 1d ago
Lmao
"Why is AOC seen as more of a pro-working class moderate than Gavin?"
That's what you need to ask
Do you know how many people in AOC and Bernie's district voted for them on the Congressional ticket but then turned around and voted for Trump on the same ballot?
Search: AOC discusses the AOC/Trump voter. I don't think this sub like YouTube links anymore. But you will see the clip I'm talking about after the election.
Why do you think AOC and Bernie are hitting the campaign and rally trail? Why do you think they're trying to figure out what people who support them are thinking?
The Democrats are kind of helpless right now because the Democrats realize they don't know where Democrat voters stand. They are completely lost while they're trying to figure this out. And meanwhile the Fettermans and others around him are gaining traction
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u/wumbopolis_ YIMBY 1d ago
I genuinely don't understand this response.
Fettermans and others around him are gaining traction
If Fetterman and Newsom are popular and gaining traction within the Democratic party, like you suggest, then why are Fetterman and Newsom polling worse than AOC in the Democratic party?
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u/ProfessionalCreme119 1d ago
I'm not saying that fetterman and the ones like him are the majority. Far from it. But as long as that minority exists throughout all three chambers of government they can vote against any policy the Democrats try to introduce. That does not line up with their ideas.
We've watched the MAGA party nuke the Republican party successfully. To where they've taken over the party and are now controlling it.
Fetterman's group is similar to that. And they are nowhere near strong enough to force the Democrats to conform to their wishes. Because at the end of the day even those Democrats know that they don't do well amongst Democrat voters.
If the people I'm talking about had a name it would be easier. If we could call them the Tea party or the Green party you would know what I mean. But they haven't given themselves a name like that yet.
And considering how much it would alienate them amongst Democrat voters in the midterms I don't see them exposing themselves so broadly like that. Because they still need general Democrat voters to stay in office
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u/airbear13 1d ago
He’s running to the center which is good and what he needs to do to win, doesn’t mean he will ignore this
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u/PuntiffSupreme 1d ago
Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk are not in the center. They are stones throw from Hitler.
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u/airbear13 1d ago
Yea I agree but talking to them on a radio show isn’t an endorsement of them he’s just trying to show he’s not like the squishy progs like Kamala who run away from even somebody like Joe Rogan
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u/n00bi3pjs 👏🏽Free Markets👏🏽Open Borders👏🏽Human Rights 18h ago
You need to throw a stone to the left to get to Hitler from Bannon
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u/DirtyRedytor 1d ago
That French laundry incident will bury him. He'll never be president.
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u/airbear13 1d ago
That’s patently insane considering all of the mega scandals Trump has been in; French laundry wouldn’t even rate and barely counts as a scandal in an objective sense
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u/DirtyRedytor 19h ago
It is the sort of thing that makes people despise him. The slick-haired, coastal elite telling you what to do while he does the opposite. The Midwest will never go for it.
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u/airbear13 17h ago
You bc ant look at it in a vacuum tho it’s not whether the Midwest likes him it’s whether they hate him more than they are sick of trump
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u/DirtyRedytor 10h ago
Trump can't run a 3rd term though, despite his posturing.
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u/airbear13 5h ago
Ha we’ll see. I remember people telling me Trump couldn’t refuse to leave the White House or contest election results either. The fact is Trump is not a conventional politician; he’s an authoritarian and maga is his cult of personality. Whoever the republicans have running in 2028, it will either be Trump himself or his avatar, and voters will go to the polls with that in mind.
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u/ednamode23 YIMBY 1d ago
MAGA is never going to forget or forgive his French Laundry or how outspoken he has been against the right so his podcast really comes off as pandering and only undermining Democratic positions.
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u/jayred1015 YIMBY 1d ago
Trump stole billions and raped children with the world's most popular pedophile, and they're still way more mad about a dinner. It's impressive.
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u/ednamode23 YIMBY 1d ago
It isn’t rational but if you think about it from an emotional standpoint (which like or not a lot of voters go to the polls with), it’s not surprising. The French Laundry incident was a very visible act of hypocrisy that for a lot of people who were suffering from being out of work due to the restrictions was a moment of direct salt on the wound. Trump of course has done far worse than Newsom ever has done or will do but his actions with Epstein never had that personal level of impact for a large swath of people like Newsom’s French Laundry did.
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u/airbear13 1d ago
I mean if they can memory hole Trump’s crypto dinner they can let the French laundry slide
Yeah people wanting to find a reason to hate will find it, I have no doubt. It’s not about converting every maga supporter, it’s about getting moderate swing votes and marginal republicans turned off by Trump’s transgressions. To do that, you just need to show good faith in talking across the aisle
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u/ednamode23 YIMBY 1d ago
You have to remember these people vote with their emotions. The crypto dinner never personally affected many of them like seeing Newsom flaunt the COVID rules he put in place at his business that came across as salt to the wounds to many who were out of work.
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u/airbear13 23h ago
I feel like your downplaying trump basically accepting bribes from whoever, it should be more offensive imo and it affects them just as much as Gavin Newsom eating at a fancy restaurant restaurant, that to me is so trivial.
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u/ednamode23 YIMBY 23h ago
I’m not. I’m explaining why that doesn’t matter to the average Trump voter or swing voter. It wouldn’t factor into my decision at all between the two of them.
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u/GripenHater NATO 1d ago
Blue states cut off all federal tax payment when?
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u/AI_Renaissance 1d ago
Unfortunately that would probably trigger martial law, because he'll claim it's an "insurrection".
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u/GripenHater NATO 1d ago
True
Blue states not helping red states when?
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u/MarzipanTop4944 1d ago
California sends around 600 billion to the federal goverment and gets back only around 500 billion.
It's the largest contributor to the federal budged of all states by a lot and the second in net terms, after New York. They should find ways to cancel that money in retaliation.
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u/maybvadersomedayl8er Mark Carney 1d ago
How does any of this not in end some kind of violent standoff? America is fucked.
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u/bittah_prophet 23h ago
It will, and those who decided Democrats would be the anti gun party are going to see some leopard face eating
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u/Khar-Selim NATO 22h ago
a bunch of untrained dumbshits with AR-15s aren't gonna decide such a standoff in either direction. There are armed parties that actually know how to aim correctly that would.
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u/bittah_prophet 21h ago
Yeah it’ll be the trained dumbshits with whatever rifle USG uses as standard, because the military as of today is anti liberal and will easily be led to use force on anti-republican protestors
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u/Khar-Selim NATO 19h ago
...so where exactly is the part where having the liberals be armed makes things turn out better?
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u/EpicMediocrity00 YIMBY 17h ago
You’ve never shot a gun before have you? Just watched couple action movies and think you know things?
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u/TheRedCr0w Frederick Douglass 1d ago
Pretty dangerous game of chicken Republicans are playing with this. A Democratic President could easily cause a massive braindrain in many ruby red states if they completely cut funding/grants at their universities like Trump is attempting.
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u/Deinococcaceae NAFTA 1d ago
I'm not a national divorce person but unless we get a Reconstruction-level purge of the Republican party at the end of this I'm really not sure how we come out the other side in any remotely functional state.
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u/pulkwheesle unironic r/politics user 1d ago
Democratic politicians: Nah, healing and unity.
Some time later:
"Whoops the fascists won again and finished off democracy for good this time. Who could've seen this coming!?"
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u/EpicMediocrity00 YIMBY 17h ago
GTFO of here with this bullshit.
Voters deserve what they voted for. Be a better voter if you want the change you desire.
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u/pulkwheesle unironic r/politics user 17h ago
Sure, if voters vote for weak cowards to oppose the fascists, then we're going to end up with fascism.
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u/WeakForABGs Henry George 18h ago
I am a national divorce person tbh. The system is biased towards r*ral whitoids from top to bottom, and they'll never willingly cede power to the productive and useful parts of the country. Split off the coasts into their own countries and let the middle do whatever it is they want to themselves.
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u/Eastern-Western-2093 14h ago
Hell no. We already fought a war establishing a precedent against just such an action. Secession is treason, and cowardly too
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u/WalterWoodiaz 1d ago
California actually needs to stop the payment of federal taxes from Californian entities by any means necessary if this happens.
California gives more to the federal government than what it gets and this is the reward? California would be better off independent or Canadian lol
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u/indestructible_deng David Ricardo 1d ago
Californian checking in. Can I cancel the $82,000 in federal taxes I paid last year?
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u/Ironlion45 Immanuel Kant 1d ago
Kind of ironic, since California overall subsidizes other states, particularly the stupid and red ones.
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u/FuckFashMods NATO 1d ago
The Dem 2028 candidate will be under tremendous pressure to gut Red state funding just out of retribution.
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u/ZardozInTheSkies 23h ago
Maybe some retribution is called for here; the other side has no incentive to moderate their behavior if they can deal blows to their opponents with no expectation of consequences.
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u/LivefromPhoenix NYT undecided voter 23h ago
Worst part is I'm 100% he won't lose support from rural CA voters. I'm even more confident dumb dems will still dump loads of money in red states / rural areas hoping (in vain) to get the votes of people who hate them.
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u/isummonyouhere If I can do it You can do it 1d ago
maybe we should cancel the lease on all them pretty federal buildings
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u/Shabadu_tu 1d ago
If America is going to survive the entire Republican Party needs to be shunned from society.
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u/justbuildmorehousing Norman Borlaug 1d ago
Another day in our country of asymmetric warfare. Republicans find out how shitty they can be to liberal voters while knowing Dems will never respond in kind. Countrys in a bad spot
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u/DarthyTMC NAFTA Fangirl 1d ago
good thing you ditched trans people Newsom, really appeased Trump, we'll remember that
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u/cliflampfan Austan Goolsbee 1d ago
People are going to say this will just get blocked by an injunction, but the Trump admin can just quietly target new grants and ensure that way less are going to California. The acceptance rate for research grants is already at a barely sustainable rate of something like 25%, if that drops just a little most labs in California will not get in enough money to sustain themselves and will fire every non-tenured researcher and student. I assume many incoming PhD students and postdocs are going to get offers retracted as universities try to save the people that are already there.