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Mike Ray

@klaridad.bsky.social
963 followers 126 following 704 posts

Educator, lover of languages and language learning, proud dad, husband, brother, uncle.

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Reposted by Mike Ray
Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
We should try having some group of people who get to vote on approving agency heads like OMB director.

Sen. Susan Collins

@SenatorCollins
Without warning or consultation, Congress just received an $810 million package of pocket rescissions from the Administration.  This is the most recent attempt by this Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse. 
 
This move shows that OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law.  
  
Not only is the delay itself an impoundment that was not reported to Congress, but also it is a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers.  OMB is an agency of the executive branch.  It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding.
 
The independent Government Accountability Office has concluded that pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act. Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.
 
I will work with my colleagues to address these illegal actions.
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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 26/09/2026
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is peak Free Press. You can have a quality education and read literary fiction and still think national purification through mass violence is cool. It’s like a New Yorker article abt loving street hotdogs. Only less moral.
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James Talarico @jamestalarico.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
ICE shot Wilber Perez in the back. Now, Wilber can’t move the left side of his body. How does paralyzing a DoorDash driver make anyone more safe?
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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In an Uber. Driver having loud phone conversation with someone in Spanish. A little annoying, but it happens. He hangs up. Says, “Mi hermano. La Migra.” And starts weeping.
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Natural gas demand on the California grid peaked in 2014 and has been falling ever since. Gas-fired electricity fell 15% last year, then another 26% in the first half of this year as solar and batteries continued to boom. insideclimatenews.org/news/1009202... via @dangearino.bsky.social
insideclimatenews.org
How California Is Kicking Its Natural Gas Habit - Inside Climate News
Solar and batteries matter, but they’re not the only reasons for the steep decline in gas-fired electricity.
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James Talarico @jamestalarico.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
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Martin Longman @booman23.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Why My Senate Predictions Are More Accurate Than the Experts martinlongman.substack.com/p/why-my-sen...
martinlongman.substack.com
Why My Senate Predictions Are More Accurate Than the Experts
If you want know in the Spring what is going to happen in the Fall, you should subscribe to this newsletter.
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Swing Left @swingleft.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
(Ground Truth) Canvassing 9-to-5, what a way to make a difference 🎶 Come join us at the doors! Visit www.swingleft.org/take-action to join a virtual Ground Truth canvass training this Saturday for our next Weekend of Action.
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Swing Left @swingleft.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
50 days to flip the House, win back the Senate, and secure Democratic governing power in the states. Two ways to make an impact: 🚪💬 Join a Ground Truth canvass or phone bank ⚖️💰 Donate to the Balance of Power Fund, our slate of must-win races 50 days. Let's do it: swingleft.org/take-action
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
When everyone is a priority, no one is a priority. That means that Mullin and ICE are going to treat a murderer who just got here with the same level of priority as a guy who’s been here for 25 years raising a family and living like a saint. That’s bad for so many reasons.
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Swing Left @swingleft.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
In 2024, Democrats won the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan by less than 0.40%. Let’s hold this Democratic seat and elect Abdul El-Sayed this November. Visit www.swingleft.org/take-action to support Democrats in the elections that will determine the federal balance of power.
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Governor Newsom Press Office @govpressoffice.gov.ca.gov · 01/09/2026
What FOX NEWS won’t tell you: In 2025, every major statewide crime rate fell in California — and the Golden State recorded its lowest homicide rate since statewide reporting began in 1966.
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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Rest in peace, Wendell Berry.
The Peace of Wild Things
Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

from Openings: Poems (1968)
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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
It's almost like the Republican justices think that democratic accountability runs through the president and the president alone ... papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Of Multiplicity and Accountability
Unitary executive theory has, since <i>Myers v. United States</i>, been premised on a conception of democratic accountability. On this view, the president is de
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Swing Left @swingleft.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
15,000 meaningful conversations with voters in swing districts—conversations grounded in listening, understanding voters' concerns, and building trust. That's the milestone Ground Truth volunteers just reached! Let's keep going! Visit www.swingleft.org/take-action to find a canvass near you!
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David J. Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Under Trump, ICE has not stopped releasing immigrants from custody. It has cut releases of noncriminal immigrants, while actually releasing 50% more immigrants convicted of or charged with crimes than in December 2024. Trump's priorities are clear. www.cato.org/blog/ice-rel...
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James Talarico @jamestalarico.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
BREAKING: Liam Tadeo was just deported by ICE.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 25/08/2026
This girl I used to waitress with in Austin, we moved to New York together in 2003 on a literal Greyhound bus. Shared a fifth floor walk-up studio that, when it rained, had more leaks in the ceiling than we had pots and pans. We used to get drunk and smoke off the fire escape and do “sad-offs.”
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Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
On 9/11, US airspace closed, Canada launched Operation Yellow Ribbon. Gander, a town of 10,000, received 38 airliners. Residents immediately sheltered, fed, clothed, and supported stranded passengers for days, providing this hospitality free of charge. interestingengineering.com/culture/oper...
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Swing Left @swingleft.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
The Texas and Iowa Senate races are now “toss-ups” according to…Fox News?? 👀 This is winnable, but not won ➡️ to get involved, visit www.swingleft.org/take-action!
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Governor Newsom Press Office @govpressoffice.gov.ca.gov · 07/08/2026
China is not screwing around. The United States has become a footnote. Supply chains, manufacturing, influence — China is flooding the zone all across the globe. As California doubles down on our low carbon green growth efforts, the Trump admin is doubling down on stupid.
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Martin Longman @booman23.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
El-Sayed Enjoys Narrow Victory, Faces a Big Challenge open.substack.com/pub/martinlo...
open.substack.com
El-Sayed Enjoys Narrow Victory, Faces a Big Challenge
College towns carried him to victory, but he can't rely on them to win the general election.
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Swing Left @swingleft.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Look at this group of canvassers who showed up to volunteer with Ground Truth this weekend in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District! Can’t wait to hit the doors with you again 💙
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Frank Huisingh @frankhuisingh.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Give it up for induction stoves!! And let's make sure everyone gets them, asap.
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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Just canceled my DashPass and sent this email to DoorDash. I encourage you to do the same if you support D.C. home rule. press@doordash.com and ir@doordash.com
Hello,

I’m writing to let you know that I just canceled my DashPass because of DoorDash’s disgraceful campaign against D.C. home rule.

DoorDash is urging Congress to nullify a new D.C. law imposing a 20 percent tax on food-delivery services—not merely by overturning that law, but by prohibiting the District from enacting any new tax without prior congressional approval. That is an extraordinarily sweeping assault on D.C.’s right to govern itself and an odious insult to the District’s residents.

I am especially disgusted by DoorDash’s public claim that it is somehow defending D.C. residents while actively seeking to strip us of our right to govern ourselves through our own democratically elected lawmakers. Please do not pretend that disenfranchising District residents is an act undertaken on our behalf.

I intend to publicize DoorDash’s attack on home rule as widely as possible and urge everyone I know to boycott the company.

Shame on you.
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 20/07/2026
It’s been a year since Donald Trump slashed SNAP funding in his “Big Beautiful Bill.” Here’s how many people have lost food assistance so far.
It’s been a year since Donald Trump slashed SNAP funding in his “Big Beautiful Bill.” 
 
Here’s how many people have lost food assistance in each state.
 
Alabama: -52,480
Alaska: -422
Arizona: -469,400
Arkansas: -18,549
California: -300,838
Colorado: -26,095
Connecticut: -33,599
Delaware: -18,458
Florida: -495,585
Georgia: No Data
Hawaii: -7,926
Idaho: -7,588
Illinois: -201,959
Indiana: -55,706
Iowa: -23,630
Kansas: -19,780
Kentucky: -39,094
Louisiana: -127,693
Maine: -11,071
Maryland: -32,502
Massachusetts: -145,968
Michigan: -158,599
Minnesota: -16,011
Mississippi: -40,350
Missouri: -48,436
Montana: -6,937
Nebraska: -16,873
Nevada: -70,965
New Hampshire: -1,514
New Jersey: -40,506
New Mexico: -17,106
New York: -147,176
North Carolina: -177,415
North Dakota: -4,938
Ohio: -106,133
Oklahoma: -107,821
Oregon: -46,792
Pennsylvania: -200,976
Rhode Island: -15,390
South Carolina: -63,100
South Dakota: -5,001
Tennessee: -99,979
Texas: -392,637
Utah: -21,787
Vermont: -4,547
Virginia: -114,077
Washington: -34,401
West Virginia: -14,337
Wisconsin: -22,485
Wyoming: -1,820
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 20/07/2026
BREAKING: A judge just granted a temporary restraining order against the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. This means that the merger is officially PAUSED. That's a WIN thanks to the state attorneys general who stood up and pushed back. Let's keep up the fight.
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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
The fact that VP JD Vance and Richard Grenell went to Romania—on behalf of the Trump Administration— to advocate for Andrew and Tristan Tate, who by all accounts, were rapists running a coercive sex ring, then permitted them to come to Florida, should be a crazy, crazy scandal.
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Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
here's the @hrw.org report I mentioned this morning on @connectwithjacob.bsky.social.
hrw.org
“You’re Only Getting Out Deported or Dead”
The 84-page report, “‘You’re Only Getting Out Deported or Dead’: Abusive US Immigration Detention at Ft. Bliss,” documents conditions at the largest immigration detention facility in the United States...
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Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Admittedly a US thing, but I think folks should reflect that Kimi, the open-weight AI model by $20b-valued Moonshot AI everyone is freaking out about, was developed by someone who went to CMU and then didn't stay in the US mostly because visas would prevent him setting up a US business
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Charles Gaba ✡️ @charlesgaba.com · 17/07/2026
📣 In response to the VRA being killed, I’ve launched new pages specifically to help dozens of Black Democrats get elected. This one is devoted to FEDERAL, JUDICIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICE races. Donate today. #BlackJobs26 #BlackSky #Blue26 secure.actblue.com/donate/black...
secure.actblue.com
Chip in!
Show your support with a contribution.
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James Talarico @jamestalarico.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
People in Alpine, TX can’t access water. Not because there isn’t enough, but because DC politicians have failed them. There's always money for bombs, bailouts, and billionaire tax breaks — but never enough money to fix basic infrastructure.
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Aaron Hall @immlawachall.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Why would a noncitizen stick their neck out and intentionally illegally vote, with deportation as the penalty (plus criminal sanctions), to have a minuscule impact on an election? It would be completely irrational (and it basically never happens).
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Ahead of Trump’s speech tonight, re-upping a piece I wrote in 2024 unpacking the myth of noncitizen voting, using the Heritage Foundation’s own data to show how extraordinarily rare it has proven to be over decades. www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/myths-a...
americanimmigrationcouncil.org
Unpacking Myths About Noncitizen Voting — How Heritage Foundation’s Own Data Proves It’s Not a Problem - American Immigration Council
A close examination of the evidence put forward by critics shows just how extraordinarily rare noncitizen voting truly is.
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
If this is true, the lesson should be not be to declare victory (ok, take one minute to enjoy the victory), but to redouble pressure on the whole indecent mass deportation regime
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
"It will take quite a while to restore decency and responsibility to our public life. What we can do now is to check the injustice and limit the damage. We can pressure our representatives not to confirm someone like Todd Blanche and not to fund an agency like ICE." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
open.substack.com
Trump Keeps Bombing, Nothing Keeps Changing.
What’s the definition of insanity again?
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Jim Acosta @jimacosta.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Epstein survivors released this video today urging senators to block the confirmation of Todd Blanche for Attorney General. They’re trying to get to 20,000 signatures on their petition to send a message to the Senate. ujoin.co/campaigns/45...
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Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 14/07/2026
ALL EYES ON ICE
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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Tonight the Senate is voting to start debate on the annual defense bill. It's essentially an Iran War authorization bill. A totally unprecedented 50% increase in spending to fund the war without any meaningful restraints. I'm voting NO.
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Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 12/07/2026
MASS CALL WED 8PM ET! Join the family, local organizers, and national organizations to fight for justice for Lorenzo and everyone impacted by ongoing state violence. Justice for Lorenzo means justice for EVERYONE living under the threat of unchecked immigration enforcement violence in our country.
MASS CALL JULY 15TH 8-9PM EDT
JUSTICE FOR LORENZO
WORKERS.FYI/JUSTICEFORLORENZO
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
👇
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City of Minneapolis @minneapolismn.gov · 09/07/2026
Operation Metro Surge had a devastating impact on many small businesses, including Colonial Market and Restaurant on E. Lake Street — but owner Daniel Hernandez still has hope for the future.
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Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Ok, I'm a fan of Haaland now after that smack he gives the 2nd kid
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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
The original No Kings day. Credit: chappatte.com
The signers of the Declaration of Independence shown in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 with a banner behind them that reads “No Kings Day”
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Martin Longman @booman23.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Trump Says the SAVE America Act Will Secure GOP Majorities for 100 Years open.substack.com/pub/martinlo... Why are they punching themselves in the face?
open.substack.com
Trump Says the SAVE America Act Will Secure GOP Majorities for 100 Years
If it were enacted, it would have a higher likelihood of doing the opposite.
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Mike Ray @klaridad.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Happy No Kings Day to all who celebrate!
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economymedicine.bsky.social @economymedicine.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Hegseth thinks the only thing we did wrong is not executing entire families if we suspected they might be connected to a militia member. He thinks war crimes are a cheat code to victory because he thinks displays of dominance always work. Deeply evil and deeply stupid.
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David J. Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
If this doesn't make your blood boil, you don't believe in liberty. Border Patrol agents smashed down a business's locked doors and arrested two employees, and when the owner demanded to see a warrant, they smugly said, "We don't need one." Absolutely criminal. Straight to jail
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