u/prenderg

Donald Trump has made a number of direct statements and vague allusions to actions he may take or want to take in connection with upcoming midterm federal elections. These include comments or failures to disavow when asked things like seizing ballots, stopping the delivery of mail in ballots, the placement of DHS or other LEO officers near polling places, the proposed SAVE Act insistence on proof of citizenship when such can be proven as a practical matter only with an up-to-date passport, etc. There are even suggestions that Trump might declare a national emergency regarding electoral integrity in order to impose controls over the process. Do you think he will do any of these things, and, if so, which ones? Would you support any such actions, which ones, and why? Do you believe that there is sufficient evidence of a lack of integrity in the electoral system of such a magnitude that it warrants action by the executive branch?

I have tried not to comment too much about this race. However, I just saw a television advertisement on behalf of Seth Moulton for Senate. His only pitch was that Ed Markey is too old. Does this guy have any real positions that contrast from Markey? Is he willing to explain his less-than-democratic views? Will he confront the conflicts of interest that appear based on his financial supporters? The answer is NO! He will never be anything other than for himself. He will never be the Democratic stalwart that Ed Markey has been for my life - and will be for another term - no matter how many young actors Moulton hires to claim on camera to claim that Ed Markey is too old. Don’t be sucked in, Moulton will do nothing that does not help him first and foremost, including throwing our democratic values to capitalist wolves.

It had been my impression that the focus of Donald Trump‘s immigration efforts, on which he ran for the presidency, was to remove criminally violent immigrants who also did not enter the country legally and did not have a legal right to be here. Am I wrong in that understanding? If I am not wrong, are you speaking up against what is happening now? If I am wrong, why do you want non-violent forcibly be removed from the country?

This is administration has issued the greatest number of pardons that have bypassed the DOJ evaluation process. As you read the stories of the types of pardons given to crypto executives, political operatives, entertainment, personalities, and those who have been or are connected to significant donations to the administration, one must wonder whether or not there has been a quid pro quo or an actual selling of the pardons for financial gain. Do you agree or disagree that this is a reasonable conclusion and true?

Has Trump achieved anything in Iran that is any better than what Obama had already achieved, but which Trump dismantled. For example, to halt the development and possession of highly enriched uranium, Obama‘s deal included payments in the neighborhood of $100 million. Trump‘s deal includes payments in the neighborhood of $300 million. Why is that better?

Recent stories in the press suggest that President Trump may be trying to settle his lawsuit against the IRS with the Justice Department? Regardless of the merits of his claims or the fairness of the settlement, do you think that there should be some form of independent oversight regarding any negotiations or settlement given President Trump’s executive authority over the Justice Department, which is supposed to be acting on behalf of the American people in an adversary proceeding against President Trump.

Update: is it an impeachable offense for the president to proceed this way in the face of what is clearly a conflict of interest?

According to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and published last week by the National Bureau of Economic Research, many workers born in the U.S. benefited from a complementary immigrant workforce that supported parts of their industry. Heightened ICE activity, however, is harming the labor market overall. The study found no evidence that the ICE activity is benefiting U.S.-born workers. In fact, the researchers said a statement, “If anything, job opportunities for U.S.-born workers are going down as a result.”

I don’t know of comparable research finding a net positive effect for US workers. (Please help me identify some if it is out there). Accordingly, do we really need aggressive ICE activity for the sake of the economy? And, if not, what benefits are we getting that outweigh the negative effects on the economy?