2025 - Page 23 of 69

Americans Have Lost Faith in the ‘American Dream’

September 2, 2025 Buck Banks

70%

A new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds that “the share of people who say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living fell to 25%, a record low in surveys dating to 1987. … More than three-quarters said they lack confidence that life for the next generation will be better than their own, the poll found. … Nearly 70% of people said they believe the American dream—that if you work hard, you will get ahead—no longer holds true or never did, the highest level in nearly 15 years of surveys.”

Black Americans Are Losing Jobs Faster Than Whites

September 2, 2025 Buck Banks

7.2%

“Unemployment in the U.S. remains historically low at 4.2%. Yet Black workers are living in a different reality: Unemployment for Black Americans has surged to 7.2%, the highest level since October 2021, when the job market was still recovering from the pandemic,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The drop in employment is a warning sign for the labor market and threatens to unravel employment gains made by Black workers during and after the pandemic.”

We Deserve a Mulligan
Oval Office goof-off ...

September 1, 2025 Buck Banks

Being president is stressful, so you need some relief.
But every four days? That’s excessive, good grief!
In the 223 days since the inauguration,
Trump has spent 56 of them in a greensome.
He seems less like a dictator and more like the Duffer-in-Chief.

Trump Has Taken 1.2 Million Immigrants from the U.S. Labor Force

September 1, 2025 Buck Banks

1.2 million

More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center, the AP reported. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents. Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45% of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher Stephanie Kramer. About 30% of all construction workers are immigrants and 24% of service workers are immigrants, she added.

Saving Uncle Herschel
The bloke's not woke ...

August 28, 2025August 14, 2026 Buck Banks

American business and higher ed cross Donald Trump at their peril.
Crawl if they must — it’s capitulation or bust — or Trump goes feral.
But those are just soulless corporations,
Not beloved bastions of American traditions,
So, in this one case, thanks for bending the knee, Cracker Barrel.

National Guard Deployment to D.C. Costing $1 Million a Day

August 28, 2025 Buck Banks

$1 million

“The ongoing National Guard mission in Washington, DC, as part of President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in the city, is costing roughly $1 million a day,” CNN reports.

Trump Is Totally a Totalitarian

August 28, 2025 Buck Banks

“Nothing happens in public life without Trump putting his stamp on it. Cooperstown? Cracker Barrel? The Kennedy Center Honors? Trump has a will to dominate them. … He is the living embodiment of the leviathan, the totalized state. … No sector of American life exists beyond the reach of this president. There is no private sphere or civil society he feels should be outside his influence or control. There is only the dear leader, whose views must be considered in all matters.”

— Jonathan Last

Most Oppose Deploying National Guard to D.C.

August 28, 2025 Buck Banks

56% to 41%

A new Quinnipiac poll finds voters oppose the move to send National Guard troops to Washington D.C. in an effort to reduce crime by 56% to 41%. Overall, President Trump’s approval rate is a dismal 37% to 55%.

Big Majority Opposes Military Aid to Israel

August 28, 2025 Buck Banks

60%

A new Quinnipiac poll finds 60% of voters oppose the United States sending more military aid to Israel for their efforts in the war with Hamas, while 32% support it. Meanwhile, 50% think Israel is committing genocide based on what they know about the situation in Gaza, while 35% do not think Israel is committing genocide and 15% did not offer an opinion.

Staff Threatens Walkout If Vanity Fair Puts Melania on the Cover

August 27, 2025August 27, 2025 Pensito Editors

“I will walk out the motherfucking door, and half my staff will follow me. We are not going to normalize this despot and his wife; we’re just not going to do it. We’re going to stand for what’s right.”

70%

7.2%

1.2 million

$1 million

“The ongoing National Guard mission in Washington, DC, as part of President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in the city, is costing roughly $1 million a day,” CNN reports.

— Jonathan Last

56% to 41%

A new Quinnipiac poll finds voters oppose the move to send National Guard troops to Washington D.C. in an effort to reduce crime by 56% to 41%. Overall, President Trump’s approval rate is a dismal 37% to 55%.

60%

“I will walk out the motherfucking door, and half my staff will follow me. We are not going to normalize this despot and his wife; we’re just not going to do it. We’re going to stand for what’s right.”

– A mid-level editor at Vanity Fair reacting to a plan by the magazine’s new editor to put Melania Trump on the cover.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“The man is afraid of the voice of the people and that the people understand and know what he’s doing. He’s trying to stifle the ability of journalists to let the people of America know what’s really going on with their government.”

— “Kamala Harris called President Donald Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House ‘absolutely abhorrent,’” The Wrap reports.

“Not one of them is trained in technical skills. Not one research PhD, as opposed to China, where half the cabinet is science and technology PhDs. We’re led by grifters and fools.”

— Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, on X, on President Trump’s 35-person cabinet.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far… The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”

— Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), breaking with President Trump in a direct-to-camera video.

Numerati

1,000

10%

“The unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for the U.S. House has changed the congressional districts for one-tenth of Americans and significantly altered the makeup of at least one-fifth of districts, according to a new study,” the Associated Press reports.

71%

$9.5 billion

“The Trump administration last year spent $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal workers as part of its plan to shrink the government and save taxpayers money, according to a new estimate by a congressional watchdog,” CNN reports.

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.