Donald Trump’s administration is planning to withhold some public health and transportation money from a group of Democratic-led states.

Full details have not been released, including whether the states could take any steps to avoid losing the funding. The federal government cited concerns over fraud and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars, but has not presented evidence beyond remarks from Trump and others in his administration.

The approach has become a familiar one for the administration, and this time focuses on frequent targets: California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota.

Courts have so far temporarily blocked other similar efforts by this administration to restrict funds.

  • HamFistedVegan@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    As much as I would personally like to see those responsible held to account I think you’re right in that it would cause untold amounts of harm. It is the right thing to do but there would be huge fallout.

    Personally I think America and it’s reputation would benefit much more from putting in place robust laws, even amendments to the constitution to openly and definitively show the world “guys, we’re really sorry. This will absolutely not happen again. Ever”. That’s the only way.

    If you prosecute those responsible without changing anything then they will be back with even more vengeance and even more extreme and messed up ideas.

    • wampus@lemmy.ca
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      11 hours ago

      Yeah, though, they tried half measures before, after the attempted coup. The result was that the republicans came back worse than before. So realistically, I can’t imagine half measures being enough for anyone that isn’t “all in” on the fascism thing. Cause you’ve literally got people doin nazi salutes in the administration’s orbit, and the more you compromise, the more you inch towards their goals – and the dems have done that so consistently over the years that it’s lead them to this point. The frustration with the dems habit of compromising, is likely also why there are more younger sorts challenging older dems: people are pissed off with the lack of action / accountability currently on offer from the democrat elite.

      And implementing laws, isn’t likely to be viewed as an effective control / result, considering the current administration just ignores the laws / courts / constitution. If the military is completely under the command of the commander in chief, and its so massively lopsided in funding compared to anything else in America, and the commander in chief decides to turn it on the people, there’s nothing stopping the next iteration of American Fascism really. If you only have two parties, and they’re able to collude/scheme between all levels / branches of government, it invalidates the concept of checks and balances. Those sorts of issues are core to the current failure we’re seeing in American politics, but they’re also core to how American politics has “functioned” for decades. Changing those sorts of institutions, again, feels like it’d require that descent into civil war.

      Like let’s say analysts come together and figure out one of the major contributors to the current mess was the electoral college setup – a legacy configuration left over from the times of slavery to redistribute votes for racist reasons etc. And the consensus amongst all those analyst sorts, let’s say, is that the fix is to get rid of it: doing so would help to move towards elections being based on a majority of the popular vote. But it’d also give the dems a huge boost, likely angering most “red” states. It’s the sort of change that likely couldn’t get made without the red states agreeing, and it’s the sort of thing they’d refuse to do, even after having followed a pant-shitting felon and alleged pedophile down a path of self-destruction for the country. These same red states are the ones that have been providing ICE troops for deployment to places like Minnesota, shooting civilians in the streets without a care. They’ll absolve themselves of any wrong doing, and demand concessions for any initiative pushed forward by democrats, concessions that will basically infuriate the terrorized victims in the blue states. idk.

      Like imagining myself in the shoes of a Minnesotan, seeing that Texans (iirc?) apparently feel totally fine rolling in and shooting people in your streets as part of a gestapo force – and seeing all the red states cheer this shit while FOX and the administration accuse your dead neighbours of having been terrorists?? I really don’t think a couple extra laws is gonna be enough to make me ok with that. I’d be demanding all those agents be held accountable for their reign of terror at my door. Hell, I’d be in favour of having state-level military/measures, specifically for the purpose of opposing such future federal terror campaigns / over-reach.

      • HamFistedVegan@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        You make a point. It would need to be comprehensive in it’s reach.

        The best way to achieve it in my view would be to strip much of the Presidential powers away. Trump has clearly shown that there is far too much power concentrated in the executive and that many of the unwritten rules are as good as non-existent.

        I don’t have enough knowledge to claim to know exactly how to do it. It would require a bipartisan effort and extensive legal work to ensure it’s watertight. Giving Congress more power and giving the executive more accountability would be the way though I believe.