Now What? #413
By Hank Silverberg
Commentary
Democrats will take over both houses of Congress on January 3, 2027.
Donald Trump is a lame duck president. He will have to deal with a Congress controlled by the other party.
So what should be the priority for the Democrats?
Sure, they will want to kill that useless Triumphal Arch planned for Memorial Circle in D.C. and restore the Kennedy Center to its previous prestige after all of Trump's ego nonsense.
But what they must put aside is revenge moves. I hope they do not spend too much time talking about impeachment of Trump or prosecution of members of his team, but rather, pull the plug on his grift.
There has already been a bipartisan move to kill the horrible tariffs which have hit the average consumer hard, and the new Congress should put the whole concept of tariffs in the trash heap where they had been buried since the early 20th Century. That will bring back some of our allies like Canada, which have been alienated by the import taxes, and that will help keep inflation under control.
The Democrats also need to push for an end to a useless war with Iran, which has raised oil prices and hit every consumer and business in America with higher costs.
But as I wrote last week, there are other priorities. Top among them is shoring up the Social Security system so it won't run out of money in six years. Pull out Al Gore's old "Lockbox" so that the Social Security Trust Fund can not be raided for money again, and keep a strong safety net for the growing population of senior citizens who put millions of dollars back into the economy (see last week's blog).
They also need to reverse cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and try to reach some kind of deal with big pharma to lower the cost of medication for everyone.
Democrats should work on restoring the cuts to SNAP, which have already increased food insecurity for thousands of families with children across the United States, and push to have USAID or something like it restored to help re-establish the generous reputation of the United States abroad.
ICE needs to be tamed and put back on its original mission of protecting the border while legislation is drawn up protecting children of immigrants who came here as children and have contributed vital work and tax dollars to our economy for decades.
Something must also be done about our relations with Israel, and that may be the biggest challenge of all. Trump is going to cut off the $4.4 billion we send to Israel, and he will find support for that in the Democratic party. Somehow the progressive wing of the party has forgotten the violence of October 7th and the terrorism of Hamas, and has focused only on the destruction in Gaza. Israel is our ally and has suffered from aggression by its neighbors a great deal in the last eight decades.
Congress needs to make a strong statement of support for Israel as a state and continue support if not with money, at least with strong rhetoric and penalties for those who threaten a sovereign state with destruction.
I note these figures to put things in perspective.
There are 2.2 billion Christians in the world with about a billion of them Catholic.
There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.
There are 1.1 billion people who are Hindu.
There are about 450 million Buddhists.
There are only 15 million Jews, half of whom live in Israel, a viable Democracy that grants the same rights to all its citizens including Muslims, Arabs and other minorities. (About five million Jews live in the USA.) That 15 million total is just about how many of us there were when Hitler and his cronies murdered six million Jews during the Holocaust.
Congress needs to take a strong stand and include bigger penalties for any kind of religious or racially based crimes.
Zionism is not the problem. Terrorists like Hamas are, and that needs to be emphasized in every school, college, government office and policy in the United States.
The things I have suggested are just a start. There are many more policies that need to be worked on. The Democrats have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse course for the USA and put us back on the track as a just and righteous nation. They can erase the orange stain Trump has left on everything, or at least stop the slide. Let's hope they don't blow it.
News You May Have Missed!
Democrats Eye Probes of Musk, Hegseth
Here's an interesting angle. Not all the attacks on the Trump administration are coming from Democrats. House Minority Leader and soon-to-be House Speaker, Hakeem Jeffries, has already given support for a Republican-led effort to impeach Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.
Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, will be re-introducing his 34 page, eight-article impeachment resolution on Hegseth. It alleges that Hegseth executed unlawful orders when he sent U.S. troops to fight Iran in violation of the 1973 War Powers Act, which prohibits such moves without Congressional approval.
Hegseth posted a social media video last week accusing Massie of engaging in political theatre and introducing sham articles of impeachment.
At the same time, California Democrat Robert Garcia and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren will begin investigations of Elon Musk's involvement in a the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that led to the firing of hundreds of federal workers last year.
Homelessness Drops Across The Country
Here's some good news. The number of people without a place to live dropped more than 6% in 2025. There were about 49,000 fewer people without homes. And that is the second year in a row this has happened. But there is some disagreement on why that happened.
But the National Alliance to End Homelessness had a different take. Their analysis says the decline can be traced to programs funded by Congress that seem to be working (see below).
Despite the downturn, there are still nearly 700,000 people in the United States living in shelters or on the streets, and that is much higher than it was before the Covid -19 pandemic.
https://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/PIT-Analysis-Main_V3.pdf
Dumbest Decision Of The Week!
This has got to be the biggest mistake Donald Trump has ever made, and he's made a lot of them.
Trump has made Stephen Miller his Chief of Staff. Miller is a polarizing figure, and many Republicans called it a bad move. Miller spearheaded the administration's immigration crackdown, which has been a disaster from day one of Trump's first term.
I predict Miller won't last long in that job.
(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)
My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at: HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796
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