One Nation, Two Rulebooks:

Billionaires Win, Workers Lose

💥 We’re Showing Up. Help Us Stay Safe. 💥

The Bridge Rallies in Bastrop are growing — and so is the need to protect our people.
We rally for justice, for truth, for democracy — but we can’t do it alone.

CODA and BCDP are co-sponsoring these peaceful protests, and we need your help to:
🛡️ Hire trusted security
💧 Provide cold water in the Texas heat
🩹 Offer first aid and support to anyone in need

We don’t have corporate donors. We have you — neighbors, friends, and freedom fighters.

🎯 Give what you can. Every dollar makes a difference.

This is people powered. And it only works when we’ve got each other’s backs.
Stand with us. Protest with us. Help keep us safe.

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📍 Weekly Protests

Thursdays – Bastrop Protests

🕛 9:00 am - 10:00 am NEW TIME

📍 Corner of Main & Chestnut

Saturdays– Americans for Democracy

🕒 9-10 am Saturdays

📍 Town Square, La Grange

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Why Do Republicans Keep Hurting Working Americans to Help Billionaires?

There’s a question echoing through kitchens, break rooms, and union halls across America:
Why do Republicans keep siding with the ultra-wealthy while working families struggle to stay afloat?

We’ve seen this movie before — and the ending never changes. Republicans slash taxes for billionaires, promise the benefits will “trickle down,” and then gut the programs everyday Americans rely on to pay for it. It’s not economics. It’s robbery dressed in a flag pin.

Let’s be clear: trickle-down economics is a lie. It’s been disproven repeatedly. A comprehensive 2020 study published in the American Economic Review found that tax cuts for the rich do not significantly boost growth or wages, but do increase income inequality instead. [1]

Since the Reagan era, we’ve handed the richest Americans massive tax cuts. Did that money trickle down? No. It pooled at the top, inflated CEO bonuses, and supercharged income inequality. Meanwhile, wages stagnated, unions were attacked, and millions of families fell behind.
Today, the top 1% of Americans hold more wealth than the bottom 90% combined. [2]

Now here we are again. The House Republican Study Committee just released a 2025 budget proposal calling for deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare, while proposing $5.5 trillion in tax breaks over the next decade — the bulk of which would benefit the richest Americans and large corporations. [3]

They tell us the nation can’t afford to care for its seniors or feed hungry kids — but somehow, we can afford another yacht tax write-off?

This isn’t about fiscal responsibility. It’s about loyalty — and their loyalty isn’t to working Americans. It’s to the donors and corporations who bankroll their campaigns, write their legislation, and expect a return on investment. In 2022 alone, billionaire donors gave hundreds of millions to Republican campaigns. [4]

The cruelty is the point. Make life harder for working people, and you weaken their power. You keep them too exhausted, divided, and overworked to fight back. Then you sell them culture wars and scapegoats to keep them distracted.

But here’s the truth: the wealthiest Americans aren’t paying their fair share. According to a 2021 White House analysis, the top 400 wealthiest families paid an average effective tax rate of just 8.2% — far less than most teachers, nurses, and truck drivers. [5]

And while working families pay their taxes and play by the rules, the rich rewrite the rules to avoid the bill.

We need to flip the script. Instead of asking how we can cut from the bottom, we should be asking why the top isn’t paying up. We should be expanding Medicare, raising the minimum wage, and making childcare affordable — not giving billionaires another tax break they don’t need and didn’t earn.

It’s time for a government that works for us. A government of the people, by the people, not one bought and sold by the ultra-wealthy.

And if Republicans won’t fight for working Americans? Then we know whose side they’re on — and it’s not yours.

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Sources:

1. Hope, Limberg, and Zucman, American Economic Review: Insights (2020)

2. Federal Reserve Distributional Financial Accounts

3. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (June 2024)

4. OpenSecrets: Billionaire Donors 2022

5. U.S. Department of Treasury (Sept 2021)

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"One Nation, Two Rulebooks: Ethics for the Powerless, Immunity for the Powerful"

by Mo Tanner

Federal employees are expected to uphold high ethical standards in their official duties and personal conduct. They cannot engage in activities where their personal interests may conflict with their public duties. They cannot use their position for private gain or to influence government actions for personal benefit. They cannot accept gifts or hospitality worth more a nominal amount from persons having an interest in how they perform their duties. They must file annual financial disclosure forms to ensure that their official duties do not pose a conflict of interest with their finances. Shouldn’t similar rules apply to high level administration and elected officials?

Let’s consider some recent events which would have resulted in disciplinary action if they had been taken by ordinary federal employees.

Elon Musk, a special government employee leading DOGE, has businesses which are regulated by government agencies. These include the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, which regulates self-driving vehicles. DOGE orchestrated the dismissal of employees there which disproportionally affected the division responsible for regulating self-driving vehicles being developed by Tesla. They also include the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates commercial space, launches and reentries, and regulates flight crew qualifications and training. Recently, the FAA had fined Space X, owned by Musk, $600,000 for violations involving 2 rocket launches.

DOGE had significant involvement in the FAA designed to make “rapid safety upgrades.” Nothing has been done about these obvious conflicts of interest.

The President has profited from the sale of his bitcoins. Some time ago, he hosted a reception and dinner for the 220 largest purchasers of these coins. The number one purchaser was a Chinese national who had purchased $22 Million. What might this Chinese national gain by his purchase? He is not likely to be able to re-sale them at a profit.

On June 26, a news article announced a $110 Million investment by the UAE in World Liberty Financial, a company backed by the Trump family, which seeks to redefine global financial transactions using blockchain technology. Might this huge investment have some impact on the Administration position on the stablecoin legislation pending in Congress or on our Middle East policies?

Then there is the acceptance of a 747-8 luxury jet from Qatar. Might Qatar expect this gift to have some impact on our Middle East policies? Expensive modifications to the plane are necessary for it to be used by the President. There already are two 747s being modified for that purpose. The contract for this was awarded in 2018 and the expected delivery date is now 2027. The conversion obviously is a lengthy and expensive task. additional aircraft will be done quickly. One wonders how the conversion of this The President has said that he will not use the plane when his term ends. He will park the plane at his library. How the plane could be moved to his library is a mystery unless the library is located at an airport.

Then there is the ability of members of Congress, who sit on powerful committees and vote on legislation affecting all types of economic activity, to trade stocks. Might some of them take advantage of their insider knowledge in making stock trades? There is one set of rules for federal employees and another for the politically powerful or wealthy. Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg address the Civil War was fought so that “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”. Are we becoming a government of the wealthy by the wealthy and powerful, for the wealthy and powerful?

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