Month: April 2025

Polls show opposition to Trump’s terrible tariffs

Most Americans disapprove of Trump on tariffs, Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds

CNN: *shows Jim Banks an image of a recent poll showing 61% of Americans disapprove of Trump's tariffs*CNN: Are Republicans on the wrong side of public opinion on tariffs?JIM BANKS: No

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-07-31T16:26:32.230Z

American CEOs largely AGAINST Trump tariffsThe poll, conducted by Chief Executive magazine, found that 67 of those surveyed did not agree with the president’s tariff agenda and 76% believe the sweeping import taxes will hurt their companies#MOG8#TrumpTaxes thehill.com/business/525…

— Michael O’Grady 🇨🇦 (@mog7546.bsky.social) 2025-04-20T18:52:25.808Z

"74% of Americans believe that the wealthy will benefit from Trump's trade and tariff policies."Americans are seeing right through Republican lies about the economy and their budget.www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-tr…

— Rep. Veronica Escobar (@repescobar.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T17:53:40.541Z

The price isn’t right: 77% of Americans expect President Donald Trump’s tariff plan to raise your consumer prices, according to an AP-NORC poll.

— John Goodman (@johnlgood.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T14:41:36.832Z

CBS News poll: Americans see Trump’s tariff policies benefitting the wealthy and large corporations- not the working class or small businesses.

— Geoff Garin (@geoffgarin.bsky.social) 2025-04-13T14:42:59.332Z

Steady decline in tariff support over past few months…Nov '24: 52%Dec '24: 47%Jan '25: 46%Mar '25: 44%Apr '25: 42%(% favoring "U.S. placing new tariffs on goods imported from other countries" in CBS News/YouGov polling of U.S. adults)More from latest poll: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-tr…

— Kabir K. (@kabirkhanna.bsky.social) 2025-04-14T17:10:07.338Z

Reducing services is not savings

DOGE's firings, and the ways they did it, will cost the federal government $135 billion this fiscal year, http://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/u…

— Taniel (@taniel.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T03:55:37.580Z

What DOGE did is not savings, it’s a reduction in services. Savings would be if you figured out a way to do something in 30 minutes that used to take an hour.

— Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T03:59:40.462Z

For example, I don’t think of this as savings bsky.app/profile/cram…

— Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T15:26:46.685Z

another post and my reply

Elon backtracked on DOGE savings goals from $1 trillion to $150 billion.But watchdogs report only $12.6 billion in verifiable savings.That represents just 0.173% of the U.S. federal budget for 2025.We're losing vital government services for basically nothing in return.

— Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T19:30:08.936700Z

Are any of those real savings or are they just reductions in services to people?

— Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T02:53:42.392Z

more “savings”

This is profoundly illegal.“The administration is seeking to pull back money that is already out the door — cash that President Joe Biden’s agencies had awarded, and placed in accounts for the recipients at Citibank, before Trump took office.”www.politico.com/news/2025/04…

— Bobby Kogan (@bbkogan.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T01:51:29.195Z

Student loan servicers are notorious for making mistakes, but Trump still eliminated the watchdog team that oversaw them. I think we need to do more – not less – to protect borrowers, which is why I introduced the Student Loan Servicers Accountability Act.

— Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (@sarajacobs.house.gov) 2025-04-23T01:55:14.646Z

For the nearly 7 million Americans afflicted with Alzheimer’s and their loved ones, federally-funded medical research represents hope that cherished memories will not fade and a family member will have many more years to celebrate birthdays, marriages & more.GOP funding cuts are ripping hope away.

— Rep. Lloyd Doggett (@doggett.house.gov) 2025-04-23T01:12:26.715Z

@katrinamillerphd.bsky.social & I took a look at over 400 active National Science Foundation grants that got killed in the past few days. Here's our story (gift link) nyti.ms/4jp4aOx

— Carl Zimmer (@carlzimmer.com) 2025-04-22T21:43:00.990Z

“This disappearance of data undermines evidence-based assessments and policymaking and increases the authoritarian regime’s control as the public lacks facts to hold them accountable.” @markjacob.bsky.social http://www.americaamerica.news/p/trumps-dan…

— Steven Beschloss (@stevenbeschloss.bsky.social) 2025-04-22T22:29:49.500Z

Last Friday, Trump's EPA shut down a Biden-era website mapping locations of dangerous chemical plants. The chemical industry, which gave over $1M to Trump's inauguration, heavily lobbied the Trump administration to scrap the website. See how this works?

— Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) 2025-04-22T22:01:07.261241Z

they want to crash the economy, cause bank runs and leave you destitute news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/…

— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) 2025-04-22T15:16:51.654Z

Exposing dangers is part of the CDC Closing departments hides problems that could be fixed or preventedYes, they found tesla-selfdriving problems That's why dodgy boys want them gone!

— Ms. Lonnie🦋🩵🫂 (@lonsj.bsky.social) 2025-04-22T00:26:58.828Z

The Trump administration is set to cancel tens of millions of dollars in grants to scientists studying environmental hazards faced by children in rural America, among other health issues, according to internal emails written by senior officials at the EPA.

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-04-21T22:43:49.550Z

Among the impacts: The cuts will halt a first-of-its-kind study of the causes of thousands of firefighters’ cancer cases. propub.li/3GeQOWv

— Dan Petty (@danielpetty.bsky.social) 2025-04-21T22:00:38.418Z

Trump just fired the HHS team responsible for calculating the Federal Poverty Line, which determines eligibility for programs like Medicaid, food assistance, and child care.Trump & DOGE are blocking hardworking Americans from getting the basic assistance they deserve.

— Rep. Kevin Mullin (@kevinmullin.house.gov) 2025-04-25T16:52:32.469Z

Trump Administration cuts national database tracking domestic terrorism

Much of the staff responsible for distributing information about foodborne illnesses has been terminated by the Trump administration as part of its efforts to shrink the government’s size.

— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-04-25T18:35:41.014Z

US Justice Department unit for drug and food safety cases being disbanded reut.rs/3EFhW0c

— Reuters (@reuters.com) 2025-04-25T21:00:19.980Z

From @nytopinion.nytimes.com: Elon Musk “apparently did not anticipate that it would be bad PR for the world’s richest man to take food and medicine from the world’s poorest children,” our columnist Michelle Goldberg writes.

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-05-30T14:12:54.971Z

I wouldn’t call what DOGE did “savings”. They have cut costs by reducing services. Savings would be, for example, taking a process that takes an hour and modifying it so that it takes a half hour.

— Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-05-30T17:22:26.605Z

Trump keeps talking about running in 2028 – it’s illegal

It would be illegal for Trump to run in 2028 but who would stop him? The Republican Party is completely afraid of him and won’t stop him. If Republicans still control Congress, they won’t do anything. Individual blue states may keep him off the ballot but he wouldn’t win them anyway or need them to win the electoral college. The Supreme Court? I don’t know what they would do. Trump may try to declare an emergency and they may fall for it.

Trump: "I did it last time. And they undid it. That's why we have to stay president for a long time."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-04-17T20:37:43.047Z

Economist/YouGov Poll, April 5-870% of Democrats and 34% of Republicans think Trump will try to serve a third term3% and 36% think he should attempt to serve a third term2% and 16% think the Constitution allows Trump to serve a third termtoday.yougov.com/politics/art…

— YouGov America (@today.yougov.com) 2025-04-09T21:07:48.789Z

wrote about trump's third term threats, which are not a joke. they're yet another attack on the constitution. and yes, he will not leave office if he can help it. http://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-thir…

— Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat.bsky.social) 2025-04-03T14:02:27.373Z

56% of US adults believe President Trump will definitely or probably attempt to serve a third term; 20% overall—and 43% of Republicans—say he should definitely or probably be allowed to serve a third term.(@taylororth.bsky.social @dhmontgomery.com @today.yougov.com)today.yougov.com/politics/art…

— Opinion Today (@opiniontoday.bsky.social) 2025-04-03T00:57:45.455Z

A clean, straight shot at the facts: "Any attempt to seek a third term would run afoul of the 22nd Amendment, which begins, 'No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.'” http://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/u…

— John Schwartz (@jswatz.bsky.social) 2025-03-31T00:33:52.373Z

This is a very alarming constitutional gray area and Trump is floating it because he’s taking it seriously. Ignoring the ambiguities in the 12th and 22nd Amendments won’t make them go away! slate.com/news-and-pol…

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjsdc.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T21:45:25.596Z

Declare martial law, cancel elections, control power. That's one way.www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025…

— Wajahat Ali (@wajali.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T20:46:38.654Z

President Donald Trump on Sunday declined to rule out seeking a third presidential term — an unconstitutional act explicitly barred under the 22nd Amendment — saying that “there are methods which you could do it.”

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) 2025-03-30T19:50:38.289Z

Your article cites Trump’s unsupported claims of popularity in polls. There are actual polls you should include that counter his claim. bsky.app/profile/bria…

— Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T19:58:28.122Z

Immigration Polls

Pollster: Take a look at Trump's net approval rating on immigration. A lot of focus on Gallup at -27. That's horrible. Quinnipiac University, -16. That's awful. Marist is bad at -9. Fox at -7. Bad to just downright terrible. The American people have turned against Trump on what was his best issue

— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2025-07-14T13:43:40.540Z

Gallup has new polling on immigration. Topline findings:-Americans hate Trump's immigration policy (35% approve, 62% disapprove)-Share who say immigration is a "good thing" for the country just hit an all-time high (79%)news.gallup.com/poll/692522/…

— Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) 2025-07-11T12:09:45.691Z

Polls taken this week“Do you approve of the way Trump is handling deportation”YouGov/Economist:Approve-39Disapprove-50Quinnipiac:Approve-40Disapprove-56So is it that Margaret Brennan’s producers don’t read their emailsOr is another network news show capitulating to Trump

— Adam Cohen (My Personal Views Only) (@axidentaliberal.bsky.social) 2025-06-15T21:06:35.499Z

Economist/YouGov Poll% of U.S. adult citizens saying that in general, immigration makes the U.S. better off | worse off, in…Oct 19-22, 2024: 35% | 36%Apr 19-22, 2025: 40% | 29%today.yougov.com/politics/art…

— YouGov America (@today.yougov.com) 2025-04-23T21:23:02.167Z

"we shouldn't make immigration salient"

— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) 2025-04-23T15:13:44.321Z

Ceding an issue has never been a successful strategy. Immigration is not only good for America, it’s essential. Now that the rule of law and the Bill of Rights are in play, this is no time for timidity. It’s time to beat Trumpism on its own turf.

— T. J. Stiles (@tj-stiles.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T19:32:24.218Z

political press is doing a real disservice by basically not reporting the nuances of public opinion on deportations, and creating the appearance that most americans support the stephen miller-style gestapo tactics

— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) 2025-06-15T20:58:54.048Z

political press is doing a real disservice by basically not reporting the nuances of public opinion on deportations, and creating the appearance that most americans support the stephen miller-style gestapo tactics

— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) 2025-06-15T20:58:54.048Z

news.gallup.com/poll/692522/…

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer.com) 2025-07-11T20:19:34.235Z

The first YouTube video – 20 years later

YouTube turned 20

Today is the 20 year anniversary of the first YouTube upload EVER. "Me at the zoo" now has 355 million views and over 10 million comments 🎂www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQX…

— Marques Brownlee (@mkbhd.com) 2025-04-23T13:35:52.975Z

YouTube is now 20 years old. For every video you have watched, there are hundreds of millions you will never see. Here’s a look back at some of the biggest moments in YouTube history.

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-04-23T18:05:32.700Z

YouTube turns 20 and is on track to be the biggest media company by revenue

My first college newspaper book review

I wrote for the Pitt News during my junior and senior years (1973-1975). My first article was a review of Thomas McGuane’s NInety-Two in the Shade on September 21, 1973. My memories of the book are more positive than the review was and I recommend it and McGuane’s work in general.

I saw McGuane in person in a bookstore in Washington, DC in 1989 when he was signing his current book Keep the Change.

Here’s my recollection of our conversation as he signed Ninety-Two in the Shade:

Me: This was the first book I reviewed for my college paper.

McGuane: That makes me feel old.

Me: Me, too.