$700 Million In the Toilet

10.6.26

Happy Tuesday! Welcome back to Common Sense with Ally Sammarco. Let’s break down the latest news.

Trump Suggests Iran Could “Take Out” Los Angeles and San Diego…Donald Trump sparked outrage Monday after suggesting that Iran could “take out” American cities if it were allowed to develop a nuclear weapon—specifically naming Los Angeles and San Diego. The comments came as Trump defended his ongoing war with Iran and insisted the economic costs were a “small price to pay” for keeping Americans safe. Trump’s remarks followed two recently foiled terror plots that U.S. and foreign officials have tentatively linked to Iran, including an alleged plot targeting a U.K. airbase used by the U.S. Air Force. Trump also claimed Iran was behind an attempted hijacking of an Israel-bound passenger flight, though neither he nor British officials provided public evidence for those claims. California leaders were quick to condemn the president. Gov. Gavin Newsom called the comments “deranged and dangerous,” while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said threatening American cities is the opposite of a president’s responsibility. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said his city “is not collateral damage.” Even Republican congressional candidate Jim Desmond broke with Trump, saying, “No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”

Common Sense Takeaway: Um, there is a pretty basic principle that apparently needs to be repeated: American cities and citizens are not bargaining chips to be used as leverage in negotiations . A president can make the case for military action without casually talking about American communities being “taken out” or even putting that idea into an adversary’s head. Just more reckless statements from the insane person who is supposed to keep us all safe. A typical Tuesday in Trump’s America.

Trump Keeps Undermining Mail-In Voting While Telling Republicans to Use It…Donald Trump is once again casting doubt on mail-in voting ahead of the midterms, claiming—without evidence—that there is “a lot of cheating” associated with mail ballots. The comments came the same day Trump met with Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk who was convicted for illegally accessing voting systems while searching for evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. Trump has repeatedly pushed for Peters’ release. The irony is hard to miss: Trump is simultaneously telling Republicans to vote by mail. In a video posted Saturday, he urged voters to “vote early, vote by mail or vote in person,” while Trump himself has voted by mail twice in Florida this year. Trump also seized on an Arizona incident in which 3,126 early ballots were accidentally mailed six days early. County officials said no voters were harmed and the ballots remained valid. Trump nevertheless called the county “very, very dishonest” and claimed the incident proved his broader concerns about elections.

Common Sense Takeaway: Looks like someone is getting really nervous about the midterms. You can’t spend years telling Americans that mail-in voting is riddled with fraud, try to illegally install a federal takeover of the mail-in voting system, and and then suddenly tell your own voters to use it. That makes no sense. Also if Trump actually believed mail voting was corrupt, he wouldn’t have been voting by mail himself all these years. Best to just ignore anything mail-in voting related from the orange buffoon’s mouth.

Republicans Flood Midterm Races With $700 Million in New Ad Spending….Republicans are pouring money into the midterms, booking more than $700 million in new congressional advertising since the start of September, compared with roughly $430 million booked by Democrats. The spending gap is especially stark in the Senate, where nearly 70% of newly booked ad dollars are coming from Republicans. Texas is the biggest example: GOP-aligned groups have committed nearly $150 million to defend the Senate seat held by Republican nominee Ken Paxton as Democrat James Talarico mounts a competitive challenge. Ohio, Michigan and even traditionally deep-red Kansas are also seeing major Republican ad investments. Republicans say their financial advantage is one of their biggest assets heading into November. Democrats, meanwhile, argue the spending spree reflects Republicans having to defend territory that was previously considered safe. The late flood of cash is also being driven heavily by outside groups, including Trump-aligned super PACs.

Common Sense Takeaway: I can’t even honestly react to this news, without reflecting on the staggering amount of money that gets spent on political races. Money that could help so many people. But I digress. Making Republicans spend $150 million+ on Texas is actually good news. Money spent there is money not spent elsewhere. That’s why competitive races everywhere are so important. But Democrats can’t afford to assume that a favorable political environment will do the work for them. We have to fight like hell until blue butts are in seats.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading Common Sense with Ally Sammarco. See you tomorrow.

— Ally