March 4—Social media trolls in the service of the Russian state are producing bogus posts designed to exagerate the U.S. border crisis and produce anger at President Biden. The goal: to increase the odds that Donald Trump, a Putin admirer and a weak supporter of our European allies and the beleaguered Ukraine, is elected in November.

March 4—Following a ballot measure in 2020, Oregon embarked on a novel and, in TSD's view, noble experiment in decriminalizing the simple possession of psychoative substances. Unfortunately, the state did not construct the treatment infrastructure capable of providing an alternative, and a steep upsurge in addiction, overdose deaths and public using have forced even Democrats in Oregon's legislature to sign on to a Republican bill to again criminalize possession. On the bright side, the goal is still to force addicts into treatment: the bill provides for jail sentences, but these can be voided if the user agrees to treatment. The bill still awaits the signature of Oregon governor Tina Kotek. The TSD hopes this is a bump in the road toward treating substance abuse and addiction as a health, and not a criminal, problem.

February 29—Mitch McConnell, senator from Kentucky and acting senate minority leader, has announced that he will not seek reelection in November. Though no friend of social democracy, McConnell has been seen as a bulwark against the furthest right wing of Trump loyalists in Congress. This Reuters article considers the implications.

February 29—The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear Donald Trump's argument that actions he took to overturn the 2020 election are protected by presidential immunity. Arguments have been set for April 22 (Reuters article). A Guardian analysis piece (second link) calls the Court's move a victory for Trump, as he attempts to delay standing trial until after the November elections.

February 28—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a new round of funding to solve an old problem: hazardous waste sites identified in the 1980 Superfund program. The commitment represents the third tranche of funds from the Biden administration's 2021 infrastructure bill. TSD applauds social democracy in action!

February 26—An analysis from the National Association for Business Economics finds the U.S. economy in surprisingly robust shape, with experts surveyed for the study predicting growth of 2.2% for 2024, up from the group's November prediction of 1.3%. A key question for America's future is whether such evidence of the Biden administration's excellent economic management can break through the barrage of misinformation being fed to voters through right-wing news channels.

February 26—American consumers are expressing their dissatisfaction with price-gouging by switching to off-label brands, foregoing other items and buying used cars. Goods producers are getting the message and moderating price increases.

February 19—Both the United States and the European Union have imposed a sweeping new round of sanctions on the Russian regime of Vladim Putin, raising the cost of the dictator's ruthless and unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine (first article). Meanwhile direct U.S. military aid to the beleaguered nation is being held hostage to the far-right minority in the House of Representatives and speaker Mike Johnson (second article).

February 19—President Biden has announced a new round of student debt relief for the subset of borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan.

February 19—The road to a greener America is not, apparently, a straight line. Under pressure from both auto manufacturers and the UAW, who argue that EVs are still too expensive for average Americans and that more time is needed to complete a nationwide EV charging network, the Biden administration has agreed to extend the timetable for transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles.

February 19—One of the most noteworthy political and social experiments of recent years has been playing out in Oregon, which largely decriminalized possession of psychoactive substances following a 2020 referendum. The bill redirected funds to treatment programs, but these have been slow to ramp up, and a sharp increase in overdose deaths is now causing Oregonians to reconsider their course. TSD, which supports the decriminalization of psychoactive substances, hopes that Oregonians will find measures, other than criminalization, to guide substance addicts to healthier lifeways.

February 16—Democrats generally, and President Biden in particular, are facing a reckoning on immigration. Content to pay forward the slogans of immigration advocates favoring open borders (or its equivalent: non-enforcement of the nation's immigration laws) while in opposition, the President, now facing a backlash both from voters and Democratic municipal leaders, is being forced to adopt a more supportable messaging.

February 16—House Republicans' key witness in their attempt to impeach President Biden has been charged with lying to FBI investigators. It appears that the informant, with ties to Russian security services, fabricated (or had fabricated for him) claims that President Biden took payments from Ukrainian energy company Burisma while acting as vice president.

February 13—A recent study from MIT and the Brookings Institution finds that the nation's poorest counties, generally Republican strongholds, have benefited disproportionately from President Biden's efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing. The study credits measures associated with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act with the ongoing surge in manufacturing capacity, though voters in red districts benefiting from the Biden programs remain loyal to Donal Trump.

February 12—This CNBC article finds top U.S. corporate leadership gathered in Davos unconcerned about a Trump victory in November, highlighting the extent to which at least some considerable portion of the U.S. business community places its own profits above virtually all other values.