Saturday, May 24, 2025

Child tax benefit increase leaves out millions of kids, analysis says

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/23/child-tax-credit-big-beautiful-bill 

 

May 23, 2025 - Economy

Child tax benefit increase leaves out millions of kids, analysis says


Illustration of kids sitting on a the scales of justice like swings.

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios


Go deeper
  • dadadrumpf and cuba

     pigs.jpg 

    dadadrumpf thought the bay of pigs was a cuban beach resort site for miss universe contest losers - (yeah right! — and pearl harbor was a 40's jazz singer?)

    Friday, May 23, 2025

    the 40 days of trumpmas - a surreal serial poem

     

     guyhair1_517UcgHYK3L._AC_UL320_SR256_320_.png 

    Remember, remember! The fifth of trumpvember

     the 40 days of trumpmas - a serial poem

     

    for 40 days the trumpeter reigns,

    his lies and hate on whom he disdains,

    but election day will come so soon,

    we'll no longer hear the orange baboon;

     

    in 39 days full of world wide problems.

    we could elect him to get rid of the muslims,

    but as he'll rant on trivialities of his presidential life,

    what could be worse? - you could be his wife;

     

    in 38 days just what will you do?

    the donald has said he likes lgbtq,

    but as he bullies his women and all his men too,

    if youre questioning, what stops him from bullying you?

     

    in just 37 days, some people are saying,

    (or pleading or hoping or some even praying)

    the duke of prunes will dye his forelock purple my friend,

    and thus make america grape again,

     

    our days are down to just 36,

    before our problems the don will fix,

    he will on day one do what hes said - true,

    he'll wall out our enemies - and fat women too!

     

    on the 35th day of trumpmas

    yes just seven weeks remain!

    will the polls and tallies deliver us

    donald with his golden mane?

     

    34 days and the vice-pipers have piped,

    though pence didnt say why donalds suit shouldnt be striped,

    he wouldnt defend his master's string pulling,

    to make america great? - who do they think they're fooling?

     

    just 33 days till the macho tornado,

    unless its blown away by hurricane machado,

    with women and voters he has so much to loose.

    keep your mouth shut donald (unless youre changing your shoes)

     

    32 days and we’ve been hit by the big blowhard,

    donald spoke here in fla (oh, we had a hurricane too)

    this administration gives us playing the race card, a weak economy, and unemployment

    but if you want a job you could be donald’s campaign manager (unless youre a jew)

     

    31 days, just a month, remains;

    will the donald say hes sorry, and his baser impulses restrain?

    or keep blaming bill clinton for our moral demise;

    when trump speaks to us, our NO votes must be our replies!

     

    election comes this time (in 30 days) each 4 years,

    time for praise and tears and fears;

    as polls will open in many states,

    vote early, please dont vote late!

     

    down to 29, just a leap february,

    and theres still the donald quite

    contrary;

    donald donald, how does your garden grow?

    quoth the master debater, "with pretty maids groped in a row"

     

    just 28 days - later or soon,

    and the zombies will rise, led by the big goon;

    unless everyone gets a reality inoculation,

    i might have to move to canada for a well deserved vacation; 

     

    now just 27, less than 4 weeks,

    no time for you to say 'yikes!' or 'eeeks!'

    obama wants to go to mars and colonize it for man,

    lets send trump tomorrow! and colonize it for orangutan!

     

    26 days are all that remain,

    will our democracy and economy go down the drain?

    if we all keep listening to the blustering oaf,

    will he give jobs and prosperity? - or just half a loaf

     

    25 days - will more women speak?,

    of the antics of donald who the presidency seeks,

    dating 14 year old girls or groping their mothers,

    how did the gop pick him over the others?,

     

    24 days - were down to two dozen,

    the next woman who speaks just might be your cousin,

    or mother or sister, aunt, niece, even daughter,

    describing the circumstance in which donald caught her,

     

    23 days left and trump doesnt yet have as many accusers,

    as cosby, but he assures us that they are all really losers,

    sent by bankers or hillary with secret agendas,

    to disrupt our election of him - our defender!,

     

    22 days and we know charity begins at home,

    but donalds attention is so prone to roam,

    his gift that disappeared to 911 survivors from his foundation?,

    oops! maybe donald spent it on a vacation,

     

    21 days and trump says the election may be rig-ly,

    if hes not the winner and his total's not big-ly,

    tremendously higher than hillary gets,

    he warns his supporters may all lose their wits,

     

    20 days left and while george zimmerman still walks free,

    the man who shot at HIM got 20 years - while trayvon got eternity,

    trump wants us to support our cops and maintain law and order,

    he'll put all the inner city dwellers in jail, and send the immigrant criminals far across the border,

     

    19 days left till we all go to pretend,

    to elect someone to lead us, as if on it our lives depend,

    but wise man, donald trump, already really knows,

    who we really voted for - a wolf in president's clothes?,

     

    18 days and we bad hombres demand a rebate,

    on the ill feelings left since the comments of one candidate,

    the debaters have met in their final grudge match,

    but only donald can say from whose hands victory will be snatched,

     

    17 days and our government is corrupt with quid pro quo,

    did you take latin at wharton? is that how you know?,

    donald wants us to fire at them all - the bureaucrats lined up in rows,

    and believe me, corruption is a subject. that donald really knows,

     

    16 days - lets set term limits on all our office holders,

    and put all our women in binders - or maybe in folders,

    donalds endless complaints are becoming a sour whine,

    have a little cheese with that, from wisconsin, where 

    hillary's doing fine,

     

    15 days and on stocking covered thighs did linger,

    two miniature hands with two thumbs and eight tiny fingers,

    they belonged to the donald who believed that he owned,

    any thing that he wanted - or anyone he got alone,

     

    14 days yes only two weeks,

    till the duke of orange assends to the throne he seeks?,

    to rule all americans, the strong and the weak?,

    and dominate the globe with power that's peak?,

     

    the 13th day to go - does that seem unlucky?,

    not for donald whos lately been appearing quite plucky,

    claiming media, polls, and parties are against him,

    and rallying his multitudes with wit waxing dim,

     

    on the 12th day of trumpmas donald awoke with a jerk,

    promptly fired his latest campaign manager (who considered that a perk),

    if youre "AAAfroAAAmurikan" and unemployed i can put you to work,

    barked donald the businessman from behind his sly smirk,

     

    it's the 11th and engineer casey trump is in the caboose,

    i hear some of you saying oh no! what's the use,

    our campaign will probably just go off the tracks,

    but donald says its ok - cause he's got "the blacks",

     

    just ten days left yes only one-zero,

    til donald is hoping that he'll be your hero,

    as new hillary emails come under investigation,

    donald hopes to rename camp david to camp donald for

    his vacations,

     

    like a cat has nine lives we're left with only 9 days,

    till we're subject to donald? and his old wicked ways,

    on foreign affairs he says he'll save us from isis,

    but his domestic affairs are misogyny and crisis,

     

    our days are numbered - yes only eight,

    till once again we make america great,

    by getting rid of candidates who have nothing to add,

    goodbye donald you wont make america sad,

     

    just one week to go - its day minus seven,

    till america's lifted above - to trumpty dump heaven?,

    where for rich folks like donald opportunity abounds,

    and we keep the working poor with a wall that surrounds,

     

    how the time it does fly its already day 6,

    till americans problems the donald will fix,

    his solutions begin on trumpday number one,

    dont you like them? they'll come at the barrel of a gun,

     

    Five days to go, baby, One in five,

    No one here gets out alive, now,

    david dukes not opposed to all jews,

    he backs trump - who are you going to choose?,

     

    only 4 days left till the armaged-don,

    he'll seize power by the horns once he has won,

    and donnie will be what he longs for - a winner,

    using the FBI to wreak havoc on hillary the sinner,

     

    only three left, just a triad of days,

    and the donald his supporters continues to amaze,

    with hoopla and folderoll made up in his head,

    his winning temperament will leave us all dead,

     

    just a pair of days - 2 - till trump paradise,

    since these words you're reading please heed my advice,

    the creatures that surround us are beginning to bite,

    'blacks for trump' fear the Illuminati so lets turn out their light,

     

    just a single day left till our thanksgiving,

    deliver us from donald and preserve the living,

    forget sanity and disgard your misgivings,

    but pray hard to your gods that they'll be forgiving,

    since we've got the nukes why can't we use'em?,

    on the road to 2016 why couldn't we lose HIM?,

     

    and trumpmas now has finally come,

    the tallies will count up to a winning sum,

    unless the earth is struck soon by a cataclysmic comet,

    to elect a candidate who just makes you want to vomit?,

    we wish you a merry trumpmas at this time each 4 years,

    if you have'nt voted you've lost the chance to mitigate your fears,

    cause donald duck is ready to lead, forget your crocodile tears,

    so you'd better get the vaseline and lubricate your rears!

    From Air Force One to Economic Entanglement: The Real Stakes of Trump’s Middle East Diplomacy

     https://www.justsecurity.org/113626/trump-real-stakes-middle-east-diplomacy/

    US President Donald Trump (L), accompanied by his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan gestures with a clenched fist.

    From Air Force One to Economic Entanglement: The Real Stakes of Trump’s Middle East Diplomacy

    Political Scientist Joseph Nye’s theory of soft power has long shaped discussions on U.S. foreign policy. Nye posited that American power was derived from more than just its military might. Yet, in the Middle East, the United States has repeatedly relied on hard military power as its primary instrument of influence. In today’s era of strategic competition between the United States, Russia, and China, where countries leverage diplomacy and economic power to expand influence, “sticky power,” or economic entanglement, is emerging as a new way for the United States to achieve its goals.

    President Donald Trump’s trip to the Middle East in early May underscored this shift, securing over a trillion dollars in long-term investment transactions with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. These deals, spanning defense, aviation, artificial intelligence (AI), and infrastructure, reflect a calculated move by the Trump administration to entrench U.S. influence in the region through economic leverage rather than its traditional dependence on the military. Although these deals may take years to pan out, and despite the controversy surrounding Qatar’s gift of a $200 million luxury jet, Trump’s diplomacy represents a profound turn toward economic statecraft as a stabilizing force. Furthermore, these deals underscore the administration’s priorities: maintaining American influence in the Middle East while positioning the United States to counter China’s growing presence both in the region, as well as in the Indo-Pacific. By embedding the United States more deeply into the region’s economic and technological infrastructure, this shift toward “sticky power” strengthens regional partnerships, reshapes Middle East power dynamics, and reinforces America’s global strategic position in an era of intensifying competition. As Trump continues to reinforce his foreign policy priorities, expanding the use of “sticky power” will be essential to sustaining U.S. influence and outcompeting rivals across the globe.

    A Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after U.S. President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. Donald Trump plans to accept a luxury Boeing jet from the Qatari royal family for use as Air Force One and then continue flying in it after his tenure, despite strict rules on U.S. presidential gifts, media reported May 11, 2025. The Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet would possibly be the most expensive gift ever received by the American government. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
    A Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after U.S. President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

    Sticky Power vs. Sharp Power

    In 2009, Walter Russell Mead, building on Nye’s distinction between hard and soft power, introduced the complementary concepts of “sharp” and “sticky” power, expanding the framework for understanding how states project influence in the modern world. Mead argued that hard power, which compels others to act through force or pressure, can be divided into two primary forms: military might and economic leverage. He characterized traditional military force as “sharp power,” a form of influence that obtains compliance through direct pressure and threat, while economic influence functions as “sticky power,” drawing states into a web of institutions and incentives that make disengagement more costly and difficult. 

    After decades of relying on sharp power in the Middle East, and amid renewed efforts to prioritize a strategic shift to the Indo-Pacific, the Trump administration’s recent foreign policy trip stands out as a masterclass in the application of sticky power.

    Trump’s Middle East Deals

    The tangible outcomes of Trump’s Middle East trip reflect sticky power in action. In Saudi Arabia, Trump secured a $600 billion agreement that includes a $142 billion arms deal and major investments in AI and energy infrastructure, including a $20 billion commitment from Saudi company DataVolt to build AI data centers in the United States. Qatar followed with pledges totaling up to $300 billion, including a commercial aircraft deal with Boeing and a $2 billion drone purchase. The UAE reaffirmed its plan to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States over the next decade. 

    These deals, while framed as economic partnerships, serve a dual purpose of deepening interdependence and embedding American influence in the region’s technological and defense sectors. This approach is sticky power at its most potent, as the deals leverage economic incentives to create long-term strategic alignment.

    Sticky Power and Strategic Objectives

    The Trump administration’s logic behind these economic engagements becomes clearer when viewed through the lens of broader U.S. geopolitical objectives. First, in deepening economic ties with these Gulf States, the United States aims to crowd out Chinese influence (both physically and financially) by offering an alternative network of security, investment, and technological collaboration. Second, the easing of sanctions on Syria signals an attempt to steer Damascus away from Moscow’s orbit, reducing Russia’s foothold in the region without direct confrontation. Third, by bolstering the capabilities and resilience of partners such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, Washington is reinforcing a regional counterweight to Iran’s destabilizing activities. Finally, these moves signal a renewed push to revive the spirit of the Abraham Accords. Despite Israel’s concerns over its exclusion from the trip, particularly over policies like lifting sanctions on Syria, Trump’s moves may ultimately deepen Israel’s integration into a regional framework of cooperation and shared interests. Underpinning all of these positions is a deliberate shift away from relying on military power toward employing long-term economic interdependence and institutional alignment to exert greater U.S. influence in the region.

    U.S. President Donald Trump signs the guestbook as UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan looks on and gives a thumbs up gesture after a meeting at Qasr al Watan (Palace of the Nation) on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
    U.S. President Donald Trump signs the guestbook as UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan looks on. May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

    Sticky Power Misapplied: India and the Cold War

    The Cold War-era diplomatic distance between the United States and India illustrates the consequences of underestimating sticky power and serves as a cautionary example for managing other key relationships. In 1971, amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sought support from the United States. However, President Richard Nixon, prioritizing his nascent rapprochement with China, chose instead to back Pakistan, even dispatching the Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal in a show of force. This decision alienated India and pushed it closer to the Soviet Union, culminating in the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation

    Over the following decades, India developed a defense relationship with Moscow, purchasing most of its military hardware from Russia. Washington’s failure to appreciate the enduring impact of sticky power allowed the Soviet Union to maintain strategic influence in India. Only in recent years has Washington attempted to re

    Exclusive: Trump Shared Racist, Flat-Earth Facebook Account With South African President

     https://meidasnews.com/news/exclusive-trump-shared-racist-flat-earth-facebook-account-with-south-african-president

    Editor's Note: This article contains descriptions of racially offensive imagery and language. Some of the content has been translated from Afrikaans using translation tools.

    In a bizarre and troubling move, Trump recently shared a Facebook post with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that originated from a fringe South African account that posts racist imagery and flat Earth conspiracies.

    Trump holding up a Facebook post "article"

    Trump holding up a Facebook post "article"

    The account, discovered by MeidasTouch's review of high resolution photos from the event, is run by a man named Paul Hattingh of South Africa who spreads white nationalist narratives, hateful imagery, and promotes theological interpretations of the Bible to justify a cosmology that rejects a spinning globe Earth. 

    Trump handing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa a stack of articles

    Trump handing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa a stack of articles

    During his meeting, Trump held up Hattingh's Facebook post from a collection of "articles" that Trump shared as part of his larger narrative attempting to legitimize the debunked claim that white South African farmers are being systematically murdered in a state-backed genocide—a conspiracy theory long discredited.

    What makes Trump's sharing of the post especially disturbing is the origin: a Facebook account filled with offensive imagery and extremist rhetoric. 

    Paul Hattingh 

    Paul Hattingh 

    One AI image posted to Hattingh's account depicts a terrified Ramaphosa entering Trump's "White Supremacy House." Hattingh has several posts hoping that Trump would confront Ramaphosa during his visit to the White House for a reckoning. 

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    Hattingh's posts contain multiple AI-generated images that mock President Ramaphosa, depicting him with green skin, frog-like limbs, and in some cases being boiled alive by Trump. One image shows Ramaphosa dancing in a court jester outfit while holding U.S. dollars.

    Another one of Hattingh's post displays the South African flag soaked in blood with a skull-and-crossbones emoji and the caption, “blood everywhere, South Africa is burning.” 

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    The Trump-shared account also mocked beachgoers in KwaZulu-Natal with the line, “lekker in die stront swem julle!” (“enjoy swimming in the shit!”), paired with an image of white people covered in mud at a music festival—an apparent racial insult implying that proximity to Africans on the beach will make white people dirty. Throughout the 20th century in apartheid South Africa, swimming pools and beaches were heavily policed and segregated to prevent racial mixing.

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    The account also posted a racist AI caricature of a chimpanzee wearing a swim suit and shared the caption: “Baie liefielyfie op SA strande hierdie jaar” (“Lots of sweethearts on South African beaches this year”). The hateful post implies that African woman are ape-like.

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    Hattingh also posted AI images of Africans with exaggerated facial features such as big, bulging eyes, huge noses, large lips, and crooked teeth. Depicting Africans with exaggerated physical features in a cartoonish manner perpetuates harmful racial stereotypes and is a form of racism rooted in colonial and minstrel traditions.

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    Hattingh also used a similar image to boast that he was back from a Facebook suspension. Trump is relying on this hateful account that was suspended from Facebook to justify his attacks on another country. 

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    Hattingh has also shared content from far right white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Charlie Kirk, who rejects MLK as a bad guy. The Fuentes clip shared by Hattingh argued that descendants of White Europeans have superior DNA over other racial groups.

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    Hattingh is also a big fan of Trump and has posted several times about seeing him as a voice for white people in South Africa. One post references Trump's anti-Haitian pet-eating hoax and depicts a cat granting Trump "9 lives" as a reward.

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    Hattingh also posted a meme of a bearded Trump wearing a Superman-like costume. For Hattignh, Trump fits right in to his own hateful worldview. 

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    The Trump-promoted account also pushes flat Earth cosmology, asserting that the Earth is not a spinning planet but a flat, immovable surface under a solid dome.

    Paul Hattingh

    Paul Hattingh

    Hattigh rejects a spinning, round Earth and outer space. In one post, Hattingh states:

    “You say no verse describes the earth as flat or round. But Scripture is not silent. It is simply not written in scientific code — it speaks with divine clarity, for those who honor the voice of the Creator above the voices of men. …And that Word declares a created world, with a fixed earth, a solid firmament above, and His throne beyond it — not a spinning ball in vacuum space.”

    In another post, the Trump fan expanded on his flat Earth beliefs:

    “No, the sun and moon are not ‘flat’ like the earth – they are light bearers with specific shapes and routes, tied into the expanse. But the earth is unique – she is the footstool of YHWH, the center of His creation, and she is firm and immovable. The sun, moon and stars are servants of times, seasons and light – not centralized massive spheres as modern astronomy teaches.”

    The same account also rejects traditional Christian messaging, the type of messaging that Bible salesman Trump leans into. Hatting rejects the name "Jesus" as coming from Rome, declares the cross a pagan symbol "tied to Babylon and sun worship," and rejects Christmas as a satanic holiday, 

    These views represent a fusion of conspiracy ideology, fringe intolerance, and racial grievance that’s increasingly visible on the outer edges of far-right movements globally. The fact that Trump would choose to share a Facebook account that welcomes hateful, anti-African sentiment speaks volumes and raises questions on the quality of information both feeding this White House and coming out of it.