Minnesota 7th Congressional District Democratic Farmer-Labor Party Outreach & Inclusion Officers Report for January 16, 2026

CD7 Outreach & Inclusion officers report for January 16, 2026

I had written a report for December and January which Trump’s invasion of Minnesota with 3000 armed and useless federal troops rendered irrelevant. That report included the O&I Plan which mostly advocated for our improving our welcoming environment, which we now need more than ever. On to discussing Trump’s federal invasion-

Background- ICE is a hastily created agency in response to the 911 attacks. ICE has a sad history of incompetence and abuses, yet Trump and the the GOP rewarded ICE with a massive increase in funding and authority in the Big Bad Bill. With that largesse Trump and his fascists have been able to “Hoover up” thousands of misfits, supply them with guns and ammo, put them on the federal payroll, and turn ‘em loose.

The current situation- As Trump’s promised retribution, ICE has largely invaded democratic areas convenient to improvised federal and contracted county jails. They have attacked smaller and especially immigrant owned businesses as well as schools and child care facilities. ignoring the huge corporate packing plants and mega dairies. As ICE’s murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis shows, they have extended their targets far beyond immigrants to include gays, people of color, and retaliation against anyone with the moral integrity to oppose them. For example, ICE was seen stalking in a tribal housing project on the White Earth Reservation where housing is available only to tribal members who are all citizens by birth. As counter demonstrations against ICEs kidnappings in public spaces has grown they are increasingly forced to much less efficiently go “door to door” and those doors should be locked.

Strategy- Our numbers are few out here so we are unlikely to assemble crowds of protestors and witnesses to deter ICE, as they have successfully done in the cities. We also have many backward mayors and police who will even assist ICE. Our strengths are our scattered locations that make forays here by ICE unproductive and provide plentiful opportunities to “hunker down” and disappear as we did during COVID.

These realities tell us that direct confrontations with ICE would be futile- They outnumber us, have guns, and don’t know how to use them. To win, first we must survive- By being evasive, inaudible, and downright invisible to ICE. Especially if you’re an ICE target, stay home and go online behind VPNs and don’t be afraid to turn off your online devices. And while ICE can’t find us, monitor and document their atrocities from a safe distance- on http://www.sassy.democrat I just posted an article showing how to read license plates from a hundred yards with consumer grade cameras and software. Keep your vulnerable neighbors informed and supplied so they can stay safe at home.

ICE is struggling to capture 1000 immigrants a day, every day 10,000 new Americans are born and about half are people of color or hispanic- They have lost this battle before it even started. Our forbears defeated fascism, we won during a pandemic, and we damn well will win in 2026 and take our country back again!

A camera, long lens, and software can keep you a safe from ICE…

It’s obvious that the camera of choice for documenting ICE’s illegal excesses is a cell phone, and to a point it works- convenient with decent short range capability and easy to transmit the incriminating evidence to your favorite social media. But there’s a serious down side to the cell phone- You have to be within to easy reach of ICE thugs to document their thuggery.

Even a cheap ‘n’ cheerful $100 camera will give you at least 10x or so zoom so you can document ICE thugs atrocities from a safe distance. Move up into the $500-1000 price range and you can get an SLR or mirrorless camera that lets you capture details from a safe and stealthy hundred meters away with less glare from the bright lights of an urban environment. and when ICE melts, you got a damn good camera to enjoy.

Here’s an example, typical results with the lens at a 45mm setting and not much better than a good cell phone:

Now, we adjust the lens to it’s maximum 150mm setting:

Now we can tell that the barely visible blue spot in the back is probably a square body Ford. Now let’s magnify it by cropping it down with iPhoto:

Wow! We’ve gone from a speck to a readable license plate, the square headlights put it in the 90s, the low height tells us it’s probably an. F150, the painted bumper and black grill suggests it has the XL trim.

That pickup is at least a hundred meters back in a hoarder’s hoard and locals tell me “trespassers” might actually get shot, and he’s probably a better shot that ICE’s losers. If an ICE loser was standing by that pickup we could probably accurately ascertain his 40+ BMI, identify his weapons, and ID him when he ends up in court to pay for his crimes. All from a hundred meter distance that he can’t run and from that far out you’re just a speck in the much bigger scene.

So use the available tech to document ICE from a safer distance!

ICE Attacks: Protest or Stealth?

For decades the progressive playbook called for huge demonstrations to advocate for our cause, and if we’re trying to persuade sensible open minded people, sometimes that works. Even with terminally fascist idiots like ICE thugs, when you outnumber them by 10 to 1 or better they’ll probably back down. But carelessly getting up close and personal with ICE will give them way more than your “name, rank, and serial number”, as MPR News reports: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/13/ice-using-private-data-to-intimidate-observers-and-activists-advocates-say

That’s why an ICE thug in Minneapolis kept his cell phone going while he murdered a Minneapolis mother in cold blood- In real time ICE is scanning faces and license plates, searching databases, and building even bigger databases of anyone opposing their reign of terror. The scanning includes the radio spectrum too- ICE is logging phones around them and maybe conversations and data too. Meanwhile, federal contractors like tech firm Palantir are building giant databases about us to enable future repression. So if you’re documenting or protesting ICE within camera or microwave frequency range, don’t make their disgusting “work” an easier- park the car a ways away, dark hoodies are the uniform, face masks ready because ICE is a breeding ground for disease, and cell phones off and maybe in a Faraday cage too!

Was great seeing the crowd that organically gathered and chased ICE out of Lake & Lyndale in Minneapolis yesterday. but out here on the prairies we’re unlikely to have such numbers to overwhelm ICE and we can’t spare the few progressive activists we have should ICE capture them- so stealth is our best strategy. Even in progressive rich Minneapolis activists have been delivering food to ICE’s targets and offering school online so these vulnerable folks can stay home and safe from ICE. Stealth should be our first barrier against ICE, and protest a backup in case ICE breaches our stealth. Turn off the cell phone, get online through a VPN, stay home, or travel at night ’cause lazy ICE thugs like to sleep, etc…. If they don’t see us, they can’t even find us!

Sassy Democrat Reporting For Duty, Ma’am!

Over the last couple decades I’ve created and mostly abandoned damn near a dozen blogs, most due to lack of interest on my part or readers. The winner has long been GearheadGrrrl.com, focusing on just about anything with wheels and an engine and occasionally horses. But lately the traffic on this political blog sassy.democrat has taken off, so I’ve upgraded it and will be cranking out the content to meet the GOP’s desire to refight the Civil War.

In August 1862 my great great grandfather volunteered for the Union Army and not quite a year later he was dead. Like most of his unit, he died not in combat but from disease, having seen but a few days of combat between long periods of encampments and marching between encampments. This incompetence of Union leadership was fortunately eclipsed by the greater incompetence of Confederate leadership, starting with the stupidity of starting the Civil War in the first place. Never mind that while the Norths competent trades people could accurately bore cylinders for guns or steam engines while even the best rifle would within hours rust to uselessness in the South’s humidity, while the slave labor the South exploited would within a few decades be obsoleted by advancing farm technology. We lost about a tenth of our adult men in that war, fortunately immigrants and freed slaves took their place and continued our nations growth.

So a century and a half later the neo fascists DBA Republican Party have publicly promised to deport a hundred million or so Americans whose skin isn’t as blanco as theirs. Even dumber than the Confederates who went to war to avoid actually having to pay workers, the Republicans are formenting another Civil War to keep immigrants out who came here to work while we have a structural shortage of workers for the next couple decades at least. Compounding that mistake they’ve overfunded ICE, a part of “Homeland Security” we wouldn’t need if the Border Patrol was effective, by billions so they can overpay the nation’s blanco clinically obese incels to play “army” with live ammo between internet porn watching and other grossities. Once past probation we’re stuck with ’em, trillions of dollars of national debt on top of the Republican’s Iraq War that will be collecting pay for no useful work and pensions for pretty much the rest of this century. And like the Confederates, they’ve lost before the first innocent citizen was shot by them- ICE is struggling to deport a thousand a day, and every day over 5000 hispanic and nonwhite babies are born in America.

So again, history teaches us strategies for the current crisis- The Republicans want a useless war and let’s not give it to them. Let their guns and stuck in the snow SUVs rust and chartered planes sit empty while we hide and supply our immigrant neighbors and bankrupt any greedy vendor making a quick billion or so bucks on ICE’s wasteful spending. More on tactics coming in future posts…

Minnesota CD7 DFL Outreach & Inclusion Officers Report for August 2025

“Privileged Farmers”- That’s an actual quote heard in a DFL legislative caucus meeting! Please send that lost DFL legislator out here where we can introduce them to farmers trying to make the payments on $10,000 an acre land and $100,000+ used “economy” tractors and combines with $3 a bushel corn! Truth is, farmers are at risk of losing multi generational million dollar and more investments while earning less than minimum wage feeding and fueling us. That’s how out of touch the metro’s “democratic socialist” leaning legislators are with the rural economy they claim as their progressive roots. Heck, the Farmer-Laborites would have laughed them right outa the party!

Rural democrats have been getting diss’d by the Environmental Caucus too, I’ve been thrown outa their meetings for sticking up for farmers by reminding them that biofuels can reduce climate change as well as their Teslas, an inconvenient truth they deny. And while we respect their support for the BWCA, we wish they’d show the same concern for the “prairie potholes’ we canoe and fish in out here. This DFL legislator and caucus wouldn’t dare so boldly malign any other group, but apparently farmers and rural folks are fair game for them.

Article 9, Section 16 of the DNC Charter states “Democratic Party Credo.”… “At the heart of our party lies a fundamental conviction, that Americans must not only be free, but they must live in a fair society.”… :We believe it is the responsibility of government to help us achieve this fair society”… “a society where the livelihoods of our family farmers are as stable as the values they instill in the American character;” Further, our DFL Party has authorized a Rural Community Caucus, validating that our struggles as rural residents are as valid as other groups.

Memo to that lost DFL legislator and community caucus: Your bias against farmers and rural folks is not a democratic value, and you’re certainly not helping us win elections!

Sunday was rainy so I watched the challenge hearing to the Minneapolis DFL convention that the “democratic socialists” took over and used to award a sham “endorsement” to their mayoral candidate, suffice to say their (mis)behavior was so bad the their own brief was enough evidence to revoke that “endorsement”. Their argument was that they botched the convention but it didn’t matter anyway, evidenced by their inability to keep up their end of a Zoom stream during the meeting. Take them seriously, the Minneapolis convention was practice for their plan to take over our state convention next year- We rural DFLers are the institutional memory that keeps our party stable and successful, so make sure we fill every delegate seat we have at SCC meetings and next years conventions.

Survival is winning… Many of you probably saw the video of a motorcyclist being attacked by several ICE et al goons in DC. Thanks to wearing a helmet he’s probably OK,, but one of the goons who was too manly to wear a helmet slipped, fell, and gave himself a concession while piling on the poor motorcyclist. Then his fellow goons shoved him in their SUV instead of calling an ambulance. While puffing up their chests with body armor the goons were too manly to wear a helmet, thought as a consolation prize this one might get a disability pension. Their face masks sure as hell ain’t N95s, and they’re probably too cool to get vaccinated too- As happened with the also unneeded wars in Iraq, the costs of treating and compensating injured personnel will push the federal budget deeper into deficients for decades. Outlast the enemy- Stay safe, protect yourselves, and live to see democracy again!

Respectfully submitted, Dyna Sluyter

the Big Bad Bill and MN CD7…

CD7 Outreach & Inclusion Officers report for July 2025

the Big Bad Bill and CD7…

It’s sure as hell ain’t beautiful!

First, the macro (nationwide) effects- $3 Trillion more added to the debt, that’s about $10 Thousand more a person as the GOP likes to quote those stats. Immigration enforcement spending explodes from $10 Billion to $100 Billion a year. That buys us over $20 Million a mile for border walls, $450,000 a bed for 100 Thousand more prison beds, and around $300 Thousand a head just to hire 13 Thousand new ICE and BP thugs and give them a vehicle to trash. And that don’t include the transfers of funds from FEMA to fund concentration camps instead of disaster recovery. Reminds me of the Vietnam war when an honest economist pointed out that it would be cheaper to put the whole Viet Cong on the federal payroll than it was to kill them.

That overpriced linear pile of scrap metal AKA “Border Wall” will of course go to the southern border and with no mile long runway to host dramatic deportation flights, Appleton’s prison mistake will stay empty. But what we do have here is more farmland that is more productive than just about any other congressional district, producing around $9 Billion a year in revenue. Heck, just one of our cities, Marshall, ships out darn near a million dollars a DAY in farm sourced finished products! This prosperity is largely the work of two small groups- farmers and immigrants. While the census tells us about 6% of CD7 residents work on farms, only about 2% list their occupation as farmer- With median farm income in Minnesota down to barely 2 thousand dollars last year no wonder most farmers have to work off farm to survive. Farming is only barely breaking even while corn and beans are feedstocks for more profitable beef, poultry, pork, and fuel production. Animal agriculture is dependent on immigrant labor which is about 4% of our population caring for those animals and processing them into foods. So we have two key groups that are only single digit percents of our population that are key to the largest sector of our economy- And Trump first attacked the farmers with his tariffs and they got no help from this bill, while the immigrant workforce is threatened with harassment and deportation. The median age of those farmers is close to retirement age, and the immigrant workforce is aging too, this bill gives them even more incentive to quit, and then the biggest chunk of CD7’s economy is gone.

And we ain’t even talked about CD7s other big export, renewable energy… The BBB cuts support for biofuels that provide a market for a third of our corn. IIRC Lyon County’ biggest taxpayer is the ADM corn processing plant and the couple truck dealers nearby help give Marshall a hundred million dollars or so in vehicle and parts sales a year. Small wind and solar subsidies die at the end of 2025, while big wind and solar get a stay of execution for a year or so because the GOP thinks billionaires can’t afford to lose their subsidies that quick. We got no coal or oil in CD7 but lotsa sun and wind- And Fischbach and her GOP are gonna kill that!

The other big thing that makes CD7 different is that we’re older, less likely to finish college, and have more than our share of veterans, especially Vietnam era vets- So no surprise that health care and social services is the largest industry here. The Big Bad Bill doesn’t help a bit- About half of us rely on federally funded health programs and the GOP is gutting every one- Cutting ACA subsidies less than 6 months from now, adding work requirements for 55 to 64 year olds many of whom are on disability retirement, requiring federal employees prove they’re not undocumented to get the health care benefits they earned and paid for, and cutting funding by reducing provider taxes. Worse yet, health care providers and state governments will have to eat increased costs to verify eligibility! Wanna go back to college and get that degree so you can get a job with health insurance? Again, the BBB is no help- They cut Pell Grants and are taxing non profit college’s endowments that fund student financial aid. But hey, GOP gotta give tax cuts to corporations for profits made in foreign countries!

Now you’d think with all these cuts in essential benefits we Americans have earned they’d balance the budget and give us a tax break, no? As noted a couple paragraphs back they gave that money and then some to fund the war on immigrants, including $23 Billion to the Coast Guard to buy icebreakers and such so they can keep Canadians from smuggling in poutine or see how far up the Rio Grande they can run them aground… Plus the military assets getting transferred to the border.

But I suppose it’s too much for us to expect a wannabe mafia of incompetents trying to pass themselves off as a government to at least save us taxpayers $$$ while they gut our benefits. But their “Alligator Alcatraz” says it all- Florida has a perfectly usable Camp Blanding National Guard base with dorms, dining halls, security, etc. ready to go. But instead they’re wasting damn near a half billion $$$ a year to attempt a concentration camp for 3000 inmates on an abandoned airport project’s flooding asphalt taxiway in a swamp that for damn good reason is one of the last places in the country, Alaska included, to be developed. Hell, coulda put ‘em up in luxury Miami hotels for less…

But “Camp Blanding” sound kinda, well, bland. While “Alligator Alcatraz” satisfies MAGA’s taste for cruelty and punishment for everyone who looks different than them, even when it costs $150 Thousand a year to make just one likely innocent prisoner suffer. That’s the GOP’s business plan- Give them your dollars, they give you suffering!

Respectfully submitted, Dyna Sluyter

July 4th CodeSwitch: We become the working class tea party (again)!

Trump and his failed soon to be cancelled reality TV show trying to masquerade as a government are about to milk the 250th celebration of our independence from another oppressive government for all it’s worth. Remember that 18th century British Royal Buffoonery that taxed our colonies, coming and going, for every ship’s cargo sailing across the Atlantic? Damn right we threw their tea and taxes overboard, and should do the same with Trump and his taxes at the polls in 2026!

Having scraped and saved my way to the middle class, at least before Trump’s taxes and tariffs, I just looked through the NYTime’s analysis of the bill and it won’t save me much, and I sure as hell know Trump’s new tariffs will take back that and more. For example, 80 odd days into Trump’s “90 trade treaties in 90 days” blunder he’s made maybe 3, and one is with Great Britain. And just like the 1700s, Britain screwed Trump and us over… Say you’re restoring a classic Land Rover or other British car, and find under that timeless aluminum body a rusted out steel frame. Fortunately while the British auto industry barely survives, most of the suppliers are still around and will be happy to supply a replacement frame, and galvanized to boot! But after giving you maybe a few bucks cut on your taxes, Trump’s 25% tariff on British auto parts will add thousands of $$$ to the cost of your classic British auto restoration! But the Brits put one over on Trump, negotiating a mere 10% tariff for up to 100,000 new cars a year, and you can bet those discounted tariffs will go on $100,000+ new Range Rovers, Bentleys, and Rolls Royces while your restoration gets taxed to death.

It gets worse, 87 trade treaties to go and most of the stuff we working folks buy ain’t even made here any more, and the last American factory was replaced with a Walmart. So in what amounts to a de facto federal sales tax the couple dollars Trump and his Criminal Enterprise AKA the GOP Party maybe spare us in our paycheck get taken back and more in Tariffs. Then there’s the middle class tax breaks like the energy efficiency tax breaks for windows, doors, heat pumps, TVs, and even wood stoves- All taken away in Trump’s new tax bill! Worse yet, Trump’s stealing your health insurance could be fatal!

So hopefully you’re properly pissed by now, but before you push a Land Rover overboard we need to talk strategy. By promoting and enacting fair progressive taxes and supporting working people we became the mainstream party that elected Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Obama, Biden, and decades long congressional majorities. Then we got lost in pronouns and other PC and Trump stole our voters.

America is not a country of latent socialists waiting to be set free, though we expect capitalism to actually feature competition and not greedy monopolies. We don’t mind paying our fair share in taxes, but resisting unfair taxes is darn near in our DNA. Having spent decades accusing us of levying oppressive taxes, Trump and his party have committed the actual offense themselves. This is our opportunity to CodeSwitch, “turn the tables”, and become the party of revolt against Trump and the GOPs unfair taxes and win back the working class majority that wins elections!

Fascists: Assassinations Foretell Your Defeat…

On April 3, 1968 Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. spoke:

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would love to live a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do god’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land! So I’m happy tonight, I’m not worried about anything! I’m not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”

A day later he was assassinated.

Today his birthday is a national holiday and we have elected our first black president.

On November 18, 1978 San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Harvey Milk said:

“I cannot prevent some people from feeling angry and frustrated and mad in response to my death, but I hope they will take the frustration and madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope that they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, a hundred, a thousand would rise. I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up, and let the world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights, … All I ask is for the movement to continue, and if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door…”

Nine days later Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Muscone were assassinated.

Since then we have elected thousands of gays and most of our population is protected by gay and trans inclusive human rights laws.

On June 14, 2025 Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, husband Mark, and their Golden Retriever Gilbert were assassinated. The same assassin wounded Minnesota Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.

In his deluded mind the assassin thinks he is single handedly changing the course of history. In reality history teaches us that the assassin is the rear guard of decadent and dying totalitarian regimes. Fascism’s strongest weapon is fear and fascism dies when we deny it authority.

Trump’s Tariffs: Incompetence or Insider Trading? Or Worse?

CD7 & SD15 Outreach & Inclusion Officers update for March 19, 2025

Trump’s Tariffs: Incompetence or Insider Trading? Or Worse?

After Trumps two day tariff and their might have been a three dayer in their too, Trump’s Tariffs DeJour have us thoroughly confused. But businesses great and small are not confused, they’ve been hauling and stashing away so much stuff we’ve seen record port volumes in the usually dead months of winter and supply chains clogged like it’s peak season. Not two months into Trump’s term supply chain managers have no pencils or fingernails left and stockholders are gnawing their holdings too.

For the stats geeks the stock indexes just sunk below the 200 day moving averages while the couple trillion dollars fleeing the stock market is bidding bond rates down a bit, but auto and loan rates are still too high and credit card rates unsufferable. Insulting the country and people you’re negotiating with while switching from one nebulous demand to an even wackier one is SOP in Trump’s “Art of the Steal” and it’s not going over well with trading partners or investors.

Not that Trump even cares… Today he confirmed that his tweaker tariffs might crash the market and cause a recession, and he’s OK with that.???

‘Cause Trump and his billionaire buddies are in a whole different market called “Private Equity”, where even general admission pretty much requires a million in liquid assets. And unlike the stock market where there are at least some basic reporting and governance requirements Private Equity is just that, private, sorta like the stock market before the market crash of 1929 that we democrats had to clean up.

Why should we care? Ever hear of “Blackstone”?

Remember age depressed property values of the recession of 2008 or so, when Private Equity like Blackstone was Hoovering up homes and commercial property in such volumes that they could manipulate the housing market? Blackstone has a mere TRILLION+ $$$ under management, dwarfed by ex Blackrock with 11 TRILLION that’s about twice our annual national budget and the GDP of most nations. The there’s the billionaires, all 2000+ of them and their 14 TRILLION+ $$$ of net worth. Throw in the “Family Offices”, Trusts, and other tax dodges and they’ve probably got more trillions in capital than we got national debt.

Bad enough that wealthy day traders can profit massively in a crashing market as Trump’s tariffs DeJour send stocks up and down every day. Beginning to see why Trump isn’t worried about a recession… “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature!”

So when the market bottoms and even the million Schwab millionaires are having trouble making the payments and putting food on the table, Trump and his billionaire buddies and assorted low life “disaster capitalists” will be sucking up assets for pennies on the dollar while we hunt rabbits and not for pets.

Respectfully submitted and discussion welcome, Dyna Sluyter

MN 7th Congressional District Democrats Outreach & Inclusion Officers Report for March 2025

CD7 and SD15 Outreach & Inclusion Officers Report for March, 2025

Pace yourself…

We often heard that warning from elders when we were young and maybe too enthusiastic and thought we could change the world, hopefully for the better, in a day if not by suppertime. In a “Flood the Zone” strategy Trump, Musk, and their fascist followers are dumping a full four year term’s worth of largely illegal power grabs and repression in barely a month. And it’s working- My social media feeds are full of impassioned invites to mindless demonstrations against whatever craziness Trump proposed today, with no long term plan beyond walking around with protest signs and yelling our grievences to the assembled masses of small wildlife. Demonstrations have zero persuasive impact on today’s republicon party which has purged any moderates and keeps the remaining in line with threats of billionaire funded primary challenges. But we can make demonstrations an organizing tool while thwarting the Green/DSA/“progressive” allies of the republicons attempts to use demonstrations to syphon off voters who can provide the margin of victory for our democratic candidates.

Reality check:

When in doubt, do the maths… It takes a 2/3rds supermajority of the senate to remove Trump, and we’re 4 senators short of even a bare majority. There will be 22 republican held senate seats up for election in 2026, and we’d need to win a near impossible 20 to gain the 2/3rds majority needed to remove Trump and then VP Vance. The Social Security mortality tables give the Grim Reaper better odds of about 30% chance of removing Trump, making Vance an incumbent. So we’re stuck with Trump or worse yet his smarter protege Vance through 2028. Beyond 2028 we need a party and presidential candidate with a vision beyond reacting to Trump and the Iowa Caucuses back too, but that’s beyond my pay grade.

We have congressional elections in 2026 with voting beginning barely 18 months from now and a couple special elections already scheduled this year, and the republicons have a barely working one vote majority. Unless you’re a lawyer and feel like taking Trump et al to court, the 2026 elections are our best chance to defund Trump into a tired Hoover that needs it’s bag emptied. We know how to win congressional and downballot elections- It starts with getting behind our candidates with early support and taking advantage of the issues that Trump and his republicans are handing us with their screwups. We start that with party building- Many of our party units will be electing new leadership in the next few months, and we need young(er) leaders to take the reins from our overdue for retirement “old guard”, myself included. Same with candidates- Most of our republican opponents have been campaigning for years, we need to get our candidates out on the campaign trail ASAP to catch up!

We also need to expand our community outreach, which will be vital with the damage Trump is doing to our communities and especially our food supply. I encourage you to follow our CD7 Chair’s lead and plant early and often- When Trump’s tariffs and deportations make food unaffordable if you can find any, we can provide relief and grow new democratic voters too!

And finally, keep voting with your dollars- I follow investing and the news that pro diversity Costco’s stock is up by double digits while diversity denier Target’s is slipping downward has been widely reported. Every day is boycott day, and our spending choices plus Trump’s tariffs and other screwups that will harm American businesses great and small are a wedge that will drive business people and their $$$ back to our democratic party.

Respectfully submitted, Dyna Sluyter