24/07/2026
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Just a note that a $1.5 trillion military budget is $4,412 per US resident per year. That's every person, not just voters or adults, so a family of four would be about $17,648 annually. Let me cook real quick.
It is not an invoice — it's an IOU to China so we can have a military the size of the next 15 largest global militaries that combined protect about 4 billion people. Our national debt is about $40 trillion now, or $118,000 per person.
That's not state stuff, but it is a question of priorities, honesty, and government trust. It's this red versus blue trap we are in. It's one of the biggest expansions in government spending plus cutting taxes (revenues) on the country's wealthiest Americans while regular folks are struggling.
I've been asked a lot about being a Democrat and the assumption that that means big unaccountable spending. Or something like "this group gets that, but why not this other group?"
It's an open secret — both parties spend your tax dollars with wild abandon. It's also an open secret that if we want to support veteran housing, for example, we don't get that by cutting food assistance. That's just an age old way to keep people pointing fingers at each other instead of pointing up. We get it by electing people that will fund Veteran housing. Period.
There is no party of small government right now, including and especially the Republican party. If you aren't convinced, ask AI about Republican versus Democratic administrations, the cost of upper income tax credits, how successful DOGE was, which party supports civil and individual rights, which administrations had surpluses or grew.the deficits, etc. It's often not that different and in some cases, I see Democrats doing a more consistent job trying to fix it.
The real question should be do we get a good return on investment from a program or not?
We are getting fleeced by tarriffs. Gas prices spike from the Presidents OPEC 2020 deal and another Middle Eastern war. Manufacturing job creation is slowing down and household credit card debt is going up. We are spending $100 billion on immigration. Programs like mental health support and FEMA disaster assistance are being cut to blue states like ours. China is operating freely in the commercial zero emmission, renewables, and advanced manufacturing markets. And in every case, it's being promoted as wins. What's the return so far on our investment from this united government? Negative.
Most local agencies and nonprofits are also feeling like they are in financial freefall from the harm being done by this administration. Red or blue counties, it doesn't matter.
Poll numbers are reflecting that.
I do not see the federal government focusing on the cost of living for as much as they talk about it, so state leaders will have to step in. And I see that change happening real time as parties shift.
The reformed Democratic party is more and more so moving aggressively towards working class. Childcare. Hospitals. Broadband. Infrastructure. Research. Ag tech. Healthcare. Manufacturing. Homebuilding. Forest management. Utility bills. Corporate accountability. It is also taking on the points of more government efficiency, technology deployment, local decision-making, putting morr away in good years, reforming laws that stop us from building what we need. That is the party and direction I support.
Meanwhile, the GOP that before ran on gas, housing, jobs, stability, efficiency, deficits — I hear more talk about testing soldiers for testosterone, making a commemorative gold coin with Trump on it, scapegoating a failed reflecting pool project, ridiculously untransparent testimonies before Congress from officials, namecalling leaders, getting manhandled by Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, firing critical workers and having to hire them back, gutting talent from agencies like the Forest Service, and making everything else about social isssues and culture war.
Republicans, please tell me I'm wrong.
I tend to be a fiscally conservative person. Aggressively invest in infrastructure for private success, protect core responsibilities like public safety, reduce the roots of poverty through prosperity, and try to stabilize and help those that fall through. It's not radical, but in the era of clickbait politicians, it kind of is.
It is on us to bring our respective parties back towards that common sense mission. That may mean voting across party lines because otherwise, your party takes you and your support for granted.
Don't let them take you for granted.
There are a lot of Democrats, Republicans, and independents that identify themselves as socially liberal, fiscally conservative. I bet more than half reading would say that. We may not have that embodied fully in a party, but we do have fighters for it. I am one of those fighters. We need both parties to be better but that only happens when we choose to vote for candidates that fight for our support, work for the whole public, and push relentlessly to get things done.
Numbers like a trillion are hard to wrap our brains around. What they do is show that when we are told it is impossible to fund child care, for example, we should all know its a lie. Or to take care of our water systems. To rebuild the roads. Make sure that every school kid gets a good education.
I don't really care if you are a Republican or a Democrat. We should collectively not be okay with what this administration is doing or candidates running on political coat tails and partisan rhetoric. We should also demand that a state which has not addressed many of our district's key issues steps up. And we have some real choices to make in this election, up and down the ballot.
Do we continue to elect rich donor class political insiders to safe seats who simply blame the other side for all issues? Or are we willing to vote different and put public servants and regular people in office who feel the pressure to deliver and bring policies that will make your life better?
I am ready to fight for us in Sacramento and get that system back to being reasonable, effective, honest, and finding common ground. I'm fighting for people like my family and I — working class, small businesses, main streets. I'm fighting for all of us because it matters, and it only changes when we have the courage to stand up to it.
