Monmouth Beach Democrats

03/28/2026

Freehold No Kings rally today!

02/19/2026

President Trump has repeatedly promised that his steep tariffs would reduce U.S. imports, shrink the trade deficit and lead to a revival in American manufacturing.

So far, the opposite has occurred.

U.S. imports grew last year, and the trade deficit in goods hit a record high, data released Thursday showed, as Mr. Trump’s policies scrambled trade but did not halt it. That was consistent with other data suggesting that companies have rerouted orders and revamped supply chains to skirt tariffs but have not, so far, brought production back to the United States en masse. American manufacturers have cut more than 80,000 jobs in the past year. (NYT, 2/19/26)

02/18/2026

“The lesson for President Trump is that businesses can’t grow if government takes away their workers,” the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board concluded.

Florida attorney general James Uthmeier reacted to the Wall Street Journal editorial, explaining on Fox Business that the Republican Party expects to replace undocumented workers with young Americans: “We need to focus on our state college program, our trade schools, getting people into the workforce even earlier. We passed legislation last year to help high school students get their hands dirty and get on job sites more quickly. So I think there’s a lot more we can do with apprenticeships, rolling out, beefing up our workforce, and trying to address the demand that is undoubtedly here in the state.”

Steve Kopack of NBC News reported on February 11 that while the U.S. added 1.46 million jobs in 2024, the last year of former president Joe Biden’s administration, it added just 181,000 jobs in 2025. That makes 2025 the worst year for hiring since 2003, aside from the worst year of the coronavirus pandemic. Manufacturing lost 108,000 jobs in 2025.

Peter Grant of the Wall Street Journal reported today that banks that have loaned money to finance the purchase of commercial real estate are requiring borrowers to pay back tens of billions of dollars as the delinquency rate for such loans has climbed to a high not seen since just after the 2008 financial crisis. About $100 billion in commercial real estate loans that have been packaged into securities will come due this year and probably won’t repay when they should. More than half of the loans are likely headed for foreclosure or liquidation. from Heather Cox Richardson post, 2/17/26

02/13/2026

Yesterday, almost every Senate Democrat united to block more funding for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, except for John Fetterman. I can't believe he did this and have not heard his reasoning.

02/13/2026

From the NJ Institute for Social Justice: Segregation in New Jersey is not just a thing of the past.

More than 70 years after segregation was outlawed in New Jersey — and Brown v. Board of Education declared it unconstitutional — New Jersey continues to operate a public school system in which students’ educational opportunities remain profoundly shaped by race, ethnicity and poverty.

Right now, New Jersey ranks sixth highest among all U.S. states for the segregation of Black students, and seventh highest nationally for segregation of Latina/o students.

That means in substantial portions of New Jersey, Black and Latina/o students attend schools that are racially isolated and separated from educational opportunity in ways that echo the segregation historically associated with the Jim Crow South and former Confederacy.

01/28/2026

Please remember this.

WILDLIFE WATER EMERGENCY⚠️

Below 20°F = ALL water frozen solid for days.

Birds die in 3 days without water (faster than starvation).

Squirrels die in 5 days without water.

Eating snow = NEGATIVE calories (burns 12+ calories per bite).

YOUR ACTION SAVES LIVES:
- Refill water 2x daily (morning + afternoon)
- Use dark brick in shallow dish (keeps water liquid 6-8 hours)
- 1-2 inches deep only (prevents drowning)

If it’s frozen at your house, it’s frozen everywhere.

Check water > Check feeders.

Dehydration kills faster than hunger

01/28/2026

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/many-cdc-databases-significantly-paused-2025-2026a10002lt?ecd=wnl_edit_tpal_etid8063994&uac=66019CV&impID=8063994

Databases tracking influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus spread and vaccination uptake accounted for most of the pauses.

12/02/2025

From Fair Fight Colorado: If Democrats reclaim the House next November the MAGA agenda hits a brick wall. Trump will become a lame duck president incapable of fulfilling any further policy goals. And right now a blue wave and a cataclysmic GOP defeat is exactly what we’re on track for.

The only way MAGA can survive 2026 is if they rig the game.

Which is why in red states across the country, Trump is pushing for new congressional maps that will make up for the dozens of seats they are set to lose. A move that could establish one party rule for generations. The GOP is moving fast. Gerrymandered maps have passed in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, and a push for redistricting is underway in Indiana and Florida with more red states soon to follow.

This is an existential crisis. No matter how unpopular Trump becomes, if left unchecked, MAGA will create enough new red seats to ensure their House majority is insurmountable.

However, Americans are pushing back. Last month, California fired the opening blow of the Democratic counter-salvo with their vote to pass Proposition 50, a ballot measure that gives CA a fair congressional map to counter Trump’s gerrymandering push.

But California alone won’t be enough. To save our Democracy, blue states like Colorado must pick up the torch, join the fight, and meet this moment head on.

This is why Fair Fight Colorado is proud to announce that we are introducing the ballot measure that will give every Coloradan a chance to vote on a new Congressional map.

12/02/2025

Florida is now one week away from the scheduled ex*****on of Mark Geralds, set for Tuesday, December 9 at 6 p.m. ET. This ex*****on comes at the end of the deadliest year in Florida history. 17 people have already been executed, and the state has two more scheduled for December, including Mark and Frank Walls.

If both ex*****ons proceed in December, Florida will end 2025 with 19 lives taken — a number that reflects an ex*****on machinery operating at unprecedented speed and with little meaningful oversight.

Today, FADP posted on Instagram about “ex*****on volunteers,” — people who waive their appeals and ask the state to kill them. Mark Geralds’ case must be understood in that context. As our graphic shows, people who “volunteer” are overwhelmingly those with mental illness, trauma, and long histories of isolation, navigating a system that offers almost no path to relief.

Mark’s case bears all of those hallmarks. And Florida never paused to ask why. (Source: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty)

11/05/2025

Congratulations to us and VA!

11/03/2025

Without a doubt, the biggest story in the country today should be Donald Trump admitting on CBS last night that he has no idea who he’s pardoning. He let a convicted crypto fraudster walk free and then, on national television, straight-up said he only did it because his sons told him to. Let that sink in.

Can you imagine the reaction if Joe Biden said he pardoned someone because Hunter told him to? If Biden blindly freed a scammer based solely on his son’s recommendation — no due diligence, no second thought — conservative media would be frothing at the mouth. Republicans would launch twenty investigations before lunch. But with Trump? Shrugs. Silence from the MAGA influencers.

Let’s be clear: this wasn’t a Freudian slip. It wasn’t a mistake. It was a confession. Trump freed a crypto kingpin who pled guilty to fraud — just like he pardoned cop-beaters from January 6th, just like he pardoned drug dealers, s*x offenders, and white-collar crooks — because he’s likely getting paid, one way or another, in this massive corruption scheme.

This crypto guy didn’t get pardoned for fun. He got out because Trump’s kids are knee-deep in the same crypto scam, raking in billions. To Trump and his inner circle, the presidency isn’t a job or a responsibility. It’s a money pipeline. And by admitting he doesn’t even know who he’s pardoning, Trump’s telling us exactly who he is: a puppet for profit, a vessel for other people’s corruption. (taken from Mike Nellis e-mail, Nov 3, 2025)

10/31/2025

Just one seed coated in neonic pesticides can kill 80,000 bees.
But despite these toxic seeds' terrible potency, they're still common on farm fields across America. In fact, because of a glaring regulatory loophole, seeds coated with pesticides don't have to be registered as "pesticides" at all.

Pesticides are pesticides, whether they're sprayed on farm fields or applied to seeds before they're planted. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should regulate neonic-coated seeds to protect bees. But many people who purchase plants grown from seed treated with these pesticides are unaware of that fact.

Not every seed ends up buried in the dirt. Opportunistic birds may swoop in to snack on leftover seeds on the ground -- but eating even a single neonic-coated seed can be deadly to a songbird.

As crops begin to grow, the toxic coating doesn't stay put. Only about 5% of the pesticides actually end up in the growing plant -- and the rest end up soaking into the soil, running off into streams and ditches or accumulating in waterways. Please make sure your plants are not treated with this pesticide. Urge EPA to ban it, as has been done in many countries.