I want to clear something up. I always voted blue before 2024, and as a black, coastal, Ivy Leaguer who worked in tech, it was my default tribe. That changed in 2024. Right now, I am more critical of the Left, and more aligned with the Right. The Left has lost its way. It has been taken over by extremists who are driving America and the West into ruin in the name of social justice and suicidal empathy. Leftist ideology has been more influential culturally and politically for the last 16 years. So I’m railing against what is currently the biggest threat. Some, triggered by my critiques of the Left, respond by bringing up issues with the Right. This is preventing them from seeing what’s happening. This isn’t a sports match. This isn’t about political parties. It’s the People vs the Establishment. Freedom vs Control. Truth vs Lies. Good vs Evil. Degrees of the former and the latter exist in both parties. There is no shortage of corrupt cowards on the Right. Some think of me as being on the Right, and that’s ok. I think of myself as Team Humanity. I’m not interested in critiquing the Right simply to appear neutral. Although the truth is often somewhere between two poles, rarely is it exactly in the middle. Currently, the Left is further away from Truth. But one day things may change, the Right dominant again, and in greater need of correction. And when that day comes, I pray I’ll have the clarity and moral courage to call it out. In the meantime, I encourage you to stop thinking of yourself as team red or team blue. Stop reacting to criticisms of “your” side by critiquing “their” side. Tribal thinking prevents us from seeing when we’re being manipulated by our own leaders. Whichever party is in charge, governments exist to serve people. Not the other way around.

There are two provisions buried in the CR that Congress is trying to slip by. A pay increase for members of Congress from $174,000 to $243,000 per year. Also, members of Congress are receiving an opt out from being required to use Obamacare