Today, Elon Musk, a trillionaire, pays the same amount into Social Security as someone making $184,500.
If we end that absurdity and lift the cap on taxable income, we can make Social Security solvent for 75 years and expand benefits by $2,400. My Social Security bill does that.
Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. flew 101 combat missions in Korea and 78 in Vietnam. He stared down Qaddafi at an air base in Libya. He became the first Black four-star general in the history of the United States military. Ronald Reagan called him "a truly great American." Florida named a bridge after him.
Pete Hegseth took down his portrait from the Air Force Art Gallery and left the wall empty.
Colonel Gerald Curry passed that painting every day for more than a decade on the way to his office. He is writing a leadership book based on James's service. When the portrait came down, he said it "really, really hurt." Shortly after, he retired.
Clint Smith interviewed two dozen currently serving, retired, and civilian Black military members for this piece. Person after person described the same thing: promotions blocked or delayed, senior Black and female officers dismissed, Confederate monuments restored, books about Black service members removed from military libraries, affinity groups disbanded. One training instructor described her team manually striking out passages about accomplished Black service members from educational materials - by hand, page by page.
Hegseth at Quantico told 800 generals and admirals it was acceptable to "put hands" on subordinates and promised their records would be kept clean if they faced discrimination complaints.
A retired Army officer told Smith his fear plainly: "If Pete Hegseth and the current administration had their way, you wouldn't see any of us in key leadership positions. I think the whole idea is to eliminate as many of us as they can, take us back as far as they can."
Chappie James's words are engraved on his tombstone at Arlington: "This is my country and I believe in her." The Pentagon took down his portrait. His words are still there.
@redhotnerd@YesYouShine My mom did it. I hated the smell and it was depressing have her make us all a huge meal then she ate a bowl of f’ing cabbage soup? wtf. Wtaf.
@HunterBiden@R_JonAnderson@jimmy_walt801 Agree about bibi but I don’t think a 2 state solution is possible at this point. A single free Palestine is the only way forward.
@HunterBiden Ty for this. And thank you for giving those of us still waiting for our loved ones hope. Waiting for my sister to get clean. One day. 🤞🏼💕 Thanks again & congrats on your sobriety.
A six-year-old Palestinian boy with leukemia died while waiting for the Netanyahu government to approve his medical evacuation request. His name was Ghazal.
In Gaza, no hospital is fully functional and Israeli approval is required to leave. A cancer diagnosis is a death sentence.
That’s why I led 61 of my colleagues in demanding that the Trump Administration reestablish a medical evacuation corridor so patients have a chance to survive—a chance that was never afforded to Ghazal.
Read more about how @ChrisVanHollen, @SenMarkey, @RepDean, @RepDexterOR, & I are demanding immediate action to alleviate this horrific humanitarian crisis:
https://t.co/u66mdlOzQQ