Many Mainers have questions about how Trump’s actions will affect our state and country. I wanted to share with you what my staff and I are doing, and what response I think this moment deserves from elected leaders.
Does the Congress truly retain the authority to contain Trump? Republicans hold both houses and they're terrified to say a single doubtful word about him. I get what you're saying about overuse of the "dictator" label, but that's how Trump behaves, and dictators are who he wants to hang with.
Maybe that boy crying wolf really heard them in the woods? The moral of the story is the townspeople let down their guard and allowed the wolf in. You are asking us to let down our guard and trust to courts and Congress. If we could rely on either, Trump would have gone to trial for his many alleged violations of our laws.
No, Congressman, no. There is no equivalency to previous administrations. Congress has abrogated their role in this "separate but equal branches" democracy. Some matters will be SLOWLY adjudicated through the courts, but now is not the time, as you seem to suggest, to take a wait and see approach. Someone in Congress needs to start calling out this attack on our country. Let's start with you.
Jared, you always strike a calm and conciliatory note. But the system is NOT working as it should. Congress--the Republican Congress--is silent in the face of the Executive usurping its Constitutional powers. True, the Democrats have a lot of thinking, soul searching and organizing to do. But--again--it was not crying wolf to warn that the Trump administration, despite Trump's disingenuous denials--was going to implement the anti-democratic, Christian Nationalist and frankly cruel plans of Project 2025. Enough of your whataboutism and conflating the actions of the two parties. Trump loves the courts because you can delay, delay, delay, delay. Meanwhile, lives are lost and upturned, alliances burned, ethical and Constitutional norms trampled on. Shame for not speaking out. This is NOT business as usual.
I'm very glad that you've finally named President Trump as a source of major damage and disruption. However, you still need to go further. Perhaps you could meet with or at least read the writings of our fellow Mainer and eminent historian Heather Cox Richardson who would tell you that the extent of Trump's power grab is indeed unprecedented. In the meantime I am counting on you to work across the aisle to convince the minimum of 3 Republicans needed to defeat the Trump endorsed House Republican Budget Proposal. According to the Democrats on the Budget Committee, over 135,000 Mainers in District 2 depend on Medicaid and their healthcare is severely threatened by the $880 billon cut the Republicans propose. The 30,000 Mainers in District 2 who subscribe to the Affordable Care Act would see their premiums rise an average of 51% and those over 60 up to 259%. This means that many thousands of Mainers would lose access to health care completely. That's a very serious threat. The Republicans in the House are moving swiftly. Although it may go against your natural inclinations you need to move swiftly, too. Please fight for us.
The loss of Medicaid reimbursement would not only have serious consequences for many of the Congressman's constituents, but also would be financially devastating to the rural hospitals which Mainers depend for their health care, resulting in staff layoffs, closing of programs and services, and possible closure of entire hospitals.
i concur and especially regarding what i would encourage as daily reading of Heather Cox Richardson who speaks so clearly and objectively from the historical perspective. Her posts keep me grounded and inform me of today's events and how they relate to what the US has experienced throughout its existence.
Dear Representative Golden: I am unalterably opposed to our president. He is a clear and present danger to our Republic. I say this as a lifelong Republican. You said when you ran that you could work with him. We need to to work against him.
I'm also a Vietnam era Air Force Firefighter. We used copious quantities of AFFF. the PFAS firefighting foam. I now find I have prostate cancer. I hope support services are not cut, as so many worthy government funded programs have been so ruthlessly.
PUS47's master skill is to pretend to care for people like you and me when all he cares about is himself and those willing to suck up to him. (The moment they wake up, they're done for, eg, John Bolton.) It's already brutal and he's been in office less than a month. The next forty-seven months are going to be long. Here and around the world, he's making America grate again.
Congressman, with all due respect, this is not similar to other presidential attempts at expanding power. Congress controls the purse and needs to act. Additionally, Musk and DOGE are access critical, confidential and private /privileged information and we don't know why or who has it as these are outside of gov't, unelected and with no oversight.
It is not a time however, to blame fellow democrats and your so called 'liberal media pundits.' This democracy was built on and protected by the free press. They are not your or my enemy. Please remember that as you do the job we elected you to do. Stand up for Mainers and give us a gov't that functions for us- not just the will of the president.
Dear Mr Golden, I have admired you from Virginia but I think you are wrong here. Musk and his minions have already created a constitutional crisis. The threat from the tech billionaires is unprecedented.
"A look at our past will show that this moment is not without precedent." - This is categorically false and is a very dangerous placation to the systemic dismantling of our system of government. Please reconsider your 'business as usual' approach when....business is not as usual.
That 'this is business as usual' is the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 party line. There is no American precedent. There are European precedents. And there were Americans - including in Congress - who supported the Nazi regime. Even to the point of trying to overthrow the U.S. government.
"In her book, Prequel, Maddow describes ultra-right plots to overthrow the government in the days leading up to WWII — a subject she covered in her podcast Ultra. Originally broadcast Dec. 15, 2022."
"The complicity of conservative nationalists in the Nazi takeover of Germany in 1933 offers disturbing parallels to the current American political situation."
Unfortunately the culture now respects rudeness and lying as admirable traits. The ego maniac in the White House is the result. I don’t think moderation works with this and we have lost the democracy we took for granted. Democrats will need more than moderation and politeness to overcome this disaster.Don’t forget to boycott all big box stores and corporations Feb 28.
House and Senate rules protect the minority party's ability to slow down and block majority legislation. A determined minority can use the motion to recommit, the discharge petition, the veto strategy and procedural disruption to overcome the House majority and significantly influence the outcome of legislation.
Republicans are skilled at this.
Republican Playbook on Minority Power:
A Determined Minority: The House GOP in the 110th Congress - Congressional Institute
Exactly. The Republicans did not throw up their hands and say "we're in the minority, we have no power" when Obama was first elected and the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. The Democrats, including you, Rep. Golden who are not loudly protesting the placement of an unelected maniac in charge of reducing waste and corruption based on his own algorithms is complicity. It's called a coup. Use the language and fight the fight. We are business owners in Oakland, ME and we expect you to stand up for the Constitution.
with regard to your opening line. The issue in California has a super majority and the voices of the minority are silenced. And in Trumps first Admin. Congress excluded the minority party at that time from participating in hearing etc. Decisions were made behind closed doors. And Bills passed without even giving people time to see what was in Bills. (not exact quote but to this effect) "Lets pass the Bills so we can see what is in it" Does that even make sense?
You have a lot of good comments posted, I hope you read them and think about them as you go forward. We need some sensible and aggressive action from the Democratic Party. Trump and his cabal are wrecking the country and destroying our relationships with our neighbors and NATO allies. I have Canadian family and am heartbroken about how they have been treated.
Yes, he is. Having been to Israel and seen the apartheid with my own eyes (by the way, I'm Jewish), I've written him numerous times to express my horror at what Netanyahu and his fellow war criminals are doing to Palestinians and all I get back is boilerplate assurances that he has Israel's back. History will not be kind.
As an American Jew and Zionist, I have publicly opposed Netanyahu et al for decades. For over a year, I've regularly written to Golden, sending links to Haaretz reporting. For over a year - as the situation radically changed - Golden replied with the exact same AIPAC/CUFI boilerplate. Despite State Department and Defense Department analysts documenting IDF violations which should have triggered our Leahy Laws pausing offensive (not defensive) military aid to IDF units in violation.
Where are those alleged checks and balances? I think we have a legit reason to be alarmed. Don't you think there's a conflict of interest in regards to Musk and his position in our government? He's slashing funds and firing people...and when dems ask for musk to be questioned, they refuse. We need transparency. It's ironic that repubs are crying about waste, yet in the same breath press forward with a plan for more tax cuts (for wealthy only). I call BS. There are legal ways to audit for waste.
Just to piggy-back in Lisa B’s statement. It isn’t coincidence that the first independent checks on “waste, fraud, and abuse” (the inspectors general) were the first to get the axe! These are the very people that have been trying to hold Musk to account for his many business infractions. Breaking and wholesale destruction of agencies in a unilateral manner is unprecedented! This deserves swift action to stop this disintegration of our systems. It’s a clear smash and grab. Jared, please wake up and treat it as such! As JB Pritzger pointed out it only took Hitler 7 weeks to dismantle Germany’s democracy!
Did Harris lose because Musk invested $250,000,000 or so late in the campaign in order to put Trump over the top by about 1.6 % points in the popular vote, a plurality not a majority, hence not an overwhelming mandate, from voters who (1) trusted him to first lower the price of groceries and secure the border, (2) trusted his statements that he knew nothing about Project 2025, and (3) were clueless that Musk would be mining their data for training his AI project and being able to use it against his competitors and for his defense contracts. Does he have the power to re-program federal computer systems so that only he can fix them? These actions and the speed of Cabinet appointments, freezing and impounding Congressionally approved funds, abruptly terminating probationary employees, and impulsively changing foreign policies are neither smooth nor slow, nor well-informed by Congress. I think the slow and smooth improvements would be to (a) constitutionally undue Citizens United so that corporations are not equivalent to citizens, (b) change the electoral college to the proportionate Maine and Nebraska systems, maybe with ranked choice voting,(c) require that presidential candidates identify their team of cabinet choices before the election, and (d) through the above strategies address how our challenge is not left vs right, but top$ vs bottom$. For democracy, I think slow is smooth, and reckless/fascist is fast. I appreciate your communicating with us and look forward to future newsletters.
No, talk of a coup is not crying wolf. There is no precedent in previous administrations. This is a fascist assault on the Constitution like we've never seen before. You took an oath. Live up to it. Fight!
There's a fallacy in your argument that your electability depends on crossover Trump voters. Maybe it does, but it doesn't follow that they don't want you to fight for democracy. A lot of people virulently dislike both sides. There's no inconsistency at all in someone voting for Trump and then being extremely eager for Congress to fight against his insane usurpations and irresponsible talk of foreign aggression. Maybe they didn't see it coming, but even if they did, they might have been hoping the system would constrain a bad man.
Be the system that constrains evildoers in authority. From your constituent in Gardiner, Maine.
We Americans, and certainly Democrats, have a history of raising our voices, too. We send folks to Congress to lead, not just to sit and wait. We assume that the wheels of government are turning, if slowly. While that is happening, we need to stand up for who we are (hope to be) both here and abroad.
Does the Congress truly retain the authority to contain Trump? Republicans hold both houses and they're terrified to say a single doubtful word about him. I get what you're saying about overuse of the "dictator" label, but that's how Trump behaves, and dictators are who he wants to hang with.
Maybe that boy crying wolf really heard them in the woods? The moral of the story is the townspeople let down their guard and allowed the wolf in. You are asking us to let down our guard and trust to courts and Congress. If we could rely on either, Trump would have gone to trial for his many alleged violations of our laws.
No, Congressman, no. There is no equivalency to previous administrations. Congress has abrogated their role in this "separate but equal branches" democracy. Some matters will be SLOWLY adjudicated through the courts, but now is not the time, as you seem to suggest, to take a wait and see approach. Someone in Congress needs to start calling out this attack on our country. Let's start with you.
Jared, you always strike a calm and conciliatory note. But the system is NOT working as it should. Congress--the Republican Congress--is silent in the face of the Executive usurping its Constitutional powers. True, the Democrats have a lot of thinking, soul searching and organizing to do. But--again--it was not crying wolf to warn that the Trump administration, despite Trump's disingenuous denials--was going to implement the anti-democratic, Christian Nationalist and frankly cruel plans of Project 2025. Enough of your whataboutism and conflating the actions of the two parties. Trump loves the courts because you can delay, delay, delay, delay. Meanwhile, lives are lost and upturned, alliances burned, ethical and Constitutional norms trampled on. Shame for not speaking out. This is NOT business as usual.
I'm very glad that you've finally named President Trump as a source of major damage and disruption. However, you still need to go further. Perhaps you could meet with or at least read the writings of our fellow Mainer and eminent historian Heather Cox Richardson who would tell you that the extent of Trump's power grab is indeed unprecedented. In the meantime I am counting on you to work across the aisle to convince the minimum of 3 Republicans needed to defeat the Trump endorsed House Republican Budget Proposal. According to the Democrats on the Budget Committee, over 135,000 Mainers in District 2 depend on Medicaid and their healthcare is severely threatened by the $880 billon cut the Republicans propose. The 30,000 Mainers in District 2 who subscribe to the Affordable Care Act would see their premiums rise an average of 51% and those over 60 up to 259%. This means that many thousands of Mainers would lose access to health care completely. That's a very serious threat. The Republicans in the House are moving swiftly. Although it may go against your natural inclinations you need to move swiftly, too. Please fight for us.
The loss of Medicaid reimbursement would not only have serious consequences for many of the Congressman's constituents, but also would be financially devastating to the rural hospitals which Mainers depend for their health care, resulting in staff layoffs, closing of programs and services, and possible closure of entire hospitals.
i concur and especially regarding what i would encourage as daily reading of Heather Cox Richardson who speaks so clearly and objectively from the historical perspective. Her posts keep me grounded and inform me of today's events and how they relate to what the US has experienced throughout its existence.
Dear Representative Golden: I am unalterably opposed to our president. He is a clear and present danger to our Republic. I say this as a lifelong Republican. You said when you ran that you could work with him. We need to to work against him.
I'm also a Vietnam era Air Force Firefighter. We used copious quantities of AFFF. the PFAS firefighting foam. I now find I have prostate cancer. I hope support services are not cut, as so many worthy government funded programs have been so ruthlessly.
Earle Wingate
PUS47's master skill is to pretend to care for people like you and me when all he cares about is himself and those willing to suck up to him. (The moment they wake up, they're done for, eg, John Bolton.) It's already brutal and he's been in office less than a month. The next forty-seven months are going to be long. Here and around the world, he's making America grate again.
Congressman, with all due respect, this is not similar to other presidential attempts at expanding power. Congress controls the purse and needs to act. Additionally, Musk and DOGE are access critical, confidential and private /privileged information and we don't know why or who has it as these are outside of gov't, unelected and with no oversight.
It is not a time however, to blame fellow democrats and your so called 'liberal media pundits.' This democracy was built on and protected by the free press. They are not your or my enemy. Please remember that as you do the job we elected you to do. Stand up for Mainers and give us a gov't that functions for us- not just the will of the president.
Dear Mr Golden, I have admired you from Virginia but I think you are wrong here. Musk and his minions have already created a constitutional crisis. The threat from the tech billionaires is unprecedented.
"A look at our past will show that this moment is not without precedent." - This is categorically false and is a very dangerous placation to the systemic dismantling of our system of government. Please reconsider your 'business as usual' approach when....business is not as usual.
That 'this is business as usual' is the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 party line. There is no American precedent. There are European precedents. And there were Americans - including in Congress - who supported the Nazi regime. Even to the point of trying to overthrow the U.S. government.
"In her book, Prequel, Maddow describes ultra-right plots to overthrow the government in the days leading up to WWII — a subject she covered in her podcast Ultra. Originally broadcast Dec. 15, 2022."
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/01/1216089156/rachel-maddow-uncovers-a-wwii-era-plot-against-the-u-s-government
"The complicity of conservative nationalists in the Nazi takeover of Germany in 1933 offers disturbing parallels to the current American political situation."
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/11/07/hitlers-enablers-the-death-of-democracy-benjamin-carter-hett/
Unfortunately the culture now respects rudeness and lying as admirable traits. The ego maniac in the White House is the result. I don’t think moderation works with this and we have lost the democracy we took for granted. Democrats will need more than moderation and politeness to overcome this disaster.Don’t forget to boycott all big box stores and corporations Feb 28.
House and Senate rules protect the minority party's ability to slow down and block majority legislation. A determined minority can use the motion to recommit, the discharge petition, the veto strategy and procedural disruption to overcome the House majority and significantly influence the outcome of legislation.
Republicans are skilled at this.
Republican Playbook on Minority Power:
A Determined Minority: The House GOP in the 110th Congress - Congressional Institute
.https://www.congressionalinstitute.org/a-determined-minority-the-house-gop-in-the-110th-congress/.
Exactly. The Republicans did not throw up their hands and say "we're in the minority, we have no power" when Obama was first elected and the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. The Democrats, including you, Rep. Golden who are not loudly protesting the placement of an unelected maniac in charge of reducing waste and corruption based on his own algorithms is complicity. It's called a coup. Use the language and fight the fight. We are business owners in Oakland, ME and we expect you to stand up for the Constitution.
with regard to your opening line. The issue in California has a super majority and the voices of the minority are silenced. And in Trumps first Admin. Congress excluded the minority party at that time from participating in hearing etc. Decisions were made behind closed doors. And Bills passed without even giving people time to see what was in Bills. (not exact quote but to this effect) "Lets pass the Bills so we can see what is in it" Does that even make sense?
It's not rude or lying to call Trump what he is - a dictator, an autocrat, and a danger. Unfortunately it's just the truth.
You have a lot of good comments posted, I hope you read them and think about them as you go forward. We need some sensible and aggressive action from the Democratic Party. Trump and his cabal are wrecking the country and destroying our relationships with our neighbors and NATO allies. I have Canadian family and am heartbroken about how they have been treated.
Thank you for all of your support and efforts!
Those who work with reason, as you do, are invaluable to the democratic process, no matter the party.
But sometimes slow and smooth measures need to be prompt, deliberate and purposeful, considering what is at stake today.
What can we continue to do to ensure that we don’t lose education, retirement, nutrition and healthcare funding?
Moreover, what specific steps are being taken by you and your counterparts to ensure safety to the community’s wellbeing?
Are you concerned about Vance's speech in Germany?
Are you concerned about Rubio meeting with Russians in Saudi Arabia?
We know Golden is with AIPAC, CUFI, and Trump on the the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and genocide against Palestinians.
Yes, he is. Having been to Israel and seen the apartheid with my own eyes (by the way, I'm Jewish), I've written him numerous times to express my horror at what Netanyahu and his fellow war criminals are doing to Palestinians and all I get back is boilerplate assurances that he has Israel's back. History will not be kind.
As an American Jew and Zionist, I have publicly opposed Netanyahu et al for decades. For over a year, I've regularly written to Golden, sending links to Haaretz reporting. For over a year - as the situation radically changed - Golden replied with the exact same AIPAC/CUFI boilerplate. Despite State Department and Defense Department analysts documenting IDF violations which should have triggered our Leahy Laws pausing offensive (not defensive) military aid to IDF units in violation.
Yes he has a staffer the literally laughs at you on the phone when you call about the genocide in gaza.
Where are those alleged checks and balances? I think we have a legit reason to be alarmed. Don't you think there's a conflict of interest in regards to Musk and his position in our government? He's slashing funds and firing people...and when dems ask for musk to be questioned, they refuse. We need transparency. It's ironic that repubs are crying about waste, yet in the same breath press forward with a plan for more tax cuts (for wealthy only). I call BS. There are legal ways to audit for waste.
Just to piggy-back in Lisa B’s statement. It isn’t coincidence that the first independent checks on “waste, fraud, and abuse” (the inspectors general) were the first to get the axe! These are the very people that have been trying to hold Musk to account for his many business infractions. Breaking and wholesale destruction of agencies in a unilateral manner is unprecedented! This deserves swift action to stop this disintegration of our systems. It’s a clear smash and grab. Jared, please wake up and treat it as such! As JB Pritzger pointed out it only took Hitler 7 weeks to dismantle Germany’s democracy!
Did Harris lose because Musk invested $250,000,000 or so late in the campaign in order to put Trump over the top by about 1.6 % points in the popular vote, a plurality not a majority, hence not an overwhelming mandate, from voters who (1) trusted him to first lower the price of groceries and secure the border, (2) trusted his statements that he knew nothing about Project 2025, and (3) were clueless that Musk would be mining their data for training his AI project and being able to use it against his competitors and for his defense contracts. Does he have the power to re-program federal computer systems so that only he can fix them? These actions and the speed of Cabinet appointments, freezing and impounding Congressionally approved funds, abruptly terminating probationary employees, and impulsively changing foreign policies are neither smooth nor slow, nor well-informed by Congress. I think the slow and smooth improvements would be to (a) constitutionally undue Citizens United so that corporations are not equivalent to citizens, (b) change the electoral college to the proportionate Maine and Nebraska systems, maybe with ranked choice voting,(c) require that presidential candidates identify their team of cabinet choices before the election, and (d) through the above strategies address how our challenge is not left vs right, but top$ vs bottom$. For democracy, I think slow is smooth, and reckless/fascist is fast. I appreciate your communicating with us and look forward to future newsletters.
No, talk of a coup is not crying wolf. There is no precedent in previous administrations. This is a fascist assault on the Constitution like we've never seen before. You took an oath. Live up to it. Fight!
There's a fallacy in your argument that your electability depends on crossover Trump voters. Maybe it does, but it doesn't follow that they don't want you to fight for democracy. A lot of people virulently dislike both sides. There's no inconsistency at all in someone voting for Trump and then being extremely eager for Congress to fight against his insane usurpations and irresponsible talk of foreign aggression. Maybe they didn't see it coming, but even if they did, they might have been hoping the system would constrain a bad man.
Be the system that constrains evildoers in authority. From your constituent in Gardiner, Maine.
We Americans, and certainly Democrats, have a history of raising our voices, too. We send folks to Congress to lead, not just to sit and wait. We assume that the wheels of government are turning, if slowly. While that is happening, we need to stand up for who we are (hope to be) both here and abroad.