Wednesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Wednesday, May 20, 2026
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35 comments
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About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
Thomas Massie got clobbered by Trump’s pick Ed Gallrein.
@CSK: I don’t think he’s planning to go quietly into that good night.
If I were the Comeys I would be the first to file with the Justice Department for compensation from the weaponization of the Federal Government and Justice Department. Along with Leticia James and everyone else on this list:
Tracking retaliatory use of arrests, prosecutions, and investigations by the Trump administration
The sooner the better
@Jen:
Apparently not.
Has the agreement with Trump and the Justice department (meaning the agreement that Trump dictated to the Justice Department) been released yet. I read that the agreement said the IRS cannot investigate/audit taxes on Trump, his family and businesses forever. If true, how can that possibly be legal?
Steve
@Jen: Massie responded by saying:
Interesting bit of self reflection there. Now Massie, like Cassidy in the Senate, will feel even more free to defy the cult.
One internet wag has suggested this as the Dem campaign theme: Trump = corruption, Republicans = Trump.
To the surprise of no one, the “Board Of Peace” that was supposed to rebuild Gaza is a sham that has accomplished nothing.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/20/donald-trump-gaza-reconstruction-promises-stall
@steve222:
I think it’s past tax issues that can’t be investigated,
@steve222: Empty Wheel has characterized the whole thing as a blanket pardon.
On the Tina Peters commutation, this is a big deal, really bad. Jared Polis is a really bad POS governor.
“Denver Riggleman”
Lots more at the link.
@Jen: Since you seem to have the most actual experience in politics, I’ve been wanting to ask you this question: Which is most effective to communicate with your Congresscritter: 1) write a letter 2) make a phone call or 3) go to the local office and talk with an employee? Assume the point of communication is to express your views, not actually ask for their help on some issue. Also, froth at the mouth or rational reasoning? Thanks in advance!
Barney Frank, 86,has died. RIP.
The GQP has reached the Syme stage of Oligarchical Socialism: Slavery is Freedom.
@steve222: Short answer: it isn’t.
Longer answer: There are only 2 possible paths to validate that it is not:
1. Congress challenges it as they are the only ones with standing. I’m unclear on whether it would require an act of Congress or whether individual Congress-critters would have standing.
2. A subsequent administration takes action in conflict with this “agreement” by re-starting the audit(s) and/or bringing fraudulent conveyance actions against anyone who received a benefit from the slush fund and challenges the agreement as unauthorized and fraudulent.
If we want to get *very* creative, it is theoretically possible a state AG, likely NY given his residency at the time of the tax years in question, could attack the agreement and claim standing because if the IRS audit had in fact determined he owed the reported $100 Million, the state would (presumably) get the benefit on the state tax side. Unlikely a federal district court would be comfortable directing the IRS to pursue an audit (and no chance SCOTUS would let it given its fondness for the Unitary Executive theory) but they might be willing to find the agreement to be plausibly fraudulent/lack consideration and to toll the SoL until after January 2029.
@SKI: The last sprinkle on top to me is that the slush fund – created by DOJ and not by an Act of Congress – terminates on a set date, and the funds remaining are specified as being allowed to be distributed by the President as he sees fit. If this were allowed, the President would be able to completely independently fund the government via such funds, by creating “settlements” that construct funds unobtainable by private parties (which, if the “settlement” terms are taken at face value, rules of distribution are not public and cannot be challenged), with termination timelines that allow for funding his pet departments or projects within X days.
Just patently absurd anti-Constitutional nonsense.
It seems like anyone who applies for and is rejected for funds could also claim standing, as the text creates no known rules for obtaining relief in the case of rejection.
@Scott: Well, I’m going to qualify my response by noting that emails were barely a thing when I last worked constituent services. That said, here’s how we would typically triage stuff that came in to the office:
1) Letters (yes, physical ones) from in-district organizations would be placed in a folder for the member to review himself. (e.g., letters from the chamber of commerce in cities in the district, and so on).
2) Letters from Big Deal people–this wasn’t just the biggest donors (but yes, they were there too), but also those with the largest bullhorns, or very widely known. Former elected officials, retired judges, etc., along with statewide associations (the State Hospital Association, for example, was a big one as the State Sen. I worked for was on the Certificate of Need Committee) would also go in the to-review folder.
3) Letters from in-district constituents–these would get tallied by our intern (bill number or issue/for or against). The member would only get the tallies, but these would be filed for the duration of the legislative session, this allowed us to track who was contacting us multiple times on each iteration of the bill, etc.
4) Phone calls from in-district constituents–tallied same as above.
5) Phone calls or letters from out of district: tallied and reported, but lowest priority. Not stored unless something struck us as odd (a bunch of out of state contacts, similar or identical language, and so on–these usually pointed to a paid influence campaign and we’d treat it as such).
As noted above, we were just starting to get emails when I left this type of work. Basically, it was treated as 4 & 5.
Going to the office and having a sit-down with a member of the staff does raise the bar a little bit, but be aware that you’ll likely be talking to someone at a very entry level. (Your best bet in that situation is to have a group schedule a meeting.)
One other suggestion is to see where the chief of staff or constituent services director is holding district calling hours (different staffs call this different things–basically, they travel around the district and hold “office hours” in public locations, like libraries and such). I do wonder though if in these times of heightened rhetoric if members and their staffs have been dialing these back.
@Scott:
Apologies, I neglected to address the above. Contacts at the Congressional office were more about expressing views, while the State Senator’s office was more of a mix. Quite a lot of people ran into frustrating issues when dealing with state agencies, so I spent a fair amount of time untangling messes (mostly constituents and state agency employees talking past one another). (Sidebar: One memorable instance was a state agency requiring that a check be delivered in-person, rather than overnighted, so the constituent overnighted the check to me and I hand delivered it. No real reason for this, other than the agency’s rules hadn’t been updated to accept overnight delivered mail.)
Froth at the mouth vs. rational reasoning: this is a tough one to answer. My better angels wish to point out that most of the people who work in a Congressional office are working really long hours for garbage pay, and they might not even agree with the MOC on issues. Yelling at them might feel good, but all it really accomplishes is getting your name flagged in the office. I tend to believe that barely contained frustration has the effect of getting your point across, seriously, without essentially granting them permission to ignore you (or call security). On the other hand, being too passive probably doesn’t pop the bubble they are existing in enough.
@Jen: @Jen: Thanks for the long response. I tend to dash off my views on the legislators’ online contact link. I used to be far more long winded and supplied reasoned opinions. But then the replies were form emails often not even addressing the subject at hand. So now I just dash off a quick note supporting or objecting to the issue of the day. And cut and paste to the other US Senator and my Representative. I don’t call unless I write out what I’m going to say because otherwise I would just sputter and sound like a madman. More and more I’m viewing my legislative contacts as therapy for me. Hasn’t drove me to drink yet.
It has begun.
Jan. 6 police officers sue to block Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization fund’
…
Betty Cracker at Balloon Juice has nicely excerpted and commented on an NYT article laying out the brilliant Israeli/U. S. plan to decapitate Iran’s leadership and have our old friend Mahmoud Imadinnerjacket take over.
@gVOR10:
This sounds like one of The Brain’s plans, particularly those that end with “giving a well-prepared mouse ample time to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!”
@gVOR10:
Me: (reads article)
Me: ….
Me: Heavy sigh.
This paragraph absolutely sent me:
Got im Himmel.
Harvard faculty impose a cap on the number of “A” grades.
@Sleeping Dog:
Considering that 90% of Harvard students graduated with honors in 2001, that’s something, I suppose.
@gVOR10:
Oh. My. Word.
Ahmadinejad?
Ahmadinejad ?
Utterly nuts.
Also:
Ya think?
It’s like a Tom Clancy plot concocted by a bunch of drunkards and fools.
Unless, and here’s a thought, this is all an op by Jerusalem to get the Pasdaran to punch Ahmadinejad’s clock?
That utter moron “Coach” Tommy Tuberville has won–with 88.4% of the vote–the Republican primary to be governor of Alabama.
My sincere condolences, Dean Emeritus Taylor.
On the lighter side today, xybertruck owners competing for the Darwin Award.
The driver drove into the lake on purpose, to test the alleged truck’s “wade mode”.
@CSK:
They should segment, 20% A, etc and you need 20% to get F’s
Republicans ax ballroom from the budget. Seems to be a reaction to the abandonment of Cornyn. As having a spine is high treason for Rs these days, commendable.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ballroom-won-t-funded-senate-201509216.html
Sooooo much winning.
From CBS, “the driver, Jimmy Jack McDaniel”. Perfect.
The article says “wade” jacks the suspension up and pressurizes the battery so it can briefly cross up to 32” of water at a crawl, and the driver is responsible for any ensuing damage. Doesn’t sound like Jimmy Jack read the manual. Odds he’s a MAGA?
We have a number of Ciphertrucks in FL. One pulled up next to me at a light yesterday. Painted flat black. Gawd. Huge, and ugly.
@CSK:
Good grief, this guy keeps failing upward. Repeating my comment from 28 Jun 2023:
@Kathy: @gVOR10: I always thought that brains and money should be reasonably correlated; however, with a certain segment of the population they clearly are not.
@gVOR10:
@Scott:
Anyone who’s ever damaged their car on a pothole concealed by a puddle in the rain, knows estimating the depth of any kind of water is impossible. I suppose it may work well enough on semi-flooded city streets. Or on a creek or pond you know the depth of.
I suppose there are uglier cars, but few that are less ridiculous than this thing. It looks more like a fridge on wheels. And it’s a crappy product with myriad issues and problems. I think it even makes the Ford Edsel look successful.
@Kathy: Now Jimmy Jack can use it as a real dumpster.https://www.reddit.com/r/EnoughMuskSpam/comments/1e4oxrr/raccoons_appear_to_be_confusing_cybertrucks_with/
@Sleeping Dog:
Interesting proposal, but do you realize how traumatizing it will be for young people who previously had perfect GPAs or at least all A’s to start getting… mostly B’s?