Happy Tax on the Working Class Day!

Let's celebrate by paying $4k more per year just to live!

Happy Tax on the Working Class Day, Secular Fam! Yup! On April 3, 2025, the Trump tariffs went into effect, and thank goodness someone is finally taxing those *checks notes* penguin imports!

Economists estimate these tariffs will cost working American families about $4000/yr on average, or about 4% of their disposable income. But hey! They’re owning the libs, sooooo, #winning!

Back in the Midwest, where my family is from, friends and family (many of whom voted for Trump) are reporting that farmers’ lives have been hurled into a chaotic spiral as government contracts have been terminated without notice. I remember when massive droughts devastated many parts of the country and the Midwest. Generational family farms foreclosed, and a corporate land-grab ensued that forever changed the face of rural communities. 

This time, I fear that family farms will be eradicated altogether. 

This may seem hyperbolic or hysterical, but no other explanation makes sense to me. Why would a government want to destroy their own economy while letting billionaires set government agencies and corporate industry into pandemonium? It’s almost like when there’s a recession the wealthy can increase their wealth or something? 

Just this week, a report came out stating that layoffs in the US are up 672% over this same time last year. Even though the tariffs were supposed to like, totally make America great again, companies based in America are laying off hundreds of workers. From what I can tell, this is all happening in order to secure government contracts and fatten the wallets of billionaires. It’s already going so well for us taxpayers!

Despite the daily uncertainty, I have had an incredible couple of weeks. At Secular AZ, we’re examining the work we do and our mission. Since we are in such uncertain times, we realize we need to adjust to meet the moment. We also understand that many of our nonprofit coalition partners have already lost funding due to DOGE cuts, and this new authoritarian regime intends to scrutinize and penalize any nonprofit that fights fascism (like us). 

On the weekly, Secular AZ provides updates about violations of the Establishment Clause. You may have seen our Legal Director, Dianne Post, speak about the Vail School District’s partnership with the LDS Church recently on a local news station. She and our legal interns regularly provide updates about bills moving through the legislature, file complaints, and send letters to governing bodies who insist on blending religion and government. 

This work is important and requires funding to make it happen, so that’s why we’re hosting a series of “Lager with a Lawyer” events over the summer months. 

America’s new authoritarian techno/theocrats are now coming after all the freedoms listed in the First Amendment. Let’s consider the freedom of the press. Co-president Musk owns the digital townsquare and even his own AI tool, Grok, calls out the misinformation that he regularly spreads. 

Shortly after Trump was inaugurated, CBS capitulated to the administration and forked over raw footage and full transcripts of an interview with Kamala Harris from last year to the FCC. Last December, ABC News settled the defamation lawsuit Trump filed against them, and agreed to contribute $15 million to his “presidential foundation and museum” fund, whatever that is. 

News organizations have shrunken and consolidated over the years, and a growing number of people get their news from social media websites and apps that are oftentimes also owned by billionaires and Trump supporters. Most news media outlets and social media platforms are either owned by these techno/theocrats, so they can control the narrative. They can easily manipulate the information that ends up in our feeds. 

Given the low media literacy of most Americans, power and information brokers can easily manipulate people’s beliefs and opinions to the point that they’ll advocate against their best interests. If you’re confused about why so many people are spewing crazy conspiracy theories, it’s because over 60% of Americans do not know how to analyze media messaging. 

Our press has been on shaky ground for a few decades now, but evangelical extremists intend to defund PBS and NPR and limit news outlets at White House press briefings. It’s wild that in the “Age of Information” our information is carefully cultivated and spoon-fed to us. 

Our freedom of speech and expression are also under attack. A global free speech study shows that America has dropped in its support of free speech. “Across the country, support for allowing offensive statements toward religion, insults toward the American flag, as well as supportive statements about homosexuality [emphasis added], have gone down nearly 10% since 2021.” 

These cult members aim to eliminate the Establishment Clause AND silence any criticism of their faith. They also want to be able to loudly blast their bigoted beliefs about marginalized communities with impunity. 

Just this year, states pushed 830 bills policing people’s gender expression through healthcare bans or bans against drag performances. In the past month or so, legal US residents and others are being disappeared in broad daylight and in some cases, flown to foreign countries without due process. This administration claims that they’re cracking down on antisemitism, but a renowned expert on fascism who also happens to be Jewish, Jason Stanley, states: 

“This is reinforcing antisemitic tropes all across the political spectrum. ... What are the most toxic antisemitic tropes? Well, “Jews control the institutions.” This is absolutely reinforcing this. Any young American is going to think: Remember what happened when they took down the world’s greatest university system on behalf of Jewish safety? And this will go down in history books — the history of this era will say that Jewish people were the sledgehammer for fascism. So if we don’t speak out, if we American Jews do not speak out against this, this will be a grim chapter in our history as Americans. It’s the first time in my life as an American that I have been fearful of our status as equal Americans — not because of the protests on campus, which, as I said, had a lot of Jewish students in them. But because we are suddenly at the center of U.S. politics. It’s never good to be in the crosshairs for us. And we are being used to destroy democracy.”

BTW, Mr. Stanley, and two of his colleagues from Yale University - all experts on fascism - have moved their families out of the country for fear of retribution from the Trump administration. 

Last week, AG Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel (I really can’t believe I just typed that out) announced that anyone participating in the Tesla protests may be treated as domestic terrorists. This is nothing new though. In his first term, Dolt 45 tear gassed peaceful protestors, and it later came out that if he could have had them shot, he would have. 

Christian nationalists want to gut the constitution, and they provided us with a very explicit step-by-step playbook titled Project 2025. Now his tariffs are in full-effect, and MAGAs are doing the CRAZIEST mental gymnastics to make sense of it all. Basically, it looks like this

This week, our exercise routine will NOT include MAGA gymnastics, but actual physical actions that you can participate in to make your voice heard. We’ll be at the Rainbows Pride Fest at Heritage Square on Saturday and Sunday (Booth 35!). We’ll also be at the 50501 Hands Off rally at the Capitol on Saturday. There are plenty of opportunities to engage in your democracy, and Secular AZ has always been here to connect you. 

Let’s get into some Good Trouble, Secular Fam.