It's Affordability, Stupid! | The Coffee Klatch for Saturday, December 13, 2025
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Discharge petition
12 min read
The article mentions two discharge petitions used by House members to bypass leadership. Understanding this procedural mechanism reveals how minority coalitions can force votes on legislation that majority leaders refuse to schedule.
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STOCK Act
11 min read
The article references a discharge petition to prevent congressional stock trading. The 2012 STOCK Act and its subsequent weakening provides essential context for why this remains a contentious issue.
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Tariff
18 min read
The article directly connects Trump's tariffs to rising prices and the affordability crisis. Understanding the economic mechanisms of tariffs—who actually pays them and how they affect consumer prices—illuminates the policy debate.
It's Affordability, Stupid! | The Coffee Klatch for Saturday, December 13, 2025
Friends,
Today, Heather and I — along with our Gen Z associates Katie Milne and Vishal Shankar — explore why the Republican Party is in near revolt against Trump.
Congressional Republicans repeatedly rebuked him this week. Twenty House Republicans joined Democrats in passing a discharge petition to restore union rights to federal workers; 14 signed on to another discharge petition to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks. Meanwhile, a Democrat won the race to become mayor of Miami (for the first time in 30 years), and the Indiana Senate rejected a congressional redistricting plan despite Trump’s pressure campaign on Republican lawmakers.
Why is Trump losing so badly now? Because his polls are plummeting. He refuses to acknowledge how difficult it is for most Americans to make ends meet — calling the affordability crisis a “sham” cooked up by Democrats, while his tariffs continue to jack up prices.
Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the discussion.
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