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Sharpen Your Pencils: It's Time to Learn How America Really Works.
A CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO HOW AMERICA WORKS #17 (by America The Possible)
Welcome to issue #17
YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP
What is the price of gold?
Louis XIV, eat your heart out!
Say what you will, the President has a keen eye and an unbridled passion for all things gold. Who else do you know that has a gold toilet?
In just a few months, while dealing with inflation, tariff wars, murdering hordes of immigrants, and 9 wars, in his spare time, he has managed to transform the Oval Office from low-key to high glitter.
🥇 Gold everywhere: crowns, molding, mirrors, frames, figurines, urns, and other decorative items. Many of these gold accents were installed by a craftsman who previously worked at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and was specially brought in to help execute Trump’s vision for the space.
(Editor’s note: What the hell, why not? No smirks. The guy has a right to feel at home.)
BEHIND THE MICROBYTES
BEHIND EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA LENGTH POST, THERE’S AN INTERESTING BACKSTORY, WHICH PUTS A LITTLE MEAT ON THE BONE. (Follow us on Instagram and TikTok )
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MICROBYTE: Donald J. Trump’s best gig ever.Our president has been telling us for decades that he is the World’s Bigglist Businessman. And this time, he’s not groping for the facts to prove it. While the exact numbers are hard to pin down, impossible, actually, since moving back into the Oval Office, it’s estimated that Trump, the Businessman, has raked in more than $4 billion! Steven Schwartzman, Warren Buffett, and Taylor Swift, eat your hearts out! You may wonder, how’d he do it? Luck? Pure Genius? Or something else? Well, there is a certain caché to to buying something from the powerful man on earth. And, it turns out that there's a Trump everything: hotels, golf courses, crypto and bitcoin, media and tech, plus seventeen hundred Trump products from fragrances, clutch bags, books, bibles, guitars, watches, hats, to coffee mugs, and gold sneakers, hotels, golf courses, crypto and bitcoin, media and tech, plus seventeen hundred Trump products from clutch bags, books, bibles, guitars, watches, hats, to coffee mugs, gold sneakers, and fragrances. And, while we’re on the subject, whatever happened to the Emoluments Clauses, the gluttony clauses, that’re supposed to prevent presidents from cashing in on the office? (Editor’s note: “Winning, Strength, and Success” is the subtle tag-line of his men’s cologne, and it’s guaranteed to precede your dramatic entry into your next high-stakes meeting. Or at least one hopes so for $249 a bottle.) |
MICROBYTE: “Donald, you can’t have an honest election with Mail-in voting.” Vladimir PutinLet’s begin with the fact that Russia has never had anything that resembled a free and fair election. In the Putin era, the environment surrounding presidential “elections” is highly repressive; independent opponents are barred from running, jailed, exiled, or poisoned. Fraudulent practices include ballot stuffing, rewriting of results, misattribution of votes, artificially inflated turnout, and digital manipulation. The most recent election in March 2024 saw Vladimir Putin officially win 87% of the vote, a figure widely dismissed as unrealistic and fraudulent. Easy to see why a politician whose approval ratings have dipped into the low 40s would fantasize about adopting Putin-style “free and fair” election strategies using fraud as the reason So, let’s move from fantasy to reality. The consensus among official and academic studies is that while no system is entirely immune from human error or isolated misconduct, the actual incidence of mail-in voting fraud is statistically insignificant and has not compromised election outcomes. The Washington Post’s analysis of universal mail-in voting states found a "minuscule" fraud rate of 0.0025% (only about 1 in every 40,000 ballots). All evidence aside, Donald J. Trump continues to scream fraud and plans to “Lead a “movement” to eliminate Mail-in Voting. How does he plan to do it? By issuing yet another Executive Order. (Editor’s note: One assumes that eventually someone at the White House will discover that an Executive Order here would be a waste of time and paper, given the fact that the Constitution gives the authority to decide how elections are run to State Legislatures.) |
THIS WEEK’S FRONT PAGE
Russell Vought
“Trump budget officials claim sweeping spending power from Congress, records show.” The Washington Post, 8/19/25
“The Trump administration is asserting new power to withhold billions of dollars from low-income housing services, education assistance, medical research grants, and other programs approved by Congress, centralizing sweeping authority in the executive branch and potentially inflaming tensions between the two branches.”
“The restrictions effectively give Vought, the director of the White House budget office and an architect of the controversial conservative governing plan Project 2025, the power to approve or deny virtually all spending decisions. The records do not provide a full accounting of government funding that has been withheld.”
(Editor’s Note: Once again, the White House thumbs its nose at Congress and the Constitution. The Constitution gives Congress the sole right to approve spending and set federal budgets. That is known as “The Power of the Purse.” And it is one of the main reasons Congress is considered an equal and sometimes, by some framers and scholars, the primary branch of American government. Once Congress passes and the president signs appropriations bills, the White House and federal agencies are obligated to spend the money as Congress has directed. There have been historical attempts by presidents to “impound” or withhold appropriated funds. However, after incidents like President Nixon’s refusal to spend funds, Congress passed the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which sharply limited the President’s power to delay or withhold (impound) spending. Today, the President may only delay or propose cancellation (“rescission”) of funds via an established process that must be approved by Congress. If Congress rejects or ignores such a proposal, the executive branch must spend the funds as directed.)
WHAT I’M READING NOW
Author: Ben Sheehan, Illustrated by Mary Kate McDevitt, Black Dog & Levanthal Publishers, Hachette Book Group) I’ve now read it twice. First of all, it’s an easy way to understand how and, maybe more importantly, why America works. The title says it’s for kids, and it is, but I guarantee that unless you're a History professor, you’ll learn something you didn’t know before or understand something you thought you understood. It’s not long, and the illustrations make it an easy read. High probability that I’ll read it three times. As an Amazon Associate, we earn commission from qualifying purchases. |
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“What we achieved today is a significant advancement and proof that Ukraine is not alone.”
Volodymyr Zelenski after Monday’s historically significant meeting at the White House
POLITICAL JOKE OF THE WEEK
 Labubu Trump | “Meanwhile, if I saw Trump on my roof, I would assume he’s pulling a reverse Santa Claus — you know, going house to house, taking toys away from kids. ‘[imitating Trump] I just signed an executive order that allows me to take your Labubu collection.’” SETH MEYERS |
BOOBY PRIZE OF THE WEEK
The ever-clever U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro: In an unfortunate fit of pique, an unnamed man threw his half-eaten Subway sandwich at a Federal Officer, hitting him in the chest. “He thought it was funny. Well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today because we charged him with a felony—assault on a police officer. And we’re going to back the police to the hilt. So there! Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else!”
(Editor’s note: Officials are withholding information concerning what kind of Subway sandwich was thrown.)
HOW TO TAKE ACTION
🎒 Action of the Week: Teach One Young Person How Government Works
Whether it’s a middle schooler, college student, or recent grad—share one thing they don’t teach in school.
Not sure what to say?
Start with:
Or just send them to:
👉 americathepossible.us
Why?
🌐 Because the next generation inherits the system we leave behind—and curiosity is contagious.
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