You're Right, Donald Trump--We're "Tired of Winning!"
The Only Thing That Matters Now
Donald Trump always threatened that he’d “win so much we’ll be tired of winning” and he was right. We’re tired of his winning and it hurts to read about it. But there’s a solution.
The only thing that matters now is Democrats winning back the House (and, fingers crossed, making gains1 in the Senate) in 2026.
We need to keep the focus on how flimsy, phony and dangerous Trump’s “wins” really are.
The New York Times, providing the fine writing and sharp reporting I so value and respect, sums up what just happened to our economy in a story headlined, How Republicans Re-engineered the Tax Code that begins with an opening that showcases that fine w. and sharp r. (that was a P.G. Wodehouse trope):
When Republicans last set out to change taxation in America, they spent years combing through the details of the internal revenue code. They traveled the country, held hearings and drafted early versions of a bill, eventually passed in 2017, that they hoped would transform a sclerotic tax system with long-held conservative principles.
This time around, as Republicans prepared for another opportunity to change how taxes in the world’s largest economy are collected, their core ideas came not from a Washington think tank or corporate accountant. Instead, in President Trump’s telling, a waitress at his hotel in Las Vegas complained to him about having to pay taxes on her tips while he dined there during the 2024 campaign.
But as is being reported everywhere since Trump barreled his big ugly butt bill through Congress, things like “no tax on tips” are—surprise!—mostly smoke and mirrors—and pretty dangerous too.
According to the Economic Policy Institute,
‘No tax on tips’ will harm more workers than it helps
In summary, exempting tips from taxes would:
help very few workers and undermine pay increases for many more;
expand the use of tipped work—a system rife with discrimination and worker abuse— potentially leading to consumers being asked to tip on virtually every purchase; and
deplete state and federal budgets and create new avenues of tax avoidance, especially for high earners.
Or, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said,
“As one of the only people in this body who has lived off of tips, I want to tell you a little bit about the scam of that text, a little bit of the fine print there. The cap on that is $25,000, while you’re jacking up taxes on people who make less than $50,000 across the United States, while taking away their [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] program, while take taking away their Medicaid, while kicking them off of the [Affordable Care Act] and their health care extensions.
“So, if you’re at home, and you’re living off tips, you do the math. Is that worth it to you — losing all your health care, not able to feed your babies, not being able to put a diaper on their bottom? In exchange for what?”
As devoted as I am to my Beloved Print Edition™ of the New York Times, I admit that stories with headlines like this make make me want to go back to reading comic novels.
From Court to Congress to the Mideast, Trump Tallies His Wins
His order to bomb Iran set back that nation’s nuclear program without triggering a broader conflict. He flew to Europe and got NATO members to pony up more money for their own defense. The Supreme Court continued a pattern of backing his assertions of executive power. The economy showed resilience in the face of predictions that his tariffs would send it spiraling, and the stock market hit record highs.
Meanwhile, we’re seeing the minute-by-minute reporting of the harm, death and destruction caused by Trump’s cuts to government spending, resources and grants, like this story that says 14 million lives could be lost because of the shredding of USAID, and this one about the EPA employees who were put on leave for signing a “declaration of dissent” to highlight how beholden the agency has become to junk science and internet conspiracy theories.
The New York Times described it this way:
The top complaint was that decisions had been made based on a political agenda, not on science and the law.
Recent E.P.A. news releases and newsletters have parroted some of Mr. Trump’s rhetoric on the environment, the letter said. For example, these materials have praised coal as “beautiful” and “clean.” Coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and is a significant source of greenhouse gases. Statements from the E.P.A. have also routinely referred to climate grants issued under the Biden administration as a “green slush fund,” when there has been no evidence they were used for illicit purposes.
As I’ve said here before, we’ll hear a lot less carping about what Democrats are doing wrong when Hakeem Jeffries is Speaker and leaders like Jamie Raskin are committee chairs. If you watched any of Jeffries’ marathon speech before House Republicans dug their own graves kissed Trump’s butt passed Trump’s bill, you know how great he's going to be as Speaker.
And he will be Speaker!
James Carville says Democrats will pick up more than 40 seats in the midterms, calling it a “mass extinction event.”
Chris Matthews thinks it will be closer to 15 or 20.
Winning the House won’t stop Trump in his tracks, but it will keep him from going completely off the rails.2 Democrats will be able to stop or reverse some things, maybe even get one or two things passed that can make it through the Senate, and most of all, hold lots of hearings to prepare for the 2028 Grand Battle Between Good And Evil Election when we can elect one of the many great potential presidents Democrats have on their bench, and maybe get to that Senate majority too.
There are lots of ways to get involved in the midterms, from what Indivisible is doing to the People’s Town Halls Democrats are convening in Districts where Republican House members are hiding from, and lying to, their constituents..
Politico wrote about the “top targets for 2026,” nearly three dozen seats that includes 10 districts Trump won by 10 points or more in 2024, proving how toxic his brand has become.
If you live in one of those districts, voter early and often. Otherwise, send money.
As evangelical as I am about maintaining a healthy media diet that’s heavy on the New York Times, the Guardian and yes, still the Washington Post, I confess to skipping over a lot of stories these days that don’t tell me anything I don’t already know.
Nor, I confess, do I want to read too many well-meaning columns, watch Joe and Mika rend their garments on MSNBC or put up with bloviating on Substack (I’m looking at you,
) about how terrible things are.Make this your headline of the day, and spread the word. Put it on a bumper sticker.
The Only Thing That Matters Is Winning The House—And Won’t It Feel Good When We Do It?
Rabbit, rabbit! Don’t say “majority!”
Apologies. That’s what you get from a platform with no editors.