Letters from an American - March 28, 2025

Episode Date: March 29, 2025

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March 28, 2025. Another wipeout walloped Wall Street Friday, Stan Cho of the Associated Press wrote today. The S&P 500 had one of its worst days in two years, dropping 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 715 points, losing 1.7% of its value. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.7%. On Tuesday, news dropped that the administration's blanket firings and wildly shifting tariff policies have dropped consumer confidence to a low it has not hit since January 2021. Today's stock market tumble started after the Commerce Department released data showing that consumer prices are rising faster than economists expected. AIG

Chief International Economist James Knightley said, we are moving in the wrong direction and the concern is that tariffs threaten higher prices, which means the inflation prints are going to remain hot. Business leaders like lower interest rates, which reduce borrowing costs and make it cheaper to finance business initiatives, but with rising inflation, the Federal Reserve will be less likely to cut interest rates. McKenna Kelly of Wired reported today that billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGI, is

planning to move the computer system of the Social Security Administration, or SSA, off the old programming language it uses, COBOL, to a new system. In 2017 the SSA estimated that such a migration would take about five years. Doggy is planning for the migration to take just a few months, using artificial intelligence to complete the change. Experts have expressed concern. Dan Hahn, who runs a technology strategy company that helps the government modernize its services told Kelly, if you weren't worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits or getting the wrong entitlements or having to wait ages then sure go ahead. More than 65 million Americans currently receive Social Security benefits. Today representative Don Beyer, a Democrat of

Virginia, recorded himself calling the SSA and being told by a recording that the wait times were more than two hours and that he should call back. And then the system hung up on him. Musk told the Fox News Channel today that he plans to step down from Doggie in May, apparently at the end of the 130-day cap for the special government employee designation that enables him to avoid financial disclosures. In February, White House staffers suggested Musk would stay

despite the limit. Today the State Department told Congress it is shutting down the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, altogether by July 1st. Whatever agency functions the administration approves will move into the State Department. Founded by President John F. Kennedy and enjoying bipartisan support, USAID administers programs for global health, disaster relief, long-term economic development, education, environmental protection, and democracy. It is widely perceived to be a key element of U.S. soft power. USAID was created by Congress and its funds are appropriated by Congress. Congress and the courts have established that the

executive branch, the branch of government overseen by the president, cannot kill an agency Congress has created and cannot withhold appropriations Congress has made. The authors of Project 2025 want to challenge that principle and consolidate government power in the hands of the president. It appears they have chosen USAID as the test case. As Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shatters science and health agencies,

the nation's top vaccine regulator, Dr. Peter Marks, submitted his resignation today after being given the choice to resign or be fired. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post noted that Marx has been at the Food and Drug Administration since 2012 and has been at the head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research since 2016. In his resignation later, Diamond says, Marx expressed his deep concern over the ongoing measles outbreak in the southwest, now more than 450 cases, and warned that the outbreak reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined. Mark said, although he was willing

to work with Kennedy on his plan to review vaccine safety, it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies. On Tuesday, news broke that Kennedy has tapped anti-vaccine activist David Geyer to lead a study looking to link autism to vaccines, although that alleged link has been heavily studied and thoroughly debunked. Infectious disease journalist Helen Branswell notes that Geyer does not have a medical degree and was disciplined in Maryland for practicing medicine without a license.

British investigative journalist Brian Deer, who has written about the hoax that vaccines cause autism, told Branswell, if you want an independent source you wouldn't go to somebody with no qualifications and a long track record of impropriety and incompetence. But, he said, if you wanted to get in anybody off the street who would come up with the result that Kennedy would like to see, this would be your man. Terra Copp of the Associated Press reported today that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has done some targeted staffing too.

His younger brother, Phil Hegseth, is traveling to the Indo-Pacific with the Secretary in his role at the Pentagon as a liaison and senior advisor to the Department of Homeland Security. Hegseth also employed his brother when he ran the nonprofit Concern Veterans for America, where the younger Hegseth's salary was $108,000 for his media work. Kopp notes that a 1967 law prohibits government officials from hiring, promoting, or recommending relatives to any civilian position over which they exercise control.

Hegseth and his colleagues are still in the hot seat for uploading the military's attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen to Signal, an unsecure, commercially available messaging app. Yesterday, Nancy A. Yusuf, Alexander Ward, and Michael R. Gordon of the Wall Street Journal reported that National Security Advisor Mike Walz identified a Houthi missile expert whose identity Israel had provided from a human source in Yemen, angering Israeli officials. Americans, especially those with ties to the military, aren't happy either. Military, the leading news website for service members, veterans, and their families, titled a story about the scandal, Different Spanx

for Different Ranks. Hegs's signal scandal would put regular troops in the brig. Helene Cooper and Eric Schmidt of the New York Times reported that the story had angered and bewildered fighter pilots who say they can no longer be certain that the Pentagon is focused on their safety when they strap into cockpits. At a raucous town hall held today by Republican Representative Victoria Spartz, a Republican of Indiana,

the crowd booed Spartz loudly when she said she would not call for the resignations of Waltz administration has created enough backlash that the White House appears concerned about upcoming special elections on April 1st. One is for the seat in Florida's District 6 that Waltz vacated when he became National Security Advisor. In 2024, Trump won that district by 30 points and Republicans considered their candidate, State Senator Randy Fine, whom Trump has strongly endorsed, to be such a shoo-in that he barely campaigned. His website features pictures of him with Trump, but has only bullet points to explain his stand on issues. Democrat Josh Wheal, a middle school math teacher who has out-raised Fine by almost

10-1, is polling within the margin of error for a victory in a contest where even a 10-15 point loss would show a dramatic collapse in Republicans' support. Wheal has tied Fine to Musk's unpopular doggy and to the President, as well as to cuts to Social Security and Medicaid. Trump is now personally campaigning for fine and for the Republican candidate to fill the seat vacated by former Representative Matt Gaetz in Florida District 1. There, Democratic candidate Gaye Valamont is running against Republican Jimmy Patronus in a district that elected Trump with about 68 percent of the vote.

Like Fine, Patronus is strongly backed by Trump and wants more cuts to the federal government. Valamant is a former state leader for Moms Demand Action and focuses on health care and veteran services. She has criticized doggies cuts to VA hospitals. Like Wheel, she has significantly out-raised her opponent. Republicans are concerned enough about holding the seats that billionaire Elon Musk, who poured more than $291 million into the 2024 election to help Republicans, has begun to contribute to Republicans in Florida. On Tuesday, he spent more than $10,000 apiece for texting services for the Florida candidates. Musk has contributed far more than that, more than $20 million to the April 1st election

for a 10-year seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Trump loyalist Brad Schimel is running against Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford in a contest that has national significance. Wisconsin is evenly split between the parties, but when Republicans control the legislature in the Supreme Court, they suppress voting and heavily gerrymander the state in their favor. When liberals hold the majority on the court, they ease election rules and uphold fair maps. Currently, the state gerrymander gives Republicans 75% of the state seats in the U.S. House of

Representatives, although voting in 2024 was virtually dead even. The makeup of the court could well determine the congressional districts of Wisconsin through 2041, through the redistricting that will take place after the 2030 census. Musk has told the voters that if Crawford wins, then the Democrats will attempt to redraw the districts and cause Wisconsin to lose two Republican seats. Not only has Musk said he is going to Wisconsin to speak before the election, but also he is handing out checks to voters who sign a petition against activist judges, a suggestion that it would not be fair to unscue the Republican gerrymander. a suggestion that it would not be fair to unscue the Republican gerrymander. Last night, Musk advertised a contest that would award two voters a million dollars each

with the condition that the winners had to have already voted. This morning, Wisconsin Democrats issued a press release noting that Musk had committed a blatant felony, directly violating the Wisconsin law that prohibits offering anyone anything worth more than one dollar to get them to vote or refrain from voting. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wickler said that if Schiml does not immediately call on Musk to end this criminal activity,

we could only assume he is complicit. Musk deleted the tweet and then, eliminating the language that said people had to have voted, posted that he would give the checks to spokespeople for his petition. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Call sued to stop Musk from any further promotion of the million-dollar gifts and from making any payments to Wisconsin electors to vote. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair, Call said in a statement. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk

to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend. Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening. Midas Touch reposted Musk's offer to personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote and noted, no matter what side of the aisle you are on, you should be appalled that a billionaire thinks he has the right to buy elections like this. Former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, David Pepper, posted, have some pride America,

we are so much better than this guy thinks we are. Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, dead in Massachusetts, recorded with music composed by Michael Moss. Thanks for watching.