A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened? : Candidate Trump told us “I have nothing to do with Project 2025” and he would be bringing down grocery prices on day one. President Trump has put a laser focus on the priorities of Project 2025 and grocery prices have soared. This week, while still doing nothing that helps lower food prices, he made good on another Project 2025 goal. He signed an executive order to shut down the Department of Education. Trump wants to give the responsibility for education “back to the states”.

Why it matters? : The Department of Education is responsible for financial aid, data collection about education, education reform, and prohibiting discrimination. Getting rid of the department puts at risk programs like Pell grants that provide financial aid for future teachers, the research that allows us to identify areas of improvement, and programs for the disabled. Poorer states get a much larger percentage of their education budget from federal monies. Leaving aside the fact that presidents cannot unilaterally end cabinet level departments without congressional approval, who does the Department of Education closure serve? Our society is best served by having a well educated workforce taught by creative and well compensated teachers. Taking money away from schools is not the way to make that happen. Especially in an environment where tax cuts are being planned for those in our wealthiest tax brackets.

What can we do about it? We can start by attending the April 3, 6:30 pm meeting of the Chagrin Gateway Democrats at the Orange Library where a panel discussion on the education and funding cuts including several current and former school board members. There we will learn how these cuts might affect our schools, and how we might most effectively target our protests.

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky

This week, a friend passed along a Facebook post that they discovered in their feed. The author of the post, almost certainly a Trump supporter, started it predictably with three words: Please. No politics. 

The phrase, apparently there to insulate the author from the irony they were about to type next, became laughable as they went on to discuss how they work with students with serious diseases who rely on the services covered by the Department of Education—services about to be cut. 

Going on to implore others to “do their research,” the author shared a post from the National Association of School Nurses detailing the impact of the dismantling of the department.

Somehow, lost in the post is the easiest research one could have done—listening to the words of Donald Trump himself. 

This is what he told you he was going to do. And this is what you voted for. 

Over the next few years, stories like this will become commonplace. Trump supporters will bemoan the cost of groceries, the loss of their jobs, the unexpected (to them) outcomes of placing total control of the government into the hands of a billionaire tech bro and a want-to-be dictator, and, in the privacy of their own minds, they’ll wonder why this is happening…to them. They’ll rationalize this as part of the eight-dimensional chess moves that they are convinced Donald Trump is playing to break the deep state. They’ll pretend that next week or next month, things will finally turn around and it’ll all make sense like the moment your eyes come into focus after looking at 3D computer art for an hour.

And when it doesn’t, and the world becomes more unstable, and the middle class collapses, one of two things will happen: they’ll either work their way out of the cult, or they’ll post more nonsense online about their plight. They’ll blame everyone but the person responsible. They’ll want you to comment and tell them how horrible it is that they are the victim, They’ll ask “how could this happen?”

And you’ll know the answer.

You’ll want to reply.

But, then you’ll remember: please…no politics.

A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened? : Are you feeling a little dizzy right now? Maybe like you are recovering from whiplash?  Maybe you wanted to write to your congress people to complain about the tariffs, but are wondering if you need to do that because the tariffs off now?  Oh wait, they are back on, no now they are off! But the stock market crashed anyway. 

Or maybe you are devastated about the thousands of people that have been fired, supposedly for cause. But how could it have been for cause when many of them had just gotten good reviews.  But now they are being rehired, either because the people were needed or because judges are telling departments that the firings were illegal. So, are the tens of thousands of people fired or not? And, is the National Parks trip we planned for this summer on or off?  

Why it matters? : Aside from the fact that, to the world our government looks idiotic, this back and forth is destabilizing. And that may have been the point.  If one believes that government does not work, one has two choices: Work to make it better or dismantle it and privatize it on the assumption that businesspeople would do it better. I believe that our current administration is trying to make sure that the only conclusion is that the government cannot work and must be privatized. Good thing our president has so many rich businesspeople donors ready to step in and take over. 

What can we do about it? Flood our congress people with messages about doing their jobs. They are a co-equal branch of government. They have the power of the purse. They had no business allowing the president’s unelected biggest donor to tamper with government employment rolls or budgets. The Judiciary is doing their part. Congress needs to step up. They need to provide oversight, thought and deliberation. They should be calling Elon Musk in to account for his DOGE project and what savings he has actually found and what he intends to do with the access he has to our personal information. These things take time, but that is okay. We are all dizzy from the push-pull/stop-start.  “Move fast and break things” may work in the business world, but it is not a good way to manage people’s lives. 

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky

On Monday, March 10, the Chagrin Falls Village Council chambers were packed as an incredible outpouring of community support turned Move to Amend Day into a powerful statement for real democracy. The last biennial event drew only a handful of attendees, but this year, at least 70 citizens filled the room—so many that some sat on the floor in front of the council dais.

The energy in the room was undeniable. One by one, at least a dozen community members spoke passionately about the corrupting influence of money in politics. Their voices echoed a shared frustration with billionaires and corporations buying elections, shaping policies, and drowning out the will of everyday Americans.

This overwhelming turnout sent a clear message: the people of Chagrin Falls are ready to fight for a government that represents them, not corporate interests. Their presence and advocacy helped strengthen the Move to Amend movement, which seeks to end corporate personhood and push for a constitutional amendment to get big money out of politics.

This was more than just a meeting—it was a rallying cry for change. And thanks to this incredible show of solidarity, the movement in Chagrin Falls is stronger than ever.