Hello friends,

Welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with my colleague Heather Lofthouse (Executive Director of Inequality Media Civic Action — and my former student), where we talk about the highs and lows of the week over morning coffee. Pull up a chair.

Today we cover:

— Hurricane Ian and Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis’s demonizing of “socialism.”

— The Republican Party’s traditional harangue about federal spending (except when their states are under water).

— The “Disclose Act” — requiring the sources of big-money donors to be revealed — that was stopped in the Senate and received almost no media coverage.

— Ginni Thomas’s upcoming testimony before the January 6 committee.

— The importance of “down-ballot” voting.

Our thanks to Sylvia Brestel and Michael Hoppe for their great theme songs.

And our weekly poll:

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