Dan Schaefer

In Missouri, when the will of the people conflicts with power, power rewrites the rules.

The Will of the People B’Damned Votes don’t count when legislators overrule them

There's a growing pattern in Missouri politics: when voters pass measures that conflict with the priorities of powerful interests, lawmakers search for ways to dismantle them. Not by winning elections, but by overruling the voice of the people. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/the-will-o...

What? They can do math?

No Spine, No Vote Democracy Needs Fighters, Not Placeholders

We don’t need perfect politicians. We just need politicians with spines. If they won’t fight for the people they claim to represent, they shouldn’t expect those people to fight for them at the ballot box. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/no-spine-n...

My wife was on a flight to Amsterdam last Saturday. The in-flight movie was "Melania." People walked out.

🤣🤣🤣

That's why Musk wants to go to Mars.

New Hampshire State Motto: Live Free or Die
MAGA Motto: Comply or Die

Why We Voted for a Felon When you're at the bottom, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by tearing it all down. People know the game is rigged against them. And they're not wrong.

Why did we put a felon in the White House? I attempted to answer it in this blog post. TL;DR - people increasingly feel they have hit bottom and have nothing left to lose. In that state of mind, they have everything to gain by burning down the house. www.dan4mo.com/post/why-we-...

Is the DOJ Rigging the Next Election? The Department of Justice’s Power Grab and How It Affects You

When enforcement replaces justice, when secrecy replaces transparency, when blind conformance replaces common sense, democracy rots from the inside. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/is-the-doj...

MAGA: Why do I have to hold this stupid umbrella? I'm not getting wet!

Government Was Never the Problem But we live with the fallout from pretending it was

We do not build a more perfect union by surrendering our voices, our votes, or our belief that citizens should shape our future. Gvmt was never the enemy; the abandonment of democracy is. The solution remains what it has always been: We the People. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/government...

I use an electric scooter. 😃

Democracy for Sale: $5,000 The right to petition our government is for sale

Democracy doesn’t defend itself; that’s the job of ordinary citizens. Every voter, regardless of party, should trust that political power comes from the people, not from those who manipulate the rules to gain power. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/democracy-...

We Have to Stop Trusting Electeds to Save Us — They Won’t

Today's article is from Yvonne Reeves-Chong, Vice-Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party. She discusses the recent capitulation of the Senate Democrats and how it's up to us to create our own heroes and save ourselves. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/we-have-to...

Spying on Americans Watching Everyone, Protecting No One

The wealthiest among us are constructing a digital infrastructure for control under a thin veil of security. It protects property, not people. It shields corruption, not democracy. It presumes suspicion, not innocence. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/spying-on-...

I've been running for office in Missouri. I joined the Democratic Party because I believed it was our best hope for resisting autocracy. Then the Senate Democrats caved. Again. I seriously considered dropping out of the party and running as an independent. I'm that f****g mad.

They Stole My Home, and No One Would Listen When government fails to guard against fraud, ordinary citizens pay the price

When the government is doing its job, it protects citizens from real threats to life & property. But when lawmakers are distracted by culture wars, it leaves ordinary people vulnerable to real criminals who undermine our safety and our way of life. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/they-stole...

Cheney's Monster Cheney’s experiment in unchecked executive power has escaped the lab

It is tragically fitting that Cheney, late in life, expressed alarm at Trump’s autocratic tendencies. Metaphorically speaking, Dick Cheney built Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, giving unchecked power to a megalomaniac who could not be controlled. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/cheneys-mo...

The Bond Trap How public debt keeps our schools on a treadmill and what we can do about it

Here's a radical idea: restructure our municipal bonds so we make money on future repairs rather than lose money on past repairs. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/the-bond-t...

Refuse to Yield In the face of Republican extremism, Democrats must show the courage of conviction — not the comfort of compromise.

Our guest author, Yvonne Reeves-Chong, comments on the current government shutdown and what's really taking place behind the scenes. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/refuse-to-...

Lawfare: Locking in Control When lawmakers don’t like what people say, they pass a law to muzzle the people

Missouri is waging war on the people's voice. When citizens lose their right to petition, they lose the only direct way to check a legislature that refuses to listen. The right to petition isn’t just a procedural relic; it’s the lifeline of democracy. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/lawfare-lo...

When Politics Becomes Group Therapy How online tribes turn emotion into identity

There was a time when the internet promised connection through difference. Unfortunately, it often delivers the opposite: islands of certainty surrounded by seas of contempt. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/when-polit...

Without Courage, Morality Collapses The Anti-Defamation League bows to the bullies it was built to confront

The moral test of our time is not whether we can avoid conflict, but whether we can face it with courage. Each time we fail that test, the moral line retreats a little farther into the darkness, dragging democracy with it. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/without-co...

Missouri for Missourians, Not Hidden Donors Politicians lecture voters about outside money while raking it in

Many Republican legislators in Missouri rail against “out-of-state billionaires” funding ballot initiatives while turning a blind eye to the millions flowing in from dark money groups that fortify their own causes. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/missouri-f...

Medicare Disadvantage How private industry exploits a public lifeline

Medicare was created to serve people, not corporations. With determination, we can strengthen it, expand it, and ensure it remains a true public lifeline — not another profit center for industry. frontlineprogressive.beehiiv.com/p/medicare-d...

The Missouri Hammer came down on the voters again in Missouri today. The GOP ran roughshod over the rest of the legislature, going the extra mile to screw their voters.

Today: Immigrants. Tomorrow: You Are we willing to let our government decide who belongs in America based on how they look, how they sound, or what they believe? Today, the victims are immigrants. Tomorrow, it could be any one of us.

www.dan4mo.com/post/today-i...