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Author: Mike McGreer

Water Crisis update

Note: Each story links to articles posted on mesquitewateralliance.com

In May 2026 Lake Mead reached a new historic low falling roughly 1,040.4 feet below sea level, below the previous 2022 record and the lowest reservoir level since Mead filled in the 1930s. The decline is especially significant because Reclamation expects additional deterioration this year.

In July 2026, BOR, under acting Commissioner Scott J. Cameron, released their “temporary” final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, covering 10 years after states failed to agree on a replacement for the 2007 guidelines, which expire this year calling for, among other things cuts up to 3 million acre‑feet/year in Lower Basin states (Arizona, California, Nevada) during dry years — nearly double the 1.6 Maf/year proposed by those states.

Meanwhile John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Nevada’s lead negotiator on river rights, during an annual water conservation summit hosted by Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) in Las Vegas on Wednesday Aug. 12th commented on the EIS, saying, “At the end of the day, we have to protect our legal interests,”

And in Nevada, Democratic Governor challenger Attorney General Aaron Ford is not taking positions on a proposal that taxpayers subsidize a water-consuming data center approved on federal land outside Boulder City and Governor Jo Lombardo, a strong and vocal backer of the water-consuming data center industry in Nevada, did not respond to questions about the data center proposed to him by Titus, her spokesman Dick Cooper said.

Trump claims presidential immunity denies $83.3 million payment to E. Jean Carroll.

President Donald Trump has asked the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to pause enforcement of the $83.3 million defamation judgment awarded to E. Jean Carroll, seeking to delay payment. At the same time, he prepares a potential Supreme Court appeal.

The request comes days after the appeals court rejected Trump’s bid to rehear the case before the full court, effectively ending his path to further review at that level.

Trump claims presidential immunity as granted by the Supreme Court and argues that allowing enforcement now would cause irreparable harm, since Carroll has publicly stated she plans to give away any money she receives.

Chesley update

On April 14, 2026, the Mesquite City Council voted to settle Chesley v. City of Mesquite, et al., Case No. A23-877738-B, Case No. A-25-91-7767-W and EEOC Charge No. 487-2025-01055, for $1,425,000.00, with settlement contingent upon a fully executed settlement agreement or upon order from the 8th Judicial District Court, and with all settlement amounts paid by Travelers Insurance Company for over $1.425 million.

To read a historical document on this case, go to the second article on page 7 of the blog.

https://mesquite2moapadems.com/blog/page/7/#

MASTO PUSHES Lateral Water Pipeline Act.

Washington, D.C. – On February 26, U.S. Senator Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) passed her bill to allow the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) to construct a new water pipeline to provide water-delivery redundancy for over one million Nevadans. The Sloan Canyon Conservation and Lateral Water Pipeline Act would dramatically improve the reliability of Las Vegas’s water system and protect residents from outages, while safeguarding ecosystems in Sloan Canyon. The bill also expands the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area (NCA) by nearly 9,300 acres – increasing its size by nearly 20 percent.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority proposed project improves the redundancy, reliability, and flexibility of water delivery to the City of Henderson and the southern Las Vegas Valley.

The project includes individual transmission and storage projects for nearly a million existing customers while allowing flexibility to meet Southern Nevada’s future water demands.

Click on the link for additional information.

https://www.snwa.com/infrastructure-improvements/horizon-lateral/index.html

Trump moves to block Middle East free press during Iraq war.

When Donald Trump joined with  Benjamin Netanyahu to again attack Iran, he urged the Iranian people to “take over your government.”

Of course, dismantling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the supreme leader’s authority, establishing a secular constitution, and ensuring free elections remain extremely low. 

Among the many tactical and strategic challenges is a press able to Challenge Ideology by expressing views on democracy and human rights that run counter to the traditional, state-centered Ideology.

Of course, any free press is not what Trump wants. Minho Kim, reporting for the NY Times from Washington on February 25, said that Trump is seeking to limit safeguards protecting the editorial freedom of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, which are private nonprofits, and that they now have to sign a contract with the Trump administration to receive the money that Congress authorized.

Such a contract gives political appointees more control over their operations, including Kari Lake, who leads the parent agency of the federally funded news groups, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a longtime supporter and former Republican candidate ideologically aligned with Trump.

According to a draft of the proposal reviewed by The New York Times and two people familiar with the matter, Lake for Trump would have the power to veto new hires for editors in chief, chief executives, and members of their boards, and could unilaterally shut down parts of their news operations with a two-week notice.

As of now, contract negotiations continue.

Know your enemy

When Nevada Senators Jackie Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto joined with six other Democratic Senators (i) to abandon their party’s majority and hold the line against the recent Congressional shutdown they aided and abetted, Donald Trump’s corrupt move to take 2026 appropriations authority away from Congress (ii) while illegally impounding 2025 funds to support only his own personal policy choices.

The over 40-day 2025 shutdown began when fiscal 2026 appropriations negotiations collapsed, primarily over Trump’s desire not to extend the healthcare subsidy extensions while pushing for Medicaid cuts.

Without appropriations, a shutdown became inevidable allowing Trump managed Senate Republicians to coerce Masto and Rosen, and six other Democats to join with them to end the shutdown on a Trump corruption based promise to hold a vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits, possibly in December along with a promise that Trump will allow the rehiring federal workers (including air traffic controllers) laid off during the shutdown, with backdpay, at least through January.

Those alleged benefits come with a near certainty that Trump will not allow Republicans to keep their promises, while simultaneously continuing policies that, among other things, decrease federal employment, reduce food assistance, and increase healthcare costs.

Further, withholding food assistance payments had already drawn court disapproval, and Trump appeared to be backing down on that issue. And, the potential rehiring of furloughed federal workers during the shutdown was an inevitable action anyway, as pressure continued to build. All of which makes the decision to support Trump-managed Republicans all the more disengenous.

More importantly, voting in favor of funding a corrupt Trump government is an act of complicity in that corruption, whereas the resistance, as supported by the majority of Senate Democrats, was an attempt to hold the line against such corruption. At the same time, it simultaneously draws media attention to the negative traits of Trump’s funding policies.

The Republicans, led by Trump, are on a roll to dismantle government, replace it with an autocracy, while ending beneficial federal programs to increase income disparity (through tax relief), with the benefits given to the top 0.01 percent.

Rosen and Masto lack the stamina to resist corruption and govern; they have hidden behind their desks in Washington, instead of standing against the Trump agenda, so their abandonment of their party is no surprise.

Rosen’s term ends in 2031, and Masto’s in 2029; both will go down in history as individuals who abandoned Democracy in favor of autocracy and corruption at a critical time, gaining nothing except the disgust of those who had hoped for better.

i.) Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sen Tim Kaine, Virginia, Sen. Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire, Sen Angus King, Maine, and Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania

ii.) Article One of the United States Constitution grants the U.S. Congress the authority to appropriate funds from the Treasury.

Public Urged to Comment on Significant USDA Cuts by Sept. 30, 2025

Individuals interested in potentially losing government-provided financial aid amounting to $157.11 billion in 2025 for food, nutrition, and safety, as well as agriculture in general, should join in opposition to the reorganization attempts by Agriculture Secretary (USDA) Brooke Rollins.

Rollins, a Trump appointee and daughter of Helen Kerwin, a member of the Texas House of Representatives, announced plans to send 2,600 of her 4,000 (65%) of her Washington, DC staff to five regional hubs: Raleigh, NC; Kansas City, MO; Indianapolis, IN; Fort Collins, CO; and Salt Lake City, UT.

This relocation move follows the loss of at least 15,000 employees who have accepted Rollins’ “voluntary” resignation offers as she seeks to eliminate 30,000 (30%) of its workforce.[i]

In addition, last month, Rollins announced the elimination of a $360 million program, established during the Biden era, through the American Rescue Plan Act to bolster rural development and build stronger food supply networks in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Rollins’ move to cut her Washington, DC staff by 65% masks the actual importance of those people.

Federal agencies place political appointees and hire civil service individuals in their Washington, DC staff for both political and professional reasons.

USDA Washington, DC personnel, both political and civil service, deal with several congressional committees when budgeting, planning, and programming, including House Agriculture, Supplemental Nutrition (SNAP), Livestock and Foreign Agriculture, Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations, Forestry and Horticulture, Farm Bill Committee, General Farm Committee, and Risk Management and Conservation programs. Additionally, statistical information on farm and agricultural activities comes from the DC office.

Furthermore, political appointees, as expected, serve the whims of the party in power, whereas civil service individuals provide the long-term knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to run an organization and, sometimes surreptitiously, provide Congress with organizational information that often corrects distorted or misinterpreted political presentations.

Through these collaborative efforts, in 2025, Congress obligated $192.71 billion to the USDA. Of that amount, Congress directed USDA to spend $157.11 billion (81.5% of the total) on private sector contractors (4.6%) and financial assistance (95.4%).

In simple terms, it’s civil service employees who determine the cost-effectiveness of obligation spending. At the same time, political appointees attempt to do the opposite, either by ending funding or diverting those dollars to special interest groups, without oversight.

In Nevada, USDA funds cover aerial photography, conservation programs, daily market prices, disaster assistance, farm loans, outreach and education, and price support for food banks, as well as SNAP.

Unfortualy, under Rollins, as of March 2025, USDA funding for programs supporting Nevada’s food banks, schools, and local businesses, such as the Home Feeds Nevada program and regional food business centers, has been significantly reduced or eliminated.

While some rural development grants continue, Rollins terminated significant funding for locally sourced food purchases, which impacts the state’s agricultural sector and food security efforts. 

According to Jeniffer Solis of Nevada Current, the USDA terminations amount to $3 million, and local small and mid-sized food and farm businesses ended three years ahead of schedule. 

For her part, Rollings, while serving as president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based conservative think tank, advocated for the end of agriculture subsidies for farmers and opposed ethanol requirements for fuels.

Meanwhile, as agriculture trade groups sound alarms about price slumps for crops and worsening credit conditions, during Trump’s chaotic trade war, Rollins, in addressing the Northern AG Network in July, congratulated Trump on his trade policies, saying that “I believe with every fiber of my being that prosperity is around the corner because of Trump’s trade negotiations.“

As a reminder, it was Rollins who told reporters on July 8, 2025,  that Medicaid recipients could replace farm laborers.

Individuals can provide comments by emailing [email protected] and are also encouraged to contact their senators and representatives. The comment period is open through September 30, 2025.

[i] See: USDA workforce according to Politico.

Say goodbye to Capitalism and hello to the MAGA-Republican Marxist-Maoist strategy.

Donald Trump announced today that he has taken a 10 percent equity stake in Intel Corp, allegedly on behalf of the US Government.

With a convicted felon and ethically challenged businessman at the head of he government, one can never be sure about the details of such a transaction.

As just one example of his money-making scheme under the banner of the Presidency, taxpayers are currently paying for his Qatari Jumbo Jet upgrade, estimated at between $400 million and a billion dollars, which will revert to his personal use through his donation-rich library after he leaves office.

Of course, the first “lady,” Melania, raked in $40 million to license her documentary about returning to the White House, adding to the $10 million Trump received from Musk’s X, arguably as a donation, and the “meme coin” venture bringing in additional millions to him and his family.

But for laughs, let’s assume that the Intel deal, ostensibly supported by Congressional Republicans, is a US government venture.

If so, it contributes to the MAGA-Republican Marxist-Maoist strategy of utilizing government resources to seize control of private enterprises’ corporate boards, take over strategic decision-making, and thereby implement government-controlled investment policies.

 Say Goodbye, Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, and millions of others living under the illusion of Constitution-based Capitalism, especially those billionaires thinking that Trump’s venture is on their side of the Capitalist equation.

Trumps Tarrif War reduces income

Donald Trump’s tariff rates, ranging from 10 to 41 percent on goods from more than 90 countries, took effect after midnight on Thursday.

His move to reignite his trade war, particularly against Canada, Mexico, and China, will result in a 2.7% reduction in income for the bottom 20% of earners, while the top 1% will lose 0.6%.

The Yale Budget Lab estimates that the overall price level resulting from all tariffs enacted in 2025 will lead to an average household income loss of $2,400 in 2025 dollars. Other analyses project even higher costs, with some estimating a $3,800 annual loss per household from consumer price increases tied to all 2025 tariffs.

While US tariff revenues have risen significantly, they still constitute a small portion of the federal budget deficit. The projected fiscal year 2025 federal budget deficit is $1.9 trillion. The increased tariff revenue, even with recent increases, amounts to roughly 7% of that figure. 

Such a minor increase in revenue puts to rest Trump‘s idea of entirely replacing the federal income tax with new tariffs.

To replace the roughly $2 trillion of revenue raised by the individual income tax with tariffs would require astronomically high tariff rates.

 Raising tariff rates to astronomically high levels would significantly depress imports, making it impossible to generate enough revenue to offset the costs of Trump’s tariff rates fully.

Trump’s attack on Iran, an Economic strategy (editorial)

 Trump’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is part of his Economic strategy to make the rich richer at the cost of lives and economic sustainability for everyone else.

After Netanyahu dog-walked Trump into illegally dropping bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities, we must dismiss his allegations of a total distribution of Iran’s atomic ability; he has delayed but accelerated their ability to make at least low-yield nuclear weapons.

While it is unlikely, but possible, that Trump has committed us to a full-out nuclear or conventional war, what he has essentially done is strengthen Russia and China’s ties to join with Iraq in taking economic actions against the US, in addition to supporting their proxies (primarily Shiite militants) in terrorist activities both abroad and on US soil, thus creating a need for more military-industrial complex spending.

Fighting terrorism is an economic gain for the military-industrial complex, and Trump spent over $22 billion on conflicts in the Middle East over the past year, including military aid to Israel and American operations in the region.

However, other Presidents have also contributed to the total cost of the US global war on terror, which stands at $8 trillion in taxpayer funding and 900,000 deaths.

Regardless, Trump’s 2026 federal budget proposes cuts to domestic programs and a 13% increase in military spending, including $127 billion for a virtually useless missile defense system (Golden Dome).

Both Israel and Iran have a range of missiles capable of reaching each other. However, the US stands uniquely apart from such a threat, unless, of course, Mexico and Canada perceive Trump as a military threat.

Even if such a threat exists, at best, a multi-layered missile defense system would have a 50% interception success rate, which could cost anywhere from $430 billion to $5.3 trillion, prompting experts to question whether the system is worth the cost.

And because of Trump’s antagonism and meritless Tariff actions against Western Allies, it is highly questionable whether NATO, under Article 5, would aid the US in combating terrorism, essentially arguing that the Article only applies to an armed attack, leaving the US to bear the problem alone.

All in all, US citizens can now look forward to massive defense spending, a lower gross national product, and higher death tolls for military members and citizens alike.