Rural Caucus Newsletter September 11th 2026

Written By Butler County Democrats .

Holy cow, Rural Democrats...what a roller coaster week. Does everyone feel the political whiplash, or is it just us? At one point, it felt like we needed a flowchart just to track the court filings and the constant churn of Republican‑driven chaos. The pace was relentless, and the impact landed hardest on Missourians trying to make sense of what comes next. Every election analyst agrees on one thing: basic compliance with legal norms wasn't guiding Missouri politics and the Republicans are the cause: Insanity in Missouri - Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance The result was a landscape where confusion and chaos are the rule, not the exception, leaving us to navigate it. 


But we prevailed, and not a single SCOTUS justice publicly dissented! US Supreme Court again blocks use of Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map • Missouri Independent. And then we prevailed again so we're going to bask in this victory: After contempt hearing, Missouri’s top election official concedes redistricting fight - Democracy Docket. Just one more thing. We’ve got to share Brian Tyler Cohen’s rundown of this whole mess. It’s spot-on, and make sure you listen all the way to the end for the attorney’s slapdown of AG Hanaway:  BREAKING: BOMBSHELL SUPREME COURT RULING & ARREST THREAT - YouTube


Another Gut Punch (This deserves its own category)

New federal data dropped this month, delivering another gut punch for working families. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the share of economic growth actually reaching workers has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. In May 2026, that number hit a record low of 54.1%. Now it’s taken another nosedive to just 52.8%: It’s a Bad Time to Be an American Worker – Mother Jones. The slice going to the people who make this country run keeps shrinking. Rural communities feel this first and worst, because when the labor share drops, every dollar stretches thinner and every basic expense hits harder.


And if you’re wondering whether the Trump administration understands what families are dealing with, Trump’s top economic adviser answered that loud and clear. When asked about rising credit‑card delinquencies at 13% - the highest in 15 years - he didn’t talk about household stress or wages falling behind. Instead, he said that there’s “not any kind of financial threat to the credit card companies.” Trump Adviser Hassett Claims Americans Are “Optimistic” About State of Economy | Truthout. That’s right - the concern wasn’t for workers drowning in higher costs, but for the corporations collecting the interest. It’s a perfect snapshot of the priorities driving today’s economy: record profits at the top, record strain everywhere else.


The economy - and how Republican policies keep pushing working families further behind - should remain our central message. Their dismissal of what people are living through is part of the problem. We’ve created two memes to, hopefully, help illustrate the point clearly and visually. And Trump’s Iran war? Hell...we could write pages and share a ton of articles  'No relief in sight': Paul Krugman spells out the damning impact of Trump's Iran war  about how his war is costing every Missourian but sometimes the visuals speak louder: Iran War Energy Cost Tracker. The strain is real, and families across Missouri are feeling it every day.


MO Democratic Party Women's Caucus

The MDP Women’s Caucus is now accepting endorsement applications from candidates running in the November 3, 2026 General Election. Candidates committed to advancing the issues and priorities that matter to women and families across Missouri are invited to submit an application for endorsement consideration. Please share this information and the endorsement application link: https://forms.gle/ivULxENFQx1N2Sdk6


Other Missouri News

  • Oct. 17 - NO KINGS: VOTE EARLY! There are already events registered in Missouri. Here are the details on how to join or host a rally: No Kings. It's an excellent way to promote voter participation in the midterms.

  • Pew’s nationwide review of 1,500+ planned U.S. data centers found that 67% of all planned builds are targeting rural counties AI data centers are transforming rural land markets, fueling backlash  and this includes Missouri. Another county is knee‑deep in this mess. Benton County (MO) Commissioners originally denied ever talking to a data‑center outfit out of Springfield - until it came out that, yes, they absolutely had. Then the Commission had an ‘oh‑crap’ moment and slapped down a six‑month moratorium on the data‑center development. The developer sued Data center moratorium fight plays out in Benton County courtroom because - according to court records - they were told Benton County had no planning and zoning, could buy the land cheap with zero restrictions. In other words, the county said ‘no rules,’ the company acted on it, citizens found out and the county panicked. 

National News

  • A top policy priority for JD Vance: rob from working families - not tied to a child’s needs, development, safety, or care costs. It’s tied to family dynamics. He's taking dollars that Congress earmarked for working parents who need child care to stay employed and diverting those dollars to only married couples where one works and one stays home with the kids: NWLC on Trump-Vance Pronatalist Proposal to Direct Child Care Funds to Stay-At-Home Parents - National Women's Law Center. It’s not a tax cut, not a new program - it’s reallocation - toward Vance's socially‑preferred family structure (married, one parent at home).

  • This past Wed. (Sept. 9), a federal appeals court heard Louisiana v. FDA, a case that would sharply restrict access to abortion pills in every single state. Louisiana is asking the court to reinstate the old in‑person dispensing rule for mifepristone: Federal appeals court hears arguments in case on access to mail-order abortion pill mifepristone | WBAL Baltimore News. If Louisiana wins, patients in every state - including those where abortion remains legal - will lose the ability to receive mifepristone by mail or through telehealth. Telehealth has become an essential lifeline, especially for rural patients; some clinics report that 95% of patients use it.

  • We're surprised this isn't bigger news. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed eliminating the "Pay-To-Play rule along with the related recordkeeping requirements. It also scraps the rule guarding nearly $6 trillion - yes...that's trillion - in US public pension money: SEC moves to kill $6T pension shield rule.The rule is to prevent private equity and other fund managers from bribing public officials. Trump's response: Ok...Let's do it.

Other News

  • Musk is bankrolling a heavy ad blitz telling people in key states to check their registration at votesafe.org - a site run by America PAC, his own super PAC.  The hidden dangers of Musk’s votesafe.org - by Judd Legum  And here’s the part to pay attention to: Vote.gov - the site run by the Election Assistance Commission doesn’t collect your personal information, track you, or funnel you into anything political. Musk’s votesafe.org does.

In closing...


Trump’s not even pretending anymore. He has moved from dog whistles to direct financial enticements by promising every adult American a $5,000 “Trump dividend,” but only if Republicans take both the House and Senate in November. That is not a routine campaign promise; it is a conditional financial offer tied to an election outcome. We can scream ethics! but stopping at ethics undersells the seriousness. When a national leader (loosely worded) ties personal financial gain to a specific electoral result, it's not only potentially illegal, but it also weakens the basic expectation that elections are about ideas, leadership, and the future. And let’s be real:


You won't get a $5,000 Trump dividend.
You won't get $9,000 to stay home with your kids.
*You didn’t get the DOGE check.
*You didn’t get the tariff refund.
*You're not getting $2 gas, cheaper groceries, a healthcare plan, or 600% off your prescriptions.
At some point, “gullible” stops being an accident and starts being a lifestyle choice. 





Joshua Dunne

Chair


Jacqueline Farr

Vice-Chair


John Parks

Treasurer

Butler County Democrats .
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Rural Caucus Newsletter September 4th 2026