Monthly Archives: November 2025

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Black Friday: Beware of Credit With a Catch

Black Friday is probably going to turn into Bleak Friday for some credit users at Oregon retailers. 

“When it Comes to West Coast Furniture Stores, We Have the Best Prices in Home Furniture,” Mor Furniture says on its website. On Nov. 26, the site is highlighting: “IN-STORE ONLY. No interest with equal monthly payments for 61 months on purchases of $6000 or more made with your Mor Furniture credit card. Equal monthly payments required for 61 months. Learn more.”

If you’re not careful, it could be a costly trap

Let’s say you buy furniture that costs $6,800. The monthly payment due for 61 months, Mor told me, would be $112.00.  BUT, if you still owe any of the $6800 at the end of the 61 months, even $1, Mor Furniture will charge you interest on the full $6800 at a 35.99% rate starting from the purchase date. 

Do the math. The total interest on an amortized $6800 loan paid off in 61 months at an annual interest rate of 35.99% would be approximately $7,422.39, more than the cost of the furniture itself.  In other words, that furniture will cost you $6,800 + $7,422.39, a total of $14,222.

Shop at Key Home Furnishings and you will encounter the same problem if you don’t pay off your entire purchase price in the time required. “No interest will be charged on the promo balance if you pay it off, in full, within the promo period.,” Key says. “If you do not, interest will be charged on the promo balance from the purchase date. The promo balance is equal to the promo purchase amount and any related optional debt cancellation fees. “

Wayfair credit card financing also offers 0% interest options for a set period (e.g., 6, 12, or 24 months) on qualifying purchases, but if you don’t pay the balance in full before the promotional period ends, you will be charged retroactive interest on the entire original purchase amount at a high APR. 

A perceptive consumer observed on Reddit, “One really has to study a business structure. They aren’t furniture dealers first, they are credit companies first, predatory lenders that have attached a tangible item or service to their scheme.”

It’s worth noting that deferred financial schemes are not restricted to furniture stores. Numerous other retailers offer it, too. 

For example, Car Toys, a specialty car audio and mobile electronics retailer, promotes “No interest if paid in full within promotional period” but “Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if their purchase balance is not paid in full within the promotional period.”

Window company Renewal by Andersen can trap consumers, too. NO MONEY DOWN, NO MONTHLY PAYMENTS, NO INTEREST FOR 12 MONTHS* its website says. Then it adds, “*Interest is billed during promo period but will be waived if the amount financed is paid in full before promo period expires.’

Anybody can be caught in these credit schemes, but the people most likely to be vulnerable are consumers with lower credit scores who suffer a job loss or medical emergency that makes it hard to pay off the balance, triggering the retroactive interest charge. 

The now beleaguered federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau cautions all consumers to know the difference between zero interest and deferred interest, because the differences can have big effects on your wallet.

A zero percent interest promotion will not add interest based on the balance of your purchase during the promotional period. If you still have an unpaid balance when the promotional period is over, you will start to pay interest on the remaining balance only from the date the promotional period ends. 

In contrast, some retailers offer financing such as “No interest if paid in full in 12 months.” That’s when you need to be wary because it usually means the promotion is a deferred interest offer. 

Caveat emptor.

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US Action in Venezuela: Menacing and Unpredictable

The largest U.S. military presence in the Caribbean in decades is now operating, with nearly 20% of the Navy’s deployed warships in the region, according to a Stars and Stripes’ analysis. The deployment also includes the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Base New River. The 22nd MEU consists of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced), Combat Logistics Battalion 26 and the Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.

Additionally, a squadron of Marine Corps F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft has been sent to Puerto Rico, where the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads has become a staging area for U.S. forces in the region, according to Task & Purpose, a military-focused news publication.

Other American aircraft, including an AC-130J Ghostrider, an Air Force gunship designed for close air support, air interdiction and armed reconnaissance, have been spotted operating in El Salvador. The aircraft, known for being the most heavily armed gunship in history, “plays a critical role in supporting ground operations, providing close air support to troops in contact, conducting armed reconnaissance missions, and engaging enemy targets” according to The Aviationist.

An AC-130J Ghostrider being refueled

The New York Times has reported that U.S. officials ran a war game during President Trump’s first term to assess what the Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro’s fall might unleash. “The results showed that chaos and violence were likely to erupt within Venezuela, as military units, rival political factions and even jungle-based guerrilla groups jockeyed for control of the oil-rich country.”

Nevertheless, asked if he would rule out U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela, Trump said on Monday “No, I don’t rule out that, I don’t rule out anything.”

And then, of course, no matter what happens, will it matter? Mary Speck, former executive director of the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission, wrote today in the Dispatch, “The United States—for all its military might—cannot defeat “narco-terrorism” unilaterally by ousting a corrupt and brutal dictator. Whatever the end game of the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean, the region’s drug cartels have nothing to fear.”.

“What is the balance of risk? ,” opinion columnist Bret Stephens wrote in November 19s New York Times. “Unintended consequences must be weighed against the predictable risks of inaction…And Trump’s hesitation will be read, especially in Moscow and Beijing, as a telling signal of weakness that can only embolden them, just as President Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan did.”

“Any morally serious person should want this to end,” Stephens opined. “The serious question is whether American intervention would make things even worse.”

As Puck observed on Nov. 20, “Trump’s plan for Venezuela may be a mystery even to himself. “I think he thinks about what will make him look tough, but he doesn’t think much beyond that,” said John Bolton. “He never does.”

What does the Trump administration want to achieve in this dramatic effort and what will be the cost? America waits.

U.S. Forces Now in the Caribbean

Up to 15,000 U.S. troops are in the area.
USS Newport News SSN-750
Four F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadrons 31, 37, 87, and 213 from embarked Carrier Air Wing Eight aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), and a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress operate as a joint force with the Gerald R. Ford, Nov. 13, 2025. US Navy photo
  • The “Tomcatters” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 31 – F/A-18E – from Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.
  • The “Ragin Bulls” of VFA 37 – F/A-18E – from Naval Air Station Oceana.
  • The “Golden Warriors” of VFA 87 – F/A-18E – from Naval Air Station Oceana.
  • The “Black Lions” of VFA 213 – F/A-18F – from Naval Air Station Oceana.
  • The “Gray Wolves” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 142 – EA-18G – from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.
  • The “Bear Aces” of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 124 – E-2D – from Naval Air Station Norfolk, Va.
  • The “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Squadron (VRC) 40 Det. – C-2A – from Naval Air Station Norfolk.
  • The “Spartans” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70 – MH-60R – from Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.
  • The “Tridents” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9 – MH-60S – from Naval Air Station Norfolk.

Carrier Air Wing 8


USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) with 9 embarked squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Eight
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96)
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG 72)
Air and missile defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81)

Littoral combat ship USS Wichita (LCS-13)

Guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG – 70)

Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7)

Amphibious transport dock ship USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28)

Amphibious transport dock ship USS San Antonio (LPD-17)

Guided missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107)

Guided missile destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG-106)

“Militarily, the table is set quite effectively for air strikes,” retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, who led U.S. Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM, from 2006 to 2009, recently told Task & Purpose. “Now it’s up to [President Trump] to decide.”

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Deceptive Political Fundraising: A Cautionary Tale

Politicians running deceptive political fundraising campaigns can’t count on hiding in the dark. 

A case in point.

Earlier this year I started getting bombarded with high-intensity inflammatory emails, such as one urging me to support President Trump’s use of the Insurrection Act and another telling me, “Without mandatory voter ID in ALL 50 states, your vote will be replaced by an illegal alien”. And, of course, every email asked for a contribution. 

I noticed none of the emails actually listed a political candidate associated with it, just something called Bill PAC.  It turned out BILL PAC is a political action committee associated with William C. (Bill) Eigel, a conservative former state senator from the 23rd District in Missouri’s St. Charles County who’s now seeking the post of St. Charles County Executive. Some more digging revealed he’s running a deceptive national fundraising campaign targeting vulnerable seniors. 

That motivated me to write a couple stories:

Those stories came to the attention of Rudi Keller, Deputy Editor of  The Missouri Independent, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering state government, politics and policy. It’s an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. The Capitol Chronicle in Oregon is part of the network. 

Keller took a more exhaustive look at Eigel’s BILL PAC  and wrote a story that ran today in the Missouri Independent and The States Newsroom. His in-depth story further exposed the deceptive tactics of Eigel’s BILL PAC:

Republican Bill Eigel is once again facing accusations that his campaign relies on deceptive fundraising tactics to lure out-of-state donors to give recurring contributions

Former State Sen. Bill Eigel of Weldon Spring, shown in a 2024 photo, is using recurring donations from across the country to finance his bid for St. Charles County executive (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).

Keller exposed how people across the country, overwhelmingly seniors, are being lured into contributing to BILL PAC, unaware that it is supporting a local Missouri Republican, not a national conservative campaign. 

 A retired man from Reston, VA, a consistent donor to Republican state and federal candidates and committees, made an astonishing 65 separate online donations to BILL PAC, according to reports submitted to the Missouri Ethics Commission in 2025.

Keller tracked down some donors who had unwittingly committed to monthly recurring donations. 

A retired woman in Texas has contributed $1,205 in 74 separate donations since December. All are about the same dates each month.

A 92-year-old Korean War veteran from Nebraska named Russell Wood, made 35 donations totaling $1,050 over the last year to Bill Eigel’s campaign for St. Charles County executive. But Wood told Keller he has never heard of Eigel or set foot in St. Charles County and had no idea he had made so many donations to Eigel’s campaign.

People running for public office at the federal, state and local level always run the risk of taking an “ends justifies the means” approach to campaigning, observes Judy Nadler at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

“The conduct of the campaign itself can say a lot about the ethical principles a candidate brings to public life,” she says.  That’s something Eigel, Missourians and all voters should ponder.

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Republican “Liberty Cross” Medal Mimics Nazi Award

Nazi’s and Liberty. An odd pair. 

The American Political Action Committee (AmeriPAC), a Bellevue, Washington-based organization that says it is focused on electing “conservative, freedom-oriented candidates to public office”, is offering  supporters a Liberty Cross Award Medal.[1] The medal , which features a bust of President Trump, bears an uncanny resemblance to a bronze Nazi War Merit Cross featuring a swastika.

Liberty Cross Award Medal Nazi War Merit Cross

  AmeriPAC emails tell recipients that those who have earned the Liberty Cross Award Medal have demonstrated: 

🔷 VALOR in the defense of truth
🔷 LOYALTY to the America-First mission
🔷 STRENGTH in standing with President Trump against the Radical Left

To receive their medal, all awardees have to do is fill out a short survey and make a donation of $10 or more. The message to me included a pre-checked box to make my contribution a monthly recurring donation.

The survey questions, reminiscent of the “loyalty questionnaire” administered by the US Government to Japanese Nikkei citizens and immigrants being held in WWII concentration camps, include:

  1. Are you a steadfast patriot, who shows VALOR in the defense of truth?
  2. Do you pledge LOYALTY to the America-First mission?
  3. Do you STAND with President Trump against the Radical Left and all their plots and schemes?
  4. Do you LOVE President Trump and all that he is doing to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN?  

“At AmeriPAC, we want to personally restore our country for freedom-loving patriots like you,” the medal appeal says. 

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) lists two similarly named fundraising committees: (1) AMERIPAC: THE FUND FOR A GREATER AMERICA, formed in 1992 to help elect Democratic leaders to the United States Congress.  ID: C00271338; (2) The American Political Action Committee (AmeriPAC) Registered with the Federal Election Commission on August 24, 1980. ID: C99002396. 

The second PAC is the one awarding the Liberty Cross Award Medal. According to the FEC, this PAC has raised $2,399,916.53 and spent $1,446,308.76 in the first three-quarters of 2025. Almost all of its spending has gone towards fundraising. 

About 41% of the money spent on fundraising, $595,618.82, went to Red Spark Strategy, a Republican-leaning Arlington, VA.-based digital consulting and marketing agency. Another 11.05%, $159,876.80 , went to Frontline Strategies LLC and 10.63%, $153,726.29, went to Better Mousterap Digital LLC. 

[1] A War Merit Cross Second Class without Swords. (Kriegsverdienstkreuz II. Klasse ohne Schwertern). Instituted October 18th, 1939 (1939-1945 issue). Constructed of bronze, with a fixed loop and ring for suspension, consisting of a Maltese Cross with pebbled arms, the obverse with a central wreathed mobile swastika. 

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Oregon’s Food Stamp Demand Exposes a Troubled Economy

“We have the best economy maybe in the history of the world,” President Trump insisted during his 60 Minutes interview on Nov. 2. Oregonians and other Americans who depend on food stamp benefits under SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, likely beg to differ.

While President Trump and his entourage were enjoying an over-the-top “Great Gatsby”-themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago last week, millions of Americans were worrying about the loss of their SNAP food benefits. The timing could not have been more unseemly.

On. display at Mar-a-Lago.
“‘She’s got an indiscreet voice,’ I remarked. ‘It’s full of—’ I hesitated. ‘Her voice is full of money,’ [Gatsby] said suddenly.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
President Trump’s Great Gatsby-Themed Halloween Party at Mar-a-Lago, 2025

One-sixth of Oregon’s population.  0.16, 16%. No matter how you put it, a lot of Oregonians depend on SNAP benefits.

Currently, benefits average just over $6 per person per day. In fiscal year 2024, that translated into about 757,000 of our neighbors, including about 210,000 children and 130,000 adults aged 65 and older.

With the federal government shutdown, Oregon and other states have run out of money to distribute to the more than 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP. The Department of Agriculture has claimed it can’t spend $6 billion sitting in reserves, but two federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to use contingency funds to fund SNAP during the shutdown. The Trump administration responded in court filings that it would use contingency funds to provide partial SNAP benefits in November.

The administration said it would send partial payments this month, but eligible households may receive just half of their usual amounts and the partial payments could take weeks to arrive. (As of mid-day on Nov. 4, however, Trump muddied the waters by posting on Truth Social, “SNAP BENEFITS…will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do.”)

Further complicating matters, on Nov. 5 The New York Times reported that some normal food stamp recipients may receive nothing at all in November because of the way that the White House has chosen to pay partial benefits during the government shutdown.

“The problem stems from the way in which the administration has opted to fund benefits, and the intricate rules it has foisted on states this week to calculate aid amounts for the 42 million people enrolled in SNAP,” the New York Times said. “For nearly 1.2 million households, or almost five million people, the changes may result in benefits of $0 in November, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning group, which analyzed the government’s public filings and shared its findings early with The New York Times.”

On November 6, the situation changed again when a federal judge, John McConnell, ordered the Trump administration to fully fund November’s food-assistance benefits by November 6. Of course, the administration’s lawyers told the court it was appealing the order.

While the legal wrangling persists, it’s appalling that so many Oregonians, the majority children, disabled or seniors, are in such dire straits that the federal government has to step in to help them get enough to eat.

According to an analysis of USDA data by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), Oregon ranks third in the percentage of the state’s population that relies on SNAP. Only New Mexico and Louisiana are in front of Oregon.

Meanwhile, in a reflection of the number of Oregonians living on the edge, Oregon food banks report they are being hit with a deluge of SNAP participants desperate for food, even though they got their last benefits as recently as last month. At the same time, food banks are seeing some of the thousands of federal employees who are going without pay during the government shutdown. That’s all consistent with the Federal Reserve’s report on America’s economic well-being in 2024 that found 37% of Americans couldn’t pay for an unexpected $400 expense without turning to a credit card and 60% of adults said that changes in the prices they paid compared with the prior year had made their financial situation worse.

In Oregon, high unemployment is partly to blame.

According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Oregon’s unemployment rate was 5.0% in August 2025, higher than the national rate of 4.3%, and has been climbing steadily for more than two years. The rate has been influenced by increasing layoffs and an overall cooling off of the state’s labor market. Oregon unemployment rate is higher than every state in the Pacific Northwest., including Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Washington. .Too many Oregonians are also working less than they’d prefer, leading to a rising so-called “underemployment rate”.

Oregon’s economy also relies heavily on service, retail, and tourism jobs , many of which are seasonal, that pay lower wages, even with Oregon’s mandated hourly wage levels, resulting in many hard working families falling below the income threshold for SNAP eligibility.

And Oregon’s economy is retreating, diminished from job losses at Intel, PacificSource, Wells Fargo, Nike, OHSU and even Powell’s Books, which has had four rounds of layoffs this year. Despite President Trump’s claim he is leading a resurgence of manufacturing in the US, U.S. manufacturing has contracted for seven straight months—the exact opposite of what Trump and other tariff proponents predicted. 

Overall, the number of jobs U.S. employers have announced they would cut in 2025 has reached 1,099,500, up 65% from the first 10 months of 2024, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement firm.

Aggressive outreach is another reason for high SNAP usage. Some see getting more people on SNAP as a good thing, but that’s questionable when food stamp enrollment has surged from 17.3 million individuals in 2001 to 41.7 million in 2024, and that in the same period enrollment as a percentage of the population has doubled from 6.1 % in 2001 to 12.3 % in 2024.

Oregon’s SNAP error rate in fiscal year 2024 was 14.06%, eighth-highest in the nation. That was down from error rates of 16.7$ in fiscal year 2023 and 22.9% for fiscal year 2022, but there’s still really no excuse for such high error rates.

If anything, then, increasing dependence on food stamps by Oregon’s population reflects a failure of the state’s economy in providing opportunities for its people and holding down taxes. That’s not a good thing.