Aug 2, 2023
Why We Can't Have Nice Things
- Start with your brilliant new idea
- Set it up as a "non-profit"
- Get government to pitch in
- Wire it so the tax-payer money being syphoned into your shell company is laundered and hidden, so it can be funneled into your very profitable subsidiaries
- Buy some politicians to cement your scheme in place, basically making it illegal not to do business with you
You pay a premium every month, but when you need care that shades even slightly away from the sweet spot on your insurance company's Favorites List, they'll deny you the care you need to live your bestest healthiest life.
50 million Americans are denied care in one way or another every year.
The big insurance companies have strangled healthcare providers to the point where they can own any given "private" practice, and have taken on the doctors as hired hands - subjecting them to all the shitty labor-fucking laws that they've paid their coin-operated legislators to put in place.
Corporate Plutocracy
is not coming.
It's already here.
Plus 4
The Trump Jan. 6 Indictment, Annotated (NYT Pay wall)
The Justice Department unveiled an indictment on Tuesday charging former President Donald J. Trump with four criminal counts. They relate to Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters.
Random Brain Droppings
- Jack The Giant Killer got us a little closer to
nailin' that motherfucker- uh yeah, sorry - we're a wee bit closer to attaining justice within the appropriate framework of adherence to constitutional rule of law. - This could be a big step towards the catharsis we've needed - and been denied - since Watergate, and Iran-Contra, and Iraq. If it's not complete bullshit that we're a nation of laws and not men, then here's another chance to prove it. Let's try a little harder not to fuck it up this time, OK?
- The informal consensus among the Chatterati is that the six co-conspirators weren't named or charged because DOJ wants Trump to stand alone at the defendant's table. They know he's going to fuck with the process and delay the proceedings at every turn, so they took away one big opportunity for him to do that by not making it possible for him to create the usual cluster fuck of using other defendants and their lawyers to throw sand in the works.
- No matter how well prosecutors conduct the trial, this shit will not be quick. We can probably expect it to drag on for 3 or 4 or 5 years.
The indictment describes this conspirator as "an attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant's 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not."
Specifically, the indictment says it was Trump and this Co-Conspirator who called Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers to ask him to "use the legislature to circumvent the process" regarding fake electors. In the conversation, this conspirator said something to the effect of, "We don't have the evidence, but we have lots of theories." [Page 10]
Bowers has publicly recounted this conversation in his testimony to the January 6 committee and named Rudy Giuliani as the individual who said this.
The mayor doth protest too much, methinks
Co-Conspirator 2: John Eastman
The indictment describes this conspirator as "an attorney who devised and attempted to implement a strategy to leverage the Vice President's ceremonial role overseeing the certification proceeding to obstruct the certification of the presidential election."
In one specific instance, the indictment alleges Trump and this co-conspirator called the Chairwoman of the RNC to "ensure that the plan was in motion," and that during the call this co-conspirator told her that it was "important for the RNC to help the Defendant's Campaign gather electors in targeted states, and falsely represented to her that such electors' votes would be used only if ongoing litigation in one of the states changed the results in the Defendant's favor." [Page 23]
In her testimony before the January 6th committee, according to a clip that was played at the hearings, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said that Trump had called her and, "He turned the call over to Mr. Eastman, who then proceeded to talk about the importance of helping the campaign gather these contingent electors in case any of the legal challenges that were ongoing changed the results of any states."
Co-Conspirator 3: Sidney Powell
The indictment describes this co-conspirator as “an attorney whose unfounded claims of election fraud the Defendant privately acknowledged to others sounded "crazy." It continues: “Nonetheless, the Defendant embraced and publicly amplified Co-Conspirator 3's disinformation,” the indictment continues.
According to the January 6th committee’s final report, Hope Hicks testified that Trump and Powell spoke by phone after a press conference, during which she “repeated the same claims of foreign interference in the election she had made at the press conference.” During that call, according to the report, “Trump muted his speakerphone and laughed at Powell,” and told people in the room “This does sound crazy, doesn’t it?”
Co-Conspirator 4: Jeffrey Clark
The indictment describes this co-conspirator as "a Justice Department official who worked on civil matters and who, with the Defendant, attempted to use the Justice Department to open sham election crime investigations and influence state legislatures with knowingly false claims of election fraud.”
This is likely Jeffrey Clark, a Trump appointee with the Justice Department who, just weeks before the 2020 election, was named acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
According to the indictment, “Co-Conspirator 4" secretly met with Trump several times in the run-up to Jan. 6, he “tried to coerce” the acting attorney general and acting deputy attorney general to sign a draft letter to George and other states falsely claiming that the Justice Department “had identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States,” and he even accepted an offer from Trump to take over the Justice Department as acting attorney general – a move that Trump ultimately abandoned.
While the indictment only says “Co-Conspirator 4,” the Jan. 6 committee report includes some of the same quotes from the draft letter (Page 28 of the indictment) and notes by name that Clark is the one who drafted it.
Co-Conspirator 5: Kenneth Chesebro
The indictment describes this co-conspirator as “an attorney who assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”
Cross-referencing quotes in the indictment with quotes in the Jan. 6 committee report (and media reports) makes clear that Kenneth Chesebro is Co-Conspirator 5. For example, the indictment says on page 24 that “Co-Conspirator 5” wrote in an email on Dec. 11, 2020, that “it could appear treasonous for the AZ electors to vote on Monday if there is no pending court proceeding.” The Jan. 6 committee’s report cites a New York Times article quoting Chesebro as writing that email with that same quote.
According to the indictment, this co-conspirator was helping the Trump campaign’s legal efforts for a recount in Wisconsin when he drafted a series of memos that eventually turned into “a corrupt plan to subvert the federal government function by stopping Biden’s electors votes from being counted and certified.”
An attorney in Arizona recounted in an email on Dec. 8, 2020, what Co-Conspirator 5 told him: “His idea is basically that all of us (GA, WI, AZ, PA, etc.) have our electors send in their votes (even though the votes aren’t legal under federal law – because they’re not signed by the Governor); so that members of Congress can fight about whether they should be counted on January 6th. … Kind of wild/creative.”
Co-Conspirator 6: Unknown
The indictment identifies Co-Conspirator 6 as “a political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”
ABC News has not yet confirmed this individual’s identity.
My guess on #6 is Peter Navarro
And I still need somebody to explain to me how Boris Epshteyn has managed to skate by on all this shit.
Aug 1, 2023
One Plus One
I generally look for stories about two things that may seem disparate, but when taken together, could be interlocked, and cause something to happen that becomes obvious only in retrospect.
Trump committee nearly broke and other key takeaways from campaign filings
Reports filed show that some of Trump’s fundraising committees are spending about as much as they are taking in amid legal expenses
Donald Trump’s joint fundraising committee raised $53.9 million during the first half of this year for his presidential campaign — an enviable haul that speaks to the enthusiasm of his donors and dwarfs the sums raised by his GOP rivals.
But Trump’s political committees are burning through cash as he grapples with his mounting legal bills, according to campaign disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission Monday night. Here are a few takeaways from the new disclosures filed with the FEC:
Trump’s leadership PAC drains its cash
Trump remains in a commanding position, with a New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday showing the former president leading the field with the backing of 54 percent of likely Republican voters. But reports filed on Monday show that some of his committees are spending about as much money as they are taking in. Though his joint fundraising committee raised $53.9 million over the first six months of the year, it spent more than $52 million over the same period, the reports show.
Trump’s Save America leadership PAC, which had more than $100 million at the beginning of last year, now has about $3.6 million in cash on hand after it became the vehicle used to pay millions of dollars in legal bills for the former president, his aides and his associates. As Trump fights federal and state investigations, his advisers have told The Washington Post that the PAC has been handling the legal bills for almost anyone drawn into the investigations if they ask Trump and his advisers for help.
Trump’s team is moving money to ease their financial strain
Trump’s legal entanglements are putting a considerable strain on his war chest, which has been bolstered by scores of small-dollar donors across the country — many of whom share his view that he is being unfairly persecuted by his political opponents. A portion of the money raised by the Trump campaign’s joint fundraising committee goes to the Save America leadership PAC. Earlier this year, Trump’s advisers upped the percentage of each contribution that is directed to the leadership PAC giving them more leverage to pay bills.
The reports filed on Monday night show Trump officials moving money among the different fundraising entities in his orbit to ease that financial strain. The Save America leadership PAC recently asked for a refund on a large contribution the group had previously made to another PAC supporting Trump. That development was first reported by the New York Times.
Monday night’s filings show that Trump’s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., reported that it had raised more than $13 million over the first six months of this year and had about $30 million in cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
But the group issued a $12.2 million refund to the Save America leadership PAC, which was reflected on the mid-year report.
DeSantis super PAC leads outside groups in cash on hand
The super PACs supporting the 2024 GOP presidential candidates were required to file their mid-year reports to the FEC by midnight on Monday — offering a more in-depth look at the top financial backers of the White House hopefuls and a few hints about which groups may be well funded enough to help their candidates go the distance in the battle for the nomination.
The super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Never Back Down, boasted nearly $97 million in cash on hand at the end of June to support its expansive field and advertising program as DeSantis tries to reboot his struggling campaign. The outside group has taken on many of the duties that would normally be shouldered by the campaign. Much of the $130 million that the group raised from the beginning of the year came from an $82.5 million transfer from the governor’s former Florida political operation that allowed it to build a team of more than 121 people and a contract workforce of about 240 canvassers who work out of 11 offices across the country.
A super PAC supporting Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina reported raising $19.3 million with about $15 million in cash on hand.
The sums raised by the super PACs supporting lower-polling candidates like former vice president Mike Pence and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie were far lower, reflecting the difficulty they may face in the months ahead. The group backing Pence, Committed to America PAC, raised about $2.7 million and has about $1.8 million in cash on hand. The Tell It Like it Is super PAC supporting Christie raised more than $5.8 million and had about $5.5 million in cash on hand at the end of the period.
‘Strategy consulting’ fees for Melania Trump’s former stylist
Though Trump’s growing legal jeopardy has contributed to a strain on cash for the Save America PAC that has been handling many of his legal bills, that committee still found the funds to pay Melania Trump’s former stylist. The committee reported payments of $108,000 to designer Herve Pierre Braillard for “strategy consulting” during the first six months of this year.
Opinion
Admit it, GOP. Trump’s legal woes make him an unviable candidate.
The revelation that Donald Trump’s political action committee spent more than $40 million on legal fees in the first half of 2023 does more than cast doubt on the former president’s ability to run a competitive primary campaign. It provides yet another reason why Republican voters should reject his candidacy if he does not drop out first.
Running for president requires more than charisma and a few rallies. It requires time and money — and lots of it. Candidates must constantly be on the road stumping for votes. They also need support from the modern apparatus that places digital and television ads and identifies persuadable voters that can cast ballots for them.
This is especially true when running against an incumbent who can count on a united party for support. President Biden, along with the national Democratic Party and its state counterparts, will raise billions of dollars to crush whoever rises as his opponent. In 2020, Biden’s campaign and affiliated outside groups spent $1.6 billion while the Democratic National Committee and state and local parties spent another $1 billion. A cash-strapped candidate would not stand a chance against this onslaught.
Then there’s the time factor. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that prosecutors are filing bogus charges to wound Trump politically. He might be able to beat all of those raps, either at trial or on appeal. But he would still have to manage his defense in at least two, and perhaps as many as four, major criminal cases. He has prodigious energy, especially for a 77-year-old man. But even he can’t be in five places at the same time.
Trump can theoretically solve his cash problem. He is reportedly considering a legal defense fund that would finance his team of lawyers. If he can raise money for that without cannibalizing his campaign fundraising, he might still be able to raise enough to be competitive. But that’s a big if.
Nothing can solve his time problem. He will have to attend a series of pretrial hearings over the next few months, and that’s the least of his concerns. A criminal defendant has to manage his defense team on a regular basis as it searches for evidence to win an acquittal. Consider Edward Gurney, the Florida senator who resigned in 1974 rather than run for reelection while simultaneously fighting a single criminal indictment. It’s unreasonable to think Trump will risk his own conviction to campaign.
This will strike many, if not most, Republicans as unfair. Whatever one thinks of Trump, it is clear he has suffered more harassment and vitriol from political opponents than just about any recent major figure. Democrats and their allies have been relentlessly hounding him since he became the GOP nominee in 2016. He certainly exacerbated his situation with his often over-the-top, pugnacious ripostes, but he has had a political bull’s eye on his back for years.
But fair doesn’t count in politics. Facts do, and it is a fact that Trump is already hamstrung by his legal charges, which are only going to get worse.
Trump insists he won’t drop out, but that doesn’t mean he’s locked in. As the financial and legal pressure ratchets upward, even a man of his colossal ego and willpower might eventually decide to save his own skin rather than press his luck.
If he doesn’t, Republican primary voters will have to decide whether they want to risk nominating a man who can’t campaign for himself. Trump acolytes might point to Biden’s campaign in 2020, much of which was conducted from his basement, as proof that someone can win without actively hustling for votes (although that would force them to acknowledge that Biden did in fact win). But that was during the pandemic, when all candidates — including Trump — were limited by covid-19 restrictions.
Biden might be old, but he’s certainly capable of making a few campaign appearances each week. Imagine what independent voters will think when they see that alongside coverage of Trump sitting in a courtroom for days at a time.
MAGA die-hards should be rooting for Trump to drop out sooner rather than later. If so, establishment-leaning Republicans such as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin might reconsider their decisions not to enter the race. If they do join the field, they would splinter the establishment even further, giving Trump the chance to endorse a clear MAGA alternative. That person would likely vault to the front of the pack overnight and inherit Trump’s base.
Trump’s famous catchphrase on his show “The Apprentice” was “You’re fired.” In politics, though, the voters are the boss. If Trump won’t quit on his own, Republican voters should show him the door.
Or, in this case, two related things that seem to indicate the near-inevitability of an event, but could easily mean just the opposite - especially considering the upside-down-ed-ness of these Nazi MAGA Daddy State assholes.
(WaPo 1) Trump committee nearly broke and other key takeaways from campaign filings
(WaPo 2) Opinion
Admit it, GOP. Trump’s legal woes make him an unviable candidate.
Reports filed show that some of Trump’s fundraising committees are spending about as much as they are taking in amid legal expenses
- plus -
Admit it, GOP. Trump’s legal woes make him an unviable candidate.
Normal people might think those two things have to mean Trump will keep sliding, and be out of the race pretty soon.
And we can hope for that to become more than a possibility. The Country Club Republicans can't be happy with the prospect of getting their asses kicked continually for the next several cycles as they refuse to stop playing their shitty little thread-the-needle game.
ie: "No, we love plutocracy - plutocracy is what we're all about. We simply haven't found the right Plutocrat-in-Chief yet. But don't let the rubes in on that, OK?"
The problem there is that the rubes hate the Country Clubbers so much, they've convinced themselves that Trump is actually on their side - like some weird fantasy version of the FDR-type traitor-to-his-class that they can call their own.
Knowing what we know about their tendency to embrace and internalize every shitty aspect anybody has ever ascribed to their character, we have to assume they'll do whatever it takes to be good little Cult45 devotees.
Trump committee nearly broke and other key takeaways from campaign filings
Reports filed show that some of Trump’s fundraising committees are spending about as much as they are taking in amid legal expenses
Donald Trump’s joint fundraising committee raised $53.9 million during the first half of this year for his presidential campaign — an enviable haul that speaks to the enthusiasm of his donors and dwarfs the sums raised by his GOP rivals.
But Trump’s political committees are burning through cash as he grapples with his mounting legal bills, according to campaign disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission Monday night. Here are a few takeaways from the new disclosures filed with the FEC:
Trump’s leadership PAC drains its cash
Trump remains in a commanding position, with a New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday showing the former president leading the field with the backing of 54 percent of likely Republican voters. But reports filed on Monday show that some of his committees are spending about as much money as they are taking in. Though his joint fundraising committee raised $53.9 million over the first six months of the year, it spent more than $52 million over the same period, the reports show.
Trump’s Save America leadership PAC, which had more than $100 million at the beginning of last year, now has about $3.6 million in cash on hand after it became the vehicle used to pay millions of dollars in legal bills for the former president, his aides and his associates. As Trump fights federal and state investigations, his advisers have told The Washington Post that the PAC has been handling the legal bills for almost anyone drawn into the investigations if they ask Trump and his advisers for help.
Trump’s team is moving money to ease their financial strain
Trump’s legal entanglements are putting a considerable strain on his war chest, which has been bolstered by scores of small-dollar donors across the country — many of whom share his view that he is being unfairly persecuted by his political opponents. A portion of the money raised by the Trump campaign’s joint fundraising committee goes to the Save America leadership PAC. Earlier this year, Trump’s advisers upped the percentage of each contribution that is directed to the leadership PAC giving them more leverage to pay bills.
The reports filed on Monday night show Trump officials moving money among the different fundraising entities in his orbit to ease that financial strain. The Save America leadership PAC recently asked for a refund on a large contribution the group had previously made to another PAC supporting Trump. That development was first reported by the New York Times.
Monday night’s filings show that Trump’s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., reported that it had raised more than $13 million over the first six months of this year and had about $30 million in cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
But the group issued a $12.2 million refund to the Save America leadership PAC, which was reflected on the mid-year report.
DeSantis super PAC leads outside groups in cash on hand
The super PACs supporting the 2024 GOP presidential candidates were required to file their mid-year reports to the FEC by midnight on Monday — offering a more in-depth look at the top financial backers of the White House hopefuls and a few hints about which groups may be well funded enough to help their candidates go the distance in the battle for the nomination.
The super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Never Back Down, boasted nearly $97 million in cash on hand at the end of June to support its expansive field and advertising program as DeSantis tries to reboot his struggling campaign. The outside group has taken on many of the duties that would normally be shouldered by the campaign. Much of the $130 million that the group raised from the beginning of the year came from an $82.5 million transfer from the governor’s former Florida political operation that allowed it to build a team of more than 121 people and a contract workforce of about 240 canvassers who work out of 11 offices across the country.
A super PAC supporting Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina reported raising $19.3 million with about $15 million in cash on hand.
The sums raised by the super PACs supporting lower-polling candidates like former vice president Mike Pence and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie were far lower, reflecting the difficulty they may face in the months ahead. The group backing Pence, Committed to America PAC, raised about $2.7 million and has about $1.8 million in cash on hand. The Tell It Like it Is super PAC supporting Christie raised more than $5.8 million and had about $5.5 million in cash on hand at the end of the period.
‘Strategy consulting’ fees for Melania Trump’s former stylist
Though Trump’s growing legal jeopardy has contributed to a strain on cash for the Save America PAC that has been handling many of his legal bills, that committee still found the funds to pay Melania Trump’s former stylist. The committee reported payments of $108,000 to designer Herve Pierre Braillard for “strategy consulting” during the first six months of this year.
Opinion
Admit it, GOP. Trump’s legal woes make him an unviable candidate.
The revelation that Donald Trump’s political action committee spent more than $40 million on legal fees in the first half of 2023 does more than cast doubt on the former president’s ability to run a competitive primary campaign. It provides yet another reason why Republican voters should reject his candidacy if he does not drop out first.
Running for president requires more than charisma and a few rallies. It requires time and money — and lots of it. Candidates must constantly be on the road stumping for votes. They also need support from the modern apparatus that places digital and television ads and identifies persuadable voters that can cast ballots for them.
This is especially true when running against an incumbent who can count on a united party for support. President Biden, along with the national Democratic Party and its state counterparts, will raise billions of dollars to crush whoever rises as his opponent. In 2020, Biden’s campaign and affiliated outside groups spent $1.6 billion while the Democratic National Committee and state and local parties spent another $1 billion. A cash-strapped candidate would not stand a chance against this onslaught.
Then there’s the time factor. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that prosecutors are filing bogus charges to wound Trump politically. He might be able to beat all of those raps, either at trial or on appeal. But he would still have to manage his defense in at least two, and perhaps as many as four, major criminal cases. He has prodigious energy, especially for a 77-year-old man. But even he can’t be in five places at the same time.
Trump can theoretically solve his cash problem. He is reportedly considering a legal defense fund that would finance his team of lawyers. If he can raise money for that without cannibalizing his campaign fundraising, he might still be able to raise enough to be competitive. But that’s a big if.
Nothing can solve his time problem. He will have to attend a series of pretrial hearings over the next few months, and that’s the least of his concerns. A criminal defendant has to manage his defense team on a regular basis as it searches for evidence to win an acquittal. Consider Edward Gurney, the Florida senator who resigned in 1974 rather than run for reelection while simultaneously fighting a single criminal indictment. It’s unreasonable to think Trump will risk his own conviction to campaign.
This will strike many, if not most, Republicans as unfair. Whatever one thinks of Trump, it is clear he has suffered more harassment and vitriol from political opponents than just about any recent major figure. Democrats and their allies have been relentlessly hounding him since he became the GOP nominee in 2016. He certainly exacerbated his situation with his often over-the-top, pugnacious ripostes, but he has had a political bull’s eye on his back for years.
But fair doesn’t count in politics. Facts do, and it is a fact that Trump is already hamstrung by his legal charges, which are only going to get worse.
Trump insists he won’t drop out, but that doesn’t mean he’s locked in. As the financial and legal pressure ratchets upward, even a man of his colossal ego and willpower might eventually decide to save his own skin rather than press his luck.
If he doesn’t, Republican primary voters will have to decide whether they want to risk nominating a man who can’t campaign for himself. Trump acolytes might point to Biden’s campaign in 2020, much of which was conducted from his basement, as proof that someone can win without actively hustling for votes (although that would force them to acknowledge that Biden did in fact win). But that was during the pandemic, when all candidates — including Trump — were limited by covid-19 restrictions.
Biden might be old, but he’s certainly capable of making a few campaign appearances each week. Imagine what independent voters will think when they see that alongside coverage of Trump sitting in a courtroom for days at a time.
MAGA die-hards should be rooting for Trump to drop out sooner rather than later. If so, establishment-leaning Republicans such as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin might reconsider their decisions not to enter the race. If they do join the field, they would splinter the establishment even further, giving Trump the chance to endorse a clear MAGA alternative. That person would likely vault to the front of the pack overnight and inherit Trump’s base.
Trump’s famous catchphrase on his show “The Apprentice” was “You’re fired.” In politics, though, the voters are the boss. If Trump won’t quit on his own, Republican voters should show him the door.
⬆︎
Jul 31, 2023
Unintended Consequences
I'm giving this creator a little leeway, but "...defense of conservatism" makes me a little doubtful as to the motives at work here.
(GK Chesterton was a Christian apologist - and a bit notoriously so, though not without a sense of humor and self-deprecation)
So continue with an eye shading to the skeptical side.
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