My father, who was born in 1914, used to say the American government and economy were characterized by socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the rest of us. A quote from a column by Abby McClosky, former director of economic policy at the far right leaning American Enterprise Institute:
“The Trump era has been marked by unusually high levels of government intervention in the economy: market swinging tweets, historic tariffs, pressure on the Federal Reserve to influence monetary policy, government stakes in private firms, and active intervention in cryptocurrency.”
All of these moves were made to increase the wealth of the Trump family and other billionaires, exacerbating the increasingly wide gap between the ridiculously wealthy and us “lesser” folk. The Trump regime’s interventions have helped corporations and the wealthy by answering the three basic economic questions in their favor. What goods (including services) will be produced? What people buy, tax policies, and government spending have the biggest impact on what we produce. All of Trump’s policies, subsidizing the fossil fuel industry for example, and heavy military spending are limiting the production of everyday consumer goods. How will we produce goods? In the most profitable way for big corporations, even if that means deregulation that contributes to pollution, climate change, and unsafe food and drinking water and by continued excessive military spending and international violence. How will goods be distributed? More wealth to the already wealthy gives them more purchasing power while inflation, war, and tariffs decreases the purchasing power of those with average and low incomes.
Steve, thanks for keeping a spotlight on the rising fascist threat. When it comes right down to it, we are living in the world of NEPO BABY “. Junior Ellison is just like Trump and the spawn of the orange turd, or baby face Kushner. Not one of them ever had to do a single day’s honest work in their bloated, obscenely privileged lives. It used to be that in this country, the heirs of the robber barons turned to putting their great inherited wealth to work in service to the nation. For many years I commuted daily from my suburban home to NYC driving on the Palisades Interstate Parkway, a beautiful 40 mile road built on parklands donated by the Rockefellers and Harrimans to the people of New York and New Jersey.
As a child growing up in NYC, I enjoyed the cool, quiet majesty of The New York Public Library, a gift to my city from Andrew Carnegie. NYC is filled with great public places built with donations from its great families. I think about that today when I visit one of our great art museums or concert halls. Today, instead of those great families we have rapacious scum like the Ellisons or Musk, let alone the ultimate thieves, the Trumps, ,who seem to
live by the creed that they never have enough, and are always entitled to more, regardless of the cost to the working stiffs and those of us too stupid to have been born to an oligarch.
The New York Times closed the comments at about 1,600, all negative. If he was seeking to test the public will on the merger, the message is clear. Whether that will make any difference remains to be seen.
Perhaps all of this will truly change the trajectory of this country, i.e., towards a more socially supportive government of the people for the people by the people. Maybe the MSM will have to die to be reborn... in any event, times and the environment are going to force change -- IMHO
Respectfully, you are a fool who has apparently drunk too much of the KoolAde .
Asking for the MSM to “die to be reborn “ is utterly bizarre, to say the least. To the best of my knowledge, no human in recorded history has ever been reborn. Although many religions have, and still promise the coming of a Messiah, a second coming, reincarnation, etc., and I live in hope along with the multitudes of believers, we have NO EVIDENCE THAT ITS HAPPENED OR IS GOING TO HAPPEN!
The orange turd and his ass-kissing legions of oligarchs and other lemmings are absolutely committed to the destruction of a free press. They realize that until they destroy press freedom, they will never be completely free of the risk of a popular uprising against them and their insatiable greed. Only someone who is blind, or ignorant, or both would suggest that we’re better off without the MSM, however flawed and incompetent and weak they may be.
If you believe we’d be better off without any MSM then I suggest you ask a Hungarian why they threw Orban out. Or ask a Russian or Chinese expat about the significance of a free press.
SHAME ON YOU FOR BUYING INTO THE FACIST BULLSHIT!!
You have identified a major problem with the MAGA population. They think "faith" is a positive thing. It can be; some people find comfort in believing in an afterlife, for which there is no objective evidence and which defies all logical inquiry. Their belief does not affect the general population. But, when you base your political and economic decisions on "faith," you are basing them, by definition, on things that have no objective reality and those decisions affect all of us.
Christian nationalists have created an intersubjective reality. So many believe that America is both a Christian and exceptional nation and that Trump is god's choice to be president that they believe millions can not be wrong. They are living in a fictional place, not reality, just like the millions who believed in and supported the torture and execution of "witches." Bridging the gap between the "faithful" and the sensible is not easy. Their "faith" is pushing us to the edge of the precipice and if we don't stop them in November, I believe we are going over the edge into oblivion. So be it.
Gerri, I think Robert B. Marcus took your comment literally. Am I correct in assuming that you meant that the way information is passed on to the public must change? For example, the MSM needs a more effective self-correcting mechanism. Currently, to find responses to Trump's lies, exaggerations, and self-serving bullshit, one must search it out. People addicted to MAGA outlets like FOX, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, America First, Voice of America etc. never listen to or read media that contradicts their beliefs. It is above my pay-grade to devise such a self-correcting system, but some penalties should apply to outlets that publish easily verifiable lies in support of Trump, MAGA and Christian nationalists while pretending to be objective reporters of the facts; FOX, fair and balanced?" I don't think so.
Perhaps journalists should be licensed and set up something like the American Bar Association to self police. Awful people like Alex Jones could continue to air their views but would not be recognized as reliable sources and could not be hired by broadcast networks, licensed by the government, as NEWS anchors or reporters. Then assholes like Hannity and Watters couldn't mislead so many Americans with blatant falsehoods.
The good, but fucked up, news is that the AI bubble will burse, data center construction will falter or halt, the Arabs will smell defeat and bolt and the country will be plunged into economic chaos. How's that for a soft-handed, sorry-assed mogul? A pox on all of the AI and techno-bros.
Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ): Potential Fascist Digital Manipulation Of Votes Unmonitored
Thanks to Zeteo(bit.ly/4z3aHqo)for bringing up all the ways the fascist Republican party is interfering, obstructing, and subverting future elections. This is traitorous activity!
One thing I haven't seen discussed and I hope election experts will address this issue is one of interfering with election day reporting of results. It revolves around the highly used Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) run by a Republican operative. Its selling point: does it better than legacy providers; technology taking over election reporting. DDHQ is a privately owned firm, majority owner Scott Tranter with ties to Marco Rubio; Brandon Finnigan comes from conservative blogging circles; it represents infiltration of vote reporting by the fascist Republican party
• They “fetch” or “pull” data through an API(Application Programming Interface, is a set of rules and tools that lets different software programs talk to each other.) that can run as often as 40 times per minute, retrieving “real-time” results directly from the Systems of Record.
• They operate a mobile private network that connects directly to ES&S and Dominion—highly problematic, given the layers of GOP-aligned fraud we’ve already uncovered within both companies.
In other words: three privately held, unmonitored, and unregulated services deliver real-time tallies to every major media outlet on Election Night.
And DDHQ is the service where the most glaring, unexplained discrepancies across multiple states.
What appears to be a “Vote Banking System” with DDHQ serving as a staging database:
• On Election Night DDHQ appeared to be holding a large bank of “extra” votes spread across fake counties on Election Night.
• Vote totals decreased for one or more presidential candidates in at least four states in both the DDHQ and NEP/Edison data feeds—suggesting that votes may have been removed from the System of Record during Election Night reporting.
• Votes removed from Harris appear to have been replaced with votes for Trump, potentially sourced from the “vote bank” tied to the nonexistent counties.
Burke County, FL, Stafford County, PA, Allen County, NC, Oklahoma County, MI, and Hamilton County, GA—none of which actually exist.
Rich kids wanting authenticity - give me a break. Many if not most of the NYT comments were basically telling Little Larry to Eff Off. We are sick of the greed and lies. Why do you think this "Democratic Socialism" is gaining popularity with the younger crowd and perhaps the more seasoned crowd? If this purchase/merger goes through we can say goodbye to John Oliver's show, probably not Maher's show since he's just a big bloviating ego creep who has become HBO's equivalent to Fetterman and CNN's independence. Don't tell anyone but watching The Daily Show is must see tv.
Has anyone ever told you that you’re an amazing writer?
Jennifer,
Thank you so much!
Steve
My pleasure!
All of these oligarchs are scum of the earth.
My father, who was born in 1914, used to say the American government and economy were characterized by socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the rest of us. A quote from a column by Abby McClosky, former director of economic policy at the far right leaning American Enterprise Institute:
“The Trump era has been marked by unusually high levels of government intervention in the economy: market swinging tweets, historic tariffs, pressure on the Federal Reserve to influence monetary policy, government stakes in private firms, and active intervention in cryptocurrency.”
All of these moves were made to increase the wealth of the Trump family and other billionaires, exacerbating the increasingly wide gap between the ridiculously wealthy and us “lesser” folk. The Trump regime’s interventions have helped corporations and the wealthy by answering the three basic economic questions in their favor. What goods (including services) will be produced? What people buy, tax policies, and government spending have the biggest impact on what we produce. All of Trump’s policies, subsidizing the fossil fuel industry for example, and heavy military spending are limiting the production of everyday consumer goods. How will we produce goods? In the most profitable way for big corporations, even if that means deregulation that contributes to pollution, climate change, and unsafe food and drinking water and by continued excessive military spending and international violence. How will goods be distributed? More wealth to the already wealthy gives them more purchasing power while inflation, war, and tariffs decreases the purchasing power of those with average and low incomes.
Were little Larry and Little Eric separated at birth? Because they both have that dead eyed, dull witted mouth breathing affect.
Yeah, he’s got this crazy eyes…is it some kind of medical thing, a congenital problem, or drugs?
Steve, thanks for keeping a spotlight on the rising fascist threat. When it comes right down to it, we are living in the world of NEPO BABY “. Junior Ellison is just like Trump and the spawn of the orange turd, or baby face Kushner. Not one of them ever had to do a single day’s honest work in their bloated, obscenely privileged lives. It used to be that in this country, the heirs of the robber barons turned to putting their great inherited wealth to work in service to the nation. For many years I commuted daily from my suburban home to NYC driving on the Palisades Interstate Parkway, a beautiful 40 mile road built on parklands donated by the Rockefellers and Harrimans to the people of New York and New Jersey.
As a child growing up in NYC, I enjoyed the cool, quiet majesty of The New York Public Library, a gift to my city from Andrew Carnegie. NYC is filled with great public places built with donations from its great families. I think about that today when I visit one of our great art museums or concert halls. Today, instead of those great families we have rapacious scum like the Ellisons or Musk, let alone the ultimate thieves, the Trumps, ,who seem to
live by the creed that they never have enough, and are always entitled to more, regardless of the cost to the working stiffs and those of us too stupid to have been born to an oligarch.
Well said!!
The New York Times closed the comments at about 1,600, all negative. If he was seeking to test the public will on the merger, the message is clear. Whether that will make any difference remains to be seen.
Nixon was a subversive in the White House, but at least his I.Q. was above freezing.
Perhaps all of this will truly change the trajectory of this country, i.e., towards a more socially supportive government of the people for the people by the people. Maybe the MSM will have to die to be reborn... in any event, times and the environment are going to force change -- IMHO
Respectfully, you are a fool who has apparently drunk too much of the KoolAde .
Asking for the MSM to “die to be reborn “ is utterly bizarre, to say the least. To the best of my knowledge, no human in recorded history has ever been reborn. Although many religions have, and still promise the coming of a Messiah, a second coming, reincarnation, etc., and I live in hope along with the multitudes of believers, we have NO EVIDENCE THAT ITS HAPPENED OR IS GOING TO HAPPEN!
The orange turd and his ass-kissing legions of oligarchs and other lemmings are absolutely committed to the destruction of a free press. They realize that until they destroy press freedom, they will never be completely free of the risk of a popular uprising against them and their insatiable greed. Only someone who is blind, or ignorant, or both would suggest that we’re better off without the MSM, however flawed and incompetent and weak they may be.
If you believe we’d be better off without any MSM then I suggest you ask a Hungarian why they threw Orban out. Or ask a Russian or Chinese expat about the significance of a free press.
SHAME ON YOU FOR BUYING INTO THE FACIST BULLSHIT!!
You have identified a major problem with the MAGA population. They think "faith" is a positive thing. It can be; some people find comfort in believing in an afterlife, for which there is no objective evidence and which defies all logical inquiry. Their belief does not affect the general population. But, when you base your political and economic decisions on "faith," you are basing them, by definition, on things that have no objective reality and those decisions affect all of us.
Christian nationalists have created an intersubjective reality. So many believe that America is both a Christian and exceptional nation and that Trump is god's choice to be president that they believe millions can not be wrong. They are living in a fictional place, not reality, just like the millions who believed in and supported the torture and execution of "witches." Bridging the gap between the "faithful" and the sensible is not easy. Their "faith" is pushing us to the edge of the precipice and if we don't stop them in November, I believe we are going over the edge into oblivion. So be it.
Gerri, I think Robert B. Marcus took your comment literally. Am I correct in assuming that you meant that the way information is passed on to the public must change? For example, the MSM needs a more effective self-correcting mechanism. Currently, to find responses to Trump's lies, exaggerations, and self-serving bullshit, one must search it out. People addicted to MAGA outlets like FOX, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, America First, Voice of America etc. never listen to or read media that contradicts their beliefs. It is above my pay-grade to devise such a self-correcting system, but some penalties should apply to outlets that publish easily verifiable lies in support of Trump, MAGA and Christian nationalists while pretending to be objective reporters of the facts; FOX, fair and balanced?" I don't think so.
Perhaps journalists should be licensed and set up something like the American Bar Association to self police. Awful people like Alex Jones could continue to air their views but would not be recognized as reliable sources and could not be hired by broadcast networks, licensed by the government, as NEWS anchors or reporters. Then assholes like Hannity and Watters couldn't mislead so many Americans with blatant falsehoods.
Would be nice if the last piece of the deal gets bombed when it comes before the court in 2027. Scumbags, to be sure!
The good, but fucked up, news is that the AI bubble will burse, data center construction will falter or halt, the Arabs will smell defeat and bolt and the country will be plunged into economic chaos. How's that for a soft-handed, sorry-assed mogul? A pox on all of the AI and techno-bros.
Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ): Potential Fascist Digital Manipulation Of Votes Unmonitored
Thanks to Zeteo(bit.ly/4z3aHqo)for bringing up all the ways the fascist Republican party is interfering, obstructing, and subverting future elections. This is traitorous activity!
One thing I haven't seen discussed and I hope election experts will address this issue is one of interfering with election day reporting of results. It revolves around the highly used Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) run by a Republican operative. Its selling point: does it better than legacy providers; technology taking over election reporting. DDHQ is a privately owned firm, majority owner Scott Tranter with ties to Marco Rubio; Brandon Finnigan comes from conservative blogging circles; it represents infiltration of vote reporting by the fascist Republican party
• They “fetch” or “pull” data through an API(Application Programming Interface, is a set of rules and tools that lets different software programs talk to each other.) that can run as often as 40 times per minute, retrieving “real-time” results directly from the Systems of Record.
• They operate a mobile private network that connects directly to ES&S and Dominion—highly problematic, given the layers of GOP-aligned fraud we’ve already uncovered within both companies.
In other words: three privately held, unmonitored, and unregulated services deliver real-time tallies to every major media outlet on Election Night.
And DDHQ is the service where the most glaring, unexplained discrepancies across multiple states.
What appears to be a “Vote Banking System” with DDHQ serving as a staging database:
• On Election Night DDHQ appeared to be holding a large bank of “extra” votes spread across fake counties on Election Night.
• Vote totals decreased for one or more presidential candidates in at least four states in both the DDHQ and NEP/Edison data feeds—suggesting that votes may have been removed from the System of Record during Election Night reporting.
• Votes removed from Harris appear to have been replaced with votes for Trump, potentially sourced from the “vote bank” tied to the nonexistent counties.
Burke County, FL, Stafford County, PA, Allen County, NC, Oklahoma County, MI, and Hamilton County, GA—none of which actually exist.
Thanks Steve!
Rich kids wanting authenticity - give me a break. Many if not most of the NYT comments were basically telling Little Larry to Eff Off. We are sick of the greed and lies. Why do you think this "Democratic Socialism" is gaining popularity with the younger crowd and perhaps the more seasoned crowd? If this purchase/merger goes through we can say goodbye to John Oliver's show, probably not Maher's show since he's just a big bloviating ego creep who has become HBO's equivalent to Fetterman and CNN's independence. Don't tell anyone but watching The Daily Show is must see tv.
Oh, how they lie, with a straight face even1