Monday Open Thread

5 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

1. Nice to see the public fisc in control of Musk, Thiel, and their lackeys.  Tariffs are minor league stuff compared to that and the FBI purge.  Welcome to trump's America.  Enjoy the chaos, red hatters.  

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2. Unelected non-government employee Elong Musk and Peter Thiel Libertarians have taken over the computers that make payments and hold sensitive information. They’ve basically hacked the government and executed, a coup, a 21st century version of Pinochet’s military take-over of Chile on (note the date) 9/11 1973.

   Everyone should be on Paul Krugman’s & Heather Cox-Richardson’s mail list or substack.

   From HCR:

   Billionaire Elon Musk’s team yesterday took control of the Treasury’s payment system, thus essentially gaining access to the checkbook with which the United States handles about $6 trillion annually and to all the financial information of Americans and American businesses with it. Apparently, it did not stop there.

   Today Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press reported that yesterday two top security officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) tried to stop people associated with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing classified information they did not have security clearance to see. The Trump administration put the officials on leave, and the DOGE team gained access to the information.

   Vittoria Elliott of Wired has identified those associated with Musk’s takeover as six “engineers who are barely out of—and in at least one case, purportedly still in—college.” They are connected either to Musk or to his long-time associate Peter Thiel, who backed J.D. Vance’s Senate run eighteen months before he became Trump’s vice presidential running mate. Their names are Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran, and they have little to no experience in government.

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3. As ol' whats-his-name once "sang," "Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call…"

   Here's a sign of Democratic life from Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii. I don't subscribe to WSJ, so here's a paragraph of how he plans to fight Musk's goal of closing USAID. I'm not guaranteeing results here, just giving Schatz the old gold star for taking a stand:

   WASHINGTON—Sen. Brian Schatz (D., Hawaii) said he would place a “blanket hold” on all of President Trump’s State Department nominees until the administration’s attack on the leading U.S. foreign-assistance agency ends, a move that threatens to stall Trump’s ability to get his foreign-policy team in place.

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4. Tariffs on Canada delayed 30 days just now, while tariffs on Mexico got delayed 30 days a little while ago. Huzzah! There shall be electricity and guacamole for the Super Bowl after all!

   https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/tariffs-on-canada-delayed-for-30-days-after-talk-between-trudeau-and-trump-live-updates-here/

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   1. Today’s market indices' close:

      • S&P 500….…….5,994.57..   -0.76%
      • Dow 30……..  44,421.91..   -0.28%
      • Nasdaq…….  19,391.96..   -1.20%
      • Russell 2000.. 2,258.42..   -1.28%

      And that’s with Trump ANNOUNCING a month’s pause on tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

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