5 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

1. In shocking news today, a close advisor to the Con Man-in-Chief is accused of influence peddling, selling his services to wannabe Trump Administration lackeys. Corruption inside Trump’s inner circle!  How could that be?

   The review claimed that Mr. Epshteyn had sought payment from two people, including Scott Bessent, whom Mr. Trump recently picked as his nominee for Treasury secretary.

   According to the review, Mr. Epshteyn met with Mr. Bessent in February, at a time when it was widely known that he was interested in the Treasury post, and proposed $30,000 to $40,000 a month to “promote” Mr. Bessent around Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s estate in Florida.

   Greed is one thing, but to not share the spoils with the boss is the ultimate sin, capiche?

   Log in to Reply

   1. I liked the part where the writers seemed to hint he said something like "I am Boris Fu(%!ng Epshteyn!" FDFQ just called one of the NYT writers of this piece "Magot" Haberman on social media. I don't have enough of a sense of humor to live through four more years of this, folks. As the Beatles once sang:

      You're giving me the same old line
      I'm wondering why
      You hurt me then, you're back again
      No, no, no, not a second time

      Log in to Reply

2. Trump demands Republicans “kill” PRESS Act which would protect journalists and their sources.

   According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, one of the many groups advocating for the bill, “The PRESS Act would bar the federal government from using subpoenas, search warrants, or other compulsory actions against journalists to force the disclosure of information identifying confidential sources as well as other newsgathering records, except in very limited circumstances. It would also broadly limit the government’s ability to use the same actions against third parties, including email providers and search engines, to seize journalists’ data, with narrow exceptions.”

   The bill has overwhelming bi-partisan support passing the House twice and awaiting passage in the Senate, but has been stalled for months in the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Sen. Tom Cotton  said to be holding up the measure. It is now feared with Trump’s opposition and Democrats fixated on getting judicial appointments approved before the end of session the bill may die.

   “Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.”    Justice Hugo Black, concurring opinion, New York Times v. United States  | 403 U.S. 713 (1971)

    

    

   Log in to Reply

3. How bad is the Texas abortion ban? No one will ever know. The committee that reviews maternal deaths just isn't going to look at the reports from '22 and '23. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/11/26/texas-committee-wont-examine-maternal-deaths-first-years-after-abortion-ban/

   Log in to Reply

4. .Trumpflation is already becoming a thing

   Americans want lower prices. Too bad: Trump wants tariffs.

   In 2022, the United States imported $2.6 billion in tomatoes (and $8.4 billion in vegetables overall), $1.7 billion in beef, $3.4 billion in tropical fruit (from a total of $8 billion in fruit and nuts) and $2.2 billion in baked goods. And that’s just a sampling of the food products that are shipped north over the border — all of which could now get 25 percent pricier under Trump’s proposal. Some of that increase might be borne by the exporter and the importer, sure, but not all of it.

   Log in to Reply