Thursday, February 13, 2025
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Seems Bad
The Trump administration quickly made good on its vow to claw back federal funding meant to cover some of the costs of housing migrants borne by New York City, unilaterally reversing the transfer of $80 million that the Federal Emergency Management Agency made to the city last week.Your money isn't safe in that bank. Hopefully we find out which one.
The comptroller’s office noticed early Wednesday that $80 million had gone missing from city bank accounts. The Department of Homeland Security, which houses FEMA, confirmed later that day that the money had indeed been taken back, a significant escalation of President Trump’s attempts to freeze or reverse funding that had previously been appropriated by Congress.
Changing Times
No Magic Wand
I - and most people - get that Democrats don't have the power to yell, "STOP, SIRRAH," and completely end the Trump agenda. But what they do have the power to do - at the minimum! - is get on TV and generally make as much news as possible to highlight what is happening.
They can do more than that, but they're complaining about being asked to do that!
If they don't do that, then the much hated "groups" are going to take over the discourse. Whining about that won't stop it. They don't work for you.
And if they're getting poll numbers saying "people like this, akshually" then the right reaction is to understand that people don't know what is happening, and understand it is your job to fix that, not tell yourselves that (Reagan*Thatcher)^100 is super popular.
Cleaning Up
I get that instant "fact checking" isn't always possible, and sometimes journalists will end up passing along things that important people say without ensuring that they are correct. This isn't good, of course, but I see how it happens innocently.
What is amazing is the outlets that went to check the "DOGE website" and saw that nothing was there, and then typed up "oh obviously this is what he meant, posting stuff on X" which is also not, in content, what he claimed.
Livid
A closed-door meeting for House Democrats this week included a gripe-fest directed at liberal grassroots organizations, sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: Members of the Steering and Policy Committee — with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in the room — on Monday complained activist groups like MoveOn and Indivisible have facilitated thousands of phone calls to members' offices.
- "People are pissed," a senior House Democrat who was at the meeting said of lawmakers' reaction to the calls.
- The Democrat said Jeffries himself is "very frustrated" at the groups, who are trying to stir up a more confrontational opposition to Trump.
- A Jeffries spokesperson disputed that characterization and noted to Axios that their office regularly engages with dozens of stakeholder groups, including MoveOn and Indivisible, including as recently as Monday
Zoom in: "There were a lot of people who were like, 'We've got to stop the groups from doing this.' ... People are concerned that they're saying we're not doing enough, but we're not in the majority," said one member.
Thanks, Pelosi, for giving us this useless dipshit who just wants to have meetings with rich people.
People get mad when I say this, but the post-election strategy they agreed on was "do nothing, complain about egg prices, let Trump and the Republicans fall on their faces" and my guys that is not enough at the moment.
Even if you agree WAH THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO (this is not true), the "do nothing in until Labor Day 2026 then run a billion dollars in ads to replenish the boat funds" is not going to endear you to voters this time!
Good Enough For Journalism
MUSK: Well, we actually are trying to be as transparent as possible.
In fact, our actions -- we post our actions to the DOGE handle on X and to the DOGE website. So, all of our actions are maximally transparent.
He also claimed that DOGE’s work was being shared on its website and on X, the social media platform owned by Musk. However, the DOGE website has no information, and the postings on X often lack many details, including which programs are being cut and where the organization has access.
Asked about any personal conflicts he has and whether he's policing himself, Musk did not answer directly but said the DOGE website is explaining what it's doing, an apparent reference to the group's account on X, which details contracts that federal agencies have canceled. Pressed a second time, Musk said the public can question whether he's benefiting from DOGE's actions.
“We are actually trying to be as transparent as possible,” Mr. Musk said, referring to postings by his team on his social media site, X. “So all of our actions are maximally transparent.”
Musk, speaking in the Oval Office, sought to underscore his belief that “transparency is what builds trust,” and insisted that all of his team’s efforts were being made public on DOGE’s social media accounts and website.
KEITH: So we should note that DOGE is not an official government agency. Musk said that he checks in regularly to make sure Trump is OK with what he and his team are doing. And Musk insisted he is being extremely transparent, so transparent that everyone could see the conflicts if they were to happen. But I will just cite my colleague Stephen Fowler's reporting here. He says DOGE doesn't have a functional website where they show evidence to back up the claims.
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Whoopsie Doodle
Russ Vought is an own-the-libs kind of guy, an ideological warrior who delights in watching the world burn. Shutting down the CFPB is his idea of paradise; now the rugged capitalists can get back to work making America great again without interference from meddling bureaucrats determined to punish success.
Then he heard about the APOR tables.
And If They Don't
We Loved Nancy Mace When She Was Being An Aggressive Bigot To Trans People
Well
Representative Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican who in recent weeks has floated a run for governor, on Monday night accused her former fiancé and three other men of having drugged and raped her and other women, and of filming and taking lewd photographs of women and underage girls without their consent.I will say that none of the guys she is accusing are trans. ...here's a paywall free guardian link.
In a stunningly graphic speech on the House floor that had little precedent, Ms. Mace said the men, whom she named and displayed photographs of on a placard where lawmakers more typically display charts and graphs on policy issues, were involved in the “premeditated, calculated exploitation of innocent women and girls in my district.”
...
“During the last year, as I turned everything over to law enforcement, I was told I, as a victim, would be investigated,” she said.
...
“At this time, our office has not received any reports or requests for assistance from any law enforcement or prosecution agencies regarding these matters,” said Ms. Lane, who added that neither Mr. Wilson nor anyone in his office had heard of Ms. Mace’s allegations until she spoke out on Monday night.
She said that while Ms. Mace and Mr. Wilson had been at multiple events together over the last six months and the congresswoman had the attorney general’s cellphone number, “not once has she approached or reached out to him regarding any of her concerns.”