Domestic consequences of the 2024 US presidential election: the quickening

[wireframed]

Every time you think Republicans have twisted the law to their advantage in the most absurd way, they come up with new ways to fuck with the system.

And it won't have any consequences, because apparently only Republicans are capable of good messaging and controlling narratives, because you can just imagine the screetches of outrage if Democrats simply decided that the next few months counted as 1 day. Why not go even more ridiculous and decide that for purposes of the budget, any increase in deficit is counted as a reduction, and claim a reduction of deficit after a bunch of tax breaks?

I mean if we're just deciding objective reality is just semantics, then sky's the limit.

 

[Deleted member 1064244]

Not to create alarm here, but it sure feels like meddling with such rules during a controlled demolition of the economy is a fancy way of saying "we know we're going to create riots so we're clearing the decks so our goons have clear lines of fire on you" at this point.

 

[LTParis]

Not to create alarm here, but it sure feels like meddling with such rules during a controlled demolition of the economy is a fancy way of saying "we know we're going to create riots so we're clearing the decks so our goons have clear lines of fire on you" at this point.

I don’t think you’re wrong.

 

[Justin Credible]

We want to pollute your air and poison your water BUT protect the environment.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-epa-climate-zeldin-power-plants-feb184286a7a9419aefddce293362e6b

 

[fractl]

We want to pollute your air and poison your water BUT protect the environment.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-epa-climate-zeldin-power-plants-feb184286a7a9419aefddce293362e6b

No one told me it was opposite day.

 

[N4M8-]

Final days of the republic stuff here...

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked parts of President Trump's executive order targeting a prominent law firm for its representation of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and for causes unpopular with his administration.

President Trump issued an executive order last week that accuses Perkins Coie of "dishonest and dangerous activity" and seeks to impose several punitive measures, including suspending security clearances held by Perkins Coie employees and prohibiting government contractors from retaining the firm. It also bars the firm's employees from federal buildings, and prohibits federal employees from engaging with Perkins Coie staff.

At a hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the executive order. Ruling from the bench, Howell said the president's order against Perkins Coie is clearly intended to punish the firm, and likely violates its First, Fifth and Sixth amendment rights.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/g-s1-53422/judge-blocks-trump-law-firm

There is no dancing around this. It is out and out, pure fascism. Stopped by the courts so far, but just the attempt, and that nobody involved at the White House tried to stop it (because at least there would have been a firing) should warrant impeachment and removal.

 

[fractl]

Final days of the republic stuff here...



There is no dancing around this. It is out and out, pure fascism. Stopped by the courts so far, but just the attempt, and that nobody involved at the White House tried to stop it (because at least there would have been a firing) should warrant impeachment and removal.

"If the President does it, then it's not illegal." - Nixon

 

[Diabolical]

"If the President does it, then it's not illegal." - Nixon

Also Chief Justice John Roberts et al.

 

[Starbuck79]

Trump’s FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Non Profits for accepting EPA funding for Climate Change

“The FBI has told Citibank that recipients of EPA climate grants are being considered as potentially liable for fraud. That is, the Trump administration wants to criminalize work on climate science and impacts,” the @capitolhunters account wrote Wednesday on X. “An incoming administration not only cancels federal grants but declares recipients as criminals. All these grantees applied under government calls FOR ENVIRONMENTAL WORK, were reviewed and accepted. Trump wants to jail them.“

The Appalachian Community Capital Corporation, the Coalition for Green Capital, and the DC Green Bank are just some of the nonprofits being targeted.

“This is not fraud. This is targeted harassment,” @capitolhunters continued. “The idea of criminalizing community climate work wouldn’t have originated at the FBI—it likely comes from EPA director Lee Zeldin, who today cut all EPA’s environmental justice offices, which try to reduce pollution in poor and minority communities.”

The FBI is claiming that since Climate Change is a Fraud, any funds requested and granted to combat climate climate is Fraud

 

[Soothsayer786]

Trump Tower seems to be getting overrun with protesters. Peaceful tourists, I mean. I hope they tour the fuck out of that building. Maybe take a dump and spread the feces on the walls as one does when on a peaceful tour. Perhaps break into Trump's office and leave him a present. Just some patriots showing their love.

 

[ramases]

House Democrats had planned to table a resolution ending the presidential emergency under which Trump issued his tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. Under the National Emergencies Act, such a resolution must be brought forward to committee consideration within 15 calendar days after introduction, and a floor vote three days after.

Of course, no house Republican wants to have to vote on this. If they vote to end the emergency, they end up angering Trump. If they vote against, well, the economy isn't doing well, and it is pretty clear that economically this whole tariff thing is dumb; they would end up angering a lot of their donors.

What to do, what to do. Oh, right, it says 15 calendar days. So, in order to not have to vote on ending the tariffs, House Republicans passed the following procedural motion:

Provides that each day for the remainder of the first session of the 119th Congress shall not constitute a calendar day for purposes of section 202 of the National Emergencies Act with respect to a joint resolution terminating a national emergency declared by the President on February 1, 2025.

Just declare that the entire remaining ... checks notes ... one year, 9 months plus some change is a single day!

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/us/politics/trump-tariffs-house-gop-vote.html

 

[SuinusLatinus]

At least no one can blame them of not thinking outside the box.

It's amazing in a weird, pathological way, they're trying to legislate reality away. Climate change. Biology. Space-Time...

 

[Tijger]

Trump’s FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Non Profits for accepting EPA funding for Climate Change



The FBI is claiming that since Climate Change is a Fraud, any funds requested and granted to combat climate climate is Fraud

Guess there is zero integrity at the FBI either then and agents follow orders like good little nazi's.

 

[DarthSlack]

Trump’s FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Non Profits for accepting EPA funding for Climate Change



The FBI is claiming that since Climate Change is a Fraud, any funds requested and granted to combat climate climate is Fraud

If there is any justice remaining in this world, this will get laughed out of each and every court it comes in contact with. Hopefully with extreme prejudice.

 

[Thank You and Best of Luck!]

Guess there is zero integrity at the FBI either then and agents follow orders like good little nazi's.

Yeah. All that oath, illegal orders, institutional integrity claptrap has been just weapons grade liberal copium the whole time.

People will either do it, or they'll be replaced until there's someone who will.

 

[Deleted member 326875]

If there is any justice remaining in this world, this will get laughed out of each and every court it comes in contact with. Hopefully with extreme prejudice.

Climate activists will be the first group of political refugees from recent USA

 

[stdaro]

If there is any justice remaining in this world, this will get laughed out of each and every court it comes in contact with. Hopefully with extreme prejudice.

that's not relevant. The funds will be directly impounded from the banks, because the banks will happily roll over for any plausible executive order. and then they'll start tacking NSF fees onto the accounts. And the people who work at those orgs will find themselves encountering significant friction in their day-to-day lives, like having their own personal bank accounts similarly handled.

 

[ahmerali]

that's not relevant. The funds will be directly impounded from the banks, because the banks will happily roll over for any plausible executive order. and then they'll start tacking NSF fees onto the accounts. And the people who work at those orgs will find themselves encountering significant friction in their day-to-day lives, like having their own personal bank accounts similarly handled.

You're leaving out the best part - that Sovereign Wealth Fund to which it will be diverted.

 

[stdaro]

You're leaving out the best part - that Sovereign Wealth Fund to which it will be diverted.

eff it, convert it to bitcoin and throw it in the crypto reserve, where it can be laundered untraceably

 

[ahmerali]

eff it, convert it to bitcoin and throw it in the crypto reserve, where it can be laundered untraceably

 

[Macam]

The crypto reserve remains one of the most laughably stupid ideas I've heard and I kind of forget it even exists most days. Admittedly, I kind of love it because it just underscores the absolute idiocy of Trump and his understanding of literally anything.

 

[slowtech]

I've been thinking lately about how the Trump admin's attack on "DEI" will play out. We haven't seen something like this in our lifetime, but President Woodrow Wilson actual did this - he re-segregated the federal government, which had been much more integrated than a lot of the country, when he took office in 1913:

https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/apr/11

On April 11, 1913, recently inaugurated President Woodrow Wilson received Postmaster General Albert Burleson's plan to segregate the Railway Mail Service. Burleson reported that he found it “intolerable” that white and Black employees had to work together and share drinking glasses and washrooms. This sentiment was shared by others in Wilson's administration; William McAdoo, secretary of the treasury, argued that segregation was necessary “to remove the causes of complaint and irritation where white women have been forced unnecessarily to sit at desks with colored men.”

By the end of 1913, Black employees in several federal departments had been relegated to separate or screened-off work areas and segregated lavatories and lunchrooms. In addition to physical separation from white workers, Black employees were appointed to menial positions or reassigned to divisions slated for elimination. The government also began requiring photographs on civil service applications to better enable racial screening.

https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-racial-segregation-jim-crow-ku-klux-klan

Immediately, these cabinet members began to talk about segregating federal government employees by race. Wilson allowed his cabinet to do this despite protests by civil rights activists like W.E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter—whom Wilson angrily threw out of the Oval Office during a 1914 meeting in which Trotter made the case against segregation. A transcript of that meeting reveals that Wilson had argued, “Segregation is not humiliating, but a benefit, and ought to be so regarded by you gentlemen.”

During Wilson’s presidency, he allowed his cabinet to segregate the Treasury, the Post Office, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Navy, the Interior, the Marine Hospital, the War Department and the Government Printing Office. This meant creating separate offices, lunchrooms, bathrooms and other facilities for white and Black workers. It also meant dismissing Black supervisors, cutting off Black employees’ access to promotions and better-paying jobs and reserving those jobs for white people.

 

[Deleted member 46272]

House Democrats had planned to table a resolution ending the presidential emergency under which Trump issued his tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. Under the National Emergencies Act, such a resolution must be brought forward to committee consideration within 15 calendar days after introduction, and a floor vote three days after.

Of course, no house Republican wants to have to vote on this. If they vote to end the emergency, they end up angering Trump. If they vote against, well, the economy isn't doing well, and it is pretty clear that economically this whole tariff thing is dumb; they would end up angering a lot of their donors.

What to do, what to do. Oh, right, it says 15 calendar days. So, in order to not have to vote on ending the tariffs, House Republicans passed the following procedural motion:



Just declare that the entire remaining ... checks notes ... one year, 9 months plus some change is a single day!

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/us/politics/trump-tariffs-house-gop-vote.html

They've completely lost their fucking minds. If you can legislate away inconvenient reality like that, then the concept of rules or laws becomes meaningless.

What's next? They declare that only people with white skins that are "assigned male at birth" are "people"? I mean. where do you even draw the line?

Fuck, they can just as easily declare that, "each day for the remainder of the current presidential session shall not constitute a calendar day for purposes of determining the length of time the current president is serving the term".

Anything goes.

 

[ramases]

Anything goes.

I see you have found what may be the point.

 

[Technarch]

The crypto reserve remains one of the most laughably stupid ideas I've heard and I kind of forget it even exists most days. Admittedly, I kind of love it because it just underscores the absolute idiocy of Trump and his understanding of literally anything.

The crypto reserve isn't a serious policy idea. It's just a mechanism for large scale fraud, theft, and money laundering. What's going to happen is, they're going to take all our Social Security money and put it in the crypto reserve for 'safekeeping', and then it will magically disappear.

 

[karolus]

The crypto reserve remains one of the most laughably stupid ideas I've heard and I kind of forget it even exists most days. Admittedly, I kind of love it because it just underscores the absolute idiocy of Trump and his understanding of literally anything.

You know it’s interested parties whispering in Trump’s ear. Regardless of if a crypto reserve made sense for the country, the primary motivation is the payoff of its backers. A real tell was when the price of Bitcoin dropped after it was announced that the initial reserve would be created from seized assets the government already holds.

 

[tigas]

They've completely lost their fucking minds. If you can legislate away inconvenient reality like that, then the concept of rules or laws becomes meaningless.

What's next? They declare that only people with white skins that are "assigned male at birth" are "people"? I mean. where do you even draw the line?

Fuck, they can just as easily declare that, "each day for the remainder of the current presidential session shall not constitute a calendar day for purposes of determining the length of time the current president is serving the term".

Anything goes.

Shudushudupshudup stop giving them ideas!

The crypto reserve isn't a serious policy idea. It's just a mechanism for large scale fraud, theft, and money laundering. What's going to happen is, they're going to take all our Social Security money and put it in the crypto reserve for 'safekeeping', and then it will magically disappear.

The rugpull to end all rugpulls

 

[The Sheep Look Up]

The crypto reserve isn't a serious policy idea. It's just a mechanism for large scale fraud, theft, and money laundering. What's going to happen is, they're going to take all our Social Security money and put it in the crypto reserve for 'safekeeping', and then it will magically disappear.

It's not even good for that, it leaves an automatic paper trail. You want to convert it into actual pallets of money that can slowly be hollowed out or go "missing". Something like that, where "Oops, physical inventory is wrong" is a plausible excuse.

 

[1Zach1]

Schumer has confirmed that he will be voting for the House CR tomorrow, seems like that's the final nail in the coffin.

I'm really struggling with the logic being put forth here, what exactly would Trump have the ability to do during the shutdown that he isn't already doing? Democrats not even attempting to put up a fight is just unforgivable at this point, I'm honestly struggling to find the words to type with just how infuriated I am right now at this situation.

This CR is Congressional approval for Trump to expand his dismantling of the federal government, I truly believe that what we have seen so far has just been a warning shot, what they plan to do now that Congress has given in will be so much worse.


View: https://bsky.app/profile/sahilkapur.bsky.social/post/3lkc5nqspmc2q

 

[CPX]

So glad the Senate Minority Leader is a complete coward

 

[Technarch]

It's not even good for that, it leaves an automatic paper trail. You want to convert it into actual pallets of money that can slowly be hollowed out or go "missing". Something like that, where "Oops, physical inventory is wrong" is a plausible excuse.

Does it leave an automatic paper trail, or does it leave an automatic trail of electrons that's incomprehensible to 99% of the population and distrusted by even more?

 

[ramases]

The whole thing with the CR is not without logic.

Right now the US economy is, well, not doing great. Perhaps even a bit of a shitshow. So I guess the reasoning is accepting a 6 month CR is a way to make sure Trump hasn't gotten anyone else to blame for it than his own policies.

I am not sure I agree with this, but it's at least my understanding of the situation.

 

[CPX]

The whole thing with the CR is not without logic.

Right now the US economy is, well, not doing great. Perhaps even a bit of a shitshow. So I guess the reasoning is accepting a 6 month CR is a way to make sure Trump hasn't gotten anyone else to blame for it than his own policies.

I am not sure I agree with this, but it's at least my understanding of the situation.

No, that is not worth completely bending over on a goddamn Article I power.

 

[The Sheep Look Up]

Does it leave an automatic paper trail, or does it leave an automatic trail of electrons that's incomprehensible to 99% of the population and distrusted by even more?

Your average person can't really comprehend ACH and banking records, but a forensic accountant can. (Yes, this assumes there's anyone left willing or capable of investigating the proposed malfeasance. There's no point in making up scenarios involving total impunity.) Same thing, with the widely distributed, immutable* ledger and a little bit of cross-checking, it's not terribly challenging to see which wallet corresponds with which human(s).

 

[GloatingSwine]

I'm really struggling with the logic being put forth here, what exactly would Trump have the ability to do during the shutdown that he isn't already doing? Democrats not even attempting to put up a fight is just unforgivable at this point, I'm honestly struggling to find the words to type with just how infuriated I am right now at this situation.

The logic is that the Vichy Democrats bar about 10 (the ones who actually did something at Trump's self-aggrandizing speech) are spineless weasels who are absolutely part of the problem. That's why every election since 2008 has been "the most important one ever" and yet they have addressed precisely zero of the structural issues with your government that allowed you to get into this position.

They will not fix your problems until they fear you.

 

[Macam]

You know it’s interested parties whispering in Trump’s ear. Regardless of if a crypto reserve made sense for the country, the primary motivation is the payoff of its backers. A real tell was when the price of Bitcoin dropped after it was announced that the initial reserve would be created from seized assets the government already holds.

I think it's more than this than @Technarch's suggestion, at least for the initial set up, but I just have to chuckle at Trump thinking it's going to be like the digital equivalent of Fort Knox or something where you're hoarding digital gold because he literally can't even be bothered to try to understand how anything works.

The logic is that the Vichy Democrats bar about 10 (the ones who actually did something at Trump's self-aggrandizing speech) are spineless weasels who are absolutely part of the problem. That's why every election since 2008 has been "the most important one ever" and yet they have addressed precisely zero of the structural issues with your government that allowed you to get into this position.

They will not fix your problems until they fear you.

Schumer sucks. Doesn't even qualify to do the absolute bare minimum 95% of the time. Even if he does vote for it, you should still call him and/or your Senators and tell them what you think.

I will say that we're long overdue for a substantive change in pressuring the Democratic side of things because @GloatingSwine's last comment is very much true.

 

[1Zach1]

The whole thing with the CR is not without logic.

Right now the US economy is, well, not doing great. Perhaps even a bit of a shitshow. So I guess the reasoning is accepting a 6 month CR is a way to make sure Trump hasn't gotten anyone else to blame for it than his own policies.

I am not sure I agree with this, but it's at least my understanding of the situation.

Doesn't this require a starting assumption that Trump will be blamed for his policies? Democrats need to have a mental shift away from this idea of Trump following political norms, I don't see how it's been so many years of him not doing that and they still refuse to accept that it doesn't work that way. He's going to pass the blame to Democrats or some "other" and his base is going to follow.

Democrats will have attempted to hoodwink their own base in the process of complying with a piece of legislation that codifies Trumps increased power, how is that going to help them with voters? Why should any of us trust that they will stand up against him when they are specifically voting with him.

Again, the claim being presented by Schumer is that the shutdown will allow Trump to make things worse, but has not explained what or how that will be. It's a baseless talking point so far as I can tell.

 

[Macam]

Trump Drafts Plans to Take Over Congress' Spending Powers:

Donald Trump and his Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought plan to impound federal spending after Congress passes a budget to avoid government shutdown, setting up a major legal fight with Congress.

Trump and Vought, a Project 2025 alum, plan to impound some of the funds Congress allocates before the government shutdown deadline on Friday, Fox News reports. The move would violate the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which Trump and his supporters have called unconstitutional, as it prevents the president from spending money appropriated by Congress in a different way.

A direct challenge to the law would prompt a legal fight that would very likely be decided by the Supreme Court and threaten the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution. If the executive branch gains impoundment power, Trump and future presidents would have much more power, with Congress significantly weakened.

 

[Thank You and Best of Luck!]

Fuck, then can just as easily declare that, "each day for the remainder of the current presidential session shall not constitute a calendar day for purposes of determining the length of time the current president is serving the term".

Anything goes.

"Heretofore only February 29ths shall count as days charged against the Presidential terms of 4 years."

 

[herko]

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@ahmerali
No memes in serious threads. Take a vacay.