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Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Wednesday, December 25, 2024

... but voters could demand a fairer system Billionaires played an unprecedented role in the 2024 US elections, with 150 of the world's wealthiest families contributing nearly US$2 billion (1.57 billion) trying to influence the outcome. This included donations from the likes of Elon Musk (US$133 million for the Republicans) and Michael Bloomberg (US$45 million for the Democrats).

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"Ordinary citizens, meanwhile, exert minimal influence " yet effectively pay higher tax rates than the richest Americans.

So it is perhaps easy to see why some question the fundamental fairness of the country's economic and political systems.

One option for change could be new legislation that focuses on areas like campaign funding and media regulation.

This might create a greater separation between money and politics, which could in turn lead to greater equality in political influence."

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Buying political influence came back into style with the success of the Oligarch's investments in Make America For Sale Again.

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2024-12-25 07:33 PM | Reply

Mostly, it seems, tech and financial billionaires.

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-25 07:47 PM | Reply

@#1 ... "Ordinary citizens, meanwhile, exert minimal influence " yet effectively pay higher tax rates than the richest Americans. ...

Well, yeah.

And the Republicans want to keep it that way.

Remember the misinformation brouhaha the GOP raised when Pres Biden wanted to increase the funding for the IRS to go after the wealthy tax cheats?

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says 'New IRS Force' Takes Aim at Small Businesses (August 2022)
www.newsweek.com

... On Friday, Greene tweeted, "87,000 IRS agents will be hired with $80 billion taxpayer dollars when the Senate Reconciliation bill passes this weekend. And they're buying more guns & ammo too. Lower to middle income Americans & small businesses will be the primary targets of Democrat's new IRS force." ...


#3 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-25 07:54 PM | Reply

The GOP nowadays is about the uber-wealthy.

Just look at those who Pres-elect Trump has been nominating for positions in his administration.

Do those billionaires give a hoot about workers?

Does co-Pres-elect Musk care about workers?



#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-25 10:30 PM | Reply

For example...

At SpaceX, worker injuries soar in Elon Musk's rush to Mars (2023)
www.reuters.com

... One windy night at Elon Musk's SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, Lonnie LeBlanc and his co-workers realized they had a problem.

They needed to transport foam insulation to the rocket company's main hangar but had no straps to secure the cargo. LeBlanc, a relatively new employee, offered a solution to hold down the load: He sat on it.

After the truck drove away, a gust blew LeBlanc and the insulation off the trailer, slamming him headfirst into the pavement. LeBlanc, 38, had retired nine months earlier from the U.S. Marine Corps. He was pronounced dead from head trauma at the scene.

Lonnie LeBlanc died after a wind gust blew him off a truck that was moving insulation at SpaceX's McGregor, Texas, facility. U.S. regulators cited the company for "serious" safety lapses contributing to the accident. This photo, posted with his obituary, was provided by the family to a funeral home and a local newspaper.

Federal inspectors with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) later determined that SpaceX had failed to protect LeBlanc from a clear hazard, noting the gravity and severity of the violation. LeBlanc's co-workers told OSHA that SpaceX had no convenient access to tie-downs and no process or oversight for handling such loads. SpaceX acknowledged the problems, and the agency instructed the company to make seven specific safety improvements, including more training and equipment, according to the inspection report. ...


#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-25 10:34 PM | Reply

One less.

Just business as usual for the indefatigable Elon Musk.

What's a few deaths compared to the Glory of all that Shareholder Value?

#6 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2024-12-26 12:16 AM | Reply

Capitalism inevitably runs its course until a very few control the rest of us, and that, my friends, is what we have in America, fascism that owns the media, Congress, the Supreme Corrupt Court, and of course, the White House.
Kind of relaxing understanding we are all just screwed.
I grew up in an alcoholic household and several times was in an accident as drunk version of mom drove off the road or into something like a telephone pole. Not her fault, she had responsibilities but was also so hammered by PTSD all she could do was drink and try to get through the day.
Like having Trump as President...have to survive the pain and fear when one has no control over the situation. I think they call it learned helplessness.
Screwed.

#7 | Posted by Hughmass at 2024-12-26 06:58 AM | Reply

fascism that owns the media,

#7 | Posted by Hughmass

really ?....you think what 'you people" call "fascists" own the media ?

puulease....stop....

#8 | Posted by shrimptacodan at 2024-12-26 07:10 AM | Reply

One option for change could be new legislation that focuses on areas like campaign funding and media regulation.

This might create a greater separation between money and politics, which could in turn lead to greater equality in political influence."

Buying political influence came back into style with the success of the Oligarch's investments in Make America For Sale Again.

#1 | Posted by Corky

aaah hahahha....riiight....like democrats would change any of this.....and don't do it now.

puulease....stop.

---which campaign spent 1 billion and "change" ?

#9 | Posted by shrimptacodan at 2024-12-26 07:13 AM | Reply

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