FTA:

Senior citizens, in particular, have been hit hard, with some unable to get out of their homes, said Palermo Church pastor Tammie Nipper on Wednesday night.

Roofs are creaking under the weight of snow.

Neighbors are helping neighbors and, in some cases, people are coming from neighboring towns, she said.

Palermo Town Supervisor Patricia Redhead said the amount of snow is unprecedented.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social

AZ AG Kris Mayes: Let's talk about that visual of Elon Musk with the ridiculous chainsaw. I don't think he's ever actually used a chainsaw in his life. I don't know what that was"some lame attempt to make himself look manly.

The future is ugly and self inflicted
Posted by truthhurts

Well said.

I read that as a prediction and fear held by the public. Based on the recession that Delon Mrump is pushing us towards.
#13 | Posted by censored

Yes, I think you are right. We haven't had government failure or dictorial alliances yet either, but we are rapidly heading in those directions:

"Government failure, stock market crash, and dictatorial alliances are not popular."

FTA:

Impoundment refers to a president's decision to withhold funds that Congress has already allocated rather than executing the budget as mandated. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress exclusive power over federal spending, making impoundment a direct challenge to legislative authority. The key question before the courts is whether impoundment represents a legitimate executive function or an unconstitutional overreach that undermines the balance of power.

President Trump's impoundment strategy pushes into legally uncertain territory, where past presidents have hesitated to tread. Project 2025 promotes impoundment to weaken Congress and empower the executive branch. Proving once again that far from being a conservative document, Project 2025 is an extremist plan to disrupt constitutional checks and balances. . . .

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will likely decide the fate of Trump's impoundment push. While the Court has historically ruled against unilateral executive spending authority, recent decisions have favored broad presidential powers in areas like immigration and administrative rulemaking. . . .

If Trump successfully expands impoundment powers, the effects would be immediate. Recent court actions to halt Trump's NIH cuts could no longer occur going forward, giving the administration free rein. Federal agencies and public services could face sudden funding freezes, disrupting regulatory enforcement, social programs, and foreign aid. With Congress unable to override Trump's impoundments without a supermajority, its budgetary authority would be effectively neutralized.

Good article and so is this one by the same author:

Gangster Party
As gangsterism, it all makes sense.

Much of the ongoing confoundment with Donald Trump's governing style comes down to what metaphor you apply to him. Is he a wannabe strongman? Sure. A fascist? Of course. An autocrat, an authoritarian, an aspiring dictator? Yes, clearly, though there is no guarantee that he knows what those words mean. Leave those terms in the textbooks. There is a much more accurate way to describe who Donald Trump is: He is a gangster. He governs like a gangster. And if you think of him not as any variety of politician but rather as a gangster--who sits atop not a political party, but a gang--his actions make perfect sense.

If Trump was out to Bolster The Republican Party, he would only be slashing budgets in blue states and protecting red ones. Instead he is lashing out at everything, ignoring every rule. The humiliating ritual of forcing Republican allies to come and beg him to restore cuts he has already made is the point. This process reflects the success of the system that Trump wants: All control of all things in his own hands. Rules and laws--even the ones that Republicans traditionally like!--are impediments to his own control of all decisions. Therefore rules and laws must be smashed, discarded at a whim, openly violated, ignored. Do not search for some archaic form of ideological conservatism at work here. The goal of all this is not "remaking the government in a conservative image""it is "if you want anything, you have to ask me for it." The rules that governed how the government works are tossed out and replaced with "Trump's will." That's how mob bosses rule.

"stock market crash"

Should have just said, stock market dips/dives.

I think Graff is on to something with this approach, which is very well-executed:

Across the capital, the new regime accelerated its sweeping removals of government workers, evoking comparisons to the disastrous "De-Ba'athification" movement that the United States instituted in Iraq in 2003 that removed huge swaths of civil servants after the country's invasion. That move is now widely considered one of the greatest mistakes of the occupation, though it now appears that Musk and Trump are seeking equally disastrous results in the capital at home.

While traditionally a small number of political appointees turn over in a new presidential administration, Musk's coup has been followed by massive, disorganized, and chaotic firings at many government agencies and ministries. Last weekend, DOGE mercenaries actually blindly fired a large chunk of the agency that secures the country's vast nuclear weapon stockpiles before attempting to reverse their mistake.

Other firings appeared equally ill-conceived and executed"including the removal of veterans working on suicide crisis lines, public health staff combatting bird flu, and medical workers supporting the country's indigenous populations. Inexplicably, the mass removals also included more than 400 engineers, technicians, and personnel who help keep safe the nation's airspace, which has long been the envy of the world but under the Trump regime has already suffered a series of troubling incidents.

It's increasingly clear that the mass firings and reprisals are less a thoughtful exercise in management or efficiency gains and instead a wholesale effort to dismantle the long-respected administrative state's capability and regulatory structures have might hem in the ambitions and profits of the nation's oligarchy, which has been emboldened since November by Trump's surprise electoral victory. The country's banking regulators, now firmly in the regime's control, made clear in a series of actions this week that they would look the other way amid egregious abuses by the cryptocurrency industry, an electronic financial system favored by Musk and criminal groups.

PS I'm hoping this is true. I'm thinking it might be:

Timothy Snyder
@timothysnyder.bsky.social
Something is shifting. They are still breaking things and stealing things. And they will keep trying to break and to steal. But the propaganda magic around the oligarchical coup is fading. (1/2)

Nervous Musk, Trump, Vance have all been outclassed in public arguments these last few days. Government failure, stock market crash, and dictatorial alliances are not popular. People are starting to realize that there is no truth here beyond the desire for personal wealth and power. (2/2)

Relax, Trump has 4 years.
#8 | Posted by lfthndthrds

Sure, if he lives that long. Democrats need to take back the House in 2026:

Keith Boykin
@keithboykin.bsky.social

California Republican Kevin Kylie is booed as he announces the Trump administration is killing funding for high-speed rail project to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco. A new poll shows the majority of the state's residents support it.

Okay, so I had to look up praetorianism. Gift article at link:

Tom Nichols
@radiofreetom.bsky.social

None of this has anything to do with effectiveness, or "lethality," or promoting "warfighters," or any other buzzwords. It is praetorianism, plain and simple, and it is an assault on our military and our democracy.

A Friday-Night Massacre at the Pentagon

Trump's purge started with his firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top Navy officer, and the vice chief of the Air Force.

Trump apparently met Caine on a trip to Iraq in 2018. The president later recalled that first meeting during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2019. He claimed that Caine"call sign "Razin" Caine"was insistent that ISIS could be defeated in a week if America committed enough force to the effort. Trump said that Caine then donned a MAGA cap, and said: "I love you, sir. I think you're great, sir. I'll kill for you, sir." Trump added that he told Caine he was not allowed to do that, "but they did it."

Democrats and the left are always obsessed with lifelong anger and societal divide. They thrive on it. As a result they are always pissed, homely and lonely. Just for fun do a poll of good looks in CONGRESS.
#35 | Posted by Robson

LOL You need to read this thread:

Vance Offers Advice to Young Men Suppressed by US Culture

There are two ways to balance a budget: decrease spending and/or increase taxes, especially on millionaires, billionaires and corporations. We know Trump, Musk and the GOP want to extend tax cuts to the wealthy. But guess what? There is no way for them to cut spending enough to balance the budget or bring down inflation, which isn't their goal anyway. Their real goal is to destroy the federal government, to demolish the administrative state, to undo the New Deal and to shrink the federal government so it can be drowned in a bathtub. Their real goal is to make the rich richer and the rest of us poorer and to destroy democracy in the process.

Musk runs the show. Trump's just the figurehead.
#2 | Posted by LauraMohr

I think it is more precise to say Musk is the unelected hatchet man who is carrying out the plans of Trump and Project 2025 to dismantle and privatize federal agencies:

Project 2025's plan to gut civil service with mass firing

Even as Trump tries to disavow the rightwing blueprint, both have similar plans to replace many federal employees

Speaking about federal employees last month, the former president said: "They're destroying this country. They're crooked people, they're dishonest people. They're going to be held accountable."

The corruption deepens:

Fred Wellman @fpwellman.bsky.social

Last night's Pentagon massacre is much more than realized. Not just firing the black CJCS and first woman CNO but all the senior JAG officers and hiring a man who just joined 3 different crypto firms tied to Kushner and Thiel as Chairman. I did a deep dive into it

This is the most dangerous move yet
The canary is gasping for air

It's all good because, you know, Trump won in a landside and has a mandate, so whatever he does must be very smart and right and exactly what voters wanted.

Wake up, America, before it's too late:

Robert Reich
@rbreich.bsky.social

Just a random reminder that trickle-down economics was invented by conservatives in the 1980s to justify massive tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. It's been nothing short of a disaster.

FTA:

I will be doing town meetings in Omaha, Nebraska, this Friday night and Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday morning. Further, in the coming weeks and months, I and other progressives will be holding grassroots events from coast to coast.

Why, at this moment, are we doing town meetings around the country " especially in conservative areas? The answer is obvious.

Trumpism will not be defeated by politicians inside the DC beltway. It will only be defeated by millions of Americans, in every state in this country, coming together in a strong, grassroots movement which says no to oligarchy, no to authoritarianism, no to kleptocracy, no to massive cuts in programs that working people desperately need, no to huge tax breaks for the richest people in our country. And that's what these events are about.

Further, there are a number of congressional districts where Republicans won by only a small number of votes. With the Republican party in the House having only a three-vote majority we can defeat draconian, anti-working-class legislation if just two Republican members of Congress vote no. And they will vote no if we rally their constituents to demand that they vote no.

Steve Vladeck
@stevevladeck.bsky.social
Firing all of the JAGs (Judge Advocates General)"the top lawyers in each service branch"is just as bad as, if not worse than, firing (most of) the Joint Chiefs.

Amy McGrath
@amymcgrath.bsky.social
Here's what is going on. When you start firing the military's top lawyers, that means you are getting ready to order the military to do unlawful things. Trump replaces those JAGs with men who will justify any future unlawful and unethical actions that he wants the military to do.

News Eye
@newseye.bsky.social

NEW: Trump has fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Chief Naval Officer & the second in command at the Air Force.

He is also firing the top lawyers in the Army, Navy & Air Force.

These are EXACTLY the steps you'd take if you planned not to step down peacefully in 2029.

FTA: "We are hollowing out our government in a way that is going to hurt people and is going to get people killed."

Pro-life my ass. All of you who voted for Trump, I hope you're happy now.

Medicare defenders slam 'obscene' looming cuts to telehealth coverage

Republican lawmakers no show as western Wisconsin farmers complain of Trump chaos, disruption

Seven western Wisconsin Republican lawmakers did not appear at an event hosted by the Wisconsin Farmers Union in Chippewa Falls Friday as farmers from the area said they were concerned about the effect that President Donald Trump's first month in office is having on their livelihoods."

George Takei
@georgetakei.bsky.social
He nails it.

FTA:

Now, Medicare patients and providers who have come to rely on remote health care delivery are anxiously wondering: Will the Federal Government grant a further extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities--or perhaps permanently allow Medicare to cover a full range of telehealth services? Or is the era of expanded Medicare telehealth coverage coming to an end?

"Congressional action is required to prevent the severe limitations on telehealth that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic from being restored," said American Medical Association president Bruce A. Scott, MD, in a communique earlier this month. "We must make these flexibilities permanent and secure telehealth's future as an essential element of our patient toolbox, and ensure that all Americans--including rural, underserved, and historically marginalized populations--can receive full access to the care they need," he stated.

Important to keep in mind when reviewing "the wall of receipts":

Jshua Holland
@joshuaholland.bsky.social
Some were probably mistakes given that they're clueless ideologues but clearly others are willful lies. It's a propaganda operation as much as a far-right culture war campaign.

"The cancellations listed come disproportionately from businesses run by women and people from minority groups."