"Elon Musk has now proved he's even stupider than Donald Trump. With the last gasp Musk-Trump redo of the original bipartisan bill to keep the government open, he's shown he doesn't understand how a bill is passed, the role of the Speaker, the role of the Senate or the President. But then they never taught those things in his South African elementary school that the rest of us learned here in the U.S. Worse for him, 38 Republicans voted against his bill despite being threatened with having their political lives killed.". With Lawrence O'Donnell, Last Word, last night on MSNBC
"If the government shuts down after midnight Friday, 1.3 million active-duty troops will go without pay, as will hundreds of thousands of civilian workers. National parks will close, air traffic and airports will be snarled over the holidays, food-safety inspection will be curtailed, tax refunds and operations at Social Security offices will be delayed, and millions of poor and working-class people will lose access to other government services. The shutdown will add billions of dollars to the debt. But Musk (net worth: $440 billion) will be just fine — and he is now the one directing the Republican agenda in Congress."- Dana Milbank, 'As Musk Forces A Shutdown The Trump presidency Is Already Collapsing Into Chaos', Washington Posy
"It’s not the Democratic Party’s job to convince the American people to not elect a fascist, racist, rapist, felon, insurrectionist security threat to the highest job in the nation. To imply otherwise is simply to infantilize half the nation. Half the country has decided that the rule of law is arbitrary and political, all politicians are crooks and care not a whit that a convicted felon and man found liable for sexual assault will occupy the office of the Presidency of the United States. They do so because they believe profit-seeking propaganda organs and buffoonish confidence men more than public institutions like governments, courts of law, and honest media." NY Times comment
We were already warned two years ago about the perils of letting the Reepturds run the government. This was thanks to Financial Times columnist Edward Luce, warning before the 2022 midterms about the cost of such folly, e.g. my post at the time:
As Mr. Luce noted:
"The only real damage the Republicans can wreak - if they gain control of congress - is if they follow through on their threat not to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. That could trigger a market crash."
Or a recession or even depression but certainly a credit downgrade or default. Yet 230,000 dumb fuck, clueless voters in 3 Blue wall Swing states actually believed a twice-impeached traitor, egomaniacal felon, congenital liar and braggart would be more "effective" in meeting their needs - so voted for the degenerate. Subtract these morons and Kamala wins on Nov. 5th.
And since Judge Juan Merchan has refused the Trump cabal's demands to remove his felon status - voted in a convicted felon as well. First time in American history. These dolts are now suddenly discovering - over the past few days - they also effectively voted in the South African oligarch Elon Musk as Trump's co-president. Don't believe it? Then why did Trump back him up after he first threatened to primary any congress critter that voted for the new bill to keep government open, avoiding a shutdown?
Back to the implications of a default arising from a shutdown. A U.S. default could trigger a worldwide financial crisis, possibly a depression. That’s because financial markets currently treat U.S. debt as the safest of assets, with all other assets around the world benchmarked against us. Our default would send waves of financial panic cascading through lots of other markets, too. If the government can’t borrow to pay bills that come due, it would have to suspend certain pension payments, withhold or cut the pay of soldiers and federal workers, or delay interest payments, which would constitute default. Unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, the Treasury could be forced to cut payments by more than 40%, including Social Security, VA benefits.
The pain is only now being glimpsed, as these MAGA predators make clear their intentions, including issuing bogus "reports" to try to implicate the January 6th commission members (such as Liz Cheney) in "crimes". But the pain is also going to come like thunder for the semi-educated loons that voted these pigs in as they see housing costs soar, as well as the prices of groceries and everything else from electronics to baby formula - thanks to Trump's planned tariffs. But see, that is the price of reaction - base instinctual mindless reaction to an economic and political environment - as opposed to thinking it through. Thinking through the down stream costs of putting into power a convicted felon and insurrectionist who ultimately is about himself, no one else.
As well as a know -nothing oligarch who had problems even getting a security clearance (in connection with Starlink, Space X projects) on account of his use of marijuana and ketamine. This drugged out dunce and twit - who thinks he can intrude on the separation of powers- and is already in possession of a swelled head ten times that of Dotard's.
Don't believe it? Remember Musk Rat single-handedly sunk the bipartisan spending bill Wednesday, wielding his powerful X account to pressure House Republicans to torpedo this bill. A critical lifeline that would have kept the federal government open for three months- and also would have delivered the $100 b in assistance victims of the hurricane disasters in TN, NC, VA have been waiting for. But now, thanks to the richest guy in the world, they're left to pound sand.
As WaPo columnist Dana Milbank noted:
"Musk, with an extended tantrum on his social media site X, successfully sabotaged the spending bill, which would have provided aid to farmers and disaster relief for storm-ravaged North Carolina, Florida and other parts of the country."
Musk also went wild yesterday posting one hundred false claims on X, including that congress was supposed to grab a 'criminal' 40 percent raise. Then on the social media site he owns, the brigand proceeded to trash the bill in an hours-long tirade, calling it “terrible,” “criminal,” “outrageous,” “horrible,” “unconscionable,” “crazy” and, ultimately, “an insane crime.” No, fuckface, the only "insane crime" is you traipsing through our glorious Capitol Bldg. despoiling it with every footfall.
But the good aspect of the latest effort to pass the Musk-Trump version of the spending bill, was seeing 38 Repubs (including Rep. Chip Roy (TX)) shoot it down - voting with the Dems to slay it on the spot. And that despite Musk's huff and puff on X to primary them and end their political careers. But despite his threats these 38 gave him the finger and a preview of what the next 4 years is likely to be like.
Still, given how Musk is throwing his weight (as well as $$$) around it's little wonder many are referring to this Turd as a "shadow president". Then - when I heard Bulwark contributor Sarah Longwell say on Deadline Whitehouse yesterday that "voters in focus groups" told her they voted Trump because "they wanted Musk too", I almost blew my top. How the fuck could so many goddamned idiots be so functionally illiterate, ignorant and pathetic at the same time? To believe a foreign born numbskull - who doesn't know squat about legislation or the Constitution- could be a sound advocate for stable government.
Maybe these same people - over the next four years - will finally learn the meaning of the phrase: "Repent at leisure" . Because that will be the name of the game for them. As former dean of the School of Public Policy at University of Maryland noted (TIME, Dec. 30, p. 52): "Americans are not prepared for the level of disruption that Trump's second stint in the White House is poised to bring, from potential changes to the education system, to revisiting childhood vaccines" and the repeal of regulations on everything from food to drinking water and air quality.
Maybe next time these voting imps will think twice before putting a psychotic populist and felon into the most powerful position in the world.
See Also:
As Musk forces a shutdown, the Trump presidency is already collapsing into chaos
And:
And:
'Musk is an idiot': Chris Matthews launches scathing rant battering 'clown' Trump adviser
And:
by Robert Reich | December 19, 2024 - 6:52am | permalink
— from Robert Reich's Substack
Friends,
If the government shuts down Saturday, Elon Musk will be largely to blame.
Musk went on a daylong rampage yesterday against the continuing resolution drafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team to keep the government going.
Musk posted nearly nonstop on his social media platform X about how lawmakers must kill it. “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote in one post.
Musk — the richest person in the world — was joined in his posting spree by another billionaire, Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump asked to partner with Musk in an effort to slash government spending and reduce the federal budget deficit.
And:
by Heather Digby Parton | December 21, 2024 - 6:44am | permalink
Back in 2016, the whole country was left in shock when celebrity businessman Donald Trump managed to take over the Republican Party and win the presidential election. At the time there was quite a bit of resistance within the GOP establishment due to the fact that Trump had not run as an ordinary conservative but rather as a populist demagogue. They had no idea that their voters were so hungry for his message. Gone were all the usual paeans to small government and family values and even his strong advocacy for expanding the military was coupled with a discordant isolationist stance that harkened back to the pre-WWII America First movement. (Trump had no idea about that history — he thought he came up with it himself.)
However, he was all for tax cuts for the wealthy, which is the lifeblood of the Republican Party. And he was reflexively hostile to anything his predecessor Barack Obama ever did, which meant that he was willing to reverse much of the progress that had been made in the previous eight years, pleasing Republicans to no end.
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