Tuesday Open Thread

16 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

1. There are still SOME Federal Employees willing to follow the law…sort of. Maybe. If NaziTechBro doesn't object…. 

   OPM Watchdog Says Review of DOGE Work Is Underway

   The acting inspector general says the Office of Personnel Management is investigating whether any “emerging threats” have arisen as Elon Musk’s DOGE works to rapidly transform government systems.

   The Office of Personnel Management’s acting inspector general has confirmed that the independent office is investigating whether any “emerging threats” to sensitive information have arisen as a result of Elon Musk’s DOGE operatives introducing rapid changes to protected government networks.

   “The OPM OIG [office of the inspector general] is committed to providing independent and objective oversight of OPM’s programs and operations,” writes the acting inspector general, Norbert Vint, in a letter dated March 7 to Democratic lawmakers, adding that his office is not only legally required to scrutinize OPM’s security protocols, but routinely does so based on “developing risks.” The letter stated that the office would fold specific requests issued by Democratic lawmakers last month into its “existing work,” while also initiating a “new engagement” over potential risks at the agency associated with computer systems that have been accessed or modified by the United States DOGE Service.

   https://www.wired.com/story/opm-doge-review-underway/

   That last line doesn't give me any sort of hope….but maybe somebody might leak something to WIRED…. 

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2. $rump is "weighing" revoking temporary legal status of 240,000 Ukrainian refugees who fled the war. just to put a face on that for you, consider the fate of a single mom-we'll call her "Katya" living in a subsidized housing project in Boulder.

   Katya and her five-year-old special-needs daughter have put down roots here,  made friends, finished a business degree, and are contributing to the economy. If their status is revoked, they will lose all that , pull the kid out of school,  stop paying taxes,  get deported back to Ukraine, where their lives will be at risk.

   I'm sure that weighing in to Elon's sidekick's decision will be that these are white, well-educated, English speaking people-  blonde and Aryan looking for the most part. The optics will be bad. Maybe  worse than deporting all  the other educated war refugees from other conflcts, who are also paying taxes, in schools and businesses, trying to live  the American dream.

   The cruelty of this proposal is the point- a feature, not a bug, in Trusk world. But maybe bad racial optics will dissuade him.

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   1. There are probably a few actual Republican members of Congress who are saying that very thing to Trump – they're white, you can't deport them! 

      "Trusk" makes me think Tusk might be the best representation of the two evil Mr Hydes (no Dr Jekyll here). 

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      1. Yes, realist, there are a few Republicans urging Tusk not to deport Ukrainians. Will he listen? Does he care?

         To JiD's question below, are they Maga Republicans, or RINOs?

         To JiD's other question, putting Ukrainians in jeopardy in any country will probably please Putin. Whether deporting them back to Ukraine benefits Russia or Ukraine is debatable.

          

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   2. If Trump were personally reviewing what was happening, his racial preferences might kick in.  But he has general instructions ("end Temporary Protected Status") and then has Sec. Noam push the program, and eventually bureaucrats at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and enforcement agents from ICE will carry it out.  

      If & when Trump weighs the issue of Ukrainians, specifically, the questions will likely be "is this good or bad for Russia?" and "does this help or hurt with MAGA backers?"

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3. So, should we consider invoking the 25th Amendment and get Donald Trump the mental health care he needs after this morning's mental breakdown?

   "Confronting Canada: President Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday morning that he would impose an additional 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum coming from Canada, doubling the levies he planned to put in place on Wednesday. Mr. Trump said he was responding to surcharges being imposed by Ontario on electricity supplied to some U.S. states. He reiterated his notion that Canada should become part of the United States, saying it would make tariffs go away and make Canada more secure. He framed such an outcome as inevitable: “The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear,” he wrote."

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   1. Could someone please explain to me why That Idiot is trying to pick a war with Canada with whom we've been friends since 1814? How does this serve Trusk's puppetmaster's interests?

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      1. It’s the reaction of a 5-year old bully being challenged by his intended victim.  Ontario’s Ford promised to answer any further escalation by Trump, up to and including a full embargo.  Trump’s own berserk responses should cement the case for his removal from office.

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      2. Nothing Trump does makes sense unless you recognize that the overriding goal, above all else, is attention. The world has been giving Putin attention (almost all negative), for 3 years for invading Ukraine. Trump wants that spotlight. He can't invade Canada, so he started an economic war with them instead.

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4. Coming attractions:  The Contrarian: A double-barreled government shutdown

   With the March 14 expiration of the latest continuing resolution, we are again staring down the barrel of a government shutdown. Congress has failed its core constitutional duty to fully fund the government on time every year since 1996, but this time is fundamentally different. The Trump administration’s relentless destruction of the federal workforce and its insidious and unconstitutional elimination of critical public services represents a second, de facto government shutdown that lawmakers must address.

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   1. Yep … it happened:

      House Republicans pass Trump-backed bill 217 to 213 to avoid shutdown and send it to the Senate.  Thomas Massie of Ky was the sole Republican who did not support the measure.  His vote was offset by Maine Democrat Jared Golden voting for the bill. Those not voting: 

      Grijalva Democratic Arizona Not Voting

      Moore (NC) Republican North Carolina Not Voting

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5. It’s starting to come crashing down around their ears in TrumpWorld.  In addition to Trump’s meltdown over Canada punching him back in the nose, failure to stop a government shutdown Friday will prove once and for all they are incapable of governing and unfit for office.

   House G.O.P. leaders are moving to shield their members from having to take a politically toxic vote on the national emergency Trump declared in February in order to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. Democrats have been moving a resolution through the House to overrule that emergency, using a mechanism that forces a vote even over the objections of House leaders. That would forced Republicans — many of whom privately do not support the tariffs — to go on the record on the issue.

   But G.O.P. leaders slipped language into a procedural measure that lawmakers will vote on later today that would bar that resolution from ever receiving a vote.

   

   March 11, 2025, 1:26 p.m. ET1 minute ago

   Catie Edmondson

   Congressional reporter

   “The speaker is petrified that members of this House will actually have to take a vote on lowering costs on the American people,” said Representative Greg Meeks, Democrat of New York, who introduced the resolution to overrule the emergency. “If Congress can’t act to lower prices, protect retirement savings and hold the president accountable, what are we even doing here?”

   Is this a Jim Jones Kool-Aid moment for the Trump Cult?

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6. At the federal level we're watching our government destroy itself. Awful.

   But I was at the State Capitol last night and that made me feel good. You have legislators working together, listening to citizens, and then voting for what they each think makes the most sense. Watching the government work is something wonderful.

   If you need something to pull you out of the depths of despair, get involved testifying on an upcoming bill at the state legislature. Do it in person. Talk with the others testifying.

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   1. I will be down at the Capitol on Thursday. I agree with your sentiment. There are, however, some protocols to follow. Persons who wish to testify; in-person or virtually; need to sign up in advance. Written comments are also accepted. When in the hearing…. no side conversations, take your hats off guys, and the Chairperson runs the hearing. If a rep or senator asks a question after you’ve testified, the Chair will give approval for you to answer. 

      If there is a State Board, Commission, Committee that is involved in an issue near & dear to your heart, seek them out to see what they’re up to. Every Department of Colorado State Government has a website. Often, they seldom hear from the public. Example: I attended a meeting of a Parks & Wildlife committee in fall, 2023, in Mt. Crested Butte. I was the only member of the public present; no one gave virtual testimony; and they received no written testimony on any agenda item. These people are unpaid volunteers; except for the support staff; and most like to know that their work is of interest to the public.

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7. Mark my word — Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet will vote for the House Continuing Resolution to bailout Trump and Thune.

   The two of them are Trump enablers.

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   1. What happens if the Senators don’t vote your way, to enable Trump?

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