11 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

1. Paul Krugman's column today is a useful lesson in clarity with a dash of Schadenfreude

   Muskenfreude

   When an oligarch confronts an autocrat, guess who wins?

   So the Senate has passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. True, it could still be blocked if House Republicans stood by their principles. But they won’t. This monstrosity will become the law of the land, and tens of millions of Americans will suffer so that billionaires can pay lower taxes.

   Looking forward, those of us who care about a decent society will have to do what we can to make sure that Americans understand who ruined their lives and make the people responsible pay a heavy political price. But there will be plenty of time for that, so I thought I’d devote today’s post to a more pleasant topic: The humiliation of Elon Musk.

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2. MORE WINNING!

   Private payrolls lost 33,000 jobs in June, the ADP report showed, the first decrease since March 2023…The Midwest and Western U.S. saw the strongest contractions in June, declining by 24,000 and 20,000, respectively.

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3. Zordan Mamdani is the equivalent of David Duke.

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   1. I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear of your strong support.

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   2. Good fascist lickspittle.  You got the trump talking points for the day memo.  Now go have a juicebox, quisling.  

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   3. So what you are saying is… YOU'RE SCARED 

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4. According to an analysis of Trump's finances by the New York Times, not only did he get a "Get out of jail Free" card with his election, it likely saved him from a seventh bankruptcy.

   Trump’s Finances Were Shaky. Then He Began to Capitalize on His Comeback.

   Contrary to the president’s assertions, records filed in a fraud case against him suggest that his riches were not the product of a steady and strong empire.

   His domestic properties are money pits which, like Musk and Tesla, suffer from the toxic Trump brand.  However, his overseas branding deals are lucrative now that he's President.  And crypto has been a riskfree cash cow.  Both avenues provide an easy means for paying tribute to the king in return for his favors.

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   1. Very cool to have legalized bribery so efficiently. Let's not forget the "settlements" from ABC, CBS, Meta, and others. Such an amazing way to launder a bribe.

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5. Ian Milhiser Summarizes the SCOTUS Session.

   Essential reading. Overview of the Supreme Court  decisions this year.

   The best lesson to draw from cases like Braidwood, White Lion, and Consumer’s Research, in other words, is that no matter how partisan or ideological the Supreme Court may be, there will likely be other voices within the judiciary pushing the justices to go harder. These voices will even sometimes succeed, as they did in the Free Speech Coalition case.

   If Trump gets to replace any members of the current Court, moreover, he could potentially replace relatively moderate justices with the kinds of judges who dominate the Fifth Circuit. No matter how bad the Supreme Court gets, it can always get worse.

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6. "Full Self Driving"

   Politico:

   An ally of President Donald Trump and former Department of Government Efficiency adviser James Fishback on Tuesday is launching a super PAC called FSD PAC designed to blunt Elon Musk’s political ambitions.

   FSD PAC, a play on Tesla’s “full self-driving,” stands for Full Support for Donald.

   Its strategy is to be a bulwark against Musk’s threats — real or perceived, and comes as multiple Republicans shrug off the latest social media spat as little to worry about in a world where Trump so thoroughly commands the loyalty of the GOP base.

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7. My guess is that all of the Republican reps except Massie of Kentucky chow down on that big steaming shit sandwich that the White House and party leadership is serving up sometime between now and midnight so that the OBBB gets to Trump before Friday.

   Remember, it is the optics that matter most.

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