uspolitics
There are some counterprotesters at my local #TeslaTakedown event but they’re like, 3 guys in a pickup with some flags, vs. hundreds of protesters.
We are not engaging with them except to say “yay for the First Amendment!” when they pass by.
One of the cops here (there are a couple of police cars) went to talk to them, he did not look very happy.
In the five years since Texas created a $1.4 billion fund to guard against destructive flooding, at least 90 local governments turned down tens of millions of dollars in grants and loans.
That money went unused for years.
https://www.propublica.org/article/kerr-county-state-grants-flood-warning-system?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Texas #Government #Floods #USPolitics #Emergency #Disaster
How Investigative Journalists Actually Find Fraud, Waste and Abuse
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While investigative journalists immerse themselves in minutiae to identify waste and fraud, Elon Musk’s team has taken a chainsaw approach to spending based on cursory examinations. That might help explain some of their well-publicized stumbles, our editor-in-chief writes.
https://www.propublica.org/article/doge-government-waste-fraud-approach?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#Journalism #ElonMusk #DOGE #Government #USPolitics #Musk #Fraud
Powerful Friends: Sympathetic Officials and “Cultural Power” Help Ranchers Dodge Oversight
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Elected officials are quick to support public lands ranchers who are accused of breaking rules. As a result, federal agencies pull punches when enforcing regulations.
https://www.propublica.org/article/politicians-help-ranchers-dodge-oversight?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
The targeting of state supreme courts by special interests and billionaires can leave the public with the impression that justices are no different than any politician: devoted to serving their political allies, court observers say.
#News #Wisconsin #Billionaires #Election #Law #SupremeCourt #USPolitics #ElonMusk
Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Once Defended Congress’ Power of the Purse. Now He Defies It.
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As a congressman, Duffy made an impassioned legal case against executive overreach. A decade later, judges have used those same arguments to rebuke him for withholding billions in transportation funding.
https://www.propublica.org/article/sean-duffy-trump-transportation-secretary-congress-funding?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Transportation #Government #Congress #Trump #USPolitics #Law
NOAA Scientists Are Cleaning Bathrooms and Reconsidering Lab Experiments After Contracts for Basic Services Expire
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A Seattle lab has lost janitorial services, hazardous waste support, IT and building maintenance as it waits for the Commerce Department secretary to personally approve all contracts over $100,000.
https://www.propublica.org/article/noaa-contracts-seattle-lab?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
While instituting the largest tariff increase in modern history, Trump claimed that the income tax was passed for “reasons unknown to mankind” and caused the Great Depression.
Here’s the real history.
https://www.propublica.org/article/history-income-tax-history-16th-amendment-trump-tariffs-great-depression?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Trump’s DOJ Has Frozen Police Reform Work. Advocates Fear More Abuse in Departments Across the Country.
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Federal investigators had identified at least eight police departments with patterns of unlawful behavior. But Trump’s freeze on oversight activities leaves many reform efforts in the hands of local leaders.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-doj-freeze-police-reform-abuse-phoenix-trenton-louisville-minneapolis?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Contemporary shower fixtures are only one of the items that rankle the president. He has frequently denounced toilets that he claims require flushing “ten or 15 times” and LED lightbulbs, which he faults for making him look orange.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-showerheads-appliances-led-lights-regulation-energy-department-chaos?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Trump Team Eyes Politically Connected Startup to Overhaul $700 Billion Government Payments Program
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A little-known firm with investors linked to JD Vance, Elon Musk and Trump could get a piece of the federal expense card system — and its hundreds of millions in fees. “This goes against all the normal contracting safeguards,” one expert said.
#News #Trump #Vance #Thiel #Musk #Investment #Business #Government #USPolitics
UPDATE: We've added 11 more names to our DOGE tracker, bringing the total to 77 staffers affiliated with Musk.
Plus, you can now filter our database by federal agency. Check it out ⤵️
https://projects.propublica.org/elon-musk-doge-tracker/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#DOGE #ElonMusk #Musk #Government #Data #Research #USPolitics #Trump
#美國 #USpol #USpolitics #SignalGate
#Hegseth #Trump #MAGA
這事還有後續。
Hegseth在自己創建的另一個Signal群組分享軍事機密。
這個群組內包括他夫人，兄弟，還有其他人。
他之前已經被批評帶他夫人參加和外國領袖的會議。
前國防部發言人John Ullyot在上週辭職，
他說國防部一個月來處於完全混亂之中。
國家安全顧問Waltz把記者加入Signal群組。
國防部長在Signal群組和家人分享國家機密。
他們沒把國家安全放在心上，和川皇如出一轍。
他們應該知道不能這樣做，
機密資料是只能在特定設備特定環境下處理的。
但只是不在乎，大概覺得也沒什麼大不了的。
做錯事，川皇也沒有解僱他們。
到現在也沒人主動要為此負責。
MAGA們是美國國家安全的大漏洞。
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8r701lrno
https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-signal-chat-houthis-attack-8dbf9dd6c711796438a5c1c84831c40b
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/20/pete-hegseth-signal-chat-yemen-attack
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/04/20/pentagon-chaos-ullyot-hegseth-00205594
Politically Connected Firms Benefit From Trump Tariff Exemptions Amid Secrecy, Confusion
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The administration’s lack of transparency about tariff exemptions has experts concerned that some firms might be winning narrow carve-outs behind closed doors. “It could be corruption, but it could just as easily be incompetence,” one lobbyist said.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-tariffs-exemptions-pet-lobbyists-asbestos-confusion-secrecy?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Trump #Tariffs #Economy #USPolitics #Business #Industry
The Forest Service Claims It’s Fully Staffed for a Worsening Fire Season. Data Shows Thousands of Unfilled Jobs.
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DOGE cuts and voluntary resignations have severely hampered the agency as the nation enters the peak of fire season, with more than 1 million acres burning across 10 Western states.
https://www.propublica.org/article/forest-service-staff-fire-season?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
“You Feel Like You’re Being Cheated”: Oil Companies Unfairly Take Millions, North Dakota Mineral Owners Say
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Oil companies are holding back a large portion of revenue payments to the people they lease drilling rights from, often with little explanation. But the industry has an outsize influence in the state, and public officials have refused to take action.
https://www.propublica.org/article/north-dakota-mineral-owner-royalty-deductions?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
The IRS Says Churches Can Now Endorse Candidates. That Could Give Texas Pastors More Power Than Ever.
While the IRS move applies across the country, Texas — with more than 200 megachurches — will be the epicenter for pastors and congregations to test out their new influence, one expert said.
https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-churches-endorse-candidates-texas?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Many of the same Republican lawmakers who have targeted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for cuts have collectively directed thousands of constituents’ complaints about banks, credit cards, loans and other products to the agency.
#News #GOP #Consumer #PersonalFinance #USPolitics #Government
Utah Leaders Are Hindering Efforts to Develop Solar Despite a Goal to Double the State’s Energy Supply
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Solar power accounts for two-thirds of the new projects waiting to connect to the state’s power grid. Utah Republicans’ hard turn against solar mirrors President Donald Trump’s hostile approach to the industry.
https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-solar-energy-operation-gigawatt-spencer-cox?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
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The administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found that Trump once did the very thing he claimed could be a crime.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-mortgage-fraud-florida-principal-residences?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Trump’s DOJ Pressured Lawyers to “Find” Evidence That UCLA Had Illegally Tolerated Antisemitism
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“The end goal was never to conduct a thorough, unbiased investigation,” said one DOJ lawyer. “The end goal was to file a damn complaint — or have something to threaten the university.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/ucla-antisemitism-investigation-trump-doj?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #UCLA #College #DOJ #Trump #USPolitics #Law #Palestine #Protest
Sen. Ron Johnson Endorses Book Touting Chlorine Dioxide's Unproven Health Benefits
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Wisconsin's Ron Johnson has a history of spreading vaccine misinformation. Now he's giving credence to assertions about the therapeutic powers of chlorine dioxide, a disinfectant and deodorizer. “It is all lunacy," one expert said.
https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Wisconsin #Health #Misinformation #Congress #Senate #USPolitics
Ω🪬Ω
#TheCryptocalypseChronicles: Iran vs. Israel... On the Blockchain
The cease fire between Israel and Iran does not appear to apply to cyber warfare. #Tether and other #stablecoin companies have been seizing a lot of Iranians' assets almost certainly at Israel's request... which is kind of funny when you know that:
1) Tether has more or less openly encouraged Iranians to use Tether as a way to evade sanctions for years
2) Benjamin Netanyahu's son Yair spends a lot of time with Tether's founders.
(RTs appreciated)
https://cryptadamus.substack.com/p/israel-vs-iran-on-the-blockchain
#iran #israel #HowardLutnick #economics #netanyahu #gaza #uspol #uspolitics #MiddleEastCrisis #Nobitex #Citex #IRGC
