
Becky
1.6K posts

Becky
@beckmcd14
Mom and Grandma who wants the next generations to enjoy the freedoms I have!

































The climate story is about to change. Our new paper on Ocean Heat Content (OHC) and Earth’s Energy Imbalance (EEI) obliterates the current narrative. Brace yourselves. Release imminent.



I'd been looking at PAC contributions when I should have been looking at the people who actually have daily access to the Capitol - the media. The true lobbyists. Punchbowl News represents a whole lot of powerful industries and they are unflinching admirers of Senate Majority Leader John Thune. John Thune is the "paid influencer ecosystem." 𝕏 merely exposed how that machinery works in the Senate. Just look at the posts of @AndrewDesiderio , their senior Senate "correspondent." Almost every single one is about defeating the SAVE America Act and praising Thune. Punchbowl isn't shy about where their money comes from. Founder Jack Sherman himself admitted that 90% of Punchbowl's revenue is from "corporate sponsorships." They made 10 million dollars in revenue their first year... what kind of "journalist" company pulls that off? The podcast featuring them outright describes their business model as getting their money from "sponsorships bought by trade groups and companies looking to get their public affairs messaging in front of those making and influencing policy." Punchbowl got in ethical hot water when they treated a whole bunch of lobbyists to luxury box seats at a NFL game. If you want to know why SAVE America Act is being slow-walked... Start with @PunchbowlNews .





🎙️@JakeSherman and @apalmerdc break down all you need to know on #TheDailyPunch. 👇youtube.com/watch?v=X2GmLR…








Hello, Mr. Desiderio, Punchbowl News sells access to Capitol Hill for corporate clients. Their senior Senate reporter is you, Andrew Desiderio. Here's how the access works: Punchbowl has a weekly show called "Fly Out Day," taped at the Punchbowl News Townhouse and described on their own site as an "exclusive first look" for Premium subscribers. Those Premium subscribers are the K Street corporate government affairs staff and trade association officials whose legislative interests depend on what Senate leadership decides to schedule… or kill. The second-ever guest was Senate Majority Leader John Thune, on September 11, 2025. This is documented in your own webste. Now let’s go over your post carefully. You say Mike Lee "primed the GOP base to believe" something. That’s manipulative framing, the language of a man working a crowd. But Thune "pointed out" something. That’s the language of a man correcting the record, establishing fact. This is not a one-off phrasing choice on your part. Your Punchbowl coverage consistently frames Thune's positions as institutional reality and conservative alternatives as base management. Thune "declared" that the talking filibuster is dead. Lee and his allies "captivated Trump's base." Thune "had enough." The SAVE Act push is "a self-inflicted wound." These are not neutral verbs. They are a point of view… and it's Thune's point of view, delivered with a byline. There's a structural reason this happens. Jake Sherman described Punchbowl's business model in his own words on The Rebooting podcast (January 2022): nearly 90% of the outlet's revenue comes from corporate sponsorships… "trade groups and companies looking to get their public affairs messaging in front of those making public policy." The sponsors documented at Punchbowl include PhRMA, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Facebook, JPMorgan, Blackstone, the American Investment Council (private equity lobby), and others. These sponsors need the goodwill of the Senate Majority Leader, who controls which of their legislative priorities come to the floor. Thune controls the floor. Thune sits in Punchbowl's townhouse. You reports Thune's framing as conventional wisdom. When Desiderio writes that the talking filibuster "will ultimately fail" ... not might fail, not Thune argues it will fail, but when it ultimately fails ... is that journalism? Or is it the view from Thune's Fly Out Day chair? You are busted, Mr. Desiderio.



