Billy Hung (he/him)

Bro really be here in 2024 advocating regressive tax that disproportionately burdens the poor like he just came up with this bright new idea.

@mblair @krassenstein So you willing to open this door for Trump, knowing it’s precedent for every black defendant to request change of venue from a white majority city/jurisdiction?

This isn't about jury selection. It is the pool itself being so lopsided. We have a mechanism to change venue. Notable examples are posted below. It was denied in Trump's case. I'm suggesting that we should have a new America tradition of changing venues from lopsided counties to a "purple" county that has a balanced jury pool. For example, in Trump's case moving it from New York County (12%-86%) to Suffolk (49%-49%). The foremost reason for this is because it is important for trials with a political character to have the maximum perception of credibility or it undermines faith in the American judicial system. If you support Biden, you should also support moving the trial to Suffolk because a conviction there would carry more weight. It can't be easily waved away as a "partisan witch hunt". It is more likely to cause fence-sitting Republicans and Independents to either move to the Biden column or stay home in disgust.

BREAKING: Judge Engoron has just ruled that the $175 million bond posted by Trump can stand, after some terms are tweaked. The new terms: - Knight Specialty must have exclusive control of the account. - The company must provide a monthly statement to the attorney general with the account balance. As you can see, Judge Engoron is fair. Some rulings go in Trump’s way and some against him. You don’t see me complaining now that the judge is biased or his decision is “political” do you?

@mblair @krassenstein The law promises a jury of his peers. Which is, well, New Yorkers. It doesn’t promise anyone a completely 50/50 jury. That’s what the jury selection process is for.

@krassenstein The venue for this trial is as absurd as if Hillary Clinton had been tried in the backcountry of Texas. It should have been changed to a balanced locale so that the verdict will have more credibility.

This is the kind of client you take on as a lawyer just for the money and then enjoy his self-immolation as you cash the check (and hope it won’t bounce). h/t @Stonekettle

Truth speakers are hated =\= those who are hated speak the truth. That’s a right-wing sleigh-of-hand rhetoric and faulty logic. Some are hated bc they are absolute cockwombles. Let’s make that distinction.

It irritates me to no end they the GOP consistently gets away with doing things like this to their voter base.

Another day, another Christian preacher pedophile caught.

Still #NotADragQueen

@Sassafrass_84 You say you care about history but you have shown no awareness of the political re-alignment on race issues between the two parties that took place in the 60s and 70s. So, no, not buying your bullshit.

I know a ton of people wanting to diagnose what they think transpired. Had a lot of that today. Again. I do not fucking care your thoughts. Or what you think..only history. Not what you think may have would have certainly to this day may be... Doesn't change the fact that democrats think you are sub par. We have legislation passing in 2023 that makes you...sub par. YOU ARE POC. Again. Seriously.. Stfu. This is so sad. And you did this to yourselves.....👇 x.com/sassafrass_84/…

Can we start teaching real history again? Link in the comments.

@crusTcurmudgeon @hostler1 @matt_degods @Terrence_STR @BarackObama You keep saying “picking companies” and keep neglecting the workers that will be affected. Capitalism is not a holy writ. And it comes in many forms. But I f socialism will save the livelihood of tens of thousands of workers? Yeah give me socialism. Two scoops of it please.

A capitalist conservative should not be asking for handouts from the government. But conservative or liberal matters little. It is crony capitalism where government picks winners and losers rather than the free market. Allowing companies to survive when they have gone bankrupt allows for poor management. Workers, the market, and taxpayers all lose when bad management is perpetuated.

Fourteen years ago, when the big three automakers were struggling to stay afloat, my administration and the American people stepped in to support them. So did the auto workers in the UAW who sacrificed pay and benefits to help get the companies back on their feet. Now that our carmakers are enjoying robust profits, it’s time to do right by those same workers so the industry can emerge more united and competitive than ever.

@mattyglesias You really find it a good use of your time and your reach to belittle/be condescending to this eh? Wild.

Now that these cards are available, I think we’re gonna beat racism.

@kayhangultekin The portion of total profit coming from this product really shouldn’t matter. The mark-up margin alone should be sufficient to judge if the pricing is reasonable or not. Otherwise, you’re justifying price gouging of product A b/c products B to F aren’t very profitable.

@kaifhung @johngreen Asking them to lose money or make hardly any money is very different from asking them to make slightly less money.

. @DanaherCorp makes 8 billion dollars in annual profits. Much of that profit comes from price-gouging the world's poorest countries for life-saving tuberculosis tests. Danaher has done this in the dark for 13 long years. Today, we shine the light. #PeopleOverProfits

@kayhangultekin @johngreen In what context would that piece of information matter to the point of their pricing policy is making this product unaffordable to those who would need it the most?

@kaifhung @johngreen Should be easy to determine if it is a large or small fraction of their total revenue.

Capitalists: we should trust the free market principles to determine price and cost \market adjusts to value labor more Capitalists: no, not like that

For those who might not know - this isn’t how it always worked. The private pharmaceuticals accepted govt fund to scale up mass production of penicillin in pre-WW2, dropping the price so it’s affordable to treat all people. We need to insist on that model again. /end

This is the reality of global capitalism controlling life-saving remedies. The extra infuriating factor is that the science behind this was largely paid for by public tax dollars. I urge @DanaherCorp to do better. #PeopleOverProfits /1

@kayhangultekin @johngreen This will not be an easy task to tease apart because a lot of the science necessary for this product was paid for by tax dollars in the form of research funding. Also, the price gouging is in the range of 220% to 500%.

@johngreen Can you clarify whether “much of their profits” come from this price gouging or (as you alluded earlier) it accounts for a “modest” amount of their profit?

@TheMtBastard @johngreen @DanaherCorp You can watch the video and find out in the first 4 minutes of the 8.5 min video. But here is the punchline: the profit margin 220% to 500% profit margin.

@krassenstein It’s wild when folks credit the CEO type for things like “creating jobs” and such. It’s like crediting a fisherman for the bounty of the oceans, or a landlord for the presence of housing options. It is doubly wild when the praise ignores the number of jobs he cut.

If you are posting the #ElonMuskIsATraitor hash tag, because of the Starlink / Ukraine news, I'm sorry, but you are likely ignorant to these facts:. - Musk has created over 130,000 jobs in the US. - Musk has single-handedly made the US the leader in EV technology while pushing solar and battery tech forward as well. - Musk is at least trying to come up with solutions to have free speech but also safe speech. - Musk sent a bunch of Starlink receivers to Ukraine in order to set up a communications infrastructure to aid in their defense. - Musk went out of his way to help schools during the Flint water crisis by providing filtration when the government dropped the ball. If you are attacking him as a "traitor" because he didn't allow Ukraine to utilize his technology to attack Russia, but ignore the good that he has done for our economy and society in general, you are just as bad as the media who simply needs a new face to hate. I have criticized him in the past and will continue to do so when I actually have an argument, but I will never use single actions to judge him on a wider scale. Be better than that.

@Catherineoscopy At my school, we finally got 30 paid parental leave (birth/adopt) last year after we @eiu_upi striked. Before, you had to use accrued sick leave if you wanted paid leave. So folks with chronic health issues that eat up sick leave were shit outta luck. Higher ed: do better.

The enraging thing is many places are much worse. At my last job at SCSU I was advised by a colleague to “birth in May” if I were to have kids bc there was 0 paid leave. It’s sad higher ed knows better but doesn’t do better. We need federal policies that guarantee paid FMLA.