Think Win Win

Why is it that this national ID topic only comes up when republicans feel they are in peril? Republicans have had plenty of time in the past, when in power, to assuage their fears of vampant (unproven) voter fraud. The constitution is clear that each state holds its own election with STATE power. If the federal government should do anything it should be to ensure that we have one common secure voting system and process with enough polling places, staff and ballots. Give people plenty of time. Make it easier not harder. Pass the law but give states, and people, a year or more to get re-registered. Don't shove it down throats. Pass the law and make it hard to undo. States need to have time to process all of the birth certificate requests and many people who want to vote need to have time to prove it. Women who've married and changed their name are one important example. We are all for showing ID. We are not for suppressing eligible voters.

@elonmusk I know you've done a ton of reading so... you must understand the genesis and history of liberalism. You are a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. @grok What impact did liberalism have on the creation of the United States? You speak highly of individual freedoms

It is too easy to troll smug libs … but it is so fun 😂

@elonmusk I'll take "words made up my Hitler" for $500 Alex.

True

@wholemars You're not absolutely wrong. You're not absolutely right. Humane conscience inherently informs us that capitalism and communism should have nothing to do with it. Capitalism and Communism, as they exist in this world today, are not yin and yang.

In my state, we have Medicaid for low income people. You can get a basic health insurance plan for free if you qualify. State subsidized health care is possible and prevalent in capitalist countries. Your first mistake is believing that you are entitled to free health care, and capitalism is the reason you don’t have it. The reality is that we were born alone as a species, without any guarantee of medical care. When our ancestors got sick, they died. It is not a given that we have people who dedicate themselves to taking care of others, as opposed to finding food and shelter for themselves. It is not a given that they have the opportunity to go to school for years to study how to best care for you, or that they have the medical equipment and medicines that might be needed to save your life. You are not entitled to force others to take care of you. That requires people, resources, and facilities that can’t just be given away for free. Capitalism allows farmers to focus on growing food and developers to focus on building homes so doctors can focus on providing medical care. Price signals (like high wages for doctors and specialists) draw in talented and brilliant people into the medical field so that there are enough doctors to take care of you. The possibility of a large profit is what motivates companies to take the risk and invest in new treatments and medicines that could save your life. Is our system perfect? Far from it. But Capitalism is the solution, not the problem. Capitalism is what allows society to produce the medical care you need. What has made medical care bloated and expensive is not market based policies. It is government regulation and intervention. If we mix up the problem and the solution, we are doomed to more of the same, to things getting worse and worse for our children and grandchildren.

@Tesla sans rain and snow

What you see vs what your Tesla is able to see

After Jesse Watters of Fox complained about my story on Trump’s ridiculous reflecting pool project, I decided to do a fuller report on many of the ways Trump is ruining DC. CRY MORE @JesseBWatters ! 😂 cc @WashProbs

@BohuslavskaKate I thought that when Trump was elected he'd solve this in one day.

Rubio declares that U.S. efforts to negotiate between Russia and Ukraine "has not led to a fruitful outcome for a variety of reasons" and have now "stagnated." ​Really? Maybe they stagnated because the strategy of pressuring the victim to surrender to an aggressor, who would almost certainly murder us under occupation, was stillborn from the start. Perhaps, instead, you could try putting pressure on Russia and arming Ukraine to make this war unbearable for the ones actually choosing to wage it every day?

🇺🇸🧐 This is beyond outrageous. Openly, shamelessly, without fear of anyone, he is robbing America right in front of the entire country — robbing all of us. Kaitlan Collins, host of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, described the situation this way: “Imagine suing the government for $10 billion while also being the person who controls that very government. That’s exactly what is happening right now. Donald Trump, sitting in the White House, has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Treasury Department and the IRS — the very Treasury he controls, the very IRS he oversees, the very government he leads. He is effectively both the plaintiff and the defendant, and he wants taxpayers — you, me, every working family in America — to hand him $10 billion. Just think about that.” Trump even appeared on television boasting that he had already “won,” essentially bragging that he was negotiating a settlement with himself. Then his lawyers walked into federal court asking for a 90-day delay — not to fight the lawsuit, but to “reach an agreement.” An agreement between Donald Trump and Donald Trump, paid for with your money. But then something unexpected happened. Judge Kathleen Williams looked at this circus and basically said: “Wait a second. You are telling me you are suing yourself and expect me to approve a $10 billion payment from the U.S. Treasury directly into your personal pocket? Absolutely not.” She rejected the 90-day delay. She demanded separate reports from both sides — despite both sides effectively being controlled by the same person. Then she took the extraordinary step of appointing three of the nation’s most respected law firms as independent advisers to the court. Why? Because $10 billion of taxpayer money is at stake. What is really happening here is terrifying: a sitting president allegedly using the power of his office, and a Justice Department under his influence, to settle a personal lawsuit with himself and funnel public money into his own bank account. Constitutional law already has a name for this: a collusive lawsuit. The Supreme Court ruled on this principle more than 200 years ago. If both sides are effectively the same party, the courts have no authority to proceed. The Constitution requires a real conflict, real opposing sides — not a friendly deal between a man and his reflection in the mirror. And this is not some isolated stunt. Critics argue it is part of a broader strategy: stage a fake legal battle, force a surrender, cash the check, and walk away. But this time the number is staggering: $10 billion. Money that could repair roads, fund schools, support veterans, or feed hungry children. Instead, critics say it is being redirected through one of the most transparent legal scams America has ever witnessed. And the people supposed to defend the public interest? The Justice Department. Government officials whose job is to protect taxpayers. They are not fighting. They are not even pretending to fight. The judge sees it. Top legal scholars see it. The Constitution itself sees it. The only remaining question is whether the system still has enough courage to say “No.” Because if a president can sue himself and pay himself with public money, then the word “government” no longer means anything. It simply means: the person holding the pen writes the check — and everyone else pays the bill.

@MoveTheSticks It's still subjective because of who originally ranked the players. Enjoy moving your peas around the plate.

Which Teams Made Most of Their Picks? - 150 points for player ranked 1st overall, 149 for player ranked 2nd … - Players outside Top 150 = 0 points   - 150 expected points for 1st overall pick, 149 for 2nd overall pick …  - Picks outside Top 150 = 0 expected points

@TeslaLarry Crony capitalism is not ubiquitous. That being said capitalism is dirty and the mass contributors bear the brunt of wealth generation. One accumulating $ 1bn without mass contribution of marginally rewarded individual sweat equity? Clean capitalism is unlikely at that level.

One of the most extraordinary displays of ignorance from a public official on record.

@GeraldoRivera ... and stupidly reneged upon by Trump. Stupid if you have morals.

President Trump is in a tough spot. His proposed deal with Iran doesn't sound much different from the deal hammered out by President Obama; savagely criticized by Trump.

@AdamKinzinger You forgot to mention this is Trumps DOJ. Nothing will come of it.

DEVELOPING: DOJ is investigating $2.6B in suspiciously timed oil trades made right before Trump's Iran decisions. The corruption is finally catching up to them. Please like and share to get the word out!

Lobbying, not consumer desire, has hurt EV adoption. The used EV market will change fast with Chinese imports, autonomous vehicles, and more. Regulations can't stop it. In the end, the best products win. @jimmydouglas @plugmotors

Every Democrat since Carter has decreased the federal deficit. Every Republican since Eisenhower has increased the federal deficit.

@Investanswers @EricLDaugh Biden wished you death at xmas?

I was a lifelong Democrat—until Biden wished me DEATH at Xmas for being unvaccinated - that was my wake up call to pay attention to Politics. And now I look at what the left is willing to tolerate, excuse, and defend… and I’m honestly stunned. This is shocking. And the silence from the left is even more shocking.

🚨 IT'S OFFICIAL: Minnesota Democrats on the fraud committee have BLOCKED a subpoena into Somali Rep. Ilhan Omar's involvement in a $250M fraud scandal She is refusing to turn over ANY documents regarding her fraud activities DEMOCRATS ARE PROTECTING FRAUD. "Investigators want to see her communications with a convicted ringleader of the theft from $250 million in COVID funds, that particular part of the probe. That money was meant to feed hungry children." MICHELLE TAFOYA: "She has remained somewhat untouchable here in Minnesota. I'm not sure why that is. I'm not sure why we don't hold all of our suspected wrongdoers to account!" "There is so much smoke here, and I want to find the fire."

@alex_avoigt Well, I made the mistake of holding it for the past 5 years while it went sideways... what have I got to lose.

Warning: Don't make the mistake of believing that the Tesla stock cannot double within 6 months just because it went sideways for the past 5 years. Yes, it can! $tsla

The MAGA crowd in Washington has decided that since Europeans don’t sufficiently appreciate Trump, the American bases on the continent must go. This is the strategic reasoning of a man who burns down his own kitchen. American bases in Europe were never a favour. They are the logistical spine of every war the United States fights east of Gibraltar. Ramstein moves the cargo, Aviano launches the jets, Rota services the ships. Without them the Pentagon does not project power into the Middle East. It projects PowerPoint. The fantasy assumes the alternative is aircraft carriers gliding majestically into the Persian Gulf. That era is ending. A modern carrier is a thirteen-billion-dollar trophy that can be reduced to scrap by a couple of hundred cheap missiles fired from the Iranian coast. China noticed. The other fantasy is that America simply fights from home. Picture the alternative: twenty thousand transatlantic sorties shuttling spare parts, munitions, fuel bladders, mechanics and replacement pilots from Norfolk and Dover to wherever the war happens to be. A C-17 burns through roughly 35,000 dollars of fuel every hour it flies, and the round trip from the American east coast to the Gulf is the better part of a day. Multiply that by every bolt, every missile, every spare engine. The war becomes a sustained airborne traffic jam with the bill arriving by the second. So you need land, specifically land near the war. Modern combat aircraft are not Spitfires you fuel up and send off with a wave. An F-35 demands an entire Walmart of spare parts, a small city of technicians, climate-controlled hangars and a supply chain stretching halfway round the planet. Drones need operators, networks, satellites and a steady diet of components no carrier can store. Modern war arrives by container ship and lives in a warehouse. Close the bases, and Washington loses the warehouses. Lose the warehouses, and the next confrontation with Iran is either fought by phone or fought from Kansas with a flight schedule that bankrupts the Treasury before the first missile lands. MAGA thinks shutting Ramstein punishes Europe. It punishes America. Europe will be inconvenienced. America will be unarmed. And so, after a thousand insults, a thousand sneers, a thousand late-night posts about freeloading allies, Europe is quietly drafting the politest letter in diplomatic history. It thanks America for its service. It wishes the troops a safe journey home. It suggests, with great warmth, that Washington might now turn its attention to its neighbours in Latin America, where a fading superpower can busy itself with whatever a fading superpower busies itself with. Spain had its century. Britain had its empire. The Soviets had their parades. Each ended the same way: as a shadow of itself, with the historians left to argue, volume after volume, about precisely when the rot set in and why nobody noticed in time. America is welcome to join them on the shelf.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ If you like what you read, please follow Gandalv on Substack: @gandalv" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@gandalv

Trump: "Under the Trump economic plan, we will cut your energy prices in half within, mark it down, and you can get very angry at me if we don't do it, within 12 months, within 12 months your energy prices will be cut in half. "My plan will cut energy prices in half or more than that within 12 months of taking office. Number one, your energy bill within 12 months will be cut in half and that's my pledge all over the country. "Beyond farmers, that's my pledge all over the country. If you vote for me, I will cut your energy and electricity prices in half within 12 months. And under my plan, we will cut energy and electricity prices in half within 12 months and that means for your homes too. I will cut your energy."

Cool

President Trump told the American people he was launching a historic crackdown on fraud. He even went so far as to give JD Vance the title “Fraud Czar.”      Well guess what? He’s been pardoning fraudsters left and right.     Welcome to Episode 4 of the Pardon Papers.       More than 70 people convicted of fraud have received clemency from Donald Trump. Yes, that's right. The President leading the war on fraud is also the most prolific pardoner of fraud in modern presidential history. Read that again.      I’ll keep exposing this, because the same president telling you he’s hunting down fraudsters has spent two terms making sure the biggest ones never see the inside of a prison cell.