- It undermines Social Security by reducing contributions. The economic crisis will already accelerate the time frame for when Social Security will not be able to pay all benefits.
- It only helps people who are working and paying the tax. It doesn’t help the massive amount of unemployed people who need the money the most.
Month: May 2020
Pompeo is corrupt
BRUTAL Kansas City Star editorial on @SecPompeo’s taxpayer funded donor dinners: “gross exploitation of both the public trust and the public purse” https://t.co/XHWQubixdF
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) May 23, 2020
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered officials to find a way to justify the Saudi arms sale being probed by the department's fired watchdog https://t.co/wtRE666Jq2 pic.twitter.com/LwZCgrifEl
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 21, 2020
Breaking via NYT: Mike Pompeo is quietly meeting with prominent Republican donors and conservative figures while on official trips.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 21, 2020
Pompeo often does not put the visits on his public schedule. He and his aides avoid telling reporters about the meetings.https://t.co/xI5YsDkgw9
A recap of how Secretary Mike Pompeo has conveniently taken stances that Congressman Mike Pompeo never would have tolerated…. https://t.co/HtCsgi4Uqa
— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) May 21, 2020
SCOOP: Officials across State/DoD/IC/NSC Deputies Cmte unanimously agreed last year that there was no basis to invoke emergency powers to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, & told lawmakers the same.
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) May 21, 2020
Pompeo approved the sale anyway
w/ @laraseligman @woodruffbetshttps://t.co/7hvSdGLABk
What in the world is the point of having inspectors general if you're going to let the officials they investigate decide when they should be fired? That's not how you run a government of the people, by the people, for the people.https://t.co/eJJ7jbMW6J
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) May 20, 2020
Detail from Fred Kaplan on how Pompeo got so corrupt: A friend of the family tells him that security officials were told to pack up the home of Susan Pompeo’s mother in Louisiana last June when they were moving her into a retirement home in KS https://t.co/UpuuNfBPdH
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) May 20, 2020
“Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch appear on the list….” 🤨
— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) May 20, 2020
What do Reba McEntire, NH Gov Sununu, Justice Alito, Laura Ingraham and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have in common? All were invited to Pompeo's taxpayer-funded "Madison Dinners" in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms – https://t.co/NiYuQEglrb
— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) May 20, 2020
More on lies about Bill Gates
A Yahoo News and YouGov survey found that over 40% of Republicans believe Bill Gates will use COVID-19 vaccines to implant microchips https://t.co/BSoBBAtc2o
— CNET (@CNET) May 29, 2020
A new poll shows a huge amount of Americans (44% of Republicans, 19% of Democrats) believe Bill Gates created the coronavirus so he could use a vaccine to track us. The irony is this would be a considerable downgrade on how we're tracked now, through our phones & internet usage.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 23, 2020
.@BillGates may end up saving more lives than anybody since Pasteur or Jenner, while giving away more money than anybody ever, so the conspiracy theories about him offer a window into the hold that irrationality and conspiracy theories have on the American psyche. https://t.co/yZBkZnWDiz
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) May 23, 2020
If you really think @BillGates is trying to put a microchip in your body to track you…
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) May 23, 2020
you are a fucking idiot and all I can say is please do not have sex without protection. https://t.co/q00tYfLL8m
"44% of Republicans think Bill Gates is working on a coronavirus vaccine so he can plant a microchip in them."
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) May 23, 2020
These folks are gone and never coming back to reality:
"False claims targeting billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates are gaining traction online since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, with experts warning they could hamper efforts to curb the virus." https://t.co/MsNyqzxE16
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) May 19, 2020
Trump plays golf while death total approaches 100,000
He’s doing what he attacked Obama for doing. What a hyprocrite! Trump is a terrible role model.
Trump golfs while more Americans die https://t.co/H8elwl2w2w
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) May 23, 2020
Trump is golfing today.
— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) May 23, 2020
In 2014 on Fox and Friends he criticized Obama for golfing when there were *two cases* of Ebola in the United States saying, "it sends the wrong signal" and he should have given up golf as president "to really focus on the job." https://t.co/br8jLwVLts pic.twitter.com/Jmh5CSt2mp
“There are times to play and times that you can’t play and it sends the wrong signal.” – @realDonaldTrump
— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) May 23, 2020
We’ve lost almost 100,000 Americans.
What signal are you trying to send here Mr. President? pic.twitter.com/9SGlSC8uj3
President Donald Trump golfing today https://t.co/UFgLUpbXXs
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) May 23, 2020
As US deaths approach 100,000, Trump disputes the numbers and plays golf.
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) May 23, 2020
This isn't leadership. It's criminal negligence. https://t.co/s6rKq2Qfm2
“I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think, you know, playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) May 23, 2020
George W. Bush.
As Trump approaches the golf ball, we mournfully approach 100,000 dead. https://t.co/Eiqr4D7DlY
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) May 23, 2020
Sad but serious question: How much of Trump’s push to reopen has been motivated by him knowing he couldn’t play golf until everyone else could? https://t.co/I0EEP9KBSo
— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) May 23, 2020
I wrote about Trump getting an all-clear to head to a problematic coronavirus region to play golf. https://t.co/NxK5jIRuRw
— Philip Bump (@pbump) May 23, 2020
Trump isn’t just playing golf today. He’s funneling US tax dollars into a private club that he owns. He overcharges Secret Service for the golf carts. No grift is too small or petty for Trump. He will steal as much as he can between now and November. @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/eXPxwZEjfc
— NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) May 23, 2020
In Dec 2015, candidate Trump criticized Obama for playing "250 rounds of golf" in 7 years.
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) May 23, 2020
Today, 3.5yrs into his presidency, during a pandemic that has killed almost 100,000 Americans, Trump is making his 271st taxpayer-funded visit to a golf club he still profits from pic.twitter.com/4ylnw1u42h
Polls on masks
We've got a new set of HuffPost/YouGov polling on masks. If this was supposed to be the new front in a culture war…someone apparently forgot to tell most of the public.https://t.co/FyfceHGs05
— Ariel Edwards-Levy (@aedwardslevy) May 20, 2020
On April 1st, 27% of Americans said they had worn a mask or other face covering in the last 7 days.
— Alexander Podkul (@apodkul) May 20, 2020
Today, it's up to 83%.
(Data: @USCDornsife) pic.twitter.com/bimJiDI7YA
don't let cable/Twitter focus on extreme views and controversy fool you about what Americans believe https://t.co/NRVAYsdzyt
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) May 20, 2020
Coronavirus polls update 5/20/20
new Quinnipiac national poll on approval for different officials in handling coronavirus:
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) May 21, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci 68%
state governors 66%
the CDC 56%
Congressional Dems 45%
President Trump 41%
Congressional GOP 38%
Do you think it will be safe or unsafe to send students to elementary, middle, and high schools in the fall?
— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) May 20, 2020
ALL
Safe 40%
Unsafe 52%
REP
Safe 68%
Unsafe 25%
DEM
Safe 20%
Unsafe 73%
IND
Safe 39%
Unsafe 51%
(Quinnipiac U. Poll, RV, 5/14-18/20)https://t.co/FZqvGXKZcC
1/2
Americans who rely most on national news outlets for COVID-19 coverage largely give the news media high marks, with 83% saying they have done at least “somewhat well” covering it. https://t.co/mJXQ7n9EMK pic.twitter.com/Nd7PCmbryL
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) May 20, 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — AP-NORC poll: 83% of Americans concerned lifting restrictions in their area will lead to additional COVID-19 infections.
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) May 20, 2020
A plurality of voters oppose Trump’s push for U.S. elementary and high schools to get back to business this fall, according to our poll with Morning Consulthttps://t.co/AILwNPu1Bx
— POLITICO (@politico) May 20, 2020
Per @washingtonpost, Maryland's @GovLarryHogan (R) polling at 85% approval rating amid #Coronavirus pandemic – Most popular in the United States https://t.co/uHYlNt6RFj #COVID19 #mdpolitics
— Zachary A. Peters (@zapeters) May 19, 2020
One takeaway from the survey @Slate published today on what people (more than 6K responded) are comfortable doing in our new world is how it split based on gender with men more likely than women to pick “yes, I will do this thing” in almost every categoryhttps://t.co/hVmF8tA3sC
— Katie Rayford (@katie_rayford) May 18, 2020
QAnon update 5/20/20
The Republican candidate for Senate in Oregon believes in this nonsense.
QAnon users are posting make-at-home recipes for hydroxychloroquine as Trump says he’s using the drug https://t.co/OgMomydHxz
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) May 20, 2020
Oregon Republicans just nominated an avowed QAnon conspiracy theorist for the US Senatehttps://t.co/Jdjb49eV7F pic.twitter.com/2z0akQVoN0
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) May 20, 2020
QAnon users are posting make-at-home recipes for hydroxychloroquine as Trump says he’s using the drughttps://t.co/VpNFC3Ghnh
— Sam Stein (@samstein) May 20, 2020
Via @willsommer
This is a fascinating deep dive into QAnon https://t.co/LZpWMYgmWb
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 17, 2020
QAnon has already responded to the Atlantic's big Q piece, sharing a tweet from someone excited to see Hillary Clinton talking about Q. "Get the memes ready" refers to Q believers thinking that memes are ultimate weapons in the digital warfare they've become experts in fighting. pic.twitter.com/mKoGeb3AOf
— Mike "Plandemic is Trash" Rothschild (@rothschildmd) May 14, 2020
A QAnon follower urges President Trump to end what he calls an "OBVIOUS PLANDEMIC."
— Travis View (@travis_view) May 13, 2020
The QAnon follower warns Trump, "I urge you to do something soon for if not, you'll not be able to control the Patriots and they'll take things into their own hands." pic.twitter.com/vHktrjrIIa
Trump promoted QAnon from his Twitter account on Sunday. In a February-March @pewresearch survey, 76% of US adults said they had heard "nothing at all" about QAnon. https://t.co/JHEageHKSc pic.twitter.com/Y0qHjaw96J
— John Gramlich (@johngramlich) May 11, 2020
UPDATE: Trump has now amplified QAnon accounts at least 131 times via at least 80 individual accounts, according to the newest count. Since the coronavirus pandemic began in the US, he's amplified QAnon accounts at least 36 times via 15 individual accounts https://t.co/AItOII5Cft
— Alex Kaplan (@AlKapDC) May 11, 2020
Trump has been amplifying all kinds of "Q-Anon" conspiracy theorists all weekend.
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) May 11, 2020
I've asked the WH press office if Trump believes Q is real.
Will advise.
Which will fight the theory or fuel it? https://t.co/Lm7s0nmOwX
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) May 5, 2020
The QAnon followers who act as if the "Storm" of mass arrests has already happened fascinate me. It's like their brains decided they're living in a fantasy world already, so might as well go all the way. pic.twitter.com/5kE0S6sVBA
— Travis View (@travis_view) May 5, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: The guy Trump wants as director of national intelligence follows Pizzagaters, JFK Jr. conspiracists, and a 9/11 Truther account with just one follower besides himself. https://t.co/eJtjS5zpYR
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) May 4, 2020
Trump’s lies about Michigan voting by mail
He’s stirring up nonsense about voter fraud. He wants voter suppression and doesn’t care about the health of voters.
1. Michigan sent out applications, not ballots.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 20, 2020
2. Republicans in other states did the same.
3. It’s not illegal. It’s not illegal to send out applications or ballots.
4. The RNC chair said Monday she doesn’t have an issue with sending out applications. https://t.co/HvmYyTuCTG
I will summarize: Trump lied.https://t.co/nPX4NXjJoE
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) May 20, 2020
Republicans can wave goodbye to Michigan. Forget it. Up and down the ballot. R's are thugs ready to harm voters who don't help suppress the vote. https://t.co/uarAU9CdYn
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) May 20, 2020
Hi again. Still wrong. Every Michigan registered voter has a right to vote by mail. I have the authority & responsibility to make sure that they know how to exercise this right – just like my GOP colleagues are doing in GA, IA, NE and WV. Also, again, my name is Jocelyn Benson. https://t.co/deZJwbMlT0
— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) May 20, 2020
President Trump lashes out at officials in Michigan and Nevada over their moves to make it easier for more voters to cast their ballots by mail ahead of the November election https://t.co/5Uog4dFeKs pic.twitter.com/W9GpKNAEu1
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 20, 2020
This tweet has now been resent to say "applications" were sent to all voters. But it's still not true that this was done illegally. All Michigan voters are, by state law, entitled to vote by mail. Applications are sent out all the time, including before the coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/cbhKY3pr4L
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) May 20, 2020
In real life, President Trump tweeted that Michigan's disaster relief depended on branding his opponent's POTENTIAL VOTERS as criminals. https://t.co/wapZIbJJpO
— David Frum (@davidfrum) May 20, 2020
1. Michigan sending absentee ballot applications not ballots to voters
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) May 20, 2020
2. @JocelynBenson one of best Secretaries of State in country & has authorization to do so
3. Threatening to block funding to sway election outcome exactly what Trump impeached for https://t.co/okDRAgc6uV
Just wanted to thank Senate Republicans for pre-approving all of the authoritarianism. https://t.co/fZxnNMvf8z
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) May 20, 2020
Correction: @MichSoS @JocelynBenson is in compliance with all laws. Michigan voters approved no-excuse absentee voting in November. She is the elected official in charge of elections, and she is sending applications, not ballots, to all voters. https://t.co/uXsJBv0nAd
— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) May 20, 2020
On Trump's corrupt and deranged threat to cut off aid to Michigan:
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) May 20, 2020
* During impeachment, Dems raised this exact scenario
* What he's threatening is illegal
* Trump is a clownish autocrat: House Ds tell me Michigan has already gotten its $$$
New piece:https://t.co/gsV4WJytF1
Threatening to defund one of the most important battleground states and one of your party’s few Senate pickup opportunities because 5D chess https://t.co/kXL3GmIwrJ
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) May 20, 2020
I assume Senate Republicans, defenders of federalism, will hurry to explain Michigan has the right to run its own elections. And as defenders of the rule of law, they'll remind Trump he doesn't get to hold up funding because he doesn't like something a state is doing. https://t.co/tBK9Zd9Qa2
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 20, 2020
In the middle of a pandemic, and during a massive flood in Michigan, @realDonaldTrump wants to cut funding to the state because voters were legally sent applications to vote by mail by a Republican Secretary of State.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 20, 2020
Donald Trump is unfit to be President.#WednesdayWisdom https://t.co/y5cmKCwbxi
In other words, the president has continued to allege illegality even though he has substantially changed the allegation. https://t.co/xTe92gNGqL
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 20, 2020
The phony right wing “Unmasking” scandal
Trump and his cult are wrong again.
Congrats to every credulous pundit and reporter who pretended to believe GOP/Trump bullshit about this https://t.co/HNlvbozzcG
— Daniel Gilmore (@gilmored85) May 20, 2020
A 30 year+ veteran of the @CIA wrote this piece. You should read it.
— Sam Vinograd (@sam_vinograd) May 17, 2020
He argues that the DNI’s unprecedented release of a list of officials who made unmasking requests has yet again politicized the IC and suggests that the intent was to create a political spectacle. https://t.co/MIuelnbv9E
Why the “unmasking” requests of Michael Flynn were not improper. https://t.co/J7KPrep4bZ
— Michael Morell (@MichaelJMorell) May 17, 2020
Unmasking is a formal process. It's not a crime. It is not leaking. It's heavily regulated. And…wait for it…the Trump Administration has done it extensively.
— Kelly Magsamen (@kellymagsamen) May 13, 2020
Under US surveillance rules, unmasking an American's identity in a report derived from foreign-intelligence surveillance is routine when necessary to understand (e.g., who was the Russian ambassador talking to?). The NSA did so 10,000 times last year, nearly 17,000 times in 2018. pic.twitter.com/iThs9w15ZN
— Charlie Savage (@charlie_savage) May 13, 2020
1. This was all about wanting to leak the list from the get go. 2. I legitimately have no idea how anyone could construe this list as even remotely controversial, but I'm sure Trump & Co will find a way. https://t.co/TijP4QQXFd
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) May 13, 2020
"Unmasking" sounds vaguely sinister but it means intel agents flagged Flynn's suspicious contacts with Russia – which Flynn would later lie to the VP and FBI about, for some reason – and officials found out who he was, with proper approvals and through authorized channels.
— Elie Honig (@eliehonig) May 13, 2020
NEW: Grassley/Johnson have released list of Obama officials who made unmasking requests that might've IDed Flynn.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 13, 2020
Most of the requests identified, though, came before Flynn spoke to Kislyak.https://t.co/sHiQJlw5hY
Under US surveillance rules, unmasking an American's identity in a report derived from foreign-intelligence surveillance is routine when necessary to understand (e.g., who was the Russian ambassador talking to?). The NSA did so 10,000 times last year, nearly 17,000 times in 2018. pic.twitter.com/iThs9w15ZN
— Charlie Savage (@charlie_savage) May 13, 2020
More on the phony Obamagate scandal
Part of the whole “Obamagate” play is to delegitimize scrutiny of Russian intervention in the 2020 election by making people so exhausted reliving 2016.
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) May 20, 2020
Of course they did. Obama’s was the most scandal-free administration in history. Trump is just distracting. Pathetic. But par for the course. https://t.co/TzTHIde0XR
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) May 20, 2020
Why you shouldn't buy Trump's branding for his Obama conspiracy theoryhttps://t.co/wU9kZrsofv pic.twitter.com/V3rLIAZY1T
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) May 19, 2020
President Trump emerged from the weekend looking to advance unfounded crime conspiracies about Barack Obama — despite being unable to provide any evidence for them https://t.co/dsciF3gDYk pic.twitter.com/nCmRKTrY27
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 19, 2020
Not sure his base could be more riled up. He is seeking payback, per almost everyone close to him. https://t.co/4iRgfnlPgd
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 18, 2020
It’s becoming clear that journalists never fully reckoned with the mistakes of 2016 campaign coverage. We know this because they seem poised to repeat them. My column https://t.co/wCneBbeCSa
— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) May 18, 2020
Birtherism helped get Trump elected president. He has not forgotten. https://t.co/OWUKhAkGHI
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) May 18, 2020
"The more Americans hear about Obamagate, the more they should wonder why Mr. Trump is not running on his record but on a dishonest effort to drag his opponent down to his level." https://t.co/7OJWbNOHLW
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) May 17, 2020
“The end result of so much noise is what I’ve called ‘manufactured nihilism,’ a situation in which people are so skeptical about the possibility of truth that they give up the search.” https://t.co/7JG3nm6DnE
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 17, 2020
Sad! 