My wife (sole bread winner in our family, as i have been unemployed for quite some time) works for the federal government. She will probably be designated as essential. We are already struggling, (in addition to her inadequate government pay, we are saddled with my significant medical debt) and now, if the government shuts down, my wife will be required to work without pay, right at the time of month when rent is due, while some rich f**ckers intent on wreaking havoc will get paid wages they don't even need for the service of trying to burn down our country. And I'm well aware that there are so many people worse off than my wife and I. This is where we are in "the land of opportunity," and I am beyond anger, beyond impotent rage, at a place I can't even articulate.
We learn from others’ rants! Thank you and do not want you to stop. This is where the “stories” of other people come to be viewed. No better place and tremendous benefit for ALL of us who bunker down in our own terror.
I keep seeing myself as a bigger than life Mother,Father who has had enough of this undisciplined power. A good spanking is way over due!
That spanking has got to be from the voting booth. Let’s spank them hard!!!👏🏻🤗🥰
So sorry you are in this position. I am furious that these idiots who have no idea how, or desire to, govern, can hurt citizens this way. All I can say is that it's a safe bet everyone in this community will be marching to the polls to vote them OUT.
LC Sharkey, Your situation helps me more clearly understand how people are being affected by the games Republicans are playing. Your story makes it more real and more understandable. It’s valuable. I’d like to hear stories from more people who this is affecting.
Another direct effect of a shutdown: WIC has a contingency fund that will last 7-10 days. After that, the well is dry and those moms and kids will be in a very difficult place.
This is effed up. I am so sorry for everyone who relies on WIC. Even if the shutdown doesn't happen, or ends quickly, the anxiety of not knowing what will happen must be awful.
Years ago paychecks that were direct-deposited in a whole lot--well over 100-- of university professor's bank accounts went astray. That was back in the days when direct deposits involved mailing a check to the bank. The University refused to do anything about it for at least a month, maybe longer.
I had a very close friend who was affected. The fights with his mortgage company, bank, utilities, other bills for "non-payment" were frightful to behold. Few of these folks were living "month to month" but few had the resources to pay ALL the bills without a paycheck unless forced to sell investments, often at a loss, certainly with a fee. In any event they were also charged with multiple fees for checks of their own which "bounced." They all had to keep teaching despite the time it was taking to try to untangle the mess.
So I sympathize with you entirely. It isn't just the loss of income. It is also the uncomprehending response of creditors to a well known situation. The checks, btw, were found a couple of years later during a remodel of the campus PO; they had slipped behind a counter--the entire lot of them.
Do not apologize! Everything you said is spot on. I just wish there was a way to make those callous, craven and rich f**ckers hear you. I’m sorry for your situation. It sucks.
if you're so lucky as to live within reach of the capitol, you can go visit your republican representative, or one of the "freedom caucus" representatives and physically sit in their office waiting rooms daily taking up space and asking for free cups of coffee. If you can convince 30 of your friends to do the same, you can catch them as they attempt to enter through the back door too. When they arrive, introduce yourself and remind them why losing a paycheck is the reason you're there. If you don't live near the capitol, find their district office and do the same. Have a polite sit-in, use their restroom, drink their coffee and simply be present in front of them. Remind them that you exist and that your vote is in play.
It’s also not helpful because look who s(h)its in the House right now. Mtg, bobo, gossart, gaetz, and so forth. They don’t care because they just don’t care. Scary.
He didn’t mention that they live paycheck to paycheck, no need to put something out there that was never said. If he accidentally left that out... you have a point but reading what he wrote I doubt that because that alone is worse than anything else he ranted about.
Hmmmm . . . “significant medical debt” and the word “struggling” signal that very likelihood. Medical debt in the USA sinks more households into bankruptcy than just about any other form of debt.
Get a job, since you are able to type in order to gain sympathy, you can work from home. You are scamming your supporters looking to advance who knows what. Nobody on this thread will do one thing for you. So get off your knees and put on your big boy pants.
By the way, you may want to return your unemployment checks so that you are truly needy.
I don't get unemployment. You're making assumptions again, doing exactly what you criticized others for doing. I get it. Victim blaming is a defense mechanism, so maybe, just maybe, you're as stressed and scared as the rest of us. The problem is, lashing out like you're doing doesn't serve anyone else, including you, so maybe find a punching bag, or throw some rocks at bottles or something. Just an idea.
Have you ever know anyone disabled by cancer? If you had you would know know that they seldom get disability before they die. It's a cruel disease. I had a friend who was quite generous before she got cancer. Then she was almost reduced to begging so quit mocking others. If there is a God she's okay, but it shouldn't take the thought of an afterlife to realize that only looking out for yourself impoverishes us all.
Pronouns, pronouns, pronouns... I have to say, your situation is something I never experienced. I made sure I didn’t experience because I always worked, I didn’t cruise the Internet to attract sympathy. What you failed to mention is your area of expertise and why you can’t hang onto a job or anything associated with your inability to impress anyone to hire you. Get a job and quit relying on your wife.
Since all posts are anonymous and there is no way to follow up with your sorrowful situation that will continue indefinitely... please expand on your inability to move forward.
So, in short , a government that makes you work without pay is not the problem yet you and others make it a partisan issue. You would be better off rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic instead of spending time on pointing fingers at only one party.
By the way, our medical system sucks, we have insurance coverage instead of medical coverage... thanks to Congress.
You are intentionally misconstruing everything about the OP here in order to attempt to defend the indefensible. OP is involuntarily unemployed due to medical issues which have caused them to accrue significant debt. Their spouse is likely to be forced to continue working without pay until the petulant children gumming up the works in the House get over themselves and do their jobs. Yes indeed, she will eventually be reimbursed - which does not help with ongoing bills (rent, utilities, insurance, etc.) or other expenses i.e. food, doctor bills, gas, etc. Care to offer them a solution, or at least, some expression of sympathy for their position between the proverbial rock and hard place? Or are you just another hard-ass who thinks anyone who lands in difficulty is there on their own hook, and can just suck it?
Sympathy? For what? A faceless nameless poster? Your post is longer than the original and you certainly added some flavor that previously was nonexistent. By the way, what am I defending?
"A faceless nameless poster?" Pot, meet kettle. How about YOU post under YOUR actual name? C'mon - name and actual photo for your profile. Walk the talk, jerk.
I'm, it is a partisan issue, because while neither party does a good enough job at any of this, the Dems come a hell of a lot closer, and have never tried yet to turn our democracy into a fascist dictatorship. If you think Congress is bad, try living in a country where there is no democratically elected legislative body.
Although it may well be 'against the law', that is exactly what happens with essential federal employees who are required to work during a government shutdown.
In the past they have always been paid later, but that won't happen until the shutdown ends.
Yeah. Last time it happened, my wife didn't work for the gov yet, but my niece did. Her and her young daughter almost lost her house, and the late fees for all the bills she couldn't pay during that time didn't help. So this is really callous and not helpful feedback.
Kevin McCarthy could end this nonsense and at the same time kneecap the sedition caucus by working with Democrats in the House, but he is so afraid of losing his precious speakership position he refuses to do it. Instead, he will leave millions of Americans without a paycheck, all in service to his own despicable needs. This is disgusting, and again screams loud and clear exactly who the Republiqans are; they are most certainly not for the American people. 😡
If only the media - all of it (not counting Fox of course) - would come out and loudly tell the truth about who is causing this - the spin that it’s the Democrats and Biden will work in the minds of many. Too many people completely unaware.
"Kevin McCarthy could end this nonsense and at the same time kneecap the sedition caucus by working with Democrats in the House" - not going to happen. Elect a clown, get a circus.
He’s afraid he will look weak if he works with the Democrats. So his choices are to either look week, and everyone continues to receive a paycheck, or he can be a despicable coward and shut the government down. Either way, he has no moral code or backbone. Disgusting.
You think the Dems would work with Kevin only days after he started a transparently partisan impeachment hearing at the behest of King Donny? No, I don't see that happening anytime soon.
If Mar-a-Lago is worth so much more, the property insurance companies who cover the property should sue for back premiums for the value tRump claims. As should the counties those properties are in for back property taxes. He can’t have it both ways.
If defendant Trump produced a credible document from a credible real estate assessor, then I >might< believe him. Otherwise it's just more of his brand of bullshyte ("Felonious Fabulism" is now the name of the brand, I believe).
Unfortunately Trump seems to be succeeding in planting the idea that the NY state judge is the party who valued Mar A Lago at $18M. That is simply factually false, and seems worth pushing back at since it is now going around online.
It is uncontested fact (which Trump's lawyers did not dispute) that the party who valued Mar A Lago at between $18-27M is the local county assessor in Florida, who placed its value in that range 12 years in a row. The reason for that valuation is clear-cut: the property is no longer legally subdividable or developable. Trump in 2002 signed an irrevocable deed in which he surrendered all rights to develop or use any part of the parcel for any purposes other than the existing social club. He did that in order to get a large one-time tax deduction for the resulting historic-preservation easement as well as annual reduced property taxes. That easement is permanent, it "goes with the land", that's why he had to sign and record a fresh deed in order to receive the tax benefit.
Hence most of the Mar A Lago property's market value was legally extinguished, and comparisons to neighboring properties on which new houses or other structures have been built are specious. The county assessor correctly based its valuations, and Trump's annual property tax bills, on comparable properties that have the same sort of deed restriction on them.
But Trump kept basing his sworn financial statements on the idea that the Mar A Lago parcel could be sold at any time for something like half a billion if not more. He did that over and over for years. And he is repeating that assertion -- something that is impossible due to his own on-the-record actions -- in public right now. In other words he is literally right now repeating in public the exact same obviously-fraudulent claims that was just found guilty of.
To sum up: the judge did not value Mar-A-Lago; the county assessor did. And the county assessor was entirely correct in arriving at that valuation because of what Trump had done in order to gain some tax breaks.
Doesn't the deed also forbid using the property as a residence? Cheetolini has very clearly and publicly been using it as his primary residence for quite a while (probably even registered to vote there . . .).
I don't know the details of the deed. It is public record and could be looked up in that county's courthouse. I could imagine it going either way on the point you mention.
Thank you for this important info. To simplify, it sounds like it's like he "zoned" the place to be an amusement park, which it kinda is, and nothing else, and the assessor's office is simply acknowledging it. Does this easement tax reduction therefore mean that no future owner can subdivide the land, too?
No it's not zoning, zoning can be changed. It's a permanent restriction on the deed. Such a restriction stays with the parcel no matter who in the future owns it. Hence the presence of such a restriction reduces the market value of the property, in this instance by a lot.
Does it really matter who he blames for the value of Mar A Lago? As long as the courts follow the case and the law it shouldn't matter. His cult members will always believe anything he tells them, why worry about it.
Sure. But I'm seeing people online saying "not a Trump fan but, should a judge really be convicting somebody based on the judge's own guess about what a piece of property is really worth...?"
Trump's lie du jure is intended to spark that response and it seems to be working.
Sorry, but when I see someone say "not a trump Fan but..." it mostly means they are a trump fan/voter. Not always, but most of the time. I know too may of these types personally - way too many. On top of that trump is not to blame, he's going to lie about everything. The media is to blame, they should be pushing back every time he opens his mouth. Every. Day.
Have to disagree on that point. For example in this instance, I know a couple of people personally who never have and never will vote for Trump but are troubled by the idea of a judge convicting somebody for fraud based on the judge's personal opinion of what a parcel's market value reasonably is.
And they are correct in that feeling! It absolutely would be inappropriate if the NY judge had ruled on that basis, especially a summary-judgement ruling. And if that were the case then Trump's lawyers would have strong grounds for a successful appeal.
So it is important that Trump's lie du jure not go uncorrected. The judge did not rule on that basis even a little bit, which is completely clear from reading the written opinion but of course few people are geeky enough to do that. (Let alone post about it obsessively, ahem...) Trump's appeal of the ruling will not make any such claim, Trump is just blowing his usual smoke on social media, etc.
It's so sad that people believe it would actually be up to the judge to make the assessment. So many people just believe what they want to believe <sigh>
Or what they're told to believe by whichever "authority figure" they choose to recognize. It's terrifying how many folks will abdicate their decision making - apparently because thinking is hard...
I'll say this: it's hard to imagine that these GOP extremists dont even consider the pain they're about to inflict on our military and others who depend on a paycheck. Their cruelty is mind boggling. Enjoy your beautiful day in Florence and thank you for the summary. ✌️❤️
trump is an increasingly unwanted and ugly wart on the face of this country. He makes the used car dealer look pristine by comparison. He makes a colonoscopy seem like a magical tropical vacation. He is a sad sack cancer eating away at the peace and joy of every citizen. He also has bad attributes.
It feels like he wants to be thrown in Jail, possibly because he can appeal pre-trial detention. In my mind the solution is to lock him up for a few weeks, and move the trial date up a month.
Every time he runs his mouth off on one of the social media platforms, the trial date ought to be moved UP a week. That might work to get him and legal team to stop the BS ...
“Additionally, there is a powerful Disclaimer Clause on the first pages of the financial statements it states that nothing in the financial statement should be excepted [sic] as fact.”
Does he mean that, without exception, *every single statement* is bullshit?
I thought that, too. More of TfG confessing right out loud that he’s guilty. Haha. If they don’t have these trials soon, they won’t need to. Just put his big butt in jail.
They certainly are NOT doing the work they were elected to do. How many of us would get paid if we ignored our jobs is this way? Absolutely aggravating!
I know there are reasons why no one wants to put a stop to Trump's attacks on our judicial officers, but frankly, I've had it with letting this monstrous person bloviate away with no penalty. As we know, someone WILL get hurt, and our system is already being hurt. We must find a way to STOP him.
Here is the relevant phrase in Judge Shutkan's sentencing commentary of Defendant Palmer, in answering the "bias" charges by Team tRump:
[...]
That is not this court’s position. I don’t charge anybody. I don’t negotiate plea offers. I don’t make charging decisions. I sentence people who have pleaded guilty or have been convicted.
The issue of who has or has not been charged is not before me. I don’t have any influence on that. I have my opinions, but they are not relevant. And you’re correct in that no one who was encouraging everybody to take the Capitol has been charged as of yet, but I don’t think that fact means that you should get a lower sentence.
[...]
Rather definitive, don't you think? Her opinion re: recusal makes reference to the late Judge John Sirica's comments from the bench in dealing with the Watergate defendants, which were clearly made in reference to Nixon himself, and which the Supreme Court ruled were permissible within the context of the trials.
These are no more than typical tRump delaying tactics, as are the motions filed recently in both DC and FL in requesting "extensions" in time required to "fully examine" classified materials under discovery that pertain to certain CIPA sections....delay-delay-delay, name o' the game.
People must realize our wannabe, toxic despot does not believe in the rule of law; rather, he believes that he is entitled to rule over the law. The New York legal/real estate/banking establishment allowed him to engage in a decades long fraudulent rampage, and this has engendered his manifest contempt for the courts of this Country. The lynch mobs he's digitally assembling and appeals for MAGA justice are a threat to the judges who've been assigned his cases and the entire judicial system. I hope we don't end up seeing another Oklahoma City type of attack on a courthouse, but Trump's rhetoric is pushing his rabid, insurrectionists onto that violent path. When/if Trump's days of reckoning ever arrive, his sentencing Courts must take into account his intemperate and threatening behaviors.
Ciao from Rome Jay - since you're in Florence, I thought it would be a good excuse to flag to any of your followers who are US citizens living abroad that they can definitely vote back home! In fact, there are 6.5 million of us and our votes can be the margin of victory in tight races! So if you are or you know someone living abroad especially if they vote in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah or Virginia go to https://votefromabroad.org to register and request your overseas absentee ballot.
I respectfully disagree. Trump is an adult with no cognitive issues preventing him from controlling his own behavior. He chooses to act as if he can't control himself, which is a mark of an abuser.
Trump is chronologically an adult with clear cognitive issues that make him incapable of controlling his own behavior. This has been reinforced all of his life as he has been allowed to get away with said behaviors.
My wife (sole bread winner in our family, as i have been unemployed for quite some time) works for the federal government. She will probably be designated as essential. We are already struggling, (in addition to her inadequate government pay, we are saddled with my significant medical debt) and now, if the government shuts down, my wife will be required to work without pay, right at the time of month when rent is due, while some rich f**ckers intent on wreaking havoc will get paid wages they don't even need for the service of trying to burn down our country. And I'm well aware that there are so many people worse off than my wife and I. This is where we are in "the land of opportunity," and I am beyond anger, beyond impotent rage, at a place I can't even articulate.
OK, sorry. done with my rant. Carry on...
LCSharkey,
We learn from others’ rants! Thank you and do not want you to stop. This is where the “stories” of other people come to be viewed. No better place and tremendous benefit for ALL of us who bunker down in our own terror.
I keep seeing myself as a bigger than life Mother,Father who has had enough of this undisciplined power. A good spanking is way over due!
That spanking has got to be from the voting booth. Let’s spank them hard!!!👏🏻🤗🥰
🙂💚
So sorry you are in this position. I am furious that these idiots who have no idea how, or desire to, govern, can hurt citizens this way. All I can say is that it's a safe bet everyone in this community will be marching to the polls to vote them OUT.
💚🙂
LC Sharkey, Your situation helps me more clearly understand how people are being affected by the games Republicans are playing. Your story makes it more real and more understandable. It’s valuable. I’d like to hear stories from more people who this is affecting.
Another direct effect of a shutdown: WIC has a contingency fund that will last 7-10 days. After that, the well is dry and those moms and kids will be in a very difficult place.
This is effed up. I am so sorry for everyone who relies on WIC. Even if the shutdown doesn't happen, or ends quickly, the anxiety of not knowing what will happen must be awful.
All of us.... that’s the absurd part... either side it hurts us all. The sick ego is dangerous. That’s why we must “regulate” this capitalist country.
You’re right.
💚🙂
Rant away!
🙂💚
Years ago paychecks that were direct-deposited in a whole lot--well over 100-- of university professor's bank accounts went astray. That was back in the days when direct deposits involved mailing a check to the bank. The University refused to do anything about it for at least a month, maybe longer.
I had a very close friend who was affected. The fights with his mortgage company, bank, utilities, other bills for "non-payment" were frightful to behold. Few of these folks were living "month to month" but few had the resources to pay ALL the bills without a paycheck unless forced to sell investments, often at a loss, certainly with a fee. In any event they were also charged with multiple fees for checks of their own which "bounced." They all had to keep teaching despite the time it was taking to try to untangle the mess.
So I sympathize with you entirely. It isn't just the loss of income. It is also the uncomprehending response of creditors to a well known situation. The checks, btw, were found a couple of years later during a remodel of the campus PO; they had slipped behind a counter--the entire lot of them.
🙂💚
And rest assured - no one in the Republican House is interested in your problems in the slightest
I'm well aware of that, but thanks, I guess...
Do not apologize! Everything you said is spot on. I just wish there was a way to make those callous, craven and rich f**ckers hear you. I’m sorry for your situation. It sucks.
if you're so lucky as to live within reach of the capitol, you can go visit your republican representative, or one of the "freedom caucus" representatives and physically sit in their office waiting rooms daily taking up space and asking for free cups of coffee. If you can convince 30 of your friends to do the same, you can catch them as they attempt to enter through the back door too. When they arrive, introduce yourself and remind them why losing a paycheck is the reason you're there. If you don't live near the capitol, find their district office and do the same. Have a polite sit-in, use their restroom, drink their coffee and simply be present in front of them. Remind them that you exist and that your vote is in play.
This is a great idea! I wish I had the mobility to do it, and I hope others who can try this out!
Purging is Good for The Soul!
If the government is shut down your wife will be paid for all of her time off. The longest time the government has been shut down is 34 days.
That’s not helpful if they, like many, live paycheck-to-paycheck.
It’s also not helpful because look who s(h)its in the House right now. Mtg, bobo, gossart, gaetz, and so forth. They don’t care because they just don’t care. Scary.
💚🙂
He didn’t mention that they live paycheck to paycheck, no need to put something out there that was never said. If he accidentally left that out... you have a point but reading what he wrote I doubt that because that alone is worse than anything else he ranted about.
Hmmmm . . . “significant medical debt” and the word “struggling” signal that very likelihood. Medical debt in the USA sinks more households into bankruptcy than just about any other form of debt.
🙂💚🙂💚🙂💚
It's "they" not "he," and if it wasn't "they," next choice would be "she," so you are putting something out there that wasn't said.
And while I didn't say directly that we're paycheck-to-paycheck, that was indeed what I meant to imply, and Cynthia picked up on that.
Thanks, Cynthia, and everyone else here who has been so supportive! 💚
Get a job, since you are able to type in order to gain sympathy, you can work from home. You are scamming your supporters looking to advance who knows what. Nobody on this thread will do one thing for you. So get off your knees and put on your big boy pants.
By the way, you may want to return your unemployment checks so that you are truly needy.
I don't get unemployment. You're making assumptions again, doing exactly what you criticized others for doing. I get it. Victim blaming is a defense mechanism, so maybe, just maybe, you're as stressed and scared as the rest of us. The problem is, lashing out like you're doing doesn't serve anyone else, including you, so maybe find a punching bag, or throw some rocks at bottles or something. Just an idea.
Inverted pyramids are top heavy and lack a foundation.
Have you ever know anyone disabled by cancer? If you had you would know know that they seldom get disability before they die. It's a cruel disease. I had a friend who was quite generous before she got cancer. Then she was almost reduced to begging so quit mocking others. If there is a God she's okay, but it shouldn't take the thought of an afterlife to realize that only looking out for yourself impoverishes us all.
Pronouns, pronouns, pronouns... I have to say, your situation is something I never experienced. I made sure I didn’t experience because I always worked, I didn’t cruise the Internet to attract sympathy. What you failed to mention is your area of expertise and why you can’t hang onto a job or anything associated with your inability to impress anyone to hire you. Get a job and quit relying on your wife.
Since all posts are anonymous and there is no way to follow up with your sorrowful situation that will continue indefinitely... please expand on your inability to move forward.
Oh, my, more assumptions. You are one angry little fella, aren't you?
Did you read what he wrote? Nothing about “time off.” He said “she will be required to work without pay…just at the time when rent is due.”
💚🙂
💚🙂
So, in short , a government that makes you work without pay is not the problem yet you and others make it a partisan issue. You would be better off rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic instead of spending time on pointing fingers at only one party.
By the way, our medical system sucks, we have insurance coverage instead of medical coverage... thanks to Congress.
You are intentionally misconstruing everything about the OP here in order to attempt to defend the indefensible. OP is involuntarily unemployed due to medical issues which have caused them to accrue significant debt. Their spouse is likely to be forced to continue working without pay until the petulant children gumming up the works in the House get over themselves and do their jobs. Yes indeed, she will eventually be reimbursed - which does not help with ongoing bills (rent, utilities, insurance, etc.) or other expenses i.e. food, doctor bills, gas, etc. Care to offer them a solution, or at least, some expression of sympathy for their position between the proverbial rock and hard place? Or are you just another hard-ass who thinks anyone who lands in difficulty is there on their own hook, and can just suck it?
Sympathy? For what? A faceless nameless poster? Your post is longer than the original and you certainly added some flavor that previously was nonexistent. By the way, what am I defending?
"A faceless nameless poster?" Pot, meet kettle. How about YOU post under YOUR actual name? C'mon - name and actual photo for your profile. Walk the talk, jerk.
Nope, Dave was pretty much spot on.
I'm, it is a partisan issue, because while neither party does a good enough job at any of this, the Dems come a hell of a lot closer, and have never tried yet to turn our democracy into a fascist dictatorship. If you think Congress is bad, try living in a country where there is no democratically elected legislative body.
That is against the law, if that is what he thinks... that is a problem.
Although it may well be 'against the law', that is exactly what happens with essential federal employees who are required to work during a government shutdown.
In the past they have always been paid later, but that won't happen until the shutdown ends.
🙂💚
Yeah. Last time it happened, my wife didn't work for the gov yet, but my niece did. Her and her young daughter almost lost her house, and the late fees for all the bills she couldn't pay during that time didn't help. So this is really callous and not helpful feedback.
Kevin McCarthy could end this nonsense and at the same time kneecap the sedition caucus by working with Democrats in the House, but he is so afraid of losing his precious speakership position he refuses to do it. Instead, he will leave millions of Americans without a paycheck, all in service to his own despicable needs. This is disgusting, and again screams loud and clear exactly who the Republiqans are; they are most certainly not for the American people. 😡
If only the media - all of it (not counting Fox of course) - would come out and loudly tell the truth about who is causing this - the spin that it’s the Democrats and Biden will work in the minds of many. Too many people completely unaware.
I hope to help counter some of the media’s failings through platforms such as this.
Sadly, I fear, preaching to the choir. But many thanks for your clarity.
"Kevin McCarthy could end this nonsense and at the same time kneecap the sedition caucus by working with Democrats in the House" - not going to happen. Elect a clown, get a circus.
I believe the word to McCarthy would be to watch what you wish for you might just get it.
And brother he's gotten it in Spades.
And apparently everyone else knew this would happen when he made those deals to finally get his name on the office door, except him. Some leader, ha.
Word.
GOP = GOLD ONLY PARTY!
He’s afraid he will look weak if he works with the Democrats. So his choices are to either look week, and everyone continues to receive a paycheck, or he can be a despicable coward and shut the government down. Either way, he has no moral code or backbone. Disgusting.
My thoughts exactly.
You think the Dems would work with Kevin only days after he started a transparently partisan impeachment hearing at the behest of King Donny? No, I don't see that happening anytime soon.
If Mar-a-Lago is worth so much more, the property insurance companies who cover the property should sue for back premiums for the value tRump claims. As should the counties those properties are in for back property taxes. He can’t have it both ways.
Zillow lists a value of $24.2M for Mar-a-Lahore at this time. 🤣
Mar-a-loco.
I prefer the monicker “MAGA Lardo.”
Excellent reasoning!
If defendant Trump produced a credible document from a credible real estate assessor, then I >might< believe him. Otherwise it's just more of his brand of bullshyte ("Felonious Fabulism" is now the name of the brand, I believe).
Unfortunately Trump seems to be succeeding in planting the idea that the NY state judge is the party who valued Mar A Lago at $18M. That is simply factually false, and seems worth pushing back at since it is now going around online.
It is uncontested fact (which Trump's lawyers did not dispute) that the party who valued Mar A Lago at between $18-27M is the local county assessor in Florida, who placed its value in that range 12 years in a row. The reason for that valuation is clear-cut: the property is no longer legally subdividable or developable. Trump in 2002 signed an irrevocable deed in which he surrendered all rights to develop or use any part of the parcel for any purposes other than the existing social club. He did that in order to get a large one-time tax deduction for the resulting historic-preservation easement as well as annual reduced property taxes. That easement is permanent, it "goes with the land", that's why he had to sign and record a fresh deed in order to receive the tax benefit.
Hence most of the Mar A Lago property's market value was legally extinguished, and comparisons to neighboring properties on which new houses or other structures have been built are specious. The county assessor correctly based its valuations, and Trump's annual property tax bills, on comparable properties that have the same sort of deed restriction on them.
But Trump kept basing his sworn financial statements on the idea that the Mar A Lago parcel could be sold at any time for something like half a billion if not more. He did that over and over for years. And he is repeating that assertion -- something that is impossible due to his own on-the-record actions -- in public right now. In other words he is literally right now repeating in public the exact same obviously-fraudulent claims that was just found guilty of.
To sum up: the judge did not value Mar-A-Lago; the county assessor did. And the county assessor was entirely correct in arriving at that valuation because of what Trump had done in order to gain some tax breaks.
Doesn't the deed also forbid using the property as a residence? Cheetolini has very clearly and publicly been using it as his primary residence for quite a while (probably even registered to vote there . . .).
Apparently, he is considered an employee per the West Palm Beach Town Attorney, thus allowed to live there. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/02/03/trump-living-at-mar-a-lago-doesnt-violate-residency-agreement-palm-beach-attorney-says/?sh=2afef47c1579
Wow. The slimeball found another sleazy way to skirt the law . . .
Not at all surprising, and yet still disappointing.
I don't know the details of the deed. It is public record and could be looked up in that county's courthouse. I could imagine it going either way on the point you mention.
Thank you for this important info. To simplify, it sounds like it's like he "zoned" the place to be an amusement park, which it kinda is, and nothing else, and the assessor's office is simply acknowledging it. Does this easement tax reduction therefore mean that no future owner can subdivide the land, too?
No it's not zoning, zoning can be changed. It's a permanent restriction on the deed. Such a restriction stays with the parcel no matter who in the future owns it. Hence the presence of such a restriction reduces the market value of the property, in this instance by a lot.
Ah, now I understand more clearly. Thank you for this! This is an awfully important distinction. I appreciate the reply.
Yes, thanks for the explanation.
Does it really matter who he blames for the value of Mar A Lago? As long as the courts follow the case and the law it shouldn't matter. His cult members will always believe anything he tells them, why worry about it.
Sure. But I'm seeing people online saying "not a Trump fan but, should a judge really be convicting somebody based on the judge's own guess about what a piece of property is really worth...?"
Trump's lie du jure is intended to spark that response and it seems to be working.
Sorry, but when I see someone say "not a trump Fan but..." it mostly means they are a trump fan/voter. Not always, but most of the time. I know too may of these types personally - way too many. On top of that trump is not to blame, he's going to lie about everything. The media is to blame, they should be pushing back every time he opens his mouth. Every. Day.
Have to disagree on that point. For example in this instance, I know a couple of people personally who never have and never will vote for Trump but are troubled by the idea of a judge convicting somebody for fraud based on the judge's personal opinion of what a parcel's market value reasonably is.
And they are correct in that feeling! It absolutely would be inappropriate if the NY judge had ruled on that basis, especially a summary-judgement ruling. And if that were the case then Trump's lawyers would have strong grounds for a successful appeal.
So it is important that Trump's lie du jure not go uncorrected. The judge did not rule on that basis even a little bit, which is completely clear from reading the written opinion but of course few people are geeky enough to do that. (Let alone post about it obsessively, ahem...) Trump's appeal of the ruling will not make any such claim, Trump is just blowing his usual smoke on social media, etc.
https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/trump-james-summary-judgment-new-york-supreme.pdf
Good point about "not a trump fan..." It's kind of like when someone starts a sentence with "I'm not a racist, but..."
It's so sad that people believe it would actually be up to the judge to make the assessment. So many people just believe what they want to believe <sigh>
Or what they're told to believe by whichever "authority figure" they choose to recognize. It's terrifying how many folks will abdicate their decision making - apparently because thinking is hard...
Thanks for sharing this information. Very helpful.
I'll say this: it's hard to imagine that these GOP extremists dont even consider the pain they're about to inflict on our military and others who depend on a paycheck. Their cruelty is mind boggling. Enjoy your beautiful day in Florence and thank you for the summary. ✌️❤️
trump is an increasingly unwanted and ugly wart on the face of this country. He makes the used car dealer look pristine by comparison. He makes a colonoscopy seem like a magical tropical vacation. He is a sad sack cancer eating away at the peace and joy of every citizen. He also has bad attributes.
Guffaw! Nicely worded and thanks for the moment of hilarity.
AND no command of the English language..excepted doesn't mean the same as "accepted" the latest social rant
It feels like he wants to be thrown in Jail, possibly because he can appeal pre-trial detention. In my mind the solution is to lock him up for a few weeks, and move the trial date up a month.
I don’t envy the judge here at all…
Every time he runs his mouth off on one of the social media platforms, the trial date ought to be moved UP a week. That might work to get him and legal team to stop the BS ...
Statements on his financial forms should not be "excepted" as fact? His ignorance is only matched by his arrogance. Or is it vice versa?
A Freudian slip?
“Additionally, there is a powerful Disclaimer Clause on the first pages of the financial statements it states that nothing in the financial statement should be excepted [sic] as fact.”
Does he mean that, without exception, *every single statement* is bullshit?
For Dolt45, yes.
I thought that, too. More of TfG confessing right out loud that he’s guilty. Haha. If they don’t have these trials soon, they won’t need to. Just put his big butt in jail.
Congress should not receive paychecks if they shut down the government. THEY are the government. Why should everyone else suffer and not them?
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) who I helped phone bank for has a bill to do just this but McCarthy would never let it out of committee
They certainly are NOT doing the work they were elected to do. How many of us would get paid if we ignored our jobs is this way? Absolutely aggravating!
I know there are reasons why no one wants to put a stop to Trump's attacks on our judicial officers, but frankly, I've had it with letting this monstrous person bloviate away with no penalty. As we know, someone WILL get hurt, and our system is already being hurt. We must find a way to STOP him.
Here is the relevant phrase in Judge Shutkan's sentencing commentary of Defendant Palmer, in answering the "bias" charges by Team tRump:
[...]
That is not this court’s position. I don’t charge anybody. I don’t negotiate plea offers. I don’t make charging decisions. I sentence people who have pleaded guilty or have been convicted.
The issue of who has or has not been charged is not before me. I don’t have any influence on that. I have my opinions, but they are not relevant. And you’re correct in that no one who was encouraging everybody to take the Capitol has been charged as of yet, but I don’t think that fact means that you should get a lower sentence.
[...]
Rather definitive, don't you think? Her opinion re: recusal makes reference to the late Judge John Sirica's comments from the bench in dealing with the Watergate defendants, which were clearly made in reference to Nixon himself, and which the Supreme Court ruled were permissible within the context of the trials.
These are no more than typical tRump delaying tactics, as are the motions filed recently in both DC and FL in requesting "extensions" in time required to "fully examine" classified materials under discovery that pertain to certain CIPA sections....delay-delay-delay, name o' the game.
People must realize our wannabe, toxic despot does not believe in the rule of law; rather, he believes that he is entitled to rule over the law. The New York legal/real estate/banking establishment allowed him to engage in a decades long fraudulent rampage, and this has engendered his manifest contempt for the courts of this Country. The lynch mobs he's digitally assembling and appeals for MAGA justice are a threat to the judges who've been assigned his cases and the entire judicial system. I hope we don't end up seeing another Oklahoma City type of attack on a courthouse, but Trump's rhetoric is pushing his rabid, insurrectionists onto that violent path. When/if Trump's days of reckoning ever arrive, his sentencing Courts must take into account his intemperate and threatening behaviors.
Ciao from Rome Jay - since you're in Florence, I thought it would be a good excuse to flag to any of your followers who are US citizens living abroad that they can definitely vote back home! In fact, there are 6.5 million of us and our votes can be the margin of victory in tight races! So if you are or you know someone living abroad especially if they vote in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah or Virginia go to https://votefromabroad.org to register and request your overseas absentee ballot.
I’ve worked with Ada Shen from Democrats Abroad to help GOTV
"...cannot control his behavior..."
I respectfully disagree. Trump is an adult with no cognitive issues preventing him from controlling his own behavior. He chooses to act as if he can't control himself, which is a mark of an abuser.
Trump is chronologically an adult with clear cognitive issues that make him incapable of controlling his own behavior. This has been reinforced all of his life as he has been allowed to get away with said behaviors.
I have no doubt, though, that he is still an abuser. I felt for four years like I was in an abusive relationship--and I know whereof I speak. :(
Trump is a bully and a coward..Remand pending trial..Period..