swordfish

Time to read 1984 again?

So the former President's tax returns are now public, but the most important (IMHO) part of the returns is being largely overlooked, swept aside, not reported, or simply ignored......The fact that his net worth declined as President. In case any one wonders, I also included a report on the past Presidents - whose net worth actually increased (substantially) https://nypost.com/2022/12/21/trumps-claimed-negative-income-in-four-of-six-years-between-2015-2020-report/ The tax returns of former President Donald Trump and his wife Melania show they reported negative income in four of the six years between 2015 and 2020, according to a report. In three of those years, the Trumps reported income tax liability of $750 or less, the Wall Street Journal reported. The House Ways and Means Committee voted 24-16 along party lines Tuesday evening to release the Trumps’ tax returns for the years 2015 through 2020 following a legal battle that began in 2016. The full release of the returns is expected in the coming days after all personal information is redacted from them. In the six-year period covered by the returns, the Trumps’ adjusted gross income totaled negative $53.2 million and their total federal tax liability was $4.4 million, the report said. The Trumps reported positive adjusted gross income in only two of those six years — $24.4 million in 2018 and $4.4 million in 2019, according to the Journal. The Trumps paid roughly $1 million in taxes in 2018 and $133,445 in 2019, according to an analysis by the New York Times. In 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the country, the Trumps reported a loss of $4.8 million and paid $0 in federal taxes. Here is the data on the Presidents since Jimmy Carter. https://blog.cheapism.com/what-presidents-are-worth/#slide=14 Donald Trump Before: $3 billion After: $2.3 billion Barack Obama Before: $1.3 million After: $70 million George W. Bush Before: $20 million After: $40 million Bill Clinton Before: $1.3 million After: $241.5 million George H.W. Bush Before: $4 million After: $23 million Ronald Reagan Before: $10.6 million After: $15.4 million Jimmy Carter Before: $2.3 million After: $10 million

SMH trying to figure out why we can't find workers. This story sheds some light on it. unemployment insurance benefits can be equivalent to a job with annual pay of $100,000 https://nypost.com/2022/12/18/it-pays-not-to-work-in-bidens-america-thanks-to-welfare-benefits/ Most Americans believe, as we do, in a reliable government safety net in America, so that when people fall on tough times or lose their jobs, their families will not go hungry, lose their homes or suffer deprivation. But most Americans also believe that government assistance should be short-term and aimed at quickly getting people back on their feet, into a job and on the road to being financially self-sufficient and a contributor to our economy. Today’s welfare programs are failing to accomplish that goal. Did you know that families earning half a million dollars a year can receive ObamaCare subsidies? Or that in some states, unemployment insurance benefits can be equivalent to a job with annual pay of $100,000? It’s shocking but true, and it might explain why so many businesses can’t get workers back on the job almost three years after COVID-19 hit these shores. Today there are still at least 3 million fewer Americans working than there were in 2019. Middle class last There are many reasons for the worker shortage, but one is that in many states, welfare pays more than or nearly as much as respectable middle-class jobs. Under Presidents Barack Obama and Biden, many of the highly effective work requirements, which were instituted in the historic 1996 bipartisan welfare reforms, have been eviscerated. Often limits for public benefits have also disappeared while Congress and states have made benefits more generous.

If you are a member of Congress that is working on a "Crypto Regulatory Bill" wouldn't you (maybe) want to steer clear of donations from one of the very companies that would be covered under those regulations? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11543163/Members-Congress-wipe-hands-Sam-Bankman-Frieds-donations.html Dealing with a problem like Sam's dirty money: How a QUARTER of congress (130 Democrats AND Republicans) took donations from fallen crypto king SBF - and now find themselves in a VERY tricky spot Lawmakers from both parties are washing their hands of donations from disgraced crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried amid arrest in Bahamas on Tuesday Just months ago, Bankman-Fried was touted as the next George Soros, second only to the famed liberal donor in contributions to Democrats in 2022 Prosecutors now claim Bankman-Fried tried to bilk investors out of more than $1.8 billion and used customer funds to make illegal political donations The campaign of Beto O'Rourke was one of the first to return a massive $1 million check from SBF Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D, and John Boozman, R, who co-sponsored a crypto regulatory bill SBF supports, gave their FTX-linked donations to charity Bankman-Fried publicly donated some $46.5 million in the 2022 election cycle, with all but about $240,000 going to Democrats

Shhhh - She's my stock picks guide!! On another Pelosi topic: https://nypost.com/2022/12/15/boehner-bawls-at-unveiling-of-pelosis-official-portrait-in-the-us-capitol/ Former House Speaker John Boehner, famed for his tan, love of wine, and ability to cry almost spontaneously, showed some things never change Wednesday when he had to choke back sobs during the unveiling of outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s official portrait at the US Capitol. Boehner, a Republican from Ohio who resigned from the House in 2015, turned emotional as he spoke about the California Democrat in Statuary Hall. “You’ve been unfailingly gracious to me, to my family, and, frankly, my team here in Washington,” said Boehner, 73. “And Madam Speaker, I have to say, my girls told me, ‘Tell the Speaker how much we admire her.'” At that, Boehner’s lips began to quiver and he began sobbing. Must have been a really ugly portrait......

I wonder who those officers were trying to impress.......They obviously didn't give a darn about those teenage kids.....

https://nypost.com/2022/12/14/the-curious-timing-of-scammy-sam-bankman-frieds-crypto-bust/ When alleged crypto-fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried finished testifying at a congressional hearing last December, Democrat Maxine Waters, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, blew him a kiss as he walked by. And why not, since the shambolic 30-year-old former multibillionaire is acknowledged to be the second-biggest donor to the Democrats, after George Soros. He helped bankroll Joe Biden into the White House and had promised to donate $1 billion to help the party win the 2024 presidential election. There are those, such as Elon Musk, who allege that SBF, as he is called, already has funneled $1 billion of stolen customer funds to Dem causes via various dark money PACs. Others on Wall Street put the number lower, at maybe $500 million. Perhaps that was the entire point of FTX, at least in the end. "Scammy Sammy" - a pawn for the establishment's money launderers..... Wouldn't be surprised if he winds up "suicided".......

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11535201/White-House-insists-say-Biden-campaign-donations-Sam-Bankman-Fried.html The White House on Tuesday wouldn't say if President Biden will ask his aides to return $5.2 million in donations made to his presidential election campaign from disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in 2020. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11534523/Sam-Bankman-Frieds-planned-testimony-prior-arrest.html More than $1 billion has been recovered so far, he said, a majority of which were 'coins of various nature.' But Ray would not give an estimate of when the remaining funds would be found. 'These bankruptcies take time, the money will take time to locate…we tried to do this in the most expeditious way possible,' he said. I guess now we know why SBF won't be testifying to Congress........

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11529519/Largest-migrant-caravan-HISTORY-illegally-crosses-Rio-Grande-El-Paso.html?fbclid=IwAR3HPBpKiscW8n7ZwBtOyssLr8Fi2JzZN1yilVKRtosaPGyRb46-rXcEudQ Mexican authorities appeared to have assisted the illegal crossings, with images emerging of police escorting nearly 20 buses filled with migrants into Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which is directly across the border from El Paso. As the pandemic-era policy winds down just before Christmas, House Republicans warn in a letter obtained by DailyMail.com that the Biden administration's use of Air Marshals to assist along the border could put 'the lives and safety of airline passengers at risk' over the holidays.

December 21, 2022 is coming, but Brittney Griner....and Russian arms dealer, and anything else we can talk about...... https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/some-1500-migrants-crossed-rio-grande-into-el-paso-sunday-witness-2022-12-12/ CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Dec 12 (Reuters) - About 1,500 people crossed the Rio Grande overnight from Mexico into El Paso, Texas, a Reuters witness said on Monday, amid an increase in migrant arrivals in the area ahead of the expiry of a pandemic-era order that blocks them at the U.S.-Mexico border. Some of the migrants were clutching bags in their arms and children on their back as they waded into the river to cross from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico into the United States, according to a Reuters witness who photographed the events. The migrants who crossed on Sunday included a group of Nicaraguans who said they were freed by Mexican authorities after being kidnapped last week in the state of Durango. Reuters spoke to seven Nicaraguans who said they were kidnapped. Some showed videos they filmed after being freed and had their phones returned to them, including images of the place where they said they were held. After being released, Mexican authorities loaded some of the Nicaraguan migrants on buses and ferried them to Ciudad Juarez.

So what good is the jury?

Ukraine corruption? Only they know is my point. For some reason, Zelinsky, elected in 2019 - is still alive. (IMHO) If Putin really felt he and the other parties (from the US and Russia) involved could get away with it free and clear without repercussions, Kyiv would be levelled, Zelinsky dead and Ukraine back under Russian control by now.......I believe Zelinsky has the goods, Putin and the US knows this and knows it will become widely know if something happens to Zelinsky. Remember Biden's billion dollar Quid-Pro-Quo when he was the Vice President? Yeah, probably nothing, but could be something......

Answer to the first question - Yes, and yes, I was aware of the history of the man's bad conduct discharge. I also fully understood the reasoning behind the former President's decision to turn a cold shoulder to Russia over prisoner exchanges to get the "Merchant of Death" back to the former USSR. They wanted him back bad for some reason. Either way, this guy in an exchange for a former service man AND a WNBA star would have had my vote. An all or nothing negotiation since we (the current US administration) are clearly hoping Russia is able to re-take Ukraine (somehow) so the powers that be (US and Russia) can secure all the evidence Zelinsky has on them (but no one wants to talk about)...... Again, (IMHO) there was a reason Vlad halted further aggression in Ukraine after Trump's election for 4 years having just took over Crimea in 2014 under Obama, waiting until Biden was elected with (somehow) the most votes EVER for an American President......There is also a reason Zelinsky is still alive.....Additionally (IMHO) there is a reason we somehow traded a pretty bad man (that as I said earlier in this thread - we will be reading sometime in the future how this guy had a connection with the deaths of a whole lot of innocent people somewhere) and that Russia has been trying to get back for quite a while for a wrongfully detained (for about 10 months) top women's basketball player who is assuradly going to get the absolute most press coverage for the President. (IMHO) it's much deeper than just a prisoner for a prisoner, it's a mediocre Checkers player competing against a champion Chess player on a multi-level chess board..... You want to talk about wrongfully imprisoned individuals in the US (that we would probably agree on) - start a different thread. There is my righteous indignation BS for you.......

Admittedly - Less frustrated. Let's call it like I see it - A retired serviceman versus a WNBA star. (Reminder - SF was brought up to be colorblind, and as of late to ignore sexual orientation) Both were wrongly imprisoned. SF's choice would have been the retired serviceman.

SMH.....🥵

I get that. But the Independents are choosing the Majority based on their allegiance.....

SMH - knowing that sometime in the future, there will be time where a terrorist attack kills a bunch of people and this guy will somehow be involved...... https://nypost.com/2022/12/08/russian-ex-spy-maria-butina-mocks-brittney-griner-swap/ Maria Butina, the gun-loving, Russian ex-spy-turned-politician, couldn’t contain her glee Thursday over the White House deal to swap notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner. “The fact that Russia pushed through the exchange of Bout, whom America fundamentally did not want to give away for many years, right now means that, like in The Godfather, we ‘made them an offer that cannot be refused,'” Butina opined on the Telegram messaging app Thursday. “This is a position of strength, comrades,” she added.

So TECHNICALLY - There are 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats and 3 independents.........SO - The Republicans hold the majority, but the Independents get to choose the leadership...... https://nypost.com/2022/12/09/arizona-sen-kyrsten-sinema-leaves-democrat-party/ Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced Friday she had registered as an Independent, leaving the Democratic Party just days after it won a hard-fought run-off race in Georgia to secure 51 seats in the Senate. “I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington,” she said in a op-ed for local media outlet Arizona Central. Sinema, in a separate Politico interview published Friday, said she would not caucus with the Republican Party. If that holds, Democrats could still maintain greater control in the closely divided chamber. Democrats had held the Senate 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris holding a tie-breaking vote. Senator Raphael Warnock’s victory in Tuesday’s runoff election in Georgia had handed them their 51st seat.