Trump / Musk (other than DOGE)

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All the stories I have found on this so far point to the same source. But I also found stories in 2023 about Republicans criticizing the Biden Administration auctioning off left over wall materials (which they were doing supposedly in accordance with federal excess property disposition regulations).

www.newsweek.com

Joe Biden sold off border wall materials weeks before approving new wall

The government has been auctioning lots of tubing since at least July, with the most recent sales ending just a day before it announced fresh construction.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com

nypost.com

Exclusive | Biden quietly sells off border wall parts to thwart GOP push to use them

President Biden is quietly selling off millions of dollars’ worth of unused parts from former President Trump’s border wall for peanuts – apparently to stymie pending legislation in Congress…
nypost.com nypost.com

Biden also had to apply some remaining border wall funds to build more wall in 2023:


—-

So, no clear answer whether the last few auctions are some devious rush before Trump takes office or continuing a process that has been underway for over a year.
 
nycfan said:
All the stories I have found on this so far point to the same source. But I also found stories in 2023 about Republicans criticizing the Biden Administration auctioning off left over wall materials (which they were doing supposedly in accordance with federal excess property disposition regulations).

www.newsweek.com

Joe Biden sold off border wall materials weeks before approving new wall

The government has been auctioning lots of tubing since at least July, with the most recent sales ending just a day before it announced fresh construction.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com

nypost.com

Exclusive | Biden quietly sells off border wall parts to thwart GOP push to use them

President Biden is quietly selling off millions of dollars’ worth of unused parts from former President Trump’s border wall for peanuts – apparently to stymie pending legislation in Congress…
nypost.com nypost.com

Biden also had to apply some remaining border wall funds to build more wall in 2023:


—-

So, no clear answer whether the last few auctions are some devious rush before Trump takes office or continuing a process that has been underway for over a year.
Click to expand...
I would hope the government auctioned off the Trump Border Fence you could cut through with basic battery-powered tools from a Lowes. Maybe someone could put it to good use for a chicken coop or something. Doesn't do a damn bit of good on the border.
 
ZenMode said:
We live in a world where any random person on X is viewed as a legit source of news. It's often difficult to get the true story, so it comes down to figuring out what you think is true and to what degree you believe it. I'm definitely leaning toward this story being true... so far.

Hell, I didn't believe that FEMA actually had a policy of not engaging homes with Trump signs. I thought it was made up... until I didn't.

As biased as Daily Wire (Ben Shapiro) are politically, they seem to get news stories right. Once they get it right, Ben will likely go off the rails on his podcast with his rhetoric and interpretation of what it means, of course.
Click to expand...
You think that FEMA had a policy of not engaging homes with Trump signs?
 
wmheel1287 said:
You think that FEMA had a policy of not engaging homes with Trump signs?
Click to expand...
No. To clarify, a FEMA leader directed members of a hurricane relief team to not engage with Trump supporter houses.

Either way, I initially thought it was nonsense.
 
wmheel1287 said:
You think that FEMA had a policy of not engaging homes with Trump signs?
Click to expand...
I think that might be in reference to a team leader in one area.

You know, it's the same way that a platoon leader in Afghanistan could change the entire US policy there if he had troops ignore some of the RoE in areas they were under direct threat. With great power comes great responsibility.
 
ZenMode said:
No. To clarify, a FEMA leader directed members of a hurricane relief team to not engage with Trump supporter houses.
Click to expand...
So, intentionally misrepresenting?

Got it.

Don't be defensive when people call you on bullshit when you come to rally spew it.

One person at FEMA engaged in this and was fired for it. One.

You knew that and you said that FEMA had a policy of it. Thats a damned lie.
 
finesse said:
I think that might be in reference to a team leader in one area.

You know, it's the same way that a platoon leader in Afghanistan could change the entire US policy there if he had troops ignore some of the RoE in areas they were under direct threat. With great power comes great responsibility.
Click to expand...
Yep, I knew the reference. I just couldn't let that particular pile of horseshit pass.
 
www.thebulwark.com

The New Age of Trump: Protection Money and FU You Money

How our billionaires are responding.
www.thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com

The New Age of Trump: Protection Money and FU You Money​


"...This week we got word that two of the world’s most consequential billionaires have decided to pay tribute—literally—to Donald Trump. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are each gifting $1 million to Trump’s “inauguration committee.”

A president’s “inauguration committee” or “inauguration fund” is a slush fund, pure and simple. In theory, it is used to cover expenses relating to the inaugural celebrations. In practice, it’s dark money. The inaugural fund is required to disclose who gives money to it, but is not required to disclose what the money is spent on. And in cases where there is a surplus—where it raises more money than it spends on the inauguration festivities—it is not required to refund or dispose of the money in any particular way.

In other words: It’s pure tribute. ... It has always been thus.

Trump didn’t invent the corruption of the inauguration fund. But he is an innovator and his genius was to turn the inauguration scheme from ritualized tribute from supporters into a protection racket aimed at opponents, too.

... Zuckerberg and Bezos responded to Trump’s threats to themselves and their businesses by literally journeying to Mar-a-Lago and figuratively handing Trump envelopes of cash while publicly praising the incoming president.

...That is the point. Trump has reached the position—elected by a plurality of his fellow citizens, immunized from all criminal activity by the Supreme Court—where he wants the protection racket to be out in the open. He wants everyone to see it.

Because these are the new rules and he wants to be sure that everyone whose life could be touched by his government—meaning: everyone—understands this reality.

And that, so long as they pay, they’ll be fine. ..."

www.thebulwark.com

The New Age of Trump: Protection Money and FU You Money

How our billionaires are responding.
www.thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com
 
"... The Federal Advisory Committee Act says in plain language that an advisory committee – as Elon Musk proposes the “Department of Government Efficiency” to be – must ensure that its recommendations are not biased by any special interest.

Yet, Musk, the richest man on Earth, has a wider and deeper range of potential conflicts of interest with the federal government than perhaps any person has ever had.

... The SEC has pursued cases against initial coin offerings, exchanges and crypto projects that it deems as unregistered securities. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates cryptocurrencies as commodities – a key distinction from being regulated like stocks and bonds, which affects how crypto firms communicate. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network looks at how cryptocurrency can be used as a tool for money laundering, evading sanctions and financing terrorism. And the IRS expects people who own cryptocurrencies to report gains and losses on their taxes.

Cuts to any of those agencies could have a direct and disproportionate effect on Musk’s personal finances."

www.theguardian.com

Elon Musk’s six major conflicts of interest with the federal government

As co-chair of Trump’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, the world’s richest man is likely to get richer
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 

Dr. Mehmet Oz had up to $33 million in companies doing business with agency he'd run​


www.usatoday.com

Dr. Mehmet Oz had up to $33 million in companies doing business with agency he'd run

Dr. Mehmet Oz is Trump’s pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oz held stocks in companies doing business with Medicare.
www.usatoday.com www.usatoday.com

"...Oz, Trump’s choice to run Medicare, Medicaid and the insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, owned up to $33.7 million stock in these companies when he filed a financial disclosure during his unsuccessful 2022 campaign for Senate in Pennsylvania.

The TV talk show host owned between $280,000 and $600,000 in UnitedHealth Group and between $50,000 and $100,000 in CVS Health, which both provide health insurance plans under Medicare Advantage.

He also owned between $5.8 million and $26.7 million in Amazon and between $1.6 million and $6.3 million in Microsoft, two major technology providers for the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services, the agency he would run. ...

Accountable.US, a left-leaning group that compiled some of the research, said it reviewed filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and was unable to find evidence that Oz sold stocks in Amazon or Microsoft since the 2022 filing.

“All nominees and appointees will comply with the ethical obligations of their respective agencies,” Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition, said in a statement to USA TODAY when asked if Oz still owns these stocks.

Oz will be required to fill out the same form after his official nomination as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. ..."
 
www.nytimes.com

Trump’s Pick as Mideast Adviser, Massad Boulos, Is a Truck Salesman

The lore around Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, is that he is a billionaire dealmaker. Records show otherwise.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Trump’s Middle East Adviser Pick Is a Small-Time Truck Salesman​

The lore around Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, is that he is a billionaire dealmaker. Records show otherwise.

"...Mr. Boulos has been profiled as a tycoon by the world’s media, telling a reporter in October that his company is worth billions. Mr. Trump called him a “highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the international scene.”

The president-elect even lavished what may be his highest praise: a “dealmaker.”

In fact, records show that Mr. Boulos has spent the past two decades selling trucks and heavy machinery in Nigeria for a company his father-in-law controls. He is chief executive of the company, SCOA Nigeria PLC, which made a profit of less than $66,000 last year, corporate filings show.

There is no indication in corporate documents that Mr. Boulos, a Lebanese-American whose son is married to Mr. Trump’s daughter Tiffany, is a man of significant wealth as a result of his businesses. The truck dealership is valued at about $865,000 at its current share price. Mr. Boulos’s stake, according to securities filings, is worth $1.53.

As for Boulos Enterprises, the company that has been called his family business in The Financial Times and elsewhere, a company officer there said it is owned by an unrelated Boulos family.

Mr. Boulos will advise on one of the world’s most complicated and conflict-wracked regions — a region that Mr. Boulos said this week that he has not visited in years. The advisory position does not require Senate approval. ..."
 
(Cont'd)

"...In October, The Times asked him about his wealth and business dealings.

“Your company is described as a multibillion-dollar enterprise,” a reporter said. “Are you yourself a billionaire?”

Mr. Boulos said he did not like to describe himself that way, but that journalists had picked up on the label.

“It’s accurate to describe the company as a multibillion-dollar—?” the reporter followed up.

“Yeah,” Mr. Boulos replied. “It’s a big company. Long history.”

...But in a subsequent interview on Tuesday, Mr. Boulos said that he had only meant to confirm that other news outlets had written — incorrectly — that he runs such a company.

In another call, on Wednesday, he said he was referring to his father-in-law’s companies, which he said were collectively worth more than $1 billion, though the company he runs is not.

... He confirmed that he has no relationship with Boulos Enterprises. Asked why he had never corrected the record, he said that he made a practice of not commenting on his business.

... Mr. Boulos has a history of small business ventures. Corporate records in Nigeria tie him to a restaurant, some inactive construction companies and to Tantra Beverages, a now-defunct company that was set up to sell an “erotic drink” that “gives men and women the ultimate stimulating push,” according to its manufacturer.

... Any significant wealth, he said on Tuesday, comes from the family of his wife, Sarah Fadoul Boulos.

She is the daughter of Michel Zouhair Fadoul, a citizen of France and Burkina Faso who spent decades assembling a patchwork of logging, construction and automobile distribution companies throughout West and Central Africa.

The Times could find no indication, either in company documents or records from the corporate data provider Sayari, that Mr. Boulos has a direct stake in these businesses — other than the truck dealership...."
 
(Cont'd)

"...Massad Boulos met Sarah Fadoul through family in Lebanon and married young, she has said. Both studied in Texas, she has said in interviews on podcasts targeting the elite in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria.

Mr. Trump has referred to Mr. Boulos as a lawyer and ABC News has reported that he graduated with a law degree from the University of Houston. But the school said it has no record of that. Instead, he graduated from a separate school, the University of Houston-Downtown, in 1993 with a bachelor of business administration degree. ..."
 
I dumped all things Zuckerberg back in 2018 because I loathe social media. Might be time to do the same with Bezos. Unprincipled, selfish fucks.
 
nycfan said:
www.thebulwark.com

The New Age of Trump: Protection Money and FU You Money

How our billionaires are responding.
www.thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com

The New Age of Trump: Protection Money and FU You Money​


"...This week we got word that two of the world’s most consequential billionaires have decided to pay tribute—literally—to Donald Trump. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are each gifting $1 million to Trump’s “inauguration committee.”

A president’s “inauguration committee” or “inauguration fund” is a slush fund, pure and simple. In theory, it is used to cover expenses relating to the inaugural celebrations. In practice, it’s dark money. The inaugural fund is required to disclose who gives money to it, but is not required to disclose what the money is spent on. And in cases where there is a surplus—where it raises more money than it spends on the inauguration festivities—it is not required to refund or dispose of the money in any particular way.

In other words: It’s pure tribute. ... It has always been thus.

Trump didn’t invent the corruption of the inauguration fund. But he is an innovator and his genius was to turn the inauguration scheme from ritualized tribute from supporters into a protection racket aimed at opponents, too.

... Zuckerberg and Bezos responded to Trump’s threats to themselves and their businesses by literally journeying to Mar-a-Lago and figuratively handing Trump envelopes of cash while publicly praising the incoming president.

...That is the point. Trump has reached the position—elected by a plurality of his fellow citizens, immunized from all criminal activity by the Supreme Court—where he wants the protection racket to be out in the open. He wants everyone to see it.

Because these are the new rules and he wants to be sure that everyone whose life could be touched by his government—meaning: everyone—understands this reality.

And that, so long as they pay, they’ll be fine. ..."

www.thebulwark.com

The New Age of Trump: Protection Money and FU You Money

How our billionaires are responding.
www.thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com
Click to expand...
And could you believe some MAGAs would point to this as a good thing Trump is doing?
No, I’m serious, they are.
 
ZenMode said:
No. To clarify, a FEMA leader directed members of a hurricane relief team to not engage with Trump supporter houses.

Either way, I initially thought it was nonsense.
Click to expand...
That's not a policy, your post made it sound like there was an actual policy.

If this FEMA person made that statement, then they should not be in that position. Their job is to help people in need, not have an opinion if the person's political views justify the need.
 
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