The House has also recessed for the week because of a small insurrection that was getting around the Speaker to change the rule to allow new moms to proxy vote. The Family Values party.

Booker is cooked. His whole thing is being the corporate Dem. Was taking photos with a war criminal a few months back. Too much baggage to ever be the face of the opposition.

The only person I've seen sort of step up is JB Pritzker. He'd be the horse to back but he's not as tied in to the Dem elites so I think they'll make it real hard on him.

JB Pritizker also supports Israel. I literally said if Booker makes a move away from his corporate sponsorship, and he totally could.

Dola: Just to add I would put very heavy odds that whoever wins the Democratic nomination in 2028 is not going to be a darling of the Democratic elites. It is going to be whoever is working the hardest against their appeasement campaign. The Democratic party feels a lot like the Republican party before Trump. They are trying to moderate so hard that they are completely alienating their base. Someone is going to come along and rally people against them as much as MAGA.

Pritzker doesn't have dozens of votes to fund a genocide on his record. Nor does he have a photo with a war criminal that he proudly displays.

Booker ran in 2020 and no one wanted him. He has a long track record of being a corporate stooge. Even going back to his Mayoral days when he supported Mitt Romney of all people when Obama was trashing private equity. I think their best hope is the backlash against oligarchy. Tough to outrun a past where you've basically been blowing billionaires for the past 2 decades because you did a stunt on the Senate floor no one will remember next week.

I agree on the party being in a similar situation as the Republicans were. I think the difference is that establishment Democrats will push much harder to stop any populist Dem from getting the nomination.

Republicans spoke out against Trump, but they didn't do fuckery with elections or blacklist vendors who worked with specific candidates. They were largely at the mercy of voters and eventually went along with their wishes. Part of that is that Trump works for the same donors that establishment candidates work for. With Democrats, anyone who veers to the left even a shred will go against their donor base (which is largely the same as Republicans).

Republicans have more leeway because all their candidates will be supported by their donors. Democrats have to run as Diet Republicans to appease their donors which unfortunately, goes against their voters.

I disagree. Someone who rallys the base is going to win whether the Elites like it or not. Bernie could have done it if he had any Black support, which no one can win a Democrat the nomination with out specifically the Black female vote.

They'll never allow that to happen. There was a reason they hid Biden's mental health for years and didn't run a competitive primary. Also remember this crap.

Access to this page has been denied

The fact that party leadership has not changed despite disastrous results tells you who they serve.

AOC is drawing crowds of 30k and they couldn't even bother to give her the Oversight Chair which she is built for. The fact that Gerry Connolly, a 75 year old with terminal throat cancer was given the position tells you exactly what they want.

The party will not be changing in the near future.

Bs. The rank in file also didn't want anyone to run against Biden. There was no groundswell against Biden until the debate. They can't stop the 2028 primaries, and whoever gets the most votes will have the nomination, and it is near lock it will not be anyone that Dem leadership will like. I doubt the top two vote getters will be party loyalist.

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You bring up the AOC thing, that is part of the reason why the leadership is in real danger. There are going to be some in the leadership that are going to lose in the primaries in two years, and that among other things is going to be part of the reason. AOC will get a chairmanship in two years.

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Just a moment...

Just a moment...

Speaking of Strom Thurman, did I ever tell y'all about the time I nearly met that creep?

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From Bluesky. More on the blood in water on the Dem leadership:
"Btw, that means in the last 24 hours we've had:

-Cory Booker going for a record in holding the floor
-Ruben Gallego putting a hold on VA nominees over cuts to veterans care
-Adam Schiff putting a hold on Ed Martin's nomination for DC US attorney over... a lot

And, to be clear, it's almost certainly happening *because* the base has been screaming for action from elected Democrats.

This isn't "relax, they've got this." This is "keep yelling, it's working."

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And my feed right now is full of far lefties sending contributions to Cory Booker.

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And immediately after Booker cedes the floor the GOP asks for unanimous consent and no Dem objects. Ugh.

FL1 is going to stay red, but it's going to swing towards Dems by 20 points or more.

Booker is going to be on MSNBC with Rachel Maddow at 9pm. How has he not collapsed?

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They literally made a rule to blacklist vendors who worked for primary challengers of moderate candidates.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rebukes DCCC ‘blacklist’ of companies working with primary challengers to incumbent Democrats | CNN Politics

Schumer wouldn't fight the CR because he had to promote a book about how great Israel is. Other leaders are propping up a book about how we need techbro trickle down economics. They're giving out chair positions to unknown guys who are dying at a time when they need their best.

They just handed Trump the Presidency for their donors, despite all the rhetoric about him being a dictator. You're vastly underestimating the grip those people and those donors have on the party. Sure a few will fall in a primary, but the party has shown no signs of making any changes.

Their only strategy is to hope Republicans piss off enough people they get to win by default, at which point they'll do nothing.

Yeah, every Dem has said these things after the initial attack. Very few were as entrenched as Booker in it.

Maybe one of the very few Dems who opposed the genocide will run. Or someone else completely outside of our purview will rise. But the issue is going to be absolute poison in 4 years and you're going to want to have the least amount of blood on your hands (of which Booker has a lot).

Booker's biggest issue is he's been a toadie for Wall Street and private equity most of his political career. I think there's going to be massive backlash in 4 years against the billionaire class like Elon, Bezos, etc after the damage they have done to this country is more apparent. I don't know how someone who has quotes praising Bain Capital survives a primary, let alone a general election. The party is hated and they'll need a candidate who has been as far from DC sludge as possible. It's going to have to be a Governor, business person, or someone like Mayor Pete, if he can get beyond the McKinsey stuff.

"They literally made a rule to blacklist vendors who worked for primary challengers of moderate candidates."
They can do whatever, but it is not the moderates in the purple districts that are in danger of being primaried. It the leaders in the very blue districts that are danger of losing their seats. History tells us it likely.

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What has Pritzker done that other Democrats haven't? I personally haven't heard anything from him in quite some time.

And I guess the way to get away from elites is to go with a billionaire?

Democrats won the Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin handily, but also enshrined in their Constitution a voter ID law.

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Actually passed good bills to help working class people, balanced the budget of a state that was in dire financial shape, continuously stands up for vulnerable people (listen to some of his speeches).

Bar is real low in Illinois but he's been a good Governor. Has great political instincts and a really smart team behind him (reminds me of 2007 Obama team). The billionaire thing was a huge concern when he first ran but he's pretty detached from his family business and hasn't had much interest in corporate money. Plus jolly fat guys are relatable.

No idea how these two are related (not doubting it) but this result tells me people fucking hate Musk.

will be interesting to see how Trump responds

Exit polling showing that people REALLY hate Elon. Anyone running for a competitive seat in 2026 should have ads with him all over it. This was going to be a tough race for Republicans any way but his presence made it a blowout.

Every time the Trump thread and the RIP thread are next to each other I get my hopes up just a little bit.

Elon went from Mark Cuban to Montgomery Burns really quick. I need to see the movie on this ASAP.

Case dismissed with prejudiced against Eric Adams.

It is pretty funny that the judge made sure the Trump admin can't hold retrying him over his head.

So announcing the tariffs after markets close is to make sure all the right people put their money in the right places for whatever changes he makes Thursday morning?

Trump is telling people that the plan is for Elon to step back from his role with the Trump administration and go back to his businesses within the next couple weeks. Last night's election results have really shaken the GOP.

Elon's ego is too big for him to fully give up his power in this administration. He's been taking a lot of the heat for Trump, which i think is why Trump is OK having him around. Gonna be interesting to see if Trump gets tired of him once he's no longer an official advisor or whatever the hell they're calling him.

I don't think they even know what they're doing.

Poor people don't deserve to feel slightly less miserable about their situation... something, something party of personal liberties...

https://www.newsweek.com/first-snap-...-idaho-2053643

As someone who worked at a grocery store while in college and saw what was often bought with such funds I am actually ok with this. Im all for personal freedom but if you are using funds assistance i think having limits to what can be bought is fine.

Does the money not go to the grocery store either way? Why should they care? Are we in the business of telling the rich what they can or can't buy with their tax subsidiaries? Or do the slightly more well off people , who are trying hard, just want to feel better about their place in life telling the worse off how they can spend their support (who is going to gain, the poorest, or the slightly less poor?)

Two words: food deserts.

Otherwise I agree with you.

It’s bullshit. Someone tell Elon what he can and can’t buy with all the government money he collects.

Honestly why the fuck does anyone care what they eat? Should everyone eat better, probably but I’m going to eat what I want and so are they.

That'll show those pesky poor people who's boss!!1

Shave their heads and make them join the military while we are at it

SNAP has always had restrictions on what was allowed to be purchased, so this is nothing new nor is it really that bad a restriction. Republicans have long wanted to restrict it to just fresh produce, dairy and meat along with baking staples. If SNAP restrictions make you mad, wait till you see the WIC restrictions that specify exactly what items you can get in what amounts.

No surprise, but GOP Senators are going to pretend 5.3 trillion in tax cuts is really only 1.5 trillion so they can pass it through reconciliation.

But, yeah, they are really concerned about the deficit.

I actually work with the population that uses SNAP. I’m going to be real honest. Alot of them can’t cook. Some of them don’t have working stoves. What are those people going to do with only fresh product?

I also work with the WIC population. Why would the restrictions they have piss me off? If they needed SNAP they would have it too. WIC is targeted to a very specific circumstance. SNAP is just about feeding people.

What percentage of these people would you say are obese?

A lot. But so am I. Once again I’ll eat what I want and I think they should be able to as well. I’m not a fascist.

I'm old enough to remember when Giuliani said if Obama was elected, there would be increased tariffs.

I'm not arguing that one way or the other, but I see both sides. When you live off a diet of Mountain Dew and Little Debbies you then become a burden on the healthcare system and I suspect these people are on government healthcare as well.

WIC has requirements because it was created mostly to have a place to send things we overproduce in this country. It's a bailout for farmers that happens to benefit mothers.

Eating fresh and healthy in this country is so expensive and time consuming that it's not a realistic option for a lot of people on SNAP. They either don't have the means to cook or they don't have the time. Most of the people involved in making these decisions don't understand that being poor is more about surviving day to day than anything else.

Dow futures already down 2.3%

I feel in two minds with regards to the healthy food stuff.. I am that type of person described above: I am a bonafide soda addict (to the point where I got a sodastream because I need to limit my consumption of coca-cola to one can a day, and sodastream soda is MUCH healthier than store-bought soda (not that it's HEALTHY, per se, but MUCH less bad then Soda in a can, because of all the preservatives)

I also have trouble with my health conditions in that I find it very hard (if not impossible to cook healthy, mostly because I don't have the ability to do more then throw a protein in the stove, and maybe some frozen vegetables to go with it.). If it wasn't for the fact that someone else cooks a lot of the stuff for me, I'd be eating a lot more unhealthier then I do because it's all I can make.

The healthcare system is a burden on itself and it passes that burden onto its customers.

You actually die younger and are less of a burden to our health system and social security.

It's just a weird thing to micromanage. It's just done to be cruel to people in need and take away their agency.

Have you thought about Waterloo or other sparkling water? That's helped me a lot.

You'll get no argument from me.


that's morbid but probably accurate

Yeah I'm not sure on obesity but Sweden or some nordic country did a long study on smoking prevention. They found that it actually cost more long term if you didn't smoke. Guessing the bills add up when you live to 95 as opposed to dying at 60.

I'm not saying they should. That's a GOP pipe dream. I don't think removing sodas and candy from SNAP is that big a deal, or "fascist." They don't allow the purchase of hot meals. Is that fascist? And on a side note, I really which people would stop cheapening that word. There are things that MAGA are doing that are fascist, this isn't even in the realm.

WIC (in part) and SNAP is about feeding people. WIC and SNAP both have restrictions on what could be bought, WIC even more than SNAP.

I wouldn't say it's about feeding people. It was setup as a bailout to farmers.

Room rate at $300 a day adds up pretty quick when you live to be 100.

What, WIC? Both of my children were on WIC. It was a life saver for us. Restrictive, but we were very grateful for it. If it is a subsidy for for farmers, then thank God for farm subsidies.


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Some of you have never been poor, and it shows.

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Trust me, I've tried everything. My brother's fridge's chiller has several types of flavored water, sparkling ice, and three bottles of cold water to be used with the soda-stream (thank goodness the bottles are reusable).After all these years, my body craves that sugar hit and the bite of Coca-cola's "taste"

Just to provide a thing of how much the sodastream is helping.. one can (12 oz) of Coke (like the one I just used to take 15 pills of meds) has 140 calories, and 39g of sugar/carbs.

Root beer (They don't have coca-cola, sadly, since sodastream is owned by Pepsi), 24 oz, has NINETY calories and 24g of carbs/sugars. That's huge, especially for someone like me who was drinking three-four cans of the stuff a day. That, along with the zepbound (which thankfully I now don't have to pay for out of pocket, as it's covered by MassHealth) has led to me dropping approximately 45 pounds so far.

What about diet or zero sugar sodas? There are so many out there that are really good tasting.

My brother HATES those with an ungodly passion (he was the one who got me a sodastream as a christmas gift), the artificial sweetners in there are in their own way as unhealthy to the body as the sugar-laden sodas.

So it seems the tariffs rollout was even dumber than expected.

It's absolutely insane to put out tariffs like this and give a few hours notice. I can't imagine trying to work in retail distribution right now.

I don't know. There really is no real evidence that artificial sweeteners are dangerous. Nothing anywhere near as dangerous as real sugar sodas that pack 150 calories a can.

I'm a soda addict and I'd be like 50 pounds heavier if it wasn't for diet sodas.

I think they used ChatGPT or something to come up with the tariffs because they are levying tariffs on islands that have no one living on them.

They seem to do policy like how I wrote term papers in college. Have a deadline then just stay up all night eating Papa Johns and mainlining Coca Cola to come up with shit at the last possible moment without actually reading the material.

Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us.

So we… https://t.co/PBjF8xmcuv

— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) April 2, 2025

I have no capacity or time to sort out whether this is true, but... if it is, HOLY FUCK are these people stupid.

I am equally appalled and unsurprised.

And I need to get out of these threads.

I think they added the "Including currency manipulation and trade barriers" party because you can just make up any number you want.

Also just from a geopolitical standpoint, why would you put tariffs on Taiwan? Why would you make tariffs on Vietnam and others in the region higher than China? You're just fucking yourself over.

Our country's new motto!

Holy shit the weighted average tariff is higher than Smoot-Hawley. Incredible things going to happen with the economy.

Yeah, congress really needs to take aways Trump's ability to control tariffs.

Basically gambling the entire US economy, the largest economy in the world and the global economy on the premise that US consumers will continue to consume the same amount of stuff but pay more for it. If he's wrong on that, then it won't matter if in 5-10 years more stuff is made in the US because the scale of the recession will make it a totally moot point.

It's a bold strategy. Just from sheer morbid curiosity I'm fascinated to see what happens next.

So you're saying Pepper Brooks is running the US economy.

🇺🇸 🦅 https://t.co/zdVjGTwD8P pic.twitter.com/jevrmxD2xb

— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) April 2, 2025

Bout time those penguins payed their way. Free loading flightless pieces of crap.

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Only two countries came out of this with no tariff.

Russia
North Korea

Are you fucking kidding?

further advertising to the world how far we have fallen.

They put a tariff on Diego Garcia. That is OUR military base.

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WIC 3 times, and SNAP twice. It was a lifesaver for us.

Well my business just got borked. Guess where all those great Switch 2 games that were announced today originate from? Japan. And all PS5/XBSX product originates from the EU.

Someone's been playing worldle

Not to mention the campaign was based on the previous administration was responsible for US consumers having to pay more for the same amount of stuff. You'd think it would be the one thing they make sure to avoid.

They also labeled Ecuador a currency manipulator. They use the US Dollar.

In fairness, according to his chart, the penguins have been placing a 10% taroff on us.

What a dumb way for this admin to state that Taiwan is s country separate from China.

Pesto the penguin got fat off those tariffs.

"The penguins on the Heard and McDonald Islands announce they are putting 30% tariffs on US goods."

It appears that not only did they likely use ChatGPT to calculate the tariffs, they might even have gotten the idea itself from AI.


https://x.com/krishnanrohit/status/1907587352157106292

It's like SkyNet decided to use economic war to destroy humanity instead of a nuclear war.

A day after destroying the stock market Trump will be attending a Saudi run LIV golf tournament.

Could you imagine if Biden did anything close?

I imagine he short the market heavily to profit immensely.

So evidently Matt Waltz's punishment for the Signal chat was having to watch Trump get a BJ from a wannabe trans-woman and then having her tell you to fire people.

White House fires three NSC staffers after president meets with far-right activist Laura Loomer | CNN Politics

Supposedly most people around Trump think Waltz should be fired but Trump won't do it. I think it's an ego thing. He wants to fire people on his terms, not what others want and he probably she's firing Waltz and a win for dems and the media.

Layoff announcements starting to roll in. Still small total numbers, but an ominous sign.

Going to be a lot of "but I didn't think the leopards would eat my face" interviews coming up...

Given how many people have been let go from federal jobs, I can't believe that unemployment somehow went down at the last announcement.

That being said, I'm possibly leaving the job I just started to beat getting fired for lack of work (govt contract related). I have 1 firm offer and 1 that I have a final interview tomorrow where they said to expect an offer.