Mastodawn

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Jul 19, 2024

Like QAnon, to most Americans the U.S. Republican Party is now an American religion based on belief, conspiracies, dogma.

Religion: range of social-cultural systems, incl. designated behaviors & practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, & spirituality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

Behind the scenes Christian right / libertarian billionaires pull the strings.

#GOP #QAnon

Religion - Wikipedia

#Koch #evil #capitalism #GOP #RepublicanParty #Trumpism #MAGA #QAnon #billionaires #corporations #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #homophobia #transphobia #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS

The GOP As We Knew It Is Long Gone And May Never Return
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo/the-gop-as-we-knew-it-is-long-gone-and-may-never-return

The GOP As We Knew It Is Long Gone And May Never Return

The chances of the Republican Party emerging intact after the Trump era have markedly declined

TPM – Talking Points Memo

#USA #religion #demographics

America's nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don't like organized religion
https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/the-nones/the-nones-us.html

* most religions are there to control people and get money from them said Dulak (76, Missouri)
* he also cited sex abuse scandals in Catholic & Southern Baptist churches
* as Dulak rejects being part of a religious flock, he has plenty of company
* he is a “none” ... the kind that checks “none” when pollsters ask “What’s your religion?”

The Nones: U.S.

America's nonreligious are a growing phenomenon. They have little in common save these key concerns.

#USA #religion #demographics

Scholar charted decline in religion; church he pastors closing its doors
https://apnews.com/article/illinois-christian-baptist-church-closure-religious-trends-c6b9e938eb228c8018fb911b02a791f0

* 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019
* churches dwindle due to scandal, conflict, mobility, indifference, lower birth rates, switching to a church they like better
* most Americans remain religious
* some surveys suggest that the long rise of the “nones” has slowed/paused
* nonreligious far more common today in U.S./other nations than generation ago

An Illinois church closes its doors as religion declines in the US

First Baptist Church of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, plans to hold the last service of its 156-year history on Sunday. It's among many U.S. churches that close their doors each year. But there’s a poignant twist in this story. First Baptist’s pastor, Ryan Burge, spends much of his time as a researcher, documenting the dramatic decline in religious affiliation in recent decades. With more Americans abandoning religious affiliation, it's hard to grow and sustain a church, Burge says. He hopes his research, and his personal experience, can provide comfort to other pastors of struggling churches. “This is not all your fault,” Burge tells them.

AP News

#Koch #capitalism #GOP #RepublicanParty #Trumpism #MAGA #billionaires #corporations #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #ConservativePartnershipInstitute #CPI

Project 2025 Links Revolving Door of Players & Far Right Political Funding
Such cross-pollination - common in political circles - becoming regular occurrence among hate groups
https://truthout.org/articles/project-2025-links-a-revolving-door-of-players-and-far-right-political-funding

* For Republicans goal is to keep white Christian nationalists in power at all costs

Project 2025 Links a Revolving Door of Players and Far Right Political Funding

Such cross-pollination isn’t just commonplace in political circles; it’s become a regular occurrence among hate groups.

Truthout

#Koch #capitalism #GOP #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #MAGA #billionaires #corporations #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #ConservativePartnershipInstitute #CPI

Once Enemies, Trumpists and Mainstream Conservatives Are Now Chillingly United
The Heritage Foundation’s president announced in January that the foundation’s role is “institutionalizing Trumpism”
https://truthout.org/articles/once-enemies-trumpists-and-mainstream-conservatives-are-now-chillingly-united

Once Enemies, Trumpists and Mainstream Conservatives Are Now Chillingly United

The Heritage Foundation’s president announced in January that the foundation’s role is “institutionalizing Trumpism.”…

Truthout

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Jul 31, 2024

Addendum to thread landing page:

None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1972) Gary Allen
https://archive.org/details/none-dare-call-it-conspiracy_202101
"We are going to have a dictatorship of the elite disguised as the dictatorship of the proletariat”

Discussed 2024-Jul:
J. D. Vance Is Summoning John Birch Society
Populist appeals indistinguishable f. economic vision of 1970s John Birch Society
https://jacobin.com/2024/07/vance-trump-gop-john-birch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Allen
Senior member, John Birch Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

#libertarianism #Koch #fascism #GOP

NONE DARE CALL IT CONSPIRACY : by Gary Allen with Larry Abraham : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

by Gary Allen with Larry Abraham

Internet Archive

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Jul 31, 2024

/8 cont'd

John Birch Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

* right-wing political advocacy group
* anti-communist; social conservatism
* ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populism/libertarianism
* founders: Harry Lynde Bradley (Bradley Foundation), Fred C. Koch (Koch Industries) ...
* Trump 2016 election: JBS core instincts finally reflected in White House
* political commentator, 2016: Trumpism" essent. Bircherism

#GaryAllen #Koch #Trump #billionaires #libertarianism #fascism

John Birch Society - Wikipedia

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 10, 2024

Koch network’s flagship super PAC pours big money into 2024 elections
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/08/koch-network-flagship-super-pac-pours-big-money-into-2024-elections

* Koch network flagship group
* 2 decades financially influencing U.S. elections
* AFP super PAC ranks 3rd in outside spending in 2024 cycle
* Americans for Prosperity Action, hybrid PAC affiliated w. AFP, spent $257+ million since 2004
* supports conservative congressional/presidential candidates

#Koch #evil #AmericansForProsperity #billionaires #ElectoralFraud #libertarianism #fascism #superPAC #GOP

Koch network’s flagship super PAC pours big money into 2024 elections - OpenSecrets News

The Koch network’s flagship group, Americans for Prosperity, has spent two decades pouring money into influencing U.S. elections.

OpenSecrets News

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 14, 2024

6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025
$120+ million f. few ultra-wealthy families powering Heritage Foundation to remake American gov.
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112962304294428041
https://www.desmog.com/2024/08/14/project-2025-billionaire-donor-heritage-foundation-donald-trump-jd-vance-charles-koch-peter-coors

Evil:
Coors Family
Charles Koch
Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein
Scaife Family
Barre Seid (also gave $1.6 BILLION to Leonard Leo)
Bradley Family

#billionaires #EnablingFascism #GOP #Trumpism #HeritageFoundation #KevinRoberts #Project2025 #FamilyResearchCouncil #TonyPerkins #fascism #libertarianism #FarRight

6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025

More than $120 million from a few ultra-wealthy families who have spent years working to promote climate change denial has powered the Heritage Foundation and other groups that created the plan to remake American government.

DeSmog

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 16, 2024

The Right's 50-yr plot to wreck democracy
https://www.salon.com/2024/08/16/unpacking-the-rights-50-year-plot-to-wreck-democracy--and-why-it-might-work

Antidemocratic: Inside Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections
https://bookshop.org/p/books/minority-rule-david-daley/20370445?ean=9780063321090

* equal parts Dark Money/Democracy in Chains
* riveting/disturbing history of 50-yr Republican plot to hijack voting rights

#billionaires #Koch #capitalism #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #JaneMayer #NancyMcLean #ElectoralFraud #GOP

Bestselling author David Daley on his new book "Antidemocratic" and the right's long-term strategy

Salon Talks: Author David Daley on his new book "Antidemocratic," a history of the right's 50-year war

Salon.com

#billionaires #Koch #capitalism #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #JaneMayer #NancyMcLean #ElectoralFraud #GOP

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️

These Billionaires Are Donating Big in 2024 Election to Advance Their Interests
From Christian nationalists to fossil fuel barons, they are using their fortunes to pursue policies that impact us all
https://truthout.org/articles/these-billionaires-are-donating-big-in-2024-election-to-advance-their-interests

These Billionaires Are Donating Big in 2024 Election to Advance Their Interests

From Christian nationalists to fossil fuel barons, they are using their fortunes to pursue policies that impact us all.

Truthout

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 21, 2024

Koch Inc. Invests in Massive Land Grab f. West African Herders
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/08/21/koch-invests-in-massive-land-grab-from-west-african-herders

* Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries): largest U.S. private company
* provides corporations w. carbon offsets while pulling local natural resources from 2.9 million hectares in 3 West African countries
* led by U.S.-based African Agriculture Holdings
* consume water in drought-prone region
* elim. land from use for subsistence farming

#Africa #neocolonialism #billionaires #Koch #capitalism #libertarianism

Koch Invests in Massive Land Grab From West African Herders - EXPOSEDbyCMD

An investment arm of the largest private company in the U.S. — Koch, Inc. — is investing in an agricultural business venture that will provide corporations with carbon offsets while pulling local natural resources from almost 7.2 million acres of land in three West African countries.

EXPOSEDbyCMD

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 21, 2024

Bernie Sanders Says Overturning Citizens United Should Be Priority
Outside groups spent more >$1 billion on federal elections this cycle
https://truthout.org/articles/in-dnc-speech-sanders-says-overturning-citizens-united-should-be-a-priority

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC

https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110538803275965181
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110849793957682272
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112680538775427584
https://persagen.com/docs/leonard_leo.html

#BernieSanders #SheldonWhitehouse #SCOTUS #CitizensUnited #lobbying #LegalPerson #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #Trump #MitchMcConnell #PoliticalCorruption #corporations #billionaires #FarRight #GOP #EnablingFascism

In DNC Speech, Sanders Says Overturning “Citizens United” Should Be a Priority

Outside groups have already spent more than $1 billion on federal elections this cycle, far outpacing previous years.

Truthout

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 22, 2024

Elon Musk Forced to Reveal Shady X Investors
Musk said Sean Diddy Combs as investor made it OK that hate speech was increasing on X
https://newrepublic.com/post/185174/elon-musk-x-investors-shadiest-people-diddy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/21/elon-musk-x-investors

* Sean Combs
* Andreessen Horowitz
* Sequoia Capital
* 8VC/Joe Lonsdale >> https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112968642162289475
* Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud
* Bill Ackman

#ElonMusk #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #EnablingFascism #FarRight #racism #anti-LGBT #transphobia #Trumpism #GOP #disinformation #AmericaPAC #DefundBillionaires

Elon Musk Forced to Reveal Shady X Investors

Elon Musk said that having Sean “Diddy” Combs as an investor made it OK that hate speech was increasing on X.

The New Republic

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 23, 2024

Billionaire Timothy Mellon poured $165 million into 2024 elections
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113013133319641942

#TimothyMellon #TimMellon #FarRight #conservatism #billionaires #Trumpism #fascism #EnablingFascism #GOP #capitalism #libertarianism #MAGA #DefundBillionaires #DynasticWealth #GenerationalWealth

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 24, 2024

No Surprise RFK Jr. Endorsed Trump: Both Backed by Billionaire Timothy Mellon
https://truthout.org/articles/its-no-surprise-rfk-jr-endorsed-trump-theyre-backed-by-the-same-billionaire

Secretive billionaire bankrolls RFK Jr., Donald Trump
https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/08/26/the-billionaire-behind-rfk-jr-and-trump-timothy-mellons-influence-on-the-2024-election

* critical concern: influence of wealth on American democracy

#TimothyMellon #TimMellon #TimothyMellon #Trump #RFKjr #GOP #Trumpism #MAGA #FarRight #conservatism #billionaires #DefundBillionaires #fascism #EnablingFascism #capitalism #libertarianism #GenerationalWealth #plutocracy #oligarchy #meritocracy

It’s No Surprise RFK Jr. Endorsed Trump — They’re Backed by the Same Billionaire

Timothy Mellon has poured over $165 million into the election so far, giving tens of millions to both Trump and Kennedy.

Truthout

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 27, 2024

Powell Memo Changed America
Architect: US Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell
https://www.levernews.com/master-plan-episode-3-the-memo-that-changed-america

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.#Powell_Memorandum,_1971
* tobacco industry champion
* wrote confidential memo for U.S. Chamber Commerce
* anti-Communist/anti-New Deal blueprint for conservative business interests to retake America
* based partly on Powell's reaction activist Ralph Nader

https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113093285576894645

#LewisPowell #SCOTUS #PowellMemo #RalphNader #USCC #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #billionaires #conservatism

MASTER PLAN, Ep 3: The Memo That Changed America

Our third episode introduces the architect behind the master plan’s original blueprint, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell.

The Lever

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 29, 2024

Project 2025: How the far-right’s tax plan would hike middle-class taxes while slashing taxes for the wealthy
https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/08/29/project-2025-how-the-far-rights-tax-plan-would-hike-middle-class-taxes-while-slashing-taxes-for-the-wealthy

* radical tax reforms disproportionately burden middle-income Americans
* significant tax breaks to wealthiest persons/corporations

#billionaires #DefundBillionaires #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #corporations #WealthInequality #taxation #TaxAvoidance #GOP #Trumpism #MAGAfascism #FarRight #oligarchy #plutocracy #meritocracy

#SCOTUS #EnablingFascism

Project 2025: How the far-right’s tax plan would hike middle-class taxes while slashing taxes for the wealthy | NationofChange

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 29, 2024

Another Reason Project 2025 Is So Bad for Women? Guns
https://msmagazine.com/2024/08/29/project-2025-guns

* Project 2025: 900+-page misogynist manifesto
* promise to eliminate IVF; attacks racial equity, LGBTQ+ youth; ...
* radical “guns everywhere” agenda

#SelfDetermination #GunViolence #WomensRights #DomesticAbuse #Project2025 #HeritageFoundation #billionaires #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #EnablingFascism #corporations #GOP #Trumpism #FarRight #oligarchy #plutocracy #meritocracy #SCOTUS #antiLGBT #antiabortion

Another Reason Project 2025 Is So Bad for Women? Guns.

If implemented, Project 2025 would be devastating for women, families and feminists everywhere. Voters—particularly women voters—need to understand these threats. But while Project 2025’s abortion and LGBTQ+ rights plans have

Ms. Magazine

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 30, 2024

How Dark Money Groups Bought Colorado Tax Cut
Extracted huge tax cuts f. Colorado lawmakers
Threatened ballot initiatives to further slash taxes
https://jacobin.com/2024/08/colorado-dark-money-tax-cuts

* billionaires use referenda to blackmail state
* state reps. slashed CO property taxes by $100s millions
* cut funding for public schools, health care, essential services

#billionaires #Colorado #StateLegislatures #StateCapture #capitalism #Trumpism #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #SCOTUS #ElectoralFraud #GOP

How Dark Money Groups Bought a Tax Cut in Colorado

Dark money groups extracted huge tax cuts from Colorado lawmakers by threatening to push ballot initiatives that would slash taxes even further. Referenda should promote democracy — yet billionaires are using them to blackmail the state.

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 2, 2024

MAGA Looks to Notorious War On Terror Lawyer John Yoo For Trump II Inspiration
Want War on Terror justifications for domestic military use
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/maga-looks-to-notorious-war-on-terror-lawyer-for-trump-ii-inspiration

John Yoo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Yoo
* legal scholar
* wrote Torture Memos to det. legal limits for torture of detainees
* justification of waterboarding/enhanced interrogation methods constituted "ntentional professional misconduct

#Trump2 #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #EnablingFascism #fascism #GOP #JohnYoo #911 #WarCriminals #Bush

MAGA Looks to Notorious War On Terror Lawyer For Trump II Inspiration

As Trump allies seek to justify deploying the military at home — be it to round up undocumented immigrants, quell protests, or simply make an aggressive point — they're looking again and again to the…

TPM – Talking Points Memo

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 2, 2024

Neoliberal Policies Associated w. Reaganomics Actually Started w. Carter
https://truthout.org/articles/neoliberal-policies-associated-with-reaganomics-actually-started-with-carter

* historian David N. Gibbs says we mustn’t whitewash Carter’s record
* should look to administrations of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter who set up foundations launching of neoliberal counterrevolution

Revolt of the Rich: How the Politics of the 1970s Widened America's Class Divide
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/revolt-of-the-rich/9780231556224

#DavidGibbs #neoliberalism #libertarianism #billionaires #capitalism #history #PoliticalScience

Neoliberal Policies Associated With Reaganomics Actually Started With Carter

Historian David N. Gibbs, author of “The Revolt of the Rich,” says we mustn’t whitewash President Carter’s record.

Truthout

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 3, 2024

Elon Musk Giddily Accepts Idea of Joining Trump’s Cabinet
https://newrepublic.com/post/185538/elon-musk-accept-trump-job-offer-cabinet

* Musk says he “can’t wait” to take on a role in Donald Trump’s administration

Trump eyes plan that may give Elon Musk role in auditing U.S. agencies
Trump discussed asking executives to comb through federal books
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/09/02/trump-elon-musk-commission-doge

#ElonMusk #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #EnablingFascism #FarRight #racism #anti-LGBT #transphobia #Trumpism #GOP #disinformation #AmericaPAC #Trump2 #libertarianism #capitalism

Elon Musk Giddily Accepts Idea of Joining Trump’s Cabinet

Donald Trump may consider having Elon Musk join his Cabinet if he wins the White House—and Musk is already gleefully accepting.

The New Republic

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 4, 2024

Elon Musk: oligarch plutocrat autocrat

Starlink U-turns, will block X in Brazil after all
Musk fought the law and the law won... for now
https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/04/starlink_performs_a_180_and
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41444961

* fight in Brazil over Musk's X/Twitter

#ElonMusk #capitalism #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #Tesla #Starlink #SpaceX #oligarchy #plutocracy #meritocracy #autocrat #authoritarianism #GOP #Trumpism #AmericaPAC #fascism #EnablingFascism #censorship #FarRight #antiLGBT #transphobia #TAXtheRich #WealthConcentration

Starlink U-turns, will block X in Brazil after all

Musk fought the law and the law won... for now

The Register

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 4, 2024

Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule
How the U.S. government came to rely on the tech billionaire—and is now struggling to rein him in
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/elon-musks-shadow-rule

Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule

Ronan Farrow reports on how the U.S. government came to rely on the tech billionaire—and is now struggling to rein him in.

The New Yorker

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 4, 2024

Inside Brazil’s X Ban: How Musk Started/lost Fight w. Brazil’s Judiciary
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/09/04/inside-brazils-x-ban-how-elon-musk-started-and-lost-a-fight-with-brazils-judiciary

* Brazilians woke up 2024-Aug-31 w.o. X/Twitter
* Supreme Court (Brazil) ordered national telecommunications agency to block X
* X refused to follow Brazil’s telecommunications laws

#ElonMusk #capitalism #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #Starlink #oligarchy #plutocracy #meritocracy #autocrat #authoritarianism #Trumpism #fascism #EnablingFascism #censorship #FarRight #TAXtheRich #WealthConcentration

Inside Brazil's X Ban: How Elon Musk Started–and lost–a Fight With Brazil's Judiciary

Millions of Brazilians woke up on August 31 in a country without X, after the Supreme Court ordered the national telecommunications agency to block the social media platform. This move culminated over a year of X's refusal to follow Brazil's telecommunications laws, particularly those requiring deplatforming of suspects in internet crime investigations. In a single day, X lost 22 million users, while alternative platform Blue Sky gained 2 million new Brazilian users in just three days. The order to ban the platform initially came from Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, a figure vilified by the Bolsonaros and the international far right, and was ratified by a 5-0 vote in the Supreme Court's 1st working group three days later.

CounterPunch.org

Trump plans to hire Elon Musk to lead gov. efficiency commission
https://www.salon.com/2024/09/05/plans-to-hire-elon-musk-to-lead-government-efficiency-commission

Trump will Give Musk a Job
Taps Musk, who wrecked Twitter, to run task force to cutting federal overspending
https://newrepublic.com/post/185650/donald-trump-elon-musk-job-federal-spending

Musk Giddily Accepts Idea of Joining Trump Cabinet
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113075001944681923

#ElonMusk #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #EnablingFascism #FarRight #racism #anti-LGBT #transphobia #Trumpism #GOP #disinformation #AmericaPAC #Trump2 #libertarianism #capitalism #TAXtheRich

Donald Trump, in economic speech, said he plans to hire Elon Musk to lead "government efficiency commission"

Salon.com

Peter Sep 6, 2024

That would truly be the end of the American Experiment.

May as well hand the country back to the various countries that used to run the place.

Paul Chernoff Sep 6, 2024

@PeterLG @persagen If we do return America to the original tribes that lived here

Peter Sep 6, 2024

@paulc

Now THAT would be the right move!

Myk Sep 6, 2024

@persagen The guy that bankrupted a casino is giving a job to the guy thats lost billions from Twitter. sounds right.

Jonathan D. Cope, Esq.Sep 6, 2024

How do you make a $12.5B company? You start with a $44B company and destroy $31.5B of its value through malfeasance de votre choix.

@Cirdan Ah, the 'ol trusted top-down approach (Trump; Musk)! 😹

Black Metal Stu🇺🇦🇮🇱Sep 4, 2024

@persagen
I hope so badly it'll be banned and blocked in the EU too.....

Burnt Veggies Sep 3, 2024

@persagen That would be a disaster of epic proportions.

#LewisPowell #SCOTUS #PowellMemo #RalphNader #USCC #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #billionaires #conservatism #plutocracy #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #EnablingFascism #TAXtheRich #meritocracy #oligarchy #authoritarianism

Powell Memo Helped Create Project 2025
Investigative podcast shows toxic legacy of founding father of modern American plutocracy
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/powell-memo-project-2025-plutocracy/

Powell Memo Changed America
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113034395106394010

Master plan: Legalizing corruption
https://the.levernews.com/master-plan

The Powell Memo Helped Create Project 2025

A new investigative podcast shows the toxic legacy of the founding father of modern American plutocracy.

The Nation

#TheLever #SCOTUS #PowellMemo #USCC #capitalism #libertarianism #EnablingFascism #billionaires #conservatism #plutocracy #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #TAXtheRich #meritocracy #oligarchy #authoritarianism

Master Plan: Legalizing Corruption
https://the.levernews.com/master-plan

* Investigative podcast
* how political ideologues/corporations spent years orchestrating legalized corruption in USA
* narrated by David Sirota, an investigative journalist, Oscar nominee, fmr speechwriter for Bernie Sanders

Master Plan | Listen Now

Master Plan, the award-winning investigative podcast series from The Lever, reveals the hidden forces behind today’s biggest problems — and how small groups of powerful people engineered those problems to serve their own interests. We are exposing their schemes.

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 9, 2024

Koch-funded veterans group backed closing Chillicothe VA; working to elect Bernie Moreno
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/09/09/koch-funded-veterans-group-that-backed-closing-chillicothe-va-working-to-elect-bernie-moreno

Sherrod Brown (D-OH): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherrod_Brown
Bernie Moreno (R-OH): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Moreno

* privatization of health care
* Concerned Veterans for America: subgroup of Koch political nonprofit Americans for Prosperity

#billionaires #CharlesKoch #AFP #AmericansForProsperity #libertarianism #GOP #Trump2 #PublicHealth #privitization #MedicalIndustrialComplex #VeteransAdministration

Koch-funded veterans group that backed closing Chillicothe VA working to elect Bernie Moreno • Ohio Capital Journal

A Koch-funded veterans group backed a plan that would've closed the Chillicothe VA, but U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown was part of a bipartisan group of Senators that scrapped the effort. Now, that veterans group is working to elect Brown's opponent Republican Bernie Moreno to the U.S. Senate.

Ohio Capital Journal

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 11, 2024

Misogynist Manifesto: Project 2025’s Plans to Dismantle Democracy
Project 2025: sinister plan to replace nonpartisan civil servants who enforce laws guaranteeing women’s rights w. trained ideologues det. to undermine these rights
https://msmagazine.com/2024/09/11/project-2025-government-democracy-white-house

* 3rd in 3-pt series on Project 2025

#GOP #Trumpism #Trump2 #HeritageFoundation #KevinRoberts #Project2025 #FamilyResearchCouncil #FarRight #billionaires #EnablingFascism #misogyny #ReproductiveRights #WomensRights #ChristianRight #theocracy

Misogynist Manifesto: Fighting Project 2025’s Plans to Dismantle Democracy as We Know It

The final installment of a three-part series about the 900-plus-page right-wing 'misogynistic manifesto': Project 2025 is a sinister plan to replace nonpartisan civil servants who enforce laws guaranteeing women’s rights,

Ms. Magazine

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 13, 2024

Trump says he'll end all taxes on overtime pay if elected
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/trump-says-he-will-end-all-taxes-on-overtime-pay-if-elected-1.7036287

Comments:
* see top of this thread: https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112810230899017402
* desperate, populist move
* conservative billionaires - other than defense spending / foreign wars - abhor and seek to eliminate all - ALL - social support/welfare programs, taxation
* it's survival the fittest: If destitute, you lost/are abandoned

Read Jane Mayer's / Nancy MacLeans books. Those authoritative, scholarly works explain our current state.

Trump says he will end all taxes on overtime pay if elected

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will end all taxes on overtime pay as part of a wider tax cut package, if he is elected in the Nov. 5 election.

CTVNews

#KamalaHarris #Democrats #Kamala #appeasement #CapitalGainsTax #billionaires #WealthTax #TAXtheRich #Trump2 #MAGA #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #ElonMusk #TimothyMellon #EnablingFascism #GOP

Harris Can’t Embrace Billionaires if She Wants to Win
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/09/16/harris-cant-embrace-billionaires-if-she-wants-to-win

* vast majority of Americans believe that U.S. economy unfairly rigged to benefit the rich
* Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has made accusations of a “rigged economy”
* Kamala Harris pivots on capital gains tax rate
...

#KamalaHarris #Democrats #Kamala #appeasement #CapitalGainsTax #billionaires #WealthTax #TAXtheRich #Trump2

* hard for climate justice activists to get Harris to stick to her original 2019 anti-fracking stance
* recent debate w. Trump, days after scientists declared summer 2024 hottest on record, she promised, “I will not ban fracking
* for anti-genocide activists to win a commitment from Harris for an arms embargo against Israel in the face of mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza

Elon Musk's Vile “Joke” About Harris After Trump Shooting
Claimed his conspiracy theory just humor
https://newrepublic.com/post/185983/elon-musk-donald-trump-shooting-kamala-harris

* Billionaire X owner
* Following 2nd assassination attempt on Trump Musk issued an alarming tweet
* “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala” Musk wrote
* incitement to assassination

#ElonMusk #AmericaPAC #GOP #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #EnablingFascism #FarRight #racism #anti-LGBT #Trumpism #Project2025 #Trump2 #disinformation #extremism #WealthTax

Elon Musk Makes Vile “Joke” About Harris After Trump Shooting

Musk claimed his conspiracy theory was really just humor taken out of context.

The New Republic

#oligarchy #billionaires #meritocracy #plutocracy #WealthTax #TAXtheRich #democracy #WealthInequality #inequality #neofascism #neoliberalism #HeritageFoundation

[thread] oligarchy
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110928781497069684

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 17, 2024

801 US billionaires hold combined $6.22 trillion wealth
https://inequality.org/great-divide/billionaire-wealth-keeps-growing

* Elon Musk, Tesla/X/SpaceX: $252.5 billion
* Jeff Bezos, Amazon: $204.8 billion
* Larry Ellison, Oracle: $197 billion
* Mark Zuckerberg, Meta: $182 billion
* Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway: $141 billion
* 12 billionaires c. $100+ billion ea.
* 1st person to cross $100 billion, Bezos, only did so in 2018

#billionaires #ExtremeWealth #WealthConcentration #WealthTax #TAXtheRich #plutocracy #oligarchy #meritocracy

801 U.S. billionaires hold a combined $6.22 trillion in wealth

The number billionaires based in the United States has fallen slightly in recent months but their wealth keeps growing unabated.

Inequality.org

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 24, 2024

Mark Zuckerberg's Politics Have Changed
Billionaire making nice w. Trump, scaling back giving
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/09/mark-zuckerberg-isnt-done-with-politics-his-politics-have-just-changed

* no such thing as an apolitical oligarch
* Zuckerberg considers himself libertarian
* talked to Trump 2x this summer

Zuckerberg Done w. Politics
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/technology/mark-zuckerberg-trump-politics.html

Meta hires DeSantis/ex–Project 2025 employee
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113030409062476634

#MetaPlatforms #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #EnablingFascism #Zuckerberg #billionaires #libertarianism #plutocracy #oligarchy #Trumpism

Mark Zuckerberg isn’t done with politics. His politics have just changed.

The billionaire is making nice with Trump and scaling back his giving. Some rebrand.

Mother Jones

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 26, 2024

Election misinformation going viral on Facebook while Zuckerberg makes amends w. GOP
Viral false claim: "wasn’t anything happening to stop it" said election official
https://www.salon.com/2024/09/26/misinformation-is-going-viral-on-facebook-while-zuckerberg-makes-amends-with-the

Meta's misinformation problem has local election officials struggling
Across U.S. state & local officials puzzled by what to expect f. Facebook
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/meta-misinformation-problem-local-election-officials-worried-rcna172842

#MetaPlatforms #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #EnablingFascism #Zuckerberg #billionaires #libertarianism #plutocracy #oligarchy #Trumpism

Election misinformation is going viral on Facebook while Zuckerberg makes amends with the GOP

Salon.com

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Oct 2, 2024

Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas
https://www.propublica.org/article/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-texas-christian-nationalism-dominionism-elections-voting

State capture: Oil tycoons Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks pushed TX statehouse to far right
* fund relentless primary campaigns v. other Republicans

Christian Nationalism: TX statehouse policies threaten separation of church/state

Trumpism: Dunn linked to think tanks jockeying to influence 2nd Trump administration

#GOP #billionaires #TimDunn #FarrisWilks #EnablingFascism #StephenMiller #Project2025

A Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built the Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas. That’s Just the Start.

Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks are poised to take their Christian nationalist agenda nationwide.

ProPublica

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Oct 4, 2024

New Civil Liberties Alliance: Charles Koch-Funded Lawfare Group Suing Biden Admin To Protect Vaccine Skepticism
https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-litigation-outfit-goes
reblogged: https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/10/07/a-koch-funded-lawfare-group-is-suing-the-biden-admin-to-protect-vaccine-skepticism

Dressen et al. v. Flaherty et al.
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txsdce/3:2023cv00155/1918901
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67413611/dressen-v-flaherty

https://persagen.org >> "New Civil Liberties Alliance"

#NewCivilLibertiesAlliance #lawfare #Dressen_v_Flaherty #Koch #CharkesKoch #libertarianism #capitalism #billionaires #WealthTax #antivax #VaccineHesitation #disinformation

A Koch-Funded Lawfare Group Is Suing The Biden Admin To Protect Vaccine Skepticism

New Civil Liberties Alliance is back again.

Important Context

Victoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Oct 10, 2024

Toxic billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_A._Schwarzman

* chair/CEO global private equity firm Blackstone
* fmr chair, Trump's Strategic & Policy Forum

$45.4 BILLION net worth 2024-Oct-10: https://www.forbes.com/profile/stephen-schwarzman

Newport Was Used to Billionaires. Then Stephen Schwarzman Came to Town.
Private equity mogul’s extreme mansion makeover driving neighbors nuts
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/newport-stephen-schwarzman-blackstone-private-equity-miramar-construction-trump

#StephenSchwarzman #PrivateEquity #Blackstone #StateCapture #Trump #billionaires #capitalism #WealthTax

Stephen A. Schwarzman - Wikipedia

Frank Going AntiFa - 🇺🇦Oct 4, 2024

@persagen
Someday, Chuck Koch will be dead and buried. I would like to pour a few drinks on his grave... After I filter the liquor through my kidneys.

toxtethogrady Sep 26, 2024

@persagen But @zuck is really, really quick to take down posts that talk about killing this dinosaur...

AKingsbury Sep 24, 2024

Were you celebrating the giving he was doing?

Ralph058 (S/he/it) AF4EZ Sep 17, 2024

@persagen There was a story in Forbes or the ilk about centimillionaires and billionaires leaving the country if Harris wins.
Yet another reason to vote for Harris.

Joe Fox Sep 18, 2024

@persagen it's quite reasonable that people are less concerned with others' wealth, and more worried about having enough themselves

Dries V.Sep 18, 2024

@persagen now do the same thing but remove their stocks from the equation. As I don't think there is enough US currency to even sell them at that value and I pretty sure the stock values are overoptimistic high.

Don't get me wrong I'm not defending them I'm merely saying that we allow them this control by giving them financial power that is not real.