The Many Faces of US Politics...

[Banks of the Bann]

Who is Banks of the Bann?

A GUR psy-op - dedicated 4 man team.

[J70]

The cnut has literally proclaimed himself "king" in a gloating boast that he's killed congestion pricing in NYC.

Hopefully the MTA shoves it back down his throat in court. It's been working well so far.

It better not end up in a Trump-stacked court.

Yeah, that's always a fear, but to be honest I've no idea myself where the legal authorities begin and end. I guess even that will depend on who the judges are.

But the fact is, NYC residents are overwhelmingly in favour of the congestion toll. Its the ones who insist on driving in from Long Island, NJ and the Hudson valley who are more hostile.

As for Trump himself, he just sees it as another chance to stick it to the city inhabitants. He doesn't give a f**k if there's congestion around Trump Tower (which is in the congestion zone) because he'll always have a police escort.

Hochul herself has to take some of the blame for cancelling it at the last minute last summer. Even if she felt the original toll was too high, she could have made them introduce it at the reduced level they ended up with. But election year politics prevailed. And it's probably not going to do her much favours next year when she's up again herself, unless she somehow rehabilitates herself as a bulwark against Trump.

But on the other hand, would it having been in place for seven months instead of one really have made a difference to Trump? It's not like he cares about real world facts and statistics, as his disgusting lies about Zelensky, the war and US funding of Ukraine this week demonstrate once again.

[Blowitupref]

While presenting his budget, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes aim at President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE:

"I know it's in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, health care coverage, support for farmers, and veterans' services ... Only an idiot would think that we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and health care for disabled children, gang crime investigations, clean air and water programs, monitoring of nursing home abuse, nuclear reactor regulation and cancer research."

[johnnycool]

While presenting his budget, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes aim at President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE:

"I know it's in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, health care coverage, support for farmers, and veterans' services ... Only an idiot would think that we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and health care for disabled children, gang crime investigations, clean air and water programs, monitoring of nursing home abuse, nuclear reactor regulation and cancer research."

He's Woke caring about such things as healthcare for disabled children.

Next thing he'll be wanted men with big hairy balls running against women.

[whitey]

While presenting his budget, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes aim at President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE:

"I know it's in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, health care coverage, support for farmers, and veterans' services ... Only an idiot would think that we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and health care for disabled children, gang crime investigations, clean air and water programs, monitoring of nursing home abuse, nuclear reactor regulation and cancer research."

He's Woke caring about such things as healthcare for disabled children.

Next thing he'll be wanted men with big hairy balls running against women.

I take it you know the Ptitzker family are  huge backers of the Transgender movement

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-money-behind-the-transgender-movement/amp/

[johnnycool]

While presenting his budget, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes aim at President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE:

"I know it's in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, health care coverage, support for farmers, and veterans' services ... Only an idiot would think that we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and health care for disabled children, gang crime investigations, clean air and water programs, monitoring of nursing home abuse, nuclear reactor regulation and cancer research."

He's Woke caring about such things as healthcare for disabled children.

Next thing he'll be wanted men with big hairy balls running against women.

I take it you know the Ptitzker family are  huge backers of the Transgender movement

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-money-behind-the-transgender-movement/amp/

I didn't actually. 

[Rossfan]

"Transgender movement"🙄

What percentage of people are Transgender?

0.00001%..

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Pritzker has been good.  One of the few senior Democrats to regularly and publicly call out the current administration.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was arrested for civil disobedience after speaking against a MAGA display that the city council of Huntington Beach agreed to put up at the public library. This one minute clip of his speech is well worth your time.

https://bsky.app/profile/wutangforchildren.bsky.social/post/3lil5lsweqs22

[J70]

Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was arrested for civil disobedience after speaking against a MAGA display that the city council of Huntington Beach agreed to put up at the public library. This one minute clip of his speech is well worth your time.

https://bsky.app/profile/wutangforchildren.bsky.social/post/3lil5lsweqs22

Fair fucks to him.

[J70]

Pritzker has been good.  One of the few senior Democrats to regularly and publicly call out the current administration.

I have a little bit of sympathy for the Dems in that it's such an endless barrage of lies and there isn't really a precedent for what Musk and his minions are doing with their childlike slashing of government agencies with little or no investigation or knowledge about what those units and people do.

However... the Dems should now be getting all over the news highlighting the real harm being done to regular people, whether veterans or poor communities seeking healthcare, the future of science and medicine in the US, or even just people planning to take a commercial flight.

And that's before you even get into the upending of the actual real lives of government employees, both those who have already been falsely accused of poor performance and fired, and those who are waiting for the hammer to fall. And yeah, we all know that right wingers despise government workers, but that doesn't mean the whole country does and that their plight as real people with everyday lives and problems whose lives are being turned upside down should not be highlighted.

My wife is a federal employee, albeit one who, we hope, will be exempt, but we honestly have no idea what they'll try to pull. Lots of her colleagues have already had the rug pulled out from under them. And if she does end up getting thrown to the curb after all these years and loses her benefits, we're in trouble when it comes to staying in NY and putting our kids through college.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Fingers crossed for you and the missus, J70.

I don't have any sympathy for the Democrats though.  Senior Democrats, like Schumer should be on the front page of the paper and on tv every day publicly fighting this. Anything in Congress that needs a quorum, they should refuse to show up.  It's not enough to be doing it quietly in the background; people need to know that there is real opposition to this.

[J70]

Thanks Jell o Biafra. A few sleepless nights, that's for sure!

And yeah, I see what you mean. Schumer has to be one of the most useless, inept Senate leaders ever. Can you imagine Mitch McConnell in past years if the shoe was on the other foot? Or even Nancy Pelosi when she was the leader of the Dems in the House? I heard a bit from Jeffries last week, but nothing since.

[whitey]

Thanks Jell o Biafra. A few sleepless nights, that's for sure!

And yeah, I see what you mean. Schumer has to be one of the most useless, inept Senate leaders ever. Can you imagine Mitch McConnell in past years if the shoe was on the other foot? Or even Nancy Pelosi when she was the leader of the Dems in the House? I heard a bit from Jeffries last week, but nothing since.

Sorry to hear about that

Been there twice over the past 30 years and it's terrifying

There's a saying in my line of work "keep a parachute packed". Don't know exactly how that applies to your  missus, but get everything tightened up with resume, LinkedIn, Rolodex

Start making overtures to people you and she know in the private sector as well on the State level

[J70]

Thanks whitey.

She's been in regulatory agencies in several fields, so the most sense would be either be state or getting into the consultancy game for compliance. Hopefully it won't come to that as, without getting into details, she's also someone who has been and has to be ready for deployments. But the problem is there does not seem to be much rhyme or reason or thought to how they're going about this, so who knows who's safe?