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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#237151: Mar 31st 2018 at 2:52:24 PM

[up]

Because of this - Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt paid $50 a night to live in a condo co-owned by the wife of a lobbyist with clients regulated by the agency.

Especially coupled with this fact - other apartments in the building typically go for $5,000/month - Pruitt paid $6,100 over 6 months.

Bryson Morgan, who is in private practice and served as Investigative Counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics, said he thought it raised red flags.

“I think it certainly creates a perception problem, especially if Mr. Hart was seeking to influence the agency,” Morgan said.

Gift rules prohibit executive branch employees from accepting items of value, Morgan said in an interview prior to the EPA’s release of the details. In addition to traditional gifts, those rules apply to favorable terms on a lease.

Gift rules prohibit executive branch employees from accepting items of value, Morgan said in an interview prior to the EPA’s release of the details. In addition to traditional gifts, those rules apply to favorable terms on a lease.

“It’s not just if he is paying market rent,” Morgan said. “A short-term lease is expensive. Is he given the ability to end it any day? Is this an arrangement any other person could get on the open market? My assumption would be this situation does not involve the hallmarks of a specific fair market transaction,” he said in an interview conducted before the checks were revealed.

Also, apparently the EPA was the one to foot the bill ($2,100) when the door got broken in by Pruitt's security detail thinking that he'd gone unconscious, which seems a bit off.

edited 31st Mar '18 2:56:35 PM by ironballs16

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#237152: Mar 31st 2018 at 2:55:11 PM

Ah, yeah, okay, that really is a bit too much of a discount for a friendly favour.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#237153: Mar 31st 2018 at 3:11:50 PM

[up] apparently Federal Ethics laws don't even allow that.

Thread from Rep. Don Beyer

A major scandal is unfolding right now with Trump's EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

The details have emerged very quickly, but here's what we know so far. 1/

Yesterday we learned that Scott Pruitt lived last year in a room at a condo leased to him by the wife of a prominent energy lobbyist named Steven Hart.

The clients of Hart's firm included companies with significant financial stakes in EPA policies. 2/

At first Pruitt and Hart refused to disclose details of the arrangement, but subsequent reports showed that Pruitt arranged to pay $50 a night only on nights he stayed there.

He claimed that he only had one room and did not use common spaces. 3/

Pruitt claimed that he was paying a market rate, yet he was unaccountably secretive about the deal. Pruitt did not inform anyone at EPA about his arrangement with Hart. [1] 4/

Pruitt's relationship with Hart is complicated by Hart's firm's lobbying on behalf of a company which exports liquid natural gas (LNG).

Though it has nothing to do with his job at EPA, Pruitt flew at great taxpayer expense last year to lobby Morocco in favor of LNG imports. [2] 5/

We just learned of new details about the terms of Pruitt's condo arrangement with Hart.

Similar condos rent for $5,000 per month, but Pruitt got a special deal to get his room at a third of that cost. He claimed this was because he only got one room. 6/

But that wasn't true.

Pruitt's adult daughter stayed with him there, apparently for free. This represents a substantial gift potentially worth lots of money, which Pruitt received from a lobbyist with a much to gain from Pruitt's decisions at EPA. 7/

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#237154: Mar 31st 2018 at 3:34:33 PM

Guardian articles:

‘We have to organize like the NRA’: outdoor industry takes on Trump note 

One morning in early December, about 50 employees of the outdoor brand Patagonia gathered in front of a projector screen in a building on their Ventura, California, campus. A scene they had expected, but that nevertheless seemed surreal to them, unfolded on television: Donald Trump announced he was shrinking two national monuments in Utah. After he had finished, staff did a final legal review of a webpage they had prepared earlier and published it.

On Patagonia’s site, the words “The President Stole Your Land” appeared in large white letters against a black background.

“We were flattered with how viral it went and how provocative it ended up being,” said John Goodwin, brand creative director for Patagonia.

On Thursday, Patagonia lobbed another volley in the fight for public lands: that message reappeared on the Patagonia homepage, with the addition of “and You Were Lied To”. An accompanying blogpost calls the monument reductions “deliberate and directly influenced” by the energy industry.

In a lot of industries, mixing business and politics so blatantly might seem taboo. But when it comes to America’s protected landscapes, outdoor companies have determined that the benefits far outweigh the risks and launched an unprecedented effort opposing the Trump administration. In the face of efforts to open up public land to mining and drilling, big outdoors has begun to flex its muscles.

“What we have to do as an industry,” said Peter Metcalf, the founder and recently retired CEO of the climbing company Black Diamond Equipment, “is organize in the same way that the NRA and the right-to-lifers have, and make public lands a primary, binary voting issue.”

Trump again attacks Amazon's postal service deal despite official findings note 

Donald Trump again attacked Amazon on Saturday, calling the online retailer’s business deal with the US Postal Service a money-losing agreement.

Federal regulators, however, have found the contract with Amazon to be profitable.

In tweets on Saturday morning, Trump said: “The US Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars.”

He added: “If the P.O. ‘increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion.’ This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!”

Amazon has been a consistent target, suffering falls in its stock price after presidential attacks. Its founder, Jeff Bezos, owns the Washington Post, which Trump has called “fake news” over its reporting of his campaign and presidency, not least the continuing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller of Russian election interference and alleged collusion by figures linked to Trump.

The president returned to the offensive this week after the website Axios reported that he was “obsessed” with the company. He suggested the postal service deal with Amazon hurt taxpayers. But as an independent agency, the USPS does not use taxpayer money.

A spokesman for the US Postal Service declined to comment.

edited 31st Mar '18 3:37:29 PM by Wyldchyld

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#237155: Mar 31st 2018 at 3:44:58 PM

[up] That's actually not a bad idea. Using the same tactics they have used to advance their awful agendas for for non evil purposes, and relearning Democracy. Very much in the spirit of #The Resistance.

Report this account for targeted harassment

edited 31st Mar '18 4:44:57 PM by megaeliz

TroperOnAStickV2 Call me Stick from Redneck country Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
Call me Stick
#237156: Mar 31st 2018 at 4:31:11 PM

[up][up]Right, spit their dirty tricks right back in their face. I approve.

edited 31st Mar '18 4:32:18 PM by TroperOnAStickV2

Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#237157: Mar 31st 2018 at 5:11:32 PM

[up][up]Whoever runs that account is engaging in projection.

Do not obey in advance.
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#237158: Mar 31st 2018 at 5:36:31 PM

I'm getting word that the Twitterer-in-Chief is giving up Twitter due to 'Trolling'. I can only find this link for it though, as I refuse to go to his Twitter.

If this is true, it probably won't last long anyways, but it seems that Trump is starting to crack when he's leaving Twitter of all sites.

Either that, or this is his idea of an April Fools joke...

edited 31st Mar '18 5:37:54 PM by DingoWalley1

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#237160: Mar 31st 2018 at 5:42:38 PM

shhhhhh!

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#237161: Mar 31st 2018 at 6:09:59 PM

RE: Ted Nugent...the man is truly, genuinely awful, and a hypocrite and a worse sexual predator than Roy Moore.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#237162: Mar 31st 2018 at 6:29:44 PM

[up][up][up] Feels like an Early April Fools Day joke to me.

In the spirit of Easter.

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#237163: Mar 31st 2018 at 7:06:32 PM

Oh for fuck's sake, Trump is supposed to be a goddamned businessman, and that's Econ 101!

Say Amazon ships out 3 million packages/month (no idea if I'm high-balling or low-balling that estimate), and with the "$1.50 off" figure, let's say the average shipping cost is $10 (I can guarantee it's not, but again - ease of math). So instead of paying the USPS $30 Million per month, Amazon's paying them $25.5 million, a "loss" of 4.5 Million monthly.

However, without that exclusivity deal, Amazon might ship through UPS and FedEx - let's say it's a perfect split at 1/3 each. So, USPS is now getting only 1 million packages/month for a grand total of $10 Million - a loss of $15.5 million from the deal that's been brokered.

Again, that's damned simple economics, and I take it as proof that Trump just doesn't like that Bezos has badmouthed him. And apropos of nothing, how the hell has Trump not labelled him "Bozo Bezos" or something similar?

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
NogaiKhan pic unrelated from close enough Since: Nov, 2017 Relationship Status: On the prowl
pic unrelated
#237164: Mar 31st 2018 at 7:20:43 PM

It's been known for years that Trump is an absolutely terrible businessman. In 1974 he was given his dad's $200 million real estate company. If he had liquidated it and put it all into the S&P500 and reinvested the dividends, basically child-level investment strategies, he'd have about $14 billion today. Instead Trump is having arguments with people like Bloomberg about whether he's really worth $3 billion. That's less than he'd be worth if he put that $200 million into 10 year US Treasury bonds and reinvested the coupon payments up to today, which in the financial world is basically the same as doing nothing with it because it's such a safe and easy investment.

Meanwhile in the present we have him expressing lack of knowledge on even the most basic aspects of international trade, stuff that would you learn in first-year level Economics courses. I am still baffled as to how he managed to graduate college.

edited 31st Mar '18 7:21:47 PM by NogaiKhan

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#237165: Mar 31st 2018 at 7:30:52 PM

He probably cheated his way through.

Maybe he's picking on Amazon because Bezos has connections to the Washington Post.

It sucks that so many Americans were willing to believe in the lies that make up the Trump persona.

Do not obey in advance.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#237166: Mar 31st 2018 at 7:30:54 PM

So can we take this twitter rant against Amazon as a reason to worry that he'll try and nix this exclusivity deal, and thereafter have to worry about whether or not subsequent administrations will be able to get another deal with Amazon?

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#237167: Mar 31st 2018 at 7:49:26 PM

Twitter in Shock Over Video Showing Local TV Anchors Forced to Read Script About Fake News. As well it should be, this is horrifying propaganda. Shame on every anchor who just went along with it. And if you were threatened with being fired if you didn't read it... hey, there are worse things than being unemployed. At least you'd have your dignity.

So an interesting aside to this story. I checked this link to see whether any of my local stations are owned by Sinclair. Thankfully, there aren't many- just the local Fox and The CW (does The CW even broadcast news?). However, one subchannel that Sinclair owns is Comet, which I've occasionally watched due to MST3K reruns. Anyway, one of the rotating ads is for one of those "buy gold now because the world is a scary place Note  and you don't know what's gonna happen!" companies. You see the same type of ads on Fox News. And it's been well-established that Fox News's advertising preys on older viewers, using scare tactics to sell them shit. Not everyone old watches Fox News, but the likely audience for such a channel as Comet is ALSO older viewers, so if they can't reach them on an obvious propaganda channel, they're gonna get 'em on an entertainment channel.

Oh yeah, it's all coming together.

EDIT: [up]x2 It's pretty obvious that's the reason Trump is going after Amazon.

edited 31st Mar '18 8:00:18 PM by speedyboris

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#237168: Mar 31st 2018 at 8:12:35 PM

Shame on every anchor who just went along with it. And if you were threatened with being fired if you didn't read it... hey, there are worse things than being unemployed. At least you'd have your dignity.
That's an incredibly callous thing to say. Local news anchors are not like cable news anchors — they don't have nationwide name recognition and salaries and job prospects to match. They're middle-class white-collar jobs. The median salary for a news anchor is about $70k. It's certainly not minimum wage, but it's not exactly rolling in cash, either.

Don't blame news anchors for wanting to keep their jobs. Blame Sinclair for putting them in that position in the first place.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#237169: Mar 31st 2018 at 8:32:50 PM

I do blame Sinclair. But the thing is, somebody has to stand up to Trump's insidious propaganda machine. People tend to trust their local news more than cable news, so if local news isn't going to show some backbone, what hope do we have? We may even see more of the news broadcasts being affected if this is tolerated now, and at some point it'll be irreversible.

edited 31st Mar '18 8:33:08 PM by speedyboris

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#237170: Mar 31st 2018 at 8:35:48 PM

Dignity doesn't pay the bills, or pay for your children's various needs, boris. Getting mad at anchors for not feeling like they can stand up to their employers, who hold far more power than they do, is completely ignoring that people need money to survive.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#237171: Mar 31st 2018 at 8:43:15 PM

We should be angry at the ones forcing them to read those scripts. Not the people whose livelihoods and ability to put food on the table depend on reading those scripts.

Hopefully this shit being exposed might encourage backlash which will lead to more anchors feeling emboldened to stand up to this propaganda bullshit.

Disgusted, but not surprised
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#237172: Mar 31st 2018 at 11:31:54 PM

I have worked with victims of trafficking for decades & supported the fight against it. Sorry to have mentioned it here. It's not the place. [1]

i thought today was a good day to talk about freeing kids from sex slavery, since it is Passover. I didn't realize that so many were not aware of it. Anyway, no more opinions from me on twitter, it invites bullying. Moving on. [2]

It's not that you were bringing attention to human Trafficking or even that you are a trump supporter. The problem is that you are promoting insane conspiracy theories, which often show up on Disinfo/Bot accounts, Russian or otherwise.

To prove my point.

#Qanon is like the movie 'the matrix' or 'red october'. it is exciting reading it. like being inside a great video game, in real time! [3]

who r #Qanon? [4]

#Qanon'takes pics of the oval office & trump's pen and inside AF 1. it's more than a conspiracy theory-it's an unfolding tale! it's kinda about tracking snowden & following the money of the federal reserve/billionaires. I love spy stories! [5]

edited 1st Apr '18 5:17:20 AM by megaeliz

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#237173: Apr 1st 2018 at 6:26:09 AM

One more reason not to watch the Roseanne revival.

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#237174: Apr 1st 2018 at 7:38:54 AM

Don't people ever learn to just be quiet sometimes? I mean, are people incapable of thinking about what they are about to say and/or do?
To put it simply - no, some people appear to be completely incapable of learning how to shut their goddamn mouths for fifteen seconds. I have met too many people with absolutely zero brain-to-mouth filter, even if some of them realize just how bad something is after they say it, they still say it in the first place. It literally does not occur to them to think something and not say it out loud.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#237175: Apr 1st 2018 at 7:56:42 AM

[up]In terms of making threats and the like, it's sometimes the case that they want to be stopped. People do things like this because they are deeply unhappy and feel trapped in their current situation. They know, intellectually, that they might be able to break out of it with outside help, but it's extremely difficult to reach out and ask for help when you think that either a) everything is your fault and you deserve everything that happens to you, or b) the world at large is at fault and the reason bad things keep happening is because everyone, everywhere hates you.

So they say things, make comments about hurting themselves or others, and see how people react. Sometimes this gets them the attention they need. Sometimes it doesn't. But it's not always as simple as "they want to do something, but screw it up by mentioning it in public".

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

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