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Category Archives: Dirty side of Politics

UPDATE: After sending billions to Kushner and Trump, Saudis lobby to escalate Iran War


Judd Legum Mar 25

President Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on November 18, 2025.

“I’m not going to start a war,” President Trump pledged during his November 2024 victory speech. “I’m going to stop wars.”

Today, the United States has been at war with Iran for almost a month, with no clear objectives and no end in sight. Why is Trump, who promised to avoid foreign entanglements, allowing it to drag on?

On Tuesday, the New York Times published a bombshell report. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has been aggressively lobbying Trump not to end the fighting:

Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been pushing President Trump to continue the war against Iran, arguing that the U.S.-Israeli military campaign presents a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East, according to people briefed by American officials on the conversations.

In a series of conversations over the last week, Prince Mohammed has conveyed to Mr. Trump that he must press toward the destruction of Iran’s hard-line government, the people familiar with the conversations said.

Oddly, the New York Times story does not mention that Trump’s chief negotiator, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, is being paid tens of millions annually by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is controlled by MBS.

The PIF invested $2 billion in Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners. According to an investigation by the Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Oversight Committee released on March 19, “since 2021, Mr. Kushner has collected more than $110 million from the government of Saudi Arabia for investment management services that have reaped little to no return.”

Meanwhile, as Kushner purportedly represents the United States in negotiations with Iran, his private equity firm is seeking to raise an additional $5 billion from foreign sources. According to reports, “Affinity’s representatives have already met with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.”

Trump said that Kushner was one of a handful of top officials who convinced him to start the war. This was consistent with MBS’s petition. According to the Washington Post, in a series of calls in February, MBS privately lobbied Trump to attack Iran. (Now, Iran is refusing to meet with Kushner, having concluded that he is not participating in discussions in good faith.)

Also unmentioned in Tuesday’s New York Times report is that the Saudi government, through PIF, recently financed a $7 billion development deal in Saudi Arabia with the Trump Organization. Under the January 2026 agreement, Dar Global, a developer with close ties to the Saudi government, will build a “Trump-branded hotel and golf course,” along with “500 mansions, priced between $6.7 million and $24 million.” The project is part of Diriyah, a $63 billion development funded entirely by PIF.

When Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May 2025, MBS took him on a tour of Diriyah and showed him a model of the development. According to Jerry Inzerillo, who heads the Diriyah Company, a PIF subsidiary, Trump was “amazed“ with the quality and scale of the project.

Not only does MBS want Trump to continue the war, according to the New York Times report, but he has “pressed for attacks against Iran’s energy infrastructure” and “argued that the United States should consider putting troops in Iran.”

In recent days, Trump has threatened to attack Iranian power plants and moved thousands of troops to the region, heightening “the possibility that American servicemembers will go into Iran.”

The information landscape in the United States is busted. Billionaires are using the powerful social media platforms and media outlets they control to curry favor with Trump.

Google paid Trump $25 million to settle a bogus lawsuit.

Jeff Bezos purged Trump critics from the Washington Post opinion page.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg canceled fact-checking on Facebook.

A pro-Trump billionaire bought CBS News — and is now buying CNN.

In Case You Were Surprised


Trumpelstilskin sent J.D. Vance to the Middle East in an attempt to end the war in Iran. The talks did not go well. Please note that in the Obama era there was a deal struck where Iran was allowed to maintain a Nuclear sector geared to energy within the country and released Billions of dollars that was rightfully Iran’s funds. All of this in a (partially successful?) easing the tension in that area. “Trumpel” blew that deal up without researching the details. It is true that Iran has proxy groups who have been at odds with Israel for a lot of years and with the easing of the tensions during the Obama years, there was a possibility of peace or truce among the countries in the region. Since the advent of “Trumpel” and his childish ego we are now supporting and participating the unjust war waged by Israel (almost on a whim) on Palestinians due to an attack by HAMAS (an Iranian proxy?). Gaza is destroyed leaving the thousands of displaced Palestinians fleeing to other countries (not Israel) for safety. Trumpel and his compadre “BIBI” have devastated GAZA while speculating and outwardly offering a rebuilding of Gaza with no input from the Palestinians and other world leaders.

Now the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that are displaced are in the same position as the Jews from 1939 through World War II, “Displaced” with no place to go. The Israeli right-wing settlers are busily confiscating as much of Gaza as they can get and taking whatever land Palestinians have through violence.

Bottom line here is that Trumpel began this attack on Iran (possibly at BIBI’s request) without consulting Congress or our European allies is now finding himself (and us, the voters) involved in another unwinnable, undeclared war. Trumpel has blasted our Allies for not joining in, because they took a hands-off position because they see no real objective or end in this action. Unless we (voters) make changes in the midterms we may be at war for a long-time while the cost of the War causes inflation at scale along with the ill-considered Tariffs!

As a side note: Iran fought back (which apparently surprised and angered “Trumpel”) has shown it is not just a small country unable to defend its self: example, taking control of the Strait of Hormuz and the attacks on its neighbors. Sending J.D. Vance with Jared Kushner and Amb. Wycoff to ease the tension and create terms of disengagement when they collectively “could not turn a knob to open a door”.

The Truth About Tariffs!


USA TODAY

Americans, not other countries, paid Trump’s tariffs in 2025

Daniel de Visé, USA TODAY

Sun, February 15, 2026 at 1:42 PM CST

American consumers and companies paid nearly 90% of the cost of President Donald Trump’s tariffs through late 2025, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The study adds to a growing body of evidence indicating American families pay a price for Trump’s import taxes, despite the president’s assertion that the financial burden falls entirely on other countries.

Trump’s tariffs equated to a tax increase of $1,000 per household in 2025, according to a Feb. 6 report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Households are expected to pay another $1,300 in 2026.

The tariffs are the largest U.S. tax increase since 1993, according to the Tax Foundation analysis. Tariffs are a tax − but on whom?

On the campaign trail in September 2024, promoting tariffs, Trump told supporters, “It’s not going to be a cost to you, it’s going to be a cost to another country.”

Trump repeated the claim in a Jan. 30 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, writing, “The data shows that the burden, or ‘incidence,’ of the tariffs has fallen overwhelmingly on foreign producers and middlemen, including large corporations that are not from the U.S.”

The New York Fed study, published Feb. 12, suggests otherwise.

President Trump’s import tariffs are mostly a tax on Americans, a new report finds.

Through August 2025, 94% of the import taxes fell on American companies and consumers, according to the study. By November, the “pass-through” rate had dipped to 86%.

“In sum, U.S. firms and consumers continue to bear the bulk of the economic burden of the high tariffs imposed in 2025,” the researchers wrote.

“The study by the New York Fed confirms what most economists expected – U.S. consumers and businesses pay most of the costs from the Trump tariffs,” said Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in economics at the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank.

The Wall Street Journal seized on the report in a Feb. 13 editorial, opining, “No matter how often President Trump insists his tariffs are taxing foreigners to enrich the U.S., economic studies keep showing that Americans actually pay the bill.”

Through late 2025, tariffs added about 0.7 percentage points to the U.S. inflation rate, according to a November paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research. In other words, without tariffs, the inflation rate for September might have dropped from 3% to 2.3%.

Tariffs have elevated prices on many imported items

Trump’s tariffs have inflated prices across a host of imported items, an effect visible in the January inflation report. The price of household furnishings and supplies rose 3.8% from January 2025 to January 2026. Furniture and bedding prices rose 4%. Prices for dishes and flatware rose 5%.

Tariffs are complicated. The actual costs are typically split between exporters in one country and importers in another.

The New York Fed provided this example:

Imagine a foreign exporter charges $100 for a product, and the U.S. government imposes a 25% tariff. If the exporter doesn’t lower the price, the importer pays a $25 tariff, increasing the total price to $125. That means 100% of the tax falls on American consumers and companies.

In the same example, imagine the exporter responds to the tariff by lowering the price to $80. Now, the importer pays a $20 tariff, and the total import price remains $100. The exporter effectively absorbs all of the tax.

As it turned out, most exporters didn’t lower prices much in response to Trump’s tariffs. A 94% pass-through rate means the typical foreign exporter responded to a 10% tariff by reducing prices 0.6%, or 6 cents for every $10.

As exporters and importers absorbed the impact of Trump’s tariffs, their impact softened at every step. Some exporters trimmed prices. American companies found cheaper products from other countries or absorbed part of the tariff themselves.

In the end, roughly 20% of Trump’s tariffs reached actual consumers, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research paper.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Americans paid the tab for Trump’s tariffs in 2025

No Surprise Here>


Elon Musk Backs Warren Buffett’s Brutal ‘5-Minute Deficit Fix’ To Ban Congress From Reelection If They Blow the Budget: ‘100% This Is the Way!


There is no reason to complain if you are paying attention to what is happening in our legislative house. The vote has always been the answer! MA.

Ivy Grace-Benzinga

Fri, July 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM CDT

Elon Musk Backs Warren Buffett’s Brutal ‘5-Minute Deficit Fix’ To Ban Congress From Reelection If They Blow the Budget: ‘100% This Is the Way’

More than a decade ago, Warren Buffett said the national deficit could be solved in just five minutes. His plan? “You just pass a law that says that any time there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for reelection.”

That 2011 quote, from an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick, resurfaced in early June — and this time, it gained traction with one of the world’s most influential voices.

On June 4, Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) posted the clip on X and asked, “Would you support this amendment?” Elon Musk didn’t hesitate. He reposted it with the words “100%” and “This is the way,” signaling full endorsement of Buffett’s blunt solution.

FDR’s grandson issues new warning about Trump’s targeting of Social Security


James Roosevelt Jr., Henry Scott Wallace And June Hopkins, Common Dreams

April 06, 2025 | 08:38AM ET

Thank you, Senator Cory Booker. In your record-breaking Senate talk-a-thon, you sounded the alarm about President Donald Trump’s increasingly blatant threats to Social Security, and the devastating impacts for ordinary people who count on it.

Ninety years ago, our three grandfathers created Social Security. It’s the most popular, efficient and effective government program ever, ensuring financial security for 73 million Americans today. Now, appallingly, America’s workers and seniors must get ready to fight like hell.

The first draft of Social Security was written by a small committee including Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace and top FDR advisor and Federal Relief Administrator Harry Hopkins, chaired by legendary Labor Secretary Frances Perkins. FDR had insisted that Social Security be funded by a system of payroll taxes, with both worker and employer contributing. He expressed great confidence that this would give workers an unquestionable “legal, moral and political right” to collect benefits.

Save Social Security. Don’t “outsource” it. Don’t tolerate this “reverse Robin Hood”—taking from the poor and giving to the rich.

President Dwight Eisenhower got it. There may be “a tiny splinter group” of politicians who want to mess with Social Security, he wrote, but “their number is negligible and they are stupid.”

Now comes Trump and Musk. They’ve fired 7,000 Social Security Administration staffer, citing a “bloated” workforce (actually severely overstretched at 50-year lows), made it harder to access their benefits, and closed most of the regional and field offices, guaranteeing chaos. Musk has called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” (it’s NOT), and shared a post calling Social Security recipients “the parasite class.” Trump has lied that Social Security benefits are being collected by illegal immigrants (they actually strengthen Social Security by paying payroll taxes while being barred from collecting benefits) and by tens of millions of people over 120 years old (nobody in the worldis over 120 years old, and in fact, only 89,000 people over age 99 receive Social Security benefits). Musk says fraud in “entitlement spending … is the big one to eliminate“.

Now, after whipping up anger at imaginary Social Security abuses, Trump is proposing to end all federal taxes on people earning less than $150,000—the largest category of taxes for people in that bracket being the payroll taxes that sustain Social Security— which, when combined with the current payroll tax cap of $176,000, would leave Social Security with virtually no revenues. Trump previously promised to completely end payroll taxes.

Could their intentions be any clearer? Trump campaigned on a promise that Social Security “will not be touched, it will only be strengthened” (and Musk has recently promised that benefits will be increased, unbelievably, without congressional action and without worsening the government spending he enjoys slashing with his chainsaw).

Today, the CEO earning $10 million a year hits that limit and stops paying payroll taxes after the first week of the year, while his janitor keeps paying the 6.2% payroll tax for the next 51 weeks. It’s an outrage against all working people.

But remember how a previous President, George W. Bush, wanted to “strengthen” Social Security? By privatizing it. Trump’s acting Social Security Commissioner now prefers to frame it as “outsourcing.”

The Washington Post reports that with seniors “beside themselves” with uncertainty stoked by all the cutbacks, “many current and former [Social Security] officials” fear that the ultimate goal is privatization. And they’ve got plenty of company among Democrats in Congress. (Trump’s Treasury Secretary recently suggested that the goal was to privatize everything government does.) And Trump’s likeliest argument is that the only way to prevent benefit cuts driven by the system’s looming solvency crisis, and strengthen retirement security, is to put Social Security’s money in Wall Street (rich financiers would surely love the extra $3 trillion in investments).

The fact is that there is absolutely no way for Musk and Trump to reach their goal of eliminating $2 trillion in federal spending without either 1) raising revenues or 2) decimating the largest federal spending program in America: Social Security (Medicare and Medicaid are not far behind).

What could avert such stupidity? Revenues. Make the wealthy pay their fair share. One no-brainer example: eliminate the current $176,000 cap on payroll taxes. Today, the CEO earning $10 million a year hits that limit and stops paying payroll taxes after the first week of the year, while his janitor keeps paying the 6.2% payroll tax for the next 51 weeks. It’s an outrage against all working people.

What related outrages should we expect? Start with Trump’s promised $5 trillion of tax cuts for billionaires (like Trump and Musk). That’s the justification for all of Trump’s cuts to programs that help ordinary people, from veterans to children to health care to preventing terrorism. And don’t imagine for a second that the privatization of Social Security can be blocked in Congress, as it was under President George W. Bush. Trump’s reign of boundary-pushing executive orders has made a supine Congress irrelevant and the Constitution a technicality.

Save Social Security. Don’t “outsource” it. Don’t tolerate this “reverse Robin Hood”—taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Don’t count on “guardrails” like Congress or the courts. It will take a movement of ordinary Americans shouting to protect FDR’s greatest legacy of financial security for working people.

America is The Backbone of Democracy


Apparently Not!

All of the touted greatness of the United States and the assistance given to other countries has started to pale. Our former world dominance is being relegated to this country being seen as potentially near mediocre actor on the world stage. All of the  bad actors are looking at the current “leader” as a purchasable commodity who if offered the right largesse will ease their situations with the U.S. in the way of sanctions or restrictions. As shown in his first term DJT is out for DJT and it will always be so. His Cabinet members, his Whitehouse staff all play to his ego and his greed so they can insert their agendas onto the American public.

These are the same actions performed during the 30 or so years prior to WWII. There are too many folks who don’t think it can happen here while it’s happening here! DRT is seeking a “Kingship” with absolute authority, that aspiration was imbued by same folks who pushed the “moral Majority, attacked and killed abortion rights”. These are the people who think Medicaid should get less funding (do you hear that Seniors with medical needs and disabilities?) It is not wrong to pursue waste and fraud but usually after a complete investigation as to where misdeeds occur. Forcing needy folks whose disabilities and age preclude any ability to work is ridiculous and wrong. At the bottom of all of this is funding the massive tax cuts for the wealthy.

The elected members of Congress who are kissing the “Arse” of FFLOTUS are people elected by the people to represent them in government but have failed and will continue to fail as long as they are in office. Terms are limited at the ballot box not by the people running for office.

The statements made on the campaign trail along with the empty promises are borne out by the negative rhetoric about Americans and allies against the sucking up to middle eastern strongmen who have swayed his views with pomp and circumstance long with lavish gifts. All of this aside, the promises made by the people we elected are next to useless while the promises made by a inveterate self-serving liar is as Anti American as you can get without actually stating that fact!

Apparently, we are not as sharp politically as we should be, we have more rested on our laurels aka Asses while the government is in the hands of an idiot on steroids!

The Grift That Keeps on Grifting


Trump just can’t resist bribes

Robert ReichMay 12
 My opinion: There was a chance to avoid this corrupt administration but too many people went for the: egress” and now find them selves outside! MA.
 

Friends,

Trump is overplaying his hand.

Not just by usurping the powers of Congress and ignoring Supreme Court rulings. Not just abducting people who are legally in the United States but have put their name to opinion pieces Trump doesn’t like and trucking them off to “detention” facilities. Not just using the Justice Department for personal vengeance. Not just unilaterally deciding how much tariff tax American consumers will have to pay on almost everything they buy.

Polls show all these are tanking Trump’s popularity.

But one thing almost all Americans are firmly against — even many loyal Trumpers — us bribery. And Trump is taking bigger and bigger bribes.

Yesterday it was reported that he’s accepting a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane worth at least $400 million from the Qatari royal family, for use during his presidency and for his personal use afterward.

Trump just can’t resist. He’s been salivating over the plane for months. It’s bigger and newer than Air Force One — and so opulently configured that it’s known as “a flying palace.” (No report on whether it contains a golden toilet.)

Apparently he’s been talking about the plane for months. In February, he toured it while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport.

He’s tried to redecorate the White House into a palace but that’s not nearly as satisfying as flying around the world in one, especially once he’s left the White House (assuming he will).

Attorney General Pam Bondi said it’s perfectly legal for him to accept such a bribe, er, gift.

Hello?

The U.S. Constitution clearly forbids officers of the United States from taking gifts from foreign governments. It’s called the “emoluments clause.” (See Article I, Section 9.)

Anyone viewing Bondi as a neutral judge of what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to Trump can’t be trusted to be a neutral judge of Bondi. Recall that she represented Trump in a criminal proceeding. Presumably he appointed her attorney general because he knew she’d do and say anything he wanted.

Oh, and she used to lobby for Qatar.

So, what does Qatar get in return for the $400 million plane? What’s the quid for the quo?

This week Trump takes the first overseas trip of his second presidency. He’ll land in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, followed by a visit to Qatar, and then to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E).

That’s a big boost for Qatar right there.

Trump also just did what Qatar has been wanting done for years — announcing that the Persian Gulf (as it’s been known since at least 550 B.C.) will henceforth be known as the Arabian Gulf.

Trump’s company has just announced a new golf resort in Qatar, reportedly partnering with a company owned by the royal family.

Qatar is also pushing the Trump regime to lift sanctions on Syria.

The payback could be any number of things. The only certainty is that you and I and other Americans won’t necessarily benefit.

This week’s trip to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. is as much a personal business trip for Trump and his family businesses as a diplomatic trip.

Eric Trump, who officially runs the family business, has just announced plans for a Trump-branded hotel and tower in Dubai, part of the U.A.E.

The Trump family’s developments in the Middle East depend on a Saudi-based real estate company with close ties to the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia has a long list of pressing matters before the United States, including requests to buy F-35 fighter jets and gain access to nuclear power technology.

Trump’s family crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, announced that its so-called “stablecoin” — with Trump’s likeness all over it — will be used by the U.A.E. to make a $2 billion business deal with Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world. The deal will generate hundreds of millions of dollars more for the Trump family.

I had assumed that Trump’s undoing would be his unquenchable thirst for power. It may yet be, but I’m beginning to think his insatiable greed will do him in. America’s Grifter-in-Chief knows no bounds.

Trump Only Simulates Madness


Robert Reich

Friends,

In the last week, Trump has gone wild on the global economy, saying tariffs are the key to American prosperity.

As a result, global stock and bond markets tanked.

Today — telling reporters that “you have to be flexible” and conceding that “over the last few days it looked pretty glum” — Trump paused his tariffs for most countries for the next 90 days, backing down on his policy that had sent markets into a tailspin and threatened to upend global trade.

The reversal prompted the S&P 500 stock index to climb over 7 percent in just minutes.

Traders with inside information about what Trump was about to do — some of them, presumably, Trump family members and cronies — just made a fortune.

It looks like chaos but Trump’s chaos always creates winners and losers, and Trump makes sure he’s on the winning side.

The mayhem that Trump’s cuts in the federal workforce is creating have nothing to do with efficiency or with reducing the federal budget deficit.

Trump and Musk just gutted the IRS at the height of tax season by firing thousands of employees – and is planning to downsize the agency even more.

Recent estimates show that the richest 1 percent of Americans already underpay their taxes by as much as $205 billion each year. And for each $1 the IRS invests in auditing the tax returns of the richest 1 percent, it collects $13 in additional tax revenue.

So the tax revenue our government loses every year is way higher than the amount of taxpayer dollars DOGE claims to have “saved” by cancelling contracts and grants for vital government programs – of which only a small portion can actually be verified.

The truth is: Gutting the IRS has everything to do with making it easier for billionaires like Elon and Trump to evade taxes.

It all feels like chaos until you look more closely

Trump’s unpredictability also makes him seem particularly powerful and dangerous.

In 1517, Niccolò Machiavelli argued that sometimes it is “a very wise thing to simulate madness.” Wise, that is, for the manipulative ruler. Trump is simulating madness, but it’s all about increasing his wealth and power.

An increasing number of so-called “leaders” – in the private, public and non-profit sectors, and around the world – are telling their boards, overseers, trustees or legislatures: “We have to give Trump whatever he wants and even try to anticipate his wants, because who knows how he’ll react if we don’t?”

My strong recommendation to anyone in a position of leadership here or abroad: Do not give in to Trump’s feigned madness. Do not surrender. Do not capitulate. Join forces and fight back.

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The Truth Curdles Like Milk In His Mouth


Over the past 8 years we have been subject to lies, ravings and ill-conceived ideas of DJT. His much-touted business acumen has been proven to be fallacious and a fantasy. The millions who believed his stewardship of the United States would be better than his predecessors because he is a businessman. Let’s look at what we know and many of his supporters failed to acknowledge or understand:

DJT:

Bankrupted 3 casinos for sure

Dodged paying construction crews who worked on his properties, While Trump has used little of his own money but used the bankruptcy laws as a hedge:

  Trump said in August 2015:

“I have used the laws of this country just like the greatest people that you read about every day in business have used the laws of this country, the chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, my employees, myself and my family.”

The above statement is more of a boastful statement rather than a explanation of circumstances. This is what has fueled his Presidency and his mistakes in the office. He has bullied and lied his way in life until he has reached the highest office. This pretty much the way another demagogue in the 1930’s, the pattern is the same and running true to form aka “divide and conquer”. We the people have allowed and promoted his actions thereby condoning his methods to our own detriment. Impeaching him at this time will bring more problems since this time his VP and the House speaker are weak people who shout and talk a lot but have no ability to govern. We must look at what he did before and what he is doing now then decide what to do during next election cycle where we can dilute the power of current political groups. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, it is a people issue and trusting or not trusting office holders and aspirants to office. Please remember public opinion, TV personalities are not definitive reasons to vote for anyone. Just one last point:

This is a quote from: Austan Goolsbee President of Chicago Federal Bank, He made this statement in reply to use of Tariffs: Using tariffs to fix the economy is like using explosives to clear the kitchen sink!