01/11/23
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, January 11th. International Parity at Work Day!
That’s right WHITE MEN…. It’s time for your wages to stay exactly the same while everyone else gets pay partify. No one wants to take away your money (although some of you could use a little less money until you start acting right). We just want to be able to make the same amount that you make. Let’s break it down:
On average, here in the states women earn 83 cents to a man’s dollar. Black men earn 76 cents to a white man’s dollar. LGBTQIA workers earn 90 cents to a non-LGBTQIA worker. All of that, AND men at 7% more successful when they negotiate.
So suck on that.
And now, the news.
Classified Documents Found in Old Biden Office
This is one of those days where a ton of news came out… just a couple hours after I’d already done yesterday’s episode. So let’s get into it. Starting with…
A small number of confidential papers, ten, to be exact, were found in an old office of President Biden’s, from when he was the Vice President.
The documents, which are currently undergoing a damage assessment to see what was actually in those papers.
Biden says he was surprised they were there and doesn’t know what’s in them, as his lawyers advised him not to ask. But we doooo…. Or, I mean, we have an idea. A CNN exclusive has an source that says, among the documents were intelligence memos and briefings dated between 2013 and 2013, and related to Ukraine, Iran, and the UK
They were found by his own team and immediately passed off to the National Archives, a completely different situation than what Trump did.
Which I want to be really clear about.
What Biden did and what Trump did are so radically different, that it’s like if I looked at a soccer ball and said I was Megan Rapino.
Because listen – accidents happen. A few papers get shuffled into a box when you’re thinking about something else and suddenly yeah, whoops, some papers are found in an old office. It’s not good. It’s not okay. But it’s different than at least 325 documents, 60 of which were top secret, that the archives department knew were missing, asked for over and over again, and then instead of just handing them over you file court cases to try and keep them. And also, these documents were found in an old office – not a golf club and oh whoops also a storage locker and yeah sometimes they mishandled the burn bags at the white house and absolutely flushed some stuff down the toilets.
These classified documents are being looking into by the Department of Justice and I’ll report more as more is reported. But I just want to be really clear that this is not the same thing as Trump and anyone trying to tell you otherwise is very silly.
Trump Crime Update Time
-Weisselberg via Reuters
-Giuliani via CNN
But hey, since we’re talking crimes anyway, let’s see where we’re at with…
TRUMP CRIME UPDATE TIME
(Multiple crimes edition)
First up, money crimes. Long time Trump Co CFO Allen Weisselberg, who was a key witness in the tax evasion money crimes that the organization, though notably not Trump himself, was found guilty of.
Trump wasn’t found guilty because he wasn’t on trial. He was, however, namedropped often during the case as someone who was very in the know and signed off on some of the crimes.
Weisselberg has been sentenced to five month at Rikers Island, a deal he stuck in exchange for his cooperation in the case. He will likely serve 100 days with time off for good behavior. Additionally, he’s paid about $2 million in taxes and penalties.
Rikers is no joke. Known for its violence and drugs, 19 people died there last year.
From one part of New York to the other… Former Lawyer and America’s Mayor, Rudy Guiliani has been subpoenaed by Jack Smith’s team. They’re asking him to turn over records, including payments received, that relate to the time that he just squirted a tube of hair dye all over his head and then tried to help his best bud Donny T overturn the election.
The subpoena was sent over a month ago, but has only been made public this week.
This is not the first subpoena in the case. Others appear to be specifically asking for disbursements from the Save America PAC, which is what Trump set up after LOSING the 2020 election.
Follow That Money, Coach Beard!
New House, New Rules
-via The Hill, NY Times, & NY Times
Things in the House are going exactly as expected (not in a good way).
Monday night, after a lot of back and forth, the House narrowly passed their Rules package along a mostly party line vote, with one Republican voting no.
So what’s in this thing?
First up, the Holman rule. This allows lawmakers to use spending bills to defund specific programs as well as fire or reduce the pay of federal officials. It also makes it harder for lawmakers to raise the debt limit; and paves the way for the Church Committee, aka the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Oh the irony of the Republicans investigating the weaponization of the federal government.
It will be led by insurrectionist, Trump loyalist, and former wrestling coach that allegedly ignored six of his wrestlers telling him about sexual harassment by the team doctor - Jim Jordan.
Jimmy Jords would like us to know he’s not in it to target democrats, but rather - save the First Amendment. Because if they don’t save the First Amendment, how will people write books for the Republicans to ban?
This House rules is a public facing package, which I note because many other concessions that McCarthy made were done behind closed doors. And even some Republicans are worried that they’ll never know which with devils and what deals with done.
And yet, in the end, all but one voted for the Rules. So, you know… what are you gonna do?
Meanwhile, Democrat Pete Aguilar says it’s the intention of the democrats to sit on every single committee and subcommittee that the Republicans create.
Wanna hear some solid comedy though? When asked about the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, Aguilar said, “we call that the ‘tinfoil hat committee’ in our caucus.”
New Santos Investigation
-via Washington Post
Another day, another George Santos investigation.
In a complaint filed Monday, the Federal Election Committee has accused freshman Congressmember George Santos of multiple campaign finance violations, including hiding the true source of his funding, misrepresenting campaign spending, and using campaign resources to cover personal expenses.
Last time he ran for Congress, in 2020, he had $55,000 in earned income. This time around, he reported loaning his campaign more than $700,000. Sooooo where’d ya get the scratch, George?
Because you’re allowed to personally lend your campaign money, but the question here is: who may have illegally funneled money into his account?
Suspect Linked to Albuquerque Shootings in Custody
-via NPR
Authorities in Albuquerque believe they have caught at least one suspect in connected with the shootings that took place outside the homes of several election officials. The suspect was being held on other, currently unknown, charges and police are now working through their evidence to see if they can also charge him with the shootings.
In the past month, five democratic politicians in New Mexico have been the targets of shootings, either at home or in their office. While no one has been hurt, the attacks included multiple rounds being fired into the doors and walls of some buildings.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
For now. Who knows what’ll happened after I schedule this to go online!
I’m proud of… people who do a little something I like to call… pay equity. It’s not hard. You just… you know… pay people correctly. Because of how everyone should have a living wage.
Wild idea, I know.
But more than that… or at least as equity-able as that… I’m proud of you.