Zorro
Zorro's JournalA scary quote for the GOP on Trump and tariffs
What if Trump is willing to go down with the tariff ship -- and take his party with him?Perhaps the most infamous quote Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) ever offered about Donald Trump came in May 2016.
“If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed,” Graham said, “and we will deserve it.” The Twitter post remains live to this day, nearly nine years later.
Despite Graham’s warning, this marriage of convenience has more or less worked out for him and his fellow Republicans. Trump is now a two-term president, and Republicans control both chambers of Congress.
But the relationship has constantly been a fraught one — one in which Trump holds just about all the cards and seems to care about his adopted party only insofar as it can help him.
https://wapo.st/4jkFV3E
Of course they will follow Trump to the bottom of the sewer -- and drag the country down with him, destroying all that once made the USA the envy of the world. Trump is their leader and is doing what they want to be done to mould the country into what they want it to look like, and it ain't pretty.
Republicans hate democracy. In the marketplace of ideas and policies to resolve our social needs and desires, their positions are unpopular with the voters. So they resort to lying, cheating, and suppressing votes to win so they can inflict their agenda on us all.
San Diego judge blocks Texas company from selling rebranded 'ghost gun' machine in California
In a lawsuit brought by San Diego County, a judge ruled the Coast Runner milling machine is essentially a rebrand of the outlawed Ghost Gunner milling deviceA San Diego Superior Court judge has issued a ruling that bars a Texas-based company from selling and marketing in California a computer-controlled milling machine designed to make untraceable “ghost guns,” with the decision marking the third significant victory for San Diego County in the early stages of its lawsuit against the company.
The county’s lawsuit, filed last May on behalf of state residents, accused Defense Distributed and several related entities of slapping a new name and paint job on the “Ghost Gunner” milling machine, which is barred from sale in California, and instead illegally marketing and selling the device in California under the name “Coast Runner.”
The county claimed that “ghost guns such as the ones that can be manufactured using the Coast Runner are fueling an epidemic of gun violence across the country.”
On Thursday, Judge Loren Freestone confirmed a tentative ruling he made last week granting the county’s motion for preliminary injunction. The injunction bars Defense Distributed from selling or marketing the Coast Runner “and any other substantially similar (computer-controlled) milling machine in California,” pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/04/05/san-diego-judge-blocks-texas-company-from-selling-rebranded-ghost-gun-machine-in-california/
IRS plans to cut up to 25% of staff, starting with closing its civil rights office, AP sources say
Source: AP via Yahoo Finance
The IRS plans to cut as many as 20,000 staffers — up to 25% of the workforce — as part of layoffs that began Friday, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
The job cuts will begin with the IRS Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, which would be reduced by 75% through layoffs, and its remaining workers would be absorbed into the agency’s Office of Chief Counsel, three people told the AP. Less than 200 people work in the Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, formerly known as the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the plans. The Washington Post first reported on Friday's layoffs at the IRS, which collects revenue and enforces tax laws.
The workforce reductions are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy through billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The administration has closed agencies, laid off probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection and offered buyouts through a “deferred resignation program.”
Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/irs-plans-cut-25-staff-002102211.html
Trump says 'perfect time' for Powell to cut rates as markets plummet after shocking tariff announcements
Source: Yahoo Finance
President Trump fired off a flurry of social media posts early Friday as he defended his controversial tariff policies, shrugged off market volatility, and pushed for more rate cuts.
“This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates," Trump said in a post on his social media app Truth Social. "He is always 'late,' but he could now change his image, and quickly."
"Energy prices are down, Interest Rates are down, Inflation is down, even Eggs are down 69%, and Jobs are UP, all within two months — A BIG WIN for America. CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”
On Friday, the March jobs report showed the labor market added 228,000 jobs in March, more than the 140,000 expected by economists. Shortly after the release, Trump praised the jobs numbers as “far better than expected" in a separate Truth Social post, writing his policies were "already working."
Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-perfect-time-for-powell-to-cut-rates-as-markets-plummet-after-shocking-tariff-announcements-155005397.html
Eggs down 69%? Where is he buying his eggs? A lot of people would want to know.
Florida House approves Gulf of America name change in state laws, educational materials
Erasing the Gulf of Mexico from state laws and educational materials won Florida House approval Thursday.
The Republican-controlled House passed two bills along party lines to carry out President Donald Trump's directive to rename the gulf as the Gulf of America.
Miami Republican Rep. Juan Carlos Porras, who sponsored a bill about updating school materials and state geographic materials to reflect the name change, said the proposal isn't rewriting history.
"The new designation is much more than a simple name change," Porras said. "It is a declaration that the United States is a global leader in the vanguard of democracy of the free world."
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-house-approves-gulf-of-america-name-change-in-state-laws-educational-materials/
Their stupidity is relentless.
In unprecedented payout, L.A. County will settle sex abuse claims for $4 billion
Los Angeles County plans to pay $4 billion to settle nearly 7,000 claims of childhood sexual abuse that allegedly occurred inside its juvenile facilities and foster homes, dwarfing the largest sex abuse settlements in U.S. history.
The mammoth settlement, which still needs to be approved by both the county claims board and county supervisors, is a billion dollars more than what county officials had anticipated as the worst-case scenario to resolve a flurry of lawsuits — and far more than other organizations notorious for allowing unchecked sex abuse have paid victims.
The Boy Scouts of America, by comparison, agreed to pay $2.46 billion. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has paid out about $1.5 billion for alleged abuse at the hands of Catholic priests. Victims of USC gynecologist George Tyndall got $1.1 billion. Michigan State University paid $500 million to victims of team doctor Larry Nassar.
The unprecedented settlement stems from AB 218, a 2020 state law that gave victims of childhood sexual abuse a new window to sue, even though the statute of limitations had expired.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-04/in-unprecedented-payout-l-a-county-settles-sex-abuse-claims-for-4-billion
Trump stooge alert: Moody's idea of "specialty courts" has a totalitarian ring to it
Have you ever thought about being a judge for a brand new “specialty court”?
What’s that? You don’t have a law degree and you don’t even watch reruns of Judge Judy.
I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. You’d be a very special judge. Like those ones you see on Dancing with the Stars or The Voice, except this time it’s at the highest levels of government and the stakes are enormous.
Yes, you’d be so special that your existence and powers are not even mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.
But it has been mentioned this past week by an august legal mind, U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, who has previously served as a former state court circuit judge, federal prosecutor and the Attorney General of Florida. That’s an impressive legal resume.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/opinion/columns/2025/04/04/us-sen-ashley-moody-of-florida-has-a-trumpy-idea-fit-for-a-dictator/82754408007/
Florida House speaker responds to DeSantis' criticisms
Calling the governor “emotional” on Thursday, Florida’s Republican House speaker insisted they were “on the same team.”
House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami Republican, was responding to a series of outbursts the governor has had over his relationship with the House, including that it raised questions about a key initiative of his wife.
“I’ve always considered myself to have a good relationship with him,” Perez said. “We are on the same team. We’re all Republicans. We all care about the state of Florida.”
Perez said he hadn’t spoken to the governor since Monday but insisted they had a “great conversation.” That day, DeSantis panned Perez’s proposed sales tax cut. That night, DeSantis lashed out at the House chamber in the Governor’s Mansion during a speech to rank-and-file GOP members. He did it again on Tuesday on his X platform and to the press.
“It seems the last week or so, the governor has been a little more emotional, and has been upset,” Perez said.
DeSantis told the Republican base that the House is offering Democrats a “lifeline” at a time when the Republican-controlled chamber should be “trying to step on the left’s throat.” He urged party members to push their state representatives to get in line with DeSantis’ agenda or risk that the Democrats “come roaring back” in the next election cycle.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/04/04/desantis-daniel-perez-casey-house-emotional/
DeSantis thinks the Republican legislature should be "trying to step on the left's throat" instead of working on well-informed compromises with their colleagues who may have different thoughts on doing what's best for Floridians. Just shows what a total asshole he is...and now he's attacking his own party's legislative leaders for not being as assholish as he thinks they should be.
Trump says things are 'going very well' after worst stock market drop in years over tariffs
Source: AP via Yahoo Finance
President Donald Trump offered a rosy assessment after the stock market dropped sharply Thursday over his tariffs, saying, “I think it's going very well."
“The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom,” he said when asked about the market as he left the White House to fly to one of his Florida golf clubs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,600 points on Thursday as U.S. stocks led a worldwide selloff after the Republican president's announcement of tariffs against much of the world ignited a shock like none seen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump on Wednesday announced a minimum tariff of 10% on imports, with the tax rate running much higher on products from certain countries like China and those from the European Union.
Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-things-going-very-220759324.html
"Markets go boom! Stocks go boom! Country goes boom!"
"Going very well" indeed in MAGA bizarro world, I guess...
Even in O.C. Trump country, some worry about how tariffs will hit their pocketbooks
In Huntington Beach — where a small, white bust of President Trump occupies the City Council chambers and “Make America Great Again” banners fly proudly outside homes and aboard boats bobbing in the harbor — support for the White House is a matter of civic pride.
But even in this conservative slice of Orange County, concerns about higher prices and the uncertainty surrounding the country’s economic future were palpable as the Trump administration rolled out its global plan for tariffs in what the president called “Liberation Day.”
At the Costco in Huntington Beach on Wednesday, Danielle Calfo said she and her husband were trying to plan ahead as much as possible — with two boys and a third son due any day now.
The 33-year-old stay-at-home mother said she and her husband had made all the necessary repairs to their cars early in the year, concerned that prices on parts shipped from overseas would soon skyrocket. They bought new furniture for their Huntington Beach home and buy in bulk as much as possible to keep costs low.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-03/they-love-trump-but-worry-about-tariffs
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