Author | Lightnews

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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 4h

It's unendingly amusing to me just *how* much of The Wealth of Nations, and of Hume's earlier writings about trade, is about wine.

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jdthom.bsky.social @jdthom.bsky.social · 20h

It will be dismantled quicker than it will be built

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Frank Cogliano @frankcogliano.bsky.social · 1d

Graduate seminar did a deep dive on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense yesterday. At the line, “in America the law is king,” they (14 students from 6 countries) burst out laughing. I've been doing this for 35 years and this is the first time that was a laugh line.

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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 1d

The destruction of the East Wing is a reminder that America has violated the only check-and-balance that actually ends up mattering: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-only-c...

The only check-and-balance that actually matters

www.doomsdayscenario.co

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Matthew Stiegler @matthewstiegler.bsky.social · 1d

As a Senate candidate, Fetterman guaranteed voters he’d be a reliable Dem, not another Manchin or Sinema.

Constantly. It was his core promise to primary voters.

Liar.

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Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 1d

I would genuinely be interested in a long read by someone with access to Bessent, to get some idea of the psychology that is making him think he can achieve exactly what the Bank of England couldn't, when he was a trader for George Soros in 1992

Bob Burgess @bobburgess.bsky.social · 2d

In the battle between FX traders and Scott Bessent over the Argentine peso, FX traders are winning:

*ARGENTINE PESO EXTENDS LOSSES TO 0.9%, HITS FRESH RECORD LOW

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Pam Herd @pamherd.bsky.social · 1d

Demolishing the White House and just demanding straight up cash from the Treasury. 10 months in.

Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 1d

The New York Times describes Trump demanding his own Justice Department pay him $230 million as a "potential" ethical conflict.

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jdthom.bsky.social @jdthom.bsky.social · 1d

a man in a suit and tie says it 's illegal in a room

ALT: a man in a suit and tie says it 's illegal in a room

media.tenor.com

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David Ryan Miller @davidryanmiller.com · 1d

It's not "budgetary Twister," it's willfully violating Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution.

Just because President Trump chooses to ignore Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 does not mean that the NYT should pretend Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 does not exist.

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Christopher Moltisanti Weighs In On Current Events @moltisantithots.bsky.social · 3d

We just got the White House East Wing job. Maybe we should ask for the money up front, T.

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jdthom.bsky.social @jdthom.bsky.social · 2d

Hell, why not $230 trillion?

These are not serious people.

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Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 3d

I am posting this 2021 article for no particular reason

transparency.eu/corruption-o...

When former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country following the 2014 Maidan revolution, Ukrainian citizens who stormed his Mezhyhirya mansion discovered a palace of cartoonish opulence with guilded bathrooms, a private zoo, and a floating restaurant in the shape of a pirate ship. A good illustration of this extravagance is the $11 million he allegedly paid for a chandelier and his seven tablecloths worth a staggering $13,000.

This private opulence was all paid for with public money. Embezzlement in the Yanukovych era is said to have taken the form of theft, corruption in public procurement, rigged energy prices, and misuse of carbon-emissions allowances.

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Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives @darrencullen.bsky.social · Aug 7

Did a new one

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 3d

The networks took the much smaller Tea Party movement so seriously they broadcast a Tea Party rebuttal to Obama’s 2011 SOTU on top of the normal GOP one.

Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 4d

Reminder: We spent YEARS reading thousands and thousands of articles on the Tea Party and how it was a true expression of the American people's will, and it never mounted anything nearly as big as Saturday's No Kings rallies. [1/3]

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Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 4d

Compare yesterday's millions to this and how we couldn't escape breathless coverage of the Tea Partiers at their peak.

April 15, 2009 is said to have been the day that had the largest number of tea party demonstrations reportedly in more than 750 cities.[73] Estimates of protesters and locations varied. The Christian Science Monitor reported on the difficulties of calculating a cumulative turnout and said some estimates state that over half a million Americans participated in the protests, noting, "experts say the counting itself often becomes politicized as authorities, organizers, and attendees often come up with dramatically different counts."[74][75] Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, estimated that at least 268,000 attended in over 200 cities.[76] Statistician Nate Silver, manager of FiveThirtyEight.com, has said that a cumulative crowd size estimate from credible sources was of 311,460 attendees in 346 cities, which accounted for all capitols and major cities little noticeable or no reliable media coverage in other protests could have contributed to a lower number of attendees and locations.[77] The largest event, in Atlanta, drew between an estimated 7,000 to 15,000 protesters.[77][78][79] Some of the gatherings drew only dozens.[74]

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Dave Itzkoff @ditzkoff.bsky.social · 4d

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For posting AI generated videos of Himself flying a Plane full of Shite

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Heidi Tasker @heiditasker.bsky.social · 5d

Seen in Auburn, Maine #NoKings

A woman at the 10.18.2025 #NoKings rally in Auburn, Maine. She’s wearing an American flag themed fist hat, and her sign reads: They’re eating the CHECKS. They’re eating the BALANCES.
There is a dog and a kitten on either side of her sign, each with large googly eyes.

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Silky @silkyweineck.bsky.social · 5d

this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.

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CAKE @thebandcake.bsky.social · 5d

#NoKings

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jdthom.bsky.social @jdthom.bsky.social · 5d

two men are sitting at a table with plates of food and a sign that says ya know quasimodo predicted all this

ALT: two men are sitting at a table with plates of food and a sign that says ya know quasimodo predicted all this

media.tenor.com

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 5d

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.

For imposing taxes on us without our consent.

Tory Stephens @torystephens.bsky.social · 5d

Tariff costs to companies this year to hit $1.2 trillion, with consumers taking most of the hit, S&P says.

www.cnbc.com/2025/10/16/t...

#Tariffs #Consumers #Economy #Business #Bills

Tariff costs to companies this year to hit $1.2 trillion, with consumers taking most of the hit, S&P says

The firm said its estimate of additional expenses for companies is probably conservative.

www.cnbc.com

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jdthom.bsky.social @jdthom.bsky.social · 6d

Sounds like Katherine Hepburn reading for the part of Gen. Jack D. Ripper.

Legit surprised he didn’t utter the phrase “precious bodily fluids.”

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Sarah Burris @sarahburris.bsky.social · 7d

Oh! Oh! Are we calling people "illegitimate" if they've been convicted by a court of law??

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

UN Ambassador Mike Waltz claims Maduro is an "illegitimate leader," citing the fact he was "convicted in the Southern District of New York."

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jdthom.bsky.social @jdthom.bsky.social · 7d

Kinsley gaffe of all Kinsley gaffes; “we defended that evil ideology “

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 7d

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
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(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

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