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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 16h

R.J. Rushdoony and Christian Reconstruction (with Michael McVicar)

youtu.be/-keGHUMtsVo?...

R.J. Rushdoony and Christian Reconstruction (with Michael McVicar)

YouTube video by Alastair Roberts

youtu.be

Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 16h

This is so much deeper than what most people understand. Destroying the state is MAGA’s goal. It used the multiple decades of applied Christian Theonomy/Reconstructionism that infected the religious. It seems to be following Carl Schmitt’s legal basis to take power: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sc...

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy writes that "Schmitt was an acute observer and analyst of the weaknesses of liberal constitutionalism and liberal cosmopolitanism. But there can be little doubt that his preferred cure turned out to be infinitely worse than the disease."[7] His ideas remain highly influential, with many scholars arguing he has influenced modern governance in China and Russia, as well as the movements of neoconservatism and Trumpism.

Emergency powers

Schmitt's "state of exception" doctrine has enjoyed a revival in the 21st century. Formulated 10 years before the 1933 Nazi takeover of Germany, Schmitt claimed that urgency justified the following:[19]

Special executive powers

Suspension of the Rule of Law

Derogation of legal and constitutional rights

Schmitt's doctrine helped clear the way for Hitler's rise to power by providing the theoretical legal foundation of the Nazi regime.[19]

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 2d

I wonder if those higher-income households would be able to spend, if lower-income households doing their jobs, stopped? Think about how important those lower-income jobs are to the economy of those higher-income households. Automation can’t replace their jobs. finance.yahoo.com/news/america...

America's wealthiest shoppers are boosting spending — and the US economy — while lower earners pull back

Higher-income households are boosting spending, while lower-income consumers are pulling back.

finance.yahoo.com

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 19d

Wall Street (S&P 500)—up ~15 right now. Business as usual for capital. What a joke! A shutdown needs to be no work(except Congress), no transfers for taxes, loans, interest, payroll, social security; no FAA, TSA, etc. Shut It Down!

Via @yahoofinance.com
www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Government shutdown 2025: A guide to what’s still open, what’s closed and what’s fuzzy

While Social Security checks, mail and student loan bills will still be delivered, millions of workers are still set to suffer financial hardship.

www.yahoo.com

Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 19d

This moment calls for more than Memes/TikTok’s. Government is owned by the top 1%—Fin/Ins/Tech monopolies. Get up! Stop watching mindless games/culture! Essential labor, in the bottom 99%, has leverage vs capital. Labor is fact, capital is fiction. Labor does real work, capital not.

Take action!

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 19d

Overnight, Trump and Republicans in Congress shut down the federal government.

They shut it down because they’re determined to strip healthcare from millions of Americans, to enrich the billionaires they serve, to continue the assault on our rights.

We must fight back.

Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 19d

Ford CEO Jim Farley warns of a labor shortage causing a crisis in the “essential economy” of blue-collar workers.

@yahoofinance.com

finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-ce...

Ford CEO warns there’s a dearth of blue-collar workers able to construct AI data centers and operate factories: ‘Nothing to backfill the ambition’

Jim Farley has identified a crisis in the “essential economy” of overlooked blue-collar workers in the AI race.

finance.yahoo.com

Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 19d

Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to his Gen Z factory workers: They were saying they ‘had to have three jobs’

Via @yahoofinance.com

finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-ce...

Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to his Gen Z factory workers: They were saying they ‘had to have three jobs’

During the UAW strike of 2023, Farley said he was shocked by what he heard: “Old-timers in our plants were saying, ‘It’s no longer a career, Mr. Farley.’”

finance.yahoo.com

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 20d

I’m not from New York City, but there is a slim hope to take power in the US back from the top 1%, if you win the Mayor’s race, a general labor strike by the bottom 99% begins soon after in NYC, and the Stock Transfer Tax rebate gets repealed:

Via @philsteckny.bsky.social

bsky.app/profile/phil...

Assemblymember Phil Steck @philsteckny.bsky.social · Jun 26

While working families face rising costs, Wall Street continues to thrive without paying their fair share. I support reinstating the Stock Transfer Tax so the funds can go directly toward improving our infrastructure, which benefits all NYers not just the few at the top
substack.com/inbox/post/1...

The Case for Repealing the Outrageous NYS Stock Transfer Tax (STT) Rebate April 23, 2025 James S. Henry Esq. Global Justice Fellow, Yale

substack.com

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 20d

Perhaps if the government stopped paying all the defense contractors, subsidies to all manner of constituencies, congressional representatives, senators, white house staff, the supreme court, et. al., we might get some business done on behalf of the people. #ShutItDown

Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 20d

Have you @wbmosler.bsky.social or are you aware of any other #MMT economist who has reviewed the findings of this @nber.org paper? Seems like inflation is slowing since Turkey's central bank started to cut its benchmark interest rate. The paper calls its rate cuts "unorthodox."

Our analysis reveals that Türkiye's policies formed an interconnected destabilizing sequence. Low rates generate ináation and depreciate the currency. Using FX reserves to address currency depreciation exposes the country to sudden stops and severe currency crises. Using KKM to arrest the crisis provides partial relief by effectively raising interest rates for savers while maintaining low rates for borrowers. However, this creates growing contingent fiscal burdens and exposes the country to an even more severe twin sovereign debt and currency crisis. Policymakers fear of a major crisis explains additional policies adopted at the time: debt monetization, financial repression, and ultimately the return to orthodox policy. Each policy makes some sense in isolation but proves costly dynamically, both because it creates new vulnerabilities requiring further adjustments and because it delays the eventual return to orthodoxy. This delay is costly because the longer the economies remain overheated, the more ináation becomes entrenched and the harder it becomes to reverse (see Remark 1) and the central bank credibility su§ers greater damage.
Our findings have implications for ongoing debates about central bank independence. We started with a fundamental question: Can Önancial engineering substitute for conventional monetary policy instruments when interest rates are determined by political priorities? Our analysis of Türkiye's experience demonstrates that such attempts face signiÖcant challenges and may ultimately prove unsustainable. As central banks worldwide confront intensifying political pressures to lower policy rates, Türkiye's costly experiment demonstrates the consequences.

The move follows signs of slowing underlying inflation in August, though food and services prices continue to pressure inflation.

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Reposted by Bob Gorman

Millie Cassese ⚖️ @millienyc.bsky.social · 23d

@aidanwalker.bsky.social

Great job, Aidan Walker. You've left us hopeful. ⚖️

#RealTime

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Reposted by Bob Gorman

Sean McKnight @ynot1989.bsky.social · 24d

You can cheat this a little with automation, but contrary to investor scare tactics, only a small percent of the workforce can be replaced by AI tools, mainly in management roles (which they don't want replaced), and some administrative and support roles.

Immigrants are the solution.

Pie chart of % of total employees (USA) in their corresponding industries.

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Reposted by Bob Gorman

Doctor Jeff Hawn 🌻🇬🇧🇺🇸🇺🇦 @jhawn.bsky.social · 24d

I honestly think if we made it more affordable and safer to have kids people would have more of them. But honestly the state is so hostile to kids due to this myth that welfare scroungers live off of welfare them

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Reposted by Bob Gorman

Abandonment Isles 🌐 @oosaemitter.bsky.social · 24d

I was alerted to such an ambitious prospect by this tumblr thread and associated links, whose discussion you might find interesting:

www.tumblr.com/random-thoug...

Reblog by @random-thought-depository · 3 images

💬 9 🔁 148 ❤️ 298 · It may be absurd by conventional economic logic, but I suspect something in that ballpark (or equivalently radical) may be what it would take to fix the below replacement birth…

www.tumblr.com

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 22d

The thread is very good. Thanks for sharing it. My adult children are in no hurry to have children, if at all. Our financialized social system, at least in the United States, incentives billionaires and their children:
Via @usnews.com
money.usnews.com/money/person...

money.usnews.com

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Reposted by Bob Gorman

Sean McKnight @ynot1989.bsky.social · 24d

Men do not benefit from removing a source of household income and adding a lifetime expense. Those men that want a patriarchal family structure do so out of a desire for power.

Taking on the financial commitment of a child is a burden to any individual or family group in a post-agrarian society.

NBER @nber.org · 24d

The fertility decline is everywhere in the world today. The reason involves greater female autonomy and a mismatch between the desires of men and of women, from Claudia Goldin https://www.nber.org/papers/w34268

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 23d

DNC: Plan for 2029 - cont’d

6) Federal Job Guarantee

Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 23d

Well as we heard, there is no DNC plan. Here’s a suggestion:

Plan for 2029

1) Medicare for All
2) Cancel Student Loan Debt
3) Education through Grad school; same for trades.
4) Re-regulate Fin/Insurance; regulate Tech
5) Tax capital gains, e.g. dividends, stock buybacks at marginal income rates.

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 24d

A Field Guide to Israeli Organized Crime
Exploring an underworld of gambling, drug trafficking, arms dealing, extortion, assassination, and corruption

Via www.tabletmag.com

www.tabletmag.com/sections/isr...

A Field Guide to Israeli Organized Crime

In a cage made of fortified glass, under heavy security, smiling in his orange jumpsuit, is Yitzhak Abergil. The reading glasses he wears from time to time, and the hearing aid tucked into his ear mig...

www.tabletmag.com

Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 24d

OPINION
...Human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Israeli society

Via @middleeastmonitor.bsky.social

www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250821-hum...

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Israeli society

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation remain deeply entrenched in Israeli society, sustained through organised criminal networks, systemic governance gaps, and the targeting of vulnerable popul…

www.middleeastmonitor.com

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 24d

Per the indictment, “5. The defendants HOWARD RUBIN and JENNIFER POWERS, together
with others, recruited women-often targeting former Playboy models,”

www.justice.gov/usao-edny/me...

Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 24d

Per the press release, “Rubin, now retired, built his wealth in New York City working in finance.”

www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr...

Retired New York Financier and his Personal Assistant Charged with Sex Trafficking and Transporting Women to Engage in Commercial Sex Acts

A 10-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging retired New York-based financier, Howard Rubin, also known as “Howie” and “H,” along with his personal assistant, Jennife...

www.justice.gov

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Reposted by Bob Gorman

Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 25d

Following new reporting, I'm launching a new line of investigation to determine the extent of JPMorgan's compliance failures, the role of top execs in the decision to keep Epstein as a client until 2013, and the degree to which the bank enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking.

Senate Finance Committee @senatefinance.bsky.social · 25d

NEWS: Continuing Epstein Investigation, Wyden Probes Major JPMorgan Chase Compliance Failures

Continuing Epstein Investigation, Wyden Probes Major JPMorgan Chase Compliance Failures | The United States Senate Committee on Finance

Continuing Epstein Investigation, Wyden Probes Major JPMorgan Chase Compliance Failures

www.finance.senate.gov

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 24d

Saudi Arabia: Migrant domestic workers face severe exploitation, racism and exclusion from labour protections

Via @amnesty.org

www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

Saudi Arabia: Migrant domestic workers face severe exploitation, racism and exclusion from labour protection

Kenyan women hired as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia endure grueling, abusive and discriminatory working conditions.

www.amnesty.org

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Bob Gorman @bobgorman8791.bsky.social · 24d

Epstein seems like it is just the tip of a global iceberg:

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Israeli society

Via @middleeastmonitor.bsky.social

www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250821-hum...

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Israeli society

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation remain deeply entrenched in Israeli society, sustained through organised criminal networks, systemic governance gaps, and the targeting of vulnerable popul…

www.middleeastmonitor.com

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