Traveling for free (and on the QT)

Congress makes it more convenient for its members to avoid easy public scrutiny of "free" trips its members receive from folk who… well, want to give congresscritters free trips. Fly the friendly (and unaccountable) skies!

Reshared post from +Christopher Ducra

They really are trying as hard as possible to achieve that 0% approval rating.

Congress Quietly Deletes a Key Disclosure of Free Trips Lawmakers Take
House Ethics reverses decades of precedent as lobbyist-sponsored lawmaker travel expands.
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***Dave Does the Mastodon

2 days ago

We're getting into the "If I go down I'm takin' youse guys wit' me" phase of the mob boss saga.

#trump

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-newsmax-impeached-again-lots-001337140.html

3 days ago

Amusing story both for the headline and for the underlying message.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/10/katie-zacharia-is-out-after-half-a-scaramucci/

4 days ago

The take-away from #Trump canceling the #execution #livestream is not that he has even a modicum of decency, but that if a controversial idea is proposed *by someone else* that might blow back on him, he will throw it and the proposer under the bus in a hot minute. TACO loyalty.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/10/15/trump-cancels-hegseths-plan-live-stream-fort-hood-shooters-execution/

4 days ago

There is a graduated, progressive #IncomeTax #measure on the ballot this #election in #Colorado, replacing a flat 4.4%, and it is remarkable that the top arguments being levied against this "bizarre/radical" measure are "It's unfair because $500K [the tipping point] isn't that much income," and "Egads, all the rich people will move away to Texas and we will be poor!"

1 week ago

It's time for "Barefoot in the Park" at #ArvadaCenter! Front row seats!

2 weeks ago

High Altitude Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Sugar https://hill-kleerup.org/blog/margie/high-altitude-snickerdoodle-bundt-cake-with-cinnamon-sugar.html

2 weeks ago

Every now and then I get a burr up my butt about something and have to write it out. Today it was about strategic voting and "the lesser of two evils is still evil" thinking. Feel free to skip if you don't need another #screed in your life.

https://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2026/10/04/is-the-lesser-of-two-evil-also-evil.html

3 weeks ago

#DonaldTrump doesn't actually say anything *new* in his TIME interview -- but it remains fascinating (and deeply depressing) reading the farrago of lies, delusions, illogic, self-serving, and Bizarro World perspective of what he has to say. Failure is Success! Annihilation is Peace! Lies are Truth! Everyone Loves Me!

Future generations (assuming there are any) will read this stuff and disbelieve this guy was ever let close to the reins of power.

https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/donald-trump-2026-interview-transcript/

3 weeks ago

Yes, judges are making rulings based on "The President is a dick and might do something irrational, political, and spiteful about this case, so we are dismissing it *with* prejudice, GO AWAY NOW" reasoning.

#Trump #reflectingpool

https://www.democracydefendersfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/100126_DDF-Order-Davey-Hearn.pdf

3 weeks ago

I mean, it's one thing (though still pretty bad) to refuse to sign on to the international court that tries #warcrimes. It's a whole new level of badness (if not evil) to actively persecute its members and demand its destruction. #icc

3 weeks ago

"Federal #watchdog says Trump’s $810M funding cancellation is #unconstitutional"

Which, of course, is why #Trump gets rid of every "watchdog" he can. #GAO

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/09/29/congress/pocket-rescission-gao-unconstitutional-01096965

3 weeks ago

I Am Old Enough To Remember when one of the big conservative arguments against #SocializedMedicine was that the gubbiment would have access to everyone's health care data.

So apparently they'll get access to that data anyway, and without bothering about socialized medicine.

RFK Jr outlines expansive vision for collecting US health data at Maha event
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/29/rfk-jr-collect-health-data?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

3 weeks ago

We can't auto-enroll folks to vote. We can't auto-enroll kids to get vaccines. We can't auto-enroll families for food stamps But apparently we can auto-enroll children into slush-funds-for-investment-banker-friends "Trump Accounts".

Treasury: Trump Accounts to auto-enroll children
https://www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/09/29/trump-accounts-auto-enroll.html

3 weeks ago

If #Trump gave one shit about the #KennedyCenter as an arts institution, he wouldn't care about getting credit for "saving" it. That he insists he'll let it fall apart and then be demolished unless *his* name is plastered at the top of the sign, since only he can (or will be allowed to) raise the money demonstrates it's only stroking his colossal ego he's concerned with. To hell with him.

DOJ blasts court block on Kennedy Center repairs 'existential' threat
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/09/29/kennedy-center-trump-appeals-court/92004039007/

1 month ago

30-Minute Tomato Basil Soup Altered https://hill-kleerup.org/blog/margie/30-minute-tomato-basil-soup-altered.html

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