DL Open Thread Thursday, March 11, 2021

The first shelter dog in the White House didn’t stay there too long: Major, the younger of the Bidens’ German Shepherds, was banished to Delaware after nipping a Secret Service agent, and Champ had to go with him. I think Marjor deserves a pardon — he probably smelled Trump on the guy.

Face of the Delaware GOP Lauren Witzke is realizing her true goal — getting publicity from the Wingnut Welfare/Media Machine in hopes of landing a better gig than drug mule. In a recent appearance on the podcast ConservaTMZ (the clip is at the link), Witzke talked about the severe voter restriction movement in states controlled by Republicans, particularly Georgia, and admitted it’s not about election integrity.

According to Witzke, the proposed legislation could “cut Stacy Abrams off at the knees.” Despite claiming that the bill is for the purpose of restoring “election integrity,” she also admitted, “All I care about is winning.” She also admitted that without overhauls for voting laws, the Republican Party may not have a chance at winning future elections.

The usual suspects are making the usual noises about spending government money while Democrats are in charge, wondering where it will come from. There’s a simple answer: Tax cheats.

From 2010 to 2019, lawmakers cut the I.R.S. enforcement budget by more than 20 percent. … The agency is increasingly unable to detect or address blatant tax cheating by high-income filers and the largest businesses. In February, I.R.S. Commissioner Charles P. Rettig told Congress that about $570 billion in taxes owed in 2019 were not paid. That tax gap is projected to total about $7.5 trillion over this decade. Meanwhile, the I.R.S. answered fewer than a quarter of its phone calls from people seeking help with their taxes.

Ever hear a Republican complain that the defense budget is full of fat and must be cut in the face of the national debt? No, and you never will. They haven’t uttered a squeak about plans to spend $1.5 trillion, with a TR, to update the nation’s nuclear stockpile, among other gewgaws.

According to the Arms Control Center, the government is on track from the previous administration to spend more than to $1.5 trillion over several years to overhaul the nuclear arsenal by rebuilding each leg of the nuclear triad of ballistic missile submarines, silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, a new nuclear cruise missile, a modified gravity bomb, a new stealthy long-range strike bomber and warheads. Cost estimates for this year alone are $16 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration systems and about $29 billion for the modernization of aging delivery systems.

The insurrectionist roundup continues apace, as do the revelations. Turns out a Marine Corps veteran charged in the Capitol riot formerly served as a crew chief for the presidential helicopter squadron, a highly restrictive unit that requires a top-secret security clearance.

The legal problems for The Last Guy™ continue apace, as do the revelations. The Wall Street Journal got ahold of the tape of TLG’s wheedling phone call to the investigator running the Georgia vote audit. It could be evidence someday.

The floor’s yours.