Lead Rethug Senator Walks Out On Gun Negotiations. Dog bites man. He was just waiting for the right moment:
Senators say disagreements remain over incentives for states to enact so-called red flag laws, which allow police to seize guns from people deemed dangerous. Talks are also ongoing to close the “boyfriend loophole”, which permits abusive partners to buy guns.
Those are the table scraps they’re cutting up even more. Here’s a screed I like, and subscribe to completely:
Democratic leaders in Congress, seriously, WTF is wrong with you? You let Republicans who oppose every single gun reform drive the “bi-partisan” gun reform bill. Genius idea. Put the guys who oppose every single gun reform measure in driver’s seat to create a bill that does absolutely nothing to prevent gun violence and gives them political cover to stand up with a straight face and say they did something about gun violence, negating a key talking point that moves the electorate toward voting for Democrats. What in the hell is wrong with you???
But of course Republicans can’t even bring themselves to do even the bare minimum window dressing of a bi-partisan gun reform bill. Seems they object to threatening boyfriends, mentally ill, and people who present a threat to others from having their God given second amendment rights even possibly slightly restricted in a weak sauce law that has more loopholes then Swiss cheese. Instead, Repubicans have delayed any action for weeks and now walked away from the bi-partisan bill, playing you Democratic leaders like a cheap fiddle once again…
Democracy, Chris Coons-style.
Another Tax Scam The Lobbyists Make Sure Doesn’t Die. Welcome to the arcane world of ‘syndicated conservation easements’:
The government is targeting a tax deduction that goes by the cumbersome name “syndicated conservation easement,” which exploits a charitable tax break that Congress established to encourage preservation of open land. Under standard conservation easements, landowners who give up development rights for their acreage, usually by donating those rights to a nonprofit land trust, get a charitable deduction in return. When conservation easements are used as intended, both the public and the owner of the property benefit. A piece of pristine land is preserved, sometimes as a park that the public can use, and the donor gets a tax break.
The syndicated versions are different. Instead of seeking to protect a bucolic reserve for wildlife or humans, profit-seeking intermediaries have turned the likes of abandoned golf courses or remote scrubland into high-return investment vehicles. These promoters snatch up vacant land that till then was worth little. Then they hire an appraiser willing to declare that it has huge, previously unrecognized development value — perhaps for luxury vacation homes or a solar farm — and thus is really worth many times its purchase price. The promoters sell stakes in the donation to individuals, who claim charitable deductions that are four or five times their investment. The promoters reap millions in fees.
Reform might have passed if not for, wait for it:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the enigmatic Arizona Democrat, who represented a potentially decisive vote in her 50-50 chamber, put an end to that, telling the White House the syndication-killer language was among the provisions she wanted out of the bill, according to press reports. It was removed. That prompted 13 conservation groups to write Sinema on Dec. 7, pleading with her to “stand with us” to “curb abuse and restore the integrity of this cherished and worthy conservation program.”
Sinema, whose objections to the measure remain unclear, was unmoved. “All efforts to persuade the AZ Senator to reconsider her position have failed,” one advocate for the measure told ProPublica in an email. (Sinema’s staff did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment.)
Cryptocurrency Losers Blame Everyone But Themselves. I’m sorry. I blame people who got way too greedy. Not that I care:
Given the millions poured into promoting crypto – often with celebrity endorsements – legal action after the crash was inevitable. Class-action lawsuits are already in the works. Kim Kardashian and the boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr are being sued for alleged false statements promoting the minor cryptocurrency EthereumMax.
Kids, if you invest in something b/c Kim Kardashian told you to, you fit the definition of an idiot. Caveat Emptor.
Colin Bonini’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night. How Bonini wasted everybody’s time, and only got a ‘pity’ amendment out of it. Look up ‘asshole’ in the dictionary…
What do you want to talk about?