DL Open Thread: Saturday, February 15, 2025
Fascism On The March! Massive Purge Of Federal Workers Under Way:
The Trump administration’s move to fire thousands of federal employees could have a swift and severe impact on public services, staffers warned Friday, making it harder for veterans to get mental health care and hampering electric service to some rural residents as a beleaguered workforce struggles to cover for lost colleagues.
The widespread firings imperiled services across the country, from farm towns to city centers.
The firings on Thursday and Friday came after the Trump administration directed agency heads to terminate most trial and probationary staff, The Post previously reported. The nearly 200,000 employees in that category started work within the past two years and have little protection from being fired without cause. It is unclear how many will actually be let go.
The terminations mark a significant acceleration in Trump’s campaign to shrink the federal government, a top goal for Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency. The group has spent the past three weeks targeting agency after agency in a bid to slash staff and stop the flow of federal cash. Cutting government personnel by one-fourth would reduce federal spending by about 1 percent.
Vance Tells Europe To Embrace Its Inner Nazi:
Vice President JD Vance’s defense of a divisive far-right political party in Germany was the latest jarring example of his willingness to embrace a provocative political issue and showed how hard-line immigration policy has emerged as the thread tightly knitting together a global patchwork of populist movements.
The thrust of Mr. Vance’s speech on Friday in Munich was a call for European leaders to broaden their tolerance for alternative viewpoints. But his address from inside a Bavarian hotel was certain to resonate back home among conservative and libertarian movements that have long seized on free speech battles in Europe to warn of dangers that could be looming for anti-immigration and anti-abortion activists in the United States.
Trump Targets IRS For Massive Cuts. Gee, wonder who that benefits. Just remember, kids, if there is a delay in getting your refund check, it’s Biden’s fault.
The Eric Adams Quid Pro Quo. He narcs out immigrants, he skates on all his corruption:
In one of the most notable sentences of her letter to Bondi, Sassoon faults Bove’s arguments that the Adams case should be dismissed in return for his assistance in enforcing federal immigration laws. She said that the mayor had argued, and Bove apparently agreed, that “Adams should receive leniency for federal crimes solely because he occupies an important public position and can use that position to assist in the Administration’s policy priorities.”
This is alarming because establishing such a principle could allow public officials to evade allegations of corruption by dint of their position — a scenario that would risk destroying public confidence in political and legal institutions.
Enough with Your Daily Fascists On The March Newsreel.
A brief comment on today’s Not-So-Special Elections: I’m looking forward to posting my way-too-early list of races to target for 2026. Will probably do it next week. Do you suppose that either/both of the undeserving incumbents from these two Senate districts might be on the list? You’ll have to wait to find out.
The Murdochs Morph Into The Roys. Fiction becomes reality. Read it if you can access it. Too good to merely excerpt.
The Delmarva Power Rate Increases. I read the article. Clear as mud:
Delmarva Power’s Vice President of External Affairs Phil Vavala says it’s the unusually cold winter temperatures that have had a “tremendous impact on the Delmarva Power service area.”
Matt Hartigan, Executive Director of the Public Service Commission, also testified in front of the committee, explaining the commission’s burden of proof threshold to deny a rate increase is higher than the majority of other states.
“The commission makes a decision based on something called the business judgment rule, which is the standard in Delaware for how costs are recovered in a rate case. Most other states use something called the prudent standard, which, as it sounds, would have to imply that the costs the utility are incurring are prudently incurred,” Hartigan explained. “Under the business judgment rule, in order to disallow a cost, a party would have to prove waste, fraud or abuse of discretion, which is a very high legal standard. So it’s very difficult for the commission to disallow costs in a rate case.”
Ho-kay. Legislators, you can put an end to that, can’t you? Stand up to the lobbyists.
There’s more, lots more. I’d welcome commentary about this from someone who knows what they’re talking about, which obviously is not me.
What do you want to talk about?
