@johnmaen.bsky.social
290 followers 470 following 690 posts
Justice. Fairness. Democracy. This account follows writers and thinkers I appreciate. No reason to follow. I’ll assume you’re a 🤖. Save your like or retweet and go plant a tree or help someone who needs it. Go outside. Be amongst your neighbors.
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johnmaen.bsky.social
Republicans, simply, believe that “other” people do not deserve the same treatments/freedoms/wealth/prosperity that they too strive to achieve.
Reposted
tyleraking.com
When Big Balls got beat up by 15-year-olds they said DC should prosecute 14-year-olds as adults.
johnmaen.bsky.social
confused why all democratic and law following representatives aren’t live right now talking about it to the press, tonight. Now. Where are the live streams?
johnmaen.bsky.social
Is this crossing the line yet? How much more criminality will our society endure.
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
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(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.
Reposted
billshea19.bsky.social
This is how authoritarianism cements itself in power and crushes opposition, all while the eggheads debate if it's fascism or something else.
yasharali.bsky.social
BREAKING via WSJ

The Trump administration is planning sweeping changes in criminal division at the IRS.

Full Story: on.wsj.com/3LbVFtK
The Trump administration is preparing sweeping changes at the Internal Revenue Service that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily, according to people familiar with the matter.
A senior IRS official involved in the effort has drawn up a list of potential targets that includes major Democratic donors, some of the people said.
The undertaking aims to install allies of President Trump at the IRS criminal-investigative division, or IRS-CI, to exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations, officials said. The proposed changes could open the door to politically motivated probes and are being driven by Gary Shapley, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Reposted
billkristolbulwark.bsky.social
Shorter Mike Johnson:

Beating up a woman isn’t “really serious.”
atrupar.com
Q: This has been reported for a while. Cory Mills was accused of beating a girlfriend in his DC apt. Are you concerned about these allegations?

JOHNSON: You have to ask Rep. Mills about that. He's been a faithful colleague. I don't know the details. Let's talk about things that are really serious
Reposted
dburbach.bsky.social
Im still skeptical.

Is "close I5 for live fire into Camp Pendleton" something that routinely happens? With how much notice
dburbach.bsky.social
LA Times now confirms, I5 through Pendleton might be shut down Fri Sat for some sort of live fire demo / "parade". 😧. www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
prev | next
(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.
johnmaen.bsky.social
tbh, one of the best “shut up’s” ever captured on camera.
Reposted
daisyd.bsky.social
And THAT’s how it’s done 👏💪💙
thetnholler.bsky.social
ICYMI — PELOSI: “Shut up. I did not refuse the National Guard. The President didn’t send it. Why are you coming here with Republican talking points as if you’re a serious journalist?”

(The unserious questioner is Alison Steinberg, who works for Mike Lindell — the my pillow guy)
johnmaen.bsky.social
oh my gosh. that’s really cool!
Reposted
acyn.bsky.social
AOC: And they are able to radicalize a generation of young boys in particular, away from healthy masculinity and into an insecure masculinity that requires the domination of others who are poorer, browner, darker, or a different gender than them.
Reposted
seancasten.bsky.social
Mike Johnson called us back from July 4 recess on 7/3 so he could gut Americans’ healthcare in the Big Ugly bill. Since then, he has only had the House in session for 19 of the subsequent 104 days. That’s how we ended up here.
Reposted
warren.senate.gov
Americans have gotten more than $21 billion back in their bank accounts after being cheated and scammed by big corporations, thanks to the CFPB.

But Trump and his Administration love grifters and scammers.

So they're trying to kill the agency holding them accountable.
Reposted
cwebbonline.com
Finally, some common sense from Oklahoma education.

Ryan Walters turned classrooms into culture war battlegrounds. Reversing his Bible mandate isn’t “anti-religion,” it’s accepting the fact that the Bible is not a history book!

Schools should teach, not preach.
Reposted
cristianfarias.com
Louisiana v. Callais, in one sentence:

The only way to stop discrimination against Black voters is to stop discriminating against white voters in remedying the initial violation.

This case is about appeasing white voters, and nothing else.
Reposted
wajali.bsky.social
The racist-ass Supreme Court says race can't be a factor for college admissions or redistricting but racial profiling is perfectly fine for ICE to bash brown and Black skulls.

F this corrupt institution.

Expand the Court.
Reposted
slkollmann.bsky.social
Meanwhile this administration pushed and passed legislation to try many more Black children in DC as adults.
juliannemcshane.bsky.social
NEW @motherjones.com: Nobody in that GOP group chat praising Hitler or making racist comments was a “kid,” as JD Vance claimed today

I tracked down their ages. (Weirdly, it seems nobody else did.)

Eight of the 11 in the group chat range from 24 to 35. Ages of others are unclear.

But… no “kids”!
No one in the GOP Hitler chat was a "kid"
We checked. Sorry, JD Vance.
www.motherjones.com
Reposted
charles.littlegreenfootballs.com
It’s beyond infuriating. These criminals are laying waste to the US and destroying international ties that took decades to build, while rewarding the sycophantic rich weirdos who flatter Trump’s monstrous ego. Spreading ugliness and cruelty across the entire world.
radleybalko.bsky.social
That’s $5 billion more than the entire annual USAID budget. All to one country. To rescue one friend of the president’s.
ilhanmn.bsky.social
Trump found another $20 BILLION to give to Argentina, totaling their bailout to $40 BILLION.

Yet we can’t afford to prevent millions of Americans from losing their healthcare.

Shame.
Reposted
meidastouch.com
BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Trump may launch missiles from warships into California this Friday and Saturday as part of what is being described as a “vanity parade” and shut down portions of the I-5 during the No Kings protests meidasnews.com/news/exclusi...
johnmaen.bsky.social
and they’ll sell it as some genius fiscal reason to save “our country”. They do the same thing with social security, imo.
johnmaen.bsky.social
i assumed this was a wide held opinion, but Republicans want the government shut down so they can cut the government. Calling cutting healthcare “dismantling Obamacare” is a winner for their constituency until their voters realize they’re hurt, which will be too late to do anything about