The Robert Mueller Investigation

[HenryJames 64909]

 

[4th&Five 41055]

Edited January 10, 2019 by 4th&Five

[Captainant 26861]

2 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

I am surprised that substantial number of people meeting that profile are going to default on their debts and risk losing their security clearance as a result of poor financial planning. But as has been pointed out, I should not be.

It's not really poor financial planning to not have a deep emergency fund. It's that pay has been pretty much stagnant since the 70's and inflation has been chugging along happily. There's only so much you can do with a paycheck that simply doesn't go as far as it used to. But you go on ahead pulling yourself up the bootstraps.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23245]

6 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

This will be the defining moment of Michael Cohen's life. 

[Anastasis 23191]

Just now, Captainant said:

It's not really poor financial planning to not have a deep emergency fund.

If missing two weeks of pay is the only thing standing between you and financial ruin, I would suggest that a pretty good example precisely of "poor financial planning".

But this is really a tangent...

 

[lemonlime 5482]

It's their fault for not realizing that they'd be forced to work without receiving a paycheck, or even time off to, oh, say, take other employment.

[Red Five 40109]

(clears calendar on Feb 7)

[Francisco 2.0 31568]

6 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

If missing two weeks of pay is the only thing standing between you and financial ruin, I would suggest that a pretty good example precisely of "poor financial planning".

But this is really a tangent...

 

You know, having this opinion is fine and dandy.  People should be more responsible with their personal finances and not in dire straits when missing a paycheck.

But this isn't the time for that argument.  It's not their fault their employer decided to just shut the payroll process down, but keep the lines of production open.

[shnsajax 3589]

19 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

It's their fault for not realizing that they'd be forced to work without receiving a paycheck, or even time off to, oh, say, take other employment.

This seems like a great new product for Aflac, Govt' Shutdown Insurance.

[housious 468]

1 hour ago, Jiggy-Z said:

Indeed...and it affects not just those with minimal savings.  Things have gotten expensive for the middle class.

In my own case, my house and cars are paid for and I have already put one kid through college.  I own my own business (which is debt free as well) and get plenty of right offs and never pay anywhere close to retail for home improvement costs.  The wife and I have a few hundred thou in 401Ks and plenty of emergency savings (a couple years worth).  Wife is self employed and also makes another 30K/yr from property she inherited. We go on vacation during the summer up to Wisconsin and stay with my BILs family at their cabin, go to Port A a couple time s a year, and go to some other USA locations in connection with my youngest kids being competitive rock climbers-so no crazy expensive travel stuff.  We have two dogs and two cats, shop at the farmers market and Costco.  One kid goes to public school and the other a small private school due to some learning issues. i don't own a boat or any other expensive high maintenance toys. We have no medical issues and are in good shape. I am so cheap that I don't have garbage service at the house (I take it to my construction yard and use the dumpster and recycling bins), I don't buy firewood (I go to my parent's ranch and load up on mesquite a couple time each year), our home electric bills have never been more than $300, and I don't even donate to the church.

We are in our early 50s and I see no hope of retirement by 65 and/or not having the kids burdened with staggering student loan debt should they go to college (have a 529 plan but it is woefully underfunded).  In the last 5 years we have not been able to save much at all.  Health insurance, property taxes, and rising food costs real food) really take a bite. i can't even imagine how tight things would be if we had a house payment and/or car payments.

If you take the time to humble brag, please make sure it's worth bragging about first. 

[atomheartbevo 88751]

2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

While that is fucking astounding, it is the case and we can't just chastise them and say they should be better with their money.  This is a massive issue.

Our financial system is focused on squeezing every last dollar out of the poor and middle-class.  Predatory doesn’t begin to describe the credit card companies, a lot of loans, etc.  

[Jiggy-Z 3419]

6 minutes ago, housious said:

If you take the time to humble brag, please make sure it's worth bragging about first. 

Not sure if my sarcasm meter is broken, but the point of all my text was to illustrate that even those with fiscal responsibility and not living paycheck to paycheck are having a hard time getting ahead.  I thought the detail was warranted as a preemptive strike.  Carry on.

[HenryJames 64909]

I got what you meant.

[atomheartbevo 88751]

48 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

If missing two weeks of pay is the only thing standing between you and financial ruin, I would suggest that a pretty good example precisely of "poor financial planning".

But this is really a tangent...

Not everybody takes Dave Ramsey’s classes, where the first thing you learn is that the best way to put a lot of money in the bank, is to get paid telling other people how to put money in the bank.  

[atomheartbevo 88751]

2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

It is January 10th and we are in a shutdown that seems nowhere close to ending.  I don't know if we can wait til mid-Feb or whatever for Mueller.  Shit's getting real.

We are getting close to it affecting tax returns.  When it does, the Senate Republicans will go hard on Turtle.  Mueller is probably going to be okay.  

Edited January 10, 2019 by atomheartbevo

[David Dennison 17660]

6 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Our financial system is focused on squeezing every last dollar out of the poor and middle-class.  Predatory doesn’t begin to describe the credit card companies, a lot of loans, etc.  

This is 100% accurate. 

As a class, most white collar employees are working. Solidarity among all wage earners is the capitalist's nightmare.

[atomheartbevo 88751]

For those worried, Senate Republicans care most about winning their next reelection.  While there are plenty like Cruz who have sold their souls for Trump, there are plenty who just watched Trump personally campaign in states that ultimately flipped to the Ds.  States that will keep Trump out of the WH come January, 2021.  

When this thing blows wide open, the Democrats’ campaign ads will write themselves.   Trumpkins couldn’t be bothered enough to keep Obama out of the WH for 8 years, and enough will bail to make it a non-issue.  

And this is all before Trump’s tariffs and trade wars and government shutdown fuck a lot more people over.  

[Biff Tannen 44921]

I wish I had y'all's optimism.  Logic and facts have no place in this world anymore though, so sorry, I'm not believing anything until it happens.

[Brisketexan 103148]

9 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I wish I had y'all's optimism.  Logic and facts have no place in this world anymore though, so sorry, I'm not believing anything until it happens.

This.

I really don't understand what it will take for folks to understand that we're dealing with a cult.  Members of a cult don't respond to logic and facts.  They don't "ultimately act in their self interest."  They do shit like this:

 

Waiting on Trumpkins to begin acting in their rational self interest is a fool's errand.  They're going to guzzle the kool-aid, and they're going to do their damnedest to make everyone else drink up with them.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23245]

The Trumpkins have a lot of anger and misplaced loyalty to work with.  

God forbid they ever get persuaded to turn on Trump.

[Biff Tannen 44921]

4 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

The Trumpkins have a lot of anger and misplaced loyalty to work with.  

God forbid they ever get persuaded to turn on Trump.

Cultists don't generally turn on the cult leader.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13272]

1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

This will be the defining moment of Michael Cohen's life. 

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly"  

[Loco 3752]

2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly"  

In any context, that quote will get rep'd by me...   

"The Springfield Shopping mall has just been bombed with live turkeys"  - J Fever

[Hugo Stiglitz 23245]

3 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Cultists don't generally turn on the cult leader.

But if they do, they usually sacrifice him.

[yaqdum 182]

5 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

The Republicans have already shown their colors.  They have no problem nominating and electing literal criminals that have already been indicted.  

The actions of the democrats is what we should worry about. 

what i'm saying is we've seen a situation where a considerable part of the senate is actively under investigation and likely indictment.  there's no way we can count votes from the slammer.

also, every time it's said we're depending on the democrats i shiver.  involuntary reaction.

[retread 2951]

Trump's the savior that Rush prophesied for 20 years. The GOP won't disconnect from his placenta unless he dies.

[triplehorn 2664]

6 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

But if they do, they usually sacrifice him.

Or they escape by spiriting away in a private jet just before their followers wake up real confused and law enforcement bags them.

Just make sure you don't have land to refuel while still inbounds

VV

Spoiler

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by triplehorn

[yaqdum 182]

3 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

And this is why we are on the brink of chaos.  These people will never believe truth.  They need to be vanished, but we can't do that.  Fuck it, I'm ready for torches and pitchforks.  60% of the country needs to be ready for that too.

vanished isn't the right word.  varnished doesn't work either.

[4th&Five 41055]

 

[The Royal We 3041]

Feb 7 it is then.

imgur

[Hugo Stiglitz 23245]

7 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

The case for obstruction of justice will be INSANE. So many tweets, so much witness tampering, so many crimes.

[retread 2951]

46 minutes ago, triplehorn said:

Or they escape by spiriting away in a private jet just before their followers wake up real confused and law enforcement bags them.

What are the extradition rules if the Trump entourage gets on Air Force One and goes to Moscow, never to return. Do we get the plane back?

[Chad Fuck 17259]

2 minutes ago, retread said:

What are the extradition rules if the Trump entourage gets on Air Force One and goes to Moscow, never to return. Do we get the plane back?

Unfuckinglikely.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_(AGER-2)

But maybe,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Belenko

[Born to Run 6186]

This.
I really don't understand what it will take for folks to understand that we're dealing with a cult.  Members of a cult don't respond to logic and facts.  They don't "ultimately act in their self interest."  They do shit like this:


 
Waiting on Trumpkins to begin acting in their rational self interest is a fool's errand.  They're going to guzzle the kool-aid, and they're going to do their damnedest to make everyone else drink up with them.

And they will cut in line to drink it.


I suppose we’ve always had a large population of uniformed idiots. I’m just not sure how they completely hijacked the entire country.

And the media is infuriating. Listening to the BBC try and parse reason from Trumps insanity is the worst. “What do you think Trump means by “Dumb Dems bad” or “does he mean a literal wall or is it just security measures”.
They keep legitimizing him. Go after his bullshit. For fuck sakes the shutdown happened before the Democrats took the house. Your average Joe needs help understanding that.

Trumps tactics work because they are so simple and stupid people need simple.

[triplehorn 2664]

Evidently this did happen to our ally, a senior Aussie intel officer:

 

 

[Biff Tannen 44921]

As far as Cohen testifying on Feb 7, does Mueller talk to him prior?  Cohen was under the purview of SDNY right? 

[Biff Tannen 44921]

12 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

As far as Cohen testifying on Feb 7, does Mueller talk to him prior?  Cohen was under the purview of SDNY right? 

Apparently the answer is yes.  Delete user, ban post.

[Nivek 16643]

any politician convicted of treason should have all assets seized and be publicly executed.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23245]

So Cohen can’t take the 5th, claim executive privilege, or lie. 

And he can talk about anything except things still in the Mueller investigation. 

Who asks about Hannity first? 

[Nivek 16643]

Heard on NPR this morning something like 70% of Americans have less than $400 in their account.

Does that include kids?

[Francisco 2.0 31568]

4 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

So Cohen can’t take the 5th, claim executive privilege, or lie. 

And he can talk about anything except things still in the Mueller investigation. 

Who asks about Hannity first? 

The great thing about Cohen coming to the hill is the cross examination questions Team R gets to ask.

They aren't going to fluff him because of the mean democrats, because that ship done sailed.  So what do they get to do with their time?  Call him names?  

[Hugo Stiglitz 23245]

4 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

They aren't going to fluff him because of the mean democrats, because that ship done sailed.  So what do they get to do with their time?  Call him names?  

They will paint him as a liar traitor criminal that can’t be trusted.

They are going to try to “fake news” him away.

It won’t work. 

Cohen was the RNC finance chairman a year ago.

Edited January 11, 2019 by Hugo Stiglitz

[Hornius Emeritus 12332]

5 hours ago, triplehorn said:

I said it a long time ago, and said it above on this page: indict complicit members of Congress and there's a good chance the whole slab breaks loose.  Throw in Trump brood, Stone et al, for measure.  It won't make a shit whether or not a sitting POTUS can be indicted by SCO.

 

They were all in love with dying
They were drinking from a fountain
That was pouring like an avalanche 
Coming down the mountain

 

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23245]

 

[Mole 4265]

5 hours ago, Jiggy-Z said:

I own my own business... Wife is self employed...

Herbalife and Scentsy?

[pyrohornIII 4743]

On 1/9/2019 at 2:23 PM, JimmyJames said:

Damn. Imagine being the father or mother of both Erik Prince AND Betsy DeVos. Unless you are a psychopath yourself it would be hard to get over being that complete of a failure as a parent. 

I gotta think psychopath.

7 hours ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

Heard on NPR this morning something like 70% of Americans have less than $400 in their account.

I wonder what the unsecured debt to asset ratio for that 70%.

5 hours ago, Captainant said:

It's not really poor financial planning to not have a deep emergency fund. It's that pay has been pretty much stagnant since the 70's and inflation has been chugging along happily. There's only so much you can do with a paycheck that simply doesn't go as far as it used to. But you go on ahead pulling yourself up the bootstraps.

Yes, and as wages stagnated then moms went to work, then when that wasn't enough, credit cards got popular. 

4 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Our financial system is focused on squeezing every last dollar out of the poor and middle-class.  Predatory doesn’t begin to describe the credit card companies, a lot of loans, etc.  

Add in healthcare too.  And most don't buy vehicles anymore, they lease them.  Meaning they have a nice ride, but it's never an asset for them. 

4 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

For those worried, Senate Republicans care most about winning their next reelection.  While there are plenty like Cruz who have sold their souls for Trump, there are plenty who just watched Trump personally campaign in states that ultimately flipped to the Ds.  States that will keep Trump out of the WH come January, 2021.  

When this thing blows wide open, the Democrats’ campaign ads will write themselves.   Trumpkins couldn’t be bothered enough to keep Obama out of the WH for 8 years, and enough will bail to make it a non-issue.  

And this is all before Trump’s tariffs and trade wars and government shutdown fuck a lot more people over.  

I think there are plenty like Cornyn who might be primaried if they don't kneel to the Trump cult.

 

[Bozo_Casanova 25503]

I am surprised, but guess I shouldn't be, at how many government employees are literally one missed paycheck away from financial ruin.  

Why would people who work for the Federal Government be in better shape financially than the general public?

[pyrohornIII 4743]

This is what I came to post, but I got caught up in catching up.    I came across this today and thought it was a pretty good article on trump thinking of using executive privilege to freeze everything in the Mueller investigation.  There has been talk here the past few days of the legal morass that is likely after Mueller releases his findings.  I have to think they will try this to at least stall it. 

https://www.wonkette.com/tick-tock-motherf-ckers

Quote

Tick Tock Motherf*ckers!

Five Dollar Feminist

January 10, 2019 03:04 PM

 

Strap in, kids, we're headed for some turbulence. After only 15 months of breathless predictions that Mueller might be wrapping his investigation any second now, it looks like shit may actually, for real, hit the fan in the next two months. Rod Rosenstein is inching toward the exit and is likely to nope right out once Mueller submits his homework. Rudy Giuliani has definitively announced that Trump is making BYE BYE to any cooperation he might have given to the NO COLLUSION inquiry. And last night the Washington Post reported that Trump's real lawyers are staffing up.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone recently hired 17 lawyers to prepare for the twin impacts of the Russia probe and a wave of inquiries by the newly empowered Democratic House. No word on whether the president's lawyers are getting paid during the shutdown.

Time for a lawsplainer!

Cast your mind back nine months to a warm spring day when we all shared a good laugh at Steve Bannon's insane rantings on "How To Dissolve Russia Investigation In An Acid-Filled Bathtub." Bannon was breaking out in hives because Trump's then-lawyers John Dowd and Ty Cobb had allowed quit-fired White House Counsel Don McGahn and the rest of the goon squad to run their mouths to Robert Mueller. So Ol' Gin Farts hatched A PLAN to claw back the eleventy million hours of testimony by retroactively invoking executive privilege, telling The Post:

"The president wasn't fully briefed by his lawyers on the implications" of not invoking executive privilege, Bannon told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday. "It was a strategic mistake to turn over everything without due process, and executive privilege should be exerted immediately and retroactively."

Yeah, it's a real dumb plan. But it's actually not far off what Trump's real lawyers wound up with. The new and improved version goes something like this:

1. Robert Mueller works for the Justice Department, which is part of the executive branch;
2. So whatever shit Priebus, McGahn, or Kush told Mueller was inside the executive bubble;
3. Ipso facto res ipsa loquitur Trump can now assert executive privilege to prevent that info being shared with Congress, which is outside the executive branch.

TA DAAAAA!

I like her style.  She's got a lot of good articles on her site. 

[pyrohornIII 4743]

Just now, Bozo_Casanova said:

Why would people who work for the Federal Government be in better shape financially than the general public?

If it is like state government, you work more for the benefits, the retirement than the paycheck anyway.

[JimmyJames 12267]

1 hour ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

They were all in love with dying
They were drinking from a fountain
That was pouring like an avalanche 
Coming down the mountain

 

 

I don't mind the sun sometimes the images it shows
I can taste you on my lips and smell you in my clothes
Cinnamon and sugary and softly spoken lies
You never know just how you look through other people's eyes