The GAO, Congress’s independent watchdog, reports that improper payments surged to $186 billion, with $153 billion of that coming from overpayments alone. This shows it was never about the money, only the data.

Day 503 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): I have never owned a car in the same decade it was made. My first adult car was actually the closest (just 5 years old - but still a different decade ;p), and we’ve gradually bought them older. I'm currently driving a 2013 vehicle - works fine for me!

BREAKING: Todd Blanche just used the $1.7B slush fund theft to END the IRS audit into trump’s tax returns. Outside lawyers WARNED that would be illegal.

Day 502 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): I’m using the spring growing season to root plants. Roses & herbs are generally quite easy, and I’m doing some more of those. But I’m also trying some harder things, like cuttings from my bay tree & viburnum. Rooting compound is quite helpful

Noting: the amount of money in the Weaponization Fund ($1.776B) would be more than needed to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (RIP), ie the source of all Fed govt funding for NPR/PBS etc, for three years.

I am once again begging, praying, weeping for lists of written instructions rather than videos. I do not want to watch your two minute video in the hope of catching the two seconds where you whizz past what goddamn menu the thing is under. Write. It. Down.

Probably should be a bigger deal that the Trump Administration used taxpayer dollars to host a Christian Nationalist event in the nation's capital, but, nah. www.washingtonpost.com/religion/202...

When a federal agency tasked with protecting all Americans decides to mandate a specific religious worldview, it ceases to protect democracy and begins to threaten it.

Watch and then offer to MAGA relatives

Your tax dollars paid for this free swag I got when I arrived at Trump's Prayer Jubilee on the National Mall

Your tax dollars paid for this event freedom250.org/celebration/...

Day 501 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): The only new item I really crave these days is a DVD player, because I don’t think there’s a trustworthy secondhand market for them. I can’t watch most of my movie collection unless I borrow one - medium hassle. But I CAN borrow, so I'm holding the line

Day 500 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): WOW! 500 days feels like a milestone in this project, tho it’s less than a ⅓ of what I’m expecting to spend. The economic pain is starting to be felt, tho that’s more from the war with Iran, not lack of consumer spending. But I’ll keep doing my bit.

Day 499 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): Our cats are big grifters & would like us to spend money on them. They tell whoever comes outside they have NOT been fed, even if that’s the person who fed them dinner 15 min. ago. They also CAN hunt & are hired as mousers. Have to draw a firm line!

Day 498 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): It’s 38 degrees F outside. I could save money by scavenging for usable firewood, chopping kindling, & building a fire. But I am under the weather & don’t want to go out in the cold & work. Turned on the oil-filled radiator. Penny wise, pound foolish?

Day 497 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): The 3 people who follow me may see I was AWOL for almost a week (hyper busy at work & fending off a cold). The frugal side benefit of being overworked/sick/extra tired is that I don’t want to go into a store, so can’t be tempted, & have to use stuff up

Day 496 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): I never throw out bread unless it’s actively moldy (a spot or two is no issue - pull it off). Dry bread is great for French toast, croutons, crumbs, bread pudding, strata, etc. And it freezes until you want it. www.aspicyperspective.com/fluffy-strat...

Day 495 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): I have some face cream that doesn’t even expire until August, but the oil is starting to separate a little from the rest. I’ve decided that’s not an issue, so I’m still using it - I just have to blend it a bit in my hand before applying. Use it up!

Day 494 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): I love oysters, but their price is usually prohibitive. Tuesday is the arrival of fresh seafood at my local store, and I found some ½ price and still 6 days the expiration date, just because the new batch was in from the coast! Oyster stew incoming!

It’s weird that Helen of Troy being played by a black actress is a problem, but most of the rest of the Mediterranean, Greek and Turkish characters being played by incredibly fair and blond haired people of British, Irish and Scandinavian descent isn’t. And by weird, I mean entirely predictable.

Please. Please look. Please share. Lizzie and her person have been dear friends to all of us in the #AnimalCaucus and it breaks me that I’m too far away to help. Lizzie is a great dog. Please, if you are able to foster her, let us know. Her person is not well and just wants Lizzie loved and safe.

The thing about Patel — and everyone in this admin — is that they do the *absolute worst fucking thing possible* IN EVERY SCENARIO. Like, “Patel went to Hawaii and then did a luxury snorkel trip” -somewhere- would he corrupt, but expected. Why, of all places, at a sacred site?? That takes effort

NYT confirms — with new details: Last year, Navy SEALs used two boats to escort Kash Patel and nine others on what a Pentagon email called a 'VIP Snorkel' next to one of the military's most sacred sites, the underwater tomb of the U.S.S. Arizona. One Navy vet called the swim "horrifying."

This is amazing - @kevinolearytv 🤡 is fearmongering about Chinese agents opposing his giant Utah data center… but it’s 2 young local girls in Utah who hilariously call him (and his “dumbass hat”) out👇🏽 Full: www.instagram.com/reel/DYU074V...

I love and respect this scientist. Carl Sagan answers a question about creation vs evolution.

Which is worse… A) Trump whipping up a mob to attack the Capitol on Jan 6? B) Trump pardoning ALL the Insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol (and attacked police) on Jan 6? C) Trump creating a $1.5 Billion TAXPAYER fund to reward his Jan 6th supporters? WTF?!?! 🤬 abcnews.com/amp/US/trump...

How Trump Perfected The Grift: Selling Out America to Tyrants and Broligarchs Trump & his billionaire friends aren't even hiding the grift anymore. They are openly making illegal deals, engaging in insider trading, and profiting from war and chaos thelefthook.substack.com/p/how-trump-...

There it is: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation, I don't think about anybody, I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon." He doesn't care about anyone's economic pain.

ProPublica obtained 3,000 pages of emails sent last year by executives asking that their facilities be exempted from Clean Air Act requirements. The White House approved more than 180 requests and is considering more.

New — I spoke to parents whose kids are former patients of NYU Langone's trans youth health care program about the Texas criminal subpoena for their private health records. "I was furious. I was in disbelief. I was scared for my child's well-being." Read my full report:

🔥

Add to this all the utility companies that fight to keep us from going green because it's less profitable for them.

Roughly 40 insurrectionists have been rearrested, charged, or sentenced for crimes that have nothing to with their actions on January 6. Trump's choice to pardon them has real public safety risks.

The Trump Administration is using nearly $2 billion of your tax dollars to pay foreign companies to walk away from energy projects that would have lowered your electricity bills and powered millions of homes.

So not only did TN Republicans strip Memphis of representation, Speaker Sexton is also stripping Dems of committees for protesting it. Watch fascism work. www.wsmv.com/2026/05/12/m...

Trump one month before the 2024 election: “Think of it - within one year you’re gonna have electric bills and energy bills and gasoline for your cars is going to be 50% cheaper than it is right now. That’s a big thing.”

Inflation is rising, the highest in three years, and Trump and the GOP made it happen. Fuel Oil: +54.3% Gasoline: +28.4% Electricity: +6.1% Transportation: +4.3% Apparel: +4.2% They don’t care about you, they’re the rich looking after the rich.

Almost all of the military items that JD Vance in 2024 argued the United States would have to provide (or not provide) to Ukraine turned out to be largely irrelevant. And not because Ukraine is losing. @brynntannehill.bsky.social on Putin's brutal math:

Another dental visit, huh? It’s just getting comical at this point. They can’t even keep the lies straight.

Californians! Social media is full of the idea that waiting until the last minute to vote in California's election is strategic. But not if you're voting by mail. Attorney General Rob Bonta warns voters to mail ballots at least a week ahead of the June 2 election.

Trying to find a single example of MAGA screeching about the Logan Act when Biden was in office and Trump was in Israel, taking to Putin on the phone, or hosting dictators at Mar a Lago. Can’t seem to find one. Weird.

A lot has happened, but not much has changed.

Day 493 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): It's the time of year to start your own fresh herbs from cuttings. Most herbs can be grown from cuttings (of the green, not woody stem) using “Rootone” or “Take Root” as an aid. I’ve even rooted grocery-store fresh herbs! Mint esp. roots easily.

Day 492 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): we buy plain washing soda (sodium carbonate NA2CO3) in a big 5 gallon tub and use it as our dishwasher detergent. It’s WAY cheaper that way, even paying shipping. I like that there’s no scent, and it works just FINE! (and we have hard water)

Day 491 of Buy Nothing (from the broligarchs): Ugg! I did end up buying from a broligarch: shopping at Whole Foods (Amazon owned - which I forgot). I was questing for grass-fed cow milk, and they did have it (and cheape) but not any kind better than my local health food. I will avoid WF in future!

I think liberals also enable rightwingers without meaning to. We accept the premise of the allegation as valid before we debunk it with facts. In doing that we attribute good faith to their allegations. We assume they want fair and equal hearing. No, they want an UNEQUAL society. We should say so.

1/ Tear gas was created to incapacitate grown men. So when I started seeing reports of kids hurt by tear gas deployed by federal immigration agents, I wondered how often it was happening. My colleagues and I started to count: