Showing posts with label Money plays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money plays. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

FOUR C’s — Careless, Corrupt, Chaotic, Callous (and an “I” for Incompetent) — are US

(Are we? —Toys R’ Us might disagree)



Inmates at Helm
Misters M and T (& Co), and A Streak that Crosses Aisles



MUSK Contributions to Donald Trump


Musk Personal contribution

$130 million+

 

 

Musk “America PAC”

$200 million+




US Government Contributions to Musk



$21 billion

Promised or Awarded

Since 2008 (still flowing-Feb 2025)

$76.7 million

Promised

Since 47th’s Inauguration

 

 

 


WHAT FOR


National Aeronautics and Space Administration: “Flying NASA to the moon” US government-exorbitantly funds, via “federal contracts,” Elon Musk’s “private space company… ‘SpaceX.’”


Since the start of recordkeeping in this area, money promised to SpaceX


PROMISED in US government contracts, research grants, and other forms of public assistance

$20.7 billion

 

 

NASA (contracts with) in above promised

$14.6 billion

 

 

PROJECTED (if NASA exercises all options in every contract

$56.4 billion

 

 

US government Paid out to date

 

$8.7 billion

 

 

US Government in Debt to Musk

US Government in Debt to Musk

 

 

US Department of Defense (promised) contracts with Musk’s SpaceX

 

$5.6 billion

Up to max future payout $32.8 billion

 

 

US Department of State subsidiary US Agency for International Development (USAID) PROMISED TO Musk’s SpaceX subsidiary Starlink

 

(circa) $2.3 million

 

 

US Department of Commerce owed to Musk’s SpaceX

$1.4 million

 

 

US Department of Veterans Affairs owed to Musk’s SpaceX

$578,875




Money to Tesla Electric Vehicle Company Run by Musk



US Government boost of Tesla income via tax credits to Tesla-buying customers

$3.4 billion

 

 

US Department of Energy low-interest loan to Tesla for help developing new electric vehicles

$465 million

 

 

US government contract with Tesla for “‘armored electric vehicles’” (under current scrutiny)

 

$400 million

 

 

 

US government purchases solar and vehicles

$4.5 million

 

 

 

 

(Federal data analyzed by The Independent)
Independent UK: “Here’s how many billions Elon Musk’s companies are making from U.S. taxpayers: While their boss takes a sledgehammer to federal agencies, SpaceX and Tesla are earning big money from government contracts,” writes Io Dodds February 23, 2025, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/musk-government-contracts-spacex-tesla-taxes-b2703141.html


US Government Spending in Top 50 Recipients
Source USA Spending FY 2008 through FY 2025 – Five area Recipients
*(Akb = Also Known By)


$30.2 Billion

 

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP akb* 22 other names

 

Five US Gov Awarding Agencies

Department of Defense

National Aeronautics and Space Administration  Department of Homeland Security

Department of Transportation

Department of Justice

 

 

 

$21.9 Billion

 

ROCKWELL COLLINS AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED

Akb 52 other names

 

 

Five US Gov Awarding Agencies

Department of Defense

National Aeronautics and Space Administration  Department of Homeland Security

Department of Transportation

General Services Administration

$20.1 Billion

 

THE BOEING COMPANY

Akb 23 other names

 

 

Five US Gov Awarding Agencies

Department of Defense

National Aeronautics and Space Administration  Department of Homeland Security

General Services Administration

Department of Energy

 

$10.2 Billion

 

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION

Akb 3 other names

 

Three US Gov Awarding Agencies

Department of Defense

National Aeronautics and Space Administration  Department of Homeland Security

 

$9.3 Billion

 

LEIDOS HOLDINGS, INC.

Akb 45 other names

 

Five US Gov Awarding Agencies

Department of Defense  Department of Veterans Affairs

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Transportation

Department of Energy

 

USA Spending dot Gov “Recipient Profiles.” https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient



“Which Inmate Is Running the Asylum?” 
Electoral Vote https://www.electoral-vote.com/



Trump, “Musk and his Band of Bros”


“With Trump, way back in 2016 (campaign) or 2017 (commencement of his administration), we kept looking for the underlying plan, the logic, the chess moves. And it turns out those things weren't there.

“We are not inclined to make that mistake again with Musk. It is possible he is brilliant in other domains, but in this domain, he's lost.”


An Infamous, Callous 5 Bullet Electronic Missive

People “who work for the federal government, either as regular employees or as contractors, are, by and large, loyal and hardworking public servants who—in many cases—left money on the table by agreeing to work in the public sector. They have families (and) mortgages…. They have lives. They are human beings.

“To make them jump through stupid, insulting hoops—like they are trained seals begging for a treat—is just reprehensible.”

The infamous electronic mail arrives and “quite a few high-ranking Trumpers (tell) their underlings to ignore (it).” Among the Trump-appointed high-rankers casting doubt on or putting a spanner in the bulleted missive are “FBI Director Kash Patel and DNI Tulsi Gabbard.”

The careless, callous creature then appeals to his would-be master (?) who then posts an apparent ‘I’m with you- keep pitching’ message via “his very sad little social media platform.” And the callous bulleted missive returns threatening immediate termination of service of those failing to respond to said missive. The sitting president’s I’m with you- keep pitching, my boy, apparently turned to comme ci, comme ça or you’re on your own, partner.
His second attempt at support reportedly said something to the effect that “employees who did not follow Musk's orders would be ‘fired’ or … ‘semi-fired,’” leaving muddied the meaning of “’semi-fired.’” And post Trump the OPM messaged a declaration that employee responses to the South African’s “demands (were) optional”; and not responding “would not lead to termination.”
The consensus of opinion in some sectors, this writer observes, is that there is not only callousness and carelessness; but there is incompetence (and therefore weakness) all round.
Some “Trumpers have concluded that Musk is incompetent or … a threat, or both.” Moreover, the writer continues, the sitting US president has a habit of attracting and hiring incompetents” — as “he is himself an incompetent manager”— and questionable online content makers. The author cites the current appointment to deputy FBI director, a man whose salient qualifications are apparently “far-right, extremely whack-a-doodle, Trump-cultist podcast[ing]” heard to declare that “his mission is to ‘own the libs’ because they are ‘pure unadulterated evil.’”

The management incompetence and questionable judgment of the sitting president was evidenced in “his first term” which was “marked by all kinds of turf wars … among … underlings, usually ending in someone being (pushed out)”: vast turnover of employees and general destabilization or chaos. In his second term, “the turf wars” are seen to start “much earlier and are developing much quicker.”

Four is a long pull of years for a US President. And what happens from here to there is anybody’s guess. What is known, the writer concludes, is that the sitting president seems to be intimidated by the South African; and a general manifestation of the former’s character and behavior is spinelessness. “… Even as Musk steps on every toe in Washington, Trump doesn't have the courage to rein him in. … Will The Donald (eventually summon the courage to) impose some discipline on Musk? And, if so, will it actually come from the President, or will he send someone like Stephen Miller to do it?”


Stephen Miller, an influencer and hanger-on around media and federal government with seemingly questionable or extremist views has been in recent years a White House Director of Speechwriting (January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021) and, serving with Jared Kushner, a Senior Advisor to the President (January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021). His current double roles are United States Homeland Security Advisor and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy (both since January 20, 2025).


“That's where things stood as of 2:00 a.m. PT on Tuesday. Who knows what the situation will be by, say, 2:00 p.m. PT on Tuesday?” Source: Electoral Vote “Which Inmate Is Running the Asylum?” https://www.electoral-vote.com/



Money Plays?
Quid Pro Quo?
Revolving Door
Inmates Running the Asylum 

Run amok

The Face of US Politics
Corruption, Chaos, Carelessness, Callousness, Calculated Incompetence


There is a critical difference between the Forty-sixth and the Forty-seventh US President. And mind you, I am not one who falls in love with or holds membership in a fan club for politicians of any stripe. So, bear that in mind. 

The Forty-sixth had long overstayed his time in office. And, clearly, he was suffering a serious mental impairment. Yet, foolishly, his political party exploited this in order to manage him. Impairment (any kind of incompetence) weakens a person, leaving them terribly vulnerable. Perhaps, also, he was corrupt, criminally abusive of public office. Criminality and unethical behavior should be checked and reprimand, chastised or otherwise subjected to the rule of law—not matter who is involved. But I believe, also, that the forty-sixth was knowledgeable of public service and knew or should have known the proper role and functioning of government (the US Government). He knew what government was supposed to do. His long years (in two branches of government) would have taught him, firsthand, the difference and necessary distinction between public service and private enterprise.

The Forty-seventh is totally ignorant of that critical distinction and difference. In my view, he is uncaring of that difference and distinction and has no interest learning, let alone or honoring it. In his ignorance (ignorance also impairs, weakens, leaves vulnerable), he is also arrogantly disrespectful of government and of public servants. The forty-seventh is a private enterprise man, a buyer and seller of stuff, a wheeler-dealer. A merchant centered on self: on getting more than giving. He hasn’t a clue and cares less about Government of by and for the People.

Government, US Government, was not created to buy and sell stuff; nor was it (or its employees or leaders) meant to be bought and sold (or to preach a religion)—the essence and meaning of corruption, breakdown, destruction of all that is of (We the People American cultural) value.

Government, US Government, was not intended to serve or pander to special interests (and if it was, the system was also a work in progress toward building a more and more perfect Union). Government should be a vital servant of ALL the people—having the whole society in mind, clearly cognizant of (and emotionally embracing) the principle that the health of the whole society (society as a whole) and government (up and down the spectrum) is dependent on the health and wellbeing of all the country’s people.




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PROLIFIC SOUTHERN-BORN AMERICAN WRITER DR. CAROLYN LADELLE BENNETT focuses on People, Press, Politics USA; Domestic and Foreign Affairs (no copyright claimed in direct quotes and individual image)
Latest book: Are There No Champions? Yes and No
Links: https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett
https://insightbeyondtodaysnews.blogspot.com/
(live limited) https://www.bennettsareherenochampions.com/
https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/859250-are-there-no-champions-yes-and-no
https://www.xlibris.com
Email: Nolandanisland@hotmail.com or Authorswork@gmail.com

Sunday, November 24, 2024

Wrestling Toughs poised to Take Over America on the Potomac—Old Cronies Approach a Final Curtain


Donald John and Linda Marie
Some Forty-Plus Years


Linda Marie Edwards-McMahon was born in New Bern, North Carolina (100 miles from Raleigh). Twenty-one years later she moved to a suburb of the Washington (DC) Metropolitan Area: Gaithersburg, Maryland. After fourteen years, she moved to a New England town (18 miles from New York City, birthplace of Donald John Trump): Greenwich, Connecticut. 

Linda Marie has called herself “a jock” (in a Detroit Press interview) with a baccalaureate degree in the French language, though sometimes she claims otherwise. She reportedly has made “occasional on-screen performances, most notably in a feud with her husband that culminated at WrestleMania X-Seven.”

Toughs: Wrestlers, Wrestler Owners, Entertainers, Promoters


A 1968-1971 “traveling cup salesman” (Linda Marie’s husband) becomes part of his papa’s enterprise called “the World Wide Wrestling Federation” (WWWF, now WWE). He purchases “Capitol Wrestling (parent company of the World Wrestling Federation) from his papa and pushes toughs onto national television.

1982 – 2009: Linda Marie joins husband in running WWE (then WWF) and pushes the “growth and diversification” of toughs.

Toughs Unite
Trump and the McMahons - Late 1980s – present day


A McMahon-Donald John Trump relationship (including with professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment) reportedly extends to the late 1980s.

2007: Donald John “participated in the ‘Battle of the Billionaires’ [Net worth of Linda Marie 2024 estimated at $1.6 billion, her wealth derived from “WWE shares,” “real estate investments,” “ventures in politics.”] storyline feud against (Linda Marie’s husband) Vince McMahon.

EXPLAINER of a strange expression feud

Feud “in professional wrestling… is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or groups of wrestlers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feud_(professional_wrestling

A site called The Arena notes that “in the wild world of professional wrestling, the action is usually contained in the ring, or at least in the arena, if a match is contested under hardcore rules. But more often than not, a match—or an ongoing feud—can go beyond even the confines of the arena. … There have been many occasions in WWE … where rivalries have intensified to the point where nothing and no one is safe, not even in their own home.” D.C. Wood The Arena July 2, 2024, https://www.thesportster.com/wrestling-storylines-outside-arena-pillman-gun-austin-triple-h-orton-home/

2009: Donald John “participated in a storyline in which he (Trump) bought WWE Raw from Vince McMahon then … sold it back shortly after.”


OpenSecrets Center for Responsive Politics reporting on the Union of Toughs 

Money Plays 
Round and Round and Round it Goes

1990 through 2010s (Mr. and Mrs. McMahon) “made more than $15.1 million in political contributions”
  • 2007 (or shortly thereafter): Mr. and Mrs. Mahon “donated $5 million to the Donald J. Trump Foundation” in addition to paying him for his 2007 “appearance at WrestleMania 23”
  • 2010 and 2012: Mrs. “McMahon ran for Senate in Connecticut…, self-funding both efforts to the tune of $50.1 million” and “$48.7 million,” respectively. “McMahon lost both races by a significant margin.” “Linda McMahon America First Action Chair” https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving-door/linda-mcmahon/summary?id=81848
  • 2016: Donald John Trump’s campaign for the US presidency: Mrs. McMahon “contributed a total of $7.2 million to two pro-Trump super PACs, ‘Rebuilding America Now’ and ‘Future45’” OpenSecrets “Linda McMahon America First Action Chair,” https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving-door/linda-mcmahon/summary?id=81848
  • 2016: Mrs. McMahon “donated $6 million to ‘Rebuilding America Now,’ a Super PAC with the purpose of electing Donald Trump as US president”
  • “2015 and 2016 combined (donated) $1.2 million to ‘Future 45,’ a Super PAC which funded anti-Bernie Sanders advertisements”
  • 2016 (December 7) then-President-elect Donald Trump announced he would nominate (Mrs.) McMahon “to be the administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA)” (Full Senate approved the nomination February 14, 2017)
  • 2019 (March 29, effective April 12): Mrs. “McMahon announced her resignation as administrator of the SBA to chair America First Action, a pro-Trump Super PAC”


Dodgy Duo



2010 reporting “In a 1994 lawsuit, U.S. v. Vincent McMahon and Titan Sports, the government alleged the McMahons (Mr. and Mrs. McMahon) tried to defraud the Food and Drug Administration’s attempts to regulate steroids by, among other things, having Dr. George Zahorian distribute the drugs to wrestlers. Zahorian, who was convicted in 1991 of illegal steroid distribution, was a regular at Titan Sports events. A December 1, 1989, memo from Linda McMahon, however, suggested that he be kept from ringside and directed one of her staff to ‘clue him in on any action that the Justice Department is thinking of taking.’”
“… In an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Linda McMahon said she wasn’t sure whether steroids are dangerous.” Register Citizen by Ed Stannard, Reporter June 20, 2010, “Steroid stain lingers on McMahon’s WWE: U.S. Senate candidate may take hit over drug controversy,” https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Steroid-stain-lingers-on-McMahon-s-WWE-U-S-12093498.php
2007: The US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform “submitted a three-page letter asking WWE owner Vince McMahon to provide ‘a series of documents intended to give the committee and its investigation a detailed look at WWE’s drug-testing policy, including information about the results of performance-enhancing drug tests on pro wrestlers.’” (“Congress Seeks WWE Records” July 28, 2007, by Mike Mooneyham https://mikemooneyham.com/2007/07/28/congress-seeks-wwe-records/)

2009: The Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Henry Waxman, revealed “In the first year of WWE’s testing program, which began in March 2006, 40 percent of wrestlers tested positive for steroids and other drugs—even after being warned in advance that they were going to be tested.” Wrestling Figs January 3, 20009 “Congress Needles Wrestling” by Christian Red https://wrestlingfigs.com/wrestlingnews/congress-needles-wrestling/

2009 post-but-not-quite-post WWE, Mrs. McMahon takes a seat on Connecticut’s Board of Education. Later, sources found out it that Mrs. M had falsified her credentials on the vetting questionnaire, saying she had received an East Carolina University degree in Education when her only and academic credential was in French. (reported in Harford Courant 2010) Not unlike a certain Mr. Gaetz, she resigned her board position “a day after The Courant indicated it would be writing about her questionnaire answers.”

2010 Mrs. McMahon runs for a Senate seat and news sources report “WWE is a success story that Linda McMahon hopes will propel her to the U.S. Senate.” She has spent “$16 million of her own money on her campaign so far, with plans to spend much more.” But while she “holds up the WWE’s wellness policy as top of the line, there was a 10-year period when the WWE had no broad-based drug-testing policy, even though several wrestlers who had been linked to anabolic steroids and other drugs died during that time.” Register Citizen by Ed Stannard, Reporter June 20, 2010, “Steroid stain lingers on McMahon’s WWE: U.S. Senate candidate may take hit over drug controversy,” https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Steroid-stain-lingers-on-McMahon-s-WWE-U-S-12093498.php


October 2024: Mrs. McMahon “was named as a defendant in a lawsuit, accusing her, her husband, and WWE of negligence (relative to) the ‘ring boys’ scandal, in which multiple WWE personnel, including (named) ring announcer … and (named) wrestlers …, either resigned or were dismissed in 1992 after being accused of sexually assaulting young boys

One of the named culprits “had already been dismissed in 1988 for sexual misconduct, but had been rehired several weeks afterwards under the condition that he ‘stop chasing after kids’

(Mrs) “McMahon’s possible involvement in the ‘ring boys’ scandal was known prior to her tenure as (Forty-fifth US President Donald John Trump’s US Senate-confirmed) 2017 “Small Business Administrator.”
Moreover, the lawsuit “alleged that (Mr. and Mrs. McMahon) fostered a culture of sexual abuse within the WWE” (World Wide Wrestling Federation); and cited a “concurrent sex trafficking lawsuit and federal investigation against (Linda Marie’s husband) and other allegations highlighted (in a highly publicized) documentary series.

Nevertheless
the 2024 President-elect announced his nomination of Mrs. McMahon to head the US Federal Department of, yes, “EDUCATION.”

“Billionaire co-owner of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and a longtime crony and political backer” Linda McMahon gets the nod from 2024 US President-elect billionaire Donald Trump to be his choice to head the US Department of Education.
Associated Press Politics November 19, 2024, Chris Megerian “What to know about Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for Education secretary”—WASHINGTON (AP) — “Linda McMahon has been a constant presence in Donald Trump’s tumultuous orbit, serving in his first administration and supporting his presidential campaigns. Now he’s chosen her to serve as Education secretary.” https://apnews.com/article/linda-mcmahon-trump-education-secretary-wwe-613016d0c164b89765af761404cbb123

NBC news “Vince McMahon and WWE accused of allowing ‘rampant’ sexual exploitation of young boys by announcer in new lawsuit…” “‘Defendants were fully aware of the systemic and pervasive abuse and did nothing to prevent or stop it,’ the law firm representing the claimants said.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/vince-mcmahon-wwe-accused-allowing-rampant-sexual-exploitation-young-b-rcna176988


What can I or Anyone say?


This is America! You, too, can grow up to be corrupt AND King of the Hill.

One writer put it rather crudely, painfully so. 
“To say that (Mrs.) McMahon has no qualifications to head the Department of Education is an understatement.

“Her background in professional wrestling—from which she and her husband Vince made their fortune—identifies her as a promoter of cultural backwardness, a carnival barker and con artist rather than an educator.

“In that, of course, McMahon and Trump are birds of a feather.” 

Patrick Martin November 21, 2024 “Trump’s cabinet of social counterrevolution” https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/11/21/mcbj-n21.html




Other sources

[The Vince McMahon sex trafficking scandal is an ongoing scandal regarding professional wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, long-time owner of WWE, and allegations by a former WWE employee that McMahon sexually trafficked and assaulted her at WWE's corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_McMahon_sex_trafficking_scandal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_career_of_Donald_Trump
https://www.thesportster.com/wrestling-storylines-outside-arena-pillman-gun-austin-triple-h-orton-home/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WrestleMania_X-Seven
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_career_of_Donald_Trump
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_McMahon
https://knowinsiders.com/who-is-linda-mcmahon-early-life-family-career-and-net-worth-41378.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_McMahon_sex_trafficking_scandal
https://mikemooneyham.com/2007/07/28/congress-seeks-wwe-records/
https://wrestlingfigs.com/wrestlingnews/congress-needles-wrestling/

House Hearing, 110 Congress from the U.S. Government Publishing Office
Drugs In Sports: Compromising the Health of Athletes and Undermining the Integrity of Competition
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-110hhrg49522/html/CHRG-110hhrg49522.htm
https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Steroid-stain-lingers-on-McMahon-s-WWE-U-S-12093498.php





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PROLIFIC SOUTHERN-BORN AMERICAN WRITER DR. CAROLYN LADELLE BENNETT focuses on People, Press, Politics USA; Domestic and Foreign Affairs (no copyright claimed in direct quotes and individual image)
Latest book: Are There No Champions? Yes and No
Links: https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett
https://insightbeyondtodaysnews.blogspot.com/
(live limited) https://www.bennettsareherenochampions.com/
https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/859250-are-there-no-champions-yes-and-no
https://www.xlibris.com
Email: Nolandanisland@hotmail.com or Authorswork@gmail.com

Long Way from Madison—Time to Rethink, Revise

Qualifications Standards Enforcement  Prerequisites for Public Office We are a long way—carelessly and arrogantly distanced— from Madison, ...