More than Maryland. Plus SC is a right-to-work state.
Trump Administration
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It happens. Not very often, but still. I missed my chance last week to point out another historic Trump win. But yesterday, the Times unintentionally helped me out. The Gray Lady ran a pointless outrage story headlined, “Trump’s New Position on the War in Ukraine: Not My Problem.”
The sub-headline snarkily added, “In a reversal, President Trump appears to have backed off joining a European push for new sanctions on Russia, seemingly eager to move on to doing business deals with it.” Haha, a reversal. Trump never said he’d join the sanctions.
“After a phone call on Monday between Mr. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia,” deep-state diva and Times reporter David Sanger wrote, “Trump appears to simply be walking away from the frustrating negotiations for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.”
The article reported that, right after Trump spoke to President Putin, he dialed Zelensky and “other European leaders,” who were undoubtedly waiting anxiously by the phone for news. Trump told them, “Russia and Ukraine would have to find a solution to the war themselves.” He also said that the U.S. would not join the new financial sanctions that the Europeans have been cooking up.
Instead, in a post on Truth Social following the calls, Trump said, “Russia wants to do large-scale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree.”
“The subtext of Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Zelensky and the Europeans,” Sanger continued in the story, “is that the era of American expenditures of diplomatic energy, new arms for Ukraine, and economic sanctions against Russia is rapidly coming to an end.” Finally.
What the Times didn’t say, and what I’d missed, was that when Trump brokered historical peace talks between Moscow and Kiev last week, he accomplished more than just forcing the two sides to start negotiating together for the first time. Maybe even more significant was the fact that, also for the first time, Trump got the U.S. out of the middle.
Ever since he won the election, even before he took office, Democrats have been gloating that Trump “inherited” Biden’s Proxy War. They think that, if Ukraine falls, it will be Trump’s fault. Since then, neocons have watched his every Proxy War move like cocaine-fueld hawks, constantly chirping about how they could have done it better.
But Trump seems to have accomplished the impossible, and pulled a Br’er Rabbit, somehow oiling his way out of a Proxy War tar baby.
Last, but not least, the media feigns cluelessness, but of course Trump doesn’t want to pile more sanctions on Russia. All the ordinary sanctions are already maxed out. Which is why the Europeans’ new sanctions package doesn’t sanction Russia— it sanctions other countries that do business with Russia.
But Trump is right in the middle of trying to negotiate new tariff deals with all those other countries. So, why on Earth would he want to add a whole new layer of hopelessly complicated sanctions on half the nations he’s negotiating good trade deals with?
A child could understand that, but Mr. Sanger and his co-reporters completely missed the nuance. Oh well, that’s why we have Substack.
www.coffeeandcovid.com
The sub-headline snarkily added, “In a reversal, President Trump appears to have backed off joining a European push for new sanctions on Russia, seemingly eager to move on to doing business deals with it.” Haha, a reversal. Trump never said he’d join the sanctions.
“After a phone call on Monday between Mr. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia,” deep-state diva and Times reporter David Sanger wrote, “Trump appears to simply be walking away from the frustrating negotiations for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.”
The article reported that, right after Trump spoke to President Putin, he dialed Zelensky and “other European leaders,” who were undoubtedly waiting anxiously by the phone for news. Trump told them, “Russia and Ukraine would have to find a solution to the war themselves.” He also said that the U.S. would not join the new financial sanctions that the Europeans have been cooking up.
Instead, in a post on Truth Social following the calls, Trump said, “Russia wants to do large-scale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree.”
“The subtext of Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Zelensky and the Europeans,” Sanger continued in the story, “is that the era of American expenditures of diplomatic energy, new arms for Ukraine, and economic sanctions against Russia is rapidly coming to an end.” Finally.
What the Times didn’t say, and what I’d missed, was that when Trump brokered historical peace talks between Moscow and Kiev last week, he accomplished more than just forcing the two sides to start negotiating together for the first time. Maybe even more significant was the fact that, also for the first time, Trump got the U.S. out of the middle.
Ever since he won the election, even before he took office, Democrats have been gloating that Trump “inherited” Biden’s Proxy War. They think that, if Ukraine falls, it will be Trump’s fault. Since then, neocons have watched his every Proxy War move like cocaine-fueld hawks, constantly chirping about how they could have done it better.
But Trump seems to have accomplished the impossible, and pulled a Br’er Rabbit, somehow oiling his way out of a Proxy War tar baby.
Last, but not least, the media feigns cluelessness, but of course Trump doesn’t want to pile more sanctions on Russia. All the ordinary sanctions are already maxed out. Which is why the Europeans’ new sanctions package doesn’t sanction Russia— it sanctions other countries that do business with Russia.
But Trump is right in the middle of trying to negotiate new tariff deals with all those other countries. So, why on Earth would he want to add a whole new layer of hopelessly complicated sanctions on half the nations he’s negotiating good trade deals with?
A child could understand that, but Mr. Sanger and his co-reporters completely missed the nuance. Oh well, that’s why we have Substack.
☕️ BLIND JUSTICE ☙ Wednesday, May 21, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠
Miraculous PREP Act win in court; media spins Biden’s “undiagnosed” terminal cancer, skeptics persist; 5th Circuit judge roasts SCOTUS; Trump exits Proxy War—neocons howl; 2025 absurdities; more.
www.coffeeandcovid.com
Meanwhile, the culture wars continue apace. Yesterday, President Trump escalated his war with Harvard. The New York Times reported the encouraging story below the headline, “Shock at Harvard After Government Says International Students Must Go.”
Overseas students make up about a third of Harvard’s student body. According to the Times, about 80% of them pay full tuition, a much higher rate than American students. So.
Yesterday, in a curt, 2-page stinker of a letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem notified Harvard that its privilege to enroll international students will soon be revoked. Thank you for your attention to this matter. The Times quoted any number of disgruntled foreign students, offended Harvard officials, and loquacious experts, who all wailed about the unfairness of the move since Harvard is no longer an American university but is now a global institution that rightly belongs to the entire world.
The move appears to have come after Harvard sued the Administration on First Amendment grounds, arguing that Trump is unconstitutionally trying to silence their outspoken advocacy for wokeness and DEI, and to force them to agree that universities should be race-neutral. Legally speaking, Trump is on firm ground with this latest revocation of foreign admissions, since he can argue national security — an area firmly within Executive Branch control that courts almost always stay out of.
Almost always. We shall see.
☕️ BLACK BOXES ☙ Friday, May 23, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠
Even more astonishing AI new; Trump launches a nuclear reboot; Harvard war escalates; tariffs slam world's richest company; and today’s AI shocker has a few surprising silver linings tucked inside.
www.coffeeandcovid.com
What to Know About Trump’s Battle With Watchdog Agency Over Federal Spending
Impoundment Use
In legal terms, impoundment refers to a situation in which the president declines to spend money appropriated by Congress.It has been used often by presidents throughout history, beginning with President Thomas Jefferson.
In that instance, Congress called for the construction of 15 new gunboats at a cost of $50,000. Jefferson decided against it. In October 1803, in his third annual address, he informed Congress that the boats remained unconstructed and the money unspent.
The legislation had “authorized and empowered” Jefferson to build “a number not exceeding fifteen gunboats.”
Devin Watkins, attorney at the right-leaning Competitive Enterprise Institute think tank, wrote that this was entirely within Jefferson’s power, as Congress had not explicitly required him to spend the money or build the boats.
Supporters of presidential impoundment point to the unilateral decision as the basis for the practice in U.S. law.
However, in Kendall v. U.S. ex Rel. Stokes, the Supreme Court ruled that there were limits to the doctrine. The president could not unilaterally refuse to delegate funding when Congress’s intention was clear, the court found.
The issue has been barely litigated since then—meaning that many of the questions involved still have not been defined by the courts. Those questions primarily have to do with the separation of powers.
Trump is dramatically slimming the NSC and staffing it with people who share his vision
By Andrea WidburgLast week, Donald Trump and Secretary of State (and acting National Security Advisor) Marco Rubio made some drastic cuts to the National Security Council (“NSC”). Naturally, the leftists are outraged—how dare he fire the people Democrats and the Deep State put in place?—but this is exactly what presidents have long done, and that they have a complete right to do.
The NSC was created via the National Security Act of 1947. The Act’s purpose was to enhance America’s defenses by eliminating the silos that had hindered the efficient exchange of information between different branches of the military and the government during World War II.
As originally constituted, the NSC consisted of the President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the Chairman of the National Security Resources Board (“NSRB”). The Act also allowed (and still allows) the president to designate other officials to attend NSC meetings. The Act has been amended several times since then.
Basically, it involved a scheme where he allegedly did various official acts in exchange for people promising to donate to his campaign. Most prominently he appointed many of these donors as ‘auxiliary deputy sheriffs.’ And this, allegedly, gave them real power, and without giving them real training, which gets into another set of charges where allegedly he engaged in honest services fraud in relation to a federal program.
But was he treated fairly? Was he actually guilty? Bluntly, we don’t pretend to know. So, we searched around for people who defended him before the pardon. We found two websites making the argument, but the first is the most interesting, coming from Law Enforcement Today:
Meanwhile, the culture wars continue apace. Yesterday, President Trump escalated his war with Harvard. The New York Times reported the encouraging story below the headline, “Shock at Harvard After Government Says International Students Must Go.”
☕️ BLACK BOXES ☙ Friday, May 23, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠
Even more astonishing AI new; Trump launches a nuclear reboot; Harvard war escalates; tariffs slam world's richest company; and today’s AI shocker has a few surprising silver linings tucked inside.
Trump Teaches Harvard a Lesson
Meanwhile, the culture wars continue apace. Yesterday, President Trump escalated his war with Harvard. The New York Times reported the encouraging story below the headline, “Shock at Harvard After Government Says International Students Must Go.”
☕️ BLACK BOXES ☙ Friday, May 23, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠
Even more astonishing AI new; Trump launches a nuclear reboot; Harvard war escalates; tariffs slam world's richest company; and today’s AI shocker has a few surprising silver linings tucked inside.
Yesterday, Trump schooled the nation’s wokest university, and the NYT ran the story below the headline, “Trump Intends to Cancel All Federal Funds Directed at Harvard.” The sub-headline explained, “A letter to federal agencies will instruct them to end contracts, totaling about $100 million. It is meant to sever the government’s remaining ties with Harvard.”
“The Trump administration,” the Times reported, “is determined to bring Harvard — arguably the country’s most elite and culturally dominant university — to its knees, by undermining its financial health and global influence.”
In the last 30 days, the Administration has frozen $3.1 billion in grants and revoked Harvard’s permission to enroll foreign students — both stayed (for now) by federal judges. The House’s budget bill, now in the Senate, included a provision increasing taxes on university endowments (Harvard—$53 billion). Yesterday, Trump’s team dispatched its latest weaponized letter, this time not to Harvard but to all federal agencies. The letter recommended canceling all contracts with Harvard and refraining from signing any new ones.
Let’s discuss this cleverly worded move during the brief moment before some federal judge enjoins it— an even deeper judicial invasion of Executive Branch authority.
First, the reaction. The bluehairs at BlueSky immediately began projectile vomiting outrage. Harvard is the nation’s leading research institution! Trump is kneecapping America’s best brains!
The best examples of potentially canceled contracts the Times could muster included a $49,858 NIH contract to investigate the effects of coffee drinking (ahem) and a $25,800 Homeland Security contract for senior executive training. I did not make those up.
Now, I’m just a lawyer, but I’m willing to underbid Harvard here. For a mere $24,999 —half price!— I will personally investigate the effects of coffee drinking — extensively and repeatedly — and I’ll even throw in a bonus inquiry into whether donuts pair better with dark roast or medium blend.
As for the $25,800 executive training gig? I’m free next Thursday. We’ll start with a PowerPoint titled, “How to Not Get Schooled by a Reality TV President.” BYO tissues.
Just like with foreign student enrollment, the power of the federal purse — especially purchasing power — resides squarely in the Executive Branch. Not the Ivy League. Judges have no business micromanaging that discretion. Trump’s latest letter didn’t just pull the plug — it weaponized the process. It strongly recommends agencies terminate existing contracts and requires a contract-by-contract review, turning every Harvard connection into a potential liability.
And let us never forget: not a single judge was brave enough — or fast enough — to enjoin Biden’s sweeping executive order that canceled contracts for every federal contractor who refused to enforce jab mandates. Entire industries were turned inside out overnight. But now? Harvard catches a cold, and suddenly judges are tripping over their robes in their rush to provide triage care.
Apparently, executive discretion is only sacred when it’s used to coerce citizens’ compliance— not when it cuts off cash to the hallowed Cathedral.
Any sane judge would make Harvard challenge each cancelled contract individually — after the fact, when there is an actual injury. But of course, some robe-wrapped resister will probably try to enjoin even the letter’s recommendation. That injunction will rest on judicial ice so thin you could hear it cracking from Thayer Dorm.
☕️ OH, HARVARD ☙ Wednesday, May 28, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠
Trump nukes Harvard’s contracts; liberals howl; ethics prof fakes honesty study; morgue director sells body parts; oceans go dark—and yes, there’s a Harvard link to that too. Plus more.
www.coffeeandcovid.com
Trump team pauses new student visa interviews as it weighs expanding social media vetting
If the administration carries out the plan, it could severely slow down student visa processing. It also could hurt many universities who rely heavily on foreign students to boost their financial coffers.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming days,” the cable states. (“Septel” is State Department shorthand for “separate telegram.”)
The administration had earlier imposed some social media screening requirements, but those were largely aimed at returning students who may have participated in protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The cable doesn’t directly spell out what the future social media vetting would screen for, but it alludes to executive orders that are aimed at keeping out terrorists and battling antisemitism.
Consumer Confidence Numbers Are In
Remember how Democrats were flipping out in April and telling us that President Donald Trump injecting tariffs into this trade equation was going to destroy the world? Well, maybe not that far, but you understand. Everything would go to heck in a handbasket, and the economy would tank.
But Democrats are going to be downcast at the latest news; their narrative is falling to pieces.
Not only are we not seeing destruction, the economy is doing well, and now, consumer confidence is soaring, as Beege Welborn at our sister site Hot Air is reporting.
Instead, it was far more than expected, the biggest jump in four years, according to Bloomberg.
PJay
Well-Known Member
Trump admin creates training course to teach government workers about the Constitution
Trump admin creates training course to teach government workers about the Constitution
SES employees “serve in the key positions just below the top Presidential appointees” and “are the major link between these appointees and the rest of the Federal workforce.”
thepostmillennial.com
PJay
Well-Known Member
"6 people including a USDA employee BUSTED in a $66 MILLION food stamp fraud scheme! Arlasa Davis, a USDA employee responsible for identifying SNAP fraud allegedly SOLD hundreds of EBT numbers enabling over $36 million in fraudulent SNAP redemptions at unauthorized stores Michael Kehoe reportedly orchestrated a network that supplied the approximately 160 unauthorized EBT terminals to stores across the New York area to illegally process more than $30 million in EBT transactions This is one of the largest food stamp frauds in U.S. history"
This is the reason DOGE exists.
Most welfare programs are chock full of fraud. Medicare durable equipment is another area where taxpayers get ripped off bit time.