benfranklinsaid.bsky.social
@benfranklinsaid.bsky.social
The Founders are appalled.

Loves checks and balances, functional markets, boring banks, anticorruption and Lina Khan.
Pinned
‘Let us take away American’s healthcare or we will starve them’ is not the negotiating position Republicans think it is
Reposted
Groceries are cheaper if you do it the right way. First go to the oval office and give the president a fake award and tell him he's very strong and handsome. He will then call the grocery store and threaten them until they give you a discount. It's called the free market
November 11, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted
Happy Veterans Day.

One-fourth of federal workers are veterans.

Trump has literally decimated the federal workforce over the last nine months. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Trump Has Forced Out An Alarming Number Of Federal Workers — And Now We Have An Exact Number
“The performance of our government across the board is being diminished,” warned Max Stier, CEO of Partnership for Public Service.
www.huffpost.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted
Ahead of Veterans Day, I was honored to welcome a flight of veterans and their families as they arrived in DC.
November 11, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted
We’re in the “data-centers-are-stealing-your-water” — tonight, on the local news — part of the AI cycle.

@conorsen.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted
let’s hope it’s finally breaking through to the average viewer/voter
November 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted
This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months"

China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds
World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Reposted
Could a quote possibly be more on the nose for Bari, the Ellisons, the Trump movement, or this whole era in American life than "what's the point of standards"? www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
November 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Reposted
“.. Prosecutors said he had been arrested 19 times.”

#J6
lawandcrime.com/crime/jan-6-...
November 11, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Reposted
The impact that an anti-vax, anti-science provincial government can have on the entire country.
Alberta's role in Canada's loss of measles elimination status embarrassing, former chief medical officer says | CBC News
The latest federal data shows Alberta accounts for 38 per cent of Canada’s cases.
www.cbc.ca
November 11, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted
NEW: Jan 6 riot defendant arrested outside a Burger King in Cicero, Illinois.

Prosecutors allege a DNA test in August linked him to 2018 kidnapping and sex assault

Just filed:

www.cbsnews.com/news/high-pr...
High-profile Jan. 6 defendant facing charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting woman
John Banuelos' case was unique among Capitol riot prosecutions because he was the only defendant accused of pulling and firing a gun while on Capitol grounds.
www.cbsnews.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Reposted
In a single day, two different federal officers point guns at two different @chicagotribune.com photojournalists in and around Chicago. This is dangerous stuff.
1/2 Are there any experts out there who can correctly identify the weapons being pointed directly at these two @chicagotribune.com photojournalists?

What type of gun is this?

cc: @mandophotos.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Reposted
Look at this new outrage. To open govt, we're retroactively letting 8 Senators sue for $500K each over having had their J6 phone toll records looked at. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...
Spending Bill Would Pave Way for Senators to Sue Over Phone Searches
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:22 PM
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Brazilian coup-plotters: charged 🇧🇷

American coup-plotters: pardoned 🇺🇸
November 10, 2025 at 1:13 PM
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What a great few weeks it’s been for people once pardoned by Trump.

@nytimes.com @nbcnews.com @npr.org @politico.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
This Media Matters roundup of bonkers rightwing media complaints about liberal young women is really something

The right is so laughably clueless about everything - they will never figure it out
November 10, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted
I can't tell you how many interviews I've done where I've been asked: If Trump's policies are so problematic, why are U.S. stocks rising so rapidly.

A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.

U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
November 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted
A Reagan-appointed judge resigned in order to speak out.

Here's why: “President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment.” 🎁link:
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why I Am Resigning
A federal judge explains his reasoning for leaving the bench.
www.theatlantic.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Reposted
Here’s video of federal agents doing a drive by pepper spraying that hit a father and his one-year old on Saturday when the Feds were hitting Little Village and Cicero
November 9, 2025 at 9:30 PM
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The craziest part is that Republicans could’ve ended the shutdown on their own anytime they wanted. 50 senators is all it would take.

But they didn’t feel like it. Which is accepted as a premise, so fixing things becomes Democrats’ responsibility, and apparently enough Democratic senators agree.
November 10, 2025 at 3:03 AM
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They're treating Trump illegally firing federal employees like it's leverage, not a criminal act.
“A bipartisan Senate deal has been reached to fund the government through January 30 and to set a vote on an Affordable Care Act bill in December, in a major sign the government shutdown is poised to end, according to a source…
The deal includes a reversal of Trump’s firings of federal employees”
Senate reaches deal to extend government funding in major sign shutdown is poised to end | CNN Politics
A bipartisan Senate deal has been reached to fund the government through January 30 and to set a vote on an Affordable Care Act bill in December, in a major sign the government shutdown is poised to e...
www.cnn.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:23 AM
@kaine.senate.gov do not save the Republicans from themselves. the healthcare of the American people is too important. do not cave.
November 10, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Senate @democrats.org must call for Schumer to step down as minority leader in the Senate. No confidence.
November 10, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Reposted
It is a handicap in politics to be the party that genuinely believes in governance and is broadly opposed to continued suffering of constituents, and yet there is no future for anything but degradation and misery if the Republican Party under Trump cannot be made to suffer consequences for its acts.
November 9, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Public slam poetry but for historians dunking on rightwing fascists like Yarvin and Thiel for their absurdly bad philosophical and historical takes

@kevinmkruse.bsky.social 👀
November 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted
Marc Andreesen,🥚, picked a fight with *the Pope* over a pretty basic call to exercise discernment when building AI.

Marc truly believes that any constraint on anything he does is fundamentally illegitimate.
November 9, 2025 at 10:35 PM