Brent Amos
@bsamos42.bsky.social
Father, husband, banker. Happy in California with our kids and pets.
It’s very expensive to be poor in America.
I lived in hotels and airbnbs for 3 years until I got back on my feet. Worked the entire time but didn’t have enough money at one time for a full month’s rent (much less a deposit) and was stuck in a cycle of paying through the nose just to stay afloat and off the street.
December 28, 2025 at 11:13 PM
It’s very expensive to be poor in America.
Reposted by Brent Amos
Because Trump is an idiot and crap business person who bankrupts and Elon is a toxic narcissist who thinks because he is good at one thing he is good at everything: How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little?
www.nytimes.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Because Trump is an idiot and crap business person who bankrupts and Elon is a toxic narcissist who thinks because he is good at one thing he is good at everything: How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
Reposted by Brent Amos
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
Corruption so pungent, it wafts right off the page:
Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon
Even some of the president’s closest advisers have been surprised by a number of the recent series of pardons.
www.wsj.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:24 PM
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
Reposted by Brent Amos
On the night of his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order that froze almost all international assistance. Now, the future of U.S. foreign assistance looks very different.
U.S. foreign aid changed in 2025 – and it was felt around the world : Consider This from NPR
On the night of his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order that froze almost all international assistance.What followed was the termination of billions of dollars in aid programs — and the dismantling of the U-S Agency for International Development. Now, the future of U.S. foreign assistance looks very different.NPR global health correspondents Fatma Tanis and Gabrielle Emanuel have been following this all year and break down the impact of this move both on the ground and for the U.S.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Mallory Yu, with additional reporting by Jonathan Lambert. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon and Rebecca Davis. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
n.pr
December 27, 2025 at 8:44 PM
On the night of his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order that froze almost all international assistance. Now, the future of U.S. foreign assistance looks very different.
Reposted by Brent Amos
Actual 2025 tariff rates are, to date, far less than statutory rates, but the costs of the tariffs are mostly borne by the US – estimated tariff pass-through to US prices in 2025 is 94%. Tariffs on imports act like a 1 to 2pp tax on US manufacturing. brentneiman.com/research/GN2...
December 27, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Actual 2025 tariff rates are, to date, far less than statutory rates, but the costs of the tariffs are mostly borne by the US – estimated tariff pass-through to US prices in 2025 is 94%. Tariffs on imports act like a 1 to 2pp tax on US manufacturing. brentneiman.com/research/GN2...
Reposted by Brent Amos
Our government’s priorities are entirely backward. And purposefully so.
December 27, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Our government’s priorities are entirely backward. And purposefully so.
Reposted by Brent Amos
Just wow. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy came out swinging in this article. He's right though and that's the coolest part.
December 26, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Just wow. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy came out swinging in this article. He's right though and that's the coolest part.
Reposted by Brent Amos
At least 11 congressmen from 1865-1871 were arguably not citizens under Trump's interpretation of 14th A, our research finds. Yet no one challenged their eligibility to serve. Why not? Obviously, b/c no one who drafted or ratified the 14th A shared Trump's view.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The Dog That Didn't Bark: Eligibility To Serve In Congress And The Original Understanding Of The Citizenship Clause
President Donald J. Trump's 2025 Executive Order restricting birthright citizenship has prompted new interest in the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment'
papers.ssrn.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:23 PM
At least 11 congressmen from 1865-1871 were arguably not citizens under Trump's interpretation of 14th A, our research finds. Yet no one challenged their eligibility to serve. Why not? Obviously, b/c no one who drafted or ratified the 14th A shared Trump's view.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Brent Amos
So I have the cover story in next month's TNR.
I interviewed the heads of police groups; immigration defense attorneys, ex-judges and ex-prosecutors; former DOJ and DHS officials, and the former head of Border Patrol.
They're all horrified at what we've seen, and they all fear what's coming.
I interviewed the heads of police groups; immigration defense attorneys, ex-judges and ex-prosecutors; former DOJ and DHS officials, and the former head of Border Patrol.
They're all horrified at what we've seen, and they all fear what's coming.
Trump’s Immigration Nightmare: It Is Happening Here
With astonishing speed, the administration has toppled the most cherished pillars of a free society. And the experts agree: It’s all going to get much, much worse.
newrepublic.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:08 PM
So I have the cover story in next month's TNR.
I interviewed the heads of police groups; immigration defense attorneys, ex-judges and ex-prosecutors; former DOJ and DHS officials, and the former head of Border Patrol.
They're all horrified at what we've seen, and they all fear what's coming.
I interviewed the heads of police groups; immigration defense attorneys, ex-judges and ex-prosecutors; former DOJ and DHS officials, and the former head of Border Patrol.
They're all horrified at what we've seen, and they all fear what's coming.
Reposted by Brent Amos
Official data is in today, and US solar continues to grow rapidly, with generation up 21% compared to last year!
December 23, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Official data is in today, and US solar continues to grow rapidly, with generation up 21% compared to last year!
Reposted by Brent Amos
Reposted by Brent Amos
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Brent Amos
1 - the exec branch can't decline to spend $ Congress appropriated
2- the fed govt can't use federal $ to extort states over policy/political disagreements
3-the fed govt can't use federal $ to impose conditions unrelated to the funding program
4-the fed govt can't use federal $ to coerce states
2- the fed govt can't use federal $ to extort states over policy/political disagreements
3-the fed govt can't use federal $ to impose conditions unrelated to the funding program
4-the fed govt can't use federal $ to coerce states
Sean Duffy on blue states: "What I can do is I can pull their money. That's the leverage I do have ... I guarantee you that the federal taxpayer is not going to fund their roads and bridges and their systems when they are putting illegals on the roads."
December 23, 2025 at 2:32 PM
1 - the exec branch can't decline to spend $ Congress appropriated
2- the fed govt can't use federal $ to extort states over policy/political disagreements
3-the fed govt can't use federal $ to impose conditions unrelated to the funding program
4-the fed govt can't use federal $ to coerce states
2- the fed govt can't use federal $ to extort states over policy/political disagreements
3-the fed govt can't use federal $ to impose conditions unrelated to the funding program
4-the fed govt can't use federal $ to coerce states
Reposted by Brent Amos
America “is on a “trajectory toward competitive authoritarianism: a system in which elections, courts, and other democratic institutions persist in form but are systematically manipulated to entrench executive control.”
This is the assessment of hundreds of former US intelligence officers.
This is the assessment of hundreds of former US intelligence officers.
An authoritarian movement, led by the president and reaching into Republican-led state governments and the judiciary is chipping away at American democracy.
Trans people are among the first, most often targeted - but it won't end there. Read the full analysis by @billiejsweeney.bsky.social
Trans people are among the first, most often targeted - but it won't end there. Read the full analysis by @billiejsweeney.bsky.social
Authoritarian Surge Animates Attacks on Trans Americans — Assigned
The right-wing campaign to create an autocratic state is also endangering long-held freedoms for all Americans, pushing U.S. democracy to the precipice. Trans people, its earliest targets, are among t...
www.assignedmedia.org
December 23, 2025 at 3:12 PM
America “is on a “trajectory toward competitive authoritarianism: a system in which elections, courts, and other democratic institutions persist in form but are systematically manipulated to entrench executive control.”
This is the assessment of hundreds of former US intelligence officers.
This is the assessment of hundreds of former US intelligence officers.
Reposted by Brent Amos
The full article is well worth reading. Here’s the gift link from the author—and the only reason to pay attention to the Atlantic—Adam Serwer 2/2 @adamserwer.bsky.social
Conservatives Want the Antebellum Constitution Back
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments are in trouble.
www.theatlantic.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:19 PM
The full article is well worth reading. Here’s the gift link from the author—and the only reason to pay attention to the Atlantic—Adam Serwer 2/2 @adamserwer.bsky.social
Reposted by Brent Amos
Seems like it's worth posting this one again.
Why Do Historians Still Have To Go To Archives?
Why do historians go to archives? Hasn’t everything already been digitized?
contingentmagazine.org
December 21, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Seems like it's worth posting this one again.
Reposted by Brent Amos
So deeply not kidding when I say that the current paradigm of "Gen AI" is doing deep, lasting harm to our ability to make knowledge, meaning, & truth w/ each other.
Like… it's really fucking us up & if we don't stop it soon we're gonna see a kind of negative chaos frankly unimaginable to most ppl 👍🏾
Like… it's really fucking us up & if we don't stop it soon we're gonna see a kind of negative chaos frankly unimaginable to most ppl 👍🏾
January 18, 2025 at 3:58 AM
So deeply not kidding when I say that the current paradigm of "Gen AI" is doing deep, lasting harm to our ability to make knowledge, meaning, & truth w/ each other.
Like… it's really fucking us up & if we don't stop it soon we're gonna see a kind of negative chaos frankly unimaginable to most ppl 👍🏾
Like… it's really fucking us up & if we don't stop it soon we're gonna see a kind of negative chaos frankly unimaginable to most ppl 👍🏾
Reposted by Brent Amos
CATO INSTITUTE:
Despite DOGE slashing jobs, government spending in every month of 2025 “was greater than in every other year .. An observer who did not know when DOGE started could not identify it” on a chart. 🤡
www.cato.org/blog/doge-pr...
Despite DOGE slashing jobs, government spending in every month of 2025 “was greater than in every other year .. An observer who did not know when DOGE started could not identify it” on a chart. 🤡
www.cato.org/blog/doge-pr...
December 20, 2025 at 1:28 PM
CATO INSTITUTE:
Despite DOGE slashing jobs, government spending in every month of 2025 “was greater than in every other year .. An observer who did not know when DOGE started could not identify it” on a chart. 🤡
www.cato.org/blog/doge-pr...
Despite DOGE slashing jobs, government spending in every month of 2025 “was greater than in every other year .. An observer who did not know when DOGE started could not identify it” on a chart. 🤡
www.cato.org/blog/doge-pr...
Reposted by Brent Amos
There is, obviously, no “Presidential Immunity Clause” in the Constitution. The conservative justices’ un-originalist efforts to imagine one into it cannot be supported by text or history. trib.al/N36lDNl
John Roberts and the Cynical Cult of Federalist No. 70
Alexander Hamilton’s treatise on executive power is one of the conservative legal movement’s favorite texts to quote—and misquote.
trib.al
December 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
There is, obviously, no “Presidential Immunity Clause” in the Constitution. The conservative justices’ un-originalist efforts to imagine one into it cannot be supported by text or history. trib.al/N36lDNl
Reposted by Brent Amos
Read this.
If we can't even identify our enemies then how can we fight them?
Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Longest Suicide Note in American History
The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy targets liberal democracy itself.
www.theatlantic.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Read this.
Reposted by Brent Amos
Virginia Heffernan wrote this shortly after the 2016 election and it still holds true
December 16, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Virginia Heffernan wrote this shortly after the 2016 election and it still holds true
Reposted by Brent Amos
Kimbal Musk has publicly admitted that he and his brother Elon were in the country illegally for years before applying for citizenship—so unless they admitted this on their immigration forms, they must be deported immediately.
Every journalist should be buzzing about this.
Every journalist should be buzzing about this.
Trump Administration Aims to Strip More Foreign-Born Americans of Citizenship
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Kimbal Musk has publicly admitted that he and his brother Elon were in the country illegally for years before applying for citizenship—so unless they admitted this on their immigration forms, they must be deported immediately.
Every journalist should be buzzing about this.
Every journalist should be buzzing about this.
The comic should be updated with Mike Johnson handing all that to the White House (cartoon Trump with a tiny crown) while the Supreme Court (wife in curlers) looks on approvingly.
“It’s called separation of powers—we separate you from your powers!”
a 1973 political cartoon from Herb Block still works for today
a 1973 political cartoon from Herb Block still works for today
December 17, 2025 at 4:12 PM
The comic should be updated with Mike Johnson handing all that to the White House (cartoon Trump with a tiny crown) while the Supreme Court (wife in curlers) looks on approvingly.
Reposted by Brent Amos
Payrolls fell -105k in October and rose +64k in November. August and September payrolls were also revised down a total of 33k.
These data suggest VIRTUALLY NO EMPLOYMENT GROWTH since April ("Liberation day").
Unemployment is now up to 4.6%.
This is a tricky report, so stay tuned.
These data suggest VIRTUALLY NO EMPLOYMENT GROWTH since April ("Liberation day").
Unemployment is now up to 4.6%.
This is a tricky report, so stay tuned.
December 16, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Payrolls fell -105k in October and rose +64k in November. August and September payrolls were also revised down a total of 33k.
These data suggest VIRTUALLY NO EMPLOYMENT GROWTH since April ("Liberation day").
Unemployment is now up to 4.6%.
This is a tricky report, so stay tuned.
These data suggest VIRTUALLY NO EMPLOYMENT GROWTH since April ("Liberation day").
Unemployment is now up to 4.6%.
This is a tricky report, so stay tuned.
Reposted by Brent Amos
meanwhile manufacturing jobs have fallen for the past 7 consecutive months
December 16, 2025 at 2:57 PM
meanwhile manufacturing jobs have fallen for the past 7 consecutive months