John W Rodat
@johnwrodat.bsky.social
Currently researching and modeling economic inequality and its effects. Background in public finance, health systems, information strategy, data analysis & visualization, Systems Dynamics modeling, two-wheeled vehicles, flying machines (former USAF).
Reposted by John W Rodat
Even after DOGE, the tariffs, and all the performative stuff, the reality is that they're blowing out the budget deficit, and this year is on track to be the largest in the post-pandemic period.
September 12, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Even after DOGE, the tariffs, and all the performative stuff, the reality is that they're blowing out the budget deficit, and this year is on track to be the largest in the post-pandemic period.
Reposted by John W Rodat
There were 176 business days from Inauguration Day through the end of the fiscal year (Sep 30, 2025). Outlays in that period this year exceeded outlays in the equivalent period of each of the two prior years by more than $400 billion. So much for fiscal conservatism.
October 2, 2025 at 10:33 AM
There were 176 business days from Inauguration Day through the end of the fiscal year (Sep 30, 2025). Outlays in that period this year exceeded outlays in the equivalent period of each of the two prior years by more than $400 billion. So much for fiscal conservatism.
Reposted by John W Rodat
No matter what Trump says, the US has gone to war – and there will be profound and lasting consequences | Simon Tisdall
No matter what Trump says, the US has gone to war – and there will be profound and lasting consequences | Simon Tisdall
Trump has fallen slap bang into the trap laid for him by Netanyahu. His reckless gamble makes a nuclear weapon for Iran more, not less, likely, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall
www.theguardian.com
June 22, 2025 at 12:11 PM
No matter what Trump says, the US has gone to war – and there will be profound and lasting consequences | Simon Tisdall
Reposted by John W Rodat
In the wake of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to shake-up a key federal vaccine advisory committee, outside organizations and independent experts are looking for alternate sources of unbiased information and even considering forming their own.
Outside groups organize to form unbiased, independent vaccine panel
Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the members of the CDC’s esteemed vaccine advisory panel, medical organizations and experts are looking for alternatives.
nbcnews.to
June 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM
In the wake of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to shake-up a key federal vaccine advisory committee, outside organizations and independent experts are looking for alternate sources of unbiased information and even considering forming their own.
Reposted by John W Rodat
DOGE is shaping up to be the biggest failure of all time. All pain. No gain. Shrouded in secrecy, lies, and false projections. A scam on the American people.
April 17, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by John W Rodat
cuomo’s position here is basically that it is unsporting to do politics www.thedailybeast.com/andrew-cuomo...
Andrew Cuomo Slams AOC’s Rally Tour for ‘Capitalizing’ on Voters’ Trump Fears
The New York City mayoral frontrunner also argued that the Democratic party had “hijacked” itself with cultural issues.
www.thedailybeast.com
April 17, 2025 at 5:26 PM
cuomo’s position here is basically that it is unsporting to do politics www.thedailybeast.com/andrew-cuomo...
Reposted by John W Rodat
I wish Maya Angelou could be here now to see the U.S. Navy, Army, and Air Force acknowledge the power of her writing by running away from it.
You pathetic cowards.
#Nazi #BookBurning
You pathetic cowards.
#Nazi #BookBurning
April 16, 2025 at 9:57 PM
I wish Maya Angelou could be here now to see the U.S. Navy, Army, and Air Force acknowledge the power of her writing by running away from it.
You pathetic cowards.
#Nazi #BookBurning
You pathetic cowards.
#Nazi #BookBurning
Homan is one of many in the Trump Administration, probably including Trump himself, who's already got his "go bag" ready for when it's time to flee the US. One wonders where their money is stashed and which country will take them in? Russia might take a couple, but not near enough.
It was illegal to "harbor" Jewish people in Nazi Germany and to "harbor" enslaved Africans running away from torture. What's old is new again... where TF is the coordinated Democratic outrage?!?
REPORTER: There are laws on the book that make it a criminal offense to harbor illegal immigrants, like sanctuary state leaders have been doing. Do you think they should be prosecuted and possibly put in prison?
HOMAN: Absolutely. And hold tight on that one, because it's coming.
HOMAN: Absolutely. And hold tight on that one, because it's coming.
April 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Homan is one of many in the Trump Administration, probably including Trump himself, who's already got his "go bag" ready for when it's time to flee the US. One wonders where their money is stashed and which country will take them in? Russia might take a couple, but not near enough.
China already has US money - in the form of bonds. And, if they dump them into the bond market, it'll make their not buying Boeing look like a picnic.
Karoline Leavitt, "China needs to make a deal with us, we don't have to make a deal with them"
"China wants what we have, what every country wants, what we have, the American consumer"
"Or to put it another way they need our money"
"China wants what we have, what every country wants, what we have, the American consumer"
"Or to put it another way they need our money"
April 15, 2025 at 7:50 PM
China already has US money - in the form of bonds. And, if they dump them into the bond market, it'll make their not buying Boeing look like a picnic.
Reposted by John W Rodat
Are we great yet?
April 15, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Are we great yet?
Reposted by John W Rodat
On this day, April 14, 2025, the President of the United States openly defied the Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion of April 10, 2025, ordering him to “facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador
April 15, 2025 at 1:49 AM
On this day, April 14, 2025, the President of the United States openly defied the Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion of April 10, 2025, ordering him to “facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador
Reposted by John W Rodat
Breaking news: The European Commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage — a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China www.ft.com/content/20d0...
April 14, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Breaking news: The European Commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage — a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China www.ft.com/content/20d0...
Reposted by John W Rodat
This is absurd and atrocious. Imagine sending someone to a brutal jail by mistake and officially acknowledging that, and then doing nothing to redress the matter. How cruel is that? How depraved is your soul? How uncaring and mean-spirited must you be? These are broken people who feast on hate.
Trump is asked if he’s planning to ask Bukele to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia & Trump punts to Pam Bondi.
Bondi claims it’s “up to El Salvador if they want to return him – that’s not up to us. [SCOTUS] ruled that if El Salvador wants to return him, we would ‘facilitate’ it, meaning provide a plane.”
Bondi claims it’s “up to El Salvador if they want to return him – that’s not up to us. [SCOTUS] ruled that if El Salvador wants to return him, we would ‘facilitate’ it, meaning provide a plane.”
April 14, 2025 at 4:22 PM
This is absurd and atrocious. Imagine sending someone to a brutal jail by mistake and officially acknowledging that, and then doing nothing to redress the matter. How cruel is that? How depraved is your soul? How uncaring and mean-spirited must you be? These are broken people who feast on hate.
Reposted by John W Rodat
Requiring REAL IDs and passports and birth certificates to vote?!?
Imagine if these were required to buy a gun.
Imagine if these were required to buy a gun.
April 13, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Requiring REAL IDs and passports and birth certificates to vote?!?
Imagine if these were required to buy a gun.
Imagine if these were required to buy a gun.
Reposted by John W Rodat
Reposted by John W Rodat
If the U.S. government is going to take the position that, once removed from the United States, folks can’t be brought back, then it sure seems to me that federal courts should be reflexively and categorically barring *all* removals until they’re 100 percent certain that the removals are lawful.
April 14, 2025 at 5:54 PM
If the U.S. government is going to take the position that, once removed from the United States, folks can’t be brought back, then it sure seems to me that federal courts should be reflexively and categorically barring *all* removals until they’re 100 percent certain that the removals are lawful.
Reposted by John W Rodat
Wouldn't it be nice if every news outlet that covered the Bukele Oval Office meeting noted:
District court wrote: Abrego Garcia "has never been charged with or convicted of any crime."⤵️
Fourth Circuit: The government presented "NO EVIDENCE" of MS-13 affiliation. Abandoned argument before court. ⤵️
District court wrote: Abrego Garcia "has never been charged with or convicted of any crime."⤵️
Fourth Circuit: The government presented "NO EVIDENCE" of MS-13 affiliation. Abandoned argument before court. ⤵️
April 14, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Wouldn't it be nice if every news outlet that covered the Bukele Oval Office meeting noted:
District court wrote: Abrego Garcia "has never been charged with or convicted of any crime."⤵️
Fourth Circuit: The government presented "NO EVIDENCE" of MS-13 affiliation. Abandoned argument before court. ⤵️
District court wrote: Abrego Garcia "has never been charged with or convicted of any crime."⤵️
Fourth Circuit: The government presented "NO EVIDENCE" of MS-13 affiliation. Abandoned argument before court. ⤵️
Reposted by John W Rodat
Reposted by John W Rodat
Any Democratic politician who doesn't understand Nayib Bukele's grave offense against the sovereignty of the American people and constitutional order and say as much publicly should have no future in elected office. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/bukel...
Bukele’s Offense Against the American People
Here’s how I look at today’s White House spectacle. I don’t really...
talkingpointsmemo.com
April 14, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Any Democratic politician who doesn't understand Nayib Bukele's grave offense against the sovereignty of the American people and constitutional order and say as much publicly should have no future in elected office. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/bukel...
Reposted by John W Rodat
It’s not too late, but almost. Get active while you can.
From what I'm seeing in Europe, the real game changer here isn't really the Trump admin itself, but how quickly American elites - political, corporate, institutional and academic - just failed to respond and resist in any meaningful way.
US prestige culture, as seen from abroad, just evaporated.
US prestige culture, as seen from abroad, just evaporated.
April 11, 2025 at 11:25 PM
It’s not too late, but almost. Get active while you can.
I've finally figured out why Trump chose Vance as his running mate. It's insurance, not for us but for Trump himself. Hard as it is to imagine, Vance would likely be worse than Trump.
April 9, 2025 at 11:45 AM
I've finally figured out why Trump chose Vance as his running mate. It's insurance, not for us but for Trump himself. Hard as it is to imagine, Vance would likely be worse than Trump.
Trump's next move will be to increase Federal spending and deficit by ... bailing out farms whose business is tariffed by the sane world. (Bet you didn't know that "tariff" could be used as a verb, did you? Neither did I.)
April 9, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Trump's next move will be to increase Federal spending and deficit by ... bailing out farms whose business is tariffed by the sane world. (Bet you didn't know that "tariff" could be used as a verb, did you? Neither did I.)
That will be funny too as the current SCOTUS is very much the product of Leo and legal ideologues funded for years by the Kochs.
Think SCOTUS is paying any attention?
April 9, 2025 at 12:44 AM
That will be funny too as the current SCOTUS is very much the product of Leo and legal ideologues funded for years by the Kochs.
Translate the Trump Administration's anti-DEI efforts using antonyms (remember that word from school?). So opposing "diversity" means wanting sameness or homogeneity. Opposing "equity" means wanting inequity. Opposing "inclusion" means wanting exclusion. Thus, "SIE" or "HIE" or design your own.
April 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Translate the Trump Administration's anti-DEI efforts using antonyms (remember that word from school?). So opposing "diversity" means wanting sameness or homogeneity. Opposing "equity" means wanting inequity. Opposing "inclusion" means wanting exclusion. Thus, "SIE" or "HIE" or design your own.