Jesus H. Christ:
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned a small group of well-connected constituents three weeks ago to prepare for dire economic and societal effects of the coronavirus, according to a secret recording obtained by NPR.
The remarks from U.S. Sen. Richard Burr were more stark than any he had delivered in more public forums.
On Feb. 27, when the United States had 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19, President Trump was tamping down fears and suggesting that the virus could be seasonal.
“It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle. It will disappear,” the president said then, before adding, “it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. We’ll see what happens.”
“There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history,” he said, according to a secret recording of the remarks obtained by NPR. “It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”
But wait, it gets better:
Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $582,029 and $1.56 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 29 separate transactions.
As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government’s most highly classified information about threats to America’s security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story.
A week after Burr’s sales, the stock market began a sharp decline and has lost about 30% since.
On Thursday, Burr came under fire after NPR obtained a secret recording from Feb. 27, in which the lawmaker gave a VIP group at an exclusive social club a much more dire preview of the economic impact of the coronavirus than what he had told the public.
These people are traitors.
MattF
Alexandra Petri does Trump.
Nicole
This is such bullshit. And I have zero faith anything will happen to him because of it.
(Returns to surfing Netflix looking for documentaries about the French and Russian Revolutions)
Martin
All non-life-sustaining businesses in PA are ordered to close.
trollhattan
Damn. Just…. Damn.
I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.
Shalimar
Burr won’t be the only one. Expect to hear soon about dozens of senators and congresspersons who did the same thing. Trump was apparently the only one in denial about how bad the stock market would be hit.
Also, too, don’t be surprised when it turns out day-trading by Trump friends is creating the daily yo-yoing for profit.
Thor Heyerdahl
Okay Tar Heels, are the tumbrel wheels greased up and ready to go?
BGinCHI
We’re gonna need some new laws once we’ve scoured the body politic of these parasites.
Jeffro
Did not know he sold his stocks off in advance like that…wow…not surprised, just didn’t read that far.
Holy cow, America: they really are willing to let us all die just to stay in power/live high on the hog.
debbie
@Shalimar:
Probably Mnuchin himself. //
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
But, but, but her e-mails!
WaterGirl
@Martin: I assume that means storefronts? Or is it everything?
Related to the family where so many of them have it?
The Moar You Know
Not a word to be use lightly.
I fully agree. They are traitors in the literal, Constitutional sense of the word.
LivinginExile
Watergirl A test.
PenAndKey
How is that not clearly a major insider trading violation? Martha Stewart went to jail for far, far less
@The Moar You Know: even knowing what the punishment is for treason I’d be more than willing to see them prosecuted for such once next year starts.
Shalimar
@PenAndKey: Members of Congress are specifically excluded from insider trading laws
Among many, many other laws they exclude themselves from.
JPL
@Jeffro: Yup. Fortunately, the virus doesn’t know how much one makes, so we need to protect ourselves.
The Moar You Know
@Jeffro: My wife has been saying for a few years that was the plan. I thought she was being silly.
I was so fucking wrong. There’s too many of us, far more than the uber-monied need for servants, and it looks like the plan is to kill most all of us off.
Ella in New Mexico
If I recall, I was reassured here several days ago that the vast majority of trading on the stock exchange was being conducted by algorithms and computer programs, not people…
schrodingers_cat
They threw the book at Martha Stewart. Richard Burr should be tried for insider trading.
Martin
@WaterGirl: Unclear
It’s hard to figure out where that line would be. Lot of food processing in PA – do they close? We need food. If you’re a material supplier to a medical device company?
Damien
Nah, fine him 31 million. Seize his property and banish him from the senate
Elizabelle
On February 7, Richard Burr and Lamar Alexander wrote this op ed for Fox News.
Sen. Alexander & Sen. Burr: Coronavirus prevention steps the U.S. government is taking to protect you
…. article concludes:
How did that work out? Sixteen days later, Burr is warning the Tar Heel Circle — privately — of what the US can actually expect.
Mary G
@Shalimar: FTFNYT says not so:
Ex-Rep. Chris Collins Gets 26-Month Prison Sentence in Insider Trading Case
If I remember right, he was photographed standing outside the White House making the call after a meeting there.
MazeDancer
Disgusting.
Gonna be hard for Mitch to allow an investigation. But gotta do it in 2021.
Martin
@Shalimar: But the STOCK act was designed to stop exactly this, and this looks like a clear violation of that act.
Ella in New Mexico
@Shalimar:
The Stock Act doesn’t say that
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STOCK_Act
SiubhanDuinne
Jail? A jail for life sentence would be much too kind.
I’m thinking more along molten-lead/boiling-oil lines, myself.
Betty Cracker
Jail yes, but also seize all his assets and distribute them to his victims. These people need to start fearing the consequences of their actions, and a short stint in Club Fed followed by a return to the family manse isn’t scary enough. Maybe the prospect of eking out a paycheck-to-paycheck living would teach the senator a valuable lesson.
Shalimar
@Mary G: I might be remembering incorrectly, but I think Collins’ crime was sharing info with family members, not selling his own shares.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: I nodded my way through every word of each of your three sentences.
Elizabelle
NPR: Intelligence Chairman Raised Virus Alarms Weeks Ago, Secret Recording Shows
Because Burr knew about this and did not want to go against the vindictive Trump. Burr has already announced he is retiring in 2022.
Shalimar
@Ella in New Mexico: Ok, good. Did not know that law had passed in the last decade.
Immanentize
@Ella in New Mexico: It is. 70% of trades are bots. But why did you think that was reassuring?
mrmoshpotato
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): I think you’ll appreciate this.
MelissaM
Cole, you are not wrong. Assholes.
Immanentize
@schrodingers_cat: Congress Critters expressly took themselves out of insider trading laws.
Barbara
@Shalimar: Collins had specific inside information about a specific company — he was told by the CEO or some other executive that the results of clinical trials were much less successful than they needed to be. He got off that phone call and called his son, who, no doubt, he had encouraged to invest in the company. His son (and maybe others) then sold a lot of stock before the news became public. The information here is what you would call non-company specific information. Dude is a horrible person and a traitor, but I doubt if this qualifies as insider trading as defined by the securities laws.
Elizabelle
Burr is not going to be the only Senator/Member of Congress/Trump administration official who dumped stocks before the public realized the extent of the coming pandemic.
In time, the House should investigate all of them.
Be interesting to find out what’s up with Fox News’s finest gazillionaires, too.
Immanentize
@Mary G: That was because it wasn’t his trade — it was his son’s. Conspiracy. Typical prosecutor plea behavior: Either you can go to jail, or your son will go for life.
kindness
Using one’s position with the secret data he gets to maximize his holdings isn’t kosher. This should be branded on his head so no one ever forgets.
Mary G
@Shalimar: IANAL, but I think using insider information is illegal whether or not the shares sold belong to the legislator
ETA: Actual lawyers chime in to tell me I am wrong. Sorry.
Yutsano
@Betty Cracker:
I already see the problem. This is why Biden HAS to win in November. Burr should not only lose his seat over this, he should have a nice long stint in the pokey as well. And I am all about some old fashioned asset forfeiture as well.
Waldo
Nice thing about NPR breaking this story: For once they didn’t “both sides” their coverage. Well, so far, anyway.
Ella in New Mexico
Can’t decide if this kind of shit pisses me off more or the fact that the Republicans in the Senate are simultaneously working to either stop or significantly water down the cash payments to taxpayers being proposed, to point that many middle class families will not qualify for any assistance or will get sharply reduced amounts
Because God knows when you make 110K you have a year’s salary in the bank and there’s no way one of you taking time off for illness for a month could tank your entire family’s finances.
Betty Cracker
@Elizabelle: He shouldn’t be allowed to retire with a fat pension and Cadillac healthcare plan, not after this stock scandal. Cole is right; that motherfucker needs to go to jail.
The Dangerman
@PenAndKey:
We will need to build new Hospitals that convert easily to Prisons.
Slammer Time. Can’t touch that (your face).
Aardvark Cheeselog
@Betty Cracker:
I looked at the Wiki page for the STOCK Act and if it specifies any penalties for violations, they aren’t mentioned.
It’s noteworthy, how many things are prohibited by Federal law, but it turns out there’s no consequence for the violation. Almost like “it’s against the law” is supposed to be deterrent enough for a public official.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: My tinfoil hat thinks that might explain why FOX people suddenly turned on a dime. Everyone had made their quick buck (millions) so then they could start telling the truth.
Mary G
Elizabelle
Gorgeous day here in RVA. Out for a socially distanced walk in the park.
lamh36
waspuppet
You don’t understand! If Richard Burr loses money, it’s a national security risk! You couldn’t possibly expect him to not sell secrets in order to keep his fourth boat.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: A lot of them do.
Wonder what Mitch and his wealthy family did.
Asset forfeiture, you’re right about stripping the pension and the healthcare (let them use Medicare). Will be expensive to prosecute these well-connected crooks …
Burr also slow-walked his committee’s findings on how Trump benefited from Russian interference.
Ella in New Mexico
@Immanentize: I didn’t–I was complaining that the way the stock market has been behaving makes me think people were attempting to artificially manipulate it and thus make lots of bucks selling high then waiting for the right moments to buy back low, and shouldn’t we find a way to halt that kind of thing…
West of the Cascades
Cal Cunningham is going to have some wonderful material to work with for his campaign ads (and hopefully Steyer and Bloomberg will create “TURNTHESENATEBLUE” PACs to blanket the airwaves in a dozen states with competitive Senate races, too).
Martin
I think Burr should be forced to man a drive-up clinic 40 hours a week without a mask. Each patient that arrives he needs to say ‘I’m Senator Richard Burr and I profited off of your potential illness. I need to take a nasal swab.’
Mary G
Red states, god help them:
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Blast from the past:
Sen. Burr: STOCK Act was a waste of time
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@West of the Cascades:
I really hope Biden’s campaign and Bloomberg use, “No, I don’t take responsibility at all.”
Mind boggling. You never say that shit as a leader.
All the AM radio RWNJ have gone full North Korea, praising Trump for his “leadership”: “Where would we be if Trump wasn’t President”?
All these BS right-wing takes will age like milk a few weeks
cckids
@Martin: NV did it Tuesday. So many people out of work.
8 man shell
@Ella in New Mexico:
That’s still true.
Last time I checked a couple of years ago, the _daily_ NYSE volume in dollars was about $175B.
Ksmiami
@BGinCHI: and tumbrels lots and lots of tumbrels. The GOP is hazardous to your health
WaterGirl
@Martin:
I love this so much.
low-tech cyclist
Gitmo. Send that fucker to Gitmo.
As soon as there’s a Democratic Administration, it should turn Gitmo into a prison for all the crooks of the Trump Administration (definitely including the Mango Mussolini himself) and the GOP generally.
bemused
I never imagined trump’s face color could look more grotesque, like skin on corpse dried out in a desert.
The Dangerman
(Note to self … next time, glasses that you don’t have to push up with a finger without thinking about it. Also, let the nose itch, DAMMIT.)
So, this is why there are blind trusts, huh, Donald (I bet he was dumping shit …. ewww, I know … like crazy)?
Anya
Can’t decide if I am angry about Barr’s blatant corruption and lack of concern for the people he represents or because he will still win because our fellow citizens in most states will vote for a republican no matter what.
Martin
@bemused: Copper kills viruses, so more bronzer means more protection.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Anya: Thilis is the one up for re-election this cycle, he’s been polling a few points behind Cunningham, but this could be contagious to Tillis. This is the kind of thing people understand
Mary G
Burr has previously said he’s retiring and not running for reelection.
Scott Alloway
@Martin: Farming and science excluded, as are gas stations and pharmacies.
See this link:
https://6abc.com/health/gov-wolf-orders-all-non-life-sustaining-businesses-in-pa-to-close/6026757/
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Martha Stewart went to prison for less.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: I believe that’s called Take the Money and Run.
raven
@WaterGirl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCFUGCOLLU
Mallard Filmore
@low-tech cyclist:
Trump will pardon himself and many of his co-conspirators making prosecution difficult politically and legally. We will need to send many of these crooks to The Hague instead.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Agreed. Friends and family dying is something people will understand and blame Trump for. It’s sad that be what it takes but here we are
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Mallard Filmore:
The states could still prosecute him
WaterGirl
@raven: Nice to have you back!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Anne Laurie:
Because of course it was. A year later would’ve been 2013 or so. Did Senate Dems initiate the changes?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I try not to read too much into twitter, but “Burr” is trending. Good.
Mallard Filmore
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Sure! After The Hague.
sherparick
None of this would have surprised George Carlin, Joseph Heller, Mark Twain, or Kurt Vonnegut. As George says, “There is a Big Club, and you & I are not in it.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0
If you want a face to match the phrase “A Fucking Cocksucker who does not care” – in this case that thousands of North Carolinians, including many who voted for him, may die over the next couple of months, Senator Richard Barr will do.
Another Scott
@raven: Howdy stranger.
Cheers,
Scott.
Sister Golden Bear
At today’s press conference, San Mateo County Public Health described the situation here as “somewhere between dire and catastrophic.” ? ? ?
The hardware stores are open, so I can stock on pitchforks and torches, but making it to D.C. may be a problem.
But with Home Depot open, at least there’s time to Quarantine Pro Tip: Get Yourself A Lesbian //
My people can teach our survival skills to straight folks, including 101 ways to make hummus.
#QueerHumor
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@raven:
Hey! How’re you holding up?
raven
@WaterGirl:
another scott
Yo ya’ll.
Mary G
bemused
@Martin:
Heh.
raven
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): We’re ok. Great neighborhood full of kids we can yell across the street at. Our local government is going to bump it up a level tonight but, like everywhere else, this is a service based community and people are going to be in a world of hurt. It’s hard to figure out who and when to help.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Ella in New Mexico:
Time for political violence and blowing shit up.
I may as well use my anxious sleepless time for planning to deal with conservatives.
Shana
@Nicole: TCM had The Battleship Potemkin on the other day. I swear they program to comment on the current situation, whatever that may be. Lots of political films during the Impeachment process.
Shana
@trollhattan: How is that not insider trading?
tomtofa
NPR headline fixed to make it more accurate:
Intelligence Chairman privately Raised Virus Alarms Weeks Ago, then dumped stocks, Secret Recording Shows.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@raven:
My community is in the same boat. We’re a retail hub. Everything’s closed, aside from gas stations and supermarkets. Hope you and your wife stay safe and I’m glad you came back
lamh36
It’s interesting that CNN and MSNBC haven’t been reporting the Burr thing as “breaking news” I guess maybe they are trying to confirm the reporting?
The Thin Black Duke
@raven: Welcome back, dude.
lamh36
Burr responding to the “lesser” scandal…smh
https://twitter.com/SenatorBurr/status/1240766943449276424
Timurid
@SiubhanDuinne: Bring back the Brazen Bull.
hells littlest angel
More likely — and just — he’ll be stoned to death by an angry mob.
zhena gogolia
@Sister Golden Bear:
That’s sweet.
Martin
So, I routinely talk about how China’s appeal to manufacturers is speed.
45-90 day review before mask production can be started. China not only got approval out, but got factories running in a week.
5% lower wage costs is nothing compared to no production for 3 months.
geg6
@Martin:
You can read a whole list of what is allowed and not allowed. From what I saw on the list has not materially changed from yesterday. It has just changed from a request by the state to a mandate by the state. Apparently, not enough people across the state were complying with the request, so he had to take the next step.
Patricia Kayden
A Ghost to Most
@Sister Golden Bear: Can you kill and clean a rabbit?
trollhattan
@lamh36:
“Tabloid-style hit piece.”
“Daddy, what’s a ‘tabloid’?”
He’s so twentieth century.
NotMax
@Ella in New Mexico
O. Felix Culpa
@SiubhanDuinne: Ah, I like your mob enforcer mode.
who
@debbie: Mnuchin is probably an actual multi-billionaire by now. The most pathetic thing is that the Trump clan could’ve already quietly built up a fortune rivaling that of the world’s wealthiest people with just insider trading–all the while publicly restraining their own visible business activities/expansions/licensing/etc “for the sake of clean government and avoiding conflict of interest”, but the siren’s call of bush-league grifting is just far too compelling.
Sister Golden Bear
@A Ghost to Most: Been there, done that. And made a fabulous fur hand warmer out of it.
#FemmeMacgyvering
Jay Noble
@Martin: The utter irony is that that it could be true.
rikyrah
Mike in NC
We’ll have to deal with Richard Frickin’ Burr when the time comes. I once read that his schtick was to attend Chamber of Commerce meetings and talk about the need to have corporations pay zero state income tax. Typical GOP Senator. But first in our sights is scumbag Thom Tillis, who’s tied himself to the mast of SS Trumptanic. Goin’ down, asshole.
Jay Noble
So, Trump and the Fox gang say we are now on a war footing. I’d say that gives the treason clause a lot more punch. And doesn’t war footing kinda bring up a few things concerning war profiteering? That pile of TP in your garage and your ebay listings might not be looking so smart
They will all claim it don’t count because there was never a Congressional Declaration of War
Mary G
Senator Burr has put up a Twitter thread claiming that he is as innocent as a lamb:
It’s about the NPR story, claiming that his speech was not secret, but the annual state meeting anybody could attend. So far nothing on the Pro Publica story on his stock sales. The first comment is “Resign” and most comments are elaborations on that theme and his going to jail.
Jinchi
I hadn’t heard that he sold off a million dollars worth of stock.
Wow!
Mary G
And in the annals of chutzpah:
“I did it and fuck you.”
bk
@Shalimar: No they aren’t. The STOCK Act covers members of Congress.
Jinchi
The really exasperating thing is that so much of America’s 401K retirement income is compelled to be invested in the stock market, and yet there’s no way for a typical person to simply “sell” all of that investment. We just take the ride all the way down.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mary G:
Well, yeah, that’s the thing.
Jinchi
Yeah. I think that’s the whole reason everyone is upset.
burnspbesq
@Thor Heyerdahl:
securities fraud is a federal crime.
VeniceRiley
@Betty Cracker: Stay safe Betty https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/03/19/smart-thermometer-company-may-predict-high-coronavirus-numbers-in-florida/
Jeffro
@Betty Cracker: jail…after a good tar-and-feathering and march across the entire length of his home state.
Who’s with me? I’ll share my stash of rotten tomatoes with the crowd.
J R in WV
@Betty Cracker:
And have all his assets confiscated, every house, every investment, every dime — no pension, no health care, I’ll allow him Social Security and Medicaid, but that’s it for me. After he gets out of jail, of course.
Jeffro
@lamh36: Oh, a “hit piece” now, is it?
Next thing you know, trumpublicans will be claiming they weren’t saying this was all a hoax back in February, while also trying to claim they were on top of the situation back in January, while also trying to claim Joe Biden sold us out to the Chinese in March.
LOLwhut
Jeffro
@Jay Noble: They’re convinced they can turn their PR problem around (they don’t care about the humanitarian crisis; job #1 is getting their PR back above water) by
They’re going to repeat it for the next eight months so get used to it.
ballerat
@lamh36: We have seen how Trump uses the federal government to punish his political opponents by withholding resources. And rewards his base by bestowing same. (re: fires in CA, storms on east coast, hurricane in Puerto Rico, bailouts for his base).
As his inept response continued I sometimes wondered if he was trying to kill some of us. Incompetent, hell yes, but the opportunity is there.
He’s used previous previous self-created crises and natural disasters as opportunities to economically, politically and, importantly, physically harm his enemies while rewarding his followers. But I couldn’t figure out how he’d pull off killing us blue staters this time without it looking so obvious.
Now I think I know.
Christ it’s starting to look more like genocide to me.
Dmbeaster
@PenAndKey: The insider trading law was modified under Obama to make this illegal (it was famously not illegal before that). Burr has been a Senator since 2005 and probably just remembered the good old days.
Dmbeaster
@Shalimar: That was changed under Obama.
Martin
@Dmbeaster: Pardons all around.
Calouste
@rikyrah: Senators get paid quite well ($175k or so) and he was in Congress 10 years before that. $1.5 million in assets in not out of the ordinary on 25 years of that income. He has almost the same elected career as Bernie “three houses” Sanders. Of course there is the question of how much he didn’t sell…
Martin
US had a bad day. 2 days in a row of ticking slightly higher than trend. We’re 12 days behind Italy, and that had been stretching out because they were seeing a faster pace of fatalities. We’ll need to see when that starts to turn downward for us. No idea when that might be.
Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)
@tomtofa:
Burr dumped the stocks (February 13) before he issued the private warning (February 27).
Mary G
Possible explanation: bad genes.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi):
Oops, need to reset my nym.
Citizen Alan
@MattF: I would almost get the WP subscription just to read Alexandra Petri every week, but I just can’t bear the thought of paying money even a miniscule percentage of which goes to people like Marc Thiessen.
Martin
@rikyrah: So, I’ve amassed double that amount in less time on ⅓ of his salary. Two steps:
There’s literally nobody in my area that bought a house 15 years ago that isn’t a millionaire now, provided they weathered 2008.
J R in WV
@Mary G:
I think they are mistaking the problem for a defense. Yes, it was before the market volatility began. That is an admission, not a defense.
We know it was before the market crashed, that’s why it was a crime. How stupid…. excuse me, he was a lawnmower salesman, so VERY stupid.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Martin: also, “sold lawn equipment” could cover a wide spectrum of employment, from retail sales to a smallish but successful business. He sounds like one of those guys who thinks he knows how gubmint should be run cause he ‘met a payroll’. I have not done that, but my father who did for over forty years said it was the silliest thing politicians bragged about.
Biff Baxter
As we all just knew, Burr wasn’t the only one. https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-kelly-loeffler-dumped-millions-in-stock-after-coronavirus-briefing?ref=home
Miss Bianca
@NotMax: Or those of us who sold our house in 2018 and will show a way, way bigger income that year than any other year for the last 10. Sigh. So.Much.Winning.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Biff Baxter: um….
Look for a ‘too rich to steal’ defense.
Thor Heyerdahl
@burnspbesq: I know securities fraud is federal…so let me rephrase (since it looks like Kelly Loeffler was pulling some hinky shit too):
Okay everyone, are the tumbrel wheels greased up and ready to go?
Jeffro
@Thor Heyerdahl: that would be a yes, TH
Ksmiami
@J R in WV: It’s material non public information- throw the book at them.
Melusine
@raven: Lovely to see you again!
Ksmiami
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Treat them like the fascists they are..
PaulWartenberg
We have AT LEAST Burr and Loeffler caught in the act of selling stocks about to get hit by the pandemic (and in Loeffler’s case she bought stock in companies about to see more business because of it).
Anyone else remember Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise”? It was the first time I ever heard the phrase “Corrupt Like a Senator.” I didn’t fully grok it until I was in college during the Bush years and the Anita Hill scandal broke and I got to witness clueless elderly white guys fail at their duty.
This? This is 100 times more blatantly corrupt.
WE JAILED MARTHA STEWART FOR LESS.
Jeffro
@PaulWartenberg: Looks like Ron Johnson was in on this as well, and for even more than Burr and Loeffler
PaulWartenberg
@Jeffro:
I hope to God there’s even more GOP Senators dumb enough to pull this stunt, and I hope to God somebody other than trump’s corrupt DoJ can bring them all to justice in a jail cell without bail, next to the 400 or so inmates they wanted to keep locked up while coronavirus rampages the prison systems.
I wonder how Mitch gonna hold a quorum if 4 or more Republican Senators sitting in a cell on fraud charges.
Mai naem mobile
Burr’s Spokesmodel’s response to the Senator selling the stock is ‘lol.’ That’s her response – ‘lol.’ It’s like they need to be fed the corona virus on their caviar.
Raven Onthill
And we gave the two Presidential candidates with the strongest anti-corruption agendas – IIRC one of them even predicted something like this disaster – their walking papers.
Yes, I’m bitter.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Raven Onthill: because neither one could figure out that “I’m going to take away your current health insurance” was a losing message
the first step to being a good president is being a smart candidate
laura
@raven: look who’s stopped on by. Hello you!
dww44
@Damien: Exactly the right punishment.
dww44
@J R in WV: I know i should go google this, but was Burr actually a lawn mower salesperson?
Raven Onthill
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: or perhaps voters just wanted someone they knew from the Obama administration.
Whatever the case, the candidates who had the best ideas about responses to the current situation have been pushed away. Why does anyone competent even bother to run for elected office?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Raven Onthill:
I’ll try typing this more slowly: You can’t be a competent president if you’re not a competent candidate first.
Stop reading Jacobin and go read some polls: Eliminating private insurance isn’t popular, even if you call it “corporate” insurance.
Raven Onthill
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I don’t think that was what elected Biden. It came up for one or two news cycles and then faded away. (I avoid Jacobin except when something really useful is published there. I’m not that kind of leftist, never have been.) Charles Pierce, I think, has the right of it, here: people, at least the older voters who decided the primary, want a return to normality, and do not want to hear that there is no way back.
If your estimate of me is that far off, and you have plenty of information about me, what makes you so sure of your estimate of primary voters about whom you have far less information?
And, you know, if voters can’t take the trouble to look at a candidate’s record, why should any candidate bother to accumulate a good record? Just looking good on television seems to be enough. It is not hard to find out the basics of any candidate’s record any more, but older voters don’t seem to care.