Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

This fight is for everything.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

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We still have time to mess this up!

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American history and black history cannot be separated.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / The Heist is Happening in Plain Sight

The Heist is Happening in Plain Sight

by | 80 Comments

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The other news that is going to, of course, have disastrous consequences down the road, is the heist Ron DeSantis is pulling right now:

Florida governor and Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has been crusading against “woke” investments for allegedly threatening his state employees’ retirement funds. But the most imminent threat to Florida public employees’ retirement dollars appears to be the massive state pension investments that have gone to some of the Republican Party’s Wall Street donors under DeSantis’ watch.

Despite a federal anti-corruption rule designed to prevent donors from receiving pension investments, private equity executives have donated millions to political groups supporting DeSantis, all while the governor oversaw the transfer of more than $1 billion of Florida public employees’ retirement dollars into these donors’ high-fee, high-risk “alternative investments.”

A Lever review found that had the state pension fund instead been invested in a simple, low-cost index fund, compared to its present mix of holdings, teachers, police officers, and other state employees would have about $10 billion more in their retirement funds.

Wokeness is just the excuse he is using, though:

As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis positions himself for a presidential bid, his state’s Republican-controlled legislature just sent him a bill that could enrich prospective Wall Street donors he may need to finance his campaign. That includes a GOP mega-donor who DeSantis recently met with as the bill advanced.

We all know how this will end, don’t we? With pensioners and state employees getting the shaft when the shit blows up.

Reader Interactions

80Comments

  1. 1.

    lowtechcyclist

    And of course, the Roberts Supreme Court made it next to impossible to prosecute DeSantis and his donors for creating this defrauding of the state employees when they let Bob McDonnell off the hook.

  3. 3.

    bbleh

    Excuse me but he is following the hallowed tradition of a former Governor of Florida and swindler of extraordinary repute who “oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in the nation’s history” and personally profited handsomely thereby!

    Frankly, I’m a little disappointed in Pudding Boy …

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    The thing that really puts the pudding on the middle finger is choosing Sarah Huckaster Slanders as his running mate. Who the fuck announces their VP before they even announce for the presidency? And what the fuck can he imagine SHS could bring to the ticket? (I know, I know — likeability.)

  6. 6.

    BellyCat

    Is anyone genuinely surprised at either Wall Street’s or Desantis’ actions?

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud: As Courtney sang:

    You want a part of me?
    Well, I’m not selling cheap
    No, I’m not selling cheap

  14. 14.

    Cameron

    What a guy! Jam the tourist industry by going paw-to-paw with Big Mouse; piss off publishers with book bans (why not make an enemy of Penguin?  It’s just the largest publishing house in the US); fuck the farmers by terrorizing migrant labor; trade away the public employees’ retirement funds (as a reward for putting up with you).  Is there anything this man can’t do?

  16. 16.

    West of the Rockies

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Christ, what a pair of sour-faced, charmless, snotty-voiced misanthropes they are.  They make Nixon and Agnew look like Martin & Lewis.

  18. 18.

    kindness

    Won’t the (initial) judges overseeing the impending lawsuits also see their retirement portfolio sink?  Seems to me someone hasn’t thought this through very well.

    It’s the Disney gambit.  DeSantis is playing 1/2 dimensional checkers and still can’t see 2 moves ahead.

  19. 19.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Delk: I believe I shall remove my eyes with a melonballer as a precautionary measure.  Best not to take chances.

  20. 20.

    Pennsylvanian

    He HAS to have committed federal crimes. Just the Texas – MV thing FFS.

    My outrage fatigue is on life support.

  25. 25.

    kalakal

    Fucking over the police pension fund is probably not a smart move. As for his SchutzStaffel private army election supervisory squad they might just vote with their feet if their benefits go up in smoke. For him cause and effect is a leap too far

  26. 26.

    cain

    I think a lot of govt workers should be pretty pissed off. Probably older Americans who maybe want to retire with a decent pension – imagine getting robbed. But hey he’s fighting the woke – who gives a shit if your daily paycheck is less, right?

  27. 27.

    cain

    @kalakal: oh shit – yeah. Do the florida politicans get fucked in this deal as well?

    There is also firefighters, and other emergency response folks.

    Of course, DeMantis is out there roaming around everywhere – only stopping by to sign a bunch of shit bills before running around the globe again.

  28. 28.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack: @bbleh:

    It took him 2 tries.

    Asked Rep Santos how he can effectively serve his constituents while facing indictment, a House ethics probe, and not serving on any committees. “I have not not done my job since I've gotten here. I can chew and walk gum at the same time. I can chew gum and walk at the same time” pic.twitter.com/Bh3PhCmWB2

    — Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 18, 2023

    The few extra “not”s in his statement make one wonder about what he’s denying…

    (The Tweet has a longer video clip.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  30. 30.

    Cameron

    A friend of mine in South Carolina just called me.  She told me the alternate graduation ceremony the New College seniors put on to protest Ron’s takeover of their school made it to the news up there.  Good.  I hope he’s really pissed, because there’s nothing he can do…..maybe I shouldn’t say that.  Could he get the Department of Education to rescind the kids’ degrees?

  31. 31.

    Jay

    Anybody ever notice that the white Deathsantis gumboots, are awfully close to the Green M&M boots that were gotten rid of, to much outcry from the 121st Snowflake Squad because so many people like Tucker were jerking off to the ads and packages?

    Might explain Deathsantis’s appeal to certain “Merkins”.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkin

  37. 37.

    James E Powell

    We all know how this will end, don’t we? With pensioners and state employees getting the shaft when the shit blows up.

    Democrats, African Americans, & immigrants will be blamed.

  38. 38.

    Steeplejack

    @Cameron:

    Alex Wagner covered it on MSNBC tonight and had Maya Wiley, the alternate-graduation speaker, on as a guest. (Side note: Too bad she’s not New York’s mayor now.)

  39. 39.

    Cameron

    I wonder if, when Pudding Boy is done eliminating wokemerizeraling (as Dubyuh might have it) from Florida, its nickname will become “the Sleeping Beauty State.”

  41. 41.

    Jinchi

    @SiubhanDuinne: Wow, I hadn’t read anything about that. How did she pop up as his pick for VP? It’s not like she’s a right wing celeb. She’s basically a female version of Mike Pence.

    I get the feeling this makes sense to the fundamentalist Christian  set.

  42. 42.

    robmassing

    @BellyCat:

    Is anyone genuinely surprised at either Wall Street’s or Desantis’ actions?

    That’s the problem. It has become so ordinary in the Republican party that it is practically treated as their governing philosophy.

  45. 45.

    TS

    @Cameron:

     Is there anything this man can’t do?

    He doesn’t seem able to stop people voting for him – and therein is the weirdest thing of all – people voted for him & the GOP legislature – or is the gerrymander so bad he just can’t lose?

  46. 46.

    Cameron

    @TS: I don’t know; I’ve only lived here a few years.  I think there is gerrymandering, but I don’t think it’s decisive.  What’s weird is that polls indicate his (and his Republican toadies’) policies are broadly unpopular, but this isn’t reflected in elections.  I defer to the many real Floridians on this site as to what’s really going on.

  49. 49.

    cope

    Well, fuck me.  We permanently departed the Mildew State in December of last year.  I thought I was beyond the reach of any machinations of Mr. Governor Ron Casey DeSantis but I am proved wrong.  Over a third of our retiree income is from my Florida State Retirement Fund, earned by teaching in FL public schools for twenty eight years, and now that might possibly be in jeopardy.  Not happy about the $$ but even if it all goes “POOF” in some hedge fund belonging to a GQP Megadonor, I will gladly give it up for the privilege of never having to tell anyone I am from Florida.

  50. 50.

    sdhays

    @TS: I recall Betty Cracker saying that the districts are set to the counties as per the Florida Constitution, so the disenfranchisement is baked in and virtually impossible to change.

    Miami-Dade gets the same representation as some empty county along the Georgia border.

  51. 51.

    eclare

    @cope:

    That is really shitty, that you moved away yet still are subject to Meatball’s actions.  Hope you are enjoying CO!

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    Probably already mentioned here, but ICYMI – HeatherCoxRichardson:

    Citing “changing business conditions,” Disney leadership today canceled plans to build an office complex near Orlando, Florida. The construction was estimated to cost about $1 billion, and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity projected it would bring to Florida more than 2,000 jobs with an average salary of $120,000. In his email to employees, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chair Josh D’Amaro made it clear that even more was on the line. He noted that Disney has planned more than $17 billion of construction in Florida, bringing about 13,000 jobs, over the next ten years but suggested that, too, was being reexamined. “I hope we’re able to,” he said.

    […]

    On April 26, Disney sued the governor and those of his top advisors behind the attacks on Disney. The lawsuit noted that for more than 50 years, Disney “has made an immeasurable impact on Florida and its economy, establishing Central Florida as a top global tourist destination and attracting tens of millions of visitors to the State each year.” But, it said, “[a] targeted campaign of government retaliation—orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech— now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”

    The lawsuit called out DeSantis’s actions as “patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional. But,” it said, “the Governor and his allies have made it clear they do not care and will not stop.” The company said it felt forced to sue for protection “from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”

    The fight between DeSantis and Disney illustrates the dramatic ideological change in the Republican Party in the last two years. No longer committed to keeping the government weak to stay out of the way of business development, the party is now committed to creating a strong government that enforces Christian nationalism.

    This is a major and crucially important political shift.

    […]

    Much more at the link.

    We cannot be complacent in our efforts to defeat these monsters.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  53. 53.

    sdhays

    Last year, I thought Floridians might be pissed about DeSantis shitting on their strained public schools – he was literally bringing almost random people in to babysit teach students! – but instead they gave him a landslide, whether by staying home or going out and voting for him. Too many people don’t seem to care.

    Is shoveling taxpayer money to NYC bankers a bigger scandal? I’m skeptical.

  54. 54.

    Jackie

    Too many outrages to keep up with. I just learned a 1st grade class in Waukesha, WS has been forbidden to sing Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton’s song Rainbowland at their end of year program. The teacher who protested most likely will be fired.

    Link to song and lyrics:

    https://youtu.be/v9s7w_BYLSg

  55. 55.

    cope

    @eclare: Neither my lovely wife (whose only sister we left behind in FL) nor I have had a picosecond of regret since relocating to Western Colorado. Seasons, weather changes, topography, family, scenery…we are loving it.

  56. 56.

    bookworm1398

    Unless there is something more, the Florida pension fund is doing the same thing that all other pension funds across the country are doing, also university endowments. I also note that the article gives no details about the ‘Lever review’, what time period, what index fund.
    This is not to say DeSantis has made good investment decisions, but this article is ridiculous.

  59. 59.

    I gotta get out of this place

    I remember back when good ol’ boy Jeb was governor. He helped his daddy (who was president at the time) and his daddy‘s friends by buying up a big huge chunk of Enron stock ($325 million) using the employees pension fund…Just before Enron collapsed.
    Then, when Voldemort was governor, he placed good old Jeb on the board that manages the stock buying for the fund. (Rumor was that it was in exchange for Jeb’s endorsement.) Jeb was also on the Lehman Brothers board at the time. The retirement board purchased a big huge chunk of Lehman brothers stock on Jeb’s advice ($322 million)… Just before Lehman Brothers collapsed. No one looked twice about Jeb’s duplicitous double dealing with the Lehman Brothers deal. He claimed that he had no idea that Lehman Brothers was going belly up, even though the biggest purchase was made within a week or two before the collapse (and after more than one Lehman Brothers board meeting.) Good ol’ boy Jeb ALONE cost employees almost 2/3 of a billion dollars in their retirement fund.
    Republican governors have repeatedly raided and lost hundreds of millions of dollars of the employees retirement fund in Florida. I wish the feds would stop the constant robberies. Since the Florida governor appoints the people on the board, it’s not gonna come from Florida.

  60. 60.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Another Scott:

    It has been pointed out and discussed.  One thing that was said that I found interesting was that Disney did not cancel this development because of DeSantis’s targeting.  Disney canceled the development because thanks to DeSantis’s anti-queer crusade, Disney employees aren’t willing to move to Florida.

  61. 61.

    scav

    oh dear, is playing with policeman’s pensions actually finally actually real money as opposed to political games with anyone else’s pensions to date? O horrors.

  62. 62.

    Maxim

    Sooner or later, some of DeSpicable’s actions are going to come back to bite him. I hope it’s sooner.

  63. 63.

    Kelly

    @TS:  is the gerrymander so bad he just can’t lose

    I don’t think anyone can gerrymander a statewide race. You need something like the Electoral College which as far as I know no state has. Seems Alabama or Mississippi has been working that kind of bullshit but hasn’t implemented it.

  64. 64.

    Jackie

    Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss strike a blow to Rudy!

    “A federal judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani to provide a detailed accounting of his finances and net worth in connection with a lawsuit filed by two Georgia poll workers who contend the Trump lawyer defamed them by publicly accusing them of fraud in the 2020 presidential election,” Politico reports.

    Here’s hoping they prevail and that Rudy actually has money!

  66. 66.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Jackie: I would think at the least Rudy would be getting pensions from his USAG  and his mayoral jobs so they should be able to get something from him.

  67. 67.

    TS

    @sdhays:

    Miami-Dade gets the same representation as some empty county along the Georgia border.

    That sorts the legislature for the GOP

    @Kelly:

    I don’t think anyone can gerrymander a statewide race.

    They can however have multiple candidates that give an advantage to one party or the other. I’m sure the GOP have ideas – maybe it is just lack of turnout by democrats – could also relate to those areas where the wait to vote is 7+ hours – I still remember seeing folks at 1am waiting to vote for President Obama in 2008. A gerrymander by any other name.

  68. 68.

    Rebels Dad

    @cope: I understand. I am half-Floridian, on my father’s side, and that’s not something I ever bring up in polite company

    ETA: Apologies to Betty and Adam, who are wonderful people.

  69. 69.

    Rebels Dad

    @TS: To paraphrase our poet president, Dubya: A turdblossom by any other name would stink just as much.

  72. 72.

    Shalimar

    @Jackie: I hope Rudy has money they can take too, but unfortunately I suspect he has hidden it all already to keep his divorcing wife from getting it.

  73. 73.

    Barry

    @SiubhanDuinne: “The thing that really puts the pudding on the middle finger is choosing Sarah Huckaster Slanders as his running mate. ”

     

    Why in God’s name would she accept that?  I see the odds as strongly against DeSantis, so all that she would get is a year of hard work for squat.  If DeSantis wins, she’s vice president – does she value that over the Governorship of Ark?

     

    And that is assuming that DeSantos can survive Trump, which would only happen by Trump having a heart attack.

  74. 74.

    Barry

    @kalakal: “Fucking over the police pension fund is probably not a smart move.”

    He and the rest of the GOP assume that the police will vote and endorse Republican, because that is what they are.

  76. 76.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Pennsylvanian: Yeah a bunch of people were kidnapped on his orders and now this…how is not going to prison for these things at some point in the future? It’s insane that he and TFG are treated as legit presidential candidates.

    A Democrat does something unseemly but not illegal and it’s talked about until the end of time but these guys break actual laws and just skate along.

  77. 77.

    Bugboy

    …would have about $10 billion more in their retirement funds.

    I have over 35 years in the FRS, and let me tell you this is a feature, not a bug.  Republican’ts could give a rat’s ass about the fiscal state of retirement funds, as long as they get to “dip their beaks”, as they say…

  79. 79.

    leeleeFL

    @Omnes Omnibus: No, just proof positive that Devolder/Santos is not just a serial liar but also an absolute fecking idiot!  It is amazing he exists, but maybe he really doesn’t!?

  80. 80.

    PDXBob

    @cope: As a beneficiary in the Florida Pension System, you would have a right to sue for breach of fiduciary duty.  The people in charge of the money should be making investment decisions for the benefit of the participants, not themselves.  There are been a number of lawsuit against large employers for the fees being charged within the retirement plan, as well as making bad investment choices.

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