Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
“the Trump administration plans to spend $400 million on “armored” Teslas in what’s reportedly the State Department’s biggest contract of 2025.
The five-year contract, which did not specify the Tesla model to be “armored,” was listed in the government’s procurement forecast for 2025”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/musk-slammed-state-department-reveals-053821508.html
“the lawsuit argues — in often dramatic terms — that the Appointments Clause of the Constitution calls for someone with such significant and “expansive authority” as Musk to be formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual,” says the lawsuit, filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez and officials from Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Nevada, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. “Although our constitutional system was designed to prevent the abuses of an 18th century monarch, the instruments of unchecked power are no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st century tech baron.” Two of the 14 states are led by Republican governors.”
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“The suit filed by the 14 states says the Constitution blocks the president from overriding “existing laws concerning the structure of the Executive Branch and federal spending.” As a result, the suit says, the commander-in-chief from is forbidden from creating — or even “extinguishing” — federal agencies, and from “slashing federal programs or offering lengthy severance packages as a means of radically winnowing the federal workforce,” in a nod to the Trump administration’s “deferred retirement” offer to government employees.”
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“”[T]he President does not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally dismantle the government. Nor could he delegate such expansive authority to an unelected, unconfirmed individual,” Thursday’s lawsuit says.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-against-doge-14-states-203603702.html
“The departures amounted to a stunning condemnation of the actions of the department’s leadership just days after a close Trump ally, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, was sworn in as attorney general. Just three weeks into Trump’s second term, the department has been rocked by firings, transfers and resignations.
Adams pleaded not guilty last September to charges that while in his prior role as Brooklyn borough president, he accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks such as expensive flight upgrades, luxury hotel stays and even a trip to a bathhouse from people wanting to buy his influence. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Federal agents had also been investigating some of Adams’ aides. It was unclear what will happen to that part of the investigation.
In a memo Monday, Bove had directed Sassoon to drop the case as soon as practicable, so the mayor of America’s largest city could help with Trump’s immigration crackdown and could himself campaign for reelection unencumbered by criminal charges. Adams faces multiple challengers in June’s primary.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/manhattan-us-attorney-resigns-refusing-192647391.html
“In the weeks since Trump’s inauguration, he and Musk have made claims from the Oval Office and on social media about specific programs such as disaster relief for states, lodging for migrants in cities and that 150-year-olds are receiving Social Security payments. However, what few details were provided were vague, unsupported and sometimes false.
In fact, Musk admitted Tuesday that some of its claims might be “incorrect.”
During his first news conference since starting DOGE, Musk backtracked on a claim that $50 million was spent by the federal government to give condoms to Gaza and Hamas. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt first made that claim at a White House briefing last month and was spread wide by Trump, Musk and Republican lawmakers.
In fact, the condoms were sent to a province in Mozambique named Gaza as part of an HIV prevention measure.”
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“On Thursday, the billionaire reposted to his 217.5 million followers on X a claim that Reuters was awarded $9 million by the Department of Defense for a “social engineering” program and called it a “scam.” Trump passed the claim along on his Truth Social platform, posting “GIVE BACK THE MONEY NOW!”
However, public records show the contract was awarded in 2018, during Trump’s first term, to Thompson Reuters Special Services division, not its news organization, following a request from the previous year from a Department of Defense agency for research on “automated defense social engineering attacks.””
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-musk-far-scant-evidence-212149158.html
“The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation’s largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection — potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
In addition, workers at some agencies were warned that large workplace cuts would be coming.
The decision on probationary workers, who generally have less than a year on the job, came from the Office of Personnel Management, which serves as a human resources department for the federal government. The notification was confirmed by a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.”
LC: Is firing people irrespective of the agency’s need for their skills faithfully executing the laws of the nation?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-lays-off-probationary-223642687.html
“President Donald Trump on Thursday signed his plan for reciprocal tariffs but delayed their implementation as his administration launches negotiations on a one-by-one basis with nations that could be impacted.
“The Plan shall ensure comprehensive fairness and balance across the international trading system,” read the memorandum signed by Trump.
The studies of each country could be completed by April 1, incoming Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday while standing at Trump’s side, adding that then “we’ll hand the president the opportunity” to start implementing them as soon as on April 2.”
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“Nations from India to Brazil to South Korea have long charged higher average duties on various goods and will clearly be in the middle of coming talks.
Trump’s memo Thursday outlined how non-tariff barriers, such as the VAT, would also be subject to reciprocity.
“For purposes of this United States Policy, we will consider Countries that use the VAT System, which is far more punitive than a Tariff, to be similar to that of a Tariff,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday.
That issue is likely to be a sizable stumbling block in relations with the European Union.”
LC: VATs are applied to domestic products and imports, so treating a VAT like an import tariff that is just applied to the import, makes no sense.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-signs-his-plan-for-reciprocal-tariffs–but-with-a-delay-191757993.html
Farmer Who Voted For Trump Gets Screwed By Musk’s DOGE Chaos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxBGMtfrc24
Why Norway is Becoming the World’s Richest Country
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO8vWJfmY88
‘Media, if you don’t use the words we want you to use, we are gonna make your job harder.’
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/11/associated-press-gulf-of-mexico-oval-office-016418
‘Frankly Insane’: Trump’s Plan to Ship Migrants to Guantanamo Could Quickly Collapse
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/02/05/frankly-insane-trumps-plan-to-ship-migrants-to-guantanamo-could-quickly-collapse-00202374