If you’re interested in our legal strategy for suing Paramount over its allegedly corrupt acquisition of Warner Bros., I recommend this interview with @legalafmtn.bsky.social
Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 2w agoBallou: Based on reporting, Larry and David Ellison, talked about transforming CNN and potentially even firing anchors the president didn’t like. Once that happened, the regulatory barriers melted away. When you’re talking about giving a private benefit in exchange for a public act, that’s bribery.
![Tweet screenshot: SunDog @SUNDOG_TRX You never truly know who’s pulling the strings… 🤫 [AI-generated image of a corgi dog with a collar depicting the Tron logo, paws raised above the White House, with strings attached to the paws like a marionette] 2:30 AM Jul 24, 2025](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:exrxvyu6bpoym6mbnctke5tn/bafkreigsccsb3rboe3qjtuuicshmrhyho65cwntbj4syjn5y2gkil5m45a)
![Talking Points Memo: IRS Predicts DOGE [and Elon Musk] Lost Half a Trillion Dollars for the USA
By Josh Marshall, March 23 2025
The Washington Post reports today that the IRS’ internal projections estimate that the DOGE-driven disruptions to the IRS since the inauguration are on track to have reduced tax receipts by more than $500 billion by April 15th. This, to be clear, is not a final tally. It’s not April 15th yet. It’s a projection based on historical data, the number of people who’ve filed, paid owed amounts of tax, etc.
It’s worth taking a moment to put this number into some context in case half a trillion dollars doesn’t do it for you. Non-defense discretionary spending is the cost to fund the U.S. government once you take out mandatory spending (mostly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) and the cost of the U.S. military.
For 2023 that number was $917 billion. So that’s most of the stuff we think of as the government, apart from those payment programs and the military. In other words, in about eight weeks DOGE managed to lose the U.S. government — more or less light on fire — more than half of what goes to all non-defense discretionary spending.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:um3dlpu4s64lwq4lmqyo3dni/bafkreigjof3im6tjcrrja5cwq5t636d5bm7i2vnz5b2ugzxmb5ioz5arii)
