Rich guys installed loyalists in agencies that regulate them

Walter Einenkel of Daily Kos reported that on Friday the nasty guy threatened 50% tariffs on the European Union, then on Sunday had a call from Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission on Sunday and backed off. And on Tuesday he boasted what he had done was a successful negotiating tactic to speed things along. The article doesn’t say the nasty guy got anything through this negotiation, other than avoiding tariffs the EU would impose on the US. He also changed the deadline (by one day) for I’m not sure what, probably the date for trying to reimpose tariffs again. Market analysts have a new phrase for this tariff dance: TACO – Trump Always Chickens Out. In the comments of a pundit roundup on Kos there are a lot of cartoons about the nasty guy, chickens, and tacos. Also in the comments Shelly Kirchoff posted a meme:

Jake Tapper is now calling Joe Biden’s mental decline “Worse than Watergate.” If he was an actual journalist he would be reporting how Trump is committing crimes worse than Watergate every single day.

For those interested in the details James Fallows, writing for his own Substack, posted an account of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem telling Harvard University that she was canceling all the visas of their international students. That is followed by Harvard’s response and lawsuit, followed by a court issuing a temporary restraining order saying the visas must remain valid while the case goes through the courts. Kos celebrated that Daily Kos is now 23 years old. That’s geriatric in internet years. And the site has lasted because it created a community. He wrote:

That spirit is alive and well. In the past year alone: You published over 40,600 stories More than 4,500 different writers contributed The community submitted 1.9 million comments And logged-in users viewed community-authored stories 17.5 million times On an average day, 21,000 of you log in to read, write, recommend, and respond. On Election Day last year, nearly 45,000 of you showed up. You’re not background noise. You’re the engine.

Kos also noted the site changed its revenue stream (I think more than a year ago, though he doesn’t say) from ads, political campaigns, and advocacy groups. The members were the product. Not any more. Now 80% of revenue comes from members. Ten days ago Lisa Needham of Kos wrote about four Silicon Valley tycoons who were able to install loyalists in the government agencies that regulate their industries. The big one is, of course, Musk who through DOGE has people planted in over a dozen agencies, including the ones regulating his industries. Those industries include the FAA, NASA, NOAA, the departments of Transportation, Labor, and Energy. Peter Thiel got friends in the Department of Health and Human Services. The Wall Street Journal reported that HHS has given Thiel’s data company Palantir almost $376 million since 2010, meaning already a long term relationship. Palmer Lucky got a director of his company Anduril nominated to a high position in the Department of Defense. Anduril, Palantir, and SpaceX are all courting the DoD. This director has said he’ll keep his Anduril stock as he works for the company that has the power to give contracts to Anduril. The fourth is Marc Andreessen, whose role, at the moment, is a moneyman investing in his pals’ companies. Needham detailed more corruption between these four and the government, then concluded:

None of these technocrats will do the right thing and put the interests of the taxpayers and the country above their own. Indeed, they’re valuable to Trump precisely because of that. People who actually value the work of government and its role in regulating companies pose a problem for Trump, as he sees the presidency only as a vehicle for personal profit and a means for revenge. Now, he has four incredibly rich and terrifyingly amoral friends to help.

Almost two weeks ago Alix Breeden of Kos discussed the latest issues with AI systems. This was prompted by Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protections Agency saying he has plans to make the US the “AI capital of the world.” He didn’t say what that has to do with the EPA. Here are those issues: Americans fear that AI will take away jobs. It looks like AI is also making hiring decisions. Those decisions are likely to be as biased, or biased in new and unknowable ways (AI doesn’t say how it decides things) based on the biased data it was trained on or the biased connections it came up with. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is promoting a bill that proposed a ten year moratorium on state and local restrictions on AI. That means AI companies will have a decade to do what they please. More people are reporting the environmental harm of AI. That includes the huge amount of water AI computers will need, perhaps equivalent of half the water needs of Britain. And researchers are just beginning to look at the public health burden of AI needs. Maybe this is where the EPA comes in (as in an EPA that looks out for polluters, not the environment in its name). Zeldin likes that AI centers like huge amounts of energy. So Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is fast tracking uranium mines for nuclear power and signing new coal leases while delaying a new rule that would protect miners from black lung disease. Two weeks ago Needham reported that Russell Vought, in his side job as acting director of what’s left of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tossed out a proposed rule that would have limited what data brokers could do with private data, like credit history. Needham wrote this seems to be a part of the nasty guy’s assault on privacy. Needham then discussed several ways this is taking place or is planned. An autism database, supposedly to learn the “real” cause of autism. A massive government database, a terrible idea in many ways, one of which would be to make deportations easier. Hacks into and thefts from government databases even before they’re combined. Government used to strive to protect privacy. Now it is assaulting privacy. Also two weeks ago Needham discussed goodies for AI companies going into the budget bill the House has passed. A half billion so the Department of Commerce can adopt AI. The ban on AI restrictions at the state and local levels as mentioned above – free of restrictions AI companies can spew a lot of pollution. Permission to train AIs on copyrighted data without compensating the copyright holder (the reason why the U.S. Copyright Office Director was fired).

Protecting AI companies from spending their own money or obeying pesky regulations is just the latest iteration of the Trump administration’s AI fever dreams. AI is supposed to increase government efficiency by ferreting out fraud and replacing government workers. Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has already deployed AI at the Environmental Protection Agency to spy on employees, including looking for anti-Trump sentiments. It’s not clear how that sort of witch hunt increases efficiency, but at least it will cost a lot of money and line the pockets of some already stupendously wealthy people. And, really, isn’t that what the Trump administration is all about?

In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted G Elliott Morris of Strength in Numbers. I’ll summarize. There is a debate among Democratic strategists. One side says to read the polls and move to the middle on key issues (such as immigration) to win back the pivotal center. The other side says Democrats should shape public opinion, not just follow it, then lead on what is right. This side says the party lacks leadership, especially on corruption, democracy, and civil rights. There are plenty of examples to work with, such as the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Democrats need the courage and conviction on these issues to create mass support. Yeah, I’m looking for Democrats to take the second side. In the comments are a couple cartoons posted by paulpro. The first is by an author whose name I can’t make out. The caption is “Innovations in Medicaid” and shows a woman with an ice pack on her head, her left arm bandaged and in a sling, and with an IV pole behind her. She is on her knees mopping the floor with a bucket and sponge. The administrator standing over her says, “Good news, Beth! You’ve earned almost enough work-credit points for your pain killer!” The second is much further down in the comments. It is based on the King Charles visiting Canada to give the throne speech on the opening of the new parliament. The cartoon, created by deAdder, has the caption “How things have changed since 1776:” the king and the nasty guy are shown at podiums. The king’s podium says, “The King defends democracy.” The other says, “The President defends autocracy.”