Comments on: Hard at work for the American people

Hard at work for the American people

Winnie the Proust — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:48:43 -0800

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development official website.

Check the URL in case you have any doubt. Here's an archived copy because otherwise people in the future might think you were exaggerating.

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:51:24 -0800

Is capitalizing The Radical Left new or have they been doing this for a while now and I've just sanitized my feed enough not to notice.

By: Mayor West

Mayor West — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:53:27 -0800

I especially like the modal popup that reappears on every page load, just in case the MS Paint-looking red banner at the top isn't enough to draw your eye. Kind of fitting that whoever shoehorned this monstrosity into the existing HUD site doesn't know about any post-1993 web technologies, such as cookies.

By: cooker girl

cooker girl — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:57:24 -0800

That's weird, I thought the Republicans controlled every single fucking branch of the fucking government these days.

By: growabrain

growabrain — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:02:29 -0800

They don't give a shit anymore about anything

By: H. Roark

H. Roark — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:04:28 -0800

I understand that Dear Leader does not feel shame, but I sure do. I don't know if this will ever wash out.

By: CostcoCultist

CostcoCultist — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:10:13 -0800

Seriously? WTF

By: reedbird_hill

reedbird_hill — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:11:49 -0800

I don't know if this will ever wash out. I keep reminding myself that one of the goals of Project 2025 - maybe the primary one - is to turn Americans against the very idea of the federal government. Despite knowing this, at least in my case, they've probably been successful.

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:12:39 -0800

The popup that says the same text in the same font as what's underneath it, is [chef's kiss]

By: chavenet

chavenet — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:13:15 -0800

so, Conservative Housing & Urban Development ... C.H.U.D. ["They're not staying down there anymore!"]

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:14:08 -0800

Everything is stupid forever now.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:35:04 -0800

How To File A Hatch Act Complaint. The Hatch Act, a federal law passed in 1939, limits certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state, D.C., and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs. The law's purposes are to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.

By: JoeZydeco

JoeZydeco — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:37:49 -0800

I mean, who else can they blame now that Antifa has closed up. They even had to cancel their bake sale!

By: Vhanudux

Vhanudux — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:40:47 -0800

They also just illegally fired two whistleblowers who exposed that HUD isn't enforcing the Fair Housing Act.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:42:01 -0800

That's weird, I thought the Republicans controlled every single fucking branch of the fucking government these days. Trust me. Your nutjob uncle will tell you that liberals are secretly running everything. Unless it's something he thinks is good, then it's "Trump pwning the libs." I want to know what's on the liberal's umpteen-trillion-dollar wishlist. Might it be restoring funding to medcaid and medicare?

By: JohnFromGR

JohnFromGR — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:44:10 -0800

A Radical Left? In this economy?

By: caviar2d2

caviar2d2 — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:50:07 -0800

This makes me so angry. Angrier than waiting to "vote hard in 2026". There won't be anything left by then.

By: chavenet

chavenet — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:52:23 -0800

Thorzdad: "Your nutjob uncle will tell you that liberals are secretly running everything" A sour old joke from prewar Germany has two elderly Jews sitting in a Berlin park, with one of them reading a Yiddish paper and the other one scanning the pages of Der Stürmer. The latter Jew is laughing. This proves too much for the former Jew, who says: "It's not enough you read that Nazi rag, but you find it funny?" "Look," replies the other. "If I read your paper, what do I see? Jews deported, Jews assaulted, Jews insulted, Jewish property confiscated. But I read Der Stürmer, and there's finally some good news. It seems that we Jews own and control the whole world!"

By: medusa

medusa — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:57:44 -0800

The Radical Left ate my homework!

By: dlugoczaj

dlugoczaj — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:58:15 -0800

From another site: I called HUD (800-347-3735), waited on hold to talk to someone in the "whistleblower" dept, and the guy answering the phone told me they are getting a lot of calls on this and they've been told to take record my complaint. I complained via the button on the website for feedback.

By: aintnolobos

aintnolobos — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:58:22 -0800

This makes me so angry. Angrier than waiting to "vote hard in 2026". There won't be anything left by then. Electoral politics are over until the Democratic Party is over, or at least the party as we know it.

By: Seven Hundred Angry Bees

Seven Hundred Angry Bees — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:01:34 -0800

oh my god a teenage hacker from the early '90s defaced the website someone call zero cool

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:02:45 -0800

phunniemee: "Is capitalizing The Radical Left new or have they been doing this for a while now and I've just sanitized my feed enough not to notice." Germans do capitalization differently.

By: Winnie the Proust

Winnie the Proust — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:07:16 -0800

They forget to use Fraktur.

By: Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:19:31 -0800

Anytime Trump talks about a "Radical Left" I always wonder "America has a Left?"

By: Ayn Marx

Ayn Marx — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:20:45 -0800

At least the site offers a way to provide feedback. :)

By: samthemander

samthemander — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:21:31 -0800

Wow. Truly, truly wow. And we're not allowed to have political materials near polling places...

By: sotonohito

sotonohito — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:24:51 -0800

It never ceases to amaze me just how fragile all of our supposed protective institutions are. I know it wasn't really all that sudden, it took the slow build of radical right wing authoritarians in the House and Senate, stealing a Supreme Court seat then cramming manifestly unqualified cultists into vacancies, and more. But it feels sudden because it looks like Trump arrived on Jan 20 and everything stopped working the way it used to. People object sometimes to the "imagine of Barack Obama did X" framing of something Trump did, but I think it's useful to remember just how far we've fallen, and how quickly. As a serious exercise in remembering how shitty things are and how quickly we got here, spend a few minutes explaining everything that's happened since Jan 20 as if you had to bring someone up to date who'd been in a coma from June 2024 until today. It's a monumental task, and so much is mind boggling in how brazen it was and how much it showed that the entire US government had a) become a monarchy without the mainstream types noticing, and b) everything had depended on the President just not acting like Trump is. Earlier Republicans could have done a lot of what Trump has, maybe not all of it, but a lot if only they'd realized they really could get away with it. Prior to Trump Presidents asked "can I do this?" Trump asked "who's going to stop me?" And we know the answer to that: no one. So yeah, Trump is turning .gov websites that are theoertically supposed to be nonpartisan into his own campaign billboards. Who's going to stop him? It's clearly, blatantly, illegal. But any lawsuit would be tied up in Trump friendly courts and the Supremes will shadow docket it to keep the political ads up until the budget is passed. I'm not saying we shouldn't be suing him. Or that we shouldn't keep pointing out how blatantly illegal all this is. But who's going to stop him? The answer remains the same: no one. It would take 20ish Republicans defecting, or if they enforce the Pedophile Rule it'd take 110 defecting Republicans just to impeach. Removing him would require a whopping 20 defecting Republican Senators and that's assuming not one single Democratic Senator (hi Fetterman!) votes to save Trump. That's not going to happen. So where do we go from here? It's not even been a full year yet, and we're already looking at Trump weaponizing the DOJ against his political enemies, sending masked goons to stomp people in cities, turning the entire Federal government into his own personal campaign ad, getting major corporations to do anything he asks, and more! Assume we have elections in 2026. Assume we have real and fair elections in 2026. Assume we have real, fair, elections in 2026 and the Democrats get a majority in the House. Hell, assume a miracle occurs and the Democrats take the Senate in 2026 [1]. Who's going to stop him? The Supreme Court has already ruled that any budget passed by Congress is optional and that Trump can rearrange the money at his whim. I'm not even sure why he, or the Republicans, are fighting so hard on this. Tell the more rightward handful of Democrats that their wish list is in the budget, pass it, then Trump just rips it out. Since the Supreme Court has already ruled that Constitution be damned the House does not set the budget, the President does, he could just do that. Shit, I wouldn't be surprised if he goes Caesarist and really does have the Treasury strike a trillion dollar coin and cut Congress out entirely. "See America, Congress is worthless and would have shut down the Government, but I saved us in a totally cool and totally legal way". So even if we win in 2026 what changes? Cuz, you know, we're not going to get 51 firebreathing anti-Trump votes in the Senate. If we get 51 they'll be mostly mealy mouthed appeasement fanatics who worship at the alter of bipartisanship and would never dream of being incivil. I am certain that Trump will run again in 2028. Yes, the Constitution says he can't. So what? Who's going to stop him? And then what? I forget who I heard describe it this way, maybe Red from Overly Sarcastic Productions but she doesn't normally do politics, but when he finally does leave office the post-Trump era will be more like the post-9/11 era or the post-COVID era. We won't just get over Trump. He has already cast a long shadow, and it deepens and grows every day he's in office. When he's gone it'll be "post-Trump" like we say "post-Apocalypse". [1] Extremely unlikely, they'd need to hold every seat they currently have and flip four Republian seats, and all the Republican seats up this cycle are in deeply red states.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:29:54 -0800

....I was about to go on a Ralph Wiggum riff off Medusa's joke, but coming after that from sotonohito just feels wrong.

By: Kitteh

Kitteh — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:36:38 -0800

There are a certain set of Canadians (I will guess they vote Conservative) who downplay the very real threat of an authoritarian government as our neighbour by saying, "Listen, it's only four years and then things will go back to the way they were." No. No, they won't. As has been pointed out, even IF he does somehow not continue this horror show in 2028, the damage is so immense, it may very well take generations to correct, if it ever can.

By: reedbird_hill

reedbird_hill — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:36:41 -0800

It never ceases to amaze me just how fragile all of our supposed protective institutions are. Yeah, that to me is the most shattering takeaway from the last eight months: there never was a rule of law, just what a previous cabal of the most wealthy and powerful white men decided was in their best interest. And that has now been largely supplanted by a different cabal (oligarchs vs. corporatists) with even more transparently brutal standards. The entire thing was a sham.

By: tiny frying pan

tiny frying pan — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:37:51 -0800

I'm tired of feeling sick to my stomach.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:40:36 -0800

Oh, and if you need a specific name for your Hatch complaint - the CIO for HUD is Eric Sidle.

By: Winnie the Proust

Winnie the Proust — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:12:54 -0800

everything had depended on the President just not acting like Trump is. Previous presidents couldn't have done this because in the past Congress and SCOTUS would not have allowed it. The rule of law doesn't depend on one person, it depends on multiple people agreeing to respect the truth and the institutions. Republicans have spent the last thirty years learning to disrespect the truth, to disrespect institutions. They did it in the name of winning, and because they didn't think it matter. They did it through racist redistricting and a thousand other wink and nod policies and actions. Then Trump spent the last eight years hammering home the principle that no lie is too big if it supports your side. In his first term the message had gotten through enough to save him from impeachment but not enough to give him the free hand he has today. Today Congress might as well not exist, and SCOTUS just checks the name on the brief and if it says 'Trump' they agree. So at this point they are fooling enough of the people enough of the time. But, for good or ill, you can't fool the markets, at least not forever. Eventually the bottom will fall out of the economy through all this gross mismanagement. And eventually we'll have natural disasters with no FEMA to respond, and we'll have pandemics with lollipop-sucking lunatics running the CDC. Then maybe the tech bros and other oligarchs will come around to the fact that there is a value to the rule of law, and science, and collecting accurate data and acting on it. But it'll be painful.

By: 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a

922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:20:18 -0800

Winnie the Proust: "So at this point they are fooling enough of the people enough of the time. But, for good or ill, you can't fool the markets," Pfizer's stock has gone up after TrumpRX was announced. Other pharma companies will be getting i line pretty quick.

By: OnceUponATime

OnceUponATime — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:26:10 -0800

It never ceases to amaze me just how fragile all of our supposed protective institutions are. It's always this fragile. Because all of society is socially constructed, pretty much be definition. Laws are just words, mostly -- there's no way to enforce them on EVERYONE. For good or ill, they always mostly depend on voluntary compliance, with occasional enforcement action as motivation for that voluntary compliance. And the Supreme Court doesn't have a way of enforcing its rulings at all. But all that means Trump's power is fragile too. We don't have to win a violent conflict (which is good, because we wouldn't win.) I mean -- He's just some old guy. He's not magic or anything. If no one listens to what he says or does what he tells them, then he has no power. His power is every bit as socially constructed as that of the institutions he's been wrecking.

By: tiny frying pan

tiny frying pan — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:29:34 -0800

922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a: "Pfizer's stock has gone up after TrumpRX was announced. O" I read this first here and had to Google and its real. Why is everything real

By: latkes

latkes — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:53:26 -0800

I have been thinking about how this is all a difference in scale, in presentation, but not in content, from what we have been seeing for decades and the slow decline of liberalism that seems to correspond with an overall weakening of the state. HUD has been steadily defunded and it's work steadily privatized for more than 40 years - most of my life. The federal government long ago stopped building housing, stopped maintaining housing. I remember well the Clintonian appeal to "values" and "self sufficiency" (welfare offices in CA are literally called, "self sufficiency centers"). We spend less and less and do less and less (what is done is farmed out to shoestring nonprofits). Though there are ups and downs, the overall trend has steadily declined under republicans and democratic regimes. I think you can see the same in immigration policy: each administration fought to be more restrictive than the last. Certainly there was variation, but the overall trend was toward a more criminalized and restrictive immigration regime under both republicans and democrats. Believe me, I feel the attacks on trans people (and the larger attack on women and queers that that inherently entails) as specific and different under Trump (well, it's also a return, but a reversal of a progressive trend), but overall, I think Trump represents a continuation, not a change, from the direction the US has been heading since the late 70s. Fucking horrifying though. I work primarily with patients who are homeless at a hospital that primarily supports patients who rely on Medicaid in an area with among the highest homeless population in the country. The attacks on HUD are a fucking nightmare. But we need a very different paradigm.

By: The Ardship of Cambry

The Ardship of Cambry — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:55:52 -0800

The Department of State and travel.state.gov both look normal. But then, large swathes of DOS are considered exempt from furloughs because of national security concerns.

By: Winnie the Proust

Winnie the Proust — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:05:20 -0800

Pfizer's stock has gone up after TrumpRX was announced. Other pharma companies will be getting in line pretty quick. Short term the markets will do what they'll do, but long term reality will kick in. Our economic system depends on the rules and good data and if you poison those too much it'll start to break. You can gut NOAA and the national weather service and FEMA and things won't fall apart immediately. But eventually the price will be paid. Similar story for the CDC. Similar story for gross economic mismanagement.

By: j_curiouser

j_curiouser — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:20:17 -0800

Keynes trope here

By: Slinga

Slinga — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:48:42 -0800

Every time I see that phrase I immediately think of SNL's Weekend Update: Coincidentally, a radical left is also what [Mitch] McConnell takes to purposely run over stray dogs.

By: Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon

Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:55:01 -0800

I am certain that Trump will run again in 2028. Yes, the Constitution says he can't. So what? Who's going to stop him? This is accurate. The only corrective in action now is lifespan, and there is some comfort in that. The current head of state in the US is not well, and his health is worsening daily. When he goes, the loyalty shatters

By: 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a

922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:01:49 -0800

Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon: "When he goes, the loyalty shatters" the infighting will go first.

By: the Real Dan

the Real Dan — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:25:05 -0800

They're not supposed to deface the federal websites with this until tomorrow morning. That's right, tomorrow you'll see this at NASA.gov. HUD.GOV is kind of jumping the gun on this, perhaps to prove enthusiastic support.

By: adrienneleigh

adrienneleigh — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:34:27 -0800

Per Marisa Kabas at the Handbasket, Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems for potential gov't shutdown

By: Barbara Spitzer

Barbara Spitzer — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:43:32 -0800

One of Warren Buffet's comments on business, "You don't know who is swimming naked until the tide goes out." Given the thrashing destructiveness of this regime, when the tide goes out this time, it is going to be very ugly for a very long time. Watching the parade of corporate executives genuflecting before the President has confirmed my low opinion of the lot of them. These are not clever people with long range foresight, preparing for the mess that is going to come, so when inflation starts creeping up and unemployment does the same, they will make things worse. I am tipping stagflation comes rampaging through the US economy in the next two years, after an absolutely bumper share market rise. By which time the rest of the world may be able to detach from the worst of the fallout.

By: the Real Dan

the Real Dan — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:52:11 -0800

Oh thank goodness: Tomorrow's website announcement reads: "Due to the lapse in federal government funding, AGENCY is not updating this website. We sincerely regret this inconvenience." Somebody at HUD got carried away.

By: They sucked his brains out!

They sucked his brains out! — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:57:15 -0800

People voted and abstain-voted for this guy. This is what enough of the country wanted, and so this jelly donut is exactly what we're all getting. Enjoy the donut, I guess.

By: anti social order

anti social order — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 16:03:09 -0800

> So where do we go from here? We can't talk about where we need to go due to content restrictions. > I have been thinking about how this is all a difference in scale, in presentation, but not in content, from what we have been seeing for decades "Fascism is capitalism in decay." -- V. Lenin. The dems have chosen their rich donors and are controlled opposition or just acting like it (see 2000 election for refresher). pretty sure theres a bunch of schumer dems just waiting for permission to give up and give in to get along, never liked those people anyway. Even here, people reject the evidence of whats going on and try to play by the old rules. you can't call the cops for protection when the cops are the ones beating you. on preview - "Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems" -- quick post the Hatch Act tip line again! surely THIS time..

By: Rykey

Rykey — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 16:14:01 -0800

Then maybe the tech bros and other oligarchs will come around to the fact that there is a value to the rule of law, and science, and collecting accurate data and acting on it. But it'll be painful. I'm no historian or economist, but it feels like the relative small-l liberalism that expanded in many parts of American society in the 20th century was pretty much an accident. Between a major depression that led to Roosevelt's election, and then being on the winning side of a world war that didn't damage our country's infrastructure or geography, a pretty unique situation presented itself. We exploded in economic, industrial, and military power, and as a result we could (mostly) afford to hang on to the "Roosevelt frame" of American politics and government for a while. Then eventually that all went to hell, and we'll probably never get anything like it back absent another huge disaster that allows for rebuilding within the right frame.

By: AlSweigart

AlSweigart — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 17:04:19 -0800

Just in case the archive link goes down, let me describe the site for future folks: A giant red banner with white text at the top of the page reads: "The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people." Below that, another giant banner that reads: ""God blessed us with this great nation, and together, we can increase self-sufficiency and empower Americans to climb the economic ladder toward a brighter future." - Secretary Scott Turner" If you scroll down a bit, a pop-up overlay covers the screen, repeating in giant text: "The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people." This banner and pop-up overlay appear on every single page on the site. Every. Single. One.

By: Didymus

Didymus — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 17:19:43 -0800

Yes it's as though the site has been hacked The terrible shit in the news is giving me whiplash, I hate to think what they're getting away with in the dark

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 17:47:09 -0800

Does anyone else get "You don't have the appropriate permissions" when they try to do the Hatch Act webform?

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 17:52:11 -0800

Electoral politics are over until the Democratic Party is over, or at least the party as we know it. If people were ok with letting this insanity happen, despite being told over and over this was what would happen if they didn't vote against it, I seriously doubt the Democratic party can morph into anything those folks will be willing to support. They will always find a reason to nope out.

By: mstokes650

mstokes650 — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 18:50:07 -0800

And eventually we'll have natural disasters with no FEMA to respond Not "eventually". From the WSJ, 2 days ago: FEMA Is Paralyzed. Disaster-Torn Communities Are Paying the Price.

By: Phssthpok

Phssthpok — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 19:08:14 -0800

> Does anyone else get "You don't have the appropriate permissions" when they try to do the Hatch Act webform? I also get that when I try the "file anonymously" link. But I was able to file by using the green File a Complaint button.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 20:09:56 -0800

"Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems" -- quick post the Hatch Act tip line again! surely THIS time.. It's the GOVERNMENT, dude, not Santa. Have some fucking patience to let things WORK before going full Bill Paxton.

By: are-coral-made

are-coral-made — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 22:41:01 -0800

economist/yougov poll September 26 - 29 2025 (yougov.com)

63% of Americans think a government shutdown is very or somewhat likely to occur this year, including majorities of Democrats (74%) and Republicans (55%) If a shutdown occurs in the next few weeks, more say that Republicans will be most responsible than say Democrats will be (33% vs. 27%); 31% say the two parties will be equally responsible Similar shares of Democrats (64%) and Republicans (61%) believe lawmakers should compromise on the budget

I wonder if those "who is to blame for the shutdown" numbers of roughly equal thirds rep : dem : both will hold in polls over the next few weeks or start to change significantly. I guess we'll find out.

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 23:01:39 -0800

"who's going to stop me?" And we know the answer to that: no one. Traditionally it would have been those meddling kids, but they work for DOGE now.

By: Winnie the Proust

Winnie the Proust — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 04:36:51 -0800

It's been updated.

By: adamsc

adamsc — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 04:48:00 -0800

The Democratic messaging does seem negligent. I've received like a hundred messages from Democrats asking for money in the last couple of days, and not one of them has mentioned the shutdown or what they're holding out for. I'd think they could send a message, maybe post anything at all on their websites, saying that they're demanding health insurance premiums don't go up for millions of people. Toss in that picture of them all in the House ready to negotiate with all of the Republicans gone ("we're here for American families, they're off talking to the billionaires whose tax cuts ate causing those premium hikes"), etc. and it seems like they could have a pretty good pitch for voters but when I was looking last night there was this odd mix where a couple of people likeElizabeth Warren appears to understand what job she has but Schumer, Jeffries, etc. had nothing on their websites and democrats.org was just business as usual. I think AOC is right to highlight his weakness along with the risk but she can't do that for the entire party.

By: tiny frying pan

tiny frying pan — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 05:06:27 -0800

Democrats embrace a shutdown fight in a rare moment of unity against Trump

By: anti social order

anti social order — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 07:55:19 -0800

> Have some fucking patience to let things WORK before going full Bill Paxton. After how "trusting the system to work" went with the Jan 6 coup plotters, you have the nerve to tell people to sit on their hands and wait patiently for someone else to do something? That's a terrible plan.

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 08:16:19 -0800

Trump and co. committed multiple, prominent, undisputable violations of the Hatch Act during their first term Nothing at all happened to them. And that was before the entire apparatus of government was being bent to their will. I think it is... exceptionally optimistic to think that Hatch Act violations could deter them in any way in 2025. The thing about hoping for a hail Mary of the tax-evasion-took-down-Capone variety is that Al Capone did not in fact control the IRS. Also, he did not have the ability to fire, defund, or launch federal investigations into agents who attempted to make tax cases against him.

By: RonButNotStupid

RonButNotStupid — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 08:39:36 -0800

It's the GOVERNMENT, dude, not Santa. Have some fucking patience to let things WORK before going full Bill Paxton. I stopped believing in Santa Mueller a long time ago.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:04:00 -0800

I stopped believing in Santa Mueller a long time ago. The person scoffing at others over the Hatch complaint appears to still believe in instantaneous solutions. Anything having to do with law and the government takes time - but that doesn't mean it's not happening. Just today we had a court dismiss a Trump-appointed judge because she overstayed her temporary contract. Another judge blocked Trump's attempts to withhold security funding in blue states. Still another judge - one hired by Ronald Reagan - ruled against Trump in a case about his attempts to deport pro-Palestinian students, and basically called him a dipshit while doing so.

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:49:47 -0800

EC, I think all of those things, and things like them, are good actions and should be pursued. I say it won't deter them in any way, but to be more accurate, what I mean is that it will not deter them in any momentum-killing or lasting way. Still worth doing, sure. But I do think it really behooves us at this point to stop seeing every minor opportunity to resist as the dramatic third act turn where things start to turn for the better. We need a far bigger fight. There is no surely this/deus ex machina coming.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:03:59 -0800

I agree that there is no deus ex machina. However, I was not proposing the Hatch act complaint AS a deus ex machina move in the first place. Instead, I was proposing it as a potential battlefront in which one could JOIN the far bigger fight you say needs to happen. The other thing I see is people calling for a "general strike" or "military force" or "fighting in the streets", and a) not everyone is willing to do that, and b) those are not the only options. For those who are willing and able to do so, sure - but consider how much more damage could be done to the Powers That Be if their forces were diminished because they were coping with a Federal Lawsuit in Boston AND a Hatch Act complaint in DC AND a street protest in Des Moines AND an IRS lawsuit in Tempe AND a demonstration in Yosemite AND a federal investigation in New Orleans AND.....

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:05:42 -0800

And to add to the list now, a potential 25th Amendment case brought on by Illinois.

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:09:13 -0800

I think the fight has changed and the left has not adapted conceptually at all. At this point, it feels like every day, our supposed best and brightest starch their shirts, wax their mustaches, and call upon their seconds to engage in a fresh round of gentlemanly fisticuffs, only to be savaged with a switchblade every fucking time.

By: subdee

subdee — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:13:26 -0800

Shutdown related commentary: Legislation to keep the government running is subject to a filibuster and requires 60 votes in the Senate. This gives Democrats room to make demands, and at the very least should bring Republicans to the negotiating table. But Republicans aren't negotiating. Instead, the Republican leadership recessed Congress in the days leading up to the shutdown, while Trump spent the weekend at a golf tournament. So Republicans are holding fast to something that's deeply unpopular and are unwilling to enter into negotiations with Democrats about it. This tells us two important things about the moment we are in. It tells us that Republicans do not recognize the legitimate place of the opposition to have a say in governing. And it tells us that Republicans do not care about public sentiment when it contradicts their agenda. https://wolvesandsheep.substack.com/p/the-fundamental-problem-at-the-heart

By: subdee

subdee — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:14:45 -0800

Or in my own words, re: the US government shutdown, don't let Trump & his enablers get away with calling it a "clean" continuing resolution. The CR isn't "clean" because it continues cuts from the "Big Beautiful Bill" that Republicans passed without a single vote from Democrats, and that are overwhelmingly unpopular with the public. They didn't attempt to negotiate then, and they aren't attempting to negotiate now. You can tell they aren't trying to negotiate because house Republicans all went home this week (rather than swear in the tie breaking vote to release the Epstein files). If Republicans want to govern unilaterally, they can do so by getting rid of the filibuster. The trouble with that approach is that Democrats will then be able to govern how they wish if they take the House and Senate in midterms in 2028. It's the same reason why the Supreme Court is using the shadow docket to give Trump his legal victories, without ruling on the merits of the cases. They don't want to establish a precedent that can later be used by Democrats. The whole "pass the CR now and we'll negotiate later" makes no sense because if the argument is that the CR is just continuing the status quo, then the subsidies ARE the status quo. Extend them now and then address them later in the upcoming budget if that's what you want to do.

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:16:28 -0800

EmpressCallipygos: "And to add to the list now, a potential 25th Amendment case brought on by Illinois." That's something Pritzker said should be looked at. AFAIK, states cannot bring on a 25th Amendment case. If I understand correctly, the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress would have to decide collectively that the president is unfit. At this point, this is a bit like hoping that the redneck beating the shit out of you in a parking lot might be stopped based on moral objections from the drunk girlfriend and buddies who are cheering him on. I'd love to be wrong, so please straighten me out if I am. But this feels like very empty theater at best, if not simply campaigning for a 2028 run.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:18:17 -0800

At least SOMEONE actually introduced a 25th-Amendment pull into the conversation at long last.

By: Winnie the Proust

Winnie the Proust — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:21:08 -0800

At this point, it feels like every day, our supposed best and brightest starch their shirts, wax their mustaches, and call upon their seconds to engage in a fresh round of gentlemanly fisticuffs, only to be savaged with a switchblade every fucking time. It is easy to say that Democrats aren't doing enough. It is harder to say what specific actions an elected Democrat could take that would make any difference. That is why this shutdown feels refreshing, as damaging as it is. Democrats in Congress are finally using the little bit of power they have to force the issue and stop pretending that we're still operating under the old rules. What will come of it? I don't think anyone knows. But at least Senate Dems have stopped shrugging and going along as if nothing has changed.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:21:51 -0800

And as for the "looking good for a 2028 campaign" allegations - dude, I don't care if the reason Pritzker said it was because of that, or because he wanted attention, or because he had a dream his granddaughter's teddy bear ordered him to. He's someone with a mouthpiece that has uttered those words and could get people talking about it, which is yet another ball rolled down the hill. (In movie terms - it's like the boulder scene from Buster Keaton's Seven Chances. Buster Keaton can dodge one boulder okay, but a steadily-growing avalanche of them?)

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:23:04 -0800

The 25th Amendment has been brought up on the regular for nine years. It's just that since it's essentially impossible to use it in this way, it always goes away. The 25th is not a mechanism by which the opposition can remove a POTUS they and/or the public feel is beyond the pale. It's a mechanism for the Veep and the cabinet to depose a sick/unwell POTUS and then replace them from within their own administration to carry on their collective agenda unhindered.

By: RonButNotStupid

RonButNotStupid — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:25:15 -0800

According to the wikipedia entry for the Hatch Act the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) are responsible for enforcement of the Hatch Act. Trump has fired the heads of both organizations and replaced them with lackeys. But even in normal times, enforcement of the Hatch Act was a joke with violators made to pay small fine or most often, given no punishment at all. but consider how much more damage could be done to the Powers That Be if their forces were diminished because they were coping with a Federal Lawsuit in Boston AND a Hatch Act complaint in DC AND a street protest in Des Moines AND an IRS lawsuit in Tempe AND a demonstration in Yosemite AND a federal investigation in New Orleans AND..... One of those things isn't like the other. Lawsuits have to work their way through what remains of an independent judiciary in order to get to the Supreme Court and take personnel and resources. Hatch Act complaints can just be ignored.

By: TheProfessor

TheProfessor — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:28:35 -0800

Electoral politics are over until the Democratic Party is over, or at least the party as we know it. If people were ok with letting this insanity happen, despite being told over and over this was what would happen if they didn't vote against it, I seriously doubt the Democratic party can morph into anything those folks will be willing to support. They will always find a reason to nope out. posted by Thorzdad at 5:52 PM on September 30 [4 favorites] I think you're right, but I think you've placed your blame in the wrong place here.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:41:21 -0800

One of those things isn't like the other. Lawsuits have to work their way through what remains of an independent judiciary in order to get to the Supreme Court and take personnel and resources. Hatch Act complaints can just be ignored. Speaking personally - the only alternative is to sit back and do nothing and let this all happen, and personally I will be DAMNED if I do that, even if the only thing being impacted is my own sanity.

By: Slackermagee

Slackermagee — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:41:39 -0800

To riff on a now very old Onion (?) headline: "Standing in a decade old field of boulders, some now buried and forgotten by time and the tides of attention, to insist that the system hurling boulders is still sufficient in this late hour and will fire with effect soon." vs. "No, it won't."

By: subdee

subdee — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 11:25:37 -0800

Sorry, I don't want to let this "clean" CR thing go. They could have met with Dems, and agreed to extend the subsidies only until November 11th when they hash out a budget that changes the program in order to keep the subsidies (what they keep saying they are open to doing, as long as Dems fund the government first). Why create mass chaos by letting subsidies expire November 1st with no alternative, only to bring them back in a different, more acceptable form less than one month later? It doesn't pass even the most basic version of a smell test. I hope voters - especially voters who are seeing their premiums rise, a real thing and not an abstraction - see through the word games here. Republicans have had eight years to come up with some kind of alternative to the ACA, they haven't and they never will.

By: WatTylerJr

WatTylerJr — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 13:05:26 -0800

Pritzer is one of the very few (but slowly growing) number of democrats with a platform who is actually trying to fight the Regime, rather than 'agree with our friends across the aisle for bipartisan solutions to the (vague) problems facing American families'. I dont give a shit that the Federal government needs to start the ball rolling. One of the (if the) most important governors is trying to fight back while 95% of the leadership is prepared to cave over some half assed 'promise' for ACA subsidies that Vaught will kill the minute he can. Also, Trump's unaccountable and unhinged Secret Police blackbagging innocent fellow human beings? Military rule over blue cities? Declaring war on anyone to the left of Mike Johnson? The 1200 innocent people kidnapped and shipped to the Alligator Alcatraz and now NOONE can find? Maybe fight that too Democratic leaders (well, if you have time between trying to screw over Mamdani).

By: marlys

marlys — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 13:17:27 -0800

I stumble along these days, dismayed and grieving at nearly everything the news reports, but most of the time managing to stalwartly go forth without collapsing into fits of weeping or rage. And then the most utterly ridiculous random thing comes along, truly frivolous compared to the real horrors. It catches me off guard and just tips me over. This is that thing today. I am incandescently angry.

By: caviar2d2

caviar2d2 — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 15:14:29 -0800

Hey hey USDA https://www.usda.gov/

By: tiny frying pan

tiny frying pan — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 15:42:56 -0800

They're so fucking dirty

By: Headfullofair

Headfullofair — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:14:26 -0800

The first image on HUD is a horrible generative AI take on an exurban cul-de-sac. There are perspective issues. The sidewalk only goes half way around the circle and ends between a coffin and a barbecue. A military graveyard of white crosses arcs behind the houses on the right. Are they anticipating this shutdown will last through Halloween? One extremely narrow lot is surrounded by erosion control fencing and covered in matted straw, so at least they are following best practices for graded sites not yet under construction. Below that image is the quote, "God blessed us with this great nation, and together, we can increase self-sufficiency and empower Americans to climb the economic ladder toward a brighter future." - Secretary Scott Turner

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 11:37:11 -0800

How to File a Hatch Act Complaint

By: darkstar

darkstar — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 12:25:22 -0800

RE: the shutdown, and because I can't let this 8-minute speech by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (via dKos) go down the memory hole, I'm posting it in this thread where it seems relevant. A notable excerpt:

Republicans control the House. Republicans control the Senate. Republicans control the White House. They are in power. It is their job to keep the government running for the American people, and they have failed. Donald Trump and the Republicans own this shutdown. Don't take it from me. Listen to Donald J. Trump. In 2013, Trump himself said about a potential government shutdown:
If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the President of the United States. He's the one that has to get people together.
That is Donald J. Trump. Now, at the same time, Trump said:
The President has to lead. You have to get people in a room, and you have to just make deals for the good of the country.
Donald Trump today should listen to Donald Trump from yesterday. Instead, Trump, Mr. "Art of the Deal," hasn't been able to cut a deal for the most basic government functions. Wow. As Trump said, that is "a tremendously negative mark on the President of the United States."

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 13:05:58 -0800

Kirkaracha, haven't you heard that actually using the existing systems set up to stop malfeasance is pointless and naive?

By: darkstar

darkstar — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 16:04:22 -0800

Via ABC News, more US public blames Trump and GOP for the shutdown than Democrats. (47% vs 30%)

By: MrGuilt

MrGuilt — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 06:27:23 -0800

Government workers are also reporting that the language in there out-of-office messages has been changed on the backend from something neutral to something partisan.

By: Slackermagee

Slackermagee — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:45:45 -0800

If the Hatch Act complaint stuff is meant to try and force changes now, the OSC office has the following as an OOO reply when you email them: "The Hatch Act Unit is out of the office due to a lapse in appropriations and will respond upon return." I sent in a "is this actually going to do anything given the current state of justice and the rule of law or not so much?" email so if they ever reply, I imagine it will be a form letter with a "we take all complaints seriously" response. But for now, no one is home.

By: DirtyOldTown

DirtyOldTown — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:55:01 -0800

I think it's very weird to suppose that the "low info voter easily swayed by hacky political messaging" and the "people who might check in on HUD.gov" circles have any substantial overlap.

By: sotonohito

sotonohito — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 11:49:15 -0800

Obviously no one thinks that anyone will see the messages on various .gov sites and think "gee, I guess I was wrong to support the Democrats". The point is that the messaging is inherently illegal, and a disturbing continuation of Trump's politicization of the entire Federal govenrment, and that as with more or less all of Trump's other crimes he's going to get away with it and never even face charges. The content content and tone of the message, and the hypothetical impact it may ever have on voters is irrelevant. If it had been the most politely worded call for people to blame Democrats it's still be illegal. If exactly zero people could be proved to have ever seen it then it would still be illegal and immoral. The mere existence of any partisan messaging by the Federal government is, inherently immoral and is in fact a violation of the law.

By: brook horse

brook horse — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 15:09:32 -0800

I think it's very weird to suppose that the "low info voter easily swayed by hacky political messaging" and the "people who might check in on HUD.gov" circles have any substantial overlap. It's in the first few results if you search Section 8 housing.