American kleptocracy

In addition to benefiting the wealthy in general, the Republican tax proposal that passed today in the House of Representatives by a margin of 227-203 and will be passed by the senate later today personally enriches Donald Trump and legislators who voted for it. The graphic below (via Karoli Kuns) shows how a last minute provision will personally benefit 14 Republican senators, the biggest beneficiary being Bob Corker who switched to voting in favor of the bill after this provision was inserted.
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And now for some political soap opera

Oh boy, this is going to be good.

Roy Moore has issued a fiery video statement explaining why he has not conceded the race. He says that all the provisional and military ballots have not been counted yet and that the secretary of state (a Moore supporter) has not certified the result. He seems to think that his god will carry out a miracle on his behalf. But it seems likely that the secretary will certify the result soon and then I am not sure what Moore will do.
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Is Donald Trump really going crazy?

Seth Meyers reveals the revolting things that Matt Lauer did and also discusses the possibility that Trump is nuts.

It is incredible that Lauer got away with that behavior so long. Like others, Meyers has noted the detail that Lauer had a secret button installed under his desk that would lock the door remotely. Observers seem to think that this was to prevent his target from escaping by running from the room. That may be true but I think it is more likely that it was to prevent others from accidentally entering and seeing him while he was making his gross moves on the women. This detail also raises broader culpability questions for NBC. I doubt that Lauer did the secret wiring himself. It had to be something that was requested through management and directed to the building manager to implement. How come no one raised any questions about the reasons for this strange request?
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Sleazy sting artists get badly bitten

Project Veritas and its head James O’Keefe are a sleazy right wing outfit whose mode of operation is to interview people in any organization that does not serve their agenda and then misleadingly edit their footage to make it appear that the organization is deceitful and unlawful. They recently tried to come to the aid of Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused by many women of pursuing them when they were teenagers, and engaging in sexual contact with a girl when she was just 14.
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