Current SEC chair cast only vote against suing Elon Musk, report says

SEC case over late disclosure of Twitter stock buy still moving ahead, for now.

See full article...

 

[Rector]

You do realize that "the government" is the people, right?

That is true for some countries.

 

[Rector]

There are currently at least 20 threads on here where I could post this, and there are THOUSANDS of Youtube videos and blog articles where I could post this every single day:

It's absolutely amazing how deep the impression of the average American by external observers in the rest of the liberal democratic West has cratered. It seems more and more like you have bred and nurtured a society of under- and misinformed spineless ultra-individualist cowards. Sleepwalking morons who are utterly clueless and helpless about how to stop - or even slightly bother- an authoritarian dictator who is taking over their democracy RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. Just about every damn HOUR, another blatant red flag gets raised, another pathetic - supposedly bullwark against this kind of thing - potential obstacle gets rolled over.

It's absolutely unbelievable, pathetic, humiliating, disappointing, hair-pullingly frustrating. Baffling, unreal, otherworldly and frightening.

Compare this to what's currently happening in f*cking Turkey, probably considered a half Islamic theocratic hellhole by most Americans.

Seriously, wake-the-fuck-up, and get those electric chairs out of longterm storage. Win back some f*cking basic respect.

Respectfully, sir, progressives are opposed to the death penalty.

 

[marketaxon]

The naked corruption and self dealing will never stop shocking me. I hope.


Good.

Signing political loyalty pledges in the agencies of the executive branch is not a practice we should ever assent to, and if it creeps in somewhere, it must be ruthlessly eradicated at the first opportunity.

These agencies are not the president's goon squads.

...ya'll remember when Bush was the most shocking bad guy? God, what I wouldn't give to have the shoe-dodger-in-chief back. I never thought I'd want THAT.

But at least Bush lived on the same planet as the rest of us, wasn't grossly malicious, or even grossly incompetent—frankly, people who say he was are immune to evidence—for all the bad shit he did actually do.

I live in a European country that has recently barely escaped from “system consolidation” exactly like the one you are living through today, sans nuclear weapons and global financial system control. Everything that happened (or rather didn’t happen) after that election makes me think I’m going to miss the semi-inept corrupted wannabe strongmen that were defeated, because it feels like this hapless, pathetically impotent “save the democracy” coalition can only be followed by something even darker. Looking at your Democratic Party, there are some parallels.

So you know, maybe you’ll miss Trump and the junkie in a decade or two. I very much hope I’m wrong.

 

[Rector]

All penalties should be eliminated.
The money all goes to the government
and never the people that have been violated.
We don't need individuals deciding the amount
of 'punitive' amounts which have become ridiculously excessive.

I cannot determine if this is sarcasm or bootlicking.

It seems to be an attempt at free-form poetry.

 

[lionman]

But anyway, now we're increasingly brazen. Lying is virtue. Greed is good. Winning in the short term is all that matters and all others must lose to do it. Corruption is for the winners to define against the losers. Laws and principles don't matter. Reality is malleable. Truth and justice are wrong and "woke". Big Fuck Small.

wow, you defined it perfectly.

 

[Scary Devil Monastery]

Remember, it's only "weaponization of the government" if a Democrat does it. It's totally fine if Republican's use "activist" Judges, remove security details from people they don't like, and use departments and commission's to go after people they don't like or disagree with.

Personally, I'm shocked. Incredibly shocked.

After all, the SEC is one of those formerly independent agencies king Trump XO'd himself as having ultimate authority over.
Yet there are people there still trying to fulfill the original mission statement of nailing crooks to the wall?

Sadly, I don't foresee those lone rangers being given congressional medals for their service...

 

[Fatesrider]

The SEC's seeking "$150 million in alleged unjust enrichment plus a penalty", but no mention of how big the latter might be.

If it was up to me, I'd add a double what's to be compensated (so $450 million - $150 M to the government in direct fines, and $300 M in penalties for filing a case and wasting the time of the court).

If you're found guilty

That would happen at every lost appeal. The contested amount at the second one would be $450 M, and if they lost, that goes up to $1.35 billion.

Nothing like exponentially increasing fees and penalties to cut down on the number of greedy, wealthy fuckers abusing the justice system because they can afford to. Eventually, they won't be able to afford that, even if they keep shopping for sympathetic judge. When they lose that bingo game, they'd hopefully lose big enough to hurt them bad enough to cut their losses and accept a well-earned defeat.

Even if it doesn't cut down on the overall numbers worth a damn, it'd be a great morale booster for those of us who end up wearing their shit that rolls down from on high.

 

[David Mayer]

It's just a matter of time before voting in a way that runs counter to the interest of dear leader results in defenestration.

 

[David Mayer]

All penalties should be eliminated.
The money all goes to the government
and never the people that have been violated.
We don't need individuals deciding the amount
of 'punitive' amounts which have become ridiculously excessive.

 

[fancysunrise]

The naked corruption and self dealing will never stop shocking me. I hope.


Good.

Signing political loyalty pledges in the agencies of the executive branch is not a practice we should ever assent to, and if it creeps in somewhere, it must be ruthlessly eradicated at the first opportunity.

These agencies are not the president's goon squads.

...ya'll remember when Bush was the most shocking bad guy? God, what I wouldn't give to have the shoe-dodger-in-chief back. I never thought I'd want THAT.

But at least Bush lived on the same planet as the rest of us, wasn't grossly malicious, or even grossly incompetent—frankly, people who say he was are immune to evidence—for all the bad shit he did actually do.

Bush got vast numbers of people killed for no reason, severely damaged American credibility (back when there was such a thing), and undermined a system that helped precipitate the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression. Domestically he catered to the same rhetoric that defines MAGA, if far less extreme and vindictive, and the results were in the same vein, from science to rights and everything else. He did essentially nothing to help people that weren't his oil baron and PMC family friends.

It's perfectly valid to compare Bush as less bad than Trump, but the rehabilitation of his public image disgusts me.

 

[slavensb]

There is no penalty appreciable enough in the American justice system for Musk to ever care, and that was true even before he bought a president [for less than the cost of losing this federal lawsuit]

FTFY

 

[Snark218]

150 million? Essentially zero dollars as far as Musk is concerned. Why even bother?

I feel like the norm against punitive damages ensures the rich never face consequences. Is there hope this could change?

That's proportionally equivalent to fining a millionaire about $500.

 

[Snark218]

Bush got vast numbers of people killed for no reason, severely damaged American credibility (back when there was such a thing), and undermined a system that helped precipitate the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression. Domestically he catered to the same rhetoric that defines MAGA, if far less extreme and vindictive, and the results were in the same vein, from science to rights and everything else. He did essentially nothing to help people that weren't his oil baron and PMC family friends.

It's perfectly valid to compare Bush as less bad than Trump, but the rehabilitation of his public image disgusts me.

Always makes me fucking furious to see the Obamas and Clintons just palling around with him, all "hey, muchacho" like he's just regular folks, didn't lie his way into a 20-year forever war or anything, just one of the chums

 

[nights]

Compared to this shit show the Ferengi Commerce Authority is a heaven of strong government oversight. With only a hint of corruption.

 

[Socks Mingus]

The first Trump administration had the most billionaires in their administration in history.

As a result Americans voted him back into office, and now they beat their old record.

Sheep voting wolves into office is a the republican way.
They even made the argument that billionaires are more honest because they don't need the money.
Now that might strike you as the most idiotic thing you have ever heard, but you have to keep in mind the audience.

Trump's media career from the '80s onward was basically this schtick, and it was so effective he accidentally became president. Maybe the Oprah 4 Prez people were actually onto something... (~/s?)

 

[tRexx]

Personal loyalty is the key that opens all doors in the Trump administration.

 

[Sypher the 297th]

Well that stuff tasted just like Pepsi, but it was in a Coke can.
That's practically a crime against the laws of nature!

New Coke did not taste like Pepsi. Pepsi is great. Coke Classic is. . . ok. At best. Maybe.

 

[Sypher the 297th]

Respectfully, sir, progressives are opposed to the death penalty.

I support progressive policies because they're based on empirical data and not whining about how a plainly malevolent sky fairy has annointed a king to rule us peasants. But I'm not opposed to the death penalty. I am opposed to the idea that a corrupt and inept legal system presided over by corrupt Catholic priests who think innocence isn't a defense can ever reach the level of accurate certainty that would be necessary to trust in an irrevocable penalty.

In fact, I'm so unopposed to it that if democracy survives to the next election I can think of some high officials who will likely need to become intimately familiar with the greatest French innovation of all time.

 

[Sypher the 297th]

Compared to this shit show the Ferengi Commerce Authority is a heaven of strong government oversight. With only a hint of corruption.

Now hold on a second. Are we sure Trump isn't just a Ferengi who had a lobe reduction? He's orange. Absurdly ugly. Is tacky as hell by human standards. Has no ethical or moral core. And pretty much lives by the Rules of Acquisition which are less binding rules and more like. . . a system of for useful propaganda to mask the axtual system which has rules for thee but not for me which is descriptive of Trump's entire life.

 

[Scary Devil Monastery]

Always makes me fucking furious to see the Obamas and Clintons just palling around with him, all "hey, muchacho" like he's just regular folks, didn't lie his way into a 20-year forever war or anything, just one of the chums

I maintain that a lot of the reasons the US is in the mess it is in is because american politicians have mistaken the act of spinelessly pandering to the utterly worst people as 'dignified professionalism'.

You couldn't bridge the gap with GWB and his neocons either, because any reaching out would mean compromising the absolute bottom line.

People can, in the long run, agree with getting on the bus which only takes you partway to where you want to go.
They won't accept the bus driver who, because some passengers demand it, feels compelled to kick the poorest-looking kids off the bus before driving off.

 

[Slik]

Hey, if I provide the the wall, the blindfold, and the cigarette, can someone else bring the rest?

I'm so sick of this whole situation.

 

[Markhs]

150 million? Essentially zero dollars as far as Musk is concerned. Why even bother?

I feel like the norm against punitive damages ensures the rich never face consequences. Is there hope this could change?

Because it is another 150 million the government can get from someone who owes it and it is 150 million that you and I won't need to pay. It is also part of my program to make the government more self sufficient. Just think if they doubled the size of the IRS how much the rest of us wouldn't need to pay.

 

[HuntingManatees]

Now hold on a second. Are we sure Trump isn't just a Ferengi who had a lobe reduction? He's orange. Absurdly ugly. Is tacky as hell by human standards. Has no ethical or moral core. And pretty much lives by the Rules of Acquisition which are less binding rules and more like. . . a system of for useful propaganda to mask the axtual system which has rules for thee but not for me which is descriptive of Trump's entire life.

Unfortunately, something tells me nobody's going to disapprove of Trump's greed and ethical bankruptcy enough to magically revert him to a warmer, fuzzier and more generous version of himself.

EDIT: To your point, I'm sure Trump also wishes that all females would be confined to their homes, jobless and naked.

 

[Scary Devil Monastery]

I support progressive policies because they're based on empirical data and not whining about how a plainly malevolent sky fairy has annointed a king to rule us peasants. But I'm not opposed to the death penalty.

The main issue with the death penalty is that it relies, not on empirical proof of malice and intent, but on twelve very average people deciding that someone is guilty.
If you toss someone in a cage for life and then find out he didn't do it you can release him and make restitution.
This is hard to do if you murder an innocent man because twelve 'peers' decided the brown man either did it or deserves to hang anyway for good measure.

I am opposed to the idea that a corrupt and inept legal system presided over by corrupt Catholic priests who think innocence isn't a defense can ever reach the level of accurate certainty that would be necessary to trust in an irrevocable penalty.

...and this just makes that process of determining who lives and who dies, that much worse. Keeping the jury box free of bias is impossible.

In fact, I'm so unopposed to it that if democracy survives to the next election I can think of some high officials who will likely need to become intimately familiar with the greatest French innovation of all time.

Baguette?

No offense, Sypher, but I can think of very few current US high officials who either deserve or would want anything foreign.

They'd want something invented in the US. Like Freedom Fries, Bagels, or Beer. /s

Levity aside, the one exception I make concerning the death penalty is the years of confession you can generally count on the fascist to have produced by the time a court is assembled.

 

[KeyboardWeeb]

Compared to this shit show the Ferengi Commerce Authority is a heaven of strong government oversight. With only a hint of corruption.

We're nothing like you, hu-mon.

We're better.

 

[Nadro]

...ya'll remember when Bush was the most shocking bad guy? God, what I wouldn't give to have the shoe-dodger-in-chief back. I never thought I'd want THAT

I remember the billboards Republicans put up after Obama was elected showing Bush with the caption "Y'all miss me yet?"

To which pretty much everyone replied "fuck no."

 

[barrattm]

Voting?

I’m surprised that there is a voting process at all! Am I being naive?

 

[Matthew J.]

There's still time, I'm sure they'll find some way to torpedo it before it actually hits Daddy's Baby Elon in the pocketbook.

 

[Alexstarfire]

Who has jurisdiction over the purported $1.4 Bn missing from Tesla's accounting?

The FTC? SEC? IRS? DOJ? FBI? NSA? Secret Service? Maybe Elon is counting on them all getting stuck trying to get in the door at the same time, like a Three Stooges skit.

I know who can get to the bottom of it.

 

[Cherlindrea]

There is no penalty appreciable enough in the American justice system for Musk to ever care, and that was true even before he bought a president.

You (and others) are missing the underlying issue here for the billionaires: rich people do not want to part with a single cent of their money. At all. Not ever. Not for any reason.

That's why they want all the tax breaks.

That's why the "trickle down" Reganomics never worked. Rich will not ever be separated from a cent. So any penalty at all is better than none--which is what Musk fully expects. He expects to get away with everything. If he's forced to pay so much as a dime, it'll be a good start. Nowhere near just or fair, but a start. And he'll scream, whine, and throw a man-child bitch-fit tantrum about even that dime.

So any penalty is a start. If it's enforced. There's the rub.

 

[step21]

I live in a European country that has recently barely escaped from “system consolidation” exactly like the one you are living through today, sans nuclear weapons and global financial system control. Everything that happened (or rather didn’t happen) after that election makes me think I’m going to miss the semi-inept corrupted wannabe strongmen that were defeated, because it feels like this hapless, pathetically impotent “save the democracy” coalition can only be followed by something even darker. Looking at your Democratic Party, there are some parallels.

So you know, maybe you’ll miss Trump and the junkie in a decade or two. I very much hope I’m wrong.

are you sure you didn't just fall down a propaganda rabbit hole, or are just weirdly attracted to these strong men? (ofc I'm not sure which country you are talking about, so cannot comment in detail)
I get being disappointed in gov't, but as in work and other parts of life, doing the necessary work and pushing for changes can be very slow and frustrating. Especially in a coalition, and with problematic media influences and other conflicting narratives. Just doing or pretending to do, strongman style changes and spinning a destructive media narrative will unfortunately always be much easier than affecting meaningful change.

 

[RZetopan]

Sleepwalking morons who are utterly clueless and helpless about how to stop - or even slightly bother- an authoritarian dictator who is taking over their democracy RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. Just about every damn HOUR, another blatant red flag gets raised, another pathetic - supposedly bullwark against this kind of thing - potential obstacle gets rolled over.

Read Kornbluth's “The Marching Morons” for the “planning” manual, originally published in 1951.

 

[Chuktuds]

My main motivation to live to old age is to make sure I'm around long enough to see this fucker's eventual death make the news so I can throw a party.

Problem is that his unlimited money means he'll probably outlive me.

Every day I check the headlines in the morning, praying to read that he's been assassinated.

 

[mozbo]

Respectfully, sir, progressives are opposed to the death penalty.

In peacetime.

We’re dangerously close to that border.

In the Signal convo they openly admitted to war crimes. Bombed a whole goddam apartment building, full collapse, death toll probably near 100%, just to get one guy.

 

[Alexstarfire]

New Coke did not taste like Pepsi. Pepsi is great. Coke Classic is. . . ok. At best. Maybe.

The most controversial opinion of the year, so far.

 

[Frodo Douchebaggins]

In peacetime.

We’re dangerously close to that border.

In the Signal convo they openly admitted to war crimes. Bombed a whole goddam apartment building, full collapse, death toll probably near 100%, just to get one guy.

(this is not a whataboutism thing, it's meant to reinforce your point)

Let's also not forget the extrajudicial killing of American citizens via drone by noted progressive Obama.

 

[mozbo]

(this is not a whataboutism thing, it's meant to reinforce your point)

Let's also not forget the extrajudicial killing of American citizens via drone by noted progressive Obama.

I agree.

That kind of crap by Dems helped wedge the door open for the runaway Trump abuses. The damage done far outweighed any possible benefit. Breaching that topic will likely get us both downvoted, but it’s true.

 

[Scary Devil Monastery]

I agree.

That kind of crap by Dems helped wedge the door open for the runaway Trump abuses. The damage done far outweighed any possible benefit. Breaching that topic will likely get us both downvoted, but it’s true.

The entire perception of democrats being part of the problem comes from one masterstroke by the GOP which the democrats, despite attempts to do so, failed to stop.

Campaign contributions are not meaningfully restricted at all. Which means that almost every politician who wants to go to congress, no matter how benevolent, gets there compromised. There's that one or two topics where they agree to screw the public.

Back in the day Biden had to carry water for shady bankers by betraying his party when they tried to stop predatory lending.
Obama, in order to get anything resembling universal health care through, had to sacrifice almost everything else.

A republican politician gladly screws his voters and blames the democrats.
A democrat politician has more critical and educated voters, and so his credibility is hurt. It's hard to stay energized for a guy who says all the right things but once in office had to repay his debt by screwing you for the sake of Hollywood, shady banking, anti-union regulation, or fuckin' cable and the ISP Comcast/AT&T cartel.

All of which means the political well is poisoned. The GOP tossed a corpse in it and has kept it there until now no democrat even considers fishing it out - removing money from politics.

This is how you get voter apathy among the learned and enlightened. By showing them that no matter which democrat they vote for, that one comes with strings attached.
It wouldn't surprise me to learn that this is why Bernie voters felt so utterly betrayed - Sanders being that one incorruptible firebrand unicorn - and the democrats started running out of steam.