Empty Threat: How Big Business Lost Its Big Bet on Trump
The captains of industry that many assumed would keep the president in check all turned out to be paper tigers. Democrats, take note.
Felipe De La Hoz
October 16, 2026

…………..

If there is one shred of silver lining from Trump’s total rolling of business and civil society, particularly in the first year and a half of his second term, it’s the pretty conclusive falsification of the idea that Big Money was going to be the ultimate arbiter of what policy was possible in Washington. There have doubtlessly been rewards for those who have sucked up to the president and his political movement, in the way that regime-affiliated oligarchs always find some spoils in authoritarian governments. But as for the money men who were ostensibly going to fly in and curb Trump’s wanton destruction, they either meekly acquiesced early on or they watched powerlessly as Trump tossed Molotov cocktails into the postwar economic order. As bad as the truth has been to witness, it’s good to shed ourselves of this myth.

The fact of the matter is that the so-called captains of industry have fully ascended into cloud-cuckoo-land. The markets have kept riding high on the fabled promise of some AI renaissance (or AI domination, as some investors are certainly hoping for), but outside of that bubble, the dollar is volatile and down despite short-term rallies, longtime trading partners are restructuring their exports and imports away from an unreliable U.S., and our once gold-standard attraction of global talent and scientific discovery is smoldering…

When increasingly irate voters return power to ostensibly liberal political leaders, they will expect the latter to use it—and forcefully so. There can be no “We have to work in concert with the job creators”; none of this “We can’t stare down all of Wall Street.” Defeatism is a dead letter. A popular mandate around improving lives with social programs, a resurgence of antitrust, a reassertion of privacy rights, and a corporate sphere that exists under regulatory scrutiny instead of the other way around will require going head-to-head with the moneyed and entrenched interests that nonetheless folded like a cheap suit before a single, now wildly unpopular narcissist and his cabal of misfit toys. It can be done. It must be done.

Yes. They played themselves and betrayed the very foundation of this country. Don’t have to be a socialist to recognize that they need regulation.

I hope that you are enjoying this weekend with family and friends.
Since they announced a couple of weeks ago that the annual vaccines were available, please go and get your shots.

Opinion
Jamelle Bouie

The Hunting of Ilhan Omar
Oct. 21, 2026

You can understand the Trump administration as, in its essence, a cargo cult devoted to the illiberal tradition in American politics.

At every turn, it seeks to instantiate a society where, as the historian Steven Hahn writes, “rights-bearing may be defined or limited by specific rulers or be based on communities of race, ethnicity, religion, and gender” and where “civil and political standing tend to be marked by social and cultural exclusions.” To this end, it uses power “in its most naked and aggressive forms,” including outright violence.

What makes this a cargo cult is the extent to which the administration is preoccupied with summoning the image of a consolidated authoritarian state, versus taking the concrete steps needed to unravel liberal democracy as such. It is less concerned with passing laws than it is with projecting an image of dominance over civil society, whether or not there is a durable settlement. It does this through dramatic action whose central purpose is to menace, threaten and otherwise send a message.

The Department of Homeland Security’s recent raid on the Washington home of Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is a striking example of all of the above…

…If the Trump administration has one trick, it’s this: to abuse its power in increasingly draconian and autocratic ways, in the hope that it will establish the authoritarian dominance it tried to project. It is terribly destructive. It also doesn’t work. Looking at the growing odds of a Republican electoral catastrophe in November, I don’t think it will.

But if we can be certain of anything, it’s this: They won’t stop trying.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/opinion/trump-ilhan-omar-emma-goldman.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KVE.-XeO.n25zTiJgD3Kk&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Christopher Webb
@cwebbonline.com

Follow
Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack ad targeting Amy Acton’s childhood trauma crosses every line of human decency.

The ad circulated without disclosing who was behind it. His campaign initially dodged responsibility, then Vivek admitted it was his and plans to spend $4 million to promote it.
1/2

Christopher Webb
@cwebbonline.com
· 4h
Court records confirm Acton’s stepfather was arrested & charged w/sexually abusing her when she was 12. He fled prosecution & remained a fugitive until he died in 2024.

Her mother chose her rapist husband over her daughter and stayed married to him.

Here, Vivek finally admitting the ad was his.
2/2
https://bsky.app/profile/cwebbonline.com/post/3myewx7ef2k2j

The Acton campaign responds:
https://youtube.com/shorts/SEAaOx4WYVg?si=R6-ol5SPFa5lUFSi

Josh
@XJosh
The full story of how this ad got made is obvious now.

1. Vivek’s team produced the ad.
2. Campaigners refused to greenlight it.
3. Vivek ‘leaks’ the sympathetic right-wing media.
4. Media publishes it for him.
5. He boosts it to circumvent FEC rules.

This explains everything:
“Who made it?” Vivek and his team.
“Did it run?”It never ran on TV.
“Why does it look like a real ad?” Was meant to be one.
“Where’s the FEC disclaimer?” It didn’t need one.
“How did it leak?” Deliberately to RW media.

“Why did they do it like this?”
Someone very loudly decried it as being below the belt and a bad look, and Vivek (being the 170 IQ elite human capital that he is) realized he could get the message out, smear his opponent, keep his name off the ad, and (most importantly) save money by simply leaking it to imbeciles like Megyn Kelly.

His problem, like every midwit who thinks they’re a genius, was going full bore ahead without ever stopping to think “maybe I’m wrong and this is a bad idea.”

30 seconds on Twitter and anyone even slightly critical of Vivek starts searching her early life history, reads public stories about her abusive upbringing, and pulls up the public court records.

Vivek Ramaswamy hired a woman to smear her own daughter. A woman so vile, she slept with a man after knowing he had raped not only her daughter, but his own as well. A woman who probably helped him escape custody after a grand jury indicted him for incestuous rape of a child so he could die of natural causes in her loving arms.
https://x.com/XJosh/status/2112696199748702297

Norman Ornstein
@NormOrnstein
Vivek Ramaswamy did not identify his culpability in the vile ad, then admitted it and is now doubling down. He is simply a disgusting excuse for a human being. Not just unfit for office. Unfit for a civil society.
5:09 AM · Oct 21, 2026
https://x.com/NormOrnstein/status/2112848844794847695

Headquarters
@HQNewsNow
Amy Acton’s brother reacts to Vivek Ramaswamy using their estranged mother in a campaign ad:

“…Our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died. This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core – a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”
https://x.com/HQNewsNow/status/2112539087982743986

LOATHESOME.
LOATHESOME.

@DMichaelTripi
Dominic Michael Tripi
@DMichaelTripi
NEW: Vivek Ramaswamy campaign was reportedly aware of the backstory surrounding the neglect and sexual abuse Amy Acton endured, as they polled reactions to the advertisement featuring her estranged mother, yet decided to still run the ad.
5:24 PM · Oct 20, 2026
https://x.com/DMichaelTripi/status/2112671374678585801

Chasten Glezman Buttigieg
@Chasten
Amy Acton’s estranged mother lost custody of her children after her second husband was charged with rape and indicted by a grand jury. In court, Amy’s mother stood by her husband instead of her twelve-year-old daughter. They haven’t spoken since that day in court, nearly 50 years ago.

Politics has become such a disappointing sport of outrage-fueled mud-slinging, personal attacks targeting families, and blatant lies designed to divide. Candidates should debate the issues and focus on convincing voters that their plans and leadership will make life better. That’s what politics should be about: bringing people together. Stunts like today’s attack ad against Dr. Acton are beneath anyone seeking to lead. nytimes.com/2026/10/20/us/…
https://x.com/Chasten/status/2112602171275399594

@RonFilipkowski
Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
It appears from court documents, statements from family members, and media reports that Amy Acton’s mother was a pedophile protector. So naturally Republicans use her in an ad against the victim and the MAGA Paid Grifter Network is pushing it because that is who they are.
8:09 AM · Oct 20, 2026
https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2112531758264795341

Charles Arthur
@charlesarthur
18h
When they tell you sports gambling is harmless: no it isn’t. Nicole Noren on why she left ESPN.

Charles Arthur
@charlesarthur
Some addictions have a bigger blasť radius. Sports gambling can run to thousands of dollars/pounds and ruin families in a couple of months. Alcoholism takes longer. Drug addiction tends to take longer.
They’re all bad because they’re about loss of control and who else is hurt.
7:50 AM · Oct 15, 2026
https://x.com/charlesarthur/status/2110714930165068019

@PFT_Live
PFT Live
@PFT_Live
Oct 15
The handling of Jalen Hurts’ calf injury is fishy, and there’s nothing to protect gamblers from not getting enough information about it.

DA PHUCK?????

@esaagar
Saagar Enjeti
@esaagar
This is what sports gambling has given us: a player suffers a genuinely scary injury and the sports press is out here saying it needs to be handled in a way to PROTECT GAMBLERS

Genuine scum: The NFL, sports media, the gambling houses enable/encourage this behavior
https://x.com/esaagar/status/2110822331010712017

I hadn’t really thought about the gravity of the situation, until I read online about how the fundamental relationship of viewing sports has changed. And, how it’s destroying the common thread of group enjoyment. Destroying one of the few allowed spaces of real male connection that exists in this society. When you are looking at it for sport, and the other person is looking at it because they have money on it..there is nothing common for the both of you. No shared experience. You aren’t even watching the same event.

I hope that you are enjoying this weekend with family and friends.
Since they announced a couple of weeks ago that the annual vaccines were available, please go and get your shots.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes major changes affecting Medicaid, SNAP, student loans, health insurance, Medicare drug pricing, and education tax policy—with several provisions taking effect in 2027 and 2028.

That means the question isn’t simply “What happened when the bill passed?” It’s also:

When do the changes actually begin?
Who will be affected?
What will your state have to do?
How could these changes affect your family’s healthcare, food assistance, education, or finances?

For example, the new federal scholarship tax credit begins January 1, 2027, but states must choose to participate.

Federal student-loan repayment rules are also changing, with some existing income-driven repayment plans ending no later than July 1, 2028.

Medicare’s third cycle of negotiated drug prices is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2028, for selected drugs.

This is why understanding the implementation timeline matters.

Don’t just react to political headlines. Read the details. Know what changes. Know when it changes. Know who it affects.

BMB EMPOWER NETWORK
Entertain • Educate • Empower At The Same Time

#BMBEmpowerNetwork #KnowTheFacts #StayInformed #BlackAmerica #CivicEngagement #Politics #Healthcare #Medicaid #SNAP #StudentLoans #Medicare #Vote2026
12:22 AM · Sep 20, 2026

Adam Cohen (My Personal Views Only)
@axidentaliberal.bsky.social

Follow
More Supreme Court “shadow docket” decisions which needlessly endanger immigrants by severely restricting their Constitutional rights

Imagine letting ICE deport an El Salvadoran woman-not to Central America, but to Africa, where she has no contacts, no way to communicate and nobody to help her
https://bsky.app/profile/axidentaliberal.bsky.social/post/3mwrwypg5ss2s

More of the evil

@donwinslow
Don Winslow
@donwinslow
CNN witnessed 25 migrant children, some as young as 3, in a Texas immigration court on Monday, many without attorneys amid the Trump administration’s push to speed up deportations of unaccompanied minors rescued by Border Patrol. The judge denied asylum to Angel, whose family lives in the U.S. and who feared danger back home, then issued a removal order with an appeal deadline at month’s end. Court sketches captured the children’s distress, like a boy with his head in his hands, fueling online divides: supporters praised ending child trafficking, while critics decried the emotional toll and lack of representation.
7:06 PM · Sep 30, 2026
https://x.com/donwinslow/status/2105449213907870161

I believe the truth will all come out. But, the pure evil being done in the name of the United States of America, with regards to all the evil happening with these deportations..cannot be quantified.

I hope that you are enjoying this weekend with family and friends.
Since they announced a couple of weeks ago that the annual vaccines were available, please go and get your shots.

JUST.THE.TRUTH.

@trouble_man90
Tim
@trouble_man90
14h
Democrats gave yall two incredibly smart, experienced, and capable women, and a mild mannered old man, and yall acted a damn fool over them. So enjoy your $5 gas, we’ve babied yall long enough, you’re just going to have to feel these consequences for a little while
https://x.com/trouble_man90/status/2100055829835550798

UH HUH
UH HUH

@intelligentfilm
e.m. lake
@intelligentfilm
White people, on both sides of the aisle, DO NOT want equality.
Joe Biden was the MOST PROGRESSIVE POTUS in HISTORY.
Student loan forgiveness. Infrastructure. Union Pension bailout. $35 insulin. CHIPS Act. Most diverse admin.
Which is why they threw him under the bus.
https://x.com/intelligentfilm/status/2100067292193423807