Doomscroll News

Tag: accountability

  • A New American Platform

    A New American Platform

    After an đť•Ź history filled with plenty of bogus ideas, my stances have obviously evolved, so consider the following my most current platform.

    Don’t reform the failed systems of the past or indulge the inaction of extreme libertarianism.

    Platform Overview

    Signature National Initiatives

    • Launch a 21st Century Manhattan Project: Secure absolute American technological, energy, and military supremacy. Focus on topics such as: nuclear engineering, the development of sovereign AI, and the construction of a ‘Golden Dome’ missile shield. Absorb and accelerate other critical advanced projects: like directed energy, hypersonics, and cybernetics. Participation in this project, at all levels, will be restricted exclusively to U.S. citizens.
    • The Phoenix Mandate: A plan to eliminate the national debt by revolutionizing the U.S. healthcare system through personal health tech, ending the nursing home model, funding “moonshot” cures via a public-private “Titan Mandate”, issuing a “Stargate Ultimatum” for AI to slash costs, and enforcing a “Patriot Price Mandate” on pharmaceuticals.

    Taxation, Revenue & An American Dividend

    • Abolition of Income Taxes: Immediately abolish all Federal personal and corporate income taxes. The IRS’s role as a tax collection agency should be eliminated.
    • Strategic Capital Gains Tax: A modest capital gains tax will be retained for the sole purpose of preventing rampant short-term speculation, designed to heavily incentivize mid-to-long-term investment.
    • An American Dividend (Hybrid System): A hybrid system should be implemented immediately. A significant portion of all tariff revenue should be used to aggressively pay down the national debt, while the remainder should be returned directly to The People as an immediate “Freedom Dividend.”
    • Full Dividend Potential: Once the debt is paid, the full revenue from the baseline 15% tariff will be returned directly to The People, potentially translating to more than $1,700 per U.S. citizen, per year.
    • Mandatory Cash Option: The United States cannot become a cashless society. Physical cash must always be preserved as a valid form of payment.

    Economic & Financial Policy

    • Multi-Level Strategic Tariffs: Implement a 15% baseline tariff. Additionally, POTUS must have full discretionary authority to impose massive strategic tariffs (e.g., 50%, 100%, 400%, 1000%) on critical sectors like microchips.
    • Prohibit Peacetime Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency is a national security threat and its use by the general public should be prohibited.
    • The Wartime Digital Asset Act: Treat the underlying crypto technology (blockchain, ASICs) as a strategic military asset to be deployed only in times of declared war.
    • Prohibit Hostile Financial Systems: Expose and ban the integration of Sharia-compliant finance into the U.S. economy.
    • Reject Corporate Bailouts: The $10 billion investment in Intel is a bailout.
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  • The AI Auditor: Can Machine Learning Finally End the Era of Wasteful Government Healthcare Spending?

    The Black Hole of Healthcare Spending

    There are staggering statistics about the current US national debt and the percentage attributed to healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

    There are well-documented problems of fraud, waste, and abuse: upcoding, phantom billing, medically unnecessary procedures …

    Traditional human-led audits are slow, expensive, and only catch a tiny fraction of the problem, creating a massive accountability gap.

    Enter the AI Auditor, A New Paradigm for Transparency

    Using advanced AI and machine learning models to analyze massive healthcare claims datasets in real-time.

    AI can identify complex patterns of fraud that are invisible to human auditors: collusive networks of providers, subtle anomalies across millions of claims …

    The current model is “pay and chase” … what about a future of “pre-payment verification” where AI flags suspicious claims before a single taxpayer dollar is spent?

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  • The Automated Watchdog: Promise and Peril of AI in Government Auditing

    The Automated Watchdog: Promise and Peril of AI in Government Auditing

    1. The Potential Benefits of AI Auditors

    • Massive Data Processing: AI can analyze entire government spending databases (e.g., USASpending.gov) in minutes, a task that is physically impossible for human teams.
    • Real-Time Anomaly Detection: Unlike traditional audits that are often retrospective, AI can flag suspicious transactions, contracts, or grant awards as they happen, enabling proactive intervention.
    • Enhanced Pattern Recognition: AI excels at identifying complex, subtle patterns of waste or fraud across multiple agencies and years that would be invisible to human auditors.
    • Potential for Non-Partisan Oversight: When properly designed and constrained, AI systems can apply auditing rules consistently, reducing the potential for human bias or political influence in routine checks.

    2. Inherent Risks and Systemic Blind Spots

    The risks extend beyond simple technical errors and encompass systemic vulnerabilities that could undermine the entire oversight framework.

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  • The “Big Beautiful” Bonus for Our Border Agents: A $5.25 Billion State Accountability Plan

    A new proposal outlines a plan to deliver a $50,000 bonus to every agent, soldier, and officer on the front lines of the border crisis, paid out over three years. By holding specific states financially accountable, the plan aims to create a powerful incentive for cooperation in federal immigration enforcement and ensure reimbursement for the costs incurred by the nation as a whole.

    The total cost, estimated at $5.25 billion, would be funded entirely by the ten states with the largest populations of unauthorized immigrants: California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Arizona. The other 40 states would be explicitly exempt from this financial obligation.

    This plan recognizes the immense contributions of approximately 105,000 individuals across the key agencies that have shouldered the burden of the crisis.

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  • The Autopen Republic: An ExposĂ© on Legislative Negligence

    The Autopen Republic: An Exposé on Legislative Negligence

    The assertion that “no one has ever read an entire bill before voting on it” rings with a cynical truth that many Americans feel deep in their bones. It’s a damning indictment of a broken system. This isn’t about lofty ideals or the complexities of modern governance; it’s about a fundamental failure of duty. We demand proof of review, a guarantee that our laws are not passed by autopilot. The era of excuses is over.

    By the Numbers: A Crisis of Volume and Verbiage

    The sheer scale of legislation has become a convenient shield for lawmakers. But a look at the data reveals a problem that has spiraled out of control.

    • The Longest Bill: The record for the longest bill ever passed goes to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. At an obscene 5,593 pages, it was a behemoth spending bill combining COVID-19 relief with a $1.4 trillion omnibus package. To expect any single human to read, comprehend, and critically analyze this mountain of text before voting is a physical and cognitive impossibility. It was signed into law by President Trump on December 27, 2020, after passing both houses of Congress with large bipartisan majorities just days earlier.
    • The Shortest Bill: In stark contrast, some legislation can be very brief. In 2017, a bill was introduced in the House with a single sentence: “The Environmental Protection Agency shall terminate on December 31, 2018.” While this bill did not pass, it demonstrates that brevity can be a tool for radical change.
    • The “Average” Bill – A Rising Tide of Text: The very concept of an “average” bill is misleading, but the trend is undeniable. In the 1947-48 session, the average law was just 2.5 pages. Today, that average has ballooned to nearly 18 pages. More complex legislation often exceeds 1,000 pages. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, for example, clocked in at over 2,500 pages.
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  • Just for Fun: Urgent Recommendation to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC): Enhanced Specificity for Use of Proceeds Disclosures

    MEMORANDUM

    FOR: The Honorable Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

    Director, Division of Corporation Finance

    Director, Division of Enforcement

    FROM: [redacted]

    DATE: April 4, 2025

    SUBJECT: Urgent Recommendation: Enhanced Specificity for Use of Proceeds Disclosures

    1. Purpose: This memorandum recommends immediate action (rulemaking or interpretive guidance) to prohibit public companies from using vague terms like “other general corporate purposes” as the primary descriptor for the intended use of capital raised via registered direct offerings, private placements, or shelf registrations.

    2. Problem Statement & Background: Current Regulation S-K allows non-specific “general corporate purposes” disclosures. This flexibility is being exploited, contributing to significant retail investor harm. We’ve observed a troubling pattern, particularly acute during the Biden administration, where companies, especially in FDA-regulated sectors like biotech (e.g., Lucira Health, Cue Health) and other industries (e.g., Applied UV, Virgin Orbit, Rockley Photonics, Pacific Coast Oil Trust), raise substantial funds citing vague purposes shortly before collapsing into bankruptcy. This frequently results in devastating losses for individual investors (often $50,000+), while employees lose jobs.

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  • The MADC ‘Defense Pact’: A Playbook for Evading Accountability

    Universities, nudged by faculty groups and unions primarily within the Big Ten, are floating a plan for a “Mutual Academic Defense Compact” (MADC). The idea is to create an alliance where member schools pool resources to defend each other against what they term “political attacks.” While presented as a shield for academic freedom and institutional autonomy, the MADC looks more like a coordinated strategy to sidestep accountability to elected governments, taxpayers, and the public, particularly regarding controversial programs and policies.

    Breaking Down the Goals: A Pattern of Evasion

    Examining the stated aims reveals a consistent thread of trying to avoid oversight and consequences:

    1. “Collective Defense”: This isn’t about protection in the usual sense. It’s about creating a shared war chest—funded by tuition, endowments, or potentially taxpayer money—to fight back against governmental investigations, audits, or legislative actions. It’s a mechanism designed explicitly to resist accountability measures imposed by elected bodies.
    2. “Resisting Political Interference”: This frequently serves as code for resisting laws, regulations, and oversight that university administrations or faculty dislike. It suggests an attempt to operate outside the normal democratic process where institutions are subject to political (i.e., governmental) direction, especially public universities. Shielding specific research agendas or programs, like contested DEI initiatives, from scrutiny under the guise of fighting “interference” is a direct dodge of public and governmental accountability.
    3. “Protect Academic Freedom”: While crucial, this principle can be misused. In the context of the MADC, there’s a risk it becomes a justification for insulating specific, often left-leaning, ideological viewpoints or controversial scholarship from legitimate criticism and external review, thereby evading intellectual and public accountability.
    4. “Support Vulnerable Communities / Uphold DEI”: The push to use pact resources to defend DEI programs is particularly telling. These programs face significant legal challenges and public criticism as discriminatory, promoting division, and chilling speech. The MADC aims to provide a financial and legal shield to prevent these programs from facing accountability through courts or legislatures, essentially using collective power to protect contested initiatives from consequences.
    5. “Mitigate Financial Pressure”: This goal is perhaps the most blatant attempt to avoid accountability. If a university faces funding cuts due to legislative decisions, declining enrollment, or public disapproval of its policies, the MADC seeks to use funds from other (potentially out-of-state) universities to cushion the blow. This undermines the basic principle that institutions should be accountable for the consequences of their actions and policies, including financial ones.
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