Jim Vandewalker

Can't wait 👇

The system of campaign finance limits that has governed American elections since Watergate is virtually dead, which has major implications for the midterm campaign as it enters its final weeks. We are hosting a Reddit AMA on how big money is shaping the Midterms on Tuesday, Oct 20, at 12 - 2pm ET.

People don’t laugh Musk out of the room because he’s so rich 🔄 Musk is so rich because people don’t laugh him out of the room.

For comparison, the past record was $54 million for the Senate GOP in 2024. This year, they took in $133 million. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

That time someone dumped a toy house on the cemetery wall and, when I crouched a bit, some ✨ Hollywood Magic ✨ occurred.

New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854

"YOU’RE LISTENING TO SISYPHUS FM, THE HOME OF NON-STOP ROCK"

Well, that's a hell of a thing to leave next to a statue of Joan of Arc.😏

The major platforms—Facebook, YouTube, and X—are all refusing to show the trailer for the upcoming documentary that eviscerates the ridiculous pest Elon Musk. So I guess we have to do our part to make sure it is seen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY_8...

Immigrants taking prejudice opportunities away from native white bigots!

Hey, y'all, where do dogs hate shopping? .. At the flea market!

Apparently people are sharing this far and wide on social media, which I think is horrible. This could cripple ICE operations. PLEASE do not share this.

I'm going to KEEP talking about how Senator Rick Scott, the RICHEST man in all of Congress, DEFRAUDED Medicare & is trying to CUT Social Security. Will you join me?🤚

"Lake America" instantly just absolutely clogged with algae. Six uniformed National Guard guys standing on a beach dumping windex into it. It smells like a turtle tank.

How is the cyclospora outbreak a money in politics problem? @danw329.bsky.social explains... www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

yeah man "woke 1" sucked ass. I "woke 1" morning from uneasy dreams to find myself transformed into a giant insect

"...at least 25 county-level election officials who have taken office across the country since the last major federal election in 2024 ... have aligned with the broader election-denier movement, according to a Times review of a new database from Voting Rights Lab" www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/u...

We should really work together, hand and hand, to focus all of our community’s poorly-suppressed and totally ruthless bullying energy on the single demographic we all agree actually deserves it: Harry Potter Adults in the year of our lord 2026

The company is like an evil vending machine, you put money in and it does what you want, unless somebody else puts more money in and tells it to stop.

just another white cat appropriating tabby culture

Perspectives: Past, Present, and Future, by Patrick Wyman patrickwyman.substack.com?r=g7c0u&utm_...

We can attack this problem from both sides. Public financing that lifts up small donors and invites new ones, a constitutional amendment to return common-sense restrictions on big money, and better transparency and ethics rules. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Americans across party lines see big money in politics as corruption, and they want solutions. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Tobacco company Reynolds American / RAI Services gave $5 million around the time the administration lifted restrictions on vaping products, giving Reynolds what it wanted and inducing the FDA head to resign. www.wsj.com/business/tob...

The top MAGA Inc. donor at $35M is the owner of crypto[dot]com, apt for a president friendly to cryptocurrency as a matter of both policy and personal investments. Greg & Anna Brockman, whose money comes from OpenAI, gave $25M, and Trump has supported leaving the AI industry largely unregulated.

This is why the elite pundits who say “small donors are making politics worse” are so out of touch. Small money only matters when millions of people come together to vote with dollars, and they don’t seek favors for wealthy corporations or special interests.

Reporting shows how this massive fund was raised (+ less-transparent groups like the ballroom and 250th anniversary funds): Trump is constantly asking big business for money, including companies in search of policy favors from his administration. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

As the midterm congressional elections heat up, the richest political committee in the US is, of course … the super PAC controlled by a president who’s not on the ballot and is constitutionally barred from ever running again.

I'll be on Texas Public Radio soon discussing dark money in elections... www.tpr.org/podcast/the-...

In addition to being a devoted public servant who saved countless lives over the course of a long and destiguished career, Dr. Fauci is an accurate diarist! 🎁 www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...

Some certified bangers coming up on Past Lives: July 29: Interview with Prof. James Romm on Greek wisdom for the modern age (very dad-coded!) Aug. 5: The Human Sacrifices of the Shang Dynasty Aug. 12: Bog Bodies! Aug. 19: Tollund Man Aug. 26: Interview with Prof. Peter Mancall on Colonial America

You can kill a French vampire with a baguette. It's a painstaking process but it works.

You know, I just don’t get the sense that the Trump administration actually cares about forced labor but is just in fact using it as a convenient excuse for brain dead tariffs

Good morning

These resources review federal and state laws and regulations that may help election officials, their attorneys, and others who support them to appropriately prepare for and respond to election interference. www.brennancenter.org/series/state...

IN CONCLUSION. You can find the whole list with longer descriptions here, on my website. Enjoy! www.cheriepriest.com/cheap-kindle...

Banana trees are now bearing fruit in south-east England thanks to climate change: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg8edqq5g5o

My latest for MSNBC on JD Vance, conspiracy communicator. The Constitution doesn't give the VP a full-time job, so each has to carve out their own niche. Vance chose to push conspiracy theories on podcasts:

Pete Hegseth: "We need our warriors to embrace the Spartan mindset" U.S. Military: *suffers crushing defeat to the Persians*

Because if you're a family where one parent is staying home when the kids are too young for school, you're usually on a tight budget but are also the person with the time to do the shopping. Gonna go out on a limb and suggest that this is why grocery carts are designed to seat young children.

My favorite way to put this, as someone who studied Classical History in actual college (not just on Twitter): If you told an ancient Roman or Athenian that his culture had "more in common" with a German or Briton than with an Egyptian or Ethiopian, he'd punch you in the throat.

A Great Blue Heron arrives in shallow waters to do some fishing. This particular area is a favorite of the Green Herons, who catch lots of mud minnows.