"we hate public spending except when it benefits us personally" - ThreadSky

anneapplebaum.bsky.social • 127 days ago

"we hate public spending except when it benefits us personally"

Let’s be real: This is a subsidy. The people who hate public spending have invented a massive government subsidy for a technology that has still yet to find a broad-based practical application 15 years after its debut

Comments

wydmuh.bsky.social•127 days ago

so let me understand. Dirty money laundrey called NFT should have its own fort knox, builded by Trump, who is backed up by other billioners. What could go wrong, let me guess, wealthy people will be wealthier, poor will be poorer

smudkicker.bsky.social•127 days ago

I hope Trump realises that the biggest government spending cuts could be made around the space race. Stop paying for billionaire’s hobbies!

visbednarski.bsky.social•127 days ago

Federal bitcoin reserve would require new widespread regulatory initiatives, but that is an anathema to bitcoin & crypto industry. Elon Musk opposed it.

visbednarski.bsky.social•127 days ago

In Sept 2021: "Tesla chief Elon Musk on Tuesday said the U.S. government should steer clear of trying to regulate the crypto market" (from CNBC).

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

Unfortunately, in the current state of affairs, it's quite possible they could do this without increased regulation. Not sure where they would take the money from, but they could just buy up crypto with government dollars and then find judges who would dismiss any suits against the move

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

The other problem being that, once the value of the coin plummets (it will), it would be foolish to sell off these assets, so it would become a self-perpetuating scheme

redvelvetchemist.bsky.social•127 days ago

m-ch.bsky.social•127 days ago

Meanwhile in Poland the NHS budget is being jeopardized by health inasurance contribution being cut.

sedwards.bsky.social•127 days ago

The ultimate pyramid scheme payout...a tax payer expense. Launder the fake money into real dollars, and magic!, winners (but not us).

brunopara.bsky.social•127 days ago

The grifting never stops

dean-alan.bsky.social•127 days ago

All I got to say is Trump+crypto+Federal Reserve=financial crises.

piotr-szafranski.bsky.social•127 days ago

Why nobody sees this "let's make money by investing tax dollars in crypto!" for what it is - the government running a BUSINESS operation FOR A PROFIT.
This is pure Soviet idea, their whole economy was about THE GOVERNMENT running businesses.
And I thought Trump was elected to "combat Marxism"...

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

Also an entirely unproven and unregulated investment vehicle with a demonstrated capacity for extreme volatility and absolutely nothing backing it but the word of a few tech bros who have enriched themselves by perpetrating this scam on the world. What could possibly go wrong?

piotr-szafranski.bsky.social•127 days ago

Exactly, but I wanted to talk about the ideology angle. Can US gov engage in businesses where, BTW, it also regulates, taxes, puts tariffs on etc? Who gave the gov any right to RISK people's money for a profit? What "market economy" means when the largest player is gov freely staking people's money?

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

Have you also noticed that they are no longer talking about "crypto"? Now they only talk about Bitcoin. They have declared a winner in the crypto sweepstakes! This despite the fact that Ethereum has a far lower carbon footprint

piotr-szafranski.bsky.social•127 days ago

A cute thing is that it is hard to trace who bought Bitcoin before the cries "let's have Treasury invest in Bitcoin!" went public. I would not be surprised if this was the only point, that there will be no further steps. Maybe it is a waste of time to discuss this, other things are more serious.

dav1rus.bsky.social•127 days ago

The lower carbon print is what makes it insecure and not fit for purpose.
Bitcoin also has the power to be carbon NEGATIVE, something no other crypto does.

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

How do you figure that? Even if Bitcoin developed enough alternative energy to offset its use (which it has no credible plan to achieve) that energy could have been put to better use reducing overall emissions. And there's no evidence that proof of stake is inherently less secure then proof of work

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

Well...even the bond market is a but of a gamble so, yes, they can. But our current crisis is that the guardrails have been removed, so we have no idea what might be deemed acceptable by SCOTUS. Scary times

piotr-szafranski.bsky.social•127 days ago

There is a clear (I think) constitutional argument that issuing bonds to finance Congress-approved budget is within law. I would be hard-pressed to find such an argument justifying the gov going to a casino and wage taxpayer's money hoping for a good return. Maybe I under-appreciate SCOTUS though.

steve-in-manhattan.bsky.social•127 days ago

Charlie Pierce has a good view towards this: "I have taken it as a good rule for living not to listen to people who come to me and say, 'Look! I invented new money!'"

oneadam12.bsky.social•127 days ago

And lets be real. Russia is dumping its currency at the quickest rate into Bitcoin ever. They are counting on this US Government reserve to spike the price so save their asses.

curiousaaron.bsky.social•127 days ago

Evidence?

shoktona.bsky.social•126 days ago

there’s always an exception. And it’s always them. #AmericanExceptionalism

marcia787.bsky.social•127 days ago

They are going to ransack the country if they take power. It reminds me of PR. Corruption, privatization, high cost of living, low wages, unreliable utilities, public schools closing, lack of doctors, deteriorated healthcare system… I grew up seeing how it progresses until there’s nothing left but 🙌🏻

marcia787.bsky.social•127 days ago

And here we go again but at a massive scale and faster. My question is how I can protect my assets? I don’t know if there’s a way to keep them safe. My dad lost everything when Castro went after the business and properties in Cuba.

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

Yep. We're well on our way to second-world status

gohst-hunter.bsky.social•127 days ago

The effort to destabilize the dollar and it's place as the world's reserve currency makes it impossible not to wonder if they're ALL Russian assets working for Putin

hermgamma.bsky.social•127 days ago

Crypto is a parable for the malaise affecting our societies. From a fundamental valuation perspective it is worthless and it wastes an incredible amount of scarce energy. It is a pure recursive social construct. Rather than doing the work and investing into something real, we lazily buy a mirage.

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

In a way you have to admire the grift. Not since snake oil have so few supplied so many with so little for so much profit to a chosen few

endeavorja.bsky.social•127 days ago

How’s this in the public’s interest vs strengthening social security and the ACA?

nullinterface.bsky.social•127 days ago

Feels like anything resembling consistent, principled fiscal conservatism died decades ago

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

Jay Powell still lives!

bwreed.bsky.social•127 days ago

I used to love new technology. But for the last decade most innovations seem to just make things worse. Crypto and AI are the two biggest examples.

reidob.bsky.social•127 days ago

And the amazing thing about both is that neither is even close to being what they claim. In the real world this is called fraud. Crypto is a totally invented solution looking for a nonexistent problem. So-called AI is a "recursive parrot," using our stolen IP to spit out anodyne crap

mjz1957.bsky.social•127 days ago

A crypto reserve: because you never know when there's going to be a shortage of electrons.

joebauernotsure.bsky.social•127 days ago

I’m sure DOGE will immediately flag this as an easy thing to eliminate.

mittfh.bsky.social•127 days ago

... in favour of a National Dogecoin Reserve... 😈

rocknrollcfo.bsky.social•127 days ago

This is precisely why the Tech Bros flipped so hard behind Trump when it seemed counter to their interests. Thiel, Musk, Andreesson, et al have a lot to gain here.

darrenkaplan.bsky.social•127 days ago

"The tokens in federal possession include Tether, a cryptocurrency whose underlying financial assets are managed in part by Howard Lutnick, a top Trump adviser."

That sounds bad.

brainnotonyet.bsky.social•127 days ago

That is the “give us endless cash because we are supermen and everyone else should burn” techno fascist creed.

that-trevor.bsky.social•127 days ago

Since a crypto *hedge* signals uncertainty in the dollar’s future value, this undermines the “full faith” proposition & will weaken the dollar and make financing the US debt much more expensive, sapping funds from other programs… their aim seems to be to weaken the US govt, unless they’re just { }

torbjornwandel.bsky.social•127 days ago

“And we love free speech when it’s our speech and free markets when it’s our stuff being sold and…”

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