Scott Read

[Joe Weisenthal @TheStalwart]

Any time you hear a politician advocating for freezing or cutting property taxes, it should be understood as a way to enhance the economic position of boomers while reduce the opportunities for young, aspiring homeowners.

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@wolmanj One Burrito After Another

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@scottlincicome I think of my grandfather, who grow up picking cotton in Mississippi in the 30s, never went to college, and was able to quit farming, start his own manufacturing business, and one day send my mom and aunt to college.

[Dan Carlin @dccommonsense]

As we watch things spin out of control in the Middle East I can't help but recall, and I've said it many, many times before and I'll say it again: one human being should not be able to have all this power. The Founders didn't want it that way and they were 100% right.

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@uninterestedowl @SohrabAhmari Bye Felicia

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@uninterestedowl @SohrabAhmari My vote is my own business. But I will proudly say I never once fell for Trump’s schtick. How many times did you fall for it?

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@uninterestedowl @SohrabAhmari And apparently you, an idiot, believed he would carry through on his campaign promises. As if there was no historical evidence to document exactly what a promise from Trump is worth.

[Eduardo García-Molina @eduardo_garcmol]

Breaking: Newly released documents reveal the US administration laid off the Delphic Oracle last year who had predicted that a mighty empire would fall if Persia was invaded.

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@moseskagan @bairdk @BenjiBacker @grok I understand your point that we could shift policy to make the IMW an oasis if we wanted to… but is the value gained by doing so worth the costs (economic, social, environmental, etc.) we’d incur to do it? Color me skeptical.

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@moseskagan @bairdk @BenjiBacker @grok For Lower Basin States like CA to use less CO River water and more desalinated ocean water locally than it would be to pump that desalinated water over the Sierra Nevada.

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@moseskagan @bairdk @BenjiBacker @grok Moving water from the west coast to the IMW would require pipelines crossing potentially multiple mountain ranges, which would impose significant social and economic costs and anyone caught in its path. It would be cheaper…

[Justin Amash @justinamash]

The paid grifters, partisan hacks, and bots are out in force—misleading people about the Constitution and the law—to defend Trump’s unconstitutional war.

Here’s an important Iran war PSA:

Contrary to what you may have heard about the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. §§ 1541–1550), it does not allow the president to take military action for any reason for 60–90 days without congressional approval so long as the president notifies Congress within 48 hours.

Section 1541(c) of the War Powers Resolution states clearly:

“The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”

Of the three cited authorities, not one indicates a presidential power to take unilateral (without Congress’s approval) offensive military action.

The first two authorities allow the president to take offensive military action but only with Congress’s express approval (Article I of the Constitution grants Congress the exclusive power to declare war).

The third authority allows the president to take defensive military action without Congress’s approval in the event of a specific type of national emergency, a sudden unforeseen attack on the United States (happening too quickly for Congress to meet) necessitating immediate action to protect Americans.

It’s for this last situation (or for situations in which the president introduces forces into hostilities unlawfully) that the War Powers Resolution provides for the oft-mentioned 48-hour report to Congress (§ 1543) and 60-day (up to 90-day) timeline (§ 1544). If there’s an attack in progress on the United States (i.e., currently happening), we expect the president to respond swiftly to neutralize the attack and protect Americans—and then we will hold the president to account.

The Framers of the Constitution agreed at the debates in the federal convention of 1787 that the president should have the “power to repel sudden attacks” but not the power to otherwise introduce forces into hostilities without congressional approval.

The War Powers Resolution does not confer any new authority on the president to take offensive military action without congressional approval—nor could it under our Constitution. It instead checks the president when, as the Framers contemplated, the president introduces our Armed Forces into hostilities to repel a sudden attack.

The fact that previous presidents have violated both the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution does not—and cannot—change the law or make any present military action lawful.

[Micah Wiener @ProducerMicah]

I know one group of champions who would never willingly invite the feds into their celebration.

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@realEstateTrent Dallas born and raised here. The city is continually unprepared for serious winter weather. A half inch of ice on the the highways will usually shut down the city.

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@jamesob Please teach me your ways

[Scott Read @bsread1]

@marcorandazza @jeremykauffman That would require declaring war on Belgium and digging up King Leopold II’s corpse