Hence we have the biggest problem with the recent tax plan. Almost all of that money is going to end up being funneled through Wall Street by way of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. The last time an Administration gave them massive tax cuts, they nearly destroyed the entire US economy.
@Balrog99 A ferrari is a luxury. That run down ford isn't, and is likely to be someone's only transportation. The purchases are done for completely different reasons.
@Balrog99 A ferrari is a luxury. That run down ford isn't, and is likely to be someone's only transportation. The purchases are done for completely different reasons.
This is a good point, I have never bought a car as a luxury item (though that really isn't my style). I view them simply as a means to get to work, around town, or occasional travel. I honestly would prefer if I didn't have to have one at all.
Hence we have the biggest problem with the recent tax plan. Almost all of that money is going to end up being funneled through Wall Street by way of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase.
Well, my company has more money to spend on it's infrastructure now. We might even get a pretty new building to house our labs (at least my manager is hoping so). That's jobs for construction workers. I think we'll need the passage of time to see the results. We never have that luxury in this country though. We're always one election away from flipping things 180 degrees so we never really get to see whether or not a policy actually works. Since I'm kind of cynical about politics, I rather believe that's by design.
@Balrog99 A ferrari is a luxury. That run down ford isn't, and is likely to be someone's only transportation. The purchases are done for completely different reasons.
My point is that more taxes would be collected on the Ferrari. That has nothing to do with whether or not it is ever driven.
@Balrog99 How many years does it take to see if an economics plan works? We had 8 years of Bush, and saw what that did to the economy. Likewise we had eight years of Obama, and we can see how that went as well. At what point do we say, "Okay, that's long enough, we can stop now."
Have we already had this exchange? I just had a huge Deja vu.
@Balrog99 How many years does it take to see if an economics plan works? We had 8 years of Bush, and saw what that did to the economy. Likewise we had eight years of Obama, and we can see how that went as well. At what point do we say, "Okay, that's long enough, we can stop now."
Have we already had this exchange? I just had a huge Deja vu.
Bush didn't have Congress for all 8 years. Neither did Clinton or even Reagan. Nobody has complete power for long enough to prove anything. It's a huge shell game designed to keep the status quo.
Edit: Case in point: after the huge Michigan State scandal Republican ex-governor Engler has been put in charge at MSU. He picked Democrat ex-governor Millicken as his #2. The Democrat and Republicans don't hate each other as we think. I remember visiting Maine years ago and hearing that George Bush was hosting Bill Clinton at Kennebunkport that week. It's all a big scam...
I don't think tolls are a good idea for paying for roads. Toll booths do horrible things to traffic and are a huge pain to deal with (you have to bring every single person on the road to a complete stop every time they cross it). On top of that, it costs extra money to build the booths and maintain them, and even add the cost of an attendant if they're completely automated.
Back to this for a second.
Toronto has a toll road called the 407. The 407 is electronic, there are no booths to stop traffic. Instead, overhead camera capture your licence plate when you first enter the highway and then when you leave it. You are charged for how long you travel on the road (over $50 if you drive the whole thing) and it is billed to the car's registered user. It is more expensive for a Heavy truck to use the road than it is for a family car.
This is allegedly the most expensive toll road in the world, but there are 3 other highways (401, 403 and the Queen Elizabeth Parkway) that are toll free, however, the 401 is considered the busy highway in the world. It's existence itself is controversial as it wasn't suppose to be a luxury toll road to begin with. Wiki has more here
However, something like this could be implemented throughout an entire city or jurisdiction. Can't imagine the backlash if something like this was done though, but it is possible without the negative consequences that you listed.
I don't think tolls are a good idea for paying for roads. Toll booths do horrible things to traffic and are a huge pain to deal with (you have to bring every single person on the road to a complete stop every time they cross it). On top of that, it costs extra money to build the booths and maintain them, and even add the cost of an attendant if they're completely automated.
Back to this for a second.
Toronto has a toll road called the 407. The 407 is electronic, there are no booths to stop traffic. Instead, overhead camera capture your licence plate when you first enter the highway and then when you leave it. You are charged for how long you travel on the road (over $50 if you drive the whole thing) and it is billed to the car's registered user. It is more expensive for a Heavy truck to use the road than it is for a family car.
This is allegedly the most expensive toll road in the world, but there are 3 other highways (401, 403 and the Queen Elizabeth Parkway) that are toll free, however, the 401 is considered the busy highway in the world. It's existence itself is controversial as it wasn't suppose to be a luxury toll road to begin with. Wiki has more here
However, something like this could be implemented throughout an entire city or jurisdiction. Can't imagine the backlash if something like this was done though, but it is possible without the negative consequences that you listed.
I rather like this idea. You get to choose which route to take, the excellent Autobahn type road or the likely higher traffic, less maintained, free roads. As long as the free roads don't degenerate into dirt tracks this is brilliant!
Edit: This would also keep a lot of the damned 18 wheelers off the free roads since I would imagine those folks would be more likely to pay the tolls. The free roads would then be spared the extra wear and tear those vehicles inflict.
Well, technology could alleviate most of those problems. A chip in the license plate or some kind of scanner or camera could make tolls quicker, at a cost in privacy (but what else is new these days?).
California has had this system for at least two decades now: FasTrak. It's a free, little RFID box that you stick on your front window that lets you drive straight through toll roads and bridges, and CalTrans sends you a bill at the end of the month. They come with mini-Faraday cages so you can shield the broadcast when you don't need them but it's still a major privacy exposure despite being a massive convenience.
Even so, they still don't come anywhere near alleviating bottlenecks at toll booths. You'll always have some folks who don't want to use them, or visitors from outside the area who don't know about them.
@Balrog99 How many years does it take to see if an economics plan works? We had 8 years of Bush, and saw what that did to the economy. Likewise we had eight years of Obama, and we can see how that went as well. At what point do we say, "Okay, that's long enough, we can stop now."
Have we already had this exchange? I just had a huge Deja vu.
Bush didn't have Congress for all 8 years. Neither did Clinton or even Reagan. Nobody has complete power for long enough to prove anything. It's a huge shell game designed to keep the status quo.
Edit: Case in point: after the huge Michigan State scandal Republican ex-governor Engler has been put in charge at MSU. He picked Democrat ex-governor Millicken as his #2. The Democrat and Republicans don't hate each other as we think. I remember visiting Maine years ago and hearing that George Bush was hosting Bill Clinton at Kennebunkport that week. It's all a big scam...
The funny thing is that, despite Congress having more power than the president, economic growth is not correlated with which party controls Congress, though it is correlated with which party controls the presidency.
Wikipedia has a year-by-year breakdown of which party controls which part of the government, for those who are curious or want to cherrypick data.
Well, technology could alleviate most of those problems. A chip in the license plate or some kind of scanner or camera could make tolls quicker, at a cost in privacy (but what else is new these days?).
California has had this system for at least two decades now: FasTrak. It's a free, little RFID box that you stick on your front window that lets you drive straight through toll roads and bridges, and CalTrans sends you a bill at the end of the month. They come with mini-Faraday cages so you can shield the broadcast when you don't need them but it's still a major privacy exposure despite being a massive convenience.
Even so, they still don't come anywhere near alleviating bottlenecks at toll booths. You'll always have some folks who don't want to use them, or visitors from outside the area who don't know about them.
It's a start though. I live in Michigan and something definitely needs to be done about our horrible roads. They're some of the worst in the nation and it's getting to the point of lunacy!
Musing: Why is it there are more people on this forum that I'd like to vote for than anything our major parties parade out there?
Ingrained dislike of politicians in general. I'd rather venture to guess that once you elected any of us, we would then become politicians, then you would also dislike us. And it's not like the third parties were offering anything of worth in the last election. Both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein were kooks who couldn't tell their ass from a hole in the ground, at best. Trump is Trump. Hillary was the over-prepared Tracy Flick-type who no one likes. Before the last election, you had Ross Perot (kook) and Ralph Nader (less of a kook but a total egomaniac). I can only think of 3 Presidents who could find a light-switch in the dark in my lifetime, and they are George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. And I'm referring to the intellectual capacity that is actually needed to carry out the job. George W. Bush, on balance, had 8 years to do far worse things than Trump has on the international stage, but he was not seeking to uproot and destroy our entire system of checks and balances for his own personal gain.
Musing: Why is it there are more people on this forum that I'd like to vote for than anything our major parties parade out there?
Ingrained dislike of politicians in general. I'd rather venture to guess that once you elected any of us, we would then become politicians, then you would also dislike us. And it's not like the third parties were offering anything of worth in the last election. Both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein were kooks who couldn't tell their ass from a hole in the ground, at best. Trump is Trump. Hillary was the over-prepared Tracy Flick-type who no one likes. Before the last election, you had Ross Perot (kook) and Ralph Nader (less of a kook but a total egomaniac). I can only think of 3 Presidents who could find a light-switch in the dark in my lifetime, and they are George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
Well, Bill Clinton would likely find more than a light switch in the dark, G.H.W. Bush had the political savy of a turnip and Obama was an intellectual with no real personality so they weren't exactly stellar candidates either. The reason I like the folks on this forum is that I know how they think BEFORE they have power. I think most of us here would be like Dave in the movie of the same name. Great movie, if only...
I will also add the price of gas in itself is a form of a toll. The more gas you use, the more you drive (or have a shitty gas guzzling car) the more you already pay for road maintenance.
This story, although dated, breaks down the cost of gas and the taxes on it in Ontario.
Crude Costs - 41%
Refiner Operating Margin - 23%
Marketing Operating Margin - 5%
Provincial Excise Tax - 11%
Federal Excise Tax - 8%
Provincial HST - 7%
Federal HST - 5%
It is the middle 19% which is used to maintain roads and other forms of transportation (The HST is a sales tax used to fund other things like, I donno... cancelling powerplants at the cost of 1 Billion dollars, but I digress). It has always been the best way for people to pay their "fair share" when it comes to road maintenance.
This has not been brought up yet, but for all the hate professional sports and professional athletes get, it has become glaringly obvious that the real cess pool of the sports world is, has been, and remains the NCAA. The atrocity that happened at Michigan State (and the US Gymnastics team by way of Michigan State) with regards to Larry Nasser is just the latest in a never-ending string of scandals that have hit major programs (Penn State, Baylor) in which the entire athletic department and school Administration seem to be engaging in massive cover-ups of easily provable, pervasive and systemic sexual assault, rape, and child molestation. It's repulsive, and it's probably going on in WAY more programs than we have yet learned about.
This has not been brought up yet, but for all the hate professional sports and professional athletes get, it has become glaringly obvious that the real cess pool of the sports world is, has been, and remains the NCAA. The atrocity that happened at Michigan State (and the US Gymnastics team by way of Michigan State) with regards to Larry Nasser is just the latest in a never-ending string of scandals that have hit major programs (Penn State, Baylor) in which the entire athletic department and school Administration seem to be engaging in massive cover-ups of easily provable, pervasive and systemic sexual assault, rape, and child molestation. It's repulsive, and it's probably going on in WAY more programs than we have yet learned about.
Truth! The hypocrisy of the NCAA in regards to paying athletes is proof enough in my book...
This has not been brought up yet, but for all the hate professional sports and professional athletes get, it has become glaringly obvious that the real cess pool of the sports world is, has been, and remains the NCAA. The atrocity that happened at Michigan State (and the US Gymnastics team by way of Michigan State) with regards to Larry Nasser is just the latest in a never-ending string of scandals that have hit major programs (Penn State, Baylor) in which the entire athletic department and school Administration seem to be engaging in massive cover-ups of easily provable, pervasive and systemic sexual assault, rape, and child molestation. It's repulsive, and it's probably going on in WAY more programs than we have yet learned about.
Truth! The hypocrisy of the NCAA in regards to paying athletes is proof enough in my book...
Tom Izzo's press conference the other day was embarrassing. He should have resigned immediately afterwards. Honestly, if Joe Paterno and Tom Izzo were/are this sleazy and morally bankrupt, how many other coaches who haven't bothered to cultivate their image to a pristine shine are just as bad?? Also, the irony of Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr) being at the center of the Baylor scandal is just too rich for words.
This has not been brought up yet, but for all the hate professional sports and professional athletes get, it has become glaringly obvious that the real cess pool of the sports world is, has been, and remains the NCAA. The atrocity that happened at Michigan State (and the US Gymnastics team by way of Michigan State) with regards to Larry Nasser is just the latest in a never-ending string of scandals that have hit major programs (Penn State, Baylor) in which the entire athletic department and school Administration seem to be engaging in massive cover-ups of easily provable, pervasive and systemic sexual assault, rape, and child molestation. It's repulsive, and it's probably going on in WAY more programs than we have yet learned about.
Truth! The hypocrisy of the NCAA in regards to paying athletes is proof enough in my book...
Tom Izzo's press conference the other day was embarrassing. He should have resigned immediately afterwards. Honestly, if Joe Paterno and Tom Izzo were/are this sleazy and morally bankrupt, how many other coaches who haven't bothered to cultivate their image to a pristine shine are just as bad?? Also, the irony of Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr) being at the center of the Baylor scandal is just too rich for words.
Any coach South of the Mason-Dixon line come to mind? Funny how all of the scandals are in the North, East or MidWest. The Bible-Belt must just run things better, huh?
This has not been brought up yet, but for all the hate professional sports and professional athletes get, it has become glaringly obvious that the real cess pool of the sports world is, has been, and remains the NCAA. The atrocity that happened at Michigan State (and the US Gymnastics team by way of Michigan State) with regards to Larry Nasser is just the latest in a never-ending string of scandals that have hit major programs (Penn State, Baylor) in which the entire athletic department and school Administration seem to be engaging in massive cover-ups of easily provable, pervasive and systemic sexual assault, rape, and child molestation. It's repulsive, and it's probably going on in WAY more programs than we have yet learned about.
Truth! The hypocrisy of the NCAA in regards to paying athletes is proof enough in my book...
Tom Izzo's press conference the other day was embarrassing. He should have resigned immediately afterwards. Honestly, if Joe Paterno and Tom Izzo were/are this sleazy and morally bankrupt, how many other coaches who haven't bothered to cultivate their image to a pristine shine are just as bad?? Also, the irony of Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr) being at the center of the Baylor scandal is just too rich for words.
Any coach South of the Mason-Dixon line come to mind? Funny how all of the scandals are in the North, East or MidWest. The Bible-Belt must just run things better, huh?
(hides tongue in cheek)
Rick Pitino eventually had to get run out of Louisville for essentially allowing a prostitution ring for his players. An Arkansas coach had to resign a few years back after he got in an accident on a motorcycle. Unfortunately for him, he was with his mistress, who was also a graduate assistant (I might be wrong on that one). Neither of these are even remotely as serious as the 3 mentioned in the previous post. The person I looked up to most as a coach ever was Pat Summitt, the trailblazing women's basketball coach from Tennessee. Sadly, she passed away a couple years back from a very fast-hitting form of dementia. It is perhaps a small mercy that she wasn't around to see her son (who had recently been put in charge of his own program at a college I forget) also fall victim to scandal, being dismissed for having a sexual relationship with one of his players.
This has not been brought up yet, but for all the hate professional sports and professional athletes get, it has become glaringly obvious that the real cess pool of the sports world is, has been, and remains the NCAA. The atrocity that happened at Michigan State (and the US Gymnastics team by way of Michigan State) with regards to Larry Nasser is just the latest in a never-ending string of scandals that have hit major programs (Penn State, Baylor) in which the entire athletic department and school Administration seem to be engaging in massive cover-ups of easily provable, pervasive and systemic sexual assault, rape, and child molestation. It's repulsive, and it's probably going on in WAY more programs than we have yet learned about.
Truth! The hypocrisy of the NCAA in regards to paying athletes is proof enough in my book...
Tom Izzo's press conference the other day was embarrassing. He should have resigned immediately afterwards. Honestly, if Joe Paterno and Tom Izzo were/are this sleazy and morally bankrupt, how many other coaches who haven't bothered to cultivate their image to a pristine shine are just as bad?? Also, the irony of Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr) being at the center of the Baylor scandal is just too rich for words.
Any coach South of the Mason-Dixon line come to mind? Funny how all of the scandals are in the North, East or MidWest. The Bible-Belt must just run things better, huh?
(hides tongue in cheek)
Rick Pitino eventually had to get run out of Louisville for essentially allowing a prostitution ring for his players. An Arkansas coach had to resign a few years back after he got in an accident on a motorcycle. Unfortunately for him, he was with his mistress, who was also a graduate assistant (I might be wrong on that one). Neither of these are even remotely as serious as the 3 mentioned in the previous post. The person I looked up to most as a coach ever was Pat Summit, the trailblazing women's basketball coach from Tennessee. Sadly, she passed away a couple years back from a very fast-hitting form of dementia. It is perhaps a small mercy that she wasn't around to see her son (who had recently been put in charge of his own program at a college I forget) also fall victim to scandal, being dismissed for having a sexual relationship with one of his players.
Hormones anybody? I think it's high time this shit comes to light. People in positions of power have had a free pass for far too long. It doesn't have to be sexual though. The idea that a degree in Art Appreciation or Physical Education is compensation for years of indentured servitude belongs in the days of feudalism. That's assuming those kids even finish getting their degrees before they're discarded.
Edit: For every Robert Smith (who I think is amazing btw) who quit early from the NFL to become a doctor, there are thousands of athletes who don't get jack squat out of earning billions of $$$ for the NCAA.
At this point, I seriously hope, in some way or another, Devin Nunes ends up in jail. Trump's own FBI today came out and stated how reckless what he is doing is, and now he is making changes to this bullshit memo that haven't even been voted on by the House Intelligence Committee. He is coordinating this shit with the White House in the exact same way he did last year, when he claimed to have "come across" intelligence about the investigation that he needed to share with the President. It was revealed a day later that the White House was the one who GAVE HIM THE INFO!!! Nunes was on Trump's transition team. He is now actively using the House Intel Committee as a political extension of the White House. I don't think it's out of bounds to start asking if this guy is compromised. And by compromised, I mean by Russian intelligence. Nothing like this has ever happened before, not even during Watergate.
Also, Ms. Hope Hicks better have a good lawyer, or be ready to make some sort of deal, because if this is true, she could be in some deep shit:
He is coordinating this shit with the White House in the exact same way he did last year, when he claimed to have "come across" intelligence about the investigation that he needed to share with the President. It was revealed a day later that the White House was the one who GAVE HIM THE INFO!!!
He is coordinating this shit with the White House in the exact same way he did last year, when he claimed to have "come across" intelligence about the investigation that he needed to share with the President. It was revealed a day later that the White House was the one who GAVE HIM THE INFO!!!
What was this?
I think this would explain it best. This is not his first rodeo:
If Devin Nunes was withholding information from the intelligence committee... Well, why would someone get away with that?
I can understand keeping information away from journalists or the public because some things are sensitive or classified, but why hide it from the intelligence committee?
At this point, I seriously hope, in some way or another, Devin Nunes ends up in jail.
Wouldn't making material changes to a document constitute forgery? Isn't forgery typically a felony in most jurisdictions?
There is no justification for any of this. No real EXPLANATION at all except for the obvious one. We already know what the memo is going to say. It's about Carter Page being under surveillance during the campaign. Besides the myriad of reasons this was always valid, anyone who has ever seen Carter Page talk for more than 30 seconds on TV will deduce why. More importantly, it's about Rod Rosenstein re-authorizing that surveillance. Carter Page was being monitored under a FISA warrant because actual Russian spies already caught by the FBI named him as an asset. This memo is a pre-text to get rid of Rosenstein, who is technically overseeing the Mueller probe, and the only one who can actually fire him.
But back to Nunes. If he made changes to this document (and I see no reason to believe Adam Schiff is lying, and, let's get real here, Devin Nunes is as dirty as they come) and isn't going back to the House for a vote to release the new one (bullshit as they all are), then what are we looking at here?? He and the White House are just devising some sort of "revelation". There isn't a shred of credibility to any of it. As for Nunes breaking the rules, I mean, yeah, obviously. But who the hell is going to to stop him?? There is no mechanism to stop him. Paul Ryan is letting him run wild with this stuff. He has given his full blessing. Republicans voted to release this on a party-line vote. Now Nunes is simply altering the damn thing in the middle of the night. If anything mattered, this would be a big deal.
There isn't any mechanism to stop what is going on right now. You are correct about the end-game here @Mathsorcerer. Trump is simply not going to allow the Mueller probe to get him, by way of using the power of the Presidency to prevent it from happening. Nunes can't be punished for this either. The only thing preventing this kind of behavior before now was that people just didn't engage in it. Not since Nixon. But even during Watergate, there was nothing like a Republican head of the Intelligence committee coordinating a smear campain against the FBI with the White House.
Of course, based on his actions in the similar situation last year, Nunes could just be a really stupid person who doesn't realize there is a huge spotlight shining on every move he makes in regards to this memo. If the memo was changed, it has to go back to the committee to vote on the new version. But they aren't planning on doing that. Nunes is now saying it was only fixes of "grammatical errors". I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you if you are buying into that noise.
I'd also like to point out that Devin Nunes supposedly recused himself from this entire subject last year. Guess that didn't stick. What we are learning (harshly learning, in my opinion) is that most of our government functioning up to this point (or recently anyway) is based on protocol, and not laws. Or at least no laws that can be enforced, because who is going to enforce them?? If one side decides to break those protocols, it's game over. There has never been anything stopping them. And now they know that.
Comments
Have we already had this exchange? I just had a huge Deja vu.
Edit: Case in point: after the huge Michigan State scandal Republican ex-governor Engler has been put in charge at MSU. He picked Democrat ex-governor Millicken as his #2. The Democrat and Republicans don't hate each other as we think. I remember visiting Maine years ago and hearing that George Bush was hosting Bill Clinton at Kennebunkport that week. It's all a big scam...
Toronto has a toll road called the 407. The 407 is electronic, there are no booths to stop traffic. Instead, overhead camera capture your licence plate when you first enter the highway and then when you leave it. You are charged for how long you travel on the road (over $50 if you drive the whole thing) and it is billed to the car's registered user. It is more expensive for a Heavy truck to use the road than it is for a family car.
This is allegedly the most expensive toll road in the world, but there are 3 other highways (401, 403 and the Queen Elizabeth Parkway) that are toll free, however, the 401 is considered the busy highway in the world. It's existence itself is controversial as it wasn't suppose to be a luxury toll road to begin with. Wiki has more here
However, something like this could be implemented throughout an entire city or jurisdiction. Can't imagine the backlash if something like this was done though, but it is possible without the negative consequences that you listed.
Edit: This would also keep a lot of the damned 18 wheelers off the free roads since I would imagine those folks would be more likely to pay the tolls. The free roads would then be spared the extra wear and tear those vehicles inflict.
Even so, they still don't come anywhere near alleviating bottlenecks at toll booths. You'll always have some folks who don't want to use them, or visitors from outside the area who don't know about them.
Wikipedia has a year-by-year breakdown of which party controls which part of the government, for those who are curious or want to cherrypick data.
This story, although dated, breaks down the cost of gas and the taxes on it in Ontario.
- Crude Costs - 41%
- Refiner Operating Margin - 23%
- Marketing Operating Margin - 5%
- Provincial Excise Tax - 11%
- Federal Excise Tax - 8%
- Provincial HST - 7%
- Federal HST - 5%
It is the middle 19% which is used to maintain roads and other forms of transportation (The HST is a sales tax used to fund other things like, I donno... cancelling powerplants at the cost of 1 Billion dollars, but I digress). It has always been the best way for people to pay their "fair share" when it comes to road maintenance.(hides tongue in cheek)
Edit: For every Robert Smith (who I think is amazing btw) who quit early from the NFL to become a doctor, there are thousands of athletes who don't get jack squat out of earning billions of $$$ for the NCAA.
At this point, I seriously hope, in some way or another, Devin Nunes ends up in jail. Trump's own FBI today came out and stated how reckless what he is doing is, and now he is making changes to this bullshit memo that haven't even been voted on by the House Intelligence Committee. He is coordinating this shit with the White House in the exact same way he did last year, when he claimed to have "come across" intelligence about the investigation that he needed to share with the President. It was revealed a day later that the White House was the one who GAVE HIM THE INFO!!! Nunes was on Trump's transition team. He is now actively using the House Intel Committee as a political extension of the White House. I don't think it's out of bounds to start asking if this guy is compromised. And by compromised, I mean by Russian intelligence. Nothing like this has ever happened before, not even during Watergate.
Also, Ms. Hope Hicks better have a good lawyer, or be ready to make some sort of deal, because if this is true, she could be in some deep shit:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/us/politics/trump-russia-hope-hicks-mueller.html
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/devin-nunes-white-house-trump-surveillance/
I can understand keeping information away from journalists or the public because some things are sensitive or classified, but why hide it from the intelligence committee?
But back to Nunes. If he made changes to this document (and I see no reason to believe Adam Schiff is lying, and, let's get real here, Devin Nunes is as dirty as they come) and isn't going back to the House for a vote to release the new one (bullshit as they all are), then what are we looking at here?? He and the White House are just devising some sort of "revelation". There isn't a shred of credibility to any of it. As for Nunes breaking the rules, I mean, yeah, obviously. But who the hell is going to to stop him?? There is no mechanism to stop him. Paul Ryan is letting him run wild with this stuff. He has given his full blessing. Republicans voted to release this on a party-line vote. Now Nunes is simply altering the damn thing in the middle of the night. If anything mattered, this would be a big deal.
There isn't any mechanism to stop what is going on right now. You are correct about the end-game here @Mathsorcerer. Trump is simply not going to allow the Mueller probe to get him, by way of using the power of the Presidency to prevent it from happening. Nunes can't be punished for this either. The only thing preventing this kind of behavior before now was that people just didn't engage in it. Not since Nixon. But even during Watergate, there was nothing like a Republican head of the Intelligence committee coordinating a smear campain against the FBI with the White House.
Of course, based on his actions in the similar situation last year, Nunes could just be a really stupid person who doesn't realize there is a huge spotlight shining on every move he makes in regards to this memo. If the memo was changed, it has to go back to the committee to vote on the new version. But they aren't planning on doing that. Nunes is now saying it was only fixes of "grammatical errors". I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you if you are buying into that noise.
I'd also like to point out that Devin Nunes supposedly recused himself from this entire subject last year. Guess that didn't stick. What we are learning (harshly learning, in my opinion) is that most of our government functioning up to this point (or recently anyway) is based on protocol, and not laws. Or at least no laws that can be enforced, because who is going to enforce them?? If one side decides to break those protocols, it's game over. There has never been anything stopping them. And now they know that.