Imagine if I distilled a new liquor, that was identical to tequila but declared it a "cleaning product" so it was exempt from all regulations regarding alcohol sales including age requirements, taxes, volume and time limits, etc. That would be bad, right?
I'm sure the families suffering from increased bankruptcy, lower credit scores and higher rates of domestic violence are comforted to know that at least their state isn't paternalistic
They don't even pretend that this is a financial product! It is just a means of bypassing democratically enacted state laws so they can get more young men addicted to sports gambling. Anyone who works for this industry should be persona non grata in the Democratic Party
You aren't rejecting paternalism, you're rejecting democratically enacted laws regulating gambling
Great, you said yes and I agree. But Kalshi doesn't. They claim to not be gambling. They aren't subject to state gambling laws. In fact they claim to offer investments, convincing young men that their way out of the daily struggle is to "invest" on their platform. It's a scam
Is Kalshi gambling? Yes or no
Because Kalshi is not regulated as gambling, it pretends to offer "investments" that exempt the company from state regulation (for instance bans on people 18-21 gambling). Not only is Kalshi basically a sports gambling website, but its users lose more money than users of normal sports betting sites
You can lack any ethical commitments other than a support for the Democratic Party and still be upset about this! Senior Democratic campaign operatives should not be taking jobs where Donald Trump Jr. is their colleague and they shouldn't be orchestrating campaigns against Dems like Sherrod Brown!
I just realized why Yglesias is so heated about me insulting prediction markets like Kalshi. He's got to step up and defend his sponsors!
plenty of private sector jobs that are fine or even good for society. "lobbyist for Kalshi and Coinbase" is not among them
Apparently not
As the author of the screenshot, let me state it clearly: I do not consider myself a "bully" but if "bullying" is necessary to keep influential people from working on behalf of scams like Kalshi and Coinbase, I think it's worth the cost. Working for private enterprise is fine. Selling their BS isn't
NEW FREE HELL!
@revdoors.bsky.social's @henryburke.bsky.social on his writing at @thelever.bsky.social on AI's militarization by the Pentagon, and at @prospect.org on centrist @democrats.org supporting conservatism over progressivism.
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OpenAI has plotted a turn towards defense contracting since at least early 2024, first erasing its prohibitions on military use of their models, and then turning towards the revolving door to buy influence with the Pentagon by hiring defense insiders, our @henryburke.bsky.social writes
I bet the government of Qatar is thrilled that their all-star lobbyist is back on waivers. Could not have come at a more clutch time given the tough schedule they've faced for the past month and foreseeable future
Would you believe that the person complaining about the Pod Save America guys shrinking the tent is now calling for Democrats to exile Israel-skeptics from the party? She claims that the term "Epstein Class" is antisemitic and shows the left doesn't want to tax the rich but wants to "tax the jews"
Look at the double standard progressives are held to. Third Way just hosted a conference on how to exclude the left and calls for "icing out" Zohran only to whine that the Pod Save guys are "shrinking the tent" for calling on Dems to oppose the single least popular war in history
I actually watched all that the conference livestreamed (unfortunately for me) and wrote about it for The American Prospect. I encourage you to give it a read and see if it sounds to you like Third Way was trying to expand the tent
A spokesperson for Third Way is currently complaining that the Pod Save America guys are attempting to "shrink the tent" by calling for Dems who support the war with Iran to be primaried. Less than two weeks ago, Third Way hosted a conference on how to eject progressives from the democratic fold
Last week, Third Way held a conference in South Carolina to discuss strategy on how to block the Democratic Party's progressive wing from gaining power come 2028. Our @henryburke.bsky.social tuned in to their conference where they discussed their hatred of the left... and not much else
The Weimar Republic also thought a prison sentence for the attempted overthrow of the democratic order was too harsh and released a convicted criminal early. I wonder what happened next and if this resulted in any more threats to democratic institutions
A genuine image from Third Way's moderation conference, truly remarkable
Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina is up on stage as the last event of the day. He cites being anti crypto, anti prediction markets and anti gambling as why Democrats are losing young men. Messina is on the board of Blockchain .com and lobbied for the American Gaming Association
Yglesias, eager to keep the attention on labor unions decides to talk about COVID school closures (four years after they ceased to be a thing) and use them as an example for why unions are bad. Congressman Auchincloss says they can be one of the evil "groups" but tries to deflect
SF DA Brooke Jenkins decides to jump in here, announces that in SF, they're at a "reckoning point" with unions for their mistreatment of billionaires. Yglesias enthusiastically nods along as Jenkins attacks a proposed wealth tax, claiming billionaires "are giving more than most"
On a panel moderated by Matt Yglesias, Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb explains that he's embraced public-private partnerships, but does so with project-labor agreements to bring unions in. The third way audience does not seem enthused by this, it's not very abundance
Remarkable quote from SF DA Brooke Jenkins here: "We have figured out how to message to the ordinary person —I call them the 'silent majority'"
We desperately need more history education in this country if elected officials think they made up this term. Richard Nixon rolling in his grave smdh
While most people are preoccupied with the war with Iran, Third Way is hosting a conference in Charleston on how moderates can crush the left in 2028. No mention of the war so far this morning, but their 15 viewers have enjoyed plenty of GenXers making "jokes" in GenZ slang!
I think we need a way to keep powerful people from associating with rich pedophiles. A nudge perhaps?
