I know u do
Was not targeting u or Inso .

That doesn't hurt my feelings, everyone should feel free to target away.

I myself rather enjoy being a target. Not a fan of being targeted by the mods, though.

They should pay the mods so at least I know that my infraction points are coming from pros, not amateurs.

Red state education folks.

The new Benghazi !!!

He's under investigation.

As is Trump.

That seems to be par for the course these days. Sadly.

Of course having daddy set you up in a cushy job is much more of a conservative thing then a progressive one. All the protection of unearned estate assets and all that. So it seems silly to throw too many pebbles at him.

The accusation though is not that 'Daddy set him up in a job' in the Biden case as it is in the Trump case with his kids and Son in Law.

The accusation is merely, the son seems to have taken advantage of the fact that some groups will always seek to hire the kids, brothers, former business partners of those who obtain power, and then saying 'the Person in power is therefore guilty and responsible for that association'.


Right lozen? You are not accusing Joe of 'setting Hunter up in those jobs, correct?'


What the Republicans are weaponizing, is that society at large has real disdain for these actions generally called 'lobbying', when it comes to family members, friends or former associates suddenly becoming high paid 'lobbyists' simply because of proximity to 'who they know that has recently obtained significant power'. Especially if that person was very flawed and broke prior and is now being paid huge amounts.


So if I owned a failing furniture store with a guy who suddenly ran for Governor and won, and i instantly create a lobbying firm, targeting special interests who want to bend the governors ear, and they hire me paying me millions hoping I can get them good access, there is nothing wrong or illegal in that. We may hate it but it is fine to do. It is fine for the governor to hear them out to. There is nothing illegal in it, even though we find it distasteful.

The only illegality comes in if the governor used his power in unlawful ways. That is not even the argument of the right (maybe is of the craziest amongst them) and instead they are just playing on the outrage that Hunter could have got rich due to proximity to daddy and suggesting that if Joe's fault.

Hunters Board appointments are one of the more casual forms of lobbying.

This is an issue that cannot even be fixed. There would be no way to pass laws to say kids or ex business partners, etc cannot take jobs in any industry that might want influence to a politician.

For instance imagine AL Gore's kids, being passionate around Climate Change issues and graduating University and wanting to work in those fields. Then Al Gore wins the presidency. Job prospects are not way up for those kids as firms who are wanting to pressure gov't, or just get the benefit of having the 'Gore' name in their management rolodex, give them higher paying jobs then they otherwise would. You cannot ban those kids taking jobs with ABC Marketing Firm, or going on the Board of XYZ Social Advocacy Firm, just because their dad just became the POTUS.

lozen knows this. And he knows that the GOP (and he himself) are just disingenuously using an 'outrage issue' in a way to smear Joe Biden. And for an offense, it appears Republicans do far more often and in more egregious ways.


Anyway I know I am not telling you anything here.

I always like to game play this out to ask the 'out rage crowd' where they would do anything different or what laws they think could be passed to prevent this.



Hunter : Dad this company is Burisma is offering me a half million dollars and more to go on their Board.
Joe : Son I would prefer you do not do that. You must realize you have no experience for that job and they are only offering it to you, hoping it gets them favourable access to me and our gov't and it won't.

Hunter : ya I even mentioned that to them. That i have no experience that this won't get the company any favourable access but they want to pay me anyway. So I am talking the job
JOe : Son, I am telling you not to.

Hunter : then give me the $500k or you can GFYS. No way I am turning down so much money when they know what they are getting and want me anyway.
Joe : I don't make close to that and cannot pay you that much, plus whatever future offers you get to stop you taking them. SO I am asking you out of niceness to stay broke and not take the money

Hunter : Sorry I just accepted the offer


So noting all of our disdain to the above where and how would anyone legally prevent it? And how can a parent (ex associate) actually stop it?

As offensive as the Grifting it, it is not and cannot be made an offense. What is criminalized is the person in power acting improperly based on that relationship, if/when that happens.

Same with the stock thing too--As soon as a law passes people will have a workaround up and running asap. I'm not trading stocks my cousin's dog is we just have a very close relationship We make laws--and then people set about finding out exactly where the line is(and step over it whenever they think no one is looking).

People want politicians to be different/act with integrity--but when our entire society is now basically built around everyone being as selfish as possible. These are just the results Maybe we should remove all of those regs on business too and they'll do the right thing just because.

While I agree that humans gonna human, the standard for ethics should be fairly high for people as powerful as senators and congresspeople. If they get caught there should be consequences. Then....play at your own risk.

This 'no rules' environment doesn't make anyone outside of the clique trust the system. Which is the real danger imo.

While I agree with you there can always be work arounds the stock trading thing is different.

Currently insiders to companies are legally prevented from trading or sharing any info with others on stock they are insiders too. Does that mean many do not break the law and are willing to bet they won't caught? No. Of course some do. But at least they face some jeopardy of being caught and it something illegal.

Re the 'grifty forms of lobbying' payment that Hunter has got, I am saying there is no way to make that illegal despite our distaste.


You could not write a law that would prevent Hunter from taking that job with Burisma that would not, for example stop someone like Al Gore's kid, if Al was POTUS, graduating University with some Environmental related degree and taking a job in Public relations or other with firm that is in that space. It would be impossible to know if the kid got the job because that was their passion and it was meritorious or if the company thought it MIGHT get them an edge on their agenda that they wanted to put before Al and the gov't.

So what I am trying to distinguish is that lozen and others distaste for Hunter getting lots of money based on 'who he knows' is not a crime, not even a little bit. But that distaste is being weaponized against Joe. Only if Joe broke the rules of engagement (which I have seen zero evidence of) when it comes to dealing with all forms of 'lobbyist' would a crime have happened and again we are seeing no signs of that.

Ya the only thing I could see that gov't could really do to deter all the distasteful forms of what I am lumping in to as 'direct or indirect lobbying' is require all gov't officials to file 'potential conflict of interest' filings whenever they deal with ANYONE who is an 'owner', 'Board Member', 'employee' or 'consultant for' any private interests seeking access to them in the gov't.

And if you want to really discourage then require that gov't official to recuse himself from any decision making.

Oh and include any 'retired politicians' too into that pool.

If you make it harder for a Organizations and Companies with an agenda to actually get access if they hire 'anyone close to gov't' in an attempt to gain influence they may stop doing it.

But gov't would never do that. They want their kids, friends, former business partners and associates to enjoy the gravy train of 'selling influence'. Heck most politicians make more money retired as lobbyist or on Boards then they did in Politics. For many the whole reason they enter is to get to that gravy train after.

CNN Exclusive: 'We control them all': Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows ideas for overturning 2020 election before it was called

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/08/polit...ext/index.html

https://youtu.be/WOhcCPqc4pk
Saudia Arabia too

I love hunter biden.

This is all in some hypothetical made up world where Hunter Biden wasn't over qualified for the job.
Hunter biden's qualifications and experience for a job like that were immense.

Are we offended she is chubby?

Qualifications are irrelevant to my hypothetical.


You have Person 1 who is a wayward 'kid', 'sibling', 'ex business partner' of someone who now becomes a powerful politician.

Various groups (lobbying firms, Activists groups,, Corporate boards) all see some value now in associated themselves with Person 1, some simply wanting the 'name recognition' on their CV list and some hoping it will get them more access to those in power, etc.

For instance a Activist Group focused on Climate Change, might have wanted to hire any Gore kid they could, if Gore had become POTUS, simply for their last name and marketing purposes, and might have no intent to have them seek anything from daddy.

No one can make any such hiring's or associations illegal simply because it turns our stomachs that a wayward kid is now being grossly overpaid for that.

the laws can only focus on what the Politician can or cannot do in engagement with that person.

This Hunter Biden outrage is being whipped up over the distaste he was so highly paid, while suggesting that somehow Joe Biden is responsible for that, when he is not and has no power to do anything about it.

This is one area of grift, there really is no fix for and should not be.

Poor Joe is really getting dunked on for all of the dazed and confused behavior lately.

Unfortunately, I don't think ol' Bernie is going to fare any better in front of cameras 2 years from now.

Mayor Pete to the rescue?

Or, coming soon to a theater near you -- HRC: Back for Blood


Christ, if that HRC donation comes back to haunt me...

Indeed.

But the video's being utilized are being edited heavily to make Joe look 'lost'.

I think it was Ari on MSNBC who contrasted the full video with what they are showing on Right media, which is a pretty stark difference.

It seems like only yesterday Hillary had a brain tumor.

She falls well within the parameters required by polite society.

Personal tastes vary of course......

Imagine had the tobacco industry been immune to prostitute being sued.

u sure got him bro. while trying to say prosecute he said prostitute and then corrected it to "being sued".. run and tell the other kids at recess.

I have no idea whether Joe was in on the influence peddling when Hunter referred to him as "the big guy" in the email but what I find hysterical is how conservatives make fun of Hunter for being a crackhead in one hand but then imply Hunter is a credible source and so if he implied his dad was in on it it must be true, that there's no chance he was just pulling crap out of his ass to seal the deal.