Let's talk about Trump wanting a billion tax dollars for his ballroom.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump wanting a billion tax dollars for his ballroom.

I'm old enough to remember when Trump said, "All of the money paid is paid by myself and donors." It was at the end of March. Then he added, "There's not one dime of government money going into the ballroom." Again, that was March. Then in April, Senator Lindsey Graham started pushing for you, not the billionaires, to pay for the billionaire ballroom. He said, "By funding these necessary upgrades to the ballroom and the White House's security infrastructure, President Trump and future presidents will be able to host large events without having to leave the White House grounds."

Now, when I called it the billionaire ballroom, I didn't know Senate Republicans would want to make it a billion dollar ballroom, but the Senate Judiciary text of the new Republican budget reconciliation package says, "Out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $1 billion to remain available until September 30, 2029 for the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East-Wing Modernization Project including above ground and below ground security features. $1 billion.

The Dr. Evil Billion doll Ballroom for billionaires. There's not one dime of government money going into the ballroom. This from the guy who thought cost overruns at the Fed were a problem. This is coming from the administration that made cuts to SNAP health care, fired thousands of vets, cut education funding, and didn't approve disaster assistance requests. A billion dollars.

It's important to understand that in a case like this, security adjustments could include landscaping by saying it's for clear lines of sight, heavy concrete flower beds by saying they're traffic control, normal systems that would be in any building like sprinklers, locking walk-in freezers to secure the food, and so on. With enough imagination, pretty much anything could be reframed as security adjustments and upgrades. That morning sun is too bright. We need additional tinting on the windows for security reasons to obscure the view.

If you don't think it's that, I'm open to hearing how a 90,000 square foot structure plus 33,000 feet underground structure needs $8,130 worth of security per square foot. Even if you assume there's some Dr. Evil hidden underground layer that doubles the size, you're still talking about more than four grand per square foot. To put that in perspective, ground-up construction costs for a luxury hotel, which include ballrooms, is normally less than $600 per square foot. Talk about not meeting the moment. This is so tone-deaf.

Inflation is up with predictions for more climbs. Gas prices are through the roof with no end in sight. Foreclosures shot up so much in the first quarter that even Fox had to report on it. They're the highest rates since, well, the last time Trump was in office and analysts predict it will go higher.

While Americans are suffering under the weight of Trump's policies, the Republican party wants to pay a billion dollars for a ballroom so the people who created the policies can live it up and party and congratulate themselves for their failed policies while eating gourmet food paid for by the workers whose financial security they destroyed. Work hard and scrimp and save. There are establishment billionaires out there counting on you to pay for their playground.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

[Joinfortmill]

1. Sounds like a bunker to me. Is he gonna bury himself down there?

Can we demolish the above ground structure and leave him there? Asking for the world.