jerrymahoney

From the link above: White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has stated that Musk is “complying with all applicable Federal laws.” -- or as Scarlett O'Hara (1939) would have put it: Oh Fiddle-dee-dee

States File Suit Claiming DOGE Authority Grant Unconstitutional Feb 14, 2025 A coalition of over a dozen state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in Federal court on Feb. 13 against President Trump, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and its leader Elon Musk, accusing them of “unlawful exercise of power” in taking recent actions to invade Federal agencies, access their tech systems, and curtail their operations. The 14 attorneys general – who represent California, New Mexico, Arizona, Michigan, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington – asserted that Musk has “roamed through the Federal government unraveling agencies, accessing sensitive data, and causing mass chaos and confusion for state and local governments, Federal employees, and the American people.” The suit argues that those actions by DOGE and Musk are unconstitutional because President Trump has granted Musk “virtually unchecked authority” without first obtaining the necessary legal authorization from Congress, and without conducting proper oversight of his activities. The states pointed to the Appointments Clause in the Constitution, which they said strengthens the separation of powers by requiring Congress to create an office before the President can appoint someone to head it, and by giving the Senate the right to confirm any nominee to run it. They safeguards, they argued, were violated by the power granted to Musk and his DOGE team by President Trump. https://meritalk.com/articles/states-file-suit-claiming-doge-authority-grant-unconstitutional/

What I get of this topic is, if there really is anything for an American in Thailand to worry about, it will happen in Pattaya, Phuket, or ChiangMai first.

Three senior Justice Department officials in New York and Washington resigned Thursday instead of complying with orders from the Trump administration to dismiss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The flurry of resignations in protest represents the sharpest rebuke to date of the President Donald Trump’s team leading the Justice Department, which has spent its opening weeks in office firing prosecutors connected to the cases against Trump and demanding information about the thousands of FBI agents involved in the investigations of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. In an eight-page letter, Danielle Sassoon quit her post as acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York instead of dropping the Adams case, saying the New York mayor’s attorneys “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo” to help Trump on immigration if the case was dropped. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/13/politics/danielle-sassoon-eric-adams-us-attorney/index.html NB Ms. Sassoon was former law clerk for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

No 'And' from me -- I just posted a quote from your link.

Per the OxfordBiodynamics website: Which doctor can order the PSE test? -- In the UK, EpiSwitch PSE can only be ordered by a private doctor at this time. The test is not yet available on the NHS. -- In the US, any healthcare provider (HCP) can order EpiSwitch PSE. https://www.94percent.com/ So, for Thailand as of now, the most accurate test is PSA + DRE.

From the NBC link in the OP: In his ruling Wednesday, O'Toole found that the unions lacked legal standing to bring the suit. (Judge O'Toole): "The plaintiffs here are not directly impacted by the directive." (Everett Kelley, the head of the one of the unions involved in the suit) also noted the ruling "did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program."

Of the 15 agencies Musk's team have targeted so far, nine were singled out for elimination or downsizing in Project 2025, a controversial 900-page blueprint compiled by conservative think-tanks to remake the U.S. government. The document claims many federal government agencies have been taken over by a left-wing elite who use taxpayer dollars to push a liberal agenda that is "weaponized against conservative values". Trump distanced himself from the project during the 2024 election after an uproar over some of its more far-reaching proposals, but a number of the authors are now in his administration. Bill Hoagland, a former Republican staffer and director of the Senate Budget Committee for more than 20 years, said the cost-cutting efforts so far have been designed to play to Trump's base, and have been "low hanging fruit for ideological reasons." "The playbook has not been for the dollar savings, but more for the philosophical and ideological differences conservatives have with the work these agencies do," Hoagland said. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-cuts-based-more-political-ideology-than-real-cost-savings-so-far-2025-02-12

That isn't 100% true. I use the 65K+ baht per month retirement extension regime and every year I supply a "source of funds" letter from the managing financial institution. That letter shows that the funds comply in effect with terms of the US-Thailand DTA. (Article 20 Paragraph 3.) My other source of funds is US Social Security.

I will just say again that there is no reference that I have seen of a tax free foreign remittance by a bona fide Thai tax resident as a gift on one of the major websites -- and if it has been done for decades why are the tax advisors still only offering opinions not saying that they have clients who do so regularly

The Thai Gift Tax was passed in 2016 and went into effect 2017 and -- at least based on my reading these pages and accountant/tax lawyer websites -- there is not documented one specific test case of a non-Thai tax resident remitting a foreign-sourced large transfer (up to 20 million baht) to a Thai spouse declared as a gift with no tax request from the Thai Revenue Department.

I will not answer the query as posed -- just to note when the 20 million baht figure was put in the 2016 Gift Tax regs, to the Thai citizen persons it was intended were saying : WOW Oh no! We can now ON LY declare no more than 20 million baht per year as a tax free gift? -- as gifts at the time were seen in the 2016 regs as a means to avoid inheritance taxes. Now for the expat crowd it has morphed to: WOW You mean we can give up to 20 million baht per year as a tax free gift?

Since one has been subject to a detailed medical underwriting in order to get the life insurance in the first place, that there will be some 'newly discovered' condition upon submitting a claim is not the same as with the initial health insurer underwriting.

Judge to pause Trump administration effort to gut USAID's workforce by thousands Two labor groups had sued the Trump administration after it said that thousands of USAID employees would be placed on administrative leave starting at 11:59 p.m. Friday. A federal judge on Friday said he will pause a midnight deadline for the U.S. Agency for International Development to be stripped down to a few hundred workers from a workforce of more than 5,000. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols made the announcement from the bench after a hearing at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., hours before 2,200 USAID employees were scheduled to be placed on administrative leave beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET Friday. Nichols, a Trump appointee, said he would be entering a “very limited” temporary restraining order before midnight that would also address whether 500 employees already on leave will have their leave rescinded. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/judge-pause-trump-administration-effort-gut-usaids-workforce-thousands-rcna191280

On 11/11/2024 at 2:28 PM, jerrymahoney said: The only operative thing is the extent to which contributors to the Project (2025) will be in the new administration. (Reply to JerryM) About which you haven't the slightest idea, which I suppose is an excuse for playing more scary music. Now if you did, what difference do you know it would make, except as a reason to blow more hot air? Headline today from AP: Senate confirms Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to lead OMB

Opinion from the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board (preview before paywall) Trump Blinks on North American Tariffs The President pauses after minor concessions from Canada and Mexico. Feb. 3, 2025 6:17 pm ET President Trump never admits a mistake, but he often changes his mind. That’s the best way to read his decision Monday to pause his 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada after minor concessions from each country. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-claudia-sheinbaum-justin-trudeau-concessions-trade-border-d5bbed97

And like the boy who cried WOLF!, there may be only so many times he can get away with that modus operandi.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada went for a threat of immediate retaliation and a late-night emotional address that produced a cliffhanger compromise. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico opted for carrots over sticks, and backroom talks that led to an early deal. In the end, when all was said and done on Monday, hours before what would have been the start of a North American trade war, both leaders negotiated reprieves from President Trump on his threat to impose tariffs on the United States’ two top trading partners. And both had to provide relatively little in exchange. NYTimes via https://archive.ph/ZRpWa

If I want to bitch about what others do, as long as it is not directed at you personally, it's none of your business.

Looks like the $US vs. Thai baht has taken a nice jump today.

Though Mulino told Rubio that Panama’s sovereignty over the canal was not up for debate, he also said he had addressed Washington’s concerns over Beijing’s purported influence around the waterway. Panama would not renew a 2017 memorandum of understanding to join China’s overseas development initiative, known as the Belt and Road initiative, Mulino said, also suggesting that the deal with Beijing could end early. As CNN has previously reported, Hutchison does not control access to the Panama Canal. Workers at their two ports only load and unload containers onto ships and supply them with fuel. Three other ports in the vicinity of the canal are operated by competing companies providing similar services. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/02/americas/panama-china-belt-and-road-initiative-rubio-visits-intl-latam/index.html

"Apparently, Mr. Trump felt that that was going to help Southern California," said water strategist Barry Nelson. "Number one, those rivers aren't connected to Southern California. That water will not get to Southern California. Number two, that's water that the Corps was holding for farmers to irrigate with next summer. Releasing it now, when it's raining doesn't do anybody good, except it creates the very real risk of potential flooding." https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/expert-describes-trump-ordered-northern-california-water-release-dumb/

Tax form? Maybe. All Revenue might want to know is that, if you are on an extension via retirement, you should have either 65K+ coming in every month or 800K sitting in the bank at time of extension. One or the other.