The Daily Populous Friday February 7th, 2025 night edition
Authored by wsmv.com and submitted by Parking_Truck1403

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Two Tennessee lawmakers have introduced the “STOP ELON Act,” which they say aims to hold people accountable for unlawfully interfering with the distribution of government benefits that families rely on.

Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) and Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville) introduced the act, which is also called the “Shielding Tennesseans from Oligarchic Power & Eliminating Lawless Obstruction of Necessities Act.”

If passed, SB 1128 would create a new offense of interfering with a person’s receipt of a loan, grant, or financial assistance that the person or entity is lawfully entitled to receive from any level of government. According to the bill, this offense would be punished as theft and authorize the victim to bring a civil action to recover the funds lost.

This includes the potential loss of Social Security payments, Medicare benefits, grants, and other financial distributions.

The pair of Nashville Democrats say that this act comes in response to reports that Elon Musk accessed the U.S. Treasury Department’s federal payment system.

“If Elon Musk illegally hurts Tennesseans, he should go to jail regardless of being a trillionaire or whatever and regardless of whether he’s got a permission slip from the president. Whether through malice or incompetence, if he unlawfully blocks our citizens from getting their Social Security checks or reimbursement from Medicaid or Medicare, his vast wealth should be on the table to compensate the people who get hurt,” said Sen. Yarbro. “We may not get bipartisan support this week while our more partisan colleagues are enjoying the sugar high of shuttering DEI programs and picking out vacation spots in Gaza, but you’ll see a bipartisan response materialize quick enough if the overreach of some 20-year-old leads to the closing of preschools, overdose prevention programs and rural hospitals.”

“Tennesseans who work hard and play by the rules should never have to worry about a billionaire meddling in their financial security,” said Rep. Powell. “People like Elon Musk need to understand that they are not invincible and the STOP ELON Act makes it crystal clear—no one is above the law. If you interfere with a person’s rightful benefits, you will be held accountable.”

The lawmakers added that if this act is passed, individuals who obstruct lawful government payments to citizens or organizations would face criminal penalties:

“The obstruction of benefits valued at $1,000 or less would be charged as a Class A misdemeanor with increasing penalties up to the obstruction of benefits valued at $250,000 or more, which would be charged as a Class A felony and carry significant prison time.”

So far, during the 114th General Assembly, Sen. Yarbro has sponsored 24 bills surrounding multiple topics, including cannabis, education, road rage and more. As of the publishing of this article, it’s unknown how many bills Rep. Powell has sponsored.

On Wednesday, WSMV4 learned that Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti would be reviewing Tennessee House Democratic Leader Karen Camper’s (D-Memphis) request for him to launch an investigation after Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gained access to critical federal systems.

Musk, according to the White House, has been working for President Trump as a special government employee. His team, DOGE, has received access to sensitive payment systems at the U.S. Department of Treasury, according to reports.

Trump said that he believes Musk is doing a good job and is a “big cost cutter.”

“Sometimes we won’t agree with it and we’ll not go where he wants to go. But I think he’s doing a great job.”

WSMV4 has reached out to Tennessee Republican lawmakers for a statement or reaction to the “STOP ELON Act.” We have yet to hear back at the time of this article’s publishing.

Copyright 2025 WSMV. All rights reserved.

hepakrese on February 6th, 2025 at 17:16 UTC »

Complementary ELON MUSK Act to be introduced by Wisconsin Rep Mark Pocan-

> Pocan to Introduce ELON MUSK Act to Ban Federal Government Contracts for Special Government Employees, Similar To Bans For Members of Congress, Many Other Federal Employees

> February 5, 2025

> Press Release

> The legislation, the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act, ensures transparency and honesty in government spending

> WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) announced plans to introduce the Eliminate >Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act. The legislation would direct Federal Agencies to terminate any contracts held by a Special Government Employee, similar to bans for Members of Congress and other federal employees.

> If a position like a “special government employee” has the authority to recommend spending decisions by agencies, they could clearly steer federal spending to their own self-interest. Like the bans on receiving federal contracts for Members of Congress and many others in the federal government, it is imperative that no “special government employee” should have the opportunity for personal gain, especially in areas where they can direct federal taxpayer funds.

> “No one should have the ability to direct funds towards their personal interest if they are working for the federal government. That’s why we don’t allow Members of Congress or many other federal employees to receive federal contracts. The same is even more true with a special government employee with wide authority to direct federal expenses,” said Representative Pocan. “No government employee, ‘Special’ or not, should have any financial interest in who the government does business with. Elon Musk is the poster child for this type of potential abuse. After more than $20 billion in federal contracts, there’s no way Musk can be objective in what he’s doing. Protecting the taxpayers has to be our number one priority.”

> Last year, Elon Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Donald Trump. Since Election Day, he has become $154 billion richer, a nearly 600x return on his investment. Now, Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire, has taken control of highly sensitive information in the U.S. Treasury Department and has tried to shut down USAID without any federal oversight. Contracts to his business interests by the Federal Government have exceeded $20 billion, with some additional contracts with undisclosed amounts, as in the case of Starlink.

> Text of the legislation will be released as soon as possible.

Source: https://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-introduce-elon-musk-act-ban-federal-government-contracts-special

SnowballOfFear on February 6th, 2025 at 17:13 UTC »

Be careful in Tennessee, they might make it a felony to introduce legislation against King Trump and his cabinet

seductiveexxcuddly on February 6th, 2025 at 17:11 UTC »

The quintessential American habit of recognizing an issue only once it has grown beyond management.