Was a sportswriter for website in Chattanooga and newspapers in Knoxville and three other cities. Co-author of “Redemption” a bio about novelist Scott Pratt.

Knoxville, TN
Joined August 2009
Dan Fleser retweeted
Really great to see this: six Nobel Prize-winning economists (Duflo, Krugman, Diamond, Banerjee, Acemoglu and Stiglitz) just came out in favor of the California billionaire tax. You don't have to be a radical leftist to see why it's a good idea. First, look at the numbers: ten years ago, the richest 0.001% of Californians were worth $700 billion. Today, that same group (about 250 people) is worth $2.3 trillion. From 2019 to 2025, their wealth grew by $1.4 trillion. The California income tax they paid over that period was just 1.6% of that gain. A nurse or a plumber pays a higher state tax rate. Yes, many of these people built great companies, and they've made a lot of money in the process. Good for them! The problem is that wealth on this scale stops being just money. It becomes extraordinary power. In 2000, billionaires accounted for about 1% of all donations in federal elections. In 2024, it was 19%. The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and the platform you're reading this on: all owned and controlled by billionaires. Now add AI. If you think power is concentrated now, just wait five years. It's going to get much worse. So, what does Prop 40 actually do? It's a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of California's billionaires. That would raise about $100 billion, enough to offset the federal Medicaid cuts. "But they'll all leave!" the critics say. Nope, they can't. The tax applies to any billionaire who lived in California on January 1, 2026, and the initiative only became public about five weeks before that. "But it'll kill Silicon Valley!" Uh no, that won't happen either. Since the tax was announced, California's share of all new US venture capital has gone up, from about 50% to 80%. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who would be one of the biggest payers, said he would be "perfectly fine" with it and had "not even thought about it once". Sure, some other billionaires can't stop thinking about it. Sergey Brin has already spent more than $100 million to defeat the proposal. At a holiday party in December he pulled Gavin Newson aside and said 'he could not stand the state’s proposed billionaire tax', because he thought the 5% tax would turn California into some kind of Soviet Union. That is, of course, nonsense. This is not going to be some kind of socialist revolution. The proposal is about restoring balance to a mixed economy. You could even argue it's about saving capitalism itself from oligarchs like Sergey Brin. I think that's exactly why Nobel Prize-winning economists are coming out in favor of this tax. If Prop 40 passes in November, it will be the first tax aimed specifically at billionaire wealth anywhere in the world. I think it could be the start of a global movement. Anyway, read the whole letter here. It's really good 👇 gabriel-zucman.eu/files/prop…
64
1,051
44
2,647
56,373
Dan Fleser retweeted
Watching Brandon Lowe hit his 32nd HR tonight, It’s disappointing to think they likely won’t even approach him with a legit offer. He is also a terrific community impact person. He is the #Pirates Clemente award nominee. He’s everything you would want on your roster
91
46
4
1,202
23,280
Dan Fleser retweeted
A sitting PM saying this out loud is significant.
🚨🪖🇵🇱🇷🇺 Vi chiedo di prestare grande attenzione al discorso pronunciato poco fa dal primo ministro polacco, Donald Tusk. Chiaramente è ispirato da una ricorrenza importante per Varsavia, ma sono rimasto molto colpito dalla scelta delle parole e dal tono utilizzato. Sul Blog parliamo spesso di "indicatori" che anticipano una crisi. Ecco, questo è esattamente il tipo di discorso che mi aspetterei da un leader di governo venuto al corrente che un attacco russo non solo è possibile, ma addirittura probabile. Non penso troverete questo intervento nei telegiornali o sui quotidiani italiani (purtroppo) ma credo che valga la pena spendere meno di cinque minuti per capire di cosa sto parlando. Chi ritiene che questo spazio d'informazione sia importante, poi, può scegliere di sostenerlo attraverso l'iscrizione al Blog: dangelodario.it/iscriviti Grazie a tutti. E "buona" lettura: "Ottantasette anni fa, il 17 settembre 1939, all’alba, mentre i soldati polacchi difendevano da due settimane la patria dall’invasore tedesco, da est attaccò l’Armata Rossa. Stalin ci colpì alle spalle, violando il patto di non aggressione. I totalitarismi si spartirono tra loro un Paese libero, la nostra patria. Ricordiamo i difensori di Grodno e di Leopoli, i soldati del Corpo di protezione delle frontiere, gli scout, i partigiani e i civili che affrontarono una forza soverchiante. Ricordiamo le vittime di Katyn, Mednoe e Kharkiv. Ricordiamo le centinaia di migliaia di famiglie deportate in Siberia. I bambini che non videro mai più i propri padri e le madri che, fino alla fine della loro vita, attesero una qualsiasi notizia dei propri cari. Come storico, so perfettamente che i metodi con cui agisce la Russia restano immutati da secoli. Aggredire i Paesi vicini con il pretesto di liberarli. In un giorno come questo preferirei parlare soltanto delle gesta eroiche consegnate alle pagine della storia. Purtroppo, l'escalation dell'aggressione da parte della Russia non me lo consente. La storia, come sappiamo, non si ripete, ma fa rima. E oggi dobbiamo leggere queste rime della storia con la dovuta serietà. Domenica, a Dorohusk, sono risuonate le sirene e i vetri delle finestre hanno tremato per le esplosioni. A poche centinaia di metri dal valico di frontiera con la Polonia, un drone russo ha colpito una stazione di servizio. Un altro ha colpito la locomotiva di un treno ucraino a due chilometri dal nostro confine. La notte precedente, droni russi avevano danneggiato lo stabilimento di un'azienda polacca in Ucraina. A luglio, un missile russo armato è caduto in un campo nella regione di Lublino. Non si è trattato di casi isolati. E oggi lo dico con tutta la forza possibile: non ci lasceremo intimidire. La Russia non ha affatto bisogno di oltrepassare il nostro confine. Sta già conducendo contro di noi una guerra ibrida, attraverso droni, atti di sabotaggio e disinformazione su Internet. Dai nostri alleati sappiamo che i prossimi mesi potrebbero portare nuove provocazioni. Ma non abbiamo paura e non siamo neppure ingenui. Vengo da Danzica. Nel maggio del 1939, un politico francese, futuro collaborazionista nazista, chiedeva sulle pagine della stampa francese: perché morire per Danzica? Pochi mesi dopo moriva tutta l'Europa. A coloro che oggi dicono che "questa non è la nostra guerra", ricordo questa lezione della storia. Nel 1939 avevamo alleati, di fatto, soltanto sulla carta. Fummo lasciati soli. Oggi siamo nella NATO e nell'Unione Europea. Spendiamo per la difesa quasi il 5% del PIL. È quasi il doppio della Germania e più del doppio della Francia. Stiamo costruendo uno degli eserciti più forti d'Europa. Dal programma europeo SAFE abbiamo ottenuto 44 miliardi di euro, più di qualsiasi altro Stato dell'Unione. E oggi i confini polacchi sono i confini meglio sorvegliati dell'intero continente. L'Europa che nel 1939 non voleva morire per Danzica oggi finanzia il riarmo polacco. Ma siamo consapevoli che neppure l'esercito più grande sarà sufficiente, se la nazione non sarà pronta. Per questo mi rivolgo a tutti coloro che guardano al futuro con preoccupazione. Non cerchiamo la guerra. Ma se qualcuno oserà attaccarci, si troverà di fronte a una risposta ferma: la nostra e quella dei nostri alleati. Viva la Repubblica di Polonia, libera e sicura".
3
75
1
357
106,601
GOOD GOD
The Trump administration continues to downplay the U.S. war with Iran, as new images obtained appear to show the damage and destruction to U.S. military assets.
699
7,205
94
30,739
1,219,093
How can they justify leaving right now? Diesel costs just hit an all-time high. Our nation is at war. The bond market is quivering. The urgency of AI regulation has come to a critical moment. Congress should be working overtime. Instead Speaker Johnson sent them home. All to dodge one uncomfortable vote - much like his maneuvers last year to hold off the Epstein files. You don't have to be a Democrat to find that disgraceful. In less than seven weeks, Americans can change all this. 48 days to go.
1,052
9,122
200
43,003
690,507
Dan Fleser retweeted
An amazing organization.. They spend but not carelessly They draft, they develop and they are a terrific fundamental team
Brewers celebrate their NL Central Division Crown on PNC Park’s infield. They are the first team to ever win four-straight NL Central Division crowns.
89
25
6
801
78,539
Dan Fleser retweeted
But Trump said Putin told him he would never do something like that
A CNN investigation reveals Russia likely provided crucial satellite information about U.S. bases, giving Tehran a major advantage in the war.
101
3,105
37
9,731
165,788
Dan Fleser retweeted
Update: DOJ just confirmed what the whistleblower said. In a Monday filing to the federal judge overseeing the case, DOJ admitted DHS "reactivated" its data link to the Social Security Administration and used that SSA data to help hunt for supposed voter fraud. That's not a minor detail — it's the exact mechanism the whistleblower described: agents using personal data, including Social Security numbers, to get into state voter portals that explicitly restrict access to the individual voter looking up their own record. Here's the part DOJ is hoping gets glossed over: this is the same DHS-SSA data link a federal judge already ruled illegal. Back in June, Judge Sooknanan barred DHS from using that pipeline to mass-check citizenship, finding it violated the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act, and federal administrative law. The link was shut off after that ruling. DOJ just admitted they turned it back on to run these new searches, then argued in the same filing that this doesn't count as violating the order because it's technically a different use of the same illegal pipeline. This is happening while DOJ is asking the Supreme Court to let them use this system anyway, weeks before the midterms. League of Women Voters' CEO called the underlying whistleblower allegations "a five-alarm fire for American democracy." She's not wrong.
A federal whistleblower just revealed the 'Unlawful Voter Initiative' — hundreds of DHS agents deployed to scour state voter rolls hunting for noncitizens, built on a fixation about voter fraud that decades of research says barely exists. It's happening 50 days before the midterms Republicans already admit they're losing. Agents work under a quota: 40 voter records reviewed per 8-hour shift, just 12 minutes each to determine someone's citizenship and voting history. To search state systems, they impersonated individual voters — plugging in stolen birthdates and partial Social Security numbers to get into lookup portals meant only for a voter checking their own status. Virginia's system explicitly restricts it to that. This isn't a gray area. DHS's own chief counsel's office called the searches 'permissible,' then quietly told agents they wouldn't be 'personally liable' as long as the searches were 'properly documented.' Lawyers don't pre-emptively promise cover for legal activity — that sentence is DHS's own admission of exposure. The underlying data is so unreliable it's already flagging actual U.S. citizens as 'unlawful voters,' including naturalized citizens whose old immigration file numbers never get erased. In the whistleblower's own words, the process is 'knowingly sweeping known U.S. citizens in as potentially unlawful voters.' Schumer and Padilla are now demanding DHS halt the program. But the real risk isn't just wrongly flagged voters — it's Trump using this manufactured 'fraud' data as a pretext to challenge results in November if Republicans lose. Federal agents are building the very crisis they claim to be investigating. #BlueWaveIn50Days
18
1,319
37
1,934
94,919
The great under-reported story of our time is the degree the Republican Party has been compromised by Russia.
Read Mikhail Zygar on Umar Kremlev, the oligarch who helped pay for Don Jr's wedding zygaro.substack.com/p/the-ol…
82
1,734
54
4,356
149,009
And it begins ….. a woman thrown off of Medicaid as she deals with cancer, in Montana where they have instituted HR 1️⃣ a.k.a. “Big beautiful bill” Medicaid cuts early as most of them will begin in states in 2027. kffhealthnews.org/medicaid/d…
17
683
16
1,035
65,351
The Trump administration admitted that they canceled $7.6 billion in clean energy grants “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state.”  That appears to violate the law, so we filed a complaint. govexec.com/oversight/2026/0…
35
2,264
38
6,025
35,438
Dan Fleser retweeted
Again — Robert Reich is right on the money
255
2,947
64
8,666
55,726
Dan Fleser retweeted
Garcia: So, to be clear, we have a president that is $2 billion richer just from this last year. We have a son whose wedding is being paid for by rich Russians and oligarchs that have connections to Putin. We have Jared Kushner, who got $2 billion for his investment firm from the Saudis while also doing diplomacy in the Middle East. We have the Kushners who are trying to buy private islands and selling all sorts of merchandise that’s being promoted, oftentimes through government resources. We also have, of course, this insane amount of stock trading that the president himself is doing to enrich himself and his family. And, of course, the sons sitting on boards of private companies that are then getting contracts from the federal government. The amount of corruption is unprecedented. And not only are they lining their pockets, they’re stealing the wealth of hardworking Americans, they’re stealing the hard-earned labor and wealth of working-class people, and then funneling that money to themselves and to the rich donors and large corporations and CEOs across this country. As they get richer, costs go up for the American people. And we know that Republicans in the House and in the Senate are complicit by not calling out this corruption.
628
14,473
512
38,567
657,260
Welcome to “the largest public corruption announcement in U.S. history,” bailing out Trump’s big fossil fuel donors by letting them pollute your air and atmosphere for free. Fossil fuel wins; you pay. washingtonpost.com/climate-e…
89
1,383
47
2,789
21,517
WTF! That’s about all one can say after reading this headline.
136
1,487
24
6,317
212,591
Breaking News: The E.P.A. is said to be planning to announce that the U.S. will no longer limit climate pollution from power plants. nyti.ms/4yyEUfR
1,176
3,633
1,583
5,931
3,010,564
Dan Fleser retweeted
In a hidden-camera operation, pardon brokers Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl said that for $300,000, they could help a felon get a pardon from the president. They said their services included working with influencers to advocate for his case. cbsn.ws/3VdugN7
1,500
10,739
1,154
39,219
10,050,615
Dan Fleser retweeted
A disgrace for America.
236
8,707
182
17,124
117,099
There aren’t even words for how chilling and disturbing this is. Threats of political violence are dangerous, unacceptable, and have no place in our democracy. I pray for the safety of all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. This is clear hate, and we must stand up to it wherever and whenever we see it.
Republican Convention crowd calls for assassinating Democratic candidates as Ted Cruz riles them up with lies: “HE SHOULD BE SHOT!”
879
1,604
80
6,890
376,782