Reclusive Republican donor is descendant of gilded aged industrialist and former treasury secretary Andrew Mellon

A reclusive billionaire, anti-tax crusader and major financial backer of Donald Trump has been named as the anonymous private donor who gave $130m to the government to help pay US troops during the federal shutdown that is now in its fourth week, according to the New York Times.

The donation, which equates to about $100 per service member, appears to be a potential violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from spending funds in advance or in excess of congressional appropriations – and from accepting voluntary services “except in the case of emergency involving the safety of human life or the protection of property”.

Potential penalties for violations include both administrative and criminal sanctions such as suspension or removal from duty, fines and imprisonment.

  • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.worldEnglish
    23·
    16 hours ago

    Cincinnatus was actually cool. Rome’s neighbors violated a peace treaty and tried to invade them. They called up Cincinnatus, a retired general, and gave him full dictatorial power. He resolved the situation in two weeks, abdicated all of his powers on day fifteen, and went back to his farm. Then he did it a second time when someone tried to end the republic and make themself a king.

    Someone like Crassus would be a more appropriate Roman to reference.

    • Gates9@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      12·
      16 hours ago

      Cincinnatus was an elitist prick, but it appears I confused him with his son, who took more direct and brutal actions against the Plebs:

      Cincinnatus was opposed to attempts to raise the legal position of plebeians in Roman society. His son Caeso Quinctius, like his father, was an opponent of the commoners and tried to limit their rights. He often tried to depreciate the role of this stratum in the political life of the country, often against the legal order. In 461 BCE his actions, preventing plebeian tribunes from speaking at the Forum, were accused of breaking the Roman order. Caeso was released on bail and then fled to the Etruscans. He was then sentenced to death, and his father had to sell large tracts of land and concentrate on working on his small farm. Through their hard and arduous work, Cincinnatus and his family managed to feed themselves and survive the time of discomfort.

      https://imperiumromanum.pl/en/biographies/lucius-quinctius-cincinnatus/amp/