Category: Fiscal Policy

Let’s Look At The Tariffs (Again)

I still do not know how any person breathing can think that these tariffs are a good thing…..brain damage is the best I can come up with……

According to Donny the US has raised billions in tariff cash….The U.S. collected $195 billion in tariff revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in September. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget noted that the total was a 150 percent increase from 2024.

Let’s look at what these tariffs are doing for the average person…..

The Trump administration’s tariffs are on track to cost the typical household an average of $2,400 per year, according to the Yale Budget Lab. Moreover, the typical small business that imports products already faced more than $90,000 in tariff costs from April 2025 to July 2025 alone; they are also reporting revenue losses of about 13 percent, which will annualize to $100,000 if tariff costs continue to mount at this rate. These costs are only the beginning of the toll that Trump’s turbulence will take on businesses and consumers in the months to come.

…

Businesses and consumers crave predictability. From frequent and inconsistent announcements on tariff policy to trying to politicize historically independent institutions such as the Federal Reserve and the BLS, the Trump administration has made turbulence and uncertainty the drivers of its economic agenda. This chaos is imposing real costs across the economy, and it will threaten the nation’s long-term economic growth if the administration does not change course soon.

All that cash that has been raised is basically being paid by the American consumer in higher prices.

It is that simple.

WE cannot cover tariffs without writing about what the economy as a whole is doing under these restrictive policies….

Deploying the same methodology that Republicans used to track cost increases under former President Joe Biden, JEC Democrats found that the average US family is spending roughly $700 more per month on basic items since Trump took office in January, pledging to bring prices “way down.”

“While President Trump claimed that he would bring down prices, the reality is that Americans have seen their costs soar even higher since he took office,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the JEC’s ranking member. “As families across the country spend more to pay their bills and put food on the table, Democrats and Republicans should be working together to lower costs. Instead, President Trump is pushing ahead with reckless tariffs that continue to fuel inflation and drive prices up even higher.”

In some states—including Alaska, California, and Colorado—average families are spending over $1,000 more per month to maintain their living standards as costs continue to rise, in part due to Trump’s erratic tariff regime.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/inflation-under-donald-trump

So the economy sucks and job growth sucks as well and those were a couple of the selling points on tariffs that would improve the economy.

But yet Uncle Don tells the American  people that he has solved the inflation problem.

President Donald Trump announced in September that, despite ample evidence to the contrary, “We have almost no inflation anymore.”

The president explained that he has “already solved inflation” for America, and that is evidenced by the fact that “costs are down.” GOBankingRates breaks down the reality of the situation and what that means for your wallet.

The data (and the everyday costs they reflect) tell a different story. As reported by CNN, the annual inflation rate is at its highest level (2.9%) since January 2025, and that consumer prices continue to raise.

What does that mean for you? Essentially, it means that you’ll continue paying more at checkout for the time being.

https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/trump-says-solved-inflation-what-it-means-for-you/

So far there has been no good news on the tariffs front…..and yet there are those that continue to believe that they will improve their station in life…..and that just illustrates how ignorant the American people are on the subject of tariffs and the economy.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Roll Em Back—-Way Back

WE all have heard or experienced the high cost of food these days……well finally the problem has got some small amount of attention from Donny and the Thugs….

President Trump announced Friday that he was scrapping US tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits, and a broad swath of other commodities—a dramatic move that comes amid mounting pressure on his administration to better combat high consumer prices. “We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee,” Trump said aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida hours after the tariff announcement was made. Pressed on his tariffs helping to increase consumer prices, Trump acknowledged, “I say they may, in some cases” have that effect. “But to a large extent they’ve been borne by other countries,” the president added.

  • Trump has built his second term around imposing steep levies on goods imported into the US in hopes of encouraging domestic production and lifting the US economy. His abrupt retreat from his signature tariff policy on so many staples key to the American diet is significant, and it comes after voters in off-year elections this month cited economic concerns as their top issue, resulting in big wins for Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey, and other key races around the country, the AP reports.
  • Inflation—despite Trump’s pronouncements that it has vanished since he took office in January—remains elevated, further increasing pressure on US consumers.
  • The Trump administration has insisted that its tariffs had helped fill government coffers and weren’t a major factor in higher prices at grocery stores around the country. But Democrats were quick to paint Friday’s move as an acknowledgement that Trump’s policies were hurting American pocketbooks.
  • “President Trump is finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the American people,” Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer said in a statement. “After getting drubbed in recent elections because of voters’ fury that Trump has broken his promises to fix inflation, the White House is trying to cast this tariff retreat as a ‘pivot to affordability.'”
  • Trump signed an executive order that also removes tariffs on tea, fruit juice, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, and certain fertilizers. Some of the products covered aren’t produced in the United States, meaning that tariffs meant to spur domestic production had little effect. But reducing the tariffs will still likely mean lower prices for US consumers.
  • Trade groups praised the move and urged Trump to roll back more of his tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s certainly a step in the right direction, but it’s important to recognize that the pain that American working families and businesses feel from tariffs goes way beyond coffee and bananas,” said Jake Colvin, president of the National Foreign Trade Council.

He said the ‘tariffs, in some cases, contributed to the high cost’ (paraphrase)….this from a stable genius that is a whiz kid in economics and he did not think it would effect the prices?

Now how many of you think this will bring food prices more in line?

If the distributors do not lower prices what will be Donny’s retribution?

To say I am not impressed is an understatement.

How About you?

But wait!   Remember that Uncle Don cut a deal with Argentina for beef and that should start bringing prices down…..right?

Beef prices have been giving Americans sticker shock at grocery stores lately, and they are poised to reach even more stomach-churning levels next year, according to Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe.

“So we are headed for what I’m calling the $10-a-pound reality by third quarter of ’26,” he predicted. “Families are going to see $10-a-pound ground beef in the grocery store.”

According to the latest consumer price index data, the average price of ground beef was $6.323 a pound in September. That’s up 14% since January and 26% from January 2024.

If ground beef hits $10 a pound, the price would represent a 58% surge from September’s level.

https://fortune.com/2025/11/15/beef-prices-outlook-inflation-cattle-herd-supply-demand-trump-tariffs/

So that much hyped deal will do little to lower beef prices if the article is correct.

Once again Donny proves a stable genius he is not.

And finally the excuse for higher beef prices….hint it is Biden’s fault…..

Scott Bessent was ridiculed for suggesting skyrocketing beef prices have nothing to do with MAGA’s economic policies and everything to do with a supposed invasion of cows across the southern border.

The Treasury Secretary expounded his wild theory during a Sunday sit-down with Maria Bartiromo over on Fox News. The host described the crisis to Bessent, asking for his take on “ten dollar… meat, a pound!”

Arguing the beef industry is in “a perfect storm” that the White House “inherited” from the Joe Biden administration, the secretary shot back that rising costs are a direct result of migrants entering the U.S. from Latin America.

WE knew someone would use that dodge eventually, right?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Come One, Come All….We Are Open For ……

Finally those toadies in DC have a deal and it has been signed (with a Magic Sharpie no doubt) …..now we await the next piece of crap with the next shutdown looming on the horizon.

The just-returned House passed a bill Wednesday to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, sending the measure to President Trump for his signature after a historic 43-day funding lapse that saw federal workers go without multiple paychecks, travelers stranded at airports, and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families. Republicans used their slight majority to get the bill over the finish line by a House vote of 222-209; the Senate had already passed the measure, the AP reports. Trump, who planned to host Wall Street CEOs for dinner, per the Hill, scheduled a signing ceremony for 9:45pm at the White House.

Six House Democrats voted for the bill, while two Republicans—Thomas Massie and Greg Steube—voted against it, per the New York Times. Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and they refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time. The GOP eventually prevailed, but only after the shutdown took an increasing toll on the country.

“History reminds us that shutdowns never change the outcome, only the cost paid by the American people,” Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday. It was the first House session in 54 days. An administration official said paychecks will be issued starting Saturday, per the Washington Post.

WE can all issue a sigh of relief (for now)….

Donny makes an appearance….

President Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports, and generated long lines at some food banks, the AP reports. The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions—including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers—to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands. The Republican president blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.

So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.” The signing ceremony came just hours after the House passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 222-209. The Senate had already passed the measure Monday. Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Without it, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans, and more than 2 million people are projected to lose coverage altogether. Democats refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time.

“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.” Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy. But the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern.

Now that it is over what did all this drama actually do?

Just wondering.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Clowns Go Back To Work

The House is set to return to work and get to fixing the shutdown…….

After a 54-day recess, the House of Representatives is finally getting back to work, convening to vote on a bill aimed at ending the nation’s longest government shutdown. The Senate has already approved the measure, and President Trump has signaled his support, putting the bill on a fast track—if House Republicans can muster the votes. House Speaker Mike Johnson is under pressure to deliver after nearly two months with no legislation, hearings, or debate, as millions of Americans faced shutdown-related disruptions, per the New York Times. The legislation at hand would fund most of the government through Jan. 30, and some departments and programs, including SNAP, through next September, per PBS.

The bill promises to restore jobs and provide back pay for furloughed federal workers. It also provides millions in security for judges, Supreme Court justices, and members of Congress, and some $844 million for military construction, per PBS. As NBC News reports, it also includes a provision to allow senators to sue the federal government if their data is obtained without their knowledge. This would seem to lay the groundwork for eight Republican senators to sue over phone records subpoenaed in 2023 as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the 2021 Capitol attack.

The path to passage isn’t smooth. Republicans hold only a slim majority, and most Democrats are firmly against the bill, citing the absence of a crucial extension for federal health care subsidies. Johnson is relying on Trump’s backing to keep his caucus together, but even a small group of fiscal conservatives could throw up last-minute hurdles. Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping to minimize defections and ramp up pressure on the GOP. Their numbers will grow to 214 (versus 219 Republicans) with the swearing-in of Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat whose seating Johnson delayed. Action is expected to ramp up late Wednesday afternoon, though it could be slowed further by travel snags—the same ones plaguing the public.

Keep in mind that they got full pay for 54 days with no work.

Will this act help the shutdown be reversed?

History tells us that it is not over until it’s over.

Speaking of history….when did all this silliness begin?  Has it been a ‘thing’ this whole history of the country?

Before the early 1980s, federal agencies simply kept operating when appropriations had expired (known as a funding gap). The agencies minimized all nonessential operations and obligations, believing Congress did not intend for agencies to close down. Some of the activities that agencies would refrain from during this period were hiring, grant-making, and nonemergency travel.

In the 1970s, appropriation legislation started getting tied to contentious policy issues such as abortion and school integration. That caused six funding gaps in fiscal years 1977 to 1980, which ranged in duration from eight to 17 days. In 1980, reacting to those increasingly frequent funding gaps, President Carter asked the United States Attorney General, Benjamin Civiletti, to provide an opinion on how to interpret funding gaps in the context of the Antideficiency Act. The Antideficiency Act prohibits agencies from obligating or expending federal funds before an appropriation is enacted or above the amount specified in law.

Civiletti issued two opinions about the interpretation of the Antideficiency Act in 1980 and 1981, which shifted the norm from government agencies operating with limited capacity. The opinions state that federal agencies may not spend money when there are no appropriations, with a few practical exceptions. One exception is for spending money to close agencies in an orderly way. Another exception is to allow spending when there is a connection between the agency’s functioning and the safety of human life or the protection of property.

So this has not been a ‘thing’ for very long but it does play into the political games that Congress plays.

So the real shutdown has been that of Congress these momentarily lapses are just part of the game Congress plays with our lives.

Earlier shutdowns—Clinton’s fight with Gingrich in 1995, Obama’s battle with House Republicans in 2013, Trump’s 2018 border wall standoff—were disruptive but contained. Agencies furloughed workers, parks closed, markets wobbled, and then the government reopened, usually with a compromise. What makes this shutdown different is what’s at stake: not just funding, but Congress’s very capacity to function as a coequal branch of government.

For years, lawmakers have relied on short-term funding patches instead of passing real budgets. Each delay weakens Congress’s control over spending and strengthens the executive. Now, as some Republicans begin to break ranks, the deeper problem remains: a Congress afraid of blame, a GOP unwilling to confront Trump, and a presidency eager to fill the vacuum.

The real shutdown isn’t confined to darkened federal offices. It’s unfolding inside Congress itself—an institution that has slowly, and perhaps irreversibly, shut down its own ability to govern.

https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/real-shutdown-congress-surrender-power

This silliness is unnecessary and the only thing truly accomplishes is to penalize the population with the hope that it will effect voting in the future.

It is a game played at our expense.

Thoughts?

Peace   Out

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Hey What’s That Sound? A Deal?

As long as were are on the shutdown meme it appears there maybe a break in the stalemate on finding an answer to the country’s longest shutdown….

The Senate voted to break the shutdown stalemate Sunday, paving the way for the government to reopen as soon as later this week.

The 60-40 vote to take the first step toward ending the shutdown came hours after enough Democrats agreed to support a package that would fund multiple agencies and programs for the full fiscal year, and all others until Jan. 30, 2026.

In exchange, Democrats have a commitment from the Trump administration to rehire government workers fired at the start of the funding lapse, and the promise of a Senate floor vote in December on legislation to extend expiring Obamacare tax credits.

The vote will pave the way for consideration later this week of a legislative package that would fund the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects, and the operations of Congress for all of current fiscal year — the product of months of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations between top appropriators.

All other agencies would be funded through Jan. 30, according to the text of a continuing resolution released Sunday. The agreement still needs to pass the House before the government can be reopened.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/09/government-funding-deal-on-track-to-advance-sunday-night-00644110

I knew the Dems would cave eventually and as usual they do not disappoint.

Cool!

Is this a good sign or just a momentary lapse trying to make the people feel more like there could be an end to this misery?

Any comments in waiting?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Oh SNAP–Part 2

There has been a yo-yo battle going on between Donny and the courts about the payment of SNAP funds….finally it is settled but Donny has other plans….

The Trump administration has ordered states to halt the distribution of full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November, promising consequences if they don’t.
In a memo, the Agriculture Department authorizing state governments to make only partial disbursements to the more than 40 million people enrolled in the program—roughly 65% of the usual amount. State officials were told to “immediately undo any steps taken” to provide the full amounts, the Washington Post reports. If they don’t comply, the memo said they could lose federal funding that helps cover SNAP’s administrative costs.

SNAP is the country’s largest anti-hunger program, serving primarily children, seniors, and adults with disabilities. While benefits are federally funded, states are responsible for administering the program and share administrative expenses with the federal government. The memo follows a legal back-and-forth in which a Rhode Island judge had ordered the administration to release the full benefits despite the government shutdown. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily blocked that order late Friday, allowing the administration’s directive to proceed for now.

The administration’s order was sent out last Saturday night, per the New York Times. By Sunday morning, officials in several states said they were unsure what the effects would be. Some states had already released the full amount to recipients who hadn’t gotten payments due at the beginning of the month. Trump administration officials are “demanding that food assistance be taken away from the households that have already received it,” said the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee in a statement. “They would rather go door to door, taking away people’s food, than do the right thing and fully fund SNAP for November so that struggling veterans, seniors, and children can keep food on the table,” said Rep. Angie Craig.

This d/bag gets more disgusting by the day.

How can anyone call themselves an American support this a/hole and his merry band of fools?

In a time when people could go hungry and this moron is worrying about naming a stadium after him….cannot get more disgusting in my opinion.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

‘Daddy State’ Economics

I am old enough that I remember when the GOP was always accusing the Dems of pushing a ‘Nanny State’ agenda.

In case you are a youngster…..what is Nanny State?

Nanny state is a term of British origin that conveys a view that a government or its policies are overprotective or interfering unduly with personal choice. The term likens such a government to the role that a nanny has in child rearing.

Did that rattle any stones in the brain?

But everything the conservs accused the liberals of doing they in turn must think they were some good ideas for they have taken it upon themselves to do ….

The control of the media, concentration camps, crashing the economy, etc etc etc…..

The question of whether President Donald Trump has turned the United States toward a new “state capitalism”—one in which the government is not just economic referee but active player—has been answered. His second term brings policies that go well beyond traditional Republican pro-market orthodoxies, such as tax cuts and deregulation, and into direct involvement with production and capital. Yet this doctrine is less a coherent grand strategy than a set of ad hoc deals, sometimes pro-market and sometimes interventionist.

Some Trump policies—tax cuts, deregulating, talk of budget-deficit reductions—retain a traditional Republican tone. On the other hand, this administration’s protectionism and tariffs would have been inconceivable a decade ago. Republicans would also traditionally label the government’s acquisition of a 10 percent stake in Intel as socialism if proposed by anyone other than Trump. And other policies have the feel of mafia tactics made possible by the exercise of leverage, like letting Nvidia and AMD sell their chips to China in exchange for a 15 percent cut back to the U.S. government.

Trump also departs markedly from the past GOP playbook in his lack of recognition that the market allocates resources much better than politicians and bureaucrats do. He treats the market as a stage for negotiation to reorganize the world’s economies. Old-guard Republicans were globalists, whereas Trump built his appeal on “America First” nationalism and protectionism.

Earlier Republicans valued predictable rules, but as Cambridge legal scholar Antara Haldar noted in a Project Syndicate symposium this month assessing the direction of “Trumponomics,” the president “is willing to break any rule, norm, or promise…in the name of striking ad hoc corporate-style ‘deals.'” Where conservative-minded leaders of the past obscured the state’s role, Trump “flaunts it.”

https://reason.com/2025/09/18/trump-is-embracing-daddy-state-economics/

All of Donny’s moves with the economy is starting to smell like state capitalism…..

State capitalism is an economic system in which the state uses and controls the free-market system to protect its political regime through leading economic activities. This regime dominates the resource allocation mechanism and the resources to guarantee its persistence. It controls the market system by using four powerful tools: National oil companies, sovereign wealth funds, state-owned enterprises, and privately owned national champions. These engines contain the state wealth and become the device to generate internal and external influences.

Is our Little Donny embracing state capitalism?

The question of whether President Donald Trump has turned the United States toward a new “state capitalism”—one in which the government is not just economic referee but active player—has been answered. His second term brings policies that go well beyond traditional Republican pro-market orthodoxies, such as tax cuts and deregulation, and into direct involvement with production and capital. Yet this doctrine is less a coherent grand strategy than a set of ad hoc deals, sometimes pro-market and sometimes interventionist.

Some Trump policies—tax cuts, deregulating, talk of budget-deficit reductions—retain a traditional Republican tone. On the other hand, this administration’s protectionism and tariffs would have been inconceivable a decade ago. Republicans would also traditionally label the government’s acquisition of a 10 percent stake in Intel as socialism if proposed by anyone other than Trump. And other policies have the feel of mafia tactics made possible by the exercise of leverage, like letting Nvidia and AMD sell their chips to China in exchange for a 15 percent cut back to the U.S. government.

https://reason.com/2025/09/18/trump-is-embracing-daddy-state-economics/

Sounds like Donny is embracing a lot of things that he and others accused the Dems of supporting…..or is that just me?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Oh SNAP!

AS of Saturday there should be no funding for the SNAP…..but a couple of judges has told Donny to find the funds….

Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Trump’s administration must to continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, during the government shutdown, per the AP. The rulings came a day before the US Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.

The administration has said it wasn’t allowed to use a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it for the program, but the judges rejected that. A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the program must be funded using at least the contingency funds—and asked for an update on progress by Monday. A Massachusetts-based judge also gave the administration until Monday to say whether it would partially pay for the benefits for November with contingency money or fund them fully with additional funds.

We await Donny’s to respond.

In a disturbing move the USDA(Trump Administration) has cautioned grocery stores on trying to help people…..

As the Trump administration continued its illegal freeze on food assistance, the US Department of Agriculture sent a warning to grocery stores not to provide discounts to the more than 42 million Americans affected.

Several grocery chains and food delivery apps have announced in recent days that they would provide substantial discounts to those whose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been delayed. More than 1 in 8 Americans rely on the program, and 39% of them are children.

But on Sunday, Catherine Rampell, a reporter at the Washington Postpublished an email from the USDA that was sent to grocery stores around the country, telling them they were prohibited from offering special discounts to those at greater risk of food insecurity due to the cuts.

“You must offer eligible foods at the same prices and on the same terms and conditions to SNAP-EBT customers as other customers, except that sales tax cannot be charged on SNAP purchases,” the email said. “You cannot treat SNAP-EBT customers differently from any other customer. Offering discounts or services only to SNAP-eligible customers is a SNAP violation unless you have a SNAP equal treatment waiver.”

The email referred to SNAP’s “Equal Treatment Rule,” which prohibits stores from discriminating against SNAP recipients by charging them higher prices or treating them more favorably than other customers by offering them specialized sales or incentives.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/usda-tells-grocery-stores-they-can-t-give-discounts-to-people-hit-by-trump-s-food-stamp-freeze

Just how bad does the Donny regime hate people?

A disgusting move from a disgusting pack of animals.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

And The Game Goes On

The governmental shutdown shows no signs of a comprise to return workers to their chores…..plans offered….plans defeated….plans offered…..on the beast goes on….

Efforts to resolve the ongoing government shutdown stalled again on Wednesday, with the Senate rejecting both Democratic and Republican proposals to restore funding. Both parties remain firm in their demands, extending the deadlock that began eight days ago, the Guardian reports. The vote on a stopgap funding bill already approved by the House was 54-45, with no new Democrats in favor, CBS News reports. In the sixth vote on the rival spending bills, the Democrats’ measure also failed to get the necessary 60 votes. Senate Majority Leader John Thune plans to hold a seventh vote on Thursday.

The shutdown has resulted in closed federal offices, shuttered national parks, and thousands of furloughed workers. Remaining federal employees, including military personnel, could soon miss paychecks if the impasse continues. Democrats insist any funding deal must include health care measures, particularly an extension of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits set to expire at the year’s end. Without renewal, roughly 20 million enrollees face higher costs. Republicans favor a short-term funding approach through Nov. 21 with no guarantee of health care provisions.

The situation has led to pointed remarks on both sides. House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed Democrats are “worried about the Marxist flank” in their party and said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is “terrified” of a challenge from the far left, the Guardian reports. Schumer, in turn, argued Republicans are to blame for refusing to negotiate on health care, maintaining that both reopening the government and addressing health costs should happen together. “We can do both: fix health care and reopen the government. This is not an either-or thing, which Republicans are making it,” he said. “The American people don’t like it.

How long will this worthless song and dance continue?

What is this stupidity accomplishing?

You know all this can be avoided all these spineless dicks have to do is sign a continuing resolution and the government keeps going.

This whole affair like all others is nothing more that a political game played by people that have nothing to lose.

It is disgusting and most of all truly pathetic.

But who will get the blame?

Meanwhile, a separate YouGov poll of U.S. adults conducted on Oct. 2 found that 45% think Trump is “very responsible” for causing the shutdown. That’s compared to the 22% who felt the president was not at all responsible.

The figures were similar to sentiments toward congressional Republicans, where 43% of U.S. adults said they were very responsible for causing the shutdown, compared to 19% who said they were not at all responsible. Congressional Democrats fared somewhat better in the early October poll, with 36% saying they were very responsible for the shutdown, while 14% said Democrats were not at all responsible.

(desertsun.com)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

MTG Is At It Again

There have been some wild swings in the stands that MTG grapples with and they swing from batcrap crazy like chem trails to her newest thing….healthcare…..the later being a question for the rest of the GOP.

Republicans did not vote to extend the subsidies in July’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). And if they are allowed to expire at the end of 2025, KFF estimates that the average recipient’s insurance premiums will more than double, from $888 to $1,906 per year, which will result in about 4 million people losing their insurance due to unaffordability, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

This is on top of the roughly 10 million expected to lose insurance coverage due to the GOP’s massive cuts to Medicaid and other ACA marketplace spending in the Republican budget law.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have maintained that they would not negotiate on extending the subsidies unless Democrats vote to reopen the government, thereby sacrificing their main point of leverage.

…

In a blistering post on X, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said that while she was “not a fan” of the ACA and blamed it for “skyrocketing premiums,” she was “going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hardworking people in my district.”

“No, I’m not [toeing] the party line on this, or playing loyalty games,” Greene continued. “I’m carving my own lane. And I’m absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will DOUBLE if the tax credits expire this year.”

Greene lamented that “not a single Republican in leadership talked to us about this or has given us a plan to help Americans deal with their health insurance premiums DOUBLING!!!”

She then turned her attention to the tens of billions of dollars worth of military aid sent to Israel and Ukraine in recent years: “All our country does is fund foreign countries and foreign wars, and never does anything to help the American people!!!”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/mtg-scolds-gop-over-healthcare

I agreed with her on the Israel stand she took and now I find myself thinking that she has learned a thing of two since joining Congress.

Yet deep down I feel that this is just a temporary thing for her that the batcrap crazy will return and return with a vengeance.

But if it actually starts a real conversation on the subject then I say bully for her.

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”