Thursday, July 03, 2025

Happy Hour

So happy

Your Democratic Consultants

Jake Sherman is capable of providing useful information, but he's basically PR for the Republican party.
But now Republicans have created another problem. They didn’t just cut Medicaid; they also have forced nearly half a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare, the health program for the elderly.

Because of a statutory requirement to automatically impose budget cuts when legislation increases the deficit, the Big Beautiful Bill would require automatic sequestration cuts across the board, something that has been confirmed by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) but has been largely absent from the debate over the bill. Medicare is one of the programs that will face the axe, and the damage sums to $490 billion over the next ten years, starting in the next fiscal year that begins in October. While many of the safety-net cuts in the bill are delayed to help Republicans with their re-election campaigns, the Medicare cuts must begin next year.

Here's what a Dem consultant told a reporter about my story that the GOP bill,as written, forces $500bn in Medicare cuts: "I need an actual publication to verify this before I take it seriously. Like what’s Jake Sherman’s take here? My understanding is these Medicare cuts are routinely cancelled" 🙄

[image or embed]

— David Dayen (@ddayen.bsky.social) July 3, 2025 at 6:39 PM
You can say "oh that's just one guy" but, trust me, looking for affirmation and approval of anything from right wing validators is pretty much the norm for most of the Democrats.

Dems can't find their "Joe Rogan" if they can't even handle "David Dayen."

Stephen Miller In The Cuck Chair

Who is Mrs. Miller's boss, Stephen?

The Car

I have no doubt that, as I said, Trump and the Republicans will try to put some jenga pieces back, depending on which interests have their ears and how many Trumpcoins they buy, or whatever, but it won't work very well!
BROOKS-LASURE EXPLAINED WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS when a hospital closes, recalling a closure when she was at CMS. “The first thing we had to do is make sure people in that hospital are moved to somewhere they can get care. You might have people in serious situations, and moving them is a life-threatening proposition.”

Another factor is how the loss of an anchor hospital affects local economies. A hospital can be the biggest employer in a small town. If it closes, the entire town can wither away, straining local and regional finances and burdening the residents who don’t have the resources to move.

Over the longer term, the closure of rural hospitals forces patients to spend hours getting to the nearest care center, and in some cases leaves them without access at all. “I was in Colorado and we drove from one part of the state to the other to get to a hospital,” LaSure explained. “They said to me, ‘The road you drove over, one out of three days of the year you can’t get over that road,’” due to weather or some other complication. When the nearest hospital is across the Rockies and it’s snowing, you really have no ability to get care.
Already starting.

Lunch

eat

Catching The Car

Related to this, I think a lot of Republicans are psychos who don't care what happens to most people, but I also think a lot of them are complete idiots who have zero understanding of the inevitable consequences of their legislation (there can be overlap). They're pulling out a lot of jenga pieces, and while they will probably try to stuff a few back in...

And How Does That Work

Axios:

Hospitals have "just gotten absolutely smoked, so much so that quite frankly there's no way that these cuts go into effect," according to Treyz.

Treyz is with some investment advisory firm.  I think this is just "nothing bad could happen to people (businesses) that matter" cope and I think we will be finding out that eventually even people who matter get hurt. 

It's Happening Again

"Everyone" pretends some principled Republicans will hold the line, but they never do. (Their supposed principles are shit, of course).

The one exception I can remember is John McCain on ACA. I  had to hand it to him that once. Of course the only principle there was that he was a preening dickhead, not that he supported ACA, but for once it was helpful.

Morning

Republican rebels caved on the first vote, and presumably cave on the bill's passage.

Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Happy Hour

Still no bill.

Afternoon

I understand they are having problems passing the bill. I have faith in them.

Sure Why Not

I need a new risotto recipe.
An Iran-linked hacker group is claiming to be in possession of a trove of stolen emails from President Donald Trump’s inner circle and is now threatening to publish the material in what U.S. officials describe as a politically motivated “smear campaign.”

Lunch

eat

These People Are Weird

That was a good line.
Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem claims the U.S. government tried to deport a cannibal from America, but the immigrant was so “deranged” he began eating himself on the plane.

The wild story was shared on Tuesday as Donald Trump toured a migrant detention centre dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”: a controversial facility based in Florida’s swampy Everglades region, that will house up to 5000 people.

Positive Steps

Someone sees which way the wind is blowing.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) apologized to New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Monday after facing swift backlash for Islamophobic comments she recently made in a radio interview about her fellow New York Democrat.

The senator spoke over the phone with the state assemblymember and “apologized for mischaracterizing Mamdani’s record and for her tone in the interview,” according to a readout of the conversation that Gillibrand’s office first provided to Politico on Tuesday.

Sucker

I have heard numerous stories over the years of math-and-science guys who understand how to run to the latest thing, present themselves as experts, and get some rich dumbdumbs to give them lots of money.
As Mark Zuckerberg staffs up Meta’s new superintelligence lab, he’s offered top tier research talent pay packages of up to $300 million over four years, with more than $100 million in total compensation for the first year, WIRED has learned.

Morning

I am sure the moderate rebels in the House will save us.

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Tuesday Night

Rock on.

Happy Hour

American Manners

Ah, yes, Americans, famous for their refined "manners" and never eating food with their fingers.