Stephen Neukam & Stef Kight of Axios: "A handful of Senate Democrats on Sunday indicated they are ready to advance a package of bills that could end the government shutdown, multiple sources told Axios.... It is the most significant movement toward a bipartisan breakthrough in the talks to reopen the government in over a month. At least 10 Senate Democrats are expected to support a procedural motion to advance a package of spending bills and a short term funding measure through the end of January, multiple sources from both parties told Axios.The deal would include a December vote on a Democratic proposal to extend ACA tax credits for one year, multiple sources said. It would take 60 votes to pass. The agreement is expected to include language that would, at a minimum, undo the federal layoffs that President Trump implemented during the shutdown."
From the New York Times liveblog covering the criminally insane:
Tony Romm: “The Trump administration told states that they must 'immediately undo' any actions to provide full food stamp benefits to low-income families, in a move that added to the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the nation’s largest anti-hunger program during the government shutdown. The Agriculture Department issued the command in a late-night Saturday memo, viewed later by The New York Times. That guidance threatened to impose financial penalties on states that did not 'comply' quickly with the government’s new orders.” ~~~
~~~ Update. Here's the NYT story in stand-alone form. Here's Politico's story.
~~~ Then here's what you do on the weekend you petition the Supreme Court to make sure the kiddies go hungry: ~~~
~~~ Mike Bedigan of the Independent: “... Donald Trump has attended his second extravagant party at Mar-a-Lago in a week as tens of thousands of federal employees go without pay, leaving some of them, and many more Americans, to turn to food banks amid the longest government shutdown in history. Images of the president were shared by guests on social media Friday at the lavish event which featured a three-course menu of beef filet, truffle dauphinoise, pan-seared scallops and a trio of desserts including 'Trump chocolate cake.' Trump was seen dining at a table surrounded by MAGA supporters, and posing with his thumbs up next to women in ballgowns. The event also featured ice sculptures and an opera performance.” MB: This is, of course, a big -- and intentional -- middle finger to millions of Americans struggling to get by in Trump's USA. (On the other hand, I'll bet that "truffle dauphinoise," for instance, is basic American scalloped potatoes sprinkled with a teensy-weensy dab of cheap truffle sauce [$9.92/bottle at Walmart].)
Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: “Far-right influencers have been hinting in recent weeks that they have finally found a venue — Miami — and a federal prosecutor — Jason A. Reding Quiñones — to pursue long-promised charges of a 'grand conspiracy' against ... [Donald] Trump’s adversaries. Their theory of the case, still unsupported by the evidence: A cabal of Democrats and 'deep-state' operatives, possibly led by former President Barack Obama, has worked to destroy Mr. Trump in a yearslong plot spanning the inquiry into his 2016 campaign to the charges he faced after leaving office.... That narrative, which has been promoted in general terms by Mr. Trump and taken root online, has emerged in a nascent but widening federal investigation.
“Last week, Mr. Reding Quiñones, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, issued more than two dozen subpoenas, including to officials who took part in the inquiry into ties between Russia and Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Among them, they said, were James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence; Peter Strzok, a former F.B.I. counterintelligence agent who helped run the Russia investigation; and Lisa Page, a former lawyer at the bureau. The investigation in Florida appears to focus, for now, on a January 2017 intelligence community assessment about Russian interference in the 2016 election, particularly the role played by John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director, in drafting the document.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Sounds like delusional paranoid projection to me. I don't know any of the suspected collaborators, but the idea of Obama, Brennan, Strzok & Page skulking around in some "deep-state" underground parking lot to cook up a plan to undermine that nice Mr. Trump is laughably implausible. It's true that Obama occupies quite a bit of rent-free space in the squalid slum that is Donald Trump's so-called brain. But I'd guess Obama prefers not to give Trump a second thought and brings him to mind only when national security depends upon it.
Marie: I feel terrible I've been so unfair to Donald Trump. While I was mocking Trump for looking indifferent at best & seemingly annoyed that a Big Pharma exec fainted during an Oval Office meeting, here's the "real" story, in Dr. Oz's own words: ~~~
~~~ William Vaillancourt of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: “'I’ll tell you a story that speaks loudly to the kind of person the president is,' Oz, 65, began. 'So, I wanted to speak to the wife to let her know what was happening, but also to comfort her. The president saw me in the corridor and he came over and said, “Who are you talking to?” He talked to her and got her much calmer than I could have done.... And I just think he’s just a wonderful human being — that he would take time. He could’ve gone and done ten other things, but he actually cared that the wife of a man that he’s never met before felt in a safer place.” ~~~
~~~ In today's Comments, RAS finds that Newsweek reports there's more: “'He [Trump] remembers the forgotten folks,' Oz added.” MB: If you remember Oz's famous crudité campaign ad/blunder, then you won't be surprised that he thinks the wife of a multi-millionaire pharmaceutical executive is one of the lamentably “forgotten folks.”
David Cohen of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Sunday posted on Truth Social that tariffs on foreign goods will lead to 'a dividend' of $2,000 per person or even more. 'A dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,' Trump said in a post that began: 'People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS!' When asked about Trump’s comments in an interview on ABC’s 'This Week,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that while an initial result of tariffs is to generate a surge of revenue for the government, the long-term goal is to 'rebalance trade' by restoring manufacturing to the United States. The increase in manufacturing would lead to a decline in tariff revenue, Bessent said, but would bolster tax revenue. 'It’s not about taking in the revenue. It’s about rebalancing,' Bessent said. Host George Stephanopoulos asked Bessent about Trump’s dividend vow, and Bessent hedged a little bit, suggesting the dividend, for which there is not a specific proposal, could show up in different types of economic benefits. 'I haven’t spoken to the president about this yet,' he said.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: When Trump touts a $2,000/capita "dividend," what he's really doing -- even if he doesn't know it -- is admitting that his tariffs will annually cost each Americans, on average, $2,000. As numerous commentators emphasized last week, during oral arguments the confederate Supremes' big issue with Trump's tariffs -- and the one reason they might rule the tariffs unconstitutional -- is that they are taxes that raise revenue from the American people. To get around this contention, Trump solicitor general John Sauer tried to convince the justices that the revenue production was only "incidental." Bessent obviously sees the danger in Trump's boast. Not Trump. According to Cohen,
“Trump mocked [the Justices'] argument in a separate TruthSocial post Sunday: 'So, let’s get this straight??? The President of the United States is allowed (and fully approved by Congress!) to stop ALL TRADE with a Foreign Country (Which is far more onerous than a Tariff!), and LICENSE a Foreign Country, but is not allowed to put a simple Tariff on a Foreign Country, even for purposes of NATIONAL SECURITY. That is NOT what our great Founders had in mind! The whole thing is ridiculous!... Businesses are pouring into the USA ONLY BECAUSE OF TARIFFS. HAS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT NOT BEEN TOLD THIS??? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??? President DJT.'...”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Marie: Trump's "decorating" of the White House is so tacky it's hard to tell the real from the Photoshopped. It turns out those exterior shots of golden-appliqued "Presidential Hall of Fame" are for real. Only the Cheesecake Factory and the Donnie doll itself are fake. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times: “It’s part of American lore that George Washington rebuffed proposals for a presidential palace. He believed a fledgling democracy shouldn’t emulate Versailles.... The White House is a representation in sandstone and brick of an Everyman’s American dream. Trading Washington’s idealism for a Mar-a-Lago on the Potomac makes plain that we are no longer that America — and that we haven’t been for a long time.... An immense ballroom will tip the balanced, Neoclassical scales of the White House toward architectural inequality and gilt.... The Washington that Mr. Trump envisions leaving behind, with its luxuriant white columns, marbled bathrooms, triumphal arch and giant gilded White House ballroom, will tell another story about us.”
Don Van Natta & Adam Schefter of ESPN: "... Donald Trump wants the Washington Commanders to name their planned $3.7 billion stadium after him, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN. A senior White House source said there have been back-channel communications with a member of the Commanders' ownership group, led by Josh Harris, to express Trump's desire to have the domed stadium in the nation's capital bear his name. The new stadium is being built on the old RFK Stadium site that served as the team's home from 1961 to 1996." MB: Really, Congressional Republicans should just rename Washington, D.C., after Trump. Or maybe Florida.
Dozy Don. Dan Diamond & JM Rieger of the Washington Post: During a White House event last week announcing price cuts for weight-loss drugs, “Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake as his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and two other deputies took turns explaining the announcement.... A Washington Post analysis of multiple video feeds found that Trump spent nearly 20 minutes apparently battling to keep his eyes open at the Thursday event. The gathering came to an abrupt halt with the sudden collapse of an attendee, an Eli Lilly patient who was standing behind the president. It resumed about an hour later, with Trump noticeably perkier — but still caught on camera at moments with his eyes closed.... All the while, Trump has continued to mock 'Sleepy Joe.'”
Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Saturday urged Senate Republicans to redirect funding for Affordable Care Act subsidies away from health insurers and toward average Americans, his latest gambit to pressure Democrats as a government shutdown snarls air traffic, leaves food stamp benefits in limbo and furloughs roughly 650,000 federal workers. The Senate remained at an impasse on Saturday, a day after Republicans rejected a Democratic proposal that would have extended soon-to-expire ACA subsidies — a key sticking point in negotiations — for a year while reopening the government.... Trump’s demand to send funds directly to Americans, which would require an act of Congress, met immediate resistance from some Democrats and would face serious legislative headwinds given lawmakers’ inability to reach consensus on much smaller changes to the health law.” ~~~
~~~ Robert Mackey of the Guardian: “As Saturday’s [Senate] session got under way, Republican senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana welcomed a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump, from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by health savings accounts.... None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.... After his golf outing, Trump returned to his gilded private club, Mar-a-Lago, and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough support in 2017.”
Maybe you're flabbergasted that an administration would bring suit to avoid paying for food stamps for hungry Americans, even as the President* continued to party and golf at one of his Florida resorts. But don't fret. The Trump administration is balancing out starving the poors with this: ~~~
~~~ New Secretive Tax Breaks for the Ultra-Rich. Jesse Drucker of the New York Times: “With little public scrutiny, the Trump administration is handing out hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to some of the country’s most profitable companies and wealthiest investors. The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, through a series of new notices and proposed regulations, are giving breaks to giant private equity firms, crypto companies, foreign real estate investors, insurance providers and a variety of multinational corporations.... The administration is rapidly gutting a 2022 law intended to ensure that a sliver of the country’s most profitable corporations pay at least some federal income tax. The provision, the corporate alternative minimum tax, was passed by Democrats and signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. It sought to stop corporations like Microsoft, Amazon and Johnson & Johnson from being able to report big profits to shareholders yet low tax liabilities to the federal government. It was projected to raise $222 billion over a decade. But the succession of notices the Treasury and I.R.S. have issued beginning this summer means the tax could bring in a fraction of that.”
Kevin Draper of the New York Times: “A Justice Department investigation into the country’s largest meatpacking companies for collusion and price fixing has the potential to reshape the cattle and beef industries. But past efforts to break the companies’ hold have gone nowhere. The White House called for an examination into the meatpacking companies’ practices after ... [Donald] Trump, in a post on social media on Friday, accused them of artificially inflating prices and jeopardizing the country’s food supply. A White House news release specifically named JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods and National Beef as targets of the investigation. The companies collectively slaughter 85 percent of the country’s cattle and a majority of its hogs. Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said an investigation, headed by the Justice Department’s antitrust division, was already underway. Ranchers have long complained that the big four meatpackers hold undue power.”
Ethan Illers of the Hill: “ Shots were reportedly fired at U.S. Border Patrol agents during immigration enforcement operations in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago Saturday afternoon. The Department of Homeland Security claims agents were conducting immigration enforcement operations near 26th Street and Kedzie Avenue when an unknown man driving a black Jeep fired shots at agents and drove off. DHS further alleges a group of people also threw a paint can and bricks at Border Patrol’s vehicle. The Chicago Police Department was called in for help and cleared the scene. CPD said their officers were sent to the area for reports of shots fired at federal agents. Officers secured the scene and there are no reports of anyone hit by gunfire. One police officer, however, was accidentally hit by a GMC pickup truck driven by a 20-year-old woman. The officer suffered minor injuries....”
Victoria Bisset & Kyle Rempfer of the Washington Post: After the crash on Tuesday of an MD-11 cargo plane that killed at least 14 people, “the Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday afternoon that it has issued an emergency airworthiness directive prohibiting operators from flying MD-11s, and the MD-11F variant of the airplane, 'until they perform certain inspections and take any necessary corrective actions.' The order applies to more than 100 U.S.-registered aircraft, the FAA said. By Saturday morning, UPS and FedEx had already grounded dozens of MD-11 aircraft, as Boeing said it had recommended to 'operators of the MD-11 Freighter that they suspend flight operations while additional engineering analysis is performed.'”
A “Mind-Numbingly Dangerous” Trump-Pardoned “Patriot” Arrested for New, Violent Crimes. Ryan Reilly of NBC News: “A Donald Trump supporter who fired off a gun during the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol was arrested last month on kidnapping and sexual assault charges, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois. John Banuelos, 40, who is from Utah but whose sister lives in the Chicago area, was arrested [in Cicero, Illinois,] on Oct. 17, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. A warrant for his arrest was issued in Salt Lake County on Oct. 1 on charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault.... Online 'sedition hunters' correctly identified Banuelos, 40, and gave his name to the FBI in February 2021. Months later, on July 4, 2021, Banuelos stabbed a man -- Christopher Thomas Senn -- to death in Salt Lake City, but was not charged after claiming self-defense.... Though he was identified by citizen investigators months before the stabbing, Banuelos wasn’t arrested by FBI for years.... Banuelos was eventually arrested in March 2024 and was ordered to be detained pretrial after prosecutors called his conduct 'mind-numbingly dangerous.'” Donald Trump pardoned him.
Hah! Steve Baker & Joseph Hanneman of Blaze Media: "A forensic analysis of a female former U.S. Capitol Police officer’s gait is a 94%-98% match to the unique stride of the long-sought Jan. 6 pipe-bomb suspect, according to a Blaze News investigation confirmed by several intelligence sources. A source close to a congressional investigation of Jan. 6 additionally told Blaze News evidence has emerged recently that pointed toward law enforcement possibly being involved in the planting of the pipe bombs. A software algorithm that analyzes walking parameters including flexion (knee bend), hip extension, speed, step length, cadence, and variance rated Shauni Rae Kerkhoff, 31, of Alexandria, Va., as a 94% match to the bomb suspect shown on video from Jan. 5, 2021." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I did tell the FBI -- which repeatedly referred to the pipe bomber as "he" -- that the suspect "walked like a woman," so might indeed be a woman. A Reality Chex reader disagreed with me based on a different video from the one I cited, and I agreed with her that my suggestion was iffy. But still plausible. Now it looks even more plausible.
18 comments:
The article about the pipe bomber gives the name and town of the woman whose gait is similar to the bomber's. That gives the impression that she is a suspect, when she is probably just a source of comparative data.
Sloppy language kills.
After reading the Blaze article, it turns out that the named woman is a suspect. And the theme of the article is that the bombs were not set to explode, but were placed to be a distraction for the police at the time of planned Jan 6 assault on the Congress.
Imagine a $ coin with t**** pictured on both sides....
Dan Barry, in The New York Times on the idea of A Two-Headed Coin That Always Comes Up ‘Trump’
"One veteran numismatist seconded the idea of featuring Mr. Trump on a coin, notwithstanding American tradition. “I think George Washington would approve,” said Anthony Swiatek, the author of an encyclopedia of commemorative American coins. “Because of all that President Trump has accomplished.”"
(What exactly has t**** accomplished besides somehow becoming a cult leader for 40% of americans?)
"Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University and the author of several books about the presidency. He said that the country’s 250th anniversary should celebrate the American republic and its people. Having the sitting president appear on a semiquincentennial coin, he said, only feeds “the cult of an individual perpetrated by that same individual” — exactly what Washington was intent on avoiding.
He added, “It is anti-American at its core.”
"
Instead of celebrating the man with a coin or a football stadium or a peace prize, can't we hold him accountable for something?????
Julie Turkewitz et al, for The New York Times , describe in words and photos the cruelty and horror 252 Venezuelan men experiemced in El Salvador. They were shackled, beaten, shot with rubber bullets and tear gassed until they passed out
"From the moment he took office, President Trump has seized on what he calls the threat posed by Venezuela and its autocratic president, Nicolás Maduro, accusing the government and Venezuelan gangs of orchestrating an “invasion” of the United States.
In March and April, the Trump administration made the extraordinary decision to send 252 Venezuelan men to a notorious prison in El Salvador known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, saying they had infiltrated the United States in a form of “irregular warfare.”
....
But the men received little to no due process before being expelled to the terrorism prison in El Salvador, and they were abruptly released in July, part of a larger diplomatic deal that included the release of 10 Americans and U.S. residents held in Venezuela.
Mr. Trump, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in September, praised Salvadoran officials for “the successful and professional job they’ve done in receiving and jailing so many criminals that entered our country.”
"
Amerika is nuts:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/one-photo-deluge-threats-arizona-high-school-turned-upside-right-wing-rcna241672
But we knew that.
Profiling
"Indian IDOT employee stopped by ICE agents, questioned if he was 'aware' of NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani
Gov. JB Pritzker is speaking out about the incident, which happened Friday morning, calling it another example of President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “continuing to question U.S. citizens apparently based on the color of their skin.”"
Mehmet Oz's bullshit "Sir" story, it is not just the masses that are in the cult.
"“I wanted to speak to the wife to let her know what was happening, but also comfort her. The president saw me in the corner and said, 'Who are you talking to?' I said, sort of sheepishly, I was talking to the wife. And he said give me that phone,” Oz said.
“And he talked to her and got her much calmer than I could have ever done. And I just think he's just a wonderful human being that he would take time. He could have gone off and done ten other things. But he actually cared that the wife of a man who he has never met before felt in a safer place.”
“He remembers the forgotten folks,” Oz added."
When Fat Hitler tells his version of the story Oz had tears in his eyes as he tells him "sir, you are the greatest, most empathetic man who has ever lived. Greater than Lincoln, everybody says so".
"New York millionaires: threatening to flee the city since 2009". The Right is so lazy they just recycle the same tired stories again and again. Though much of the press falls for it every time.
The Vulnerable, and cruelty is the point.
"ICE agents in Chicago violently detain a non verbal autistic man for being “non compliant”
He couldn’t “comply” because of his disability…they don’t care
This is not the first time they’ve gone after a disabled person"
The replies have stories of many other people targeted by ICE.
"US Tsunami Warning System Will Soon Go Dark
Nine seismic stations in Alaska are set to go dark this month, leaving tsunami forecasters without important data used to determine whether an earthquake will send a destructive wave barreling toward the West Coast. The stations relied on a federal grant that lapsed last year; this fall, the Trump administration declined to renew it.
Data from the stations helps researchers determine the magnitude and shape of earthquakes along the Alaskan Subduction Zone, a fault that can produce some of the most powerful quakes in the world and put California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii at risk."
I notice that one thing the West Coast has in common is that they vote Democratic. Another point where if you aren't actively supporting this administration then they put in the work to make your life more dangerous. They are a threat to everyone, but they go out of their way to make life worse for people they believe would oppose them.
One branch of a political dynasty I would like to see more of - Jack for Jerry Nadler's district
"Trump Announces Plan For 50-Year Home Mortgages"
Pay more, get less. The Trump way. Banker approved.
I'm sure I'm not the only one in here who remembers when a 36 month payment schedule on a new car was considered long term. Those were the days when General Motors was an auto business and not a branch of GMAC.
"Grand conspiracy" against t****? Just stop it. that fucker's campaign was communicating with the Russians in the 2016 campaign. He spilled highly sensitive information to the Russian foreign minister early in his term. He really did try to extort Ukraine into launching an investigation of Biden. He really did call the Georgia Secretary of State and ask him to "find" 11,780 votes. He really really really did have unbelievably sensitive documents at mar-a-lago after he was out of office. And all of that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Anyone who denies any of t****'s demonstrably true wrongdoing should be lambasted in the media. Yeah, it's not nice. It's not the polite thing to do. But it has to be done, because they are lying through their teeth.
I feel like I am in a bizarro world right now, with manifestly illegal acts being committed in my name at home and abroad, and the fat fuck making it all happen is gorging himself on designer food at his illegal residence in Florida at our expense. So any article about the "grand conspiracy" had better not pussyfoot around the fact that t**** did all of the shit they said he did and more.
The art of the (really bad) deal.
Promise American families a check for $2000, when your tariffs cost them $2300, and take their ACA subsidies away in the bargain.
https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/state-us-tariffs-september-4-2025
The FF must think the American people are really dumb....But then he does love the uneducated.
I KNEW Schumer would cave. Why hold out for so long when you’re just gonna let Fatty and the traitors win? Why?
Oh, wait. The idea is that there’ll be a vote on the ACA in December? Of what year? You really think they’re gonna come to the table in December when they got what they wanted without having to lift a finger? Most of them were ON VACATION!
If the Democrats go through with this, they can kiss those ACA subsidies goodbye forever.
The only thing we have going for us is that the traitors might refuse the deal. They’ll want Democrats to sign something saying it was all their fault.
Schumer might consider it.
So they did it. Democrats gave up the one thing they wanted, healthcare for millions of Americans. What did Fatty and the traitors give up? Nothing. Democrats get a “commitment” to rehire federal workers. A commitment from Donald Trump is worth exactly zero. So is some squishy, amorphous suggestion that maybe they’ll consider those ACA subsidies “later”. Later is Trump Speak for “Never! Hahaha!”
I just KNEW that Schumer would cave.
And now he gave that fat fuck everything he needs to say “See? It was the Democrats all along who shut down the government.
We never do anything 100%. We gave in and those Traitors didn’t have to lift a finger. Most of them were on vacation!
Cave man
Magic beans
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