February 25....There may indeed be vote tonight in the House on....what they call...."kickstarting"....Trump's budget bill. That means....officially starting the negotiations where X number of dollars must be cut out of the budget. All the republicans are just supposed to follow Johnson's orders and pass the bill. They can....(porbably)....lose only one 'yes' republican vote....the numbers are that close in this....mandate. Now...some Rs want assurance that Medicaid will not be touched. Johnson says that there are no specifics talked about at this stage. So some Rs tell him top put it in the bill that Medicaid will not be touched. Johnson says that he can't do that. Trump says that Medicaid will not be touched....but no one....wisely.....believes Trump on this.....becuase he will say anything to get a vote. Some republicans who know about these kinds of budget issues say that if X number of dollars have to be cut....then it would be impossible to do so without some cuts in Medicare. Cuts in Medicare mean....all over America....that people of limited or fixed incomes....will go the doctors as usual....and then find out that something or other is no longer cover.
Update....Thursday morning....the vote did pass....the only Republican 'no' being Congressman Massie who demands more cuts....not less.
February 25....Trump says that he is in talks with Putin about a shared...."Shared economic development."
February 24....I wouldn't be surprised at all if Conclave wins the Academy Award for Best Picture. It's an accurate portrayal on how popes are chosen. What makes it more interesting is Pope Francis's health....and you can add to that the....end of the end times....or the last of the last days....that we are living in right now.
February 21....We knew him on our television sets as Baghdad Bob....the Iraqi Minister of Information who comically gave absurd reports during the 2003 invasion of Iraq....one particularly where he was reporting on the air how there were no American tanks in Baghdad....as you could see American tanks in the background. How soon will it be until Fox News (Fox Internet....folks we do not receive prime time cable in our home)....how soon will it be until it begins to resemble Baghdad Bob....reporting on all these great things that Trump is doing....while we can see for ourselves what he is really doing.
Trump's Attorney general said today that the Jeffrey Epstein list of clients is on her desk right now....ready for review. That was not a wise statement to make because it can be construed as a threat to people in congress that may be on that list....a threat to stay in line.
Troy Balderson....(R-OH)....made news all over by saying that President Trump's executive orders were...."getting out of control"....and that it was the job of Congress...."to decide whether or not the Department of Education goes away. Not the president, not Elon Musk." His office later said that his remarks were...."mischaracterized"....which means that the congressman was probably spanked. Whether he recanted or not....I'll give him credit for being one of the first in Congress to attempt to stand up to a demagogue.
February 18....I read it....then I had to hear it for myself.....Trump was coming down hard on Ukraine....specifically Zelensky's complaint about not being in today's talks....Trump very forcefully said....as if he were talking straight to Zelensky...."You had three years to end it....You should have never started it!" May God have mercy on us....not for what we will or will not do on Ukraine....that may be bad enough....but in that we no longer are honest even with ourselves....for a statement like that from Trump should shake us to the very core....
SERIOUS....I need to give the evangelical some serious advice here. I check the news about....I don't know....guessing here....forty times a day? And each time it involves about a half dozen different news sites....and this has been going on for many....many.....years. So here is my advice from what I have learned....if you only listen to or watch conservative news sites such as Fox....you are in....serious trouble....and if you only listen to or watch progressive news sites such as NBC....you are in serious trouble. Both sides in this equation give only the news that they want you to hear or read....the result is that you will come to have a very distorted view on the issues.
It is called....exorbitant privilege. The United States dollar is still the world's primary reserve currency....and that comes with benefits to the United States government....as it can borrow at much cheaper rates. This should be considered when we attempt to get every penny they owe us. We are in the process of pulling the rug out from our long-time allies. I hope that Bibi is taking note....but I don't think he is. Will the other economies now look more intently at the issue of the reserve currency?
There is a jolt every day. Today it was Vance....(what a sad person he turned out to be)....who lectured Europe about shared values....as if we had any values left with Trump in charge? This is hardcore authoritarianism that we are witnessing....in both foreign and domestic policy. So at the very least....what is transpiring in the world today....should be sending pastors who know anything about the Lord's Second Coming at all....to their pulpits with warnings on what they are seeing.
The first thing that MAGA has to do with an interview like this is to point out that this is....CNN....and therefore it is all fake news....and thus to be totally ignored. The second thing would be to point out that Trump said that John Bolton was a "moron"....and that he was...."one of the dumbest people in government"....and that he was a...."totally & unhinged warmonger." Then maybe no one will watch the interview? Hey...it worked for eight years. All you have to repeat is....'fake news'.....or....'Russia hoax'....or....'Trump derangement Syndrome'....and the information will not be taken in!
