DAY ONE OF YET ANOTHER CRAZY WEEK

Charlie Sykes gives us a good guide to today’s news: “We are reminded that it is a fundamental (and chronic) mistake to think of political parties as rational creatures. The best laid and most ingenious plans of our great political minds often turn out to be based on codswallop and delusion.”

Over the weekend, eight “moderate” (read “spineless”) Senate Vichy Surennder Monkeys masquerading as “Democrats” have cut a deal with Senate Republicans to reopen the government WITHOUT an extension of ACA premium support. Virginia senator Tim Kaine - one of the traitors - explained: “This deal guarantees a vote to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which Republicans weren’t willing to do. Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will. (Hint: you dumb fucking SOB - there’s no Republican Senator who will vote yes on this extension, and you don’t have 60 votes to overcome their filibuster of this.) This legislation will protect federal workers from baseless firings, reinstate those who have been wrongfully terminated during the shutdown, and ensure federal workers receive back pay, as required by a law I got passed in 2019. That’s a critical step that will help federal employees and all Americans who rely on government services. I’ll keep working towards a long-term government spending plan that includes critical priorities to support Virginians and funding for Virginia community projects.” WHAT HORSE FUCKING SHIT!!! The vote that Tim Kaine is so happy about was first offered to Democrats in mid-October. Speaker Mike Johnson is refusing to allow a vote on the ACA subsidies in the House, and even if it passes, Trump will veto it. That vote the Senate will take isn’t going to the millions of people who are going to lose their health insurance any good. There are LAWS protecting the federal workers, and right now there are successful LAWSUITS supporting that. The God Damned Vichy Surrender Monkeys got NOTHING for their treason.

By the way, the eight traitors are: Shaheen (NH), Hassan (NH), King (ME), Fetterman (PA),

Cortez Masto (NV), Rosen (NV), Durbin (IL), Kaine VA)

Cortez Masto said in an address at the Capitol: “It’s our responsibility to work not only here amongst ourselves, but across the aisle to solve these problems for the Americans, make their lives a little bit easier. And that’s what we have done tonight.” No you haven’t, you dumb fucking bimbo. Interestingly, Shaheen and Durbin are retiring next year. The others aren’t up for re-election until 2028 and 2030. They think we’ll forget what traitors they are by then.

Hakeen Jeffries had this to say about the Surrender Monkey’s “deal”: “For seven weeks, Democrats in the House and Senate have waged a valiant fight on behalf of the American people. It now appears that Senate Republicans will send the House of Representatives a spending bill that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. As a result of the Republican refusal to address the healthcare crisis that they have created, tens of millions of everyday Americans are going to see their costs skyrocket. Many will not be able to afford a doctor when they or their children need one. America is far too expensive. We will not support spending legislation advanced by Senate Republicans that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives, where Mike Johnson will be compelled to end the seven week Republican taxpayer-funded vacation. Donald Trump and the Republican Party own the toxic mess they have created in our country and the American people know it.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said in a statement, “I have voted seven times for a responsible funding agreement to end the shameful Republican shutdown, hold the president accountable to the law, and prevent health care costs from skyrocketing for tens of millions of Americans. I am prepared to work toward a compromise, but this funding bill before us tonight does not come close to meeting those terms. Not only does it fail to address the impending explosion in working Americans’ health insurance costs, it also lacks the necessary guardrails to stop President Trump from ignoring the law and withholding funds for important priorities. That is why I am voting NO.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is also a no, “My goal is always results for Wisconsin families. And what I hear from Wisconsinites is they need some breathing room and cannot afford to have their health care costs double. So, that is what I have been fighting for. I have been in Washington at the table trying to reopen our government and find a compromise to make sure that 275,000 Wisconsinites don’t have their health care costs go through the roof next year. Donald Trump and my Republican colleagues have refused to even talk. A wink and a nod to deal with this health care crisis later – with no actual guarantees – is just not enough for me or the Wisconsin families I work for. The clock is up, families are shopping for insurance now, and I refuse to sign off on a deal that doesn’t lower working families’ health care costs.” Chuck Shumer also opposes this “deal.”

This surrender can still fall apart. It is going to be into next week before this process is done, so there is time. If you are a constituent of John Fetterman, Angus King, Maggie Hassan, Jean Shaheen, Tim Kaine, Jacky Rosen, Catherine Cortez-Masto, or Dick Durbin - light up their phone lines and tell them to vote NO on final passage. A vote isn’t good enough. Demand that they hold firm until the Obamacare subsidies are restored.

This is why the only political party I hate worse than the Dim-o-craps are the damn Republicans.

Governor Gavin Newsom, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders criticized the deal and those that voted for it, with Newsom calling it “pathetic,” adding: “This isn’t a deal. It’s a surrender. Don’t bend the knee!” AOC said: “The average monthly SNAP benefit is $177 a person. The average ACA benefit is up to $550 a person/mo. People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives. Working people want leaders whose word means something.” Sanders said: “Tonight, eight Democrats voted with the Republicans to allow them to go forward on this continuing resolution. And to my mind, this was a very, very bad vote. What it does, first of all, is it raises health care premiums for over 20 million Americans by doubling and, in some cases, tripling or quadrupling–people can’t afford that, we’re already paying the highest prices in the world for health care.” Representative Summer Lee (PA) posted: “Americans have endured the pain of the longest government shutdown in history for a ‘deal’ that guarantees nothing on healthcare. If Republicans wanted to vote to extend subsidies, they would’ve done it already. Capitulating is unacceptable.”

Jay Kuo has it right:”The move by the Surrender Caucus ignored or misread all of that. These senators thought they were sparing their constituents some present pain, but they are actually dooming them to far worse pain later. And the surrender was a slap in the face to all who suffered to get us this far.”

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has given the Trump administration until 4 p.m. ET today to submit an additional brief to support its request for a stay on a lower court’s ruling that it must pay the November SNAP benefits in full by using funds from other Child Nutrition Programs during the federal government shutdown. In the order published early this morning, Jackson gave federal officials just hours to decide whether they will continue seeking a stay in Rollins v. Rhode Island State Council of Churches. Jackson’s order requires Maladministration II to inform the Court of their intentions by 11:00 a.m. (EST) today. If they plan to move forward, they must file additional legal arguments by 4:00 p.m. The Rhode Island State Council of Churches and other respondents then have until 8:00 a.m. on November 11 to reply.

With regard to the restrictions on air travel, James Fallows has posted an explanation of what is happening, which I am posting here: More and more this looks to me like the FAA version of a MAGA strategy of “intensifying the contradictions.” That is, to make air travel as difficult and disrupted as possible, as a PR weapon in the government-shutdown political war. Such a disruption is certainly an effect of the way the administration has approached this issue. Under the mantle of air safety, it is applying ham-handed, across-the-board, no-advance-warning ceilings on airline operations. Which just happen to have a very dramatic impact on the routes and airports that US Senators and Representatives headed to Washington, among other people, would be using this week. The effect is intensified by the administration’s sudden, DOGE-style “shake things up” way—rather than working with airports, airlines, controllers, and others to plan and smooth a response to a challenge now six weeks in gestation. A planned response could include, for example, greater limits on private jet traffic, which consumes the same ATC time and attention for a plane carrying a few passengers as for an airliner carrying a few hundred. Magnifying the discomfort of air travel would be consistent with some of the administration’s other shutdown strategies. For instance, making conditions as painful as possible for SNAP recipients, or those facing suddenly high health-insurance costs. Today’s best informed ATC reporter, Will Guisbond of The Air Current, and TAC’s editor, Jon Ostrower, have reported that many aviation professionals view the air-travel upheaval as a planned political stunt. Fallows advises: “Take a train or a bus. Drive. Explore the joys of home. Bike. Walk. Phone or Zoom. Go to a movie. Read a book. It’s a good time not to fly.”

Further on the air traffic problem: Trump ordered all air traffic controllers to “get back to work” and threatened that those who did not would have their pay “substantially” docked. 9FACT CHECK: Critical federal workers, such as air traffic controllers, are guaranteed back pay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 1999. IT’S THE LAW, YOU SENILE OLD SHITBIRD!) Yesterday, he posted on Lies Anti-Social: “All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially ‘docked.’ For those Air Traffic Controllers who...were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn’t take ANY TIME OFF for the ‘Democrat Shutdown Hoax,’ I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country.” (FACT CHECK AGAIN: he can’t do that, and wouldn’t if he could) Trump urged those who “did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future to quit. You will have a negative mark, at least in my mind, against your record. If you want to leave service in the near future, please do not hesitate to do so, with NO payment or severance of any kind! You will be quickly replaced by true Patriots, who will do a better job on the Brand New State of the Art Equipment, the best in the World, that we are in the process of ordering.” (FACT CHECK AGAIN: This cannot be done to federal employees, and the “new gear” is another “it’ll be there in two weeks” piece of bullshit.)

The American Battle Monuments Commission has removed two memorial panels honoring Black World War II soldiers from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. According to Dutch news reports, the panels were taken down earlier this year after the Heritage Foundation filed a complaint. The removed panels paid tribute to African-American soldiers who participated in liberating Europe from Nazi occupation. One panel detailed how approximately one million African-Americans enlisted during World War II, facing a dual struggle: fighting enemy forces abroad while confronting racial discrimination within their own military, including segregated units that often relegated them to non-combat support positions. This is yet another example of Maladministration II’s ongoing effort to censor American history, specifically as it relates to the history of African Americans and their struggle to combat racism and discrimination in the US military. The local government in South Limburg is considering installing a temporary exhibit to honor these men.

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent‘s interview with George Stephanopoulos quickly devolved into a verbal sparring match. Bessent spent a good portion of his interview speaking over and throwing jabs at Stephanopoulos. Tensions rose when Stephanopolous asked about the government shutdown, with the two raising their voices while Bessent fell into bashing Stephanopolous’s book sales. Stephanopoulos asked Bessent what he thought about Trump’s fixation on scrapping the Senate filibuster in order to push votes through. “Is that the best way to end this shutdown right now? Is that what the administration position is?” he asked. “No, George, the best way to do it...” Bessent began, before abandoning the question and opting to attack Stephanopoulos’ political career. Bessent evaded discussing the shutdown by referencing the shutdown that took place nearly 30 years ago: “Look, you were involved in a lot of these in the nineties. And you know, you basically called the Republicans terrorists and, you know, you said that it is not the responsible party that keeps the government closed.” Stephanopoulos responded: “I can disagree with you about the history there, but we don’t need a history lesson right now.” “If you want, I’ve got all your quotes here, George,” said Bessent; Stephanopoulos interjected: “I’m sure you do, but let’s talk about the situation right now.” Bessent raised his voice further. “I’ve read your book, so you got one purchase on Amazon this week,” he said with a smile. “And that’s very much what you said.” Stephanopoulos retaliated: “That’s a mischaracterization of history.” He returned to the question that started the argument, asking once more: “But I do want to talk about right now. Is the best way to end the shutdown right now to end the filibuster?” Bessent repeated: “The best way is for five Democratic senators to come across the aisle.” In other words, the over-educated, under-intelligent, incompetent twit had no argument and came prepared to do this.

Early yesterday, Preznit Cankles McShitstain managed to crawl to the golden throne in his cheap golf motel, to rage at the Supreme Court after justices he appointed questioned the legality of his signature tariffs, furious that he was being challenged on his authority to impose tariffs without congressional approval. “So, let’s get this straight??? The President of the United States is allowed (and is fully approved by Congress) to stop ALL TRADE with a Foreign Country (Which is far more onerous that 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! Other Countries can Tariff us, but we can’t Tariff them??? It is their DREAM!!! 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???” As usual, the stonking sludge spewing from that asshole under his nose contains not a shred of factual truth.

A couple hours later, still swaying on the golden throne at 7am, he reiterated his demands that GOP senators eliminate the filibuster to ram through their budget and reopen the government, baselessly claiming Democrats would do the same: “Republicans Should Terminate the Filibuster (THE DEMS WILL DO IT THE FIRST CHANCE THEY GET!), End the Shutdown, Pass lots of Great “Things,” and Win the Midterms! “SO EASY TO DO - Be the Smart Party, Not the Stupid Party!” The stupidity flows from the head, and the nation’s “most persistent ignoramus” has plenty to use.

Late last month, Texas federal district court judge Matthew Kacsmaryk transferred a long-running suit seeking to roll back access to the abortion drug mifepristone to a different federal district court, this one in Missouri. This high-stakes dispute should have been dismissed entirely after the Supreme Court swatted it away in June 2024. Instead, Kacsmaryk, a judge appointed by Trump during his first term in the White House, has handed the case to another Trump judge who was confirmed earlier this year. The lucky recipient is Cristian Stevens, whom Trump nominated to the Eastern District of Missouri in May. The Senate confirmed him in July by a vote of 50 to 47, despite his refusal to answer Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s yes-or-no question about whether a “violent mob” attacked the Capitol on January 6. Stevens replied that it would be “inappropriate” for him to comment on such a “highly contested political issue.” This case started back in 2022, when a sock-puppet group of anti-abortion doctors sued the FDA, demanding that the agency revoke its approval of mifepristone, which is typically the first drug issued in a medication abortion. Their lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom—a group that includes Josh Hawley’s wife, Erin—filed their lawsuit in Kacsmaryk’s court, even though the doctors had no real connection to Amarillo, Texas, let alone any legitimate claim that they’d suffered a legal injury. As Kacsmaryk and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals largely went along with their charade, the three AGs tried to join the party with a slightly more plausible theory of standing, claiming that the FDA’s actions hampered the states’ ability to enforce their own abortion laws. After the Supreme Court decided that the doctors didn’t have standing to sue, the AGs amended their complaint in October 2024, adding the vile argument that telehealth prescriptions of mifepristone harmed the states because these prescriptions allow more teens to end unwanted pregnancies. In their eyes, state governments need to be able to force births to prevent “potentially ‘losing a seat in Congress or qualifying for less federal funding if their populations are’ reduced.”The revived lawsuit, now in the hands of these Republican AGs, asks the FDA to roll back a host of mifepristone label updates that, among other things, allow clinicians to prescribe mifepristone to minors, and to provide care remotely and through 10 weeks of pregnancy. These proposed changes would have a huge impact on the availability of abortion care, since one in four U.S. abortions were done with pills via telehealth as of the end of last year. Any federal restrictions on mifepristone would apply nationwide, even in states that have passed constitutional protections for abortion access.

Let’s give ourselves some good news: This morning, the Supreme Court rejected without comment the attempt to get them to overturn their decision in Obergefell using the appeal by Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis. Whatever damage Thomas and Alito want to inflict on Americans, same-sex marriage is still protected. There weren’t two other justices to vote with these two scumbags to take the case.

Jay Kuo gets today’s last word: “We can’t stop this bill from moving forward. What we can do is pivot to demanding that the Senate—and the House—actually vote to extend the ACA premium subsidies. When they refuse to do so, as is likely, we can use that to fuel the anger that will sweep them from power next year. That is our next battle, and it’s one we can win.”

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