Struggling Americans on SNAP-1 TRump and Psychos-0
Sean Dunn, Sandwich, and Jury-1 ICE and Agents-0
Another part of the scorecard unfortunately is a loss. It's the ACTUAL rate of unemployment, which according to the Ludwig Institute, is likely around 24% when you add in everyone forced to do gig work. Those folks damn sure know inflation when they see it! Trump's version of what Americans are experiencing financially is pure propaganda and gas-lighting. He doesn't want you to believe your lying eyes and your bank account.
The insurance companies see the writing on the wall, specifically on a wall in New York City. They are gouging all the dollars they can before we follow in the footsteps of the rest of the free world. These young people are going to kick them to the curb while us old Democratic Socialists cheer them on and help America to achieve a single-payer system.
We are W-O-K-E. It was good to see President Obama getting people fired-up and ready to go once again. What a kick Tuesday was. See you in the streets.
NYT today documents how Trump and Bessert make tax law to the benefit of his donors and to the detriment to the rest of us. Congress makes tax law, not the administration.
“Treasury has clearly been enacting unlegislated tax cuts,” said Kyle Pomerleau, a tax economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. “Congress determines tax law. Treasury undermines this constitutional principle when it asserts more authority over the structure of the tax code than Congress provides it.”
1. A suit was filed in Pennsylvania, challenging the 2024 election by the Election Truth Alliance. However, so far, I can't get a copy of the complaint to assess its chances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XERg8QilFA
With Pacer access, should be able to get it. Supposed to be W.D. Pa 1:25-cv-00329
2. Thom: "Donald Trump calls our concern over the cost of living a “con,” but the real con is being foisted on working Americans by the billionaires and corporate monopolies that bankroll him."
Here in Baghad By the Sea, home of the upcoming Trump library (and the Epstein reading room?) we had a festival of grift sponsered by Trump and the Saudi Arabian government.
"Trump took a victory lap on the economy on the one-year anniversary of his successful election, boasting of cheaper prices and saying the U.S. is the envy of the globe even while the Republican Party faced a rebuke from voters anxious about their own finances in Tuesday's off-year elections.
"Trump, speaking Wednesday at the America Business Forum in Miami, said he thinks that communication was the problem, insisting that “we have the greatest economy right now” and that “a lot of people don't see that.”"
Notable figures from various fields attended or spoke at the event. These included Trump, world soccer champion Lionel Messi, President of Argentina Javier Milei, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, and Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin. Professional athlete Serena Williams and tennis icon Rafael Nadal were also present, along with Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and life and business strategist Tony Robbins. The list further included FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali, former Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt, WeWork and Flow co-founder Adam Neumann, and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize Winner María Corina Machado. Bret Baier, Fox News chief political anchor, hosted the event.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez hosted the forum, which was organized by the America Business Forum.
The Forum... a “gift of access and inspiration” that would color attendees’ views of the world and of their own potential. So at a time of heightened economic anxiety, when 42% of Americans have trouble paying for basic living expenses, thousands attended to hear how they, too, could unlock their potential and arrive at a place of financial freedom."
3. Many Congressional Republicans privately admit Trump is nuts.
I keep posting. According to Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Trumpepstein may cause an "Epstein bomb" causing over 100 Republican members to "jailbreak" from Trump.
Ali Velshi, had Leah Greenberg, founder of Indivisible on his show, on hour 1, his program will show again this afternoon on MSNOW. She speaks wisdon. I do hope the leadership in the party were listening
That many congressional Republicans think Trump it nuts is irrelevant, The only thing that matter is what they will do So far they haven't shown any spine, breaking with Johnson and Trump. on anything esepcially the discharge petition HR 4405
I hope Swalwell is correct, but am wondering if Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace and MTG won't back out of their commitment if Adelita Grijalva is sworn in.Of the four Republicans only Massie is a co sponsor,.
A representative can withdraw their name from a bill, but the process depends on the stage of the bill and whether they are a sponsor or cosponsor. A representative can withdraw their name as a cosponsor by making a request, often through an internal system or a formal letter, and it can be done until the bill is reported out of committee or has been officially printed. However, a representative cannot unilaterally withdraw a bill that has already been introduced, and removing their name from a bill that is already in the legislative process may not be possible or might require a formal motion.
Of course I repeat myself, you ignore what I say the first time, and go for the slam.
So if I don;t fall in line behind the pied piper, the leader, I am a plant.
I was kind of thinking the same thing about your Daniel. That you are trying to cut the nuts off the opposition, and make them mealy mouthed milquetoasts.
You are the ONLY oppostiion == worse than MAGA because you misrepresetnt the Dem situation as if it's a fact -- just like a Republican operative.
Were current;ly limited ... finallly a negotiation in the Senate this afternoon (that you oppose). The possibility of gaining subpoena power in the House.
I'm certainly not an apologist for all things Dem, but when you defame everyone, including me, I won't take it.
I am the ONLY opposition? Really. I didn't know that I was so powerful.
I misrepresented nothing. You accuse me of misrepresenting the Dem situation, but fail to clarify what I am misrepresenting.
I told you that I am a progressive, and that the Democrat establishment has been anti progressive, centrist or Republican lite.
What negotiation in the senate this afternoon are you talking about. The news I have is that the Republicans refuse to negotiate and the only negotiation on the table is extending health insurance tax credits.. And since when did I oppose them. Unless you mean I oppose(d) the Affordable Care Act,w hen we could have had Bernie's single payer. Yeh, but we have to deal with reality, and reality requires and extension of the tax credits, so what do I oppose Daniel?
What's this about opposing the possibility of getting subpoena power in the house? Because I don't have faith that Greene and Boebert won't pull out of their agreement at the last moment.
Well I've watch the Mueller investigation go no where, Jack Smith's investigation go nowwhere. Time and again I've watch Lucy pull back the football when Charlies goes to kick.
If it happens hurrah, I am glad, but I refuse to get all excited , believing that it will happen.
Unlike you, I am not hoping and looking for some magic bullet, some miracle, some Republican to grow a conscience or a pair and cross the aisle.
The only thing that is going to save us is, is us and Mamdami apparently has the recipe. In defiance of all odds, including AIPAC and the billonaires, he won the election.
Robert,amazing post,just have to print it out to fully digest all the shit that's going on.Thank you.
There needs to be a concerted effort by a large part of the population to fight back against the insurance cos who have screwing providers and policyholders for the last few yrs. The cos have not always been so concerned about their bottom line,but Wall Street is the culprit for much of you comment on. These little snot nosed, Ivy League educated analysts threaten these cos to make their quarterly numbers or the stock will get hammered. The assassination of Brian Thompson the CEO of United Healthcare should have sent a message,a company that delighted in fucking policyholder and providers.There will be a revolution if people can read,instead of being addicted to the TIM Cook(Apple) model of always having your head down.
Not only should it be a moral right, big buisness has a conflict with the existing system as it forces them to have to administer and bargain over health care. Because of this, health insurance and health care costs have inflated costs of virtually everything.
Something that the advocates for single payor have never focused on is that manufacturers can save money, because they won't have to pay for Health insurance.
Health insurance providers' political contributions to the Democratic Party are significant, though the exact total varies by election cycle and source of funds. For the 2023-2024 cycle, political action committees (PACs) from organizations like Cigna Corp and the American Council of Life Insurers gave hundreds of thousands of dollars directly to Democratic candidates and committees. Large companies like Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente also lean Democrat in their overall contributions.
PAC contributions (2023-2024) Cigna Corp: Donated approximately \(\$400,000\) to Democrats out of a total of \(\$803,500\).
American Council of Life Insurers: Contributed around \(\$415,000\) to Democrats out of a total of \(\$897,440\).
America's Health Insurance Plans: Gave \(\$154,000\) to federal candidates in the 2023-2024 cycle.
Some health insurance companies, such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente, show a lean towards Democratic candidates in their overall giving, according to OpenSecrets.org
Auto manufacturers like doing business in Canada, because health insurance is not a figure they have to recoup in sales price. Heard on Thom's program earlier this week.
I wrote papers on this issue in the 1993 period, met with some lobbyists, even the then Commissioner of Social Security. They benefit if, and only if the "collateral source rule" is abolished. That's because, future medical care, which is often the basis for pain and suffering woul be covered by Medicare.
"For forty years, wages have flatlined while profits and CEO pay soared ". Worth noting in this context that the share of productivity that once went to increase workers wages was taken by the executives and CEOs. That is the major cause of economic inequality according to Thomas Piketty. That makes the executives and CEOs the greatest number in the higher income bracket. So raising the income tax rate on the highest tax brackets would tax these executives.
Over 60 years, the S&P 500 generated a return of 38,881.17 percent. That means that $1,000 invested 60 years ago would have been worth about $390,000 in late June — as long as you stuck with it, even through terrible downturns. NYT.
The U.S. market has been good over many shorter, but still lengthy, periods. Just go back to the start of 2000. Despite four bear markets — in 2020 and 2022, in addition to the two in the first decade of the century — the S&P 500 in this period has returned 8.1 percent annualized, with dividends — for a total gain of 652 percent.
By contrast, bond investments look paltry. The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a benchmark for investment grade bonds, returned only 4.1 percent, annualized, for a total gain of 181 percent.
Actually only 4% of stocks in the S%P 500 that have huge multiples drive up the averages. And the net worth of Nvidia is greater than that of Germany, the 3rd wealthiest country in the world. Nvidia (NVDA) stock has increased by 4702.75% since its IPO on January 22, 1999. The first-day open price was $0.04 (split-adjusted) and the closing price on November 7, 2025, was $188.15.
Health Insurance costs are so high because neither party will mandate caps out of fear of losing contributions for re-election. Of course, that fear is due not killing Citizens United. While the GOP is currently responsible for both, where were the Dems when they controlled both houses under Obama. Ironic that Congress does cap the minimum wage.
It is not like there is no precedent for capping medical charges. Medicare caps what doctors and hospitals may charge, so does DOD Tricare. Who cares if the medical establishment throws a hissy-fit if those caps were universal? The average American's head is so full of "alternative facts." Most relevant to healthcare is that most Americans believe that the more you pay, the higher the quality. After all, a Mercedes costs more than a Mini - LOL.
For most of my adult life, I got my medical care free from Navy doctors in Navy hospitals. Retired, now my private-practice primary-care doctor lives with the Medicare & Tricare caps on her charges. So do all my specialist doctors. But they will expect payment of their normal higher fees from private insurers. Welcome to what my economist friend Dean Baker calls "The Rigged System." Who rigged it? Lobbyists and legislators.
Those of us who did PI and WC litigation know that the same medical provider has a series of prices for the same service, based mostly on insurance coverage. In cases of permanent injury Medicarew has a springing lien that may eventually get everyone involved, including the lawyers in trouble. In many cases Medicare has to pass on whether a settlement can be reached. E.G. https://www.cms.gov/medicare/coordination-benefits-recovery/overview/secondary-payer
Treating medical sources also have a lien against that case proceeds. In many PI cases the treating medical sources will negotiate their liens to get settlments.
Less talk, more action. Organization leaders behind No-Kings need to get their act together and organize those 7M+ No-Kings protesters into a boycott + pickets of Coca Cola and Bank of America -- because they're the two major consumer-facing corporations headquartered in North Carolina. Demand they either force the North Carolina State Republicans they own to undo Trump's election rigging Gerrymandering or pull out of the state.
7M+ consumers is serious power. It needs to be leveraged into action, not just talk and sign holding. Consumers hold the leashes of consumer-facing corporations, and thanks to massive political corruption in the US major corporations hold the leashes of state legislators. The key to fighting back against Trump's election rigging schemes is to tell the corporations, loud and clear, to tell the state legislators they own to simply not kowtow to Trump -- and to undo any kowtowing they've already done.
Not just in North Carolina with Bank of America and Coca Cola. Other corporations in other states Trump is pushing, or has pushed, to pursue election rigging.
We have to stop sitting around hoping for the best in 2026 while Trump and his cronies are digging trenches and erecting barricades in preparation for 2026. We need to start skirmishing Trump's activities NOW and undermine his preparation efforts.
I have often thought that We the People Should receive the same benefits as those we elect to National office. What company provides their insurance coverage?
As a fellow Portlander (although Thom and I both live a distance from downtown though we're both within the city zip code) I am always keeping up on what is happening at ICE headquaters. It is a 20 minute drive from my place. The callous thuggery of Trump's Gestapo/SS goes from what they do to people as they are hellbent to rid the country of immigrants and to what they do to fishermen trying to feed their families by smuggling drugs.
The incident that prompted me to write my Substack today, "Trump and his wet warriors' wet wish," didn't happen in Portland, but it could have happened here or in any American city.
I decided to use a photo many have seen since it has frequently been published. It shows costumed protestors at ICE Hq. facing off against armed agents. I ended up modifying the photo to show the "wet wish."
This is why I put the link on to the defintion of "wet" and added that it can also include a kind of nighttime dream and the work done by secret agents. https://fluentslang.com/wet-meaning/ I admit I meant the dreaming kind of "wet" but then looked it up and discovered it was contemporary slang. I also admit I looked up "u-trow" thanks to you. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=u-trou
When I was working as an RN I would have told you I would have done it free. It's what I always wanted to be and I thought getting paid was just an added bonus. You can believe me or not but here in my small town I still do some nursing sorts of things for free. I'm 78 and if you need free care or advice I'm here. I keep my cell phone on 24/7 and I answer it cuz I have a lot of senior friends. Yes healthcare is expensive and that's why I have always believed in universal healthcare.
Our Medicare Advantage plan dropped us (I think it dissolved). That is supposed to guarantee that we can get a GAP policy without underwriting. You can, but it's more expensive with a large deductible. UnitedHealthcare was our gap plan before we had the MA, and they are supposed to take you back if you are dropped through no fault of your own, but they won't do it. How do you begin to enforce the law against a behemoth like UnitedHealthcare?
It occurs to me that I don't think the descriptive term "morbidly rich" existed for me in either Spanish or English as I grew up. Now, it's something I read almost every day. The question this brings to mind is, when did we allow "freedom" to be associated with the reckless accumulation of wealth? As a society we place well-being limiters on just about everything, why not wealth?
The question is rhetorical because we all know the answer to this question. Because the major policy decisions of this nation are not being made by voters. We've been so distracted with our pursuits that we've forgotten that the responsibility of freedom is vigilance. I don't say this to insult or bring us down — there is enough people in the world who will do that for us — I say it as a reminder that were are all going to lose, at some point in life, absolutely everything. This is the inevitability of life, but despite our losses, what remains is the essence or our character: the sum total of our decisions.
America's slide towards fascism is everyone's fault, and as soon as we comes to terms with our collective faults and failings the sooner we can pick ourselves up and begin building a nation that only asks one question when making policy decisions: who does it serve?
With this question as our guiding principle, "morbidly rich" will become a cautionary tale within a generation. I look forward to writing on this topic more...
Yeah, but there wasn't a lot of lottery winners in Mexico. Whoever they were I don't remember that they were announced like here—constantly. We also said things like "pez gordo" or maybe "jefaso" to describe the morbidly rich. It just seems that if we don't do something to curtail the simultaneous destructions of society and democracy through the acquisition of morbid wealth, then the outcome isn't just fascism, it's something much worse.
1) Trump is calling concerns about the rising cost of living a con. I wonder when the last time was that he actually did his own shopping. Somehow, I just can't visualize him inside a market. And FWIW, Trump
's America sure as Hell isn't the one the other 99% of us live in. Perhaps Trumpistan? Trumpsylvania?
2) Re: Hegseth and "....we are pivoting the Pentagon and industrial base to a wartime footing. Most of us here are antiques so the above is something we grew up with, the only difference being that Ike called it "the military-industrial complex".
3) There is a certain danger in calling Mamdani a Communist: If Mamdani is able to pull the city together, left wing politics is going to appear to be a better solution for the problems other cities are experiencing rather than the capitalist model that has proven itself to be a failure (unless you are rich) time after time.
Yes, I am on Mary Trump’s Substack and always find her entries compelling. A person who goes by the name Hauserplenty wrote a response to my comment about Mary Trump’s analysis of Donald’s state of mind, admonishing me that I should stop being pissed off in response, where I mentioned Nancy Pelosi not stopping the surveillance of me. BTW. I have often thought about the cancer treatment you mentioned receiving, and I do hope that you received a positive diagnosis in October.
Yet Hauserplenty advocates putting our pissed off pressure on the government and not letting up until the billionaires stop bleeding our government dry of money for health care, food stamps, housing, etc. Hauserplenty states that the equity in my home is enough to compensate for the damage caused by the trashy things people have done. HUH? Nowhere do I see what I already have as compensation for what has been done to me and my family.
I am still fighting back against the surveillance that adversely affects me daily in every encounter I have, that is, for no reason ( I didn’t sucker anyone out of their fortunes or any amount of money or commit the crime Martha Stewart did). Not one person has said to me, “You owe me money’ for anything. Believe me, I have attempted to find out. There is nothing in the courts or in legal motion to try and claim any money from me in compensation for any arrangement in the past.
I divorced David Morgan 43 years ago because he was borrowing money for a start-up business without my knowledge. This borrowing tactic of his was not new. I was always at the tail end of knowing when someone would walk up to me and say, “Did you know...?” No, I had no idea he had borrowed from them. In this case, David went ahead without notifying me that he was using a substantial amount of Carol and Johhnie’s savings. He, like Trump, egotistically used the money to buy things they did not need to make the office and surroundings look like successful business types. I finally had to protect my children’s and my own well-being.
I am alone daily in these encounters with people who surveil me up close. And by quietly confronting the harassment as I did the other day, they have determined I made a scene. WTF, I walked into a scene at that restaurant that was already in motion among the staff and management. All I did was quietly confront the manager, not make a scene.
This got back to my step-daughter, Vicki Black, who wasn’t there and depends on whoever called her to declare that I made a scene. Any self-respecting person would have called out what happened there as a customer. She has a trashy opinion of herself and would have excused the staff—but then again, she isn’t set up everywhere, every day. I have no idea what they do in their home in Texas, and frankly, I don’t want to know. These experiences of mine remind me of the corrupt way America does business now. Even those connected to WWF, Feed The Children, Salvation Army, etc.
Then there are my neighbors, who say my home equity is payment enough for the 24/7 surveillance damage inflicted on me for more than two decades. No, our home is ours—that has nothing to do with the reparations due to me for the lengthy time terrorizing me stalking (I just came back from a night walk with my dog, and people were popping out all over).
People from the past who didn’t like the emotionally aggressive way I tried to stop them - like the bicyclists who set me up at a stop sign and sailed through as I made my turn, then came to my home as I was parking to tell me I almost hit them - when actually I didn’t see them just put there two cents in to say I should not have said anything. They could lie in wait because they were connected to my whereabouts.
I have heard hundreds of times in the past years from entities like AT&T, credit cards, city bills, or just random corporations - “Sorry. Sorry, it has taken them so long to do this, no matter who they destroyed. Many, Many involved in this endeavor to raise money for charity have committed a crime through their surveillance methods against me. That includes all the way up to the Vatican.
Struggling Americans on SNAP-1 TRump and Psychos-0
Sean Dunn, Sandwich, and Jury-1 ICE and Agents-0
Another part of the scorecard unfortunately is a loss. It's the ACTUAL rate of unemployment, which according to the Ludwig Institute, is likely around 24% when you add in everyone forced to do gig work. Those folks damn sure know inflation when they see it! Trump's version of what Americans are experiencing financially is pure propaganda and gas-lighting. He doesn't want you to believe your lying eyes and your bank account.
The insurance companies see the writing on the wall, specifically on a wall in New York City. They are gouging all the dollars they can before we follow in the footsteps of the rest of the free world. These young people are going to kick them to the curb while us old Democratic Socialists cheer them on and help America to achieve a single-payer system.
We are W-O-K-E. It was good to see President Obama getting people fired-up and ready to go once again. What a kick Tuesday was. See you in the streets.
NYT today documents how Trump and Bessert make tax law to the benefit of his donors and to the detriment to the rest of us. Congress makes tax law, not the administration.
“Treasury has clearly been enacting unlegislated tax cuts,” said Kyle Pomerleau, a tax economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. “Congress determines tax law. Treasury undermines this constitutional principle when it asserts more authority over the structure of the tax code than Congress provides it.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/business/trump-administration-tax-breaks-wealthy.html
This is salt in the wound.
Pay wall, Daniel.
I linked it as a gift site.
I got a pay wall.
Should work. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/business/trump-administration-tax-breaks-wealthy.html
This is what I got. Create a free account, or log in.
Gain access to limited free articles, news alerts, select newsletters, podcasts and some daily games.
1. A suit was filed in Pennsylvania, challenging the 2024 election by the Election Truth Alliance. However, so far, I can't get a copy of the complaint to assess its chances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XERg8QilFA
With Pacer access, should be able to get it. Supposed to be W.D. Pa 1:25-cv-00329
2. Thom: "Donald Trump calls our concern over the cost of living a “con,” but the real con is being foisted on working Americans by the billionaires and corporate monopolies that bankroll him."
Here in Baghad By the Sea, home of the upcoming Trump library (and the Epstein reading room?) we had a festival of grift sponsered by Trump and the Saudi Arabian government.
"Trump took a victory lap on the economy on the one-year anniversary of his successful election, boasting of cheaper prices and saying the U.S. is the envy of the globe even while the Republican Party faced a rebuke from voters anxious about their own finances in Tuesday's off-year elections.
"Trump, speaking Wednesday at the America Business Forum in Miami, said he thinks that communication was the problem, insisting that “we have the greatest economy right now” and that “a lot of people don't see that.”"
Notable figures from various fields attended or spoke at the event. These included Trump, world soccer champion Lionel Messi, President of Argentina Javier Milei, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, and Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin. Professional athlete Serena Williams and tennis icon Rafael Nadal were also present, along with Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and life and business strategist Tony Robbins. The list further included FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali, former Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt, WeWork and Flow co-founder Adam Neumann, and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize Winner María Corina Machado. Bret Baier, Fox News chief political anchor, hosted the event.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez hosted the forum, which was organized by the America Business Forum.
The Forum... a “gift of access and inspiration” that would color attendees’ views of the world and of their own potential. So at a time of heightened economic anxiety, when 42% of Americans have trouble paying for basic living expenses, thousands attended to hear how they, too, could unlock their potential and arrive at a place of financial freedom."
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article312831286.html#storylink=cpy
3. Many Congressional Republicans privately admit Trump is nuts.
I keep posting. According to Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Trumpepstein may cause an "Epstein bomb" causing over 100 Republican members to "jailbreak" from Trump.
Massive Congressional visits November 18.
https://www.instagram.com/flare.usa/p/DP_mdOyjdiG/
Visit CongressionalRepublicans.
https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/851451/
I think that if we play our cards right, many can be convinced by the election outcome to come forward.
Ali Velshi, had Leah Greenberg, founder of Indivisible on his show, on hour 1, his program will show again this afternoon on MSNOW. She speaks wisdon. I do hope the leadership in the party were listening
That many congressional Republicans think Trump it nuts is irrelevant, The only thing that matter is what they will do So far they haven't shown any spine, breaking with Johnson and Trump. on anything esepcially the discharge petition HR 4405
I hope Swalwell is correct, but am wondering if Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace and MTG won't back out of their commitment if Adelita Grijalva is sworn in.Of the four Republicans only Massie is a co sponsor,.
A representative can withdraw their name from a bill, but the process depends on the stage of the bill and whether they are a sponsor or cosponsor. A representative can withdraw their name as a cosponsor by making a request, often through an internal system or a formal letter, and it can be done until the bill is reported out of committee or has been officially printed. However, a representative cannot unilaterally withdraw a bill that has already been introduced, and removing their name from a bill that is already in the legislative process may not be possible or might require a formal motion.
You are repeating yourself. You are so discouraging you'd think you're a plant.
Indivisible BTW is a co-sponsor.
Of course I repeat myself, you ignore what I say the first time, and go for the slam.
So if I don;t fall in line behind the pied piper, the leader, I am a plant.
I was kind of thinking the same thing about your Daniel. That you are trying to cut the nuts off the opposition, and make them mealy mouthed milquetoasts.
You are the ONLY oppostiion == worse than MAGA because you misrepresetnt the Dem situation as if it's a fact -- just like a Republican operative.
Were current;ly limited ... finallly a negotiation in the Senate this afternoon (that you oppose). The possibility of gaining subpoena power in the House.
I'm certainly not an apologist for all things Dem, but when you defame everyone, including me, I won't take it.
I am the ONLY opposition? Really. I didn't know that I was so powerful.
I misrepresented nothing. You accuse me of misrepresenting the Dem situation, but fail to clarify what I am misrepresenting.
I told you that I am a progressive, and that the Democrat establishment has been anti progressive, centrist or Republican lite.
What negotiation in the senate this afternoon are you talking about. The news I have is that the Republicans refuse to negotiate and the only negotiation on the table is extending health insurance tax credits.. And since when did I oppose them. Unless you mean I oppose(d) the Affordable Care Act,w hen we could have had Bernie's single payer. Yeh, but we have to deal with reality, and reality requires and extension of the tax credits, so what do I oppose Daniel?
What's this about opposing the possibility of getting subpoena power in the house? Because I don't have faith that Greene and Boebert won't pull out of their agreement at the last moment.
Well I've watch the Mueller investigation go no where, Jack Smith's investigation go nowwhere. Time and again I've watch Lucy pull back the football when Charlies goes to kick.
If it happens hurrah, I am glad, but I refuse to get all excited , believing that it will happen.
Unlike you, I am not hoping and looking for some magic bullet, some miracle, some Republican to grow a conscience or a pair and cross the aisle.
The only thing that is going to save us is, is us and Mamdami apparently has the recipe. In defiance of all odds, including AIPAC and the billonaires, he won the election.
We need more fo that juice.
Robert,amazing post,just have to print it out to fully digest all the shit that's going on.Thank you.
There needs to be a concerted effort by a large part of the population to fight back against the insurance cos who have screwing providers and policyholders for the last few yrs. The cos have not always been so concerned about their bottom line,but Wall Street is the culprit for much of you comment on. These little snot nosed, Ivy League educated analysts threaten these cos to make their quarterly numbers or the stock will get hammered. The assassination of Brian Thompson the CEO of United Healthcare should have sent a message,a company that delighted in fucking policyholder and providers.There will be a revolution if people can read,instead of being addicted to the TIM Cook(Apple) model of always having your head down.
Not only should it be a moral right, big buisness has a conflict with the existing system as it forces them to have to administer and bargain over health care. Because of this, health insurance and health care costs have inflated costs of virtually everything.
Something that the advocates for single payor have never focused on is that manufacturers can save money, because they won't have to pay for Health insurance.
Health insurance providers' political contributions to the Democratic Party are significant, though the exact total varies by election cycle and source of funds. For the 2023-2024 cycle, political action committees (PACs) from organizations like Cigna Corp and the American Council of Life Insurers gave hundreds of thousands of dollars directly to Democratic candidates and committees. Large companies like Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente also lean Democrat in their overall contributions.
PAC contributions (2023-2024) Cigna Corp: Donated approximately \(\$400,000\) to Democrats out of a total of \(\$803,500\).
American Council of Life Insurers: Contributed around \(\$415,000\) to Democrats out of a total of \(\$897,440\).
America's Health Insurance Plans: Gave \(\$154,000\) to federal candidates in the 2023-2024 cycle.
Some health insurance companies, such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente, show a lean towards Democratic candidates in their overall giving, according to OpenSecrets.org
Auto manufacturers like doing business in Canada, because health insurance is not a figure they have to recoup in sales price. Heard on Thom's program earlier this week.
I wrote papers on this issue in the 1993 period, met with some lobbyists, even the then Commissioner of Social Security. They benefit if, and only if the "collateral source rule" is abolished. That's because, future medical care, which is often the basis for pain and suffering woul be covered by Medicare.
To what Robert are you responding. Maybe you intended to comment on Robert Reich
IMHO he was part of the problem. As Secretary, he was a member of the Social Security Trust Fund board. To this day, he's in denial.
"IMHO he was part of the problem. "Can you addd some clarity to your comment Daniel?
I guess I'm asking what is the connection between the Social Security Trust Fund and health Insurance costs?
Was/is in denial about the math. I wrote papers on an easy fix.....
"For forty years, wages have flatlined while profits and CEO pay soared ". Worth noting in this context that the share of productivity that once went to increase workers wages was taken by the executives and CEOs. That is the major cause of economic inequality according to Thomas Piketty. That makes the executives and CEOs the greatest number in the higher income bracket. So raising the income tax rate on the highest tax brackets would tax these executives.
Over 60 years, the S&P 500 generated a return of 38,881.17 percent. That means that $1,000 invested 60 years ago would have been worth about $390,000 in late June — as long as you stuck with it, even through terrible downturns. NYT.
The U.S. market has been good over many shorter, but still lengthy, periods. Just go back to the start of 2000. Despite four bear markets — in 2020 and 2022, in addition to the two in the first decade of the century — the S&P 500 in this period has returned 8.1 percent annualized, with dividends — for a total gain of 652 percent.
By contrast, bond investments look paltry. The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a benchmark for investment grade bonds, returned only 4.1 percent, annualized, for a total gain of 181 percent.
Actually only 4% of stocks in the S%P 500 that have huge multiples drive up the averages. And the net worth of Nvidia is greater than that of Germany, the 3rd wealthiest country in the world. Nvidia (NVDA) stock has increased by 4702.75% since its IPO on January 22, 1999. The first-day open price was $0.04 (split-adjusted) and the closing price on November 7, 2025, was $188.15.
Health Insurance costs are so high because neither party will mandate caps out of fear of losing contributions for re-election. Of course, that fear is due not killing Citizens United. While the GOP is currently responsible for both, where were the Dems when they controlled both houses under Obama. Ironic that Congress does cap the minimum wage.
It is not like there is no precedent for capping medical charges. Medicare caps what doctors and hospitals may charge, so does DOD Tricare. Who cares if the medical establishment throws a hissy-fit if those caps were universal? The average American's head is so full of "alternative facts." Most relevant to healthcare is that most Americans believe that the more you pay, the higher the quality. After all, a Mercedes costs more than a Mini - LOL.
For most of my adult life, I got my medical care free from Navy doctors in Navy hospitals. Retired, now my private-practice primary-care doctor lives with the Medicare & Tricare caps on her charges. So do all my specialist doctors. But they will expect payment of their normal higher fees from private insurers. Welcome to what my economist friend Dean Baker calls "The Rigged System." Who rigged it? Lobbyists and legislators.
Those of us who did PI and WC litigation know that the same medical provider has a series of prices for the same service, based mostly on insurance coverage. In cases of permanent injury Medicarew has a springing lien that may eventually get everyone involved, including the lawyers in trouble. In many cases Medicare has to pass on whether a settlement can be reached. E.G. https://www.cms.gov/medicare/coordination-benefits-recovery/overview/secondary-payer
Treating medical sources also have a lien against that case proceeds. In many PI cases the treating medical sources will negotiate their liens to get settlments.
Less talk, more action. Organization leaders behind No-Kings need to get their act together and organize those 7M+ No-Kings protesters into a boycott + pickets of Coca Cola and Bank of America -- because they're the two major consumer-facing corporations headquartered in North Carolina. Demand they either force the North Carolina State Republicans they own to undo Trump's election rigging Gerrymandering or pull out of the state.
7M+ consumers is serious power. It needs to be leveraged into action, not just talk and sign holding. Consumers hold the leashes of consumer-facing corporations, and thanks to massive political corruption in the US major corporations hold the leashes of state legislators. The key to fighting back against Trump's election rigging schemes is to tell the corporations, loud and clear, to tell the state legislators they own to simply not kowtow to Trump -- and to undo any kowtowing they've already done.
Not just in North Carolina with Bank of America and Coca Cola. Other corporations in other states Trump is pushing, or has pushed, to pursue election rigging.
We have to stop sitting around hoping for the best in 2026 while Trump and his cronies are digging trenches and erecting barricades in preparation for 2026. We need to start skirmishing Trump's activities NOW and undermine his preparation efforts.
Nov. 18.
I have often thought that We the People Should receive the same benefits as those we elect to National office. What company provides their insurance coverage?
They have to buy it also. They are in the same system that covers all government employees.
Then if all paid into the same provider system would that make the prices affordable? Then we might be on the road to Health Care For All.
As a fellow Portlander (although Thom and I both live a distance from downtown though we're both within the city zip code) I am always keeping up on what is happening at ICE headquaters. It is a 20 minute drive from my place. The callous thuggery of Trump's Gestapo/SS goes from what they do to people as they are hellbent to rid the country of immigrants and to what they do to fishermen trying to feed their families by smuggling drugs.
The incident that prompted me to write my Substack today, "Trump and his wet warriors' wet wish," didn't happen in Portland, but it could have happened here or in any American city.
I decided to use a photo many have seen since it has frequently been published. It shows costumed protestors at ICE Hq. facing off against armed agents. I ended up modifying the photo to show the "wet wish."
Here's the link: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/trump-and-his-warriors-wet-wish-by
Wet? Check Trump's u-trow.
This is why I put the link on to the defintion of "wet" and added that it can also include a kind of nighttime dream and the work done by secret agents. https://fluentslang.com/wet-meaning/ I admit I meant the dreaming kind of "wet" but then looked it up and discovered it was contemporary slang. I also admit I looked up "u-trow" thanks to you. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=u-trou
When I was working as an RN I would have told you I would have done it free. It's what I always wanted to be and I thought getting paid was just an added bonus. You can believe me or not but here in my small town I still do some nursing sorts of things for free. I'm 78 and if you need free care or advice I'm here. I keep my cell phone on 24/7 and I answer it cuz I have a lot of senior friends. Yes healthcare is expensive and that's why I have always believed in universal healthcare.
Blessings to you, nurse Sidney. I have overheard hospital employees talking about the fact THEY couldn't afford insurance.
Our Medicare Advantage plan dropped us (I think it dissolved). That is supposed to guarantee that we can get a GAP policy without underwriting. You can, but it's more expensive with a large deductible. UnitedHealthcare was our gap plan before we had the MA, and they are supposed to take you back if you are dropped through no fault of your own, but they won't do it. How do you begin to enforce the law against a behemoth like UnitedHealthcare?
First get a lawyer who sues them all the time.
You may have those lawyers in Florida, but not in north central Illinois.
Many are national. Check out NOSSCR. https://nosscr.org/
Thanks. Will do.
Yeah. Every time they say “your plan is changing,” what they mean is “we’re charging more and covering less.”
Half a trillion in profit and somehow hospitals still smell like bankruptcy and bleach.
It occurs to me that I don't think the descriptive term "morbidly rich" existed for me in either Spanish or English as I grew up. Now, it's something I read almost every day. The question this brings to mind is, when did we allow "freedom" to be associated with the reckless accumulation of wealth? As a society we place well-being limiters on just about everything, why not wealth?
The question is rhetorical because we all know the answer to this question. Because the major policy decisions of this nation are not being made by voters. We've been so distracted with our pursuits that we've forgotten that the responsibility of freedom is vigilance. I don't say this to insult or bring us down — there is enough people in the world who will do that for us — I say it as a reminder that were are all going to lose, at some point in life, absolutely everything. This is the inevitability of life, but despite our losses, what remains is the essence or our character: the sum total of our decisions.
America's slide towards fascism is everyone's fault, and as soon as we comes to terms with our collective faults and failings the sooner we can pick ourselves up and begin building a nation that only asks one question when making policy decisions: who does it serve?
With this question as our guiding principle, "morbidly rich" will become a cautionary tale within a generation. I look forward to writing on this topic more...
El premio grande.... La loteria.
Yeah, but there wasn't a lot of lottery winners in Mexico. Whoever they were I don't remember that they were announced like here—constantly. We also said things like "pez gordo" or maybe "jefaso" to describe the morbidly rich. It just seems that if we don't do something to curtail the simultaneous destructions of society and democracy through the acquisition of morbid wealth, then the outcome isn't just fascism, it's something much worse.
TV aqui mismo -- Sabato Gigante.
1) Trump is calling concerns about the rising cost of living a con. I wonder when the last time was that he actually did his own shopping. Somehow, I just can't visualize him inside a market. And FWIW, Trump
's America sure as Hell isn't the one the other 99% of us live in. Perhaps Trumpistan? Trumpsylvania?
2) Re: Hegseth and "....we are pivoting the Pentagon and industrial base to a wartime footing. Most of us here are antiques so the above is something we grew up with, the only difference being that Ike called it "the military-industrial complex".
3) There is a certain danger in calling Mamdani a Communist: If Mamdani is able to pull the city together, left wing politics is going to appear to be a better solution for the problems other cities are experiencing rather than the capitalist model that has proven itself to be a failure (unless you are rich) time after time.
Excellent summary. Thank you.
William,
Yes, I am on Mary Trump’s Substack and always find her entries compelling. A person who goes by the name Hauserplenty wrote a response to my comment about Mary Trump’s analysis of Donald’s state of mind, admonishing me that I should stop being pissed off in response, where I mentioned Nancy Pelosi not stopping the surveillance of me. BTW. I have often thought about the cancer treatment you mentioned receiving, and I do hope that you received a positive diagnosis in October.
Yet Hauserplenty advocates putting our pissed off pressure on the government and not letting up until the billionaires stop bleeding our government dry of money for health care, food stamps, housing, etc. Hauserplenty states that the equity in my home is enough to compensate for the damage caused by the trashy things people have done. HUH? Nowhere do I see what I already have as compensation for what has been done to me and my family.
I am still fighting back against the surveillance that adversely affects me daily in every encounter I have, that is, for no reason ( I didn’t sucker anyone out of their fortunes or any amount of money or commit the crime Martha Stewart did). Not one person has said to me, “You owe me money’ for anything. Believe me, I have attempted to find out. There is nothing in the courts or in legal motion to try and claim any money from me in compensation for any arrangement in the past.
I divorced David Morgan 43 years ago because he was borrowing money for a start-up business without my knowledge. This borrowing tactic of his was not new. I was always at the tail end of knowing when someone would walk up to me and say, “Did you know...?” No, I had no idea he had borrowed from them. In this case, David went ahead without notifying me that he was using a substantial amount of Carol and Johhnie’s savings. He, like Trump, egotistically used the money to buy things they did not need to make the office and surroundings look like successful business types. I finally had to protect my children’s and my own well-being.
I am alone daily in these encounters with people who surveil me up close. And by quietly confronting the harassment as I did the other day, they have determined I made a scene. WTF, I walked into a scene at that restaurant that was already in motion among the staff and management. All I did was quietly confront the manager, not make a scene.
This got back to my step-daughter, Vicki Black, who wasn’t there and depends on whoever called her to declare that I made a scene. Any self-respecting person would have called out what happened there as a customer. She has a trashy opinion of herself and would have excused the staff—but then again, she isn’t set up everywhere, every day. I have no idea what they do in their home in Texas, and frankly, I don’t want to know. These experiences of mine remind me of the corrupt way America does business now. Even those connected to WWF, Feed The Children, Salvation Army, etc.
Then there are my neighbors, who say my home equity is payment enough for the 24/7 surveillance damage inflicted on me for more than two decades. No, our home is ours—that has nothing to do with the reparations due to me for the lengthy time terrorizing me stalking (I just came back from a night walk with my dog, and people were popping out all over).
People from the past who didn’t like the emotionally aggressive way I tried to stop them - like the bicyclists who set me up at a stop sign and sailed through as I made my turn, then came to my home as I was parking to tell me I almost hit them - when actually I didn’t see them just put there two cents in to say I should not have said anything. They could lie in wait because they were connected to my whereabouts.
I have heard hundreds of times in the past years from entities like AT&T, credit cards, city bills, or just random corporations - “Sorry. Sorry, it has taken them so long to do this, no matter who they destroyed. Many, Many involved in this endeavor to raise money for charity have committed a crime through their surveillance methods against me. That includes all the way up to the Vatican.