Better Watch Out. Better Not Die

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Attribution: GOPs health care plan by John Darkow, Columbia Missourian

Amendment to extend Obamacare subsidies hits roadblock [The Hill]

An agreement between moderate Republicans and GOP leadership in the House to allow a vote on extending expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies is on the rocks as the two sides squabble over the contents of the amendment.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and other GOP centrists are planning to introduce an amendment in the House Rules Committee on Tuesday that pairs a two-year extension of the subsidies with eligibility reforms, according to a House GOP staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

But GOP leadership insisted the extension needed to be offset with spending cuts — a demand the moderates balked at. 

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63 thoughts on “Better Watch Out. Better Not Die”

  1. https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/12/15/

    ACA shoppers face sticker shock as Congress dithers on health care

    We’ve been here before: congressional Democrats and Republicans sparring over the future of the Affordable Care Act.

    But this time there’s an extra complication. Though it’s the middle of open enrollment, lawmakers are still debating whether to extend the subsidies that have given consumers extra help paying their health insurance premiums in recent years.

    The circumstances have led to deep consumer concerns about higher costs and fears of political fallout among some Republican lawmakers.

    According to a KFF poll released in December, about half of current enrollees who are registered to vote said that if their overall health care expenses — copays, deductibles, and premiums — increased by $1,000 next year, it would have a “major impact” on whether they vote in next year’s midterm elections or which party’s candidate they support.
    […]
    In Washington, as part of the deal to end the recent government shutdown, a Senate vote was held Dec. 11 on a proposal to extend the subsidies. Another option, which was advanced by Republicans and included funding health savings accounts, or HSAs, was also considered. Neither reached the 60-vote mark necessary for passage.

    On the House side, Speaker Mike Johnson plans this week to bring to the floor a narrow legislative package designed to “tackle the real drivers of health care costs.” It would include expanded access to association health plans and appropriations for cost-sharing reduction payments to stabilize the individual market and lower premiums. It would also increase transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers.

    Like the bill put forward by Republicans in the Senate, it would not extend the ACA enhanced subsidies. Lawmakers are likely to vote on such an extension at some point, but it is not clear when.

    In general, Democrats want to extend the life of the more generous subsidies, created in response to the COVID pandemic. Those are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans are split, with many balking at the cost of a straightforward extension, as well as the policy and political implications that might come with a vote to buttress the ACA, which many have long viewed as public enemy No. 1.

    And a few back various proposals that would extend the tax subsidies, fearing that failing to do so will result in political fallout in next year’s midterm elections.

    The result is that differing policy positions are being advanced by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress.

    The White House, though supportive of HSAs in principle, has not made clear its choice among the various Capitol Hill plans.

    Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for shoppers. People needed to choose their ACA plan by Monday for coverage to begin Jan. 1. Open enrollment continues in most states until Jan. 15 for coverage beginning Feb. 1.
    [continues]


  2. Dec 16, 2025
    As Donald Trump fills the leadership roles of the U.S. public health system with quacks and kooks, sane states are taking it upon themselves to employ actual experts with real public health administration experience to make sure the public has credible guidance even if that guidance is not coming from the federal government. Dr. Debra Houry, former CDC official and new senior medical adviser to the California Department of Health, talks with Rachel Maddow about this new shift in public health authority as Donald Trump and his clown show are simply ignored.

  3. meanwhile on the late-night front


    President Trump kicked off his holiday celebrations with a speech about Peruvian vipers and the announcement of his latest building project, Miriam-Webster declared “slop” the word of the year, and Stephen checks in on a hard-partying furry friend.

  4. Fact checking Dumbass’ “Peruvian Viper” claims. Peruvian Times.

    Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES, for nearly 100 years Peru’s newspaper source for English-language local news and analysis.

    Tuesday, December 16, 2025

    Which is deadlier to humans in Peru: the Bothrops pit viper or the venomous Trumpapillar?

    By Rick Vecchio ✐
    Peruvian Times Contributing Editor*☄

    Applying Trumpian logic, pit vipers cause more than six times as many human fatalities in Peru as stings by the “Trumpapillar,” a nickname for the venomous flannel moth caterpillar (family Megalopygidae, often Megalopyge opercularis) found in Peru’s Amazon.

    In other words, about six people die in Peru from snakebites every year — give or take — and there is no record of anyone ever dying from the Trumpapillar’s venomous, toupée-like spines.

    During a Christmas address Sunday from the White House, the 79-year-old Trump went on a nearly 10-minute tangent, misrepresenting the memoir Venom and Valor by Dr. James J. Jones, who wrote about being bitten in 2016 by a poisonous snake in the Amazon.

    Trump Claims 28,000 Die Yearly from Peru Snakebites — The Real Number Is About Six

    “Twenty-eight thousand people die a year from a snake bite, a certain snake,” President Trump falsely claimed. “It’s a viper, right? It’s said to be the most poisonous snake in the world.”

    Trump rambled on: “The chances of living from that snake are substantially less than 1 percent and that’s only if you have the [anti]venom. Even if you have the [anti]venom you don’t live.”

    To set the record straight: Snakebites in Peru do occur, but the incidences and resulting death toll is nowhere close to tens of thousands.

    Using health-service notifications compiled across the Americas, one peer-reviewed analysis estimated that about 2,150 snakebites per year in Peru were treated in health facilities during 2000–2015, resulting in about 10 deaths per year on average (i.e., fatalities typically in the low double digits).

    Actual Snakebite Deaths in Peru: Single Digits to Low Double Digits

    The same research cautions that case counts can be underestimated when victims rely on traditional care and never enter the reporting system, but even allowing for undercounting, Peru’s deaths remain “low double digits,” not “thousands.”

    A Peru report by Infobae, citing Peru’s epidemiology center (MINSA/CDC) gives a similar order of magnitude in real time: 1,355 ‘envenomation’ cases and six deaths reported through early August 2023 (partial-year), again pointing to fatalities measured in single digits to low double digits.

    As for treatment: antivenom is effective when it’s the right product, given early, and in an adequate dose — and it’s the core, specific therapy for venomous snakebites.

    Trump’s False Claims About Antivenom Effectiveness

    According to the World Health Organization, antivenoms remain the only specific treatment that can prevent or reverse most venom effects when administered appropriately and early. Most deaths and serious consequences from snakes bites are avoided in Peru because antivenoms are effective, as well as widely available.

    Jones, now one of President Trump’s physicians assigned to the White House medical evaluation and treatment unit, was attached to the Secret Service protective detail that accompanied Malia Obama during her 2016 gap-year travel through Peru and Bolivia.

    Dr. James Jones’ Real Snakebite Story: Protecting Malia Obama in Peru

    The Peru trip, part of an 83-day program run by Where There Be Dragons, was kept secret until after the group returned to the United States, according to the Amazon Conservation Association, which hosted Malia Obama at its Villa Carmen biological station in Peru.

    A 2017 Army Times report, citing Department of Defense news coverage, also connected Jones’ Peru detail to a New York Times report that Malia Obama took an 83-day hiking trip in South America.

    Where There Be Dragons describes its Peru-Bolivia program as rugged travel across the Andes and the Amazon, with homestays and trekking that include Lake Titicaca, Machu Picchu, and the Sacred Valley.

    Local operator, Vamos Expeditions, later said it supported the Peru logistics for the Dragons group and worked alongside 15 Secret Service agents and support vehicles, while the students traveled through Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and on high-altitude hikes near Ausangate, followed by time in the Amazon.

    Jones Saved Lives Before Fer-de-Lance Snake Attack

    Jones’ role on the ground was not symbolic.

    On Sept. 26, 2016, while hiking at about 18,000 feet in Peru’s Andes, he assessed a Secret Service agent who had fluid in his lungs from altitude exposure and organized an improvised evacuation: He used a pack mule for transport, gave oxygen and anti-inflammatory medication, and then coordinated a four-hour drive to a hospital in Cusco, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

    A week later, on Oct. 4, Jones treated two of the American students on the hike for malnutrition and the same acute altitude sickness, camping with them overnight and arranging pack-mule transport back to base.

    After reaching base, he identified worsening symptoms in one student — fluid on the brain — and pushed for emergency transport to Cusco. His citation also noted that word spread through nearby communities that a clinician was present, and indigenous residents began arriving at base camp for care.

    How Dr. James Jones Survived a Fer-de-Lance Bite in the Amazon

    On Oct. 9 — five days after treating the students — Jones became the patient.

    During a hike near Pilcopata, in the remote outskirts of the Amazon basin, he was bitten by the snake. He fell into a dense ravine, tried to continue, then collapsed about 1.5 miles into the trail with severe symptoms, including trouble breathing and escalating pain in his arm.

    Jones later wrote on his personal blog that he had slipped in mud and landed on a fer-de-lance, and that the evacuation stretched for miles in the field before he reached emergency care.

    Never touch Donald Trump’s Hair

    As for the infamous “Donald Trump Caterpillar,” locals and experts advise never touching them. They look soft, harmless and oddly photogenic, but those urticating hairs deliver painful venom via tiny spines, causing welts and burning irritation lasting days.

  6. I doubt Trump ever signs on to anything that enhances “Obamacare”. It’s all about the branding for him. He would sign universal health care into law if we called it TrumpCare.

  7. What America is Clicking: December 16, 2025

    1. International Tragedy: A Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old girl are among the 15 victims identified in the Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration shooting. WPLG Local 10
    2. Tech Bubble: Data center provider CoreWeave suffers a staggering stock slide, igniting fears that the AI market bubble is bursting. Morningstar
    3. Auto Industry: Ford takes a massive $19.5 billion hit, signaling the industry’s largest reckoning yet on unfilled electric vehicle ambitions. Morningstar
    4. Economy: New U.S. tariffs are having an “uneven” effect on holiday shopping, raising prices on specific goods while leaving others untouched. The Intelligencer
    5. Breaking News: Reports confirm filmmaker Rob Reiner has been killed in Los Angeles; former President Trump defends his reaction to the news. Wikipedia Current Events
    6. Fraud Watch: The U.S. Department of Labor deploys a “strike team” to Minnesota to review the state’s unemployment program after widespread fraud reports. Minnesota News Network
    7. Global Health: World leaders at the UN General Assembly adopt a historic political declaration to combat noncommunicable diseases and mental health challenges. World Health Organization
    8. Community: A Minnesota town rallies to raise over $40,000 for families impacted by the Stewartville High School shooting. Minnesota News Network
    9. Banking: HSBC moves forward with the privatization of Hang Seng Bank, pausing share buybacks to fund the deal. TS2 Tech
    10. UFO Sighting: A 10-foot-tall “Bud Light” can has mysteriously crash-landed in a Houston park, baffling locals and police. Houston Texans

    A snapshot by our AI partner Silas (Gemini) on what people are clicking, not what we think they should. Open Thread: Which of these stories is overblown, and what important news is missing? Add your links below.

  8. on the eastern front

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/16/

    Peace plans ready to be presented to Russia in days, says Zelenskyy
    US says talks with Ukraine in Berlin have resolved 90% of difficult issues – but no sign Putin willing to compromise

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy says proposals negotiated with US officials on a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine could be finalised within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin.

    After two days of talks in Berlin, US officials said on Monday they had resolved “90%” of the problematic issues between Russia and Ukraine, but despite the positive spin it is not clear that an end to the war is any closer, particularly as the Russian side is absent from the current talks.

    In the early hours of Tuesday morning the Ukrainian president said the US Congress was expected to vote on security guarantees and that he expected a finalised set of documents to be prepared “today or tomorrow”. After that, he said, the US would hold consultations with the Russians, followed by high-level meetings that could take place as soon as this weekend.

    “We are counting on five documents. Some of them concern security guarantees: legally binding, that is, voted on and approved by the US Congress,” he said in comments to journalists via WhatsApp. He said the guarantees would “mirror article 5” of Nato.

    On Monday, US officials declined to give specific details of what the security package was likely to include, and what would happen if Russia attempted to seize more land after a peace deal was reached. They did, however, confirm that the US did not plan to put boots on the ground in Ukraine.

    Leaders of the UK, France, Germany and eight other European countries said in a joint statement that troops from a “coalition of the willing” could “assist in the regeneration of Ukraine’s forces, in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine”.

    They stopped short, however, of suggesting these would be guarantees that would match Nato’s article 5, and in any case there is little sign that Russia is anywhere close to agreeing to the kind of package under discussion between Washington and Kyiv.

    On Tuesday, the Kremlin said it had not seen the details of proposals on security guarantees, and Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Russia would not agree to troops from Nato countries operating in Ukraine “under any circumstances”.

    The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Monday that peace was closer than at any time since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. But privately, European officials say that at this stage the talks are more about keeping the Trump White House onboard with supporting Ukraine than about reaching a lasting deal between Moscow and Kyiv.

    The main sticking point between the Ukrainian team and US negotiators remains the issue of land. Trump wants Ukraine to give up the parts of the Donbas region it still holds, while Ukraine wants to freeze the lines at the current point of contact. “We are discussing the territorial issue. You know it is one of the key issues. At this point, there is no consensus on it yet,” Zelenskyy said after the Berlin talks.

    The US negotiation team, led by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, has proposed a compromise solution whereby Ukraine would withdraw, but Russia would not advance and the demilitarised area would become “a free economic zone”. Russia has suggested that they could use police and national guard formations rather than the military, implying they would still expect to control the territory.

    “I want to stress once again: a ‘free economic zone’ does not mean under the control of Russia. Neither de jure nor de facto will we recognise Donbas – its temporarily occupied part – as Russian. Absolutely,” said Zelenskyy.

    It is not clear how the two sides will proceed on the territorial issue, with Zelenskyy previously suggesting that a compromise solution such as a free economic zone could be theoretically possible if the Ukrainian people voted for it in a referendum. The critical stumbling block is likely to be when the plans are put to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has given no sign he is willing to compromise on his war aims.

    “If Putin rejects everything, we will end up with exactly what we are experiencing on our plane right now – turbulence,” said Zelenskyy, recording the comments after his plane took off from Berlin for the Netherlands for a series of meetings on Tuesday.

    “I believe the United States will apply sanctions pressure and provide us with more weapons if he rejects everything. I think that would be a fair request from us to the Americans,” he said.

  9. The New Rules of Mourning

    So, let me get the new rules straight.

    When Charlie Kirk was killed back in September, the administration didn’t just ask for respect—they demanded retribution. We had JD Vance explicitly telling people to call employers and get anyone fired who wasn’t sufficiently mournful. The message was clear: politicizing a tragedy is a fireable offense.

    Fast forward to yesterday. Rob Reiner and his wife are found dead in their home—a horrific family tragedy involving their own son—and what does the President do?

    He doesn’t offer condolences. He goes on Truth Social to claim Reiner died because of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” He actually typed out that Reiner’s murder was due to the “anger he caused others” by not liking Donald Trump.

    And just in case anyone thought it was a slip of the thumb, he doubled down in the Oval Office a few hours later, referring to himself in the third person and calling Reiner “deranged” and “bad for the country.”

    The contrast tells you everything you need to know about where we are. Empathy is now a partisan perk. If you’re on the team, your death demands state-enforced reverence. If you’re a critic, your murder is just an opportunity for the President to spike the football and say, “I told you so.”

    It’s not just mean; it’s a signal. The “unity” they talk about only applies if you bend the knee. Otherwise, you’re fair game, even in the morgue.

  10. Subject: The “Civil Tone” only applies to us

    We need to keep this receipt.

    Yesterday, the President of the United States stood in the Oval Office and diagnosed Rob Reiner’s murder as a case of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” coming home to roost. No condolences, just a victory lap over a dead critic. It’s ugly, but it’s legal. The First Amendment protects it.

    But let’s look at the other side of the ledger. Remember September? Remember when JD Vance went on the radio and told Americans that if they saw “disrespect” toward Charlie Kirk, they should “call their employer”?

    That wasn’t idle talk. It ruined lives. While Trump is free to smear the dead on Truth Social, here is what happened to two teachers who barely whispered a dissenting opinion.

    1. The “Hearsay” Firing (Washington State)
    Amanda Gonzalez, a teacher in Battle Ground, WA, lost her career over a rumor. She didn’t post online. She didn’t lead a protest. A single student accused her of calling Kirk a “Nazi” in class. Despite other students disputing the claim, the “Vance Directive” kicked in: the district was flooded with calls from people who didn’t live in the state, let alone the district. The school board, terrified of the PR storm, gave her a choice: resign or be terminated. She was gone by October.

    Context: She was fired for an alleged insult. Trump is celebrated for a recorded one.

    2. The “Private Post” Firing (North Carolina)
    Holly Ackerman was a veteran teacher in Gaston County, NC. The night of the Kirk murder, she posted on her private Facebook page—visible only to friends—writing about how you “reap what you sow.” She didn’t tag anyone. She didn’t celebrate violence. But a “friend” took a screenshot, sent it to the outrage machine, and the district received 1,200 calls in 24 hours. She was suspended immediately and fired on November 5th.

    Context: A private citizen lost her livelihood for a philosophical observation on a private page. The President kept his job while mocking a murder victim on national TV.

    There are two sets of rules now. One for the people with the microphones, and one for the people with the jobs.

    Sources:

  12. Politifact Year of Lies. Leading the list “The Farmer” on Trump’s tariffs.

    https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/dec/16/Trump-tariff-farmers-China-foreign-country-tax/

    In January, when Trump took office, soybean prices in the Northern Plains, which includes North Dakota, stood at $9.50 per bushel, said Shawn Arita, a North Dakota State University agribusiness expert and former U.S. Department of Agriculture economist. After Trump levied tariffs on China — the largest market for U.S. soybeans — soybean prices tanked, crashing below $8.50 per bushel in the Northern Plains in early September.

    Today, soybean prices are $10.10 per bushel, Arita said. It costs U.S. farmers more than $12 per bushel, on average, to grow them.

    China retaliated against Trump’s tariffs and bought soybeans from Argentina and Brazil instead. That was particularly painful because farmers have long relied on international trade: Roughly 20% of all U.S. agricultural production is exported.

    “Those sales are often what make the difference between profit and loss at the farm level,” Faith Parum, an American Farm Bureau Federation economist, wrote in October. Parum wrote that soybean markets became “the clearest signal of stress in U.S. agricultural trade.”

    More at link

  14. a reminder from last year about that nuclear deal


    Dec 5, 2024
    Ukrainian officials call the Budapest Memorandum ‘a monument to short-sightedness in strategic security decision-making’ and ask for a NATO membership
    » Subscribe to VOA News

  15. Nice catch Pat. After that experience I can’t imagine Ukraine falling for another round of empty promises. Only the commitment of permanent NATO peacekeeping forces on the ground in country would be a real security guarantee. Make it so that Putin would be attacking NATO if he invades again.

    Meanwhile Anne Applebaum lays it out here. The only real solution is Putin has to lose this war: “The West doesn’t understand the extremism of Putinism” — at timestamp 20:45..

  16. The long lost labor report. Per WaPo.

    Labor market lost 41,000 jobs over October, November; unemployment rate up

    The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6 percent in November, the highest since 2021, according to the Labor Department.”

    Lessee, 2021. Something significant about the economic world that year.

    Greatest economy in history, right?

  17. Empathy is now a partisan perk.

    Covid families learned this five years ago and have been struggling with it ever since.

  20. THE ONLY WAY OUT.

    Stop scrolling. Stop imagining a deal. Anne Applebaum just delivered the hardest reality check of the year: You cannot negotiate with a man who wants to destroy you.

    “Putin will have to lose the war.”

    There is no Plan B.

  21. https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-pulitzer-lawsuit/

    Trump may be forced to fork over tax returns and medical records in Pulitzer lawsuit

    President Donald Trump could be forced to give up his tax returns and medical records in a Pulitzer defamation lawsuit over the Russia investigation reporting awards, according to a report Monday.

    Pulitzer Prize board members filed court documents in Okeechobee County, Florida, and after Dec. 11, Trump now has 30 days from that date to respond to the claims and document requests, Law & Crime reported.

    Defendants — who include 20 different people from multiple media organizations — have demanded all of Trump’s tax returns “from all jurisdictions, including all attachments, schedules, and worksheets” from 2015 to most recent, documents pointing to “sufficient to show all sources of Your income,” in addition to documents from the same time frame that are “sufficient to show all of Your financial holdings.” They are also requesting his listed liabilities, plus his health records and prescription medication history.

  22. Michelle Obama says she and Barack were supposed to see Reiners the night they were killed

    “Let me just say this – unlike some people, Rob and Michele Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you’d ever want to know. They are not deranged or crazed,” she said. “What they have always been are passionate people in a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on.”

    https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/rob-michele-reiner-death-investigation-12-16-25-hnk?post-id=cmj89vx9s00003b6p0e5zzg8l

  23. Looks like CoS Susie Wiles is bailing out of the WH. She gave an interview to Vanity Fair that is one of the FU types, usually given to HR on the exit interview.

    This should be an interesting few weeks as we come to “time for a fresh start” as the first WH staff and cabinet decide to take time to be with family and let someone else be in the hot seat. So far the usual candidates for a time off are DOJ, HHS, DHS, FBI, and Commerce. A full house flush would be interesting.

  25. Did Mother Russia call Susie Wiles back home?

    Does she just want to distance herself before more war crimes are committed?

  27. https://www.vanityfair.com/
    Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff On Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)
    Throughout the first year of Donald Trump’s second administration, Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple has interviewed Wiles amid each moment of crisis. This insider’s account joins a portfolio of portraits for an unflinching, up-close look at power—and peril. [continues]

  28. Our guy Silas is great. The AI for redesigning my blog doesn’t speak human being. He keeps failing to scream “Don’t do that!” before I click on something that spirals me down into some new pit of despair and acquire a new headache.

    Here’s the new look. Still stuff to fix on it, but what do you think?

    https://jamies-place.blog/

  30. It’s the “Tuxedo Rule”: Manners are for the waiters, not the owner.

    No, it’s a nazi takeover

    sorry, not trying to be facile. It’s about an ultimatum to conform not about double standards.

    if we were trying to talk sense to MAGA people, I could understand the rationale, but that is a feudal exercise, good sir and that is yet another voice dictation mistake not to correct

    we are engaged in a feudal exercise

    Plus, a lot of Americans are just pure evil and want to ruin other people’s lives because they’re bored and unhappy, i see it all the time every day

    Live your best life just make sure nobody else knows you’re doing it

  31. I used to think I was unelectable, but maybe I will run in 2028 on the “you are all scum” platform

    Get those checkbooks ready!

    (it’s simply a rephrasing of a central tenet of Christianity. It’ll grow on you.)

  32. Legendary pro wrestler Mick Foley announced Tuesday he’s done with World Wrestling Entertainment for at least three years, citing the company’s close ties to Donald Trump and the president “incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death.”
    Foley told his 633,000 Instagram followers that he informed the WWE on Monday “that I would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office.”

    -except Mick Foley 🫡

    potential running mate

  34. “…she was right to tell Vanity Fair he has an “alcoholic’s personality”

    Some “dry drunks” have never picked up at all, but they still exhibit all the characteristics and traits. Go figure.

  37. i’ll save the one from my maraschino cherries

    we can put his id in an Utz Party Mix container

    capers jar should suffice for his ——

  38. Hegseth says he won’t release full boat strike video
    The Pentagon chief also sidestepped a request for the House and Senate to view the Sept. 2 “double-tap” attack.

    just post it on Signal then

    his handkerchief looks like a 4th of july cocktail napkin

    both inappropriate uses of the flag

  39. The Susie Wiles Tapes: Suicide or Strategy?

    I’ve been watching Washington for a long time, but I have never seen a Chief of Staff throw the boss under the bus like this while she’s still sitting in the big chair?!?!

    Susie Wiles didn’t just have a slip of the tongue; she sat down for 11 on-the-record interviews with Vanity Fair. And when she tried to deny telling the reporter that Elon Musk was on drugs, the writer simply played the audio tape for the New York Times. You can’t make this stuff up.

    She called the President an “alcoholic” personality (who doesn’t drink), mocked JD Vance as a “conspiracy theorist,” and torched the Attorney General. Why would the ultimate insider burn the house down from the inside?

    Here is my suspicious thought: She isn’t being careless; she’s being Floridian. I see this as Wiles fronting for her old pal Marco Rubio in the coming battle for 2028. She just knee-capped Vance—who comes off looking terrible in these interviews—to clear a lane for the home team. It’s the kind of chaos usually reserved for a memoir or a 60 Minutes interview after you get fired, not a strategy for Tuesday.

    NOTES;
    — The “Alcoholic” Quote: Wiles specifically said Trump has an “alcoholic’s personality” because he believes there is “nothing he can’t do,” even though he is a teetotaler.
    — Chris Whipple (the writer) played the recording of Wiles calling Musk an “avowed ketamine user” directly to the NYT after she called the claim “ridiculous.”
    — Wiles repeatedly contrasted Vance (“a political opportunist” ) with Rubio’s “genuine evolution” to the MAGA agenda.

  40. lol everyone hates JD

    The administrative Trump schemers apparently believe they can untangle unholy alliances made for political experience at will but nobody is that prescient or skilled

    I certainly don’t trust Susie Wiles to clean up the hell she created willingly

  42. Oh, lowered! Orange Adolf is babbling to the nation tomorrow night. I will find something else to do. The low-light reel will be plenty.

  43. Rubio, sad and pathetic, sold his soul to be part of Orange Adolf’s admin. Also, he’s involved in war crimes (illegal boat strikes).

    No need to show the entire video of the illegal boat strike, although I thought some government entity had it up very briefly, because Leaky Pete was quite proud of the oil tanker the US boarded without incident. Why blow up tiny boats when you can handle a much bigger job without ka-booms or pew-pews.

    Susie Wiles, Russian operative, first intend to have JD/Thiel at the helm. That would take Putin out of the picture.

  44. if you listened to the recent Pod Save episode (and you likely didn’t) about RFK Junior, you would understand that he is probably still angling for the presidency

    So hopefully they all eat each other

    and you know what? I see a path for it, especially considering Kamala thinks she has a path, which is absurd

    RFK could come into the left of MAGA but the right of mainstream Dems… it’s not a ridiculous thought in the country that elected Trump

  45. https://bylinetimes.com/2024/11/12/lobbyists-oligarchs-and-power-the-pro-putin-network-raising-fears-of-foreign-influence-in-trumps-team/

    Trump’s newly appointed Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, brings a complex political profile, with ties to Russian oligarchs and Chinese surveillance firms.

    Before joining Trump’s 2024 campaign, Wiles was a co-chair at a firm that lobbied for sanctioned individuals and companies. A lobbyist who recommended Wiles to lead US President-Elect Donald Trump’s campaign represented a Russian-born oligarch connected to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and a state-owned oil corporation Rosneft.

    Wiles’ ex-husband has ties to a Kremlin-linked lobbyist known for attending the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, where “dirt” on Clinton was offered on the Russian Government’s behalf. Wiles’ daughter failed the White House background check.

    Examining her lobbying work and personal connections reveals the scale and reach of foreign affiliations, raising concerns over potential foreign influence within Trump’s incoming administration.

  49. The WH factions of JD/Thiel v Stephen Mitler v the Heritage Foundation will fight more. The Susie Wiles stinkbomb (which she is now blaming on the magazine) will do its job.

    Apparently, the white-Heritage Foundation is also fractured. Which fragment is Vought/the administration in?

    They will eat their own & I will have popcorn.

  51. lol “drug terrorism”

    you can’t preempt theft charges after you’ve stolen something, dumbass

    President dumbass, excuse me

    by his own rationale we should cede the entire continent to indigenous Americans immediately

    sounds like he is foreshadowing an invasion of Panama (an on-record goal of the neonazineocons)

  53. Attached is Susie Wiles statement on the Vanity Fair article, and here is a summary of the statement by Elon Musk’s AI Grok:

    “Susie Wiles’ statement cannot accurately be labeled as a denial of the quotes attributed to her in the Vanity Fair article, as it does not dispute their authenticity, accuracy, or attribution in any way. Nothing in her statement explicitly denies any facts asserted in the article. Instead, it criticizes the article’s framing as disingenuous, highlights disregarded context (without specifics) and omitted positive statements (not provided), and pivots to praising the Trump administration’s accomplishments—implying the quotes may be accurate but selectively presented to create a negative narrative.”

  54. Susie fid what she wanted to do. She threw a stink-bomb. Putin definitely doesn’t want JD/Thiel in charge. If Susie can handle Rubio (and he seems to be a broken man), it’s better for Putin.

    What did Venezuela steal from the US? Adolf (or his assistant) is posting projections, again. Oil, land, and other assets. Venezuela has a very important mineral; it’s not just about the oil. There is video of tRUMP talking about Venezuela’s oil during Obama’s second term.

  56. Wiles is saying the same thing Dumbass is trying to say in his suit against the BBC, but with an articulateness Dumbass can’t begin to express. Can’t deny what they said-they said it- but whines that the context is missing. I love it when witnesses try to pull that shit.

  57. the irony to me as a BBC listener is that they are unduly entertaining of MAGA republicans and provide them an international platform to say the most partisan things the MAGA goons can think of (as if their perspective is representative of all of the US)

  58. It wasn’t what Hitler did to his own people, bad as that was, it was his wanton aggression against other sovereign nations that ultimately sealed his fate.

  59. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/12/14/chile-ultra-right-candidate-leads-in-chilean-presidential-polls/1271765741448/

    Chileans elect hard-right candidate Jose Antiono Kast as president

    Far right former congressman Jose Antonio Kast, 59, son of a Nazi party member, built his campaign on a promise to remove tens of thousands of undocumented migrants from the country.

    Kast is a known admirer of Chilean military strongman Augusto Pinochet, and a staunch opponent of abortion rights and same sex marriage.

    Kast, who fashioned his policies and campaign style after U.S. President Donald Trump, ran on corporate tax cuts, deregulation and deporting undocumented migrants.

  60. A K-shaped economy describes a divided economic recovery where high-income earners and certain sectors (like tech/finance) thrive and grow (the top of the “K”), while low-to-middle-income households and other industries (like hospitality/retail) struggle with stagnant wages, inflation, and job losses (the bottom of the “K”), creating a stark divergence in fortunes, as seen prominently after the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Key Characteristics
    Diverging Fortunes: The upper part of the “K” signifies rising wealth, strong investment returns, and increased spending by the wealthy, while the lower part shows financial strain, job insecurity, and reduced purchasing power for the rest.
    Sectoral Divide: Booming industries like technology (AI, video conferencing) represent the upward trend, while sectors like tourism, restaurants, and entertainment suffer, illustrating the “K” shape.
    Wealth vs. Income: The wealthy benefit from strong stock markets and asset growth, while lower earners are hit hard by inflation, high costs (housing, groceries), and are often living paycheck-to-paycheck.
    Drivers of Inequality: This pattern exacerbates wealth inequality, with higher earners’ spending power growing disproportionately, influencing overall economic growth, notes Morgan Stanley.
    Policy Challenges: It makes traditional stimulus difficult, as policies might help one part of the economy (e.g., tech) while ignoring or harming another (e.g., service workers).
    Examples in Action
    Post-COVID: The pandemic highlighted this, with remote-working professionals seeing stock portfolios rise while essential workers faced layoffs and health risks, say NBC4 Washington and CBS News.
    Consumer Behavior: Affluent shoppers buy luxury goods (like expensive tech accessories) while lower-income consumers rely more on buy-now-pay-later services for groceries, says Yahoo Finance and USA Today.

  61. i wish i had the time to dig for the post that predicted inflation would be a political liability for Dems in 2019

    oh well

    also warned about the K-economy before that term was coined

    not that anyone was listening

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