Happy Government Shutdown

[PAL]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/karoline- ... ing-stunt/

[Rideback]

Tom Friedman: "We aren't divided. We are being divided by for-profit corporations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1TQ0DrY-pI

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Of the many ironies of this shutdown is that it is now coming into focus that the party who promised to end the ACA and replace it with 'something better' for over a decade, whose Conservative John Roberts' SCOTUS sawed off the 3rd leg of the ACA which led to govt subsidies being necessary and which are now the line the Dems are fighting for - to preserve the subsidies so that everyone's health insurance premiums won't go through the roof - is that polls out today are showing movement even among MAGAs to reinstate the subsidies and blame Trump and the Reps for the shutdown.

Aides within the WH have woken up to the realization that if the American public get health insurance bills that go thru the roof in January, it will destroy their chances of holding Congress come Nov '26. Of course this is a self inflicted wound, the Reps have a -0- record of implementing a replacement for the ACA despite years of promises.

And a reminder what the Trump Admin has been busy with instead:

"‘In the spring, the Trump administration abruptly cut $500 million in deliveries from a program that sends U.S.-produced meat, dairy, eggs and produce to food banks and other organizations across the country — about a quarter of the funding the program received in 2024. The items that were delivered through The Emergency Food Assistance Program were some of the healthiest, most expensive items that organizations distribute.
The cancellation of these deliveries comes at a critical time for food banks. Food insecurity is higher than at any time since the aftermath of the Great Recession, according to federal data, and many food banks are reporting higher need than they saw at the peak of the pandemic. Demand is only expected to increase; this summer, President Donald Trump signed into law the largest cut to food stamps in the program’s history.
ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture of each planned delivery in 2025, detailing the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached hungry people because of the administration’s cut.
The cancellations began in mid-May, when over 100 orders of 2% milk bound for 31 states were halted.
The records show 4,304 canceled deliveries between May and September across the 50 states, Puerto Rico and D.C. (Experience this as an interactive story on ProPublica’s website.)
All told, the deliveries accounted for nearly 94 million pounds of food. The true loss is likely greater, food banks said, because not all of the year’s deliveries had been scheduled.
Most food banks rely on a combination of federal or state dollars, private giving and partnerships with businesses that donate leftover food. While the cancellations were disruptive to all food banks, according to their representatives, those that receive state funding or have strong community support said that they have weathered the cuts better than others.
The Food Bank of Central Louisiana, where Cornwell and Green’s groceries come from, gets more than half of its food from the federal government and receives very little state support. It serves rural areas of Louisiana, which has the highest poverty rate in the nation, according to U.S. census data.
The Trump administration canceled 10 orders for the food bank totaling over $400,000 of pork, chicken, cheese, dried cranberries, dried plums, milk and eggs, records show. The food bank has struggled to keep up with demand following the cuts and a decrease in private donations. Staff told ProPublica they used to distribute 25-pound packages of food, but over the summer, some packages shrank to about half of that weight.’
https://projects.propublica.org/trump-food-cuts/

[mister_coffee]

That happens (people calling in sick and not coming to work) the longer the shutdowns go on.

Another interesting rhetorical question: what would happen if the government just shut down permanently? From a practical standpoint a government that can't pay its military is a government that can't invade Canada or Greenland. Or for that matter Chicago or Portland.

And it is a safe bet that the masked out-of-uniform ICE goons won't be out harassing people if they aren't getting paid.

[PAL]

And I wonder what would happen if TSA employees did not show up for work because they are supposed to work anyway, even if not being paid. Hmm, guess there would be alot of chaos at the airports and replacements could not be hired and trained fast enough before real damage would occur.

[mister_coffee]

I’m wondering what would happen if Ferguson stopped payment on federal withholding taxes from state employees and used that money to pay critical federal employees (e.g. air traffic controllers) who have to work without pay during the shutdown.

[Rideback]

Forest Service furlough plans
https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/p ... irect=true

[mister_coffee]

I’m seeing a very interesting strategic opportunity for the net donor blue states that are being targeted with unlawful program cancellations during this shutdown.

The ugly fact is that if our state government took advantage of those opportunities the best situation for us might be if the shutdown continued indefinitely.

Well, at least in a net donor blue state like Washington. It’s gonna suck if you live in Idaho .

[just-jim]

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Governor Newsom continues trolling FELON donnie….
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[Rideback]

https://bsky.app/profile/robertscotthor ... 5wug33d22n

Steve Rattner:
Dems are fighting to preserve an Obamacare/ACA tax credit. Without the tax credit a 55 year old couple making $85,000 a year would see their premiums more than triple to $24,335.

The link has more information.

[Rideback]

For a Party that controls both Houses as well as the Presidency this is pretty hard to accomplish
Jim Wright: 'When Trump said he was going to run America like one of his businesses, MAGAs should have asked: WHICH business? Because looking around at a government shutdown this morning, it's starting to look like one of his failed casinos.
Anyway, happy government shutdown day to you. If you need the president, he'll be on the golf course.'