“All that matters is he has a piece of paper to sign that cuts taxes for him and his wealthy friends and donors…”

The real reason Republicans are rushing to pass the Trump megabill

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/senate-republicans-big-beautiful-bill-vote-rcna215558

And remember, the bill is massively unpopular, and it becomes even less popular the more voters learn about its provisions. Eight years ago, Republicans thought a tax cut bill would save them in the midterms; instead, that bill was so unpopular that they largely stopped talking about it before that campaign was even finished. Surely Republicans want to avoid reprising that disaster, so why not take a beat over the holiday, reassess and see whether there are other bills to give the president a legislative victory?

The answer is: There is no plan B. The megabill is not just the most important legislation of Trump’s first year; at this point, it is the only major legislation of Trump’s first year. If the bill is “big” and “beautiful,” that is by default. Republicans have to pass it because Trump wants them to pass something.

What that something looks like does not matter to the president, who has been consistently incurious as to the bill’s contents. Earlier this month, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Trump was surprised to learn the Senate bill would limit a tax on health care providers that states use to fund Medicaid — a provision that was a key source of savings. On Thursday, as my colleague Steve Benen noted, the president claimed: “Your Medicaid is left alone. It’s left the same.” In fact, the bill would kick millions off Medicaid. On Friday, he claimed — for the second time in two days — that the bill would eliminate taxes on Social Security. It would not.

But whether this bill would cut taxes on Social Security — or throw millions off their health care or batter rural hospitals — is ultimately immaterial to the president. All that matters is he has a piece of paper to sign that cuts taxes for him and his wealthy friends and donors. Trump has his wish, and in today’s Republican Party, everything else comes second to making his wish come true.

Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations

by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski
June 30, 2025, 5 a.m. EDT

In 2023, while Kristi Noem was governor of South Dakota, she supplemented her income by secretly accepting a cut of the money she raised for a nonprofit that promotes her political career, tax records show.

In what experts described as a highly unusual arrangement, the nonprofit routed funds to a personal company of Noem’s that had recently been established in Delaware. The payment totaled $80,000 that year, a significant boost to her roughly $130,000 government salary. Since the nonprofit is a so-called dark money group — one that’s not required to disclose the names of its donors — the original source of the money remains unknown.

Noem then failed to disclose the $80,000 payment to the public. After President Donald Trump selected Noem to be his secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, she had to release a detailed accounting of her assets and sources of income from 2023 on. She did not include the income from the dark money group on her disclosure form, which experts called a likely violation of federal ethics requirements.

Experts told ProPublica it was troubling that Noem was personally taking money that came from political donors. In a filing, the group, a nonprofit called American Resolve Policy Fund, described the $80,000 as a payment for fundraising. The organization said Noem had brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-political-donations-income-dark-money-dhs-ethics

 

Remember when Noem staged a visit to a prison in El Salvador where she posed in front of a cell jammed with prisoners while she was wearing a $60,000 Rolex watch?  Now we know how she could afford the watch.

President Donald Trump was brutally mocked over the weekend after he referred to Japan’s leader as “Mr. Japan.”

The president made the statement during an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo about tariffs. As his July 9 deadline for tariff deals approached, Trump said he would rather send a letter to countries instead of negotiating.

“But I’d rather just send them a letter, a very fair letter, saying, congratulations, whether it will allow you to trade in the United States of America,” Trump told Bartiromo. “You’re going to pay a 25% tariff, or 20% or 40% or 50%. I would rather do that.”

“We’ll send a letter and we’ll say we would consider it a great honor, and this is what you’ll have to do to shop in the United States,” he opined. “We’re like a department store to shop in the United States, and you’ll pay a 25% tariff, or we wish you a lot of luck, and that’s the end of the trade deal.”

“I could send one to Japan. Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story. You’re going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars.

‘Brain is peanut butter’: Trump mocked for calling Japanese leader ‘Mr. Japan’ – Raw Story https://share.google/xVJmpN2djtr3kj3VV

COMMENT:

Why is Trump sending letters to something like 40-50 countries, telling them what tariffs the US will impose on them?  I thought he was going to “from Day One” negotiate beautiful tariff deals” because, of course, he is the world’s greatest deal maker — which is why he declared bankruptcy seven times and went broke running a casino.

Time for the Blue donor states to stand up to this tyranny and time for the Red dependent states to get off the public dole.

 There is a movement going on where a number of blue states who subsidize the federal government are taking steps to withhold money from the feds if Trump illegally cuts off federal revenue.

Several states, predominantly led by Democrats, are exploring ways to withhold payments to the federal government as a countermeasure against potential federal funding freezes, particularly those attributed to the Trump administration. This approach is described as a novel and untested gambit.
States with such legislative proposals:

Connecticut: Has introduced legislation to withhold federal payments under certain circumstances.
Maryland: Similar to Connecticut, it’s considering measures to withhold federal payments.
New York: Has also introduced bills to withhold federal payments.
Wisconsin: Bills have been introduced, but their progress is uncertain due to the state’s Republican-controlled legislature.
Washington: Lawmakers are in the process of drafting similar legislation.
California: Governor Gavin Newsom has suggested the possibility of withholding federal taxes if federal funding is reduced.
I say, go for it. Stop paying for this tyranny of the minority.

Top Donor States:

California: Contributed $83 billion more than it received, according to a report from the Governor of California.
New York: Contributed $89 billion more than it received, according to USAFacts.
New Jersey: Contributed $70 billion more than it received, according to USAFacts.
Massachusetts: Contributed $9 billion more than it received, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Connecticut: Contributed $8 billion more than it received, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Colorado: Contributed $2 billion more than it received.
Minnesota: Contributed $725 million more than it received.
Delaware: While not in the top 10 by total contribution, USAFacts reports Delaware had the highest per capita net contribution at $10,505 in 2023.

Top States Who Are Sucking at the Public Tit:

Alaska, Kentucky, Vermont, West Virginia, , Arkansas, Louisiana, Arizona, South Dakota, and Mississippi, according to USAFacts.

Eight out of nine voted for Trump —   let’s see how they do without Blue State money!

 

There are four political stories people should know about tonight.

First, President Donald Trump’s tariff war and weaker consumer spending translated to a contraction of 0.5% in the U.S. economy in the first quarter, even more of a drop than the 0.2% economists expected. The economy Trump inherited from President Joe Biden led the world in productivity.

Second, John Hudson and Warren P. Strobel of the Washington Post reported today that intercepted communications showed that senior Iranian officials said the U.S. attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities caused less damage than they had expected and that they wondered why the strikes were so restrained.

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo also called out that at a press conference in the Netherlands last Wednesday, Trump said he had given Iran permission to bomb a U.S. air base in Qatar in retaliation for the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear weapons program sites. “They said, ‘We’re going to shoot them. Is one o’clock OK?’ I said it’s fine,” Trump said. “And everybody was emptied off the base so they couldn’t get hurt, except for the gunners.”

Marshall expressed astonishment that this admission has attracted very little attention. He suggested that, if it is true, it represents “the most shocking dereliction of duty one could imagine for the commander-in-chief,” and he wondered how Republicans would have reacted if a Democratic president had said he had let “a foreign adversary fire on an American military installation.”

Third, Jeff Stein of the Washington Post reported today that the Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill makes the biggest cut ever to programs for low-income Americans. Those cuts have made many Republicans skittish about supporting the measure.

After Trump attacked him yesterday for not supporting the budget reconciliation bill, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has announced he will not run for reelection next year, indicating his unwillingness to face a primary challenger backed by Trump. This puts the seat in play for a Democratic pickup.

In a statement, Tillis said: “In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species.” He wrote: “I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit and representing the great people of North Carolina to the best of my ability.”

Tonight, Tillis told the Senate: “What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding’s not there anymore, guys?… [T]he effect of this bill is to break a promise.”

Fourth, the Senate parliamentarian has told senators that several of the provisions added to the Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill violate the rules for budget reconciliation bills. Those provisions include the ones added to the bill to win the support of Republican senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Today, Trump pushed Republican senators to ignore the Senate parliamentarian, who judges whether proposed measures adhere to Senate rules. Trump posted on social media: “An unelected Senate Staffer (Parliamentarian), should not be allowed to hurt the Republicans Bill. Wants many fantastic things out. NO! DJT.”

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office today said the tax cuts in the budget reconciliation bill the Republican senators are trying to pass will increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next ten years despite the $1.2 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other programs over the same period. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) called the measure “Robin Hood in reverse…stealing from the poor in order to give to the rich, this massive transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top…. This is socialism for the rich.”

Last week was tough, and this week will be, too, because Trump will be braying like a donkey about forcing the Big Ugly Bill on the GOP and the American people. I will circle back to the events of last week later in this newsletter, but it is important to recognize that the Big Ugly Bill is the high-water mark of MAGA extremism.

The fact that congressional Republicans are backing a historically unpopular bill that breaks the most basic promises that GOP candidates made in 2024 is a sign of desperation. They understand this is their last chance ever to gut health and social benefits. If it costs them control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency, they are willing to swallow that bitter pill.

No need to believe me. According to those few Republicans willing to speak the truth about the bill, including Trump’s former “Best Friend Forever,” Elon Musk, the reconciliation bill is “an act of political suicide.” See Newsweek, Elon Musk calls Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill “political suicide”.

Musk’s posts are linked to recent polling by a leading Republican polling firm (The Tarrance Group) that found that the reconciliation bill was wildly unpopular with Republican voters.

Musk had other choice words for the bill, including “utterly insane and destructive.”

A Fox “News” poll (conducted a week ago) found that the bill is even more unpopular among all voters. See Fox News, Fox News poll spells bad news for Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”

Only 38 percent favored the bill, while 59 percent opposed it, a 21-point gap against the bill. About half of all voters believed the legislation would be detrimental to their families, and just a quarter thought it would deliver any benefit.

However, the bill has worsened since the Fox News poll. Over the weekend, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report estimating that the Senate version of the reconciliation bill will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit and result in 12 million people losing Medicaid coverage over the next decade. See Axios, Senate’s “big, beautiful bill” would add $3.3 trillion in new debt: CBO.

And, as a cascading effect of the Big Ugly Bill’s increase in deficits, another statute will force cuts to Medicare of approximately $500 billion. See House Committee on Budget / Democrats, House-Passed FY25 Reconciliation Bill Triggers $535 Billion in Medicare Cuts.

Trump has muscled the bill through the Senate by threatening to mount primary challenges against any Senator who voted against the bill. On Sunday, GOP Senator Thom Tillis voted against a procedural motion to advance the bill. Trump posted on social media that he would find a primary challenger against Senator Tillis, who immediately announced that he would not run for reelection in 2026—and then took the Senate floor to speak the truth about the damage that will be caused by the bill. See Bloomberg, Trump Tax Bill Advances in Senate as GOP Scrounges for Votes.

Per Bloomberg,

Trump, who had been monitoring the Senate action this weekend from the Oval Office, swiftly threatened to find a GOP challenger to North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, one of the two Republicans to oppose opening debate on the bill. Rand Paul of Kentucky also voted against the motion.

The moment Senator Tillis was free of Trump (by announcing his retirement), Tillis took the Senate floor to acknowledge that the bill breaks Trump’s promise not to reduce Medicaid. See The Hill, Tillis: Senate bill breaks Trump’s promise on Medicaid.

Senator Tillis said,

What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding’s not there anymore, guys? I think the people in the White House… advising the president are not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise,

Now Republicans are about to make a mistake on health care and betraying a promise, It is inescapable that this bill in its current form will betray the very promise that Donald J. Trump made in the Oval Office or in the cabinet room, when I was there with finance, where he said, we can go after waste, fraud, and abuse on any programs.

I am telling the president that you have been misinformed. You supporting the Senate [bill] will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.

Notwithstanding the opposition of Senators Tillis and Rand Paul, the bill will pass because Senator Susan Collins has once again allowed herself to be bullied by Donald Trump. She is a coward who has betrayed the people of Maine on too many occasions to count.

So, too, with Senator Josh Hawley, who went through the preening motions of opposing the bill, only to back Trump as he always does. It’s another “fist pump” to the insurrectionists on January 6, except this time MAGA extremists are coming for grandma and grandpa’s healthcare and retirement.

Democrats will take Senator Tillis’s seat—because his Trump-endorsed replacement must publicly state that they would have voted for the Big Ugly Bill. And Susan Collins’ political future is over. She currently has a favorable rating of 14% and an unfavorable rating of 57% in Maine. See Teagan Goddard’s Political Wire (6/27/25), Maine Voters Don’t Like Susan Collins.

With Tillis gone and Collins historically unpopular, Democrats have a shot at flipping the Senate. I know, I know—every political pundit and rating book says Republicans have the advantage in the Senate in 2026 because their spreadsheets and backward-looking models can’t model an election following passage of the Big Ugly Bill.

Indeed, the prognosticators are part of the problem because they engender “learned helplessness.” They tell us that history determines our fate. Not true! We are not electrons forming pixels on a spreadsheet. We are American citizens with the power to decide our future.

Below is a list of the Republican seats up for election in 2026. We need to flip five seats to be confident of a one-seat majority (and creating a cushion for vulnerable Democrats in red states).

• Thom Tillis (not seeking reelection)
• Susan Collins (Maine) (Same favorability ratings as disgraced Rep. George Santos before his resignation from House.)
• Joni Ernst (Iowa) (Public Policy Polling (6/4/25), Joni Ernst Unpopular, May Face Tough Reelection.)
• Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) (Newsweek (6/5/25), Lindsey Graham Gets Bad Polling News Ahead of Reelection Campaign)
• John Cornyn (Texas) (Houston Public Media, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn rebukes report that he’s considering dropping out of 2026 race.)
• Roger Marshall (Kansas) (Was roundly booed and jeered at during his only town-hall meeting; he blamed “outside agitators” because the truth hurts.)
• Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) (Will likely face a GOP primary because he voted to convict Trump in the second impeachment; Cassidy was censured by Louisiana GOP.)
• Tommy Tuberville (Alabama) (Retiring to run for governor.)
• Ashley Moody (Florida) (Special election to replace Marco Rubio)
• Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) (Retiring)
• Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia)
• Tom Cotton (Arkansas)
• Steve Daines (Montana)
• Bill Hagerty (Tennessee)
• Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi)
• Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming)
• Dan Sullivan (Alaska)
• Jim Risch (Idaho)
• Pete Ricketts (Nebraska) (Replaced Ben Sasse; now seeking full term.)
• John Husted (Ohio) (Seeking full term to replace JD Vance)
• Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma)
• Mike Rounds (South Dakota)

Frankly, I wouldn’t take anyone off the list as being vulnerable. The massive cuts in the Big Ugly Bill will become the default target of blame for every denial of Medicaid, Medicare, Affordable Care Act coverage, and lost job, illness, or injury due to the war on green energy, cuts to FEMA, NOAA, NIH, FDA, and more.

None of the above will take the sting out of the reconciliation bill if it passes. (There is still time to call your Senators and Representatives! Use 5 Calls!) The bill will cause suffering, financial hardship, food insecurity, and lack of access to medical care for tens of millions of Americans. And our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay for the tax savings of billionaires and millionaires in the short term.

A looming deadline to make trade deals doesn’t necessarily matter, President Trump said Sunday, because the U.S. will simply send letters to hundreds of countries assigning tariff rates.

Why it matters: The pause on Trump’s sweeping global tariffs expires in about 10 days, with one deal and one temporary truce in hand, and the rest of the world in varying states of limbo.

What they’re saying: “We made deals, but I’d rather just send them a letter, a very fair letter, saying ‘congratulations, we’re going to allow you to trade in the United States of America, you’re going to pay a 25% tariff, or 20%, or 40 or 50%.’ I would rather do that,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Asked about extending the pause, Trump said “I don’t think I’ll need to. I could, there’s no big deal.”

• “What I wanted to do is, and what I will do just — sometime prior to the 9th — is we’ll send a letter to all these countries,” he added.

How it works: “I’m going to send letters. That’s the end of the trade deal,” Trump said, giving U.S. ally Japan as an example.

• “Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story. You’re going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars,” he said.
• Trump said letters would go out “pretty soon” and that “we don’t have to meet. We understand, we have all the numbers.”

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/06/29/trump-tariffs-pause

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But I thought there were already “200 deals”? 

 

Good grief!!!  This woman is an idiot in every sense of the word.