Weekend!!! First, Katie Phang.
Second. I've been in a Bruce Springsteen mood lately. My oldest brother played Bruce all the time when I was growing up -- "Growing Up"! a Bruce song -- as did my father. My daughter just started guitar lessons and her teacher is named Kyle Williams. And that always sounds one way in my head. Couldn't figure out why until I realized it was a melody and from Bruce's "Reason To Believe."
Take a baby to the river, Kyle William they called him
Wash the baby in the water, take away little Kyle's sin
In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away
Take his body to the graveyard, over him they pray
Lord won't you tell us, tell us what does it mean
At the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe
That's one of the few live versions of the song I like. I hate the versions he's done for about the last 15 years where he tries to morph into some hard rocking, sixties garage rock band like it's "Shout" or something. I hate that. The melody really matters on that son and when the band overwhelms it, the song suffers.
That's from NEBRASKA (and the studio version is great) and I guess it's my favorite of Bruce's albums. I love all the tracks on the album especially "Used Cars," "Mansion On The Hill" and "My Father's House" which is probably one of his best vocals ever. Another favorite is "Atlantic City."
Now I've been looking for a job but it's hard to find
Down here it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well I'm tired of coming out on this losing end
So honey last night I met this guy and I'm gonna do a little favor for him
I've always loved that song. But the "winners and losers" line is perfect for this post.
What did you and your sycophants think this was? A People's Choice Award?
Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"
It has long been President Trump’s impulse to tar his enemies with the same accusations they have lobbed at him.
And his Justice Department’s criminal case against the New York attorney general, Letitia James, carries echoes of the civil fraud case she brought against him — albeit at a scale so small that most federal prosecutors would never deign to pursue it.
The indictment, less than a month after Mr. Trump publicly exhorted the Justice Department to pursue Ms. James, accuses her of violating a mortgage agreement on a Virginia house she purchased in 2020 by using it as a rental property.
The case is a fresh reminder of how the president has taken the Justice Department in hand and directed its prosecutorial powers toward his adversaries. Ms. James is the second of his enemies to be indicted in the past two weeks after he insisted that a case be pursued. Just five days before the charges against Ms. James were handed up, he called her “corrupt” and “scum” on his social media platform and said she should be removed from the New York attorney general’s office.
President Donald Trump’s scolding command on Truth Social for Pam Bondi to prosecute James Comey and other political targets was supposed to be a DM, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
Trump, who has been accused of having dementia by a few prominent Democrats recently, thought he had sent Bondi the message privately last month and expressed surprise that it was public, according to the unnamed officials. A distressed Bondi called White House aides and Trump, prompting the president to follow up with an entry of glowing praise about Bondi.
Many had already suspected the Sept. 20 note was supposed to be a 1-on-1 correspondence, given its personal nature:
“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, “same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT”
Comey, the former FBI director, was indicted days later and pleaded innocent Wednesday to making false statements and obstruction in what is viewed by many to be a flimsy case.
Now on James Comey, I'm still confused. Not about the lies that the government is claiming. But about the grand jury. If I argue a case before a grand jury, I'm practicing law.
On Comey, Chump's newly installed Lindsey Halligan argued in front of the grand jury. And they weren't in Florida. She was just named to the post and immediately is arguing it before the grand jury. My understanding is she's only licensed to practice in Florida.
Now some might argue her even acting as a supervisor without the actual ability to prosecute was problematic. And that's fine. But the issue I'm raising is simple: Can she practice in Virginia? It's a yes or a no. Maybe it's yes. Maybe what takes weeks was somehow able to be done in days or maybe she thought, all those years in Florida, "I might (mis)practice law someday in Virginia so let me make sure I'm licensed to practice there too!" But if she's not licensed to practice in the state of Virginia -- if -- I would think Patrick Fitzgerald would move for charges to be dropped on that alone.
Edith Olmstead (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:
New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted Thursday for alleged mortgage fraud, following President Donald Trump’s months-long campaign to remove his outspoken critic from office.
Let's do a story -- and I'm rushing this morning so my apologies to my friend taking my dictation and to anyone who struggles to follow the leaps as I rush through this -- Jane Fonda got arrested at an airport coming back into the United States from Canada while Tricky Dick was president
She was carrying vitamins. They tried to say it was drugs. She was held for hours and hours and she was having her period and they would not let her go to the restroom because they did not have a female police officer. Again, hours and hours. Jane was then accused of kicking the police officer. If she did, good for her. You try being on your period and waiting forever because some asshole won't call in to get a female police officer to show up at the airport so you can go to the bathroom.
But the thing about the Chumps is they're idiots. And worse, they are greedy idiots.
Jane was actually detained because she was on Nixon's enemies list. It was an actual list. Her mail was to be opened, she was to be harassed when going through customs, her calls were to be tapped, etc, etc. Supposedly, the only agency that refused to follow upon Nixon's illegal requests was the IRS.
The case against Jane was dropped. Nixon was a crook but he wasn't greed driven the way Chump is.
Or the way the police officer was. He wasn't on duty at the time, he was moonlighting as a security officer at the airport. And he was kicked!!! Kicked!!!
And he was greedy.
So he decided to profit from the incident. He sued.
That was wonderful because it meant that discovery would expose the list -- that Jane and her attorney Mark Lane felt existed (they were right but I'm not using "knew" here because they suspected it, no one outside Nixon's circle knew it existed).
Rather than reveal the existence of the enemies list in court proceedings (from the civil case the greedy officer brought), Nixon had the entire matter dropped. Because it's illegal.
And Chump doesn't care that it's illegal. He's quite open about the people he's targeting. Stupid and greedy.
And that further erodes trust Americans might have otherwise had in him.
KFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year
ICYMI: Wall Street Journal – White House Senses Political Risk on Healthcare Despite Shutdown Bravado; Murray takes case directly to Idahoans as new signs indicate Republicans are feeling the heat over their refusal to take action to prevent people’s costs from spiking
Typical 60-year old couple in Idaho making $85,000 will face a $17,900 spike in annual premiums
Open enrollment in Idaho begins October 15th; More than 100,000 Idahoans rely on ACA tax credits
***WATCH press conference HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, on the ninth day of the Republican shutdown, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference with Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow and Idahoans who rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to afford health care: Bob McMichael, an author and retired teacher from Council, ID, and Susan Wood, a retiree from Boise.
Right now, Democrats are fighting to save the ACA tax credits, which expire at the end of the year. Without them, 22 million Americans—mostly in red states—will see their health care costs skyrocket. Premiums will more than double, on average, for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade. In Idaho, over 100,000 people rely on the ACA tax credits—and without them, the average increase in annual premiums is expected to be at least $975. If the ACA tax credits aren’t extended, a typical 60-year-old couple making $85,000 in Idaho will face a whopping $17,900 increase in their annual premium costs next year and 25,000 Idahoans are likely to forgo health insurance altogether.
More than 3 in 4 people who get their health care through the ACA marketplaces—18.7 million out of 24.3 million—live in states President Trump won in 2024. The vast majority of Americans want Congress to renew the ACA tax credits, according to recent polling from KFF—including six in ten Republicans and a majority of Republicans who identify as MAGA. At the press conference, Senator Murray made her case directly to Idahoans, explaining how inaction by their Republican members of Congress will force their health care premiums to explode next year. She implored Republican leaders to come to the table as new signs indicate that Republicans are feeling the heat on their deeply unpopular position. In recent days, reporting has indicated that the White House is privately fretting about the issue, and President Trump signaled openness to cutting a deal.
“Across the country, premiums are going to more than double for millions of families, unless Congress saves the tax credits that help people afford insurance on the ACA exchanges. In Idaho, that means pretty much everyone who buys health insurance through the Your Health Idaho online marketplace is about to see a huge spike in their health care costs. But Republicans don’t want to talk about it. And they have refused to do anything about it. In fact, Republicans have chosen to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats on a solution to stop this from happening. So here’s my feeling on this: if Republicans don’t want to level with their own constituents about what is at stake, I am happy to do it,” said Senator Murray. “If the tax credits expire, an estimated 25,000 people in Idaho will be forced off their health coverage because they won’t be able to afford it anymore. We are talking about families with kids. We are talking about seniors, retirees who aren’t old enough for Medicare but desperately need health coverage. We are talking about countless farmers, small business owners, and freelancers. If Republicans continue refusing to act, then next week, families across Idaho are going to come face to face with premiums they simply cannot afford.”
Senator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don’t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation—the Health Care Affordability Act and theProtecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act—that would make them permanent.
“I am overwhelmed with calls every day, from Idahoans who are worried about their health care and frustrated by what they see coming out of Washington. Farmers in the Magic Valley, teachers in Sandpoint, small business owners in Boise. Their stories are remarkably similar. They are worried. They are frustrated. And more than anything, they are asking, “Why are the people we send to Washington making our lives harder? In less than a week, Idaho’s health insurance exchange opens for enrollment. But instead of certainty, families are facing the threat of skyrocketing premiums. That is because Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have shut down the government rather than working with Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits,” said Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow. “We are all hearing stories from Idahoans across the state. Parents who have delayed surgeries. Retirees who are counting pills to stretch their prescriptions. Young couples trying to decide whether they can even afford to start a family. And what is often overlooked is that more than one in four Idaho farmers and ranchers buy their health care through the ACA marketplace. They do not have employer plans. They depend on these credits to protect their families and keep their operations running. Times are already tough for farmers due to Trump tariffs, and they don’t need any more challenges as they try to put food on their tables and ours… Making these tax credits permanent would cost less than one-tenth of the price tag of the billionaire tax cut they passed earlier this year. Less than a tenth. If Congress can afford to hand out massive tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, it can certainly afford to help working families keep their health insurance.”
“So my wife and I are both retired… We are kind of not at all unique in that we are finally though one of those couples who are senior citizens on a fixed income. I never, ever thought I would say that, but that’s a fact for us now. Our annual income is about $42,000, that’s some pensions, and my wife elected to take Social Security early. With the Social Security that she elected to take, and at age 62 that put us over the threshold to receive Medicaid for our health care. And so we, last year, chose a health plan on the exchange under the Affordable Care Act and qualified for the tax credits. And our tax credit was about $1,865 and our health plan this year, the premium was $1,916, so that left us to have to pay $51 a month for our coverage,” said Bob McMichael, an author and retired teacher from Council, Idaho. “But last week, I received a letter from the healthcare plan informing us that in January 2026 our health plan premium would increase by $367 to $2,232. So, if the tax credit stayed the same our monthly premium would have gone from $51 to $367 and that is almost unaffordable for us. It’s going to really hurt. That’s assuming the tax credits don’t get taken away. If the tax credits do get taken away, the annual cost of the plan that we are on will be almost $27,000. So even if they keep the tax credits and they somehow get put back in, our increase in our premium is going to be almost 800% per month. 800% that’s eight times. And so, a lot of the reporting that I’ve seen saying that might double just seems confusing to me. So, I’m not an expert by any means, but it seems crazy that our congress people who are supposed to represent their constituents in Idaho, are completely tone deaf and ignoring this. Basically, our option is even if they reinstate the tax credits, or if they if they are still on the table for us in 2026, it’s going to be hard. But if they don’t reinstate them, then we simply won’t be able to afford any health care at all.”
“My premium is set to go up by 173% next year. While that’s a significant difference for someone at my retirement income level, for someone under age 65 who makes $65,000 or more, whether retired or self-employed, my same plan would be over $700 month, or an almost a 900% increase,” said Susan Wood, a Boise resident since 1992 who retired in July. “No one can afford a 900% increase on any one item, let alone the exponentially rising costs of groceries, rent, homeowner’s insurance, auto insurance, and it just goes on. And, here is the snowball effect: the healthy risk pool will elect to drop coverage, the insurance companies are left with a pool of individuals who have ongoing medical conditions, claims go up, premiums go up, insurance companies drop out of the market, and those who are healthy and dropped coverage risk a health crisis with no coverage. This is an impossible situation that needs to be fixed for the long term.”
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