Monday, October 27, 2025. Chump's government shutdown continues, foodbanks running out of food, polling reflects America's disapproval of Chump, look at the anti Kamal voice now showing up at THE NEW REPUBLIC to type a 'think piece' that required no real thought, and much more.
Let's start with some good news regarding redistricting via MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.
Ben covers the ongoing Chump shutdown and the foodbanks. We'll also note Eileen Sullivan and Drew Atkins (NEW YORK TIMES):
When Jill Hornick woke up on Monday morning, her first thought was that her timecard would be submitted that day for her job with the Social Security Administration in Chicago. But this Monday was different. The federal government was locked in a shutdown, and she received a paycheck for $0.
“This is the only income I have,” she said. “And I just started crying. I had a meltdown.”
Ms. Hornick, 59, is one of 730,000 federal employees working without pay because of the impasse. Another 670,000 federal workers are furloughed without pay, according to data from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
As the shutdown stretches toward its fifth week, those government employees are confronting an increasingly acute and stressful scenario. Their bills are mounting, and there is no clear resolution in sight.
Some are turning to side hustles like delivering food, walking dogs and selling personal items to bring in a bit of income. Others are relying on food banks that have been hastily organized to provide federal workers and contractors with free groceries — efforts that community service providers say reflect a broadening food insecurity caused by the shutdown.
At the end of last week, Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following:
NEW FROM AP: 6 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about their health costs going up in the next year
NEW FROM SEATTLE TIMES: WA residents shopping for health insurance hit with sticker shock
NEW FROM TRI-CITY HERALD: Health insurance could double for thousands in Tri-Cities and Eastern WA
***WATCH press conference HERE, download HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, on the 23rd 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 Ingrid Ulrey, CEO of the Washington State Health Benefit Exchange, and Nanette Smith, a retiree from Tumwater who uses the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Exchange to get her health insurance.
At the press conference, Senator Murray explained how inaction by Republican members of Congress will force Washingtonians to pay significantly more for health care. On Tuesday, Washington state’s ACA marketplace, Washington Healthplanfinder, opened to allow Washingtonians to window shop for health care coverage, and multiple reports have already found that people in Washington state are seeing their premiums dramatically increase as they begin shopping for plans. The over 220,000 Washingtonians who buy health insurance through the marketplace and rely on the ACA tax credits to afford health care will see an average increase of 21% in their health care premiums thanks to Republicans’ refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits. This drastic cost increase will push an estimated 80,000 Washingtonians off their health coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA tax credits is HERE.
Right now, Democrats are fighting to save the ACA tax credits, which expire at the end of the year. Without them, 22 million Americans 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 4.8 million people off their health coverage over the next decade.
Senator Murray implored Republican leaders to come to the negotiating table as new signs indicate that Republicans are feeling the heat for ignoring the health care crisis and allowing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits to expire at the end of the year. Reporting has uncovered that the White House is privately fretting about the issue, and President Trump signaled openness to cutting a deal. Meanwhile, some House Republicans have called out Republican leadership for causing the shutdown and failing to have a solution or plan to prevent people’s premiums from exploding.
“Right now, window shopping is underway in Washington state and other states across the country. That means people are logging in, looking for a health plan for next year, and coming face-to-face with some eye-popping price hikes. We are talking about people learning their premiums will double, triple, and in some cases, quadruple. I’ve heard from parents and small business owners who were told their monthly payment would increase by a thousand dollars or more per month,” said Senator Murray. “Why is this happening? Simply put: Republicans have refused to stop it. Democrats have been calling all year for action on this. We tried to pass an extension while Republicans were shoveling tax breaks at billionaires when they passed their Big Ugly Bill, but they voted it down three times, and Republican leaders have refused to talk about this with us… The most important thing families can do right now is speak up. Let’s be clear, Republicans are sticking their heads as deep in the sand as they can manage. And they would literally rather shut down the government than talk about this!”
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.
“Since 2021 the Enhanced ACA tax credits have been a lifeline for our customers, enabling them to keep up with rising premiums and stay covered. This year, as mentioned, we have approximately 220,000 Washingtonians who are benefiting from these ACA tax credits. And without them, our actuaries have predicted that up to 80,000 of our customers may experience price hikes so high that they will make a very difficult decision to just drop coverage. So right now the folks and in our market who we are most concerned about include those who are our middle income customers, who are approximately, you know, a modest annual salary of $62,000 or more per individual, or $85,000 or more for a couple who will no longer receive any level of tax credit or support if Congress doesn’t take action, and they will be the most affected,” said Ingrid Ulrey, CEO of the Washington State Health Benefit Exchange. “These customers who are most affected and are feeling it the most include many small business owners, gig workers, and individuals who are self-employed, as well as older adults who are 50 plus but not yet on Medicare. We predict that many of these customers will experience increases of up to $5,000 per year, and for some even the doubling and tripling that Senator Murray that you called out, and it’s at that level that becomes the breaking point when people think about, I have my mortgage, I have my groceries, I have all my essential expenses, and feel that they just can’t hang on… So if and when Congress can come to an agreement to extend the tax credits, the Exchange stands ready to pass on this relief to our customers. While this is not going to be as easy as flipping a switch, we will work with our partners, including the office of the insurance commissioner and our carriers, to make the necessary changes in our system as soon as possible. The sooner that Congress acts, the sooner that Washingtonians will benefit.”
“I was shocked when I got an email on Tuesday this week about my premiums and how it would increase. My husband and I are retired. He’s already on Medicare, but I’m only 64 so I’ve got another year ago. And the estimate for our premiums was going to include a $400 a month increase, that’s close to $5,000 a year. On a fixed income that is really, really going to hurt us. That’s going to cut into our already very, very, very tight budget. One of the points I want to make is that this is not political. This is not about Republicans and Democrats. This is about a moral issue. This is about taking care of American citizens. You know, I pay my taxes, I pay my premiums, and I do all the things that responsible citizens do. And this is a moral issue. This really crosses party lines,” said Nanette Smith, a retiree from Tumwater who uses the ACA Exchange to get her health insurance. “This is a really tight time of year coming up anyway. I just am in recovery from a pretty significant back surgery. So I have ongoing medical bills that I’m still dealing with. My husband has issues coming up that he’s going to have to deal with in medical things. And so these are things we tried to plan ahead for, trying to think ahead for, but we just could not imagine a $400 a month additional hit to our income. Gas prices are high, groceries are high, utilities are going to be even higher going into the winter. So, you know, we try to be responsible. We try to be frugal. We don’t go out to dinner, frankly. We don’t buy new things. We have older vehicles. And this is really something that is going to hit us pretty hard. And not just us, but many, many, many other people. I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never spoken out publicly before, but I really just felt like not only for me, but for anyone else in this situation, it’s just very important to tell my story and hopefully, maybe the politicians across the aisle will be able to work things out and do what’s right for the American people.”
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered on today’s press call, are below:
“Thank you all for joining me. We are just a week away from Open Enrollment kicking off nationwide. And as of this week, window shopping is now underway in Washington state. And people across our state, and the country, are talking about the massive premium hikes they are seeing when they log in.
“Well, everyone except Republicans in Congress, who are trying to duck their heads in the sand. And in the case of House Republicans, who have literally been on vacation for over a month.
“Republicans are still refusing to even talk about, let alone address, the fact that premiums are about to double for millions of families if they do not work with us to save the ACA enhanced tax credits.
“There are hundreds of thousands of families across Washington state who rely on the ACA tax credits to afford their health plan. Over 220,000, to be exact.
“And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Literally just one percent of how many people this will hit nationwide. There are over 22 million people who rely on these tax credits that Republicans are refusing to save. Nearly 5 million of them will end up uninsured if we don’t do something.
“In other words, we are a week away from a complete health care disaster. But today, right now, we already have a clear view of the train that is coming down the tracks. And people are panicking.
“Because right now, window shopping is underway in Washington state and other states across the country.
“That means that people are logging in, looking for a health plan for next year, and coming face-to-face with some eye-popping price hikes. We are talking about people learning that their premiums will double, triple, and in some cases, quadruple.
“I’ve heard from parents and small business owners who were told their monthly payment would increase by a thousand dollars or more a month. And I know there are lots of families just now tuning into this issue, as they get ready to shop for health care plans for next year.
“So here’s a quick rundown for everyone who is wondering: what exactly is it Republicans are so determined to avoid talking about? Why is my premium going through the roof?
“What is happening? Window shopping for health care plans has already started in Washington state and across the country in many places. Families are logging on to the health care exchange to see massive price hikes. Monthly premiums doubling, and tripling, and worse.
“Why is this happening? Simply put: Republicans have refused to stop it. Democrats have been calling all year for action on this. We tried to pass an extension while Republicans were shoveling tax breaks at billionaires when they passed their Big Ugly Bill, but they voted it down three times, and Republican leaders have refused to talk about this with us.
“Where can you learn more? Families in Washington state can go to WAhealthpathfinder.org to see what their health plan options will cost for 2026.
“What can you do about this? The most important thing families can do right now is speak up. Let’s be clear, Republicans are sticking their heads as deep in the sand as they can manage. And they would literally rather shut down the government than talk about this!
“We have to make sure we are so loud they cannot ignore us, no matter how hard they try.
“And that’s exactly why I am holding calls like this, and lifting up stories on the ground about the massive price hikes families are facing. I’m going to try to use my megaphone to amplify the stories Republicans are so determined to ignore.
“From the stories here in Washington, and even the stories of some of our Republican neighbors that they are trying to ignore in their own states.
“And now is a critical moment to make sure those voices are echoing loud and clear. Because as I said, window shopping is open, and even more families are seeing what this means for them, and speaking out, demanding action.”
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New topic . . .
Oh look in the I-Pose-As-A-Democrat-And-Would-Play-One-On-TV-But-No-One-Will-Put-Me-On-TV category, we have Liza Featherstone, child-bride of professional scorn Doug Henwood. But for some reason, she's being allowed to drop her garbage off at THE NEW REPUBLIC (where she's a 'contributing editor') instead of JACOBIN, THE NATION and IN THESE TIMES -- the usual landfills she pollutes. She wants to write about . . . anything that will get her a pay check. So she decides to write bout "cancel cutlure" but can't even manage that.
She thinks something different is happening right now with Chump in the Oval Office. It's a wider scaled but it's not all that different from the days of Bully Boy Bush. Has she forgotten, among others, Peter Arnett, Ward Churchill, Natalie Maines and her Chicks, Bill Maher, Dan Rather and all the others axed during Bully Boy Bush's two terms?
She wants to line cancel culture up as something from Barack Obama's second term. Huh? Again, she's just in for the money. She's not trying to explore a topic or inform.
She's doing her usual garbage of pretending to defend the left while she attacks it. It's understandable, she says, people recoiling from the left's cancel culture -- without ever defining it or providing examples.
There's been no cancel culture in the time she's referring to.
It's a nice excuse for a lot of male comedians who can't adapt to changing times. They're like Sid Caeser in the 80s whining about eople not finding him funny. All you had to do was make an effort to come into the decade and you were fine.
Doubt it? Racism was preached and taught on FAMILY GUY. No one remembers that now?
Brian was a racist dog and Scth MacFarlane thought that was hysterical. Brian made racist comments non-stop, in the SNL episode he barked and growled at anyone Black, etc, etc. Seth sensed the changing times and Brian's now the completely different.
And no one's called for a protest of Seth.
But a lot of bad comics from the 90s found out that kids that didn't watch SNL or SEINFELD in the 90s don't feel llike they owe you s**t and they don't. Michael Richards thought it was funny to yell the "N" word? In the 90s, the fan base might have allowed it. But by the time he did it, we all knew better. And was their anything more ridiculous than watching Jerry Seinfeld on TV trying to mitigate it so that his syndication millions were safe? Jerry's one of the worst when it comes to whining about cancel culture.
The only real victim of cancel cutlure was Roseanne Barr. Jerry defended her for bout five seconds before he was informed it was threating the SEINFELD syndication millions.
Roseanne was not a racist then (I haven't really spoken to her since). She did a Tweet and suddenly the whole world was on her.
Why?
Because of the power of the left!
I wish. I wish that we were that powerful. Liza if she were a real feminist (as opposed to a woman who pops up during any election cycle to insist that every woman running for office -- especially president -- is not a feminist). could have explored that.
The reason the takedown of Rosenne worked? There were many.
History? Roseanne had pissed off a lot of conservatives with her statements over the year and her notorious performance of "The Star Spangled Banner." Those people never forgot and had the knives out.
Gender? America has a blood lust when it comes to women -- Bash The Bitch, Ava and I long ago dubbed it. The only thing that hates women more? Network execs -- even at LIFETIME. They don't like being pushed around by a Tim Allen but they'll take it. When a Roseanne Barr pushed them around, all their fear of Mommy runs to the surface. That's why the reboot was the first time you saw Roseanne star in a scripted TV show since the end of ROSEANNE in the 90s. One of the hugest shows ever and there was no effort to star her in another. They didn't want a damn thing to do with her. Contrast that with Kelsey Grammer. On CHEERS, he was a bit player. He had his own hit with FRAISER. But it wasn't ROSEANNE level hit. Even so, that show ends and he's given one attempt after another to carry a show. There was BACK TO YOU, HANK, BOSS, PARTNERS, THE LAST TYCOON, PROVEN INNOCENT (a bad rip off of a series of sketches on THE KROLL SHOW), and then, in 2023, the FRAISER reboot. That list is from 2007 to 2023. And look at how many chances he was given -- despite failing over and over and despire FRAISER never being as big of a hit as ROSEANNE.
Money. Roseanne grew up working class. Roseanne's a socialist. ABC had the biggest show on TV with the reboot. And they had Sara Gilbert eager to stab Roseanne in the back. 'Brave' Sara who used to tell her children not to talk about Mommy's partner because people couldn't know Mommy was gay. That's what a creep Sara is and a coward. She wants to be with a woman, she wants to have children with a woman, but she doesn't want to be out. So she raised her children in shame. Disgusting. And Roseanne saved Sara, she gave her a career. ABC always thought, from her first audition, that Sara was gay. They called her "Darlene the D**e." That's why they didn't pursue a spin-off for her. And there was Sara stabbing Roseanne in the back.
No one got cancel cultured like Roseanne.
She didn't just lose her job when she was on the biggest show on television. She lost her creations and her copyrights.
The network and Sara began this public campaign against Roseanne: She's cost all these people their jobs!!!!!
They used that lie to guilt and blackmail her into signing over her own rights. That's why THE CONNORS stayed on the air. It was not a big hit anymore but every penny went to ABC for 'creating' a TV show. They stole that, they didn't create it.
In terms of others?
I wish "cancel culture" has existed when I was starting my career. So many untalented people could have claimed that as the reason they got nowhere. Most of the cancelled people I'm aware of cancelled themselves and got what they deserved.
Lesbian-posing Michelle Shocked (and, yes, she did pose all the way through "Anchorage" as a lesbian) goes to San Francisco and in the middle of her act starts attacking gay people? She cancelled herself. And she'd been making those comments for some time but most thought she was being misquoted. For instance, would Laura Flanders had given Michelle Shocked an hour of her radio show on a Saturday if she'd known Michelle was a homophobe? No.
We could go on and on but let's wind up already on this topic. Birdbrain Liza Featherstone doesn't grasp what cancel culture is and she also doesn't grasp what Blacklisted by the Government is. They are two different things. She's too much of an idiot to grasp that reality.
Just like she was too much of an idiot to endorse Kamala offering instead crap like "I wrote about our political moment and why even Kamala Harris might be better:"
Oh, go sit down. Haven't you caused enough problems already, White Karen?
In other news, the polling is not good for Chump. Eric Garcia (INDEPENDENT) notes:
That's reality. Here's another reality, Chump lies about inflation non-stop. As Steve Benen (MADDOW BLOG, MSNBC) points out:
At a White House event on Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump bragged, in response to an unrelated question, that he’d “already taken care of” inflation. For those who keep an eye on the president’s public positions, the lie was jarring but familiar.
With unnerving frequency, Trump ignores economic data to insist — reality be damned — that he’s successfully “defeated,” “cured” and “solved” inflation.
American consumers would likely be delighted if such boasts were true. They are not. One day after the Republican again claimed to have triumphed over inflation, NBC News reported:
The
data complicates the short-term future of U.S. monetary policy: The
Federal Reserve has indicated that it expects to lower interest rates in
response to the weakening economy, especially as job growth weakens to
lows unseen since the Great Recession, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s
inflation target is 2%.
With the latest report showing the Consumer Price Index inching up to 3%, the economy appears to be moving in the wrong direction, creating an uncertain path for the central bank.
As for the politics, the latest national poll from The Associated Press found that only 36% of Americans support Trump’s handling of the economy. Other recent surveys have pointed in the same direction.
Winding down, Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following:
“Any effort to weaponize the IRS against President Trump’s perceived enemies is against the law, an abuse of power, and a threat to the integrity of our democratic institutions. [The IRS] cannot be the President’s political attack dog.”
Washington, D.C. - Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee in demanding answers about the Trump administration’s reported plans to weaponize the IRS criminal-investigative (IRS-CI) division in an attack on the free speech rights of progressive individuals and political opponents.
“Federal law prohibits political interference with the administration of tax laws…You must immediately end all attempts to politicize the agency, including attempts to use the agency to attack Americans with different political views,” the senators wrote.
Under federal law, the President, Vice President, White House staff, and almost all cabinet-level officials are barred from requesting investigations into specific taxpayers.
The changes to IRS-CI appear to be part of a broader effort by the Trump Administration to use the powers of the federal government to target the President’s political enemies. For example, Trump administration officials have been trying to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status since the President directed the IRS to do so. IRS lawyers have reportedly blocked these efforts, arguing they have no legal basis. Now, it appears the Trump administration is trying to evade these restrictions by proposing changes to how IRS criminal probes are conducted, including changing the Internal Revenue Manual to diminish the role that chief-counsel lawyers play in criminal investigations.
“IRS-CI cannot be used as a weapon to target political enemies, and any attempt to turn it into one is illegal,” the senators concluded. “You should immediately end all attempts to politicize the IRS, including attempts to use the agency to attack Americans who have different political views.”
The senators requested more information, including about administration officials that have directed and participated in this IRS weaponization, what changes the Administration intends to make to IRS policy, and what individuals and groups the Administration is targeting.
Senator Warren has fought against the Trump administration’s disturbing efforts to silence free speech and weaponize the federal government against political rivals:
- On September 23, 2025 Senator Warren, Markey (D-Mass.), Merkley (D-Ore.), and Sanders (D-Vt.) wrote to Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair demanding answers on the possibility of a quid pro quo arrangement with the Trump administration in exchange for preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC affiliate stations.
- On September 23, 2025, Senator Warren released a statement after Nexstar Media Group’s and Sinclair’s decisions to continue to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC affiliate stations.
- On May 20, 2025, Senator Warren questioned the Trump administration’s nominee for IRS Commissioner, Billy Long, as to the potential weaponization of the IRS against political opponents.
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