The Common Ills: The Snapshot

Monday, August 24, 2026. Chump continues his war on immigrants and brings in his disrespect for service members, the Secretary of Education sees nothing wrong with a daily 8% increase for parents to provide a sack lunch to their child, and much more.

Donald Chump did not have a good Sunday or a good early Monday morning.

On CNN's STATE OF THE UNION Sunday, Dana Bash spoke with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. We'll note this exchange:

BASH: You too.

So, millions of students are heading back to school. And there are a lot of things on parents' minds. One of them is sticker shock. One analysis found that the cost of school supplies rose nearly 8 percent since last year, averaging nearly $175 per child, and the average cost of packing a school lunch is up more than 10 percent compared to last year.

What do you say to parents who are struggling not just with how to manage schooling, but also the economic strains of it?

MCMAHON: Well, I think if you -- if you look at what's going on here throughout the country, really, yes, there are some price upticks, I think, but the general economy is so strong and doing so well.

No, the general economy is not doing well. And a 10% increase in the costs of a packed school lunch is outrageous. I believe the number of days in a school year (non-year round school) are 180. You take that 10% and do it for 180 days? You're going to have a very big number and add in that many people have more than one child in school. Megan Cerullo (CBS NEWS) reports:

The U.S. job market is less robust than it looks, according to a new analysis.

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 4.1% in July, well within the range economists consider healthy. Yet that measure, which reflects the percentage of people over the age of 16 who don't have a job and who are looking for work, is an imprecise metric that fails to offer a full picture of the health of the job sector, according to Gene Ludwig, chairman of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP).

The economic research firm's "True Rate of Unemployment" (TRU) seeks to capture the share of workers that the group defines as "functionally unemployed." This includes not only people who are unemployed and looking for a job, but also those who are involuntarily working part-time and who are earning poverty-level wages, or less than $26,000 annually before taxes.

McMahon isn't the only one in the government giving false information. Yesterday, MORNING EDITION (NPR) reported on Chump's latest "false claims of widespread illegal voting by noncitizens:"

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

President Trump is using an unusual report out of the Census Bureau to renew false claims of widespread illegal voting by noncitizens. NPR has learned the analysis has ties to a think tank aligned with Trump, and both data and election experts say the report's conclusions are questionable. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang has our report.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE: Many past studies and audits show illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens is incredibly rare. But in these final months before the midterm election...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We are releasing the results of a stunning investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.

WANG: President Trump and officials, like Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, have been releasing a lot of numbers about noncitizen voting with little details about how they were produced.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARKWAYNE MULLIN: One thing that I love about numbers, and I love about facts, is they don't lie.

WANG: The latest number is over 24,000. That's how many noncitizens allegedly voted illegally in the 2020 presidential election, according to a highly unusual report from the Census Bureau. That number translates to less than 0.02% of more than 128 million voter records that this report says were compared with government files. But it doesn't say who at the bureau did the comparing.

AMY O'HARA: It doesn't mention which division produced it - who the authors were.

WANG: Amy O'Hara is a data scientist who once led the Census Bureau's research on matching data records to produce statistics.

O'HARA: It is light on details about the data sources that were used. And so I've got a lot of questions about how the matching was done.

WANG: Matching of different kinds of records. That's known to be an especially hard way to produce accurate numbers. In this case, the Census Bureau report used voter records from a firm called Data-Clear. Carolyn Carlson started the firm, and she says the voter file was part of a 2024 contract for improving surveys and the census.

Was there any indication that it would be used to look for noncitizen voting?

CAROLYN CARLSON: It is not in the 2024 documentation.

WANG: NPR has learned the report's analysis was not done by career civil servants. And the team behind it included individuals affiliated with the America First Policy Institute, a think tank started by officials from Trump's first administration. That's according to a Census Bureau employee who NPR agreed not to name because they fear retaliation at work. Spokespeople for the bureau and the think tank did not respond to requests for comment.

Jason Linkins (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:

If you want to get the unfiltered skinny on how the never-ending war with Iran is going, it’s written in the dust. Responsible Statecraft’s Trita Parsi reported this week that U.S. service members marooned in the Persian Gulf have been expressing themselves in messages fingered onto a dusty aircraft flap. The anonymous graffiti, which calls to mind the helmet scrawls of disgruntled soldiers in Vietnam, include “Operation Epstein Fury,” “Peace deal #64 incoming … ALL THIS FOR THE HOLY LAND,” and “Bibi’s cucks.” Sounds like things aren’t going so well! “I have no frame of reference, I can’t compare it to the sentiments of U.S. soldiers in previous conflicts,” Parsi wrote. “But I suspect these are new sentiments, or at least a new willingness to express them this openly and directly.”

Whether these sentiments are new is indeed unclear, but it’s not without a frame of reference. Trump has always been fairly explicit in his disrespect for the grunts who do most of the work—and all of the dying—in this racket that we call “war.” But only now is a seemingly unwinnable war bringing this all to a head. It’s no longer possible to pretend that the president doesn’t have boundless contempt for U.S. service members. They’re trapped in a war that was essentially kicked off to distract from all the other terrible news the Trump administration generates—or at least to turn attention away from the Epstein files. (Though if these dust etchings are any guide, Trump failed in this attempt to wag the dog.)

In recent weeks, this dynamic has been playing out on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that has been on a nine-month deployment to support Trump’s war with Iran. Conditions on board the carrier have deteriorated to the point where some seamen have jumped overboard in an attempt to escape the misery. The crew has, for several weeks, been dealing with food shortages and grotesque sanitation issues. As TNR’s Hafiz Rashid reported, “In recent town hall meetings with military leaders, including acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, things have gotten heated, with family members expressing fear and worry over mental health and the risk of self-harm for the ship’s personnel.”

As it happens, this trouble is not confined to the USS Lincoln: Crews on the USS Benfold, Carl Vinson, and Tripoli have also reported miserable conditions in recent weeks. Pete Hegseth, our self-styled “secretary of war,” has gone to great lengths to downplay and even deny these accounts, characterizing them as misrepresentations while covering up the reason the Lincoln, which is now finally coming home, wasn’t resupplied. The dust scribbles surfaced by Parsi tell a different story.

If anything, the story is an old one. There has always been good reason to question Trump’s respect for U.S. service members. As The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg reported in September of 2020, Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Paris, questioning his senior aides as to why he should go to a cemetery full of “losers.” Per Goldberg, “In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.” All of this came about because he didn’t want to get his hair mussed in the rainy conditions. (Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, would later confirm Goldberg’s reporting.)

And of course his efforts at destroying STARS AND STRIPES is his combined war on truth and the troops. ALJAZEERA notes, "The Pentagon has fired the editor-in-chief of the Stars and Stripes, a prominent United States military newspaper, as well as one of its top reporters." Filip Timotija (THE HILL) notes three people got fired, "The Pentagon fired the publisher, editor in chief and at least one reporter at Stars and Stripes, a historically independent military news outlet, Friday as the department has looked to reshape its coverage in recent months." BrieAnna J. Frank (USA TODAY) explains, "The firings come months after the Pentagon dismissed the newspaper's ombudsman, a position Congress established in 1991 to protect its editorial independence." Jennifer Jacobs and Kathryn Watson (CBS NEWS) remind, "Recently, Stars and Stripes, along with the Military Times, reported on challenging conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, writing that family members of service members aboard the aircraft carrier were concerned about their loved ones' mental health and risk of self-harm. Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump downplayed or denied those reports, but the ship left the Middle East this week to begin the journey home to the U.S. after a nine-month deployment." Minho Kim (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

The Defense Department on Friday fired the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news outlet that reports on the U.S. military, according to a senior Pentagon official and the dismissed journalists.

The firings raised questions about the Pentagon’s willingness to ensure the editorial integrity of the publication that has reported extensively on difficulties faced by military communities as the war in Iran has dragged on. The terminations came about 10 days after Stars and Stripes journalists reported on hardships that Navy sailors were facing on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, the aircraft carrier whose deployment was extended to nine months amid the war.

On Friday, the Pentagon sent termination notices to Erik Slavin, the editor in chief, and Max Lederer, the publisher, who had announced his retirement earlier this week, citing conflict with the Pentagon leadership on the paper’s direction. Lara Korte, a Middle East correspondent at the news outlet, was also fired on Friday, according to the official and a post she made on social media.

Edward Helmore (GUARDIAN) notes how Chump and company have been 'bothered' by the news outlet:

The outlet’s reporting on the Lincoln, which is heading for port in San Diego after an extended deployment in the Middle East as part of the war in Iran that the Trump administration started in February alongside Israel, was published on 12 August, on the same day as similar reporting in the Navy Times.

Donald Trump subsequently dismissed concerns about conditions on Lincoln in part, with the president saying the crew’s deployment had been “not nearly long enough”.

The outlet’s reporting on the Lincoln is not the only issue to have placed Stars and Stripes in conflict with the Trump administration. Heralded as representing “the free thought and free expression of a free people”, it has sometimes had a contentious relationship with its primary sponsor before evidently reaching a boiling point during Trump’s second presidency.

The Trump-led Pentagon has been warring with the press that covers it, restricting access and demanding that journalists not seek confidential sources. That led to reporters turning in their access badges rather than acceding to those demands, setting the stage for an influx of rightwing media voices at the Pentagon and a legal battle.

Today on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (NPR), Danielle Kurtzleben spoke with Lara Korte about her firing:

DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, HOST:

This week, the Pentagon fired three people from Stars and Stripes, a government-funded outlet that covers the Defense Department. A reporter, the publisher and the editor in chief were given notice the department was terminating them. The firings are the latest in a series of moves by the military to exert greater control over the publication. Lara Korte covered the Middle East for Stars and Stripes. She joins us now from Germany, where she lives alongside members of the military. Welcome, Lara.

LARA KORTE: Thanks for having me, Danielle.

KURTZLEBEN: Sure. So tell us, when did you learn that Pentagon officials had fired you, and what was your reaction?

KORTE: Yeah. This happened yesterday, almost exactly 24 hours ago. We were working on putting out a story, a story I've been working on for a while now, and we got the notice in our emails. It came as a shock, to say the least. I'm still processing it, still, you know, trying to figure out what this all means. But, you know, we're staying positive.

KURTZLEBEN: Now, you wrote online that your firing was because of an interview you gave to CBS, along with editor-in-chief Erik Slavin. Let's listen to a portion of that interview.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CBS SUNDAY MORNING")

KORTE: I'm working for Stars and Stripes, not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.

KURTZLEBEN: Why did those comments constitute a fireable offense in the eyes of the government?

KORTE: You know, per the separation notice, they said that that was insubordination. But from my point of view, I was just reaffirming what the Pentagon has already said in its own policies and what has been longstanding tradition that Stars and Stripes is editorially independent. We have been very fortunate that we do not have government control over the contents of our paper. And so by saying that I work for Stars and Stripes, I feel like I was simply asserting what the Pentagon itself has said.

KURTZLEBEN: Now, that CBS story itself was about other recent developments at Stars and Stripes, like the Pentagon rescinding a regulation that maintains the paper's independence earlier this year. Has the editorial climate at Stars and Stripes changed in recent months?

KORTE: You know, I said this in the CBS interview that I had not been stopped from reporting as I usually do. I've been a reporter for a long time now, and I was able to conduct my work in the same way that I've always conducted it at Stars and Stripes. There was nobody telling us what to write or what we couldn't write. As other people have said before me, I think that's really critical to earning the trust of our readers and the trust of the military community. So as far as I could see, nothing had changed at that point.

[. . .]

KURTZLEBEN: I want to ask about your reporting, because you've reported closely on how the Iran war has affected service members. What do you think your reporting revealed about this war that the public should know?

KORTE: Something that I have reported on pretty closely is the evacuation of military families and civilian employees attached to the Department of Defense out of Bahrain. There is a naval base in Bahrain that has families attached to it. It's the only base in the region where families are allowed to accompany their service members. And they were evacuated very quickly, and in some cases, in a really scary environment. I talked to parents who were hiding with their young toddlers for days in closets, listening to drones hit high-rises.

And now, you know, it's six months out, and they've been evacuated, and thank goodness they are safe. But, you know, now they're dealing with a situation where they don't really know where home is at. And I talked to a lot of them this week, and they basically expressed frustration about not knowing where they're going to live next. They also, you know, are struggling with the finances of this. One person told me that they fronted $40,000 at this point to pay for rental cars and Airbnbs, and that their kids are sleeping on the floor of temporary housing. These folks are really frustrated with the system and looking for answers from the Pentagon.

KURTZLEBEN: That's Lara Korte, who covered the Middle East for Stars and Stripes. She was fired on Friday by the Pentagon. Thank you so much, Lara.

Family and friends are waiting for loved ones serving on the USS LINCOLN to return to the US. Safiyah Riddle, Amy Taxin and Jack Brook (AP) report one family member has been targeted by Chump:

When Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested by immigration authorities, his son was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy — a vessel that set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea, stirring concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among soldiers.

Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles. She said her husband, a handyman in Key West, Florida, has a permit to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years.

“He dedicates himself only to work so he can put food on the table at home. He is a good father. He loves his children with all his soul,” said Argelia, 47.

Aviles’ arrest comes as the Trump administration rolls back immigration protections for military families to pursue its mass deportation agenda, detaining at least dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez (CBS NEWS) observes, "Historically rare, immigration arrests of military spouses and parents have become more common under the second Trump administration, which rescinded prior limits on arrests by ICE and Border Patrol as part of its mass deportation campaign." Bill Feather and Dennis Romero (NBC NEWS) add:

Joshua Aviles said on Facebook that he’s on board the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is on its way back to the U.S. after its prolonged stretch at sea, including its deployment to the Middle East to engage in the war with Iran.

“I’ve been deployed for over nine months, out at sea in the Middle East aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, fighting for a country that has given me everything,” he wrote Saturday.

He said that his father is hard-working, giving and humble and that he has a work permit, a Social Security card and a driver’s license.

“This is heartbreaking for me,” Joshua Aviles said. “I don’t know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal.”

Chump doesn't care about those who serve. He makes that clear every day and this is just another example of it. In other ICE news, Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) notes:

The Trump administration deported a father of two who helped them prosecute Mexican drug cartels and put him at extreme risk of torture, Maryland court records show.

The man, identified only as John Doe, was the subject of a memorandum opinion filed Friday by U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher.

Doe was granted Deferral of Removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 2024 after an immigration judge found he would likely be tortured if returned to Mexico, where he had testified against cartel-affiliated defendants on behalf of the Justice Department.

Journalist Kyle Cheney wrote on social media Sunday that Doe "was illegally removed three times in recent weeks," including once to Mexico despite his CAT protection. Gallagher's opinion details a chaotic series of removals beginning in July, including one attempt to deport Doe to Guatemala, which refused to accept him and handed him to Mexican officials, who also declined to take him. Doe was deported to Mexico outright on Aug. 1 “without his phone or other personal belongings.”

The worst? The criminals? That's what those who defended Chump's immigration campaign promises said ahead of the election. The reality is that Chump and his comrades consider anyone who came into the country to have committed a crime. Therefore, they are -- in these people eyes -- criminals.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

Washington, D.C. — Today—over a year after Republicans passed the largest health care cut in history in their Big Ugly Bill—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after a new report found Trump and Republican’s $1 trillion cuts in health care, and refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits, have caused premiums to double for over 200,000 Washingtonians.

“We are over a year past Republicans passing the single largest cut to health care in our country’s history, and it has been nearly a year since Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to extend the ACA tax credits. Republicans have created a national health care crisis in America, causing costs to skyrocket and clinics to struggle keeping their doors open,” said Senator Murray. “Trump and Republicans would rather give trillions in tax breaks to billionaires and endlessly fund Trump’s war with Iran than help working Americans afford their doctor appointments and prescriptions. Republicans chose to put billionaires and foreign wars ahead of health care for the American people—but the people can have the last word using their voice and their vote.”

A new report has detailed how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—which cut over $1 trillion from health care to fund tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires—has caused 50,545 Washingtonians to lose their Medicaid, CHIP, or ACA coverage they relied on to receive health care. Republicans also refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, which caused premiums to double for 226,813 people across Washington state. A family of four in Washington state who makes $130,000 a year saw their average annual premium rise by $12,392—costing them a total of $23,442 this year.

Hospitals and clinics in Washington state are facing a $160 million loss in funding, a 5.6% spike in uncompensated care, and are expected to lose between $31 billion and $51 billion over the next decade due to Republicans’ health care cuts. So far 37 hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes in Washington state are at-risk, have announced cuts to services, are closing, or have closed, including:

AT-RISK: Astria Sunnyside Hospital, Coulee Medical Center, Dayton General Hospital, Forks Community Hospital, Klickitat Valley Health, Lake Chelan Hospital – Labor & Delivery Ward, Mason General Hospital, Mid-Valley Hospital, Odessa Memorial Hospital, Othello Community Hospital, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington & North Idaho – Spokane, Prosser Memorial Health, Samaritan Hospital, Summit Pacific Medical Center, Three Rivers Hospital, Toppenish Community Hospital
CUTS ANNOUNCED: East Adams Rural Healthcare – Ritzville Hospital, Overlake Medical Center & Clinics, PeaceHealth, PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, Providence Swedish, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health
CLOSED: DominiCare (St. Joseph’s Hospital), Legacy Salmon Creek Pain Clinic, Legacy-GoHealth – Camas, Legacy-GoHealth – Cascade Park, Legacy-GoHealth – Salmon Creek, Outpatient Orthopedic Physical Therapy Clinic (Providence Medical Park), Overlake Medical Center – Lake Hills urgent care clinic, Planned Parenthood – Port Angeles Health Center, Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital Orthopedic Physical Therapy Clinic, St. Michael Medical Center Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation Clinic, Swedish Weight Loss Outpatient Clinic, The Spokane Allergy & Asthma Clinic, ZoomCare Super Bellevue – Emergency Care

ABOUT TRUMP’S MEDICAID CUTS:

Nationwide, the Republican health care cuts represent a more than $400 billion hit to America’s hospitals—with one estimate finding that over 170 rural hospitals will likely be forced to close or scale back their services, which will force more Americans to travel further for maternity care and emergency room visits, and face longer wait times. Washington state is one of the states most at-risk, with 22 hospitals at-risk of closing or reducing services. An estimated 477,000 health workers will lose their jobs as a result of the Republican cuts to Medicaid. Senator Murray has consistently advocated for rural health care access across the state, hosting numerous events to emphasize the importance of investment into rural communities.

Hospitals in Washington state could lose at least $662 million in Medicaid revenue every year under OBBBA—forcing hospitals to lay off staff, cut services, or close their doors entirely. Overall, Washington state is expected to lose between $31 billion and $51 billion in federal Medicaid dollars over the next decade. In 2024, Washington had an uninsured rate of 4.8 percent—the lowest in the country—but the Republican bill is expected to balloon that number into the double digits.

In Washington state, nearly 2 million people—roughly 1 in 5—are enrolled in Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program. Washington’s 4^th Congressional District has the highest Medicaid enrollment in Washington state, with nearly 300,000 people—38 percent of all residents—reliant on Apple Health, including 70 percent of all children in the state.

ABOUT GOP REFUSAL TO EXTEND ACA TAX CREDITS:

Senator Murray forced the issue of the ACA tax credits at every opportunity before Republicans ultimately refused to take any action, speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal to extend the ACA tax credits. She took to the Senate floor in November 2025 with her Democratic colleagues to call for a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits, and held numerous virtual press conferences with Washingtonians, as well as residents of neighboring states Idaho and Montana, about the exploding health care premiums that Americans would see due to the expiration of the tax credits. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray led legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would have addressed the health care crisis during the government shutdown last fall. Senator Murray has also cosponsored multiple pieces of legislation over the past year—the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act—that would make the ACA tax credits permanent.

As then-chair of the Senate Health Committee, Senator Murray played a critical role in passing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits into law in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.

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Kat's "Kat's Korner: Sam Smith sings to and for lovers" went up yesterday. The following sites updated: