GOP Plans Medicaid Cuts to Pay for Billionaire Tax Giveaway - The Friday AM Quickie 1/31/25
I have eaten most of the cookies I meant to give away. I am sorry (not sorry). Jacob's back Monday! - Corey
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THE BIG NEWS
Trumpocalypse: Another Big Media Corporation Succumbs to Trump Shakedown
- Working Families and the Poor Would Pay for Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in GOP Tax Cuts to Benefit the Ultrarich House Republicans want to eliminate the estate tax, which kicks in only for estates worth more than $14 million, by cutting Medicaid, the child care tax credit, and other programs that serve low- and middle-income Americans. via ProPublica.
- Purge of FBI Ranks Begins as Wannabe Director Kash Patel Refuses to Look Capitol Police Officers in the Eye When Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin asked Patel why he appeared on white nationalist conspiracy theorist Stew Peters' podcast eight times, "Patel offered an extraordinary answer that made Democrats guffaw: He said he went on such podcasts to 'disavow them of their false impressions and to talk to them about the truth.'" via the New York Times, HuffPost, and the Washington Post.
- Skeptical GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Doctor Who Is Up for Reelection Next Year, Presses RFK Jr. on Vaccines Cassidy teamed up with Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders to pepper the wannabe Health and Human Services Secretary with questions as Kennedy struggled to walk back his long history of antivax views. via the Associated Press, HuffPost, and NBC News.
- Documents Suggest Tulsi Gabbard Lied to the Senate Yesterday About Her Contacts with Syrian Cleric Who Threatened US with Suicide Bombers Democrats' questions mostly focused on whether Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence, who used to praise Edward Snowden as a "brave whistleblower," now considered the Russian citizen a traitor; at least five Republicans also doubt her fitness. via the Washington Post and Politico.
- 2 Dozen Democrats Vote to Confirm Oil-Loving Doug Burgum as Interior Secretary "It's alarming that so many Senate Democrats were duped into voting for an oligarch who is now charged with stewarding the nation's public lands and wildlife," says Kierán Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "If Democrats want to know why so many people are disillusioned, they need to look no further than this vote." via the New York Times and the Associated Press.
- Trump Claims 25 Percent Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Will Begin Tomorrow "Officials in Ottawa and Mexico City have drawn up plans to retaliate against Washington with tariffs of their own, raising the prospect of a damaging trade war. Businesses inside the US and across the world have warned of widespread disruption if the Trump administration pushes ahead." via Politico, the Guardian, and the Washington Post.
- Rubio Defends Trump's Threat to Attack NATO Ally Denmark to Seize Greenland "This is not a joke," new Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Megyn Kelly yesterday. "This is not about acquiring land for the purpose of acquiring land. This is in our national interest and it needs to be solved." via Politico and the AP.
- 'It's Impossible': Panama's President Refuses to Negotiate Away the Canal Rubio is set to visit President José Raúl Mulino in Panama City on Sunday. via the AP and Politico.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
DC Air Traffic Control Was Understaffed Before Crash
Authorities say no one survived the Wednesday night collision of an Army helicopter and a civilian passenger jet over Washington, DC's Potomac river; with 67 dead, it represents the worst US air disaster since 9/11 . The Washington Post reports that government investigators have found that "two people were handling the jobs of four among other colleagues inside [Reagan National Airport]'s control tower at the time of the collision," and that these staffing levels were "not normal." Per Politico, Republican-led "government funding showdowns made it harder to train new workers and replace outmoded safety equipment" at the Federal Aviation Administration. Donald Trump continues to blame desegretation for the disaster, which former Democratic Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg accurately calls a "despicable" lie. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom doesn't seem to appreciate Trump's interference in the investigation, telling employees in a memo that the National Transportation Safety Board "will be the sole source of truth going forward."
Are Trump Cuts Endangering LA Wildfire Survivors?
Musicians and movie stars dominated the headlines yesterday from the FireAid benefit concert at two big Los Angeles venues. Emcee Billy Crystal, who lost his home of 46 years in the Pacific Palisades fire, wore the same clothes he had on when he evacuated. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reports, tens of thousands of wildfire survivors "have returned to ash-cloaked neighborhoods, even as serious questions about what could be lurking in the debris remain unanswered." Environmental and health officials warn that the neighborhoods that burned down "are probably brimming with toxic chemicals and harmful substances, such as brain-damaging lead and lung-scarring asbestos fibers." The Environmental Protection Agency initially said its hazardous waste cleanup would last three months, but Donald Trump ordered them to get it done in 30 days. Similarly, the Army Corps of Engineers expected to take 18 months to remove debris; Trump has given them one year. Will corners be cut? One thing is sure: survivors "say they would like to have clearer guidance and support from government agencies to keep people safe."
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Germany Erupts in Protest After Conservative Christian Democrats Break Postwar Taboo and Partner with Far-Right AfD "What happened in the Bundestag on Wednesday reminded me of Germany in 1933 of how Hitler and the Nazi party managed to come to power through legitimate means," 99-year-old Holocaust survivor Albrecht Weinberg said after returning his his federal order of merit in protest. "These politicians want to chase everyone out who they don’t like. Did they learn nothing from the second world war? I really wonder whether I should be packing my suitcase again." via the Washington Post, Deutsche Welle, and the Guardian.
- Israeli Laws Banning Palestinian Aid Agency Take Effect as UN Warns of Threat to Children in Gaza Eight Hamas hostages and 110 Palestinian prisoners of Israel were also set free yesterday. via the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the Associated Press.
- Climate Protesters Disrupt DNC Leadership Candidate Forum Faiz Shakir, former manager of Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, was a late entrant to the race for Democratic National Committee chair. via Politico and In These Times.
- Starbucks Workers United Is 'Optimistic' Mediation Can Help It Win Fair Contract Last month, 98 percent of members voted to authorize a strike after management failed to budge in monthly bargaining sessions. via the New York Times.
SOME NUMBER
1792
That's the year the US Congress passed the Militia Act, which required "every free able-bodied white male" aged 18 and up to join a state militia and bring his own musket, and which the conservative Fifth Circuit federal appeals court in Louisiana cited yesterday to strike down a longstanding ban on handgun sales to people under 21. The overturned gun control law dates to 1968.
ON THE SHOW TODAY
1/31: Happy Friday! Sam and Emma speak with Ryan Grim, reporter at and co-founder of Drop Site News, co-host of Counter Points, to round up the week in news.
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Fox Hosts Get Off Over Trump Using Guantanamo Bay As Migrant Detention Camp
Human rights groups are understandably very worried.
Senator Warns Federal Workers About Trump's Buyout Offer
Another skeptic wonders, "What if a third of the nation’s air traffic controllers take this buyout?"
PARTING WORDS
"My attempt at dry wit, in that typical British way, was not a joke at the expense of WWII, nor an admission of my membership in the Nationalist Socialist Party. ... You can consider my joke crass. But I ask you to consider if your responses have been proportionate? 🤔"
-- Calvin Robinson, the former priest-in-charge of St. Paul's Anglican Catholic Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, defending his decision to throw a Nazi salute during a speech on Saturday at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington, DC. The Georgia-based church revoked Robinson's "license" on Wednesday, saying his actions "trivialize[d] the horror of the Holocaust and diminish[ed] the sacrifice of those who fought against its perpetrators." The editorial staff of Robinson's videogame-review site, GodIsaGeek.com, also resigned in protest. Robinson, who was born in Britain, is a spokesman for the far-right UK Independence Party.
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