We begin this morning with President Trump escalating his war on blue cities amid the growing government shutdown. Last night, he authorized the deployment of 300 National Guard members in Chicago against the wishes of Illinois Governor JB Pritsker. The move comes amid clashes between immigration officials and protesters over ICE raids in and around the city.But while President Trump pushes the limits of his presidential authority in Chicago, a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked his call of 200 Nat ...

The current government shutdown is not your ordinary shutdown. And to understand why this one is unlike the 20 other times that the government has let funding lapse since 1976, we got to go back to the library and break out here we go our copy of Project 2025. Now, in case you need a refresher, Project 2025 is this 922 page blueprint. I've had to print it out in two different volumes. It's so big. It's an ultra-conservative agenda. It was built by the prominent conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, w ...

McCay wrote a piece this year entitled The Visionary of Trump 2.0%, in which he takes a look at Russell Vot's potential impact under Trump's second presidency, which I'm thinking we might see quite soon. Uh, we'll get to that in just a moment. Um, Mara, I want to start with you though on my question.Um, in terms of the American people, busy, hardworking, maybe a little bit tuned out, like exhausted by the news. Um, are they really clued into what's at stake. How quickly would Americans feel the cuts to heal ...

President J. D. Vance continued to pedal Republican claims that Democrats shut down the government in order to give undocumented immigrants free health care.Here is what he said in the briefing room yesterday. Again, not telling the truth. >> They have done instead is to shut down the government because we won't give billions of dollars to healthcare funding for illegal aliens.That is what has actually happened to the American people who are watching. The reason your government is shut down at this very min ...

Social Security Concerns - Social Security's retirement fund could be depleted in approximately 8 years, potentially leading to a benefit cut of about 23% [1] - The depletion date for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) fund has moved forward by about 6 months due to the Social Security Fairness Act, and another 3 months due to lower fertility rates and worker-to-retiree ratio [7][8][12] - A couple retiring in the year of insolvency could face a $16,500 reduction in their annual benefits [13] - For a single person with a primary insurance amount (PIA) of $3,500 claiming at age 70, benefits could drop by $12,000 annually after the potential cut [15] - For a couple where one spouse has a PIA of $3,500 and the other $2,500, claiming at 70, their combined benefits could drop by $20,000 annually [15][16] Medicare Challenges - The Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund (Medicare Part A) is projected to be depleted by 2033, three years earlier than the previous projection [5] - Medicare Part B premiums are expected to continue rising, with an example projection using a 6% annual increase [40][41] - Changes in Part D (prescription drug coverage) are causing significant price increases for consumers, with some monthly charges jumping from $3.30 to $35.90 [43][44] Healthcare Coverage Issues - Potential Medicaid cuts and changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could result in approximately 8 million people losing Medicaid coverage and another 8 million losing ACA coverage [1][46] - Proposed changes to ACA enrollment involve stricter requirements and shorter enrollment windows, potentially leading to people losing coverage inadvertently [50][51]

Government Spending Cuts - The bill includes approximately $8 billion in cuts to PBS and around $1 billion in cuts to foreign aid [3] - Medicaid cuts are strategically designed to become binding after the midterms [11] - Over $500 billion in Medicare cuts will begin in January [13] Healthcare Impact - A health clinic and hospital in a rural area in Nebraska are closing due to Medicaid cuts [10] - CBO estimates that approximately 5 million Americans will lose their healthcare coverage who are currently on the ACA, starting in January [13] Social Program Changes - Changes to SNAP will cause millions of people to lose their nutrition assistance, starting earlier than next December [14] Political Landscape - The legislation is considered the single most unpopular major piece of legislation to pass Congress in recent history [9] - The bulk of the cuts will not take effect until a few weeks after the 2026 midterm election [12]

One of the Democrats who spoke out overnight on the House floor was Congressman Brendan Bole of Pennsylvania. He's the ranking member of the budget committee. Here's a bit of what he had to say.The decision we have been entrusted by the American people to make will have ramifications for millions of our fellow Americans and indeed for our country for decades to come. There may not be a lot of people able to watch at 4:05 in the morning, but in just a few short hours, some of them on Medicaid will be waking ...