Sorting the News

I’m on a tour of political headlines from this week.

Trump continues making news by making statements that are not true. Worse, he builds policies off those claims. Although the United States is not at war with any nation, Trump used the military to attack targets in another country again.

ICE to spend $38.3 billion on detention centers across US, document shows

Cutting Federal spending on social safety net programs, cancer research, and education while building more detention centers really shows ‘put your money where your mouth is.’ In Trump’s case, he’s putting his money on locking people up, not taking care of citizens.

Despite Federal budget cuts, Trump’s national guard deployments cost almost half a billion dollars.

We want names! Keeping with their ‘freedom is not free’ position, Trump’s DHS wants social media companies to provide them with the names of anyone who posts anything anti-ICE. They’re doing it quietly.

Now why would they want that information?

Trump drops brand-new election whopper in riff to troops — invents millions of votes he never got

Trump just goes on and on lying about election results. He keeps insisting he is more popular that he is. Yet, Trump says, “Democrats have gone crazy.”

That article talks about the partial government shutdown as Congress adjourns and elected officials leave D.C. Key in that story, though his how Trump continues to lie about ‘crime in blue cities’. Studies show that simplicity is misleading, that the truth has far more nuance.

Acting more like an absolute ruler than ever, Trump announced that voter IDs will be required for the mid-term elections. Although House Republicans are trying to get that requirement established, it’s not expected to pass in the Senate, meaning that it can’t be signed into law. Trump, though, just insists that it will happen, as if he has the magic right to make it so.

The truth is, a President can’t just make it so. Congress must be involved, and there are tricky obstacles in the Constitution and various amendments would need to be addressed.

Such trivialities as facts and truth don’t seem to hinder Trump. Even as the Reiners’ son was in custody for killing their parents, Trump created a fantasy motive for the double homicides. Trump claimed Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.”

Measles cases are rising, food, electricity prices, and other prices like new cars are rising, and optimism is falling.

It’s still only the second month of Trump’s second year. More wine, please.

February 14, 2026 1

Mundaz Wandering Political Thoughts

I’ve read a number of recent pieces about the economy. They focus mostly on the confusion now seen in the U.S. economy. Why tariffs didn’t increase prices as much as expected. Why customers are so negative about the economy when the numbers aren’t bad. Why consumer spending remains up while consumer confidence is down.

Trump’s antics play much into their impressions. He’s broken trade agreements. Then, by leveling tariffs on everything in the name of national security, he’s shifted expectations. Prices are expected to increase due to tariffs. So are shortages due to tariffs and trade wars. These factors advance negative perceptions of what’s to come. Paul Krugman refers to this as vibecessions. These are vibes that a recession is coming, that the economy is not really doing well.

Well, for one, there’s been some surprise in the tariffs. The effective rate has turned out to be much lower than the declared rates. Part of this is because most economists expect Trump’s tariffs to be declared illegal and withdrawn. They suspect companies are eating much of the tariff costs for the short term so they won’t lose customers. This makes sense, if they expect the tariffs to be short-lived. It also makes sense if you compare the cost of finding and luring new customers to your business compared to the cost of keeping them. Getting new customers is much harder and more expensive. Loyalty, once broached, is very expensive. Then, when the tariffs are withdrawn, companies can, as necessary raise prices under other pretenses.

As for employment and unemployment, economists suggest this is because of uncertainty with the economy. Part of this is due not just to reporting confusion (more on that below), but because of the economic activity being generated by cryptocurrencies and AI developments. Both are areas where vast investments are being made. Both are relatively new. Their actual impact on the economy is uncertain.

This is especially true with AI. Artificial Intelligence. It’s here, but meaningful impact from using artificial intelligence in business to increase productivity and profits is slow to emerge. Meanwhile, huge centers are being built to support AI. These are expensive centers. Their need for electricity will drive up energy costs if they’re not countered by the construction of new energy sources. The Trump Regime’s deliberate decisions to cut funds to build solar and wind farms to generate more electricity puts the nation way behind planning and building new power sources.

Additionally, with so many huge AI centers being built, there will be some which don’t successfully compete and then fail. Think back if you can to when personal computers came onto the scene. So many businesses sprang up to build computers to fill this new need. Likewise, look at the airline industry when commercial airline travel was growing, and how many airlines sprang up and then either got bought up or shut down and faded away. Same with automobile manufacturing. Video renting. Streaming services. Malls. Craft beers and micro breweries. Each advance is littered with the remains of failures.

Plus, there is some fallout that’s going to grow because of provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill. What it will do to healthcare costs aren’t clear. Premiums for many seem to be climbing. How this load on their spending patterns hasn’t been clearly demonstrated. Likewise, cuts to SNAP, school systems, college enrollment, are still to be expected. As Federal funds don’t make it to the state level, state funding doesn’t reach local levels, affecting the economy at multiple levels. Then, too, there is the declining tourism, especially from foreign locations. It’s affecting state economies who depend on tourism, but how deeply will they be affected is the looming question.

Additionally, I think many consumers might be like my wife and me. In my house, we made many purchases with the expectations that the economic crap is going to encounter the economic fan, so buy now, while prices aren’t too bad, while the stuff is available, while we can. Basically, it’s spend more now because we can’t buy later. We deliberately stockpiled things we regularly use, like coffee and canned and processed foods from other countries. We do replenish as we can now, using the same rational.

Beyond those things, we know that Trump is a liar. We’ve also noticed that those surrogates in Trump’s Regime who speak out in public are liars. Not just liars but do everything possible to prop Trump and all things Trump up and light it up in the best possible light. As Trump via DOGE slashed through the government, he broke many things. Among them is the reporting mechanism for several economic indicators. He flat removed people who gave truthful numbers, such as the BLS. That burned him, so he burned them. That’s just the things that came out in public. What’s going on behind in the dark can only be guessed out.

That leaves us confused. Can we trust Trump and the numbers his administration releases? Fuck no. Only fools and sycophants believe those numbers. With that uncertainty, businesses struggle to make any long-term plans, because reality might catch up any day now.

Trump thinks he can keep up his numbers game and lies. We know that’s not true; we see prices rising, causing the affordability issues we’re now facing.

We also have Trump’s personal history. That history shows that Trump’s lies are always exposed. He lied about his accomplishments, his wealth, his businesses, and his prospects. Each time, those were exposed. He was taken to court. Convicted. Filed for bankruptcies to escape his mistakes. Cheated on taxes. Stole money from charities he or his family set up. Used word games and sleight of hand and secrecy to build himself up. But it all catches up to him. Right now, we’re waiting to see what the Epstein files show who he and what he’s done. Trump has been fighting like hell to keep that from happening.

So that’s the thing, for me. Beyond the numbers, there is a simple truth: Trump is a failure who lives behind a curtain of deception. But that curtain keeps getting torn open. When it does this time, it’s going to be a freaking mess.

December 1, 2025 2

Wenzdaz Wandering Political Thoughts

I’ve been thinking about that $2000 that Trump is waving in front of people.

What an utterly disconnected offering. What a cheap fucking bribe. Sure, the poorest and those close to being poor will jump on two grand. It’d give them temporary breathing room, maybe help fix a car or pay for part of something needed. For most, though, two thou in today’s economy is like a cold slice of half-eaten pizza found for breakfast.

Fierce Healthcare notes that red staters have been flocking to ACA for the last several years.

ACA exchange enrollment has skyrocketed since 2020, with most of the growth in red states: KFF

Enrollment on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) exchanges has more than doubled over the past several years, with much of that growth coming from red states, according to a new report.

Analysts at KFF found that enrollment in marketplace plans reached 24.3 million for 2025, up from 11.4 million in 2020. That’s growth of 113% for those five years, the researchers said.

Almost all states have seen some level of increase since 2020, per the report. However, there are six states where enrollment more than tripled, and all were won by President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. The highest increases were in Texas and Mississippi, where enrollment grew by 255% and 242%, respectively.

In Louisiana and West Virginia, enrollment increased by 234%, while Georgia saw an increase of 227%. Enrollment rose in Tennessee by 221%.

Yowza! Sounds like Trump is screwing over his base without the breaks the Big Beautiful Bill of 2025 ended. When cruelty is the point, it doesn’t matter who the victim is. More pointedly, when healthcare premiums are jumping by huge chunks, two thousand doesn’t gain much, especially now, when affordability is rising as a problem for ‘Muricans. Industries, reporters, businesses, and analysts are citing increases in food prices, pet food, construction and home repair, gas for heating homes and gas for driving cars, electricity, healthcare, and consumer goods. Against that flood, Trump desperately throws up two thousand dollars and tries those tired ol’ ploys of crying fake news, hoax, while repeatedly and shrilly lying, “No, no, it’s all going great!” But even hard-headed MAGAts are starting to notice the dick-tator’s new clothes.

Of course, Trump is booming with promises.

He promises — again — he’s coming out with a new healthcare plan. Promises and lies is what he doth best. ‘Member any of these?

Trump’s shutdown win just landed Republicans with a huge political headache

Trump and Republicans once again own the issue of health care, with millions of citizens — not just those on ACA plans — afflicted by rising premiums and high deductibles against the backdrop of a wider cost-of-living crisis. And just as in his first term, Trump lacks a comprehensive, detailed plan to bring relief to citizens who lack health care, who can’t afford the plans they have or who know that the loss of a job could leave them without any coverage at all.

~snip~

During the 2016 campaign, Trump pledged to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something “terrific.” At rallies, he promised Americans new health care that would cost less but be far better. If that sounds impossible, it’s probably because it is.

Early in his first term, Trump promised that change was on the way. “Despite what you hear in the press, healthcare is coming along great. We are talking to many groups and it will end in a beautiful picture!” he wrote on the website formerly known as Twitter in March 2017. The GOP failure to repeal Obamacare, partly because it couldn’t come up with an alternative, didn’t stop Trump’s sunny predictions. “The Republican Party will be soon be known as theparty of health care,” the president declared in March 2019.

Second term, same as the first. In his debate with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in 2024, Trump was mocked for saying he had “concepts of a plan” to make health care “better and less expensive.” More than a year later — and despite some significant efforts by Trump to bring down the cost of some prescription drugs — Americans are still waiting for his wider solutions.

~snip~

But with unemployment likely rising, some people will be very desperate for any additional income.

US likely bled jobs in October

The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not release an October jobs report thanks to the GOP’s government shutdown. But the United States likely lost a whopping 50,000 jobs last month, according to a report released Tuesday by Goldman Sachs. This is a flashing warning that the nation may be entering recession territory.

Goldman Sachs’ report was backed up by data from the payroll company ADP, which on Tuesday said that the private sector lost an average of 11,250 jobs per week in the four weeks ending Oct. 25. ADP said the numbers signal that “the labor market struggled to produce jobs consistently during the second half” of October.

It’s all part of the MAGA magic, an illusion as deep and real as the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz.

Which means, of course, brace yerself. Trump and his allies need more distractions. Bigger distractions. They’ll get angrier. Meaner. Crueler. Declare more enemies and attack more. Lie more, and do it more loudly. Because, you know.