Most Democrats wanted them to be permanent. The enhanced subsidies were initially passed in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act, then extended under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Why weren't they made permanent then? Well, the ARPA was a stimulus bill passed under budget reconciliation. What does that mean? Under budget reconciliation, it means you can pass these bills with a simple majority, but you have to stay within certain budget constraints. Same for the IRA extension. Blowback from Republicans and Joe Manchin (D) forced them to limit the enhanced subsidies to only three years to get within this constraint. Supposing that many Republicans were also on board as well as holdout Dems like Manchin and Sinema, the subsidies could be permanent.
If we want the subsidies to be permanent, they'll need Republicans on board. Otherwise we're stuck with the bills being passed through budget reconciliation which only requires a simple (51 vote) majority.
Thanks for that. It was always known that the ACA could and should be improved. The GQP, so dogmatic in its ACA fearmongering, obstructed all efforts to do so while NEVER proposing a reasonable alternative.
11. There's the Trump voter who doesn't support Trump's newest promise to punish those who burn the American flag, as a prior flag-burner himself:
I think I've seen 1 or 2 flags get burned. Seemed pointless to me at the time. However, I have been prepared to burn a flag if it were ever made illegal. FREEDOM!
15. There's the person who had to pay "over $300" in tariffs but insists any posts educating them on tariffs should not "bash Trump":
They're clearly somewhat educated and articulate, yet they've been wholly ignorant at least since Dolt .45 and throughout this year and the campaign before it. WTH are they reading/watching/listening to?
Lament the murder, not the murdered.
1312. ETTD. 86 47.
"You are ruining us, our future, and our children's futures. But we love and support you and will continue to vote for the very thing fucking us"
On top of all this—there is only chaos coming from the Department of Agriculture. There is no true guidance, mixed messaging, and a copious amount of photo ops. There is no one to trust over there that truly understands the issues and isn’t bought out by or aligned with Big Industries
The thing with Trump is that although he lies about everything - even when the truth would serve him better, he hasn't lied about who he is or what matters to him. From back even before "The Apprentice" when he's disguise his voice to give "Page 6" reporters fake "news" about Trump, it's been clear that it's all about the show and all about making him the star with a lot of money. So did all those voters say "He's a leopard, and I like leopards" or did they say "He's not really a leopard - that's just show" or "He's sort of a leopard, but he won't eat our face" I suspect it's mostly the latter.
Two years ago, Derek and DeAnna Huffman were desperate to leave Humble, a suburb of Houston. Their three daughters, they believed, were being brainwashed by public school and mainstream media to support LGBTQ rights. American culture in general no longer offered white people the same opportunities as other races, they said.
The couple yearned to live in a place that shared their "Christian values" and where they "weren't going to be discriminated against" as white, politically-conservative Christians.
...
Derek Huffman said he joined the Russian army to expedite the family’s applications for Russian citizenship, as well as to show support for their new homeland.
“Above and beyond the citizenship, the money, a big part of it for me is about the respect and earning our place here in Russia,” he said on the Huffmans’ YouTube channel on May 26.
But in a follow-up video posted in June, which was subsequently deleted, DeAnna Huffman, 42, told viewers that her husband had been “thrown to the wolves.” NBC News viewed a re-upload of the video.
The couple had hoped Derek Huffman would put previous welding experience to use in the repair battalion and “actually be utilized for his skills,” she said in the video. Instead, she said, he was sent to the front line and struggled to understand his training, which was in Russian.
...
Another family, the Hares, also moved from Abilene, Texas, to Russia to shield their three sons from what they say are harmful elements of American culture.
“It was the promise of a country that would not promote the LGBT agenda. We liked the fact that LGBT is basically outlawed here in official ways,” Leo Hare, 62, told NBC News via a video call from the family’s new home in Ivanovo, Russia.
The Hares have endured their share of hardship trying to build a new life in Russia.
They say their initial plan to rent an apartment in Moscow fell through just as they boarded the plane from Texas, and the family spent a bitterly cold winter caring for chickens, horses and rabbits on a farm 70 miles south of Moscow in exchange for free board. At one point, they even had to bring the goats and their newborns inside their cabin to keep the animals from dying.
Leo Hare thought their troubles were over when their landlord’s son offered a generous interest rate for investing their $50,000 nest egg in what he described as a car import business. But they only saw one payment before he stopped sending them money and refused to return their money, Leo Hare said.
The couple went to the police and the local court to file complaints about their lost money and with their concerns that they had been swindled, but say they have received no help from law enforcement officials. NBC News contacted Domodedovo police for comment but did not receive a reply.
The Hares’ sons, 17, 15, and 12, have had difficulty adapting to life in Russia, and the two older boys want to return to America, according to their father. They feel isolated and are disappointed that school is not an option since Russia requires students to pass a language test to study in public schools.
Two years ago, Derek and DeAnna Huffman were desperate to leave Humble, a suburb of Houston. Their three daughters, they believed, were being brainwashed by public school and mainstream media to support LGBTQ rights. American culture in general no longer offered white people the same opportunities as other races, they said.
The couple yearned to live in a place that shared their "Christian values" and where they "weren't going to be discriminated against" as white, politically-conservative Christians.
...
Derek Huffman said he joined the Russian army to expedite the family’s applications for Russian citizenship, as well as to show support for their new homeland.
“Above and beyond the citizenship, the money, a big part of it for me is about the respect and earning our place here in Russia,” he said on the Huffmans’ YouTube channel on May 26.
But in a follow-up video posted in June, which was subsequently deleted, DeAnna Huffman, 42, told viewers that her husband had been “thrown to the wolves.” NBC News viewed a re-upload of the video.
The couple had hoped Derek Huffman would put previous welding experience to use in the repair battalion and “actually be utilized for his skills,” she said in the video. Instead, she said, he was sent to the front line and struggled to understand his training, which was in Russian.
...
Another family, the Hares, also moved from Abilene, Texas, to Russia to shield their three sons from what they say are harmful elements of American culture.
“It was the promise of a country that would not promote the LGBT agenda. We liked the fact that LGBT is basically outlawed here in official ways,” Leo Hare, 62, told NBC News via a video call from the family’s new home in Ivanovo, Russia.
The Hares have endured their share of hardship trying to build a new life in Russia.
They say their initial plan to rent an apartment in Moscow fell through just as they boarded the plane from Texas, and the family spent a bitterly cold winter caring for chickens, horses and rabbits on a farm 70 miles south of Moscow in exchange for free board. At one point, they even had to bring the goats and their newborns inside their cabin to keep the animals from dying.
Leo Hare thought their troubles were over when their landlord’s son offered a generous interest rate for investing their $50,000 nest egg in what he described as a car import business. But they only saw one payment before he stopped sending them money and refused to return their money, Leo Hare said.
The couple went to the police and the local court to file complaints about their lost money and with their concerns that they had been swindled, but say they have received no help from law enforcement officials. NBC News contacted Domodedovo police for comment but did not receive a reply.
The Hares’ sons, 17, 15, and 12, have had difficulty adapting to life in Russia, and the two older boys want to return to America, according to their father. They feel isolated and are disappointed that school is not an option since Russia requires students to pass a language test to study in public schools.
Trump admin rolls back coal mining regulations aimed at helping prevent black lung. The agencies responsible for enforcement of existing regulations knee capped and essentially made toothless. On site screenings for black lung and other mining related diseases also cancelled.
But since his inauguration in January, a volley of firings, department eliminations and proposed regulation rollbacks have targeted hard-won health and safety protections fought for over decades to safeguard coal miners and other working-class folks.
The silica rule was delayed in April after industry groups suing the government filed an emergency request in court to block it from taking effect, citing costs and difficulties implementing it. Around the same time, the Trump administration told nearly all employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that their jobs were being cut. That included those running a congressionally mandated surveillance program that certifies black lung cases.
But some jobs, including those focused on mine safety and research, have not been restored. And even employees who have been recalled say a lack of funding and loss of expertise in specialized positions, from chemists to engineers, have made it impossible for them to operate at the same level as before.
In addition, the Labor Department has proposed altering some mining regulations to weaken the authority of district mine health and safety managers that could impact ventilation, roof prevention and training programs.
The result of all these changes is that many blue-collar workers and first responders nationwide — from commercial fishermen and miners to firefighters and construction workers — will have fewer people working to help keep them safe and healthy while doing some of the country’s most dangerous jobs, many of them deep in Trump country.
..
As a United Steelworkers union leader representing about 700 trona miners in Wyoming, Marshal Cummings worries the little-known white powdery rock he digs — used in everything from glass and detergents to paper — could be making workers sick. He helped push for the silica rule to cover miners like him, offering them the same free health screenings as coal miners, and was forced to wait for researchers from NIOSH to investigate air quality at his site after a request he filed was initially killed by the layoffs.
“We got promised that we were going to make America great again, make America healthy again,” Cummings said at the time.
“You should be making these cuts with the scalpel,” he added. “You shouldn’t be using a chainsaw and chunking out all these things because you’re impacting workers.”
...
“President Trump cares about our miners more than any other president in modern history – which is why he has implemented his energy dominance agenda to protect their jobs and revive the mining industry,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers.
President Trump's care for you ends when you stop being useful to him. You're a tool to be used and tossed aside and nothing more.
FREEDOM!
They're clearly somewhat educated and articulate, yet they've been wholly ignorant at least since Dolt .45 and throughout this year and the campaign before it. WTH are they reading/watching/listening to?
Paranoid bigoted traitors are not known for successful advance planning, but they do make excellent leopard food.