Place
a large oven-proof skillet with lid (3.5 – 4 quart capacity) over
medium-high heat and mist the skillet with cooking spray.
When the skillet is hot, add the ground beef, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño (if using), and garlic.
Cook
for 8-9 minutes or until the beef is cooked through and the onions have
softened, stirring occasionally. Use a spatula to break up the meat and
mix in the vegetables.
Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper to the skillet; stir to combine.
Add
the tomato sauce, diced fire-roasted tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, and
frozen corn to the beef mixture. Stir well and bring almost to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, with the lid on, for 8 minutes.
Remove the lid and continue cooking for another 4 minutes.
Meanwhile,
make the cornbread topping: In a medium bowl, combine the flour,
cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to
combine.
Add the milk, egg, oil, and vinegar; stir just until the batter is smooth.
Drop the cornbread batter onto the chili in 6-8 mounds. Top each cornbread mound with a jalapeno slice (if using).
Bake
for 10 minutes, then sprinkle the cheese over top of the casserole and
biscuits. Return to the oven for another 6-8 minutes, or until a
toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.
Remove the skillet from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
If desired, serve with sour cream, fresh cilantro, diced avocado, sliced jalapeño and/or lime wedges.
President
Donald Trump's new scheme to try and reduce fuel costs ahead of the
election was to announce that he'd be taking some of the Venezuelan oil.
But, Congress told the Pentagon it's not legal, Semafor reported Thursday.
Experts
have made it clear that the thick, tar-like oil in Venezuela's fields
requires a specialized refineries to process the oil into usable fuel.
There's also a major infrastructure issue. The country lacks the
necessary upgrades to get it out of the oil fields. Infrastructure has
suffered years of under-investment and deterioration, CNBC reported. Repairing pipelines, power systems, drilling equipment and upgrades could take years.
But
oil reserves aren't the same as barrels currently being produced.
Experts agree that, at most, Trump's plot could put modest downward
pressure on prices over the longer term, but it likely wouldn't impact
fuel prices for 10-15 years, the report said.
Semafor
cited a person familiar with the matter who said that Congress told the
Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital that it doesn't have the
authority to take an equity stake in a private company. Trump used the
Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital to take an equity stake in the
second-largest oil firm in Venezuela.
"It
did so by declining to pass legislative proposals that would have
granted the office the legal authority to seek equity stakes that were
submitted by the Pentagon in recent years," the person told Semafor.
Nothing that man says is ever true. It's always a promise that will not pan out as he plays kick the can with every issue. He solves nothing. He improves our lives in no manner at all. He just lies an lies and hopes he can outrun his lies.
Thursday, September 3, 2026. Deranged and dishonest Chump claims the US
doesn't need any trading partners, his efforts to change Lake Ontario's
name are not well received by the American people, he continues his
efforts to destroy The Kennedy Center, Hegseth continues blocking
nominations and running off needed staff but, as Thom Hartmann points
out, Hegseth is also breaking the law, and much more.
Chump announces oil plans and implies they're going to
result in lower gas prices. Then experts correct him noting it could be
years. Yes, we covered that story yesterday. But that was his lies
regarding Venezuelan oil. Haley Bull (SCRIPPS NEWS) reports on his Tuesday meet up with big oil and how Chump's claims of "energy dominance" are going to play out:
However, some note translating expanded refining capacity to cost savings for consumers could take time.
“Even
if they do announce any increase in capacity, it would take likely
months, if not years, depending on the scope of that work, to really
have a meaningful impact on what consumers are paying at the pump,” said
De Haan.
It comes as the national average for
gasoline remains above $4 a gallon, and as crude oil continued to climb
Tuesday. U.S. crude prices topped $90 a barrel as the U.S. renewed
military strikes against Iran amidst conflict over the Strait of Hormuz
and as Ukraine has struck deeper into Russian territory.
Chump
just doesn't appear to grasp the economy. His tariffs destroyed the
economy, his war on Iran destroyed the country and his war on immigrants
destroyed the economy. Dean Baker explains that and his need to lie are baked in flaws for Chump:
Donald
Trump is not very good at running the economy, but he does have a great
imagination about how he runs the economy. Trump continually boasts
about the incredible amount of foreign investment coming into the
country. It was $20 trillion last I heard, but it might be up to $30 or
$40 trillion the next time Trump decides to boast about it.
This
boast has absolutely nothing to do with reality. Contrary to what Trump
says, there is no boom in auto factories or any other factories coming
into the United States. Factory construction has actually plummeted
since Trump came into the White House, after booming under Biden.
The
looniness about the investment boom should be kept in mind when
considering Trump’s deal to take control of 65 billion barrels of
Venezuela’s oil. Trump is promising that this deal will both lower gas
prices and be used to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserves that he
has largely drained as a result of his war on Iran.
If
Venezuela doesn’t honor this deal, what will a future administration
do, take them to court? Or will they send US soldiers to die for
Venezuela’s oil?
While people are naturally
offended by the blatant imperialism in this deal, that is precisely the
reason why there is not much cause to be concerned. The basic story is,
because the deal is so transparently an effort by the United States to
steal oil from a country that it controls militarily, it is virtually
guaranteed that as soon as the country is not run by a U.S.-installed
dictator, Trump’s deal will be dumped in the trash.
This point was well-made by Venezuelan economist and opposition leader Ricardo Haussman (also cited in a piece by Michael Tomasky in The New Republic). The deal is seen as a joke by pretty much everyone in Venezuela.
Well
it's good to know that people all over the world laugh at Chump. He
doesn't offer any intended joy so at least there's that.
Donald Trump has faced
online ridicule after declaring the US doesn't require trade with other
nations, before subsequently proposing that increased imports could
help lower costs for American consumers.
The
controversy arose following Trump's Friday announcement that his
administration would temporarily allow greater beef imports into the
country at reduced tariff rates. During an Oval Office discussion with
reporters about his tariff strategy, Trump remarked: "You take certain
countries. I don't want to mention any names but countries you consider
great. They're paying half a point. But they make $40bn a year with the
United States.
"We don't need their product. We
really don't need their product. So if we cut off trade with that
country, we just made $40 billion. We do a few countries like that, and
we become a big money machine."
Actually,
we do need trade with other countries. He's such an idiot that he
thinks we can exist in a world where we never need imports. But let's
say Chump's referring to Canada with his $40 billion a year claim, if we
aren't buying from that country this year, for example, that doesn't
mean we've saved $40 million. Whatever we were buying from Canada for
forty million we will now need to buy from someone else. Even if it can
be made in the US, it would take a minimum of 18 months to get a
manufacturing facility up and running to produce this item that we
wanted so badly we were previously spending $40 million a year on. He's
like the person with a coupon for purchase a dinner for $40 and get one
dinner free. He wants to claim that he saved forty dollars using that
coupon. No, he spent forty dollars using that coupon. Without that
coupon, he might have stayed home and eaten something for dinner already
in his home.
So, in
Chump's example, the only way $40 billion is being saved is if you are
no longer importing the item and it's not being stocked in the US.
Keeping a historic building in top shape costs serious money.
When that property is the most famous residence in America, even basic upkeep turns into a major spectacle.
Now, a new six-figure bill has dropped for a very specific basement recreation room.
Upgrading an iconic hangout at the executive mansion is expensive, and federal records reveal a massive bill.
According
to the Irish Star, the government handed a staggering $253,000 contract
to Charles Mann Enterprises in June, sending the funds straight toward
lighting upgrades for the historic Harry S. Truman Bowling Alley.
A White House official downplayed the cost, calling the project routine.
They explained, “These were standard modifications and repairs to the Bowling Alley, such as fixing broken light fixtures.”
President
Donald Trump has dropped another clunker in the laps of his fellow
Republicans in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections.
His
new trade war with Canada and his related move to change the name of
Lake Ontario to “Lake America” are the latest in a series of unpopular
actions.
In fact, new polling suggests they’re even more unpopular than Trump’s previous tariffs and efforts to rename things.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll conducted in recent days is the first quality survey to test Trump’s renewed clash with Canada.
It
shows Americans oppose the president’s executive order to rename Lake
Ontario as “Lake America” 63% to 14%, with the rest undecided.
That
more than 4-to-1 margin is more lopsided than when Trump moved to
rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” last year. Back then,
polls showed more than 7 in 10 Americans opposed it. But support was
about twice as high, on average.
The new survey also shows strong opponents (52%) outnumber strong supporters (7%) about 7-to-1.
And even Trump’s fellow Republicans oppose renaming Lake Ontario, 43%-33%.
More Americans than ever now believe corruption is widespread across the U.S. government.
A
new Gallup poll found that nearly nine in 10 Americans now believe
corruption is prevalent across the government—a 10-point increase from
the same survey last year, in the first year of President Donald Trump’s
second term.
Those figures mean the United
States has the highest level of perceived government corruption among
countries with advanced economies, according to Gallup, which polled
1,000 Americans in May and June.
The increase has
been particularly pronounced among Democrats, whose views have shifted
sharply since Trump returned to the White House.
In
2024, during Joe Biden’s presidency, 57 percent of Democrats said
corruption was widespread. That figure increased to 76 percent in 2025,
Trump’s first year back in office, and reached 91 percent this year,
according to Gallup.
Republican views, by
contrast, have changed comparatively little over the same period. This
year, 83 percent of Republicans said corruption was widespread, compared
with 90 percent of independents.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Polls
point to a likely brutal midterms for Republicans, with perceptions of
corruption within the Trump administration likely a factor in the grim
GOP outlook. A recent Emerson College poll has Democrats leading
Republicans by eight points on the generic congressional ballot.
Chump's a nightmare and he's a vain nightmare. He was
not as popular as the late President John F. Kennedy and he never will
be. He is not admired the way JFK is to this day. Chump is seen as a
corrupt fish wife with no real taste. And that's why he is hell bent on
trying to co-opt The Kennedy Center. If he can't put his name on it,
he'll tear it down. Kathrine Frich (DAGENS) reports:
Cities are defined by their monuments, but the natural landscape around them often carries just as much historical weight.
When those green spaces suddenly disappear, the public tends to notice.
Now, a series of landscaping choices in the nation’s capital has sparked intense backlash.
The
Trump administration recently oversaw the removal of 40 weeping willow
trees outside the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center. Those specific
plants held deep meaning for the country.
They were originally placed there to represent national mourning after the president was assassinated in 1963.
A
crane removed the 24-foot (7-meter) sculpture "Blue" from the Kennedy
Center grounds on Wednesday in the latest move to redesign Washington's
public spaces under President Donald Trump.
The
sculpture, made of rectangular blue aluminum blocks, had sat near where
a tarp obscures the center's facade, as Trump allies continue court
battles to try to keep his name on the front of the complex, created by
an act of Congress to memorialize slain President John F. Kennedy.
Created
by artist Joel Shapiro, "Blue" resembles a soaring stick figure with
arms outstretched and one leg kicked up in the air. Since 2019, it was
located on a grassy area between the main Kennedy Center building and a
separate venue called "The Reach" used for arts education.
Mike Stunson (USA TODAY) notes, "The
removal has drawn criticism from artists and activists who view it as
another example of the Trump administration reshaping the Kennedy
Center's artistic identity. Hands Off the Arts, a group of artists,
former employees and patrons opposed to Trump's changes of the Kennedy
Center, condemned the removal and accused the administration of trying
to erase art it dislikes." Jesse Bedayn (AP) quotes Hands Off The Arts' Michael Sebastiani stating, "Art is what makes you think, and that’s its role in life." Odyssey Fields (DC NEWS NOW) quotes Hands Off The Arts' Chris Raleigh stating, "The
president should not be dictating what art should or shouldn't be out
in the public. Blue was our mascot. He was the symbol of the freedom of
expression. He was a symbol of the First Amendment of free speech, that
we could be a free people, spend our time dancing or watching art inside
of the building." Alex Woodward (INDEPENDENT) quotes the group's INSTAGRAM post
which includes, "Wednesday, September 2, 2026 will forever be known as
the day the United States government tore down a piece of public art at
the behest of a petulant crybaby."
As
Chump continues to disrespect the memory of JFK, he should grasp that
he is not and will never been seen as on the same level as JFK; however,
his constant attacks on JFK's memory may lead to him being seen as an
acolyte of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Army
Secretary Dan Driscoll's resignation follows a strained relationship
with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and repeated warnings to the White
House, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, about what has been
described as Hegseth's widespread and seemingly indiscriminate firing of
senior military officers, according to sources familiar with the
matter.
Driscoll also warned the White House
about unprecedented efforts by Hegseth to block others from advancing
into the military's highest ranks after they had been thoroughly vetted,
the sources said.
Driscoll resigned Monday
last week at one of the busiest moments for the service since the height
of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, creating a potentially significant
leadership void as the Army takes on a growing list of demands.
In
the aftermath of the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll,
multiple sources told CNN they believe Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is
damaging the Army’s efforts to adapt to the modern battlefield as he
focuses on culture wars and prioritizing his own image of the “American
warfighter,” and pushes out leaders who don’t align with his vision.
In
submitting his resignation, a source familiar said Driscoll brought up
“concerns with the administration surrounding Army transformation and
readiness and Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing
the generals who were responsible.”
Driscoll announced Tuesday evening that Wednesday would be his “last full day in the role.”
Multiple
sources agreed with the concerns Driscoll raised: that Hegseth is
damaging the Army’s efforts to modernize and adapt to the 21st century
battlefield environment – where drone warfare is becoming increasingly
important – by firing or pushing out leaders who were spearheading those
efforts.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blocked the promotion of at least six more U.S Army officers, according to reports.
Sources
told The Hill the unnamed individuals had been set for the rank of
two-star general until Hegseth intervened, the latest in a series of
similar moves by the secretary this year as he seeks to reshape the
Department of Defense.
In August the same
outlet reported Hegseth had obstructed four other officers from
receiving one star promotions, and in March the secretary was said to
have blocked four other Army officers - two women and two Black men - in
similar fashion.
Analysis by The New York Times on Monday
found that he has now fired or blocked the promotions of more than 80
generals and admirals, amounting to a purge of around 10 per cent of the
military’s top officers.
All
the above videos address so many things Hegseth is doing wrong.
However, not one of them notes how he's breaking the law currently.
What
should we Americans do when it comes out that our Secretary of Defense
has been committing crimes in plain sight and nobody in the
administration seems concerned about it?
Back in 2008, New York Times reporter David Barstow revealed that the Pentagon under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, starting in the fall of 2002, had recruited dozens of retired military officers to go on TV as if they were independent military analysts.
They
were paid to push the Bush administration’s propaganda about weapons of
mass destruction, mushroom clouds, and other lies to build support for
the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that the president and vice
president had lied us into.
The hired guns got
their talking points from the Pentagon, and internal documents called
them “message force multipliers.” One participant later described it as “psyops on steroids.” Barstow disclosed how this was pure propaganda, noting:
“[M]embers
of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even
when they suspected the information was false or inflated.”
Those
unnecessary and illegal wars cost America the lives of about 7,000
troops and 7,600 contractors, led more than 30,000 service members and
veterans of those conflicts to later commit suicide, 52,000+ wounded for
life, and added roughly $5 trillion to our national debt with an
estimated $2 trillion in veterans care and interest still to be paid.
Barstow
won a Pulitzer Prize for his work and Congress — responding to
widespread horror among the public that America would start targeting
the civilian and voting population with propaganda the same way Hitler
routinely did in the 1930s and Putin does daily in Russia — passed 10 U.S.C. 2241a, which says simply:
“Funds
available to the Department of Defense may not be obligated or expended
for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not
otherwise specifically authorized by law.”
Ever
since, every Pentagon appropriation has carried a similar restriction
known as Section 8001, following a similar prohibition passed 74 years
ago as the Federal Labor-Security Act of 1952, which says:
“No
part of any appropriation . . . shall be used for publicity or
propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized
by the Congress.”
Propagandizing the American
people has been a crime for more years than Hegseth has been alive:
there shouldn’t be any doubt that our government using our tax dollars
to target us with psyops is illegal. But don’t bother telling that to
Whiskey Pete. He apparently doesn’t care.
This past Sunday, Dan Lamothe and Tara Copp revealed in The Washington Post (Pentagon Secretly Installs Military Influencers in Civilian Roles)
that Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon has been quietly moving several
conservative military veterans with large online followings into
government roles, all while refusing to answer any questions about what
they actually do.
What we do know is that most
have been using their public personas to push stories favorable to Pete
and Trump and to trash-talk opponents of this administration’s policies.
Greg Bovino. Last week, he showed up
insisting members of the administration were attempting to get him
killed. He's back in the news this week and it concerns how he left
Border Patrol. Vic Verbalaitis (DAILY BEAST) reports:
Newly
released emails reveal that former Border Patrol bruiser Gregory Bovino
was under internal investigation by Customs and Border Protection at
the time of his retirement.
Bovino, 56, was
contacted by an internal government watchdog for an “official Inquiry
into allegations of misconduct” in early March, two weeks before he
announced his retirement, according to records released by CBP last week.
An
official whose name was redacted emailed Bovino on March 2 to announce
the investigation and asked him to acknowledge it and answer questions.
The
former Border Patrol “commander-at-large” emailed an agency official 16
days later on March 18 that he was planning to retire and relocate. He
officially retired from CBP at the end of that month.
The alleged misconduct under investigation involved Bovino’s testimony in federal court last year, in which he was accused of lying by a federal judge, as well as antisemitic comments he allegedly made about Minnesota federal prosecutor Daniel N. Rosen during a phone call.
U.S.
District Judge Sara Ellis said in November that Bovino repeatedly lied
to the court over his anti-immigrant sweep in Chicago. She then imposed a
preliminary injunction limiting federal officers’ use of tear gas and
other riot-control weapons against nonviolent protesters, as well as
requiring agents to wear body cameras.
Bovino denies any wrongdoing, telling the Tribune
both probes were "drummed up" after he left Minnesota and calling the
whole episode a "political hit job." He claims Customs and Border
Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott forced a second review after an
initial board cleared him, framing his ouster as retaliation.
"Open
a file. Strip the security detail. Investigate the security," Bovino
wrote in a recent social media post, describing what he called a
deliberate effort to push him out quietly.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Murray: “More fish—fewer tariffs and fewer wars.”
ICYMI:
Murray Introduces Bill to End Trump’s Trade War with Canada & Lower
Costs, Slams Trump’s Latest Tariffs as “Economic Arson”
Murray has been a longstanding
champion of the maritime industry, consistently securing key federal
funding increases under tough fiscal conditions; Murray also recently
established the first-ever seafood liaison at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
Thanks to Trump’s war with Iran,
national average diesel has climbed past $5 a gallon—up nearly $2 from a
year ago—and fuel can account for as much as 40 percent of the operating costs of a fishing trip
Bellingham, WA — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a
maritime roundtable discussion in Bellingham with the Working Waterfront
Coalition of Whatcom County, commercial fishermen, shellfish growers,
maritime workforce leaders, and the Port of Bellingham to hear directly
about how President Trump’s chaotic trade war, his war in Iran, and his
deep cuts to federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service are raising costs
and threatening jobs across Washington state’s working waterfronts.
“Our maritime industry and our ports power the economy in
Washington state—our fish and shellfish travel far on their own, but our
fishermen and our ports are the reason they’re famous worldwide,” said Senator Murray. “And
this administration’s reckless and unpredictable tariffs have been
nothing short of a disaster for them—driving up costs and making it
impossible for any small business to plan. Let’s just acknowledge how
Trump’s decision to pursue an all-out trade war with Canada—Washington
state’s biggest trading partner and our country’s closest ally—is beyond
stupid and counterproductive, fraying partnerships north of the border
that have spanned lifetimes. Trump’s war in Iran has made fuel far more
expensive for fleets already running on razor-thin margins. And that’s
to say nothing of pushing federal workers out en masse and making severe
cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service—clearly, Trump does not
understand that our fishermen rely on a top-notch National Weather
Service to do their work.”
“The most urgent thing we can do to bring costs down in a big
way is put an end to this trade war and to the actual war against
Iran—and Congress can do both,” continued Senator Murray.
“How about instead of funding bombs in the Middle East we invest in our
fisheries and habitat recovery here at home? Let me sum it up: more
fish—fewer tariffs and fewer wars.”
Washington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent
of jobs in the state tied to international commerce—and no community
feels that more directly than Whatcom County, which sits at the Canadian
border. In just one year, Trump’s tariff tax has cost the average family nearly $2,000, with hardworking Americans bearing 96% of the cost
of the hundreds of billions of dollars in new tariffs. Still, Trump has
been undeterred by the chaos and pain his trade war has wrought and
continues to double down on the global stage.
Yesterday, Murray announced the End Trump’s Tariff Tax Act, legislation
that would revoke and refund Trump’s latest barrage of tariffs and
repeal the archaic authorities he has used to continue his trade war.
This legislation would apply to Trump’s newest global tariffs of 12.5%
and 50% tariffs on Canada.
At the same time, Trump’s war in Iran and the resulting disruption at
the Strait of Hormuz have sent fuel costs soaring for Washington
state’s fishing fleets and maritime businesses. National average diesel
has climbed past $5 a gallon—up nearly $2 from a year ago—and fuel can
account for as much as 40 percent
of the operating costs of a fishing trip, pushing captains up and down
the coast to cut days at sea or tie up their boats altogether.
Joining Senator Murray at the roundtable discussion were: Dan Tucker,
Executive Director of the Working Waterfront Coalition of Whatcom
County; Sierra Oliver, Program Director of the NW Maritime
Apprenticeship Program with the Working Waterfront Foundation; Steve
Seymour, Owner and CEO of Drayton Harbor Oyster Company; Ron Wille,
President and COO of All American Marine; Jamie Wurtz, commercial
fisherman and owner of Wurtz Fisheries; and Mike Hogan, Public Affairs
Administrator at the Port of Bellingham.
“Senator Murray is a tremendous champion for Washington’s working
waterfronts,” said Port of Bellingham Public Affairs Administrator Mike
Hogan. “Over
the past two years, Senator Murray has helped secure over $40 million
in federal grants to rebuild Whatcom County’s maritime infrastructure
and create new family-wage jobs.”
“Maritime sectors worldwide are underway with the largest shift in
technology since the switch from sail to steam,” said Dan Tucker,
Executive Director of the Working Waterfront Coalition of Whatcom
County. “Whatcom
County and Washington state need steady regulation and policy,
protection for American shipbuilding and crews through the Jones Act,
federal investment in business and workforce development, and careful
consideration of our international partners in order to provide
career-track, retirement-potential opportunities to the next generation
that will build tomorrow’s blue economy.”
“First the price of fish is of greatest concern, if the
markets are not buying wild sustainable caught fish at a healthy price
our business is unsustainable and crew and captains alike cannot make a
living,” said Jamie Wurtz, commercial fisherman and owner of Wurtz Fisheries. “Fuel
costs have the second biggest impact on small fishing operations.
These can normally be the largest expense of any fishing season with
this last year’s price of agricultural- off road diesel fuel increasing
22%. For example, last year in WA state fuel rose from $3.59 a gallon to
$5.00 a gallon and in Alaska it was even higher, going from $4.68 a
gallon to $6.10. That translates to being the largest expense in our
operation after the cost of financing a boat. This increase impacts our
ability to be profitable. All fishermen need to see some stability in
the markets for the price of seafood as well as the price of fuel.”
“Whatcom County businesses are ready to grow, but need
investment in industrial waterfront infrastructure, clearer and more
predictable environmental regulations, and faster, more accessible
workforce-training incentives. These changes would unlock business
expansion, create good-paying jobs, and expand workforce development
opportunities. Limited infrastructure restricts our ability to create
the volume of work and training opportunities needed to bring more women
and other underrepresented workers into the marine trades,” said
Patrick Schjelderup, co-owner and CEO of Top to Bottom Marine, Inc.
Senator Murray has consistently gone to bat for Washington state’s
fishermen and maritime workforce in the federal funding bills she helps
to write as Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, securing
important funding increases for programs at NOAA that support
aquaculture and fisheries. Murray also secured funding to create and
establish the first-ever seafood industry liaison at the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. President Trump’s FY27 budget request proposes serious
cuts that would hit the people in Whatcom County’s maritime community
directly—including completely eliminating funding for the Pacific
Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) and NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research. Murray has made clear she plans to rip up
President Trump’s budget and write a new one.
Senator Murray has been a vocal opponent
of Trump’s chaotic trade war from the very start and has been lifting
up the voices of people in Washington state harmed by this
administration’s approach to trade, while calling on Republicans to end
Trump’s trade war and take back Congress’s constitutionally-granted
power to impose tariffs. Senator Murray has held events in every corner
of Washington state to hear directly from constituents, businesses, and
workers about how Trump’s tariffs are harming them—including in Tacoma,
Yakima, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagit County, and Blaine, just across the border from Canada. Last fall, she held a roundtable with small business owners in Vancouver and slammed Trump for the cost of his tariffs. Last December, she responded
to a Joint Economic Committee report showing Trump’s tariffs on Canada
have caused a steep decline in Canadian tourism that is harming border
communities in Washington state. She also grilled
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a Senate Appropriations
subcommittee hearing over how the trade war with Canada is hurting
Washington state businesses and consumers. Murray has been outspoken in
her opposition to Trump’s pointless and counterproductive hostilities
toward Canada at every step.
Senator Murray has also repeatedly voted to end President Trump’s
unauthorized war in Iran, including voting for war powers resolutions to
terminate hostilities
absent a declaration of war or an authorization for the use of military
force from Congress, and has demanded answers from the administration
on behalf of Washington state constituents who do not want to be dragged
into another forever war.
1 lb. frozen, cooked rock shrimp, tails removed and deveined, thawed
2 ripe, Fresh California Avocados, seeded, peeled and 1/4 inch diced
1/2 cup mango, papaya or pineapple juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 vine-ripened tomato, 1/4 inch diced
1/2 medium red onion, peeled and 1/4 inch diced
Instructions
Cut
1 cucumber in half width-wise. Cut one half into ¼ inch dice and make
thin-sliced cucumber ribbons with the other half. Set aside.
In
a large mixing bowl, place the shrimp, diced cucumber, half the diced
avocado and both juices in the bowl. Gently mix and let marinate for 20
minutes.
With a slotted spoon, place the shrimp mixture in a serving dish, adding the liquid to fill just half way up the dish.
Garnish
the serving dish with the cucumber ribbons, tomato, and onions. Top the
entire dish with the remaining diced avocados and serve immediately.
Lisa
notes she's been craving salads but denying herself because of the safety issues with lettuce. This recipe, she notes, doesn't require any form
of lettuce.
Let's note our previous salad recipes from this summer,
last summer and the summer before that:
Petulant President Donald Trump melted down over a minute-long ABC News segment about his disastrous war in the Middle East.
The
network’s chief White House correspondent, Mary Bruce, reported on
Tuesday evening that the Trump administration was looking to “turn up
the economic pressure” on Iran as the two countries traded military
strikes for the first time since June.
Bruce
was referring to comments made by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
during an earlier interview with FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow at the G20
finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
Bessent
said the U.S. would target countries that support Iran, and freeze
assets belonging to officials, as well as banks and offshore accounts.
He called this “economic asphyxiation.”
Appearing
on World News Tonight with David Muir, Bruce said that showed clearly
what the White House wanted to achieve. “The Trump administration is
trying to turn up the economic pressure on Iran,” she said.
“Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent saying they are going to, quote, ‘economically
asphyxiate Iran and force them to the bargaining table,’” she added,
triggering Trump’s ire.
Not long after the
broadcast, the 80-year-old president posted on Truth Social, denying the
report and appearing to contradict Bessent’s comments. “I’m not trying
to force Iran to the bargaining table, as ABC Fake News reported,” he
said.
“I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless,
to them, agreement. I like our position now much better, with almost
total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally
collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the
Iranian people going to rise up and fight?” he added.
But,
liar and idiot, we do not have any control of the Hormuz Strait, let
alone "total control." He just lies and lies over and over.
Wednesday, September 2, 2026. Thomas Massie has another discharge
petition for The Epstein Files, Greg Abbott does not protect girls in
sports as evidenced by the predator that's been in Texas for some time
and Greg's looked the other way, Chump's lies about Venezuelan oil are
just the latest in a series of lies, Pete Hegseth shows how 'manly' and
'mature' he is by mocking a girl in high school, and much more.
Starting with Jeffrey Epstein, Donald
Chump's roll dog of many decades who died in jail, Todd Blanche, as
deputy attorney general, as acting Attorney General and now as Attorney
General, has refused to follow the law regarding the release of the
Epstein files.. So now there's a move to beef the law up. US House Rep
Thomas Massie named names. Tara Suter (THE HILL) reports:
Rep.
Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has been a key figure in the push to release
files linked to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the last
few years, read off more than a dozen names of what he said were
“Epstein coconspirators” on Monday.
“On the
House floor tonight, I read the names of several Epstein coconspirators
who should be investigated and prosecuted,” Massie said in a Monday
night post on the social platform X.
“I also
began collecting 218 signatures for the discharge petition to force a
vote on Epstein Files Transparency Act II,” he added.
Massie’s
post included a clip of himself on the House floor, where he said it
had “been a year since the president signed the Epstein Files
Transparency Act,” referencing legislation he spearheaded alongside Rep.
Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) last year that resulted in the release of some
files linked to Epstein.
“And the government continues
to withhold over three million files. That’s why we’ve introduced the
Epstein Files Transparency Act II, to bring the fight to the state
courts, accountability to the Department of Justice and closure for
survivors. We want perpetrators of these crimes to be investigated and
prosecuted,” he added.
Among
the names Massie provided were Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (former
Prince Andrew of England), David Copperfield (magician) and Jes Staley
(whom we noted in last Friday's snapshot). Khaleda Rahman (NEWSWEEK) provides the full fourteen names, "In
the order Massie named them, they are: Jes Staley, Leon Black, Les
Wexner, David Copperfield, Lapo Elkann, Tom Pritzker, Glenn Dubin,
Frédéric Fekkai, Eduardo Teodorani, Jean-Luc Brunel, Daniel Siad, Ramsey
Elkholy, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lesley Groff."
A
discharge petition requires 218 signatures and forces a bill or
resolution to be brought directly to the House floor for consideration,
even if it's previously been held up in the committee process.
The
second petition is designed to force the release of files the
government has redacted and gives state attorneys general, Epstein's
victims and members of Congress standing to challenge the Justice
Department in court over aspects of the original law it has not
followed.
"I never anticipated that the highest
law enforcement officer in the land would not enforce the law once it
became a law. That's what this addresses. We try to dot the i's and
cross the t's here," Massie told The Washington Times. "This is somewhat
unprecedented that Todd Blanche is stonewalling a state attorney
general, so this unambiguously gives the attorneys general in the
various states the ability to prosecute these crimes by giving them
unfettered access to the files."
J.D. Wolf (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) adds, "On
Tuesday morning, Massie escalated the pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson,
saying there were rumors that Johnson could soon recess the House until
after the midterm elections and asking whether the move would be
intended to 'avoid the vote'." We all remember the positions Johnson
put himself in to avoid the first discharge petition. This included
Johnson refusing to swear in Adelita Grijalva for fifty days
after her election because he knew the Democrat was going to immediately
sign the discharge petition. This included Johnson adjourning or
recessing the House, it included him attacking the bill (including
calling it partisan) and it included him proposing other measures.
It'll be interesting to see which stalling tactics Speaker of the Closet
Johnson might resort to.
Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP have an even smaller House majority
now after Democratic Representative Everton Blair of Georgia was sworn in on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
Republicans
now have a 218–213 advantage over Democrats, and they’ll be down one
more vote once California Democrat Aisha Wahab—who replaced
scandal-ridden ex-Representative Eric Swalwell—is sworn in later this week.
So
214 once Aisha Wahab is sworn in later this week which means four
Republicans are needed to sign on to the discharge petition.
Chump? He's
resorting to anything and everything to try shore up midterms for the
GOP. This does involve scapegoating trans people. Devin Dwyer (ABC NEWS) reports
Chump is requesting the Supreme Court okay his immediate firing of 29
transgender service members despite the fact that they are awaiting
hearings on the ban:
The
justices will consider this fall whether to hear the case at this early
stage, before any final ruling on the merits by a lower court.
In
the meantime, the 29 plaintiffs – who are active-duty, reservists,
National Guard members and a person seeking to enlist – will remain in
the force.
"As the Trump administration’s own
attorneys admitted, these are qualified individuals who are meeting all
military standards," said Jennifer Levi, an attorney representing the
transgender service members with the LGBTQ legal advocacy group GLAD
Law. "There is no reason to waste millions of taxpayer dollars to kick
out thousands of highly trained, skilled and decorated troops based on
nothing but hostility and this administration’s political whims."
This move echoes Texas Governor Greg Abbott's
lies. In his commercial that's run everywhere (Sabina says most often
on PLUTO) he gives a one word sentence about how he has said NO boys in
girls sports because he's protecting girls.
Greg
claims he is all about protecting girls in sports. Really? Because Texas has a
problem coach. And Abbott has ignored this problem coach. Yesterday, Molly Hensley-Clancy (PROPUBLICA and WASHINGTON POST) reported that Homeland Security has picked up the case:
The
ProPublica and Post story detailed how Ryan Richardson continued to
coach teenage girls for years at his gym in Pharr, Texas, amid
allegations of misconduct, even after he was suspended in early 2025 and
subsequently ruled “permanently ineligible” this February by the U.S.
Center for SafeSport, an oversight group. On its public disciplinary list,
SafeSport said it found that Richardson had an intimate relationship
with a minor, committed sexual misconduct involving a minor, and engaged
in physical misconduct and bullying.
Juan J.
Flores Jr., a supervisor in a Homeland Security Investigations unit that
focuses on child exploitation in the Rio Grande Valley, told ProPublica
and The Post that he had launched the probe into Richardson in response
to the story, which included allegations from a parent and former
players that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old player
beginning in 2022 and that he groomed and emotionally and physically
abused others.
“My plan is to turn over every rock, have every conversation. I know he’s still coaching,” Flores said.
That
was early 2025 when he was suspended. And Abbott did nothing. He's
still done nothing. He pretends he wants to protect girls.
Abbott
is not a protector of girls. And he has no leg to stand on when he
talks about girls and sports because he allowed the predator Ryan
Richardson to coach in Texas after being suspended in early 2025 for his
inappropriate action with girls.
President
Donald Trump's boast that cheaper gas is just around the corner after
his energy deal with Venezuela didn't last long at all.
According
to a report from The Washington Post, energy industry analysts and
experts in oil extraction are rolling their eyes at the president's
claim that "THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY" would "substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans."
That may be true in five years at best, experts fired back.
Not for at least a couple of years, if ever, many in the industry told the Washington Post — certainly not before voters cast ballots
in the fall midterms, and probably not before Trump leaves office.
That's because the billions of barrels of reserves the U.S. is seeking
access to through the deal are "notoriously difficult to extract."
"Everyone
cheering the Venezuela deal thinks a flood of cheap oil is about to hit
and pull gas prices down. It isn't," Tracy Shuchart, senior economist
at NinjaTrader, wrote on X. "The barrels that could actually move a U.S.
pump price are 5 to 15 years out."
Mark
Finley, a fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University's Baker
Institute, told the Post the "ramp-up" will be slow at best.
Chump lies and lies and lies again.
Fact
checking Chump is hard because there are days where every other
sentence he spits out is a lie. Aaron Blake (CNN) is someone who's
addressed Chump's lies for many years now. In his latest for CNN, he notes:
It
should surprise nobody that the president who tried to overturn the
2020 election based on lies — and didn’t seem to mind his supporters
rising up violently on January 6, 2021 — might try to monkey with the
2026 midterm elections.
It remains to be seen whether President Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere in the 2026 election will actually work.
But recent developments should serve as a reality check that he’s trying, with potentially ugly results.
While that might not sound shocking in and of itself, there is plenty about it that’s irregular.
The
effort involves using an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
called Homeland Security Investigations, which typically handles other
crimes like human trafficking and drug smuggling.
But
mostly, the reason it should raise eyebrows is because of the proximity
to the 2026 election, now just a little more than two months away. As
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, Tierney Sneed and Gabe Cohen note, the federal
government typically avoids such “overt” investigatory actions so close
to an election. The reason is that mere allegations that haven’t been
thoroughly examined could influence the election.
But when it comes to Trump and alleged voter fraud, that’s a feature rather than a bug.
Trump
has spent a decade trying and failing to substantiate his claims of
widespread fraud. In his first term, he launched a voter fraud
commission that folded with little to show. His campaign paid people to find widespread fraud after the 2020 election, to no avail.
What the administration has produced of late is a lot of manufactured smoke.
That includes its bogus claim about 250,000 noncitizens being registered to vote in just four states. It also includes a highly unorthodox unsigned report
from the US Census Bureau last month claiming tens of thousands of
noncitizens voted in the 2020 presidential election. (Experts have
decried both claims.)
The DHS effort would seem to be geared toward promoting such claims, given the department’s purview.
But
if other efforts to find widespread voter fraud didn’t produce anything
substantive, the odds would appear slim that DHS will change that in
just two months.
Of course, producing ironclad
evidence of fraud probably isn’t the point. The Trump administration’s
goal appears to be seeding more doubt — and possibly even creating a
pretext for more federal intervention in the election (which we’ll get
to).
The other big development this week was an unnamed federal whistleblower issuing a major warning
about the Trump administration’s new system for verifying mail ballots.
The system has devolved into what workers describe as a “sh*t show”
that could lead to mass disenfranchisement of mail voters, the
whistleblower says
An
anonymous official with "direct knowledge" has come forward to warn
about "potentially catastrophic problems" with the government's proposed
takeover of the vote-by-mail system, according to a whistleblower complaint filed in federal court on Monday.
The official's concerns were documented on a docket in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by plaintiffs in one of many lawsuits challenging the rule that would have the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) wrest control of mail-in voting away from the states.
The whistleblower claims the major problem with the Trump administration's
sea change is with the "secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally
flawed process for the creation and implementation of an entirely new
and untested set" of information technology systems.
These
systems are related to a so-called "Portal" envisioned by the USPS in
which state and local election officials are expected to input each and
every voter's information in order to receive a qualifying postal mail
ballot and to "adhere to…data reporting standards."
To
hear the whistleblower tell it, the government has simultaneously
rushed the "final rule" while spending little time on the systems needed
to administer the proposed national mail-in voter database.
"The
Whistleblower believes on or about June 2026 work began in earnest on
the USPS election ballot mail IT project, just three months (which
reportedly includes a one month period when work was paused) before the
date USPS is currently working toward to launch that system," the
original whistleblower letter dated Aug. 30 reads.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued the following statement:
Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia,
Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
released the following statement after a whistleblower revealed to the
Oversight Committee that the United States Postal Service allegedly
built a secret tech system to implement the Trump Administration’s
unconstitutional attempt to seize control of vote by mail across the
country.
“The Oversight Committee has received whistleblower
reports that President Trump's attack on vote-by-mail for the 2026
election is more serious than previously understood. This new secret
tracking system at the US Postal Service is faulty, untested, and
threatens to totally disrupt ballot delivery for millions of American
citizens. We are fighting in court to protect the right to vote by mail
for all and will continue to investigate. This unconstitutional and
dangerous power grab must be permanently and immediately blocked,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
Army
Secretary Dan Driscoll has become the latest high-ranking U.S. military
official to leave the Pentagon amid reports of tensions with Secretary
Pete Hegseth.
No official reason has been
offered for Driscoll’s departure following 18 months in the role but it
comes after CNN and Reuters said he had been butting heads with Hegseth
for several months.
According to sources cited
by The Atlantic, Driscoll recently “brought up concerns with the
administration surrounding Army transformation and readiness and
Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing the generals who
were responsible.” His mission was seemingly unsuccessful.
Nevertheless,
President Donald Trump was said to be “surprised and concerned” about
the number of the cuts to the department and the seniority of those who
have left, The Atlantic reports. The department now has fewer generals
than any point in recent history, the outlet adds.
While
President Trump and his self-styled secretary of state for “War”, Pete
Hegseth, dismissed it as ‘fake news’, by all accounts, life for the
5,000 men and women on board the USS Abraham Lincoln had become a living
nightmare after more than 260 days at sea without respite.
The
nuclear-powered warship left San Diego in November and has, until
recently, been stationed in the Middle East to support the U.S. war
against Iran. While the Lincoln left the Middle East on August 22 on its
way home, with a planned Thailand stop, she has spent a record amount
of time at sea without a port visit. Stories abound about poor food, bad
hygiene, blocked toilets, intermittent showers, plummeting morale and
shredded mental health. Reports in the Military Times and the Stars and
Stripes claimed that sailors even tried to jump overboard as the
deployment kept going.
Despite
the official denials, including Trump’s tetchy assertion to White House
reporters that the deployment ‘should have been longer!’, the number of
accounts from families of those on board are persuasive. An emergency
town hall meeting in San Diego, earlier this month, attended by roughly
200 families, saw many desperate relatives confronting Navy leadership
over the prolonged deployment and worsening conditions. During the
meeting, the wife of one sailor aired her tearful grievance: “They’re
trapped in a metal prison in the middle of the ocean. They eat
prison-like food and sleep in tiny, cramped beds just like prisoners.”
In
an official statement, acting navy secretary Hung Cao confirmed the
ship had completed 266 days deployed, 200 days in a combat zone and more
than 10,000 sorties, and acknowledged that the sailors had been pushed
very hard. “There is no question our young men and women have been
pushed to their limits – but they have never been broken,” said Cao.
“However, it is clear, knowing the whole story, our force and their
families are not victims. They are the epitome of American strength and
resilience.”
He
is a hateful, little boy trying to ass himself off as a man. But grown
men do not mock children. And he's such a piece of trash that he's now
taken to publicly mocking children. Dexter Brinson (MOUNT OLIVE CHRONICLE) notes:
Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth is under fire for a recent social media post
mocking a Canadian youth cadet instructor’s appearance, drawing
widespread condemnation amid a growing leadership crisis at the
Pentagon. The controversy comes as top officials continue to resign and
internal conflicts threaten the stability of the U.S. Department of
Defense under Hegseth’s tenure in 2026.
On
Monday, Hegseth shared a photo originally posted by the Vernon Cadet
Training Center in British Columbia, which depicts a smiling cadet
receiving a medal. The Canadian facility is a youth program for ages 12
to 18 that teaches military-style leadership and drills under the
Department of National Defense. However, Hegseth singled out one image,
added a Canadian flag, and captioned it with the dismissive remark,
“(this is real),” seemingly mocking the cadet’s physical appearance.
The
post quickly drew backlash from veterans, military supporters, and
social media users who criticized the Defense Secretary for body-shaming
a volunteer-led youth group rather than focusing on his
responsibilities. A Canadian veteran remarked, “The Secretary of Defense
is body shaming cadet groups. This is a youth group, not a military
unit. They are kids seeking adventure and service values.” Others
questioned the appropriateness of Hegseth’s comments during a time of
ongoing conflict, labeling the attack as “unhinged” and “embarrassing.”
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Port Townsend, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), toured Jefferson
Healthcare and discussed the new challenges health care providers are
facing over a year after Republicans passed the largest health care cuts
in history in their Big Ugly Bill. Throughout the tour, Senator Murray
heard from providers about the impact of the Republicans’ cuts to
Medicaid and their failure to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax
credits—causing massive premium hikes for families in Washington state.
The Republican reconciliation bill, which was signed into law in July 2025, cut more than $1 trillion from
Medicaid and the ACA over the next 10 years and will make health care
more expensive and harder to access. The nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) estimates that Republicans’ health care cuts will
terminate health insurance for roughly 15 million Americans nationwide.
“Republicans passed the largest cuts to health care in
history and have singlehandedly created a national health care crisis.
Meanwhile, providers are left to wonder how they will keep their staff
paid and their doors open,” said Senator Murray.
“Providers are doing incredible work, but they’re being asked to do a
more with a whole lot less. If that weren’t damaging enough, Republicans
refused to extend the health care tax credits—which millions of people
relied on to afford health coverage. The fallout from that has been
devastating. Families saw their premiums double, triple, or even worse.
When families in Jefferson County can’t afford coverage, they don’t get
less sick—they just end up in emergency rooms where hospitals eat the
cost and everyone else foots the bill. Congress needs to repeal Trump’s
cuts to health care—getting there won’t be easy, but we must fight hard
and make sure all Americans understand the harm these cuts are doing.”
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 numerousevents 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 the One Big Beautiful Act
(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 4th 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, speakingoutnonstop 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 virtualpressconferences 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.
