Well, off we go

[essentialsaltes]

She did not want to vote for Trump. [Ryleigh] Cooper hated what he said about women and hated how he treated them. Her family always said the women who accused the president of sexual assault had either made it up or deserved it. Cooper heard them and kept her own experience [of being sexually assaulted at 16] a secret, thinking that they might feel the same way about her.

She voted for Joe Biden in 2020, her first time casting a ballot in a presidential election. But life felt more complicated these days. Her mortgage was too expensive, groceries were nearly $400 a month, and one single cycle of IVF could cost more than 10 percent of her annual household income. [She has endometriosis, and her doctor has advised that IVF was the couple's 'best chance' for pregnancy]

Trump, at a campaign stop an hour and a half south of her, had promised to make IVF free. She knew that from a video clip she saw on TikTok. And she had believed him.

She also believed him when he said that Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican administration that suggested mass cuts to the federal workforce, was not his plan.

So Cooper filled in the bubble next to his name, thinking of the daughter she wanted. She planned to name her Charlotte.

The days after she got the text [firing her from her Forestry job] passed quickly.

Four days after Trump fired her, Cooper was in bed with her husband. She picked up her phone and saw the news.

There was a new executive order to expand access to IVF. She read the White House fact sheet, which talked about Trump’s request for policy recommendations to reduce costs of the service.

But it still wasn’t free, and she was out of a job and out of a plan.

 

[essentialsaltes]

He has a face though. And the leopards find that irresistible.

‘Just following Hispanic people': Citizen detained by ICE questions vote for Trump​

“I voted for Trump last election, but, because I thought it was going to be the things, you know, like, … just go against criminals, not every Hispanic looking, like, that they will assume that we are all illegals.”

 

[essentialsaltes]

He voted for Trump. Now his wife sits in an ICE detention center.​

Bradley Bartell and Camila Muñoz had a familiar small-town love story, before they collided with immigration politics.

But last month, on their way home to Wisconsin after honeymooning in Puerto Rico, an immigration agent pulled Muñoz aside in the airport.

"Are you an American citizen?" asked the agent. She answered no, she wasn't. She's from Peru.

She had overstayed her original visa but, they reasoned, she had been vetted from the start, worked on a W-2 and paid her taxes.

[The leopard cannot be reasoned with when quotas are on the line.]

It took days for Bartell to find his wife after she was detained at the airport.

It was nearly a week before Muñoz appeared in the ICE detention system. Her name finally turned up in an online locator, assigned to a privately run detention center in Louisiana.

Even those married or engaged to U.S. citizens are being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, USA TODAY has learned.

[USA Today has identified 4 more similar cases.]

None of the women has a criminal record, according to a USA TODAY review of national law enforcement records.

--

ETA:

Trump voter says he doesn't regret choice despite wife's ICE arrest

"I don't regret the vote," Bradley Bartell said after his wife was detained by ICE as they returned home from their honeymoon.

www.newsweek.com

 

[essentialsaltes]

Protesters slam O.C. Republican over feared Trump Medi-Cal [i.e. Medicaid] cuts​

As with others at Tuesday’s protest, the issue was personal for Josephine Rios.

The nursing assistant, 55, has worked at Kaiser Permanente Orange County Irvine Medical Center for seven years. She said she was protesting on behalf of her 7-year-old grandson, Elijah, who has cerebral palsy.

Rios said her grandson depends on $5,000 worth of medication and therapy a month, including physical, speech and occupational therapy. He also receives injections that help prevent “uncontrollable seizures.”

Rios said she felt betrayed by Kim, having voted for the representative in a grueling election that saw the Orange County conservative win her third consecutive term in November.

“I was her strongest advocate, and I helped elect her into office,” Rios said. “I convinced friends and family to vote for her.”

 

[Always in His Presence]

Except no one is cutting Medicare nor Medicaid - it is fear mongering

 

[essentialsaltes]

Except no one is cutting Medicare nor Medicaid - it is fear mongering

The Republican budget plan calls for $880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce bucket. It's mathematically impossible to do so without touching at least one of those programs.

The Math is Conclusive: Major Medicaid Cuts Are the Only Way to Meet House Budget Resolution Requirements​

Even if E&C eliminated all non-Medicaid and [Children’s Health Insurance Program] CHIP spending, the committee would need to cut federal spending on Medicaid and CHIP.

 

[Always in His Presence]

The Republican budget plan calls for $880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce bucket. It's mathematically impossible to do so without touching at least one of those programs.

Still no facts, no Republican cutting the programs, no Republican talking about cutting programs but Republicans refuting the fear mongering

 

[essentialsaltes]

Still no facts

Still no Republican budget. But the Republican budget plan will require cuts.

 

[Always in His Presence]

Still no Republican budget. But the Republican budget plan will require cuts.

and bananas turn black as they age -

When you have some facts - let's talk -

until then, it is little more than fear mongering - IMHO

 

[essentialsaltes]

until then, it is little more than fear mongering - IMHO

No, this is prophecy. If they stick to their budget plan, Medicaid will be cut.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Musk asks voters to brace for 'hardship' from spending cuts in potential Trump Cabinet role

i wonder how many Leopards ate my face stories and how quickly we will be hearing them.

The richest country ever with an oligarchy of the richest people ever has to "live within its means"? That's a LOT of means. Maybe people don't have to suffer.

Or nah. Maybe they really need to have those values made very clear.

How many other countries have over $36 trillion in national debt?

 

[Always in His Presence]

No, this is prophecy. If they stick to their budget plan, Medicaid will be cut.

hmmm.... an Atheist Prophet - OK... Let's see if it is a false prophesy or not - time will tell.

 

[essentialsaltes]

If Trump eliminates the cap on SALT tax deductions, my effective tax rate will decrease 0.6%.

'You've maxed out the federal $10,000 deduction for itemized state and local taxes.'

Wrass-a-frass plunkety-flop!

 

[essentialsaltes]

[Trump] has picked Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who called the UN a “cesspool of antisemitism” for its condemnation of deaths in Gaza, to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations.

Elise Stefanik [R-NY] Reportedly Under Pressure to Withdraw U.N. Amb Nomination to Protect GOP’s Razor-Thin House Majority

Stefanik has not resigned from her seat in Congress, and with the narrow majority in the House, Republicans need all the votes they can muster.

If she is confirmed to represent the US at the UN, her district would hold a special election, which could further imperil the slim majority her party holds in the House.

[Given how the recent PA state senate race went -- Democrat James Malone narrowly won in a district where Trump got 57% of the vote in 2024, the GOP may not feel very confident about winning in NY with a non-incumbent.]

ETA:

White House pulls Stefanik’s UN ambassador nomination amid concern over narrow Republican House majority​

 

[essentialsaltes]

Texas county that swung to Trump grapples with immigration crackdown after bakery is targeted​

Trump and top aides repeatedly emphasize they are deporting criminals.

Pan dulce is not a crime.

Owners (who have green cards -- but may lose them) and 8 employees (2 undocumented, 6 without work authorization) were arrested by ICE.

 

[essentialsaltes]

He voted for Trump. Now his wife sits in an ICE detention center.​

Bradley Bartell and Camila Muñoz had a familiar small-town love story, before they collided with immigration politics.

Wisconsin Trump voter's wife freed on bond after 49 days in ICE custody​

For nearly six weeks, Muñoz had no pending court date or bond hearing. She had no criminal background and faced no criminal charges. ICE has wide latitude to detain immigrants who violate the terms of their visa, or who are in an unfinished immigration process.

"I understand the government is doing stuff to protect the country," Muñoz said. "But I was thinking, it’s too much."

"I started to get scared," she said. "I met women who had been there seven months, eight months. People who think they are going to be Americans or have the green card. I wasn’t the only one. There were a large number of people who were married."

At 9 a.m. Friday, Muñoz attended her bond hearing with an immigration judge, via video. The government's attorney told the judge, "This case has been in the news," Muñoz said.

Muñoz, who has no criminal record in the U.S. or her home country, still faces an immigration court process related to her visa overstay

Catch and Release. SMH.

 

[iluvatar5150]

He voted for Trump. Now his wife sits in an ICE detention center.​

If Peg had been Mexican, this could've been the plot of a Married With Children episode.

 

[essentialsaltes]

'I've been bitter': MAGA voter abandons GOP after being among first fired by Trump​

"Two days after I celebrated him taking office in 2025, he cut my position within the federal government," said Denise. "I am a 21-year federal employee who took a position last year in the Office of Equity Assurance at the VA (Veterans Affairs). In that capacity, we were working to assist underserved veteran populations within the U.S. and its territories: rural and tribal veterans, women veterans, minorities, senior veterans, homeless vets. We were working to figure out what disparities these groups face because of where they live, and trying to offer them a more equal chance at obtaining VA benefits."

What kind of WOKE nonsense is that? You're Fired!

 

[essentialsaltes]

No, this is prophecy. If they stick to their budget plan, Medicaid will be cut.

House Republicans face dilemma over Medicaid cuts as they vow to protect benefits​

House Republicans are facing the difficult task of slashing $1.5 trillion — with hundreds of billions likely in Medicaid spending — to help offset the cost of President Trump's tax cuts.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently calculatedthat achieving those savings [the budget plan] would not be possible without cuts to Medicaid, which accounts for 93% of non-Medicare mandatory spending under the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Projected spending for programs other than Medicare and Medicaid totals $581 billion, meaning that even if the committee eliminated all other non-mandatory spending, which is highly unlikely, it would still come up short of the $880 billion goal.

The issue will come to a head in the coming weeks. The Energy and Commerce Committee plans to mark up its portion of the reconciliation package on May 7.

 

[DaisyDay]

House Republicans face dilemma over Medicaid cuts as they vow to protect benefits​

House Republicans are facing the difficult task of slashing $1.5 trillion — with hundreds of billions likely in Medicaid spending — to help offset the cost of President Trump's tax cuts.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently calculatedthat achieving those savings [the budget plan] would not be possible without cuts to Medicaid, which accounts for 93% of non-Medicare mandatory spending under the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Projected spending for programs other than Medicare and Medicaid totals $581 billion, meaning that even if the committee eliminated all other non-mandatory spending, which is highly unlikely, it would still come up short of the $880 billion goal.

The issue will come to a head in the coming weeks. The Energy and Commerce Committee plans to mark up its portion of the reconciliation package on May 7.

The time to pay down the debt is during the boom times; unfortunately, the current Congress has decided to cut revenues while the president induces a recession.