Crystal ball read of the minute: Medicaid and Medicare budget cuts
As women, when healthcare falls apart, we're the ones who get distress calls from our parents, kids, and friends. Here's today's update on potential budget cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and/or SNAP.
Previous episode catch-up
(Updated with 2023 income data.)
(TLDR my earlier post? Here’s the shorter version. Also, one of the best analogies I’ve seen about people who attempt to placate Trump is “petting the wolf.” I’ll be using that more; thanks to whoever came up with that; I’d bet it was a Substacker.)
Short version: With a deadline of March 15 to kick the can or shut down the country, Trump needs at least $4T in budget cuts just to pay for his tax cut alone (which BTW won’t help you much unless you made at least $336K in 2023; see prior posts for more on that.) The wary Senate knows this, and their budget version put off dealing with the tax cut until later in the year, hoping to pet the wolf with early wins elsewhere. Speaker Johnson, Wolf Petter in Chief, put forward “one big beautiful bill,” which made it clear that almost $900B would have to come from Medicaid/Medicare, plus another $100B+ from SNAP food assistance; the latter alone would cut out a quarter of people receiving it.
Democrats will absolutely not help out. They are lying in wait and salivating, since messing with healthcare is an absolutely sure-fire way to lose the next election. There’s plenty of history on that, not to mention bringing on the wrath of affluent Boomer Republican donors if Medicare even gets mentioned. There’s also the small problem that rural families (AKA Republican voters) would be affected more by Medicaid and SNAP cuts than urban voters.
Most of the Senate didn’t give the House bill a chance, so when it passed Tuesday night, both senators and representatives quickly beat feet to Trump’s door. Amazingly enough, it turns out their constituents might be affected. That’s where we are now with the March 15 deadline looming.
Tip: For a smile, don’t miss what Tesla’s stockholders are requesting of Musk, below.
Reading the crystal ball of the hour
Note there are some gifted article below that you’d otherwise have to pay for. You’re welcome!
Stop gap is fine now: After playing Johnson with praise for his “one big beautiful bill” on Truth Social last week, Trump is now talking well, maybe, a stop gap “clean” bill to fund the government—which is where the Senate was headed in the first place. You have to give the guy credit; he’s capable of quick adjustments when his ideas hit a wall. He ignores predictions, waits to see what happens, then adjusts on the fly as needed. Do you think Musk is sharing his ketamine?
Tariffs: Republican supplicants to the wolf proposed tariffs as a source of new revenue to cover the cost of the tax cut. (Remember “External Revenue Department?). And sure enough, tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China are back on the burner for Tuesday.
In the meantime, Mexico’s Boomer/Gen X bridger1 president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo threw some juicy bait into the wolf’s cage, releasing 29 cartel bad guys, including one big one the US has wanted for years. She’s proving interesting to watch, although giving Trump an award before he does the dirty usually isn’t real effective.
Canada, in the meantime, is showing photos of newly constructed cars headed into the US and suggesting its (definitely irritated) citizens might not want to vacation in the US this year. There’s plenty of news about tariffs increasing not just car costs, but insurance costs as well, but DJT continues to seem fine with increasing inflation, at least compared to cutting off healthcare for millions. (What Day 1 inflation campaign promise?)
Fire a lot more employees: After a brief pause, Trump has now gone back to Musk for even more massive layoffs. After all, it will take a while for those not directly impacted to notice the government falling apart (AKA tomorrow’s problem, which will obviously have been caused by Biden). You’ll remember Musk promised to cut $2T in costs; never mind his first attempt didn’t even hit $40B, with casual cruelty that isn’t going to do anything for morale (productivity) or future votes.
For all his ostensible smarts, you’d think Ketamine Kekius might realize what a trap Trump is laying for him. After all, it’s not like we haven’t seen Trump play the game of “sacrifice some other dude” before, and Trump has to somehow deal effectively with Musk’s $250M+ election donation. Plus Trump has never tolerated someone out in front of him like Musk has been. It’s not possible to unsee a standing Musk forcing a sitting Trump to look back and up to see what Musk is doing during the Oval Office press conference. And then there was the problem at that presser of Musk’s 4 YO, his nasal issues, and the resultant sudden need to immediately refinish the Resolute Desk. (See prior post footnote. You can’t make this up.)
The Cabinet is increasingly fighting Musk (gifted article), Congressional Republicans are going after him, polls are quickly going against him, and Tesla is falling apart (click here and here). None of this works when playing with a wolf, particularly with a wolf known for an affinity for throwing those he no longer needs (and whose wealth is falling) under the bus.
My personal favorite? Tesla’s stockholders asking him what five things he’s done for them in a reference to his DOGE team’s controversial email to federal employees.
Frosting on the cake: a new shell game that magically changes $4.6T to $0; don’t we all wish we could do this at home. Savvy smooth players, led by Our Hair Will Remain Perfect Unto Death Sens. Mike Crapo and Lindsey Graham, are showing their superior gamesmanship knowledge by exploring a change to the way the $4.6T hit to the deficit is reported that could now show up as $0. They assume (probably correctly) no one will notice until long after they’ve retired.
Two weeks to go. Don’t go unconscious yet: plenty of time yet for a hit on Medicaid; stay tuned.
In generational theory, of which I’m a fan, people born at the tail end of one generation or the very beginning of another are “bridgers,” able to understand and speak clearly to both generations. They are often leaders. Examples of bridgers you know: Trump, Biden, Harris, Vance, Buttigieg.
