Trump/Admin Policies

mickeyrat

In a highly unusual move, the EPA is revising an assessment of the health dangers posed by formaldehyde, a widespread pollutant that causes far more cancer than any other chemical in the air.

Read more: https://propub.li/4pOXe04

mickeyrat

President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will shift billions in costs for SNAP and Medicaid to states. But with 26 having cut or eliminated state income taxes just since 2021, they may not have the money to continue the programs.

Read the full story: https://propub.li/4iTPzLs

mickeyrat

Omaha residents face a hidden danger: the lead in their yards. The Trump administration’s new guidance on high levels of the toxic metal in soil has put tens of thousands of properties in limbo.

Read more: https://propub.li/4qbldGK

mickeyrat

Miller’s use of “fifth column” refers to a group of people within a country seeking to undermine it from within. It has been used by right-wing groups and governments to attack Muslims and other groups they deem subversive. https://trib.al/gzUQsqs

Bentleyspop

Not surprising...

South African immigration authorities raid a US refugee processing center

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/south-african-immigration-authorities-raid-us-refugee-processing-128476709

Gern Blansten

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/us/politics/trump-cash-payments.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9U8.t84o.b8dnm9J9dkjo&smid=url-share

Gift article....

I'm finding this topic interesting as a tax guy. trump keeps promising/dangling these tariff dividends, $2,000 checks, etc., and his admin seems to try to clean it up by saying "your refunds should be $2,000 higher" when you file your 2025 tax return as if that is what trump is referring to.

The timing of the Wiles interviews makes it interesting because she mentions the disconnect between the WH insiders and trump's narratives.

The level of fuckery might never be measured after he's out. 

Tariffs are unpopular, prices remain stubbornly high and Americans are souring on President Trump’s handling of the economy.

So Mr. Trump has reprised a familiar political strategy: promise people cash.
The White House is trying to tamp down Americans’ economic anxieties by dangling the prospect of checks and other paydays next year, hoping that the money might assuage voters who blame the president for their rising cost of living.
Mr. Trump, who is set to address the nation on Wednesday night, has repeatedly teased the idea of sending one-time $2,000 rebate checks to many families, funded using money collected from his sweeping global tariffs. But he has not devised a detailed plan for providing the rebates, an expensive policy that Republicans in Congress must approve and one that they have not yet considered.
The president has also begun hyping up the tax refunds that Americans are slated to receive in 2026. For many people, these cash payments are expected to be larger than they were last year, after Republicans adopted a sprawling set of tax cuts in July.
Both Mr. Trump and members of his administration have periodically drawn an equivalence between the supposed tariff rebates and the enacted tax law. They have claimed the money could bolster the economy and alleviate some of the financial strains on families, even at a time when Mr. Trump maintains that much of the talk about affordability is a “hoax.”
“Next year is projected to be the largest tax refund season ever, and we’re going to be giving back refunds out of the tariffs, because we’ve taken in literally trillions of dollars,” Mr. Trump said at a cabinet meeting last week. “And we’re going to be giving a nice dividend to the people, in addition to reducing debt.”
But economists take a dimmer view. Even if Americans were to delight in a series of new government-issued checks, the payments would hardly address the reasons that prices remain so high — including a shortage in housing that has driven up rents and mortgages and the global tariffs that have made imports more expensive. And the money that may soon be sloshing around the economy could end up worsening inflation, undermining Mr. Trump’s own economic goals.

...continues at link

mickeyrat

via pbs newshour adbook post

The EPA is starting to allow the use of pesticides containing PFAS on food. The move is part of an effort to roll back the regulation of PFAS — also known as "forever chemicals" because they don't break down easily in the environment.

The agency last week approved the use of two new pesticides that qualify as PFAS. Farmers could spread them on crops such as romaine lettuce, broccoli and potatoes.

While not a lot is known about their long-term impact, the chemicals have been linked to certain cancers, birth defects and other health problems.

tempo_n_groove

mickeyrat said:

via pbs newshour adbook post

The EPA is starting to allow the use of pesticides containing PFAS on food. The move is part of an effort to roll back the regulation of PFAS — also known as "forever chemicals" because they don't break down easily in the environment.

The agency last week approved the use of two new pesticides that qualify as PFAS. Farmers could spread them on crops such as romaine lettuce, broccoli and potatoes.

While not a lot is known about their long-term impact, the chemicals have been linked to certain cancers, birth defects and other health problems.

I hope the same people that were anti-vaccine are as up in arms about this too.

Gern Blansten

LOL...Bongo is out, office has been cleared, etc.

What a douchebag. 

Tim Simmons

Bongo and Kash: Kancelled!

gimmesometruth27

Gern Blansten said:

LOL...Bongo is out, office has been cleared, etc.

What a douchebag. 

he could have done something noble, such as put out all the epstein files on his way out, but nope. 

Tim Simmons

Pretty weak first season IMO.

PJ_Soul

Dudes.... I just can't even. 

Things in the White House are just so psychotic and ridiculous, there are no longer any words. 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/politics/presidential-walk-of-fame-plaques-trump?cid=android_app

Halifax2TheMax

PJ_Soul said:

Dudes.... I just can't even. 

Things in the White House are just so psychotic and ridiculous, there are no longer any words. 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/politics/presidential-walk-of-fame-plaques-trump?cid=android_app

* The following opinion is mine and mine alone and does not represent the views of my family, friends, government and/or my past, present or future employer. US Department of State: 1-888-407-4747.

Sure there are, it’s all the dems’s fault.

josevolution

Par for fuckface not one gene of decency in his bloated body! Nothing but vile excrement comes out of his crooked mouth.

Gern Blansten

Not sure if true but I'm hearing the files release might be delayed again? Maxwell apparently made some filing that could seal them if she possibly gets a new trial or something.

Wouldn't that be odd? 

Tim Simmons

Weird for sure

mace1229

PJ_Soul said:

Dudes.... I just can't even. 

Things in the White House are just so psychotic and ridiculous, there are no longer any words. 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/politics/presidential-walk-of-fame-plaques-trump?cid=android_app

This would be funny if it were at a local small-town history museum, and not the White House.

mickeyrat

AltNatParkService adbook post

RFK Jr. has cancelled federal grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics, claiming the work they fund “no longer aligns with departmental priorities.” Those grants weren’t about ideology. They supported efforts to reduce sudden infant death, expand rural access to pediatric health care, and address children’s mental health.

Ending funding for programs like these isn’t a neutral budget decision, it’s a values statement. It signals that evidence-based pediatric care, infant safety, and mental health are no longer considered priorities at the federal level. The American Academy of Pediatrics represents tens of thousands of doctors whose sole focus is keeping kids alive and healthy. Pulling support from that work doesn’t punish an institution; it puts families (especially rural and underserved ones) at greater risk.

If preventing infant deaths and protecting children’s mental health no longer “align with departmental priorities,” then the public deserves a clear answer to one question: What does?

tempo_n_groove

I think this belongs here.

Wrestler Mick Foley retired HOF WWE legends status has left the company and will not be resigning with them.

This comes after Trumps comments about Rob Reiners death.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wrestler-mick-foley-parts-ways-wwe-trump-ties-cites-rob-reiner-remarks-rcna249554