Tag: steve scalise
GOP Sycophants Rush To Praise Trump's Gaudy $300M Ballroom Project

GOP Sycophants Rush To Praise Trump's Gaudy $300M Ballroom Project

Congressional Republicans bent over backward to defend President Donald Trump's unilateral decision to raze the entire East Wing of the White House to make way for his hideously gaudy $300 million ballroom.

Republicans mocked Democrats, who are outraged that Trump decided to demolish an entire segment of the White House to build a ballroom corruptly funded by donors who have business before the federal government.

"He put up some of his own money," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said of the project, even though we have no idea how much Trump—who notoriously stiffs his contractors—actually gave to the project. "You would think, 'Well gee whiz, at least they could agree to that, it's not even taxpayer money, it's gonna be a permanent renovation that will enhance the White House for all future presidents."

- YouTube youtu.be

Unfortunately for Scalise, Americans do not agree with that assessment, with just 23 percent of adults saying they think the ballroom will have a positive impact on the White House, according to a YouGov survey.

But Scalise continued his whiny tirade.

"They say no to everything he does," Scalise said. "Because they just are angry about the results of the election from last year."

Yes, we are angry. But it's because every day Trump does something so egregiously corrupt and illegal that it’s leading this country into banana republic territory.

"Presidents have routinely renovated and expanded the White House over the last century. The faux outrage from the Left is a deflection from the Schumer Shutdown," Trump bootlicker Rep. Andy Biggs wrote in a post on X. "Leftists are severely afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome," the Arizona Republican claimed.

Of course, those projects had approval from Congress, input from historic preservation boards, and were not funded by a corrupt pay-to-play scheme. But okay.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah also mocked Democrats' outrage.

"I’m shaking right now. The humanity!" he wrote in a sarcastic post on X that featured images from past White House renovations.

And in his haste to defend Trump, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee wrote an idiotic post on X in which he posted an image of the White House being demolished along with the text, "Someone needs to stop the @realDonaldTrump administration from destroying the @WhiteHouse. Oh wait this was during the basketball court construction during the Obama administration. #nevermind"

Of course, the photo Burchett posted was NOT from Obama's basketball court "construction"—which actually wasn't construction at all but rather converting an existing tennis court so that he could shoot some hoops while Republicans painted him as the antichrist because his skin wasn't white.

Burchett ultimately deleted the post and put in the correct time the photo took place, which was during the Truman administration. But that still doesn't make the point he thinks he's making, as Truman had to renovate the White House because it was structurally unsound. And he did so in conjunction with historic preservation boards that worked to reuse existing decorative elements in the new building, and with congressional approval and funding.

According to the Truman presidential library, "The Truman renovation retained the original walls, the third floor and the roof, while removing, and then reinstalling, the interiors within a skeleton of steel structural beams on a new concrete foundation."

Trump, meanwhile, took a literal excavator to the structure—and is now blocking the press from seeing the destruction as it unfolds.

Only one Republican had the sense to say that, actually, razing a major portion of the White House to build a gilded ballroom amid a shutdown when many federal workers aren't getting paid is not a great look.

“We’re in the middle of a shutdown," North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said. "Got a couple of other things going on that we should probably focus on ahead of a building project.”

Of course, Tillis is retiring, so he no longer has to lick Trump's boots like his fellow GOP colleagues, who are afraid that speaking out against Dear Leader will cost them their seats in Congress—or worse.

Because, say it with me now: They're all cowards.

Mike Johnson

Republicans Still Yearn To Kill Obamacare, But Fear 'Political Disaster' If They Do

The standoff over the federal shutdown has exposed deep fractures within the GOP, particularly around health care — a longstanding vulnerability for Republicans.

The New York Times highlighted in a report Sunday that while Democrats insist they will not support a spending deal without extending the expiring tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that safeguard coverage for millions, Republicans are split between ideology and electoral reality.

On one end, hard-line conservatives still press to eliminate the ACA outright; on the other, pragmatists recognize that wiping it out without a credible replacement could inflict “a political disaster” on their party, per the report.

The shutdown has forced the GOP into a public tug-of-war over what to do with a law they largely oppose but cannot realistically undo without major risk.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) insisted the dispute is not about health care, calling Democrats’ insistence on subsidies a “red herring” that distracts from the funding fight.

At the same time, top Republicans such as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) pledged to vote against extending the credits, arguing they would “bail out insurance companies,” even as many recipients live in GOP-held districts.

At least 14 House Republicans and several senators signaled they would support a renewal of the credits through 2027, recognizing what some advisers called “a potential political catastrophe for the G.O.P.” if coverage were lost.

The report noted that the broader dynamic reveals why the party remains stuck. Even though Republicans have long pledged to “repeal and replace” the ACA, they have repeatedly failed to articulate what “replace” means in practice. The 2017 Senate health care bill collapsed amid conservative-moderate splits, leaving GOP leaders without an alternative mapped out.

According to the report, Democrats "have forced the G.O.P. to wrestle publicly with its divisions about what to do with the health care law, which most Republicans revile but many recognize would be impossible to unravel without bringing political disaster to their party.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet


Steve Scalise

How Medicaid Cuts Will Harm Workers, Employers -- And The US Economy

How are Republicans trying to sell a bad bill? They tell lie after lie about how only able-bodied adults who refuse to go to work will be affected by their One Big Ugly Bill.

“That single mom that’s working two or three jobs right now to make ends meet under this tough economy, she doesn’t want to have to pay for somebody who’s sitting at home," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said. When Sen. Josh Hawley (R- MO) was asked whether he was worried about working people being thrown off Medicaid because they failed to jump of all the hurdles created by the new legislation, he replied simply, “I’m for work requirements.”

These obfuscations ignore the fact that 92 percent of adults on Medicaid are already working. They work in stores, restaurants, hotels and offices. They serve as home health, nursing home and hospital aides. They build homes, staff warehouses and take the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in manufacturing. They pick our fruits, vegetables and other agricultural commodities.

Why do they need Medicaid? Because their employers are small (less than 50 workers) and do not provide coverage. Or, if they are a large employer and required to at least offer coverage, the firms charge their employees so much in co-premiums that their workers cannot afford it on their measly paychecks. In order to qualify for Medicaid — even in the 39 states and District Columbia that have expanded the program — you have to earn under 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is around $44,000 for a family of four in 2025.


A new report from Families USA found that nearly 20 million American workers are on Medicaid. Nearly half work for firms with less than 50 employees, which are not subject to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement they offer coverage.

Given only half (53%) of small firms even offer health insurance, their employees must turn to either ACA plans or Medicaid (if their wages are very low) for coverage. “Simply put, Medicaid is one of the only options for low-wage workers to get health insurance, and it makes a dramatic difference in these workers’ lives,” the report said.

The demographics of workers on Medicaid

The report also broke out who these low-wage workers are. Women make up a slight majority (56 percent), which isn’t surprising given female predominance in the lowest paid occupations of the retail, health care, education and social service sectors.

The racial share of workers on Medicaid generally reflect the broader society. Fully 46 percent are white; 27 percent are Hispanic; 17 percent are black; and six percent are of Asian descent. The bureaucratic roadblocks to obtaining coverage, which accounts for the vast majority of the 10 million people who will lose coverage over the next decade, will have just as big effect in Red states as in Blue states.

To sum up: Medicaid coverage subsidizes nearly every industry in America and in every state. It helps those industries be more productive since workers on Medicaid have less medical debt, are more able to pay rent and feed their families, and are healthier since they are more likely to seek out preventive care.

“Proposed cuts to Medicaid are therefore a direct threat to essential workers and core American industries,” the report concluded. “By seeking to push people off of Medicaid coverage, this budget bill not only threatens the health and financial security of our nation’s low-wage workers but also the security of our nation’s economy.”

Merrill Goozner is a former editor of Modern Healthcare, where he writes a weekly column. He is a former reporter for The Chicago Tribune and professor of business journalism at New York University. Please consider subscribing to his Substack.

Reprinted with permission from Gooz News.

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