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On our radar this week…
Dozing Donald woke up from his nap long enough to shout out an 18-minute campaign speech, laden with lies and blaming everything on Joe Biden. It was the centerpiece of a truly horrific week politically for Trump and Republicans. The ACA tax credits are going, going and nearly gone … and with them, Republican prospects for the 2026 midterm elections.
Adding to the political challenges to the GOP: Donald Trump’s massively offensive responses to two mass shootings, and the horrific murders of Rob and Michele Reiner. The chorus of one-time MAGA acolytes breaking with Trump is growing louder … and his shouted 19-minute televised falsehood-laden campaign speech didn’t help, a speech Jimmy Kimmel labeled “a liar-side chat”.
Also this week:
- The Michigan Legislature has concluded the 2025 session and setting an unenviable record in the process: not counting the years when the Legislature only met in even-number years, it was the least productive legislative session in history. The record up until this year was 1842 when the Gov. John S. Barry signed 90 public acts. The 2025 session of the 103rd Legislature is estimated to pass around 70.
- The unprecedented slashing of the state’s budget by House Speaker Matt Hall is drawing bipartisan backlash … and creating pain for Republicans across the state.
- Two top aides to former state House Speaker Lee Chatfield are sentenced for corruption, agreeing to testify against Chatfield … and also accusing Chatfield of raping one of them.
- Another special election, and another Democratic over-performance. Democrat Gary Clemons scored a landslide victory in a special election for the Kentucky Senate on Tuesday night, demolishing Republican Calvin Leach by a 72-25 margin. That’s a full 20 points better than Kamala Harris’ margin in 2024 and 18-points better than Joe BIden in 2020.
- We now know both more and less about pythons in Peru – thanks to a 10-minute rambling, fictitious fantasy by America’s Poster Child for “weaving.”
- His hate-filled response to the murders of Rob and Michele Reiner drew condemnation from all sides … including some of the most influential voices in MAGA world.
In Trump-the-Man-Child News:
- His gilded “Presidential Wall of Fame” has been transformed into a tacky Wall of Insults … guaranteeing it will be gone when he leaves office.
- Trump’s hand-picked Kennedy Center board has decided to rename the cultural center the Donald J. Trump-John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts (even though Trump is allegedly still alive), giving him top billing over JFK. The Kennedy Center is named by federal law, which prohibits renaming the building without congressional approval.
- The price for Trump’s ballroom has doubled from the original estimate, with the master contractor saying it’s now going to require $400-million in billionaire largesse to finish. Looks like Trump is transforming the White House into a theme park.
We’re joined by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, the senior member of the state’s Democratic delegation in Congress. The Dingell legacy, dating back to her father-in-law John Dingell Senior’s first term in 1933, is the nation’s healthcare program.
Debbie Dingell was first elected to the House in 2015. She succeeded her late husband, John Dingell Jr, who was the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history. Her husband had succeeded his father who was first elected in 1932. There’s been a Dingell in the U.S. House non-stop for 92 years.
A hallmark of their service has been a proposal for a national health insurance system, first introduced by John Sr. in 1933 and re-introduced since at every Congress by the father and then the son.
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