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@#21 ... MAGA is collapsing. Maybe they're finally seeing that fealty to Trump is a one way street. ...

Maybe. Probably too soon to tell, imo.

But there's this ...

Trump Is Losing His Grip on MAGA
www.newsweek.com

... Ten months into his second term, President Donald Trump is being challenged by the very base he prides himself on creating, and he finds himself besieged by an army of issues that could threaten his MAGA support and spell trouble for lawmakers who remain by his side.

Reeling over the farmer furor that has met his plan to import Argentine beef, and now from Democratic victories in last week's off-cycle elections, Trump is facing friendly fire over perceived pivots on immigration, the state of the economy and the latest episode of the long-running Epstein saga that has dogged his second administration's every step.

Many of these tensions came to a head in an interview with Laura Ingraham that aired on Monday, during which the Fox News host challenged the president on offering 600,000 visas to Chinese students and his unexpected praise for the H-1B visa program, characterizing these as decidedly anti-MAGA stances.

Trump's defense -- that China is no worse an adversary than France, and that foreign-born workers are needed to account for the U.S.'s lack of talent -- seems to have sparked as much backlash as the positions themselves, though the White House says Trump's core commitments remain unchanged. ...


Megyn Kelly has a point. Sexual consent laws have been all over the board throughout time and place.

In 1880, American ages of consent were set at 10 or 12 in most states, with the exception of Delaware where it was 7.

Today, 23 US states or territories set the "restricted" age of sexual consent at 15 or lower. (In 3 of those jurisdictions, the younger age is 14 and in 10, it's 13.) But the age difference between younger & older partner is very restricted. And the unrestricted age of consent is primarily between 16 & 18.

See; en.wikipedia.org

I hope what Ms Kelly intended to assert is that violating age of consent law isn't necessarily pedophilia. If that was her intent, she's not defending sexual predators.

But Epstein and Maxwell were predators bengaging in trafficking vulnerable young women and exploiting their vulnerability. And consent is generally not being a virtual indentured servant for someone's escort-for-hire business. At a minimum, consent means freely able to say no, without restrictions. Ideally, it implies mutual agreement without duress and under appropriate mental conditions.

@#12 ... his approval ratings ...

Speaking of which, it's been a week or so since I last posted this ...

President Trump Job Approval
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 10/24 - 11/13
Approve: 42.3
Disapprove: 54.7
Spread: -12.4
...


In specific areas ...

President Trump Approval - Economy
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 10/8 - 11/12
Approve: 40.0
Disapprove: 55.7
Spread: -14.8
...


President Trump Job Approval - Foreign Policy
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 8/1 - 11/6
Approve: 42.1
Disapprove: 52.6
Spread: -9.5
...


President Trump Job Approval - Immigration
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 10/15 - 11/9
Approve: 48.5
Disapprove: 49.6
Spread: -1.1
...


President Trump Job Approval - Inflation
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 10/8 - 11/6
Approve: 35.6
Disapprove: 61.1
Spread: -25.5
...


Aztec Camera - Jump, live at the Dominion Theatre (1984)
www.youtube.com

Starts out as a mellow, acoustic cover of the Van Halen song, and goes into a loud Roddy Frame guitar solo to end the song.

FBI Responds to Tucker Carlson Report on Trump Shooter Thomas Crooks
www.newsweek.com

... The FBI Rapid Response account on X insisted: "This FBI has never said Thomas Crooks had no online footprint. Ever." ...

Analysis: A deep dive into the Democrats' rout of local Republicans in CT towns
www.ctinsider.com

... Heading into last week's municipal elections, Ellington First Selectman Lori Spielman seemed well positioned to hold her grip on town hall.

The Republican had won five straight terms, all by a comfortable margin or with no opponent at all. That made sense. The smallish, mostly rural eastern Connecticut town has a far larger number of registered GOP voters than registered Democrats -- a gap that widened over the last four years.

To her credit, Spielman in this year's election exactly matched her largest ever vote total, 2,250 - the same as in 2021. That year, she snagged a 501-vote victory.

But it was not enough in 2025. Spielman's opponent, Laurie Burstein, drew a groundswell of Democrats and beat Spielman by more than 150 votes -- making Burstein the first Democrat elected to Ellington's corner office in 22 years.

Across Connecticut, we saw pretty much the same pattern in the Nov. 4 election. As most observers know by now, ...



Donner,

"And suddenly you are worried about someone sabotaging' Trumpy's hateful agenda?"

Think for a second.

It wasn't Trump who created the ACA.

It wasn't Trump who put the sunset clause in the subsidies.

The mess we're in now is due to how the last COVID-era extension was written. The enhancements were written to be temporary and are now expiring.

So how exactly is this "Trump's hateful agenda"?

Simply, we're at a fork in the road.

Either Congress comes up with something new, or ACA premiums explode and the message to people is basically: "Tough luck, just pay it."

You're so busy trying to pin this on Trump that you're ignoring the actual problem. Cost and the design of the entire healthcare support structure.

That attitude isn't being resistant. It's simply counterproductive and doesn't make sense.

If Democrats in Congress behave the way you are, then healthcare benefits for the poor are finished until someone addresses it again.

What needs to be addressed now is cost controls and the reality that people in employer group plans are getting hit harder every year.

The company might cover the employee portion, but family coverage is often pushed partly or even mostly onto the employee. Deductibles in group plans keep rising while coverage shrinks. The ACA didn't fix any of that because the employer plan cost shift hadn't hit the critical stage yet.

Since the time ACA was implemented, some problems improved, but other problems, especially rising deductibles, and cost shifting in employer plans, have only gotten worse.

Lastly, many employers offer tiered plans such as Bronze and Gold options. Managers often receive access to the Gold tier while regular employees end up in the Bronze tier, which is legal under ACA guidelines but puts a heavy cost burden on families.

This imbalance is one more reason the ACA needs to be updated or replaced with a system that directly addresses today's issues including cost controls and fairness in employer sponsored plans.

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