New Report Further Exposes Netflix’s LGBT Agenda Targeting Children

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

For some time now, Netflix has come under fire for pushing LGBT-related content on both adults and children. The latter category, in particular, has drawn sharp criticism from parents and child advocates who do not want ideological content being forced upon the young and vulnerable. Now, however, it’s not just talk. A new report from Concerned Women for America (CWA) showcases hard numbers that expose just how deep the entertainment company’s agenda runs.

To collect the data, the report noted how “researchers compiled references to LGBTQ+ themes, characters, storylines, and messaging across 326 Netflix series (both licensed and original) rated for young audiences (TV-G, TV-Y, or TV-Y7).” Concerning representation, it “was categorized as ‘Explicit’ (characters clearly identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or nonbinary), ‘Implied’ (non-primary characters or ‘queer-coded’ characters), ‘Meta’ (gay families or participants in reality programming), or ‘None.’”

The key findings include:

  • 41% of TV-G series and 41% of TV-Y7 series contain LGBTQ+ content.
  • Of the TV-Y7 content, 24% was rated “Explicit.”
  • Across all three child-appropriate ratings (TV-G, TV-Y, TV-Y7), fully one-third (33%) promote LGBT characters, themes, or messaging.

Netflix pushed LGBT agendas through originals and remakes. Some examples include:

  • “The Magic School Bus” reboot, which introduced a “trans-coded” character and a lesbian couple.
  • A reimagined “Strawberry Shortcake” series that added transgender and non-binary characters.
  • Similar changes in updated versions of “Power Rangers,” “The Fairly OddParents,” and other franchises.
  • The “Anne of Green Gables” adaptation, retitled “Anne with an E,” which incorporated homosexual themes.

CWA asked a pivotal question: “Which came first: LGBTQ+ content aimed at kids, or ‘inclusive’ content that caters to kids who identify as LGBTQ+?” The report noted that studios frequently justify the material as “educational” or “affirming,” yet “we have seen enough leaked videos and internal memos to know that there is, for many working in entertainment, a desire to reshape the culture to align with their own worldview.”

Numerous creators have confirmed that intent publicly. One prominent example is the executive producer of Disney Television Animation who openly celebrated inserting a same-sex couple into “My Little Pony,” praising the showrunners who were “super welcoming … to my not-at-all-secret gay agenda.”

Despite the claim that art mirrors society, CWA fired back that, “taken together, these accounts show that content creators view children’s programming as a tool for cultural transformation, not merely a reflection of existing norms.” Or put differently, the group added, “This report’s findings suggest that Netflix is not merely reflecting social change, it is an active driver.”

The data show LGBT representation in Netflix children’s programming “far outpaces real-world demographics and accelerated dramatically after 2021.” That year, Netflix partnered with the University of Southern California Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to tout its high percentage of LGBTQ leads, while internal data revealed that upwards of 60% of new child-rated shows contained LGBT elements. By 2023, Netflix debuted more children’s shows with LGBTQ+ content (14) than without (9). As the report read, “If the goal is ‘representation,’ rather than pushing a radical sexual identity agenda, then surely the percent of LGBTQ characters on Netflix programming should be more in line with actual population data? Less than 10% of the overall population identifies as gay, trans or nonbinary.”

CWA’s report concluded:

“While no single factor explains the surge in LGBTQ identification among adolescents, media exposure is a well-documented variable in shaping norms, identity exploration, and worldview formation. When representation for a small demographic reaches near-ubiquity in children’s content, it naturally raises questions about whether entertainment platforms are shaping identity rather than reflecting it. A pattern strikingly similar to what Alexander Pope described long ago: ‘Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, as to be hated needs but to be seen; yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace.’”

This report comes alongside a fierce cultural reckoning. For those who oppose the forceful LGBT agenda, speaking out became a non-negotiable. Even Elon Musk, tech billionaire and CEO of X, spoke out on the issue on his X platform. Shortly after, Netflix lost an estimated $15 billion in stock value, “and Internet sleuths set to work exposing other examples of LGBTQ+ content on Netflix children’s programming.”

To offer his own analysis, Family Research Council’s Dr. David Closson shared a comment with The Washington Stand. “For years,” he said, “major entertainment companies have insisted that their role is simply to ‘reflect the culture,’ yet the evidence shows that many creatives inside these studios see themselves as cultural architects. They are intentionally embedding moral messages into children’s programming that align with their own worldview.”

He highlighted the double standard, stating “When companies like Netflix aggressively advance LGBT ideology but then criticize Christians for expressing their faith in the public square, it exposes that the issue is not neutrality; it is competing worldviews.”

While Closson encouraged Christians as a whole to be diligent, discerning, and even willing to use the First Amendment to promote their own biblical worldview, his main advice was for parents:

  1. Exercise vigilance and biblical conviction, recognizing that “media consumption is not a neutral activity” and that platforms contradicting Scripture on sexuality and identity should be approached with extreme caution or avoided.
  1. Actively shape their home’s spiritual environment through clear boundaries, content previewing, filtering tools, and, when necessary, alternative platforms.
  1. Embrace their primary discipleship role, teaching children God’s design for the body, sexuality, and identity “in age-appropriate, truth-filled ways” long before culture does it for them.

As Closson concluded, “When media companies work to normalize ideas that contradict God’s word, Christian parents are not helpless. They can respond with discernment, courage, and a commitment to raising children who understand that their identity is not determined by cultural trends but by the God who created them.”

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

RELATED ARTICLE: Trump Transgender Military Policy Wins on Substance before D.C. Circuit Court

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

Partner with The Washington Stand to bring news from a biblical worldview to readers nationwide. From now until December 31, every gift will be doubled through our year-end Challenge Match.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

GOP Launches Rival Healthcare Plan As Obamacare Showdown Hits Senate Floor

/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Senate Republican leadership announced Tuesday that they will bring their own healthcare proposal to a floor vote, running in parallel with Democrats’ push for an extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on a Democrat proposal for a three-year extension of the boosted subsidies, which Democrats secured as part of the deal that ended the record-breaking government shutdown. Following internal debate over several Republican healthcare proposals and whether to schedule a side-by-side vote, GOP senators have coalesced around a health savings account-based approach.

“It actually does make health insurance premiums more affordable,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. “It delivers the benefit directly to the patient, not to the insurance company, and it does it in a way that actually saves money to the taxpayer. That is a win-win proposal.”

The Health Care Freedom for Patients Act— sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Mike Crapo, chair of the Senate Finance Committee — is pitched as an “alternative to Democrats’ temporary COVID bonuses, which send billions of tax dollars to giant insurance companies without lowering insurance premiums.”

Under the plan, roughly $1,000 to $1,500 would be deposited into HSAs paired with bronze or catastrophic plans on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges.

The idea of redirecting federal subsidies from insurance companies directly to individuals has the backing of President Donald Trump, who has warned that extending the boosted Obamacare subsidies would hand insurers “another huge payday at the expense of the American people.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are pressing ahead with their three-year extension of the soon-to-expire subsidies, despite the near certainty that the measure lacks the 60 votes needed to pass.

The enhanced subsidies — enacted by Democrats in 2021 without GOP support — removed the upper-income cap and increased subsidy amounts, dropping premiums to zero for many enrollees. They are set to expire at the end of 2025.

A clean three-year extension with no eligibility changes would add $350 billion to the national debt over the next decade, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates.

Republicans argue that Democrats’ plan, which goes even further than the one-year extension Democrats demanded during the shutdown, is primarily a political maneuver.

“I am absolutely open to a pathway forward, but what we’re seeing from Democrats is completely disingenuous,” Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama told the Daily Caller News Foundation Tuesday. “They know that a flat three-year extension will not pass, so they’re intentionally putting something on the floor for politics, not for the people they serve.”

Concerns about fraud are also fueling GOP resistance to the extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

Research has shown that fraud is especially widespread among zero-premium plans, which critics say create opportunities for bad actors to enroll unsuspecting individuals without their knowledge. Moreover, the Government Accountability Office recently uncovered rampant fraud and systemic failures in the ACA marketplace, including fictitious identities, invalid Social Security numbers, and even deceased individuals being frequently approved for taxpayer-funded subsidies.

“This program desperately needs to be reformed, the Democrats have decided, ‘We’re not going to do anything to reform it,’ and so we’ll see where the votes are on Thursday,” Thune said

Republicans also point to rising costs, noting that Obamacare premiums have increased twice as fast as employer-based premiums — evidence, they say, that the program is not delivering on promises of affordability.

“Money should go directly to patients so they can make their own decisions, and that will drive down costs,” said Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming, adding that taxpayers should not be “held hostage in the straitjacket of the one-size-fits-all that is Obamacare.”

However, Senate Democratic leadership has already dismissed the GOP plan.

“Their phony proposal is dead on arrival,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Their bill is junk insurance; it’s been repudiated in the past. The American people will repudiate it once again.”

Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Tuesday that Republicans are “forcing a false choice on the American people.”

Even within the GOP, some are doubtful that the proposal has the votes to advance.

“In my opinion, trying to take the longer view — and also being as objective as I can — I think the only way that there will be a bill put together reforming the Obamacare exchanges is through the reconciliation bill,” Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters shortly before the GOP announcement.

Although Republican leadership selected Cassidy’s proposal for a vote on Thursday, others — including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Bernie Moreno of Ohio — have introduced a two-year extension with income restrictions and minimum premium payments.

“I think we need to do everything we can to bring down the cost of premiums, so I’m happy to take a vote on any of these plans,” Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Tuesday, adding he is inclined to vote yes on all of them. Hawley has also introduced a bill to allow taxpayers to deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses up to $25,000 per individual or dependent.

In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson said that Republicans will vote on a healthcare proposal by the end of December and continue working on healthcare legislation into early 2026, according to Punchbowl News.

Caden Olson contributed to this report.

AUTHOR

Melissa O’Rourke

Reporter

RELATED ARTICLES:

Obamacare Deadlock Drags On, But One Healthcare Fix Could Slash Medical Costs Nationwide

Senate Conservatives Rip ‘Gateway Drug’ Earmarks In Government Funding Bills

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

GOP Looks to Reform Obamacare Subsidies, Address Fraud with New Legislation

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

With COVID-era Obamacare subsidies set to expire on December 31, Republicans in Congress are considering legislation that would help ease the rising costs of health care for millions of Americans. Meanwhile, experts and some lawmakers are warning that blanket subsidy expansions will only add to ballooning government debt and will not address the underlying reasons behind the continued rise in health care costs or the vast number of fraudulent Obamacare payouts.

As reported by Punchbowl News, several GOP health care proposals are currently circulating on Capitol Hill. One from Senators Bernie Moreno (Ohio) and Susan Collins (Maine) “would cap income eligibility and eliminate zero-premium plans by requiring a $25 minimum monthly payment.” Another plan from Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) would “expand HSA options.” Yet another from Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) would divert funds away from insurance companies and “ensure support to Americans is sent to them directly” through “HSA-style Trump Health Freedom Accounts.” Punchbowl reported that Scott’s plan has gained some momentum in the House through Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger’s (R-Texas) backing.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reportedly plans to move a health care bill to the floor at some point this week, but a battle among GOP factions will likely brew over whether or not to extend Obamacare subsidies in the legislation.

Meanwhile, outrage continues to grow over the revelations that enormous amounts of Obamacare application fraud have occurred over the last several years, resulting in billions of dollars in illicit payouts. As reported by The Washington Stand, incomes weren’t verified for tens of thousands of Obamacare enrollees, resulting in over $21 billion in illicit payouts in 2023 alone, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. In addition, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board noted that “6.4 million people this year were improperly enrolled in subsidized ObamaCare plans, costing taxpayers $27 billion.”

“Republicans would be wise to remind voters that Democrats sold ObamaCare on false pretenses — e.g., it would make healthcare “affordable,’” the editors continued. “Extending the subsidies would perpetuate that fraud.”

Lawmakers like Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) agree.

“A clean extension of cost would be $400 billion,” he pointed out during Friday’s “Washington Watch.” “I think our viewers really need to understand that this is a ticking time bomb set forth by Obamacare. … [W]e’ve kept subsidizing during this entire time the health insurance industry, which is where the rise in premiums is primarily coming from. Health care costs have increased, there’s no doubt about that. But what we’re doing here is continuing to subsidize a very, very profitable health insurance industry. I think since Obamacare started, they’ve earned over $360 billion in profit alone. … What we need to do is a scaled-down response, one that’s going to be tapered out, along with other reforms that actually lower the cost of health care.”

Murphy, a former surgeon with over 30 years of experience, went on to argue that federal aid for health care coverage should be provided, but with significant reforms.

“I think there has to be a glide path,” he contended. “I think it’s bad for the American people to just immediately stop these subsidies. Remember, this is only about anywhere from eight to 12 million people. … And so we’re dealing with a fairly small population, but that fairly small population would be left out in the lurch. So what we’re talking about is scaling back the fraud. You’ve had up to six to 12 million individuals who’ve been on these plans that have never filed as claims, so we think that they’ve been fraudulently enrolled. … And the other thing is we’ve had individuals that have been paying nothing. We need individuals to pay something to register in with the system, be it $5 a month [or] 2% of their income to pay something … to be in this.”

Murphy further ticked off a number of GOP priorities that he hopes will be included in future health care reform legislation.

“[W]e have individuals in some places in this country earning $500 [to] $600,000 that are getting subsidies from the government. Those need to go away,” he emphasized. “… [W]e’re going to need to include things that start lowering the cost of care. Now, [with] Obamacare, the insurance companies did not want competition, so they outlawed something called associated insurance plans, where groups of individuals can get together and insure themselves. They didn’t want that competition. Democrats don’t want that, but we’re going to make sure that that gets put in the bill. … [P]harmacy benefit managers (PBM) reform, … site neutrality, CON reform, a lot of different things need to happen, whether they’ll be included this bill or not, but it will be part of a big initiative next year to actually lower the cost of health care.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

RELATED ARTICLE: Poll Finds Most Americans Still Don’t Know Abortion Pills Cause Most U.S. Abortions

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is repubished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

Partner with The Washington Stand to bring news from a biblical worldview to readers nationwide. From now until December 31, every gift will be doubled through our year-end Challenge Match.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

AWED MEDIA BALANCED NEWS: We cover Energy to Education to Elections — and more!

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Welcome! We cover Energy to Education to Elections — and more!

Here is the link for this issue, so please share it on social media.

Checkout the 2025, 2024, & 2023  archives, plus asterisked items below.

— This Newsletter’s Articles, by Topic —

This Issue’s Best of the Best:

*** The New Moral Revival: Why Socialism Feels Like Faith to a Generation Searching for Meaning

*** Video: The Brigitte Gabriel Speech on Radical Islam

*** The signs of educational decline are now impossible to ignore

*** The Pernicious Effects of Grade Inflation

*** Defending My Child’s Brain

*** Brainwashing Children (short video)

*** Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong

*** Major AI conference flooded with peer reviews written fully by AI

*** The Severe Ecological Ramifications of Offshore Wind Projects in the Atlantic

*** Short Video: Time to Take Down Industrial Wind Turbines!

*** Nuclear-generated electricity overshadows government-subsidized wind and solar

*** Ignoring EV Pollution for Fake Climate Crisis

*** Trump admin’s energy agenda hailed for crucial ‘wins’

*** Review of “Where Will We Get Our Energy?”

*** Drip, Drip, Drip: Eroding Trust

*** Blockbuster sea level study may turn climate change orthodoxy on its head

*** The end of the climate cult

*** A Vindication of Bjorn Lomborg

*** Judge dismisses 2020 election interference case against Trump, granting Georgia’s request

*** Tech Watch: realtime monitoring of election influencing

*** Republicans Delivered Tax Relief for Working Families

*** White House Launches “Media Bias” Portal to Expose Fake News

*** CDC’s New Webpage: Autism and Vaccines

*** Fake People And Phony SSNs Had 100% Success In Getting Obamacare Subsidy, Fraud Investigation Finds

*** Common sleep problem tied to serious neurological disorder in major new study

*** CDC Probes Link Between Vaccines & Autism

*** CDC Advisory Committee Votes to End Recommending Hepatitis B Vaccines for New Borns

*** Dr Campbell Video: No Longer Alive

*** A Leaked Letter. An FDA Admission. At Least Ten American Children Dead From Covid.

Secondary Education Related:

*** The signs of educational decline are now impossible to ignore

*** The Pernicious Effects of Grade Inflation

*** Defending My Child’s Brain

*** Brainwashing Children (short video)

*** Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong

Report: North Carolina Charter Schools — Undermining Quality Education for All

Report: North Carolina Charter School Reckoning — Disillusionment

(UK K-12) Education or Indoctrination?

Higher Education Related:

Book: Another Sort of Mathematics: Selected Proofs Necessary to Finally Acquire an Education in Mathematics

 Artificial Intelligence:

*** Major AI conference flooded with peer reviews written fully by AI

Google Drops a Nuke in the AI Wars

 Unreliables Energy Health and Ecosystem Consequences:

*** The Severe Ecological Ramifications of Offshore Wind Projects in the Atlantic

 Wind Energy — Offshore:

Trump Administration Requests Remand of Federal Approval for Another Offshore Wind Project

 Wind Energy — Other:

*** Short Video: Time to Take Down Industrial Wind Turbines!

 Nuclear Energy:

*** Nuclear-generated electricity overshadows government-subsidized wind and solar

Wind, water and solar energy aren’t enough. California needs nuclear options

Fossil Fuel Energy:

Short video: Hyrdaulic Fracturing Simulation

Has California’s Oil and Gas Industry Hit the Point of No Return?

 Electric Vehicles (EVs):

*** Ignoring EV Pollution for Fake Climate Crisis

 Misc Energy:

*** Trump admin’s energy agenda hailed for crucial ‘wins’

*** Review of “Where Will We Get Our Energy?”

Manmade Global Warming — Some Deceptions:

*** Drip, Drip, Drip: Eroding Trust

Authors retract Nature paper projecting high costs of climate change

New York’s 2030 climate target is impossible

EU’s “Net Zero” is a disaster

The Left’s climate panic is finally calming down

 Manmade Global Warming — The Science:

*** Blockbuster sea level study may turn climate change orthodoxy on its head

*** The end of the climate cult

*** A Vindication of Bjorn Lomborg

Thankful For President Trump’s Climate Report Card

US Election:

*** Tech Watch: realtime monitoring of election influencing

Dems Go Down in Flames in TN Special Election

Trump:

*** Judge dismisses 2020 election interference case against Trump, granting Georgia’s request

Trump Goes Harder Than Ever on Immigration]

Misc US Politics:

*** Republicans Delivered Tax Relief for Working Families

*** White House Launches “Media Bias” Portal to Expose Fake News

Why Letitia James and James Comey Aren’t Out of the Legal Woods

Do you know the difference between a Constitutional Republic and a Democracy?

Societally US:

The United States Of Delusion

Lunacy

 Religion Related:

*** Video: The Brigitte Gabriel Speech on Radical Islam

*** The New Moral Revival: Why Socialism Feels Like Faith to a Generation Searching for Meaning

Oklahoma student flunked by TA after touting Christian beliefs

Science:

*** CDC’s New Webpage: Autism and Vaccines

 Health:

*** Fake People And Phony SSNs Had 100% Success In Getting Obamacare Subsidy, Fraud Investigation Finds

*** Common sleep problem tied to serious neurological disorder in major new study

*** CDC Probes Link Between Vaccines & Autism

*** CDC Advisory Committee Votes to End Recommending Hepatitis B Vaccines for New Borns

Sitting all day? New study says certain foods may protect your heart from damage

COVID-19 — Misc:

*** Dr Campbell Video: No Longer Alive

*** A Leaked Letter. An FDA Admission. At Least Ten American Children Dead From Covid.

Dr Byram Bridle writes: ”Dr. Angela Rasmussen — Stop Using Libel, Lies, and Rhetoric to Harass and Defame Me”

Israel/Ukraine:

Pray for the safety of the Israeli people

Latest Developments in Israel

Pray for the safety of the Ukrainian people

A well-rated source to make a Ukraine donation

Latest Developments in Ukraine

Please use social media, etc. to pass on this Newsletter to other open-minded citizens…If you’d like to be added to (or unsubscribe from) the distribution of our popular, free, worldwide Media Balance Newsletter, simply send me an email saying that.

Note 1: We recommend reading the Newsletter on your computer, not your phone, as some documents (e.g., PDFs) are much easier to read on a large computer screen… We’ve tried to use common fonts, etc. to minimize display issues.

Note 2: For past Newsletter issues see the archives from 2022, 2023, 2024, & 2025. To accommodate numerous requests received about prior articles over all fifteen plus years of the Newsletter, we’ve put this together — where you can search ALL prior issues, by year. For a background about how the Newsletter is put together, etc., please read this.

Note 3: See this extensive list of reasonable books on climate change. As a parallel effort, we have also put together a list of some good books related to industrial wind energy. Both topics are also extensively covered on my website: WiseEnergy.org.

Note 4: I am not an attorney or a physician, so no material appearing in any of the Newsletters (or any of my websites) should be construed as giving legal or medical advice. My recommendation has always been: consult a competent, licensed attorney when you are involved with legal issues, and consult a competent physician regarding medical matters.

Copyright © 2025; Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (see WiseEnergy.org).

The White House: 12/06/25 | Peace & Prosperity!

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

Check out the Media Offenders of the Week!

President Trump attended the first White House Christmas party where he paid his paid his respects to the National Guard, especially Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom and Guardsman Andrew Wolfe who were attacked last week. He lowered flags to half-staff in memory of Sarah, and welcomed Andrew’s family to the Oval Office.

In an incredibly busy week, the President signed the Medal of Honor Act, declared all Biden autopen orders null and void, hosted his ninth Cabinet Meeting, and the Institute of Peace was named after him. At the Institute, he welcomed President Kagame of Rwanda and President Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to sign the Washington Accords, a major peace deal.

He also made two major announcements. The first was with the Dell Family who donated $6.25 billion to fund Trump Accounts for 25 million children. The second was with automakers to reset Biden’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards.

To end the week, President Trump attended the National Christmas Tree Lighting and the FIFA World Cup Drawing to accept their inaugural 2025 FIFA Peace Prize. The Village People marked the occasion with a special performance.

Vice President Vance joined the President for the Cabinet meeting and commented on fixing the affordability crisis left by the Democrats and joined NBC News’ Henry Gomez for an interview on the number of topics surrounding the Administration.

First Lady Melania Trump unveiled the White House Christmas decorations with the theme, “Home is Where the Heart is”, a gorgeous display with illustrations from artist Hervé Pierre. She also attended the The National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, read to young children at the Children’s National Hospital, and celebrated seven additional children being reunited with their families in Ukraine. The First Lady and Second Lady Usha Vance visited Joint Base Andrews to assemble care packages for deployed troops.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WINS

 AFFORDABILITY | With affordability as the primary focus of the Trump Administration, this week it was reported that 31 states have gas prices averages below $3.00 per gallon, the median rent fell for the fourth straight month, and homebuyers are starting to notice a decline in prices — notably Pittsburgh had a typical $20,000 markdown (about 9%).

 IMMIGRATION | The Trump Administration has has paused all asylum adjudications and Special Immigrant Visas and USCIS has cracked down on the vetting process of aliens working in the United States to make American safer for every citizen, and prevent future tragedies like the shooting on our National Guard last week.

 TRUMP ACCOUNTS | On this Giving Tuesday, Michael and Susan Dell donated $6.25 billion to fund the Trump accounts of 25 million children under the age of ten with $250 each, money that will earn compounded interest until they turn 18.

 CAFE STANDARDS | Joe Biden’s fuel efficiency regulations would have raised the cost of a new vehicle by $1,000. President Trump’s action rolling back the standards will save Americans  $109 billion!

 2021 PIPE BOMBER CAUGHT | After fives years without an arrest after the Biden Administration dropped the ball, Brian Cole Jr. was arrested charged with placing the pipe bombs at the RNC and the DNC on January 5th, 2021, using previously collected evidence.

MAJOR EVENTS

President Trump and The First Lady Participate in the National Christmas Tree Lighting, Dec. 4, 2025

 IN THE NEWS

MORE NEWS ON THE WIRE

MARK TWAIN | Presidential Message on Mark Twain’s 190th Birthday | 11/30/2025

  MEDIA BIAS OFFENDER OF THE WEEK

CLAIM:

The Washington Post’s Alex Horton and Ellen Nakashima published an article from two unnamed sources claiming Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a Joint Special Operations commander to “kill everybody” during an anti-terrorist operation in the Caribbean Sea.

TRUTH:

The Department of War killed 11 narco-terrorists in a coordinated strike designed to “kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people.” This attack was the first in a series of lethal kinetic strikes against Designated Terrorist Organizations. The Washington Post published this unsubstantiated claim in an attempt to discredit the United States’ warfighters and inflame anti-American sentiment.

VISIT OUR NEW MEDIA BIAS OFFENDER PORTAL

 THE NUMBER OF THE WEEK

$1 BILLION

Minnesota fraudsters stole over $1 billion from Medicaid and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz explains that, “they’ve never seen anything like this in Medicaid — and everyone from Gov. Tim Walz on down needs to be investigated, because they’ve been asleep at the wheel.” READ MORE.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

©2025 . All rights reserved.

Trump’s Second-Term Revolution Restoring American Greatness

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Nearly a year into his triumphant second term, Trump stands as a colossus, methodically dismantling the shadowy Deep State that has long strangled the will of the people.  What began as a bold mandate from 75 million patriots in 2024 has evolved into a masterclass in executive resolve, yielding historic economic surges, ironclad border security, and a foreign policy that puts America first.  Far from being bogged down by bureaucratic sabotage, Trump’s administration has turned resistance into rocket fuel, accelerating reforms that are already delivering unprecedented prosperity and security to everyday Americans.

The Deep State’s arsenal — leaks, delays, and outright insubordination — has been exposed and neutralized with surgical precision.  Drawing lessons from his first term, where rogue bureaucrats in the FBI and DOJ orchestrated the Russia hoax and impeachments, Trump launched the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Day One, enlisting tech visionary Elon Musk to spearhead a blitzkrieg against waste.  This innovative task force has slashed federal spending by billions, overseeing mass layoffs of obstructive civil servants and streamlining agencies bloated by decades of leftist overreach.  Schedule F reforms, revived and expanded, have reclassified thousands of policy-influencing roles as at-will positions, empowering loyal patriots to replace the faceless apparatchiks who once weaponized government against conservatives.  Critics wail about “politicization,” but this is justice — restoring accountability to a bureaucracy that betrayed the electorate by slow-walking Trump’s agenda and shielding illegal activities, from Crossfire Hurricane to the Hunter Biden laptop suppression.

The results are nothing short of miraculous.  Despite the Deep State’s desperate rearguard actions — fomenting leaks and legal challenges — Trump’s economy is roaring back to pre-Biden glory.  Since January 2025, the U.S. has added 671,000 net jobs, with native-born workers capturing every single gain while foreign-born employment plummeted by 543,000 — a direct win for American families sidelined by open-border policies.  Core inflation hovers at a stable 2.1%, the lowest since Trump’s first term, defying the doomsayers who predicted tariff-induced chaos.  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have shattered records multiple times, fueled by $7.6 trillion in pledged investments from companies and foreign governments eager to partner with a pro-growth America.  Treasury coffers overflow with $90 billion in tariff revenues, posting the first June surplus since 2005 and funding infrastructure without a dime in new taxes.  These aren’t accidents; they’re the fruits of Trump’s reciprocal trade war, slapping 10–50% duties on unfair partners like China and India, forcing fair deals that protect steelworkers in Pennsylvania and farmers in Iowa.

On the border, where Biden’s laxity unleashed chaos, Trump has forged an impenetrable fortress.  The Laken Riley Act, signed into law in March 2025, mandates detention for criminal illegal aliens, commemorating the Georgia nursing student’s tragic murder by an MS-13 savage.  ICE raids have deported over 250,000 offenders, invoking the Alien Enemies Act against Venezuelan gangs like Tren de Aragua — a bold stroke blocked temporarily by activist judges but upheld in spirit by the Supreme Court.  Nationwide, sanctuary cities like New York face federal ultimatums: End the shielding of 7,000-plus criminal illegals or lose funding.  Birthright citizenship for anchor babies is under assault via executive order, and the border wall expands daily, slashing crossings by 90% in key sectors.  Deep State holdouts in DHS tried to sabotage these efforts, but Trump’s loyalists — vetted warriors like Tom Homan and Stephen Miller — have rooted them out, ensuring that the wall isn’t just built, but effective.

Foreign policy, too, gleams with victories.  Trump secured a landmark NATO deal, compelling allies to hike defense spending to 5% of GDP — a feat diplomats deemed impossible.  In the Middle East, his 20-Point Gaza Peace Plan, unveiled with Prime Minister Netanyahu, delivered a ceasefire, hostage releases, and Hamas’s dismantling by October 2025, stabilizing the region without a single American boot on the ground.  Strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, backed by Israel, neutered Tehran’s ambitions, while trade pacts with Pakistan unlocked energy independence abroad.  Even in Ukraine, Trump’s tough negotiations — favoring no more blank checks — paved the way for mineral deals funding reconstruction, proving that diplomacy through strength works.  The Deep State’s globalist puppets, from USAID saboteurs hiding Syria ops to WHO enablers, have been defunded and defanged, with $7.6 billion in green energy pork axed to prioritize real security.

Health and education reforms cut through the woke rot with equal vigor.  The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., bans DIE indoctrination in federal agencies and revives the Mexico City Policy, defunding overseas abortions while safeguarding taxpayer dollars for essential programs.  The 2025 Marketplace Rule ensures that Obamacare subsidies go only to qualifiers, stabilizing premiums and exposing fraud.  In schools, Executive Order 14191 expands educational freedom, empowering parents against union bosses and curriculum censors.  Bureaucrats who resisted — firing inspectors general who probed too deeply — were swiftly shown the door, their “trauma” a small price for liberating American kids from radical agendas.

Of course, the swamp fights dirty.  Impeachment whispers from Al Green and Democrat resolutions citing phantom “crimes” are desperate flails from a party eyeing 2026 wipeouts.  Leaks from FEMA holdouts and DOJ foot-draggers aim to manufacture failures, but Trump’s 143 executive orders in the first 100 days — more than any president — have steamrolled them.  Pardons for 1,500 January 6 heroes restored justice, while revoking 111 Biden edicts erased the woke stain.  As Russell Vought, OMB director and Project 2025 architect, declares, this is no mercy mission: “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” ensuring loyalty to the Constitution over cabal.

Trump’s second act isn’t just governance; it’s a reckoning.  From job booms to border walls, from NATO wins to Middle East peace, he’s proving that the Deep State is no match for a leader who fights for forgotten Americans.  As 2026 looms, the midterms beckon as a referendum on renewal.  The people who sent him back to the Oval know: Trump is dynamiting the swamp, rebuilding on solid ground.

America is winning again, and under President Trump, that victory is just beginning.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

Critically Thinking About Our Health: IMO a key MENTAL component is too frequently overlooked

/in , , , , , , /by

The physical health of Americans is simply atrocious. For example, over 75% of American adults have at least one chronic disease, and the rate of child illnesses continues to grow. Considering our knowledge, scientific advancements, financial resources, etc, this is unconscionable.

The good news is that many people and groups (like RFKjr, MAHA Action, etc.) are now aggressively chipping away at this huge elephant-sized issue. I am in full support of these efforts, and (despite being time-challenged) religiously watch MAHA Action’s 1-hour weekly meeting. It rarely disappoints. (You can join, for free, here.)

That said, I have one major beef.

No one is seriously addressing the underlying mental part of this health crisis. I don’t mean mental illnesses, but rather mental ability. We can provide citizens with boatloads of great information, but if they can’t properly process it, what good is it?

Yes, to truly fix this crisis we need many more citizens to be Critical Thinkers!

Interestingly, medical people (and other good souls) immersed in trying to solve parts of our health crisis repeatedly say things like “We need to change the public’s thinking!” yet they don’t get this connection…

Let’s do a layperson’s overview, starting from the beginning…

The human body is a collection of parts working together in various systems.

These unique elements range from relatively passive parts like a bone in your little finger to very active parts like your heart.

These complex systems range from the respiratory system to the circulatory system to the digestive system to the endocrine system.

The sophistication of these parts and systems is a major differentiation between animals and plants.

A key difference between humans and other animals is that humans have a much more advanced brain.

A human illness is a serious degradation of one or more parts or systems.

Critical Thinking is Instinctive!

The human brain is designed for thinking critically. For example, young children are naturally inquisitive, which is a clear indication that they are developing their critical thinking skill — which is rooted in asking questions.

K-12 schools should be focused on maturing this powerful skill, which is a cornerstone of what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Instead of making this a priority, almost all US K-12 schools actually infect children with a mental illness: lemmingitis. (See my earlier related commentary.) This disease occurs when the brain’s healthy and naturally occurring critical thinking is purposefully replaced by conformity.

The result? Such a brainwashed person now has herd mentality, which means that they are not much different from many animals. Thus, the term sheeple.

Surprisingly, much of psychology (and many other treatments of what we call mental illnesses, e.g., depression) can often be traced to a lack of critical thinking skills. This results in those victims making poor decisions (regarding diet, exercise, drugs, relationships, and much more).

So, when we talk of mental illness, lemmingitis should be at the top of our list.

Put another way, the number one thing to significantly reduce Americans’ chronic illnesses is to nurture their inherent Critical Thinking ability, starting when they are youngsters.

The Bottom Line:

We need to fix what goes into people’s minds before we can fix what goes in their mouths.

Put another way: until we make major inroads to restoring the critical thinking skills of Americans (e.g., starting in K-12), we have little hope to successfully restore the health of our nation.

©2025 All rights reserved.

I offer incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking about my topics of interest.

My commentaries are my opinion about the material discussed therein, based on the information I have. If any readers have different information, please share it. If it is credible, I will be glad to reconsider my position.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

C19Science.info is my one-page website that covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info is my one-page website that lists multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

WiseEnergy.org is my multi-page website that discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from climate to COVID, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2025 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time – but why would you?

MASSIVE OBAMACARE IDENTITY FRAUD: 71 People Use One Social Security Number, Fake Identities, Dead People — AND THE SYSTEM APPROVES IT

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

A new watchdog investigation found large-scale systemic failures that allow fake identities, dead people, and massive improper use of Social Security numbers to receive Obamacare subsidies. GAO conducted covert operations which included creating fictitious identities. In fact, 100% of fake applicants were approved by Obamacare’s marketplace as recently as late 2024. 90% of fake applicants continue to receive coverage in 2025. The result: Wasteful federal spending on subsidies for enrollees who are not eligible. Harm and unexpected costs for consumers. Loss of access to medical providers and medications, higher copays and deductibles, or forced repayment.

Fake identities, dead people, and massive improper use of Social Security numbers to receive Obamacare subsidies.

Thieves and plunderers are robbing us blind. Legal plunder. We need a tea party moment.

Non-Partisan Watchdog Finds Consumer Harm and Tens of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars Wasted in Health Care Fraud in Affordable Care Act Plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a new preliminary report published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), waste, fraud, and abuse have run rampant through Affordable Care Act marketplace plans, worsening health care plans for Americans, all while enriching big insurance companies.

The new watchdog investigation finds large-scale systemic failures that allow fake identities, dead people, and massive improper use of Social Security numbers to receive Obamacare subsidies. As part of the analysis, GAO even conducted covert operations which even included creating fictitious identities that flooded health insurers with unjustified subsidies. In fact, 100 percent of fake applicants were approved by the ACA Marketplace as recently as late 2024, and 90 percent of fake applicants continue to receive coverage in 2025.

As the report notes, such practices can result in wasteful federal spending on subsidies for enrollees who are not eligible. Further, such practices can result in harm and unexpected costs for consumers. These can include loss of access to medical providers and medications, higher copayments and deductibles, or repayment of subsidies if income or other eligibility was misrepresented.

The GAO investigation was requested by Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08), and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (OH-04).

Congressman Jim Jordan (OH-04), Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, said:

“For years, we were told we could keep our plan, keep our doctor, and premiums would go down. None of it happened. This new report confirms what we already knew: under Obamacare, hardworking Americans saw their premiums skyrocket and their healthcare choices shrink, all while fraud benefitted insurance companies. Obamacare was built on lies and broken promises that hurt families and drove up costs.”

Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said: 

“Republicans have consistently prioritized protecting patients and taxpayers by ridding our federal health programs of the waste, fraud, and abuse that ultimately drive up costs for patients. Republicans have sounded the alarm on the flawed structural integrity of Obamacare and how Democrats’ failed policies to temporarily prop up the program have exacerbated fraud, hurt patients, increased the burden on American taxpayers, and artificially masked the true health care affordability crisis plaguing Americans today. The concerning findings from GAO’s report further confirm that Republican efforts to strengthen, secure, and sustain our federal health programs are critical and necessary to ensure access to quality health care at prices Americans can afford.”

Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08), Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said:

“While Democrats defend waste, fraud, and abuse, Republicans are taking action to lower health care costs and protect care for all real, living Americans. GAO’s troubling report is the smoking gun that shows how this broken system, shielded by Democrat policies, has led to the federal government shoveling tens of billions of tax dollars to insurance companies through identity fraud and caused health care costs to skyrocket for all Americans. While Obamacare fraud is being confirmed by GAO, CMS, CBO and other outside reports, patients are suffering. They face higher health care costs and denied claims or delayed care when their providers struggle to verify which insurance is valid due to these fraud schemes. Rather than simply rubber stamp more bad spending and failed policies, we must take action to prevent further harm.”

GAO investigated the scope of improper payments and weakened program integrity within the ACA marketplace. Estimates based on analysis by both the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and independent external research organizations indicate millions of enrollees in the ACA marketplaces may be enrolled improperly, costing taxpayers as much as $27 billion a year in improper payments and imposing a great deal of harm and distress on families and victims of alleged fraud.

BACKGROUND:

Investigators Created Fake Identities – and CMS Provided Taxpayer Subsidies

  • GAO created fictitious identities with fake or never issued SSNs and still got subsidized ACA coverage, meaning criminals and fraudsters can too.
  • 100 percent of fake applicants were approved in late 2024.
  • 18 out of 20 fake applicants are still receiving subsidized coverage for 2025.
  • CMS approved coverage even when no documents were requested or fake documents were submitted.
  • This includes fake citizenship eligibility documents confirming fraud concerns for illegal immigrants.
  • Brokers were able to bypass verification by calling the call center and submitting applications without the applicant present.
  • Monthly subsidies paid to health insurers on behalf of GAO’s fake identities exceeded $12,300 per month.

Shocking Misuse of Social Security Numbers Including a Single Social Security Number Used for Over 125 Policies for the Equivalent of 71 Years

  • One Social Security Number (SSN) was used for “71 years” of subsidized coverage.
  • In 2023, one single SSN was used on applications for over 125 insurance policies totaling over 26,000 days of coverage, the equivalent of 71 years.
  • 66,000 SSNs in 2024 had more than a years’ worth of subsidized coverage.
  • CMS does not block new applications using the same SSN and relies on a broken document-request process that often never works.
  • $21 billion in subsidies paid out with no evidence of tax reconciliation in 2023. That is 32 percent of all advanced premium tax credits (APTC) paid to identifiable SSN holders. No reconciliation means no accountability, no verification, and likely billions in improper payments.

Big Insurers Still Collecting Subsidies for Deceased Individuals

  • 58,000 SSNs receiving APTC matched Social Security death data.
  • At least 7,000 were dead before coverage even began, meaning the applications used SSNs of deceased individuals.
  • $94 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies were sent to health insurers on behalf of deceased individuals.

Explosive Growth in Unauthorized Plan Switches that Harm Consumers

  • Bad actors engaged in mass unauthorized enrollment activity to chase commissions, resulting in:
  • 160,000 likely unauthorized changes by three or more brokers in 2024.
  • CMS itself received 275,000 complaints in just eight months (Jan–Aug 2024) from Americans who were enrolled in or switched into plans without their consent.

Repeated Warnings Have Gone Unheeded by Democrats

  • GAO has repeatedly warned that Obamacare subsidies are and have been at risk of fraud structurally.
  • For 2015 enrollment, GAO found that federal and state marketplaces approved coverage for fictitious applicants, and nearly all of those fake identities stayed enrolled—even after submitting fictitious documents or no documents at all.
  • For 2016 enrollment, GAO again reported that CMS had failed to design basic eligibility safeguards, including controls to stop duplicate or overlapping subsidized coverage.
  • These weaknesses were supercharged after Democrats enacted and repeatedly extended Biden’s COVID-era subsidy expansions, which facilitated millions of fully subsidized fraudulent enrollments, and without corresponding fraud controls, created the perfect environment for criminals, identity thieves, and unscrupulous brokers.

With Stronger Integrity for Taxpayers, Republicans Have Taken Steps to Lower Premiums

  • Republicans are focused on restoring accountability and fairness to the health care marketplace through program integrity reforms that save taxpayers billions of dollars and drive down costs for everyone:
  • Full income and eligibility verification before subsidies are issued, ensuring assistance goes only to those who qualify.
  • Ending “anytime” enrollment abuse that fueled fraudulent sign-ups and drove premiums higher for everyone.
  • Closing loopholes that allowed illegal immigrants and other ineligible groups to access taxpayer-funded health benefits.

Even the Congressional Budget Office has found that these measures have already produced $185 billion in savings for taxpayers and reduced premiums by 0.6 percent. That’s real savings for working families.

Read more.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLE: ABC, NBC, CBS Evening Newscasts Hides Tim Walz Massive Fraud Scandal

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘Cascade Of Systemic Failures’: Minnesota State Employees Blast Walz For ‘Massive Fraud’ In Social Services

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Minnesota state employees accused Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of bearing full responsibility for massive fraud that drained the state’s social services programs, claiming he retaliated against whistleblowers who tried to sound the alarm.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” the employees wrote in a statement posted to social media. They described a “cascade of systemic failures” and alleged Walz “systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports.”

The accusations come as federal prosecutors pursue cases involving more than $1 billion in stolen taxpayer funds across three separate schemes. Prosecutors have secured 59 convictions so far in fraud tied to pandemic feeding programs, housing assistance and autism therapy services.

The whistleblowers claimed agency leaders appointed by Walz “willfully disregarded rules and laws to keep fraud reports quiet” and were “not qualified for their jobs, instead getting leadership jobs via Tim Walz’s friendship.” Staff who witnessed fraud were “shutdown, reassigned and told to keep quiet,” according to the statement.

The employees named several officials they say have escaped accountability, including Shireen Gandhi, Jess Geil, Jodi Harpstead, Natasha Merz and Eric Grumdahl.

Walz has denied that concerns about racism allegations slowed his administration’s response. He told the New York Times his administration “erred on the side of generosity” during the pandemic and pointed to new fraud prevention measures.

President Donald Trump has drawn national attention to the scandal, calling Minnesota “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and Walz “seriously retarded” in a Truth Social post. Asked by reporters if he stood by the remark, Trump replied, “Yeah, there’s something wrong with Walz.”

The whistleblowers said they are now appealing to federal authorities for help. “We can’t fight fraud in Minnesota alone,” they wrote.

AUTHOR

Mark Tanos

Contributor

RELATED ARTICLES:

Tim Walz Is Elbows-Deep in Minnesota’s Fraud Scandal

Trump Stands By Calling Tim Walz ‘Seriously Retarded’ Over Somalian Welfare Scandal

Trump Terminates Protected Status Of Minnesota Somalis Over ‘Fraudulent,’ ‘Terrorizing’ Activities

DHS Reportedly Flagged Thousands Of Afghans For ‘National Security’ Concerns Who Were Brought Into Country By Biden

RELATED VIDEO: Gov. Walz under fire as $1B Minnesota social services fraud scandal widens

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Dem Congressional Candidate Believes Men Can Give Birth: A Reflection of the Party at Large?

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Tennessee Democratic District Representative Aftyn Behn (D) believes men can give birth. Now, she’s running for a congressional seat.

Her opinion became apparent during a 2020 episode of her podcast “Grits.” She followed up her use of the term “birthers” by stating that “men and women … can give birth.” As Breitbart summarized, “She made the comment before discussing a book by pro-abortion feminist Jenny Brown called Birth Strike, which argues that women should refuse to have children as a way to collectively bargain with the government and achieve their political aims.”

Behn has also openly supported transgenderism for children. She called the Supreme Court ruling in the United States v. Skrmetti case, which upheld a Tennessee law protecting minors from sex change drugs, a “gut punch to transgender youth and their families.” As she further stated, “This 6-3 ruling only emboldens the far-right’s relentless attack on transgender rights, pushing us further into a dangerous future where politics — rather than science — dictates the lives of our most vulnerable.”

The list goes on. In 2023, Behn said she previously “ran on an unabashed progressive campaign platform of standing up for trans kids and standing up for reproductive access,” emphasizing that she will “never compromise on values of abortion access or trans kids.” Similar sentiments have been made toward support for drag queens who have encouraged children to attend their “shows.”

After a trans-identifying individual opened fire at Nashville’s Covenant School in 2023, a Christian elementary school, she directed her sympathy not to the victims of the shooting, but to trans-identifying people. As she put it, having a “partner” with “a trans son” allegedly made the aftermath of that deadly shooting “incredibly upsetting for us. In the wake of the Covenant shooting, and the disclosure that the Covenant shooter was trans, I was pulled into a chat with other trans organizers and activists across the state that were fearful of their lives.” Reportedly, this shooting motivated her to run for political office to fight “every day” for “protections for trans kids and our trans communities.”

“Remember,” she posted on Facebook, “you come for my trans community, I come for you.”

It turns out, Behn is an example of what the Democratic Party looks like these days. And it’s left many conservatives wondering: how might this affect the upcoming 2026 midterm elections?

According to a recent popularity poll conducted by NPR/PBS News/Marist, roughly 55% of American adults said they would vote for a Democrat in the midterms if they were held today. In contrast, only 41% said the same about Republicans. As The Washington Stand previously reported, “The 14-point lead is the largest Democrats have held since 2017, in the first year of President Donald Trump’s first term.” And yet, this same poll that found a majority in favor of Democratic candidates also found that Democrats are, by and large, the ones blamed for the recent government shutdown, which now marks the longest in U.S. history.

So, why the support for a party that was blamed for the shutdown and, many argue, hold to highly controversial opinions? Matt Carpenter, director of Family Research Council’s political arm, FRC Action, answered this question in a comment to The Washington Stand.

“Despite being historically unpopular,” he said, “the Democratic Party can depend on their base to be enthusiastic to vote. This is not unusual. Typically, the party out of power benefits from their base being highly motivated to turn out. Add to this their recent successes in the 2025 elections, and the Democratic Party base believes congressional majorities are within reach. So far, neither an unpopular agenda, nor a dysfunctional and leaderless party, have dampened the enthusiasm of the Democratic base.” On the other hand, he added, “Republicans in Congress … have the blame (fairly or not) for voters’ sense that the economy is not strong, the added burden of actually governing and making difficult decisions, and the political reality of needing Democratic support for almost anything to pass the Senate, where they hold a bare majority.”

This is the current political landscape, and as Carpenter argued, “The greatest predictor of an election outcome is incumbency; the next greatest is redistricting.” When it comes to the potential outcomes of the 2026 midterms, Carpenter found it important to understand what’s starting to shift now that will likely have ripple effects into the future. “So far,” he said, “this cycle we have 46 members who have announced their retirement from Congress — 38 in the House and eight in the Senate — and a mid-decade redistricting fight between blue and red states. This means the advantage of incumbency will be missing in 46 races, and for those running for a seat in the House, there’s a good chance their district has been redrawn — or could be redrawn — to reflect the partisan leaning of their state government.”

“Aside from incumbency and redistricting,” he continued, “campaign fundraising is the next most important factor, generally the side that raises the most money prevails in close races — this is especially true in the Senate.” Carpenter summarized the roadmap for Republican success: “For the GOP to retain their majorities in Congress, they will need to retain as much of their advantages in incumbency, redistricting, and fundraising as possible, because the Democrat base is fired up to vote. So far, the advantages in all three seem to give the Democrats an edge.”

He acknowledged that the midterms are 11 months away, “and a lot — including how motivated each party’s base is — could change between now and then.” That said, he gave some advice for Christians and conservatives who want to be forward thinking. As he put it, “The most important thing a Christian can do is pray and then make a plan to vote. Studies show that when someone makes a plan to vote, they are almost guaranteed to vote. That means checking your voter registration status, finding your precinct, knowing when the polls are open, choosing when and how you’ll vote, and — most importantly — researching the candidates and initiatives on your ballot so you know how you’ll be voting.” All of this can be done through FRC Action’s website.

“Once you’ve done all that,” Carpenter added, “talk about the issues coming up in the midterms with your church small group, and like-minded friends, neighbors, family, co-workers, etc. In other words: encourage others you know to also make a plan to vote.” Carpenter highlighted a sober reality: “Unfortunately, studies … show a great degree of apathy among Christians when it comes time to vote. There are millions of Christians who believe, wrongly, that their vote doesn’t matter, or won’t count, or they don’t take the time to research the candidates. They miss out on the opportunity to vote for leaders who will stand up for the values they care about.”

To push back against those with this mindset, Carpenter concluded: “Proverbs 21:1 says, ‘The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.’ Every believer should pray for conviction and wisdom in stewarding their vote and then share what they are learning with those around them.”

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

PRESTIGIOUS NYC OFFICE: Ruling the Rat Kingdom

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

An estimated 3 million rats live in New York ….How many are registered socialists?

“Two rats in a given year can reproduce 15,000 descendants,” New York City Councilmember Shaun.

“You were walking in the street rather than walking in the sidewalks because the rats owned the sidewalks.” — Nicole Rosenthal

NYC residents demand new ‘rat czar’ when Mamdani takes office: ‘Rats owned the sidewalks’

By Nicole Rosenthal

Rats, not again!

A coalition of rattl-ed Brooklynites living on notoriously rodent-infested blocks are pleading with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to bring in a new rat czar – after their calls for the city to renew the fight against the filthy creatures allegedly fell on deaf ears.

The pair of Prospect Heights resident groups penned a letter Friday to Mamdani, urging him to reinstate the City Hall rat-fighting position, which was dissolved in September when former Rat Czar Kathleen Corradi quietly traded the role for a leadership position at NYCHA.

Carol Morrison, of the City Council member-created District 35 Rat Task Force, told The Post she is “concerned” there is no longer a point-person to resolve rodent swarms plaguing local playgrounds and backyards.

“There is no real connection between these [city] agencies, and when you have neglect … you need to have somebody on the ground,” Morrison told The Post.

Continue reading.

NYC’s Central Park playground overrun by brazen rats who even raid baby carriages: parents

By Georgia Worrell

Central Park is turning into a squeak show.

New York City is losing the rat war in the iconic green space — where the vermin are so brazen, they routinely raid baby strollers for snacks at a besieged playground for toddlers, The Post found.

And after the rotating posse of at least a dozen “guinea pig” sized rats is done ransacking strollers at Tarr-Coyne Tots Playground at West 67th Street, some will defiantly frolic by the jungle gym near young kids, disgusted parents told The Post.

“Every single day that I go to play with my son, there will be one, two, three [rats], scurrying around and even jumping up in an area where our kids are eating their snacks. They have no shame,” said Upper West Side mom of a 3-year-old son, Amy Meyers.

Continue reading.

©2025 All rights reserved.

New McLaughlin Battleground District Poll: Health Care Tax Credits a Pivotal Issue for Retaining the GOP House Majority, Protecting the Trump Agenda

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Likely Voter Survey in 16-GOP Held Districts Demonstrates Significant Political Upside to Reversing Health Care Tax Hike, Preventing Premiums from Skyrocketing for Millions of Working Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. /PRNewswire/ — Americans for a Balanced Budget released the findings of a national survey of 800 likely voters on November 18, 2025, conducted by pollster John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates, across 16 GOP-held battleground districts rated Toss Up or Lean Republican by the Cook Political Report. The poll conclusively demonstrates enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs) that help make health insurance affordable for working Americans who purchase their own coverage through the individual market are a pivotal political issue for the 2026 midterm election. Extending these tax credits set to expire at year-end would generate significant political upside for Republicans — and failure to extend these critical tax credits would seriously jeopardize GOP majorities in Congress, and with them, the Trump agenda.

“President Trump has rightly given the GOP a mandate to focus on affordability and economic prosperity for the American people,” said Dee Stewart, President of Americans for a Balanced Budget. “We simply cannot deliver on that mandate if millions of working Americans are hammered by a massive health care tax hike that would double their premiums, nor can we hope to retain Republican majorities in Congress in the midterm election next year. For the sake of the Trump agenda after the midterms, and for the sake of conservative governance in Washington, we must reverse this health care tax hike before it is too late.”

“Our survey finds likely voters in the districts most likely to determine control of the House in next year’s midterm elections willing to move toward whichever candidate better addresses their concerns with affordability and the cost of living, particularly regarding health care costs for themselves and their families,” said John McLaughlin, CEO of McLaughlin & Associates. “The survey further underscores significant political downside for the Republican candidate if the health care tax credits being debated in Washington expire, and working Americans experience a significant hike to their health care costs. While some in our party may oppose an extension of the tax credits on ideological grounds, failing to extend them puts Republican majorities – and everything that means for the Trump agenda – at grave risk. The message is clear: voters will grade the health care tax credits against the party’s performance on affordability — with significant upside to getting something done, and significant downside if they expire.”

The new survey found health care costs were the greatest area of concern for likely voters when thinking about rising costs facing them and their families. Nearly all voters (91%) agreed keeping health care affordable is important to lowering the overall cost of living for working American families.

A staggering 73% of voters were concerned about their health care premiums increasing next year, and 70% supported extending the EPTCs.

In addition, a 57% majority were more likely to vote for a candidate for Congress who voted to preserve the tax credits. Support is even higher among Hispanic voters (66%) and Independent women voters (69%).

And a 53% majority were less likely to vote for a candidate for Congress who allowed the health care tax credits to expire, resulting in higher insurance premiums. The political downside has intensity, with half (49%) who are “much” less likely to vote for the candidate. The majority of swing voters are less likely to vote for the candidate, including 57% of Independents, 57% of ticket splitters.

Read the full McLaughlin & Associates memo on results from the survey HERE.

McLaughlin and Associates conducted the survey, commissioned by Americans for a Balanced Budget, among 800 likely voters in 16 battleground House districts between November 10-11, 2025. The survey included a mix of landline phone, mobile phone, and text-to-web interviews. Interview selection was at random within predetermined election units. The accuracy of the sample of 800 likely voters is within +/- 3.4% at a 95% confidence interval.

The results from this latest survey reinforce McLaughlin & Associates findings from June and October of this year, which found overwhelming support for the individual health care marketplace, the EPTCs, and candidates for Congress who support and secure an extension. All three surveys also demonstrate voters see the health care tax credits as critical tax relief for hardworking Americans, not handouts.

Read more on the implications of a looming massive health care tax hike on millions of hardworking Americans, families, and small business owners HERE.

About Americans for a Balanced Budget

Americans for a Balanced Budget (ABB) has been an active, leading voice for fiscal sanity in government for more than a quarter century. In the modern era, ABB has broadened its role to include making the ongoing case for common sense, conservative policies to everyday Americans.

Through its advocacy programs and educational efforts, ABB is engaging civic-minded, thoughtful Americans, reaching them by instilling rationality, wisdom, and sanity into the broader public debate. ABB is applying time-tested principles for a more prosperous, secure America.

©2025 Americans for a Balanced Budget. All rights reserved.

1,300 Years of Forgotten Black Genocide of the Arab Islamic Slave Trade

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

For thirteen bloody centuries, from the 7th to the 20th century, the Arab Islamic slave trade ripped more than 17 million Africans from their homes, marched them across burning deserts and stormy seas, and sold them into a hell that makes the Atlantic trade look like a footnote. This was no mere commerce. This was systematic racial extermination dressed in religious robes. The Arabs didn’t just want labor. They wanted Africans erased: men castrated, women turned into disposable sex slaves, children bred out of existence. And today the woke mob screams about 1619 while deliberately burying this mountain of black corpses under a pile of silence. That silence is complicity. That silence is racist.

The numbers crush every lie the grievance industry peddles. Seventeen million captured. Eighty percent died on the way: thirst, exhaustion, disease, or a casual bullet to the head when they slowed the caravan. Of the survivors, almost every single male was castrated. No anesthesia. Hot iron or crude knife. Infection finished what the blade started. The survival rate was maybe one in ten. That means for every eunuch who reached the markets of Baghdad, Cairo, or Zanzibar, nine boys bled to death in the sand. The Arabs perfected genocide through mutilation. They didn’t want a black population reproducing in their lands. They wanted black blood extinguished.

The women fared no better. They were raped on arrival, raped every night, raped until they broke. Concubines for the harems, field slaves, domestic animals. Their children, if the master acknowledged them at all, were born into slavery and usually sold off the moment they could walk. This wasn’t incidental cruelty. This was policy. Islamic texts and legal rulings spelled it out: the slave owner owns every inch of the slave’s body, every minute of her life, every child she carries. The Arab world built its wealth and its pleasure palaces on black wombs and black backs.

And the trade was massive, relentless, state-sponsored. Caliphs, sultans, and emirs ran it like a national industry. The Swahili coast, the Red Sea ports, the Sahara routes: all arteries pumping African flesh into the Islamic heartland. Zanzibar’s slave market was a slaughterhouse where human beings were inspected like cattle, teeth checked, genitals examined, price set by how many rapes the girl could endure or how long the castrated boy would live. Tippu, the most famous slaver, was a devout Muslim hero to his people and a sadistic warlord who depopulated entire regions of Congo for ivory and slaves. His caravans left trails of bones across Central Africa.

Thirteen centuries. Not four hundred years. Not a “mistake” by a few bad apples. This was the beating heart of Islamic empire from Medina to Morocco, from the Umayyads to the Ottomans. The same Ottoman Empire that leftist professors love to romanticize as “tolerant” was still castrating African boys and stocking its harems with African girls right up to the 20th century. The Crimean Khanate, Muslim vassals of the Ottomans, raided Ukraine and Russia for white slaves, sure, but the real money, the real volume, the real horror was always black Africa.

Yet walk onto any American campus today and try mentioning this. Watch the eyes glaze over. Watch the mob rush to change the subject back to Thomas Jefferson’s sins. The same people who claim to speak for black lives will spit in your face if you bring up the longest, deadliest, most sadistic slave trade in human history, because the perpetrators were not white Christians. That’s the only sin that matters to them. White Christian sin. Every other genocide, every other atrocity gets a shrug as long as the killers prayed to Allah five times a day.

That is racist. Full stop. Treating black suffering as valuable only when a white man causes it is the most condescending, paternalistic, anti-black attitude imaginable. It says black lives matter only as a stick to beat white people with. The millions of Africans who were castrated, raped, and worked to death by Arab masters apparently don’t count. Their blood is cheap because it doesn’t serve the narrative.

The woke cult doesn’t ignore the Arab slave trade because it’s obscure. They ignore it because it explodes their entire worldview. It proves that evil is not the exclusive property of Europeans. It proves that slavery was not invented in Virginia. It proves that Islamic civilization, the one they keep insisting is a paragon of tolerance and science, spent thirteen centuries committing racial annihilation on a scale that dwarfs anything the West ever did.

Until we drag this genocide into the light, scream its name from every rooftop, and force the cowards to look at the mountain of skulls they’ve spent decades hiding, there can be no honest conversation about slavery, about racism, or about who owes whom reparation. The debt is not just to the descendants of the Atlantic trade. The debt is to the forgotten millions whose names were never recorded, whose bodies were thrown into unmarked graves across three continents, whose blood cries out for justice the woke mob refuses to hear.

Seventeen million. Castrated. Raped. Erased.

Say their names. Or shut up forever about slavery.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

Government Shutdown Ends With Trump’s Signature Hours After House Passes Funding Bill

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

The longest government shutdown in history is over after President Donald Trump signed a bill to fund the government into law on Wednesday night, just hours after the House of Representatives passed the measure.

“Today, we’re sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion,” Trump said before signing the bill. “The Democrats tried to extort our country.”

The legislation will “get our country working again,” the president added.

The bill passed the lower chamber by a vote of 222-to-209 on Wednesday evening. The measure would fund the entire government at least through Jan. 30, while three appropriations bills attached to the continuing resolution will fund segments of the government for the rest of fiscal year 2026.

Republicans Declare Victory Despite Continued Frustration With Democrats

In Washington, Republicans are rejoicing that the government shutdown ended without giving major concessions to Democrats.

“For over six weeks, Democrats held our country hostage over demands for healthcare for illegal aliens and to prove to their base they could ‘stand up’ to President Trump,” said Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas.

“The Republican Study Committee stood firm in rejecting any extension of COVID-era insurance subsidies that fuel fraud and drive up costs for American families, and in preventing Democrats from using the Christmas holidays to force a wasteful omnibus through Congress. Let me be clear: Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price. Now, it is time to get back to governing and delivering on the mandate we were given by the American people last November,” Pfluger continued.

While Republicans have end the shutdown without major concessions, their frustration for Democrats shutting down the government is still palpable.

“The Democrats [were] openly saying that they were leveraging the pain of the American people, all Americans, … to try to win a battle that they got nothing for, and they wasted all this time for us to get something done,” Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., told reporters before Wednesday’s vote.

“The Democrat Party has proven to put politics over people,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., told The Daily Signal.

“The only thing the Democrat Party got [out] of this 40-plus day shutdown [is] scaring the crap out of people, causing the most food security in the United States since the Great Depression,” Van Orden contended.

Van Orden is concerned that Democrats could pull a similar stunt come January. “They changed the date on the CR, so yes, I’m very concerned that the Democrat Party was going to repeat history and do whatever the hell they possibly can to gain political power,” he added.

While concerns percolate over another shutdown come January, some House conservatives are relieved the bill will avert the possibility of Congress getting jammed with a Christmas-season omnibus package.

“We’ve been advocating for a yearlong CR, but the thing that this CR to the end of January does is it relieves us of the old, historic, traditional Christmas omnibus [bill] that everybody loads up with a wish list,” Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told The Daily Signal on Monday, referring to the congressional custom of hastily passing massive funding packages right before breaking for Christmas. “So, this takes us past that, which is a very good deal.”

The legislation to fund the government passed the Senate this past Monday, overcoming the opposition of 38 Senate Democrat Caucus members, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. They were joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucuses with the Democrats. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Senate Republican to not support the bill.

In addition to funding the entire government until Jan. 30, the legislation also provides funding for the full fiscal year to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Food and Drug Administration, the operations of Congress, and military construction projects.

The legislation will also bring the thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed back to work. These nonessential and essential federal workers have not received a paycheck since the shutdown began, but will receive back pay.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a long-time opponent of continuing resolutions, voted against the bill. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., also voted against the bill, objecting to a Senate provision that allows senators to sue the Department of Justice for not less than $500,000 in each instance their data is seized or subpoenaed without notice.

“I could not in good conscience support a resolution that creates a self-indulgent legal provision for certain senators to enrich themselves by suing the Justice Department using taxpayer dollars,” Steube wrote on X.

Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine; Henry Cuellar, D-Texas; Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y.; Adam Gray, D-Calif.; Danny Davis, D-Ill.; and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., were the Democrats who broke party ranks to support the bill.

Congress Looks to Find Health Care Solutions

Democrats withheld their support for funding the government, which entered a shutdown on Oct. 1, over expiring COVID-19-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Republicans sympathized with rising health care costs but objected to the Democrats’ tactics of holding government funding hostage to extend the subsidies. The Senate deal that broke the shutdown gridlock promised a group of Senate Democratic Caucus members a future vote on the subsidies.

But without reforms, the subsidies have little hope of passing, as many Republicans argue that these subsidies are propping up an ineffective and unaffordable health care system.

“I mean, here’s what Republicans want: actual affordable, reliable, high quality health care. Democrats want power, and if you can’t see that now, if you don’t report that, then you’re not doing the job,” Van Orden explained.

“It’s turned out to be the UCA, the Unaffordable Care Act, because everything that was said … about driving up cost, lessening affordability, lessening access, all that’s come true,” Hern said.

“We should look at how we’re going to lower costs without having to inject more federal dollars into it. The federal work ought to be able to lower the health care costs for all Americans,” the Oklahoma congressman added.

“We got to come up with a good health care plan, which we’re working on now—freedom caucus is,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told The Daily Signal.

“We’ve got to come up with an overall health care system. Obamacare doesn’t work,” the South Carolina congressman added.

When asked if there could be a bipartisan deal to extend the temporarily COVID-19-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., expressed concern that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., would not support such a measure.

“I’m very concerned that even if the Senate came up with a deal that they could agree with that Speaker Johnson won’t bring it to the floor, but we have the American people behind us, and we’re going to keep standing up,” Clark told the press.

In the middle of the vote, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., reflected on Democrats’ position after the longest shutdown ever, telling The Daily Signal, “We certainly made health care the issue and cost of living the issue, but now we have to fight to really show people that we’re going to deliver.” Khanna has called for new Democrat leadership in the Senate after his party’s acquiescence.

AUTHORS

Bradley Devlin

Bradley Devlin is politics editor for The Daily Signal. Send an email to Bradley. Bradley on X:

Jacob Adams

Jacob Adams is a journalism fellow at The Daily Signal. Send an email to Jacob. Jacob on X:

George Caldwell

George Caldwell is a journalism fellow at The Daily Signal. Send an email to George. George on X:

RELATED ARTICLES:

The Shutdown’s Over. Now What?

Johnson: Dems Handed Trump ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ in Shutdown

ART OF THE TROLL: Speaker Defends Trump’s Shutdown Memes

As Shutdown Staggers On, Stopgap Funding Window Shrinks

RELATED VIDEO: President Trump signs bill to reopen government after record shutdown

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now

Why Schumer’s Shutdown Could Be the Death of Obamacare

/in , , , , , , , /by

When Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) opted to force the October 1 shutdown of the federal government to protect Biden-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax subsidies, he doubtless saw himself as saving the government health care program informally bearing former President Barack Obama’s name.

Instead, when the longest federal shutdown in history wrought coast-to-coast commercial airline service chaos, left federal civil service unpaid for weeks, and jeopardized federal food benefits for legions of poor and lower-middle-class Americans, Schumer’s decision put an unprecedented national spotlight on the reality of Obamacare’s many failures.

Shortly after Senate Democrats defeated the 14th Republican effort in five weeks to end the shutdown, President Donald Trump issued a November 8 Truth Social post laying out his idea for ending the spiraling costs under Obamacare once the government re-opened, saying:

“I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money — sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over. In other words, take from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people, and terminate, per Dollar spent, the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World, ObamaCare.”

In a stroke of pure MAGA populism, Trump’s post did two things: First, he framed the “Schumer Shutdown” as actually protecting the multi-billions of tax dollars the tax subsidies going annually to health care insurance corporations, and second, he framed the coming reform debate as a choice between either empowering Americans to decide for themselves their health care coverage, or protecting government bureaucrats and corporate insurance executives getting rich on tax dollars.

Trump is far from alone in wanting to put consumers in charge of their health care coverage as the key to reducing costs and improving medical services delivery. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.), for example, recently told a New Orleans NBC media outlet that he favors moving to Health Savings Accounts (HASs) that are pre-funded at a certain level by the federal government. The Louisiana Republican is a physician and a key player in any Senate decision-making on health care issues.

And Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.) told The Washington Stand that “Americans hopefully now clearly see the facts proving that Obamacare was never affordable. It’s called the Unaffordable Care Act for a reason, as health care premiums have gone up substantially since Obamacare was fully implemented in 2014, going from around $16,000 for the annual average family of four to now standing around $27,000 for the same family.”

The solution, according to the Oklahoma Republican, is legislative action that “starts moving toward free market principles and away from government involvement.”

How Congress ultimately acts remains to be seen, but congressional and health care experts interviewed by TWS agree the debate and subsequent reforms are all but inevitable because of the Schumer Shutdown.

“Ironically, the Democrats have made a strong case that President Barack Obama’s signature legislation was a major policy failure. Obama said repeatedly that his bill would bend the health cost curve downward and even made the claim that the typical family would save $2,500 annually. Fifteen years later, these claims appear even more absurd than when Obama uttered them,” said Dr. Robert Moffit, senior research fellow for the Heritage Foundation’s Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing.

Moffit served as deputy assistant secretary for Legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Ronald Reagan, as well as Assistant Director for Congressional Relations at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

As a result, according to Moffit, “congressional Republicans have a golden opportunity to change the trajectory of the health care debate. They should adopt a policy of addition, not subtraction. Let those who like Obamacare plans keep their Obamacare plans. But provide innovative alternatives for those who want more affordable coverage with broader access to doctors, hospitals, and specialists than available under most Obamacare plans.”

Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) Executive Vice-President Brittany Madni, who worked on the Hill for a decade as a senior legislative aide, declared that “the shutdown orchestrated by congressional Democrats in a bid to extract $1.5 trillion in radical demands paid for by taxpayers has exposed a key fault line: Obamacare’s ongoing unaffordability.”

The shutdown debate over the Obamacare tax subsidies exposed the fact that, according to Madni, “If Obamacare offered truly affordable or quality care, we wouldn’t even be talking about subsidies. But we are. Now, congressional Republicans are seeing this as an opportunity to consider broader reforms that would actually drive down costs, unlike throwing more money into a broken system. They would be wise to advance a pro-freedom health care policy agenda that actually puts patients and taxpayers first instead of big insurance companies.”

A congressional relations veteran who is working on health care issues and who asked not to be named told The Washington Stand that genuine health care reforms are a real possibility because there is even support for such progress among some Democratic lawmakers.

“There is some hope in addressing health care costs. Some rank-and-file Democrats have expressed an interest in addressing distortive federal policies that drive up system-wide health care costs and thus increase premiums, but their leadership has blocked them from truly engaging,” the congressional relations expert explained.

Even before the Schumer Shutdown, he said, Democrats presented a solid wall of opposition to any changes in Obamacare. But that attitude is fading.

“Since passage of the ACA, Democrats have not been open to any changes to the law, even as networks narrowed, consolidation accelerated, and premiums soared. The regulatory and tax credit structure of the ACA are inherently inflationary. Even when Republicans appropriated cost-sharing reduction subsidies in the reconciliation bill that would have reduced premiums by 10-20 percent, Democrats objected and got that provision removed in the Senate,” the expert continued.

“Real reforms to the ACA to increase competition and lower premiums, like the nice-sounding but poorly constructed Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirement, require 60 votes in the Senate, and Democrats have not once shown any interest in tackling these problems they created. So, Republicans have and should continue to push for people to have more affordable options,” the expert added.

The MLR is a provision requiring health care insurers to spend at least 80% of a coverage premium on medical care and health improvement. But the MLR is irrelevant in the millions of cases in which the policyholder doesn’t file a claim. In such cases, which account for nearly all Obamacare policyholders, the health care insurer keeps all of the Obamacare tax subsidies that may apply.

As for Schumer, a survey of Democratic voters highlighted by CNN shows the New York Democrat, who has been in Congress since former President Ronald Reagan was inaugurated for his first term, to be four points underwater. And prominent members of his party like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are openly calling for his resignation.

A spokesman for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who is widely expected to challenge Schumer, if he seeks another Senate term, did not respond to TWS’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

Mark Tapscott

Mark Tapscott is senior congressional analyst at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.