All posts tagged "medicaid"

GOP lawmaker showered with boos from angry town hall attendees for supporting Trump bill

A GOP lawmaker was heckled and booed by angry town hall attendees because of his support for President Donald Trump's signature bill, according to reports.

Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) was "drowned with boos" after he touted voting for the Big Beautiful Bill during a town hall in Nebraska, according to a post on X by American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic super PAC and opposition-research group.

A video accompanying the post showed that Flood was asked what he would do to support benefits for people with disabilities. He answered by talking about the Big Beautiful Bill, which Trump pushed through Congress last year. Flood claimed the bill "protected Medicaid."

As soon as Flood said the words "Big Beautiful Bill," the crowd could be heard showering him with boos. Flood waited for the boos to die down before trying to argue that the bill saved benefits that "would not have been available for the developmentally disabled, the persistently mentally ill, people that are of advanced age," and with each one, the crescendo of boos swelled again.

When Flood repeated, "We protected Medicaid in a common-sense, bipartisan way," the boos became even louder, and people in the audience could be heard yelling at him.

Journalist Em Luetkemeyer also reported on Flood's town hall and noted that "constituents are yelling" when he talked about his support for voter ID laws.

Luetkemeyer noted that a man from Omaha "yelled" a question into the microphone, asking, "When are you going to call up President Trump before he bankrupts this country?"

Flood was in Bellevue, Nebraska, according to his congressional office. However, he's also faced hostile crowds in previous months while hosting town halls in Columbus and Norfolk, which, along with Bellevue, are all in red Nebraska counties that Trump won in 2024.

Missing GOP lawmaker slammed for yanking health coverage he himself needed: 'Hypocrisy'

The internet slammed Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) on Tuesday, calling him out for cutting Medicaid and healthcare services — the same ones he needed — after he revealed that he had been battling depression and was hospitalized, disappearing from Congress for nearly four months.

Kean's office had given cryptic explanations while he was gone, citing a "personal medical issue." He missed more than 100 votes and had not cast a vote since March 5.

Critics online were quick to point out Kean's voting record — and how he continued trading stocks while he was away.

"I'm glad he’s doing better, but it's hard to ignore the hypocrisy. Kean took the time he needed to recover after voting for a bill that strips healthcare access and security from over 360,000 of his own constituents last year, then only reversed course on ACA subsidies once the political backlash got too loud. He got the support system his policies and votes deny everyone else," Simone Rossi, strategist and political commentator, wrote on X.

"same guy," journalist Aaron Rupar wrote on X, sharing a screenshot detailing how Kean was scrutinized and "faced severe backlash from healthcare advocates and New Jersey officials for his role in advancing House Republican budget proposals that slashed nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid."

"Tom Kean Jr. was healthy enough to authorize stock transactions up to $190,000 during his nearly 4-month absence from the House. There’s more to this story than he’s saying," Democratic strategist Jon Cooper wrote on X.

"Tom Kean voted to gut Medicaid. You know money to help Americans pay for their healthcare needs like depression. Tom gets great healthcare paid by American taxpayers but then he strips it away from all of us. Aren’t you tired of Republicans getting healthcare while u get nada?" The account Menckim’s Ghost, a frequent progressive commentator, wrote on X.

I'm glad he’s doing better, but it's hard to ignore the hypocrisy.

Kean took the time he needed to recover after voting for a bill that strips healthcare access and security from over 360,000 of his own constituents last year, then only reversed course on ACA subsidies once the… https://t.co/qeZmNhzcvY
— Simone (@girlpowertbh) June 30, 2026

'Is he that dumb?' GOP lawmaker's Medicaid attack shredded by online critics

A Republican lawmaker attacked the idea of Medicaid with comments that had online critics questioning if he knew how it works.

Rep. Rich McCormick criticized Medicaid while speaking at a town hall and argued that it amounted to giving away "free money" in his full-throated speech.

"To the point of Medicaid, the worst thing I can possibly do is give you free money to stay home and do nothing," McCormick said. "That's not happiness. I'm not gonna allow you to sit home and get something for nothing."

On X, critics argued against his description of Medicaid and went after the Republican congressman, adding that he didn't seem to know how the program works.

South Dakota Democratic state Rep. Linda Duba similarly wondered, "Is he that dumb? No one gets money from Medicaid. You must use services and payments go directly to the providers."

Journalist John Harwood agreed, writing, "Health care is not 'free money.'"

Author Joyce Carol Oates slammed Congress more broadly with her post by writing, "'Staying home & doing nothing' is the point of becoming a congressman. Seems a wee bit hypocritical to scold sick & disabled person for wishing to do likewise."

Disability rights activist James Tate gave a scathing reaction to McCormick's comment by posting, "Veterans say F— YOU B—."

Legal writer and criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield asked in his post, "How is it possible that a congressman has no idea what Medicaid is used for?"

Meanwhile, Russell Foster, a former Democratic congressional candidate from Texas, wrote, "Republican theme seems to be 'How much can I hurt the poor, sick, and in need to give to my millionaire donors?'"

James Comer mocked for eye-popping claim on Fox News: 'Not even trying to mask it'

Political analysts and observers referred to a GOP lawmaker as a "racist" after he made remarks that seemed to reveal his thinly veiled thoughts.

Rep. James Comer (R-KY) spoke about Medicaid fraud during a Fox News interview, where he said, "What we're seeing, especially in the blue states, is there is rampant fraud, especially in the minority communities."

He added, "The only way we're going to stop is if people are put in jail."

Commentators reacted to Comer's comments with disgust, accusing him of making a not-too-subtle racist remark.

"Ah yes, the black people! (sic) of course!" Alex Cole, a progressive news personality, wrote.

"James Comer, fraudster and rank racist," reacted Norman Ornstein, a political scientist and contributing editor for The Atlantic.

"When they write about how America collapsed, it will be because we allowed one of our political parties to get away with this sh—," wrote Rachel Bitecofer, a national political analyst and pollster.

"Remember in the pre-Trump era where they were subtle?" asked political writer Zaid Jilani.

"Here he is saying it out. 'Especially in the minority communities,'" former U.S. ambassador Luis Moreno posted. "Folks like Donald Trump Jr., Bankman-Fried, Brett Favre, nearly all of the white collar fraudsters pardoned by Trump would like a word."

"They are not even trying to mask it," agreed writer and editor Keith Murphy.

This Christmas, this GOP state is facing disaster — thanks to the GOP

On Christmas Day, West Virginians should be focused on family, faith and the small joys that carry us through the coldest months of the year. Instead, far too many families across our state are staring down something that should never be part of the holiday season: the real possibility of losing their health care on Jan. 1.

With Congress leaving Washington for the holidays without extending the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidies, the reality is now set. These critical affordability measures — lifelines for roughly 67,000 West Virginians — are slated to expire. And paired with the looming threat of Capito Care — or the “Big Beautiful Bill” — which makes the largest cuts to Medicaid in history and destabilizes our coverage system even further, West Virginia families are heading into the new year with more uncertainty than comfort.

The timing could not be more painful. Marketplace premiums are already rising sharply for many families in our state. Parents who found coverage they could finally afford last year are opening renewal notices that show premiums doubling or tripling. Older adults who rely on ACA plans until they reach Medicare age are being told their new premiums will rival a mortgage payment. Families who were budgeting for Christmas have been forced to pull from those same savings to keep their children insured.

And because Congress adjourned without renewing these subsidies, there is no longer time to prevent the immediate impact. The choices households are now facing are brutally simple: pay more than they can afford or go without coverage altogether.

This isn’t how a society should care for its people — especially not during the season that most deeply reflects compassion, generosity, and community.

Here in West Virginia, the consequences land harder than almost anywhere else. Our state has one of the highest percentages of residents relying on Medicaid. We have a large number of older adults, rural families, and workers in physically demanding jobs who depend on reliable, affordable health care to stay healthy and stay employed. Losing subsidies doesn’t just threaten individual families — it strains rural hospitals, weakens local economies and pulls stability out from under entire communities.

And yet, this moment also reflects something deeply true about our state: West Virginians know how to endure hardship, and they know how to fight for what’s right. In every major health care battle of the past decade, our neighbors — patients, caregivers, nurses, faith leaders and advocates — have stepped up to share their stories and stand together. That civic strength didn’t prevent this particular setback, but it will be essential in the weeks and months ahead.

The truth is that while Congress missed the window to prevent the immediate premium spikes, nothing about this outcome is inevitable going forward. Policy choices created this situation, and policy choices in the new year can fix it. There is still time — and still a responsibility — for federal leaders to restore the subsidies, protect Medicaid, and reject proposals like the “Big, Beautiful Bill” that would push even more West Virginians into crisis.

As we head into Christmas, my hope is that lawmakers remember the human impact behind every line of a bill or budget. Health care isn’t a partisan talking point. It’s the insulin a grandmother needs to survive. It’s the cancer screening that catches a problem early. It’s the coverage that lets parents take their child to the doctor without fear of bankruptcy.

At West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, we remain committed to lifting those stories and pushing for solutions that protect every family in our state. This season may bring anxiety for many, but it also brings clarity: West Virginians deserve better. They deserve health care that is reliable, affordable, and treated as the essential foundation it is.

Christmas reminds us to care for our neighbors. As we move into the new year, we must make sure our policies do the same.

Ellen Allen is the executive director at West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, an organization that brings a consumer voice to public policy so that every West Virginian has quality, affordable health care.

This MAGA politician's disturbing rant shows a party hellbent on hurting its own

“It is hard to watch other states and cities across our nation leap toward socialism… Let’s keep our state moving forward by always rejecting the falsehoods sold by the radical left.” — Secretary of State Kris Warner, Facebook post, November 5, 2025.

Although I should be accustomed to it, it is always disturbing when MAGA politicians go off halfcocked about socialism. Here are some of the “radical left” socialist programs that Warner must be complaining about:

Medicare
Medicaid
The Affordable Care Act
Social Security
SNAP (food stamps)
Meals on Wheels and Office of Aging services

Oh, these are not the programs he was referring to? Many of my friends would be insulted if I told them they and their families are dependent on liberal “socialist” programs. People have such short memories.

Every single one of these programs was once characterized by right-wing politicians as a “socialist program.”

For example, let’s remember what Ronald Reagan said about Medicare before it was enacted:

“From [Medicare] it’s a short step to all the rest of socialism.”
”Medicare will usher in federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country.”
If Medicare is passed, “we are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”

I’m a capitalist who spent decades as a high-level executive in corporate America, working in states like West Virginia. Yes, government on all levels is generally not efficient. However, it’s very effective in many areas. And, in some cases, it has proven to be more efficient than the private sector.

For example, Medicare overhead/marketing is 2 percent versus 12 percent for private insurance companies. In this instance, socialized health insurance is clearly more cost-effective than private insurance. We are simply being held back from Medicare for All by the health-care industrial complex (insurance companies, providers, drug companies) that likes things the way they are, with tens of millions of dollars in compensation to CEOs. They say universal coverage is unaffordable, but studies show differently. Canada and other democracies with universal health care all have per capita health expenditures a fraction of ours … with better results.

Traditional Medicare was clearly an expansion of government when enacted 50+ years ago, but it’s one that the public supports. Before Medicare, only about half of all seniors were covered by private insurance. Polls have shown that virtually no voters, even the MAGA folks, want to do away with it now.

Will Medicare for All cause our insurance system to fall apart, as Trump said in his 2018 USA Today editorial? Numerous polls show support for Medicare for All, including one recently illustrating 59 percent in favor. That poll showed support was strong in every category of Americans — except the MAGA faithful. A Gallup poll used the words “universal coverage” and had the same result — 62 percent supportive. Even almost two-thirds of independents were in favor. Again, the MAGA people were the only ones opposed.

America is still free and capitalistic despite what Reagan said about Medicare prior to enactment. Likewise, the sort of rhetoric spouted by Warner is simply a way of scaring American voters away from expansion of domestic programs designed to help the less fortunate. Programs that wealthier people like Warner’s financial backers will pay for and therefore dislike.

I’ve used Medicare as an example, but I could use many others. Social conservatives like Warner have a bad habit of talking about the ills of “socialism.” However, I don’t hear them asking that we convert our government employees in our military into private mercenaries. And, when we have used military “contractors,” the expense to the U.S. has been much greater.

In his Facebook post, Warner also stated, “Let’s always hold fast to our Christian conservative values that made our state the best to raise a family in the country.”

Yet, the numbers tell a different story about the state and its needs for public program expansion. For example, West Virginia has the fourth-highest poverty rate in the nation at 14 percent… and the second-highest mortality rate. It also has the third-highest incarceration rate and third-lowest income.

Instead of preaching about Christian values, West Virginians would be better off if Warner practiced Christianity by supporting the “socialist” programs he criticizes. As the Bible (Proverbs 14:31) states: “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”

Jack Bernard was a corporate executive and a consultant for West Virginia hospitals. He is now a columnist and activist.

These 25 Republicans could demolish a GOP scheme to save themselves

Republicans are obsessed with taking your health care away. This spring, they cut $1 trillion from Medicaid, all to give massive tax handouts to billionaires. For the last month and a half they shut down the government rather than prevent premiums from doubling on average for 24 million people in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. And they “won.”

The number of uninsured Americans is about to skyrocket, which is exactly what Republicans want. It is what they fight for every day: to steal your health care.

These cuts are devastating for seniors, who rely on Medicaid to pay for nursing homes and other long-term care (which typically isn’t covered by Medicare). They are also disastrous for Americans aged 50 to 64, many of whom are in the ACA marketplaces and will have the largest premium increases. Many will have no choice but to drop their health insurance and pray they don’t get too sick before they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare — literally gambling with their lives.

Even if you’re not on Medicaid or the ACA, the Republican cuts will make your health care worse. Without the Medicaid dollars they need to survive, hospitals and nursing homes across the country are already closing their doors. Far more will close in the next few years, with rural areas and inner cities hit hardest.

The hospitals that remain open will have to cut staff due to lower revenue — even as their ERs are flooded with newly uninsured patients who have nowhere else to go. That means if you get hit by a car, you’ll likely have to go to a hospital further away and wait longer to see a doctor. All thanks to Republicans.

The only people in America whose health care isn’t about to get much worse are billionaires, who can hop into their private helicopters to see their private doctors.

Democrats are demanding that Republicans back off their draconian health care cuts. That’s what the just-concluded government shutdown was all about — Democrats refusing to vote for a budget that doesn’t fix the coming health care apocalypse.

Some Democrats thought that Republicans would come to the negotiating table and figure out a health care fix, if only out of political self-interest. But Republicans are ideologically committed to destroying health care at the behest of their billionaire donors.

House Republican Leader Mike Johnson is refusing to bring an extension of the ACA subsidies, which would prevent premiums from skyrocketing, up for a vote.

This refusal is why House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has put forward a discharge petition to obtain a three-year extension of the ACA subsidies. If the petition gets 218 signers, it forces a floor vote which also needs 218 to pass. There are 214 Democrats in the House.

That means we need only FOUR Republicans to cross the aisle and we can get the subsidies to pass the House, putting pressure on the Senate.

It comes down to these 25 Republicans, who are in extremely tight races and whose constituents are getting hammered by spiking premiums and disastrous Medicaid cuts:

Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06)
Kevin Kiley (CA-03)
David Valadao (CA-22)
Darrell Issa (CA-48)
Gabe Evans (CO-08)
Cory Mills (FL-07)
María Elvira Salazar (FL-27)
Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01)
Zach Nunn (IA-03)
Bill Huizenga (MI-04)
Tom Barrett (MI-07)
Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11)
Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-07)
Mike Lawler (NY-17)
Mike Turner (OH-10)
Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07)
Rob Bresnahan (PA-08)
Scott Perry (PA-10)
Andy Ogles (TN-05)
Monica De La Cruz (TX-15)
Rob Wittman (VA-01)
Jen Kiggans (VA-02)
Bryan Steil (WI-01)
Derrick Van Orden (WI-03)

Republicans are betting that by dividing Americans against each other, they can duck the blame for the health care apocalypse they created. Let’s prove them wrong. That starts with flooding the phone lines of these Republicans and protesting outside their offices, to demand they save our health care.

Alex Lawson is the Executive Director of Social Security Works, the convening organization of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition -- a coalition made up of over 340 national and state organizations representing over 50 million Americans.

The GOP is keeping Americans on the hook — even if the shutdown ends

As New Mexicans, we know what it means to take care of each other. When our neighbors are struggling, we help them.

That’s why our state leaders stepped in to make sure families could still get food during the appalling and unprecedented suspension of SNAP food benefits. And that’s why the Trump administration’s choice to block SNAP during a government shutdown, despite having the emergency funds, struck such a deep nerve — it’s not just cruel, it’s unnecessary.

When the shutdown ends, many federal workers and families will finally get some relief. But that relief won’t last long. The truth is: even after the government reopens, the cuts to food and healthcare programs will keep coming, and they are about to get worse.

Buried in the details of H.R. 1 — the federal budget bill pushed by House Republicans — are huge cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and marketplace health insurance. These cuts will hurt hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans, ripping away support that keeps our families stable and healthy. These are not temporary disruptions caused by a funding gap — these are long-term structural changes designed to take away food and healthcare from our families.

New Mexico’s federal lawmakers aren’t staying quiet. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, along with Representatives Melanie Stansbury, Teresa Leger Fernández, and Gabe Vasquez, are fighting to protect food assistance and healthcare, and rural clinics that are lifelines in our communities.

In New Mexico, we’ve seen what works. When families have access to healthy food, health care, and stable housing, our whole state is stronger. We’ve made progress in recent years: expanding child hunger programs, improving access to affordable healthcare, and creating state initiatives that keep working parents on their feet. That progress is now under direct threat from Washington DC.

As our lawmakers prepare for the upcoming 30 day legislative session, protecting that progress must come first. Lawmakers must continue the important work that began in October’s special session: building state-level solutions to shield New Mexico families from the harshest effects of H.R. 1’s cuts. That means investing in our state food assistance programs, protecting healthcare coverage, making sure rural hospitals and clinics are funded, and ensuring no child in New Mexico goes hungry.

We don’t have to accept a future where federal politics decide who in our communities eats, who gets medical care, or who is left behind. The values that define New Mexico — community, resilience, and compassion — are stronger than any budget cut.

The shutdown will end. But our responsibility to one another will not.

Sovereign Hager is from Albuquerque, NM and is the Public Benefits director at New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.
Source NM is part of the States Newsroom network

It's not the Dems who must feel real pain if this shutdown is ever to end

One of the main assumptions in the story about the government shutdown, which began at midnight, is that the Democrats see a “rare opportunity to use their leverage to achieve policy goals.”

That quote is from the Associated Press. Here’s some more: “Senate Democrats say they won’t vote for [the Republican funding resolution] unless Republicans include an extension of expiring health care benefits, among other demands. President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans say they won’t negotiate, arguing that it’s a stripped-down, ‘clean’ bill that should be noncontroversial.”

I wonder about that, though.

I mean, I know the Democrats have to demand something concrete in exchange for their vote, but the opportunity seems bigger than just getting the GOP to renew Obamacare subsidies that were expanded during the covid pandemic. The opportunity seems bigger than policy.

It seems like a chance to expose the Republicans’ lies.

Then ask why. Why do they lie so much?

Then answer: because Republican voters can’t know the truth.

The truth is that Trump and his party do not care one way or another if, in the coming months, health insurance premiums for those who are enrolled in Obamacare exchanges double, triple or quadruple.

They do not care if everyone else enrolled through their employers sees their insurance premiums spike, or sees the cost of their health care spike, as a result of healthy people leaving Obamacare exchanges.

What they do care about is stealing from Medicaid — to the tune of $1 trillion over a decade — to cut the taxes of very obscenely rich people who will never notice that their taxes have been cut. Oh, and they care about seeing their social inferiors suffer. That’s a whole lot of fun.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with not caring. It is part of the makeup of a native-born authoritarian cartel that’s invested above all else in maintaining a social hierarchy with rich white men on top.

Though rule-by-the-rich is very popular among the rich, it’s not so popular among workaday folks, even conservative Americans who otherwise see advantage in being aligned with their social betters.

Though the Trump cartel is working hard to change it, America is still a democracy. The GOP still needs its base until it has completed its consolidation of power. For now, it can’t afford to alienate its supporters with the truth – that the Republicans are scamming them.

Who will suffer most from cuts to Medicaid? Republican voters in GOP-controlled states. Who will suffer most from Obamacare spikes? Ditto. Because, in both programs, there are more Republican voters than anyone else combined, the Republicans must pretend to care.

But mostly, they lie.

At first, the lies were of the “waste, fraud and abuse” variety.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said he might think about renewing the Obamacare subsidies, but “there is a lot of, whatever you want to call it, fraud,” he told Axios. “And I think everybody acknowledges that, so how do you reform it and still get bipartisan support?"

Also per Axios, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said they’re thinking about requiring “ACA enrollees to have ‘skin in the game’ by making them pay a minimum premium and barring zero-premium plans that are ACA-compliant but that critics contend fuel fraud.”

Yes, they contend it’s fraud. It isn’t, though. Those are just the rules. If you don’t like the rules, get enough support to change them. But that’s the thing. Americans like the rules, as they are. So Republicans lie.

“Waste, fraud and abuse” was always a code for “Obamacare is for Black people,” so no Republican feared opposing it. But apparently the dogwhistle wasn’t getting through to the base. So the Republicans dropped the coded language to say outright that the Democrats want one and a half trillion dollars to give “illegal aliens” free health care.

Here’s Vice President JD Vance:

Democrats are “saying to the American people that [they] wanna give massive amounts of money, hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal aliens for their health care, while Americans are struggling to pay their health care bills. That was their initial foray into this negotiation. We thought it was absurd. We told them it was. Now they come in here saying that if you don’t give us everything that we want, we’re gonna shut down the government.”

Every word Vance said, including “and” and “the,” is a lie.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) went straight at him for that lie:

“The federal government by law … does not fund health insurance for undocumented immigrants in Medicaid, period. Nor the ACA, nor Medicare. Undocumented immigrants do not get federal health insurance premiums. Period. Period. They’re lying.”

Let’s be real. There is no reality in which Republican voters suddenly wake up to the truth of Schumer’s words and as a result, admit to themselves that the Trump cartel has been lying to them all along. That’s because lying, no matter how disgusting, is not the worst part of the predicament America finds itself in. The desire to believe lies is.

So the goal wouldn’t be convincing Republican voters they’ve been lied to. The goal would be convincing they’ve been scammed. To do that, however, requires much more than merely calling Republicans out as liars. It requires pain — pain felt by Republican voters themselves.

That’s what Republican voters will feel if Trump and the Republicans get what they want from the Democrats: a “clean CR” that includes nothing to stop the shock that’s coming, when health insurance premiums skyrocket while the safety net unravels. Pain is the only teacher in politics. That’s the Democrats’ real opportunity.

Not policy.

Pain.

These forgotten Americans hold the key to Trump's downfall — and they'll use it soon

Even at the absolute highest level, at some point, just getting the basic job done — sawing wood, blocking and tackling — is the only means to sway critical elements of the American electorate toward support or disdain for this or most other administrations.

For that reason, and precious few others, it is only a matter of time until the floor drops out from under Trump's MAGA express and its adolescent scorched-earth second run.

Such a low-key, mealy-mouthed pronouncement kind of sounds absurd at first.

After all, at any given point, 35 percent of this country is in a cold civil war with the opposite 35 percent. The red side of that equation believes that Trump's Department of Justice is about to deliver Obama and Hillary's Q-inspired imprisonment, all while they cheer the deployment of troops to Portland. Probably Portland, Maine, given this administration's incompetence.

Meanwhile, many of us on the blue side believe we're a day or two away from Trump passing out on the podium as the Epstein files prove that he played a major role in the most notorious teen sex-trafficking scheme in modern history. (And don't think that he doesn't love the government shutdown as a diversion.)

The reality is likely more in the middle — though that's one hell of a middle, to be sure.

Real hope for moderating or deflating Trump and company will likely spring more from that middle 30 percent, the kind that don't believe that pitchforks are warranted yet, so long as someone answers the damned phone when they call Social Security, gets their tax rebate before Memorial Day, wants FEMA positioned before the storm, and prefers hamburger that is at least cheaper than Bitcoin.

Because Trump et. al. can implement Project 2025 in all its horror, putting troops in American cities, deporting actual American citizens, firing women and POC as presumptive "DEI hires," all of it, with the 35-35 dynamic and a "thirtyish" middle that is practically asleep, just wanting American s––– to work.

To deal with an obvious issue, no, that middle should not be forgiven for being asleep at the wheel as Trump steals American democracy, but that's a topic for another day.

There is reason to believe, however, that the middle is about to lose its precarious tolerance of Trump as his regime continues its nosedive into banana republic despot despair.

First and foremost, there is the fact that no one can afford anything, whether it is groceries, a house, Amazon Prime, never mind health insurance. Trump is in the White House based on one issue — inflation, and not only has he failed spectacularly to bring it down, but there is every indication that it will only get worse. Prices alone will move that middle to disapproval faster than nearly any other factor.

But now watch what happens when air traffic control, or the lack thereof, makes Thanksgiving and next summer an utter nightmare. Yes, that's a "First World Problem" but we are or were "the First World," and very easily angered when such entitlements are threatened.

We got damned lucky this hurricane season. FEMA got "DOGE'd" but wasn't tested in August or September, and good thing too: We could have had a disaster on top of a disaster. But just because the trade winds favored us doesn't mean that a major upheaval, such as an earthquake, fire, or next year's hurricane season, won't expose the breathtaking incompetence we know to be in place.

There is a darker side, too. As the Trump administration fully politicizes the FBI, pulling agents into political conflicts and away from international attacks, all under the leadership of a former podcaster, we are terrifyingly more exposed to terrorist attacks, whether of the old variety, such as bombs, or the newer threats to our networks and grids. The political folly of the FBI, replacing so many honed-in apolitical veterans, can and likely will be exposed in something where minutes matter. It is more likely than not.

And then there is the relatively easy stuff that is already souring, as mentioned: Social Security calls going unanswered, VA appointments dropping off, SNAP dissolving, and Medicaid cuts closing hospitals, all of that toll takes only time — and the administration has lots of it remaining.

It is really easy to spend an hour on X and fully believe that the United States is about to start the Civil War 2.0 — and, no doubt, our democracy is being burgled by the hour, the post-Constitutional America may well be "here." But the administration still has to fear that middle because in this hyper-polarized climate, it takes only a good 15 percent sway in the electorate and very suddenly the administration has little room to move without serious risk.

There is a major, major difference in the authoritarian battlefield between a presidential approval rate of 45 percent versus a true 35 percent, and as has been written here before, Trump has never had to defend his "burn it all down" approach in a souring economy — never mind a wholly dysfunctional government.

This is not a call to sit back and wait. No. The dangers are present and clear, the agenda is damned dangerous, and its implementation is now weekly. Stand and resist, spread the word, don't give an inch, all that. But do not scroll the phone thinking that we're one big revelation away from MAGA implosion.

If we have learned one thing in the Trump era, it is that scandal doesn't touch him ... unless the economy sucks, the phones go unanswered, and a real bomb drops. He has never faced a major revelation with an angry middle.

It is coming. The incompetence can only remain hidden for so long. Just don't count on overwhelming shock about any one revelation, until such time as the middle gets miffed.

At some point, competence matters. The federal government, whether it is TSA, Social Security, the FBI, or FEMA, has actually "worked" fairly well, going back a generation. We have had legions of politically agnostic civil servants earn the expectation that they can be counted on. But most of them are gone, perhaps primarily because they kept politics out of the office, all to usher in just a few "true believers."

And their absence is about to be felt, month by intolerable month.

The somewhat perverted "good news" is that it is coming, and as the middle turns against Trumpism, some of his worst plans will be abated. The bad news is that it cannot come soon enough, and questions linger over whether there will be much left worth saving.

Fight now. Resist today. And know that replacements are coming. Whether they can be forgiven for waiting until abject incompetence set in is a question for history.

But it most certainly is coming — this administration has shown that it cannot be counted on to answer the phone, blocking and tackling, and that's on a nice day. Wait for a real storm and not the "Q" type.

The administration will soon find out that competence matters most.

Jason Miciak is a past Associate Editor of Occupy Democrats, American attorney, author, and can also be found on Politizoom. He can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com