AMERICAN ZOO DAY UPDATES
Because Nothing Uplifts You When You Need It Than Spending Time with Some Penguins
-As of this writing, the Senate continues to labor and creak - and somehow make President Trump's Big Bill O'Crap worse than before. How? Let's count three ways ...
-According to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, continued drafting and redrafting of the bill is now poised to make 20 million Americans lose health insurance in some way, shape, or form.
-According to a number of Republicans, a provision that would savage solar and wind energy was inserted into the bill with literally nobody interviewed knowing who put it in or why it was put in there.
-According to the vote tallies, an amendment inserted by Sen. Susan Collins (ConceRned, ME) to help her state's rural hospitals - which are poised to be closed en masse across the country, which will specifically affect Trump-supporting states far more than blue states - was voted down.
-And according to a number of Democrats, the final text of the bill ... still apparently does not exist, as backroom mechanizations and arm-twists are taking place furiously and the Vote-a-Rama continues to be stretched out, because as of this writing, Majority Leader Thune does NOT have the votes to bring it to a final vote.
-There are two confirmed NOs: KY's Rand Paul, and NC's Thom Tillis, who undercut a threat for a primary by Dear Leader Trump by announcing he will not run for re-election, and without needing to worry about retribution, tore the bill apart on the floor Sunday. And while his move now makes that seat a toss-up, Republicans can only lose one more vote for the bill to return to the House, as Intern JD Vance, who pooh-pooed the Medicare cuts in the bill as "trifles," can break a tie.
-The aforementioned Collins is one focus of pressure, as she is also up for re-election in 2026 and is facing a does-not-seem-good 14% approval rating in her state. Another continues to be AK's Lisa Murkowski, who had a carve-out Thune used to earn bribe her vote ruled out of order by the Senate Parliamentarian, thus bringing some question about her vote. Rumblings about LA Sen. Bill Cassidy (reportedly an MD) wavering because of what would happen in his state are also bubbling, for what that's worth.
-Even if the BBOC somehow squeezes its way out of the Senate, it would then have to go back to the House to get re-approved - and that continues to be iffy. Recall that their version was approved with one vote to spare, then note that The Hill reports a letter was sent by 15 Congressional Republicans announcing they oppose too many of the changes the Senate has made to their bill, and the analytics department of A Substack from A Guy Named Joe reveals that 15 is 15 times more than one, so that is math that is tricky for House Speaker Mike Johnson - from Louisiana, by the way.
-And if all of THAT wasn't enough - the hatred Americans have for the bill, the back-room awareness by non-MAGAt Republicans of the actual and political damage likely to be done to their Party, the stress of being in Washington for a deadline that only exists because of the desires of Dear Leader to have a signing ceremony on Independence Day this Friday - the GOP is now facing the wrath of former President and Trump Election Bankroller Elon Musk, who has unleashed a series of diatribes on social media against the bill, attacking the party as liars and threatening to primary every Republican who votes for the BBOC and threatening to bankroll a third political party again.
-As you can imagine, all of this is making Trump cranky. In response to his former campaign BFF Ketamine Man, Trump is not only threatening to take all of Musk's contracts away, but is also floating the idea of denaturalizing Musk to deport him as if he was a Muslim candidate for Mayor of New York City (and yeah, the White House is also threatening Zohran Mamdani as well). He is also threatening to shuffletrot his big arse and whatever is connected to the medical tubing in his pants - ALLEGEDLY - to the House on Wednesday so he can have his signing ceremony and his adoration, with a crowd likely bigger than his Small Penis Parade.
-Trump has not reportedly been working the phones because HE'S BEEN BUSY! Besides being on social media berating Republicans who continue to not throw rose petals at him, Trump also continued to threaten Canda and Fed Chair Jerome Powell, posted two hilarious Grandpa-can't-use-Zoom Tweets directed at AT&T because he could not log in to a video call, demanded Forbes fire a reporter for (again) not praising him for being him, and prepared a trip to Florida to visit one of the most vile abominations created by Trump 2.0 for today.
-That trip is to a built-in-one-week camp, built near the Florida Everglades, for ICE to detain the people they arrest. The camp, which reportedly cost upwards of $200 million and cost another $450 million per year to run, was paid with monies originally earmarked for hurricane relief. It has been nicknamed "Alligator Auschwitz" by opponents - NOT the builders, as I reported incorrectly on Sunday. No, the builders have nicknamed the place "Alligator Alcatraz," and are already selling merch for it. Trump will be "celebrating" the "opening" of the place with Homeland Security Secrtary Kristi Noem, and Trump used that well-known Trump wit to hilariously describe how hard it would be for detainees to escape the reptiles directly surrounding the place.
-But before he did that, Trump also tended to the home front yesterday, using the power of the Presidency to release a video announcement celebrating the debut of ... I kid you not ... TRUMP PERFUME! Yes, at LAST, you can get that distinct aroma of used Depends hamper, caked ketchup, spilled bronzer, old man drool and McDonald's bags in bottles shaped like Dear Leader for the low low price of $199 per bottle for men and $249 for women. (Because chicks like to smell good and will pay more, amirite?).
-This update will be shorter, as the BBOC has been somewhat dominant. As I wrap this up, a tiny bit of good news (a provision that would have allowed ten years' worth of unregulated artificial intelligence growth stripped out by a shocking 99-1 vote) has been tempered by a report that Thune is about to call for a final vote for the bill, which should mean he has secured the votes to get it over to the House and assuming Democrats have no more procedural tricks up their sleeves to delay the vote - where other horse trading, threats, arm-twisting, and more may be in store. Keep in mind that if the House were to change any significant parts of the Senate bill that the bill would need to be returned to the Senate again. But everything horrible about the bill and the knowledge of the likely consequences on Republicans are poised against their evergreen desire for tax cuts and, above all else, pleasing Trump and his desire to sign a bill on Friday.
-Keep calling, help each other out, keep your marching shoes at the door, and let's get July going ...
-NEWS ON THIS DATE: A big day for historically important battles - the Battle of Gettysburgh (1863), the Battle of San Juan Hill (1898), the Battle of the Somme (1916) and the Battle of El Alamein (1942). In 1997, Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese sovereignty. In 2002, the International Criminal Court heard its first case. (I can think of, oh, 20-30 such cases I'd like to see there some day ...). In 2005, the last Ford Thunderbird rolled off the assembly line. In 2020, the United State-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) formally replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - though USMCA is simply a revision of NAFTA that could and was signed by Trump.
-DEBUTS ON THIS DATE: Canada (1867), The Tour de France (1903), television commercials (1941), ZIP Codes (1963), The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968), MUSIC FROM BIG PINK (1968), MS. Magazine (1972), The Walkman (1979), the PG-13 movie rating (1984), ZEN ARCADE (1984).
-HAPPY BIRTHDAY: James M. Cain, Georgia Tom Dorsey, Charles Laughton, William Wyler, Estee Lauder, Willie Dixon, Olivia de Havilland, Art McNally, Leslie Caron, Sam Rutigliano, Jamie Farr, Jean Marsh, Sydney Pollack, Famous Wally Amos, Karen Black, Twyla Tharp, Andrae Crouch, Debbie Harry, Fred Schneider, Terrence Mann, Dan Aykroyd, Alan Ruck, Nancy Lieberman, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Carl Lewis, Princess Diana Spencer, Andre Braugher, Patrick McEnroe, Pamela Anderson, Julianne Nicholson, and Liv Tyler.
-REST IN PEACE/POWER: Charles Goodyear, Harriet Beecher Stowe, R. Buckminster Fuller, Michael Landon, Wolfman Jack, Steve Tesich, Robert Mitchum, Walter Matthau, Herbie Mann, Marlon Brando, Luther Vandross, Alexis Arguello, Karl Malden, Don Coryell, Hugh Downs, and Robert Towne.
-FEED THE WORMS: David Duke and Joni Ernst entered Earth on this date. Juan Peron bought it on this date.
-TODAY'S MUSIC INTERLUDE: Happy Birthday, Missy Elliott!