I knew Republicans Were Gonna End Up Trying to Pay Us Off

in regard to all the awful things they’re doing. Same thing W did when he looted the Treasury.

Sen. Josh Hawley introduces bill to send tariff rebate checks to Americans

First to NBC News: Hawley pledged to sponsor legislation after President Donald Trump expressed interest in sending out rebate checks last week.

By Allan Smith

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced legislation Monday to provide tariff rebate checks of at least $600 per adult and child to American families, similar to the stimulus checks the government distributed during the Covid pandemic.

Hawley, R-Mo., submitted his legislation after having pledged to do so Friday after President Donald Trump told reporters he would be interested in sending a tariff-related rebate check to Americans.

“Like President Trump proposed, my legislation would allow hard-working Americans to benefit from the wealth that Trump’s tariffs are returning to this country,” Hawley said in a statement.

Hawley, who championed stimulus check legislation with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during the Covid pandemic in 2020, put forward his new bill to echo that past effort. The program would be set up as a refundable tax credit, with the government sending checks this year should the bill advance through Congress and get Trump’s signature. The bill would ensure that each adult and dependent child would get at least $600. It would also allow a larger rebate per person should tariff revenue exceed projections.

The bill would reduce the rebate by 5% for joint filers who have adjusted gross income in excess of $150,000, a head of household whose income exceeds $112,500 and an individual taxpayer whose income exceeds $75,000.

The Treasury Department reported this month that customs duties totaled about $27 billion for June, an increase of about $4 billion from May. But June also saw inflation tick up slightly as Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs started to work through the U.S. economy. The independent Tax Foundation projected that Trump’s tariffs would raise $2.5 trillion in revenue over the next decade, but that, through price increases, they would effectively increase taxes on the average U.S. household by nearly $1,300 this year and nearly $1,700 in 2026, should they remain in full effect.

Hawley’s bill has a long road ahead of it before it could become law. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., poured cold water this year on different proposal to send direct checks to Americans. Johnson’s comments were in response to the idea of a “DOGE dividend” check, in which the government would send part of the savings created by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency directly to U.S. taxpayers. But DOGE fell far short of then-leader Elon Musk’s projection of as much as $2 trillion in savings, and Musk has broken with Trump after he left the administration in May.

A Couple From Clay Jones

Bribed War Criminal by Clay Jones

Netanyahu is a murderer Read on Substack

Israeli Prime Minister is such a liar that even Donald Trump is calling him out. Hell, Marjorie Taylor Greene is accusing him of committing genocide. Ouch.

Bibi denied claims that he’s starving Gaza, and said, “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza. We enable humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war to enter Gaza – otherwise, there would be no Gazans.”

He’s a liar. Israel has bombed convoys bringing in humanitarian relief to Gaza, and it won’t allow aid from the United Nations to enter Gaza half the time.

The World Health Organization said Sunday there have been 63 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza this month, including 24 children under the age of 5, up from 11 deaths total in the previous six months of the year.

Gaza’s Health Ministry puts the number even higher, reporting 82 deaths this month of malnutrition-related causes: 24 children and 58 adults. Yesterday, it said that 14 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas government, is headed by medical professionals and is seen by the U.N. as the most reliable source of data on casualties. U.N. agencies also often confirm numbers through other partners on the ground.

The WHO also said acute malnutrition in northern Gaza tripled this month, reaching nearly one in five children under 5 years old, and has doubled in central and southern Gaza. The U.N. says Gaza’s only four specialized treatment centers for malnutrition are “overwhelmed.” Children are going days without eating.

Palestinians want a full return to the U.N.-led aid distribution system that was in place throughout the war, rather than the Israeli-backed mechanism that began in May.

55 trucks from the United Nations’ food program entered Gaza yesterday, and they were all looted by starving Gazans. There are also food drops, but that’s not enough.

Witnesses and health workers say Israeli forces have killed hundreds by opening fire on Palestinians trying to reach food distribution hubs or while crowding around entering aid trucks. The Israeli Defense Force says it has fired warning shots to disperse threats. But as we’ve learned throughout this war, the IDF lies.

The UN needs the IDF’s permission to bring food into Gaza, and they claim the military denies them over half the time. The Hamas police would protect the trucks from being looted by hungry Gazans, but they stopped after being shot at by the IDF. (snip-MORE)

Island Cheater by Clay Jones

Kicking his tiny balls Read on Substack

While meeting with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Kier Starmer, Donald Trump said he had been invited to Epstein’s Island, but that he turned it down and “never had the privilege” of visiting the island. It was right then that PM Starmer realized he was sitting with a lunatic who is most likely a pedophile.

Trump deflected to other people, saying, “I never went to the island, and Bill Clinton went there supposedly 28 times. I never went to the island, but (former Treasury Secretary) Larry Summers, I hear, went there, he was the head of Harvard. And many other people that are very big people, nobody ever talks about them.”

That word salad makes you wonder how much Adderall Trump snorted before his meeting with Starmer.

There are no records of Bill Clinton ever going to Epstein’s private island, so I don’t know where Trump got the number 28 from when he can’t even find one visit. The thing is, Donald Trump is a liar and a golf cheat. More on that in a minute.

Trump said, “I never had the privilege of going to his island, and I did turn him down. But a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn’t want to go to his island.”

All of Donald Trump’s moments are pretty bad, at least for other people. Saying you never had the privilege of visiting a pedophile’s island is not a good moment. Neither are the moments he flew on Epstein’s private jet, or the times he partied with Epstein while they were ogling young women. (snip-MORE)

Some Bits From My Monday

Not necessarily in order of the day. For instance, just now, which is 8:30 PM Monday night, I am beginning to feel like the worst doggy mom in the world again. Ollie, dear little broken guy that he is, practically perfect in every way but for the fear he gained from his early abuse, has to be tranquilized before visiting the vet. Also muzzled right before the vet comes in the exam room, but. I Have To Slip My Little Doggy Mickeys! He gets one at night, one with breakfast on appointment day, and one an hour before the appointment, along with a couple of Solliquin, which are supplements with calming homeopathic calming substances. He loves those. Not so much the tranqs because he has no idea what’s happening to him or why. Tonight, though, he’s dealing with it better than a couple of weeks ago, which was his first time. He has to go in tomorrow for a follow-up heartworm test because we switched him from one flea protection to another that also protects from various other bugs that can bite him and cause him illness. At least he’s getting to where he doesn’t mind riding in the car as much as he used to! Of course, he’ll be tranquilized, so there’s that. There’s a kinda funny King Clarence YouTube about getting slipped mickeys; they do it like one of those TV lawyer ads. Pretty comical. Have not shown that to Ollie.

Moving on; a thing I like to do is buy the raw organic nuts and cashews off the ugly produce shelf; these are excellent products that are fine, but cheap because they need to be used quickly. Frequently, I’ll split a bag with the birds and squirrels; I’ll chop and freeze some for our use, and chop the rest to scatter outside. Earlier today, I decided to chop some cashews to take outside for birds and squirrels. The chopper is one of those “armstrong” choppers (photo below); you put your stuff in the cup, put the chopper over it, and start pumping the handle, which is on a spring. I remember a spokesperson ad for the “Slap Chop”, if anyone else does; my chopper is like that, but it’s a Zyliss. Not advertising. My chopper is 20 years old, the blades are beginning to dull, but I keep thinking that as long as I do things by hand instead of electricity, things in the world will be better. Well, today I get the chopper down, and the cup for the stuff, which is also the storage base of the chopper, has the ooky sticky feel that old plastics get when the PVCs or PFCs or whatever start leaching out. sigh. It wasn’t on the inside of the cup; only the outside, so I trashed the cup, and used a solid bowl to chop after I washed the chopper to make sure. Don’t want to mess up the birds’s systems with plastic chemicals!

When things like this happen, the words “planned obsolescence” always come into my mind. These days many, including myself, might say “enshittification,” though I think it’s reasonable that a 20 year old chopper cup might be worn out enough to leach. But still. Anyway, the words “planned obsolescence” always bring Jimmy Carter to mind. Why, you might ask?

Or maybe you didn’t, but here’s why. I was not of voting age when he was elected. His speaking accent annoyed me a great deal. I liked his ideas, definitely didn’t want Ford, was relieved when Carter won and wished him well, but that accent made my teeth hurt. So, of course, when the time for his initial SOTU arrived, what did my Speech & Forensics instructor instruct us, but to listen to that SOTU, and judge it using the very guidelines judges would use on us later in tournaments. We were to pay close attention to everything, but our work was to judge the speech without factual or political consideration, only his delivery skill.

Now, my recollection is he did fine; aside from his accent, which was not a judgeable item, he spoke of “planned obsolescence” a great deal. Enough that it became a bit redundant as to the speech itself, though not to his actual points. Of course, I had to mark that. However, that term stayed with me, and I learned from that, about designing and manufacturing, sales, consumerism, etc., etc. And that term comes to me when something fails after some use, and I think of Jimmy Carter, which reminds me to be all around nicer.

Speaking of this: do you think Jimmy Carter would use the term “enshittification” these days (not in an SOTU, of course!)? Let me know in the comments. I hope you enjoyed my Monday mind’s wanderings!

The 1st Grape Boycott, & Capital Punishment Ruled Unconstitutional, In Peace & Justice History for 7/29

I wasn’t an adult in 1972, but it was a relief to me, that there was no more death penalty! Four years later, it was back, and I cannot explain how that happened. My town had a death penalty trial almost immediately. A teacher had access to an execution film; the state was required to keep that on record for a while, whenever anyone sat on Ol’ Sparky; we viewed it before the trial (no one present was on the jury, of course.) It was medieval. And, here we still are in 2025, killing people in the names of everybody who lives here. There are ways to work against it; let me know if there is interest in comments.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjuly.htm#july29

Hitler’s Rants Helped Get Me Through G.W.’s Administration-

and the first Trump admin; look who’s back, right on time!

Light Entertainment From Jeff Tiedrich

You have to go there to read it all, and it’s worth it, but below are some snips that could make the coffee taste a tiny bit better!

Preznit Fuckwit gets the Scottish welcome he deserves by Jeff Tiedrich

he’s such an international embarrassment Read on Substack

oh wait! cheer up, Donny — I finally found a bunch of Scots who are overjoyed at your presence on their home turf! just look at these happy campers!

oh wait [taps earpiece]. I’m being informed now that these are not Scots. apparently this is a file photo from April 2023, of the flag-waving crowd that greeted President Joe Biden when he visited County Mayo, Ireland.

oops, sorry — my bad.

(Note from A: The Mexican flag house story is great, and is on the Substack page, along with lots more juicy stuff that isn’t simply depressing.)

W.E.B. DuBois & More, In Peace & Justice History for 7/28

(I should know better than to try to set up this post while I’m making supper. Thanks, WP, not; it’s much easier Any Other Time. 🤬)

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjuly.htm#july28

A Couple From Clay Jones

Treasonous Cankles by Clay Jones

That damn Obama strikes again! Read on Substack

Of course, I’m just joking, but I might be starting something here. If MAGAts can believe in chemtrails (and they do), then they can believe President Barack Obama used Kenyan voodoo to give Trump cankles. They already believe in a lot of crazy shit.

The Trump administration claims that Obama committed treason by ordering an investigation into Russia collusion, but how is that treason? Who is it treasonous to, Trump? Is it treasonous to Russia? And how is ordering an investigation into an attack against our country treasonous? I think it’s more treasonous to ignore it or lie about it. It should be treasonous to take Putin’s side over America’s.

If Trump were president in World War II, and Russia had bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, he would have called it a “hoax” and “fake news.”

Now, Trump is coming up with more bullshit to distract his zombies from the Epstein case. He’s howling for prosecuting Beyonce and Oprah. Even if what he was howling about was true, a president (sic) is supposed to let the Justice Department do its job, and leave it alone. Here, Trump wants the DOJ to prosecute Beyoncé and Oprah for supporting his political opponent.

MAGAts have been asking us, “How is Trump fascist?” Ordering the prosecution of your political opponents is just one example of fascism.

One final note: I do know that voodoo is not Kenyan. (snip)

Die, Die, UVA DEI, Die by Clay Jones

A board without diversity will hire the next UVA president Read on Substack

This was drawn for the FXBG Advance.

Abigail Spanberger will be Virginia’s next governor. Governor Glenn Youngkin knows this and has probably known throughout his regime that not only was he limited to one term, but so was his party. Just as Trump left things horrible for Joe Biden to clean up in 2021, Youngkin is leaving a mess for the next governor. With help from the Trump regime, one of those messes is at UVA, the University of Virginia.

As you may remember, Trump’s politicized Department of Justice, chock-full of goons, has forced out the president of UVA over DEI policies. They used his integrity against him, blackmailing him by withholding federal funds unless he resigned.

Now, UVA’s Board of Visitors will hire a new president. Unfortunately, the board is stocked entirely of right-wing fucknuts appointed by Glenn Youngkin, including former state Attorney General and member of the first Trump regime, Ken Cuccinelli. The board is nearly as White as the Trump cabinet. Even the two non-white members probably love them some mayonnaise sandwiches.

Trump has stripped funding for schools to implement his anti-DEI policies, which include shutting down student protests. Columbia University recently agreed to pay a $200 million fine to protect its funding, but lost a huge chunk of its independence to the Trump regime. (snip-MORE, and it’s very good!)

Some Interesting Reading In This Story:

It’s as I thought back when so many were supposedly dropping all their “DEI” programs; those were “washing” names to begin with, for the profit-makers, who likely run their HR the same way today as they did under “DEI”, and as they did before we used the term, “DEI.” I like this guy in Wichita; obeying the law and the federal E.O., and taking good care of things. My guess is, this is similar to how most entities are doing things. I actually was reading the story because I’m curious how our (KS’s) public schools are working things out, with various federal funding methods stalled. Schools here have to turn in their next-year budgets to the state Leg. in the Spring before the session ends, then receive their money after July 1, when KS’s fiscal year begins. But as we’re aware federal dollars are held up, so I was curious. Some of that is addressed in this story, but what a nice surprise to read about the other!

Wichita Public Schools provides district-wide updates ahead of coming school year

Sydney Ferguson Jul 25, 2025 Updated Jul 25, 2025

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) — As summer comes to a close for Wichita Public Schools students, the district is preparing the welcome students back to the same schools with some slight changes.

The very first change is monthly updates from Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld through press conferences, the first of which was held Friday. Superintendent Bielefeld says WPS principals returned to school this week, and teachers and students will soon follow as school is set to begin on August 14.

Over at Isely Traditional Magnet Elementary School, a 6th-grade class will attend the school for the first time. This is the start to a transition that will take years as Isley begins to accommodate grades Kindergarten through Eighth.

“The parents that I’ve talked to that have students attending Isely are very excited about it, the fact that their kids can stay there for middle school,” said Bielefeld. “The plan was to also do something similar at Cessna had the bond passed. That’s on hold for now.”

The district says it’s looking to communicate better with parents in light of the feedback it received after its bond failed in February.

In addition to monthly updates from the superintendent, the district announced the creation of a new “Director of Partnerships and Belonging” position. The district says it’s accepting applications, adding that this person will be responsible for working with community partners and strengthening the school-home connection for students and parents.

“This program will target more the community engagement piece that we’ve been hearing from parents, constituents, teachers, everybody, we need to do a better job of that,” said Bielefeld.

This new title replaces the district’s “Director of Diversity, Equity and Accountability” position. This comes as the district works to comply with federal mandates and preserve the legacy of Dr. William Polite — the district’s former DEI director who suddenly died in April after seven-and-a-half years with the district.

The district says programs that fell under Dr. Polite will continue, as those programs have never been about race and instead focused on the different risk factors students face.

“The guidance we’ve been given from the Department of Education currently is that any race-based initiatives are illegal. We have not been doing that,” said Bielefeld. “We’ve been complying with the law. We continue to comply with the law, which is why we’re continuing the programs. And it wasn’t necessarily intentional, but it does describe the position better.”

The district will be creating a Night School at West High as a way for students to complete additional coursework in the afternoons. This is the first time the credit recovery program will be offered at a comprehensive high school.

Over at South High, the “school within a school” alternative program will help sophomores who get off track as freshmen.

“So instead of waiting until junior or senior year when they’re significantly behind on credits, we’re intervening earlier,” said Bielefeld.

The Superintendent says the district will also be establishing AI guidelines at an upcoming board meeting. Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education released a statement encouraging teachers to utilize AI as a tool in their classrooms.

“The better they understand it, I think, the less they fear and the more they can understand how students are using it,” said Bielefeld. “We continue to look for ways to support our students to become future-ready, and every student in the district to become future-ready.”

Additional information released by the district is as follows:

In-person enrollment is July 28, from 12 to 7 p.m.
All kindergarten families need to enroll in person.
(snip-local info)
Girls Flag Football will launch this year at all 7 comprehensive high schools, supported by the Kansas City Chiefs and Chiefs Flag Football League.

The district says it now expects to receive some funding for after-school programs from the $6.3 million in federal funding that was previously paused in July. (snip)

Speaking Of Needing Popcorn-Ryan Walters Is In Trouble! 🤣

My thanks to Charlotte Clymer for the news! Here’s a snippet:

The Good Lord’s Porn Enthusiast by Charlotte Clymer

Hands can never be idle when they’re in prayer. Read on Substack

(snip) So, it came as some surprise when reports emerged that Mr. Walters is being accused of displaying pornography on a television in his office during an executive session of the State Board of Education this past Thursday, according to a few board members in attendance.

Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage—both of whom were appointed this year to the Board by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitts—were the only two in a position to see the screen and were understandably shocked. Here’s what Ms. Carson said:

I was like, ‘What am I seeing?’ I kind of was in shock, honestly. I started to question whether I was actually seeing what I was seeing,” Carson said. “I was like, ‘Is that woman naked?’ And then I was like, ‘No, she’s got a body suit on.’ And it happened very quickly, I was like, ‘That is not a body suit.’ And I hate to even use these terms, but I said, ‘Those are her nipples.’ And then I was looking closer, and I got a full-body view, and I was like, ‘That is pubic hair.’ Even right now, I couldn’t even tell you what I was watching.

I was so disturbed by it, that I was like — very loudly and boastfully, like I was a parent or a teacher — I said, ‘What is on your TV? What am I watching?’ He was like, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ He stood up and saw it. He made acknowledgment that he saw it,” Carson recalled. “And I said, ‘Turn it off. Now.’ And he was like, ‘What is this? What is this?’ So he acknowledged it was inappropriate just by those words. And he was like, ‘I can’t get it to turn off. I can’t figure out how to turn it off.’ And I said, ‘Get it turned off.’ So he finally got it turned off, and that was the end of it. He didn’t address it. He didn’t apologize. Nothing was said.

Mr. Deatherage concurred: “I don’t know if he turned it off or switched the channel, I don’t remember. I was surprised that when he came back to the table, he was not apologetic. I didn’t ever hear an apology for that being on, and he didn’t seem to be fazed that it was on.”

Republican leaders in the State Senate are now launching an investigation into the matter, which they described as a “bizarre and troubling situation.” All seem unanimously perplexed and concerned. (snip-please do go read the rest; Charlotte closes with some excellent wordplay!)