House Passes Last Minute GOP Healthcare Bill

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Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a healthcare reform bill on Wednesday evening targeting rising costs as expiring Obamacare tax credits rally support for change ahead of midterm elections.

The new GOP-backed legislation, titled the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, does not extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits expiring on Dec. 31. The bill, introduced by Republican Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, passed the House in a near party-line 216-211 vote.

Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie was the only GOP member to vote no. No Democrats supported the bill.

Miller-Meeks said on the House floor Wednesday that the new legislation lowers health care costs by “forcing transparency” and implementing “common sense solutions.”

“By lowering premiums through choice and competition, by expanding association health plans, we give small businesses and self-employed workers the buying power of large employers, cutting premiums by as much as 30%,” Miller-Meeks said. “Being transparent to drug pricing, we take on the pharmacy benefit managers who have long operated behind the scenes as middlemen, collecting hidden fees while prescription prices climb.” (Read more from “House Passes Last Minute GOP Healthcare Bill” HERE)

Trump Mocks Biden, Obama With New Plaques Under ‘Presidential Walk of Fame’ Portraits

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President Donald Trump took some not-so-subtle swipes at his predecessors with new plaques below their portraits in the new White House Presidential Walk of Fame.

Former President Joe Biden had already been mocked in the installation, which was unveiled in September, when Trump used a photo of an autopen to represent the 46th president. Now, there are two plaques that include Trump’s nicknames for Biden.

“Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History,” the top plaque states. “Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction. His policies caused the highest Inflation ever recorded, leading the U.S. Dollar to lose more than 20% of its value in 4 years.”

“Nicknamed both ‘Sleepy’ and ‘Crooked,’ Joe Biden was dominated by his Radical Left handlers. They and their allies in the Fake News Media attempted to cover up his severe mental decline, and his unprecedented use of the Autopen,” the second plaque reads. “Following his humiliating debate loss to President Trump in the big June 2024 debate, he was forced to withdraw from his campaign for re-election in disgrace.”

Trump also took jabs at former President Barack Obama, calling him “one of the most divisive political figures in American History.” (Read more from “Trump Mocks Biden, Obama With New Plaques Under ‘Presidential Walk of Fame’ Portraits” HERE)

FBI Agent Steve Friend, Who Blew Whistle on Jan. 6 Investigation, Is Fired From Agency After Veiled Threat to Director Kash Patel

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A former FBI agent who was suspended under the Biden administration and was reinstated under President Trump to much fanfare has been ousted again, The Post has learned.

FBI whistleblower Steve Friend issued what was deemed to be a threat against Director Kash Patel on a podcast hosted by ex-FBI agent Kyle Seraphin last week and that outburst helped cost him his job on Saturday, bureau insiders told the Post.

Friend gained fame for claiming he was wrongly placed on leave by ex-FBI Director Chris Wray for exposing problems with the Jan. 6 investigation that saw roughly 1,600 defendants prosecuted for the 2021 attack on the Capitol. He went on to become an author, media commentator — and onetime ally of Patel.

Suspended in August 2022 and having resigned in February 2023, Friend returned to the FBI’s payroll on Oct. 10. However, he hadn’t been performing duties at the FBI in Jacksonville, as he had not yet been cleared for a background check, an issue that can arise in whistleblower cases.

While pedaling a conspiracy theory that Patel falsely arrested alleged DC pipe bomber Brian Cole Jr. as part of an elaborate “cover up,” Friend made disturbing remarks about bringing “God’s wrath” to punish him. (Read more from “FBI Agent Steve Friend, Who Blew Whistle on Jan. 6 Investigation, Is Fired From Agency After Veiled Threat to Director Kash Patel” HERE)

Four Republicans Break Ranks, Vote Against Ban on Child Sex Change Procedures

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Four House Republicans joined Democrats in opposing legislation that would ban irreversible sex change procedures for minors — a move that exposes just how fractured the GOP has become on protecting children.

The House on Wednesday evening passed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Protect Children’s Innocence Act, which would criminalize puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures for minors seeking to alter their biological sex. The bill marks the first time a nationwide ban on child sex changes has reached the House floor.

Despite overwhelming Republican messaging against gender ideology, Reps. Gabe Evans of Colorado, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Kennedy of Utah, and Mike Lawler of New York voted against the measure.

Their opposition came even as three Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Don Davis of North Carolina — crossed party lines to support the bill. All three represent competitive swing districts that Republicans are targeting in the next election cycle, underscoring the political risks Democrats increasingly face on the issue.

Greene’s legislation would make performing sex change procedures on minors a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Parents and adults who assist minors in obtaining such procedures would also face penalties.

The bill simply codifies what common sense already dictates: children are not capable of consenting to permanent medical interventions that can sterilize them, alter their development, and cause lifelong harm.

“Republicans showed today that they are as committed to protecting children as Democrats are to disfiguring them,” said Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project. “Democrats have been captured by an ideology that is as poisonous as it is profitable.”

The vote also exposed bitter infighting within the Republican conference. Greene secured a floor vote on her bill by leveraging her support for a procedural vote advancing the annual National Defense Authorization Act — a tactic that drew sharp criticism from Texas Rep. Chip Roy.

“That’s the kind of [stuff] that happens around this institution and I’m sick of it,” Roy said during a House Rules Committee meeting, accusing leadership of trading votes.

Greene fired back, accusing Roy of attempting to weaken her legislation and enable what she described as the continued “trans agenda on kids.” Roy countered that narrowing the bill could improve its chances in the Senate.

For many conservatives, the argument rang hollow. More than half of U.S. states have already enacted bans on child sex changes, and public support for protecting minors from such procedures continues to grow.

Trump Slams Door on Five More Countries in Major Immigration Crackdown

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday expanded a travel ban by adding five more countries and imposing limits on others.

The move came as the Trump administration continues to tighten U.S. entry requirements and immigration standards.

“The restrictions and limitations imposed by the Proclamation are necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose, garner cooperation from foreign governments, enforce our immigration laws, and advance other important foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives,” the proclamation states.

Through his actions on Tuesday, citizens from five countries – Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, as well as individuals holding Palestinian-Authority-issued travel documents – will face a ban on travel to the United States, the White House said. In addition, existing partial bans on Laos and Sierra Leone were expanded into full suspensions of entry.

Another 15 countries – Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe – will face partial restrictions.

The proclamation also “narrows broad family-based immigrant visa carve-outs that carry demonstrated fraud risks, while preserving case-by-case waivers,” the White House said. (Read more from “Trump Slams Door on Five More Countries in Major Immigration Crackdown” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Susie Wiles Makes Shocking Statements About Trump, Vance, White House Insiders

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White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles made shocking statements about President Donald Trump and his cabinet during an extensive interview with Vanity Fair.

The outlet published a two-piece profile on Wiles and the inside of the Trump White House on Tuesday. She was the primary subject, though other Trump administration officials’ comments were included in the article. Wiles put out a statement on X calling the article, which was based off of over 10 interviews with the chief of staff, “a disingenuously framed hit piece.”

The profile opens by listing some of the ways Wiles characterized the cabinet.

Wiles said Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality” and called Vance’s conversion from criticizing the president to being his biggest fan “sort of political,” according to Vanity Fair. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is “a right-wing absolute zealot,” according to the Wiles in the article. On Musk and some of his erratic social media posts, she said: “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.” Wiles said she doesn’t have first-hand knowledge, the outlet reported.

Throughout the two-part series, some of the hand-picked quotes were expanded on to give Wiles’ more complete thinking on the staff she works with. . .

“Some clinical psychologist that knows one million times more than I do will dispute what I’m going to say. But high-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities,” Wiles was quoted in Vanity Fair while talking about Trump. Her father, Pat Summerall, was an absentee father and an alcoholic. It was in this context that Wiles said the president has “an alcoholic’s personality,” adding that he “operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing,” according to the outlet. (Read more from “Susie Wiles Makes Shocking Statements About Trump, Vance, White House Insiders” HERE)

Jordan Peterson’s Daughter Provides Update About His Devastating Health Condition

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Psychologist and public intellectual Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s daughter Mikhaila said on her YouTube channel Tuesday that her father was ill, but out of the hospital.

Peterson was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), his daughter asserted in an August X post. She said during the Tuesday video that she was more optimistic about his prognosis now than she was in her October video on her channel regarding his severe health issues.

“He’s still very unwell, but he’s not in the hospital. I’m seeing him every day for hours, which is really nice. We’re working with great specialists and giving him more time to recover,” Peterson’s daughter said. “I’m hopeful he will recover with time. When I posted the last video, I didn’t know if he would recover at all. It was really scary and I’m hopeful now, but it’s still early on and he’s still quite unwell and we’re still really not sure what’s going on. Whether it’s an immune system issue, neurological, both.”

“So, I wanted to give an update that was like things are really bad, but they’re not as bad as they were a month ago or two months ago. So, that’s the update,” she added. “I wish things would just go back to normal, but they’re not there yet. Thank you so much for your prayers. We need them. I’ll let you guys know as soon as I can if anything changes. Hopefully, he’s on the road to recovery.” (Read more from “Jordan Peterson’s Daughter Provides Update About His Devastating Health Condition” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Unredacted Trump Photos From Epstein Files Dump Reveal Glamorous Group of Adult Models: ‘He Was Very Gentlemanly’

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By New York Post. Unredacted photos of President Trump from the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s estate — which oddly blurred the faces of women he posed with — reveal he was standing with “adult women models,” according to exclusive images obtained by The Post.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a trove of images from Epstein’s estate Friday, including two shots of the president with women whose faces were blacked out — fueling speculation they could be the disgraced financier’s victims.

But a pair of pictures obtained exclusively by The Post show Trump standing next to beautiful grown women.

One woman pictured in a black-and-white image with the future president and five other glamorous ladies in Hawaiian leis said he was a “gentleman” who went out of his way to make sure the group enjoyed their evening at Mar-a-Lago.

“I don’t remember much of that,” she told the Telegraph. (Read more from “Unredacted Trump Photos From Epstein Files Dump Reveal Glamorous Group of Adult Models: ‘He Was Very Gentlemanly’” HERE)

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Donald Trump Condoms and Adult Toys: New Jeffrey Epstein Images Released

By Joel Lefevre. More shocking images are emerging about some of the things Jeffrey Epstein kept track of on his island. The late child sex offender, it seems, didn’t just have records of the guests who visited his place in the Caribbean.

Among the physical records he kept were sex toys, according to news reports, including a novelty condom with a likeness to Donald Trump. Behind the table, there’s a sign reading Trump Condom $4.50. In addition, there were pics of former US President Bill Clinton with Jeffrey’s girlfriend and conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

The details of what transpired on Jeffrey’s island are disturbing enough to hear. All of these new photos add yet another element of shock. The Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published the findings on their X account on Friday, attaching a Dropbox folder for all to see.

Donald and Bill aren’t the only celebrities seen in the photos. Among the others are Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Steve Bannon, Woody Allen, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

In their big reveal, none of the released photos were dated. Names of potential victims and identifying details were redacted. The latest collection supposedly contains over 95,000 images, with 19 revealed on Friday. Representative Robert Garcia says that these disturbing photos raise more questions about Jeffrey and his relationship with some powerful people. In early December, the Oversight Committee released photos of Jeffrey’s island. (Read more from “Donald Trump Condoms and Adult Toys: New Jeffrey Epstein Images Released” HERE)

Everything We Know About the Creepy Photo Jeffrey Epstein Had of a Lounging Woman on His Desk

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A haunting photo of a lounging woman that Jeffrey Epstein kept on his home office desk is among several mysterious artifacts belonging to the convicted sex offender that can be seen in new photos published Friday by members of a US House committee.

The snapshot, in which the woman is seen lying in an awkward position on what appears to be a couch, is visible in a photo of Epstein and former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon at the notorious pedophile’s Upper East Side residence.

The photo is undated, but previously released records indicate that Bannon spent several hours interviewing Epstein in 2019 for a never-released documentary. . .

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released just 19 photos of more than 95,000 received from Epstein’s estate — which show the financier’s most famous and influential former associates like President Trump, former President Bill Clinton, movie director Woody Allen, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

A handful of images of Trump depict him with women whose faces are blacked out to suggest they were victims of Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, though it’s unclear whether that was actually the case. (Read more from “Everything We Know About the Creepy Photo Jeffrey Epstein Had of a Lounging Woman on His Desk” HERE)

Scientists Find Key Brain Nutrient From Everyday Foods Lacking in People With Anxiety

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Millions of Americans battle chronic anxiety — but new research claiming a missing brain nutrient may be partly to blame is already drawing skepticism from experts who say the findings are far from conclusive.

Using a non-invasive MRI-based technique that measures brain chemicals, researchers at UC Davis Health in California looked at data from 25 previous studies, comparing 370 people with anxiety disorders to 342 without anxiety.

They found that, across the combined studies, individuals with certain anxiety disorders showed an average of about 8% lower choline levels in brain regions that help regulate thinking and emotions.

“An 8% lower amount doesn’t sound like that much, but in the brain, it’s significant,” said senior study author Richard Maddock, a medical doctor and research professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis.

Choline — found in foods such as eggs, beef, chicken, fish and soybeans — plays a key role in memory, mood and cell health, according to experts.

The study authors propose that heightened stress responses in anxiety disorders may increase the brain’s demand for choline, gradually lowering levels of the nutrient — especially in regions that help regulate stress and reduce the threat response, according to the published research. (Read more from “Scientists Find Key Brain Nutrient From Everyday Foods Lacking in People With Anxiety” HERE)