MAGA intent and policies coming into focus; Etc.

It is fair to say that a lot of what MAGA wants, most average people wouldn't if they were aware of it. Some examples are related to the temporary spending bill to keep the government funded until March. The final Musk/Trump bill was changed to retain the practice of “spread pricing” in Medicaid plans. That is where PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers, middlemen in the medicine business) charge a health plan more for a drug than what they pay to the pharmacies that dispense it. The PBMs pocket the difference. Its pure corrupt special interest sleaze, which is why PBMs fight tooth and claw to keep it. The original, pre-Musk/Trump plan required PBMs to pass along all rebates and fees that are based on a percentage of a drug price to their health plan clients. The idea was to eliminate incentives to promote expensive drugs over cheaper ones. And, after all, we would not want patients to harvest some of the cash the PBMs milk out of the system, would we? Course not.

Another example of Musk/Trump MAGA policy priorities relates to protecting hidden junk fees. The original pre-Musk/Trump version included two bipartisan bills that aimed to crack down on junk fees by requiring ticket sellers and hotels to disclose any service charges and other add-ons up front to customers, rather than waiting until the end of the checkout process. Got 'cha! 

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A leading US government agency that tracks foreign disinformation has terminated its operations, the State Department said Tuesday, after Congress failed to extend its funding following years of Republican criticism. The Global Engagement Center, a State Department unit established in 2016, shuttered on Monday at a time when officials and experts tracking propaganda have been warning of the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries such as Russia and China.  The GEC has long faced scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, who accused it of censoring and surveilling Americans. It also came under fire from Elon Musk, who accused the GEC in 2023 of being the "worst offender in US government censorship [and] media manipulation" and called the agency a "threat to our democracy." The GEC's leaders have pushed back on those views, calling their work crucial to combating foreign propaganda campaigns.

Welp, if MAGA elites like Musk attack it for censorship, then the GEC is very likely doing a good job at fighting dark free speech. As we all know, dark free speech is absolutely crucial to the rise and establishment of MAGA's kleptocratic authoritarian plans for American society, government and commerce.

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Texas Republican Proposes Public Executions of Undocumented Immigrants

A patriotic Republican in Texas

showing us how to do it

At Trump’s inauguration, reports of a pay-to-pray -- According to a report, you can pray with Trump and Melania. It'll only cost you $100,000. President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is reportedly planning an interfaith prayer service the day before his inauguration, where participants can worship alongside the businessman and his wife, Melania. But those who want to join need to weigh the price of prayer: Tickets to the service will be awarded only to those who donate at least $100,000 to Trump’s inaugural ceremonies, or who raise $200,000.

Biden signs 50 bills into law on Christmas Eve -- President Biden signed 50 bills into law on Christmas Eve, as the year and his time in office draw to a close. The bills Mr. Biden signed include socialite and activist Paris Hilton's bill to protect teenagers living in residential treatment facilities, a bill setting anti-hazing standards on college campuses, and a bill preventing members of Congress from collecting pensions if convicted of certain crimes. He also made the bald eagle the national bird. 

Hm, no mention of any laws that try to protect democracy from kleptocratic MAGA authoritarianism. Biden is apparently out to pasture. Bummer.