Policy Soup stir the pot ALPHA

The top 10% now hold 67.4% of all the wealth in the US. The bottom 50% hold 2.5%.

Tina Smith@smith.senate.govSep 29(source)

Health insurance premiums could spike by nearly $300 a month for Minnesotans. Doesn’t take an economist to know most people can’t afford that.

Barack Obama

@barackobama.bsky.social

Republicans would rather shut down the government than help millions of Americans afford health care. This article tells some of their stories, and is a good reminder of what’s at stake.

Tina Smith@smith.senate.govSep 29(source)

We can afford this but somehow don’t have enough money for health care

Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 04:32 PM EST 09/28/25

Some of the highest quality 24 Karat Gold used in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room of the White House. Foreign Leaders, and everyone else, “freak out” when they see the quality and beauty. Best Oval Office ever, in terms of success and look!!! President DJT

Tina Smith@smith.senate.govSep 27(source)

This is a lie.

Tweet from @JDVance: Democrats are about to shutdown the government because they demand we fund healthcare for illegal aliens.

Nothing about the Wounded Knee Massacre meets our values of freedom and justice.

Congress formally apologized to the descendants of those killed in the massacre in 1990. Congress recommended reviewing the recipients for a reason – because actions that warrant our highest military honors should represent America’s values.

This was the wrong decision. Revoking their Medals of Honor would help tell the true story.

There’s a reason it’s usually referred to as the Wounded Knee Massacre – American soldiers mercilessly killed unarmed Lakota men, women, children and elders. There was no honor in what happened that day. This is a stain on our history.

Secretary Pete Hegseth

Under my direction, the soldiers who fought at the Battle of Wounded Knee will keep their medals.
This decision is final. Their place in history is settled.

He was a passionate advocate for protecting the Boundary Waters. And up until his final days he was encouraging me to think about how Minnesota’s unique civic values are so deeply needed in this moment in our country. Bless him, he was a true public servant and friend.

Richard Moe, Walter Mondale’s right-hand man and leader in historic preservation, dies at 88

Dick Moe was a dear friend, mentor and advisor to me and I will miss him so much. As Chief of Staff to Senator and Vice President Mondale, Dick knew a thing or two about the Senate, and I’ll treasure our conversations in the Senate dining room about how to be a good Minnesota Senator.

The Duluth native and University of Minnesota Law School alumnus helped transform the vice president’s role when he was Mondale’s aide in the 1970s.

“It represents the most significant legal step yet by the Trump administration to harry, punish and humiliate a former official the president identified as an enemy, at the expense of procedural safeguards intended to shield the Justice Department from political interference and personal vendettas.”

The New York Times

@nytimes.com

Breaking News: A federal grand jury is said to have indicted James Comey, after President Trump intensified his pressure campaign on the Justice Department.

Trump has turned the Justice Department into a weapon for his personal vengeance, plain and simple.

MeidasTouch

@meidastouch.com

RFK Jr. launches FDA review of abortion pill

🚨 BREAKING: James Comey posts a video statement following his indictment "My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump...But I'm not afraid. And I hope you're not either...And I'm innocent. So let's have a trial and keep the faith."

Tina Smith@smith.senate.govSep 25(source)

“Review” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. It has been thoroughly reviewed. Mifepristone is safe… but that doesn’t fit in with their agenda so they’re going to find a way to restrict it anyways.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Republican states this week that the FDA would conduct a new review of abortion pills.

Tina Smith@smith.senate.govSep 25(source)

But he gets a new ballroom at the White House and Argentina gets $20,000,000,000

More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS)

Grocery prices are rising at the fastest rate since
October 2022.

Tina Smith@smith.senate.govSep 25(source)

Can think of a lot of hospitals, schools and food pantries that could use twenty billion dollars to actually help our own citizens…

Elizabeth Warren

@warren.senate.gov

Donald Trump wants to lend $20 billion of our money to bail out a political ally and his global investors before an election. Oh, and Argentina just struck a major deal with China that crushes American soybean farmers already suffering from Trump's tariffs. “America First.”

Tina Smith@smith.senate.govSep 24(source)

You left out the part about how your Big, Beautiful Bill cut $137B from rural health care. I know you’re gutting the Education Department, but don’t worry, I did the math for you: -$137B + $50B = -$87B

Senate Republicans (SenateGOP) responds to Senator Tina Smith on X:

Senate Dems are speaking out of both sides of their mouths.

On Friday, they voted to cut $50B from rural hospitals instead of a clean, bipartisan funding bill.
The only thing they're interested in avoiding is backlash from their radical base.

The original post by Tina Smith reads:

Go ahead and ask Americans if they can afford a 70% hike in their health insurance premiums right now.

See how that goes.

It's a crisis in the making that we're TRYING to avoid...

Lots of ways for us to feed hungry families. Not tracking how many there are… is not one of them.

Robert Reich

@rbreich.bsky.social

After enacting the largest SNAP cuts in history, Trump is now scrapping the federal government's annual report on hunger in America. The utter cruelty of this regime knows no bounds.

USDA cancels survey tracking how many Americans struggle to get enough food

1) Take food money from hungry families 2) Start trade war that drives up food costs 3) Stop tracking the # of hungry families 4) Declare hunger solved without actually feeding people

The Department of Agriculture said it will end a longstanding annual food insecurity survey. Experts say the move will obscure the effects of recent changes that will lead to people losing food aid.

People can’t afford a 70% hike in their health insurance costs. They’re already barely scraping by as it is. That’s what we’re trying to solve. Meanwhile, he’s throwing a temper tantrum because we are using our leverage to get a deal to SAVE AMERICANS’ HEALTH CARE.

Phil Lewis

@phillewis.bsky.social

Trump just canceled this meeting

Unknown

@unknown