• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Comment
  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

All hail the time of the bunny!

So many bastards, so little time.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Everybody saw this coming.

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / GOP Venality Update: If Only the Tenterhooks Were Actual

GOP Venality Update: If Only the Tenterhooks Were Actual

by Anne Laurie|  July 2, 202510:15 pm| 43 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Trumpery

FacebookTweetEmail

(Tenterhooks, the original)

There are four GOP votes against the rule for the tax bill right now. They can only afford three.
DRAMA.
Four defections:
SPARTZ
CLYDE
FITZPATRICK
SELF

— Steven T. Dennis (@steventdennis.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 9:54 PM


===

Reminder: Leadership can keep a vote open until they flip a vote.

— Steven T. Dennis (@steventdennis.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 9:55 PM


===

She flipped before at Trump’s urging (he called and yelled at her). I assume this is a tantrum to satiate her before she flips.

[image or embed]

— Clean Observer (@hammbear2024.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 9:55 PM


===

Mike Johnson: "We are going to deliver the big beautiful bill"

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) July 2, 2025 at 9:49 PM


===

It’s a cult.

[image or embed]

— Chris Murphy (@chrismurphyct.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 5:17 PM


===

listen to this clip of Ryan Zinke while keeping in mind that this is supposed to be an ENDORSEMENT of the bill

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) July 2, 2025 at 6:40 PM


===

I once watched Zinke have five beers with a salad lunch, fwiw.

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 6:44 PM


===

turns out Trump's big bill is going to cost all of us our healthcare, because Mike Johnson is just going to leave the vote open until we all die of natural causes

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) July 2, 2025 at 5:00 PM


===
ETA:

Importantly, Trump does not appear to think that elections are over.

[image or embed]

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 5:46 PM

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Debbie Harry, An Inspiration
Next Post: War for Ukraine Day 1,224: Make It Hot! spy v. spy flyouts»

Reader Interactions

  • Commenters
  • Filtered
  • Settings

Commenters

No commenters available.

  • Baud
  • Betty
  • Dorothy A. Winsor
  • Enhanced Voting Techniques
  • Geminid
  • Gloria DryGarden
  • Hunter Gathers
  • Jackie
  • Jay
  • MagdaInBlack
  • MisterForkbeard
  • mrmoshpotato
  • NaijaGal
  • NotMax
  • Ohio Mom
  • Omnes Omnibus
  • p.a.
  • Phylllis
  • Princess
  • prostratedragon
  • PsiFighter37
  • RevRick
  • Rusty
  • sab
  • satby
  • SFAW
  • stinger
  • They Call Me Noni
  • TONYG
  • WTFGhost
  • YY_Sima Qian

Filtered Commenters

No filtered commenters available.

    Settings




    Settings are saved immediately; press X to close the box.

    43Comments

    1. 1.

      Hunter Gathers

      July 2, 2025 at 10:23 pm

      Trump really, really wants this to pass before the jobs numbers come out tomorrow.

      Reply
    2. 2.

      satby

      July 2, 2025 at 10:29 pm

      @Hunter Gathers: they came out today I thought. They expected an increase of almost 100k, got a decrease of 35k IIRC.

      Ok. That’s the ADP report

      Reply
    3. 3.

      mrmoshpotato

      July 2, 2025 at 10:36 pm

      Importantly, Trump does not appear to think that elections are over.

      Dump might also fear millions of people taking a dump on his corpse’s fat, orange, fascist face.

      Reply
    4. 4.

      WTFGhost

      July 2, 2025 at 10:39 pm

      @mrmoshpotato: All things considered, you do have to agree with him, that it’s a reasonable fear.

      Reply
    5. 5.

      stinger

      July 2, 2025 at 10:47 pm

      I assume a low camera angle minimizes sags and wrinkles and jowls.

      Reply
    6. 6.

      mrmoshpotato

      July 2, 2025 at 10:49 pm

      @WTFGhost: Well, Dump didn’t have to be criminal POS his entire adult life, and he definitely didn’t have to run for office.

      Reply
    7. 7.

      WTFGhost

      July 2, 2025 at 10:50 pm

      @mrmoshpotato: Well, that’s why I mentioned the necessary consideration of “all things,” like, “poor life choices.”

      Reply
    8. 8.

      NotMax

      July 2, 2025 at 10:53 pm

      Couple of items which caught the eye today.

      1) Short notice? How about no notice.

      Trump administration freezes $7 billion in education funds: How it leaves US schools in crisis

      Critics point out that the funds were legally appropriated by Congress and signed into law by President Trump himself in March, making the freeze possibly unlawful.

      In a controversial move drawing widespread criticism, the Trump administration has frozen nearly $7 billion in federal education funding, halting support for essential school programmes across the United States. The funding freeze affects a range of services, including after-school and summer programmes, English language learning, teacher training, and student mental health support, disproportionately impacting low-income and minority communities.

      According to The New York Times, the US Department of Education notified state governments via email on Monday that the funds, which were expected to be disbursed by Tuesday, would be withheld “pending review.”… Source

      2) The down arrow continues flashing red.

      Tesla sales hit a new low, with the company reporting a 14 percent drop in second-quarter vehicle deliveries compared to a year ago.

      Reply
    9. 9.

      prostratedragon

      July 2, 2025 at 10:56 pm

      The entire Latino population in the U.S. is 65 million. She means all of us.

      Reply
    10. 10.

      WTFGhost

      July 2, 2025 at 11:08 pm

      Hah! I know what Trump is saying in that picture. “Oh, you’re touching Medicaid? You’re fucked. Sucks to be you!”

      Reply
    11. 11.

      Enhanced Voting Techniques

      July 2, 2025 at 11:13 pm

      @NotMax: Critics point out that the funds were legally appropriated by Congress and signed into law by President Trump himself in March, making the freeze possibly unlawful.

      Seriously, Trump is an idiot.  This is going to be death by stupidity.

      Reply
    12. 12.

      Enhanced Voting Techniques

      July 2, 2025 at 11:15 pm

      @prostratedragon: Or Trump meet 65 people, and then decided that didn’t sound awesome enough so he biggly sized it.

      Reply
    13. 13.

      Hunter Gathers

      July 2, 2025 at 11:25 pm

      If I was to guess on what’s going on, I’d say that there are around 8 GOP reps fighting over three golden tickets.

      And they’ve been drinking all day.

      Reply
    14. 14.

      RevRick

      July 2, 2025 at 11:29 pm

      What will be the secondary effects of cuts to Medicaid and the back door cuts to Medicare? Hospitals, nursing homes and doctors won’t just shrug at the loss of income, and the institutions might not be able to afford that loss. They will therefore turn to private insurance to compensate for their losses. This will probably mean that small businesses will either drop coverage or raise prices to offset the increases. Anyone with supplemental insurance will see premiums go up. The costs won’t disappear. They will just be offloaded. And the most vulnerable will suffer the worst.

      Reply
    15. 15.

      Jackie

      July 2, 2025 at 11:30 pm

      @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

      Seriously, Trump is an idiot.  This is going to be death by stupidity.

      Unfortunately, OUR country’s death.

      Reply
    16. 16.

      prostratedragon

      July 2, 2025 at 11:32 pm

      A brief overview of the history of racists and alligators. It’s coded language they’re using, as usual.

      Reply
    17. 17.

      YY_Sima Qian

      July 2, 2025 at 11:36 pm

      A few “fiscally conservative” Repubs are actually standing on principle? Let’s see how long they last.

      Reply
    18. 18.

      MisterForkbeard

      July 2, 2025 at 11:46 pm

      @YY_Sima Qian: Yeah. Well, yesterday one of the Rs said they had 14 “no” votes. Guess it’s 4 now.

      Tomorrow morning it’ll be 3.

      Reply
    19. 19.

      NaijaGal

      July 2, 2025 at 11:48 pm

      @Jackie: ETTD (everything Trump touches dies), the country version?

      Reply
    20. 20.

      Omnes Omnibus

      July 2, 2025 at 11:52 pm

      I hope the staffers for these fuckers have to lie on their resumes and say they were in prison in order to get jobs in the future.

      Reply
    21. 21.

      Jay

      July 3, 2025 at 12:08 am

      @RevRick:

      In some States, Medicare and Medicaid covers 60-70% of the population. And of course, the numbers of completely uninsured is going to spike.

      ACA Insurers aren’t going to take that hit. Employer provided insurers aren’t going to take that hit.

      When things settle down and hard numbers become available, I m sure that David Anderson will do a Front Page post on the consequences.

      Reply
    22. 22.

      Jay

      July 3, 2025 at 12:12 am

      It’s all a little bit of inside baseball (or Calvinball, really), but every bill has its own individual rules attached to it that directs how the bill will be handled. So there is always at least two votes: 1 for the rules for the bill and the other for the bill itself. Somehow the Brainiacs from Possum Hollar screwed the pooch on the rules.

      So they’ve gotta fix the rules, and that will require them all to return to work to pass a new set and essentially the entire day is a do-over. The Freedumb Caucasians can hold the bill hostage (again). And Lo!

      https://mockpaperscissors.com/2025/07/02/oops-said-speaker-pornhub-johnson/

      Reply
    23. 23.

      Gloria DryGarden

      July 3, 2025 at 1:31 am

      @NaijaGal: writing lots of requiem poetry on blue sky in that vein. Mourning. In 300 character bits. Other poets joining in. We write epigraphs on each other’s poems.

      At least word smithing and entertainment are not completely dead yet.

      ________
      everyone:

      we all need to keep in mind, that besides unfreezing illegally frozen education funds, and un distracting the attention from bombing Iran, wasting money on a poorly attended squeaky parade, and using ICE and taxpayer dollars to attack and kidnap tax-paying workers that grow our food and do so much necessary basic work,

      that it’s not just orange man and his questionable make up, the rocket’s red glare of his hateful eyes,

      it’s also the layers of far theocratic conservative right wingers who’ve been gunning for this dismantling and take over, building up to it for what, 50 years? So if FFOTUS goes, we still have the next in lines, popping up like dolls at a fair. Djvance, thiel, yarvin, the project 2025 writers, the far right catholic cult group people, who’ve been getting cultivated for years, the pseudo Christian Right, the federalist society and all the judges and candidates they’ve promoted.

      mr charisma Cheeto is just the one out front… smooth talking in erratic zigzags

      Reply
    24. 24.

      Gloria DryGarden

      July 3, 2025 at 2:08 am

      Speaking of the tenterhooks in your title,

      when Inanna, the goddess, went down to the underworld, she lost her badges of office, all her status, her clothes, and at the bottom she was stripped of everything and hung on a hook as a piece of meat. In her case, she was rescued by a friend and colleague. The story has many versions, and multiple meanings.

      but for now, the thought that some government powerful persons who hurt everyone, and make tangled nets of lies, could hang naked in an underworld…and contemplate there the meanings of reality…

      Reply
    25. 25.

      SFAW

      July 3, 2025 at 2:28 am

      These motherfuckers are Example # 3,487,992 proving that there is no such thing as a Just God.

      ETA: NB: which is not to imply it’s the only example, it’s merely the latest.

      Reply
    26. 26.

      Phylllis

      July 3, 2025 at 2:48 am

      @NotMax:  Districts have teachers, counselors, and other direct student support staff budgeted in those funds, and those folks would have signed contracts back in the Spring to return to work in just a few weeks.

      My finance director and I spoke about it today & even though we don’t have any people budgeted in these funds in our little district, it’s still an impact on operations and student services for us.

      Reply
    27. 27.

      Rusty

      July 3, 2025 at 5:19 am

      Just saw they passed the procedural post.  Looks like this abomination of a bill will pass. The pain and suffering contained in it is monstrous.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      Baud

      July 3, 2025 at 5:30 am

      @Rusty:

      Not surprised. They were never going to let this opportunity pass them by.

      Reply
    29. 29.

      MagdaInBlack

      July 3, 2025 at 5:33 am

      @prostratedragon: JFC

      Reply
    30. 30.

      PsiFighter37

      July 3, 2025 at 6:24 am

      @Rusty: The explanations that the immigration funding is tantamount just shows that the GOP thinking is going to be about how hating on brown people will save them politically.

      Fuck ‘em. To repeat myself, I hope all the poor whites in flyover country get what they deserve, which is a lot of misery and more death.

      Reply
    31. 31.

      Ohio Mom

      July 3, 2025 at 6:48 am

      @Phylllis: Another hit to schools will probably be the Medicaid funding they use for providing IEP students with speech, OT and PT interventions.

      I think the child has to be on Medicaid for the school to tap into Medicaid on their behalf — I am not clear on how the funding mechanism works, I just know the school asked me to sign something to open the tap.

      Anyway, IEP students are expensive for schools and every bit of funding helps. But don’t worry, the Supreme Court just made it harder for parents to use the courts to get the school to fulfill its obligations. So schools have something of an out.

      Reply
    32. 32.

      Geminid

      July 3, 2025 at 7:02 am

      There’s an Israeli commentator, Iris Boker, who I follow on Twitter. Boker put up a long, 15-tweet piece yesterday previewing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s White House visit scheduled for Monday.

      Boker is a very cynical person, and that is not a bad framework from which to view the Israeli PM and the American President. She sees both as deeply self-interested men.

      Boker also sees Trump as having by far the upper hand over Netanyahu and Israel:

         We operate according to his needs and interests….. By the end of Trump’s term, we had better pray his interests align with ours.

      Some Americans– and Israelis too–might disagree with this assessment, but that is what Boker’s analysis has led her to.

      Boker finished with this appraisal of Trump.

         If we had a stable [US] leader who had vision and strategy, we could anticipate and prepare.

      But Trump is narcissistic, psychopathic, violent and cruel, impulsive, ignorant and infantile. We are pawns within his madness.

      Reply
    33. 33.

      Betty

      July 3, 2025 at 7:10 am

      @Geminid: I couldn’t say it better than Iris has. The pawns in Congress and the Supreme Court have blood on their hands and will have more soon.

      Reply
    34. 34.

      TONYG

      July 3, 2025 at 7:31 am

      @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Well, yeah.  But on July 1st of last year, the Supreme Court decided that Trump does not have to obey any laws.  And Trump has been routinely defying the law since January 20th.

      Reply
    35. 35.

      They Call Me Noni

      July 3, 2025 at 7:36 am

      When they are done raping and pillaging our country and have danced on the ashes of what they have wrought what will they do then?  There will be no replenishing the coffers as they have scorched the earth that paid the taxes.  Will they then be happy when they rule over a vast wasteland of misery and destruction?  Will all the destitution be enough for them?  How much cruelty is enough?

      Reply
    36. 36.

      Princess

      July 3, 2025 at 7:37 am

      @They Call Me Noni: they’ll invade other countries.

      Reply
    37. 37.

      p.a.

      July 3, 2025 at 7:53 am

      @Geminid: Well, I gotta say I hope tRump whipsaws Bibi for all he’s worth.  At least that’ll be something if this US national shitshow actually dumps some shit on someone deserving of a nice fresh shit sammy.

      Reply
    38. 38.

      Geminid

      July 3, 2025 at 8:11 am

      @p.a.: It would be gratifying to see Trump push Netanyahu around. A ceasefire in Gaza is much more important though.

      That’s one of the things Boker sees coming out of this visit. That, and early Israeli elections in consquence. I won’t get into her analysis for now except to say this could be a topic of discussion here next week.

      Reply
    39. 39.

      sab

      July 3, 2025 at 8:18 am

      @Geminid: And Bibi did everything he could do to get Trump reelected. A rational president he could have worked with. This one not so much. Oh well. Too bad.

      Reply
    40. 40.

      Baud

      July 3, 2025 at 8:22 am

      @Geminid:

      @sab:

      I’ll believe it when it happens. Until then, both Netanyahu and Trump are living the high life together as far as I’m concerned.

      Reply
    41. 41.

      Dorothy A. Winsor

      July 3, 2025 at 8:23 am

      I’ve cut back on my news reading because I’m already stressed by worrying about Mr DAW’s Parkinsons. But I touch base here every morning. I appreciate the chance to interact with people who share my horror

      Reply
    42. 42.

      sab

      July 3, 2025 at 8:25 am

      @Ohio Mom: This almost inevitable cutback in funding has me frothing at the mouth in silent rage. If ever a government intervention worked wonders amd miracles, this one was the one that did. All those kids with futures when their predecessors had none. And now back to the bad old days.

      Our only leverage with the school district  was to threaten to leave and home school and they would lose all that funding from the state and the feds.Only part of which they spent on our child, the rest went to the school district.

      Reply
    43. 43.

      Geminid

      July 3, 2025 at 8:54 am

      @Baud: I’m not saying a cease-fire is imminent, Boker is.  But I’ll be following this story closely the next few days.

      Fuvking Netanyahu’s gonna be here all week, on account of all the meetings he’s got lined up. He might not fly home until next Saturday, after sunset. The Sraeli Prime Minister likes it over here more than he likes it back home in Israel.

      Reply

    Leave a Comment

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    If you don't see both the Visual and the Text tab on the editor, click here to refresh.

    Clear Comment

    To reply to more than one person, click the X to save & close the box.

    Primary Sidebar

    On The Road - way2blue - SINALEI, SAMOA—RESPITE EDITION—FEBRUARY 2025.  (second of five) 8
    Image by way2blue (7/16/25)
    Donate

    Recent Comments

    • me on Flailing & Failing (Open Thread) (Jul 16, 2025 @ 8:44pm)
    • JetsamPool on Flailing & Failing (Open Thread) (Jul 16, 2025 @ 8:44pm)
    • mrmoshpotato on Flailing & Failing (Open Thread) (Jul 16, 2025 @ 8:44pm)
    • catclub on Flailing & Failing (Open Thread) (Jul 16, 2025 @ 8:43pm)
    • Martin on Flailing & Failing (Open Thread) (Jul 16, 2025 @ 8:42pm)

    Balloon Juice Posts

    View by Topic
    View by Author
    View by Month & Year
    View by Past Author

    Featuring

    Medium Cool
    Artists in Our Midst
    Authors in Our Midst
    No Kings Protests June 14 2025

    🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

    Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
    Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

    Calling All Jackals

    Site Feedback
    Nominate a Rotating Tag
    Submit Photos to On the Road
    Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
    Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
    Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

    Social Media

    Balloon Juice
    WaterGirl
    TaMara
    John Cole
    DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
    Betty Cracker
    Tom Levenson
    David Anderson
    Major Major Major Major
    DougJ NYT Pitchbot
    mistermix

    Keeping Track

    Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
    Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
    21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
    Search Donations from a Brand

    Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

    Donate

    Site Footer

    Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Comment Policy
    • Our Authors
    • Blogroll
    • Our Artists
    • Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

    Insert/edit link

    Enter the destination URL

    Or link to existing content

      No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.
        Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

        Email sent!