The List

[Doctor Steuss]

Trump is demanding that American taxpayers pay him $230 million.

President Donald Trump is pressing for his Justice Department to pay roughly $230 million as a settlement for investigations he faced...

Link

Could a DOGE apologist help me out? Seems to me that the head of the executive branch, telling an entity within the executive branch, which is headed by people previously employed by him, which he appointed to their current positions, which he can get rid of if they don't do what he wants, that they need to give him almost a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money because he got his feelings hurt when he was unsuccessful at hiding classified documents in his bathroom... would probably fall within at least one of the categories of waste, fraud, and abuse.

Thank goodness he donated a few of his paychecks during his first term, huh?

In related news, his $200 million bribe ballroom has started construction. Surprising to no one, he lied about it not being connected to the White House, and not requiring any structural changes. Government employees have been told they aren't allowed to take and post pictures of the destruction anymore.

[canpakes]

Thank goodness he donated a few of his paychecks during his first term, huh?

It’s not even clear that he has done that. Trump claims to have rerouted a number of paychecks during his first term to various government agencies, but since his team is in control of the books, there’s little proof of how much of that money, if any, actually made it to their targets. Seems like it would have made more sense to contribute to an actual charity that could independently verify a donation.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/fac ... 410134002/

In any event, he makes far more money forcing the government to pay for security and staffing through and to his properties when he is on golfing trips (which seems to happen more often than for any other President in history). This new grift of having taxpayer money flow into his bank accounts because he was caught doing something stupid also makes any past paycheck ‘donation’ look like pocket change, considering that the amount he’s demanding is 575 times greater than his yearly salary.

[Doctor Steuss]

I'm just reminiscing about how awesome it is to be free of Biden, and him forcing his Marxist agenda on America. Like his socialist student loan forgiveness that wasn't only un-American, but a slap in the face to everyone who repaid their loans. Fortunately, we've escaped the socialist Marxist Democrat leftist agenda, and have the strong leadership of Donald J. Trump.

In other news...

Student Loan Forgiveness Update: Trump Admin Cancels Debt For Millions



(For the record, I am all for this, even though it took a court settlement to force Trump to follow the law -- he could have treated this like he has other court orders and simply ignored it or continued fighting.)

[canpakes]

.
Trump took a brief break today from trying to jail people he doesn’t like, so that he could pardon actual criminals.

.
Trump Pardons Convicted Binance Founder

Pardon follows months of efforts by Changpeng Zhao to boost Trump crypto company

By Rebecca Ballhaus, Josh Dawsey, Patricia Kowsmann and Angus Berwick
Updated Oct. 23, 2025, at 11:11 am EDT


President Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the crypto exchange Binance, according to people familiar with the matter, following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family’s own crypto company.

The president signed the pardon on Wednesday, the people said. Trump recently indicated to advisers that he was sympathetic to arguments of political persecution related to Zhao and others, one of the people said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.” She added: “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”

Binance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A pardon will likely pave the way for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to return to the U.S., after the company pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements and was barred from operating there.

The company has spent nearly a year pursuing a pardon for Zhao, who left prison in September 2024 after serving a four-month sentence for related charges. Earlier this year, the company hired lobbyist Ches McDowell to help pursue a pardon, the Journal previously reported.

Since Trump’s election, Binance has also been a key supporter of his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, a business that has driven a huge leap in the president’s personal wealth.

[Gunnar]

Wow! Trump is so brazened he doesn't even try to hide his corruption! If anything, he actually seems to boast of it! He has questioned the very idea that bribes or accepting bribes should even be against the law. And let's face it. Trump pardoned Zhao only because of a multimillion-dollar Bribe, if I am not mistaken. I have no doubt that Trump would even pardon a serial killer, if given a high enough bribe to do so.

[Doctor Steuss]

In related news, his $200 million bribe ballroom has started construction. Surprising to no one, he lied about it not being connected to the White House, and not requiring any structural changes. Government employees have been told they aren't allowed to take and post pictures of the destruction anymore.

The entire East Wing has now been completely demolished. No Congressional approval. No sign-off or review by any of the various organizations tasked with the preservation and oversight of the White House.

The Jacquline Kennedy Garden? Gone. The historic East Wing Offices? Gone. The East Colonnade? Rubble. The iconic White House Movie Theater (nod to Reagan, who loved enjoying it)? Dust.

Curiously (and I'm sure, totally unrelated), Trump is saying he's likely going to pay himself with American taxpayer funds, almost a quarter of a billion dollars.


September 26 image.

October 23 image.


Kind of hard to find a more apt (current) illustration of how Trump views his Presidency, history, the law, tradition, ethics, and the American people.

[canpakes]

In related news, his $200 million bribe ballroom has started construction. Surprising to no one, he lied about it not being connected to the White House, and not requiring any structural changes. Government employees have been told they aren't allowed to take and post pictures of the destruction anymore.

The entire East Wing has now been completely demolished. No Congressional approval. No sign-off or review by any of the various organizations tasked with the preservation and oversight of the White House.

The Jacquline Kennedy Garden? Gone. The historic East Wing Offices? Gone. The East Colonnade? Rubble. The iconic White House Movie Theater (nod to Reagan, who loved enjoying it)? Dust.

Curiously (and I'm sure, totally unrelated), Trump is saying he's likely going to pay himself with American taxpayer funds, almost a quarter of a billion dollars.


September 26 image.

October 23 image.

Kind of hard to find a more apt (current) illustration of how Trump views his Presidency, history, the law, tradition, ethics, and the American people.

I remember when removing any random statue of a Confederate general from some obscure location was met with apoplectic outrage from folks on the Right.

Ripping down a large and historic chunk of the White House in order to construct a bloated, gilded ballroom for Trump and his buds? That doesn’t seem to register at all with that same crowd.

[Doctor Steuss]

I remember when removing any random statue of a Confederate general from some obscure location was met with apoplectic outrage from folks on the Right.

Ripping down a large and historic chunk of the White House in order to construct a bloated, gilded ballroom for Trump and his buds? That doesn’t seem to register at all with that same crowd.

From satellite images, it looks like they cut down a commemorative tree that was planted by Florence Harding.

100-year-old tree planted to commemorate the life of a President? Meh.

60-year-old statue to commemorate the life of a military commander that committed treason against the United States in an attempt to maintain the ability to own human beings as chattel? Aiiieeeeeeee!!!!

MAGA is weird.

[canpakes]

Making America Unhealthier Again …

Trump Slashes Mental Health Agency as Shutdown Drags On

NPR - Geoff Brumfiel, Rhitu Chatterjee


The Trump administration has laid off more than 100 employees at the nation’s main mental health agency, NPR has learned.

Current and former employees at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) told NPR about the layoffs, which were part of a government-wide reduction in force. The sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the agency, said the layoffs came late Friday, as the nation’s government shutdown dragged on.

Employees were notified of a “Reduction in Force” shortly before 8 p.m. ET on Friday, according to a source within the agency who was not authorized to discuss the layoffs publicly. According to the source, administration officials offered no rationale for who lost their jobs.

“I think the general feeling today is shock — and not understanding why?” the source told NPR.

That source was aware of dozens of firings. Two former employees told NPR that the total number of employees at SAMHSA who lost their jobs was around 125, though that number was a rough estimate. SAMHSA had employed around 900 people at the start of this administration, but had already lost a third of that number to layoffs in the spring. With this latest round of firings, that number is down to nearly half.
…
SAMHSA is responsible for overseeing the new 988 suicide prevention hotline. It also gives out billions in grants for mental health and addiction services. It was created in 1992 through bipartisan legislation signed by then-President George H.W. Bush. In 2024 its budget was about $7.5 billion, most of which went directly to states for programs aimed at mental health issues and addiction.

SAMHSA funds "are the backbone of behavioral health in this country," Rachel Winograd, a psychologist at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis, told NPR earlier this year. "If those grants were to go away, we'd be screwed."

Despite having what many see as an essential role in protecting the nation’s mental health, SAMHSA has not been viewed favorably by the current administration. President Trump had proposed slashing its budget as part of his Big Beautiful Bill. And earlier this year, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Congress that he intended to fold its duties into a new program he calls the Administration for a Healthy America.

[Xenophon]

The Agriculture Department has halted millions of dollars worth of deliveries to food banks without explanation, according to food bank leaders in six states.

USDA had previously allocated $500 million in deliveries to food banks for fiscal year 2025 through The Emergency Food Assistance Program. Now, the food bank leaders say many of those orders have been canceled.

The halting of these deliveries, first reported by POLITICO, comes after the Agriculture Department separately axed two other food programs, ending more than $1 billion in planned federal spending for schools and food banks to purchase from local farmers.

USDA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Piggy-backing on this, I'd give every last one of your local area foodbanks a huge shout out, they need your support if you can manage it both in terms of dollars and work-hours. Here in my neck of the woods we're seeing significant rises in demand (we've gone from 1 in 7 facing food insecurity to 1 in 6... 1 in 4 for children) across the 26 counties we serve. Recent cuts translate to nearly 400k pounds of dry goods and roughly 760k pounds of produce being removed from the pipeline.

Re-upping this one. Assuming SNAP benefits are not released at the first of the month (all signs point to them not), things are about to get even worse for your area food bank.