Saturday, August 23, 2025
■ The Week in Review
"This engineered famine is the ultimate and inevitable result of the Government of Israel's use of starvation as a weapon of war," said the head of Save the Children International in response to the IPC assessment.
By Jon Queally • Aug 22, 2025
"These aggressive policies seek to extend US dominance in Latin America, no matter the human cost," CodePink said.
By Stephen Prager • Aug 21, 2025
"Hospitals count on Medicaid to keep their doors open," said healthcare advocacy group Protect Our Care. "Medicaid accounts for one fifth of spending on hospitals, one fifth of hospital discharges, and at least one in five inpatient days in nearly every state."
By Brad Reed • Aug 21, 2025
The healthcare advocacy organization Protect Our Care has been tracking financially troubled hospitals across the country that are projected to take a big hit thanks to the Medicaid cuts in the massive Republican budget package—and the group has produced a new tool to let people see the damage being done in real time.
The organization on Wednesday launched a new project called "Hospital Crisis Watch" that identifies and provides updates on healthcare facilities around the country at risk of closure thanks to the Medicaid cuts, and produced an interactive map showing exactly which hospitals and medical centers are in danger.
Protect Our Care found that the most vulnerable facilities tend to be in rural areas, identifying 338 endangered rural hospitals throughout the US. The state of Kentucky has the largest concentration of vulnerable hospitals with 35, followed by Louisiana at 33, and California at 28.
In a report about the threats these hospitals face, Protect Our Care explained why Medicaid funding, which the GOP budget package slashed by $1 trillion over the next decade, is vitally important to these institutions' financial well being.
"Hospitals count on Medicaid to keep their doors open," the report said. "Medicaid accounts for one fifth of spending on hospitals, one fifth of hospital discharges, and at least one in five inpatient days in nearly every state."
The report also pointed to an analysis from Commonwealth Fund estimating that more than 475,000 healthcare workers would lose their jobs as a result of the cuts. This would have serious economic ramifications for rural areas given that "hospitals employ 10% of all employees in rural counties that report having any hospital employment," explained Protect Our Care.
Even if these hospitals don't shut down, Protect Our Care warned that they are likely to slash services and increase wait times in emergency rooms.
The potential closure of hospitals isn't the only crisis facing American healthcare. A separate report from Protect Our Care earlier this week documented how health insurance premiums are expected to skyrocket in the coming year unless the Republican-led Congress passes an extension to enhanced subsidies for people who buy their insurance through the exchanges created by the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
"Because of these GOP policies, insurance companies have already indicated they plan to raise premiums for 24 million Americans by an average of 15%," the group noted. "At the same time, Republicans are ripping away tax credits from 20 million, forcing them to pay an average of 75% more for their coverage. These price hikes will cause countless hard-working families to lose life-saving coverage while millions more will suffer under the already-rising cost of living."
"At a time when many American workers are struggling with high costs for groceries and housing, the nation's largest low-wage employers are fixated on making their overpaid CEOs even richer," said the author of a new report.
By Julia Conley • Aug 21, 2025
"Stephen Miller was a loser in college, and now we all must pay for it," remarked one critic.
By Brad Reed • Aug 20, 2025
"Private equity comes in, squeezes the life out of hospitals and doctor's offices, and then leaves patients and communities in the lurch," says a report from Sen. Chris Murphy.
By Brad Reed • Aug 20, 2025
"Equipment manufacturers like John Deere have lost millions, but let's remember that working people are hit hardest by the president's disastrous economic policies," said one lawmaker.
By Brad Reed • Aug 19, 2025
US President Donald Trump has pitched his tariffs on foreign goods as a way to bring more manufacturing jobs back into the United States.
However, it now appears as though the tariffs are hurting the manufacturing jobs that are already here.
As reported by Des Moines Register, iconic American machinery company John Deere announced on Monday that it is laying off 71 workers in Waterloo, Iowa, as well as 115 people in East Moline, Illinois, and 52 workers in Moline, Illinois. The paper noted that John Deere has laid off more than 2,000 employees since April 2024.
In its announcement of the layoffs, the company said that "the struggling [agriculture] economy continues to impact orders" for its equipment.
"This is a challenging time for many farmers, growers, and producers, and directly impacts our business in the near term," the company emphasized.
According to The New Republic, Cory Reed, president of John Deere's Worldwide Agriculture and Turf Division, said during the company's most recent earnings call that the uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariffs has led to many farmers putting off investments in farm equipment.
"If you have customers that are concerned about what their end markets are going to look like in a tariff environment, they're waiting to see the outcomes of what these trade deals look like," he explained.
Josh Beal, John Deere's director of investor relations, similarly said that "the primary drivers" for the company's negative outlook from the prior quarter "are increased tariff rates on Europe, India, and steel and aluminum."
The news of the layoffs drew a scathing rebuke from Nathan Sage, an Iowa Democrat running for the US Senate to unseat Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has praised the president's tariff policies.
"John Deere is once again laying off Iowans—a clear sign economic uncertainty hits the working class hardest, not the CEOs at the top," he wrote in a post on X. "Cheered on by Joni Ernst, Republicans in Washington want to play games with tariffs and give tax cuts to billionaires while Iowa families continue to struggle. It's time to stop protecting the top 1% and fight for the working people who keep our economy strong."
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) also ripped Trump's trade policies for hurting blue-collar jobs.
"Because of Trump's tariffs, farmers can't afford to buy what they need to make a living," he said. "Equipment manufacturers like John Deere have lost millions, but let's remember that working people are hit hardest by the president's disastrous economic policies. Tired of 'winning' yet?"
John Deere is not the only big-name American manufacturer to be harmed by the Trump tariffs, as all three of the country's major auto manufacturers in recent months have announced they expect to take significant financial hits from them.
Ford last month said that its profit could plunge by up to 36% this year as it expects to take a $2 billion hit from the president's tariffs on key inputs such as steel and aluminum, as well as taxes on car components manufactured in Canada and Mexico.
General Motors last month also cited the Trump tariffs as a major reason why its profits fell by $3 billion the previous quarter. Making matters worse, GM said that the impact of the tariffs would be even more significant in the coming quarter when its profits could tumble by as much as $5 billion.
GM's warning came shortly after Jeep manufacturer Stellantis projected that the Trump tariffs would directly lead to $350 million in losses in the first half of 2025.
"I will be a senator," said Graham Platner, "for all those who can't buy senators."
By Julia Conley • Aug 19, 2025
"Trump himself, as well as top Republicans, will say the goal is to stop Mamdani... and you'll be wasting your vote on Sliwa. So I feel good about that," Cuomo said in a leaked recording.
By Brad Reed • Aug 19, 2025
"Locking Rep. Nicole Collier inside the chamber is beyond outrageous," said Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. "Forcing elected officials to sign 'permission slips' and take police escorts to leave? That's not procedure. That's some old Jim Crow playbook. Texas Republicans have lost their damn minds."
By Jon Queally • Aug 19, 2025
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