MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 9/4/26 [AD-FREE] MUST WATCH! REPUBLICANS ARE SILENT!

                                                                        

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MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 9/4/26 [AD-FREE]

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Brett Meiselas, Ben Meiselas, Jordy Meiselas, and MeidasTouch Network Sep 4

The latest episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast is now available ad-free exclusively for Meidas+ Substack paid subscribers. To support ad-free episodes like this, please consider joining as a paid subscriber today!

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On this episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast, Ben and Brett discuss Donald Trump’s escalating war in Iran, Iran’s strikes on U.S. military bases, and the mounting economic fallout as energy prices surge. They break down Mike Johnson’s abrupt decision to send the House home after mocking claims he would do exactly that, as pressure builds over the Epstein files and Leon Black’s refusal to testify before Congress. The brothers also examine MAGA Republicans scrambling to distance themselves from Trump’s upcoming midterm convention and Trump’s latest election maneuver before the Supreme Court. Ben and Brett dig into the worsening cost-of-living crisis, Trump’s trade war with Canada, and his increasingly hostile attacks on longtime U.S. allies. All this and much more.

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Where’s the (American) beef?!

Trump’s latest bull doesn’t have any horns.

Katie Phang Aug 23

“When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.”

— Jonathan Swift, 18^th Century Irish Satirist

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At the heart of MAGA is the cruelty and idiotic belief system of one man. He tells MAGA what it needs to follow and they blindly go along with it. To Hell with reason and logic. And it’s this cruelty and anti-intellectualism that I reject. So why am I quoting Swift? Well, from time to time, I think of all of us as that “true genius” surrounded by Trump and his minions.

Since the beginning of this second Trump Regime, what’s enraged me are the group I have often called The Enablers. People who on paper would seem to be a bulwark against this dunce and his movement. But instead, these enablers will say and do anything to be a part of this administration…American democracy, norms, and its people be damned. Honestly, who knew what was holding us back from absolute madness in the first Trump Administration was the decency of…Mike Pence and William Barr?

But worse than being bootlickers, many of these enablers are also fools. I’m not getting over my skis when I say we have a federal government being run by card-carrying members of the galactically stupid. I’ve written a few thousand words about the idiots in the Justice Department: The Fool of the North, i.e., the US Attorney for the District of Minnesota, Daniel Rosen and Pammy Jo with the Bad Hair. But today we focus on another member of these incompetent sycophants: Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Now I admit, I know little about farming with some knowledge coming from what my husband tells me when reminiscing about his college experience driving past cornfields on I-57 to his Big Ten school. And he grew up in the Chicago suburbs so he doesn’t know much about farming either. If Rollins wants to tell me she knows more about planting seasons, fertilizer, or seeds, sure, she’s got me there. But I do know a few things about Econ 101 and this wondrous thing called The Internet, and in this regard, I’m here to tell you what Rollins is shoveling stinks worse than manure. She may know how to plant things, but in cult service of Convicted Felon Donald Trump, Brooke wants to pretend like her alternate universe economics will never face scrutiny.

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What am I talking about? Beef. As in, where’s the American beef?

This past week, Trump announced the Regime would allow up to 300,000 METRIC TONS (which is about 661.4 MILLION POUNDS) of foreign ground beef, tariff-free into our country for the next 90 days. He refuses to say from which country this flood of mystery meat will be coming. He also refuses to say which American company has committed to selling this foreign beef “at 25 percent below current market prices."

Trump falsely claimed that he closed this black box of a deal because beef prices soared under Biden all while the American cattle herd “fell to its smallest size in modern history” on his watch. And Brooke Rollins jumped on that bullshit bandwagon and also blamed Biden for some nonexistent war on cattle. LIES.

Now, I hear you when you say, “Katie, there’s a thousand horrible things going on right now, so why are we talking about beef?” Because Dear Reader, Donald and Brooke are this week’s Exhibit A on why we must confront this administration on every lie. Put simply, we give no quarter to their gaslighting and lies of convenience.

So let’s take this nonsense apart, piece by piece. And a shout-out to Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast for doing a show almost a year ago about rising beef prices; as soon as I heard the story this week, I immediately re-listened to that episode to confirm that they’re all – no surprise – full of crap.

First, the herd. Yes, the U.S. cattle herd is at its smallest size in more than 50 years. But this isn’t about presidential politics. Instead, the culprits are simpler: years of drought, wildfire, and massive increases in feed, land, fuel, and veterinary costs. Over time, this reality has made it difficult to near impossible for independent ranchers in this country to operate successfully.

But that’s not all. As is the case in most industries, big corporations just hammer the little guy. In this instance, four companies control a significant percentage of U.S. beef processing capacity. This concentration allows these companies to set the price for what they will pay ranchers on one hand and what they charge grocery chains for meat on the other. Yes, the prices these processors pay ranchers is increasing. But if the ranchers’ input costs are also increasing, they’re still left treading water. Bottom-line: if you wanted to have an honest conversation about what ails the industry, processor consolidation and market transparency would be at the top of the list. But we all know that doesn’t happen in this era of corrupt big money politics.

Second, rising prices and the timing of this announcement. As we all know, Trump was elected a second time based on the fraudulent representation that he would lower prices on day one. And once he got into office? Well, the prices, they continued to rise. When it comes to beef, it’s important to remind everyone that Trump has already dipped his fat, ugly toes in the beef pond. In February, Trump signed a proclamation allowing for the importation of 80,000 metric tons of Argentine beef on favorable terms on the theory that it would lower prices for American families. At that time, the ranchers objected to this maneuver because importing more beef wouldn’t rebuild the American herd or address why ranchers were getting crushed in the first place. And we can’t forget the $20 BILLION Argentinian Great Beef Bailout of 2025. How did that help American farmers?

Several months later, the number has jumped from 80,000 metric tons to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef. And why? This brings me to the 90-day clock. It doesn’t take an economist to tell you that this timing has nothing to do with market dynamics, but instead, the November midterms are – you guessed it – about 90 days away. So even though Trump will tell you he “loves” America’s cattle farmers, the fact of the matter is he will stick it to these folks if it means votes at the ballot box.

Third, let’s delve into prices some more, particularly the criminal dunces running this show. I’m stating the obvious when I say that Convicted Felon Donald Trump has spent his entire second term manufacturing supply shocks to the domestic economy on a routine basis. Since 2025, we have suffered Trump’s stupid tariff tantrum that raised costs on the inputs that ranchers and processors depend on. And now we have an unending, illegal, very expensive war with Iran that has rattled global markets and supply chains at exactly the moment market participants could least absorb it.

So we shouldn’t be surprised that the problem is metastasizing. “Blame Joe Biden”? That may be the Trump Regime’s favorite chorus to sing, but they can’t crap on the rug and blame the dog for it. Frankly, I’m surprised things haven’t unraveled more quickly. But that’s a testament to the resiliency of our economy in the face of these idiotic losers and their actions.

Justin Tupper, president of the United States Cattlemen’s Association declared, “You don’t put America first by putting U.S. cattle producers last.” Colin Woodall, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President, said that “flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef is not the way to rebuild the American cattle herd.” While one agricultural industry insider said, “It’s going to just piss off farmers and ranchers.”

Cheaper beef – even if temporary – is a good thing. But, as is the case in all things Trump, he doesn’t get to set the house on fire and then demand credit for showing up with a thimble of water to try and put the fire out. I've got a beef with the corruption and the grift so I’m raising the steaks and demanding we cull the herd and get rid of Trump and the Republicans in November!

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Grand Juror Called Trump’s Case A “Crock Of S**t,” Warnock Roasts His Cabinet Member Over Grocery Lies, and His $1…

                                                            

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         PAY ATTENTION! THIS IS A PREVIEW OF FUTURE DISBARRMENTS FOR 

            THESE DIMWITS WHO IGNORE THE LAW AND PURSUE VINDICTIVE 

            PROSECUTIONS!

Because of you, the resistance had a great week—and so did we. You’re funding the reporting, powering the organizing, and keeping this fight alive. Thank you, genuinely. You’re not just a subscriber. You’re the reason this newsletter exists, and the reason we’re not going anywhere. Know someone who needs this? Gift them a subscription. Grand Juror Called Trump’s Case A “Crock Of S**t,” Warnock Roasts His Cabinet Member Over Grocery Lies, and His $1.776 Billion Slush Fund Is Frozen Indefinitely Plus, solar beat coal for the first time in US history Scott Dworkin Jun 14 The resistance is winning in more ways than anyone is telling you. I watch it happen every day—in courtrooms, on the streets, and in state legislatures across the country—people refusing to quit. So grab your coffee, pull up a chair, and join me. Before you read another word, hit the ❤️ like button and re-stack this right now. Every time you do, it puts these stories in front of someone who needs to see them. Ten seconds. That’s all it takes. And if you’re not a paid subscriber yet—I’d love to have you. Your subscription pays for the reporting, powers the organizing, and honestly it’s what tells me to keep going. We’re trying to bring 40 new paid subscribers on board this weekend and we’re halfway there. If today’s the day for you to join us, welcome. GRAND JURY TRANSCRIPT EXPOSES DOJ US District Judge April Perry Last fall, when ICE invaded Chicago, six protesters—including former Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh—stood outside the Broadview detention center and got hit with federal felonies. Last month, prosecutors dropped all charges after US District Judge April Perry caught DOJ prosecutors cheating during the grand jury process. On Tuesday, portions of the transcripts went public. Now we know exactly what she meant. Grand jurors—citizens who decide whether charges can even be filed—refused to indict. Prosecutors tried again anyway. When Assistant US Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg demanded one juror promise to listen “with an open mind,” the juror answered honestly: no. Mecklenburg kicked the juror out of the room. Their parting shot: “I heard this case like last week and I thought it was a crock of s**t then—and I still think it is.” The panel still refused. It took prosecutors three tries to force their charges through. Judge Perry drew the line: “I have never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts.” Abughazaleh put it plainly: “It’s not justice, but it is a win.” A JUDGE FROZE TRUMP’S SLUSH FUND US District Judge Leonie Brinkema The regime tried to create a $1.776 billion fund using your tax dollars to pay back Trump’s political allies—potentially including Jan 6 rioters who attacked the Capitol. No vote. No law. No permission. They just did it. US District Judge Leonie Brinkema blocked the fund on May 29 and refused to budge. Trump keeps saying publicly he loves the fund, and his own acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress it was dead—but refused to put a single word of that in writing. So on Friday, Brinkema extended the order indefinitely. She gave Blanche, Associate AG Stanley Woodward, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent one week to submit a sworn declaration—under penalty of perjury—that the fund will not proceed in any manner, or under any name. No army. Just one judge and the law. And right now, the law is winning. WARNOCK WRECKS REGIME ON GROCERIES On Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sat before the Senate and tried to explain why your groceries cost so much. Her answer: blame Biden. Senator Raphael Warnock couldn’t believe his ears: “Two years later, that’s your answer?” “Yes! Yes!” Rollins insisted, rattling off avocado and butter prices like a coupon flyer. The numbers buried her. According to the Joint Economic Committee, a typical American family paid $310 more for groceries in 2025. Warnock pressed her on the regime slashing $500 million from food banks and removing 4.3 million Americans from SNAP—a figure Rollins supplied herself, then defended as “a celebration of work.” Warnock refused to let it slide: “Do you realize, Madam Secretary, with all due respect, how sterile that answer sounds …” to somebody trying to buy groceries in Georgia. Warnock didn’t need a punchline: “There are a lot of children all across Georgia who are suffering. I think we can do better than that.” He’s right. November is coming. SOLAR BEATS COAL Right after Trump retook office, he declared a national energy emergency and signed executive orders to prop up coal. He’s spent sixteen months trying to drag America’s power grid backward by force. The grid ignored him. In May, for the first time in US history, solar generated more of the nation’s electricity than coal—12.8% to coal’s 12.2%, according to energy think tank Ember. It was coal’s fourth-lowest monthly share ever recorded. Trump cannot bully the sun. THE BIGGER PICTURE One solar panel on one roof doesn’t change much. But millions of them just beat an industry that ran this country for a hundred years. That’s you and me. That’s this whole community. Every call. Every email. Every share. Every rally. Together we’ve contacted Congress more than 755,000 times since November 2024. I talk to elected officials regularly. They feel every single one. Here’s my promise, friend to friend: I’ve been at this for a decade. There’s no way I’m backing down now. We’re trying to hit 40 new paid subscribers this weekend and we’re halfway there. If you’ve been on the fence, this is your moment. No ads, no corporate money, no billionaire who can stop a story. Help us hit our goal. Join us today: One last thing before you go. Hit the ❤️ like button and re-stack this edition so the people who follow you see all of this good news. That’s how one reader becomes ten. You have more power than they want you to know. Onward! Scott Thoughts on solar surpassing coal in electricity production for the first time in US history? What do you think should happen to prosecutors who cheat grand juries? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for your support! Another way to help us out is by gifting subscriptions to friends and family! You can get yours by clicking the link.  For all contact Congress links, or to volunteer, you can go here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchdog-coalition NEW 🚨 ACTION: Tell your Senators to vote NO on Todd Blanche. Click and send: 👇 https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-senators-oppose-todd-blanche-for-attorney-general/ COMMENTS:  We’re starting to see what consistent pressure actually produces. Wins are stacking up — not because the system suddenly got fair, but because people refused to let up. That’s the only thing that’s ever moved the needle. Any lawyer who lies and cheats for Drumpf should be disbarred forthwith. KEEP TRACK OF THOSE NAMES!  We'll get them all!  It will take time, but MAGA  = Make Attorneys Get Attorneys!  Love that Grand Jurist! “…I thought it was a crock of sh*t then and I still think that!” Says it all. Agree 💯! I would have pointed out to her it was not me who had a closed mind, who had blinders on but Assistant US Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, because all the white-supremacist racist misogynistic fascist nazis in this regime are blindly following Orange Shitler not realizing, or perhaps not caring, they are blind to his nazi like authoritarian rhetoric and are following him off a cliff. Their day will come and there will be no place on God's earth where they will be able to hide! Prosecutors who bully a grand jury need to be sanctioned and if they don’t stop, they need to be disbarred! Coal is dirty energy, solar is not! Build more solar and leave the coal underground where it doesn’t hurt the environment Agree with all.... So sick of cowardly, compromised, corrupt Trump attorneys. Yes, they should all be disbarred. And love the solar versus coal results. So true, "Trump can't bully the sun." Excellent! Thanks for the awesome news! These wins are reminders that the work we’re doing together is working. Hoping that Judge Brinkema’s order stays at least until January 2029. To Indefinite and beyond!! (If necessary) Cheating Lawyers Should Be Disbarred & Brought Up On Charges Anyone planning a career in our legal system needs to know that such behavior will cause them to be disbarred for life. This is how we do it. Catch someone at it and make them the example of the cost of falsehoods in court. They think DEMENTIA DON will protect them!  What do you think should happen to prosecutors who cheat grand juries? They should be disbarred immediately. Maybe setting a few dozen examples will make these attorneys not so quick to please Dear Leader. Coal shouldn't even be allowed as an energy source! The adverse affects caused by just the mining of coal, including the deaths of thousands of hardworking people, should be enough to end this insanity. I live in the California desert near Palm Springs and have had solar panels on my home for several years now. The only thing I pay each month is a fee to use the grid, usually around $30 per month, because I'm still tethered to it. Once technology catches up, I'm going to buy a battery and completely unplug from the grid. As far as TRump's private law firm, our former Department of Justice, ALL of those attorneys should be investigated and/or disbarred if they have been found guilty of pushing through fraudulent indictments, at TRump's behest. TRump's Revenge Tour will end once we win the House AND the Senate in November and our new representatives start their jobs in January 2027. ONWARD!! 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲 << One solar panel on one roof doesn’t change much. But millions of them just beat an industry that ran this country for a hundred years. >> Yet, at the local level, people fight against solar farms. This nation has a huge appetite for energy. Hard choices have to be made. It's either solar, which is clean or it's coal which is dirty. There are 9 panels on my roof and my energy bill has gone down 74% Give THAT some thought. We have a huge wind farm, along with a lot of solar farms, in the Palm Springs area. Everyone loves looking at them because we all know and love that it's renewable, green energy. The fossil fuel industry will do anything they can to impede progress on green energy, because then, they'll all be out of a job. It's too bad that they don't have the foresight to see that if they invested in the green energy sector, they'd make even more money. Hopefully they'll see the light someday. If we ever get a president who sees a need to create better energy sources, (like we had with Biden!) I would love to see all new construction of homes and businesses given incentives for solar or wind sources and other such efficiencies, built in. I would also like to see our freeways include ways to capture the winds created traffic. these could be small tubular turbines along the center divider. And that goes for windy cities, too! Why not have tubular wind turbines on the upper stories at the corners of city buildings? Seattle and Chicago are examples of many days with downtown wind sources. #1: I grew up in coal country. It's dirty, the filth infests a miner's body, everywhere, coal causes black Lung disease. I had friends whose fathers worked in the mines. They never made it to retirement age w/out a disability if they made it at all. So, I am all for solar beating out coal and any other fossil fuel. #2: Prosecuters who cheat need to be arrested, prosecuted, fined and disbarred. Thank you for your comment, but it's also important to understand HOW/WHY DIRTY COAL continued.  VESTED INTERESTS!  The states that genuflected to DIRTY COAL are single industry states: COAL RULES!  MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL: why would they agree to invest in ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES if  they own the STATE?  The TVA COAL ASH spill defined environmental destruction, contaminated drinking water, streams...no mandate to CLEAN UP their failures to have LINED ASH PITS!  Trump regime recently dropped investigation into JIM JUSTICE & DIRTY COAL.  DIRTY ENERGY KOCH was the first to import RUSSIAN OIL and has been active in opposing ANY RENEWABLE ENERGY.  DIRTY ENERGY KOCH opposed the first OFFSHORE WIND PROJECT and funded the opposition based on their LIES & PROPAGANDA.  On a positive note: PAY ATTENTION TO BALCONY SOLAR!  States are making changes in regulations that make it possible.  Check out the prices - reasonable & affordable! Start with ONE UNIT and with the energy savings, buy another one!  As DIRTY COAL has filed for BNKRUPTCIES, the government, TAX PAYERS are forced to pick up the TAB for their failures to protect COAL MINERS.  The ULTIMATE REVENGE is REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION! INSULATION is a permanent investment that continues to pay dividends.  LED bulbs reduce ENERGY USE and were CHEAP until DAFFY DON imposed TARIFFS!  DAFFY DON also eliminated ENERGY STAR RATINGS so you can't evaluate the cheapest appliances.  Put ALL of your ALWAYS ON PERIFERALS on SURGE PROTECTORS - when they're OFF, they're OFF! That includes the ALWAYS ON TV.  They're are lots of creative ideas to REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION - one man even saved his BUBBLE WRAP & covered his SLIDER to reduce transmission.  DAFFY DON recently bribed a company to abandon WIND ENERGY!  DAFFY DON has opposed OFFSHORE WIND that will produce CLEAN LOW COST ENERGY for MILLIONS. DIRTY ENERGY KOCH united the wealthy to post ANONYOUS SUPER PACS propaganda  to oppose any issue that made sense - they even funded opposition to a PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM and spewed lies about ELECTRIC VEHICLES!  Please explain what the HECK is wrong with BROOKE ROLLINS?  Brain Dead Boob initially suggested that everyone should have CHICKENS when the price of eggs was so high (due to AVIAN FLU)....everything she says is STUPID!  SCREWWORM is all Biden's fault....typical regime propaganda!  From the little I've read, it seems that the solution is STERILE FLIES - but there's a shortage.  It's been reported in a goat and a dog - any warm blooded mammal - including humans - although  it's painful & humans can pick them off.  She's another one slashing staff & closing offices.  There are a lot of cranberry farms in South Eastern Massachusetts, among other farming activities -  the local office disappeared. They also did a lot of research.  Who is Brooke Rollins? What to know about Trump’s pick to lead USDA The conservative lawyer is CEO of right-wing think tank America First Policy Institute, which is poised to exert enormous influence in the president’s second term. https://www.agriculturedive.com/news/trump-usda-secretary-pick-brooke-rollins/733902/