Health Care News Podcast, episode 602
Source: Heartland Institute
“What is next in the fight to manage waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid now that the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) is law?” (07/17/25)
Israel-Syria clash puts US policy in the crosshairs, again
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Safia K Southey & Adam Weinstein
“The Trump administration clearly wants the new government in Damascus to succeed as evidenced by its removal of all sanctions and strong statements of support for Syrian unification under Damascus. The fact Washington’s closest partner in the Middle East is now bombing Syria is not conducive to Washington’s aims there and it is likely scrambling to ensure things don’t go from bad to worse.” (07/17/25)
The Salience of the Switch
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“The idea that Mr. Epstein had fronted a honey-pot blackmail ring to exert control over politics and science and culture was a story that even the mainstream didn’t pooh-pooh much, because, in part, there was so much circumstantial evidence. Then came the switch, when Dan Bongino and Kash Patel assured us that Epstein did indeed commit suicide. When I commented a week ago, it was Trump switching sides — after years milking MAGA anger over it — that stood out. And now it got bigger. In two ways. Trump’s switch got bigger. And the evidence for Epstein’s self-offing got shakier.” (07/17/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/07/17/salience-of-the-switch/
CA: Trump admin pulls plug on $4 billion for “train to nowhere” project
Source: Fox News
“California’s embattled high-speed rail project suffered a major setback after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the termination of $4 billion in unspent federal funding by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Citing 16 years of failure, no completed high-speed track, and escalating costs, Duffy declared the project, dubbed the ‘train to nowhere,’ a mismanaged and over-budget ‘boondoggle.’ ‘This is California’s fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results,’ Duffy said in a statement. The announcement followed months of scrutiny after a comprehensive compliance review, plus failed attempts by the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to address serious project deficiencies. The review found that zero miles of high-speed track have been laid since ground was broken 10 years ago, and the cost continues to balloon.” (07/17/25)
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-admin-pulls-plug-4b-californias-train-nowhere-project
Trump regime doxxes Medicaid enrollees to ICE gang
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation’s 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to track down immigrants who may not be living legally in the United States, according to an agreement obtained by The Associated Press. The information will give ICE officials the ability to find ‘the location of aliens’ across the country, says the agreement signed Monday between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security. The agreement has not been announced publicly.” (07/17/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/07/17/medicaid-immigration/
The Headlines, 07/17/25
Source: New York Times
“Trump’s Epstein Strategy; Senate Approves Cuts to Foreign Aid, Public Broadcasting.” (07/17/25)
The Tom Woods Show, episode 2668
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Has MAGA Come Apart? With Bruce Fenton.” (07/17/25)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2668-has-maga-come-apart-with-bruce-fenton/
How Trump Can Promote Religious Liberty
Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow
“President Donald Trump visited the Middle East in May but devoted little attention to one of the region’s most pervasive challenges: religious intolerance and persecution. Virtually every country, including Israel, either officially abuses minority faiths or unofficially tolerates private violence and discrimination against unpopular believers. Indeed, Washington partners with some of the worst oppressors, most notably Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Of course, Trump has never paid much attention to human rights abuses of any kind. … Although any administration will have to be practical and prudent in dealing with foreign authoritarians, Washington should promote a world that values human life, liberty, and dignity. U.S. officials should accept the inevitable charge of hypocrisy while nevertheless seeking to move debate and policy forward. When it comes to religious liberty, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) provides a sensible reform agenda.” (07/17/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-trump-can-promote-religious-liberty/
No Due Process at Gitmo
Source: Judging Freedom
by Andrea P Napolitano
“Due process has numerous definitions and aspects, but for constitutional purposes it basically means that all charged persons are presumed innocent and entitled to a written notice of the charges, a speedy and fair hearing before a neutral fact finder, a right to appeal; and the entire process imbued with fairness and a profound recognition of personal innocence until guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Due process also explicitly prohibits the use of torture. … James Madison and the Framers crafted protections in the Constitution to which all in government needed to swear allegiance and support. Fast forward to Gitmo, and you can see the constitutional system turned on its head.” (07/17/25)
Meet the Disaster Capitalists Behind Alligator Alcatraz
Source: The American Prospect
by Maureen Tkacik
“One company just forced the state of Illinois to fork over $1.3 million for a detention center it never built, and boasts an armored car subsidiary that ‘lost track of’ tens of millions of dollars in cash belonging to banks, businesses, and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Another recently won a $70 million contract from the state of Oregon to remove dead trees to mitigate wildfire risk — then ordered contractors to indiscriminately chop down tens of thousands of healthy trees because it had fired the only professional arborist on its payroll. A third has been sued in Florida for allegedly orchestrating a sprawling insurance fraud ring that ended up screwing over hundreds of Hurricane Ida victims, stiffing the claim adjustors they hired, then suing its conspirator law firm for failing to make good on the 582 percent annualized return its partners had allegedly promised.” (07/17/25)
https://prospect.org/power/2025-07-17-meet-disaster-capitalists-alligator-alcatraz/