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August 20, 2025
Trump tariffs and green energy rollbacks push household electricity bills up 10%
(The Guardian) Household electricity bills have increased by 10% since Donald Trump re-entered the White House, a new report has found, with its authors highlighting the impact of the president’s datacenter boosterism and cuts to clean energy projects as part of the cause. The analysis comes as the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said he knows rising energy prices could be a political challenge for the GOP ahead of next year’s midterm elections, but claimed Democrats were to blame for the cost increases.
Go to discussionUS hikes steel, aluminum tariffs on imported appliances, railcars, EV parts
(Reuters) The U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday it is hiking steel and aluminum tariffs on more than 400 products including wind turbines, mobile cranes, appliances, bulldozers and other heavy equipment, along with railcars, motorcycles, marine engines, furniture and hundreds of other products. The department said 407 product categories are being added to the list of “derivative” steel and aluminum products covered by sectoral tariffs, with a 50% tariff on any steel and aluminum content of these products plus the country rate on the non-steel and non-aluminum content.
Go to discussionTrump Wants You Talking About Nonexistent Crime, Not His Medicaid Cuts
(Smirking Chimp) Americans really, really don’t like the GOP’s budget-busting “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Trump signed this summer. It’s been called “the largest redistribution from poor to rich in American history.” Over 60 percent of Americans say they oppose it — and the more they learn, the higher that figure climbs. The law made historically deep cuts to Medicaid and SNAP to fund tax cuts for billionaires and corporations, plus enormous subsidies for for-profit Pentagon and ICE contractors. As a result, 17 million Americans will lose their health coverage, killing 51,000 people every year. Millions more will go without food, including children.
Go to discussionDC National Guard members actively training to carry pistols in capitol mission
(The Handbasket) The DC National Guard is making sure all members have the requisite training to use a specific type of pistol should the official order to be armed come down from Trump or his Department of Defense, The Handbasket is the first to report. The fact that members may soon be armed was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal and NPR, but this new information sheds light on the fact that members are actively preparing to be armed.
Go to discussionPirro's office won't pursue gun charges over carrying rifles, shotgun
(Washington Post) Federal prosecutors in D.C. have been instructed not to seek felony charges against people who are carrying rifles or shotguns in the nation's capital, regardless of the strength of the evidence, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and an email reviewed by The Washington Post. The new policy, which Pirro said was crafted by the Justice Department and its solicitor general, marks a break with past practice.
Go to discussionTrump setting stage for Kent State 2.0
(Salon) It’s not hysterical to think it could happen. It’s not conspiratorial to suggest it’s what they might actually want. And it cannot be dismissed as improbable, given the conditions on the ground and what we already know about the most powerful man in the world: the prospect of American troops, in American cities, opening fire on American citizens — and that blood on the streets could be viewed not as a tragedy but as plain good politics.
Go to discussionFox News host Bret Baier pulled over in DC amid Trump law enforcement crackdown
(USA today) Fox News host Bret Baier was pulled over this weekend in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. Baier, 55, a political news anchor at President Donald Trump's favored network, may have been inadvertently caught up in a recent law enforcement crackdown ordered by his administration. Earlier this month, Trump announced he would deploy the National Guard in the nation's capital to address what he saw as rampant crime.
Go to discussionConservative podcaster warns of right-wing conspiracy theories coming true under Trump
(Mediaite) Tim Dillon: "They've already got the National Guard on the street. They already have all your information in D.C., and now they just get to decide what is and isn't over the line. That should scare everybody. You're fucking nuts, dude. If this doesn't scare you, you're nuts ... This is literally the wet dream of every conspiracy theorist that has ever lived, and it's happening now.
Go to discussionStephen A. Smith: Trump 'opened his mouth and deposited checks his a‑‑ can't cash'
(The Hill) Stephen A. Smith on Monday slammed President Trump for not securing a peace deal with Russia and Ukraine despite his promises on the campaign trail. “The reality is, and excuse my language, he opened his mouth and deposited checks his a‑‑ can’t cash. That’s really what it comes down to,” Smith said during a Monday evening appearance on NewsNation’s “Cuomo.”
Go to discussionDonald Trump is becoming the greatest unifier of Europe since the end of the cold war
(The Guardian) It’s difficult to say at this stage whether anything good will come from the impromptu White House summit, but European leaders showing up as a group in support of Ukraine was a first. In Washington, we saw a rare and unprecedented yet admirably balanced European ensemble: countries from northern and southern Europe, large and small, two nuclear powers and permanent members of the UN security council, the two institutions headquartered in Brussels but often appearing to inhabit two different planets; and the UK, perfectly in tune with European positions, despite having withdrawn from its core political entity.
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