7/3/25 Blog: Short Show So Let's Celebrate Our Independence!

SHORT BLOG BECAUSE ROCKIES EAT THE SHOW AT 12:30 And I'm off tomorrow and Monday so we're talking Independence Day and the Not-So Big Beautiful Bill today.

OF COURSE THE BILL IS GOING TO PASS What did I say yesterday about the fake drama about the Big Beautiful Bill? I told you that there would be a good show of some of the members of the House who said this was a garbage bill and the Senate made it worse before they voted to move it along. And that is EXACTLY what happened. A seven hour procedural vote that cleared the deck for the bill to pass today, so everyone in the House can go home and talk about what a hard battle they fought but this is just how things work in Washington and gosh they wish it was different. So predictable. The bill should pass this morning. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm glad the tax cuts are permanent because if taxes had jumped right now it would crush people who are already being crushed by inflation's impact. But this bill just moves us closer to insolvency. I hope beyond all hope I'm wrong. Please let me be wrong.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE BILL? Well I've gathered up some stuff from people who think this bill is horrible and why. Here the Committee for a Responsible Federal Government shows how this bill is the biggest budget buster of ALL TIME. This column points out that the bill does nothing to deal with the crisis looming for Social Security and Medicare and even speeds up Social Security's demise. This column talks about the death of regular order, which will absolutely come back to bite the GOP again the next time the Democrats have a slim majority and big ideas, although that column does the best job of giving ALL the pros and cons and is worth a full read. This part on why they are using a reconciliation process instead of doing it the way it should be done is really good:

The bill’s secret weapon is something called budget reconciliation—a special process that allows legislation affecting federal spending, revenues, or debt to pass the Senate with just 51 votes instead of the usual 60. This procedural advantage was established by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to streamline budget decisions. But it’s become the preferred method for passing major partisan legislation when one party controls Congress by narrow margins. Reconciliation was originally designed to ensure that Congress could implement budget resolutions by reconciling actual spending and revenue legislation with overall fiscal targets. The idea was to prevent individual appropriations or tax bills from undermining broader budget agreements. Over time, creative lawmakers discovered they could use reconciliation for much more ambitious purposes. Any provision that affects federal spending, revenues, or debt levels can potentially qualify for the expedited process. The current bill qualifies because virtually every provision either raises or lowers taxes, increases or decreases spending, or affects government debt levels. Tax cuts reduce revenues. Healthcare changes affect Medicaid spending. Even seemingly unrelated provisions can be crafted to meet reconciliation requirements. Reconciliation comes with strict limits enforced by the Senate Parliamentarian under rules known as the “Byrd Rule,” named after former Senator Robert Byrd. Provisions must have more than incidental budgetary effects, can’t increase deficits beyond the budget window, and must relate primarily to budgetary rather than policy matters. These constraints force bill drafters to be creative about how they structure policies to qualify for fast-track treatment. Sometimes this leads to awkward compromises or sunset clauses that make policies temporary when sponsors want them to be permanent. The time limits built into reconciliation—typically 20 hours of Senate debate—compress normal legislative processes that might otherwise take months into just a few days of intense activity. This speed prevents the kind of detailed examination that complex legislation normally requires.

It's not a bug, it's a feature to give lawmakers plausible deniability. Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer.

40% OF AMERICANS SAY YES TO THE AMERICA PARTY Elon Musk has to be encouraged by this polling even though it really means nothing yet. Check this out.

THE ECONOMY IS STILL ADDING JOBS and the 147,000 added last month beat forecasts by about half. Read more here.

REP. BOEBERT HAS A BILL TO PROTECT FARMERS By delisting the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List because it is no longer endangered. I noticed something about Rep. Boebert the other day, and that is that she seems to be solely focused on doing her job for the 4th Congressional District. No drama, no outbursts, no nonsense, just a woman doing her job for the people in her district. I'm very happy about this and hope it's because she's grown into a stateswoman instead of an Influencercongressperson type that I do not care for (I'm looking at you AOC and MTG). This bill would be very good for the ranchers and farmers in her district.

SHOULD MOUNT EVANS BE MOUNT EVANS AGAIN? One Colorado group says yes. Read it here.

WHY IS THERE A DRYER SHEET IN YOUR MAILBOX? Blame the wasps, who we all know are jerks.

IMAGINE IF THIS WERE A COLORADO REPUBLICAN Rep. Lorene Garcia has seen quite the state money windfall to her non-profit since she took office but I'm sure that's a coincidence, right? Her salary as Executive Director has more than doubled during that time as well, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence too. Read about the grift here.

IT'S THE BEST TIME OF YEAR FOR CORN Which means it's the best time of year period. Olathe sweet corn is coming in and you can find more about where to find it here. I've got my corn butter ready and waiting.

DENVER WILL BE IN HARMONY THIS WEEKEND As thousands of barbershop quartet singers will be in town for the 2025 Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Convention downtown. Read more here.

PROCESSED MEATS ARE BAD AGAIN As nutritionists say that daily consumption of things like hot dogs and other processed meats, along with sugary beverages, dramatically increase your chances of Type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer. This is why I have a Stadium/ Festival rule for hot dogs, in that I only eat them at those events or places. And on 4th of July.

PUT ON CLOTHES FOR THE OFFICE, PLEASE I guess skin is in for some in office settings but this is a disaster for young women trying to be taken seriously. You can read it here but thankfully we don't really have this issue at Iheart where I work with mostly professionals.

CHRISTIAN TOTO REVIEWS THE NEW JURASSIC PARK FLICK And it's sort of what I thought it might be. Read it here.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! I share this every year even though there are some very small historical mistakes in it. It will make you appreciate our National Anthem in a whole new way. Take some time this weekend to appreciate this beautiful, messy, flawed, imperfect but still better than any other nation of ours.

This video is simply a reading of the Declaration of Independence and it's lovely.