Trump and Putin ‘Play the Pipes of Peace’ as Zelensky Sings ‘Burn Baby Burn’

American  Thinker 

Questioning political decisions which carry the high cost of human lives, Paul McCartney released an album in 1983, titled “Pipes of Peace.”  The music video, “Pipes of Peace” recounts the history of the temporary armistice that spontaneously occurred Christmas Eve 1914 between British and German soldiers during World War I.  The video has McCartney playing the roles of both a British and a German soldier from opposing sides, depicting them to look like identical twins.  In the quiet of Christmas Eve and the spirit of Christian peace, they cross the silent battlefield and shake hands, offering the season’s greetings as they meet for the first time.  Photos of wives and children are adored and swapped, before the blasts of war and death begin again.

The McCartney video seems prophetic in that he played the role of a soldier on both sides of the war, which is very much like the scenario of the Ukrainian/Russian war.  The history of Russia and Ukraine “goes back more than a thousand years to a time when Kyiv, now Ukraine’s capital, was at the center of the first Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, the birthplace of both Ukraine and Russia.”  It was Vladimir I, born in Kyiv, known as the Grand Prince of Kyiv, who brought back the teachings, stories, and devotion of Saint Nicolas to his homeland, where Nicolas became the most beloved saint, known for righteousness, establishing the Nicene Creed, fighting Arianism, and for being the benefactor of children.

(NOTE: Volodymyr is the Ukrainian form of the name Vladimir.  So, both Zelensky and Putin are named after Vladimir I, the Grand Prince of Kyiv, the one who brought the teachings of Saint Nicolas.)

Ukrainians and Russians further show their relationship as ancient “T and O maps” reveal both are descendants of Shem, Noah’s eldest son.

Unlike McCartney, imbecilic RINOs, like Mitt Romney, believe it’s a “good deal” for America to fund the Ukrainian war, seemingly unbothered by the death count because Putin’s forces are being killed.  But does he not understand that Ukrainians and Russians are kin?  Does he not know “Carol of the Bells” was written by Mykola Leontovych, a Ukrainian, and Tchaikovsky, the composer of the “1812 Overture,” was Russian?  Or that the great writer Leo Tolstoy was a Russian Christian, who wrote numerous excellent novels, like “War and Peace,” with Tolstoy’s daughter stating that his favorite story was “Martin the Cobbler,” because “it reflected what he believed in.”

In contrast to the warmongers, President Trump has continuously said, “I want everybody to stop dying.”

So, what’s preventing peace?  Russian President Putin offered peace December 25, 2022, January 6, 2023, and again on June 14, 2024, with TASS reporting Putin offered “another real peace proposal to Kiev,” stating, “These parameters were generally agreed upon by everyone back during the Istanbul talks in 2022.”  Yet, all of these proposals were rejected by Zelensky, the Biden administration, and the Brennen-infested CIA.

Remember, this mess started in 2014 with Biden and the CIA in Kyiv topplingthe duly elected pro-Russian president of Ukraine, because he wouldn’t join the EU after President Putin threatened tariffs to protect Russia’s economy from the influx of cheap goods.  Also, Putin had a prior agreement with the ousted president of Ukraine to use Crimea as one of Russia’s two warm water ports.  With the 2014 fall of Ukraine, Crimea appointed its own government that voted to join Russia. Thus, Russia took Crimea without firing a shot.

Beginning January 2021, the Biden administration refused to talk to President Putin concerning Ukraine’s January 2021 request for NATO membership saying, Ukrainian NATO membership concerns were a non-starter for negotiations, which ultimately led to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, with Biden a year into the war stating, Ukraine is “not ready” to join NATO.

Note: George H.W. Bush, former director of the CIA, prior to being Reagan’s vice president, in 1990 told Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, “If we maintain a presence in a Germany that is a part of NATO, there would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east.”  Yet, since then, NATO has added 14 countries east of Berlin, obviously irritating Putin.

Concerning the present peace plan, Trump says, “Russia’s fine with it,” but also says, “Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal.”  Why wouldn’t Zelensky sign the peace agreement and end this war?  Could the hoards of money and arms recklessly sent by Biden’s administration and the former Democrat-controlled Congress prompt Zelensky’s not wanting the war to end?  Money has gone missing since the first monies sent to Ukraine by the Biden’s administration.  Numerous weapons have also gone missing with shipments ending up in the hands of criminal gangs and arms traffickers. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expressed that weapons “provided to Ukraine are ending up in the hands of Israel’s enemies, particularly the Javelin shoulder-fired anti-tank missile system.”

With billions missing and armaments gone astray, is it any surprise Zelensky and Ukrainian officials are being investigated for a $100 million embezzlement scheme?  Note: There are actually billions missing.

As money flows and the threat of Ukrainian NATO membership continues, the war will continue.  On December 8, 2025 Congress voted another $400 million for Ukrainian’s next year’s security.  Shouldn’t the embezzlement investigation be settled before we send even more taxpayer money into the same corrupt pot?

Will Zelensky sign a peace accord with an additional $400 million dangling in front of his face?

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated,

Brussels is preparing for war with Russia and has already set a target date for joining the war: 2030. 2030 is also the target date for Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the EU….

With Ukraine EU membership and possibly NATO membership still on the table, expect more war with Russia.

Note:  Russia’s TASS news reported on November 11, 2025 that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) thwarted a plan to bribe pilots of Russian MiG-31 supersonic jets armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.  The mission was reportedly conducted by Ukrainian military intelligence with support from “British handlers.”   The plan was to fly a plane toward NATO’s largest air base” in Romania to “be shot down by air defense, triggering an international incident.”

Is this merely Russian propaganda?  Note:  This was also reported by the Kyiv Post with more details, such as “there has been no immediate comment from Ukraine, NATO, or Bellingcat,” the latter of whom is an investigative group involved with the alleged plot.

Not surprisingly, while Zelensky is supposed to be home reading the peace agreement, he’s in London soliciting even more support.  “British handlers” have helped enough.

Is this Ukrainian leadership the leadership we should be sending more and more money and arms to support?

Continuing his sabotage of the incoming administration, in December 2024, Biden’s administration overthrew the government of Syria, causing Russia to lose one of its two necessary warm water ports, meaning — Russia will now never give up Crimea.

What about Ukrainian elections that were cancelled in March or April of 2024?  Zelensky declared martial law suspending all elections.

Zelensky has heard the “burn baby burn” lyrics of McCartney’s song.  He needs to keep listening, for the song also says, “play the pipes of peace.”

Entertainment thread for Dec 14

 

Just

let

it

warm

up!!!!/

I’m A Racist, He’s A Racist, She’s A Racist, Wouldn’t You Like To Be A Racist Too?

Townhall 

First off, I’ve never liked the taste of Dr. Pepper. Just not a fan. But the theme song back in the day was catchy. The title, however, shows the respect due to that song and the lack of respect due to the fraud leftists who run around screaming “RACISM” about every damn thing. They’re the pundits and politicians who cried wolf and no one cares anymore.

I find racism to be disgusting and a haven for stupid people – a readymade excuse for the failures of the lazy. But it’s also so rare that more unicorns are running the streets than members of the KKK. And the people who cry it are such horrible people that they’d make it impossible to care, even if they actually found some.

Joy Reid has declared the song “Jingle Bells” to be racist because, she claims, it was written to be part of a minstrel show “to make fun of black people.” I won’t bother you with the details because A) it’s not true and B) even if it were true, I just couldn’t bring myself to care.

I don’t believe for a second that Reid truly thinks this, or even truly thinks she’s simply an attention whore trying to build her podcast so she can continue to make the fortune she’s managed to rake in with no talent in this “racist country.” If only we were all so oppressed.

Honestly, the people who cry racism the loudest are the ones who benefit from it the most. In a merit-based world, Joy Reid would have starved to death decades ago. If she had found real racism anywhere, I would not be able to bring myself to care on a dare or a bet.

Don Lemon, another wolf crier (Blitzer?) is whining again. If he had any talent, he would have something relevant to say, doesn’t, so it’s all “as a gay black man” crap. He’s made millions not only as a gay black man, but as a gay black man with low intelligence and an annoying personality that does not appeal to an audience. His ratings made Joy Reid look like a success, so you can understand a little about how she might think she was successful – well, that and she’s dumb.

Donny is complaining about President Donald Trump saying Ilhan Omar should be stripped of her citizenship and tossed out of the country for marrying her brother to commit immigration fraud. Maybe he’s jealous – Omar’s brother is reportedly gay (which might be a story made up to fend off thoughts of consummating that marriage) – or maybe he’s just a one-trick pony. When you’re as dumb as a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

There really is no reason to defend Omar; she either broke the law or she didn’t. If she didn’t, she could easily prove that with a DNA test of the two and humiliate everyone who has called her out for her incestuous and felonious “marriage.” If it was fraud, she’ll have to pay the price. If it wasn’t, she’s the only sexually liberated woman in radical Islam – she’s on her third marriage and had a kid with her first husband after she’d left him for her brother, er, second husband. It’s almost like she’s playing a role and her voters are dumb enough to fall for it.

Whatever you want to call it, pointing it out is not racism. Calling for her to be held to the law is not racism. As a Democrat podcaster, the one who looks like a sexually abused tube sock who speaks through her nose job and likely smells like a durian – Jennifer Walsh – fights through her unfortunate Botox treatments to move her face so she and her ilk can insist Elon Musk be deported, it’s important to note he hasn’t broken any laws the way Omar is alleged to.

 Through it all, the overriding feeling I have is one of not caring. I used to care; racism is something I despise, but when everything is racist, nothing is racist. And when people cry it for an excuse, I’m out and done. I can’t bring myself to care.

When Democrats are whining about “the Proud Boys” – who, to the best of my knowledge, have never burned down a city, let alone multiple cities, while rioting over left-wing causes, junkies who died of an overdose or anything, really – over left-wing political violence, I couldn’t be paid to give a damn about anything they have to say. The number of Proud Boys in the country probably couldn’t fill the Somali restaurant Ilhan Omar had her “victory” party in before the owner was convicted of fraud for his part in ripping off hundreds of millions from taxpayers through welfare fraud.

And that’s what Democrats are really trying desperately to distract from – their friends and voters exploiting the system for fun and profit. “Communities” that actually contribute do not have mass fraud scams among the “community leaders.” You can take some people out of the third world, but you can’t take the third world out of some people. It’s best not to try – if you import the third world, you become it. Is it any wonder Democrats want as many of them as possible here, and why they almost uniformly vote for Democrats?

I don’t care. I am not interested in anything Democrats have to say, as so much of everything they say these days is less honest and trustworthy than what I flush every morning.

Democrats have made it so it’s never been a better time to be a racist, since Democrats call literally everything racist, you can easily fly under the radar. Or it’s racism against white people perpetrated by Democrats under the guise of fighting “privilege.” Either way, I can’t care.

It’s not working anymore, people are sick of it and it only makes them look even more pathetic than they already are. Their misery is a sign of society thriving; the more they scream racism, the further away from the hellscape liberals need the country to be in order to thrive we get.

About that, I care very much. May their misery thrive.

Internationalists vs. Isolationists

American  Thinker 

There are two competing conservative views of foreign relationships: internationalist and isolationist.

The internationalists, often called neo-cons, see foreign involvement as vital for a robust economy and protection from foreign threats.  Foreign trade significantly boosts our economy.  Recognizing and challenging nations hostile to our interests is essential for national security.

There is a good argument that foreign relations are a large part of why America became “Great.”  “Greatness” is won not by hunkering down in Fortress America and ignoring the rest of the world.

Isolationist conservatives see foreign “entanglements” as wasteful spending and unjustified interventionism.  They oppose a global military presence as useless and costly.  They embrace mottoes like America First, America Only, and Not Our War.

I relate to both views.  I’m a patriotic nationalist and a law-and-order hermit.  I want to take down those who dare to mess with America.  I also want a quiet private life, especially now, with the varieties of crazy our confused nation has produced.  But I’m more than ready to control the crazies for the good of my neighbors and our nation.

The MAGA movement needs to draw strength from all its factions.  Both isolationism and internationalism had a role in making America great.  Both are needed to effectively guide the world’s most powerful nation.

There are lots of situations where it’s best not to mess with other nations’ problems.  That saves us money, diversions, and blood.

There are also situations where it is crucial that America aids an ally, or thwarts an obvious enemy’s aggressions.

The Vietnam Example

Our Vietnam intervention demonstrates the difficulty of choosing wisely.  Our leaders aided our ally France in retaining control of Vietnam to thwart communist expansion.  Dominoes knocking each other down was this view’s meme.  We spent lots of time, money, and blood on an eventual failure.

The point here is that we chose poorly.  Vietnam has a long history of being fearful of China.  China actually invaded Vietnam shortly after we abandoned Vietnam.  Vietnam’s veteran army sent them packing.

Today, Vietnam wants good relations with the USA because its expansionist communist Chinese neighbor is much more dangerous than profitable trade with capitalist America on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

In hindsight, the USA should have let France lose Indochina as a colony.  We could then have dealt with Ho Chi Minh similarly to how we dealt with Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia.

Vietnam and Yugoslavia were communist, but they knew that China and Russia wanted to control them as virtual colonies.  Vietnam’s fears could have produced a prickly but workable relationship.

The Iraq War Example

Prominent neo-con V.P. Cheney wanted to invade Iraq after the 9-11 Muslim attack.  The neo-cons invented “weapons of mass destruction” as an excuse to invade Iraq, instead of focusing on the extremist Saudi Arabian Muslim Wahhabists who produced the 9-11 terrorists.

Cheney diverted America’s anger to target Iraq’s nasty leader for our revenge because Iraq had lots of oil and Saudi Arabia was seen as an ally.  Remember Bush helping prominent Saudi nationals leave the USA for their protection, without the FBI interviewing them.

Before the our invasion, Cheney held meetings with U.S. petroleum leaders to divide up post-war control over Iraq’s oil fields.  George Bush (whom Molly Ivins brilliantly labeled “Shrub”) was an easily convinced oil industry fan, and the best sock puppet President ever - kinda like Biden, but likable and not senile.

The wars that followed cost $4+ trillion, plus casualties — lucrative for oil companies but public debt for taxpayers.  The resultant revival of a (justifiable) anti-war movement destabilized our society, leading directly to eight years of Obama’s liberal rule sabotaging America.

The point of these examples is that neo-cons are good at rallying America for wars but are often not good in choosing, or prudently limiting, such efforts.

I’ve made neo-cons look like loony war-mongers who should never be trusted with foreign policy.  We will now examine the dangers of giving neo-isolationists control of America’s foreign policy.

World Wars I & II

This is the deep past for most Americans, but not for me.  My dad was born in 1900 and enlisted in the military before WWI ended.  I was born before the end of WWII and grew up inhaling that history.

Briefly, there was a strong American isolationist movement during WWI.  This delayed our entry into that conflict.  Britain and France thus suffered larger manpower losses and economic disruptions that they never fully recovered from after the war.

They were so weakened that they were in denial about the danger of Nazis and Fascists seizing control of Germany, Italy, and other European nations.  Britain and France would have been stronger future allies if the U.S. had entered WWI 12–18 months earlier.

Britain’s war trauma was so severe that it delayed, almost fatally, rearming for WWII.  As an example, when Neville Chamberlain pronounced “peace for our time” when he agreed in 1938 to let Hitler take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, Britain had only six squadrons of fighter aircraft.  Only one squadron, 20 Spitfires, was operational.  The five Hurricane squadrons had machine gun problems.  Chamberlain was later derided, but he knew that Britain was then too weak to go to war.

France had built an in-depth border defense called the Maginot line to defend against WWI-style warfare.  Foolishly, the line did not extend along the Belgian border, which is, of course, where the Nazis’ mechanized Blitzkrieg made its breakthrough to quickly conquer France.

So Europe suffered extra years under savagely brutal Nazi rule because fearful isolationists hoped Hitler really didn’t mean a damn thing he’d written in Mein Kampf.  The blood of millions of Jews and tens of millions of others is on their leader’s heads.

America’s conservative isolationists were so politically active that they delayed our entry into WWII until Japan’s Pearl Harbor attack.  After the U.S. declared war on Japan, Hitler foolishly declared war on the U.S.  It is entirely possible that without Hitler’s declaration of war, the U.S. isolationists might have further delayed our declaration of war on Germany.  This could have resulted in Germany defeating Russia and perhaps Britain.

As it was, our delay made the war last long enough for Stalin’s armies to conquer much of Eastern Europe.  This made our subsequent Cold War with communist Russia a more dangerous challenge.

The point is that isolationism and internationalism are both useful viewpoints for a political movement that wants to Make America Great Again.  Both views can also end up harming our nation.

Hopefully, Trump’s recently revealed  national security policy turns out to be an effective blend of isolationism and internationalism.  Trump hopes Europe, particularly Britain, France, and Germany, can do without U.S. support and get far more conservative governments that will build a military and challenge Putin’s mad dream of Russia regaining territory formerly controlled by the Soviet Union.  I think the odds are against this outcome, given the deep progressive malaise that grips non-immigrant Europeans. 

(Side note: Ending U.S. aid and forcing a bad peace treaty upon Ukraine effectively throws Ukraine under the Russian bus.  This wastes what is now Europe’s most effective and innovative ground army.  It probably results in Russia’s near-term complete reconquest of Ukraine.  That is a demoralizing poor start toward Europe being able to resist Russian aggression.)

Other MAGA factions are also vitally necessary, like the Evangelical faction’s numbers and moral values and the brilliant technocrats who keep America ahead with valuable innovations.  Even the RINOs are useful at this stage of MAGA’s development.  Trump could do nothing in Congress without their votes.

MAGA’s difficulty is that the core of each faction sees itself as having the most important principles that should guide our whole movement.  This is human nature.  But it bedevils anyone who hopes to keep MAGA together as a political force that can keep the liberals’ national suicide cults out of power.

I do believe Trump is wrong in sucking up to Putin and threatening Ukraine into a suicidal peace treaty.  That does not stop me from supporting his healing domestic policies.

You could not get me to endure what President Trump must put up with many times each day.  No wonder he sometimes says provocative and contradictory things.  I think it’s partly spontaneous irritation and partly clever tactics.

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Chinese Auto Sales to Europe Expected to Top 700,000 Units Sold This year

Conservative Treehouse 

The geopolitical baseline for Europe is often determined by the economics of their situation.  In 2024 approximately 408,000 cars from China were sold in Europe.  For 2025 that number is now expected to exceed 700,000 units despite tariffs.

Previously we highlighted the short-term ramifications of the European Union push to force the sale of electric vehicle (EVs) upon the consumer base.  {SEE HERE} EU automakers unable to meet the compliance goal began purchasing carbon credits to avoid stiff EU fines.  Many of those carbon credits were purchased from Chinese automakers, who then turned around and started using the extra EU revenue to discount Chinese cars sold in Europe.

In essence, EU car companies started subsiding China to undercut their own market. An outcome of the EU chasing the ridiculous green energy project throughout the European free trade zone.

Now reports are beginning to surface of how the non-EV segment of the industry is being lost to less expensive Chinese hybrid autos that: (1) are much cheaper, (2) not bad in quality, and (3) are not subject to the 35% EV tariff rate.

The EU tariff applied to gasoline powered cars or hybrids from China is 10%.  That tariff is not enough to stop the imports. The Chinese hybrid autos are substantially less than European car brands, and there’s no financial incentive for China to build auto plants in the EU zone especially when you consider the EU is subsidizing those cars by purchasing carbon credits.

When analyzed from a cost and consequence, the entire EU dynamic toward car companies is a little funny.  However, for Germany this is a serious issue, and with the German industrial economy already stagnant – every impact to their auto industry only makes the situation worse.

When you overlay the big picture of their expensive “green energy” costs, the EU find themselves in an unescapable downward spiral.  Quite literally, all commonsense seems to have been lost in their green energy chase.

By focusing on energy targets, specifically by trying to force production of European electric vehicles that are not favored by European car purchasers, the EU is shrinking their economy to the benefit of Beijing exploitation.

EUROPE – This year, sales of Chinese-made cars across the EU, UK, and EFTA are expected to exceed 700,000. This is up significantly from the 408,000 that were sold in 2024.

The surge comes despite the fact that additional tariffs of up to 35 percent, on top of the existing 10 percent import duty, were instated in November of last year.

Rather than dampen demand, the tariffs have simply redirected it. While the added fees specifically target EVs and extended-range electric vehicles, hybrid and internal combustion engine (ICE) models remain subject only to the base 10 percent tariff.

Predictably, Chinese brands have leaned into that category, shifting their European strategy toward models that sidestep the higher costs.

Thanks to significantly lower production costs, up to 30 percent cheaper than in Europe, it doesn’t make financial sense for these brands to relocate production just to serve a tariff-guarded market. Instead, they’re exploiting the gap. (read more)

The only Chinese auto plant current in the works for construction is in Hungary, not coincidentally the country with the most common sense as it applies to energy costs. BYD (Build Your Dream) is building a plant in Hungary expected to manufacture 150,000 units/yr.

While most EVs are generally best for short duration use, the Chinese hybrid vehicles are not a terrible build quality if you are an auto purchaser that changes vehicles frequently.  We dodged a bullet by electing President Trump in 2024, because Joe Biden (Blackrock) had positioned the North American auto industry toward a similar fate as currently happening in Europe.

Three Chinese automakers were going to spend $5 billion in Mexico creating new EV and hybrid vehicles destined for the U.S. market. However, Beijing abandoned those plans as soon as President Trump won the election.

The Europeans and leftists in the U.S. scoffed at President Trump for rejecting the premise behind the Green New Deal, which included electric car mandates.  Those same Europeans are now watching as their industrial economy collapses segment by segment; taken over by far cheaper Chinese industrial outputs.

Republicans Unveil Obamacare Alternative As Subsidy Deadline Looms

RedState 

House Republicans released legislation Friday aimed at lowering healthcare costs through expanded insurance options for small businesses and unprecedented transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers, setting up a crucial vote next week as enhanced Obamacare subsidies expire at year’s end.

The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, introduced by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa-01), is the GOP's alternative to Democratic proposals as Democrats push to extend expiring ACA premium tax credits that help 22 million Americans purchase insurance.

Speaker Mike Johnson announced the measure would receive a floor vote next week, though GOP leadership indicated moderate Republicans seeking subsidy extensions may get an amendment vote designed to provide political cover without realistic chances of passage.

Association Health Plans Return

The bill’s centerpiece codifies association health plans, reviving a Trump-era initiative that federal courts struck down in 2019. The Biden administration formally rescinded the association health plan regulations back in 2024, dismissing pending appeals.

Under the legislation, groups or associations of employers could band together to offer health insurance regardless of industry, provided they:

• Existed for at least two years for purposes other than providing insurance
• Establish formal governance with employer-controlled boards
• Cover at least 51 employees total
• Offer coverage to all employees of member employers

Self-employed individuals could join as both employers and employees if they work at least 10 hours weekly or 40 hours monthly in their business, with at least 20 self-employed members needed to form a group.

The bill includes protections requiring plans to follow ACA nondiscrimination rules, prohibiting denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions and health status-based premium variations. Plans could establish base premiums using modified community rating across all participants, then adjust individual employer contributions based on specific risk profiles.

Stop-Loss Deregulation

Section 102 clarifies that stop-loss insurance purchased by self-insured group health plans doesn’t constitute “health insurance coverage” under federal law, preempting state regulation of these policies.

The provision makes it easier for smaller employers to self-insure by allowing the purchase of stop-loss coverage with lower attachment points, effectively letting companies assume direct claims responsibility while protecting against catastrophic costs without state-imposed minimum thresholds.

Individual Coverage HRAs Expanded

The legislation expands health reimbursement arrangements that let employers fund employee purchases of individual market coverage instead of offering traditional group plans.

Employers could offer different HRA amounts by employee class—full-time versus part-time, geographic location, union status, or seasonal workers—with amounts varying up to 3-to-1 based on age and dependent coverage. The arrangements must be offered on identical terms within each class, and employers generally cannot offer both HRAs and traditional group coverage to the same employee class.

Employees participating in these arrangements could use cafeteria plans to purchase ACA exchange coverage with pre-tax dollars, and employers must report HRA benefits on W-2 forms.

Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency

Title II imposes extensive reporting requirements on pharmacy benefit managers, the intermediaries managing prescription drug benefits for insurers and employers, effective 30 months after enactment.

PBMs must provide detailed reports to group health plans at least twice yearly, including:

For large employers (100+ employees):

• Drug-by-drug compensation paid to PBMs versus amounts paid to pharmacies
• The “spread” between these amounts
• All rebates and manufacturer payments received
• Formulary placement rationales for expensive drugs
• Pricing comparisons between PBM-owned and network pharmacies

For all plans:

• Aggregate spending and rebate data
• Payments to brokers for referrals
• Requirements to use PBM-affiliated pharmacies

Plans must provide summary documents to participants upon request, plus the spread pricing on individual prescription claims. Violations carry penalties up to $10,000 daily for failure to provide information, and up to $100,000 per item for knowingly false information.

Cost-Sharing Reductions Funded

The bill appropriates funding for Obamacare cost-sharing reductions beginning in 2027, reversing the Trump administration’s 2017 decision to end these payments.

Cost-sharing reductions lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for ACA enrollees earning 100-250 percent of poverty level who purchase silver plans. When Trump ended federal payments in October 2017, insurers responded by “silver loading”—dramatically increasing silver plan premiums to compensate for lost subsidies, which paradoxically increased federal costs because premium tax credits rose correspondingly.

GOP leadership aides told reporters appropriating CSR funding would reduce premiums by approximately 12 percent.

Political Dynamics

The bill does not include any extension of enhanced ACA premium tax credits set to expire December 31. Those subsidies, expanded during COVID-19, help millions afford marketplace coverage but face fierce conservative opposition.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the package before its release, telling reporters he expected it "to be a disaster and actually not enhance the health care of the American people."

Johnson defended the GOP approach: "While Democrats demand that taxpayers write bigger checks to insurance companies to hide the cost of their failed law, House Republicans are tackling the real drivers of health care costs to provide affordable care, increase access and choice, and restore integrity to our nation's health care system for all Americans."

President Trump told reporters at a White House event Friday, "I want to see the billions of dollars go to people, not to the insurance companies. And I want to see the people go out and buy themselves great healthcare."

GOP leaders said the Rules Committee would meet Tuesday to finalize amendment procedures, potentially allowing moderate Republicans who signed discharge petitions seeking subsidy extensions an amendment vote. Such amendments would need near-unanimous Democratic support to pass and would likely kill the broader bill among conservative Republicans.

Congress enters the final days of its 2025 legislative session with 22 million Americans facing potential premium increases. The fate of both the GOP package and enhanced ACA subsidies remains uncertain.

House GOP to Clintons: Appear for Epstein Hearings Dec. 17 or Face Contempt of Congress Proceedings

RedState 

Bill and Hillary Clinton were subpoenaed in early August by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (KY-01) to appear before them as they investigate the perverted antics of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, and who may have known about it or even participated in it.

Meanwhile, the Democrats have been in a froth lately trying to prove that President Donald Trump somehow joined forces with Epstein to procure underage women, but so far they have mostly succeeded in embarrassing people in their own world (see: former Harvard University president Larry Summers).

Since those subpoenas were issued, the Clintons have delayed, rescheduled, and generally done just about everything in their power to ensure that they don’t have to testify. Comer is getting sick of it, and is threatening to have them held in contempt of Congress:

The tweet continues:

Throughout that time, the former President and former Secretary of State have delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the Committee staff’s efforts to schedule their testimony. If the Clintons fail to appear for their depositions next week or schedule a date for early January, the Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings to hold them accountable

The obvious question becomes: if Billary have nothing to hide, why not just show up and tell the truth? In a statement, the Oversight Committee chairman said the time for patience has just about run out:

“If the Clintons fail to appear for their depositions next week or schedule a date for early January, the Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings to hold them accountable,” he added.

The Kentucky Republican gave the Clintons a Dec. 17 deadline to respond.

In August, Comer said Clinton was a “prime suspect” in the investigation and warned him against defying a subpoena for his testimony. The former president’s spokesperson denied any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein.

Bill might be reluctant to testify because, as much as the Dems try to tie the scandal to Donald Trump, it was the former president who flew on Epstein’s plane, dubbed the Lolita Express, allegedly as many as 27 times (Pres. Clinton acknowledges only four). He might also be embarrassed by the bizarre portrait of him in a blue dress that hung in Epstein’s massive Manhattan townhouse, or the photo of the former president getting a massage from an Epstein jet flight attendant.

Although a contempt of Congress finding can sometimes mean nothing — just ask Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder, who faced no consequences despite being held in contempt for his refusal to turn over documents related to the “Fast and Furious” gun-trafficking case — it can have teeth if the Department of Justice decides to come down with formal charges. This is something former aides in Trump’s first presidency know well: both Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon went to prison after the DOJ prosecuted them for their alleged transgressions.

It would be quite something to see Billary prosecuted. They could avoid that prospect, however, and just show up like the guiltless couple they claim to be. The clock is ticking, and this certainly could become Must-See TV.