🤡 To The Left Of Me, 🃏 To The Right

 About 35 years ago:

We're not cutting Medicaid for those that Medicaid was designed for," Mullin insisted. "There's 35 million people that live below the poverty line inside the United States. There's over 70 million people signed up for Medicaid."

That, he suggested, means half of those signed up are not eligible.

"Now, you're going to tell me there's not room to make cuts to actually have it in place, Medicaid in place for those that it was actually designed for," he added. "There's plenty of room there."

When I was still practicing at law, I had a friend who needed to get on Medicaid. Unlike Medicare, the states partner with the federal government in the program; so some states are more generous than others. Texas is as stingy as possible; I imagine Oklahoma is the same. My friend had to divorce her husband of long standing, and, if I recall, sell her house, to qualify for Medicaid. To be, in point of fact, poor enough.

Markwayne Mullin can go to hell.  Ryan Zinke can go with him:

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationally, the Senate version of Trump's agenda bill would leave 11.8 million more people without health insurance by the year 2034," Brown began, then asked, "How do Republicans explain this to their constituents?"

Zinke answered, "Well, living paycheck to paycheck is on the premise that you're working. But look, if you're an able-bodied male and you choose to sit on the couch, not work, and you're getting Medicaid, that's taking benefits from someone else who needs it...I would say, look, get a job."

Brown clarified that the Senate version of the bill would limit federal funding, raising concerns that "people are going to lose out on Medicaid coverage as a result."

Zinke said he agreed that states needed to pick up more of the burden, before reverting back to his argument about jobs.

"Remember we had Obamacare that was supposed to be the end-all for insurance. That didn't work. And so a lot of people choose not to work, and they're still getting Medicaid...and look, when the federal government is picking up the tab at little from the states, what's going to happen is you're going to expand, expand, expand. That's why we have the budget."

Bondi Brown pushed back, saying, "A small percentage of those receiving Medicaid don't work. And so, you know, a majority work at least part-time when it comes to Medicaid. So, can you say for certain that no one who is eligible for Medicaid who works or works part-time will not be impacted by this? Are you comfortable with that?"

Zinke conceded that if someone is only working "five hours a month, yeah, you're not going to be able to have access to Medicaid."

"But there's reasons, because people are caregivers and that kind of thing," Brown interjected

"The House version, which I understand is going to be pretty close to what the Senate is, that the standard is 80 hours. But look, you could work at a food pantry and get 80 hours," Zinke maintained.

Although Pam Bondi is my new favorite person in the Administration, because she is so stupid. She prates about suing everyone in the country, and might do some real damage prosecuting people who can’t afford to defend themselves and have baseless cases finally dismissed. Instead, she takes on L.A.:

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she is suing the city of Los Angeles, claiming that it's discriminating against ICE agents.

Fox News is reporting that President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has found a way to go after L.A.'s sanctuary city policy by alleging that it treats federal immigration officers differently from other law enforcement, reported national correspondent Bill Melugin.

"Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles. Jurisdictions like Los Angeles that flout federal law by prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens are undermining law enforcement at every level – it ends under President Trump," Fox cited Bondi as saying in a statement.

The lawsuit alleges that the "sanctuary city laws and policies are designed to deliberately impede federal immigration officers’ ability to carry out their responsibilities in those jurisdictions. The Los Angeles Ordinance and other policies intentionally discriminate against the Federal Government by treating federal immigration authorities differently than other law enforcement agents through access restrictions both to property and to individual detainees, by prohibiting contractors and sub-contractors from providing information, and by disfavoring federal criminal laws that the City of Los Angeles has decided not to comply with.

"The Supremacy Clause prohibits the City of Los Angeles and its officials from singling out the Federal Government for adverse treatment—as the challenged law and policies do—thereby discriminating against the Federal Government. Accordingly, the law and policies challenged here are invalid and should be enjoined."

There’s a legal term for Bondi’s statement: irrelevant bullshit, which might well taint the jury. It’s no sounder than the legal argument. The state of California and the city of Los Angeles cannot discriminate against ICE agents. They cannot positively interfere (that would be obstruction), but they have no affirmative duty to aid the federal government in enforcing federal law. The states are separate sovereigns. The Supremacy Clause does not make them subjects of the federal government or the POTUS.

There is absolutely no support at law for a claim that “the City of Los Angeles and its officials [are] singling out the Federal Government for adverse treatment…thereby discriminating against the Federal Government.” Discrimination is a legal term of art. It is defined in law, based on the statutes that ban discrimination. There is no statute, certainly no cause of action at common law, regarding discrimination against the federal government. The very concept is a joke. And Los Angeles has the wherewithal to prove it in court.

Which is why Pam Bondi is my new favorite person in the Administration. She makes Hegseth look almost capable of doing his job.

Almost. Really, nobody can do that.