By Jon Bauer / Herald Opinion Editor
Like the rest of the 1 percent with whom he trades bon mots and Trump trading cards, The Buzz has been occupied with planning how to spend the $65,000 in annual tax breaks he will receive thanks to passage of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
Fortunately, thanks to all but three Republican senators and two House members, we have plenty of GOP members of Congress desperately groveling for campaign donations now that they’ve thrown their middle- and lower-income constituents under the bus; at least until we get rid of public transit.
In other news adding trillions to the national doubt:
Thar she blows: The tax policy legislation, along with making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and primarily benefiting the nation’s wealthiest individuals and corporations, is expected to kick nearly 12 million Americans off the health care coverage they receive through Medicaid or the ACA and end food stamp benefits for others. But there is good news in the bill for a few; thanks to a sweetener that was used to win Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s yes vote, if — and this is true, because it’s not in italics — you’re a whaling captain you can deduct up to $50,000 of whaling-related expenses on your taxes.
And just in time, new on the Trump Store merch website is a gold-plated whaling harpoon with Trump’s signature in scrimshaw, listed for $50,000.
Sleep-scrolling TikTok: Remember that law that Congress passed last year to shutdown TikTok over concerns of its potential control by China, which President Trump then set aside while he looked for a U.S. buyer? Attorney General Pam Bondi, in letters to leading tech companies, has concluded that the law can be ignored because it “is properly read not to infringe upon such core presidential national security and foreign affairs powers,” raising questions about what other laws Trump might ignore citing national security and foreign affairs powers.
We’d warn Pam to speak more quietly or risk waking Congress from its pleasant dreams that it’s busy maintaining the Constitution’s “checks and balances,” but she probably can’t be heard over the Supreme Court’s CPAP machine.
Gentlemen, please; schedule a pay-per-view fight: The feud between former Special Government Employee™ Elon Musk and President Trump has resumed with Musk’s harsh criticism of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Musk, who spent $288 million to help Trump and Republicans win elections, is talking about starting a third party. While Trump is threatening to “denaturalize” Musk and deport him back to South Africa.
Neither is serious, though. Musk’s third party would likely tumble out of control like a SpaceX Starship. And Trump would only be foiled by his earlier plans to make South Africa the 52nd state after Canada.
Smells like mean spirit: President Trump’s latest merch is a line of fragrances for men and women called Victory 45-47, with each bottle priced at $250, more than twice the cost of Chanel No. 5. The Trump Fragrances website says the men’s cologne “blends rich, masculine notes,” while the women’s perfume features a “sophisticated, subtly feminine scent.” A fragrance reviewer called the scents “inoffensive,” “likable” and “office-safe.”
Which would be the first time those descriptions have applied to anything related to Trump.
Speaking of toxins: The Environmental Protection Agency has placed 144 of its employees on administrative leave and opened investigations into their signing of a letter to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin that accused the Trump administration of politicizing the agency and making decisions based on a political agenda and not on science or the law. Many said the action violated staffers’ First Amendment rights.
Out of concern for EPA workers and acting on his duty to protect the environment and public health, Zeldin sent the First Amendment and the rest of the Bill of Rights to be tested for the lead content of its ink. Out of an abundance of caution and regardless of test results, the document will then be disposed at a Superfund site.
Email Herald Opinion Editor Jon Bauer at jon.bauer@heraldnet.com. Follow him on Bluesky @jontbauer.bsky.social.
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