Dispatch From the Belly of the Beast
The Republican Congress has successfully ended a government shutdown by drawing a line in the sand at Biden-level, totally bloated pandemic era spending. But not before airdropping in last minute language that will likely destroy the hemp farming industry. That’s a direct strike at the MAGA base, by the way. Hats off to Senator Rand Paul for fighting this outrageous, Mitch McConnell-engineered giveaway to Big Alcohol and Big Pharma.
The end of the shutdown temporarily pushes off Democrat demands to extend the additional Obamacare subsidies originally pushed through as a lockdown emergency. This will lead to a political showdown (just in time for the November 2026 midterm elections) on the rampant, almost exponential rise in health insurance premiums baked into the original Obamacare cake, now stoked by the Federal Reserve’s whirring printing press. Built to fail indeed, but there are some hopeful dissident voices demanding real structural reforms that could help markets heal and give patients access to more affordable care. That push comes from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who might just be able to goad the Republican Congress into doing something useful on health care policy as a last-ditch political defense. One can hope.
In the midst of all this drama is the political elephant in the room: the promised release of the list of Jeffrey Epstein clients. It never happened, and was rebranded “a hoax,” prompting Rep. Thomas Massie to introduce a discharge petition requiring 218 votes to force a House floor vote. Today, reportedly, the 218th signature on that petition will be sworn into Congress. Oh boy. I, for one, would like to know if any government officials have been compromised by this despicable honeypot opp. We need to know. And, no I don’t think it’s President Trump himself that’s being protected.
While the House was on extended shutdown to avoid the swearing in of that final signature, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Congressman Massie for a marathon conversation in two parts. I find his perspective on most things particularly refreshing because he doesn’t spin the truth. There are no carefully focus-grouped platitudes. He just tells it like he sees it, which is probably why the Washington Machine here in the Belly of the Beast is pulling out all the stops to send him packing.
Here are the Kibbe on Liberty episodes captured during our marathon conversation. Let me know what you think in the comments.
