Trump Under The Radar--Plus
Trump is a huge believer in the maxim that “all publicity is good publicity.” Have you noticed? Me too. Just keep talking as long as there’s a camera and a microphone nearby. And guess what? It seems to work!
So it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn that Trump also does things under the radar—things that most people don’t notice and that Trump himself doesn’t publicize = talk about in public. Or not so much.
Consider this, which the NYT did notice. I’ve been saving this for the past week. Friday morning seemed a good time to drop it. Trump’s control over the GOP is continuing to expand:
Trump, Raking In Cash, Expands His Power in the G.O.P. Money World
The New York Times ^ | May 10, 2025 | Theodore Schleifer and Shane GoldmacherHis super PAC, which is said to have amassed $400 million alongside its nonprofit arm, has grown even more influential. And powerful groups for congressional Republicans are being stocked with Trump allies.
President Trump is harnessing the Republican Party’s all-encompassing deference to him to exert even greater control over the G.O.P. big-money world, which had long been one of the party’s final remaining redoubts of Trump skepticism.
For years, the super PACs allied with House and Senate Republicans have been some of the most powerful and independent fiefs in American politics, raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in each election.
But even though Mr. Trump is in his second term and cannot run again, he is quickly bringing them inside his sphere of influence — a sign that his dominance over the party could endure well into the future.
Both super PACs, the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Senate Leadership Fund, have new leaders this year, and they are working closer than ever with the White House, overhauling their boards of directors and installing veteran Trump strategists in senior positions.
At the same time, Mr. Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., and its allied nonprofit group have already amassed roughly $400 million since the 2024 election, according to two people briefed on the fund-raising who insisted on anonymity to discuss the organization’s finances. That sum is without precedent so early in an election cycle, especially for a termed-out president. The Trump super PAC is expected to play a major role in the midterm elections, scrambling the usual flow of cash and encroaching on the traditional dominion of the congressional super PACs.
The changes — both in personnel and financial firepower — amount to a fundamental reordering of Republican finance, and an extraordinary expansion of Mr. Trump’s already overwhelming sway. Interviews...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If you accept that Trump follows his own maxim—never hire someone smarter than you—this suggests that opposing politicians misunderestimate Trump at their peril. Put this story in context with the daily stream of articles documenting huge disaffection of voters with the Dems. Key for Trump, as it seems to me, is to avoid foreign wars—while waging political war at home.
In our most recent post we focused on America’s debt crisis in the context of Trump’s geopolitical MAGA agenda. Commenter Stephen McIntyre took the opportunity to point out the role of health care spending in America’s fiscal crisis. Health care spending seems to be a lot like educational spending—outcomes bear little relationship to spending. PP offers a fascinating chart today which bears out something many of us learned during the Covid Hoax:
Many people seem unfamiliar with how low health and medical science people score on IQ tests. The problem is that most contemporary medicine is statistics-based and since many practitioners cannot read studies they just become dupes for drug company lobbyists. Big problem.
I’m still surprised Trump won the Presidency in 2024, and the GOP the house and senate.
The establishment GOP through selective funding and support, and ignoring fraud, in the last three federal elections seemed focused on gracefully losing. The worst was in 2018 with Paul Ryan losing the house majority.
Trump seems very focused on the midterms by:
1. Continue attacks on Democrats to show voters how out of touch they are, and decrease their favorability.
2. go around main stream media. Court alternate media. Push back on biased coverage.
3. take action on election fraud.
4. Supply funding and support for gop candidates that can win.
5. Improving the economy.
6. Doing popular changes, but touchy politically. Dei, trans in military, drug pricing, immigration, maha, etc.
7. Stay out of foreign wars.
Trumps strategy may be waiting for congressional action by a more maga Congress after the midterms to permanent his actions done by executive order.
I can certainly say that the brightest are not the medical billing departments. My bills are almost always wrong in some way. Since I have a very high deductible plan I need to fix them and the people I call are almost always completely clueless. They follow a script and are prevented from ever lowering a bill. Funny how the bills always seem to err with incorrect HIGHER charges.
I noticed that UHC’s stock has dropped in half. I thought denial of claims was more profitable?
Health care in this country is a total disaster for so many.