Trump’s Budget Bill is Crazier Than You Think & The Love Island Problem is Getting Worse
PDS Published 07/03/2025
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The House is poised to pass Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill today.
A bill that has been described as the worst piece of legislation in modern history.
A bill that is predicted to have sweeping, devastating impacts for countless Americans —
Taking Medicaid away from 17 million, gutting access to food stamps, and just generally hurting the poorest people while delivering trillions of dollars in tax cuts that will benefit the rich.
Right, when we left off yesterday, it was unclear if the House was going to be able to successfully pass the version of the bill the Senate pushed through earlier this week — at least by the July 4th deadline set by leadership.
With more moderate members upset about the fact that the Senate package made even deeper cuts to Medicaid than the version initially passed by the House in May.
While conservative hardliners were angry that the Senate had made additions that would increase the cost of the legislation and removed some of the cuts the House bill had made to food stamps and other programs.
But it was the fiscal hawks that seemed to pose the biggest hurdle.
With many in that faction upset that House Speaker Mike Johnson was just plowing ahead with the Senate bill without allowing the lower chamber to make changes.
Demanding that they be allowed to negotiate and effectively stalling procedural votes necessary to move the bill to the floor for debate.
But despite their strong objections, the big question was whether this group would ultimately cave to pressure from Trump, as they have been known to do.
But, as science tells us, invertebrates can’t suddenly grow a spine.
Though, keep in mind, they were essentially holding up this bill because it doesn’t hurt Americans enough… which is already pretty fucking spineless.
And whatever mild bone structure these skin sack worm kings had seems to have collapsed into more mush.
Because it appears that Johnson and his leadership team were ultimately able to secure enough support from the holdouts after fighting tooth and nail in a series of lengthy conversations yesterday that went late into the night.
Though, notably here, despite the fact that there were clearly major divisions holding up the passage of the bill, you had Trump claiming on Truth Social around 9 p.m. last night that everyone was unified after talks he had held with members earlier in the day, writing:
“It looks like the House is ready to vote tonight. We had GREAT conversations all day, and the Republican House Majority is UNITED.” []
But as the clock ticked into Thursday morning, Trump seemingly became mad that the party had proved him wrong, with the president lashing out in a post shortly after midnight where he wrote:
But whether through pressure from Trump, conversations with Johnson, or a combination of the two, it appeared that the holdouts eventually got on board with a version of the bill that many of them have recently slammed as horrible.
Right, at around 3:30 a.m. this morning, the House cleared that final procedural hurdle, voting 219-213 to bring the bill to the floor for debate — a sign that there was enough Republican support to pass the legislation.
With Johnson — who said he hadn't slept all night — telling reporters that he had secured enough votes to pass the BBB before the July 4th deadline.
And insisting that he leadership hadn’t made any promises to the holdouts to secure their vote, claiming that they just needed a little more time to understand the changes in the Senate bill before they could back it.
But, meanwhile, you had Democrats pulling the few final stops they had to block the bill, with many continuing to put public pressure on their GOP colleagues to vote “no.”
Like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who urged Republicans to think of their constituents over the demands of leadership, writing:
“Leadership does NOT know your community. YOU do. Their job is to psychologically isolate you & apply ungodly amounts of pressure. YOUR job is to stand up for your people.”[]
With her also making another accusing some of her Christian colleagues of hypocrisy, saying:
“House Republicans: Voting for cuts to *every single American* on SNAP in exchange for some signed merch. Voting to starve babies. The disabled. The poor. And they have the audacity to try to brand this as Christian. What does that word even mean to them? Wearing a necklace?” []
We also saw Jeffries echoing those criticisms of the bill in a marathon speech floor speech that he used to stall the passage of the BBB.
Right, under House rules, party leaders are allowed to speak for an unlimited amount of time during floor debate — a legislative tool widely known as the “magic minute.”
And Jeffries is going full in, balls to the fucking walls here — this man just broke the record for the longest speech given on the House floor, clocking in at 8 hours and 45 minutes.
With Jeffries starting at 4:53 a.m. this morning and continuing well into the afternoon until he surpassed the previous record of 8 hours and 32 minutes, which was held by Kevin McCarthy.
And during his record-breaking speech, Jeffries repeatedly railed against the BBB and slammed his Republican colleagues, calling out some vulnerable members whose seats Democrats hope to flip in the midterms.
At times turning to scripture to make his case and reading letters from Americans urging Congress not to pass the bill and expressing their concerns about losing essential benefits.
With Jeffries delivering some very powerful moments, drawing cheers and applause from members of his party:
“This reckless Republican budget is an immoral document. And everybody should vote no against it because of how it attacks children, seniors, and everyday Americans, and people with disabilities. This reckless Republican budget is an immoral document.” 00:25 - 00:44
With some of the most raucous applause for Jeffries coming after he accused Republicans of being corrupt:
“You got folks in this town talking about draining the swamp. Guess what? You are the swamp. You are the swamp," Jeffries said. "We’ve never seen anything like this. The type of corruption that has been unleashed on the American people and has poisoned, Mr. Speaker, this bill.” 00:01 - 00:28
And then concluding the speech by vowing to the American people that Democrats will continue to press on and fight for them as the members around him yelled “press on!”:
But, while powerful, Jeffries’ speech essentially just delayed the inevitable.
Right, Republicans had been waiting in the wings until he finished so they could wrap up debate and call for a final vote.
With several Republicans criticizing Jeffries, calling on him to wrap it up, Johnson slamming the speech as “an utter waste of everyone’s time” and saying:
And ultimately, Johnson got the final word, delivering a 20-minute speech on the floor where he talked about how amazing this bill will be for Americans and praised President Trump for being such a good leader:
“With One Big, Beautiful Bill, we are going to make this country stronger, safer, and more prosperous than EVER before—and EVERY American is going to benefit from that.” 00:01 - 00:15
“President Trump is the creator and the champion of the America First agenda. We will deliver upon that today.” 00:01 - 00:07
“We had a sense, and we believed that we would have unified government. We would have this moment where the Republican Party would be given control of the White House, and the Senate, and the House, and we determined to ourselves that we would not waste that historic opportunity. We've had spirited debates, we've had months of deliberation, and now we are finally ready to fulfill our promise to the American people.” 00:14 - 00:35
But time will tell if this bill will ultimately benefit “every American,” as Johnson said.
But countless non-partisan reports and expert analyses indicate the exact opposite — this will be incredibly harmful to millions and millions of the most vulnerable Americans.
And unfortunately, it is those people who will be the guinea pigs to determine which side is right — and it’s incredible important to remember that if millions of people become collateral damage for Trump’s tax breaks. Remember who made that happen.
But one thing Johnson said there is true: the American people gave Republicans the trifecta, and it wasn’t a fuck around and find out situation — they told us from day one this was what they were going do to.
And while it’s our tendency to have a short-term memory, and the Trump administration and GOP will 100% try to distract everyone from this with a million things, it is imperative that we remember.
Hold them accountable. Do not forget what they did. Vote like your life depends on it because it does.
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An AI-generated video is being used to drag a journalist’s name through the mud in Argentina, and the country’s president, Javier Milei?
He’s been taking the chance to pile on with his own attacks, with experts saying it’s just the latest episode in a long-running effort to undermine press freedom in the country.
An effort that at times has possibly taken inspiration from the likes of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
And so with that, the journalist in question? Her name is Julia Mengolini (Hoo-lia Men-go-lini - LISTEN), she has a radio show, and she’s a critic of Milei.
And once, she joked on television that Milei was “in love” with his sister, who also happens to be his top political adviser.
She never said anything about a sexual relationship – and she later clarified she wasn’t implying anything sexual.
But now, Milei’s supporters have seized on that comment to try to justify a fake pornographic video depicting Mengolini with her own brother.
And while he didn’t share the video himself, he made it very clear he considered the smear campaign fair game, writing in one post:
“It seems that when she lashes out with her lies, it’s fine, but when the tables turn, she cries and wants to take it to court.” []
And with that, in just a couple of days, he posted or reposted at least 65 messages on X targeting the journalist. []
With the New York Times claiming the barrage marked “one of the most extreme episodes in a pattern of escalating attacks against journalists” by Milei.
And experts adding that his misogynistic, sexually charged, and often false attacks are eroding press freedom and raising the risk of real-world violence. []
With a law professor and former judge also saying that Milei’s attacks against journalists are “an attack on freedom of expression because it’s a form of indirect censorship as this sort of thing obviously tends to inhibit speech.” []
And with all that, Mengolini is one of several high-profile journalists who have also recently been targets of Milei and his allies.
Overall, since taking office in December of 2023, he’s publicly insulted at least 41 journalists, according to Amnesty International. []
And observers say it’s gotten worse in recent months.
María O’Donnell, for example, is another journalist who’s been on the receiving end of Milei’s insults, and you have her saying:
“There used to be an idea of an eye for an eye — you come for me, I come for you.”
“Now he openly promotes hatred, insults and outright disparagement. There’s been a shift, and it’s gotten far more aggressive.” []
And with that, you have one political analyst claiming the shift started after Milei secured a secured a long-awaited $20-billion deal with the IMF –
Which led to him making changes that led some economists to raise questions about his government’s management of the economy. []
Right, and not long after that, he coined the catchphrase: “We don’t hate journalists enough.”
Which, notably, is a slogan pretty similar to the “You don’t hate the media enough” mantra popular among Trump supporters –
Right, and the similarity isn’t all that surprising, as we've seen both Milei’s and Trump’s respective MAGA movements draw inspiration from one another.
And in fact, before being elected, Trump reportedly told Milei he was his favorite president.
And with that, as with Trump, it’s not just rhetoric.
Right, Milei has now filed a complaint against Mengolini for "slander" – this coming hours after she announced a lawsuit against him.
And with that, Milei has filed defamation lawsuits against at least three journalists, whom he accuses of labeling him a Nazi. []
And there's things like in May, a leaked intelligence report suggested that his government had approved a plan to enable the surveillance of journalists, politicians and economists – which Milei has denied, of course.
But ultimately, it’s a situation to keep an eye on, and maybe one to learn from here in the States.
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What started as a show about love is now a pressure cooker of racism, cruelty, and real-world consequences — and this week, it exploded, with it sparking conversations around who reality TV chooses to throw to the wolves.
And the biggest villain? Some argue it’s not even anyone on the cast.
And I am going to try to make this as easy as possible to understand for anyone who doesn’t watch Love Island USA – because what’s happening here is catapulting really important conversations to the mainstream.
So let’s start with the latest scandal and work our way back from there.
Because right now, there is a lot of heat on a contestant named Cierra (Sierra, like the Sierra Nevadas) after an old social media post where she used a racial slur for Asian people resurfaced.
In the post, she’s discussing getting botox and other work done, saying she can look a little uh, “insert slur here,” when she smiles. []
And this has been met with swift backlash from those upset she used this language, arguing she should be removed from the show. [][][]
Especially since, at the start of this season, people resurfaced racist comments a different contestant previously made, including use of the n-word, and she was booted right away.
So you have some arguing:
Also amid this backlash, Cierra has lost over 200,000 Instagram followers in the last two days, with that partially being fallout from those upset with her for using the slur. []
But also, a lot of that drop off is likely due to the fact that many people are upset with her behavior on the show, which ties into the bullying conversation we have been seeing.
And the bullying is coming from both the contestants in the villa and YOU – Right, the viewers watching this social experiment play out.
And to explain it all, I’ll just give you a quick TLDR of how Love Island works.
The show is happening in real time, so as we speak, there are a bunch of contestants currently isolated in a Fiji villa without their phones or access to social media, so they have no clue what we think of them.
The goal of it is to couple up with someone in the villa and find a connection, but there are also challenges and evictions, so the goal is also to not get the boot.
Though, the audience at home does get to vote and call some shots as to what goes down in the villa.
And at the start of the season, a lot of the conversation was focused on a contestant named Huda (Hood-uh), because viewers, to put it plainly, hated her.
She coupled up immediately with a man named Jeremiah, and people thought she was incredibly controlling, possessive, and toxic in their relationship.
And viewers made their opinions on her well-known online. []
They also made their thoughts known to Hood-uh by voting to break them up and couple Jeremiah up with a new woman.[]
But the backlash against her got to the point where the host of the show had to issue a statement asking viewers not to doxx the contestants or contact their families.
And Hood-uh’s IRL ex, who is also the father of her child, wrote a statement on social media to tell people:
“At the end of the day I hope everyone remembers we’re human. Her going on that show to find love, or whatever you think it was she’s doing, remember she’s still human, she has a daughter, and a life.”[]
“It’s crazy I have to involve myself in this but I don’t want my daughters mom to get out and see this and her mental health goes down a hill.”
Because, notably, two people who were contestants on the U.K. version of the show later committed suicide.[]
And while contestants complete psychology evaluations before filming and have access to psychologists on-site in the villa, there probably is not much that can prepare you for re-entering the world after millions of people have been watching the last six weeks of your life and picking apart every single thing you did.
And so at the end of an episode in June, the show released a statement saying:
“We love our fans. We love our Islanders. We don’t love cyberbullying, harassment or hate.”
And Hood-uh is far from the only one who has gotten hate online, another contestant named Vanna (Like Hannah or Anna) received tons of brutal comments about her appearance from those speculating about the plastic surgery she had done.
And she saw all this when she got voted out, and said it made her break down crying.
“All these things that people were pointing out were never things I saw in myself, they were pointing out new insecurities, I guess.” (50:10-50:17)
“They were just things I never looked in the mirror and didn’t like about myself.” (50:21-50:25)
This week, the New York Times even ran a piece saying the show “Has a New Villain This Season: The Viewers.”
But still, some have slammed the show for essentially greenlighting this, writing:
“How you gunna be anti bullying but you let it happen in your house???”[]
Because this week, bullying between contestants in the villa has taken the main focus.
Everything reached a breaking point during Tuesday night’s episode during a challenge called “Standing on Business.”
For that challenge, the contestants wrote each other questions or notes and each person had to stand in front of everyone to address their messages.
It’s a big airing of the grievances, and so as you can imagine, things get heated.
A girl named Amaya (Uh-my-uh, like papaya) was reduced to tears after three men ganged up on her because they did not like that she 1. cries and 2. calls people “babe.”
And I am so serious, that is what they were mad about, and they did a huge pile-on attacking her for it.
With the Daily Beast calling it “Misogynistic Bullying” that “Went Too Far.”
You even had Hope Walz, the daughter of former VP candidate Tim Walz, making a video calling these men toxic and arguing they represent how the manosphere has made men view feelings and empathy as a weakness.
People also switched up from hating Hood-uh to rushing to her defense after they felt three contestants ganged up on her and bullied her during the challenge, with some going on TikTok to say:
“There is a huge difference between bullying and entertainment and that is something Love Island clearly does not understand. (0:02-0:07)
“Last night’s episode was actually unacceptable. Get Chelley, Olandria, and Cierra out of that villa right now because they way they are bullying Huda is not okay. It is not okay that America is watching that happen in front of our eyes.” (0:12-0:22)
“And I know that the producers see this. I know that they see this and think we are eating it up because it’s content. But it’s not okay. They are bullying her. You are putting someone’s mental health at risk.” (1:05-1:15)
And because fans are so frustrated with how things are playing out in the villa, news broke this morning that fan-voting records for Love Island USA have been broken this season, likely because fans feel a big need to step in and correct the actions of the islanders.
And so I would love to know your thoughts on this here, on any aspect, but especially on what the line is when it comes to reality TV.
Right, it is made to be kind of salacious, but where does the moral and ethical lines come into play, when can people take it too far?
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A Louisiana music teacher lost his job for being gay – this, after he had taught at the school for more than twenty years.
With his termination only happening now because his husband died and the obituary let everyone know that they were married. []
Right, meet Mark Richards.
He started a relationship with the man who would eventually become his husband in 2001.
And in 2003, he started working at the St. Francis Xavier school in New Orleans.
It’s a Catholic School – which, as you might expect – is an important part of this story.
Right, because Mark’s annually renewable employment contract? It had what’s known as a morality clause.
In this case it banned teachers from entering into a “marriage in violation of the rules of the Catholic church”, “actively engaging in homosexual activity”, or participating in any other activity conflicting with the teachings of the religion. [
And all teachers at schools affiliated with the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans have to agree to this, but big key thing, it’s been selectively enforced throughout history. []
With Mark basically saying he signed the contract because that seemed to be the case here, explaining that he never kept being gay a secret and was offered the job anyway.
And even adding that when his husband died of a heart attack in 2023, he counted on sympathy and support from many members of the St. Francis community. []
But that changed just a few weeks ago.
Right — some parent found the almost-two-year-old obituary, realized Mark was gay, and complained to the school and the archdiocese.
And soon after, on June 25th, the school told him it wouldn’t be renewing his contract, claiming he had lied about his “lifestyle” in the past.[]
When the news got around, other parents organized a petition — which has now collected almost 5,000 signatures — calling on the archdiocese to reverse the decision and describing Mark as “a beacon of kindness and understanding.”
But despite that, in an email to the community, you had school officials saying:
“This decision is final and will not be revisited.” []
Now, with all that, Mark says he’s spoken to a lawyer to see if there’d be any way to get rid of the morality clause going forward. []
But, legally, his options may be limited.
Right, one recent court ruling actually upheld a North Carolina Catholic school’s decision to fire a gay teacher for planning to marry his partner.
That said, when it comes to the New Orleans Archdiocese, one more lawsuit would really be the least of their problems.
Right, the organization is five years into bankruptcy proceedings tied to decades of child sexual abuse allegations –
With it recently agreeing to settle a case involving more than 500 people who say they were abused by clergy for nearly 180 million dollars.
And notably there, it’s not like St. Francis hasn’t had its problems.
Right, a couple years ago, the church’s own pastor actually pushed the state to release a priest who had already been convicted of raping a child – saying it was justified on medical compassion grounds.
And then, the attorney who helped him with that campaign? He would eventually be convicted of molesting a child himself.[]
But god forbid a gay man teach at the school.
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