Good morning kids. And just like that, the year 2025 is just about half over. The breaking news this morning is either the twisted act of just some random psychopath or given everything going on in the world, and sadly here at home perhaps some form of domestic terrorism. Eco-, Immigration-, Islamic- or some kind of Beelzebub happy meal combination.
Two firefighters were killed and a third was injured when first responders were ambushed by an hours-long barrage of gunfire after arriving at the scene of a blaze in Idaho Sunday afternoon, authorities said. The horrific attack, which began around 2 p.m. local time on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d’Alene, ended about five hours later when SWAT teams discovered the lifeless body of a man next to a firearm on the popular tourist trail, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. “This was a total ambush, these firefighters did not have a chance,” Sheriff Bob Norris told reporters after the massive manhunt, assuring the community there is no longer an active threat. “We have currently one dead shooter based on the preliminary investigation that was being conducted. Keep in mind we had a fire that was rapidly approaching the body so we had to scoop up that body and we had to transport that body to a different location. We believe that it is the only shooter that was on that mountain at that time.”
Police have not released the suspected gunman’s identity, the type of weapon recovered at the gruesome scene, or the cause of his death. A motive remains under investigation but police believe the fire was intentionally set to lure first responders into a deadly trap. “We do believe that the suspect started the fire and we do believe it was an ambush and it was intentional,” Norris said.
A Coeur d’Alene firefighter and a Kootenai County Fire and Rescue member were shot dead in the sudden strike.
The third victim, a Coeur d’Alene firefighter who was shot during the violent surprise attack, is recovering at Kootenai Health after undergoing surgery. . .
. . . The FBI responded to the scene providing tactical and operational support, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said, with about 300 first responders also on site from state and local agencies.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly cheesesteaks, reports of some sort of massive explosion preceded the collapse of several homes in the comedically ironic section of the city known as Nicetown. One fatality has been reported, so apologies for being flip. While it could be something as innocent/normal as a gas leak. Again, given everything going on here and abroad, perhaps some religion of Peace Peacenik or Anti-fascist Brownshirt Democrat Stormtrooper building a mostly peaceful pipe bomb to be used against ICE, a synagogue or some other target of the forces of darkness and evil that threaten "Our Precious Democracy" (vomit) cannnot be discounted. And a little over 40 years ago when Mayor Wilson Good used the air units of the Philadelphia PD to re-enact the firebombing of Hamburg and burned several blocks to the ground after being shot at while attempting to evict or arrest a black liberation group known as MOVE, led by one John Africa. Oh the humanity!
Prayers for the victims, and hopefully we'll get to the bottom of these incidents.
Completely switching gears, this so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" seems to be moving forward but about the only good thing I can see in it is the RINO opposition to it, is giving President Trump the political cover and cassus belli to go after the backstabbers like Tom Tillis who mercifully has decided to not even seek re-election and hopefully give North Carolinians the opportunity to put a MAGA-aligned patriot on the ballot and please God in the Senate.
As for the bill itself, as CBD and I discussed on the podcast an episode or so ago, and still relevant, How does borrowing and spending us further into debt gibe with the whole notion of DOGE and the MAGA movement? I do not want a more "efficient" government. I want a radically reduced/eliminated government. Because the smaller the government, the freer and more prosperous the citizenry.
One huge issue that that Leftists and propagandists are harping on is supposedly the evil Nazi Trump republicans eliminating Medicare and Medicaid. Cue the footage of Paul Ryan as Tommy Udo shoving granny off of a cliff in her wheelchair.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has also backed an effort to secure more cuts within the president’s sweeping tax relief and immigration legislation.
The deficit-reducing measure is sponsored by Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott and would lower the 90% federal match rate for new Medicaid enrollees in states that expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act. A group of deficit-concerned senators, including Scott, helped secure a vote on the amendment, which will occur during an anticipated marathon session of voting, known as a “vote-a-rama,” before senators will vote on final passage of the bill.
“We think it’s really good policy,” Thune told reporters Sunday. “We’re going to do what we can to support that effort.”
. . . The amendment, however, could die on the Senate floor due to moderate GOP senators’ opposition to reducing the federal government’s contributions to state Medicaid programs, known as the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP). Scott’s proposal notably exempts the existing expansion population on Medicaid rolls. Trump notably thanked Scott and the cohort of fiscal hawks for ultimately supporting the opening of debate on the bill Saturday night. The president said he would work with the group to “REDUCE WASTEFUL SPENDING” and “ENSURE OUR MEDICAID SYSTEM HELPS THOSE WHO TRULY NEED IT” among other priorities, in a statement on the social media platform Truth Social. . .
. . . The upper chamber’s budget bill also slashes spending on green energy subsidies by accelerating the termination of solar and wind tax credits, which could save hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.
The Senate’s proposal will have to clear the House before Trump signs the budget bill into law. A number of moderate Republicans in the lower chamber are voicing concern about aggressive spending cuts while members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are pushing for more deficit reduction.
“For all cost cutting Republicans, of which I am one, REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected,” Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social Sunday evening. “Don’t go too crazy!”
Bingo, Mr. President. But what have we been pleading for for decades and what did you run on - fiscal sanity. Yes, cutting out the waste and outright fraud of multiple funding of the same programs across different agencies/departments and the plain old thievery of money that somehow gets iPhoned off to fund anti-American groups and seditious activities etc. etc. is absolutely a good thing. But we need to starve the bureaucratic beast and kill off as much of the New Deal, Great Society, and every other freedom and money sucking entity we can to really Make America, not only Great again, but make America America again. Getting rid of the Dept. of Education is a great thing (if it actually does disappear) but why is the EPA still functioning. Yes Lee Zeldin has been doing some great things to erase the environmental madness of the global warming/climate change myth and give a much needed shot in the arm to get fossil fuels, energy independence and our economy moving again.
enough on this. At any rate, getting back to the actual bill itself, The sick irony of Chuck Schemer looking to read thousands of pages while Malig-Nancy Pelosi refused to read even the cover page and dedication to satan by the author of the massive Obamacare power grab that let the government seize control of the health care sector, fully one sixth of the economy, and then her proclaiming "We have to pass the bill to find out what's in it!" And it's either hypocrisy on our side in demanding we pass the bill or else tit's a delicious sauce for the goose/gander.
The other insane chutzpocrisy of the Dems is them bithcing about fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget after decades of borrowing andspending us into the oblivion we are on the precipice of while hacks like Paul Krugman kept insisting that the government can boorrow/spend and print money indefinitely and infinitely, unlike the average household who cannot run up their credit cards without any consequences.
And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.
Have a great day!
ALSO: The Morning Report cross-posts at CutJibNewsletter.com within an hour of posting here, if you want to continue the conversation all day.
And. . . PODCASTING NEWS: the Podcast feeds have been fixed so you can now listen to them on the RSS feed as well as Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and of course directly at the CutJibNewsletter site. We also post a version on our Rumble channel within 12-24 hours of going live at the above.
Also, do follow us on X (Twitter): @CutJibNews
And my X (Twitter) account at: @therealJJSefton
and on Instagram: @Cutjibnewsletter
TIP JAR : Your support helps keep the lights on and is truly appreciated. Note: We are on Stripe, not PayPal.