David J. Loehr
@djl.bsky.social
aka @dloehr on the bird site
Writer & performer, The Incomparable Radio Theater
Co-creator, Where or When?
Panelist, The Incomparable
Host, Afoot
Co-host, Magnum, podcast
Playwright, podcaster, father, cat bed, he/him
davidjloehr.com/links/
Writer & performer, The Incomparable Radio Theater
Co-creator, Where or When?
Panelist, The Incomparable
Host, Afoot
Co-host, Magnum, podcast
Playwright, podcaster, father, cat bed, he/him
davidjloehr.com/links/
Reposted by David J. Loehr
I was at an event yesterday where Rand Paul spoke via video and talked about how great it was to send ACA money "directly to the people" so that they could work collectively to get better deals on health care.
November 10, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I was at an event yesterday where Rand Paul spoke via video and talked about how great it was to send ACA money "directly to the people" so that they could work collectively to get better deals on health care.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
“whatever club he’s invited to join has been devalued by the invitation”
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 AM
“whatever club he’s invited to join has been devalued by the invitation”
No kidding.
That's why we were so angry yesterday.
Because this was obvious to the rest of us.
That's why we were so angry yesterday.
Because this was obvious to the rest of us.
We're debating on the government funding package right now and every single Republican voted against a Democratic amendment to pass a clean, one-year extension of the ACA tax credits.
Republicans just don't care about your health care.
Republicans just don't care about your health care.
November 11, 2025 at 2:27 AM
No kidding.
That's why we were so angry yesterday.
Because this was obvious to the rest of us.
That's why we were so angry yesterday.
Because this was obvious to the rest of us.
We were fighting united.
Then the Senate Democrats came untied.
This was capitulation, nothing was gained, and the whole sacrifice of the shutdown was for nought.
Talk to some federal employees, they're furious, sir.
This simple act of caving makes victory next November that much harder.
Then the Senate Democrats came untied.
This was capitulation, nothing was gained, and the whole sacrifice of the shutdown was for nought.
Talk to some federal employees, they're furious, sir.
This simple act of caving makes victory next November that much harder.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 11, 2025 at 12:47 AM
We were fighting united.
Then the Senate Democrats came untied.
This was capitulation, nothing was gained, and the whole sacrifice of the shutdown was for nought.
Talk to some federal employees, they're furious, sir.
This simple act of caving makes victory next November that much harder.
Then the Senate Democrats came untied.
This was capitulation, nothing was gained, and the whole sacrifice of the shutdown was for nought.
Talk to some federal employees, they're furious, sir.
This simple act of caving makes victory next November that much harder.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
This isn't "internal recriminations." It's voters expressing overwhelming opposition to what the people they elected to represent them are doing, and anyone--either in journalism or politics--who characterizes it as infighting is either not seeing and hearing what's right in front of them or lying.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
This isn't "internal recriminations." It's voters expressing overwhelming opposition to what the people they elected to represent them are doing, and anyone--either in journalism or politics--who characterizes it as infighting is either not seeing and hearing what's right in front of them or lying.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
Every time you capitulate to a bully, they'll come back at you twice as brutally.
If you didn't learn this life lesson in third grade, GTFO of the US Senate.
If you didn't learn this life lesson in third grade, GTFO of the US Senate.
November 10, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Every time you capitulate to a bully, they'll come back at you twice as brutally.
If you didn't learn this life lesson in third grade, GTFO of the US Senate.
If you didn't learn this life lesson in third grade, GTFO of the US Senate.
Buried inside the deal to reopen government is a provision that would give Senators private right of action to sue for millions in damages over their phone records being analyzed by Jack Smith's team.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Shutdown Deal Would Let Senators Sue Over Jack Smith Searches
Senators whose phone records were sought by Special Counsel Jack Smith would gain authority to sue for millions in damages under a provision buried in the Senate-advanced deal to reopen the government...
news.bloomberglaw.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:00 PM
He didn't know anything, hasn't had a chance to dig in to the details.
November 10, 2025 at 10:58 PM
He didn't know anything, hasn't had a chance to dig in to the details.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
Yep. And shutting down the government DOES get the attention of those weakly partisan low info voters so it matters if you cave without gaining anything.
yeah...I mean, basically all the evidence we have suggests strongly that the people who abandoned Ds in 2024 were weakly partisan low info voters angry about inflation. you can't yell at them online; they are not talking to you about politics on social media.
As @clairewillett.bsky.social , @nberlat.bsky.social and I have discussed, mainstream Dems have an obsessive, unreasonable narrative regarding Democratic losses that blame not just the left but the most vulnerable voters
November 10, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Yep. And shutting down the government DOES get the attention of those weakly partisan low info voters so it matters if you cave without gaining anything.
Surprising only a handful of credulous @democrats.senate.gov.
In the most predictable development ever, Mike Johnson is not committing to hold a House vote on ACA subsidies
November 10, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Surprising only a handful of credulous @democrats.senate.gov.
The dumbest president ever, cont'd.
A magnet is a material or object that produces an invisible magnetic field, a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, cobalt, etc. and attracts or repels other magnets.
A magnet is a material or object that produces an invisible magnetic field, a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, cobalt, etc. and attracts or repels other magnets.
November 10, 2025 at 10:24 PM
The dumbest president ever, cont'd.
A magnet is a material or object that produces an invisible magnetic field, a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, cobalt, etc. and attracts or repels other magnets.
A magnet is a material or object that produces an invisible magnetic field, a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, cobalt, etc. and attracts or repels other magnets.
Can't find his Bible.
What will Mike Johnson's new excuse be for not swearing in Grijalva?
November 10, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Can't find his Bible.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
This point here is the exact problem with all "centrist" arguments. If I'm starting at center and negotiating with the right, any result is going to be on the right. It will never, ever be on the left. There is absolutely no point between zero and negative ten that is a positive number.
It desperately needs stronger leaders.
And that means it needs hardline progressive leaders. When you start from the moderate position, you have less room to negotiate.
And you end up getting less every time.
And that means it needs hardline progressive leaders. When you start from the moderate position, you have less room to negotiate.
And you end up getting less every time.
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
This point here is the exact problem with all "centrist" arguments. If I'm starting at center and negotiating with the right, any result is going to be on the right. It will never, ever be on the left. There is absolutely no point between zero and negative ten that is a positive number.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
"The Appeasement Eight gave Republicans bipartisan cover, and established another point of leverage Trump has over Congressional Dems...in a rapidly backsliding democracy, harm is happening no matter what. Therefore, preventing authoritarian consolidation is the most harm-reducing move."
Yep:
Yep:
I wrote about the "Appeasement Eight" Senate Democrats getting the party to fold to Trump in the government shutdown, and why it shows that pro-democracy Americans badly need a real opposition party, full of leaders who recognize the United States isn't a normal rule of law democracy anymore.
Democrats Have to Get Out of a Normal Democracy Mindset
By folding in the government shutdown in exchange for virtually nothing, eight Democratic senators aid Trump's authoritarian takeover rather than oppose it
www.arcdigital.media
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
"The Appeasement Eight gave Republicans bipartisan cover, and established another point of leverage Trump has over Congressional Dems...in a rapidly backsliding democracy, harm is happening no matter what. Therefore, preventing authoritarian consolidation is the most harm-reducing move."
Yep:
Yep:
We pay homeowner's insurance, have done so for a few decades.
When a tornado flung a 2x4 through our garage roof last year, creating a hole but not a ton of damage, our insurance covered a new roof and shingling because it was 20+ years old.
Saved us from having to replace it eventually.
When a tornado flung a 2x4 through our garage roof last year, creating a hole but not a ton of damage, our insurance covered a new roof and shingling because it was 20+ years old.
Saved us from having to replace it eventually.
My wife and I pay for life insurance even though we have never died. I pay for fire insurance even though my house has never burned down. That's not because we want to throw money at insurance companies. It's because THAT'S HOW INSURANCE WORKS.
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
We pay homeowner's insurance, have done so for a few decades.
When a tornado flung a 2x4 through our garage roof last year, creating a hole but not a ton of damage, our insurance covered a new roof and shingling because it was 20+ years old.
Saved us from having to replace it eventually.
When a tornado flung a 2x4 through our garage roof last year, creating a hole but not a ton of damage, our insurance covered a new roof and shingling because it was 20+ years old.
Saved us from having to replace it eventually.
No fucking kidding, Chuck.
We saw that coming last night.
Why didn't any of you?
Retire and take Durbin with you.
We saw that coming last night.
Why didn't any of you?
Retire and take Durbin with you.
I will not support the Republican bill that’s on the Senate floor because it fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s healthcare crisis.
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
No fucking kidding, Chuck.
We saw that coming last night.
Why didn't any of you?
Retire and take Durbin with you.
We saw that coming last night.
Why didn't any of you?
Retire and take Durbin with you.
As someone living in mostly rural, southern Indiana--with plenty of SNAP users & people dependent on the ACA subsidies--we're so glad you don't have to worry now, @kaine.senate.gov.
The rest of us aren't going to sleep so well wondering how we'll cover food and healthcare bills.
But good for you.
The rest of us aren't going to sleep so well wondering how we'll cover food and healthcare bills.
But good for you.
Tim Kaine on backlash he's getting: "I got the first good night's sleep last night that I've gotten since Oct 1, b/c I wasn't worried about being able to look Capitol Police in the eye when I walked in, or what a furloughed fed worker would say to me at church, or what somebody would say about SNAP"
November 10, 2025 at 8:22 PM
As someone living in mostly rural, southern Indiana--with plenty of SNAP users & people dependent on the ACA subsidies--we're so glad you don't have to worry now, @kaine.senate.gov.
The rest of us aren't going to sleep so well wondering how we'll cover food and healthcare bills.
But good for you.
The rest of us aren't going to sleep so well wondering how we'll cover food and healthcare bills.
But good for you.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
There will be another 60 vote Friday* on the garbage shutdown deal. If we can convince just one Senator from the 52 republicans and 8 Dems that voted yes to flip, we could still stop this. Please jump on the phone today, call them, and share this widely.
*If all goes by the regular schedule
*If all goes by the regular schedule
November 10, 2025 at 5:22 PM
There will be another 60 vote Friday* on the garbage shutdown deal. If we can convince just one Senator from the 52 republicans and 8 Dems that voted yes to flip, we could still stop this. Please jump on the phone today, call them, and share this widely.
*If all goes by the regular schedule
*If all goes by the regular schedule
Reposted by David J. Loehr
Lots of people don’t know or remember what it feels like to have $200 be life altering and I think none of those people should be in Congress
November 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Lots of people don’t know or remember what it feels like to have $200 be life altering and I think none of those people should be in Congress
So many footballs, so many misses.
Whoa -- Sen. Durbin went to up Leader Thune during the vote last night to tell him that on the shutdown vote and ACA promise that "8 of us are sticking our neck out that you're going to keep your word. I hope you will. He said 'I assure you I will,'" Durbin says just now
November 10, 2025 at 6:09 PM
So many footballs, so many misses.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
You didn't get a vote. You got a "promise" of a vote. From a party who is disappearing nannies & gardeners and zip-tying children. A party who has flushed Due Process in America down the toilet. Who has subjugated its Congressional duties to an autocrat. That's what everybody sees, Tim.
November 10, 2025 at 4:39 PM
You didn't get a vote. You got a "promise" of a vote. From a party who is disappearing nannies & gardeners and zip-tying children. A party who has flushed Due Process in America down the toilet. Who has subjugated its Congressional duties to an autocrat. That's what everybody sees, Tim.
You didn't get a vote, @kaine.senate.gov, you got a vague promise of one.
We already know from previous votes where they all stand. That will not be--or make--news.
All this did was hand Trump a win that will embolden him, nothing more.
Seriously, sir, what is wrong with the eight of you?
We already know from previous votes where they all stand. That will not be--or make--news.
All this did was hand Trump a win that will embolden him, nothing more.
Seriously, sir, what is wrong with the eight of you?
Kaine on why he thinks just getting a vote on healthcare is a win: "We're the minority party, but everybody will get to see who is standing for them when it comes to lowering their healthcare costs"
November 10, 2025 at 6:04 PM
You didn't get a vote, @kaine.senate.gov, you got a vague promise of one.
We already know from previous votes where they all stand. That will not be--or make--news.
All this did was hand Trump a win that will embolden him, nothing more.
Seriously, sir, what is wrong with the eight of you?
We already know from previous votes where they all stand. That will not be--or make--news.
All this did was hand Trump a win that will embolden him, nothing more.
Seriously, sir, what is wrong with the eight of you?
Reposted by David J. Loehr
As of this morning, it is imperative that the Democratic caucus in the senate remove Schumer as Minority Leader, Durbin as minority whip and Cortez Masto as Vice Chair of Outreach.
Replace them today with Van Hollen, Murphy and Merkley. Or anyone else who actually knows how to lead and discipline.
Replace them today with Van Hollen, Murphy and Merkley. Or anyone else who actually knows how to lead and discipline.
November 10, 2025 at 2:58 PM
As of this morning, it is imperative that the Democratic caucus in the senate remove Schumer as Minority Leader, Durbin as minority whip and Cortez Masto as Vice Chair of Outreach.
Replace them today with Van Hollen, Murphy and Merkley. Or anyone else who actually knows how to lead and discipline.
Replace them today with Van Hollen, Murphy and Merkley. Or anyone else who actually knows how to lead and discipline.
Reposted by David J. Loehr
Right, the answer isn't to abandon the party to these weasels.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
Hey, a lot of people are talking about changing affiliation from Democratic to Independent.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
November 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Right, the answer isn't to abandon the party to these weasels.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
Yes, it will always be his go-to move. Textbook sociopathic narcissist.
Read "Trump threatens air traffic controllers with docked pay, despite not getting paid at all since Oct. 1" on SmartNews: l.smartnews.com/p-6yPaZ97O/l...
Does being an asshat have to be his go to everytime? You don't see him busting his ass getting planes around the country.
Don't mess with them.
Does being an asshat have to be his go to everytime? You don't see him busting his ass getting planes around the country.
Don't mess with them.
Trump Warns Air Traffic Controllers to Work or Get ‘Docked’ (Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump urged air traffic contro...
l.smartnews.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Yes, it will always be his go-to move. Textbook sociopathic narcissist.