Jack Collens
@jdcollens.bsky.social
Dad, recovering academic, Willie Nelson’s birthday buddy. LSU and UGA alum. LA → GA → NY → GA. Unions for all.
If this bill passes the Senate, “They stole your healthcare” should be the mantra of every Democratic candidate.
May 22, 2025 at 1:03 PM
If this bill passes the Senate, “They stole your healthcare” should be the mantra of every Democratic candidate.
Reposted by Jack Collens
Red tape is the garrotte with which Republicans are strangling Medicaid.
Via @donmoyn.bsky.social and @pamherd.bsky.social in NYT Opinion.
"Digging deeper into the bill, the pattern of using burdens to quietly kick off eligible beneficiaries becomes undeniable."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/o...
"Digging deeper into the bill, the pattern of using burdens to quietly kick off eligible beneficiaries becomes undeniable."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/o...
Opinion | Republicans Will Use Paperwork to Kick Americans Off Health Care
www.nytimes.com
May 22, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Red tape is the garrotte with which Republicans are strangling Medicaid.
Damn.
“Perhaps it all makes sense: Why feed, immunize and educate young children in the hopes of turning them into healthier and more productive adults in the future, when you could simply enlist them in hard labor today?”
“Perhaps it all makes sense: Why feed, immunize and educate young children in the hopes of turning them into healthier and more productive adults in the future, when you could simply enlist them in hard labor today?”
They’ve persecuted immigrants, transgender people and scientists. They’ve targeted the rule of law and free speech. Now, they’re coming for your three-year-old, too.
wapo.st/4jcUg2f
wapo.st/4jcUg2f
Opinion | Donald Trump’s war on children
The administration is divesting from future generations. It will cost America dearly.
wapo.st
April 18, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Damn.
“Perhaps it all makes sense: Why feed, immunize and educate young children in the hopes of turning them into healthier and more productive adults in the future, when you could simply enlist them in hard labor today?”
“Perhaps it all makes sense: Why feed, immunize and educate young children in the hopes of turning them into healthier and more productive adults in the future, when you could simply enlist them in hard labor today?”
But hey, at least the bourbon bubble will pop and prices will become more reasonable, right? Who needs toilet paper when you’re drinking away your sorrows over your 401(k)?
The discourse around tariffs has been “things will get more expensive” but I am here to tell you that I am knee deep in reporting on this subject and I strongly suspect that if super high tariffs endure, it will shift to *certain items cease to be available at any price*
April 8, 2025 at 2:39 PM
But hey, at least the bourbon bubble will pop and prices will become more reasonable, right? Who needs toilet paper when you’re drinking away your sorrows over your 401(k)?
It’s easy to blame SCOTUS, but it’s much worse. This is a symptom of a move spanning decades to ensure that the wealthy can get what they want. CU didn’t affect state races; this was a conscious choice by lawmakers to allow this.
Citizens United killed American democracy, as it was intended to.
Elon Musk is spending millions of dollars to elect Brad Schimel, a conservative judge in Wisconsin, to the State Supreme Court. If he succeeds, conservatives will retake a 4-to-3 majority and be in a position to push the state rightward on issues like abortion, labor rights and congressional maps.
March 23, 2025 at 4:00 AM
It’s easy to blame SCOTUS, but it’s much worse. This is a symptom of a move spanning decades to ensure that the wealthy can get what they want. CU didn’t affect state races; this was a conscious choice by lawmakers to allow this.
Reposted by Jack Collens
One of the “gang members” that was disappeared and deported is a queer tattoo artist
March 16, 2025 at 6:08 PM
One of the “gang members” that was disappeared and deported is a queer tattoo artist
You cannot possibly coordinate a national effort to combat the overdose problem in this country with interdiction alone; you need agencies like SAMHSA to be fully funded and operational. This is dangerous. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/h...
Federal Agency Dedicated to Mental Illness and Addiction Faces Huge Cuts (Gift Article)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has already closed offices and could see staff numbers reduced by 50 percent.
www.nytimes.com
March 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
You cannot possibly coordinate a national effort to combat the overdose problem in this country with interdiction alone; you need agencies like SAMHSA to be fully funded and operational. This is dangerous. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/h...
Reposted by Jack Collens
The NYT, WaPo, LAT, CNN, etc etc have shifted to the right. Fox & the Post et al have always been hard right. Twitter & Meta are controlled by right wingers. On a daily basis, millions of Americans - probably the majority - see nothing but sanitized, accomodationist, right wing coverage of Trump.
the average person isnt paying attention. Most people have no idea whats going on.
March 12, 2025 at 12:12 PM
The NYT, WaPo, LAT, CNN, etc etc have shifted to the right. Fox & the Post et al have always been hard right. Twitter & Meta are controlled by right wingers. On a daily basis, millions of Americans - probably the majority - see nothing but sanitized, accomodationist, right wing coverage of Trump.
Reposted by Jack Collens
i understand gavin newsom outing himself as a terf is a shock given his history with gay rights in CA but please understand, the man has been an absolute monster for ages and no one who paid attention to the way he treats homeless people is necessarily surprised
March 8, 2025 at 5:10 PM
i understand gavin newsom outing himself as a terf is a shock given his history with gay rights in CA but please understand, the man has been an absolute monster for ages and no one who paid attention to the way he treats homeless people is necessarily surprised
Reposted by Jack Collens
I have seen a lot of discourse dismissing base frustration with Democratic leadership as "just social media not real life" or "something people just do for clicks" and I cannot emphasize enough: actual data does not support this argument.
it's been over 2 weeks since we got a poll showing dems were -9 with their own voters (and just getting demolished, among independents), and it seems some people have memory-holed that and decided "reflexive defense of congressional democratic leadership is BACK"
March 8, 2025 at 6:28 AM
I have seen a lot of discourse dismissing base frustration with Democratic leadership as "just social media not real life" or "something people just do for clicks" and I cannot emphasize enough: actual data does not support this argument.
Reposted by Jack Collens
My God: they are selling off federal buildings and no longer planning on collecting revenues.
Again, none of this is about efficiency. I know the IRS is not popular, but for every dollar invested it generates about $7 in returns. The goal is not to save money but to stop collecting it.
Again, none of this is about efficiency. I know the IRS is not popular, but for every dollar invested it generates about $7 in returns. The goal is not to save money but to stop collecting it.
BREAKING: The IRS is drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000-person workforce, AP sources say.
The IRS is drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000-person workforce, AP sources say
The IRS is drafting plans to try to cut its workforce of roughly 90,000 people in half through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts, according to two people familiar with the situation...
apnews.com
March 4, 2025 at 11:34 PM
My God: they are selling off federal buildings and no longer planning on collecting revenues.
Again, none of this is about efficiency. I know the IRS is not popular, but for every dollar invested it generates about $7 in returns. The goal is not to save money but to stop collecting it.
Again, none of this is about efficiency. I know the IRS is not popular, but for every dollar invested it generates about $7 in returns. The goal is not to save money but to stop collecting it.
Reposted by Jack Collens
America is lurching into a late Soviet stupor, where nothing works, government doesn't do anything, the leader is a decrepit husk, and the wealthiest cronies of the leader steal everything they can rip off the walls while the people starve.
March 3, 2025 at 11:01 PM
America is lurching into a late Soviet stupor, where nothing works, government doesn't do anything, the leader is a decrepit husk, and the wealthiest cronies of the leader steal everything they can rip off the walls while the people starve.
Reposted by Jack Collens
AOL warned us of the dangers of logging on. It would play for us the screams of the damned. But we didn’t listen. We didn’t listen.
February 27, 2025 at 10:14 AM
AOL warned us of the dangers of logging on. It would play for us the screams of the damned. But we didn’t listen. We didn’t listen.
Reposted by Jack Collens
This is why I cannot stomach the thought of a sex pest who had to resign as Governor becoming the mayor of New York City
Rape and support for rapists are now key aspects of U.S federal government policy.
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/fe...
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/fe...
Andrew Tate and brother leave Romania for US after travel ban lifted
Self-styled ‘misogynist influencer’ and brother Tristan had been banned from leaving Romania since December 2023
www.theguardian.com
February 28, 2025 at 2:14 AM
This is why I cannot stomach the thought of a sex pest who had to resign as Governor becoming the mayor of New York City
Here’s one education DEI complaint.
February 28, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Here’s one education DEI complaint.
Get rid of Hochul, New York. She’s becoming as bad as Cuomo. Do better. While I don’t live there anymore, I almost prefer having Kemp as my gov. At least he doesn’t play at being an ally to any of the causes I care about.
Folks asking for sources other than NY post, Inside Higher Ed article was published yesterday, link below.
February 27, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Get rid of Hochul, New York. She’s becoming as bad as Cuomo. Do better. While I don’t live there anymore, I almost prefer having Kemp as my gov. At least he doesn’t play at being an ally to any of the causes I care about.
Man, if I still taught the presidency this would be an AMAZING piece by @jamellebouie.net to pair with Federalist 70. But I’m also real glad I don’t have to talk to students about this administration for an entire semester. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/o...
Opinion | If Trump Alone Can Fix It, What Is Elon Musk Doing? (Gift Article)
The president is handing over the viability of his second term to a figure who is accountable to no one but himself.
www.nytimes.com
February 27, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Man, if I still taught the presidency this would be an AMAZING piece by @jamellebouie.net to pair with Federalist 70. But I’m also real glad I don’t have to talk to students about this administration for an entire semester. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/o...
One of my favorites Hackman films is criminally underrated and has the best restoration poster of all time.
February 27, 2025 at 11:29 AM
One of my favorites Hackman films is criminally underrated and has the best restoration poster of all time.
Reposted by Jack Collens
Bezos destroying the post opinion pages is just another reminder: Conservatives think free speech is when they can say what they want and when you can say what they want.
February 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Bezos destroying the post opinion pages is just another reminder: Conservatives think free speech is when they can say what they want and when you can say what they want.
Reposted by Jack Collens
You can make whatever campaign promises you want, but budgets don’t lie.
This is the middle-finger Trump gave to 99% of Americans tonight.
This is the middle-finger Trump gave to 99% of Americans tonight.
February 26, 2025 at 1:23 AM
You can make whatever campaign promises you want, but budgets don’t lie.
This is the middle-finger Trump gave to 99% of Americans tonight.
This is the middle-finger Trump gave to 99% of Americans tonight.
You can’t run the government like a business because the point isn’t to raise money! It’s to provide essential services and security!
The job of the government isn’t to “produce federal revenue” the job is meeting the needs of the people. Refuse to engage in a debate about the profitability of providing people’s needs through public resources.
Greene: Those are not real jobs producing federal revenue. Federal employees do not deserve their jobs. Federal employees do not deserve their paycheck
February 26, 2025 at 1:23 AM
You can’t run the government like a business because the point isn’t to raise money! It’s to provide essential services and security!
Reposted by Jack Collens
House Republicans just voted to gut Medicaid, which covers 1 in 5 Americans overall, including 41% of births and 63% of nursing home care.
They also just voted to gut SNAP, on which 41 million food insecure Americans rely.
This won’t just harm people. This will kill people.
They own this.
They also just voted to gut SNAP, on which 41 million food insecure Americans rely.
This won’t just harm people. This will kill people.
They own this.
February 26, 2025 at 1:22 AM
House Republicans just voted to gut Medicaid, which covers 1 in 5 Americans overall, including 41% of births and 63% of nursing home care.
They also just voted to gut SNAP, on which 41 million food insecure Americans rely.
This won’t just harm people. This will kill people.
They own this.
They also just voted to gut SNAP, on which 41 million food insecure Americans rely.
This won’t just harm people. This will kill people.
They own this.
Reposted by Jack Collens
DEAR FEDERAL EMPLOYEE, I AM WELL KNOWN LEADER OF DOGE ELONK MUSK. FOR THE PROSPERING OF AMERICA AND PER THE REQUEST OF PRESIDENT TRUMP PLEASE TO BE RESPONDING THIS EMAIL WITH YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AND THE PASSWORD TO YOUR GOVERNMENT COMPUTERS ACCOUNT, OTHERWISE YOU MAY BE FIRED
February 25, 2025 at 3:18 AM
DEAR FEDERAL EMPLOYEE, I AM WELL KNOWN LEADER OF DOGE ELONK MUSK. FOR THE PROSPERING OF AMERICA AND PER THE REQUEST OF PRESIDENT TRUMP PLEASE TO BE RESPONDING THIS EMAIL WITH YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AND THE PASSWORD TO YOUR GOVERNMENT COMPUTERS ACCOUNT, OTHERWISE YOU MAY BE FIRED
ELON IS AN IDIOT. HE’S LYING. HE DOESN’T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT ALGORITHMS OR DATA SCIENCE. HE’S DUMB. HE’S A WEENIE. HE GOT HAIR PLUGS.
Johnson: "Elon's cracked the code. He's now inside these agencies. He's created these algorithms that are constantly crawling through the data & as he told me in his office, data doesn't lie. We're gonna be able to get the information. We're gonna be able to transform the way federal govt works."
February 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
ELON IS AN IDIOT. HE’S LYING. HE DOESN’T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT ALGORITHMS OR DATA SCIENCE. HE’S DUMB. HE’S A WEENIE. HE GOT HAIR PLUGS.