It looks like the government shutdown is coming to an end. What have we learned about this?
The hammer is dropping on professional sports gambling.
And we getting shocking news about the trans-woman (man) who got a real woman kicked out of a Los Angeles gym. By shocking I mean it is not shocking at all.
It’s Finally Over
The eight critical votes that advanced a short-term spending package on Sunday evening and put the government on the path to re-opening also tore the seams of Democratic Party unity, bringing scrutiny to its shutdown strategy and leadership.
One of the eight said that the plan Democrats had rallied around at its outset had crumbled.
“After six weeks — going on seven weeks — that path wasn’t working,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said. “It wasn’t going to happen. The question was: Does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits? Our judgment was that it will not produce that result.”
“The evidence for that is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make that happen. Would it change in a week? Or another week? Or after Thanksgiving? There’s no evidence that it would.”
To other Democrats, it’s the party’s top figures who led a losing effort.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, said in a post on social media on Sunday.
The government first plunged into a shutdown 40 days ago on Oct. 1 when Democrats rejected a short-term spending bill advanced by Republicans in the House meant to keep the government afloat until Nov. 21. Democrats had demanded that lawmakers first consider expiring COVID-era Obamacare subsidies set to phase out at the end of the year. Republicans, who saw spending and the tax credits as completely unrelated, refused to negotiate on the tax credits during the shutdown.
Ultimately, Republicans avoided any substantive concessions on the Obamacare credits.
Things we have learned:
- No one really knows what the government does. Outside of air traffic control, nothing seems to be affected by the shutdown of the government.
- Maybe we need to privatize air traffic control.
- We need serious restructuring of our welfare programs.
- 42 million people are on food stamps (1 in 8 people).
- There are no limits on the type of food recipients can buy.
- 75% of people on SNAP are obese.
- On average, SNAP recipients buy more than the working class (up to 20% more).
- There is no time limit on SNAP or welfare. One can be on it for decades.
- Legal and illegal immigrants qualify for welfare programs.
- Federal welfare spending—including SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, housing assistance, and other low-income support programs—was $1.048 trillion in FY 2024.
- This accounted for roughly 16% of all federal outlays.
- SNAP (commonly known as food stamps) cost the federal government $100.3 billion in FY 2024.
- The average SNAP benefit for a family varies by household size and composition, but in fiscal year 2023, the average SNAP household received a monthly benefit of $332. Households with children received a larger average monthly benefit of $574, corresponding to an average household size of 3.3 people. This equals roughly $174 per person for families with children and $177 per person overall.
- Average per person: $174–$177 per month, with slight variations depending on household composition.
- We need to add a couple of amendments in the Constitution.
- We need the filibuster put in the Constitution.
- We need a balanced budget amendment.
- When there is a shutdown, politicians shouldn’t get paid.
- We need term limits.
- Democrats are in huge trouble.
- The are fractured.
- They are being pushed to the left.
- They have no message. They are all about being anti-Trump.
- They look cruel. They used the withholding paychecks and SNAP as a weapon.
- Their accusations against Republicans is falling a deaf ears. This includes the messaging by the media.
- Chuck Schumer is done.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-vote-end-government-shutdown-ignites-democrat-civil-war
The Hammer is Falling
According to the Daily Wire:
Federal prosecutors have charged two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians on counts related to a Major League Baseball (MLB) gambling scheme.
Prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz on Sunday. The charging document alleges that the two professional athletes committed fraud, conspiracy, and bribery while collecting on bets and receiving kickbacks for their on-field performances.
Clase and Ortiz have been on paid leave from the MLB since July, when the league began investigating allegations related to the illegal gambling scheme. If found guilty, the two pitchers face a potential punishment of up to 20 years in prison, according to CNBC.
The scheme traces back to 2023 when Clase agreed to work with “corrupt sports bettors” who would place wagers on the type and speed of Clase’s pitches. Clase would coordinate with the bettors on the pitch he would throw. In many cases, Clase’s pitches would hit “in the dirt, well outside the strike zone” to satisfy the wager, according to the Department of Justice.
Ortiz joined the scheme around June 2025 after he was traded to the Guardians in December 2024, according to prosecutors.
“Together with Clase, Ortiz agreed in advance to throw balls (instead of strikes) on pitches in two games in exchange for bribes and kickbacks. Before an MLB game on June 15, 2025, Ortiz agreed with his co-conspirators to throw a ball on a particular pitch in exchange for bribes. The bettors agreed to pay Ortiz a $5,000 bribe for throwing the rigged pitch and Clase a $5,000 bribe for arranging the rigged pitch,” the Justice Department press release states.
Who’d of Thunk It?!
According to the New York Post:
The transgender person caught up in a viral Los Angeles gym bathroom row had been convicted of assaulting their now-ex-wife while living in Ohio as a man — before taking the victim’s first name as their own.
Alexis Black ran afoul of women at a gym in Beverly Hills, including singer-songwriter Tish Hyman, who accused them of exposing himself and harassing her in the locker room.
Black, formerly Grant Freeman, pleaded guilty in 2022 to savagely beating his wife Alexis Freeman, causing a compound fractured jaw among other serious injuries.
So, this guy is a misogynist.
“Kyle Grant Freeman caused serious physical harm to the victim. The victim suffered a compound fractured mandible, which resulted in her needing surgery,” said court documents from Hamilton County, Ohio.
Black was sentenced to a year in prison, minus time served.
Black had been convicted of both domestic violence and drug trafficking in the past, and has faced a slew of other charges, including resisting arrest, records show.