It’s Wednesday…
President Shitshow’s public schedule for…
| Wednesday, July 30 2025 |
| 9:00 AM In-Town Pool Call Time In-Town Pool |
| 1:30 PM The President signs Congressional Bill Roosevelt Room Closed Press |
| 4:00 PM The President delivers remarks on Making Health Technology Great Again East Room Pre-Credentialed Media |
When I first started writing this post, I couldn’t find any information about which bill was being signed today — and honestly, it felt like I wasn’t the only one. But thanks to a tip from my friend Frances on Discord (shoutout!), I discovered something new: a handy little section on the homepage of Congress.gov labeled “Presented to the President.” And what do you know — that’s where H.R.1815 – the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act popped up.
Now that we know what’s actually being signed, let’s dive into the rest of today’s political theater — including the president’s attempt to brand some tech pledges as a bold step forward for healthcare innovation. Spoiler: it’s mostly a handshake deal with 60 tech companies about sharing your health data more easily. Because what could go wrong?
CNN says:
The plan is expected to center on a pledge that roughly 60 companies will sign — including tech giants Microsoft and Oracle — to help develop new ways for more easily sharing patient data across the US’s fragmented health care system, three people familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump is slated to tout the voluntary framework during a White House speech on Wednesday.
Yet it remains unclear how quickly the companies can make progress on such a sweeping goal — and how the administration plans to hold them accountable for following through on the high-level, nonbinding commitment. The proposal may also spark pushback from privacy advocates who have warned that making patients’ sensitive health data more widely accessible risks also making it less secure.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the largest federal health programs, declined to comment on the details of the announcement. But in a statement, spokesperson Catherine Howden said the “initiative aims to build a smarter, more secure and more personalized healthcare system — one that improves patient outcomes, reduces provider burden and drives greater value through private sector innovation and aligned federal leadership.”
CNN. 07/30/2025.
President TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) announced this morning that he wasn’t going to TACO on the August 1st deadline for the “new” tariffs to take effect. Just a reminder: back in April, he also insisted there would be no pause on the Liberation Day Tariffs. Spoiler — there was. So, stay tuned… because if history’s any guide, we’re just one tantrum away from another flip-flop.
Yeah, a great day where we continue to see prices increase on our everyday purchases. #Winning!
President Bully is at it again — this time trying to muscle India by announcing a 25% tariff plus a mystery penalty “for the above,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. Apparently, we’re slapping new costs on American consumers because India buys oil from Russia and sells us too little stuff. Makes sense if your brain runs on grievance fumes and zero economic literacy. Stay tuned for the inevitable backpedal — August 1st is just around the corner, and President TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) loves a last-minute retreat.
FYI, if President Bully were serious about pressuring India to buy less from Russia, he’d impose sanctions — not slap tariffs that make everyday goods more expensive for Americans. Or better yet, he could just phone up his bestie Putin and suggest he get the hell out of Ukraine. But that would require spine, strategy, and a basic understanding of consequences — so, obviously not happening.
Speaking of the economy…
BEA.gov released today that the estimated GDP growth for quarter two is 3.0 percent.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the second quarter of 2025 (April, May, and June), according to the advance estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP decreased 0.5 percent.
The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected a decrease in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, and an increase in consumer spending. These movements were partly offset by decreases in investment and exports. For more information, refer to the “Technical Notes” below.
BEA.gov. 07/30/2025.
I skipped the other words and went right to “technical notes”:
Technical Notes
Sources of change for real GDP
Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent (0.7 percent at a quarterly rate 1) in the second quarter, primarily reflecting a decrease in imports and an increase in consumer spending that were partly offset by decreases in investment and exports.
- Exports and imports primarily reflected Census Bureau-BEA U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services data as well as the Census Bureau’s Advance Economic Indicators Report for June.
- Within imports, the decrease primarily reflected a decrease in goods, led by nondurable consumer goods, except food and automotive (mainly medicinal, dental, and pharmaceutical preparations, including vitamins).
- Within exports, the decrease primarily reflected a decrease in goods, led by automotive vehicles, engines, and parts.
- The increase in consumer spending reflected increases in both services and goods. Within services, the leading contributors were health care, food services and accommodations, and financial services and insurance. Within goods, the leading contributors were motor vehicles and parts and other nondurable goods.
- Within health care, both outpatient services and hospital and nursing home services increased, based primarily on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES) employment, earnings, and hours data.
- The increase in food services and accommodations was led by food services, based on Census Bureau Monthly Retail
- The increase in financial services and insurance was led by portfolio management and investment advice services.
- The increase in motor vehicles and parts was led by new light trucks, based primarily on IHS-Polk registrations data.
- The increase in other nondurable goods was led by pharmaceutical products, based on MRTS data.
- The largest contributor to the decrease in investment was private inventory investment, led by decreases in nondurable goods manufacturing (mainly, chemical manufacturing) and in wholesale trade (reflecting widespread decreases in durable goods industries). The estimates of private inventory investment were based primarily on Census Bureau inventory book value data and a BEA adjustment to account for notable increases in imports in the first quarter and decreases in the second quarter.
More information on the source data and BEA assumptions that underlie the second-quarter estimate is shown in the key source data and assumptions table.
Fresh off better-than-expected second quarter numbers, President Still-Doesn’t-Understand-Interest-Rates is once again demanding Fed Chair Powell lower rates — because nothing says ‘economic genius’ like trying to cool inflation with a gas can.
And before you ask — no, I don’t doubt the data. This second quarter estimate was expected to come in higher than the first; the “better than expected” part means projected growth is 3.0% instead of 2.5%. It’s also worth noting that in April, during the original “liberation day,” most of the tariffs were paused — which likely contributed to the bump. A new “liberation day” is now set for Friday.
This is an open thread
PS.
In other news…
Donald Trump asks for 5 seats and Greg Abbott automatically bends the knee.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 30, 2025
The 2026 election is being rigged.
California won’t sit back and watch this happen. https://t.co/HlBtLfzpAL
The UK paid tribute today to legend Ozzy Osbourne.
Sharon Osbourne placed flowers for her late husband Ozzy Osbourne in the music star's home city of Birmingham in England on Wednesday.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 30, 2025
Osbourne, who was seen in tears, was joined by her children, Jack and Kelly, as she laid the flowers at a bench and bridge named after Black… pic.twitter.com/nMAgUvN2o8
Show more =’s Black Sabbath, the band Osbourne pioneered the heavy metal genre with in the 1960s.
