In midterm news...
The family, minus the MAGA son, have voted and already dropped off our ballots at the dropbox.
Speaking of midterms...
I've been mostly ignoring Puddle's Midterm Campaign Desperation Tour, as he pretty much repeats awful shit, lies, and then repeats those lies at the next rally venue.
I caught some of the lowlights from Kansas.
Puddle:
I think it's appropriate. Roger was given a real, I know the guy, he's one of the, he's a tough guy and all, but he's also high quality and he's a fine person. And he was given a bum rap because he was mandated by law to request strongly money owed from patients. You're not allowed not to do it. You have to by law go after those people.
And they made it like, oh, he was some kind of a Shylock-type guy. And if he didn't make these requests, he would be breaking the law. He would have been breaking a very strong criminal law, and he would be subject to criminal arrest and liability.
And he didn't do it. He is the law firm that did it, I don't know what they did. They're probably tough, but they were mandated to be tough by the law. And they gave him a bum rap.
So I don't know if I should be saying it, but that's the way it is, Roger, I have to tell it like it is. You got screwed with that stuff.
Buzz App. My Ears. 10/19/2026.
Shylock has long been used as an antisemitic stereotype. And this isn't the first time Puddle has used it.
ABCNY7 (07/04/2025):
Trump used the term "Shylocks," which evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jewish people and greed, to talk about the tax changes in the bill.
"No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and bar exam from, in some cases a fine banker, and in some cases Shylocks and bad people, but they took away a lot of family. They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite," he told the crowd.
Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, also condemned Trump's comments, saying in a statement it was one of "the most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes."
"This is not an accident. It follows years in which Trump has normalized antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories -- and it's deeply dangerous," she added.
Trump was asked about his use of the word after he returned to Washington D.C. early Friday. The president, who has made combating antisemitism in schools a priority in his administration, claimed he has "never heard it that way."
"To me, Shylock is somebody that's a money lender at high rates. I've never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I've never heard that," Trump claimed.
ABCNY7 (07/04/2025).
The New York Times reported in September that Senator Roger Marshall sued more than 700 patients. Of those patients, 81 were arrested.
A doctor had filed a lawsuit against him and his wife over an unpaid $4,561 bill from her emergency hysterectomy three years earlier. They had missed a court date, and the doctor’s lawyers asked the court to issue an arrest warrant.
The police took the couple into custody as their grandchildren prepared for an egg hunt, Mr. Vasquez said. They spent two days in jail before their son could borrow the money to post bond.
“We had no money to pay,” said Mr. Vasquez, now 68. At the time, his wife was working at a manufacturing plant and he was on disability, he said.
The doctor who sued the couple was Roger Marshall, now a senator from Kansas. Mr. Marshall, a Republican who is seeking re-election this fall, filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients with outstanding bills during his decades-long career as an obstetrician-gynecologist, according to a New York Times analysis of Kansas court records.
[snip]
In response to detailed questions from The Times, a spokeswoman for Mr. Marshall said that he spent decades caring for patients regardless of their ability to pay.
“Judges issue warrants when people repeatedly miss court dates, not doctors,” the spokeswoman, Payton Fuller, wrote in a statement.
Court records show that Mr. Marshall’s lawyers repeatedly requested arrest warrants, including in Mr. Vasquez’s case. They filed dozens of briefs arguing that warrants were needed because of the defendant’s “refusal to obey Court orders.”
Steven Johnson, a lawyer who often represented Mr. Marshall in debt cases, defended the warrants and ensuing arrests as necessary to ensure that debtors attended court dates.
“If defendants were allowed to appear only when they wanted to without any consequences the court would get no business done,” he wrote in a text message.
He said that Mr. Marshall was “no different” than his other clients in allowing his law firm to take the steps it felt were necessary to pursue an outstanding bill. As a client, Mr. Marshall was not involved in decisions about when to seek warrants, arrests or garnishments, Mr. Johnson said, but did set the 18 percent interest rate in a contract he had patients sign. Mr. Marshall’s office did not respond to a question from The Times about who set the interest rate.
New York Times. 09/08/2026.
This isn't the first time Puddle has defended Marshall, claiming the doctor had no choice but to go after his patients because "IT IS THE LAW"...
The Hill (10/13/2026):
There is no federal or state law requiring doctors to sue patients over unpaid medical bills, nor is there such a law requiring debt collectors to request arrest warrants from judges for defendants who do not show up to court.
[snip]
Kansas law allows judges to issue arrest warrants when defendants fail to appear in court, but attorneys are not required to request them. The Times found that Marshall’s lawyers repeatedly sought warrants against patients who missed court dates.
Steve Johnson, an attorney for Marshall who regularly represented the senator in debt cases, said in a statement to the Times that the warrants were necessary to ensure the debtors were present in court.
“If defendants were allowed to appear only when they wanted to without any consequences the court would get no business done,” he said.
Johnson also told the outlet that Marshall was not personally involved in decisions to seek arrest warrants or garnish patients’ wages. He did, however, say Marshall established an 18 percent annual interest rate on outstanding medical bills.
The Hill (10/13/2026).
Puddle:
All of the fraudsters, thieves and thugs driving around in luxury cars, you go up to Minnesota. Number one place in the entire country for the sale of Mercedes-Benz, think of it. And some Somalians, they come here with low IQs and no money and they get rich. Do we feel stupid? But you know what? Our fraud division is getting them all. Getting them all.
Buzz App. My Ears. 10/19/2026.
CarPro.com (06/15/2023):
| Ranking of States by Share of Luxury Cars - iSeeCars Study | ||
| Rank | State | % Share of Luxury Cars |
| 1 | New Jersey | 29.9% |
| 2 | Connecticut | 27.2% |
| 3 | California | 26.0% |
| 4 | Florida | 23.0% |
| 5 | New York | 22.4% |
| 6 | Massachusetts | 21.4% |
| 7 | Illinois | 21.3% |
| 8 | Georgia | 21.0% |
| 9 | Rhode Island | 20.3% |
| 10 | Maryland | 20.1% |
| 11 | Oregon | 19.2% |
| 12 | Nevada | 18.7% |
| 13 | Delaware | 18.6% |
| 14 | Arizona | 18.5% |
| National Average | 18.3% | |
| 15 | Virginia | 18.3% |
| 16 | Hawaii | 18.1% |
| 17 | Texas | 17.7% |
| 18 | North Carolina | 17.5% |
| 19 | Colorado | 17.5% |
| 20 | Pennsylvania | 16.3% |
| 21 | Washington | 16.2% |
| 22 | New Hampshire | 15.6% |
| 23 | South Carolina | 15.6% |
| 24 | Michigan | 15.1% |
| 25 | Louisiana | 14.9% |
| 26 | Tennessee | 14.7% |
| 27 | Alabama | 13.9% |
| 28 | Ohio | 13.9% |
| 29 | Missouri | 13.1% |
| 30 | Minnesota | 13.0% |
| 31 | Indiana | 12.8% |
| 32 | Oklahoma | 12.5% |
| 33 | Utah | 12.4% |
| 34 | Kansas | 12.1% |
| 35 | Alaska | 11.3% |
| 36 | Kentucky | 11.2% |
| 37 | Nebraska | 11.2% |
| 38 | Arkansas | 10.9% |
| 39 | Mississippi | 10.8% |
| 40 | Wisconsin | 10.3% |
| 41 | New Mexico | 9.7% |
| 42 | Iowa | 8.9% |
| 43 | Maine | 8.7% |
| 44 | Idaho | 7.6% |
| 45 | Vermont | 7.6% |
| 46 | West Virginia | 7.3% |
| 47 | South Dakota | 7.1% |
| 48 | North Dakota | 6.3% |
| 49 | Montana | 5.9% |
| 50 | Wyoming | 4.7% |
As you can see, I got the ranking wrong in my own tweet. Minnesota ranks 30th, not 35th.
Puddle:
And with Roger Marshall in the Senate, we will make year-round E15 permanent, but if Adam Hamilton is in, I'm not doing it. That's it. I'm only doing it for him. That's a big deal for Kansas, actually.
Buzz App. My Ears. 10/19/2026.
And we will pass a truly great healthcare plan that will stop all payments to big insurance companies which own the Democrats and we will give the money directly to you, the people, so that you can buy your own much better healthcare and have lots of money left over.
Buzz App. My ears. 10/19/2026.
During the event Puddle did make an announcement.
Puddle:
I'm also pleased to announce that the Department of Agriculture will be launching a new Harvest fuel relief program, providing our farmers with $8 billion in support to offset diesel costs during this harvest season. And Roger Marshall is the leader who fought for that to happen.
Roger got it to happen. Good job, Roger.
RollCall.com. 10/19/2026. Yes. I am lame. I forgot they normally post these transcripts. 🙄
Honored to join @POTUS in Kansas today as he announced $8 BILLION in Harvest Fuel Relief to help American farmers facing higher diesel costs and market disruptions. President Trump hears our farmers — and he is taking action: ➡️ 20 new trade deals and frameworks opening markets for American agriculture. ➡️ Year-round E15 expanding opportunities for American-grown fuel. ➡️ More domestic fertilizer production, including a farmer-owned facility right here in Kansas. ➡️ A stronger farm safety net to help preserve family farms for the next generation. Our farmers aren’t just growing crops. They’re carrying forward a way of life built on faith, family, hard work, and freedom. That legacy is worth fighting for. Under President Trump, @USDA will ALWAYS have their backs. God bless Kansas and the farmers and ranchers who keep America strong!
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) October 20, 2026
Psst: I found the socialism the R's have been looking for for decades.
