trump

Grief, Politics, and the Glovebox Rant

/ Rebecca Allen / Leave a comment

Texas is underwater, the internet is unhinged, and Elon wants to start a party. Let’s unpack that.

I had planned to jump in with thoughts on the passing of the Big, Beautiful Bill, but the tragedy unfolding in Texas is heavy on my heart. It wasn’t that long ago Hurricane Helene brought flash floods and devastation to the western part of my home state of North Carolina. People are still recovering, so this one hit a little too close.

I cannot begin to fathom what the families in Texas are going through, and I’m thankful I can’t. Losing a loved one is devastating at any time. But for a parent to lose a child is a pain no one should ever have to endure. And when I say no one, I mean regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many comments (like those from Sade Perkins and Christina Propst) that are vile, reprehensible, and completely out of line. The families living through this nightmare are at their lowest point. To suggest they deserved it because of how they voted, or because a girls’ camp was supposedly for “white-only Christians,” is beneath basic human decency.

This is the problem. When did disagreement start requiring cruelty? When did compassion become optional?

Merriam-Webster defines a natural disaster as “a sudden and terrible event in nature (such as a hurricane, tornado, or flood) that usually results in serious damage and many deaths.” Can we let that definition marinate for a second?

Do you hear yourselves when you suggest that voting for Trump means you voted for FEMA cuts, and therefore you caused the deaths in a flash flood? Or that if the missing girls were a different race, no one would be searching? I can’t wrap my head around it. Natural disasters happen every day around the world. Are you blaming voters in Japan for earthquakes? Who are you pointing fingers at when a volcano erupts in Indonesia?

This is the time to take off the boxing gloves. Or better yet just be quiet. There’s no benefit in turning grief into a campaign soundbite. Can tragedies spark important policy conversations? Sure. But right now, while families are mourning and children are missing, is not the time. Why does that even need to be said?

Now, shifting gears. Elon Musk appears to be testing the waters on a political party of his own. He posted this on X:

“Would you support a new centrist party that is not wedded to either the Democrat or Republican Party?”
— @elonmusk on X, July 6, 2025

According to the poll that followed, 64% of over a million users said “yes.” Taking that at face value, and without knowing how many of those people are actual U.S. voters or even real accounts, I’m going to go ahead and say this probably doesn’t go far. We’ve seen this movie before. Third parties show up, flash for a minute, and fade out.

And honestly, I don’t think a two-party system is the issue. It’s the people who refuse to behave within it. (remember the rant I just went on?) This feels like a classic corporate tactic. Instead of dealing with the actual dysfunction, we just create a new “special projects” team and hope the problem moves over there quietly. Ignore it and maybe it will go away…

Now back to the BBB. If you missed it, it passed. And I’ll repeat what I’ve said before. Read it yourself. Don’t just skim headlines like “Millions to Lose Medicaid Benefits Under Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill” and call it a day. There’s nuance. There’s fine print. And a lot of the outrage relies on people not reading it at all.

Will some people lose benefits? Yes. Should they have had them in the first place? That’s debatable and worth its own conversation. Will there be collateral damage? There always is. But if we don’t make hard decisions now, cut where we should and fund what matters, we’ll sink the ship for everyone. And that includes me, come Social Security time.

Now for the part that may not sit well with everyone. I’m not mad about the changes coming to student loans and Pell Grants. Yes, they’re in the bill. And no, they’re not some act of cruelty. We should not have been handing out blank checks to fund six-figure degrees in fields that lead nowhere, then acting shocked when borrowers default. That’s not compassion. It’s bad math. And that irony is not lost on me with the push for higher education.

Borrow only what you need. Get a degree that leads somewhere. Go to work. Wait tables in the meantime. There’s no federal income tax on tips anymore.

Ceasefires, Side-Eyes, and the Big, Beautiful Bill

/ Rebecca Allen / Leave a comment

When last we spoke, Trump was dropping f-bombs on live TV. That was less than a week ago.
Read that again. Less than a week ago.

The mission into Iran was clearly just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to wins from the rest of the week. The good news? The ceasefire seems to be holding, and President Trump is heading into Independence Day riding a wave of victories.

With everything moving fast, here are a few headlines I think are worth commenting on:

Daddy’s Home

You knew I was going to start here. There was no way I wouldn’t.

Another line of cringeworthy awkwardness that ended up being hilarious. If you missed it (though I’m not sure how), NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte referred to Trump as “Daddy” in response to comments the president made about the squabbling between Israel and Iran.

To paraphrase: Trump said, “They’re like kids in a schoolyard. Let them fight it out and get it out of their system for a bit. Then you step in and stop it.”

Insert Rutte’s comment here.

All of our inner 12-year-olds came out in that moment—and honestly, same.

The Big, Beautiful Bill

There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ll keep it simple for now. Congress needs to pass it. These topics could (and probably will) be expanded on later, so consider this a first pass.

  • Medicare/Medicaid cuts – Am I concerned? No. Able-bodied individuals need to work. Period. It’s not the responsibility of taxpayers to fund a program riddled with fraud and overrun by people who just don’t want to work. I’ve seen firsthand how Medicaid gets abused—and it’s infuriating. These programs should be for people who actually need help, not those trying to “stick it to the man” while draining resources.
  • Immigration – Yes, I support additional ICE funding and finishing the wall. Name one other country where you can stroll in and overstay your welcome like we’ve seen here the last few years. You can’t.
    Do I think the pathway to citizenship should be easier? Absolutely. We’ve got the best intel and technology in the world—use it to weed out the bad actors faster and help the good ones get here legally.
    Do I love the “gold card” idea? Not really. “Bring us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses,” remember that? Yeah. That. And if you’re someone who doesn’t lean right, that’s okay. You don’t have to agree with every solution to acknowledge the problem. We should be able to talk about fixing a broken system without immediately being labeled one thing or another.
  • Air-traffic control – Yes. That’s it. Just yes. We upgrade our phones every two years—why is our air traffic system still running on technology from the Cold War era? Call me crazy, but I think the skies deserve an update.

This is a 940-page beast that’s being read aloud in Congress as we speak. If you want to experience the worst storytime ever, CSPAN has you covered. Or go to congress.gov and read through it yourself. Either way, it’s worth getting ahead of the game and educating yourself.

NYC Mayoral Race

I don’t live in New York City. I can’t afford it, and frankly, I’m not sure I’d like it anyway. I’ve visited once. It’s long been seen as the place to be once you’ve “made it.” A melting pot—which is great. We like folks from all walks of life… as long as they’re here legally and pulling their weight. Aka: paying taxes. Aka: funding all these “free” programs Mamdani is pitching.

Childcare, busses, grocery stores? It’s starting to feel like a presidential campaign—and news flash, even if he’s elected, he won’t have the authority to do half of what he’s promising. One could argue this is actually a gift to the Republican party. Kinda like when the Dems ran Hillary.

To be clear, I’m not saying Democrats don’t have good ideas. I’m saying some of the loudest ones aren’t offering practical ones. If you’ve ever felt politically homeless, you’re not alone. It’s possible to want safety, fairness, and fiscal sanity all at the same time.

My point is: America is watching. Most of us may not live there, but many would like to visit—and we’d prefer to feel safe doing it. If I get mugged, I doubt a social worker will be the solution in that moment.

So here’s a free tip for the Democratic party: if you want to hand Republicans the keys for the next 50 years, keep letting people like Mamdani and AOC lead your message.
The silent (yes, I know I’m not exactly silent) majority isn’t buying it. And while nobody loves a “lesser of two evils” situation, we’ll still show up—especially if it means voting against socialism in a hoodie.