Lies, Lies and More Lies: the Felon’s Willingness to Be Cruel

By Michael Woyton

If the day of the week ends in “day,” then you can be sure that someone — if not everyone — in the administration of Pres. Donald J. Felon is lying.

On Thursday, that someone was television scammer/doctor Oz — that’s Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz to you.

A reporter at a news conference asked Health Secretary Bobbie Brainworm Kennedy Jr. whether he believed Congress should extend the tax credit subsidies for the Affordable Care Act because without the extension the average plan will increase by around 115 percent.

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The brainworm whispered to Bobby that Oz should respond.

Oz asked the reporter where he got the 115 percent number and was told it was from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which independently tracks public policy and health information, including changes in the private insurance market under the ACA.

Oz replied that Kaiser retracted that number and “that data was run inappropriately.”

Q: Unless ACA subsidies are extended, the average plan will increase by somewhere around 115%DR OZ: Where'd you get that number?Q: Kaiser Family FoundationOZ: They retracted that. Here's the truth. The average American who's on ACA is gonna pay $13 more than this year. That's not a big issue

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-10-29T17:54:11.837Z

“Here’s the truth,” he continued. “The window shopping is already revealing that the average American is gonna pay, who’s on the ACA, between 100 and 400 percent of poverty level, is going to pay $50 total next year.”

Oz said that it’s going to be $13 more than it is this year, and a news release was sent out Tuesday that stated those less-than-accurate figures.

When anyone working for the grifter-in-chief says “here’s the truth,” you can bet that it’s not the truth.

Not only didn’t the Kaiser Family Foundation retract their information, Kaiser Vice President Cynthia Cox on Tuesday posted an analysis with the title “ACA Insurers Are Raising Premiums by an Estimated 26%, but Most Enrollees Could See Sharper Increases in What They Pay.”

Cox explained that health insurers, on average, are raising rates 26 percent for next year, but if the enhanced premium tax credits expire, as they are likely to do since the House Republican side of Congress is on paid leave with no end in sight, Kaiser estimates that enrollees will see their monthly premium payments “more than double, increasing by about 114%, on average.”

The problem is, people are getting information from their insurance providers now — it’s open enrollment time — and are being given figures that are jaw dropping.

Here’s one for a family in Arizona:

Arizona actual ACA coverage cost increases if Republicans gut the ACA.Thank you @gallego.senate.gov

SAM (@samierens.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T01:48:55.542Z

How about a retired couple in Oregon:

Retired couple (teacher & union carpenter) on ACA premiums skyrocketing — from $443/month to $2,224/month: “It's like buying another house and trying to pay for two houses at the same time… without the subsidy we honestly don’t know what we’re gonna do.” #TrumpShutdown

The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) 2025-10-30T04:42:01.068Z

There is no way to seriously spin this any more. This is the fault of the Republican Party and their willingness to let an adjudicated rapist tear the country down and hurt the very people who voted for them.

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BREAKING: A federal judge ordered the administration to continue paying Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds — SNAP — to 42 million Americans, according to the New York Times.

We’ll see if the administration will try to get another judge to stay the order because cruelty is a feature, not a bug to the felon and his sycophants.

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Lead art: Screen grab from PBS NewsHour via YouTube.

Published by Michael Woyton

Michael Woyton is an award-winning journalist who covered municipalities and school districts for the Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal and local and regional news in the Hudson Valley for Patch Media.

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