Dom Kelly, co-founder, President and CEO at New Disabled South, penned a social media post days ago that caught my attention. In it, he connected the dots between recent Trump administration statements and policy changes that bear out this truism: if you're disabled, you'll *have* to work to receive Medicaid if you're "able-bodied," and they'll let your employer pay you a 'sub-minimum wage' simultaneously.

While some states (including Georgia) won't allow anyone to be paid less than the federal minimum wage, the Trump Department of Labor reversed a Biden administration policy to end to the 14(c) program that allows disabled workers to be paid less than $7.25 an hour in states that will allow it.

On top of that, Brooke Rollins, Trump's secretary of Agriculture, touted the idea that "able-bodied" Medicaid recipients should be out in the fields replacing the migrant workforce ICE is snapping up and detaining.

Put it all together.

Kelly and I discussed this today at good length.

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Prior to that I reviewed notes from the AJC's Politically Georgia Wednesday blog that spelled out some of the cash hauls (and sources of them) for various 2026 gubernatorial combatants and the handful of potential candidates for that and other offices here in Georgia. There's also a notable policy item the new GOP entry - and presumed frontrunner - Burt Jones and the potential candidate in Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have in common. Could it be a matter who which one makes the most noise to push it who'll win that nomination?

Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones finally made it public: he's running to be the state's next governor, and did so with a well-produce, trope-riddle campaign video that checked off all the rudimentary Republican campaign ad must-haves: a truck, driving from a lovely exurban home, through the wandering highways of rural-esque Georgia, walking the grounds with the entire family in tow, chatting it up with some guy wearing a cowboy hat and walking a horse, etc.

It also included some other disturbing tropes: the absurdly not-at-all female guy running track as a distraight female looks on, for example. Oh, and his big foray into policy: no more income taxes.

That's where the focus went here. Why?

Because A) it never reduces - actually contributes to - inequalities and B) as per "A," is yet aother disproportionate handout to the well-off at the expense of the poor and working class. Plenty of evidence to that.

Burt's okay with that because he has zero concept what it's like being that poor and/or working class Georgian. That's how it goes when you're raised in wealth, attend private schools and don't have to balance going to college with job(s) but can instead walk-on with the football squad then step into the family business.

Georgia state House Rep. Ruwa Romman has been a busy little bee of late, speaking in Philadelphia at a massive "No Kings Day" protest and going door-to-door campaigning the Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdni in that city's primary election season.I caught up with her for a full show conversation about her ascendant profile, along with the intra-party tug-of-war between establishment and progressive Democrats (and the gettable voters just outside the party waiting to embrace it.

I had to laugh when NBC News' Ryan Nobles' relayed Senator Rand Paul's reaction to Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski's caving directly to her face. Why?

Well, for one, she had that "raccoon when the light comes on" look; for another, sh elicited a response so on-brand with "America First," MAGA and the kind of voter the GOP corrals on the regular ... the "I gots mine" crowd.

That said, I opted to go the "well, let's look at what's good in the bill" route, and even then, found that all that glitters ain't gold.

The "no tax on overtime" part, for example. A. it sunsets. B. it might benefit 2% of U.S. households and C. "very few will see significant gains." Like $10 per year. That's not going to overcome healthcare costs going up with all the Medicaid cuts coming.

The $1000 'Trump accounts' for babies is another shimmery "nothing nugget." Its benefits are - surprise - skewed to the wealthy.

Okay, what about the 'no tax on tips' carve-out? A. it's capped at $25,000, and B. "would primarily benefit higher-income tipped workers, mostly because those who make less than the standard deduction already owe no federal income tax."

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In Georgia, particularly rural MAGA Georgia, the 'Big Beautiful Bill' is whacking those voters' economic prospects, too. Towns like Cedertown had clen energy manufacturing coming their way. Now paused.

Then there are the looming Medicaid cuts and the impact they'll have on the lives of Georgia mothers. Dr. Carey Perry's op/ed in the AJC relayed just how vital Medicaid is to nearly half of all Georgia births and how losing preventative healthcare sources will be deadly for mothers.

"Loss of this coverage would almost certainly negate the efforts that continue to be made to prevent the loss of life. Medicaid is essential to our progress in combating maternal death."

But hey, Lisa Murkowski got some goodies for the 740,000 people who live in Alaska. There are ninety or more COUNTIES with more people living in them than Alaska, but Lisa took care of her folks.

The rest of us?

Former Georgia Lieutenant Governor, former Republican, Geoff Duncan, appeared on the Atlanta Journal Constitution's "Politically Georgia" podcast earlier this week to hawk his centrist overtures (again) to Democrats, only this time, he's hinted at receiving calls from 'folks across the state' (sure, dude) to run for governor - as a Democrat. "I've heard the rumor," he said.

Sorry, if he has, he's the first.

When asked, he said “I’m certainly not going to run as a Republican," then groused about how difficult it is to run as a third party candidate in this country.

Duncan would like the Democratic Party to abandon a lot of its core principles for the sake of winning, and I'm here to reject his thought process. Instead, Republicans like Duncan should show some spine and go win back their party from the nuts they once benefitted from being shovel-fed so much disinformation.

Instead, what Democrats should do is listen to Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock's floor speech Sunday and follow his lead. His impassioned plea for his Senate colleagues to reject the budget measure they eventually passed with a tie-breaking Vice Presidential vote.

"In a real sense, the question tonight is, who are we? Not who we tell ourselves we are, but who are we really? What and who do we care about? What kind of nation are we? What kind of people do we want to be? Who matters and who doesn’t? What do we think is dispensable?

In no place is the answer to that question clearer than in a nation’s budget. I submit that a budget is not just a fiscal document, a budget is a moral document. Show me your budget, and I’ll show you who you think matters and who doesn’t.

If this awful budget were an EKG, it would suggest that our nation has a heart problem and is in need of moral certainty."

His 20-minute oratory was a work of art, and the exact type of tone Democrats need to take, going forward.

Sorry I'm late to posting this week; I'd actually planned to take the four-day week into the three-day holiday weekend off, but "one big beautiful" legislative disaster has spawned this internal need to stay at it, this week.

As did Thom Tillis' floor speech over the weekend, followed by his announcement he'd not seek re-election in 2026. Suddenly, Democrats have an opportunity in North Carolina to pick up a Senate seat in an otherwise bleak Senate cycle for them.

As Trump's coveted "one big beautiful bill" makes its way through Congress, we're already seeing even GOP-led states like Georgia brace for and re-allocate funds to stunt its effects. Here, they're racing to "amp up Medicaid hospital funding by $2 billion" in anticipation of this bill's passage.

Bernie Sanders idd what former VP Kamala Harris didn't - he went (back) on Joe Rogan's podcast last week, and it was illuminating to listen to the host - a prior Sanders supporter in 2016 - agree with the progressive Senator on a range of issues - most notably the ridiculousness of a still-$7.25 per hour minimum wage. Now, it wasn't all coziness; Rogan doesn't see an issue with unfettered sums of cash influencing elections, but Sanders had to plenty to say on that - as did I.

It's on that subject, actually that libertarian Robby Soave took to a podcast (and transcribed to The Hill) to weigh in, too. He believes Rogan "SHUT DOWN" Bernie on that. But ... did he?

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Meanwhile, (centrist, deep pocketed) Democrats gonna do what they do ... freak TF out over the term "democratic socialist" in the wake of Zohar Mamdani's NYC mayoral primary. I've some words for them, too. What they're unaware of in their huddling up and discussing where to through their hefty sums of money to in the general is, they're showing why it's so important to GET money out of politics as much as is feasible. Running theme here.

So much for "vote blue no matter who," right?

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Did you see the piece on CBS Sunday morning a week ago? The story of the couple who's moved to Malta to live off their Social Security in comfort? Wow. Just, wow.

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Patricia Murphy at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution penned a piece outlining Jewish Georgians' weighing in on the AIPAC v Sen. Jon Ossoff snarl. The Senator apparently isn't pro-Israel 'enough' for them, and timely enough with it. Well, it turns out Jewish Georgians aren't all in line with state Rep. Esther Panitch and AIPAC.

AIPAC should hear folks like Rabbi (a RABBI!!!) Michael Rothbaum and Dr. Michael Greenwald out.

From elation to concern to outright hyperbolic right wing smear, reaction to Zohran Mamdani's win in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary is all over the spectrum.

Naturally, progressives are elated and believe the result portends a progressive-led blue wave for 2026 and beyond; establishment Democrats seem a little angst-riddled, fearful an ascendent democratic socialist (eek! That word!!!) could be a point of attack from the right, and of course, the right and their President, who are all too keenly aware their base is unaware the differences between "Marxist communism" and "democratic socialism."

So what is there to make of it, and does any of it translate to an effect on 2026 midterms, for Georgia Democrats or even here in Atlanta's mayoral race? Yet to be seen, but it doesn't stop me from discussing.

One Georgia lawmaker, friend of the show, Rep. Ruwa Romman, actually campaigned for Mamdani.

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As Mario Guevara's arrest and detention draws first amendment advocates' ire, the charges that even led to his arrest have been dropped, but ICE has indicated no reversal of course on their part in seeking to deport the reporter.

Meanwhile, overcrowding at the south Georgia immigration detention facility Geuvara remains in is overcrowded, leading to inmates sleeping on the floor and resorting to 3 A.M. showers to find the time to even have one, along with rationing of food.

I find it all worth mentioning because hearts and minds are softening and changing, even in ruby red MAGA hotspots like Whitfield County and its largest city, Dalton, Georgia. Patricia Murphy at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spent a lot of time there gauging Dalton's citizens on where their minds are now that ICE is raiding workplaces and wreaking havoc on economies like that in Dalton. Even a staunch Republican state lawmaker is showing signs of having empathy for the immigrant population his community - and thus his own businesses' bottom lines - plight.

On this, the third anniversary of the Trump-packed Supreme Court's 'Dobbs' decision overturning 'Roe v Wade,' it's notable that abortion rates are actually up in states with and without abortion bans on the books, according to a recent study. Still, pro-choice activists and Georgia Democrats made their case throughout the day that women deserve the right to bodily autonomy.

On with me today to discuss the state of women's reproductive rights in Georgia and the U.S. is Georgia WIN List executive director Melita Easters.

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Melita stuck around to share her insights on the dichotomy between (President Jimmy) Carter-era foreign policy - a more heart-felt and hands-on approach that led to the infamous Camp David Accords and the irrational 'Truth Social-led' Trump attempts at "waging" peace on the Middle East with bombs.

On Iran, by the way, I shared a powerful op/ed written by Atlantan, Iranian-American Sophie Kaufman, married to a Jewish American man .... mother of two children and raising them immersed in both cultures.

Then a peak in at a recent segment on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' featuring two New York City mayoral candidates - one Muslim-American, the other Jewish-American. Why I shated this?

It shows the coexistence of so-called 'rival factions' in a deeply liberal city and how both sides actually come to a point of agreement on shared values and goals on the left, whereas the right continues to believe, for more than half a century now, that military might and the threat of more of it, will somehow eventually make the suppressed opposition come to heel.

Retired Coker University sociology professor, author , historian and South Carolina Democratic Congressional candidate Mal Hyman joined me today for a deep-dive conversation on all the potential ramifications for the weekend's big headline: The U.S. bombed nuclear sites in Iran. Iran, today, fired missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar, by the way.

Mal's been to the Middle East multiple times and brought a lot of knowledge on history between Iran and Israel as well Iran and the United States - the "United States of Amnesia" he often calls us.

Incidentally, I watched a 50-ish minute documentary from Rick Steves on Iran and found it fascinating. It's easy to forget there are people beneath the regime living there, I suppose, but then again we in the "U.S. of Amnesia" also seem to have forgotten our role in the destabilization of the Middle East and how Iran came to be in the hands of radicalized religious nuts in the first place.

Mal also traveled recently to Spain for a little vacation and learning tour of the nation's budding cooperative business community. We talked a little bit about cooperatives and their role in the global economy and examples of them here in the U.S., too.

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Good news from "the" swamp - the Okefenokee Swamp, that is. An environmental non-profit has purchased land a mining company originally intended to extract titanium dioxide from near the natural wonder, thus saving it from irreparable harm.