The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for July 12
Recovery efforts continued this week after the devastating July Fourth flash floods in Texas. President Donald Trump toured the flood site Friday, while officials faced mounting criticism over the lack of emergency warnings about quickly rising waters that killed at least 120 people, including over two dozen at an all-girls summer camp. More than 170 people remain missing.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also announced that the Justice Department and the FBI have concluded that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide and didn't have a client list — even though just months ago Bondi claimed to have such a list. The announcement was met with skepticism and backlash from far-right conservative personalities and influential members of President Trump's base.
Speaking of sketchy public figures, ex-Ald. Ed Burke was released from prison Tuesday after serving less than half of his two-year sentence. Federal prosecutors want former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain, who was convicted of bribery, to be sentenced to nearly six years in prison. And an investigation into last week's mass shooting in River North remains ongoing, though police said the attack was targeted.
In other local news, Chicago's longest-serving alderman, Walter Burnett, announced that he will step down from the City Council this month. The announcement has fueled speculation that the 27th Ward politician could be tapped to lead the Chicago Housing Authority. Mayor Brandon Johnson, meanwhile, is pushing the City Council's Zoning Committee to pass a proposal that would clear the way for the construction of more garden apartments and 'granny flats.'
Plus, Chicago Public Schools announced more layoffs Friday. In a statement, the district said it was firing 1,458 employees to adjust for enrollment and programming changes. It's the second round of CPS layoffs this summer.
The third (and perhaps final) NASCAR Chicago Street Race was this past weekend, with Shane van Gisbergen winning both the Xfinity and Cup Series races. Mayor Johnson said Tuesday he's open to NASCAR returning to Chicago, but hinted that the city may need a better deal to sign a contract extension.
Looking ahead to this weekend, the MLB draft kicks off Sunday night. The White Sox own the No. 10 pick, and the Cubs will pick at No. 17.
And former Chicago Cubs manager Lee Elia, whose long-winded, expletive-laden 1983 tirade against Cubs fans was cemented in the team history, died Wednesday. He was 87.
Without further ado, here's the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for July 6 to 12. Want more quotes? You can find past editions of Quotes of the Week, here.
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USA Today
27 minutes ago
- USA Today
People abuse Medicaid. That's why Trump's Big Beautiful Bill makes it stronger.
My Democratic colleagues in Congress have spread misinformation about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, claiming that it is a disaster for families. That's simply untrue. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump tasked Congress with developing a bill that enacts his domestic policy agenda and kickstarts the American economy. This piece of legislation, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was signed into law by the president on July 4. It accomplished its goal of providing tax relief for Kentucky families, securing our border, investing in our military readiness, unleashing American energy and strengthening Medicaid for our most vulnerable Americans. In Congress, I am honored to serve as the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. At the onset of the work on the One Big Beautiful Bill, we were tasked with finding $880 billion in savings from our committee's jurisdiction. The final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill includes over $1 trillion in savings from my committee's jurisdiction. To accomplish this, we worked to eliminate reckless Green New Deal environmental regulations, promote American energy dominance and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse within the Medicaid program. As you may have seen in the news over the past few weeks, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have spread misinformation about this bill, claiming that it is a disaster for Kentucky families. That's simply untrue. Let's take a moment to address a few of the false narratives that have been spread to scare the American people. Opinion: Trump isn't gutting Medicaid and food stamps. He's fixing our broken welfare system. Truth and lies about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and Medicaid Allegation: Single mothers, children, seniors and people with disabilities will lose access to health care. Truth: The Medicaid provisions included in the One Big Beautiful Bill ensure our most vulnerable Americans continue receiving the support they need. It strengthens the program by removing deceased recipients from the Medicaid rolls, requiring states to conduct more frequent eligibility checks for the expansion population, ensuring that individuals are not enrolled in multiple states and enacting commonsense work requirements for able-bodied Americans who choose not to work. Additionally, our bill expands access to home and community based services for low-income seniors and individuals living with a disability. Allegation: Work requirements are a 'ruse' to force people off Medicaid. Truth: According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, there are 4.8 million able-bodied adults currently on Medicaid who don't work. A survey showed this population spends roughly 184 hours a month watching television and socializing – that's 50% higher than employed beneficiaries. Your Turn: Medicaid handouts only create dependency. Able-bodied adults should work. | Opinion Forum Our bill enacts basic work requirements to require individuals to be employed, participate in job training, go to school or volunteer in their communities for just 20 hours per week to receive Medicaid. Notably, the One Big Beautiful Bill exempts people ages under 19 or over 65, pregnant women, tribal members, caregivers of children and seniors with disabilities and parents with dependents under 15. I believe most people would agree it's appropriate to expect able-bodied, unemployed adults on Medicaid to work or give back to their communities to receive fully subsidized health insurance. Kentuckians' support for these policies is strong, as this year, the Kentucky General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to overturn Gov. Andy Beshear's veto and institute a similar state-level work requirement. Allegation: Over 35 Kentucky hospitals are at risk of closing as a direct result of this bill. Truth: The allegation that 35 rural hospitals will close is a blatant mischaracterization at best. This number stems from a list of hospitals that generally receive high levels of Medicaid funding or experienced three consecutive years of negative total profit margin. This claim fails to mention the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program created by the bill to support rural health providers care for their patients. This will bolster funding for our most vulnerable hospitals and allow them to keep serving their communities. Trump's bill refocuses Medicaid to cover the most vulnerable Our legislation eliminates restrictive Biden-Harris era state requirements, forcing ineligible individuals to remain enrolled, and lifts Americans out of poverty by encouraging reentry into the workforce. By cutting top-down mandates, we refocus Medicaid dollars to cover the most vulnerable and give states' budgets the ability to further invest in hospitals. Spending in the Medicaid program continues to chart an unsustainable path, growing at twice the rate of inflation between 2018 and 2023. If not addressed, the program will no longer have the capacity to serve its intended purpose. In order to preserve this safety net for generations to come, Republicans have committed to policies that empower states to care for our most vulnerable Americans – pregnant women, children, individuals living with a disability and low-income seniors. The One Big Beautiful Bill is a commonsense win that strengthens Medicaid for Kentucky's most vulnerable, and I'm proud to have supported its passage. Congressman Brett Guthrie has served the people of Kentucky's Second District in Congress since 2009. He currently serves as chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. This column originally appeared in the Courier Journal.
USA Today
27 minutes ago
- USA Today
With their brand in the 'toilet,' Democrats commence shadow 2028 primary for president
Kamala Harris, Andy Beshear, Gavin Newsom and Ruben Gallego are part of a diverse and large field of White House hopefuls tiptoeing toward the starting 2028 line. When Kamala Harris was asked point blank if the reason she passed on running for California governor was because she is seeking a different office, the former Democratic vice president said she doesn't "want to go back in the system" just yet. "I want to travel the country, I want to listen to people, I want to talk with people and I don't want it to be transactional, where I'm asking for their vote," Harris said during a July 31 on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", her first interview since stiff arming the 2026 election to lead her native Golden State. But the 60-year-old can't help and leave bread crumbs out for supporters, such as when she hinted in her announcement that she will be "sharing more details in the months ahead" about her future. More: Kamala Harris' decision kickstarts the 2028 Democratic presidential primary: 5 takeaways "That's leaving more than the door ajar, that's pushing the door wide open," Michael Feldman, a former senior adviser to Vice President Al Gore, told USA TODAY. "I understand the optionality that creates for her: she shut a door, she's opening another. And by the way, nobody wants to foreclose their options and their opportunity." 'A contested primary' ahead If Harris does enter the fray for a third try at the presidency it will certainly stir the 2028 pot. She brings the highest name ID of any suspected contender and an even broader donor network with established relationships to boot. But campaign experts and strategists warn that no one should expect a red carpet to the nomination this time around. "There will be a contested primary," Feldman said. "There will be a large field of people who feel like it's their time and it's their moment." More: Town halls, f-bombs and Elon Musk: How Democrats are waging a new messaging war As the Democratic reboot continues, White House hopefuls such as Harris are tiptoeing into an earlier than usual shadow campaign that political observers say they believe will be among the party's most consequential presidential primaries in decades. "More is riding on this pre-primary race than in most years because the party's brand is in the toilet," said Matthew Dallek, a historian and professor of political management at George Washington University. But Democrats must be cautious about trotting too far to the left based on the outcome of a single or handful of recent elections, some strategists warn. Vice President JD Vance, thought by many to be next in line to inherit the MAGA mantle for populist-minded conservatives, is one of the more effective national communicators for Republicans with sharpened skills as Trump's attack dog. He and other potential GOP figures are ready to dig Democrats a deeper hole. More: JD Vance is now the MAGA heir-apparent. Does that make him the front-runner for 2028? While voting won't commence in the next White House race for 17 more months, that's not stopping a number of sitting governors, senators and other aspiring future Democratic presidents to be making pilgrimages to early voting states. They're also penning memoirs, doing marathon podcast interviews, squirreling away campaign cash and outlining their stances on topics that will be relevant to the progressive base, moderates and eventually independent voters down the line. More: Kamala Harris explores 'drama of running for president' in new book on 2024 bid All of the preliminary jockeying from such a diverse and crowded unofficial field suggests a resilience among rank-and-file Democrats despite abysmal approval ratings that haven't been this low among voters since 1990. "The only way to begin to improve it is through whoever the next presidential nominee will be," Dallek said "The stakes, in that sense, are higher. It's not just the presidency. It's not just the nomination. There's a sense among Democrats that they need to do this, and there's a big debate." Raising brands and saving campaign cash Several 2028 hopefuls have already begun to make strategic moves to keep their name in the mix with the party faithful. About a dozen have visited or have plans to make stops in the early primary states, such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, 60, who in April caught attention for delivering a searing speech in New Hampshire aimed at 'do-nothing' Democrats. Sen. Ruben Gallego, 45, of Arizona, whose name has lately shot up on the rumored list of White House candidates, is set to attend two events in the Granite State later this month too, further fueling speculation that he's a possible contender. "I'll be on the ground in New Hampshire... taking on the GOP's billionaire agenda and standing up for working families," Gallego, who was elected to the Senate last fall, said in a July 29 post on X. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 57, trekked through rural South Carolina in July. He was followed by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, 47, who talked up flipping red states with union leaders and later Rep. Ro Khanna, 48, D-Calif., who made a four-day tour featuring town halls and visits to Black churches. Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 43, may claim he "isn't running for anything" but his May trip to Iowa for a veterans-focused forum focused heavily on existential questions facing Democrats and the country. Buttigieg shot to fame running for president in 2020 as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and he has been raising his national brand through a podcast tour. Other potential contenders are also taking the podcast route, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 46, who recently lamented how Democrats "gave up on" entire swaths of the country during a July 29 sit-down chat on former DNC chair Jaime Harrison's "At Our Table." "I'm very much am a person of action, and I think as a party we've got to stop being the party of 'no and slow' and start being the party of 'yes and now,'" said Moore, whose name is tossed around despite saying he isn't running for president. More: Harris campaign's embrace of social media influencers is years in the making Nina Smith, a Democratic strategist who worked on Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, said these early moves serve the candidates by creating and maintaining local connections. They also lend to rebuilding the party's brand organically through the excitement of a nominee. "There's some juice, there's some fire, from the perspective of people who want to step up and lead and be the standard bearer for our party," Smith said. "We're kind of spoiled for choices in that regard. That's a good thing." Such an elongated presidential campaign can exhaust resources as much as voters, which may explain why notable 2028 contenders are storing up massive cash reserves. Khanna, whose California district is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, had roughly $14.2 million in his campaign coffers at the end of June, according to the latest Federal Election Commission report. Other congressional Democrats on the 2028 list who can legally transfer their funds to a presidential campaign include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., 35, who had a record-breaking first quarter haul this year and had about $9.8 million in the bank. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., 51, a media maven with possible White House aspirations, holds approximately $10.2 million in his accounts. Big debates on Trump, affordability and Gaza lie ahead One feature of the pre-primary jockeying that is coming into focus is the major differences within the Democratic ranks, such as how best to oppose the Trump administration's bulldozing agenda. An example of that larger debate was on display on Capitol Hill this past week when Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, a rumored 2028 contender, blasted his fellow party members for supporting a bundle of proposals backed by the GOP administration that would increase resources and funding to police departments and officers. More: 'It's with a full heart that I share this news': Cory Booker drops out of 2020 race "This, to me, is the problem with Democrats in America right now is we're willing to be complicit to Donald Trump to let this pass through when we have all the leverage right now," said Booker, 56, who ran a short-lived 2020 presidential campaign and has garnered renewed interest since delivering a record-breaking Senate speech. Booker's comment outraged Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., 65, another prospective and former 2020 White House contender, who needled him for missing a committee hearing on the bipartisan package. There are other issues for Democrats to sort out as well, such as navigating the rising populism from the left over cost of living concerns that helped propel Zohran Mamdani's primary win in the New York City mayor's race. Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, 65, a centrist-aligned Democrat who is being urged to run by more moderate voices, has cautioned against Democrats embracing the 33-year-old New Yorker who is hoping Big Apple voters will pick him this November to lead the nation's largest city. "Recognizing that the American dream is unaffordable and inaccessible and that working hard no longer guarantees getting ahead isn't a socialist observation; it's clear to people of all political stripes," Emanuel said in a June 26 op-ed to the Wall Street Journal. More: Rahm Emanuel warns Democrats in 2020 not to play to 'socialist' type "Affordable healthcare, lifetime retirement security and affordable community college are as American as apple pie, but they won't be realized by consulting the Democratic Socialists of America's playbook," added Emanuel, who most recently served as Biden's U.S. ambassador to Japan and previously was an Illinois congressman and White House chief of staff to then-President Barack Obama. Feldman, the former Gore advisor, said there's a lot of energy among the progressive wing of the party that can't be dismissed, but he questions if someone such as Mamdani could be competitive in a national general election. 'My argument would be, no, he couldn't be,' Feldman said. 'So, you know, there'll be an argument between the various factions in the Democratic Party about what policies we want to present to the American people, and can you harness the energy in the electorate.' More: Election 2024 recap: 'We accept the results,' Harris concedes Other Democratic thinkers agree these sort of sparring matches are inevitable but that they should be looked at more optimistically in the 2028 context given the presidential field is expected to include uber-progressives, centrists and even moderately conservative. "It's gonna be messy and personal, and it's going to feel bad sometimes in the process, but I think it's going to help us shape as a party, what we believe," Amanda Litman, a former Obama 2012 and Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign staffer who co-founded Run for Something, a progressive group that supports candidates for public office, told USA TODAY. Progressives versus everyone else? Every potential 2028 contender will have to talk about a voter's lived experiences and connect with them on the issues that matter most, according to various Democrats who spoke with USA TODAY. But they will also have to evolve with the progressive base on issues the mainstream party has been fearful to embrace. Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who lost his reelection bid last year, is touting new polling by Data for Progress released in late July that shows of New York City primary voters strongly sympathize with Palestinians. The survey found support for Palestinian rights fueled much of Mamdani's support, including 78% of respondents who said Israel is committing genocide in the region and another 79% who said they support restricting weapons to the U.S. ally. Bowman, who was opposed heavily by pro-Israel groups, pointed out that Khanna stood up early as one of the first members of Congress to call for a cease-fire during the Biden era, saying his former colleague should get "a lot of credit for that." As the 2028 field takes shape, Bowman argued that the party cannot be seen as titling the scales against more left-leaning contenders. He also warned the possible presidential contenders that they should not ignore the shifting tides that populist-minded progressives are causing, especially amid widespread reports of starvation in Gaza. "I expect a robust primary debate," Bowman told USA TODAY. "And I hope that ideas rule the day over special interests and politics where we can see the rise of an authentic, historic leadership."
New York Post
27 minutes ago
- New York Post
Bill Maher spars with Rep. Jason Crow on possibility of Mamdani as NYC mayor: ‘We've never had someone this radical'
Comedian Bill Maher sparred Friday with one of his guests, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., when the lawmaker dismissed criticism of New York City's Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as a 'contrived villain or boogeyman.' 'He's not contrived. He's gonna be the mayor of New York,' Maher argued. The late-night show host cited Mamdani's 'Marxist' positions, such as the 'abolition of private property,' after he declared that the Big Apple has 'never had someone this radical.' 'There's a lot of opposition [to Mamdani] because we've never had someone this radical,' Maher warned. 'Some of the things he says, you know he quotes Marxists, 'each according to their need.' I mean, that's straight up Communism.' Meanwhile, Rep. Crow maintained that a 'boogeyman' like Mamdani comes around every election cycle for Republicans. 'They always try to create a villain is my point,' he said. 'They always try to create some boogeyman or bogeywoman.' 'No, these are quotes. I'm not creating anything, I'm quoting [Mamdani],' Maher debated. The comedian's second guest, columnist James Kirchick, did not hesitate to chime in about the criticism Mamdani has received from conservatives. 3 Comedian Bill Maher argued that mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani will win the election. Real Time with Bill Maher/YouTube 3 Rep. Jason Crow maintained that a 'boogeyman' like Mamdani comes around every election cycle. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post 'Everything that the crazy far-right alleged about Obama – wasn't born in America, Islamist, socialist, antisemite, hates America, it's all true about this guy [Mamdani],' Kirchick claimed. Kirchick went on to describe what he finds the 'most appalling' about Mamdani. 'He defends the expression 'globalize the intifada,' which explicitly means – and I don't wanna hear anyone deny this – it means kill Jews whenever and wherever you can find them,' Kirchick added. The 'Secret City' author hit both sides of the political aisle, comparing Democrats who are not refusing to endorse Mamdani to Republicans 10 years ago, who were 'letting Trump go on and on and they weren't standing up to him.' 3 Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. LP Media 'I feel with this guy we're seeing the same sort of cowardice and spinelessness,' Kirchick asserted. In July, the New York Times reported that Mamdani told a group of business leaders he would not use the phrase 'globalize the intifada,' and he would 'discourage' others from using it. The American Pulse polling firm conducted a survey in July, in which it found that 30% of New York City voters support Mamdani's refusal to condemn the phrase 'globalize the intifada' and his backing of the anti-Israel boycott movement.
