Shutdown Chaos, ACA Blackmail, and Trump’s Beef Delusion

Midweek is here again and the madness did not take a day off. Washington is juggling a shutdown, fighting over ACA subsidies, and playing games with abortion politics, and Mike Johnson is out front promising everything will be fine. 

I take you right into what his optimism really feels like when you listen closely.

There is also the long delayed swearing in of Adelita Grijalva and the timing of that delay lines up with a very uncomfortable topic for a lot of powerful people. 

The Epstein files are back in the headlines and the political maneuvering around them tells a bigger story than anyone on camera wants to admit.

On the world stage, things are not quiet either. The USS Gerald R Ford is moving. Venezuela is mobilizing troops. And leaders across the globe are watching the United States with the kind of expression you never want to see from your allies. 

I talk about why these moves matter and how they fit into the larger pattern of the week.

And then there is Donald Trump and his newest take on grocery prices. A claim so strange and so disconnected from reality that it deserves its own moment. 

I get into why he keeps saying it and what it reveals about the political playbook he is still using.

If you want the soft version of these stories, this is not that episode. I walk right through the pressure points, the political theater, and the global tension without sugarcoating a single thing. 

The madness is everywhere and I am calling it out.

AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com

Chapters

• 0:00 WTF Wednesday Sets The Tone
• 0:51 Shutdown “Optimism” And Real-World Costs
• 2:07 ACA Subsidies Versus Abortion Restrictions
• 4:43 Hypocrisy Of Pro-Life Politics
• 5:45 Delayed Swearing-In And Epstein Files
• 6:56 Scandal Cycle And Institutional Denial
• 8:08 Military Posturing And Global Distraction
• 9:14 The Illusion Of Stability Exposed
• 10:38 Trump’s “Beef” Inflation Claim
• 13:17 Livestream Schedule And Community Callouts
• 15:20 Closing Rally: Stay Skeptical And Hopeful

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

This is a bad pump!

unknown: 0:04

This is a World Pong A!

SPEAKER_00: 0:08

I'm Jeff Allen Wolf and welcome to A World Gone Mad. It's WTF Wednesday, and that's the day I don't tiptoe, I don't whisper, and I sure as hell don't care who gets upset. WTF Wednesday, where I ask the question, what the fuck is Donald the Delusional One and his MAGA supporters doing now? And more importantly, how is any of this going to hurt us, the ones who really care about our country and democracy? Okay, reluctantly, let's get into all of this madness. Here we go. It's midweek in America, and apparently optimism is the new currency. Speaker Mike Johnson said he's very optimistic that Congress will finally pass a funding bill tonight and end the shutdown. Optimistic? That's cute. Because when you're a federal worker staring at an empty bank account, optimism doesn't buy gas or groceries. It's like watching your house burn down while someone says, Don't worry, I'm optimistic the fire will stop on its own. Now the U.S. government has turned procrastination into an Olympic sport. Every few months they shut it down, turn it back on, then pat themselves on the back for avoiding the crisis they created. And the rest of us are supposed to cheer because the arson is finally remembered to bring a hose. Optimism in Washington also comes with a catch. Because just when you think they've reached a deal, someone finds a new way to hold the country hostage. Okay, Republicans are now saying they won't vote to extend the ACA subsidies for health care. Get ready, unless they can also vote on stricter abortion laws. That's right. Millions of Americans' health care is being used as a bargaining chip in a moral ransom note. Remember those eight Democrats who caved in earlier this week? They did it based on a promise that Republicans would take up the ACA subsidy vote by mid-December, December 14th, give or take. Now the same Republicans are barking that they won't even consider it unless they can attach their abortion restrictions to the deal. So basically, 24 million people are being screwed because someone decided that health insurance should come with an asterisk. You can have affordable coverage, but only if you also let us legislate your uterus. This is the brinkmanship version of I'm not going to do this unless you do that. It's government by tantrum. And the worst part is they call that negotiation. And can we just pause on the hypocrisy for a second? These same lawmakers, calling themselves pro-life, are threatening to yank health care from 24 million living, breathing Americans. They want to protect embryos, but not the parents who can't afford insulin. They'll shut down the government in the name of morality, but won't pass childcare, won't fund food programs, and won't lift a finger for anyone already born. Pro-life apparently ends the minute you take your first breath. After that, you're on your own. That's not a moral stand. That's performance art for donors. It's church talk for cameras, and they know it. Now, personally, I'm against abortion, but it's nobody's choice except the women in the world to decide. Be that what it may, because if they actually believe their own sermons, the Republicans, they'd stop using healthcare as a hostage and start saving the people they claim to care about. And while the lights flicker in Washington, guess what else is happening? They're finally swearing in Adelita Grijalva, the Congresswoman who's been waiting more than seven weeks to take her seat. And why was she stalled? Because her vote might tip the balance towards something the powerful really don't want, releasing the Epstein files. A woman who was elected by the people couldn't be sworn in because the leadership decided democracy needed a timeout. This isn't Arizona's problem. It's the world's problem. Because if the most stable democracy on earth can delay someone's oath just to protect a few billionaire secrets, what does it say about the system itself? By the way, she was sworn in and she immediately signed the disposition papers to release the Epstein files. Good for you. Then there's a new batch of Epstein emails that dropped this week. Mentions of Trump, mentions of visitors, mentions of everything they've been pretending not to remember for years. It's like a horror franchise that won't die. Every time they say it's over, a new file crawl out of the vault. And here's the pattern. Every scandal involving the rich and powerful follows the same script. Shock, denial, delay, let's move on, and then silence. Because in politics, the truth is always under review. Meanwhile, the world's watching this circus and asking, is anyone in charge over there? The government is closed, the speaker's praying for optimism, and the biggest scandal of modern history keeps leaking through the cracks like sewage under a locked door. And while we're distracted by the chaos at home, the military just rolled out its biggest ship, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and sent it cruising toward Latin America. And surprise, Venezuela military is mobilizing. Troops, air power, and naval forces, the whole show. The rest of the planet is watching, wondering who's running the asylum. Let's be clear. This isn't about drugs or defense. It's about distraction. When your government is falling apart, your move and you and the move in the spotlight, you move it elsewhere. Preferably somewhere where jets and flags and a soundtrack of patriotism is so you can drown out the sound of dysfunction. Now while they're busy waving flags and flexing muscle, the rest of the planet is quietly taking notes. Europe's wondering how long the empire can hold. Asia's building lifeboats for the global economy. And the average person on the street in every country feels it in their gut, that slow vibration that says the grown-ups have left the room. We've got technology that can put a camera on Mars, but apparently can't keep food affordable on Earth. The climate's breaking, the politics are broken, and the billionaires are busy building rockets to anywhere but here. That's the new version of leadership. When things fall apart, just buy a ticket to orbit. This is what a tenuous world looks like. The U.S. government is barely functioning. Europe's exhausted. The Middle East is a powder keg. Venezuela is flexing. Russia is still playing geopolitical chess. China's watching quietly with popcorn. And every leader pretending to be in control while secretly Googling how to calm markets after global panic. We're living in a house of cards where everyone's holding their breath, hoping no one sneezes. You know what ties all this together isn't politics. It's the illusion of stability. The idea that systems built on greed, secrecy, and ego will somehow self-correct. They won't. They can't, because every layer of the system, political, corporate media, is invested in pretending everything's fine. They tell you the government is reopening. They tell you the economy's strong. They tell you no one in Porton was involved with Jeffrey Epstein. And the world nods, exhausted, half believing it because the alternative is admitting we're passengers on a ship with no captain, sailing toward a storm, and the people in charge are busy arguing about who gets the corner cabin. That's where we are, not just America, everywhere. The tension is global, the trust is gone, the curtain's slipping. And the world, the whole damn world feels one bad headline away from Breaking Point. You can feel it in every conversation, in every piece of news, in every story that starts with sources say and ends with no comment. We're all just waiting for the next thing to blow. And when it does, the same people who lit the fuse will stand there in the smoke saying, How could this happen? Because that's what we do now. We set the fire, we film it, we argue about who started it, and then sell ad space between the explosions. Welcome to modern civilization, brought to you by denial, powered by outrage, and streaming live until the signal cuts out. And here's your bonus WTF moment. Okay, listeners, listen up. Here's a little extra. And it comes straight from Donald, the delusional one. This man actually stood there and said the economy's fine, wait for it, except for beef. Meat, beef. And if the rest of the grocery store is a fairy tale land of dollar menus and free milk, according to Donald's mindset, that's what he sees. Dollar menus and free milk at the grocery store, right? We all know that's not true. Trump thinks if you skip the steak aisle, you're living the American dream again. Meanwhile, eggs, bread, coffee, we know this. Chips, cookies, cereal, produce, cleaning supplies, toothpaste, pet food, everything except maybe the receipt paper has gone up. It's like Trump wandered through Costco blindfolded, came out declaring victory for mankind. He made those remarks during a recent event in Tokyo where he claimed groceries are down, except for the beef, which I'll get it down also. Remember the eggs, Donald? You didn't do so well. A statement later fact-checked and found false by multiple outlets, including WRAL and Reuters. Donald Trump acts like inflation is a personal insult to cows. You can almost hear him saying, folks, I solved inflation except for the cows. The cows were very unfair to me. It was rigged. What's next? Blaming beef for losing the election? If only those stakes had voted. The man sold a line of Trump stakes, and now he's pretending grocery prices are fake news. Huh, that isn't insight or strategy. It's leftovers reheated from 2016, and somehow they still smell worse. This is what happens when the self-proclaimed billionaire, leader of the free world, economist research department is whatever he had for lunch. He confuses menus with markets. The rest of America is paying more for pasta, vegetables, and coffee filters while Trump is counting how many gold leaf napkins are left at Mar-a-Lago. It's not beef, Donald. It's you. Every time you open your mouth, the price of reality goes up. Definitely a world gone mad. Before I wrap up, I want to remind all of you, in case you did not hear my previous episode, How Dare You, just joking, I'm now doing live streams. I'm live streaming on TikTok. I'm not stopping this podcast. This goes on. This podcast is still here Monday night, Wednesday night, Friday night, which translates to most of you to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday mornings. But I just started on TikTok and Tuesday nights, 9.15 p.m. for 40 minutes. Thursday nights, 9.15 p.m. same time for 40 minutes. And finally, Sunday mornings, 9.30 a.m. for 40 minutes. All of these are Arizona time, which we're on mountain time right now. I hope you take the time and give a listen to the live stream because that room will be full of trolls and Republicans who absolutely adore Donald. Tuesday night on my live stream on TikTok. I had a handful of people going after me and attacking me and asking me why I hate Donald so much. I shouldn't because he's the greatest president of all time. Almost vomited when I said that line to you. Could use some of you in that TikTok live stream room, and if you've never done TikTok, you're just tuning in, sitting at home, just watching the show. Nobody sees you, nobody hears you. You could type comments in the room if you want and join in, or just be silent. TikTok live and the podcasts. Six days a week of a world gone mad. The seventh day I drink heavily and sit in a corner of the room and sob to myself. The email address, do I bother? Wolfpacktalks at gmail.com if you want to write to me. 247 toll-free voicemail box 833-399-9653. Some of you are using it, and I thank you. The rest of you are shy. And please share my podcast with others. I could use your help. I know some of you have done this in the past, but now is when I really could use your help, and you could make a big difference. Don't just listen to my podcast and for bet forget about it until next episode. When you listen to my podcast, would you please take the time to share it everywhere? One person even share it with. I'm very excited about the TikTok live shows. I'm continuing these podcasts recorded. Hopefully, I'll see some of you there on the live stream. This is a World Gone Mad. I'm Jeff Fallen Wolf. I'll be back Friday. I say the shit no one else will because I don't care who hears this. The truth has to be told. Until then, Wolfpack listeners, remain skeptical, keep focused, but most of all, stay hopeful.

SPEAKER_01: 16:18

There is chaos in the world. And we need to stand up and freezer a democracy.