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Josh Hawley wants to have his cake, and eat it too

Four days after Donald Trump signed his “big, beautiful bill” into law, one of the Republicans who voted for it wasn’t interested in touting the measure’s high-profile tax, or steep Medicare cuts.

It illustrates the challenges Republicans face as they turn their attention to selling to the public the massive bill they’ve been working on for months, ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

“I think that if Republicans don’t come out strong and say we’re going to protect rural hospitals, then, yeah, I think voters aren’t going to like that,” Hawley told NBC News. “The truth of the matter is, we shouldn’t be cutting rural hospitals. I’m completely opposed to cutting rural hospitals period.”

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by Anonymousreply 32July 11, 2025 12:19 AM

Hawley suggested he would work with Democrats to cut prescription drug pricing, a priority Trump has said he wants Congress to focus on, to pay for the tax cuts made permanent by the new law.

Ultimately, Hawley — who is seen as a potential future presidential candidate — chose to stay in Trump’s good graces and vote for the bill despite his reservations, while managing to score victories for his constituents.

“Gotta take the wins that you can,” Hawley told NBC News when asked about voting for a bill he admitted he didn’t like.

Defending his vote for the package that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected will cause nearly 12 million people to lose their health care coverage by 2034, Hawley said the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), as well as the rural hospital fund included in the bill at the eleventh hour to appease GOP holdouts in the Senate, would expand health care in Missouri.

But for the hospitals and social safety net administrators in Missouri, the law’s changes — even if not fully implemented until later — bring uncertainty to a community dependent on funding from expanded Medicaid access. The Missouri Hospital Association estimates the state will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the provider tax changes alone.

Federally qualified health centers, which rely on government funding to function and provide health care to underserved populations, are already facing shortfalls and budget cuts. An administrator at such a health center in the rural Missouri Highlands told NBC News last month that the impacts from Trump’s megabill will lead to death in her community.

The issue is already impacting states across the country. Hundreds of rural hospitals could close and many more will lose billions of dollars in funding over the next decade, according to an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

From a political standpoint, Republicans will need to defend policy choices that Democrats are already attacking as they seek to hold onto their congressional majorities in 2026.

Hawley joined many GOP lawmakers in gaining private assurances from leadership early on and securing priorities in the sprawling legislation.

He worked with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., “early in the year” to attach RECA to the package. RECA, a federal law that provided financial compensation to individuals who developed certain diseases as a result of exposure to radiation, expired last year.

“For me, it was key to my vote,” Hawley said. The expanded fund will accept new claims from “downwinders” and uranium workers until Dec. 31, 2027 and covers more cities and states, including zip codes in Missouri.

by Anonymousreply 1July 10, 2025 2:08 PM

Duh....Why vote for something you're clearly against, dufus?

by Anonymousreply 2July 10, 2025 2:20 PM

Who can get past his ridiculous nose?

by Anonymousreply 3July 10, 2025 3:27 PM

Oh wow, that's an obvious nose job.

by Anonymousreply 4July 10, 2025 3:30 PM

[quote] He worked with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., “early in the year” to attach RECA to the package. RECA, a federal law that provided financial compensation to individuals who developed certain diseases as a result of exposure to radiation, expired last year.

[quote] “For me, it was key to my vote,” Hawley said. The expanded fund will accept new claims from “downwinders” and uranium workers until Dec. 31, 2027 and covers more cities and states, including zip codes in Missouri.

So he fucked over millions of people, but threw a few bucks to a handful of other people, so HERO!!! Fuck off, Hawley you sad old whore.

by Anonymousreply 5July 10, 2025 3:48 PM

Not to be a fussbudget, OP, but it's 'eat his cake, and have it, too.'

by Anonymousreply 6July 10, 2025 8:28 PM

No, r6, it isn't.

by Anonymousreply 7July 10, 2025 8:33 PM

It's become "correct" due to such wide misusage, R7, but it isn't. Think about the point of the phrase, wanting it all. What's the big feat of having your cake and eating it?!

by Anonymousreply 8July 10, 2025 8:38 PM

You can't eat it unless you *have* it first, r8. Are you retarded?

by Anonymousreply 9July 10, 2025 8:41 PM

His sugar daddy, Peter Thiel, probably paid for that nose job

by Anonymousreply 10July 10, 2025 8:49 PM

I get that, R9, but how does that serve the intended meaning of the phrase?

by Anonymousreply 11July 10, 2025 8:50 PM

What’s with that picture? Looks like he has tissue shoved in his mouth.

by Anonymousreply 12July 10, 2025 8:52 PM

Apologies, r11, let me explain.

A: I want to have cake.

B: Here, you can have cake...but you can't eat it.

A: But I want to *have* my cake and *eat* it too!

by Anonymousreply 13July 10, 2025 9:17 PM

STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT CAKE!

by Anonymousreply 14July 10, 2025 9:25 PM

AI's on my side:

[quote] The phrases "have your cake and eat it too" and "eat your cake and have it too" express the same idea, although the latter is the original and more logically sound version. Both phrases refer to the impossibility of enjoying both the benefits of keeping something and the benefits of using it up, highlighting the concept of making a choice between two mutually exclusive options. While "have your cake and eat it too" is the more common expression, "eat your cake and have it too" emphasizes the core idea that once you eat the cake, you no longer have it.

by Anonymousreply 15July 10, 2025 9:29 PM

[quote]"eat your cake and have it too" emphasizes the core idea that once you eat the cake, you no longer have it

To be fair, you continue to have it until you shit.

by Anonymousreply 16July 10, 2025 9:31 PM

You can't eat something you don't have. *Have*...as in your possession.

by Anonymousreply 17July 10, 2025 9:36 PM

Fuck that goddam cake. Give it to TACO to throw against the wall.

Hawley has learned to act like Murkowski and Collins. Pretend he cares about his constituents, then vote to make Dump happy. I wish these uneducated red states would get tired of being embroiled in poverty. And vote accordingly.

by Anonymousreply 18July 10, 2025 9:42 PM

There’s no wiggle room here, and many Republicans have doomed themselves, thier respectability and careers by signing this bill.

Especially when their constituents get five-figure hospital bills and can’t get pee stained Grammy into a nursing home.

by Anonymousreply 19July 10, 2025 10:21 PM

But that won't happen until after the midterms, r19.

by Anonymousreply 20July 10, 2025 10:26 PM

Hawley's in quite the pickle because Missouri voters chose to enshrine Medicaid expansion into the state constitution. So Missouri will now have to raise taxes or choose to make drastic cuts elsewhere in the budget.

by Anonymousreply 21July 10, 2025 10:30 PM

I want rural southern hospitals and clinics to close and diabetic MAGAtards in those areas to die. Like they voted for.

by Anonymousreply 22July 10, 2025 10:30 PM

Josh Hawley, “President”

by Anonymousreply 23July 10, 2025 10:40 PM

After Trump was elected not once, but twice, R23, I wouldn't be so sure about dismissing the presidential prospects of anyone.

by Anonymousreply 24July 10, 2025 10:50 PM

Every republican who voted for this shit storm needs to go...this GEE I didn't think it would be that bad...attitude is BS. You voted for it because you feared you would lose your seat and now you are down playing it because you fear you will lose your seat. FUCK YOU ALL>

by Anonymousreply 25July 10, 2025 11:02 PM

[quote] Every republican who voted for this shit storm needs to go

Who do you think is endangered? I cannot of a one.

by Anonymousreply 26July 10, 2025 11:05 PM

r26 have you seen the town halls these idiots run? People are dragged out in cuffs they are so pissed. The GOP was smart enough to not have all the bad shit this bill will do kick in until after the mid terms but dems need to talk about it now and often

by Anonymousreply 27July 10, 2025 11:21 PM

R27, I should have stated that I was restricting my comments to Senate incumbents. I cannot think of one of those who are endangered by their vote. As for the Republicans running for reelection, the lone ones at risk are those few who, due to gerrymandering, represent swing districts. But yes, with a very different midterm electorate, the odds favor the House flipping ... even without the BBB vote.

by Anonymousreply 28July 10, 2025 11:53 PM

[Quote] There’s no wiggle room here, and many Republicans have doomed themselves,

Not so fast—you’re underestimating how stupid MAGAs are.

MTG has already done it. “I didn’t read the bill! That bad stuff is in it???” And the MAGAs bought it.

They’re not in trouble.

by Anonymousreply 29July 11, 2025 12:05 AM

By the way, yes of course “eat your cake and have it too” is the only thing that makes sense. It’s wanting two conflicting things.

Have your cake and eat it too is what anyone does when they eat cake. It’s not wanting two conflicting things.

by Anonymousreply 30July 11, 2025 12:08 AM

Josh Hawley is a ......

by Anonymousreply 31July 11, 2025 12:16 AM

So ugly inside and out

by Anonymousreply 32July 11, 2025 12:19 AM
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