G.O.P. senators, including Florida's Rick Scott, are lobbying Trump on health care to avoid drubbing in midterm elections

News and views for thoughtful Floridians and other Americans

Republican senators, including Florida’s Rick Scott, are trying to capture President Donald Trump’s fleeting attention to avoid falling over the year-end health care cliff.

It’s a fast-approaching financial disaster for millions of Americans and a recipe for disaster for the G.O.P. if a fix isn’t found quickly.

A meeting yesterday, in which Scott was to pitch his own plan for revamping the Affordable Care Act, was cancelled by the White House for “unrelated reasons.”

Trump was probably too busy raging over Democrats and their message to members of the armed services reminding them they don’t have to obey unlawful orders. You know, like murdering people in motorboats in the Caribbean.

Trump wants those Dems—all veterans—to be executed. He just loves, loves, loves killing people.

But the point of the aborted meeting the Republicans were trying to arrange was to keep the G.O.P. from getting murdered in the midterm elections, which likely will happen anyway, but for sure if something isn’t done to keep health insurance costs from skyrocketing after the first of the year.

You’ll recall that one of the promises Senate Democrats extracted to end the government shutdown earlier this month was that Congress would try to find a way to extend Obamacare subsidies to keep the price of health insurance down. Otherwise, they expire at the end of the year and prices will skyrocket.

According to Punchbowl News, a handful of Republicans have been lobbying Trump to support a short-term extension of the subsidies to at least get past the midterm elections. Otherwise, they might lose the Senate.

Scott has his own plan, which involves a scheme Trump likes—finding a way to bypass the insurance companies and put money in people’s wallets directly.

He calls it the Trump Health Freedom Accounts.

And yes, Scott is sucking up to his Dear Leader, which is one of his specialties. But in all fairness, when you’re trying to get a narcissist to do something, you start with flattery.

Scott’s rich enough he could take a page from the Qataris and buy Trump another jet, but naming a bill after him would be cheaper. If they’d just rename Obamacare—say, call it Trumpcare—they probably wouldn’t have to do anything else.

But there’s a genuine sense of urgency in the G.O.P. to get something—anything—done so they can tell voters they care.

Even if they don’t.

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Jimmy Buffett’s still making money in the afterlife

Thanks to Key West reporter Ted Lund, I discovered there’s an annual list ranking the highest-paid dead people in the world.

And making this year’s roundup is the late, great Jimmy Buffett.

As Lund reports in his Above The Fold Substack column:

Jimmy Buffett may have sailed off into the sunset in 2023, but the island troubadour’s financial tide is still rolling in.

Buffett ranked No. 8 on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s highest-paid dead celebrities for 2025, earning an estimated $14 million over the past year—largely on the strength of the global Margaritaville lifestyle empire he built out of his Key West roots.

I won’t borrow any more from his column and, instead, encourage you to read it for yourself. It’s a terrific article, as are so many of Lund’s stories out of the Conch Republic, where he holds local politicians’ feet to the fire with tough, accurate accountability journalism.

It’s cross-posted on the Tropic Press homepage for your reading enjoyment, and here’s a link:

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Trump wants to drill for oil off the Florida Coast

President Donald Trump’s administration has announced plans for new oil drilling off the Florida coast, disregarding years of strong opposition from environmental groups and politicians of both parties.

The oil industry wants access to new offshore areas, including off Florida’s coast and in Southern California.

The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Florida and part of offshore Alabama, since 1995, because of concerns about oil spills.

Since taking office for a second time in January, Trump—who calls climate change “the greatest con job ever”— has reversed former President Joe Biden’s focus on slowing climate change.

The Associated Press reports that both Florida and California are likely to oppose the plan. Complete details here:

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The Strange Files

By Alexander Strange

The problem with stealing an ATM is that it’s heavy. But that didn’t stop a Florida Man in Tallahassee earlier this week.

Police say the 38-year-old suspect stole a forklift from Griffin Middle School, then took it for a slow-moving “joyride” that led him to an ATM cash machine at a nearby business.

He used the forklift to liberate the ATM, but was spotted by someone who called the police.

When the cops arrived, he took off running, but was caught.

Court records show he now faces several charges, including burglary of a structure, criminal mischief, resisting an officer without violence, grand theft and possession of burglary tools with intent to use. He was also charged with trespassing on school grounds, according to police.

He was not charged with speeding.

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Coming tomorrow:

Readers ask: Will my BENGAY be confiscated if I travel through the Free State of Florida because, you know, it’s woke? And how is it we can afford ICE agents but not air traffic controllers? And more.

Miss Mingo has the answers.

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More online

Thank you for reading the Tropic Press newsletter. You also have access to the Tropic Press website for additional and previous posts, an archive of posts from our advice columnist, Miss Mingo, occasional guest commentaries, and information about The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures and other books.

J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the founder of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida. Forward this email to your friends. They will love you for it.

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Thanks to our sponsor

Today’s report is brought to you by The Light Fantastic 2: Amazing Pets, an anthology of hilarious science fiction short stories and novellas created by a hive of award-winning Florida writers. Now on sale. Get your copy here.

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