Remembering
James Robison

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The Brew: From Medi-Cal Mayhem to Boston’s Brave Heart

By Gayle McQueary Published on April 16, 2025

California’s facing a $6.2 billion boo-boo, while Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is slimming down Arkansas residents faster than you can say Route 44 soda, please. Meanwhile, Beantown’s “Boston Strong” spirit shines on One Boston Day, honoring the heroes who responded after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Grab your cup of joe and settle in!

California’s $2.8 Billion Band-Aid

California is back in the news spotlight, this time over its strained healthcare system. Gov. Gavin Newsom is scrambling to keep Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, afloat. On Monday, he signed legislation injecting $2.8 billion into it to address a shortfall, ensuring coverage for 15 million low-income residents, including immigrants, through June.

This effort is meant to solve the $6.2 billion budget gap, which widened during the state’s 2024 expansion, that offered free health care to all low-income adults between the ages of 26 and 49, regardless of immigration status. You might be asking, “How did this happen?” (The rest of us just say, “That’s California for ya,” because we have come to expect this level of ridiculousness from the Golden State.)

Back in 2015, California initially expanded Medicaid benefits to low-income children without legal status, young adults, and those over 50 on a plan which cost $2.7 billion more than projected, due to the fact that legislators underestimated how many people would seek enrollment. State officials haven’t said how many people are currently enrolled in Medi-Cal, but last year projected roughly 700,000 illegal residents would gain full health coverage in 2024 alone.

But wait! The budget woes don’t stop there. Other factors, like $540 million in rising pharmacy costs and $1.1 billion for the enrollment of older adults, are contributing to the budgetary strain on the state’s health system. We’ll be praying Newsom doesn’t take any dystopian notes from his cousin in Canada, where health care was pulled away from the elderly by offering ”medical assistance” in dying.

Oh S.N.A.P.

Over in the Diamond State, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is stirring the pot with a bold reform to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). She is pushing for a ban on soda and candy purchases to tackle a public health crisis: Nearly one-third of Arkansans face diabetes or pre-diabetes, and 40% grapple with obesity.

The initiative seeks to steer SNAP’s 360,000 low-income beneficiaries toward healthier foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and proteins, which could also boost local agriculture.

To make this happen, Arkansas needs a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees SNAP. Last December, Sanders notified the agency of her intent to apply. The USDA seems receptive, and if approved, Arkansas could pioneer these restrictions by 2026, setting a precedent for other states. Nationwide, SNAP users spend about 23% of benefits ($25 billion annually) on soda and candy, so redirecting those dollars could have big impacts.

Other states, like Idaho and Texas, are exploring similar restrictions, and on the federal level, Rep. Josh Brecheen’s (R-OK) Healthy SNAP Act pushes to exclude soda, candy, and desserts nationwide from the list of qualified purchases.

Will this spark a health revolution — or go as flat as a Diet Coke with an added spoonful of sugar?

‘Satanic Cult’ Assassination Plot

In a chilling case from Wisconsin, 17-year-old Nikita Casap allegedly murdered his mother, Tatiana Casap, 35, and stepfather, Donald Mayer, 51, in February as part of a plot to assassinate President Donald Trump and overthrow the U.S. government.

Federal records unsealed in March reveal Casap’s ties to The Order of Nine Angles, a neo-Nazi “satanic cult” promoting white supremacy and anarchy. According to the arrest warrant, his motive for the killings was to gain “financial means and autonomy” to fund terrorist attacks aimed at sparking a “political revolution.”

Casap faces nine felony charges in Waukesha County, including two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, with a $1 million bond. His trial is set for May 7, and federal charges related to assassination and weapons of mass destruction are pending. The FBI’s investigation uncovered a three-page manifesto calling for Trump’s death to “foment a political revolution” and “save the white race.”

Casap was arrested in Kansas — 800 miles from his home — in March after running a stop sign. This case is a stark reminder of the evils in the world, and we must be vigilant in prayer against the Enemy, who only seeks to sow chaos and violence.

From Columbia to Harvard

You might remember us sharing some information recently about Columbia University’s woes over over the Trump administration’s plan to withhold $400 million in federal funding from it as punishment for the school’s inability (or unwillingness) to protect its students during all those pro-Hamas demonstrations that took place across Ivy League college campuses last year.

Well, now Harvard is using Columbia as an lightning rod to fight the Trump administration.

According to The Epoch Times, Harvard’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in federal court on April 11. The lawsuit challenges the administration’s threat to withhold nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts — specifically $255.6 million in contracts and $8.7 billion in multiyear grant commitments — from the school unless Harvard complies with a series of structural changes aimed at improving and maintaining a safe on-campus learning environment.

The lawsuit alleges that the administration is misusing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, an anti-discrimination law for federally funded institutions, to “coerce universities into undermining free speech” and academic freedom.

The administration wants a review of programs that fuel antisemitism, to ban the use of facial masks during protests, and to eliminate all DEI initiatives. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields says the administration wants to end “unchecked antisemitism” and ensure taxpayer money is not used to support “dangerous racial discrimination or racially motivated violence.”

In a motion filed on the same day as the lawsuit, the professors argue the move is a political attack on free speech, claiming the funding cuts pose an “existential” threat to research. They seek to halt the review and block penalties, warning of “severe irreparable harm.” Harvard is one of 60 universities under scrutiny, and the outcome could reshape academic freedom nationwide.

Boston Strong

Yesterday, the residents of Beantown paused for One Boston Day, a solemn tradition honoring the victims, survivors, and first responders of the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The attack, which took place near the finish line on Boylston Street, killed three people and injured more than 200 others. Days later, MIT police officer Sean Collier, 27, was killed during a manhunt for the bombers, and Boston PD officer Dennis Simmonds later died from injuries sustained during a shootout with the suspects. The tragedy shook the city — but its response, “Boston Strong,” has become a global symbol of resilience.

Mayor Michelle Wu and Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll joined victims’ families and survivors to lay wreaths at two Boylston Street memorial sites yesterday. Wu reflected on the day’s lasting impact, saying, “It’s really important for us to take the time every year on April 15 to remember the gravity of what happened, the tragedy that really changed Boston forever.”

At 2:49 p.m., the exact time of the explosions, the Old South Church holds a bell-ringing ceremony and a moment of silence — a quiet yet powerful tribute. Across the city, community service projects encourage residents to give back, embodying the unity that has defined Boston’s recovery.

Boston’s strength lies in its ability to turn grief into purpose — a lesson that should resonate far beyond Massachusetts.

Along The Stream…

A top priest caught using Grindr for casual gay hookups is now suing the app, claiming that its sale of his information caused him to lose his position as the general secretary for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Read Jules Gomes’s piece, “Priest Caught Using Grindr Sues Gay App Because It Ruined His Chance of a Bishopric.”

Later today, Joël Malm and his father discuss how to gracefully handle conflict in different relationships — because let’s face it, running away from the root issue never ends well.

 

Gayle McQueary is The Stream’s social media coordinator. She has a background in production and is a scary judge of government officials using band-aids to cover hemorrhaging budgets.