UPDATE: The Senate votes 53-47 to shoot down the Baldwin amendment to extend ACA funds for 1 year. A party-line vote with every Republican rejecting it.

The reason for the season. Happy Circulatory System Walking Through the Kitchen Day to all who observe.

This actually makes me incandescently angry. My timeline is full of people talking about how they and/or their loved ones are going to die without the ACA. So this smug doorknob acting like it's funny is really...yeah.

🟢Live! Coffee hangout. Last Excelsior tonight! November is already starting to speed by. Stop in and slow it down a bit. www.twitch.tv/16BitEric

Some good news, at least.

I get healthcare for my family through the ACA. Not sure what I'm going to do if I just can't afford to take my kids to the Dr next year

As a freelance writer I have an ACA plan. It's jumping from $800/mo to $1,000/mo for 2026, which has gotten to the point where I need to see if I can get a better plan through my LLC or else reduce my benefits. The price increases are largely thanks to GOP attacks on the ACA reducing the pool.

So every freelancer you know is going to lose their insurance or be bankrupted by premiums because Schumer is an invertebrate

MSNBC reported Schumer's office felt that the longer that shutdown went on, the more likely it was that people would start to blame the Dems. My kingdom for Democrats that don't govern out of fear. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The American people are far braver than their reps.

Same for therapists — lots of us in private practice are on ACA plans, subsidized ACA plans (MinnesotaCare), or Medicaid. There has been a huge uptick in group practices since ACA came on the scene. We’ll see what this does to the therapy community.

Caveat here: a whole bunch are on medicaid. Especially in states with expansion. Or the have the subsidized level between MA and ACA.

Looking at $700 a month in 2026 as a freelancer. I’ll think of it the next time a centrist Dem asks me for money.

My crappy bronze plan here in Oregon has a $900\mo premium (I’m 64 and a freelance motion graphics designer). With the ACA subsidies I’m paying $84/mo. For one more month. Don’t know yet what I’ll be paying in 2026; my client work in 2025 has been the slowest it’s ever been.

This also affects people working as gig workers as well

Anyway a great way to radicalize people is for them to realize that you just abandoned their chance at being able to access and afford health care because you didn’t like waiting in line at the airport.

Reminder that, unless a creative freelancer has a spouse with a day job that offers health insurance, they likely have an ACA plan. And with the hits to creative industries the past few years, I'm guessing many qualify for subsidies. Related reminder that comic creators are freelancers.

My family has been without half our income for 40 days. It has been.. very hard. We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions. We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.

🟢Goin' live this mornin' for a choll hangout and weekend catch up with the League of Whimsy. Grab some coffee and stop in to say hi! twitch.tv/16BitEric

Had an absolute blast today at Revenge Of's Comic Creator Block Party, seeing so many friends and fans. It's become one of my favorite annual traditions. So many thanks to @blumjordan.bsky.social and @pattonoswalt.bsky.social for actually getting L.A. comics folks to meet up in L.A. 😂

Heading out to the 3rd annual Comic Creators Block Party at Revenge Of in Eagle Rock! Paneling and signing... Hope to see you there!

KBJ threaded the needle thanks to CA1’s unfinished business. -if she denied the admin stay, the full SCOTUS woulda stepped in to override her. -if she immediately referred the case to the full Court, they coulda dragged feet. -instead she boxed them in to act quickly once she does refer the case.

here's something cool: the son of the letter carrier on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (McFeely) is a real letter carrier for the USPS and he's our letter carrier and he's awesome

this is really my problem. if we have a system where someone we mostly trust to be decent has to make the decision to starve people a little bit for a day or two just to make it so it's harder for her coworkers to starve people a lot more for longer... what are we even doing here?

hey lemme just say once again that the @heroinitiative.bsky.social is the real deal. if you have some extra bucks to spare and want to help an org that helps comics creators in need, please consider donating to them. www.heroinitiative.org/donate-to-he...

How the hell can this happen? A guy rang my doorbell at 9:45 last night, having been given the wrong address for whoever he was looking for. It never occurred to me that I should shoot him before figuring out why he was there. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

In 2018, we saw the V-19 in Poe Dameron (not the pilot, but the comic, 2018). 53 years after the end of the Clone Wars. Writer @jodyhouser.bsky.social : "Had fun working with Story Group to figure out what kind of old ships Black Squadron would have here (they are much more the experts than I am)."

A very happy Fountain Pen Day to all who celebrate! The smiling nib is the Pilot Kakuno, one of my recs for anyone wanting to try out fountain pens. It's so cute! IMO, the Kakuno and the Platinum Preppy are the best bang for you buck for starter pens. If you use fountain pens, what are your faves?

No stream this morning I’m afraid. I thought a couple of cups of coffee would help compensate for only getting three hours of sleep, but alas I was wrong. I’ll see you all Sunday morning!

I've had the pleasure of watching Casket @casketjones.bsky.social develop their new comic "Chicken Legs." And now it's live! The entire first chapter is up now, and chapter 2 is coming next month. Go give it a read! chickenlegs.the-comic.org/comics/1/

The @criticalrole.bsky.social: Vox Machina Origins Omnibus—Series I and II is now available for pre-order! Coming next April. Details: bit.ly/3Wt4FNw By @matthewmercer.bsky.social, @jodyhouser.bsky.social and team. With cover from Hunter Bonyun

The game is on Kickstarter now! Had a blast being part of the actual play 💖 www.kickstarter.com/projects/hun...

Texas - AUSTIN! Heads up.

Friends, please sign up for the 11/15 @handsoffnyc.bsky.social Day of Community Action in NYC right now. Pushing back against ICE and feds in our cities is about protecting our neighbors -- but it's also about protecting our future elections. www.handsoffnyc.com/nov15

This is a landslide. The last NYC mayoral candidate to clear 1 million votes was John Lindsay—over 50 years ago. It will be dismissed by pundits saying it can only happen in New York. That's garbage. Think pledging to freeze rent and offer childcare won't resonate in Nevada? Wisconsin? Texas?

BREAKING: Democrats just broke the GOP supermajority in the Mississippi Senate! In a stunning victory, Democrats gained seats in court-ordered special elections and will now head to Jackson to represent and fight on behalf of their constituents.

I almost forgot I voted for something today too 😅

Congrats to my old stomping ground. And yes, the Boston City Hall is a looming brutalist nightmare.

As many have pointed out, Mamdani didn't stand apart from our trans brothers and sisters. He didn't play the "Gee, gosh, it sure is complicated," milquetoast moderate card. And he crushed. The way forward is together, not over the bodies of our own.

women to the rescue

Democrats are currently ahead in 63 (!!!) races in the Virginia House of Delegates. If this holds, it would be one of the largest state legislature swings in the last 4 years. Its an absolute bloodbath for anti-trans Republicans.

💖💖💖

BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC

I have a NY-style pizza order ready to go...

Congratulations to Eileen Higgins for advancing to a run-off in Miami’s Mayoral race! It’s been 28 years since Miami last elected a Democrat as its Mayor and tonight’s result shows Miami is on the path to getting the leadership it deserves.

Two statewide races in Georgia won by Dems. In really important public service commission races. bsky.app/profile/bria...

I think we are going to win. But anything's possible. So I just wanna say, with seven minutes before the polls close in NYC... ...win or lose, we are AHEAD and ready to KEEP FIGHTING because of this MASSIVE mobilization of neighbors who care about neighbors in NYC. ❤️💪🗽

Very happy for Virginia, where my family lived for part of my childhood and where my sister was born. Not terribly surprising that a state that's home to so many federal workers would have OPINIONS on the current administration, but still heartening to see.

They called it! Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia gubernatorial race!