Sam Smathers

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@RooftopMando @Huff4Congress Of course it’s curated - it’s social media.

I’m not saying anything at all about the person in question, just that your argument is not sound.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

I never post on X. I hardly post anywhere. But I keep having this conversation and wanted to write my thoughts down and share them.

Why can’t we come up with any new stories?

I think we’ve all seen and felt it - we just keep repeating the same stories for movies and TV shows. We see it everywhere we look, between the live action remakes of animated classics, to movies in theaters that are continuations of movies started 30 years ago (looking at you, Jurassic Park).

One of the reasons that I think we can’t produce any new stories is the fear of offending everyone else. No matter what the story is, you would likely offend 50% of your audience.

If you think about some of the “great” shows or movies from the last 20-30 years, you absolutely could not release them today. For example, nobody acts ashamed when they say they are re-watching The Office. Steve Carell has never gotten cancelled (that I’m aware of). But there is no way NBC (or almost any other network) would release a show like The Office today. Why not?

The Office touches on topics like race, gender, and sexual orientation. It handles them clumsily. And that is the humor of the show.

Because these topics, among others, are now taboo, we cannot create or produce any new stories for movies or TV. We no longer see the humor in things, whether we agree with them or not. Instead of laughing it off, we get offended.

I am not advocating for anything The Office touched on or the way the shows handled particular topics. I am not saying that anything goes as long as somebody finds it funny.

I am saying that something broke in the American psyche. We are not a humorous people anymore. We forgot how to laugh - at ourselves, our friends, and those we disagree with.

Instead of laughing, we get offended.

If we want new stories, I think one of the things that needs to change is our ability to laugh.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@esjesjesj You don’t actually believe this.

Would you allow someone to live in an extra bedroom in your house for free? Not even if they want to? If not, would agree to rent it to them for a certain amount of money? What if they can’t afford that amount of money?

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@SydneyLWatson Pre-ACA, my wife and I had a phenomenal policy for $400/month. $500 deductibles and very low max out of pocket.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@Ronxyz00 Two more examples near me.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@Ronxyz00 Just one example near me.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

The ACA **increases** employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) costs through:

1. **Mandated coverage levels**: Requires plans to cover 10 essential health benefits and meet minimum actuarial value (60% for small groups), raising premiums ~5-10% on average.
2. **No annual/lifetime limits**: Adds ~1-2% to costs.
3. **Age rating compression** (3:1 band): Shifts costs to younger workers but overall raises group premiums ~1-3%.
4. **Taxes & fees**: Insurer fee (~$16B/year industry-wide in 2025, passed to employers) and reinsurance/transitional fees (phased out but historically added ~2-3%).

**Net impact (CBO/CMS estimates)**: ACA regulations add **~6-8%** to ESI premiums annually vs. pre-ACA trajectory. In 2025, average family ESI premium is ~$24,000; ACA accounts for ~$1,500–$1,900 of that.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

Under the ACA, unsubsidized health insurance premiums have **gotten more expensive** in real dollars from 2010 to 2025. In 2010, pre-ACA individual market premiums averaged about $2,985 annually ($232/month). By 2025, ACA marketplace unsubsidized premiums average $7,080 annually ($590/month)—a 137% nominal rise.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies—primarily premium tax credits paid to insurers on behalf of enrollees—cost the American people **$138 billion** per year in gross federal spending for 2025.

**Per capita**: ~$411 ($138B / 336M US population).

**Net cost**: ~$120-130B after offsets (e.g., reduced uncompensated care, lower employer insurance tax breaks).

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@karlykingsley You said, “Every gov-issued ID would count.”

Student IDs are not issued by the government, so they’re out by your definition. Tribal IDs are issued by sovereign tribal governments, not by states or the federal government. So they’re out by your own definition.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@RepMcGovern @elonmusk 84-87% of retail investors (everyday people) approved that trillion dollar payout.

I am pleased to inform you that America and its dream are alive and well…despite your best efforts.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@Suzierizzo1 Not only is the price on the label incorrect, this beef was not subject to import tariffs. Also, it has not gone up substantively in price in the last 12 months. It has stayed relatively flat.

Stop with the inflammatory lies.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

Brendan Carr on a podcast stating that “companies can find ways to change conduct and take action…frankly on Kimmell…or…there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead”. This was on 9/17. A couple hours later, ABC announced it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel indefinitely.

https://t.co/UIwE65OFYu

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@AGPamBondi Let people vote with their dollars if they don’t like what Jimmy Kimmel said.

Same goes for Office Depot. The Supreme Court already settled that a business can refuse service (see Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission). Their ruling applies in both directions - you are making it a double standard.

[Attorney General Pamela Bondi @AGPamBondi]

Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), it is a federal crime to transmit “any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another.” Likewise, 18 U.S.C. § 876 and 18 U.S.C. § 115 make it a felony to threaten public officials, members of Congress, or their families.

You cannot call for someone’s murder. You cannot swat a Member of Congress. You cannot dox a conservative family and think it will be brushed off as “free speech.” These acts are punishable crimes, and every single threat will be met with the full force of the law.

Free speech protects ideas, debate, even dissent but it does NOT and will NEVER protect violence.

It is clear this violent rhetoric is designed to silence others from voicing conservative ideals.

We will never be silenced. Not for our families, not for our freedoms, and never for Charlie. His legacy will not be erased by fear or intimidation.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@dmcourtn That’s true. But 50% of my property taxes is not $20,000.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

Also, what about the 2026 projected annual deficit of $80M when this program received $50M? I don’t believe this program cut the funding going to public schools at all, which means that we simply added on a new $50M expenditure, which means we will increase taxes somewhere to pay for it.

The other issue I see coming is people trying to claim the refund (and paying for tuition relying on the refund to come), and the $50M running out.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

@dmcourtn Thoughts on the fact that it is not just refunding the taxes each family pays in, but instead taking the taxes paid in by others? For instance, if I were to claim and get a full tax credit for all 4 of my kids, it would be $20,000. I don’t pay the state $20,000 per year in taxes.

[Homeland Security @DHSgov]

Pray without ceasing.

[Sam Smathers @SmathersSam]

I believe the goal is to lose harder next year.

[Heather Wilson @mrsndw]

Losers know how to throw a party.