Longing for the Days Before ‘Alternative Facts’; the Latest News on SNAP Benefits–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Nov. 6, 2025

Indy Digest: Nov. 6, 2025

As someone who’s spent three decades in the news business, I am rather fond of facts.

Opinions have their place, of course—but so do facts. Well, at least they used to, until politicians and the people who blindly follow them decided that facts simply do not matter anymore.

As one example: Earlier today, the president and his administration announced a deal allowing Americans to pay less for weight-loss drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy. Credit where credit’s due: Getting these drugs at a lower cost to Americans who need them is good, although some of the details of how it will all work are unclear. You can read up on this via The Associated Press.

However … some of the things that were said during the announcement were crazy, especially this tidbit from Dr. Oz, as reported by NewsNation:

“Americans will lose 135 billion pounds by the midterms, I don’t measure it in pounds; I measure it in lives,” said Mehmet Oz, administrator of Medicaid and Medicare Centers.

The video of Dr. Oz saying this is posted all over the place—he really did say it. But as numerous astute observers pointed out, this math is DEFINITELY VERY WRONG.

Take 135 billion, and divide it by 343 million (the current population of the U.S.) and that means that the average American would lose 393 pounds by the midterms.

Uh …

Of course, the Trump administration is famous for flat-out making things up and disregarding provable, verifiable facts if they don’t fit the administration’s goals. (I should note that making things up and disregarding actual facts are done regularly by politicians of all stripes. Trump is just particularly prolific at it.)

On Sunday, the president appeared on 60 Minutes. CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale had this to say about that interview:

President Donald Trump littered his new “60 Minutes” interview with a wide-ranging assortment of false claims, the vast majority of them previously debunked. We counted at least 18 inaccurate assertions.

Trump told his usual lie that the free and fair 2020 election was stolen from him. He lied again that grocery prices “are down” even after CBS’ Norah O’Donnell informed him they are up. He declared once more that there is now “no inflation,” though there certainly is, and then that inflation is 2% or “even less than 2%,” though the most recent available Consumer Price Index figure is now up to 3%.

The president also deployed multiple other fictional numbers during his exchanges with O’Donnell, which were recorded Friday and released by CBS on Sunday.

Sigh. I miss the days before “alternative facts”—when they were simply called lies.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• The verdict is in regarding the man charged of misdemeanor assault after “throwing a sandwich at a federal officer at point-blank range”—and he is not guilty! CBS News has the details on the trial and the verdict. I recommend a read. A snippet: “Customs and Border Patrol Agent Gregory Lairmore, who was hit with the footlong sub, testified Tuesday, saying that he caught most of Dunn’s anger and attention before being hit in his ballistic vest with the Subway sandwich. To laughs from the crowded courtroom, Lairmore said he ‘could feel it through his ballistic vest’ and it ‘exploded all over’ him. He said he ‘could smell the onions and mustard’ on his uniform, and even had an onion string hanging by his police radio later that night. The fast-food mustard, he said, stained his shirt. Dunn did not testify in his own defense, and his legal team did not present a counter to the Justice Department’s arguments in the case.” And he was still acquitted!

• Speaking of ridiculous things … the parent company of The Desert Sun has announced a name change. The New York Times reports: “Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper publisher, is renaming itself USA Today Company, after its flagship national newspaper, the company announced on Tuesday. ‘We are changing our name and rebranding to embrace our most notable masthead—which is committed to delivering fact-based news, unbiased coverage and essential content that meets audiences in the center,’ Mike Reed, its chief executive officer, said in a statement. Gannett, which has its origins more than a century ago as a small newspaper company in upstate New York, has gone through a tumultuous period in recent years. In 2019, it merged with the owner of the Gatehouse Media newspaper chain, with the combined company taking on the Gannett name and more than $1 billion in debt. The company has done sweeping layoffs since the merger and has been the subject of protests by its workers. In its latest quarterly earnings report, Gannett said its debt had fallen below $1 billion for the first time since the merger.” Good lord.

• The latest news on SNAP: Earlier today, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to fund November benefits in full. The Associated Press reports: “The ruling by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. gave President Donald Trump’s administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, though it’s unlikely the 42 million Americans—about 1 in 8—will see the money on the debit cards they use for groceries that quickly. The order was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit, a decision that would leave some recipients getting nothing for this month. … Last week’s rulings ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month. On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program. The next day, Trump appeared to threaten not to pay the benefits at all unless Democrats in Congress agreed to reopen the government.”

• Californians overwhelmingly approved Prop 50. So now what happens? Our partners at Calmatters have the details: “Prop. 50’s landslide victory proved that Newsom and his allies bet correctly on pitching the measure as a counter-maneuver to gerrymanders by Republican states such as Texas and an act of resistance against President Donald Trump. It also spells the beginning of the end for several of California’s Republican House members, who now must make the unpleasant calculation of whether to run in their current district, switch to a new seat or drop out entirely—questions they could previously dodge under the guise of ‘Prop. 50 won’t pass.’ But it’s not yet clear how widely Prop. 50’s influence will stretch outside of California. The five-seat gain for Democrats could offset at least some redistricting efforts in Republican states, although Republicans stand to gain more seats from an all-out redistricting arms race. Then there’s the looming possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will outlaw the use of race in the redistricting process, which could give Republicans a major advantage in Southern states. Opponents also haven’t given up, despite losing at the ballot box.”

• The Federal Aviation Administration says it will start cutting airline flights due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. The Los Angeles Times reports that major California airports will be heavily affected: “California airports are expected to be hard hit by a dramatic reduction in flights as the Federal Aviation Administration says it plans to cut air traffic by 10% at 40 airports to maintain travel safety during the government shutdown. Five of the state’s airports—Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario International Airport, San Diego International Airport, Oakland International Airport and San Francisco International Airport—will be targeted for cuts, according to a list reviewed by news outlets. As many as 1,800 flights a day across the country could be canceled in the unprecedented action as the government shutdown goes into its second month. According to estimates from aviation analytics firm Cirium, nearly 10% of the cuts are likely to be at California airports. … Since the shutdown began Oct. 1, nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers have been working unpaid. With growing fatigue among controllers, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said he did not want to wait until staffing pressures compromised safety.”

• And finally … today’s recall news involves … peaches! Health.com explains: “A recall has been issued for peaches sold across the country, the Food and Drug Administration announced. … Moonlight Companies pulled their California-grown yellow and white peaches from major retailers—including Walmart, Kroger, Target, and Trader Joe’s—because they may be contaminated with listeria. … The recall affects yellow and white Moonlight peaches sold both individually and in multipacks. Moonlight white peaches (‘Peppermint Peach’) and Kroger yellow peaches multipacks were also included in the recall.”

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