Beltway Insider: Trump/Big Bill Passes, Takeaways, Texas Death Toll Rises, Idaho Murderer Sentenced

Details

Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Sunday, 06 July 2025 05:46

Written by Janet Walker

The death toll from the catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River, in Kerr County, Texas, has surpassed 50, including 15 children who were staying at Camp Mystic, a sleepover camp for girls; 27 additional children are still missing.

The President's job approval rating, according to The New York Times for the period ending July 5, 2025,  of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President remained constant at 44% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president remained constant at 52%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

Beltway Insider: Trump/SCOTUS, Iran, War Powers, NYC Primary, QE II Memorial, Carolyn McCarthy

Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Passes

President Trump signed off on his Big Beautiful Bill, which could very well signal the end to the trifecta government that he now holds, as the bill, which has benefits for seniors and the wealthy, eviscerates programs for nations lowest income earners.

With the midterm elections 16 months away, many will begin to see the effects unless states underwrite the cuts in Medicaid and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Recipients of these programs will lose their benefits unless they participate in a work program or submit the documentation attesting they are meeting their obligation through any of the options.

"The bill slashes about $1 trillion from Medicaid — the largest cut in the program's history — and at least 17 million Americans are projected to lose health coverage or insurance subsidies that make coverage affordable, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office," reported The Washington Post.  Medicaid recipients will also need to meet a work requirement or submit additional documentation.

Key Points

There are huge tax breaks for all earners, from middle class to seniors, to the 1%. State taxes, which can be deducted on federal taxes, has been limited to 10,000. Trumps bill raises the limited to $40,000 for households with a combined income of $500,000.

Seniors will receive a new deduction, in additional to the standard personal deduction, of an additional $6,000/$12,000 per couple who earn up to $75,000/$150,000 per couple. For singles and couples who earn past the cap, the deduction will not be allowed.

For those workers who traditionally earn tips, Trump's new bill allows the first $25,000 earned in tips to be tax free. The earning cap on this deduction is $150,000/$300,000 per couple.

"Wealthy people will get the biggest tax cuts from the bill by far. While low-income families will see a modest change in their tax bills, most high-income households will pay much less than they otherwise would have," reported The Washington Post. With the top 1% earners saving nearly 2.4% or $65,000 on their taxes

World News: Trump Seals the Israeli Deal

Texas Hill County Flooding Death Toll Surpasses 50, Dozens of Girls Still Missing

Three days after a flash flood created a wall of water that ripped through the Central Texas Hill Country,  killing at least 50, including 15 children who were spending the fourth of July weekend at Camp Mystic, 27 others remain among the missing.

The catastrophic rainfall, driven by warm tropical air and a dissipated rainmaking system merged creating an atmospheric river that dumped 2 trillion gallons of water across the Central Texas towns along the Guadalupe River causing the water to rise 26 feet in 45 minutes.

Weather advisories had been sent repeatedly from Thursday and throughout the day on Friday. By Friday afternoon, evacuation of the 750 girls hosted during this second camp cycle had begun. Pictures of the camp depict two sprawling hillsides, separated by the Guadalupe River with a manmade cement border, and pictures of the girls tubing and enjoying other water activities.

"By Friday afternoon, Texas Game Wardens had arrived at Camp Mystic and were evacuating campers. A rope was tied so girls could hang on as they walked across a bridge, the floodwaters rushing around their knees," APnews.com reported.

Four months of rainfall fell in four hours. According to Meteorologist Chris Nunley, who said in a Facebook post, "Nearly 2 Trillion Gallons of water fell across the Texas Hill Country. To put that into perspective, it could supply 11 million homes with water for 1 year or fill 1.5 million Olympic pools."

Still Missing

Some of the remaining missing girls, all eight and nine-years-old, have been identified and posted on the OKCM Search and Rescue Facebook page, as Virginia Hollis, Mary Grace Baker, Blakely McCoy, Hadley Hanna, Molly DeWitt, Linnie McCown, Margaret Sheedy, Kellyanne Lytal, Lainey Landry, Eloise Peck, Wynne Naylor Dallas, Cile Steward, Anna Margaret Bellows, Great Toranzo. Jamie Hunt, Lila Bonner, Sarah Marsh, and Renee Smajstria had also been reported missing and are now confirmed deceased.

Camp Mystic, a Christian girls summer sleep over camp, which had been operating in the region for one hundred years, was at capacity with 750 girls, ages eight to 17. The camp, which was divided into two sections, had a total of 22, dorm style cabins with bunk bed lodging, with the older girls housed in nine cabins on higher ground called "Senior Hill," and 13 of the cabins were located near the river's edge on what was known as the "Flats," and housed the younger girls. Two or three counselors also lived in the cabins with the girls.

Apocalyptic Devastation

The search for the missing is ongoing. Media reports of boys, at the all-boys Camp La Junta, just up the road from Camp Mystic, waking to flood waters entering the cabins, and counselors breaking windows to help the boys escape and swim to safety, and others who had arrived in their RV's to spend the weekend along the river, relaxing and watching the Fourth of July fireworks and parades.

Media reports from survivors reveal harrowing tales as the floodwaters reached the top bunks by 4:00am Friday morning. Images of campground buildings floating, with children at the door holding flashlights, unable at this time to be rescued or rescue themselves, in what can only be described as apocalyptic flooding. One can only imagine the terror of those last moments.

Now, the RV's along with the heavy equipment set up for the celebrations, are part of a debris pile of twisted wreckage, uprooted trees, splintered, fragments of crumpled metal, with bright splotches, leftover remnants of pre-celebration party displays. Vehicles, those that have found a place to rest, are sitting atop more piles of ruins, the reminders of yesterday.

The unprecedented weather system, which seemed to hide its strength, has been described as a rotating wheel of water that never ended, moved dumping more than 2 trillion gallons of water in less than 24 hours.  The area, which has been the scene of devasting and deadly floods in the past, is known as flash flood alley.

Emergency Systems

As the death toll in the Kerr County floods continue to rise questions are being raised over the Camp emergency system.

"Kerr county Judge Rob Kelly said Saturday he didn't know what kind of safety and evacuation plans the camps may have had. "What I do know is the flood hit the camp first, and it came in the middle of the night," he said. "I don't know where the kids were. I don't know what kind of alarm systems they had. That will come out in time. I do know those camp owners, and they are some of the finest, most conscientious people I know,"' APNews.com reported.

World News: United States, Israel, and Iran - An Unlikely Threesome

Coronavirus Total

At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from the newer variants.

For the 7 days ending July 5, 2025, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 54,332 to 778,186,599. The total worldwide death toll increased by 345 to 7,097, 572 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated June 15, 2025, from the World Health Organization).

Idaho College Murders: Police Arrest Suspect

Idaho College Student Murderer Accepts Plea Deal

Bryan Kohberger, 30, has agreed to accept a plea deal, which sentences him to four consecutive life terms, plus ten years, for the killings of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, 20, in their off campus, Moscow, Idaho, home.

Once the plea deal was announced, the parents were sharply divided, with the Goncalves family voicing sharp criticism on Facebook indicating they felt robbed of their day in court, while others felt it brought closure.

Kohberger, a doctoral student at the University of Washington, some 30 minutes from the Kings Road home, managed to slip into the home in the early morning hours of Sunday, November 13, 2022. Prosecutors indicated he immediately went to the third floor, where lifetime friends Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves were asleep, and viciously stabbed both of them repeatedly.

According to her mother, "Kristi Goncalves, Kaylee was beaten in the head and face by Kohberger as she fought for her life before being stabbed to death." She also suffered a broken nose and had "big open gouges" on her torso.   

Investigators indicated he met Xana Kernodle on the stairs as she was returning to her second floor room, with a food delivery. He viciously stabbed her to death where she stood. Kohberger then returned to Xana's room and murdered her boyfriend Ethan Chapin.

Detectives in the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, used DNA found on a knife sheath, Kohberger dropped at the scene to connect him to the murders. They also used advanced technology to place him in the area via cellphone tower location markers, which revealed he had been near the off campus home of the victims more than 24 times in the months before the murders occurred.

Authorities have yet to officially state a motive. In the early days of the case, before Kohberger's identity was known "Forensic psychiatrist Carole Lieberman said she is confident the slayings were not a random attack or the work of a serial killer. The "multiple stabbings and bloody mess are signs that it was personal and that the killer was enraged," [. . .] Indeed, the killer could be an incel who saw Kaylee and Madison as 'Stacys'—the name incels give to girls who they believe would look down on them and refuse to date or have sex with them,"' Newsweek reported.

Crime: The History of DNA and Its Introduction in Crime Solving

What is an Incel

Some individuals, including former FBI agents and experts, have speculated that Bryan Kohberger may have an "incel complex" or displayed incel tendencies. These assessments are based on certain behavioral traits and online activity attributed to Kohberger. 

His fascination with the Goncalves, and his desire to ruin her face also, to take away her attractiveness, was more than simply a result of Kaylee fighting for her life. His fascination with the victim, coupled with his social isolation and interpersonal problems and the possibility of influences by Incel ideology, he fixated on her and the more he did, the more his hatred grew. She would pay. In his mind, his life problems, all boiled down to this one beautiful woman with a life of promise. He had to tolerate women like her his whole life. And he was going to cut it down. 

As there will not be a trial, if this is the motivation it will never be known. He is also barred from writing a book about the case. He is due to be sentenced July 23, 2025.

For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and her second book, "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," will be completed soon. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.