Day: January 18, 2023

Closing Thought–18Jan23

Illinois has become another state in the Union to make history…..they have banned a lethal obsession of its citizens….

Illinois on Tuesday became the latest U.S. state to ban the sale or possession of assault weapons.

Just hours after the legislation’s passage in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the “Protect Illinois Communities Act” into law during a ceremony at the State Capitol in Springfield. Supporters, some of whom were gun violence survivors, erupted with applause and cheers as the governor presented the signed document.

The new law bans assault weapons, including some semiautomatic firearms, along with high-capacity magazines and rapid-firing devices.

“For a long time now, I and many other leaders in the Illinois General Assembly have prioritized getting the most dangerous weapons off our state’s streets,” Pritzker said in a statement Tuesday. “Today, honoring the commitment we made, we passed one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the nation, one I will be proud to sign.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden “commends the leadership of Illinois … and the numerous advocates, survivors, and elected officials whose tireless efforts turned the pain of Highland Park and other acts of gun violence into meaningful action on behalf of all Illinoisans.”

Nine U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., now prohibit the sale or possession of military-style weapons, driven largely by deadly mass shootings in their communities.

For Illinois, the ban came six months after a gunman wielding a semiautomatic rifle shot and killed seven people at a 4th of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

“No Illinoisan, no matter their zip code, should have to go through life fearing their loved one could be the next in an ever-growing list of victims of mass shootings,” the governor said. “However, for too long people have lived in fear of being gunned down in schools, while worshipping, at celebrations or in their own front yards. This legislation will stop the spread of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches and make our state a safer place for all.”

(abc news)

Will this trend continue or will this just be a flash in the pan?

Will SCOTUS intervene?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

And So It Begins

WE have a new GOP controlled House and that means we will hear all about the deficit and the need for a smaller government….they will use the tighten the belt attitude….

So let’s look at the first few days of the Repub controlled House on monetary issues

While the House was deciding to choose a speaker and the drama that came…..money was wasted.

Members of Congress collected more than $800,000 in salary during the chamber’s protracted speaker fight — during a period when they technically were not members.

The pols officially become members of Congress — leaving behind the title of Rep.-Elect — when they are sworn in by the Speaker of the House. The event usually takes place on Jan. 3, the Constitutionally mandated start of each new Congress.

Even re-elected incumbents must be sworn back in every two years for their “member” status to be current.

But because Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed to clinch the votes to become Speaker until the early morning hours of Jan. 7 — a delay not seen since before the Civil War — members of Congress swiped four days of payment before they were actually sworn-in as members.

https://nypost.com/2023/01/14/congress-pocketed-813k-during-freedom-caucus-speaker-revolt/

So since they were not officially employed why would they get paid?

Just wondering.

Then there is the ‘secretive’ pay raise…..

In one of their final acts in power, House Democrats secretly passed through a rule change that will see lawmakers in the lower chamber get a $34,000 pay raise. 

The new rule, proposed by Democrats on the House Administration Committee, allows House members to be reimbursed for the cost of lodging, food and travel while on official business in Washington DC.

It was tucked into the House’s internal rules, rather than in annual spending bills, and therefore was not debated on the House floor, according to the New York Times. 

In fact many rank-and-file House members did not even find out about the change until Tuesday, just two weeks after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a similar pay raise for House staffers.

Advocates say the new raise is necessary to increase the pool of people who could afford to serve in Congress, but Republicans say the ‘clandestine’ rule should have been up for public debate.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11630687/Secret-rule-change-House-lawmakers-34-000-PAY-BUMP.html

Good start to address the deficit….but not to worry they plan to send even more cash to Ukraine…..

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine less than one year ago, Congress has approved more than $113 billion of aid and military assistance to support the Ukrainian government and allied nations. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 omnibus appropriations package included an additional $47.3 billion of emergency funding to provide humanitarian, military, and economic assistance to Ukraine on top of the $65.8 billion of funding already approved in three other emergency funding packages enacted by Congress.

Of the $113 billion approved in 2022, about three-fifths ($67 billion) has been allocated toward defense needs and the remaining two-fifths ($46 billion) to nondefense concerns such as general Ukrainian government aid, economic support, and aid for refugee resettlement. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provided cost estimates of the four funding packages at the time each was passed. In total, CBO estimated that $6.6 billion of the $113 billion would be spent in FY 2022 and another $37.7 billion in FY 2023. Furthermore, CBO estimated more than half of the approved funds would be spent by the end of FY 2024 and more than three-fourths by the end of FY 2026.

To date, the Biden Administration has sent Ukraine roughly $26 billion of direct military aid, mainly in the form of military hardware, training, and supplies.

https://www.crfb.org/blogs/congress-approved-113-billion-aid-ukraine-2022

A good start to help lessen the deficit….a typical start once the GOP has control.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego eergo scribo”