Category: Fiscal Policy

“I Am The Destroyer Of Countries”

It appears that our leader (I use the term loosely) that it is his right too destroy countries that deems unworthy.

He proved just what a complete idiot he is and his lack of knowledge of the Constitution…..this after SCOTUS slipped him a mickey on his dumbass tariffs.

Reacting to a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling his tariffs policy unconstitutional, U.S. President Donald Trump launched into an unhinged rant on Friday confirming that he considers himself above the law as any tinpot authoritarian leader would.

The court ruled 6-3 that the U.S. Constitution makes clear that only Congress can levy tariffs, which are really taxes, on the U.S. population. Thus Trump’s extensive tariffs, imposed since January 2025, are illegal and American consumers and companies are due a refund of around $200 billion, the court said.

The ruling unleashed Trump in full psychotic mode, railing against justices as “fools and lapdogs;” the plaintiffs in the lawsuit the court ruled on as “sleazebags, major sleazebags” serving an unnamed foreign power and he announced a new 10 percent worldwide tariff “over and above our normal tariffs already being charged” in defiance of the court.

Trump argues he is still allowed to impose tariffs over the heads of Congress by the authority of the 1974 Trade Act. That act allows a president to unilaterally impose tariffs of up to 15 percent (hence the new 10 percent measures), but only for 150 days, after which Congress must continue them.

However, Friday’s ruling means he must vacate the existing tariffs, which he is so far refusing to do.

Trump tries to justify his existing tariffs as having been imposed under an emergency act. But the court struck that down, arguing in essence there is no economic or national security emergency in the United States today.

In his madness, Trump furiously claimed he had authority to impose embargoes and “destroy countries” but the Supreme Court dared rule he couldn’t even put a single dollar tariff on a nation’s imports. He exclaimed:

“I am allowed to cut off any and all trade or business with that same country. In other words, I can destroy the trade, I can destroy the country. I’m even allowed to impose a foreign country-destroying embargo. I can embargo, I can do anything I want, but I can’t charge one dollar because that’s not what it says, and that’s not the way it even reads. I can do anything I want to do to them, but I can’t charge any money. So I’m allowed to destroy the country, but I can’t charge them a little fee.

Think of that. How ridiculous is that? I’m allowed to embargo them, I’m allowed to tell them you can’t do business in the United States anymore, ‘we want you out of here,’ but I want to charge them $10. I can’t do that.

It’s incorrect, their decision is incorrect. But it doesn’t matter because we have very powerful alternatives … .”

In fact, Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution asserts Congress has the authority to “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises,” and to regulate commerce with foreign nations.  Embargoes, such as those on Cuba, North Korea and Iran, are imposed by Congress, not the White House (unless there is an emergency).

Trump: ‘I Can Destroy Countries’

This arrogant twat needs to be chopped down a peg or two….he clearly thinks he is an absolute ruler…..time for him learn differently.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

FLASH! You Are Screwed!

As soon as Donny wiggled his way into the WH and announced his dumb ass idea of tariffs I have been trying to get people to see that the only loser in them are the consumers.

After his election and the talk about tariffs I had to make my feelings known…

The Real Cost Of Trump Tariffs

Well all the analysis has proven my predictions too be spot on…..

Americans, not overseas sellers, are paying almost all of President Trump’s tariff increases, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The report finds that roughly 90% of the cost of the administration’s import duties is falling on US consumers and businesses, undercutting Trump’s frequent claim that foreign exporters are footing the bill, Reuters reports. From January through August 2025, Americans absorbed 94% of the tariff burden, the Fed economists estimate; that share slipped to 92% in September and October and 86% in November, though it remained overwhelmingly domestic.

The findings align with a separate assessment from the Congressional Budget Office, which said higher tariffs raise the price of imported goods, thereby lifting costs for American households and companies. The CBO estimates that foreign exporters are covering only about 5% of the tariff tab. In the near term, it says, US businesses are likely to eat around 30% through lower profit margins, while passing the remaining 70% on to consumers through higher prices. A study released last month by a research institute in Germany produced similar findings, putting the share paid by US consumers and importers around 96%.

Tariffs have been a central element of Trump’s economic strategy, deployed to generate revenue, pressure trading partners, and encourage manufacturers to move production back to the US, per Reuters. The data shows that foreign suppliers sometimes cut prices in response to tariffs, per the New York Times, but that it’s a less common reaction. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 30, Trump said, “the data shows that the burden, or ‘incidence,’ of the tariffs has fallen overwhelmingly on foreign producers and middlemen, including large corporations that are not from the US.”

I cannot understand the support these disasters have even today with all the rising prices…..it does not bother them only thing they seem to care about is that brown skin people are been attacked.

There is a name for that…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

On The Way To The Fed

Over a year now Donny has been doing nothing but bad mouthing the Fed and now he has his chance to modify it to his way of thinking.

President Trump has made his choice for Fed chairman. The president, who teased the announcement Thursday night, said in a Truth Social post Friday morning that he is nominating economist Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, to replace Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May.

  • “I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” the president wrote in a lengthy post listing Warsh’s accomplishments. “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down.”

Warsh was a finalist in 2017 but lost out to Jerome Powell, who was renominated by Joe Biden in 2021. Trump later turned on Powell and has repeatedly said he regretted not picking Warsh, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Kevin, I could have used you a little bit here. Why weren’t you more forceful when you wanted that job?” Trump said at an event in 2020. “I would have been very happy with you.” Warsh, 55, became the youngest governor in Fed history in 2006.

Warsh served as a Fed governor during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and has since become one of the institution’s sharper critics. He was long a “hawk” who pushed for higher interest rates to control inflation but has more recently changed his position and pushed for faster interest rate cuts, aligning with Trump’s position, the AP reports. Warsh, once a free-trade advocate, has also lined up with Trump on tariffs, a position that could ease tensions between the White House and the Fed if he’s confirmed. The BBC reports that Warsh has a family connection to Trump: His father-in-law is billionaire businessman Ronald Lauder, a longtime Trump donor.

Confirmation is not guaranteed, the Journal notes. The Senate must sign off, and Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican on the Banking Committee, has vowed to block Trump’s Fed nominees while the Justice Department investigates Powell’s testimony about Fed building renovations—an inquiry Powell has described as a pretext to force lower rates. Warsh emerged as Trump’s favored candidate over National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and two other finalists, BlackRock executive Rick Rieder and current Fed governor Christopher Waller.

Do not get excited yet….he is nominated but not confirmed by Congress.

If confirmed will he be just another Trump puppet?

But he has an ever changing opinion and that tells me he will most likely do whatever Donny boy wants…I do not see him stand up against a Trump onslaught….

Do You?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Are Tariffs Still A Good Idea?

One more time for the mentally slow.

Well no but then I have never thought that they were a good idea….but there are some out there that will defend the tariffs as a good idea for raining cash for the US….but those are the least intelligent amongst us.

According to a new study, of the $200 million the United States made from President Donald Trump’s tariffs in 2025, 96% was paid by American buyers. The study drew from data covering over 25 million transactions valued at nearly $4 trillion.

A major selling point of President Trump’s series of tariffs on other countries was that they would pay the United States for their imports and, in turn, boost the American economy. However, the study, published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany, found the opposite occurred.

“The 2025 US tariffs are an own goal: American importers and consumers bear nearly the entire cost. Foreign exporters absorb only about 4% of the tariff burden—the remaining 96% is passed through to US buyers,” the report stated.

The study claims that while U.S. customs revenue surged by approximately $200 billion in 2025, trade volumes collapsed, and export prices did not fall. The study cited the tariff hikes the U.S. imposed on India in August 2025.

“We compared Indian exports to the US with shipments to Europe and Canada and identified a clear pattern,” Julian Hinz, Research Director at the Kiel Institute and one of the authors of the study, explained. “Both export value and volume to the US dropped sharply, by up to 24 percent. But unit prices—the prices Indian exporters charged—remained unchanged. They shipped less, not cheaper.”

Basically, the study found that instead of other countries paying the tariffs to the United States and growing the U.S. economy, American consumers faced higher prices as companies passed the tariffs on to them. The tariffs also reduced trade volumes, meaning Americans not only paid more, but they also had fewer options.

Study: 96% of the $200 Billion the US Made From Trump’s Tariffs in 2025 Was Paid by American Buyers

This study’s findings are exactly what I wrote about when all these useless tariffs were proposed by Donny and his band of idiots.

You are paying that cost of the tariffs….do I need to keep pointing it out or will you still embrace this idiot as some sort of magic genius that will solve all out problems?

If so then you really need to pay attention or at least learn some basic economics….it really is not that hard.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

More Money, More Money

With the successful raid on Venezuela and the arrest of Maduro Donny’s pathetic gang of minions set about threatening other nations if they do not play ball with the US…..Colombia, Iran, Cuba, Mexico and of course the BS du jour, Greenland.

And now to sure up his threats Donny wants to expand the ‘defense’ budget to $1.5 trillion….(yes that is a “T”)….

President Trump on Wednesday proposed setting US military spending at $1.5 trillion in 2027, citing “troubled and dangerous times.” Trump called for the massive surge in spending days after he ordered a US military operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and spirit him out of the country to face drug trafficking charges in the US, the AP reports. The 2026 military budget is set at $901 billion. Trump in recent days has also called for taking over the Danish territory of Greenland for national security reasons and has suggested he’s open to carrying out military operations in Colombia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ominously warned that longtime adversary Cuba “is in trouble.”

  • This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe,” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing his proposal. He said he arrived at the $1.5 trillion figure after “long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives.”
  • The military just received a boost of some $175 billion in the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending reductions that Trump signed into law last year. Insisting on more funding for the Pentagon is almost certain to run into resistance from Democrats who work to maintain parity between changes in defense and nondefense spending. But it’s also sure to draw objections from the GOP’s deficit hawks who have pushed back against increased military spending.
  • But Trump said he feels comfortable surging spending on the military because of increased revenue created by his administration through tariffs imposed on friends and foes around the globe since his return to office. He said tariff revenue would cover the massive increase. The New York Times labels the claim false, noting that while the US collected more than $200 billion from tariff revenue last year, Trump has already pledged to hand it to Americans feeling the effects of tariffs, including farmers. He has also promised $2,000 tariff rebate checks for most Americans.

“Troubled and dangerous times”….I agree but only because we have a mentally ill orange slug leading the way.

More money for the War Department?

Defense industry must be masturbating to the thought.

Seriously?

Those people cannot account for the money they already have….

Two days after the US Senate voted on a bipartisan basis to authorize just over $900 billion in military spending for the coming fiscal year, the chief recipient of that taxpayer money—the Department of Defense—announced it failed an audit of its books for the eighth consecutive year.

The now-predictable audit result was announced Friday by the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) after an examination of the agency’s roughly $4.6 trillion in assets. The OIG said it identified 26 “material weaknesses”—major flaws in internal controls over financial reports—in the Pentagon’s accounting.

…

The Pentagon remains the only US federal agency that has yet to pass an independent, department-wide audit, as required by law. But its repeated failures to return a clean audit haven’t deterred Congress from adding to its coffers each year.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/pentagon-8th-consecutive-audit

Yeah that is what is needed more money for the Pentagon can loss, misspend or steal.

What’s Donny’s game?

We all know what he is thinking….(is that possible with so many Big Macs in one’s diet)….

This is ludicrous….this is an offense to the people of this country….this needs to be flushed down the toilet with the rest of Donny’s crap.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Will Your Check Be In The Mail?

For some time now there has been rumblings of some of the money raised by tariffs would be returned to the population….maybe even you.

Now there is the vague promise of them being issued next year…..

President Trump said Monday that Americans could see $2,000 tariff dividend checks as soon as mid-2026, putting a timeline on a proposal he has floated several times this year. The president said the payments would go to individuals with moderate incomes, but the plan would require congressional approval—an outcome far from certain, according to previous remarks from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “We’re gonna be issuing dividends later on, somewhere prior to … the middle of next year, a little bit later than that,” Trump said, per the New York Post.

The cost of the proposed dividend is significant. Analysts estimate that even limiting the checks to low- and middle-income individuals could push the price tag well above $200 billion, a sum that exceeds total tariff revenues collected by the government in fiscal 2025 and amounts to about half of what’s projected for fiscal 2026, Axios reports. A payout of this size, especially so close to the 2026 midterm elections, could have major political implications, effectively putting large sums of money into voters’ hands just as they head to the polls. There’s also concern that such a payout could fuel inflation—a risk highlighted by the inflationary effects of previous stimulus checks.

“The middle of next year”?

That ought to be about the best time for the bribe to be effective in repairing his lost support and placate the masses.

Is this a ploy for the midterms?

Or will something come up that would delay the checks…..I don’t know Congress for instance?

Any thoughts on this new attempt by Donny?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Let’s Look At The Tariffs (Again)

I still do not know how any person breathing can think that these tariffs are a good thing…..brain damage is the best I can come up with……

According to Donny the US has raised billions in tariff cash….The U.S. collected $195 billion in tariff revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in September. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget noted that the total was a 150 percent increase from 2024.

Let’s look at what these tariffs are doing for the average person…..

The Trump administration’s tariffs are on track to cost the typical household an average of $2,400 per year, according to the Yale Budget Lab. Moreover, the typical small business that imports products already faced more than $90,000 in tariff costs from April 2025 to July 2025 alone; they are also reporting revenue losses of about 13 percent, which will annualize to $100,000 if tariff costs continue to mount at this rate. These costs are only the beginning of the toll that Trump’s turbulence will take on businesses and consumers in the months to come.

…

Businesses and consumers crave predictability. From frequent and inconsistent announcements on tariff policy to trying to politicize historically independent institutions such as the Federal Reserve and the BLS, the Trump administration has made turbulence and uncertainty the drivers of its economic agenda. This chaos is imposing real costs across the economy, and it will threaten the nation’s long-term economic growth if the administration does not change course soon.

All that cash that has been raised is basically being paid by the American consumer in higher prices.

It is that simple.

WE cannot cover tariffs without writing about what the economy as a whole is doing under these restrictive policies….

Deploying the same methodology that Republicans used to track cost increases under former President Joe Biden, JEC Democrats found that the average US family is spending roughly $700 more per month on basic items since Trump took office in January, pledging to bring prices “way down.”

“While President Trump claimed that he would bring down prices, the reality is that Americans have seen their costs soar even higher since he took office,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the JEC’s ranking member. “As families across the country spend more to pay their bills and put food on the table, Democrats and Republicans should be working together to lower costs. Instead, President Trump is pushing ahead with reckless tariffs that continue to fuel inflation and drive prices up even higher.”

In some states—including Alaska, California, and Colorado—average families are spending over $1,000 more per month to maintain their living standards as costs continue to rise, in part due to Trump’s erratic tariff regime.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/inflation-under-donald-trump

So the economy sucks and job growth sucks as well and those were a couple of the selling points on tariffs that would improve the economy.

But yet Uncle Don tells the American  people that he has solved the inflation problem.

President Donald Trump announced in September that, despite ample evidence to the contrary, “We have almost no inflation anymore.”

The president explained that he has “already solved inflation” for America, and that is evidenced by the fact that “costs are down.” GOBankingRates breaks down the reality of the situation and what that means for your wallet.

The data (and the everyday costs they reflect) tell a different story. As reported by CNN, the annual inflation rate is at its highest level (2.9%) since January 2025, and that consumer prices continue to raise.

What does that mean for you? Essentially, it means that you’ll continue paying more at checkout for the time being.

https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/trump-says-solved-inflation-what-it-means-for-you/

So far there has been no good news on the tariffs front…..and yet there are those that continue to believe that they will improve their station in life…..and that just illustrates how ignorant the American people are on the subject of tariffs and the economy.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Roll Em Back—-Way Back

WE all have heard or experienced the high cost of food these days……well finally the problem has got some small amount of attention from Donny and the Thugs….

President Trump announced Friday that he was scrapping US tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits, and a broad swath of other commodities—a dramatic move that comes amid mounting pressure on his administration to better combat high consumer prices. “We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee,” Trump said aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida hours after the tariff announcement was made. Pressed on his tariffs helping to increase consumer prices, Trump acknowledged, “I say they may, in some cases” have that effect. “But to a large extent they’ve been borne by other countries,” the president added.

  • Trump has built his second term around imposing steep levies on goods imported into the US in hopes of encouraging domestic production and lifting the US economy. His abrupt retreat from his signature tariff policy on so many staples key to the American diet is significant, and it comes after voters in off-year elections this month cited economic concerns as their top issue, resulting in big wins for Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey, and other key races around the country, the AP reports.
  • Inflation—despite Trump’s pronouncements that it has vanished since he took office in January—remains elevated, further increasing pressure on US consumers.
  • The Trump administration has insisted that its tariffs had helped fill government coffers and weren’t a major factor in higher prices at grocery stores around the country. But Democrats were quick to paint Friday’s move as an acknowledgement that Trump’s policies were hurting American pocketbooks.
  • “President Trump is finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the American people,” Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer said in a statement. “After getting drubbed in recent elections because of voters’ fury that Trump has broken his promises to fix inflation, the White House is trying to cast this tariff retreat as a ‘pivot to affordability.'”
  • Trump signed an executive order that also removes tariffs on tea, fruit juice, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, and certain fertilizers. Some of the products covered aren’t produced in the United States, meaning that tariffs meant to spur domestic production had little effect. But reducing the tariffs will still likely mean lower prices for US consumers.
  • Trade groups praised the move and urged Trump to roll back more of his tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s certainly a step in the right direction, but it’s important to recognize that the pain that American working families and businesses feel from tariffs goes way beyond coffee and bananas,” said Jake Colvin, president of the National Foreign Trade Council.

He said the ‘tariffs, in some cases, contributed to the high cost’ (paraphrase)….this from a stable genius that is a whiz kid in economics and he did not think it would effect the prices?

Now how many of you think this will bring food prices more in line?

If the distributors do not lower prices what will be Donny’s retribution?

To say I am not impressed is an understatement.

How About you?

But wait!   Remember that Uncle Don cut a deal with Argentina for beef and that should start bringing prices down…..right?

Beef prices have been giving Americans sticker shock at grocery stores lately, and they are poised to reach even more stomach-churning levels next year, according to Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe.

“So we are headed for what I’m calling the $10-a-pound reality by third quarter of ’26,” he predicted. “Families are going to see $10-a-pound ground beef in the grocery store.”

According to the latest consumer price index data, the average price of ground beef was $6.323 a pound in September. That’s up 14% since January and 26% from January 2024.

If ground beef hits $10 a pound, the price would represent a 58% surge from September’s level.

https://fortune.com/2025/11/15/beef-prices-outlook-inflation-cattle-herd-supply-demand-trump-tariffs/

So that much hyped deal will do little to lower beef prices if the article is correct.

Once again Donny proves a stable genius he is not.

And finally the excuse for higher beef prices….hint it is Biden’s fault…..

Scott Bessent was ridiculed for suggesting skyrocketing beef prices have nothing to do with MAGA’s economic policies and everything to do with a supposed invasion of cows across the southern border.

The Treasury Secretary expounded his wild theory during a Sunday sit-down with Maria Bartiromo over on Fox News. The host described the crisis to Bessent, asking for his take on “ten dollar… meat, a pound!”

Arguing the beef industry is in “a perfect storm” that the White House “inherited” from the Joe Biden administration, the secretary shot back that rising costs are a direct result of migrants entering the U.S. from Latin America.

WE knew someone would use that dodge eventually, right?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Come One, Come All….We Are Open For ……

Finally those toadies in DC have a deal and it has been signed (with a Magic Sharpie no doubt) …..now we await the next piece of crap with the next shutdown looming on the horizon.

The just-returned House passed a bill Wednesday to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, sending the measure to President Trump for his signature after a historic 43-day funding lapse that saw federal workers go without multiple paychecks, travelers stranded at airports, and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families. Republicans used their slight majority to get the bill over the finish line by a House vote of 222-209; the Senate had already passed the measure, the AP reports. Trump, who planned to host Wall Street CEOs for dinner, per the Hill, scheduled a signing ceremony for 9:45pm at the White House.

Six House Democrats voted for the bill, while two Republicans—Thomas Massie and Greg Steube—voted against it, per the New York Times. Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and they refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time. The GOP eventually prevailed, but only after the shutdown took an increasing toll on the country.

“History reminds us that shutdowns never change the outcome, only the cost paid by the American people,” Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday. It was the first House session in 54 days. An administration official said paychecks will be issued starting Saturday, per the Washington Post.

WE can all issue a sigh of relief (for now)….

Donny makes an appearance….

President Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports, and generated long lines at some food banks, the AP reports. The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions—including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers—to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands. The Republican president blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.

So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.” The signing ceremony came just hours after the House passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 222-209. The Senate had already passed the measure Monday. Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Without it, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans, and more than 2 million people are projected to lose coverage altogether. Democats refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time.

“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.” Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy. But the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern.

Now that it is over what did all this drama actually do?

Just wondering.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Clowns Go Back To Work

The House is set to return to work and get to fixing the shutdown…….

After a 54-day recess, the House of Representatives is finally getting back to work, convening to vote on a bill aimed at ending the nation’s longest government shutdown. The Senate has already approved the measure, and President Trump has signaled his support, putting the bill on a fast track—if House Republicans can muster the votes. House Speaker Mike Johnson is under pressure to deliver after nearly two months with no legislation, hearings, or debate, as millions of Americans faced shutdown-related disruptions, per the New York Times. The legislation at hand would fund most of the government through Jan. 30, and some departments and programs, including SNAP, through next September, per PBS.

The bill promises to restore jobs and provide back pay for furloughed federal workers. It also provides millions in security for judges, Supreme Court justices, and members of Congress, and some $844 million for military construction, per PBS. As NBC News reports, it also includes a provision to allow senators to sue the federal government if their data is obtained without their knowledge. This would seem to lay the groundwork for eight Republican senators to sue over phone records subpoenaed in 2023 as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the 2021 Capitol attack.

The path to passage isn’t smooth. Republicans hold only a slim majority, and most Democrats are firmly against the bill, citing the absence of a crucial extension for federal health care subsidies. Johnson is relying on Trump’s backing to keep his caucus together, but even a small group of fiscal conservatives could throw up last-minute hurdles. Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping to minimize defections and ramp up pressure on the GOP. Their numbers will grow to 214 (versus 219 Republicans) with the swearing-in of Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat whose seating Johnson delayed. Action is expected to ramp up late Wednesday afternoon, though it could be slowed further by travel snags—the same ones plaguing the public.

Keep in mind that they got full pay for 54 days with no work.

Will this act help the shutdown be reversed?

History tells us that it is not over until it’s over.

Speaking of history….when did all this silliness begin?  Has it been a ‘thing’ this whole history of the country?

Before the early 1980s, federal agencies simply kept operating when appropriations had expired (known as a funding gap). The agencies minimized all nonessential operations and obligations, believing Congress did not intend for agencies to close down. Some of the activities that agencies would refrain from during this period were hiring, grant-making, and nonemergency travel.

In the 1970s, appropriation legislation started getting tied to contentious policy issues such as abortion and school integration. That caused six funding gaps in fiscal years 1977 to 1980, which ranged in duration from eight to 17 days. In 1980, reacting to those increasingly frequent funding gaps, President Carter asked the United States Attorney General, Benjamin Civiletti, to provide an opinion on how to interpret funding gaps in the context of the Antideficiency Act. The Antideficiency Act prohibits agencies from obligating or expending federal funds before an appropriation is enacted or above the amount specified in law.

Civiletti issued two opinions about the interpretation of the Antideficiency Act in 1980 and 1981, which shifted the norm from government agencies operating with limited capacity. The opinions state that federal agencies may not spend money when there are no appropriations, with a few practical exceptions. One exception is for spending money to close agencies in an orderly way. Another exception is to allow spending when there is a connection between the agency’s functioning and the safety of human life or the protection of property.

So this has not been a ‘thing’ for very long but it does play into the political games that Congress plays.

So the real shutdown has been that of Congress these momentarily lapses are just part of the game Congress plays with our lives.

Earlier shutdowns—Clinton’s fight with Gingrich in 1995, Obama’s battle with House Republicans in 2013, Trump’s 2018 border wall standoff—were disruptive but contained. Agencies furloughed workers, parks closed, markets wobbled, and then the government reopened, usually with a compromise. What makes this shutdown different is what’s at stake: not just funding, but Congress’s very capacity to function as a coequal branch of government.

For years, lawmakers have relied on short-term funding patches instead of passing real budgets. Each delay weakens Congress’s control over spending and strengthens the executive. Now, as some Republicans begin to break ranks, the deeper problem remains: a Congress afraid of blame, a GOP unwilling to confront Trump, and a presidency eager to fill the vacuum.

The real shutdown isn’t confined to darkened federal offices. It’s unfolding inside Congress itself—an institution that has slowly, and perhaps irreversibly, shut down its own ability to govern.

https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/real-shutdown-congress-surrender-power

This silliness is unnecessary and the only thing truly accomplishes is to penalize the population with the hope that it will effect voting in the future.

It is a game played at our expense.

Thoughts?

Peace   Out

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”