Tag: Debt Ceiling

Biden Speaks

What did you do for Friday night?

Mine was exciting!  (Sarcasm intended)

Friday night our president made his very first public speech that was not a campaign promise and lie…..the speech was all about the debt deal…..

President Biden gave his first speech to the public from the Oval Office on Friday evening, and it centered on the debt ceiling deal approved by the House and Senate this week that will keep the United States out of default. “Crisis averted,” Biden declared of the agreement he’d reached with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which he plans on signing into law on Saturday, per Reuters. The president added that he and the GOP leader “were able to get along and get things done. … Both sides operated in good faith.” He conceded that “no one got everything they wanted” in the deal on the government’s $31.4 trillion debt limit, “but the American people got what they needed.” PBS notes that the president’s remarks were the most detailed yet on the agreement, as he’s remained mostly reticent while the major players hashed things out.

It’s a move the news outlet says “frustrated some members of his party but was intended to give space for both sides to reach a deal.” Biden also extrapolated the compromise he was able to reach with McCarthy to America at large, asking Americans to “stop shouting, lower the temperature, and work together to pursue progress,” per Reuters. “No matter how tough our politics gets, we need to see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans.” Per PBS, Biden acknowledged that “bipartisanship is hard,” then added, “Unity is hard. But we can never stop trying.” Reuters notes that presidents typically reserve speeches from the Oval Office “for the most significant and dramatic of events.” In this case, the White House says Biden wanted to make clear how serious things would’ve been had the debt limit not been raised.

His speech in full here.

Cutting future spending for poor people, sick people and children in order to pay the debts rung up by tax cuts for the rich and astronomical spending by the Pentagon. This is the gist of the deal Biden brokered with Kevin McCarthy, a deal that needed the support of Democrats to push through the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. In the end 165 Democrats voted for the bill and only 149 Republicans.

The deal is bad and probably only a harbinger of the coming bi-partisan austerity. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities the agreement will “increase hunger and poverty” among poor older Americans, a reference to new SNAP work requirements. What a thing to brag about when you go back to your state or district.

Biden claims he “compromised on the budget, not the debt ceiling.” Of course, that’s the point. The debt ceiling only exists to provide neoliberal politicians like Biden an excuse for imposing austerity on social and environmental programs while funding an ever-expanding defense budget…

Even for Republicans, it’s never been about the debt. As Dark Lord Cheney said, “Reagan taught us that the debt doesn’t matter.” It’s about re-allocating the federal budget to the people who put you in office: arms makers, banks, drug companies, oil companies, slumlords, tech giants, hedge funds. If you don’t have a lobbyist, a PAC or a dark money conduit, you don’t count for a damn thing in this town.

(thoughts from Jeffrey St. Clair

But all this drama about the debt….the GOP just helped add to the total…..

Case in point: the morning after the “Debt” deal passed the House and was sent to the Senate, Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations committee, announced her intention to introduce an emergency supplemental to raise Pentagon spending beyond debt limit deal. “That is what we need to do,” Collins said. “That is what I would ask the administration and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to commit to.”

Does anyone else see how pathetic all this crap has become?

In the next couple of years we will hear and see all this absurdity again.

Why?

The debt ceiling legislation that is now headed to President Joe Biden’s desk after the Senate passed it late Thursday includes $1.4 billion in cuts to IRS funding that was aimed at providing the agency with the resources to pursue rich tax evaders, who cost the federal government tens of billions of dollars in revenue each year.

By itself, the $1.4 billion IRS cut would add $900 million to the deficit over a 10-year period, according to a separate CBO analysis released earlier this week.

This stupidity never ends….kinda like the wars we bankroll.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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Debt Ceiling–In Case You Want To Know

A deal has been made between Biden and the House GOP….I would like for the people, my readers, that would like to know more beyond the god awful deal that was finally settled upon….

Here is the takeaways and the answers to most questions…..

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/key-questions-takeaways-debt-ceiling-deal/story

Personally this article is just the MSM trying to turn chicken manure into sirloin…..

If you do not like ABC then maybe this will be more favorable to your thinking…..

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/whats-in-and-whats-out-of-the-debt-ceiling-deal-between-biden-and-mccarthy

I still do not see where the American people made out in this deal…..basically it is to protect the markets and give cover for their re-election……

An agreement has been reached, at least in principle, by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on raising the nation’s debt limit, and now the final OK is in Congress’ hands. Both progressive Democrats and ultra-conservatives are already pushing back on the deal, and if Biden and McCarthy can’t convince members of their own parties to vote for it by a June 5 deadline, a default looms. Negotiators are scrambling to finalize the bill’s details, and the takes are starting to trickle in. Some thoughts on what this agreement could mean:

  • View on proposed spending cuts: Economists tell the New York Times they don’t think those “modest” cuts will seriously shake up a “well-positioned” economy that should be able to absorb them. “The most important impact is the stability that comes with having a deal,” Ben Harris, a former deputy Treasury secretary, tells the paper. “Markets can function knowing that we don’t have a cataclysmic debt ceiling crisis looming.”
  • A Balanced deal, but…: The editorial board at the Washington Post notes that both the GOP and Dems got “some of what they wanted,” and that “most Americans will probably approve” of the “sensible” basics of the deal. The panel argues, however, that the agreement sets a “dangerous precedent,” as “House Republicans have now used the debt limit twice to create a hostage-like situation that brings the nation close to an unthinkable default.” The board’s recommendation: “The debt limit itself needs to be scrapped,” as it “no longer makes any sense.”
  • “Wrinkles and curveballs”: Politico outlines the details that make “even more clear what kinds of trade-offs [Biden] and McCarthy had to accept in ways that are already angering members of the parties’ bases”—including a thumbs-up for an Appalachian gas pipeline promoted by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
  • Cautious optimism from investors: They note the debt deal could “boost overall appetite for risk” in the stock market, while also boosting some of the “unloved corners,” including cyclical stocks, defense stocks, and energy stocks, per Reuters. “The hope is that the approval of this tentative deal will help underpin the broader market and not just the handful of big tech names that have kept the market well in positive territory,” Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, says.
  • Temporary relief? A second piece in Reuters takes the stance that any market relief that emerges out of the deal will only be a “short-lived sugar high.” The outlet notes that’s because once the agreement is struck, it’s believed the US Treasury will rapidly issue nearly $1.1 trillion in Treasury bills—a move that would “effectively suck a bunch of liquidity out of the marketplace” and create “an environment where markets are crash prone,” experts say.
  • “Fiscal hangover”: Investors.com similarly warns that “a fiscal hangover is just beginning,” and that “we’re about to get Fed quantitative tightening on steroids,” with a possible stock market dip and recession around the corner.
  • The art of compromise: Writing for CNN, Dean Obeidallah notes that making concessions is part of the game, and for fellow Democrats who don’t like the agreement, he has some advice. “There is an easy fix: Win back control of the House in 2024—while retaining the Senate and White House—and they can roll back any parts of the deal they find objectionable,” he writes.

Not to worry we will play this same game in a couple of years….just another way to do nothing while appearing to do something.

All this is just so much theater of the absurd…..and it is pathetic.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Deal For Our Time

Over the weekend the drama of the negotiations for the deal to handle the debt came to an end…..Biden, Dems and GOP have cut a deal…

President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached an agreement in principle to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and avoid a default. Negotiators are now racing to finalize the bill’s text. McCarthy said the House will vote on the legislation on Wednesday, giving the Senate time to consider it ahead of the June 5 deadline to avoid a default. While many details are unknown, both sides will be able to point to some victories, per the AP. Some details, based on what’s known so far:

  • Two years: The agreement would keep non-defense spending roughly flat in the 2024 fiscal year and increase it by 1% the following year, as well as provide for a two-year debt-limit increase—past the next presidential election in 2024. That’s according to a source familiar with the deal who provided details on the condition of anonymity.
  • Veterans: The agreement will fully fund medical care for veterans at the levels included in Biden’s proposed 2024 budget blueprint, including for a fund dedicated to veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances or environmental hazards. Biden sought $20.3 billion for the toxic exposure fund in his budget.
  • Work requirements: The agreement would expand some work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. The agreement would raise the age for existing work requirements from 49 to 54, similar to the Republican proposal, but those changes would expire in 2030. And the White House said it would at the same time reduce the number of vulnerable people at all ages who are subject to the requirements.
  • Energy projects: The deal puts in place changes in the the National Environmental Policy Act that will designate “a single lead agency” to develop environmental reviews, in hopes of streamlining the process.
  • Student debt: Republicans had sought to repeal Biden’s efforts to waive $10,000 to $20,000 in debt for nearly all borrowers who took out student loans. But the provision was a nonstarter for Democrats. The budget agreement keeps Biden’s student loan relief in place, though the Supreme Court will have the ultimate say on the matter.

No one will be happy with the plan….the markets ought to open higher come Tuesday…..so some will be happy….t least the VA got a small victory just in time for Memorial Day.

I had a problem with the role that the media played in the coverage of this issue…..there are a couple of ‘notions’….

“First, the notion that ‘modest cuts’ to spending are inconsequential.”

Second is the role of inflation,” Hauser continued, charging that the brewing potential deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) “would be a catastrophe for government capacity, and coverage that ignores the role of inflation (hardly a low profile issue in 2023!) is wildly and indefensibly misguided.”

“Third, the notion that the president was trapped under the gun of McCarthy is ridiculous,” he added. “Because the debt ceiling is an unconstitutional, incoherent excuse for a law and because there is an active lawsuit from the National Association of Government Employees [NAGE], Biden’s status as a hostage merely reflects an advanced case of Stockholm Syndrome.”

Given arguments that the president “has a wide number of ways out from the debt ceiling and no legal way to implement it,” Hauser asserted, “the media needs to quit deferring to the debt ceiling’s political theater and engage more with the essentially uncontroverted legal experts pointing out that it cannot be implemented in a constitutional manner.”

(commondreams.org)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The GOP Debt Plan

After a couple of weeks of no progress on the debt ceiling thing the GOP has come up with a plan (they always have a plan that does little to solve the problem…..as usual it will involve benefits for business and of course the inevitable tax cuts.

Here is a look at this ‘plan’…..

With the U.S. careening toward a default crisis that they manufactured, House Republicans are reportedly crafting a major tax cut package that would overwhelmingly benefit the rich and corporations while blowing a multitrillion-dollar hole in the federal deficit.

The fresh push for tax cuts, according to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), further shows that “this hostage crisis has never been about deficits for the GOP.”

“It has always been about wealth transfer—taking away food and healthcare from the poor and middle class to give away $3 trillion more in tax cuts to their rich friends,” Omar, the deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted Tuesday.

Politicoreported earlier this week that Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee hope to finish work on their emerging tax legislation by June 16, just over two weeks after the so-called “X-date”—the day on which the Treasury Department expects the federal government to run out of money to cover its obligations unless Congress raises the debt limit or President Joe Biden acts unilaterally.

“Key parts of the [tax cut] package… will likely include a full restoration of research and development deductions, full bonus depreciation, removing caps on business interest expensing, and a doubling of the $1.08 million limitation on the section 179 deduction (which, like bonus depreciation, allows a company to deduct an asset’s cost up-front),” Politico noted.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated last week that extending the individual provisions of the 2017 tax cuts—which are currently set to expire in 2025—would add $2.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. The original law made the cut to the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% permanent.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gop-tax-cuts-debt-limit

Let me ask you….if you have a debt problem would cutting your income help solve your problem?

GOP wants to cut the revenue that the country gets….but they want to keep spending on stupidity like wars…..I cannot see our debt ceiling problem being solved by these plans from the Right.

They keep doing this horrible plan so that they can attack social safety nets while giving a helping hand to those that need no help.

But these plans do keep the dollars rolling into their coffers….and that is what it is all about.

Pay attention!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Sex And The Debt Debate

I read a headline while I was surfing last week and came across one that made me just have to read…..The debt ceiling deal could make America’s STD problem much worse”….I immediately thought….what does sex have to do with the debt deal?

And yes I had to read the story and I would like to share it here…..

Senior Biden administration officials and public health leaders are warning that debt ceiling negotiations around clawing back unspent Covid-19 money would have an unintended consequence: increasing sexually-transmitted diseases.

The potential cuts — one of the few seeming areas of agreement between House Republicans and the White House — could sap as much as $30 billion from state and local public health departments that are struggling to rebuild as Covid-19 wanes. Funding clawbacks would undermine work to slow the spread of syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV and hepatitis, and leave the country weaker in the face of future pandemics.

States and cities are counting on unspent Covid funds to support the ranks of local public health workers who test people for sexually transmitted infections, find and contact others who were exposed, and direct people to treatment, efforts crucial to limiting the spread of STDs.

“There’s no doubt” the cuts would hurt efforts to “rebuild our public health infrastructure,” Leandro Mena, director of the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, told POLITICO at the annual conference of STD Directors in New Orleans. “If we don’t have a robust workforce ready, who’s going to be there when we have our next outbreak?”

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/19/debt-ceiling-std-covid-00097758

Now you know what sex and the debt ceiling deal have in common.

Are you not pleased that you asked?

As long as we are talking about STDs….

I always post about what is happening in my state of Mississippi…..my state made another list…this tine it is STDs….

Mississippi’s capital city has the second-highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S., according to a new study. Innerbody used data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to determine the list of cities with high rates of STDs. Jackson was the only Mississippi city to make the list and is second to Memphis. New Orleans ranked sixth. With 1,358 cases per 100,000 people the state capital city ranked second in the U.S. Jackson reported 105 HIV cases, 6,144 chlamydia cases, 3,587 gonorrhea cases and 607 syphilis cases. Jackson has a population of about 149,761.

Read more at: https://www.sunherald.com/news/health/article275559481.html#storylink=cpy

There you go all the fornicating news I have to offer on this Sunday for those inquiring minds.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend….be well and be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Now

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Debt Ceiling Constitutional?

Now there is an excellent question.

For the last month we have had the back and forth with the looming governmental shutdown. Some have even asked if all this drama is truly necessary?

So to answer the question I went to Vox for their take on the whole enchilada….

The United States has a time bomb written into federal law, and no one knows whether it is constitutional or not.

As anyone who has paid attention to the last dozen years of fighting over the federal budget knows, Congress must periodically raise the nation’s debt ceiling, the amount of money that the US Treasury is allowed to borrow, because the US spends more than it takes in. If the debt ceiling is raised or repealed on schedule, nothing happens. The Treasury will continue to pay for all federal expenses Congress has ordered it to pay, and it will continue to borrow money to pay for these obligations when necessary.

…

This completely unnecessary threat to the US economy arises from the odd way Congress manages the federal budget. As a general rule, Congress enacts one set of laws that govern taxation and revenue; these laws determine how much money the United States brings in every year. It enacts another set of laws, known as appropriations, that determine how much money the United States will spend every year. If appropriations exceed revenue, then the United States will run a budget deficit and will need to borrow money to cover the gap.

But, rather than automatically authorizing the Treasury to borrow however much money is necessary to cover this deficit, Congress also enacted a third law — the debt ceiling — that prohibits Treasury from borrowing more than a set amount of funds. Once this limit is hit, the country is unable to pay its bills unless Congress raises the debt ceiling. And that will cause the United States to default on at least some of its financial obligations, triggering the same spiral of reduced creditworthiness that faces consumers who refuse to pay their credit card bills.

https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/5/11/23712477/supreme-court-debt-ceiling-fourteenth-amendment-unconstitutional-kevin-mccarthy-joe-biden

With all the info then you decide if it is constitutional for yourself.

My thoughts here are…..with some time the US could make this less a problem by enacting two simple things…..1–corporations should be paying their way in this society through taxation….2–rein in the military adventurism world wide.

This will not immediately fix the debt problem but it would be a good road to find that solution all seem to be looking for with all this dramatics from Congress.

Just me thinking out loud.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Far Right Demands

Let’s start the week with some outrageous Right wing demands.

These are the demands being made by House far righters, the Freedom Caucus, (love the name it is anything but about freedom)….

The debt ceiling debate is about to begin and these are the demands from the far right for that debate.

A cadre of far-right Republicans announced Friday that they may only vote to raise the debt ceiling if Congress agrees to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in social spending, limit federal agencies’ future budgets, and abandon progressive elements of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.

Since Washington’s arbitrary and arguably unconstitutional borrowing limit was breached in January, the Treasury Department has implemented “extraordinary measures” enabling the U.S. government to meet its obligations for a few additional months. Unless the Biden administration takes unilateral action to disarm the debt ceiling, Congress has until sometime between July and September to increase or suspend the nation’s borrowing cap. If Republicans refuse to do so, the U.S. is poised to suffer a catastrophic default.

Led by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), the House Freedom Caucus said Friday in a statement that its 45 members would “consider voting” to raise the debt limit if their colleagues in the House and Senate agree to:

  • Eliminate Biden’s $400 billion student debt cancellation plan;
  • Rescind unspent Covid-19 relief funds;
  • Nix nearly $400 billion worth of clean energy investments approved in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA);
  • Repeal the IRA’s roughly $80 billion funding boost for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS);
  • Restore Clinton-era work requirements on welfare recipients;
  • Require congressional approval before any major federal regulations can take effect;
  • Cap future federal spending at 2022 levels for the next 10 years; and
  • Find “every dollar spent by Democrats that can be reclaimed for the American taxpayer.”

This is the official release from the Caucus…

Image

I see lots that will effect the common voter and very little about actually decreasing the “reach” of government.

I love these ‘small government’ conservatives and their alt-right blowhards.

What crap!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Debt Ceiling–Right On Cue

A new Congress with Repubs in charge in the House and right on cue these people are fixated on the debt ceiling and will not vote to up it unless some of their demands are met.

We will hear from the lard ass, big mouths in the House go on and on about the debt and will spread crap on what it means to us mere peasants.

To help the average person understand this I found an interesting bit that could explain this complex issue…..

Republicans in Congress are threatening once again to force the US to default because they lack the votes to enact their preferred fiscal vision.

Yes, it’s debt ceiling season once again. For those not following along at home, US law imposes an arbitrary limit on the amount of money the government is allowed to borrow. Historically, this was intended to make borrowing easier. Today, it is a tool for brinksmanship, with Republicans threatening to block paying the bills they already voted to incur unless GOPdemands for unspecific spending cuts are met.

…

The last time a real debt ceiling face-off happened in 2011, the US had its sovereign debt rating downgraded and incurred more than a billion dollars in economic losses. So let’s set aside the hypocrisy and political posturing and ask a simpler question: Is there a debt crisis that would justify holding the economy hostage?

And the answer is no. Markets are not worried about the US paying its debts, and there are no bond vigilantes appearing out of the woodwork.

…

Absent the specter of the European debt crisis or a Republican party united on fiscal issues, the politics of debt reduction sit differently. Some Republican politicians, like Trump and Senate leader Mitch McConnell, are already warning that the cuts for popular but expensive programs such as Social Security and Medicare implied by a debt default aren’t going to help the party gain power in the next election. Republican member of Congresthoughts on the debt issues Nancy Mace told NBC over the weekend spending must be cut but couldn’t name a single target for reductions. Instead of cuts, conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is pushing to lift the limit on taxable Social Security wages.

https://qz.com/there-is-no-us-debt-crisis-1850013109

I am sure there is a troll in weeds waiting for his/her opportunity to offer up their spurious thoughts on the debt issue.

One question….how will the debt ceiling effect you?  (I do not want to hear what some politician thinks….I want your belief).

What about the proposal to eliminate the IRS and income tax?

Stay tuned for I shall cover this issue soon.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Today Is The Day!

Hold your breathe for today is going to be interesting….or even comical….either way the theater will be massive…..

Today’s a milestone day for the Treasury Department, though it’s one it had hoped wouldn’t arrive. Thursday marks when the United States is expected to hit its $31.4 trillion debt cap, a borrowing limit set by Congress that means Treasury will now have to get creative with other ways to pay the nation’s bills. Per the New York Times, the development is expected to set off a contentious debt-ceiling fight between Democrats, who want to lift the cap, and Republicans, who say no way unless President Biden OKs significant spending cuts. “At a moment of heightened partisanship and divided government, it is … a warning of the entrenched partisan battles that are set to dominate Washington in the months to come, and that could end in economic shock,” the paper notes. More on what’s ahead:

  • A feud that may ‘cross the Rubicon’: That’s how Axios paints the “fraught and perilous” debate, in which it anticipates neither side will do much negotiating. That’s not good news when the US is perched on the precipice of a recession. The outlet notes it could also be “an avatar of what some have argued is a US democracy that’s become increasingly polarized, ungovernable, incapable of tackling major challenges—and could be on the verge of outright destabilization.”
  • What it means for Americans: CNN notes that “every American could feel the pain” of what’s to come, and USA Today delves further into the ways the debt-ceiling fight could impact our finances, from how it will affect tax refunds and 401(k) accounts to what it means for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
  • What it means for investors: The New York Times offers its take on where to put your money during such turbulent times. One takeaway: Sticking with stocks and bonds over the long haul will probably serve you well.
  • Looking to the past for precedent: CNN takes a look back at other debt standoffs, including in 1995, when the debt was a mere $4.9 trillion. NPR, meanwhile, talks to two key players during the 2011 debt-ceiling impasse—Jason Furman, an economic adviser to then-President Obama, and Rohit Kumar, an adviser to Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican that year—to see if there are lessons to be gleaned.
  • But this isn’t 2011: Participants in a roundtable discussion at the Times note that things are very different than they were a decade ago—including “a worrying trend of edging closer and closer to red lines because lawmakers think there’s political benefit and that there won’t actually be consequences.” In other words, it’s become a high-stakes game of chicken that could have far-reaching repercussions.

Let the games begin!

House GOP will inflict as much pain as they can on Americans…..

Thursday, January 19, 2023 as the day the United States is likely to reach its debt limit, although she has also said that she can keep the federal government open through June by resorting to “extraordinary measures.” Yellen has stressed that the sooner Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. House of Republicans can reach some type of agreement on the debt ceiling, the better. But the two major parties appear to be at a stalemate in the House, where Freedom Caucus and Tea Party Republicans are demanding major spending cuts and Democrats are maintaining that vital programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid should not be on the chopping block.

Meanwhile, countless economists are warning that if the U.S. defaults on its debt obligations, the results would be disastrous economically and trigger a painful recession. Liberal economist Paul Krugman, in his New York Times column, has warned that House Republicans are happy to risk a financial calamity in the hope of butchering Social Security and Medicare. And Never Trump conservative Charlie Sykes has argued that House Republicans aren’t being “fiscally conservative” when they play “chicken” with the U.S. economy and risk a default on the United States’ debt obligations — they’re being reckless and irresponsible.

https://www.alternet.org/debt-ceiling-2659280721/

May I suggest that you invest in some Vaseline and just bend over….for the Repubs are coming.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Debt Ceiling–The Game

The big news other than abortion and congressional antics has been the debt ceiling….if it was not raised then the government would shutdown….and the game began……

The Repubs, as usual, played it tough before they cave and do a deal that would extend the functioning of government….at least for a short while……

As usual the game was all too predictable……

The Senate dodged a US debt disaster Thursday night, voting to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December and temporarily avert an unprecedented federal default that experts warned would devastate the economy and harm millions of Americans. The vote of 50-48 in support of the bill to raise the government’s debt ceiling by nearly a half-trillion dollars brought instant relief in Washington and far beyond. Congress has just days to act before the Oct. 18 deadline after which the Treasury Department has warned it will quickly run short of funds to handle the nation’s already accrued debt load. The House is likely to return to approve the measure next week. The White House signaled Biden’s support, with principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the president would sign a bill to raise the debt limit when it passed Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday an agreement has been reached with Republicans to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December, temporarily averting a debt crisis. “We’ve reached agreement,” Schumer announced as he opened the Senate, reports the AP. “Our hope is to get this done as soon as today.” Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell had offered to accept a short-term extension on Wednesday, shortly before Republicans prepared to block legislation to suspend the debt limit until December of next year.

The agreement sets the stage for a sequel of sorts in December, when Congress will again face pressing deadlines to fund the government and raise the debt limit before heading home for the holidays. McConnell and Senate Republicans have insisted that Democrats would have to go it alone to raise the debt ceiling and allow the Treasury to renew its borrowing so that the country could meet its financial obligations. Further, McConnell has insisted that Democrats use the same cumbersome legislative process called reconciliation that they used to pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill and have been employing to try to pass Biden’s $3.5 trillion measure to boost safety net, health, and environmental programs.

McConnell said in his offer Wednesday that Republicans would still insist that Democrats use the reconciliation process for a long-term debt-limit extension. However, he said Republicans are willing to “assist in expediting” that process, and in the meantime Democrats may use the normal legislative process to pass a short-term debt-limit extension with a fixed dollar amount to cover current spending levels into December. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy’s take: Assuming final details in the emergency legislation are in order, “for the next three months, we’ll continue to make it clear that we are ready to continue to vote to pay our bills and Republicans aren’t.” McConnell: “This will moot Democrats’ excuses about the time crunch they created and give the unified Democratic government more than enough time to pass stand-alone debt-limit legislation through reconciliation.”

Does all that sound the least bit familiar?

The end result was all too predictable….it is the same game with the same result year after year.

Another waste of time because it is not something that needs the wasting of this valuable time….a ploy all too familiar……especially with the approach of an election year.

These are the games politicians play to avoid the heavy lift the country needs badly.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”