US debt ceiling, gov shutdown and Speaker of the House fight

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The dollar will literally be dead before those buffoons' do anything. Anything except spend like drunken sailors that is.
 

Senate Republicans rip Mitch McConnell for 'lack of negotiating skills' when it comes to border and Ukraine funding bill saying he has kept GOP in the dark and there is a ZERO percent chance it passes the House:​


  • To the chagrin of several GOP senators, no one has seen the text of the deal and only bullet points are being circulated
  • Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson blamed McConnell for keeping members of his conference in the dark.
A group of Republican senators ripped into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at a Wednesday briefing for keeping them in the dark on a critical border security and Ukraine aid bill.

McConnell, R-Ky., tapped Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford to lead negotiations with Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy, Conn., and Independent Sen. Krysten Sinema, Arizona, on a border-foreign aid package that would provide funding for domestic border security objectives and the war in Ukraine.

But, to the chagrin of several GOP senators, no one has seen the text of the deal and only bullet points are being circulated.

More:

 
I think McConnell might be too old to be the one fighting in the lead on these things.
 
"Perhaps this is a factor as to why the Fed is suddenly rushing to cut rates."

Let's be honest. It'd only be done in order to juice the economy in an election year in order to help maintain the status quo in dc.

Typically, rate cuts happen in the face of worsening economic indicators and conditions. We've been told over and over that the economy is supposedly doing great and Yellen tells us that the soft landing has been acheived.

If so, there is no legitimate reason to cut rates.
 
Fuck the border. Make Trump POTUS Again.

 
^^^^^

Turkey neck Mitch came out and said the same thing today.

Been going on for decades. Remember the dreamers?

Edit to add:

 
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Foreign aid package finally breaks through Senate logjam​

After a four-month detour for a border deal that died in three days, the Senate is moving forward on a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific.

Why it matters: This step forward is way past its deadline. The Pentagon is already out of funds for Ukraine, and a path through the House remains murky even if the Senate reaches a final deal.

  • The vote to advance to debate was 67 to 32, with 16 Republicans joining Democrats to move forward.
  • Some Senate Republicans want to try to tack on their own border priorities and other changes through an amendment process.
  • How amendments will work — and how long it could take — is still unclear.
Between the lines: The Senate vote also marks the final failure of what has been four months of intense bipartisan negotiations to attach changes to border policy to the emergency spending bill.

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The border laws are fine and clear. Biden eliminated EO's that Trump put in place to secure the border. EO's aside though, we have laws on immigration. Out immigration policy isn't broken but if your on the blue team and need millions of illegals voting in the next election then I guess you could consider the immigration policy broken.
As for dreamers. let em keep dreaming. Not their fault mom and dad came here illegally but the fact remains that's how they got here. Name another country where I could sneak in and upon getting caught get citizenship?
Sine the dreamers already went through the school system and probably speak English, I would say, if they haven't been convicted of a crime then let em stay on a 3-5 year basis and if they keep their noses clean then they can get citizenship. In the meantime they are non resident aliens and the very people that congress has imposed an income tax on, so they are taxpayers until they become citizens.

As for more aid for wars, not one penny unless congress wants to send them their personal money. These aid packages always seem to find a way back into the PACs in DC for the re election campaigns.
 

U.S. Senate approves Ukraine, Israel aid, but bill faces tough path through House​

  • The U.S. Senate voted early Tuesday to approve a $95 billion aid package providing funds for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but its future remains uncertain amid intense lawmaker opposition.
  • The bill passed by 70-29 votes in the Democrat-led legislature on Tuesday.
  • The bill must still be approved by the Republican-led House of Representatives before becoming law, facing stringent opposition from many in the GOP.
The U.S. Senate voted early Tuesday to approve a $95 billion aid package providing funds for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but its future remains uncertain amid intense lawmaker opposition.

The package includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel and $4.83 billion to support partners in the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan, along with facilities for humanitarian aid.

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U.S. Senate approves Ukraine, Israel aid, but bill faces tough path through House

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday said that the latest iteration of the bill had failed to meet Republican demands on border security.
www.cnbc.com
 
Pretty sure Mike Johnson already said the bill would not pass the House.
 
^^^^^

Speaker Mike Johnson Says House Will Not Vote on Foreign Aid Bill Because it Doesn’t Have a Border Policy —Which He Opposed Last Week​


Speaker Mike Johnson made clear he will not bring the Senate’s security supplemental, $95 billion foreign aid package up for a vote in the House in a statement posted on social media.

Johnson’s reasoning for denying a vote on foreign aid? The bill has no border security measures; therefore, it is not worthy of a vote.

Astute political scientists will recall that just last week, Speaker Johnson and many other Republican members of Congress insisted that the crisis at the border — described by many as an emergency — did not, in fact, need any legislation, just a stricter position from President Joe Biden.

This position echoed that of former President Donald Trump, who — some might say cynically — opted to put his partisan and political ventures ahead of national security in opposition to a bill that would have provided billions of dollars to close the U.S. southern border.

But instead of proceeding with a bipartisan bill co-authored by Republican Senator James Lankford, the House Speaker condemned the effort and now is saying the appropriations bill to support Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan is effectively dead on arrival at the House “due to its insufficient border provisions.”

Speaker Johnson’s statement in full:

More:

 
searcher said:
the crisis at the border — described by many as an emergency — did not, in fact, need any legislation, just a stricter position from President Joe Biden.
Click to expand...
How is that not true?

Your boy Joe created the problem by issuing EO's that instructed border agents to ignore existing law in order to allow millions to enter the nation illegally.

So why can it not be un-done via new EO's instructing them to arrest anyone crossing illegally?




Yea, close it only after 5000/day have already come across.
Dems in dc are just a bunch of lying pos's who clearly hate America.



searcher said:
The critters have scurred away on recess. When they get back they'll only have a few days to pass new bills before a shutdown happens.
Click to expand...
With a bit of good fortune they won't make it back in time.
 

Federal government to begin the formal process of preparing for partial shutdown – again​

Congress is quickly approaching a pair of government funding deadlines, with one week to go before a potential partial shutdown and lawmakers at an impasse with no clear plan in place to avoid it.

On Friday, the federal government will formally initiate the process of preparing for a potential shutdown, participating in the mandatory-but-standard process of releasing shutdown guidance to agencies ahead of the March 1 funding deadline. That means federal departments and agencies impacted by the first deadline will need to update and review their shutdown plans.

If this feels familiar, that’s because this is the fourth time since September that lawmakers have run up against a funding deadline, passing stopgap bills in the nick of time in September, November and once more in January to keep the government running.

In January, lawmakers passed a two-step, short-term funding extension setting up a pair of new deadlines on March 1 and March 8. In the absence of a deal in the coming days on a broader funding package or a short-term stopgap bill, known as a “continuing resolution,” a set of departments will run out of money at the end of next Friday, March 1.

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Take this one fwiw.

Discharge Petition Against Mike Johnson Moves Closer: 'Votes Are There'​

Democrats are planning to introduce a discharge petition in a bid to force a House vote on providing additional support for Ukraine, after Speaker Mike Johnson declined to allow one, according to one of their representatives.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell Jr. said a discharge petition would be "coming soon" and questioned whether there are "a dozen Republicans with a shred of courage to sign it."

The Senate passed a $95 billion aid package, including an additional $60 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, on February 13 but the legislation must also pass the House before it can be signed into law by President Joe Biden. However, Johnson has refused to hold a House vote on the package which he said is "silent on the most pressing issue facing our country," in reference to illegal immigration.

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searcher said:
$60 billion in military assistance to Ukraine,
Click to expand...
It'd be cheaper to just send in the Marines. They only cost $50 billion a year, and they're already paid for.

A $10 billion in savings, and if the Marines ain't enough to win, the extra $10 billion in cash wasn't gonna do it either.


At this point, givin' another $60 billion is just throwing good money after bad. It just guarantees that another $60 billion will be needed down the road.
 
Joe King said:
It'd be cheaper to just send in the Marines.
Click to expand...

A bit off topic but I have wondered about NATO the same way.

All the money, all the lost lives.

Would it have been better for NATO to have created and enforced a no-fly zone over Ukraine, mobilized in the west (of Ukraine) and pushed east until they reached the Russian border? All the while they could have broadcast (via radio) that they want Russians to overthrow Putin and join with NATO for peace and prosperity.

Just a thought.
 
So in other words, literally start WW3.

My suggestion was simply a way to try to open eyes to the sheer amount of wasted money that's been sent there already.

After already sending enough money to pay for the Marines multiple times, and they still haven't won, what possible good could it do to send enough to pay for 'em again plus a 20% tip?

It'd just be more wasted money on our nations credit card for our children and grandchildren to make perpetual interest payments on.
....or do you not care about that?
 

 
The critters have until Friday to do something. I'm thinking it'll be a shutdown.
 

Senate Clears $460 Billion Bill to Avert Partial Shutdown, Sending It to Biden​

WASHINGTON — The Senate gave final approval on Friday to a $460 billion spending bill to fund about half the federal government through the fall, sending the legislation to President Biden’s desk with just hours to spare to avert a partial shutdown.

The lopsided 75-to-22 vote cemented a resolution to at least part of a spending stalemate that consumed Congress for months and has repeatedly pushed the government to the edge of shutdown. Funding had been set to lapse at midnight, but the White House said that the executive branch was halting shutdown preparations and that Mr. Biden would sign the bill on Saturday.

But top lawmakers were still negotiating spending bills for the other half of the government over the same period, including for the Pentagon, which Congress must pass by March 22 to avert a shutdown. Several thorny issues, including funding for the Department of Homeland Security, have yet to be resolved.

The legislation passed on Friday packages together six spending bills, extending funding through Sept. 30 for dozens of federal programs covering agriculture, energy and the environment, transportation, housing, the Justice Department and veterans.

“To folks who worry that divided government means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader. “It helps parents and veterans and firefighters and farmers and school cafeterias and more.”

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searcher said:
. “It helps parents and veterans and firefighters and farmers and school cafeterias and more.”
Click to expand...
Yea yea, whatever.

Tell us the important part. Ie: how much did Ukraine get of the $460B?
 
So we do this dance again in September, conveniently a month or so after the general election.

 

Federal government is – once more – counting down to a partial shutdown​

Congress is running up on yet another critical government funding deadline on March 22, with one week to go before the potential, partial shutdown of several critical departments.

Negotiators are still working furiously around the clock to finish their work on the remaining six bills.

And so the federal government has once more begun the mandatory process of planning to bring the affected agencies’ nonessential functions to a halt one week from Friday.

“One week prior to the expiration of appropriations bills, regardless of whether the enactment of appropriations appears imminent, OMB will communicate with agency senior officials to remind agencies of their responsibilities to review and update orderly shutdown plans, and will share a draft communication template to notify employees of the status of appropriations,” a document from the White House Office of Management and Budget states.

If this feels familiar, that’s because this is the fifth time since September that lawmakers have run up against a funding deadline, passing stopgap bills in the nick of time in September, November, January and earlier this month to keep the government running.

More:

 
This is how leadership forces the chamber to approve stuff. By keeping the shutdown gun to their heads. No real debate or discussion will happen.
 

Congress announces a deal to avoid a shutdown, resolving homeland security dispute​

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders and President Joe Biden announced a deal Tuesday morning to fund the government ahead of a weekend deadline, breaking an impasse regarding money for the Department of Homeland Security, which had held up talks.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced the DHS deal in a statement, saying it will allow Congress to finish funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends in September. “House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., echoed news of the agreement, saying both chambers are now “in the process of finalizing text and reports for Congress to closely review and consider ASAP.”

They didn't immediately reveal details.

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MAGA Senator Says GOP Should Shut Down Government, "100 Percent"​

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing far-right pushback over the $1.2 trillion government spending bill which he negotiated with President Joe Biden. If passed, the deal will fund the government through September.

When CNN correspondent Manu Raju asked Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) about the encroaching deadline — if the spending bill isn’t passed by Friday, parts of the government will shut down — Paul said it’s not about the deadline or process. He said: “It’s about whether or not someone stands up and says the emperor has no clothes, the country has no money.”

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I've only been casually watching chatter on Twitter/X about the spending bill. I hear that Rand Paul has promised to block it in the Senate. Looks like the circus is back in town.
 
Well, that's disappointing. I was hoping the Senate would be able to block it.
 
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