Debt Ceiling Update: Joe Biden Still Not Negotiating With MAGA Terrorists
Kevin McCarthy can grow a spine and stand up to the extremists.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote House Speaker Kevin McCarthy a very polite “Dear Jerkwad” letter Monday reminding him that the US will default on its debt “by early June, and potentially as early as June 1” (a lousy way to celebrate Marilyn Monroe’s birthday).
Yellen made this prediction based on what the government shook down from folks in April and the way it's currently spending money. However, she can't pinpoint the precise moment when the nation's economy goes belly up.
"It is impossible to predict with certainty the exact date when Treasury will be unable to pay the government's bills, and I will continue to update Congress in the coming weeks as more information becomes available," she wrote. "Given the current projections, it is imperative that Congress act as soon as possible to increase or suspend the debt limit in a way that provides longer-term certainty that the government will continue to make its payments."
McCarthy, of course, insists that “no clean debt ceiling” increase would pass the MAGA-run House. Monday, he whined that President Joe Biden had “refused to do his job” because he wouldn’t give in to his demands. But Biden ain't blinking. He insists on a clean debt ceiling increase that will pay the bills Donald Trump racked up.
PREVIOUSLY:
House Speaker McCarthy Ready To BURN IT ALL DOWN
House Republicans Finally Deliver Debt Ceiling Ransom Note
The president has invited McCarthy, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, and Mitch McConnell to the White House next Tuesday, which would prove the first substantial talks with Republicans on their manufactured debt ceiling crisis since February. Biden officials confirm the president isn't changing his message, but he might repeat the words a little louder if Republicans' ears are still clogged with stupid.
“If you need to hear again that it’s your responsibility to address the debt ceiling without conditions and a ransom,” said a senior administration official who spoke about internal thinking on condition of anonymity, “then he can say that again.”
Biden is willing to discuss the overall federal budget, but separate from raising the debt ceiling, which he won't negotiate and resents Republicans demanding extreme policy concessions in exchange for not jeopardizing the nation's economic stability. Biden contends that he has the stronger hand in a debt ceiling "stare down," probably because his hand isn't covered in poop. David Frum at the Atlantic noted that "[r]ather than capitalize on existing economic troubles, Republicans have started a debt-ceiling fight that will cast them as the cause of America’s economic troubles."
Republicans have responded so far by lying, often and shamelessly. They insist the debt ceiling bill they just passed won't cut veterans' benefits, which it will.
Sen. Ted Cruz said Monday that Biden is the true “terrorist” because he won’t negotiate with Republicans. It’s like an ancient proverb: Who is the terrorist? The terrorist who holds the nation’s economy hostage or the person who won’t pay the ransom?
Congressional Democrats remain united behind Biden. Schumer and Jeffries released a joint response denouncing Republican attempts "to hold our nation hostage." Democrat Jon Tester from Montana, who faces a tough re-election race next year, said that Biden shouldn't cut a deal with Republicans over the debt ceiling. Paying America's debt is non-negotiable.
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, said a stock market tumult may be what forces either side of the Biden-McCarthy standoff to give. “It may take a thousand points off the Dow before they actually move,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of drama, for sure.”
Unfortunately, even if Biden noogied McCarthy into a deal, it would take days to move any legislation through both the House and Senate, and just a few fools in the MAGA caucus could tank the whole thing.
Schumer plans to hold Senate hearings this week that will "expose the true impact" of the bill, but that doesn't get us closer to a deal. It's important that Republicans take the blame for the mess they caused, but we're all better off not living through it.
[Politico]
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Biden Refuses To Listen To Helpful New York Times, Keeps Kamala Harris On Ticket
What a big jerk.
If you watched the video announcing Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign (we will give you the opportunity in a moment), you may have noticed something a little bit unusual: Vice President Kamala Harris is shown again and again (I counted at least 15 times and probably missed a couple jump cuts) in the video clips and still shots, usually with Biden or in group shots, but sometimes by herself. The video also includes quite a few solo images of First Lady Jill Biden, and one brief image of Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Do more of those; they're a cute couple!
Harris's frequent appearances in the video are no coincidence, as NBC News reports, since the Biden campaign is actively seeking to increase Harris's profile as the campaign gets rolling. That's partly to overcome the inevitable curse of vice presidential invisibility — FDR's first veep John Nance Garner infamously said the office was "not worth a bucket of warm piss" — but also as part of a conscious strategy to call attention to her "role in the administration" and to push back on GOP efforts (helped along by the New York Times) to "turn her into a liability." And of course, making sure Harris is seen frequently in a positive light, it's hoped, may help reassure voters that the Age Thing (Joe Biden, it turns out, is fairly old!) isn't anything to panic about.
The NBC News piece notes that Harris's many appearances in the video mark a big contrast from Barack Obama's video announcing his 2012 reelection bid, which didn't mention or show Biden at all, not that Joe minded since it gave him more time to hang out on the White House roof listening to classic rock, grilling some steaks, and sharing a few brews with friends. It would appear that the 2024 campaign decided not to try to persuade The Onion to depict Harris as a loveable stoner doofus.
White House and campaign insiders were happy to tell NBC News that the goal here isn't simply to reassure voters that there's a qualified veep ready to step in if God Forbid, but also to give Harris her due as a central part of the administration:
“I know that the president sees the vice president as not only a historic leader, but a true partner to him, and she’s really been at the forefront of a lot of the work that we’ve done politically,” said Jaime Harrison, the chair of Democratic National Committee. “I really do believe that she’s going to be at the forefront and a crucial component of the re-election process.”
Asked about the plans to elevate Harris’ work, a senior White House official said: “What would be more accurate is that the vice president’s team and the West Wing have worked collaboratively around her leadership on women’s reproductive health care, her foreign policy leadership and other issues. She was a huge asset in the 2020 campaign, and West Wing advisers see her as a huge asset again.”
Honestly, we'd like to see more of that, since one of the things we liked about the Obama White House was his close working relationship with Biden. When Biden announced Harris would be his running mate in 2020, that was what he said he had in mind as a model for how he'd rely on his vice president for advice and feedback.
The GOP and rightwing media have made it their weird mission to attack Harris for anything they can make up, like that time Fox News pretended to be outraged at — yes really — her "French sounding" pronunciation of the word "the." Also, we regret to inform you, one time Kamala Harris bought a fancy pot. Then there are their constant insinuations that because she's Black and a woman, she's really an incompetent "affirmative action" hire who can barely string two coherent words together. No one's going to accuse them of subtlety.
Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch's New York Postgot in on that racist act this week, suggesting that the campaign announcement video had "muzzled" Harris, as if it would have been disastrous to let her speak. The only voice heard in the ad is Biden's, but the story didn't suggest that the campaign had "muzzled" Jill Biden, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, or the many (very photogenic) ordinary Americans shown in the ad. Still, the New York Post got one thing semi-right, if you don't mind sloppy writing: Harris is indeed the "administration’s foremost spokesman [sic] on the issue of abortion" since the Supreme Court overturned Roe; it's just that most of America doesn't see that as a liability.
So hell yes, let's see more Kamala Harris. As the NBC News story points out, she's quite adept at communicating the administration's message. At Howard University in DC, her alma mater, Harris on Tuesday "delivered a fiery speech" making the case for sticking with her and her boss:
“Now I stand here, proud to run for re-election with President Joe Biden as vice president of the United States of America, so we can finish the job,” Harris told a cheering crowd. “And I will say to everyone here that we are living, I do believe, in a moment in time where so many of our hard-won freedoms are under attack. And this is a moment for us to stand and fight.” [...]
“There is a national agenda at play by these extremist so-called leaders. And understand when you look at what they are up to: Their agenda is not only about attacking a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body; this agenda includes attacking your very right and freedom to express your voice through your vote at the ballot box,” Harris said.
Well hell yes. More of that, please.
[NBC News / The Onion / NYP / Photo: Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons License 2.0]
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Joe Biden Gonna Beat The Fascists With One Hand While Eating An Ice Cream Cone In The Other
MAGA is already running scared.
President Joe Biden is running for re-election — thank God! — and he's already dropped his first official, barn-raising campaign ad, which will air in 15 different TV markets in six key states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Here's how the "Meet the Press" Twitter account, with its Chuck fully up its Todd, described the spot: "President Biden’s re-election campaign is doubling down on its opening message warning that Americans’ freedoms are under attack by so-called 'MAGA Republicans' with its first TV ad of the 2024 race."
"Doubling down" technically means strengthening your commitment to a strategy that is either risky or misguided. But Americans’ freedoms are still under attack by an unhinged authoritarian movement posing as a political party. This is like saying FDR was “doubling down” on his "Stop Hitler" message. Also, Biden launched his re-election campaign on Tuesday. I’m glad he’s sticking with his opening message a full day later. I prefer presidents who aren’t fickle: "Did I say MAGA was an existential threat? Well, I slept on it, and I think they’re more a mild annoyance. Carry on."
\u201cJoe Biden\u2019s first ad is really, really good.\u201d— Rich Luchette (@Rich Luchette) 1682514014
PREVIOUSLY: Joe Biden Running For President ... Again
“As the sun rises, we raise the flag,” the narrator says, specifically referring to the US flag, not the insurrectionist Confederate or MAGA flags. “… a symbol of all that we hold most dear as Americans — courage, opportunity, democracy, freedom. They’re the values and beliefs that built this country and still beat in our hearts. But they’re under attack by an extreme movement that seeks to overturn elections, ban books, and eliminate a woman’s right to choose.”
This is plain-spoken, heartfelt, and to the point. Biden doesn’t back away from the stakes and doesn’t try to paint a rosy picture of the past few years. He doesn't even have to say Donald Trump's name, just show footage of violent mobs attacking the Capitol while waving flags bearing that bastard's name.
Polls have shown that “MAGA” has become a toxic term, less popular than Republicans in general. It might seem like we’re cutting Republicans too much slack by distinguishing the MAGA movement from the Republican Party, considering the former runs the latter, but actual Republicans are unable to distance themselves from the MAGA brand or reject Donald Trump, the inevitable nominee. Biden has kindly forged MAGA into an anchor that will sink the entire Republican Party.
One thing I especially like about this ad and the 2020 Biden campaign ads is that his vision of a folksy, traditional, salt-of-the-Earth America is effortlessly inclusive and diverse. The barber, the factory worker … they are minorities and women. Yes, we see white men, as well. Uncle Joe hasn’t forgotten about them, either.
“Joe Biden has made defending our basic freedoms the cause of his presidency,” the ad declares. This includes the freedom for people to choose an abortion and for children to attend schools with more books than guns. "The freedom to vote and have your vote counted,” because that’s also under assault.
“In small towns and big cities, we raise our heads, our eyes, our hearts for America, for the idea of this great country. Joe Biden is running for re-election to make certain that the sun will not set on this flag. The promise of American democracy will not break.”
Damn, this is like the trailer for a superhero movie. Joe Biden will return in … Get Off My Lawn, Fascists! They need to film some footage with Biden for post-credit scenes in Guardians of the GalaxyVol. 3 and The Marvels.
Of course, MAGA feels very put out by all this soaring rhetoric. Brian Kilmeade, filling in for the somehow absent (?) Tucker Carlson, complained Tuesday that Biden is running a “divisive” campaign. Fox News earlier claimed that Biden had abandoned any attempt at unity. Of course, in reality, Biden’s message is consistent with who he’s always been. He believes in the best of America and appreciates all Americans, but he’s also resolute in the face of anti-Democratic extremism. Fox News fills most of its programming with rants about how Biden is senile but also a diabolical mastermind who wants to make cops dance in pink tutus while violent gangs ravage our cities. They won’t even call him “president,” which he is and will remain so while Trump is busy dodging multiple criminal charges.
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee predictably ran an ad that is actually divisive. Using creepy AI technology, it presents a “nightmare” scenario where Biden wins re-election and the world promptly descends further into hell. International tensions escalate! Crime worsens! Don’t get us started about canine and feline living conditions.
The terrified narrator asks, “What if weakest president we’ve ever had wins re-election?” Look, if Biden keeps beating your fascist strongman, maybe he’s more a political Ali than Jerry Quarry.
Keep it up, Joe. I like where this is going.
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House Speaker McCarthy Ready To BURN IT ALL DOWN
House Republicans: Why so serious?
Hope you haven't grown too attached to a functioning US economy, because House Republicans are about to drive it off a cliff, while Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Greene hold hands and gaze lovingly at each other.
This is somehow President Joe Biden's fault, as the Washington Postsuggested last week in its article, "Biden is running out of time to avoid calamitous debt ceiling outcomes." The subhed does note that "The GOP’s willingness to court economic disaster without major spending cuts leaves White House aides in a bind," but that's like a Gotham Gazette headline blaring, "Commissioner Gordon running out of time to prevent Gothamites from dying with a smile" with a much smaller subhed reading, "Joker gleefully threatens to poison city's reservoir." See, what's actually relevant and newsworthy is that a pack of Jokers is running the House of Representatives.
The Joker is at least honest about how he's only in this to hurt people. Republicans claim they want massive spending cuts and significant policy concessions such as repealing most of the Inflation Reduction Act because blah, blah, blah fiscal responsibility, but defaulting on the debt would have disastrous consequences: People on Social Security would get stiffed; federal employees would stop getting paid; the post office, the Transportation Security Administration, US Customs, and the Federal Aviation Administration would stop functioning without some sort of emergency stop gap. Stocks would crash. Businesses would stop hiring. Republicans would presumably laugh maniacally.
PREVIOUSLY:
House Republicans Finally Deliver Debt Ceiling Ransom Note
Pick Your Debt Ceiling Fighter: Joe Biden Or Kevin '15th Time's The Charm' McCarthy!
Under the cover of darkness, House Republicans negotiated further changes to their debt ceiling plan with Barely Speaker McCarthy, who'd earlier put his foot down and told members they'd have to accept the plan as-is. McCarthy's foot rarely stays down for long. It practically levitates.
Politico reports today that the House Rules Committee agreed to "major changes to help satisfy the demands of Midwesterners who were raising concerns about ethanol provisions and some conservative demands for stronger work requirements for social programs." Yeah, someone on SNAP and Medicaid apparently needs to work a couple more shifts at Walmart. If you want to suck on the government teat without meaningfully contributing to society, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert already have that job.
Seriously, Republicans demand that poor people who require public assistance jump through multiple hoops to prove that they aren't deadbeats but Republicans would freak out if Democrats demanded similar requirements before rich people could receive their yacht deductions. It's not a coincidence that Republicans are so hot about cutting funding for the Internal Revenue Service.
Screwing the poor, however, is unfortunately popular among certain key demos, but Republicans aren't stopping there. They're even going after veterans' benefits, which you know is true because of how loudly they protest when Biden calls them out on it.
\u201cMake the accusation, don\u2019t give them an escape hatch. Make them deny it. This is the way.\u201d— Oliver Willis (@Oliver Willis) 1682482608
Biden tweeted Tuesday, "MAGA House Republicans would make cuts to VA health care so that the super-wealthy can cheat on taxes. That's not how we honor veterans' service and sacrifice."
Rep. Greg Murphy from North Carolina whined, "That is a BOLD FACED LIE. House Republicans are committed to supporting our veterans and growing an economy that includes them." Murphy is squirming here like a worm on a hook. The severity of the cuts proposed and their impact on veteran services are clear.
McCarthy declared this morning that he was "confident" he had the votes to pass this horrid plan, but his caucus routinely humiliates him publicly for sport. Nonetheless, if this passes, it won't get past the Senate or the White House. However, House Republicans would rally behind unpopular policies and punitive spending cuts.
And they might still tank the economy. It's all a big Joke.
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