Musk and Ramaswamy torpedo U.S. government

[Dukasaur]

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5046887-elon-musk-slams-spending-deal/

Tech mogul Elon Musk continued his tirade against the newly unveiled end-of-year funding deal Wednesday, calling for any lawmaker who supports the continuing resolution to be voted out of office.

“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote in a post on his social platform X.

His DOGE co-chair, Vivek Ramaswamy, also urged lawmakers to vote against the deal Wednesday if they are “serious about government efficiency,” suggesting it is “full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways and pork barrel politics”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-opposes-funding-bill-pushing-government-closer-shutdown-rcna184745

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump excoriated a bipartisan government funding bill Wednesday afternoon, throwing the stopgap measure into chaos just as leaders of both parties were hoping to pass it.

The joint statement by Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance left Republican leaders scrambling to come up with a new plan in the House, where Trump wields significant influence. A top GOP lawmaker later said the bill text, released just a day earlier, had been scrapped.

The bill would have kept the government open until March 14. A shutdown will occur at 12:01 a.m. Saturday without action from Congress. There is currently no fallback plan.

Asked why Trump waited until hours after Musk, Ramaswamy and others had criticized the bill, the official said: “He let everyone wonder what he wanted to do. All eyes were on him. When he moved, it was over. He’s president before becoming president.”

So, it seems to me the tail is wagging the dog. Trump seemed generally pleased with letting Mike Johnson chart a middle course for the rest of the year, until the two little extremist voices whispered in his ear that it was time to pull the plug.

Is this basically how it's going to be for the whole administration?

[HitRed]

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

As a taxpayer, I’m willing to let them kick the tires a bit. Maybe pencils will be sharpened.

[saxitoxin]

I think the thing to keep in mind that as of today, December 19, the President of the United States is Joe Biden and the Democratic Party has a majority in the Senate.

It may not seem that way as no one has heard from Biden for awhile and, according to 50 confidential sources interviewed by the Wall Street Journal in a story published this morning, Biden may either be brain dead or in a catatonic fugue and the world's largest empire is being run like Weekend at Bernie's.

But, as of today, Trump is not president and the Republicans don't control Congress.



-----

To adapt the White House around the needs of a diminished leader, they told visitors to keep meetings focused. Interactions with senior Democratic lawmakers and some cabinet members—including powerful secretaries such as Defense’s Lloyd Austin and Treasury’s Janet Yellen—were infrequent or grew less frequent. Some legislative leaders had a hard time getting the president’s ear at key moments, including ahead of the U.S.’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.

Senior advisers were often put into roles that some administration officials and lawmakers thought Biden should occupy, with people such as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, senior counselor Steve Ricchetti and National Economic Council head Lael Brainard and her predecessor frequently in the position of being go-betweens for the president.

If the president was having an off day, meetings could be scrapped altogether. On one such occasion, in the spring of 2021, a national security official explained to another aide why a meeting needed to be rescheduled. “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” the former aide recalled the official saying.

Interactions between Biden and many of his cabinet members were relatively infrequent and often tightly scripted. At least one cabinet member stopped requesting calls with the president, because it was clear that such requests wouldn’t be welcome, a former senior cabinet aide said.

Former administration officials said it often didn’t seem like Biden had his finger on the pulse.

Press aides who compiled packages of news clips for Biden were told by senior staff to exclude negative stories about the president. The president wasn’t talking to his own pollsters as surveys showed him trailing in the 2024 race. Biden’s pollsters didn’t meet with him in person and saw little evidence that the president was personally getting the data that they were sending him, according to the people.



https://www.wsj.com/politics/biden-whit ... d-3906a839

[Dukasaur]

I think the thing to keep in mind that as of today, December 19, the President of the United States is Joe Biden and the Democratic Party has a majority in the Senate.

Yeah, it's fairly obvious that's the game. Make the crash happen on Biden's watch, even though it's Trump's minions precipitating it.

[saxitoxin]

I think the thing to keep in mind that as of today, December 19, the President of the United States is Joe Biden and the Democratic Party has a majority in the Senate.

Yeah, it's fairly obvious that's the game. Make the crash happen on Biden's watch, even though it's Trump's minions precipitating it.

Today, Republicans in the House proposed an alternate spending plan that would fully fund the government and result in no shutdown -- but removed the $80,000 congressional pay raise in the first proposal -- and every Democrat except two voted against it.

[kennyp72]

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

As a taxpayer, I’m willing to let them kick the tires a bit. Maybe pencils will be sharpened.

A bit of MMT might come in useful.

Question.

Why does a country with sovereignty over its own F.I.A.T currency have to pay usury on the issue of that currency?

Thought.

One coloured piece of paper issued as F.I.A.T currency in the form of a bank note here in the UK worth a different amount to a different coloured piece of paper issued in the same manner. A blue one is worth £5. A red one is worth 10 times as much at £50. This cannot possibly represent a difference in cost of production...

[jusplay4fun]

I think the thing to keep in mind that as of today, December 19, the President of the United States is Joe Biden and the Democratic Party has a majority in the Senate.

It may not seem that way as no one has heard from Biden for awhile and, according to 50 confidential sources interviewed by the Wall Street Journal in a story published this morning, Biden may either be brain dead or in a catatonic fugue and the world's largest empire is being run like Weekend at Bernie's.

But, as of today, Trump is not president and the Republicans don't control Congress.



-----

To adapt the White House around the needs of a diminished leader, they told visitors to keep meetings focused. Interactions with senior Democratic lawmakers and some cabinet members—including powerful secretaries such as Defense’s Lloyd Austin and Treasury’s Janet Yellen—were infrequent or grew less frequent. Some legislative leaders had a hard time getting the president’s ear at key moments, including ahead of the U.S.’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.

Senior advisers were often put into roles that some administration officials and lawmakers thought Biden should occupy, with people such as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, senior counselor Steve Ricchetti and National Economic Council head Lael Brainard and her predecessor frequently in the position of being go-betweens for the president.

If the president was having an off day, meetings could be scrapped altogether. On one such occasion, in the spring of 2021, a national security official explained to another aide why a meeting needed to be rescheduled. “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” the former aide recalled the official saying.

Interactions between Biden and many of his cabinet members were relatively infrequent and often tightly scripted. At least one cabinet member stopped requesting calls with the president, because it was clear that such requests wouldn’t be welcome, a former senior cabinet aide said.

Former administration officials said it often didn’t seem like Biden had his finger on the pulse.

Press aides who compiled packages of news clips for Biden were told by senior staff to exclude negative stories about the president. The president wasn’t talking to his own pollsters as surveys showed him trailing in the 2024 race. Biden’s pollsters didn’t meet with him in person and saw little evidence that the president was personally getting the data that they were sending him, according to the people.



https://www.wsj.com/politics/biden-whit ... d-3906a839

This merely CONFIRMS what many of us thought about Biden, a (nearly there) Dementia patient.

There are two other points here, one by KennyP on FIAT currency and the interest payment by the USA. I have to give this matter more thought.

The other is the (NOT) passing of a budget by CR or other means to fund much of the US Federal Government. The House is nearly paralyzed by the very slim Republican margin there now, to worsen as the margin gets smaller next month. Some Republicans are eager for a Government shut down, and forget that this did not work under former Speaker Newt Gingrich (vs. Bill Clinton).

[Dukasaur]

I think the thing to keep in mind that as of today, December 19, the President of the United States is Joe Biden and the Democratic Party has a majority in the Senate.

Yeah, it's fairly obvious that's the game. Make the crash happen on Biden's watch, even though it's Trump's minions precipitating it.

Today, Republicans in the House proposed an alternate spending plan that would fully fund the government and result in no shutdown -- but removed the $80,000 congressional pay raise in the first proposal -- and every Democrat except two voted against it.

Apparently the sticking point in that plan was Trump's demand that he be able to blow up the Treasury next year. The resolution seems to have passed with more than 90% support once that particular piece of nonsense was removed.

[jusplay4fun]

Apparently another Crises averted, at the LAST minute. This is NOT the way to run a government, but the nation's political polarity and slim margins in both chambers of the Congress set this up.

Last-minute budget bill to prevent US government shutdown prevails in House
The bill now goes to the Senate where it is expected to pass with only hours remaining before an expected shutdown.

A last-minute budget bill has passed in the United States House of Representatives to keep the federal government funded and running through mid-March, averting an impending shutdown.

The continuing resolution now progresses to the Senate with only hours to spare before the shutdown is slated to take effect on Saturday at 12:01am local time (05:01 GMT).

Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/20/last-minute-budget-bill-to-prevent-us-government-shutdown-prevails-in-house#ixzz8v1WUZjN3

and the Senate:

Schumer says Senate on course to pass short-term spending bill before funding lapses at midnight
By KEVIN FREKING

“I have very good news for my colleagues and for the country,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in announcing a time agreement for the vote.

And while the bill won’t get to President Joe Biden to be signed into law before funding lapses, don’t expect to see an impact on government operations.

There will not be agency furloughs, and most federal workers are already off the clock over the weekend anyhow.

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a budget watchdog, 10 funding gaps of three days or fewer have occurred since 1981. Most took place over a weekend, when government operations were only minimally affected.

https://apnews.com/live/congress-budget-government-shutdown-trump#00000193-e751-d7cb-afd3-f7f7cd0d0000