Tuesday, May 30: Back to Business
Debt ceilings are kinda like glass ceilings: Made to be broken
Like a true nation in perpetual decline, the American government has been working to avoid a government default, although my math suggests that the default for most of the government is not working. Biden’s administration revealed a 99-page bill this weekend that would potentially suspend the nation’s debt limit through 2025 to avoid a federal default while trying to limit government spending.
The old sack of dry bones masquerading as Joey Biden and the speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy reached a final agreement yesterday on a deal to raise the country’s debt ceiling. Now the two bozos face the task of convincing enough members of congress to pass the measure in the next week. Now comes the part of the process where every member of congress that needs convincing tries to get their own personal concessions included in the bill. What a system we’ve got.
Included in the bill are measures to change work requirements for some recipients of government aid as well as methods to “streamline environmental reviews for energy projects”. I know the flowery language is meant to be reassuring, but all this tells me is that the people most affected by this bill are the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, the US Department of the Treasury (The Treasure Department), estimates that more than $160 billion is lost annually from taxes that the top 1% choose not to pay. It sure would be a shame if the people running this country did something about that.
Side Items
Sweet Sweet Boston Tears: So much for a comeback. The Boston Celtic lost the deciding Game 7 yesterday to the Miami Heat, whose reward is a date with the Denver Nuggets in this year’s NBA Finals. Both teams looked exhausted after a tense back-and-forth series, but in the end it was Jimmothy Butler who had the last laugh. If you know a fan of Boston sports teams, be sure to give them a hard time today
Guyanese Fire: A 15-year-old student accused of deliberately setting a fire in a girl’s school dormitory in Guyana that killed 18 of her schoolmates and a 5-year-old boy was charged as an adult with 19 counts of murder. Officials accused the girl, whose name has not been released as she’s still a minor, of igniting the blaze at Mahdia Secondary School out of anger with the administrator over the confiscation of her cellphone. The government boarding school serves remote Indigenous villages in the country’s southwest
Florida Shooting: Nine people were injured yesterday when gunfire erupted along a popular beachside promenade in Hollywood, Florida, sending people scrambling for cover along the crowded beach on Memorial Day. The nine people hurt yesterday evening included six adults and three children, all of whom were in stable condition. Go ahead and add beaches to the long and growing list of places where gun violence is a threat in this country