Federal government shutdown averted, for now; McCarthy's troubles boiling over
With minutes to spare, on Saturday night President Biden signed a measure to continue funding the government at current levels for 45 days. While it passed by a wide margin in the House, 90 Republicans voted against it and Speaker Kevin McCarthy was reliant on the votes of Democrats to get it passed. The Senate then passed the bill to get it to Biden so we didn't end up in a government shutdown.
The most conservative Republicans basically won nothing and Democrats are gloating. But McCarthy had little choice. Letting the government shut down would have been blamed on McCarthy and Republicans even if the reasons the Freedom Caucus and others are stating for their objections are absolutely correct, namely that the current level of spending is unjustified and unsustainable.
This is a very complex poker game, not least because to become Speaker, McCarthy agreed to a rule by which a single House member can bring a motion to remove the Speaker. Now, Congressman Matt Gaetz (Douchbag-FL) says he intends to do that very thing. If enough other Republicans side with Gaetz, McCarthy will be reliant yet again on Dems to save him but it's far from clear that they will or that they should.
This is going to get interesting in a hurry.
Matt Gaetz Plans to Oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy | National Review
Gaming out Matt Gaetz’s bid to oust Kevin McCarthy (msn.com)
Matt Gaetz: ‘Biden’s Favorite Republican’ - WSJ
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Just One Thing: Student loan payments restart (and I'm pissed)
Yesterday, the requirement for student loan payments to restart took effect and I’m pissed. Not for the reason that leftists and entitled 20- and 30-somethings are, of course. I’m pissed that it took until October of 2023 for people to have to honor their responsibilities after the pandemic not only ended about two years earlier but also found so much helicopter money dumped on these borrowers that they should have been asked to pay their loans down even faster. After all, they borrowed their money from US, American taxpayers. During this insane respite, borrowers didn’t have to make payments and they didn’t accrue interest. Remember that the federal government is PAYING interest on the money that they didn’t receive from these borrowers. Losses to current and future taxpayers are at least in the tens of billions. Just more damage to our nation’s financial future from our last two presidents.
Guidance if you have a student loan: Federal student loan payments are starting again. Here's what you need to know | AP News
Student loan payments restarted on Oct. 1. Here's what to know - ABC News (go.com)
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Today's Guest
Steve Moore is a distinguished fellow in economics at the Heritage Foundation and has been a friend of mine for over 30 years. He wrote a book a couple of years back that seems even more appropriate now: Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government Is Devouring Our Economy—And Our Freedom
Here's a recent article about how government is eating our nation: 'Govzilla' Is America’s Fastest Growing Industry in 2023 - Committee To Unleash Prosperity
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Other Stuff
It says a lot about the Republican Party...and from my view what it says is not good...that the guy who seems the prohibitive favorite to become the GOP's nominee for president, namely former President Donald Trump, routinely criticizes other Republicans for doing what you'd think conservatives would want done.
On Sunday, Trump sent out an email blast attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a distant second in current polling, for opposing ethanol mandates. Meanwhile Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, whose primary function seems to be to get Republicans to buy his vote in the Senate by making all of us engage in the insane policy of burning our food so that Iowa corn farmers can sell more ethanol made from their corn. Trump's ethanol edge | Washington Examiner It's the very very worst of government and Donald Trump is proud to support it.
Last week, Trump sent out an email blast attacking Haley for not being sufficiently anti-immigrant including when she correctly noted that "legal immigrants are more patriotic than most Americans these days." He bashed Haley for supporting entitlement reform, the single most necessary domestic policy effort we need to save our nation from fiscal ruin...an effort he actively opposes. And he criticized Haley for wanting to support Ukraine in their own heroic efforts to defeat Vladimir Putin, a defeat which would be greatly in America's strategic interest.
Donald Trump is not and never was a conservative. There are only a few things he truly believes in beyond the #1 thing, boosting his own finances and ego, and those things are truly populist. If he does something conservative it's an accident of chasing what he thinks he needs to win elections. I suppose that's true to some degree with all politicians but Trump takes it to a new level. And yet so many people who have long thought of themselves as conservatives are politically married to him. As I said, it says a lot about the GOP and none of what it says is good.
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Truly remarkable economic and cultural power in one young woman: Taylor Swift's halo effect boosts Kelce, the NFL, AMC theaters and voter rolls (axios.com)
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Well, Gov Newsom said he'd only appoint a black woman to the Senate if Diane Feinstein didn't finish her term. And so he has. As a bonus, Laphonza Butler is also gay. Newsom taps Laphonza Butler to fill Feinstein's Senate seat (msn.com)
I wish I were more sure that this is satire: Senator Feinstein Death Not Expected To Affect Re-election Campaign | Babylon Bee
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If I were the company that makes this ATM, I'd use this in my marketing: "strong enough to survive a bomb attack"
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Are they really just figuring this out now? Some Democrats fear Bidenomics branding is backfiring (axios.com)
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The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards doesn’t like pop music or rap music: Keith Richards interview: ‘I gave up cigarettes, heroin, cocaine... but I still like a drink’ (telegraph.co.uk)
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It’s one thing to have a huge number of immigrants who want to work and, at least to some degree, to integrate. It’s another thing entirely to allow a big % of your population to be made of people who want neither. Sweden PM asks military to help tackle violent gangs | Euronews
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They finally got the guy...remarkable what someone will do out of sheer political bias. I hope he gets the longest possible prison sentence though if he is entering a plea deal, he probably won't get the maximum: UPDATED: IRS consultant charged in massive leak of taxpayer data - POLITICO
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I love this story: How Ukraine Tricks Russia Into Wasting Ammunition - WSJ
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Democrats can fix this...but they probably won't: Colorado lawmakers look at ways to boost condo construction (coloradosun.com)
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Today's Videos
Remarkable video from 3 aircraft carriers (1 American and 2 Japanese) that were sunk at the Battle of Midway
What technology is doing to rock concerts...behold! (h/t Dan Flynn of the American Spectator)