U.S. Politics January 2023: Kevin McCarthy's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Life

"I got more stoves than the Bible's got psalms"

i read this hours ago and still cannot breaaaathe heeeelppp! XP

lol

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/12/progressives-gleefully-game-out-future-votes-to-boot-mccarthy-00077525

cool guy

“Why not? You know, that sounds like a good idea. I mean, you’re still going to need what, 218 for passage, right? But listen, man, he has a very slim majority,” mused Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.). “Whenever we want to cause complete chaos, we’ll do that.”

nerds

“It’s the furthest thing from my mind at this point,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters. Another senior Democrat, House Rules Committee ranking member Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), said: “I want to get stuff done, and so it’s not where I’m at.”

Yeah, Jim, definitely going to get a lot of important stuff done.

If it was Pelosi, I'd say she allowed them to talk. With this tool?

That's an infringement on their Second Amendment rights.

:)

^^^ yeah, that was a delayed guffaw from me. A+ Jimbeaux.

Yup, but I'm wondering how is making women conceal their limbs that much different from adopting Shariah law?

Before things get washed away by time and circumstance, I just want to say that was a good Karl post.

Broseph, you needn't apologize for doominess when literal doom is involved

(I meant the dagger twisting one, not the cardigan one, but carry on.)

wasn't our reoccurring hostage situation scheduled for sometime this summer? honestly, i thought i remembered reading for the past several months that we were supposed to approach the debt limit sometime around summer 2023? oh well, might as well get to it

xp post thank ye, ye mad puffin

i suppose the actual default is still expected around early June.

House Republicans are preparing a plan telling the Treasury Department what to do if Congress and the White House don’t agree to lift the nation’s debt limit later this year, underscoring the brinkmanship newly empowered conservatives will bring to the high-stakes negotiations over averting a U.S. default, according to six people aware of the internal discussions.

The plan, which was previously unreported, was part of the private deal reached this month to resolve the standoff between House conservatives and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the election of House speaker. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.), a leading conservative who helped broker the deal, told The Washington Post that McCarthy agreed to pass a payment prioritization plan by the end of the first quarter of the year.

The emerging contingency plan shows how Republicans are preparing to threaten not to lift the nation’s debt ceiling without major spending cuts from the Biden administration. Congress must pass a law raising the current limit of $31.4 trillion or the Treasury Department can’t borrow any more, even to pay for spending lawmakers have already authorized. Economists warn that not raising the debt limit could cause the United States to default, sparking a major panic on Wall Street and leading to millions of job losses.

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said Friday said that the Treasury Department will begin “extraordinary measures” next week to ensure the federal government is able to meet its payment obligations but that it cannot guarantee the United States will make it beyond early June without defaulting. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated Friday that the administration will not negotiate over the debt ceiling.

i didn't expect the hostage negotiations to start so much earlier, though

Yeah, one of the cuts the GOP is floating is pushing the retirement age to 70 to received SS benefits.. this one will be hugely popular. Why not 80 then? Let's just say 85, you can start thinking about retiring in your early 80's

The true default is the one in our hearts.

I’ve had several close friends pass away recently in their early 60s. Retire at 70? Fuuuuk that noise.

someone i knew pretty well worked his ass off his entire life in public service and died before the day before his social security benefits were to kick in, at age 65 and 364 days.

it's also kind of funny that they would do this as expected lifespan are declining in the US

well, the cuts to Medicare should help speed that trend along, so it will all work out

Boss at my old company was part of the corporation group pushing that 70 limit. Really a win-win - you get a lengthened satisfaction of a good day's work, and the company owes you less of a pension (assuming you were grandfathered into one).

as of now you can start taking social security at 62

not sure what these social security cuts mean in reality, but I can't see how any cuts are going be acceptable since people pay into it over their whole lives

we can all be Walmart greeters

Americans should riot like the French if that idea is seriously considered.

you can start taking them at 62, with a 25-30% cut. you're encouraged to keep working your ass off until you're 66 (or 67. depends on when you were born) to receive the 100% benefits

xp

Americans should riot like the French if that idea is seriously considered.

we won't, we'll just post a lot of memes on FB and then go back to work to be whipped until we die

retirement benefits are woke! keep seniors employed indefinitely

xxxp I think at this point you receive the most monthly Social Security payments if you wait until age 70

I think the other idea was to have means-tested benefits.. i.e. if you have some income from 401(k),pension, etc., they'll ding your checks. Also hard to see this flying

I really don't see how they can touch Social Security. It is designed as an investment program that everyone is required to pay into over many years of their lives to ensure retirement security. They can't just yank it out without extreme pushback

yeah, Social Security and Medicare are the perennial third rails

_Americans should riot like the French if that idea is seriously considered._


we won't, we'll just post a lot of memes on FB and then go back to work to be whipped until we die

seems bad

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/17/us/solomon-pena-arrested-new-mexico-shootings/index.html

Sinema 90% loading Evil Disney Queen

Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin are sitting next to each other during a panel at Davos pic.twitter.com/4uwz3etYad

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 17, 2023

Ermine furs adorn imperious.

weren't those the morons bitching about how the elites at davos are evil?

i'm sure when sinema started out in politics she talked a lot about how the people in washington were evil and she was going to change the system from within

now she's a thought leader at davos, a group of great people with the best of intentions

Ermine furs adorn imperious.

lol.

Looks like she's ready for a meeting of the Galactic Senate.

Speaking fur to power

Cruella Davos-ille

She is Cruella as covered by the Replacements

she's Blink 182 covering the Disney song as covered by the Replacements only Blink thinks it's an actual Replacements song

and yet Brad still thinks it's the greatest thing ever

bad news for Trump -- Mike Huckabee has now put together one of his cultish indoctrination guides for Ron DeSantis pic.twitter.com/ZvWKqwcdJM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 17, 2023

80s sweatshirt Jesus guys are now today's red-hatters

i thought it was a list of the only bands still willing to play a GOP event

oops, also wrong thread

#wrongonethread

NEW: I just spoke by phone with Eula Rochard, a Brazilian drag queen who was friends with George Santos when he lived near Rio. She said everyone knew him as Anthony (*never* George), or by his drag name, Kitara, and confirms this photo is from a 2008 drag show at Icaraí Beach. pic.twitter.com/1MeeDR1O2O

— Marisa Kabas (@MarisaKabas) January 18, 2023

Follow-up: "The important context here is that Santos ran as a far right candidate, and continues to align himself with transphobes/homophobes who target drag shows with violence. Drag is beautiful. Hypocrisy and anti-drag/anti-trans bigotry are not."

But also,

Two veterans allege that George Santos set up a GoFundMe for a service dog, then kept the $3,000 raised that she needed for a lifesaving surgery.

They say Santos closed the GoFundMe, disappeared, and the dog died. https://t.co/GZaAllo5DM

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 18, 2023

This guy is the grift that won’t stop taking

His American Crime Story season(s) is gonna be straight fire.

so his past is largely fiction, but he omitted the only interesting thing he probably ever did? Brazilian drag would look good on any resume