USA News and Discussions

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Biden says not yet ready to invoke 14th Amendment to avoid debt default

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Friday he was not yet ready to invoke the 14th Amendment to avoid the United States defaulting on its debts as early as June 1, comments which for the first time suggested he has not ruled out the option.

"I've not gotten there yet," Biden said in an interview with MSNBC when asked about the possibility of invoking the amendment.

The divided U.S. Congress is running out of time to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, with the Treasury Department warning it could be unable to pay its bills as soon as June 1.

If Congress fails to act, some legal experts say Biden has another option to avert a crisis: Invoke the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ensure the United States can continue to pay its bills.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-says-n ... 36794.html

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Senate Republicans Say No to Any Clean Debt-Limit Increase

(Bloomberg) -- A group of 43 Senate Republicans including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said they’d oppose allowing a vote on legislation increasing the US debt limit with no strings attached, saying “substantive spending and budget reforms” must be part of the package.

The group’s letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer included almost every Republican in the chamber and showed they have the votes to block legislation, raising the stakes on President Joe Biden and Democrats who control the chamber.

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The letter comes amid mounting pressure to raise the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit and avert a catastrophic US payments default. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told US lawmakers on Monday that her department’s ability to use special accounting maneuvers to stay within the federal debt limit could be exhausted as soon as June 1.

Biden and top congressional leaders are due to meet Tuesday for highly anticipated talks amid the stalemate. Democrats have said they will negotiate with Republicans on some budget limits, but that it is “hostage-taking” to tie spending cuts to a boost in the debt limit.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/senate-r ... 16523.html

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Social Security payments could end if Congress doesn't raise debt ceiling: Schumer

Social Security payments may come to a halt if Congress doesn’t soon raise the national debt ceiling, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned Sunday.

It was his latest dire statement as lawmakers continue to struggle over increasing the federal government’s borrowing limit, with Republican pols insisting on including big spending cuts in any deal.

“There are so many bad, bad consequences to America falling on its debt,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, said at a Midtown press conference, “but one of the least noticed but most important is that it would stop the sending of Social Security checks to the tens of millions of seniors who depend on them.”

Last month, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed legislation to raise the debt ceiling. It also moved to freeze spending at 2022 levels for a decade, coming to a spending cut of over 10% for the federal government.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/social-secur ... 00396.html

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[wjfox]

New York Republican congressman George Santos in custody charged with fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-u ... a-65541012

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Gov. DeSantis signs SB 1580 aka "​​License to Discriminate in Healthcare"

"Gov. DeSantis signed SB 1580, a “​​License to Discriminate in Healthcare” bill that will allow healthcare providers and insurers to deny a patient care on the basis of religious, moral, or ethical beliefs. It creates a license to discriminate by allowing healthcare employers to discriminate in hiring, and it bars medical Boards from disciplining doctors for spreading misinformation."

He also signed SB 238, which he said will "provide an exemption from public records requirements for certain information relating to complaints or investigations regarding violations of provisions protecting from discrimination based on health care choices."
I'm still slogging through it:

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2 ... ext/er/PDF

[Powers]

Gov. DeSantis signs SB 1580 aka "​​License to Discriminate in Healthcare"

"Gov. DeSantis signed SB 1580, a “​​License to Discriminate in Healthcare” bill that will allow healthcare providers and insurers to deny a patient care on the basis of religious, moral, or ethical beliefs. It creates a license to discriminate by allowing healthcare employers to discriminate in hiring, and it bars medical Boards from disciplining doctors for spreading misinformation."

He also signed SB 238, which he said will "provide an exemption from public records requirements for certain information relating to complaints or investigations regarding violations of provisions protecting from discrimination based on health care choices."
I'm still slogging through it:

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2 ... ext/er/PDF

Oh god...

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yay

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[caltrek]

The Supreme Court Is Corrupt
by Jim Hightower
May 10, 2023

Introduction:

(Other Words) When public officials get themselves mired in the muck of corruption, they can always count on Senator Ted Cruz to issue a moral judgment: If the offender is a Democrat, he pronounces the corruption inexcusably grotesque; if it’s a Republican, he wails that the offender is the victim.

For example, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was recently caught (yet again) butt-deep in judicial immorality, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of freebies from a Texas real estate baron who has both a partisan and corporate interest in Thomas’ court rulings.

So, Cruz to the rescue! No judicial impropriety here, he squawks, for this is nothing but a diabolical plot by Democrats to “smear” poor Clarence.

But Thomas is busy smearing himself. From the start of his court tenure, Thomas has been a shameless seeker of personal gain, tucking untold sums from untold sources in the inner pockets of his judicial robes.

He learned to hide his corruption in 2004, when he actually reported taking pricey gifts from a special interest, which got him widely condemned. So, he “reformed” (by not disclosing future gifts)…

Read more here: https://otherwords.org/the-supreme-cou ... s-fix-it/

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OR: Republicans press on with walkout as fourth senator gets 10 unexcused absences

Republican senators on Tuesday showed no signs of ending their walkout as a fourth senator reached 10 unexcused absences, which disqualifies legislators from serving another term of office.

Sen. Cedric Hayden, R-Fall Creek, is now part of a growing group that includes Republican Sens. Daniel Bonham of The Dalles and Dennis Linthicum of Klamath Falls – and Independent Sen. Brian Boquist of Dallas. Under Measure 113, passed by a wide majority in November, they are barred from serving another term after the next election.

The GOP-led walkout will continue to jeopardize the political futures of more senators as absences stack up unless Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, and Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, reach a compromise to end the walkout.

Talks continue, though it’s unclear how much they have progressed.

“We’re going to continue to reach out and we have been,” Wagner told reporters on Tuesday. He said Democrats are on the job.

“The voters want us voting on important legislation. And here we are – every single day, and it’s going to continue to be that way.”

https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2023 ... -absences/

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[raklian]

A symbolic gesture but they're not giving up.

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MT: Judge grants temporary restraining order against Montana abortion restriction bill

A Lewis and County District Court judge granted a temporary restraining order Thursday blocking the newly signed bill that puts a ban on most dilation and evacuation abortions in Montana and set a hearing for next Tuesday to consider a preliminary injunction in the case.

Judge Mike Menahan wrote in his ruling Thursday morning that the plaintiffs in the case – Planned Parenthood of Montana and its chief medical officer Dr. Samuel Dickman – had shown that the main three sections of House Bill 721, which Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed on Tuesday, would cause them and their patients immediate irreparable harm.

“The balance of equities weighs in favor of granting Plaintiffs and their patients temporary relief. Whereas Plaintiffs and their patients face immediate, irreparable harm, Defendants will not be harmed by the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order that preserves the status quo. Finally, the public interest weighs in favor of preserving the status quo and in ensuring access to constitutionally protected health care services pending adjudication of a preliminary injunction,” Menahan wrote in his order.

Further, he said that the facts Planned Parenthood of Montana has already established, if proven true, that the bill “presents a prima facie constitutional violation” and that the bill’s immediate effective date would cause the plaintiffs immediate and irreparable harm if the new law was not enjoined.

https://dailymontanan.com/2023/05/18/ju ... tion-bill/