This is why people hate politics. The debate that erupted in the final hours before lawmakers approved a sloppy budget on Friday illustrates the performative bullshit that has dominated Congress lately.
Here’s what happened: After an initial 1,500-page continuing resolution stalled in the House on Thursday, Republican leaders are pushing ahead with the bill in the hopes that a lighter version will garner enough votes to stay in power through March. began to throw some parts overboard. the effort succeeded on friday. However, a provision remained in place that would extend childhood cancer research funding to 2031 at an annual rate of $12.6 million.
Democratic Party and media I jumped on it. “Elon broke the budget agreement. Children’s cancer research was collateral damage.” bulwark Decided on the framework of the storyThe post got a lot of attention.
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In fact, the house passed The Childhood Cancer Research Act was passed almost unanimously in March, 9 months ago. Since then, the bill has languished in the Senate.
untouched, i.e. until immediately after Ongoing solution—do not have Childhood cancer provisions passed the Senate. At that point, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did what he could have done at any time in the previous nine months: It was to call a vote on a single bill passed by the House of Representatives. passed easily.
It was a lot of noise and partisan anger over nothing. As you might expect, the bill was passed with support from almost every member of Congress. Please, can you please save the people who are about to get burned by hacking? people will die What is the reaction to actual spending cuts?
Lame duck: If you watched last week’s budget negotiations, you might have been left with the mistaken impression that President-elect Donald Trump has already taken the oath of office. Much of the drama was driven by President Trump’s recent demands, especially regarding the debt ceiling.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden was completely absent. “No one seemed to be looking to Biden for answers, and the lame-duck president showed no desire to provide answers.” politiko explained the situation.
Outgoing presidents rarely have much influence over the actions of Congress, but Mr. Biden’s whining exit from the final policy battle of his career is a sign that the oldest president in American history is in a position where Father Time and Mr. It seems a fitting end to a year in which the battle was decisively lost.
Even more MIA than Biden: Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) did not vote for the continuing resolution passed by the House on Friday night. In fact, she hasn’t voted on any legislation in recent months. Because she appears to be living in a memory care and assisted living facility near Dallas.
That’s an incredible discovery dallas express Great shoe leather report created by doing Regarding Mr. Granger’s long absence from Congress. After this article was published on Saturday, Granger’s son said Axios The lawmaker, who served for 14 terms, said, “I’m going to have problems with dementia later this year.”
Granger is not seeking re-election this year and plans to officially retire from Congress at the end of his term on January 3. Even so, this incident should serve as another warning sign about the flaws in longevity politics, a problem that plagues not only the United States but many other countries. the world’s largest democracy, as economist be familiar with this week.
Expression of dissatisfaction: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) releases annual report Festival report This morning we will talk about wasteful government spending. Some highlights:
- The Department of the Interior spent $12 million on a pickleball facility in Las Vegas.
- The Department of Health and Human Services spent $419,470 to determine whether lonely rats were more willing to use cocaine than happy rats. (And why wouldn’t you?)
- The State Department spent more than $4.8 million on social media influencers based in Ukraine.
- The U.S. Treasury gave trucking companies $700 million in loans during the pandemic and declared them bankrupt after receiving the funds. Taxpayers may end up paying for it all.
Virginia scene: The world’s first commercial fusion power plant, capable of producing enough electricity to light 150,000 homes, will be built outside Richmond, Virginia, and could be operational in the 2030s. Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a Massachusetts-based company supporting the project, said: in a press release He said he is currently developing a demonstration fusion generator and hopes to see positive results by 2026 or soon after.
A working fusion generator looks like this: large scale A breakthrough for humanity, explain new atlas:
Nuclear fusion, the process of fusing atomic nuclei and releasing vast amounts of energy, is the same reaction that powers stars like the Sun. Unlike nuclear fission, which splits atoms and produces dangerous radioactive waste, fusion uses hydrogen isotopes (such as tritium and deuterium) to produce helium as a harmless byproduct. It has long been the “holy grail” of clean, unrestricted energy and has the potential to revolutionize the global energy landscape.
Geeks in the audience will understand that CFS refers to the Virginia project as ARC. Officially, this is an acronym for “Affordable, Robust, Compact,” but of course, Tony Stark’s miniature fusion reactor to power his Iron Man suit. Life imitates science fiction again.
quick hit
- biden The death sentences of 37 prisoners were commuted. A person who has been convicted of a federal crime (he has no authority over state-level convictions that lead to most capital punishment). Biden’s action leaves only three people on federal death row: Tree of Life synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The remainder will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
- truth is social post President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened Panama over the “exorbitant fees and tolls” charged for using the country’s famous canal. Well, if there’s one thing Trump will never protect, it’s countries that impose high and arbitrary fees on goods crossing their borders.
- US Navy jet fighter shot down over the Red Sea by… USS Gettysburg. But don’t worry. The pilots ejected safely and there is no reconsideration of the US presence in the region.
- new york police arrested a man He is suspected of killing a woman by setting her on fire while she was sleeping on a subway train on Sunday morning. Please keep in mind that despite the obviously heinous crimes, New York City is extremely dangerous. safer today Violence has decreased significantly compared to the past 60 years. than other big cities.
- Blocking the sale of US Steel was never about national security. it was Just old-fashioned nepotism.