Usually ‘X’ marks the spot, but for the ESA’s Rosetta orbiter, Site ‘J’ has been selected as the place where its Philae lander will touch-down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P/C-G), officials at the agency announced on Monday. Rosetta, which is the first mission to ever rendezvous with a comet, will accompany 67P/C-G on its journey throughout the…
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GOP demands for the debt ceiling would increase deficit: columnist
February 05, 2023
Among the demands from the Republicans in their agreement to raise the debt ceiling are ideas that have already been struck down as illegal by the Supreme Court and measures that would ultimately increase the deficit.
White House economics reporter Jeff Stein listed seven GOP demands for the Washington Post Sunday, but it was columnist Catherine Rampell that went line-by-line through the list explaining why they're all useless.
Stein explained that the first is about a 20% cut to the domestic discretionary budget, a "forward-looking domestic spending freeze." Republicans are also demanding they "rescind Biden IRS boost, claw back covid aid, secure new border wall funding, and add Medicaid work requirements."
Rampell explained that the first two parts are this mistaken belief often pitched by Republicans but "wouldn't affect deficits much" as they are a "small part of the budget." About 63 percent of the budget is mandatory spending. A problem, however, is that even the GOP doesn't have the votes for it, she explained, because it would be unpopular.
The Republicans have claimed that funding the IRS is a major problem because middle-class Americans will be audited more. The IRS said that the funds would not be spent on that. They've had problems being able to audit millionaires and billionaires because it often means long court cases, which necessitates court fees and lawyers, ProPublica reported in 2019. Being able to ensure everyone pays their taxes means more revenue comes in to ensure the bills get paid. Killing the IRS, Rampell explained, "would increase [the] deficit."
The idea of bringing back COVID aid is also illogical, she explained, because it's such a tiny amount that hasn't been spent that it isn't going to make much of a difference.
Increasing the budget to build another border wall would also only add to the deficit, she explained. Donald Trump said that he finished building his border wall and was able to secure the border. He called it a “Rolls-Royce” that “can’t be climbed.” Many have, however, the Washington Post reported last year.
Republicans now say that the border is no longer secure. High winds knocked over one section of Trump's wall in California in Jan. 2020. Another piece in Arizona was torn apart by monsoon rains in 2021.
The final GOP demand is to have work requirements for Medicaid was struck down by the courts. It's become a major issue that was supposed to be heard before the Supreme Court, but they removed it from their docket in 2021.
"If the Supreme Court is not going to vacate the D.C. Circuit ruling, that means the decision on the books is one that clearly explains why work requirements are not permitted under the Medicaid statute," said Washington University associate professor Rachel Sachs.
President Joe Biden has demanded that the debt ceiling be a "clean bill," recalling the shutdown under former President Barack Obama's administration, which was the longest until the shutdown under Donald Trump in 2018-2019.
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'Nobody said the guy's not guilty': Prosecutor Mark Pomerantz reveals DA discussions about Trump case
February 05, 2023
Former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz spoke to "60 Minutes" on Sunday about his upcoming tell-all book People vs. Donald Trump. According to Pomerantz, former President Donald Trump could easily be prosecuted for many crimes that have been part of the discussion in the District Attorney's office.
DA Alvin Bragg previously said that he didn't see a pathway to charge Trump for anything involving the Trump Organization companies that skirted taxes by giving gifts to employees like cars, apartments in Trump Tower and even tuition funds for bookkeeper Allen Weisselberg's grandchildren.
There are questions about Trump's taxes in which he artificially inflated the value of assets to increase his value for bank loans. Then he falsely decreased the value for tax purposes. In the case of Mar-a-Lago, Trump inflated the value ten times.
Among the things Pomerantz details is that he thinks racketeering charges could be brought against Trump.
Trump is “guilty of numerous felony violations," he writes, noting it is a “grave failure of justice not to hold [Trump] accountable by way of criminal prosecution."
"New York State’s version of the federal racketeering statute, known as enterprise corruption, 'was an ideal vehicle for prosecuting Donald Trump and the Trump Organization,' the Times cites Pomerantz writes. Vance considered the idea "bold" but others were unconvinced, the book describes. Vance then planned to leave office and wanted to make a final decision of whether to prosecute Trump before leaving.
Speaking to CBS News, Pomerantz acknowledged that prosecutors often disagree with the decisions by the DA, but he said that this is a unique situation.
"Given all the evidence that we had, and that nobody said, hey, the guy's not guilty," said Pomerantz.
He went on to say that Trump's entire fortune and success are all based on "lies."
"The financial statements that he prepared were given to the banks and had to be given to the banks in order to get the loans that he got. So, he got hundreds of millions of dollars of bank financing in connection..." he explained.
He explained that Trump would tell his employees that he needed his value to be X and they would figure out how to ensure the number met that number. One property was said to be worth more than any property has ever been sold in the history of the United States, he said.
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Trump supporters were confused why his big event wasn't such a big event: Daily Show's Jordan Klepper
February 05, 2023
The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper revealed another of his videos on the show this week, but in a CNN interview with Jim Acosta, he exposed MAGA fans that were very confused at the latest event.
While there was the typical denialism around former President Donald Trump being out of office, what was dramatically different is that the attendees at the recent event couldn't understand why it wasn't a significant rally as it usually is.
"And what was it like? I mean when you were there. You know, Trump is talking about these smaller gatherings as if it's a plus. You know, we know Trump and how he likes large crowd sizes, and we don't need to go down that road, but what is your sense of how his campaign is shaping up so far?" asked Acosta.
"Well, it was interesting. You know, if you were expecting a spectacle, you weren't getting it there. It was confusing," said Klepper. "There were people who came assuming it was a rally. Other folks called it a rally. Others called it an intimate event. There were MAGA people who were disappointed it wasn't a big, giant, event. Some thought it was a reelection kick-off, some a reinstatement kick-off. Some a rifle t-shirt super sale. There's confusion in the air, which should be expected with a Trump campaign. I think overall, there's hope, at least interior-wise, that this is a new, better Trump 3.0. Something that should be underlined with this event is these ideas were coming from people who went inside, who were invite-only. So, the folks that we ended up talking to out here, most of them went inside, and they went inside because they're important enough to have invitations to be in the front row of this GOP discussion."
See the interview with Kelpper below or at the link here:
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