Cher visited Tina Turner during long illness, says she was ‘really ready’ to go towards the end
May 25, 2023, 4:33 PM ET
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CNN's Jim Acosta and John Avlon compared notes on Republicans speaking on raising the debt ceiling over the weekend only to realize that the far-right members refuse to support the deal between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden.
Acosta cited an interview he conducted Saturday with Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who said he's voted for shutdowns and would vote again this week.
After ranting about cutting spending, Acosta said, "Well, you can have the argument about cutting spending during the budget and appropriations process, but as you know, Congressman, the U.S. has never missed making payments on its bills before. In the last 45 years, Congress has raised the debt ceiling 65 times. So, again, I go back to the question: is it responsible — I understand what you're saying about how much your daughter spends, but we're not talking about $15. We're talking about the American economy. Is it responsible to be the deciding vote to send the country into default?"
Burchett claimed that the country wasn't going to be sent into default. He crafted a conspiracy that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen kept changing the date the U.S. default would happen.
"Nobody is, as the young people say, nobody has provided the receipts. Nobody has called her into Washington and said, 'Show us the math on this,'" he said.
Treasury Secretary Yellen works at the Treasury Department, which is in Washington.
Burchett also had his own math, saying that if they cut the budget spending to the 2022 levels, the country would be in a surplus. The House passed a massive defense spending package that would have required cuts from other places.
"All they're doin' right now is scarin' people," Burchett claimed. "They're talkin' about cutting programs that have no need other than political cronyism, we're tellin' our seniors — and the Democrats will, and I get it — they're tellin' the seniors they're gonna be cut. Veterans are gonna be cut. And nothing can be farther (sic) from the truth. And that's just the reality of politics."
The reason Democrats were citing cuts to seniors and veterans goes back to the Republican Party budget bill that required cuts to seniors and veterans. That's because returning to the 2022 budget levels means making cuts to increases already passed by Congress.
Acosta turned back to Rep. Burchett to ask if he believed the debt ceiling wasn't real.
"I think the debt ceiling is — it's just a creative thing to hold us into responsible — into check," said Burchett.
Avlon cited Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who claimed he refused to sign a bill that would bankrupt the economy.
"Well, hold it right there," said Avlon. "I mean, if you let the country default on its debt, that's functionally the same thing."
An annoyed Avlon was frustrated the process was even something allowed to happen.
"It's a fact, Congress has to control the pursestrings. So, frankly, someone should figure out the 14th Amendment side of this because I think this is not the way we're supposed to play ball, the greatest nation in the world constantly every couple of years when there's a Democratic president flirting with defaulting on our debt because it's fiscal policy by extortion," said Avlon. "This is a win to the extent that we came up to a bipartisan agreement, but this is not the way the greatest nation in the world should conduct its fiscal policy. It's ridiculous. And it didn't happen when Donald Trump was president because Democrats worked with Republicans to ensure the debt ceiling was raised three times."
See the discussion below or at the link here.
Reporters reveal Republicans don't understand what a debt default means www.youtube.com
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Republican rejects claim they were holding economy hostage — it's using 'leverage' to 'force' Democrats
May 28, 2023
Speaking to CNN's Jim Acosta on Sunday, Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) disputed the characterization that his party was holding the debt ceiling hostage, and the economy along with it.
It was an attack lodged by Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) on Saturday, saying that Republicans never had to use the debt ceiling in their negotiations. The GOP could have used the budget negotiations to get the cuts they wanted without bringing the American economy to the brink of another shutdown.
After watching the shutdown during Barack Obama's administration, political analysts think Biden drew a line for that reason, saying he wouldn't negotiate on the debt ceiling. He'd only negotiate on the budget. In the end, it's what Republicans ultimately did, but Kelly twisted the comment to say that Biden said he wouldn't negotiate and the GOP got him to do it.
"I think the White House is coming around to the point that they don't control all three branches of government anymore," Kelly claimed. "As we've done through Congress and all times in divided government, we're going to take the leverage we have and we're going to force fiscal sanity back."
A hostage is someone who is "captured by a person or organization and who may be killed or injured if people do not do what that person or organization demands," the definition says. Using leverage to force demands is what Kelly said.
The comments and the agreement came days after the chairperson of the Republican Party said that a default on the debt would help Republicans in 2024.
See the clip from Kelly below or at the link here.
It's not a hostage crisis it's force through leverage www.youtube.com
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"He's got dementia," claims radio host Joe Rogan about President Joe Biden.
Donald Trump joined in the attacks, crafting a whole new conspiracy theory: "Joe Biden's second bout of Covid, sometimes referred to as the China Virus, was sadly misdiagnosed by his doctors. He instead has Dementia, but is happily recovering well," Trump wrote. "Joe is thinking of moving, part time, to one of those beautiful Wisconsin Nursing Homes, where almost 100% of the residents miraculously, and for the first time in history, had the strength and energy to vote — even if those votes were cast illegally."
For years, Trump called Biden "sleepy Joe."
Stephen Miller said Biden should be in “assisted living” and “is not cognitively present.”
But it seems Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) isn't on message.
Asked about Biden, McCarthy said: "I thought his team was very professional, very smart, very tough, at the same time, so...." The fact that McCarthy said "team" threw reporters off. They asked again, specifically about Biden. "What I was referring to was the president. I was talking about President Biden, yes."
Listening to a few Biden speeches, namely his big Warsaw speech in Feb. 2023, Desert News columnist Jacob Hess, said that there's evidence of Biden's stutter and some slurred words. Folks are forgetting Biden's decades of gaffes. It became an ongoing joke during Barack Obama's administration, where Biden would tell a crowd "The problem isn't I mean what I say, it's that sometimes I say what I mean." It's a joke about politicians holding back their thoughts or being calculated. Biden, he explained, could never be that guy.
"Often catches himself and turns it into a joke, like when he said 'saloon' instead of salon, or offered $100K for citizens to get vaccinated. You might have also missed how the president handled hecklers with notable grace and patience at the recent State of the Union," Hess said.
See the McCarthy comments in the video below or at the link here.
Not so Sleepy Joe! youtu.be
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