Republican wags his finger at Democrat angry about gun violence during Capitol shouting match
March 29, 2023, 7:34 PM ET
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday updated the date for a possible US debt default to June 5 if Congress fails to raise the ceiling on borrowing, pushing back a previous estimate of June 1.
This gives negotiators for President Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy a little breathing room as they work to find a bipartisan solution to lift the current spending cap, known as the debt ceiling.
But though murmurs of a possible deal have grown in recent days, no agreement has yet materialized as lawmakers head into the long Memorial Day weekend.
With each day that passes, the chance of the United States stumbling into a scenario where it cannot pay all its existing bills -- known as the "X-date" -- is increasing.
'Hard choices to make'
In mid-January, the US federal government reached its borrowing cap of more than $31 trillion. Since then, it has used special accounting measures to extend the life of the money it is allowed to spend without raising the borrowing limit.
But it can only do so for so long before it runs up against the debt ceiling. At that point -- currently June 5 -- it will only be able to spend what it brings in through taxes.
Between June 1-15, the Treasury Department will have a funding shortfall of more than $100 billion, according to Treasury data analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank.
If the United States hits the debt ceiling, "there will be hard choices to make about what bills go unpaid," Janet Yellen said recently.
With both parties to the negotiations insisting the United States will not default on its debts, that leaves government spending as the place where these hard decisions will have to be made.
Treasury could choose to defer certain payments for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs, which help tens of millions of people with pension and healthcare costs.
Alternatively, it could pause some payments across the board, which would lessen the impact on Social Security and healthcare recipients, but increase the number of government services affected.
Default 'not an option'
If the Treasury Department makes it to June 15 without defaulting on any of its financial obligations, it may be able to avoid a damaging default in the weeks that follow.
Around $80 billion in revenues are due from quarterly individual and corporate income taxes, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, far exceeding the $22 billion that's due to be spent.
This would breathe fresh life into government coffers, keeping Treasury afloat for a little while longer, assuming no significant unexpected outflows of funds are required.
But given that tax revenues consistently bring in less than the government spends, this plan is not a sustainable one.
"Default is not an option, and all responsible lawmakers understand that," the White House said in a recent statement.
At some point, Republicans and Democrats will have to reach agreement to lift the debt ceiling, or institute dramatic spending cuts.
© Agence France-Presse
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Living on Mars wasn't exactly a childhood dream for Canadian biologist Kelly Haston, though she'll soon spend a year preparing for just that.
"We are just going to pretend that we're there," the 52-year-old told AFP, summing up her participation in an exercise simulating a long stay on the Red Planet.
At the end of June, she will be one of the four volunteers stepping into a Martian habitat in Houston, Texas that will be their home for the next 12 months.
"It still sometimes seems a bit unreal to me," she laughs.
For NASA, which has carefully selected the participants, these long-term experiments make it possible to evaluate the behavior of a crew in an isolated and confined environment, ahead of a real mission in future.
Participants will face equipment failures and water limitations, the space agency has warned -- as well as some "surprises," according to Haston.
Their communications with the outside world will suffer from the delays that exist between Earth and Mars -- up to 20 minutes one-way, depending on the planets' positions -- and 40 minutes two ways.
"I'm very excited about this, but I'm also realistic for what the challenge is," says the research scientist, whose status as a permanent resident of the United States made her eligible for the program.
The habitat, dubbed Mars Dune Alpha, is a 3D printed 1,700 square-foot (160 square-meter) facility, complete with bedrooms, a gym, common areas, and a vertical farm to grow food.
"It's actually surprisingly spacious feeling when you go inside it," said Haston, who visited last year before her participation was confirmed.
"And we do have an outdoor area as well where we will mimic spacewalks or Mars walks."
This area, which is separated by an airlock, is filled with red sand, though it is still covered rather than being open air.
The crew will have to don their suits to do "spacewalks" -- "probably one of the things that I'm looking forward to the most," says Haston, a registered member of the Mohawk Nation.
'Close knit'
Haston wasted no time in filling out her application when her partner told her about the opportunity.
"It's aligned with many of my goals in life to explore different avenues of research and science, and then also to be a test subject, and to give to a study that will hopefully further space exploration."
The four members of the mission -- herself, an engineer, an emergency doctor and a nurse -- did not know each other before the selection process, but have since met.
"We really are close-knit already," says Haston, who has been named commander of the group, adding she looks forward to seeing these relationships grow even stronger.
They might be simulating an important exploratory mission for humanity, but how the housemates get along as they share mundane chores including cleaning and meal preparation will be crucial.
A month of training is planned in Houston before entering the habitat.
A teammate could leave in case of injury or medical emergency.
But a whole series of procedures have been drawn up for situations that can be handled by the crew themselves -- including on how to tell them about a family problem that has arisen outside.
Isolation
What worries the Canadian most is how she will manage being away from family. She'll only be able to keep in regular touch through email, and only rarely via videos, but never live.
She'll miss being outside and getting to see mountains and the sea, she says.
To cope, she plans to draw on her past experiences, such as a research expedition in Africa where she studied the genetic characteristics of frogs around Lake Victoria.
She spent several months sleeping in cars and tents, with four people, without reliable cell phone coverage.
Feelings of isolation "are things that I think feel very familiar to me."
A specialist in the field of developing stem cell treatments for certain diseases, she has worked in recent years for start ups in California, where she also studied.
This mission is the first of a series of three planned by NASA, grouped under the title CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog).
A year-long mission simulating life on Mars took place in 2015-2016 in a habitat in Hawaii, but although NASA participated in it, it was not at the helm.
Under its Artemis program, America plans to send humans back to the Moon in order to learn how to live there long-term to help prepare a trip to Mars, sometime towards the end of the 2030s.
© Agence France-Presse
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'Country last': Don Trump Jr. buried for calling Texas AG’s possible impeachment a 'RINO led witch hunt'
May 27, 2023
Former President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., is calling the impeachment recommendation for Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton a "witch hunt."
Paxton's, along with many of his Republican allies — including Trump Jr.'s — outrage "comes as the Texas House of Representatives passed 20 articles of impeachment in hopes of removing Paxton from office," earlier this week.
The House members' impeachment recommendation came after "outside attorneys presented evidence accusing the state attorney general of sweeping impropriety that verged on criminality, including claims Paxton had used his position to help a political ally, engaged in bribery and attempted to obstruct justice, HuffPost reports.
Trump Jr. shared his outrage via Twitter, writing, "What the RINOs in the Texas State House are trying to do to America First patriot Ken Paxton is a disgrace. MAGA stands with @KenPaxtonTX against this RINO/Dem led witch hunt!!!"
RELATED: Embattled Texas AG Ken Paxton calls for protest at the state Capitol
Junior was replying to Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-TX)'s statement in support of the attorney general, which read, "Speaker Dade Phelan and his leadership team have appointed Democrats to highranking leadership positions, attacked the Republican Party of Texas, battled our conservative Lieutenant Governor, and killed Governor Abbott stop priorities. The impeachment proceedings against the Attorney General are but the latest front in the Texas House's war against Republicans to stop the conservative direction of our state."
The statement continued, "This sham impeachment is the result of the Phelan leadership team empowering Democrats, allowing them to hold leadership positions and letting them control the agenda. It is based on allegations already litigated by voters, led by a liberal Speaker trying to undermine his conservative adversaries, and investigated by lawyers connected to a Democrat on the House General Investigations CommitteeThe voters have supported General Paxton through three elections-and his popularity has only grown despite millions of dollars spent to try to defeat him. Now the Texas House is trying to overturn the election results.It seems Texas Republicans will have to rely yet again on the principled leadership of the Texas Senate to restore sanity and reason for our state."
The Texas Tribune reports:
Other prominent right-wing figures have similarly come to Paxton’s defense. Citing Paxton's frequent lawsuits against the Biden administration, former Trump adviser Stephen Miller called on conservatives to 'stand with Ken.' And Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of homicide after fatally shooting two Black Lives Matter protesters in Wisconsin, accused Phelan of working with 'anti-gun Democrats' and 'attacking our pro-gun attorney general.'
Additionally, Paxton urged his supporters Friday evening "to protest at the state Capitol" once the GOP lawmakers vote to remove him Saturday, according to WGAU Radio.
"I want to invite my fellow citizens and friends to peacefully come let their voices be heard at the Capitol tomorrow," he said during a news conference. "Exercise your right to petition your government."
Furthermore, he deemed the proceedings at "political theater" that will "inflict lasting damage on the Texas House."
Media Matters for America senior writer Eric Kleefeld reacted to Paxton's outrage via Twitter, writing, "In Dec. 2020, Texas AG Ken Paxton pushed a frivolous lawsuit for the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out Biden’'s victories in multiple states. He was a right-wing hero. Now he says Texas impeaching him would 'overturn the results of a free and fair election.'"
Many Twitter users enthusiastically disagreed with Trump Jr.
Angry_Staffer: "Oh, so now free and fair elections matter. In case you missed it, a GOP-led committee in Texas recommended impeaching Ken Paxton yesterday, and his tears are predictably delicious."
Marty Taylor: "The impeachment for Texas AG Ken Paxton is set for tomorrow. This is momentous for Texas. Paxton has been under indictment since 2015. So this is long overdue."
Rick Wilson: "The Ken Paxton story is almost as pleasing as the J6 terrorists getting sent to prison."
Josh Brodsky: "It's interesting how Paxton has framed possible impeachment as violating the will of the voters when the issue is whether he repeatedly violated the trust of voters"
Angry_Staffer: "Oh, so now free and fair elections matter. In case you missed it, a GOP-led committee in Texas recommended impeaching Ken Paxton yesterday, and his tears are predictably delicious."
@JoJoFromJerz: "Ken Paxton is a disgrace. And in your drug-addled, nepotistic mind, anyone who actually holds others in their party to a code of ethics is a RINO. That's because all you understand is cheating. Lying, cheating, scheming. That’s the trump brand. Power first. Country last."
@KIM510: "From one felon to another, right!"
@Nguyen_anime3: "Anyone getting the idea the MAGA group is shrinking? They can't even get along with their own party."
TheSGTJoker: "To Elitists, accountability (for them) always feels like oppression."
Aarón Torres: "Donald Trump still silent re Ken Paxton but his son has weighed in"
@AlCappuchinoIT: "Texas Republicans, at the very least please get rid of Ken Paxton."
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