The Conversation -- December 21, 2024
Minho Kim of the New York Times: "President Biden on Saturday signed the spending package that allowed federal funds to keep flowing until mid-March, formally ending the week's unexpected drama over the issue a few hours after the deadline for a shutdown had technically passed." The AP report is here.
Really, My Dear, One Hasn't the Time to Report. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose two additional trips from a billionaire patron that had not previously come to light, Senate Democrats revealed on Saturday after conducting a 20-month investigation into ethics practices at the Supreme Court. The findings were part of a 93-page report released by Democratic staff members of the Judiciary Committee along with about 800 pages of documents. It said the two trips, both of which had been previously unknown to the public, took place in 2021 and were provided by Harlan Crow, a real estate magnate in Texas and a frequent patron of Justice Thomas's. One trip took place that July by private jet from Nebraska to Saranac, N.Y., where Justice Thomas stayed at Mr. Crow's upstate retreat for five days. The other came in October, when Mr. Crow hosted Justice Thomas overnight in New York on his yacht after flying him from the District of Columbia to New Jersey for the dedication of a statue.... Justice Thomas had not disclosed the trips, even after refiling some of his past financial forms, and the committee learned about them through a subpoena to Mr. Crow, the report said." The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Senate Democrats wrapped up their extensive investigation of Supreme Court justices' ethics practices Saturday, issuing a report blasting two conservative justices [Clarence Thomas & Samuel Alito] for accepting expensive gifts from wealthy benefactors and slamming Chief Justice John Roberts for a lackadaisical response to ethical lapses by his colleagues. 'Now more than ever before, as a result of information gathered by subpoenas, we know the extent to which the Supreme Court is mired in an ethical crisis of its own making,' outgoing Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin said in a statement. 'Whether failing to disclose lavish gifts or failing to recuse from cases with apparent conflicts of interest, it's clear that the justices are losing the trust of the American people at the hands of a gaggle of fawning billionaires.'" MB: Gee, Dick, couldn't you find a better time to bury this story than the Saturday before Christmas? AND Hanukkah? ~~~
~~~ The Senate Majority report, via Politico, is here.
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⭐Once Again, Democrats Keep the Lights On. Carl Hulse & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Senate approved a spending measure early Saturday to keep government money flowing through mid-March, sending it to President Biden for his expected signature and closing a chaotic endgame in Congress minutes after federal funding had lapsed. The 85-to-11 Senate vote followed earlier House passage of the legislation, which also provided $100 billion in disaster relief for parts of the nation still reeling from storms. The action pushed major spending decisions into 2025 and the first months of the incoming Trump administration and a fully Republican-controlled Congress. The White House said that President Biden would sign the measure on Saturday and that no agencies would shut down despite the technical lapse in funding. The end to days of shutdown drama came after House Republicans stripped out a provision demanded by ... Donald J. Trump to suspend the federal debt limit and spare him the usually politically charged task of doing so when he takes office. But that demand sparked a revolt by dozens of Republicans on Thursday and led to a major defeat on the House floor....
"Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said the final product was not all Democrats wanted, but avoided a crisis.... The vote in the House capped an extraordinary week of Republican chaos and dysfunction in which Speaker Mike Johnson cut a deal with Democrats to avert a shutdown, only to see it torpedoed by the billionaire Elon Musk and Mr. Trump, who demanded a different plan, which was promptly defeated by Republicans with help from Democrats. After the vote, Mr. Johnson, who faced questions about his ability to continue as speaker next year after the tumult of the past few days, said he had been in constant contact with Mr. Trump and had talked with Mr. Musk...." ~~~
~~~ Yesterday the New York Times liveblogged developments in the shutdown standoff in the House. Here are the Washington Post's live updates of developments in the countdown to shutdown. CNN's live updates are here. And here was the Hill's live coverage yesterday. (All linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Watch the first six-and-a-half minutes for a reasonable perspective on what went down:
The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces. -- Elon Musk ~~~
~~~ Marie: Just before the Alex Wagner segment embedded above aired, former Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) appeared on Chris Hayes' show and pointed out that the actual dollar amount in the two versions of the spending bill was about the same; the major difference was that the new, ounces-rather-than-pounds bill contained few policy prescriptions. Policies are laid out in, you know, words, Edwards explained. Hayes agreed that Musk's lauding a bill because it "weighed less" was both absurd and stupid. ~~~
~~~ Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Both the original measure and the one that passed kept the government operating until mid-March and devoted about $110 billion in aid to victims of natural disasters and farmers. Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, pointed out that the revised legislation wouldn't really have saved taxpayers any money, despite the shorter page count. Here are eight policies included in the original bill that Johnson and GOP leaders left out of the revised proposal." Among them, reauthorization of funding for childhood cancer research and a pay raise for members of Congress. ~~~
It's the most incongruous messaging to say: 'Don't vote for this bill, it's bloated spending. By the way, get rid of the debt ceiling so I can spend more.'... The last 24 hours does not portend well [for Republicans' plans to tackle border and tax policies in 2025...,], as you can see from this exercise. -- Marc Short, Director of Legislative Affairs in Trump's first administration & Chief of State to Mike Pence ~~~
~~~ Some "Mandate." Marianne LeVine, et al., of the Washington Post: "Trump has repeatedly described his election victory as a 'mandate,' telling Time magazine recently that 'the mandate was massive.' Trump won the election comfortably, prevailing in every battleground state as Republicans seized full control of Congress. He also became the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote in 20 years, improving on his 2016 performance. Yet the election results reflect a country that remains deeply divided, leaving the GOP with narrow margins in Congress next year. Trump's win hinged on about 230,000 votes across three 'blue wall' states that could have tipped the race to Vice President Kamala Harris. His margin of victory in the popular vote, roughly 2.3 million, is smaller than President Joe Biden's of more than 7 million votes in 2020. And Republicans will have an even slimmer House majority in the House than they did this year." ~~~
~~~ Marie: BTW, I'd like to remind Marc Short that raising the debt limit does not really allow the government or the president* to "spend more." It only allows the government to pay the bills for the spending Congress (and the president*) have previously approved.
Quack, Quack. Eric Levitz of Vox: "... this week's government funding fight ... revealed something that could have profound implications for the next four years of governance: Trump's power over the congressional GOP is quite limited.... House conservatives' defiance of Trump is partly attributable to ideological differences.... For dozens of House conservatives, the idea of voting for a spending bill devoid of any major funding cuts that also suspended the debt limit was more odious than the prospect of defying Trump.... After Thursday, it appears less certain that the president-elect actually boasts [much] power over the House GOP's backbenchers. It is worth recalling that Trump is a 78-year-old lame duck.... Trump is poised to wield a disconcerting amount of personal power over the executive branch come next year. But he may find that his capacity to dictate terms to Congress is ... limited...."
Arsonist Again Blames Fire Department for Conflagration. Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump, who derailed a bipartisan spending deal in Congress, tried on Friday to escape responsibility for the consequences, saying it would be better to let the government shut down under President Biden's watch than to allow a politically damaging stalemate once he takes office next month. 'This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!' Mr. Trump said in a social media post Friday morning. Earlier, at 1:16 a.m., Mr. Trump said he wanted Mr. Biden to be blamed for whatever political fallout might come, writing to Republicans: 'Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.'... But even with a shutdown averted, the episode demonstrated a well-established pattern by Mr. Trump. He often purposely blew up congressional negotiations during his first term, often with a tweet, only to be forced to retreat or give up his position in the face of an angry reaction from both allies and adversaries."
Maya Miller of the New York Times: "The Senate passed bipartisan legislation early Saturday that would give full Social Security benefits to a group of public sector retirees who currently receive them at a reduced level, sending the bill to President Biden. The vote to clear the measure was a lopsided 76 to 20, reflecting the broad popularity of an effort to allow approximately more than 2.8 million public pension recipients -- some of them teachers, firefighters and police officers -- to collect Social Security benefits at the same level as other beneficiaries. The House passed the bill by a wide margin of 327 to 75 last month after a bipartisan group of lawmakers forced it to the floor, and ... Donald J. Trump recently threw his support behind it. The rapid and resounding approval of the measure, which would cost nearly $196 billion over a decade, was notable at a time when Congress is in a protracted dispute over spending and debt, with Republicans promising huge cuts and members of both parties routinely lamenting the ballooning of the nation's debt." MB: This must upset Ebenezer Musk, the World's Richest Man.
Maegan Flynn, et al., of the Washington Post: "Congress has passed legislation giving D.C. control of RFK Stadium and allowing the city to redevelop more than 170 acres of federal property surrounding it, a political miracle that came in the twilight hours of the year's congressional session and after almost every avenue for the legislation appeared exhausted. The U.S. Senate passed the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act by unanimous consent at about 1:15 a.m. Saturday -- a Hail Mary action that required the support of all senators present without objection.. The bill cleared the House in February on a broad bipartisan basis.... Passage of the legislation, which transfers control of the land to D.C. at no cost, is a tremendous win for Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who for years has sought to turn the property surrounding the decaying football stadium into a major new attraction and possibly bring the Washington Commanders back to their old home. The bill, which must still be signed by the president, will allow Bowser to formally negotiate with the Commanders...."
A quarter of all the judges are now on the federal bench from the four years we were here.... It's going to have a profound effect on people's lives. This was an accomplishment that will last generations. -- Sen. Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader ~~~
~~~ Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The Senate confirmed on Friday the 235th lifetime federal judge nominated by President Biden, topping the four-year record set during the first Trump administration by a single judge in a drive that significantly reshaped the federal courts to be more ethnically and professionally diverse. The approval of Serena Raquel Murillo of California to be a judge in the state's central district wrapped up a push by Democrats to fill as many vacancies as possible on the bench before turning the majority over to Senate Republicans on Jan. 3. Democrats celebrated not only the number of judges confirmed but also their varying ethnicities and legal experience compared with the longstanding practice by past presidents of both parties of installing mostly white former prosecutors and corporate lawyers." (Also linked yesterday.) An AP story is here.
Digby in Salon lays out how Elon snookered Donald: Trump thought he could shunt Musk aside by putting him in charge of a powerless, non-governmental "commission" where Elon & Vivek would "recommend" federal spending cuts. But Elon demanded that Congress follow his cues as to how to fund the government. And then, and then. "Those rascally, backbench Tea Party/Freedom Caucus ideologues finally got the leader they've been waiting for and his name is Elon Musk, the richest man in the world.... It's Elon Musk's House now. In fact, a bunch of Republicans are proposing that they fire [Mike] Johnson and make him Speaker instead.... Trump wanted the richest man in the world by his side, for both the glamour and the lucre he brings with him, and it's blowing up in his face. How's Trump going to get rid of Musk now that he's shown he has more clout with the base than he does? Who owns the MAGA brand now? " (Also linked yesterday.)
Melissa Goldin of the AP: "... Donald Trump's billionaire ally Elon Musk played a key role this week in killing a bipartisan funding proposal..., railing against the plan in a torrent of more than 100 X posts that included multiple false claims. The X owner ... not only used his outsize influence on the platform to help sway Congress, he did so without regard for the facts and gave a preview of the role he could play in government over the next four years.... John Mark Hansen, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said in an email, 'Trump's done this kind of thing before, blowing up a bill at the last minute. This time, though, it looks like he was afraid of Musk upstaging him. Now there's a new social media bully in town, pushing the champion social media bully around.'" Goldin lists some of the lies Musk told and reminds us, "Trump led Republicans into the longest government shutdown in history in his first term during the 2018 Christmas season, and interrupted the holidays in 2020 by tanking a bipartisan COVID-relief bill and forcing a do-over."
just seen on Fox News -- Trump narrating an ad for Trump bibles pic.twitter.com/3dC1UjHJgG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 19, 2024
~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The ad ... can most concisely be summarized as 'schlocky.'... 'We love God, and we have to protect anything that is pro-God,' the infamously areligious former president asserts as a plinky piano version of 'O, Come All Ye Faithful' plays in the background.... Trump, wearing a festive red tie with white stripes, is shown standing in front of two American flags. In the foreground, computer-generated Christmas tree ornaments and streamers dangle from the top of the screen.... The obvious question here is what advertisements for what products will air after Jan. 20.... Speaking of, Trump is going to need a Bible for that [inauguration] ceremony. What an amazing cross-branding opportunity that presents." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, Phil! It's so wrong to be cynical at Christmas time!
Heil Elon! Christopher Schuetze & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a close adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, on Friday endorsed Germany's far-right party, a group with ties to neo-Nazis whose youth wing has been classified as 'confirmed extremist' by German domestic intelligence. 'Only the AfD can save Germany,' Mr. Musk posted to X, referring to the anti-immigrant party, the Alternative for Germany, by its German initials." Politico's story is here. MB: Oh, it was a great day for this Master of the Universe, endorsing Nazis & watching his own government nearly shutter at his behest. (Also linked yesterday.)
The chaos is only the showy part of the problem. The real problem is experienced by the people they hurt ~~~
~~~~ Zach Montague & Vimal Patel of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Friday withdrew some of its main outstanding plans to enact significant federal student loan forgiveness and to set rules around the participation of transgender athletes on school sports teams. The regulations were, at one time, among the administration's top education policy priorities, and the decision to pull down the proposed regulations was a tacit acknowledgment that they would go nowhere under the [incoming] administration of ... Donald J. Trump. Criticizing protections for transgender people was a central theme during Mr. Trump's campaign, and he routinely attacked student debt reform."
Feliz Navidad, Papa Francisco! From DJT. Azi Paybarah & Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump announced on Friday his plan to nominate Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote and a papal critic, as the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.... Burch co-founded Catholic Vote, a lay advocacy group in 2005. The organization backed Trump in 2020 and 2024.... Burch has criticized Pope Francis, most notably after the pontiff moved against some conservative church leaders, ousting one in Texas after a Vatican investigation.... After Pope Francis said in 2023 that priests should be allowed to bless same-sex unions, Burch told an interviewer that the Pope had created 'confusion,' inside the church, which has historically opposed homosexuality, according to the National Catholic Reporter. Also in 2023 Burch ... suggest[ed] a connection between FBI searches of certain churches and 'the Pope and others' who had been 'railing against these same parishes.'"
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New York. Uh, Somebody in That Perp Walk Looks Familiar. Emma Fitzsimmons of the New York Times: "As perp walks go, few have been more cinematic: Luigi Mangione, handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit, surrounded by a phalanx of armed law enforcement officers as they led him off a helipad. And there, in the left of the scrum, Mayor Eric Adams walked behind, wearing a navy blue overcoat and a stern look on his face.... Most mayors do not personally oversee the handling of people in federal custody.... Some legal experts and elected officials said the choreographed scene and the mayor's appearance at the perp walk was a blatant and unnecessary attempt at self-promotion. Others worried that the spectacle would boost Mr. Mangione's image as a folk hero."
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Canada. With Friends Like This.... Ian Austen of the New York Times: "As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada tried to reverse his plunging fortunes on Friday by rearranging his cabinet, a key political ally called Mr. Trudeau a failed leader and vowed to bring down his government. Jagmeet Singh, whose New Democratic Party has provided Mr. Trudeau's Liberal Party with the votes it needed to move legislation through Parliament, released a scathing letter promising to bring a motion to defeat the government in the House of Commons after Parliament returns from a holiday break next month." ~~~
~~~ Ephrat Livni & Ian Austen of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada is under intense pressure to step down after the abrupt and acrimonious resignation of a key deputy on Monday highlighted his deep unpopularity after nearly a decade in power.... According to a new poll by Ipsos, 73 percent of Canadians think that Mr. Trudeau should resign as leader of the Liberal Party, including 43 percent of Liberal voters." The reporters provide background, try to explain why Trudeau is so unpopular and suggest what will happen if Trudeau resigns.
Syria/U.S. That's Diplomacy! John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Senior U.S. diplomats on Friday held their first formal talks in Damascus with the leader of the Islamist rebels who overthrew the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a discussion they later characterized as 'good' and 'thorough.' During the meeting, the U.S. officials informed Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), that the United States was lifting a $1o million bounty on him, Barbara Leaf, the top diplomat for the Middle East, told reporters. Leaf provided the assurance after he agreed to a U.S. demand that he not allow terrorist groups in Syria to pose a threat to the United States or Syria's neighbors. 'Ahmed al-Sharaa committed to this,' she said."
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Reader Comments (10)
I don't understand why the richest man in the world,
Ebenezer Musk (thanks Marie) would want to get involved
in politics.
Maybe he has no hobbies. Maybe he has a not so good home life.
Maybe he's driven by greed and wants even more money.
Doesn't he have a business to run? Seems like that would be
enough to keep one busy. Maybe he's just an extrovert and needs
to be in the spotlight twenty-four-seven.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Forrest,
Good question.
I don't know that many (any?) of us understands egos so large and so bent. They are one of life's great mysteries.
I have been in what society would call leadership positions, but I never gloried in them. In fact, telling some other adult what to do or how to live his or her life often made me uncomfortable. Not only did I sometimes wonder as I dictated if I might be wrong, but I never forgot how little I myself liked being told what to do.
There's such a thing as self-confidence, of course, and many good things to be said for it, but the Pretenders and Musks of the world sure give it a bad name.
Maybe that's why sitting alone somewhere quiet with a good book has always been my idea of a good way to spend my time.
You would think the people so obsessed with fertility and people having more kids would be FOR curing cancer in children. But Republicans are full of it and everything, other than power, that they claim to care about is BS.
Rip Van Winkes apparently slept through the first tectonic shift in culture and politics when "Sesame Street" went from free to pay tv.
But he woke up in time for the next.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/arts/television/sesame-street-hbo-max.html
Why do I think these changes mean something?
Thanks to Trump, Christians have fewer commandments to worry about. He’s cut the Ten Commandments down to six. The rest to follow.
Keep Quiet
"Louisiana forbids public health workers from promoting COVID, flu and mpox shots
A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events.
Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there — and at most other public health entities in the U.S. — must stop..
According to the employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they fear losing their jobs or other forms of retaliation, the policy would be implemented quietly and would not be put in writing.
Staffers were also told that it applies to every aspect of the health department’s work: Employees could not send out press releases, give interviews, hold vaccine events, give presentations or create social media posts encouraging the public to get the vaccines. They also could not put up signs at the department’s clinics that COVID, flu or mpox vaccines were available on site."
Highest court, lowest standards
Coke Can Clarence and Insurrection Ginni had MORE undisclosed luxury trips??
Man, I’m so glad the court has that pinky swear ethics code now.
I’m sure the high ethical standards (*choke*) adopted by the Supine Court will absolutely guarantee that Little Johnny and the Dwarfs will hold Fatty and his horde of lawless billionaires and criminal Nazis to account over the coming plague years.
Right. And I’m getting my own Gulfwing for Christmas. See you in the Bahamas, Clarence!
Test, test, test…
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) says that Musk killed to first iteration of the CR because it contained policy language restricting investment in China, which would affect his operations there.
She has been right about most things in the past. She is probably right about this.
https://thehill.com/business/5051709-musk-delauro-spending-bill-china/
RAS,
Ah, the Louisiana Department of Disease....