Tuesday Open Thread

21 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

1. The Senate just passed the Big Ugly Bill by a tie-breaking vote from Vance. Murkowski voted for it after getting some extra goodies for Alaska. 

   Now it’s back to the House for reconcilliation.

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   1. Assuming the GOP sheeple in the House fall in line (a pretty safe bet), the $5 trillion dollar debt limit increase should allow the GOP partytime to last until the end of Trump’s term.  The debt bomb they just armed will go off in the next Democratic president’s lap, and of course the GOP will be there to sabotage any attempt to address the structural debt problem.

      Reagan, Bush, Trump — rinse and repeat.

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      1. As David Byrne put it with the Talking Heads, "Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was"

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      2. Having no debt limit unitl the end of Trump's term is a great win-win political strategy for Republicans and a sign that they never intend to do anything in good faith, especially budgeting.

         If Republicans keep control the US Government in 2028 that "shows that Americans like this and we will continue this way" even though it puts us further and further into debt. Republicans get to cut more social programs and spend more on weapons and secret police because only social programs cause debt according to Republicans.

         If Democrats gain control of the US Government in 2028, then we have 2 choices. We can either extend the debt limit increase and spend money on social programs instead of weapons and secret police. This would "proove that Democrats are the party of 'big government', want to 'give away your hard earned money to others' and 'don't care about public safety`." Or we could end the debt limit increase and spend money on social programs instead of weapons and secret police. This would "proove" the same thing as the first choice.

         Bad faith arguments are great for "winning" arguments and elections, but absolute dog shit for actually doing anything of worth.

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         1. Senate's new version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) would allow for a debt limit increase of up to $5 trillion, which is expected to cover a ten-year period.  So it isn't just to the end of the current Trump term — but for the period of the whole Budget Reconciliation – the remainder of this term, all of the next, and half the the next. 

            CRFB points out it will be "the largest specified increase in history.1 The previous largest dollar increase was $2.5 trillion,"

            One more indication that the current approach to federal budget building, taxation, appropriations, and spending oversight is fatally flawed. 

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   2. We're gutting social programs to fund secret police (ICE), prisons, a wall and an unnecessary missle defense system (AP article: https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-cuts-bill-republicans-medicaid-snap-4ff35843e6a5247f37d048bde9b1f5ee).

      And we're doing it as "budget reconcilliation" because our Congress can't do it's basic fucking job of defining a budget.

      This is so fucking… I can't even place the word(s) I want to use.

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   3. It'll most likely die there and get kicked back to the Senate. 

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2. I think the Senate ignored some of the Parliamentarian's objections, which is outrageous, and par for the course in the lawless Trump GOP.

   Some things did get cut, fortunately:

   Republican leadership managed to cobble together just enough support to ram the bill through, though not without shedding several provocative provisions along the way. Gone are measures that would have:

   • Blocked state-level regulation of artificial intelligence for the next decade

   • Eased the purchase of gun silencers nationwide

   • Made it harder to enforce contempt of court actions against the Trump Administration

   These provisions, considered toxic even among some Republicans, were tossed overboard in an effort to shore up votes. But the heart of the bill remains: enormous cuts to the social safety net, framed by GOP leaders as a necessary step to rein in federal spending.

   Unfortunately, it doesn't actually rein in spending at all.  It just refocusses the spending away from helping our citizens to spending $135 billion on building an American gulag system to house anyone Trump's secret police deem as a threat.

    

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3. For some reason, I'm on Ramaswamy's email list. He's trying to raise $$$ for "Young Americans for Liberty," described as being for identifying, recruiting, and training college students to Make Liberty Win.

   By focusing on the issues important to twenty-year-olds – affordable groceries and gas, healthcare, and guns, YAL is able to show young people that socialism is not the answer to all of their life’s problems.

   So, the Ramaswamyjugen will do g_d's work so future generations might come up with even more beautiful bills than what Murkowski voted for while saying with the other side of forked tongue that she hopes the House will fix it. Y'know, the bill that killed healthcare and will fund kidnapping detaining workers who help keep groceries affordable. It's all so clear to me! 

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   1. To your point, 2Jung, this appeared in today’s Times-Recorder: https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2025/07/gods-harvard-is-filling-the-pipeline/70911/?

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      1. Sure cook, that figures. Our dear University of Colorado once had a chancellor who supported a push for "intellectual diversity" among the filthy hippie liberals at CU, which led to the Benson Center's visiting conservative scholar program, which led to John Eastman on campus before most folks knew he had boarded the crazy train, perhaps as an engineer. I just get the sense that there will be no such call for intellectual diversity at good ol' Patrick Henry College, rah rah rah, sis koom bah! 

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   2. "Young Americans for Liberty"?

      Is this the 21st century version of the "Young Americans for Freedom"?

      YAF was a creation of William F. Buckley back in the '60's.  It was a forerunner of the Proud Boys.

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      1. I don't care enough to spend a lot of time on this, but here's what our friend AI told me:

         Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) and Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) are both student organizations focused on political activism, but they differ in their core ideologies. YAF is a conservative group, while YAL is libertarian. YAF, founded in 1960, promotes limited government, individual freedom, and free markets. YAL, established in 2008 following Ron Paul's presidential campaign, emphasizes individual liberty, limited government, and non-interventionist foreign policy.

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         1. My recollection from the '70's is that YAF was fanatically anti-Communist. 

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            1. So, would YAL be cool with Russia bombing Ukraine into a very large hole in the ground? Enquiring minds want to know.

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               1. My guess is that they would differentiate between Communist Russia under Brezhnev and nationalist/fascist Russia under Putin.

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                  1. Swear I don't want to start just turning to AI for everything, but here's what it says about YAL on Ukraine:

                     Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) expresses a critical stance on the United States' involvement and aid to Ukraine, emphasizing concerns related to fiscal responsibility, foreign entanglement, and the nature of the Ukrainian government

                     . YAL's position is characterized by the following:

                     • Fiscal concerns: YAL questions the financial commitment to Ukraine. One post states, "Which comes first? Ukraine or America You can't do both! WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY!". Another post highlights that Ukraine's loans to the U.S. won't be repaid for 40 years, while criticizing those who don't speak against it.
                     • Criticism of foreign aid: YAL suggests politicians who support entanglement in Ukraine should contribute financially. They've also raised concerns about aid distribution, citing reports that a significant portion never reached Ukraine and calling for an audit.
                     • Concerns about Ukrainian democracy: YAL has shared content questioning whether Ukraine is a democracy, pointing to issues like the banning of political parties and the treatment of churches and priests.
                     • Opposition to U.S. military involvement: YAL appears to favor non-intervention, with comments on their social media suggesting it's better to let Ukraine and Russia "deal with it" and a preference against sending U.S. troops. 

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4. Congress passed a balanced budget!!  Per all of the reporting it just adds $3 trillion to the debt over ten years.  That's just $300 billion per year which is darn close to a balanced budget.  Praise Allah!!

   wait a minute….  That $3 trillion is on top of the existing $2 trillion deficits per year we are currently running.  So, that's more like $25 trillion over ten years on top of the $36 trillion debt we have.  So, we'll have at least $61 trillion debt after ten years barring any increase in interest rates, recessions, wars, etc., etc….

   This country will go bankrupt due to unbelievable stupidity and irresponsibility.  What say you Senator Bennet who sits on the Senate Finance Committee??  

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   1. itlduso … it isn't QUITE as bad as you are describing. 

      for a summary of the overall impact of the Senate's knifes-edge approved bill, I recommend https://www.crfb.org/blogs/senate-obbba-charts

      The Senate passed a reconciliation bill that would add $4.1 trillion to the national debt through Fiscal Year (FY) 2034, $1.1 trillion more than the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). We estimate the legislation would add $5.5 trillion to the debt if made permanent and more if various provisions are removed to comply with the Byrd rule.

      Senator Bennet's immediate post after passage: 

      After more than two days, Republicans have passed their destructive Budget Bill and voted once again to leave middle and working class families behind.

      Instead of addressing the challenges facing working families, this bill takes a massive step in the wrong direction. It benefits the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the poorest and jeopardizes our children's future. In its wake, I will fight even harder to build a better future for Coloradans.

      Bennet's speech the night before final passage:   Bennet Excoriates Reckless Republican Budget Bill 

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      1. Completely and totally WRONG!! 
         Per the CBO the annual deficit is projected to rise from $1.9 trillion now to $2.5 trillion by 2035.  The total deficit over the next ten years is estimated to be $21.8 trillion.  The total debt is expected to rise from 100% of GDP now to 124-130% of GDP in 2035.  The mistake everyone is making is not realizing that the bill’s impact is ON TOP Of the current budget deficits of about $2 trillion per year.

         No one seems to get this — not you or Bennet or anyone.  Nor does anyone seem to care.  Well someday I’ll just say Itlduso.

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         1. Correct — the $5 trillion rise in the debt ceiling is, best case for Republicans, going to keep the party going for the next 3.5 years.  No way will it cover 10 years.

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