Raise the debt ceiling by $24 trillion — or kill the bill
Should Congress enact the budget reconciliation bill recently passed by the House (formally titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act), the tax and spending policies set in motion over the next decade would require roughly $24 trillion in cumulative borrowing, pushing debt as a share of gross domestic product to about 124 percent. Yet Congress appears on track to raise the debt ceiling by only $4 trillion or perhaps $5 trillion or, if Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has his way, $500 billion. What this means is that the Republican-controlled Congress is deliberately choosing a future for the country in which tax revenue falls well short of federal spending year after year — but in which the treasury is prohibited from making up the difference by borrowing.
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Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CNN host laughs at Republican senator as he fact-checks him on Epstein ‘sweetheart' deal
CNN's Jake Tapper repeatedly fact-checked a Republican senator on air Sunday as the lawmaker insisted that Democrats and Barack Obama's administration were at fault for a 'sweetheart' deal that allowed Jeffrey Epstein to escape his 2008 conviction on child sex charges virtually unscathed. Sen. Markwayne Mullin appeared on CNN's State of the Union and repeatedly claimed that a plea agreement to keep Epstein from being charged federally for child sex crimes was signed in 2009, under the Obama administration. But Epstein's plea agreement was drafted in 2007 and signed in 2008, when he pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for sex, before Obama was even president. 'It was 2008,' Tapper corrected him, chuckling. Tapper noted that the U.S. attorney who oversaw the non-prosecution agreement was Alex Acosta, who went on become Donald Trump's secretary of labor during his first administration. 'It all took place in 2008,' Tapper said. Mullin then shot back, asking 'who was in office at the time?' — seemingly making the error of assuming that Obama was the president. Obama won the presidential election that year but was inaugurated in January 2009. 'In 2008, George W. Bush was the president,' Tapper said, as he was cut off by Mullin repeating his question. 'George W. Bush.' Mullin went on to insist that because the case was 'sealed in 2009' that Democrats were somehow involved. A clearly exasperated Tapper responded that 'the point is, the 'sweetheart deal', which was completed in 2008, was under the Bush administration.' The plea agreement inked between Acosta and Epstein's attorney, Alan Dershowitz, was staggering in its leniency. Epstein was allowed to leave the prison facility for hours at a time for 'work release' to the headquarters of a nebulous enterprise called the 'Florida Science Foundation' he founded shortly before beginning his sentence and shut down when it concluded. Inside the prison, Epstein was allowed to maintain his own office, just as he'd done at Harvard University for years, while watching television and was watched by guards who wore suits and were partially on his payroll. Mullin and other Republicans closely aligned with the president are treading a careful line on the issue of the Epstein investigation. The Trump administration ignited a firestorm early in July when the Department of Justice and FBI announced that the agencies would not release any more documents related to the Epstein investigation despite having promised to do so. The agencies cited a refusal to release identifying information about victims and graphic sexual imagery involving children. Most glaringly, the agencies also declared in that early July announcement that a so-called 'client list' of Epstein's alleged co-conspirators had not been found. Having latched on to the issue long before Trump was elected to a second term, his MAGA base descended into chaos. Many of the president's 2024 supporters called the reversal a betrayal by the administration, while some questioned whether Trump himself was involved in a cover-up to protect himself or other powerful men named as Epstein's accomplices in the files. Some Democrats latched on to the issue at the same time, joining calls for transparency. Then, a pair of articles in The Wall Street Journal purported to outline Trump's own connections to the investigation. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a 'secret.' Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the newspaper and its reporters in response. A second article from the WSJ days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, thought it was not clear in what context The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with the Epstein files in response. Being mentioned in the files does not mean wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. Republicans on Capitol Hill are caught in the middle. Some are joining on to a bipartisan effort led by Thomas Massie — a Republican who clashed with the president over the GOP budget reconciliation package earlier this year — and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to force the Justice Department to release the entirety of its document trove, with redactions for child sexual assault material and the names or identifying information of victims. Others more aligned with leadership, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. But Johnson and others have been careful not to label the Epstein story a distraction, to the White House's annoyance. Johnson called the August recess early this past week, sending lawmakers home for the month to avoid a vote legislation from Massie and Khanna.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Number of Democratic voters who are ‘extremely motivated' to vote in next election skyrockets
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CNN
19 minutes ago
- CNN
‘Tesla Takedown' protestors have a new target: Elon Musk's Tesla Diner
For months, protesters have gathered outside Tesla showrooms in response to Elon Musk's role in reducing US government spending as part of the Department of Government Efficiency. This weekend, protesters in Los Angeles found a new destination: Musk's new 24-hour Tesla Diner in the Hollywood area. Musk had touted the concept of an 'old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant' in 2018. Since opening on Monday, the retro-futuristic diner with electric vehicle-charging stations has had long lines of customers who are served burgers in Cybertruck-designed boxes. One customer posted to YouTube that he waited 11 hours for the restaurant to open. But Joel Lava, who has helped organize 'Tesla Takedown' demonstrations and has spearheaded protests at the diner, believes that protests could continue throughout the summer and that the buzz around the new restaurant will soon die down. '(Customers are) waiting 11 hours so they can have Tesla-brand burgers and fries,' Lava told CNN. 'This is the world's most renowned anti-trans advocate who just opened a diner in West Hollywood. The community is not very supportive of Elon.' Lava estimates as many as 75 demonstrators joined the diner protest on Saturday. He said organizers began planning protests for this weekend after the diner abruptly opened on Monday. 'Our main message is Tesla funds fascism. Elon Musk, via DOGE, has destroyed our government agencies and people's jobs, and people are dying around the world because of him,' Lava said. Tesla did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment. Lava said protest attendance for Tesla Takedown events peaked at the end of March, but has 'been going strong.' Protests outside of Tesla showrooms across the United States have remained a weekly staple in many cities, with 40 protests planned on the 'Tesla Takedown' website for the weekend. 'We've already been successful in tarnishing the Tesla brand,' he said. During last week's second-quarter earnings call, Musk highlighted Tesla's future — not its gloomy present-day — by reaffirming ambitious plans for the company's robotaxi service and mass production of its humanoid robot, Optimus, which was serving popcorn at Musk's diner. Tesla's auto revenue fell 16% from April to June and overall revenue was down 12%, according to its earnings report. Sales of its best-selling Model Y and Model 3 fell 12% compared with a year ago, while sales of its more expensive models, including the Cybertruck, plunged 52%. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were down more than 4% last week, closing at $316.06 on Friday, after falling 9% on Thursday. Since peaking at $479.86 on December 17, Tesla shares have plunged 34%. CNN's Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
