Meh

Red State: "Debt Ceiling Deal Is a Very Small Step in the Right Direction."

You know, I'll take the "win" but - let's face it - the size of the Federal government is still going to continue to balloon beyond our ability to pay for it.  I'll believe we're serious about spending when we completely eliminate the perpetually useless Department of Education. 

By the way, here's Joe Biden's itinerary of not wasting taxpayer money:

Friday: White House to Camp David

Saturday: Camp David to Delaware

Sunday: Delaware to the White House

Monday: White House to Delaware

Tuesday: Delaware to White House

Wednesday (today): White House to Colorado...for some reason.

It's good to be king.

Back to work, Grampa

USA Today: "Reckless spending and inflation are forcing many Americans to 'unretire'." - "According to a survey by Paychex, 55% of retirees who went back to work said they did so because they needed more money, and 1 in 6 retirees is considering returning to work."

It's a safety net, not a hammock

Grumpy Economist: "Work Requirements."  These statistics are pretty incredible:

Economics, as usual, offers a straightforward value-free way to think about the issue: Incentives. When you put all our social programs together, low income Americans face roughly 100% marginal tax rates. Earn an extra dollar, lose a dollar of benefits. It's not that simple, of course, with multiple cliffs of infinite tax rates (earn an extra cent, lose a program entirely), and depends on how many and which programs people sign up for. But the order of magnitude is right. 

The incentive effect is clear: don't work (legally). As Phil Gramm and Mike Solon report, 

Since 1967, average inflation-adjusted transfer payments to low-income households—the bottom 20%—have grown from $9,677 to $45,389. During that same period, the percentage of prime working-age adults in the bottom 20% of income earners who actually worked collapsed from 68% to 36%.

36%. The latter number is my main point, we'll get to cost later. Similarly, the WSJ points to  a report by Jonathan Bain and Jonathan Ingram at the Foundation for Government Accountability that

there are four million able-bodied adults without dependents on food stamps, and three in four don’t work at all. Less than 3% work full-time.

3%. 

Life-long, multi-generational dependency on the government is the goal of the Left, all in the name of "compassion." 

She's very dim

Red State: "AOC Has Meltdown at Elon Over Parody Account That Gets Her Ratioed Into Next Week."

Memorial Day

Exactly as predicted

Reason: "Wealth Taxes Result in Rich People Fleeing, Turns Out - Norway hiked its wealth tax. A bunch of rich people got the hell out."

In other words, wealth taxes work exactly as libertarians warned: They generate far less revenue than anticipated and result in the ultra-rich hopping to fairer locales that don't see them as cash cows to milk.

Here in Massachusetts, they just recently passed a "millionaires tax" because nothing makes liberals happier than taxing "somebody else."  New Hampshire is waiting, Boston professionals. 

Like a good neigh...not so fast, California

Hot Air: "State Farm halts new home insurance policies in California."

Meh, they got lots of cash

City Journal: "Can California be saved?" 

Americans are immune to the gaslighting

Hot Air: "'Horrible for Joe Biden': CNN poll shows Biden with 35% favorability." 

How can this be?  Didn't America hear about how Joe Biden reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion?  Oh, wait, that was a lie.

Good luck blaming Republicans for the debt ceiling battle when your numbers have been steadily declining for a month now, Joe. 

Now we know where the bar is set

NY Post: "Only thing shocking about machete attack was a college actually firing a woke professor." 

Oh FFS

Detroit News: "Gov. Whitmer signs bill to end A-F grades for schools' performance."

This is for school assessments, not students: "Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill Monday to toss out the Republican-backed A-F letter grade system for evaluating Michigan schools, saying the policy amounted to "burdensome requirements."

This immediately reminded me of this scene in "Fresh off the Boat" where a teacher is explaining the American grading system:

Four legs good, two legs better

Really good follow-on of the Turley article is this one today by Charles C.W. Cooke where everybody on the Left embraces crazy ideas they once firmly rejected: "Why Can’t Progressive Writers Defend the Law?"

Nobody — I will repeat nobody — believes that the 14th Amendment took the power of the purse away from Congress. President Biden doesn’t believe it. The collection of legislators who are writing to Biden don’t believe it. Laurence Tribe, who explained in 2011 why the claim is absurd before he pretended to have changed his mind this year, doesn’t believe it. There is no case here beyond necessity. This isn’t a question of whether the plan is a good one or a bad one; the plan isn’t permissible in the first place. We might as well have a debate about whether the president should “decide” to serve a five-year term.

One quibble: I'm not sure Joe Biden believes it or not.  I think he'll just say whatever he's told for a pudding cup.

Tell me again about the adults in the room, protecting democracy:

What is it about American progressivism that folds instantly in the face of preposterous legal sophistry? Why are left-leaning journalists at prestigious outlets such as the Times so utterly incapable of resisting the temptation to turn the law into sand? Why does their supposed love of “democracy” — and that’s what this is about: voters gave Republicans the House; Biden is trying to cut them out of the process — stop the very moment that Republicans obtain a set of constitutionally promulgated powers?

They had to burn the Constitution to save it.

Congressional Dems: "Make us irrelevant"

Here's law professor Jonathan Turley: "Congressional Democrats beg Biden to nullify their existence."

Biden is not the first president to disregard legislative authority. But these members of the legislative branch are beseeching their leader to ignore them and their constitutional authority. Indeed, the most important power given to Congress under Article I is the “power of the purse.” It was the ultimate control over government. Whatever entanglements or commitments a president may seek, he must ultimately get the Congress to go along.

George Mason captured that intent when he declared that “no branch of government should ever be able to combine the power of the sword with the power of the purse.”

This purported 14th Amendment loophole would reduce the separation of powers doctrine to junk bond status.

It's shocking to think that Elizabeth Warren used to be a law professor.  She's now an acolyte of the Laurence Tribe school of "anything goes."

Very on-brand

Fox News: "Biden declares himself 'blameless' if US defaults on debt: 'I've done my part'." 

Of course.

Looks like we'll have a debt ceiling deal soon

After Biden's puppetmaster sees this poll: "Few are following the debate closely, but most want Congress to increase the debt limit with deficit reduction conditions." 

The adults are in charge

Fox News: "NYC mayor’s plan to stop shoplifting by putting ‘social service kiosks’ in stores annihilated by critics." 

I like the "intervention" for first-time offenders instead of prosecuting them.  It's essentially free reign to shoplift as much as you can, but just once.

Cutting time

City Journal: "Now Is the Time for Cuts - Past debt-induced budget reductions may have been poorly timed, but today’s U.S. economy can handle fiscal contraction." 

Best community note ever

It is clearly impossible to stop Joe Biden from repeating this lie.  And there will be no press conferences where he will be confronted.  At least we have Community Notes:

I'm only retweeting you because of the community notes.🤣 https://t.co/Rgt2bUp74n

— Rogue Penguin (@Rogue_40) May 19, 2023

Seems low

Outkick: "95% of late night guests are liberal." 

Jon Stewart killed late night "comedy" since everybody has co-opted his "clown nose on, clown nose off" model. 

"Nobody is above the law" update

NY Post: "FBI dropped 4 probes into Hillary Clinton, family’s non-profit ahead of 2016 election: Durham report."

Washington Free Beacon: "Biden Justice Department Declined To Prosecute Disgraced Soros-Backed U.S. Attorney - DOJ inspector general found Rachael Rollins lied to federal investigators, a crime that carries a five-year prison sentence." 

ABC News: "IRS whistleblower in Hunter Biden probe alleges agency removed his 'entire investigation team'." 

Prayers for Michelle Go

City Journal: "And What Would You Have Done?" - "Jordan Neely’s death in a New York subway system prompts soul-searching—and self-righteousness."

Uh-oh, they're on to the scam

CNET: "Social Security Benefits Could Drop 20% by 2032, Government Report Says."

A survey from Nationwide found that one in three adults over age 26 don't think that when they retire they'll see a dime of benefits from the Social Security program they've been paying into.

The kids are figuring out the math. 

Deadbeats

Reason: "Lawsuit: It's Time To Start Paying Off Those Student Loans Again" - "The lawsuit claims that the pause has cost taxpayers "$160 billion and counting."

KJP, the dumbest press secretary ever, while trying to make a point about raising the debt ceiling said that "we pay our debts."  Ya know, unless they're student loans you agreed to repay.  Then YOLO.

Pariah nation

Quilette: "World War Z" - "A new book by historian Ian Garner investigates how the war in Ukraine is transforming Russia into a fascist society." 

Senior abuse

No, no, I'm not talking about Joe Biden.  For once.

New York magazine: "Dianne Feinstein’s Return Is a Ghoulish Spectacle." - "“Where am I going?” Feinstein was heard asking on Wednesday. The same place as the rest of us, Senator. Right now, it’s nowhere good." 

That's the fun side!

Federalist: "‘The Wrong Side Of History’ Is The One With Air Conditioning, Dishwashers, And Gas Stoves."  

I think it was P. J. O'Rourke who said the Berlin Wall fell because people wanted to wear Levis and didn't want to wear shoes from Bulgaria. 

The crimson tide

Reason: "The Debt Ceiling Fight Is a Reminder of America's Dire Fiscal Future - The longer we wait to address our debt, the more painful it will be." 

Well guess what? Not a joke.

 

Good and hard

Daily Wire: "Chicago Residents Informed The City Plans To Take In 250 Migrants. Watch How They React." 

The open Southern border

Paper of Record: "Mayorkas Heads To Border To Fire Starter Pistol When Title 42 Expires."

Clown Show Paper: "NY Times revelation: People coming to the US border don't believe it's closed (because it's not)." 

He repeated the lie today

There is zero percent chance Dementia Joe will stop repeating his lies because the mainstream media has zero percent interest in correcting him: "Biden Lies about Reducing the National Debt, Everyone Yawns."

Biden has been called out for this repeatedly, and he just keeps saying it. This doesn’t make fact-checking worthless, but it does raise the question of how much the verdicts of the fact-checkers matter. Clearly, being called out by fact-checkers isn’t going to change Biden’s boasts, nor is it going to get the White House staffers to tell Biden to stop making those boasts. Biden gets called out for these boasts very, very rarely.

It helps if you avoid non-MSNBC journalists who might ask uncomfortable questions.

For the record, Joey repeated the ridiculous 8% tax rate for billionaires lie also today.  

You voted for this

Curbed: "Spiraling in San Francisco’s Doom Loop What it’s like to live in a city that no longer believes its problems can be fixed."

Today I had a conversation with a co-worker who had just gotten back from San Francisco and he did not refrain from explaining what a s---hole it is.  I felt the same way about Seattle when I visited a couple years ago, pre-George Floyd.

Hidin' Biden

Althouse: "The Washington Post Editorial Board closes in on Biden: "Biden no longer does press conferences. That’s not acceptable."

To his credit, Dementia Joe came out to talk about the federal debt limit this afternoon and, after repeating his usual litany of lies, took about a dozen questions from the press.  Why the sudden access?  As Althouse notes, the most recent Washington Post poll must have "lit a fire" under Joey.

Because they won't give the questions in advance

NY Post editorial: "Why are White House staff afraid to let a Post reporter question Biden?"

For the record, Biden's only public event today was to tell us that airlines should give you a meal voucher if your flight is delayed.  You know: Presidential stuff.  Then he turned on his heel and left once the questions started. 

Papa, why is the mainstream media dying?

Legal Insurrection: "Highlight Reel About ‘Conspiracy Theory’ of Gas Stove Bans Shows How the Media Lies on Behalf of Democrats."

SUPERCUT!

Gaslighters: Progressives insist it's a conspiracy theory they'd ban gas stoves pic.twitter.com/IPvXRuocFT

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 5, 2023

No kidding

Hot Air: "The media highlights certain crime stories more than other similar stories." 

Hey, how'd that major news conference go?

Red State: "Biden's Delusions About Himself and Hunter Are on Full Display During MSNBC Interview."

Extra - By the way, it looks like commenting on active investigations is back in vogue. 

We don't have a President

PJ Media: "Confused Old Man Pretending to Be President Announces ‘Major Press Conference’ When There Isn’t One."

It was an interview with MSNBC.  We assume "The View" was already booked.

News from Western Massachusetts

Specifically, the hippie haven of Northampton.  It's come to this: "Smith College program stops using word ‘field’ over ‘negative associations’."

Smith College’s graduate School for Social Work will abandon the term “field” — as in “going into the field” or “field work” — from its lexicon, following in the steps of other universities who have claimed the word has connotations to slavery that could be considered offensive.

While “field” can mean an expansive area of land or crops, in academia or the sciences it often describes work done in a real-world environment. A biologist, for instance, may collect field observations on an animal by observing it in its natural habitat.

“We recognize that language is powerful and that phrases such as ‘going into the field’ or ‘field work’ may hold negative associations,” administrators for the School for Social Work said in a message to the school community last week.

This sounds like something dreamed up by the loons at Hampshire College but the whole Pioneer Valley is infected with this eye-rolling nonsense.

Pictured: Sally Practicum

Looking forward to "Magnalina Carlsen" winning the women's chess tournament

NY Post: "Florida man wins women’s poker tournament." 

Hmmmm

Hot Air: "Breaking: Joe Biden bribery scandal?"

I'm skeptical: the claim that "the FBI has documents" is thin sauce. 

Surprising exactly nobody outside the media bubble

This story is making the rounds but Ace has the best headline: "AP Poll: It's Hard to Believe, But This Poll We Just Ran About Public Attitudes About the Press Says That We Are Disbelieved and Despised."

The Associated Press finally got something right: I do despise the mainstream media.  

"She's always in the room"

1945: "Jill Biden Is The Real President."

Just remember what that unnamed Biden insider told Politico: Dr. Jill is always in the room with her husband. She is the lead interlocutor of Biden’s White House staff whenever there is an issue occurring that requires her presidential husband’s say. 

A national bank collapse is on the way. Who is getting briefed as the chaos befalls our skittish financial system? It isn’t our president who is asking the tough, probing questions. It’s his wife. 

To be fair, sometimes the Easter Bunny intervenes.

Liar in chief

A couple days ago, the Washington Post fact checker gave Dementia Joe a "bottomless Pinocchio" for claiming - repeatedly - that he reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion.  So Joe Biden cleaned up his stock speech to remove this false claim.

Just kidding:

Unlike the last guy, my first two years, we cut the deficit 1.7 billion dollars — trillion — trillion — trillion dollars — (applause) — not billion, trillion dollars — in less than two years. 

He also repeated the lie about billionaires paying an 8% tax rate.  In Dementia Joe's defense, he's just reading whatever is on his teleprompter.