A Deal For Our Time

lobotero

May 29

Over the weekend the drama of the negotiations for the deal to handle the debt came to an end.....Biden, Dems and GOP have cut a deal...

President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached an agreement in principle to increase the nation's borrowing authority and avoid a default. Negotiators are now racing to finalize the bill's text. McCarthy said the House will vote on the legislation on Wednesday, giving the Senate time to consider it ahead of the June 5 deadline to avoid a default. While many details are unknown, both sides will be able to point to some victories, per the AP. Some details, based on what's known so far:

Two years: The agreement would keep non-defense spending roughly flat in the 2024 fiscal year and increase it by 1% the following year, as well as provide for a two-year debt-limit increase—past the next presidential election in 2024. That's according to a source familiar with the deal who provided details on the condition of anonymity.

Veterans: The agreement will fully fund medical care for veterans at the levels included in Biden's proposed 2024 budget blueprint, including for a fund dedicated to veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances or environmental hazards. Biden sought $20.3 billion for the toxic exposure fund in his budget.

Work requirements: The agreement would expand some work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. The agreement would raise the age for existing work requirements from 49 to 54, similar to the Republican proposal, but those changes would expire in 2030. And the White House said it would at the same time reduce the number of vulnerable people at all ages who are subject to the requirements.

Energy projects: The deal puts in place changes in the the National Environmental Policy Act that will designate "a single lead agency" to develop environmental reviews, in hopes of streamlining the process.

Student debt: Republicans had sought to repeal Biden's efforts to waive $10,000 to $20,000 in debt for nearly all borrowers who took out student loans. But the provision was a nonstarter for Democrats. The budget agreement keeps Biden's student loan relief in place, though the Supreme Court will have the ultimate say on the matter.

No one will be happy with the plan....the markets ought to open higher come Tuesday.....so some will be happy....t least the VA got a small victory just in time for Memorial Day.

I had a problem with the role that the media played in the coverage of this issue.....there are a couple of 'notions'....

"First, the notion that 'modest cuts' to spending are inconsequential."

Second is the role of inflation," Hauser continued, charging that the brewing potential deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) "would be a catastrophe for government capacity, and coverage that ignores the role of inflation (hardly a low profile issue in 2023!) is wildly and indefensibly misguided."

"Third, the notion that the president was trapped under the gun of McCarthy is ridiculous," he added. "Because the debt ceiling is an unconstitutional, incoherent excuse for a law and because there is an active lawsuit from the National Association of Government Employees [NAGE], Biden's status as a hostage merely reflects an advanced case of Stockholm Syndrome."

Given arguments that the president "has a wide number of ways out from the debt ceiling and no legal way to implement it," Hauser asserted, "the media needs to quit deferring to the debt ceiling's political theater and engage more with the essentially uncontroverted legal experts pointing out that it cannot be implemented in a constitutional manner."

(commondreams.org)

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