What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Well maybe we don’t have a deal……
From RollCall “Unsure whether they have the votes to pass a trillion-dollar federal spending package, House GOP leaders on Thursday afternoon delayed a final vote on the “cromnibus.”
They did so with mere hours to go until the government is set to run out of funding, and just before the House was scheduled to vote.
GOP leaders called a recess to floor proceedings, with a GOP leadership aide confirming “no conference meeting [is] planned at this time.” The aide said “leadership teams are still talking to their respective members,” and noted, “We still plan to vote this afternoon.”
It’s not clear, however, what they will be voting on.
If Republicans can’t surmount the impasse, they could decide to proceed with swiftly moving a short-term continuing resolution through the chamber, which the Senate could also pass before 11:59 p.m., when current funding expires.”
So will Elizabeth Warren now call herself a “hostage taker” or an “economic terrorist” like she did to Republicans during the last shutdown, or is that only when Republicans do it?
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2. Now about Boehner’s prior spending deals….
From CNSNews “The federal debt has increased by $3.8 trillion in the 3.8 years that have passed since House Speaker John Boehner cut his first spending deal with Senate Democrats and President Obama.
That works out to $32,938.38 for every household in the United States—including those taking federal welfare benefits—and $42,783.20 for every full-time year-round private-sector worker in the United States.
In fact, the $42,783.20 that the federal government has borrowed per full-time year-round private-sector worker since Boehner cut his first federal spending deal exceeds the $41,916 that according to the Census Bureau was median annual earnings of full-time year-round private-sector wage and salary workers in 2013.”
That should answer Bob’s question from yesterday about per taxpayer costs.
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3. Here’s a “phony scandal” update. All evidence continues to point to White House involvement.
From Forbes “Sadly, the 18 month investigation into the IRS targeting of conservative groups isn’t over, and it may be worse than anyone thought. A federal judge has broken loose more emails that the DOJ had surely hoped would never surface. The picture it reveals isn’t pretty. The documents prove that Lois Lerner met with DOJ’s Election Crimes Division a month before the 2010 elections.
It has to be embarrassing to the DOJ, which may not be the most impartial one to be investigating the IRS. In fact, the DOJ withheld over 800 pages of Lerner documents citing “taxpayer privacy” and “deliberative privilege.” Yet these internal DOJ documents show Ms. Lerner was talking to DOJ officials about prosecuting tax-exempt entities (yes, criminally!) two years before the IRS conceded there was inappropriate targeting.
Ms. Lerner met with top officials from the DOJ’s Election Crimes Branch in October of 2010. Although Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the DOJ (Judicial Watch v. Department of Justice, No. 14-cv-01239), the DOJ coughed up dirt only on court order. Even then, the DOJ handed over only two pages of heavily redacted emails.”
“What’s more, the DOJ withheld 832 pages in their entirety. They revealed that Mr. Obama’s DOJ called an October 8, 2010 meeting with the IRS “concerning 501(c)(4) issues.”
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4. 70% of respondents want Congress to keep digging.
From FoxNews “Call it a “kumbaya” question, as majorities of Democrats (60 percent), independents (75 percent) and Republicans (78 percent) support lawmakers continuing to dig.
The new poll also asked why the White House is refusing to release thousands of pages of documents related to the IRS targeting. By nearly three-to-one people think it’s because the administration wants to keep its role in the scandal secret (63 percent) rather than to keep taxpayer information confidential (22 percent).
Even Democrats are more likely to say the Obama White House is withholding documents to hide its involvement (45 percent) rather than to protect taxpayers (35 percent). Another 20 percent is unsure.”
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5. Yet another backdoor to citizenship for illegal immigrants?
From TheWashingtonExaminer “President Obama’s recently unveiled immigration scheme creates a new path for illegal immigrants and those who overstay their visas to become legal citizens nearly instantly, according to Utah Sen. Mike Lee.
Taking to the Senate floor Thursday to reveal the backdoor he said Obama is opening to millions more illegals beyond the parents of children here legally, the Republican said, “This is the danger of unilateral executive action.””
“It would also provide a way for those here illegally to be waived into America without any punishment.
Lee said that the Obama plan would provide “advance parole” to illegals, putting them on the fast track to a green card and citizenship. That status has been difficult to get in the past.
Now, however, he said that the president plans to ease the 3-10 year waiting period for those who leave then try to reenter legally by granting provisional waivers for entry. What’s more, in some cases illegals will be allowed to stay in the United States while waiting for those provisional waivers.”
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Wandering Views 
Oil prices are collapsing world wide. The spirit of anarchy is raging. Let’s keep praying for revival!
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Indeed, the only true solution, ‘deleted.’
Interesting. Ready for Warren?
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/300-former-obama-staffers-urge-elizabeth-warren-run-president_821232.html
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More on the oil collapse. Saudi Arabia has huge cash reserves and is behind the drop, thus forcing Libya, Iran and Venezuela, among others, to scramble. Not to mention Russia, where the ruble is at an all time high against the US currency–57 rubles to the dollar.
OPEC is in disarray and the experts speculate Saudi will let things float until at least January. They’re waging a price war, in effect on US fracking projects.
Too late, though. The price of oil is anticipated to stay low for the foreseeable future. The European economy is in shambles, Asia is headed to a mild recession and the US economy is considered the most stable. (!). Experts do not anticipate political upheaval, but keep in mind a lot of those MIddle Eastern societies have paid off their opponents using their oil reserve monies. I don’t know what this means, but you can pray and conjecture yourselves.
Unstable times can bring about unstable situations.
OTOH, good can come of this, too. Stay tuned.
BTW, because of fracking, natural gas prices in the US are 1/3 those in Europe. When the gas pipelines are finally built between Pennsylvania and New England–within two years–energy prices, particularly home heating will decline. Good news for many, but still two years out.
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My son, driving water to fracking wells in North Dakota, is worried about the price of oil. Will this cause him to lose his job? He just started in Oct. He has been able to pay off his credit cards. Next will be his second mortgage. For the first time since 2008 he feels like his head is above water; he is able to move ahead instead of slowly falling be hind.
My view about the price of oil is that Saudi Arabia is much more worried about Iran getting the BOMB than it is about fracking here in the US. There is plenty more demand for oil and natural gas around the world than there is cheap supply. Because of the ability of the Saudis to turn on and off the flow of oil they can control oil prices much more easily than other places/types of oil wells.
The Mullahs of Iran getting the bomb is of much more worry to the Saudis than is fracking. America strong is of more strategic use to the Saudis than the price of their oil. Besides that, Saudi Arabia doesn’t sell much natural gas to the US.
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Well this is reassuring…… NOT.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-12/paying-down-debt-now-almost-mathematically-impossible
“Over the century that followed, the US has gone from being the biggest creditor in the world to its biggest debtor.
Decades of expanding government programs, waste, endless and costly wars, etc. have racked up such an enormous pile of debt that it has become almost impossible to pay it down.
A lot of folks don’t realize that, since the end of World War II, the US government’s total tax revenue has been almost constant at roughly 17% of GDP.
In other words, even though the actual tax rates themselves rise and fall, the government’s ‘slice’ of the economic pie is almost always the same – 17%.
I’ve worked out a mathematical model which shows that, even with absurd assumptions (7%+ GDP growth for years at a time, low interest rates, etc.), it is simply not feasible for the US government to ‘grow’ its way out.
Default has become the only option. And that could mean a number of things.”
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Hmm. Annonymous isn’t me, this time. Bob, they estimate the “floor” for US oil is $50 a barrel, beyond that the fracking may not be financially feasible for the Americans. Saudis can take it lower than that.
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Yes Michelle,
Everyone is concerned about themselves and their interests. I am just trying to look at things from the point of view of Saudi Arabia. They don’t want ISIS to come after them. ISIS is selling oil to finance their government and army. ISIS wants to become the Grand Poobah of Muslims. Iran wants to run the Muslim world. Iran sells oil to run their country.
The Saudis were selling all the oil they wanted at $90 a barrel. If they undercut the Frackers, they don’t drill any more wells until the price of oil goes up again. The Frackers only pump enough oil to keep the wells working, until the price of oil goes up!
If the price of oil stays down low, maybe ISIS and Iran crash and burn.
Which of these threats is existential? Fracking, ISIS or Iran?
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