THE ILLEGITIMATE BIDEN REGIME continues to spend money so frivolously as to make drunk Russian soldiers seem responsible. Needless to say, the Biden regime wanted a budget higher than most people can actually count, nearly $7 trillion (review it here). Even NPR is a tad skeptical.
The House, it appears, is going along with it, though. On Wednesday evening, it narrowly passed a bill along party lines, 217-215, raising the debt ceiling for a year, and calling it, euphemistically, the Limit, Save, Grow Act. Reportedly, the bill cuts spending by 14 percent over a decade. A pittance in the scheme of things, really. It also holds the Biden regime to a 1% cap on spending increases over the next decade, which could curtail some of the worst of his priorities.
Given the arrogant unmitigated gall of Biden and his minions, who have stated in no uncertain terms that they will not negotiate, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should have availed the G.O.P. of an opportunity to wake the woke in Washington and make it clear that a) there would be negotiations on the budget, and b) there would be dramatic cuts to the budget for discretionary expenses like student loan ‘cancellation,’ illegal alien medical and other welfare giveaways, and ongoing military aid for Ukraine (a non-NATO member to boot.)
To the whines that we cannot default on our debt lest we become un-creditworthy, McCarthy should point out the fact that the U.S. not only can, but should, pick and choose what debts to pay while negotiations are ongoing. Obviously, the U.S. must pay interest to holders of U.S. treasuries, for example, but hand grenades for Ukraine? I think not.
Lay federal workers if it must, but the nation will rehire this bloated contingent back after the debt negotiations and unpaid vacations are over. They’ll probably be paid back with interest, no less, while those laid off in the private sector will be stuck with 2/3 of their average weekly wages in unemployment, if anything.
Needless to say, new expenditures must be halted, too, such as ‘universal pre-k,’ and ‘fighting climate change’ and ‘global warming.’ And like the new “immigrant processing centers” Biden wants to establish in Guatemala and Colombia to facilitate migration to the U.S. ahead of Title 42’s expiration on May 11th. It may be good to keep these people outside our borders as they use the process, but we could also simply enforce existing laws or pass a new law or laws like the House G.O.P.’s combination of two bills which restricts asylum-seeking (from the Judiciary Committee) and completing the border wall (from the Homeland Committee.) And we could not prioritize the LGBTQ+ aliens Democrats most want to protect for some weird and ‘woke’ reason.
As for the tax increases in Biden’s socialist wet dream, the illegitimate leader can go jerk off and forget about the literally weaponized I.R.S. agents he plans to draft to fight weary and burdened American taxpayers and their corporate employers.
Bob Bixby, Executive Director of the Concord Coalition, a fiscal responsibility advocacy group, says Biden’s budget is merely a campaign document. He also states that Biden’s claims about it are just plain erroneous. Biden posits his plan would reduce the deficit by $3 trillion over a decade, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects an additional $20 trillion would be added to the national debt in that time period. The C.B.O. factors in the reality of the situation, such as the effects of inflation, higher interest rates, and tax policies, whereas the Biden figures are generated using magical and woefully deficient thinking. According to Bixby, the deficit needs to be cut by over twice as much just to keep the debt from rising as a percentage of the economy.
What would be.the Limit, Save, Grow Act is destined to be a stillbirth in the upper chamber according to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) But kudos, or maybe just one kudo, to those lawmakers in the House for at least trying to abort this budget while they search for some gonads.
This is all illustrative of why the role of the federal government should be kept as small and limited as possible. In the fights for so-called compromise, taxpayers are left with waste, fraud, abuse, taxes, debt, destruction, and disappointment, as well as in this case, corruption at the highest levels.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. (J.F.K.’s nephew and 3rd of 11 children of R.F.K.) and Children’s Health Defense, and Louisiana resident, Connie Sampognaro, filed a class action law suit in federal district court against the Biden regime, including the ‘Big Guy’ himself and Covid tzar and superstar, Dr. Anthony Fauci. The plaintiffs allege the regime pressured social media during the pandemic and that caused Kennedy to be labeled a spreader of ‘misinformation,’ which, in turn, led to him being removed from social media platforms such as Instagram.
“Beginning in early 2020 and continuing to the present day, the federal government has waged a systematic, concerted campaign, astonishing in its breadth and effectiveness, to ‘induce, encourage, [and] promote’ the nation’s three largest social-media platforms ‘to accomplish what [the government] is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish’ -namely, the censorship of constitutionally protected speech,” the suit asserts.
The suit not only singles out the censorship of Covid-19 related information, but cites as a further example, the suppression of the bombshell report released by The New York Post regarding the nefarious contents of Hunter Biden’s ‘laptop from hell.’The suit mirrors a similar suit in the same court brought by Missouri and Louisiana’s A.G.s, according to The Epoch Times. The Complaint can be read in full here.
Kennedy et al. are not seeking damages, only declaratory and injunctive relief, so that it will stop and not happen again. Kennedy is hardly a Biden hater: he is an old school Democrat who voted for Obama and Hillary. He has extremely liberal views on many things, including so-called ‘climate change,’ as well as minority and indigenous rights. He also holds quasi-conservative views such as being critical of of the integrity of the voting process, or taking an ‘anti-vax’ stance, resulting in his formation of his Children’s Health Defense group, which advances the view that vaccines can be a cause autism. (It is the mercury, a neurotoxin, in vaccines that he objects to primarily, which is not at all unreasonable.)
Some in his famous/infamous family have been critical of their relative as a result of his unorthodox view on vaccines. Kennedy is an attorney by profession, who has written or edited ten books, two of which were New York Times bestsellers.
He was once an Assistant D.A. in New York City.
His future plans may include a run for president in 2024.
FORMER SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-Mass.) and Secretary of State under Obama, now duly recycled as Brandon’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, has kept a low profile of late. The gigolo of high net-worth Teresa Heinz-Kerry of Heinz ketchup fame has been doing his climactic duty as an avid sailer, athletic windsurfer, and . . . jet-setter in his or other’s private jets to attend international climate events far and wide in style and luxury. But his low profile is now succumbing to heightened scrutiny.
The House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is reportedly investigating Kerry’s secret negotiations with Communist China and has formally requested documents and information about his role in the Biden regime. Information sought ranges from secret Kerry’s activities to office spending and staffing. The office has an annual budget of about $14 million. The press release may be read here. The letter sent to Kerry, here.
Kerry has never been confirmed by the Senate for his newly-designated role with the regime within the State Department, which can apparently bind the U.S. to international agreements. He has nonetheless negotiated with the CCP on secretive climate deals that may have undermined American interests. Kerry’s role puts him in Biden’s cabinet and on the National Security Council.
Kerry was asked previously, in June 2021 and Oct. 2022, to provide information to the Committee, but he never responded even though he was reportedly in active negotiations with the CCP to form a group to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. China is the world’s number one emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for 27%.
Meanwhile, the Biden regime has been pushing looney-tunes ideas to save the planet from the so-called climate crisis like banning gas stoves. Astonishingly, he believes “climate change” is a greater threat to humanity than the nuclear war he is fomenting and for which he sought to spent a dizzying $36 billion on just in 2022.
Kerry is no stranger to investigation requests. In 2021, for example, pro-Israel groups wanted him to be subpoenaed by Congress to answer to accusations he told Iran about over 200 Israeli operations carried out in Syria against Iranian targets.
THE ONLY ONES thanking their lucky stars this Thanksgiving that the illegitimate puppet-in-chief occasionally occupying the White House, Joey Biden, is running the regime, are two turkeys (literally) named too cutely Chocolate and Chip, and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. The two dumb turkeys were pardoned by said occupier in the annual Thanksgiving ceremony, but were too dumb to know it. A third turkey, far less dumb and really rather clever, is Zelensky, who is grateful for all of Joey’s patronage, owed to him as a debt for past laundry services. Zelensky was a talented money launderer of U.S. dollars in the recent past and Zelensky is smart enough to know it.
So while Americans sat down to Thanksgiving meals today, no doubt they lamented the inflated costs of the food they had before them. Well, some of them—a fair number, 25% to be exact, eschewed the holiday festivities due to cost. To those ‘identifying’ as hungry, the World Economic Forum (and Joey in his more cogent moments) has some advice—Let Them Eat Bugs! “Climate change” requires the sacrifice, after all. First, we kill all the cows, then the turkeys. What’s left over, vegetables and bugs, they can have.
An American Farm Bureau report found that of a dozen common items on the Thanksgiving table, only one, cranberries, were down in price from last year, and not by much. Oddly, the largest increase was stuffing, up 69%, probably because of the grain. The main event, turkey, was up 21%. On average, food inflation for the holiday was up 20% over last year. Covid vaccinations, however, are down, with only 4% being ‘boosted’ for Omnicron. In his farewell retirement address, Dr. Tony Fauci couldn’t help but push them a last time to those ‘identifying’ as turkeys.
THERE WERE BIZARRE incidents — explosions, to be precise — under the Baltic Sea involving the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipeline pairs on and around September 26th. Russia’s Gazprom, with cooperation of some European concerns, had built these pipelines, starting over a decade ago, from Russia to Germany, to transport the former’s gas to Europe. (GP2 wasn’t completed until Sept. of 2021 and was barely operational at the time of the explosions, if at all. NS1 was operating at about a 20% capacity at the time.) Europe quickly became accustomed to Russia fueling its homes, industry, and economy: in fact, 45th President Donald Trump had warned then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel of over-reliance on Russia and Vladimir Putin, to no avail. When she dismissed his concerns in 2019, Trump had turned to sanctions on any entity helping Russia complete the project. (Later, as he was wont to do, Joe Biden reversed the Trump policy to appease Europe, even though he openly threatened the existence of the pipeline in a February joint press conference with new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.) Sanctions statement from Biden is here.
Prior to the explosions, the pipelines had been shut down by Russia due to alleged leaks. Some believed it was a ruse by Putin to manipulate the European gas market in response to sanctions Europe had placed on Russia over the dispute between the parties regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By the 26th, it was moot, however. The gas remaining inside the pipelines exploded in NS2, and that gas began escaping in and around Denmark. A similar occurrence emerged hours later involving NG1, rendering three pipes inoperable. The leaks were in international waters. The leaks occurred only a day after Poland and Norway opened an alternative Baltic Pipe running through Denmark which transported gas through the North Sea rather than via Russia.
Sabotage was immediately and widely suspected given the magnitude of the explosions that had been measured by seismology. Europe and the U.S. thought it was caused by Russia. But Putin expressed concern it was “an unprecedented act of international terrorism” to punish Russia for Ukraine. The implication was that the U.S.A. may have facilitated the explosions, which could be considered an act of war. Dangerous times. Investigations ensued with no conclusions as of yet. Der Spiegel had reported before the explosions that the C.I.A. had speculated that such sabotage may occur, and CNN had reported European security officials had observed Russian Navy support ships and submarines nearby at the time, but there was a reasonable basis to think the U.S. may have itself orchestrated the explosions. (Later, it was determined the Russian ships and subs had been there for seemingly legitimate reasons.) So, Que bene?
Some in Poland and elsewhere thought the U.S.A. may have been involved, and why not? Under the Biden regime, much has been inexplicable in the nation’s foreign policy, and Biden, had, after all, said in February, shouting the quiet part at full volume, that if Russia invaded Ukraine, “…then there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.” Additionally, at a U.N. Security Council meeting convened over the incident, Russian representative Dmitry Polyansky referred to a June 2022 NATO operation testing underwater vehicles and U.S. helicopter flight paths occurring in the region through Sept. 20th. Naturally, Richard Mills, U.S. representative to the U.N. Security Council, said this was all “Russian disinformation and conspiracy theories,” an all-too-common go-to denial.
Naturally, Ukraine weighed in, as well, as it does on everything American under the corrupt Biden regime. It said Russia sabotaged the pipelines to destabilize Europe in advance of winter. Richard Mills amplified that message noting, with some accuracy, that Russia had showed a propensity to destroy civilian infrastructure in Ukraine in recent months. But Mills was ignoring what his boss, illegitimately occupying the White House, had said earlier, namely, that Biden would stop that pipeline, if need be.
In furtherance of the Ukrainian claim, it was observed that Gazprom had a financial interest in declaring the non-delivery of gas as an “act of God,” which would invoke insurance indemnification. But it didn’t consider the fact that if Russian complicity was discovered, it would void the policy altogether. And it didn’t contemplate the possibility Gazprom was self-insured.
In additional support of the Ukrainian theory, it was suggested no one except the Russians could get close enough to the pipelines to execute such a sinister plan. But it didn’t consider the fact that NATO may have closed its eyes to any interlopers doing their bidding. And in any event, Russia often builds in remote self-destruction features in its infrastructure should it need to be destroyed in case of war. And lastly, in support of Ukrainian claims, these leaks did not render the pipelines inoperable long-term, so a counterclaim of why would Russians destroy their own property is without merit. But it still doesn’t explain why Russia wouldn’t want to continue to rake in international money from its gas on a short- as well as long-term basis. Russia had, after all, managed to gain concessions to receive payment in its own rather worthless currency, the ruble, to prop it up. And the black gold was fetching record world prices, at least where it could be sold.
It’s worth noting that American politicians have long used the very corrupt Ukraine as a source of family wealth and as a facility to launder that money. This includes, probably among untold others, the Biden, Clinton, Pelosi, and Kerry clans. Their children have directly benefitted from executive positions or directorships on boards for Ukrainian energy entities. (This is likely also why Biden shut down the Keystone pipeline and others. And why Biden has gifted Ukraine nearly 17 billion in foreign aid since Jan. of 2021, not to mention, imposing Russian sanctions.)
Germany, Sweden and Denmark have ongoing investigations into the incidents, and most world players have absolved these countries, along with Finland, of any involvement. And because the incidents occurred in international waters, these nations could not really consider them acts of war. By Oct. 5th, one Nord Stream 2 pipe was found to be operable and delivery of gas to Europe could theoretically resume, but gas prices had escalated by 12% in the interim. Security surrounding the pipeline from Germany to Poland was increased as was the case for Naftogaz’ transmission lines through Ukraine, though with the latter, there is concern Russia may introduce sanctions that would prevent Gazprom from paying transit fees to Naftogaz. Meanwhile, the future of the pipelines is in question and a very cold, dark winter is forthcoming in Europe. And all National Public Radio could whine about was the methane emitted from the explosions because…climate change.
Just to add fuel to the international fires burning, Biden compared the problems with Russia today to those experienced by then-President John F. Kennedy in the Cuban Missile Crisis and called the situation “the prospect of Armageddon” at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. It was just another mouthing off by the corrupt and senile illicit occupant of the White House. To be sure, Putin had not ruled out the tactical use of nuclear weapons in its actions against Ukraine, but Biden had been taunting Putin for months about it. Even within his own ranks, Putin has resisted such urging by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. That Putin has shown as much restraint as he has is at least a bit surprising, but it may simply be a case of not taking advantage of the handicapped. Meanwhile, the corrupt actor cum president Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded NATO utilize preemptive strikes against Russia in a war that will surely expand in scale and scope from an American perspective.
UPDATE: OPEC announced on Oct. 5th a reduction in its oil production. Is it a shot across Biden’s sinking bow? Many see folly in the regime’s Russia policies.
ANOTHER OF THE SUPREME COURT OPINIONS to be announced on Thursday analyzes the power of the Environmental Protection Agency over the regulation of so-called greenhouse gases. The Court, 6-3, overturned a D.C. Circuit Court decision that had upheld the E.P.A.’s alleged authority to broadly construe the Clean Air Act over carbon emissions.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion — a broad ruling that will have ramifications in future cases involving federal agencies. It looked at two conflicting regulations in West Virginia v. EPA. Neither regulation is even in effect now, but in 2015, the Obama regime adopted the Clean Power Plan, which aimed to reduce carbon emissions from power plants under the belief that doing so would combat “climate change.” The CPP set specific and unique requirements for every state to meet by 2030 to cut power plant emissions, but the law was challenged in 2016, and the law was held in abeyance.
Fast-forward to 2019 when 45th President Donald Trump’s administration repealed the CPP, replacing it with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, thereby giving states discretion to set standards, and providing power plants flexibility in compliance.
Trump believed the CPP exceeded the EPA’s statutory authority pursuant to Section 7411 of the Clean Air Act, which gave the EPA power to decide the “best system of emission reduction” for buildings that emit air pollutants. More specifically, the statute allowed measures relating to physical premises of power plants, but not the industry-wide mandates of the CPP.
In 2021, the D.C. Circuit vacated Trump’s repeal of the CPP and his ACE Rule. It also remanded the case to the E.P.A. This is what the Supreme Court reversed. The Opinion can be read in full here.
Roberts’ opinion is interesting, that the case was heard at all. Really, there was no case or controversy, and therefore, no standing. (An old favorite justification of the Court to decline to decide difficult cases.) Roberts glossed over this here, however, merging justiciability doctrines, stating that cessation by the government of the acts complained of does not relieve the Court’s ability to decide to the case due to mootness “unless it is ‘absolutely clear that the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur.’” This, he said, was not absolutely clear here. (Surely he’s right. It’s also slightly reminiscent of just-overruled Roe, where pregnancy terminations, while making the controversy moot, fell into the mootness exception, i.e., “capable of repetition, yet evading review.”)
Instead, Roberts ruled on the issue of the “major-questions doctrine,” when if Congress choses to give an administrative agency power to make “decisions of vast economic and political significance,” it must clearly say so. Here, he said, they did not, and in fact, had rejected enacting programs in the past such as what the E.P.A. had promulgated.
Justice Elena Kagan dissented, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayer in an outcome-based argument of the politically-charged matter.
The MSM lamented the decision against ‘saving the planet from ‘climate change.’’ It was a victory, not for Trump or against Biden, however, but for the Constitution, and the notion of checks and balances.
There should be no question that the administrative state, run by unelected Deep-Staters, was not what the forefathers envisaged. Nor is it what most thoughtful Americans want today. (Too bad the Chief Justice didn’t think of that in the Obamacare cases.)
After all, why bother electing lawmakers if they don’t themselves enact laws? Why bother if they delegate both authority and responsibility to bureaucrats? What good are lawmakers, if this is the case? (Never mind, don’t answer that.)
Hopefully, next term will have SCOTUS curtailing Chevron deference.
THE POSITION OF COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY sounds as if it’s a purely ministerial job, but it isn’t, and a communist should not be nominated, let alone conformed for it. The position oversees 3,500 employees and, inter alia, exercises authority over bank account and lending rules. Confirmation is, however, what the illegitimate C.C.P. puppet-in-chief occupying the White House, Joe Biden, is attempting to do by nominating Soviet-born (Kazakhstan) Saule Omarova, who came to the U.S. in 1991 as an exchange student through Moscow State University. Today, Poor Dear claims to have been stateless when the communist regime collapsed as she was studying in the U.S.
Omarova has publicly proclaimed she wants to “end banking as we know it.” Poor Dear was grilled by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Thursday in some sort of confirmation ruse but had views that raised eyebrows.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), for one, minced no words when he asked her if he should call her professor or comrade given her past membership in the Young Communists. She stated all kids were members, which is surely true, but her uncomforting follow-up on the matter was, “There is no record of me actually ever participating in any Marxist or communist discussions of any kind.” Except there apparently was as late as 2019 in a Marxist Facebook group, which she claims to not remember. In fairness, she did renounce her Soviet citizenship, although, again in fairness, renouncing a state that ceased to exist was redundant.
It turns out there’s more to know about Omarova. She was reportedly arrested on June 2, 1995 in Madison, WI for “retail theft,” a/k/a shoplifting at TJ Maxx, a misdemeanor crime. Her prosecution appears to have been deferred until some time in 1996, when the charge was dropped under their first offender program. A spokesperson noted the arrest was remote in time, arose from “a misunderstanding and a confusing situation,” and Poor Dear was “transparent” about it. They then countered that the reporting of the matter amounted to “tawdry behavior” despite it being a matter of public record.
So, okay, let’s let that go then, shall we? Here’s what’s truly disturbing about this Cornell Law School professor:
As recently as Oct. 2020, she authored a paper entitled, “The People’s Ledger,” which advocated a replacement of the nation’s private bank deposits and allowing the Federal Reserve System to control “systemically important prices” such as food, wages, and real estate. Now she backtracks it as “academic writing.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) helps her cause by blaming opposition to Omarova on “sexism, racism, [and]…Red Scare” akin to Sen. Joe McCarthy in the 1950s.
But McCarthyism aside, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) noted Omarova had proposed that policymaking in economics and ‘climate change’ be removed from Congress and given to a new federal bureaucracy she would call the “National Investment Authority.” It would, in effect, execute the so-called Green New Deal.
And, speaking of energy matters, Omarova had infamously stated “we” want fossil fuel companies to go bankrupt to tackle climate change. To Omarova, it’s “a tricky question” whether higher energy prices are good or bad for America. When probed further, she said she had “misspoke.” She really meant the opposite.
Much of what Omarova believes is foolish at best, dangerous at worst, but some in the G.O.P. were, IMO, needlessly hard on her position on cryptocurrency. They believe it can safeguard savings by negating inflation caused by irresponsible spending by lawmakers. Omarova, however, believes it lessens government control over money. Both are correct in their assertion; both are right in the outcome. This isn’t mutually exclusive.
Yet, Omarova is inconsistent in that she would appear to support a central bank digital currency (or CBDC, which sounds suspiciously like a cannabinoid-induced mental impairment of some type.) This could constitute an extremely concerning micromanagement of economic activity never before contemplated in this country.
Egad. Will the Biden parade of horribles ever end?
IN ONE of the most cynical political moves in recent American history, a second round of “stimulus” payments was authorized by Congress on December 21st. The House, thanks to its leader of unicorns and ice cream cones, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had purposely drafted and passed a certain-to-be dead-on-arrival bill months ago that would squander about $3 trillion of the nation’s treasure to feed pork to the politicos and gruel to the people.
Eventually, though, Pelosi et al. had to confront the needs of the people and the impending deadlines from the previously-passed, inaptly-named CARES Act, along with the reality that only a $1 billion package would likely pass. The new bill, totaling $2.3 trillion, was also paired with the budget, about $1.4 trillion, for the remainder of the fiscal year. This was entitled the “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021” in an uncharacteristic moment of simplicity and clarity.
The bill itself, let alone, its expenditures, was, to use a Trump-ism, “yuge.” It was 5,593 pages long, and aides had difficulties printing it. It was ultimately uploaded to the House website and can be read here.
Only a few heroic senators voted against the pillage: Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rick Scott (R-FL). Hardly anyone read any of the damn thing, relying on the Pelosi Method, as perfected under Obama: pass it to find out what goodies are inside. Still, the public was quick to discover its myriad failures.
Pandemic unemployment assistance at the federal level was extended through March 14, 2021 and allowed continuation of benefits for individuals for as a long as April 5, 2021 for up to 50 weeks total. The supplemental amount was cut in half, giving the unemployed only $300 bonus benefits on top of regular state benefits per week instead of the $600 weekly bonus given under the CARES Act. This still obviously gives people an incentive to remain unemployed. However, Congress thought of that and decided to require states to have some sort of method to be informed by employers when peoples’ jobs opened up but they refused to return to work. Why would they think, if the private sector isn’t working, that the public sector would be staffed to collect this data? And clearly, a business so badly affected by the pandemic as to lay its workforce off is not going to have any idea if their employees turned down suitable work elsewhere, so why even bother?
New “stimulus” checks or direct deposits will be issued to just over a majority of people, not necessarily taxpayers, which also includes children, yet many people who actually pay the taxes that ostensibly will finance this monstrosity are means-tested out, even though such means-testing is completely un-nuanced and screw those living in high cost-of-living states where incomes (and taxes that are never waived) are higher as a result. Phase-outs start at $75,000 ($150,000 for married couples) which is a pretty good income for most of the country. The full “stimulus” check amount is $600, one time.
Almost forgotten is the extension of deferred payroll taxes. This emerged in August when President Trump issued a directive to the Department of Treasury to permit a deferral of payroll taxes from 9/01 to 12/31/20. It was only a deferral, so the amounts has to be repaid by May 1, 2021, but it was extended under the new bill to December 31, 2021, meaning penalties and interest on the deferred unpaid tax liability would not accrue until 01/01/22. No one seems to know of anyone who availed themselves of this because, if it must be repaid, it could be devastating at the time. It’s not up to individual employees, but rather, their employers, who would definitely be unwillingly on the hook with the I.R.S.
The Employee Retention Tax Credit was extended under the new act. It gives a tax credit equal to 50 percent of the qualified wages each quarter to employers who kept employees on payroll from 03/12/20 to 12/31/20, but now is extended to 7/01/21 and has been bumped up to 70 percent of such wages. It can also be used in combination with Payroll Protection Program (PPP) funds (see below), which may be forgiven loans. The maximum was $10,000 per employee, but is now $10,000 per employee per quarter. There was a change to the gross receipts test used, as well: it is now 80 percent of receipts year over year from 2019.
The P.P.P. will be expanded to allow certain businesses with 300 or fewer employees to obtain additional loan money if they can show a minimum of 25 percent reduction in gross receipts year over year from 2019. The maximum loan is $2 million with the 60/40 cost split between payroll and non-payroll continues to apply. Businesses can borrow up to 2.5 times their average monthly payroll costs from 2019. The loans when forgiven are not taxable. After all, why would you want to tax anyone, except, of course, for the poor schmucks who don’t have a business with which to launder other taxpayers’ money? Interestingly, brevity is valued here: the forgiveness application cannot exceed one page. It sounds as if it’s all on the honor system, which we know works splendidly in Congress as well as in business: all one must do is “attest” the money was used properly.
There’s still a rental assistance program which extends the eviction moratorium through 01/31/21, as well as $25 billion for “rental relief” to be used for future rent and utility payments along with back rent. How Congress envisages getting the money to landlords is opaque, but it’s probably just another one of their income redistribution schemes, anyway. Who cares about landlords (and their mortgages?) They’re more despised than lawyers, for heaven’s sake!
In a similar vein, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children are expanded as are some senior programs. Has Congress has lost sight of how getting kids back to school and service providers back to work would help these vulnerable populations more than more free food?
For purposes of the non-Covid giveaways known as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, income from 2019 is used as it is most likely more advantageous to those claiming these refundable credits. I’d expect that to be quietly changed to be the more advantageous of either the 2019 or 2020 income, however, because that’s how Congress rolls.
For individual income tax returns, there’s charity deduction redux. We can deduct in 2021, above-the-line, $300 per single or $600 for joint filers if we donate that much or more to a bona fide charity. Apparently, $600 is a magical (and vast!) amount of money at the Capitol. And Flexible Spending Arrangements (F.S.A.s) will temporarily allow carry forwards for health and dependent care to 2021/22. The qualified tuition deduction is now replaced by an increase in the phase-out for the Lifetime Learning Credit: $80,000 for single, or $160,000 for joint filers.
A blast from the past promises to get businesspeople blasted with the return of the once popular 3-Martini Lunch. Such business meals and entertainment expenses are 100% deductible for 2021 and 2022. This is a plus for restaurants, bars, and other badly-affected businesses, but it’s not clear how that works in states that are in lock-down. It’s also not clear why only businesses should receive the deduction. After all, a family’s bill is paid with the exact same currency and has the same effect, dollar for dollar. Such parity would also make recovery swifter.
Missing this time is student loan repayment extensions beyond 01/31/21. This probably isn’t a big deal, anyway, given Joe Biden has been hijacked by “progressives” in his party and is under pressure to “cancel” all student loans, anyway, should he make it to the Oval Office. State and local funding, a demand of Democrats who tend to run socialist-style programs, was excluded too, but again, that will be addressed once Biden is installed, assuming he is. Funding issued under the earlier CARES Act may still be used throughout 2021, however.
Liability protection for corporations, insisted on by the G.O.P., was excluded from the package, as well. This represents a cave by Mitch McConnell, who inexplicably made it his primary concern. He apparently doesn’t understand that it’s fairly difficult to prove in court that someone caught a virus at one place as opposed to all others, even if they worked there. And that workers are governed by workers’ compensation acts, anyway.
At this point, the new spending bill, a continuing resolution to keep the government open, became known, with the ‘stimulus,’ as the “Porkulus Bill.” It was apt, given some of the unrelated measures it contained. Naturally, the phony-baloney climate change fraud was funded. But hey, the government would not shut down even if took a few short extensions to get there and oh, Happy Holidays!
Yet $600 in ‘free money’ wasn’t good enough for some greedy Americans and those who were suffering in spite of the nation’s robust welfare programs in addition to the CARES goodies. Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were quick to make the G.O.P. look out of touch with the financial devastation befalling the nation. A revolt was brewing, but interestingly enough, it was a Republican who was instigating it.
President Trump promptly pointed out he wanted more for those making under $75,000. He had in mind $2,000 per adult and $600 per child. The election was over so his ‘generosity’ with taxpayer money wasn’t directly self-serving, but it would distinguish him from G.O.P. cheapskates when public goodwill would be helpful in contesting the election as he planned to continue to try to do.
The lack of party unity, however, could backfire in the imminent runoff Senate elections in Georgia. And his failure to sign the bill could leave some people out on the lurch with unemployment benefits and a possible government shutdown.
Pelosi and Schumer were quick to pounce when Trump expressed his desire to increase ‘stimulus checks’ to the people. Just do it, then, they taunted him, no Democrats will object, but the president wasn’t interested in them getting their way with the excess spending. Republicans were howling about how bigger checks to the people were unaffordable and the country couldn’t pay for it, but it was hard to take them seriously when massive amounts of money were earmarked for other countries and silly programs abroad.
Three days after Christmas, however, the president capitulated and signed off on the pork-laden $2.3 trillion packages. He had a message for Congress, however, and delivered it through something called the 1974 “Impoundment Control Act.”
Under the Act, the president would sign off on this bill, but redline certain objectionable provisions with instructions to lawmakers to review them. His red lines would be invisible to this Congress, but at least history records his concerns about excessive spending.
At this point, the $600 payments are now being direct-deposited to peoples’ bank accounts and the increased payment amount appears to be in the dust heap of history. Lucky for the rest of the world, the waste, fraud, and abuse in government financing continues.
Here is just a sampling of some of the foolish appropriations here (gender programs in Pakistan), here (truancy in Filipino youth), and here (providing Russian youth free gap years at American community colleges). Or foreign workers first, here. What a country!
sua sponte 