Senate passes $1.7 trillion government funding bill to avert shutdown

[Scott]

 

The Senate voted Thursday to pass a massive $1.7 trillion government spending bill that will fund critical government operations across federal agencies and provide emergency aid for Ukraine and natural disaster relief. The House must next pass the measure as lawmakers race the clock to avert a shutdown at the end of the week.

The expectation on Capitol Hill is that a shutdown will be avoided, but congressional leaders have little room for error with government funding set to expire at the end of the day Friday.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/21/politics/spending-bill-negotiations

 

 

[Tug]

Excellent news pretty good for a sleepy old president and his team!get her done!!

[OneMoreFarang]

Imagine the USA wouldn't be able to just print more and more money... 

[SunnyinBangrak]

May as well print and spend trillions on boondoggles. Nothing to lose. After all, Biden fans repeatedly claim here that he is "paying down the defecit". The man can do no wrong.

[placeholder]

16 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

May as well print and spend trillions on boondoggles. Nothing to lose. After all, Biden fans repeatedly claim here that he is "paying down the defecit". The man can do no wrong.

Really? Biden fans claim that? Ya got any evidence to support that claim of yours? It's B.S.

[billd766]

10 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

May as well print and spend trillions on boondoggles. Nothing to lose. After all, Biden fans repeatedly claim here that he is "paying down the defecit". The man can do no wrong.

Can you please cease your endless whining for a while.

 

It is NOT president Biden, not his supporters in the USA, worldwide or even on AN here, but the US Senate that has caused the problem as they seem to do every year.

 

Even under Trump's regime it was the same.

 

I might be a good idea if a new law was passed stopping ALL the salaries, expenses of the senate if there is to be a shutdown, starting 30 November every year.

 

Of course it wouldn't happen as the Republican members of the senate would not pass it. 

[Hanaguma]

Ah, Congress. Release a 1.7 TRILLION dollar spending spree.  At 130am on Tuesday. With all of 72 hours to read the 4,000 plus pages. j One last chance for the outgoing Democratic majority to take another deep slurp from the neverending trough of money that is Washington DC.  But hey, Christmas is coming so just vote it in and go home. Ain't democracy grand?

 

No doubt stuffed with more pork than a Jimmy Dean sausage.

 

But all is good, now that Michelle Obama will have a trail named after her in Georgia, for the low price of $3.6 million. 

 

 

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, Hanaguma said:

Ah, Congress. Release a 1.7 TRILLION dollar spending spree.  At 130am on Tuesday. With all of 72 hours to read the 4,000 plus pages. j One last chance for the outgoing Democratic majority to take another deep slurp from the neverending trough of money that is Washington DC.  But hey, Christmas is coming so just vote it in and go home. Ain't democracy grand?

 

No doubt stuffed with more pork than a Jimmy Dean sausage.

 

But all is good, now that Michelle Obama will have a trail named after her in Georgia, for the low price of $3.6 million. 

 

 

You mean if they had named it, say, the Hanugama trail, it would have cost nothing?

[Hanaguma]

4 minutes ago, placeholder said:

You mean if they had named it, say, the Hanugama trail, it would have cost nothing?

I would have volunteered to paint the signs and groom the trail myself!

 

How about not naming it at all? Or keeping the perfectly acceptable name "South River Trail"?  She has no ties to Georgia that I can see, so it is pointless. But only four million bucks, who cares, right?

[placeholder]

3 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

I would have volunteered to paint the signs and groom the trail myself!

 

How about not naming it at all? Or keeping the perfectly acceptable name "South River Trail"?  She has no ties to Georgia that I can see, so it is pointless. But only four million bucks, who cares, right?

Can you back up your claim that the 3.6 million dollars being spent is for the name change?

[placeholder]

50 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Really? Biden fans claim that? Ya got any evidence to support that claim of yours? It's B.S.

Actually, I got the facts wrong. I was thinking of the national debt. As for the claim of Biden supporters that the size of the deficit decreased...you're absolutely right. They could claim that. What makes such a claim so shameful is that it also happens to be true.

And the deficits would be a lot less if not for the fact that Republicans unanimously opposed imposing any tax increases at all.

Biden fans could also claim that the deficits under the previous administration grew ever larger. And once again, their claims would turn out to be true. More proof that reality has a liberal bias. (thank you Stephen Colbert)

[Hanaguma]

52 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Can you back up your claim that the 3.6 million dollars being spent is for the name change?

Newsweek seems to think so...

 

DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson led the resolution to rename the trail after Obama, saying he was inspired by her "Let's Move" anti-childhood-obesity initiative and passion for physical fitness.

The decision to rename the trail was unanimously approved by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners in late 2016, according to a news release.

 

https://www.newsweek.com/michelle-obama-trail-funding-omnibus-bill-republican-fury-1768635

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, Hanaguma said:

Newsweek seems to think so...

 

DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson led the resolution to rename the trail after Obama, saying he was inspired by her "Let's Move" anti-childhood-obesity initiative and passion for physical fitness.

The decision to rename the trail was unanimously approved by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners in late 2016, according to a news release.

 

https://www.newsweek.com/michelle-obama-trail-funding-omnibus-bill-republican-fury-1768635

What in that excerpt provides any evidence to support your contention that it cost 3.6 million to change the name?

[Hanaguma]

2 minutes ago, placeholder said:

What in that excerpt provides any evidence to support your contention that it cost 3.6 million to change the name?

What else could it be for? The trail was built in 2016, so obviously it was not in need of repair or renovation.  And you can find lots of pictures of happy people standing beside new signs proclaiming the new name.  

 

Just admit that it is ridiculous and move on. 

[placeholder]

46 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

What else could it be for? The trail was built in 2016, so obviously it was not in need of repair or renovation.  And you can find lots of pictures of happy people standing beside new signs proclaiming the new name.  

 

Just admit that it is ridiculous and move on. 

 You made the claim. Back it up

From the world news landing page:

"Any alleged factual claims must be supported by a valid link to an approved credible source."

[alex8912]

5 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Ah, Congress. Release a 1.7 TRILLION dollar spending spree.  At 130am on Tuesday. With all of 72 hours to read the 4,000 plus pages. j One last chance for the outgoing Democratic majority to take another deep slurp from the neverending trough of money that is Washington DC.  But hey, Christmas is coming so just vote it in and go home. Ain't democracy grand?

 

No doubt stuffed with more pork than a Jimmy Dean sausage.

 

But all is good, now that Michelle Obama will have a trail named after her in Georgia, for the low price of $3.6 million. 

 

 

I think Salmons got about $55 million ( and maybe more). It's sad. I saw more homeless people in my trip to New York City last October than EVER before. Perhaps Michelle could spare a million to them. 

[Hanaguma]

13 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

I think Salmons got about $55 million ( and maybe more). It's sad. I saw more homeless people in my trip to New York City last October than EVER before. Perhaps Michelle could spare a million to them. 

The federal government managed to run a deficit of $250 billion in NOVEMBER alone.  The national debt has now hit $31 trillion.  With a "t".   It is sad that the only time there is any bipartisan agreement in Washington is when they are trading financial handjobs. 

[placeholder]

7 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Newsweek seems to think so...

 

DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson led the resolution to rename the trail after Obama, saying he was inspired by her "Let's Move" anti-childhood-obesity initiative and passion for physical fitness.

The decision to rename the trail was unanimously approved by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners in late 2016, according to a news release.

 

https://www.newsweek.com/michelle-obama-trail-funding-omnibus-bill-republican-fury-1768635

Here's some exciting news for you. The South River Trail was renamed the Michelle Obama Trail in Jan of 2018. Almost 5 years ago.

DeKalb Unveils New Michelle Obama Walking Trail

 The DeKalb County Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs officially unveiled the Michelle Obama Trail. Located near the Georgia State University- Perimeter College Campus at 2946 Clifton Springs Road in Decatur, the new 3.8-mile trail is connected to Gresham Park.

On Saturday, Jan. 13, DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson and community leaders joined park staff to celebrate the trail unveiling. The resolution to rename the South River Trail was led by Commissioner Larry Johnson and unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners in November 2016. 

https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/news/dekalb-unveils-new-michelle-obama-walking-trail

 

Nothing in the articles about the funding ever said anything about renaming. How could anyone rationally believe that 3.6 million dollars was being spent on a name change. And what role would the federal govt have in renaming a local park? 

So, my advice to you is just admit that your claim was ridiculous.

 

 

 

[placeholder]

3 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

The federal government managed to run a deficit of $250 billion in NOVEMBER alone.  The national debt has now hit $31 trillion.  With a "t".   It is sad that the only time there is any bipartisan agreement in Washington is when they are trading financial handjobs. 

Interesting connection to an apparently unrelated issue. It turns out that the reason the auditing of Trump's tax returns was virtually nonexistent is because the IRS doesn't have the funding to properly audit the tax returns of the wealthy. Republicans have managed to starve it over the past decade.

Trump Audit Shows Depths of I.R.S. Funding Woes
The agency lacks the resources to go after rich taxpayers. For years, a single revenue agent was responsible for the audits of Donald J. Trump.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/us/politics/trump-audit-irs.html

The article goes on to say that 7 trillion dollars of revenue has gone uncollected because of the inadequate funding. Good thing both sides agreed on that and passed the big supplemental funding bill to bring the IRS back up to speed...nah...just joking. One party unanimously voted against that.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

Interesting connection to an apparently unrelated issue. It turns out that the reason the auditing of Trump's tax returns was virtually nonexistent is because the IRS doesn't have the funding to properly audit the tax returns of the wealthy. Republicans have managed to starve it over the past decade.

Trump Audit Shows Depths of I.R.S. Funding Woes
The agency lacks the resources to go after rich taxpayers. For years, a single revenue agent was responsible for the audits of Donald J. Trump.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/us/politics/trump-audit-irs.html

The article goes on to say that 7 trillion dollars of revenue has gone uncollected because of the inadequate funding. Good thing both sides agreed on that and passed the big supplemental funding bill to bring the IRS back up to speed...nah...just joking. One party unanimously voted against that.

I wonder which party that could have been.  ????

[Hanaguma]

7 hours ago, placeholder said:

Here's some exciting news for you. The South River Trail was renamed the Michelle Obama Trail in Jan of 2018. Almost 5 years ago.

DeKalb Unveils New Michelle Obama Walking Trail

 The DeKalb County Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs officially unveiled the Michelle Obama Trail. Located near the Georgia State University- Perimeter College Campus at 2946 Clifton Springs Road in Decatur, the new 3.8-mile trail is connected to Gresham Park.

On Saturday, Jan. 13, DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson and community leaders joined park staff to celebrate the trail unveiling. The resolution to rename the South River Trail was led by Commissioner Larry Johnson and unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners in November 2016. 

https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/news/dekalb-unveils-new-michelle-obama-walking-trail

 

Nothing in the articles about the funding ever said anything about renaming. How could anyone rationally believe that 3.6 million dollars was being spent on a name change. And what role would the federal govt have in renaming a local park? 

So, my advice to you is just admit that your claim was ridiculous.

 

 

 

You might want to ask Rep. Hank Johnson about it. He is the member who had the earmark added to the bill. Then again, he is also the guy who thought that the island of Guam would tip over if too many extra military personnel were stationed there.

[Tug]

It’s passed the house (Congress)as well great job Biden team!!!

[Chomper Higgot]

Also included in the funding bill are provisions to prevent a repeat of the attempted J6 Coup.

 

Closing loop holes and ambiguities exploited by Trump and his insurrectionist.

 

 

[placeholder]

5 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

You might want to ask Rep. Hank Johnson about it. He is the member who had the earmark added to the bill. Then again, he is also the guy who thought that the island of Guam would tip over if too many extra military personnel were stationed there.

Give it up already. The money wasn't for the name change and it isn't the intellect of a House member that has failed here.

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed.

[Hanaguma]

2 hours ago, placeholder said:

Give it up already. The money wasn't for the name change and it isn't the intellect of a House member that has failed here.

I have to be honest, you may be right. It may not be for the name change. But then, what is it for? I have tried to find out, the trail has only been opened for 4 years so it obviously doesnt need renovation or improvement. So where is the money going?  Devilishly hard to find out how or why Congress is spending so much. 

 

Just one rather egregious example of waste that was packed into this bill.   It is a <deleted> process that both sides gleefully take part in.  Fie on the Republican senators who voted for this- wonder how much in earmarks THEY each got? 

[placeholder]

9 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

I have to be honest, you may be right. It may not be for the name change. But then, what is it for? I have tried to find out, the trail has only been opened for 4 years so it obviously doesnt need renovation or improvement. So where is the money going?  Devilishly hard to find out how or why Congress is spending so much. 

 

Just one rather egregious example of waste that was packed into this bill.   It is a <deleted> process that both sides gleefully take part in.  Fie on the Republican senators who voted for this- wonder how much in earmarks THEY each got? 

No, it's not a question of "you may be right.". It's clear that I am right. The name of the park was changed about 5 years ago. 

Why wouldn't it need renovation or improvement? Maybe there's been damage from flooding.  Facilities could be added on. Maybe it was expanded. Who knows?