Lawmakers in Washington are preparing to leave town for a holiday weekend, with time running out to reach a deal over raising the debt ceiling.

The US Treasury has warned that the country will not have enough money to pay all of its bills as soon as 1 June.

Analysts say if the US fails to honour obligations it could have severe economic consequences.

Investor worries have increased, despite assurances from negotiators that talks are making progress.

Republicans are seeking spending cuts to government programmes, in exchange for raising the $31.4tn (£25tn) cap on government borrowing.

President Joe Biden said the two sides had different visions for how to get America's "fiscal house in order", but added that all leaders involved agreed that default was not an option.

I thought that the House had already passed a bill to solve this...

 

...and of course Joe has already left Washington for his beach house in Delaware. 

11 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

I thought that the House had already passed a bill to solve this...

 

...and of course Joe has already left Washington for his beach house in Delaware. 

Got a surprise for  you. There are actually 2 houses of Congress. And clearly, the Republicans are deeply concerned about the debt which is why they slashed funding to enable the IRS to go after wealthy tax avoiders and evaders and instead return the IRS to its underfunded condition. Oddly enough,, no proposals in their bill to rescind the Trump tax cuts.

Anyway, it's going to be interesting to see if McCarthy can get more than 50% of Republican representatives to go along with whatever he negotiates.

They need their rest so they can dream up more lame excuses to tank the economy 

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

Got a surprise for  you. There are actually 2 houses of Congress. And clearly, the Republicans are deeply concerned about the debt which is why they slashed funding to enable the IRS to go after wealthy tax avoiders and evaders and instead return the IRS to its underfunded condition. Oddly enough,, no proposals in their bill to rescind the Trump tax cuts.

Anyway, it's going to be interesting to see if McCarthy can get more than 50% of Republican representatives to go along with whatever he negotiates.

Thanks for the unnecessary snide correction. "The House" usually refers to the House of Representatives, which is why Congressman McCarthy is called The Speaker of The House.  It has been a month since The House passed a debt ceiling bill- what have the President and his minions been doing?

 

 

5 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Thanks for the unnecessary snide correction. "The House" usually refers to the House of Representatives, which is why Congressman McCarthy is called The Speaker of The House.  It has been a month since The House passed a debt ceiling bill- what have the President and his minions been doing?

 

 

I wish theyi had spent their time posting what a BS piece of legislation it is. But instead they've been negotiating.

Treasury Expects to Run Out of Cash by June 5

The latest estimate is a slight extension from the previous June 1 deadline and comes as Republicans and the White House are trying to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a crippling default.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/business/yellen-treasury-x-date-us-debt.html

 

 no paywall  https://archive.is/7gQNg

 

Letter from Dr. Yellen:

 

https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Debt-Limit-Letter-to-Congress-Members-20230526-McCarthy.pdf

 

Meanwhile trump is trying to ralley his (insert word here) to go ahead and default what a guy ehh beggars belief he doesn’t care one bit about America if a person thinks he does they are deluding themselves (that’s the polite way to say it) 

Meanwhile, for US expatriates in Thailand using the monthly income method for their retirement extensions this could be a problem if social security payments are cancelled during the first two days. With the 3rd of June on a Saturday, payments should be going out on Friday. So no wiggle room. Just two days at the beginning of the month to get things. settled.

Wishing republicans luck as they face Veterans at the Memorial Day Parades, who are not going to be happy about cuts in their benefits/health care.

 

Veterans
One of the first big bills coming due on June 1 — according to an analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center — is $12 billion in veterans benefits. If there's not enough money on hand to pay those benefits, people who've already sacrificed a lot for their country will be forced to sacrifice even more.

 

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/22/1177169711/debt-ceiling-limit-default-veterans-social-security-government-benefits

 

 

republicans seem to love work requirements for benefits. Maybe they can ask Vets to re-enlist/re-deploy?

 

And I'm sure many here hope their government benefits continue to flow.