volkris @volkris@qoto.org

Key phrase: “165 Democrats - more than the 149 Republicans who voted for it - backed the measure and pushed it through”

#DebtCeiling #USPolitics

Listening to Republicans today debating among themselves over the #DebtCeiling deal, there’s a big problem that the hardliners literally don’t know how federal finances work, and so they vastly overestimate #GOP power in this situation.

If Biden can’t borrow money to pay for programs that the #GOP likes, then he won’t, and their favorite projects will be harmed. This empowers Biden, but they have no idea.

Today’s debate on the right was all about the moderates trying to inform their young colleagues as to the actual rules of the game, to inform strategy, but the hardliners weren’t interested in learning… unsurprisingly.

Just goes to show how important civics education is, especially for those actually in government.

#USPolitics

No, the #SCOTUS didn’t weaken EPA power to enforce the Clean Water Act. That gets backwards what the argument actually is.

The issue is that the CWA didn’t authorize this power in the first place, so the EPA was acting outside of the Act.

If we want the EPA to have this much expanded authority, fine, that’s what the democratic process is for. Let’s have those discussions about how it would work, and the tradeoffs involved.

But that the EPA wasn’t enforcing CWA in these cases is the entire core of the argument that the Agency lost.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-454_4g15.pdf

#USPolitics

Far too few people are seeing this side of the story.

And politicians are being let off the hook as they are pointing fingers at others for the choices they themselves made.

If #Biden were to try to issue additional debt without legal authorization, future presidents would be under no obligation to recognize those claims. In fact, it would be arguably illegal for them to pay out of the Treasury to retire such securities.

But also consider the complications of circulating a bunch of invalid notes alongside valid ones.

For example, a pension fund might report that it holds a million dollars in treasuries, but some of that is invalid… which part of it? How would auditing and public disclosure deal with that?

People pushing Biden to just unilaterally issue more debt miss how complicated that would be.

#DebtCeiling #USPolitics

Through #ActivityPub, #Mastodon privacy settings rely on voluntary cooperation. You request that instances only share your content with the audience you specify, but there is no real way to enforce that.

This comes as a surprise to many users.

Me, I think I’d change the UI to call it “suggested broadcast”’ rather than anything related to privacy so that users are more aware of where their content might end up.

Well, that’s interesting. DM blocking on #Mastodon means your instance still receives the message, but it’s simply not displayed to your face.

Just one of those quirky parts of #ActivityPub

The #DebtCeiling narrative that most have bought into is so backwards from how the federal government is actually designed, and so what’s actually happening here.

And the reality is much more interesting and dramatic.

Fundamentally, this is a president requesting more power, power to borrow. Alright, what does he want to use to convince the Congress to expand his power like that? Well, his rhetoric has been to offer nothing: he demands that power without proposing anything in exchange for it, not even checks on how he’s to use the power.

But to give his position SOME oomph he’s been on a tear in the public, threatening to order the US Treasury, his executive branch department mind, to default on US debt, which would be unconstitutional and, IMO, impeachable.

Meanwhile, House Republicans have voted to give him expanded power to borrow, and they’re the only group who have done so, and yet THEY’RE the problem? The only ones that have responded to the president’s request?

Oh, and let’s not forget that this president signed the legislation to put the US in this position in the first place, almost like he set the stage for this power grab.

It’s quite the dramatic story, that most people seem to be missing.

#USPolitics