Instead of solving the debt ceiling impasse, #House #GOP auctions off used lip balm for $100k
Amid sputtering #DebtCeiling negotiations & dire warnings of an unprecedented #default, House #Republicans spent time holding a fundraising auction in which lawmakers bid for a tube of #LipBalm supposedly used by House speaker #KevinMcCarthy
#MarjorieTaylorGreene ultimately won w/a bid of $100k
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/23/mccarthy-greene-lip-balm-auction-debt-ceiling/
#DebtCeiling #Default #Fallout
FEDERAL PAYMENTS AT RISK STARTING JUNE 1ST
JUNE 1:
$10B MILITARY PAY & RETIREMENT
$47B PAYMENTS TO MEDICARE PROVIDERS
JUNE 2:
$25B SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS
JUNE 5:
$1B SNAP FOOD AID BENEFITS
JUNE 6:
$6B MEDICARE REIMBURSEMENT TO STATES
JUNE 7:
$1B INDIVIDUAL TAX REFUNDS
JUNE 8:
$6B MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENTS TO STATES
JUNE 9:
$5B MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENTS TO STATES
$5B FEDERAL SALARIES
#MattGaetz used the meeting to urge his colleagues to call #Treasury Sec #JanetYellen to testify on her estimate (June 1 as the #debt default “X-date”) in front of the House #Financial Services Cmte…
“So far, she’s been the Obi-Wan Kenobi of wrong answers on the #economy,” he said leaving the Tues meeting, alleging that Yellen is following WH orders to heighten the public urgency of a looming debt #default. (glib sound byte jab degrading a smart successful woman & not offering any alternatives)
#Gaetz added that #Yellen has less to show backing up her forecast for a potential default than a student completing “a typical eighth grade algebra assignment.”
(I’d like to see Gaetz do 8th grade algebra)
…A #Treasury spox declined to comment on the House GOP rhetoric. And Rep. #PatrickMcHenry (R-NC), who is helping Graves negotiate w/the WH, backed up Yellen — noting that she has pointed to June 1 as a potential deadline “& she is in charge of cash management.”
#DebtCeiling #Economy #Default
I mean he has something going for him. Both Gaetz and Yellen are extremely politicized figures these days, with jobs that involve spinning the narrative.
A lot of people are frustrated with Yellen these days, not appreciating that she is now a political appointee and not the academic she once was
The official technical Treasury reports don't quite match what either of them say, but again, we all need to keep in mind that they are both politicians, so they have their own interests.
