🇺🇸 The Debt Ceiling Dance

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Good morning, and happy Friday! If you get the chance tonight, look up! Something known as a "Penumbral Lunar Eclipse" is happening — and that's not the only amazing event in our skies this month. Here's a night sky guide for May complete with a lunar eclipse, dazzling Venus, and a flower moon.

Speaking of "out there" this study found that NASA could receive a message from aliens within the next eight years...

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📉 Thursday, May 4, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 48, Disapprove 51 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Thursday, May 4, Arizona Republican Presidential Primary 2024: Trump 49, DeSantis 21, Pence 7, Haley 4, Cheney 4, Pompeo 1, Sununu 1, Scott 0, Christie (Noble Predictive Insights)

🐎 Thursday, May 4, Tennessee: Trump vs. Biden: Biden 26, Trump 42 (Vanderbilt University)

🐎 Thursday, May 4, Tennessee: DeSantis vs. Biden: Biden 24, DeSantis 33 (Vanderbilt University)

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Left: How To Weaponize Republicans' Words Chauncey DeVega, Salon

Left: Longest-Serving SCOTUS Justices Make Case for Term Limits Jim Jones, The Hill

Left: How Bidenomics Finally Defeated Reaganomics David Rothkopf, The Daily Beast

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POLITICS

The Debt Ceiling Dance

This coming Tuesday, President Biden and the four Congressional leaders will meet at the White House to discuss the nation's debt limit and government spending. The US Treasury says the country is at risk of defaulting on its debts unless the debt limit is raised by June 1.

Reporting from The Right: Ted Cruz says Biden's 'mental faculties are too diminished' for debt ceiling talks Elizabeth Elkind, Fox News

Reporting from The Left: Why Joe Biden won’t negotiate on the debt ceiling ‍Dylan Matthews, Vox

From The Flag: Last month, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled his plan to raise the debt limit and cut federal spending, adding the GOP won't agree to a deal without cuts. The GOP-led House also passed a bill to that effect last week. Left-leaning commentators have accused Republicans of holding the economy hostage to get what they want. Here's more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Despite the Spin Cycle, Spending Cuts Are Allowed

• President Biden's allies in the media are advancing a narrative that the debt limit is never tied to things like spending cuts or additions, but that's nonsense.

• The ever-present need to keep hiking the debt ceiling is indicative of a malfunctioning economy marred by runaway spending, rampant inflation, and shrinking tax revenue.

• Democrats underestimated Speaker McCarthy and assumed a bill including a debt ceiling hike and spending cuts wouldn't pass in the House.

The Washington Post is gaslighting you on the debt limit ‍Conn Carroll, Washington Examiner: "House Republicans passed legislation that raises the debt limit. And so Biden and the Democrats are in a bit of a jam. They don’t want to negotiate with Republicans on the debt limit, so they need their friends in the media to make it seem like such an event is without precedent. ... (But) look at this New Yorker headline from September 2017: 'How Democrats Rolled Trump on the Debt Ceiling.' ... That 2017 debt limit deal ended up including $15 billion in additional spending demanded by the Democrats. ... So don’t believe Biden or his allies at the Washington Post for a second when they falsely claim that 'clean' debt limit hikes are the norm. The debt limit has always been a point of contention used to extract policy concessions. Biden and his allies at the Washington Post may not like this fact, but they should at least acknowledge the truth."

Biden's Economic Policies Created the Debt Crisis Larry Kudlow, New York Sun: "... an inflation-prone, stagnant economy bankrupts the country. That’s where the damaging debt comes from. Say it again: inflation-prone, stagnant economy and continued overspending. ... there’s only so much the Treasury can borrow from the civil service retirement, the postal service retirement, the federal financing bank, the exchange stabilization fund, and the thrift savings plan. Actually, borrowing from these retirement plans is itself a pretty terrible idea, but that’s what happens when you have a malfunctioning economy with continued overspending and high inflation. This story will only get worse if Mr. Biden continues to avoid talking turkey with Speaker McCarthy, who has the best plan in town to save America’s finances. In fact, again, he has the only plan in town. Quit stalling, President Biden, and get down to work. Save America."

One more opinion piece from the Right: WaPo: Here's how the White House will cave to McCarthy Ed Morrissey, HotAir

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Republicans Are Saying, Damn the People, Let's Default

• Speaker McCarthy and his Republican colleagues are holding America hostage to their political demands by refusing to cover their bills.

• Republicans are playing a political game here, punting on the debt ceiling to help them during the next election, while also advancing their agenda.

• It's one thing to embrace 2020 election conspiracy theories or defend Jan. 6 rioters, but messing with the full faith and credit of the US will seriously hurt millions of people.

The human cost of McCarthy’s debt ceiling demands would be catastrophic ‍Karen Dolan, The Hill: "President Biden said it well when he called House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s demands to gut the US safety net or force a federal default 'wacko.' Whatever word for it you use, McCarthy and his caucus are holding American families, the full faith and credit of the United States and the global economy hostage to his demands to slash the programs that most of us rely on. The debt limit is an arbitrary congressional cap on how much the federal government can borrow to pay for its debts — debts Congress incurs with its own taxing and spending decisions. If Congress votes to spend more than it votes to tax, then the federal government legally must borrow to cover those bills. So if the limit isn’t raised periodically, we default."

It’s time for Biden to call McCarthy. A lot. ‍Editorial Board, Washington Post: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his colleagues agreed to lift the debt ceiling to March 2024 — the middle of an election year — in exchange for sharp spending cuts and a slew of other GOP policy favorites, including clawing back IRS funding, putting more work requirements on welfare programs and rolling back green energy initiatives. In other words, House Republicans are saying that if Democrats give in on the majority of the GOP’s pet priorities, they will agree to lift the debt ceiling only until right before the next presidential election, when no one in Washington will want to compromise on another increase. This is recklessly unrealistic. In an ideal world, House Republicans would do their duty and lift the debt limit without exacting a ransom. This is about paying the money that Congress — in a largely bipartisan fashion — already committed to spend."

One more opinion piece from the Left: Blame Marjorie Taylor Greene for Debt Ceiling Crisis Rex Huppke, USA Today

FLAG THIS

Half of Those Polled Want the Debt Limit Raised

Polling conducted last month found 50% of respondents want to raise the debt ceiling, with 36% opposed, and 14% unsure.

Democrats registered the highest level of support for increasing the debt limit (68%), while support was lower among Independents (45%) and Republicans (30%).

The preferred solution to the nation's problems with debt was raising taxes on wealthy individuals and large corporations, which 79% backed. (Navigator Research)

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First American in Space

On May 5, 1961, Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. is launched into space aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to travel into space. The suborbital flight, which lasted 15 minutes and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere, was a major triumph for NASA.

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