https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-30-2023?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Letters from an American: Heather Cox Richardson

'Biden has worked to replace 40 years of supply-side economics with policies to rebuild the nation’s economy and infrastructure by supporting ordinary Americans. The American Rescue Plan gave the United States a faster economic recovery from the COVID pandemic than any other major economy. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has already funded more than 32,000 projects in more than 4,500 communities in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories.

The Inflation Reduction Act made the biggest investment in addressing climate change in our history, and according to University of Washington transportation analyst Jack Conness, it and the CHIPS and Science Act have already attracted over $220 billion in private investment, much of it going to Republican-dominated states: Tennessee, Nevada, North Carolina, and Oklahoma have each attracted more than $4 billion; Ohio, more than $6 billion; Arizona, more than $7 billion; South Carolina, more than $9 billion; and Georgia, more than $13 billion...the reordering of the economy under Biden and the Democrats has reversed the widening income gap between wage workers and upper-income professionals that has been growing for the past 40 years. The pay of those making an average of $12.50 an hour grew by almost 6% from 2020 to 2022, even after inflation.

Those gains are now at risk as pandemic measures end and the Fed raises interest rates to bring down inflation, although the wage increases are only a piece of the inflation puzzle:...the New York Times today reported that companies raising their prices to “protect…profits” are “adding to inflation.” In other words, companies pushed prices beyond normal profit margins during the pandemic and the economic recovery, then maintained those higher profit margins with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and continue to maintain them now.

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/did-trump-violate-the-espionage-act?utm_source=substack&utm_medium

'The Espionage Act: In the warrant to search Mar-a-Lago, the Justice Department listed three crimes for which it believed evidence was at Trump’s Florida resort residence. In the section titled “Property to be Seized,” the Department stated,

All physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 793, 2071 , or 1519...Section (d)...is problematic for the ex-president. It prohibits willful communication of national defense information to any person not entitled to see it. It also prohibits willful retention of national defense information and the failure to return it on demand to the U.S. government. Simply put, an Espionage Act charge could be made against Trump if he willfully communicated or retained national defense information.

For espionage...it is sufficient that the documents are “relating to the national defense”—not that they are “classified.” (This makes sense, because the Espionage Act of 1917 predates the modern classification system.) As explained by Professor Heidi Kitrosser in Lawfare, this has meant, according to relevant court cases, two things: they are “closely held” in that they “have not been made public and are not available to the general public,” and the disclosure must be “potentially damaging to the United States or useful to an enemy of the United States.”

As reported by Rolling Stone...some of Trump’s top advisers and lawyers have told him that they expect the Justice Department to charge him for retaining highly sensitive and classified documents...“Looks like they’re going for it,” one of the sources said. “People close to the president have discussed with him what we think is going to happen soon, and how he and everyone else needs to be ready for it … we have to consider that Trump has skirted justice and accountability all his life. But to my eye, it looks like Special Counsel Jack Smith has finally caught up to him...'

https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-debt-ceiling-is-just-two-santas?utm_source=substack&utm_medium

Another fascinating history lesson. Read the article to learn who Jude Wanniski is. (my words)

'The republicans are dropping their Two Santas bomb right onto President Joe Biden’s head. It worked against Clinton & Obama and the media never caught on. Why wouldn’t they use it again? Here’s how it works, laid it out in simple summary:...“Two Santas” strategy dictates, when Republicans control the White House they must spend money like a drunken Santa and cut taxes on the rich, all to intentionally run up the US debt as far and as fast as possible. Those massive tax cuts and that uncontrolled spending during Republican presidencies produced three results:They stimulated the economy with a sort of sugar high, making people think that the GOP can produce a good economy;They raised the national debt dramatically (it’s at $32 trillion today, almost all of which tracks back to Reagan’s, Bush Jr.’s, and Trump’s massive tax cuts and Bush’s two illegal off-the-books wars);And they made people think that Republicans are the “tax-cut Santa Clauses.”

Then comes part two of the one-two punch: when a Democrat is in the White House, Republicans must scream about the national debt as loudly and frantically as possible, freaking out about how “our children will have to pay for it!” and “we have to cut spending to solve the crisis!”...

Americans deserve to know how we’ve been manipulated, and by whom...Hopefully this time Democratic politicians and our media will, finally, call the GOP out on Wanniski’s and Reagan’s Two Santa Clauses scam. And put an end to it once and for all with the constitutional remedies of the 14th Amendment and the “take care” clause of the Constitution’s Article II.'

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-presidential-bid-campaign-elon-musk-rcna85288

Just in case there was any doubt why Musk bought Twitter.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2023/05/03/debt-ceiling-scenarios/

Below is the first three paragraphs of a very comprehensive analysis (my words)


The Potential Economic Impacts of Various Debt Ceiling Scenarios

'New analyses by both the Congressional Budget Office and the U.S. Department of the Treasury suggest the United States is rapidly approaching the date at which the government can no longer pay its bills, also known as the “X-date.” History is clear that even getting close to a breach of the U.S. debt ceiling could cause significant disruptions to financial markets that would damage the economic conditions faced by households and businesses. Real time data, shown below, indicate that markets are already pricing in political brinkmanship related to Federal government default through higher risk premia.

An actual breach of the U.S. debt ceiling would likely cause severe damage to the U.S. economy. Analysis by CEA and outside researchers illustrates that if the U.S. government were to default on its obligations—whether to creditors, contractors, or citizens—the economy would quickly shift into reverse, with the depth of the losses a function of how long the breach lasted. A protracted default would likely lead to severe damage to the economy, with job growth swinging from its current pace of robust gains to losses numbering in the millions.

In other words, defaulting on our government’s debt could reverse the historic economic gains that have been achieved since the president took office: an unemployment rate near a 50-year low, the creation of 12.6 million jobs, and robust consumer spending that has consistently powered a solid, reliable growth engine, supported by paychecks from the strong job market and healthy household balance sheets.'

https://joycevance.substack.com/p/standing-up-to-the-bully-again?utm_source=substack&utm_medium

'Today, Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, wrote to advise the judge in her remaining case in New York, referred to as Carroll I, that “Carroll has moved to amend her complaint in the present action… The proposed amendment also adds allegations concerning the verdict in Carroll II and Trump’s public response to that verdict, which involved repeating on CNN the statements the Carroll II jury found to be defamatory, allegations that we believe are now directly relevant to the issue of punitive damages on the defamation claim in Carroll I… The nature of Carroll’s underlying claim for defamation against Trump based on his 2019 statements, however, remains the same.”

The new filing asks the court to permit Carroll to update Carroll I to include the fact of the verdict against Trump, along with his comments about her on CNN and his social media posts on Truth Social. If the judge agrees, Carroll could use those allegations to ask the judge to resolve the matter in her favor without a trial or she could offer evidence to support the allegations if the case proceeds to trial. They would also be available to support a new damages claim.'

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-organization-foreign-finances-subpoeaned/

'The special counsel's investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents has subpoenaed records from the Trump Organization, including foreign financial records from seven countries, The New York Times reported Monday.'

Looks like selling classified information to me. (my words).

https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-week-ahead-5be?utm_source=substack&utm_medium
The Week Ahead
Joyce Vance, May 21, 2023

'...where is Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and what is his status? In early April, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district judge’s order that Meadows and other top Trump White House staffers must testify before the grand jury in DOJ’s January 6 investigation. Since then, nothing...Could that mean that Meadows, who has been notoriously uncooperative since first turning over some of his records to the House Jan. 6 committee, is finally cooperative? He ducked prosecution, both by North Carolina authorities over his false certification of residency in the state when he registered to vote and by DOJ for failing to fully comply with Congress’s subpoena during the committee hearings.

...Meadows was one of just a few aides who were at Trump’s side as the Jan. 6 attack unfolded. He also initiated and participated in Trump’s phone call to Brad Raffensperger where Trump begged the Georgia Secretary of State to “find” him enough votes to turn his defeat into a victory, despite the will of the voters...Meadows participated in at the White House with Trump and others, and where voter fraud and state electoral vote certifications were under discussion, Meadows traveled to Georgia hoping to observe absentee ballot auditing. Meadows, if he did cooperate, would be a key witness. But there is no real indication one way or the other, although his prolonged silence is interesting. Meadows, once a prolific tweeter, does not appear to have done so since late February of this year, but that could also be because he’s shifted to conservative social media, or for some other reason.

Last year, the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered Meadows to testify in front of the Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating Trump’s efforts to interfere with the election results in Georgia. No word on whether he is under the microscope there, and if so, whether as witness or defendant.'