Senate Republicans Block House-Passed Stopgap Bill to Avert Shutdown, Lift DebtCeilingAila Slisco 3 hrs ago
The U.S. government was headed toward a partial shutdown after Senate Republicans blocked a stopgap bill that would have temporarily funded the government and raised the debt ceiling on Monday.
The bill, which passed in the House last week, did not move forward in the Senate after failing to receive the required 60 votes. Congress was left with only days to avert a shutdown, with current funding set to expire at midnight on Thursday. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted that the GOP was not in favor of a shutdown but opposed to raising the debt limit and would support a funding bill without the provision.

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The U.S. government was headed toward a partial shutdown after Senate Republicans blocked a stopgap bill that would have temporarily funded the government and raised the debt ceiling on Monday.

The bill, which passed in the House last week, did not move forward in the Senate after failing to receive the required 60 votes. Congress was left with only days to avert a shutdown, with current funding set to expire at midnight on Thursday. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted that the GOP was not in favor of a shutdown but opposed to raising the debt limit and would support a funding bill without the provision.
"Let me make it abundantly clear one more time: We will support a clean continuing resolution that will prevent a government shutdown," McConnell said on Monday, according to CNN. "We will not provide Republican votes for raising the debt limit."
Senate Republicans Block House-Passed Stopgap Bill to Avert Shutdown, Lift Debt Ceiling (msn.com)

Playing chicken with the global economy: US Congress in a debt ceiling showdown

Notwithstanding the agenda President Biden wishes to enact, the debt ceiling needs to be raised for spending commitments previously passed by Congress. Even if the Biden administration makes no additional investments — which they actually propose to pay for by rescinding tax cuts on corporations and the wealthy, rather than new debt — the US government must continue borrowing to function.

Last week Moody’s Analytics released an analysis of the financial calamity that default would unleash on the global economy. In America it would stifle the nascent recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, plunging the country back into deep recession. Six million jobs would disappear, with $15 trillion in household wealth wiped out. Global stock markets would tumble and credit markets would freeze, sending shock waves around the world. No nation would escape the economic tsunami.

Yet even with the cliff edge fast approaching, markets remain sanguine. Investors assume that because default would be catastrophic it is unthinkable. They conclude that the latest political brinksmanship is nothing more than another round of partisan point-scoring. They have seen this movie before, and they trust that wiser heads will prevail.

To now, this view has always held. Heaven help us if the day comes when the hostage takers refuse to blink.

The post Playing chicken with the global economy: US Congress in a debt ceiling showdown appeared first on Crikey.

Playing chicken with the global economy: US Congress in a debt ceiling showdown (msn.com)

& yellen grovelling to her bankster mates to plead to repubs for printing the debt TRILLION$ = MORE???=

Senate GOP Blocks Bill to Raise Debt Limit, Avert Shutdown

“It is imperative that Congress swiftly addresses the debt limit. If it does not, America would default for the first time in history,” Yellen will tell a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday, according to her prepared testimony. “The full faith and credit of the United States would be impaired, and our country would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession.”