USA News and Discussions

weatheriscool
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Rampant child sexual abuse is occurring in churches -- not at drag shows
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reido ... -rcna86289
The Illinois attorney general released a report Tuesday finding that almost 2,000 children suffered sexual abuse by 451 Catholic clergy between 1950 and 2019.

“It is my hope that this report will shine light both on those who violated their positions of power and trust to abuse innocent children, and on the men in church leadership who covered up that abuse,” Kwame Raoul said in a statement. “These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law, but by naming them here, the intention is to provide a public accountability and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence.”

As the attorney general's statement appears to acknowledge, state law limits how long after an alleged crime a suspect can be charged, meaning many of these allegations may never be heard in a court of law. So the question then turns to what exactly we are to do with this information.

And I think the clear answer is to use it as a compass of sorts, helping inform us where child sexual abuse is — and isn’t — likely to occur. The Illinois report adds to the thousands of previously reported incidents of child sexual abuse by clergy in conservative-leaning religious institutions over the past few decades. This includes last year’s report from Southern Baptist Convention leaders on allegations of widespread sexual abuse within the ultraconservative denomination.
weatheriscool
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Treasury sets new potential debt default deadline of June 5

Source: ABC News
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday issued a new letter to Congress estimating that the government won't be at risk of running out of money to pay all its bills until June 5 -- slightly later than the agency's previous estimate of as soon as June 1. "Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury will have insufficient resources to satisfy the government's obligations if Congress has not raised or suspended the debt limit by June 5," Yellen wrote.

Republicans questioned Yellen’s methodology, with some accusing her of "manipulation tactics." "June 5? Yellen said it was June 1 earlier this WEEK. Republicans won't be intimidated by her manipulation tactics," tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs. "Will the media join our efforts to demand Janet Yellen show her work? I have been asking for three months," said Rep. Bob Good.

As he headed to Camp David on Friday evening, President Joe Biden sounded optimistic about negotiations and hopeful that more progress will come into the night. "I hope we'll have some clear evidence tonight before the clock strikes 12 that we have a deal, but it's very close," Biden said.

The update buys much-needed time for negotiators to hammer out a deal to raise the debt limit and avoid a disastrous default. The so-called "X-date" when the U.S. will run out of funds to be able to pay all its bills in full and on time has always been fluid, based on daily federal tax revenues and expenditures.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/treasur ... d=99639233
weatheriscool
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Texas House launches historic impeachment proceedings against AG Ken Paxton
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ GOP-led House of Representatives launched historic impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday as the scandal-plagued Republican called on supporters to protest a vote that could lead to his ouster and Donald Trump came to his defense.

The House convened Saturday afternoon to debate whether to impeach and suspend Paxton from office over allegations of bribery, abuse of public trust and that he is unfit for office. They’re just some of the accusations that have trailed Texas’ top lawyer for most of his three terms.

The proceedings are expected to include opening statements from the committee that investigated Paxton and recommended his impeachment, followed by four hours of debate and closing remarks before the vote.

The hearing sets up what could be a remarkably sudden downfall for one of the GOP’s most prominent legal combatants, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Joe Biden’s electoral defeat of Trump. Only two officials in Texas’ nearly 200-year history have been impeached.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/2 ... n-00099096
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weatheriscool
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caltrek
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Here are some of the reported details of the new debt limit deal between Biden and McCarthy.
More on that:
(Mother Jones) President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said this weekend that they had reached a deal in principle to raise the debt ceiling, but as of Sunday afternoon, lawmakers were still waiting to see the text of the deal to be voted on. The agreement reportedly includes a debt ceiling extension through 2025—sparing the country a repeat of the financial brinkmanship of recent weeks—and contains some spending cuts. Those reportedly include cutting $10 billion from an $80-billion overhaul of the Internal Revenue Service approved last fall. The deal is expected to cut federal spending by about $650 billion over the next decade.

Further Extract:
The bad news is that, despite the deal between McCarthy and Biden, the drama is far from over: McCarthy’s grip on the GOP members of the House is notoriously weak. (Recall the 15 tries it took to get him elected, and the humiliating concessions he had to make to secure the job). The House is scheduled to vote on the deal Wednesday; it remains unclear if McCarthy will have the votes he needs, or face a revolt from the more extreme members of the GOP caucus, who had are demanding much steeper budget cuts.

According to early reports, the major points of the deal are:

• The debt ceiling won’t have to be dealt with again until 2025, after the next presidential election.
• Some federal spending would be capped, with spending next year holding roughly steady, and an increase of no more than 1 percent in 2025.
• Spending on defense, Social Security and Medicaid is excluded from any caps—which also prevents the reductions in savings from being particularly dramatic as those are some of the largest areas of federal spending.
• The IRS will have $10 billion cut from its major overhaul, despite that agency experts say the funds are necessary to get it functioning again.
• $60 billion in unspent COVID relief money will be clawed back.
• Work requirements will be imposed on recipients of federal food stamp and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs.
Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... -details/

caltrek’s comment: Nothing demonstrates the hypocrisy of the Republicans arguing that they are genuinely concerned with the debt then the actions taken to gut the IRS. That will likely cost far more in lost revenue than it will save in expenditures on the IRS. The real aim is to minimize taxes on the rich, thus shifting costs to the middle class and below.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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Debt ceiling vote live updates: House will take up the Biden-McCarthy plan tonight
NBC News
The House will vote this evening on Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt ceiling deal with President Joe Biden, though the exact timing is fluid.
The vote is a major test for McCarthy, R-Calif., who narrowly won the speakership in January and faces threats to his gavel from far-right members.
Hard-line Republicans have trashed the agreement and urged fellow members to vote no — though the bill cleared a committee hurdle last night.
snip
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congre ... -rcna86870
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