Will We Kick the Can Again?
News Roundup Apr 18-20
GOP Floats Budget Plan
The looming battle over the national debt ceiling is back in the news as the House GOP put forward its budget plan on Wednesday. Biden immediately referred to the plan as ‘wacko notions’ and warned that defaulting on our debt is ‘totally irresponsible’. Budget hawks suggest no default is necessary as the US Government can continue to make interest payments then prioritize other expenditures.
McCarthy likely does not have majority support to pass the bill but is planning to send it to the floor for a vote anyway. Without an agreement, the debt ceiling is set to reach a hard limit as early as mid-June and impacts on federal payments would be unavoidable at that point.
New Developments in Bundy Case
Judge Norton issued an arrest warrant for Ammon Bundy this week but the Gem County Sheriff refused to act on it citing safety concerns to his deputies based on conversations with Bundy. It is unclear whether the warrant is necessary in a civil trial as opposed to declaring summary judgment against Bundy. In a video, Bundy offered to give St. Luke’s everything he owned.
As of Thursday evening, the attorneys have dropped their appeal to the state Supreme Court as the Sheriff had relented and agreed to serve papers and not arrest process servers for trespassing.
Top 10 General Fund Items
The General Fund is not the entire Idaho budget as it does not include federal subsidies but is derived from income, sales and product taxes. The largest expenditures from the General Fund are:
1.) Public school support - $2.698 billion (up 16.4%)
2.) Division of Medicaid - $856.3 million (up 3.2%)
3.) Colleges and Universities - $353.9 million (up 4.7%)
4.) Department of Corrections - $321.7 million (up 7.5%)
5.) Department of Health and Welfare - $214 million (up 10%)
6.) Career Technical Education - $76.5 million (up 4.5%)
7.) Judicial Branch - $62.4 million (up 5.9%)
8.) Community Colleges - $60.9 million (up 7%)
9.) Idaho State Police - $51.8 million (up 21.2%)
10.) Department of Juvenile Corrections - $48.5 million (up 5.4%)
Did Biden Campaign Fabricate Hunter Laptop Strategy?
In October of 2020, just prior to the Presidential election, the NY Post broke a story about Joe Biden’s son Hunter and his laptop containing evidence of lewd behavior as well as problematic ties to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) business deals. The story was heavily censored on social media and 50 top intel officials signed a letter claiming the story was Russian disinformation. After the election, it was acknowledged to be true.
According to his personal testimony this week, former acting CIA director Mike Morell (pictured) was contacted by the Biden campaign and that prompted him to put together the 50 intel official letter in order to help Biden win.
Where Does Our Energy Come From?
Idaho Power seeks to provide 100% clean energy by 2045. It has made news of late with respect to its Jackpot Solar Project, which began operations in January. Overall, the growth in population plus certain projects like Micron’s expansion or the Meta data center in Kuna require additional means of providing that power.