#debt ceiling agreement

[antifaagainstapathy]

It would appear that #thedebtceiling is every bit as archaic and back asswards as #theelectoralcollege

[tomorrowusa]

NO great outcome was possible in the debt limit negotiations with Republicans. But Biden ended up with one which was far less bad than many people had feared.

Even though this crisis was provoked by House Republicans, many voters would have blamed Biden if the US had defaulted. As it turned out, Biden ended up with just a little dust on his jacket while McCarthy ends up with a self-made shit sandwich. 💩

Dan Pfeiffer was an aide to President Obama and has witnessed GOP blackmail close up. He writes...

Let’s be clear, this is shitty public policy foisted on the nation by a radical Republican House willing to blow up the economy and cause millions of jobs to vanish. Efforts to deal with deficits that do not include asking the wealthy and corporations to pay what they owe are cruel and wholly unserious. The tightening of access to aid for the most vulnerable Americans serves no purpose other than performative cruelty to appease the MAGA base.

But this could have been way worse in so many ways. The devil is very much in the details, but it seems like President Biden and his team outplayed McCarthy.

Republicans like to portray Joe Biden as doddering and totally out of it; never mind that Trump is only slightly younger and shows obvious signs of hysteria. But even if you don't grade Biden on a curve, he still comes out ahead of the GOP.

The far right MAGA fanatics absolutely hate the deal.

Jordan Weissmann at Semafor writes...

Afterwards, a quick consensus formed among much of the right and left: Republicans got blanked.

The agreement would temporarily freeze a portion of non-defense spending, while temporarily tightening the food stamp program’s work requireme​​nts for childless adults, and enacting modest changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

The early details prompted furious reactions from members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, who’d hoped to extract vastly more sweeping budget cuts and changes to the federal safety net in return for hiking the borrowing limit.

[ ... ]

As Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo put it, it’s a bit like they walked into a Denny’s with a gun, demanded all the money in the cash register, and left with a breakfast instead. Extraordinary threats at the start, an ordinary transaction at the finish.

While this was not a great deal for anybody, Speaker McCarthy will likely suffer the most because of it.

Timothy Noah at The New Republic writes...

When this debt ceiling mess is concluded, Biden will stay president at least until January 20, 2025. McCarthy, I predict, will be gone by Christmas, and possibly before Labor Day. Should he somehow hang on to his speakership, he’ll be so diminished that you’ll barely notice he’s still there. He won’t be able to get anything done. So either way, McCarthy is toast.

McCarthy will probably have to rely on Democratic votes for the debt deal to pass. That will infuriate the far right even more.

Let's remember that one of McCarthy's concessions to the far right during the marathon election for Speaker in January was to make it possible for any member to introduce a motion to "vacate the chair". So any GOP members dissatisfied with the debt ceiling agreement could theoretically topple McCarthy – if Democrats decided to go along.

So while Republicans make a public spectacle of themselves, Dems can stock up on popcorn and collect crazy soundbites from Republicans who are more interested in nihilism than in governance.

[levelfinancing]

Explore the implications of the debt ceiling agreement on student loans, its impact on borrowers, and potential changes to repayment options and policies.

[filosofablogger]

Obstructionist, Not Conservative!

On the first day the members of the 118th Congress walked into the Capitol to vote on a Speaker of the House, there was no doubt that it would end up being Kevin McCarthy.  Oh sure … they made him beg and sweat for it, forced concessions knowing that his fragile ego would not allow him to accept defeat at any cost, but there was no viable competition within the Republican House members for the…

[taratarotgreene]

Libra Moon,Pluto +Mars -power relationships

May 29 The Moon is in Libra for the next 2.5 days bringing our focus to relationships, establishing equilibrium and being go-betweens and ambassadors of grace. The lunar trine to Pluto and sextile Mars in Leo today is power lunches, meetings in high places, deal-making on the highest echelons-debt ceiling deal. This aspect empowers your heart and will to win and be fair in relationships. We’re…

[psychoticallytrans]

In case you don't know, the US may be about to breach the debt ceiling. What this means is that we're hitting the limit of the amount of money that our country is able to borrow. If the debt ceiling isn't raised before June 5th, then the Treasury is going to start running out of money.

The problem with this is that if the Treasury runs out of money, our country is going to begin having serious issues. In the very best case, they are likely going to start diverting money from Social Security payments, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and the paychecks of government employees- pretty much any government payments that are to people who can't raise enough of a fuss to cause an issue for the government.

This would be catastrophic for many people on an individual level, and lead to a rise in people unable to pay rent. It also may cause some medical providers to perceive government insurance as unreliable and stop taking it, shrinking the already small pool of providers that take it.

If this is the best case, you may wonder what the worst case is. The worst case is that the Treasury opts to divert money from our principal and interest payments on our debt. The problem with that is that a cornerstone of our economy relies on our government's ability to pay its debts, and to borrow against its good credit. Not paying our debts would, in the best case, create economic shockwaves, and in the worst case, collapse our economy.

If the government can come to an agreement to raise the ceiling in a few days, say, by June 8th, then things should be alright overall, with some late checks and paychecks and a slight lowering of our national credit score. However, if it takes weeks or longer, the consequences are going to get progressively more severe, with the consequences of a protracted default estimated at the loss of 8 million jobs, and a second Great Recession.

If you receive money or benefits from the government in any way, buckle up and hunker down. You are going to be the first and the worst hit by any breach of the debt ceiling. If you don't, get ready to support those around you who do.

[star-suh]

🎃 The Vampire 🎃

park seonghwa x male reader

cw: top seonghwa, blood play, a bit of smell kink.

an: the first one out of the halloween special fics, they're going to be 7 + 1 or 2 short stories, look forward to them please.

—

y/n is a worker at lord seonghwa's castle, he's a vampire, no one knows it but everyone suspects it by how he keeps looking young and beautiful. one day while y/n was cleaning the library he accidentally pushes one of the books finding a secret entrance, the hall illuminated by candles and to y/n's astonishment the place was full of jars full of blood, a table with instruments covered in blood and bats sleeping on the ceiling. y/n slapped one hand over his mouth muffling his scream and walked slowly towards the entrance until he bumped onto something. he slowly turned his head to see what was it and there he was lord seonghwa looking at him with an angry expression on his face "what the fuck are ypu doing here?" asked the lord, y/n's first instinct was to scream and run towards the opposite direction where lord seonghwa was, silly y/n bumped into the table and fell towards the blood jars shelf, breaking it and getting smeared on it.

"no!! you stupid boy" screamed seonghwa running to see if he could save some blood from that waste. "look at what you have done!" screamed seonghwa nervously, he hasn't had blood in the last 12 hours and that's exactly why he came. lord seonghwa grabbed a shaking y/n and pushed him towards the wall "you stupid boy, you don't know what you just did" he reclaimed. "i'm so sorry my lord, i didn't mean to" cried the poor boy. "you know you have to pay for this?" asked seonghwa who started to feel dizzy and rested his forehead on y/n's shoulders, who at the same time started to feel hot and dizzy too "i don't know my lord" answered the boy with honesty.

"i need blood" whispered the vampire with his canines already out "would you give me yours?" he says while caressing y/n's neck with his sharp teeth. "with that, can i pay my debt?" asked the intoxicated boy, a bulge forming in his pants. "i don't think so… but we can reach an agreement later" said the man licking the boy's neck.

lord seonghwa licked the neck zone where he was gonna sink his sharp teeth, y/n with hooded eyes and more intoxicated begged "please just fuck me already" he said locking his arms on lor seonghwa's neck "so fucking eager".

lord seonghwa unzipped and discarded y/n's pants and underwear while he just unzipped his pants and pulled out his cock and balls out of it, pushing little by little he introduced all his meat inside y/n's greedy hole and at the same time he bit y/n's neck, blood started to stream down and lord seonghwa licked it and drink it like it was his last meal, y/n just moaned feeling the cock growing bigger inside him "i-it's soo~ bigg~" he said hugging the vampire with all his strenght while fucking himself on it.

"you taste so good" the vampire praised, he then kissed the servant boy making him taste his own blood, lord seonghwa's tongue exploring y/n's mouth giving him sloppy kisses and licking the corners of the boy's mouth. "i might get addicted to this" the vampire said thrusting hard, going deep on y/n's ass forming a bulge on his tummy "look how lusty you are servant boy, taking it all in you, what a greedy little hole you have down there" the vampire smiled and kissed y/n. he lifted y/n and carried him to his bed where they kept fucking until it was dinner time. "please go faster" begged y/n who was jerking himself off and lord seonghwa obeyed fastening his pace until he felt he was going to came, he pulled out and came over y/n's used ass while the boy did the same spilling his cum on the lord's sheets. "fuck~ look at this sinful sight" said the vampire smearing the cum with his cock's head and then rubbing it between the ass cheeks "isn't it funny how you, a human, should be stabbing me with a stake and not me being the one stabbing you... with a meat one" laughed the bloodthirsty man …

"from today on you are going to be my personal blood bag, understand? in addition to that, you will stop being the cleaning servant and become my personal servant. taking care of my sexual needs mainly, what do you think?" asked the sexy vampire looking at the full moon. "anything for my lord" answered a cockdrunk y/n with lord seonghwa's cock resting on top of his face while he smells and sucks the balls. "good servant" says lord seonghwa slapping lightly y/n's cheek making him smile. 

rumors said that the boy became a vampire time later and at a certain time of the day he just stands in front of a window with eyes surrounded by a dark shade demonstrating he's no longer a human. on the other hand, lord seonghwa has never been seen again, people whisper among themselves that y/n probably killed him so he could become the owner of the castle, is it true? we don't know… that's a story for another book…

[odinsblog]

False Equivalence

Why does the mainstream media keep depicting lunatic-right Republicans and normal Democrats as equidistant from the center?

With the final passage of the debt ceiling deal, Democrats got off easier than one might have expected, given that it was a deal between a mainstream Democratic president and a Republican House in thrall to the lunatic far right. In drastic contrast to the scorched-earth budget bill initially passed by the Republican-controlled House, the cuts were about par for the course in a divided government; and they spare the country a repeat of this debt-hostage ordeal for two years.

However, much of the media played the agreement as a compromise between two equal extremes. The New York Times story about the House passage of the deal included this astonishing sentence: "With both far-right and hard-left lawmakers in revolt over the deal, it fell to a bipartisan coalition powered by Democrats to push the bill over the finish line, throwing their support behind the compromise in an effort to break the fiscal stalemate that had gripped Washington for weeks."

Think about that for a moment. There is no doubt that Matt Gaetz, Elise Stefanik, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar et al. are far-right by any definition, as white supremacists, Christian nationalists, election deniers, and nihilists on fiscal policy.

But no Democrats in the House can fairly be described as hard left. Those who voted against the deal included moderate liberals such as Joaquin Castro, mainstream progressives like Rosa DeLauro and Jan Schakowsky, as well as self-described democratic socialists including Cori Bush and AOC. But none of them are "hard left," which suggests anti-democratic, any more than Franklin Roosevelt was hard left.

The Times coverage reinforces a narrative of false equivalence that the media keeps repeating, with lazy catchphrases like "partisan bickering." It also plays into the hands of corrupt No Labels and Third Way types, who promote the idea that the best course for the republic is to split the difference between neofascists and a normal mainstream Democratic Party and president.

Big media, obsessed as it is with the appearance of fair and balanced coverage, took years to give itself permission to accurately describe Donald Trump with the impolite word "liar." But its treatment of the two parties as in any sense symmetrical is far more insidious than using euphemisms to characterize Trump’s lies.

Our friend Peter Dreier, whose observations inspired this post, points out that by any reasonable definition, "even the most left-oriented Democrats (AOC, Bush, Bowman, Raskin, Jayapal) are not extremists. They are shades of social democrats. They are pro-union, pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, pro-LGBT equality, pro-Green New Deal, pro-progressive taxation. But the most right-wing Republicans are extremists and reactionaries."

(continue reading)

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation Wednesday that would require the Pentagon to return a portion of its enormous and ever-growing budget to the Treasury Department if it fails another audit in the coming fiscal year.

The Audit the Pentagon Act, an updated version of legislation first introduced in 2021, comes amid mounting concerns over rampant price gouging by military contractors and other forms of waste and abuse at an agency that's set to receive at least $842 billion for fiscal year 2024.

"The Pentagon and the military-industrial complex have been plagued by a massive amount of waste, fraud, and financial mismanagement for decades. That is absolutely unacceptable," Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement as he unveiled the bill alongside Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

"If we are serious about spending taxpayer dollars wisely and effectively," said Sanders, "we have got to end the absurdity of the Pentagon being the only agency in the federal government that has never passed an independent audit."

In December, the Pentagon flunked its fifth consecutive audit, unable to account for more than 60% of its $3.5 trillion in total assets.

But congressional appropriators appear largely unphased as they prepare to raise the agency's budget to record levels, with some working to increase it beyond the topline set by the recently approved debt ceiling agreement. Watchdogs have warned that the deal includes a loophole that hawkish lawmakers could use to further inflate the Pentagon budget under the guise of aiding Ukraine.

Late Wednesday, following a lengthy markup session, the House Armed Services Committee passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which proposes a total military budget of $886 billion. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) was the only committee member to vote no.

A huge chunk of the Pentagon's budget for next year is likely to go to profitable private contractors, which make a killing charging the federal government exorbitant sums for weapons and miscellaneous items, from toilet seats to ashtrays to coffee makers.

"Defense contractors are lining their pockets with taxpayer money while the Pentagon fails time and time again to pass an independent audit. It's a broken system," said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a co-sponsor of the new bill. "We need to compel the Department of Defense to take fraud and mismanagement seriously—and we need Congress to stop inflating our nation's near-trillion-dollar defense budget."

"Putting the wants of contractors over the needs of our communities," he added, "isn't going to make our country any safer."

If passed, the Audit the Pentagon Act of 2023 would force every component of the Defense Department that fails an audit in fiscal year 2024 to return 1% of its budget to the Treasury Department.

A fact sheet released by Sanders' office argues that "the need for this audit is clear," pointing to a Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq report estimating that "$31-60 billion had been lost to fraud and waste."

"Separately, the special inspector general for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported that the Pentagon could not account for $45 billion in funding for reconstruction projects," the fact sheet notes. "A recent Ernst & Young audit of the Defense Logistics Agency found that it could not properly account for some $800 million in construction projects. CBS News recently reported that defense contractors were routinely overcharging the Pentagon—and the American taxpayer—by nearly 40-50%, and sometimes as high as 4,451%."

Further examples of the Pentagon's waste and accounting failures abound.

Last month, the Government Accountability Office released a report concluding that the Pentagon can't account for F-35 parts worth millions of dollars.

Earlier this week, as The Washington Post reported, the Pentagon said it "uncovered a significant accounting error that led it to overvalue the amount of military equipment it sent to Ukraine since Russia's invasion last year—by $6.2 billion."

"The 'valuation errors,' as a Pentagon spokeswoman put it, will allow the Pentagon to send more weapons to Ukraine now before going to Congress to request more money," the Post noted.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a supporter of the Audit the Pentagon Act, said Wednesday that "taxpayers can't keep writing blank checks—they deserve long-overdue transparency from the Pentagon about wasteful defense spending."

"If the Department of Defense cannot conduct a clean audit, as required by law," said Wyden, "Congress should impose tough financial consequences to hold the Pentagon accountable for mismanaging taxpayer money."

[kelyon]

Courtship 18: Transfer of Property

Before their reception, Mr. and Mrs. Gold pursue business and pleasure

Read on AO3

Mr. and Mrs. Gold swept through the front door of Game of Thorns like they owned the place--which of course they did. Mr. Gold kept his hands on his new wife, never letting her out of range of a pinch or a squeeze or a slow, lingering caress. 

For her part, Mrs. Gold preened under her husband’s attention. Her only desire, her only thought, was a wish that he could touch her more, that even more of her skin could be bare to him. Married for an hour, she waited desperately for him to take her and own her completely. She wanted to feel his touch everywhere. Every second she didn’t was a tantalizing torture, a teasing that left her constantly on the edge of satisfaction.

Behind the counter, Mr. French was hard at work. Valentine’s Day was on Monday, and he was even more short-staffed than usual. 

Mrs. Gold sniffed at that thought. Maybe if the florist actually paid his employees, they’d be more inclined to keep slaving away at a forever-failing business.  

When Mr. French saw who was entering his store, his jaw clenched. 

“Get out,” he said at once. “You’re not welcome here. I won’t sell anything to either of you.”

Mrs. Gold made her voice chipper. “Like Mr. Gold and I would have any use for these weeds.” She sneered at the roses, pink and red. 

The florist’s glare shifted from Mrs. Gold to her husband. “I’ve got your money.” He jerked his head towards the cash register. “January’s rent and all your damned fees.”

“How honorable,” Mr. Gold said dryly. “But it won’t be necessary. Your business relationship to me--including all debts--has been acquired by another party.”

Mr. French’s eyes narrowed. “What business bullshit is that?”

Mr. Gold grinned. He pulled out a stack of papers and set them on the counter in front of Mr. French. “This is your official notice that the ownership of this building and the land thereon has been transferred. Your rental agreement with me is null and void, effective today. All inquiries regarding rent, maintenance, or the future of this property should now be directed to your new landlady.” 

With a theatrical twirl of his wrist, Mr. Gold indicated the smirking figure of his wife. 

Mr. French gaped at her. “You? You own the building now? You expect me to hand over my earnings every month to you?”

“Well you don’t have to,” Mrs. Gold smiled. “I could always evict you and find a tenant who’s less of an asshole.”

The florist’s face turned as red as his tacky Valentine’s Day merchandise. “Get out,” he growled. 

That tone might have frightened a respectful daughter, but Mrs. Gold just pushed on. “You can’t tell me what to do anymore,” she told him. “You can’t tell me how to live my life, or how I should behave on my property.”

“You bastard,” he said to Mr. Gold. “You did this to her. You made her like this, like you, you heartless--”

“Mr. Gold didn’t do anything!” She shouted over him. “All he did was give me a chance at a life better than you could have ever helped me get. All he ever did was provide for me. All he ever did was succeed in every single way you failed!”

Beside her, Mr. Gold grinned. His hand slipped into her open coat and slowly trailed down from her waist to her ass.

The florist still glowered. “You don’t have to do this,” he said between his teeth. “You don’t have to be like this. You can always come back.”

“Come back to what?” Mrs. Gold looked around the cramped store, from the threadbare carpet to the cracks in the walls to the brown drip marks on the ceiling tile. “To this? To working my ass off for nothing? To wasting my life? To grinding away in poverty? To always waiting for a better day but never being able to do anything? Not even able to help people who depend on me?” 

Mr. French didn’t look at her. His face was a blank nonexpression. No life behind his eyes.

For a moment, she hesitated. Was she going too far? No. Not far enough. Mrs. Gold plunged her sharpest knife into the chest of this failure. 

“If you had ever been able to make money out of this shithole, my mother would still be alive. I would be in college instead of making myself a whore for a man who doesn’t love me and never will.”

Mr. Gold concealed a chuckle behind a cough.

The florist’s face went white. He stared at her, but said nothing. 

Mrs. Gold took her knife and twisted. “And you know it, Moe. You know it’s all your fault.”

“Lacey.” 

His voice shook and crumbled. There were tears in the old man’s eyes.

She was unmoved. She didn’t have to give a damn about him anymore. She had moved on to a bigger life.

“It’s Mrs. Gold,” she told him icily. 

Then she turned on her stiletto heel and waltzed out of the shop on her husband’s arm.

****

“That was magnificent,” Mr. Gold declared as he led her back to the limo. 

Lacey felt like her whole body was shaking. Had she really just done that? Had she really just said out loud every evil thought she’d buried and kept hidden all these years? Had she really just told her father to go fuck himself?

Fuck yes she had.

“I can’t believe it.” Mrs. Gold gasped and laughed at the same time. “I never thought I would ever be that brave!”

“That’s what power can do for you.” Mr. Gold pulled her to his side. “This is what it’s like, being my wife. What it will always be like.”

Night was fast approaching and the shadows were getting long. When Mrs. Gold stood with her husband on the sidewalk, their silhouettes merged into the shape of a single being, some creature bigger than either of them on their own. Together, they became a shadow large enough and dark enough to swallow this town and all the little people in it.

He looked at her for a moment, a rare true smile on his face. He held her close against his body. They didn’t say a word. They didn’t need to. They understood each other. They wanted each other with the same unity of purpose that held the stars in place. It was gravity, it was magnetism, it was a hunger and a reflex and the only constant in an infinite universe.

In front of the flower shop, Mr. and Mrs. Gold kissed until they couldn’t breathe.

Dove opened the door to the limo as they approached. He had parked on the side of the street, keeping the motor running so it would stay warm inside. When Mr. Gold got to his employee, he took off his overcoat and handed it to him. He gestured for Mrs. Gold to do the same. Dove held the coats neatly, folded over the crook of his arm like a butler. 

“Just drive,” Mr. Gold told him. “All over town, it doesn’t matter where. I’ll let you know when we’re ready to head to the reception hall.”

“Yes, sir,” Dove nodded. He helped them inside and closed the door.

“You sound like you have a plan,” Mrs. Gold said when she was alone with her husband. 

Mr. Gold just grinned. He looked perfectly at home in the back of a limousine, surrounded by black leather and gleaming metal fixtures. His cane leaned nonchalantly against the far wall. He was so at ease around wealth and luxury. 

He shrugged off his suit coat and draped it neatly across the unused seats. Then he undid his cuff links and carefully folded up the sapphire blue sleeves of his shirt. 

“Do you want the lights on or off?” he asked her as the car began to move.

A hot shiver went up Mrs. Gold’s spine. He was serious. They were really going to do this.

“On.” Her voice was shaky, but she smiled. “I want to see my husband.”

Mr. Gold chuckled wryly. “Might as well turn them off then.” 

He pushed a button and the interior went dark. There was a familiar sound of his belt coming unbuckled, his fly being unzipped. 

“Come sit in my lap.” The order was soft and rich as velvet. 

Fumbling around in the dark and moving limo, Mrs. Gold tried to obey. She wanted to face him, but he turned her around. Both of them looked in the same direction, toward the raised partition that separated them from the driver. Mr. Gold kept his legs together and had her straddle him. In order to spread her legs wide enough, she had to hitch her tight skirt up over her ass. Her heels dug into the carpeted floor.

His cock was in front of her, jutting up from between her thighs. She could see the shape of it in the fading twilight through the tinted windows. God, she wanted to grab on to it. She wanted to feel the hot length in her hands, she wanted to make him feel so good. She wanted to put him inside her herself and ride him until he burst.

But Mrs. Gold wasn’t allowed to touch her husband. Not without permission. Not unless it was what he wanted. So she balled her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms, forcing herself to be good for him. Good enough for him.  

Of course, Mr. Gold’s hands could go wherever they wanted on her body. Leisurely, he stroked from her bare hip down to her thigh. His fingers plucked at her garter, at the straps that held up her white stockings. His other hand groped her over her wedding dress. He squeezed at her breast and breathed hot and heavy into her ear. 

“You’ve been taking your birth control, haven’t you dearie? We don’t need a worthless tube of rubber between me and your slick little cunt, do we?”

“No. I mean, yes!” He had asked her two different questions, but they both had the same answer. “Yes, Mr. Gold, I’ve been taking my birth control.” 

He had never fucked her without a condom before. Fuck, this was going to be amazing.

“Good,” Mr. Gold growled. One hand slipped between her legs and cupped her mound. His fingers rubbed against her skimpy white panties. “What’s this?”

“A thong,” she said breathlessly. “That front part is all I’ve got. There’s nothing but a string anywhere else.”

With a thoughtful noise, Mr. Gold explored her further. He seemed to want to prove it for himself. He followed the line of her thong, then hissed when he found her wet and open. She was ready for him.

“You whore,” he murmured fondly. “Did you start playing without me?”

“You mean touch myself?” Mrs. Gold asked. “Never! You told me not to.”

“Were you tempted?” He traced along her outer lips, teasing her. “Did you want to fuck yourself the way I fuck you?”

“No one can fuck me like you fuck me, Mr. Gold. Not even me.” 

Her hips tried to grind against his hand, searching for friction, searching for anything, but Mr. Gold allowed her what he wanted her to have and not one thing more.

“What an obedient wife I have.” He slid the slightest pressure against her wetness. “What a good little thing you are.” 

Mrs. Gold could only whimper as he tormented her. Finally, he eased one long finger inside her cunt. She began to clench around him so fast she was afraid she might come before he gave her permission.

“Please!” she begged. 

He didn’t bother asking what she wanted. He knew. He knew everything about her. Everything about her body, everything about her mind. He always knew what she needed, what she responded to, what she would beg him for over and over again.

“Go ahead,” he whispered. “But only one. I’ll let you come once on my hand and once on my cock, so you’d better make them count.”

She tried to stop herself. She tried to make it last. All the times before, when Mr. Gold had brought her to the edge and then made her pull herself back, the final release had been like ten orgasms at once. But right now she had no control. It had been too long and she was too keyed up and Mr. Gold was with her at last. They were finally together, finally married. As she shook and convulsed, he added more fingers to her cunt. His thumb rubbed her clit again and again until she broke.

Mrs. Gold came with a guttural sound, a scream that made her cover her mouth with her hands. How soundproof was this limo? How much could Dove hear? But what the fuck did it matter? Mr. Gold had made her come, who cared if anyone else knew? Who cared if everyone knew? Mrs. Gold was glad to show the world how excellently her husband fucked her.

Only one, he had said. She heeded his words as she came down from that blazing high. He was thoughtful enough not to push her. His fingers stopped moving after she came. His touch on her body became soothing, approving. 

“What good little slut I married,” he praised her. “You keep coming like that and we’ll share years of wedded bliss.”    

“Yes,” she tried to catch her breath. “Yes, Mr. Gold.”

With the same gentle yet masterly manner, Mr. Gold lifted her up. He positioned his cock underneath her, and slowly slid her down on top of him.

She moaned with the sensation of fullness, of completion. Now, everything was right. Now, everything made sense. When their bodies joined, a lock and a key clicked into place. It opened up the door to a new world.

If Mr. Gold wanted to moan, he kept the desire to himself. Only his breathing went slower. There was the slightest hitch as he took his place inside her. His rightful place. One with her. His fingers dug into her hips, a bruising grip that would never let go for as long as they both shall live.  

Delightfully spent from her first orgasm, Mrs. Gold was better able to savor her first fuck as a married woman. Mr. Gold held her in place and pushed himself in and out of her slowly. It was a deep, steady rhythm, a strange contrast to the constant vibrations of the limo on the road. 

Bleary-eyed, Mrs. Gold looked out the window. It was full dark now, but she could see streetlights and house lights. They were in a neighborhood, though she couldn’t tell which one. It didn’t matter. Old Town or New Town, good part or bad part, in front of the rich or the poor, the happy or the miserable--Mr. Gold would fuck her across every inch of Storybrooke. 

His pace quickened. He began to pull her down as he thrust up, grunting and snarling behind her. She pressed her hands against the ceiling of the limo, bracing herself and trying to stay upright. 

“Oh!” she squealed as he hit a good spot. “Fuck, yes, Mr. Gold!”

He pulled her back to growl in her ear. “Fuck yes indeed, Mrs. Gold.”

Hearing him say her new name set her on fire. She shook and trembled with the rapture of it. Mrs. Gold. His wife. She clenched around his cock, desperately pulling him into her body. Every inch of her belonged to him--she needed him to claim his property. Her moans were high-pitched, pleading and begging. She rode him like her life depended on it, drawing out her orgasm for as long as she could.

Mr. Gold was soon at the brink. His thrusts became faster, more erratic. He jerked into her with force, pinning her down to him with his strong, silk-clad arms. 

“This is what you were made for, you slut,” he hissed into her ear. “It’s all you’re good for, you little sex toy. Fuck, you’re nothing but a sheath, nothing but a hole.”

“Empty,” she whispered as she quivered around him. “I’m empty unless you’re filling me.”

“That’s right.” He squeezed her breast over her wedding dress. “Just a pretty thing for me to use whenever I want. And now everyone is going to know it!” 

Mrs. Gold cried out. Her orgasm couldn’t wait another second. She came with a long, wailing moan as her pleasure crested and overtook her.

At the same time, Mr. Gold started to shake. His breath came out in heavy pants. He pulled her down for the final, pounding thrusts before he spurted hot and thick inside her. 

They collapsed together, as the aftershocks passed through them. Mr. Gold slumped in the limo seat and Mrs. Gold fell boneless onto him. Slowly bringing her legs together, she savored the extra heat he had poured into her. She was used to the wetness he created in her, but now she felt the liquid proof of his pleasure, the wetness he had given to her.

Patting her on the side, Mr. Gold let her know he wanted her off. Groggy and blissed out, she slid into the seat next to him. Mr. Gold turned on the limo lights.

“Open your legs,” he ordered. “Let me look at that pretty cunt.”

With a loose smile, Mrs. Gold obeyed. Mr. Gold moved around the limo to get the best view.

“Ah, that’s nice,” he said proudly. “So good to see my bride dripping in white.”

Mrs. Gold shivered, and then laughed. “I was dripping even before you came in me.”

“Of course you were,” he grinned. 

He went to the minibar and dipped some paper napkins in the bucket of melting ice. The bottle of champagne Mrs. Gold had enjoyed before the ceremony was still there. Heedless of the temperature, Mr. Gold used the water to wipe her juices off his hands. He found a small plastic bottle by the minibar and squirted some disinfectant into his palm. He rubbed his hands together as he returned to the back seat. As he sat, he tucked his shirt into his pants and buckled his belt again. He unfolded his shirt sleeves and reinserted his cuff links. So quickly, he could make himself look put-together, even after he had torn her apart.

Mrs. Gold started to stand. “I guess I should clean up too.”

“Don’t you dare.” Mr. Gold was focused on a cuff link. When he did look at her, his eyes were dark and glinting sharply. He was serious. “I want you to stay like that for the rest of the night.”

She sat back down. “You mean, dripping?” 

It wasn’t an appalling idea, but it was more extreme than she had expected for her wedding day.

Mr. Gold shrugged. “It shouldn’t be a problem, provided you can manage to keep your legs together for a few hours.”

She breathed out a disbelieving chuckle. “Okay, so I’m going to spend my entire wedding reception with a pussy full of… you?”

“You are my wife, aren’t you?” He straightened his sleeves, made sure they were even before he put his jacket on.

Mrs. Gold nodded as she considered the notion. She was his wife, wasn’t she? Everyone who went to a wedding knew how the bride and groom would end the evening. What difference did it make if guests knew Mr. and Mrs. Gold had begun their wedding night early? And it wasn’t like anyone had to know. As Mr. Gold said, she’d just have to keep her legs shut. What they had just done here could stay their juicy little secret. 

“Alright,” Mrs. Gold grinned. “I’ll do it.”

Mr. Gold’s lip quirked. “It was never a question, dearie. Now, when we get to the reception, I want you to make sure you mingle. This is your introduction to high society, such as it is. Your first chance to hobnob with the hoity-toity.”

She giggled and Mr. Gold’s smirk deepened.

“You’re going to dance tonight,” he informed her. “I don’t dance, but there’s no reason for you to miss out. It is your wedding day, after all.”

“I would only want to dance with you, Mr. Gold.”

“Well, you’re going to dance for me instead. Tonight, you’re going to dance with every man in that hall, the most important men in Storybrooke. You’re going to do it because I told you to, and you’re going to do it with my seed dripping down your pretty legs.”

Mrs. Gold shuddered. Fuck that was hot. Hot what he wanted her to do and even hotter the casual way he told her to do it. God, every second with him was going to be an adventure. 

“Yes, Mr. Gold.”

He gave her an approving nod. “That’s the way, my dear. Just keep saying yes.”

“Yes, Mr. Gold.”

With a soft chuckle, Mr. Gold reached over to a compartment in the side of the limo. He pulled out the phone that connected to the driver in the front.

“Mr. Dove?” he said. “Let’s start making our way back to town. I’m sure my guests are waiting.”

Back to town? Where were they now? How long had they been driving? Mrs. Gold looked out the window. There were no lights now, no houses or streetlamps. They must be in the woods that surrounded the north end of Storybrooke.

Mr. Gold was done with her for the moment, so she spent the rest of the trip looking out the window. As they drove through the forest, she only saw one house--though it was so big and so lit up, at first she thought it might be a hotel. Every window had a light on, like a beacon in the darkness. But for all the lights and the size of the place, she only saw one person. 

The shape of a man filled up one window. Was he wearing a top hat? He had his hands raised, like he was pounding on the glass. Mrs. Gold frowned. Was he trying to get somebody’s attention? Did he need help? Should they stop the limo and turn around? 

Then they turned a corner and the house was gone. Mrs. Gold sat back next to her husband. It was probably nothing. The man in the window was fine, if he was really there at all.  She was just imagining things because she was excited. And why shouldn’t she be? It was her wedding day. They were going to their reception. Everyone would be there. Mrs. Gold was ready to show this town who she was and who she belonged to. 

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

😂

[antifaagainstapathy]

#DebtCeilingBill #DebtCeilingAgreement

#DebtCeilingVote

So... due to my earlier dental work, among other things... I'm putting off a tick tock or lengthy essay on the topic 🤔

Short analysis:

This is the result of losing the House

This is what happens when one party cares more about making the President look bad, instead of doing the right thing for the American people 🙄

This is going to be bad

This is probably going to be VERY BAD

But

A default/shutdown/ whatever you want to call it...would have been worse

[zvaigzdelasas]

16 May 23

18 May 23

[mariacallous]

Every sustainable war rests on a foundation of political support. And as the war in Ukraine grinds through its second year, U.S. public support for continuing aid to Ukraine has fallen dramatically. A CNN survey released on August 4 found that a narrow majority (51%) of the electorate believes that the United States has already done enough to stop Russian military action in Ukraine, and only 45% would authorize additional funding to back Ukraine in the war.

Support for aid to Ukraine has narrowed as well as shrunk

A closer inspection of the findings reveals that support for aid to Ukraine has narrowed as well as shrunk. Sixty-two percent of Democrats back additional funding, compared to 44% of Independents and just 28% of Republicans. The ideological pattern is much the same: Additional funding is supported by 69% of liberals but only 44% of moderates and 31% of conservatives. Among age cohorts, voters ages 65 and older strongly support continued funding (58%), perhaps because of their formative experience during the Cold War, but Americans younger than 65 reject more funding. Only 39% of voters ages 50 to 64 support more funding, and 37% of those ages 35-49. (Support among voters under age 35 is somewhat higher — 46% — but well short of a majority.) College graduates are more supportive of additional aid than are those without college degrees, but in neither case does support achieve a majority.

The findings from another high-quality survey underscore the dramatic fall in Republican support for Ukraine. In the spring of 2022, according to the Pew Research Center, 34% of Republicans thought that the United States wasn’t doing enough to aid Ukraine, while only 17% thought that we were doing too much. By the summer of this year, the share of Republicans who believe that we are doing too much for Ukraine had nearly tripled to 44% while the share who believe we aren’t doing enough had fallen by more than half, to just 14%. Sustaining the current level of funding for Ukraine will be a very hard sell within the GOP.

Continued U.S. funding for Ukraine will not be easy

These findings suggest that winning the fight over continued funding for Ukraine will not be easy. After an agreement this spring between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy resolved the debt ceiling crisis, Senate Republican leaders stated that continued aid for Ukraine could be addressed through a supplemental appropriation outside the spending limits for defense set in the debt ceiling deal. McCarthy immediately rejected this proposal, declaring instead that Ukraine funding must come about through the regular appropriations process.

Since then, House Republican opposition to spending more for either domestic programs or defense has only hardened, and leading conservatives have called for spending levels even lower than those specified in the debt ceiling agreement. As the CNN survey makes clear, when it comes to Ukraine, opposition to more spending is not confined to the hard-right fringe but rather represents the views of 7 in 10 rank-and-file Republicans.

Optimists about continued aid for Ukraine have focused on the traditional strong-on-defense views of Republican Senate leaders and a handful of committee chairs in the House. It is time to pay equal attention to the contrary views of House Republicans, many of whom are subject to strong anti-spending pressures from their constituents — and to the effects of the likely Republican presidential nominee’s longstanding anti-Ukraine views. If McCarthy were to back a plan opposed by the majority of the House Republican caucus, it could cost him his speakership, which rests on the weakest of foundations.

What can be done

An arrangement to save a least a portion of current funding for Ukraine may still be possible. But the path to such a deal is obscure at best and allowing the matter to drift any longer could prove fatal for the prospects of continued U.S. funding, which is vital for sustaining Ukraine’s ability to resist. It is time for Ukraine’s supporters to sound the alarm and develop a plan that could pass the House as well as the Senate before the current aid package expires on September 30. Biden will have to get off the sidelines and make the case that helping to turn back the Russian invasion serves the vital interests of the United States.

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

By Steve Holland, Gram Slattery and Katharine Jackson

May 27, 20236:25 PM PDT

Updated a min ago

WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy have reached a tentative deal to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, ending a months-long stalemate.

However, the deal was described in terms that indicated it may not be absolute, and without any celebration -- an indication of the bitter tenor of the negotiations, and the difficult path it has to pass through Congress before the United States runs out of money to pay its debts in early June.

"I just got off the phone with the president a bit ago. After he wasted time and refused to negotiate for months, we've come to an agreement in principle that is worthy of the American people," McCarthy tweeted.

The deal would raise the debt limit for two years while capping spending over that time, and includes some extra work requirements for programs for the poor.

Biden and McCarthy held a 90-minute phone call earlier on Saturday evening to discuss the deal.

"We still have more work to do tonight to finish the writing of it," McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill. McCarthy said he expects to finish writing the bill Sunday, then speak to Biden and have a vote on the deal on Wednesday.

The deal will avert an economically destabilizing default, so long as they succeed in passing it through the narrowly divided Congress before the Treasury Department runs short of money to cover all its obligations, which it warned Friday will occur if the debt ceiling is not raised by June 5.

Republicans who control the House of Representatives have pushed for steep cuts to spending and other conditions, including new work requirements on some benefit programs for low-income Americans and for funds to be stripped from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. tax agency.

They said they want to slow the growth of the U.S. debt, which is now roughly equal to the annual output of the country's economy.

Negotiators have agreed to cap non-defense discretionary spending at 2023 levels for one year and increase it by 1% in 2025, sources said.

The two sides have to carefully thread the needle in finding a compromise that can clear the House, with a 222-213 Republican majority, and Senate, with a 51-49 Democratic majority.

One high-ranking member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus said they were in the process of gauging member sentiment, and unsure what the vote numbers might be.

The long standoff spooked financial markets, weighing on stocks and forcing the United States to pay record-high interest rates in some bond sales. A default would take a far heavier toll, economists say, likely pushing the nation into recession, shaking the world economy and leading to a spike in unemployment.

Biden for months refused to negotiate with McCarthy over future spending cuts, demanding that lawmakers first pass a "clean" debt-ceiling increase free of other conditions, and present a 2024 budget proposal to counter his issued in March. Two-way negotiations between Biden and McCarthy began in earnest on May 16.

Democrats accused Republicans of playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship with the economy. Republicans say recent increased government spending is fueling the growth of the U.S. debt, which is now roughly equal to the annual output of the economy.

The last time the nation got this close to default was in 2011, when Washington also had a Democratic president and Senate and a Republican-led House.

Congress eventually averted default, but the economy endured heavy shocks, including the first-ever downgrade of the United States' top-tier credit rating and a major stock sell-off.

The work to raise the debt ceiling is far from done. McCarthy has vowed to give House members 72 hours to read the legislation before bringing it to the floor for a vote. That will test whether enough moderate members support the compromises in the bill to overcome opposition from both hard-right Republicans and progressive Democrats.

Then it will need to pass the Senate, where it will need at least nine Republican votes to succeed. There are multiple opportunities in each chamber along the way to slow down the process.

The two sides had struggled to find common ground on spending levels. Republicans had pushed for an 8% cut to discretionary spending in the next fiscal year, followed by annual increases of 1% for several years.

Biden had proposed keeping spending flat in the 2024 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, and raising it 1% the year after that. He also had called for closing some tax loopholes, which Republicans rejected.

[opspro2005]

The domestic terrorists of the uni-party want you perpetually terrified.  The debt ceiling “crisis” is as much of a made-up hoax as today’s news about “long covid”.

America is still raking in a vast amount of tax money (too much, but that’s another argument) and will have no problem paying it’s bills. Not raising the debt ceiling only means that the swamp can’t borrow more money from china, they’d have to spend within their means. You know, just like us peasants do.