Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket, the most powerful ever built, blew up about four minutes after launch this morning. This event set the tone for the rest of the day.
Mike Lindell is out some money. CNN:
My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell has been ordered to shell out $5 million to an expert who debunked his data related to the 2020 election, according to a decision by the arbitration panel obtained by CNN.
Lindell, a purveyor of election conspiracies, vowed to award the multimillion-dollar sum to any cyber security expert who could disprove his data. An arbitration panel awarded Robert Zeidman, who has decades in software development experience, a $5 million payout on Wednesday after he sued Lindell over the sum.
CNN has obtained arbitration documents and video depositions, including a deposition of Lindell, related to the dispute.
I have said already that if Lindell’s adult children had any sense they already would have gone to probate court and relieved Dad of control of the family assets. If Lindell really does have to pay this, they’re probably too late.
E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against Trump is still scheduled to start on April 25. Robert Katzberg at Slate explains all the ways this trial could be a nightmare for Trump.
A Tennessee state legislator who voted to expel the Tennessee Three has been found guilty of sexually harassing interns. When this news became public, he resigned. Other Republicans in the legislature have known about this for some time but didn’t move to expel the guy.
The Forced Birth movement is letting it be known they will not be satisfied with a “let the states decide” policy on abortion. They want a national ban. This is going to massively complicate the 2024 elections for Republicans. Heh.
Interesting read: Michael Tomasky, The (Republican) Party’s Over, at The New Republic.
Kevin McCarthy has produced a debt ceiling proposal.
The legislation, which is expected to receive a vote next week, is a 320-page House Republican wish list that has no chance of becoming law, given that Democrats control the Senate and White House. It would raise the debt ceiling until March 2024 while tying that to a host of conservative priorities, including slashing government spending to 2022 levels, capping further spending, and repealing much of the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s landmark social spending bill.
The House GOP bill comes as a potential default could happen sometime over the summer. Democrats have long insisted that they will only support a “clean” debt ceiling increase, without any preconditions or spending cuts, while Republicans have long viewed the debt ceiling as the best leverage to pressure the Biden administration into making broader concessions.
Speaking on the House floor Wednesday, McCarthy insisted that both President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer now need to come to the table: “They need to sit down, negotiate, and address the crisis, now that we’ve introduced a clear plan for debt limit increase.” The Republican proposal targets a number of longtime GOP bugaboos including Biden’s executive action on student loan forgiveness, tax credits for green energy investments, and increased funding for the Internal Revenue Service.
It’s my understanding that this bill is still short on specifics as to exactly how much money will be cut from where, except that it’s not touching defense, Social Security, Medicare, or veterans’ benefits. I haven’t heard that it’s been submitted to the CBO for scoring. President Biden has already dismissed it. ,