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After Avoiding a Government Shutdown, What Will Congress Do With the Waning Days of 2021?

Congress will face a busy schedule over the last weeks after narrowly avoiding government shutdowns by passing the stopgap funding legislation on Friday.

Or it could end up doing not much of anything (*fingers crossed*).

With the expected House vote this week on the National Defense Authorization Act, (NDAA), the end-of-year scramble is set to begin. Although the annual military spending bill usually passes Congress without much resistance, there may be some stumbling blocks in the Senate. The Wall Street Journal reports.

According to reports, some Republican senators threatened to withdraw support for the package if it included a clause that could hinder Russia’s construction of Nord Stream 2 in the Baltic Sea to stop a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Another group, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R–Fla.) The language would prohibit American imports of products made in China’s Xinjiang area, where Uyghur ethnic members are being systematically repressed.

We’ll see if the Democrat-controlled Congress is willing to pass President Joe Biden’s social spending plan of $2 trillion or $4 trillion after the NDAA starter class. Negotiations over the “Build Back Better” plan have been a dominant storyline in Washington nearly the whole year, but Democrats have been unable to cobble together the necessary votes—in no small part because of defections from within their own ranks.

Also, we’ll need to be ready for another battle over the debt limit. A short-term deal struck in October to raise the debt limit—which authorizes the Treasury to borrow funds to pay for already-approved spending—expires on December 15. Politico Reports suggest that lawmakers may consider rolling the debt limit rise into the NDAA. However, that would only convince Republicans not to support the measure. Regardless of the form, it is likely that most Republicans will vote no to increasing the debt limit.

It is possible that the battle over vaccine mandates will spill over to Congress. Sen. Joe Manchin (D–W.Va.), a key swing vote, tells Politico that he supports Sen. Mike Braun’s (R–Ind.) To use the Congressional Review Act, to repeal the vaccine mandate that the Biden administration has placed on private companies, The mandate has been placed on hold by an order of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit. They are currently reviewing the case more closely.

That stopgap funding bill that was passed Friday in an effort to avoid a shutdown of the government? It lasts for just 11 weeks—so we’ll be doing ThatAll over again mid-February


FREE MINDS

“I’m not a traitor. I am not spy. Reality Winner said, “I am someone who only acted out love for the country.” 60 minutes She spoke on Sunday night, her first television interview since she was released from prison.

Winner is a former National Security Administration contractor (NSA) who leaked documents. The InterceptRussia attempted to hack into 2016’s presidential election systems. Winner was sentenced to the most severe prison term under the Espionage Act. In a sometimes-tearful conversation with CBS’s Scott Pelley, Winner defended her decision to smuggle documents out of the NSA facility in Fort Gordon, Georgia, in 2017—a defense she did not get to offer in court—and about her physical and mental struggles during four years in prison.

Watch the whole interview here.


FREE MARKETS

San Francisco is delaying the application of a Cannabis Business Tax. This will allow legal pot shops the opportunity to compete against the black market.

This tax was to be applied at a rate between 1 and 5 percent on gross revenues (the rate increases as sales volumes increase). It was due to take effect January. The tax will instead be suspended through 2022. California has some of the most high taxes in the nation on marijuana legal sales. This makes it hard for legal sellers and buyers to substitute a strong (and tax-free) black market.


QUICK HITS

• ReasonThe annual Webathon for Free Minds is still ongoing. Please consider making a donation if you enjoyed our free content supporting free minds, free markets.

• Bob Dole is a World War II veteran, senate from Kansas and Republican presidential candidate in 1996. died SundayAge 98.

Michael Bloomberg (the billionaire ex-mayor of New York City) writes, “American public education has failed.” Bloomberg will give $750million to expand charter schools across 20 major cities.

• The omicron variation could have more transmission but be less deadly. It also shares many genetic traits with common cold.

• Amazon bypasses some supply chain challenges by making its own containers as well as chartering cargo planes.

• The “good old days” weren’t actually all that good—but they’re still screwing with our politics.

• Inflation is now a worldwide problem.

Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta (Minnie) Minoso Arrieta played Major League Baseball from 1946 to 1980 and was among the first Cuban players in the game. He was eventually elected into the hall of Fame.

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