Welcome to Wednesday, June 2nd, Marios and Luigis...

Texas Democrats recently staged a walkout to thwart the enactment of a voting restrictions bill backed by their Republican colleagues and Gov. Greg Abbott (R). 

By walking out and breaking the quorum that allowed the Texas legislature to conduct business, Democrats effectively ran out the clock to prevent the enactment of the election bill before the end of the 140-day legislative session. 

As a result, the controversial election overhaul will be delayed until a special session is called later this year, and Abbott said he expects lawmakers to be prepared to prioritize the election bill when they return.

The governor also tweeted that he plans to rebuke lawmakers for not completing work by using a line-item veto on the portion of the budget that funds salaries for legislators and said:

“No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities. Stay tuned.”

Do you support or oppose the Texas election bill?

Biden Releases Budget

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Friday released President Joe Biden’s budget request for fiscal year 2022, which includes $5 trillion in new spending that would increase deficits by about $1.4 trillion compared to current law over the next decade. 

Presidential budget requests typically don’t share much in common with what Congress approves through its budgeting and appropriations processes, so they’re largely symbolic documents meant to serve as a blueprint for the administration’s vision.

Biden’s budget proposes about $5 trillion in new federal spending over the next decade that comes in addition to the $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending and $3 trillion in mandatory spending that occurs annually. 

That would increase total federal spending to more than $6 trillion in FY2022 and over $8.2 trillion by 2031, which is well above the roughly $4 trillion in spending that occurred in the years preceding the pandemic as this USAFacts chart shows: 

Do you support or oppose Biden’s budget proposal?

Senate GOP Block Bill to Establish Commission to Investigate January 6th Attack

Senate Republicans voted last week to block initial debate and potential amendment votes on legislation to form an independent commission that would investigate the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

The procedural vote failed 54-35, six votes short of the 60 vote threshold needed to overcome the legislative filibuster (the vote was the first successful filibuster of the 117th Congress).

Six GOP senators voted in favor, including Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Ben Sasse (R-NE) ― all aside from Portman voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the events of January 6th. Eleven senators did not vote.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said in floor remarks Thursday that while he has been “clear and unflinching” in his condemnations of the January 6th attack, the commission that would be created by this bill is unnecessary.

Do you support or oppose a commission to investigate the January 6th attack?

All The Memes Fit To Post
 

And, In The End...

Hey you guuuuuuuuys, it's National Rocky Road Day.

Sloth will be celebrating his favorite ice cream, will you?

Truffle shuffle,

—Josh Herman

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