Evening Roundup, June 5
Featuring April Ryan, Chioma Chukwu & Jonathan Capehart; David Madland; Meredith Blake; Azza Cohen; Frederic J. Frommer; Mimi Rocah; Brian O’Neill; Miles Taylor; Jeff Nesbit; and Michael de Adder
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Flash:
Elon Musk called for Donald Trump to be impeached after mocking his connections to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the president threatened to cancel federal contracts and tax subsidies for Musk’s companies in an extraordinary social media feud on Thursday.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/05/trump-elon-musk-fallout
Diversions will not work, Donny Dork! Our eyes are on the draconian, life threatening CR bill and shall not waiver! The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) errs greatly in its analysis of the Big Beautiful (CR) Bill. They fudge where (future interest and future inflation) you can’t argue with them. First of all, their starting point misses $1.5 trillion in the first 2 years. 1) CBO overlooks that the first 2 years will be impacted by budget additions with no offset until the 2028 tax year. The current CBO-projected annual deficit? $1.9 trillion, and we are over budget $200 billion right now! Because of huge CR add ons, the annual deficit will be $2.5 trillion over each of the next 2 years. CBO had estimated those 2026 and 2027 deficits to be $1.8 and 1.7 trillion, $3.5 instead of $5 trillion—that must be borrowed at much higher interest rates than CBO uses. 2) CBO uses 3.5% interest on Treasury bonds. That is far below the 4.91% that we current “enjoy” due to falling worldwide buyer-investor confidence. 3) CBO says inflation will be calculated at 2% when it is now 2.3% and heading higher. Tariffs will hit inflation hard! 4) U.S. interest and inflation projections should not be discretionary for CBO. That is how they get to saying hogwash like $2 trillion ADDED over 10 years. It should be formula-based. Average of the last decade perhaps. 5) CBO did not tell you they are talking about ADDED means added to their $52 trillion total deficit estimate for 2035. 6) They see $54 trillion as our total outstanding deficit in 2035. I see $56 trillion if Republicans cut $13 trillion with the Big Beautiful Bill. We need a tax cut like we need a hole in the head. The fiscal irresponsibility is unfathomable. Republicans have lost their minds. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/the-25-trillion-annual-deficit-plan?r=3m1bs