Thanks to Trump's new tax law the government is about to go almost another trillion in debt. MAGA!

Courtesy of WaPo: 

It was another crazy news week, so it's understandable if you missed a small but important announcement from the Treasury Department: The federal government is on track to borrow nearly $1 trillion this fiscal year — Trump's first full year in charge of the budget. 

That's almost double what the government borrowed in fiscal year 2017. 

Here are the exact figures: The U.S. Treasury expects to borrow $955 billion this fiscal year, according to a documents released Wednesday. It's the highest amount of borrowing in six years, and a big jump from the $519 billion the federal government borrowed last year.

Treasury mainly attributed the increase to the “fiscal outlook.” The Congressional Budget Office was more blunt. In a report this week, the CBO said tax receipts are going to be lower because of the new tax law. 

As you can see from the chart we have borrowed more, but keep in mind that was to save the auto industry and the US economy.

In other words Obama's debt was the result of Republican mismanaging of the economy, and now so is Donald Trump's.

You know when the Tea Party was first formed one of its main attack points was the national debt, I can hardly wait to hear how silent they will remain about this.

Sarah Palin angry with President Obama for not starting war with Iran over seizure of ship due to outstanding debt.

So Palin, who has been conspicuously quiet lately, has recently posted this to her Facebook page: 

Friends, please take time to read this article as it rips the veil exposing Obama's priorities in dealing with a nation known for consistent terrorist intentions. Our president and his anti-peace foreign policy supporters have not acted in the interest of our ally, Israel, resulting in dangerously compromised American interests. 

The only thing standing between a president who'd jeopardize our country by ignoring our Constitution, and foes capitalizing on lopsided international treaties that weaken our allies, is Congress. The GOP majority must stop giving lip service to halting liberals' fundamental transformation of our relationships with friendly nations and finally take a stand by exercising its constitutional right and responsibility to approve international treaties. Certainly they must with such grave consequences involved. We must realize Iranian leadership refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist, and, in fact is hell-bent on Israel's, and ultimately our, annihilation. Congress must not sit back and watch our own president flirting with the devil. 

- Sarah Palin

This is the picture that she posted with it, why I'm not sure.

Now what seems to have Palin's granny panties all in a crusty knot is a story about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commandeered the Maersk Tigris as it navigated its way through the Straits of Hormuz. A waterway that is controlled by Iran.

Apparently the conservatives are calling this an act of war against the United States, even though the ship is owned by a Danish shipping company.

However the actual facts of the incident make it seem far less dramatic.

Courtesy of NBC News:

Iran said on Thursday that its seizure of a cargo ship owned by the Danish shipping company Maersk was related to a years-old debt. The company insisted that Iran let the ship go. 

In a statement, the Iranian foreign ministry said that Iran was following international law, and hoped the ship would be released "once debts have been settled, and hopefully the ship can carry on its course." 

The statement said that the 24 crew members aboard the ship, the Maersk Tigris, were in good health and had access to diplomatic channels.

The US has sent military vessels to monitor the situation which seems to be the result of an ongoing court case.

However Palin links to an article from conservative news outlet Townhall which ties this incident together with Obama's ongong negotiations with Iran and his open frustration with the fact that Netanyahu seems to be stepping back from a two state solution with Palestine.

The underlying premise being that President Obama is now siding with Muslims over our friends in Israel, and brokering a deal that makes the Middle East far more dangerous. (You know because up til now the place has been oh so very safe.)

Just another helpful reminder of the bullet (or perhaps more accurately, the barrage of bullets.) we dodged by not electing John McCain and his un-housebroken ankle biting critter from the wilds of Alaska.

Michele Bachmann still owes money to campaign workers, but refuses to pay them unless they sign a nondisclosure form. Hmmm, interesting!

Courtesy of Salon:  

Over a year after she dropped out, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann has refused to pay five staffers from her failed presidential bid, according to a former top campaign official. Peter Waldron, her controversial former national field coordinator, told Salon the dispute started when former Iowa straw poll staffers refused to sign a nondisclosure agreement that would bar them from discussing any “unethical, immoral, or criminal activity” they witnessed on the campaign with police or reporters. 

Waldron said the staffers are owed a mere $5,000, and that Bachmann has more than $2 million in her campaign account, but has refused to pay unless the staffers sign the agreement. Negotiations over payment with Bachmann Finance Chairman James Pollack eventually broke down and Waldron decided to go public with the news, posting a press release on Christian Newswire this evening. 

“I feel a moral obligation to see that my Christian brothers and sisters are paid for worked performed in good faith. I’ve continually communicated by telephone and email with Mr. Pollack for 1 year but he broke every promise made to me to pay the staff. I appealed to Dr. [Marcus] Bachmann for help. I appealed to Representative Bachmann’s Chief of Staff Robert Boland to intercede with Mrs. Bachmann on behalf of her loyal Iowa staff — all of whom are married, all have children,” Waldron said in the press release. 

“It is sobering to think that a Christian member of Congress would betray her testimony to the Lord and the public by withholding earned wages from deserving staff,” Waldron added. 

Reached my phone, Waldron confirmed the details and said the nondisclosure agreement stems from the campaign’s alleged misuse of an email list. A home-schooling group accused the Bachmann campaign of stealing the list, which was contained on a volunteer’s laptop, and then using it to fundraise for the campaign. The home-schooling group has sued the campaign and Waldron said there is also a criminal investigation pending, explaining that he spoke with police about the incident “several times.” 

“They wanted us to have no further conversation [with police] without first notifying Michelle’s attorneys, and we just refused,” he told Salon. “We’ve been lied to at every turn.”

Okay so the "super religious" Michele Bachmann refuses to pay people who worked for her in good faith because she does not want them to tattle on her for breaking the law. Does that about sum it up?

You know I think these five ought to spill their guts to the police and then later on collaborate on a book. Should pay a hell of a lot more than $5000 a piece don't you think?