The American Meltdown Begins

Yesterday, House Speaker Mike Johnson proposed a budget bill that would keep the American government up and running through March 14, 2025 — enough time for the new Congress, which will be installed on January 3rd, to assess priorities for a longer term budget resolution.

But that all got overridden based on the schizophrenic posts of the world's most powerful billionaire: Elon Musk. He launched a barrage of posts opposing the bill, tanking its prospects. Then, Trump and Vance followed with their own post of disapproval, agreeing with Musk, and suggesting that Congress also address the debt ceiling, which is set to be imposed again on January 2nd. Meanwhile, if no bill is passed now, the government will shut down on December 21 at 12:01am.

The bottom line is that Musk is now running our government and is executing an agenda that is against our national interests. But many people, especially Republicans, have not yet awakened to that fact, or to the reality that American democracy has been fatally compromised.

The next few weeks will determine whether we break free from capture. Based on what we know right now, the situation is especially dangerous. Here's what we're watching:

• It seems likely that Johnson will seek to implement a 'clean' CR bill. This will almost certainly not address the debt ceiling. At this point, no one can guess what Musk might do or say in response to such a bill.
• Whether we have a shutdown or not, the debt limit will be re-imposed on January 2nd. The new Congress will immediately need to address it, and we can expect Musk and his DOGE caucus to use the threat of default as leverage to extract draconian cuts.
• It is unlikely that any resolution will be reached on the debt ceiling until after January 20th. Trump is likely to declare a state of emergency on taking office, creating a sense of crisis while we attempt to avoid default. Meanwhile "extraordinary measures" will be in effect as we try to conserve cash.
• Because of the single vote motion to vacate rule, extremist Republicans are likely to call for the removal of Mike Johnson. This will lead to a vote. Senator Rand Paul has already floated Musk's name to replace him (as I anticipated), but other Musk allies like Tom Emmer or Jim Jordan have been mentioned as well.
• Expect Musk, Ramaswamy, Ron Paul, Victoria Spartz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jared Moskowitz, and the other DOGE caucus members to use maximally inflammatory language endorsing both draconian cuts and default.

We Are Under Attack

The American public needs to understand that we are under attack by Putin, Musk, Xi, and their colleagues. Many people mistakenly think Musk and his tech friends are somehow "bored," or are seeking control in order to maximize their profits and "make money." Disabuse yourself of that notion. Their goal is to terminate American democracy.

To get into their mindset, have a look at this clip shared last year by Julia Davis, a journalist who monitors Russian media. This is from Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, a regular propaganda program on Russia-1, and the speaker is Andrey Sidorov, Dean of World Politics at Moscow State University.

Sidorov says, "Trump is the destroyer! Trump can really get it to the point where our geopolitical adversary will fall apart. Without any missiles! More than that, the nucleus of the US disintegration is already contained in its Constitution. The states rights! If some states don't like what the federal government is doing, it will all unravel! Texas will be free! ... California, New York, and so on." As I've reported in the past, Russia is openly backing the TEXIT secessionist movement, and we can expect Musk to participate in that as well when the right time comes.

Russian state media is also ecstatic about Trump's cabinet and agency appointments — especially Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard. And former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has never concealed his enthusiasm for Elon Musk, going so far as to suggest altering the Constitution so he can become president. And Rand Paul has already floated Musk's name as Speaker.

Americans should recognize that when our political news involves extensive coverage of what Elon Musk thinks, we are very far off course. He is a man that no one elected — even as everyone should have had a reasonable expectation he would come with the Trump package. But this is a gross violation of our Constitutional system, and the founders would be aghast at what has become of their creation.

Project Russia: The Kremlin’s Playbook for Undermining Democracies

The Kremlin’s “Project Russia” poses a potent framework for mobilizing illiberal forces against the United States and its allies — and it’s all but unknown to Western analysts.

America 2.0Dave Troy

There is every reason to believe Musk is executing the agenda expressed in Project Russia, and that government shutdown and debt default are part of that plan. Over the next six weeks, we will learn which path we are on. There is no reason to think Republicans are sufficiently cognizant of this threat, and too many Democrats misread Musk's motives as mere greed. Our failure to comprehend the Russian worldview and their use of reflexive control will prove to be our undoing.

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