May 27, 28

 Almost the end of another month. I have to water the gardens today and check things out. After a very cool overnight the temperature is rapidly rising. We are supposed to stay in the 70s today and tomorrow. Some of the plants that didn't like the heat seem to be reviving.

Finally got out and watered plants. Most are doing pretty well. I dead headed a couple of the. However, my rosemary and spices oregano aren't doing well at all. I'll see if they come back. I thought everything would be ok yesterday--guess I thought wrong.

I have been listening to some of the RepTHUGlican politicians insisting that recipients of food assistance had to work (somehow). A couple amend that a wee bit by insisting that "able bodied" adults are the only ones they want to target. I just looked up the requirements for an adult getting such assistance. Guess what? adults have to be at least 60 and whose income is less that 185% of the federal poverty level. That doesn't sound like a terrible drain on the public purse.

Crooks & Liars focuses on some Senators focusing on another part of the budget no RepTHUGlican wants to look at: defense contractors and their habit of price gouging. The Pentagon has never provided a satisfactory audit and yet their budget increases every year. I also have to ask why we have to spend more that the next ten most prolific countries for defense spending. China spends less than half what we spend.

28*****************************************************************

Nice and sunny today. The weather forecasts say we are in for a bit of a heatwave over the next week. I have already watered everything in the gardens. I swept up the empty seed shells the birds had thrown down. But there isn't much else to get done until next Saturday when I will see what plants the local "farm" market has this year. The quotes are because a lot of it isn't really farm produce.

I have been following the debt ceiling negotiations. McCarthy and Biden finally came to an agreement. The vote won't be until Wednesday because McCarthy promised his caucus 72 hours to read the text of any bill they have to vote on. Evidently he is also going to release it to the public. Actually those are measures I think are good. What I have heard so far still makes my skeptical antennae quiver. First, I didn't see any reduction in the Defense budget. Second, the cancellation of the funds earmarked for the IRS will benefit only the ultra rich whose chance of being audited has just gone way down. Third, I remember all too well the difficulty a couple of people I know had in getting the aid they need after debilitating health crises. The people administering the various programs insisted they work when neither were able to do so and their doctors insisted they weren't physically able. However, I agree with Robert Reich that the measure should pass because the only alternative would be a default that would be much worse. Actually, the measure that holds the spending to the current levels for the budget coming up for negotiation soon and to a 1% increase next year. If the Pentagon soaks up most of that I will be very pissed.