Debt and Debate: President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have agreed to meet again today to attempt negotiating over the debt ceiling impasse.

The Republicans are insisting on spending caps, work requirements for public benefit programs, and other demands in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

  It’s only nine days to a potential June 1^st financial meltdown. Even if they reach an agreement, it would take three or four days to pass it.

  What the Republicans are doing is holding up the government’s ability to pay its bills in exchange for social and political demands. The Republican objection to debt is purely political, intended to damage Joe Biden. During the Donald Trump presidency, the Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling three times with no objections or conditions.

  Biden said, “I can’t guarantee that they will not force a default by doing something outrageous.”

  No one really knows what would happen in a default. People and businesses owed money might not be paid, and the US dollar could lose its place as the world’s most trusted currency. The federal government spends about $1 trillion a year more than it takes in, and borrows to rest to pay its obligations.

The War Room: The Russian government and Wagner Group private army claim to have completed their conquest of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which has been levelled by months of fighting. 

  Russian news reports compare it to historic World War II battles, including Berlin. It looks like it. Notably, though, the news reports are leaving out mention of Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose mercenaries did the job. “Two realities exist in our country,” Prigozhin said Saturday. “One is real, the other one is for television.”

  Ukraine denies that it has lost Bakhmut, so … who knows? They don’t like to admit their losses and defeats. On the other hand, Russia denies, lies, and exaggerates.

  Appearing in Japan at the G7 summit, President Biden spoke about his reversal of policy against sending F16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Biden said the jets were not needed early on, but they are now. 

  Biden said he had secured a promise from Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky not to use the jets to hit targets in Russia. “I have a flat assurance from Zelensky that they will not, they will not use it to go on, to move into Russian geographic territory,” Biden said. “But wherever Russian troops are in Ukraine, in the area, they would be able to do that.”

Enemies List: Russia has expanded its list of Americans on travel and financial restrictions in a continuing diplomatic snit against the US for helping Ukraine fight the eastern hordes.

  Peter Baker of The NY Times noticed some people on the list are perceived enemies of former President Donald Trump who have nothing to do with Russia or foreign policy. Among them are Letitia James, the New York State attorney general who has investigated and sued Trump, Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state who refused to “find” more votes for Trump in 2020, and Lt. Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Call Me Ishmael: It’s the yachting season in the warmer waters of Europe, which makes it the yacht hunting season for Orca killer whales. In the last couple of years Orcas have sunk several small yachts by ramming them like Moby Dick.

  Yachtsman Werner Schaufelberger was sunk earlier this month and told a German publication: “The attacks were brutal. There were two smaller and one larger orca. The two little ones shook the rudder while the big one kept running and then rammed the ship from the side with full force.” 

  The Spanish coast guard towed Schaufelberger’s boat toward safety, but it sank just before reaching port.

  A mature male Orca can be 27 feet and 13,000 pounds, plenty to rock your boat. Some researchers believe the leader of the attacks is an Orca named White Gladis, who may have had a traumatic confrontation with a boat and now is taking revenge. 

The Obit Page:  British literary lion Martin Amis, the author of Money, The Information ,and London Fields as well as a memoir, short stories, screenplays, and nonfiction, has died at home in Florida at age 73. The cause was esophageal cancer.

  He was the son of the equally renowned British novelist, Kingsley Amis.

  Many of Martin Amis’s works, including his debut novel The Rachel Papers  that he wrote while working as an editorial assistant at The Times Literary Supplement, were adapted for the screen. The film version of his 2014 novel The Zone of Interest premiered only last Friday at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews.

The Spin Rack: The NAACP issued a travel advisory discouraging black Americans from visiting Florida, which the civil rights group says is “hostile to black Americans,” just days before the state’s Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to declare himself a candidate for president. The advisory says, “On a seeming quest to silence African-American voices, the Governor and the State of Florida have shown that African Americans are not welcome in the State of Florida.” — Joining other Republican-run states, the Nebraska legislature passed a bill combining a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks and restrictions on gender-affirming care for Nebraskans under 19. — Meta, the company that owns Facebook, was fined 1.3 billion today for violating European Union data protection rules and ordered to stop transferring data collected from Facebook users in Europe to the United States. — New research says the island of Manhattan is sinking 1-2 mm a year under the weight of all its buildings. The water level around the island is up about 9 inches since 1950.

Below the Fold: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a 246-foot super yacht. Oh, wait … that’s the support ship for his 417-foot, $500 million schooner.

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